Mllhlllli llitilli' li i I 1 1'lH "III 1 111. 1 'ilil I'llllHilltli! ,!! II 1 111 1 i illli I'^ii'ili !t I I inn ll'! illilH, '1| liiiiiiilH! Ml! ;llillii'il,|li! lllllilil!l!"lil!iI^M;i!;!h!H ! iiiilllllli I 1 iiiililiili iii'lll! '''"'!ll!!!|iii!|iili ! II 11 I liiiiiiliiiiiiiiillli 111 iiii!i;iii;:i;iii:ii li !!l| llPlilllPlili' 1 I J 1! BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF XS91 A^H'X'i.fiM ) / ,y J.//../J'r 3777 Cornell University Library BF1042 .T16 Studies in spiritism, by Amy E. Tanner. olin 3 1924 028 952 153 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028952153 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM STUDIES IN SPIRITISM BY AMY E. TANNER, Ph.D. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY G. STANLEY HALL, Ph.D., LL.D. NEW YORK AND LONDON D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1910 COPYRiaHT, 1910, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Published, September, 1910 PREFACE When I entered upon the study of the work of the Psychical Research Society it was in my capacity of special assistant to Dr. 6. Stanley Hall in his investigation of Spir- itism, and not with the expectation of publishing anything of my own. But as the work progressed, and as it became evident that Dr. Hall's other writings and duties would make it impossible for him to publish anything on this subject for some time to come, it seemed best that I should take the work in hand myself, because now seems to be the psychological moment to present the reverse side of the case of Spiritism. Though my name is appended to the book, and though I am responsible alone for my opinions, I lie, therefore, under the greatest obligations to Dr. Hall, not only for his encouragement, but for the opportunity to have sittings with Mrs. Piper, and for the unpublished manuscripts of his which have been at my disposal, to say nothing of the extensive citations from his notes which ap- pear in the book, and of his Introduction. I wish also to express my sense of obligation to Mr. G. B. Dorr, who arranges Mrs. Piper's sittings for her, and to Mrs. Piper herself for their unfailing courtesy and their desire that Dr. Hall and I should have a free hand with the controls. The fact that my findings are unfavourable PREFACE to the claims of the controls, and are at variance with Mrs. Piper's own belief and that of many of the members of the Society for Psychical Research, only deepens my apprecia- tion of their willingness to give me the opportunity to make such criticisms after a first-hand study of the case. How- ever much I must criticise the methods and conclusions of members of the Society, I wish to go on record as a hearty admirer of their spirit of fair play and frankness. A few words as to my own personal attitude while making this study also seem in place here for various rea- sons. Nearly all of the published accounts of the work of the Society for Psychical Research have tended to empha- sise the evidence in favour of supposedly supernormal forces, and have largely or wholly ignored the weaknesses in the evidence. So numerous have these writings become of late, and so influential are some of the names appended to them, that through constant repetition that certain theories are true even well-informed readers are impressed. This was certainly the effect upon me. Before beginning the present study I had read some of the original Proceedings, but far more of the popular accounts, and had gradually come to think that probably telepathy was true, and perhaps spirit communication. I did not therefore enter upon my work with any spirit of antagonism, but rather in a spirit of doubt that inclined toward belief. I was inclined to think that I should finish the work a believer at least in telepathy. So far is this from being the case that the more I have read and seen of such experiences, the more amazing has it come to seem that two theories like telepathy and spirit communication, which are unsupported by any valid evidence, should have vi PREFACE obtained credence to-day; and the more incomprehensible has it come to be that men should be willing to stake their professional reputations upon the inaccuracies and rubbish that pass for " scientific " facts in these matters. It is time that the " marsh of feebleness," to which Professor James refers, should become as well known to the general public as the " stream of veridicality " that has under- mined science for him. A stream lost in a marsh is a very different thing from a flood inundating a land and tearing down all the old landmarks, and, far from rising in the mountains or descending from the clouds, it is more likely to be merely the drainage of the lowest part of the marsh. Amy E. Tanner. June 23, 1910. CONTENTS Introduction. By G. Stanley Hall xv Explanation of Tebmb xxxv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: SCOPE AND STANDPOINT OF THE STUDY Polemical status of Spiritism — ^Attitude of scientists — Of Psychic- al Researchers and their Committee — Their approved medi- ums — The ideal investigator — The average sitter — Attitude of the medium — Sources of this study .... 1-8 CHAPTER II MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY, PERSONALITY, AND TRANCE-STATE Early interviews of Drs. James and Hodgson — Tests of Mrs. Pi- per's honesty — Her first visit to England — Her relations to Psychical Researchers — Compensation for her sittings — Her belief in her powers — Her isolation — Church relations — Type of mind — Susceptibility to music and pictures — Entrance to trance — ^Emergence from it — Length of trance — ^Variations in pulse and breathing in trance — Condition of sense organs — Contradictory results with tests of hand — Relations of con- trol to normal Mrs. Piper — Jung-Freud tests . . . 9-25 CHAPTER III EARLY TRANCES AND TRANCE PERSONALITIES Mrs. Piper's physical condition — Her first trance — Phinuit and Dr. Cocke — Phinuit's part in the trance — George Pelham — — Moses and the Imperator group — The Hodgson control — ■ Diminishing value of the sitting-s — Characteristics of each group of controls — Effects of expectation and suggestion on them — ^Appeal to the test message — Its characteristics — Proof of personal identity — Records of sittings — Their omis- sions — Nonsense — Fishing — Possibilities of suggestion . 26-46 ix CONTENTS CHAPTER IV TEST MESSAGES PAGES Sealed-envelope tests — Test messages in the Lodge sittings — In HodgsonsittingsprevioustoNov., 1891— From 1891-1897 . 47-71 CHAPTER V TEST MESSAGES (Continued) In Hyslop sittings — Hyslop'a forced interpretations — Newbold sittings, with translation of Greek — Sittings with Hodgson control 72-93 CHAPTER VI OPINIONS OF SITTERS Favourable opinions: Lodge, Myers, Hodgson, Hyslop, constant sitters— Intermediate: Johnson, the Sidgwicks, Verrall, Nor- ton, Savage, James, Leaf, Carrington, Newbold, etal. — Un- favourable: G. H. Darwin, Macalister, Weir Mitchell, Bald- win, Trowbridge, Richet, Lang, Podmore, Hall, et al. . 94-100 CHAPTER VII CROSS CORRESPONDENCES: MRS. HOLLAND, MRS. VERRALL The method and its originators — Two kinds of references — Proof of their being cross references — Its defects — Illustrations of cross references: sealed envelope and text, cooperation, atti- tude of controls, description of Mrs. Verrall, music notes, description of Mrs. Holland's surroundings, of Mrs. VerraU's surroundings, Agamemnon, Dr. Sidgwick, Roden Noel, Marseilles and Virgil, Fawcett, Ave Roma Immortalis, owl, references to Mrs. Archdale and Thompson, sphere and spear, fir tree, bugle and crown — Cross references with Mrs. Forbes, the Symposium, Harriet de Vim, Hove, et al. . 101-127 CHAPTER VIII CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER The method and its defects — Illustrations: laurel wreath, "autos ouranos akumon," The Cup, Hercules Furens — Ear-marked X CONTENTS PAGES references — Death — Hope, star, and Browning — Summary of method and its defects — Verrall sittings — Cross correspond- ences between normal people — Time limits — Indiscriminate cross references — Evasions, etc., of control , . . 128-151 CHAPTER IX THE LATIN MESSAGE Drafts of the message — Giving it to the control — Its complication with cross references, especially "Hope, star, and Browning" — Mr. Piddington's suggestions to the control — Mrs. Sidg- wick's suggestions — Knal outcome 152-165 CHAPTER X SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: FIRST SITTING Aim and method — Introduction to Mrs. Piper — Dr. Hall's dis- cussion with Hodgson control about fictitious niece, Bessie — With Mr. Clark — Diagnosis of health — Subliminal — Com- ments on sitting by Dr. Hall : MultipUcation of personalities, generalities, malapropos references, ease with which spirits come, credulity of control, the fictitious Bessie, the diagnosis, emergence from trance, interpretation of record . . 165-185 CHAPTER XI SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: SECOND SITTING Testing the control: useless tests — Accounting for content — Ad- vantage to control of setting a problem — Sympathetic attitude to control — Relations of control to normal, with Jung-Freud testa — Content of second sitting : Jung-Freud tests to control, the fictitious Borst and Bessie — Jung-Freud tests with Mrs. Piper — Pulse and breathing in trance .... 186-200 CHAPTER XII SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: THIRD SITTING Discussion with Mr. Dorr: Answers worked up by control, use of stenographer in sittings, awakening Mrs. Piper from trance, use of fraud with controls, making of appointments, Hodg- son's personal bias toward belief — Discussion with Mrs. Piper: belief in immortality, her reading, her attitude to- xi CONTENTS PAGES wards controls, her premonitions, dreams, etc., entrance to trance, eye and ear mindedness, memory of trance, early trance states and health — Content of sitting: the fictitious Bessie, attempt to convince Hodgson of being Borst, and of knowing about Mrs. Piper, Hodgson's anger at being de- ceived — Comments: why certain "spirits" appear — Train- ing a "spirit" to belief in itself 201-220 CHAPTER XIII SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: FOURTH SITTING Discussion with Mrs. Piper: Her attitude towards the trance — Its early conditions — Phinuit — Her impulsiveness — Value of belief in sitter — Danger if medium is unbalanced — Future failure of "light"— Attempt to hypnotise her — Content of sitting: Hodgson's knowledge of earthly surroundings — How he summons spirits — Uncle Robert — Dr. Tanner's father — Relations of control to Mrs. Piper 221-234 CHAPTER XIV SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: FIFTH SITTING Tests of Mrs. Piper in trance: Skin, with esthesiometer and algom- eter — Smell, with camphor and ether — Taste, with salt, sugar, and camphor — ^Attempts to persuade control to make Mrs. Piper move and speak — Tests of sight and hearing . . 235-245 CHAPTER XV SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: SIXTH SITTING After-effects of previous tests — Mrs. Piper's attitude — Second attempt at hypnosis — Content of trance: Questioning Rector — Explanation of experiments to Hodgson and of his failures to meet the tests — His evasion .... 246-258 CHAPTER XVI CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL Possibility of reducing control to secondary personality — Mr.-!. Piper's own sense of being unusual — Depth of trance — Crudity of handwriting — Possible meanings of script — Sensitiveness of ear — Lack of stenographic records and possi- xii CONTENTS FAQas bility of forgotten suggestions — Amount of mental activity of control — Hypothesis of supernormal agencies for unexplained events — Psychic activity between sittings — Relation of sub- conscious to normal self — "Psycho-keksids" . . . 259-273 CHAPTER XVII THE MEDIUM IN GERM Early surroundings — Training — First visit to a medium — Appear- ance of visions — Formation of a circle of spirit friends — Mission of this girl — Sittings at the university — Vivid inci- dents given and their fixed character — Suggestibility in other ways — Personal motive of the medium — Influence of the repressed desire — Attainment of ecstasy in another case — Its relation to efficiency 274-285 CHAPTER XVIII THE CASE OF MRS. VERRALL First attempts at automatic writing — Sensations while writing — Aphorisms, nonsense, quotations and verse in writing — Sig- natures — ^Verifiable statements — Defects in evidence — Pro- portion of verified to non-evidential statements . . 286-300 CHAPTER XIX THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE Similarity to secondary personality: Nervous shocks and relation to trance — Voluntary entrance to trance — Suggestibility as shown in various groups of controls, appearance, and charac- teristics — Involuntary suggestions from sitters through voice — Hasty interpretations of messages — Mental character- istics of control similar to secondary personality — Stages in development of secondary personalities — Summary of Piper controls — Evidential value of test messages — Imperfect record — Spontaneous images — Proportion of tests to non- evidential messages ....'... 301-320 CHAPTER XX TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA: SPONTANEOUS AND EXPERIMENTAL THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE Definition and inclusiveness of telepathy — Richet's experiment in thought-transference, and defects — Transference of num- xiii CONTENTS PAoas bers and diagrams and defects — Hyperesthesia — Similarity of thought — Self-consciousness — Card experiments by Riohet, Verrall, and Guthrie — Telepathy at a distance — Other card experiments by Sidgwicks and Miss Johnson — Defects — Illu- sions of memory as shown by Davey and Stem — Effect of lapse of time — Cases of telepathy recorded within one week 321^347 CHAPTER XXI TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA: A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS Data obtained — Calculus of probabilities — Thirty test cases — Time elapsing between the hallucination and the recording it — Cases recorded within one year : collective hallucinations — Haunted houses — Summary of Committee's report. — Criti- cism of evidence — Natural tendency to believe in images — Difficulty in discovering defects in memory — Too great faith in narrators— Mere numbers not evidential — Data true but explicable otherwise — Difficulty in theory of thought trans- ference without sense organs — Vaschide's experiments and conclusions to numerous similarities in thought between people 348-376 CHAPTER XXII 1 CONCLUSION What is the "simpler hypothesis"? — New interpretations of old data— Control of conditions of thought coincident with loss of its mysterious nature — Infinite complexity of psychical and neural processes — Personal desire for immortality heightened by limitations of self — Illustrated by Dark Ages — By Rise of Spiritism in this country — By personal losses, failure, illness, etc. — Effect of sittings upon sitter-:— Lack in modern life that Spiritism satisfies — Possible defects in Protestant Church 377-389 Appendix 390-405 BiBLIOGBAPHT 406-408 XIV INTRODUCTION Spiritualists abounded where my boyhood was passed, and their cult had such fascination for me that furtively and despite parental wishes I early became familiar with table-tipping and levitation, slate-writing, inspirational speaking, and all the phenomena of seances, and frequented the Lake Pleasant camp-meetings near by where this sect assembled in large numbers for weeks every summer. Later, I paid for private sittings with Slade, Foster, and other once-famous mediums. As a student in Germany I formed the acquaintance of, and often conversed with, Zoll- ner, thp great Leipsic astronomer, and heard him lecture in the university on the physical phenomena of Spiritism to the disgust of some of his colleagues. I repeatedly also called on Prof. Theodor Fechner near by, who was a mystic and credulous, holding that plants and planets were both besouled, and who, in his old age, publicly expressed his belief in the ghostly origin of Slade 's slate writing. These two aged men, with the venerable Professor Weber, formed an academic trio, whose late conversion to this creed was the theme of much discussion by their associates, who deemed it an academic scandal. Later, at the Johns Hop- kins University, in the wave of interest started by the Sey- bert Commission and the English Psychic Research Society, with the late President Oilman and my colleague, Simon Newcomb, I visited every medium who advertised in Phil- adelphia, and later, when Dr. Oilman had withdrawn. Pro- fessor Newcomb and I made similar rounds in New York. XV INTRODUCTION I alone persisted and visited also those in Boston. The first fifteen years of the Proceedings of the English Society I reviewed at length in my journal. I mention these personal experiences to show that spiritistic phenomena are not new to me, and also that my interest was serious enough to prompt all this pains which, had I been fuUy convinced either way, I should never have had interest enough to take. I have also, as years went by, passed through every stage from pretty complete boyish credulity to no less prepon- derating adult disbelief. As a youth I argued for, and in maturity against, spiritistic claims, until I have long felt a strange combination of aversion from and attraction to all the works and ways of believers. The attraction is en- tirely due to the conviction that there is something here of great moment that psychology has not yet fathomed, and the revulsion is toward the recrudescence in this cult of a savage superstition which belongs more to the troglodyte age than to our own. Seriously to investigate the problem whether discarnate ghosts can suspend any of the laws of matter seems to me not only bad form for any and every scientific man, but an indication of a strange psychic rudi- ment in their makeup that ought to be outgrown like the prenatal tail or the gill slits. There is in my opinion not even a prima facie case for supermundane intervention of this sort, but always only an interesting constellation of psychic complexes. The difference between the method and the spirit of the Psychic Researchers, whose work is moti- vated by a desire to determine whether souls exist inde- pendently of the body and act upon or can control it, and the attitude of science is identical with the difference be- tween those who study dreams to see whether they come true and those who study them as physiologists, psycholo- gists and the Freudians do — to learn their mechanism and their real cause and meaning. With this attitude I refused, not without some resentment, an invitation to assist at the late Palladino seances in New York, because she made xvi INTRODUCTION all the essential conditions instead of allowing the investi- gators to do so, and this, to my mind, was sufficient to jus- tify the presumption that she was fraudulent. Moreover, I have purchased considerable sleight-of-hand apparatus and bought a small kit of tricks, taken lessons of Yost, Her- mann, and others, and given various amateur performances in my own house, and despite the fact that I always tell in the end how everything is done I have been repeatedly acclaimed as a medium myself by believers. One American member of, and literary contributor to, the English Psychic Research Society for whom I did the slate-writing trick in two ways, explaining afterward both the flap and the in- visible ink (brought out by hydrochloric-acid gas injected through a hypodermic needle from a flesh-coloured capsule that was palmed) , told me frankly that he thought I really did it all with the aid of spirits, but that I deemed it more becoming a professor to give a difficult scientific explanation than to acknowledge the easier help of spirits. Believers in material phenomena are in my experience usually simple- minded, honest, and ultra gullible, while most mediums in this field seem to me clever charlatans of a vulgar and often avaricious type, and perhaps with a morbid passion for deception. In my view, they are almost all not only dis- honest from the start, but the real explanation of their suc- cess is to be chiefly found in the abnormal development of an inveterate inborn propensity to lie and mislead, which gives them a titillating sense of superiority on the one hand, and on the other the overpowering will to believe on the part of the faithful who accept any suggestion and balk at no absurdity. Credence in any of these phenomena by cultivated aca- demic minds, or even the admission that there is an open question, presents another difficult problem. Their attitude I believe due partly to a dualistic philosophy that assumes two different world-orders, and holds that the one may in- terfere at certain points with the other, and partly to an 3 xvii INTRODUCTION inveterate lust for evidence of the independent post-mortem existence of souls. The third factor in their ease is found in the utter inadequacy of current psychology in dealing with the unconscious, and a gross underestimation of its range and scope in aU our daily lives. Mind, to it, is con- sciousness, and every eruption from the unconscious it re- gards as of ghostly origin, because it lacks all conception of the intricacy and complexity of the subliminal psychic processes of which introspection gives no glimmer or ink- ling. These false teachings together have caused endless futile labour, and have misled many ingenuous souls be- cause the problems they suggest are surds. With Mrs. Piper and the psychic phenomena of Spir- itism the case is very different. She is without question the most eminent American medium in this field. For years she has been the more or less private oracle of one of our leading and very influential psychologists. She has been in- vestigated for a quarter of a century by many of the keenest men of science in England and here, and never convicted of fraud, and her sittings have been reported and discussed by scores if not hundreds of writers. She is a modest, ma- tronly woman, shunning newspaper curiosity, quietly sup- porting her daughters by the twenty dollars she receives per seance, and the majority of her clients are sincere be- lievers who wish information beyond their reach. I once visited her more than twenty years ago with Professor James and was mystified, and several times afterward wrote Hodgson, who kept her dates, asking for sessions, only to be told that all her available time and strength were monop- olised by the Psychic Eesearchers, and that a man of un- certain purposes outside their circle might mar the quality of her work. It was therefore with much satisfaction that on writing Mr. George Dorr, who is in a sense her manager, I was given three sessions, for which I paid, and three more at his expense, while at the latter Dr. Tanner and myself were left alone with the medium. Mr. Dorr's kindness and xviii INTRODUCTION candor deserve our hearty thanks. Of the details of each of our six sessions this volume contains a full account. The author and myself reached conclusions that are in substan- tial agreement. For one, I am satisfied and shall probably never want more sittings. Mrs. Piper in her trances seems to sleep profoundly with deep, slow, stertorous breathing, and she takes less time to go to sleep than to waken, reversing thus the order of slow to sleep and quick to wake. This impresses the sit- ter that she is almost as much out of the game in this state as if she were dead. Hence, no one feels' in danger of disturbing slumbers so profound, and sitters can move about and converse freely, at least in low tones. We were not only assured that we could, but almost invited to do so, at least by Mr. Dorr. This we soon came to do naturally, first whispering and then speaking, so that we sitters felt that we were alone with Hodgson's spirit. The latter was usu- ally reached by taking Mrs. Piper's hand, placing the palm close to the mouth and speaking loudly, and I was often asked to' repeat as if I were on a long-distance tele- phone. Her writing hand is thus also at the same time the ear of her control, and its threshold is high and kept so. Meanwhile, her ear is awake and alert. On this the record gives abundant evidence, and our observations in the record made this yet more certain. If her hand actually hears, we have at the outset an astounding miracle. No deaf person ever developed such a manual function. Not only does her ear receive all the messages shouted into the hand, but it is keenly aware of everything audible. The noises on the streets, the rustle of clothing, the sitter's position, and every noise or motion, and our conversation, too, was often reacted to. Here then is a wide and copious margin in which sug- gestion can work. Never in our own or in other Piper sit- tings was any full record kept of what her interlocutors said. Still less have involuntary exclamations, inflections, stresses, etc., been noted, and even the full and exact form xix INTRODUCTION of questions is rarely, if ever, kept, while the presence of a stenographer which we proposed was objected to. Thus, unlimited suggestions are unconsciously ever being given 0&. to be caught and given back or reacted to in surprising ways. If this method be a conscious invention on her part it shows great cleverness and originality, and if it be a method unconsciously drifted into, its great effectiveness could in fact be scientifically evaluated only by pro- longed experiments in which a normal person should simu- late her very peculiar kind of sleep. In fact, it often seemed that only her eyes were out of the game, and all her mental and emotional powers were very wide awake. A little practice convinced me that it is not hard to feign all this, and yet I am by no means convinced that she acted her sleep-dream, although that this could be done with a success quite equal to her own I have no shadow of doubt. If this is the case she is, of course, fraudulent, but if some of her faculties are really sleeping it is a imique and interesting case of somno-scripticism as her former practice of speak- ing instead of writing was of somno-verbalism, for both are species of the same genus of somnambulism. That Mrs. Piper-Hodgson's soul is awake and normal, our last sittings gave abundant evidence when she seemed to quite fall out of the Hodgson role and became angry. That the self -same hand that slapped me on the back, as it was assumed Hodg- son might have done, pounded the table, wielded the pencil, arranged the paper as Hodgson's hand, and then clutched his sweater and necktie, as Mrs. Piper's hand (as I think we must infer) , in order to reinforce her own waning pow- ers (although this may be open to another interpretation), was found to be insensitive to partial pain is not so strange, since analgesia is often isolated in disease from other dermal sensations ; but that the hand discriminated compass points so faintly implies a rare type of dissociation. Again, writing was an improvement upon her former oral mode of utterance in the interests of ambiguity, for XX INTRODUCTION not a few words and phrases were illegible and admit of several interpretations, for the Hodgson ohirography is ex- ecrable and often entirely illegible and in general hard to make out after it has been cooled by even a short lapse of time. As to the identity of Hodgson, the so-called control, he surely was not all there, and what was present of him, if anything, was not only fragmentary but incredibly stupid, oblivious, and changed. Although I never met him in the flesh, yet in these sessions he always addressed me in the most familiar manner, had many totally false memories of former interviews with me and of discussions which never took place, and in a word seemed to feel just as intimate with me as Mrs. Piper in her normal state thought he used to. He recollected also everything that I pretended had passed between us. Had I really known him and he had forgotten or cut me that might have been explained, though perhaps at some sacrifice of my amour propre, but this false recognition and spirit of camaraderie throughout was baffling. Perhaps when living he meant to have made my acquaintance, amd as a ghost mistook the will for the deed. Had I been very great and powerful, and he foolishly vain and false, he might have pretended to have been honoured by my acquaintance in order to show off before Mrs. Piper, but this hypothesis is seamy, for she was sleeping and did not know and could not remember, and he must have known that she could not be impressed. It may be that he hu- moured me in my deceit to see how far I would go, and let me fill full the measure of my turpitude of ruse and deception, but if so, why the flaming anger when I confessed my strategy ? Again, he may have mistaken me for some one else, although it must have been some other enough like me to be almost my double, and I can think of no one who would fill this role. Or it may be he has somehow been in- timate with me since his death, although without my knowl- edge, and only blundered in dating his acquaintance before INTRODUCTION instead of after his translation, and in assuming that be- cause he knew me I must know him. It may be that spir- its think in genera, and because I was a psychologist and he knew so many others of my trade he assumed that he must have known me, and accepted my suggestion that he had done so because he could not remember all his psycho- logical acquaintances for sure. Or, perhaps, as people long and far absent greet neighbours they only knew of as if they were personal friends I, being the first he met after making his earthly ■'landfall, seemed near by contrast with the vast distance that yawned between Mrs. Piper's sitting room and his celestial environment. On the other hand his memory was full of gaps. He had forgotten the private drawing mediimi who once vis- ited me and wanted to be investigated, but whom I had sent with a note to Hodgson, who printed his weird pictures and concerning whom we had some correspondence. Again, the Watseka wonder, to the study of whom he once gave much time and energy the results of which he printed, he could barely recall. All our other questions concerning, or allu- sions to, his past life were answered only in platitudes or evaded. Would Hodgson, if living, have accepted such a tatterdemalion ghost of himself, and would he not have pre- ferred death to such a pitiful prolongation of his person- ality? Indeed, is it not a most plausible hypothesis that his soul is now in process of dissolution, and has already reached an advanced stage of senile decrepitude, not to say dementia? There are now several eminent religious writers who practically accept the view long ago expressed in Plato's " Phaedo " that the soul survives after death only for a period, and is slowly blown away or dissolved, and so perhaps Hodgson is far advanced toward a second death. If so, is it not cruelty to spirits to drag him back to make such a pitiful exhibition of his last stages? But against this hypothesis stands his affectation of cheeriness that sug- gests the effervescence of healthful animal spirits and his xxii INTRODUCTION apparent willingness to be recalled from his bourne. This combination of failing powers with euphoria is rare, save in general paresis, and the Hodgson ghost in many re- spects rather well fits this paradigm. Now, it would be strange indeed if such an infirm ghost could not be bluifed out of existence or be made to confess himself some one else, as we are convinced thaft this sec- ondary personality or control could have been had we per- sisted. But I am not clear whether we have a right to put ever so doddering ghosts out of existence, especially if they are profitable to those who harbour them. He surely cut a sorry figure with us. He accepted each of the ficti- tious personages we invented. The figments of our fancy were quite as real for him as his own friends or historic personages, showing that he had no criterion for distin- guishing imagination from facts, but accepted every sug- gestion as true. He could thus be fooled and imposed upon to the very top of our bent. His naive gullibility and utter absence of critical discrimination were tempting. Thus we enjoyed some of the grim satisfaction of revenge upon the spirit world, the denizens of which have from time im- memorial fooled and misled the sons of men, and it was hard not to yield still further to the temptation to feed fat this ancient grudge. But let us be wary, for perhaps aU this is the spirits' noblesse oblige. We are not well informed as to the standards of etiquette or deportment in the other world. Its people seem to us courteous, and accept our every whim because they wish to set us an ex- ample of the unadulterated credulity which they ask us to extend to them in turn. They are not critical toward us because they do not wish us to be so toward them. If this is the good manners of celestial courts, how boorish and outlandish our prying scepticism must have seemed ! But there are other hypotheses. Perhaps Mrs. Piper herself made in her own soul, by a process which we do not yet quite understand, a mould in which the control was xxiii INTRODUCTION cast, and Hodgson had to fit himself into this as best he could, though the process involved much distortion and the amputation of various memories and traits so that he was, as it were, dismembered. The soul stuff that composed the control was the ipsissimal self of Hodgson, but its form was changed as the metal of a cannon might be recast into a sewer pipe and drain a swamp instead of sink a ship. If so, we shrewdly opine that the mould was cracked and too small, as well as distorted, and that we were dealing with only a transmuted fragment of Hodgson 's ghost. If so, where is the remainder of it? Once more it is possible that, unknown to others, Hodgson during life had begun to de- velop a partitioned-off secondary personality, and that this parasitic rather than his true self was what we held con- verse with. This theory is particularly astute and subtle, and could probably be made to harmonise with all the facts of the case more completely than any other that the wit of man can just at present devise. May I not com- mend this hypothesis to Dr. Hyslop as worthy of his apol- ogetics ? The chief successive Piper controls then certainly have a family resemblance, for they are children born of the same mental womb. Our fictitious Borst in our humble judgment was rather a masterpiece, for he was at least meant to be a composite portrait of all the summative series of her familiar spirits, the totalisation or the psycho- genetic or logical next step in the evolution of her medium- ship should she wish to evict Hodgson and adopt a successor under any name after finding his like somewhere in his- tory. This would maximise her mediumistic powers and sustain and prolong their now waning vigour. This would be our psychotherapeutic prescription, provided she desires to continue double housekeeping. On the other hand, we half suspect that in her heart of hearts she would fain be done with it all, at least if she could afford it, and settle together into her own coherent, symmetrical, comfortable, xxiv INTRODUCTION well-equipped and pleasing wholesome self. Surely it can- not make for her mental poise or peace to carry within her soul the permanent possibility of such an alien, persistent, and unattractive personality. "Would that she would give the world her own utterly candid biographie intime or a confession of her honest womanly reactions to all this busi- ness ! For one, I must believe that she could, if she would, shed more true light upon her ease than has been done by all who have so far studied her. That would indeed be the ideal consummation of her remarkable career, and to that I would most earnestly exhort her in the interests of her own mental health and her repute, her prolonged mental vigour, her helpfulness to the world, and even her finances. Her soul has suffered these many years from some shock, or a series of them, the nature of which we can somewhat conjecture, and it was partly riven in twain. There are cases on record where this has occurred in adolescence, and the patients have been healed during senescence. Every- thing we know of the psychology of old age indicates that it is favourable to such re-fusions and conversely, that they are favourable to it. I venture the above homely counsel not only be- cause all her sitters do and must bear her only good will, for she, unlike all other putative communicators with the spirits of our dear departed, makes no conditions, but allows investigators every practicable freedom. I do so also because of the personal regret I should feel if this book detracted in any way from her great merit or repute. In- deed, we would say to all who must at times consult the spir- its — go to hers, far better though we think it would be to let them all alone. Again, all her controls have been men, and mostly of the bluff, hearty type that would naturally at- tract and be attracted by such a woman. That men and, still better, women often evolve, more or less unconsciously, ideals of the other sex that are in varying degrees counter- parts of themselves is no longer questioned. These ideals, XXV INTRODUCTION while perseverating all the way from adolescence to senes- cence, maintain the same general type, but are attracted and modified by real acquaintances in direct proportion as they approximate them, and true affinity in its real psycho- logical sense is correspondence with these veiled figures. Some who think psychotherapy is in part a love cure in the sense that the woman patient must have at least a pla- tonic aifection for her physician in order to be polarised back to health, and is prone to take refuge in illness again if he goes out of her life, have made, we must admit, rather hazy but extremely stimulating suggestions here. Here, too, belongs for men the whole psychology of Madonna ideals. A mild neuropathic female medium may, and in recorded cases does, in groping toward self-cure, sometimes take refuge in ideals of complemental manhood, and come to fimd self-help in occasionally giving them their innings in her heart and soul. Thus she gets out of herself. This is a sound instinct for psychopaths, who are often exagger- atedly selfish, with consequent progressive involution. That the partner in this reveried companionship should oc- cupy a subconscious chamber of the soul, retired to upon occasion, is also as natural and as explicable as are the imaginary companions of those children who feel social needs that their environment does not satisfy. On this view the series of Piper controls from Phinuit to Hodgson first, and in their stages of psychic incipiency, gratified the me- dium chiefiy, and fascinated even when she affected dislike to them. Each was an ideally fulfilled dream-wish, and became fully impersonated in order to transform the mono- logue of her thought currents into dialogue, and only later, after she came to yield to her creation with abandon, did the control acquire independence and autonomy enough to subordinate and then evict her own normal self. The two souls came thus to alternate instead of being simultaneous voices. Only after this incubation was ended, and the nascent personality was fully hatched, fledged, and ma- xxvi INTRODUCTION tured, after possession had supervened and soliloquy had passed through colloquy to depersonalisation and suppres- sion of the parent soul, did the control furnish the auto- matic deliverances that seemed weird enough to conjure with and to work the charm of an alien spirit. That sex reciprocity played its mighty role in the genesis of this case there can to my thought be little doubt, although the precise mechanism of the process cannot be detailed, for lack of data as to its historic genesis. That this also played a major part in the first case reported in Chapter XVII, of which I also was cognisant, I at least am convinced. In the sublimation and long-circuiting processes of sex, which are no longer recognised as such, love works its strangest miracles. But if the Freudian contention be correct there is absolutely no rupture of connection anywhere possible in our psychic life, no confusion even in the gibberings of mania, no chaos, but every wildest, maddest delirium is completely explicable. Surely this simpler case is no excep- tion, and we lack only knowledge of psychic conditiens and changes to see law and order where once chance was thought to reign. To invoke the aid of spirits to explain such cases is itself insanity on our part, so that the Piper cult itself only awaits an explanation which will, if all present signs fail not, be complete sooner than most now dream. But what of the content of these messages 1 This is the chief point with most of her defenders. Perhaps our sit- tings contain as much material for supernatural findings as she ever gave, possibly more. Her hand often injected isolated words, phrases, and names, but in our case noth- ing seemed to fit or be apposite enough to anything in our experience to interest us or to allure us on to the reciproc- ity of further question and answer, in which believers usu- ally find their faith reinforced. Search as we would they singly seemed to pass us by, and were palpable misses. I knew, for instance, several Helens, living and dead, but never had any special interest in or close acquaintance with xxvii INTRODUCTION any of them, which perhaps was rather singular consider- ing the frequency of this name. I had known two Wolcotts, but had met both only once. I have known several Bessies, but only as I have known hundreds of others, and so of nearly all the rest. On the other hand, these injections seem palpable fishing. Very likely it seemed monstrous to the ghost that when he mentioned my father, ever so flit- tingly, I did not rush in more promptly with attempts to actually get into communication with his spirit as it seemed to flit so near. We aU have fathers, but somehow it seemed vulgar to me to hold the intercourse which I should love to with my father's spirit in such a way as this. Again, I had a brother Robert, a Cambridge clergyman, who died years ago, and this name appeared. Perhaps this was the nearest to a hit, but it is not an uncommon name and many Boston people remember and still others have heard of him. Per- haps I have an instinctive dread of being disillusionised, or feel undue shyness and coyness toward the ghosts, but I vow it is not, as the control seemed to indicate in the only two or three lines we suppressed, because I was hard hearted, lacking in affection, and quickly forgetful of my departed friends. This insinuation I interpret as the cumu- lative resentment at my persistent failure to follow the in- jected fishing invitations and to indulge in conversation with the suggested spirits through this medium, nor do I think I owe them any apology. Dear ghosts of my relatives, I did not mean to slight you, and pray accept my apologies and my profound regrets if you really were trying to ring me up. But indeed it is an utter psychological impossibility for me to treat this subject seriously. If a critic insists that we should have followed all of these weird beckonings till we struck some true trail, that we must relax and be utterly passive and follow the suggestions of the numen, I can only say that the bait did not attract. We might have faltered, dickered, and skirmished with the control along the lines xxviii INTRODUCTION suggested by the names, and carried on a ghostly flirtation with these hovering, beckoning personalities, and then laboriously matched up their phrases with facts from our lives ; but is this the way to proceed 1 Why are our friends on the yonder shore so coy and wispy ? They were not so in life. If my father really got within range, why did he vanish so immediately? Was it not really " up to him " to make the first advances ? I was there, waiting and listening. Was he offended that I did not drop every other purpose and follow him and cry out and entreat him to give me some infallible tests, or at least a private sign ? He was not thus in life, nor was my brother. Perhaps I partly feared the twaddle messages I had often received through other mediums. I wish to remember both in the relations of the same respect and culture I bore them when living, and I would not have them appear now as ninnies. Their flitting nod or beck and their precipitate retreat was as if all their love for me had been distilled out of their lives in the cerulean blue, and that would have been disheartening. A drop of human blood is better than a tide of celestial ichor. I should have felt that they were constrained and held against their will. I would not have the memories I cher- ish of them polluted, and should have surely felt that they were pitiably weakened wrecks of their former selves. It would really have been but a battle of wits between me and the control to see if the latter could snatch up suggestions involuntarily and unconsciously emitted by me. I should have felt myself a victim, prostituted by my lust for knowl- edge of their survival and their perdurable identity. The medium was so dim and muddy that I was averse to looking at loved forms through it. Did I then fail thus of my chief duty as an investigator, as the doughty believer and critic is sure to say I did, and that at the most crucial point? I trow not. Living, as I have said, among believers, I have been notified unnumbered times that spirit messages from departed friends awaited me, and I have responded often xxix INTRODUCTION to such calls, but always with results that have positively shamed my scientific curiosity, so that my loathness to go further is the product of a long, slow growth. Moreover, I am convinced that they on their side would be more loath to meet me under such conditions and for such purposes than I to meet them. I hate to think of them as under such a control. My belief in them rests on higher grounds, and would be degraded by such rendezvous. I might have cross- examined other ghosts, not so near me, for proofs of their identity, but not these. It would be like peeping and bot- anising on my mother's grave, when all these and many more plants grow elsewhere. Neither of them shall be a corpus vile for experimentation or ghostly vivisection on my part. But one need not be so serious. Each was only a flatus vocis, and to such callers I am not at home. If ghosts are real, too, there must be abundant other evidence, and this we have utterly failed to find; and only when there is a decent ease should we conjure those nearest and dearest. Hyslop's example to the contrary notwithstanding, I draw the line at such indignity for my own family, all of whom in life had a horror of all such communications. My real father (Heaven rest his soul!) would never have responded to such a call, and I am still in too much awe of him to have him catch me at such business. I can vividly antici- pate his reproof without seeing him compelled to administer it in the control's hideous penmanship, when he wrote an almost copperplate hand. Both these relatives died firm in the Christian faith of another life after death, and neither of them would have welcomed the scepticism that would be implied on my part in thus questioning their existence. Thus, under the circumstances, it would not have been a pleasant meeting. Finally, I do not worry about another life, and am not suffering from any parousa- mania to explore it now and here. This life is rich and good enough for me now, and if another comes in its own XXX INTRODUCTION good time, as I hope at least to deserve, its fruitions and its reunions will be welcome surplusage, and if not, that, too, is best. One world at a time is the motto that is best to live and die by. Doing the present duty with all our might is the best propaedeutic for whatever lies beyond, and it is bad policy for even science to waste time and energy in trying to force man's way to knowledge that lies beyond and above his estate. Here faith is better than sense. This domain may well ever be reserved from reason and science. Let us work on soluble problems, for there are hosts of them that fairly cry out for exploration ; and religion surely has some rights that even science might well respect. In fine, at the very best, I for one can see nothing more in Mrs. Piper than an interesting ease of secondary per- sonality with its own unique features. It is very easy to conjure mystic meanings into the utterances of all such split-off egos, to treat every mutter in a dream symbolically, to match each at occasional points with real events or per- sons, if we set out with the wish and will to do so. Kant set aside Swedenborg because he had no stomach for ex- plaining the terms of a visionary by the theories of a meta- physician, and the members of the Piper cult should profit by his example. Even telepathy seems to me a striking case of the subjection of the intellect by the will-to-believe. If an intense optical stimulus or the high psychic impres- sion it causes cannot jump across the infinitesimal space occupied by the myaline nerve sheath so as to affect the auditory fibres, or vice versa, as in synesthesia, and if the law of isolated conductivity holds and is so cardinal in neurology, how much less can impressions pass across vast spaces independently of the organs of sense ! Here I have for years had a standard series of tests often tried on be- lievers in telepathy and clairvoyance, but never with a glimmer of success. Only when conditions can be so con- trolled that, e. g., a teacher can annoxmce beforehand that on such a day, hour, and place he will demonstrate these xxxi INTRODUCTION things, can or will they be accepted by any sound scientific mind. Science is indeed a solid island set in the midst of a stormy, foggy, and uncharted sea, and all these phenomena are of the sea and not the land. If there have been eras of enlightenment it is because these cloud banks of super- stition, for which about all forms of modern Spiritism are only collective terms, have lifted for a space or season. Spiritism is the ruck and muck of modem culture, the com- mon enemy of true science and of true religion, and to drain its dismal and miasmatic marshes is the great work of modern culture. The passion to know whether if a man dies he shall live again, which weights all the dice and makes most men eagle-eyed for all that can favour and bat-eyed for all that seems against what is the deep desire of every heart, will never find satisfaction or solution in this wise. "We have largely evicted superstition from the physical universe, which used to be the dumping ground of the miraculous. Superstition to-day has its stronghold in the dark terrcB incognitoe of the unconscious soul of man toward which researchers to-day are just as superstitious as savages are toward lightning, eclipses, comets, and earth- quakes. The attitude of mind of these two types of man- kind toward these two classes of phenomena can be psy- chologically paralleled to the uttermost detail. But we have great ground to rejoice that science is now advancing into this domain more rapidly than ever before, and that the last few years have seen more progress than the cen- tury that preceded. The mysteries of our psychic being are bound ere long to be cleared up. Every one of these ghostly phenomena will be brought under the domain of law. The present recrudescence here of ancient faiths in the supernatural is very interesting as a psychic atavism, as the last flashing up of a group of old psychoses soon to become extinct. When genetic psychology has done its work, all these psychic researches will take their place among the solemn absurdities in the history of thought, and xxxii INTRODUCTION the instincts that prompted them will be recognised as only psychic rudimentary organs that ought to be and will be left to atrophy. Dr. Tanner has for three years been my research co- adjutor at Clark University. She is an able and indefat- igable worker, and her first book, " The Child " (1904, pp. 430) has had wide vogue and is still the best general survey of pre-adolescence. The present work is, of course, all her own, save a few notes of mine on the Piper sittings, jotted down with no thought of their publication, least of all in their present form. It is significant that she began this study inclined to believe that there was at least some general truth in both telepathy and in Spiritism, but in and by the studies here reported has passed over to a nega- tive attitude toward both. To my mind, this treatise is the sanest and best of the many that have of late appeared in this field, and should be carefully pondered by all inter- ested in the subject. It is my sincere hope and belief that it will do much to bring a sounder and more scientific atti- tude into vogue than that which has prevailed during re- cent years. It is significant, too, that the chief works of the English Psychic Research Society have never before had a searching, impartial, critical estimate, often as they have been worked over by believers. Those with scepticism enough to have been impartial have never been able to arouse interest enough to treat these studies thoroughly. Thus, I cannot but hope that this book will mark a turn of the tide. G. Stanley Hall. Clark University, Worcester, Mass., July, 1910. EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED In the following pages various somewhat technical terms are used which need some preliminary explanation. They cannot always be exactly defined because they have varying connotations with different writers, but the en- deavour here will be to give the reader a general idea of the meaning. First consider the terms descriptive of the sittings of the trance medium. The medium is the medium of com- munication between this world and the other ; the sitter is the person who comes to receive messages, and in this dis- cussion is usually identical with the experimenter. The control is the spirit on the other side who enters the medi- um's body and controls the mouth or hand. The communi- cating spirit may be the control also, or may simply be present on the other side and give his messages to the con- trol. The latter is supposed to be the case usually with Mrs. Piper. Mrs. Piper has various controls at the present time. The spirit of Richard Hodgson, who, while alive, was Mrs. Piper's manager for eighteen years, is the most conundn one. For translations of foreign languages, the spirit of F. W. H. Myers, one of the founders of the Psychical Re- search Society and a voluminous writer while alive, is usu- ally called upon. Rector is another control who appears at the beginning and end of each sitting and occasion- ally at other times. Only a few members of the Psychical Society know who he claims to have been while alive. Other controls have appeared with Mrs. Piper and still do XXXV EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED at times, but the references to them in the text are self- explanatory. The Myers and Hodgson controls, however, appear not only in Mrs. Piper's sittings but also in the messages sent through Mrs. Verrall and Mrs. Holland, and their presence there should not lead the reader to conclude that they are different persons. They claim to be the same, communicating through the different mediums. To distin- guish them from each other the Psychical Researchers des- ignate them as the Piper-Myers, Verrall-Myers, and the like.- We cannot undertake here to give all the spiritistic terms commonly used. " The light " is the term employed by the controls as synonymous with medium. " The ma- chine " is the medium's body and especially her right hand. " This side " refers to the world of living men, and " the other side " to the world of spirits. For the sake of clearness these terms are used in their current meanings in the body of the text. For the same reason, a sharp line of division is drawn between Mrs. Pi- per and her controls, 'the two being spoken of as if they were totally distinct. Mrs. Piper, or the waking or normal Mrs. Piper, is the Mrs. Piper who is not in the trance state. When in the trance, she is referred to simply as " the me- dium," and whatever is said and done by her is referred to the controls. The trance state' in her case is described at length in the text. But trance states are by no means the exclusive possession of mediums. They are common in hysterical subjects, and in cases of secondary personality, and can be produced by hypnosis or suggestion with proper subjects. While in the trance the victim is more or less unconscious of what is going on about her, and on recovering remem- bers her feelings more or less dimly. The state has many resemblances to somnambulism. Neither the causes nor cure of it are as yet well understood. The subconscious self or subliminal mind is a term used to designate various mental processes which seem to be xxxvi EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED present in the mind, but are not within the range of con- sciousness, e. g., if a person has a difficult decision to make, he may put the whole matter out of his mind, not thinking about it for several days, and then one day find that he knows just what he intends to do. In such a case, various shiftings of associations must have been going on of which he has no memory and which he could not attend to at any time, and so we say they went on " below con- sciousness," or in the " subconscious mind." Again, it has been discovered that in many cases of hysteria the root trouble is some mental shock which has sunk below the conscious level and is there disorganising the personality, and that when this can be brought to consciousness and connected with the rest of the mental life, the person is cured. In hypnotism, again, with a good subject, a com- mand can be given that he shall do some act at some fu- ture date — even a year or more later — and when the time comes he will do the act. This is called post-hypnotic sug- gestion. In the interval between the hypnotising and the date set for the act, the subject has no memory of the com- mand, and yet the fact that he performs the act at the appropriate time shows that the command left some sort of trace. So we say it was in the " subconscious mind." The memories that can be revived in hypnosis or by putting the subject through a strict process of self -analy- sis and questioning extended sometimes over weeks — called the psycho-analytic method — seem to indicate that very many experiences which we cannot recall at will are never- theless present in this subconscious level, and many stu- dents now suppose that no experience is ever really forgotten. Now, if some of these groups of submerged or sub- conscious memories are roused into activity, they tend to connect themselves with other groups, and under certain conditions of nervous strain or shock, they may become strong enough to obtain control of the usual channels of xxxvii EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED expression, the mouth and hands especially, and then the person speaks only of those memories and feelings and becomes a new personality. We say then that a secondary personality has emerged. After a time — sometimes weeks or months, sometimes only days or hours — ^these centres lose their control, the person goes into a sort of stupor, trance, or sleep, and wakes up either his old self or a third self, still another personality. The original self is the primary personality. Theoretically there is no limit to the number of selves which may thus appear, and in some clinical cases as many as six have been studied. The principal reason why these multiple personalities do not appear in most of us seems to be that we ourselves use the ordinary avenues of expression of thought, the mouth, hands, and body generally, so constantly that they cannot easily be shunted off from their usual connections and connected with these submerged thoughts. But many, if not all, people can learn to do this. If a person follows Mrs. Verrall's suggestions, as given in her account in the text, he will probably get writing, as she did, or if not writing, he may succeed with crystal gazing. Writing produced in this state of abstraction, seem- ingly without the volition or knowledge of the writer, is called automatic writing, and the writer is called the automatist. Such writing may be done in the ordinary way, holding the pencil in the hand, or by means of the planchette. The planchette has various forms. In its sim- plest form it is a thin board on three legs with castors so that it moves very easily. The front leg sometimes consists of a pencil, and then the planchette is put on a piece of paper. If the front leg is not a pencil, the planchette is put on a board which has the alphabet printed on it. In either ease the hand is placed lightly on top of the planchette and questions are then asked of it. If the con- ditions are propitious, an answer will be written or spelled out even to questions of which the automatist knows noth- xxxviii EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED ing. In such cases the abstracted state of the automatist gives the subconscious ideas and 'inferences a chance to express themselves through the writing, and so correct answers may be given to things completely forgotten by the conscious mind, and much nonsense will also be pro- duced. There is also a group of terms connected with the ex- periments in thought transference. The experimenter or agent is the one who is giving the impressions ; the percipi- ent is the subject, or the one who is sitting passively try- ing to receive the thoughts in the mind of the agent. Hyperesthesia is a state of heightened sensitiveness of some sense-organ. For instance, ordinarily, a person cannot hear a watch tick more than fifteen or twenty feet away, but if his ears are hyperesthetic, he may hear it even in the next room with the door closed. Sight, smell, etc., may be similarly heightened under some conditions. SuggestibiUty is a term applied to a condition in which a person is influenced to an unusual degree by suggestions or commands given to him. It seems to be especially char- acteristic of the hypnotic trance and abstracted states already referred to. By means of suggestion a person in any of these states may be made hyperesthetic to some objects and insensitive to others. Amnesia is forgetfulness of what has happened in these states. Various other terms used in the text are either self- explanatory or are defined when used. STUDIES IN SPIRITISM CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: SCOPE AND STANDPOINT OF THIS STUDY Pbobablt no modern form of religion — ^not even except- ing Christian Science — is so fiercely discussed to-day as Spiritism. On the one hand the Psychical Researchers have for the first time studied the facts in the case sys- tematically and have printed voluminously, persistently calling their work " scientific " and maintaining that they have " proved " certain facts bearing in the most funda- mental way upon personal survival after death. They have thus drawn to themselves a large following of well- read, mystically inclined people, who have perhaps found orthodox religion somewhat too arid to satisfy their deeply emotional natures, and who gladly believe in scientific dem- onstrations of immortality. On the opposite side stand the strict scientists of all sorts, physical, biological, and psychological, who consider the study of such phenomena a waste of time, and who have no tolerance either for the persons or the results of their work. These men rarely put their opinions into print, because for the most part, probably, they are imprintable, and would consist chiefiy of dashes, and so the general pub- lic has heard little of recent years save the things favour- able to ' ' scientific spiritism. ' ' We lack, therefore, an evaluation of the subject which will disclose the flaws in the evidence and yet which wiU do justice to the pioneer work of the Psychical Researchers and to the unsatisfied 1 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM needs which have led to this great outburst 6f belief in Spiritism. In the space of the present work, I cannot hope to do this with regard to all the phenomena included under Spir- itism, nor can I even deal with the historical phase of the subject to any great extent. I shall limit myself rather closely to the work of Mrs. Piper and of the English Psy- chical Research Society on telepathy and related phe- nomena. In thus omitting discussion of the physical phe- nomena, and of the historical side of Spiritism, I am in- fluenced chiefly by the fact that there are two excellent books covering these phases, viz., Mr. Podmore's " History of Modern Spiritualism " and Mr. Carrington's " Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism," although Mr. Carrington's recent exploitation of and professed faith in Eusapia Pal- ladino, who has been repeatedly detected in fraud, must cast an unfortunate shadow backward on this book. Here I will merely note the chief divisions of the subject before taking up my particular theme. Spiritistic phenomena manifest themselves in two chief forms, psychical and physical. Under the latter come all such things as raps, slate writing, lights, apports, mate- rialisations, etc. Under the former, come the messages purporting to be from the dead. These may be received in various ways, either with or without a trance, through speaking or writing, or visions with or without a crystal, as warnings or premonitions, and in vague or definite form. Sometimes the control impersonates the spirit, and at other times gives only the content of the message. Both psychical and physical phenomena are very an- cient, but in modern times Spiritism had declined until 1848 when the Fox Sisters, of Rochester, N. Y., inau- gurated a movement which has spread continuously since, in spite of the most colossal and frequently exposed frauds. The frauds became so notorious and yet the dupes so nu- merous, both in this country and in England, that when 2 INTRODUCTION the English Society of Psychical Research was organised in 1882, one of its first steps was to appoint a Committee to investigate Spiritism. Some of the members of this Com- mittee wene themselves sincere Spiritists and others were sceptics, but all were united in the conviction that all fraud must be exposed. The members of this Committee made it their business to visit mediums and to find out how they produced their phenomena. The first result was the exposure of very many mediums of high standing, and the publication of their frauds in the Proceedings and Journal of the Society. The Committee finally reached the conclusion that no pro- fessional medium could be used in scientific investigation, because even if sometimes she produced genuine phenom- ena, she would use trickery in order to get results when the genuine ones could not be secured. The desideratum in the way of a medium is to have some one whose living is not dependent upon her seances, and who is so honest and so in love with truth that the desire for reputation, success, etc., will not induce her to employ fraud. The mediums whom the Society puts into this class may be counted on the fingers of one hand, and even they are of very different degrees of merit. First let us say that in seeking for " scientific " proofs as distinct from probabilities or merely interesting statements, the Society itself discards historical eases in toto, because the accounts of them do not give sufficient details for us to pass judg- ment on them either for or against. This is true even in the cases of D. D. Home and Stainton Moses, who are probably the most eminent Spiritists of recent times. We have left then a small group of non-professional mediums who are willing to subject themselves to any tests and who have never been discovered in fraud. Those concerned with psychical phenomena, and in whom the English So- ciety is interested, are Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. Verrall, and Mrs. Piper. Mrs. Piper alone is 3 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM an American, the others all being Englishwomen. Per- haps Mrs. Smead should also be mentioned here, as one in whom Hyslop is especially interested in this country, but her case has not been subjected to such severe tests as the others have. Comparatively little has been published of the four Englishwomen, the most important being Mrs. Verrall's account of her development of automatic writing, and Mrs. Holland's cross correspondences. These we shall consider later. Far more numerous than these and more widely known are the messages delivered through Mrs. Piper. Indeed, so much of the evidence for ' ' scientific Spiritism ' ' comes through her that we hardly exaggerate the case in saying that she is the only medium who at present offers any proofs of the psychical phenomena of Spiritism which appeal to judicial minds. She and the mediums just men- tioned are the only ones who have submitted to and seemed to stand any scientific and long-continued series of tests. There is considerable difference of opinion as to what constitutes a scientific test of a seance, and perhaps we may simplify the problem by dividing it into various sections. First we shall consider the qualities desirable in the investi- gator or sitter; second, the standards and conditions to be used in obtaining physical phenomena ; and third, standards for judging the content of messages. First, as to the desirable qualities in the investigator. That investigator will have the least personal bias in this matter who has suffered no keen and recent loss of some beloved friend or relative. A strong desire to come into touch with the departed makes it difScult to hold the judg- ment in suspense when they purport to appear. The in- vestigator should also be well poised and well balanced, and should not be suffering from nervous disease or nervous exhaustion, since such usually disturbs the judgment, es- pecially where personal affairs are concerned. If he is investigating physical phenomena, such as materialisations, 4 INTRODUCTION raps, etc., it is indispensable that he should have a knowl- edge of sleight of hand. In no other way can he be sure that he is not deceived. Whether he is investigating physi- cal phenomena or psychical, he ought to know the degree to which suggestion and inference assist observation in aU our thinking, and especially the illusions to which memory is subject. He also ought to understand how necessary it is to give the medium no inkling of his purposes or method. Incidentally it should be remarked here that, contrary to a wide-spread opinion, the physical scientist is not the best qualified person to investigate spiritistic phenomena. In many cases eminent scientists have been deceived by palpable frauds, and some conjurers assert that they are especially easy to deceive because they are so confident of the trustworthiness of their senses. They are easily di- verted to some unimportant physical detail which attracts their scientific minds, and while they are attending to that the conjurer performs the essential part of his trick. They also have no conception of the art of misdirection, or the tricks which their memories may play them. A cynical man of the world, with no trust in the average man, would be the best investigator, if he had some psychological training. It needs few words to show the difference between this ideal investigator and the average sitter. In the begin- ning some persons go to a medium partly for the joke of it, but even they usually have some residuum of superstition, perhaps uneonfessed even to themselves, which inclines them to attach undue significance to any hit the medium may make. This tendency to explain unexplained events by supernatural agencies is so strong in all of us that it might almost be called an instinct, and even the most rigid training in exact science rarely eliminates it except in the realm of the particular science concerned. It is not sur- prising, therefore, that the average sitter, even if he comes away still an unbeliever, usually has the feeling that this or that incident or saying of the medium may, after all, 5 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM have been caused by some supernatural power. Any one who talks with people who have gone to a sitting, half in curiosity, half in fun, must have noted this reference to the surprising, and inexplicable, save in unusually hard-headed persons. The infrequent sitter, then, declines to believe that some things, at least, are inexplicable by natural laws. But the sitter who goes to mediums occasionally or reg- ularly goes far beyond this. Such a sitter usually has a practical motive in thus going. He or she may want advice in business, and seeks it from the deceased wife, husband, or friend. Not infrequently the sitter does get good, prac- tical suggestions — ^none the less so because they come from the medium — which perhaps are worth the money he pays for them, and so he comes to depend upon the sitting at crucial times. Very often advice is wanted as to delicate family situations, comfort is desired by the bereaved mourner, and the feelings of remorse over tmnecessary misunderstanding and unkindness are to be removed. In such cases the medium comes to hold in the life of the sitter a position which combines to a large extent the functions formerly performed by both the pastor and the family lawyer. If in addition she prescribes, she adds the duties of the family physician. The person who is receiving valuable suggestions or comfort is not much concerned to look for fraud. When raps or materialisations are being produced, he is attending strictly to the content of the messages. If the messages are vague, he is most interested in interpreting them, not in considering that such generalities do not imply spiritual assistance. When he leaves the sitting he cares little whether his memory of it is absolutely accurate, but he does care a great deal whether he remembers and inter- prets it in such a way as to help him in his daily living. In short, his object is not scientific investigation but prac- tical assistance. He is a thorough-going pragmatist. It helps him, therefore it is valuable for him, therefore, he 6 INTRODUCTION concludes, it is true; which means, to him, that its own claims are to be accepted. On the other side, the attitude of the medium is more complex than is ordinarily recognised. In another con- nection I shall discuss the diathesis of the genuine medium. Here I wiU only point out that there seem to be at least three characteristic types of medium. First there is the thorough-going fraud, who intends to live by working upon these deepest instincts and emotions. Such mediums, of course, belong in the same class as all other dead-beats and swindlers. Then, in the second place, there are those mediums who do really have feelings of premonition, powers of crystal gazing, trance tendencies, etc., and who do not themselves understand these tendencies and are partly inclined to be- lieve in them as showing connections with the other world. When such persons are under the necessity of earning a living, and have discovered the commercial value of their powers, they see no reason why they should not become mediums for pay. Perhaps there is no reason. But such powers do not act continuously, and so the medium finds either that she must sometimes fail in her sitting, or refuse a sitting, unless she supplements her supposedly super- normal powers by her native wit and common sense, and perhaps draws more sitters by some showy materialisation of one kind or another. I fancy that many mediums have this peculiar combination of belief in themselves with de- ception of the sitter, which makes it especially difficult for the casual investigator to discover their frauds or to under- stand the mediums. Then, thirdly, there is the medium with these peculiar characteristics, who either does not need to earn a living or has a strong enough moral sense to resist the temptations to deceit just mentioned. These are the simon-pure cases which alone are worthy scientific investigation. Such mediums, who will submit themselves without re- 7 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM serve to the conditions laid down by unprejudiced and well- trained investigators, are the only ones who should be con- sidered. As long as the medium herself sets any of the conditions, the results can have no scientific value, no mat- ter how convincing they may be to believers. This brings us to the consideration of these few trust- worthy mediums, and especially of Mrs. Piper. In mailing this summary I have drawn especially upon the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, and have myself had six sittings with Mrs. Piper. I have also had access to some of the unpublished records of Mrs. Pi- per's sittings. I have not considered it necessary to go over the vast accumulations of unpublished material, chiefly because, if I understand the case correctly, the published records contain the best of what could be made public. The unpublished material, that is, increases tremendously the mass of rubbish, and to a less degree the eAddential messages, save in some instances where the matters are too private to be made public. Professor James {Proceedings, 23, p. 115) describes the entire mass of the records on the Hodgson control thus : " I have left out, by not citing the whole mass of records, so much mere mannerism, so much repetition, hesitation, irrelevance, imintelligibility, so much obvious groping and fishing and plausible covering up of false tracks, so much false pretension to power and real obedience to suggestion, that the stream of veridieality that runs through the whole gets lost as it were in a marsh of feebleness, and the total dramatic effect on the mind may be little more than the word ' humbug. ' The really significant items disappear in the total bulk." If I have erred, therefore, in not studying all this mass of material, my mistake redounds to the advantage of the controls. CHAPTER II MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY, PERSONALITY, AND TRANCE STATE In 1885 Prof. William James, of Harvard University, first heard of Mrs. Piper through some of the members of his family who had had a sitting with her and had been told the names of various members of the family, together with other bits of information that it seemed impossible for the mediiun to know by any ordinary means. James himself was sceptical at first, but was induced through curiosity to attend a seance himself, his name of course being unknown, and his relationship to the ladies. He, too, was given pri- vate information about the family affairs that to him was very surprising, and that made him desire to investigate the matter further. Accordingly, not only did he continue to have sittings himself, but he sent sitters to Mrs. Piper, under assumed names. Some of the sitters obtained a great deal of information and became convinced that they were commimicating with spirits ; others obtained none, and felt that Mrs. Piper was a fraud. Nevertheless, the phenomena were successful enough for the Society for Psychical Re- search to take up the case in 1888 and begin a systematic investigation, at first through Dr. Hodgson, whose head- quarters were then in Boston. Dr. Hodgson's first step was to convince himself that Mrs. Piper was not employing fraud, that she had no ways of getting the information which her controls give to sit- ters. For this purpose he placed her under close surveil- lance, and had her and her husband " shadowed " for sev- eral weeks by a detective without finding anything sus- 4 9 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM picious. He also became convinced that in her normal state at least she had no desire to deceive. She showed no curi- osity at all about the sitters, and when taken to their houses she was never found questioning the servants, investigating the drawers or desks, or doing anything which might yield facts desirable to know. In addition to this, he and the other members of the Society were confident that even if she had desired to do so she had not the money necessary to carry on inquiries on any such scale as would have been necessary to obtain the results. Mrs. Piper's husband was a clerk in a Boston store, and Mrs. Piper herself never received more than $1,000 a year for her services, while if she had obtained her information by sending people to investigate families she would have been obliged to spend considerable sums for traveling, to say nothing of paying the agent. After becoming convinced that there was no intentional fraud, Hodgson began a study of the content of the mes- sages, and at length took Mrs. Piper to England, that the Society there might study her at first hand. There all sorts of precautions were taken to prevent her getting in- formation through any ordinary channels. Nevertheless, Mrs. Piper gave successful sittings to Sir Oliver Lodge and to various other members of the Society, convincing many of them that she was in truth controlled by spirits. After her return to Boston she remained under the direc- tion of the Society, giving sittings to sitters arranged for by Hodgson, who collected a vast mass of data which are now in the archives in London. In 1898 one of these sit- ters was Dr. James Hyslop, then of Columbia University, who was not at that time a believer in Spiritism. His first two sittings were not very successful, but after that the spirit of his father appeared, took up the problem of prov- ing his identity according to the standards set by the son, and succeeded so well that Hyslop became convinced that he was communicating with his father's spirit. Conse- 10 MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY quent upon this Hyslop gave up his work of teaching, and devoted himself to investigating the matter and to testing Mrs. Piper thoroughly and scientifically, in order to make it impossible for any scientist to assert that fraud is pos- sible or any ordinary means of obtaining the information given. Up to the time of the dissolution of the American Branch of the Society, in 1906, Hyslop continued to experi- ment with Mrs. Piper, but since then he has been con- cerned with other mediums, while she still remains under the control of the English Society, represented in Boston by Mr. G. B. Dorr. While there is no formal contract between Mrs. Piper and the Society or Mr. Dorr, the un- derstanding is that she shall receive no sitters except those for whom he arranges, and, on the other side, that he shall provide the two or three a week necessary to support her and her two daughters. Though she has never received a salary from the Society, she is thus assured of a living. Mrs. Piper has never been a " professional medium," i. e., she has never received the general public as sitters. At the same time we must note that for twenty-three years she has had an ever-increasing reputation to maintain, and that she has reaped definite pecuniary and social advan- tages from her mediumistic powers, as well as some notoriety and annoyance. Each additional year of success makes it harder for her to contemplate failure, and if the controls have any sense of her importance to the cause of Spiritism, must tempt them to employ all possible means to keep their messages up to the highest standard. In the many years that she has been under investigation the normal Mrs. Piper has never been discovered in fraud. Hyslop estimates that about $75,000 have been spent in in- vestigating and publishing the account of her case, and the Society alone has devoted about 2,000 pages of its Pro- ceedings to her. The other writings about her would make a fair library. The mental tastes and attainments of the normal Mrs. 11 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Piper have been dealt with very little in published accounts of her case, but are significant if one attempts to study the trance state in relation to the normal one. Mrs. Piper has come ere now to be a believer in her own extraordinary powers, but she has found so much practical inconvenience from the publicity which has become attached to her that she hides herself from the general public as much as possible. She has been persecuted by reporters and misrepresented by the press in ways that have made her justly indignant, and that have left her to some degree suspicious of every stranger who seeks her without proper introductions. She seems to have the feeling to some de- gree that she is isolated, shut off from others by her voca- tion, and, as far as possible, she keeps this phase of her life from the knowledge or notice of casual acquaintances. Sitters going to her house are requested to enter and go up-stairs quietly, so that occupants of the other apart- ments shall not know sitters are being received, and even a ring at Mrs. Piper's own door is made unnecessary through some one being on the watch to receive the sitter. Mrs. Piper speaks with strong feeling of the suspicions to which she has been subjected, and naturally, and as far as possible, she discourages tendencies shown by one of her daughtars toward mediumistic powers, far preferring that both of them should be trained thoroughly along other lines to earn their own livings. Her powers have, indeed, brought her into close acquaintance with many well-known men and women, and have earned her living for years, but they always have made her stand out as exceptional, if not abnormal, and she seems to look forward without dread to the time when her power will fail — as the controls have said it would — and she must retire to private life. Her isolation has been emphasised by the fact that she has never had anything to do with ordinary Spiritism, has never attended seances regularly or subscribed to spir- itualistic literature. She has, on the other hand, read at 12 MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY some length the publications of the Society for Psychical Research, especially the accounts of her own sittings, and she enjoys Prof. William James's writings, but finds more technical works, such as Prince's, uninteresting. Of late years Mrs. Piper has not been connected with any church. She was brought up a Methodist, but when her parents moved to a town where there was only a Con- gregational church, she attended that. She would like to have some church connections, but seepis to feel that prob- ably she would not be welcomed in any church on account of her work as a medium. Here, too, she is isolated. The type of mind shown by Mrs. Piper is also signifi- cant. She seems to be of the impulsive, impressionistic type, guided far more by feeling than by logical reasons. She says that she has premonitions and warnings in a vague way, especially with regard to illness ; that, although she does not often dream unless she has indigestion, she has had at least two dreams which came true. She has tried a little crystal gazing, and believes the crystal fore- told events, but she has never, in her normal state, received telepathic messages. In coming to decisions she shows the impulsive tendency. For instance, she may suddenly decide to go on a journey, put on her hat and start at once. She reaches decisions about people quickly and on slight grounds. She says, for instance, that if she is in a roomful of people talking to some one, she may overhear others talking, and at once make up her mind which of them she is going to like or dislike. This impressionability shows itself in various other ways. She is unusually fond of nature and its beauties, and very susceptible both to pictures and to music. She is poor at remembering names, but good at remembering both faces and voices, especially voices. She believes that she can tell much of a person's character, especially his sincerity, from his voice. In spite of this susceptibility, however, she is not a 13 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM good hypnotic subject. Years ago, in the early history of the trance, Professor James tried unsuccessfully to hypno- tise her, and Dr. Hall made two attempts, which were also unsuccessful. Her own attitude toward the trance state seems to be that of a believing spectator. She says with reiteration and emphasis that she has absolutely no memory of what goes on in the trance, not even a feeling of deja vu, or vague sense of recognition. When she reads the published accounts of her own sittings they are totally new to her, and sometimes it is difficult for her to believe that she could have written the things recorded. She cannot tell from her feelings afterward whether the sitting has been pleasant or unpleasant, successful or not. This being the case, her belief in her powers would seem to stand on the same basis as anyone else's. At first, she says, she did not like to have the trance come on because she feared that it was a symptom of hysteria or some men- tal abnormality. Accordingly, she resisted it, she was afraid of it, etc. But apparently, as the Researchers grew to a belief in her powers, and as she herself became fa- miliar with them through conversations and reading, she became confident that they were not signs of abnormal but of supernormal powers, she yielded herself to them, and now believes in them and in her mission as a medium. Her entrance to the trance state is voluntary, though she is imable to describe in detail her mental attitude. She usually carries on a casual conversation with the sitters while sitting in an armchair in front of a table on which three pillows are placed. She tries not to think intently of anything, and more or less consciously she makes her breathing much slower. She begins to look sleepy, the eyes become slightly fixed and staring, within a minute the mouth drops open, and the eyes become rigid, the breath- ing is still slower, and in five or six minutes from the first look of sleepiness the head is dropped on the pillow, the 14 MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY breathing is slower by one-half than normal, and very- stertorous, and the hand is ready to write. Usually as the trance comes on the face twitches slightly, and sometimes the fingers do also. Sometimes there is some incoherent talking. The pulse varies from about 84, which seems to be the normal rate before the onset of the trance, to be- tween 70 and 76 at the close. The breathing varies from 20 to 22 for the normal, to between 7 and 10 during the trance, up to the time the hand ceases to write. It then becomes gradually more rapid, rising to normal in the course of fifteen minutes. This is the present method of entering the trance. Mrs. Piper says that she experiences no discomfort from it, and that variations in her health or feelings do not seem to modify it. It has never come on spontaneously, e. g., while she was asleep or absent-minded or dozing. In the early days of the trance, however, the case was quite different. Then Mrs. Piper was not sure of what the trance signified, was unwilling to yield fully to it, and re- sisted its onset. As a result, it came violently, sometimes her entire body was convulsed, as well as her face, there were sighs and groans, and the whole process gave the im- pression of decided pain. But in 1896, when the Imperator group of controls took possession, all this began to decrease, until she reached the present comparatively easy mode of procedure. Emergence from the trance to recognition of those pres- ent and to coherent thinking usually takes longer than entrance into it, and lasts from fifteen to twenty minutes. Even then Mrs. Piper usually still looks sleepy, seems a little dazed, and speaks a little indistinctly. She also says that for some time afterward she is disinclined to move about, her body and limbs feeling heavy. In coming out of the trance, after the controls have de- parted, the hand drops the pencil and becomes inert. Then the head begins to rise slowly from the pillow, being tossed 15 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM up with each breath, then falling back somewhat, but each time remaining up a little more than the last time, until it is upright. The breathing has been getting more rapid, and the eyes slowly open, at first with a vacant stare, then focussing upon near objects, and finally seeing. Usually the face is much more drawn than in going into the trance, the left side contracting more than the right, twisting the mouth very much to the left. The face assumes an expres- sion of pain; frequently there are weeping and looks and expressions of disgust. Very soon after this there is usu- ally intent staring at some object within range, then a " snap " in the head, and then recognition. During this coming out of the trance Mrs. Piper has been encouraged to talk, so that almost as soon as the head is erect disjointed words are muttered, fragments of sen- tences, exclamations of pleasure or pain or disgust, followed by remarks indicating the various degrees of recognition up to the full control of thought and speech. The mental condition accompanying this return to con- sciousness is a rather complex one, the result of years of suggestion. On the spiritistic hypothesis, during this in- terval the controls are leaving Mrs. Piper's body and her own spirit is returning to it from the other world. Prom the disjointed remarks made at this time one gathers that her spirit has remained attached to the body by an " ethe- real cord, ' ' down which it slides, and that its entrance is a disagreeable process, this world looking very dark and dull by contrast with that other. Before this happens, how- ever, various exclamations purport to come from the con- trol, who seems to depart by degrees, as it were, becoming more incoherent as he fades away. Then, with no pause, the next remark appears to come from Mrs. Piper, and we infer that the crucial point has been passed. We have said that going into the trance is voluntary. How about coming out of the trance? Is the length of the trance under the control of the control, can it be prolonged 16 MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY indefinitely, or shortened at will? On making inquiries of Mr. Dorr we were told that on one of Mrs. Piper's visits to England some experiments were made along this line. In one case the trance was prolonged about four and a half hours, and on that occasion the progress out of the trance took nearly an hour, and the investigator was too fearful of bad results to attempt such a long sitting another time. We were under pledge not to undertake any experiments which might affect the medium's power, and so could not try this. It seems probable that the average time of the sitting has been determined by normal fatigue, and that to prolong it beyond this time would only result in increas- ing faintness and incoherence in the writing. Whether the control would be more suggestible and could be forced to pass into the normal Mrs. Piper by degrees, somewhat as Prince forced Ansel Bourne's two personalities to meet and unite, is a very interesting question. As a rule it takes five or six minutes to enter the trance, the hand writes between an hour and a half and two hours, and it takes fifteen or twenty minutes to come out of the trance. If we assume that this is approximately the fatigue limit, then it ought to be possible for the controls to leave at any time that they choose, and this is actually the case. On one occasion we made the control shorten the sitting by half an hour, and I am convinced that he could be made to leave at any time. The coming out of the trance is there- fore voluntary on the part of the control, at least up to the fatigue limit, just as entering it is voluntary with Mrs. Piper. There have been no published tests of Mrs. Piper's con- dition while in the trance since the later '80 's, when James made some. We therefore thought that it would be valu- able to ascertain what the present state of things is, and we tried as many as were possible without much apparatus. I have already said that during the course of the trance 17 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the puke varies from 84 in the normal to, at lowest, 70 in the trance. The breathing varies from approximately 22 in the normal to, at lowest, 7, and, as a rule, 10 in the trance. This profound variation in the breathing, with the les- sened oxygenation of the blood, must result in a partial suffocation, a temporary toxemia, and is probably the agency by means of which the normal consciousness is put out of commission and the control put into possession. The head, we have said, is dropped on the pillow and turned to the right, with the eyes closed, after first becom- ing staring and rigid. In the early^ tests it was found on one occasion, by pulling up the eyelid, that the eyeball was rolled up, but we did not find this to be the case. When the eyelid was raised the ball seemed to be in the normal position. We were unable, however, to get any sight reac- tions either to objects or colors. We tested taste and smell with similar negative results, although the stimuli applied were strong. We took a clicker and watch to test hearing with. The watch was put first to the ear and then to the hand, but in no ease did the control admit hearing. The clicker was used similarly, and only when clicked in the hand did the control admit hearing it. This, of course, is in accordance with the control's assumption that his ear is in the hand. Undoubtedly the hearing is normal, and is more acute and sensitive than in the average person, but I question whether it is more so in the control than in the normal Mrs. Piper. The normal Mrs. Piper is unusually sensitive to sounds, voices, etc., and that is probably why the control has always been willing to let the eyes close and receive his information chiefly through the ears. Both ears are uncov- ered, and as the sitter is usually close to Mrs. Piper's right hand, his mouth is not far from her right ear. She must feel not only his voice but his breath, and thus get indications as 18 MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY to the regularity of it, catches, gasps, etc., indicating sur- prise or some other emotion. At the same time the sitter is put off his guard as to the sensitiveness of the ear by the control's statement, which he is expected to adopt, that the control hears through Mrs. Piper's right hand. The sitter is expected to talk at the hand, and the control appears to have difficulty in hearing, until the sitter finds himself acting as we do with deaf per- sons. He tends to shout at the hand, and feels safe in niak- ing side remarks to the other sitters, etc. "We found that when these side remarks contained any information they were later on given back to us by the control, and if we had gone on the assumption that the control was as deaf as he seemed to be, and had made the remarks unintention- ally, as most sitters do, we should have been much startled by the control's knowledge of our private thoughts. We found that whispering and slight noises always made the control suspicious and angry. The principal tests which we wished to make were on the sensitiveness of the skin, especially of the right hand, which is supposed to be the only part of the body con- trolled by the spirit. We also were very desirous of ascer- taining whether the control could move any part of Mrs. Piper's body at will. The esthesiometer was adjusted at three-fourths of an inch and applied to the centre of the right pahn, lightly at first, and then more heavily, without eliciting any response. The second time it was tried, with the heavy pressure, the hand wrote that it felt two touches. The instrument was then readjusted at half an inch, and applied first lightly, and then heavily, and finally with a rocking motion which would strongly emphasise the two points. Nevertheless, the hand reported that there was " probably one " touch. The pressure here was so severe that Mrs. Piper reported afterwards that for several days there were red points on the skin. 19 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM The pain-pressure test was then applied on the centre of the palm, the pressure being increased from zero to twenty-five pounds. The control continued to write that he felt nothing until the maximum was reached, when he wrote, " Sector forbids. Better not." Now the curious thing here is that though the control kept writing that he could not feel these pressures, as soon as the pressure was removed the hand would begin to write, and the hand then and at all other times guided itself on the paper, moving back to the left when it had reached the end of the paper, and pausing at the bottom for the sheet to be torn off, except when it was writing in a great hurry. It also is sensitive to the feeling of the pencil. If no pencil was put into the hand at the beginning of the trance, the hand began with the usual writing motions but soon paused and waited, and then, when it got the pencil, began over again, except in one instance just after we had told Mrs. Piper this fact. It also showed considerable sensitive- ness to the clicker which we used in testing hearing. It took the clicker, felt it over, and after a little found how to click it, all of which would have been impossible had the hand been really insensitive. Similarly, every now and then during the sittings the hand explores the sitter's face or hand, feeling them in an undoubtedly sensitive way. The obvious conclusion which is forced upon us from these contradictory results is that in reality the hand is sensitive, and probably is approximately normal in its sen- sitiveness, but that the control is trying to deceive us into the belief that during the trance there is really no sensi- tiveness in any part of Mrs. Piper's body. "We cannot assume that the control is in a state of anaesthesia toward certain classes of objects, such as can be induced in hyp- notic subjects, because the control showed no anaesthesias save in connection with the experiments. These were the first sense tests that we gave, and as we 20 MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY tested smell, taste, and sight with only negative results to our strong stimuli, we became convinced that even if there were sensitiveness the control would never admit it, be- cause his whole purpose was to convince us that he had no sort of connection with Mrs. Piper's body. We did get some involuntary betrayal with both taste and smell, for on holding a bottle of ether to Mrs. Piper's nose, she at first winced and drew away from it, although at the same in- stant the control wrote that he smelled nothing. Similarly, when I put a third of a saltspoonful of salt in the mouth, the mouth drew up and became wry, although just at that time the control asked if we were ready to begin the ex- periment. These reactions might have been purely reflex perhaps. But several times in the course of the sittings the control complained of the conditions, which, we found, meant that the air was close, and thus he showed at least so much sensitiveness to smell. Our attempts to persuade the control to move various other parts of Mrs. Piper's body were similarly doomed to failure, the control reiterating that he could not be in two places at once, and that he would have to leave the hand, go to the other part of the body to be moved, and then leave for that day. We did not feel that the experiment was worth this loss of time and money, and so dropped it at that point. This brings us to a discussion of the relations between the control and the normal Mrs. Piper. We have already said that Mrs. Piper maintains emphatically and with re- iteration that she has not the faintest glimmer of memory of what goes on in the trance, and that all her knowledge of it comes from her having read the published accoxmts of her sittings and from what sitters have told her. In an exactly similar way the control claims to have no knowledge of Mrs. Piper save what he has learned from various sitters. That is, the theory which he wishes us to adopt is that he controls simply the medium's right hand, 21 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM and has no interest or knowledge in the medium her- self. We tried at various times, directly and indirectly, to obtain information from him relative to Mrs. Piper, but he was always on his guard at once when we referred to her. It would be almost impossible to subject this matter to tests that would be worth anything, because we can never tell whether any given fact about the other state has been told to the personality in question. The really suspicious circumstance in the case of the control is that he professes such complete ignorance of Mrs. Piper. When we con- sider that the living Hodgson worked with Mrs. Piper for eighteen years, and that the dead one has been coming back two or three times a week for nearly four years, it is very unlikely that he would be totally ignorant of Mrs. Piper's address, family, habits of life, etc., as he claims to be. In some instances, too, we were able to bring to the surface a state of feeling or even a memory common to the two personalities. We have already said that on various occasions the control has asked for more air, when we were not conscious that the room was close, and this fits in with Mrs. Piper's own statement that she is very sensitive to closeness, feelings of suffocation, etc., and has to take long walks every day in order to prevent this feeling. Again, in one sitting I pretended that the gas was leaking out in the hall, and the control at once wrote violently and with many abbreviations that Mr. Dorr was to fix anything that was wrong, showing thus a marked solicitude for Mrs. Piper's belongings in decided contrast to his pretended in- difference when we were trying to get information. Again, some sittings before we gave our tests, we asked him if he would feel it if Mrs. Piper was hurt, and he said that he would not, but that it would be best not to hurt the ' ' ma- chine," " because it might suffer after I have gone." The most distinct case of a memory common to the two states 22 MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY was when Dr. Hall, before the trance, quoted the phrase, " a white blackbird," to Mrs. Piper, and in the trance Hodgson used the phrase, " catch me and you catch a white crow." We became pretty well convinced that the controls and Mrs. Piper like and dislike the same persons, and that to some degree the emotional state of one condition, if strong, persists to the other. The relation of the two states to each other may be summed up as follows : on the spiritistic hypothesis, the two states are mutually and totally ignorant of each other. We were unable to devise any tests to ascertain whether the normal self is really totally amnesic as regards the control, but we did find the control sometimes over-ignorant of the normal self, while in some cases he betrayed anxiety as to the concerns of the normal self; that he showed similar emotions with regard to the same people ; and that in a few cases he unconsciously betrayed a memory of events in the life of the normal self. We conclude, therefore, that the control's amnesia is not complete of the normal self, and that the two selves have at least a common emotional char- acter. We cannot state exactly how far these common feel- ings extend, but we may make a few inferences from the reactions to the lists of words given to the control and the normal Mrs. Piper. On the Jung-Freud theory there is a certain normal length of time — 1.5-2.5 seconds — ^taken in reacting to a word. A lengthened reaction shows some emotion roused by the word, and if the word given in reaction is associ- ated superficially, it indicates suppression of the real feel- ing roused. For instance, if synonyms, puns, or sound associations are employed, they are superficial in character, and indicate a feeling which is concealed. Again, in the case of Mrs. Piper, if the separation be- tween the control and Mrs. Piper is really complete, as the control asserts, if the control is really a man's spirit, his 23 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM reactions will be quite different from hers, especially on the feeling side. Accordingly, we made out our lists of words in order to bring out any such differences, if they existed. Our groups were as follows : 1. Words which might be referred to sex. Out of our first list of one hundred and sixteen words nineteen might be put into this class, but fourteen of them were ambigu- ous, e. g., such as figure, lips, dress. 2. "Words bearing upon operations and sickness, twelve in number, or thirteen, if " blood " is included here. 3. Words relating to spiritualism, trance, unconscious- ness, twelve in number. 4. A group centring about women's occupations, de- signed to bring out any characteristically masculine re- actions. 5. A small group bearing on tragedy, and words in- serted as filling or to get indifferent reactions. (See appendix for these lists.) At first blush the reactions of the control and the nor- mal do not seem to have much in common, since the same word is given in very few cases, but if we grant, as we do, considerable amnesia, this is only to be expected. Examina- tion of the words bearing on feminine occupations shows, however, that there are no characteristic differences in the reactions of the control and the normal, such as we should expect with a spirit that bangs about in the noisy fashion of the control. Again, in the group of words bearing on operation, every word which has a long reaction in the nor- mal state has a superficial reaction from the control, which indicates suppressed feeling. And, finally, the same thing occurs with regard to the words referable to sex : those with long or no reactions in the normal state have long or superficial reactions in nearly every case with the control. This shows that the control and the normal Mrs. Piper have approximately the same feeling background with re- 24 MRS. PIPER'S DISCOVERY gard to these three groups of subjects, although character- istic differences ought to appear in every ease if the two are really distinct personalities. Our original conclusion, that the two selves have at least a common emotional character, is therefore considerably strengthened by these reactions, and since the control thus reacts to test words he must have some memory of the events associated with those words. That is, the control must have memories of the various operations through which Mrs. Piper has gone. We have no doubt that the normal Mrs. Piper has little remembrance of the trance state, though we are inclined to assume the persistence of a feeling state of the trance into the normal, and we believe that events occurring in the sitting may later on pop up in the waking state, just as post-hypnotic suggestions seem to come into the subject's mind spontaneously. On the other hand, we know that the control is shifty and deceptive on occasion, and we believe that he has far more recollection of the normal Mrs. Piper than he admits. We have shown that he has the same emotional attitudes in various cases, we have found the same distinct memories in a few instances, and we are con- fident that if he were sincere we should find more, though probably there is some amnesia, too. That is, the relation would seem to be somewhat the same as that between a secondary personality and a primary, in which the first has little or no knowledge of the second, but the second has some, though not complete knowledge of the first. CHAPTER III EARLY TRANCES AND TRANCE PERSONALITIES Let us first summarise briefly Mrs. Piper's physical condition. When she was sixteen years old she was struck by an ice sled, and was injured internally and on one knee. Not long after this an ovarian tumor developed. In 1884, when she was twenty-five years old, her first child was born, and her second one sixteen months later. Nine y^ears later, in the spring of 1893, came the first operation, in which the diseased Fallopian tubes and ovaries were re- moved. In 1895 hernia developed, and in 1896 another operation was necessary to remedy this. Since then her health has been greatly improved, but she still takes un- usual care of herself, as if she feels that such care is nec- essary in order for her to remain well. Shortly after the birth of her first child Mrs. Piper's father-in-law, who was a Spiritualist, persuaded her to con- sult a blind medium. Dr. Cocke, in order to get advice as to the tumor from which she was suffering. At this sit- ting she felt twitchings in her hands and feared that she might become unconscious, and at the second sitting, six weeks after her child's birth, the medium placed his hands on her head and she did become unconscious, seeing as she went off a flood of light, strange faces, and a hand moving before her. She had seen a similar flood of light as she was fainting from the effects of the blow from the ice sled. She had several other sittings with Dr. Cocke, and each time was controlled by Chlorine, the same spirit that ap- peared at first. Then came a period when many controls appeared, notable characters such as Luther, Lincoln, 26 EARLY TRANCES Washington, Bach, Commodore Vanderbilt, and Loretta Pinchoni. It seems that Bach " formed her band " for Mrs. Piper, and for a time Chlorine came for outside sit- ters, and Pinchoni, Siddons, and others for family seances. Dr. Phinuit also came from the first, but at first only for medical cases. At length Bach said that aU of them were going to concentrate upon Phinuit, and he then became the chief and almost the only control. Now, Dr. Cocke's control was also a French doctor, named Albert G. Finnett (pronounced Finnee), and Mrs. Piper met this control in her visits to Dr. Cocke. Dr. Cocke's Finnett, however, did not talk or act like Phinuit, but it is asserted by Mr. Piper, Sr., that he is undoubtedly the same person. Indeed, at first, he said that he was per- mitted to come through Mrs. Piper, referred to the blind medium, and to people at his seances, etc. An attempt was made in the early days to find whether Mrs. Piper had heard of her other controls at these seances. Mr. Piper, Sr., said that she had not ; a lady who sat at the same time as Mrs. Piper, said that all of her early con- trols had appeared at Dr. Cocke's seances first, but later she refused to make any written statement for print. This makes it seem probable that Mrs. Piper was really uncon- sciously trained by Dr. Cocke, and that the later character- istics of Phinuit grew slowly in accordance with the sug- gestions from the sitters, much as we have seen them do in the case of a medium to be described later. On the other hand, Phinuit himself later, in 1888, de- nied that he had ever employed any other medium than Mrs. Piper, but his word need never be taken at its face value. By his own account Dr. Phinuit is a French physician, and he gave to Dr. Hodgson dates of his birth, death, resi- dence, etc., none of which could be verified by the most diligent search. In spite of French being his native tongue, Phinuit had forgotten it, save a few very common phrases 27 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM like bon jour and au revoir. He failed to meet any tests of his personal identity. His character as shown in the sittings is that of a somewhat coarse, free-and-easy person, vain, and addicted to boasting, to the use of colloquial and slangy terms, and even to mild oaths. He was given to evasions, quibbles, and lies in order to make himself appear to advantage. He was always boastfully ready to meet any test suggested, and when he failed notoriously, as happened repeatedly, no one could be more ingenious in framing excuses than he. Up to 1893 Phinuit played the part of chief control. He brought the spirits of the departed to communicate with their living friends, delivered their messages and gave those of their friends back, and was general stage manager. But he did not flourish under Dr. Hodgson's tutelage. Dr. Hodgson was always critical, was always disclosing his de- ceits and discounting his boasts, was always disapproving of him in one way or another, until Phinuit must have felt that his task was a thankless one. Not only that, but Mrs. Piper herself says that she never liked him, and that she disliked to enter the trance partly because she hated to think that he had possession of her. He did possess her more fully than any other control, causing convulsions in the passage to and from the trance, and speaking as well as gesturing. Mrs. Piper is even now not sure just what Phinuit was, but knows that he was not what he claimed to be, and thinks that possibly he was some spirit that never was in the body, who had little power in the other world, and so delighted to take this opportunity to become the focus of attention and importance. In spite of these unpleasantnesses, however, Phinuit re- mained in chief control until the year 1892-93. In February of 1892, " George Pelham," a young and prom- inent lawyer, a friend of Hodgson's, greatly interested in the problem of personal immortality, died suddenly and accidentally. Pelham had had one or two sittings with 28 EARLY TRANCES Mrs. Piper in 1888, under an assumed name, and had often discussed the problem of immortality with Dr. Hodgson. Mrs. Piper knew about his death, although it is not sup- posed that she knew anything about Pelham himself, save through some casual references to him by Hodgson. This, however, is assumption, and since he was rather prominent, she may have known more than was supposed. On March 22d, about six weeks after his death, reference was made to Pelham at a sitting where an intimate friend of his was the sitter, and Pelham 's full name and those of some of his friends were given. He appeared inci- dentally at two or three other sittings and then, on April 11th, controlled the medium directly instead of speaking through Phinuit as before. During the next six weeks he frequently came for part of the sittings, and then Mrs. Piper went away for the summer. In the fall of 1892 Pelham was the control through fourteen sittings designed to prove his personal identity, sometimes speaking and sometimes writing, with Phinuit always at hand to assist. Now, during this time Mrs. Piper was going through a crisis in her health, especially during the fall and winter of 1892-93, when the series of fourteen sittings was being held, and finally, in March, 1893, she underwent the first operation, at which the tumor, with the Fallopian tubes and ovaries, was removed, so that we have here the question of how far the development of Pelham was aided by Mrs. Piper's poor health. Pelham and Phinuit continued to be the dominating controls until 1895-97, when again Mrs. Piper's health was unsettled and she was obliged early in 1896 to undergo another operation, this time for hernia. During the fall of 1895 and the winter of 1896 she gave few sittings, and none after the operation until the fall of 1896. But in Jtme of 1895 Professor Newbold had introduced the subject of Stainton Moses, asking Pelham for information about him, and two or three days later 29 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Moses himself appeared. Moses was while alive a prom- inent English Spiritualist, one of the founders of the So- ciety for Psychical Research, and Mrs. Piper, it seems, had read an account of his life given her by Dr. Hodgson. He had been controlled while alive by certain spirits call- ing themselves Imperator, Rector, Doctor, and Prudens, and in November and December of 1896, when Mrs. Piper resumed her sittings after the operation, Moses and these controls appeared, and finally in January, 1897, made the demand of Hodgson that he should give them the manage- ment of the Piper case. They said that she was a much- battered machine, and that much of the difficulty in the sittings came from the fact that inferior spirits came in- discriminately. They, on the other hand, would take great care of her, patch up the machine and make it last as long as possible. Pelham urged that this transfer should be made, and so Phinuit, although rather unwilling, was re- tired in some disgrace, making his last appearance January 26, 1897. Pelham also retired, but in the honourable char- acter of control emeritus, and occasionally he still appears, just to show that he is still alive and that the feeling is friendly. Since then until Hodgson's death in 1905 the Imperator group had full control, and, indeed, still has, ostensibly. But shortly after Hodgson's death his spirit appeared at a sitting, and by degrees he has become practically the dom- inating spirit. Here again there may be a physical basis facilitating the change in the approach of the climacteric, which has definite characteristics even when some of the sex organs have been removed, as in this case. The psychic occasion was, of course, Dr. Hodgson's death. Podmore is authority for the statement that since 1900 the messages received through Mrs. Piper have had little evidential value or interest. I should push this back even further and say that even the famous Hyslop sittings, which occurred in 1898-99, are inexpressibly trivial and 30 EARLY TRANCES stupid, and that the marked improvement in Mrs. Piper's health, dating from the operation for hernia in 1896, was also the beginning of a steady deterioration in the sittings until the onset of the climacteric. I would almost venture to prophesy that after the climacteric the sittings will again deteriorate and that this time they will never again be- come interesting unless Mrs. Piper is subjected to some great shock. That is, the facts in the case seem to point to the theory that the mediumistic power is encouraged and perhaps in the beginning caused by nervous shock, which, in persons of a certain diathesis, tends to split the personality. We have then four distinct sets of controls: Phinmt, from 1886 to 1893 ; Pelham, 1893 to 1896 ; the Imperator group, 1896 to 1905; Hodgson, 1905 to the present. Os- tensibly these four groups are very different in character. Phinuit was coarse, rude, shifty, deceitful, and almost if not quite a quack; Pelham assumed to be a cultured man of the world, broad, keen, and polished; the Imperator group claim to be spirits who are solemn, prayerful — ^we might even say pious — and authoritative; while Hodgson assumes to be like the living Hodgson. These differences are readily referable to the knowledge of the originals pos- sessed by Mrs. Piper and the control. Phinuit, as we have already seen, was borrowed from Dr. Cocke, and resembled the control of the ordinary medium very closely. When he was taken in hand by Hodgson, his personality was already well developed along these lines, and as far as we can judge from the published records no attempt was ever made to modify his characteristics by suggestion. Pelham, however, on his casual appearance was warmly welcomed, and encouraged to remain and to prove his iden- tity along lines laid down entirely by Hodgson. He de- veloped in the directions which Hodgson and his other friends desired, and his extreme sensitiveness to suggestion is shown in the ability to recognise Pelham 's friends, to 31 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM pick up some of Pelham's phrases, etc. If only the records of these sittings were complete they would prove one of the most interesting studies in the entire series, as showing the suggestibility of the control and the amount of informa- tion involuntarily given by the sitters. Unfortunately, no full reports were published, and so they cannot have evi- dential value and are not taken up in any detail in this study. The Imperator group derived their characteristics from the account of Moses's life read by Mrs. Piper, and at first were much more in evidence than later on, discoursing at considerable length, praying, etc. But they found that the sitters did not care much for these things, and so by de- grees they became mere stage managers, their personalities became less and less in evidence, and they degenerated into convenient excuses by which to explain difficulties in com- municating. At present, were it not for the opening greet- ing and closing benediction, one would never suspect their presence save when the control desires some authority or excuse. Little systematic attempt has been made to prove the identity of these spirits, the one attempt Moses made to give the true names of his controls being an ignominious failure. Similarly, the impersonation of Hodgson has been little tested, partly because the chief investigators are now well convinced that spirits do actually return, and partly be- cause it would be almost impossible for Hodgson to give any satisfactory proof of his identity, since he was so weU known to Mrs. Piper. Any information given or assump- tion of Hodgson's characteristics could always be referred to Mrs. Piper's personal knowledge of Hodgson. Whether this control is really Hodgson or is an impostor, therefore, we should expect a pretty good impersonation, since both the normal Mrs. Piper and the trance personalities had been dealing with Hodgson for over twenty years. But, 32 EARLY TRANCES curiously enough, this does not seem to be the case in our sittings, or in the published sittings since Hodgson's death. We found, first of all, that the Hodgson control claimed to be totally ignorant of Mrs. Piper, whom he had known so intimately and in whom he was so greatly interested; in the second place, on Dr. Hall's suggestion, he claimed an intimate acquaintance with Dr. Hall, recalled incidents referred to by Dr. Hall, etc., although in fact he never knew Dr. Hall personally ; in the third place, he never gave one single evidential sentence showing that he had any knowledge of his experiments with the Watseka Wonder, or of Davis, Abbott, etc. (See Sitting 1.) All his remarks are extremely general, and where definite knowledge is shown it is at once referable either to Mrs. Piper's own knowledge or to a previous sitting.^ That is, the Hodgson control, like the others, seems to be the result of suggestion and expectation. The Psychical Researchers and Mrs. Piper expected him to appear after Hodgson's death; they knew certain obvious characteris- tics of Hodgson's, which appeared in the control, and they believed in him, or acted as if they did, from the begin- ning, thus encouraging him to continue. They also ac- cepted with little or no question his right to assume the management of Mrs. Piper on that side, as he had on this, so that his confidence in himself grew rapidly and has had no such setbacks and cold water as Phinuit and even Pel- ham received. In their sittings, furthermore, the Hodg- son control is not entirely disrupted from the Imperator group. He receives directions from them, and obtains in- formation, and has from the beginning known and carried out the general theory of the conditions of the sittings which has gradually grown up in the interactions between the various controls and the investigators. From this point of view the Hodgson control seems to be a grafting upon 1 Cf. also Professor James's opinion of the Hodgson control, pp. 83 and 84. 33 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the Imperator group. He is nourished by their sap, but he has imported certain new traits that make a Hodgsonesque fruit. His present conviction that he is Hodgson is too strongly intrenched by his years of unquestioned suprem- acy to be destroyed in the course of a few sittings, but on all other points save this he is most suggestible and even amorphous. This conviction may well be genuine, but has itself come as the result of constant encouragement. We can see this encouragement and its effects in all the various groups which have possessed Mrs. Piper. When she first went into a trance she was living at her father- in-law's, and he was a Spiritist. Dr. Cocke and he at once interpreted the trance as spirit possession, and urged her to repetitions of it. When Phinuit appeared, great im- portance was attached to his medical diagnoses, and he was highly respected until Dr. Hodgson repeatedly detected him in falsehood. Even then there is nothing in the re- ports to show that his actual existence as a disembodied spirit was questioned, but only that he was the particular person he claimed to be. The tacit assumption was that he was a real existence. So with Pelham, although he was severely questioned as to his personal identity, the constant suggestion from beginning to end was that he was some identity, and the same was true of the Imperator group and much more of Hodgson. Now if, when the trance state first appeared, and the first varying and amorphous personalities showed them- selves, Mrs. Piper had fallen into the hands of Prince or ^ of Sidis, instead of being with Spiritists, what might have been the result? These personalities were by no means as well developed in her at that time as Miss Beau- champ 's various selves were when she went to Prince, and we can readily conceive that if Mrs. Piper had had these manifestations explained to her as symptoms of a divided self, and had gone through some such course of discour- agement of them and persuasions of them to psychic sui- 34 EARLY TRANCES cide as Miss Beauchamp did, the result would have been the same; the personalities would have faded away into nothingness. So suggestible are the controls that I cannot escape the conviction that if even now, after twenty-three years of development, Mrs. Piper could be isolated from spiritistic influences and the controls systematically dis- couraged, they could be finally united to the normal Mrs. Piper and so lose their separate existence. To such theories the Spiritists are quick to reply that such cases as Miss Beauchamp prove nothing except that she was subjected to conditions adverse to spirit communi- cation, that she really had mediumistic powers, but that they were killed by her course of treatment. If this means anything it means that the abnormal conditions leading to double personality are the conditions for mediumship. We can choose then between saying that all cases of sec- ondary personality are mediums, or that all mediums have tendencies to secondary personality. If, however, there is real spirit communication, surely the spirits ought not to be so wholly the outcome of sug- gestion as we have shown. Moreover, if the Hodgson con- trol is the person he claims to be, he ought not to be constantly caught, as he was by us, in evasions and actual deceptions. The living Hodgson was notably honest and sincere, but this impersonation of him is anything but that. He displays all the characteristics that Hodgson so disliked in Phinuit. The Spiritists, therefore, constantly force us back to the content of the messages as proving spirit communication. As I understand it, they do not deny that perhaps the medium is abnormal, or that her powers may be destroyed by medical treatment. Their point is that while in this abnormal condition she gives evidence of supernormal knowledge. They do not deny that the controls are fre- quently shifty and deceitful, but maintain that even when they are they also give messages that cannot be referred to 35 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the medium, the sitter, or any living person as their source. Personally they believe that some, if not most, of the con- trols are genuine, that they have gone far toward proving their personal identity, and that their advice is frequently more valuable than that of living friends, but the fair- minded among them admit that none of these phases have as yet been so scientifically tested as to compel assent from any unprejudiced person, or, if they have been so tested, they have not been published. They press back, therefore, to the test message, and upon it they rest their claim that spirit communication is being scientifically demonstrated. Let us consider, then, what sort of information we may reasonably expect a disembodied spirit to give us, and to what sort of tests we may subject both the message and the spirit. Leaving aside the somewhat fantastic speculations of Schiller ^ on the future life, we may say, first of all, that messages giving accounts of that life can never be evidential because we have no way of testing their truth. We are at once forced, therefore, to say that the only way spirit com- munication can be proved is by proving the personal iden- tity of the communicating spirit. How can this be done best? On this point there has been no little discussion, and even now there is no general agreement. The Society for Psychical Research, as represented by those who have worked chiefly with Mrs. Piper, has, however, gone upon the assumption that this may be done best by telling to the , sitter events in the spirit's life. 1. Best of all is information unknown to any living person, but verifiable by the sitter after it is told by the spirit. Under this head falls the case of the spirit telling the contents of a letter which he wrote while still alive, sealed, and kept unknown to any one else, to be opened only X F. C. S. Schiller, Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Re- search, vol. XV, 1900-1, pp. 53-6S. 36 EARLY TRANCES after he had returned in the spirit and told its contents. Various letters of this sort have been written by members of the Society for Psychical Research and deposited in its archives, there to be kept until the spirit returns. In some instances, such as that of Mr. Myers, the spirit has claimed to have returned and has given the contents of the letter, but it has never been correct, and in some instances has been a notable failure, as in the Hannah Wilde case, which I shall describe later. Under this head also would come cases in which the spirit tells where a valuable paper or some other object is hidden. 2. A very good test is supplied if information is given known only to the spirit and one or two living people, pref- erably not the sitter, if these people are inaccessible to the medium. Such cases are claimed not to be iincommon in the Piper case, but the advocates of telepathy maintain that they in nowise prove spirit communication, since the knowledge might have been given telepathically to the me- dium by the persons knowing it, especially if the person knowing it is the sitter. This argument we will take up in detail later, but here will merely note that for many peo- ple this forms a good test. 3. If the spirit was unknown to the medium, and yet uses his own characteristic phrases, words, inflections, etc., it creates a presumption that he is the person he claims to be, although it does not prove his identity. 4. If he constantly refers to incidents known both to himself and the sitter, and does not describe incidents which did not occur, even if these incidents were known to other people, they create a presumption, as they become more numerous, that he is the person he claims to be. 5. Of less value than any of these is the spirit's ability to assume the same attitude as when living with regard to the great questions of morality, religion, etc., since these attitudes are easily describable and are ccanmon to many persons. The fact that a certain spirit is an ardent Pres- 37 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM byterian, and that the person he claims to be was also, really proves nothing whatever, for there are so many ardent Presbyterians both dead and alive that the coinci- dence might easily be just a lucky guess. This theory that personal identity is best proved by the trivial and characteristic incidents in a man's life, espe- cially if they are known to no or few living people, has been worked out at considerable length by Hyslop,^ and was tested by him as follows. First he selected two per- sons, one to play the part of sitter and the other that of spirit, the spirit's task being to prove his identity, the sit- ter having no notion who he was. Sitter and spirit then sent messages to each other, until the sitter was confident of the spirit's identity. The messages sent by the spirit were written by Hyslop, imitating as far as possible the mode of procedure in Mrs. Piper's trances, and in some in- stances were carefully graded from more general to more specific statements, in order to see just how specific the information must be before the sitter is confident of the spirit's identity. In some instances characteristic phrases were used. It is very curious to see on what slight evi- dence the sitter often identifies the spirit with confidence. At the same time the real question is not touched at all in any such experiments. Hyslop assumes to begin with that communication with discarnate spirits is possible and that the investigator's problem is only to find out how it is established, whereas in fact the investigator has no right to assume the presence of any discarnate personality at all until he has exhausted all possible explanations by means of incarnate personalities. In Hyslop 's experiments the sitter knew certainly that the one sending the message was alive, and that he was at least an acquaintance and prob- ably a friend, and so his range of guesses was greatly lim- ited. Further, he knew that no great issue was involved 1 Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Resewrch, vol. xvi, 1901. See Index. 38 EARLY TRANCES in his guesses, and so he guessed quickly and grew confi- dent easily. But the investigator receiving spirit messages from a medium must keep in mind two things which throw the burden of proof entirely on the spirits : first, that even if we accept all the supposedly authentic messages received from the other world from the earliest times to the present, they are infinitesimaUy few as compared with the vast number of souls in that other world, and are usually am- biguous in form; and, secondly, that as knowledge has advanced the powers and phenomena once attributed to dis- carnate spirits are being increasingly and constantly ex- plained through the laws either of physical nature or of the human mind. The whole psychological presumption, that is, is that messages received through any medium are in some way the product of the medium's mind in its rela- tions to the sitter's, and the problem as the psychologist sees it is to describe the various mental processes which have given rise to the message. If he is able to do this in the great majority of cases, even if some messages still remain unexplained, he considers himself justified in assuming that in time they, too, will be shown to fall under the same law, and in condemning any premature assump- tion of new forces which subvert all our present ideas of law. He does not deny the possibility of such forces, but he will not assume them in order to explain relatively few and imperfectly tested phenomena. Let us consider then the character of the Piper messages in general, as measured by the tests laid down by the most prominent believers in them. Unfortunately, throughout the reports as published by the Society for Psychical Research, we are told not infre- quently that those portions of the messages which best prove the identity of the spirits cannot be published be- cause the contents are of so private and confidential a char- acter. This leaves the student in a most embarrassing po- sition. On the one hand, he feels that he is unable to pass 39 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM a reliable judgment when he has only part of the data before him; on the other hand, he feels that those publish- ing the accounts of the seances have no right to ask him to believe in Spiritism on the basis of facts convincing to themselves but unlmown to him. If they are ever to dem- onstrate Spiritism, they can do it only on the basis of the facts known to everyone. No reasonable man asks for belief in his experiments until he publishes them in full. The stu- dent is therefore put under the unpleasant necessity, how- ever great may be his confidence in the individual members of the Society for Psychical Research, of disregarding this plea for faith, and of judging the phenomena in the Piper case solely upon the basis of the facts published. He does not at all deny that the unpublished facts may be stronger than the others, but he feels justified in saying that they ought not to be expected to be convincing as long as they are unknown. We ignore, therefore, the unpublished portions. In the published seances the investigators themselves frankly admit that a large part, perhaps the major part, is nonsense or self-evident fact. Another large part is equally evidently obtained by fishing from the sitter. How are we to explain all this if the controls are really spirits? Hyslop works this out in increasingly ingenious ways. Some of the nonsense, as when his father's spirit asks some one to give him his hat, he thinks is automatic speech, a habit left over from this life, into which disear- nate spirits may fall, just as we mortals sometimes find meaningless fragments of speech, song, etc., coming to our lips when we are occupied with other things. Some of the nonsense, again, comes simply from the inability to read the automatic writing, which is very illegible. Some, and probably most, is referable to the difficulty the spirits have in using the medium. Hyslop believes that just as the medium has to go into a trance state on this side, so the spirit has to go into something like the same state on that 40 EARLY TRANCES side, and that the messages which we get may be compared to the talk of dreamers or even the ravings of delirium. Or, perhaps the spirits are not in a trance, but something about the conditions under which they communicate makes consecutive thought difficult. In his seances, every now and then Hyslop's father cries out that he is suffocating, and must go away for a little while until he is recovered suf- ficiently to communicate again. Our own experience with the controls was so radically different from this that we cannot accept Hyslop's explana- tion. In the first place, our systematic endeavour was to keep cool and go slow, and we succeeded save in one sit- ting, the result being that the controls also went slowly, and there was little confusion or haste save in the one sitting. We read the writing as it was written, and kept such close tab on it that after the first sitting there were few illegible words, so that practically none of the non- sense could come from that source. Again, Hyslop refers much of the nonsense to the dif- ficulty which the controls have in using the medium, and his father's spirit complains of suffocation, etc. Here an interesting question as to spirit consciousness arises. Could the spirits be having great difficulty in controlling the me- dium without knowing that they were having difficulty? To judge by the reports, they do know in many cases, be- cause they complain bitterly of it. But in our sittings, from beginning to end there were no such complaints, and the spirits were blithely unconscious that most of the time they were talking nonsense. This, we believe, is because we gave them no hint that they were making themselves ridiculous, and they did not know enough to discover it without help. In Hyslop's sittings and in most of the other published sittings where such complaints occur the controls were made aware in some way that they were not coming up to the required standards, and then they began to complain and to interpose various subsidiary spirits 6 41 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM between the sitter and the one giving the messages. That is, to state it very baldly, these difficulties are excuses given by the controls for their failures, excuses which in most instances were first invented in the fertile brain of some sitter and suggested to the control. The fishing also may be explained in different ways. Phinuit's fishing meets with little but condemnation, as the doctor was at least not the person he claimed to be, and did not therefore meet with approval from the Society for Psychical Eesearch. But when Pelham and Hyslop, Sr., and other spirits ask questions it is assumed that they do so oftentimes because they really want the latest news from their families, and in part because they want cor- roboration, sympathy, etc. So strong is this need of sym- pathy if successful results are to be obtained, that these investigators have made it a cardinal principle in their own studies to adopt a sympathetic and trustful attitude, and they insist upon it more and more with other sitters. Taciturnity, reserve, cautiousness, not to say distrust, so hurt the feelings of the spirits and affect their memories that a sitter displaying these qualities is not likely to get any interesting results. Now, all this, of course, gives the control a better opportunity to fish, and his chances of success get better in proportion as the same sitter continues, because he learns what his inflections and movements mean. This is pre-eminently the case with Mrs. Piper's control. His most successful results are obtained with those who come for three or more sittings. Not infre- . quently the first sittings are blanks so far as any valuable results are concerned. Of course, on the other hand, the Spiritists answer that this is just what should be expected. When a new sitter comes, and Imperator seeks out his deceased relatives and tries to put him into communication with them, the sitter is unable at first to read the writing, and the spirits find it hard to work through the medium's body. There is 42 EARLY TRANCES confusion of mind on both sides. But as the spirits be- come more conscious of what is wanted of them they become more coherent, and if the sitter perseveres for ten or twelve or more sittings he may become quite convinced that he is talking in truth with dead friends. This may be true, but it is at least unfortunate that the same con- ditions which favour spirit communication also favour fishing. It is also a curious and interesting fact that literally everything is fish that comes into the control's net. We let the control fish. We fairly exuded ideas from every pore, giving our fancies free play, and he took up our fancies as facts and brought before us the spirits of persons who were the product of our own imagination, and only that. How could an honest control thus create a spirit for our name, or, at least, play off some other spirit as a person who never really existed? Nothing could so have convinced us of his powers surely, as for him to tell us the truth, viz., that no such spirit existed. But still more curious is the fact that the control, in this case Hodgson, was so oblivious of his relations to Dr. Hall while alive as to accept and act throughout on Dr. Hall's statement that they had known each other well, the actual fact being that they never saw each other but once and had very little correspondence. Hodgson remembered imaginary incidents related by Dr. Hall and added details of his own, and all with the greatest ease, not with the difficulty which he would have experienced if he were trying to fit some real similar experience into a connection with Dr. Hall, where it never belonged, but where he was made to believe that it did through our insistence. There was no insistence on our part, nothing but a reference, which the control took up eagerly. That is, to state merely the fact without any attempt at explanation, there seems to be no limit to the mistakes which the control wiU make if the sitter assumes a sympa- 43 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM thetic and encouraging attitude, and a considerable part of the content of our sittings consists of mistakes of this sort. Many of the published sittings are taken up with giv- ing first names, and relating various incidents connected with these names. Another considerable part is occupied in giving medical advice. Finally, a relatively very small part is taken up with real test messages, that is, messages whose truth is Hnknown to the sitter, and to no one else alive, or only to persons inaccessible to the medium. Since even Hyslop admits that these alone are strictly evidential, in any scientific sense, we may feel ourselves justified in not taking up the other messages in detail, but only in considering the possible sources of error in them, or the avenues of information open to Mrs. Piper. To sum up so far then, those who have become con- vinced that Mrs. Piper is in communication with the spirit world admit frankly that much of what she says is non- sense or non-evidential; that considerable is evidently ob- tained through the fishing of the control or is known to the normal Mrs. Piper ; and that another part might easily be inferred by either the control or Mrs. Piper. Accord- ingly, they explicitly throw out of court such messages, and rest their " scientific " case solely on cross references and on messages which they consider to conform to the tests. These we shall soon take up. Before doing this, however, we must consider certain other phases of the sittings. We may asstime that Mrs. Piper never employs any of the common forms of fraud, but that her controls get most, if not all, of her information from the sitter. But have they any ways of getting information not recognised by the Psychical Eesearchers, who have published accounts of their sittings? And are there possible errors in inter- pretation, etc., which have not been allowed for? One of the very important factors here is the record 44 EARLY TRANCES of the sittings. Davey's^ experiments showed most strik- ingly the displacements and interpolations of incidents which occur even when the account of the sitting is writ- ten immediately. Any record, to be considered accurate, must have been taken at the time. But no stenographer seems to have been employed, even in the earlier Piper sittings, when the control spoke instead of writing, and so made no record himself, as has been the case in later years. Notes were taken in long hand, but, as far as can be judged, until Hyslop's sittings no attempt was made to take down everything said, especially remarks considered foreign to the matter in hand, or remarks of one sitter to the other, when two or more were present. But, if the principles of conjuring hold at all here, these very remarks may be the ones that gave the control his clew, and so, when we cannot trace the source of a remark made by the control, of some startling bit of information, etc., we are justified in at least querying whether our inability to ex- plain it may not be due to the imperfect record. Hyslop, however, made it a special point to get down every word spoken in his sittings, even the most casual ones, and we can judge, therefore, whether the mere words could have hinted to the control whether he was right or wrong. We have, however, no way of judging the sitter's manner, his inflections, muscular tensions, etc.,, through all of which he involuntarily shows his opinion of what the control is writing. The control is very sensitive to all these things. Mrs. Piper's eyes are not only closed but turned from the sitter, so that little or no information comes from them, but, to compensate, her ears are most acute, hear even the slightest sounds and have been trained for years to catch all the differences in inflection which indicate the sitter's mood. Her right hand, too, every now and then explores the sitter's face or some part of his body, 1 Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. iv, 1886- 87, pp. 381-495, and Index. 45 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM and thus gets indications of his muscular tensions which doubtless convey knowledge. Hyslop says that in some of the sittings he spoke not a word from beginning to end. Nevertheless, some one who spoke had to be there, and this person, usually Dr. Hodgson, betrayed through his voice his estimate of the accuracy of the control's statements, this estimate being in part determined through his receiving suggestions from Hyslop 's appearance, manner, etc. In short, all the experi- ments in telepathy have shown emphatically and repeat- edly that between even people in the normal state, the pos- sibilities of involuntary suggestion are infinitely greater than were formerly supposed, and when one of the parties is in the abnormal state of trance, with the heightened suggestibility characteristic of it, these possibilities are greatly increased. We must, therefore, throw out of consideration in the Piper case all messages whose content was already known to the sitter, such as family names, because the sitter may involuntarily have aided the medium. This brings us back once more to the so-called test mes- sages, that is, messages whose content was unknown to the sitter or to any living person accessible to the medium, but which were later verified. The incident given in any such message must be of so definite a character that it could not be confused with a similar incident known to the sitter or medium, and it must be so definitely recorded at the time it is given that the sitter cannot later read into it connections not indicated at the time. CHAPTER IV TEST MESSAGES In the development of the Piper case test messages have taken two forms: the sealed envelope test, and messages given in the course of a regular sitting. In the sealed en- velope test a written message is sealed in an envelope. In some cases the sitter or the medium holds the envelope, while in others it is in the keeping of a trustworthy per- son. Sometimes the sitter knows the message, but in the ideal test no one but the writer of the message knows it, and the test is not given until the spirit of the writer ap- pears at some sitting after his death and gives the message, which is then verified by opening the envelope. At one time much was expected from this test, and vari- ous members of the Society for Psychical Research wrote messages and put them into the Society archives, to be kept until their spirits should appear and order the envelopes unsealed. The test has been given to the Piper controls on various occasions and has uniformly failed. A notable case is the Hannah Wild incident. Hannah Wild, before her death, wrote a letter to her sister, and told no one what it contained. After her death this letter was eventually put in Professor James's hands for safe-keep- ing, until the appropriate test could be made. In due time the sister went to Mrs. Piper, and the spirit of Hannah Wild appeared, and when asked if she remembered about this letter, said that she did. (She spoke through Phinuit, who claimed to repeat her messages to her sister.) Phinuit said that he could find out what was in the letter, and at length dictated a long letter which he said was the one 47 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM in James's possession. It was in no respect like it. Sev- eral other times, at intervals, he renewed the attempt, and was as unsuccessful as at first. Another incident equally notable occurred in connec- tion with the Imperator group of controls. Before these controls took possession of Mrs. Piper, they had been the controls of W. Stainton Moses, an English clergyman and one of the best-known English Spiritists. They told him that the names which they gave, Imperator, Eector, Doctor, and Prudens, were those by which they desired to be known to the public, but that in reality they were cer- tain deceased persons, some of whom he had himself known while alive. He wrote the true names in his diary, but kept them entirely secret during his life. At his death his diary came into the hands of P. W. H. Myers, who was then the only person alive who knew whom these spiri,ts claimed to be. Now, when the spirit of Moses appeared in Mrs. Piper's trance, Hodgson proposed, as a test of his identity, that he should tell him these names, which could be verified by Myers, and which would be so complete a test as to stagger all incredulity. Moses accepted the test with apparent confidence and gave three of the names, which Hodgson sent at once to Myers. Not so much as a letter in any of them was correct! All other such tests have failed also with Mrs. Piper, and yet it is difficult to see why they should fail, if the spirit hypothesis is correct. If the person while stiU living puts into the letter something of strong emotional interest to him, some permanent interest, it seems strange that such a memory does not survive the shock of dissolution when such trivial things as his once possessing a brown-handled penknife and wearing a thin black coat remain. The only case on record where a test message planned before death was correctly given by the deceased spirit is the following, reported by James {Proceedings of the Soci- ety for Psychical Research, vol. viii, pp. 248-51). In 48 TEST MESSAGES Kingston, Mass., lived a brother and sister named Benja. The brother knew that he would shortly die, and so he arranged these tests: he carved out a piece of soft brick into a slender form, broke it, and gave his sister one part, hiding the other himself. He also wrote a letter and sealed it and gave it to his sister, telling her that she must not open it until his spirit returned and gave her permission. For months after his decease his mother and sister re- ceived no satisfactory message, until they began sitting at home, when they got table-tilting, spelling out the alphabet. The table then spelled out, " You'll find that piece of brick in the cabinet under the tomahawk," and sure enough, there it was, although the cabinet had not been touched by any one since her brother had locked it and put away the key. Then the table spelled out for the letter, " Julia! Do right and be happy. Benja." And this was just what the sealed letter said, the words being exactly correct. Dr. Hodgson investigated the case and had a letter from a clergyman of Kingston saying that the sister's word was to be trusted, the sister being the one who reported the case to the Society for Psychical Eesearch. But the mother had died in the meantime, and there is nothing to indicate how far she may have contributed to the table-tilting, or how far both may have had hints as to the hiding place of the brick and the contents of the letter. It is not neces- sary to assume conscious fraud to explain such a case, but only subconscious inferences made by the mind through a period of several months of wonder and guessing. Let us take up now in detail all the test messages given in the published records, and see how many of them are in reality inexplicable by the ordinary laws of the mind. When Mrs. Piper first went to England, in 1889, Sir Oliver Lodge was present at twenty-two sittings, other peo- ple also usually being present, but sometimes no one else. Extraordinary precautions were taken at first to prevent Mrs. Piper having any information about the affairs of 49 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the sitters. She stayed in Sir Oliver's house, met few peo- ple, the servants were all new ones from the country, who presumably knew nothing of the family, and the family Bible and albums were all put away. Nevertheless, in course of time Mrs. Piper gave the Lodges considerable in- formation about their family, etc. "We must remember, however, that none of these sit- tings were stenographically reported, and that in some cases notes were not even taken at the time, but the sitting was written up afterward from memory. The records are therefore liable to all the lapses, interpolations, and errors which Davey disclosed. When what is said and done in a sitting has been sifted, parts omitted, and only parts which seem important to the sitter inserted, it is impossible even to conjecture how much fishing and hesitation there were from the control, and how much the sitter revealed. Sir Oliver himself gives in aU forty-two test messages for the twenty-two sittings, in which the information was unknown to, forgotten, or unknowable by the sitter. They are as follows: 1. Phinuit told Mrs. Lodge that at one time her father had hurt his right leg below the knee, at the same time rub- bing the place. Mrs. Lodge knew that there had been a hurt, but be- lieved it to be aiove the knee. On inquiry, however, she found Phinuit correct. {Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. vi, p. 467 et seq., for all these examples.) Mrs. Lodge may have involuntarily given Phinuit in- formation as to the hurt — at any rate, since the record is incomplete, it cannot be proved that she did not. The exact location may easily have been a guess, as a person guessing would usually choose the lower leg, because it is more liable to injuries, sprains, varicose veins, etc., than the upper leg. 2. One sitter, Mr. Gonner, arranged with his sister to have his mother do some unusual thing at the time of his 50 TEST MESSAGES sitting, and asked Phimiit to tell what she was doing. Phinuit said, making appropriate gestures, that she was fixing her hair in a room with a cot in it, so high, that she put on her wrap and lifted the lid of a box on a stand. On inquiry it was found that half an hour earlier than this the mother was putting on her things to take a drive, going through movements similar to those described. Even if we assume that half an hour was necessary in order to " get the message through," it would not be re- markable for Mrs. Piper to make such a lucky guess, if she had the usual impression of Americans that all English- women are fond of walking, even on rainy days. The really unusual thing, namely, that Mrs. Gonner took a short ride instead of a walk, was not mentioned. 3. Phinuit told Sir Oliver that his Cousin Charley had been made quite ill by the bird he had eaten, localising and describing the illness by gestures. On writing to Canada, where this cousin lived. Sir Oliver found that he had shot a prairie chicken out of sea- son and eaten it, and that he had been ill with la grippe. The only true part, then, refers to eating the prairie chicken. But when we know that the sitting was held the day after Christmas, even this has no value. In America nearly everyone eats some sort of " bird " on Christmas Day, and many of us are made ill by them, whether the " bird " is turkey, chicken, duck, or prairie chicken. Phinuit missed a great opportunity in not stating explicitly that Charley ate prairie chicken and was ill with la grippe. 4. Phinuit told Mrs. Thompson that her Uncle William broke his arm, and, upon her dissenting, said that he broke his leg below the knee. This was not, however, verified, and so is not evidential. 5. At various times Sir Oliver's Uncle Jerry appeared and gave incidents to prove his identity. Out of quite a number two were wholly correct, one partly so, and others unverifiable. He said that when he was a boy he once 51 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM killed a snake and his brother Robert kept the skin. This was verified. 6. He also described how he and some brothers came near getting drowned in the mill race. This, too, was verified. 7. Uncle Jerry told, through Phinuit, how his brother Bob once killed a cat in Smith's field, and tied it by the tail to a fence to see it kick before it died. Sir Oliver found that his Uncle Charles did once kill a cat, but not that he tied it to a fence, nor was it in Smith's field; but there was a Smith's field near the creek. Uncle Jerry's attempts to prove his identity by these incidents are generally admitted to have little value. AU boys kill cats and snakes, and many of them come near drowning or think they do. Even the naming of Smith's field does not seem to us so remarkable as it does to Sir Oliver, who argues at great length against the probability of Mrs. Piper learning about this field by sending an agent there. Why is any such supposition necessary? In the first place the record of the sitting does not indicate how readily this name came out, or how distinctly it was spoken, so that the original notes may not give exactly what Phinuit said. But, further, Sir Oliver found, on sending an agent there himself, that there never had been any such field, located as the still living uncle, who remembered it, located it, and that the only approximation to it was a field which had once had a smithy in it. The old inhabitants said that various fields had been called Smith's fields, from their , owners, but none had ever been so recorded in their titles. We have, then, two possibilities : either Phinuit was at his old tricks of guessing,, using one of the most common Eng- lish names in his guess, or else the living uncle's memory had played him false when it was suggested to him that when a boy he had played in Smith's field. 8. Uncle Jerry said that he had made some marks in his watch in a certain place where, on opening the watch, 52 TEST MESSAGES Sir Oliver found a landscape engraved, but he thinks that some of the lines were " unnecessarily deep," and were, presumably, those referred to by Uncle Jerry. This, of course, is not evidential, since we are not certain that the marks were not in the landscape originally. 9. A chain was given to Phinuit, who asked for the wrappers and letter that came with it. He held them to the top of his head, by degrees brushed away the blank papers, and then, after various trials and corrections, gave out: " Is there J. N. W. here? [That is, these words were quoted from the paper.] Poole. Then there's Sefton. S-e-f-t-o-n-. Poole, hair. Tours truly, J. N. W. That's it. I send hair. Poole. J. N. W. Do you understand that? " Lodge afterward found that the letter contained the words Sefton Drive, and Cooke written to look like Poole. It also said, " I send you some hair," and ended, " Yours sincerely, J. B. W.," the B looking something like an N. Unfortunately, Sir Oliver does not state whether the letter was so held that it was absolutely impossible for the entranced Mrs. Piper to have caught glimpses of it, and especially he does not describe the manipulations of it during the " various trials and corrections " to which he refers, so that we are free to choose between super- normal powers and her having caught glimpses of the writ- ing. (In these sittings the control spoke, and the eyes were partly closed.) 10. Phinuit said that one of Sir Oliver's children was having trouble in the calf of one leg. This was not known at the time but developed later. No supernormal knowledge is necessary here to so keen an observer as Mrs. Piper and Phinuit. The child may per- haps have complained in her hearing, or may have given indications of trouble which she was shrewd enough to in- terpret. It is not at all uncommon for outsiders to note such things earlier than the child's own family do. 53 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM 11. Mr. Rendall was told of a book that he had as a keepsake of his dead friend, Agnes. He did not remember this book at the time, but did six months later. Many men with dear friends have books as keepsakes. 12. Sir Oliver asked of a certain friend, " Is her hair short or long? " and Phinuit implied that it was long, con- trary to Sir Oliver's idea, but correctly. Phinuit would naturally say a woman's hair was long, if he were just guessing. 13. Sir Oliver was told of private affairs of Mr. B., unknown to him at the time but verified later. As we do not know the incidents, however, we cannot consider them as evidential. 14. Phinuit described an old lady then with Sir Oliver's Uncle Robert, correctly, but all other items were wrong or indefinite, and we do not know whether Sir Oliver knew the lady. 15. Sir Oliver was told that the last place his fa- ther went to was Bob's, and he afterward verified this, but the term " last place " is indefinite, and was inter- preted by Sir Oliver to mean the last place he went to on a visit. 16. Phinuit identified a stick given to him as W. T.'s last stick, which was correct, but unknown to Sir Oliver. But are not the last possessions of a person those most likely to be kept, whether they are in themselves valuable or not? 17. Mr. Lund's sister was called Margie, a pet name he had forgotten about, but after Phinuit knew her real name, Margaret, he would naturally guess Margie as a pet name. 18. Phinuit told Mr. Thompson his mother had a cold in one ear, and this proved true — a comparatively safe prediction to make of an elderly lady in the winter. 19. Sir Oliver was told of a fight his Uncle Frank was once in with a certain boy named John Rooke. This uncle 54 TEST MESSAGES wrote him that he knew he had been in a fight, but could not remember the name of the boy, and this leaves the only valuable part of the statement unverified, since most boys get into fights. 20. Mr. Thompson was told to give a message from Mr. 'Rich to his father, and that his father was troubled with giddiness. This was true, but may have been an inference from other knowledge. 21. Phinuit recalled to Mr. Clarke his Uncle John. Mr. Clarke denied that he had such an uncle, but remembered the next day that he had. John is one of the very common English names, and the chances are good that anybody will have some relative, near or distant, of that name. That this uncle was not close to Mr. Clarke is evidenced by his first denial. 22. Phinuit told Mr. Clarke that he had some red stamped tickets in his pocket. Mr. Clarke denied this, but afterward remembered two cheques stamped in red. He is sure that Phinuit could not have seen these, but Mr. Davey's seances make us distrust such positive as- sertions, and wonder whether there was not some forgotten opportunity. 23. Phinuit told Mrs. Verrall that her sister had been " filled up with quinine " two years before. Mrs. Ver- rall denied this but found later that it was a fact. She herself says, however, that quinine is too common a remedy for colds for Phinuit 's assertion to be counted more than a guess. 24. Mrs. Verrall was told that a friend, Carrie, had had a baby sister. She later verified this, but still it is hardly evidential, for one of the stock guesses of the professional medium is as to dead baby relatives, which are to be found in nearly every family. 25. She was also told that one grandfather had a sister Susan, which was later verified, but here, too, the oppor- tunity for guessing is good, Susan being a common English 55 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM name, and perhaps being inadvertently referred to before Mrs. Piper. 26. Also, that a man known to her as Jasper was also named George, which was true, and unknown to Mrs. Ver- rall. This would seem to imply some knowledge of Mrs. Verrall's family, which she is convinced Mrs. Piper did' not possess. 27. She was also told that her brother had a hurt on his big toe. She found that this brother had had such a hurt six months before on a tramping tour, and that an- other brother had one there then. But if Mrs. Piper knew that the family was addicted to tramping tours, as is easily possible, such a statement would be a very easy inference. 28. Mr. Browning was told that he had a nephew then in Philadelphia. He knew that a nephew was in America, and upon inquiry found that he was in Philadelphia. The Researchers themselves attach no importance to this incident, because on various occasions Phinuit used Phila- delphia as a convenient location for persons whose where- abouts he did not know. 29. Mr. Sidgwick was told that his wife was in a large chair talking to a lady, and that she had something on her head. This was correct, but the person with her was in- correctly described, and she was incorrectly located. Mrs. Piper was visiting the Sidgwicks at this time, and knew their house and habits, and knew, furthermore, that this was an experiment. Under these conditions the guess has just about the correct factors that one might expect. 30. Mr. Deronco was told that his mother was lying down, not in bed, not far away, in another person's house. Later he found that she was lying down at this particular time, but in her own home in Germany. Phinuit knew before this that she was subject to headaches, and the habit of lying down is rather characteristic of the feeble state of health implied by them. 31. After much hesitation Mr. Deronco was also told 56 TEST MESSAGES that his brother was painting a profile picture, which proved to be true. But from the description of the incident the reader in- fers that Mr. Deroneo expected his brother to be painting such a picture, and if so, the case would not properly fall into the class we are considering here. 32. Miss X. was told of a baby brother, William, whom she had forgotten about but later remembered. But here, as before, the guess as to a dead baby is rather safe, and the name William is very common and comparatively safe. If Miss X. had not remembered the dead brother she probably would have recalled some other relative of this name, and Phinuit could easily have explained that he was some one else's dead brother. 33. Mr. F. was told of an Uncle William whom he had forgotten. But later he remembered a great-uncle William, whose picture resembled the description given by Phinuit. But this is correct only if uncle and great-uncle are identified. 34. Mr. Leaf was told that he had two letters from Mr. Gumey in his desk, about an engagement for work and study. Mr. Leaf found that he did have two, but they were about Mr. Gurney's engagement to marry. But Mrs. Piper knew that Mr. Gurney and Mr. Leaf had known each other well, and it was a very safe guess that after Mr. Gurney's death Mr. Leaf would keep his letters, and, naturally, in his desk. 35. Mrs. Sidgwick was told that her husband was sit- ting with his feet up, with various other details, all the rest being incorrect. Mrs. Piper was then visiting the Sidg- wieks, and doubtless had enough knowledge of Dr. Sidg- wick to make this much a safe guess. 36. Dr. Sidgwick was told that Mrs. Sidgwick was re- clining with a black cloth thing over her head, reading. She was, but had a doctor's scarlet hood on. The same explanation holds here as for the previous incident. No. 35. 7 57 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM 37. Mrs. Verrall was told that Mr. Verrall was sitting at a desk and had just laid down a book to talk to a visitor, but the visitor's acts were wrongly described. 38. Another sitter, Mrs. B., was told that Mrs. Verrall was then looking into a glass globe and that her daughter was with her, which was correct. This incident and the previous one depend for their value on how much knowl- edge Mrs. Piper had of the Verrall family. Doubtless, she knew that Mrs. Verrall was a crystal gazer — at least her published reference to this sort of thing could have given Mrs. Piper this knowledge — and the other statements could be made if she had only a slight knowledge of the family. 39. Mr. Gale was told that at one time one of his grand- fathers had been lame. This was true, but why could it not have been merely a lucky hit? 40. Miss Johnson was told that her brother was reading with his feet up, in a corner room, with a map or picture to the left and a desk to the right. The comparatively de- tailed account here makes chance seem improbable, and therefore makes the incident difficult to explain, unless there was some way for Mrs. Piper to have learned about this room. These exhaust the incidents in Sir Oliver's twenty-two sittings, which were unknown to the sitter but were after- ward verified. On the other hand, there were very many misses and unverifiable statements^ even Uncle Jerry, whose memory for his childhood seemed so vivid, mentioning vari- ous occurrences which none of the other living relatives could recall. Other statements were definitely known to be false, and others were obviously nonsensical. One curious instance of error is this: The father of a Mr. Wilson purported to be present sending messages to his son, and, among many non-evidential statements, he said that his son first thought of being a doctor. The son him- self said that he never had thought anything of the sort, 58 TEST MESSAGES and Sir Oliver notes that he himself had thought he had, and remarks that this looks like a case of thought trans- ference. Doubtless, there was thought transference, but it was done by Sir Oliver involuntarily betraying his opinion to Phinuit, I would venture to say. The impressions made by these sittings varied consid- erably with the sitters. Sir Oliver was greatly impressed, and wrote, " Undoubtedly, Mrs. Piper in the trance state has access to some abnormal sources of information, and is for the time cognisant of facts which happened long ago or at a distance." The only question in his mind was whether the best theory was that of clairvoyance, telepathy, or spirits. Mr. Lund, who had one sitting, wrote, " What im- pressed me most was the way in which she seemed to feel for information, rarely telling me anything of importance right off the reel, but carefully fishing and then following up a lead. It seemed to me that when she was on the right tack the nervous and uncontrollable movement of one's muscles gave her the signal that she was right and might steam ahead." In the published Hodgson sittings, running up to No- vember, 1891, 1 have been able to find but thirty statements unknown to the sitter at the time of the sitting, but later verified : 1. Hodgson was told that his youngest sister would soon have another child, a boy, which happened within a month. Just before this Phinuit had given the number of her chil- dren correctly, but had been allowed to infer that he was wrong, and had then crawfished and explained his state- ment as meaning something else, making this last predic- tion look like a random hit which happened to strike the bull's eye. 2. S. A. Hopkins was told that a man named Vaughan, who appeared from the spirit world to send a message, had been a little lame. This was true but Mr. Hopkins had 59 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM never noticed it. How much chance was there that Mrs. Piper had heard of this man? 3. At the opening of one sitting, Phinuit said that he had been with Bessie, who had been writing a few minutes before. This was correct. 4. Two days later, Phinuit said that Bessie had been reading a fimny book, a life of somebody. Also, that she had called on an old friend of her dead sister, and that she had a friend named Severance. These statements were made to Hodgson and verified by Bessie. She did not, how- ever, actually go to see the friend, but wanted to, and wrote him a letter. We are left in ignorance, however, how much Mrs. Piper knew about Bessie, and how much these statements might be inferred, from casual remarks made by Hodgson, from Bessie's habitual mode of living, etc. The fact that all of these Hodgson sittings were held in Boston or near it, and that most of the people referred to came from that vicinity, so increases the chances of Mrs. Piper having accidental knowledge about them that the difficulty of giving a convincing test message is enormously increased. 5. Mr. Kobertson James was told that an aunt had died about two o'clock the night before. She had died, but about twelve, and her death had been momentarily ex- pected. The sitter, who had not heard of her death at the time, may have betrayed involuntarily the serious charac- ter of her illness, and Phinuit took a bold chance in guess- ing, getting the time wrong. 6. Mr. A. Y. was told that a certain person was fatally ill, which was later verified. But again we are not told whether this may not have been obtained from the papers or learned in some normal way. 7. Miss Savage had three locks of hair in separate en- velopes, which she mixed so that she did not know which envelope she drew. Phinuit identified each. But we are 60 TEST MESSAGES not told whether the locks were identical in size and shape, so as to convey information through touch to Miss Savage, or whether the envelopes were thick enough so that no sus- pici6ns were aroused in her mind as to which lock she was giving Phinuit. If she had only a partially subconscious belief it might be sufficient to guide Phinuit, with his hyper- sensitiveness to suggestions. 8. W. H. Savage was given a message from Robert West to his brother, apologising for an attack made on him in the Advance, which Mr. Savage did not know had been made. But Mrs. Piper might have seen this copy of the Ad- vance. 9. M. I. Savage was told by Robert West, the spirit, that he was buried at Alton, 111., and that the text on his stone was, " Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." This was verified later. But we are not assured that this information, too, could not have been secured from some paper. 10. At this same sitting the Rev. C. L. Goodell claimed to be present, whom Savage knew scarcely any. Savage found that he had died. Again, we must ask why Mrs. Piper might not have learned this incidentally from the papers? 11. Miss Z. was told that her brother 's friend, Ned, was speaking, that her brother had been kind to him and had spent a night with him just before his death. This was true, and though Miss Z. did know that her brother had been kind to a poor boy who had died of consumption, she did not know his name. The statement, however, is not as exact as could be desired, pince Ned is a nickname which might stand for several names. 12. Miss Webster went to get information about a lost brother, who had not been heard from in three years. Phinuit said that they would hear within three weeks, first from a friend and then from the brother, and that he would 61 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM come home. The letters came within the time, and later the boy. This is so curiously exact that one is tempted to ask whether the prediction was written down at the time Phinuit made it, or only after the boy came home. 13. Miss A. M. R.'s spirit friend H. asked her how she liked the little drab-coloured book which she had been read- ing with another person. The book was covered with a paper cover and Miss A. M. R. did not know the colour of the cover, but found upon examination that it was drab. But is it certain that Miss A. M. R. had not referred to this book before Mrs. Piper, and that Mrs. Piper knew noth- ing of the book? 14. A friend of Miss A. M. R. was told that she would not marry a certain gentleman with whom she was then very friendly. Later, this gentleman had a hemorrhage and died a few months after their engagement. But Phinuit did not say the gentleman would die, or die of a hemorrhage, and at the time of the prediction, which was before the engagement, the lady might have been so doubtful of her own feelings that Phinuit 's prediction could have been made on that ground alone. 15. Mr. A. J. C. was told that his niece had a humour or breaking out, and found that she really had. Such humours are not very uncommon, and perhaps there was a tendency to it in the family which Mrs. Piper knew or inferred. 16. Mrs. M. N. was told that her husband's father would , die very suddenly, in a few weeks, and he did. But previous to this, Phinuit had told Mr. M. N. that a near relative would die in about six weeks, and that he would get some pecuniary advantage from it. This was too vague to be evidential, but Mr. M. N. asked if Phinuit meant his father — showing his own fears — and Phinuit declined to say. "We do not even know whether Mrs. Piper knew anything at all about the family, or could infer that there 62 TEST MESSAGES were aged relatives in feeble health. Two days after the father "s death, Mr. M. N. went again to Mrs. Piper, and at that time Phinuit told him that he had tried before his father's death to persuade him to do certain things about his property, and still later, Mr. M. N. 's sister said that for two days before he died their father had complained of an old man who sat at the foot of the bed and insisted on talk- ing about his private affairs. Here we have a genuine ghost story, and we ought to have also a Committee on Hallucinations to investigate it. We do not know at present (a) whether Mrs. Piper knew much about the M. N. family; (&) whether the sister con- sulted her as well as the brother, and so perhaps betrayed facts; (c) whether the sister visited her after the father's death before the brother did, and betrayed the father's dying hallucination. It is a beautiful story, but needs investigation before it can be accepted. 17. Again, Phinuit told Mr. M. N. that within two weeks he would get a professional offer either from a man named French or a Frenchman. The letter came, from a Frenchman. The prophecy was designedly ambiguous, and demanded but little knowledge of Mr. M. N. 's business. 18. Phinuit told Mr. M. N. that some relative had hurt her thumb. Later it was found that a cousin in Phil- adelphia had. Out of all the female relatives belonging to any man, if they do their own housework or sewing, the chances are very good that one if not more of them will have " hurt " thumbs at any specified time. 19. Mr. J. Eogers Eich was told that in a few months he would hear from Frank Lennox, who had gone across the water to " Al — ^Aula — " and when Mr. Rich suggested Australia, Phinuit was first puzzled but then assented. Within a year a letter came from the friend, saying 63 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM that he had been in Alaska, the inference being that Phinuit began to write Alaska, but was diverted by Mr. Eich. Even if Phintiit did begin to write Alaska, it would be an easy guess. 20. A lady who had had a loss from fire wished to find the incendiary. Phinuit described the suspected person to Mr. Rich, who did not know him, but the description is not given in the account, so that we cannot judge as to its de- tail, and can neither accept nor reject the incident. 21. A spirit friend told Mr. Rich that his cousin was visiting his brother, which was verified. 22. Phinuit told Mr. Rich that the reason why a pre- scription which he had given him was not helping him was that his cook was not preparing it according to directions. This proved true. 23. Mr. Rich was told that he had had a baby sister, prematurely bom, some years before his own birth. This proved to be true. Mr. Rich was greatly impressed by Mrs. Piper and went frequently to her, so that involuntarily he probably gave her considerable information about his family, and she may have learned more outside, or may have had enough information from him to infer many of the things which he believed so surprising. Our lack of information as to how far she had knowledge of the family — not sought by her, but incidentally obtained and perhaps forgotten by her upper consciousness — must make us attach little im- portance to these statements. 24. Mrs. C. was told that a little elderly lady in her surroundings would soon die. She thought that her sister was meant, but later an aunt died. Here again the description was evidently indefinite, and so has no evidential value. 25. Dr. Hodgson and Mrs. Holmes tried a series of ex- periments in clairvoyance. At the time of the sitting Mrs. 64 TEST MESSAGES Holmes was to write out what she was doing, and at the same time Phinuit was to tell Dr. Hodgson what she was doing. Several sittings were devoted to this. At the first sitting, from 11.30 to 12.30, Phinuit gave a running descrip- tion of what he saw Mrs. Holmes doing, which was sup- posed to be in the main correct, with two or three false incidents, and others omitted. He said that she had been putting some flowers in a vase, trimming off the dead leaves, that she had had the pillows changed in her room and some thing about the bed changed, that she was writing (true, but with a planchette), that " Charles " was on the sheet in front of her, etc. 26. In the second sitting to test this the incidents were numbered, and out of nineteen the following three were cor- rect : That Mrs. Hohnes had a slight headache ; that she had a little rheumatism in one leg ; that the daughter was think- ing about " going away." (The daughter intended to move into a new house in the fall.) We must note that no such careful notes were taken of the first sitting as of the second. Two or three other incidents were given which might have referred to what the daughter was doing at the time, but not to Mrs. Holmes, and one or two others had hap- pened weeks before. 27. At the third sitting, out of thirty-nine items seven were correct, but we are not told how many of these Hodg son knew. They were : That Mrs. Holmes had lost a little baby, stillborn or nearly so ; that her mother was a little deaf ; that she had a letter from Hodgson on her desk which she was consulting; that she was consulting a watch and writing figures; that a little body of water was near her; Phinuit saw the name Margaret (her daughter's), that she liked Miss P. Several other things were vague, or had occurred at other times. It was also correct that she put a red, wraplike thing over her shoulders, and wrote in a great hurry. Then Phinuit told a series of things, like 65 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the daughter's going out, the mother walking about the room, gathering flowers, etc., but omitted that she arranged the flower stems to write Phinuit, that her writing was to him. 28. At a sitting with Mrs. Holmes, Phinuit described things that Hodgson was then doing, none of which hap- pened at that time, though some did earlier, save that he went for a drive. Mrs. Piper knew where Hodgson was and whom he was visiting. 29. At still another sitting with Miss Edmunds, Phinuit tried to tell what Mrs. Holmes and Hodgson were doing, but was very far from the mark. 30. Miss A. took to Phinuit a locket, ring, and watch, of whose antecedents she knew nothing and which had no initials on them. The owner of the locket could not verify any of the names Phinuit gave in connection with it; other references he thinks may be to relatives he has heard of, and he considered the description Phinuit gave of him- self, the owner, good. Phinuit also said that the influence of the ring was bad, that some one connected with it had died of cancer, and that some one else was insane. The owner's father really had died of cancer, and he had a sister who had been made idiotic by a fright. Phinuit gave the names of John, Joseph, and Elizabeth in connection with the watch, and the owner identified them, but could not verify the incidents told about them. Now observe here that Phinuit actually gave nothing (except, perhaps, the names) that he might not have ob- tained from the sitter. The description of the owner was obtained doubtless through the usual processes of fishing. Did the sitter know of the owner's father and sister or not? If so, the only salient points are explained. The right guesses of names in connection with the watch are surely counterbalanced by the wrong ones in connection with the locket. 66 TEST MESSAGES Certain very obvious comments may be made upon all these thirty cases. First of all, Mrs. Piper was at home in Boston in these sittings, and no one can say certainly how much she may have known about any given sitter. The sitters were introduced, of course, under assumed names, but she expected that, and the first task of the control was to discover the sitter's first name and then his last. This is not so difficult as it sounds, especially as in those days the sitter often held one of Mrs. Piper's hands, and his involuntary twitchings showed when she was hit- ting the right letters. The name once discovered, in some instances at least, the control would have some knowledge of the sitter and could make inferences and reach conclu- sions without difficulty. In 1897 Dr. Hodgson published accounts of further seances in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Re- search, and at that time stated that he had in all records of 500 sittings, of which 130 were first sittings and the sitters presumably unknown to Mrs. Piper. But again he warns us that many of the most evidential parts are too private to be published, and he also states that he does not publish in full all of the other sittings, but selects only those which he considers typical either of good or poor sittings, or im- portant because of their evidential value. Furthermore, he has no stenographic reports of most of these — although at this time Phinuit spoke instead of writing and so making his own record — but took notes himself in longhand, filling them out afterward, or even accepting an account written by the sitter weeks or sometimes months after the sitting. Such incompleteness and inaccuracy seem inexcusable in a person who knew, as Dr. Hodgson did, the errors and illusions of memory disclosed by Mr. Davey's seances. What do scientists think of an experimenter who omits to describe some of the conditions of his experiment, or who writes it up from some one else's account later on? The parts which Dr. Hodgson considers unimportant may be 67 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the key to the sittings, from the psychologist's or psychi- atrist's standpoint. For these reasons I should feel justified in rejecting any so-called test message solely on the ground that the record might be incomplete, but it is interesting to see how, even accepting the incomplete account, there are very few test messages, and all of them easily explicable. They are as follows : 1 and 2. Phinuit told Miss Hartshorn that he got the name Sarah. At first she could not recall any relative of that name but afterward remembered an aunt. He also asked her what was the matter with her mother's foot, and then she remembered some dropsical trouble that her mother had. 3. Phinuit told her that the owner of a certain box used to carry little round things in it to eat, cowchoose. Later she remembered that the things were camomile flowers to chew. 4. He also asked her if she knew Kittie. She did not, but after hard thinking recalled a child friend of that name who had died years before. These are all too far from the mark to be of much value. The shape and size of the box would show its general pur- pose, and the name was incorrect. The proper names were not especially apt, since the sitter had a hard time recall- ing either. 5. Phinuit told Miss Macleod that Agnes would be ill. This was in March, and in the fall Agnes was ill for the first time since childhood and was in bed for a week. If Agnes had fallen ill within six days instead of six months the coincidence would be more convincing. 6. He also told her that the last thing Etta saw on dying was her mother's face. The sitter had supposed Etta's eyes closed, but later found Phinuit 's statement true. But Phinuit says nothing about Etta's eyes at the time death itself occurred, and surely it would be natural for 68 TEST MESSAGES him to guess that the person who would be closest to the dying child would be the mother. 7. He also predicted the death of the sitter's uncle, who was at that time well, as far as she knew. ' Two weeks later the death occurred. This is a striking coincidence, but we do not know how much Mrs. Piper knew about the family, on which she could make an inference. 8 and 9. Phinuit gave Dr. Hodgson a message from John Me. to his brother, asking him ' ' to especially advise my son John to continue travelling for his health and love to him and ..." (Name here given in full by Phinuit.) At an- other sitting the brother was told to hold on for a. while longer and the spirit would tell him what to do. After- ward Dr. Hodgson was told that the proper name had a special and private significance, and that the advice to hold on was very opportune, coming in the midst of busi- ness troubles. The advice to hold on is, however, too general to have much evidential value, and we are again quite in the dark as to whether Mrs. Piper did not know enough about the family to give the name. 10. Mrs. Pitman was told that she would be ill in Paris with stomach trouble, and that a sandy-complexioned gen- tleman would take care of her. Mrs. Pitman was then ex- pecting to go abroad, and she was taken ill in Paris with stomach trouble, was attended by a sandy-haired doctor, and died of her illness. If only Phinuit had foretold the death, how much more striking it would have been ! Surely it is simple enough to guess that a traveller eating new kinds of food is likely to have stomach trouble, and in guessing the sandy-haired doctor the chances are at least even that the guess will be right. 11. Mrs. M. E. P. was told that she would leave her home and settle in the city in a corner house. This came 69 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM true, and might easily have been inferred from Mrs. M. B. P.'s incidental remarks. 12. Dr. F. H. K. was told by his Uncle G. to give his love to H. and tell her that he saw the trouble with her eyes. Dr. F. H. K. later found that H. was having trouble with her eyes. But we do not know whether Dr. F. H. K. himself wore glasses, and so may have suggested trouble with eyes to Phinuit, or whether Mrs. Piper knew anything about this girl which may have suggested eye troubles. 13. Mr. W. B. C. was told that a certain friend had a cold and was at home on a couch with his throat bandaged. He did have a cold, but was not at home with a bandaged throat. This was in February — and colds are common then. 14. He was also told that at that instant G. M. L. was writing a letter at his desk at home. This was not positively verified and so is not evidential. 15. Phinuit gave Mr. Thaw a nickname unknown to any one present for a friend of his, which his widow said later was the one used by his mother and sisters. 16. Phinuit called Mrs. Thaw's dead aunt Ann Eliza. They knew her only as Eliza, and only later discovered that her first name was Anna. But Mrs. Piper was at the Thaws ' and had various op- portunities to hear about their family and friends. 17. Phinuit told Mr. Perkins that his father believed that he had heart trouble, though he really had not. The father admitted this later, but said that he had not told his fear even to the doctor. 18. The Thaws were told that W. was coming to them soon and that his kidneys were out of order. This was not suspected at the time, but was discovered two months later, and five months afterward he died in his sleep of heart failure. 19. Miss Heffern was told to put the thing she had in 70 TEST MESSAGES her lap about her neck as her mother had told her. She had supposed that the object, which was done up in paper, was a lock of hair, but it proved to be an Agnus Dei, which her mother had told her to wear about her neck. The last three incidents are more striking than the others, if the incidents occurred as told, but when we con- .sider the possibilities of error in the report we cannot at- tach any importance to them. We do not know enough about the conditions. These complete the incidents in Hodgson's series which were unknown to the sitter at the time they were given, but later proved true. CHAPTER V TEST MESSAGES (Contiwued) The Piper case entered upon a new phase with the ap- pearance of the spirit father of Prof. James H. Hyslop, in 1898. Professor Hyslop 's account of his experiences ap- pears in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Re- search, vol. xvi, 1901, and fills 649 pages. Hyslop entered upon this investigation, he says, as a sceptic, and with the intention of making the conditions of the seances so rigid that the most carping critic could not detect flaws in them. He made no attempt, however, to prevent Mrs. Piper from obtaining information through inquiries, etc., because he believed that her good faith was so securely established during the previous ten years of experimenting that no person " of any intelligence " could doubt it. His ingenuity was entirely directed toward mak- ing it impossible for the controls to get any information from him. To this end he wore a mask and did not speak at the first two sittings, until Mrs. Piper had given his name, after which he thought these precautions unnecessary. Also, no one knew that he was to have sittings save Dr. Hodgson and his secretary. Miss Edmunds, and both of them are sure that they did not tell any one. During all the sittings he never spoke to Mrs. Piper in her normal state but twice, and then in an assumed voice. He used his normal voice during the trance. In order to exclude muscular suggestion, he never touched Mrs. Piper, save on the few recorded occasions, and perhaps half a dozen other times when he seized the hand to straighten it 72 TEST MESSAGES on the writing pad. And during the sitting, he stood be- hind and to Mrs. Piper's right, where she could not have seen him even if her eyes had been open, or get any sug- gestion from his expression, etc. The records are complete, with true names, every word spoken during the sitting being recorded, except some that were inaudible, and such phrases as " Wait a moment, please," used by Hodgson* when the paper had to be turned or a new piece substituted. The record was taken thus : Hodgson sat near the table where he could see the writing, he or Hyslop read it aloud in a low voice, and he copied as much of it as he could, while also taking remarks by himself and Hyslop and adding explanatory matter. After the sitting they went over the automatic writing and completed it, and had typewritten copies made and sent to the printer, whose proofs were compared with and cor- rected by the automatic writing. This would seem to make the record as complete and accurate as it well could be, so far as words go. With these precautions Hyslop is confident that he has excluded all possibility of any suggestion from the sitter which is not indicated in the record by the sitter's words, and that therefore the straight issue can be made as to where Mrs. Piper gets the information given in the mes- sages, without implicating the sitter as either a voluntary or an involuntary source of information. The first question then is as to whether the precautions really were sufficient. With regard to the assump.tion that because Mrs. Piper was never detected in fraud in the early days, we can assume further that she never uses any pos- sible sources of information, certain remarks may be made. Every additional successful year must make the temptation greater for Mrs. Piper's controls to use all means to suc- ceed, and as we shall see later, the Hodgson control of to- day evades, deceives, and blusters in order to mislead the sitter quite as much as Phinuit ever did. But it seems to us 8 73 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM that further, consciously or unconsciously, it would be humanly impossible for the normal Mrs. Piper not to cul- tivate a memory for personal incidents, chance bits of in- formation, a love of directories, etc., and that her sub- conscious mind must always be on the alert to group together all the facts relevant to any probable sitter. In the twelve years of experience before Hyslop came to her, she could hardly have avoided gaining general impressions of the class of men who were her sitters, and whether she was very fully conscious of it or not, it is altogether prob- able that Hyslop had been tagged in her mind as a pos- sible sitter, together with others. Let us grant that even if she could she would not send agents to get information about sitters. Still it would scarcely be possible for her not to be instinctively inter- ested in any one whom she knew to be interested in Psychical Research. Facts thus obtained by the normal self might soon drop below the conscious memory, and be available for the controls at any time. In the next place, while it is true that Hyslop 's precau- tions are greater than those of any previous sitter, there are certain difficulties inherent in any sitting which he does not consider. He states that as the writing progressed, either he or Dr. Hodgson read it aloud in order to be sure that they understood it. Dr. Hall and I also did this, and when I consider how much the control obtained thus through our inflections I am certain that he also obtained much from Hodgson and Hyslop, and probably more, be- cause they were intensely in earnest and inclined to belief, and therefore would involuntarily betray more of their deep feeling than would we, who had no feeling. With regard to the amount of suggestion thus obtained, Hyslop gives us a sidelight apropos of the possibility of HoflgsoJi himself being implicated in fraud. He says that Hodgsqp was often not present at his sittings, and that if anything, the writing was more relevant at those times. That is, 74 TEST MESSAGES when Hyslop, who knew numerous details, was reading, more details were given than when Hodgson, who knew only part, read. {Proceedings, vol. xvi, p. 7.) I do not see how any one who has sat with Mrs. Piper and knows her sensitiveness to sounds can question that in this way any sitter betrays much. "We feel justified, therefore, in spite of Hyslop 's often- repeated assertions that all of his sittings were mider the strictest conditions, and were all evidential, in concluding that in his sittings, as in all others, the only messages that need to be considered as even prima facie tests are those in which the content was unknown to the sitters and was later verified. These are as follows : 1. Hyslop 's father (that is, his purported spirit) asks if he remembers the story that he used to tell him about a fire. Hyslop did not, but later his stepmother and sister said that his father was always afraid that his barn would burn, and on one occasion was greatly alarmed because he believed that another fire was his own barn burning. Note here that the real point, viz., that Hyslop, Sr., told his son a story about a fire is not proved ; only a presump- tion is created that because he thought about fires he would teU stories about them. 2. In describing his last illness he said that his eyes had troubled him, which was true, but unknown to Hyslop. 3. Hyslop, Sr., referred to a little brown-handled knife that he said he carried in his vest and coat pocket. Hyslop did not know of any such, but his stepmother and sister remembered it, but said that he carried it in his " pants pocket." 4. He said that strychnine was one of the medicines he took in his last illness. Hyslop did not remember this, but later found an old letter from his father in which he said that he was taking strychnine and arsenic. These three incidents are surely not very evidential. 75 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM The medicines referred to are frequently given and might be guessed by any one, while any elderly person is likely to have trouble with his eyes when ill. The brown-handled knife, too, is so common a sort of possession that it would be a relatively safe guess. 5. The father asked if his son remembered their talks about Swedenborg. He did, but only vaguely. But both father and son were much interested in religious matters and especially in immortality, and Swedenborg would be sure to come up at some time in conversation between two such persons. We may also think it probable that Mrs. Piper would have some knowledge of all the prominent peo- ple who had powers akin to her own. 6. The father asked, " And do you remember Thom. . . Tom. . . I mean the horse." Hyslop was completely sur- prised by this reference to a favorite horse of his father. 7. "Do you remember Peter, . . who was . . or be- longed to Nanie ? ' ' Hyslop saw no meaning in this at the time, but later found that the cousin who, he supposed, asked this question had had a dog named Peter when he was between two and four years old, but it seems to have had no connection with Nanie. Here there are two doubts: first, that it really was the cousin who was speaking, and second, that the dog was re- ferred to. There is nothing in the message to indicate that it was a dog, and as it is connected with Nanie, wjio had nothing to do with the dog, the presumption might be just the opposite from what Hyslop makes it. 8. The father said that he used to read the paper in his chair, and the stepmother confirmed this remark. Most elderly men at home read the paper in " their " chairs. This is really too trivial and commonplace to be worth remark. 9. The father asked if his son remembered the visit that he had paid to him just before his death. Hyslop did not, but later found that he had totally forgotten a visit his 76 TEST MESSAGES father had paid him several years before his death, and so he counts this remark as correct. This is a favourable sample of the way in which Hyslop secures his large number of correct items. Any father would be presumed to pay visits to his children from time to time, and so the only evidential part of the item is the statement that a particular visit came just before his death, but this is totally wrong. 10. A new spirit suddenly appeared and, without an- nouncing who he was, asked, ' ' Where is the book of poems? " Hyslop inferred that this was a certain cousin, and upon inquiry found that in his last illness he had had a book read to him in which there was a poem at the end of each chapter. Here, of course, there are one doubt and one mistake. The doubt is as to whether the spirit really was this cousin. The mistake is in calling a book of prose with occasional poems in it a book of poetry. 11. James McLellan said that his brother John would be there soon, the context indicating plainly that James meant that his brother would soon die and join him. It turned out, however, that John had already died, nearly a year before, and of course the control proceeds to explain his ambiguous phrases and Hyslop accepts the explanation. 12. The same control said that the same John had had a sunstroke from which he had never fully recovered. After much labour, Hyslop found that once he had been a little overcome from the heat but had never suffered permanently from it, and yet he coimts this statement as correct. 13. The father said that he had had a box of minerals when he was a boy. Hyslop found that he had had a box of Indian arrow heads and relics, and so counts this as cor- rect. But Indian arrow heads are not minerals, and min- erals are something practically every child makes a collec- tion of at some time, so that the guess was an easy one. 14. The father spoke of visits to Hyslop 's brother which 77 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Hyslop did not remember. But do not most fathers visit their children ? Any one could make such a reference with- out knowing anything whatever about a family. 15. The father said that they had put an organ into the United Presbyterian Church at his former home, and Hys- lop found that this really had been done a few months before. But the control left the time when this had been done indefinite, so that if it had happened at any time in the years after the father's death it might have been counted as correct. Further, if the control knew, as he probably did, the change of sentiment in recent years in the stricter denominations with regard to using musical instruments in churches, he would be entirely safe in making such a guess. 16-19. In the five sittings which Hodgson held for Hys- lop, Hyslop, Sr., said that he used to pore over the pages of his books and write out little extracts in his diary. He did make extracts, but wrote them on slips of paper — and this was the characteristic item. Again, he said that one tune was running through his mind, " Nearer, My God, to Thee," and his wife said he had a particular aversion to this hymn. It looks here as if the control in guessing a common favourite struck it right by contraries. Again, he said he kept his spectacle case on his desk, and near it a paper cutter, a writing pad, a number of ' ' rests, ' ' and a square and a round bottle. He did not keep his spectacle case nor paper cutter in his desk, but (strange to say !) did have two ink bottles, a square and a round one. The " rests " Hyslop identifies with the pigeon holes of the desk, though it is hard to see why. Out of all these items the two of the bottles alone are correct, but the whole state- ment is counted correct. In another sitting he refers to the roughness of the roads. 78 TEST MESSAGES In these sittings for Hyslop there is really not one in- cident which might not have been guessed, or which may not have been known to Hodgson in a general way. Any one with a desk is likely to have writing pads and bottles in it, and any one who reads is likely to make extracts from his books. Hodgson knew that Hyslop, Sr., had lived in a country district, and might easily have given that impres- sion to the medium, who would doubtless infer rough roads from it, especially since it was what she would call " out West," in Ohio. But the most interesting part of these five sittings is to be found in the illustrations of the way in which Hyslop interprets the remarks of the controls. Some of these are worth quoting verbatim as illustrative of the way in which he gets his large percentage of correct facts. In one sitting, Hyslop, Sr., says to Hodgson: " I am thinking of the time some years ago when I went into the mountains for a change with him, and the trip we had to the lake after we left the camp." Hyslop 's contemporary note on this is : " Father never went into the mountains with me nor to the lake. Also, the allusion to his doing this after leaving the camp has no meaning whatever. ... It would require a great deal of twisting and forced interpre- tation to discover any truth in the statements." Six months later, he .writes : ' ' That the reader may see how nearly the passage is to being absolutely correct, I may be allowed to reconstruct it somewhat with the imaginary confusion that ends in ' mountains ' and ' camp.' If we assume anything like the trouble that was manifest in the guitar incident, the following is conceivable : " [Hyslop, Sr., speaks:] ' I am thinking of the time some years ago when I went into (Father says Illinois. Rector does not imderstand this and asks if he means hilly. Father says, ' no, prairies. ' Rector does not understand. Father says ' no mountains.' Rector understands this as 'No! Mountains,' and continues,) the mountains for a 79 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM change with him and the trip we had to the lake, after we left (Father says Champaign. Rector understands camp, and continues) the camp. ' The name of the town is usually pronounced shampane, and according to my stepmother my father so pronounced it when living, though my own recollection is that he often pronounced it Campane. But, of course, we do not know the various tendencies to error which occur in the transmission of such messages." Of course not! Again, Hyslop, Sr., asks, " Do you remember a little black skull cap I used to wear and what has become of it? " On inquiry, Hyslop 's stepmother wrote emphatically that he never wore a skull cap in the daytime, and never but once at night, though he always complained of his head being cold. Hyslop says of this : " I took this as sufficient to condemn the reference, but it has occurred to me since this frequent reference to the cap that the wish in life to have some covering for his head, which was very bald, and which suffered from the cold, might here crop up as an automatism." ! ! Again, Hyslop, Sr., was trying to recall the medicines which he used in his last illness, and asked if malt was one of them, or maltine. Hyslop remarks: " This allusion to maltine here is very singular. . . The singular fact is that I had sent the spectacle case and contents to Dr. H. in an old maltine box, and this box was on the floor, out of which the spectacle case was taken a moment afterward." In a later note he adds that he knew that Mrs. Piper had not seen the box in her normal condition " Hence I wrote to my brother, stepmother, and sister to know whether father had ever taken any maltine or contemplated taking it. ' ' The stepmother and sister doubted it, and the brother says that he advised it, but the father did not do it. Then Hyslop concludes: " The specific place which my brother's advice would have in his (the father's) mind would naturally occur to him or any one else trying to think 80 TEST MESSAGES over the efforts to stay the disease with which he was suf- fering, though we must wonder why he did not name a more familiar medicine which I had in mind when I put my question." The sceptic might suggest that the more familiar medi- cine was not named on a handy hox which the mediimi prohably caught a glimpse of. Again, this is the way in which the control gave the name of Hyslop 's sister Henrietta : The hand first made various attempts, writing A Nabbse, Abbie, Addie, saying it was his sister, until Hyslop said: ^ (Oh, well, I know. I know who you mean now. Yes. I know who you mean now. But it is not spelled quite right.) H Abbie. (The letter H is right.) " Yes, but let me hear it and I will get it. G. P. Hattie. (That is very nearly right.) Harriet. (Pretty nearly. Try it one letter at a time.) HETTIE. G. P. (That is right. Yes. That is right and fine.) " Hyslop adds in a note: " The nickname Hettie is cor- rect for her, though we never called her that, at least I never did so, and I know some of the others and her friends called her Etta. This seems to have been written partly at the end, ' Ett. . ' But it was near enough for me to recognise it dearly for Henrietta, and I did not press for this last, which was probably not the natural form of using her name. ' ' So the spirit father gave his daughter a nickname never 1 In quoting from any sitting, everytliing between the double quotations " " is taken exactly from the report. The sitter's remarks are between parentheses ( ) ; the control's have no marks; remarks between brackets [ ] are the sitter's comments on the sitting. 81 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM used by any one, which he evidently supposed to be an abbreviation of Harriet instead of her real name, Henrietta, and yet it is accepted by Hyslop as correct. In one of the Hodgson sittings for Hyslop, Hyslop sent this question for his father: " Do you remember Samuel Cooper, and can you say anything about him? " The father answered, " He refers to the old friend of mine in the West," and said that they had talked on philo- sophical topics. Hyslop at first thought this all nonsense, but later learned that his father did know a Joseph Cooper with whom he had had many religious discussions. Unfortu- nately, Joseph lived in Allegheny, east of their home, but he foimded a Cooper School far west of their home, and perhaps this confused the spirit Hyslop ! These comprise all the incidents of importance unknown to the sitter and later verified. As the reader can see for himself, many of them are partly or whoUy wrong, or are so commonplace that any one could have guessed them. In spite of Professor Hyslop 's own peculiar facility in guessing the meaning of the controls, it seems to be pecul- iarly aggravating to him to allow others the same priv- ileges of interpreting, and especially so to have them assume that the controls are fishing and guessing. One hesitates to bring down his vials of wrath upon one's head, but the more one goes over all the sittings, and especially his own, the more this theory is forced upon one, especially when one considers that these 110 " test messages " were scattered over twelve years of sittings, making an average of only ten a year. Looking at the various reports with this time perspec- tive, Count Petrovo-Solovovo's remark seems amply justi- fied that the importance of Mrs. Piper's trance utterances and writings is enormously exaggerated by her ardent followers. One of the most interesting series of sittings, perhaps 82 TEST MESSAGES the most interesting from some standpoints, is Professor Newbold's. Seven sittings were held for him by Hodgson, and he himself was present at twenty-six. Of those seven, five occurred before he saw Mrs. Piper at all. He sent various articles to Hodgson to give to Phinuit, who talked volubly about them through, five sittings, and gave practi- cally nothing correct. Hodgson notes here that " none of these articles fulfilled the condition of having been worn much or exclusively by one person." In the twenty-six sittings at which Newbold was pres- ent, there is not one incident unknown to him and later verified, and most of the sittings, as he says very frankly, are unintelligible nonsense. He records more carefully than Hodgson the various tentative efforts of the medium in get- ting names, etc., and on this account his records are invalu- able as a check on the others. It should be noted, too, that at his first meeting with Mrs. Piper she could not go into a trance at all, and at the first sitting the results were very unsatisfactory, even more so than later. One of the best illustrations of fishing is in the pur- ported translation of Greek by George Pelham, who was a good linguist while on this side. At a previous seance Pel- ham had given incorrectly the common. Latin phrase, Fama semper vivat, as Fama tempus vivat, and was unable to see how he was incorrect, though Newbold called his atten- tion to it. Newbold then tried to get the Latin motto of the Tavern Club, and the hand wrote a lot of illegible scrawls, among which he thought he detected certain words. He then asked whether they were Due vir, and the hand said that they were, and also that the translation " Lead the way," was the correct one. Then Newbold suggested that they should try some Greek, and the hand assented. Accordingly, he spoke the first phrase of the Lord's Prayer in Greek: Uarijp fijimv 6 ev TOK ovpavoK, or, in English characters, ' ' pater hemon ho en tois ouranois." Literally translated this is, " father of 83 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM us who in the Heavens." Here foUows Newbold's account of the translation. After speakirg the phrase he asked: " (Did you catch it?) " No, not exactly, slowly. Pater. .1 say . .Pae. .Pater. . pater., good hemon. . [illegible.] he. .hemon. .urano is., and translation ... Good ... love [? illegible.] Love [1] Love [?] . .father is in. . that is right. . " Notice here how soon the fishing process has begun. The control gets no encouragemtot on the indistinct word supposed to be love and so drops that. The Greek pater sounds exactly like the Latin pater, and every one knows the meaning of that word whether he has ever studied Latin or not. En would naturally be guessed as in, and so we have two words of the " translation " already. " (All right, but go ahead.) " I cannot quite catch that B. . yes. . Patience. . well, you have it, B . . " [Throughout both Mr. 0. and I frequently repeated the words and spelled them both in Greek and English.] " And who can doubt that thus they also gave many un- suspected clews to the control ? " Father is in. .tois ou ou nois our . .B. . Patience my boy. . Father is in Heavens. " (One word is left out, George.) " Spell it slowly. " (Greek or English?) ' ' Greek, of course. " [We do so. Hemon.] " Father is in the Heaven. . I not catch. . slowly now, speak those letters separately, my boy. . ae. . mon. " (Rough breathing now, hemon.) " Heaven. . Yes. . too bad, old chap. . " [I read bad as hard.] "Bad, I say. I'll catch it." Note here the various tentatives. Ou ou nois is con- 84 TEST MESSAGES nected with our, but as no indications are given of its cor- rectness, it is dropped for a time. Hemon was guessed at as Heaven, and when the control was told that the one untranslated word was hemon he was confused, repeated his own translation, said he could not catch it, and then went on, pointing to 0. " Now you say it. Let me see if it will reach me any better. " [0. says it. Hand gesticulates and twists so as to get 0. 's mouth close to the outer side of the hand, just be- low the root of the little finger.] " My ear. " [I explain that he means that his spirit ear is located there.] ' ' Certainly, my ear. . . . EMO . . that is what bothers me. . Father is. . was. . now. . no. . Father. . our. . " [Quickly and with excitement] OUR OU [Then slowly and reverently, in capital letters] OUR FATHER IS IN HEAVEN. " (Good.) " [We all shake hands over it.] " (We generally put it. Our father who art in Heaven.) " [Excitement in the hand.] Yes, I remember that, too." Here again notice the attempts beginning with EMO, and the pauses in which, doubtless, the control was waiting indications that he was right. When he gave " our " again, the two sitters gave some involuntarily different re- action from what they had given to the other words. " Our " was then repeated in capitals, and the favourable signs being given again the control had all that he needed and gave the sentence, but without even then connecting it with the Lord's Prayer, as is evident by the excitement shown when Newbold gave the usual rendering. And yet, if there had really been any translating at all, instead of guessing, this connotation could hardly have been avoided, 85 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM because the phrase is one of the earliest learned and best known in Greek. This result seemed so surprising, in view of the fact that Mrs. Piper knew no Greek, that Newbold tried another Greek sentence, ""Ovk ecrn 0dvaTO<;. — There is no death, " choosing very simple Greek words on the thought upper- most in all their minds. These were given four days after the last recounted effort. Pelham asked them to call in Moses, who was a notable Greek scholar while alive, and the result was con- fusion worse confounded. Moses apparently, in the first phrase, " Ouk esti thanatos," took the Ouk to mean light, apparently from the Latin Lux, and could get no further. On the two following days renewed attempts were equally unsuccessful, but four days later, when Hodgson alone was present, while G. P. was talking about something else, the hand suddenly asked, " Who said there was no death? " " [Hand moves forward as though ' speiring ' into the vacant space.] Moses. " (Ask Moses what he means by that?) " Well, you interrupt me. Well, I must say, old chap. " (I did not mean to interrupt you.) " No not you H. . Moses. . Ouk esti thanatos, Moses. " (That's first rate. Is this Mr. Moses translating?) " Ouk esti thanatos. There's no death. Repeat it to me in Greek, Hodgson, for him. " [Hodgson repeats, says it is correct, and suggests get- ting the rest of the passage translated.] ' ' Come H. Come here a moment. Hurry up H. " [Hodgson repeats the rest of the passage.] ' ' Again . . Good oh good may God preserve you always H., and keep you alive on earth until you have accom- plished a thorough work. I'll help you in every way possible. " (Shall I repeat the Greek again?) "Yes, something new.. Yes he's listening., too fast 86 TEST MESSAGES H. . wait. . ready he has it very nearly, .not the last H. . no before . . . yes . . not quite . . got it. " [R. H. had been repeating the first five words only several times.] " I'U go now and translate it and return soon." And that was the last heard of it. In these trials note that there was no success at all for three sittings, and four days elapsed between the third and the fourth. This could be readily understood if Mrs. Piper could be supposed to be fraudulent — ^which, of course, is not the case — for being ignorant of Greek she could not look up the words in a dictionary until she had learned the forms of the Greek letters, which would take some time, and even when she was able to remember some, or happened across some one with some knowledge of Greek, she got only three — ouk esti thanatos. Another interesting feature of the Newbold sittings is that Imperator first makes his appearance here, and we get a little light on the manner of development of a control. At the sitting of June 19, 1895, the Pelham control was talking to Newbold about the future life, and Newbold asked if he knew of Stainton Moses. ' ' No, not very much. Why 1 " (Did you ever know of him or know what he did?) " I only have an idea from having met him here. " (Can you tell me what he said?) " No, only that he was W. Stainton Moses. I found him for E and Hodgson. " (Did you tell Hodgson this?) " I do not think so. " (Did he say anything about his mediumship?) "No. " (His writings claimed that the soul carried with it all its passions and appetites, and was very slowly purified of them.) " It is all untrue. 87 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM " (And that the souls of the bad hover over the earth, goading sinners on to their own destruction.) " So far all the information has been given by Newbold. The next day he asked for Moses, but he did not appear then. On the next day he asked again, but Pelham said he could not find him and that the doctor, too, was after him. In these days Newbold let fall that Moses had been dead three years. On the next day Phinuit described a spirit corresponding to Newbold 's idea of Moses, and Moses himself appeared presently, Phinuit acting as inter- mediary. After some introductory instructions by Phinuit, Newbold said: " (Tell him I have read with interest his book, Spirit Teachings, but find in it statements apparently incon- sistent with what you say, and I would like to know his explanation of the fact.) " [Moses:] Believe you in me and my teachings? " Newbold speaks again about the inconsistencies, and Moses finally asks what they are, and on being told what his own book says, says that he was mistaken and has learned differently since death. He had committed him- self to the wrong view in the first appearance. He goes on to make other corrections in his book. Newbold then says that the names of his guides have never been made public, and if he would give him their names it would be an excellent test of his identity. He gives him a new pencil, and the hand twists and turns it for some minutes as if in doubt. Finally Newbold asks : " (Who was Rector?) " Dr. (name given here.) " After thanks and other conversation Newbold asks who Imperator was, and another name was written. Then, after desultory talk about his book and the spirit world, Moses said he thought himself fortunate to have been brought here by Speer. Newbold asks, " Charlton C. Speer? " and with great excitement Moses recognises his old friend and 88 TEST MESSAGES eo-worker. He thought that he remembered Myers, but did not recall Hodgson at first. Two days later, when Hodgson and Newbold were pres- ent, Mrs. Piper went into the trance easily instead of with great difficulty as usual, and it was evident that a new control had come, who declared himself to be Moses. Moses at this time gave the name of Wallace as a friend, and when Hodgson asked if it was Alfred R. Wallace, he assented. Hodgson asked him to tell who Imperator was, as a test, since no one living knew except Myers. Moses talked around it and tried to evade the test, but finally wrote a name which, as already stated, was incorrect. We have, finally, to consider the few sittings with Mrs. Piper published since Dr. Hodgson's death. These are re- ported by Hyslop and James, and are communications pur- porting to come from Dr. Hodgson. Hyslop says that if it is Dr. Hodgson who is communicating, he has an almost impossible task before him in proving his identity through Mrs. Piper. He worked with Mrs. Piper for eighteen years, and no one can say how much she and her controls have learned about him in that time. Hyslop adds, " I should admit frankly that if I were dealing with ordinary professional mediums the facts which I expect to narrate would have no evidential or scientific value," because they might be referred to knowledge possessed by the medium in her normal state. But Hyslop is perfectly convinced that the Piper controls do not know what Mrs. Piper knows, as well as vice versa. Bearing this in mind, let us further note that the con- trol calling itself Hodgson says that it has great difficulty in speaking through any medium save Mrs. Piper. Here is one of the incidents which Hyslop quotes: Dr. Hodgson and Hyslop had experimented with a certain girl medium, and later Hodgson had mentioned the experiment to Mrs. Piper's controls. After Hodgson's death a friend 9 89 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM sitting with Mrs. Piper asked him if he would not com- municate through some other medium, and he replied, ' ' No, I will not, except through the young Ught. She is all right," and later on said that Hyslop would understand to whom he referred. About this same time this young " light " in a sitting with her parents said that her control ' ' had seen Dr. Hodgson, ' ' of whose death she did not then know. Hyslop says of this incident : "At least Mrs. Piper's subliminal can be supposed to have been aware of the facts sufficiently to deprive the incident of the evi- dential value which we would like it to have. But the most striking incident is the last one quoted." But what a forced interpretation is put on this. The control of the young " light " did not say that he had seen Hodgson in the spirit world, but only that he had seen him, and throughout Mrs. Piper's sittings the controls are always see- ing people who are living, doing this, that, and the other thing. As Hyslop gives the incident, there is nothing at all that makes it necessary to assume that the medium or her control was thinking of Hodgson as dead. Another incident to which Hyslop attaches " great im- portance ' ' is this : In a seance Hodgson suddenly breaks out, " Remember that I told Myers we would talk nigger talk." Hyslop dissented to this, and Hodgson corrected it, saying, " Ah, yes, James. I remember it was Will James." Professor James did not remember any such re- mark, either then or later on, until in a general conversa- tion on Spiritism with a guest he remarked that he had several times told Dr. Hodgson that "if he would only use a little tact (with the controls) he could convert their deific verbiage into nigger minstrel talk. ' ' One other incident will show how definite Hodgson is in his remarks about himself. In the course of a seance Hodgson began : " I shall never forget our experiments with a so-called light when you took a bottle of red liquid. 90 TEST MESSAGES " (Very good. You know what a noise that man has made.) " I do. I know all about it. " (I have had some controversy with a friend of his.) " Recently? (Yes, recently. Now, can you answer a question? Tell me who it was or all you can recall about it.) " Yes, which? I remember our meeting there. I can remember the liquid experiment, which was capital. I also recall an experiment when you tied the handkerchief. " (I do not recall it at this moment.) " What's the matter with you? " (I have tied handkerchiefs so often.) " Remember the voice experiment? ' ' (Yes, I remember that well. That was when the liquid was used.) " I am referring to it now. I know it perfectly well, but no one else does. " (Yes, that's right.) ' ' I remember how she tried to fool us. " (Yes, it was my first trial at that.) " Hyslop remarks that the liquid was not red but purple, and that no handkerchief was used, but Dr. Hodgson talked about handkerchiefs on the way home, ' ' and as any allusion to a handkerchief in this connection is pertinent^ one must imagine that the incident which I have mentioned was actually intended. " ! ! This is typical of the Hyslop conversations with Hodg- son, and the reader can judge from it how far Hodgson has thereby proven his personal identity. Even if the me- dium had not known Hodgson personally, but had only known about him, little is said that she might not have said from her own knowledge. In Proceedings, vol. xx. Professor James contributes 121 pages to a study of the Piper sittings at which Hodg- 91 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM son's spirit purports to be present, but we will not consider these in further detail, since he himself says very frankly that the possibilities of leakage can never be entirely elim- inated, so that there could not weU be a more difficult task set for any one to prove his identity than to Hodgson, if he really is speaking. The general public will always be- lieve it possible that either Mrs. Piper or the secondary per- sonality obtained the information given from the living Hodgson or some of his friends; and will be strengthened in its position, I might add, by the fact that at Mrs. Piper's last visit to England, in 1906, when friends of Hodgson unknown to Mrs. Piper were given sittings, the Hodgson control did not recognise them. In proportion, that is, as the conditions eliminated the possibilities of leakage, the supposed Hodgson control failed to make good. Neverthe- less, Professor James says that sometimes the control makes the strong impression upon him of being Hodgson, and that some of the messages are such as it would be very improbable for either the waking or entranced Mrs. Piper to know. He says, " I myself feel as if an external wiU to communicate were probably there But if asked whether the wiU to communicate be Hodgson's or be some mere spirit counterfeit of Hodgson, I remain uncertain and await more facts, facts which may not point clearly to a conclusion for fifty or a hundred years." And in this " almost persuaded " state we are forced to leave Professor James. To sum up the published sittings then, we have the following results : Approximately 110 facts in twenty years have been given, which the sitter did not know and which were true. But many of these facts, as we have seen, are easily explicable as inferences or guesses, or are so vague as to have little or no value, while the few striking coinci- dences are so few that it does not seem to be stretching tol- erance if we frankly leave them unexplained, or refer them to incidents or references in the sittings which were not 92 TEST MESSAGES considered important enough to record. The so-called translation of unknown tongues, of whifih the public press has given such exaggerated reports, turns out to be a spe- cialised form of fishing, as we shall see in even more detail a little later in translating the famous Latin message. CHAPTER VI ^■JPINIONS OF SITTERS The reducticE oif the Piper test messages to so few and so unimportant/inigLs, however, too easy of accomplishment to be reliable, jaglame face of all the confidence that they have inspired (rs. PsU-known people, who have been con- verted to a belirecon spirit communication through them. The question that inevitably arises is why these notable people were convinced by such banalities, easy guesses, fish- ing, and rubbish 1 In order to answer this question completely we ought to make a study on the psychology of Mrs. Piper's sitters, akin to Miss Johnson's in studying Home's manifestations. But this is obviously impossible at present, and so we must content ourselves with an array of opinions from the most notable of them. First as to the favourable opinions : Sir Oliver Lodge was convinced during Mrs. Piper's first visit to England that he obtained spirit communica- tions, and F. W. H. Myers was also convinced. Dr. Hodg- son was, of course, a believer, and Dr. Hyslop was con- vinced by his sittings. These are far and away the best- known persons who have committed themselves imreserv- edly to belief in Mrs. Piper, and have, in a sense, staked their scientific reputations on the belief that she does bring into connection this world and the next. In addition to them there are many other believers, such as Mrs. J. T. Clarke, Mr. and Mrs. A. Blair Thaw, Mr. and Mrs. Howard (the friends of George Pelham) , Mr. J. Rogers Rich, and various people who are indicated only 94 OPINIONS OF SITTERS by letters, one of whom had forty-five sittings. Some of these sitters come to Mrs. Piper regularly for advice and consolation, and have done so for years. The opinions of some sitters are not given, and in a number of cases their judgment seems to be in suspense. Miss Alice Johnson, who has for many years been the sec- retary of the Society, is one of these, though one is led to in- fer — ^perhaps incorrectly — ^that she is not greatly impressed by Mrs. Piper, though probably she is a Spiritist. Dr. and Mrs. Sidgwick, after being present at nine sittings for them- selves and five for others, stated their conclusions thus: " While our own experience, taken by itself, would not es- tablish Dr. Phinuit's claim to supernormally acquired knowledge, it seems to us to support to some extent that claim, which from the reports of others we believe to be justified." I am also in doubt as to the impression left upon Mrs. Sidgwick by her work with Myers's spirit in the cross-reference tests. One would infer from her attitude during the sitting that she doubted Myers's claims, but other remarks imply belief in spirit communication. I have not found any definite statement of Mrs. Verrall's attitude, but conclude that she believes in Mrs. Piper from her atti- tude toward her own automatic writing and the cross-refer- ence tests. Miss Goodrich Freer at first was favourably impressed, but later altered her opinion. Then, too, we have those sitters of intermediate opinions. Prof. J. E. Carpenter, of Oxford, for instance, writes, after one sitting : " I saw enough to convince me that Mrs. Piper possesses some very extraordinary powers, but I have no theory at all as to their nature or mode of exercise." Charles Eliot Norton, after one sitting, believed that there was some imperfect thought-transference, and no evi- dence of acquaintance with facts known only to him, but nevertheless enough of interest to make him sorry he could not get more. 95 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Minot J. Savage, after various sittings, wrote, '' Nearly all (the things told him) are inexplicable on any theory that does not go at least as far as telepathy," and also be- lieved in spirit communication. Professor James, though he has said that his experi- ences with Mrs. Piper have overturned the old world of science for him, is not yet willing to go on record as be- lieving in communications from the dead, but (in the American Magazine for September, 1909) offers an in- genious hypothesis of half-developed, inchoate spirit per- sonalities struggling for expression that recalls the most flourishing days of oriental and mediasval beliefs in dae- mons, genii, etc. Dr. Walter Leaf also tends in this direction. At first he inclined to think Phinuit a mere secondary personality, and describes some of his favourite tricks and evasions, but in 1903 he reached the conclusion that the evidence in the Piper case proved that ' ' memories of the dead survive and are under special conditions accessible to us " through the secondary personalities of Mrs. Piper, but he is not sure that these memories are coherent enough to themselves de- serve the name of personalities. Even Mr. Carrington, who is now a believer in the grossest physical phenomena, says {Proceedings of the So- ciety for Psychical Research, vol. xvii, p. 337) : " The whole case is one continuous series of glorious uncertain- ties; of doubts, suspicions, semi-convictions, more doubts and again uncertainties, leaving us dissatisfied with our- selves and wondering whether, after all, there is such a thing as Spiritism or no." His predominant opinion at this time was that the controls were reaUy secondary personal- ities, but ere now he has been convinced of their genuine- ness as spirits. Of especial interest is the opinion of Professor Newbold, who was present at twenty-six sittings, and for whom Hodgson held seven others. He says: " With regard to the 96 OPINIONS OF SITTERS origin of the information given I have no theory to offer. I can frame none to which I cannot myself allege un- answerable objections." He believes that Mrs. Piper in the normal state is honest, but thinks that the controls obtain much information from the sitter, and also emphasises the manifold errors which may creep in because the notes are necessarily so incomplete and have to be in part recon- structed from memory. Prof. N. S. Shaler, after one sitting, felt confident that the statements made to his wife were such as to " entirely exclude the hypothesis that they were the results of con- jectures directed by the answers made by my wife. I took no part in the questioning, but observed very closely all that was done. I have no firm mind about the matter. I am curiously and yet absolutely uninterested in it, for the reason that I don't see how I can exclude the hypothesis of fraud, and until that can be excluded, no advance can be made." Coming now to the unfavourable opinions, there have been, of course, many sitters who had but one or two sit- tings, and obtained either nothing or else imintelligible nonsense or misstatements. Thomas Barkworth, for in- stance, was convinced that Mrs. Piper's success with him was due to her hold of his hand, and was surprised that she did not do better. G. H. Darwin was wholly uncon- vinced of any supernatural powers, and Prof. A. Macal- ister thought her a very poor impostor. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell attended one sitting with Professor James, and said that if he had not heard so much about it from Dr. James he would have thought it all a fraud and a very stupid one, too. Prof. J. Mark Baldwin, after one sitting, was left much as before, in a condition of " wiUing ap- proach to any evidence on either side," but disappointed that he got nothing more positive. Prof. J. Trowbridge, after one sitting, thought her in an abnormal condition, and " was struck by a sort of insane cuiming in the grop- 97 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM ing of the woman after something intangible." Professor Bowditch believed that Mrs. Piper had worked up her in- formation and applied it to him by mistake instead of to his uncle. Mrs. Howard Okie wrote after two sittings : ' ' My first sitting with Mrs. Piper was not at all satisfactory to me. There seemed ■ to me to be a great deal of hedging and guessing. As we left the house we met friends, two of whom had known me since I was a young girl. Owing to this occurrence I could not help feeling a bit suspicious on my next visit when the medium was able to give the full names of many of my relatives with perfect accuracy and confidence ; but nothing was given to me which those friends did not know." Prof. J. M. Pierce, after two sittings, wrote: "I re- ceived none that tends to strengthen the theory of a com- munication from the departed." " Phinuit seems to me to be constantly groping after indications from me to correct and direct his intelligence, and in some cases he seemed to me to be so directed. Whatever the explanation of the phenomena, I believe this process to go on — a struggle for knowledge to whose issue the sitter contributes." " I am surprised to see how little is true. Nearly every approach to truth is at once vitiated by erroneous additions or devel- opments. ' ' Professor Richet believes that all may be explained as a case of secondary personality, as does Andrew Lang, and Flournoy says that outsiders can only wait patiently until the variations of opinion within the Society for Psychical Research are settled. Count Petrovo-Solovovo (himself a prominent Spiritist), in his appendix to a Russian translation of Podmore's " Modern Spiritualism," concludes on the Piper case that some of the data " must be referred to a supernormal power, but that these are drowned in an ocean of insig- nificant and often silly rubbish; and that the importance 98 OPINIONS OF SITTERS of her trance utterances and writings is enormously exag- gerated by her ardent followers." He considers Hyslop's report of little value because his colossal industry is coupled with an equally colossal simplicity and unconscious preconception. Some of the devices, he says, by which Hyslop interprets communications so as to make them veridical, are beyond criticism. " One can only hold up one's hands in amazement." And, finally, we have Podmore, who has been a member of the Society for Psychical Research from its beginning, and who has been consistently sceptical with regard to spiritualistic phenomena of all kinds. He inclines to in- terpret some of the Piper phenomena as due to telepathy — ^which he accepts — ^but is very sure that there is nothing to demonstrate spirit communication. When Hyslop pub- lished his enormous report, Podmore subjected it to a scath- ing criticism, and there have been various interchanges of civilities between the two, but throughout Podmore has re- mained unconvinced. Most recent of all in his investigations is Dr. G. Stanley Hall, who was present at six sittings, and was convinced that Mrs. Piper is simply a case of secondary personality. His sittings wiU be discussed in detail later. It would seem from the above reports that of people with scientific training, more are unconvinced by Mrs. Piper's claims or are hostile to them than are believers. Contrary to the general opinion, the sittings are not so striking and convincing that any fair-minded person who will attend two or three must become a Spiritist. On the contrary, all the sittings, from first to last,- are for the most part imimportant, unevidential, trifling, stupid, or nonsensical, and the few gems which believers think they have found have been obtained only after the expenditure of a tremendous amount of time, and have been made valu- able only after laborious polishing and cutting. Indeed, as one studies the sittings in the light of what 99 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM one knows of the sitters' personalities, one can hardly es- cape forming the theory — admittedly hypothetical and un- proven — ^that those who become convinced of spirit com- munication are to some degree of the type described by Miss Johnson in her " Psychology of the Sitter." Have not some of them had hallucinations which they perhaps would call veridical apparitions ? Were not some suffering from recent bereavements when they became convinced? Were not some perhaps nervously exhausted or on the verge of nervous breakdown? Furthermore, in the case of Hyslop at least, the credulity which has become increas- ingly manifest in his writings during the last few years makes it impossible to consider his judgment valuable, and makes one sympathise thoroughly with Count Solovovo's estimate of his work. Not only this, but the heat and in- tolerance with which Hyslop attacks those who differ from him make one feel that now at least, whatever may have been the case at the start, he holds a brief and has become unable to see the other side. At the same time, his copious publications in popular form, as well as the various popular articles from other Spiritists, have led to an overbalance of the evidence in the public mind. The investigators who were unfavourably impressed by Mrs. Piper cannot make so sensational an article, and hence are not heard from as frequently as the others. We should restore the balance, and realise that, all in all, many more psychologists and scientists have not been convinced by Mrs. Piper than have been, and that some of these have been familiar with her sittings from the beginning. The weight of authority — ^the mere ipse dixit argument — is not on her side. CHAPTER VII CROSS CORRESPONDENCES: MRS. HOLLAND AND MRS. VERRALL In the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research for December, 1908, Sir Oliver Lodge explains the method of cross references: " There are three automatic writers, let us say: Mrs. Piper in America, Mrs. Verrall in Cam- bridge, and Mrs. Holland in India. All these receive au- tomatic writings through their hands two or three times a month. These writings are regularly sent in to Mr. Pid- dington or to Miss Alice Johnson in London, and they are compared from time to time to see if there is any connec- tion between the various messages received from the three writers on any given day or week. If the three writers wrote the same identical message, it would not be the kind of evidence we want, for it would clearly suggest telepathy between them. The message must not be intelligible to each separately, but must become luminous when put together. To take an imaginary example, suppose Mrs. Piper got the words " British Association " written through her hand; suppose that at the same time Mrs. VerraU got the word " Dublin," and suppose also Mrs. Holland got something about a meeting at the same time, there would obviously be some correspondence between these three things. But since telepathy has become an established fact, such correspondence is not sufficient to establish the agency of an independent intelligence apart from the au- tomatic writers. . . . But now take a further step: sup- pose that in the case of Mrs. Piper the words " Francis Darwin " were written. That name does not suggest ' ' Dublin, ' ' and it does not suggest a meeting. Suppose also 101 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM that in Mrs. Verrall's writing the words " Parliament pf Science," or some still more roundabout phrase, occurred. That would not suggest the name " Darwin," except to those in the inner circles of the British Association. Lastly, suppose that Mrs. Holland automatically drew a figure of a harp or a shamrock. In that case no suggestion of either our President, Mr. Darwin, or of the British Association or of Dublin would naturally be aroused. And simple telepathy being thus eliminated, by similar automatic pre- cautions intensified on these lines, we should be reduced to the only alternatives — either that there is some intelli- gence independent of the three writers influencing them at the same time, or that the three writers have arranged a little plot among themselves. " This is the method of cross correspondence. It was not devised altogether by experimenters on this side. It seems to have been partly invented or, at any rate, im- proved and developed by some members of ours who have crossed the boundary. We are beginning almost to speak about the Society for Psychical Research on the other side, which is quite as active and even more ingenious than that portion which is still on earth." This method was suggested to Miss Johnson by a study of the earlier scripts of Mrs. Verrall, Holland, and Forbes. She says, " The characteristic of these cases is that we do not get in the writing of one automatist anything like a verbal reproduction of phrases in the others: we do not even get the same idea expressed in different ways, as might well result from direct telepathy between them. What we get is a fragmentary utterance in one script, which seems to have no particular point or meaning, and another fragmentary utterance in the other, of an equally pointless character; but when we put the two together we see that they supplement each other, and that there is ap- parently one coherent idea underlying both but only par- tially expressed in each." Miss Johnson also notes that 102 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES scattered through the writings are phrases like this, " How could I make it any clearer without giving her the clew? " which seem to imply that some intelligence is making up riddles which can only be answered by putting together the different writings. Miss Johnson framed her theory on the basis of Mrs. Verrall's script and others, but not on Mrs. Piper's, which came later. We will first consider, therefore, Miss Johnson's report, contained in the Pro- ceedings of the Society for Psychical Research for June, 1908, Part LV, a bulky report of 225 pages on the auto- matic writing of Mrs. HoUand. " Mrs. Holland " is a pseudonym for a lady living in India, who has been interested in problems of Psychical Research for some time. In 1893 she saw a reference to automatic writing in the Review of Reviews, and tried it. Her hand at once began to write words, but nothing interesting came, and the questions asked were not an- swered. The second time that she tried, the verses were written, and since then most of the writing has been in verse, usually beginning thus : Believe in what thou canst not see Until the vision come to thee. , I shall not take up in detail the contents of this script. To one who is not inclined to the spiritistic theory the content seems for the most part uninteresting, and the so- called evidential messages are either vague or referable to knowledge once in the medium's possession, with a small residuum which it seems quite as rational to refer to mere coincidence as to spirits. The same is true in general of the cross correspondences, which we will now consider in more detail both as given in this report and especially in Mr. Piddington's report on Mrs. Piper. Miss Johnson distinguishes from each other (a) com- munications in which one automatist refers to events hap- pening to the other or to some feature of the other's sur- 103 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM roundings; (6) communications in which independent ref- erences to the same topic occur at about the same time in the script of both automatists. These latter alone she calls cross correspondences. She traces briefly the history of such communications. Myers and Hodgson while alive both made attempts to secure such messages, but do not seem to have kept records of their attempts. There are some references to them in Myers's letters to Mrs. Thompson, the earliest being Oc- tober 24, 1898. Mr. Piddington in his account of Mrs. Thompson {Proceedings, vol. xviii) notes some connections between her automatisms and those of other mediums, and while he thinks some of them explicable as due merely to similar trains of ideas, others he thinks may be referable to one control who is affecting the two mediums. After Mr. Myers's death cross correspondences began to increase in number, first and especially in Mrs. Verrall's script, which are characterised by the fact that we get in the two scripts apparently meaningless utterances which are only significant when combined. This sort disposes of the appeal to telepathy. Miss Johnson thinks. Her idea is that this group of spirits on the other side who had to meet all the sceptical objections while on this have, since going over, evolved this method in order to meet those objections, and are working at it systematically with this group of mediums. " It was not the automatists who de- tected it, but a student of the scripts ; it has every appear- ance of being an element imported from outside; it sug- gests an independent invention, an active intelligence con- stantly at work in the present, not a mere echo or remnant of individualities of the past." She notes that evidence of connection between two scripts would be better proved if the statements were iden- tical instead of merely similar, for the odds against chance would thus be greatly increased ; but, on the other hand, if the controls are trying to forestall an appeal to telepathy, 104 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES they cannot thus give identical messages. They must not allow their message to reach even the subliminal conscious- ness of the medium, and so they must make it meaningless to her. This means, of course, that the correspondence will be detected only by a third person who is studying the two scripts with something like this in mind. But only consider for a moment the possibilities of error which are thus opened. Some person who believes that a certain spirit (usually Myers in these cases) is in- fluencing three different mediums, and who knew this spirit while he was aUve and has read his writings, stud- ies all the automatic writings of these three mediums with the avowed object of discovering cryptogrammatic mean- ings. These writings consist very largely of disconnected words, vague phrases, ambiguous terms which might be taken literally or figuratively, etc. Under such conditions, of course, fragments can be patched together into a coher- ent whole, and the whole will be just as referable to an outside intelligent spirit influencing the three mediums as the Donnelly cryptograms are referable to Shakespeare as their author. Donnelly showed tremendous ingenuity in in- ' venting a method which would display through the Shake- speare folios a secret cipher declaring that Shakespeare was Bacon, but nowadays everyone recognises that he was the dupe of his own mental sinuosities or else a colossal joker. Similarly, Miss Johnson and Mr. Piddington, especially the latter, have totally ignored the laws of association at work in their own minds, and have forgotten, if indeed they ever knew, the tremendous influence of a preconceived theory on one's interpretations of facts. They are seeing ghosts in the dusk because they expect to see them, while a somewhat closer examination would show only a white gravestone marked: "In memoriam, F. W. H. Myers. Besurgam." But let us show by their own examples what this means, in the cross references between Mrs. Verrall and Mrs. Holland, the latter in India, the former in England. 10 105 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM In December of 1903 and January of 1904 passages occur in Mrs. Holland's script which seem to refer to Mrs. Verrall, though this was not discovered for two years, be- cause Miss Johnson did not see Mrs. Verrall 's script until then. In March of 1905 Miss Johnson arranged with the two mediums that each should write regularly each Wednes- day in the hope of getting more correspondences, neither knowing who the other was, until the following October, when they met. In February of 1906 a second set of experiments was begun, running over several months. The references to Mrs. Verrall he fore Mrs. Holland tried any experiments with her are as follows, as sum- marised by Miss Johnson. 1. The Sealed Envelope and Text Mrs. Verrall. December 2, 1903. On the 17 of next month ask the question. Use the daylight hours for the night cometh when no man may work. January 4, 1904. Write on the 17. January 17. 2 on the seal of the letter. The question is answered and the text given. Mrs. Holland. January 8. The anniver- sary that is only nine days away now. January 17. Attempt to get a message through. Sealed envelope not to be opened yet. I Cor. xvi 13. Take the mes- sage to you all. 106 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES Explanatory of this, it should be said that in October of 1903 Mrs. Verrall's script had told her to ask Mrs. Sidg- wick for a test, and Mrs. Sidgwick had asked: " What was the last of Dr. Sidgwick 's texts — the one that belonged to the latter part of his life? " This referred to his taking some text for the key-note of his life at different times, and for the latter part it was, " Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." It is said that Mrs. Verrall did not know of this custom. Mr. Myers is the control in both of these scripts, and 'January 17th was the anniversary of his death, a fact known to both mediums. This would sufficiently account for the references in both scripts to that date, and otherwise there seems no need of invoking cross references to explain any part of the messages. Miss Johnson looks upon the text, " Use the daylight hours," etc., as a paraphrase of the correct text, " Gather up the fragments that remain. ..." But why should we not refer it to the attempt of Mrs. Verrall's own consciousness to fish up the text which was wanted? Mrs. Sidgwick asked for the text Dr. Sidgwick used in the lat- ter part of his life, and Mrs. Verrall's subliminal would naturally guess that he would choose one that would refer to his getting old, and that would stimulate him to re- newed efforts. The reference on January 17th, saying that the question is answered and the text given, Miss Johnson thinks refers to Mrs. Holland's script of that date, but it might just as well refer to the text of December 2d in Mrs. Verrall's script and to the phrase just above, " S on the seal of the letter." Similarly, in Mrs. Holland's script of January 17th, Miss Johnson thinks that the phrase, " Attempt to get a message through," refers to Mrs. Verrall's script, although it might as weU be a remark on Mrs. Holland's own, since the controls constantly use this phrase in such a way. " Take the message to you all " may mean simply to 107 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the other Researchers, since the control knew that the writ- ing at this time was being sent to Miss Johnson. The reference to Corinthians has no bearing on Dr. Sidgwiek's text, being, " "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong." But as it is inscribed in Greek over the gateway of Selwyn College, and must be passed in going from Mr. Myers's to Mrs. Verrall's, or to Dr. Sidgwiek's, Miss Johnson believes that it has signifi- cance, especially as it appears again over a year later in connection with Mrs. Verrall, without Mrs. Holland learn- ing of the connection in the meantime. The reference in both scripts to the sealed envelope is to me the most striking coincidence, but even this is by no means inexplicable, since Mrs. Holland certainly knew or could have surmised that Mr. Myers had left sealed envelopes, this being not infrequently done by the Re- searchers, and the anniversary of his death would be a time when they would most naturally be remembered and their contents speculated upon. There is nothing to indi- cate that the sealed envelope referred to is the one left by Dr. Sidgwick, as Miss Johnson assumes. At the same time, Mrs. Verrall's script had for some time been referring to Dr. Sidgwiek's sealed envelopes, and the reference to them here has therefore no special significance. 2. Co-operation Between Different Sensitives Recommended Mks. Veerall. Mks. Holland. September 21, 1903. One person alone does so little. October 12, 1903. Easier when some one else helps. October 19. Evidence comes later for you through others. 108 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES Mrs. Verball. Mrs. Holland. November 7, 1903. The agent is all alone and that makes it hard. December 1. One does so little alone. December 5. I fear you will never be really re- sponsive trying alone. December 7. Sit regularly alone or with others. January 5, 1904. Words with a purpose, a mean- ing, not for you, but for others. Now it is to be noted that it was in the summer pre- ceding this that Mrs. Holland had read Myers's " Human Personality," in which the cross-correspondence method is hinted at, and that it was during that fall that she was hav- ing her first correspondence with Miss Johnson, and her first contact with a personality at all sympathetic with hers on these subjects. These references in the script to her isola- tion are only the natural refiection of her increased recog- nition of it which came doubtless from this correspondence, and they express her own longing to come into closer touch with others who are working along these lines. The refer- ence to words with a meaning for others but not for her may refer to cross correspondences or simply to experiences that she had already had in receiving messages for ac- quaintances. Mrs. VerraU's script probably does refer to cross cor- respondences, of which Mrs. Verrall had already obtained some, but there is no reason at all to suppose that they refer to Mrs. Holland, especially since the dates do not 109 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM correspond with Mrs. Holland's by weeks, save in the one case of December 1st, 5th, and 7th. To make a cross correspondence out of two such series is one of the best illustrations of the lengths to which such interpretations can go without any real basis. 3. Attitude of the Controls Mrs. Veeealij. December 29. Listen to the voice of one crying and proclaiming in desert places. February 2. Slaves in pris- on, the pure have done prodigies. Mrs. Holland. November 26, 1903. A feel- ing of terrible impotence burdens me. I cannot get into communication with those who would under- stand. January 5. Words said — shouted — sung to the wind, may perhaps reach you some time. January 12. Does anything reach you, or am I only wailing as the wind wails — wordless and unheeded. January 6. The missionary spirit and the great long- ing to speak to the souls , in prison. 110 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES Surely there is nothing here sufficiently clear to mark it as an intentional cross correspondence, especially when we recall that Mrs. Holland had read Myers's book, and there- fore knew the supposed difficulties spirits had in communi- cating, while Mrs. Verrall did also. The same remarks apply to their complaints that no one understands their message, which Miss Johnson considers especially apt in view of the fact that this group of cor- respondences was not discovered for two years. 4. In another instance Mrs. Holland's script refers to the failure of the Verrall-Myers to tell correctly the con- tents of the sealed envelope left by Myers. Miss 'Johnson thought that, probably Mrs. Holland had read one of the newspaper accounts of this, but as Mrs. Holland is sure she did not, Miss Johnson takes it as an evidential incident, but in other places she as well as other Researchers insist that any bit of knowledge which might have been known to the medium shall not be considered evidential, and why should she make this case an exception 1 We do not question Mrs. Holland's honesty, but we do question her memory, because we know that the subconscious retains many things which come out in just these ways. 5. On March 1, 1905, systematic experiments were be- gun with Mrs. Verrall, Mrs. Holland being at that time in Scotland, but not knowing that Mrs. Verrall was to be the other party, and not then haying met her. On this date, in Mrs. Holland's script, first the script says that jonquils are in a blue jar and growing tulips near the window. Then, after a little, the text, " Watch ye," etc., referred to before is given ; reference to Mrs. VerraU — ^the initial only being given, and a description of a lady, of which we are not told whether it is correct or not as applied to Mrs. VerraU. Mrs. Verrall's script of this date had no references ap- plicable to Mrs. Holland. - The introduction of the text Miss Johnson thinks the most 111 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM notable thing, because, although Mrs. Holland might have guessed that Mrs. Verrall would be the other automatist, she would not naturally have connected this text with her. The Bible reference to this same text had been given January 17, 1904, when she had been told that the sealed envelope was not to be opened yet, and had not appeared since. How is its appearance here to be explained unless it is a cross ref- erence? asks Miss Johnson. Why not answer that it arises now in much the same way as then? The adjuration to stand fast in the faith and quit ye like men very naturally comes at the beginning of such a set of experiments, and it would also arise when told not to open the envelope, but to have faith for a little longer. I think it may certainly be assumed that Mrs. Holland's secondary self had guessed that Mrs. Verrall would be her fellow-ex- perimenter. On March 8th there were no cross references. 6. March 15th, in Mrs. Verrall 's script, music notes ap- peared with the statement, " She will send you something like them — verse I think, ' ' and, March 19th, it said that the lady had gone to church, and that she had a copy of Car- paccio's Ursula hanging in her room. Mrs. Holland did not send any notes or verse and she had no such picture, but Saturday, the day before this writing, she had looked at this picture frequently in a portfolio of drawings. On March 22d Mrs. Holland did have some music notes in her writing, but not the same. She had never had any notes except once, over a year before, and never since. Mrs. Verrall had never had any before, and but once since, over a year later, when they were evidently reminiscences of this time. 7. March 24th, Mrs. Holland had an impression of a woman, and wrote out the description and sent it to Miss Johnson. Mrs. Verrall does not think the description of her appearance distinctive enough to be of any value, and 112 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES some of it is positively wrong. Miss Johnson thinks that the traits mentioned are quite characteristic. Be it noted here that Mrs. Holland knew that Mrs. VerraU had done crystal gazing, and had read her article on this subject and gained from it that impression of a writer's personal- ity that all of us get from even the most colourless scien- tific effusion. On March 29th there were no cross correspondences. 8. April 5th, Mrs. VerraU gave a description of a land- scape which Mrs. Holland said applied to her surroundings at that time, but that the trees mentioned were not char- acteristic. During the six following weeks Mrs. Holland was trav- elling. Every Wednesday she tried to convey an impres- sion to her coadjutor, but there were no coincidences at all in Mrs. VerraU 's script. Mrs. VerraU then tried to do the same for a few weeks, but these, too, were entirely unsuccessful. Over a period of fifteen or more weeks then, experi- menting once a week, these are the only coincidences that Miss Johnson can find. They are very few, as is evident, and the only curious one is, it seems to me, that of the notes. But here I should wonder whether there chanced to be some notable concerts going on, or something else which might have fixed the attention of both automatists.upon music. Further, the coincidence here extends over a period of a week, and so is not close at best. On February 28, 1906, a second series of experiments was begun under the same general conditions as before, Mrs. HoUand still being in England. 1. On this date her script refers to a beautiful purple crocus, to the sparrows eating them, the need of pruning the trees, especially the pear tree, and the creepers. Mrs. VerraU on this date called her daughter's attention to a crocus, her creepers needed pruning but not her pear tree, 113 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM and jackdaws, but not sparrows, began to pull up the cro- cuses at about this time. 2. The script is sorry about A.'s sister. But A.'s (Mr. Verrall's) sister was having no trouble. 3. A reference to Rhine wine was also not apropos. 4. Henry was not mistaken (followed by a drawing seeming to represent hills) . 5. No, not in the Electra. M. will know better. (M. refers to Mrs. Verrall.) In Mrs. Verrall's script of this date, and thrice before during February, this line in Greek had appeared: " Be sorrow sorrow spoken but let the good prevail." This is a quotation from -^schylus's Agamemnon. Now, thinks Mrs. Verrall, the Electra of Sophocles or Euripides is equivalent to the Libation Bearers, the second play of the Trilogy of which Agamemnon is the first, and so Mrs. Holland's words, " No, not in the Electra," mean " the Greek quoted in Mrs. Verrall's script is not in the Electra, but in the Trilogy somewhere." And eureka! we have a cross correspondence again! Of course the fact that at this time a translation of Electra was being performed in London had nothing to do with this reference! 6. Again, the statement, " Henry was not mistaken," referring to Mr. Sidgwick, is a cross reference, because on this day Mrs. Verrall was reading the newly published Memoir of Dr. Sidgwick and was thinking in this general strain. 7. The Roden Noel correspondence is worked out at great length, to which we cannot do justice here. In brief it is this: January 17, 1904, Mrs. Verrall's script had various references to hope, wanderer, etc., which pur- ported to be a message from Sidgwick, and which now, February 28, 1906, became explicable to Mrs. Verrall on reading a letter from him to an intimate friend, Mr. Roden Noel. 114 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES Mrs. Verrall is confident that she had never read any of Mr. Noel's poems, but still her script of March 7th con- tained verses resembling his. This was sent to Mrs. Hol- land, and her next script gives the date of Noel's death, and later come definite references. Mrs. Holland remem- bered that she had read one or two of his poems. On March 14th her script contains numbers, written as words, and a reference to the central eight words of a passage in Revelations. These are, " for it is the number of a man," and so Miss Johnson substituted for the numbers given the corresponding letters of the alphabet and found that they spelled Roden Noel! In some previous writing Hodgson had similarly given his name, so that this trick, though sufSciently amazing, was not entirely new. In both Mrs. Verrall 's and Mrs. Holland's script are other vague references which are considered applicable to Noel, and his name is clearly given once more in Mrs. Holland's. Here it seems to me we might ask again why Miss John- son does not hold to the rule she herself has laid down, that any knowledge which may have been normally ac- quired is not evidential? The series of subliminal links seems tolerably clear. First, Mrs. Verrall reads of Noel in the Memoir of Sidgwick; this recalls vaguely his poems, and she produces verse vaguely like his in her script ; this shown to Mrs. Holland recalls subliminaUy the date of Noel's death, and later messages from him, his name in cryptogram, and other vague references both in her and Mrs. Verrall's script. 8. March 2d, Mrs. Verrall's script referred to Massiliotes (the Greek name for natives of Marseilles) and Posilipo (near Naples, the site of Virgil's tomb). Mrs. Holland's script of this date, written twelve hours later, remarked that M. saw a real place that last time but had never seen the place itself, and did not describe it very clearly. This was true of Posilipo. Mrs. Holland's father intended to 115 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM start for Marseilles the next month, and go thence to Sicily and Greece. Hence this is a cross correspondence. 9. February 9th, in Mrs. Holland's script, appears the name Fawcett; February 28th, Broadlands was mentioned, a place where Fawcett visited and fished, as mentioned in Leslie Stephens's life of him; March 28th, a reference to Henry F., darkened windows, and a drawing of spectacles ; April 4th, spectacles, whip, and letter, all drawn, are taken to refer to him. In Mrs. Verrall's script, March 20th, planchette told her and Mrs. Forbes to open the last morning paper at marriages and deaths and look for his name over the col- umn. The first name was Fawcett. Mrs. Verrall had rela- tives of this name, but they were not connected with Henry Fawcett. Now, two things alone explain this entirely: First of all, Mrs. Holland frequently visited relatives who lived in Wiltshire, where Henry Fawcett did, and though they did not move there until ten years after his death, they doubt- less heard various stories about him, as he was so eminent a man, and this name might as well crop up in Mrs. Hol- land's writing as many another. In the second place, on February 21st, Mrs. VerraU met Mrs. Holland and said at that time that the name " Fawcett " had special asso- ciations for her. Up to this date the name had appeared but once in Mrs. Holland's script, and then was inter- jected among unrelated matter. But the hint was enough, and we have all the following references, but all referring to the Fawcett of whom she knew, who happened to be the wrong one. The planchette reference is easily explicable as one of the subconscious memories, of which Miss Goodrich-Freer gives rather a parallel incident, of seeing in the crystal an announcement in the paper, of which she had no memory. 10. In Mrs. Verrall's script of March 2d, 4th, and 5th 116 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES were various vague references to ' ' first among his peers, ' ' " pagan and pope," Gregory, Basil, Reformer, " club- bearer," etc. In Mrs. Holland's of March 7th, among many other things comes the sentence, " Ave Roma Im- mortalis. How could I make it any clearer without giv- ing her the clew? " Mrs. Verrall's scripts had recalled to Dr. Verrall a picture of Attila terrified by the vision of St. Peter and St. Paul, when meeting Pope Leo, who went out to meet him and save Rome. Mrs. Verrall knew this picture, but it was not recalled to her by the script. The sentence in Mrs. Holland's script does fit in aptly here, especially the question part of it, ' ' How could I make it any clearer without giving her the clew 1 ' ' But the fol- lowing sentence makes us question whether it really was so apt. This is : " How cold it was that winter. Even snow in Rome — ^we might have stayed at home for that. ' ' Taken in this connection, all the sentences seem to become unmis- takably a reference to some ' previous visit to Rome and some incident which happened there. 11. On April 11th Mrs. Verrall's script introduces the idea of flight in various ways; and, among many other things, in connection with a passage supposed to refer to the eruption of Vesuvius then going on, Mrs. Holland's writer exclaims, eheu fugaces! She also refers to an owl, and Mrs. Verrall notes that on that evening she saw an owl more distinctly than ever before in her life — a real owl. This perhaps gives the key to Mrs. Verrall's script, which was not written until later, 11 p.m., and refers to the " black bat night has flown," " something fluttered and was gone, ' ' evidently derived from her earlier out-of- door experience. Mrs. Holland, on the other hand, felt that the phrase in her script, " an owl this evening," was simply a ref- 117 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM erence to her own stupidity, the phrase being a common Indian phrase of reproach. Since then these phrases are easily explicable for each automatist, why should we suppose any cross corre- spondence ? The other successful cross references obtained through Mrs. Verrall's writing are the following: 1. Before Mrs. Verrall knew Mrs. Archdale, a medium, the following passage, then meaningless to her, had oc- curred in the writing: " Women are bound or abound. Stewart and Haslemere — what do they here? Hazelrigg is better." Stewart was the name of Mrs. Archdale 's con- trol, and Haslemere had definite connections with him, while Hazelrigg was very similar to another name con- nected with him. 2. Between May 1 and May 11, 1901, the following messages came: (a) Before 17th it is easier now to write. (6) Rosa Thompson could perhaps but I don't know. (c) Nescio quid interponit se tuae menti mihi que. In a glass is truth reversed read and then search. False- hood is never far away. Quid mihi vis? non possum, desine. desjum (2o, 206) die finito, avSo- clock and time. H. No power — doing something else to night. Note hour. (Then attempts at drawing, and when Mrs. Verrall copied the script afterward, she thought she was looking at a clock marking 10.25.) (d) Before the 17th wait. Rosa Thompson will speak — Lodge will tell you. Wait. Do not hurry date this. Mrs. Verrall says that the expectation she formed from this script was that on May 17th Sir Oliver would tell her of something learned from Mrs. Thompson, the medium, and that some medium had received a communication from H., a dead friend, just before 10.25 p.m. on May 8th. As it turned out really, on May 8th, Mrs. Thompson was dining with the Lodges, and went into a trance be- 118 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES tween 10 and 10.40 in which H. appeared, besides her usual control, and used the words " falsehood creeping in," and at the end of the sitting the usual control said that some one was calling H. Mrs. Verrall heard of this first on May 17th. One would suppose from this that Mrs. Verrall 's sub- conscious self inferred that she was to meet Sir Oliver on the 17th. Again, she kaew that Mrs. Thompson had sittings with Sir Oliver frequently, so that here, as in other cases, her familiarity with the possibilities of the situation makes it impossible to consider the script as more than the expression of her more or less unconscious putting together of many factors. 3. Mrs. Thompson had asked Mrs. Verrall to try for writing on a certain evening between nine and ten. At this time the script wrote: " There is some one with Mrs. Thompson, another woman, taller and slighter — she helps her to write — the message is not clear to you. I do not know the house. I cannot take you there." A week later, and before she had heard anything from Mrs. Thompson, the hand wrote, " Mrs. Thompson named a name, but not yours — Nelly could help if she could come — she finds it hard to write and would easily speak." Later, Mrs. Verrall heard that on the first evening Mrs. Thompson had with her a friend answering to the descrip- tion, and that Mrs. Thompson had referred by name to Mrs. Verrall 's daughter, but we are left ignorant as to whether the place of the sitting was an unknown place, or whether from the way Mrs. Thompson made her request, Mrs. VerraU did not have some reason to infer that some one would be with her while she was sitting. Of course, the description of the woman is too indefinite to have value. 4. The script wrote : ' ' Betwixt dark and light a gray figure in the bedroom not to be feared you will see on an anniversary — ^note the date — ^this year. Put the conversation on paper that is all I can see. Try other nights." 119 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM No such figure was seen by any one as far as can be discovered, but six weeks later, in Mrs. Piper's sitting, a reference was made by the control to a vision which it said Mrs. Verrall's daughter had seen while she was awake in a bedroom. Mrs. Verrall, however, could not find that her daughter had had any such vision. The point here, however, is the curious cross reference to the non-reality, but the six weeks' lapse of time and the vagueness of the reference make it of little value. 5. Next is a curious cross reference. January 28, 1902, at Mrs. Piper's sitting. Dr. Hodgson proposed to try for a cross reference, and asked the control if he could make Helen (Mrs. Verrall's daughter) see him holding a spear in his hand. The control asked, " Why a sphere? " Dr. Hodgson repeated the word " spear," and the control assented. February 4th, at another sitting, he said he had made himself visible successfully with a " sphear." January 31st, Mrs. Verrall was in London, and had so strong a desire to write that she excused herself from walking over to a meeting with soriie friends and sat down to write, getting the following message: " Panopticon (p. 214, followed by a phrase in Greek) volatile ferrum — pro telo impinget." The Greek is not very good, but the general sense of the message is, in Mrs. Verrall's own words, " some sort of universal seeing of a sphere fosters the mystic joint reception. Why did you not give it? The flying iron for a weapon will hit." Soon after she found " volatile ferrum " used in Virgil for spear. Mrs. Verrall states that she did not hear of this sit- ting of Mrs. Piper until February 7th, and that in no previous writing had there been any reference to a spear, and but one to a sphere, which would seem to put chance out of the question here. 6. One Sunday, between 11 and 12 a.m., Mrs. Forbes, a medium, was writing with planchette, and it referred to 120 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES Mrs. Verrall, and then said that she was sitting in a chair, very comfortable, " but don't ask me to look over her shoulder, for I can't see that she has got a book." Two weeks later Mrs. Verrall, asked to tell what she had been doing then, recalled that she had been sitting by her hus- band in a low chair, looking over with him an article written by her. He had told her to make herself comfort- able. Mrs. Verrall herself does not consider this evidential because she did not write out what she was doing tiU two weeks later. 7. On August 28, 1901, the script wrote, in Latin, " Sign with the seal. The fir tree that has already been planted in the garden gives its own portent." There followed a rough scrawl, and three rough drawings, which might be variously interpreted, the first as a cross or a sword; the second as a sail boat or a bugle hanging by a cord ; the third as almost anything, but Mrs. Verrall caUs it a pair of scissors (p. 223). On this same date, but it is not known what time of day, though probably before Mrs. Verrall 's writing, Mrs. Forbes 's control wrote, " I am looking for a sensitive who writes to tell Father to believe I can write through you — . . I have to sit with our friend Edmund to control the sen- sitive." Now, the cross reference here is that Mrs. Forbes has some small firs in her garden grown from seed sent her by this son while abroad, and that the badge of his regi- ment is a suspended bugle surmounted by a crown. Mrs. Verrall did not know either of these facts until several months later. The drawings, however, are too indefinite, and the reference to the firs might be accidental. 8. On November 23d Mrs. Verrall's writing tried to give a message from a brother of Mrs. Sidgwick who was only slightly known to Mrs. Verrall, and, November 25th, came another message along the same line. Mrs. Ver- rall was disturbed over it because she did not like to write 11 121 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM to Mrs. Sidgwick for information about a comparative stranger. On November 25th Mrs. Forbes wrote, first a confused message from Gurney and a clearer one from her usual control, Talbot, to tell Mrs. Verrall at once that the " friends were with her when she was with Mrs. Sidgwick." " To be with," in Mrs. Forbes 's writing, ' means to sympa- thise with, and seems to indicate a knowledge of Mrs. Ver- rall 's disturbed state of mind — ^but is too indefinite. 9. Mrs. Verrall had agreed to sit for automatic writing at a certain time each day, and Mrs. Forbes was to do the same, but on a visit at a friend's Mrs. Verrall was pre- vented for two successive days, and was greatly annoyed over it, and finally wrote to Mrs. Forbes that she would not try to sit until she returned home. The same day that she wrote, Mrs. Forbes received this message for Mrs. Ver- rall : ' ' Mrs. Verrall to try to see for H. H says — to say friends can wait is far from courteous. . .would it seem fair for the spirits to sit for work for hours . . . she sat with foolish ..." and various other remarks about the importance of regularity for the writing. So it would seem that the spirits had discovered her absence and were reproaching her for it, or that Mrs. Forbes 's subconscious self had re- ceived some message from Mrs. Verrall telepathically. But Mrs. Forbes knew she was visiting and would not have con- trol of her time, so that the subconscious self may have inferred a failure. 10. Mrs. Forbes received in her writing the name of a certain control, followed by a single word, and then a mes- sage from Talbot, saying that this control " wanted you to try for a test with our friend at Cambridge. Write to Mrs. Verrall to-day." It seems that this particular word in connection with this control had a deep meaning to Mrs. Verrall, quite unknown to Mrs. Forbes, but we do not know enough about this to judge. 11. Mrs. Verrall and her daughter, writing with plan- 122 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES chette, had a message from Talbot saying, " My mother has had a wounded man to stay with her." Inquiry showed that she had had a man very ill with sciatica at her home. 12. On July 11th Mrs. Forbes had a reference to Mrs. Verrall in her writing, and, July 13th, Mrs. Verrall's hand wrote that a message for her went instead to Mrs. Forbes. The hand purported to be controlled by Talbot, Mrs. Forbes 's usual control, and wrote further that the message was about the water, and referred to his lilies. Mrs. Forbes, in sending her automatic script of July 11th to Mrs. Ver- rall, referred to the heavy rains in England. And she had in her garden some lilies that had lately bloomed, and others grown from seed sent by Talbot that had bloomed earlier in the season. But rain and lilies are too common for the coincidence to be valuable. Mrs. Verrall's message of July 13th also referred to the 21st and 23d of the month as dates of interest for auto- matic writing, and on July 23d her hand wrote, " double discharge — but do not ask." On this date also Mrs. Forbes 's hand wrote, " will you see for H for writing to prove identity ? . . . Will you write to Mrs. VerraU?. . He only wants to write — ^you to write for him to Mrs. Verrall. ' ' This constituted the " double discharge," and is a curi- ous coincidence. 13. Mrs. Forbes wrote Mrs. Verrall that a test was being prepared for her, and twelve days later came this message for her: " H wishes Mrs. Verrall to open the last book she read for him in which is the true word of the test. If she will try to begin the sentence with this word he will be sure to prove his being the writer. . . " Mrs. Verrall puzzled over the meaning of this mes- sage for two days, but finally decided that she would fix upon a passage from Plato's Symposium referring to Diotima. 123 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM About three weeks later Mrs. Forbes 's band wrote mes- sages to Mrs. Verrall from three controls, as follows : Prom H. "... word. . . H make it. . . with the- Diony- sus Dion.-" From Gumey : " ... Edmund writes to tell the friend — who writes with Talbot word of the test will be Dy. . . Will you give the sense of the message, write to Mrs. Ver- rall and say the word will be found in Myers' own. . .will you send a message to Mrs. Verrall to say H will see with her on Friday ..." From Talbot : ... " Talbot writes to say you can be sure, .it is one of the most Hymeneal songs, — ^Love's oldest melody." Mrs. Forbes has no knowledge of Plato nor of Diotima. There were later attempts to complete the reference to the Symposium, in other writings, combinations of letters like " son," " suspuro," etc., and several times " symp " fol- lowed in letters of a different size, completing sympathy, but the complete name was never obtained. 14. January 14, 1903, Mrs. Verrall's hand wrote, " Mrs. Forbes has sent it to you — or should have by now ; she has got nearer and will get the word. ..." Mrs. Forbes had had a message on January 11th containing Greek letters and an attempt at the word, but had not sent it at once as usual. 15. One Sunday Mrs. Verrall fixed her attention strongly upon some former conversations with her friend H. before writing. Two days later Mrs. Forbes 's hand wrote: " H writes to say Verrall. . Verrall saw with H on Sunday." 16. In the midst of other things there appeared in Mrs. Verrall's script, in a hand resembling Mrs. Forbes 's writ- ing, the words, " Harriet de Vane with another." Mrs. Verrall sent this to Mrs. Forbes, and ascertained that a pastel drawing of her great-grandmother, by Har- riet de Vim, hangs in a room where Mrs. Verrall had probably seen it, but the name of the artist is not visible. 124 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES This is not really a cross reference. Mrs. Verrall may have known this but forgotten it. 17. Between 6 and 6.30 p.m. one day Mrs. VerraU's hand wrote : ' * Mrs. Forbes has got a message but not about the word, you must wait for that. " ... Then came some gen- eral remarks and a blank in which she thinks she dropped to sleep, and upon waking the hand continued, " It has helped them and you will get a message now plain to read." At six the same day Mrs. Forbes and a friend be- gan a sitting, writing first with a glass and letters, spelling the words, and later using the planchette. The complete message was : ' ' Tell Mrs. Verrall to take care — to go — to Hove when she is visiting Brighton ALFRED. (Then with planchette.) Tell Mrs. Verrall H sees with a trouble of which he cannot speak — ^you will know — ^when he writes — Hove." Now, Mrs. Verrall was seriously concerned over the trouble of a friend Alfred who lived at Hove near Brighton, and for a week preceding this sitting had been receiving letters about the trouble. The friend was not known either to Mrs. Forbes or her friend, and Mrs. Ver- rall is sure they knew nothing of this matter. 18. A possible cross reference recommending Mrs. Ver- rall and Mrs. Forbes to write on Wednesday, but it is not certain that the same Wednesday was meant. 19. Mrs. Forbes had this message : " ... A grower of flowers one year will be sower of seed. — Send this message. Edmund writes for H. to ask you to say it will be far less difficult to read the sense if the younger Verrall writes with Planchette.. . . " Miss Helen Verrall, on reading this script, said that in a recent visit to a friend there had been much discussion with the gardener over whether certain plants should be raised from seeds or cuttings. But the reference is so in- definite as to have little value. 20. At the end of a message Mrs. Forbes 's hand wrote 125 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM that Mrs. Verrall would be in telepathic communication with " Mrs. S., Alice." On the date of this writing Mrs. Verrall had received a letter from Mrs. Alice Dew Smith verifying a reference to her in a previous automatic writing. A coincidence — ^not really a cross reference. 21. July 26th, Mrs. Forbes tried to make Mrs. Ver- rall's writing produce the idea of lilies, but she did not succeed. This was to be done through the help of Edmund Gurney, one of Mrs. Verrall 's writers. Six hours after Mrs. Forbes began the experiment. Miss Verrall had an automatic writing signed for the first and only time with Gurney 's name, and nearly a month later came a refer- ence to lilies, with references to a belt of rhododendrons, daisies, and Renoldson. The last two seemed to have no meaning, but Mrs. Forbes had had a belt of rhododendrons planted since the Verralls had visited her. 22. Mrs. Verrall 's hand wrote: " The picture in the picture frame — ^upon the wall — & no name upon it — in her room, ask Mrs. Forbes. ' ' Mrs. Forbes had recently framed a tiny picture without a name on it, before this date, but it was not hung on the wall. Not a cross reference — prob- ably a guess. 23. In a conversation with a friend Mrs. Verrall made the remark, with reference to psychical experiments, " Anyhow, they teach one patience. ." On the same day Mrs. Forbes and Mrs. Baltimore, writ- ing, received an " insistent command " to send the follow- ing message to Mrs. Verrall : ' ' The last lesson to be learned is Patience; Mrs. Verrall is our friend who has so much — she will be rewarded by making plain the tangle." 24. On October 6th Mrs. Verrall 's script said that Mrs. Forbes 's mother would want her much that winter, and she would be in the south. November 30th, Mrs. Forbes told Mrs. Verrall of her mother's illness, and, December 126 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES 2d, she -was telegraphed to go to her mother's home in the south, where she had to stay for some time. This may have been inference from subconscious suggestions. 25. A doubtful connection between Mrs. Verrall and Mrs. Forbes, but a more distinct one between Mrs. Verrall and her daughter (p. 263). These cross references are of a comparatively simple type, and, as we have noted in connection with each one, many of them lend themselves to a naturalistic explana- tion quite as well as to a spiritistic. When we consider the imperfect recording of coincident circumstances, which might explain in the case of each medium how the idea happened to rise in her mind, it does not seem unreason- able to assume that the remainder might also be explained without calling in the aid of departed spirits. CHAPTER VIII CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER Mr. Piddington devotes 440 pages to this same subject of cross correspondences in his report entitled, " A Series of Concordant Automatisms " (Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Part LVII, vol. xxii), which deals with cross references between Mrs. Piper and other au- tomatists, especially Mrs. Verrall. This material was obtained between November 10, 1906, and June 2, 1907, when Mrs. Piper was in England, and gave seventy-four sittings. Altogether, about 120 experi- ments in cross correspondence were made. In eighteen cases the word given to the Piper controls to be transmitted was selected by those in charge of the sittings ; in over 100 by the controls. Of the eighteen selected " on this side," but one was certainly successful. Of the 100 odd selected " on the other side," twenty-two were counted successful. But Mr. Piddington does not believe that success is to be measured by numbers here, but by the definiteness of the correspondence. He discusses twenty-three correspond- ences, and gives a long section to the test question put in Latin to the Myers control on this subject. Mrs. and Miss Verrall knew that cross-correspondence experiments were being tried with Mrs. Piper, and after the middle of March Mrs. Holland also knew it. It is alto- gether probable therefore, that, quite unconsciously to the automatists, their secondary selves were trying to tune themselves to Mrs. Piper, and when we add that Mrs. Ver- rall had ten sittings with Mrs. Piper, and Miss Verrall had four, we can see that there was considerable opportunity 128 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER for them to learn the characteristics of the Piper controls and vice versa. Furthermore, they and Mrs. Holland were familiar with the published records of the Piper case, and had this additional knowledge of the controls. No allowance whatever seems to be made in Mr. Pidding- ton's report for the effects of such knowledge, and yet it is probably the explanation of whatever real connections there are. Furthermore, Mr. Piddington drew upon the writing of all three, or sometimes four, for his correspondences, no matter whether the control said he was going to take it to any particular one or not, and he seems to set no time limit. He thus enlarges his chances tremendously of finding such connections. Suppose that in the letters of four normal persons the same subject should chance to be referred to within a period of four or five months, who would assume that some spirit had controlled these four persons to refer to that subject? Knowing even as little as we do about the laws of association and the way in which a given sub- ject is oftentimes in the air, such an assumption is ridicu- lous, and even more ridiculous if applied to the subliminal mind, whose memories seem so much more tenacious than those of the supraliminal. But not only does Mr. Piddington do this, but any shadow of association is eagerly seized as proof of the sub- tlety of the control in forming these cross connections. For instance : on November 15th, in Mrs. Piper 's trance, Hodg- son said that he would give " St. Paul " to Mrs. HoUand. On December 31st Mrs. Holland's script gives a reference, II Peter i, 15; and then gives quotations from John's, James's, and Paul's Epistles, and out of these four Mr. Piddington is certain that the control regarded the refer- ence to Paul alone as of value. January 12th, Miss Ver- rall's script contained the phrase, " robbing Peter to pay Paul," and, February 26th, the script remarks that she has not understood about Paul and should ask Lodge. 129 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM (Lodge was the sitter to whom Hodgson said that he would carry the message, " St. Paul," to Mrs. Holland.) Now, there were six weeks between the first mention of St. Paul in Mrs. Piper's trance and that in Mrs. Holland's, and nearly two months before it was referred to in Miss Verrall's. Nevertheless, it is a cross correspondence! Here is another interesting series. On February 11th Mrs. "Verrall's script had a drawing of three converging arrows followed by the words, " tria convergentia in unum." The next day at Mrs. Piper's sitting Hodgson said that he had given " arrow " to Mrs. Verrall; and, February 17th, Miss VerraU's script had a drawing of an arrow with the words, ' ' many together ' ' ; February 18th, Mrs. Verrall had several words beginning with " ar " in her script; February 19th, the Hodgson control says that Mrs. Verrall wrote " ar " and " w," and, March 18th, her script again had drawings of a bow and arrow, arrow, and target. During this time at various of Mrs. Piper's sit- tings the Hodgson control brings this up and says that he is trying to make Mrs. Verrall write the word, and Pid- dington tells him that she has drawn an arrow and written words beginning with " ar. " Let us note further that, Jan- uary 29th and 30th, Mrs. Verrall had two sittings with Mrs. Piper. Instead of suggesting spirit communications, such a series rather suggests some common impression received by the automatists and thus reproduced, which we will discuss in connection with " cup " (p. 136). February 6th, Mrs. Verrall's script contained several references to laurel, and at no other time during this period was there any such reference ; February 26th, almost three weeks later, the Myers control in Mrs. Piper's sitting said that he gave Mrs. Verrall laurel wreath, and, March 17th, for the only time, Miss Verrall's script had two references to laurel. Mrs. Verrall had no sittings with Mrs. Piper during this time, but we get the germ of this whole matter in a sitting which she had January 21st, when Rector asked 130 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER her if she got the message " wreath," in her writing, which he had tried to transmit. She said that she did not under- stand, but it would certainly seem that her subliminal mind set to work on this and later produced " laurel wreath," the addition of laurel being quite in accordance with her classical training. For the introduction of laurel three weeks later, in the Piper sitting, it is harder to get the connecting link. We might ask whether the Piper control was not more or less consciously trying to elaborate its first suggestion of " wreath," according to its knowledge of Mrs. Verrall, aided perhaps by casual references before the waking Mrs. Piper to " laurel wreath." Did Mrs. Piper not visit gal- leries or see statues crowned with laurel wreaths in the meantime, which would give that agile subconsciousness of hers aU the suggestion necessary ? With regard to Miss Verrall 's script, we are not told that her mother did not refer to Rector's puzzling statement about " wreath," and if she did it explains the occurrence here. One of the most complete incidents, and most import- ant in Mr. Piddington's eyes, is the "aw6s oupavos atcvfrnv" correspondence. Mrs. Verrall had had in mind for some time to give a test to the Piper-Myers of his personality. She wanted something which Mrs. Piper could not know, and which would have been very familiar to Myers, com- plex and involving associations, and probably known to him. On January 15th the Myers control referred to " celestial halcyon days " in a sitting with Mrs. Verrall, and a week later, through a complex association of ideas, this phrase suggested to Mrs. Verrall the Greek words given above, which may be translated, " The very Heaven waveless." These are a quotation from the fifth book of the Enneades of Plotinus, and are part of a passage in which he is de- scribing the conditions for attaining ecstasy, and is empha- sising the necessity of having the proper conditions in ex- ternal nature as well as of body and mind. These words, 131 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Mrs. Verrall believed, would satisfy her test conditions. They were in Greek and so unknown to the waking Mrs. Piper; the answer could be short; they could be proved to be known to Myers, for they were translated in his " Human Personality " (but the Greek words were not given) ; and the Greek words, but without translation, headed a poem of his on Tennyson in his book, " Frag- ments of Prose and Poetry "; the answer involves many associations with ecstasy and so on. Before we begin the discussion of this incident let us see what opportunities there may have been for Mrs. Piper to learn these words and their meaning. 1. The Greek words, but not the translation, are con- nected with Tennyson as above mentioned. Mrs. Piper is sure that she never had heard of this book, and the pub- lishers, Longmans, wrote Professor James that in the first three months after publication they sold only twenty-five copies direct in Boston. We are not told, however, how long this book had been out at the time of the test. Mrs. Piper may be entirely sincere in saying that she remem- bers nothing of ever seeing the book, but since the rule of the Researchers is not to consider any possible normal knowledge as evidential, Mr. Piddington ought to assume that she has seen it. If she has, then she connects these Greek words with Tennyson, and since she knows the mean- ing of " ouranos," learned in Professor Newbold's work with her in " translating " the first phrase of the Lord's Prayer from Greek, she connects together the Greek word for Heaven and Tennyson. 2. It is to be assumed that she has read ' ' Human Per- sonality," and so has read the translation of this passage (with no Greek words given) as from Plotinus. She may, then, have seen the Greek words in connec- tion with Myers and Tennyson, and their English transla- tion in connection with Myers's " Human Personality " and Plotinus. Is there any natural way in which, in the 132 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER course of the sixteen weeks during which this correspond- ence was being worked out, she could have associated the Greek forms with the English 1 January 29, 1907, the Greek was given to the Myers control, and he was told that it had been suggested by some passages in Mrs. Verrall's script, and was asked to show that he understood its meaning. Mrs. Verrall expected for answer either, 1, a translation; 2, a reference to Myers's poem on Tennyson; or, 3, a reference to Plotinus and " Human Personality." January 30th, Mrs. Verrall thought there were vague references to Tennyson, but nothing very definite. She had no further sittings until April 29th, so that suggestion from her is eliminated. Mr. Piddington also teUs us that while he knew the meanings of the individual Greek words, he only guessed at " akumon," and did not know that this passage had especial associations with Myers's " Human Personality," Tennyson, and Plotinus. The other sitters during this interval were Mr. Macalister, Mrs. Sidgwick, a Mr. and Mrs. Russel, Mrs. Forbes for two sittings, and one or two others. Mrs. Forbes knew about the experiments, and had herself had some correspondences with Mrs. Ver- rall. Did she know about this test question, and could she have involuntarily helped out the control? At any rate, this is the progress of events : In Mrs. Ver- rall 's script there were, of course, various references to the experiment, and, finally, on February 26th her hand wrote, " I think I have made him understand," but added that the best reference would not come through Mrs. Piper. Then followed the quotation, ' ' And may there be no moan- ing at the bar — my Pilot face to face, ' ' and the statement that the last poems of Tennyson and Browning should be compared. March 6th, however, Mrs. Verrall's control doubts if he has been able to make the message clear. On this latter date Mr. Piddington read the Piper con- trols a letter from Mrs. Verrall asking for a clearer state- 133 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM ment of the meaning of the Greek, and in the course of the sitting the Myers control suddenly gave the words, ' ' Cloud- less sky horizon." In the waking stage Mrs. Piper re- peated, " Moaning at the bar when I put out to sea," and a little later the name, ' ' Arthur Hallam ' ' ; and the words, " good bye, Margaret." March 11th, the Myers control said that he had given Mrs. Verrall " bar," making a rough drawing, as a sign, and that she might see he understood the Greek. Pidding- ton told him that she had written a quotation with this word, and then Myers reminded him that he had given the same quotation a week earlier. There were no further references to the Greek until April 24th, when Mrs. Verrall had a sitting for the pur- pose of reviving it. She wanted now to get a reference to " Human Personality " and Plotinus. But this sitting was confused in the extreme, the writing was bad, and Myers told Miss Johnson explicitly that the Greek re- minded him of Socrates and the Iliad, misspelling both names. Now, in " Human Personality " (vol. ii, p. 291), where the translation of this passage is given, the name of Plotinus is also given, the word " Heaven," and especially the com- bination, " for Plotinus the flooding immensity of Heaven." A little below this follows the Greek phrase, " Stos yap ipvtro *I\iov 'EicTojp," in which the word Ilion, even in Greek charac- ters, is surely readable by a person ignorant of Greek, es- pecially since a little below is a reference in English to Hector and Troy. We have this condition then: January 30th, the Piper control, Myers, made vague references to Tennyson which were at least not discouraged, and he knew that the Greek word " ouranos " meant Heaven. In the period of incuba- tion from January 30th to March 6th (when Mrs. VerraU was not sitting) there were no references to the Greek, but we do not know in what connections the subjects of sky and 134 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER horizon may have emerged, nor whether Tennyson was not brought up. The fact that March 6th, after a letter from Mrs. Verrall was read, her first name, Margaret, was given is surely not surprising, and aside from this there is noth- ing at all to connect the words " cloudless sky horizon " or the quotation from Tennyson with her or with the Greek. But the fact that, as Mr. Piddington says, he himself took the phrase to be a rough translation of the Greek gave the control a clew that this was the direction for him to go, and so, March 11th, we find him saying that Mrs. Verrall might see he had understood the Greek because he had given her ' ' bar. ' ' That is, he thought the quotation was the sat- isfactory thing and not the disjointed words. Again came a period of incubation until April 24th, when he connected Iliad and Socrates with the Greek. It surely seems as if we had here an imperfect memory of this passage in " Human Personality "; Adz., vague knowledge by the control that something with Heaven or sky in it is wanted, and that such a passage occurred in the book; memory of the Greek characters, which might especially impress a person who did not imderstand them and had tried to puzzle them out, and especially a memory of Ilion, the one word which was intelligible. The bringing in of Socrates may have been merely an accidental association, since Socrates is far and away the best-known Greek to the general public. But probably Miss Johnson's reception of this associa- tion of Iliad and Socrates with the Greek quotation showed the control again that he was wrong, and led to at least subconscious workings of Mrs. Piper's mind upon the prob- lem in the two weeks before May 6th, resulting on that date in the victorious announcement to Mrs. Sidgwick, " Will you say to Mrs. VerraU Plotinus," and in answer to her question as to what that was, his reply, " My answer to autos ouranos akumon." Of course such an explanation as this is in part hypo- 135 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM thetical, but it seems no more so than Mr. Piddington's, and is more probable. Until these possibilities are disposed of, at least, we do not need to assume spirit agencies at work. One of the closest coincidences in time is that of Cup. In Mrs. Piper's sitting of March 18th " Cup " is given as a cross correspondence. March 19th, Mrs. Verrall's script referred to a silver cup, and had a picture of two hunting crops over a cup. On the same day Mrs. Holland, then in India, wrote about a cup worn in the stone by water drops, and this was the only time in this period that the word appeared in her script. It was also the only time that it appeared in Mrs. Verrall's. This is indeed a striking co- incidence, but here again we ought to know much more about the previous conditions in all the automatists' minds before we take it as a cross correspondence. February 27th, Mrs. Verrall's script contained the name ' ' Diana ' ' and a passage in Latin evidently descriptive of her. March 13th, the name was not given, but the idea seemed to be in general similar with confused references to events in the history of Artemis. As early as January 7th ' ' Diana ' ' had been given, apparently referring to Mrs, Forbes, whose first name is Diana. January 16th, Mrs. Holland referred to " Henry," and gave a quotation from ' ' Macbeth, ' ' and another from Ten- nyson 's play " The Cup," with other reminiscences of this play. In Mrs. VerraU's script of March 13th there was also a reference to " Macbeth." We get a clew here in the fact that Henry Irving played " Macbeth " and " The Cup " in London that winter, though we are not told just when. The series is then : January 7th, Diana and a possible reference to " Mac- beth " by Mrs. Verrall. January 16th, Artemis, Henry, quotations from " Mac- beth " and " The Cup " by Mrs. Holland. 136 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER February 27th, Diana and woods by Mrs. Verrall. March 13th, vague references to Diana and " Macbeth " by Mrs. Verrall. March 18th, " Cup " given in Mrs. Piper's trance. March 19th, Diana first referred to by Mrs. Piper; ref- erence in Mrs. Holland's and Mrs. Verrall's scripts for first and only time to Cup. April 2d, 4th, and 8th, statements in Mrs. Piper's trance that " Diana " had been given to Mrs. Verrall. Now, if the automatists knew — as they probably did — that Irving was playing in those two plays, it seems to me that we have a very satisfactory explanation for the appear- ance of the word Cup, as well as for the combination of Diana and Macbeth. But, further, the Cup is the pivot of the play, and it is expressly stated at the beginning of the play that it was taken from a shrine of Artemis. The play also has through- out many references to hunting, stags, arrows, etc., which sufficiently accoimt for the sylvan tone of Mrs. Verrall's script of this time, and for the appearance of the arrows of February 11th, 12th, and 17th in Mrs. Piper's, Mrs. Ver- rall's, and Miss Verrall's script. Finally, Artemis and Di- ana are connected in one passage of the play, explicitly. There is no question but that Mrs. Holland had either seen or read the play, since she gave direct quotations from it in her script. If Mrs. Verrall and Mrs. Piper also were famil- iar with it, or even with reviews of it, the whole matter is explained. One of the most complex and ingeniously worked out cross correspondences is that called " Light in West." Summed up as briefly as possible, this is as follows : March 4th, Mrs. Verrall had in her script references to Hercules Furens, his tying to a pillar, and something in Euripides that Mr. Verrall had not seen. This reminded Mrs. Verrall of a passage in " Human Personality " in which there is a quotation from Plotinus, 13 137 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM and this same passage was the one referred to by the Piper- Myers in connection with " autos ouranos akumon." March 10th, while writing with the planchette, Miss Ver- rall got illusions to ' ' Geryon, ' ' spelled in three ways, and " Mefistofiles " spelled in the Italian way. From this Mr. Piddington infers that the scribe had in mind both the monster killed by Heracles and the one referred to in Dante ! March 11th, came a reference by Mrs. Verrall to a Presence on the eternal hills, and the lonely hills, which is supposed to be the emergence of the Wordsworth country topic in a script belonging to the " autos ouranos akumon " episode. March 13th, Mrs. Holland's script had an original verse contrasting eastern and western sky, with a quotation from a poem of Myers, and a little later his initials. March 20th, Mrs. Piper's script said that the words " I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er dale and hill " were said to have been given to Mrs. Verrall. This introduces " by implication " daffodils and the Wordsworth country. While mentioning other words given to Mrs. Verrall the Myers control also said, " I referred also to a quotation of my own in which I said, where did he come from whither is he going." March 25th, Mrs. Verrall 's script had various references to club and key, east and west, Hercules, shadows. Mr. Piddington works out with much detail and many quotations that this signifies that Heracles is in some way a link between east and west. March 27th, Mrs. Holland's script had a quotation from Tennyson's " Maud," followed by the words, " Not Maud, Sylvia." Now, says Mr. Piddington, Sylvia is the name of Myers's daughter, and this is the only place where it is mentioned. 138 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER Leopold, the oldest son, is referred to equally irrelevantly and but once, when a reference to Browning's " Herakles " is made, and Harold, the other son, is similarly referred to once in Mrs. Piper's with a reference to Euripides. " This apparently irrelevant afiSxing . . . was, I consider, done in order to show that the subjects of the three scripts formed part of one family of ideas, and were meant to be pieced together : a clew that was badly needed, since between the quotation from Maud and the two allusions to Euripides there most certainly did not exist any obvious connec- tion."! ! April 29th, Mrs. Verrall sat with Mrs. Piper and was told by the Myers control that he had succeeded in giving her a D in one cross correspondence. She took this to be the first letter of Dante, but Myers said that it was not, and added that he wrote " lonely wandering cloud. Daf- fodils." Now, if one goes back over these references, it is evi- dent that the connections are so loose that they prove noth- ing at all. Mrs. Verrall's script contains no allusions to Wordsworth save the barely possible one contained in a reference to a Presence in the hiUs; Mrs. Piper's contains none to Hercules and the club and key ; Mrs. Holland's con- tains none to either of these, but only a stanza of poetry contrasting eastern and western sky at the end of a win- ter's day — certainly a common theme in poetry. All the ingenious cross connections seem to me to be purely the cre- ation of Mr. Piddington's own mind. In answer to a criticism that Myers does not ear-mark his cross correspondences in Mrs. Verrall's script, Mr. Pid- dington says that there are eleven cases where he does do so, as follows: 1. " Library, my own name and Mrs. Sidgwick's." The ear-mark is : " I will give the message elsewhere too to day. . wait for their answer/' 2. " Laurel Wreath." 139 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM " No more to day. — await the better news that brings assurance with a laurel crown." 3. " Arrow." Drawing of three arrows, followed by the words ' ' tria convergentia in unum." 4. " Crossing the Bar." ' ' I think I have got some words from the poem written down — if not stars and satellites, another phrase will do as well. And may there be no moaning at the bar — ^my Pilot face to face." 5. " Hercules Furens of Euripides." " Ask elsewhere for the Bound Hercules." 6. "Angel." Drawing of an angel, followed by the words " F. W. H. M. has sent the message through — at last! " 7. " Azure " and " Horizon." ' ' We will try to give the message to them. It has come first to you." 8. " Shadow." " Let Piddington know when you get a message about shadow." 9. " Laus Deo." " Laus in aeternum Aetemo Deo," followed by allu- sions in Greek to the combination of like parts. 10. "Fairy." " Faery lands forlorn," followed by the words " I will try to get the idea elsewhere conveyed — ^but it is hard and I know I have failed before." 11. "Light in the West." * ' You will find that you have written a message to Mr. Piddington which you did not understand but he did. Tell him that." In other cases he says the significant word was empha- sised either by repetition or capital letters — ^but these are constantly used for any -sort of emphasis or clearness, and are not peculiar to the cross references. 140 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER Mrs. Verrall discusses in particular two of the cross correspondences. On April 16th Mrs. Holland's script con- tained the words ' ' Maurice, Morriss, Mors, ' ' and a phrase referring to the idea of death. On April 17th, in the wak- ing stage of her trance, Mrs. Piper said, " Sanatos, Tan- atos," and on April 23d " Thanatos," the Greek word for death. On April 29th Mrs. Verrall's script had four quo- tations, all referring to death. She says, " It can not bo accident which combines in each case a suggestion of sound with the idea of death and makes use of the three different languages through the three automatists. " Again, on January 23d and 28th, Mrs. Verrall's script contained allusions to hope, star, and Browning's " Abt Vogler"; on February 3d, Miss Verrall's, to star and Browning; on February 11th Mrs. Piper's controls an- nounced " Browning, Hope, and star " as a cross cor- respondence; on February 17th Miss Verrall's script again alluded to star and Browning, and on March 6th and after- ward the Piper controls claimed that this cross correspond- ence was " an answer to the Latin message." Now, in " Abt Vogler " there is no reference to hope, and this seems to be of no significance, but there are two lines containing the word ' ' star, ' ' viz., ' ' Not a point nor peak but found and fixed its wandering star," and, " That out of three sounds he frame, not a fourth sound, but a star." Which of these two lines is the one meant 1 Miss Verrall's script contains references to " heav- enly harmony," " mystic three," " and above it all is the star," which, Mrs. Verrall says, shows that the second is the one meant. Now this line " is singularly appropriate as the subject of a cross correspondence of the particular type desired, so that the choice of topic no less than the method of conveyance points to an intelligent response to the request of the experimenters made in the Latin mes- sage, and justifies the claim that it was an answer to the 141 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM message. It is true that the Piper controls did not suc- ceed in translating the Latin message, but they did better ! They acted upon it," and this is especially significant since in Mrs. Verrall's script of January 23d there appears for the first time the sign of a triangle within a circle which on January 16th Mr. Piddington had asked the Piper con- trol to use whenever he gave a cross correspondence. In summarising this long labour to prove the existence of cross correspondences which are to prove that the con- trol is in truth a real and distinct personality from Mrs. Piper's subconsciousness, I find it somewhat difficult to do justice both to Mr. Piddington 's fairmindedness in publish- ing all the data at hand, and at the same time to the obvi- ous defects of the work. 1. First of all, when cross correspondences were to be the chief focus of interest during all these sittings, why did the Society allow two of the other mediums who were to be concerned in these correspondences, Mrs. and Miss Verrall, to have frequent sittings with Mrs. Piper? I am told by Mrs. Piper herself that she did not know that they were having these sittings until they were through, since they did not come into the room until after she entered the trance and left before she emerged from it, and presum- ably those having the matter in charge believed that thus they excluded the conscious giving of information. I also understand that Mrs. Piper did not see the Verralls during her stay while in her waking state. But of what avail was all this care when the main thing was to make it impossible for the Piper control to get infor- mation ? In these sittings we find the Piper control asking Mrs. Verrall questions about her automatic writing, whether she has got this or that message, etc. ; and knowing what we do about the control we may be sure that he was much on the alert for any indications of things in which he was interested. Of course Mrs. Verrall tried not to betray these, but can any student of the subconscious mind pos- 142 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER sibly assume that she did not betray her interests in a thousand and one involuntary ways? Those having charge of the matter could not well have done anything more detrimental for the value of cross corre- spondences than to allow these sittings. This is emphasised by the statement which they themselves make without see- ing its significance, viz., that Mrs. Piper is rarely the first to give the cross correspondence but is usually the second and sometimes the third. That is, her control knew that the thing most in mind was cross correspondences, and was always on the alert to detect signs of special interest in the disconnected words which he threw out both in the trance and the waking stage. We have plenty of cases where he made wrong inferences, and we should not be surprised that sometimes he made correct ones when we consider that nearly every one of his sitters was a believer in Spirit- ism, and had been a friend of the living Myers, and so could not possibly be on the alert to prevent himself from betraying knowledge as an unbeliever and stranger would have been. I feel justified, therefore, in throwing out at one stroke every cross correspondence between Mrs. Piper and Mrs. and Miss Verrall that occurred after Mrs. and Miss Verrall began to have sittings; and of course no one can consider the correspondences between the mother and daughter as having any scientific value to prove spirit commimication, interesting though they doubtless are as showing the in- volimtary ways in which we betray what is in our own minds and assimilate what is in others'. But if we eliminate all these, we have left no cross cor- respondences between the Verralls and Mrs. Piper! Now as to Mrs. Holland and Mrs. Piper. There were no cross correspondences in Mrs. Holland's script with the Latin message, with " Hope, star, and Browning," nor with " autos ouranos akumon," which are considered by far the most significant references of all. 143 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Those with her are: St. Paul, Francis and Ignatius, steeple, cup, Diana, Euripides, spiiit and angel, light in West, azure and horizon, thanatos. We have already dis- cussed all of these save the last two, and they are not dif- ferent in type from the others. Here, again, is it reasonable on the basis of such similarities to argue to the momentous fact of spirit communication? 2. In the second place, the similarities which do exist are no more numerous and close than can be found by comparing the record of the thoughts of any two or three persons of even quite different education. To prove this I carried out an experiment under far more rigid conditions than those of the cross correspond- ences. My subjects were three women, two of whom had once been introduced two years previous to the experiment but had never met since, and the third of whom was un- known to both the others. The three had no common ac- quaintance save myself, and I had never talked of them to each other. One of the three was a graduate of a woman's college, widely travelled, and actively engaged in philan- thropic and educational work. The second had no college training, but an art education, was active in social and church life, and unusually interested in literature. The third is a graduate of a coeducational institution, has a Ph.D., and devotes practically all her time to experimental psychology. Bach subject was to take fifteen minutes of each day in writing out as many of her thoughts as she could catch. She was to let her mind be as passive as possible and catch as many of the fugitive thoughts as she could. This was to be continued one week. When I began to compare the similarities I soon saw that it would take a larger volume than Mr. Piddington's if I were to elaborate the correspondences after his inimi- table style, and so here I wiU only take those of one day. Note that I compare only the writing of the same day, 144 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER and do not feel free to extend my time over weeks and months as he does. I give first the record of each subject : A. B. I am a little chiUy. Visual image of streets as I saw them to-night, then of dining table at supper as I tell about it. I wonder what sort of girl — is. Wonder if I'll receive a package by mail to-morrow. Wonder if mamma or A. will send me a birthday present... .Wish I were not such a poke about things I hate to do. Image of book in which I recorded my name to take three volumes from psychological laboratory. . .. .Memory images from Mr. W.'s experiment Image of falling stars, then of hill to the west and a picnic a week ago. ...I'm disgusted here. Nothing satisfies me.... Image of soft green robe worn by friend. Image of friend. Memory of various things which happened with — last summer. Visual imagery of lake and scenes of last trip. C. E. Miss T.'s face comes to me, fresh coloured, green-gray suit accompanying face picture. I see her very plainly, now she is speaking, smiling. I am sorry to have left her rather abruptly this A.M. How damp and muddy under foot it was. I clam- bered into a car. Dr. — told me she read a great deal of fiction to take her mind from her work. She can almost always sleep, usually at will. I asked why she did not read something really interesting. That would also take her mind from her work and give a pleasant thought companionship in her lonely hours. Which expression makes me smile inwardly as I recall Mrs. L., who said that of confirmation. I see her now and hear her voice, slow and matter of fact — and what awful things she would say — you were never at ease unless you were alone or knew your company — her relation of disorders and diseases in that voice on the way home from church. Awful! And she was contemplating matrimony again — ^was it only the second time or was it the third venture, when she died suddenly. I touched her hand helping to make her nice for the funeral, 145 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM and how cold and startling it was. Her dear old father — How fond I was of that dear old true hearted Englishman from the Loma Doone country. I really think I never had a truer friend. Mr. S. used to say so and call him my devoted ad- mirer. .... J. K One difficulty about getting a passive mind seems to be that it is hard to make a mind passive at the same time that one is actively observing its processes actively formulating those words down on paper. Of course one ought to make the proc- esses automatic and do the active part as reflexly as possible. I think this could be cultivated. How far this artificial cul- tivation would alter the normal processes I do not know. It seems a good deal like cultivating the day dreaming we were warned against in early life, as a squandering of time and encouraging of mental weakness. Perhaps if I just think nouns or objects in a detached way it may bring the result. The trouble is everything suggests relations and ramifications. Nothing in one's mind really is detached and loose in adult life. It is bound by a thousand fine ties of association into intricate connections. House, spoon, cat, table, rug, floor, lamp, door, woods, dreams, Keats, tempests, cars, skies, ponds, toys, raffia, garden, kiosk, tuberculosis, lamp, children, lunch, books, technology, conceit, symphony, sleep, rest, death, fire, gymna- sium, college. But faster than any pencil can write them down at least two thirds of these nouns have rayed out electric flashes of other words, pictures, arguments, stories, literature. The fact is, our modern minds are too full, too distracted, too strenuous, to slip ofi in little boats of idle dreams along one slender current of thought. They dart a thousand ways like dragon-flies over a pool. I wish I were there in the forest throwing a line for trout, just the zip of my reel for sound in a still world. The trolley rushes by in a torrent of uproar, the yelp and shriek of automobiles spoils my forest, spoils my string of nouns. Perhaps the noise of the outer world is partly to blame for my intractable mind that won't get passive and float down a stream of subconscious suggestion. 146 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER Note now the many coincidences: (1) The reference by A. B. to psychological laboratory and experiment; by J. K. to experimenting to make the mind automatic; and by C. E. to Miss T., who is chiefly associated in her thoughts with psychology. (2) A. B. refers to the streets as she saw them that night; C. E. to the damp, wet streets; and J. K. to the noise of the streets, trolley, etc. Both J. K. and C. E. refer to the car or trolley. (3) Stars, hill, picnic, and lake in A. B.'s give a sylvan setting, which is carried out by J. K. in the thought of herself fishing for trout in the forest, and by C. E. in her reference to the Lorna Doone country, which " by impli- cation ' ' always brings up the thought of the deep pool and fishing described in the story. (4) Mr. W. 's experiment is on music, as referred to by A. B., and J. K. suddenly ejaculates, " Concert, sym- phony! " (5) A. B, refers to trance, which is closely connected in its characteristics to sleep, relaxation, day dreaming, etc., as mentioned both by J. K. and C. E. (6) Death is emphasised by C. E., and also emerges in J. K.'s mind. (7) A delicate green is referred to both by A. B. and C. E., while it is brought in " by implication " in J. K.'s picture of the forest. But more than these superficial coincidences is the un- derlying idea of unity or interdependence in all three. In C. E. this is introduced in the pictures of matrimony, companionship, and friendship, which fill nearly aU her space. It appears in J. K. in her discussion on the rela- tions between ideas, and by contrast in A. B.'s irritation over her unsettled, disjointed life at that time. If these three ladies were mediums, and I Mr. Pidding- ton, I should at once infer that some one control had been actively at work striving to impress upon all three, unknown 147 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM to each, the idea of interdependence or association, which is so essential if those " on this side of the veil " are to co- operate with those on the other side ! But since I am not Mr. Piddington, these cases seem to me to show very nicely how much greater our community of thought is than we usually realise. 3. In the third place, it seems to me that one must crit- icise the tortuous explanations and far-fetched associations which Mr. Piddington seems to consider the best proof that the control is a distinct personality. Of course he is ham- pered at every step by the fact that he believes in telepathy, and must, therefore, in framing an experiment, so do it as to exclude the possibility of any possible thought trans- ference. How difScult this is the reader will not appreci- ate until he remembers that as this theory has been ex- tended, any living person may transfer to any other living person any thought that exists either in his conscious or his subconscious mind. Granted this, we can easily enough see that when a cross correspondence is so obscure that it has no meaning for anybody concerned in giving it, but only for the interpreter who compares the various scripts, it will be the best sort of message. Let us for the minute grant this, and see whether even then the conditions are good, as set by Mr. Piddington. First of all, as to time conditions. Mr. Piddington seems to set no limits here. Any common reference in any of the four scripts coming on any date between Novem- ber 15th and June 2d may be a cross correspondence. But this is nothing less than absurd, from the standpoint of the psychologist, and especially from the standpoint of the student of the subconscious. It is not too much to say that given such an interval we could hardly find any two per- sons of the same nationality, or even of the same race, who would not have some such similarities. Second, as to the mediums. Mr. Piddington says that even when the control says he will give a certain word to 148 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER one medium, and it does not appear with that medium but does with one of the others, it is a cross correspondence. But again this is unreasonable, and gives the control an imfair advantage, allowing a far wider range of associa- tions than would otherwise come in. Thirdly, throughout this whole work the Myers control seems to have descended nearly, if not quite, to the Phinuit level. When he succeeds, he brags ; when he fails, he bul- lies Rector, evades, etc., quite in Phinuit 's style. He never admits ignorance, but always blames conditions, " the light," etc., in the most inconsistent ways. Indeed, his only test of whether conditions are right is whether he succeeds in telling the sitter what he wants to know. He never makes any statement of what conditions per se are con- ducive to success. We get an interesting side light on this matter in some remarks made by Mrs. Sidgwick (pp. 439-40) apropos of a test she gave the Myers control. She thinks that the con- trol showed more knowledge of the test than could be attrib- uted to chance, but that some people might say that he obtained it from telepathy, and that Myers's spirit was not truly present. She says: " The main considerations are on the one side that the trance personality itself as- sumes that the information came from the dead ; and on the other that it did not come at all except in the presence of a living person who possessed it, and then more in accord- ance with that person's views than with Mr. Myers's. It may perhaps be urged that I, the living person, had not previously shown any power as a telepathic agent. But this does not count for much, for I had not previously, suc- ceeded in any way as a sitter with Mrs. Piper. My sittings with her when she was in England before were a complete failure. Some new condition must therefore have been in- troduced in the present case, and there is no more difiSculty in supposing this to be the breaking down of some barrier between my mind and Mrs. Piper's, which makes telepathy 149 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM now possible, than in supposing any other change in the psychical relations between us." Now, between these two visits of Mrs. Piper, Mrs. Sidg- wick had apparently been gradually tending more to the spiritistic hypothesis, and Dr. Sidgwick had died. She did not have any sittings alone until March 20th, and before that date but two, with Mr. Piddington. By this time Mrs. Verrall's series was complete, and the control had enough information to go on successfully in spite of the fact that Mrs. Sidgwick seems to be far more non-committal than any of the other sitters. Mrs. Piper herself has referred to Mrs. Sidgwick as being very intellectual and very hard to convince. In short, if we were to put it somewhat bru- tally, the control finds Mrs. Sidgwick harder to " pump " than most of the others are, but in this series she is less on her guard than she was twenty years ago, and, on the other hand, the control has more confidence in himself now than he had then. These facts surely account for the ' ' breaking down of the barrier " to which Mrs. Sidgwick refers. These, with a few given by Hyslop, conclude the cross correspondences published up to date.^ When we consider the looseness of the conditions set by the investigators, they seem scarcely worth serious consideration, and would not be save that through the public press grossly exaggerated accounts have appeared of their coincidence both in time and meaning. Let us summarise briefly what they are: Out of about 120 cross correspondences in the Piper sittings the investi- gators themselves consider twenty-three correct. Of this number all but one of the references were chosen by the controls, and in most cases no warning was given that they were cross correspondences. The scripts had to be gone over repeatedly and searched for hidden meanings before the correspondences could be discovered, even with the best ' But see Appendix. 150 CROSS CORRESPONDENCES WITH MRS. PIPER will in the world to discover them on the part of the inves- tigators. In order to estabUsh them further the investi- gators could not accept the statements of the controls that they gave the reference to some particular medium, but dis- regarded these assertions and took any reference from any of the four mediums concerned, at any time within six months, no matter how vague or common the reference. This was done with scarcely any attempt to note occur- rences, newspaper accounts, literature, current topics, etc., which might have brought up that reference to the various mediums, and — ^worst of all — no attempt is made to cor- relate the sittings of Mrs. and Miss Verrall with Mrs. Piper with the cross correspondences coming after those sittings. A piece of work of this character has no claim to serious consideration, and ultimately must injure the Society which approves it. CHAPTER IX THE LATIN MESSAGE Shortly after Mrs. Piper went to England, in 1906, the experimenters drew up a message in Latin addressed to the Myers control. It was first written in English, and then translated into Latin by Dr. Verrall, a special point being made of avoiding words and phrases that might be known to some one but slightly acquainted with Latin. This, of course, was to make it impossible for the normal Mrs. Piper to understand it. (o) Original draft in English: We are aware of the scheme of cross correspondences, which you are transmitting through various mediums, and we hope that you will go on with them. Try also to give to A and B two different messages, between which no connection is discernible. Then as soon as possible give to C a third message which will reveal the hidden con- nection. (6) Latin rendering: Diversis intemuntiis quod invicem inter se respondentia jamdudum committis, id nee fallit nos consilium, et vehe- menter probamus. Unum accesserit gratissimum nobis, si, cum duobus quibus- dam ea tradideris, inter quae nullus appareat nexus, postea quam primum rem per tertium aliquem ita perficias, ut latens illud in prioribus explicetur. (c) Literal translation into English: As to the fact that for some long time past you have been entrusting to different intermediaries things which correspond mutually between themselves, we have observed your design and we cordially approve it. 152 THE LATIN MESSAGE One thing besides this most agreeable to ns will have hap- pened if, when you shall have delivered to two particular per- sons things between which no connection is apparent, afterward as soon as possible through some third person you so complete the matter that that which was latent in the first two may be revealed. This experiment extended from December 17, 1906, to June 2, 1907. On the former date Mr. Piddington broached the subject to Rector and gave the first phrase, throiigh " committis," pronouncing each syllable and spelling it, while the hand wrote it down with the punctuation. The dictation was continued through four more sittings, and completed for the first time on January 2d. At this time Rector said that Hodgson was helping Myers, and Myers said that he would gladly translate the message, to which Mr. Piddington replied that he did not want a translation, but a message which would show that the Latin had been understood. January 2d, when the message was completed, on com- ing out of the trance Mrs. Piper said, " United we stand, divided we fall." This came just after a sentence which Mr. Piddington says the Myers control must have given, and is therefore attributed to him, and interpreted as a reference to the second paragraph, as showing a knowledge of its meaning. January 14th, 15th, and 16th there were only references to it, and on the last date Myers said that Piddington must not be impatient for an answer. January 23d, the situation was complicated by the Myers control being asked which of Horace's Odes had en- tered deeply into his inner life, and immediately after this he called for a repetition of the first and second sentences of the message. At this time also Myers said for the first time that he believed he could give an answer to the message. 13 153 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM At this point we must diverge for an instant to note that from December 18th to January 30th most of the sit- tings with Mrs. Piper were held by either Mrs. or Miss Ver- rall, Mr. Piddington having only January 2d, 16th, 23d, and 28th to himself, but being present at all the others as manager. January 23d and 28th, Mrs. Verrall wrote two scripts connected with each other, of which Mrs. Piper's script reproduced the main points on February 17th in its ref- erences to hope, star, and Browning. Mrs. Verrall's script of January 23d has anagrams on rats, star, etc., seam, same ; skeat takes Kate's skates; January 28th come references to aster, the Greek " teras," meaning a sign or wonder, ' ' Abt Vogler ' ' and a misquotation from it. In Miss Ver- rall 's script of February 3d are references to a crescent moon and star and bird ; and Febjruary 17th a drawing of a star, and references to diapason, harmony, and mystic three. The especial reference in Mrs. Verrall's script, " that out of three sounds he make, not a fourth sound but a star," is considered a very apt description of a cross cor- respondence with the three automatists, but as Mr. Pid- dington himself indicates, it is quite possible that Mrs. Ver- rall's subconscious mind worked this out. I would add fur- ther that in the series of sittings with Mrs. Piper, which was nearly at an end by January 23d, her mind, her daugh- ter 's, and Mrs. Piper's had been so attuned that the later references in Mrs. Piper's script to hope, star, and Brown- ing are simply a working over of some common material gathered during those sittings. Furthermore, Mr. Pid- dington says frankly that in the period between Febru- ary 11th and February 19th he had become possessed by the idea that the reference by the Piper-Myers on Febru- ary 11th to hope, star, and Browning was an attempt to give an answer to the Latin message, and it is therefore impossible to say what involuntary and unconscious hints 154 THE LATIN MESSAGE lie may have given of this to the Piper-Myers. He was closely on the watch to catch such connections, as he him- self says. February 19th part of the message was repeated again to Myers, and February 20th came the first attempt to translate it, as follows : ' ' The idea I got was that 1 should be a Messenger and pass on to you the same intelligent UD now in my present life-. . . It is with reference to my . .my being a messenger. . and my handing through to you on your side coherent and — messages. ' ' The divergence between this and the message is evident. There is no reference here to cross references unless we force the interpretation. "We should also note here Mrs. Piper's knowledge of Browning. May 7th, Mrs. Sidgwick made inquiries as to whether Mrs. Piper had ever read any of Browning, and Mrs. Piper told her that ' ' probably ' ' she had read some, and that one of her daughters had several volumes of his poems and was fond of them. May 26th, Miss Johnson made inquiries from the lady who lived with Mrs. Piper while she was in London, and found that Mrs. Piper had, probably three or four weeks before, been looking over one of the volumes. But we are not told whether it contained " Abt Vogler," " Evelyn Hope," " My Star," " La Saisiaz," and " Rabbi Ben Ezra. ' ' These, however, are all poems which are given in most of the popular editions of Browning, and, further- more. Sir Oliver found that the daughters had committed parts of " Abt Vogler " to memory. Now, since Mrs. Piper had these volumes of Browning in her possession all the time she was in England, it seems altogether likely that she read parts of them every now and then, and not merely on the one occasion that Dr. Reid happened to remember. Her familiarity with these poems is therefore explained. On February 25th parts of the Latin were again re- 155 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM peated, and also on February 26th and on February 27th another attempt at translation was made, which, sum- marised, is thus : ' ' Although you as intermediary have long since united mutually ideas. You have or do not reply or respond sufficiently to our questions as to convince us of your existence etc. Is it not UD? ". .But here, too, the point is missed, since the message expresses no doubt of Myers's existence, but only cordial approval of his cross- reference scheme. Before this complete attempt came, Myers had translated it phrase by phrase and at one point said, '' Now I believe that since you sent this message to me I have sufficiently replied to your various questions to convince the ordinary scientific mind that I am at least a fragment of the once incarnate individual whom you called Myers. Is it not so ? " A little later Mr. Piddington asked him in what mes- sages this reply was given, and he said that it was in the messages reported through Mrs. Piper and Mrs. Verrall. On being pressed for some important point from these mes- sages, he said that it was in those where he referred to ' ' the poems," " halceon days," " evangelical " and " syringa shrub." Asked what poems, he said his, and Browning's, and Horace. None of these, be it noted, refer to the thing Piddington wanted, namely, hope, star, and " Abt Vogler." But later in the same sitting Mr. Piddington said to Myers : " (I want to say that you have, I believe, given an answer worthy of your intelligence — not to day, I mean, but some time back — ^but the interpretation must not be mine. You must explain your answer at this light.) (You could do it in two words.) Yes. I UD. (Well?) Hope. Star. 156 THE LATIN MESSAGE " (WeU? Yes?) " Browning. " (Exactly. It couldn't be better.) " That is my answer. " (Now, Myers, I can't thank you enough. That is what I have been waiting for.) " Myers then showed a tendency to try the Latin mes- sage again, but was rather discouraged by Mr. Piddington, who soon after told him that he would like one more point in his answer, to which Myers wrote: ' ' My Star, ' ' and then made various attempts, ' ' E V E EVL EVEL, ' ' at which point he was stopped by Mr. Pid- dington because the light was growing weak. To the person who is not looking for spiritistic inter- vention, this answer seems explicable from a naturalistic point of view. As we have already noted it is probable that in the series of sittings with Mrs. Verrall the common material of hope, star. Browning, and ' ' Abt Vogler ' ' had been unconsciously given and emphasised by Mrs. Verrall to Mrs. Piper's control, and that after Mr. Piddington had formed his theory he had unconsciously betrayed to the control that all references to Browning were especially interesting to him, so that when, on February 27th, he told the control that he had already given an intelligent answer, but he wanted him himself to indicate what it was, the control would revert to the one in which Mr. Piddington had shown the most interest before, which would naturally impress itself most upon the control when given, owing to the control's great suggestibility. In this he was aided by Mr. Piddington 's remark that two words would give the answer. That he did not at all understand why " hope, star and Browning " was an answer to the Latin message seems to be shown by the reference immediately afterward to " My Star " and " Evel," which may have been the beginning of " Evelyn Hope." On March 6th the Pelham control appeared and asked 157 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Mr. Piddington if he had got what he wanted about the Latin message. Mr. Piddington replied : " (I think the answer is clear, but I want — ) " Did he [i. e. Myers.] tell you about My Star? " Pelham then goes on to say that this and " Evelyn Hope " were tests with Mrs. Verrall. Pelham also translated the Latin message thus: " Al- though you have for some time been uniting (or assimilat- ing) different ideas you fail to convince the world or me of your independent existence. Now if you can give a clear message through Mrs. Verrall and reproduce it here it will do more to convince. . or it will, .greatly help to convince the world of your continued existence." " This was the idea as I received it," says Pelham. " You must give allowances, for its being made comprehensible here . . to you." Mr. Piddington then explains at considerable length that to make the answer perfectly complete and satis- factory one more point must be brought out, and that this same point has already been very clearly made by Myers himself through Mrs. Verrall, but not through Mrs. Piper. Pelham said that he would explain the situation to Myers, i. e., would tell him that he must bring out the same point through Mrs. Piper as he already had through Mrs. Verrall, and presently Myers himself appeared and after one sentence Rector tries to explain in these words: " I UD. it was a cross correspondence message and to her (i. e. Mrs. Verrall.) I gave the same words that I brought out here, as the poem was one I knew him (presumably Myers) to give me." This was not clear and Myers again appears and says, " I told Rector to tell you that I UD and replied saying it was the poem in which Hope and Star came out." On March 13th Myers says, " I UD your reference to the poem in your Latin message to me which led me to 158 THE LATIN MESSAGE refer to Browning . . . , " showing again that he did not understand why the reference to Hope, star, and Brown- ing was considered an answer, and that he thought the Latin contained a reference to the poem. A little later Mr. Piddington begins, " The Latin Mes- sage does not refer — " and the hand quickly corrects it- self, saying, " not exactly to a poem I know, but it sug- gested a poem to my mind. Hence BHS etc. ' ' Later in the same sitting Mr. Piddington once more ex- plains to the Myers control that Hope, Star, and Brown- ing are an excellent answer to the message, but that he has not yet told through Mrs. Piper why they are. Then, in answer to questions from Myers, Mr. Piddington tells him that a particular poem and a particular passage in that poem give the answer, and Myers already knows that one of Browning's poems with a reference to hope and star is wanted. At this point Mrs. Sidgwick took charge of the sittings. Myers had now been well coached in his cues, so that on April 2d he started out with various references to Browning, hope, stars, but gave nothing more. April 2d, Mrs. Sidgwick read him this question: " Mr. Piddington says you promised to try to tell us what particular poem of Browning's you meant to refer to by the words ' Browning, Hope and Star. ' ' ' To this Myers replies as usual that he will be glad to think it over and answer later. April 8th, Myers brings up the subject again, and says that the poem he had in mind is the one about the stars, the lonely, lonely wandering stars, and the message made him think of it because it re- minded him of his interest in " light " and his desire to prove the survival of bodily death. Then he says that the poem began with P and Sai, and then comes much mavm- dering about his making a circle, star, etc. April 10th and 15th come casual or confused refer- ences, and April 17th more references to lonely, also 159 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM " Siazies, Siacriez," and finally Mrs. Sidgwich suggests " La Saisiaz," which the hand accepts. Then come imperfect efforts to reproduce parts of the Latin message, and a little later Myers clearly and explic- itly connects hope and star with " La Saisiaz " — not with " Abt Vogler." In answer to this connection Mrs. Sidgwick made a re- mark as to which she says, " It now seems to me obvious that I meant I did not know that Hope and Star referred to La Saisiaz," and Myers goes on to say that the passage he meant contained three words and horizon was the most important one of them. A little later Mrs. Sidgwick asked, ' ' Did you, when you spoke a little while ago, mean to say you had given me the name of the poem in which Hope and Star come? " and she notes that she thinks she mentioned ' ' La Saisiaz ' ' here. But the control had been warned by the above remark, and answered, " No, I have not been able to get it through, but I do hope to do so." April 24th, he tried another tack, giving reminiscences from " Rabbi Ben Ezra," but as Mrs. Sidgwick said she did not remember that they appeared in Mrs. Verrall's script the control was once more corrected, and started over again by drawing a star, and then writing " Vol " and a little below ' ' gar. ' ' Of course Mrs. Sidgwick at once thought of ' ' Vogler, ' ' and told him that she thought she saw what he meant. Thus encouraged, the hand continued trying, pro- ducing after a little " AB," and below it " Volugevar," to which Mrs. Sidgwick responded, " You're very nearly got it." Then a little lower he finally got " Volugur," and below it " ABT," to which Mrs. Sidgwick said that she was quite satisfied. A little later the hand asked how she pronounced " Abt," and she spoke it; then it wrote " VO," and inquired, and she finished it, " Vogler." Now, even if it were possible for one not to see that this came entirely through the ingenious guessing of the 160 THE LATIN MESSAGE control, he went on to show that he still did not understand what passage answered the Latin message, by saying, ' ' Let me first remind you how deeply I was affected by the message and how the uncertainty of Abt gave me the words I wrote and the . . . faith which he held gave my brought to my memory the experience I have had myself sufficiently clear for me to quote it to you." Eector then said that he had left out some words, and Myers told Mrs. Sidgwick to look up the passage about Abt's faith, and said, " I am trying to explain to you his doubts and fears, then his acceptance of God and faith in Him." A little later Mrs. Sidgwick asked : " I should like you, Mr. Myers, to say exactly why that poem was so appropriate as an answer to the Latin Mes- sage, ' ' to which he replied : " I chose that because of the appropriate conditions mentioned in it which applied to my own life, and nothing I could think of so completely answered it to my miad as those special words. ' ' Now the Latin message, of course, did not refer to any particular events in Myers's life, and only by torturing this passage far out of its evident meaning could it be made to show anything but his ignorance of the message. May 1st — ^two sittings having intervened, at which Mrs. Verrall and Miss Johnson were sitters, and at approxi- mately the time when Dr. Eeid is certain that Mrs. Piper had had a volume of Browning to read — at another sitting with Mrs. Sidgwick the Myers control again reverted to the poem, and after various phrases reminiscent of " Abt Vogler," Mrs. Sidgwick said, " It is about Abt Vogler he is telling me, is it not ? ' ' May 6th, after Myers had said that he had already really answered the message, Mrs. Sidgwick replied, " But in Abt Vogler there is a particular Une which specially answers the Latin Message. The Latin Message, as you know, re- 161 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM f ers to cross correspondences, but also to something more, and there is a line in Abt Vogler which we think you had in mind as describing that something more. It would be very good if you could give it here." Myers reiterated, " line, poem and Abt Vogler," to be sure he understood the task she had set, and said, "I re- member the message as referring to my giving proofs of survival of bodily death by or through CC (cross corre- spondence messages)." " Yes, in a particular way," replied Mrs. Sidgwick. Thus put on his guard Myers began his usual processes of fishing, saying, " I could not help thinking of Tennyson in one of the inquiries and Browning in the other." This met hearty approval, and he went on to refer to music, and told her repeatedly that she must patch things together so they would make sense. May 7th came the first plain reference to the desired line, at the very beginning of the sitting. Myers asked, " If the fourth is a star, what would the third be? " " Fourth " and " star " were reiterated in various connec- tions, and then came " framed, passion, to sky," evidently reminiscences of the line ' ' As the earth had done her best in my passion to scale the sky." Then Mrs. Sidgwick said, " If you are trying to give me the line in Abt Vogler which I asked for, you need not trouble further," and Myers replied: " That is it. I promised to complete it this day. " (Yes, it is aU right. I wanted to know if you were thinking of this line when you quoted Abt Vogler as an answer.) " Oh yes. that is all I am thinking about. . . . " (Yes, I think I understand it quite sufficiently.) " Passion is the chief word . . " And a little below, Mrs. Sidgwick said : " (But the line / wanted was the one about the star.) " Yes, I know, but. . . " replied the control, of course 162 THE LATIN MESSAGE getting out of his mistake as gracefully as possible, and rambling on about the star. There can be no doubt at all that the control had no understanding of what was wanted, for even when his choices from " Abt Vogler " were narrowed to the desired line and one other, he took the wrong one, and showed un- mistakably that he misunderstood by saying that passion was the chief word. May 27th, when Sir Oliver Lodge was the sitter, came another attempt to translate the Latin, thus : ' ' You have long since been trying to assimilate ideas, but I wish you to give through Mrs. Verrall proof such proof of the survival of bodily death in such a way as to make in such a prove conclusively conclusively the survival of bodily death." Then came various Latin words from the message, and Myers said : ' ' From the last sentence I got instead of a fourth sound came a star. It was the last sentence in Latin which suggested it to my mind. ' ' Evidently, in the inter- val from May 8th to 27th, the subconscious mind had put together the oft-repeated words from various sittings that the last sentence contained something about particular kinds of correspondences, with Mrs. Sidgwiek's information that this line was the one desired. And by June 2d the control had worked this out sufiSeiently to explain it to Sir Oliver, when he asked Myers to tell him more about the Latin message, thus: ' ' Oh yes, he [Piddington] said also if you will give me a message, not a message really but a sign of some kind through the lights corresponding message which I cannot mistake I shall consider it the greatest proof of your sur- vival of bodily death. Hence my reason for drawing a star. I believe I have given you a comparatively full or complete reply." The message in Latin was this: " For a long time you have been assimilating ideas one with another through different lights, but what is most important of all if to prove the survival of bodily death is for you to give 163 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM in a a certain way a sign long But what I want but what we want is for you to give us proof in such a way as to make your proof conclusive. . " I wish you would follow me now for a moment. " (Quite right.) ' ' Remember when Piddington gave me his message the special point in it was for me to give definite proof through both lights. The first thought I had was to repeat a few words or lines of Browning's poem, but in order to make it stiU more definite I registered a star and the lines which I quoted to you before . . . were the most appropriate I could find. I believe you will understand this to be conclu- sive that I f uUy understand and have fairly well translated his message." Thus ended the attempt to translate the Latin message. How far this attempt shows that the control is a classical scholar, as Myers was, readers are, I think, in a fair posi- tion to judge for themselves. To me there seems to be nothing whatever either in the translation of the Latin or in the reference to the line from ".Abt Vogler " as an answer to it, that is not clearly explicable on the assumption that the control fished, guessed, and inferred, getting his data from Mrs. Piper's own knowledge, from his sitters, and especially from Mrs. and Miss Verrall. I can see no eAddence whatever of any supernormal knowledge, either from the other world or, through telepathy, from this. Mr. Piddington himself admits (p. 409) that in some cases Mrs. Piper's own memory supplied what the control wrote, and that he gave some entirely wrong guesses to the problem. Why he does not carry through the possibilities involved in this admission it is hard to see, for he quotes the facts referred to previously, that Mrs. Piper had on hand some of Browning's poems and had been reading them more or less, and yet he says that the control displayed greater knowledge of Browning than he thinks Mrs. Piper has. He also says (p. 408) that the control told, " without any 164 THE LATIN MESSAGE beating about the bush, ' ' what line in ' ' Abt Vogler ' ' would be an answer to the Latin message, and yet we have seen very clearly that as a matter of fact the control did not tell at all, but that Mrs. Sidgwick told the control. Such an error seems to me too grave to be passed without comment, for it gives a feeling of confidence in the control's knowl- edge that is quite unwarranted by the facts of the case. CHAPTER X SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: FIRST SITTING In the following chapters is given an aeeotint of the sittings which Dr. G. Stanley Hall and myself had with Mrs. Piper in the spring of 1909. Dr. Hall was the inter- locutor and myself the note-taker. Mr. G. B. Dorr was present at the first ones, but after we learned how to man- age conditions he no longer came. No attempt was made to get the exact words of the sitters because we believed that it would be impossible to get everything unless we had two stenographers, and we could not arrange to have even one. Our tests, accordingly, were planned so as to be independent of the exact words used, and even of the exact order of events in each sit- ting. Before each sitting we planned carefully the tests which we wished to make, writing out rather full notes and questions which Dr. Hall followed carefully during the sitting, and which I checked up with the writing of the control during the sitting, writing out additional notes at the time and directly afterward, either the same night or the next morning. I read the handwriting as the control wrote, and had little difSeulty after the first sitting, contrary to what seems to be the usual experience. This I consider largely due to the fact that our chief aim was to understand as we went along what the control was trying to do, that we kept our voices deliberate and slow, and asked for repetitions of what we could not read, as a matter of course. Throughout the sittings Dr. Hall is the speaker, unless it is otherwise indicated, his words being in parentheses. 166 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER Brackets indicate our own comments. Blank spaces indi- cate illegible words. Mr. G. B. Dorr met us at the station and, as we walked over to Mrs. Piper's apartment, explained various things to us about the management of the sittings. When we went in we were first introduced to Mrs. Piper's daughters, that they might know us in case we ever should come without Mr. Dorr, and then we were introduced to Mrs. Piper her- self and taken to another room where the sitting was to be held. Here Mrs. Piper sat down in a large chair be- fore a table with some pillows on it, and we had some desul- tory conversation. Dr. HaU introduced himself under his own name, and after a little she asked if he were Stanley Hall, and seemed somewhat impressed by his visiting her. He told her that he had once sat with her years before, and had tried to arrange with Dr. Hodgson for a series of sit- tings but had not succeeded. There was no attempt to conceal identity because we were convinced that if Dr. Hall had given an assumed name and the control had told his real one, we should only have believed that either the control or the waking Mrs. Piper had recognised him. After a few minutes of conversation Mrs. Piper's eye- lids began to droop ; then a fixed stare came, growing more fixed until the eyes closed. Her face worked convulsively, her breathing became laboured, and her hands worked slightly. They were lying on the cushions in front of her, almost on a level with her head. Then her head sank on the pillows, with her nose almost buried in them; the breathing became snoring, and Mr. Dorr raised her head and placed it so that she could breathe freely. This la- boured, snore-like breathing continued through the seance. The face became quiet, and the right hand began to grope for a pencil. Mrs. Piper's head was turned toward the left. At her right was placed a low table with writing pads and pencils on it. The sitter sits at this table and beside Mrs. Piper, 167 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM so that he can read the writing. Dr. Hall occupied this place, I was at his right, and Mr. Dorr most of the time knelt between him and Mrs. Piper deciphering the words which Dr. Hall could not make out. Throughout the ses- sion there was considerable desultoly conversation among the three of us, but as there was nothing evidential in the sitting this probably makes no important difference in the value of the report. I found it extremely difficult to get anywhere near all that is said, and doubt if even a stenog- rapher could do so. Mrs. Piper began to write at about 10.50 (the exact time was unfortunately not noted), and at this time her pulse as taken by Dr. Hall was 84. [Presently the hand groped for the pencil, and began to write.J HAIL. We greet you friends all with peace and joy. (E.) Do not place clouds over my vision. (R.) I wish you would speak to me. I am Hector, servant of God. I am here to greet you to-day. Tell Helen I am better off as I am if she can UD my meaning. Speak to me. Yes. Myers greets you and says he was very much interested in voice. Dydeis. Ovid. Be within call. (Eector, is Dr. Hodgson within reach?) [Dorr.] Yes. (Will you tell him Dr. Stanley Hall is here, and see if he can't come and conduct the sitting on your side?) [Dorr.] Yes. Came this minute. We UD better now. We UD better. [Here the handwriting became very heavy, marking Hodg- son's advent.] Hello I I am Hodgson. Who are you? (Stanley Hall.) Stanley whom? Stanley whom? [Dr. Hall gives it again, and asks something about whether Hodgson remembered the plans they had made just before his death for sittings and investigations.] 168 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER Of course I do. "Were you just You never could read my writing. See if it is better now. (Oh, yes, it's better than mine now.) Capital. How are .... I should say so. How is everything with you? Pirst rate? (Yes. Mr. Dorr, you see, has given me the sitting which you wouldn't let me have.) Glad of it. I am right glad of it. Delighted to see you. Hurry up? Tell me about the problems of life. Have you solved any of them yet? (I have solved one very important one — the Watseka Won- der that you investigated.) Glad I am you are (She proved not to be genuine. Her motive was that boy she wanted to meet.) I told you so. I told you so. I had my doubts, had my doubts. I remember well. Capital. I am glad you Ui). I am in the myself old keep at it and I will help. HeUo George, [to Mr. Dorr.] [Mr. Dorr asks if he shall leave, and Hodgson says,] Never mind. I will go on. Tell me about yourself as our life here is too short not to get at something definite. (I have just seen Mrs. Tingley at Point Loma. She is very glad you exposed Madam Blavatsky.) Amen. I thought she would be if she ever got her senses. (I was much surprised. I thought she would be a bitter enemy of yours, but she's your friend.) I have a letter saying she didn't care for me but I care for I know and UD all. their tricks. Do you remember [undecipherable and repetition called for] Wolcott? (Yes, very well indeed. He died about three years ago.) He is here. (Ask him what he has to say to me.) He is perfectly dumf ounded at seeing you here, but says he is glad George. Give me my influence if you can. It will help to keep my thoughts clear. [Mr. Dorr leaves the room and presently comes back with a black sweater formerly worn by Hodgson. This is placed in 14 169 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the right hand, which feels it for a minute and does so at in- tervals later.] I am really glad to see, really glad to see you again and so is Wolcott. (Has he any message for his wife? She's just gone to Europe.) Yes. Tell her if any from this side. He has helped her. Sends his love to all. [undecipherable] all. Sends kindest remembrances to you. He says you helped him greatly in one way [undecipherable word] but your life seemed pretty full most of the time. Tell me about philosophy and your in belief in it. [Heavy long dash here.] Philosophy. Any ideas of to advance about reincarnation or any other nonsense. (I thiuk the subconscious is everywhere coming to the fore now. That's the main thing.) Science. (Tes, a new science every way. Tou would be interested to know what has been done in the last two years.) Splendid. [Heavy dash. Clutches the sweater.] and if the subconscious and is aU more want to prove it and wants to prove it also, from But if I know I am he. I am not playing tricks either. I did enough of that over there, over there. [To Mr. Dorr.] Hello, are you still there? Tell me about the [undecipherable] advance regarding subconscious. (I think everyone is coming to think that's the main thing, in disease, and so on. It is nine-tenths of all the mind we have.) Amen. [Very heavily written and underscored.] What passes in the normal certainly is registered upon registered on subconscious and we in turn on our side act directly upon it also. (Tell me, what do you think of Podmore's new work? He's getting rather sceptical about some things.) I think as I have always thought. He is too conceited to handle a subject successfully. Conceited. (Do you think Davis is right? He's been saying some sav- age things about you.) 170 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER Davis means well and I have more respect for him, but Podmore is hopelessly conceited, hopelessly. Hop. . . he doesn't count for much. (Have you followed what Abbott has done with Mrs. Blake, or anything else of his work out west?) Yes, more or less. I do not favour it much, neither do I favour her in the least. (Do you favour Hyslop's recent work?) Fairly well. He is conscien, conscien, conscientious c-o-n- s-c-i-e-n-t-i-o-u-s and well meaning also but a little too credu- lous for his own good. I must pull him up a little. (I hope you'll do that. Have you followed what James has been saying lately about other things?) Tes. I do not like the idea however of his giving the im- pression that I said that ring was stolen. I did ... I don't like the idea of his giving the impression that I said that ring was Bing was stolen. I never, never dreamed of say- ing such a thing. I saw it my pocket in my that's However, we won't discuss that. [Mr. Dorr said at this point that two days before this he and James had been looking over some proof of sittings in which this matter was discussed, and that Mrs. Piper could not have known about it. Mr. Dorr also reminded Hodgson that this matter was not one in which Dr. Hall was interested and was not to the point, to which Mr. Hodgson retorted,] Bead my last words once more, but I am pleased on the whole over what James has been doing. (Do you like the criticism of all that sort of thing from Witmer and the Philadelphia people?) Tes, I don't mind him in the slightest. (Tes, but they are having great influence I am afraid.) They do not count. Very temporary, as truth will (Could you find two people for me, either Mr. Clark or my niece, Bessie Beals?) One or both. Has your niece got a mother there? (No, her mother's here.) No, I mean in the body there. I know her. I think I know I have heard her speak about her mother there and say she 171 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM wished she I could prove that she was living to her. I think I saw her. Did she not have a sister? (No, no sister.) Who came here in infancy? (I think not.) Yes, she did. Hardly lived. Scarcely lived at all in the body. I'll tell yon about her if I see you again. I'll (I wish you could tell me something that happened between us, our plans, etc., just before you died.) All right, I will. I will certainly later, later I will see and have a talk with her. (Do you think you could ever find Mr. Clark?) I have no doubt about it. I'll Do you re- member Hackley, Hackley (Hackley? . . . No, I don't just now.) I found him recently. (Wait a moment . . . What's that man's name? Oh, what was that fellow's name?) I wanted to speak about that letter you wrote me on the society, and your indifferent attitude until they were published. (Can you tell me something about that?) Yes. I was much annoyed with you at the time but I see you meant well better now. Annoyed, annoyed, you knew so little about it. As I remember, I told you it was useless to try to down a subject of which a man knew little or nothing. (That's very apropos indeed. That's the most characteristic yet. I can't think of any Hackley though.) [Dr. Hall here noted on the paper that Mr. Clark was speak- ing, which led to the question from me, and after some dis- cussion Mr. Dorr asked who was writing. The hand meantime had been writing and gave the following,] I E. H. [Which came as the answer to who was writing.] (Good. I thought it was Mr. Clark. I'll have to read it all over again.) Can't you I understand my point a little better. Do you remember my old argument with you about this. 172 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (Yes, I remember he said that a great many times.) I am looking for him. Here is Clark. Hurry up, hurry up while light lasts, while light lasts, while light lasts. (Yes.) [Mr. Clark speaks.] Do you remember my saying you didn't UD the subject? Do please answer as quickly as you can. I am de- lighted to meet you again. (I think we should agree very much better on all those topics now.) Indeed so do I. Indeed. You were rather prejudiced and very positive, rather over prejudiced and positive, but if you have at last caught my ideas, it is a comfort to hear you say so. (Haven't you come to my ideas, too, in some things?) Of course, true, I admit it, I have. I admit it I admit it. You had some excellent ideas and I didn't wish to advance them, but on the whole you were prejudiced (Are you with Mrs. Clark where you are now?) What a question! What would you naturally suppose? I have been trying to find you for ages, but where you tried to find light there seemed so little it was scarcely worth while. [Feeling face.] Those sounds were all around and made me feel like leaving. Do you ... I see you trying to find me where there were terrible sounds going on. Sounds. I did not like it. [Mr. Dorr speaks :] (Dr. Hall does not want a long sitting and would also like to question about a diagnosis. Would that be better through the voice or the hand?) [The hand shakes in dissent to voice and bows to hand.] I am not a physician, but I will find some one who can. [Hand feels Dr. Hall's back.] Not there. Not there. Let [Clark speaks again.] Let me say those sounds at were not at all congenial to me. Do you TJD? If so, I'll be off. Good-bye. Glad to have seen you for a moment. More later. I saw your own father a moment ago. Good-bye. [Mr. Clark seems to leave and the hand feels Dr. Hall's back.] 173 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Health? Yes I'll tell you, but light is going out soon. Soon. Here's a friend who will have a look at you. (Can you tell me more about my condition of health?) Heart trouble not so. Heart trouble not so. No difficulty. Heart trouble, oh no. Heart. Heart trouble? Oh no. Oh no. Not so. Oh No. [The hand was repeatedly asked here to rewrite, as the writing was very illegible.] Mr. Dorr again says, (Can't you tell Dr. Hall the symp- toms?) [Hand feels eyes, face, and back.] Indigestion, but one of general health, and do not worry about digestive trouble. A trifle anemic. Anemic. Yes. A trifle so. Indigestion. [Touches abdomen.] Indigestion. General, not specific. Do not get it on your mind. Not enough air. Best. Best, your heart better not. ' (No.) Nor kidneys. (No.) But anemic but you are (I dare say.) But you are anemic. You certainly are. No organic dis- ease. Organic. This I know. (How about my general health?) Depression, fatigue, tired, lack of energy. Bight, right, right. How about sleep? (Not enough.) I -. Do not take the universe upon your mind upon UNIVEESE when sleep is needed. Let the world and its problems rest. (That's good.) The brain works unceasingly at every turn and wears on the nervous system. That's the greatest trouble with you. (That's true.) You ought to remain in the body a good while if you only take care of yourself. That is a fact. (That's good news.) But you must not bum the candle at both ends as you have been doing. Stop and rest. 174 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (That's good advice.) More later. [Handwriting becomes much fainter.] Light going. Hodgson going also. Good-bye and good luck to you. Adieu. And + We cease now and may the blessing of God be on you E.-f SCBLIMINAL The hand ceased to write now, at 12 : 11. The face was much flushed and mouth open, with saliva dripping slightly. The eyes opened very slowly, without winking, with a fixed stare. After two or three minutes, there were one or two whis- pered words which we could not catch, and then, as nearly as we could understand, the following, with considerable pause as indicated by the dots: Mother . . . mother . . . yah . . don't worry about me . . . Fred . . [as if speaking to some one in the spirit world,] He is here too . . . oh . . Take your glasses off and they'll know you better. [Spoken quite abruptly and more loudly. As I am the only one with glasses on, I take them off.] Come along . . . Elizabeth . . . Elizabeth . . Elizabeth ... [I ask the others, Elizabeth who ? And Dr. Hall says, my niece, isn't it ?] Tell my mother . . . Bon't worry . . about me . . Better so . . Go along there now and tell her . . . [Then in a much changed tone, apparently Mrs. Piper's normal self speaking,] 0-o-o-oh, Awful ! ! [A shudder.] I hate it ! [Looking at Mr. Dorr with loathing.] Ain't you ugly! Oh, ain't you ugly! Ain't you ugly! [Then, still more normally and speaking to Dr. Hall,] Did you hear my head snap? Mr. Dorr then said that this marked the end of the trance proper, and that she would remember what she said from then on. Dr. Hall then took her pulse, time 12 :22, and it was down to 76. We stayed about twenty minutes longer, having desul- tory conversation in which Mrs. Piper joined, although she looked sleepy, her eyelids drooped a little, and her articu- 175 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM lation was slightly indistinct. She said that she always felt heavy, not much like walking, and Mr. Dorr added that if she stays in the trance too long she has no appetite for dinner. She also said that if she has too many sittings she feels exhausted all the time. COMMENTS ON FIEST SITTING It is interesting to see how quickly personalities multi- ply at the opening of the sitting. First comes Rector; almost at once is a message to " Helen," presumably from some friend of hers ; then Myers greets us ; and barely have we time to refer to Hodgson when he is there with a bang. He fires out questions of a general nature which Dr. Hall answers as best he can on the spur of the moment, testing Hodgson by inventing purely imaginary situations, all of which Hodgson recalls readily. In Hodgson's report on the "Watseka Wonder there is no hint that he ever suspected that a boy was the object of the girl's behaviour, and yet here he repeats emphatically, " I told you so." Wolcott might refer either to a former governor, whom Dr. Hall had met once, or to the husband of a friend, whom he saw but once, on his wedding day. The reference to Dr. Hall's helping either of them is inexplicable, and their appearance to him quite mal-apropos. The conversation on the subconscious, etc., is of course entirely general, while that between Mr. Clark and Dr. HaU is open to the same criticism. The niece, Bessie Reals, was a fictitious character that we had previously tried on another medium with marked success, and here it works equally well. Hodgson takes up the suggestion with avidity, and proceeds in the approved way, with the suggestion that she had a sister, but when Dr. Hall cannot recollect this he tries to put it so far in the past as to create doubt as to whether Dr. Hall may have heard of it, though it is true. 176 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER Another feeler is thrown out in Hackley, which again strikes no responsive chord. The diagnosis is amusing. Dr. Hall is emphatically not anaemic, nor was he at that time fatigued, depressed, or lacking in energy. He was working overtime, and so curtailed his hours of sleep at times, but was not sleepless or worrying as the diagnosis implies. In the subliminal more feelers are thrown out, namely, Fred, Elizabeth, and " my mother." One of the most interesting things is the control's adop- tion of Dr. Hall's suggestion through manner, etc., that they knew each other pretty well while alive, and his ref- erences to arguments, etc. As a matter of fact Dr. Hall knew him so slightly that he cannot recall at all how Hodg- son looked, and he is not sure that he ever saw him more than once. They exchanged a few letters at different times, but that is all. Dr. Hall's own state of mind is best given in his own words, written within two days after the sitting : " Then the right hand waved and groped, and Mr. Dorr placed a pencil between the first and second fingers, and the hand wrote rapidly : " ' Hail! We greet you friends all with peace and joy. R. + Do not place clouds in my vision. R. I am Rector, servant of God. R.' " This was indeed the great control, Rector, of whose deliverances we had read so much, who had honoured us by his advent from the world of souls with an angelic salu- tation. Had we been believers, devotees, burning to learn tidings from the world of the dear or great dead, this would have been a culminating moment. Somewhat confusing was the wish that I, who had expected to be rather silent, should ' speak to ' Rector. Then came the first message : " ' Tell Helen I am better off as I am.' " Helen who? Quick, how stupid I am! Some Helen that I ought to know might give all she possessed to re- 177 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM ceive this message of the eternal complacency of some one dear to her, and to know that he or she was not dead but gone before. ' ' Now comes not the request but the conmiand, ' Speak to me.' " Speak to whom? Helen's friend or Rector? And what can I say when I am imcertain ? I have come to hear and have nothing I desire to impart, and indeed I cannot think of anything apropos. While I wait, a little dazed and confused, comes the message : ' Myers greets you, ' with something added about a voice, Ovid, and Dydeis. " This must be the Corypheus of the English Psychical Research Society. What has become of Helen's friend, or is it he ? And which of these personalities shall I speak to ? for now there are five — Rector, Helen's friend, Myers, Ovid, Dydeis — and perhaps the voice is another, and meanwhile we cannot escape a little feeling that we are conversing with a modification of Mrs. Piper's own personality. But in this tangle Mr. Dorr intervenes, calling for Hodgson, who comes on the instant. What immediate command of the spirit world! How space is annihilated and how the spirits crowd about a medium of communication with earth, as if they were constantly pushing each other from the yonder end of the wire! Perhaps all these are talking di- rectly through Mrs. Piper or even through Rector, who may operate this wireless for each in succession. " How can he summon individuals from all the vast clouds of the spirits of the dead ? If it is my presence with the medium that attracts my own friends in the next world, I must be the real battery of potency. But it is plain that those nearest and dearest to me are not most attracted, while some apparent strangers seem to be drawn my way. This seems to require the assumption of a wide spacial diffusion of spirits, so that there is another function besides that of the strength of friendship, viz., the proximity to me of the celestial region in which they are. This theory 178 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER may work out even better than that of the potency of the mighty soul-compelling and shepherding power of Rector. No wonder we experience a touch of something like stage- fright as the realisation shimmers up that we are, as it were, translated into a certain part of the vast immeasur- able creation with thronging souls on every hand about us. But we must lay aside this throng of exciting impressions to be remembered and dealt with later, for Hodgson is curious and insistent with a volley of brisk questions. He must first identify me surely by my first name ; then apolo- gises for his writing, which is execrable, and asks first: " ' How is everything? Hurry up. Tell me the prob- lems of life ; have you solved them yet ? ' " Thus challenged, I trump up patter about the Wat- seka wonder, whom Hodgson investigated and of whom a later, more sceptical student suggested a solution, the very hint of which Hodgson immediately accepts though it makes ducks and drakes of his own study of the case while on earth. Again summoned to tell something, I blunder into the stupendous and very compound falsehood about Mrs. Tingley. Hodgson's intense hunger for news must be fed. What have his friends been doing that he is not better informed ? And back of all in my consciousness is the mar- vel how he can possibly accept the absurdest gaff I can think of with such implicit and immediate faith. Surely all his life and since he must have been used to dealing with people who treat spirits with implicit honesty, and his acceptance of my involuted lie fills me with qualms of con- science. But I am a detective in quest of truth, and the end must justify the means. Strange, too, that he should be so glad to meet me, stranger and critic though he knew me in the flesh. But, poor soul, he must have lost intimate touch with earth and, as a traveller in a far-distant coun- try feels like falling on the neck of the veriest stranger, no matter who he be, from his own native land, so Hodg- son 's pleasure and his familiar greeting of me as ' old chap ' 179 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM is moving evidence of the breadth of the chasm that would completely isolate this and the other world, were it not for the few wireless stations which have been erected in the souls of mediums. ' ' But I am left no time to yield even to remorse at my base and clumsily trumped up fabrication. Indeed a new and cogent evidence of the sagacity of the denizens of the spirit world is just here revealed. An instant call for Wolcott at this point must be the way in which, according to well-bred spirits, the subject is politely, if abruptly, changed when they detect mendacity in the depths of the communicator's soul. As I better understand the etiquette of the celestial spheres, I shall realise in what a masterly manner my lie was drawn fully out by the method of pre- tended acceptance, and that I was given to understand in this delicate way that I was completely seen through. " But Wolcott, when I thought I had identified him, was a surprise. How could so mundane a man have joined the spiritual circle above? And is he talking directly to me, or does he tell Hodgson, Hodgson tell Rector, and Rec- tor tell me through Mrs. Piper's hand? Probably Wol- cott himself is at the phone, because it was at this point that Hodgson's sweater was needed and brought to bring him back. But where is Rector, and what is he doing? I cannot even know whom I am communicating with but must prattle on, after charging my memory with Wolcott 's message to his living wife, to be delivered when I can. How heartily he accepts all my platitudes about the uncon- scious and Davey, kindly ignoring my error in calling him Davis, about Mrs. Blake, Abbott, Hyslop, James, Witmer — these are references to the latest literature on the subject on which the controls, whoever they are, are remarkably well informed and up to date. To be sure, their responses to my information are vague, but they make up in hearti- ness and emphasis. It seems to me that they are making me do too much of the talking and are learning far more 180 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER of my world than I of theirs. My news-letter to them would be luridly yellow, even where it was most truthful, but now all is eagerly devoured. They must be drawing me on to fill up to the brim the measure of my falsity. " But I go on with abandon now, for there could be no more unpardonable sin against the Manes than I have already committed; and so very subtly and cleverly I call for a fictitious name along with that of a man whom I knew very well. Both are present on the instant. The pseudo- personality, Bessie Beals, was accepted and she immedi- ately appeared. What could this mean? Possibly there was a soul to be thus named awaiting birth, or one who had lived and was awaiting reincarnation, if transmigra- tion is true. Here is indeed a plump and astonishing new fact, and I must later reconstruct my astral psychology at my leisure. To complete the confusion, a relative within three days mentioned to me incidentally one Bessie Beals, still living, as a friend, whom I may have heard her speak of before. If so, the control read the name registered in my subliminal mind. I hope that she will not be told, for such an incident might seem an uncanny prognostication that she will soon join the spirit forces. Is it possible to construct a phantom spirit out of the stuff that dreams are made of ? And, on the other hand, could I have invented a name, with ever so much labour, which no one ever bore? If not, my contemplated strategy can never be conclusively negative. " I am asked of her mother and told of a tiny baby sister whose existence I deny, but I am informed that she died when very tiny. I wonder how small? Perhaps so long before birth that even her mother did not know. The spirits must be- infallible and such things do happen, as medical literature tells us. But, hold! All is fictitious. She would be the sister of nobody, so my refutation is im- possible, for there is nothing but my own verbal image, for I have not invested Bessie with any traits whatever. She 181 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM is vox et praeterea nihil. The control sees through all this and I am punished aright. A fool is answered according to his f oUy. But the spirits are delicate as well as subtle not to overwhelm me with more open confusion. " Clark now has his innings, and I am complimented by his partial concession that in some disputed points he now, with his clarified insight, acknowledges that I was right, although in others he still confutes me ; therefore, in these I must be wrong. But what are the points of present agree- ment and disagreement? Here again the spirits leave us just at the point of the most tantalising will-to-know. I must henceforth remain in ignorance, even of the meaning of a few words, because utterly illegible, in his oracular sentences; and others I could torture and compose into as many kinds of meanings as the sibylline leaves. But he has had his turn and must yield. " Then comes my dear father, but how agonising! He only presents his card as a present and says good-bye; but is his farewell merely for the moment? Can he be recalled, or is his farewell for this world or possibly even for the next ? How the sitter is tormented with hind-sights that came an instant too late ! What will the spirits think of a man who will let the seconds of possibility of com- munion with his father slip by, not showing that he even wishes to meet him, and turn to the selfish questioning con- cerning his own 'health ? " This, too, is reckless temerity. Some people are re- luctant to submit to thoroughgoing medical examination, to test for incipient but not yet recognised diseases of heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, nerves; but with due trepidation, I even sought the infallible X-ray diagnosis of the immor- tals. Will they give me a clean bill of health or am I to live henceforth under a sentence of impending dissolution ? Do I really want or dare to submit my physical condition to their omniscience? Alas, I am growing a little tense in the mood of a plunger, and I must know. At my age, 182 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER too, death may lurk nearer than I dream; yet I confess my courage is buoyed up by a feeling that I am so sarcous that I cannot entirely escape the physical plane, and a partial sense that I am submitting to the mortal arbitra- ment of Mrs. Piper, and that, though a potent ghost-com- peller, she is at least in this first interview on the whole so favourably disposed toward me that her disposition will be that I may live on, and that will weigh something toward a favourable verdict. Perhaps, if she had fully realised my true sceptical attitude, I might be condemned to early dissolution; but my prophetic soul is right in this case, and so with what joy do I learn that, if I do not overwork, I may hope to live and work for a yet goodly tale of years. " ' You ought to remain in the body a good while yet if you only take care of yourself. That is a fact.' ' ' And now came the benediction : " ' Adieu, and may the blessing of God be with you. R.+ ' " Rector disappeared and we are again in the world of mortals. ' ' How vastly harder and longer for the medium to re- turn from the other shore than to get there ! How reluctant and how slow is the recessional! How painful the way back and down! So ecstatic has been her condition, that contrast intensifies the agony of it all. Her face is pathet- ically marked by the embroidery of the piUow and the folded towel; her hair is dishevelled; her eyes are bleary and vacant, and her mouth slightly drooling. How all her womanly instincts must be outraged by our keen observa- tion and even our presence as she recovers from the psy- chic operation which she has undergone! She murmurs almost incoherently snatchy and disconnected phrases, and we place our ears close to her mouth to hear them. Her staring eyes catch a glimpse of the face of Mr. Dorr, which she recognises as the first land-mark on the nether shore to which she is doomed to return ; and, although he is not bad- 183 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM looking, she cries out thriee and with loathing: ' Aren't you ugly ? ' So entrancing have been the dreams of the bourne from which few travellers return, but from which she is making perhaps her five-thousandth laboured land-fall, that her poor soul must feel expelled from Paradise for, although she must have glimpsed it in her communion with its denizens, the hour of her permanent translation has not yet come. We should be stony-hearted indeed, did we not share the pathos and pity of it all. " Indeed it is sad enough for us, for now we must go home and devote ourselves to the laborious decipherment of sixty pages and subject them to exhaustive tests; but the oracle itself is done. What is written is written. We can only wait until this remarkable middle-woman shall again consent to re-open the celestial world for us, who can mean- while only rehearse our recollections and re-peruse our script, and remember how our hearts burned as our ac- quaintances in the spirit world spoke to us and left our souls so hungry for more complete impartations. All was so appetising yet so baffling, and we await on tip-toe of ex- pectation the renewal of the heavenly rapport. Everything indicates that intelligence somehow travels very rapidly up yonder, and next time perhaps the dear departed will hear that we have found a way for them to reach us ; and, realis- ing that they can do so, they may anxiously await the re- opening of the line of communication and throng about its terminal, charged with messages of love and assurance, pneumatically discerning and tenderly making allowance for our dulness and — perhaps also realising that next time it may be well for them to bring better credentials of their identification. But how grossly mundane and material we have been all these years in our fleshly tabernacles, and how incred- ulous and inhospitable to realities and personalities above, and with what toil and moil of soul must we now recon- struct our poor philosophy of life to make it fadge with the 184 FIRST SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER revelations that have been vouchsafed us in this momentous hour. Perhaps the lengthened span of life the spirit has allowed me may suffice for suitable adjustment ; yet there is no time to spare, for it must be an au rebours conversion and should have come earlier in life. Yet better, far better, late than never. At any rate, of all the variations of the memory symphony of these ninety minutes in the former critical or negative mood, this variant, with the stop of sympathetic faith pulled full on, is registered as the most harmonious of all. Indeed, this interpretation is more con- sistent with the remarkable will-to-believe, which coincides most exactly with the deep, hereditary impulsion from au immemorial past, back it may be to the Cave Dwellers, who believed essentially thus. It is the easiest, fondest, most popular, comforting view-point. And so let the stern laws of nature and science, that are so hard on such invet- erate credulities, dear though they be to the heart, mellow a little. The Memnonian lips of the Sphinx, hitherto so silent as to the destiny of the soul, are at last parted a little and whispering to tell us that though man dies he shall live again. Or is it only the murmur of the sea-shell, giving hack to the ear the entaural susurrus of the circula- tion of its own blood? Videant consules, which means pay your twenty plunks and take your choice." 15 CHAPTER XI SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: SECOND SITTING Between the first and second sittings we endeavoured to formulate a plan for testing the control thoroughly. First as to the things we believed it unprofitable to do. We were convinced that it would be valueless to conceal our names and identity, since even if Mrs. Piper afterward gave them to us, it would be non-evidential to us. Dr. Hall being so well known and various people being necessarily informed of our plans. We also escaped in this way a long series of fishing operations to which most sitters are subjected when first they begin to sit. Further, we had no desire whatever to obtain " test messages," my results from the published sittings having shown their triviality and dreariness and the impossibility of getting down all the remarks and other circumstances which might explain them. The difficulty in recording everything said, especially the exact words, made it necessary to employ tests of such a nature that their validity would not depend upon getting the exact language, but only the sense. On the positive side, we wished to test various things. In general, our problem was to account for all the content of each sitting, to trace it back to its sources if possible. These sources are two in number, namely, the medium's own knowledge, and the knowledge of the sitter. The me- dium's own knowledge we assumed to be gained in some normal way. Either the control, that is the subconscious self, retains memories forgotten by Mrs. Piper and of whose 186 SECOND SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER source it itself is ignorant, or it knows more or less con- sciously where they came from. The normal Mrs. Piper, we will assume, has not a distinct enough memory of the trance state to try to help out the control, even if she wished to. This does not, however, dispose of the possi- bility that the normal self may assist the subconscious. One of the most common things in a sitting is for the control to say that he will consider some problem and give an answer at a later sitting. Sometimes this extends over weeks or months, the problem being referred to every now and then. At the same time, the content of all sittings is most carefully kept a secret from Mrs. Piper and her daughters until they are published. Now, why is it not possible that the problems so set for the control afPect the waking consciousness in some such way as post-hypnotic suggestions do, or perhaps better, why may they not emerge into waking life or dreams as is often the case in recognised cases of secondary personality? Ansel Bourne, for in- stance, had dreams of his first self long before he had any memory of it, and images and incidents of his first life would pop up in his mind as if uncaused, and were not recognised by him. Is it not possible that sometimes words, names, etc., from the trance thus pop up into Mrs. Piper's mind, and if they catch her attention and rouse her curi- osity she may speak of them or look up their meaning and connections ? This hypothesis of course could only be tested com- pletely if some investigator could live in close personal re- lations with Mrs. Piper, and she was willing to think out loud as much as possible. Whether this hypothesis is true or not, undoubtedly the lapse of time between asking questions and giving answers allows the subconscious mind to put together all its knowl- edge, to mull over the matter, and to guess and infer as to what is wanted. This easily accounts for the fact that the first sitting is usually the worst. 187 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM The other side of this matter is, how much the control remembers of Mrs. Piper. We were not able to find in the published records that any careful investigation of this matter has been made, and it seemed as if it would be an interesting problem. The control states that he has no knowledge of Mrs. Piper, and no relations to her body, but is this really true? How much sensitiveness is there in the medium's body? How similar are her modes of thought and the control's, and her emotional disposition and his ? In short, how many points of connection can we establish between the two? The second source of information is the sitter. Here we wished to see how amenable the control would be to sug- gestion, and how much he would give us of fact which we had not first given to him. In all this, of course, we were confronted by the ques- tion of what our attitude to the control should be. We recognised that some ardent partisans of the control will consider any real experimenting with him as a breach of faith, to say nothing of a breaking of moral laws. But such partisans are not seriously to be considered in any experimenting. We, therefore, had no hesitation in going ahead in the same way that we should in any laboratory experiments. The Psychical Research Society and the nor- mal Mrs. Piper have said repeatedly and explicitly that they wish this matter to be tried out to the utmost, and we simply took them at their words. Now, in all psychological experiments where the subject's own consciousness is con- cerned, it is not wise to let the subject know the nature or purpose of the experiments, because such knowledge inev- itably modifies his attitude and vitiates the results. In many experiments the experimenter deliberately leads the subject astray, distracting his attention to unessentials by his remarks, arrangement of apparatus, etc. In doing this he does not consider either that he is morally telling a lie, or that he implies any doubts of the subject's verac- 188 SECOND SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER ity. He is simply fulfilling the best conditions for the experiment. This then was our attitude toward Mrs. Piper and her control. We had read repeatedly and had also been told that we could not get the best results without being sympa- thetic and open-minded, and this we endeavoured to be. "We told Mrs. Piper frankly that we did not know what our conclusions would be, but that we wished to experiment and were open to conviction, and she gave us carte ilanche. We laid our plans, therefore, along the general lines in- dicated above, though not strictly in that order. To ascertain the similarities and differences between the control and the normal, and also to discover any feeling complexes which might help to account for the splitting up of the normal self, we thought that perhaps we might apply the Jung-Freud method of lists of words with their reaction times, giving them both in the trance and normal states. According to this theory, when a word is given, the subject is asked to give the first word that comes into his head, as quickly as possible. If this word comes slowly, or if the association between it and the test word is a superfi- cial one, it indicates some feeling connected with that word. In the case of ambiguous words, the direction taken by the association shows something of the subject's mental atti- tude, also indicating feelings among those lines. We proceeded therefore, for our second sitting, first to make out a list of 100 words, having in mind especially certain sets of ideas which Jung and Freud have found most common in their cases of divided personality. 1. Words relating directly to sex. Freud believes that nearly or quite all of his cases are referable to shock along this line. In Mrs. Piper's case such a shock might have occurred in her first operation, as well as in the accident which preceded it, or there may have been some shock unknown to us. 2. We had also a group of words bearing upon tumor, 189 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM operation, etc., to see how much if any lengthening of reac- tion there was here. 3. A group on women's occupations to bring out char- acteristic masculine reactions from the control and fem- inine ones from the normal. 4. A group connected with mediumship. 5. A small one on tragedy. 6. Words as filling. This list we wished to give first to the control and then to the waking Mrs. Piper on the same day. In the second place, we wished to test the suggestibility of the control, and incidentally his veracity. We there- fore created two more spirits, taking as basis the words Helen and Hackley, thrown out by the control at the first sitting. We argued that if the control were sincere he would tell us that he could not find these spirits, and even if a lying spirit, who pretended to be one of these, usurped their name and function, such a spirit would hardly dare to invent incidents, but would confine himself to assenting to our remarks or to making general ones. Much of the conversation between the sitters was not taken down in this sitting, but this matters little for our purposes, since we were not after test messages. Before Mrs. Piper entered the trance we talked with her about various things. Dr. Hall explained to her that we had no doubt at all about the genuineness of her trance or of her own honesty, and asked her if she could produce the trance at will, and how she did it. She said that she tried to make her miiid a blank and to forget our presence, but that she did not think of her breathing or regulate it at all. Mr. Dorr insisted at some length that she knows nothing about those Oriental re- ligious cults in which breathing is an important part of the ritual. When asked as to whether she has any memory of her trances, she said with reiteration and emphasis that she 190 SECOND SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER never has even a glimmer of memory, that when she reads the reports of her sittings it is just like reading about another person, and that she can hardly believe that she did and said the things recorded. She has read every published report of her sittings. She also has tried to read some of Prince's works, but found them " tiresome," while she very much liked James's " Varieties of Religious Experience." Religiously, she was brought up as a Methodist, but when her parents moved to a town where there was only a Congregational church, they and she joined that. Of late years she has not belonged to any church. She has thought of connecting herself with one, but has been held back by doubt as to whether any church would care to have her, with her mediumistic powers, as a member. This conversation lasted perhaps fifteen minutes. At 10.30 she began to look sleepy and her eyes were slightly fixed, her pulse was 84; at 10.31 her mouth began to drop open ; at 10.32 her respiration was 22, breathing ster- torous, eyes closed; at 10.33, pulse 84, respiration 15, breathing very stertorous, head dropped to pillow ; at 10.35, respiration 10. Hand began writing at 10.35 or 10.36. +Hail. We return again to act ever more with peace and joy.+ (R.) (Can you bring Hodgson?) We will, friend, he is coming. -|- R- [The hand then twists, clenches, and looks very tense, but the writing does not seem heavier or different.] Hello! I am Hodgson. Hello, Hall. Glad to see you. Here is nowadays all right. [Dr. Hall then explains at some length our plan for trying the Jung method, something as follows.] (Now, Hodgson, I remember something I want you to go back to. Do you remember our talk at the Botolph Club about a new method with words that has been very successful and 191 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM very important? You know it is something like this: I give you a word, and you write down the first thing that comes into your head, no matter what it is, just as quickly as you can. Now, this wiU be of a great deal of help to me, and will be very important indeed. Will you try it?) I will if I understand clearly. Speak slowly. All right. Fire away. (For instance, now, when I say Boy, you are to write the first thing you can. Boy, man. Desk, chair, etc. Do you see?) [The hand assents eagerly, and Dr. Hall goes through the list given in the Appendix. We had intended to take the re- action times, but it was all so rapid that we found it impos- sible to do so. Except where noted the hand would dash at the paper before Dr. Hall got the whole word out, and write it very rapidly. Throughout, the hand was quivering and rest- less. When it could not get an association at once, the pencil tapped the paper restlessly, and the whole impression was that of the most intense alertness and eagerness. We had been afraid that Hodgson might be reluctant or suspicious of any- thing new and strange, but, on the contrary, he took it up with avidity and seemed to look on it as a sort of game. This as well as the remainder of the sitting show how ex- tremely suggestible the control is. It looks as if he were only too glad to let some one else take the lead, and give him all the suggestions that that implies, and that long immunity from deceitful sitters has made him singularly confiding and trust- ful so that it never occurs to him that they may deliberately lead him astray. Mr. Dorr has said that even if we succeeded in getting the controls to admit that they were only secondary personalities, it would prove nothing, since they are so suggestible that they would probably adopt any theory, whether it is true or not. The point is that the control's assertions about his identity have no value one way or the other, and this perhaps is true. But if the sitter can make the control change his personality at will, sometimes being purely fictitious personages, and sometimes real ones, with as much ease and vividness in the one case as in the other, it certainly creates a strong presump- 192 SECOND SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER tion that the impersonations of real characters are also just impersonations and no more. We ought also to note that Mr. Dorr as well as the Re- searchers generally are keenly aware that much of what is said by the sitters is never taken down, and is forgotten even before the sitting is over.] [After the list was finished. Dr. Hall said:] (Thank you very much, Hodgson. That was splendid. Tou have been very patient, and I'U do as much for you some time.) Never you mind about that, old chap. How much wiser are you than you were before? (Oh, I'm a lot wiser. I've learned a great deal, and I'U tell you about it later.) I am not sure that I can understand. (Oh, yes, you can, when I tell you.) it. I felt it fatiguing. (Now, Hodgson, I want to ask you a very important question.) [Dr. HaU then ejcplains that after the last sitting it came to him that he did once know a Helen Shackleigh, the wife of an old friend. Dr. Borst, with whom he had studied in Ger- many. It had occurred to him that this was the Helen men- tioned at the very beginning of the first sitting, and that Hackley was an attempt to get Shackleigh. He asked the control if he remembered writing Hackley, and the control replied :] . I said it certainly. Who is that? Plem (That was an attempt, then, to spell her name?) Phonetically. (Then, do you know her husband. Dr. Borst?) Yes, I do know well. (She very much wants to hear from him.) I'll find him and all you have to do is bring her here. [At this point came an interlude. Dr. Hall exclaiming over the difficulty of reading the writing, and appealing to Mr. Dorr to help him, and Dr. Tanner telling him that he must stop the hand when it was illegible and make it rewrite. The hand seemed to listen, and at the last, nodded approval and wrote,] 193 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Tou have a good clear head, whoever you are, and I am glad to meet you. [Dr. Hall then said:] (If this is you. Dr. Borst, I want you to give a message — ) [The hand interrupted,] He says, I will find him and bring him here. (He was an old friend of mine. We studied together years ago in Germany.) I know all about it. I'U help you as much as I can. (He was a good deal such a chap as you are, but he did not believe in Spiritualism. His wife did, but he drove it out of her, and now she wants to hear from him.) He will teU you what is in his mind presently. More later. Have you got anything more about materialisation? Mate- rialisation. (Not since the last sitting. Tou gave me some pretty tough problems at the last sitting, and you've helped me very much.) I want you to know there are certain conditions under which I could shake hands with you but there would be no — could shake hands with you. (I don't understand. What are those conditions?) Certain cosmic laws govern our return. Cosmic. I my ethereal conditions I will Hall, Hall. Ah! Ah! I have you now. [Apparently this marks the advent of Borst.] I told you I should live. Help light. [Mrs. Piper's nose had become buried in the pillow so that she could hardly breathe. The hand continues writing at con- siderable length without question or suggestion.] TeU Helen I want her to know I am changed in many re- spects and ask her if she remembers how annoyed I got with her over a certain book she gave me one Christmas. I didn't like the subject. She used to say I was stubborn. Ask her if she thinks so now? I want of all things to help her. (Was the book about Spiritualism?) No, but about Olcott theories, Olcott. (Eepeat that word.) Theories. Olcott theories. She was very long-headed after 194 SECOND SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER all. I admit it. I admit. Ask her if she remembers a mole scar. SCAR [Repetition called for.] Mole. Mole. Mole. (Any message to Ernst or Emmeline?) Yes. Tell Helen to give them my love and love to go on with this More later. More later. (Do you remember once coming to my house to visit? It was on your first — No, I think your second, visit to this coimtry?) Didn't you and I go go to hear a lecture? (Yes, we did. Good.) Yes, I do remember. Do you remember my discussing the problem of the Gterman government? What are you all doing that you do not answer? FinisL Finished. [Dr. Borst seemed to take his departure at this point, and the pulse and respiration of the medium were noted. We then resumed.] (Can you tell me more about my niece, Bessie Beals?) She says she is very glad to see you again but says she thinks you do not UD about — (Write clear.) Do I talk as fast as you do? She has not got all those problems worked out yet. She says that figure she saw was that Sunday morning. [Mr. Dorr explains that Dr. Hall is not able to read clearly.] Of course I UD that perfectly, George. She is very anxious to speak to her mother. (Good. Her mother would be glad to get any message. You did not say much to her last time. Can't you send her a message?) I want her to know that I am not dead, but that I am help- ing those girls. UD. Girls. Girls with their studies — (What girls do you mean?) [Dorr.] And please tell her she need not worry about me. I UD why I was troubled. (Oh, how beautiful! Who is troubling about you?) [Hodgson seems to break in in response to some unnoted remark from Mr. Dorr.] 195 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Don't you trouble about me, George. If you and William do not stop your sceptic remarks about me I'll give you a good shaking up later on. I wish to get this remarks to her people. Do you UD my message to mother? To her people. Tell Mother I do I do wish you would tell her not to keep that worrying about me. (Worrying about whom?) [Dorr.] (This is Bessie, is it?) I UD why I am here and I am glad to see you. Mother's eyes have given her so much trouble. Tell her I will help her greatly. (Tell me something that happened between us, can't you? You know you were at our house so much, and I helped you all through college.) Yes, but do you remember when you said. You come to ma and I'll explain. Did you read my writing? (Yes, this time very well.) You did not use to like it I remember. (Like what?) [Dorr.] Oh dear, what is the matter with you all? Can't you UD I wonder. (Like what, Hodgson?) [asks Mr. Dorr, again.] I want you to remember what you said about my UD and how I worked WORKED. I tried to show my appre- ciation. (What did you use to call me,- your uncle?) [Hand does not understand, and the question is repeated, the hand writing the final words.] Call me. Stick to me and let it come when I go out I want to make it clear that I cannot go on forever. I want to bring her back with me. It is a fine girl. (Is this Bessie Beals?) Yes. She is too. She is! You UD. You are all right I see. [Addressed to Dr. Tanner, who explained the above.] I you remember The ether is going out fast. (Is the light getting tired?) [Dorr.] Yes. 196 SECOND SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (Say anything that comes 'to you before you pass. Tou yourself, Hodgson.) [Dorr.J I want very much to give these messages clearly, but I lost nearly all my vigour in answering those questions. (Thank you very much. Dr. Hodgson, for answering those questions.) [Tanner.J I hope to get these clearer for her some day. I talk them over and see what I can do. I mean with her. Hall, I fear I shall have to take my leave. (Well, Hodgson, I don't want to tire you. I know I've worked you pretty hard and I'm much obliged to you. I hope we can meet again soon.) When do we meet again? Come and tell me. [This apparently was addressed to Mr. Dorr, and a conver- sation ensued as to a future date, between Mr. Dorr, Dr. Hall and the control.] (I think the third after coming will be best.) [Dorr.] God willing. God willing. (And there will be no writing on Tuesday so that the Light may be fresh.) [Dorr.J Better. (We will leave it so then.) [Dorr.J If it is clear. (And Dr. Hall will come on the third after coming.) [Dorr.J I see. I UD. I want you to recall that medium I used to talk with, you about. Hall. (Next time I want you to tell me if you knew Borst your- self, Hodgson. I think you knew him.) I certainly will. That first experiment used me up, so to say. (Pretty fatiguing, was it?) Tes. Don't you TJD about — I want you to recall that young clergyman Krebs who had light. (Who do you mean had light?) [Dorr.J Clerg3anan I experimented with whose wife was so distressed I told you all about. Don't you remember, Hall, because he had light. I told you about him, all about 197 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM him, and you said it was due to suggestion, probably. Do you remember? Do you remember — [Mr. Dorr suggested that we had better stop as the light was tired.] Let me refresh his memory, George, for further experiment. Hall, recall if possible. Good-bye. Auf wiedersehen. Well, you listen to me when I go. Adieu. Good-bye George. Thank you very much. -J- We cease now and may the blessing of God rest on you. -|- R, SUBLIMINAL There were indistinct words at first, and then: Mother finds her there — ^Mother'U find — I want mother to have them. My photographs are — Uncle Stan, Stan — Oh, what idiots! Can't you hear me? Hodgson — find out about the little girls yet — Ask my mother, Hodgson says I have been from Osh- kosh to Timbuctoo hunting for Borst. I'U find out next time I see you. I'll bring him up to continue this conversation. What is your opinion of these cosmic laws? Yes, I've been in the witness box. That's all right. I knew it would be so. [She looked very intently into the room and was asked. Whom are you looking at?] I was coming in on the cord. Very dark, very dark now. I want to tell you about Elizabeth. (Good, that's what I want to hear.) Where are they aU gone to? (We're right here.) [She looks very intently first at Dr. Tanner and then at Dr. Hall.] (You don't remember me.) What makes you look so black? [She looks again at him very intently.] Oh! [Again :] (You don't remember me yet.) Yes. You're in the body. I do. (Do I look black now?) 198 SECOND SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER You? [In great surprise.] No! Who ever said you did? Did you hear my head snap? [A dialogue ensued between her and Dr. Hall as to the snapping. Dr. Hall said he had been listening to hear it snap, and she seemed to think that that was a ridiculous idea and asked how he could hear it when it was in her head. He asked if she heard it in her ears, and she replied that it was in the top of her head, like something falling down inside. About this time her head snapped again.] She still looked sleepy but knew us now and talked very easily, all of us joining in a general conversation about her feelings on coming out of the trance. She has been under the influence of gas and ether, and says that coming out from the trance is much like coming out from them. Some- times she has sensations of falling, and people at first look small and far off. She is also inclined to be voluble, and Mr. Dorr says that if she is asked questions at this time she is very likely to say things that later she is sorry for, about sitters, giving information, etc., showiag that the usual conventional inhibitions are still lacking. Dr. Hall then explained to her about his list of test words, and asked her if she would be willing to try it now, or if she was too tired. She seemed entirely willing, but Mr. Dorr was reluctant. He said that she was still a little sleepy, and that it would be better to take her before a trance, when she was quite fresh. Dr. Hall, however, said that we wanted to try her then, too, but that to get her after the trance was a part of the experiment. He went on and explained the test, experimenting with Mr. Dorr and me to show what he meant, and to make her feel at ease, and while giving the series all of us at times talked between words. She seemed to get rather embarrassed and nervous at times, and now and then she appealed to Mr. Dorr, when she said she got no word, to know what he had, showing that she realised to some extent that probably some 199 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM sort of comparison was being made or would be made be- tween her and others.^ The variations of pulse and respiration during the trance were as follows, pulse in each ease being given first : At 10.30, 84, 22. 10.33, 84, 15. 10.35, 10. 11.16, 82, 8. 11.55, 70, 10. [Pulse stronger than before.] 11.57, 16. [Respiration 16 when she begins to talk in the subliminal.] The writing ceased at 11.54. The head then became restless, tossing about on the pillow, and rising a little with each breath. The face was considerably flushed at first but soon became normal. At no time was there any salivation. The eyes began to open slowly at 11.57, without winking. At 12.08 she recognised us and gave our names. 1 See Appendix. CHAPTER Xn SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: THIRD SITTING Dr. Hall and Dr. Tanner were again met at the station by Mr. Dorr, and on the way over to Mrs. Piper's Dr. Hall asked various questions which he had made out beforehand with regard to the trance conditions. First, does the con- trol or the subconscious mind work over the material be- tween sittings ? Mr. Dorr did not give his own opinion on this point, but said that Mr. Piddington had told him that very frequently when asked a question the control did not answer it at the time, but left it for a week or two and then gave a very interesting' and apt answer, while if pressed to answer at once the answer would frequently be meaningless. (This also is very noticeable in the unpub- lished series which Dr. Tanner has been studying. It seems to be Mr. Dorr's practice to give the control a word or sentence at one sitting, with the injunction to think it over and give the answer either in the subliminal or in the next sitting. The control then gives either references to the question or various tentative answers, sometimes extending these references and answers over periods of even five or six weeks before the final and complete answer is given.) Did children ever communicate through Mrs. Piper? At first Mr. Dorr did not recall that they did, but later he recalled that a recent sitter had had children come, and in some of the published sittings collected by Hodgson the baby daughter, three years old, of two sitters, came again and again during twelve sittings. Did any stenographer ever take all the notes of the sit- ting, and why not? Stenographers have been brought in, 16 201 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Mr. Dorr said, to sittings, but the controls usually object to them on the ground that they bring in another influence. The objection is made solely on the ground that every addi- tional person tends to confuse the control, and not on the ground that there is any objection to making a full record. Can she be called back at any stage of the trance, or can she be awakened at any time, for example, by a shock? Mr. Dorr was uncertain with regard to this. He seemed to be of the opinion that she could be awakened at any stage by asking the controls to awaken her, but that if she were brought out of the trance by shock, as by any alarm- ing news, it would have a tendency to make it difficult for her to get into the trance next time and perhaps would make the trance lighter. He thought also that it might injure her health in the normal state, but of all this he could not speak positively since the thing has never actually happened. The control has oftentimes become highly offended with sitters, but never to the point of actually breaking off the sitting with them. Did any one ever try fraud or foolery with her, as, for example, bringing in a living person as if dead ? Mr. Dorr says that many have tried foolery and sometimes have suc- ceeded splendidly, and other times have failed. Controls are very suggestible and very willing to take up any ideas presented by the sitters, so that they can be very easily taken in. Can the trance be made shorter or longer or deeper, and how? Mr. Myers, Mr. Dorr says, tried some experiments along this line. In one case he prolonged the trance for about four hours and a half, and she was then about three- quarters of an hour m coming out ot the trance, and he' became very much alarmed for fear that she might not come out of it at aU. The sittings formerly were longer than they are now. As said above, he thinks that she can be awakened at any time by appealing to her controls. Has Mrs. Piper's husband ever returned to communicate 202 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER with her? Mr. Dorr thought that he had come back once or twice or perhaps oftener when her daughter has been having a sitting. Why is it so much harder for her to come out of the trance than it is to get in? Mr. Dorr suggested that this was probably due to the fact that she was fatigued. What is the best way to make appointments with her? The way which has been usually followed is for the sitter to make the appointment with the control or with Hodg- son, of late years, and then after Mrs. Piper awakens to tell her what day has been set in order to find out whether it conflicts with other sittings. (Mrs. Piper in the waking state says expressly that she makes no apppintments, mean- ing apparently that her waking self makes no appointments. But when Mr. Dorr is not present sitters apparently make appointments which are kept with the control.) Dr. Tanner was under the impression that Hodgson had been married when young and that his wife had died shortly afterward, but this, it proved, was not so. Dr. Hodgson had never been married, but was engaged when a young man, and his fiancee died. It was in connection with her that his interest in Spiritism was first aroused. One day on going to his room he had a vision of this girl, very distinct but lasting only a few moments, and on stumbling to the chair beside his desk he saw on his desk an envelope with a heavy black border, which proved to contain the news of the young girl's death. It was his conviction that it was her spirit whom he had seen, but we were left un- certain whether he believed that he had subconsciously seen the black-bordered envelope and reached the conclusion that she was dead first, or whether he believed that the vision came before even his subconscious mind received any in- formation about the letter. This throws extremely interesting light upon Hodgson's attitude with regard to Spiritism. From the published rec- ords one would get the impression that Hodgson was at the 203 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM beginning an utter sceptic on such things, and was even unsympathetic in his attitude toward those who believed in them, whereas this shows that from the beginning he had tendencies in that direction, and was therefore not so un- compromisingly critical as he might otherwise have been. Before the coming on of the trance Dr. Hall made a little speech in which he said to Mrs. Piper that we had a very carefully studied out plan, and he hoped that she would not object if he asked her various questions. She replied that he could ask her any questions he chose, and she seemed very willing to answer them. Dr. HaU said that of course all of us hold that the soul survives death. We aU have a horror of annihilation^ and we cannot but believe in immortality, and that being the case, all the differences are minor differences. At this point Mr. Dorr interrupted and asked whether Dr. Hall made that as a statement of his own personal belief, and whether Dr. Tanner did. Dr. Tanner said that she was not certain that she would state it in quite the way Dr. Hall did, and Dr. Hall replied that he had been brought up in Puritan fashion^ and that for himself he did believe in the soul's survival. There was considerable talk at this point about his Puritan ancestry and Mr. Dorr's, and Mrs. Piper told an anecdote about a friend of hers, who heard various other people boast of their ancestry, and said that her own great-grandfather was second cousin to the person who is never mentioned in polite society. We returned then to the point, and Dr. Hall asked Mrs. Piper if she personally believed that our deceased relatives survive and are interested in our welfare, to which she replied with considerable feeling that she really did think so. Second, he asked her if she read spiritistic literature, such as the Bavmer of Life and the BeligiO'Philosophioal Journal, and if she attended spiritistic meetings audi seances and consulted mediums. She replied, as if somewhat indig- nant, that she never did and; never had read spiritistic life 204 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER erature, that she had never attended seances regularly, and that even when she went to consult Cocke, the blind medium, about her tumour, she did not attend his circle except on one occasion. She enlarged upon this at consid- erable length, evidently feeling somewhat indignant that Dr. HaU should even suppose that she would connect her- self with the common level of Spiritists. Mr. Dorr men- tioned again that she had, however, read all the published proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research. Third, Dr. Hall then asked her if she was ever guided in critical choices by her controls. She said that she never had believed much that lost articles could be found by consulting the controls, and this she did not do ; but when Dr. Hodgson was alive, whenever possible, he consulted the controls with regard to her health and other matters of her living, such as going on trips, etc., and since his death her daughters, at the sittings which they have, consult the controls sometimes for the same purpose. She also said that she does have premonitions and warnings in a vague way, especially with regard to illness. She has oftentimes felt unaccountably depressed at such times, and she especially cited the time before her daughters came down with the measles, when she was depressed and out of spirits for days beforehand, and the doctor said that he had never seen such bad attacks with anybody as with her daughters, and that they were very dangerous. As a rule, she says, she only dreams when she has indi- gestion, but she has on at least two occasions had dreams that she believes came true. One of these was while in the hospital after one of her operations, and related to condi- tions in the hospital which afterward came out as her dream did; and on the night of Hodgson's death she dreamed of a man's entering a tunnel. She did not see his face, although he had a beard something like Hodgson's. She was greatly terrified by the dream, and was awakened by it, and told her daughter about it. They did not hear of Hodgson's 205 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM death until about half-past nine that morning, and then she at once connected her dream with him. She had never had any tendencies to sleep-walking and so on. Fourth, messages sometimes come in the trance for peo- ple who are not present or who are not known to her. Asked as to whether she did not feel after waking a sense of responsibility for these undelivered messages, she said that she never did. But this is very natural because such messages have always been taken care of by Mr. Hodgson when he was alive, or now by Mr. Dorr, and it is possible that the complete break between the trance and the waking stage has been encouraged through her having always a manager on hand. If her secondary personality were left like Miss Beauchamp's without anybody to carry out its desires, might it not after a time make itself felt in her waking state? Fifth, she was also asked as to whether, after a long interval without sittings, she tends spontaneously to go into trance, but she said that she did not, and she did not seem to have any feeling that the trances tended to come at regu- lar intervals or in any rhythmic order. Nevertheless, we ought to examine into this somewhat more, because it would seem altogether likely from our knowledge of other cases of secondary personality that there is some rhythm about the onset of the trance state. May it not be that her dis- inclination to give sittings the latter part of the week indicates some such rhythm? Sixth, she says that she has never received any tele- pathic messages either from living or dying people in her normal state. Seventh, Dr. Hall then entered upon a series of ques- tions designed to find out whether she was predominantly ear-minded or eye-minded. She said that she remembers faces a great deal better than she does names, that she is very poor at names. She also says she is very fond of music and susceptible to voices, but she is also very fond 206 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER of pictures, and she believes that she can match colours from memory. If she had to choose between a concert and a picture gallery she says she would find it very diffi- cult to make a choice, but she would go to an opera far sooner than she would go to a theatre, this, of course, because the opera appeals both to the eye and to the ear more than the theatre does. It also came out that she is unusually fond of nature and appreciative of scenery. Mr. Dorr said that some time ago she visited him at Bar Harbor, and that he thought he had never had anybody there who appreciated the beauties of the place so much as she did. Eighth, Dr. Hall tried to explain to her about the feeling of deja vu. She recognised what he meant, but said that she herself has it practically not at all. One of her daugh- ters has it very much, and is always ref earring to it. Even in reading the Proceedings she said that she never had any feeling that she had ever heard of any of the things there recorded. Ninth, Dr. Hall then asked her various questions de- signed to find out whether the eye-centres are easily shunted oflf from the main work of the brain. We found that she goes to sleep very easily, and sleeps readily and heavily; but when asked as to whether at any time in her life she had acquired the habit of sleeping lightly, with her ear open, as it were, she was very positive that she never had. She never was obliged to stay awake when her children were babies because she always had a nurse, and she never took care of anybody through a long illness when she had to be awake at night a great deal. Tenth, various interesting facts came out with regard to her age and early trance states. When she was sixteen she had the accident with the ice-sled, and at that time she was struck, not on the head but on the knee, and was also internally injured, the doctors supposed. At any rate, not long after this the ovarian tumour developed. Her 207 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM first child was bom May 16, 1884, and her first trance came June 29th, about six weeks later. She was then about twenty-five years old. Her second child was born sixteen months later, and the first operation, in which the diseased Fallopian tubes and ovaries were removed, came in the spring of 1893. At that time the physicians thought that the tumour probably was caused originally by the accident with the sled, but they could not say certainly because the birth of the children might have had something to do with it. This conversation with Mrs. Piper lasted nearly three- quarters of an hour, and it was U : 15 before we said we were through with our questions and ready for the trance. At 11 : 18 she showed signs of drowsiness and began to pass into the trance with much the same symptoms as before. At 11 : 24 her pulse was 84 and breathing 14 and the right hand was twitching. At 11 : 27 the hand began to write without a pen- cil, after groping vainly for one, 'but when a pencil was given it, it began anew with the usual greeting: -|-Hail. We return once more to earth with peace and love.-f (E.) Do you wish me to bring Hodgson since he is [This was illegibly written and repetition was called for.] Do you wish me to bring Hodgson? He is anxious to meet you. (E.) (Yes.) [The hand then clutches the influences tightly, marking the advent of Hodgson.] Hello. I am glad to meet you once more. How is every- thing? Did you get my (Can you bring back Bessie Beals once more?) Yes, I go, I'll go and find her. She will doubtless be con- scious of your desires presently. Desires. Are you getting thoroughly worked out in your mind about my existence and others' Existence [A disconnected word follows here that may be Eah, Eae, or Eob. It can hardly be R H.] Dick. Eob. (Who is Rob?) 208 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER Eob. Yes. Wait and see. Hello, are you there I am glad to see you. Are you trying to waken me. Uncle E, are you trying to waken me — ^yes, waken me. I am not dead really and am conscious of aU you did to help me. (Who is Uncle R?) Yon do not UD. Wait and it will come out clearly. This gentleman is helping me greatly. (What gentleman?) Hodgson. He is teaching me how to speak with you. Did you give mother my message? (First part of that sentence again, please.) Did you give mother my message or are you waiting for more? (I told her, and she was very grateful and happy to get it, and aays that she knows the girls you told about, and that she wants to meet you here some day.) [Hand thumps the table.] Good, that is just what I want. I would be the happiest of girls to speak with my dear mother, but Uncle to me. Do you remember Latin — Latin. Was I not grateful always? I want to help and I am really alive. (Your mother wants to know if you get angry now, and if you are well?) I said no before. I am well and happy. I said you UD Latin and did it signify my meaning of thanks to you? (You remember your Latin then ? Now let me say — ' Arma -virumque — ' Can you give the next word?) Give me time and let me UD the significance of my coming here and I will answer all your questions every one. Do you remember telling me I was [not] fitted by temperament to teach — [short indistinguishable word] fitted by temperament to teach, teach. I was too nervous but that nervousness it was little UD. (Well, thank you very much for coming, Eessie. Now, can you bring Hodgson back again?) Yes, and I will think up my other experiences to tell you when I return. God help you and keep you well. Love to mother. 209 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM (Now, I should like to ask you two or three questions, Hodgson. Are you there, Hodgson?) [The hand cramps intensely and violently, and writes very heavily.] Of course I am. I never left. O. K. Fire away. (I want to talk to you a little, Hodgson, and ask you a few questions. Can you tell me what Mrs. Piper is doing now?) She is talking to +• (Eeetor?) Yes. (What is her address?) What — what do you think I am anyway? I can't tell you where she lives. I think she is in America. (Did you ever try to come back through any other medium ?) Yes indeed, I have tried many times, but to my sorrow in some. (Do you come back through Rector, or are you talking directly to me?) I am under the direction of + and Imperator, I S D. [Imperator, servus dei.] (Now, Hodgson, I knew Borst very well, and I must say I am rather confused about you and him. You are so much like him that it almost seems to me that you are Borst. Can it be possible that you have made a mistake and that this is really Borst?) Good Lord, what are you talking about. Hall? Are you insane? I am Hodgson, Richard Hodgson, 15 Charles St. (Well, but you can't wonder I am a little confused. I knew Borst so well and you are so much like him. Are you sure you haven't got these babies mixed?) Stick to it if it pleases you. I am willing. Suppose you call me Borst and him Hodgson. (Well, I want you to tell me one thing, Borst. Aren't you convinced now that spiritualism, which you ridiculed so much, is true?) Of course I am. [Written very heavily, with a long pencil mark underneath.] I am as sure of my existence as you are of yours, and when I am done with you here you will UD bet- ter. Bundy. Bundy. B BTJMBYBUMBY 210 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (Who is Bumby?) And I am having great experiment to get her here. (Now, Borst — I'm going to call you Borst, you know — I wrote to your wife, and gave your messages to her and to Ernst and Emmeline. I haven't had time to hear from her yet, but I shall soon.) What are you talking about? I never sent any such messages. (Why, don't you remember? Last time you gave me those messages.) You must excuse me. I never did any such thing. (Well, Hodgson, didn't you know Borst?) Oh, yes. I will call him for you. You have got him mixed up, I think, with me. (Oh, but I think you have made the mistake and are really Borst. You are too much like him not to be Borst. You have made the mistake, not I.) Certainly not. I am Hodgson. I'll go out and find him for you. Good-bye. [Dr. Hall exclaims to Mr. Dorr, " But I don't want him to go. I want him to stay," and then, to the control,] (Don't go, Hodgson. Please don't go yet.) I can't think what you mean. I had no wife. (Well, Hodgson, if it really is you, I'll take your word for it, for I want to ask you some more questions.) I think it will be better, if you want me to talk with you. Did you find Krebs? (No, I haven't found him yet.) Do you remember my telling you about a young clergyman who had light and who lived in Philadelphia? (I'U try to find him. Now, Hodgson, may I ask you one or two more questions?) Of course. (I want to ask you about Mrs. Piper. Does she really like to be a medium, do you tljink?) I'U find out for you. I'll ask Rector if he knows. — if he knows. (I wish you would. I'd like very much to know if she would like to stop if she could or if she really likes it.) 211 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM [The hand seemed to be questioning, raising itself and bowing and questioning.] I will have to find out at some future time. He is looking after the machine now. Hall, I am very sorry I could not have — Hall, I am sorry I could not have managed things better with you. (You have done very well, Hodgson. But, could it not all be expressed as secondary personality, instead of your own self?) Not in the slightest. I know definitely what I am, and I was not so wrong in my theories after all. I do not pretend to move mountains or seas, either, but I do know I am R. H. and I have met John H. and George P. both. Suppose you accept the truth for the time being and just believe I am Hodgson. We should get on just as well. (All right, I will. I told you I would.) I can UD far better than you would ever be willing to give me credit for doing, far better — or doing — ^I am not in the least less intelligent here. (I wish you could tell me a little more of what Mrs. Piper is doing.) I would gladly, but there is nothing to tell really. (Hodgson, Dr. Hall would like to know what the spirit of Mrs. Piper is doing on that side.) [Dorr.J She first passed over on her ethereal cord and is being held here by I. D. S. + — held. (Is her spirit conscious over there?) [Dorr.] For a time but not all through. When it meets him it ia conscious. (Is it happy?) Not unhappy by any means. Not unhappy by any means. Correct. (Does she enjoy coming back or is it painful?) I do not know really but I think she would prefer remain- ing here when the power ceases. (Will you tell me a little now about Mrs. Piper's body, where she is, what she is doing, etc.?) Ask me anything you wish about it. I see a body filled with ether, to which an ethereal cord is attached. 212 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (May I give you some more words now for reactions?) Yes, but I wish you would speak a little more distinctly than last time and slowly. [Reactions followed at this point. See Appendix.] (Now, what does Borst suggest to you?) Your friend whom you took me for. (Yes, but what does he remind you of?) Capital fellow. (What does Phinuit suggest?) Spirit. (The Watseka girl?) No good. (Well, can you tell me whether you can see the things in this room, as, for instance. Dr. Tanner's dress?) Oh, no. I can simply see a light, her ethereal body only. (You couldn't tell how many fingers I have open, or any- thing of that sort, could you?) I never tried. I wiU if you like. I don't like conditions in your room. [The window is opened.] They blind me very much. I I wiU try. (All right. How many fingers have I open?) I could not tell you, for I only see one. (Can you see colors?) Not on your side clearly. (No, but on your side?) Colors? Oh, certainly. Hall, you are in a dream. (Do you see pictures or faces over there?) Oh — Oh, distinctly. Hello, George. (Yes, I'm here.) [Dorr.] (Do you have music over there, too? Can you see most or hear most?) You see and hear both equally well. (But you don't see things here, in this room?) Not at the moment while I am in the act of communicating. (Can you tell me whether you see or hear most over there?) Equally well both. (Do you sleep or dream over there?) No, we are spirits, not 213 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM (Do you take pleasure in coining back here?) I do if I can help identify myself sufficiently to help hu- manity or the world — if I can identify myself sufficiently. (What do you do over there? How do you spend your time?) I am as active in our psychical work as you are there or as I ever was. (Can you teU me any new things you have found out over there?) Yes. I will give you an idea of what I have experienced on your side, but it will take time. (Mrs. Eddy — ^what does she suggest?) [Hand hesitates.] Don't (Oliver Lodge?) My friend of (Rule Britannia, Britannia Rule — what's next?) Queen. (Arma virumque ) All right. (Tuusque tandem ) Life. (Madam Blavatsky.) Suffering spirit. Reformation of soul. All [Appointment was then made for the following Tuesday. At this point, according to previous agreement. Dr. Tanner left the room and after a minute returned, and whispered into Dr. Hall's ear that a gas pipe was leaking in the other room, but that it was being fixed, and it would be better not to tell Mrs. Piper. Dr. Hall then told the hand, and said he would better not tell Mrs. Piper, but that when she came out of the trance she would want to see to it at once herself. It was hoped that this would serve as a post-hypnotic suggestion. A nod to Mr. Dorr showed him that this was a test. When the hand was told, it at once wrote, with many abbreviations :] I want you, George, if anything is wrong fix it. [Mr. Dorr made no move, and again:] George, if anything is wrong go fix it. [Mr. Dorr then went to the door, and opened and dosed it, 214 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER remaining in the room and stepping quietly back to his place. Presently some movement or word made the control conscious that Mr. Dorr was still there and the hand began to write, very agitatedly,] Do not deceive me unless you wish to be deceived. — ^Do not — if you deceive you will suffer, if you deceive. I dislike it exceedingly and shall refuse to return if you continue, if you continue to deceive. I it. You cannot deceive me in the slightest. [Various protestations are made.] Good-bye. I am sorry you did this, I am very you did this, sorry you did this. [Mr. Dorr at this point tries to explain the matter to Hodg- son, and unfortunately tells him that we were trying to give a post-hypnotic suggestion, thus destroying any chance of its working. But to some degree he mollifies the control, who writes :] I UD, but I do not see how it serves, but if you do all right, better not trifle with the light. [Reiteration of the appointment followed.] (We shall come then second after coming?) Perhaps. (Why, is not that right?) Wait and see. We are going now. Good-bye, HaU. Hope you are wiser than before. E. H. [Dr. Hall thanks Hodgson again for all his trouble and patience.] Do not trouble. I am happy as ever. Good-bye. Adieu. -j-We cease now and may the blessings of God rest on you-f (E.) SUBLIMINAL The writing ceased at once, when the pulse was 78 and breathing 12. The head had begun to rise a little with each breath. Talking began at 1 : 06 : Hello, Joe father father and I are coming all right with me — [many words lost here]. I see mother ^my dear 0-o-o-oh [At 1 : 08 Dr. Hall tested the sensitiveness of the right and 215 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM left hands by pressing rather heavily with his pencil point, but got no response.] Good-bye good-bye going [pained expression, al- most crying]. (Do you see anjrthing?) Cross flight aches — aches. (Where?) Aches. (What aches?) [She touches her arm and hand, but not where the pencil pressed.] [Looking at Dorr.] Don't like you 0-o-oh, it's a room. [Looking at Dr. Tanner intently.] TeSi Owl's eyes. [Again looking at Dr. Tanner, who asks if she knows her.] Oh, I know you. ^I think you're writing down questions for a gentleman asked me. (Do you know my name?) [Tanner.] No, I've never been introduced. [She had been of course and had heard the name repeatedly.] Did you hear my head snap ? The conversation then became general and no notes were taken on it. Mrs. Piper says that she does not feel refreshed after her trance, and in fact has no characteristic feeling; It does not make her more tired, .nor does it affect her sleep unless it comes too frequently. She never has any idea of how long it has lasted, and of course she had no idea what time it then was. It was then about 1 : 30. We had been with her for full three hours, but the trance itself lasted only from 11 : 15 to 1:00. COMMENTS ON THIKD SITTING The latter part of this sitting was due to an imperfectly thoughtrout plan that we had formed for testing Hodg- son's suggestibiKty. Looking back upon it now, it is very evident that we did not lead up gradually enough to the idea that he was mistaken in his own identity, nor realise that, however suggestible a secondary personality may be, after it has been in training for twenty-odd years on one 216 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER hypothesis it will not change to another off-hand, especially to one which would put it out of existence forthwith. Assuming that the Hodgson control is only one phase of Mrs. Piper's secondary personality, let us try to see how it could come to believe in itself as Hodgson. "We have on record various cases of the birth of sec- ondary personalities, such as Mrs. Verrall's, described later, and Miss Beauchamp's, described in Prince's book, the " Dissociation of a Personality." In such cases, the per- sonality is at first very shapeless, and the utterances are fragmentary, nonsensical, etc. But by degrees, in response to the questionings of the sitter or of the person's own self- consciousness, the secondary personality gives itself a name, and sometimes a birth place and family history, and when confronted with falsities and contradictions in its account of itself it shifts, evades, etc., very much as Phinuit did. But the point of especial importance here is, that the form which the personality takes depends upon the environment into which it has come, the attitude taken toward it by the person and her friends, etc. We have already noted that in Mrs. Piper's case her surroundings favoured strongly the development of her sec- ondary personality according to the spiritistic hypothesis, and that Phinuit was very similar to the control of the ordinary medium in his characteristics. We have also noted the emergence and development of the Pelham control and the Imperator group along the lines desired by the Re- searchers. We need only carry this a step further to under- stand that it is inevitable that as various Researchers die they will appear at Mrs. Piper's sittings, especially those whom she knew best and who were most inclined to believe in her. So we find Myers, an ardent Spiritist, and one profoundly impressed by Mrs. Piper, taking the manage- ment of what might be called the educational tests, while Dr. Sidgwick, who seems to have been of a much more cautious and sceptical temperament than Myers, has not as 17 217 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM yet made an appearance in any published record of Mrs. Piper's sittings, nor has Gurney, whom Mrs. Piper did not, I thinkj know. In all these cases, whatever may have been the private doubts of the Researchers, the attitude toward the control has been deliberately one of sympathy and confidence, be- cause in this way, it has been believed, the best messages could be obtained. The effect upon the controls, therefore, especially since the Pelham sittings of 1892-1893, has been to give them ever-increasing confidence in their own exist- ence independent of Mrs. Piper. Everything in the sit- tings, even the criticisms, proceeds upon the assumption that these personalities are real selves, and, being in reality only the products of suggestion, how can they escape be- lieving in themselves just as others do, especially since, down at the bottom of Mrs. Piper's subconscious mind, must be the conviction that her living and reputation de- pend upon acceptance of the controls as spirits. We get into strange mazes here. From this standpoint the controls are really honest in making their claims, but are mistaken, and the Hodgson control is one of the best illustrations of this sincere mistake. We know that for many years before his death the germ had probably lain dormant in the medium's mind that after Hodgson's death he would appear and take control of her as others had done before. Now Hodgson dies, suddenly, and that night, be- fore learning of his death, Mrs. Piper had a terrifying dream of a man killed in a railroad tunnel, with a beard like Hodgson's. The next morning she hears of the death, and at once believes that her dream was a telepathic one. This strengthens her deep-lying conviction that Hodgson will return. Eight days later, at the sitting of a close friend of Hodgson's, when Rector was writing, the hand suddenly dropped the pencil, worked convulsively, and then wrote the letter " H, " breaking the pencil point with the heavy pressure, and then, " Hodgson." 218 THIRD SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER " God bless you! " exclaimed Miss Pope, the sitter. The hand then wrote, " I am Hodgson," and when Miss Pope asked, " Is this my friend? " assented by rapping five times. Rector then explained that Hodgson could not stay longer this first time, and referred to a ring. Thus the Hodgson control was born, and thereafter he appeared at nearly every sitting and rapidly gained co- herence, though Professor James says frankly that he has not been able to give really evidential tests that it is Hodg- son, and we have already seen that while in England, out of the sphere of Mrs. Piper's possible knowledge, he did not recognise his own friends. If she could be taken to Australia probably the case would be still worse. But just here I wish to emphasise the joy and belief with which he was greeted at his first appearance, and the fact that the policy has constantly been to seem to believe him. This has not been the ease with most secondary personalities, nor even with some of the Piper controls. Phinuit was permanently retired, Pelham was doubted a long time. Sally Beauchamp fought stoutly for her exist- ence before agreeing to commit psychic suicide. This originally amorphous self then has, from the very beginning, been trained in the belief that it is a spirit manifestation, so that it is entirely possible if not probable that it itself accepts the belief. Such a hypothesis is natu- rally much more grateful to the secondary personality than Prince's, with its consequent suppression and repression, because it exalts the subconsciousness and encourages its inroads upon the normal self. It does its best, therefore, to live up to the demands made upon it, not from any rea- soned-out plan, but with the blind instinct of the most rudi- mentary life to grow, and expand, rather than painfully to remain inactive and atrophy. Nourished by the sympathy and suggestion of the sitters, it has grown apace, and it is an open question now whether the twenty-odd years of training have not given it so much memory and sense of 219 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM individuality and independence that disbelief in it and dis- couragement of it would have little effect, even if they came from sitters of long standing. From this standpoint, it is surprising to note the com- parative meekness with which the control submitted to our various experiments and to our final revelations of his fail- ures. He did, indeed, get very angry two or three times, but it was the anger that blusters and threatens, not the natural impatience and irritation which a man like Hodg- son might feel for sceptics whom he could not convince. One characteristic thing about this sitting is the number of feelers thrown out. There are the doubtful words : Kah or Rae, Dick, Rob, Uncle R., Bumby, another reference to Krebs, John H — and George P — , and in the subliminal, Joe. If we were inclined to believe in spirits we might say that Rob is Dr. Hall's son, and Uncle R. his Uncle Robert, for whom he was named. It is quite probable that Uncle R. was there at the sitting, and that he was the one who sum- moned Bessie, for Bessie says when she first appears, " Are you trying to waken me, Uncle R. ? " Of course the sceptic will say that in the next sentence she is evidently talking to Dr. Hall, but to this Hyslop would answer that we do not appreciate the lif elikeness of the dialogue. Bessie says the first sentence to Uncle R. in the spirit world, then she turns — if spirits can turn — and addresses herself in the next to Dr. Hall on this side. CHAPTER XIII SITTINGS WITH MES. PIPER: FOURTH SITTING Me. Doer was out of town this time, and so we con- ducted the sitting ourselves and had no trouble. We had first a long talk with Mrs. Piper of fully an hour, in which we felt that we really got somewhat acquainted with her herself. It was impossible to take full notes of this, but the gist of it is as follows : The conversation drifted to her own feelings about her trance, and she said that when it first began she fought against it, partly because she thought that it might indicate hysteria or some other abnormality, and partly because it felt disagreeable. She used to have sensations of falling whenever she went into it that made her afraid, but now she does not have them. In coming out there is a, stage of exhilaration, followed by one of depression. There seems to have been a period of some years in the early days when she was not sure to what her trance was to be attributed. She also feels that the conditions under which she was placed at this time were unfavourable to the best develop- ment of the trance. She and her husband were living with his parents, and her father-in-law was an ardent spiritual- ist, and urged her to go to seances and to develop her power. She thinks that the Phinuit personality came as the result of her surroundings. She never liked him, and this •was one reason why she hated to go into the trance. She is uncertain what Phinuit was, but is sure that he was not a secondary personality. She thinks that perhaps he is some spirit who never was in the body, and who hasJittle 221 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM power on the other side. The change to the Pelham and Imperator personalities seems to have been coincident with her reaching the conviction that the trance was good, and that she was in truth a medium. Dr. Hall asked various questions designed to find out how her mind works in every-day life. She thinks that in coming to an important decision she does differently at different times, but sometimes she does decide on the im- pulse of the moment. For instance, she may make up her mind suddenly to take a journey, put on her hat and start off at once. Similarly she says that she comes to conclu- sions about people in different ways, but she does make up her mind quickly and on slight grounds. For instance, she says that if she is in a room full of people, talking to some one, she may overhear others talking, and she will make up her mind at once that she will like one person and dislike another, on account of their voices. She feels that she can tell by the voice whether a person is sincere or not, and she has said before that she is very sensitive to voices. This is very significant in its bearing on the trance, and may be one of the important avenues by which to connect the trance and normal states. The control now gets all his knowledge of the sitter through the ear, and if Mrs. Piper gets many of her impressions similarly, and especially of her likes and dislikes, it is interesting to know it. She says also that she has, naturally enough, been made rather suspicious of people by her experiences as a medium, meeting insincerity, arrogance, and so on, and that only her firm faith in God has made it possible for her to endure all that she has had to. She spoke with much feeling here, and referred to insincerity at various times, saying that in some cases sitters had tried to deceive the trance per- sonalities, and had also pretended to her that they were believers when they were not. I asked her if it was necessary to be a believer in order to get good results, and she said of course not, and I then 222 FOURTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER asked a question as to how much experimenting might be done with the trance personalities, in answer to which she said that anything could be tried. The point was made along here, that if we explained either to the controls or to her what we were trying to get we should spoil the re- sults, and she virtually gave us carte hlanche to do as we pleased. Nevertheless, I feel quite confident that she cherishes resentment against persons who have tried — perhaps suc- cessfully — ^to deceive the controls, and naturally enough, because it must shake her faith in the controls besides mak- ing her conscious that it lays herself open to the charge of being an impostor. In this connection, too, came up the question of sec- ondary personalities, and the opinion that various people had held with regard to the trance. I said that I had not adopted the spiritistic hypothesis and did not know that I should, and there was considerable talk about the theory of secondary personalities. Dr. Hall told at some length about two other mediums, and asked Mrs. Piper if she did not think that he had done wisely in advising one to give up mediumship. She said very frankly that if she kept on she might become insane, and cited the case of a daugh- ter of a friend in England who wanted to cultivate auto- matic writing, but whose mother was afraid to have her. She also gave the case of a young girl known to a certain psychologist who seems to have become possessed by it, but fought against it, and was advised by him to let it come. I asked her about Miss Verrall and she seemed to think that she was well enough balanced to stand it, and re- ferred to herself as being well balanced, and so able to stand it, too. We then turned to talk of her future. Dr. Hall asked her if she had any desire to give up the work, and if she was not glad when summer came and she could take a vaca- tion. He spoke also of spring depression, and she said 223 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM that she always felt that very much, and the only way that she could overcome it was by taking long walks and staying in the fresh air as much as possible. She seems to be very sensitive to this need of air, and this suggests that there may be some close coimection between her breathing and her trance. With regard to her future, the controls have said at various times that " the light " may fail at any time, and so she looks forward to a time when she will no longer be able to do this work. She does not know whether the power will fail suddenly or gradually, but until it does go she expects to continue at it, apparently believing very sin- cerely that she has a mission to perform which she must not shirk even though it is at times disagreeable. She is very glad when summer comes, for then she gets into the country for four or five months and does nothing of this sort at all. We also referred to the cross-correspondence messages, for which Mrs. Piper seems to have an admiration almost amounting to awe. Dr. Hall recalled to her Dr. James's saying that she was his white crow, and had made science prostrate in the dust so far as he was concerned, which evi- dently pleased her greatly. Dr. Hall asked her whether she had any preference for one class of sitters over another, to which she replied that she never knew beforehand what they came for, though often after the sittings they told her what they had re- ceived. She said that it made no difference to her what they wanted. When in England last time she tried crystal gazing a little, and saw in the crystal a man being run over. On her return to New York, while she and her daughters were driving up the pier, they saw a cab pass over the leg of a man, which made her think that this was what the crystal was foretelling. She has not practised crystal gazing much, and gave no other examples. 224 FOURTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER Dr. Hall also tried to hypnotise Mrs. Piper, who said she was very anxious to try it, but did not succeed. At the end, reference was made to the attitude of many people, and especially of the Catholic Church, toward Spir- itism. Dr. Hall told her that this church has been sending out lecturers against it as a special child of the Devil. This seemed both to disturb and anger Mrs. Piper, and, as the first sleepiness of the trance began to come on, she told him, , in rather an angry tone, to bring " that priest " to see her. She also reverted to the theory of secondary personality, as if it disturbed her to think that I, or we, were inclined to it, and asked if, in that case, all these things were just her own self " cavorting around." She also asked why her head always feels heavy when she begins to go into the trance. [She began to go into the trance at 11 : 32 and her head dropped to the pillow at 11:41. At 11:42 the hand began writing without a pencil, "Hail," and when given a pencil continued,] We greet you once again with peace and joy. + (E.) (Is Hodgson there, or can you bring him?) Prudens will. I'll send him. Pnidens. [The hand then cramped violently to the shoulder, and wrote :] Tell Hall I'm here again. Glad to see you. I am here the same Hodgson himself. (Hodgson, I'm very glad to see you again. I want to ) I was very much annoyed with you before because of your rapid speech and persistent [pause] doubt [pause] with regard to nay identity. What on earth do you think I am doing, anyway ? (That's all right, Hodgson. I think I've got over that now. Now, I want to ask you to write very plainly and slowly to-day, for Mr. Dorr is not here and we cannot read the writing well. [The hand bows assent and understanding.] Now, last time you recognised that Mr. Dorr was here, and you seem to know 225 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM what people are here. Can you tell me what people are here now?) I see another light. Eesembles light. Eesembles a lady, lady. (Can you tell me how that lady looks? How she is dressed? Anything at all?) No, not at the moment. I would be obliged to go out and get a look at her from a distance. (Distance ?) I said so. Hall, I am really E. Hodgson. I am not here for any frivolous talk, frivolous talk. I can help you here to help you to know the truth.) (Yes, Hodgson, and that is what I am after, too. Now, I want you to teU me something about Mrs. Piper, the normal not the spirit Mrs. Piper; where she lives, what about her daughters, and so on.) I cannot tell you anything, cannot tell, cannot [In answer to a question as to what a certain word was — ] I never used poor language. I cannot tell, cannot tell you anything about her. (Tell me about her spirit then : where it is and what it is doing.) + It has been removed over the ethereal cord and is being held by + i. s. d. (WeU, Hodgson, the last time you found Bessie, my niece, and Borst. Now, how did you find them among so many? That has always troubled me.) I summoned our chief messenger, Prudens, chief, chief. He went at once and went through the throng calling for Miss Beals, when a young woman heard his call and responded, com- ing back with him to the open window. (Now, when you found Bessie, she spoke of Uncle Eobert. Can you tell me anything of that?) She said, " If my Uncle is really here, he will UD what that means." (I see. Very good. But can't you tell me something about Uncle Eobert?) You seemed not to recognize it, much to her distress. You seemed 226 FOURTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (No, but I do now, very clearly, and I think it is one of the most important things that has come out.) She also said [illegible word] to which you paid no atten- tion. Said [illegible word]. (Latin?) Yes, about your Latin. You quoted, quoted some Latin from ^neid which she replied to but you paid no atten- tion to it. [Dr. Hall had quoted arma virumque in the course of the third sitting, to Hodgson, but he gave no answer at all.] (Yes, very well, but now, won't you tell me something about Uncle Robert, who he was and what he did?) She brought him to you and was telling him of your pres- ence. He is and you UD. (Where did he live and what was his last name?) Bay HaU. (Where did he live?) Bay. (Back Bay?) [Possibly bag.] Oh, no. Bay. (What was his business?) Book some crime, justice. (Crime?) Yes. Leg lame. (What does that mean? Leg lame?) Yes leg, right. (Lame in the right leg?) Yes, and leg, wasn't broken but rheumatism in body. (Anything about his nose? He broke his nose, really.) Yes. (Did he break his leg, too?) [Gesture of the hand signifying that he fell over backward.] I see [illegible word] is listening. (What is that word please?) Father. I see your father. [Hand points to Dr. Tanner.] (My father? Is my father here?) [Dr. Tanner.] I do. I do. Why don't you UD? I say I saw him. Saw him. (Is he living or dead?) 227 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Dead, what are you talking about nothing ever dies really but he is in the spirit. (Now I've caught you, Hodgson. You're wrong. He is living.) I say he is living. Nothing ever dies I say. Dead, no such thing, no such thing. You do not TJD. Catch me and you will catch a white blackbird. Blackbird. [Cf. with Dr. Hall's reference before the trance to James's phrase for Mrs. Piper, " white crow."] I am the most wide-awake creature you ever saw. (Yes, I see you are, Hodgson, but now I should like to have you tell me whether it is easy or difficult for you to come back. Is this hard work, or is it just play for you?) I never get tired. I lose, lose control owing to owing, OWING to evaporation of ether, ether, but fatigue is not known to me. Go on with your questions. I wanted to tell her a bit a bit about her father as I thought there was some reason for my doing so. However, time will explain Explain. (Yes. Now, I want to go back to Borst again, Hodgson. It really was not so strange that I mistook you for him, you are so like him.) Oh, nonsense. Hall, you were trying to place hypnotic sug- gestion to me. I know who I am perfectly well and I hope you will some day UD. If I do not meet you when you cross the bar my name is not Hodgson. (All right, Hodgson. My only doubt is whether you are not really Mrs. Piper's secondary personality, and I should like to have you give me some proof that you are not.) I am interested in seeing III am interested in seeing how many stories you can tell in a minute. They awfully bad. They are awful whoppers. They are awful whoppers. I never heard so many from one in a minute. • (Well, perhaps that's so, Hodgson, but can't you give me a sign to show that you are not a split-off part of Mrs. Piper?) I see your sincerity underneath all this. I see I see all your sincerity underneath all this. [Then came three lines of faint dots and dashes at which we exclaimed in despair, and asked the control to write over, 228 FOURTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER as we could not read a word of it. After another line came the words:] My own shorthand. [At this point Dr. Tanner looking back at this thought that perhaps Hodgson might have taken refuge in profanity, and remarked to Dr. Hall with a laugh that it looked as if it might be the beginning of ' Hell and damnation.' Whereupon the hand went on,J Listen, Hall. Don't talk like that, it distresses me. [Dr. Hall thought that he was referring to the question of secondary personality and said something to the effect that he could not wonder that he was suspected, but the hand said,] No, what she said. [I said something to the effect that I was sorry that I had hurt his feelings and he went on:] No, I am only surprised and disappointed. (Disappointed ?) Yes. I am really serious and no part of Mrs. Piper's ma- chine. I assure you I was on the right track before I left the body. (Well, now, Hodgson, you hear wonderfully well, and you see, too. You knew that Mr. Dorr had not gone out of the room last week, and you felt liiat the window ought to be opened. You really can smell, can't you?) No, I could not really. I do not claim more than I can do. (Then how did you know that the room was close?) I saw the ether going saw the ether and knew it was because of the conditions on your side. (But you hear perfectly well, through Mrs. Piper's hand?) Yes. Do anything you like and should hear just the same . . Yes. Do anything you like and I shall hear just the same. (Can you smell?) No. Do not claim to. (Nor taste?) No. (Would you feel it if Mrs. Piper was hurt?) i should not, no. I should not, no. But I would not hurt 229 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the machine if, machine, machine, if I were you it might suffer, suffer, after I have gone. [We assured him warmly that we had no intention of hurt- ing Mrs. Piper, and then Dr. Hall went on solicitously,] (Now, Hodgson, I have been very much annoyed at the way some people have treated Mrs. Piper. They have annoyed her greatly. Can't you suggest some way to stop it?) Annoying Mrs. Piper? (Yes, by printing things about her and so on. Can't you tell me how to stop it?) Yes, as I did. (Yes, but how did you do?) I fought for her. (Yes, but just what shall we do?) Follow my example. (Yes. WeU, now, Hodgson, which kind of sitters do you like best, those who come investigating, like myself, or those who wish to come into communication with their dead friends ?) Bot Don't say dead Both. Both. (But which would you rather have come?) Both. I like to help everybody everybody anyone who is really worthy. (Yes. Well, now, I have a very important question to ask you.) Fire away. (It seems that in all the history of spiritualism, way back to earliest Greek times, a man always comes through a woman medium and a woman through a man medium. A table has been drawn up showing this. Now, why is that so ?) There is no real reason for it I think. It simply happens so. Curiously. (Yes, but there must be some reason for it, Hodgson, and you ought to know.) I'll look into and reply later. (Very well, Hodgson. Now, I suppose sex lives over there, doesn't it?) Yes. There is individuality individuality all through. (Wouldn't you like really to come back to this world?) I would like to have finished my work there but I have 230 FOURTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER taken up the threads threads here and am trying my level best, level, to finish it here. (Yes, but you left so much unfinished here, and you were just in your prime. I should think you would feel the call from this side. It's pretty strong.) I do therefore you UD why I am so persistent here, why I am so (Yes, I understand.) [Dr. Tanner calls Dr. Hall's attention to the fact that Mrs. Piper ought to come out of the trance soon in order to meet an engagement that she has, and Dr. Hall tells Hodgson that Mrs. Piper has an engagement to meet, and that she ought to waken very soon. To this the hand writes, ] What has that to do with me I'd like to know I will go yhen I have replied to all your questions. (We are all done.) [The hand reaches over and feels Dr. Hall's list of ques- tions, and then writes,] Finish and I'll go. [Dr. Tanner takes the list and lays it out of reach, and Dr. HaU reiterates that we are done, and asks:] (How can we get Mrs. Piper awake now?) I'll call i. s. d. will call him. When do we meet again? (Can we meet two weeks from to-day?) Oh, don't talk like that. Oh, don't talk, I can't UD. [Dr. Tanner then says:] (Can we come second after second coming? Will that be right?) I'll inquire. [The hand rises, beckons, questions, and writes,] Yes. Very good. I'll be here. Go tell your father to keep quiet. (My father?) [Dr. Tanner.] I said so. Got it? (Yes. I'll tell him.) [Dr. Tanner.] More next time. I want you to see daylight want you to see day, I want you to see daylight. (Yes, Hodgson. Thank you very much and good-bye.) Capital. Auf wiedersehen. (Adieu.) 231 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Adieu. [Writing grows faint.] + We cease now and may the blessing of the Most High rest on you both. -|- Farewell. (K.) SUBLIMINAL At 12 : 41 Mrs. Piper finished writing and the head began to rise at 12 : 44, coming up permanently at 12 : 47. At 12 : 48 the eyes were open but seemed not to see anything. SPOKEN IN THE SUBLIMINAL Horace. [Unintelligible words. Then deep sniffs.] (What do you smell?) Lilies beautiful Myers Joe Elizabeth Mother ^Uncle Eob Baby (What baby?) Mother's (What mother?) Madge (Who is Madge?) Hattie. (Hattie?) [Shakes her head.] Hodgson told me. Baby. (Whose baby?) Mother's (What mother?) Yours. (My mother's baby?) [Nod of assent. Then she catches sight of Dr. Hall, who is standing directly in front of her, and exclaims with the utmost disgust:] A-a-a-ah ! (Pretty bad, isn't it?) [he says]. [The questions above about the baby, etc., were asked by Dr. Tanner.] A-a-h! (Tou know me, don't you, Mrs. Piper) [asked Dr. Hall]. 232 FOURTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER What's the noise? (Tou recognise me, don't you?) You recognise me, don't you? (Yes.) Yes. (I'm afraid you going to be tired.) I'm afraid you're going to be tired. (I should be sorry to have you go into a sleep now.) I should be sorry to have you go into a sleep now. [This mimicry was given with Mrs. Piper looking at Dr. Hall and varying his inflections just enough for it to be very ludicrous. At this point Dr. Tanner, who was sitting close to Mrs. Piper and to one side, began to laugh, and Mrs. Piper turned toward her and scrutinised her intently, as she had Dr. Hall just a few minutes before.] (How do you do, Mrs. Piper?) [Dr. Tanner.] You look like an owl. (Yes, and she makes faces like that, too.) [and Dr. Hall twisted his own face into a thousand wrinkles.] Oh, no, she doesn't! [said Mrs. Piper in a shocked way, and the two of them had quite an argument over it.] You're getting nearer to me now — I don't care. I saw that lovely light with the rainbow in it. Did you hear my head snap? 0-o-oh, you're Dr. Hall, aren't you? You looked so small a minute ago, so very far away. Did you hear that? [Referring to another snap of the head.] Why, I recognised you quite soon, didn't I? That shows I'm getting better ac- quainted with you. The conversation then became quite desultory, and it was remarked that this time she had only been in the trance a few minutes over the hour. This seemed to surprise her, for usu- ally it lasts about an hour and a half or three-quarters, and she seemed to be much interested and rather impressed to learn that we had succeeded in having the controls awaken her. COMMENTS ON THE FOURTH SITTING Our doubt of his identity had apparently rankled somewhat in R. H.'s mind, and had put him on his guard 18 233 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM to some degree. He begins here, therefore, his policy of ignorance, but with the inability that we should expect of a secondary personality to grasp the whole situation, he fails to see that there are some things which E. H. must know, and that his ignorance and insensitiveness must be self-consistent. For instance, it is absurd to suppose that the spirit Hodgson could give us no information at all about Mrs. Piper, while at the same time he could tell us about " Uncle Robert's " lame leg, residence in Bay, accident, etc. His characteristic evasion of his mistake about my father is also in line with his attempts throughout the sitting. Then, when Dr. Hall began once more to press home the similarity between Hodgson and the imaginary Borst, in- stead of getting angry this time the control compliments him on his sincerity, and tries to divert us by his short- hand, and by rebuking my profanity, until Dr. Hall veers off to the matter of the control's sense perceptions. From here on the control professes inability or ignorance. CHAPTER XIV SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: FIFTH SITTING There was but little preliminary conversation this time, as we had a long programme planned and were anxious to cover as much of it as possible in the trance. Mrs. Piper looked pale and tired, and said that she had a slight head- ache, but that it was passing off, and it did not seem to affect her going into the trance. She also said that the hot weather was always very trying to her, and that she was very anxious to leave the city by June 1st, so that she could have a long rest. In this sitting. Dr. Hall and I had planned to test the senses as thoroughly as we could without much apparatus, and we hoped to discover enough sensibility to show that the control knew something about Mrs. Piper's body in spite of his reiterated assertions to the contrary. We then wanted to convict him of ignorance of his own life, and bring home to him the contradictions in which he had in- volved himself, once more trying to make him confess that he was not Hodgson but only Mrs. Piper. It took so long to make the tests, however, that we hardly finished the first part of the programme. The sitting opened as usual: + Hail. Once more we return to earth to greet you, friends. Peace and love we bring. + (E.) (Good morning, Rector. Can you bring Hodgson to ua now?) I'll call him as he expected to meet you this day. (R.) [A pause and then the hand cramps and clenches.] HeUo, Han. Got those problems solved yet? 235 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM [From here on it was impossible to get Dr. Hall's exact words. Previous to the sitting he had made out a list of the questions he wished to ask, which he adhered to rather closely, but in some instances he added persuasive words, etc. I should also say that before the trance we opened the package of the Hodgson influences, before Mrs. Piper, but after the trance came on we substituted for the neckties a bundle of Dr. Hall's, which the hand used frequently during the sitting and seemed to derive much satisfaction from.] (Now, Hodgson, I want you to do a little difFerent sort of test for me, which you may think rather silly. You said, you know, that we could make any tests we pleased, and Sir Oliver Lodge is rather anxious too to have us try some of these. Just look on it as a new game, or a repetition of some of the tests we used to try in the laboratory.) All right. (Now, you have control of Mrs. Piper's hand, and make it write, etc., and I want you to give close attention here to the hand, and tell me whether you can feel one point or two when I press upon it.) [The esthesiometer was then adjusted with the points ap- proximately three-fourths of an inch apart, and they were first touched lightly to the palm of the hand, in the centre. As this elicited no response. Dr. Hall pressed harder, and finally intimated that he was pressing.] I feel nothing. Try again. [Again he pressed, and this time with enough force to give considerable pain if the sensitiveness were normal, but no re- sponse came, and finally he said,] (Why, Hodgson, surely you feel that. You must feel it.) That is not so. I do not feel anything. Try again else- where and suppose you do not suggest anything about it only simply to tell me you are pressing. Suppose you try it gently and a little [Here the hand suddenly paused, raised itself and seemed to beckon out into the room, and then wrote,] All right, I'll attend to you later. [Again Dr. Hall pressed, this time without saying any- thing, heavily.] 236 FIFTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER I had a sensation of two touches. (Good, Hodgson. That's very good. Now let me try again.) [The esthesiometer was readjusted at approximately half an inch, and again the pressure was applied, at first lightly, and then with a degree of pressure quite painftil to the normal person, and with a slightly rocking movement, which would decidedly emphasize the two points.] Not so good. Not so good, but very probably one. (Excellent, Hodgson. Now we won't try that any more, but you teU me when you feel any pressure.) [We then took the algometer, and applied it also to the palm. Dr. Hall supporting the back of the hand against his own. The pressure was increased from nothing to twenty-five pounds. Dr. Hall asking at intervals whether he felt anything and the control replying,] Not in the slightest, [IJntil the maximum was reached, and then, when the pressure was re- leased, the hand wrote,] Rector forbids. Better not. [Now it must be noted here that while these somewhat severe tests were being applied, which the hand said it did not feel, the hand at the same time knew the instant when the instruments were removed from it, because at once it began to write, and it seemed to me very obvious that the twenty-five pound pressure was painful, or Rector would not have in- tervened.] (Very well, Hodgson, we won't try anything more like that. But now we want to see whether you can't detect any odours that are in this room.) Odour? (Yes. Tou know that last time you told us when the air was bad, and when you were alive you had a very good sense of smell. Now, just teU us whether you don't smell anything.) [I uncorked a camphor bottle and held it close up to Mrs. Piper's nostrils so that it seemed as if she could hardly get any air unless saturated with camphor. I held it- there for some seconds without any effect, and the hand asked:] Ready? (Yes. Now, don't you smell camphor?) I can't smell anything. [I then tried two comparatively mild odours with the same 237 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM result, and finally held a bottle of ether close, as I had the camphor. When she got the first whiff of this, Mrs. Piper winced decidedly and drew back, but when asked if he smelled anything, the. control said again:] I do not smell anything. (But, Hodgson, give attention now, and I am sure you can. You ought to be able to smell this.) I certainly would if I could. [Again it was tried, but again came the same answer:] I smell nothing. [Unfortunately we could get no other unconscious betrayal here as with the pain and pressure tests, and so we left it. Dr. Hall then said that in the same way we wanted to try for taste, and told him to attend closely to Mrs. Piper's mouth, while I put some sugar into it. He told Hodgson that it would be sugar and quite agreeable, but in reality I put in about a third of a saltspoonful of salt. It was rather difficult to get this in, as the tongue seemed to be against the roof of the mouth, but I managed to get the spoon in, and closed the lips over the salt, holding them closed an instant or two. While I was doing this, the hand wrote:] Eeady? [The salt had been there only an instant, when Mrs. Piper's mouth drew up and became wry, just as anyone's would on tast- ing such a dose, but at the same time the hand wrote again:] Are you ready? (Tes, we are trying.) I taste nothing. [The salt continued to dissolve, and Dr. Hall urged Hodg- son to attend closely, but he kept on saying:] I taste nothing. I taste nothing. [We told him again that we had tried one test, and he wrote :] Only one? Only one did you say? (Yes, but now we will try something else.) [I then put about one-third of a teaspoonful of camphor in her mouth, but I do not feel sure how far it got in, and it produced no palpable effect. The hand wrote:] I am waiting patiently. 238 FIFTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER [And after an instant:] Why don't you try? (We are trying, Hodgson. We have been trying for some time. Can't you really taste anything?) I can't taste anything. (Once more, please.) [I then put nearly a saltspoonful of sugar in, and the hand wrote] Have you tried ? [We did not pursue this any farther, as it was evident that even if he did taste anything the control would not admit it, and we had no check upon him. Dr. Hall therefore turned to another phase of the experiments, and spoke to him something in this style:] (Now, Hodgson, we are very anxious to try some other ex- periments. We know that you can do anything you want to, and we should like to have you raise Mrs. Piper's left arm.) I can't be in forty places at once. (No, but surely you can raise that arm. Tou do anything you want to with this right arm and hand — ^you make it write, and raise it, and so on ) That is my head, you stupid, head. (Come now, Hodgson, be honest. Tou know you can raise that arm if you want to.) I am as honest as I have power to be. (Yes, I don't doubt that. But, come, now. Tou can raise this hand as you please; raise it high.) My head you mean. (Well, your head, then. Raise it high, now, just to oblige me.) [The hand and arm then swept up, full length, coming down with a bang.] (Good. Splendid. Now, raise the other arm.) Can't do it. (Why, yes, you can, Hodgson. I am sure you can.) I can go out and (Well, that would be good, but wouldn't it wake her?) Not so, but exhausts her ether. (Well, we don't want that now. But try some other things. 239 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Make her tap her right foot. Tou have control of the right side, and you can make her do that.) Cannot do it. Hall. I am sorry, would if I could possibly. (Yes, I know that is so.) Yes, indeed I would. (WeU, now, I should like to have you try to control her mouth.) I am perfectly willing. (You know you used to make her speak. Try now.) I will try. [Dr. Hall suggests that he had better strengthen himself with the influence and passes over his neckties, which the hand clutches.] (Try hard now. Make her say, one, two, three.) I am trying. I am afraid I cannot. (Why, have you lost the power you used to have?) No. I could leave here and take that up. I could leave here and take that up. I will another day. I will do this next time if you like. (Very well, Hodgson. But now I want to try something else, if you don't mind.) AU right, but we will have to go then. When I do this I will be obliged to go out entirely. (Very well, but don't go yet. Now, I should like to have you give Mrs. Piper a dream. You can do that, can't you?) I will try. Are you ready? (Yes. Now, do your best, Hodgson, for this is very im- portant.) All right, I will gladly. (Now, we are going out in a boat and are on the water. Don't you feel the motion of the waves, rocking up and down, up and down. How delightful it is!) [Dr. Hall talked at considerable length, painting the picture.] Are we on the water? I think you are the only one on the boat. Hall. I do not seem to feel upside down. (Oh, no, not seasick, but just a lovely, rocking motion. Surely you feel that?) No, but I wish I could. I used to love it. 240 FIFTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (And there's another boat, too, and there are two women in it. Ton see them, surely.) I am afraid I am blind Hall. (Now they are coming nearer, and they are looking at us. And one of them is waving her handkerchief.) Let's have a look and see. I love the ladies. [The hand raised itself and moved about as if looking.] Say, Hall, your boat is a myth. Ton must be dreaming. (No, you're the one who's dreaming. The boat is there, plain as can be, and the women.) I will look again. [Dr. Tanner makes an unnoted remark.] Neither do I. I can only see you and Mrs. H. She wants to know if you are satisfied. [This sudden variation introduced some confusion in our minds and we talked to each other a minute or so. Presumably the control heard, and went on,] I am so glad she popped in, she popped in. She asked if you are satisfied? (Oh. But don't you see that boat, Hodgson? and those women ?) You mustn't ignore her. Do say something, if only to tell her about the boat. Boat. (Well, now, Hodgson, suppose we speak to those girls, and make, up a party with them.) Don't talk such nonsense. Hall. I used to think you were sensible. If you keep on don't lose your sense of Don't lose your sense of honour. (Oh, you don't understand, Hodgson. I know those girls, and I want to speak to them.) All right, glad you do. [Evidently we were not making much impression here, and so we shifted to some colour tests, though we had little expec- tation of their success. I had slips of white cardboard, four by two inches, with coloured paper, two and three fourths inches by one pasted on them, in the six standard colours, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. I stood on Mrs. Piper's left side, and gently pressed up the eyelid until the iris was exposed. This was easy 241 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM and certainly painless, and the eyeball was not perceptibly rolled up, though at times it rolled to the left and slightly up, especially when the hand began to write. I am sure, however, that with each of the colours, rays of light from them must have penetrated to the retina. Dr. Hall now explained that we wanted Hodgson to tell us if he saw any colour in the room.] Colour, colour. [At this time I was exposing red.] I don't see any. (No, we don't mean tell us whether you see any. But tell us any colour that happens to come into your mind first. Think of some colour, and tell us what you think of.) White. [I then exposed blue.] (What colour do you think of now?) Black. [I then exposed yellow.] (Now think hard, Hodgson, what colour comes to mind now?) Mottled. Mottled. [There seemed no use in continuing these, and so we stopped. Dr. Hall then tried another tack.] (Now, Hodgson, you remembered your own address per- fectly well, and you know Mr. Dorr's. Why don't you know Mrs. Piper's? It's not consistent for you not to know it, and I think if you try you can give it to us.) I have tried and tried and tried again and again, but it does not come. I wish it did, then I should not seem so stupid. (Oh, no, you don't seem stupid, Hodgson, but it seems strange that this should not come.) I want to recall earthly things. [This was written over several times before we deciphered it.] (Well, no matter, Hodgson. But now, we want to try an experiment with hearing. You have told us, you know, that you hear through Mrs. Piper's hand, and we are very anxious to see whether you can hear just as well if Mrs. Piper's ears are stopped.) [Symbol that looks like X.] O Lodge asked me this himself. 242 FIFTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER [A watch was then held to the left ear, and Dr. Hall asked :] (Do you hear it tick?) No. (Nowf) No. I don't. [The watch was then put in the hand.] (Now?) No. [This was done several tiines, but at no time did the con- trol admit hearing the watch. The clicker was then brought out and first clicked in the left ear.J (Do you hear this?) No. (Now?) No. [It was then clicked in the hand.] (Now?) Yes. Sounds like what we used to call a whistle. [Parts of this had to be rewritten before we could read it.] [The watch was tried again in the hand, with the usual question.] No. Sorry, but I don't. Try again on my head. [I took this to mean the hand, while Dr. Hall thought it meant Mrs. Piper's head, and the hand wrote:] I said my head, try [At this point we clicked in the hand again.] Yes. I heard that. [At this point we tried to stop the ears, but the conversa- tion went on as easily as before. I whispered to Dr. Hall to try to fool the control, by not clicking in his hand, but I think that he heard me. Dr. Hall then simply put the clicker against the hand and made the movement of clicking, asking:] (Do you hear it?) No. (Don't you hear this?) No. (Now?) Do as you did before. I shall hear it then. 243 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM (Well, surely you hear it now?) I could hear it if you did it. (Well, you see, Hodgson, you really can't hear if your ears are stopped.) You try it honestly and see. [Dr. Hall then clicked.] (Do you hear now?) Of course I hear it. Tou can't deceive me to save your life. (Well, we'll have to admit that you got the best of us this time, Hodgson.) You can't deceive me. We are all we claim, and we are not here to deceive oursqlves. We want to be strictly honest. taste for you. Hall. Make sense of what I say. (Yes. Now, I want you to tell me a little more about Mrs. Piper. Where did she get that parrot?) What? [This was asked five times, and at last the word was spelled, and the hand wrote,] Didn't know she had one. Hall. I am afraid you must cease. I am going out. (Oh, don't go just yet, Hodgson. Wait a little, if you can.) I'U try. (Do you remember a man I sent to you once, who drew very remarkable figures? I should like to have you tell me about him, his name, etc. Can you recall him?) I can't at the moment, but perhaps another time when the light is clear, I may. The ether is going. -\- says we must not remain too long. Good-bye. Going. Farewell, Hall. Next time I bring a friend I want you to speak to, next time I bring a friend I want you to speak to them. (Oh, yes. We'll try to be more polite next time, Hodgson. Sorry we were rude.) [Tanner.] (Now, will you please send Rector to us, Hodgson?) What can I do, friends, to help you? [Dr. Tanner then made arrangements for another sitter, who thought that possibly she would not herself be able to come at the appointed time, and wanted to send a substitute. She next presented an "influence" sent by Hyslop, on 244 FIFTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER which he wanted one of the controls to pass, but Rector said it would have to wait until another time, as it was too late then. Arrangements were then made for the next sitting, and the sitting was closed as usual.] We cease now and may the blessings of God rest on you. 4- Farewell. (R.) CHAPTER XV SITTINGS WITH MRS. PIPER: SIXTH SITTING In the interval between the last sitting and this one there had been some correspondence between Miss and Mrs. Piper on the one side and Mr. Dorr and Dr. Hall on the other, with regard to the experiments of the fifth sit- ting. This correspondence is on file. It appears that some time after the sitting red spots appeared on Mrs. Piper's palm, and her index finger was numb for two or three days, the red spots being the after-effects of the esthesiometer pressure, and the numbness probably due to the pain-pres- sure experiments. Her lower lip was also blistered from the camphor used. Her daughter wrote to Mr. Dorr the day after the sitting describing these effects, in some distress, saying that she had hoped that the need for such tests was over. Mr. Dorr sent the letter to Dr. Hall, and Dr. Hall wrote both to Mr. Dorr and Mrs. Piper explaining the experiments and stating that we had finished them, and that we should not have gone so far had not the Hodgson control authorised us to do so, and that we stopped when Rector told us to. In reply Mrs. Piper wrote back that she had no objections to experiments of any sort if they left no bad after-effects, but that of course she had wondered what had been done. At this sixth sitting. Dr. Hall took an esthesiometer and showed it to Mrs. Piper, illustrating how we had used it, and saying again how sorry he was that there had been such effects, but that Hodgson had given us the authority to go on. Mrs. Piper was much interested, but seemed to 246 SIXTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER feel that the experiments were proper, and recognised that we could not tell her beforehand about them. She said that Dr. Hodgson had tried some similar tests at one time, with much the same results. He had held ammonia to her nose, and she had taken deep whiffs of it without being sensible of it, but that afterward her nose had bled and had been extremely sensitive for a long time, and she is inclined to think that her sense of smell has never been as acute since. She also showed us a scar on one arm where she said some physician had lanced her arm while she was in the trance to see if it bled normally. Dr. Hall explained also that perhaps we went far- ther than we should otherwise, because we saw that all the time that Hodgson was saying that he did not feel, he knew when the pressure was removed, and guided himself on the paper. This surprised her, and she quoted Mr. Piddington as teUing her that the hand was not sensitive, because it would write whether it had a pencil in it or not. We replied that that was true, but that it soon stopped writing if left without a pencil, and after being given the pencil, began at the beginning, instead of continuing. To this she made no answer, and the conversation drifted to the next topic, but these remarks should be noted in connection with the hand's behaviour later on. Dr. Hall then said that we wanted to try a few bilateral tests, and explained about mirror writing. She acted as if this were entirely new to her, and said that she never could do it, but, after Dr. Hall had written his own name, she tried, and succeeded tolerably well for the first time. Dr. HaU then told her to put her forefingers together, and at the word move them apart equal distances, illustrat- ing himself. The right hand moved considerably farther than the left. She then went through various movements with both hands, moving her fingers, but these were not done in detail enough to show any asymmetry, if there is any. 247 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Naturally, she is left-handed, she says, but she seems to do most things with her right hand, such as writing and sewing, though she thinks that she could use a fork with either. She takes physical exercises every morning, and has since her operation, especially to strengthen the abdominal muscles. Dr. Hall then tried to hypnotise her again, having her close her eyes and think of sleep, and after a little I stroked her head and suggested sleep, going into the silence and calm, etc., heavy eyelids, relaxed hands. Her hands and arms were tense, and she did not relax in the least, nor seem to get into even a slightly hypnoidal state. With her eyes still closed, Dr. Hall asked her first to repeat what he said, and then to answer, and just at first she was a little confused, but after the first two times she did not get confused. He then asked her to tell what she was thinking about, and she mentioned the tablet in his hand. He then asked her to imagine a boat out on Bar Harbor, and she said that perhaps she could picture it after a while if she tried hard enough. Asked what she was thinking of then, she said the coil of my hair, and laughed, saying that her mind was always jumping about like that. At this point I began to stroke her forehead. Then a bust of Shakespeare came into her mind, and a sofa pillow, but although she said she was trying to sleep she could not do it, and finally the effort was given up as before. Dr. Hall then explained about the patellar refiexes, and she said that she had had them tested repeatedly, once within two years, and that they were alike on the two sides. We did not try them therefore. Dr. Hall made the remark that she seemed to have had most things tried on her, and she said that she thought she had, but that the worst experience she ever went through was when Dr. Hodgson set the detective to watching her. She spoke of that with horror. 248 SIXTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER We then reverted again to the insensitiveness of the hand, and she said that she had not felt anything in it until she washed it, and the soap made it smart. Again she reiterated that she had absolutely no memories of what went on in the trance, not even a sense of whether it was pleasant or not, and' that the first thing she remembers on coming out of the trance is the last thing said on going into it. At this time she had not begun to go into it except for a very slight heaviness of the eyes, and Dr. Hall said to her that he wanted her to remember on coming out of the trance to move both her arms together, and that this would be the last thing he would say. In about thirty-five seconds her eyes had become slightly fixed, and the trance was coming on. At 11 :13 her head dropped, and very soon the hand and arm were extremely rigid. I should say here that just before Dr. Hall made this last suggestion, while talking about the hand, she had said that sometimes in the trance it dashed about so violently that it was cut on the edges of the pad or table, and that Dr. Hodgson would then try to hold it quiet, but that at other times he avoided touching it. And she noted that although it seemed thus insensitive, at the same time it seemed so very delicate in its discrimination of objects put into it, " influences," etc. Dr. Hall then told her about its handling the clicker, and how it seemed to feel that so acutely, and we both remarked that on the whole the hand was quiet with us, that it did not bang about, etc., scarcely any. I thought that she seemed a little incredulous of this, though she did not con- tradict us. At the same time, she said that she thought that a sitter's nervousness probably did affect the charac- ter of the sittings. I said that I felt sure of that, too, and asked her how she thought they modified them. She did not reply very definitely, but I gathered that in some in- stances she thought she got things from their minds. Now, in connection with these remarks about the quiet- ness of the hand and its writing without a pencil at the be- 19 249 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM ginning of the sitting, note the behaviour of the hand when the trance came on this time. It clenched more violently than usual, the hand doubling back upon the wrist as it usually does only when Hodgson arrives, and then it began writing without the pencil, wrote for two lines, paused as if uncertain, but then continued — as it had not done at other times when not given a pencil — ^just as if it recg-Ued the previous bits of conversation and intended to act as if it were insensitive, but had forgotten its behaviour in previ- ous trances under such conditions. Dr. Hall then touched it lightly on the back with the pencil point, with no effect, and finally put the pencil between the second and third fingers, which the hand seemed to feel, but dully, and finally he put the pencil in the usual position, when the hand begap with its usual greeting, showing that it knew it had not been using the pencil up to that time. We return to earth onee more to-day with peace and love. + (K.) [Throughout the sitting the writing was more rapid and illegible than usual and the hand more vehement, strengthen- ing my idea that there was some memory of the previous con- versation, and an attempt to act so as to contradict our statements.] (Now, Eector, wait awhile, please, before calling Hodgson, and let me talk to you. I want to ask you something about Mrs. Piper. You can tell us where she lives, surely.) [Here as in the other sittings the questions are not worded exactly as given.] Do you mean the light? (Yes. Can you tell me where the light lives?) No, friend. I am sure it is a country called America. (Very well, Eector. Now, wiU you please repeat the ques- tion I ask; not answer, but repeat: How old are you?) How are you? (Now answer the question: How old are you?) No, that is not necessary for me to waste light on. (All right. Now, please give me one or two association 250 SIXTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER words, write the first word that occurs to you, the first word that girl suggests.) Not much of anything to me. (Very good. Now, does compass suggest anything to you?) No, friend. I do not think I (Now, Rector, can you raise the other arm of the light?) No, friend, that is not for use. (Well, can you tap with your right foot?) I have no feet here while speaking. (Very well. Rector. Now, then, please call Hodgson, but do it in such a way that he can control the body of the light.) [While saying this Dr. Hall held against the hand his silk handkerchief, crumpled into a ball.] I do not TJD you well. Tou must not destroy my hearing. [Dr. Hall repeated the question again, with the handker- chief away.] I win call him presently. [Again, in a muffled voice with handkerchief close to his mouth.] I do not hear you, repeat again. [Again, with handkerchief between his mouth and the hand, so that no vibrations struck the hand, but the hand did not feel that the handkerchief was near as it did the first time. Doubtless the control heard, the first time the question was asked, but feeling the handkerchief packed into the hand, it tried to keep up the illusion that its ear is there.] + will notify me when he can come. Imperator will. (Very well, Imperator. We want Hodgson, please.) Do not be impatient, he will be here presently. He is anticipating meeting you to-day. (R.) [The hand then began to cramp very violently and to dash itself about upon the table with great force, and wrote,] Hello, Hall, I'm here again. (Glad to see you, Hodgson, but be a little quieter, please. You will hurt the light, and we can't read your writing.) Am I [unintelligible words] of it. [More unintelligible words.] (A little more slowly, please, Hodgson. Don't be so im- petuous, and write more plainly.) 251 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Hall, I say I was not conscious of I being violent. Pardon. (That's all right, Hodgson, but we don't want you to ex- haust yourself.) Don't you worry about me. (Nor waste the light.) Tou think you are so clever. (Well, but you must be quieter, you know.) [Tanner.] Tell that lady to speak slowly if she wishes me to TED. (Now, Hodgson, at the last sitting you said that you could not raise the light's other hand then, but that you would do it to-day. Will you please try now, try very hard?) I will certainly try hard. Hall, this reservoir is fiUed with ether from one side. (Now, if you try this, and leave as you said you would, can you return to-day, Hodgson?) No, not to-day. I could go if you wish at any time and give it up for to-day. (But could you not move the light's other hand?) I could not do this without going out entirely. (Could you not come back after you had done it?) No. I should be obliged to leave, entirely. (But I should think you might come back afterwards.) I TJD the conditions here better than anyone else. (Very well, Hodgson. Then stay and let the other go.) I will. (Now, Hodgson, please listen, for I have some important questions to ask you. First, can you tell me the name of the Watseka girl whom you investigated?) I referred to her long ago when I first passed over. I do not like your arrangements. [After seeing that Mrs. Piper's head was right, etc., we found that the writing table was placed so as to put the hand and arm in a strained position, and it was pulled closer to Mrs. Piper.] I wish to get the words better. Good. [Dr. Hall then repeated the question about the Watseka girl] I am not sure that I could recall at the moment. [I am not sure was rewritten several times, before we could read it.] 252 SIXTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (Very well. Now, I sent you once a man from Worcester, who did some very remarkable drawing, and you published several articles about him. Can you tell me his name?) Was his name Donaldson? (Why, maybe it was! Now, can you tell me the name of the young lady you were once engaged to?) Yes, if you promise not to speak of it in a way to injure her. (Oh, surely, Hodgson. We will be very careful.) J— T— D— (Thank you very much, Hodgson. Now, can you describe Madam Blavatsky's shrine?) Yes, but can't you coot. [This last word was rewritten several times until I exclaimed that he meant Koot Hoomi, when the hand paused.] [Dr. HaU then asked him again to describe the shrine, and the hand went through movements as if outlining it in the air. Then there was some reference not taken down, some remark made by Dr, HaU or myself, to which the hand wrote some unintelligible words. Dr. HaU then made quite a little speech to Hodgson. First he said to Hodgson that he had never met him while alive, and that he thought he was rather familiar to be calling him, " old chap" and "Hall,"] I do not care a fig about that now, I wish to help you in understanding psychical phenomena. (Yes, but I think you are rather familiar, considering that we never met.) I would as soon caU you old chap as anything. I would as soon caU you old chap as Hall. (Well, now, Hodgson, I have experimented with several mediums, just as you did when you were alive, and I have been experimenting with you just as you used to with others. Now, I am going to teU you what I have done and see what you have to say. You make a great fuss about your influence. WeU, I substituted a lot of my old ties for yours and you never knew the difference. What do you say to that?) I saw your old influence. I saw and thought you intended them for me. 253 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM (Well, that's pretty thin, Hodgson. You can hardly expect us to believe that.) I give you my word that I did. (Well, what do you say to this, Hodgson. I asked you to call Bessie Beals, and there is no such person. How do you explain that?) Bessie Beals is here, and not the [At this point we laughed and I made some remark to the effect that that was just what we had said Hodgson would do, and the hand continued thus,] I know a Bessie Beals. Her mother asked about her before. Mother asked about her before. (I don't know about that, Hodgson. Bessie Beals is a pure fiction.) I refer to a lady who asked me the same thing and the same name. (Guess you are wrong about that, Hodgson.) Yes, I am mistaken in her. I am mistaken. Her name was not Bessie, but Jessie Beals. (Now, Hodgson, I want to talk to you a little. Wait awhile, and listen luitil I am done. Now, I am going to be honest with you and tell you that you have not convinced us that you are Hodgson. You are just Mrs. Piper's idea of Hodgson, or else you are my old friend Borst. Mrs. Piper is a remarkable woman to make you seem so lifelike and vivid, but neverthe- less I am sure you are not Hodgson, but her secondary per- sonality or else Borst. You are not Mrs. William Piper but Mrs. Hodgson Piper, and I want you either to fade away into her or into Borst. I transfer all the esteem and admiration I have felt for you to Mrs. Piper Second or to Borst. She is honest, and honestly thinks it is you, but you are really only herself or else Borst, and you can take your choice which. Imperator and Rector are real, noble spirits, but you must confess that you are not Hodgson, but Mrs. Piper Second or Borst, and then you and I will say good-bye to each other forever.) [In reply to this the control tried to divert us by referring to some private affairs totally unconnected with the sitting, to which Dr. Hall replied:] 254 SIXTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER (This is evading the question. I say you are not Hodgson, and I want you to fade away, to become Borst or Mrs. Piper Second.) Look here. Hall, you ought to be ashamed to talk like that. (No, Hodgson, I am not ashamed. I am honest in this, and I want you to know just what I think before we say good-bye.) I UU, and I have been the same as far as it has been possible. (Very well, Hodgson, you are honest, too, so which shall I call you, Borst or Mrs. Piper Second?) You can't call me either and be a comrade of mine. (Now, I want you just to humour me, and let me call you one or the other.) I am neither. I am Hodgson, and I am perfectly sure of my own identity. (I wish I was. But I'm going to call you Borst.) Don't. Don't do that. (Why not?) Because I have felt so keenly, I have felt so keenly [Writ- ing through here illegible and had to be rewritten frequently.] your various whoppers all this time [We made some incredulous remarks to each other, laugh-- ing at his inability to explain his various mistakes, and he went on:] I think I told you so before. [Which he certainly had not, having been trustful to the point of credulity.] (Now, just as a matter of repetition, to oblige me repeat the words, "I am not Hodgson.") No. I am Hodgson. (Very well, this ends it then. Tou ean't convince me, and I am going to say good-bye, forever.) I do not expect to convince you in the least. (Now then, Hodgson, tell me, wasn't I justified in all this deception, for the sake of finding you out? Tou have done the same thing yourself, you know. Wasn't I justified?) Perfectly. 255 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM (I want to say to you now that I think you are hurting the cause you represent by pretending to be Hodgson. I think you ought to fade away and give place to Eector.) I feel you are not wholly responsible for the deception I feel you brought more or less from the beginning [We were bewildered here, but finally said to each other that he meant we brought false " influences " from the begin- ning, to which the hand replied:] No, you do not TJD me. I say you brought more or less deception from the beginning which I was aware of. (Well, we won't discuss that. Now, Mrs. Piper Second, do you know anyone with the name Owl's Eyes?) Hall, I insist upon being treated with respect. (I am treating you with the greatest respect.) [The hand wrote very illegibly, and had to repeat three times before we could read:] Thank you. (But I want you to humour me and be Mrs. Piper awhile.) Good-bye. I hope you will UD later. (Tell me whether you know anyone called Owl's Eyes.) If you properly address me. (Very well. Tell me, Borst, whether you know anyone called Owl's Eyes.) Don't be absurd. Hall. Let me say that I can take a joke as well as I ever did, but I cannot be catechised all the time. (Tell me how large I am.) I do not see your actual body. I see your spiritual body. (Well, since you will not let me call you what you are, I must say good-bye forever. Good-bye.) I am sorry for you but you cannot help it. Tou are you and I am I. (My last word to you is. Fade, and never come back again.) Thanks for the suggestion. Very good one. (Act on it, then. Good-bye.) Good-bye if you will, it from me to say adieu. I will see you on this side and will have it out then. (We'll part forever till then.) Tour [illegible word often rewritten until finally we make it out to be] friend says good-bye too. I will repeat later to 256 SIXTH SITTING WITH MRS. PIPER [words scrawled over and unintelligible] her. I will repeat later, to her. (You may go now, but when Mrs. Piper is coming out of the trance, make her move both her arms and repeat ques- tions after me, when you are leaving here and she is coming back.) I thank you but I will go when I am ready. (Do you want us to leave Mrs. Piper alone?) [The control did not seem to TJD this at first, so Dr. Hall repeated :] (We are going home now; we cannot stay here any longer; do you want us to leave Mrs. Piper alone in the trance?) I feel it would be wiser that you remain until I depart. (Well, how long is it going to take you to go? We have to go soon.) I must go very soon. (Very well. Good-bye.) I am glad to have seen you after all. Good-bye now, Rich- ard Hodgson. Adieu. + We cease now and may the blessing of God rest on you. (R.) SUBLIMINAL At 12 : 20 Mrs. Piper began to come out of her trance, and at 12 : 26 Dr. Hall asked her if she saw Hodgson, hut got no answer. Immediately afterwards she began to talk — Mother — Hello — There's Bessie. [Her left hand was rather restless, moving about on the pillow, though usually it is quiet. When she is coming out of the trance, the contractions of her face seem to be toward the left, the smile being only on the left, the mouth drawn far over to the left.] Mother . . cross. [Dr. Hall made waving movements of the arms in front of her, at short intervals, but obtained no response at all, nor did she mimic him. She then caught sight of her left hand, studied it intently, and finally said: A-a-ah, awful. I saw a lady . . and Mr. Myers . . [Then she caught sight of me, studied me, and said:] You don't look nice, do you? Are you in the body? Aches. 257 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM [Holding her right hand. This nearly always happens.] You're getting larger. Snaps. [Throughout, her left hand moved considerahly, she rested her head on it, an attitude she has never taken before, and perhaps in this way she showed an indirect effect of the sug- gestion to make bilateral movements. She says that always after a trance there is a slight numbness in both hands.] Wlien she had come out of the trance she asked if we were not coming again, and we said that it would be impos- sible now, but that perhaps in the fall we should renew the sittings, if there were time before she went to England. She asked us whether we had reached any conclusions, and we had considerable discussion here. "We said that we had not yet formulated our results, and felt that we had found many difficult and baffling things, that really we had been finding out how to work. Dr. Hall said that the most baffling thing to him was that no memories of the trance ever came into consciousness, even in the form of feeling states, and again she reiterated that she never had any memories at all. In various ways she showed again that she believed in the spiritistic theory. I asked her what she thought of Mr. Piddington's re- port, especially the sections on the Latin Message, and she said that she thought it was " perfectly extraordinary." She talked about this at some length, seeming to be per- fectly sincere and credulous in her wonder at what the control had accomplished. She was evidently very curious to know whether we were at all convinced and kept looking at both of us with a con- templative, questioning gaze, and when we said good-bye, and thanked her for her personal courtesy, the last thing that we saw was that same questioning gaze. CHAPTER XVI CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL I BEGIN to suspect that we can reduce her control, Hodgson, at least to a secondary personality or to a part, mood, or impersonation of Mrs. Piper, and perhaps make htm confess that he is so. These controls are often entirely indistinguishable the one from the other ; and he grows less Hodgsonesque during the progress of each sitting and is less so as the series of sittings proceeds. Is the control so suggestible that he can be made to fade into a mere state of mind of the medium, and even perhaps to confess that he is nothing more substantial than her trancoidal dream ? Can this be done successively with all her controls? What is our responsibility for constraining them to commit this kind of slow suicide ? Shall we be accessories to the crime of ghostly felo de sef Man can kiU the body, but can a psychologist also desecrate souls ? This very question almost suggests the awful second death of theology, and chimes in well with the theory that the soul survives the death of the body a while, but may itself go out later. Then, too, why should we lay these poor ghosts, who doubtless enjoy their rather pallid lives up to the full measure of their capacities ? Perhaps, too, our process of extermination may not be painless but may involve suffering akin to slow poisoning, a surgical operation, or vivisection, and we shall need also to defend it from the sentimentalists as all in the cause of science, and especially for the sake of practical therapeutics. It is not exorcism of evil spirits, for that would be a duty, but these controls are harmless and inno- cent, if not highly meritorious and dignified, ghosts. 259 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM We have, however, slowly drifted to the conclusion that they are not real ghosts that survive death in some trans- cendental realm, but only pseudo or simulacral spirits; so that it is against these impostors that we prepare d I'outrance with our false ambuscades, strategies, springes, and traps ; so that even if we are to be veritable assassins we yet are not red-handed, for our thirst is only for the gory ichor or blue blood in the Jenseits. Let us then go scalp-hunting for these phantoms in the interests of the psychic integrity of Mrs. Piper, and in the hope of re- solving them all into her various moods and tenses and, when this is done, reuniting them under the dominion of one central, normal ego, thus restoring her distraught soul to unity and sanity. We burn with faith and enthusiasm to redintegrate her psyche, and are convinced that it needs only time, patience, and subtlety ; and our only fear is that we may lack some measure of each of these. But we will go far enough to satisfy at least ourselves of the attain- ability of this goal. But to attain this end we must learn to conjure with some soul-compelling spell. What can it be, and how can we use it? What a miracle of psychotherapy if one like Mrs. Piper, smitten lo ! these twenty years with the malady of a bifurcated personality, can have her cleft nature made whole again! The restorations effected upon the patients of Morton Prince, Janet, Sidis, etc., would pale before this if it could be accomplished. I believe the spell — if there be one — ^will be found deep down, mostly below the consciousness of Mrs. Piper's own psyche, in a hidden wish to be made sound again like others. What are the evidences of such inclination on her part? She wishes to go back to the Orthodox Church of her early life but fears that, knowing her belief and vocation, it would not welcome her. She is intelligent and reads good literature. Perusing as she does the records of all her trances, she cannot avoid feeling as others do that there is 260 CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL something not only strange, but a little weird and uncanny, about her. She may accept or have accepted the interpre- tation others have put upon it as spirit control, and do this now from habit reinforced, no doubt unconsciously, by the fact that it is for her material interest to do so, as conjurers once claimed the aid of supernal powers. While the in- stinct to be again normal or like others may never have risen above the threshold, there are signs that it is growing toward birth. Women do not like to be exceptional curi- osities. Again, she keeps her daughters as far as prac- ticable from this side of her life, and is glad that they show little traces of mediumship, and would ignore and not culti- vate the possibilities of it that she recognises in one of them. Besides, what advantage have the spirits brought her save a not wholly enviable fame and a slender means of liveli- hood? She is looked at askance, carefully conceals her vocation from dwellers of other flats in her own house, has been fairly persecuted by reporters and exploited by the press in ways that she describes with just indignation. True, her powers have brought her into the society of culti- vated and noted people, but not as one of them, and she has grown too refined to consort with the common ruck of spiritualists and looks down upon them. As the change of life slowly supervenes, and with it comes, as seems probable, some abatement of her mediumis- tic powers, of which we think there are already signs, we may safely predict a progressive atrophy of all the sub- jective processes as well as of vocational activities in this direction. We can and should help her on toward this, by at least slightly repressing the insistence of the more domi- nant of her controls in order that the process of psychic intussusception of the parts of this fissioned soul may begin healing at the bottom before it is too late. The main fact in the trance is that the, onlooker is deeply impressed with the idea that she is unconscious of everything in her environment, that her soul is far away, 261 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM and her faculties are in abeyance. Some of her clients are thus thrown completely off their guard, so that they at first whisper, then talk sotto voce, and perhaps finally in their natural tones very freely to each other, feeling that she is out of their social circle unless, like a deaf per- son, addressed forte or fortissimo. It does seem at first indeed a magic hand which hears and writes, while the rest of the psycho-physic organism is functionally dead, and the medium's soul is not at home to callers but far away. Only the hand and arm are vitalised — ^they are sensitive, alert, tense — ^while deep sleep, twin brother of death, shrouds the other parts and processes. Upon reflection, however, we realise that at least the manual brain centres, both sensory and motor, must be awake, with both afferent and efferent innervations pitched to a high key. The hand points, nods for yes, shakes for no, quivers with impatience, listens, gestures for silence, beckons, with quite a vocabu- lary of signs. These centres in the left hemisphere then are by no means asleep, but have quite a collection of re- sponses to outer stimuli, so that here at least there seems a break in the dense cloud of sleep that has settled over the cortex. By contrast with this latter the hand might well seem to the Tincritical observer as highly potentialised. Yet the writing is very crude and coarse, far more rudimentary and childlike than that of the medium when awake. This suggests more or less bef uddlement of the centres involved. The script is comparable with the blurred speech of an inebriate. Even when there is a demand to rewrite, the handwriting is but little improved. Thus the accessory muscles that make good chirography are either asleep, ob- nubilated, or a little sleepy drunk. There is tension with- out accuracy, so that the condition of the hand, arm, and their centres suggests abnormal or toxic agitation. The hand, too, is only subnormally sensitive to compass points and other sense stimuli. Thus the control appears to have 262 CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL only a rather undervitalised organ at its disposal. Mrs. Piper herself can do far more and better in any of these directions than can Rector, Imperator, or Hodgson ; and the latter at least wrote far better when alive than he can do with Mrs. Piper's hand, which is perhaps not surprising, for penmanship is probably not needed by the spirits save ■flfhen they condescend to communicate with mortals. Per- haps one of the charms of the hereafter is that there will be no books or manuscripts to pore over. Sitters should doubtless consider themselves fortunate that the denizens of the great beyond vouchsafe them even hieroglyphs to decipher as best they may ; but why will not some medium offer them a chance to use a hand skilled on the typewriter ? It is exasperating to be so often in doubt as to these now runic, now cluttered and stogey,iCreeds which often seem so cryptic and mystic as to suggest quite a variety of words in turn, even those of foreign tongues, which spirits are so fond of affecting. Perhaps these sign manuals are signals or cryptograms, such as were so pregnant with meaning to alchemists and astrologers, and which would be fairly blaz- ing with significance if our ignorance of these old drafts was cleared up. This department of spirito-logical inter- pretation or diplomatology is yet to be developed; and when it is, it may be that what seems to our dull wit only pot-hooks, hen-tracks, blobs, and blotches, will blaze with anagrammatic wisdom that will make the world sit up and listen. Until then we can do no otherwise than believe that Mrs. Piper's hand in her trances, while alert and active in a general way, is specifically both clumsy and obtuse, nervous but half asleep, loquacious but mumbling, yielding itself but unwillingly and bunglingly to compulsion from some higher, other than manual centre. The spelling is generally correct; and spelling is a higher function than writing, and so we are invited to look above for the seat of the alert control that seems to stand out like an oasis in the heart of a great desert of somnolence, 263 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM It is vital to remember, in the next place, that the left ear is certainly awake, because over and over murmured words, between those present, steps, rustles, laughs, and many other noises are heard and reacted to, sometimes un- expectedly, by the writer. It is the ear, of course, that hears what is spoken into the hand. The establishment of this fact is of great significance. The clever trickster might have reasoned out a scheme of impressing the sitters with the idea that they must shout into the hand and that all else was lost, so that they would thus be thrown off their guard, while the intently listening ear would catch and utilise for the manual responses all that was said to each other. The keener the audition and the more deft the hand, the wider the range of oral impartation from whispering to shouting that would be profited by. With Mrs. Piper we believe this method was not a project of strategy or de- signed, but a slow, unconscious evolution. Thus, responses and statements are written that fairly smite with wonder the incautious and uncritical sitter, who naively allows him- self to fall into the assumption which the method suggests that the control hears nothing but what is loudly spoken into the hand. The sitters have really thought aloud and communicated in low tones to others, feeling as secure against betrayal as if their thoughts were unspoken, and, perhaps, indeed, not conscious that they had been put ia articulate form. Thus, when natural answers come back, they seem veritable mind-reading or marvellous illustra- tions of the pellucidity of the sitters' souls to the celestial visitant. Now, it is a very significant fact that stenographic rec- ords have rarely been kept, even of the ipsissima verba, that are consciously said to the control by the sitters. Even our record, which was made as full as long hand could be, does not do this. This is because the feeling has been that the important things of the sitting came from the medium, when the exact reverse is true. Everything that is really • 264 CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL significant comes from the sitters. Far less has there been any stenographic record of things said loud or low in the room, where there frequently are at least two if not more visitors present. Under the conditions of the sitting, the temptation is incessant to carry on considerable conversa- tion, to express secret plans, and purposes and methods that betray answers; and all with the same feeling of security that we have, as I said, in speaking before the deaf. Such talk is, much of it, almost immediately forgotten, if, indeed, it was conscious even at the time. Yet in this is the source of supply from which the control garners most of its knowledge of us. There are, of course, inflections, too, movements, slight noises, etc., which are more or less signifi- cant. Often, especially in our characterisations of both real and fictitious dead friends, we have only given the name and a few salient facts to the ear, adding various details in a low voice to Mr. Dorr and Dr. Tanner, while the hand was writing, which, however, insistently utilised these sources of information by incorporating reactions in the script, while we tried not to be remiss in the expressions of wonder which seemed to be the usual and proper thing under such circumstances. Thus, the auditory centres were not asleep but seemed in full function, and at first we thought that there was some hyperacuity, although we were not infrequently asked to repeat as if to keep up the illusion that the hand was hard of hearing. Yet here, too, subse- quent observation suggests obtuseness and subnormality, that while the ear heard, it did so dimly and sleepily, or else tended to drop off into the slumber in which the eye and other orienting faculties were wrapped. On the whole, we incline to the idea that, although we have here the source of by far most of the information the control seems to possess that appears supernormal, that the ear itself in point of fact is not very wide awake, and most of the time is only a little above the middle state between sleeping and waking. Mrs. Piper used to speak in her trances as well 20 265 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM as, or instead of, writing ; but of late oral communications seem to have sunk below the threshold or gone over to join the majority of dormant powers. Thus, by the process of elimination, we seem to be re- ferred at last to the higher psychic powers, whether of the medium or the control, to explain the patness and sagacity of the writings. Somewhere in the supreme centres, where attention and apperception hold their court, must be sought the subtle mentation displayed in the rapt state of this seeress. If we admit hand and eye a little subnormal in their powers, this warrants the inference of all the more marvellous activities of some superconsciousness. The worse the tools, the more clever the artist. Here, if anywhere, the celestial visitor, with vision clarified of mortal dross, uses the implements of flesh to impart revelations of supernal wisdom. What, in fact, do we receive from these supreme altitudes ? We must answer, in general, considerable mem- ory of names and incidents across the interval of from ten days to two weeks between sittings, but this is faint and usually needs suggestion to reawaken it. There is also much deftness and rapidity in catching on to all the sug- gestions of the moment, which are not, however, always very persistent but tend to fade. There is some blunder- ing, occasionally complete forgetfulness. We find no trace of any power to distinguish the lie from sincerity, or error from truth, but instead a precipitate readiness to accept any suggestion whatever, no matter how inconsist- ent with other incidents. There is not the slightest power of continued and coherent impartation or discourse, but only platitudinous generalisations, ejaculations, trite com- monplaces, vagueness in the answers of definite questions, and shiftiness, evasion, postponement galore, fondness for phrases that mean anything, occasional lapses to bathos and twaddle, and sudden forgetfulness and vacuity in the middle of sentences, as if " the light " suddenly went out. The association experiments and reactions suggest a low 266 CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL type of mentality, inferior, on the whole, if only because less controlled and revised, than the longer reactions of the waking state. The only spontaneous impartations in the whole series of sittings are a few personal names, allusions to a mole, a scar, a book, a baby, several diseases, scenes, and incidents, etc. ; and these were lightly dropped as hints, and each of those that were reacted to, and only those, were developed more or less in whatever direction and to what- ever extent we gave the cue. These we interpreted as fish- ing, hints for us to follow up in ease any of them hap- pened to fit. As mind-reading the whole performance is more clumsy than a deft normal person, who uses mainly muscular reactions, could achieve. On the whole, indeed, we already realise how ineffably dull and boresome these sittings would become if they had to be followed up too long or held too frequently. We dishonour our immortal parts by thinking that we find them here. Supernormal agencies have always been supposed to exist where man's knowledge was least developed. Once they were found amidst the phenomena of storm, lightning, cloud, eclipse, heavenly bodies, beneath the earth or the sea, in the " resurgam " motive of springtime, in the mi- grations of birds, and the appearance of entrails, when the courses of these phenomena were still unknown. Now there are terrcB incognitm where these mystic agents are sought — ^those which are merely dynamic are sought in electricity, and those that are psychic in the subconscious soul of men. In the latter, the supemals good and bad have always had a stronghold, but in these days of science this is about their last refuge, for they are exorcised from their old haunts. As Spiritists regard exceptional phe- nomena in the psychic field to-day, just so primitive men regarded all unusual or unknown processes throughout na- ture. There is, in fact, nothing here save what we just now have no better name for than a parasitic secondary personality that sometimes asserts itself. 267 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM In Mrs. Piper, the eye with its primacy of function is shunted out ; so is general sensibility ; probably her diges- tive, and certainly her respiratory, functions, taste, smell, general tactile sensibility and motor innervation are asleep. But, as the tide ebbs, there is in her strangely configured soul a singular land-locked bay, where the tide stays at half ebb until it rises again and reunites the bay with the sea and its forms of life, and cadences its waves to those of the ocean. Perhaps we fish and explore a little on the banks of this cut-off inlet and wonder that it seems so high when the tide is all out and far. "We think we see in its depths skyey objects which we never see in the ever- turbulent sea. Sea-rovers, who have never seen a lake, come from far and marvel at the transparency of this, for their eyes could never penetrate any depth of the ocean. They bathe in it for their diseases, they think it mystic, sacred, therapeutic, while in the low susurrus of its ripples on the shore, when the breeze stirs and ruffles its surface, they find voices, and they cast auguries by the ripple-marks. They seem to see straight down through the very earth, which is only the heavens reflected. They cast stones, and the splashes say things; they see their own reflection and learn first the powers of a mirror, and self-knowledge is begun. As to the psychic activity of the control, which goes on between sittings, this must be granted : not infrequently in our and in other sittings questions and stunts of various kinds have been answered tentatively or postponed until later sittings, so that there is often a bunch of pledges of further enlightenment standing over, left to be redeemed. This is well calculated to stimulate curiosity and to bring the sitters back. Our exhortation to the control to think things over seems to increase not only its mentation be- tween spells but also the probability that the dropped topic will be taken up at a later sitting without our specific re- quest. Sometimes matters that are left over are tided 268 CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL along, perhaps with appetising suggestions and partial progress through a series of successive sittings, days or even weeks apart. This fact is interesting, and raises vari- ous questions. We might infer from it that it is not nec- essary for her to go into a trance in order that her control get in its work, but that there is a Herbartian Bearheitung of the ideas and impressions between sittings which takes place while she is in her normal state. If so, this process would seem to be essentially unconscious to her waking mind. If this be the case, may it be that her secondary or parasitic personality depletes somewhat the vigour of her normal self by diverting for its use a part of the sum total of her available psycho-physic energy to its uses, as peo- ple surreptitiously tap electric currents, gas pipes, etc.? It certainly must cost more force to keep two egos in opera- tion than one. This would seem to suggest that there is double housekeeping going on, that two souls at the same time inhabit Mrs. Piper's body. On any such assumption endless speculative questions present themselves; e. g., although unconscious of each other, do the conscious and subconscious egos harmonise, or are they sometimes at cross purposes? Does sometimes one and sometimes the other have the greater relative increment of strength as interests and situations in the environment change? Where impor- tant choices are being made, does what is in other minds alternate weighing of reasons, become in Mrs. Piper's two voices or advocates, reasoning out pros and cons with each other — ^i. e., in the crucial act of decisions where a wide periscope must be made, does either personality entirely exclude the activity of the other? Or, again, shall we as- sume that it is not during the waking hours but more prob- ably during Mrs. Piper's sleep that the control has its occasional innings and gets in its work? It may sleep when she wakes and wake while she sleeps, or tend to do so. If the latter be true, then her normal sleep approximates that of the trance, at least in so far as it favors the activity of 269 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the control. This means a diurnal au rehours life. Mrs. Piper's night is the day of the control. It comes out like the stars when the sun of consciousness sets. Its activity is not unlike that of continued systematised dreams in those cases where sleepers revert often to the same topics; or perhaps even act out in a somnambulistic way similar parts as if in a continued story. These considerations bring us to the problem of the re- lation between her dual states. It seems incredible that, hav- ing read reports of all her sittings, there should have been in her mind no glimmer of a dejd vu experience, even the faintest, of the most salient happenings in her trance. Pos- sibly here, too, hypnosis might effect some junction, and could probably be made very effective in breaking down the waU or partition between her two states and unifying her life, but for the " de-social and economic situation." Surely between two souls in one body there must be some percolation or seepage. There would seem at least to be some coensesthesias or common sensibles between the individuals that constitute this strange pair of psychic Siamese twins. Chang surely must impart at least his most general affectivities to Eng. Mrs. Piper feels the fatigue of the control, for she emerges from an unusually long, deep, or drastic trance exhausted. Again, what we were told of one sitter suggests at least that the personal aversion he provoked in Mrs. Piper and in the control was more or less similar in kind and amount, suggesting that one may influence the other in the matter of personal likes and dislikes. I fancied that I myself de- tected a faint left-over trace of coolness toward me in Mrs. Piper, after waking from the third sitting, like the tenuous after-image of the aversion aroused in Hodgson by what he thought was an imposition or an attempt to deceive dur- ing the seance. In general, Mrs. Piper has doubtless so often had frequent occasion to deny all communication be- tween her two states that she has developed an idea of a 270 CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL water-tight compartment between them, which is becoming more or less fixed. And so she has grown unconsciously- indisposed to admit every or any functional synapses be- tween the two psyches that inhabit her soma. It is not exactly that she has an irrevocable idea of their complete duality, so much as that the entire structure of her theory about herself rests very largely upon the assumption of a pretty complete bifurcation as its corner-stone. Even when we try to impress the dejd, vu idea upon her, her answer to the general question is a little too ready-made to permit a candid reopening of the question that shall in- volve anything like a careful re-review of her experiences while reading all her own sittings. She was probably a good way from proposing, as we would like to have had her do, to reread some characteristic parts of the record to see if she did not find a dim sense of familiarity that was un- observed before. She certainly cannot, we think, ever have read these records with this question in the focus of her attention, for she did betray the fact that our question and the thought it conveyed was new to her. The " control " often injects into the sitting casual or incidental words, phrases, perhaps direct questions, etc., which are quite disconnected with the course of thought and unsuggested by anything in the conference. These seem to be images that occur spontaneously and often irrel- evantly, and that lie quite outside the current of associa- tions, like erratic psychic boulders or dikes thrust up through the stress of ideas and rupturing them, or like sug- gestions from another mind, so stray, random, and isolated are they from what goes before or after. It is as if an independent spring of a different order bubbled up beneath the tiny current of a rivulet. These eruptive ideas are perhaps an unique characteristic of this class of minds, the habitus of which seems often to have been much culti- vated. They almost suggest weird snatches or germs of an alien personality trying to break into consciousness, but 271 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM tmsuecessf ully save for a moment. For this phenomenon I do not find any word, which is surely needed, so specifically different is it from what ordinarily goes on within. We might eaU them " psycho-keksids " or psychic bubbles. These the medium apparently comes to lay very great stress upon and believes them to be fraught with great signifi- cance, while the believing sitter is prone to regard them as cues and tests, pregnant with meaning, if he can only get at it. Perhaps they may be conveyed telepathically from other minds. They challenge the attention of the sitter at once, and exhort him to a hasty periscope of his recent ex- perience to see what he can remember. He strains his mind to match them with something in himself: it may be a proper name, a foreign word or two, a physical trait, scar, lameness, a book, accident, or any object, incident, or salient event. The sitter feels urgently called upon, almost as if by a direct question, to seek an answering object or event within his own life, knowledge or circle of acquaintances, past or present. It is a sign demanding an interpretation. "We must find some counterpart or correspondence to fit it, and if we fail we feel that it is somehow our fault, that we are slow and dull of apprehension. The " control " is often precipitate and gives us little time; he prefers our reaction by first intention, as if second thoughts to him seemed like second-hand goods. If a hit is made and we can match the suggestion, there is often an exhilarating re- sponse in us, a kind of eureka sentiment. The balance, in which our belief or unbelief has long hovered uncertain, tips. It is thus a crucial moment when we hear these psycho-keksids calling us. Are they tempting sirens that would lure us to our destruction, or are they angelic beck- onings to a higher world? Can and shall we grasp these lines thrust across the chasm that separates the mundane from the spiritual world, and go and build a bridge to the jenseits? Here psychic diathesis and individual psychologic dis- 272 CURRENT NOTES BY DR. HALL position play an important role. After one has had a dozen such provocative solicitations in a sitting, he begins to feel compulsion lest something be lacking on his part. If he is not dense, he is at any rate a trifle hard and unsympa- thetic to refuse a whole series of such gentle invitations. Why discourage the " controls "? Perhaps our souls somehow do not ring true. Even common etiquette between the denizens of two worlds would seem to suggest that we ought to meet the ghosts at least half-way. In this rather tense state of mind, the question is almost inevitable on the sitter's part whether it be not justifiable in a true re- searcher in this most unique situation to feign at least a little interest, if not to give an occasional assent. The door of the soul may be opened at any rate a little to the fairy rappings of these ethereal spirit folk, who are trying so hard to make connections with us, their relatives, who are doomed to spend our entire lives crawling about in the dark, dirty bottom of this dense sea of air, which our celes- tial visitants try from sheer love to penetrate in order to reach us and allure our thoughts upward to a higher and brighter world, though it be but for an hour. CHAPTER XVII THE MEDIUM IN GEEM In presenting the following cases of incipient medium- ship which have come under my notice, both of which were cases sincere and free from fraud^ one of the important things I have in mind is to show how alien to the mind of the medium herself is the true cause of her states. The history of " this girl," as seen by herself, is given in the first part of the paper, her own words being often used, while the underlying motive did not appear until the last sitting. In the case of the older woman, she does not seem to have connected her feelings of possession, etc., with her condition of health, and in proportion as she did this she was able to resist the tendencies. Imagine an impressionable, dreamy girl, the constant companion of a mother who was born with a veil and who, true to that heritage and to the teachings of her own seeress mother, saw visions and talked with spirits. Far more than in most families the mother and daughter were dependent upon each other for companionship, for the mother was somewhat alienated from her husband, and even meditated a divorce, and the family lived in a small town, and were not church attendants, thus missing the chief source of social life in a small place. The girl and her mother read much, though perhaps superficially, on popular psychology, science, astronomy, and geology, etc., depending largely on Chamber's " Encyclopedia " for their information. They worked out theories of their own on the evolution of the earth, on life and society, on the nature of God and immor- tality, and on the moral abuses of to-day. 274 THE MEDIUM IN GERM As adolescence approached, the daughter inevitably nourished her soul on dreams of greatness, and the mother, given to visions of another world, was lynx-eyed to inter- pret every oscillation of mood as due to spirits pressing in upon her daughter's soul. But not until, at seventeen, the girl first went to a me- dium did the dreams become visions. Not only did the medium give the girl messages, but she said that the spirits destined this girl for a great work and would soon take control of her themselves. Then soon, in the quiet of her own home, the spirits did. appear, at first only as visions, silent though distinct, but in the course of a month, audible as well as visible, able to tell her directly what they wished, and to prove themselves by showing her clairvoyantly her father's boyhood home and by prescribing for a sick friend of his. For years the girl did not display her power outside of the family circle and never earned money by it, though they were poor, but simply cultivated her spirit acquaint- ances, until she had a circle of them who played the same part in her life that companions of her own age do in the life of any normal girl. They helped her trim her dresses and hats, advised her about family troubles, health, etc. Then, too, there were greater spirits: Lucifer, familiarly called Zezy, and Oleof, master of the elements. They were the leaders of a band of spirits who have never been in- carnated, and to whom God has given as a great and special trust the conversion of the world for Christ's second coming. By slow degrees, over a period of four years, the convic- tion was borne in upon this girl that she was the divinely appointed medium through whom these spirits were to work, and just at the critical moment when she had shaped this definitely to herself she saw in a paper the announcement of a course of lectures to be given at a near-by university by a certain well-known psychologist on Spiritism and allied phenomena. This, the spirits told her, was the long- 275 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM awaited signal. She must go to this Professor, demand an audience in their name and through her they would speak, convincing the Professor of their power and wisdom. He then would convene all the well-known scientists of the land whom, in turn, the spirits would convert, and plans could then be worked out in detail for the reformation of the world. She went accordingly, and found the Professor very willing to allow her to give some sittings to him and two others interested in the subject. Picture her now at her first real seance. Her trance was still in that incipient stage in which she was conscious of all that was said and done, and she must have been intensely alive to the fact that she was the centre of interest, the object of curiosity and wonder, if not of reverence, to these students so much older and more learned than she herself. The little circle sat about her quiet and sympathetic, jotting down her lisping nonsense about the origin of ether and atoms, relations of the hierarchies of angels to God, the proper laws for marriage and divorce, etc., until in a burst of confidence her heart was laid bare. Even in this gen- eration is the Christ to come agaia. To-day, in this coun- try, nay, in this very section of the country, is living the girl who shall be blessed above even the Holy Mother her- self in giving birth to the reincarnated Christ, who this time will come in glory and triumph. Who could this greater Mary be? Or rather, is it not she who long before the annunciation has dreamed of the glorified world which Christ will usher in? Not to this girl does it belong to claim such honour boldly, but ah, the hope is clinging warm about her heart. During the first few sessions the sitters were perhaps a little dazed by these utterly naive and inmost revelations, not of the spirit world, but of a simple and unabashed soul. But very gently at first, and then more insistently, Zezy brought to the front his message to the scientific world, and 276 THE MEDIUM IN GERM hinted that we ought to call together Edison and James and others. Then came a sitting in which Zezy was kindly but plainly told that we were still in some doubt as to his real existence, and that to prove it he must state to us facts which could not possibly have been known to this girl. This was a new idea to the control and made him thoughtful and silent for a time, but he soon professed him- self quite willing for such tests, and asked what he should do. We suggested that he bring back the Founder of the University and have him tell us things known only between him and the Professor, and this Zezy agreed to try. Between this time and the next session, as this girl tells the story, the spirits brought the Founder to her, and he practised upon her so that he might come back easily at the next sitting. They also sought for the Professor's mother and a fictitious niece, whom he invented for the occasion. When the Founder first came he could only give her visions of his life among the Indians. (He probably never saw a live Indian.) The second time he entered her body but could not talk, but the third time he could talk. At the sitting the Founder appeared with all Zezy's characteristic tones and phrases, but was very sensitive to light and to draughts. He was in a bad humour, and did not manifest any pleasure at meeting the Professor again. He was called on for specific incidents, and was asked many questions, to most of which he said he did not know the answer, but to a few he offered tentative answers, as, " Wasn't it thus? " " Seems to me I remember it thus." Out of about eighty points noted, four were correct, and three of these were known to the general public. The fourth was a personal incident of the Professor's getting a fall while in a bath, but the circunastances and time were entirely wrong. In the next session various detailed incidents were told the Professor about his childhood, none of which he could recall. His fictitious niece also appeared, and her appear- 277 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM ance and characteristics were described in detail. The Founder then appeared again with more incidents, such aa the Professor losing his cigar and getting on his hands and knees to hunt for it. Also, a dispute that the two had over the location of the boilers in one of the university buildings, which actually never occurred. Evidently, these incidents had been in the process of formation in the medium's mind, partly consciously and partly unconsciously, and these were given rather confi- dently and were not easily altered by suggestion. She pictures things to herself vividly and readily, and has come to believe in such ideas as divinatory and veridical, as any naive mind does, making the test of truth only the clearness and distinctness of the idea. But as the session advanced, and the medixun got these preformed ideas out of her mind, she became susceptible to suggestion, and we built up, e. g., a detailed description of the Founder's picture gallery, his health, etc. Here every expression of ours, inflection, assent, or dissent, was reacted to in the most delicate manner, very largely, we believe, without the girl herself understanding the process, and believing that the visions which came according to our sug- gestions originated in the spirit world. The next session was at first taken up with similar de- tailed incidents in the life of the fictitious niece, conversa- tions she had had with her aunt and imcle, her girl friends, etc. Then came a pause, and the niece said hesitatingly that she had a message to be given to a certain Mr. B. ; that his mother would like to have him come to a sitting to get the message, but that probably he would not be will- ing to come if he knew that this girl was the medium, unless perhaps the Professor would urge him to come. The fic- titious niece, who still purported to be controlling this girl, then went into a long explanation of why Mr. B. would not see this girl, and for nearly an hour recounted all sorts of gossip about the medium's family, displaying a knowl- 278 THE MEDIUM IN GERM edge of the girl's most intimate thoughts and feelings, which showed that the control served only as a rather flimsy veil to hide the medium's shame and confusion at making public these disgraceful things. Even so the pretence was not complete, for when the control began ' ' I suppose you know all about it .... " her face flushed and remained so imtil she grew absorbed in the intricacies of her story. Now, the nib of the girl's motive for telling us this fam- ily scandal lay in the fact that some years before, at about the time when her visions first began, she had become in- fatuated with a man twelve years older than herself. Even from the standpoint of her own great desire she could not say that he had ever given her the slightest encouragement or intimation of any affection, but she had been told by some acquaintances, doubtless in jest, that he was in love with her, and her own desires made her give credence to the statement. Why then did he not come to see her and tell her so ? There could be only one reason, and that was that he had heard the scandal about the family. Acting on this theory she and her mother seem to have written notes to the man and to Mr. B., trying to get Mr. B. to clear her mother to the man. We can only guess how much the two did, but some two years before our sittings the girl seems to have realised how foolish the efforts were and to have decided to let the whole matter drop. But Zezy (standing doubtless for her instinctive, sub- conscious desires) continued to maintain that the man reaUy loved her, and that if only Mr. B. would just once meet her mother civilly the man would then call on this girl, and the way would be open for anything. This, then, was the underlying motive for these sittings. Mr. B. would be among the noted men to sit at her feet; he would necessarily receive messages from his spirit mother telling him to treat this girl and her mother well, and so the spirits would smooth the path for true love and ring the marriage bells. 279 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM We had a long and detailed conversation with the con- trols about this matter, we urging that it was of prime im- portance for this girl to take no more steps, but winning only a reluctant assent to our worldly wisdom. Finally, Sarah was dismissed, and at once Zezy arrived in an excited and boisterous frame of mind, but was finally calmed down and dismissed until some indefinite future sitting. This was the last session, but in the year that has elapsed since then the girl has called at the Professor's upon various pretexts. She began to hold sittings with a group of Psychical Researchers, but soon became disgusted with them because they would not talk to Zezy but simply listened, and she gave up the sittings. Whether she has taken any further steps in relation to the man we do not know. Again, upon making inquiries about her family we found that no such scandal was generally known as she related, and the question has therefore been raised in our minds as to whether she is not suffering from a genuine de- lusion of persecution. This opinion is strengthened by Dr. Freud's opinion, who had a session with her, and who con- siders her slightly paranoiac. The motivation of her mediumship was made very clear by our last seance. Her unrequited love is approximately coincident with the beginning of her mediumship, and the latter developed as an agency by which she might become attractive to this man. Her conviction that she had a pe- culiar mission had as its imconfessed and subconscious mo- tive her desire by her own attractions to counterbalance the scandal about her family. Her expectation of becoming the mother of the second Christ is a pathetic expression of the usually unconf essed and largely subconscious dreams of most young girls. The case is an excellent illustration of how shock may split the personality, and how in the subconscious self, quite unknown to the person the repressed desire may be at work 280 THE MEDIUM IN GERM creating a fantastic thought-scheme through which it may- obtain gratification. In this case, the thwarted sexual de- sires found at least partial expression in the swagger and roughness of Zezy, and in the relief from the usual inhibi- tions in conversation. Her talk about marriage, as well as the tendency of some of her imagery to picture scenes not usually alluded to in society, showed plainly that in the depths of her mind sex was a very potent and constantly present factor. In another case which has come under my observation the personality has not been disrupted, but has been shaken by repeated shocks of the most trying sort, so as to give the person the sense of an alien personality, though she does not believe in it. Unfortunately, she has few notes made at the time, and the record is therefore incom- plete. When she was about fourteen years old her father lost his fortune, and she was obliged to take upon herself most of the responsibility for running the household. This was very hard both physically and emotionally. Previous to this, between seven and nine years, she had had an illness which had left some tendencies to paralysis of the bowel, and she has been troubled with this more or less ever since. She seems to have been in poor health from fourteen on, but-41iere was no alteration of personality that is remem- bered until she was twenty. Then, while sweeping a room one morning, she suddenly entered into a state of ecstasy. She felt light and free, all imperfections disappeared be- fore a mysterious Beauty, and poetry sang itself in her mind, a song expressing gratitude to the source of this Infinite Beauty. Then for years she remembers nothing more of this sort. She married and had a son, but when he was fourteen months old he died. At the same time came financial and other troubles, until she was exhausted. One evening she went to bed with a headache, but began to weep, until the 21 281 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM lines of an old hymn came into her mind, " Come, Holy- Spirit, Heavenly dove, with all thy quickening powers." Then came a great peace, with a vision of a dead aunt and cousin. Intense ecstasy followed, so intense that her body could not endure it and she screamed, bringing her husband and his sister to her. They found her rigid, with fixed eyes. They shook and rubbed her, and when she became conscious she exclaimed, " Oh, I have seen Jesus! " and went to sleep. In the morning she had no recollection of this. Again there was a lapse, this time of ten years, when diphtheria became epidemic in the family and their four- year-old daughter died. On their way to the cemetery the mother tried to compose herself, when suddenly she seemed to see the child floating radiantly in the air, and a great peace and joy came upon her. The vision remained until they entered the cemetery, the mother reasoning about it to herself, experimenting in order to make it disappear, etc. The feeling of strength and peace remained for weeks, while the husband and another child were ill with diph- theria, and the mother was put to the severest tests of en- durance. Not long after this a man interested in hypnotism and Spiritism began to call upon her husband and to discuss these matters in her presence. One evening they sat about a table, and her right arm began to twitch. When given pencil and paper she repeatedly wrote the word " Chan- ning." Nothing more happened that night. A week later they tried again without results, but her eyelids began to feel heavy, and she supposes that she was hypnotised without her knowledge. Her head drew back, her neck became rigid, and she began to impersonate their dead little daughter. Then she talked like her husband's dead mother. A stage of great happiness followed, but suddenly a vision of a skull frightened her, and was suc- ceeded by an intense hate of the hypnotist and the feeling 282 THE MEDIUM IN GERM that she was taken possession of by some frenzied creature to wreak vengeance upon him. She told her husband that the man must go home, and after a walk in the yard and a night's rest she felt like herself, but was so frightened by the experience that she would not try it again. About eight years later she saw a piece of statuary which again put her into a state of ecstasy, with the realisa- tion of Infinite Beauty. And two years later she began to fall into the trance state while asleep, rousing her husband by impersonations of dead persons. She would act and gesture like the person until her husband guessed the right one, and would then begin to talk. She has done this occasionally for friends, and has doubtless had other experiences which she has forgotten, but for some time she has let it drop, because she is not sure of its effect upon her health or efficiency, nor is she con- vinced, that it is anything more than an abnormal manifes- tation, although the character of the visions naturally raises in her mind the question of spirit communication. Here, as in other cases, we have the same diathesis. This lady is highly sensitive and impressionable, with vivid imagery and feelings of premonition, etc. She is subject to fluctuations of feeling, without causes satisfactory to herself, and these seem to be the beginning of the sense of an alien personality. But in her case the normal self has never been destroyed, in spite of the great strains, because, I think, her own thoughtfulness and her husband's have prevented the encouragement of the spiritistic manifes- tations. On the other hand, what are we to say regarding the visions and the realisation of Infinite Beauty "i These, it is testified, give not only peace but strength. They are un- doubtedly of the same character as the ecstasy of the mys- tics and the Neo-Platonists. We do not know as much as we should of the nervous accompaniments of this state, nor even of the details of the way to attain it, but one thing 283 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM does seem to be characteristic of the attainment of the state by the great mystics of all cults and religions. Preceding the Vision or Rapture, there is always a stage of prepara- tion, of intense longing and concentration, and this finally breaks through the limitations of the old personality, and gives the sense of enlargement, freedom, peace, etc. The process is not, therefore, one of dissociation of the self, and consequent narrowing of the normal self, as is the case in the mediumistic trance, but is a genuine broadening of the self, a calling out of previously unused powers, and the sense of added strength is the natural accompaniment of it. Probably this means, on the neural side, that the intense activity of some brain centres cannot be confined to the ordinary channels and so breaks new ones for itself, thus connecting centres previously severed and giving added associations and motor connections. It thus has many com- mon elements with the learning process, and I think that any one will testify, who has had both experiences, that the feelings of satisfaction and enlargement upon the successful solution of some difficult and interesting problem are sim- ilar to the feelings after ecstasy, though they are much less in degree. The form of the ecstasy, whether a Vision or Sense of Presence or Rapture, probably depends upon personal idio- syncrasies. If this analysis is correct such a process is not abnormal, but valuable, and it is one which our churches should es- pecially facilitate, since God in the manifestation of Christ is assumed to be the supreme object of contemplation and longing. The writings and lives of the great mystics bear elo- quent testimony to the value of this state in increasing their efficiency, and while the tendency to it seems to differ greatly with the individual, the psychologist can hardly question that in modern life this element is not sufficiently represented, that in our haste to render social service many 284 THE MEDIUM IN GERM of us are working without a clear Vision, and are really splitting our lives and selves instead of developing a larger social self. So we find nervous, worried philanthropists and social workers — ^to say nothing of other classes of people — where we should find directness and effectiveness. CHAPTER XVIII THE CASE OF MRS. VERRALL In discussijig the development of mediumship an ac- count of Mrs. Verrall's automatic writing should not be omitted, since it is one of the very rare cases in which the medium has made a study of herself, and it is therefore unusually interesting and suggestive. Her account {Pro- ceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xx, 432 pp.) covers nearly four years of writing, from March 5, 1901, to December 31, 1904, and includes 306 pieces under uniform conditions and sixteen others. Mrs. Verrall has been a member of the Society from its early days, and is a lecturer on Latin and Greek at Newn- ham College. She has always been one of the active mem- bers of the Society, and has tried various experiments. With crystal gazing she could never attain any success, but she was more successful with the planchette if some one else helped, although the w;riting so obtained never contained " anything of interest." When she tried the planchette alone she obtained only meaningless movements or else letters of her own name — " ervrr." In January, 1901, she made systematic attempts with the planchette, but was unsuccessful, and finally tried to obtain writing by holding a pencil while at the same time she read a book. This, too, was a failure, the writing giving only words from the book or characters from. a brass tablet in front of her. She dropped the matter until March, and then tried again, this time allowing her mind to follow passively all sugges- tions. In this way she obtained both Greek and English 286 THE CASE OF MRS. VERRALL words, not entirely without sense but not very coherent. On the second trial she suddenly felt a strong impulse to hold the pencil between the thumb and first finger instead of in her usual fashion, and then the hand wrote about eighty words in Latin, which made no general sense though intelligible in places. The writing improved gradually, and at length she began to get messages purporting to come from the dead. Usually she writes twice a week, but not invariably. After December 14, 1902, Mrs. Verrall sent the writing to Sir Oliver Lodge as it was produced, keeping copies for herself, and he put them away for later reference and veri- fication, if any of the messages in them should later on assume importance. Mrs. Verrall 's account of her sensations while writing is extremely suggestive. She does not see the paper, and although she may perceive some words singly she does not get their connection with others, and so gets no meaning out of the writing as it goes on. Often she does not even know what language she has been using, so evanescent is the memory of the isolated words. At various times she has tried, immediately after finishing, to reproduce even the sense of the writing, but has been unable to do so, save in one case. She usually writes when alone, in a dim light, and free from interruptions, but sometimes she has done it in a train. She finds herself very sleepy during the writ- ing, and several times she has lost consciousness of her sur- roundings. These tendencies seem to increase as the writ- ing develops. Again, although she does not remember the writing, she seems to be conscious of it at least in some cases, one message, for instance, making her weep without know- ing why. We will omit in the main her careful discussion of the form and style of the writing, merely saying that Eng- lish, Latin, and Greek are all used freely, but modern lan- 287 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM guages very little, although Mrs. Verrall is even better ac- quainted with French than with ancient languages, and constantly dreams in it. We will pass rather to the content of the script, which has the most interest for us. One of the characteristics of the writing, especially at the beginning, is that it contains many aphorisms, or sen- tences in the form of aphorisms or epigrams, which are nearly or quite meaningless, like " accomplishment is bet- ter than success " — ^the sort of thing one makes up in dreams. Familiar quotations also appear very frequently, the stringing together of words of similar sounds, even when they make no sense, and puns. There is also a tendency at times to make verses, a tend- ency which first appeared in Mrs. Verrall some years before when, on recovering from an illness, she sometimes found herself half unconsciously making up verse — a thing she never does when fully normal. The script consists for the most part of unsigned re- marks, not addressed to any particular person, but often written in the first person and addressed to a " you." Sometimes it seems to be a dialogue between two persons, and sometimes it is addressed by a " me " to some one, and signed with a name. On April 3, 1901, about a month after she began sys- tematic experimenting, there is the first conversation, the script containing two styles of script for the two speakers, but the content being uninteresting. In all there were 148 signatures or attempts at them, 12 being incomplete, 44 unidentified, 9 unintelligible, and 83 identified. Of these 83, 1 purported to be from a liv- ing person, 48 were names of dead persons, and 34 were signs or symbols for dead persons. Much of what is said in the writing consists of comments on the writing, difficulties in doing it, desirable tests, etc., and in general exhortations, advice, etc. "We will not con- 288 THE CASE OF MRS. VERRALL sider these in any detail but will pass at once to the mes- sages purporting to come from the dead which seem to have evidential value. Unverifiable statements are, of course, numerous, and over these we will not linger, curious though some of them are. With regard to verifiable statements, Mrs. Verrall ad- mits very frankly that in some instances the statement may have come from her own subliminal self, she having for- gotten that she had ever known it. This source of error, evidently, cannot always be eliminated, although there will he cases where from the very nature of the case she could not have known it. This connection or lack of connection of the script with the conscious memory is very interesting. For instance, the script refers frequently to a paper written by Mr. Verrall, and well known to her twenty-five years before, but almost forgotten, but through all the writing she has found only five references to recent events. Ref- erences to things which she had read six, ten, or twenty years before and had forgotten are more common. In eight cases she finds a connection between the script and a certain very vivid sort of dream that she occasionally has, the writing personality connecting itself with the dream content. The character of the script lends itself easily to sta- tistical methods, and Mrs. Verrall has summarised it as follows : There were 28 references to miscellaneous persons, of which 17 claim to produce verifiable matter, but only 5 or perhaps 6 are counted by Mrs. Verrall as correct; 186 references are to persons known to be interested in the script. Of these, 61 do not claim to be evidential and 125 do so claim. Of the 125, 40 fail to be evidential, through vagueness, etc., 24 are definitely false, and 41 are classed as correct. These 41 successes are statements of facts un- known to Mrs. Verrall, to the best of her belief, and fall 289 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM therefore into the same class as do, in Mrs. Piper's sittings, the statements unknown, to the sitter, but later verified. We will, therefore, take them up in detail. Mrs. Verrall herself omits three or perhaps four correct statements about different friends, but beginning p. 180, Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. 20, she discusses these evidential statements, which we summarise. 1. That a book with a monogram, part in pencil, hard to read, had been mislaid but found, and that Miss Har- rison knows. Miss Harrison had lost and found a note- book, but it had no monogram. 2. Miss Harrison would know the date, February 6th, long ago now. This was the birthday of a sister who had died thirty years before. 3. A reference, without name, to Mr. Marsh as connect- ing the old world and the new. Later he unexpectedly went to the United States. 4. At Mrs. Verrall 's first meeting with Mr. Constable her automatic hand drew a chain, and made reference to a carnelian heart, and a few days later it referred to an old-fashioned portrait of a lady with three curls on either side her face, bare neck, gray dress, to whom the heart belonged. Mr. Constable did have a portrait of his mother corresponding somewhat to this, and she had a chain with a locket on it, but no heart. The dress colour is not known. 5. It was stated that Mrs. Dew Smith, " Alice," had found a little house near a wood with a sunny garden. She had actually been wanting such a house but had not found it. 6. Mrs. Smith was assured that the pen would be found, and it turned out that she had lost a package of pens which was found several months later. 7. She was assured that her plan was a good one, and that she should not be deterred by criticism. It appeared that Mrs. Smith had wanted to build a cottage, but had been dissuaded strongly by her friends. 290 THE CASE OF MRS. VERRALL 8. Mr. Verrall tried some experiments in thought-trans- ference, without Mrs. Verrall 's knowledge, soon after she began automatic writing (p. 156). He wrote down the three Greek words, /uivowatkov Is am, " to the one horse dawn," referring to a college incident unknown to Mrs. Verrall, the idea being to see if she could be made to re- produce the phrase. The words were put into an envelope and put into a drawer in his desk, and he said nothing' to any one about the experiment. About two months later the hand wrote, " Five stars in the east that is not right. . . . Show it to your husband." She showed this to him on August 1st, and he remarked that it interested him, but said nothing to point to any experiment. She knew that he was observing some of her writing with especial inter- est, but had no idea just why. On July 31st came a Latin phrase, in which the Greek word /touoxM-mvos was interpo- lated, which Mr. VerraU thought might be an attempt at /*ovo7r\ov, and " alba," which is also sometimes translated dawn. August 13th there were references to a crowing cock, and a motto about dawn, and between August 13th and September 20th fifteen more attempts were made, some- times at meaning, sometimes at words, sometimes by allu- sions to associated ideas, but no reference to horse until September 18th, when Mr. Verrall, sitting in a separate room from her while she was writing, fixed his thought upon horse, and she wrote a phrase descriptive of goodly horses. But she did not get the exact phrase at any time, and the attempts ceased abruptly when she discovered that he had been experimenting, though even then she did not know just what the experiment was. 9. Another instance of apparent telepathy with Mr. Ver- rall occurred when the hand wrote, " The chapel is too light, Cantuar is sedile ubi nunc gentium?. ..." On questioning Mr. Verrall about this he said that he thought that the original design of the chapel in question had been 291 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM destroyed by adding an aisle later, and the Latin reminded him of an incident where the inscription was misread. 10. Again, after a reference to Mr. Verrall, the hand wrote, ' ' to the dark tower came who 1 ask him who and where? " This evidently referred to " Childe Roland," and probably to Browning's poem, since there a context is given. Mr. Verrall, it turned out, had been reading Brown- ing and " Childe Roland " that day. There are very few incidents in these ten cases which the subconscious mind may not have known or inferred from all sorts of subtle suggestions which Mrs. Verrall or any one else would not notice. This might especially apply to the experiments of her husband on the phrase " one horse dawn." It might happen that in these months of intercourse, any references to dawn in their talk would call up in him a subtle shade of expression or inflection which would leave its subconscious impress upon Mrs. Ver- rall and reappear in the automatic writing. This also might be true of 9 and 10. In the case of 10, though Mr. Ver- rall had not said he intended to read Browning, and per- haps even if he did not definitely plan to do so, there might have been a certain mood, certain subtle turns of thought which to the subconscious mind of his wife would be associated with Browning reading, etc. 11. August 31, 1903, the hand wrote that Hugh would not go abroad next month, that there would be a hurried journey south and then a long break, and that she would know before Christmas. " Hugh " had expected to go to Italy in September, but actually went in October. The Verralls had contemplated a hurried journey, but actually took a leisurely one. The hand, therefore, was half right only, and we cannot tell what indications there may have, been at the time of the writing that " Hugh " would be delayed in his trip. 12. The hand told Mrs. Verrall to note the name of the first acquaintance she met and tell her husband. About 292 THE CASE OF MRS. VERRALL 11.20 A.M. she met an acquaintance named White, in Lon- don, and on telling her husband he said that he had seen the same man in Cambridge at four, an impossible thing if Mrs. Verrall really saw him. So Mrs. Verrall raises telepathy as an explanation of this, but again why may we not suppose merely coincidence? 13. The script wrote: " Sidgwick wants to say some- thing about a message — a missing book. It ought to be found. It had dates in it — a little book kept by accident — there was something else in it. It fastens with a strap — most of the leaves are torn out, but March and May are there. Mrs. Sidgwick must look." Mrs. Sidgwick later found a book like this containing, on the few remaining leaves, dated references to an incident to which Professor Sidgwick had destroyed all other references before his death, leaving these only by accident. 14. Various attempts were made referring to Mrs. Sidg- wick, to describe a certain room where there was a book lying under a blue sofa, low down, wrapped up, near a sweet-scented jar, and with an armchair near, with books all about and a portrait in a frame. After considerable diffi- culty this was recognised as referring to Mrs. Sidgwick 's room at Newnham College. Under the blue drapery of the window-seat she kept a box full of important papers, and on going through this box she found among them a pri- vately printed pamphlet, wrapped up and sealed, which she had taken charge of after Professor Sidgwick 's death, but had forgotten all about. Inquiry had previously been made of her, in April or May, about this, and she had said that she did not have it. Why can we not suppose that Mrs. Verrall, who knew the Sidgwicks very well, had at some time heard inci- dental references to these things? This is not outside the possibilities, and perhaps not outside the probabilities. 15. July 23d came a message that some one was coming over the sea to Lodge, and that something of importance 293 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM had happened while Mrs. Verrall was away, which had to do with Hodgson. Sir Oliver said later that something of importance had happened to him, and that some one had come from over the sea about it, arriving July 28th, five days after the writing. But the only connection with Hodg- son was that later he went back on the same ship with this person. Hodgson's presence in England, known to Mrs. Verrall, doubtless was the starting point in Mrs. Verrall 's subcon- scious mind for this writing, and it needs no other ex- planation. 16. But again, July 30th, the script seemed to refer to this incident again, saying, " You have it not quite right. . . The name is wrong. Thaumas is more like it but I can't get it, ' ' and the next day Sir Oliver received a letter from a man named Thomas asking for a certain position in the Society for Psychical Research, and giving Mr. VerraU as a reference. At the time of the writing Mrs. Verrall knew nothing of this, she is confident. But again, how are we to exclude the possibility of sub- conscious indications? The same question applies to the two following cases.: 17. A message came to tell Mr. Piddington that some- thing had happened to Rosie Thompson at school, but not to be alarmed. It turned out that Rosie was in bed at school with cold and neuralgia. 18. A writer, supposed to be Dr. Sidgwick, referred to a play connected with children, and dated long before, which was among his MSS. About the same time, Mrs. Sidgwick came across such a play, but with other names than those given in the script, and of a different appear- ance and size. In both these cases we need only suppose some infer- ence and the revival of submerged memories. 19. This message came : ' ' Give it to her — yarn a tan- gled skein — Veridical is the case. — see what you have 294 THE CASE OP MRS. VERRALL said." The next day Mrs. Verrall was called upon to in- vestigate an apparently veridical dream. But Mrs. Verrall 's interest in veridical dreams, halluci- nations, etc., may have been revived by some occurrence, and in any case is so permanent that a reference to it in the writing does not indicate anything unusual. 20. One day, about 12.40 p.m., the hand wrote a vivid description of a fire then going on, in which pictures were destroyed. In the next day's paper Mrs. Verrall found an account of a fire at an artist's club, where over sixty pictures were burned, which occurred about 1.20 a.m. The coincidence about the pictures is curious, but again one would like to know whether anything had occurred to make Mrs. Verrall think of such a possibility? 21. On her way home one day the hand wrote, " The letter is at your house that explains, good guidance, and the waters of Omar." The first mail the next morning con- tained a letter, from a friend, of good wishes for an ex- pected journey and a copy of " Omar Khayyam." But we are not told what " explanation " or " good guidance " was contained in this letter, nor whether there was not some reason to expect a letter from this friend, as well as the " Omar." 22. Mrs. Verrall notes some curious agreements in phrases between the automatic writing and some Neo-Pla- tonic writers, which we will not consider in detail here. She was also instructed not to try for writing when the wind was in the East, but in the West, and later found that this was one of the regular instructions given to Neo-Platonic neophytes who wished to attain ecstasy. All these, however, while curious, may be referable to knowledge forgotten, which is always very large in amoimt with any constant reader, such as Mrs. Verrall seems to be. The same remark holds with regard to " La Saisiaz," which Mrs. Verrall believes she had not read, but which she may have read and forgotten about. I should be very unwilling 295 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM to make any assertion of that sort about the shorter poems of any modern poet, because one reads so many things in odd moments which very soon sink into the subconscious memory. The incident is this : 23. In 1904 the hand wrote remarks about Professor Sidgwick, a letter of his about the "Wanderer on the Way, the Passionate Pilgrim, Hope's vision, etc. Nearly two years later, upon reading a letter of Professor Sidgwick 's, in which he states his sympathy with Browning's views on immortality as expressed in "La Saisiaz," Mrs. Verrall read the poem and found the general resemblance between it and the above phrases. The script also claimed definitely to know the contents of the sealed letter which Myers left with Lodge to be opened after his death, and gave the message, but gave it entirely wrong. 24. Various partly successful attempts were made to describe a ring belonging to Archbishop Benson, which Mrs. Verrall was sure she had never seen. But here again is the possibility that she was mistaken. 25. At various times the script attempted a word to be sent as a test to Dr. Hodgson, finally giving the words " Ariadnes stella coronaria," and making an allusion to another constellation, Berenice's hair. Dr. Hodgson in reply said that he had thought about syringas in connec- tion with her script, and that syringas had a special sig- nificance for him. Now, the Latin name for syringa is Philadelphus coronarius, and the combined reference to Ariadne's crown and Berenice's hair is supposed by Mrs. Verrall to be intended to recall Philadelphus or brotherly love. This is rather far-fetched, however. 26. In various places references were made to Plato's " Symposium, " which Mrs. Verrall believes she had not then read, and in one she was told to look in Myers's book for an explanation of Plato's doctrine. She took this to refer 296 THE CASE OF MRS. VERRALL to " Human Personality," and when the book came out she found in it a discussion of Plato's views on love. Mrs. Verrall is confident that she never knew that Mr. Myers intended to connect love with telepathy, but her memory may be at fault, or she may have inferred it from her general knowledge of his views. The prophecies that came true are as follows: 27. The script wrote, " MAIMENT IS WITHIN on the right hand side as you look — the window is behind so it is not very plain to read. But he knows it. ' ' Previously the script had produced Madment Maidment Evan awnsley November 1857. Three weeks later, while visiting some friends in Winches- ter, the host at breakfast one morning read sections of a letter from a friend named Rawnsley, and on going into a shop, two days later, Mrs. VerraU noticed a bag on the wall with the name Maidment on it. 28. The Greek letter sigma often appeared in the script as if with some special significance, and Mrs. Verrall began to investigate the use of symbolical letters among the Neo- Platonists. The writing one day referred to didaskalia and automata as containing doctrines, and later she found that there was a book, " The Didascalia," which discussed the use of symbolic letters. We wish that we knew whether Mrs. Verrall had ever visited Winchester before, for, if she had, 27 might be sim- ply a breaking out of the subconscious. In all probability this is the case with 28. It may easily be that she had in some earlier reading seen references to " The Didascalia " and had forgotten them. 29. After a reference to one of her husband's family the hand prophesied, " Great changes all will see in the next year, more than one break in the close family." With- 23 297 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM in the year an aunt died and a nephew went to New Zealand. 30. Later the hand said that some one would see all the constellations, and that a previous prophecy would be ful- filled on September 19th. The only unfulfilled prophecy referred to the nephew, and on September 22d this nephew sailed and doubtless saw all the constellations on his trip. But 29 and 30 refer to the immediate family, and we do not know what indications there may have been of the desire of the nephew to make a change, or of the aunt's health. 31. About 11 P.M., on May 11th, came a message in which it was said in Latin that " chalk sticking to the feet got over the difficulty," ending in a drawing of a grinning bird. The next day the newspaper described some experi- ments made the previous night, between twelve and three, to discover the cause of certain sounds. Chalk was scat- tered on the floor, and after various happenings the watchers found in the chalk a bird's footprints. 32. This message came on December 11th : ' ' Marmontel. he was reading on a sofa or in bed — there was only a can- dle 's light. . . . The book was lent not his own — ^he talked about it. ' ' Later, references were made to Passy or Pleury, and it was said that the book was in two volumes in old- fashioned binding and print. Later, it appeared that a friend, Mr. Marsh, had car- ried a volume of Marmontel from the London Library to Paris, read it in the way described, on February 20th and 21st, and talked about it with his friends. One of these evenings the chapter read contained references to Fleury and Passy. The edition was a three-volume one, and not very modem in binding. 33. Eeference was made to a cross on five stone steps with a fresh green wreath about it, located on a hillside in the open, made of white stone, with no inscription. The steps were old, the cross new. Later, Mrs. Verrall found 298 THE CASE OF MRS. VERRALL that a friend had erected such a cross on old steps, but the names given by the script were all wrong, and it was not near the sea. The script said that the wreath had an inscription on it " In honour A. J. C," and the initials of the person were really A. H. C, but it is not known whether such an inscription was tied on the wreath. This account was written by the hand three months before the dedication of the cross, and about nine before the wreath was put on the cross. These last three prophecies are to me the most curious of any in all the records I have studied. The references are so definite, and at the same time are to conditions and persons so relatively unknown, that it is hard to see how they could have been based upon subconscious suggestions. For the present I must simply leave them unexplained. In general we may say about Mrs. Verrall's test mes- sages that they are in most cases open to the criticisms made by Vaschide in his discussion on Les Hallucinations Telepathiques. Her messages were usually to or about in- timate friends, and their subject-matter referred to sub- jects which she may have known something about, but have forgotten. The fact that the persons concerned do not re- member the events is no proof — as Psychical Researchers should be the first to admit — because we do forget the larger part of our experiences so far as our voluntary mem- ory is concerned. In short, it seems as if we had here, if only we could work it out in detail, an extremely interesting and suggestive case of subconscious memory and inference. How well worth while it would be if, after any given instance of automatic writing, Mrs. Verrall could be given association tests and subjected to a thorough trial of the psycho-analytic method in order to bring up all the sub- merged trains of thought connected with the writing. The characteristics of the script read like a summary of Jung and Riklin's Diagnostische Assoziationsstudien {J. fur Psy. u. Neur., Bd. 3, 1904), in which they detail the 299 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM marks of reactions that accompany suppressed feeling states: quotations, puns, sound reactions, meaningless re- actions — these all indicate underlying complexes of feeling which would certainly be brought to the surface under proper conditions, and which would explain the entire con- tent of the script without any reference to spirits. Again, the fact that most of the references which can be traced to events in Mrs. Verrall's own life are to events years before, and not to recent ones, hints again at sup- pressed feeling complexes connected with some shock, for Jung and Freud found exactly this to be the ease with their patients. Before leaving this most interesting case, let us note once more that, as always, the non-evidential and meaning- less portions are very much more numerous than the so- called tests. Out of 322 pieces of writing, each containing many items, and running over nearly four years, only 41 references or items are classed by Mrs. Verrall herself as correct. Is it not probable that these seem mysterious only because we do not know enough about them? CHAPTER XIX THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE No theory which has to explain a personality can be simple if it is to be true. Nor can we expect in the pres- ent unsettled condition of both psychological and psychi- atrical theory to offer any explanation which will be sat- isfactory to all specialists. We are also hampered by the fact that the phenomena which might normally appear in the Piper case are to some degree veiled by the spiritistic theory which has so largely shaped the trance personalities, and by the fact that we cannot experiment with the case nor urge the control of the waking self to confession as Freud is able to do in his capacity of physician. Neverthe- less, I believe that from our own sittings and the published records a good prima facie case can be made out to show that Mrs. Piper's controls and those of other honest medi- ums are but cases of secondary personality, and nothing more, a splitting off from the central self of a part which may take on almost any shape.^ 1. First let us review the development of this trance state, as far as we can get at it. In the cases of secondary personalities discussed by the Freud school, Janet, and Prince, and Sidis, although these writers differ considerably in various respects, all agree that the starting point of the split in the self appears to consist in some sort of shock, affecting a naturally somewhat unstable nervous system. In the case of Mrs. Piper, we know that at the age of six- 1 See also Bruce, " Riddle of Personality," pp. 212 et seq. Bruce, however, also invokes telepathy. 301 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM teen she had the accident with the ice-sled, at which time she saw a flood of light as she became unconscious, and that not long after an ovarian tumor developed. We do not know whether there was some earlier shock, between seven and nine years, as .Freud believes is always the case, nor what her nervous condition as a child was. From the age of sixteen, however, her health could certainly not be de- scribed as vigorous, and the diseased condition of the re- productive organs seems to be closely connected with her mediumistic activities, as shown before. Let us recapitulate briefly. Shortly after the birth of her first child she first went into trance at the house of a blind medium whom she had gone to consult about her tumor. Between this time and the spring of 1893 the tumor was an ever-present factor, doubtless keeping Mrs. Piper in a state of nervous tension, if not of actual pain. During these years she was being tried out in this country and England, Phinuit being the chief control, and these sittings being the most evidential of any in her career. This is especially true of the Pelham set, in the fall of 1892, when Pelham was proving his identity — a piece of work considered by the Researchers as perhaps the most wonderful of any — and when Mrs. Piper's health was steadily growing worse, so that in the spring of 1893 she had an operation at which the tumor, together with the diseased Fallopian tubes and ovaries, was removed. After this her health improved somewhat, but again became worse in the fall and winter of 1895 and 1896, and in the early part of 1896 she had a second operation for hernia. This is coincident with the appearance and devel- opment of the Imperator group of controls, but there was no such outburst of activity as in the previous case. After the second operation Mrs. Piper's health improved steadily, and the trance messages deteriorated, in my opinion. The Hyslop sittings have practically no " test messages," and we, as well as many Researchers themselves, differ in toto 302 THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE from Hyslop as to their evidential value. Until the appear- ance of Hodgson in 1905, as a new control, and the cross- correspondence tests, at which Myers is the officiating spirit, which run through 1906, there were no great manifesta- tions, and Podmore says specifically that the messages de- teriorated steadily from 1900 on. But, in 1905, Mrs. Piper was forty-six years old, and the changes of the climacteric — which persist to some degree even where the reproductive organs have been in part re- moved — ^had probably begun to make their appearance, and so were coincident with the increased activity shown by the Hodgson and Myers controls. Surely this coincidence between the heightened trance- power and the heightened nervous tension and physical con- dition is not likely to be purely accidental. In origin, there- fore, the trance states of Mrs. Piper do not seem to be different from many cases of secondary personality cited by writers on that subject. 2. We have, however, what seems to be a profound dif- ference between the two in the fact that Mrs. Piper brings on the trance voluntarily, and says that she has never fallen into it spontaneously, either while awake or asleep. This raises the question of the genuineness of the trance, and of the relation of the trance states to hysterical attacks. Janet lays down as the three marks of hystericals — suggestibility, absent-mindedness, and alternations. Here we are espe- cially concerned with the first. More than all other people a hysterical is suggestible, and presents in his disease the symptoms which he is expected to present. Charcot's pa- tients present the classical illustration of this. Charcot had a very definite theory of hysteria and its symptoms, which his patients soon learned, so that in his hospital the patients invariably showed these symptoms, while the pa- tients of physicians of different beliefs showed variations from Charcot's types. It took a long time to demonstrate that Charcot's three stages were purely the result of his 303 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM suggestions, but this is now generally accepted. Similarly, before Charcot, and in cases where the disease is little known by the patient's friends, the patient gradually de- veloped a set of symptoms according to her milieu. One of the most common of these formerly was the fit or convul- sion, in which the patient sometimes frothed, seemed to grow insensible, anaesthetic in spots, etc. Nowadays, som- nambulism or a trancelike sleep is common. In these cases, after the attack the patient has no recollection of it, but the patient may work herself up to it by recalling some aggravating or irritating circumstances, by recalling the original shock which brought on the hysteria, or perhaps by more or less unconsciously reproducing voluntarily the physical tensions which accompanied the original shock. Mrs. Piper does not say what she thinks of on entering the trance. She says that she tries not to think of anything. Neither does she admit that she voluntarily alters her breathing, but the first and most marked change that occurs is the much slower and apparently fuller respiration. At present there are few convulsive movements, only a little twitching of the face and fijigers, but in the beginning — and this is the significant thing — ^there were strong con- vulsions, with groans, sobs, etc. Is it not possible that in these convulsions she lived through again the accident with the ice-sled or some earlier unknown experience? These convulsions, as I understand, lasted until the Imperator group took possession, at about which time also the writ- ing became the habitual mode of expression instead of speaking. For something over ten years then — ^the years when Mrs. Piper's health was poorest and the messages were most valuable — ^the preliminary convulsions persisted. The Imperator group, however, systematically discour- aged these manifestations. Here we revert again to the suggestibility of the controls. First let us note that during the years from the fall of 1895 to the fall of 1896, when the Imperator group was slowly developing, Mrs. Piper gave 304 THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE very few sittings on account of her extremely poor health, and to Mrs. Piper and those interested in her future the prospects must have looked very dubious. The waste of strength and energy in the convulsions was a source of anxiety, and made Mrs. Piper unwilling to go into the trance, and though the published records give few indica- tions the controls must have been urged at various times not to injure the medium's body or use up " the light " in taking possession. Mrs. Piper's increasing anxiety about her health and future finally found adequate and dramatic expression in the demand made by the Imperator group in January of 1897, that Hodgson should give them the man- agement of her and that they would take care of her ' ' bat- tered machine " and patch it up so that it would last as long as possible. From this time on the conditions necessary for health, such as frequency and length of sittings, are set by the controls. As we should expect if the control is really a secondary personality and so very suggestible, these con- ditions are not always for the good of Mrs. Piper, but often reflect the desires of the sitter, and perhaps allow him to inflict even quite severe pain without remonstrance from the control. But when the control is left to itself, to its own narrow range of consciousness, it is hyperssthetic to various bodily conditions which would be unrecognised in the normal state, because the sensations would be sub- merged in the numerous other sensations streaming in upon the waking self. In such cases, therefore, the control might feel the developing symptoms of a disease, headache, etc., and might be able to give a warning and save the medium from the attack. In this case it would seem to the medium in the normal state and to the sitter to display supernormal wisdom, while when distracted by suggestions from the sit- ter it might be indifferent or callous to the medium's interests. The gradual reduction of the convulsions and the build- ing up of the present symptoms on entering and coming 305 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM out of the trance might, if we but had complete records, be shown to be the outcome of a continual give and take be- tween sitter and medium, just as the symptoms appearing in any given hysterical case are built up in this way. As confirmatory of this we have Mrs. Piper's own statement that the trance has never come on in sleep or when she was alone, just as any hysterical attack seems to need the stimu- lus of some one's presence to induce it. 3. Again, a rich chapter for the student of suggestion lies in the creation of the characteristics of the various con- trols. Hyslop believes that one of the strongest arguments against the theory of secondary personalities is the fact that in Mrs. Piper's case the personages are so varied, whereas secondary personalities are usually few in number. This difference, however, seems to me to reflect only the difference in the milieu of Mrs. Piper and of the ordinary and admittedly abnormal case of secondary personality. When a girl first experiences such a change of personality her family is usually alarmed and calls in the doctor. They do not like the change, and they repress the new self as far as they can. The secondary self is discouraged from the beginning. Mrs. Piper, however, first entered the trance at a medium's, in the presence of Spiritualists, one of them her father-in-law, with whom she was living at the time. They greeted her as a new medium, accepted the control as a genuine personality, and favoured the onset of the trance in every possible way. Naturally, the spirits would wax and grow fat under such conditions. As I have noted be- fore, even when Hodgson was abusing Phinuit by exposing his subterfuges and lies, he seems never to have questioned his actual existence, and so in other eases. While particular traits or statements may have been severely snubbed and pruned, there was always plenty of encouragement to de- velop in other directions, which were indicated at least neg- atively, and often positively. In the published records the controls are repeatedly encouraged and praised when they 306 THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE are right, are sympathetically told when they have made a mistake, and are aided in framing explanations of why they made the mistake. But I do not find any instances where attempts were made to see how far they could be led by suggestions to make up wholly incorrect accounts, as Dr. Hall and I led them. That is, no attempt seems to have been made to get any check on the control's statements, so as to find out how far his statements may have come from voluntary and involuntary suggestions from the sitter, and how far they must have come from his own individ- uality. We have already shown that the laboured attempts to get " evidential messages " have had practically only negative results. In nearly every case the message is ex- plicable easily as a guess or inference, or suggestion, and the incompleteness of the records and the impossibility of eliminating all opportunity of suggestion make it unjusti- fiable to conclude to supernormal knowledge on the part of the control from so few and so unimportant cases. But, again, much is made of the dramatic impersonation of friends, of the individuality and lifelikeness of the con- trols, etc. It is my conviction that this lifelikeness exists only in the minds of the sitters. It is hard for me to im- derstand how Hyslop, for instance, can consider the imper- sonation of his father dramatic and lifelike. If any of my deceased friends, even the most neutral and drab in char- acter, should come back in such a pitiful, spectral, foolish shape as Hyslop, Sr., I should assuredly call him the shadow of a shade, the ghost of a thought, the echo of an auditory image. In fact, the fictitious spirits that Dr. Hall and I created for Hodgson's benefit had more vividness and co- herence to them than have many of these dim visions that flit for an instant across the pages of the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, then to disappear forever. Take the case of Hodgson for instance. Even Professor James, who is trying hard to believe in Hodgson, cannot summon any heartiness in speaking of this apparition of 307 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM him that now sits at Mrs. Piper's seances as Banquo's ghost did at the feast. The Hodgson control has many character- istics of the living Hodgson, we are told, but, on the other hand, he does not seem to make his old friends really feel that he is present, except once in a while. The appearance of any given personality may be deter- mined by various factors. Frequently the sitter asks for some person by name. In other cases the very presence of the sitter indicates that communications are desired, and that it is " up to the control ' ' to find the right spirit. In such cases he throws out numerous feelers, as he did with us, sometimes as many as six of these disconnected proper names being interjected into the sitting for us to take up or reject. When this is continued through three or more sittings it would be strange indeed if there were not some friend or relative associated with some name. In still other cases the control gradually approximates the name by a series of guesses, in which he is doubtless involuntarily aided by the sitter. In this latter case, it is easy to under- estimate the involuntary indications possible and the sensi- tiveness of the control to them. This should be more con- sidered. The various experiments in thought-transference car- ried on by the Society for Psychical Research itself con- stantly brought to light new sources of involuntary com- munication as well as unsuspected modes of deception, so that it appears pretty well made out that all of us, even in the normal state, are aided in reaching a conclusion or judg- ment not only by the perceptions which we can attend to, but by many imnoticed sensations, which nevertheless im- press us and seem to summate their activities unknown to our upper consciousness. One of the most suggestive exam- ples of this sort is seen in the notable Hans Pf erd, who was honestly supposed by his own master to be able to read, number, etc. His master exhibited this horse, and the mat- ter created so much interest that finally well-known psy- 308 THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE chologists, headed by Stmnpf, undertook the study of him, under the conviction that it was all a clever trick of his master's to get money. They finally came to the conclusion that the master, who of course knew the correct answers to the questions asked Hans, betrayed the correct answer by slight, involuntary swaying movements, to which the horse was susceptible, and which told him when to stop his paw- ing or pounding. These movements were so slight that for a long time they were not observed by any one, and yet they could be perceived and reacted to by this horse. Now, in the ease of the Piper controls, we know in the first place that we are dealing with an extremely suggestible sort of consciousness, whatever it is. Further, the nori^l Mrs. Piper has described at some length to me her great sensitiveness to voices, a sensitiveness so great that she bases her likes and dislikes to people upon their voices, and reads their character by their inflections and tones more than by any other one indication. But the voice, aided by casual touches now and then, is the one source of information at present open to the control, and with his greatly heightened suggestibility and the focussing of all his consciousness upon this one avenue, how can we question that he obtains from the voices of those present all the hints that he needs ? Even if the sitter abstains from speaking, as Hyslop did for two sittings, the manager must talk for the sitter, and we have no indication as to how far the sitter kept the manager ignorant of the correctness of the answers. Be- sides, after Hyslop began to speak himself, matters went much better. Not only this, but the fact that nowadays the medium's head is buried in the pillow, with closed eyes, and the fact that the control insists upon the sitter speaking into the right hand, which he calls his head, as well as the control's constant injunctions to speak slowly, and loudly, as if he were a little deaf, are well calculated to put the sitter off his guard, so that he finds himself acting as we do before a deaf person, conveying information to others 309 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM present in a half whisper, or venting his feelings in ex- clamations, etc., which indicate to the control his state of mind. Taking into consideration all these things, therefore, it does not seem to me that we need to assume any super- normal source of knowledge for the content of the Piper messages, but may refer them chiefly to a heightened sug- gestibility to involuntary betrayals of the sitter, with a modicum of guessing, fishing, and inference. 4. Much is made of the rapid transitions from one per- sonality to another, as if many characters were on the stage at once, etc. We should remember, however, that as the records are printed this display of various characters is rather misleading. In very many instances when a sup- posedly new character suddenly speaks, the only way of knowing that the character has changed is by inferring it from the message. The new person does not, in many cases, announce himself, and is only supposed to be present be- cause the message is nonsensical if given by the preceding speaker. In such a case, the sitter frequently asks, " Is this so and so? " and then it is easy for the control to fall in with the suggestion. In other cases no comment at all is made in the sitting, and the person writing up the sitting infers the new personality from the context without any name being given. But such a proceeding is not justifiable, for we have no evidence that, if the control were left to itself, it would continue in the new character. I am inclined to think that such lapses are often genuine lapses, i. e., the control really loses connections for a minute, but would never have thought of such a specious excuse for his inconsequential remarks if the sitters had not invented it for him. To put it more plainly, the so-called dramatic transition is a cre- ation of the sitters' minds just as much as the impersona- tions of their own friends. They have thus built up by degrees a very complex theory, serried ranks of spirits be- 310 THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE tween the sitter and his friend, which came into existence as the need arose of making the incoherences of the control appear reasonable. In the old days Phinuit took direct control and spoke to the sitter, but frequently yielded to friends of the sitter. But this proved rather hazardous to the sense of the sittings, and the tradition was developed that the regular control was the only one who should speak through the medium, spirits giving their messages to him, he giving them to the medium, and the medium writing or speaking them. Nowadays we have, closest to the sitter, the medium's right hand, then Rector, who is controlling the hand ; then Hodgson, who is managing the other side ; then the spirit friend, who speaks to Hodgson, who speaks to Rector, who manipulates the hand which writes. Nat- urally, with so many agencies, almost any mistake can be explained. But the point I wish to insist upon is that all this ex- planation has not been given by the control in the first place, but by the sitters, notably Hyslop and later Pid- dington. Hodgson also did his share while alive. Among them the various believers have framed a theory, which, being offered to the control, was accepted as everything is which is given it sympathetically. The controls themselves have thus been given a spiritistic education for over twenty years in all, so that whatever they were in the beginning, they are now thoroughly dyed-in-the-wool Spiritists. The education of the sitter by a materialising medium can be paralleled by the education of the control by a Spiritistic sitter. 5. If the control is a secondary personality and nothing else, with the high suggestibility mentioned above, then we have a consistent explanation for the character of all its utterances. There is the same combination of high and ac- curate memory by the subconscious, with inability to carry on a train of thought alone for much time, that we find in secondary personalities. When the control is left to him- 311 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM self the writing begins to ramble, and finally becomes more or less incoherent, and stops, after he has made appeals to the sitters to speak to him. The very life of the control seems to depend upon his being stimtdated by questions and suggestions. Again we, as well as others, have said that the control is lying and shifty, as are secondary personalities, but the case would probably be better stated thus : that the control, like aU impressionable and untrained conscious- nesses, tends to believe that any vivid idea is true, does not clearly distinguish between ideas and reality, and so confuses them in his assertions about them. To the control, the ficti- tious Borst and Bessie were really as genuine and vivid as any of the other trance personalities or spirits, and he was not lying in any true sense of the term when he related the spontaneous images that came up as if they were facts. He is also shortsighted and inconsistent, being apparently un- able, if left to himself, to work out a rational scheme that shall make his claims somewhat plausible. So, on the whole, my impression of the control is that, instead of showing supernormal knowledge and wisdom, it is simply highly suggestible, and reacts to suggestions in the most delicate way. Instead of being reasonable it is stupid and incon- sistent; its coherence comes from the sitter, what there is of it, and if left to itself it soon lapses into the incoherence of the idiot or animal. 6. In this connection we should discuss briefly the medi- umistic diathesis, though here again my remarks must be taken as suggestive and not as assertive of a completed theory. At present they are only a working hypothesis. Are there any common traits in psychic mediums, that is, in those which manifest through some form of the trance, crystal gazing, or automatic writing? From what I have seen, it seems to me that we find in such characters a highly impressionable, sensitive type of mind, with a vividness of imagery and a tendency to feelings of premonition and fatality. Such characters realise more clearly than most 312 THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE of us do the many ideas that arise spontaneously, and are inclined to accept these ideas as omens. * They are also sub- ject to moods, and are under the control of their impulses more than are other people. In these tendencies we seem to get the starting point for splits of personality, which may or may not disrupt the original self. Psychologically, we cannot assert that any personality is perfectly unified. Even the most coherent and closely knit mind has lapses ; and in revery, moments of relaxation, and the moments before and after sleep, we fall into states of dissociation in which very vivid images may thrust them- selves into our minds without apparent cause. Sometimes these are merely phantasmagoric, without emotional feel, but at other times there are emotional associations, or per- haps the feeling of deja vu, or the sense of impending good or bad fortune. No careful study has as yet been made of the origin of these images of waking life, but we have some very interesting cases of the next stages in dis- sociation. Many, if not all, persons can by some practice learn how partly to dissociate the personality. This may be done in various ways. Sometimes merely lying back in a chair with intent to reverise, is sufficient. In other cases, the crystal aids in objectifying the images. In others, auto- matic writing is easier. Whatever the means employed, the result is that submerged trains of thought now come to the surface, trains which in our ordinary waking state we are unconscious of and cannot recall voluntarily. They have become so cut off from the emotions and aims of our upper mind that they have dropped out of it, but they still re- tain an existence in the lower region, which is both the lumber room and jail of the self. The nature of these subconscious ideas and their influ- ence upon the waking self is at present one of the most disputed and uncertain points in psychology. We have all shades of opinion, from those psychologists and biologists 33 313 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM who maintain that here is nothing but neural action with- out consciousness, to those Psychical Kesearchers like Myers, who are convinced that the subconscious is the germinating place of all man's highest faculties, or like James, who be- lieve that it is our avenue of communication with God. In the middle ground between these extremes we find various physicians and psychologists who do not classify the sub- conscious mind as either higher or lower than the conscious self, but rather view the whole mind as a working unity, of which what we call the conscious mind is only the pres- ent fimctioning centre, the tool or working material with which we carry out our purposes. Out of the countless im- pressions and combinations of them to which the nervous system reacts, and which leave memory traces upon nervous centres and the mind, only a few come into awareness, and of these few many are rejected at once as inappropriate or undesirable. The undesirable ones are, from the mind's standpoint, those which break up its habits and tendencies, destroy its purposes, etc., or, from another standpoint, they are shocks given either to the nervous system or the mind. The mind tends naturally to eject such stimuli as soon and as com- pletely as possible, but in many cases they are too strong to be thus ejected, and must either be harmonised, that is, associated with the previous ideas, or else the self tends to split either consciously or unconsciously. In such cases the way in which the self reacts seems to depend very largely upon the number of constellations, the width of the per- son's horizon, and his mental breadth, as well as upon the close knitting together of each constellation. The person whose interests are few, and much more the person whose interests are both narrow and intense, is perhaps most sub- ject to this sort of disturbance. If the self is widely or- ganised but plastic, the shocking ideas are gradually as- similated, modifying the old somewhat and themselves being modified in accordance with the person's needs and 314 THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE his ability and opportunity of verifying or disproving the new ideas. If the self is less well balanced, the person goes through a very painful and agonising, but largely conscious, period of doubt and adjustment, in which he alternates from one standpoint to another, being in fact a mild ease of alter- nating personalities, with little or no amnesia, but with the stress or emphasis very different in the two moods. By degrees these alternating selves or moods are harmonised, though it may sometimes take months or years, and the person becomes whole once more. But if the person is still less well organised, or if the shock is great enough, the new idea may be unendurable to the personality, may seem so inimical to it that it must be rejected regardless of whether it is true or not, in order to save the personality. In such cases the person emerges from the shock with forgetfulness of it. To his waking mind it is as if the event had never been. But later on nervous symptoms may appear. The person may become subject to convulsive attacks, or to broken sleep and terri- fying dreams, or may break down nervously without any apparent cause. It is supposed that in such cases the shock- ing idea was abruptly dissociated from the conscious self, but it had sufficient vitality to persist and associate with itself other ideas which had not been woven into the normal consciousness, or were not in use by it, and also to form associations with some motor centres, so that through them it found means of expression. Not only this, but, if the shock was great enough, instead of persisting for a time and gradually dying out, as is probably usually the case, it may continue to grow, forming more and more associa- tions, and making inroads upon the normal self, depriving it by degrees of its own associations, until the secondary self may at length be the larger and the primary self be only a shrunken remnant. Secondary personalities, therefore, present all grada- 315 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM tions from the moods of the normal self down, and their intelligence is different from the normal as they become more integrated, since they are created from the material left over from or nnused by the normal self. Just in pro- portion as psychiatrists are able to study such cases in de- tail, they find that the memories, associations, emotions, etc., manifested by the secondary personality are traceable to events in the person 's life which either seemed unimportant to the primary personality, or else were so inimical to it that it forced them out of its presence forthwith. In cases where there has been no shock, and where the person voluntarily practises attaining abstraction, as in crystal gazing or automatic writing, either unimportant or long-past experiences are the ones most likely to emerge. Miss Goodrich-Freer, for instance, in many cases traced her crystal visions back to unattended-to sensations, and Mrs. Verrall notes that her automatic hand wrote accounts of things read twenty-odd years before, while quite neglecting the acquisitions of recent years. This is just what we should expect if a state of dissociation is really attained. But these very characteristics make the task of tracing the origin of such ideas difficult, so that while the presumption is that all the content of crystals or automatic writing is so derived, we can only demonstrate it in some exceptional cases, where the person either runs across objective evi- dence, or can be subjected to some psycho-analytic method or hypnoidisation in order to bring up the submerged events. How, then, are we to summarise the case of Mrs. Piper ? In her case we have, in the first place, the impressionable, impulsive diathesis, with tendencies to premonition, etc., which seems to favour the development of secondary per- sonalities. We have also various nervous shocks, which would serve as occasions for the split, and in addition we have a systematic encouragement of such splitting, and as complete a severance of the secondary self from the pri- 316 THBORY OF THE PIPER CASE mary as possible, both on the part of Mrs. Piper and the sitters. This latter factor probably explains why the sec- ondary self has not enlarged and encroached upon the field of the primary self as time has advanced. The fact that the entrance to the transition stage from each self to the other is voluntary is paralleled in other cases of secondary personality, like Miss Beauchamp's. Furthermore, the characteristics of the control are much like those of other secondary selves, so that it would seem as if we could make out a complete parallelism between Mrs. Piper and other cases of secondary personality, the variations from other cases being no greater than those arising from individual idiosyncrasies. At this point, however, the Psychical Researcher once more appears to assure us that we have not touched the real problem at all when we have proved that Mrs. Piper has a secondary personality. Let us grant, they say, that that is true. When she enters the trance a secondary per- sonality appears. Even if this is so, they assure us, it only proves that it is easier for spirits to communicate through secondary than through primary personalities. The real question is simply this : Is there anything given in the mes- sages which could not possibly have come from the mind of the medium, whether in its primary or secondary state, or the mind of the sitter? To this question our conclusion is that there is nothing not so derived. There is no real evidence of supernormal knowledge. Let us briefly recapitulate the lengthy dem- onstration already given of this point in our discussion of sources of error and of test messages. We have noted that many of the early sittings are im- perfectly recorded, and that such records as there are were in part made after the sitting and not at the time, thus allowing for the illusions of memory so well demonstrated by Davey. This is especially true of the Pelham series, considered one of the most important, and of the first Eng- 317 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM lish series. In the Hyslop series, where a great effort was made to take down, every word spoken, and not to touch the medium, the number of so-called test messages is much less than in the imperfectly recorded earlier series, and the messages are easily explicable as inferences or guesses. This is, of course, totally different from Hyslop 's own opinion, but even Psychical Researchers differ greatly from Hyslop as to the value of his sittings. Further, no precautions were taken as to suggestions from the inflections of Hodg- son 's and Hyslop 's voices. In the Newbold series, important both from its length and the alleged translation of Greek, Newbold himself notes the incompleteness of the record. In the latest published series, to prove the identity of Hodgson, the Researchers do not claim satisfactory results, and cite no test messages. In the cross-correspondence tests we have shown that Mrs. and Miss Verrall, the two mediums with whom most of Mrs. Piper's correspondences were obtained, were having sittings with her during the time of the tests, and that there were no correspondences before the sittings. In the unpublished series^ in my pos- session, in which the translation of Latin is the chief thing, the processes of guessing and inference are exactly similar to those in the Newbold series. And in Dr. Hall's series my inferences as to the sources of knowledge of the control were positively shown by our carefully arranged sets of suggestions to which the control reacted so quickly. I should add to the usual guessing, inference, etc., of the control another factor which may explain some of the incoherences and the lucky hits. We have said that in the mediumistie diathesis spontaneous images, vivid and dis- tinct, are very marked, and that in the case of the young medium studied by us this was very interestingly shown in the trance. May this not also be the case with the Piper control? Ideas arise in his mind quite disconnected from ' Now published in Proceedings, vol. xxiv. 318 THEORY OF THE PIPER CASE the subject of conversation, and arrest his attention. He records them, and if the sitter can supply a setting for them the control has made a hit ; if not, he has introduced confusion. But the control does not know their origin any more than the sitter does, and can only say, " It came to me." If, however, we could only subject Mrs. Piper to psycho-analysis or to hypnoidisation, is it not probable that we could find the origin of these cryptic sayings somewhere in her own life? When we consider that out of the vast mass of pub- lished records only approximately 110 messages at all con- form to the idea of " test messages," and that, as we have shown in detail already, nearly all of these can be reason- ably explained as the result of suggestions, lucky guesses, or inferences, we cannot feel that in their twenty-three years of work the controls have shown any great amount of perspicacity. "When we add to this that in the cross-cor- respondence tests with Mrs. Piper the Researchers them- selves claim but 23 out of over 100 as correct, and that we have explained most of those 23 as the result of a common milieu, or of suggestion, we cannot consider the argument for supernormal knowledge much strength- ened. Nor can the fact that during all these years the controls have given correctly the names of various sitters and their deceased .friends, with facts about their family life, be cited as real evidence, for we have noted repeatedly that the records are too incomplete for us to judge such cases either for or against. It is easy for us to understand that such things may be very convincing to the sitter, especially to the sitter who has recently lost a beloved one, and for all that may not have one particle of scientific value. The alleged entrance of any departed friend is well calculated to upset one's calm judgment if one really believes in a personal immor- tality, especially if the death is recent, and when added to this the record of the sitting is imperfect, the general public 319 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM should not be called upon to give credence to the claims of the controls. I maintain, therefore, that even the " test messages " and the cross-correspondence tests of the Piper case, far from making out a prima facie case for some supernormal knowledge on the part of the controls, are emphatically against any such claims, and that the remainder of the content of the sittings is so imperfectly recorded that the Researchers have no right to present such sittings as of any serious value. To sum the whole situation up in a word, the entire content of the Piper messages can be re- ferred (1) to the ordinary laws of the mind as seen in ap- perception, inference, etc.; (2) to a greatly heightened suggestibility; (3) to a modicum necessarily unexplained because of imperfect records. CHAPTER XX TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA: SPONTANEOUS AND EXPERIMENTAL THOUGHT-TEANSEEEENCE "We cannot leave the subject of spirit communication without at least a brief discussion of the phenomena sub- sumed under the names of telepathy and thought-transfer- ence, because spirit communication assumes that the dis- camate spirit can somehow affect either the mind of the me- dium or of the sitter without using ordinary sensory means. Furthermore, many of the Psychical Researchers who are not yet willing to grant spirit communication do believe in telepathy, and the popular accounts in papers and mag- azines have given a greatly exaggerated notion to the pub- lic of the amount and value of the proof. First of all, let it be said that, as defined again and again by the Psychical Researchers, " Telepathy is a name, not a theory ; it implies nothing as to the mode of thought- transference, other than that it may occur without use of the ordinary sensory channels." But this implies a very large theory, viz., that there can be communications from person to person without use of any part of the body. However, under this name are grouped all such things as crystal gazing, veridical dreams, • death warnings, pre- monitions that come true, automatic writing, and even spirit communication itself by some. To discuss all these fully would be the task of a book instead of a chapter. Here I will merely define the terms in the most cursory fashion, and cite the most notable con- tributions to the subject, with a discussion of the kind of evidence which is acceptable to the Psychical Researchers. 321 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Thought-transference is a term used synonymously witH telepathy, and under these two fall all the other classes referred to. In crystal gazing the experimenter looks into a glass ball, or a glass of water or of ink, and watches the pictures which may appear there. In some instances he finds that they represent events that either have hap- pened, are happening, or later happen in the life of him- self or of some friend or acquaintance. In automatic writing the person holds a pencil or employs the plan- chette, and similarly writes things which he has no knowledge that he knew. The veridical dream is one that is found to be true. The death warning or premoni- tion occurs within twelve hours of the death of the person concerned. It is scarcely necessary to say that in all these cases most of the crystal visions, automatic messages, dreams, premonitions, etc., have no discoverable meaning or are easily explained by reference to the experimenter's own knowledge and life. The whole question of how to inter- pret the few that do seem to be true, and that cannot be traced back to any known psychical laws, becomes a ques- tion of how often we should expect to find such coinci- dences with facts, if only chance and the ordinary laws of the human mind were at work. What chance is there, for instance, of my happening to dream about a friend at the time he is dying? What chance is there that — as just occurred to me — my thought of a friend, whom I had not seen for several weeks, will be followed by her calling me up over the telephone within half an hour? Here we get into the Calculus of Probabilities. For the present, how- ever, let us leave this complex problem and consider the chief experiments carried on within the Society along these lines. One of the first things to which the Society directed itself was the study of experimental thought-transference, that is, the transference of thoughts under certain definite 322 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA conditions which could be reproduced by any one, and which made it impossible for the senses to come into play. The earliest accounts of such experiments were published by Messrs. Gurney, Podmore, and Myers in Phantasms of the Living, with very many other data on all sorts of telepathy. The chief series of experiments described here are the following: M. Bichet tried to transfer to others the names of French authors, taken at random from a dictionary known to the collaborators. His experiments involved five persons be- sides himself J one of them a medium. The medium and two others sat at a table, with their hands on it. The table was connected with a battery so that every time it tilted a bell rang. Behind the sitters and behind a large screen was an alphabet, in front of which sat a fourth person moving a pencil steadily over the alphabet from beginning to end. Beside him sat a fifth, who was to write down the letter over which the pencil stood when the bell rang. Richet stood somewhere in the room thinking of the name he had chosen. The supposition is that the sitters cannot know what letter the pencil is over at any time nor what letters are desired, and so, if the letters which they tilt out corre- spond to those in the name Richet is thinking of, there must have been a double telepathy, first from his mind to theirs, impressing on them the desired letters, and, secondly, from the tracer's mind to theirs, impressing on them when his pencil is over a certain letter. Richet assumes that, since there are twenty-four letters in the French alphabet, there is one chance out of twenty- four that if chance alone works, a tilted-out letter will correspond to one in his mind. But he gets eight times as many successes, on this assumption, as would be expected. He concludes, therefore, that the experiments strongly favour the assumption of telepathy, and says at the end, " One hesitates to launch oneself on the conceptions which these experiments open up; but the only alternative 323 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM would be to question the facts from an evidential point of view." One does indeed hesitate, and therefore one questions the evidence. Let us assume — ^what we might fairly ques- tion perhaps — ^that the five collaborators all worked in good faith. The entire set of experiments is stiU vitiated by cer- tain erroneous assumptions. First of all, if Richet stood where he saw the movement of the pencil over the alpha- bet, it is altogether probable that he gave involuntary in- dications when a desired letter was near, and that the tracer felt and responded to them more or less subconsciously, as did also the sitters. As far as can be judged from the ac- count, such possibilities were not excluded. But even if they were excluded, if the sitters, especially the medium, had any idea of the ra±e.jJtjElucti,the pencil was moving — and probably there were rehearsals before the real experi- ment began — they would get a rhythm which would give them a general feeling of the whereabouts of the pencil at any given time, and then the letter-habit would influence the results. That is, sitters and tracer all knew that names of French authors were to be selected; knowing this, the tracer will tend to loiter over vowels and consonants most frequently used, and the sitters will tend to tilt the table at the times when they feel, from the involuntary indica- tions of Richet and their sense of the rhythm of the pen- cil's movement, that a desired letter is near. When we note that out of the six unequivocal successes three were with E, two with H, and one with C, all of which are common letters, such an assumption is strengthened, and this is still more the case when we add that in seven- teen other cases the letter tilted out came just before or after the one desired; that is, the sitters had the rhythm of the pencil movement approximately but not exactly. Experiments in transferring numbers and diagrams were expected to be especially valuable because the effects 324 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA of chance working alone could be readily calculated, and some of these are given in Phantasms of the Living. First, there are two sets of experiments performed by Herr Dessoir in the reproduction of diagrams, the number of experiments being nineteen in one case and five in the other. In the first series Herr Dessoir was the percipient, the drawing was usually done outside of the room, and he had his eyes bandaged and ears stuffed. He held the agent's hands on his, " quite motionless," until an image clearly presented itself, and when the drawing was put out of sight he took off the bandage and drew. In various cases there is a general resemblance between the original and his draw- ing, but perhaps not enough so that the diagram habit would not account for them all. In the second series Herr Dessoir made the drawings in the same room with the percipient, so that the effects of hyperaesthesia are not excluded nor those of the diagram habit, and the series — five — is far too short to be of any value whatever. The Misses Wingfield made a series of 400 trials in re- production of numbers, using numbers between 10 and 99. These were written on pieces of paper, mixed in a bowl, and drawn at hazard, the agent then fixing her mind on the one drawn, while sitting about six feet behind the percipient. The percipient does not seem to have been blindfolded nor to have had her ears stopped. In the 400 trials, there were 27 completely right guesses; 21 with the right digits, but reversed ; and 162 in which one digit was correctly given and in its right place. Chance alone would have given but 4 complete successes. The authors say, ' ' The odds (against chance alone being operative here) are nearly two hundred thousand million trillions of trillions to one. It would be a very inadequate statement of the case to say that if the waking hours of the whole population of the world were for the future continuously devoted to mak- ing similar trials, life on this planet would come to an end 325 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM without such an amount of success or anything like it having been accidentally achieved." ! ! We, too, agree that the success is not due to chance, but question whether it is telepathic, since hyperaesthesia was not excluded. Liebault reports some experiments by Liegeois upon a hypnotised girl of twenty years. But as the drawing was done in the same room with the subject, hypersBsthesia of sound is not excluded, even if we admit that sight was. So also various experiments reported by Ochorowicz are not described in sufficient detail for us to judge whether the conditions were such as to exclude all sorts of suggestions and hyperaesthesia. Scattered through the Proceedings of the Society are also detailed reports of many such experiments, which have been finally summarised by Mr. Thomas ^ and criticised. He states that since the Sidgwick experiments in 1889 and 1890 (which are now discredited because fraud was found in some cases, and in others unsuspected sources of error) , no long series has been published, and that in view of the knowledge of the possibilities of error gained since those early experiments, the failure to get new evidence under the more rigid conditions now demanded must throw some doubts on the early results. On the other hand, he does not think there is any a priori impossibility in telepathy, but that it is capable of being scientifically investigated, although physiologists and physicists are no better fitted for this work than any one else. The possible sources of error in such experiments — assuming the good faith of the experimenter or agent and the percipient or subject — are of two chief kinds. First, there is the possibility of hyperaesthesia. That is, the per- cipient may be a person who is unusually sensitive to all iN. W. Thomas, "Thought Transference," De La More Press, 1905, 210 pp. 326 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA sorts of impressions, and who can therefore get indications from movements, reflections, sounds, tensions of the body, etc., which the agent cannot perceive and does not know he is giving. The receiving and interpreting of these subcon- scious and involuntary indications may be entirely sub- conscious on the part of the percipient also, so that she may say honestly that she does not know why she had the idea, and yet may have got it from the agent himself. This source of error has been shown to be present in very many cases, and so no experiment is valid where the percipient and agent are within sight or hearing of each other. The second source of error lies in the similarity of thought between different persons. When the early experi- ments on thought-transference were published sceptics were forced to find an explanation, and began to study the common associations in our minds. They found that all minds have certain common tendencies, so that, e. g., in the numbers from one to ten certain ones like three and seven will appear more often in our mind than others; certain letters of the alphabet and certain diagrams, in the same way, turn up more often in our minds than others. Now it is evident that in the early experiments, before these habits were known, when the agent chose some diagram or number that happened to come into his mind, the chances were in favour of his choosing the most common one and of the percipient's thinking of the most common one, too. That is, the number, letter, or diagram habit could have free play and vitiated the results. This source of error can be easily removed if the diagrams, words, letters, etc., to be used are thrown into a box and picked out by lot. The sources of error due to fraud Thomas believes are well enough known to be guarded against, but it seems to me doubtful whether the Psychical Researchers, or perhaps one might even say psychological experimenters of all sorts, have any conception of the mass of feelings focussing about the sense of self that modify the reactions of any subject 327 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM who is serving in a psychological experiment. Some Ger- man psychologists have noted briefly that in working with children we must always be on our guard in interpreting results because they are so likely to give the answers which they think are wanted, or which they think proper, etc., while critics of the questionnaire method have raised sim- ilar objections to the answers given under its conditions. But one might go further than this. One might question whether any subject who is conscious that his mental processes are undergoing scrutiny will not thereby be made self-conscious, keenly sensitive as to whether his reactions are such as the experimenter desires or thinks normal, and inclined to modify his reactions in the directions which he believes desirable. This usually goes on in the outskirts of consciousness, perhaps in the subconscious mind itself, but it must modify the results of all experiments where the ex- perimenter has a definite theory or opinion, because when he has one he cannot help betraying it at times. This source of error, of course, shades over into conscious fraud on one side and into hypersesthesias and subconscious processes on the other. It could, in experiments on thought-transfer- ence, probably be entirely guarded against if agent and percipient did not know each other's opinions and did not see each other at all during the time when the series of experiments was being tried. Thomas next criticises in detail the various experiments. Riehet's experiments in clairvoyance between 1887 and 1888 do not exclude the possibility of hyperesthesia, and are all too short to be conclusive. His experiments with cards, out of 20,580 trials, contain seven per cent more suc- cesses than chance alone would explain, a favourable per- centage so small that one wonders whether it would not vanish if the series were continued. Mrs. Verrall's experi- ments {Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. vii, p. 174) and Guthrie's do not exclude hyperaesthesia, and Guthrie does not describe his conditions with sufficient 328 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA detail. Thomas is inclined to think that the Newnham case {Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. iii, p. 6) is a genuine one, and that the Sidgwick experiments from 1889 to 1892 may have had genuine examples of telep- athy in some instances, as well as the many other experi- ments carried on at that time, in which the percentage of successes was considerably above what chance alone would give. Nevertheless, he admits that the fact that the per- centages have steadily lessened with more rigid conditions must make us fear that there was some serious source of error in aU these. The various experiments on telepathy at distances vary- ing from thirty or forty feet to miles are discussed in some detail, but usually their conditions are not exactly described, and in any case they are far too few in number to prove anything. Here fall Janet's experiments with Leonie B., Ermacora's, Van Eeden's, etc. Thomas then describes a long series of his own, but curi- ously enough, although he warns us so carefully against hypersesthesia, he was only seven feet distant from his sub- ject, and so did not exclude sounds from breathing, in- voluntary movements, etc., although he seems to have taken great pains to exclude sight. He says that his results are inconclusive, but believes they tend slightly to favour telepathy. He gives as his final conviction that much more sys- tematic effort will be necessary before we can assume that telepathy is proven by experiments. Spontaneous cases and crystal gazing add something to the evidence, but still do not prove the case. It is quite indefensible to assume, as is constantly done, that telepathy is a proven fact, and can be assumed as a cause of almost any inexplicable phe- nomenon such as spirit communication or coincidences in thought. In his recent book, " Naturalisation of the Supernat- ural," Mr. Podmore also sums up the work done since the 24 329 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM establishment of the Society for Psychical Research, and gives somewhat new standards as well as new cases. In this work he summarises the experiments on thought- transference performed by the Sidgwicks and Miss John- son, with Mr. Smith as operator and two young men as percipients. Recognising that the success obtained under these conditions might be due to some unrecognised form of unconscious communication or suggestion, the experi- ments were continued the next year with the same operator, but a different percipient, and in these two series, in one case the two were in the same room, while in the other a curtain was put between them or they were in separate rooms. When nothing intervened, out of 126 trials there were 26 complete successes — the transference being of num- bers from 10 to 90. When in separate rooms, out of 148 trials 20 were complete successes, and in 71 further trials 7 were complete successes, while in 31 others there were none. In all, there were 252 trials with the two separated by a partition, with 27 complete successes. The slight difference in distance, but with sight cut off and probably sound also, reduced the percentage of suc- cesses very materially, although it is still far larger than chance would explain. Podmore is inclined to accept Mrs. Sidgwick's suggestion that the difference is probably due to the fact that when the percipient and agent were alone they did not expect much success, and also found the ex- periments far more monotonous and difficult. Nearly 400 other experiments were made with the same percipient, with the agent separated by two closed doors and a passage, and practically no success was obtained. Is there any reason to suppose that, without actual distance being in- creased, but with still further precautions to make sounds impossible, and to eliminate the effects of the number habit, the number of successes would not be still further di- minished 1 As against Thomas, only the year before his book ap- 330 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA peared, E. T. Bennett, Assistant Secretary of the Society for Psychical Research from 1882 to 1904, summed up the experiments on thought-transference thus : 40 different in- vestigators have made over 12,000 experiments, with 600 drawings, and in Phantasms of the Living 700 more cases are examined and found to afford evidence of thought- transference, and he concludes: " This disposes of any alle- gations that attempts have heen made to raise a structure on insufficient foundations," and also, it seems to me, his remark illustrates the inveterate tendency of the Psychical Researchers to prefer quantity to quality, and the funda- mental difference in that respect between them and sci- entists. No matter how many fagots are bound together the bundle will never be strong if each individual fagot is broken in several places. Of course these experiments could not escape criticism, and are discussed in the National Review for January, 1887, by Ada Heather Bigg and Marian La Hatchard, in an article entitled " Some Miscalled Cases of Thought- Transf erence. " They take the position that in their ex- periments Barrett, Gurney, and Myers probably did not exhaust the other alternatives to thought-transference, and at least that this ought not to be assumed until many more experiments have been tried. They believe that similar habits, education, etc., tend to cause similar brain func- tioning, and the wonder is not that we get apparent cases of telepathy now and then, but that we do not get more. Lewes gives as an instance, that once he and a friend were out walking, and hearing the sound of hoofs he remarked that he thought the riders were two women and a man. His friend said that he had just thought the same thing, and the riders really were as supposed. The explanation is that as women canter and men trot, the sounds registered themselves on their brains and the ideas appeared seem- ingly as telepathy. The number habit is also referred to by them as another factor in the experiments against telep- 331 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM athy. Subtle suggestions also act, as, for instance, if a per- son is told to choose a number containing three digits, three will occur more than twice as often as if chance alone de- cided it. In choosing letters there are three tendencies es- pecially : (1) To choose a, b, and c; (2) to choose one's own initials; (3) to choose z. In the experiments already described the time element did not enter to invalidate the conclusions, since the coin- cidences were noted when the experiments were made. But in practically all the rest of the evidence one of the most important problems, if not the most important, is the question of the reliability of memory. To-day we are in a position to make certain definite statements with regard to memory. First of all, to press the matter home to the Psychical Researchers themselves, let us quote the experiments of Davey, a member of their own Society in its early days. {Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. iv, 1885-86, pp. 381-495 and index.) Mr. Davey wished to ascertain how much chance there was of a sitter being deceived as to the series of events in a seance or sleight-of-hand performance. He himself was a good conjurer, and he began to give sittings to friends, especially members of the Society for Psychical Research, Hodgson among them. He asked these friends to write out an account of the seance immediately after it was over, as fully as possible. He wanted them to tell just what was done and said. He himself wrote out what was actually done and said, and he compared the two accounts. The result is the most interesting chapter on the psy- chology of deception that has yet been written. Davey found that the sitter was in most cases imable to give any explanation at all of how the tricks were done, and when he did have theories they were wide of the mark, unless he had had some training in practical conjuring. He was 332 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA misled in various ways, the errors falling into four prin- cipal classes: 1. The sitter interpolated as facts what did not occur but what the medium made him believe occurred, e. g., the medium gives him a slate and tells him to examine it care- fully, giving considerable patter about the importance of close examination, but at the same time drawing back the slate and looking it over himself, thus showing the sitter bat one side, and not even that close at hand. The sitter then writes that he examined the slate carefully. Or again, perhaps eight rings are to be used, and the sitter testifies, as a well-known professor did, that he examined all eight, whereas in reality he only touched two. Or again, the medium brings forward a pile of " eight " slates, which really contains nine, but the sitter accepts the eight, and so reports it. Or, as in a case Hodgson reports, of an Indian juggler's trick, when an army officer was the subject. The officer reported that he put his coin on the ground, whereas Hodgson, who knew the trick and was watching, saw the juggler take it unobtrusively from the officer's hand, just as he was about to lay it on the ground. The trick could not have been done if the juggler had not had this oppor- tunity for substitution. 2. This first error is closely connected with the second. The sitter often confuses like ideas, saying he washed the slate thoroughly when he only did it superficially, that he tied up the medium securely when he followed the medi- um's directions, that he searched the medium thoroughly when he was confused into thinking that he did by the medium's manner, air, etc. 3. The order of events is changed. The sitter believes, for instance, that the medium never touched the slate after he himself washed it, whereas the medium did. He may declare that the medium never left the room after the ques- tion had been written on the paper, whereas the medium may have gone to answer a ring at the door. 333 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM 4. He omits numerous details which seem to him unim- portant, but which give the medium the opportunity to perform the trick; e. g., the medium may turn aside, os- tensibly to blow his nose, and at that instant may open and read the slip of paper in his hand. The sitter politely ignores the act, and forgets about it immediately afterward. To state it in another way, what we call our memory is practically never a perfectly objective account of objec- tive events in their order. " My memory " of an event is a mass of images of what I saw, heard, etc., indistinguish- ably mingled with my feelings about them, my interpreta- tions of what they meant, etc. This has been well shown within the last few years by the detailed experiments which have been made in Germany by Wilhelm Stern and his followers on the reliability of testimony in legal matters. These men have carried on many experiments both with adults and with children, in some instances the subjects being asked to write out a complete account of some room ; in others, an account of some incidental occurrence to which their attention was not directed at the time it was happen- ing; in others, the account of some event which they be- lieved they would be called upon to testify about in court. In the first two classes of cases all the errors noted by Davey were found, that is, events were inserted which did not belong there, or were modified, or the order of events was altered, and in all three classes of experiments there were very many gaps. (In all these experiments the ac- counts were written either within a week or immediately after the event.) Furthermore, the extremely interesting discovery was made that when the subjects were questioned about the event and the answers written down, the number of mistakes was from two to three times as numerous even if the questions were neutral in form, and still more so if they were suggestive. It goes without saying that where the subject himself has a strong inclination for or against a certain interpretation of the event, the memory of the 334 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA event will be strongly coloured by the prejudice. These gaps are found in every one's memory, and the insertions, transpositions, and misinterpretations occur in from fifteen to twenty-five per cent of all cases studied, the numbers varying according to the subject and the class of material under investigation ; but no one can say a priori what classes of errors a given subject will commit. It was also found the mistakes were just as definite in the subject's mind as the correct images, and that he would answer questions about these mistaken ideas with much de- tail, especially if the questions were suggestive. And, finally, the memory of one part of a testimony may be correct, and the rest incorrect, and it is entirely impos- sible to reason out which parts are likely to be true and which not. If we admit the validity of these studies — and one can scarcely question it after reading the experiments — ^the claim of the Psychical Researchers that they have been accumu- lating " scientific " evidence becomes an absurdity. In the first place, in no single recorded instance has any study been made of the memory type of any of these persons who have had veridical dreams, death warnings, telepathic mes- sages, etc. It is probable that these subjects if examined would show some of the less common tendencies to error, and it is certain that they would have large gaps in any memory test to which they should be subjected, even if they had the chance to write out their account within an hour after the event. It is certain from the accounts given by the subjects that many of them believe in telepathy, etc., and therefore have a prejudice in favour of interpreting events conformably to their belief, which must warp their memory in that direction. It is probable from other ac- counts that some of them are suggestible, so that subsequent events and the questions of the one who is collecting the facts for the Society would warp their memory. We have no records of the interviews between the subjects and the 335 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM collectors, and so are entirely ignorant how far the col- lector's zeal may have influenced his questions and the sub- ject's answers. But most invalidating of all is the lapse of time that has occurred in most cases between the event and the writing of it down. Even in Mr. Podmore's more recent book, ' ' Naturalisation of the Supernatural, ' ' he accepts all cases written out within ten years of the occurrence of the event, and in the earlier collections accounts written even forty or fifty years after the event are accepted. Surely in the light of the above studies of memory it is the funniest sort of farce to maintain that memories going back ten years, un- supported by a shred of written contemporary evidence, can be considered proof of telepathy, especially since in most cases only one or two persons remember anything about the warning or death apparition, and so we lose the strong advantage gained from converging testimonies. Strictly speaking, no such memories can have any value unless written out within at least a week after the pre- monition, before the subject knows of the coincidence with fact, and before she has talked it over with others and so has been influenced by their encouragement, doubt, or questions. But if we apply this time limit to the cases of telepathy of all sorts which the Researchers themselves have accepted (appearing in the Census of Hallucinations, Phantasms of the Living, Proceedings of the Society, and Podmore's two books, " Studies in Psychical Research " and " Natu- ralisation of the Supernatural "), we find in all but 34 cases in which the supposed message corresponded to a fact.^ 1 Cases have not been cited from the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, because ( 1 ) it expressly states that its contents are not for general publication, and (2) because the cases which prove valid after more thorough investigation are printed usually in the Proceedings. 336 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA These cases are as follows: 1. The Committee on Hallucinations {Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. x) reports an ex- perience of Miss Maughan with a friend, Miss Gatty. Miss Gatty woke up one morning about four to see Miss Maughan standing in front of her in so unbalanced a po- sition that she at once jumped out of bed to save her from falling. As she touched the apparition it vanished. The next day she wrote Miss Maughan a letter about it, and found that Miss Maughan had been lying awake at that time thinking intently of her. 2. In Phantasms of the Living (vol. i, p. 89 et seq.) we have various cases given. Miss Hervey saw a vision of a cousia going up the stairs and made a note of it in her diary, which Mr. Podmore saw. About thirty hours later the cousin died. 3. Miss Caldecott saw a faint glow of light in a corner, which became a friend then in Scotland, holding out her hands in appeal. The next day she wrote to this friend, and soon received an answer saying that at just that time she had been longing to see her. 4. Rev. John Drake one morning went to a friend and told him his daughter had arrived safely in port, for he had seen it in a vision. The friend was incredulous, be- cause it was two weeks before the boat was due, but made a note of it in his memorandum book, and later found that the boat really had come in on that date. 5. A Mr. Carslake one day believed that he saw his Uncle John cross the road in front of him and turn into a lane. He at once made a memorandum of it, querying whether it did not indicate the uncle's death, as he had long been ill, and later he found that the death had oc- curred about this time. When Mr. Gurney obtained this story it was sixty-nine years old, and the original memorandum had been lost, but what was believed to be an exact copy of it was in existence. 337 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM But the case is explained by the fact that the nephew had been expecting the death. 6. Mrs. Barber went shopping, and at dinner thought of an incident she wished to tell her two-year-old daughter. Something prevented her telling it just then, and in a few minutes the child told it to her. Mrs. Barber is confident that no one else knew the incident, and that she had not already told it. She wrote out the experience five days later. 7. A lady, when asked by her husband what she was thinking of, said that she felt as if two friends of theirs had just been married, but she did not believe it was so because she thought they would not marry in Lent. The husband then felt the same way, and later they found that the marriage had taken place. Two ladies corroborate the account, which was written out four days later. 8. Mrs. Gates constantly has premonitions. One after- noon she felt that something was happening to her son, and later found that he had been attacked by an insane patient. The account was written within a week, and cor- roborated by one person. 9. Mr. Jukes on waking one morning recognised the voice of an old school-fellow saying to him, " Your brother Mark and Harriet are both gone." As far as Mr. Jukes knew both were well, but he wrote the words on a scrap of paper and later copied them into his diary, which Mr. Gumey saw. Later he received word that his brother had died one day after, and his sister three days after, the warn- ing, of cholera. 10. While dressing one morning Mrs. Gladstone went to a cupboard and took out a piece of serge to see whether it would do for a curtain for a sick woman. "When she vis- ited the woman the next day, her husband told Mrs. Glad- stone that the day before his wife had seen her holding up a curtain in both hands, saying it was not long enough. This was recorded the same day. 338 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA 11. Mr. Haydn noted this in his diary : ' ' Just after going to bed, while I was reading, I heard steps outside and in the passage as of a female walking aimlessly. Thinking it might be Louey, I called, but there was no answer. Im- mediately after the sounds ceased the clock struck eleven. ' ' Later he found that a friend, dying in delirium, had at about that time raved of being in his house talking to him. This shows the possibilities of error. Mr. Haydn did not get up to see that there really was no one in the hall, and many noises sound like irregular footsteps in a quiet house. 12. Mr. Grand records in his diary that the previous night he woke up with the feeling of a presence which he could not see, but which told him that it had to do with a friend named Bruce. He thought Bruce 's father was dead, but it turned out to be Bruce 's brother. In his " Naturalisation of the Supernatural," Mr. Podmore gives the following cases which come within our time limit of one week : 13. Dr. Wiltse carried on various experiments in 1891 along this line, with the following as an experiment at a distance. He agreed with Mr. Eeseco that after both had gone to bed, at 9.55, he should attempt to produce a certain image in Mr. Reseco's mind. So he thought of an African jungle at night with a hunter's tent in front, a tiger's eyes glaring out, and an iU-defined form in the background. Mr. Eeseco saw a large mass of bushes, apparently rose- bushes, with two balls of fire in the midst of them, behind which appeared an indistinct bulk. We are not told whether each wrote out his account before seeing the other, for though it is said that the next morning they exchanged notes, the phrase may mean only that they compared impressions. But supposing that the exchange of notes was literal, the coincidence, while inter- esting, is explicable otherwise. The characteristic thing, the balls of fire, may have been simply the incorporation of 339 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM phosphemes, which are especially noticeable in darkness, into a vague landscape. As Professor Ladd has well shown, retinal impressions are very often the sensory groundwork of images, and any one who has taken the trouble to watch them with his eyes closed must realise their great sugges- tiveness of ideas of all sorts. In the various other experiments in transferring thought at a distance, none of which are reported later than 1895, there is no attempt whatever to nullify the effect of natural associations, or of community of thought between agent and percipient, and in all the instances recorded the two par- ticipants seem to have been friends, so that Vaschide's re- marks on this subject are applicable to them. It is very curious that Mr. Podmore, writing in 1907 on these ex- periments, makes no references anywhere to the effects of various mental habits. 14. In Phantasms of the Living we get similar experi- ments, such as Gibert's and Janet's experiments with Madam B. Madam B. in the hypnotic state was unusually suggestible ; so much so that the two operators became con- vinced of telepathic power. On three recorded occasions Gibert, while Madam B. was hypnotised, gave a mental or- der, putting his face close to hers but saying nothing. The order was then written out on a piece of paper, which was kept usually by Janet. On the one successful occasion she was ordered, the next day at noon, to lock the doors of the house, and she did so, giving as a reason that she did not want the physicians to come in to hypnotise her. Myers also records further experiments with her in hypnotising her at a distance. On three occasions recorded he was suc- cessful in doing this, at times when she would not naturally be expecting it, and on one he brought her to his house. 15. Hericourt, in 1878, had similar successes with Madam D., which he reported to Richet. Podmore gives further cases also: 16. Writing the next day. Professor Blank records that 340 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA on the previous evening, while at work in his library, he suddenly had the impression that there was a fire at the Opera, where his wife and daughter then were, but that it was nothing serious. This was about 10.30. When they returned at twelve, they told him that about 8.45 there had been an alarm of fire, but it amounted to little. The Professor's sister also had the same impression. 17. Mr. Young, on arising from supper one evening, had a presentiment, and exclaimed, ' ' There ! I have just had an intimation that Robert is dead." He was called to a customer, but was so impressed that he first wrote out the matter in his diary, but, unfortunately, not on the dated leaves, but at the back, undated. His account itself was written two weeks after the event. Two days later he re- ceived word that his brother-in-law, who had been bed- ridden for two years, had died at 7.45 that evening. 18. Mrs. D., while holding a photograph of a friend and describing her to some one present, suddenly felt im- pelled to tell what she was doing at that instant, the dress she had on, the furniture of her sitting room, etc. She wrote out the account the same afternoon, and also wrote about it to the friend. 19. Mr. H. B. dreamed one night that he saw his fiancee with one side of her face much swollen. He wakened, and on going to sleep again saw her face floating in smoke. The dreams depressed him and he wrote to her about them, to find that she had gone out to see a fire that night, had caught cold, and had toothache and a swollen face as a result. Her letter in response to him was written about a week after the event, and his own account about two months after. 20. Miss C. Clarkson, while out boating with a party of friends, fell into the water, and while being pulled in by two gentlemen told them not to pull so hard, for they hurt her, to which they answered that they must pull if they were to get her in. On that night her stepmother had 341 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM a dream that Miss Clarkson's sister was drowning, and she pulled her out by the hair, the sister saying that she hurt her, and the stepmother answering that she had better be hurt than drown. Miss Clarkson's account was written only three days after the event, and the stepmother's eight days. The step- mother also told her dream to the sister before hearing of the accident. 21. Mrs. Mann one night dreamed of an old friend, who appeared greatly altered. The next morning she told her husband about it, and later found that he had died the day after her dream. The account was written three weeks later, and her husband noted in his diary at the time the dream. 22. Mr. Brierly, writing about a week after, tells that he dreamed one night of the death of Lohmann, a cele- brated cricketer, and found the next day that the death had occurred. It is not noted that he knew him, and we infer from the narrative that he did not. His wife testi- fies that he told her about the dream at breakfast, and be- fore they heard of the death. 23. Mrs. Knight had a nurse between whom and her- self there existed a peculiarly strong affection. This nurse had told her that dreaming of insects on the face and neck was a certain sign of death, but Mrs. Knight had never believed it. One night she awoke with the feeling of being rocked, then she saw a light; and then felt a presence hov- ering over her. She felt that some one was dying and, on wondering who, heard a loud rap. She got out of bed and looked at her watch, knelt down to pray, and after getting back into bed saw flashes of gold in a silver light. Two hours later she woke up with the feeling of insects on her forehead and neck, and thought of her old nurse's saying. The next morning she learned that the nurse had died at almost exactly the time she looked at her watch. A few days later she wrote out the account in her diary. 342 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA At the time of the hallucinations she did not think of the nurse as the one dying. 24. Mr. Grodfrey, the day after his experience, wrote Mr. Podmore an account of it. At 10.45 one night he en- deavoured to make himself appear to a friend at the foot of her bed. He soon fell asleep, but awakened about 3.30 from a dream in which he had asked the lady if she had seen him the night before, and she had replied that she had seen him sitting beside her. The lady on her side also noted the next day that about 3.30 she had wakened with the feeling of some one being in the room, that she had been restless and gone down-stairs after some soda water, and on coming up had seen Mr. Godfrey standing under the window on the staircase. She held up her candle and stared at him in amazement, and as she went up the stair- case he disappeared. She was not frightened, but did not sleep afterward. Mrs. has seen before this two phan- tasms, and on two other occasions Mr. Godfrey experi- mented with her, once unsuccessfully and once successfully. In no case did she know beforehand of the experiment. 25. June 17, 1894, at 12 p.m., Miss Danvers made this note: " I write this just before trying to appear to Mrs. Fleetwood. My hair is down and I am going to lie down and try to appear with my eyes closed." Mrs. Fleetwood notes: " Sunday night, June 17, 1894, I woke from my first sleep to see Edith Danvers appar- ently kneeling on an easy chair by my bedside, her profile turned toward me, her hair flowing, and eyes closed or looking quite down After I was fully awake and able to reason with myself, the figure still remained, and then gradually faded, like a dissolving view. I got up and looked at the clock. It was just twelve. I was alone in the room. As I now write, it is about two minutes after twelve." The next day these memoranda and a letter were sent to Mr. Myers. 343 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM 26. Miss R., on waking up one morning and sitting up to get something from her table, saw Mrs. J. W.'s face in two places nearly or quite at once. She noted the time and intended to write out the vision in the morning, but forgot it until she heard two days later that that night J. W. had died, and that at about the time she saw Mrs. J. W. 's face, Mrs. J. W. and her daughter-in-law were talking about her kindness to them. She then wrote out the account. This is an excellent illustration of the defects in all tes- timony in which the vision is not written out prior to the knowledge of the death. What proof is there that this is not an illusory memory, especially if, as seems to be the ease, Miss R. is given to vivid images and feelings of pre- monition? Such a case, instead of making us believe that telepathic communications are far more common than is generally supposed, convince us that illusions of memory even within a few days of the event may be so common as to invalidate every case except those in which the halluci- nation is written out in detail at the time, and before the corresponding event is known. 27. Mr. Grant, while in Brazil, one night had an im- pression of death, and connected it with Lord Z. 's family. Lord Z. himself died that day. A month later, no word having been heard meantime of the death, the impression was renewed, and the next morning Mr. Grant wrote at length in his diary his uneasiness during the night, seeing the face of Lord Z., wanting to draw him with his head sunk on his chest as if asleep, feeling pity for the rest of the family, etc., but not for him. The day after this he heard of the death. 28. Miss Lilian Whiting, writing four days later, says that Miss Kate Field, then dead, wakened her one night, speaking about a letter that Lowell had written her. Miss Whiting was then writing a biography of Miss Field. The vision continued the excited talking in spite of Miss Whit- ing's soothing remarks, and so Miss Whiting got up, turned 344 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA on the light, and looked through the book mentioned by the vision, finding there an important letter from Lowell, which would certainly have been omitted from the biog- raphy had it not been for the vision. Mr. Podmore thinks that this is probably simply a case of emergence from the subconscious of forgotten knowledge, which clothed itself in dramatic form. 29. Mr. Conley, a farmer, was found dead one day, while away from home, and the clothes that he had on when found were thrown away. On hearing of the death his daughter fell into a swoon, and when she awoke from it she said that her father had appeared to her and told her that after leaving home he had sewed a large bundle of bills into his gray shirt, with a piece of her red dress, and that they were still there. She wanted them to get the clothes he had on when found, and described accurately the clothes in which he was buried, though none of the fam- ily had seen them. She then fell into another swoon, and, on recovering, again urged that some one go to Dubuque after the clothes, and as she was near death and the phy- sician thought it might relieve her mind to have them, her brother went after them, though not believing at all in her vision. But the bills were found as she had described, and the coroner said that the clothes in which the father was buried were as described. The account was written within two weeks after the event, with corroboration from the various officials. 30. Mile. Stramm, while writing automatically, wrote that August Duvanel was dead from a elot of blood. He had been her suitor, but she had not heard of him for five years. This writing was given to Professor Aksakoff, and he made a note of the occurrence at the time. Later it was found that M. Duvanel had committed suicide about five hours before Mile. Stramm received her message. 31. For clairvoyance close at hand Podmore thinks there is no evidence, some sort of trickery or hyperfesthesia 25 345 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM explaining all such eases. But for travelling clairvoyance there is more evidence. He gives, however, no cases which were written out within a year after the event. As to pre- vision, Mrs. Verrall furnishes one case. On lying down she heard a curious ticking, which she associates with dis- aster, and at once mailed a note to Mr. Myers telling of it. The next day, her sister, on landing from a steamer, stepped off the rail, and though rescued without injury was in great danger for a few minutes. On three other occasions, when the incident is not given, Mrs. Verrall's ticking has warned of disaster. 32. Mr. Glardon's aunt predicted that she would die within six weeks, and Mr. Glardon sent the Society for Psychical Eesearch a note of the prediction with the time of expiration. She died the day before the limit of time. In such cases Podmore thinks the prophecy, usually given in trance or dream, feels the latent disease, and works itself out. 33. Early one morning Mr. Lane, an actor, saw the death scene of the feUow-actor whose understudy he was. That night this actor was stabbed, and his death occurred as Mr. Lane had dreamed it. Mr. Lane's account was obtained four days later, and also the testimony of two other members of the company that Mr. Lane had told them of his dream before the death. 34. Mrs. Carleton dreamed that a friend. Colonel Cog- hill, had fallen under a horse, and wrote him to that effect, her first letter for about a year. He answered saying that it must have been one of the dreams that go by contraries, for he never had felt better, but that afternoon he had a fall of the character described. His account was written within a month, and his answer to Mrs. Carleton 's letter is given, with corroboration from his brother. Mrs. Carle- ton frequently has previsions of illness, even if trivial. All in all, Podmore 's position is not essentially differ- ent from what it has been since the beginning. He be- 346 TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA lieves in telepathy, and argues from it as a true cause on all necessary occasions. He is in no way convinced of Spir- itism, and shows up the frauds of physical phenomena and the weak spots in psychical evidence, although endeavour- ing to hold his judgment in suspense. Both in Phantasms of the Living and Mr. Podmore's book already quoted from, some illustrations are given of cases of reciprocal telepathy, that is, cases in which both the persons concerned get a message. They give no cases, however, where the account was written out in less than six weeks, and so we will not quote any, especially as Mr. Podmore concludes his chapter on this subject by quoting Mr. Gurney's remarks, made in 1886, that the evidence for such occurrences was then so " small that the genuineness of the type might fairly be called in question, ' ' and adds that ' ' the twenty-two years which have elapsed cannot be said to have added material confirmation. ' ' CHAPTER XXI TELEPATHY AND ALLIED PHENOMENA: A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS In 1889 the Society for Psychical Research began to collect reports on hallucinations in answer to the following question: Have you ever, when believing yourself to be completely awake, had a vivid impression of seeing or being touched by a living being or inanimate object, or of hear- ing a voice, which impression, so far as you could discover, was not due to any external physical cause ? The collecting of reports extended over several years, and was concluded ^ when 17,000 had come in, the numbers of men and women being approximately equal. The col- lectors were 410 in number — 223 women and 187 men. More than a quarter of them were friends of the Committee, and some were friends of these friends. One-third were members of the Society for Psychical Research, and one- sixth friends of theirs. The people reporting were principally from the profes- sional class, though some were from the lower. Out of the 17,000 answers, 15,316 answered no, and 1,684, or 9.9 per cent, yes. Of the no answers 7,717 were men and 7,599 were women ; of the yes, 655, or 7.8 per cent, were men and 1,029, or twelve per cent, were women. In discussing the trustworthiness of these reports as representative there are two sources of error, viz., that the persons are a selected class among whom hallucinations are more common than among the general population, and that 1 See Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. x. 348 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS forgetfulness of such experiences greatly lowers the per cent. As to the first, the Committee asked the collectors to mark cases where they knew beforehand that there had been a hallucination, and also to report on their own ten- dency. They acknowledge that there is reason in some cases to suspect selection, but believe it counterbalanced on the whole by other things, especially by their request that each collector shall get twenty-five answers, this being a large enough number, so that he would be glad to get any one to help him out. Forgetfulness, of course, cannot be remedied, but they make elaborate calculations based on the frequency of hal- lucinations in the recent years, and conclude that the num- ber of real hallucinations is probably from four to six and one-half times larger than reported. They do not, how- ever, base their report on this estimate, but on the actual number reported. They go into great detail on the character of the hal- lucinations, whether visual, auditory, etc., giving many data which ought to be very valuable to psychologists, but which we shall ignore at this point, our interest here being solely in the Committee's claim to have established as a fact that veridical hallucinations are not due to chance. We will only mention here certain facts bearing on the matter, as follows : Out of 1^12 visual apparitions, 830 rep- resented human beings, and more than two-fifths of this 830 are known to the percipient. Of those known, forty- five per cent are of persons often seen, and twenty per cent more are near relatives. Positions and movements impos- sible to actual people are rarely found. Also, thirty-four per cent of those having hallucinations have had more than one. So far we seem to be describing simply the normal workings of a vivid imagination. Now as to the conditions under which these are seen. On the whole, the percipients appear to be in at least fair 349 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM health, though in a few cases probably some eye trouble may have affected the hallucination, and in a few excessive nervousness. In 40 cases there was probably overstrain of some sort, and in 220 some sort of emotional disturb- ance. Over one-third of the hallucinations occurred when the person was stiU in bed, or just after a sleep, and sixty-two per cent of the visual, when the percipient was alone. In 14 cases the percipient was expecting to see the person. So much for the general conditions. Coming now to death coincidences, which give the chief evidence for telep- athy, the Committee defines a death coincidence as one in which the hallucination is seen within twelve hours before or after the death. It takes this limit arbitrarily. After analysing and sifting the evidence, such coincidences are found to be in number 62, but to allow for further eviden- tial defects, 20 more are taken out; to allow for chance coincidences, 8 ; and for two suspicious cases, 2 more, leav- ing in all 30 cases which they consider thoroughly well proved. Now this is a much larger number, they main- tain, than could be obtained by chance. After dropping some doubtful yes answers, they have 1,300 left, and the ratio of 30 to 1,300 is about 1 : 43. But, they say, if chance alone were at work here the number of veridical death apparitions would be the same as the probability that any given person wiU die on a given day, which is the same as the annual death rate, or, in England for the decade 1880 to 1890, 1 in 19,000. That is, out of every 19,000 people who have hallucinations, 1 would be a death coincidence, if chance alone operated. But we have in this Census 30 death coincidences in 1,300 cases, which is 440 times as many as we should expect. In fact, we ought not to ex- pect even 1 death coincidence in only 1,300 cases, and so any argument against a causal relation must dispose of every single case, for even one or two is more than chance would allow. 350 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS The arguments which may be brought against these cases, say the Committee, are either that (1) there has been much deception in the reports; (2) that they are a very carefully selected lot, not really representative; (3) that even if they are true, they are not due to telepathy but to normal conditions, such as expectation. As to the first, the testimony given in each case will answer this argument, and this they consider when taking up each case in detail. As to the second, the Committee states that in 26 of the cases the collectors did not know that there had been any experience, and this disposes of chance coincidence even if we throw out all the other cases, but it does not entirely dispose of the argument that all the hallucinations may come from a class especially subject to them. As to the influence of expectation, etc., in 8 out of the 30 cases the illness was known to be serious, and in 2 others the percipient was troubled over it, but even if these 10 cases are omitted we have 20 left, many more than chance would explain. Let us now consider in detail the 30 cases on which the Committee bases its arguments. (These are given in Pro- ceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. x, pp. 207-44.) As the Committee well says, the best sort of evidence is a note made at the time or a letter written to a friend. In 6 of these 30 cases such a note was made, but in only 1 of them was it preserved in the very ambiguous form of these marks ^i^^x ^^^^ ™ ^ diary, the percipient her- self being unable to tell what the marks meant, other than that they were intended to recall this hallucination. There is, therefore, not one shred of contemporary docmnentary evidence that is worth anything. Now as to the lapse of time before the experience was written out and the available testimony obtained. In one case this was done about seven months after the event. 351 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM In this case a note was taken at the time, but was not pre- served, and when the news of the death arrived the man found, on comparison, that the apparition occurred on the same day as the death. The wife also testified to the note and the comparison. But there was a discrepancy of four days between Mr. A.'s original report and his statement made to Mr. Sidgwick in person, and why we should trust his later statement, which was the one coincident with the death, more than the earlier, it is hard to see, even though the wife testifies to the correct one. In this case the percipient knew that the aunt was not well, but was not especially alarmed about her. Of the remaining 29 cases, 3 are written out within five years after the event; 5 between five and ten years after; 7 between eleven and fifteen years after ; 4 between sixteen and twenty years after ; 4 between twenty-one and twenty- five ; 4 between twenty-six and thirty, and 1 forty-six and 1 fifty-eight years after. Does it not seem curious that a Committee cognisant of Mr. Davey's brilliant demonstration of the transpositions and lapses of memory within even one hour after the event should base a supposedly scientific argument for telepathy on evidence of this sort ? We need in no respect impeach the sincerity of the witnesses or the investigators in order to assert that, merely on the ground of the lapse of time between the event and the record, these cases are worth nothing whatever. We cannot, of course, positively disprove each individual case because we lack the oppor- tunity to interrogate the witnesses, and even if we could, their lapses of memory would not make further testimony against any more valuable than this is for. We do not, therefore, assert that these cases are not genuine. They may be. We only say that the proof of their genuineness is not complete. In these 30 cases we have no contemporary evidence save some unintelligible marks in one account. We have 352 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS but one account written ■within a year of the event, and in this there is a considerable discrepancy between the original report and the later discussion, which justifies us in questioning the man's memory of the event itself. If the memory was thus untrustworthy within a year, why should we suppose it to be trustworthy in longer lapses of time? For my own part — and I think many students of testimony and of memory lapses would agree with me — I am convinced that in the end no testimony as to veridical hallucinations or any other form of telepathy will stand unless it is written down by the percipient at the time of having the experience. Stern's experiments upon testi- mony corroborate Davey's earlier ones on memory, show- ing that even where an account is written out immediately after the event there are notable lacunae and errors, while the later questioning only increases the number of errors because it suggests incorrect inferences to the percipient. According to this, the questioning to which the Society's in- vestigators subjected those reporting hallucinations, instead of bringing out truth, more probably increased errors, be- cause the suggestivenss of some questions and the subcon- scious tendencies, to consistency would vitiate the testimony of the most honest witness. Nevertheless, in order to show just how weak the char- acter of the cases cited is, I shall give in considerable de- tail all accounts written out within a year after the occur- rence, and show their defectiveness in other respects as well. If the thirty test cases of veridical hallucinations are thus weak, much more so are the others, which the Com- mittee itself grants are not sufficiently evidential to be cited. A very strong case for the objectivity of the hallucina- tion's cause could be made out if only sufficient numbers of collective hallucinations could be secured. Several of these 353 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM are given, but only one is more recent than two years, and, strangely enough, none have any contemporary documents. The one exception was described five months after the event by Miss H. Wilson. She and her cousin were read- ing one Sunday evening, and an old servant was sitting in the same room with them. Suddenly the two sisters became conscious that the light was obscured, and one of them saw a thick substance pass between her and the candles, the other not really seeing anything but the darkening of the room. At three the next morning the brother of the ser- vant died. Again, haunted houises and the traditional ghost ought, if genuine, to afford evidence for the existence after death. The Committee found in all thirty cases where the evidence was good enough to afford some proof of a supernormal origin. In fifteen of these the apparitions were not associ- ated with any particular deceased person ; in the other fif- i teen the deceased was not supposed to be known to the per- son seeing the apparition. Not all of these stories are given in the Census, and of those given very few have any con- temporary documents or were written within a year after the occurrence, though they are splendid ghost stories. In one case, Fanny Lewitt, a housemaid, tells of a house in which she worked where all the family were so alarmed by the ghost of a lady, who appeared in various costumes and at different rooms, that they moved out between nights and never went back. But there is no other evidence than Fanny's word. Miss E. L. T., writing fifteen months after the first event, tells of a ghost which haunted a house where she was visiting, during the years 1890 and 1891, which was* seen by various members of the family and servants. It was not identified with any one, but seemed to wander about the house, making music now and then, and then it went away as causelessly as it had come. But why did not some of the many people who saw this gray man write out accounts and 354 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS get witnesses to sign them at the time 1 What an opportu- nity was lost here! In another case, a physician and his wife, a married daughter with five children (four daughters and a son), and a grown son, Mr. S., whose wife had recently died, were living together when an apparition, supposed to be this dead wife, appeared, and was seen first by two of the children, aged about ten and eleven, and a friend. At vari- ous times it was seen by the children, by servants, and oc- casionally by friends. It usually was near Mr. S.'s bed- room, whence also came mysterious noises, and it stayed until Mr. S. married again and left the house. Six ac- counts are given, written by the various people who saw this ghost when they were children, and to the reader unac- quainted with the persons concerned, all of them strongly suggest that Mr. S. adopted this as an easy way to keep his sister's children out of his room. One writer says, " Con- stantly when hiding in his room we thought we heard sighs and groans that were quite unaccountable. We were naturally frightened at this, and soon learned to avoid play- ing in his room." The figure always came from and dis- appeared here, its face was never seen, and upon its return terrific noises were heard inside which deterred any one from exploring. Again, at first only noises were heard, and after a theory had been formed as to their cause the apparition was seen. The young man may at first simply have wanted to deter the children from playing in his room, and then, when he saw their explanation of the noises, a somewhat warped sense of humour may have led him to impersonate his wife and thereby still more effectu- ally keep them from troubling him. There is no testimony from him on the matter, which itself is suspicious, as he was the person most concerned. Another curious case is one described by Mr. G. S. (p. 358). His first experience had been a year before, and he had written an account at the time, which had been lost. 355 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM A year later he wrote to one of the Society for Psychical Research collectors that the same apparition had again been seen twice within nine days preceding his letter, first by a lady guest and then by a housemaid, both times in different rooms. Mrs. R. and Martha gave descriptions to Mr. S., which convinced him that they saw the same ghost as he did, and he thinks that Martha had not heard of Mrs. R. 's experience before seeing the ghost. Now the sequel is that nine months later the daughter-in-law of Mrs. R.'s hostess came from Australia, and at a dinner, when Mrs. R. was present, Mrs. R. recognised her as her ghost. Martha did not, until Mrs. R. called her attention to her, and Mr. S. is rather dubious as to whether the face is like his ghost's. It seemed, however, that this young lady had been ill in Australia, and used to amuse herself by trying to picture her husband's old home. But even if she had succeeded in making her astral self visible to those occupying the home, it had not given her any knowledge, for she did not recog- nise any of the rooms ! Mrs. Malleson, on a Sunday evening, had a strong im- pression that a friend, who was known to be ill but sup- posed to be out of danger, had died, and on • Monday evening she saw a vision of her very distinctly. The next morning she heard that she had died between 3 and 4 A.M. Sunday morning. Mrs. Malleson took notes on this about a month later ; but seven years later, when she wrote the account for the Society for Psychical Research, neither her husband nor daughter remembered her story distinctly enough to furnish any testimony. One evening Mrs. Hall and her husband heard a knock- ing, and when she turned to the door she saw a man, for- merly her employer, who said, " Well, Agnes, how are you? " She exclaimed in recognition, and he vanished. He died within a week or so of that time. The account was written within a week after the occurrence by her husband. In five cases of death coincidences described respect- 356 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS ively two, four, ten, twenty-three, and twenty-seven years after the event, the deceased had promised that, if possible, he would return and make his presence felt to the person seeing the apparition. This, of course, would be a strong element of expectancy in any case, and as the lapse of time before writing out the event may have led to some confu- sion as to the actual coincidence of the ghost with the death, we would seem to have a plausible theory as to the origin of these five ghosts. The Committee lays considerable em- phasis on the fact that in all five of these cases there was no expectation of the death, and, if the evidence was good that the apparition was really not seen before, their argu- ment would hold. They claim, of course, that in such cases, such as when the daughter saw her mother lying in her coffin and afterward learned of her death, even after twenty-three years the memory would not transpose the order of events so exciting emotionally. But, on the con- trary, it is just such events that memory is likely to trans- pose, especially where it is aided, as in these cases, by the previous promise to appear, and when the longing to be certain of survival will unconsciously weight all the evi- dence in favour of it. Again, they cite cases in which the phantasm gave the percipient information unknown to him, in some instances of the death, in another of a scar, etc., but in none of these cases are there contemporary documents, and none was written out less than four years after its occurrence. Mr. Podmore also takes up the discussion of poltergeists and haunted houses, giving some first-class ghost stories of recent occurrence. For instance, Mrs. 'Donnell, writing three months after the event, says that she had moved into furnished rooms, and even the first evening felt unwell and heard footsteps overhead in a room, which she found was unoccupied. The second night was worse, and the third night she kept a light, but soon felt footsteps overhead, and later, on turning 357 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM toward the wall, saw a horrible figure, with one hand close to her face. She covered her face, but after a while con- vinced herself that it was all imagination, looked again, saw it again, shrieked in terror, put out her hand to ward it off, felt as if she were clutched by death, and knew no more. The figure she saw was of a small, dark man, with small hands, dressed in a very tattered black suit. The next night she stayed in her daughter's room, and in the mid- dle of the night her locked door opened and a small, dark, gentlemanly young man walked in, said, ' ' Oh, so you have the Scotchman's room," smiled pleasantly, and walked out. Then she told her f riepds ; inquiries were made, and they found that, a few weeks before, a young man, answering to the appearance of the ghost, had committed suicide. Mr. Podmore says they have many similar cases, and in his most recent volume, " Telepathic Hallucinations," offers the ingenious theory that what we call ghosts are in some cases hallucinations in which the person seeing the ghost is telepathically affected by the mind either of the person seen or, if he was dead at the time of the vision, by the minds of those who knew he had died. He does not even deny that the mind of the dead person himself may perhaps affect the living, but rather inclines to the first- mentioned form. He still quotes the Census of Hallucina- tions as proof that coincidences are more numerous than chance would allow, and believes telepathy to be a proven fact. The Committee concludes its work as follows: 1. With regard to death coincidences : " We have shown that — after making the most ample allowance for aU ascer- tainable sources of error — ^the number of these experiences remains far greater than the hypothesis of chance coin- cidence will account for. 2. " We have presented the further evidence for telep- athy afforded by cases in which the improbability of chance coincidence does not allow or admit of the same exact cal- 358 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS culation as that discussed in Chap. XII (on death co- incidences), although their cumulative force, in any fair estimate of the whole evidence, must be regarded as con- siderable. 3. ' ' "We have endeavoured to estimate impartially, and illustrate by the most noteworthy cases in the Census, the evidence tending to connect the seeing of apparitions with certain localities ; but we have not found any strong reasons for attributing phenomena of this kind to the agency of the dead. 4. " Stronger arguments, however, for accepting the possibility of communication from the dead to the living may be drawn from other cases included in our returns; accordingly, in the final Chapter, we have given careful consideration to these arguments, although we do not re- gard them as in themselves conclusive. ' ' Their general conclusion is : " Between deaths and ap- paritions of the dying person a connection exists which is not due to chance alone. This we hold as a proved fact." And the report is signed by Henry Sidgwick, Alice Johnson, P. W. H. Myers, Frank Podmore, and Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick. The general bias of the Committee at that time seemed to point away from communication from dead to living, but toward telepathy. In the general discussion of telepathy Messrs. Podmore, Gumey, and Myers distinguish their evidence from such as that given for witchcraft and magical occurrences by saying that theirs comes for the most part from educated persons, who had no tendencies to belief in such phenomena, and that, furthermore, such cases do not fit in with prev- alent habits of thought and so are not readily accepted, as are apparitions of the dead. With aU due respect to the authors, I would question this last statement. It is the universal tendency of all minds to believe in images just as they do in facts. Locke 359 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM tells us that if but one idea is present to a person's mind he inevitably believes in its truth, and this remark has been verified again and again by modern hypnotists. Even phi- losophers show this, Locke having tendencies that way, and Descartes and Spinoza stating distinctly that the marks of truth in an idea are its clearness and distinctness. The internal testimony of an idea to its own veridical nature has played a part in philosophy that has by no means been unimportant. Now, any person who has a distinct image of another, or a distinct emotional state in regard to him, which arises spontaneously, and whose cause, therefore, he does not know, tends to refer that image or emotion to the person as cause, and if he finds that at about that time the person in question was thinking of him, his instinctive tend- ency becomes a conscious one, and is accepted as truth in proportion as he is lacking in the ability to test for cause and effect relations. All of us have known cases where we have received a letter from a friend on the same day that we have mailed one to that same friend, and it is amusing to see how naturally the idea pops up that there is a causal relationship between the two events, even though the friend may live in California and we in New England. Such beliefs have been fostered from time immemorial by our ignorance of the brain and of psychic activities, and our assumptions of psychic media which may transmit thought waves. There may be psychic media, and there may be thought waves — ^he is a bold man who denies them in toto — but our task is not to assume them, and believe that we have explained any phenomenon when we have referred it to them, but to demonstrate them under conditions which ad- mit of no other explanation. The authors of these vol- umes do, indeed, set before themselves this ideal of demon- stration, but they do not anywhere seem to see the defects in their testimony, and their attitude shows this tendency to belief too clearly for the sceptical reader to be convinced by their evidence. 360 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS Furthermore, although they discuss at considerable length the possible errors due to memory, such as transpo- sition of facts, f orgetf ulness of dates, and the general tend- ency after a lapse of time to make all the details congruous, they say ' ' that they have not detected definite instances of this sort of inaccuracy." But how could they, even if such existed? There are no contemporary records by which to test the person's memory. Still more, one must remark here that their good faith in the veracity of their communicators seems to us too easily given. In some instances the communicators are not known at all ; in others, only to friends ; in others, they have been visited by one of the authors, who records his " impres- sion " that they are persons of good common sense and veracity. But if there is any department of fact where human testimony is unreliable it is just this one. People • who have the best intentions in the world lose their heads here, and so twist things as to be utterly unreliable. Still further, few things are more unreliable than a snap judg- ment as to a person's common sense. It has been my obser- vation that people who have vivid images and emotions are, more than others, likely to assert their own acuteness of judgment, and to talk with great confidence about their ability to observe correctly. Their own vivid consciousness of what is passing in their minds creates the feeling of truth, and leads to confident assertion, while at the same time the ideas may be wholly at variance with fact. This phase of the characters of people given to having telepathic communications, veridical apparitions, spirit communica- tions, etc., has not, I believe, been sufficiently appreciated by those taking their testimony. I have been studying vari- ous cases of mediumship, both incipient and developed, and it seems to me that one of its marks is just the vivid- ness of the mental imagery and the assertion that because vivid it is true. I have noted that the persons who tell me that they have seen ghosts, or have had warnings of deaths, 26 361 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM etc., are usually persons of a positive habit of mind, certain of their own conclusions, and likely to be visualisers, although it is a common idea that such people are likely to be dreamy and unpractical. They may, indeed, be im- practical, in that they may have no interest in housework, but I do not believe that their mental structure is jellylike and inchoate. Now then, take a person with this turn of mind, and suppose he wakes up at night with that vague feeling of presence which aU of us have at times. This sense of pres- ence startles him, and a vivid picture flashes before him of some friend. We cannot tell what friend will come before him, because we do not know enough about the deeper cur- rents of association and emotion which determine such things. But some friend comes into his mind, and he then questions what this means. Is the friend thinking of him? Is he ill, or dead ? And then perhaps he sees his friend in pain or in his coffin. Now if, later on, he learns that the friend died at that time, or was ill, or was thinking of him, his inference to a causal relationship is certain; but if he gets no such news, what then ? The image is soon totally forgotten or remembered as one of the chance ideas that everybody has. But for us the most valuable ques- tion that could be answered is what proportion such unful- filled ideas bear to fulfilled ones, and how far similar habits of thought will account for community of ideas at a given time. Vaschide's observations are very suggestive here. The authors also lay much stress upon the number of cases recorded, saying that while the defects of evidence would throw a few out of consideration, the accumulated weight of many makes it impossible to treat them thus sum- marily. They cannot be disposed of merely by references to the general imtrustworthiness of human evidence, but must be answered in detail. But if we show that in each case there is some defect of evidence, surely the evidence is dis- 362 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS posed of, and the more so if the defects are of a similar character in many cases. When, for instance, the authors accept with complacency record after record which was not made until a year or several or many years after the event, one is surely not under any obligation to consider the evidence as having any scientific value whatever. Where could you find a scientist who would expect his brother scientists to believe that he had discovered a new natural, force on the strength of experiments whose results were not written out until a year or more after they were made? The notion is preposterous on its very face. And yet this is exactly what these investigators expect, and, curiously, they seem to believe that their case is made stronger by the fact of ' ' their harmony, alike in what they do and in what they do not present." Such harmony does, it is true, do away largely, if not altogether, with the hy- pothesis of fraud, but has no bearing whatever on the other defects, for if this group of phenomena has been created by certain general tendencies of the human mind in forget- ting, certain common tendencies of belief and interpreta- tion, then each case would conform sufficiently to these gen- eral tendencies to show its community with the others, and would differ just enough to show the sincerity of the nar- rator. To put it differently, we are inclined to believe with the authors ' ' that the cases recorded bear strong signs of belonging to a true natural group," and that the group is well worthy of careful study, but we are at present in- clined to think that such study would show that these sup- posed cases of telepathy are the outcropping of images which have developed in a certain type of mind according to definite laws of perception, memory, and inference, which are now in part known, and which should be stud- ied in detail. This type of mind is not properly called the hysterical type, though it has perhaps some of those char- acteristics; it is closely aUied to the mystical type; it has, perhaps, tendencies to secondary personality; as we have 363 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM already said, it has vivid memories and images and emo- tions, and a strong tendency therefore to belief in their truth-bearing character. But it may not be superstitious nor religious in the or- dinary sense of those terms ; it may, and usually does, be- lieve itself to be essentially reasonable and well balanced; and in many instances it is so in that its possessors hold important positions, and perform their work efficiently and often notably well. The careful study of this type is still a psychological desideratum, not an accomplished fact. Our standpoint, therefore, in reading the evidence brought forward for telepathy, mediumship, etc., is not so much to an interest in the evidence as in the type of mind which displays such phenomena. We are desirous of get- ting back to the mental laws which have produced them, and be they only manifestations of lying, or of other things, our interest is about as great in the former case as in the latter. Suppose, for instance, it should turn out that Mrs. Piper's subliminal self is simply a consummate actor that has been coached for twenty-three years in his various parts by all the Psychical Researchers, would not the disclosure of the details of this coaching and the workings of this mind, and its relations to the normal mind of the medium, be a thrilling chapter in the science of psychology? Or, again, suppose that all the phenomena of veridical appari- tions, telepathy, etc., should be referable to the community of ideas existing between friends and people of the same type of mind, would this not be as valuable a fact as the assumption of telepathy? It would not gratify our taste for the marvelous, to be sure, but it might help us more in life. Let us summarise now the cases for all sorts of telep- athy at a distance, both spontaneous and experimental, in- cluding here also veridical death apparitions and ghosts, and see just how large the mass of material is that has 364 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS been accumulated by the Society for Psychical Research since its organisation in 1882 to the present time. In all, there are eighty-eight prima facie cases of one form or another of telepathy, which were recorded within a year of their occurrence. Since these have been collected for twenty-eight years, we have an average of three and one-seventh cases to a year. This makes the case for such forms of telepathy pitifully weak from the numerical stand- point alone, but when one comes to consider other defects in the evidence, the matter is stiU worse. In the cases of experimental thought-transference at a distance, on which the authors themselves lay little stress because they are so very few in number, we are told noth- ing of the relations between percipient and agent in most cases, though in others we know that they were intimate friends, and we are led to infer that this was nearly always the case. But if it is the case, the wonder is not that there were some coincidences in their thought, but that there were not more. Even in the case of friends who have been sep- arated from one for years, and from whom one seldom hears, one has many more flitting thoughts and dreams of them than one would credit without taking especial note of the matter. When one sees the friend now and then, or if the habits of thought are similar, the chances of such coin- cidences are indefinitely increased. The great trouble with the cases for all sorts of telep- athy is that it is almost, if not quite, impossible to collect all the negative instances, for that would mean devoting most of one's time to writing down the thoughts which bring up persons. We cannot even begin to calculate the probabilities in the case until we know something more of the numbers of negative eases. Again, a considerable number of these eighty-eight cases were vague, and made no impression upon the percipient until she heard later of the coincidence. But if the verid- ical coincidences have no mark which shows their nature at 365 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM the time, does it not raise the question of whether their origin is not the same as that of non-veridical coincidences, and the apparent veridical characteristic merely a chance? Many things may coincide in time which have no cause- and-eflfect relation. "When there is a time coincidence, the probability of the relation being one of cause and effect increases with the frequency of the coincidence, the lack of other explanations, and our ability to trace the passage from cause to effect. But all these marks are lacking in telepathy. It is highly infrequent, even if we include all the cases cited by the Society for Psychical Research, vari- ous other explanations are possible, and, most of all, we cannot at present form any satisfactory theory as to how such thought-transference could take place without the rec- ognised channels of sense. Here there are at most only three theoretical possibili- ties : one person 's brain may in some mysterious way affect another person's brain without employing the afferent and efferent nerves ; one person 's mind may somehow affect an- other person's mind directly, without either mind using the brain or nerves; one person's brain may affect another person's mind, or vice versa. But all these are purely hypo- thetical, and at present the modus operandi for them is in- conceivable. Let us consider the objections a little. The writers upon this subject make light of the diffi- culties in transferring thought from one brain to another without using the sense organs. They speak easily of wire- less telegraphy as analogous, and of ether waves, etc., as the media of transmission, without seeming to realise at all the enormous weight of history and experience against such an assumption. If it is possible for nervous stimuli to pass through space in the way they so blithely assume, why has not hu- manity developed that mode of communication instead of the infinitely more laborious one of speech, writing, and the postal service, and telegraphy and the telephone? If, as 366 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS practically every student to-day believes, bad as present- day conditions are, they are still the survival of the best and most useful conditions for life, how could it possibly happen that such a power as telepathy should not have been developed at a rapidly increasing rate ? If it is a gen- uine power, it would from the beginning of thought cer- tainly have been the strongest factor in enabling its posses- sors to survive, for even if it existed in only a rudimentary fashion, as a vague feeling of premonition, it would confer a tremendous advantage in enabling one to escape danger and enemies or to obtain advantages. But, as a matter of fact, those who claim to be the possessors of such feelings have never been able to depend upon them, and the cases where they have used them to advantage are decidedly counterbalanced by those when trust in them led to disaster. Again, the advocates of telepathy do not seem to appre- ciate the difBeulty in framing an explanation of how such communication could be effected. Within the limits of one person's nervous system it is known that stimuli never jump across from nerve to nerve, even if the nerves lie contiguous to each other, with not so much as one-thousandth of an inch between them. Furthermore, communication is pos- sible from nerve end to nerve end only when the two ends come into contact, and an infinitesimally small withdrawal severs all possibilities of communication and cuts those two regions of the brain off from one another. Now, if the nervous processes within one person's brain are thus nar- rowly and exactly conditioned by the contacts between nerve ends, if no amount of intensity can free him from the neces- sity of these neural contacts, what reason have we to sup- pose that these neural waves can beat out through the skull into the surrounding ether ? So far as we know, there is no access to the nervous system save through the sense organs, and no exit for a stimulus save through some form of mo- tor response. If we believed these to be genuine cases of telepathy, perhaps we might conceive the percipient to be 367 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM so hyperassthetic as really to perceive what was going on hundreds or thousands of miles away, but as we have already said, there is no real evidence of such eases being anything more than chance coincidences; but to assume that nervous activity can somehow escape from the brain directly, and then imprint itself upon other brains, shows a colossal ignoring both of neurology and of physics. Those who advance such theories refer- again and again to ether as a universal substance, to the modern theories of electrons, whorls, etc. But they ignore the fact of the dif- ferences within generalities. Doubtless the human nervous system does contain ether, just as all space is supposed to be filled with it, but these theorists should take note that the general concept of ether does no work. Light, for in- stance, is transmitted by waves of certain definite ranges in length and under certain definite conditions; electricity has another series of waves and conditions; heat, still an- other ; sound, still another ; and no sane person attempts to get light by supplying merely heat conditions, and he ap- preciates the fact that when he increases the heat vibrations sufficiently to get light he no longer has the same heat as before, but a different heat. The arrangement of the ultimate particles, whatever they may be, which will transmit light is a specific one, so that that arrangement will not transmit most forms of heat; each form of electricity can be transmitted only by a specific arrangement of the electrons; and so on. Un- doubtedly the same thing holds everywhere. Nervous stim- uli can only be transmitted under certain definite condi- tions which ultimately demand certain forms of arrange- ment of the electrons, and these are different from and far more complex than those necessary for the transmission of light, heat, etc. Before a nervous stimulus could jump out into space from the brain and take any other form of ether, it would have to be so disintegrated that it would no 368 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS longer be a nervous stimulus, but something totally dif- ferent and unrecognisable. Again, take the notion that mind can affect mind di- rectly, without either mind employing the brain and body. Mr. Balfour ^ says that this is to him far more believable than the last form of the telepathic theory, because he can- not conceive how one brain could thus affect another. This remark shows how natural it is for the human mind to assume that unknown regions are always full of marvels and miracles. We do know enough about physics and the nervous system to realise the absurdity of one brain affecting another without sense organs, but we know noth- ing of mind per se, and so can, strictly speaking, assert nothing of it. Let us emphasise this point a little. No one, not even the most ardent Spiritist, has ever seen any psychical mani- festation of any sort in such a way that he can assert that his own brain and nervous system, at least, were not in- volved in apprehending it, and the further psychology pushes observation and experiment the more confidently it makes the assertion that, for this life at least, mind and brain never work separately. So much is not a question of speculation, but of carefully tested observation on which practically all modern psychologists are agreed. In some other life minds may be free from brains, and telepathy may then be the common form of communication, but that life, we are told, is one that " eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor the tongue of man been able to declare," which means that we are totally ignorant of its nature now. The third form of telepathy, therefore, becomes equally unintelligible, because we cannot conceive what this pure mind is which acts upon brain, and also because we cannot, in the last analysis, believe that any substance or force can 1 Hon. Grerald Balfour, Hibhert Journal, April, 1910, "Psychical Research and Current Doctrines of Mind and Body." 369 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM act upon one of a totally dififerent nature. Cause and effect, that is, must ultimately be reducible to a common de- nominator. Eecognition of these difficulties has led some Spiritists, notably Hyslop, to work out in considerable detail theories of the future life and the soul that make both ultimately material in nature. But to suppose, as some of these writers imply, that either thoughts or nervous stimuli are floating about in space is a crude notion that at its best belongs to the earli- est days of philosophical speculation. As we are seeing in the recent writings of some Psychical ResearcherSj such an attitude ends in the belief in the actual, literal existence of all grades of disembodied psychical existences, from the most rudimentary and malevolent up. According to it demonology is truer than science and evolution; and the- urgy and magic are preferable to experiment and adher- ence to fact. Surely any assumption which is thus at variance with our fundamental ideas of matter and of life demands, to justify belief in it, unexplained facts in far larger num- bers than have yet been supplied, and far more carefully obtained. "We have already noted that experiments on the num- ber and letter habits showed that many of the early ex- periments in thought-transference could be explained by reference to these habits. In other cases, it was found that the percipient was hyperaesthetic or that the agent gave involuntary signs which the percipient's subconsciousness interpreted. We are still lacking, however, sufficient study to show the commimities of thought between persons, though Vaschide has made an excellent beginning along this line. If the Psychical Researchers would set their percipients and agents to work to note as many as possible of their thoughts at certain times of the day, and especially to trac- 370 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS ing the origin of those thoughts, we should get most valu- able material as to the effect of milieu. This Vaschide did to some extent, and publishes the resulta in his article on " Les Hallucinations Telepathiques. " (Paris, 1908, 97 pp.) He thinks that we are extending the limits of our knowl- edge, and cites the English studies of apparitions, and also those of Marillier, begun in 1892, which seem to show that people in important crises of their lives or at death tend to appear to their friends. Poincare has pointed out the weak- ness of the calculus of probabilities. Vaschide investigated twenty-one subjects, noting sex, age, education, the num- ber of determinations, the subject's faith, the number of true and false items, and the senses involved. Out of 1,011 determinations, 5.47 per cent seemed true. In another test with thirteen people, 4.36 per cent were true. The coincidences he thinks explicable on psychological grounds. Most of his French subjects were intimate friends, and he was engaged for nine years upon these studies. He was often able to get correct impressions of what was transpiring in their minds during walks, at work in the laboratory, etc. He does not agree with Gurney and Podmore that ideational centres strongly tend to project their images into the visual field ; but thinks that the pre- dominance of visual cases is due to the fact that most of his subjects are visualisers. Education gives very great im- munity against telepathy, which goes with sentimentality and credulity. A believer is usually a good subject, far better than reasoner. A vivid imagination is a great help. Peasants and religious people are especially prone to believe in telepathy. He tabulates his results, based, however, only on fifty subjects, as follows : of ignorant peas- ants, ninety per cent believe; the clergy and those whose instruction is mostly religious, 98.1 per cent; the clergy with better instruction, sixty-eight per cent; educated workmen, 25.3 per cent; university men, publicists, and 371 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM authors, 9.5 per cent. To be keenly sensible to telepathy one must have led a rather vivid life with considerable ex- perience, and a good stock of memories and pains, with last- ing relations and long friendships, which are not so com- mon to the young. The great criticism of the English inquest is, he thinks, the extreme confidence which the authors have in strangers, repeating tediously their own words. His conclusion is that there is much intellectual community between two sub- jects where telepathic hallucination is possible. There must be intimacy, love, sympathy ; and, second, the object of the hallucination very often appears in a moribund state or in great pain. Our psychic apparatus is vastly more complex, says Vaschide, than we realise. The notion of the voyage of a soul, death, coma, or dreams, is widespread, and there are many polarisations. Time makes ravages with details, the general belief in the miraculous helps, and in crises the mind is disorientated, muddled, arrested, and so cannot re- member exactly. It is hard to reproduce reveries and in- tense experiences, so that memory is very often profoundly mistaken, and lies are mixed with truth. There is " a cer- tain desire to accentuate a particular experience or belief, which is part of our amour propre," and this helps occult- ism and the romantic factor of dreams. The social milieu is determined, and may make a psychic epidemic. Vaschide thinks that in 97 out of 100 of his experiments the social milieu was the principal factor of the telepathic hallucination. Flammarion issued a ques- tionnaire in his journal, asking whether the person had ever experienced a distinct impression of having seen a human being or having been touched by one without being able to refer this impression to an external cause. To this he re- ceived 4,280 replies, of which 1,421 were affirmative; but his question was very suggestive, and some of the cases re- ported were rumours and old, etc. Richet and Bechterew 372 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS long ago concluded that there are probably no veridical hallucinations. In fine, there is a mine of intellectual, pre-established harmony or psychic parallelism or intellectual mimetism amounting almost to an ankylosis of mind. Our subcon- scious systematisations are often more alike than we know. Again, to show the unreliability of memory, Vaschide kept the most careful account of the visions as given by the subjects at the time, of the coincidences which they later asserted between the vision and the fact, and of the actual coincidences. In experimenting thus with 13 subjects, he found that out of 344 coincidences, which the subjects be- lieved existed between the vision and the fact, only 8 really did exist, i. e., the subjects were wrong in 336 cases. With 21 other subjects, out of 981 asserted coincidences only 40 were correct, and 941 were wrong. Of all these supposed coincidences the 48 true ones occurred in less than sixty hours of the real event, that is, with 34 subjects he obtained 48 " veridical hallucinations," a much larger percentage than the Psychical Researchers obtained, and in all these cases knowing his subjects and their milieu well, he is able to show just how the vision originated. He also shows the implicit faith which members of the subject's own family often give to it, even where the memory is entirely wrong, and he emphasises the fact that when the person who had the vision questions the one who was seen in the vision as to whether at that time she was in distress, was thinking of the subject, etc., a false memory is frequently built up so that an agreement is reached even when there are no actual facts on which to agree. One closes this pamphlet, with its sane and temperate criticisms of the Psychical Research Society, with the great- est regret that M. Vaschide 's death has prevented the de- tailed publication of his cases, for such a study shows the utterly unscientific character of the Society's data as noth- ing else can. 373 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM As unintentionally confirmatory of Vaschide's opinion that intimacy lies at the basis of all so-called veridical hal- lucinations, we may give the following summary of the cases in Phantasms of the Living: There are 702 numbered cases of phantasms, each case representing at least one diiferent agent and percipient; 63 + per cent of the agents are males, perhaps because men are more liable than women to accident and death, and more die at a distance. Adding instances that came in later, and on a basis of 830 cases, the agent stood to the per- cipient in the relation of : Friend in 263 cases = 31.7 per cent Parent or child ' ' 193 " = 23.3 " " Brother or sister ' ' 122 " = 14.7 " " Acquaintance ' ' 89 " = 10.7 " " Cousin, uncle, etc. ' ' 75 " = 9.0 " " Husband or wife ' ' 52 " = 6.3 " " Stranger ' ' 36 " = 4.3 " " In forty-seven per cent of the cases there is blood rela- tionship, and relatives often belong to the circle of intimate friends, and yet the authors conclude that ' ' consanguinity, as such, has little, if any, predisposing influence in the transmission of telepathic impressions." They also hold that the inf requency of transmissions between husband and wife ' ' is probably due to the fact that it is commoner for married persons than for blood relations to be together, when one of the two dies." Of these cases fifteen are col- lective, in which some intimate friend of the agent was one of the co-percipients, and was perhaps the " link between the agent and the stranger percipient." If we add to the 47 per cent of cases between relatives, 31.7 per cent more between friends it would seem that the argument for community of thought rather than for telep- athy is rather strong. 374 A CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS All in all, then, is the assumption of practically all of the Psychical Eesearchers that telepathy is a " proved fact," whatever its explanation may be, justified? Grant- ing that many of their cases are not published in the Pro- ceedings, it is still true that the best are, and if the char- acter of the evidence is so faulty in these, it must be still weaker in the rest. Furthermore, even if the observations were made at the time instead of being in nearly all cases dependent upon the memory of days, weeks, or years, we still have the difficult question, which psychology has scarcely begun to answer, of how much community of thought exists as the result of a common environment, edu- cation, temperament, etc. Until we have had more careful studies of this latter point, even many cases of so-called telepathy would not demonstrate telepathy. We do not realise at all adequately the great store of thoughts common even to all people living in the same cen- tury, and much more to those of the same race, nation, city, circle of acquaintances, and family, especially if to this are added similarity of education and tastes. All of us are far more social in our thoughts and feelings, and far less in- dividual than we think we are. Again, we have not even begun to realise the great amount of inferring and systematising about slight indica- tions, unattended-to facts, emotional factors, etc., which is constantly going on in the outskirts of our minds or even below the level of consciousness, and which may suddenly impulsively push into the centre of attention with all the vividness and completeness of a " veridical hallucination." Practically no one, except a person with an unusual power of self-analysis, is competent in such cases to trace out the factors in the vision for himself, but with the new methods of psycho-analysis now at hand we may be able to do this in the near future, and it is my firm conviction that, just in proportion as it is done, " veridical hallucinations " and aU kinds of telepathy will be reduced to the natural coinci- 375 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM dences existing between normal minds under our highly complex social conditions. Telepathy and spirit communi- cation are simply convenient terms by which to name our ignorance of certain regions of the psyche. Those regions are in themselves no more and no less mysterious than rea- soning and perception. But they are unknown, and so, like ancient geographers, many students of the mind in draw- ing their map of it, instead of simply printing soberly over those regions terrce incognitcB, have drawn in monsters, de- mons, genii, angels, and God himself,^ as if there could be no God save the unknown God to whom the superstitious Athenians erected their altar. Eather we should have the practical faith of Columbus that we shall not fall off the earth into infinite space no matter how far we sail, and that, however far we go, men's minds and men's hands will serve us in those unknown lands and against those unknown foes as well as they have in the past. 1 Cf. James, " The Varieties of Religious Experience," in which he suggests that the subconscious mind is the avenue by which we approach God. CHAPTER XXII CONCLUSION Bepoee closing this discussion we should consider at least briefly the motives which give the impetus to such be- liefs as Spiritism and telepathy, and their effects upon the mental attitude and life of those who believe them. In the discussion of Spiritism we hear a great deal about adopting the simpler hypothesis, the implication being that spirit communication is a simpler hypothesis than the nat- uralistic interpretation. To this it may first be said that our idea of what simplic- ity is depends wholly upon our general state of culture. To the savage and to many uneducated people it seems simpler to believe that the sun rises and sets than that the earth moves about it. To children it seems simpler to say that the rolling of barrels in heaven is the cause of thunder than laboriously to trace out its relations to electricity. To the untrained mind it seems simpler to assume that God created life or even man directly, than to attempt to re- produce in thought the highly complex conditions under which the simplest life-forms must have shaped themselves. Similarly, to very many minds to-day it seems far simpler to assume spirit communication than to study the manifold hereditary and social relations, the conditions of nerve cells and sense organs which explain not only the test messages obtained through mediums, but also the nonsense. True sci- entific simplicity is not the result of simple thought proc- esses, but of the most persistent labour, and it is attained in proportion as many facts can be explained by one law. Therefore, the scientific presumption is against such the- 37 377 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM ories as spirit communication and telepathy, which not only demand the rejection of what we already know about ner- vous action, but the assumption of some unknown force whose conditions are always identical either with those nec- essary for deception and sleight of hand, or else are those under which we are in partial ignorance of all that was said or done. That is to say, the present presumption is that just in proportion as the conditions leading up to a test message are known and the characteristics of the sit- ter and medium are fully described, we shall find the mys- terious nature of the messages dissolving into thin air. When even so ardent an advocate of spirit communication as Hyslop is forced to assume, in order to explain the in- coherences in his sittings, that the departed spirit is in a state of trance or of partial suffocation or of dream, and that his ravings are caught by the controlling spirit. Rec- tor, who then affects the hand of the entranced medium, which then writes imperfectly the imperfectly heard and imperfectly spoken message, we get a realising sense of how little the theory of spirit communication has in it of real law and order. Not one of these assumptions will ever be capable of proof, while, from our standpoint, nearly all of the content of the published sittings is explicable on the theory, of secondary personality, and the unexplained re- mainder cannot now be explained only because the sittings were too imperfectly reported. But science is new and faith is ancient. The roots of these beliefs are very old, and, because they are, they can- not be considered unimportant. Premonitions, warnings, and spirit communications have always played a part in history and religion. The progress of thought, however, has always been marked by the fact that it gives new meanings to ancient instincts and new interpretations to common facts. Be- cause the child and the savage of to-day at some time in their development are peculiarly interested by the reflee- 378 CONCLUSION tion in a mirror, and look upon it as a solid object or as another real self, we do not conclude that the reflection is solid and alive. We know how it is made and the insuffi- cient data from which the child and savage reason. It is my belief that Spiritism and telepathy will soon be shown to be parallel cases. Thoughts have always been mysterious things to men, especially when they rise spon- taneously and vividly, as in haUuoinations and dreams, seeming to be independent of our own volition and to pos- sess a life and will of their own. As long as their origin is not known, as long as they are not under the control either of the person in whose mind they appear or of the physician or psychologist, it is inevitable that many people shall consider them of supernatural origin and meaning. But one by one we are controlling conditions. We no longer consider hystericals witches, and that is a solid gain. Many secondary personalities have been reunited, and many other incipient ones have been prevented from dividing, and, with increasing familiarity, such phenomena will be recognised as not opening the door to another world but rather to the insane asylum.^ Thought coincidences will not always be considered ominous and premonitory, but will be properly placed in their setting of complex associations, and instead of exalt- ing the mysterious as supernatural and wonderful in pro- portion as it breaks away from law and order, we shall bow ever more reverently before the truly infinite and mys- terious — man's soul and body in their marvelously com- plex relations to each other and to others of their own kind. . An appreciation of the wonderful complexity and deli- cacy of our psychical processes as well as of the neural ones underlying them, is the most important net gain re- 1 Marcel Viollet, " Le Spiritisme dans ses Rapports avec la Folie," Paris, 1909, pp. 121. 379 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM suiting from all these studies in Psychical Research. As yet we stand literally only at the locked door to this new- world, but we are learning the combination, manifold though it is. From this point of view, the nervous system — especially the brain — is the storehouse of all the experi- ences both of the individual and the race. How well it is fitted for this we can realise when we recall that at a mod- erate estimate the brain contains 3,000 million separate neurons,^ each of which has an axis cylinder and 40 or less dendrites with their numerous gemmules to connect it with other neurons. Changes within the neuron or the bed of nervous material in which it lies make or break its con- nections with other neurons, and with such an inconceivably large number of them the possibilities of combination are larger still. Not only are these infinite combinations possible, but nerve cells are especially qualified to be the bearers of memory. In the history of life they have developed from the skin or outer surface of the living organism, which alone comes directly into contact with the external world, and by degrees the other parts of the body have surren- dered to the nerves all their functions of feeling and re- sponding to stimuli, so that now if we take out the nerves from any part of the body that part lies senseless and motionless. The nerves, then, are far and away the most impressionable and plastic of all parts of the body, and at the same time they retain for ever the changes produced in them. How this is done we do not know, but the traces thus left are called engrams, and it is supposed that en- grams exist for every experience through which any one has ever gone. Some even push the traces further back and say that all the great racial experiences likewise persist in the individual, and appear in us not only as the explana- 1 Cf . M. Verworn, " Allgemeine Physiologie," and M. Kassowitz, "Nerven und Seele." 380 CONCLUSION tion of instinctive acts and feelings — ^which every one admits are racial — ^but also as the cause of innumerable flitting thoughts and impulses, dreams, abnormal tenden- cies, etc. Without irreverence this wonderful creation of the great Spirit of Life may be compared to the New Jerusa- lem with its many mansions, and its beauties which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor the tongue of man been able to declare. It reveals glimpses of possibilities in de- velopment that will place man as far beyond his present state as he now is beyond the simplest protozoan. It opens to the most abnormal and degenerate the door of hope, because, however bad his immediate heredity may be or his circumstances, the very fact that he is here at aU re- veals that he is the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven and that — as the revivalists are always telling us — he need only knock at the door and it will be opened to him, or — as some are putting it now — he can draw at any time upon the store of infinite energy that is stored up within every man. This conception of man makes all these things literally true. The amount of chemical energy stored up within the brain is beyond calculation. It staggers figures. Even the most hard-working genius does not one-millionth part of what his brain is capable of doing, because there is friction, loss of connections, etc. Parts of it are left unused and other parts try to run establishments of their own, and so we get nerve strain, multiple person- alities, and abnormalities. But if only we knew the way, we could knit together these warring factions and have an army against which nature and sin and disease and death itself could not stand. Here lies the true mystery of the world, the true riddle of the Sphinx. Here will be the next great con- quest over nature, the next victory over the powers of evil and superstition. But though the mysterious nature of thought has always 381 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM favoured belief in its supernatural nature and in such things as Spiritism and telepathy, they have been still more aided by the personal stake that every man has in the game. G. Stanley Hall has said that perhaps the most momentous epoch in man's psychical development came when, for the first time, he realised that he must die. Then there must have ensued a period of great fear and anguish, and then imagination and reason, aided by faith, began the great work of speculation as to the course of events after death had done its worst. From the primitive belief that the dead man's existence is proved because he appears in a dream to the pragmatic belief of a Kant is a long road, but each step has been motivated by the same will-to-live, which shapes itself in multifarious forms. No one can con- template with composure the certain prospect that some day he will be snuffed out into the darkness like a candle, and so deep is our horror of such a fate that, if we believed it to be certain, we should convict the universe and its Maker of the grossest injustice. "We must believe that our individual attainments and strivings and personality have a permanent place in the universe or we should have not the heart to continue striving. And right here lies the kernel of all our belief in im- mortality. The person who is most concerned about the future life is not the one who has always been prosperous and successful, with means and children and fame to sat- isfy his natural desire to be of worth and value. It is always the one who has had brought home to him forcibly and painfully the limitations of his present self and life, and it is at the time that such limitations are the most felt that the belief in immortality grows strongest, both in the individual and in a given generation. Probably there never was a time in the history of mankind when the other world was so close to man as in the Dark and Middle Ages in Europe, during and after the great migrations. Not only was no man sure of his own property, family, or 382 CONCLUSION life, but the end of the world was expected every year, and almost every month. Then it became of fundamental im-' portance to men to obtain knowledge of the life to come, while this life sank into insignificance. So we find not only elaborate beliefs worked out by the Church, of hierarchies of angels, saints, pope, and priests, through whose medi- ation the sinful soul makes its peace with God, but also a luxuriant growth of beliefs in demons and in magic, in incantations and witchcraft. On the other side was an equally great neglect of this life. The purest blood and the greatest minds of Christendom for the most part were ster- ile in monasteries and nunneries, while the common people died in swarms through ignorance of how to prevent star- vation and epidemics. While a few master minds like Charlemagne, in statecraft, and Roger Bacon, in science, devoted themselves to bringing order out of the chaos in society and thought, most men were overwhelmed by the existent disorder, and, hopeless of overcoming it, convinced of their powerlessness to remove it, took refuge in dreams of a perfect life beyond the grave. The unprecedented spread of Spiritism in this country and England since 1848 doubtless has its roots in the same motives. Here on the one side we have profound changes in daily living and man's relations to Nature, and, on the other, a Protestant Church indescribably dogmatic. Never since history began has there been an era so full of great inventions, which revolutionised not only the life of every individual man but his relations to other men, profoundly altering the very structure of society. It has been said that our Republic could never have remained a fact had not the railroad come into existence, and the possibilities cre- ated by the railroad were still further enlarged by the steamboat, telegraph, and telephone. The great inventions in machinery, such as the sewing-machine, the modern printing-press, and agricultural machinery, the invention of the kerosene lamp, and the later use of gas and electric- 383 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM ity — ^these and many others opened such vistas before the imagination of men that he was narrow and hide-bonnd who dared to say that anything was impossible. In the scientific world we will refer only to three great hypotheses which transformed nature for man: Laplace's nebular hypothesis, the systematic arrangement of the geo- logical records to show the continuous development of life, and the theory of evolution. Minds which had once grasped these and gained the illuminating conception of the complete continuity of the universe from primeval chaos to the present time, and from the simplest life to man, could never return to the provincial religious view of man. But coincident with this wonderful advance in scientific theory and in daily living, we find a Protestant Church which, after the Reformation, had settled into a dogmatism quite as narrow as that against which it had protested. Many of the clergy condemned even inventions like the steam-engine and the telegraph, while practically the whole church rose up unanimously against all forms of the evo- lutionary theory. The conflict thus precipitated between science and religion led to probably more speculation and reshaping of religious ideas than at any time since the days of Luther and Melanchthon. But at this modern time no great leaders like them arose to keep the people out of the mire. In our country culture was at its lowest ebb, the clergy, who should have guided the people aright, alienated them by their severe doctrines and lack of sympathy with the great trend of events, and so these alienated ones, un- trained in thought, and yet realising the empty bottles of the old doctrines, wandered everywhere in search of spir- itual food. The closing decadeS of the nineteenth century witnessed the amazing spectacle of unprecedented advances in invention and science going on simultaneously with the spread of gross superstitions such as Mormonism, occultism in various forms, theosophy, Dowieism, Christian Science, 384 CONCLUSION and Spiritism. Other doubters took refuge from the chaos resulting from breaking up their old religious beliefs and views of nature in unquestioning faith and submission to external authority, tending especially to join the Roman Catholic Church. If we add to these general considerations more particu- lar ones which frequently are present, we get a still more complete explanation of the influence of Spiritism. Do not persons turn to Spiritism when they find the present life too overpowering? There may be many causes of this. One of the most common is the loss of some beloved one on whom there has always been dependence not only for material support, but for comfort and encouragement. Another cause is some sort of failure which makes the per- son question his own worth. Or, again, the loss of confidence in one's religious beliefs, especially if the pastor to whom the person turns for help cannot give help, may be the cause. Or, again, merely prolonged iU health with the sense of inefficiency accompanying it may be a cause. In all such cases and any others where the person feels himself unable to cope with life, and where he has a re- ligious nature, he may turn to the medium or fortune-teller for aid. Originally, he may not have any well-defined be- lief in them, but he must have help and comfort, and thinks that at least no harm can come from consultation, while some good may. Going in this depressed state of mind, with the critical powers more or less in abeyance, and with the need of comfort and help the most prominent thing, the chances are good that the medium can establish a sym- pathetic relation, and that she may make statements which will assume deep meaning to the sitter. It would be well worth while to issue a questionnaire on the conditions under which mediums and fortune-tellers are first sought, and why they were later dropped or con- tinued. 385 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM But the vicious outcome of this particular form of other- worldliness consists in this, that the person who takes ref- uge in Spiritism from life is not healed and made strong, and sent back with fresh courage, but is made more and more dependent upon the medimn. Instead of being made to realise the beauty and value of the present life and its ties, he is taiight to yearn for those who are irrevocably dead and gone. He is brought back again and again for business advice, for health diagnoses, and for any pretext that will secure more sittings. Instead of having his re- ligious faith broadened and developed, his sense of law heightened, and his whole nature deepened by large and ennobling conceptions, he is given grotesque, belittling, and useless ideas of all things spiritual. His ideas of law and order are hopelessly broken up, and his moral and intel- lectual world- view becomes very similar to that of the Dark Ages. Instead of getting inspiration from the great lead- ers of the world, men like Plato, Newton, Darwin, Kant, Luther, St. Francis, and Christ, these poor souls seek it in the trance utterances of an uneducated and usually common-minded, if not vulgar-minded, medium. Instead of being led into the fight for personal and social righteous- ness by devoted leaders of their own time, they are poring over the scrawls of an automatic hand. To the serious- minded person nothing could well be more appalling than the sort of book recently published by Miss Anne M. Bob- bins, entitled " Both Sides of the "Veil." Feeling, in the first place, the need of justifying her own sanity to her readers, she carefully explains who she is and the positions of trust that she has held, and then gives, with the most pathetic faith in their inspiring power, the account of her sittings with Mrs. Piper, in which her dead employer was the controlling spirit. Indeed, the implication is that he was co-author with her, and that, therefore, the work must be almost sacred. Specimens of his most moving utterances are given in order to show that it is not just to criticise 386 CONCLUSION Spiritism as dealing only with trivial things. But if these are typical inspirations, what must the average be ? Such banalities, such bathos would disgrace the pulpit of the most commonplace backwoods preacher. As one closes the book one cannot but ask one's self in amazement and pity, what must have been the surroundings and training of a person who can find in this sort of thing the highest to which she has yet attained? "What a starved, darkened, lonely, and uninspired life must have been hers ! And yet she was living in Boston and coming into external contact, at least to some degree, with men in public affairs. How came it about that she was thus marooned spiritually? Where is the fault? What is the essential lack in our Ufe to-day that Spiritism can make such an appeal as it does? Nobody knows just how many Spiritists there are in this country, but they are conservatively estimated at about a million. Such a number challenges respect merely as a number. It shows that these million souls find something satisfying in this faith, which nothing else in their sur- roundings gives. Where the case is so complex as here, one offers theories with humility, and so I will put mine in the form of a question. Is it not possible that the Prot- estant Church is failing to satisfy the personal and mys- tical religious sides of our nature ? Is it not too intellectual and aesthetic and practical? One would not depreciate but would enlarge the work now so well begun along the lines of the institutional church, the beautifying of the service and the building, and the steady advance toward less dogma. But one cannot escape the feeling that in doing these things, others are being left undone. More than upon anything else the religious nature feeds upon wonder and faith, and needs an abiding sense of a vital relationship with an immanent Divine Presence. This is essentially mys- tical — ^whatever that may mean — and the means of attain- ing it should be given the most careful study. Any service 387 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM which does not contain some element that brings this sense of uplift and communion to the worshipper is a failure so far as he is concerned. Again, do not many modem pastors shrink from the pastoral part of their work ? In almost every family there comes at some time a crisis in which no other member of the family can well be consulted, and yet the person most con- cerned — husband, wife, or child — sadly needs advice. What is to be done ? We may think that the best thing is for him to keep family troubles to himself, but, practically, few people are able to do that. They want sympathy or advice or both. Usually the case is a delicate one. Surely in such cases the best person to talk to would be a " man of God," who would treat the appeal as if it were given in the confessional. But, far from doing this, many a pastor will not take the responsibility for giving advice, and does not allow such appeals. But to whom else can people go? They do go to the medium and give themselves into her power, or their trouble becomes common talk because they have confided in some unwise person, or they grow bitter and isolated, while if the minister could but rise to the occa- sion and dare to take the responsibility he might save the happiness of the family. In order to deprive Spiritism of its present influence, then — as well as various other modern superstitions — it is not sufficient to discredit it intellectually. No faith dies because it is unreasonable, but only because the instincts which it has satisfied find more complete and permanent gratification in other directions. Belief in spirit communi- cation flourishes to-day, and mediums wax and grow fat, (1) because large numbers of persons have no one to whom they can confide their secrets and sins, to whom they can go confidently for comfort and encouragement; (2) because many people have to-day no adequate object — religious, sci- entific, or artistic — on which to expend love, reverence, and worship. These deep and basal emotions therefore mani- 388 CONCLUSION fest themselves in many abnormal ways, of which this is only one. But in proportion as man draws near to his fellow-man, and in proportion as he works for and with him, he realises that the " other side " can wait till the morrow, while salvation is here and now. APPENDIX Coming to hand too late to be inserted in the body of the book, are the latest published experiments with Mrs. Piper, which appeared in Proceedings, Vol. XXIV, March, 1910. Here also are given some additional cross-correspondences from Mrs. Holland, and further remarks and elucidations of the previous cross-correspondences. In the Piper experiments, the control is usually Myers, and the content of the sittings is chiefly concerned with classical allusions, some of which are attempted translations of Latin and others cross-correspondences. Of the cross-correspondences both with Mrs. Piper and Mrs. Holland, I will give no new examples, as neither the type nor method of interpretation is different from those al- ready given. In the most complex one, " Sevens," in which six automatists and Mr. Piddington are supposed to be in- volved, the twenty-five dates on which references occurred ran from July 13, 1904, to January 27, 1909, and, the chief idea being the number seven, the reader can judge how far such a reference necessitates the assumption of a spirit to give it. With regard to the classical allusions and attempts at translation of familiar Latin phrases such as " arma virumque cano," the whole plausibility of the theory that Myers is communicating rests upon the assumption that Mrs. Piper is absolutely ignorant of Latin and of these allusions. Mr. Pid- dington has made out a good case for his belief that the group of allusions is of such a character that it probably was recalled by some one with a knowledge of Ovid's " Meta- morphoses," Books X and XI, for all the allusions are found there, although there are others in the Ovid not given in the sittings. Granting this assumption, we have then the ques- 390 APPENDIX tion. of whether Mrs. Piper could have a knowledge of this part of Ovid. To discover whether she had such knowledge, Mr. Dorr first questioned her as to whether the names, " Morpheus," " Cave of Sleep," " Iris," " Ovid," etc., had any meaning to her, receiving in every case a profession of complete ignorance. On another occasion, apparently after this conversation, Mr. Dorr examined all the books in Mrs. Piper's apartment, but found none bearing upon myth or the classics, and he is, besides, certain that she has no classical knowledge " from the improbability of it — a point which I can better appreciate, as an American, than you in England. People do not read these things out here." This, Mr. Piddington believes, absolutely disposes of the possibility of Mrs. Piper knowing these things, although he knows that Bulfinch's " Age of Fable " and Gayley's " Classical Myths," with the former of which one of Mrs. Piper's daugh- ters admitted being familiar, contain the most essential parts of the references in question. He does not seem to con- sider it possible that while the daughter was referring to this book in the course of her school training, she might have talked over the m3rths at home, and the information so ob- tained have sunk below the level of Mrs. Piper's conscious memory. Neither does he consider what to me seems the more likely theory, which Mrs. Verrall (p. 43) refers to thus: " But it is not safe to assume that no trace of what has been said to the trance-personalities reaches Mrs. Piper's normal mind, and a vague recollection might suffice to draw her at- tention to a particular subject, and so focus her recollections or increase her information before the next sitting. The longer the interval between the first question and the final answer, the more chance there is of hints being obtained from Mr. Dorr's manner." This interval was usually days, and frequently weeks, and when we add to the possibility of vague memories persisting from the trance to the normal, the other one of ideas given in the trance suddenly popping up or breaking into the normal waking state as if spontane- ous, attracting Mrs. Piper's attention, and leading to reflect- ing on them, if not to looking up the words so appearing, 391 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM we have, it seems to me, as plausible an explanation of the source of the content of the sittings as the theory of de- parted spirits. Again, the method, followed here and in various other reports, of giving only the supposedly significant portions of the sitting, tends to give the reader a wrong impression of the proportion of significant incidents to mistakes and non- sense, and in some instances it also results in the omission of portions which, to the psychologist, are important as giv- ing a natural explanation of some allusions. At the time these sittings were going on, Mr., Dorr was kind enough to allow Dr. Hall and myself to see the notes, and I made rather full notes and comments on them. My notes on the " Discus " incident (pp. 106-113) run thus: "Here again we see plainly the working of suggestion both on the positive and negative sides. At first Mr. Dorr tells the control that there is a legend connected with the words, 'Discus hit me,' and the control tries to connect this with Marathon, until Mr. Dorr indicates by the words, ' By wrestling you mean struggle,' that Marathon was connected with a battlefield. " The first reference to the flower coming from a drop of blood may also have been suggested by the struggle which the control was having just at this time to work out the story of Perseus carrying Medusa's head, dripping blood, and refer- ence had already been made to the legend that Pegasus sprang from its blood. The reference to a flower springing also from blood might thus have come up as a vague memory, evidently very vague, however, for when this utterance was brought up at the next sitting the control connected the flower with Prometheus. He was told that this was wrong, and the following day connected it with Anchises's funeral. Again he was told that it was wrong, and when he said the flower was a lily, was told that that, also, was wrong. Then, after a week's thought, he gave the word, ' Hyacinthus,' spon- taneously. " What happened during that week ? What inherent im- probability is there in assuming that Mrs. Piper had once knovm the story of Hyacinthus, and that the repeated prod- dings had finally aroused the dormant memories ? " 392 APPENDIX These sittings swarm with favourable interpretations of ambiguities, and help and suggestion from Mr. Dorr, who constantly offers explanations of disjointed words and phrases as answers to questions he had previously asked. For instance, in one sitting Mr. Dorr gives the word, " Aphrodite," and asks if it recalls anything, to which the hand responds, " Queen. Verdure. Yes — Light — no, am thinking of Proserpine. Aphrodite. Juno's child. Goddess. (But scratches this out.) Niobe-Water Drowned." Here Mr. Dorr interrupts, showing that these are all wrong, and tells him to leave this now. Then the control continues, "Yes, I know, beautiful. Beau- tiful." Mr. Dorr approves this and tells him he has given the answer, but if Mr. Dorr had said nothing, would the control not have continued his fishing? Why should this one chance hit be considered so remarkable after all the previous misses? And so we might continue through the many details, but we should find only the same methods everywhere, the control being given every possible favourable interpretation, his inter- jected words and phrases supplied with setting, and so on. To sum up briefly, then, the cross-correspondences and the translations of Latin are defective evidentially, especially in the following respects: 1. No real proof has been supplied that Mrs. Piper her- self may not have in the depths of her sub-conscious self sufficient classical knowledge to give the allusions of the sit- tings; or, if not that, no proof has yet been adduced to show that memories of the trance can never appear as spontaneous ideas in the normal state and lead to the gaining of informa- tion about them. 2. No words or phrases can be considered evidential of knowledge on the part of the control when the sitter explains and gives them settings. Whenever disjointed words occur in a sitting, they are valueless until the control himself takes them up spontaneously and explains them. 3. The experimenters in this field ignore the association of ideas, especially in two directions: (a) They do not seem to appreciate how much similarity exists between many Latin words and their English equiv- 28 393 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM alenta, and how relatively easy it would be, under their con- ditions of sympathetic interpretation and aid, for any person totally ignorant of the language to reach some idea of the meaning of a given passage. (6) Still less do they seem to appreciate how impossible it is to lay down any law of probabilities as to a given idea being in the minds of any two given people within a given length of time. As far as our definite knowledge does go, it shows that we have many more common ideas than has been sup- posed, and creates the presumption that people of similar interests and education would have very many common ideas. This presumption, combined with the highly ambiguous and far fetched character of many of the cross-correspondences, renders the assumption of a communicating spirit to account for them at least somewhat premature. We have very far to go in the studying of normal associations before naturalistic explanations can be exhausted and a supernaturalistic one so much as be considered desirable. n The following list gives in the first row the word chosen for the test; in the second, the reactions in the trance state, and in the third, the reactions after the trance. The numbers after this list indicate the number of seconds before the reaction. These are all enormously lengthened, since Mrs. Piper waa stiU rather sleepy, the average reaction time for free associations being usually estimated at only 1.5-2.5 seconds. Test Word. 1. boy 2. eat 3. man 4. wife 5. baby 6. cradle 7. creep 8. chloroform 9. fur 10. cape 11. sick 12. surgeon 13. sweep 14. wash 15. hair 16. nurse 17. cufFs 18. tumour 19. knife 20. table 21. write 22. scar Control. mew woman husband mother top walk ether coat hat well doctor clean iron comb doctor button cancer rancour ? chair wrong burn (Nothing. 395 Laugh. Normal. brother (1) trap (5) woman (6) child (16) child (9) rocking (6) walk (7) insensible (17) furrier (8) hood (7) morbid (8) nurse (12) sweeping (4) laundry (6) head (5) ill (9) arm (5) disease (4) fork (4) book (9) pencil (7) cut (18) "Let me see, .") STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Test Word. Control Norma ■I. 23. milk water drink (8) 24. spirit angel dead (29) (Laugh. 'Spirit laughs slow. " Spirit is a good subject.") 25. ghost spook ghostly (7) 26. Myers heaven England (Hodgson. (7) .) 27. Easter cross Sunday (8) 28. Latin Greek college (10) 29. priest clergyman bishop (3) (Pause.) 30. doctor nurse (8) 31. party dancing gathering (12) (Repetition.) 32. call going bell (10) (Pause.) 33. present absent gift (7) 34. sex abuse? corse i? (25) (" Not a 1 thought ' ''; Given up.) 35. shop blacksmith (10) (Note.— With the control No. 36 was given before No. 35 and just after Nc ). 34.) 36. Christmas box in play Christ (2) (Quite a long ; pause and slow writing.) (Note. — A second No. 36 given to the control which seems to be Sunday.) 37. dear doe running (4) 38. honey bee hive (7) (Repetition. Hand writes what.) 39. court courting house (11) 40. snake wasp spider (6) 41. mouse cat mouse-trap (7) 42. egg hen breakfast (8) 43. marriage union "Doesn't come." (Long pause. Repetition. " Spell it") 44. sleep insomnia bed (6) (Repetition. Pause.) 396 APPENDIX Test Word. Control. Normal. {Noie. — With the control No. 45 was given before No. 44 and just after No. 43.) 45. death life (Idea came but was lost immediately.) 46. dream wandering (Pause.) 47. wake (Kepetition. Pause.) 48. snore sleep 49. bed lie dead (6) 50. cut wound 51. bandage untie accident (9) 52. Hyslop James psychical research (4) 53. James weeping or creeping professor (4) (Pause. Slow writing.) 54. walk run automobile (8) (" That's funny.' ') 55. tie untie (9) 56. diamond ruby mine (7) 57. Dorr Hello, George door (9) 58. Hall assembly (6) (Pause.) 59. eyes ears glasses 60. ring hand bell (4) 61. red Eeding book (4) 62. green black blue (8) 63. wedding feasting (14) (Repetition. Pause.) 64. daughter son sister (4) 65. medicine hospital chest (3) 66. love glory marriage (4) (Slow.) 67. lamb horse sheep (3) 68. kiss shake (" Mr. Dorr's as: leep." No reaction.) 397 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Test Word. Control. Normal. 69. lie truth lying (6) 70. Moses Aaron commandments 1 (8) (Slow.) 71. Lodge science Oliver (17) (Eepetition. Slow.) (Dr. Hall says no hurry.) 72. dance joy (8) 73. book wake read (3) (Pause. Slow.) 74. trance dance sleep (3) 75. music playing (8) 76. think thinking (4) 77. dress down (10) (Pause. Eepetition. Slow.) 78. hot head breath (8) (Eepetition. Slow.) 79. shoe foot foot (3) 80. finger band hand (3) (Eepetition.) 81. figure , (7) 82. read book book (2) 83. test testing (9) 84. mask artist festival face (3) (Pause. Slow.) 85. lips face (5) (Eepetition. Spelling.) 86. teeth mouth dentist (3) (Eepetition.) 87. organs heart (7) (Pause. Slow.) 88. stomach back head (3) 89. pain ache (9) 90. home houses country (6) (Spell. Slow.) 91. mother father father (5) 92. divorce bad separation (5) 93. church Lord steeple (4) (Pause.) "Isn't that funny?" 398 APPENDIX Test Word. Control. Normal. 94. smoke fire burn (10) (Eepetition. Pause.) 95. fire bum (9) 96. funeral cortege death (8) 97. grave clay (Image of ers.) flow- (8) 98. blood water (9) Eepetition. Spelling. Pause.) 99. kill horrible (9) (Pause.) 100. toilet towel ' (9) (Eepetition. Spelling. Slowest of the writing.) 101. fear harm run (5) (Eepetition.) 102. angry peace vexed 0) 103. jealous no use (9) 104. awake good-day morning (10) 105. cruel bad sword (6) (Said it as if em- barrassed.) 106. poor splendid mean (9) 107. money fault pocket (7) 108. servant good help (2) 109. God amen heaven (3) 110. medium Piper (13) (Eepetition. Spelling. Eepetition.) 111. 112. honest good honesty (4) (Spell. Eepetition.) 113. swoon faint faint (4) 114. limb tree back (6) (Eepetition. Spell. Slow.) 115. Annie Horace (6) 116. Eva my sister (6) Let us examine these with some care. In the group of words with possible sex reference there are nineteen words. Of these nineteen, but five — sex, marriage, wedding, man, and divorce — 399 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM could not fail to have sex reference. All the others, fourteen in number, might have other references, and most of them might have several others. Nevertheless, ten of them are given as sex reference, or there is no reaction or a pause. We should expect the reaction to sex to be slow in the normal state at least, but why should there be no reactions to such words as lips, figure, dress, unless there is some strong and suppressed undercurrent of feeling? It is also very noticeable that out of these fourteen sex references made in the normal state, thirteen are also given in the trance, and one not given in the normal as referring to sex is in the trance. That is, the sex references in the two states are nearly identical as to the test words. But in the trance, reactions are given in every case, while in the normal no associations are given in ten cases, Mrs. Piper saying that no word would come. In many of the trance reactions the word given is not one referring to sex, but the hand paused before writing, showing a lengthened reaction. This pause occurred in eight cases, some of them long pauses. The group of words relating to operations is not so signifi- cant. In five instances the normal reaction is either slow or not given, while in seven it was given quickly. It is interest- ing to notice here that tumour, Vhich referred most directly to Mrs. Piper's own experience, had a quick reaction, while the words chloroform, scar, cut, and pain, referring to the feel- ing side of the experience, had the longest reactions or none at all. One can hardly doubt that the words cut and scar called up in her mind the cut and scar of the operation, and that the reaction of eighteen seconds to scar, and of none at all to cut, was because she did not wish to refer to them before strangers. Again, the seventeen-second reaction to chloroform — insensible — ^may show the abhorrence she had to being etherised. The few words relating to tragedy, blood, and kill, gave no reactions in the normal, but in the trance blood called out water, and kill, horrible. Death also gave a superficial reac- tion in the control and no reaction in the normal, and seems to have upset the reactions for the three following words, the reaction to the fourth, which was bed, being dead, and the fifth giving no reaction. That is, not only was no association given 400 APPENDIX for death, but the effect of the word seems to have persisted for the five following words. The word spirit also ought to be grouped here, since the reaction to it was the longest of any in the list, twenty-nine seconds, and was death. But, again, it is noticeable that in the trance neither death nor spirit had even a lengthened reaction, but that blood and kill did. We would naturally assume that the trance reactions express the more fundamental and subconscious feelings, and would infer from the trance and normal reactions both that Mrs. Piper has at some time had a shock connected with killing and blood. It may be that to her these words are connected with the operation, but against this we have the indifferent reactions to many of the words bearing on the operation. Death and spirit, which were such disturbing words to the normal, call out a quick but superficial — ^that is, synonymous — reaction in the control, and the reactions to women's occupa- tions show no characteristically masculine ones, save perhaps in the one to cuff. We may dismiss entirely, I think, the idea that the Hodgson control's masculinity is anything more than superficial. In both the control and normal we find a decided tendency to superficial reactions just after a suppressed or dt-layed one. This is especially noticeable in the normal, in nine cases of purely phonic reactions, such as sweep, sweeping, of which all but one came after a delayed or suppressed reaction. The one exception was Dorr, door, which pun Mrs. Piper had probably heard before. That is, to sum up, we find that sex ideas cause delayed and suppressed reactions in the normal state and delayed or super- ficial ones in the trance; that spirit, medium, sleep, death, and surgeon seem also to have emotional complexes connected with them. It is unnecessary to make many remarks on the avidity with which the control took up our imaginary spirits, but the boldness with which he invented specific incidents, such as the book on Olcott theories and the scar or mole, is interesting, and suggests the question which had already come to our mind in connection with another medium, namely, whether it is not characteristic of this diathesis to have just such vivid, spon- 401 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM taneouB flashes of imagery, whose origin it knows no raore than we, but which it tends to believe in as veridical, somewhat on Descartes's theory that a clear and distinct idea is true. Such a personality, we thought, is likely to have premonitions, vivid imagery, strong and unreasonable likes and dislikes, and im- pulses to act which control her more or less without her being able to explain them. For the next sitting, therefore, we prepared another list of words, which included most of those considered signifi- cant in the first, and added others designed to show eye or ear mindedness. Test. Second Serine First Series Second Series First Series Control. Control. Normal. Normal. 1. India Calcutta Himalaya (4) 2. beer drug casket on a bier (6) 3. cigar tobacco smoke (3) 4. sweet sugar 5. Botolph club (3) ^ 6. bandage untie hat-band (8) accident 7. plaster stick bas-relief (3) 8. heal foot toe (2) 9. operation surgery lancet (4) 10. die death diamond dyes (5) 11. stomach food back heart (2) heal 12. coffin grave mummy (4) 13. wreath flowers laurel (4) 14. pill store nurse (5) 15. stomach bad heart 16. maturate (omitted) bite (8) 17. surgeon doctor doctor Dr. Richard- son (4) nurse 18. scar cut burn (7) cub 19. tumour disease cancer boil (4) disease 20. swelling green (?) accident (3) 21. drug (omitted) clerk (3) 22. blood circulation water circulate (3) 23. vein impossible artery (2) 24. marriage happiness union children (4) 25. honeymoon journey happiness (2) 26. divorce bad bad 402 separation (3) separation APPENDIX Test. Second Series First Series Second Series Firat Series Control. Control. Normal. Normal. 27. birth life life (3) 28. widow lonely death (4) 29. orphans children (9) 30. nurse doctor doctor patient (3) iU 31. afBnity two souls combined Elbert Hub- bard (6) 32. sweetheart beautiful young girl courted ' 33. courting youth court ten P.M. (9) house 34. kiss lips shake 35. love (omitted) glory " love lies bleeding " marriage 36. sex man, woman coarse 37. jealous disgusting no use (7) 38. figure image (illegible) figure two (4) 39. male (omitted) 40. dear doe doe running (4) running 41. stocking foot (omitted) 42. hair scalp comb head (2) head 43. limb tree tree foot (3) back 44. heart stomach lung (4) 45. letter correspond- ence postman (3) 46. woman mother man (3) 47. poor rich splendid mean. A Shaker 48. money hat travel (hesitates) 49. inspire happiness (6) 50. control master power (8) 51. telepathy transference wireless te- legraphy (4) 52. message carrying (5) 53. test trial testing (3) 54. vision optic nerve a. green black white blue black h. blue red white c. color white yellow d. music playing (omitted) playing (3) 0. white red brown (3) d. pink (omitted) carnation (7) e. tone 403 metronome STUDIES IN SPIRITISM Tett. Second Series First Series Second Series First Series Control. Control. Normal. Normal. f. tune " 1. . check, 2. check (5) g. sound (( h. yellow green daisy (6) i. black brown dress /. spectrum (not understood) vision (6) k. grass garden walk (9) I. sky blue cloud (2) w. light sun globe (6) n. sun heat (2) 0. organ playing 1. body, 2. organ I grinder p. band horn q. sweet sour chocolate (3) r. loud harsh soft (2) s. bang (7) *. face nose hair (3) It. flowers roses garden (2) «. odour perfume chloroform (5) to. bitter taste sweet X. smell scent taste 1/. taste tongue smell (2) «. touch handle feel (2) 65. trance stupor dance sleep (4) sleep 56. seer visionary (8) 57. dream sleep wandering sleep (5) 58. spook (hand calls for repetition) ghost cabinet (7) 59. sleep (omitted) insomnia bed bed 60. daughter mother son son (2) sister 61. husband friend wife (4) 62. moon light lake (5) Reaction times were shorter in the waking state of the third sitting than in the second, though still much longer than normal (1.5-2.5 seconds). This was doubtless due to the fact that the waking reactions were given before instead of after the trance. In the second sitting the waking reactions were all so slow that we considered only reactions of over ten sec- onds as above the average, while in the third sitting no reac- tion was over nine seconds, and we considered any longer than five seconds as delayed. 404 APPENDIX On this basis, comparing the common words, we find that much the same words are reacted to slowly or have no reac- tions given, showing that in both cases they touched some inhibitory centres. The new words which are reacted to slowly or not reacted to can all be connected with one or another of the first complexes, so that our first inferences, that these words arouse strong emotions, tend to be confirmed. We could not, however, follow up these reactions properly with a psycho-analysis of Mrs. Piper, and so, while we may suspect strong emotional complexes focussing about the groups of words described, we are unable to describe those complexes in detail, and the chief value of the reactions is in the comparisons of the trance and the normal state. BIBLIOGRAPHY The following list gives the more important books on the psychical phenomena of Spiritism: Abbott, D. P., " Behind the Scenes with the Mediums," 1907, 328 pp. (An expose of physical phenomena, such as mate- rialisations.) Barrett, W. F., " New World of Thought," 1908, 127 pp. (A believer's account of Eusapia Palladino.) Bennett, E. T., " The Society for Psychical Eesearch, its Eise and Progress," 1903. Bruce, H. Addington, "The Eiddle of Personality," 1908, 239 pp. (Believes in telepathy, but not in Spiritism.) CARBmGTON, Hereward, " The Physical Phenomena of Spir- itualism," 426 pp. " The Coming Science," L., 389 pp. " Eusapia Palladino and her Phenomena," 353 pp. (A believer's accounts.) Flammarion, Oamille, " The Unknown." " Mysterious Psychic Forces," L., 453 pp. (Holds that Spiritism is not yet proven, but also not unprovable.) Gurnet, Podmore, and Myers, " Phantasms of the Living," L., 1886, 2 vols. (A large collection of cases. Veridical apparitions and telepathy are accepted.) Hyslop, James, " Science and a Future Life," 1905, 372 pp. " Enigmas of Psychical Eesearch," 1906, 427 pp. " Psychical Eesearch and the Eesurrection," 1908, 409 pp. (Hyslop is an ardent believer. These books for the most part restate the sittings with Mrs. Piper.) 406 BIBLIOGRAPHY Lodge, Oliver, " Survival of Man," L., 1909, 354 pp. " Man and the Universe.'' (Lodge is also a believer.) Myers, F. W. H., " Human Personality," 1903, 2 vols. (An elaborate argument to prove personal survival from the phenomena of Spiritism.) PoDMORE, Frank, "Studies in Psychical Research," 1897, 354 pp. " Modern Spiritualism," 1903, 2 vols. " Naturalisation of the Supernatural," 1908, 364 pp. "Telepathic Hallucinations, the New View of Ghosts," L., 1909, 128 pp. (In general these books discredit Spiritism, but argue for telepathy.) Saoe, M., "Mrs. Piper and the Society for Psychical Ee- search," L., 1903, 187 pp. (A somewhat uncritical and inaccurate account of the Piper records.) Thomas, N. W., " Thought-Transference," L., 1905, 210 pp. « Crystal Gazing," L., 1905, 162 pp. (Good summaries of the work of the Society for Psychical Research on these subjects.) WiLLSON, Beokles, " Occultism and Common Sense," L., 291 pp. (Argument for Spiritism.) Vaschide, N., " Les Hallucinations Telepathiques," Paris, 1908, 97 pp. (Reduction of telepathy to coincident thoughts.) Viollet, M., " Le Spiritisme dans ses Rapports avec la Folie," Paris, 1908, 120 pp. (Showing the parallel between various forms of in» sanity and the belief in spirit communication.) Miss X. (A Goodrich Freer), " Essays in Psychical Research," L., 1899, 326 pp. The original material, however, which must be read by any one who wishes to form an independent judgment is con- tained in the Proceedings and Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, from 1882 to the present time, es- pecially the Proceedings, which contain the cases that 407 STUDIES IN SPIRITISM have stood the Society's tests and are allowed to be pub- lished. The American Society for Psychical Eesearch also has Proceedings (1885-89 and 1907 to the present) and Journal (1907 to the present), which should also be read to see the character of the evidence accepted by Hyslop. The following books deal especially with the questions of subconscious selves and alternating personalities: BiNBT, A., "Alterations of Personality," 1896. Breuer und Freud, " Studien iiber Hysterie," 1895. Preud, Sigmund, "Die Traumdeutung," 1909. " The Origin and Development of Psycho- Analysis," Am. Jour, of Psy., April, 1910. (There is as yet very little in English on Freud's work, and none of his writings have been translated, but they are of great importance for the understand- ing of the subconscious activities. The number of the Am. Jour, of Psy. just referred to also contains summaries of Freud's theory of dreams by E. Jones and S. Ferenczi.) Flournoy, Th., " From India to the Planet Mars." (A very careful study of the origin of the messages from a supposed medium, showing them to be sub- merged memories.) Janet, P., " The Mental State of Hysterieals." " The Major Symptoms of Hysteria." Jastrow, Joseph, " Fact and Fable in Psychology," 1901. " The Subconscious," 1906. Prince, Morton, " The Dissociation of a Personality," 1906. (The case of Miss Beauchamp.) B. 0. A., " My Life as a Dissociated Personality," 1909, 47 pp. (The patient's own account, after a cure.) Seybert Commission, " Preliminary Eeport," 1887. (An expose of Spiritism.) SiDis, Boris, " The Psychology of Suggestion," 1898. "Psycho-pathological Eesearehes," 1907. SiDis AND Goodhart, "Multiple Personality," 1905, 456 pp. (These and Prince's book refer multiple personalities to modifications of brain activities.) 408 0) iHlililWninlii !l!lliilllllir iiim 11 ill Il I