Psychic Phenomena Part 2

[3] Report, &c., pp. 7-13.

[4] Report, &c., pp. 390-391.

[5] _Proceedings S.P.R._, vol. i. p. 240

[6] See _Proceedings S.P.R._, vol. iv. pp. 29-33.

[7] See _Proceedings S.P.R._, vol. iv. pp. 33-35.

[8] Vol. vii. pp. 146-198 and pp. 383-394.

[9] For full account see _Proceedings S.P.R._, vol. vii. pp. 159-160.

[10] _Proceedings S.P.R._, vol. vii. p. 160.

[11] See the full account in Part XIX. of the _Proceedings of the S.P.R._, which part is included in vol. vii., and may be obtained separately for 2s. 6d.

[12] See _Proceedings S.P.R._, vol. vii. pp. 383-394.

CHAPTER III

THE PRODUCTION OF SOUND WITHOUT ANY APPARENT PHYSICAL CAUSE

If the tipping of small tables when the hands of the sitters are in contact is excepted--under which circ.u.mstances it is generally impossible to determine whether the result is psychical, or due merely to muscular action unconsciously exercised--the production of raps and other sounds is the most frequent of the phenomena under consideration.

They are, however, generally so intermixed with other phenomena that it is difficult to treat them separately.

THE DIALECTICAL SOCIETY.

In the extracts from the Report of the Committee of the Dialectical Society given in the preceding chapter, it will be remembered that raps and other noises are referred to as being frequently heard, and also as apparently produced by an intelligent agency.

TESTIMONY OF PROFESSOR W. F. BARRETT, F.R.S.

The reader is asked to refer to the general conditions of the case of Mr. C. testified to by Professor Barrett in the previous chapter. He says:--

"They (the sounds) came more readily and more loudly when music was played, or a merry song struck up. Usually they kept time with the music, and altogether displayed a singular degree of intelligence.

Sometimes a loud rhythmic sc.r.a.ping, as of a violoncello bow on a piece of wood, would accompany the music. Again and again I placed my ear on the very spot on the table whence this rough fiddling appeared to proceed, and felt distinctly the rhythmic vibration of the table, but no tangible cause was visible either above or below the table.... On one occasion, when no one else was in the room, ... I asked my young friend the medium to put her hands against the wall, and see how far she could stretch her feet back from the wall without tumbling down. This she did, and whilst in this constrained position--with the muscles of arms and legs all in tension--I asked for the knocks to come. Immediately a brisk pattering of raps followed my request. All the while the child remained quite motionless. My reason in making this experiment, was to test the late Dr. Carpenter's muscular theory of the cause of the sounds. Had Dr.

Carpenter been present, I feel sure he would have admitted that here at any rate that theory fell through."[13]

Professor Barrett sums up his conclusions on this case thus:--

"A long and careful examination convinced me that trickery on the part of the child was a more improbable hypothesis than that the sounds proceeded from some unknown agency. Nor could the sounds be accounted for by trickery on the part of the servants in the house, for in addition to my careful inquiries on this point, Mr. C. informed me that he had obtained the raps on the handle of his umbrella out of doors, when the child was by his side; and that the music-master complained of raps proceeding from inside the piano whenever the child was listless or inattentive at her music lesson. Mrs. C. told me that almost every night she heard the raps by the bedside of the child when she went to bid her good-night; and that after she had left the room and partially closed the door, she would hear quite an animated conversation going on between her daughter and her invisible companion, the child rapidly spelling over the alphabet, and the raps occurring at the right letters, and the child thus obtaining with surprising rapidity a clue to the words spelt out.

"Still more violently improbable is the supposition that the parents of the child were at the bottom of the mystery, stimulated by a desire to impress their friends with the wonderful but imaginary gifts their child possessed. The presence of the parents was not necessary for the occurrence of the sounds, which, as I have said, often took place when I was the only person in the room besides the child.

"Hallucination was the explanation which suggested itself to my own mind when first I heard of the phenomena, but was dismissed as wholly inapplicable after the first day's inquiry; nor do I think that any one could maintain that different people, individually and collectively, for some weeks, thought they heard and saw a series of sounds and motions which had no objective existence.

"No! I was then, and am still, morally certain that the phenomena had a real existence outside oneself, and that they were not produced by trickery or by known causes. Hence I could come to no other conclusion than that we had here a cla.s.s of phenomena wholly new to science."[14]

After some three months the sounds ceased as unexpectedly as they had commenced.

There is one form of sound manifestation to which no allusion has been made--what is called the "Direct Voice." It is alleged to be of frequent occurrence in spiritualistic circles. Articulate words are, it is stated, spoken "direct," not through the voice organs of any person present. The phenomenon, so far as I have heard, occurs only in darkness--and is an objective voice audible alike to every one present.

It corresponds to the phenomenon of "direct writing." But no attempt that I am aware of has been made to treat the matter scientifically. One of the earliest alleged occurrences of this phenomenon took place in London, at a private seance at which I was present at the house of Mr.

Thos. Everitt, who departed this life in August of last year, and who was one of the most prominent London spiritualists, Mrs. Everitt being the medium. Some little time later, at a similar seance at the same house, the sitting was terminated by the singing of a hymn by three or four soft, gentle voices, purporting to be "direct" voices, which sounded as if they proceeded from the top of the room close to the ceiling. They were certainly not the voices of any of the company present. It was one of the most beautiful and touching manifestations I ever experienced. I can only compare it to the singing of a choir of boys' voices, high up out of sight in Truro Cathedral, which I had heard many years before. The seances at Mr. Everitt's were conducted in an exclusively religious tone, and afforded no opportunity for obtaining scientific evidence. It is much to be desired that a careful inquiry should be made into the reality of so interesting a phenomenon.

FOOTNOTES:

[13] _Proceedings S.P.R._, vol. iv. pp. 29-30.

[14] _Proceedings S.P.R._, vol. iv. p. 31.

CHAPTER IV

THE APPEARANCE OF LIGHT WITHOUT ANY APPARENT PHYSICAL CAUSE

The appearance of Lights at Spiritualistic circles, apparently not due to any physical cause, is very widely a.s.serted. The character of the Lights is as varied as it is possible to imagine. Faint, cloudy, indefinite luminous appearances--brilliant stars which move or hover among the sitters--globes or b.a.l.l.s of light, like illuminated ostrich eggs, or spheres of mother-of-pearl lit up from within--pillars of light--are some of the many forms which this manifestation takes. But anything approaching to scientific evidence of the reality of the phenomenon is singularly scarce. And I am not aware that anything has ever been done towards testing or endeavouring to ascertain the nature of the light. One reason for this is, no doubt, that to investigate light phenomena, the exclusion of other light is obviously requisite.

Hence the necessity for dark seances. The objection to a dark seance in itself can of course have no scientific basis. But a strong feeling against dark seances has arisen from the abuses to which they have led.

It is possible that the extent of the evil has been exaggerated, and has thus produced an exaggerated prejudice against darkness as a condition.

It is, however, safe to say, that, even if promiscuous seances are ever useful or wise, a promiscuous dark seance should never be sanctioned by an earnest inquirer.

Orthodox science has not yet condescended to bestow any attention on "spirit lights." I had the privilege of private acquaintance with Dr.

Tyndall, and once acted as his a.s.sistant at some lectures he gave in a country place. I remember sending him a report of some rather remarkable manifestations of light witnessed at a private seance in London, under fairly good test-conditions. Dr. Tyndall was at the time engaged in some special optical investigations, and I asked him to spend five minutes in reading the notes enclosed. Dr. Tyndall's reply, in his laconic, jocular style, was to this effect--"I have spent five minutes as you desired, and it is a long time since I spent five minutes so badly!"

The best series of "light" phenomena, both as regards their varied character, and as regards the observers, and the care with which records at the time were made, occurred in the presence of Mr. W.

Stainton Moses. A special chapter is devoted to his general experiences later on, but I will deal with the phenomena of lights here, and make this the only ill.u.s.tration of this branch of the subject. For the general credibility of the W. Stainton Moses phenomena the reader is referred to the opening paragraph of Chapter VI. The following pages are taken, by way of either extract or abstract, from two articles on Mr. W. Stainton Moses by Mr. F. W. H.

Myers. They thus have the advantage of Mr. Myers' moral certificate, so to speak, as to their value. The articles were published in the _Proceedings_ of the Society for Psychical Research.[15]

Mr. Stainton Moses says that the first occasion on which large luminous appearances were seen at the circle consisting of Dr. and Mrs. Speer and himself was on 7th June 1873. They had become familiar with floating ma.s.ses of luminous vapour; and on several occasions, the ma.s.ses condensed, so to speak, until a distinct objective light was formed. On that evening, however, a number of cones of soft light similar to moonlight appeared in succession. There was a nucleus of soft yellow light surrounded by a haze. They sailed up from a corner of the room and gradually died out. They seem to have been carried in a materialised hand, a finger of which was shown at request, by placing it in front of the nucleus of light.[16]

Subsequently they saw another kind of light altogether. It was apparently a little round disc of light which twinkled like a star. It flashed with great rapidity, and answered questions by the usual code of signals. On about half-a-dozen occasions a bright scintillating light apparently resting on the mantelshelf was seen. It was about the size of a pigeon's egg, and looked like a large diamond lit up with strong light.[17]

Mr. Stainton Moses gives a description of "a most remarkable light, of quite a different kind from any that he had ever heard or read of." It appeared six times, diminis.h.i.+ng in brilliancy on each occasion. Mr.

Stainton Moses says: "The light was first observed directly behind us--a tall column about half an inch or rather more in width, and six or seven feet high. The light was of a bright golden hue, and did not illuminate objects in its neighbourhood. For a minute a cross developed at its top, and rays seemed to dart from it." Dr. Speer, who had been watching the strange phenomenon with absorbing interest, asked permission to examine it more closely. Leave being given, he went to the light, put his face close to it, and pa.s.sed his hand through it. He detected no odour, and the light did not disappear. No warmth came from it, nor did it perceptibly light up the room. It remained visible until the seance was concluded.[18]

The following graphic description shall be given in Mr. Stainton Moses'

own words:--

"The room, which had been filled (especially round me) with floating clouds of light, grew suddenly dark, and absolute stillness took the place of the previous loud knockings. It would have been a strange scene for an ear-witness. The table, isolated, with no human hand touching it, giving forth a series of mysterious thuds of varying intensity, some of which might have been made with a m.u.f.fled sledge-hammer, all indicating intelligence--an intelligence that showed itself by deliberation, or eagerness, or stately solemnity according to the nature of the communication. Around the table three persons sitting with a hush of expectation, and faces (if they could have been seen) of awe-stricken earnestness.... The room shrouded in darkness, except at one end, where s.h.i.+fting ma.s.ses of luminous vapour now and again gathered into a pillar which dimly outlined a form, and again dispersed, and flitted round the head of one of the sitters. No scene could be imagined more calculated to strike a novice with awe, none more solemn and impressive for those who partic.i.p.ated in it."[19]