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THE
MARVELS BEYOND SCIENCE
(L'Occultisme Hier et Aujourd'hui; Le Merveilleux prescientifique)
Being a Record of Progress Made in the Reduction of
Occult Phenomena to a Scientific Basis
BY
JOSEPH GRASSET, M.D.
Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Montpellier, and
National Fellow of the French Academy of Medicine;
Author of "The Semi-Insane and the Semi-Responsible"
WITH A PREFACE BY
EMILE FAGUET
Of the French Academy
AUTHORIZED ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE SECOND
REVISED AND ENLARGED FRENCH EDITION, BY
RENE JACQUES TUBEUF
Fellow of the University of Paris
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1910
Copyright, iqio, by
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
CPrinted in the United States of America)
Published September, 1910
CONTENTS
PAGE
Author's Preface to the First Edition xi
Author's Preface to the Second Edition xii
Translator's Preface xiii
Introduction by Emile Faguet of the French Academy . . xv
PART I
Definitions — Historical Account — Difficulties in
making this Survey
CHAPTER I
Definitions and Historical Account
I. 1. A Definition of Occultism and Occult Phenomena 3
II. 2. Historical Account 5
3. The Period of Animal Magnetism 5
4. The Period of Syiritualism 10
5. The present Period 16
6. Occultism the Promised Land of Science 19
III. 7. What Occultism is Not 22
8. The traditional Science of the Magi, Theosophists and
Spiritualists 23
9. The Supernatural and Miracles 25
CHAPTER II
Difficulties in the Present Study of Occult Phenomena
I. Complexity of Determinism in Experiments 29
10. Occult phenomena cannot be reproduced at will 29
11. This experimental determinism is a fact, and must conse-
quently be investigated 31
II. The Frauds of Mediums 33
12. Frauds in general 33
13. Voluntary and conscious frauds 34
14. Frolicsome people and neuropathic sufferers 39
15. Instances of frauds. Unconscious frauds 40
16. Conclusions. Caution to be observed 53
iv CONTENTS
PART II
The Occultism of Yesterday
CHAPTER III
Animal Magnetism and Hypnotism ^^^^
I. 17. Historical Account. Braid, Charcot, Liebeault and
Bernheim 58
II. The Hypnotic Sleep and the Condition of Suggesti-
bility 60
18. Definition: hyperpolygonal disaggregation and polygonal
malleableness 60
19. Hoiu to provoke hypnotic sleep and how to check it 62
III. Suggestion 63
20. Intrahypnotic suggestions 63
a. Motive 63
h. Sensory 64
c. Psychical and active 65
d. Modifying the individuality of the person 65
e. Matters usually beyond the reach of volition 66
21. Posthypnotic suggestions 66
a. Suggestions at waking time 66
h. Suggestions to be fulfilled at a distant date 67
c. Psychical condition when becoming due, and be-
tween the suggestion and becoming due 68
d. Suggestions affecting memory 69
IV. The Use of Hypnotism in Forensic Medicine, Thera-
peutics AND Morals 69
22. Hypnotism and suggestion before Justice 69
23. Hypnotism and suggestion from a therapeutical standpoint . 70
24. Hypnotism and suggestion with reference to Morals 70
CHAPTER IV
Involuntary and Unconscious Motions: Table-Turning, the Exploring
Pendulum, Willing Game with Contact
I. The Motor Function of the Polygon: Involuntary
AND Unconscious Movements 71
25. Historical account 71
26. Instances: absence of mind, somnambulism, itinerant
automatism 73
27. Reciprocal influence of ideas and movements 74
II. Turning Tables 76
28. The fact verified 76
CONTENTS V
PAGE
29. Explanation of the fact 77
30. Psychological analysis of experiments 79
31. Practical requirements for success 80
32. The unequal aptitudes of various subjects 82
III. 33. The Exploring Pendulum 82
IV. 34. The Conjurer's Wand 84
V. 35. Willing Game by Contact 90
CHAPTER V
Polygonal Memory and Sensations; Erroneous Divination; Polygonal
Hallucinations and Crystal Vision; Polygonal Reminiscences
and Mis judgments
I. 36. Polygonal Sensibility and Memory 97
37. The sensibility of the polygon 97
38. Mennory in the polygon 98
39. Facts recently " disoccultated" which are dependent on the
polygonal function 101
II. Polygonal Hallucinations and Crystal Vision 102
40. Polygonal Hallucinations 102
41. Crystal vision 104
a. Description of the phenomenon and historical ac-
count 104
6. How to produce the phenomenon 107
c. Psychological analysis 109
III, Polygonal Reminiscences and Mis judgments Ill
42. Polygonal reminiscences Ill
a. When absent of mind 112
b. When dreaming 113
c. Before the crystal mirror 114
d. When awake 115
a. Absence of mind and waking 116
/3. Sleeping and waking 117
43. A sensation of "things seen previously or already felt," or
erroneous recognition 118
a. Some attitudes of O respecting those polygonal
reminiscences 118
6. Description of things previously seen 119
c. Psychophysiological analysis of the phenomenon. . 121
44. Pathology of polygonal memory 123
a. Polygonal hyperamnesis 123
h. Total amnesis with preservation of the polygonal
memory 123
c. Polygonal amnesis 125
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
Polygonal Association of Ideas and Imagination;
Polygonal Romances of Mediums ^^^^
I. Polygonal Imagination and the Linking of Ideas .... 128
45. General hints, definitions and analysis 128
46. The polygon and inspiration 130
II. Mediums 134
47. The exteriorization of polygonal ideas 134
48. Definition of a medium 135
49. Trances. Mediums connected, with people suffering from
nervous diseases 138
50. Alterations of personality and the mediumistic individu-
ality 141
51. The stages of mediumship 151
III. The Polygonal Novels op Medixims 158
52. Helen Smith's navels 158
a. The Royal Cycle 158
b. The Martian novel 164
53. Mrs. Smead's Martian novel 172
IV. Conclusions 174
54. Reality of the polygonal imagination 174
55. Limits to the polygonal imagination 176
a. Inferior characteristics 176
6. Inferiority of polygonal conceptions at large 178
■ 56. The productions of mediums by polygonal memory easily
counterfeit exogenic supernatural messages 180
PART III
The Occultism of To-day
67. Summary op the Second Part. Outline and Plan
op the Third Part 185
A. THEORIES.
58. Classipication op Theories. Plan op their Survey 186
CHAPTER VII
I. Definition and Account of the Spiritualistic Doctrine 187
59. Meaning of the word Spiritualism 187
60. Account of the Theory 189
II. Discussion of the Theory of Spiritualism 192
61. This theory unlikely 192
62. Spiritualism must bring forth its proofs 193
CONTENTS vii
PAGE
63. The ideas expressed during trances are those of the medium
hut not of the spirits evoked 194
64. Errors of the medium,s. The deceitful spirits 205
65. The spiritualists do not agree together 210
III. 66. Conclusions 211
CHAPTER VIII
Psychical Radiations; Perispirit; Astral Body; Radiant Psychical Power
I. Account op the Theory 214
67. The occultist doctrine: perispirit; astral body 214
68. Other scientific forms of the doctrine 220
a. Psychical radiations 220
b. Apparatus to measure them 227
II. Discussion op Theories 230
69. Most of them bring forth as proofs only the power of exte-
riorization which they try to explain 230
70. The biometers have not proved the existence of a power irre-
ducible to the other modes of power known {heat, elec-
tricity) 238
71. Shoidd this new power be proved, nothing would yet demon-
strate that it is a connecting agent between two separate
psychisms 240
III. 72. Conclusions 242
CHAPTER IX
The Independence of Occultism and of all Philosophical and Religious
Doctrines
73. Knowledge of occult phenomena can help neither the triumph
nor the ruin of any philosophical or religious doctrine. . 244
74. Opinions of people who try to mix occultism with philos-
ophy or religion 245
75. Refutation of this doctrine 254
o. Authors who try to mix occultism with philos-
ophy or religion come to contradictory conclu-
sions disproving themselves 254
6. One could give to occultism a philosophical
strength only by accepting the spiritualistic
doctrine, which, as we have seen, is not proved. 256
c. Occultism is a prescientific chapter open to all,
whatever their philosophical or religious creed
may be 257
viii CONTENTS
B. CASES.
76. One must prove the existence of the facts. Classification
and Plan of Survey. A list of occult phenomena, ac-
cording to Maxwell 257
CHAPTER X
Cases whose Demonstration, if Possible, Appears Very Far Away
I. Telepathy and Premonitions 262
77. Definitions 262
78. Account of cases 265
a. Telepathy and telesthesia 265
b. Premonitions and forebodings (divination and
propliecy) 267
c. Telepatliical influence of the dead and of things;
retrocognitive telepathy (psychometry) 272
79. Discussion 276
a. Instances of telepathy are not hallucinations.
Their scientific existence not proven 276
b. No case proves divination or prophecy 278
c. Many telepathical cases are " disoccultated " by our
actual knowledge respecting the lower psychism. 280
d. Coincidences explain the others 281
e. How should experimentation be established to be-
come effective 286
II. Material Brought prom a Long Distance 289
80. Instances 289
a. Anna Rothe and Henry Melzer 289
b. MacNab 290
c. Charles Bailey 291
81. Discussion 292
a. Conscious deceits 292
b. Unconscious deceits 295
III. Materializations 300
82. How the question stands 300
83. Instances 301
a. Luminous phenomena 301
b. Fantasms 302
c. Photographs and moldings 304
84. Discussion 305
a. Hallucination 305
b. Conscious or unconscious deceits 306
a. Photographs and impressions 306
CONTENTS ix
PAQH
/S. Luminous phenomena 309
7. Fantasms 309
1. Tricks 309
2. Spirit-grabbers 310
3. Experiments at the Villa Carmen 312
4. Miller's recent experiments 315
CHAPTER XI
Cases whose Scientific Demonstration does not Appear so Distant, but
must be at first sought for
T. Mental Suggestion and Direct Communication of
Thought 321
85. Definition; documents and cases 321
a. How the question stands 321
h. Recent cases 323
c. D'Ardenne; Pax; Paul SoUier 323
d. Lombroso 325
e. Joseph Venzano 326
/. Miss Hermione Ramsden 327
g. Kotik 329
86. Why experimentation is sometimes erroneous; tricks 329
87. How to try to establish scientific proof of mental suggestion 333
II. Removal op things without Touch (Levitation). Raps 335
88. Removals without touch 335
a. Instances 335
a. Haunted houses 335
^. Removal of things 337
1. Eusapia Palladino 337
2. William Crookes and MacNab 343
3. Maxwell 345
4. Flammarion 346
5. Zuccarini 347
a. Discussion 349
/S. Advice 354
7. The recent inquest of the Matin 355
89. Raps 357
a. Cases 357
h. Discussion 359
c. Conclusion 362
III. Clairvoyance 363
90. Definitions. Clairvoyants and female seers 363
a. Definitions 363
b. The female seer of Saint-Quentin ; 365
X CONTENTS
PAOB
91. Cases and discussion 368
a. A few cases 368
6. Personal instances 371
c. Conclusion. Rules for further experiments 372
Conclusions 376
Index 381
AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
When asked to issue a third edition of my former work,
"SpirituaUsm and Science," I thought better to postpone
it and undertake instead the present book, "Occultism
To-day and Yesterday." The title of the former has been
rightly criticized — first, because it was identical with the
title of a book that had been issued in 1883 by Mr. Del-
anne; second, because I did not use the word Spiritualism
in its narrow, etymological sense.
To serve as a substitute for that title, I have hesitated
for the present work between '' The prescientifical marvel-
ous" and "Occultism," but have beheved that the latter
expression sounds the better. It needs a thorough explana-
tion, however, lest it be misunderstood. This is what I
have tried to do in the first part of the book.
In " Spiritualism and Science, " I chiefly examined those
manifestations of occultism on which light has recently
been thrown. They comprised the occultism of yesterday,
and with this the second portion of the present book deals.
The occultism of to-day, as discust in the third part of the
work, is an amplification of a study which was printed
originally in La Revue des Deux Mondes, in November,
1906. The same ideas and conclusions, but with more
proofs, will be found here,
A clear idea of the scope of the entire work can be
promptly gathered by reading the contents and conclu-
sions.
J. Grasset.
MoNTPELLiER, France, March 25, 1907.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
Since the first edition of this book appeared, I have not
been able to change my doctrinal idea; it still remains
what it was. I have had only to take notice of the latest
publications on such occult matters as continue to hold
public attention. I cite as notable " Les Forces Naturelles
Inconnues" and "L'Inconnu et les Problemes Psychiques"
of Flammarion; "Le Miracle Moderne" of Jules Bois;
"La Psychologic Inconnue" of Boirac, and have partic-
ularly had in mind the new experiments of Italian scien-
tists with Eusapia Palladino and with Zuccarini. There
will be found in the book many new things of real worth.
While these do not alter my conclusions, I had to discuss
them.
The notable feature of this second edition is the Intro-
duction, which M. Emile Faguet has been kind enough to
write for me. In this he has admirably described, and set
bounds to, the respective domains of the marvelous and
the scientific. I vdsh respectfully to mark here my deep
gratitude to this world-famed Academician.
Desiring that my volume should not be too much in-
creased in size by many necessary additions, I have con-
siderably shortened a few chapters dealing with hypnotism,
since they contain matter now universally familiar.
J. Grasset.
MoNTPELLiER, March 25, 1908.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
The subject-matter of this book, deahng as it does with
a theme now prominent in the public mind, I have done
my utmost to present to EngHsh-speaking readers in
accurate comphance with the original text of Professor
Grasset. I have been well aware of the difficulties of the
task. A few notes only, and these concerning French
linguistics or bibhography, have been omitted, as they
would have been superfluous in an English version. I
have thought it well to reproduce the diagram so fre-
quently referred to throughout this volume — the one show-
ing Dr. Grasset's system in regard to psychical center 0,
and the lower psychical centers (the polygon), which is
not in the French edition. It has seemed best, in the in-
terest of English readers, to give to the book the title
"The Marvels Beyond Science."
Let me add that the "Dictionary of Philosophy and
Psychology," edited in 1902, by J. M. Baldwin, has proved
very useful to me, especially in finding foreign equivalents
for abstract terms. My best thanks are also most heartily
offered to the publishers of the present work, who have
spared no trouble in giving me much valuable advice.
Rene Jacques Tubeuf.
Paris, January, 1910.
INTRODUCTION
To speak as sailors do, Dr. Grasset has endeavored to
"calculate the reckoning of the ship/' and it appears that
he has succeeded. Science consists of "reckoning." To
be scientific is to know where one has arrived on the road
of knowledge. Science stands between the explained
things that are behind us, and those unexplained that are
in front of us. It marks exactly the point where we stand.
Behind us are scientific matters known and acquired,
those that we can believe when once we have resolved to
believe only reasonable things. Before us lies the pre-
scientific realm which perhaps one day will become a
province of the Kingdom of Science — thanks to the aims
of busy and searching science. There now remains noth-
ing more to be searched by science than the things which
are not yet within the dominion of Science. These are
what we must not yet believe when once we have resolved
to believe only what is rational.
One should not say that, according to this view, the
whole of metaphysics must be banished from intellectual
considerations. There exists the disposition to believe
and to make reasonable hypotheses after having allowed-
a certain degree of probability. But we must finally trust
only to matters that are scientific and well-defined. It is
not bad — in my opinion, it is even healthy — to make
hypotheses beyond science, but it is lawful to tread the
field of probability only when we bear in mind that it is
only the field of probability. So to do is often to widen
and to elevate the mind,
xvi INTRODUCTION
In other words, one must study metaphysics after a
positivist spirit. We must not distrust paradoxical truths.
He who beUeves in metaphysics as in a scientific reaUty,
wiUingly despises real scientific truth; he does not want
it. Having attained, as he thinks, the end of the road,
he refuses to follow those who walk slowly, seeking and
faltering. It may so happen that he will acquire a slow,
narrow and lazy mind. The positivist who studies meta-
physics does not believe in them, probably because, be-
tween things exploited and acquired, which are so few,
and those fully explained, he sees a wide chasm over which
he feels obliged to jump, and this is not a lawful act of
thought. He never looks at metaphysics solely as at
probability, but to probability applies the rational method
of which he is fond — a mind of prudence, even in hypoth-
esis, a mind of self-control, even in bold generalization, a
mind of perseverance, even in dreaming; and by so doing
he attains probabilities with which the mind is satisfied
and, what I think is best, he makes his intelligence free,
he opens doors and windows, he enlarges his horizon,
looks at the sky, and after a little, is strengthened and,
more at rest, a little happier and enters again his study
saying, "I have taken a small dose of the Infinite." He
is then ready to tread again the road of real science and
make those two or three half steps which the strongest
amongst us find ourselves able to make.
It is therefore of no use to hinder metaphysical re-
search; but let us come to it as a scientist dealing with
science. It is good to explain what has not been already
explained but which is leaning upon what is known al-
ready. We must after every small conquest, mark scru-
pulously the boundary between the things already known,
and those that are beyond our understanding. Such is
the aim of Dr. Grasset with regard to occultism, or, if you
INTRODUCTION xvii
like other terms better, the marvelous, or the wonderful
of yesterday which have become part of the scientific
domain of to-day.
Ages ago, before philosophers and even after them (we
may say so, without any exaggeration), all things were
marvelous. I mean nothing whatever was explained, or
coordinated by well-defined connections between phe-
nomena. Everything was explained by reference to some
mysterious agent producing a phenomena. At the basis
of a fact, you were to find a responsible and willing author.
Such was the universal creed in former times. The
sun revolved inasmuch as somebody drew it; the corn
in the blade grew rusty because someone dwelt in it by
whom it was withered. From infinitely great to ex-
tremely little things, everything went on the same. The
motive for this method lay in the fact that man had only
examined one thing — himself in his voluntary acts. He
had felt himself to be a maker of phenomena, a creator.
He had thought that when knocking on a dulcimer, he
had made a sound, solely because he was willing to do so.
And looking at the whole universe as he looked at himself
behind anything that might happen he saw a willing
being who produced it. As he beheved himself to be a
creator, he fancied the world to be crowded with creators,
and anything not made by himself he thought made by
creators more or less powerful than himself, but on the
whole mightier.
Science was born the very day when man thought one
fact might be produced by another fact, and this other
fact by still another. As a consequence of this, man con-
sidered that Nature's phenomena were not whimsical,
that they occurred again and again and were always
identical when the circumstances were the same. Con-
sequently they followed those circumstances. They were
xviii INTRODUCTION
not made by beings who were supposed to be capricious
and who showed themselves by freaks.
The supposed Hkeness between Nature's manifestations
and human deeds having vanished Httle by httle, the
marvelous disappeared also. Nature was no more thought
to be free — the author of phenomena which she might not
have herself produced. She was little by little believed
to be linked to phenomena, all of which were necessary.
The mysterious agent behind a waterfall, or hidden in a
tree, the special maker of a spring, of lightning, or of a
gale was eliminated, and man saw nothing but two mar-
velous creatures — himself, the author of acts for which
he became sure he would have to answer, and behind all
natural phenomena, behind everything, an Initial Cause
that was probably a Being or at least something which
there was no reason not to trust as a Being; that this
Being had created, not one thing, but all things, and had
brought forth, not a phenomenon, but all phenomena, the
indefinite and eternal series. For a scientific man there
remained only two miracles, that is to say, two powers
depending each on the other — human freedom and
God.
However there remained, with an attenuated stamp of
the marvelous, facts reckoned to be genuine, and which
knowledge of the ordinary connections between things did
not explain; that is, extraordinary facts not tributary to
laws dealing with the arts of doing and producing things.
Sunrise and sunset were no longer deemed marvelous, but
an eclipse was reckoned a wondrous deed so long as science
had not sufficiently elucidated it. Since science was born,
the patient conquest of the unexplained kingdoms which
people had fancied were unattainable and unaccounted
for, has been marvelous. With every success she makes,
Science casts a fragment of the marvelous into the king-
INTRODUCTION xix
dom of explained things. Little by little, she eats away
the marvelous, changing it into the scientific.
In this work science has two steps to take — first, to
inquire as to the fact deemed to be wondrous, and this
means only that it is extraordinary; is it genuine, and is
it controvertible, by scientific minds, or does it exist only
in fancy? Second, the fact having been acknowledged to
be genuine how can we explain it; that is to say, how can
we make it tributary to a rational rule that will account
for it, and in the same manner account for it at any time
when it may happen, so that it may be understood by
reference to the identity of the accounts given. To prove
the first test — that is, prove the fact genuine — is to make
it comparatively scientific. The fact we see exists; it is
unquestionable; it is not fancied; it is therefore scientific,
and you can trust it for it will be expounded sooner or
later.
To prove something in the second proceeding is to make
the fact absolutely scientific. Not only does the fact
exist, but it is impossible that, with certain conditions
and in certain given circumstances, it will not happen
again. Not only can you see it clearly, but you can fore-
see it clearly also. It is entirely a scientific fact. A woman
rises in the middle of the night, and when still quite asleep
makes up a bonnet — so it seems — and then goes to bed
again. When she wakes up, she is thoroughly astonished
to find that her bonnet has been made up. A table turns,
when surrounded by people who have their hands stretched
out over it, and wish it to turn, but do not wish to make
it turn.
These facts are wondrous. At first Science asks, are
they genuine? Is there no fraud? No feigning, etc.?
Science acknowledges the facts to be real; they are stiU
astonishing, but they are no longer wondrous. They are
XX INTRODUCTION
only facts that require an explanation. Science explains
them by comparing with them analogous cases and by
concluding, with all these facts connected, that there is a
conscious will and an unconscious action. Hereafter,
these facts remain wholly scientific, since they have been
classified. They need no longer astonish anybody. Bab-
inet said about 1860, "Nowadays we know the law of
the evolution of comets. We know when a certain comet
will appear again to our eyes. Since comets are no more
abnormal, they are no longer interesting, or rather if they
are still interesting, they are no longer dramatic. They
are still scientifically interesting, but they have no longer
any literary interest."
This work of setting limits between facts well known
and facts explained, and between facts insufficiently
known and not explained — in other words, between facts
henceforth scientific and those that are not yet so, has
been achieved by Dr. Gr asset with that "quiet fervency"
M. Anatole France spoke of the other day; that is to say,
with indefatigable zeal, great coolness and infalhble pru-
dence about those cases of the psychical dominion which
have been termed, for want of a better denomination,
occultism.
In view of these facts, he has asked himself — which are
the things that have been proved to be true: which are
those that having been proved to be true, have been ex-
pounded, or rather, illustrated by a law? Finally, which
are those that are perhaps sound, though questionable,
and, at all events, have not been explained by law, and are
not within the range of what we may depend upon?
He has shown us a disoccultated realm; that is to say,
phenomena that are proved to be genuine and have been
sufficiently explained, and then subjected to more formal
explanations, such as hypnotic sleep suggestion, the un-
INTRODUCTION xxi
conscious will of the movers of tables and conjurer's wand,
the unconscious memory of hypnotized people (commonly
called "lucid somnambuUsts"), and with regard to me-
diums, their unconscious imagination which we were asked
to suppose was God-sent.
He has shown us that phenomena still occult are likely
to be in a short time, expounded as true, and then included
in a principle, such as mental suggestion and direct inter-
course of thought (without hypnotic sleep); articles re-
moved without touch (when such articles are very near);
and clear-sight (sight through opaque substances). He
has also shown as still occult and very far from being
demonstrated as genuine, telepathy, premonitions, articles
brought from long distances, and materializations, such as
spirits of the dead assuming a body.
In respect to the facts expounded as genuine and in-
cluded in law, he has energetically asserted the demon-
strations, and as to all those not demonstrated as true,
he has never denied them in advance. Yesterday's occult-
ism is becoming to-day's science. There has been nothing
more startling than a storm, but to-day the air is more
clear. He has not represt research. He has even made
it easier. But he has shown how any research, touching
facts capable of being observed, but not experimented
with, is trying, and he has pointed out the rigorous and
strict methods of prudence, carefulness and caution that
one must use in this kind of investigation, the most diffi-
cult and delicate of all.
The dangerous things here are faith and hope. One
takes the risk of being misled because one believes a little
in advance, and one hopes that the case, about which one
asks oneself if it is true, will prove to be true indeed.
Dangerous things also — but less to be feared, I cannot
help saying so — are skepticism and obstinacy; that is to
xxii INTRODUCTION
say, a fixed belief that nothing more wiU be discovered.
One must also remove suggestions less acute than theory,
hope and faith, and which are still strong — the sugges-
tions of indolence. La Rochefoucauld has said that " One
is mistaken when one believes that strong passions, such as
ambition and love, are sufficiently powerful to overcome
other passions; laziness, however languid it may be, suc-
ceeds very often as master and so usurps all the schemes
and passions of life."
One must therefore be skeptical, but with a scientific
skepticism, that is only a fear of being mistaken, but still
keeping the warmest ardor for research. Merimee said,
"Remember to be distrustful." One must always remem-
ber to be distrustful, but one must know how to be a
believer, when all distrust has been exhausted. There are
distrusts that will finally yield completely. Scientific dis-
trust is one of those distrusts that will yield, but only
when there is nothing left to support it, so that it dies
from starvation; that is to say, if scientific distrust never
capitulates, it knows how to die.
Dr. Grasset seems to me to be endowed with a scien-
tist's cardinal virtues, I shall not say he is gifted with
all the others because you do not want to know that.
Emile Faguet.
This diagram or " schema " will be found in Dr. Giusset's book on " L'hypno-
tisme et la Suggestion," p. 8. Octave Doin, publisher (2Dd edition, Paris, 1906).
re Ym ^k
General Schema of the Upper psychical center O and of the lower psychical
centers (upper automatical centers).
O represents the upper psychical center of conscious personality, or free-will,
or the responsible Ego — the cerebral cortex of the prefrontal lobe.
A V T E M K represent the polygon of the lower psychical centers, or psy-
chological automatism.
A is the Auditory center : the cortex of temporal convolutions.
V the Visual center : the cortex in the region of the fissura calcarina.
T the Tactile center (sensibleness at large) : the cortex of the perirolandic
region.
K the Kinaesthetic center (general movements) : the cortex of the perirolandic
region.
M the center of speech : the cortex of the root of the 3rd left frontal.
E the center of writing : the cortex of the root of the 2nd left frontal.
a A, V V, t T, are the centripetal organs of vision, audition and sensibleness at
large.
E e, M m, K k, the centrifugal organs of writing, speech and movement.
E A, E V, E T, M E, M K, M V, M A, M T, K V, K A, K T, the intra-polygonal
organs.
PART I
DEFINITIONS— HISTORICAL ACCOUNT— DIFFICUL-
TIES IN MAKING THIS SURVEY
CHAPTER I
DEFINITIONS AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
CHAPTER II
DIFFICULTIES IN THE PRESENT STUDY OF
OCCULT PHENOMENA
Adeone me delirare censes, ut ista esse credaiti?
Cicero.
Ignari quid queat esse
Quid nequeat Lucretius.
" One must be strongly convinced that science
to-day, the true, is dreadfully deficient."
Charles Richkt.
f^'
_. CHAPTER I
DEFINITIONS AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
I. 1. A Definition op Occultism and Occult Phenomena.
II. 2. Historical Account.
3. The Period of Animal Magnetism.
4. The Period of Spiritualism.
5. The Present Period.
6. Occultism the Promised Land of Science.
III. 7. What Occultism is Not.
8. The Traditional Sciences of the Magi, Theosophists and Spirit-
ualists.
9. The Supernatural and Miracles.
I. A DEFINITION OF OCCULTISM AND OCCULT
PHENOMENA
1. Occultism is not a survey of all things hidden from
science; it is a survey of facts not yet belonging to science
(I mean to positive science, after Auguste Comte's manner)
but which may belong to it.
Occult facts are outside of science, or in the vestibule
of science, endeavoring to conquer the right to be included
in the text of the book of science, or to cross the threshold
of the palace. There is no logical situation which hinders
those facts from ceasing one day to be occult and becom-
ing scientific. Charles Richet calls them metaphysical.
As they are really psychical, I should rather term them
juxta- or pre-scientific.^
^In an article, very kind in its nature, published in Les Annales des
Sciences Psychiques (1906, p. 772) under this title: "Science's Promised
Land," the author, criticizing these words, " preseientific " and "juxta-
4 DEFINITIONS
To the word "metapsychical," Boirac^ prefers the term
"parapsychical," in which the prefix para indicates pre-
cisely that exceptional and paradoxical phenomena are in
question — phenomena quite outside the known principles
of thought and life.^
He adds further that on the day when we shall know
the principles and real causes, either those facts will be
joined together with facts from which we wrongly sep-
arate them to-day, and in whose names they will be par-
takers, or they wiU get a new and final denomination
according to their real nature. One might describe para-
psychical phenomena as all the phenomena manifesting
themselves among living beings or through their actions,
and as being not entirely explained by Nature's principles
and powers as already known. Therefore he terms them
scientific and extrascientific, psychopathical and crypto-
psychical (or cryptoid). The latter phenomena are those
"that still wait at the door of science for the moment
when they shall enter."
scientific," points out that "a phenomenon does not cease being scien-
tific solely because the greatest number of scientists have not yet ad-
mitted it." This is certainly not a question of majority. But to-day
everybody agrees well enough concerning the meaning of the word
scientific — that is, positive science. Therefore it is proper to acknowl-
edge that phenomena have a period of scientific existence, which of
course one must not confuse with the anterior period of their real exist-
ence. Indeed phenomena exist before they are scientifically surveyed,
but there is a day when they enter the domain of science, when the
scientific demonstration is made.
*Emile Boirac, La psychologie inconnue. Introduction et contribution h
I'etude experimentale des sciences psychiques. Library of contemporary
philosophy, 1908.
^In a recent article (Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1908, p. 8),
Charles Richet repels the word "parapsychical," which he says means
"erroneous psychology," and maintains "metapsychical." Metapsy-
chical will be the science which comes after psychology. " On the day
when phenomena actually occult shall become scientific, they will enter
the domain of psychology, as a matter of course, without para or meta.
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 5
It may be gathered that, touching principles and classi-
fication, we entirely agree with the Provost of the Dijon
University.
II. HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
2. In all times there has been a love for the marvelous.
The attractions of a scientific mystery have not been, the
appanage of any one epoch. Even the most skeptical
centuries have often been the most easy of belief. As
Paul de Remusat^ observes, Mesmer reached Paris the
very year when Voltaire came back to die. At this mo-
ment "people without doubt were very little fond of
miracles, but everyone was longing for the marvelous."
"Such is the axiom," says Emile Faguet: "man wants to
believe a thing not proved as yet; or, in other words, he
wants to believe a thing that only a believer can beheve."
Man is "a mystical animal."
One can divide into three periods the stopping places of
the prescientific wonders of the last century : the period of
Mesmerism; the period of Spiritualism, and the present
period.
3. The Period of Animal Magnetism.^
Authors generally begin an historical account with
Mesmer. But Binet and Fere have remarked that "Mes-
merism is tributary to a tradition developed in the middle
of the sixteenth century." It is in the works of Paracelsus
iPaul de Remusat, "The Marvels of Other Times and of To-day,"
Revue des Deux Mondes, Nov. 15, 1861.
^See Dechambre. Article " Mesmerisme " in the " Dictionnaire Ency-
clopediquedes Sciences Medicales," p. 143; Ernest Bersot, "Mesmer;
Le Magn^tisme animal; les tables tournantes et les Esprits," 5th edition.
1884; Alfred Binet et Ch. Fer6, "Le Magnetisme animal." Interna-
tional Scientifical Library, 1887.
6 THE PERIOD OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM
that we find the first trace of the doctrine according to
which man "has power to exert on his fellow creatures an
action like that of a magnet." Whatever the fact may be,
at least the stupendous scope of Mesmerism or animal
magnetism dates from Mesmer (1734-1815).
In 1766, Mesmer, in his thesis for his doctor's degree in
Vienna, studied the influence of the planet on the human
body. In 1774, he was surprised by experiments made by
Father Hell, "a Jesuit professor of anatomy," who "healed
the sick by means of magnetic iron," and arranged a pri-
vate asylum in his home, where he used to magnetize and
electrify people.^
Then, in 1776, he gave up those two agents, and only
mesmerized people.^ In 1778, he reached Paris. This
was the primitive age — or, " the age of the trough."
"In the middle of a spacious room," says Bersot, "is a
circular oaken chest, about one foot, or one foot and a
half high, called 'baquet' (trough). This trough simply
contains water, and in this water some articles such as
broken glass, fihngs, etc., or even those same articles
without water, nothing having been previously electrified
or made magnetic. There are in the lid some holes out
of which come arms of iron, bending and movable. In a
comer of the room is a piano. Someone plays different
^In 1749, Sauvages had already made electrical trials in Montpellier
(Lecercle, "Nouveau Montpellier medical," 1892). Of this period, the
brothers Goncom-t have written : " It is fashionable for ladies of studied
elegance to go and be enraptured by the 'seances' of Abbe Nollet, and
to look at fire coming forth — -fire that made a noise coming out of the
scratched chin of a valet." See "Le Medecin de 1' Amour au temps des
Marivaux." "Etude sur Boissier de Sauvages," 1896, p. 68.
^According to Charles Richet (Soci^te de Biologic, 1884, p. 334), when
Mesmer used for his fluid the term "magnetism," this was not alone be-
cause he assimilated it in a special manner with the magnet, but because
it was at this moment understood that the power exerted at a distance,
without direct touch, was a magnetic power.
THE PERIOD OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM 7
tunes in various measures, especially when seances are
coming to an end. Sometimes singing takes place. Doors
and windows are securely closed and locked. Curtains
allow only a dim light to enter. Patients silently make
several circles around this trough, and each of them has
an iron arm applied to the sore part of his body. A rope
tied to their waists unites them together. Sometimes a
second linking is estabhshed communicating with the
hands; that is to say, by applying thumb to thumb and
finger to finger. Patients are magnetized at the same
time by the iron arms, the rope, the joining of thumbs,
and the sound of the piano or the singing voice. The
magnetizer staring at them, moves in front of their bodies,
his switch or his hand." Then happen odd scenes, con-
vulsions, sleep, tears, hiccoughs and laughter. All are
brought under subjection to the magnetizer. The master
of this company was Mesmer, dressed in pale lilac-colored
silk attire, or in any other agreeable color, moving his
switch with superlative authority. Deslon^ was there with
assistants that he had selected, young and fair. The
room wherein those scenes were enacted has been termed
"The Convulsions Hell."
On March 12, 1784, the king appointed a committee,
whose members, belonging to the Faculty of Medicine
and the Academic des Sciences, were to investigate Mes-
merism. In their report, worked out by Bailly, the com-
mittee proscribed the theory of animal fluid, and came to
the conclusion that everything in those experiments de-
pended on three agents : imagination, contact and imitation.
Marquis de Puys^gur, who followed Mesmer, found out
'Superintendent of the Faculty of Medicine and first physician to
Count d'Artois, Deslon in 1780 was inhibited for a year and forbidden
to partake of the Faculty's deliberations, his name to be stricken from
the Faculty table at the end of the year in case he did not mend his ways.
8 THE PERIOD OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM
new and curious facts. On March 8, 1784, he saw a man
whom he had magnetized fall peacefully asleep, " speaking
aloud and attending to his own business." This was the
first public illustration of instigated somnambulism. During
his sleep the patient saw whatever the magnetizer wished
him to see. The man magnetized a tree, and by means of
that tree had power over a very large number of individ-
uals. "Patients," he said, "gather around my tree. This
morning there were over one hundred and thirty. There
are continual goings and comings in the neighborhood.
I spend two hours there every morning and my tree is the
best possible trough; there is no leaf in it that does not
heal." To awaken his "subject," he touches his eyes, or
sends him to kiss the tree by which he had been recently
made asleep and which now disenchants him.
Petetin (1787) described various states of catalepsy
originating in magnetism. The Abbe de Faria made
people sleep, and this without gestures or movements,
but by simply saying aloud, with an imperative voice,
"Sleep." "It is from this," says Dechambre, "that dates
the vulgarization of this agreeable and eminently useful
gift possessed by magnetizers to give a drink any taste
that may please one, to change water into milk or make
wine into champagne."^
The experiments made by Dupotet, Foissac and others
led to the report presented by Husson to the Academic
de Medecine (June 21 and 28, 1831) in the name of a
committee that had been appointed ten years before.
*See AbbI Jose Custodio de Faria, " De la Cause du Sommeil Lucide
ou Etude de la Nature de rHomme." Reprint of the edition of 1819,
preface and introduction by Dr. Dalgado, 1906, "Braidism and
Fariism, or the doctrine of Dr. Braid on hypnotism compared with
de Faria 's theory of the lucid sleep." Revue de I'hypnotisme, 1906, pp.
116 and 132.
THE PERIOD OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM 9
Research may always be misled by premature therapeuti-
cal applications and by gifts of divination groundlessly
attributed to magnetizers. In spite of the very wise
warnings with which Husson's report concludes, people
remain obstinate in this way, and always seek for mar-
velous results from magnetism. Scientists prove the in-
exactitude of badly observed phenomena and find them
premature or ridiculous; but by an illogical, though con-
ceivable reasoning they generalize their inferences, con-
cluding that all magnetism is false, without taking care to
find out what is false and what genuine.
Such was the unhappy work of the second committee
appointed by the Academie de Medecine (at the instiga-
tion of Berna, the magnetizer). This report was issued by
Dubois of Amiens (August 12 and 17, 1837), and there
was founded a prize of 3000 francs "to such person as
could read without the help of eyes and light."^
No candidate fulfilled the competition's requirements,
and at the expiration of the time limit, according to
Dubois' motion the Academie decided that from that day
(October 1, 1840) they would respond no more to com-
munications concerning animal magnetism; acting thus
in the same manner as the Academie des Sciences in de-
claring not receivable by it all documents referring to the
squaring of the circle and perpetual motion.
I know nothing more interesting for everybody than
this solemn and final condemnation of a question which
two years later Braid was to make enter the domain of
positive science.^
'Not after the manner of the blind ; that is to say, " by contact with
letters in relief"; but the object to be seen was to be placed immediately
before other senses than the eyes.
^The British Association were likewise disposed at that time ; in June,
1842, they refused to hear James Braid's communications on this sub-
ject.
10 THE PERIOD OF SPIRITUALISM
4. The Period of Spiritualism/
It appears that in the fourth century, the chiefs of a
conspiracy against the Roman Emperor Valens, questioned
magic tables after the manner used by actual spiritualists.
Among ancient cases of spirituaUsm, "one of the best
investigated" is related by Dr. Kerner, in his book ''Die
Seherin von Prevorst," as translated by Dr. Dusart, prob-
ably after the English translation of Mrs. Crowe. Kerner
has surveyed raps and removals without touch since 1827,
when he had with him Madame Hauff . One finds similar
phenomena in stories of haunted houses. Some of these
were observed at very remote periods. There are decisions
of courts cancelling leases for such causes. They were cen-
sured at the end of the eighteenth century.^
It was in 1847, in America (at the very moment when
Braid " disoccultated " animal magnetism), that in the
village of Hydeville, State of New York, new facts were
revealed. One night, a Mr. Weekman heard a knock at
his door. He opened the door, but saw nobody; opened
it again without seeing anything, and then, fatigued by
this renewed summons, abandoned the house. His place
was taken by Dr. John Fox, his family consisting of his
wife and two daughters, one fifteen years old, the other
twelve. These are the celebrated Misses Fox, who became
the heroines of this haunted house and in whom so much
of Spiritualism has originated.
Raps succeeded each other in this house, mysterious and
unaccountable. Of course the young ladies attributed
'SeeBersot; Pierre Janet, "L'automatisme psychologique." "Essai
de psychologie exp^rimentale sur les formes inf6rieures de I'activit^
humaine." Library of contemporary philosophy. 2nd edition, 1894,
p. 377; Jules Bois, "Le monde invisible," 1902, p. 310.
^Maxwell, "Les ph^nomenes psychiques. Recherches, observations,
m^thodes." Library, of contemporary philosophy, 1903, p. 260.
THE PERIOD OF SPIRITUALISM 11
them to the spirit of an individual who died in the house.
With a courage beyond praise they began a conversation
with that person. Mr. Fox's elder daughter "tripped
several times into the spirit's presence, inviting the noisy
creature to answer questions." It answered them. The
mother also came and took part in the talking. She heard
the spirit announce her children's age. "If you are a
spirit," she said, "strike twice." Two taps were heard.
"Did you die a violent death?" was asked. Two raps
came. "Is your murderer alive?" Two taps were heard.
It was agreed with the spirit that an alphabet should be
pronounced, and that it would rap to mark a required
letter. They came to know that their interlocutor's name
was Charles Rayn; that he had been interred in this very
house by the murderer; that his wife died two years be-
fore, and that he had five children, all of whom were alive.
Little by little, in order to facilitate speaking quicker,
abbreviations were agreed upon. When the Fox family
changed their residence to Rochester the spirit removed
also. Finally, after some continuous intercourse with that
spirit, the Fox family were able to raise up other spirits,
and the three women became leaders. In February, 1850,
motions of tables wherein spirits resided and around which
a necessary circle was previously made, were authentically
testified to. Hands without arms were perceived, as well
as a grayish fluid, and all kinds of noises and motions.
Phosphorescence was perceptible in the room where the
family were congregated. T'hen, the family went to New
York, where they met with the greatest success. Every-
body was discussing them. But, as Jules Bois asserts,
nobody denied that these American young ladies were
making much ado in a proper and figurative sense. When-
ever they appeared, noise came out of the walls.
Judge Edwards, who witnessed their seances, was struck
12 THE PERIOD OF SPIRITUALISM
" by the knowledge which the spirits, whom he questioned,
had about his own thoughts," his "most secret thoughts."
By means of raps in walls and objects made to move,
spirits began to forward in America the spiritualistic faith.
Three scientific commissions acknowledged themselves baf-
fled. A mob in the State of New York threatened to treat
the Fox family harshly.
This was sufficient to cause the taste for speaking-tables
to go beyond the sea. From America, the craze went at
first to Germany, through a letter from a New Yorker to
a Bremen resident. The mode of proceeding was indi-
cated, and was immediately made use of.
" Several persons placed themselves around the table in
the cabalistic position; that is, made everyone's little fin-
ger touch the one of the next person, and they then waited.
Soon, ladies began to shout, for the table was shaking
under their hands, and began to turn. Other pieces of
furniture turned — arm-chairs, chairs, then hats, even per-
sons who had chains around their waists. They ordered the
table to dance, and it danced; to lie down, and it obeyed.
They caused brooms to jump, as if they had become con-
jurors' horses."
In France, these feats were made known in a pamphlet
issued by Guillard and entitled, " Table qui danse et table
qui repond." Experiments were started in 1853 at
Bourges, Strasburg and Paris, "Acting under the press-
ure of hands methodically placed around it, the table not
only turned and danced, but imitated various beatings of
the drum, a sham fight with file or volley firings, and then
a saw's gnashing or a hammer's stroke, and various tunes."
One must read Bersot's account of these heroic ages, of
turning tables:
"It was a passion and everything was forgotten. In an
intellectual country whose drawing-rooms were generally
THE PERIOD OF SPIRITUALISM 13
famed for the lively conversations therein held, one saw
during several months, Frenchmen and Frenchwomen,
who have so often been accused of being light-headed,
sitting for hours around a table, stern, motionless and
dumb; their fingers stretched out, their eyes obstinately
staring at the same spot, and their minds stubbornly
engrossed by the same idea, in a state of anxious expec-
tation, sometimes standing up when exhausted by useless
trials, sometimes, if there was a motion or a creaking,
disturbed and put out of themselves while chasing a piece
of furniture that moved away. During the whole winter,
there was no other social occupation or topic. It was a
beautiful period, a period of first enthusiasm, of trust and
ardor that would lead to success. How triumphant with
modesty those who had the "fluid" ! What a shame it was
to those who had it not! What a power it became to
spread the new religion! What a love existed between
adepts! What wrath prevailed against unbelievers!"
By means of raps previously agreed upon, not only did
tables answer yes or no, but all the alphabet's letters were
given. Then a pencil was fixed to the leg of the table, and
it wrote. "Later on use was made of smaller tables, of
baskets, hats and even little boards that were especially
made for the purpose, and that wrote under the lightest
impulse."
It was then found that the part taken in those
seances by bystanders was not equally important. Some
of the participants were useless, others were necessary,
the latter were termed mediums, persons whose presence
and cooperation were requisite to obtain motions and
answers from speaking tables. Experiments became more
and more frequent. The medium worked alone. His
hand, drawn by a motion of which he had no. conscious-
ness, wrote without help from his will or thought things
14 THE PERIOD OF SPIRITUALISM
that he himself did not know and that he was surprised
to read afterwards.
"In that time," writes Jules Bois (this was in the be-
ginning of the Spiritualistic Gospel), "well-known experi-
mentalists met together in the Rue des Martyrs— namely,
Tiedmen Marthese, ruler of Java and a German cousin of
the Queen of Holland; the Academicien, St-Rene Tail-
landier, a professor at the Paris Faculty of Letters; Sardou,
father and son, and Flammarion. A simple table became
the common meeting-place of human talented. Galileo
elbowed Saint Paul, and Voltaire became reconciled with
Joan of Arc."
One night M. Sardou " took with him to one of the cir-
cle's seances, M. Rivail, said to be a bookkeeper to the
newspaper L'Univers, although some others say he was an
old taker of tickets at a theater. Stout and practical, he
burst out laughing when he heard the first raps." Later
on, he again took interest in the matter, and one day the
spirits declared that Rivail "ought to put in order and
publish their revelations." He accepted and became an
Apostle of the Spiritualistic church called under the name
now famous of Allan of Kardec, and wrote "Le Livre des
Esprits." He there set forth what he called "The Spirit-
ualistic philosophy, according to teachings given by
higher spirits with the help of various mediums." This
book, as "dictated, reviewed and corrected by spirits,"
had a considerable success. As Pierre Janet remarks, it
became from the moment the guide-book of the spirits
themselves, who did nothing but comment upon it. Then
higher spirits, such as Gutenberg and Saint John the Divine,
were made to speak and write.
Camille Flammarion^ has given an account of some of
their stances (1861) at Allan Kardec's.
'Camille Flammarion, " Les forces naturelles inconnues," 1907, p. 44.
THE PERIOD OF SPIRITUALISM 15
"People met every Friday evening in the Society's
meeting hall (the Paris Society for Spiritualistic Research)
in the Passage Sainte-Anne. This society was placed un-
der St. Louis' patronage. The chairman opened the meet-
ing with a prayer to good spirits. After that invocation,
some of the persons sitting around the table were asked
to give themselves up to inspiration, and write. There
were no physical experiments with turning, moving or
speaking tables, Allan Kardec, the chairman, declared
that to be of no consequence. At the same period and a
few years afterward, my illustrious friend, Victorien
Sardou, who had somewhat frequented the observatory,
had as medium written queer pages concerning the inhab-
itants of the planet Jupiter, and produced picturesque
and surprising drawings in order to depict things and
beings in that gigantic world. One of those drawings
showed us Mozart's house, and others the mansions of
Zoroaster and Bernard Palissy, who are, it appears, neigh-
bors in that planet. For my part, I wrote some pages
touching upon astronomy and signed them Galileo."
Then, in 1868, happened phenomena in materialization.
Owing to necessary help from a medium who played a
part difficult enough to describe preciselj^, articles that
nobody had touched were moved, pencils wrote, being
spontaneously lifted up and driven, handwritings appeared
on slates that had been locked up in sealed boxes. Then
the astonished faithful saw arms, heads and bodies, that
came in sight in the middle of a dark room. Sometimes
those apparitions were photographed; sometimes they
were molded. M. Reymers, of La Revue Spirite, graci-
ously sent me a box filled with spirits' feet and hands
molded in paraflSn.
16 THE PRESENT PERIOD
5. The Peesent Period.
All centuries are equally attracted by the Wondrous.
To-day the wondrous is as much admitted, loved and
sought for as in previous centuries.
I have already quoted Jules Bois' book, in which will
be found a summing up of aU that has been done in recent
times; since the modern "Magi," such as Sar Peladan-
Merodack and the theosophists, who, one day, needing
sugar-tongs, materialized by an aerial gesture gherkin-
tongs (the creative idea not having been very clear to the
mind of the medium, Madame Blavatsky), down to the
Luciferians, ironically represented by Leo Taxil, Bataille
and Diana Vaughan ; since the magical hate and love
charmers, the "hope-vendors," diviners and chiromancers
like Mme. de Thebes, the "Popess of spotted cards," the
"Seer of the Rue des Halles" and the "Zouave Jacob," a
professor of theurgy; since Mme. de Girardin was made
to spend the latter years of her life in company with
Mme. de Sevigne, Sapho, Moliere, Sedaine, Shakespeare,
and Victor Hugo, making tables speak on the seashore,
and Victorien Sardou building up on a piece of paper,
with the spirits' assistance, small palaces made up of
music-notes, and Augusta Holmes, the celebrated musi-
cian, receiving messages from the other side of life; since
Paul Adam suffered "during more than a year the assaults
of an evil spirit that dictated to him bad advice." Jean
Lorraine was carried away into the shadow by the "cold
hands" of the spirits, and Queen Victoria wept over the
death of the medium through whom she had been able
to have talks with the Prince-Consort. And so on, from
these to those Spiritualistic seances, "mediocre and ster-
corary," which were called by Huysmans "the MS. of the
Beyond."
THE PRESENT PERIOD 17
If our epoch is unlike previous ones, this is not because
we are less attracted by the Wondrous, but solely because
we are tempted to clothe all in a scientific dress. The
characteristic of the "supernatural trumpery" of to-day,
says Marcel Prevost, is "abuse of scientific pretensions,"
The dress of the augurs and prophets is changed. For-
merly, people accepted the god's messages with the same
piety as to-day we admit the revelations of science, or at
least those that bear its name, or arrive in its name.
The Wondrous formerly had its temples and sacred
books; to-day it possesses its newspapers, reviews and
congresses.^ It is the subject of what are called, quite
wrongly,^ Psychical Sciences.
All works issued under that title are immediately and
respectfully admitted, and soon received with respect by
the most cautious minds and in spite of queer and unlikely
statements. All that bears a scientifical label has become
the Koran of our twentieth century.
In 1891, Paulhan spoke^ (Le Nouveau Mysticisme) of
the important part played in the genesis of a new spirit,
"by a mysticism that, far from repelHng the scientifical
system, willingly seeks it." Such is the real characteristic
of the point of view. All centuries have been fond of the
Wondrous, have sought after it, have surveyed it. Ours
has been adapted to this perpetual human taste by new
methods and tries to make 'it a matter of science.
It is certain, however, that the study of Occultism has
assumed a much more serious and scientifical aspect.
Men such as Aksakoff, W. Crookes, Dariex, Durand, De
'See Lilian Whiting's article (Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1907,
p. 1), touching "camp-meetings" in the United States.
^Boirac thinks the term "psychical phenomena" quite unappropriate.
^See also Paulhan, "Les hallucinations veridiques et la suggestion
mentale," Revue PhUosophique, November 1, 1892.
18 THE PRESENT PERIOD
Gros, Gibier, De Gramont, Pierre Janet, O. Lodge, Lom-
broso, Maxwell, Myers, Ochorowicz, Charles Richet, De
Rochas, Sabatier, Stainton Moses, R. Wallace, de Wette-
ville, Zoellner, etc., have brought into their experiments
the scientific spirit and methods.
In 1893, a time almost of revolution, I promised to
preside at the Montpellier Faculty of Medicine, during the
presentation of a thesis about occult psychical phenomena.
There was a certain amount of boldness in thus sanctioning
"an attempt to make the wonderful enter the official
sphere." By this treatise Albert Coste,^ with real learning,
acute criticism and highly developed literary knowledge,
set matters in order and made ''an official report on the
actual condition of the subject."
A little before that publication, Dariex, wishing to estab-
lish and perpetuate in France the work of the Society for
Psychical Research,^ founded in London, issued the "An-
nales des Sciences Psychiques," which is still published
and where is found the richest documentation of all these
questions.^ In a preface to the first issue of this pubhca-
tion, Charles Richet said: "We endeavor to make a num-
ber of mysterious and unseizable phenomena pass into the
sphere of positive sciences." Such, indeed, must be the
aim of Science in its intercourse with Occultism.
^Albert Coste, " Les phenomenes psychiques occultes. Etat actuel de
la question," 2nd edition, 1895.
^See Arthur Hill, " Society for Psychical Research. " " A look backward
and a look forward." Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 721.
^See also, for this documentation, the "Echo du Merveilleux" of Gas-
ton Mery, whom I thank here for his kind welcome to my article con-
cerning Occultism (see Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 470). Charles
Richet quotes the following journals : Light, or Banner of Light, La Revue
Spirite, la Revue du Spiritisme, la Revue des Etudes Psychiques de Mar-
seille, and others.
THE PROMISED LAND OF SCIENCE 19
6. Occultism the Promised Land op Science.
The conclusion following from this historical account is
that if love for the wondrous remains untouched through-
out centuries, the nature of this wondrous is continually
altered. These alterations are not a circular movement,
with returns to the same place (hke the squirrel in a cage),
but a continuous motion of progress forward. A good
many phenomena, surveyed as occult half a century ago,
are no longer so, but have become scientific. Science,
which is never final, invades everyday occultism's domin-
ion whose boundaries recede without end. So this domin-
ion of occultism is as the promised land of science.
In the same manner as astrology and alchemy have
to-day become replaced by astronomy and chemistry, so
have many phenomena formerly dependent on sorcery,
that is to say occultism (anesthesia, convulsions, etc.)
finally entered the domain of science, and belong to what
we call psychoses, hysteria or somnambulism. We shall
see (and this is one of the aims of this book) that animal
magnetism has become scientific under the name of hyp-
notism, that turning tables, willing game with touch, the
conjurer's wand, and a certain amount of mediumical
phenomena have ceased to be occult phenomena.
One sees that if there is still an occultism, the phenomena
surveyed under that name are various from one epoch to
another, and it is consequently interesting from time to
time to set matters in order, so that the public may be
guided or at least have a precise starting point, for read-
ing and examining the innumerable publications issued
respecting that subject. It is especially necessary to set
forth occultism's balance-sheet, of which the public is
usually tempted to generalize in haste. Since many phe-
nomena formerly occult are to-day formally admitted by
20 THE PROMISED LAND OF SCIENCE
positive science, many would carelessly infer that all other
occult phenomena, such as materializations or telepathy,
are equally scientific.
Surbled quotes somewhere this sentence of a magician:
"Hypnotism is our waiting-room. We shall all pass be-
hind Charcot." No. This is a mistake. He that is will-
ing does not always enter into the realm of science. When
a new group of phenomena have been surveyed and fixed,
just as hypnotism has been investigated by Charcot,
Occultism will have one chapter less and positive science
one chapter more. This work of control must be done,
not in a lump for all occult phenomena, but bit by bit
and successively for each group. Neither Charcot's ex-
periments of hypnotism, nor those of Pierre Janet on
turning tables, justify the assertions of contemporary
occultists, which have a mighty power over the public,
as testifies Saint-Quentin of whom I shall speak again.
In the same manner, to prove the possibility^ of a phe-
nomenon is not sufficient to establish that it is scientifi-
cally genuine. Arguments by analogy are vain. The
wireless telegraphic communications between the Eiffel
Tower and Casablanca do not prove telepathy's existence
any more than the discovery of the N rays would have
proved (had it been confirmed) that mental suggestion is
a reality.
Nothing is therefore more useful than to fix the precise
boundaries of occultism's actual dominion — that is, to
reckon the scientific ship, as Emile Faguet says in his
preface.^ For the basis of any sound science is knowledge
^Several authors waste much of their time to demonstrate the unques-
tioned evidence of the following sentence of Arago, quoted by Boirac:
"He who, out of mere mathematics, utters the word impossible, lacks
prudence." He who with all that is possible should try to make some-
thing true, might lack prudence also. "An irrefutable demonstration is
still to be found," writes Jules Bois (p. 87). There difficulty begins,
THE PROMISED LAND OF SCIENCE 21
of the acquired realm's exact limits, and also knowledge
of those unknown limits yet to be found beyond, and of
methods by which everyone should try to draw back
those limits and so "disoccult the occult."^
Recently Charles Richet,^ answering Bormann's criti-
cisms, stated in the Psychische Studien (1907, No. 6) that
the terms "occult" and "occultism" are abominable and
indefensible. He is right if one places side by side the
words "occult" and "science." "Occult science" means
nothing, but " prescientifical occult" has a meaning.
Indeed, Charles Richet himself asserts, in the same article,
that "this neologism (metapsychical) distinctly signifies a
near normal psychology ; there is another psychology, still
very dark, very questionable, and even rather occult up
to nowf but perhaps, if we laboriously and methodically
analyze the facts, it will lose its dreary characteristic of
occult. We wish, through a survey of the facts, to develop
some rules that will teem with new and grand hints. In
other words, w^e wish to make it scientifical."
Such is exactly the program that I intend to go through;
in more simple words to disoccult the occult, and so to
invade the promised land.
exclaims Mr. Charles Richet. In "metapsychical" sciences all is real
and nothing is real. That is to say, all is possible and nothing is proved.
It is almost impossible to admit anything in an indisputable and defini-
tive manner. One always ascertains a cleft through which hesitations
enter. The " experimentum crucis," as the alchemists said, is still to be
fovmd ; that is to say, unquestionable proof.
^This pleasing expression is due to Goudard (Bulletin de la Societe
d'etitdes Psychiques de Marseille, 1903, p. 48).
HDharles Richet, " Metapsychism or Occultism?" Annates des Sciences
Psychiques, 1908, p. 8.
'This is the "psychologic inconnue'' by Boirac.
22 WHAT OCCULTISM IS NOT
III. WHAT OCCULTISM IS NOT
7. To make stiU more precise the definition above given,
I must insist on what Occultism is not, and point out some
necessary differences in order to avoid confusions. I have
been strongly held to account for having neglected those
distinctions in my book, " Spiritualism and Science." " We
regret," says Becker,^ ''that Dr. Grasset, speaking about
Spiritualism, has taken his information, not from the
spiritualists, but from Papus's book: 'Occultism and Spir-
itualism.' It is very strange to learn that a professor may
be to such an extent mistaken, for, after all. Spiritualistic
doctrines are not those of occultists, and it is deplorable to
see such an error almost officially extended."
And Papus:^ "From the beginning of the work, Grasset
makes an error that will be continued throughout his
book; it is an erroneous classification of the Spiritualistic
doctrines. Lacking a sufficient amount of patience to risk
himself in a dominion unknown to him, the professor
mixes together in the same salad, occultists, spiritualists
and even catholic psychics, like Gaston Mery. I already
hear incriminations against the author because he has
given from one of my books an account of the Spiritualistic
doctrine! But I am an occultist, dear professor, an awful
occultist, as the spiritualists would say!"
My emotions have not been very intense in consequence
of these criticisms, because I think the question has only
reached the stage of making a survey of the facts. People
still ask themselves what exists and what does not exist,
and I do not think the moment fit for choosing out of the
"salad" some one of the theories as the best. But there
is a fact, and I acknowledge it. Our use of terms is never
precise enough.
'Becker, Revue Scientifique et Morale du Spiritisme, 1903, p. 735.
'Papus, L'Initiation, 1903, p. 243.
MAGI, THEOSOPHISTS, SPIRITUALISTS 23
8. The Traditional Sciences of the Magi, Theoso-
PHiSTS, AND Spiritualists.
At first it is easy to see that my use of the word " occult-
ism" differs from that of Papus (Dr. Encausse) in his
"Traite Elementaire de Science Occulte."^ For this au-
thor, and those who think like him,^ occultism, ''every-
where identical in its principles," is a digest of learning
that "constituted the traditional science of the magians."
It is "a very ancient tradition, whose theories have not
changed in their essential basis, after more than thirty
centuries."
In the introduction to his book on "Occultism and
Spiritualism,"^ the same author sets forth very clearly
the principles and origin of occult science. "The way,"
says he, " that has led us to our actual notions concerning
Man, the Universe and God is far from being a new one,
as it depends on ideas professed in the temples of Egypt,
2600 B.C., and that have later constituted Platonism and
for the most part Neo-Platonism. Many of those inquirers
have applied themselves to the antique philosophy of the
Patriarchs, of the Egyptian imitators of Moses, to the
agnostics, to the Christian visionaries, to the alchemists
and Rosicrucians. This philosophy has never varied in its
teachings throughout the centuries, and is as able to-day
to explain the phenomena of Spiritualism and sound hyp-
notic sleep as in the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, the
^Papus, "Traite Elementaire de Science Occulte; mettant chacun a
meme de comprendre et d'expliquer les theories et les symboles employes
par les anciens par les alchimistes, les astrologues, les E.'. de la V.'., les
kabbalistes," 7th edition, 1903.
" The word occultism is used in the same manner by Emile Laurent
and Paul Nagour, " L'Occultisme et L'Amour." 1902.
'Encausse (Papus), "L'Occultisme et le Spiritualisme Expose des
theories philosophiques et des adaptations de rOccultisme." Biblio-
theque de phUosophie contemporaine, 1902.
24 MAGI, THEOSOPHISTS, SPIRITUALISTS
connection between the Kha and Khou, of the physical
and luminous bodies, in their action upon the Bai, upon
the intelligent spirit. This philosophy is actually known
under the name of Occultism."
Evidently this class of knowledge is not included within
the ordinary range of our sciences. When we try to discuss
the rights of our knowledge to be admitted, even eventually,
as scientifically existing, we must accept as means of dem-
onstration, only observation, experimentation, deduction
and induction. As MaxwelP very well says, "Analogy and
connections are not equally important in ordinary logic."
Besides, to consider an esoteric interpretation of the He-
braic Books as expressing the Truth, does not seem to me
prudent. I do not see any reason why I should have given up
my belief in their esoteric assertions only to trust their
Talmudical or Kabbalistic meaning. I hardly think that
the medieval Rabbis or their predecessors, the contempo-
raries of Esdras, had a more precise notion than ourselves
about human nature. Their blunders touching physics are
no guarantee of their being right in metaphysics. The truth
is not to be investigated through the analysis of a book very
beautiful, but very old. "The occultist," says Jules Bois,
" cannot submit to becoming a simple and modest seeker, a
truthful experiementalist."^
I shall not deal with theosophy either. This "queer
mystical movement provoked in Europe and America by
the teachings of Mme. Blavatsky, Col. Olcott and Mrs.
Annie Besant," is only a sort of religion, "an irreligious re-
^Maxwell, loc. oil., p. 5.
^"In fact, well knowing them," says the same author {loc. cit., p. 60),
" I do not believe either in the influence or the scientifical knowledge of
small mystical societies, all of whom originated in the second half of the
nineteenth century, in spite of their claiming to be very ancient. To
draw rusty swords, to put on worn-out carnival masks, to repeat, not
understand, sentences and lifeless rites, can lead to nothing."
THE SUPERNATURAL AND MIRACLES 25
ligion," says Jules Bois but has nothing to do with positive
science. To my mind, the word "occult" has therefore
nothing in common with the words "concealed/' "kept
secret for initiated persons," "esoterical," or "hermetist."
One can investigate occult phenomena, even the most
complicated, such as materializations, without being an oc-
cultist according to the meaning which I have just indi-
cated, and without being a theosophist; I may say also with-
out being a spiritualist. This is a second difference. There
must be no confusion between Spiritualism and Occultism,
such as I describe.
Spiritualism is a theory that I shall further discuss^ as
admitted by some authors to explain the faults of occultism.
But one may investigate the facts without submitting to
the theory. One can make tables turn, or perhaps be a
medium, one can try even transmissions of thought, or
materializations, without raising up spirits. One of the
ends of this book is precisely to prove how necessary it is
for all to survey theories and parts separately.
9. The Supernatural and Miracles.
The question of the supernatural is quite unlike that of
occultism. Not only the supernatural is not scientific (in
that it resembles occultism), but it will never be so; it
cannot be so ; it is not prescientific, and in short, it utterly
differs from occultism. As I have said elsewhere, the super-
natural does not belong to biology and consequently is not
within my department. I have always been absolutely in
favor of separation between our various classes of knowl-
edge. It is the theologian's business and not that of biol-
ogists to assert whether in certain circumstances more or
less analogous to those which I here examine, there is any
interference from supernatural beings — angels, devils, or
»Part3rd— A. Chapter 7th.
26 THE SUPERNATURAL AND MIRACLES
deity. Goupil^ does not understand this conception and op-
poses it. At first, he asserts, " Theologians have not further
advanced than ourselves; they have not demonstrated
a supernatural existence. The supernatural is unintelligi-
ble.
It is exactly because the supernatural is not scientifically
intelligible that I refuse to deal with it, wishing only to
make science positive. It is no business of mine to know
whether the theologians have proved a supernatural ex-
istence or not, since I separate theology from biology.
Any chapter that, from theology's department comes
into that of biology, ceases, ipso facto, to belong to the super-
natural. Therefore I can assert that the question of an-
gels and devils remains a question of theology, and not at
all of biology. Biology is not aware of them. I have
therefore a right to maintain those water-tight divisions
between our various groups of knowledge, those "Limites
de la Biology"^ to which I am the more attached because for
their sake I have received jests and sarcasm from different
philosophical sects, — by Le Dantec^ and Gaston Mery^
for instance.
I may as well observe, that by so speaking, I take away
nothing of the worth of our knowledge of the supernatural.
^Goupil, "Quelques notes sue I'expose de M. Grassett, 'Le Spiritisme
devant la science.' "
2"Les Limites de la Biologie." Bibliotheque de Philosophie Contem-
poraine, 5th edition, avec une preface de Paul Bourget, 1907.
'F61ix le Dantec, "Les Limites du connaissable la vie et des phe-
nomenes naturels." Bibliotheque de Philosophie Contemporaine, 1903,
p. 121. In La Revue Philosophique (September, 1906, p. 276), Le Dantec
announces his intention to discuss this matter again (on monism) more
minutely, in a larger volume, where he will one after another review the
objections to M. Grasset's book, " Les Limites de la Biologie," the first
chapter of which I have already answered and probably been the only
one to answer, if I refer to the preface of the 2nd edition.
■•Gaston Mery, L'Echo du Merveilleux, February 15th and June 1st,
1903. Gabriel Caramalo, ihid., March 15, 1903.
THE SUPERNATURAL AND MIRACLES 27
I only say that this knowledge does not belong to the
scientific order, and that were it to be possible one way or
another to "explain" a miracle, it would be a miracle no
more, that consequently supernatural and miracle^ are
neither scientific nor prescientifical; they are not included
within the range of the occult phenomena which I survey
in this book.
Though entitling his book "Le Miracle Moderne," Jules
Bois adopts the same opinion.^ "I have kept the term
'miracle,'" he says, ''because it spreads a special and poet-
ical charm that comes from the past. But there is to be in-
ferred no idea of religious or philosophical conviction."
And he says further: "In my opinion the documents sup-
plied by modern miracles will not help to start a new re-
ligion. I shall prove that the sanctuary of miracle is the
person in whom the miracle operates; miracle works in the
unconscious regions of our being. It is due to the inner
man."
Jules Bois is kind enough to add that this " psychological
analysis is adapted to the principles illustrated by "Les
Limites de la Biologic"^ and concludes, "The miracles that
I examine in this book are not miracles according to the
Roman Catholic sense^ of the word. They belong to laical
criticism."
*" Miracle," according to St. Thomas, "is a free interference of God;
what has been done by God outside the regular course of Nature"
(" L'Action franciscaine," quoted by I'Echo du Merveilleux, 1904, p. 480).
As science investigates only what is in Nature's natural course, miracle
is quite by definition outside of science to-day and forever !
2"Le Miracle Moderne," 3rd edition, 1907, by Jules Bois.
^" It is good for each science to determine and know exactly its limits.
It is a condition of growth and success." P. 9.
*See further (Part III. A. Chapter 9th) what I say about the inde-
pendence of occultism with regard to various religious and philosophical
systems. See also Gaston Mery's and Jules Bois' controversy about the
latter's opinions. Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, pp. 281, 321, 341, 364, 381.
28 THE SUPERNATURAL AND MIRACLES
Now the ground seems to me to be clearly bounded and
enclosed. I limit occultism to the investigation of phe-
nomena that, first, does not belong to science, second, that
may without logical hindrance belong to it later on. In
a word, it is the prescientifical Wonders.
CHAPTER II
DIFFICULTIES IN THE PRESENT STUDY OF OCCULT
PHENOMENA
I. Complexity of Determinism in Experiments.
10. Occult phenomena cannot be reproduced at will.
11. This experimental determinism is a fact, though, and must con.'
sequently be investigated.
II. The Frauds op Mediums.
12. Frauds in general.
13. Voluntary and conscious frauds.
14. Frolicsome people and nervous sufferers.
15. Instances of fraud. Unconscious fraud.
16. Conclusions. Caution to be observed.
COMPLEXITY OF DETERMINISM IN
EXPERIMENTS
10. Occult Phenomena Cannot be Reproduced at
Will.
We have seen in the preceding chapter how the whole
world has been engrossed by occultism, how everybody's
attention has been attracted on every side to verify and
criticize it. Why has the work of control not yet been
achieved? How does there still remain something occult,
since many facts have been asserted and observed, not only
by men of unquestionable good faith, but by men who, like
Willaim Crookes and Charles Richet for instance, are well-
known scientists and are acquainted with what scientific
method and experiment ought to be? How and why does
the problem still appear so trying?
The reason for all this is simple. Occult phenomena
cannot be reproduced at will, and consequently one caimot
30 COMPLEXITY OF DETERMINISM
apply to them the usual strict methods of scientific con-
trol.
First, a medium is necessary; that is an individual of
special aptitude. Therefore it is impossible to make ex-
periments with anybody, in a laboratory, however so well
arranged it may be. Moreover, when you have found a
medium the experiment does not always succeed. There is
a casualty in results, complexity, and let us say mystery
in determinism, that makes failures numerous and takes
away a part of the value of the results.
Maxwell, who, more than any other person endeavors to
submit a survey of those phenomena to scientific disci-
pline, acknowledges that, apparently at least, these phe-
nomena do not permit such a discipline. One may ob-
serve, indeed, but not experience. "To test one must
know the condition of fact whose existence and connection
imply another fact in consequence; but we know very im-
perfectly the conditions of fact necessarily preceding the
phenomenon dealt with. We resemble the astronomer,
who can apply his eye to the eyepiece of a telescope and
observe the firmament, but cannot provoke any certain
phenomenon." Let us add that such a comparison is
available only when applied to the period when astronomy
was not yet a mathematical science. If scientists " try, a
priori, to set the conditions of their experiments, they run
the risk of having no result worth mentioning.^
Charles Richet^ also declares that he "was a long time
disturbed by the difficulty of obtaining precise experiments,"
and he does not fear to assert "after long years that even
now such a difficulty persists and is very serious." In fact,
in proportion as precautions are multiplied it seems that
'Maxwell, loc. cit. p. 1, 13, 27.
^Charles Rjchet, faut-il ^tudier le Spiritisme? Annales des Sciences
Pfiyhiques, 1905. p 1, 23.
EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINISM 31
the intenseness of the phenomena is increased. Scientific in-
struments are indeed seldom used in experiments. One
must not forget that by introducing a new instrumentation
into a circle wherein without instruments regular expe-
riences have happened, there occur great disturbances, and
owing to this fact in most cases the phenomena ceases im-
mediately. Any change in the surroundings paralyzes for
a time the phenomena. It is also asserted that the coming
of a new person into spiritualistic circles may cause the
same disturbance as the introduction of a new instrument.
It is even possible that the mind of another may decisively
have influence over the psychismof phenomena. Skepticism,
doubt, distrust of a medium's sincerity may bring a sort of
paralyzing influence. The other objection, not less serious, is
that under identical conditions results may not be identical,
so that the test cannot be reproduced at will. Spiritualism
has not yet come to the period of scientific experimentation.
Such uncertain conditions make science itself uncertain.
11. This Experimental Determinism Is a Fact and
Must Consequently Be Investigated.
Charles Richet's declaration is quite correct. I have
desired to show how carefully he has made it as one of those
who seem to be indulgent towards Occultism. There lies, no
doubt, a real difficulty in surveying occultism. But this is
not a difficulty that cannot be overcome, nor is it a cause for
definite failure.
If these phenomena are real, they have their own deter-
minism. Determinism is complex and in these matters as
yet unknown; but if the facts are real, a solution exists.
We must therefore not despair of finding things out. At
any rate, we have a right to make investigations.
In order to explain how it is so difficult to investigate
these phenomena, Maxwell says, "People are inclined to
32 EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINISM
persuade by indicating the precise conditions of the test.
Those whom one is desirous of persuading are the very ones
less prone to be persuaded and who will judge the con-
ditions in which psychical research is successful. They
are natural philosophers, or chemists; living substance does
not react as do inorganic or chemical substances. Nothing
is more exact. They react in a different way, but they
necessarily react according to a well-known determinism."
There are many biological phenomena whose determinism
is known and which we are quite able to provoke at will.
The whole of physiology leans upon experimentation, more
than upon observation. Biological determinism is conse-
quently more complex; it is not so easy to analyze as phy-
sico-chemical determinism. But it is not beyond the
reach of investigation by positive science. Charles Richet
knows it and has proved it more than any other person.
Even among the biological phenomena, such psychical
phenomena, as are much more complex, are apt to be sci-
entifically investigated.
Papus^ in the manner aforementioned, opposes the psy-
chical fact to the physiological one. This is true, however,
only when the word ''occult" is used with the same mean-
ing as " psychical." But this is a meaning which I refuse to
accept.^ I think it better to preserve the traditional and
classical meaning of the words "psychism" and "psy-
chical." I call "psychical" an act, a phenomena in which
reside thought and intelligence. By this you will see that
I do not interpret it according to the manner of Max-
well's book,^ or of the ''Annales" of Dariex.
^Papus, loc. cit., p. 436.
^See " Le psychisme inferieur. Etude de physiopathologie clinique des
centres psychiques. Biblioth^que de philosophic exp^rimentale, 1906,
p. 7.
^Elsewhere (Annates des Sciences Psychiques, T. 14, 1904, p. 2761) Max-
well asserts that the term "psychical research" is a bad expression and
THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS 33
By preserving the etymological sense of the word " psy-
chical," it is impossible to oppose it to the word "scien-
tific." For we may say only what there is to say, on
experimental and scientific ways of research as to ^ 'psych-
ism," psychical facts and functions, and even psychical
centers.
Besides, what has happened in earlier occultism (the one
I shall investigate in the second part of this book) with
phenomena formerly occult and now " disaffected," is singu-
larly instructive. For hypnotism, for turning tables, for
willing game with touch, a subject is needed, a medium.
However, we have learned its experimental determinism
and they have now entered the realm of positive science.
In any case we must cease saying that there lies the
hope for solving this problem of the existence of occult phe-
nomena which might be scientifically and forever proved
and their determinism explained as Charcot and Bernheim
have done with hypnotism.
Three or four years ago Charles Richet wrote me: "I
have had, for a few months, some facts that seem to me to
defy any investigation. But they lack something. They
are unique and cannot happen again so that the scientific
moment has not come yet and I do not publish them."
One should be able to say more. We must be able to
verify a fact that is scientifically respectable. Until that
moment there is nothing done,
12. Frauds in General. The Frauds of Mediums.
Workers are discouraged by another difficulty and a most
serious one: that is the frauds of mediums. We must ex-
"that one should seek for another one." And Charles Richet, in his
speech for the installation in the chairmanship of the Society for Psychi-
cal Research {Revue de I'Hypnotisme, 1905, p. 258), has proposed the
words already referred to — "metapscychism," "metapsychical," by
analogy with "metaphysical."
34 VOLUNTARY AND CONSCIOUS FRAUDS
aggerate nothing, and it would be absurd to say, a priori,
that all mediums deceive, and especially so to assert that
they always deceive, even when it is proved that they have
sometimes deceived. But the deceits of mediums exist and
they are frequent. Some of them are conscious and volun-
tary. Maxwell asserts that others are mixed. Indeed
some are conscious and involuntary. A few mediums are
willing to deceive and consciously do so. Some others de-
ceive only through their lower disaggregated psychism when
in trance. They are polygonal defrauders. Any bona fide
person that makes a table turn is an unconscious de-
frauder. Lastly, some others are polygonal deceivers but
they notice it through their upper center.
It may be gathered by this that in some cases I do not use
"frauds" in its fine meaning. To speak exactly there is
"fraud" only where there is intention to deceive. There-
fore it is evident that the medium who deceives through its
polygon has no intention whatever to deceive. It is the
same with the juggler who hides his tricks the best he can,
but does not pretend to occultism, and acknowledges that
there is a trick in his case.
I preserve this word under such restrictions because it
is expedient to put into the same chapter all those causes
of mistakes that constitute the most obstinate nightmare
for all men examining these phenomena.^
13. Voluntary and Conscious Frauds.
Voluntary and conscious deceit is that which we can see
at fairs and theatrical meetings, that of the juggler, and of
all those who practice tricks. When dealing with mind
*One of the two Misses Fox above referred to, and who played such an
important part in the history of Spirituahsm, has made a confession in
which she acknowledges that she had cheated (Jules Bois, he. cit.,
p. 175).
VOLUNTARY AND CONSCIOUS FRAUDS 35
reading, I shall speak about some tests made under such
conditions/
As it is sometimes very hard for the bystander to find out
those tricks even when the juggler himself acknowledges
their existence,^ all experiments made with such subjects
must, a "priori, be suspected. I shall recall here some
facts well-known in that respect. In 1892 the Daily Tele-
graph related tests absolutely astounding as made by
Annie AbbottHhe " little Georgia Magnet," which became
conspicuous in the London Alhambra, and showed "a
power, which, had she lived during the age of Inquisitors,
would have directly led her to the pyre."
The "little Magnet " shakes violently, on the right and on
the left, a chair and a vigorous man that opposes her
strongly; six men are unable to lift her up. Seizing with
her two hands a billiard cue, she stands upon one foot, and
seven men taking hold of the billiard cue, vainly attempt to
make her lose her balance. Dr. Henri Goudard witnesses
iThird Part. B. Chapter XI. I.
^People of my generation remember the closet of the brothers Daven-
port. Twenty years before, Babinet said ("Des tables tournantes au
point de vue de la m^canique et de la physiologie ; les sciences occultes
au XX® Siecle, les tables tournantes et les manifestations pretendues
surnaturelles au point de vue de la science d'observation." Revue des
Deux Mondes, January 15th and May 1st, 1854), "Is it not more surpris-
ing to see taken out from a hat given to a juggler an omelet or a big, living
rabbit than to make a light table move? " About these tests ascribed to
spirits by the brothers Davenport, and the mechanism of which was un-
covered by Robert Houdin, see Rouby, "Bien-Boa et Chas. Richet"
(Bulletin Medical d' Alger, 1906, p. 668).
^See "Une Femme Etrange," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1892,
p. 60; Henri Goudard, "Apropos de Miss Abbott (The Little Georgia
Magnet)". Ibid., 1895, p. 49; Oliver Lodge, "Sur les tours de force de
Miss Abbott, connue sous le nom de ' the Georgia Magnet.'" Replique au
Dr. H. Goudard. Ibid., p. 99; H. Goudard, "Notes et Reflexions Com-
pl^mentaires sur Miss Abbott." Ibid., p. 174; James Hyslop, "A
propos de Miss Abbott." Ibid., p. 395.
36 VOLUNTARY AND CONSCIOUS FRAUDS
these tests at the Casino de Paris and investigates them
with care and comes to the conclusion that she is an active
medimn, voluntarily entrancing herself, and preserving dur-
ing trances the outward look of waking-time, normal con-
nections with the surrounding medium, and strong mag-
netic power.
The whole of Miss Abbott's tricks have been quite sci-
entifically examined by Sir Oliver Lodge, and he has shown
that in such tests there is nothing occult or magnetic. All
depends on the subject's strength and skill. It belongs to
legerdemain, not to occultism. Having very seriously sur-
veyed the case, Hyslop confirmed Lodge's assertions, but
came to a more scientific conclusion: " I shall no longer deal
with these tricks. I have said enough to establish that they
are fraudulent, and we may be sorry that such men as Dr.
Charcot were so utterly deceived as to suppoose that Miss
Abbott possessed an unconscious hypnotic influence over
those that took part in tests with her. Her tricks were
nothing but common juggling with the laws of mechanics.
According to my experience, there is no doubt that Miss
Abbott usually told lies. I had many times the evidence
of it. This alone would be sufficient to induce us not to be
deceived by her tricks, even if we cannot explain them.
Kellar^ a well-known juggler, about 1895, made tests of
direct writing in America and elsewhere with the Enghsh
medium, W. Eglinton, a very successful imitator of hand-
writing on slates, and finally offered " to imitate any me-
diumical phenomena after having witnessed it two or three
times." One of the most noteworthy instances of a juggler
having perfectly imitated the mediumical phenomena is
'See "L^vitation," Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1895, p. 243.
Information. Ibid., p. 318; Michel Petrovo-Solovovo, " A propos du
prestidigitateur Kellar." Ibid., p. 373.
VOLUNTARY AND CONSCIOUS FRAUDS 37
certainly Davey/ He has chiefly practised direct hand-
writing on slates.
Hodgson has chiefly surveyed Davey's work. I cannot
describe it all here, but it will be found described in the
work quoted in the under-mentioned notes, in the three
foflowing groups of tests: First, writing on the upper sur-
face of a slate placed under a table. Second, writing on
the upper surface of a lower slate, when two slates are
placed together under the table. Third, writing on the
slate locked up by Davey. Hodgson particularly described
" the ordinary method used by Davey to substitute one of
his locked up slates for another in this third group of tests
which was his favorite invention. Maxwell speaking about
the slates, says : " It is a phenomenon too easy to be imitated
and this is the reason why I have not as yet seriously tried
to obtain it. I have myself long since produced an imita-
tion of the phenomenon by placing a pencil in a hole under
the table, and moving the slate. When sufficiently used to
it one can write quite well."
Davey also fraudulently produced raps and materializa-
tions. Hodgson gives an account of a very instructive
"seance" in which himself (Hodgson) took part as a
"pal," coming in barefoot, lifting up a music-box, striking
the ceiling with a long stick, touching the hands of the by-
standers with his own hand previously drenched in cold
water, making a gong sound, playing the part of a ghost
after having assumed a mask made up of muslin with lu-
minous paint, imitating himself a second ghost with a tur-
ban, a false beard and a luminous book, and he issues the ac-
count of that exciting seance by a confident witness who
'See Richard Hodgson, "Comment M. Davey a imite par la prestidigi-
tation les pretendus phenomenes spirites." Trad. Marcel Mangin,
Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1893, pp. 167, 235, 287, 355; Maxwell.
loc. cit., p. 263.
38 VOLUNTARY AND CONSCIOUS FRAUDS
strongly believed he had witnessed a real seance "of mar
terialization,"
In the same work Hodgson speaks also about W. S. Davis
of New York who gave a few "seances" which have been
found by various spiritualists in New York and Brooklyn to
be very remarkable. Several spiritualistic papers issued
short reports of these seances. Davis exprest the wish to
give a "seance" under very strict conditions of control, and
appoint a committee to discuss it. This offer was accepted.
The test took place and was absolutely successful. The re-
port of it was published under the title, "A Success," but
Davis himself declared that all had been fraud. He es-
pecially described how to tie oneself up and to loosen one-
self.
All jugglers make such an impression on bystanders, and
their tests so much resemble those of mediums, that some
behevers (like T. W. in Light of October 20th, 1891) as-
sert without any hesitation that the jugglers have used
"physical spiritualism." T. W. alludes to the trick of
Bosco which he seems to consider as implying mediumity,
and speaking about Dupuy the famous juggler, he says,
"I witnessed several experiments a few years ago, and I
believe he does not make a trick without being helped or
supplanted by an invisible force."
After these opinions which Hodgson declares to be " ab-
surd," I simply came to the conclusion that the jugglers
perfectly imitate and reproduce occult phenomena,
Mr. Corney, a spiritualist well known in England, on a
certain occasion, was alone in a room with a medium, when
he saw, by the medium's side, ascending into the air, a
volume of smoke which soon turned into a woman who
crossed the room, took an apple from the table, and then
disappeared. An account of this interesting event was given
by Mr. Corney in the papers. A juggler named Mashenyn
THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS 39
made a bet of 200 francs, that by means of the re-
sources of his art, he would pubHcly reproduce the scene
which had privately occurred before the spiritualist. Mr.
Corney took the bet. When the day came, the juggler con-
verted a volume of smoke into a woman and an apple for
the benefit of an audience unable to understand anything
whatever in the performance.^
Paris has often had knowledge of "Dr. Comte de Sarak,"
or "Rama," the "corn-grower" who first welcomed his
guests with his breast studded with stars and grand-crosses,
and who operated afterwards while attired in a Tibetan
tunic, or in a kind of light, white sack overcoat, with broad
sleeves, loose on the front. "I must," he said, "dress my-
self for every experiment, in a robe whose color suits the
waves, or vibrations, I have to use in my test." Bystanders
would see a yucca growing up, or gold-fish brought forth,
together with caviar. He was a vulgar juggler, hiding the
stem of his yucca under his clothing, and the fish in a fish-
pond that he squeezed behind his back with his hands tied.
14. Frolicsome People and Neuropathic Sufferers.
Besides professional jugglers, or conjurers, there are frol-
icsome or neuropathic people who abuse other's confidence,
either to make fun of them, or because they are not sound
in mind. Such are: Prof. Bianchi, who, desiring to enjoy
himself at the expense of Lombroso, his colleague, himself
counterfeited a phenomenon during an experiment with
Eusapia Palladino; and again the medical student fre-
quently mentioned by Maxwell,^ who was an incorrigible
defrauder.
^Journal des Debats, October 19, 1906. I think that the tests above
referred to are those made by Archdeacon CoUey, of whom I shall speak
again (3rd part, chapter X, iii, d. e., 2), in connection with Mashenyn,
the juggler.
''Maxwell, loc. cit., p. 302.
40 THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS
Indeed, we should strictly beware of any nervous disease
whatever, as a frequent cause of lies and frauds : under this
head, hysterics rank first.
15. Instances of Fkaud. — Unconscious Fraud.
Either conscious, or unconscious, or both, mediums who
have been convicted of fraud are innumerable. On De-
cember 17, 1904, Anna Rothe,^ the flower medium died in
Germany. She was far-famed on account of flowers and
fruits. The Prussian police and the German Emperor
brought an action against her. Her " mediumistic powers,"
which had disappeared while she was confined in jail, came
back later; there were raps, and trances, and flowers were
produced even at her bed three weeks before her death,
Bailey,^ the Australian medium, had obtained, in his
country, results so utterly astounding, that the Milan So-
ciety for Psychical Research had him come to Europe at
their expense. The spokesman of the Society, ''Luce e
Ombra" has related the experiments made in that city.
Those experiments have been scrutinized by C. de Vesme,
who says: "This course of seventeen seances, apparently
conducted in the best possible conditions, has produced
little but unsteadiness and mistrust. Bailey was always
operating through darkness, and never did he agree to be
entirely undressed previous to the seances, fearing — as he
said — to catch cold."^
^See "Anna Rothe's Death," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1904,
p. 388; "comment mourut Mme. Rothe (cancer de I'oesophage)." Ibid.,
1905, p. 53; "Le President Sulzer." Ibid., p. 571.
^ See Cesar de Vesme, "Etude critique des stances du medium Ch.
Bailey h Milan et a Rome," Annales des Sciences Psijchiques, 1905, p.
218; "L'examen archeologique des objets "apport^s" dans les seances
de Bailey." Ibid., p. 308; "Un peu de pol^mique au sujet de Bailey."
Ibid., p. 309, and 1906, p. 396.
^C. de Vesme is stern in his judgment concerning the medium "who,
having come from the antipodes only to show us the would-be marvelous
THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS 41
Once, he completely undressed himself in Australia, and
fell sick. He was never tied up. He was placed in a very
light, black-satin sack with sleeves, his arms being left free.
One day, at Rome, some one, feeling about his body, be-
lieved he detected an obdurate substance. Bailey said it was
a wen which he had had for years. In the proceedings of the
Milan Committee, mention of this wen has never been made.
Besides, at Rome, at the conclusion of the seance, those in
charge forgot to ascertain whether or not this wen was a fact.
The birds said to have been brought from India were dead.
It was impossible to get any animals different from those
that were living in Italy. Paste said to have been brought
by the spirit of an Hindoo woman, was made of flour, and
was similar to the paste used in making common bread. A
Babylonian inscription, ascribed to King Sargon (6,000
B. c), was afterwards dated 7,500 or 7,600 b. c, i. e., 1,500
years previous to the reign of its author. Terra-cotta
tables with Babylonian print, or ancient coinage of Egypt
or India, were declared, at the British Museum, to be value-
less imitations, or things to be obtained anywhere for a few
pence.
In case you were to deal warily with such mediums, you
would have exceedingly deceiving seances. After one of
them, Bailey feigned to be called away by private matters of
interest, and sailed for Australia.^
One may readily understand how the Italian novelist,
Antonio Fogazzaro, who had been present at those seances,
deemed such mediumistic phenomena nothing but trifling.^
gift bestowed on him by Providence, pulls back from his sublime apostle-
ship for fear of a cold in the head."
^On his way homewards, test seances had been first arranged with him
in London. He agreed to the intended careful supervision, but later
alleged that he had no time to make any more experiments.
^However, I must record that the Revue Scientifique et Morale du
Spiritisme is of the opinion that the charge of fraud is lacking in sufficient
42 THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS
Slade/ one of the most prominent mediums ever known,
in the second half of the nineteenth century, made experi-
ments with Aksakoff that caused the " conversion of Pro-
fessors Zcfillner, W. E. Weber, Scheibner, and E. H. Fichte,"
and were followed by polemics in which such men as
Wundt, Helmholtz, etc., took part.
His special achievement was direct handwriting on slates.
Hodgson has shown how Bailey used practically the same
tricks as Davey. Once, in London, the medium had scarcely
placed a slate under the table, when Lankester took it from
him, and showed that there was already handwriting on it.
A suit at law was the consequence of this.
Charles Eldred,^ of Clowne, succeeded in getting quite
strange materializations. The fact was utterly astounding,
since it was evident that he was not a professional medium.
At Clowne, in the presence of M. and Mme. Letort, at
every seance "Arthur," the medium's brother, long since
deceased, who was his ordinary adviser, was really ma-
terialized, and walked about from the room to an adjoining
closet. Every evening he was amongst us for ten or fifteen
minutes. He showed us both his arms uncovered, gave us
a shake of hands, and asked us to touch his gorgeous white
attire. He produced "two spirit-lights," luminous disks
circumstantial evidence ; it asserts that the Milan seances were of value
and illustrated to a most remarkable extent the theory that m.aterial can
be brought by spirits.
^See Hodgson, "Travail cite sur Davey," p. 204, and "La mort du
medium Slade," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 569.
^See " Une seance de materialisation avec le medium Eldred en Angle-
terre," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 558 ; and " Le demas-
quement du medium Eldred. Ibid., 1906, p. 184; Mme. Ellen Letort et
C. de Vesme, "Les fraudes des mediums. A propos du demasquement
d'Eldred." Ibid., p. 292. Photographies de spectres. Echo du Merveil-
leux, 1905, p. 362. "Seances de materialisation." Ibid., 1906, p. 73.
"Les trues de M. Eldred." Ibid., p. 124. "A propos du medium
Eldred." Ibid., p. 147.
THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS 43
made of a material resembling alabaster, an obdurate sub-
stance of about the size of a dollar piece." Sometimes he
would dematerialize himself and "would look as sinking
through the wood flooring. Eight or nine spirits were ma-
terialized at each seance." Mme. Bosset identified her
mother in one of them; in others M. Letort recognized his
old nurse, his child, etc. Several photographs were taken. ^
With the same medium, at Nottingham, Rear Admiral
W. Osborne Moore witnessed the materiahzation of two of
his relatives, recenth' deceased, who had pre\'iously in-
tended to appear unto him.
Charles Eldred turned into a professional medium, con-
ducted by a manager, and on March 5, 1906, was abashed
by Dr. Abraham "Wallace. With the help of Mr. Brailey, a
"clairvoyant psychometer," the chair on which Eldred
worked, underwent a minute examination: they detected,
in its back, a small keyhole, deeply inserted and hidden in
the stuff. A suitable key was procured, the lock was
opened, and it was possible to take a photograph of it, show-
ing a hidden compartment, fifteen inches long and two inches
wide. The small box being imlocked in a seance, all the
requisites for impersonating spirituaHstic shapes were found,
namely: a head of marl, with a mask of flesh color; six
fragments of splendid white China silk about thirteen
meters long; two fragments of verA' nice black stuff, very
likely intended for the would-be dematerializations ; three
beards of various aspects: two wigs, one white, the other
gray; a kind of metal frame that could be stretched out in
any direction, and which, hidden by a cloth, was probably
used to represent the second "ghost:" a small electric lamp
with four meters of wire, so constructed as to enable the
medium to emit spiritualistic lights within the closet, even
^One of them was published on the front page of the Echo du Merveil-
leux, Oct. 1, 190-5.
44 THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS
when he was not in there; a flask emitting odors; and finally,
pins, etc.
At the same time, a similar mischance befell Craddock,*
who was another medium, renowned in England for his
''materializing" powers.
Lieut.-Colonel Mark Mayhew had suspected the fraud
from the first, before finding it out.^ One or two "ghosts"
came near Mr. Mayhew, pretending to be a relative of his,
whom he never had had ; a child came close to his wife, ad-
dressing her as "mother," though she never had had a
child. At the same time, there were more ingenuous or
confident bystanders. A lady looking at a "ghost," which
was nearing her, exclaimed to her husband: "Look, here is
your father." Her husband answered: "Yes, indeed," but
soon correcting himself, added: "No, this is my mother."
In the final seance, announcement was made of the spirit
of a lady who, not only was alive, but also was then present.
At a certain moment, a shape having on its upper lip a well
turned white mustache, came close to the colonel who took
a strong hold of its arms.
The "ghost" made a fierce struggle, and failing to set it-
self free, carried away its aggressor to the closet. Mr. May-
hew, who knew that Mr. Carleton had a small electric lamp,
asked him to light it, and so it was perceived that the
wonld-be "ghost" was Mr. Craddock himself.
Mr. Mark Mayhew and Rear-Admiral Moore, who as-
sisted at this seance were, nevertheless, and still are, strong
believers in the reality of most of the doctrines of spiritism.^
^See "Apres Eldred, Craddock," Annates des Sciences Psychiques,
1906, p. 320; "Le Proces de Craddock." /6id, p. 448; "Decouverte
d'un autre fraudeur." Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 125; "Le proces
Craddock." Ibid., p. 249.
^It was apparently for the third time that the medium was caught.
^I relate this simply to give the above mentioned evidence its whole
value; the sources from which such facts are borrowed, are likewise
THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS 45
As a consequence Col. Mayhew brought an action against
Craddock, before the Edgeware PoKce Court in London
based on a law made in the time of George IV, that brands
as a rogue and a vagabond, any one pretending to use cer-
tain subtle stratagems of divination, in order to raise up the
spirits of deceased persons. On June 21, 1906, the Court
sentenced Craddock to a fine of £10, or one month in prison.
Moreover the prisoner was commanded to pay £5, 5, 0 for
the expenses of the trial.
A propos of Craddock, Paul Mathiex^ records the three
following facts:
In 1894, Mrs. Williams, an American medium who had
come to Paris, materialized a physician having thick whis-
kers, and also his daughter who was dressed in a white cos-
tume. Then, M. Leymarie, of the Revue Spirite made a
sign, and while a bystander was seizing the manager, two
others took hold of the "ghosts," At this moment, M.
Leymarie was seen struggling with Mrs. Williams, who
shouted wildly and made fierce efforts to escape. She had
put on black clothes and stuck to her face a wig and super-
added whiskers, so as to play the part of the physician's
ghost. The young lady with her proved to be only a mask,
from which was pending a long veil, held by Mrs. William's
left hand, while with her right, she drew a rope that moved
a luminous apparatus through which she obtained varying
colored lights, while visions were going on.^
In the United States, a medium as famous as Mrs.
Williams, Miss Cadwed, was "caught" under identical cir-
cumstances by reporters for the World.
proof of the sound morality and the perfect plaindeaUng of all those
who are nowadays seriously interested in those matters.
*Paul Mathiex, "Les faux mediums," Echo du Merveilleux, 1906,
p. 249.
^See Dariex, "Le flagrant d61it de la c^lebre Mrs. Williams," Annates
des Sciences Psychiques, 1894, p. 333.
46 THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS
Col. Albert de Rochas had a medium named Valentine,
whose essential faculty was to emit mysterious lights.
During a seance which had taken place in a dark room
whilst lights were gushing and sweeping through the dark-
ness, Col. de Rochas suddenly lit an electric lamp and thus
detected Valentine shaking in all directions her feet which
had been previously uncovered and impregnated with
phosphorus.
The medium Ebstein, an American spiritualist, according
to the Daily Telegraph of Nov. 14, 1905, was ready to raise
up the spirits of the dead before a sympathetic circle in
Berlin, in a well-known hotel. The bystanders were wait-
ing in the utmost darkness, when an electric light was un-
expectedly lit and everyone could see the material that was
to be used for the experiment in a hamper painted with
luminous color.
Mrs. Piper' is the medium whose revelations have en-
abled Hodgson to write his "Hints on another World," a
record of which Light declares that, according to many, it is
the most important ever derived from the investigations by
the Society for Psychical Research. The absence of fraud
has not been definitely verified in this case. Still, Podmore
believes that there may be great presumptions of fraud.
Dr. Berillon, in Paris, has acted with a wise circumspection
regarding Mrs. Piper. Maxwell wonders why Hodgson does
not deal with Eusapia as he did with Mrs. Piper, whose
errors and whose deahngs with her "customers," have not
separated him from her. Does he believe that there is no
conscious or unconscious deceit in the celebrated American
medium, and that Phinuit alone is to be held responsible
for the errors and frauds ?
^See Marsa, "A propos des experiences de Mr. Hodgson avec Mrs.
Piper," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1896, p. 212; A. Erny, "Mrs.
Piper et ses experiences (opinions diverses)." Ibid., 1899, p. 110; Max-
well, loc. dt., p. 276.
THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS 47
Interesting particulars respecting Mrs, Piper will be found
in "Le Miracle Moderne" by Jules Bois. He declares that
she converted Richard Hodgson, the terror of mediums, to
Spiritualism, and he makes him declare: "I am henceforth
fully persuaded that such communications (with the entity
and individuality of the dead), are actually existing in Mrs.
Piper's trances."
One day she thought she had communication with Stain-
ton Moses, "the Anglo-Saxon Allan Kardec," and with the
spirits who were his advisers during his life as " Impera-
tor , " " Rector, ' ' and ' ' Prudens . ' ' When alive, Stainton had
told Myers — and Myers alone — the real names which, ac-
cording to their own version, these persons, hidden under
an assumed identity, had had during their earthly existence.
But, unfortunately, Stainton Moses, the Imperator, the
Rector, and the Prudens of Mrs. Piper, when questioned in
America, while Myers was in England, boasted to be able to
reveal those names. Not only were they unable to do so,
but pretending to disclose them, they told hes, and gave
names quite different.
I borrow again from Maxwell^ the following instances of
deceits by mediums.
In order to obtain physical phenomena (raps and move-
ments without contact), Mrs. Sidgwick, her husband and
some friends "had applied to Eglinton and Slade, and as
regards direct handwriting on slates, to the Misses Wood
and Fairlamb. Another medium, Haxby, had been en-
gaged for materializations.
The Misses Wood and Fairlamb produced only very sus-
picious phenomena, to say nothing worse. As to Haxby,
he made impudent frauds. Maxwell had an occasion to
witness an experiment in materialization in Germany.
'Maxwell, loc. cit., p. 263.
48 THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS
His opinion is that the medium and the only vision he ever
saw were identical. It is likely that Miss Fairlamb, Miss
Wood, and another who was later a cause of lively contro-
versy, "had been caught by various experimentalists in
attitudes that allow one to mistrust their good faith."
Miller^ has made quite remarkable experiments in San
Francisco.
He wrote to A. de Rochas and requested him to come to
Cahfornia and scrutinize his experiments; his passage in
first cabin to be paid there and back. He would be the
guest of Baron and Baroness Zimmermann. At this period
occurred the San Francisco disaster and a part of the works
of art Miller used to sell were destroyed. In order to com-
plete his stock, the medium went to Europe and arranged
seances in London and Paris. In the latter city, Delanne
and de Vesme were present at a suspicious seance, during
which the medium's pockets were not searched; his hands
were not held by a trustworthy experimentalist; the light
was not full. De Vesme suspected some possible tricks, and
Delanne asked Miller to prepare for a conclusive seance.
At first Miller agreed to this offer, but later, he refused and
sent back the money. "I do not want to be any longer
suspected," said he. De Vesme remarked that so far was
this from removing suspicions, that it could only make
them occur to the minds of persons who had been most
favorably imprest with regard to him. After Mr. Miller's
strange decision, how could one not feel inclined to mistrust
1 Van der Naillen, " Les experiences de materialisation du medium
Miller." Lettre a M. de. Rochas. Revue Spirite and Echo du Merveilleux,
1905, p. 276 ; C. de. Vesme, " Miller a Paris. Compte, Rendu d'une stance
de materialisation," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 501;
"Miller et la presse spirite frangaise." Ibid., p. 591. See also (in the
third part, chapter X, iii, 83, P, 7) what I say concerning Miller's
recent experiments, according to Gaston M^ry and Sage. Miller, "Les
nouveaux horizons de la science et de la pensee," 1906, p. 457.
THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS 49
also his shifts towards Col. de Rochas, who had spread his
fame throughout Europe, and thought his powers worthy
of a cross-examination by scientists especially appointed
for that purpose?
Finally, Eusapia Palladino,* whose trances have been
witnessed by first-grade scientists, has also been caught in
the very act of fraud, namely, in Cambridge.^
In August, 1895, at Myer's house, the Society for Psy-
chical Research had the mischance to witness fraud during
twenty seances. Sidgwick and Hodgson insist on tricks by
which one might counterfeit at least a part of the phenom-
ena observed with Eusapia Palladino; the most important
of those tricks is the substitution of hands which enables
the medium to set free one of her hands believed by the
investigators to be held still. ^
In a report (October 11, 1895) to the General Convention
of the Society, Sidgwick declared that the medium had used
before, or attempted to use, such frauds in the Cambridge
'See also what I write further concerning the experiments at the Villa
Carmen (third part. B. Chapter X, iii, 84, b, 7, 3rd) ; about Zuccarini the
medium (Chapter XI, ii, 88, a., P, 7, 5th) and about the Narbonne
medium (iii, 91, b.).
^Respecting Eusapia's frauds see Xavier Dariex, "Ce qu'on doit penser
des phenom^nes medianiniques d'Eusapia Palladino?" Annales des
Sciences Psychiques, 1896, p. 65; Ochorowicz, question de la frauds
dans les experiences avec Eusapia Palladino. Ibid., p. 79; Max-
well, Zoc. cti., p. 263, 269 sqq. ; Albert de Rochas, " L'exteriorisation
de la Motricite," 4th ed., 1906, p. 201 . " In the case.of Eusapia, who is the
medium the most thoroughly investigated," writes Camille Flammarion
{loc. cit., p. 262), "the fraud is unfortunately evident in more than one
case." It is useless to say that fraud is not detected in all experiments.
So I shall speak again about Eusapia Palladino (Part III, chapter XI.
II, 88, a, P, 1st).
^In a test made in Paris, Dariex and Marcel Mangin have verified this
fact. Besides, frauds of this kind have already been discust in 1892 by
Torelli (Milan), by Charles Richet in 1893, and in 1894, at Warsaw, by
Bronislas Reichman.
50 THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS
seances, which should consequently be suspected. Myers
confirmed Sidgwick's appreciation; Lodge also admitted
that there had been fraud in one of the seances he had wit-
nessed. In this seance Eusapia gave only one of her hands
to be held by two persons (control was made by the con-
tact of one hand) while the other was free. All this led the
Society for Psychical Research to deny the insertion in
their "Proceedings" of an account of these experiments,
and to decide that they would hereafter ignore what was
done by Eusapia, because they "take no notice whatever
of the deeds of persons using such unfair methods."
Such an appreciation was unjust. The decision was
lacking in its scientific spirit. In fact, it would not be right
to infer from those frauds of mediums (however numerous
they may be), that a medium convicted of fraud in one in-
stance, is always guilty of it.^ It would be unfair to con-
clude that all mediums are cheats.
The only conclusive thing (and in itself this is very im-
portant) is that fraud will be frequently found in mediums,
but it is sometimes very hard to detect. I imagine that
nobody would deny this assertion made by Dariex: "All
who have made many experiments, and managed such
sensitive people as mediums, know that all mediums, or
nearly all, are accustomed to cheat." Ochorowicz says : " It
should not be forgotten that deceit is inseparable from a
^Flammarion writes: "One may assert (La Revue, 1906, p. 29 and 329),
that professional mediums are all defrauders, but they do not cheat
always. I am in a position to declare that, for forty years, I have re-
ceived visits from all the famous mediums, in my drawing-room of the
Avenue de I'Observatoire, and nearly all of them have I caught in the
very act of cheating. It does not imply that they are constantly cheat-
ing, and people asserting such a thing make a blunder. But, either con-
sciously or unconsciously they carry with them an element of confusion
which one should always beware of, and that place? the experimentalist
under circumstances utterly different from those required in a scientific
Burvey." '^- ^
THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS 51
mediumistic survey, just as simulation is obviously insepar-
able from hypnotism."
But, in order to maintain this assertion, we are bound to
use the words fraud, deceit, or cheating in a broad (and
somewhat inaccurate) sense. For example, we must ac-
knowledge that there are unconscious frauds, for which the
medium is not answerable. Here lies the Cambridge mis-
take. While the experiments made there utterly testify to
cheating, they do not testify to Eusapia's responsibility;
in consequence they are not a sufficient basis for disqualify-
ing the medium when charged with cheating.
This fact, for instance, will illustrate Eusapia's irrespon-
sibility. One day she requested Lodge, Myers and Ochoro-
wicz to listen to raps originating within the table. They
came readily to the conclusion that she was herself the
author of the alleged raps, by using her boots. ''When I
hinted this," says Ochorowicz, "she drew back slightly,
and denied it. 'It is queer, anyhow,' she said, 'some-
thing is pushing my foot towards the table.' She was so
sure of the reality of the phenomenon that she persisted in
asking me to fasten my foot and hers with a string. This
being done, I felt her pulling up the string by twisting her
feet; she twisted the string so as to be able to knock the
table with her heel. All of us could perceive that save her-
self. I have seen mediums tapping walls with their fists,
and who declared that a spirit was tapping. A law student,
who was a medium of a lower class, gave himself a slap in
the face, and was very much frightened. He was not con-
stantly entranced, and was obstinately resolved upon mak-
ing us believe that he had gotten an admonishment from
the spirit of Xantippe, the wife of Socrates."
Such frauds are polygonal. I shall deal with their psy-
chological structure in the second part.^
iPart II. Chapter IV.
52 THE FRAUDS OF MEDIUMS
Sometimes the medium may be led into deceit by the
strength of his automatism segregated from himself during
the trance. De Rochas would now and then warn Eu-
sapia against an impending fraud/
A Swedish physician, Paul Bjerre, reports in his book,
"The Karin case" that, in a seance, while raps were ex-
pected they failed to come. Karin, the medium, unable to
keep his peace, stood up suddenly and in the presence of the
bystanders, knocked on the flooring himself.
The fatidical attitude of people gathered around a
table, for the purpose of making it turn, induces some of
them to become unconscious cheats; likewise, the medium
may be inclined to cheating in his trance.
This is why C. de Vesme has been able to declare the prac-
tise of mediumistic powers may be the occasion of serious
moral dangers with regard to some individuals should they
devote themselves to it under troublesome circumstances.
A medium's unconscious fraud is usually a foolish act.
Concerning the account of Eldred's deceit, above referred to,
Mme. Letort and C. de Vesme observe: "It seems that the
chair seized in London, had been ordered for the very purpose
of being sent to Mr. Ronald Brailey's house, where it was left
by the medium for fifteen days, and thus abandoned to un-
friendly examination, though he was perfectly aware of
suspicion on the part of this gentleman and others."
The medium's responsibility appears void or attenuated,
in many instances of fraud. But instances are recorded of
mediums previously honest who leave off being so. This
occurs when they become professional mediums. Then,
they are taken advantage of by some manager, or a " Bar-
*As Maxwell rightly observes, "experimentalists should help the
medium to resist suggestion of fraud, and give him no chance to waste
this strength which is likely to be changed into muscular movements.
Such has been one of Mr. Hodgson's mistakes."
CONCLUSIONS. CAUTION TO BE OBSERVED 53
num." In this case, they are urged to be always successful.
Every day they must fulfil the program posted every-
where, and when necessary, they may cheat. This has
likely occurred in the case of mediums whose mediumistic
life is really divided into two parts.
16. Conclusions. Caution to Be Observed.
In any case it is obvious that, owing to one cause or an-
other, frauds are quite common in mediumistic experiments.
"To make experiments with deceitful mediums is a hard
task," says Charles Richet,^ and the results are frail.
Let us imagine a skilful juggler operating in the dark, be-
fore people absolutely believing in the reality of his work.
We might be able to register wonders far more astounding
than those of spiritism. I do not think it necessary, as a
consequence of this, to found here, as has been done in
America, an " Antifakirs' Society,"^ in order to abash de-
frauding mediums. Still, one should remember a few prin-
ciples, which I will sum up as follows :
First. It is always necessary to beware strictly of me-
diums managed by a" Barnum." Hodgson is even so daring
as to give this advice '^ especially intended for American
spiritualists," that nearly all professional mediums "are a
gang of vulgar rogues more or less closely associated with
each other. Here and there will be found connected with
them people that wish to become professional mediums, and
that are, as a rule, not very trustworthy individuals."
Sidgwick says that any test, made with such mediums, is to
be prejudged, "and this opinion is right," declares Charles
Richet. But, it is also possible to be of a dissimilar
opinion.
'Charles Richet, Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 36.
^ In several States of America, defrauding mediums are called " Fakirs"
by Spiritualists.
54 CONCLUSIONS. CAUTION TO BE OBSERVED
Second. As has been rightly observed by Maxwell/ " one
should mistrust mediums who succeed in all their experi-
ments, and obtain at once the results they had anticipated
and foretold." Reversely, it is not to be taken as condem-
natory when, now and then, a seance proves to be a failure.
Third. It is, if possible, desirable to work in the full light,
and, should it be possible, to have within reach an apparatus
producing light suddenly, at a moment unexpected by the
medium. It has been repeatedly insisted upon that griev-
ous dangers may befall a medium should some one grasp the
"ghosts," We have seen that, owing to those spirit-grab-
bers,^ cheats have sometimes been detected. Such a mo-
dus operandi will prove useful when one has sufficient cause
for suspecting the medium's behaviour.
Fourth. It is wise to try the medium's suggestibility, or,
in other words, to ascertain how easily, when entranced, he
obeys external suggestions, that is, how readily one might
induce him to commit fraud, unknown to himself.
Fifth. Lastly and above all, one must remember, in sur-
veying such experiments, that a phenomenon, as C. de
Vesme remarks, "does not assume a scientifical mark just
because it cannot be explained by means of a trick."
As a consequence, it is not sufficient to investigate as to
whether a phenomenon has been produced by a fraud, or
not. One must ask one's self if it has not occurred in such
conditions as to render impossible the hypothesis of fraud.
In a word, as Ochorowicz says, knowledge of the existence
of cheating of this kind should not hinder a survey — hardly
yet started — of mediumistic phenomena, nor discourage
a great number of those who are about to start one. Still,
experience of frauds should lead to mighty circumspection,
in discussing and appreciating the facts of occultism.
^Maxwell, loc. cit., p. 267.
^See, about the Spirit-grabbers, in the 3rd part (Chapter X, III, 84,
h, y, 2nd).
PART II
THE OCCULTISM OF YESTERDAY
CHAPTER III. — Animal magnetism and hypnotism.
CHAPTER IV. — Unconscious and involuntary move-
ments, table-turning, exploring pendulum, con-
jurer's WAND, "willing-game" WITH CONTACT.
CHAPTER V. — Polygonal sensations and memory;
ERRONEOUS DIVINATIONS ; POLYGONAL HALLUCINATIONS
AND CRYSTAL- VISION ; POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES AND
MISJUDGMENTS.
CHAPTER VI. — Polygonal association of ideas and
polygonal imagination. polygonal romances of
mediums.
CHAPTER III
ANIMAL MAGNETISM AND HYPNOTISM
I. 17. Historical Account. Braid, Charcot, Liebeault and Bern-
heim.
II. Hypnotic Sleep and the condition of Suggestibility.
18. Definition: hyper-polygonal disaggregation and polygonal malle-
ableness.
19. How to provoke hypnotic sleep and how to check it.
III. Suggestion.
20. Intrahypnotic suggestions:
a. Motive.
6. Sensory.
c. Psychical and actual.
d. Modifying the individuality of the person.
e. Matters usually beyond the reach of volition.
21. Posthypnotic suggestions:
a. Suggestions at waking time.
b. Suggestions to be fulfilled at a distant date.
c. Psychical conditions when coming due ; and between the
suggestion and becoming due.
d. Suggestions affecting memory.
IV. The Use op Hypnotism in Forensic Medicine, Therapeutics
AND Morals.
22. Hypnotism and suggestion before Justice.
a. The hypnotized as victim and accuser.
6. The hypnotized as offender and accused.
c. The hypnotized as witness.
23. Hypnotism and suggestion from a therapeutical standpoint.
a. Hypnotism and psychotherapy. — Higher and lower
psychotherapy.
6. Modes of operating. — When is hypnotism indicated or
not indicated.
24. Hypnotism and suggestion with reference to Morals.
a. The immorality of non-medical hypnotism.
b. The Lawfulness (according to morals) of medical hypnotism.
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
I. HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
17. I dropt my historical account of animal magnet-
ism at the time when (in 1840) it was solemnly condemned
by the Academie de Medecine, and given by them a place as
little important as the squaring of the circle, or perpetual
motion. At this very time, however, Braid^ came upon the
stage and opened an epoch in which animal magnetism was
disocculted by science.^
Braid knew Mesmerism merely through books and news-
papers. He believed it to be wholly a system of collusion
or illusion, when on November 18, 1841, he was present at a
lecture given by Lafontaine, a French medium. During the
first seances, his prejudices were only strengthened. Six
days later, however, his attention was attracted by the
fact that a subject was unable to open his eyelids. Braid,
detecting reality in this phenomenon, entered into an in-
vestigation of its physiological causes, and thought that it
might be due to a continued fixed stare paralyzing the nerv-
ous centers of the eyes and their appendages, and destroying
the equilibrium of the nervous system,
'Braid has published in England a work entitled : " Neurypnology, or
the Rationale of Nervous Sleep, considered in relation to Animal Mag-
netism," Illustrated by numerous cases of its successful application to
the relief and cure of diseases (London and Edinburgh, 1843) . A French
translation of it has been issued in 1883, by Jules Simon: "Neurypnol-
ogie — Traits du Sommeil Nerveux ou Hypnotisme." Besides the work
quoted above, this book contains an Appendix giving the summary of
Braid's subsequent publications up to 1860. This appendix was then
addrest to the French Academie des Sciences, together with a preface
by Brown-Sequard. This very year, 1860, he suddenly died, struck down
with apoplexy, aged 65, while engaged in preparing a new edition of his
works.
^We will discuss further Boirac's opinion about it. Boirac is sticking
to the term Animal Magnetism, but uses it with the meaning of psychical
irradiation.
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 59
"With a view to proving this," he says, " I requested Mr.
Walker, a young gentleman present, to sit down and main-
tain a fixed stare at the top of a wine-bottle, placed so much
above him, as to produce a considerable strain on his eyes
and eyelids in order to enable him to maintain a steady
view of the object. In three minutes, his eyelids closed, a
gush of tears ran down his cheeks, his head drooped, his face
was slightly convulsed, he gave a groan, and instantly fell
into profound sleep, the respiration becoming slow, deep
and sibilant. This experiment, not only proved what I had
expected, but also tended to prove to my mind that I had
the key to the solution of Mesmerism."
Hypnotism was found, the more or less occult influence
of magnetism being annihilated, owing to the results ob-
tained with the neck of the bottle. Animal fluid or a mag-
netizer's wiU were no longer concerned. The whole action
and interest was transferred to the person asleep. Lasegue*
writes: "Braid's intervention has been authoritative, since,
by removing the object he has thrown away anecdotes,
driven back occult proverbs, and placed Magnetism within
the range of objects easy for science to enter."
After Braid, investigations became numerous. I have
not to reckon them here. But, among the authors who
have helped to make Hypnotism what it actually is, I must
mention apart, on one side Charcot; on the other Liebeault
and Bernheim.
Charcot has entered into the investigation of hypnotism
in a scientific way; he has carefully analyzed the symptoms
that enable us to detect fraud; through him and with him
Animal Magnetism has been triumphantly acknowledged
by the Institute from which it had been disdainfully ex-
^Ch. Lasegue, "Le Braidisme," Revtie des Deux Monies, October 15,
1881.
60 HYPNOTIC SLEEP
pelled thirty years earlier. Liebeault and Bernheim have
shown the momentous part played by Suggestion in produc-
ing hypnosis and developing phenomena that happen before
and after artificial sleep.
I need not insist any longer in order to sum up the con-
dition of this question, which has now become a branch of
neurobiology.*
II. HYPNOTIC SLEEP AND THE CONDITION
OF SUGGESTIBILITY
18. Definition : Hyperpolygonal Disaggregation
AND Polygonal Malleableness.
Let us assume that a person has been induced to sleep — it
may be through any influence whatever. Hypnosis in-
volves only one specific and invariable condition — the
condition of suggestibility. The patient, when hypnotized,
is by definition a person to whom suggestions could be
made.
This being said, it is well known,^ especially since Pierre
Janet's researches,^ that psychical acts are divided into
two groups : the former, voluntary and conscious, the latter,
automatical and unconscious.^
'See, "Hypnotisme et Suggestion," BibKotheque internationale de
psychologic experimentale normale et pathologique, 2d ed., 1904.
^See, "Le Psychisme inferieur," Etude de physiopathologie des centres
psychiques. Bibliotheque de philosophic experimentale, 1906; also,
" L'introduction physiologique a I'etude de la philosophie," meme Bib-
liotheque, 1908,
^Pierre Janet, " L'automatisme psychologique," " Essai de psychologic
experimentale sur les formes inferieures de I'activite humaine." These
de doctorat es lettres, Paris, 1889, 2d, 3d and 4th eds., 1903. Biblio-
theque de philosophie contemporaine.
^"Cryptosychy," says Boirac, "is any phenomenon in which a psychi-
cal and intelligent act appears to be made manifest, although the indi-
vidual in whom it is occurring is to no extent conscious of it."
HYPNOTIC SLEEP 61
With those two heads of psychical acts, two groups of
psychical centers and neurones, both located in the cerebral
mind, are in correspondence: the upper centers, (0, in my
schema, prefrontal lobe), and the lower centers (polygonal
centers of my schema, zones of association of Flechsig).
In the physiological state, the whole psychism is taking
part in the general management of ordinary life. Both
orders of psychical centers mingle and superpose their
action. But, under certain circumstances, both orders of
psychism are separated ; they are mingled no more and leave
off superposing their action. For survey and investigation,
absent-mindedness and natural sleep are very simple ex-
amples of such physiological hyperpolygonal disaggrega-
tions.
Hypnotic sleep or provoked sleep, is an extraphysiolog-
ical condition of hyperpolygonal disaggregation. The up-
per centers of the person asleep are annihilated, are sleep-
ing, and do not interfere with active life. The polygon only
keeps on being active. Such is the first feature of hypnosis.
In the next place, the polygon of the subject asleep, being
separated in this manner from its own center O, is abso-
lutely malleable, and readily biased by the center 0 of
another person, chiefly by that of the magnetizer. Sug-
gestion is precisely the influence exerted by the O of the
magnetizer over the disaggregated polygon of the mag-
netized. Thus, the sense of the word "suggestion" re-
mains narrow, strict and scientifically limited. I do not
use this word as Bernheim does, as a substitute for the
influence of one psychism over another; in my opinion, it is
distinct from advice, teaching or preaching, which do not
supply to a disaggregated polygon, but to the whole of a
psychism, complete and one.^
'" In its new meaning," says Boirac, "the word suggestion implies the
idea of an involuntary, or even automatic, obedience of a person to the
62 HYPNOTIC SLEEP
Thus, hypnosis, or the condition of suggestibiUty, is well
established. It is a polygon emancipated from its own
center 0, and obeying an external center 0.
19. How TO Provoke Hypnotic Sleep and How to
Check It.
Any one is able to hypnotize, but not to be hypnotized.
People liable to hypnotism, are nervous and sensitive;
equally liable are those trained for it. All modes of
hypnotizing rely upon the fixt stare (or a bright object),
and suggestion. Both elements are usually combined; a
fixt stare is maintained on the person intended for sleep
and such person is strongly urged to sleep. There are,
on some people's bodies " hypnogeneous zones," whose
pressure leads to sleep ; they are often the consequence of
a suggestion, either actual or previous.
Ordinary sleep may be altered into hypnosis by sugges-
tions whispered into the sleeper's ear. When making a sug-
gestion to a subject awake, one should first cause in him,
through suggestion, a state of semi-hypnotic sleep, which
is always a condition of hyperpolygonal disaggregation,
and of obedience to the hypnotic center.
A subject may be induced to sleep through autosugges-
tion, and generally this occurs when one is unconsciously
remembering a previous hypnogeneous suggestion, or
under the influence of a sudden disorder of the nervous
system.
It is usual to blow on the eyes so as to check hypnosis.
idea suggested; and what is most remarkable in this phenomenon is
exactly that it is impossible for this person to do or not to believe what
has been said. Thence, the term 'hypotaxy,' i.e. subordination, subjec-
tion, applied by Durand de Gros, to the condition of the nervous system
that renders possible this necessary obedience of the subject to sug-
gestion."
SUGGESTION 63
But suggestion is the best way. One bids the patient wake
up, either at once, or by connecting the idea of waking with
some indication to be given soon afterwards.
III. SUGGESTION
20. Inteahypnotic Suggestions.
I divide these into five groups: a. motor; 6. sensory; c.
psychical and actual; d. modifying personality; e. matters
commonly out of the reach of volition.
a. Motor Suggestions.
1 command the subject asleep to lift up his arm. He
does so ; to walk, and he walks ; to assume a funny attitude,
to kneel down, to dance, and he obeys without minding
people around him and in his presence, when well possest
of his centre 0, he would never commit such deeds. This is
verbal suggestion through hearing. This group contains
the acts of imitation (Heidenbain), of movements "heard,"
and the facts of echolalia (Berger) .
Should suggestion be visual, one obtains the movements
that are seen and then imitated; the subject slavishly imi-
tates any deed or speech of the magnetizer; he opens his
mouth and puts out his tongue, when one lifts up his right
arm, the other (opposite him) lifts up the left one (this is the
specular imitation of Despine, the fascination of Bremaud).
In these experiments, the gaze of the patient is seized and
controlled by gestures.
Suggestion may be induced through the muscular sys-
tem (kinesthesia) ; the continuation of a movement started
already (Charles Richet), or of an attitude (the sug-
gestive catalepsy of Bernheim) is provoked. The motor
suggestion may be negative, i. e., may lead to the absence or
impossibility of movement, even to paralysis.
64 SUGGESTION
h. Sensory Suggestions.
In each sense, mere sensations, or association of sensa-
tions, may be caused by suggestion. Thus, with regard to
sight, a color or a portrait; with regard to hearing, a sound, a
tune or to abusive language; with regard to taste and smell-
ing, the taste of sugar (by means of salt), the taste of a
peach (by means of a raw potato); the smell of a rose
through a stick) ; to sensibility at large, an itching or a burn.
Negative suggestions may affect either one sense, or
sensibility at large; they may be complete, or partial. In
the latter case, the sight of certain colors or objects is sup-
prest; or the faculty of perceiving through certain senses
is suspended; or anesthesia of a limb, or a fragment of limb
is procured. Should those suggestions be systematized, a
person present may be made to disappear. This is negative
eledivity. Hallucinations suggested in this way have a phys-
iological action as if the object suggested were really ex-
isting (Binet and Fere). When anesthesia is suggested,
the sensory impression which is not perceived by 0, finds
very often its way to the polygon, and can be used by the
subject in his automatist fife. Thus a female patient an-
esthetized in both her hands might quite naturally try to
dress her hair, by sinking long hairpins in her neck below
her head; or, having closed her eyes, might button and un-
button her coat. Likewise a patient to whom suggestion
has been made not to see red paint would not perceive it,
but would substitute for it other colors in Newton's disk,
which while rotating he sees white as anyone does.
However, in the case of a patient whose field of vision is
narrowed, luminous impressions find their way up to dark
regions of the polygon. A patient of Janet, would fall as
in a sudden attack, as soon as he saw a small blaze, and be-
sides would have an appreciable narrowing of his field of
SUGGESTION 65
vision. Should a match previously lit be placed in the
dark spot of his field of vision, he would be seized with con-
vulsions and cry "fire!"
c. Psychical and Actual Suggestions.
Verbal suggestion is the easiest, Bernheim said to a
housewife who was a patient in his ward: "Now, you are
healed; get up and do your work." She got up at once, put
on her dress, looked for a chair, climbed upon the sill of the
window, which she opened, dipt her hand into the pitcher
containing the contents which she imagined to be water for
domestic purposes. She then undertook to wash the win-
dows on both sides. She put her bed in order, and swept
the floor of the room with a broom someone had brought
for her.
Acts may be complex, and may demonstrate plainly the
self activity of the polygon disaggregated during hypnosis.
Such complex suggestions may be obtained through sight
(by seizing the subject's stare); through tactile or general
sensibility, or through the kinesthetic sense.
d. Modifying the Individuality of the Person,
Without entering into a philosophical discussion of the
idea of personality, it is possible to suggest a new person-
.ality to the disaggregated polygon of the hypnotized, and
owing to polygonal activity and to his own only resources, the
subject may be thinking and acting in a new personality.
A suggestion is made to a subject while asleep, that he is
a priest, or a general, a peasant or a painter. Then, he is
thinking and speaking in his own opinion, as a priest, or a
general, a peasant or a painter, ought to.
By suggestion, a subject has been placed back in his own
personality, ten or fifteen years. His polygon is then living
66 SUGGESTION
and expressing the life he remembers from that time, long-
passed though it be.
Some patients undergo what I may term " a dividing into
two," (dedoublement) of their personaUty, i. e., they live,
according to the moment, either in their own personality,
or in an abnormal and polygonal personality. Felida, the
curious medium of Azam, was a famous instance of this
phenomenon as described in "Joseph Balsamo," by Alex-
andre Dumas. Lorenza Feliciani lives in the former, she
adores Balsamo, while she hates him in the latter.
In somnambulism, either spontaneous or provoked, the
patient likewise assumes, in his attack, a polygonal person-
ality quite different from his own physiological individuality.
In ambulatory automatism, it is through his polygon that a
patient falls asleep in Paris and wakes up at Brest, having
traveled and eaten unconsciously and involuntarily/
e. Matters Usually Beyond the Reach of Volition.
Prima facie, these seem to be irrational, impossible and
paradoxical, but they are quite true. A sick person may
be purged through suggestion. By means of suggestion, an
influence may be exerted over menstruation and other
hemorrhages. Blisters and vesication have been pro-
cured by suggestion.
21. Posthypnotic Suggestions.
The so-called posthypnotic suggestions are posthypnotic
only as to their fulfilment. Concerning suggestion itself,
they are intrahypnotic. Suggestion is always made during
hypnosis. All the suggestions quoted above may be taken
with reference to waking time. In this case, the subject
awakes at the appointed moment. He has forgotten the
*See further the paragraph dealing with alterations undergone by the
personality of mediums entranced (same part, chapter vi, p. 50).
SUGGESTION 67
hypnosis and the orders given during the same, but still he
faithfully fulfils them. This is a most remarkable example
of polygonal or unconscious memory.
The condition in which the patient is, when fulfilling a
suggestion, is no longer hypnosis; nor is it the normal con-
dition of waking. It is a condition of semi-hypnosis
(Wundt), a condition of hyperpolygonal disaggregation,
sufficient to arouse polygonal remembrance and keep up
the subject's attention, and at the same time regulate his
deportment. This does not occur in ordinary circum-
stances. In fact, the patient's center 0 exerts neither cen-
sure, nor inhibition over the acts of this period; he unwill-
ingly obeys commands and should he be conscious of them
he would be quite astounded to perceive that he is acting in
this way. He does not realize the course of his behavior.
However, this is not peremptory, and it is not impossible
for a subject to resist suggestion, — at least in certain cir-
cumstances. Opposition of this kind may possibly be
made manifest during hypnosis at the moment when sug-
gestion is exerted. Then it is merely a polygonal resistance.
The polygon is resisting with its hereditary or acquired
principles, in morals, religion, etc. Such opposition may
also happen at waking time, at the very instant of fulfilling
a suggestion. In such a case, the polygon is not alone re-
sisting; 0 disaggregated, but not absent, may interfere in
this resistance should the nature of the commands given
too strongly hurt its principles or belief,
h. Suggestions to he Fulfilled at a Distant Date.
During nervous sleep, suggestions to be fulfilled at a dis-
tant date may be made. With one of my patients, the two
longest that occurred have been — the former in 42 days (Sep-
tember 26 to November 6), the latter in 43 days (January
18 to March 1). But these figures have been very much
68 SUGGESTION
surpassed. Bernheim quotes a case of 63 days (August 2
to October 3) ; Beaunis, another of 172 days, and Liegeois
a more curious one which lasted for one year.
c. Psychical Condition when Becoming Due, between the
suggestion and Becoming Due.
When the moment of becoming due has arrived the patient
spontaneously undergoes a condition of partial hypnosis,
analogous to the condition I have already mentioned con-
cerning suggestions to be fulfilled at waking time, and the
command is automatically complied with by the polygon
alone in the presence of 0 which does not interfere, but often
witnesses the acts, and is quite wondering at them, since it
does not know their causes. The condition in which the
subject is placed between suggestion and its becoming due
is more whimsical to observe. He may be awake and not
remember at all the order given, though he will faithfully
comply with it when due. In fact, the order has been given
to his polygon disaggregated by hypnosis, and has been
stored there within memory. At waking, such remem-
brances are latent. But, in any condition of hyperpoly-
gonal disaggregation, they appear again ; during sleep, they
very likely occur to the patient's mind, and by this keep up
his memory.
Such polygonal marks are common in ordinary life.
Not only do we often wake up at the time when we desire so
to do, but we know without pondering it through 0 every
time, what we have decided to do at a given day of the
week, or at a certain date, and we do it automatically,
through our polygon. We set out for the marketplace, or
the fair; we go to a lecture at a certain given day; people
abstain from meat, go to church or chapel on other ap-
pointed days. The coming due of a certain fixed date or
hour arouses a corresponding polygonal remembrance.
HYPNOTISM IN FORENSIC MEDICINE 69
The sight of the calendar, by a man, even one absent of
mind, will keep up within his polygonal memory the re-
membrance of a suggestion to be fulfilled and on the very
day, the sight of a clock, or a watch, will remind him always
unconsciously of the act he must perform. This is what
Wundt calls rightly " mechanical association."
d. Suggestions Affecting Memory.
These are psychical, and always posthypnotic, as to their
fulfilment. The remembrance of hypnosis at the time of
waking, most commonly depends on suggestions made dur-
ing sleep. If suggested the loss of memory may be partial,
and affect only certain points of hypnosis. On the con-
trary should there be preserved at waking only the re-
membrance of nervous sleep as suggested, the patient
might even be led to remember impressions which, because
of suggestion, he did not perceive.
Owing to suggestion, he will remember, when awake, an
object he had not seen during sleep; this proves that his
impression which had not been perceived had been all the
time stored within a part of his lower psychical centers.
One may also, through suggestion, pervert a patient's
memory, and this is momentous in forensic medicine.
IV. THE USE OF HYPNOTISM IN FORENSIC
MEDICINE, THERAPEUTICS AND MORALS
I only mention this chapter here, having elsewhere devel-
oped it.
22. Hypnotism and Suggestion before Justice.
a. The Hypnotized as Victim and Accuser.
There is a series of criminal or felonious deeds perpe-
trated during hypnosis, or owing to it, on patients while
asleep. On the other hand any charge brought by a person
70 HYPNOTISM IN MORALS
liable to hypnotism, is suspicious and should be carefully
investigated.
b. The Hypnotized as an Offender and an Accused.
At such times his responsibility is palliated, or annihilated,
and should be transferred to the hypnotist/
c. The hypnotized may also be a witness, and like his ac-
cuser, his evidence should be strictly cross-examined before
being accepted.
23. Hypnotism and Suggestion from a Therapeutical
Standpoint.
There are two branches in psychotherapy: lower psy-
chotherapy (therapeutical hypnotism), and upper psy-
chotherapy (persuasion, etc.). Each of these methods
involves its modes of operating, its indications and
contraindications, and its technics.
24. Hypnotism and Suggestion in Morals.
Non-medical hypnotism is a danger, and should be regu-
lated. Medical hypnotism often proves to be useful, but
should be cautiously and scientifically exerted.
This chapter, referring as it does to matters very well
known to-day, and discust everywhere requires little
attention. But I have thought it good and instructive to
point out how important is this question, which has now be-
come scientific, altho it belongs to the occultism of
yesterday. What a loss it would have been for the science
of man, for human neurobiology, had the scientists of the
second-half of the last century not overlooked the condem-
nation of this subject by the Academic, and had they
really placed occultism, far from their investigations and
care, within the same category as the squaring of the circle,
or perpetual motion.
'See, " The Semi-Insane and the Semi-Responsible," and " La Respon-
sabilit^ des Criminels," 1908.
CHAPTER IV
INVOLUNTARY AND UNCONSCIOUS MOTIONS : TABLE-
TURNING, THE EXPLORING PENDULUM, THE
CONJURER'S WAND, "WILLING-GAME" BY
CONTACT
I. The Motor Function op the Polygon: Unconscious and In-
voluntary Movements.
25. Historical account.
26. Distraction, absent-mindedness, somnambulism, ambulatory
automatism and hypnosis.
27. The reciprocal influence of ideas and movements,
II. Table-Turning,
28. The fact verified.
29. Explanation of the fact.
30. Psychological analysis of experiments.
31. Practical requirements for success.
32. The unequal aptitudes of various subjects.
III. 33. The Exploring Pendulum.
IV. 34. The Conjurer's Wand, or Divining Rod.
V. 35. "Willing-Game" by Contact.
I. THE MOTOR FUNCTIONS OF THE POLYGON:
UNCONSCIOUS AND INVOLUNTARY
MOVEMENTS
25. Historical Account.
On May 13, 1853, during the height of the fashion of
table-turning, the Journal des Dehats gave out a letter
from Chevreul to Ampere, which had been issued twenty
years earlier by the Revue des Deux Mondes.^ It referred
to facts which occurred about 1813.
'E. Chevreul, " Lettre k M. Ampere sur certaines classes de mouve-
ments musculaires," Revue des Deux Mondes, May 1, 1833.
72 UNCONSCIOUS AND INVOLUNTARY MOTIONS
About 1813, the attention of the world for some time had
been engrossed in the exploring pendulum which I shall
speak of further/
Chevreul, after experiments, inferred that "the thought
movements in order to perform something may start our
muscles, without our being either willing to produce or con-
scious of such movements." There lies the whole doctrine
of involuntary and unconscious movements, instituted by
Chevreul in 1833, and published anew in 1853.^
In the same year, 1853, Arago spoke likewise at the Paris
Academie des Sciences and so did Faraday at the Royal
Society in London. Then followed Babinet's work in the
Revue des Deux Mondes, and those of the Abbe Moigno in
"Cosmos,"
A pamphlet, found by Pierre Janet, in the bookstalls of
the quays of the Seine in Paris, was issued in 1855, under
this title: "Second letter of Gros Jean to his Bishop Con-
cerning Speaking Tables, Obsessions and other Deviltries."
The author perfectly indicates how the connecting idea of
volition and the Ego, is broken by sleep; he then points out in
table-turning, the more or less complete, and more or less
prolonged suppression of the action of the will over the
organism, sensibility and intelligence that still preserve
their activity He makes an analysis of the psychism of the
person who makes the table turn, receives a question and
answers it without any interference on the part of the free
and conscious will. Since Pierre Janet's works, the sub-
ject has really entered on actual scientific stage.
'See, in this chapter, III, 32.
^In 1854, Chevreul published a book: "De la baguette divinatoire, du
pendule 'dit exploreur,' et des tables tournantes," an important
critique of which has been made by Maxwell, Annales des Sciences
Psychiques, 1906, pp. 276, 337.
UNCONSCIOUS AND INVOLUNTARY MOTIONS 73
26. Distraction, Absent-Mindedness, Somnambulism,
Ambulatory Automatism and Hypnosis.
When Archimedes got out of his bath, and ran over the
city, shouting "Eureka," all the movements that were made
by him in order to preserve his equilibrium were involun-
tary and unconscious. When Xavier de Maistre decided
to go to the Court of Versailles, and found himself at the
door of Mme. de Haut-Castel; when he put his stockings on
the wrong way, and when, had M. Toanetti not warned
him, he would have gone out without his sword, he was act-
ing involuntarily and unconsciously. Similar things oc-
cur to everyone of us in normal life when in the condition
of absent-mindedness. When speaking or thinking about
something else, we walk the streets. We keep away from
hindrances, from passersby and from motor cars. Should
there be any step, or a gutter, to get over, we mind it.
Should rain be pouring down, we open skilfully our um-
brella and hold it against the wind and rain. We avoid the
umbrellas of passersby. Should we meet with a lady, we
get aside on the sidewalk, and, if necessary, bow to her, etc.
All those actions are not elementary reflex actions, analo-
gous to the lifting of the leg by percussion of the sinew of
the kneecap. They are coordinate, regulated psychical
actions, though involuntary and unconscious.^
The hyperpolygonal disaggregations may be less com-
plete, and consequently, in this case, are not so utterly in-
voluntary and unconscious, but they are still automatic and
polygonal to a more or less extent. Such are actions of
habit, instinct and passion through a gregarious impulse.
In natural sleep many people talk, shout, move and sit up
on their beds. Those are involuntary and unconscious
movements. But they are more perceivable and coor-
'Cryptoid phenomena of Boirac.
74 IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS
dinate in somnambulism. Lady Macbeth, in Shakes-
peare's famous scene, dresses herself in clever manner,
writes correctly and walks without stumbling though com-
ing across people whom she does not see. As a physician
says, the somnambulist is enjoying the privileges of sleep as if
he were awake. From a certain point of view he is acting
better than if awake. He can walk over a roof or cor-
nices without any giddiness, since he has no consciousness
of danger. He keeps an instinctive and automatical equi-
librium far superior to the intelligent and conscious equi-
librium preserved when awake.
Instances given of ambulatory automatism are also
strange. People are met with who not only walk in the
streets without coming across hindrances or arousing any-
one's attention, but who ride in a stage or a railway car in
a regular manner after having procured a ticket at the office.
They also eat during the journey. AU this is done uncon-
sciously and involuntarily.
In the preceding chapter, I have dealt with intrahyp-
notic and posthypnotic suggestions. All movements (and
they are sometimes complex and numerous when performed
by the subject in hypnosis, either total or partial), are in-
voluntary and unconscious.
Therefore an experimental demonstration is acquired.
There are, in physiology and physiopathology — i. e. in
human neurobiology apart from voluntary and conscious
movements (that have been known), involuntary and un-
conscious movements that have been well defined and
analyzed since Pierre Janet's works were issued.
27. The Reciprocal Influence of Ideas and Move-
ments.
Such involuntary and unconscious, or automatical move-
ments, are psychical like the others; their starting point is
IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS 75
in the neurones of the cortex, Hke the others. But this
point Hes in the neurones of the lower psychism instead of
being placed in the neurones of center 0. They are liable
to the same principles as any other movements.
One of those principles will prove quite useful when
regarding our actual survey; it is the principle of the recip-
rocal relations of movements to ideas. We are used to seeing
an idea precede and cause movements. This is quite right.
But, according to their constitution, there is in various de-
grees an appreciable inclination in certain subjects to mani-
fest their ideas by means of movements or acts. In refer-
ence to mediums I shall discuss again this proposition
which I merely mention here as a physiological principle.
But an inverse relation may exist between an idea and an
act, i. e. an action may precede and provoke the idea.
Thus, ideas of anger or prayer are caused in the polygon
of a subject in hypnosis by giving his limbs the usual atti-
tude exprest by such psychical conditions. With some
patients who are seized with an organic lesion of the brain,
ideas of sadness may be caused by a fit of tears.^
The matter is well settled, apart from hypnosis and nerv-
ous pathology, as has been established by the famous passage
from Dugald Stewart, quoted by Binet and Fere: "In the
same manner as any emotion of the soul may arouse a sensi-
tive feeling in the body, likewise, when we give a violent
expression to our countenance together with suitable ges-
tures, we feel to some extent the emotion responsive to the
artificial emotion given to our gestures. Mr. Burke de-
clares that he has often felt the passion of anger aroused in
him when he counterfeited the external symptoms of that
passion. It is asserted, as Mr. Burke observes a little
^Cf. my lecture on " Ceux qui sont tristes parce qu'ils Pleurent, et Ceux
qui Pleurent Parce qu'ils sont Tristes," Province Medicate, 1905, No. 2.
76 TABLE-TURNING
further oiij that when Campanella, a great philosopher and
physiognomist, wished to know what was occurring in the
mind of another person, he used to do his best to counterfeit
his actual attitude and countenance, while he was at the
same time concentrating his attention on his own condition."
St. Francis of Sales has said that " in barren moments it
is sometimes convenient to stimulate one's heart by some
attitude or movement of external devoutness." Georges
Dumas^ adds: "Has it not been repeatedly said by modern
psychologists that when expressing a feeling, one is already
partially experiencing it?"
This principle of the reciprocal relation of movements to
ideas applies to the activity of the lower psychism, as well
as to the activity of 0. The knowledge which has been
scientifically settled nowadays of these involuntary and
unconscious movements and of their laws, has enabled us to
render scientific a part of occultism which I am going to
discuss.
II. TABLE-TURNING
28. The Fact Verified.
One should at first convince one's self that in certain cases
tables are really turned. Around the table are people of
absolute good faith whose hands are placed upon it, i. e.
people who are not voluntarily pushing, and so fail to per-
ceive that they are involuntarily pushing it. The time has
passed when it was right to assert that there was always
delusion or imposture in table-turning. I myself made,
long ago, very strict experiments with several of my col-
leagues in a faculty laboratory, and may declare that no-
body present was voluntarily and consciously pushing the
^Georges Dumas, "Comment Aiment les Mystiques Chretiens," Revue
des Deux Mondes, September 15, 1906, p. 319.
TABLE-TURNING 77
table, although it was turning, and sometimes with an ex-
treme speed. We also made hats and plates turn. I re-
member the case of a skeptical young lady to whom I re-
lated this. She thereupon held her hands in position upon
a plate (she alone and without being held fast) . Soon after-
ward she was very much frightened on finding that the
plate was turning rapidly. We removed towards a wall, or
a corner of the room, a table on coasters. We caused it to
lift up a leg, give forth raps, and so answer our questions in
spiritualistic language. Therefore, the table was turning
without any juggling or tricks. None among the by-
standers was believing or feehng that he pushed. And still,
one was pushing, but unconsciously and involuntarily.
29. Explanations of the Fact.
In a book from which I have already quoted, ChevreuP
declares that his own experiment proved that an uncon-
scious muscular action may explain movements of tables
that are turning, knocking or speaking. "As a conse-
quence," he says, "the power to make a table knock with
one leg or another being once acquired, together with a behef
in the intelligence of this table, I can understand how a
question asked of the table, will arouse in the operating
person, unknown to himself a thought whose consequence
is a muscular movement that makes one of the legs of the
table knock, according to the answer which this person
deems the most proper. It seems that Faraday was the first
experimentalist who ever contrived to show acts done by the
hands of operators. Between each hand and the table, he
placed two very smooth pasteboard disks connected by
means of a partly hardened paste. To the lower disk
(the one next to the table) is fixed a piece of sandpaper.
1 See Maxwell, " Travail Clt6 des Annates," p. 351.
78 TABLE-TURNING
After the rotation of the table it was found that the upper
disk had moved on the lower one in the direction of the rota-
tion of the table. Thus the impulsion had obviously orig-
inated in the hands. The lower disk would have moved
more than the upper one had the impulsion come from the
table.
At another time he placed mica between the hands and the
table. When the mica was sticking fast to the table, the
table was turning; in case the mica was not adhering to
it, the table stood motionless.
There is another experiment to be described. A disk
having been placed between the hand and the table, was
fixt to the lower part of a spindle, whose longer part indi-
cated and amplified the smallest movements of the disk.
Previous to the rotation of the table, the spindle revealed
movements in the disk.
At the same time (1854) Strombo of Athens, made the
following experiments: a very unsteady layer of talc was
spread over a table; the fingers of the experimentalists when
gliding on the table failed to put it in motion. Therefore,
the hands were moving. But as Pierre Janet observes,
with de Mirville, it was perhaps unnecessary to employ so
many instruments in order to show us that the hand of the
medium was moving. We suspected it somehow. The
best mediums are those who need no tables, and hold their
pencils themselves, so that everyone is able to see the move-
ment of their hands. But we should explain how this
movement may be involuntary and unconscious, although
it is intelligent."
We have thus, in our discussion, well-established the exist-
ence of involuntary and unconscious movements. It
seems to me that it has been worth while to verify the sci-
entifical reality of these movements. The matter is itself
quite interesting, and fifty years ago it did violence to many
TABLE-TURNING 79
ideas that were prevalent. It can be understood how,
previous to those explanations, such table movements, were
able to stimulate the imagination, readily arouse an idea of
divination or witchcraft, and become temptations to jug-
glers and conjurers.
30. Psychological Analysis of Experiments.
We should investigate a little more closely the psychical
phenomena in those experiments. A certain number of
persons, all equals, gather around a table. Their hands
make a chain after the familiar way. The center 0 of all the
bystanders is very much occupied and makes no trifling
possible. No one is talking. This is important. In each
of the bystanders 0 puts its polygon in expectant attention,
i. e. the seance which has begun in a free and voluntary
manner, is to go on polygonally; 0 has presided over its
management and later on will witness the results if any.
But for the present it is not concerned in managing the ex-
periments or censuring them. It is abstracted. The poly-
gon alone is to superintend the continuation of the experi-
ment.
After a period which at times is very short, an involun-
tary and unconscious movement is made by one of the poly-
gons (unknown to 0). One of the experimentalists, being
more nervous than the others, and attracted by the idea of
a rotation of the table (the only idea formed upon the poly-
gon and preserved within it by 0), is involuntarily and un-
consciously pushing. In consequence, all the other poly-
gons, or at least a certain number of them, stimulated by
the beginning of movements in the table, are pushing also,
and in the same direction, but always unconsciously and in-
voluntarily, with a strength that keeps on increasing.
At this moment (this is the third degree), 0 is astounded at
seeing the table turn, since it does not realize, even after-
80 TABLE-TURNING
wards that its disaggregated polygon is the agent of that
queer phenomenon and the real motor of the table.
In short, I may say that the phenomenon consists of tv/o
elements : First, disaggregation of the polygon, which being
stimulated by 0 but no longer connected by it, is acting
through its own activity. Disaggregation is complete,
especially as to the organs of recurrence — i. e. the organs
which, when permeable make 0 conscious of the polygonal
activity. Second, spontaneous movements, unconscious in-
voluntary movements of the polygon; movements that lead
to the moving of the table which 0 verifies, although it is
not conscious of its mode of operating.
Thus it may be perceived that hyperpolygonal disaggre-
gation is not all that there is in the phenomenon. Hyper-
polygonal disaggregation is occurring in many different
conditions. Such different conditions are distinguishable
owing to the second concomitant element. The second ele-
ment here consists of those little minute movements which
are superposed, and finally cause appreciable results, al-
though they are unconscious and involuntary; i. e. 0 having
placed its polygon in the condition required, is no more con-
cerned in the matter, and waits for the results, after having
broken the chain by which it is connected with the polygon.*
31. Practical Requirements for Success.
One may readily infer that certain conditions for the suc-
cess of experiments are necessarily required. Every one
must give not only plaindealing, but also be very much con-
cerned and attentive. Should an 0 in any way whatever be
skeptical, or make fun or lead astray the attention of others,
^See also on this matter, Th. Flournoy, " Note sur une communication
Typtologique " ; and de Luzemberger, "A propos des Communications
Typtologiques," Journal de Psychologic Normale et Patliologique, 1905,
t. II, No. 6, p. 481.
TABLE-TURNING 81
the polygons will be no longer in that special condition
of expectant attention which cannot be dispensed with as
far as regards the production of the initial movement and
the subsequent production of any consecutive movements.
The code settled upon by famous experimentalists with
table-turning, such as Agenor de Gasparin/ is quite
curious. For example, we are told that in order to man-
age the table in strict order, one should be confident. Again
it is said : " Bring here your whole intelligence and attention ;
but do not come with a mind of doubt, or analysis, or of
malevolent suspicion respecting things or persons . You would
be overpowered, and at the same time you would paralyze the
others. In case the tables meet with disfavor or nervous
preoccupation, they will pout. Above all there must be no
drawing-room experiments. Serious success is impossible
in them. Amidst absent-mindedness, babbling or fun,
operators obviously waste their fluid power. ''Bystanders
should not interfere with the matter; nor make any obser-
vations aloud while it is going on. Operators whose fluid
power has been tested are needed. One of the experimental-
ists should manage the proceedings, and he alone should
give the necessary signals or commands. If everyone inter-
feres, nothing will come of it. One should unite and
concentrate one's thoughts; this is an indispensable con-
dition of success. Should there be a number to be guessed,
he who knows it, must strongly think about it. Others have
nothing to do, except to forget the table."
Here may well be found the distinction between the poly-
gons that are to provoke the initial movement, and the poly-
gons that should passively comply with the movement
started.
^Comte Agenor de Gasparin, " Des tables tournantes, du surnaturel en
g6n6ral et des esprits," 2d ed., 1885, t. I, p. 83.
82 THE EXPLORING PENDULUM
32. Unequal Aptitudes op Various Subjects.
In order to simplify a psychological analysis of the experi-
ment, I have assumed that aU operators around a table are
equal. They must at least be supposed to be so at the be-
ginning of the experiments. But after a few attempts it
soon becomes evident that if there are persons who hinder
table-turning and make seances fail; there are on the con-
trary others who make them succeed more readily and
more quickly than their neighbors do.
A polygon starts the movement, as I have said; the others
only following it. Therefore, one may perceive a difference
between polygons in this circle of would-be equal individ-
uals. It would formerly have been asserted that subjects
had not an equal amount of fluid or magnetic power. We
say nowadays that there are polygons more or less inclined
to be put into action. Here the medium whom we may
have already seen peeping in appears again.^
For the present I only verify the fact that makes an im-
pression on any one taking interest in experiments of
this kind. All are not equally qualified for making tables
turn. One might find in a circle persons whose presence is
a token of quick and complete success; they are minor me-
diums who are more readily active than others and who are
more easily stimulating to their neighbors. Subjects are
frequently met with who find resources in themselves and
act alone; these are real mediums.
III. THE EXPLORING PENDULUM
33. The exploring pendulum (Gerboin, Chevreul),'' con-
sists of a heavy article hanging upon a flexible piece of
thread. It is an instrument used at all times for divination.
'Chapter VI (and not IV) of this same 2nd part.
' See Maxwell, work quoted in the Annates, p. 283.
THE EXPLORING PENDULUM 83
The thread is held, with two fingers, hanging over certain
substances, and though the arm be motionless, the pendu-
lum oscillates. The experiment is easily made by suspend-
ing a button or a ring to a thread; the thread is fixt to your
thumb while the button is pending in a glass. You con-
centrate your attention and the button is seen to be knock-
ing the glass.^
The early experimenters and some among their modern
followers used a ring in the middle of a circle on which were
inscribed the letters of the alphabet. The ring was seen to
be successively knocking various letters that formed words.
In the eighteenth century and in the beginning of the nine-
teenth, it was asserted that the ring moved in different ways
when held over certain substances; that its movement
stopt when a screen was introduced between it and the
substance examined. Some experimentalists believed they
found the cause of this movement of the ring in an influence
of the substance examined. Chevreul made various ex-
periments in order to scrutinize this fact very closely. He
saw at first the phenomenon occurring over water, or a bulk
of metal, or a living animal. Later he succeeded with a
basin filled with mercury, then with an anvil, and different
animals. On the contrary, over glass or resin oscillations
were less frequent and they stopt at last. Then Chevreul
entered into a closer examination and leaned his arm more
heavily upon the stand. The movement would diminish
and cease while his fingers were leaning to whatever might
be the substance placed underneath. Then he blindfolded
himself and made the experiment anew. In this case the
different powers of the various substances exerted no more
influence over the making or the stopping of oscillations,
because those substances had been removed from sight,
^This is Herbert Mayo's odometer.
84 THE CONJURER'S WAND
He inferred from these experiments that the movement
of the pendulum was due to involuntary muscular action.
The idea of movement was enough to produce it uncon-
sciously. Besides "he had a remembrance, rather faint
indeed, of having been in a peculiar state when his eyes were
following the oscillations of the pendulum he held in his
hands."
Chevreul adds this passage, also quoted by Maxwell:
"The pendulum held by a bona fide person gave a certain
number of knocks, according as I believe to a thought that
was not a volition, but a mere presumption of the real time;
or in case there was no presumption, a circumstance not
depending upon a guess, determined the number of knock-
ings; for instance, a physical disposition of fingers that
lasted only a few moments, or a casual circumstance which
the experimentalist did not exactly take notice of. What I
say here is no mere allegation, but facts I have myself ob-
served."
I need not say, as I will repeat this concerning the divin-
ing rod, that here I am only discussing, and taking from the
domain of Occultism the immediate mechanism of the ex-
ploring pendulum. The matter of divination is independ-
ent and broader. But Chevreul has established, and it is
still demonstrated, that the movements of the exploring
pendulum belong no longer to Occultism, and are defini-
tively classified by science under the head of involuntary
and unconscious movements.
IV. THE CONJURER'S WAND, OR DIVINING ROD
34. The conjurer's wand, or divining rod, is a small stick
made from the hazel-tree in the shape of a fork,^ which one
*A missionary bishop spoken of by Cosmos (October 20, 1907), in order
to avail himself of his remarkable powers as a spring finder, took a piece
of metal (a silver or a steel watch, a golden cross, or a fragment of lead
THE CONJURER'S WAND 85
uses for detecting springs, hidden treasures, or even the
tracks of offenders.
The operator as a privileged person alone able to use this
instrument, holds both sides of the fork with both his hands,
and goes on the ground which he has to explore, taking care
not to move voluntarily his arms. If, at a certain place
during his journey the rod is oscillating and bowing down,
so as to twist the wrist of the operator, who is unable to
resist it, one should seek there in order to find springs and
treasures.^
Previous to the prohibition issued by Cardinal Le Camus,
says Le Brun,^ the conjurer's wand " was commonly used in
Dauphiny."
Many country people — men, boys and girls — made a
small income with their rods, and a good many quarrels re-
specting boundaries were settled in this way. Application
was frequently made to judges who carried in their hands
their justice and their laws. In order to detect, far or near,
the most hidden things, the wand was taken advice of, with
regard to past, present, or future. It bowed down for
"yes," and ascended for "no." One should read in Gas-
parin's book^ the queer story of the famous Aymar, well
known on account of his strange powers to detect springs,
boundaries, and hidden metals.
In consequence of a murder that happened at Lyons in
1692, the sheriff summoned the operator. He was placed in
a vault where the crime had taken place. His emotion was
intense; his pulse began to get higher, and the rod (which he
or copper), hanging upon a string, which he held between two fingers.
The piece of metal began to describe a circle whose size was in propor-
tion to the proximity and plentifulness of the spring. This proves how
it is logical to compare the conjurer's wand with the exploring pendulum.
'Pierre Janet, he. cit., p. 367.
^Le Brun, Citat Bersot, loc. cit., p. 99.
'Ag6nor de Gasparin, loc. cit., t, II, p. 126.
86 THE CONJURER'S WAND
held by both sides of its fork), began to turn quickly. He
followed his rod, walked the streets through which the
murderers had gone, went out of the city by crossing the
bridge over the Rhone and went up the left bank of the
river. Then he reached a house in which he asserted that
the criminals had stopt. The wand turned over a bottle
which they had made empty. After this he went to the
Rhone, detected their tracks on the sand, and got on board
a boat. He landed in many villages, going through inns,
and recognized the bed the villains had slept in, and the
table on which they had eaten. After many vicissitudes
he finally reached Beaucaire, where he found them in a cell
among about fifteen prisoners. He pointed to a hunchback,
whose confession soon ratified his discovery. From all this,
says Bersot,* a poor fellow aged nineteen, who had been de-
nounced by the wand, was crusht upon the wheel at
Lyons.
Aymar was not continually so successful. After many
triumphs, his failures became more and more numerous.
In Paris, at the Prince de Conde's residence; at the palace
of the Guises, and chiefly at Chantilly, where he was unable
to recognize a river under an arch, and failed to discriminate
different locked boxes in which there were respectively
gold, silver, copper, stones, and nothing. At last he died as
a beggar. MaxwelP relates how Chevreul was induced to
investigate those phenomena.
On March 4, 1853, the Academie (des Sciences), appointed
a committee of three members " with the view to examining
an account by M. Riondet, referring to the divining rod as
used in detecting subterranean waters." Chevreul was in-
trusted with the Account. A Httle later the Academy
^Bersot, loc. cit., p. 101
'Maxwell, work quoted in the Annates, p. 281. See also his book on
"Les Ph6nomenes Psychiques," p. 226.
THE CONJURER'S WAND 87
readdrest to the Committee a letter from M, Kceppelin
concerning table-turning. As Chevreul had long since af-
forded an explanation of the rod and of the pendulum, and
his explanation having been extended by others to table-
turning, he abstained from issuing his account, as he did not
wish to take part in the matter. However, ''he disclosed
his opinion to the world." He surveyed and censured the
facts ascribed to Jacques Aymar, Bleton, Miles. Martin and
Ollivet, and to Expie, Barde and de Pernan.
If I set cheats or jokers aside, there remain still a good
many plaindealing people in this group of spring or treas-
urefinders. They make no voluntary movements; they
are only moving involuntarily and unconsciously in an
automatical or polygonal manner. Some hints inferred
from different circumstances make the subject believe that
there lies the spring, or treasure. His thought is involun-
tarily and unconsciously transferred to his fingers, and the
rod is turning.
After long experiments, SoUas and Edward Pease came
to the conclusion that " all tests with the diviner's perspi-
cacity show that the rod is of no use. The influence of the
hidden object does not affect the rod, but the diviner's
mind.
As with the exploring pendulum and table-turning, the
original startingpoint of the polygonal lies in 0, which
concentrates its thought on a thing; 0 puts the polygon in
synergy with its thought, it sets it in the required condition
for starting the movement, but does not give the voluntary
command of movement. This movement happens, alone
automatically, through the polygon, without 0 being con-
scious of the origin. The idea of making the rod turn is
polygonal, or unconscious; so the movement is occurring in-
voluntarily. 0 sees it and makes inferences from it.
Maxwell has made two serious objections to the preceding
88 THE CONJURER'S WAND
ideas which belong to Chevreul, and have been completed in
Pierre Janet's works. First, he reproaches me personally,
and in this he is quite right, with having overlooked Barrett
(professor of experimental physics at the Royal College of
Sciences for Ireland), who has pubUshed in the '•' Proceed-
ings of the Society for Psychical Research" (t. XIII, p.
2-282 and t. XV, p. 130-315) a long statement concerning this
matter "which he has investigated as a sincere and com-
petent man." In fact I did not hear of this work (besides,
this likewise occurs to me respecting many other works),
and I apologize here for it. In the next place, Maxwell de-
clares that I stick to "the obsolete and indefensible theory,
if facts are to be taken notice of." Here, I have to answer.
I thought I had, in this paragraph, plainly declared that I
meant only to shed light on the immediate mechanism of the
rotation of the wand, and to set apart divination at large as
well as a discussion of its special qualifications as a spring-
finder. Provided one understands what my intention to
investigate was, I do not perceive the objections one might
make to this theory.
Maxwell himself tells us that Barrett, whose work is so
important, "acknowledges that the movements of the rod
are probably of an automatical order; that such movements
are due to an unconscious muscular influence, and are to be
included amongst motor automatisms, provoked bj^ un-
conscious perceptions." This is exactly what I meant, and
I find it quite important in itself.
In order to realize how momentous this question is, one
should look back fifteen years upon the time when the rod
belonged to Occultism. The rod was then taken advice of.
It was thought that the spring or treasure had an influence
over the rod. Nowadays, the matter has emerged from
Occultism and entered the domain of Science, since it is
known that the rod is directly put in motion, neither by a
THE CONJURER'S WAND 89
spring nor by a treasure; neither by a fluid nor by an occult
action whatever, but only by the psychism of the seeker.
In tiiis matter now made scientific, if we investigate the
reason why some subjects are more quahfied than others for
detecting a spring or a treasure, we have a second question,
quite distinct from the other. It is so different that some
spring-finders, such as Bleton, usually dispense with a wand.
Therefore both questions are absolutely distinct and inde-
pendent. While discussing the mechanism of table-turn-
ing, or automatical handwriting, I do not pretend to solve
the whole matter of divination or premonitions.
Consequently, I believe I am right in asserting that
Chevreul's theory is still exact as regards the divining rod.
It makes this fact, which was occult up to that time, enter
the realm of physiological facts, scientifically known. It
is old, indeed, but not so obsolete. I should rather say that
it has been made new, owing to recent investigations In
any case, it remains absolutely defensible in a scientific
manner.
There is now another question to solve: i. e. the special
psychical attitude by which certain persons are able to de-
tect a spring. There is a French proverb that ''It is not
enough to wish to be a spring-finder in order to acquire the
power of such."^
Any polygon is not fit for this function, just as we have
seen already that any one is not able to make tables turn,
and, as we are going to ascertain, not everybody is success-
ful in "willing-game."
According to Surbled, the spring-finders foresee springs.
" Should presentiment be only a speedy and unconscious
'The Berlin Lokalanzeiger (Aug. 28, 1906) relates that queer experi-
ments as to the detection of springs and hidden articles have been suc-
cessfully made at Wilhelmshohe, by Prinz Hans von Carolath, while
the Geiinan Emperor utterly failed in his attempts.
90 WILLING-GAME BY CONTACT
adjustment of probabilities," as Pierre Weber writes, "still
it is always a polygonal function that is at work. In Lau-
rent's opinion, a good spring-finder ought to combine a real
empiric knowledge of the fields, with a power of abstraction
that may lead either to hysteria or to a stronger volition.
They are frequently found in persons whose lonely lives
have made them meditative, and who are given to indulging
in dreams, faintly guided by hardly perceptible impressions.
This lonely life leads, as a matter of course to a great in-
crease in psychological automatism.^
AU the facts (and they must be numerous), that are
amenable to the preceding explanations, are consequently
scientific and belong no more to occultism. If some facts
like those quoted by Barrett, prove the existence in certain
persons of transcendental powers more or less vague and
mysterious, they belong still to the occultism of to-day with
which I deal in the third part of this book.
V. WILLING-GAME^ BY CONTACT
35. The well-known experiments of mind-readers may be
made by professional people during theatrical performances
or by amateurs. Some of my actual colleagues were quite
successful with them when they were house-surgeons.
An object is hidden, unknown to the experimenter, who
has blindfolded himself. A person who knows where this
object Ues comes in contact with him by touching his hand
or his temple. This person, the conductor or guide, is then
>See R. Warcolier and Prof. W. F. Barrett, "Experiences sur la
baguette divinatoire," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 745;
and a lecture by Prof. Barrett on the history and mystery of the divin-
ing rod, ibid., 1907, p. 147.
2" This practise, quite common in England, is called 'willing-game,'
and in France, 'thought reading' or 'Cumberlandism,' after the name
of the experimentalist who introduced it, a few years ago" (Pierre
Janet).
WILLING-GAME BY CONTACT 91
strongly thinking about the place where the object lies; the
experimenter then goes there at once and finds the object.
This experiment may be made in many different manners.
One thinks of a thing to do, or a number to guess.
First, there is nothing in it of hypnotism or hypnosis, as
some people imagine. There is no clairvoyance nor sight
through handtouching over the eyes. It may be noth-
ing but juggling. Indeed, apart from juggling without pro-
fessional conjurers, complete success may be reached with
bona fide people. Here we find automatical movements,
involuntary and unconscious or polygonal movements.
The " conductor " concentrates strongly his thought on the
act to be done, and at this instant his thought is transferred
— unknown to himself to his fingers. The center 0 of the
conductor is thinking intensely. His polygon is acting,
unknown to 0, performs movements and by pressure or
unconscious and involuntary attraction, guides automati-
cally the person who has blindfolded himself. I have my-
self made some experiments in this line, blindfolding my-
self, and have very clearly noticed pressure or guidance
made by the finger of the guide, unknown to him.
It is accordingly necessary for the purpose of success, for
the guide to be very active and think intensely of the act he
intends to perform; also that the conducted subject be quite
passive, i. e. shall annihilate his center 0, and allow his
polygon automatically to comply with the impulsions given
by the conducting polygon. Sometimes the movement of
the conducted person ceases; he hesitates, he feels at a loss.
This is because the guide has left off thinking of the pur-
pose. Should the guide be absent-minded, or if he thinks
about something else, the conducted subject will get no
more impressions, stops, hesitates, or makes mistakes.
As a consequence, the powers required to be a good con-
ductor are quite different from those necessary for being a
92 WILLING-GAME BY CONTACT
good "conducted" subject; they are the reverse. The
former should be authoritative and active, the latter must
be passive, and of course has not to go into an analysis of the
experiment, as I have myself done in the experiments
quoted above. Every one is not equally successful; some
are getting better results when playing one of the parts;
while some others succeed better in the other part. Besides,
some people are better qualified than others.
Pierre Janet relates the case of Osip Feldmann, who was
successful when placing between the guide and the guided a
third individual, passive and unaware of the aims to be
reached, who was in contact with both of them and was,
obviously unknown to him, transferring the movements
of the conductor to the conducted person.
How is it that, with the conductor, the acts of pressure
are unconscious, and at the same time involuntary? When
his polygon is acting, why does his 0 not heed it, while it
usually heeds polygonal movements?
The voluntary attention of the conductor is concentrated
on an idea, or an aim. By this he becomes abstracted from
his polygon, like Archimedes in his bath, especially if he is a
sensory subject (either visual or auditory), who takes
usually but little notice of his motor images, or does not
heed them at all, when 0 is intensely thinking of something.
Therefore, it is still the emancipation of the polygon
through a mechanism always identical : absent-mindedness,
the attention of 0 concentrated on one idea. This is still
psychical, hyperpolygonal disaggregation.
Respecting this opinion, Pierre Janet observes that the
experiment is far more successful when the subject, with un-
conscious movements, is naturally in a condition nearing
psychical disaggregation, as is, for instance, an anesthetic
hysteric. Besides, it is quite necessary that the conducting
polygon be by nature, a good motor, making gestures read-
WILLING-GAME BY CONTACT 93
ily and willingly (as we will see that the medium's polygon
does).
Things also occur in the conducted subject's polygon.
He might heed them through 0 (as stated above), should he
analyze himself; but he may also obey automatically with-
out taking notice of it. He may even not be conscious in the
least of what he is ordered to do, although he readily com-
plies with it.
Besides, there is a queer thing in this case of unconscious-
ness of acts performed; it is possible to hypnotize the sub-
ject later on, and sometimes he meets again, in hypnosis,
with the remembrance of the act he had been ordered to do,
and of which he was not conscious through 0.
Therefore, this is an automatic function of the polygon
which is forgotten in normal and complete psychical life;
but whose remembrance is formed again in another scene
of the isolated polygonal life, like some dreams in which we
meet again with the remembrance of previous dreams, and
as in some fits of hypnotism or somnambulism, we find again
the remembrance of previous attacks. The polygonal per-
sonality remembers itself as soon as it is emancipated from
the censure and inhibition of 0.
In all the facts of a "mind-reading," I have just discust
and whose theory I have sketched, there is always a con-
tact, whatever it may be, between the conductor and the
conducted. It is therefore easy to perceive the real re-
semblances between willing-game and table-turning. Here
and there we find unconscious and involuntary movements,
and in both cases, polygons that are more or less active, a
guide and a guided subject or several.
The experiments made with a horse, Hans,^ seem to be-
^See "Le verdict de la Commission Scientifique sur le merveilleux
cheval Hans," Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1904, p. 384. Stumpf,
Society d'hypnologie et de psychologie, December 27, 1904. Discussion;
94 WILLING-GAME BY CONTACT
long to the same group of phenomena. Hans answered
questions referring to arithmetic, or to the most common
matters of life, etc., by giving with his leg a certain number
of stamps responsive to the place of a letter in the alphabet,
or of a number in numeration exactly in the same manner as
spiritistic tables do. The committee, presided over by Prof.
Stumpf, of Berlin, asserted that they had noticed in the
horse nothing similar to reason. Hans was acting accord-
ing to signs made by his master. Those signs were per-
formed in an unconscious manner, for the good faith of
Herr von Hosten seemed obvious. Herr von Hosten's
polygon was guiding Hans, unknown to 0, in the same
manner as the conductor and the guided in the experiments
with willing-game,
Oskar Pfungst, a psychologist of the University of Ber-
lin, made a very close investigation of the phenomenon,
and established that Hans was playing at willing-game by
sight. At the beginning of his researches Herr Pfungst
imagined that Herr von Hosten made various little move-
ments as soon as Hans had given the necessary number of
stamps. But others — the committee for instance — failed to
perceive such movements. Herr von Hosten, who had no
consciousness whatever of their existence, denied them.
This is the reason why Herr Pfungst invented an instru-
ment, owing to which the smallest movements performed in
any of the three dimensions by the person who had entered
it, were immediately registered and amplified on a cylinder.
This being done, Herr Pfungst played the horse's part; an-
other person (within the apparatus), acted as the "Barnum.''
Herr Pfungst gave accurate answers, and he experienced no
difficulty after the experiment in showing printed in large
B6rillon, Lionel, Dauriac, Binet-Sangle, Archives generales de Medecine,
1905, p. 25. " Der Kluge Hans," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906,
p. 781.
WILLING-GAME BY CONTACT 95
types on the cylinder the small signs that had helped him to
answer. Should the horse be made unable to see owing to
blindfolding or by any other method, he would be unable to
answer. Hans ''was only observing, but very minutely,
and interpreting signs made unconsciously to him." This
is willing-game by sight. ^
*See "Un autre cheval merveilleux: la 'princesse Trixie,*" Annates des
Sciences Psychiques, 1907, p. 145.
CHAPTER V
POLYGONAL MEMORY AND SENSATIONS— ERRO-
NEOUS DIVINATIONS— POLYGONAL HALLUCI-
NATIONS AND CRYSTAL VISION— POLYGONAL
REMINISCENCES AND MISJUDGMENTS
I. 36. Polygonal sensibility and memory.
37. The sensibility of the polygon.
38. Memory in the polygon.
39. Facts recently " disoccultated" which depend on this polygonal
function.
II. Polygonal Hallucinations and Crystal Vision.
60. Polygonal Hallucinations.
41. Crystal vision.
a. Description of the phenomenon and historical account.
b. How to produce the phenomenon.
c. Psychological analysis.
III. Polygonal Reminiscences and Misjudgments.
42. Polygonal reminiscences.
a. When absent of mind.
b. When dreaming.
c. Before the crystal mirror.
d. When awake.
e. Absence of mind and waking.
/. Sleeping and waking.
43. A sensation of "things seen previously or alreaay felt" or errone-
ous recognition.
a. Some attitudes of O respecting those polygonal reminis-
cences.
b. Description of things previously seen.
c. Psychophysiological analysis of the phenomenon.
44. Pathology of polygonal memory.
a. Polygonal hyperamnesis.
b. Total amnesia with preservation of the polygonal memory.
c. Polygonal amnesise.
POLYGONAL SENSIBILITY 97
I. POLYGONAL SENSIBILITY AND MEMORY
What I have gaid in Chapter III concerning hypnotism,
is already proof that the polygon has a sensibility and
memory of its own. Sensations perceived by the subject
asleep, during hypnosis, and the fulfilment, more or less
slow, of suggestions given during hypnosis prove in a defi-
nite manner that the polygon perceives and registers sug-
gestions. This ought to be carefully investigated and gen-
eralized.
37. The Sensibility of the Polygon.
Sensation is a psychical phenomenon caused by the com-
ing of a centripetal impression to the upper neurones of
consciousness. By connecting themselves together, sensa-
tions produce an image and cause pleasure or pain, or an
emotion — joy, or sadness.
Such phenomena which most usually involve the neces-
sary interference of consciousness, cannot occur to the
lower psychism. Thus, strictly speaking, there is no polyg-
onal sensation. But there are centripetal sensations that
come to the lower psychism without going beyond it, that
do not reach 0, are not conscious, and produce in the neu-
rones of the polygon a phenomenon analogous to the phe-
nomenon called sensation when it occurs to the neurones of 0.
Proof of this polygonal phenomenon is afforded, not
through observation, which is by nature impossible here,
but through the parts of memory, which I shall examine
further on, and through motions or outward manifesta-
tions, connected with this centripetal impression, whose
growth thus establishes the reality of polygonal sensation-
unconscious sensation to which Gerby alluded when he said
in 1846: " One must get used to the thought that there may
be sensation without perception of it."
98 POLYGONAL SENSIBILITY
Those unconscious sensations, when connected produce
polygonal images, or even unconscious emotions, which are
perceived through 0 at the end only. The patient becomes
sad ; he does not know the reason why. Such polygonal sen-
sations may be examined not only in hypnosis (see above),
but also in absence of mind, somnambulism, ambulatory
automatism (see above) and also in willing-game or even in
table-moving, and very likely in the conjurer's wand. It is
by means of polygonal sensations that dreams may be pro-
voked or directed during natural sleep. The sound of a
bell becomes a funeral knell for yourself or one of your be-
loved. A lighted candle will burn into a conflagration
stirred by the heavenly fire; it may engulf you, and you
will be very much in danger.^
Visceral impressions may likewise reach the polygon
during sleep and direct dreams. Owing to an indigestion,
one may dream of inward sores. A person subject to giddi-
ness may dream of falling down, sailing or see-saw. An-
other person laboring under dyspnea, may see beasts and
monsters that lie heavy upon his breast.
Thus a dream may reveal a peculiar somatical condition
unknown up to that time. Men formerly derived from there
divinatory interpretations and nowadays moderns derive
from the same origin their semeiological inferences of
dreams. Galen reports that a young man dreamt that
he had a stony leg; soon afterwards he was struck with
a paralysis of the same side. Vaschide and Pieron have
shown that in many dreams there is a physical substratum,
a pathological disorder, that dreaming helps to detect. This
same polygonal sensibility is made manifest during certain
diseases. Thus an anesthetic hysteria does not perceive,
'See Alfred Maury, " Le sommeil et les reves," " Etudes psychologiques
sur ces pMnomenes, et les divers 6tats qui s'y rattachent," 4th ed.,
1878.
MEMORY IN THE POLYGON 99
but uses sensations; they reach his psychical neurones (poly-
gons).*
In the same way a person suffering from aphasia reads
aloud and does not understand; he sees only what he is read-
ing through his polygonal neurones.
38. Memory in the Polygon.
The meaning of the word memory has been excessively
extended. Renault^ makes it a faculty of all neurones.^
Charles Richet describes as a kind of elementary memory,
the persistence of excitability, after an excitation, in the
spinal marrow of a frog. SoUier* compares the neurone
which remembers with the magnetic bar that settles its
magnetic power and provokes it as soon as it meets with
fihngs. Likewise, in Van Biervliet's^ opinion, "All the
solid, or semi-solid parts of the organism preserve remem-
brances as well as the cerebral cortex, or perhaps better
than it." He sets forth the faculty of memory in the spine
and says: "Germs have a memory . . . and that memory
is spread all over our body." This is an exaggeration that
utterly alters the nature of the meaning of the word " mem-
ory."
It has been rightly observed by Pitres,^ that we do not
know " why one has left off going further. Why has it not
*See p. 177 of my " Psychisme inf^rieur," a series of experiments which
prove that, in certain circumstances, the impressions not perceived by O
reach the polygon.
"Renault, "Le neurone et la memoire cellulaire," Annates des Sciences
Psychiqties, 1899, p. 261.
^The neurone is a partition mostly sensitive and it remembers.
^Paul SoUier, " Le probleme de la Memoire. Essai de psychomeca-
nique," Bibliotheque de philosophic contemporaine, 1900.
^Van Biervliet, " La memoire," " Bibliotheque Internationale de psy-
chologique," 1902.
«Pitres, "L'aphasie amn6sique et ses variet^s cliniques," Pr ogres
medical, 1898.
100 MEMORY IN THE POLYGON
been said that the inertia of a muscle severed from its
motor nerves is an amnesia of contractility, and that the
mortification of a limb is an amnesia of its nutrition?"
Memory must be kept for psychical neurones. But it
should not be asserted, as Sergi does, that "memory is a re-
vival of the condition of consciousness." There is an un-
conscious memory, a memory of unconscious phenomena, a
polygonal memory; the neurones of lower psychism have
also a memory. I have previously proved the existence of
such a memory in hypnosis. Likewise, in absence of mind,
reminiscences may be gathered that reach the polygon and
are impressed there, unknown to O, Such reminiscences
reappear later on, as automatical acts, during subsequent
periods of absence of mind. Some persons meet again
during a subsequent sleep with reminiscences of a previous
sleep, and their dreams return from one sleep to another,
while in the time intervening between sleep and impres-
sion a remembrance of such dreams has faded away.
Thus Mme. de Rachilde goes on with her dream from one
sleep to another as do the succeeding numbers of a feuille-
ton.^ This alternative memory is frequently noticed in
somnambulism, inebriation, etc.
The main point in researches is to have an accurate knowl-
edge of the laws of polygonal memory, and of the principles
of raising up polygonal remembrances.
In instances quoted above, the polygonal reminiscences
were again met with from one condition to another of the
same kind of hyperpolygonal disaggregation, from one
condition of somnambulism to another; from one condition
of hypnotic sleep to another. They may again be met
with in a case involving any condition of hyperpolygonal
disaggregation, or a crisis attended by a second dissimilar
'See Paul Chabaneix, " Le subconscient chez les artistes, les savants
et les ^crivains," Th^se de Bordeaux, 1897.
MEMORY IN THE POLYGON 101
condition of hyperpolygonal disaggregation. Thus, a revi-
val would occur from an attack of hysterics to one of
hypnosis, from an attack of somnambulism to one of absence
of mind (automatical hand-writing); from one of absence
of mind to normal sleep or crystal vision/ from normal
sleep to hypnosis, or vice versa.
In hypnosis, Auguste Voisin^ bids a patient murder,
when awake, a woman in bed in an adjoining room, and for-
get everything. As soon as awake, the patient goes there
and stabs a hamper which was at the appointed place.
Magistrates who had witnessed the experiment, failed to
get from him either confession of the deed, or the name of
the accomplice by whom the act had been suggested.
But three days later the patient came back to the Salpe-
triere. In his countenance were shown indisputable marks
of mental suffering and sleeplessness which he had com-
plained of since that time. He declared that he saw at
night the vision of a woman who reproached him with
having stabbed her.
Lastly, when awake, 0 may take hold and become con-
scious of a remembrance impressed unknown to it in its
polygon, in a previous condition of hyperpolygonal disag-
gregation, like absence of mind, normal or artificial sleep or
somnambulism. And then O reacts in various ways
against this reminiscence which occurs to him like a new
fact, whose origin 0 does not know; it may remain anxious,
or believe itself to be the author of this reminiscence.
39. A certain number of facts that were formerly occult
have been removed from occultism since the minor psy-
chical functions, which I have just recalled have become
perfectly knovra. I divide them into two groups : polyg-
*See further what I say later on of crystal vision.
^Augusta Voisin, "Les suggestions criminelles posthypnotiques,"
Revue de I'hypnotisme, 1891, t. V, p. 382.
102 POLYGONAL HALLUCINATIONS
onal hallucinations and crystal vision and misjudgments
due to polygonal reminiscences. Both orders of phenom-
ena have been causes of erroneous divinations.
II. POLYGONAL HALLUCINATIONS AND
CRYSTAL VISION
40. Polygonal Hallucinations.
Seglas, and many scientists with him, consider hallucina-
tions as a pathological kind of perception. Indeed, there
is a phenomenon of perception in hallucination, there has
been perception of an impression without any real outward
responsive stimulus. But there is also a phenomenon of
imagination which is the cause, as well as the starting
point of perception, a phenomenon of objectivation that is
really initial.
What is essential and noteworthy in hallucination, is not
indeed the perception of a merely imaginative and unreal
object; it is necessary to believe real and outward the object
perceived. I can imagine a man riding on a horse; I can see
him very well in his proper attire; I can see also his horse's
bridle. Tho I see the man I know that he is not really
existing. This is no hallucination, but I have received ab-
solutely the same perception as if it were and I believed in
the rider's existence outside of myself, which would have
been an hallucination. Thus, the distinctive element of an
hallucination is the coming to perception of an image uncon-
sciously originating within the polygon, and which is im-
pressed there with such an intensity that the perceiving
center believes in the real and outward existence of this
object of its perception.
This center of perception may be and very commonly is
0. In this case the polygon is only interfering as an organ
producing the image. But perception may also occur
POLYGONAL HALLUCINATIONS 103
within the polygon, which is then alone to produce the en-
tire hallucination.
So, during sleep in hypnosis, or somnambulism, or me-
diumistic trance, as often as the polygon is disaggregated
from 0, in a physiological, extra-physiological or patho-
logical manner, the image is made within the polygon, and
the polygon perceives and exteriorizes it, with a power of
objectivation sufficient to make it believe that this image
is real.
Therefore, in any hallucination, there is above all, a dis-
order of polygonal imagination. But a great weakness of
the perceiving intelligence is equally necessary, whatever
may be the group of psychical centers that are perceiving.
This second element which is the starting-point of the intel-
lectual central theories of hallucination, is so utterly real
that in certain serious cases hallucination bears an absolute
likeness to real delirium, this word being used in its broad-
est meaning." (Seglas.)
There is always a touch of misjudgment in hallucination.
However, one should not take hallucination for a misjudg-
ment. Between both there is the same difference as be-
tween perception and judgment.
One should likewise go on distinguishing hallucination
from illusion, tho a certain impression may usually ap-
pear as having provoked the image of hallucination (there
lies the starting-point of peripherical, or sensory, theories of
hallucination). But hallucination is caused by an impres-
sion that is not perceived in an erroneous manner as in il-
lusion.
In short, hallucination is, like most psychical symptoms,
a complex phenomenon in which there are an element of
sensation (or impression), and an element of perception, but
the intermediate disorder of imagination seems to be the
most prominent element of hallucination at large.
104 CRYSTAL VISION
It may be realized how hallucinations have frequently
been a pretext for, or an apparent starting-point of, super-
natural messages or divinations, especially should they be
unconscious and polygonal, i. e. when they develop within
a subject who is not insane, whose center 0 is not injured, and
must be consequently regarded as trustworthy.
I am now going to insist upon one of the forms of hallu-
cination most commonly prevalent in occultism.
41. Crystal Vision.^
a. Description of the Phenomena and Historical Account.
In the study of a haunted house by Calmette^ and my-
self, I said that the medium (Jeanne) and her mother went-
to take advice from a somnambulist who did not hesitate.
Jeanne was hunted by somebody who had thrown a spell
over her. In order to detect this person the somnambulist
placed before Jeanne a glass filled with water, and standing
on a white plate.
"Look at the bottom of the glass," said the somnambu-
list to Jeanne. "I am looking and see nothing." ''Look
more closely, what do you see?" "The white plate."
"Look still more closely; don't you see a face?" "Yes, I
believe I see a face." " How is it?" " It is an old, wrinkled
woman with a black bonnet ; her teeth are damaged ; she has
a flat nose." "In case you met her would you know her?"
" Yes." " At midnight," said the somnambulist to Jeanne's
relatives, "cause her to repeat this experiment; she will
better describe the old woman."
At midnight Jeanne was placed before a glass of water
'See Pierre Janet, " Sur la divination par les miroirs, et les hallucina-
tions subconscientes," Conference faite a la Soci6t6 des Amis de I'Uni-
versite de Lyon, July, 1897; and, " Necroses et Id^es fixes," 1. 1, p. 407,
Gaston M^ry, "La Vision dans le Cristal," L'Echo du Merveilleux, 1904;
pp. 441 and 461.
^Lecons de clinique medicale, "Le Spiritisme devant la science."
CRYSTAL VISION 105
standing on a white plate. She saw very distinctl}'', at the
bottom of the glass, an old woman whom she described ex-
actly; she went so far as to describe her dirty petticoat, her
black bodice with red stripes, her checkered apron and even
her rings, one of which was of garnet color. Through her
description the family readily recognized an old v/oman who
had thrown a spell over Jeanne's dying grandmother. The
whole city had gathered in a mob against the sorceress and
would have thrown her into the river had not the somnam-
bulist advised them to burn a living cat, which was done
accordingly at 11 p. m.
Alexandre Dumas^ says it was through a decanter, laid on
a golden plate and placed in the dark recess of a semi-circu-
lar vault where some factitious rocks imitate a grotto, that
Joseph Balsamo, who was to become known as Cagliostro,
showed to the Archduchess Marie Antoinette, later, queen
of France, the terrible future that was in store for her. At
this sight the Dauphiness" knelt down, made unsuccessful
attempts to stand up, staggered for awhile, fell down again,
shouted fiercely and fainted.
Joseph, the minister to Pharaoh, put his silver cup in
Benjamin's sack and asked the steward of the house to tell
his brother that the cup which he had stolen was the cup
used by his master to drink and to prophesy with.^
^Alexandre Dumas, "Joseph Balsamo," "Memoires d'un Medecin,"
Nouvelle Edition en 5 vols., t. I, p. 175.
^The Dauphiness was at first questioning what was to occur to her
new family. The Royal family consisted of three princes. Due de Berry
(Louis XVI), Comte de Provence (Louis XVIII), and Comte d'Artois
(Charles X). They would be kings, all of them, said Balsamo. "How
will my husband die?" "Without head." " How will Comte de Prov-
ence die?" " Without legs." "How will Comte d'Artois die?" "With-
out his court." "And myself?" Joseph Balsamo shook his head and
refused to answer. Then being urged, he took Marie Antoinette to the
decanter, where she fainted, struck with terror.
^Gen., xliv, 5.
106 CRYSTAL VISION
This phenomenon has been known from remote times.
According to Varro, this kind of divination originated in
Persia. It was, as Pansandas asserts, practised at Palta, in
the temple of Ceres. Spartianus declares that Didius Jul-
ius, when Septimus Severus was marching against him,
sought the divination exerted with a looking-glass, through
which children, whose eyes had undergone a peculiar witch-
craft, could see the future. The child chosen was able to
see the coming of Severus and Julianus drawing off. This
is what happened in fact shortly afterwards. In all works
concerning magicians and sorcerers, mention is made of
crystallomancy. In India, the priests of older times used
to foretell the future by making people stare at a glittering
leaf on a wall. Half a century ago an English traveler saw a
child detecting robbers through this proceeding. He saw and
described Nelson with his amputated arm, tho he made a mis-
take with regard to the side the arm had been on. This is
not difficult to realize, as he could see Nelson as in a mirror.
In Greece, people used to look at spring-water, and
images became visible (hydromancy), or through jars filled
up with oil (lecanomancy). Ulysses questioned Tiresias in
this manner, or through mirrors (catoptromancy), or
through decanters filled with water, or with metal balls or
any kind of glass (crystallomancy). Some people were
simply made to stare at a nail of the finger on which a small
quantity of oil had been laid (onycomancy).
It is reported that Francis I of France, and Catherine of
Medici kept in their palace mirrors adorned with stars
through which they could detect secrets concerning politics,
or the plots and conspiracies of their enemies.
There was in the sixteenth century, a kind of small crys-
tal that was used all over Europe by an Englishman named
John Dee. Individuals visible through that magical stone
talked and gave information to applicants.
CRYSTAL VISION 107
In a diffuse passage quoted by Gaston Mery, Saint Simon
relates some disclosures made in 1706 to the Due d'Orleans,
who was to become Regent of the Kingdom, by one of those
"rogues constantly upon the watch for hidden curiosities, a
good deal of which had been seen by M. le Due during his
life," and who pretended to make appear in a glass of water,
anything that might be wished.
b. How to Produce the Phenomena.
Pierre Janet describes in the following way a phenom-
enon which may be successfully tested by many people.
According to some English authors, ten persons out of fifty
are successful with it. But Pierre Janet deems such a
number exaggerated.
You take a glass ball and place it in a special place. The
best way is to set it in a place neither quite dark, nor abso-
lutely luminous, with only a dim hght skimming over it.
The following is the most usual mode of acting: the
experimentahst should place himself in broad daylight.
The ball is to be surrounded with screens or dark cloth.
After this the subject is comfortably placed and requested
to stare at the ball. He must not fall asleep for this ex-
periment has nothing to do with hypnotism. He perceives
at first insignificant things around him, the colors of the
rainbow, a luminous spot; in short all reflections usually
visible through a glass ball.
After awhile things are altered: i. e. the ball gets darker;
the patient sees nothing else; reflections as well as objects
are blotted out ; it seems that the ball is covered with mois-
ture. This is the opportune moment. The cloud is quickly
increasing, and amidst it drawings and sketches that are at
first quite simple may be perceived, such as lines or stars, or
black stripes on a white background, but also more interest-
ing and more precise lines are appearing, such as letters,
108 CRYSTAL VISION
ciphers, etc. A little later colored shapes become visible,
such as people, animals, trees, flowers. The patient, whose
emotion is rather intense, keeps on looking; he is pleased
with his vision, especially when there is varietj'' in it.
To some subjects motionless people appear; to others they
are moving and they disappear, bow to each other or talk.
Sorne subjects listen to this kind of speech, which is quite
strange. Sometimes, when tested by certain experimen-
talists, the phenomenon becomes more precise, or more
complex, and assumes a strange mark of stability.
The patient makes vain attempts to turn his eyes away;
should he begin his test again, he sees the same vision. In
such a case images are usually quite distinct, and it is pos-
sible to describe them with minute accuracy. This occurred
to the patient above referred to. She was constantly seeing
the same old woman whom she so exactly depicted that the
whole city could identify her.
Some persons leave the ball for a moment, and go for
a magnifying glass. When coming back they see the same
vision again. They look at it through the lens, and images
are cleared, up and become more precise. " I have even
seen a person," says Pierre Janet, "who could extract
images out of the ball, make them objective on a sheet of
paper, and follow by means of a pencil the drawing that was
produced by his hallucination.^
Finally, in order to complete the description of the phe-
nomenon I quote here the summary of an autoobservation
shown to Gaston Mery by Father Lescoeur. A young
woman took a glass of water, "asked for the help of the
II shall speak further about Helen Smith, Flournoy's medium, who
in her last cycle (described by I^emaltre) delineates her polygonal hal-
lucination (the head of Christ). As Helen says, when making her draw-
ing she had only to follow with a pencil the features of Christ who had
bent his head over a sheet of paper (prepared by Helen), at the very
moment when she fell into somnamljulism.
CRYSTAL VISION 109
spirit of Aracra," and depicted the absent persons about
whom she had been questioned. " Then," says the author,
" I was requested by her to look with her, as she was sure
that in bidding me to see, I should see. In fact, after a
short while of close attention (and a new call for Aracra' s
help) I gradually perceived a house, a kind of small man-
sion, rather distant, and then trees and people. But I could
see only half the scene which was much more visible to the
seer. When alone I tried again the same experiment and,
to my intense amazement, I saw emerging a head of Christ,
who looked very much afflicted. I went away and uttered a
cry of wonder; but, as I stared again, I could see plainly in
profile the face of the 'Ecce Homo.' Then, lessened little
by little, itfaded away. This lasted hardly for one minute."
A similar phenomenon is described by Guy de Maupassant
in the ''Horla," where, looking in a mirror, he does not see
himself, and has a prolonged hallucination.^
c. Psychological Analysis.
Pierre Janet, who describes and analyzes this phenom-
enon very clearly, deems it to be a subconscious hallucina-
tion. It is indeed an hallucination that develops within
what is called the subliminal, i. e. in the polygon disaggre-
gated from its upper centers, but which in certain conditions,
or at certain moments, 0 can witness; then this hallucina-
tion becomes conscious.
As remarks Newbold, an American psychologist cited by
Pierre Janet, when incompletely lighted the mirror is acting
as a visual stimulus on the polygon in expectant attention;
it offers an empty space and incites imagination to fill it up.
'According to Ch. Lancelin {Journal du Magnetisme and Journal des
Dibats, 1907), there are three sorts of magical mirrors: first, solar mirrors
(metallic) ; second, lunar mirrors (crystal ball) ; third, saturnian mirrors
consisting of dark- disks of polished graphite, or of thick ink in the left
palm of a child, the mandel of the Arabs.
110 CRYSTAL VISION
0 does not take part in this; it does not say (which it is well
aware of) to the polygon that there is nothing in the crys-
tal. The polygon being not checked by 0, gets into an
hallucination, sketches its creation, sees various things,
makes associations of images, combines them together,
settles them and so determines the definitive hallucination.
The polygon determines alone this hallucination; it is by
itself capable of describing it. We shall see further that it
frequently meets again with unconscious reminiscences
previously developed within the polygon. But 0, which
has taken no part in creating the hallucination, and does
not witness its growth, may, at a certain moment, detect
the hallucination within its polygon; it may become con-
scious of it, consider it as a reality and cooperate in its
description.
Such revelations of polygonal imagination will astonish
you; you will esteem them marvelous or supernatural be-
cause they will not point out to the bystanders or the sub-
ject himself things which they did not believe they knew,
or which were not thought known to them, but which were
stored within the unconscious memory of the polygon. The
conclusion of all this is precise and should not be disregarded
or exaggerated.
As with the divining rod and table-turning, the crystal
vision has in itself nothing occult or extrascientific. It is a
phenomenon belonging to a group of psychological facts
already known and analyzed.
Now, we may observe that this affords no explanation of
the facts of divination or telepathy as occurring through
crystal. Should those facts be real they evidently are not
explained by polygonal activity, but they do not depend on
the crystal any more than they depend on the rod or the
table.
The matter of telepathy at large, as well as the matter of
POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES 111
clairvoyance or mental suggestion, belongs to the occultism
of to-day, which I shall discuss in the third part. But crys-
tal vision belongs no longer to occultism; neither does the
conjurer's wand, the exploring pendulum, nor table-turn-
ing.
This is all I intended to establish, and the conclusion
being thus made precise and restrained, it is still quite im-
portant, since for a long while a mysterious or even super-
natural element has been imagined to exist in the very fact
of crystal vision, and the letter cited above, of Father Les-
coeur's correspondent, testifies that there are still individ-
uals inclined to detect some marvelous particulars in such
polygonal hallucinations.
ni. POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES AND
MISJUDGMENTS
42. Polygonal Reminiscences.
I have previously stated that the polygon has a memory
of its own, and that unconscious reminiscences stored in the
lower psychical neurones, may at a certain moment be ex-
pressed to 0, which is not aware of their origin, and feels
sometimes inclined to take them as a supernatural message,
a divination, or a telepathical impression.
In my opinion the term "reminiscence" is quite fit for
such remembrances, which the subject again meets with,
whilst he believes he finds them for the first time, as he is
unaware that they are remembrances only. This 0 being
unconscious of the origin of such reminiscences, they must
have been acquired by it in a state of hyperpolygonal dis-
aggregation, such as absent-mindedness, sleep or hypnosis.
They may also be made manifest either at waking or in an-
other condition of hyperpolygonal disaggregation identical
with the first state or different from it. Post-hypnotic sug-
112 POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES
gestions, more or less long-dated, are included under this
head of polygonal reminiscences. The following are other
instances which will verify the fact and make it more intelli-
gible.
a. When Absent of Mind.
A queer passage in "Crime et Chatiment" has been indi-
cated by Jules Soury to Pierre Janet. Dostoiewski ad-
mirably describes in it the unconscious retention of im-
pressions during absent-mindedness, and their subsequent
revival as automatical acts, whose origin remains uncon-
scious, and in consequence appears as more or less mys-
terious and occult.
''I was going to your house," said Raskolnickoff, "but
how is it that, when leaving the haymarket, I passed through
the Prospect? I never came that way; I always follow the
way on the right when coming out of the haymarket;
besides, it is not the way to your house. Hardly had I
turned to that side when I saw you ; how strange ! " "But you
have most likely slept all those days," answers Svidrigailoff ;
"I have myself given you the address of this place, and no
wonder you have directly come to it. I have told you the
way and also the hours when I am to be found. Don't you
remember?" " I had forgotten it," said Raskolnickoff quite
surprised. " I believe so. Twice have I supplied you with
this information. The address has been automatically im-
prest on your memory, and has been your guide, un-
known to you. Besides, when I was talking to you I could
well notice that you were absent of mind.^"
Of course Raskolnickoff was absent of mind. 0 was con-
centrated on something else, while Svidrigailoff had stored
the information within its polygon. Raskolnickoff had not
forgotten; he had remembered it, but through his polygon
'Dostoiewski, "Crime et Chdtiment," t. II, p. 219.
POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES 113
that alone had been imprest on him. Having been
aware of nothing he had nothing to forget. Should Svid-
rigailoff and Raskolnickoff have been less learned, they
would in this case have believed in an occult power pushing
them towards one another.
h. When Dreaming.
In sleep, which is a state of hyperpolygonal disaggrega-
tion when dreaming, reminiscences stored during another
condition of hyperpolygonal disaggregation, such as absence
of mind, are sometimes met with again.
Maury is consecutively dreaming during several days of
" a gentleman with a white neck-tie, a hat with broad edges
and whose countenance is peculiar. He has about him
something of an Anglo-American gentleman." He does
not know this gentleman in the least. But, later on, he
meets with him and finds him to be absolutely identical
with the man of his dream, and in a quarter of the town
where he had frequently gone before his dream, and in
which he had certainly seen him without heeding it. This
bestows on the dream the distinctive mark of a divination,
or a premonition, but as a matter of fact it is only a revival
of impressions unconsciously obtained and stored.
Another time Maury dreamed of an association of three
proper names with those of three towns in France. He did
not understand such a dream, but subsequently found an
old newspaper where this association had been mentioned
in an advertisement. When absent of mind he had read it
and had preserved it unknown to 0, within his polygon, and
finally, during the hyperpolygonal disaggregation of sleep,
again met with it. Sleep may thus disclose remembrances
formerly, and with more or less absent-mindedness, stored by
the subject within his polygon, but which he has forgotten.
Delboeuf dreamed of the term " asplenium ruta muralis/'
114 POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES
as if it were a familiar term. When awake he failed to ac-
count for the origin of the words, which reminded him of
nothing, and appeared as a mere creation of his polygon.
A long while later he detected the term "asplenium ruta
muralis," as written in his own hand for a collection of
plants, under dictation from a friend who was a botanist.
Brockelbank lost his penknife, tried in vain to find it again,
and then thought no more about it. Six months after- ,
wards he dreamed and saw it in the pocket of an old pair of
trousers now out of use. He got up, went to the trousers
and found it. Was this divination? No, it was polygonal
reminiscence occurring during sleep. Myers,^ from whom
I borrow the following instances, mentions various cases of
objects lost, detected in dreaming and ever through the
same proceeding. The occasion becomes far more pleasant,
but not more mysterious, when the polygon adorns its
reminiscences with a little romance.
A young girl lost a knife which she cared for a good deal and
failed to find it. One night she was dreaming that a de-
parted brother of hers whom she had dearly loved, was ap-
pearing unto her, holding her hand and leading her to the
very place where the knife was. She woke up, went there
and found the knife. One may well guess how it will be
hard to hinder that child from believing in a revelation from
beyond the grave. Still, the case is merely a part of poly-
gonal reminiscence. One may see from this the great care
that should be taken when making an inquiry and before
asserting that the case is supernatural.
c. Before the Crystal Vision.
The disclosure of polygonal reminiscence whose origin is
unknown to 0 because it has been stored away during ab-
'Myers, "The human personality." See also the very remarkable
book of Joseph Jastrow about " the subliminal."
POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES 115
sence of mind, may be made in other conditions of hyper-
polygonal disaggregation than sleep. For instance, in
crystal vision, "Miss Goodrich Freer," says Myers, "sees
through a crystal the announcement of the death of a
friend of hers, a fact quite apart from her Ego, which is
usually conscious. When reading The Times she finds in a
sheet which she had used as a screen against the heat of the
chimney, the announcement of the death of a person bearing
the same name as her friend, so that the words had gone
through her field of vision, but had failed to reach her mind
when awake."
That is indeed all the explanation there is to this phe-
nomenon as assuming a bearing of divination or clairvoy-
ance. When she was sitting before the chimney and think-
ing of something else with her 0, this lady had read and
preserved within her polygon that name which she recognized
in The Times as then used by her as a screen. She had had
no consciousness, no conscious reminiscence of the fact.
But when her polygon was again disaggregated by crystal
vision, it detected this name which belonged to a beloved
person. It dramatized this remembrance and made it ap-
pear in the crystal as the death of this friend.^
d. When Awake.
When awake, 0 may also take hold of the polygonal
reminiscences and become conscious of them, even without
heeding their origin and the nature of the remembrances.
^A person "saw appearing in a crystal a young lady who was her
friend and was riding in a carriage and bowing to her. The hair of this
young lady was erect, while up to that time, it had hung down. Dur-
ing the day, the person to whom we refer had in fact passed by the
carriage of her friend, but she says she had most certainly seen neither
her friend nor her carriage. The following day she went to see her
friend who asked her the reason why she had not recognized her, and
she was surprised to see that her hair was dressed as was perceived
through the crystal." Jastrow, loc. cit., p. 75.
116 POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES
a. Absent-mindedness and Waking.
In absence of mind disaggregation is loose and incom-
plete. By insisting a little 0 may become conscious of an
impression stored within its polygon. You ask a question
of an absent-minded individual and he will ask, "What?"
He has heard you are talking to him, but has taken no notice
of the question asked. Without repeating your question,
you insist and say, " Think over it, I have asked you some-
thing." ''Oh, yes," he says. He then makes an effort,
detects your question in his lower psychism, and answers it.
Likewise, in a spontaneous manner, or under the influence
of a strong and new impression, 0 gets out of its absence of
mind, and while reassuming the management of the whole
psychism, detects several polygonal reminiscences. On the
threshold of Mme. de Haut Castel's house, Xavier de
Maistre was heeding his own absent-mindedness.
While talking it may happen that you notice too late and
through 0 that you have unconsciously used one word for
another several times already. This is a polygonal remi-
niscence abruptly heeded by 0. The matter becomes more
complex but remains of the same kind when a polygonal
reminiscence has been received by 0. It is already modified
by a polygonal argument, or by an unconscious association
of ideas or images.
Myers relates the instance of a botany student who was
heedlessly passing in front of the signboard of a restaurant,
and believed he read on it the words " verbascum thapsus."
But the word really printed on it was "Bouillon," which is
the French usual expression for the plant verbascum thap-
sus. There occurred, as Myers says, a subliminal alteration
of the actual optical perception and those words: "verbas-
cum thapsus," became the message conveyed to the super-
liminal absent-minded Ego by the subliminal Ego, which
was more engaged in botany than in a dinner.
POLYGONAL REMINISCENCES 117
Cases of undergoing such a polygonal and consequently
unconscious alterations between a crime and the criminal
court are numerous. How many perjurers are not guilty
because their deceit is of the same order as the involuntary
and unconscious and consequently not fraudulent deceits
which we have discust in the second chapter of Part I.
The original, real and really perceived, impression is altered
by polygonal imagination (which we will investigate in the
following chapter), and the upper centers express it con-
sciously and voluntarily, under its new aspect, which has
become unknown to them and is absolutel}^ erroneous.
You may declare that you have met with Mr. A. in such a
place, at such a time, whilst you have actually seen Mr. B.
there; the color of gloves or attire has associated the idea of
Mr. A. with the idea of Mr, B. in your polygon, and has
finally preserved the remembrance of Mr. A.
The impulse of passion, gregarious impulse, as well as all
conditions of hyperpolygonal semi-disaggregation lead thus
into polygonal arguments whose conclusions are often quite
dangerous when 0 asserts and maintains them in absolute
sincerity and even upon oath.
Without the above psychophysiological analysis one
might easily ascribe to occult or supernatural powers the
vision of transformation, apparently spontaneous, of im-
pression and ideas, whose origin remains unconscious, and
of course mysterious to 0.
p. Sleeping and Waking.
Reminiscences of sleep in waking, or vice versa, may in-
volve similar interpretations. The revocation by 0 of poly-
gonal memory from sleep to waking may be provoked by a
sensory impression having a more or less direct relation to
the dream in question. Sometimes revocation is due to a
visual or auditory representation. The word "citizen"
118 THINGS PREVIOUSLY SEEN
uttered in a dream, and again uttered on the following day,
recalls the remembrance of this dream, and makes it live for
a few moments. An odd suit of clothes, seen at waking,
recalls a dream in which a person appears attired in a sim-
ilar manner.^
Reversely, it frequently happens that remembrance of
waking encroaches upon sleep. Very often reminiscences of
waking provoke and guide the subsequent dream. Such
remembrances in dreams may even assume absolutely the
bearing of a real hypermnesia. "This intensity," adds
Tissie, " may render miracles credible." The clerk, cited by
Abercrombie, remembered when asleep an act he had per-
formed at waking nine months earlier, and in a similar con-
dition a man of Bowland met again with a remembrance of
his youth. This hypermnesia had been provoked by concen-
tration of mind and undeniable work at the time of waking.
These facts are very nearly identical with those of Myers
cited above, in which the disaggregated polygon finds again,
during sleep, polygonal reminiscences that are forgotten at
waking.
43. A Sensation of "Things Previously Seen,"
"Previously Felt," or Erroneous Recognition.
a. Some Attitudes of 0 Regarding Polygonal Reminiscences.
Various are the impressions made on 0 by the more or less
abrupt knowledge of a polygonal reminiscence, as well as the
ideas aroused in 0 by this reminiscence, whose existence up
to that time was unknown to it.
a. In the most frequent cases (these are of little interest
here), the subject recognizes the nature and origin of the
remembrance, without any surprise or mistake.
h. 0 sometimes hesitates concerning the origin and real
'Tissie, "Les Reves. Physiologie et Pathologie," Bibliotheque de
Philosophie contemporaine, 2d ed., 1898.
THINGS PREVIOUSLY SEEN 119
nature of the impression suddenly disclosed to it. For in-
stance, on getting out of bed you ask yourself whether you
are dreaming or awake, and whether the idea that occurs to
your mind is a reality or a dream. This hesitation is per-
sistent in some individuals. A soldier, cited by Tissie, was
dreaming that he was tried before a court-martial and had
given up his sword. When awake he put his hand on his
sword at his side in order to ascertain whether it was stiU
there.
c. The polygonal reminiscence may appear to 0 abso-
lutely as a true reminiscence. In this case O does not believe
at all that it is a reminiscence, which it imagines to be the
author of the idea. The act provoked in fact by memory
seems to be a spontaneous act of the upper centers. Such a
phenomenon occurred to Raskolnickoff in the scene cited
above by Dostoievski. He believed he had spontaneously
walked to the right when leaving the haymarket, when he
had in fact complied with a mere polygonal reminiscence.
d. Finally, in more complex cases, by feeling a sensation
0 recognizes it, because it is a reminiscence preserved by its
polygon within its memory at large, and at the same time
it is unable to account for the origin of this reminiscence —
neither for the place where nor for the time when it acquired
it. Consequently it recognizes a thing which it has never
seen. These irreconcilable evidences, this failure of reason
concerning the recognition of a sensation not previously
felt, implies a very peculiar anguish, and then the subject
meets with the queer sensation which I am going to set
forth and analyze in the following paragraph.
h. Description of "Things Previously Seen."^
One should not confine "things previously seen" either
'See " La Sensation du ' deja vu,' sensation ' du deja entendu,' du ' dej^
6prouve,' illusion de fausse reconnaissance," Journal de Psychologie
normale et pathologique, 1904, t. I, No. 1.
120 THINGS PREVIOUSLY SEEN
with reminiscence (in which there is no recognition, but on
the contrary an ignorance of the mnemonic origin of the
impression), or with the "things previously seen" of ahen-
ists, which are halhicinations of 0. Thus, a patient of
Arnaud detected in his memory remembrance of a sus-
pended locomotive after an accident that happened at
Montparnasse Station (i. e. he recognized a thing that he had
never seen, either consciously or unconsciously). This inci-
dent represents the " palingnostic " delirium of Mendel, in
which a patient imagines he recognizes in what he sees for
the first time in a milieu absolutely new objects, and indi-
viduals that he would have previously known, and a milieu
in which he might formerly have been placed.^ This case
belongs to alienation, and I need not deal with it here.
On the contrary, physiological ''things previously seen"
are really facts of lower psychism. They cannot be de-
scribed better than by quoting this passage giving a per-
sonal observation by Paul Bourget which I am permitted
to print here.
" The feeling of erroneous recognition is quite familiar to
me. It usually happens as follows: Somebody utters a
sentence, and before it is complete, I have a sudden and ir-
resistible impression that I have already heard those very
words as spoken by the same person with an identically
same stress of voice. My illusion goes even farther, I
immediately imagine I have already heard the answer
which I have had no time yet to utter. Or to speak more
precisely, I am under the impression that I have already
emitted the sounds which I am going to express, and this
while I am expressing them. It is then, while I am speak-
ing, that my illusion is at its height. I suddenly imagine
that this sentence and my answer imply emotions that I
'S^glas, "Traitd de Pathologic mentale de Gilbert Ballet," p. 270.
THINGS PREVIOUSLY SEEN 121
feel no more. It is as if a whole world of feelings, having
occurred to my heart, were to occur again; they do not come
forward, and still I feel them. I am seized in spite of my
efforts with an anguish familiar to my most frequent dreams;
i. e. to see living and moving a friend whom, even in my
dream, I know to be dead. Likewise, during those instants
of erroneous recognition, I know that the words spoken
with the person I am talking to have never been expressed
on a previous occasion. I know above all that my emo-
tional relations to this person are actual, and I feel that
those words have been spoken. This duality of irreconcil-
able evidences is acting in the field of my conscience during
a moment which is generally quite short, though it seems
infinite^ long to me. Then the phenomenon comes to an
end and I have the same physical sensation as when getting
out of a fit of complete absent-mindedness."
c. Psychophysiological Analysis of the Phenomenon.
My opinion is that in all these facts, or at least in most
of them, recognition is real. The subject rightly recog-
nizes an impression perceived before. But this impression,
having reached the memory at large at a moment when the
polygon was disaggregated, the person has not perceived the
coming of the remembrance and fails to understand how
this impresson has reached his brain for the first time. As
Fernand Gregh^ remarks: "You feel that you are living a
minute previously lived by yourself, but you are unable to
place it definitely in the past."
Regarding phenomena of this kind, Jules Lemaitre^
^Fernand Gregh quoted by Leroy, "Etude sur rillusion de fausse
reconnaissance (identificirende Erinnerungstauschung) de Kroplin, chez
les alienes et les sujets normaux." Th^se de Paris, 1898, No. 655.
^Jules Lemaitre quoted by Charles M6r6, " La Sensation du *d6ja vu,' "
Mercure de France, 1903, t. XLVII, p. 73.
122 THINGS PREVIOUSLY SEEN
rightly observes: "Our intellectual life is mostly uncon-
scious. Objects make continuous impressions which we do
not perceive. They are stored within us unknown to us."
In a recent book Dromard and Abbes have expressed
ideas concerning illusions of erroneous recognition, which I
deem to be interesting to compare with those I have just set
forth. " Invagination of attention " is what they call a con-
dition of absence of mind in which 0 is not heeding the out-
ward, being engrossed by an introspective observation.
They add: "In such a state of invagination of attention,
what is it that is going to occur in the presence of a con-
dition of M ? Usually the lower psychism (polygonal centers)
would gather a series of sensations supplied by M, and the
upper psychism (center 0) would accordingly convert such
sensations into perception, which would involve a conscious
representation of M together with a feeling of adaptation or
effort for taking possession of reality. If such should be
the case, there would be no more cooperation between both
psychisms (center 0 and polygonal centers) for taking
possession of M. The lower psychism (polygonal centers)
is storing the representation of M without help of and un-
known to 0. The upper psychism (center 0) is engrossed,
as we are aware of, by introspection and cut off from reality.
The distinctive mark of the representation thus stored is
automatism: i. e. it is accompanied by no feeling of effort
in view of an adaptation of the Ego to the non-Ego. Dur-
ing that time the upper psychism (center 0) uses its activity
contrary to what may be observed in a dreamer's mind.
But instead of adapting to M this activity it adapts it on the
image of M, gathered by the lower psychism (polygonal
centers) in the conditions above mentioned and with the
marks just pointed out.
"Thus the operation observed as a whole implies two
elements: a. presence in the subliminal of a representation
POLYGONAL HYPERMNESIA 123
of M as stored exclusive of any effort of adaptation; b. ap-
plication of conscious activity to this representation of M.
"In short, we have on one side automatical fixation of
representations, and on the other side application of a con-
scious activity to those representations. Such are the ele-
ments on which most likely depends, in our opinion, the
illusion of things previously seen. Such conditions are ful-
filled in certain states of absence of mind, when those states
induce in an unconscious manner a kind of invagination of
attention instead of ceasing merely by a recurrence of
normal activity of mind."^
44. Pathology of Polygonal Memory.
The various phenomena of polygonal memory I have just
spoken of correspond with physiological or at most extra-
physiological conditions. The pathological conditions of
polygonal memory may also involve phenomena which an
incomplete survey formerly placed within the range of
occult and mysterious facts.
a. Polygonal Hypermnesia.
I do not think that the total of memory can be increased
in a pathological condition. There is no pathological hy-
permnesia that can be generalized and made real. But in
certain conditions of generalized paramnesia, disease may
bestow on polygonal memory a morbid predominance. We
must understand in this way hypermnesia as suggested dur-
ing hypnosis. Besides, in any case, the faculty of poly-
gonal memory is not increased. In such polygonal hyperm-
nesia an easier revival or a sounder fixation only is possible.
h. Total Amnesia with Preservation of Polygonal Memory.
Polygonal memory may be preserved in general amnesia.
^Dromard and Albes, "Essai theorique sur I'illusion dite de fausse
reconnaissance," Journal de Psychologie normale et pathologiqtie, 1905,
p. 216.
124 TOTAL AMNESIA
At waking time the subject offers the same particulars as
one suffering from general and total amnesia; but, should it
be possible to survey him in a condition (either spontaneous
or provoked) of hyperpolygonal disaggregation, he will
utterly differ from others. The remembrance, which
seemed to be completely expelled from his brain, is detected
and revealed within his disaggregated polygon. It is con-
sequently possible to arouse in the mind of those suffering
from amnesia remembrances that had faded away by ques-
tioning directly their emancipated polygon — for instance,
during sleep or during fits of hysterics, automatical hand-
writing, or hypnosis.
Pierre Janet cites the case of a female patient who, being
questioned as to the name of the house-surgeon, did not
know it. During a conversation her attention was en-
grossed by some other topic; a pencil was placed in her hand.
She was requested to write down the name of the house-
surgeon, and she did so accordingly. Everyone has some-
times forgotten the right spelling of a word and found it
again by writing it automatically.
The most typical instance of this phenomenon is the case
of a patient dealt with by Charcot^ in his lecture of Decem-
ber 22, 1891.
After a violent fit, provoked by an emotion on August 28,
1891, she forgot all that had happened since the evening of
July 14 (a case of retrograde amnesia) . She could not reg-
ister or preserve any remembrance. Indeed, the facts she
so quickly forgot at waking and which she was unable to
make appear within her consciousness, she had really reg-
istered. As a proof of this it was found that she was able to
recall them at night during sleep. She had been watched by
two patients next to her bed, and information had been
'Charcot, "Sur un cas d'amn^sie r^troanterograde probablement
d'origine hyst^rique," Revue de MHecine, 1892, t. XII, p. 81.
POLYGONAL AMNESIA 125
given by them that she used to dream aloud. During her
dreams she sometimes alluded to facts that had occurred on
previous days. . She thus recalled in her sleep facts that she
failed to remember at waking-. But the best proof was as
follows: this woman, on behig hypnotized, found again, in
the hypnotic sleep, any fact that had happened up to that
time. All reminiscences thus registered come to life again
during hypnosis, combined, systematized, without any
interruption, so as to make a continuous course and a kind
of second Ego, but a hidden, unconscious Ego, quite differ-
ent from the usual Ego whose total amnesia is well known to
you.
Bernheim^ had before established that it is possible to
arouse during hypnosis remembrances that seemed to have
absolutely faded away.
He has shown that it is in the same manner possible to
recall negative hallucinations, i. e. to blot out during hyp-
nosis amnesia previously suggested. If led in this direction
the subject will remember all he ought not to feel, or see,
or hear. It may be easily gathered how, before such inves-
tigations were made, owing to little power of imagination,
one was inclined to see in those facts proof of an occult
influence or of a mysterious fluid,
c. Polygonal Amnesia.
Finally, in certain circumstances, amnesia may exclu-
sively affect polygonal ideas. The lower psychical life is
much disturbed in such a case, while the upper psychical
life, which is conscious and voluntary, may be acting quite
right. Pierre Janet is right when he asserts that in such
amnesia the hysteric does not become stupid as he ought to
do, and as he would should he suffer from total amnesia.
^Bernheim, " Hypnotisme, Suggestion, Psychoth^rapie," 1891, p. 133.
126 POLYGONAL AMNESIA
The intelligence and reasoning are preserved, although
the intellectual operation is usually connected with the
preservation of memory. In 0 the upper intelligence is
untouched, because in those cases amnesia is exclusively
polygonal.
CHAPTER VI
POLYGONAL IMAGINATION AND THE CONNECTION
OF IDEAS— POLYGONAL MEDIUMS AND NOVELS
I. Polygonal Imagination and the Linking of Ideas.
45. General definitions and analysis.
46. The polygon and inspiration.
II. Mediums.
47. The exteriorization of polygonal ideas.
48. Definition of a medium.
49. Trances in relation to nervous sufferers.
50. Alterations of personality. Mediumistic individualities.
51. Stages of mediumship.
III. The Polygonal Novels of Mediums.
52. Helen Smith's novels.
a. Royal Cycle.
b. The Martian novel.
53. Mme. Snead's Martian novel.
IV. Conclusions.
54. Reality of the polygonal imagination.
55. Limits to the polygonal imagination.
a. Inferior characteristics of polygonal novels.
b. Inferiority of polygonal conceptions at large.
56. The productions of mediums by polygonal memory easily coun-
terfeit exogenic supernatural messages.
I. POLYGONAL IMAGINATION AND THE CON-
NECTION OF IDEAS
45. General Definitions and Analysis.
It is impossible to assert with Claparede^ that association
always means " association of facts of consciousness." One
'Claparede, " L'Association des Id^es," Biblioth^que international^
de psychologie normale et pathologique, 1903,
128 POLYGONAL IMAGINATION
should say '' association of psychical facts. For if there is
an association of ideas and images stored within conscious-
ness, there is also an association of ideas and images stored
within the polygonal unconscious centers. This polygonal
association is subject to the same principles as the upper
association, and estabhshes the personal activity of the
lower psychical centers.
Neurones do not remain passive in the presence of ideas
and images that come from outside. Stimulated by a new
idea or image, the centers evoke within memory remem-
brances somewhat related to the stimulating impression.
The centers are the elements of association as well as the
means of heeding and remembering. Ideas and images do
not attract one reciprocally as the magnet attracts filings;
the personal nature of the subject is interfering with the
function. Claparede with reason found 0 " quite inade-
quate." Rabier's opinion is that the origin of association
lies in preceding ideas. He termed this active element a
"power of association" on which the evocation of a new
idea in any case depends.
As regards imagination nobody any longer denies the
personal activity of the neuronic centers. Neither is any
one still inclined to accept imagination solely as a " mental
imagery." Bain finds in imagination " constructiveness, a
function either plastic or poetical, according to the etymo-
logical sense of the term." Ribot^ investigated creative
imagination. Dugas^ inferred that imagination was the
cooperation, uneasily performed, of two distinct elements^
the power of objectivation and the power of combina-
tion.
^Ribot, "Essai sur I'imagination cr^atrice," Bibliotheque de philo-
sophie contemporaine, 1900.
^Dugas, "L'Imagination," Bibliotheque Internationale de pgychologie
normale et pathologique, 1903.
POLYGONAL IMAGINATION 129
Imagination in fact consists of two elements: objectiva-
tion and creation. I have already afforded proofs of asso-
ciation of polygonal ideas or images, and polygonal imag-
ination in absent-mindedness (as in the botany student),
in sleep (as in dreams), in hypnosis,^ and in somnambu-
lism.
Here is the unconscious or polygonal association which
explains the association termed mediate or latent (Ham-
ilton).
Hobbes relates that, while a conversation was going on
about the Civil War in England, some one suddenly asked
the value of a certain Roman coin^— a denarius. The link
connecting both ideas (i. e. the Civil War during the reign
of Charles I when Charles I was betrayed by the Scotch
people for £200,000, and Jesus Christ who was betrayed by
Judas for thirty denarii) was seen when after meditation
for a few moments the correct answer was given.
Fere reports that a man laboring under migraine had as-
sociated the idea of Joan of Arc with the word biscuit ; this
term had successively aroused the idea of plates of biscuits
placed as superimposed quadrilaterals. Then came the idea
of a funeral pile, and lastly that of Joan of Arc.
'Charles Richet {L'Homme et V Intelligence, p. 178) said to a female
patient of Beaujon Hospital: "Come with me. We are going out to
travel." And then, she "successively described the places she went
through, the gaPieries of the hospital, the streets which she passed on
her way to the station, which she finally reached. She did not know
all the places, but she indicated their particulars with sufficient accuracy;
her imagination and memory equally stimulated, represented them to
her under real aspects. Then, she was abruptly carried off " to a remote
place which she had not seen — the lake of Como for instance, or the
frozen countries of the North. Her imagination being unchecked was
given to concepts that were not absolutely lacking in charm, and were
interesting, owing to their factitious precision. We were constantly
surprised at her perceiving so quickly erroneous sensations."
130 THE POLYGON AND INSPIRATION
Does it not occur frequently to us when thinking of some
one that we see emerging suddenly the figure of another
individual, and we very well reahze that a kind of like-
ness is the basal cause of the association? But we are un-
able to detect the common mark which constitutes this like-
ness, or at least it is only after a while that we find it out.
With these mediatory associations may be compared the
phenomena of synesthesia which are sometimes the result
of a subjacent association whose mediatory link would be
effective according to Flournoy.
46. The Polygon and Inspiration.
Polygonal imagination is so real, and plays so important
a part in psychical life at large that some philosophers have
been inclined to make it the basis of inspiration. Ribot
uses the term, "unconscious factor" of the imagination
for what in common language is called inspiration. Those
advocating such doctrines have been peculiarly surprised at
the suddenness that marks the coming of the impression,
as well as at the accompanying unconsciousness. It seems
to the inspired subject that he receives an outward mes-
sage, so that he frequently exteriorizes its origin — for ex-
ample in using the symbol of the Muse.
The same authors very strongly insist on the part sleep
plays with certain subjects, and cite for instance with
Chabaneix, Tartini, who, hearing during sleep the devil
playing unto him the famous "Sonata of the Devil," wakes
up and writes it down; or Schumann receiving from Schu-
bert the theme in E-flat major; or Coleridge writing poetry
during his sleep. Mozart, in describing his mode of com-
position, says, "All that (the intervention and execution)
occurs to me as a very distinct and beautiful dream."
Ribot develops this theory, saying that inspiration "re-
sembles a ciphered message transferred by unconscious
THE POLYGON AND INSPIRATION 131
activity to the conscious one, which translates it." He
concludes that "what seems to be acquired is that a certain
geniality, or at least opulence of invention shall depend on
subliminal imagination rather than on the other, which is
superficial by nature and promptly exhausted. Inspiration
means unconscious imagination and is a peculiar form of
it. Conscious imagination is an agent of improvement.
Despite the authority of its apologists, it seems to me that
this polygonal doctrine of inspiration somehow throws down
the respective features of both psychisms.
No doubt there is constructiveness and creative work
in polygonal activity; the romances of mediums, which will
be discussed further, give proof of it. Polygonal imagina-
tion is also complete in itself; that is to say there is an ele-
ment of association, objectivation and creation. But its
distinctive mark is disfigured when it is given the first and
exclusive part in inspiration.
The two great attributes of suddenness and imperson-
ality cited by authors to establish the unconscious nature of
inspiration prove nothing either for or against the poly-
gonal theory. These are mysterious elements that may be
unfolded in both psychisms — in the lower psychism as well
as in the upper one. They are new and quick associations
wljose structure we do not perceive. Ribot points out cer-
tain queer habits in some authors as acquired in order to
make inspiration easy.^ And he adds : '' All those processes
have the same object in view: making a peculiar physiolog-
ical condition, the increase of cerebral circulation in order to
provoke or maintain unconscious activity."
^To walk quickly; to be stretched out upon one's bed; to be fond of
complete darkness, or full light; to hold one's feet in water or on ice;
have one's head in bright sunshine, make use of wine, alcohol or
aromatic drinks of hashish and other substances poisoning to the intelli-
gence.— Ribot, "Psychologic du sentiment" (citat. Chabaneix).
132 THE POLYGON AND INSPIRATION
I consent to all this endeavor to make a peculiar physio-
logical condition, perhaps even to the increase of cerebral cir-
culation and to provoking or maintaining psychical activity.
But how are we to believe that this stimulates or preserves
better unconscious activity? Why would not those va-
rious acts as well stimulate or maintain the activity of 0
and of all psychical activities at the same time?
In fact, I believe that physiologically, with sound people,
inspiration and creative imagination have for aids, both
orders of psychical centers united at the same time into
daily cooperation. In most of the clearly investigated
cases of inspiration proof is found of such cooperation.
"From this amalgam," says Goethe, "from this mixture
and chemistry, at the same time conscious and unconscious,
follows finally a harmonious whole at which everyone is
marveling." Remy de Gourmont^ acknowledges the co-
operation of both psychisms; he proclaims their unity,
owing to which most notable works are achieved, having
been first thought of either by volition (0), or in a dream
(polygon).
In this cooperation 0 is creating while the polygon is
"ruminating" and contributing mightily to the invention
of expression, Ribot describes quite accurately uncon-
scious or polygonal "rumination,"
One novel theory, which appears to be quite indefensible,
places either in 0 alone, or only in the polygon, the center of
inspiration. Should there be any disaggregation in the
inspiration, it is not the hyperpolygonal disaggregation be-
tween 0 and the polygon, but rather hyperpolygonal dis-
aggregation, "V\Tien an author is engrossed in doing his
work he is not cut off from himself. On the contrary he
'Remy de Gourmont, "La creation subconsciente," La culture des
Idees, 1900, p. 47.
THE POLYGON AND INSPIRATION 133
concentrates all his psychical powers. He is solely cut
off from the external }vorld.
Therefore, in normal psychism of inspiration and creative
imagination, both centers are interfering. Provided you
intend to make an analysis of both psychisms, or to establish
the distinct part plaj^ed by each, you must say that 0 in a
person is the symbol of the creative power of genius in the
higher thought that it unfolds and expresses.
Besides, according to temperament, the absolute and
relative power of various psychical centers is exceedingly
unsettled; some have in their polygon an intellectual power
much greater than others in their whole psychism. Some
are more polygonal ; others have still more of 0. The part of
the polygonal element in inspiration, will, of course be
quite different according to the subject's temperament, —
whether the person inspired have in excess the polygonal,
or the 0, or is one having equal powers in both psychisms.
Thus, it may be seen that the analysis of physiological
constitutions, classified according to polygonal association
and imagination, necessarily completes the survey of the
respective part of psychisms in the working of imaginative
creation and inspiration.
There is, lastly, a final argument, which is to prove that
the polygonal element is not all in inspiration. Should
Ribot's theory be real, the acme of inspiration would be
found in merely polygonal works, such as those of mediums.
In fact, in order to establish his theory, Ribot quotes as an
example of subliminal creative imagination, the Martian
romance by Helen Smith, the medium of Flournoy. But,
in the following paragraphs, we are going to see how trifling
and childish imagination is in those cases.
134 MEDIUMS
II. MEDIUMS
47. The Exteriorization of Polygonal Ideas.
We have shown above that certain persons are more
qualified than others as regards table-turning and willing-
game; that every one is not a good spring-finder. This is a
first and elementary definition of a medium, A medium is
a subject who succeeds more easily than others in occult
experiments. In order to make the matter more precise,
and to get into the psychophysiological analysis of the me-
dium, we must at first remember the influence of the poly-
gon in the exteriorization of an idea in a given mental
process, and also the principles of the eccentric moving of
those polygonal ideas.
Paulhan^ has plainly shed light on the part of automa-
tism in the achievement of a determination. He shows
that deliberation and decision are usually distinct from
automatism, while in achievement automatism is predomi-
nant. If now and then the fulfilment leaves off being
automatical, it is because it needs in order to be continued
and completed a new deliberation and a new decision.
When I have determined to go out of a room the rest follows
almost spontaneously. Almost without thinking of it and
without a new act of (upper) volition, I put my overcoat on,
take my hat, look through the window to see whether I
should take an umbrella, open my door, close it again, and
go down the stairs. When my decision has been taken, all
these phenomena automatically follow in logical sequence
and I may say as an organic conclusion.
Inferring from this first principle that any mental process
of volition is ready to manifest itself through a movement
•Paulhan, "La volenti," Bibliotheque internationale de psychologie
exp^riroentale, normale et pathologique, 1903.
DEFINITION OF A MEDIUM 135
or an act, Ribot divides ideas into three groups, — whether
the tendency to be converted into acts is strong, moderate,
weak, or under certain circumstances non-existent.
First. The first head includes intellectual conditions that
are exceedingly intense; ideas "that move us;" i. e., that
are accompanied with sensitive phenomena (ideas with
emotion, passion).
Second. Under the second head are classified common and
ordinary ideas whose power of exteriorization is moderate.
Third. The third group comprises abstract ideas (with
the lowest power of exteriorization).
In short, we may declare that the strongest stimuli come
from the polygonal psychism. The moderate impulses are
given by both psychisms combined, and the weakest from
the centers 0 cut off and working by themselves ; or in other
words, the polygonal psychism is much more related to the
motor act than is the upper psychism.
48. Definition of a Medium.
It is known that the lower psychism is readily made
manifest by acts equally unconscious. But any polygon is
not apt, to the same extent, to show such readiness of ex-
teriorization. The medium is a subject whose polygon is
more active and more easily exteriorized than other peo-
ple's; or at least converts its psychism into acts more
quickly.
Some polygons exteriorize more quickly and more strongly
their inner condition. They are those that succeed in ex-
periments of table-turning and are the best guides at
willing-game. Experiments of various orders may be tried
with such mediums. Usually questions are asked of them.
Their polygon thinks a more or less complex answer, and
expresses it, always unconsciously, and involuntarily.
The means used by the medium to express his answer are
136 DEFINITION OF A MEDIUM
many. Formerly the medium was placed at his table, and
he may even now be placed there. He answers by using
the legs of the table as his interpreters, and the raps knock
as an alphabet. But in case of long conversation with
experienced mediums, such a process is tedious and uncom-
fortable with regard to words spoken as well as the inter-
pretation. Such a process is rudimentary. Later a pencil
was fixed to the leg of the table, and the medium answered
the questions asked by writing through those means, which
were too complex. Still later the table was replaced by a
planchette furnished with a pencil, which was a far easier
way. Some people wrote with a top or other utensils.
Finally the pencil was placed in the medium's hand, and
it worked alone, or at least wrote unknown to 0 of the sub-
ject, 0 being unwilling to it. This is the automatic hand-
writing quite well observed in hysterics, or in subjects
merely absent-minded. It is handwriting through a dis-
aggregated polygon. The medium writes on the right or on
the wrong side. He also uses mirror writing. Some others
make drawings, their hand wandering at random. The
house of Mozart on the planet Mars is sketched in notes of
music. In 1876, the Revue Spirite presented its subscribers
with a mediumistic drawing representing the head of
Christ.
The polygonal activity of mediums is not restricted to
table-turning, planchettes or pencils. Speech is possible
through the polygon. There are speaking mediums who
use automatical, involuntary and unconscious speech.
Apart from the writing and speaking mediums, there are
also gesticulating mediums. They answer questions by
gestures of the head or the hand, or putting their fingers on
letters of the alphabet with excessive speed.^ The type-
ifiersot, loc. cit., p. 130.
DEFINITION OF A MEDIUM 137
writer is often a serviceable instrument to such mediums.
Many of them mimic personages in whom they become incar-
nate, or whom they embody.
The New York Herald has related instances of mediums
playing the harp or the piano. The name of a great com-
poser of the past was whispered into the ear of Mrs. Mac-
Alhster Spencer of Chicago. She was heard suddenly play-
ing extempore in the departed artist's style. She was sure
to get inspiration from the spirit of Mozart. She added:
" A little while after I acquired the strange gift of playing
extempore on the piano, although I had never learned it,
my sister exprest a wish to play the harp. Never in her
life had she touched this instrument. My father bought
one for her, and she immediately played it as if she had
practised it for years. We often play duets, and, without
any previous agreement between us, we play extempore in
perfect time."
Thus one may see how various and numerous are the
means used by mediums in order to exteriorize ideas from
their disaggregated polygon. In short, according to what
has just been stated, mediums appear as subjects whose poly-
gonal life and activity are notably intense and become easily
disaggregated from their upper psychical life and activity.
"When they are perfect," says Pierre Janet, "mediums
are instances of partition in which both personalities abso-
lutely ignore each other, and are developing quite inde-
pendently of each other." This is quite right, but it is
perhaps an incomplete statement. The medium's polygon
is really cut off from 0. It should be added, however, that
when the medium is at work, if, on the one hand, 0 is taking
rest, on the other the polygon is exercising great personal
activity.
The polygonal activity has been set forth already in
several experiments I have quoted. It becomes far more
138 TRANCES IN NERVOUS SUFFERERS
obvious when the medium instead of merely answering a
question, describes things perceived by him. We shall have
to discuss this when surveying the "dividing into two" of
personality in Section V of this chapter.
Hyperpolygonal disaggregation and remarkable poly-
gonal activity occur therefore to the medium at the same
time. The medium's value is in proportion to such poly-
gonal activity. Briefly, the medium is a subject endowed
with a lively polygonal imagination, and at the same time
with a great power of hyperpolygonal disaggregation.^
49. Trances in Relation to Nervous Sufferers.
The medium is not constantly found in this condition of
hyperpolygonal disaggregation which makes him fit for
^It is worth while to compare here, with this conception of the
medium, the definition recently set forth by Papus ("L'initiation,"
Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 400) by first remembering that the author
places the lower, unconscious, or polygonal psychism in the field of the
great sympathetic. " Physiologically, the most remarkable feature of the
mediumistic condition is the predominance of the sympathetic system
over the conscious, nervous system. In proportion as the sympathetic
system takes for itself a portion of the power designed for the conscious
system, the tension of the centers of organic life increases and the inten-
sity of the cerebral functions diminish. When the taking of power
by the sympathetic functions becomes still greater, the working of the
cerebral centers comes to an end, and sleep supervenes. What has been
termed subliminal consciousness, unconscious intelligence, etc., is
precisely the replacing of cerebral consciousness by the intelligence of
the sympathetic." In the work of Jules Bois will be found many eluci-
dations of the doctrine of lower psychism in explanation of occultism.
' ' The seer is the maker of his own vision, the diviner of his divination,
the prophet of his prophecy. Likewise, in a condition of minor uncon-
sciousness, the poet makes his poem. We now enter into the occult,
or rather into what was termed the occult up to now. Those powers
originating in the living beings, but disaggregated, unchecked by voli-
tion, memory or consciousness, will be, as we are going to see, ascribed
to the dead, owing to an error that appeals to our feelings, or because
of a shameful quackery." He asserts that the explanation afforded by
Myers and Pierre Janet is his own. See also his interview quoted in the
Motin, March, 1908, and the book of Jastrow, above mentioned.
TRANCES IN NERVOUS SUFFERERS 139
success in experiments. When he intends to give a seance,
he has to put himself in a pecuHar condition; he gets into a
trance; he somehow divides into two his personality. He
momentarily suppresses 0 and lives, at least apparently,
only with his polygon. Charles Richet^ has plainly delin-
eated this state in passages quoted by Pierre Janet :
"The consciousness of the individual persists as to its
apparent integrity. Nevertheless very complex operations
are to take place outside of consciousness, without the
voluntary and conscious Ego seeming to feel any change
whatever. Another person wiU resist within him, acting,
thinking and willing, but unknown to his consciousness, i. e.,
to his reflective and conscious Ego.
" Such unconscious movements do not happen haphazard;
they follow, at least with certain mediums, a logical course
that enables them to establish, besides the regular, normal
and conscious thought of the medium, the simultaneous ex-
periment of another collateral thought going through stages
of its own. It probably does not appear to the conscious-
ness when not externally unfolded through this queer regis-
tering process."
When the medium is thus in a trance his polygonal ac-
tivity becomes manifest to a most intense degree. Sensa-
tions are associated and connected with each other. They
are externally made manifest so that the medium gets into
hallucinations and exteriorizes them through various move-
ments. Such a condition of polygonal hyperactivity is
obviously abnormal and extraphysiological. A whole chap-
ter has been devoted by Pierre Janet to the demonstration
of analogies between the trance and the fits of somnambu-
lism either spontaneous or provoked.
^Charles Richet, "La Suggestion Mentale et le Calcul des Probabi-
lit^s," Revue Philosophique, 1884, t. II, p. 650, and "Les Mouvements
Incgnscients. Horn mage a M. Chevreul," 1886.
140 TRANCES IN NERVOUS SUFFERERS
"At first," says he, "the generality of mediums, if not all,
offer nervous phenomena and are neuropathic when not
merely hysterical."
In my account of haunted houses cited above in which
the medium answered questions asked concerning the old
woman, it was seen that an interruption had taken place
in that case because of a violent fit of hysterics. The young
girl was nursed in February, 1902, in my ward of clinical
medicine, at St. Eloi Hospital, and my assistant, Dr. Cal-
mette, and myself undoubtedly ascertained that she was
hysterical. Three important fits of hysteria occurred in my
ward and minor fits of globus hystericus, together with
spasms, a feeling of strangulation, various and momentary
anesthesia with use of sensations not perceived with her
left hand anesthetized, so that she could learn the shape of
objects and recognize them, a narrowing of the field of vision,
dyschromatopsia, dermography, etc. Pierre Janet quotes
numerous analogous instances borrowed from Mirville,
Myers, Silas, Baragnon, etc.
Charcot has published an account of a whole family who
became hysterical owing to spiritistic habits. He establishes
the reciprocal relations of hysteria to mediumship. If ex-
periments in Spiritism are made to involve neuropathic
phenomena, one may, through suggestion, reciprocally in
certain circumstances, turn a fit of hysteria into a fit of
spiritism, accompanied by automatic acts. The change
may also spontaneously appear. Fits of spiritism and of
somnambulism then get entangled and succeed one another.
A medium may fall asleep on the table, and a magnetizer
will be needed to wake him.
What is known as electiveness is frequently met with in
spiritism as well as in somnambulism. In the same man-
ner as a subject in somnambulism will hear only certain
persons, and obey only certain voices, so the medium does
ALTERATIONS OF PERSONALITY 141
not work before every one and will not fulfil every com-
mand. Pierre Janet cites many instances of this.
A good many mediums become insane; this is what Allan
Kardec terms "subjugation." Gilbert Ballet^ has pub-
lished his observations of subjects who having become spir-
itualists after a seance, or after having taken advice from
mediums, have been led into chronic delirium.^
In fact, the relations between mediumship and nervous
disorders are evident. One may say that mediums belong
to the neuropathic family^ or, to be more precise, that the
medium's trance is graphic, verbal, or gesticulating auto-
matism, in the same manner as somnambulism is ambula-
tory automatism.
50. Alterations of Personality, Mediumistic Per-
sonalities.
Alterations of personality are predominant phenomena
in the trances of mediums. Nothing relates them better to
'Gilbert Ballet et Dheur, "Sur un cas de delire de mediumnite,"
Soci^te medico-psychologique, Annales Medico-psychologiques, 1903, t.
XVIII, p. 264. — Gilbert Ballet et Monier Vinard, "Delire hallucinatoire
avec id^es de persecution cons^cutif a des phenomenes de mediumnite,"
Ibid., p. 271. {Revue neurologique, 1904, pp. 304 and 447.)
^Quite recently newspapers have dealt with the case of a family whose
habits of Spiritism led into mental alienation.
'I shall further discuss hysteria and neuropathic imperfections in
Eusapia Palladino. Here follows what has been reported by Patrizi
(Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, p. 324) concerning a new medium, Amedeus
Zuccarini, of Bologne: "His neurological countenance is that of an
hysterical person. One may even suppose him to be liable, during the
night, to epileptoid phenomena. During his childhood, very often his
mother found him, in the morning, at the foot of his bed wrapped
in his blankets, and this, owing to an unaccountable cause, want of
symmetry in his face, which even his photograph now verifies, together
with a lesser growth of the left half of the face and related to a differ-
ence in the visual function of the eyes. His left-handedness is mentioned
or rather his being ambidextrous, besides an exaggerated development
of his upper limbs as compared with his stature. His sensitiveness to
142 ALTERATIONS OF PERSONALITY
the fits of somnambulism or hypnosis. A medium evoked
Napoleon's spirit and wrote messages from his dictation:
" All of a sudden the medium, who was speaking freely while
his hand was writing, ceased abruptly; his face became pale,
his eyes had a fixed stare, he stood erect again, assumed a
haughty and meditative air, and paced the room according
to the attitude ascribed by tradition to the Emperor." Then
he lay down and fell soundly asleep. The medium had
become Napoleon, i. e., he had been transferred from his own
condition of medium to one of those states of somnambu-
lism accompanied with an alteration of personality so accu-
rately known and described according to Charles Richet in
artificial somnambulism. Concerning this there is nothing
more demonstrative than the following observation con-
cerning Mme. Hugo d'Alesi, which is made in order to show
the successive incarnations of a medium, i. e., alterations of
personality, or objectivations of types, exactly as inarti-
ficial somnambulism. Pierre Janet has borrowed this ob-
servation from the Revue Spirite:
"Mme. Hugo d'Alesi is a perfect medium. She readily
cooperates with any of the spirits wishing to communicate
with us. Owing to her a great number of souls, like Eliane,
Phihppe, Gustave and many others, have written messages
regarding their occupations in the next world. But this
lady is possessed of a far more marvelous faculty; she can
lend to Spirits not only her arm but also her mouth and her
whole body. She can herself disappear, make room for
them, and embody them within her brain. For such a pur-
pose it is sufficient to lead her into slumber. A magnetizer
manages it. After a first stage of common somnambulism,
in which she is speaking in her own name, she remains stiff
pain was low to an appreciable extent. Acknowledgment is made of
the hallucinations he has experienced. He has a habit of speaking aloud
when asleep."
ALTERATIONS OF PERSONALITY 143
for awhile and then everything is altered. Mme. Hugo
d'Alesi is no more addressing us. A spirit has taken hold
of her body.
''This is EHane, a young lady whose pronunciation is
slightly affected, a whimsical little thing, a temper that
should be tenderly dealt with. Then a new condition oc-
curs; the scene is again changed, and we have Phihppe, or
M. Tetard, chewing tobacco or drinking ordinary wine; or
the Abbe Gerard, who intends to deliver a sermon, but
whose head is thick and mouth sticky because of the preced-
ing incarnation; or M. Aster, a rough and obscene fellow,
promptly dismist; or a baby, a little girl three years old.
'What is your name, darling?' 'Jeanne.' 'What do you
want?' 'Look for my dad and mamma and my little
brother.' She is playing and refuses to go away. Then
occurs another scene. Here is Gustave coming in. Gus-
tave is well worth mention. He is requested to produce a
painting, as he had been a dauber during his life. 'Listen,'
says he through the poor medium still asleep. 'I should
want time to make some nice work. It would be too long
and you would get impatient while waiting. So often have
I attempted to come forth, but fluids are necessary for that
purpose. It is rather hard to have intercourse with friends
on earth. Up there we are like little birds. I am very sorry
to be dead.'"
Pierre Janet incidentally observes that this is a remark
common to spirits. The report continues: "Gustave pro-
ceeds: 'We have gotten rid of a heap of unpleasant things
up here, however. No more office work or early rising; no
more boots and corns on one's feet. Besides, my stay on
earth had not been long enough. I left exactly when I was
beginning to enjoy myself. Should I come back to life
again, I want to be a painter and go to the School of Fine
Arts; also to make a row with my fellows, and amuse my-
144 FAMILIAR SPIRITS OF MEDIUMS
self with little models. This being said, I bid you good
night.' Who is coming next to Gustave? Forsooth! the
poet Stop will conclude the seance, since Stop is a name
quite fit in the circumstances. He is gloomy and his stress
is musical when he says : ' My soul sought for Love and did
not find it. Had I had a little more time I should have
made with it poetry. I know prose is not so fine, but it is
late and I have done my best.' "
"After this seance, which was most Hkely tiresome to her,
the medium was aroused, and then we had Mme. Hugo
d'Alesi as before."
Pierre Janet is right when he asserts that such observa-
tions are those of objective types, and alterations of per-
sonality as described by Charles Richet and many others,
in hypnotism and artificial somnambulism. To such "di-
viding into two" (dedoublement) of personahty or to such
formations of new personalities we should join those familiar
spirits that are supposed to inspire the generality of me-
diums. As an example of the fact, a quite important one
regarding a medium's psychology, I shall cite first Mile.
Couesdon,^ who readily and without any effort emancipates
her polygon.
"She would speak unto you in a very artless and reason-
able manner. Then after awhile she would say : ' I believe
my eyes are going to close,' And, in fact, her eyes did
close. Her stress of voice was then altered, became deeper,
and a psychical personality called the 'Angel Gabriel' was
addressing you in a language implying the frequent recur-
rence of words whose last syllable is e, so as to make false
rhymes."
This is automatical language involving echolalia as to the
letter e. Mile. Couesdon considers her emancipated poly-
'SeeXavierDariex, "LeCas deMUe. Couesdon," Annoies des Sciences
Psychiques, 1896, p. 124,
FAMILIAR SPIRITS OF MEDIUMS 145
gon as a new individuality, different from herself. She
terms it the "Angel Gabriel."
Mrs. Piper/ whom I quote as my second example, is a
famous American medium, to whom Paul Bourget paid a
visit near Boston. She gets into a trance with much more
difficulty. He writes of her: '' She looses her hair, moans,
twists her fingers, heaves deep sighs, has contortions of her
chest. At this moment, when she is in a subliminal con-
dition, which is a state of disaggregated and emancipated
polygon, Dr. Phinnit is embodied in her body, and replaces
her own personality. He uses her organs and speaks
through her mouth. Mrs. Piper considers her emancipated
polygon, which is acting with its own activity, as the spirit
of the departed Dr. Phinnit. Besides, there are friendly
spirits whom Dr. Phinnit takes advice of before speaking
through Mrs. Piper's mouth. Sometimes some of them would
not only inspire Phinnit but take his place within the me-
dium's body. Something stranger is now and then occurring :
the disaggregated polygon is divided into two, i.e., partly con-
verted into Phinnit and partly into another spirit. So Phin-
nit spoke, during certain experiments, through Mrs. Piper's
mouth, while another spirit was writing with the right hand of
the same medium. Both hands of Mrs. Piper, entranced, have
been seen simultaneously writing, guided as they were, each
of them by a different spirit, whilst Phinnit used the voice
of the same medium. Very singular is this dissociation of
polygonal centers into three distinct groups: centers of
speech, centers of handwriting with right hand, and centers
of handwriting with left hand."^
'(See Marsa, "Apropos des experiences de M. Hodgson avec Mrs.
Piper," and Marcel Mangin, " Compte rendu analitique des experiences
de Mr. Hodgson avec Mrs. Piper," Annates des Sciences Psychiques,
1896, p. 222, and 1898, p. 231.
^This last, in particular, shows us that we have polygonal centers in
both hemispheres. Thus, the right hemisphere is not, as some authors
146 FAMILIAR SPIRITS OF MEDIUMS
Such momentary or partial substitutions of an unfamiliar
spirit for the usual one may induce change in this spirit.
Thus, in 1892 died George Robinson, or George Pelham, a
barrister who had taken a wide interest in literature and
philosophy. He was an unbeliever and deemed a future
life inconceivable. Two years before his death he had told
one of his friends that, in case he died before him and should
he exist after death, he would do his utmost to prove the
fact of such a continuation of existence. Four months
after his death, Mrs. Piper was entranced at the home of one
of Robinson's best friends. Phinnit declared that George
Robinson wished to give a message. After that moment
this spirit was present at most of Mrs. Piper's seances, there
acting as a second familiar spirit.
The famous medium of Flournoy, Helen Smith^ (whose
polygonal romances I shall further elucidate) has a guide
that is a spirit that is manifest to her and connects her
through knockings on a table or by direct revelations. In
the beginning the only guide was Victor Hugo, He made
for Helen trifling rhymes after the style of church hymns, or
of "reed-pipe" poetry, that is childish poetry such as the
following:
"Do not repel Love, this divine substance and unfathom-
able mystery. It is heaven on earth! Love and charity
will be all of thy life; enjoy thyself and make others happy;
but never be proud of it."^
declare, the exclusive center of the lower psychism, nor the left one
the center of the upper psychism.
'See Flournoy, " Des Indes a la Planete Mars. Etude sur un cas de
somnambulisme avec glossologie," 1900; " Nouvelles observations sur un
cas de somnambulisme avec glossologie," Archives de psychologic, 1901,
t. I, p. 301; V. Henry, "Le langage martien"; Aug. Lemaitre, "Un
nouveau cycle somnambulique de Mile Smith. Les peintures reli-
gieuses," Archives de psychologic, 1907, t. VII, p. 63. Cf. E. Lom-
bard, "Essai d'une classification des glossologies," Ibid., p. 1.
^These lines of Victor Hugo as an evoked spirit have been opportunely
FAMILIAR SPIRITS OF MEDIUMS 147
Then follows a transitory period that lasts for about a
year, during which Victor Hugo's influence fails to defend
Helen against the irruptions of an intruder called Leopold,
who may have been mysteriously connected with the me-
dium in a previous existence.
This stage of the struggle is odd. Victor Hugo is there, and
Helen is at rest. But, at once, a spirit is announced; that is
Leopold, who says abruptly: "I wish to be alone here and
to be the master from this moment." In fact, while Victor
Hugo tries to keep Helen awake, Leopold wants to induce
her to sleep. Neither pain nor rebukes make Leopold dis-
continue his intrusion. He teases everybody and takes
Helen's chair away from her so that she falls heavily down
and her knee is hurt. He assumes gradually an increasing
authority and finally supplants Victor Hugo, who disap-
pears, vanquished. In surveying mediumistic polygonal
romances we shall meet with subsequent incarnations of
Helen Smith's spirit.
These facts evidently prove that in all such cases (on one
side, the medium's trance, on the other, fits of somnambu-
lism or hypnosis), the "dividing into two," or alterations of
personality, are really polygonal phenomena. As I have
stated above, the only real personality is still 0, which is
always identical with itself. Polygonal personalities are
subject to change, according to the inspiration of the mo-
ment, or to inward or outward suggestion. They are extra-
physiological, or even pathological, personalities.
In all cases in which alienation does not exist — i. e., if 0
is not disordered in itself — such morbid personalities are
constituted by a certain degree of hyperpolygonal disaggre-
compared by Emile Faguet to those written by "Victor Hugo as a
medium " (see the book of Jules Bois) : " One may infer that anyone at
Victor Hugo's house, is a better poet than the spirit of Victor Hugo at
anyone's house."
148 FAMILIAR SPIRITS OF MEDIUMS
gation, and by various but special conditions of the polygon
more or less emancipated from its 0. A medium within
whom a spirit becomes incarnate, and who is converted
into that spirit is a subject whose personaHty is altered.
But as regards hypnotism, the polygonal personaUty is
changed and applies to hypotheses that are successively
inspired or imagined. Mme. Hugo d'Alesi's center 0 re-
mains what it was before her trance, and is the same when
she wakes up.^
During trance the medium's polygon successively adapts
itself to various hypotheses, lives and realizes in its auto-
matical acts those various hypotheses, and speaks as if the
polygon were conducted by the 0 of a little girl, of a student,
or of a poet. My belief is that a survey of these facts would
shed light on the philosophical concept of the idea of per-
sonality at large.
At first philosophers consider such alterations, or "divid-
ings into two" of personality, as illogical and contradictory.
When I say individuality or personality, I mean unity, in-
divisibility, unchangeableness. In all these phenomena we
have been always dealing with "dividing into two," multi-
plicity and transformation.
Thus, on one side, Duprat^ borrows this sentence from
Lachelier : " Our Ego cannot really cease to have an identity,
but it may cease to appear to us as having an identity."
He does not consent to making " a distinction between the
nominal Ego and the phenomenal." He says : " The nature
of our Self can be altered after a long while, but it is never
absolutely changed."
'Such is not the case when the medium becomes insane, as in the above-
mentioned observations of Gilbert Ballet.
^Duprat, " L'Instabilit6 Mentale. Essai sur les donn^es de la Psy-
chopathologie." BibUotheque de philosophie contemporaine, 1899,
p. 179.
FAMILIAR SPIRITS OF MEDIUMS 149
On the other hand Binet^ declares : " We have long been
accustomed by habits of speech, fictions of law, and also by
the results of introspection, to consider each person as con-
stituting an indivisible unity. Actual researches utterly
modify this current notion. It seems to be well proven
nowadays that if the unity of the Ego be real, a quite
different definition should be applied to it. It is not a
simple entity; but if it were one could not understand how
in certain circumstances some patients by exaggerating a
phenomenon, which obviously belongs to normal life, can
unfold several different personalities. A thing that can be
divided must consist of several parts. Should a personality
be able to become double or triple, this would be proof that
it is compound, a grouping of and a resultant from several
elements."
As far as I am concerned, I suppose (and this seems to me
to enable us to bring into accord opinions apparently
contradictory) that there is in every one of us a polygonal
individuaUty, and an upper one, 0. The latter alone con-
stitutes human personality, at the same time moral, con-
scious and responsible. It is altered or modified in mental
disorders only. The polygon constitutes a real individuality,
but an inferior one, quite sufficient for creating the morbid
personalities which we have surveyed. Polygonal activity
is sufficient in playing the part of a general, or an arch-
bishop (after the style of the subject transformed in this
manner). Normally, in a physiologcial condition, both
personalities (0 and the polygon) cooperate and are mingled
in their activities so as to make one and to become insepar-
able. This makes the normal person.
With patients, or in the physiological conditions I have
spoken of, the polygonal individuality appears separate and
* Alfred Binet, "Les Alterations de la personnalitd." Bibliotheque
scientifique Internationale, 1892, p. 316.
150 FAMILIAR SPIRITS OF MEDIUMS
distinct from the upper personality. In such cases there is
an apparent "dividing into two" of the personality; in fact
it marks the coming of a morbid polygonal personality ab-
normally separate and apart from the personality 0 that
remains the identical and intangible Ego. The disaggre-
gated polygonal personality may undergo changes; it is not
settled and fixed hke the personality 0.
I believe that this conception of phenomena removes the
contradictions mentioned above and will satisfy philosophers
as well as medical men.
With Duprat, I acknowledge that the Ego is not utterly
altered in such experiments; 0 remains untouched provided
we have not to do with insane people. Like Binet, I ac-
knowledge that personality is divided, i. e., can perceive of
one or several new personalities coming forth, which during
a more or less prolonged period may act exclusively. At
the same time, with Gyel,^ I believe that dissimilar facts in
disorders of personality have been confused, and I separate
the facts of "dividing into two" and alternative facts from
those of transformation. Anyhow, I think it is unfair, as
has been done, that I should be reproached with multiplying
hindrances in this matter.
Alfred Binet says: "What becomes of this center 0 in
'dividings into two' of personahty, similar to those of
Felida, who has lived for months in one mental condition
and then in another? Is it possible to assert that the
former of those two existences is an automatical life (poly-
gonal, without relation to 0), and that the latter is a
complete life (with the polygon and 0 synthetized) ? Of
course not, and Grasset's perplexity to express his opinion
on that point shows us how imperfect his theory is." The
"of course not" I have insisted upon (in italics) does not
»Gyel, "L'^tre subconscient," 1899, p. 35.
STAGES OF MEDIUMSHIP 151
appear to me to be plainly established, and does not appear
to be the only possible answer to the question asked by
Binet. This distinction between polygonal life and the
whole upper psychical life seems to me to be the sole pos-
sible explanation of those strange phenomena. The con-
ception of lower psychism helps us to a large extent to
understand them. Certainly a good many particulars are
still left in darkness by my doctrine, but it evidently does
not make deeper the difficulties of the question.
51. Stages of Mediumship.
We are now in possession of all the necessary elements
that enable us to investigate again, in a synthetical manner,
the psychophysiological history of mediums so as to analyze
and set forth mediumistic psychology. We must in this
analysis separate and consider successively various stages
of mediumistic life that are summed up in the following
table :
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY OF THE MEDIUM
1st stage. — The medium makes a table turn, or moves an object
when touching it (as a pendulum, rod) — hyperpolygonal disaggregation,
quite simple polygonal auto activity, without interference from by-
standers.
2nd stage. — The medium is obeying a bystander whose orders he ful-
fils: the medium's disaggregated polygon is obeying O of the by-
stander.
3rd stage. — The medium obeys another medium (as in willing-game,
and mind-reading by contact). The disaggregated polygon of the first
medium obeys another person's disaggregated polygon, the former in
the 2nd stage, the latter in the 1st stage.
4th stage. — The medium answers a question: his disaggregated poly-
gon, instead of fulfilling passively an order, answers and acts with its
own activity.
5th stage. — The medium answers as in the 4th stage, but his answers,
while he is speaking or writing, are far more complex.
6th stage. — The auto activity of the medium's polygon is at its
height. There is spontaneity and imagination of the lower psychism
with polygonal romances from mediums.
152 STAGES OF MEDIUMSHIP
1. First Stage.
The medium in the first stage is simply making a table
turn, or moving an object that he touches. I have already
analyzed table-turning. 0 puts its polygon in expectant
attention. The polygon is attracted by the exclusive idea
of the movement expected. The polygon readily exte-
riorizes its psychism, its predominant idea, and is soon push-
ing the table or leaning upon one side in order to lift up the
opposite leg. Having directed its polygon in this way, 0
has disaggregated itself and is no longer intervening. It
does not attend the acts of its polygon and does not register
them; it has no consciousness of them, does not control
them but ignores them. It is aware of the result only when
it perceives that the table is turning.
To this same initial and minor stage belong also the
exploring-pendulum and the conjurer's wand. O is always
setting its polygon on one idea (the idea of oscillation of the
pendulum) or on the idea of rotation of the rod. Then it
takes part in it no longer, and the polygon, only through its
own powers, using its special knowledge or aptitudes (as
with the spring-finder), makes the rod turn, or the pendulum
oscillate. This is the first stage in mediumship, a stage in
which bystanders are by no means interfering. It is a poly-
gonal, endogenic, or intrinsical art of the medium.
2. Second Stage.
In the second stage the medium's polygon is no longer
alone. The bystander is intervening and gives him orders
and the polygon is obeying unknown to 0. The O of the
medium has been disaggregated from its polygon, has given
up its control and management as does the medium in the
first stage. But instead of first concentrating the whole
attention of the polygon on the idea of a movement that is
soon to happen, it concentrates it on the idea of an order to
STAGES OF MEDIUMSHIP 153
receive passively and to fulfil without any personal modifi-
cation. The polygon of the medium being thus emancipated
and disaggregated from its own 0, is waiting for the order.
The order comes and the polygon answers. ^'Strike" is
the word and a certain number of knockings come. " Lift
up this leg of the table" is the order and it is lifted up.
"Make the table dance," and it dances.
As in the first stage the polygon is obeying directly, auto-
matically, without consideration even internal. It is pas-
sively obeying and apparently takes no part in what is oc-
curring. Its 0 has no consciousness of the mechanism of
this obedience whose results it is only verifying.
3. Third Stage.
In the third stage things happen in the same manner.
The polygon of the medium is still yielding to another per-
son. But here the other person, instead of being only a by-
stander, is also a medium, who gives orders through special
methods. This is willing-game or mind-reading by contact.
Here we have two mediums whose psychology must be
separately investigated — a conducting medium who is acting
as in the first stage, and a conducted medium who is acting
as in our second stage.
With the conducting medium things happen as in the
first stage. 0 is strongly concentrating its polygonal
psychism on the problem of solving the polygon disaggre-
gated from 0, and transfers its psychism into the fingers so
that it is thinking through fingers; it is gesticulating its
thought, and unknown to 0, it pushes or attracts in one
direction or another the conducted medium till the problem
is solved.
With the conducted medium things happen as in the
second stage. 0 is disaggregated from its polygon, and is
with the conductor medium. But in the present case, in-
154 STAGES OF MEDIUMSHIP
stead of concentrating its polygon on an idea, it puts it in
expectant attention in relation to orders to be given by the
conducting medium. The polygon of the conducted me-
dium is thus guided by the conducting polygon. As a matter
of fact, in those three stages the polygon merely obeys, hav-
ing no activity of its own.
In the first stage (table-turning) and with the conductor
in the third stage, the polygon yields to the idea suggested
by its own 0; in the second stage (a table that is obeying)
and with the conducted medium in the third stage, it obeys
another person, that is, the whole psychism of the bystander,
or the polygon of another conducting medium.
4. Fourth Stage.
In the fourth stage there enters another element; this is
the autopsychical act of the medium more completely de-
veloped. Instead of obeying an order given by a by-
stander the medium answers the question asked. It is still
polygonal and consequently automatical, but it is more
intelligent, more psychical and more personal. There is
only one medium here. From the bystander there is need
for no special aptitude, nor is there need for trance. It is
also unnecessary to concentrate or preserve thought. He
simply asks a question as he would do of anyone. As for
the medium conducted in the third stage, the medium dis-
aggregates his polygon from 0, and the polygon disaggre-
gated, isolated and reduced to its own powers, expects the
question that is going to be asked. The question having
come, the polygon answers through the table, striking once
or twice, whether he means yes or no.
This is still a polygonal act: the medium's polygon an-
swers directly, automatically, with the help of its own psy-
chism, unknown to its own 0, which is not conscious of this
activity.
STAGES OF MEDIUMSHIP 155
The 0 of the medium simply registers results, and may-
express as much wonder as the bystanders at the answer of
its polygon. Is there a spirit? Is it the spirit of a de-
ceased person? Is the person that was buried now here?
The medium's polygon answers ; yes or no, without 0 inter-
fering. So that the medium hears in his conscious 0 from
his polygon that there is a spirit; that the person is dead, and
learns where is his grave.
It is thus possible to perceive the autopsychism of the
polygon in this stage. The polygon is no longer yielding
passively to an order; it is intervening. It answers a ques-
tion response to which is not inevitable. Its psychical
individuality and its own activity are plainly manifest.
5. Fifth Stage.
In the fifth stage the medium answers questions by
speaking or writing. Frequently his answers are complex.
Not only comes yes or no, but sentences. Absolutely the
same mechanism prevails as in the preceding stage. But the
psychism is here much more complex, although it is still as
automatic as any polygonal act, i. e., the medium's 0 is now
more closely related to the experiment than are the by-
standers, and it feels quite surprised at hearing what has
been written by its polygon. This is so utterly true that the
Abbe Almignana '' can hardly believe in the abusive lan-
guage traced by his own hand, and he fails to understand
how two beings, so utterly antipathetical, can exist within
him."
Pierre Janet cites mediums whom Myers had observed.
They were unable to read their own handwriting, and felt
compelled to beg of the spirit that he would write more
plainly. Or they would make mistakes when reading the
message in their own hands.
Thus from this may be gathered how intensely the me-
156 STAGES OF MEDIUMSHIP
dium's polygon is disaggregated in those successive stages,
and how it manifests to a greater extent freedom and per-
sonal activity. Here follows an example of answers made
by the medium's polygon in a seance of this stage/ The
medium is questioned about stars. "Stars," it says, "are
exactly like our globe." ''Is there any air on the moon?"
" There is no air on the moon, else men would have lived
there." "But God prevents us from getting out of our
sphere." "The inhabitants of the moon — what are they
like?" " They are like us, only they are unable to live with
air and we cannot live without it." "Are there any in-
habitants on the sun?" "Yes." "How is it that they are
not burnt to ashes? " " God has provided them with a body
that is able to endure continuous heat."
All this is not very clever because the medium lacks
knowledge. But there is psychism in it anyhow. He
tells all that is known in his defective polygon. This is
psychism (lower), although it is automatism.
One should place within the same range many mediums
who give medical advice. Questions are asked regarding
diseases from which one is suffering. The polygon answers,
giving a diagnosis and treatment, in case the polygon imag-
ines itself to possess the necessary gifts. Some others act in
a similar manner. They become " merchants of hope " and
are bona-fide soothsayers. Questions are asked of their poly-
gon and the polygon, doing its best to consider the case,
gives the most likely answer, according to the data at hand.
Sometimes the answer may come seasonably and correctly.
Likewise genuine spring-finders, those really qualified for
detecting springs, are to be included under this head. Their
polygon by its own powers answers the question asked.
'Surbled, "Spirites et Mediums. Choses de I'autre monde," 1901, p.
36.
STAGES OF MEDIUMSHIP 157
Q. Sixth Stage.
In all that has been previously stated there is a good deal
of psychism. But it is always provoked psychism, that is
the polygon is acting only with a view to answering ques-
tions. In the sixth stage the polygonal psychism of the me-
dium as entranced, becomes even more complex, and most
of all more spontaneous.
The bystander asks no questions of the medium, who gets
into a frame spontaneously or at someone's request. All
possible freedom is then given to this emancipated polygon;
it is allowed to say, write or do what it likes. Imagination
is a necessity for the medium's polygon if it is to be success-
ful in an experiment of this class. InteUigence and memory
formerly were needed in order to conform answers to in-
terrogations. Now, spontaneity and liveliness in associat-
ing ideas and images are more requisite.
In this stage the seance is interesting in proportion to the
amount of imagination stored within the polygon of the sub-
ject. Should he possess a good deal one may obtain mo-
mentous results. Bersot reports that in 1853 a tale written
by the leg of a chair and entitled, " Juanita," was secured at
Guadeloupe, together with a story and other choice works
of the same author. The chair was only the speaking-
trumpet, or the penholder of the medium's polygon as en-
dowed with a lively imagination.
In order to show how far the imagination of a medium of
this stage may go, one should be familiar with the polygonal
romances constructed by certain mediums. A survey of
them is of so much importance that I will devote a special
section to them.
158 POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
III. THE POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
52. Helen Smith's Romances.
Helen Smith is the renowned medium of Geneva, who has
been so admirably described by Prof. Flournoy in a book
already mentioned, and from which I borrow this whole
section. Nothing could give a better idea of the extent and
limits of mediumistic imagination than the summary of the
two prominent polygonal romances of this medium: "The
Royal Cycle," and ''The Martian Romance."
a. The Royal Cycle.
I have said above how Helen Smith had for her familiar
spirit, next to Victor Hugo, a Leopold who was a rather in-
distinct personage. One failed to know of whom he was the
embodiment.
Helen was giving seances at the home of Mme. B., who
had long taken interest in Spiritism. Joseph Balsamo was
one of the disincarnated spirits that frequently visited her.
Balsamo, as is well known, was Cagliostro's real name. A
story has been built up regarding him. He was supposed to
have been closely connected with Marie Antoinette and to
have played a prominent part in preparing the French Revo-
lution. This story has been given credit among com-
mon readers, especially owing to Alexandre Dumas's book,
an account of which begins with "Les Memoires d'un
Medecin," the conclusion being "Joseph Balsamo."
One day at Mme. B's house, where Joseph Balsamo's
spirit was a frequent visitor, Leopold showed Helen a de-
canter. Mrs. B, immediately thought of the famous scene
in Cagliostro's life — "The well-known decanter scene be-
tween Balsamo and the Dauphiness at Taverney Castle,"
POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS 159
and offered Helen an engraving cut from an illustrated
edition of Dumas representing that scene.^
One may guess how this scene, which is a work of mere
imagination on Alexandre Dumas's part, could strongly im-
press those who consider the soothsaying nature and super-
natural features of it. At the very time when she showed
Helen this image, Mme. B. expressed the idea that Helen's
guide (Leopold) might be the spirit of Joseph Balsamo under
an assumed name. In fact, a little later, Leopold said
through the table, during a seance, that Joseph Balsamo
was his real name.
As a consequence Mme. B. observed that Helen must be
the embodiment of the medium of the great soothsayer
Cagliostro — Lorenza Feliciani. For a few weeks, indeed,
Helen believed herself to be such. But later on another
lady proved to Helen that such an embodiment was impos-
sible, as Lorenza Feliciani had existed only in Alexandre
Dumas's imagination. Afterwards, through the table,
Helen asserted herself to be, not Lorenza Feliciani, but
Marie Antoinette.
So begins the story of the royal romance of Helen Smith.
Such a beginning and this genesis of a double personality,
Joseph Balsamo and Marie Antoinette — through the series
of suggestions they contain are instructive and charming.
In this initial period the mediumistic story resembles a
story of hypnotism; the trance in the beginning was similar
to a seance of suggestive hypnosis. But afterwards the
polygonal imagination of the medium appeared as more
personal and threw off all restraint.
All this would be worth mentioning in Helen's "Royal
Romance," in order to establish the power of the polygonal
activity of a medium and the limits beyond which this ac-
^I have mentioned this already as an example of crystal vision.
160 POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
tivity cannot go. Leopold appears to Helen as attired
after the eighteenth-century style, with a countenance re-
sembling that of Louis XVI. He is in his laboratory with
his alchemy utensils, and looks like a sorcerer or a phy-
sician selhng secret elixirs to the sick, and talking poetical
philosophy in an ignorant manner that reminds us of Victor
Hugo, his predecessor.
At first he talks through the table, and then as per advice
of Flournoy, with his hand or his finger. Then he dictates
messages to Helen, who writes them out. Finally he writes
directly through Helen's hand. He writes according to the
spelling of the eighteenth century, using "o" instead of
''a" in "j'aurais." Then he speaks with Helen's voice,
which assumed a deep and hollow tone with an Italian pro-
nunciation. At those moments Helen is seen proudly stand-
ing up, or even throwing herself back, having her arms
either set across on her breast in a majestic manner or one
of them hanging along the body while the other is lifted
up towards the sky, her fingers making a side sign always
the same.
On her chimney Helen has a portrait of Cagliostro in this
attitude, with extracts from a book on Balsamo's life.
In speech she has a burr and hsps; she pronounces "u" like
"ou"; uses obsolete words : "fiole" instead of "bouteille,"
"omnibus" for "tramway." Her eyelids are generally
shut. She lifted them, however, when her photograph was
taken in the flashlight.
Flournoy took the trouble to seek out Balsamo's manu-
scripts and signatures, and has shown absolute differences
perceivable between them and the handwriting of Balsamo
as embodied by the Leopold of Helen Smith. These auto-
graphs were published by Flournoy. In her speech Helen
well imitates the Italian accent. Her father, who was
Hungarian, was a polyglot, and often talked Italian with
POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS 161
friends. But Balsamo as Leopold refused to answer ques-
tions when asked in Italian. Helen did not know this lan-
guage. As to the Balsamo-Leopold medical prescriptions,
they were only popular remedies in which Helen's mother
was very much experienced.
Such was the first part of "the beautiful subliminal
poem" ^ (according to Flournoy's expression), as constructed
by Helen within her polygon as entranced. Next comes
the second character — Marie Antoinette. At first the in-
carnation was made manifest solely through the ordinary
language of the table. Later, Helen embodied the queen
in speechless pantomimes whose meaning was indicated by
Leopold through digital signals. In the following year (for
all this evolution was slow) she spoke as she played her part,
and again one year later.
One should, in Flournoy's opinion, always divide this in-
carnation into two groups of phenomena, or features — first,
objectivation of the general bearing of a queen, or at least
of a majestic lady; second, realization of the individual fea-
tures of Marie Antoinette of Austria.
The first case is satisfactory in nearly all respects. It is
evident that Helen's polygon has its own view of a queen
and expresses it quite right. It is interesting to notice the
gracefulness, elegance, refinement and, at times, majesty
that are visible in Helen's attitude and gestures. Her walk
^At that time, a song prevailed at Geneva whose title was: "The deeds
of the subliminal," the tune being after Beranger's song: "Hommes
noirs, d'ou sortez-vous?" The initial verses of this song were:
The hypothesis of Flournoy
Upsets me and makes me perplexed.
According to him, man would have a second Ego
Very complex by nature.
This subjacent Ego would outdo the natural Ego.
This is astonishing. It would disguise itself and change its sex.
Indeed, this is not common for an Ego.
This queer fellow has been termed " the subliminal."
162 POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
is really like the walk of a queen; her hands are playing with
a real handkerchief and fictitious accessories; a fan, a long
handled double eyeglass, the smelling bottle placed in her
girdle, her bows, her easy bearing when throwing back the
train of her gown.^
Would not one after this believe the scenes of suggestion
and of personality suggested in hypnosis, as so perfectly
surveyed and described by Charles Richet and many others?
The objectivation of this particular queen, Marie Antoi-
nette, is far less perfect. Flournoy has printed autographs
by Marie Antoinette, and manuscripts ascribed to the same
queen as embodied by Helen. There is no likeness what-
ever between them.
But (and this is a prominent feature of a very intense
polygonal psychism), Helen writes: instans, enfans, etois, ac-
cording to the spelling of the eighteenth century. Helen
speaks with a foreign accent; rather an English accent than
an Austrian one, while she embodies Marie Antoinette.
Besides (this is another queer particular), when awake in
any other condition than the condition of a queen, Marie
Antoinette's handwriting, spelling and stress of voice may
be momentarily introduced into another life. Helen's poly-
gon makes also historical blunders which must be excused.
The day before her death Marie Antoinette, as Helen,
when confined in her cell, addresses touching exhortations
to a lady present whom she imagines to be the Princess
de Lamballe. This princess had been killed three months
previous to that date.
Many scenes usually take place at the Petite Trianon.
The furniture described is constantly of the best Louis XVI
period. The interlocutors are at first Balsamo-Leopold,
" my sorcerer," or " that dear sorcerer " ; then Louis-Phihppe
'Better than "Madame Sans-Gene.
POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS 163
d'Orl^ans (Egalite), or the old Marquis de Mirabeau whom
she perceives to be really embodied in two persons present,
M. Eugene Demole, and M. Auguste de Morsier. She sees
one of these gentlemen. ''Well, Marquis," says she, "you
are here and I had not seen you before." She then begins a
conversation with them all. They do their best to play other
parts. She eats and drinks with them.
One day she goes so far as to accept a cigaret from
Philippe Egalite and smokes it (a thing she never does at
waking). A bystander observes that this is an unlikely
practice, which has probably been indulged in by Marie
Antoinette since her death. She subsequently accepts to-
bacco but only from a snuffbox. Sometimes gentlemen
would set snares. Should these snares be gross she eludes
them very skilfully. Thus, in case Mirabeau or Egalite is
talking to her about the telephone, bicycle or locomotive,
she looks astounded, and this with great simphcity; she
expresses anxiety as to the mental condition of her inter-
locutors. But she does not escape from little mistakes more
difficult to detect. She uses the expression, "to run off the
track," in its figurative meaning, or "meter" and "centi-
meter." It is only after a while that she wonders at the
words "tramway" and "photograph." At first she let
them pass by. Like the hypnotized, Helen sees these gen-
tlemen only; she fails to perceive the other bystanders.
Still, she keeps away from them when walking, as somnam-
bulists do.
I shall quote a few more scenes from this royal romance of
Helen. In these the medium Marie Antoinette, Helen evokes
our great Barthez. Barthez had the title of physician to
the Due d' Orleans (the father of Philippe Egalite), and the
merely honorary title of consulting physician to the king.
It is very unlikely that he ever met Marie Antoinette, and
most of all that he ever was in love with her. When he
164 POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
appears in Marie Antoinette's company during Helen's
stances, he recalls the days when he watched the coming of
the queen on the Boulevard du Temple, and he keeps on re-
peating: "Where are those days when, toddling along the
Boulevard du Temple, I had but one aim and wish; it was
to have a look at your coach and glance at your profile?
Where have they gone, those happy moments in which my
soul was so utterly enraptured?"
It seems that, when personating Barthez, Helen is rather
thinking of young dandies, who, in the streets of Geneva,
follow the shop-ladies, than of the great chancellor of the
University of MontpeUier. She even lends him her style of
speech; for "so utterly enraptured," are words found in
Helen's correspondence, but not in the books of Barthez.
Lemaitre has taken the trouble of comparing the writing of
the mediumistic messages ascribed to Barthez with genuine
autographs of that physician as furnished by Kuhnholtz-
Lordat, the adopted son of Lordat. No likeness whatever
has been found in them.
According to Lordat, Barthez had an ordinary stature.
In her visions Helen sees him rather tall. She signs Bar-
thes, whilst his name was Barthez. This might be ex-
plained by admitting that the learned doctor had forgotten
the real spelling of his own name, as he has been dead about
a century.^
There is a good deal of intelligence, and apparent inven-
tion and creation in this royal romance. Perhaps there is
much more of it in the Martian romance so accurately scru-
tinized by the same Prof. Flournoy.
h. The Martian Novel.
This is a romance with its scene on the planet Mars.
Everyone knows how much that planet was dealt with in
»Barthez died in October. 1806.
POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS 165
1892. It had been repeatedly wondered whether there
were inhabitants on it, and the question of possible subse-
quent communications with its inhabitants had already
been much discust. In publications (widely read at Geneva
and among Helen's relations) Flammarion had discust
the conditions of life on Mars, and had prophetically
described the future wonders of communications between
the inhabitants of the earth and Mars. Very much spoken
about even at that time were the famous canals on Mars, and
the inundations on that planet. All this was a common
topic in Helen's circle.
In 1894 Helen gave seances at Prof. Lemaitre's before a
lady whose eyes were grieviously defective. This lady hav-
ing lost her son Alexis three years earlier, wishes to evoke
him. In the first seance Alexis is announced accordingly,
coming in company with Raspail, who prescribes camphor
treatment for the mother's eyes. The camphor treatment
is advised in Raspail's "Manuel de Sante." The following
month, in the beginning of her trance, Helen perceives far
away and at a considerable height a bright glimpse; then she
is rocking in a dense fog which is at first blue, then dark
pink, gray and black. She is floating, and after that she
sees a star whose size gradually increases. Finally the star
becomes bigger than a house. Later she feels that she is
lifted up, and the table says: "Look here, Lemaitre, here
comes what you so much longed for!" Helen, quite un-
easy, is feeling better; she sees three enormous spheres; one
of them is magnificent. She asks herself: "On what am I
treading?" And the table answers: "On a sphere, on
Mars."
Thus was fulfilled what had been for Lemaitre the dream
of the previous summer, when he said to some one among
Helen's relatives: "How interesting it would be to know
what is occurring on other planets! "
166 POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
Helen describes next all things visible to her on Mars:
carriages without horses and wheels and which by gliding
throw out sparks; houses with jets of water playing on their
roofs; a cradle whose curtains are an angel made of iron, with
wings unfolded. The people are quite similar to us except
that both men and women are attired in long blouses with
the waist brightened and trimmed with ornaments. Ras-
pail, in a vast hall, is giving a lecture; Alexis is in the first
row of hearers.
Such, according to Lemaitre and the lady with the sore
eyes who had lost her son, was the origin of this Martian
romance, which extends over the long period of fifteen
months of polygonal meditation. Raspail then disappears
and at the same moment Alexis comes to the foreground.
He had spoken French before, but now understands it no
more; he talks only the " Martian" language.
In a first seance Helen converses with an imaginary
woman, who tries to make her enter a queer little wagon
without wheels or horse. This woman expresses herself
in a strange dialect. Leopold, still present, like a crony or a
music-hall "revue," explains through his finger that " this is
the language spoken on the planet Mars. This woman is the
actual mother of Alexis reincarnated on that planet, and
will herself speak Martian." Helen jumps on a car. She
reaches Mars, and gives account of the welcome accorded
her on her arrival, or rather she mimics it with "odd ges-
tures of hands and fingers; filHps of one hand on the other;
slaps of fingers on the nose, lips or chin; distorted or gliding
bows, and rotation of feet on the floor."
The romance continues to go on and contains very touch-
ing episodes. For instance, the mother of Alexis sees him
through Helen; she kneels down and moans before her.
Her son, through Helen's mouth, comforts her in Martian
language with gestures so soft, and a stress of voice so ten-
POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS 167
der that the poor mother is utterly overcome. Helen
describes and sketches^ Martian landscapes (her drawings
are reproduced in Flournoy's book) — a pink bridge; yellow
stiles immersed in a blue and pale pink lake; reddish banks
and creeks with no verdure at all. All trees are brown, or
violet-colored, or purple.
She describes and sketches the inhabitants on Mars; As-
tane, for instance, her complexion yellow, her hair dark
brown. She wears brown sandals; she holds a white roller
in her hand. Her costume is striped in gold, red and blue.
The edge and girdle of her dress are brown.
Then is found "the vague and nameless crowd" that
usually occupies the background in Martian visions — dif-
ferent from earthly multitudes solely as to the ample robes
worn by both sexes, the flat hats and fencing shoes fastened
with straps. The people have at their disposal instruments
(described and sketched by Helen), making yellow and red
flames. They use them to fly with through the air. She
also makes a drawing of Astane's house. A series of
images shows us specimens of the flora of Mars. There is no
green at all. Their shapes as well as those of the trees in the
Martian landscapes show the vegetation up there is not
absolutely different from ours. Still nothing plainly imi-
tates any sample of ours.
What has been most interesting in these experiments, and
I insist upon it, is indeed the Martian language so perfectly
investigated and analyzed by Flournoy and V. Henry. In
the beginning this dialect is rough and wrongly made up.
It is a "pseudomartian language"; a balderdash, a childish
counterfeiting of French. In fact it retains from French in
every word the same number of syllables and some promi-
'In her most recent incarnation (described by Lemaitre in his work
already quoted) Helen has strongly improved and better exerted her
abilities.
168 POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
nent letters. It is analogous to the gibberish used by chil-
dren when they imagine they talk Chinese or Indian. Half
a year is necessary for "the subliminal making-up of a lan-
guage properly so called," When the Martian dialect was
made up, it was necessary in order to understand it and have
a translation to provide a dictionary. Flournoy wrote to
Leopold for this purpose "a letter in which with considera-
tions about the high range of thought in the phenomena
presented by Mile, Smith," he appealed to him and his
knowledge for a few hints concerning that strange language.
Two days later Helen, entranced, wrote automatically an
answer in eighteen alexandrine lines. The conclusion was
as foUows:
" When his unsteady soul has taken wings; at the moment
when he will be looking down on Mars and its magnificent
colors, in case you desire to get explanations from him,
place softly your hand on his pale forehead and whisper
Esenale's sweet name."
This was done accordingly and Esenale (such was the
Martian surname of Alexis as reincarnated) when thus called
upon in Martian visions, translated words and sentences.
The construction of a Martian language, to be complete,
required a special handwriting with special letters, which
after many improvements were fixed upon definitively, or
at least for a long while. Every letter has its equivalent
in our own alphabet,
Flournoy has thus patiently reproduced, translated and
analyzed forty-one Martian texts. He has been able to
come to the conclusion that Martian is nothing but a puerile
imitation of French,
One should first notice that in this relation Martian is a
language and not merely a jargon, or a lingo of any sounds
whatever uttered haphazard. There are words and words
expressing ideas and the relation of words to ideas is con-
POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS 169
stant; the meaning of Martian terms is likewise unvarying.
The language has its own consonances, accent, and favorite
letters. Thus it is possible to recognize it while Helen
speaks it, although it is not understood. As with French,
there is superabundance of "e," or "e, " and ''i," Diph-
thongs and nasals are quite uncommon.
Therefore it is a language, and one might say "a natural
dialect," as it is automatically made up, without any con-
scious interference on Mile. Smith's part. It is not a vol-
untary invention for jest or juggling. But here foUows
proof that this language is not a new one, but merely a
trifling and puerile alteration of French, The Martian lan-
guage "consists of sounds uttered, and all of them, either
consonants or vowels, exist in French." But this is not
natural in languages geographically next to ours, and a
fortiori, in languages geographically quite remote from ours.
Peculiar sounds are always to be found that especially be-
long to each (English, German, Spanish). "The language
on the planet Mars does not permit such phonetic eccen-
tricities." When there is a difference it is poorer than
French; it is lacking in articulate sounds. Likewise as re-
gards handwriting, all Martian and French letters in ac-
curate correspondence are the same.
Moreover, "a good many exceptions to rule, equivocations
and irregularities are usual in Martian; the same letter may
have dissimilar pronunciations under different circum-
stances, and reciprocally, the same word may be written in
different ways without any rational cause for such incon-
sistencies." All this is identical as in French.
In other words, " in that so-called extraterrestrial idiom
a great number of peculiarities and caprices are found,
which, after due reflection, set at defiance a theory of chance
origin, and constitute a sign which it is impossible to mis-
interpret," This leads to the following conclusion: "Mar-
170 POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
tian is simply French that has been altered. Should one
investigate it through texts known to us, and try to ar-
range a Martian grammar, it would be seen that the rules of
this grammar, if ever published, were simply a parody of
the principles of French grammar,"
We have in French words that have various meanings;
for instance, the preposition "a," and the verb "a"; the
article and the pronoun ''le." Similar auditory analogies,
with no relation whatever to the real meaning, are met with
in the Martian idiom. Thus "a" and "a," analogous in
sound, but so different in meaning in French, are trans-
lated in Martian by the same word, "e"; "le" (article or
pronoun) is always "ze"; "que" (used with many a mean-
ing) is always "ke." Still more curious, our word "si"
(whose sense is "yes," and "so much") becomes "ii."
The order of words in sentences is absolutely the same
in Martian as in French. And this, in the most trifling
matters, as in the division or amputation of "ne pas," or a
letter brought into Martian, such as "t" in "quand revien-
dra-t-il" (Kevi berimir m'heb).
Such possibilities in juxtalinear translation, and such an
absolute correspondence word for word, are "an extraor-
dinary fact — one never known in languages here below."
Flournoy observes, "There is not one language in which
each term of a French sentence is rendered by only one
term (neither more nor less) of the foreign language." Be-
sides, an appreciable proportion of Martian words "repro-
duce in a suspicious manner the number of syllables or
letters of their French equivalents, and sometimes the dis-
position of consonants and vowels."
It becomes more and more evident that "this fancy id-
iom is the work of a naive and somewhat childish imagina-
tion (i. e. polygonal) that has undertaken to make up a new
language, and though giving its lucubrations odd and in-
POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS 171
edited appearances, has cast them unknown to it in the
ordinary molds of the only language that it knew." The
words, however, are as different as possible from the French
words. The author has provided for a dictionary, but not
for a grammar. " The mode of creation of Martian appears
as taking French sentences, such as they are, and replacing
each word in them by another word, no matter what it may
be, and made up haphazard."
In its continuation the story of the Martian romance is
still quite queer and satisfies the above deductions.
Flournoy, who is of opinion that he has sufficiently an-
alyzed the Martian language^ an examination of which be-
comes monotonous, discloses to Helen all his objections
respecting the genuineness of the Martian dialect and gives
his proofs. At first Helen resists, but after a while she
answers objections by improving, or rather complicating,
her idiom, which she places on another unnamed planet.
This is the ultramartian cycle with a new personge. Ramie.
Seventeen days after Flournoy's suggestion Helen creates
this new embodiment of her beautiful polygonal romance.
The pathogenic influence of suggestions appears obvious
here. Flournoy remarks: "I had charged the Martian
dream with being only an imitation, a varnish, with bright
Oriental colors, of the surrounding civilized world. Now
we look at a world horribly strange up there; the soil is
black and without any vegetation. Its inhabitants are
stupid beings, resembling animals rather than men. I had
hinted that things and people up there might be of sizes and
proportions different from ours; and I find that they are
on that rudimentary sphere pygmies whose heads are twice
broader than high. Their houses are likewise queer. I had
alluded to the probable existence of other idioms and
pointed out the frequent recurrence of 'i' and 'e' in
Martian. I had accused its syntax and its 'ch,' borrowed
172 POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS
from French. But now I find a language absolutely new,
whose rhythm is peculiar and imphes frequent use of 'a'
without any 'ch;' its texture is so utterly dissimilar to
ours that I fail to find my way in it."
This experiment by Flournoy is really wonderful. It
completes admirably his observations to establish that in
Helen all is a polygonal romance created and guided by
suggestions.^
53. Mme. Smead's Martian Novels.^
With the medium, Mme. Smead (this is a pseudonym),
Prof. Hyslop has most carefully observed and analyzed an-
other Martian romance in which, like Flournoy, he plainly
shows the subliminal or polygonal starting-point. In the
present case the interlocutors are the deceased children of
the medium. "At first a geographical map was obtained.
It was very precise; the names of zones into which the planet
was divided were mentioned upon it. The people up there are
taller than those on earth and not so numerous. They look
rather like Indians. They cut canals from one ocean to
another. Ships (seretrevir) made of trunks of trees have
names on them {cristiril). At another time a sketch of a
'temple-house of dogs' was made. Men wore dresscoats
and trousers; women sack-shirts and ridiculous bonnets,
their hair loose. Men turn up their hair and wear it long
under their hats. The planchette traced the di'awing of a
robe trimmed with lace and flowers printed on it in a sym-
metrical order. When this sketch was completed a mar-
ginal indication of colors was given; it was a series of pink,
white, green, yellow, brown and pale mauve tints." A
'I do not insi.'st upon the other astral romances of Helen: uranian and
lunar romances. I deem my demonstration satisfactory.
^"La M6diumnit6 de Mme. Smead," Annales des Sciences Psychiqiies,
1906, p. 461.
POLYGONAL NOVELS OF MEDIUMS 173
description of a Martian's clock (Trivenniul) and one of a
strange airship were also given.
" The planchette traced a Martian observatory on the top
of a hill through which there were tunnels whose bottom
was almost in the shape of a pipe." Hyslop points out a
queer coincidence between this drawing and another men-
tioned in Flournoy's case. In fact, Helen has sketched a
Martian observatory with a tunnel. Mme. Smead pre-
tended to ignore Flournoy's book, but this book was in her
house. There is no doubt about Mme. Smead's sincerity; it is
obvious that she had read it unconsciously, in absent-mind-
edness. Her polygon had stored its images unknown to 0.
Hyslop concludes this part of his work with the following
passage, which I take the liberty to quote at full length
because it is the very expression of the doctrine of my
present book:
"Persons taking interest in psychological and psychical
investigations will experience no difficulty whatever in as-
certaining the true nature of such phenomena. There is no
proof that they are really what they pretend to be. In such
conditions the only possible hypothesis is the one related
to the subliminal personality (polygonal personality). In
the drawings delineated with a planchette, indications rati-
fying this doctrine are met with even when other proofs are
missing. For instance, the mechanical impossibilities re-
garding airships, the obvious confusion between propellers
and rudders; the deficiency at large of such unconscious
lucubrations that place on other planets phenomena re-
sembling those of earth to such an extent as to make them
suspicious; all this is reason why one should set Martian
messages absolutely outside the range of spiritualistic mes-
sages, provided better proofs should not ratify their trans-
cendental nature."^
^Another French somnambulist, Adele Maginot, has m?,de polar and
174 REALITY OF POLYGONAL IMAGINATION
IV. CONCLUSIONS
54. Reality of Polygonal Imagination.
From this chapter proof has been first offered of the auto-
activity of the lower psychism — activity which expresses
itself by association of ideas and images, also by polygonal
imagination, of which I have offered many conclusive
examples.
We have seen the part played by suggestion and exogenic
imagination in the origin and growth of mediumistic ro-
mances. But once led into this way the disaggregated
polygon of the medium being entranced has imagined all the
rest by its own powers.
Such polygonal imaginations, so clearly established in
mediums/ are also occurring in hypnosis and other extra-
physiological conditions of hyperpolygonal disaggregation.
They are even occurring in a physiological condition, in
dreams or in states of crepuscular consciousness.
Miss Frank Miller^ has published very interesting facts
concerning this matter. Miss Miller, whose mind is ex-
ceedingly auto-suggestive and at the same time auto-observ-
ing, would have been an excellent medium. The simple
sight of a conical cloth over her head "arouses in her a
remembrance of Egyptian statues, induces her to a kind of
total kinaesthetic hallucination, which is, in fact, the first
lunar excursions which the good woman (who was lunatic, indeed), as
Jules Bois says, has performed, or rather related, with as much ease as
ingenuousness.
i"What is certain," says Jules Bois, "is the strange power of the
medium to gather, vivify, concentrate and personate those scattered
residuums of ancestral memory, the dust of the dead.
^Miss Frank Miller, "Quelques faits d'imagination creatrice subcon-
sciente," Archives de psychologic, 1905, t. V, p. 36, together with an
Introduction by Flournoy.
REALITY OF POLYGONAL IMAGINATION 175
stage of an alteration of personality." Flournoy adds:
"As a spirit medium Miss Miller would have certainly be-
lieved in the embodiment of a princess (or even of several
princesses) of historical and prehistorical antiquity. She
would have disclosed to us queer particulars as to her
previous existences in Egypt or Assyria."
One should especially read Observation IV, entitled
" Chirvantopel, a drame hypnogogique," which thus begins:
"Borderland phenomena, or if you prefer, half-dream
cerebral compositions, concern me to a great extent, and I
think that a minute and intelligent investigation of them
would mightily help to enlighten mysteries and upset super-
stitions regarding the so-caUed spirits. This is the reason
why I send you a case, which in the hands of a person taking
great care for truth, or for not hesitating to indulge in
embellishments or amplifications, would have been suffi-
cient ground for a fancy romance comparable with the
fictitious cycles of yoiu- mediums."
Observation II is the story of a little poem dreamt by
Mile. M. early in the morning, during an excursion on sea.
Waking up at the same moment because of a call from her
mother, she immediately told that lady her dream. Then
she wished to relate it, but during the time which she spent
in looking for a pencil, the absence of mind caused already
by her mother's presence, was enough to make certain pas-
sages vague. A few months later, as she was at leisure, she
again took her poem and modified it with the intention
of changing it into accurate compliance with the original
text she had dreamt. It may be considered most likely
that during the intervening time a subconscious work of
correction had been done on the original poem, so as to
render it in its second text which is far more perfect.
Such are creative imagination and polygonal memory and
meditation.
176 REALITY OF POLYGONAL IMAGINATION
In the fragment III, we have " a poetry that arises auto-
matically." It occurred to Miss Miller's mind during a rail-
way journey by night in the special condition intermediate
between waking and sleeping, so often experienced by worn-
out passengers, always on the verge of falling asleep, but
who never lose sight of themselves. The last instance was
a sort of short lyrical drama displaying itself spontaneously
within her imagination in visual and auditory images, during
the hypnotic stage preceding profound sleep.
In his conclusion, Flournoy recalls " a charming study of
the psychology of dreams, ' ' which is little known, and in which
Stevenson confesses that for all he is indebted to anonymous
cooperation of a " mysterious little people," the " Brownies,"
who so kindly sketched the novelist's work, and supplied
him, free of charge, with so many ready-made scenes. But,
we are serious people, and prefer to replace Stevenson's
Brownies, or even the muse of the classical poets, by
scientific law, such as mechanical association of ideas, or
nocturnal dynamism of neurones, polygonal activity of
lower psychism, unconscious factor, or the subliminal, etc.
We are thus brought back to the question of alterations
and various modalities of human personality, which, owing
to observations of irrefutably accumulated facts, will be
sufficiently elucidated. Miss Miller has made perfect guesses
without applying to hypotheses that are complex and
trifling as they prevail in spirit circles.
55. The Limits of Polygonal Imagination.
If all the facts cited above testify to the existence of poly-
gonal imagination, they also establish the limits and inferi-
ority of the same.
a. The Inferior Character of Polygonal Romances.
It has been possible, owing to particulars given regarding
Helen Smith's Royal Cycle, and the Martian romances of
REALITY OF POLYGONAL IMAGINATION 177
Helen Smith and Mme. Smead, to ascertain how such poly-
gonal lucubrations are lacking in originality and newness,
and how they are erroneous and childish. Hyslop has
plainly established that on planets (and especially on Jupi-
ter, "children's heaven") all messages gotten by the me-
dium "revealed the influence of the instruction Mme. Smead
had received in former times. They were probably remem-
brances of teaching given when she was attending Sunday
School, and completed by a puerile imagination concerning
the nature of stars."
I have not insisted upon all the contradictions and im-
possibilities included in Helen Smith's Martian romance.
Leopold, on Mars, is at first acquainted with the French
language; then he forgets it completely, but later has a suffi-
cient knowledge of it to be able to translate it into Martian.
He died in July 1891, and was five or six years old in 1896.
But " years on that planet are twice longer than ours. ' ' This
has been overlooked by Helen, as well as any other scientific
question whatever concerning Mars, of which she is utterly
ignorant. The famous canals in which astronomers have
taken such interest are never mentioned. Nothing is said
with regard to biology or sociology on Mars. Up there life
is identical with life on earth, and the manners follow ours.
There is less difference between Martian habits and our
European habits than between ours and the Mussulman's
civilization, or the habits of the savage.
What has been told by Flournoy concerning his medium
might be applied to all those polygonal romances. They
are produced by a young imagination aged about 10 or 12,
that thinks quite oddly enough in supposing that people up
there are eating from square plates with a little furrow for
gravy; that an ugly one-eyed animal is charged with carry-
ing Astane's eye-glass ; that it is common to write with a tack
fixt to the nail of the forefinger instead of using a pen-
178 REALITY OF POLYGONAL IMAGINATION
holder; that babies are sucking through pipes tied on the
breasts of beasts looking like hinds. Nothing in those ro-
mances is analogous to Ovid's "Metamorphoses," "The
Arabian Nights," the "Fairy Tales," or "Gulliver's Trav-
els."^ In this cycle no trace whatever of ogres, giants or
genuine sorcerers is to be found. It looks rather like the
work of a schoolboy who has attempted to imagine a world,
a real one, as different as possible from ours, and has adapted
it to familiar frames, as he could not perceive the possibility
of an existence constructed otherwise, but, on the contrary,
as if he had let his imagination have its own way respecting
a heap of trifles, and this, in the limits of what seems to him
to be admissible, according to his own narrow and short
experience.
h. Inferiority of Polygonal Concepts at Large.
The mediumistic romances whose inferior character I have
just established, may be considered the most eminent and
sparkling expression we have of polygonal imagination.
Ribot cites them as the best examples and proofs of the sub-
conscious, or unconscious, element in inspiration. And
still, we have seen of what little value they are.
A fortiori, inferiority is to be detected in any other ex-
pression of polygonal imagination, for as soon as polygonal
imagination is let loose, it really becomes foolish, "a
maker of error and duplicity," as Pascal said.
Most dreams are absurd and illogical. As to hypnosis,
we have ascertained how the imaginative powers of a sub-
ject are limited when he becomes a preacher in general. In
such a case he will embody a very plain Bossuet, or a some-
* Nothing in those romances is analogous to the queer novels by H. G.
Wells, and chiefly his Martian novels, the " Crystal Egg " and the " War
of the Worlds." See Charles Derennes, "H. G. Wells et le peuple mar-
gien," Mercure de France, March 1, 1907, p. 48,
REALITY OF POLYGONAL IMAGINATION 179
what ridiculous Napoleon. His creations are always put
forth in compliance with the abilities of his polygon.
When discussing the spirit hypothesis (see first paragraph
of part 3), I shall offer new proofs of this principle. So
it may be understood clearly that I mean to ascribe to un-
conscious psychism only a background part in inspiration
and creative imagination, and that I keep on deeming it
of a lower class.
At the congress of Grenoble in 1902, Gilbert Ballet —
although he thought my distinction between both lower and
upper psychism to be of interest — exprest the idea that
lower psychism should rather be termed "upper," as it ex-
hibits an improvement on the upper psychism, and is the
coming to a head of the faculties of the upper psychism.
A person playing on the piano through his polygon, is much
more clever than when playing with his center 0. Gou-
dard^ has said likewise that "This hidden world is contin-
ually acting, following its way in a logical direction, par-
allel to consciousness. Is it reaUy inferior?" Such is also
Ribot's opinion in his theory of inspiration.^
I answer in this way: The education of the polygon is
made by 0. Consequently 0 remains superior. The poly-
gonal activity apart, is following the simultaneous activity
of both psychisms. But the really creative power, and the
authority of censure and condition still belong to 0, which
remains the upper center of intellectual activity. In short,
I may assert that the activity of 0 is superior to polygonal
or automatical activity.
^Goudard, Bulletin de la Societe d' Etudes Psychiques de Marseille, 1903,
p. 48.
2" In such conditions, it is impossible to say whether, with the average
subject and among each one of us, the subHminal part of our personality
is really higher or lower than the subliminal part which is known to us."
Henry de Varigny, "Causerie scientifique du Temps," Independance
Beige, December 31, 1904.
180 THE PRODUCTIONS OF MEDIUMS
56. The Productions of Mediums by Polygonal Imagi-
nation ARE EASILY IMITATED BY SUPERNATURAL
Messages.
The final and most important conclusion of this chapter
is that polygonal imagination may, through its easy action
in the medium entranced, cause results so astonishing, ap-
parently so strange, and of an origin so utterly unconscious,
that it is possible to deem them exogenic messages origi-
nating outside of the subject; and, since it is easy to make an
objectivation and materialization of the external cause of a
momentous phenomenon, those polygonal romances may
be readily ascribed to messages from beyond the grave, or
to evocations of reincarnated spirits.
It is absolutely natural for Helen Smith or Mme. Smead
to ascribe to real inhabitants on Mars, all the particulars af-
forded by them when entranced, since they would have been
unable to give them at waking-time when out of trance.
Such is, in my opinion, the most important consequence of
recent investigations with regard to lower psychisms, not
only the disaggregated polygon is preserving a great psy-
chical activity, but even, in certain cases with certain sub-
jects (mediums), owing to the very fact of this disaggrega-
tion, it acquires a power of remarkable hyperactivity, and of
far greater imaginative faculty.
As Flournoy^ has rightly observed, " the unconscious Ego
of mediums is absolutely capable of entirely inventing
productions bearing an apparently absolute similarity to
messages from beyond, and it is not sparing of it." The
same author makes conspicuous this truth which is too much
overlooked in certain circles, that with normal individuals
absolutely sound in body and mind, by the simple fact of
^Flournoy, "Gen^se de quelques pretendus messages spirites," Revue
philosophique and Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1899, pp. 200 and 216.
THE PRODUCTIONS OF MEDIUMS 181
taking interest in mediumistic experiments, their psychical
equilibrium may be upset, unknown to them, thus leading
to the production of an automatical activity whose mani-
festations are perfectly imitating messages from beyond the
grave, although they are in fact only a consequence of the
subliminal working of the subject's ordinary powers.
PART III
THE OCCULTISM OF TO-DAY
SUMMARY OF THE SECOND PART. OUTLINE
AND PLAN OF THE THIRD PART
A. THEORIES
CHAPTER VII.— Spiritualism.
CHAPTER VIII. — Psychical radiations: perispirit,
ASTRAL BODY AND RADIANT PSYCHICAL POWER.
CHAPTER IX. — The independence of occultism with
REGARD TO RELIGIOUS OR PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINES.
B. CASES
CHAPTER X. — Cases whose proof, should it be pos-
sible, APPEARS AT BEST AS REMOTE.
I. Telepathy and premonitions.
II. Material brought from long distances.
III. Materializations.
CHAPTER XL — Cases whose proof seems to be nearer
at hand, and should in any case be sought first.
I. Mental suggestion and direct communica-
tion OF thought.
II. Removals of objects within reach, without
contact; levitation; raps.
III. Clairvoyance.
SUMMARY OF THE SECOND PART. OUTLINE
AND PLAN OF THE THIRD PART.
57. I have contrived in the second part to estabhsh that
recent works on lower psychism have helped to " disoccult"
and render scientific many phenomena that had been up to
now considered as occult. The survey of the condition of
suggestibility in certain polygons disaggregated in hypno-
sis, has removed from occultism the important chapter of
Animal Magnetism. The survey of unconscious and invol-
untary movements of the polygon has caused automatical
handwriting, table-turning, the divining rod, the exploring
pendulum, and willing-game by contact, to enter the do-
minion of science. Since polygonal sensibihty and memory
have been analyzed, a heap of facts of erroneous divination
have been " disocculted " as being merely hallucinations or
reminiscences of a lower psychism. Finally, the survey of the
polygonal association of ideas and polygonal imagination
has indicated the intrinsic and natural origin of many me-
diumistic phenomena that were previously considered to be
supernatural. In short, the investigation of lower psy-
chism has plainly removed and extended the limits of Oc-
cultism. Still, it has not supprest Occultism.
The subject-matter of this third part is an examination
and discussion of phenomena that are occult as yet, and at
the same time a criticism of the Occultism of to-day. My
opinion is that the best way to make such a critique is to view
separately and successively theories and facts.^ Theories
*"One should always make a difference between facts and doctrine,
and as such a difference has not been made, disorder is prevailing in the
minds of many." Surbled, "Spirites et mediums," Choses de V autre
monde, 1901, p. 166.
186 THEORIES
are not in the least conjointly liable to facts; nor are facts
conjointly liable to theories. One should not contest or
support facts by means of arguments that are suitable to
theories.
As Charles Richet observes: "The foolishness of an hy-
pothesis is not sufficient reason why one should deny the
facts on which it rests. There is nothing more untrue to
logic — even to rudimental logic — than the negation of a
phenomenon because hypotheses derived from this phe-
nomenon are implying very little likelihood." And re-
versely, one must not infer that a fact is, or is not, real,
because it is either in compliance or in contradiction with
a given theory.
Therefore, I am going to look successively upon theories
and facts, and previous to this, I declare again that the con-
clusions of the former part of my examination (as to theo-
ries) must in no wise forebode the conclusions of the latter
part (concerning facts).
A. THEORIES
58. Classification of Theories. Plan of Their
Survey.
The most prominent theories that are usually current in
publications referring to Occultism, may be included under
two heads: Spiritism and " psychical radiations " (perispirit,
astral body and radiant psychical power). In a separate
chapter (Chapter IX), I shall discuss a matter connected
with the survey of theories, i. e., the relations of Occultism
to various philosophical or rehgious doctrines.
CHAPTER VII
SPIRITUALISM
I. Definition and Account op the SpmrruALiSTic Doctrine.
59. Meaning of the word "Spiritualism."
60. Account of the Theory.
II. Discussion of the Theory of Spiritualism.
61. This theory unlikely.
62. Spiritualism must bring forth its proofs.
63. The ideas exprest during trances are those of the mediums and
not of the spirits evoked.
64. Errors of the mediums. The deceitful spirits.
65. The spiritualists do not agree together.
III. 66. Conclusions.
I. DEFINITION AND OUTLINE OF THE DOC-
TRINE OF SPIRITUALISM
I take here the word "spiritualism" in its etymological
sense, i. e. in its narrow and true sense. I had used this
word in the first edition of this book (" Le Spiritisme devant
la Science") in its widest meaning, including under that
term the whole of Occultism, that is all the occult phe-
nomena. I have already said that I have been rightly re-
proached with it. MaxwelP has reproached both Pierre
Janet and myself with the meaning ascribed to the word
spiritualism.
*' Spirituahsm is a religion;^ it is not a science." It is a
systematic explanation of a whole series of facts, imperfectly
'Maxwell, loc. cit., p. 229.
^"Spiritualism is really a religion, the religion of spirits" (Surbled,
"Spirites et mediums," Choses de I'autre monde, p. 165). "Spiritism is
only one of numerous religions that have come forward in due time to
answer to a need of mankind. Spiritism is only a systematic explana-
188 DEFINITION AND OUTLINE
known as yet, but it is not a mere assertion of those facts.
Spiritism, i. e. the summary of metaphysical doctrines, rest-
ing upon revelations by spirits, should not for the present at
least be considered as belonging to biology." I adopt this
definition and now ascribe to spu'itualism its real meaning
as a theory,
I term spiritualism the theory that ascribes to spirits the
various phenomena of Occultism as well as mediumistic
phenomena. I am referring to disembodied spirits of de-
ceased persons who, upon the call of the medium, are mo-
mentarily reincarnated in his body, and who give him mes-
sages and information, I insist upon the precise meaning
of the word "spirits," since it is more obscure in the singu-
lar, or rather implies another meaning. If I say there is
"spirit," i. e. psychism, in mediumistic phenomena, this is
a commonplace that nobody denies. In order to admit that
experiments made with mediums are of a psychical order,
it is quite unnecessary to be a believer in the doctrine of
Spiritualism. This question is weU asserted by Flournoy*
when he writes concerning Madame Z., a medium,
"The message of M. R., who, in a short composition that
does not lack a certain quality, is relating the last moments
of his earthly life, his passage to the next world and his first
impressions with regard to his new existence, indubitably
impHes a spirit as its author. Still with greater force, it is
the same with the series of messages of the same alleged
origin, that have followed one another during several days
under the pencil of Mme. Z,; all bear the stamp of the same
personality,
tion of phenomena." (Mme. Laura Finch, "Spiritisme et th^osophie,
Du droit d'^voquer les morts," Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1905,
p. 279.)
'Flonmoy, Travail cit6 des Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1899,
p. 208,
ACCOUNT OF THE THEORY 189
"The question is only to know whether the principle of this
continuous and increasing systematization must be sought
for in an independent spirit, different from the spirit of Mme.
Z. herself, according to the spiritistic doctrine, and as she is
inclined to beUeve it; or whether on the contrary this spirit
is one with her, so that the personality made manifest
through those messages would be only a temporary func-
tion, an act, a momentary projection, or creation, of her in-
dividuality, in the same manner as people whom we see and
who are talking to us during sleep are created by ourselves."
So the meaning is made precise; what we are about to in-
vestigate under the name of spiritualism is a theory that
ascribes occult phenomena to the calling of spirits.
60. Account of the Theory.
The meaning of the word is made more precise in an out-
line of the doctrine as made by spiritualists themselves.
In his book, whose title is a program in itself, Leon Denis^
says: " A thorough and frequent intercourse has been estab-
lished since fifty years or so between mankind and the spirit
world. The veil of death has been half opened. Souls have
spoken (in experimentation). There is no possible success,
no secure result without assistance and help from above.
By narrowing spiritualism, by giving it an exclusively experi-
mental character, one chiefly succeeds in coming in contact
with the lower elements of the beyond, with the multi-
*L6on Denis, "Dans I'invisible." "Spiritisme et m^diumnite."
"Traits de spiritualisme experimental." " Les faits et les lois." " Ph^-
nom&nes spontan^s." "Typtologie et psychographie." " Les f antomes
des vivants et les esprits des morts." " Incorporation et materialisations
des defunts." " Methods d 'experimentation." " Formation et direction
des groupes." "Identite des esprits." " La mediumnite ^ travers les
dges." Paris, 1904. — See also Edmond Dupouy, "Sciences occultes et
physiologie psychique," 1898 (the whole chapter: "Phenomfenes spiri-
tiques," p. 151).
190 ACCOUNT OF THE THEORY
tude of rudimental spirits whose fatal influence is surround-
ing and overwhelming mediums; they lead them into fraud;
they spread mischievous effluvia over experimentalists, and,
at the same time, are the frequent cause of errors or mystifica-
tion. The frivolous spirits that pullulate our surroundings,
are attracted because of the humor with which experi-
ments are sometimes made. Modes of correspondence con-
necting men on earth are gradually extended to inhabitants
of the invisible world until, owing to new methods, they
reach the human race on spheres in space. Spiritualism is
not only a proof of survival; it also becomes a channel
through which inspirations from the upper world come down
to mankind. For this reason it becomes more than a
science; it is the teaching of Heaven to earth. In fact, there
are two spiritisms. The former brings us into contact with
higher intelligences, and also with the beloved spirits whom
we have known on earth and who were the joy of our life.
There is also another, a frivolous and worldly mode of ex-
perimentation, through which we have intercourse with the
lower elements of the invisible world; it leads to lessening
the reverence due to the world beyond. The vast realm of
souls is crowded with benevolent or malignant entities; they
are found at any grade of the infinite ladder, from the mean-
est and rudest souls bordering upon animal life to the noblest
and purest spirits, heralds of light, who belong to any
regions of time and share the radiations of divine thought."
By this it may be seen that there is a whole theory, a real
doctrine, that tries to explain everything by mediumship,
even as to its errors and frauds. Such is the doctrine orig-
inated in America (see above), whose gospel has been de-
lineated by Allan Kardec, " according to the teaching given
by upper spirits through different mediums."
In a book whose title is a promise of " irrefutable proofs
regarding our intercourse with the spirit world," Gabriel
ACCOUNT OF THE THEORY 191
Delanne^ says, " The whole of experimental and philosophi-
cal spiritualism has its basis in the possibility of our having
intercourse with spirits, i. e. with souls of persons who have
lived on earth." The author hopes to demonstrate in his
book " that real mediumship is truly caused by the action of
disembodied intelhgence,"
Finally, Dr. Lapponi^ " Archiatro della Santita di Leone
XIIP di Pio X," says: "I am bound to look upon spiritual-
istic phenomena as upon phenomena of a supernatural order.
It seems necessary to admit, as causing the analyzed facts,
incorporeal beings who certify and prove their existence by
means of those phenomena. From a philosophical point of
view, it is credible, and even almost logically obvious, that
above man among a series of created beings are other
beings more perfect than he, more intelligent, and endowed
also with greater physical power. To such beings, accord-
ing to our miserable language, we give only the name of
'spirits.' There are, among those beings, some spirits
who, having passed through their existence on earth, leave
their body in the visible world and go with what is the spark,
the operating principle, the spirit of their life, towards hap-
pier regions. Between the magic and necromancy of the
past and the spiritualism of the present, I find no essential
difference. On the contrary, I perceive in it resemblances
that make me infer that there is a complete identity. Spir-
itualism is the expression of an activity of a preternatural
order."
^Gabriel Delanne, "Recherches sur la m6diumnit6." "Etudes des
travaux des savants." "L'^criture automatique des hyst^riques."
"L'^criture m^canique des mediums." "Preuves absolues de nos com-
munications avec le monde des esprits." Paris, 1902.
^Dott — Giuseppe Lapponi, " Ipnotismo e spiritismo. Studio medico-
critico," Roma, 1906. — All passages from this book, quoted here, were
kindly translated into French by Miss Rix. (A French translation was
issued by Perrin, a little previous to Lapponi's death.)
192 THIS THEORY UNLIKELY
XL DISCUSSION OF THE THEORY OF SPIRIT-
UALISM
There is in my opinion nothing so imperfectly established
as the spiritistic doctrine, the "systematical" explanation
of occult facts by spirits.
61. This Theory Unlikely.
First of all the actual evocation of spirits is absolutely un-
likely. " I do not believe," says Morin, " that, after having
been extricated from the hindrances of the human body, a
soul may be so stupid as to creep into a piece of wood in
order to express its presence there by means of the practise
of so absurd a manifestation! "
Babinet, who quotes the above passage, declares that at
the moment when he was writing, there were in America
60,000 mediums, and that all the dead, more or less famous,
must constantly be at their disposal. One must add that,
after such periods of posthumous activity, there are in com-
pensation long stages of enforced idleness.
Lapponi observes that since experiments were instituted
in this matter the education of spirits has improved, and
that they are now admirably capable of fitting the medium
{milieu). He says: ''There is a queer particular in all this.
One would readily believe that the spirits have had to look to
themselves for ways of expressing themselves and improving
their knowledge of the habits of their fellow-creatures,
through lessons taken at home in the next world. Another
astonishing fact is the possibility for spirits to adapt their
tastes to those of the experimentalists who cultivate their
acquaintance {dei luro devoti cultari). One would think
that, like the pythoness who took the part of King Philip
when issuing her oracles, the spirits of to-day share the opin-
ions of those who take advice of them; they are pious when
MUST BRING FORTH ITS PROOFS 193
dealing with pious persons, affectionate towards people that
are fond of their relatives; they take interest in pohtics with
politicians; they are business men with merchants, learned
with men of science, vulgar and common with the lower
class of individuals. This is the reason why spirits are, in
England, skeptical, talkers, avveduti. In Germany they
are mystical, theorists, and transcendental. In France,
they appear as idle, liberal, careless and frivolous. In the
United States of America they are matter-of-fact, dogmatic,
and daring; they proclaim their behef in metempsychosis,
whilst elsewhere, and especially among us in Italy, they de-
clare themselves to be pantheists, atheists, or materialists."
By diminishing the strength of his objections, Lapponi
himself attempts to establish that these give no absolute dis-
proof of SpirituaHsm. Quite so, but one may say that they
indicate its unlikelihood.
62. Spiritualism Must Bring Forth Its Proofs.
Still, an unlikely doctrine may be true. But, previous to
being accepted it should afford its own proofs. Spirits
should supply us with numerous and irrefutable proofs as
to their presence and identity if they want us, in spite of
their improbability, to believe in them.
Flournoy says that "it is necessary, in the complete
critique of a mediumistic experience, to establish first that
the contents of the message may have been issued by the
medium, and lastly, that it is impossible they should have
come from somewhere else." I transpose the proposition
and say that in order to make us believe in the reality of
spiritism spiritualists should first prove that it is impossible
for the medium to be the author of the contents of the mes-
sage, and then,that they have certainly originated elsewhere.^
^Flournoy, work cited in the Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1899,
p. 201.
194 IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE
As Flournoy observes rightly: ''In case sufficient reason for
a message is found in the medium, we have no right to
infer into the bargain, even in virtue of hypothesis, the
existence of another agent, different from the medium and
involving a useless repetition of him." Therefore, Spirit-
uahsm should afford its own proofs, and it scarcely ever,
or seldom does this.
Charles Richet* writes: "To speak the truth — for one
should be righteous even towards those who are not so with
us — spiritualists make a hard trial of the patience of scien-
tists. Their assertions are lacking in proofs ; their researches
are as little methodical as possible; they mix together doc-
trine and experiments, poetical prayers and minute pre-
caution, advice in morals and conditions of observation;
they believe in the good faith of any one, and suppose every
one to be equally qualified to make a good observation; they
most frequently look like people whose conviction is settled
in advance, whilst conviction ought to come as the con-
clusion of tiieir experiments."
63. The Ideas Exprest During Trance are Those
OF Mediums, and not Those of Evoked Spirits.
Here is the really leading argument against Spiritualism.
In order to prove their existence and identify in medium-
istic seances, spirits ought to think and speak like the indi-
viduals whom they represent, but as a matter of fact, they
merely think and speak like the mediums themselves, who in
those cases seem to be the sole authors of the messages ex-
prest. The matter is perfectly settled in Lapponi's pas-
sage cited above. If evocations are made easier and more
perfect, and if spirits themselves apply to the evoking milieu,
it is because the whole experience depends solely on the
* Charles Richet, article cited in the Annates des Sciences Psychiques,
1905, p. 12.
IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE 195
medium and not on the evoked person. Every one has
been wondering at this. Pierre Janet has admirably illus-
trated it when, speaking about messages sent to earth by
more or less famous spirits, through mediums, he has
said : '' How is it possible that readers of such messages
should not have seen that those lucubrations, although they
offer some intelligent combinations, are in the main utterly
absurd, and that it is unnecessary to scrutinize mysteries
beyond the grave in order to write such nonsense ? "
When speaking tlirough a medium, Corneille only writes
childish poetry, and Bossuet delivers such puerile sermons
that a country clergyman would be ashamed to speak of
them. After a spiritualistic seance Wundt bitterly com-
plains of the degeneracy undergone by the spirits of the
most renowned personages; they talk exactly as the in-
sane and idiots do. Allan Kardec, who is over-confident,
evokes successively the souls of people dwelHng on various
spheres, and asks them questions concerning Heaven, Hell
and Purgatory, He is right, after all, since it is the only
way of getting information on these interesting questions.
But in case you read either the information of M. Samson
or M. Jobard, or that of poor Auguste Michel, or of Prince
Oiu-an, you will find that those good spirits are not better
informed than we are, and that they would greatly need to
read the descriptions of Hell and Paradise as given by the
poets in order to know a little about the matter. We had
better give up wishing for a future life if we have to spend it
with such individuals.
Surbled,^ speaking Hkewise with regard to messages got-
ten through tables on the part of spirits, says : '' Most fre-
quently they are only notions, commonplaces that reach us
from beyond the grave. An evocation of this kind would
^Surbled, "Spirites et Mediums," Choses de I'autre monde, 1901, p. 31.
196 IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE
be striking if it were real — if we could see such men as
Galileo or Copernicus rising from the next world in order to
teach us. But the fact of the medium summoning in our
presence a scientist of the past and acting as his spokesman,
involves nothing extraordinary; it even becomes suspicious
in case we notice a strange Hkeness between this medium's
ideas and those exprest by the spirits evoked. One
might beheve that the medium is not interpreting thoughts,
but rather ascribing thoughts to the disembodied persons, by
using at the same time imagination and a good memory.
"Man is betrayed by his speech." The author quotes this
sentence of Santini : " For instance, during the course of the
same seance, the spirit of Voltaire would speak like a carman
in case the medium (or more simply the operator) belongs to
that class of society, or to any other similar station in life,
or perhaps it would express itself ten minutes later as would
a gentleman provided the medium is a well-bred or learned
individual."
Camille Flammarion relates in La Revue (1906, p. 189)
his former experiments with Allan Kardec which estab-
lished that the message signed " Bernard Palissy, on Jupi-
ter," was not sent by a spirit dwelling on that sphere;
neither was Galileo any way related to the messages ascribed
to him, they were unconsciously written by Flammarion.
In most of the experiments one might find this unlikelihood
and strangeness, or puerility of mediumistic messages —
even in those recently obtained. Abelard, the unhappy and
famous husband of Heloise, has issued a book of conversa-
tions from beyond the grave, ^ through the channels of two
kind women and a devoted disciple.
At first Annette the house-maid and Mme. de V. were
^" Entretiens posthumes du philosophe Pierre de B^renger (dit Abai-
lard)," 8vo. (Georges Malet, "Entretiens posthumes d'Abailard avec
deuxParisiennes," Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 246.) Cf. a lecture by
IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE 197
evoking a spirit who pretended that his only name was
Pierre Laberon, but he disclosed that Pierre was Abelard.
He usually came forth when Mme. de V. had joined with
Mme. Blanche C. — "an author well known under a nom-de-
plume by readers that are fond of feuilletons." "I find in
you, dear Blanche, what in Amiette was absolutely lacking,
i. e. notions of spelling and French. ' ' So writes Abelard, and
he asserts that the work he is going to dictate " will be an
irrefutable proof of an interference on the part of the in-
visible world, "for," he adds, " although you are very acute,
there will be in the course of this volume matters so utterly
transcendental that it will be impossible to ascribe them to
a woman's mind, no matter how sharp it may be." And in
spite of all, " apart from a neat hand which is most likely due
to the medium's literary personality, nothing is found there-
n that may differ from the usual spiritualistic reasonings."
A circle of English spiritualists addrest to the Temps^ a
posthumous interview with the Imperial Prince. One
might infer from it that " Napoleon III had retained in the
next world a household perfectly organized. He has ser-
vants and a Court, at the same time civil and military.
Thus the next world would be merely a mirror of our sub-
lunar sphere. I wish I did not have to die, since it is use-
less to change." The Prince is questioned as to the number
of the regiment in which he served when killed. He an-
swers, "I do not remember; I believe it was an Irish regi-
ment." Pierre Mille remarks: "If Napoleon I has not put
his grand-nephew under arrest, since he has forgotten the
number of his regiment, there is no discipline in the armies
of the beyond."
Gabriel Delanne on "The teachings of the beyond," made at the French
Society for Psychical Researches (Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, p. 437).
iPierre Mille, "Un message de I'au-del^," Le Temps (Annales des
Sciences Psychigvss, 1906^ p. 308).
198 IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE
Signer di Santa Prassede* describes " six psychical seances
that took place last summer at the Villa Albaro."
" The various spirits evoked, emitted a scent of their own:
the shipwrecked little girl smelt like violets; Captain Jones
was exhaling an odor of tobacco ; Abdul Aziz gave a perfume
of ottar; the invisible soul of a young lady ran over the
piano with fingers resembling the wings of a butterfly; one
soul was distilling a sweet and delicious fragrance, unknown
tiU then, which Signor di Santa Prassede unhesitatingly as-
serted to be the perfume of innocence; Tobias emitted no
odor whatever, and this is a quality scarcely to be found in a
a dog, but as is the habit of its congeners, it scented other
souls quite easily. Abdul Aziz, who smelled of ottar, was a
good-tempered fellow and described Mohammed's paradise.
Napoleon came forth and played a rather poor pasquinade
by evoking the battle of Wagram and imitating the noise of
bullets that flattened against his snuff-box."
Perhaps this pamphlet is an ironical pasticcio, issued only
to hoax ingenuous folk.^
What I have said concerning mediums who are earnest,
may be set in opposition to those grotesque seances. Among
them the seance of Mme. Hugo d'Alesy, taken from Pierre
Janet (who had borrowed it from the Revue Spirite), is not
less ridiculous and does not bear any more than others the
stamp of the beyond.
The medium whose experiments I have recalled, according
to Surbled, is not more intelligent when he declares that the
'Martino di Santa Prassede, Apres la Villa Carmen, Journal des Debats
Aug. 2, 1906.
^People were wondering at the nature of this pamphlet. In fact, they
were troubled to perceive whether the author intended to make a satire,
without success, or if he was so stupid as to imagine that persons deal-
ing with psychical research would believe in the reality of his stories.
Letters dated from Genoa allow us to think that this hypothesis is the
true one {Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 592).
IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE 199
inhabitants of the moon are like us except that they cannot
live with air, while we are unable to dispense with it.
Helen Smith and Mme. Smead, who are earnest mediums,
have not afforded us as regards Mars more sensational and
likely revelations. Behind the manifestations of Marie
Antoinette or Cagliostro, or behind those of the inhabitants
of Mars we always meet with the medium's peculiar mental
condition.
The most intelligent and complex romances of mediums —
should they be surveyed by men like Flournoy or Hyslop
— contain nothing except matters previously stored within
the disaggregated polygon of the medium entranced, or were
exclusively derived from that inner place of origin. There is
nothing that might seem to come only from the beyond.^
Flournoy demonstrates in his work already quoted from
the Revue Philosophiqiie that "the would-be spiritualistic
messages are merely caused by the medium's subconscious
imagination working on latent remembrances or preoccu-
pations," and in order to ratify this opinion he cites cases
that are absolutely noteworthy. I am going to sum up the
first one.
Mme. Z.'s father and one of her brothers have had pro-
phetic dreams, and her son has practised automatical hand-
writing. She is herself fond of reading Allan Kardec,
Gibier, etc. During one month she tries experiments with
a table; next she produces automatic handwriting, and after
eight days (April 21) she gets the names of departed rela-
tives and friends, together with philosophical and religious
messages that are continued on the following days. On
April 24, as she had already written various messages,
her pencil is suddenly tracing the name of a Mr. R., a young
Frenchman whom she knew, and who recently entered into
^Cf. the whole interesting chapter on " Les Tables de Jersey," by Jules
Bois, loc. cit., p. 101.
200 IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE
holy orders. This spmt informs her that it has been dis-
embodied on the previous day; it gives a description of his
last illness, relates that death has come without any suffering
whatever; that he has recommendations by letters, and has
finally awakened near God amongst relatives and friends.
"Your father has led me into your presence; I did not
know that such an intercourse was possible. I have at once
thought of my beloved. My wish would have been to speak
with them, but I can communicate with you only. I re-
main with you and see you, but still I look only at your
spirit." Nothing is more precise than this evocation, which
happened every day for a week. Every one would have
been bound to see in this an irrefutable proof of the reality
of spiritualism had not a letter arrived on April 30 from Mr.
R., who, far from being dead, still enjoyed perfect health.^
Although Charles Richet does not deem it " very mighty,"
he mentions and debates an objection to spiritualism "in-
ferred from the strange characters of personalities."^
For instance, " It has been asserted that it was stupid on the
part of Aristotle's personality to come back and speak
French or English, and give warnings as transcendental in
spirit as the following: 'Be persevering; owing to patience,
you will succeed,' or ' You will get better results to-morrow.'
Should any personality manifest its existence through auto-
matical handwriting, it uses the medium's writing and
makes the same mistakes in spelling as the medium himself
would make. When persons less famous than Aristotle are
concerned, they have forgotten certain characteristics.
For instance, they fail to remember their surname, or the
place where they used to live. Phinuit, Mrs. Piper's familiar
spirit, pretended to have been a French physician at
'When discussing telepathy, I shall further deal with this fact.
^Charles Richet, works cited in the Annates des Sciences Psychiques,
1905, p. 32.
IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE 201
Metz ; he talked English as he had forgotten the French lan-
guage because he attended so many English people dwelling
up there. It would be easy to detect numerous similar in-
stances of this absurdity. ' ' Charles Richet says : " Many un-
likely assertions are met with in Spiritualism — spirits of
Englishmen that talk French, ghosts that, when material-
ized, materialize their hat, their stick or their eyeglass at the
same time."
Of course, Charles Richet is quoting these objections only
that he may show he does not believe them to be of value.
But he disregards them merely because he wants to deal ex-
clusively with facts. He does not affirm the doctrine of
personal survival; neither does he assert the theory of
spiritualism which I am discussing in this paragraph.
"The matter is not," as he observes, "to decide in this
moment if it is Aristotle who is really coming back and
speaking French unto us, only to tell us: 'be persevering
and patient.' One should know whether an intelligence is
made manifest according to modalities unknown as yet, in
objects that seem to be inert, and by the interference of a
new power not previously thought of. Whether the first
be true or false, such is all the question and it is not suffi-
cient in denying the fact of an intelligent power, to say
that this power is falsely assorted to be Aristotle — provided
that faith not be deniable in itself. One may question
Aristotle's presence, but it is undeniable that there is an
intelligence."
We absolutely agree. When setting the question of facts
apart from theories, Charles Richet is quite right. He as-
serts that the above-mentioned objection is of no value as
regards facts. But, in case one should survey, as I am do-
ing, not facts, but the spiritualistic hypothesis, this objec-
tion is still very mighty, and it is interesting to have it ex-
prest by Charles Richet. In order for a spirit to afford, in
202 IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE
a seance, real proof of his presence and identity, he should
give information quite new and which the medium has never
heard of. I do not think this has ever been done.
It has been recently asserted that Dr. Hodgson fulfilled a
little while after his death the promise he made to the So-
ciety for Psychical Research, and has come back and given
his impressions of the other world.^ " The world had no
right to ask for more striking proof. "^ However, Prof.
Hyslop unhappily is said to have refuted this pretended
promise.^ Dr. Funk, however, has declared that this
statement is "utterly false." In any case, the proof so
much longed for has eluded us.
Myers offered to members of the S. F. P. R. an oppor-
^When about to die, Canius Junius said to his friends: " If you ask me
if the soul is immortal, I am going to know it, and in case it is possible,
I shall come back and let you know" (Citat. Maxwell, loc. cit., p. 232).
^"L'esprit du docteur Hodgson se serait manifeste." Annates des
Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 124.
'"Une pretendue promesse du Dr. Hodgson," Annates des Sciences
Psychiques, 1906, p. 392. Hyslop remarks that "the constant inter-
course Dr. Hodgson had with Mrs. Piper for about twenty years"
should hinder us from taking "as irrefutable proof spiritualistic messages
originating there and exprest through this channel." It should be added
here that the medium quoted by Dr. Funk was Mrs. May Pepper,
" whom one should not confuse with the well-known Mrs. Piper described
by Mr. Hodgson himseK and whose mediimiistic powers are the same."
Editor's Note. — The statements here made with regard to Dr. Hodg-
son have been shown to Prof. Hyslop, who writes as follows regarding
them: "I would say that Dr. Funk is quite right about my position.
I have never refuted the 'pretended promise' to return. On the con-
trary, I regard it as having been fulfilled, and so well fulfilled that only
ignorance or prejudice would fail to appreciate the evidence. In my
articles on Hodgson's communications I merely said that he might have
said various things about his life, which would appear in the trance.
I did not say that this applied to all the communications, but merely
remarked that the eighteen years of his work were exposed to suspicion.
Tho I did not express myself exactly in the language used by Grasset,
the general idea was implied in what I did say. I mean by it that con-
clusive evidence would not come, for the hardened skeptic, through the
Piper case alone, but that with other cases it woukl be satirsfactory."
IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE 203
tunity to write under a sealed envelope, statements
known only to them. The envelope was to be opened only
after a medium pretending to have intercourse with a dis-
embodied spirit should have claimed to know the contents of
the letter. The experiment has not yet been made. Mariel
Mangin has perfectly set forth all the precautions that should
be taken when making it, so as to prevent it from becoming
illusive.
Camille Flammarion relates that " Mme. Werner, to
whom he had been related for more than thirty years by a
close friendship, and who had been dead one year, had many
times promised him with the most express intention to
come after her death and complete his psychical researches
by a manifestation, should this be possible." Flammarion
accordingly attempted to secure this embodiment with Eu-
sapia at the house of Dr. Ostwalt, Mme. Werner's son-in-
law. '' In spite of all our efforts," he says, " we have failed
to obtain even one proof of identity." It would have been
very easy — so it seems — for Mme. Werner to give one, as she
had so formally promised to do. In spite of the announce-
ment (by raps) of an apparition that would enable us to iden-
tify her, we only perceived a whitish shape lacking definite
outlines, even after we had made the darkness almost com-
plete." He infers: ''Most certainly those phenomena are
caused by a power emanating from the medium, for they all
occur immediately near the medium. This power is intelli-
gent, but it is possible that the intelligence complying with
our questions is not distinct from the medium's intelligence.
Nothing shows that the spirit evoked has any influence
whatever in the matter. Therefore, I conclude that spirits
have brought forth no proof as to their real presence and
identity.^ Mediumistic messages, in trances, merely ex-
iCommenting on a report addrest to the Societe d'Etude des Phe-
nomeries Psychiques of Nancy, on October 21, 1906, by M. X., in. the
204 IDEAS EXPREST DURING TRANCE
press the medium's polygonal thought and involve the evo-
lution of no spirit whatever/
Quite recently a book was issued on "La Genese de
FAme." It is only a "course of mediumistic messages,"
Its author is a ''Parisian lady" whose nom-de-plume is
Ch. d'Orino. Previous to this book one would vainly-
even in Allan Kardec's works — have tried to find a com-
plete theory of the soul, of its origin and fate, gotten through
revelation. "La Genese de FAme" supplements this. It
is a complete rationale of the doctrine as wholly written out
by a number of spirits such as "Renan, Harlowe, Father
Henri, Zola, Monsignor Dupanloup, Father Didon, Mau-
passant, and the cure d'Ars."^
Gaston Mery asserts that "the intelligences which bor-
rowed those famous names and called the personalities forth
certainly have nothing in common with the deceased." The
matter of the identity of psychical personahties, Gaston Mery concludes :
" I have attentively read the text in question. I have analyzed it ; I
have for a long while thought it over, and I feel obliged to confess to
my correspondent that he has not altered my ideas on the matter. I
admit that the facts quoted are strange, or even — according to my cor-
respondent's expression — moving. However, I believe I am in a posi-
tion to assert that they are not real proofs. In my opinion they are not
even semblances of proofs. I shall readily go so far as to say that, far
from establishing the possibility of the identification of spirits, they
prove the impossibility" (Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, pp.81, 101, 166).
*De Rochas at first had seen in his experiments on "the retrogression
of memory" "a proof of reincarnation." His recent studies have en-
abled him to put the matter in its proper place. He declares that his
experiments "throw a new hght upon the subconscious"; they show
how cautiously one should accept the subjects' revelations, even in case
their good faith is unquestioned, and when such revelations are accom-
panied by somatical particulars that seem to prove their reality, in a
complete manner (Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, p. 131).
^Gaston M6ry, "La Genese de I'Ame," Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, pp.
221-241; "Une lettre de Ch. d'Orino," Ibidem, p. 261; "Une lettre du
R. P. Gaffre," Ibidem, p. 284, Jules Bois says (p. 264) : " Absolute proof
of the identity of a spirit has never been afforded. "
ERRORS OF MEDIUMS 205
doctrine suggested by them " is not only contrary to tradi-
tional ideas, but it depends upon no positive data, and,
though having some semblance of truth, is merely a de-
ceptive delusion," Those theories, as attributed to the
teaching of spii-its, are obviously contrary to verified facts,
or rest upon erroneous reasoning. This illustrates '' once
more, and at the same time, the whole sum of vain imagina-
tion and idle fancy that is to be detected in spiritualism."
The same author^ discusses, with much good sense in
a lecture delivered at the Nancy Society for Psychical Re-
searches,^ the identity of spirits. He compares, with much
irreverence, those experiments^ with a joke made by Al-
phonse Allais, who for a long time hoaxed a countryman.
Having seen, in a cafe, this man's hat, he mentioned to him
the place where he lived and the name of his hatter, and
then, after having looked into a directory, the names of a
druggist, butcher and baker there.
64. Errors of Mediums. Deceitful Spirits.
A new confirmation of the theory exprest is afforded
by the errors frequently made by mediums when delivering
messages. In Maxwell's^ book will be found the distressing
relation of a mediumistic error that almost became a trag-
edy. M. V. is making with various mediums — and espe-
cially with Mme. V. — very queer experiments relating to
raps, material brought in, removals of objects, and tele-
pathical or divinatory messages. One day, the spirit gives
orders by wire to sell in Paris 6,000 fr. of three per cent.
iQaston Mery, Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, pp. 81-101. Gabriel
Jeanne, Revue du Monde Invisible {Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, p. 218).
"^Echo du Merveilleux, Nov. 1 and 15, 1907; "Reponse a Gaston
Mery," May, 1907, p. 421.
2"Les 'Alphonse Allais' de I'au-dela," Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, p.
421.
^Maxwell, he, cit., p. 232.
206 ERRORS OF MEDIUMS
stock, and to invest 10,000 fr. in Italian funds. Although
Mme. v., who was a stock-broker's wife, had never dealt
with business matters, the very words used in dictating the
arbitrage, showed that the transaction had been imagined
by a mind well acquainted with this kind of business. The
spirit was speculating on a rising in the Italian funds and on
a fall in the French stock; all this proved successful. Then,
the spirit undertakes to manage M. V.'s business. "You
must no longer be concerned with business," says he, "It is
mine. I shaU see to it. You have only to obey me and let
me have my own way and you wiU be rewarded." In fact,
the arbitrage moved along perfectly, as he was able to fore-
see the future. The anonymous financier sold the Italian
funds at the highest price, whilst he waited during a few
days in order to repurchase his three per cent, stock on bet-
ter conditions. Such a gift of forecast was exceedingly
striking. With such a power at his service the chance for
luck appeared boundless . The profit involved in both trans-
actions was about 3,000 fr., use of which was directed in a ju-
dicious manner by the spirit himself. He induced M. V. to
adopt the dangerous system of non-realization. Instead of
taking his profits at every liquidation, he was denied any
conversion into money. On January 1, 1870, the market
price indicated a profit of 30,000 fr. In spite of repeated
entreaties, the stock-broker failed to secure from the spirit
permission to convert the account into money. M. V.'s
quietude remained untouched up to the moment when com-
plications with Germany first appeared. From the first
day, when in line with his former experience, the stock-
broker wished to convert his profits into money, the spirit
resisted. "Now you are again feeling the same terrors as
when difficulties happened regarding Luxembourg. I as-
sure you there will be no war. Believe in me, I am your
master and have never deceived you these three years."
ERRORS OF MEDIUMS ' 207
Despite those assertions, two days later the war was about
to begin. " By taking hold of the telegraphic lines the light-
hearted Secretary of State achieved my downfall. I was
put in a place where it was impossible to wire to Paris so as
to circumscribe my ruin." The spirit became absolutely
dumb and answered questions no longer. ''And still the
hour was of importance, for twenty years of work were sink-
ing into the abyss."
The spirit had obviously been failing ever since the dis-
aggregated polygon of the stock-broker's wife had been over-
whelmed in its activities and deceived in its reasonings by
events that surpassed its psychical ken. Errors of this kind
are numerous and frequent. But many people feel more in-
clined to trumpet forth success than failure in mediumistic
divinations.
I have related above the error of the spirit who reported
to Mme. Z. (the medium of Flournoy)^ all particulars re-
specting the death of M. R. (whom he embodied) although
M. R. was perfectly alive. Another strange story of a fal-
lacious spirit who deceived Mme. Smead, a plaindealing
medium, is termed by Hyslop^ ''the joke of Harrison
Clarke." He discusses his death in such a battle, such a
regiment, and gives all the particulars, which are subse-
quently discovered to be false. When one of his errors was
indicated to him he tried to cover it up. Most usually sin-
cere believers in spirits are not shaken by gross and obvious
errors made by their mediums.
The stock-broker quoted by Maxwell was convinced that
the mistake had been desired by the spirit, and that his
mind had been intended and prepared by him during two
'Flournoy, Travail cit6 des Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1899,
p. 199.
'Prof. Hyslop, Travail cit6 des Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906,
p. 479.
208 THE DECEITFUL SPIRITS
years and a half. Finally, when all was accomplished, he
said sternly unto him: "You meant to come to this point."
The abashed spirit stammered an answer, of which M. V.
could understand only the word ' ' trials . ' ' When Flournoy 's
second medium went to his son's master and got positive
and official evidence of the error made by the spirit, he did
not give up his belief. While the director was speaking, his
hand was writing on the desk, always with slowness due to
crumpled paper. He heard the words: "I have deceived
you, Michel; forgive me." That spirit he had thought to
be so utterly benevolent, and whom he had candidly chosen
as his guide, as his second conscience, had scandalously de-
ceived him! It was a shame. So he said, instead of detect-
ing in those facts evidence of falsehood in the spiritualistic
hypothesis. Sincere believers are preserving such faith and
now admit the existence of fallacious spirits. Allan Kardec
had already acknowledged that "some spirits are frivolous,
deceitful and malignant."^ Quite recently the Annates
were saying of Craddock •? " Still we should refuse to accept
as proofs — or even as hints — unfavorable to mediums the
false information given with regard to their identity by
spirits that are made manifest. Such inaccuracies, more or
less radical, have been verified by all experimentalists in
mediumistic messages, and it is impossible to infer from
them that the medium's phenomena are objectively fraud-
ulent. In order to admit as unfavorable evidences those in-
accuracies, it would first be necessary to approve of this
strange theory: that mediumistic messages are always is-
sued by spirits; and next, that spirits are in all cases the
very entities they pretend to be."
In spite of all these efforts, I think the objections to the
theory of spiritualism based on the errors of mediums are
>C/. Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, Nos. 215 and 217.
^Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 323,
THE DECEITFUL SPIRITS 209
still very strong. In order to prove its reality, spiritualism
ought not only to speak the truth always, but also to put
forth verities that are beyond the usual ken of earthly psy-
chisms. But instead spirits are found to be mistaken, or, if
they deceive, where is the evidence that they really exist?
Are we to believe that spirits are deceiving us as to their
identity, or playing comedies or farces in order to wrong us,
or to make fun of us? If some of the spirits evoked are de-
ceitful and malignant, how are we to trust the experiments
of spiritualism at large ?^
As Flournoy rightly observes : " If you ascribe to a deceit-
ful spirit — as spirit-believers would readily do — erroneous
messages for which there is sufficient explanation in the
psychical mood of the subject, you transgress a principle
according to which causes should not unnecessarily be
multiplied." The hypothesis of fallacious spirits is only a
" clever shift enabling spiritualism to make the most — even
for its own benefit — of messages formally contradicted by
facts. In this special case Mme. Z. has beheved for a long
time (and is yet incHned to believe a little, as I think) that
a fairy player from the spirit world indulged in a vulgar
pleasantry when sitting in her presence as if he were really
M. R. It would be quite necessary for this independent
spirit to be perfectly acquainted with the most secret
thought, either conscious or subliminal, entertained by
Mme. Z., at this moment, with regard to remembrances,
preoccupations, feelings or inclinations concerning M. R.
'' In order to compose his apocryphal messages this spirit
has chosen what most exactly fitted in with the ideas of
i"The conclusion is that all spiritualistic experiments are deceptive
at least, since, should they afford us the possibility of evoking deceitful
spirits, they only give us a presumption as to the possibility of raising
up truthful spirits." — Gaston M^ry, "Une protestation des spirites,"
Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 24,
210 SPIRITUALISTS DO NOT AGREE
Mme. Z. respecting her young friend, or with the impressions
she preserved about him, also with the contents of letters
written by both. In other words, this skilful forger would
have taken from Mme. Z. the complex and systematical no-
tion she had at that time of M. R. He would have interpo-
lated nothing except what she had herself added, owing to
the natural and spontaneous working of her powers of imag-
ination and reasoning. He would have merely reproduced,
as in an exact mirror, the features of M. R., such as they
were, imprest upon her mind, and interpreted, as an
obedient secretary, what was whispered by her fanciful
dreams, the wishes or fears of her heart, or the scruples of
her conscience.
" But now, how would this kind spu-it be different from
Mme. Z. herself? 'VMiat would be the meaning of such an
independent individuality, that is solely an echo, a reflection,
a particle of another person, and what is the use of such a
duplicate of reality? Is it not stupid and childish to imag-
ine, in order to explain a synthesis and a psychological co-
ordination, another true principle of synthesis and co-
ordination, another individual or spirit different from the
very individual or mind which already contains all the
elements gathered, and whose nature is exerting an influence
over the grouping in order to carry this out?"
65. Spiritualists Do Not Agree Together.
A final argument may be inferred against spiritualism
from the fact that various circles of believers do not agree
as to reincarnation. MaxwelP sets forth in the following
manner an objection to the teaching of spirits which he
deems irrefutable. In all countries of the Continent they
are declaring their belief in reincarnation. They frequently
announce the moment when they are going to be embodied
'Maxwell, loc. cit., p. 7.
CONCLUSIONS 211
again in a new human wrapper. They even more readily
relate adventures on the part of their followers. On the
contrary, in England, spirits affirm that there is no reincar-
nation.^
This is a formal, absolute and irreconcilable contradiction.
How are we to have a judicious opinion? Who is speaking
the truth? Who is right, the Anglo-Saxon spirits or the
continental entities? It is likely that messages are not
emitted by well-informed witnesses. Aksakoff, one of the
most learned believers, is indirectly coming to this conclu-
sion. He acknowledges that one is never sure of the iden-
tity of the being made manifest during a seance.^
III. CONCLUSIONS
66. I think a conclusion is easily drawn from what I have
just stated. The theory of spiritualism (evocation of
spirits so as to explain occult facts) is unlikely. Before be-
ing admitted as true it should afford positive proof. But
such proof has not been given as yet. Mediumistic mes-
sages include nothing that may not come from the me-
dium's^ disaggregated polygon, and bear no mark whatever
of an outward influence.
'"Should the medium be of American or EngUsh origin, the spirit
does not believe in reincarnation; on the contrary, he admits it, in case
he is French, or German, or ItaHan, i.e. in countries where Allan Kar-
dec's influence is prevailing, as well as the doctrine of reincarnation. " —
Charles Richet, work quoted in Annales des Sciences Psychiqiies, 1905,
p. 33.
■''To this question: "Is it possible for a spirit evoked to afford proofs
of his identity?" Gaston M^ry gives the following answer: "As far as I
am concerned, I do not think so" (Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 23).
^From this may be inferred that, if I am sticking, throughout this
book, to the word "medium," like Flammarion,! use it no longer accord-
ing to its etymological meaning, " as it had been imagined when spirit-
ualistic theories were first taught, asserting that the subject — man or
212 CONCLUSIONS
They frequently contain gross mistakes and have failed
as yet to formulate doctrines concerning the life of the
beyond that are unanimously adopted by believers.
As has been rightly said by Flournoy, "Anything that
may be explained (according to the empiric and phenomenal
sense of the word) by certain individuals — Mr. So-and-so,
or Mrs. Z., or by their past, their actual condition, their
known faculties — should be ascribed to them, and it would be
unfair to attribute these groundlessly to another unknown
being. The so-called 'mediumistic messages' are merely
caused by the medium's subconscious imagination, working
on latent preoccupations or reminiscences. Even in a case
when for want of satisfactory evidence it would be impos-
sible to prove that messages are not exclusively issued by
the medium, we ought to presume so till proof of the reverse
is given. The practical conclusion to be drawn from it is
that it is puerile and imprudent to deal with spiritualism as
showing real intercourse with disembodied spirits."
Camille Flammarion in commenting on answers obtained
with a table writes (La Revue, 1906, p. 37) : "The medium's
mind and the mind of experimentalists have certainly a
part in it. The answers obtained are usually in correspond-
ence with this intellectual condition, as if the powers of
experimentalists had been exteriorized from then* brains
and had an influence over the table, though such persons
may not be conscious of it.^
woman, endowed with such powers — was an intermediate agent between
spirits and experimentalists."
'According to Jules Bois (Le Matin, March 30, 1908), phenomena
called mystical, occult, spiritualistic or theosophical — i.e. the wonderful
or the modem miracle — have no connection whatever with the beyond
or with the existence of God and the survival of the soul. Those facts
are the work — either conscious or unconscious — of man himself, of living
man. They are caused by powers unknown as yet, or by a combination
of powers known already. No external interference is necessary, except
as a stimulus, but never as a cause.
CONCLUSIONS 213
Charles Richet says, after having indicated the absurd-
ities of spiritualism: "But should the facts be real, and this
is possible, after all, I should feel obliged to turn over the
proposition, and assert that it was absurd to deny those
facts." There is no proposition to turn over. An absurdity
it would be to maintain the theory of spiritualism and to
infer from the downfall of this theory that facts are not
really existing. For the present my conclusion is against
the theory of spiritualism, the criticism of facts remain-
ing untouched.^
^There is not one man of " science, even though he be an adept in the
soul theory, who is a believer in spiritualistic, theosophical or occult
doctrine: to him, the fact only is of value" (Jules Bois, p. 10).
CHAPTER VIII
PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS-PERISPIRIT— ASTRAL
BODY-RADIANT PSYCHICAL FORCE
I. Account of the Theory.
67. The occultist doctrine; Perispirit; Astral Body.
68. Other scientific forms of the doctrine.
a. Psychical radiations.
b. The apparatus to measure them.
II. Discussion of Theories.
69. Most of them bring forth as proofs only the power of exterioriza-
tion, which they try to explain.
70. The biometers have not proved the existence of a power irreducible
to the other known forms of power (heat, electricity).
71. Should this new power be proved, nothing would yet demonstrate
that it is a connecting agent between two separate psychisms.
III. 72. Conclusions.
Opposed to the doctrine of Spiritualism is the theory of
human radiations, which, under its actual aspect, is cer-
tainly far more conformable to reason and science than the
former.
I. ACCOUNT OF THE THEORY
67. The Occultist Doctrine, Perispirit, Astral
Body,
This doctrine has been set forth in its occultistic form,
with great skill by Dr. Encausse (Papus) in his book al-
ready quoted: " L'Occultisme et le Spiritualisme." It is a
modern revival, an outline written in actual scientific lan-
guage of the old occultistic doctrine whose origins, vener-
able by its antiquity, I have stated above. There is be-
tween the Ego and the non-Ego, between the Mind and
PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS 215
Body, one or several intermediate principles. As a rule,
the Trinity prevails over all secondary divisions (doctrine
of the Tri-Unity); there are three plans in natui-e, and, in
man, three principles; this is the theory of the plastic me-
diator.
In man, between the immortal mind and the physical
body, there is an intermediate agent, which has organs and
faculties that are absolutely peculiar. This intermediate
principle, special to Occultists, is the astral body, twice
polarized and connecting the inferior physical with the su-
perior spiritual. Man is thus compared to an equipage
whose carriage is represented by the physical body, the
horse being the astral body, and the coachman the mind.
This image perfectly shows us the characteristics of the
astral body, which is really the horse of the organism : it puts
it to motion, but does not manage it. The great sympa-
thetic is as the horse of the organism : it manages alone when
the driver is asleep.
"The astral body being like a housewife in the human
being, presides over the making of all the organic forces, and
especially the nervous force. This nervous force is acting
as regards the mind in the same manner as electricity to-
wards the telegraph operator; the material brain resembling
the telegraph." Such is the beginning — not utterly as-
tounding as yet — of this theory, which only makes an exces-
sive use of comparisons and images.^
But here follows something more momentous and neces-
sary for the making of the theory of exteriorization. This
astral body, or plastic mediator (the horse of the organism)
is luminous when seen apart from material organs: i. e. this
^In the same manner as carbonate of soda combines oil with water
(which are contrary to each other) so as to make a perfectly homogene-
ous soap, so the astral body unites the incorporeal oil with material
water and makes a vital soap of them.
216 PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS
principle may radiate around the body in which it is nor-
mally enclosed. This coming out of the astral body, as it
is technically termed, may be incomplete, i. e. partial or
total. From this are derived occult phenomena, up to ma-
terializations and telepathies. Thus this astral body may
radiate around the individual, constituting a sort of invis-
ible atmosphere termed "astral aura," and it may even be
absolutely exteriorized.
This intermediate agent is the luminous body (Kha) of the
Egyptians, the carriage of the Psyche of the Pythagoreans,
the plastic mediator and universal mercury of Hermetists,
the astral body of Paracelsus. This latter name (adopted
by Encausse Papus) was given because this element de-
rived its principle from an interplanetary or astral sub-
stance.
"The astral body is an organic reality; one may, in this
respect, compare it with the photograph; the astral plan is
merely, in the occultist's view, the plan of negative plates or
molds, and physical objects are only proofs printed, every
one of them, in various numbers of copies by special spirit-
ual agents."
Besides, on the astral plan, the evolution from one type to
another immediately superior is taking place. Thus, for
instance, " the mold of the body of a dog after the suffer-
ings of an earthly incarnation (or a physical incarnation on
any planet whatever) becomes the mold or astral body of
the future body of a monkey. As to mind, reincarnation
consists in coming back several times on the physical plan,
without any necessity of time or place, i. e. the spirit may
come either ten years or two hundred years after the physi-
cal death, and its return may happen on any planet what-
ever of a material solar system."
Moreover, in the astral plan, are also found entities en-
dowed with consciousness, the "spirits" of spirit-believers,
PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS 217
and the " elementaries " of occultists. Those are the resi-
dences of men who have just departed this hfe and whose
souls have not undergone all the necessary evolutions.
Therefore, the elementaries are human entities that have
performed evolutions, while the elementals have not yet
passed through mankind. Thus, there are several classes
of spirits :
First. The elementals inferior to human beings are
mortal, but may acquire immortality by rising to human
natm^e. Under this head are included the sylphs (spirits of
air); the salamanders (spirits of fire); the undines (spirits
of water) ; the gnomes (spirits of earth) of the ancients and of
the Rose Croix. These are spirits who are neither good nor
bad in themselves, and who, during seances, enjoy them-
selves at the expense of the bystanders or mediums, pre-
tending to be Charlemagne or Victor Hugo.
Second. These are the spirits equal or superior to human
nature: " elementa,ries, planetary spirits of the cabala, an-
gels, demons, astral spirits. They have a will of their own
and come at the time of evolutions or conjurations only when
willing or when compelled to do so." At death " the physi-
cal body or carnal wrapper goes back to earth, to the
physical world from which it had come. The astral body
and the physical being, illuminated by the memory, intelli-
gence and will of earthly remembrances and actions, move
on the astral plan, especially to upper regions where they
become an elementary being or a spirit."
Let us suppose that our reflection in a mirror is persisting
after our departure, with its color, its features, and all the
appearance of reality. We will then have an idea of what
may be meant by the astral image of a human being. Be-
sides, any object might relate a part of the facts it has wit-
nessed. Psychometry consists in placing an object on
someone's forehead; then his soul is perceiving directly a
218 PSYCHICi^L RADIATIONS
series of images related to the most momentous facts in
which the object played a part.
Likewise, regarding man, "Every one of us is carrying
around him a radiance which the carnal eye fails to per-
ceive, but it is visible to the soul that is used to it. This
radiance is termed 'aura.' From this is derived 'the reg-
istering of ideas in the invisible.'"
It seems that we do not find our way through the outline
of those ideas; still I am not going beyond my subject-
matter. For it should be known that in occult facts the
modern occultist does not view an influence of the spirits,
but merely an action at a distance on the part of the me-
dium's astral body. Besides, says Encausse, " The substance
constituting those fluids surrounding the being evoked, is
very similar to electricity. This is the reason why metallic
tacks were used in this sort of evocation.^ The use of a
sword, a cup, or of talismen, as well as the use of words
loudly spoken, are intended for action upon the astral of
natm-e, and upon beings that hve in it."
Such is a summary of the occult doctrine in its most re-
cent synthesis. There is discoverable a deep preoccupation
in efforts to make a scientific matter of it. "Once more,"
^In the case of the haunted house I have described with Calmette,
someone writes to the Echo du Merveilleux in order to get advice, and
here is the answer: "As a rule, the medium is a kind of human voltaic
battery that emits something analogous to electricity. The best way
to check the phenomena, is to pierce through the air with iron tacks or
swords, for instance, not — as was formerly asserted — in order to cleave
spirits, but so as to obtain the electric clouds caused by mediums, in
the same manner as we draw, throvigh lightning conductors, the electric
clouds that are floating through the air."
"And in fact, a few days later, the noise and the removals having
occurred again, the medium's grandfather took a stick fitted with a
spear, held it at rest, ready to cleave asunder, and then he whirled his
sword about, cutting and thrusting fiercely, in every direction, around
the bed and under it. Finally he ceased, as he was worn out. The
bed was still shaking."
PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS 219
says Papus, " there is nothing supeiiiatural about aU these
matters; they are merely natm-al questions, a Uttle more
eminent than those usually known to us and that is all.
The more we investigate, the more we may notice that there
is nothing contrary to the positive teachings of actual
science.*
In a subsequent work, Phaneg^ has insisted upon the
"coming out in the astral body." B}^ this experiment the
double fluid is made to go out of the coarse organism and is
replaced by consciousness . The material body is apparently
motionless and lifeless, and our mind acts with the help of
the astral body. The adept, in his conscious astral " com-
ing out," may meet with a metallic tack that will dissolve
the fluidic agglomeration and cause a repercussion on the
physical body. Should the vital center be touched, death is
undoubtedly forthcoming. Then the astral world in which
one is evolving is dwelt in. Many of its inhabitants are
quite inferior and long for a physical life. They may com-
pletely enter a rough body, and on coming back the spirit
may find that its place is occupied. Then, madness or
death is at hand. The adept w^ould readily reach a beau-
tiful country whose dangers he has been able to avoid, but
he would fail to remember the beauties he had viewed, the
information received, unless his physical brain has been
trained to reflect impressions plainly."
UEcho du Merveilleux is of opinion that this matter is
interesting, but that (wiih some probable proof) it does not
fulfill all that its title anticipated.^
'C/. also Papus, "Traite" (quoted), de Science Occulte, and "La
Physiologie du Medium." "L'Initiation" {Echo du Merveilleux, 1906,
p. 400).
^Phaneg, "La sortie en corps astral." "L'Initiation" {Echo du Mer-
veilleux, 1904, p. 479).
^C/. also Georges Meunier, "Les sorties en astral." "Les experiences
de M. Pierre Piobb," Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, p. 269.
220 PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS
68. Other Scientific Forms of the Doctrine.
a. Psychical Radiations.
Leon Denis says in his account given to the congress held
in Paris^ in 1900 : " The psychical being is not confined within
the limits of the body; it is capable of eccentric moving and
of being released. One might compare man with a fire-
grate from which are issued radiations and effluvia that are
capable of being exteriorized into strata concentric to the
physical body, and even in certain circumstances may be
condensed to various extents and be materialized so as to
impress photographic plates and registering apparatus.
The vibrations of thought may be diffused throughout space,
such as light or sound, and impress another organism con-
genial to the experimentalist's organism. Psychical waves,
like hertzian waves in wireless telegraphy, are spread far
away and arouse within sensitive people impressions that
are different by nature, according to the dynamic condition
of such persons : visions, voices or movements. Sometimes
the psychical being will come off its corporeal wrapper and
appear at a distance."
This reminds us of Charles von Rechenbach.^ This
author first proceeds from the sensible influence exerted by
the magnet over the human organism. "This is," he says,
iLeon Denis, " Psychologie experimentale." "Phenomenes d'extg-
riorisation et de dedoublement," IV Congres international de psy-
chologie, Paris, 1900, p. 614.
^Baron Charles de Reichenbach, " Les Phenomenes odiques ou Recher-
ches physiques et physiologiques sur les dynamides du magnetisme, de
I'electricit^, de la chaleur, de la lumiere, delacristallisation et del'affinite
chimique, consideres dans leurs rapports avec la force vitale." Trad.
Ernest Lacoste, preface d'Albert de Rochas. Collection des meilleurs
ouvrages strangers relatifs aux sciences psychiques traduits et publics
sous la direction du Colonel de Rochas, 1904. The first edition was issued
at Brunswick, 1845; a second edition appeared in 1849. An English
translation has been published in London, 1851, by John Ashburner.
PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS 221
" a fact absolutely verified, a physico-physiological principle
obviously included in nature. Perceptions of this influence
are chiefly obtained from touch and sight. This action is
also exerted by our globe, by the moon, by any crystal what-
ever (natural or artificial), by heat or rubbing, by electricity,
light, sunbeams and stars, by chemical force, by an organic
vital force (as well in plants as in animals, especially in man),
and by the whole of the material world. The course of such
phenomena is a peculiar natural force that is extended to
the whole universe, and differs from all forces known up to
the present. Here I term it ' odum.' "^
In his book already quoted, Edmond Dupouy writes:
" Magnetic fluid, odic or vital fluid wholly saturates the organ-
ism of living beings. The psychical body lies exactly in the
middle between the matter and the spiritual soul. The
nervous fluid is made manifest by physical phenomena that
our senses are able to perceive — luminous effects through
the tubes of Geissler, or through the tube and ampulla of
Crookes ; the growth in our organism of Rontgen rays, even
without contact, the transference of sonorous waves; the
issue of effluvia that become visible and may be photo-
graphed." His conclusion is that "there are three ele-
ments in the human body : the soul, the psychical body and
the organized matter. The limits of the psychical body are
not fixed by the cutaneous wrapper. It is continually
surrounded by luminous effluvia, visible to sensitive sub-
jects or to mediums. It may be exteriorized in them within
an unlimited neurodynamic field, and be made manifest in
peculiar circumstances by various psychological or me-
diumistic phenomena."
^Cf. also Barety, "La force neurique," Revue de I'hypnotisme, 1888,
and "Le Magnetisme animal etudie sous le nom de force neurique,"
Pierre Janet, Revue Philosophique, 1888, and Albert de Rochas, "Les
proprietes ohysiques de la force psychique," "Les frontieres de la
science," 1902.
222 PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS
Surbled^ says that by "magnetic fluid" is usually meant
"a subtle and impalpable fluid, analogous to the fluid of
mineral magnetism, but peculiar to living beings. It depends
on volition and is capable of being transferred to others of
our own accord, or through the laying on of hands and the
performance of swift movements called ' passes '(?)"• He
believes that it will be possible to prove that the magnetic
fluid is nothing but the vital electric fluid. He finally
comes to this conclusion: "I am sure that the so-called
magnetic fluid is nothing but the vital electric fluid, whose
existence will be soon verified and settled." Dr. Baraduc^
has recently stated to the Court of Justice at St. Quentin
that, in his opinion, "Each segment in our organism —
cerebral segment, pulmonary segment, gastric segment,
genital segment — has a radioactivity of its own, an area of
vibrations varying in natiu-e; that, owing to their power of
emanation, they may exert a telepathical influence, a kind
of wireless telegraphic action over the passive radioactivity
of another person in a condition of vital hypotension."
UEcho du Merveilleux^ quotes the following passage of a
book of Bue ("Le Magnetisme curatif"): "One may easily
get a clear idea of the impression made on plants by our
radiant action, by operating with hyacinth or tulip bulbs.
By affording proof of the real influence of man over animals
and plants, those facts undeniably show us that this ac-
tion, merely dynamic or physical, depends on the natural
power of man to regulate, condense or extend, owing to his
force of volition, his magnetic or neuric radiations on all
substances around him, and even to modify their waves."
'Surbled, " Spiritualisme et spiritisme," Biblioth^que des science,
psychiques, 2d ed., 1898, p. 160.
^"Sur les rayons humains d'apres Baraduc"; c/. Jules Bois, loc. dt.,
p. 38 and seq.
^Echo du Merveilleux, 1905, p. 33. Cf. also the number of July 15,
1904.
PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS 223
Stenson Hooker^ has studied the spectrum of human rays.
The violent and passionate man emits dark red-brown
radiations. Pink radiations are issued by the man whose
constant aim is kindness and benevolence. The ambitious
man produces orange-colored rays. A proverbial thinker
emits dark blue rays. Yellow rays are perceivable in the in-
dividual fond of art and of refined things. An anxious and
deprest person emits gray radiations. The man leading
an abject existence emits dull brown rays. In an individual
steeped in devotion and good feelings light blue rays are
glowing. He whose mind is fond of improvements emits
light green rays. Those sick in body or mind produce dark
green rays, etc.
Phaneg^ says : " Occultism testifies to the existence of a
principle more subtle than ether, over which time and space
exert an action that is almost void, in relation, of course, to
our actual concepts. Besides, man has organs that are
quite fit for answering the vibrations of the astral matter.
When a human being causes another to feel a sensation at
a distance, his physical organs are not the first to experience
this influence, but his fluid body. The latter is so strictly
going through the rough vehicle that when interactions take
place between both individuals, and when one of them is
feeling a sting, the other body experiences it also and at the
same place." Albert de Rochas declares that "among the
numerous theories that attempt an explanation of psychical
phenomena, the one which actually appears as being next
to the truth, is the theory of the astral body."
Boirac also views the matter in this way, and he discusses
as a " mere supposition, how the human organism is able to
*J. Stenson Hooker, "Sur les radiations humaines," The Lancet, Nov.,
1905, Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 315.
^Phaneg, "Etude sur Tenvoutement," lecture delivered at the Society
for Psychical Researches, at Nancy. Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 74.
224 PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS
exert, at a distance, over other organisms and perhaps over
material objects also, an influence more or less analogous
to that of psychical radiant forces, such as heat, light, elec-
tricity." A general problem is coming before us, i. e., the
unity of psychical force. He acknowledges the hypothesis
of human radiation and various stages of condensation of
the psychical force. Under this theorem he tries to pre-
serve, or rather revive, animal magnetism. His conclusion
is : '' I am unable to deny that magnetic or nervous radiation
is as much a fact as the radiation of light or heat."
He discusses the relations of telepathy to animal magnet-
ism, according to the book of Gasc Desfosses on " Le Ma-
gnetisme vital." He says that in case will and thought are
able to keep in correspondence with each other, from one
brain to another, all these analogies not only will enable us,
but also oblige us, to view in this phenomenon only a pe-
culiar consequence of any general essential faculty of cere-
bral and nervous cells that are, so to speak, anterior to will
and thought themselves. What could such a faculty con-
sist of except of a kind of expansion or radiation of the nerv-
ous force, easier to understand owing to the phenomena of
heat, light and electricity? Boirac cites also certain ex-
periments he has made and which he thinks to be "cardi-
nal." He sums them up as follows :
First Experiment. — A subject who has blindfolded him-
self, is given advice that he must without any question what-
ever declare all the contacts he is to experience, and all the
impressions at large he is to receive. Without a word an
experimentalist places his hand before some or any part
whatever of the subject's body, at a distance of five or ten
centimeters. Without speaking, another person touches the
subject's body with a rod in several parts; the spot pointed
out by the experimentalist's hand being included. After a
rather short while (thirty to sixty seconds) the subject goes
PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS 225
on declaring that all parts of his body were touched with
the exception of the spot indicated by the experimentalist.
In case one replaced the operator by a neuter individual (i. e.
by one who does not exert a magnetic or psychical action)
and who holds out his hand in the same manner, no result
will be produced, even after five or ten minutes. In other
words the subject will keep on declaring the touches indis-
criminately.
One may infer from that first experiment at least an
hypothetical conclusion to be ratified by subsequent ex-
periments : First, that the human organism is radiating at a
distance, at least through the hand, or through an influence
that can have an action over another organism, at least the
organism of the subject, and to cause in it an appreciable
modification — anesthesia, for instance. Second, that this
influence is not issued by all human organisms, or rather, is
not emitted by all with a strength sufficient to cause an
appreciable result.
Second Experiment. — A subject being placed in the same
conditions as before, a neuter individual is operating on
him, as has been previously stated. As soon as it has been
perfectly proven that his individual influence is apparently
of no force — i. e. fails to cause an appreciable result — an-
other operator gets into contact with him either by taking
hold of his hand, or in any other manner whatever. It is
then shown that after from thirty to sixty seconds or a
little more, the subject ceases to declare that blows are
struck on the spot indicated by the neuter individual's
hand.
" One may infer from this experiment at least, as a hypo-
thetical conclusion to be ratified by subsequent experi-
ments: First, that radiations issued by active persons are
received by neuter individuals, and that they go through
their organism, although it is exprest therein by no ap-
226 PSYCHICAL RADIATIONS
preciable result. Second, that they are externally trans-
ferred by those neuter individuals and, after having gone
through them, still preserve their faculty of exerting an
influence over subjects and causing in them an appreciable
result, i. e. an anesthesia."
Such experiments may be compared to those which fol-
low as regards the exteriorization of sensibility.
With an individual having undergone anesthesia on a part
of his body, owing to an influence, as in the experiments
above quoted, the air is griped at a distance, a little above
the anesthetized spot; the subject's hand suddenly makes an
abrupt movement^ although the subject has no conscious
sensation of it.
" The experimentalist holds in both hands for a while
(about five minutes) a glass half filled with water; one of his
hands is placed underneath and the other above it; then he
goes toward the subject who previous to this has been placed
in a condition of somnambulism and closely blindfolded; he
gives him the glass of water to hold with one hand, and en-
joins him to dip one or two fingers of the other hand in it.
This being done, he comes back to his own place at the other
end of the room, and without a word requests by signs one of
the bystanders to pinch or prick the hand he has placed over
the glass. As often as the experimentalist is pinched or
pricked the subject trembles, and spontaneously declares
that he has been stung or pricked on the responsive part of
his own hand.
" In the next place the experimentalist, after having held
for a while a glass of water between his hands as in the
previous experiment, places it on a table within reach of one
of the bystanders ; then he goes to the other end of the room
'De Rochas was the first to survey the facts of exteriorization of sensi-
bility. Cf. Boirac, loc. cit., pp. 252, 264, 271. See also Paul Joire's work
in the Revue de VHypnotisme, Jan., 1898 (cit. Boirac, p. 329).
APPARATUS USED 227
towards the subject who has before been placed in a con-
dition of somnambulism and has blindfolded himself, and
he takes one of the hands of the subject between his own.
From this moment, as often as the onlooker is making a
sting or a pinching, or any contact whatever over the water
in the glass or in the air above it, the subject is trembling
and spontaneously declares that he feels responsive sensa-
tions."
I have thought convenient to quote here these strange
experiments, though Boirac himself is of the opinion that
they should be methodically reproduced and verified by
many experimentalists, and though he feels regret that de
Rochas has swerved from the strict method which he had so
admirably practised up to that time.
With regard to the experiments of Colonel de Rochas,
who transfers the sensibility of a subject to a small statue,
Maurice de Fleury has shown that the experiment was not-
withstanding successful, in case the statuette which had been
deemed to be loaded with sensibility was replaced by a new
one. "As far as I am concerned," adds Jules Bois, " I have
proven that it was sufficient previously to make to the sub-
ject a suggestion that the experiment would be successful,
so as to make it succeed indeed." And further he writes:
" As to his so-called discoveries of the eccentric projection of
sensibility and movement,^ whose theories he has set forth,
they should be given up, either because they rely upon du-
bious facts, or because they interpret by means of a physical
illusion, a phenomenon that is absolutely mental only.
6. Apparatus Used to Measure Them.
Various kinds of apparatus have been devised in order
to establish or measure this radiant psychical force. They
all lean upon the essential faculty some subjects have of
'See further part III, chapter XI, II.
228 APPARATUS USED
exerting an influence, either attractive or repulsive, over
objects surrounding them. Arago in 1846 and Dr. Pineau
in 1858 observed such a faculty with certain patients. In
1868 Bailly asserted in a thesis the existence of a nervous
radiant force, and Barety of Nice outlined in 1887 the char-
acter of this force. In 1887 and 1895 de Rochas investi-
gated the effluvia issuing from the human body in his books
on "Les Forces non definies," and '' Exteriorisation de la
sensibilite."^
Papus^ says the first apparatus ever devised to measure
this radiant force was the marvelous biometer of Louis
Lucas, whose basis is the galvanometer. Next came the
biometer of Abbe Fortin, who first laid down biometrical
formulae, and extended his researches to meteorology. Dr.
Baraduc devised another biometer after Abbe Fortin with a
slight modification. Finally, Dr. Andollent brought for-
ward a biometer-galvanometer with a plentiful rolling up of
thread. The power acting over those biometers passed
through cold water. Far from passing through metals, it is
on the contrary repelled by them, since the rotation of the
metallic needle is regulated by the blow of effluvia on the
needle suspended by a cotton thread.
In the middle of the nineteenth century Lafontaine,' a
magnetizer said : " One should take a needle made of copper,
or platinum, or gold, or silver, and bored in the middle, then
hang it horizontally with a silk thread in a glass receptacle
being about 20 or 30 centimeters high and absolutely closed.
Then one should seek to produce action on that needle by
bringing close to one of its ends through the glass the finger-
*Jules Regnault, "Phenom^nes odiques et radiations nouvelles," An-
nates des Sciences PsycMques, 1905, p. 174.
^Papus, "Le radium, les rayons N et I'occultisme," L' Initiation;
quoted by L'Echo du Merveilleux, 1904, p. 119.
^Cit. Surbled, he. cit., p. 233.
APPARATUS USED 229
ends at a distance of about 5 or 10 centimeters. Under the
magnetic influence one would see the needle turn on the
right or on the left, according to the experimentalist's
wishes. Since 1840 I have made experiments on the gal-
vanometer, and I have been able to ascertain that the action
of the animal magnetic fluid over the magnetic hand is the
same as that of the mineral magnetic fluid."
Here follows a description of the magnetometer of Abbe
Fortin.^ The condenser that is directly communicating
with the ground at its basis is resting on the pedestal. It is
made of twisted tinfoils, but set apart by an insulating
body. There is over it a metallic multiplier made of a long
thi'ead whose windings are insulated. Lastly a magnetic,
but not magnetized, hand is moving over a dial divided into
a certain number of partitions. The biometer of Baraduc^ is,
as the author himself declares, the magnetometer of Abbe
Fortin, as it was designed for him.
In 1904 Dr. Joire^ described in the following manner a
sthenometer that enabled him to assert the existence of a
special force which, being transferred to a distance, originates
in the living organism, and seems to be specially dependent
on the nervous system. '' The apparatus consists of a ped-
estal made of any suitable substance whatever. Its surface
is divided into 360 degrees like a dial. In its center the
pedestal is bored, and in the middle of the hole is fixed ver-
Toveau de Courmelles, Revue Universelle des Inventions nouvelles,
1890, p. 104 (citat. Surbled).
^Baraduc, "La force vitale." "L'ame humaine, ses mouvements,"
etc., (citat. Surbled). See also Dupouy, loc. cit., p. 32.
'Joire, "Etude d'une force exteriorisee par I'organisme vivant, et
observations faites au mo yen du sthenometre," Annates des Sciences
Psychiques, 1904, p. 243; and "De I'emmagasinement de la force ner-
veuse exteriorisee dans diff brents corps," Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p.
167. See also, some attacks made on the sthenometre and the reply
made by Dr. Joire, Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 752.
230 DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES
tically a glass pillar whose end is hollow. A very light
needle, usually made of straw, is placed over the dial. A
tack or metallic point makes a kind of needle attached to
the pedestal. One of the ends of the needle bears a counter-
poise suspended by means of a thread so as to maintain the
needle in a horizontal position. The pedestal is fitted with
a shade that shelters the needle from the movements of the
air."^
II. DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES
I have thought well here to group these various theories,
as they all involve serious objections.
69. Most of them (astral body and perispirit) afford as
proofs nothing more than the very facts of the exterioriza-
tion of the force which they try to explain. Therefore they
merely express in other words those very facts. In conse-
quence thej^ cannot be established in another manner than
by an explanation of the facts which I shall examine in the
following pages (B of this same part).
When Papus (see above) comes to the conclusion that
"there is nothing in his doctrine that is contrarj'' to the
positive teaching of om- actual sciences," one may say that
such an assertion gives signs of over confidence. It is, at
least, impossible to declare that all in this doctrine from that
moment has become scientific. First, there is in it a part
that undeniably belongs to philosophy or religion, and is
accordingly absolutely outside positive science. Such is the
astral part of the theory (according to the etymological
sense of the word) — the notion of incarnations and rein-
carnations of the astral body as well as the notion of the
coming out in the astral body, and of spirits superior and in-
ferior to man. A whole system of philosophy is included
'See also Albert Journet, "R&urrection" {Echo du Merveilleux, 1905,
p. 379).
DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES 231
therein — one might even say a whole rehgion which I do
not discuss (such is not my business here), but which does
not belong to positive science.
The authoi- is obviously mixing the various modes of
understanding when he proclaims that, " owing to the arche-
ometer framed by Saint- Yves d'Aveydre, the artist and the
scientist will, at last, be able to communicate under the
same elements the Word of God as coming from Christ
speaking freely throughout the universe, while human
brains are registering with due reverence the waves of
divine life that are disclosed to mankind." Such language
can apply only to extra-scientifical ideas. It is a part of
occultistic theories which is absolutely beyond my prov-
ince.
But there is, aside from this, another part that requires an
explanation owing to its scientific way of proceeding —
scientific, that is, in spite of strange terms which remind us
to an excessive extent of magic. This is the part concerning
the possible eccentric projection of the individual. There
are real facts in it — facts that involve scientific investiga-
tions; such is the notion of the astral body, i. e. the horse of
our organism, whose part is played by the great sympathetic
nature and which alone manages our organism during sleep,
while the driver is taking a rest. We find here a somewhat
peculiar conception of physical automatism, such as I have
studied and applied in the second part.
But this notion is at once completed by the idea of the
outward radiance of this astral body, and of its coming off
from the organism. I believe I am in a position to declare
plainly that this necessary part of the occult theory is not
in the least scientifically verified.
Encausse asserts that his whole system is resting on facts
" that are related to intuition, telepathy, prophetical dreams
and alterations of the matter under the influence of this
232 DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES
force issued by mail; which is termed psychical force."
Now, there is nothing in all this that has been scientifically
verified, although the author says that " on all those points
one should be convinced that the astral body is an organic
reality" ; and although he tries to ascribe a positive and ana-
tomical basis to his proof by recalling the disposition of the
sympathetic. His description of the plexuses is right, but
he makes a tremendous leap when he says that the plexuses
are " the organic centers of action of the astral body and fit
for exteriorization," This is not verified at all, but is still
new and important.
Occultists have had a propitious occasion in which
to mount the scientific rostrum and bring forth their facts
and submit them for survey by true and impartial scien-
tists. This was at the Fourth International Congress of
Psychology, held in Paris in 1900, Ribot acting as chair-
man and Pierre Janet as secretary. The fifth committee,
presided over by Bernlieim with Hartenberg as its secre-
tary, was devoted to the "psychology of hypnotism, sug-
gestion and connected matters." All the occultists had an
opportunity to set forth their facts and submit them to the
estimation of the most eminent and competent scientists
of the whole world.^
Gabriel Delanne, the editor of the Revue scientifique et
morale du Spiritisme; Leon Denis, the chairman of the So-
ciety for Psychical Research at Tours; Gerard Encausse, the
editor of the Initiation; Dariex, the editor of the Annates des
Science Psychiques; Durand de Gros, Paul Gibier, Mme.
Verrall were allowed to speak. By a wide and lawful liber-
alism the platform was made accessible to all occultists, and
the most famous and eminent among them made state-
ments. The unanimous conclusion was that in this whole
'C/. "Le Compte rendu du IV Congres International de Psycholo-
gic," Paris, 1900, p. 609.
DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES 233
range of exteriorization nothing had been scientifically veri-
fied as yet outside facts known already.
Vaschide declares that he listened with the most careful
attention to those statements, "and although we are in a
scientific circle here, I only find words, words, and nothing
else but words. It is not enough to say that a fact has
been vaguely observed and to set it forth as if it had been
scientifically observed. On this point our methods are un-
relenting and words are of no value." Oskar Vogt of Ber-
lin made a statement against occultists as invaders who
cause peril " owing to the production of anti-scientific docu-
ments."
Bernheim concluded this discussion in the following
words, which his eminent standing makes peculiarly
weighty: "As to the matter of psychical or paranormal
phenomena, I deem it prudent to defer the expression of my
opinion. Those advocating their reality should afford us
irrefutable proofs. I shall be only too glad to admit facts.
But, for this purpose, facts should be brought forth and veri-
fied as to their reality. Afterwards only, it would be possi-
ble to draw conclusions and frame theories from them.
As far as I am concerned, I confess I am not yet convinced,
I have seen many subjects and mediums. I have been
present at many experiments, but I have always found
ground for errors that prevented me from getting something
certain."
Such is the opinion of competent science respecting occult
science as synthetized by Papus-Encausse in the book
above referred to. Occultists moreover have not com-
plied with the position taken by the Congress of 1900.
Becker^ says: "It was impossible to refuse admission at the
Congress of 1900 to writers of our sect, and we were cheered
^Becker, article quoted in Revue Scientifique et Morale du Spiritisme,
p. 734.
234 DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES
when we saw that the most daring gainsayers either did not
answer us at all, or, in case they ventured to dispute us,
failed to make the most of the opportunity. One may say
that only the momentous sittings were devoted to that
prominent topic.
Papus' writes also: "Those who were present at the
Fourth International Congress of Psychology will be as-
tounded when reading that 'the unanimous conclusion is
that nothing has been scientifically verified as yet.' We are
still enjoying ourselves at the bewilderment of this pseudo-
scientist, who gave out as original and personal discoveries
some that were made five hundred years before Christ, and
was put back into his old place by occultists through quota-
tions of texts, and we cannot help making fun of one who,
having imagined that neurones are able to stretch out, pro-
tested against occultistic hypotheses. In fact, no answer has
been given to the many facts submitted by spiritualists.
The actual lectures of Dr. Grasset^ are, on the contrary, the
best proof that occultists were successful at that Congress."
This congress (and my lectures, in a more modest man-
ner), obviously testified to the increasing interest taken by
scientists in those matters. Nobody has denied this, as no-
body has denied the "sensational" bearing of the sittings
devoted to this topic. Still, I believe there is nothing in the
above quotations to upset what I have stated regarding the
failure of this congress from an occultistic or spiritualistic
point of view,
Papus acknowledges that there is still something better
to be done for those sciences in congresses since, speaking
further about experiments made so as to register words and
thoughts on gelatine-bromide plates, he says: "Therefore,
we advise all experimentalists in psychology to prepare
*Papus, article quoted in ^Initiation, p. 244.
*Grasset, "Leyons de Clinique M^dicale," 4th series.
DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES 235
experiments of this kind for members of congresses to be
held in the future. This is a manner quite scientific, as it
makes it possible at pleasure to answer questions on the
part of polygonal psychologists."
It is certain that a congress in which such proof were
afforded, would far better contribute to the advance of the
matter of the exteriorization of thought than did the Con-
gress of Psychology held in 1900. Thus, the question is
still laid down in the same manner. One should not say
with GoupiP that the spiritualistic hypothesis in its essen-
tial conception is absolutely scientific because it implies
nothing irrational with regard to positive science."
This conception is not irrational, but it has not been
proven; it is not a scientific conception as yet. Goupil ac-
knowledges this when he says further: "The irrefutable and
scientific proof of E (exteriorization of the psychical force)
is not easily afforded; but it would be still more difficult to
deny it." I do not deny the possible existence of this proof
in future; but I deny its actual existence now.
It is equally impossible for me to accept the opinion of
Goudard^ when he says : " He who has surveyed spiritual-
ism without any foregone conclusions is perfectly well
aware of the fact that the words spirit and perispirit,
soul and astral body, consciousness and unconsciousness
(or subconsciousness, or subliminal consciousness), polygon
and center 0, etc. are only various coatings of the same con-
cept." On the contrary, those terms are quite dissimilar,
and should be applied, every one of them, to different con-
cepts. The words "polygon" and "center 0" apply to
^Goupil terms spiritistic an hypothesis analogous to that exprest
by Papus, of exterior psychical forces. "The essential conception"
of the spiritualistic hypothesis is, as he declares, a material fluid factor
which is a particular condition of matter spiritually organized.
'Goudard, article quoted, p. 68.
236 DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES
neurones of the cerebral cortex and have nothing to do
either with spirit or perispirit, or with soul and astral body.
Papus is equally mistaken (although in a reverse man-
ner) when, in a series of paragraphs, he opposes the polygon
to the astral body, as if we were obliged to choose between
both hypotheses. Thus, he says : " Now, since we are deal-
ing with Occultism, I like our notion of the astral body,
which is traditional and simple as well for us as for the
Hindoos, far better than those stilted geometrobiological
hieroglyphs."
This is a misunderstanding and I want to clear it away.
There is neither opposition nor solidarity between the
scheme of the polygon and the conception of the astral body.
They are things quite different. The scheme of the polygon
applies to both psychisms, even to the inferior or subcon-
scious psychism; the astral body applies to the exterioriza-
tion of the psychical or nervous force.
The two conceptions have no connection whatever. One
of them may be true, while the other may be erroneous;
they may both be true, or both false. A definitive disproof
of the polygon would not afford even a slight touch of proof
in favor of the astral body theory. In other words, the ar-
guments advocating the astral body are not of more value
against the polygon theory than arguments supporting the
polygon are of value against the astral body. When I dis-
cuss the astral body, I do not make use of the polygon hy-
pothesis at all.
Therefore, in case one might succeed in proving the exte-
riorization of psychism in a new manner unknown as yet, it
will be a fresh acquisition for science; it will be another
piece of knowledge to add to those we have already, and not
one to replace another and previous piece of knowledge.
This is the reason why I do not accept at all the opinion un-
folded by Papus in the following words (p. 252): "The
DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES 237
main point of the debate is thought transference. It is
readily perceived that there hes the vulnerable part of the
polygon theory. This 'poor' thought transference (with-
out contact of course) is very much like M. Prudhomme's
saber; it is now used to explain disquieting spiritistic facts
by scientific censurers, and then strongly denied when it
comes unseasonably to upset theories laboriously framed
by leading scientists. In fact, should the possibiHty of
psychical force acting outside the human being and without
contact be once established, the polygon and its 'wonder-
ful' adaptations would immediately break down." I con-
fess that I fail to perceive how this conclusion may be log-
ical. The scheme of the polygon is applied to the human
psychism in its special, intrinsic and inner manifestation.
Should a psychical force capable of being exteriorized be
detected, it would be another chapter to aid, and a promi-
nent one, but this would not alter anything in the principles
already known of a lower psychism.
Goupil has so utterly understood this, that, in order to
adapt the polygon hypothesis to his doctrine of radiant
fluid, he ascribes to it a sort of emissive power which he
calls E.
In fact, when the exteriorization shall be subsequently
verified, all previous theories of psychism will have to be
completed, but none of them will be either ratified or in-
validated by this fresh discovery.
Therefore, in aiming to conclude this chapter, which has
been exceedingly extended, I do so neither in order to stick
to my scheme, nor to prevent the academical skittle-ground
from being devastated ; it is not even because I take pleasure
in denying "with vengeance,"^ that I contest the theory of
astral body and perispirit; it is only because I understand
'See Gabriel Caramalo, "Manifestations Spirites," Echo du Mervcil-
leux, March 15, 1903.
238 DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES
that it is leaning upon no scientific proof, and as I said above,
that it is nothing else than a duplicate of the facts them-
selves. Now, we have no profit in framing a theory of
facts already known and sorted.
70. Researches made with biometers, or with the sthe-
nometer, try to give those theories an experimental basis
different from the facts to be explained. In this respect
they are far more scientific. Still, I do not think they have
led as yet to definite conclusions.
The first (and principal) proof of this failure, is inferred
from the fact that those various apparatuses have not
yet established the existence of a new force, unknown up
to the present, that is irreducible to other known modes
of physical force (heat, electricity). This is precisely the
main point to establish.
The principle of all these apparatuses is a light and un-
steady needle repelled or attracted (through a glass shade) by
the approach of fingers. We have no positive proof of a new
physical radiation within. Some of these apparatuses even
illustrate the electric nature of the influence; such is Dr.
Puyfontaine's apparatus,^ with which experiments have^
been made in Charcot's ward at the Salpetrisre. They con-
sist of two astatic galvanometers, built by Ruhmkorff,
"with a silver wire of 30 kilometers for the former, and of 80
kilometers for the latter. Their sensibility is obviously far
superior to that of usual galvanometers whose wire, made of
copper, is only 300 to 400 meters long." By means of two
metallic insulated wires that come, each of them, to a mile-
stone with a pressure screw, two electrodes (hollow metallic
cylinders of about 3 or 4 centimeters in diameter) are held
in the experimentalist's hands; in certain circumstances he
sees deviations of the needle occurring.
'Gasc Desfoss^s, " Magn^tisme Vital; experiences r^centes d'enregis-
trement," 1897 (citat. Surbled).
DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES 239
According to Surbled's* opinion, this is merely proof that
"the organism does not act without emitting electric or ca-
lorific forces sufficient to stir a very sensible galvanometer."
All the other apparatuses do not give us more useful infor-
mation. " There is in all of them the same essentially vul-
nerable part; they do not comply with necessary conditions;
they do not eliminate causes of errors: i. e. electric or ca-
lorific influences. The results verified are equivocal, and
may always be ascribed to a fluid merely physical, electric
or of another kind known already." Surbled concludes,
after an analysis of Baraduc's works : " This vital force which
he imagines, and tries to register with his apparatus, is it not
simply a physical force, heat or electricity? This is most
likely. What becomes then of the great preparations so
laboriously displayed? They break down. The biometer
would be used only to verify the physicochemical mani-
festations of life; and Dr. Baraduc's perplexed apologies are
not to undeceive us. Neither the cosmical influences nor
the physicochemical phenomena of life are put out of the
question, or absolutely made free from blame by the pre-
cautions so solemnly called upon by our colleague."
Joire, whose sthenometer is the most recent, and in con-
sequence very likely the best of biometers, has multiplied
precautions in order to anticipate objections, but it seems
that he has failed.
Jounet^ writes : " This author declares that the needle of
his sthenometer is not influenced by a red-hot iron. A can-
dle placed opposite the needle of the sthenometer exerted,
in fact, a rather inappreciable action, while the needle
exerted an attraction of about 30°. But whether it be a
red-hot iron or the flame of a candle, it is always dry heat.
'Surbled, " Spiritualisme et Spiritisme/' p. 221.
^Albert Jounet, "Experiences a reprendre et a verifier." Resurrec-
tion {Echo du Merveilleux, 1905, p. 379).
240 DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES
I wondered if a moist heat^ which is more analogous to a
living being's heat, would not exert a more powerful in-
fluence over the instruments. This idea was ratified by the
experiment. By placing near the sthenometer a kettle
filled with hot water the needle was attracted by twenty
degrees. Therefore, none of those apparatuses have estab-
lished the existence of a new force, or a new aspect of a
physical force already known.
71. Besides, should a demonstration be made of a new
human radiation unknown before, it would be no proof that
this new force was really a psychical force, or in fact an
agent of direct communication between two separate
psychisms. Now, as long as this has not been verified,
nothing has been done.
Many a new radiation has been found quite recently,
such as the hertzian waves of wireless telegraphy, X rays
and N rays. Perhaps some of them have been declared too
early; but there is a sufficient number of them that have
been verified to enable us to think that there may be many
more unknown radiations. When these new groups were
detected occultists were in great joy; they believed they
perceived therein the much longed-for scientific proof of
their ideas. Such is not the case. It is not enough to de-
tect new human radiations; one should also settle the work-
ings of those radiations in cases of direct thought trans-
ference and their objectivation in cases of materialization.
Such a demonstration has never been made or tried.
Dupouy has groundlessly made the following enumera-
tion: " Luminous effects through Geissler's pipes, or through
the pipe and ampulla of Crookes; growth in one organism,
even without contact of Rontgen rays ; transference of son-
orous waves; issue of effluvia that become visible and may
be photographed." From the undeniably scientific reality
of some of these phenomena, one should not infer the reality
DISCUSSION OF THESE THEORIES 241
of others, and the analogy of these various radiations may
not be involved by a simple assertion or a clever enumera-
tion.
Jules Regnault^ compares the odic radiations of Reichen-
bach with the new radiations (radium, N rays, etc.) and
adds : " Is not the origin of all these radiations the same as
the origin of Reichenbach's odum? Have they not, at
large, the same essential qualities?" It is obvious that all
new radiations and all those which are in store for us in the
future "have the same origin as Reichenbach's odum,"
But I cannot insist too much upon the fact that the dis-
covery of any new physical radiations whatever, does not
help us in the least to detect the psychical radiations we are
looking for, in the same manner as the invention of wireless
telegraphy has not caused even a slight advance of the mat-
ter of telepathy.
In order to establish that a new radiation is really psy-
chical, it would not even be sufficient to demonstrate that the
more or less intense issue of this radiation is related to the
psychical activity itself. The influence of a cerebral work
over a thermoelectrical battery was surveyed long since.
Therefore, in case the existence of N rays is a fact, their issue
might be somewhat related to psychical activity, and no one
should see there the demonstration of psychical radia-
tions necessary to telepathy, or simply to mental suggestion.
De Puyfontaine pretended to exert an influence over his
galvanometer by means of his will, and to manage volun-
tarily its needle on the right or on the left. The experiment
has not been made again and the fact remains quite de-
batable.^ But even should it be established, it would prove
*Jules Regnault article quoted (p. 175).
^" M. de Puyfontaine's experiments are neither conclusive nor defini-
tive. They should be made again and developed, previous to being
accepted by science" (Surbled, loc. ciL, p. 229),
242 CONCLUSIONS
nothing; one might understand that an intense psychical act
is Hkely to have an electric influence over the needle, i. c.
be related to a special issue of electrical forces as well as be-
come likely to have an electric influence over the needle,
i. e. be related to a special issue of electrical forces just as one
might understand that all psychisms are not equal before
the galvanometer.
III. CONCLUSIONS
72. From all that I have just stated, I think I am in a
position to conclude that the theory of psychical radiations
is, for the present, not better verified than the theory of
spiritualism.^
Still, one should maintain a distinction between the two
theories. The matter of spirits, their survey and their
evocation, imply the existence of a spirit, and at the same
time its survival to the body. Those are prominent ques-
tions that are arising within our mind, but they are not
within the subject-matter of science, such as I view it here,
i. e. biological science. Therefore, they are outside science,
even the science of to-morrow.
On the contrary, the matter of the perispirit, of the fluid,
and of the eccentric projection of sensibility and movement,
which has not yet been solved by actual science, may be
settled by future science. It is not outside the range of
possible biological science.
Therefore, let us suppose that when the exteriorization
of the psychical force shall be absolutely verified, it will be
easy to frame theories in order to explain it in the group of
psychical radiations; but one should first establish that the
'"It is said that spirits of the deceased, or angels, or demons, are
intervening during stances. I do not think this credible. It is said also
that there are human effluvia. I do not believe this either" (Jules Bois,
loc. cit, p. 92).
CONCLUSIONS 243
facts are real. Is such a group of facts actually possible?
There lies the main point of the question which I intend to
discuss, after having dealt briefly with the independence of
Occultism regarding various philosophical or religious doc-
trines.
Dr. Bonnayme has (April 9, 1907) delivered before the
French Society for Psychical Researches an important lecture
on "the psychical force and the apparatus used to meas-
ure it."^ In my opinion the lecturer does not avoid the
errors of ratiocination of which I have spoken above, when
he infers, from Blondlot and Charpentier's experiments on
the N rays, from those of colleagues on dynamoscopy and
bioscopy, and from those of Joire with the sthenometer,
that '' we are gradually marching on towards knowledge of
the soul owing to experimentation, and we may imagine
that the day is coming when the sublime hope of a survival
and of an indefinite improvement amongst people of the be-
yond wiU be utterly ratified by science."
I fail to perceive how CoUongues' and Joire's experiments
(even in case they are ratified by those of Blondlot and
Charpentier) would help us to advance towards knowledge
of the soul and how they could satisfy the ''sublime
hope" of a survival!
^Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, p. 309.
CHAPTER IX
THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM WITH REGARD
TO PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES
73. Knowledge of occult phenomena can help neither the triumph nor
the ruin of any philosophical or religious doctrine.
74. Opinions of people who try to mix Occultism with philosophy
or religion.
75. Refutation of this doctrine.
a. Authors who try to mix Occultism with philosophy or
religion come to contradictory conclusions disproving
themselves.
b. One could give to Occultism a philosophical strength only
by accepting the spiritualistic doctrine, which, as we
have seen, is not proved.
c. Occultism is a prescientifical chapter open to all, what-
ever their philosophical or religious creed may be.
73. The Argument to be Elucidated.
Previous to entering upon a critical sui'vey of occult facts
I should make here an important remark. My opinion is
that one should give up, once for all, a hope upon which
many most honorable authors have set their heart. This
hope, which I deem to be an illusion, is the opinion that it
is possible to apply knowledge of occult phenomena to the
apologetics and success, or to the confutation and downfall
of any philosophical or religious doctrine whatever.
I lay down as a principle that no philosophical or religious
doctrine is in any way concerned in the success or failure of
such researches. The future of none of them is connected
with the manner in which will be settled the conclusions of
to-day as well as those of to-morrow after the inquest I
undertake here.^
*"No philosophical or religious doctrine is questioned here, except the
THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM 245
This is very fortunate for those doctrines, for facts so
utterly controvertible and debated could afford only very
frail arguments and bases for philosophy or religion.^
74. Opinions against this Thesis.
Many authors have thought that "the soul theory" has a
sort of peculiar experimental proof in spiritualism. The
book of Leon Denis on "Le Spiritisme et la Mediumnite,"
bears as under-title, " Traite de SpirituaHsme experimental."
He says: "Spiritualism has already exerted a prominent in-
fluence over the minds of our contemporaries. Owing to
it, thoughts have been directed toward the beyond. It has
aroused the feeling of immortality within men of our epoch
whose conscience had become misty or was asleep. It has
made more lively, more real, and more tangible the belief in
a survival of the departed. It has brought forth certitudes
where we had only hopes and presumptions. By uniting
reason with feeling, spiritualism becomes the scientifical
religion of the future. In fact, disembodied and incarnated
spirits are often walking together, side by side, tiirough joy
and sorrow, amidst successes and failures. The affection
of our beloved is smTounding us ; it is a comfort and a help
to us. We are fearing death no longer. Any belief should
rely upon facts. We should ask of the manifestations, of
souls that are made free from the flesh, and not of obscure
and obsolete texts, the secret of principles presiding over
gross spiritualistic superstition, which is obviously contrary to facts"
(Jules Bois, "Le Miracle Moderne," 3rd ed., 1907, p. iii).
'"Spiritualistic manifestations are not the matter here," says Fogaz-
zaro; "I do not need a new doctrine to believe in a survival of souls,
and in a possibilitj^of communication with those that have left off mortal
life : therefore I do not evoke or perceive ghosts-; I do not listen to the
whisperings of the invisible; neither do I hear them. I have no myste-
rious contacts with fantasms. What I have is much better; it is real
life and power." Citation by Robert Leger, "Les Idees d'Antonio
Fogazzaro," Revue des Deux Mondes, Feb. 15, 1907, p. 834.
246 THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM
future life and the improvement of spirits. Thus, owing to
the revelations of spirits, the great sun of kindness, har-
mony and truth is shining over the world." ^
"What is spirituaHsm?" asks Delanne.^ Spiritualism, in
the opinion of believers, is an experimental proof of the ex-
istence of the soul and of its immortality. Numerous and
varying are the manifestations by which the soul proves its
survival after death. The narrow positivism of our time
was believing that it had banished the soul of spiritualists
to the kingdom of fancy by declining to deal with all that
which is not self-evident; and now its followers are bound
to prove that the soul theory is a fact. The experiments
made by mediums "are to become the basis of a demon-
stration of survival."
Authors have been induced in this manner to confuse
both words, "spiritualism" and "soul theory," as being
nearly synonymous.^ Marcel Mangin* says: "It is ob-
viously easy for an adept of the ' soul theory ' to become a
spirit believer," and Gaston Mery^ has gone so far as to speak
of "experimental Catholicism."^ In this respect the last
chapter (Conclusion) of Myers' book is quite remarkable.
'Leon Denis, loc. cit., pp. 128 et seq.
'Gabriel Delanne, loc. cit., pp. 1 and seq., and "Conference sur le
monde invisible," delivered at the Society for Psychical Researches, in
Marseilles, 1903, p. 26.
'The book already quoted by Encausse, is entitled : " L' Occultisme et
le Spiritualisme."
^Marcel Mangin, "Compte Rendu analytique du livre de Myers sur la
personnalit^ humaine," Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1904, p. 39.
^Gaston Mery, " Une protestation des spirites," L'Echo du Merveilleux,
1906, p. 21: "Among the many theories framed in order to explain
those facts, the theory that is establishing the greatest number of them,
and consequently the best for the present, is the catholic theory."
"F. W. H. Myers, "La personnalit^ humaine. Sa survivance. Ses
manifestations supranormales. " Traduction et adaptation par le Dr. S.
Jankelevitch, bibliotheque de philosophic contemporaine, 1905, p. 401.
THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM 247
He writes: "I pretend that there is a method for reaching
knowledge of divine things with the same certitude, the
same quiet safety, as that to which we are indebted for our
advance in the knowledge of terrestrial things. The au-
thority of religions and churches will be thus replaced by
the authority of observation and experience. It is through
our souls that we are connected with our fellow men. The
body is dividing us, even when it appears to unite us."
He then delineates the " provisional sketch of a religious
synthesis that affords sound confirmation of Christian
revelation. All the demonstrable data included in Jesus
Christ's message are demonstrated here: all his promises of
undemonstrable things are repeated. Owing to new data
that we possess, all reasonable men will believe, before a
century has elapsed, in the resurrection of Christ, whilst
without those data nobody would any more believe in it in
a century. Our epoch of science gets more and more con-
vinced of this truth, that the relations between the material
world and the spiritual may not exclusively assume an
emotional and moral bearing. As regards especially this
main assertion, the life of the soul expressing itself after
death, it is obvious that it should less and less prevail from
tradition only, and should seek for its confirmation in
modern experimentation and investigations. Had the re-
sults of psychical researches been merely negative, would
the data (I do not say the emotion) of Christianity have not
received an irreparable blow? In my personal opinion, our
researches have afforded us results quite different and abso-
lutely positive. Thus the main assertion of Christianity is
verified in a striking manner. The vague and defective
assertion of revelation and resurrection is nowadays ratified
by new discoveries and revelations. The revelations in-
cluded in messages originating in disembodied spirits estab-
lish in a direct manner what philosophy had only been able
248 THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM
to surmise — the existence of a spiritual world and the in-
fluence it is exerting over us,"
All those facts, observed and interpreted, are definitely-
leading Myers to corroborate in part the foundations of the
Christian religion, and on the other hand to ratify in the
future "the Buddhist conception of an infinite spiritual
evolution to which the whole cosmos is liable. This pro-
cess, occurring in a different way to each soul particularly,
is itself continuous and cosmical, all life being derived from
the original force so as to become the supreme joy."^
Thus, one may understand the meaning of this remark of
Bourdeau:^ "The originaHty of Myers consists in the reno-
vation of old animism, which he tries to place upon a scien-
tific set of theories."
Ernest Bozzano^ contrives to show " how the very fact of
the existence of metaphysical phenomena, considered as re-
lated to the principle of evolution — the spiritualistic hypoth-
esis being left aside — is sufficient to establish the survival of
the spirit after it has come from the body." And he con-
cludes: "The pick of the intelligences that have surveyed,
or are still investigating metapsychical phenomena, are
agreeing with Myers regarding the fact that, owing to the
proof of the existence of supernormal faculties on the sub-
conscious plan of the Ego, the question of survival should
be considered as solved in the affirmative." He cites : Aris-
totle, Alexandre Aksakoff, W. F. Barrett, Hyslop, Thomas
Jay Hudson, Charles de Prel, Brofferio, Frank Podmore,
etc.
*" Prof. Flournoy has been able to say that the rehgious theories ex-
prest by Mr. Myers, compared with those that had prevailed till now
among spirit believers, are like a modem palace amidst the huts of
savages." (Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1904, p. 322, note.)
2J. Bourdeau, Journal des Debats, Aug. 18, 1906.
^Ernest Bozzano, "Mrs. Piper et la conscience subliminale," Annales
des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 529.
THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM 249
The Luce e Omhra} says: "If Cesare Lonibroso was able to
tell us a few days ago in the office of our editor, that. he
henceforth believed in the survival of a part at least of the
human personality, thanks are due to the admirable
tenaciousness of Ercole Chiaia, who was so clever as to take
advantage of the scientist's virtuous conscience, and lead
him that way, owing, so to speak, to the obviousness of
the facts."
Maxwell writes (p. 10) : " Eminent intelligences, such as
those of Myers, Sidgwick and Gurney, to speak only of the
dead, have entered into investigations of occult phenomena
with the desire to find the proof of a future life. Myers died
after having found, or believed he had found, the proof he
had longed for."
I may also compare a sentence by 0. Courier^ with the
doctrine of Myers: "When the arches of our magnificent
cathedrals shall resound with the admirable teachings of
spiritualism, scientific morals will check base living and
restore the reign of fraternity, for this reign, founded by
Christ, has been pulled down by those who pretend to be his
followers."
Edouard Drumont writes, in the preface to a book quoted
already, by Dupouy: "I can imagine the feelings of a Vol-
tairian of 1825, provided he was intelligent and plaindeal-
ing, if he could read the work of our friend. Dr. Dupouy.
He would be able to find in it, that hardly a century after
the apotheosis of the imbeliever who played the part of the
goddess of reason, science is everywhere testifying to the ex-
istence of the supernatural, that it is more and more coming
to conclusions unutterably spiritualistic, and is day by day,
establishing the subordination of matter to mind. What is
^Le professeur Lombroso et la Survivance de TAme," Annales des
Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 646.
^O. Courier, "La Vie Nouvelle," 1906, p. 256.
250 THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM
strange is to see science using the famous method of ex-
perimentation formerly so much spoken of, and testifying
to the reahty of facts that were in the beginning of the
nineteenth century deemed as illusions and deceits. Sci-
entists, who by different ways are trying to widen the hori-
zon of their contemporaries and to bring back their fellow
men to the notion of the supernatural, to preoccupations
of the beyond, are doing their country an immediate service
by forcing it out of materialism, which is a sort of hemi-
plegia, a paralysis of one whole side of the individual."
Likewise, Monsignor Elie Meric, in his prefaces to Surbled's^
books, and to those of the Rev. Pie Michel Rolfi,^ expresses
the opinion that, owing to these researches materialism has
been vanquished.^ "Writers who are most adverse to the
Christian religion or to any religion whatever, and the most
independent and sincere in their experimental investiga-
tions, are bound to acknowledge nowadays that, even to
explain vital activity, psychochemical forces are not suffi-
cient. And we see the soul in the shape of the human body
peeping in. It is actually a great comfort to see that the
experimental and natural sciences, which had been exceed-
ingly boasted of by men of our time, now ratify the presenti-
ments of conscience and the teaching of philosophy. It is
a great joy for the mind to see, at last, metaphysics, phil-
osophy and sciences combined in order to upset material-
ism and to testify as you so perfectly do to the existence
of the soul and to its immortality."
'Surbled, book quoted on "Le Spiritualisme et le Spiritisme," 1898.
2R. P. Pie Michel Rolfi, O.F.M., "La Magie Moderne ou I'Hypnotisme
de nos jours." Traduction (sur la 3rd Edition) par I'abbe H. Dorangeon.
Introduction de Mgr. M^ric, 1902.
^"Materialism has given way," is the conclusion of Dupouy in his book
already quoted, in front of which he has inscribed this sentence of Richet,
"The supernatural becomes natural, as soon as our ignorance of the
cause is cleared up."
THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM 251
The same author relates the case of the female seer of the
Place Saint Georges and adds : '' Therefore, we are observing
a spirituahstic phenomenon, and we detect here experimen-
tal proof of the teaching of theology concerning spirits,
their nature, their lightness, their acute intelligence, their
wonderful evolutions, their presence in space, their irrup-
tion into certain individuals whose responsibility they mo-
mentarily impound; but I do not admit that materiahsts and
scientists take possession of cases of this kind, which they
pretend to compare with phenomena of physics or chem-
istry, or connect with the principles presiding over the
material world, either organic or inorganic. Neither do I
admit that they speak here unto us about cathodic rays,
hertzian or cerebral waves; they mix together facts which
ought to be kept absolutely distinct."
In the Rev. Pie Michel Rolfi's opinion, "the devil, who
has always been jealous of men, tries to lead them into
error, and in order to succeed, he comes forth and has inter-
course with them. Such is the basis of spiritualism.
There are, indeed, invisible beings who are acting through
mediums. These are the evoked spirits whose answers are
registered by speaking or turning-tables, or by any other
proceeding whatever. Spiritualism, or, in other words,
intercourse between men and invisible beings, is a fact and
an undeniable one. And here is another fact which is not
less irrefutable : those invisible beings are demons and spirit-
ualism is unlawful. God, the angels, the spirits of the
dead, are obviously not connected at all with speaking-
tables; therefore spiritualism is dealing only with demons.
The proof is evident. The devil makes tables speak or
turn. Consequently he who witnesses such things is having
intercourse with the devil and ipso facto doing him honor."
The author recalls here the decree issued on July 28, 1847,
by the Holy Congregation of the Inquisition, in which it was
252 THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM
stated that '' it is not allowed to apply merely physical prin-
ciples or powers to things and results merely supernatural
in order to cause their physical manifestation; for it would
be a very illicit fraud on the verge of heresy." The author
adds: "Is this not precisely the case with speaking-tables
and analogous witchcrafts?" He cites a sentence passed
on a believer who positively kept from any agreement with
the evil one, " but evoked the spirits of the dead, by first
making a prayer unto the prince of the heavenly militia in
order to get permission to have intercourse with such or such
spirit. The answers were absolutely conformable to the
belief and teaching of the Church regarding future life.
Usually those answers disclosed the condition in which
the soul of such or such deceased person was and the need
it had of support; also its complaints as to the ingratitude
of relatives, etc." The final conclusion of the book is : "In
reference to telepathical phenomena, presence of spirits,
visions of souls, etc., here follows that which is ordinarily
happening. First, should the presence of angelical spirits,
or of souls not evoked by us be really verified, those are
' good ' spirits. Second, in case we have evoked them in any
manner whatever, we may be sure that they are demons."^
Here follow the conclusions of the book of Dr. Lapponi
already referred to: "Spiritualism is the manifestation of
^On March 1, 1908, a canon of Brignoles wrote me, after having read
the first edition of this book: "I hear that you are a believer, a sincere
Christian, and a churchgoer, and I am astounded; hypnosis is nothing
but the momentary occupation of a human being by an outward spiritual
power. Magnetism, hypnosis, somnambulism, spiritism and all matters
connected with them, are but various names and different modes of only
one thing, as old as mankind, whose origin it has stained: it is not
souls of the dead that move the table or the pen of the spirit believer;
neither do they speak through the somnambulist and the hypnotized,
or request men to have intercourse with them. They are merely demons
who usurp their speech, handwriting, style, secrets, and even their
name."
THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM 253
activities of a supernatural order. The spiritualism of
to-day is identical with the magic and necromancy of the
Greeks, the Romans, and of the Middle Ages. . . .
Spiritualism is always dangerous, hurtful, and blamable.
It should be condemned, and forbidden in the severest
way, without exception, in all its degrees, in all its forms,
and in all its manifestations!"
This recalls the condemnation of hypnotism by the
Bishop of Madrid, Monsignor Sancha Hervas, in his pastoral
letter of March 19, 1888.^ Outside Catholicism,^ the rabbi,
Dante A. Lattes, in an article "Al di la" (beyond) in the
Corriere Israelitico" of Trieste, expresses the opinion that
"Spiritualism, which has become a wide and serious ex-
perimental doctrine, nearly discloses unto us the mysteries
of the beyond, by altering into an exact covenant that
which was formerly only faith. Its phenomena and hy-
pothesis are a help to religious feelings and afford a great
profit and a good deal of light to the facts of (Jewish) his-
tory, and to the usages and creeds of the (Jewish) religion."
Reversely, Mr. Godfrey Raupert, who is a Protestant,
declared in the Daily Mail that the results of spiritualism
are deplorable from a mental, moral and physical point of
view. He wondered at the silence kept by leading clergy-
men of the Church of England regarding the danger, which,
in his opinion, was threatening faith. He was justifying
"orthodox religions for their condemnation of the evocation
of spirits, as a transgression of secrets the Almighty has
thought convenient to conceal from man." The Ven. Arch-
deacon CoUey answered that: "Spiritualism is coming to
^As regards hypnotism, I may observe that the Rev. Pie Michel Rolfi
says: "We could not, and would not, condemn the opinion of Catholics
who pretend to have the right sometimes to use hypnotism. In fact,
the Holy See has not condemned hypnotism, but only its abuse."
^"Les Ministres des Cultes et le Spiritisme," Annales des Sciences
Psychiques, 1906, p. 118.
254 THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM
millions of Christians who are not satisfied with their re-
ligion, as a real herald of God, in order to save mankind
from the Sadducean materialism which perceives nothing
beyond the grave. Spiritualism is a healing to those who
lack faith, especially because it affords scientific proof that
life is continued beyond the grave." The Ven. Colley goes
on to say that, in his opinion, " Spiritualism is the crown of
all that is most precious in each religion."
75. Disproof of Opinions whose Tendency Is to Mix
Occultism with any Philosophical or Religious
Doctrine.
a. From the brief outline given above, I believe I may
first infer that authors wishing to mix Occultism with a re-
ligious or a philosophical doctrine, are led to contrary and
inconsistent opinions that are refuting each other. Some of
them pretend to find in Occultism an experimental demon-
stration of Catholicism (Gaston Mery), or a proof without
which the Christian religion would be quite deficient
(Myers). Some others view it as a transformation into
science of the Jewish faith (Dante A. Lattes), while others
deem it a great danger to religion (Godfrey Raupert), and
others a new creed for those who are not satisfied with their
own faith (Colley). Lapponi considers it the almost con-
stant working of the devil. Rolfi makes a difference be-
tween cases of angels and those of demons. Drumont ex-
presses the opinion that, owing to it, the supernatural is
established by science, and Monsignor Elie Meric^ remarks in
it evidence of the lightness and acute intelligence of spirits.
Myers infers from it a buddhistic conception of the cosmos,
and Courier proclaims the coming accession of spiritualism
'Drumont and Monsignor Elie M^ric seem to arrive at very analogous
conclusions in setting forth books whose tendencies are quite different,
if not contrary (the works of Dupouy and Rolfi).
THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM 255
to our magnificent cathedrals, instead of Catholicism, which
has become obsolete. I need not insist on the fact that such
contradictory conclusions, inferred from the same source,
are refuting each other, and that in case they leave the facts
untouched, they annihilate all religious deductions. A re-
ligion leaning upon such foundations would be rather weak,
and none of them has profit in claiming bases so valueless.
A religion could only be weakened or imperiled by becom-
ing connected with Occultism.
Surbled^ has perfectly understood this, and has rightly
blamed " the attitude of some people who do not realize the
true meaning of spiritualism, but perceive there, if not a
way towards Faith, at least new and precious evidence in
favor of the supernatural." He adds: "We declare it
plainly, there is no basis for apologetics in it; on the con-
trary, we deem it a dangerous illusion as well as an error of
tactics."
At the same time those researches are not instrumental in
fighting religious doctrines. I do not agree with Charles
Richet, who writes : " After those investigations the super-
natural has become a natural phenomenon." Not at all.
As I have said above, the Occult has nothing to do with the
supernatural, either to support or upset it. As soon as our
ignorance of the cause has been cleared up, the Occult has
become scientific; but by definition the supernatural will
never enter the dominion of Science. It is impossible to
see, as Drumont does, a contradiction between Science
to-day surveying Occultism, and philosophical systems
which a century ago deemed all supernatm-al facts deceits
and frauds. Religion remains superior to, if not uncon-
cerned in, the hesitations, researches and conclusions of
Occultism.
'Surbled, "Spirites et mediums," p. 5.
256 THE INDEPENDENCE OF OCCULTISM
b. Contradictions are apparently removed and unity is
established when it is asserted that Occultism has van-
quished Materialism, and has proclaimed the definitive vic-
tory of the soul theory, as well as irrefutable proof of the
survival of the soul. Although authors who agree in this
assertion are many, and although their value is unquestion-
able, I do not think they are right. I do not believe either
that it is possible to include Occultism in a philosophical
theory rather than in a religious doctrine.
In order to view Occultism as a new evidence in favor of
the soul theory, one should be bound to make it conjointly
liable to the spiritualistic hypothesis. The fears and illu-
sions set by every one of us, according to his own mood,
upon Occultism, are all giving way, if, as I am absolutely
convinced, there is nothing established and proved in
spiritualism in the etymological sense of the word. We
must and may discuss the facts upon which this theory is
leaning; but should those facts be absolutely established,
they would not in the least imply the evocation of spirits,
nor prove the survival of the human soul and the existence
of angels or demons.
Maxwell writes in reference to spirit believers strongly
persuaded in their faith : " I am longing for their ready be-
lief, but I cannot absolutely partake of it. Our individ-
uality is growing during a period of time which is infinitely
longer than human life. I am sure of it, but I have not de-
rived my faith from spiritualistic seances. My creed is a
philosophical one. My opinion is not inferred from spirit-
ualistic messages; those messages have most likely another
source than that ascribed to them by Allan Kardec's fol-
lowers."
The conclusion is as formal with regard to philosophical
deductions as it is concerning the religious deductions of
Occultism; a philosophical scope might be ascribed to Oc-
THE FACTS 257
cultism only if the spiritistic hypothesis was accepted, but
it is, as we have seen, far from being verified.
c. Therefore, in a doctrinal and metaphysical respect.
Occultism deserves neither reprobation nor canonization.
It remains merely a prescientific chapter in which the facts
are waiting for "their scientific naturalization."
To those who feel inclined to follow the Rev. Rolfi or Dr.
Lapponi in their solemn condemnations, I could not too
much recall what has happened to hypnotism; yesterday it
was in the realm of occultism; it has now entered that of
actual science. One had the right to condemn it yesterday
(and this was done). It would not be possible to condemn
it to-day, since it has been transferred to the positive field
and is now outside metaphysical or religious discussion.
Consequently — and such is the conclusion of this chap-
ter— a criticism of Occultism is not and never will be in-
strumental in apologetics to anybody^ and at the same time
it is neither a hindrance nor an objection to anyone. It
is accessible to all, believers or unbelievers, followers of the
soul theory or materialists, since it is by nature neither con-
tradictory nor conformable to any philosophical or religious
doctrine whatever.^
B. THE FACTS
76. One Must Prove the Existence of the Facts.
Classification and Plan of Survey.
We may infer from all that I have previously stated that a
criticism of Occultism should not be an outline of more or
^" Above all, one should not share the illusion of several scientists or
journalists, whether they be Catholic, Protestant, or Jew, who have
made haste to frame new apologetics according to the data of Occult-
ism, and who would feel readily inclined to confuse the soul theory
with spiritualism" (Pierre Castillan, Nouvelle Revue Theologique, Feb.,
1907, No. 2, p. 110).
^Cf. the discussion of this opinion by Dr. A. Goix, "La laicisation des
phenomenes occultes," Revue du monde invisible, 1907, p. 257.
258 THE FACTS
less probable theories, but an analysis and a critique of the
facts. As has been rightly observed by Charles Richet/
by themselves "the facts are never absurd. They are, or
they are not. In case they are real, a survey of the phe-
nomena should go before the critique of the theories."
Babinet referred in 1854 to facts "which are not at all
to be explained, but on the contrary are wholly to be veri-
fied." Many authors acknowledge this to-day, and this is
the reason why the works of actual investigators deserve
to retain the attention and provoke the judgment of the
scientific world. The duty is at first to know whether the
facts exist or not, and if they are positively established.
In case — as is true in my opinion, and as I shall try to
prove — they are not verified, it would be convenient to say
so, in order to specify the problems to be solved, and to
make easier and more precise the work of investigators.
When the facts shall have been established, all will be done,
and it will not be difficult to frame a theory of them; this is
quite accessory, and in any case much easier.
Previous to entering upon a survey of these facts,^ I
must, if not set forth a classification of the occult phenom-
ena, at least point out, in a logical enumeration, the order
in which I am going to review them.
All those facts, enumeration of which is given in the table
herewith, are obviously liable to a phenomenon of exterior-
ization of the psychism by new proceedings, under various
aspects, in the form of thought (mind reading and mental
suggestion) in the form of movement (levitation, move-
ments without contact), or in the form of sensation (raps,
materializations, visions, luminous objects). When all
'Charles Richet, Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 33.
*Many of those facts will be found either in the Echo du Merveil-
leux of Gaston M^ry, or in the Annales des Sciences Psychiques oi Dariex.
The documentation of this book is mostly borrowed from that collection.
THE FACTS
259
3rd. Movements of objects
without contacts sufficient to
explain such movements.
A LIST OF OCCULT PHENOMENA
According to Maxwell
1st. Knockings on furniture, on walls, on floorings, or on
experimentalists; raps.
2nd. Various noises, except raps.
Ca. Movements provoked with-
out any contact: tel6ki-
n6sia.
Movements provoked with
contacts not sufficient to
explain them : parakinesia.
4th. Material.
5th. The penetrability of matter into matter.
a. Vision of the odic effluvium.
6. Amorphous lights.
c. Luminous, or obscure, shapes.
d. Materializations.
7th. Phenomena leaving permanent vestiges: prints, mold-
ings, drawings.
8th. Changes in the weights of persons or objects.
9th. Changes in temperature.
10th. Puffs of air, usually cold.
6th. Visual phenomena -
2nd. Grammatology
(sentences spelt).
1st. Typtology: knockings, struck by the leg of a table.
a. Enumeration at a loud voice, of
the letters of the alphabet, with an
interruption caused by a rap.
h. Pointing out (owing to a rap) of
letters, with a pencil or a stylet, on a
written alphabet.
c. Index on a spindle, moving, with
or without contact, on an alphabet
inscribed in a circle.
3rd. Automatical handwriting: mediate or immediate.
4th. Direct handwriting (sudden, without pencil).
5th. Incarnations: the subject asleep speaks in the name of
the entity which he embodies.
6th. Direct voices, issued by vocal organs that do not belong
to bystanders.
7th. Other automatisms and various hallucinations : crystal,
telepathy, telesthgsia, clairvoyance, voyance, clairaudience.
260 THE FACTS
those facts shall be scientific their classification will most
likely be in this manner. To-day, at the prescientific
epoch and when the very existence of those facts is still
questioned, I prefer to sort them according to the more or
less great portion of the marvelous included in them, and ac-
cording to the more or less long distance which lies between
them and science.
Therefore, I am dividing them into two groups: The
first group includes the facts whose demonstration, should
this ever become possible, is in any case remote (telepathy,
premonitions, material brought from a long distance and
materializations). The second head comprises facts whose
demonstration is perhaps nearer at hand and ought to be
first sought for (mental suggestion and direct thought
transference, removals of objects within reach without con-
tact, levitation, raps and clairvoyance).
I thus begin with the survey of the most intricate facts,
those which are less probable and the most distant from a
scientific demonstration, and I conclude with a survey of
the facts more accessible to a scientific investigation —
those to which, in my opinion, the actual efforts and the
precise experimental researches should be exclusively re-
stricted.
CHAPTER X
FACTS WHOSE DEMONSTRATION, IF POSSIBLE, AP-
PEARS VERY FAR AWAY
I. Telepathy and Premonitions.
77. Definitions.
78. Account of the facts.
a. Telepathy and telesthesia.
6. Premonitions and forebodings (divination and prophecy),
c. Telepathical influence of the dead and of things; retro-
cognitive telepathy (psychometry),
79. Discussion.
a. Instances of telepathy and hallucination. Their scientific
existence not proven.
b. No fact proves divination or prophecy.
c. Many telepathical facts are " disoccultated " by our actual
knowledge respecting the lower psychism.
d. Coincidences explain the others.
e. How should experimentation be estabhshed to become
effective.
II. Material from a Long Distance.
80. Instances.
a. Anna Rothe and Henry Melzer.
b. Mac Nab.
c. Charles Bailey.
81. Discussion.
a. Conscious deceits.
6. Unconscious deceits.
III. Materializations.
82. How the question stands.
83. Instances.
a. Luminous phenomena.
b. Fantasms.
c. Photographs and moldings.
84. Discussion.
a. Hallucination.
b. Conscious or unconscious deceits.
(I. Photographs and impressions.
262 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
p. Luminous phenomena.
y. Fantasms,
1. Tricks.
2. Spirit-grabbers.
3. Experiments at the Villa Carmen.
4. Miller's recent experiments.
I. TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
77. Definitions.
Telepathy is a sensation felt by a subject A, when a
momentous event (illness, accident, death) is occurring at a
great distance to a subject B, who is connected actually
with A, by none of the means of psychical communication
yet known. Thus, during the war of 1870, the wife of a
soldier saw her husband fall (he was at a distance of about
520 miles), his trousers being stained with blood, and, in
fact, on the following day she heard that he had both legs
taken away by a cannon ball. This is telepathy. This
word was employed in 1882 by Myers, who has defined it as
follows: " The transference of impressions of any kind what-
ever between one brain and another apart from any sensory
mode already known. "^
The word telesthesia^ would perhaps be better, at least in
cases when there is only a sensation, the word telepathy
would then be restricted to cases which are more frequent,
when A is really feeling an emotion.
"Telepathy," writes Maxwell (p. 24), "if the subject
^Vide Ernest Bozzano, "Mrs. Piper et la Conscience subliminale, et
M. J. Arthur Hill," "Qu'est-ce que la t^l^pathie?" Annales des Sciences
Psychiques, 1906, pp. 527 and 618. See also Maxwell, "Psychologie et
metapsychique," Annee psychologique, t. XIII, 1907, p. 100.
■'"' Tel^psychie " has also been used. Boirac combines under this term,
"all phenomena in which, in one way or another, is made manifest,
under one aspect or another, but always apart from any verbal sugges-
tion, the influence exerted by one human being over another one, at a
more or less long distance."
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 263
seems to be influenced by a remote agent, ' telesthesla, ' if he
seems to be feeling impressions at a distance." Marcel
Mangin^ restricts ''telepathy," ''whose half means rather
suffering than feeling, to spontaneous and involuntary
transferences of emotions or sufTerings." In his opinion
telesth^sia is synonymous with lucidness.
The same author calls "telepathy" retarded influence
remaining unconscious and latent, which is aroused a little
while after the impression. Thus, the impression may be
aroused in A only after the death of B. Whatever may be
the value of this explanation, the subject A may be influ-
enced by a corpse, or by an object lost, which the sensation
he is feeling enables him to detect. A may also get reveal-
ing impressions from a subject B, dead long since; this is
psychometry or recognitive telepathy. Reversely, if the
sensation felt by A is preceding and somewhat foretelling of
the fact to which it is related, this becomes a premonition
or a presentiment.
In any case the subject B (exerting the influence) is not
intervening in the growth of the sensation felt by A (in-
fluenced). He is even unaware of the fact. This is that
which with distance makes differences between telepathy,
thought transference and mental suggestion, which I shall
examine further.^
If I speak sometimes in this chapter about divination or
prophecy, it will be solely to cite facts published under those
names ; but in my opinion they do not deserve such a quali-
fication. For, as I have no intention whatever to deal with
the supernatural (see above), I cannot properly speak about
"Marcel Mangin, "Lettre a M. le Dr. Ch. Richet sur la Tgl^pathie,"
Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 354.
^Chapter XI. I. It is only at this moment that I am to survey the
telepathy called experimental in which both subjects A and B are
active.
264 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
real diviners and prophets. Science is examining the prin-
ciples of the phenomena. The words " divination " and
"prophecy," as well as the word "miracle," can apply to
exceptions only, and to facts beyond the ordinary prin-
ciples; consequently those facts are not conjointly objects
of science.
Flournoy* has reproached me with having placed divina-
tion not only outside actual science (what he thinks to be
proven), but also outside science at large, and consequently
outside the science of the future. I believe he is contesting
with words only.
When dealing with divination, one is dealing with an anti-
scientific, or at least extrascientific process. In science it
is possible to foresee or to have presentiments, i. e. to point
out things of the futm-e by rationally leaning (either con-
sciously or unconsciously) upon things known, either past
or present ; but this is no divination or prophecy. He who
is foreseeing or foretelling is arguing polygonally at least.
Therefore, when a divination becomes scientific, it ceases to
be a divination and becomes a presumption or a rational
prevision. This is the reason why I believe that divination
is without the range of science, even of the future, and con-
sequently beyond the subject-matter of this book.
Reversely, as regards telepathy, despite the strangeness
of some phenomena, there is nothing, a priori, contradictory
to a scientific demonstration more or less near at hand.
Alfred Fouill^e^ said in 1891 :" It is possible that there may
be, or rather it is impossible that there is not, through
space, modes of communication unknown to us as yet. We
may build up telegraphs without the usual wires."
Goethe writes: "Owing to its very presence, a soul may
'Floumoy, Archives de Psychohgie, 1903, p. 311.
^" Le physique et le mental k propos de I'hypnotisme," Revue des Deux
Mondes, May 15, 1891; "La psychologie des id6es forces," 1893, t. II,
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 265
also exert a strong influence over another soul," and Tenny-
son remarks that light is spread by vibrations from star to
star. Why would it not be possible for the soul to send also
to another soul a more subtle particle of itself. ^
Therefore, telepathy is possible; it is not antiscientific.
If it is a part, we need not ascribe it to reincarnated spirits,
or to the supernatural so as to explain it. The question is
only to know if it really exists.
78. Account of the Facts.
a. Telepathy and Telesihesia.
The facts of telepathy that have been recorded are ex-
ceedingly numerous. Many of them will be found in
special periodicals, in the book of Dupouy,^ and chiefly in
the work of Gurney, Myers and Podmore.^ Charles Richet
writes in the preface to a translation of this latter book:
*' I have not handled this work without a sneering incredu-
lity, but as I had no fetishism for the science called 'offi-
cial,' I have gradually come to the conclusion that most of
those reports were true. The long and patient efforts of
Gurney, Myers and Podmore have been to gather evidence,
to investigate the alleged facts and to verify dates, hours
and places by official documents. The authors have per-
fectly given the limitation of the aim of their book, the sur-
vey of any kind of phenomena that may afford us a reason
to suppose that the mind of one man had been acting over
the mind of another without having written or spoken a
word or made a sign."
p. 394; and "Telepathie et Telegraphie sans fil," Bulletin de VInstitut
general psychologique, 1904, t. IV, p. 509.
^Citations by Jules Bois, pp. 6 and 7.
^Dupouy, loc. dt., p. 140.
■■■Gurney, Myers and Podmore, "The Phantasms of the Living." See
also Jules Bois, "Le Miracle Modeme. La telepathie," Le Figaro, May
11, 1907,
266 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
Here follows a remarkable instance of telepathy related
by Paul Bourget/ '' In 188-, I was in Italy, I had a dream
that was real to an intolerable extent, in which I saw one
of my colleagues of the press, Leon Chapron, on his death-
bed. I was afterwards witnessing all the circumstances fol-
lowing his death, namely, a debate dealing with replacing
him as dramatic critic in the office of the editor of a news-
paper. Such was the influence of this dream that I could
not help coming back to Paris, where I had a talk about it
with Maupassant, who asked me: 'But you knew he was
ill?' Now, I had never heard of his illness. Chapron died
eight days after this conversation." During his journey,
Bourget received a note from Chapron without any indica-
tion or hint that he was ill. Such facts are so frequent
that it has recently been possible to assert^ that " we cannot
deny to-day the power of vision at a distance, as well as
presentiments, so great is the number of similar facts
recorded."
Vastness of distance to overcome is not a hindrance to ex-
periments. In order to quote a typical example, Myers
says: "On January 12, A, being in India, saw at 8 o'clock
p. M. the fantasm or shape of his brother B, who was in
England, and whom he had no reason to believe unwell or
in danger. Now, B died precisely on January 12, a few
hours before, a fact of which A could have no knowledge."
The Light of Truth has published a story, recorded by
Prof. James Hyslop, then of Columbia University, of a
message transferred (through the channel of Mrs. Eleanora
Piper) from North America to England. "This message
was forwarded in English, and consisted of four words, but
the medium who got it in England wrote it out in Latin.
'Paul Bourget, Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1895, p. 74.
^Xavier Pelletier, "T616graphie humaine," Echo du Merveilleux, 1906,
p. 274.
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 267
Prof. Hyslop is absolutely convinced that the message was
transferred by means of a spirit. As far as we can imagine,
the conditions of space are not to be viewed in the spirit
world; one thousand miles are not more than one inch to
them.^
b. Premonitions and Forebodings (Divination and
Prophecy).
Many cases of premonitory, divining, or prophetical
telepathy are recorded in which the event is "felt" previous
to its occurrence. The Annates des Sciences Psychiques
have frequently dealt with Mile. Couesdon.^ " After a short
conversation," she says, "I feel that my eyes are going to
close, the angel is about to speak with you." And indeed,
her eyes do close, the stress of her voice is changed, it be-
comes deeper, and a new psychical personality, whose name
is Gabriel the Angel, is talking to you in a language involv-
ing the frequent recurrence of words whose last syllable is e,
which tend to produce false rhymes. Her messages are of a
general order, usually facts are not considered apart or made
precise, so that this vague language may lead either to an
excessive skepticism or to an extreme credence, according to
the peculiar mood of the hearer. It is obvious that by speak-
ing in a vague manner one may say things in which every
one will be somehow concerned. Our first visit to Mile.
Couesdon enabled us to determine as probable the hypoth-
esis of lucidness; our second visit has been less favorable
to this hypothesis."
'"Transmission supranormale d'un message d'Amerique en Europe,"
Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1904, p. 386.
^Xavier Dariex, "Le cas de Mile. Couesdon"; "A propos de Mile.
Couesdon"; and Le Menant des Chesnais, "Le cas de Mile. Couesdon,"
Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1896, pp. 124, 191, 280 and 300. See
also L'Echo du Merveilleux, passim, and chiefly, R. L. B., "Les Predic-
tions de Mile. Couesdon" (1904, p. 454), and Timothee, "Prophetic de
Mile. Couesdon sur la Separation de I'Eglise et de I'Etat " (1906, p. 129).
268 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
Le Menant des Chesnais has scrutinized in a very witty
manner the growth of Mile. Couesdon's mediumship. In
1884 or 1885, Mme. Orsat had a niece, Eglantine, who, suf-
fering from consumption, had seen an angel sitting on the
edge of her bed and who told her he was waiting for her in
the next world. Eglantine promised before her death to
watch over the safety of her aunt. After the death of her
niece, Mme. Orsat was led to spiritualistic seances; she
proved to be a perfect medium, and soon pretended to get
inspiration from a tutelary angel (or from Eglantine's spirit),
and later — this was made precise — from Gabriel the angel.
For eleven years Mme. Orsat permitted her "customers" to
take advantage of Gabriel's inspirations. M. Couesdon
was among the applicants. There were around Mme.
Orsat some of her friends who had also their visions, while
others took interest in table-turning or spiritualism. Mile.
Couesdon was led into this milieu by her parents, and there
she was trained, undergoing autosuggestion during three
years. Mme. Couesdon wished her daughter to resemble
Mme. Orsat. In August, 1894, at Mme. Orsat's house Mile.
Couesdon had a fit of somnambulism, after which she hoped
that Eglantine would take possession of her. Mme. Orsat
experienced then some failures in her predictions, and set out
for Switzerland (August, 1895) . Two days later Mile. Coues-
don had, at her father's home, her first important incarna-
tion of Gabriel the angel. She was fast gathering around
her Mme. Orsat's "customers," whose number went on in-
creasing. Amidst the enthusiasm and joy of her father
and mother she gradually imitated Mme. Orsat's experi-
ments."
In the number for April 1, 1906, of the Echo du Merveil-
leux, there is a prophecy of Mile. Couesdon (dated Nov. 5,
1896), concerning the separation between Church and State,
together with a prophecy of Nostradamus (1566) in refer-
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 269
ence to the Courrieres disaster. In the number for March 1
of the same periodical Mme. Maurecy relates a visit paid by
her to two female seers who had, both of them, a vision of a
probable war. One of them declared that we were to be
victorious, and the other made a contradictory assertion.
"What is more strange," remarks Baron de Vovaye (March
15) " is that such a contradiction, apparently irreconcilable,
may be perfectly explained by those who have investigated
prophecies." Jules Claretie recalls in the Temps for Aug.
24, 1906, that " the famous Comte de Boulainvilliers and an
Italian named Colonna, who was well known in Paris, had
presaged to Voltaire that he was unmistakably to die at the
age of 32. In a paragraph already quoted, Xavier Pelletier
reminds us of "the strange clairvoyance which enabled a
lady residing in London to foretell several months previous
to the event that King Alexander and Queen Draga were on
the verge of death.^
Paul Bourget has reported in Outre-Mer,^ two seances
with Mrs. P (Piper), of Boston : " The window-shutters
were closed, the lights were put out except a candle set under
the table; she loosed her hair so as to be more at ease, put on
a petticoat bodice. Then she seized the hand of one of us.
A few minutes of silence and waiting elapsed; then she be-
gan to moan and moan; she twisted her fingers which es-
caped from the clasping and rambled through her hair;
^Charles Richet relates ("Notes sur un cas particulier de lucidite,"
Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 161) that on June 10, 1903,
between 10.45 and 11 p.m., a message reading as follows was received:
" Banca, death awaits family. " On the following day, news was received
of the attempt upon the life of King " Alexander and his consort Draga.
Later, it was disclosed that Draga's father, who had died a few months
before, was called Panta or Panza. . . . Were there not great presump-
tions that, this very night at the same hour, death was awaiting a family
whose name was analogous to Banca, at least as much as to Panta?"
^Paul Bourget, "Outre-Mer," t. II, p. 176 (citat. Annales des Sciences
Psychiques, 1895, p. 65).
270 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
sighs were emitted, heavy and prolonged, sighs apparently
originating in the inmost of her being; there was more and
more a noticeable bending of the head that was drooping, and
we could perceive distortions of all her chest, as if she was
struggling with ah intruder; then a pause took place. She
was asleep. Her open hands were stretched out so as to feel
about the face, shoulders and arms of the person opposite
her. Next to this she began to speak with a voice that
was no longer her own voice, and with an Irish accent. Her
real Ego had disappeared and been replaced by another one.
She was no longer Mrs. P., whose abode is near Boston, but
a certain French physician, who died at Lyons " (Dr. Phin-
uit). ''A strange man, this doctor," said some one who
had been present at several seances of this American py-
thoness, "you know him, he knows you. He is obliging to
an excessive extent, always at your disposal. He is a
hanger-on who appears as apologizing for living at the ex-
pense of others, and somewhat fond of hoaxing."
''I never knew," adds Bourget, "if the friend who spoke
in this way was in earnest or if he made fun. I believe that
the American who took an interest in these phenomena of
clairvoyance, does not know it either. When she awoke
from her sleep she took my companion's arm and mine in a
tragical gesture. It was obvious that for a few seconds she
failed to recognize us. Then she smiled faintly. The seer
was replaced by the New England lady, who offered us
some tea. Her voice was sweet again. She seemed to have
forgotten, or perhaps she had in fact forgotten, the queer
doctor with the Irish accent who dwells in a remote
country."^
*Mrs. Piper's prophecies will be found in R. Hodgson's publications
("Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research," t. VIII and
XIII). See also the work, quoted, of Ernest Bozzano {Annahs des
Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 537).
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 271
Maxwell {loc. cit., p. 181) has recorded several facts of
premonition with the crystal ball; I shall discuss some of
them farther on. Mme. de Thebes issues every year in
December an almanac which contains prophecies for the
following year/
Persons capable of succeeding in such experiments and to
forecast the future are so many, that a Congress of Prophets
was announced by newspapers to be held in London in
May 1906 at Exeter Hall, and about the same time a " trust
of witches" was to meet at Molfetta in the province of Bari.
It was resolved by the majority of the Congress of Prophets
that " the world will come to an end on May 3, 1929, while
the minority, a little less pessimistic, believed it would be
on April 9, 1931.
" In seven or eight years Europe will be divided into ten
confederate kingdoms. But those ten kingdoms will be
wrong when welcoming the succession of another Christ
who shall bear the predestinated name of Napoleon. He
shall come into the world as King of Syria, and shall do
France the honor of a first visit. He will subdue her and
then extend his dominion over the ten other kingdoms. But
soon this Napoleon will expect to be worshipt like God;
hence the establishment of a new religion."^
As to the "trust of witches," the word has been used by
Claretie, I believe, in the Temps. The trust came to an end
before courts of justice, which had to register 134 swindlings
and made a museum of witchcraft with all the objects
found — playing cards, lemons crowned with pins, black
ribbons, barrels of tar, powder, bottles of alcohol, plants of
every description, hair, nails of men and animals, and a
good many other mysterious utensils.^
Wide namely, L'Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 199.
^Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 199.
^Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 259.
272 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
c. Telepathical Influence of the Dead and of Things;
Retrocognitive Telepathy (Psychometry).
In all instances of properly so-caUed telepathy which I
have just referred to, the medium is influenced by a living
subject. This requirement does not appear indispensable,
and some mediums have to be used in order to detect
corpses. It seems that a medium has recently helped to
find the body of Dr. Petersen at the bottom of a preci-
pice in Savoy.^ On October 5, 1904, the doctor left Aix-
les-Bains for an outing and never came back. On or about
October 20 searches were started at the Mont du Chat, at
the Revard, and in the Lake of Bourget. On October 26
an anonymous letter was sent to the police superintendent.
It stated the finding of the corpse of " the doctor in a perpen-
dicular precipice under a hollow of the Revard, near a house
used during bad weather as a shelter for cattle."
This letter was written by Mme. Vuagniaux, a strongly-
convinced believer, who had thus related to the justice of the
peace the contents of a mediumistic message received on the
same day through knockings of the table "without any
question on the part of those ladies." There were three
messages. The first researches made by the gendarmerie,
according to indications, gave no results whatever. In May
the body was accidentally found by a farmer of Mouxy in a
place that almost agreed with the indications of the message
which, however, was written in rather vague language. The
theory thought by Anastay the most probable is telepathy
exerted previous to death, persisting and remaining latent
after it, and finally, later on, active.
At the moment when I was engaged in writing an article
for the Revue des Deux Mondes (Aug., 1906), much attention
^"Le cas de disparition du docteur Petersen," Bulletin de la Society
d'Eludes Psychiques de Marseille (Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1906,
p. 310).
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 273
was given to researches made in order to discover the rector
of Chatenay. A police magistrate, several gendarmes, a
Hindoo spirit believer, Devah, and his female necromancers,
the magicians Ramana, Pickmann and Carlos, were coop-
erating in the attempts made. During the workings of proph-
ets called "inquiry diviners" by Emile Faguet, the rector
was in Belgium preparing for the publication of his "M4-
moires," and le Cri de Paris said (Aug. 26, 1C06) :
Devah, Pickmann and Ramana
Are three famous diviners:
Every one of them, in his turn, searched
The fields, and found out nothing but . . . credulous people.*
The same mediumistic mode of action has been used in
order to find lost property. Some professional diviners
derive large incomes from this source.
Instances of still stranger facts have been recorded. The
medium may be influenced by a subject who died some time
ago, even years ago. This is psychometry. The medium
may reconstitute in this way a person who long since dis-
appeared, provided he touches and handles an object used by
this person during his life. This constitutes a whole chapter
of mediumship. The person needs not be dead in order to
provoke these phenomena of " psychometrical voyance."
Occultists declare that impressions and images may be
registered by objects which had witnessed them, to such a
degree that, with a jewel for instance in the hand, a sensitive
person may view scenes of the past in which the owner of
the jewel took a part.^
'Gaston M6ry is right when he observes, "One should not say that
the marvelous is a failure, because Devah, Ramana and Alvis are,
above all, ignorant and unskilful people." He adds further, "Far from
protesting, we would have approved, if serious experiments with well-
known mediums had been instituted in order to solve the mystery of
the Abbe D.'s disappearance."
^Louis Maurecy, "Experiences de psychometric," Echo du Merveilleux,
1906, p. 33.
274 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
"As I had with me a small carriage-clock," says Paul
Bourget/ "Mrs. P. was able to teU me to whom it had for-
merly belonged and how he died (a suicide by immersion, in
a fit of madness)." In Ernest Bozzano's work, already
quoted {Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 543), will
be found six experiments in psychometry by the same
medium, Mrs. Piper; they have been described by Hodgson.
The Bulletin de la Societe d^ Etudes Psychiques de Nancy
(No. of Nov., Dec, 1904) records queer experiments made
by the French "medium psychometer", known under the
assumed name of Phaneg. Mme. V. gives a handkerchief to
her husband ; Phaneg diagnoses that he is ill (this is true) ;
he perceives that the patient's condition is getting worse,
especially regarding the bowels. " Nine days later my hus-
band was seized with a cerebral congestion and paralysis
was extended to the intestine,"^
Mme. Louise Maurecy relates in the Echo duMerveilleux of
Jan. 15, 1906, analogous experiments successively made at
the house of M. Dace, "the well-known young occultist,"
by four "medium psychometers." The object used was a
revolver carefully wrapped up in brown paper so as to con-
ceal its shape." It had belonged to a young man, who
after a first unsuccessful attempt had committed suicide
near Paris.
The first medium sees a woman asleep, who is seized with
fever and sets out for a journey to an unknown country
with great fear; she gets up, perceives that her condition is
getting worse and that she is about to die. The second sees
a man in a street blocked by vehicles; he enters a tram-
way car; beyond the fortifications three detonations are
heard; he is wounded; a lady meets him, then a young lady
'PaulBourget, "Lettre k M. Ch. R.," Annales des Sciences Psychiques,
1895, p. 72.
^Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 49.
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 275
comes near him and is led away by an officer ; he fires at his
left temple (the medium soon makes an correction — at the
right temple), he is dead. The third medium sees fog
around him and feels that electricity is pricking
him. A man has used this revolver during an assault at
night; he runs away, having killed some one on the spot.
He makes a careful examination of indications of every
description; he pays a visit to Paris and writes down many
remarks about it. The fourth has an impression of a pene-
trating wound caused by a shot; he sees a shop and a man
with a white blouse giving orders to workmen who whistle ;
he sees also heaps of iron, and a stout gentleman whose waist
is girt with a sash; and blood that runs from a head as from
a hole; "the same man as before, his arms crosswise, is
stretched on the ground as if beaten to death."
M. Dace knew vaguely what was the matter. Mme. Louise
Maurecy concludes : " The triflings do not annihilate the fact
itself, i. e. the probability that, in certain conditions, it is
possible to evoke the memory of things and to make them
speak. Thus walls and stones on our way, old trees and
trinkets, spring into a fanciful life; they have witnessed
many things which they will perhaps be able to tell us some
day."
Information was given in July, 1906, by daily newspapers
{V Eclair, Le Matin) — " and every one was wondering at it"
— that M. Gayet, the erudite, indefatigable and witty super-
intendent of the excavations at Antinoe, had brought back
the gilt mummy of one of the concubines of Antinoiis; he
had trusted to a psychometer a ring found in the same
sepulcher, so as to get a clear idea concerning the life of this
Bacchante, the priestess of the worship of Dionysios, and a
great royal favorite. " First the psychometer stared at the
ring; then he closed his eyes and placed it on his forehead.
After a while his face was altered, wrinkled with nervous
276 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
contractions. Sometimes his features were distorted as
when the vision was too frightful or tragical." He then
describes a gorgeous procession of Bacchantes, their dances,
the objects they carry (which have been found by M. Gayet
in the sarcophagus). M. Gayet declares that the vision of
this man is absolutely conformable to old manuscripts; that
he most accurately and most minutely related history told
by the dead woman, as well as by the object I found in her
cofRn.^
The psychometer, a M. P., not only described the pro-
cession of Dionysia, but also " the orgies and private life of the
favorite, who, by way of amusement, carried the hearts of
doves on her long golden hairpin." And M. Gayet adds,
" He has told me her name, a sweet one, Arteminisia."^
Queer experiments in psychometry will also be found
described in McClure's Magazine, as related by Carl Schurz
of New York, With a lock of hair belonging to the author,
the clairvoyant gave a full account of his temper, mood,
and mental faculties, with so much accuracy that Mr.
Schurz was surprised. Even some particulars of his own
mind which he did not know, were disclosed to him. Through
a fragment of a letter written by some general, she revealed
that he was having a lark at Brussels " with a person whom
he loved fondly."^
79. Discussion of Cases.
a. Cases of Telepathy are not Hallucinations, but their
Scientific Existence is not Established.
One may infer from the preceding paragraph that the
matter of telepathy, under its various aspects, is quite in-
'Gaston M^ry, "La Psychom^trie, A propos de la Bacchante d'An-
tinse," Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 261.
'"La momie dor^e. Favorite d'Antinoiis," Le Matin, July 4, 1906.
'/See also, "La psychographie," Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 360.
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 277
teresting, and that facts about it are accumulating. It
would be childish to deny, a priori, all these experiments,
and to deem them at large to be frauds and tricks. I go
even so far as to believe that they ought not to be sorted in
the same range as hallucinations.
As Armand Bussy^ remarks: "While hallucination is a
perception with no outward object to cause it, the tele-
pathical vision is, on the contrary, responsive to a simul-
taneous and precise material fact, occurring in such con-
ditions as to be capable of exerting a direct impression over
the sense organs." By adding the word "veracious" to
hallucination, Charles Richet is merely joining two contra-
dictory terms. For a veracious hallucination is no longer
a hallucination; it is either a sensation or a real impression.
Therefore, should telepathical facts be real, they are not
to be sorted among hallucinations. The main point is to
know whether they exist or not — that is, in case their
scientific existence has not been established. As far as I
am concerned, I do not think so, and I am not alone in
expressing this opinion.
Charles Richet, whose generous ideas and scientific lib-
eralism are well known, writes in his preface to the French
version of Gurney, Myers and Podmore's book (pp. VIII
and IX) in reference to facts so conscientiously gathered by
these authors : " The conviction afforded by such reports is
quite frail. The experimental demonstrations are unfor-
tunately defective enough to enable us to remain incredu-
lous. It is obvious that, now and then, beautiful results
have been obtained, and for my part, I deem them very
conclusive without pretending that they are definitive.
Alchemists were longing for the supreme experiment, ex-
perimentum crucis, which they thought to crown their ef-
' Armand Bussy, "La question spirite et les medecins," Medicina,
April-May, 1906, p. 21.
278 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
forts. Now, no one has succeeded as yet in making this
experimentum cruets. There have been remarkable ex-
periments, also some attempts that have been 'almost'
successful, but which, in spite of their success, have always
left too much room for skepticism and unbelief, like a
' caput mortuum,' to use the alchemist's expression, which
aUows us to doubt and hinders us from being utterly con-
vinced."
I hope this opinion wiU appear more plain and more pre-
cise after the following brief considerations.
b. No Case Verifies Divination or Prophecy.
1 have said above that from a scientific standpoint, i. e.
without the supernatural, there is no room for divination or
prophecy. There is only a possibility of existence for pre-
sentiments leaning upon unconscious and more or less
complex ratiocinations. None of the facts disclosed as
divinations or prophecies seem to be so demonstrative as to
invalidate this opinion.
Dariex has correctly said with regard to Mile. Couesdon,
that nearly aU prophecies are given out in a vague manner,
allowing us to believe that they are fulfilled by the most
reverse and contradictory events. If they are referring to
war or to other disaster, they do not mention the country
in which it is to happen, neither do they declare who will be
victorious, nor the exact date of the event. Now, within an
unlimited space of time there is always a war somewhere, or
an event of some kind which it would be possible to call a
disaster.
In fact, diviners are merely telling what their psychism,
more or less trained, what their more or less disaggregated
polygonal psychism enables them to say, or what it inspires
in them. The growth of the prophetic vocation of Mile.
Couesdon (such as I have related above, according to Le
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 279
Menant des Chesnais) is very instructive in this respect, and
seems to be pretty similar to Helen Smith's case.
In order to verify some prophecies we have to make
wonders of ingenuousness. Here is, for instance, the ques-
tion written by Nostradamus in which some authors have
thought to find a forecast of the Courrieres disaster:
Fathers and mothers dead after immense bereavements:
Women in mourning, a monstrous pestilence.
The great man is no more: the whole world comes to an end.
In peace, rest, all sorrows being swept away.
The following interpretation has been given: deul (old
French for ''deuil," mourning), indicates a momentous
mourning that is to take place on the banks of the Deule
river (near Courrieres); a monstrous pestilence will be
caused by corpses ; the great man signifies President Loubet,
whose seven years are coming to a close; the whole world
ending, means that the House of the Deputies are com-
pleting their charge. If circumstances had required it,
would it have not been easier to apply this quatrain to the
Russo-Japanese war, to the war of 1870, to the Martinique
disaster, to the loss of the submarine "Lutin," or to the
blowing up of the battleship "Jena?"
We have seen that Baron de Novaye pretended to ex-
plain and reconcile two prophecies which foretold a reverse
result of war, and the success of a prediction made to Vol-
taire. In Mme. de Thebes's Almanac for 1905, one could
read for instance: "During the first season of 1905, kings
will be talked of much more than usually, and I hope it will
not be the same with their consorts. I fear lest we should
in the beginning of 1905 be driven into a dangerous war.
I believe 1905 will be a red year after a gray one. England
will have her share of fears. Germany also will be plunged
into grief. 1905 will afford us the compensation of a fresh
victory in the realm of thought."
280 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
Scarce are the years in which it would be impossible,
with a little skill, to detect proof of the reality of proph-
ecies so utterly vague. She says further that "a violent
agitation wiU occur in Belgium during the second half of
1905; the future there is quite dark, and this small country
will be the cause of a general conflagration in Europe much
earlier than those famous Balkans so frequently referred to."
This is a precise prediction which has been fulfilled neither
dm'ing the second half-year of 1905, nor during the whole
year of 1906. I do not insist upon the date of the end of the
world, such as has been settled by the Congress of Prophets.
I believe I am in a position to assert that the power of
divination or prophecy has not yet been scientifically veri-
fied by anybody (I always set the supernatural aside), and
this is true of all conditions of trances, hypnosis, etc.
Neither hypnotism nor somnambulism nor mediumship is
developing or growing such a power in anyone.
c. Many Telepathical Cases are Disocculted, Owing to
our Actual Knowledge of the Lower Psychism.
The matter of telepathy, which has already been released
from the domain of divination and prophecy, will be still
more cleared up if we consider all the facts which the physi-
ology as known to-day of unconscious and involuntary or
lower psychism enables us to explain, and consequently to
"disoccult."
Thus, if, as I believe, there are spring-finders, i. e. persons
specially qualified for detecting springs — there is nothing
occult or marvellous in it, even when they make their hazel-
tree wand turn. Likewise, as regards the researches of a
different kind, some subjects are more successful than
others. Even in cases when it is sure that subjects are
able to "scent" and detect corpses, this does not prove the
reality of telepathy. Besides, many notions are stored
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 281
within our unconscious or lower memory, and we do not
know their origin; they may, at a given moment, afford us
the illusion of a discovery or of a revelation.
Is it impossible to appeal to such an explanation in the
case (quoted by Maxwell) of the lady who saw through a
crystal ball the shape of a little dog that she did not know
at all. She was, a few days later, presented with a little
dog exactly similar (?) to the one she had seen through the
crystal ball. All cases quoted above, and they are many,^
are, as a matter of fact, things unconsciously seen already,
or rather are polygonal reminiscences,^ removed, from the
range of telepathy and premonition.
d. Others Explained by Coincidences.
Apart from the previous restrictions, there still remain a
good many other instances of telepathy or remote premo-
nition. Concerning them I must repeat the objection so
frequently made, but nevertheless very weighty. I mean
coincidence. I have often listened to the strange case
(cited already) of the wife of the soldier who was killed on
the Eastern frontier, and how she received at Montpellier
telepathical impression of his death. But no one has heeded
the previous hours of anxiety during which she had, many a
time, thought of her husband's violent death. One has
remembered only the case that was coincident with reality.^
Wide " Le Psychisme Inferieur/' by Dr. J. Grasset ; " Etude de physio-
pathologie clinique des centres nerveux," Bibliotheque de philosophic
exp^rimentale (1906), pp. 193 and seq. Paris, Chevalier et Riviere.
2See above, Part III, 42.
^In the course of a conversation on motor cars, and the accidents
caused by them, M. Juttet says : " I have a fright over motor cars. I have
a presentiment that nay death will be provoked by a motor car." Indeed
M. Juttet died in a motor-car accident {Echo du Merveilleux, 1905, p.
377). In order to ascribe a value to this evidence, one should think of
the many persons who have had presentiments of this kind, as to motor
cars, carriages, or railways, and who have experienced no accident at all.
282 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
In many circumstances a casual coincidence may be
thought of. Bourdeau^ says: "If there are a few instances
in which presentiments and hallucinations are coincident
with death or sickness, we find a great number of cases when
such a concordance is not fulfilled. Let us suppose that a
regiment practises target-firing during the night. It may
happen that a few bullets reach the mark shot at, but
it is impossible to infer from it that some soldiers have a
power of clairvoyance."
A psychologist cited by Gurney, Myers, and Podmore has
asserted that " facts ascribed to telepathy may be explained
by this consideration: that one person at least out of a
hundred is liable to have dreams, illusions, visions, etc.
of remarkable precision, and each of those persons has a
dream or a vision once a week. Gurney, Myers, and Pod-
more acknowledge that. As to groups of those who see
their friends appear once a week, the evidence of one of
these hallucinations with the death of the person appearing,
would be of no interest. But, we have never verified a fact
of this kind." This is quite true, this has not been estab-
lished because a dream becomes important only when it is
fulfilled. For this reason one should not, like Gurney,
Myers and Podmore, call ''superficial" any arguing which
" lumps dreams, hallucinations, impressions, monitions and
premonitions." A differentiation of the.terms of this lump-
ing is only made afterwards, owing to the result.
The following question has recently been very much dis-
cust '} " Why, after having wrongly believed one has recog-
nized a passerby, do we often meet a little later with the
person we had imagined that we saw? " This is a very
^Bourdeau, Journal des Dihats, Aug. 28, 1906.
^Cf. Dr. G. C. Ferrari, " Provision ou premonition h rappel," Annales
des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 585; and Dr. Roch, "Note sur les pro-
visions de rencontre," Archives de Psychologic, 1905, t. V, p. 149.
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 283
common fact, exprest by folks saying in all languages:
"quand on croit voir le loup, c'est qu'il n'est pas loin,"
or "quand on croit voii' le loup, on en voit la queue";
"talk of the devil and he will appear"; ''quand si parla
del sole, il sole spunta " ; '' roba nominata e per la strada," etc.
Many authors are interpreting this fact by a telepathical
and premonitory influence of the person one is about to
meet. But here follow Roch's quite judicious remarks.
He makes of those cases an act of the lower psychism, or a
coincidence; it seems to me that both explanations are
destroying a good part of the telepathical question.
"In short, we frequently think of a person in the place
where we are accustomed to meet him, or in a place where he
might otherwise be, because of his tastes, habits, etc. No
wonder, then, that we believe we see him; no wonder, either,
that we really see him. Out of ten instances, this explana-
tion has six times proved satisfactory to me. Besides, it
happens that we unconsciously have a glimpse of him at a
distance, and then we imagine we recognize him near us.
It is no wonder then, if a little after such a mistake we meet
with this person. Tlii'ee times out of ten I have been able
to recall such a fact of subconscious vision, and with
great probability. Finally, a mere coincidence may per-
fectly explain facts that cannot be included in both catego-
ries just stated. For, it is more frequent than we usually
think, that the image of a person known, is evoked by a
vague likeness. Besides, only once out of ten times do I
consider that there has been a mere coincidence. Conse-
quently I do not think it necessary to appeal to telepathy,
induction at a distance, etc."*
^As I do not wish to mangle this citation, I give here the final sen-
tence: "I shall, however, abstain from denjdng that actions of this kind
may cause the phenomenon I am dealing with, but I have no reason to
admit it either."
284 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
Besides, the concordance between the sensation called
telepathical and the event which would be the starting-
point, is not always perfect. Some sensations of this kind
are not veracious, but false, and are not fulfilled. Some
others, and they are many, are vague ;^ they admit of va-
rious interpretations, and are subsequently applied to the
facts owing to complex and contestable reasonings.
When, years ago, I set out for Paris in order to undergo
my examination for the degree of assistant professor, I had
a distinct presentiment that I was to catch typhoid fever
there. What a fine instance of telepathy this would have
been in case my presentiment had been fulfilled! I never
had typhoid fever. The result deceived my expectation.
I have dismissed this case from my mind, or rather, it has
been of value no longer. The mother of a relative of mine
whose telepathical impressions I have stated regarding the
death of her husband, had, a few years ago, a very distinct
presentiment that she would no more see her grandson,
who was then setting out for a rather long absence. Al-
though she was very old, she saw her grandson again, but
every one in the family has abstained from talking of this
failure, but we have often referred to the incident of the
war as above quoted.
A woman said to Cardinal Langenieux when he was seven
years old: "My child, you will be a bishop, and you will
anoint the king." The child became bishop of Tarbes, then
Archbishop of Reims, but he died without having anointed
the king.^
Candargy^ has related the strange story of a stolen fur
'C/. as I have said above in reference to Mile. Couesdon.
^" Monseigneur Langenieux et le Roi de France," Echo du Merveilleux,
1904, p. 451.
^P. C. Candargy, "Histoire d'une fourrure vo\6e," Annates des Sciences
Psychiques, 1906, p. 624.
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 285
garment which was found tlirough a round table. If we in-
vestigate the case, we find that the table indicated No. 39
of the rue du Louvre, Paris. There is no such number. At
No. 15 there is a fur merchant, Ulmann. The table called
him Llunis. The place of this Ulmann, who had died five
years earlier, had been taken by a M. Goldsmith, who ac-
knowledged that the stolen fur had been brought to him, but
he did not have it; it was with a broker; there, the owner of
the sable fur declared that it was not his."^
Charles Richet received a message quoted above : " Banca,
death awaits family" at the very day and hour when Queen
Draga was murdered. Is it enough that the unfortunate
queen's father was called Panta in order to make this fact
worthy of note?
I have cited experiments in psychometry as related by
Mme. Louise Maurecy. A revolver was brought to mediums
and they made fanciful descriptions of all possible manner of
deaths, of the struggle, of ruffians, of nightly assault, as well
as of suicide. Likewise, concerning Phaneg's experiments;
prediction was made to a patient that he would grievously
suffer from intestinal trouble; he soon died from cerebral
congestion. Indeed, it appeared that he had at the same
time paralysis of the intestine, but he most likely had also
paralysis of the bladder and of one arm or leg, so that the
medium would have been equally right in foretelling death
by means of a disorder of one of those organs or even of the
lungs or the heart.
This reminds me of descriptions of diseases for which the
" Pink pills for pale people" are recommended, and in which
every patient recognizes all the symptoms of his own case.^
^"It does not much matter," as the author remarks, "if the myste-
rious detective was mistaken in following on the track of the sable fur,
and if the fur he found was another, similar to it."
^Here is, for instance, a diagnosis by Phaneg: "This person is suffering
286 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
Flournoy relates in a work already quoted, the Annates
(1899) some incidents of erroneous telepathy. He scruti-
nizes them in a remarkable manner. As to Mme. Z., who per-
ceives clearly the death of M. R., " It is evident that the idea
of M. R.'s possible death, with all its concomitant circum-
stances and consequences has at least floated over her
mind, especially because of her feelings toward him. Is
there not more than one mother who has been anxious
for the fate of an absent child, more than one spiritual guide,
minding the eternal destiny of a beloved soul, to whom
imagination has many a time shown the tragical and solemn
picture of the beloved one's last moments? And if we look
among the group of remembrances, reasonings, fears and
suppositions involved in such an idea occurring to the mind
of Mme. Z., do we not unavoidably meet again with the so-
called messages of M. R.?"
One should read in the same work the genesis of a slan-
derous message which led M. Til to charge his son with a
theft at his employer's house. The young man's dismissal
ensued, but there was absolutely nothing true in the state-
ment.
e. How Experimentation Ought to be Instituted in Order
to Become Demonstrative.
I think I may lay down as a principle that incidents alone
prove nothing, even when, as has been done by Gm-ney,
Myers and Podmore, a great number of them have been
gathered. In such cases, a long cross-examination, with the
same subject, is necessary, i. e. the same person during
from the head. I see him staggering upon his legs. There is general
depression. The stomach is working badly. The person is paralyzed."
After this description, which might be applied to many sick people,
from the neuropathic up to the organic paralytic, the woman exclaims:
"This is absolutely the condition of my poor husband 1"
TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS 287
months and years ought to note down accurately all the im-
pressions he feels which are liable to telepathical interpreta-
tions; he should also take an account of the concordance,
or the non-concordance, of the event, and it should conse-
quently be possible to ascertain if the proportion of coinci-
dences is really, with certain subjects, greater than is al-
lowed by the theory of probability and coincidences.
I have thus, now and then, indicated at some length all
the impressions which I deem to be of the telepathical
order.
When traveling, especially, I have many a time thought
that my children were ill, or that an accident had occurred.
I felt sure I would find, when coming back, a messenger of
this bad news. Never was my expectation verified. Once,
only, I suddenly woke up at the very time when one of my
near relations was dying. I was very fond of her, as she had
educated me. She was very old. I had spent long hours
by day and night near her, and the whole previous evening,
since I knew she was very ill. What importance should I
ascribe to so simple and natural a coincidence? One might
object that I am not a medium. Quite so. But I have
cited many instances that are not more conclusive.
Gurney, Myers and Podmore relate that, as the Rev.
Frederick Barker was going to bed, he saw his aunt near
him. She smiled and disappeared. This person died that
very night at a far distance. What shall we infer from the
coincidence between this momentous event and a super-
ficial and commonplace dream, similar to hundreds or
thousands of dreams the reverend gentleman had, without
their being coincident with any misfortune whatever?
The same authors* declare that the theory of coincidences
cannot be sustained because these surprising coincidences
'Gurney, Myers and Podmore, "The Phantasms of the Living," and
the whole chapter, "Theory of fortuitous coincidence."
288 TELEPATHY AND PREMONITIONS
are repeated. The argument would be of importance if
such coincidences were frequently repeated in the same
person. But a collection of incidents whose origin is
utterly different is no proof against the theory of coin-
cidences."
Marillier perfectly states the matter in his preface to a well-
known report when he says that the inquiry, simultaneously
instituted in England, France and the United States/ had
three objects in view. First, to gather documents referring
to telepathy. Second, to establish the proportion of hallu-
cinations that are coincident with a real event to the total
number of hallucinations with normal subjects. Third, to
verify the proportion of persons who have experienced one,
or several, hallucinations, to the number of the whole popu-
lation. "And," he adds, "I need not say that in order to
give those returns all their value, negative answers should
be given as well as positive ones." ^ He adds some precise
warnings as to the manner in which those documents should
be gathered.
I wish extended observations of this kind could be institu-
ted with mediums and with any bona fide persons, who
would take part in them. I wish also that a great number
of incidents, either negative or positive, with the same
person, could be given. We would then be able to criticize
them. As long as this work has not been achieved, I assert
*The inquest was conducted in France by a committee consisting of
Messrs. SuUy-Prudhomme, Gilbert Ballet, Beaunis, Charles Richet, de
Rochas and Marillier.
^This has not been universally understood. Fabius de ChampvUle
has made a proposal to the "Soci6t6 Magnetique de France," to gather
all "predictions" under sealed envelopes, which could be subsequently
opened at a given date, and "the contents faithfully rewritten in a
return especially made, and given the widest notoriety by the Society,
when such predictions should have been fulfilled." The proposal of
M. Fabius de Champville was unanimously adopted {Annales des
Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 460).
MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES 289
that the existence of telepathy and premonitions is not as
yet scientifically verified/
As the conclusion of this section, I repeat that above all,
we ought to abstain from reasoning by analogy in those
matters, as for instance, that wireless telegraphy is a
proof that telepathy is real. Not in the least. Wireless
telegraphy proves what we knew before, that telepathy is
not impossible, but it does not prove its reality at all.^
11. MATERIAL BROUGHT FROM LONG DISTANCES
After these sensory phenomena we will now discuss motor
phenomena, always at a long distance. These are flowers,
fruit, letters, or other objects brought from places far away.
80. Cases.
a. Anna Rothe and Heinrich Melzer.
I have already mentioned the "flower medium," Anna
Rothe, and her vicissitudes. One year after her death,
Heinrich Melzer, of Dresden, repeated her experiments at
Leipzig.^
On November 29, 1905, after nightfall, " the lamps were
lit and the medium was seen standing and holding in his
^Gaston Mery (L'Echo du Merveilleux, 1907) cites a sentence of
Camille Flammarion: "The action of one mind over another at a dis-
tance, without the help of sight, of touch or hearing, without the help
of any of our five senses, is a fact as certain as the existence of elec-
tricity, of oxygen, or of Sirius"; and he (Gaston Mery) adds: "This
assertion is perhaps somewhat peremptory; I should even say very
hazardous."
Wide also, with regard to telepathy, Vaschide and Pieron, "Contri-
bution ^ I'etude experimentale des ph^nomenes de la telepathie," Bul-
letin de I'Institut general psychologique, 1902, t. II, p. 116; Melinand,
C. R. de Dumas, Ibid., p. 139; and Vaschide, "Quelques mots sur les
phenomtoes t^lepathiques," Ibid., p. 240.
^"Un nouveau 'medium aux fleurs' en AUemagne," Annates des
Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 458 (after " Uebersinnliche Welt").
290 MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES
hands a small jar containing one flower, while the onlooker
on the left had a little myrtle in his hand." A little later,
under analogous circumstances, the floor was covered with
leaves and flowers of the lily of the valley. On February 13,
1906, the light was put out, and a little later many leaves and
flowers of the Italian lily of the valley were discovered. On
March 17, 1906, as soon as the lamps were lit, Mr. Fielder
found that he had a beautiful orchid in his hand, and Mr.
Horra was holding a small bunch of three white roses,"
b. Donald MacNah' (1888).
On September 18, 1888, when MacNab was with a me-
dium at the Rue Lepic, Montmartre, he wrote a letter, traced
M. C.'s name on the envelope, and placed it at 2 o'clock
p. M. on a table, with a sheet of paper over it. At half-past
two the letter had disappeared. At 2 :45 M. C. found it on a
shelf near him, at his home in the Place Wagram (which is
at a distance of four kilometers from the Rue Lepic. The
ride in a tramway car occupies half an hour). This experi-
ment has been repeatedly made. Says MacNab:
" It frequently occurred that things belonging to none of
us, were found on the table at dinner time, or fell down upon
it. At first we found an Indian perfuming pan, a terra-
cotta Jewish lamp, then a humerus — a numbered anatom-
ical fragment — which was put in my pocket when nobody
was near; a gilt-copper compass, which was thrown to me,
although nobody had made a movement, a small knife which
fell down by my side. At last I succeeded in learning who
was the owner of those objects. He was a printer whom we
knew. When I brought them back to M. S., he flew into a
passion, and said I had obtained a double key of his home
^Donald MacNab, " Etude experimentale de quelques phenomenes de
psychique," Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, pp. Ill and 132 (after the
"Lotus Rouge")- Vide also de Rochas, " L'ext^riorisation de la
motricit^."
MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES 291
in order to rob him. Next he was very much surprised and
promised to write me a letter which he would place on the
table. On the following Monday he did so, and the day
after we heard raps caused by the table. We spelt out the
word 'letter/ and I immediately saw on the napkin before
me the letter written on the previous day by M. S. Then
I wrote him a note which I placed on a piece of furniture,
and on the same evening M. S. found it on his chimney over
a candlestick."
"At another time," says the same author, "I had warned
absolutely nobody, either at the starting-point or the place
of arrival. I penned my letter, which I placed under a
mourning envelope, together with a sheet of blank paper.
The letter was in the pocket of a medium, and almost at
once it disappeared. I went to the addressee's house, ap-
plied directly to him, and asked him to search the inner
pocket of his riding-coat, which was tightly buttoned. He
did so accordingly, and was very much surprised to take my
envelope out of it. He ascertained that it bore marks of
burning, and found my letter with the second sheet on which
were traced in black ink the following words as an answer
to my letter: We take notice of this arrival at 8.5, and we
are here" (the handwriting was very similar to that of the
addressee).^
One evening in Australia, while Bailey was entranced, it
was asserted that a piece of sandstone, still wet with salt
water, and of a weight of six pounds, had mysteriously
fallen down on a table near him; from that day articles
brought in were frequently found.
At Milan, on March 1, 1904, after the darkness, a red
light was lit. At this moment it was possible to see in the
medium's left hand a smaU nest about ten centimeters
'Cesar de Vesme, "Memoires cites," Annales des Sciences Psychiques,
1905, pp. 218-308 and 309; and 1906, p. 396.
292 MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES
wide, and four centimeters deep, made of small straw mixed
with flocks of cotton. This nest, warm to the touch, con-
tained a small egg of the size of a hazelnut. The spirit ex-
plained that this was a nest of " munies," little white birds of
Australia, known also in Italy.
On March 4, the spirit gave profuse explanations respect-
ing tables at Babylon covered with cuneiform inscriptions.
Another spirit was going to Babylon to dig up a table.
In the darkness "a sharp noise was heard as if a stone
had fallen accidentally on the table. The red light was lit;
the onlookers came nearer and found on the round table
something wrapt up in a rather obdurate layer of sand.
It was wiped, and then cuneiform inscriptions were dis-
covered on one of its surfaces." On March 25, 1905, in the
darkness, "almost all the bystanders smell a bitter ma-
rine odor, while from the table, then on the floor came dull
knockings, like slaps on the face. The same spu-it required
more bright red light, and exhibited a fish whose tail he
held; a fish about 15 centimeters long and resembling a
mullet. Everyone was able to verify the existence of the
fish, and it was much debated, without any conclusion,
whatever, whether he was dead or not."
On March 8, 1905, at the red light, every one was able to
see that from the medium's clenched right hand, " the head
of a little bird was emerging. It was of an almost dark
color, absolutely soft to the touch. Its eyes were spark-
ling. A small, black wing streaked with yeUow showed
between the medium's fingers."
81. Discussion.
a. Conscious Frauds.
It seems that usually in experiments of this kind the con-
trol is quite imperfect and defective, or that when made in
better conditions, it makes frauds conspicuous.
MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES 293
I do not speak again about Anna Rothe and Sarak. As
to Melzer, he does not operate in full light as does Anna
Rothe. "With this medium we are drawing back a little
in this respect, at least." The critic of the Annales des
Sciences Psychiques adds: "It will be impossible to ascribe
a value to these seances as long as the medium is not in any
manner whatever set apart from the bystanders. The
reality of these phenomena should not depend upon the
trust we may have in all experimentalists without excep-
tion, chiefly because all of them are not perfectly known."
MacNab observes rightly concerning the phenomena of
material mysteriously conveyed; "All conjurers do this, and
we ought to remark that when a medium finds himself in the
condition in which the phenomenon is taking place, he ac-
quires a skill far superior to the dexterity of the most cap-
able conjurers, and still, he does not seem to be asleep."
In reference to his own experiments with "objects trans-
ferred to long distances," he declares that they are nu-
merous, but lack strict control. Respecting the case quoted
above of things brought from the Rue Lepic to the Place
Wagram, he honestly asserts that he lost sight of the me-
dium while he was absent somewhere giving lessons, and
this takes away a good deal of the value of the experiment.
Further, he says: "All this lacks control."
I have already dealt with the critique of Ch. Bailey's
experiments, made by C. de Vesme : this is quite interesting.
We have seen here that the medium would never agree to
undi'ess himself completely, fearing lest he should catch
cold. Now "when we are dealing with phenomena such
as those of material mysteriously conveyed, a personal
search of the medium's body becomes obviously essential."
All those physical phenomena are happening in the dark-
ness. The medium is entirely at liberty to brew mischief
in his sackcloth, while "the learned Prof. Robinson," or
294 MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES
"the fierce Nana Sahib" is talking through his mouth.
Reversely, with Mr. Bailey, when the light is turned on the
phenomenon is achieved. There remain only the ob-
jects mysteriously brought.
During an experiment, when a bird appears in the me-
dium's hand a bystander opens a door to let a sparkling light
enter the room. The medium makes a strong protest, turns
his back on the light, and at the same time Dr. Clericetti,
who had not lost sight of the bird, ascertains that it is dis-
appearing amid this torrent of light, although the hand has
not been open and the bird's escape has not been heeded.
This episode shows us, for the first and last time, an object
that disappears before the light, under the eyes of an ex-
perimentalist. Conjurers make objects even larger get out
of the way, and this, in conditions far superior for investiga-
tion, whilst every one is looking at them in full light. In
fact, it is rather wonderful that it should be possible to con-
ceal living birds without suffocating or crushing them. My
admiration has always been aroused by it diu-ing exhibi-
tions of juggling that I have witnessed.
I have already indicated many improbabilities in the
archeological material brought to light. " Prof. Denton,
through Bailey's mouth, is in a position to tell us that,
contrary to all data of the paleontological or paleographical
critique of our epoch, the age of the world (or even of man-
kind) is now six thousand years."
C. de Vesme, at the end of his statement, in which he tries
"tostick to perfect impartiality," asks of his readers whether
they are not of opinion that a quite peculiar brain power,
an absolute longing for the triumph of spiritualism, is
necessary in order to establish upon such proofs, the belief
in so extraordinary and so much debated a phenomenon, of
which psychologists of a high standard of scientific knowl-
edge, such as Sir Oliver Lodge, assert they have never
MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES 295
witnessed only one instance that can be scientifically
established. We feel an almost irreducible dislike for be-
lieving that during a seance the "so-called fluidic body of
the medium was freed to such an extent as to go to Baby-
lon and make archeological researches there, or that it was
running after birds in Australian forests in order to bring
back the spoils of his researches or fowling to the members
of the Milan Society for Physical Researches."
6. Unconscious Frauds.
Here also the lower psychism may be interfering and
cause unconscious frauds. Such is the following case re-
ported by Pierre Janet in his preface to my book, "Le
Spiritisme devant la Science":^
"Two years ago, a young woman aged 26, was led to Prof.
Reymond's ward at the Salpetriere. As had been asserted,
painful fantasms were unhinging her; this patient (let us
call her M.) was led by two ladies, her mother and her aunt,
who belonged to the middle class, and had been pretty well
educated. Her father, who had died a few years earlier,
was an officer. The family had preserved a good many ac-
quaintances among officers and merchants. This young
woman was well dressed; she spoke well and without diffi-
culty, as her education and instruction had been rather
above the average. She went to the Salpetriere in order to
take advice because troubled with hysterical hallucinations.
"After having verified the nature of the actual phenome-
non, I insisted on being told her by relatives what had pre-
ceded or prepared such remarkable hallucinations. I hinted
that she had most likely had nervous attacks — fits in sleep,
for instance. Both ladies were shocked and made strong
protests, declaring that the young woman had never expe-
^This observation was brought before the Paris Society de Psy-
chologie in December, 1902.
296 MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES
rienced anything of the sort. Next, I asked if there had been
any visual hallucinations before. At this moment the
family seemed to be rather at a loss; the aunt answered in
the negative whilst the mother made denal. Then both
ladies had a quarrel and the mother said : ' This is not the
doctor's business.' My curiosity was aroused by this, and
by interrogating separately each lady and the patient, I suc-
ceeded in disclosing a rather queer adventure.
"The patient, whose father had been addicted to drinking
absinthe and died in a lunatic asylum, had always been
strange. She had long experienced hallucinations. At the
age of eight she had visions of angels attired in gorgeous
white robes, and she could see them even by daylight. At
the time of puberty (from 10 to 12 years), she was very
much disturbed by those images, which were constantly of
a religious character. She had also numerous auditory
hallucinations, for the angels were giving her verbal teach-
ings, and she learned from them her catechism. She had a
custom of calling one of them St. Philomena, without others
ever knowing the reason why, and afterwards the little saint
played a prominent part in her life. When twelve years old
her catamenia were normal, and it seems that her hallu-
cinations ceased until the age of seventeen. At this mo-
ment different emotions, disappointed love, the illness and
confinement of her father, upset her, and she again had
hallucinations, which in fact did not vanish until her actual
disease, at the age of twenty-six.
"About this same period, the mother, who had become a
widow, being unhappy and very likely predisposed to it,
took refuge in the spirit doctrine. She was accordingly
marveling at her daughter's hallucinations, and most sin-
cerely believed in the interference of angels and spirits. As I
attempted to offer a few objections, the three ladies be-
came indignant, and readily declared that they had irrefu-
MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES 297
table evidence of the reality of St. Philomena and the
angels.
" Those were objects brought by the saint from heaven. I
thus knew and was very much surprised to know that those
hallucinations were complicated by phenomena of material
brought.
" In order to convince me, the young woman brought me a
collection of objects as miraculously given to her by the
saint. I have a box full of them. There were feathers of
birds, especially down, which most likely had been taken
out of her eider-down; a few withered flowers; pebbles of a
strange color; some fragments of glass; a few common silver
jewels; a small angel with wings unfolded, which was ap-
parently a fragment of a broken brooch. M. told me that
she had a chest of drawers full of such objects which she kept
carefully because she believed earnestly that they had been
carried to her by the saint. All her family and chiefly a
cousin of hers venerated those relics and took part in her
belief.
" The patient very candidly placed herself at my disposal,
so that I might detect the modes of acting used by the
saint; she helped me to make conspicuous the error. She
experienced much wonder when I pointed out to her the
truth and readily gave up her fancies.^
" First of all, M. has related as accurately as possible how
things occurred. Now and then, in any place whatever,
but chiefly the staircase, in her lodgings, or in her room, she
found objects which were not in their proper places at all.
This is the main point: objects found in abnormal and
strange places, for instance sparkling flint stones on the stair-
case, or on the landing of the second floor; bird feathers on
the table of the dining-room; a small jewel which she did not
^Actually in this group of spirit-believers, the mother alone remained
confident; she was unshaken.
298 MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES
own, within her eiderdown; steel pens or glass fragments
placed so as to make a cross on a small table of her bed-
room. Those objects, or rather the places where she found
them, sm-prised her, and she was quickly believing — without
knowing the reason why — that the saint had brought them
there. She could not always tell from what she had derived
her belief, but it was strong in her, and so imparted to the
others. Sometimes things would publicly happen and every-
one would marvel at them. Thus, during a family dinner,
feathers fell from the ceiling down on to the table. All were
surprised and agreed, previous to having spoken, that those
feathers had not come in a natural way, but must have been
brought by the saint.
" In order to go further I tried to arouse the subject's re-
membrances, either at waking or during the hypnotic sleep.
It was enough to concentrate her attention on the moment
preceding or following the discovery of the objects. M.
found remembrances which astounded her, and I was able
to ascertain that in her case the material was not always
brought in the same manner. One should make a dis-
tinction between three stages of the phenomenon which
are, however, connected with each other and with an in-
creasing intricacy.
"The first stage is the simplest. The object reached its
place accidentally; it is a sparkling pebble on the side-
walk or on the staircase; every one would be wondering
for awhile at this fact, which strikes far more the patient
whose mind is engrossed by objects found in an abnormal
place. This causes an emotion and consequently a short
stupor, a kind of depression of the mental level, in which she
gets a clear idea of her real circumstances, and then finds
herself again involved in hallucinations. At this moment
the saint is appearing, and she tells M. that she herself placed
the pebble there so as to give her pleasure. The idea of
MATERIAL FROM LONG DISTANCES 299
things delivered, already deeply imprest in the patient's
mind because of the spiritualistic opinions of her friends,
grows into a subconscious phenomenon provoking a visual
and auditory hallucination. The alteration of the idea into
an hallucination provokes a conviction in the mind of this
suggestible hysteric. Such a conviction is contagious,
and the whole small group is marveling at this pebble found
accidentally.
'This is the most common case. Intricate conditions
supervene when objects not usually found in the patient's
bedroom are concerned. Hallucinations here mostly hap-
pen during the night. M. is a somnambulist. Everyone
knows it; she herself would get up during the night when
asleep, take a small blue stone, in the shape of a heart, and
hide it in the pocket of her pinafore, or she would place on
the table some fragments of glass, together with feathers
taken out of her eiderdown. When awake the patient was
astounded to see them, and whether Philomena interfered or
not, by hallucination the belief of M. was the same.
"Finally, in the last group the fit of somnambulism hap-
pened in the daytime. The patient asleep was herself sur-
prised. 'In fact,' she said, 'I have myself taken this httle
silver angel out of the jewel casket, and have brought it to
the middle of the room. It is too bad. I also picked some
feathers out of my eider-down and spread them on the steps
of the staircase.' I aroused in her the remembrance of a
very queer scene. Before the family dinner she saw herself
climbing on the table, placing a footstool over it so as to be
able to reach the ceiling and fix some feathers up there with
wet flour. Next she quietly came down, put everything in
order and went to her room to dress herself without remem-
bering in the least this vulgar pleasantry. At dinner it is
most likely that some feathers got loose, owing to the heat of
the lamp, and she was sincerely marveling at it. ' But,' she
300 MATERIALIZATIONS
said, 'how is it that I have been led to do that?' In fact
one may wonder why she tried to deceive during her trifling
fits of somnambulism; this is very easy to explain; it was
sufficient to induce her to repeat the scene. She brought us
pebbles in this manner for the ' museum ' of the Salpetriere,
and quite sincerely prepared the deceit. Diu"ing this her
face was quiet and smiling. She went on repeating sen-
tences from her catechism or admonitions issued by the
saint; in a word she believed herself to be St. Philomena."
It is impossible to make a more cunning analysis of un-
conscious frauds in phenomena of things thus transported.
In fact, as to things brought from long distances, as well
as concerning telepathy or premonitions, not only the sci-
entific proof of their reality is not established, but it does not
seem to be near at hand ; the scientific solution is apparently
remote, in case it can be ever reached.
III. MATERIALIZATIONS
82. How THE Question Stands.
I include in this section aU luminous phenomena and ap-
paritions of ghosts provoked by mediums, and also experi-
ments responsive to them, such as photogi-aphs, stamps or.
images of ghosts. After the survey which we have just
made of the exteriorization of the motor force, we are about
to make a survey and objectivation of the psychical force.
For, and I insist upon it, I am not to enter again into a dis-
cussion already made of spiritualism. The question is a
different one.
The downfall of spiritualism as a theory does not neces-
sarily imply the destruction of the theory of the material-
ization of ghosts. In case the fact of materializations be
established some day, it will not in the least testify to the
reincarnation of spirits, but only to a mighty objectivation
MATERIALIZATIONS 301
of the medium's thought leading to an object that might
impress our senses or the photographic plate.
With this theory — which was, or still is, the theory of
MacNab, Lombroso,^ Charles Richet, Segard,^ Maxwell — it
would be impossible to reproach ghosts with the cutting or
shape of their clothes,^ or with their language and mental
condition. All this is only the expression of the medium's
psychism. The ghost is seen exactly as the medium imag-
ines it to be.
83. Cases.
a. Luminous Phenomena.
Many authors have observed luminous phenomena
under certain special circumstances of experimentation,
Maxwell^ has verified in a physiological condition luminous
effluvia between finger-tips brought together and then sepa-
rated . This ' ' somewhat grayish steam ' ' was seen as colored
by persons gifted "with psychical powers." The same au-
thor remarks : " Sometimes the effluvium is not visible, but
the hand itself is phosphorescent." He has seen big phos-
phorescent drops gliding on Eusapia's bodice.
MacNab^ has observed in aU well carried-out experiments,
the growth of luminous spots resembling ignis f atuus. They
are moving like small comets and run after one another like
butterflies.^
^Ernest Bozzano, ''Cesar Lombroso et la Psychologie Supemormale,"
Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 403.
Charles Segard, "Quelques reflexions a propos des ph^nomenes dits
de materialisation," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 96.
^Vide Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 440: "Le resultat du
concours ouvert par 1' Occult Review entre ses lecteurs 'pour la meilleur
solution de la question des vetements des fant6nies."'
^Maxwell, he. cit., p. 118 (the whole of chapter IV).
^MacNab, Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 87; and de Rochas, work
quoted, p. 532.
^Vide also Reichenbach 's eighth report, foe. cit., p. 301; and Dupouy,
loo. cit., pp. 49 et seq.
302 MATERIALIZATIONS
b. Ghosts.
In reference to ghosts, everybody has heard of Katie
King, as observed by William Crookes, with his medium
Florence Cook.^ Aksakoff, MacNab,^ de Rochas, Charles
Richet, Archdeacon CoUey,^ Reichel with the California
medium Miller, Fotherby, with the medium, Cecil Husk,
Van Velsen with a student, and many others, have observed
analogous phenomena, and Charles Richet wrote in the
Figaro of October 9, 1905 : " At the risk of being considered a
fool by my contemporaries, I believe in the existence of
ghosts."*
Sometimes incomplete materializations are obtained; it
is an arm, or a hand, or a head which is seen or felt. Some-
times a complete ghost is obtained; it may resemble the
medium or be quite different from him. It may assume a
form or be dissolved within a few seconds. In the Paris
Eclair of December 24, 1905, Georges Montorgueil gave an
account of the struggle he had at MacNab's house, with a
ghost that melted under his fingers when the light was lit
again.^
When discussing these facts I shall relate an analogous
experimient made by Colley with a fantom which also
melted and disappeared, but left his clothes in the arch-
deacon's hands. Instead of being outside the medium, the
ghost may be mingled with the medium, "transfigured."
^Concerning Crookes' experiments, either with Home, or with Flor-
ence Cook (Katie King), vide Albert Lacoste, loc. cit., p. 173.
^Mac Nab, loc. cit., p. 136.
3" L'Archidiacre Colley et les materialisations dont il fut t^moin;
comment se formaient les fantomes, en pleine lumiere; les mysterieux
rapports le corps du fantome et celui du medium; comment s'explique-
raient certains prgtendus d^masquements ; la pomme mangee par le
fantome," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 26.
'^Vide also Surbled, "Spirites et Mediums," pp. 41 et seq.
^"Comment un fantome se serait degag6 de I'etreinte d'un exp6ri-
mentateur," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 54.
MATERIALIZATIONS 303
Maxwell reported a case of this sort in the Annates des
Sciences Psychiques (1906, p. 34). Ernest Bozzano^ has .
particularly investigated apparitions at the hour of death,
and perceivable by the dying person alone or by onlookers
only, or even by all of them at the same time. In the An-
nates des Sciences Psychiques (1906, p. 609), Camille Flam-
marion reported from the English Mechanic (July 20, 1906)
the Tweedale case, where a deceased person appeared to
three people a little after his death.
c. Photographs and Motdings.
Photographs and moldings of ghosts have been taken.
Surbled^ has well recapitulated the first stages of ghost-
photography, together with the first publications of Mum-
ler, Beattie, Wagner and Buguet; then the photography of
human effluvia by Narkiewicz, lodko, de Rochas, Baraduc,
Luys and David. "More recently," as Delanne^ says,
"Captain Volpi obtained a photograph of his betrothed,
who was ill then and kept her bed. M. Istrati and Dr.
Hasden got, at a long distance, a photograph of one of
them who was ill at that time and in bed. Prof. Wagner
took a photograph in which the hand of the apparition was
emerging out of a cuff whose edge was embroidered identi-
cally like that actually worn by the medium." Albert de
Rochas* has given out photographs of "doubles." On the
foreground there is a young lady whose likeness is striking.
In the background is a sort of ghost-fantom, showing her
in a similar manner, but thin, old, sick, and on the verge of
'Ernest Bozzano, "Des apparitions des defunts au lit de mort,"
Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 144.
^Surbled, " Spirites et Mediums," pp. 44 and 55.
'Delanne, "Conference sur le monde invisible," Bulletin de la Sod^tS
d'Etudes Psychiques de Marseille, 1903, p. 29.
^Albert de Rochas, "Photographic spirite," Annales des Sciences
Psychiques, 1905, p. 581.
304 MATERIALIZATIONS
death. This fantom is a transparent shadow, since,
through it, the folds of the canvas used as a background are
visible."
Commandant Darget, of Tours, sent me on November 22,
1906, a single photograph of two persons taken by himself,
together with this note: "The fluidic double (June, 1901).
The two daughters of M. P., a powerful medium healer,
photographed by Commandant Darget in his garden, have
their doubles, their astral bodies on their left sides. My
apparatus did not stir, neither did the children; the feet are
missing in the doubles. Commandant Darget had caused
them to be magnetized by their father at the distance of one
meter."
The same experimentalist forwarded me also some
"thought photographs." A proof dated May 27, 1896, ex-
hibits a bottle which had been obtained by Commandant
Darget, by thinking intensely of a bottle he had just been
looking at. " On June 5 following he was requested to get
another bottle, and this was done in a photograph in the
presence of six onlookers who signed the record, which was
inserted in the Revue Scienfiflque du Spiritisme in January
1897, together with two engravings of both bottles. An-
other proof showing a stick, was obtained by M. Darget,
by thinking of a walking-stick he had just been looking
at, in the red light of his dark-room. Another proof of a
'thought photograph' was obtained by placing for ten min-
utes a plate over the forehead of Mme. D. when asleep. It
showed the image of an eagle."
It has been said that Dr. A. M. Le Veeder,^ a scientist of
Lyons, near Rochester, N. Y., has solved equally well the
problem of the photography or waves originating in the
brain. The photographic apparatus provided with plates
*"Les photographies de la pensee," Annales des Sciences Psychiques,
1906, p. 125 (from the Chicago Tribune).
MATERIALIZATIONS 305
was closed and placed on a table. Each person known to be
able to exert supersensitive powers — which are usually
latent — placed one hand about four inches above the plate
with the other hand under the plate and table. Everyone
was requested to concentrate his or her thought on an ob-
ject which was specified. AVhen developed the plate ex-
hibited the object the experimentalists had thought of."^
Moldings in paraffin, clay or loam, have been secured
through Eusapia Palladino. In the book (quoted) of Al-
bert de Rochas, will be found the photograph of a print of
fingers and a print of a face made at a distance by this
famous medium. Since 1875, as MacNab says, Aksakoff
had taken moldings of the feet and hands of ghosts in one
piece without patches.^
84. Discussion.
Many of these cases are in fact disquieting and rather hard
to explain. Still I do not believe that any of them is of
such an order as to produce scientific conviction.
a. Hallucination.
I shall not insist upon the objection to hallucination.
Although there are hallucinations that have been simul-
taneously experienced by several people, such explanations
can be applied only to experimentalists operating alone
(this is an exception), or to investigators not much used to
scientific researches. Such an objection may be raised in
cases like that of Tweedale, cited above and about which
Flammarion writes: "An illusion, or hallucination, of three
onlookers, independent of each other, is hardly allowable.
^Baraduc has recently said in Le Matin ("Le Grand Doute, Photo-
graphie des ames") that he had taken a photograph of the soul, and
the double, or astral body, of his wife and son, at the moment of their
death.
Wide also on this matter, Surbled, he. cit., p. 65.
306 MATERIALIZATIONS
But is it impossible? Have we no right to imagine that the
family was anxious as to the grandmother's health, and that
three of them had been able to dream of her, and had subse-
quently the same hallucination?"
Likewise concerning the instance of ''transfiguration"
also quoted above, according to MaxweU, who, however,
had not observed it himself. On a certain evening a young
lady was seated on an armchair opposite her father, who
was slumbering by the fire. She looked at him and grad-
ually saw his face altered into the features of her mother
(who died three years before). " I should perhaps not have
ascribed much importance to this apparition," said she,
" and I should very likely have considered it an hallucination
if, while it was happening, my father's servant had not en-
tered the room and perceived it as well as I did. When she
came I only said to her : ' Jane, look how soundly father is
sleeping ! ' She came near me and exclaimed : ' Oh ! he quite
looks like poor Madame! It is striking! It is absolutely
wonderful!' Is it impossible to suppose that a more or less
accurate likeness, caused by the semi-darkness and in-
creased by the imagination of two women, as well as by
their faithful remembrance of the deceased lady, was enough
to lead the servant to such an exclamation, and the young
lady to an hallucination of this order?"
h. Conscious, or Unconscious Fraud.
The main objection remains: that of fraud — either con-
scious or unconscious (but more frequently conscious).
Cheating has not been verified in all cases, but it has been
observed in so many instances that it has become a cause
of disrepute and suspicion for all others^^
a. Photographs and Moldings.
As to photographs, fraud has been verified in the first
'See above (chapter II, ii, 12).
MATERIALIZATIONS 307
period, namely in the case of Mumler in America and of
Buguet in Paris. An action was brought against both on
account of this.
Guebhard imprest plates by means of an artificial finger
made of rubber and filled up with sand, water or granulated
metal, and thus imitated the action of human effluvia, and
showed that errors are possible in case the "revealer" has
not been shaken.^
As regards Commandant Darget's plaindealing, there is
no doubt; it cannot be questioned. But has not a definite
cause of error been insinuated there? Referring to Dr. Le
Veeder's experiments quoted above, Les Annates des Sciences
Psychiques asserts : '' In fact, those results as proclaimed by
an American newspaper as a momentous question of the hour,
would seem to be obsolete — at least in the opinion of some
French occultists or spirit-believers, who cite photographs
of the same kind, taken by Commandant Darget and other
experimentalists. Still, the many investigators who have
attempted to repeat these experiments have failed to succeed
as yet.^' ^
In the letter sent me, together with the photographs
above referred to. Commandant Darget wrote: "You may
say that phenomena cannot, unfortunately, be repeated at
pleasure. This is true. I have made more than 3,000
photos within twelve years, and even in placing myself in
the same conditions during the same space of time, I have
never obtained two photographs absolutely alike. The
human fluid is as whimsical as electricity." We might even
say, a little more whimsical.
In his work quoted above on spiritualistic photographs,
Albert de Rochas writes : " Unluckily photographs may be
tampered with, and it is certain that Buguet was given to
Wide Surbled, "Spirites et Mediums," pp. 52, 59 et seq.
^I am myself underlining this. — Author.
308 MATERIALIZATIONS
such cheating in order to draw customers." In the special
case which he relates according to M. B., he adds: "It has
sometimes been asserted against phenomena of this order,
that individuals considered as spirits or astral doubles, were
caused by casual images, due to small holes in the case of the
apparatus. Such might be the case in the plate 3, in which
an old lady's face is repeated on her right side."^
The same author^ has recently related how suspicion oc-
curred to his mind (and how it was subseqeutly confirmed)
as to the scientific reality of some photographs of human
effluvia (or astral bodies), made with M. de Jodko (who had
also made experiments with Monsignor Meric).
De Rochas discreetly took advice of Paul Nadar.^ M.
Nadar, in investigating the photographs I showed him, got
a clear idea of the trick used in order to get analogous re-
sults. He covered one of his helpers with a large white
cloth and took a photograph of him in a very short sitting
and a dim light. He thus imprest very slightly a plate,
which he left in its frame. Then he requested me to sit, in
my turn, and used this plate during the normal time of
sitting. Thus he obtained the plate 8. The experiment
was successfully repeated on several occasions. From that
time I knew to what extent I could trust M, de Jodko 's
plates."
As to Eusapia's prints, Surbled says: "The two first ex-
periments lead to the opinion that she has herself made the
print of her fingers on the cement, and the last does not
prove that she had no part in it.
^Vide in Jules Bois, p. 33, the story of a ghost photograph on which
he says: "We are more surprised than convinced, after this exceptional
adventure."
^Albert de Rochas, "Mes experiences avec M. de Jodko, en 1896, oil
commence la fraude?" Annales des Sciences Psychtques, 1908, p. 9.
'A well-known photographer in Paris (Translator's note).
MATERIALIZATIONS 309
fi. Luminous Phenomena.
The darkness that is obviously necessary for luminous
phenomena, and the closet with its cm*tain, indispensable
in materialization seances, are a cause of suspicion whose
value is not much lessened by the Revue Spirite when it ob-
serves that photographers cannot dispense with a dark
room, and that from the moment of conception the vital
principle needs the darkness of the maternal womb in order
to spread out.^
Maxwell says: "Luminous phenomena admit easily of
cheating; phosphorated oil and certain sulphurets^ enable
one to imitate hands or shapes." A phosphoric odor is
frequently observed in those experiments. Some authors,
however, have rather smelt ozone.
y. Ghosts.
1. Tricks.
I have already mentioned various examples of tricks used
by certain mediums in order to imitate ghosts: namely,
Ebstein, who made a ghost with a hamper daubed with
luminous paint, and Charles Eldred, who kept a whole train
of beards, white silk, electric lamps, etc., in a hidden com-
partment of his chair. Maxwell writes: "I know of a
photograph taken during a seance by the light of mag-
nesium. The medium had a false beard and a white towel
around his neck so as to make a sort of vestment. Persons
who were present at this seance, did not believe they were
deceived. One of them who was my friend takes a great
interest in psychical matters, but his good faith prevented
^Jean Rouxel, article in the Revue Spirite, quoted by the Echo du
Merveilleux, 1906, p. 140.
^I have ah-eady mentioned the medium Valentine, who produced
luminous phenomena. She used to take off her boots, and shake in
every direction her feet, which had previously been impregnated with
phosphorus.
310 MATERIALIZATIONS
him from suspecting fraud. He would not agree with me
concerning this photograph. It was necessary that Papus,
the well-known occultist, should ratify my opinion. As to
contacts, everyone knows how easy it is to counterfeit them
in the darkness and how important is the part played by
disguise, dolls, or pals in materializing seances. The
imagination of swindlers is never at a loss."
2. Spirit-grabbers.
Many a time suspicious experimentalists have tried to
seize ghosts in their arms and hold them strongly until the
light was turned on and their identity verified. Such ex-
periments, which are quite rational, have not been made as
often as necessary, because a belief has been promulgated
that those spirit-grabbers were grievously hurting the me-
dium and were even running the risk of killing him.
Up to the present the fame of ghosts has been destroyed
only when experimentalists have used this violent method.
I have related above the case of Craddock, who was seized
by Lieut. Col. Mark Matthew while he was playing the part
of a ghost, and the story of Mrs. Williams who counterfeited
an apparition b}^ means of a wig, a false beard and black
fleshings, while her left hand held a mask to which a long
veil was fixt. In these cases the medium's cheating has
been found out by the daring of the experimentalist. Some-
times the medium succeeds in escaping. Such a misfortune
o'ccurred to Montorgueil in an experiment made at Mac
Nab's house (vide, same part, 83 b). The following story of
Archdeacon Colley is so instructive as to phenomena of
this sort that I think it appropriate to give here the whole
paragraph together with the author's comment:^
"Those who allow themselves to seize abruptly a ma-
terialized shape — the spirit-grabbers — understand abso-
Work cited by the Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 31.
MATERIALIZATIONS 311
lately nothing of occult truth when, after having taken hold
of the clothes of a materialized ghost, they find in their
hands only a white cloth or a fragment of muslin, and inside
it the medium, who is quite out of countenance. Of com'se,
he is rather rudely dealt with and every one thinks him a
cheat. A closer knowledge of this psychical chemico-
material making of a vestment would alter our not very
charitable opinion concerning spiritualistic drapery, when,
in our ignorance, we are suspecting the reality of those phe-
nomena. In fact, in a seance by daylight (February 18,
1878), we decided to make a dangerous experiment. I was
to take hold of the Egyptian — although he was attired in
white, and attempt to prevent him from sinking into the
body of the medium (who was then under Samuel's influ-
ence). What occurred to me at this moment has always
caused me to think of St. Paul's words: 'in the body, or
without it, I cannot say, God knows' (II Cor. XII, 3). It
seems to me that an irresistible force lifted me up and im-
mediately I was thrown down at a distance of about six
yards, i. e. from the door of my drawing-room to the place
where the medium was standing.
"I found suddenly in my arms the medium, who had a
piece of white muslin over his frock coat. I held him in my
arms, as I had thought to hold the Mahedi. The material-
ized shape had disappeared, and the psychical vestment
which had got clear with it on the left of my friend, had
most likely taken the same way to the invisible with the
suddenness of thought. But where did the stuff now cover-
ing my friend come from, since it was not there a moment
earlier? The shock of our collision — for it was a collision, as
I have related in my diary, a downfall, a shaking — removed
from us the wish to repeat the experiment which had nearly
killed us. The mystery of the clothes still remains un-
solved."
312 MATERIALIZATIONS
One may assert that Providence favored this medium,
who did not die from the experiment, but met with an in-
vestigator whose strong faith produced a feehng of inex-
haustible charity/
3. Experiments at the Villa Carmen.
I cannot help mentioning the case from the Villa Carmen,
which has been so much debated of late, and in which it
seems that the value of the experimentalists and all the pre-
cautions they had taken ought to have rendered deceit and
cheating quite impossible. Charles Richet^ gave informa-
tion in November, 1905, after much hesitation, of experi-
ments made during August of the same year at the Villa
Carmen, near Algiers, at the house of General and Mme.
Noel, with Mile. Marthe B. as medium.
The fantom, B. B., or Bien-Boa, which he repeatedly
saw, is neither an image reflected by a mirror, nor a doll,
Wide also, "Le defi de I'Archidiacre Colley au prestidigitateur Mas-
kelyne," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 714; and "Le presti-
digitateur Maskelyne et ses demasquements," Ibid., 1907, p. 127.
Vide further (Part III, chapter XI, ii, 88, a. /3. 5th), "Experiments
made by the ItaHan scientists with the medium Zuccarini."
^Charles Richet, "De quelques phenomenes dits de materialisation"
(avec 6 photographies), Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 649;
OUver Lodge, " Sur les photographies algeriennes du professeur Richet,"
ibid., p. 713; Mademoiselle X., "A propos des r^centes experiences
d'Alger," ibid., p. 724; C. de Vesme, "L'oeuvre des amateurs et
I'cBuvre des savants," ibid., 1906, p. 1; X. and Y., "Les stances de
materialisation de la villa Carmen (Comptes rendus des deux autres
experimentateurs, avec plusieurs figures)," ibid., p. 65; "Une lettre
du general Noel," iWd., p. 103; Charles Richet and C. de Vesme, "Les
pol^miques au sujet des seances de la villa Carmen," ibid., p. 129;
Maxwell, "Les stances de la villa Carmen et leurs critiques," ibid., p,
197; "Les demieres stances de la villa Carmen," ibid., p. 252; De-
cr^quy, "Les ph^nom&nes de la villa Carmen en 1902 et 1903," ibid.,
p. 335; Bormann, Peter, Richet and Deinhard, " L'hypothese du peintre
G. von Max sur les vetements de B. B. (avec 2 gravures hors texte),"
ibid., p. 348. Fide also, Marsault, "Mon t^moignage concernant Bien
Boa," Nouveaux horizons, November, 1906.
MATERIALIZATIONS 313
nor a hamper. He " enjoyed all the attributes of life. I
have seen him come out of the closet, walk, pace the room
up and down. I have heard the noise of his steps, his
breathing, his voice. I have touched his hand several
times. It was soft, articulate and lively. B. B. blows
through a pipe on water of baryta, and as bystanders ex-
claim; 'well done,' the ghost appears again and bows to us
three times. It was repeatedly photographed during the
sudden deflagration of a mixture of chlorate of potash and
of magnesium. Since February, 1902, the same fantom
has appeared many a time with other mediums."
Charles Richet, who had, of course, taken all the pre-
cautions of a well-informed experimentalist, and who himself
made the most minute investigations before and after every
seance, debates all the hypotheses before admitting such
extraordinary facts, and declares that: "up to now experi-
mentalists have not produced a strong conviction as to the
reality of phenomena." He concludes that the main point is
to know whether there has been fraud or not. Unfortu-
nately, it seems that there has been fraud, or at least proof
has not been afforded that the manifestator was free from
cheating.^
According to the works of Dr. Rouby in Algiers, Les Nou-
velles, of Dr. Valentin in Paris, la Vie Normale, of the painter
von Max, at Leipzig, Psychische Studien, it seems that fraud
had been voluntarily practised in many experiments an-
terior to those of Richet,^ namely, with the Arabian driver
Wide Valentin, "La metapsychique et la psychologie positive";
"Lettre ouverte au Dr. Charles Richet"; "Apparitions et mystifica-
tions, les fant6mes de la Villa Carmen; Dans quel esprit je desire abor-
der I'etude des esprits."
^In reference to experiments anterior to those of Richet, I have re-
ceived the following letter from Dr. Decr^quy (the author of letters to
Richet, given out by the Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 335):
"... I was in Algiers at that time. I have followed for five years the
314 MATERIALIZATIONS
Areski; and in Ri chefs experiments there has been fraud,
either conscious or unconscious, on the medium's part, at
least in a sufficient number of seances to enable us to trust
others no longer.
In spite of the rather disheartening conclusions which we
have to come to, I think we must tender our best thanks to
Charles Richet for his narration of this case, and for having
provoked such a controversy. In this respect I utterly
agree with Flournoy^ who writes: "I am of opinion that,
experiments at the Villa Carmen. I never cheated there, neither did
any physician. Dr. Denis witnessed the seances during three months;
it was the epoch when the medium Vincente Garcia had apparently lost
his mediumistic powers. As he could see nothing, he remained imbe-
lieving. After that I ceased being present at the seances — the expe-
rienced medium having been replaced by another who had up to that
time obtained no results whatever — as I did not want to waste my time.
Dr. Denis stayed a few more weeks. An apparition took place on a day
when he had missed the seance. Dr. Denis has never cheated. He only
put himself in the wrong by witnessing a practical joke, made by M. H.,
who, seeing nothing occur, tried to have a good time, and decided to
leam by heart an English sentence so as to make Mme. Noel believe that
he was a medium. I was not there. As to the phenomena I am going
to relate in the Revue des Sciences Psijchiques, in order to answer the
charge of cheating brought against me, they happened in the absence
of Dr. Denis, of M. H. and Areski, who was not one of General Noel's
servants at the time when I witnessed seances. Some trustworthy
friends and myself have verified the phenomena, and caused Prof.
Richet to come to Algiers. When Prof. Richet arrived, I was there
no longer. There was another medium than Vincente Garcia, but I
shall have to deal only with facts which took place with Vincente
Garcia" (Nov. 8, 1903).
Tlourno}^, Archives de psychologie, 1906.
"Our great Itahan poet," as Cesare Lombroso wrote, "Dante, said,
a few centuries ago, with the somewhat impudent skepticism of La
Fontaine :
' Sempre a quel ver ch'ha faccia di menzogna
Dee I'uom chiuder le labbra quanto ei puote
Pero che senza colpa fa vergogna.'
We should conceal, as much as possible, those truths which resemble
lies, because they wrong us, without our being responsible for them."
MATERIALIZATIONS 315
far from reproaching M. Richet with his publication, we
must be thankful to him who, being the head of one of the
most prominent professorships in the civilized world, has had
the heart to investigate a range of phenomena whose repu-
tation is as bad as that of occult phenomena, and this,
without having foregone conclusions, at the risk of imperil-
ing, not science, which is in no danger whatever, but his
own personal character, his official prestige as well as his
authority among his colleagues and at the same time
among the best class of the public."
As far as I am concerned, I have never felt regret that I
presided in 1893 at the Faculty of Montpellier over the en-
dorsement of Albert Coste's thesis, " On psychical occult
phenomena," although this fact was at that time — I should
not say a revolution, but an innovation in the university.
Neither do I repent that I have made known the experiment
in clairvoyance I shall further speak of.^
Therefore, we must be glad that Charles Richet has pub-
licly dealt with this case. But we should infer from the
contradictory works written on that point that it does not
afford the so much longed-for scientific proof of materializa-
tions. Besides, since Charles Richet himself has told us in
the same work that, previous to Bien-Boa, those ghost ap-
paritions had not been verified, we are bound to think that
such proof is not established as yet, unless MiUer's recent ex-
periments afford it to us.
4. Miller's Recent Experiments.^
I have already mentioned the medium Miller. But since
publishing the works there dealt with in reference to the
'Chapter XI, iii.
^Gaston Mery, "Nouvelles experiences de materialisation. Le me-
dium Miller. Ce que j'ai vu. Ce que je crois," L'Echo du Merveilleux,
1906, pp. 381, 401, 421 and 441; Charles and Ellen Letort, "Nouvelles
316 MATERIALIZATIONS
frauds of mediums, Miller has made new experiments in
Paris/ Papus asserted that they would make a great noise
in Europe. C. de Vesme writes: "In case Mr. Miller's ex-
periments are genuine, they are beyond compare in the
realm of metapsychism. Here, it would not be one human
shape only which would be laboriously materialized, as
those of Katie King and B. B. used to be; apparitions follow
one another, and are not always the same; they run back-
wards and forwards; they come into contact with by-
standers; they are speaking and even singing. While some
of those phenomena are occurring the medium is not in the
closet. In short, as Papus, an experimentalist well used
to such matters, has said 'the other mediums are novices
in comparison with Miller.' He went so far as to declare
that with mediums of his power spiritualistic ideas would be
speedily improving."
Gaston M^ry made a report and critique on the most
recent of those experiments^ which are obviously very queer,
but do not provoke as yet scientific evidence of the reality
of materializations.
seancesdeMiller,"t6id.,pp. 385, 406, 425, 446 and 463; C. de Vesme,
"Nouvelles seances de Miller a Paris," Annales des Sciences Psychiques,
1906, p. 696, and "Toujours la polemique sur Miller." "LettresdeG.
Delanne et Ch. Letort. Response de C. de Vesme," ibid., p. 756. Vide
also, Jules Bouyer, "La Conference Delanne (du 17 fevrier 1907 sur
Miller)," Les vouveavx horizons de la science et de la pensee, 1907, p. 85;
de Vesme, "Un dernier mot sur Miller," Annales des Sciences Psychiques,
1907, p. 35; M. Delanne and M. Miller, ibid., p. 128; Echo du Mer-
veilleux, 1907, p. 69.
^Before setting off again to America, and after a journey in Germany,
in which he had given at Munich, "only one seance at Mme. Rufina
NcEggerath's," the granny of the Paris spirit-believers who was at that
time in the chief city of Bavaria, with relatives of hers," and died
recently.
^Those stances occurred on October 5, 1906, at M. Letort's, on Octo-
ber 11 at Gaston Mary's, and two others, on the same day, at Mile.
Gourson's and Mme. Nceggerath's.
MATERIALIZATIONS 317
The first conclusion of Gaston Mery's investigation is that
there is no proof of a demoniac influence, or of a survival.
He then states the following objections to the reality of
these phenomena: "I had the impression that all was man-
aged by a clever impresario. The interest of onlookers was
graduated regularly as at a theatrical performance; it is
possible to ascribe the faith to the medium's training; no
sign of weariness whatever was visible later on." It seems
that the medium had only a Mmited number of apparitions
at his disposal; they bore different Christian names or were
hesitating as to their surnames (in case they were not abso-
lutely ignorant of them). One may wonder whether the
fact of striking up songs between apparitions is not intended
to annihilate the noise made by the preparations. It is
openly asserted that a " chain" is made up in order to con-
tribute to the condensation of fluids. But is it not formed
for another secret purpose, especially since its necessity
lasts only while shapes come out of the closet and draw
near the bystanders? Is it not to prevent inquisitive
people from taking hold of the floating woolen cloths or even
of the hands of the apparitions? The various auditory
sensations that have been experienced might perhaps be
emitted by a skilful ventriloquist?
One may infer from all this that to any unbiased witness
these phenomena have not afforded a sensation of obvious-
ness. None of the shapes that have been produced in our
presence " has given any proof whatever as to its identity.
It seemed that they wavered as to the words they should
utter or that they tried to catch words on bystanders lips.
They looked to be in want of help from the onlookers con-
cerning the choice of personalities which they were to em-
body. None of the numerous apparitions which came
forward disclosed a fact unknown to the medium. Among
fantoms those that were very precise .were always imper-
318 MATERIALIZATIONS
sonating individuals whom the bystanders did not know; on
the contrary, vague were the apparitions that personified
well-known people."
Therefore, in case they are neither demons nor reincar-
nated spirits, "there is only one possible explanation; it is
MiUer, who is speaking and acting through the 'spirits.'
In order to infer tricks from all this there is only a step.
Gaston Mery declines to take it. But I imagine that many
of us will, and that they will conclude with C. de Vesme, who
has very shrewdly undertaken a critique as follows: "The
seances given in Paris by M. MiUer are of the same value as
those he made in San Francisco. The same statu quo ante
is still left in the dominion of metaphysical researches. In
the opinion of those who take a serious interest in meta-
physical researches, the Paris seances are of exactly the
same scientific importance as those made in San Francisco,
i. e. something dreadfully similar to nothing. They have
been 'drawing-room experiments,' and not tests made by
well-known scientists. Believers and unbelievers have wit-
nessed them; the public succeeded each other as at the
theater. People of every description were granted admit-
tance, provided they were able to procure a letter of introduc-
tion. Now, no one will induce me to believe that at such
seances, always made among ill-matched elements, Mr. Miller
and his ' controls' were able to obtain their phenomena when
they failed to produce them before an audience consisting
exclusively of scientists perfectly acquainted with meta-
physical matters, and above any suspicion of hostility to
mediums, since they have already made investigations with
Eusapia Palladino, Politi, etc."
The recent experiments of Miller in Paris, no more than
those made at the Villa Carmen, are of such an order as to
establish in a scientific manner the reality of materializa-
MATERIALIZATIONS 319
tions and of fantom apparitions. Therefore, I adhere in
this summary to my conclusions in preceding sections:
First, the scientific demonstration of materiahzations has
not been made as yet. Second, it seems that the subject is
not even ripe for an actual scientific survey.
CHAPTER XI
FACTS WHOSE SCIENTIFIC DEMONSTRATION DOES
NOT APPEAR SO DISTANT, BUT MUST BE AT
FIRST SOUGHT FOR
I. Mental Suggestion and Direct Commxtnication of Thoitght.
85. Definition; documents and cases.
a. How the question stands.
b. Recent cases.
c. D'Ardenne; Pax; Paul Sollier.
d. Lombroso.
e. Joseph Venzano.
/. Miss Hermione Ramsden.
g. Kotik.
86. Why experimentation is sometimes erroneous; tricks.
87. How to establish scientific proof of mental suggestion.
II. Removal op Things without Touch (Levitation). Raps.
88. Removals without touch.
a. Instances.
a. Haunted houses.
^. Removal of things.
1. Eusapia Palladlno.
2. William Crookes and MacNab.
3. Maxwell.
4. Flammarion.
5. Zuccarini.
a. Discussion.
/8. Advice.
y. The recent inquest of The Matin.
89. Raps.
a. Cases.
b. Discussion.
c. Conclusion.
III. Clairvoyance.
90. Definitions clairvoyants and female seers,
a. Definitions.
h. The female seer of St. Quentin.
MENTAL SUGGESTION 321
91. Cases and discussion.
a. A few cases. r
b. Personal instances.
c. Conclusions. Rules for further experiments.
I. MENTAL SUGGESTION AND DIRECT
THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE
85. Definition — Documents and Cases.
a. How the Question Stands.
Mental suggestion is a direct transference of the thought
of a subject to another person without a word or a gesture,
and without any of the usual ways of psychical communica-
tion. It is an exteriorization of thought by a new way. It
is "willing game" without contact.
It is easy to perceive the resemblances, as well as the dif-
ferences, existing between mental suggestion and telepathy.
Telepathy is also a thought transference, but it is a trans-
ference at a long distance, whilst in mental suggestion, both
subjects are quite near each other. Besides (and this is
more important) in mental suggestion the transmitting
subject is active; he does not interfere in telepathy. This is
so important that we shall see cases in which mental sug-
gestion is practised at a more or less great distance, although
it does not become telepathy because the psychical effort is
made by the suggesting subject.^
"We may declare," writes Venzano,^ " that the phenom-
enon of thought transference has unreservedly entered the
scientific dominion." In fact, many persons believe that
mental suggestion is established in a scientific way, and that,
^There is in mental suggestion what Jules Bois terms "tellboulia."
It is missing in telepathy.
''Dr. Joseph Venzano, " Des ph^nomSnes de transmission de la pensee
en rapport avec la medianit^," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905,
p. 672.
322 MENTAL SUGGESTION
for instance, to a subject induced to an artificial sleep in
provoked hypnosis, the hypnotizer may suggest an idea,
without talking to him; without using any of the usual
modes of communication between both psychisms. On the
contrary, I think that scientific evidence of mental sugges-
tion has not been obtained as yet.
Charles Richet writes in Ochorowicz's^ book: "I do not
mean that mental suggestion is strictly verified. Most
certainly not. Although M. Ochorowicz and others before
him have gathered evidences, they do not lead to an entire
and irrefutable belief, but only to presumptions,"
Since that time (1887) many have imagined that they
had found this demonstration. But in spite of the experi-
ments made by Liebeault and Beaunis, by Boirac,^ Paul
Joire, Fotherby, in spite also of the documents included in
Geraud Bonnet's^ book, I do not think that anyone has ever
succeeded.
Once I imagined I had arrived at this demonstration with
an hysteric in my ward. I even entered my name for a re-
port on mental suggestion at a congress which was held a
few months later. But afterwards a course of failures
showed me that the previous successful experiments were
not sufficient to establish the scientific demonstration of the
matter and put off my relation, sine die. Bernheim and
Pitres, like Charcot formerly, have never positively demon-
strated mental suggestion.
^Ochorowicz. "De la suggestion mentale," avec une Preface de
Charles Richet, 1887.
^In "La Psychologic inconnue," pp. 161, 218 and 268, Boirac says:
"As far as I am concerned, I have always failed in my attempts to
suggest a definite idea to my subjects, though I have tried it many a
time, and I have been able to cause them to sleep or to awake, by a
mere effort of will; and I have never noticed that any of them could
ever spontaneously guess thoughts or intentions I had not exprest,"
'Geraud Bonnet, "Transmission de pens^e," 1906.
MENTAL SUGGESTION 323
h. Recent Cases.
a. My comrade, Dr. D'Ardenne/ on my advice, published
the very queer case of a hysteric woman with whom he has
made satisfactory experiments in attraction, by laying his
hands on her, without contact, and by keeping a fixt stare,
always behind the subject. Pax^ has given out analogous
experiments.
The main objection to this mode of operating is the use of
gestures by the experimentalist. We are never sure that
the subject does not perceive them, either through sight
when his eyes are closed and if the experimentalist is in
front of him, or through hearing or a displacement of air if
the investigator is behind him. "It may be said," writes
Pax, " that the medium asleep has constantly kept the eyes
closed; she has certainly not cheated either consciously or
unconsciously, but I am not sure enough that there has been
no unconscious perception, as in 'willing game' without
contact."
It may be of interest to compare with these cases the
observation published by Paul Sollier' (cases verified with
Duhem and Boissier) . The patient being busy and having
turned her back on him, Sollier made a sign with his hand
stretched out and then brought back as if he were pulling
her. Immediately the patient left off her work, turned and
came straight to the doctor. The experiment was success-
fully repeated at a distance of four meters with an inter-
posed curtain. Another time the study of the experiment-
^D'Ardenne, " L'attraction a distance sans parole ni contact," Annates
des Sciences Psychiques, 1903, p. 193.
^Pax, "Experiences d'attractions a distances, sans paroles ni contact,
sur des sujets h I'^tat de veille," L'Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, pp. 257
and 276.
^Paul Sollier, "Phenomenes de perception a distance," Bulletin de
VInstitut general psychologique, 1904, t. IV, p. 509; and Annales des
Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 178.
324 MENTAL SUGGESTION
alist was separated from the laboratory where the patient
was, by a passage which was five meters in width, and by a
wall forty centimeters thick, preceded by a small passage
leading to a hall closed by a glass door."
"There is in it," as Sollier adds, "no phenomenon of divi-
nation or intuition, or of a direct thought transference with
the hypnotizer, and the proof of it is that other experi-
mentalists have not only obtained at once the same result,
but also that her movement was caused by the impression
she got, or rather by the gesture of the experimentalist, and
not by his thought." Therefore, it seems that a peculiar
acuteness of sensibility was the cause and that auditory
sensations were not concerned. In experiments at a short
distance it is possible to believe that the impression is
caused by the displacement of air. But in tests with a wall
interposed the explanation is difficult to express. "I am
led to suppose," says Sollier, "that either the spread of the
vibrations given to air occurs through obstacles which were,
till now, deemed insuperable, or vibrations of an unknown
order were the causes."*
'Dr. Boissier, from whom I had asked for a continuation of this
strange case, has been kind enough to answer me: "There have been
no fresh experiments — either pubHshed or unpublished — as regards the
case we observed with Sollier in 1904. The subject was a patient whom
you well know, since you recommended her to us. She was a great
hysteriotraumatic. She offered those phenomena during a rather short
space of time, at a precise stage of the evolution of her progressive awak-
ing. Scarcely a few weeks out of the fourteen months were involved in
her coming back to complete waking. I was present and was engaged with
the subject, at a moment when, merely by accident, we detected the
phenomenon. We have closely observed it, and taken notice of it until
its disappearance, which was definitive a few days later. We made vain
attempts to repeat it, with the same patient, during the following stages
of her treatment. I subsequently tried to find it out with two other
female patients, at the same period of their retrogression, but failed.
With regard to D., we have investigated her case, on a favorable occa-
sion, with the greatest care and accuracy, and with all the self-diffidence
MENTAL SUGGESTION 325
/8. Lombroso* has made with Pickmann, in his laboratory,
his jSrst experiments in thought transference, together with
Drs. Roncorini and Ottolengui and the barrister ZerbogUo.
" The most frequent experiment was to hold out from ten
to twenty times, five or six playing cards or tickets bearing
numbers. They were held out upside down so as to pre-
vent him from seeing the inscription on them. Some one
marked down how often the subject succeeded in guessing
the card or ticket chosen mentally by one of us. With
various subjects we noted from none to 10, 12, 40 and even
44 successful attempts out of 100."
Once, Lombroso wrote " Pickerel" on a slate. " M. Regis
being in a condition of ' monoideism,' with a bandage on his
eyes and ears, at a distance of more than ten meters from
me, wrote the word Titche' on another slate. He was
enjoined (by a note placed under a sealed envelope) to
kneel down and pray. He placed the envelope between the
palms of his hands in an attitude of prayer, but knelt down
only when it had been observed to him that he did not com-
ply at all with the order given. With cards he was suc-
cessful only twice out of sixteen times. More queer and
better carried out were the experiments of M. E. B. of
Nocera, a hysteric and a somnambulist, a typographer by
trade. Once, as he was in a condition of somnambulism, he
set up a whole page without any wrong letter."
If they have not led to definitive conclusions, those in-
vestigations of Lombroso are at least instances of simple and
well carried-out experiments which ought to be imitated.
we were capable of, and the incidents, in spite of the strictest control,
occurred, such as you have heard them related."
^Cesar Lombroso, "Mon enquete sur la transmission de la pensee,"
Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1904, p. 257. Vide also, Ernest Boz-
zano, "Cesar Lonibroso et la psychologic supemormale," ibidem, 1906,
p. 397.
326 MENTAL SUGGESTION
y. Joseph Venzano^ has made experimentations far more
complex. He made tests with various mediums, mostly
with Eusapia Palladino. Owing to mental suggestion, the
table^ was made to give a certain number of knockings so
as to warn one of the bystanders that it was time for him to
take the train, or a fan was seen that moved and touched
the shoulder of one of the experimentalists. A penny was
taken out of someone's pocket and given to another person.
Venzano infers from his experiments that "the reality
of the phenomenon of thought transference shines out in the
most luminous and convincing manner, owing to the in-
stances related, which have been selected from among many
others whose importance is not inferior. These cases may
unreservedly undergo the examination of criticism."
I think that such conclusions are somewhat premature,
and do not agree, for the present, with the author, who adds :
"The conscientious censurer has merely to lay down his
arms." I must state the reason why such is not my opinion.
Those experiments are too complex to admit of the strict
control necessary to a scientific survey; the things thought
and performed are too vague; they are usual enough to have
a chance to occur throughout a seance in which many other
things (which have not been mentally suggested) are also
performed. Besides, and I deem this quite important, the
accuracy of orders fulfilled is verified after the act only.
There is no proof at all that the plaindealing experimental-
ist's thought has not been influenced by the act the medium
was performing. Under certain circumstances it happens
* Joseph Venzano, work quoted by the Annales des Sciences Psychigues,
1905, p. 672.
^"MacNab (Echo du MerveMeux, 1906, p. 136), has been able, as he
was alone with a medium, M. Ch., and without making a sign, to stop
or begin again, or regulate at his pleasure, knockings that were due to
his mediumship."
MENTAL SUGGESTION 327
that the investigator does not first recognize his thought in
the medium's act, or detects it after due reflection owing to
rather complex ratiocinations. The medium surpasses and
exceeds sometimes the experimentahst's intention. In the
course of a complex seance implying multiplied manifesta-
tions it will be now and then found that a mere embryo of
thought on the experimentalist's part has been fulfilled.
All this enables me to believe that such experiments
afford no scientific evidence of mental suggestion.
8. According to the definition stated above, the experi-
ments referred to in Miss Hermione Ramsden's^ work are
mental suggestions rather than telepathy, although there is
a long distance between both experimentahsts, since the
subject transmitting thought is really playing an active
part; this is mental suggestion at a great distance.^
The author describes quite frankly a series of failures, or
at least of semi-success (which are not sufficient for inducing
in us absolute belief), with a friend at Christiania and an-
other at Newmarket. The experiments made with Miss
Clarissa Miles are more queer; but they are generally too
complex and not precise enough. They ought to have been
more strictly limited; the thought fulfilled was lost among
so many others that the attempt might have been successful
if something else had been thought of. Thus, Miss Miles
thinks of the word sphinx. Miss Ramsden (at a distance of
about twenty miles) gets eight words, and among them the
following : hour-glass, arm-socket, suspension bridge, sphinx,
'Miss Hermione Ramsden, "Telepathic experimentale," Annales des
Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 272.
^The observation of magical charm ought to be included under this
head ; but it seems to me that the matter is not yet ready for a scientific
investigation. Vide G. Phaneg, " Etude sur I'envotitement. Conference
a la Societe d'^tudes psychiques de Nancy," L'Echo du Merveilleux,
1906, p. 74.
328 MENTAL SUGGESTION
etc. She adds : " It is a word with an s, but I fail to catch
it. " At another time the former thought of a watch and the
latter guessed an oval locket. The transmitting subject
had thought of lockets in the forenoon.
Miss Miles selects as a topic of thought transference,
"future life and any spiritual matter." Miss Ramsden
thinks of a daisy, of a swan, of a masonic emblem between
two triangles twisted, a pair of angel wings, a bridge, a lily.
Miss Miles intends to make her see the face of Monaco Pal-
ace, Miss Ramsden thinks of a statue, or perhaps a foun-
tain, or something else with water in it.
Here follows one of the most remarkable experiments.
Miss Miles sees and tries to transfer "a sunset on a chapel."
Miss Ramsden describes in this manner what she perceived :
" At first it was the sun with its beams and a face that was
peeping in through beams. Then I saw something which
kept on turning like a wheel. Both things seemed to melt
together, and I then thought of a windmill — a windmill on a
hill where it was dark while the wind was raging. There
were black clouds. Next it was the crucifixion; I perceived
three crosses on the left side of the hill; they were facing the
right side; it was dark, windy and stormy. I am sure it
was like that. It was the most lively emotion I ever felt.
I have hardly visualized these ideas; they were quite
vague, but the suggestion was very lively."
We find here a train of many ideas, and among them is the
sun, but no hint of sunset. There is also darkness and night.
Crosses and a remembrance of Golgotha are mentioned with-
out any idea of church or chapel. The author adds that
Miss Miles saw a cross on the top of the church. There was
a weathercock (which was subsequently found) on the
horizon. It was windy; the sun was illuminating the face
of MacNab, whose portrait she was painting. But the sky
was orange-colored. In this instance thought transference
MENTAL SUGGESTION 329
was so dim that Miss Ramsden believed Miss Miles had in-
tended to show her a pictui*e of the crucifixion.
I have found in this conscientious work only one interest-
ing experiment. On October 27, 1906, at from four to six
p. M. Miss Miles was thinking of the odd spectacles used
by a gentleman seated by her side. At seven o'clock (Miss
Miles being engaged in thoughts quite different) Miss Rams-
den, who was expecting the coming of an impression, caught
the thought of "spectacles." That was all. It is not
enough to frame a scientific demonstration of mental sug-
gestion.^
c. Kotik^ has just published an interesting work on " im-
mediate thought transference." He made his experiments
with two persons : " Their lower psychism was in a condition
of immediate receptivity regarding the psychophysical force
of another agent. The transference — without the sense
organs taking part in it — as well as the receipt of the psycho-
physical force emitted, occurs most likely in the lower
psychism, but with a certain knowledge on the part of the
agent's upper consciousness." The analysis of this book
which I have read, refers much more to the theory of the
phenomenon than to the experimental and scientific proof
of its existence.
86. Causes of Errors in Experimentation; Tricks.
I should give the following advice to those wishing to
make in the future experiments in this matter: Do not
apply to a professonal thought reader. Like many others,
*I am not in a position to express an opinion concerning the case —
which seems to be unlikely — of a man, at the same time blind, deaf and
dumb, whose education could be secured by means of thought trans-
ference (Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 656).
^N. H. Kotik, "Immediate thought-transference" (in Russian), 1907.
Analyzed by Elise Scukhanoff Pokotillo, Revue de Psychiatrie, 1908, p.
72.
330 MENTAL SUGGESTION
I have made frequent attempts and have constantly failed,
or at least I have never succeeded when the Barnum was
not aware of my thought. Everyone knows that it is usual
at fairs, or in some cafes, to see two persons practising
''thought transference." The former makes his partner
guess the number inscribed inside of watches, or the name
of hatters printed inside of hats. The tricks are more or less
clever and more or less understood; but they are still tricks
in all cases.
Some jugglers ask questions in different words, according
to the meaning of the answer wished for. Robert Houdin*
operated in this way, by means of a book of questions, or
rather of a special and conventional vocabulary known only
to the subject and to himself, and which the public was
absolutely ignorant of. He had trained his subject to
answer the questions asked, and to guess, at a distance,
either the sort, shape or color of an object, or the value, date
and effigy of a gold or silver coin, or even the time indicated
by a watch. For instance, if he said: "What do you see?"
the subject was to answer, "a hat," or: "Tell me what you
see," it was a stick, and so on. To each question corre-
sponded an answer agreed upon in advance.
Other jugglers point out to their subjects the number to
guess by means of the place in a certain term of the first
letter of the words used in their question.
Thus with the word : 'Washington' here follow a
1 234567890
few instances of questions and answers:
^ow much? — 4.
TThat number do you see? — 16.
What is ^he number? — 158.
WhaX is the number to guess? — 158,687.
Wide G6raud Bonnet, loc. cit., p. 94.
MENTAL SUGGESTION 331
Some others manage to disclose the words, syllable by
syllable. In this respect I remember a female seer who
made too much haste in uttering the word " hippopotamus,"
whilst the bystander had said '^ Hippocrates." Hints are
also given by gestures or attitudes.
Geraud Bonnet quotes another instance. " It was suffi-
cient to whisper one's wish to the Barnum. Without
moving, this man looked at the young lady, who was at a
distance of five or six meters, and she immediately came for-
ward and did what had been wished. There was a speech-
less dialogue between both performers, and this dialogue
was made easier by the fact that the attention of the whole
audience was engrossed by the subject, whilst it failed to
heed the juggler, but in observing him it was possible to see
that his positive attitude and movements were intentional
and varied in every case according to the questions asked,
although he looked to be almost motionless and inactive
diu-ing the subject's action. There was a trick of gestures,
but it was so cleverly concealed that the most skeptical
among the onlookers were deceived. All such instances of
thought transference are caused by tricks."^
I have already quoted the queer experiments of Paul
'Here is a novelette of direct thought transference. "An action
brought by two music-hall artists — of those who guess the bystanders'
thoughts, as well as the number of their watches — against one of their
former employees, has disclosed pretty and diverting tricks. It appears
that a telephone was especially set up in the upper galleries of the
theater, and connected with the 'seer's' chair. A confederate kept
the blindfolded lady on the stage, who seemed to be in hypnosis, con-
stantly advised of what was occurring, and indicated to her the person
concerned. Suddenly amidst a round of cheering on the part of the
audience, the 'seer' exclaimed, 'This is a fair-haired lady, with a green
bonnet, a ruby ring, etc' Another trick was to have persons who were
coming to hire a box for the evening performance, followed by a con-
federate. Thus an account of what they had done was given to them,
to their extreme surprise." (Le Petit Meridional, December 30, 1906).
332 MENTAL SUGGESTION
Sollier in this last element of sensory hyperesthesia. In
the same way Dr. Laurent^ has been so kind as to impart to
me some amusing tests in which he surveyed and imitated
those made by Pickmann.
Our colleague has been able to fulfil at a distance of about
four meters orders given by certain persons — very simple
orders, of course, such as the choice of an object on a table.
He has very well investigated the matter and has come to
the conclusion that there is hyperaconsia on the subject's
part, as well as perception of words unconsciously uttered
by the transmitting agent — "on the left," "on the right,"
"yes," "no."='
Charles H. Pedley, the mayor of Crewe, has related to
Prof. Lodge^ the case of a Barnum who made signs to his
subject by lifting up his right toe; thence he made a slight
movement of the shoe, which acute eyes were able to per-
ceive, even at a distance of twenty yards, and with blind-
folded persons.
Albert Bonjean,* who in his book on "L'Hypnotisme"
had detected the fraud of a female seer L., has recently dis-
closed the trick of another, B. de P.: " The mode of action
employed by both is based on the same principle. To enable
the seer to see it is necessary for the Barnum to know the
thing or the thought to be guessed. Since the Barnum
must be advised of the word or of the thing in question,
'Laurent, "Les precedes des liseurs de pens^e; cumberlandisme sans
contact." Vide also L. Laurent, "Des precedes des liseurs de pensee,"
Journal de Psychologic normale et pathologique, 1905, t. II, No. 6, p. 481.
Wide also Alfred Graffe, professor of Psychology at the University
of Liege, "Un nouveau liseur de pensee. Contribution a I'etude de
I'hyperesthesie . "
^Lodge, "Un true d6 voile," Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1899,
p. 176.
^Albert Bonjean, "La transmission de la pensee," L'Union lihre de
Viviers, October 2, 4, 9 and 13, 1906.
MENTAL SUGGESTION 333
there is no difficulty at all in imparting this thing or this
word to the subject by means of a conventional alphabet or
of a special language, which for the subject concerned as-
sumes a precise and mathematical meaning. I know the
tricks used. I am able to counterfeit, with my good friend
and colleague Leon Mallar, he being the Barnum and my-
self the subject, all the phenomena obtained by Mme,/le P."
Ernest J. A. Bodson has made to the same medium a
proposal to write on a visiting card a number of five figures
and to show it to the Barnum, who would only ask his sub-
ject: "What is the number written on the card?" The
Barnum declined to do so.
87. Rules to Observe in Trying to Establish a
Scientific Demonstration of Mental Sugges-
tion.
I infer from all that I have just stated that the scientific
demonstration of mental suggestion and of thought trans-
jference by a new mode of action has not yet been made, but
that there are experiments, like those of Lombroso and
Charles Richet for instance, which indicate that the matter
should not be given up, and that perhaps a solution will be
arrived at in case the experimentation is carefully and me-
thodically made, without professional thought readers, pro-
vided very simple experiments are first organized.
I remind those who may feel inclined to undertake in-
vestigations of this order, that it is necessary to have : First,
a subject, for, if mental suggestion is real, it does not exist
for and with anyone. A subject liable to hypnotism, a me-
dium, is indispensable. Second, one should try very simple
tests, without gestures or speech or grimaces; request a
subject to lift up an arm, to open his mouth or take up his
foot. Third, one should make many experiments and repeat
them, and take note with great accuracy of all incidents.
334 MENTAL SUGGESTION
It is even advisable to place previously in a well locked-up
drawer the orders one is about to give; the bystanders, not
very numerous, ought to be ignorant of them. All the acts
of the subject must be recorded as soon as they occur, by a
bystander who is not aware of the orders given. The com-
parison between both written statements will be subse-
quently made.
In case thought transference is to be really tried, it is
necessary, with a group of a limited number of persons,
knowing absolutely each other, and of an unquestionable
good faith, to make the little experiment given below. It
resembles a drawing-room game, and has, besides, been
tried many a time by serious scientists.
The experimentalist shuffles a pack of cards. He then
selects one card, thinks very intensely of it, and the wit-
nesses (who do not know this) write down on a sheet of
paper the card they are themselves thinking of at this
moment. They do not impart their decisions to one an-
other. The experimentalist takes a second card, and so on
up to ten or twenty times at each seance. The cards are
then taken up again and those that have come out are pro-
claimed aloud in the order in which they had been thought
of, and every one marks down his or her successes, i. e. his
or her coincidences. Experiments are repeated, and should
any one succeed in reaching or even surpassing twenty or
thirty per cent, of successful attempts, one should not boast
of it. Subsequent experiments will be repeated and made
more precise after the subject has been found out in this
way.^
*M. I'Abb^ P., of Aix-en-Provence, has just told about the queer
experiments following: "It was always very easy for me to detect an
object that had been hidden, and this even when blindfolded. Without
seeing I felt that I was attracted by M. M. I was blindfolded, and M.
M., when behind me, was intensely thinking of a movement he wished
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 335
II. REMOVALS OF OBJECTS WITHIN REACH,
WITHOUT CONTACT; LEVITATION; RAPS
The facts dealt with in this paragraph are, with regard
to objects brought from a long distance and to material-
izations, what the facts referred to in the preceding para-
graph are with regard to telepathy. They are a reduction
of them. As they are made simple, they should be first
viewed in the scientific survey of this chapter.
88. Removals without Contact.
Under the head of removals of objects within reach with-
out contact, I include the rotation of a table which nobody
touches, the displacement of a piece of fiu-niture in a room
or even an apartment, the levitation of an object, the rising
of the scale of a letter-weigher without any contact with the
medium who is present.^
a. Instances.
a. Haunted Houses.
The subject of haunted houses belongs to this paragraph.
For, if we set aside practical jokes in tiiis matter, which are
quite common (such as the case of tlie stronghold of Vin-
me to make. In this instance I was to wheel to the right. I felt, posi-
tively felt, an influence that was taking hold of all the upper and middle
part of my right shoulder, so as to make me wheel. It was a soft influ-
ence, analogous to that of a puff or to the influence of a magnet, which
was exerted directly, not over my brain, but over my shoulder. When
M. M. wished me to bend over, I had in my back the impression of an
extraordinary weight. I was constantly at a distance of two meters
from him. I thought I had a weight of fifty kg. I must tell you also
that, during the same seance, I experienced influences which M. M. had
no intention of exerting over me. ..."
'One might comprise in this group experiments dealing with attrac-
tion between persons at a distance, which I have mentioned above in
the section devoted to Mental Suggestion.
336 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
cennes^ for instance), there is always a medium in a haunted
house. The point is always to know whether the medium
touches the objects that are moving. I have carefully in-
vestigated a case^ with Dr. Calmette (my assistant in clin-
ical medicine, who is a regular member of the Faculty of
Bejn-outh) in which very queer removals were noticed,
up to the day when a young hysterical girl, aged fifteen,
was sent from the house to undergo treatment in my ward
at St. Eloi Hospital, Montpellier.
Many instances of haunted houses will be found in Du-
pouy's' book (from the time of Pliny the Younger to the
haunted closet of Dr. Dariex) and also in special periodicals
I have frequently mentioned. Lombroso^ has recently
referred, in the Annates, to haunted houses he had investi-
gated. I quote here an observation perfectly outlined by
the professor, of a family in which occurred the extraor-
dinary phenomena of the Strada Pescatori at Turin. "It
was a quiet family of workers. Signor Pavarino was a
healthy man, but his temper was strange. His wife, on the
contrary, was hysteroepileptic and suffering from anemia.
She paid frequent visits to so-called female medium healers.
Her father had died from consumption contracted in war;
her mother was scrofulous. She had a sister who was a
medium, and gave birth to four children with supernum-
erary fingers. Our hysteric was then a girl of twenty-one,
rickety, sickly and neuropathic. She frequently caused
spontaneous removals of objects."^
Wide L'Echo du Merveilleux, 1906, p. 98; and Les Annales des Sciences
Psychiques, 1906, p. 115.
^"Le Spiritisme devant la Science," p. 11.
'Dupouy, loc. cit., p. 273.
*C^sar Lombroso, "Les maisons hant^es que j'ai 6tudi6es," Annales
des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 258.
Wide the observations of Karin by Hjalmar Wijk (I shall deal with
it again in discussing raps), and "Maisons hant^es en Angleterre et en
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 337
p. Removals of Objects.
In reference to the removals of objects, it is convenient to
read the fine book devoted by Albert de Rochas to " the ex-
teriorization of the motor force," a fourth edition of which
quite recently appeared/
1. Eusapia Palladino.
Prof, Chiaia had aheady made a very accurate description
of these phenomena when, in August, 1888, he wrote to
Lombroso and requested him to make experiments with the
new medium, Eusapia Palladino. " While she is fastened on
a seat, or stronglj'' held by onlookers, she exerts an attrac-
tion on the surrounding pieces of furniture; she raises
them and holds them up like Mahomet's coffin: then she
makes them come down with undulatory movements, as if
this were due to the influence of an external will. She in-
creases their weight or renders them lighter at her pleasure.
She knocks and hammers walls, ceiling or flooring with
rhythm and cadence. This woman ascends in the air in
spite of her bonds : she remains there, and looks to be lying
down in empty space, contradictory to all principles of
statics. She is apparently free of the laws of gravity. She
makes instruments of music, such as organs, bells, drums
sound as if they had been touched by hands or shaken by
the breathing of invisible gnomes."
It was only in 1891 that Lombroso agreed to witness ex-
periments in Naples with Ciolfi. Experiments next took
place at Milan (1892) with Aksakoff, Schiaparelli, Charles
Richet, Lombroso, and others; at Naples (1893) with Wag-
ner; at Rome (1893-94) with Siemiradski, Richet, de
France," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1907, p. 137; "Les maisons
hantees," Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, pp. 53, 71, 154, 253 and 291.
Wide also Dr. Becour, "Histoire de fantomes, d'une femme et de cent
savants," edition de la "Vie Nouvelle," 1906, and Surbled, loc. cit.,
p. 107.
338 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
Schrenck Notzing; at Warsaw v/ith Ochorowicz; at
Carqueiranne and Roubaud Island (1894) with Richet,
Sidgwick, Lodge, Ochorowicz, J\iyers, de Schrenck Notzing
and Segard; at Naples (1895) with Visani Scozzi; at
Cambridge (Eng.) with Myers; at the London Society for
Psychical Researches ; at F Agnelas with de Rochas, Dariex,
Maxwell, Sabatier and de Watteville; at Tremezzo, Auteuil
and Choisy-Itrac (1896); at Naples, Paris, Montfort and
Bordeaux (1897); at Genoa and Palermo (1901 and 1902);
and finally in Rome and Paris (1905 and 1906) with Flam-
marion and Pierre Curie.
Because of the number and importance of these experi-
ments, and also of the value of the experimentalists, it is
well to know about Eusapia Palladino's case, as marked
down by De Rochas.
Eusapia^ was born in 1854. She is affected with hysteria
and erotic inclinations, together with a slight palsy and a
superficial hyperesthesia of the right half of her body. She
frequently experiences the sensation of the globus hyster-
icus. Her intelligence is remarkable but not much
developed. It is unstable owing to fatal influences. Her
temperament is changeable and irritable. She has an im-
moderate ambition, an appreciable intoxication due to her
mediumistic fame, and great self-denial. This will give us
a clear idea of this Italian woman's mental condition, which
is a queer compound of sincerity and double-dealing. Dm--
ing her childhood she witnessed dreadful scenes (murders
and thefts) . At the age of eight years she had a tormenting
hallucination at waking. Expressive eyes were looking at
Wide also Mile. Paola Lombroso, "L'Existence privee du celebre
medium napolitain Eusapia Palladino," Echo du Merveillerix, 1907, p.
229; and Cesar Lombroso, "Eusapia Palladino et ses tares n^vro-
pathiques"; "Eusapia Palladino et le Spiritisme," Annales des Sciences
Psychiques, 1908, p. 29.
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 339
her from behind a pile of stones or a tree, and always from
the right.
The first mediumistic manifestations were coincident
with the initial coming of her catamenia/ when she was
about thirteen or fourteen years old.
The spiritualistic training of Eusapia, undertaken by a
fervent believer, Signor Damiani, began when she was
twenty-two or twenty-three years old. John King, who
then took hold of her, is asserted to be the brother of Katie
King, the medium of Crookes. She is liable to hypnotism.
Her sensibility may be exteriorized (de Rochas) and it is
possible to attract her by gestures without contact. One
day, she acquired with contact, M. de Gramont's headache.
She herself gets into trance when she takes part in the chain
of hands. Her trances are very similar to fits of hysteria,
after which she is quite exhausted and becomes nearly un-
conscious.
Here follows what she herself relates of her impressions
when she wishes to cause a movement at a distance. At
first she most earnestly wishes to produce the phenomena.
She next feels a numbness and goose-flesh in her fingers.
These sensations keep on increasing, and at the same time
she experiences in the lower part of her spine a ciu'rent
which is speedily running through her arm, up to the elbow,
where it ceases softly. The phenomenon happens at this
moment. During and after the levitation of tables her
knees are sore; during and after other phenomena her el-
bows and her whole arms give her pain.
Since my previous edition, new and noteworthy experi-
^Dr. Laurent (Annales des Sciences PsycMques, 1897, p. 265) has sur-
veyed curious mechanical phenomena provoked, without contact, by
some woman, at the time of catamenia. The G of a gentleman's
double-bass broke as often as his wife had her menses. A harpist had
the strings of her instrument (always the same) broken at every cata-
340 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
ments have been made with Eusapia Palladino/ namely
in Italy. The most recent instance, which has been much
spoken of, is the registration by Marey of barrels of material
removed by Eusapia without contact, at a distance. Thus
was an instrument influenced and the oscillations of its arm
registered. The facts are consequently unquestionable.
At this time it was declared that this marked a momen-
tous improvement; it supprest in those experiments the sub-
jective human factor and implied conclusions that would be
henceforth unobjectionable. I do not think the idea is as
new as it has been asserted to be. Some such phenomena
had been registered already. But I acknowledge that at this
time there was an improvement of technics, which led to
giving to some of those phenomena the value of a new fact.
I shall observe (and this seems very important to me) that
this improvement affects the least debatable and debated
part of the experiment; the gross fact of a removal of an
object. Nobody is denying that tables are lifted up, that
some objects move. What is discusst is the way in which
menial period. A servant stopt the clock, when at the same time
she was dusting it and the chimney ; the latter was perhaps owing to a
nervous excitation of the fingers.
^Vide "Importantes experiences avec Eusapia Palladino a Genes,"
Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1907, p. 54; "Les dernieres seances
avec Eusapia Palladino a Genes," ibid., p. 152; Morselli, "Eusapia
Palladiao et la r^alit^ des ph^nomenes m^diumiques," ibid., pp. 225
and 326 ; " Ce que le Professeur Foa, de TUniversit^ de Turin, et trois
docteurs, assistants du Professeur Mosso, ont constats avec Eusapia
Palladino," ibid., p. 265; Pio Foa, "L'opinion publique et les ph^-
nomenes dits spirites," ibid., p. 305; "Eusapiana," ibid., p. 448;
Joseph Venzano, "Contribution h I'^tude des materialisations," ibid.,
pp. 473 and 572 ; Bottazzi, " Dans les regions inexplorees de la biologic
humaine. Observations et experiences sur Eusapia Palladino," ibid.,
pp. 553, 645, 681 and 749; C&ar Lombroso, "Eusapia Palladino et le
Spiritisme," ibid., 1908, p. 29; G. A., "Experiences medianiques k V
Universite de Naples, controlees au moyen d'instruments scientifiques,"
Echo du Merveilleux, 1907, p. 352.
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 341
those movements are produced. It is the intermediate
agents between the subject and the object that appear to
be very far from one another. What ought to be noted
with registering apparatus, i. e. without any human and
subjective factor, is the zone of air and ether between the
whole subject and the object moved. Now, nothing has
been done in experiments with Eusapia to make a scientific
investigation of this zone. We shall see that tests have
been made for this purpose with Zuccarini, but they have
not given very striking results.
Therefore, the ingenuousness displayed by Italian ex-
perimentalists has failed to render unquestionable those
experiments. We know with a greater certitude than be-
fore that objects are moving. We know that there is no
hallucination or illusion on the onlookers' part, but we do
not yet know that there has been no hidden contact, no
clever trick or unconscious fraud. ^
There is a curious fact to observe: the experimentalists
are amenable to a sort of impulse when they have once
started to make investigations of this order, and at the same
time their mental condition is in a state of evolution. They
start — as scientists ought — very strict, precise and limited
experiments, which are of such a kind as should lead to quite
scientific conclusions. Then they expand their scope of
observations, generalize their conclusions, and quote besides
their experiments some other facts that are far less scientific.
Bottazzi himself acknowledges and deplores this. It is a
real misfortune that, in phenomena of this order, the state-
ment of facts observed may not be simple, quiet and ob-
jective, but that it assumes a polemical character or leads to
personal remarks. This is quite right. But now, why
does he observe, in his conclusion, that there is only one
Tar superior, from a scientific standpoint, are the experiments (men-
tioned further) with the medium Zuccarini.
342 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
thing to do for incredulous people; it is "to charge him,
Prof. Bottazzi, with fraud and quackery." This is not
scientific language. In concluding a report for the Academic
des Sciences, I should not make use of such an expression.
When discussing Eusapia's frauds, he asserts that he sets
aside the "unconscious tricks," But they are the only
ones which any scientist (experimentalist or critic) has, not
only the right, but also the duty, to think of. Likewise,
Lombroso, who begins his report by very precise and limited
experiments with the cardiographer, deals further, in the
same work with fantoms and apparitions of the dead, with
auto-Ievitations, like that of Home, " who horizontally turns
around all the windows of a palace," or that of the two little
brothers of Ruvo, "who run over nearly thirty miles in
fifteen minutes;" or he refers to "beings," or "residences of
beings" which, in order to become "perfectly compact,"
must "so as to become incarnate," borrow " momentarily a
part of the substance of the medium, who is actually slum-
bering and in a dying condition,"
When I see men such as these allowing their scientific
mind to be led astray in experiments so methodically
started, I venture so far as to wonder whether it would not
be better to scrutinize with documents the experiments of
others rather than to discuss my own tests.
Another instance of this not very scientific impulse has
just been afforded in a circular signed by most eminent
scientists.^ The purpose is to offer an important reward to
any one making a good photograph of radiations unknown
at the present. There is nothing more scientific or more
praiseworthy than such an initiative. But why is it wasted
in the "call" by considerations (absolutely out of the ques-
tion) on "the idea of immortality" that is always "more or
^"Une importante souscription pour favoriser la photographie de
I'invisible," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1908, p. 43.
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 343
less prevalent in the human brain/' or by assertions such
as this: ''We ought to knock at the door of Science in order
to get proof of the immortality of the soul." A photographer
may be easily upset in his researches with a new " bath," or
with an unpublished invention, provided he is overcome by
the idea that in the bottom of his basin he is about to
find "irrefutable proof of immortality." This is most cer-
tainly one of the reasons why a survey of Occultism is so
slowly making progress. By such methods the best ex-
perimentahsts forget the elementary laws of the scientific
method.
More recently Eusapia made further experiments in
Paris, but they did not give better results. Pierre Mille/
who reported them in the Temps (Feb. 6, 1908) writes
wisely: ''I fail to perceive the agent or trick that causes the
sensation in the hands that we have felt. However, I can-
not dismiss from my mind the hypothesis of an agent or of a
trick. Those hands were human to an excessive extent.
And those noises and that uproar in a dark corner — all that
was too much or too little. We are obviously far from the
simple and quiet test such as is made in a laboratory."
Besides, Pierre Mille adds that he prefers this unknown
force " that lifts up a weight of a tenth of gram to a chain
of hands, whatever those hands may be, that are able to
raise a dining-room table. I do not know much about it,
but I think that, in order to remove any hypothesis of fraud,
we ought to come to this." This is also my opinion.
2. William Crookes and MacNab.
Previous to Eusapia Palladino's phenomena, I must cite
those of William Crookes,^ with the medium Douglas
^Pierre Mille, "Eusapia Palladino a Paris," Echo du Merveilleux, 1908,
p. 74.
Wide de Rochas, loc. cit., p. 471, after William Crookes, "Recherches
sur les phenomenes du spiritualisme."
344 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
Home/ especially cases of levitation. These very remark-
able experiments have been made with various kinds of
apparatus which are, in fact, letter-weighers of every de-
scription. I should also compare the apparatus with the
sthenometer formerly mentioned, with this difference, that
a horizontal force capable of being attracted by the hand
from below to above (vv^ithout contact of the medium), re-
places here the movable needle at the lower end of a thread.
These are very simple and scientific experiments, and I
shall cite them further on as samples of attempts to be re-
peated in order to investigate this part of the exteriorization
of the motor force. We may put in comparison with
them the experiment of the stick, given out by MacNab -?
" The medium sat down, holding upright a stick between
his legs and rubbed it with his hands. Then setting his legs
apart, he held them motionless. The stick kept upright
— not absolutely in a vertical way, but somewhat bent to-
v/ards the medium's breast — and shaking a little, like
needles that are held upright on a magnetic pole. He kept
quite motionless and the stick bent at his pleasure, on the
right, on the left, forward or backward. The upper part
came to touch his breast. The stick was then forming with
the ground an angle of 60°. It went slowly straight again,
at his will, up to a vertical position. During this experi-
ment the medium kept quite motionless and the stick com-
plied with all the impulses given by his will, without any
visible linking with his muscles, so that it looked to be cap-
able of spontaneous movement."
These are less striking, but more interesting, experiments,
more conformable to scientific accuracy than those in which,
under the same medium's influence, " a saber was taken out
of its packed-up case in a corner of the room, and was found
^Yide Surbled, loc. cit., pp. 81 and 93.
MacNab, in Rochas, loc. cit., p. 524.
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 345
on the floor at the experimentahst's feet; or in which the
whole furniture of a room was noisily displaced or moved
towards the investigator or up to the ceiling." MacNab
has also witnessed personal levitations of the mediums (loco,
cit., p. 536).
3. Maxwell.
MaxwelP makes a difference between parakinesia, "a
production of movements such that the contacts observed
are not sufficient causes for them," and telekinesia, or
"movements without contact." He only surveyed in the
first group and under favorable circumstances the levi-
tation of tables, "by a pretty clear light," especially with
Eusapia. Telekinesia is one of the phenomena that has been
most carefully and most accurately investigated by Max-
well. First came levitations of the table with Eusapia and
by a sufficient light. At the same time the curtains of the
closet were frequently cast forward to the table, as if a
strong wind was pushing them. Often were the experi-
mentalists' chairs displaced or shaken and lifted up, or
carried over the table.
" I ascribe a peculiar importance to experiments with the
letter-weigher. We operated with a light clear enough to
enable us to read the rather faint divisions stamped on the
scale. Eusapia, in our presence, repeatedly caused it to go
down or to ascend by letting her hands fall, or by raising
them up several times, the palms facing the ground. Eu-
sapia's hands were at a distance of about twelve or fifteen
centimeters above the scale. By turning them upside
down, i. e. by placing their palmar face above, Mme. Palla-
dino raised up the scale, the instrument having been pre-
viously weighted with a pocket-book. These facts observed
'Maxwell, loc. cit., pp. 86 and 195.
346 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
with Eusapia have been verified with various non-pro-
fessional mediums."
I deem this to be of much more interest than an experi-
ment made in a restaurant. In that case the medium
caused his neighbors' table to draw nearer by thirty centi-
meters.
Maxwell infers the three following statements from his
tests : First, there is a certain connection between the move-
ments made by the medium or the onlookers, and those of
the object concerned. Second, certain peculiar sensations
occur at the same time when the force in question is made
use of. Third, this force is probably connected with the or-
ganism of the bystanders.
4. Flammarion}
In his last book, which has been mentioned many times,
Flammarion refers again to strange experiments undertaken
with Eusapia. There will be found curious instances of the
removal of objects, or of furniture, of the heaving of curtains,
of touch felt by the onlookers, of rhythmical movements of
an accordion.^ Again a table is broken; or a book is appar-
ently running through an opaque curtain, etc. In my opin-
ion, all these experiments are too complex. Levitations are
far more important.
Flammarion writes : " I believe that the levitation of ob-
jects should not be any more questioned than the attraction
of a pair of scissors by a magnet. On a certain evening,"
he adds, '' I requested Eusapia to place her hands with mine
on a table. It was rather quickly raised to a height of about
"Camille Flammarion, "Les forces naturelles inconnues," 1907.
^J. S. Goebel reported in the Annales des Sciences Psychiques (1907,
p. 631), musical stances in which, while the medium Shepard was play-
ing on the piano with both hands, a harp placed on the piano was spon-
taneously playing and moving, and touched the shoulder or the knee
of experimentalists.
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 347
thirty or forty centimeters, while we were both standing.
At the moment when the phenomenon was occurring the
medimii placed one of her hands on one of mine which she
shook warmly. During this time our two other hands were
close to one another, and there was, on her part as well as on
mine, an act of will which was exprest by words or orders
to the spirit, such as 'Now then! lift up the table! ' 'Cheer
up,' 'Make an effort! ' " This experiment was repeated for
three consecutive times on that day in the full light of a gas
lamp, and in the same conditions of apparent reality.
Another time five levitations of the table occurred within
a quarter of an hour. Its four legs came off the floor at a
height of about fifteen centimeters for a few seconds. Dur-
ing a levitation the onlookers ceased to touch the table,
and made a chain in the air above the table, and Eusapia
did so in the same manner. "Therefore, an object may be
lifted, contrary to the laws of gravity, without any contact
whatever of the hands that had just influenced it."
5. The Medium Zuccarini}
Very much has been said in the last year of the medium
Zuccarini's levitations. He elevates tables, makes con-
tacts at a distance and lifts himself up (auto levitations).
This is the first time that a photograph " has testified to the
astounding phenomenon of the levitation of a medium's
body." These photographs, like Bottazzi registering appa-
ratus, are proof of the removal, but they fail to explain the
mechanism of the removal. This is the main point, though.
Besides, after the reports given out by Prof. Murani and
Patrizi, the Annales des Sciences Psychiques asserted that
those articles and photographs " can only leave a doubt in
Wide Murani and Patrizi, " Les Levitations du medium Zuccarini,"
Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1907, p. 528; "Les experiences de
Padoue, avec le medium a Invitation M. Zuccarini," ibid., 1907, p. 674.
348 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
the minds of readers who are accustomed to accept the irrefu-
table genuineness of a phenomenon, only when all possible
causes of errors have been definitively removed."
Prof. Vicentini aud Lari have framed a very ingenious
apparatus of control. They placed on the two legs of the
table, which were nearer the medium, two special interrupters
who interrupted the respective circuits while the pressure of
the foot was more than 10 kgs. When a person ascended
the table, unless he made a pressure very near the other
two legs of the table, the circuits were intercepted. Re-
versely, when he made a pressure quite near one of the legs
provided with an interrupter, only one circuit was inter-
cepted. Special apparatus placed in the adjoining room
showed by means of diagrams the moment of the interrup-
tion and how long it lasted. In the adjoining room were
also two bystanders whose business it was to watch and look
through a hole. We were speaking aloud in mentioning
the medium's attitudes and movements. Both onlookers
marked down our sentences and the exact time when we
uttered them. Those were experiments prepared in a per-
fectly scientific manner.
Now note what occurred: "The result of diagrams ob-
tained in the second and third seances was as follows:
the diagram was coincident with those that would have been
traced had anyone ascended the table and stood, now upon
one leg and now upon the other, or, had he been taking a
leap, in falling again on the table." After these observa-
tions, Prof. Lori comes to conclusions that are against the
medium.
Prof. Severi adds : " Therefore, the apparatus has made
a record, and we have proved the case: First, that the
medium has never lifted from the table both his feet at the
same time during the darkness, or as long as the light was
not asked for in an explicit manner. Second, that when light
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 349
was asked for in such a way that M. Zuccarini himself (or
rather his mediumistic personality) was able to understand,
he lifted himself up, but remained in the air for less than half
a second, i. e. during the time any of us might have also
remaiijed there — without being rope-dancers — by means of
a very common leap."
Prof, de Marchi says: "As often as the experimentalists,
when thinking erroneously that the medium was really
hovering above, asked for light, by a conventional word
which M. Zuccarini was unable to understand, light was
m.ade; but the medium was detected merely standing on the
table." This spirit-grabber^ was quite lucky.
In the same respect, "Prof. Vicentini, having felt another
contact similar to one experienced during the first seance,
the hght was lit. It was then found that the hand of the
medium had caused this contact by shaking, although con-
stantly held by one of the experimentalists." The Italian
scientists set apart from others these conscious and voluntary
tricks as not longer in question; it is enough that these ex-
periments do not establish a new unknown force.
a. Discussion.
From these various documents — and a good many of
them are commendable and have been gathered with
complete good faith — have we a right to infer that the scien-
tific demonstration of movements without contact, at a
short distance, is established? I do not think so. I first
eliminate haunted houses, because conditions are there far
too complex to involve a quite scientific survey.
In the experiments properly so-called, the most earnest
acknowledge that control is exceedingly difficult. Re-
movals of objects from one corner of a room to another, are
the easiest phenomena to produce, and also the hardest to
Wide above, Part I, 15, and Part III, 84, y, 2nd.
350 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
verify. MaxwelP declares that some tests are quite con-
clusive: "When I have witnessed, for instance, the re-
moval of a piece of furniture by daylight in a cafe, or a
restaurant, or in a railway refreshment room, I have the
right to imagine that I have not to do with trickery on the
part of those objects."
Many jugglers operate in cafes or restaurants that are not
arranged in advance for the purpose of cheating. Besides,
control there is not always so easy, or it discloses frauds.
Maxwell writes also: "In a series of experiments which
have afforded me results that deserve careful examination,
I have obtained levitations of tables on somewhat better
conditions. But some among the onlookers were so un-
consciously cheating that I do not think it convenient to
record the parakinetic movements I have gotten, although
my opinion is that they did not cheat at all. However, the
not very satisfactory circumstances under which I have
made that course of experiments led me to leave them off."
He adds further : " We must not forget that there is nothing
easier to counterfeit than a levitation of the table." He
next indicates some of the ways used : " As soon as the light
is attenuated it is impossible to make sure of the reciprocal
examination necessary when experimentalists are seated
around the table. When hands are leaning with force upon
the table, it is quite easy in case the table is light to intro-
duce the end of the shoe under one of the legs of this table
and to lift it up. This working is made easier owing to the
rockings of the table, whose legs are alternately coming off
the floor, so that nobody is able to heed it. I need not in-
sist upon the fact that hooks fastened to the wrist or arm-
lets of a special shape, enable one also to lift a table and to
keep it lifted." Maxwell indicates further another kind of
'Maxwell, loc. cit., pp. 26, 88 and 89.
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 351
fraud observed with some professional mediums : " The me-
dium places himself on the smaller side of the table, provokes
various oscillations, and as soon as he has succeeded in lift-
ing up the side opposite to which he is seated, he sets his legs
aside so as to exert a strong pressure on the legs of the table
between which he is placed. This pressure being once made,
it is sufficient to lean very heavily with one's hands, from
above to below, over the face of the table, on the side where
the medium is seated, so as to produce a levitation. It is
easily understood that the table, sustained by the knees or
the chest, performs a movement of rotation around an axis
passing through the spots determined by the pressure of the
knees, and that its face becomes parallel with the ground.
Then it seems to be in levitation. This fraud may be suc-
cessfully carried out by placing on the table a person seated
on a chair. Under pretence of control the medium seizes
this person's hands and finds in him the point of support
necessary to provoke the rotation of the table around the
axis. Especially in the darkness this trick is quite easy."
Here follows another instance of fraud given by Ochoro-
wicz '} In an experiment with Eusapia, Charles Richet and
Ochorowicz were repeatedly holding a hand and foot of the
medium under their hand and foot. Eusapia declared that
she was about to try a levitation. At a certain moment
Ochorowicz perceived that the medium's left foot, which he
was holding, came away from him in order to lift up the leg
of the table; at the same time she made her right foot, which
Richet was holding, turn, and leaned simultaneously with
the end and heel of this foot upon Richet's and Ochoro-
wicz's foot. The latter indicated by a movement of his foot
that he had felt the removal; Eusapia's foot then came back
in place, and the levitation did not occur. Ochorowicz
^Ochorowicz, "La question de la fraude dans les experiences avec
Eusapia Palladino," Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1896, p. 79,
352 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
himself made, one day, a seance of this sort that was cen-
sured by Richet and Bellier, The latter would not believe
in a fraud. He substituted one foot for another, extricated
that one and lifted the table.
Flammarion has perfectly set forth the objections to such
experiments: "Why this dark closet?" The medium says
it is indispensable in the making of phenomena for the con-
densation of fluids. I should prefer nothing at all. It is
strange and absolutely deplorable that the light prevents
one from getting certain results. The accounts are numerous
and at times contradictory.
M. Antoniadi, in his account, for instance, asserts that
" everything is a trick from the beginning to the end. The
matter is complex. It is hard to reach a formal conviction
or a quite scientific certainty. There are some phenomena
which are absolutely unquestionable and real; some others
are ambiguous and we may ascribe them to conscious or un-
conscious frauds; also to some illusions on the part of the
experimentalists. Of course, the case of an object running
through a curtain would have great value if we were sure of
the medium's absolute plaindealing; if, for instance, this
medium was a scientist, a natural philosopher, a chemist, or
an astronomer, whose scientific probity is beyond sus-
picion.^
"The mere fact of the possibility of a fraud removes
ninety-nine hundredths of the value of an observation, and
compels us to witness it a hundred times before being certain
of its reality. The conditions of certainty ought to be
understood by all investigators, and it is wonderful to see
intelligent people marveling at our doubts and at the
strict scientific necessity for such conditions."
In short, most usually, experiments are far too complex,
and at times too much unforeseen to prevent the attention
'This, however, would not be sufficient to prevent unconscious frauds.
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 353
from being led astray, and to admit of a quite scientific
examination. Moreover, most of them are carried out suc-
cessfully only in darkness or semi-darkness, and nearly all
mediums have been, one time or another, caught in the
very act of fraud. I very well know, as I have already
stated, that this is no proof that they are constantly cheat-
ing. But this is enough to imply a serious suspicion; and in
science there must be no room for doubt. I believe I am
able to infer that, despite the many efforts made and the
curious experiments described, one has not yet afforded
scientific final proof of the reality of movements provoked
by mediums at a distance and without contact.
Babinet relates the case of a young woman who moved
chairs with frightful speed, owing to a contraction of the
muscles of her leg, which no body suspected. The move-
ment seemed to be spontaneous.^ In concluding his arti-
cle, he demands that a subject shall come and say before the
Academic des Sciences that "with as many mediums as
may be thought convenient, but without any contact what-
ever, and at a distance, he throws into the air without any
other support than will, a weighty substance, denser than
the air, and quite at rest. Should this assertion be found to
be real, the subject would be acknowledged as the first
scientist of the whole world." This challenge, issued half a
centmy ago in the Revue des Deux Mondes, has not yet been
fulfilled.
Such were my conclusions in the preceding edition of this
book. The experiments recently made with Eusapia Palla-
dino and Zuccarini, as stated and debated above, do not
seem to me to imply a modification of my opinion.^
*We might compare with this the deeds of Miss Annie Abbott (the
little Georgia Magnet), which I have described (Part I, 13).
^I do not think either that my conclusions should be altered, after the
quite recent inquiry made by the Matin.
354 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
(3. Warnings against Further Experiments.
If scientific proof of the exteriorization of motor force
has not been given yet (in my opinion), I do not mean by
this that it is a matter to be given up, Hke the squaring of the
circle. I believe, on the contrary, that it is one of the chap-
ters of occultism which is soon to be verified, and on the
whole, one should accumulate researches and experiments
by using strictly scientific methods.
My most earnest entreaties are, for the present, that in-
vestigations be confined to very simple experiments in full
light. Besides, in a seance, only one result ought to be
sought for, and no notice should be taken of an unexpected
fact, because such a fact is not verified. A touch on the
shoulder or the knee, for instance, means nothing because it
was not looked for, and consequently cautions were not
scientifically taken to investigate it, or make it precise.
Moreover, the attention should not be led astray by some-
thing else — music or songs, for instance.
The most perfect experiments, which in everyone's
opinion appear as the most conclusive, and \o which it
would be convenient to restrict experimentation until
further notice, are the phenomena of levitation without
contact (letter-weigher or table)* by full hght. This being
once acquired, a great advance will be made, and it will
be possible to make progress to another point.
If any one wishes to start again those tests, in a simple
but quite safe manner, I advise him to look first for someone
able to move a table, to make it turn, or to displace it and
then to lift it without contact.^ One might first attract the
'I only refer here to levitations of objects. The medium's levita-
tion is a complex phenomenon whose survey should not first be
sought for.
^One might begin by investigating the influence exerted by subjects
over the apparatus described above (Part III, Chapter VIII, 68, b)
REMOVALS OF OBJECTS 355
table without contact, as everyone does; then one should see
the displacement of the piece of furniture or object going on
while nobody is any longer in contact with it.
The subject capable of moving an object at a distance
being once found, the game will be won. He will then be
caused to repeat a very simple experiment (with the letter-
weigher for instance) in full light,^ Babinet's wish will be
fulfilled and the experimentalist proclaimed "the first of
scientists in the whole world."
y. The Inquiry of the " Matin ^^
The Matin has just given out (while I was correcting these
proofs) interesting documents referring to Occultism, and
more particularly to removals of objects without contact.
D' Arson val witnessed about fifteen seances with Eusapia
Palladino. He says: "During those fifteen seances, which
have been quite enough to enable me to have an opinion on
the matter, we have many a time caught Eusapia in the very
act of cheating. Still some phenomena remain mysterious
and unexplained. Among these I will mention the case of
the levitation of a table of ordinary weight. Eusapia,
whose knees were held and whose hands were placed above
the table, was seated on a chair resting on scales. Those
scales indicated the change of weight in the adjoining room.
When the table was lifted Eusapia's weight was increased
by that of the table." D'Arsonval concludes: "At the
present no verification enables us, either to assert or to deny,
in a strictly scientific manner, the genuineness of the phe-
nomena of levitation. Eusapia is a bad subject for this
under the name of biometer and sthenometer. It is not yet proved,
however, that both orders of removal at a distance are of the same kind.
'In case the experiment must be started in darkness, there should be
a possibility of making light at once, by giving a signal, intelligible to
the medium.
*"Le grand doute," Le Matin, March, April and May, 1908.
356 REMOVALS OF OBJECTS
kind of research. She constantly manages to render im-
possible any permanent scientific control."
On the contrary, in Morselli's opinion phenomena of
levitation of tables are the rudiments of spiritualism,
"There is no doubt at all about it. The table is lifted by
itself, without tricks or frauds, and remains suspended for
seventy-eight seconds. I shall even say that here, at Genoa,
a young poet has made a case move weighing 180 kgs."
Lombroso asserts also that "the levitation of a table, as
well as objects brought from a distance, occurs without any
tricks whatever. But Eusapia 'gets weaker,' and makes
'more frequent frauds,' Her spiritualistic powers are
slowly but progressively diminishing."
Gustavo Le Bon says that this inquiry has led to no ap-
preciable result and that it repeats, in a more modern
manner, Babinet's challenge (above mentioned). He offers
a prize of 500 francs to the medium who will cause a levita-
tion of objects without contact, on scientific conditions
which he states. Prince Roland Bonaparte adds the sum of
1,000 francs. The gifts reach a total of 2,000 francs owing
to Dariex. Albert Jounet adds another sum of 500 francs
to Le Bon, if proof is afforded " that the movements, with-
out contact and by full light, of the needle of Joire's sthe-
nometer, obtained through a bell-glass, under the influence of
a human hand, are solely due to an hallucination on the part
of the audience or to fraud;" and in another newspaper
{U Eclair de Paris, April 29, 1908), Georges Montorgueil
promises 500 francs to the conjurer who will come to the
Eclair "and deceive us by counterfeiting with his tricks all
the phenomena of Occultism." This reminds one of Arch-
deacon Colley's challenge to Maskelyne, the juggler. (Chap-
ter X, 84, y 2nd).
Papus reproaches Le Bon with asking for levitations in
full light, while according to his own investigations, "a
RAPS 357
power forty-five times stronger is needed to produce a
phenomenon by white hght than to cause the same phe-
nomenon by the dim hght of Crookes's phosphorus lamp, or
by the red light of photographers.*
Harduin answers with his far-famed humor: "The me-
dium, being present in a room illuminated by the red light
of photographers, would lift up a table. Then the light
being made, the same medium would be requested to re-
move, at a distance, any object whatever whose weight
would be forty-five times lighter than that of the table.
Thus the amount of fluid spent would be identical and the
medium would get quite easily the 2,000 francs promised.
This is tempting."
This inquiry gave proof of the keen interest taken by the
most prominent scientists in these matters, and at the same
time it testified to the really scientific way in which they
are actually investigated, but I do not deem it to be con-
clusive enough to alter any of the conclusions of this book.
89. Raps.
a. Oases.
Another experiment which one should attempt to make,
because it is simple and implies scientific control (although
its determinism is less precise than that of the letter-
weigher), is the experiment of raps. Raps are knockings
given on the face of a table, on the floor or ground, on on-
lookers, the walls or fiu*niture, or even on the ceiling, and
are heard by the bystanders. These are the phenomena
observed by the Misses Fox (see above, chapter I, 4) that
became the startingpoint of the whole modern period of
'The proposal of M. Le Bon is equivalent to giving 500 francs to a
photographer who will impress a plate after having left it during ten
minutes in full light.
358 RAPS
Spiritualism. Maxwell* has accurately investigated them.'
In order to cause raps in the simplest manner, " experi-
mentalists seated around a table are leaning their palms
upon the face of the table. I have obtained raps in full
light. I have even so frequently obtained them by full
light, that I wonder whether the darkness promotes them to
the same extent as other phenomena. Besides, the contact
of hands is not indispensable in the production of raps.
With certain mediums I experienced no difficulty in pro-
ducing raps without contact. In case raps are obtained
with contact, one of the best ways to get them without
further contact, is to keep one's hands leaning upon the
table for a certain while, then to lift them up very slowly
and keep the palms facing the table, the fingers being slightly
extended without any stiffness. With certain mediums
the force emitted is sufficient to exert an action at a distance.
I had an opportunity to listen to raps pounding on a table
which was at a distance of about two meters from the
medium."
Maxwell has obtained sonorous raps with a medium in a
restaurant and in railway refreshment rooms. " The queer
noise made by these raps attracted the attention of persons
present and annoyed me very much." He has also heard
remarkable raps in museums, before masterpieces of paint-
ing, and especially religious pictures, and in a house ren-
dered famous by a man of genius who dwelt in it. In the
room where this writer died, the suspicious housekeeper's
attention was aroused by raps. A rap most usually con-
sists of a sharp knocking of varying intensity. It is " very
analogous to the tonality of an electric spark (this is true
of raps in tables, at least), but this is only the ordinary
standard of raps, whose variations are innumerable."
'Maxwell, loc. cit., p. 67 (the whole chapter).
Wide also Flammarion, article quoted in the Revu», p. 32.
RAPS 359
Besides, the tonality of raps is varying according to the
substance of the objects on which they are clanging; they
may resemble the faint noise made by a mouse, or a saw,
or that of nails striking on wood, or grating on a fragment
of cloth. Raps may vary according to the various per-
sonalities of mediums. " Each embodied individuality ex-
presses itself by raps of its own." Maxwell mentions very
queer instances of raps which become quite complex phe-
nomena in respect of a scientific survey.^
The author reports these facts, although he acknowledges
that these mediumistic personifications have not convinced
him as to their identity. Moreover, in surveying complex
and strange raps. Maxwell comes to this conclusion: "They
are closely connected with the onlookers' muscular move-
ments," and he states the three following principles : " First,
any muscular movement, even a faint one, usually pre-
cedes a rap. Second, the intensity of a rap does not seem to
be suited to the movement performed. Third, I believe the
intensity of a rap does not vary in proportion to the me-
dium's remoteness. "
Raps cause in the medium a slight fatigue, which is also
experienced by the onlookers themselves.
h. Discussion.
Such phenomena are, apparently, still occult and ought to
become the subject-matter of investigations and scientific
surveys by experimentalists in the future. But for this pur-
pose it is quite necessary to comply with very strict condi-
tions as well as to give close examinations and to have a
'Sometimes, raps imitate a shout of laughter. This is coincident
either with a funny story told by one of the bystanders, or with teasing.
Another entity embodies a man whom I was very fond of. The knock-
ings become deeper. This personality seemed to have the strange
perspicacity and absolute kindness of the person with whom I was
acquainted.
360 RAPS
perfect knowledge of the many causes of error. Haunted
houses, in which raps are so often and so easily heard, are,
as I have said above (same chapter, II, 88, b), of such an
order that they do not involve a satisfactory scientific sur-
vey; in these cases phenomena are too complex, and the at-
tention is too much scattered. Hjalmar Wijk and Bjerre^
have, however, established that hypnosis might in certain
circumstances, become a valuable help for scientific investi-
gation.
By leading into sleep Karin, the hysteric medium of a
haunted house in southern Sweden, the inquiry did not suc-
ceed in detecting the mechanism of raps, as Pierre Janet did
regarding obj ects brought in the experiment mentioned above
(Chapter X, 81, b), but they attained their ends in managing
and provoking raps at an appointed time, by suggestion in
hypnosis. This is quite important in reference to the poly-
gonal nature of raps — at least in those instances. This
would be an example of involuntary and unconscious frauds
in raps. But there are also conscious and voluntary deceits
in them.
Thus they have been referred to clattering movements of
the toes, and to a " contraction of the sinew of the fibula,
which has been conjectured by Jobert de Lamballe, and has
been the matter of a momentous debate at the Academic.^
" Dr. Schift, who was called upon by a German young lady
who pretended to be possest of a spirit-rapper, found out
the secret ; he ascertained that this noise happened on a level
with the anklebone in the place where passes the sinew of
one of the muscles of the leg. The young German woman
displaced this sinew at her pleasure, and made it noisily fall
into the bottom of its groove. Dr. Schift himself practised
'Hjalmar Wijk. "Karin, Etude exp^rimentale sur les ph6nom6nes
de frappement spontane," Annates des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 517.
^Pierre Janet, loc. cit., p. 401.
RAPS 361
this working and became rather clever at it.^ At Cam-
bridge, Hodgson ascribed some of the raps produced by
Eusapia Palladino to " knockings made by the medium's
head on the face of the table."
Maxwell/ who so perfectly scrutinized these phenomena,
"has detected positive frauds with some of his mediums."
Moreover, he has stated and counterfeited various imita-
tions of raps. He asserts that there are many kinds. The
simplest and most perfect way to counterfeit them, is to
make slide very slowly, by an imperceptible movement, the
end of the finger when leaning upon the table. Far better
results are obtained when the finger is quite dry and doc-
tored with turpentine and benzine.
Raps may also be imitated by using a finger nail. Again
in the darkness the cheat " is able to counterfeit raps on the
floor — dull raps — by cleverly striking the floor or legs of the
table — sharp raps by letting his shoe slide very slowly
along the legs of the table or of a chair. The very slow rub-
bing of clothes or linen, namely of cuffs, may lead to the be-
lief in the reality of raps." It is equally possible "to lean
with a varying force upon the face of the table if the top is
quite thin, or when the table is not well joined, when its parts
have too much play; variations in the pressure of the hand
will then provoke cracks that counterfeit raps."
" I have seen a young medium who had been able to hide a
stick, and owing to it could imitate raps on the ceiling, I
have known two others who fought with fisticuffs against a
table; others were striking it underneath with their feet.
All is possible in the darkness with confident onlookers.
Some persons, by leaning the foot in a certain manner and
by shrinking the muscles of the leg or of the fibula, are able
to counterfeit knocks on the floor. This fact has been es-
'Bersot, loc. cit, p, 130.
'Maxwell, he. cit., pp. 68, 79, 84, 257 et seq.
362 RAPS
pecially noticed as regards the sinew of the long side muscle
of the fibula.
Maxwell adds, "I have observed a medical student, a
neuropathic and incorrigible defrauder, who obtained
knockings pretty similar to raps by leaning his elbow
upon the table, and making peculiar movements with his
shoulder. There are also people who are able to make
their joints creak at their pleasure." ^
Maxwell writes further in reference to raps and to the ease
with which they may be counterfeited : " By full light I most
easily present the illusion of them to persons who are cau-
tioned that I am cheating. It is very hard to observe at the
same time the ten fingers, the arm, leg and feet."
c. Conclusion.
We may infer from all that has just been stated that raps
are still to be included under the head of occult phenomena.
But those phenomena are subject to a verification, and their
experimental survey ought to be continued so as to try and
establish their scientific reality. But, in this survey, simple
raps only ought to be attempted in a limited circle of ex-
perimentalists, and by full light.
Even in such cases absolute supervision is quite difficult.
The attention is somewhat hesitating, since nobody knows
'The working of the kneejoint has been impeached by Mrs. Sidgwick,
in her article, "The physical phenomena of Spiritualism" (Proceedings
of the Society for Psychical Research, t. XIII, p. 45). She recalls the
interpretations given by Drs. Flint, Lee, and Coventry, who have sur-
veyed Mrs. Kane and Mrs. Underhill, two of the well-known sisters Fox.
Mrs. Sidgwick has made experiment with the third, Mrs. Jencken, and
admits the explanation of the American doctors. In their opinion the
double raps were due to a quick movement of disjointing and setting
of the knee. By placing the medium so as to render impossible this
voluntary dislocation (for instance, the medium being seated, the legs
extended, and the heels leaning upon a soft cushion), there was no rap
at all.
CLAIRVOYANCE 363
how and where the rap is to occur. This is the reason why I
deem it to be more conformable to reason to start the in-
vestigation of movements without contact, making the sur-
vey of mere levitations of objects, by full light, as I have
stated above (same chapter, 88 c).
III. CLAIRVOYANCE
9. Definitions; Clairvoyants and Female Seers.
a. Definition.
If I mention clairvoyance here along with the phenomena
whose scientific demonstration seems to be, if not very near
at hand, at least quite possible, it is because I ascribe to this
word no idea of divination or prophecy, nor even any idea
of telesthesia or telepathy. I use the word clairvoyance
only in its etymological meaning, and I view it solely as a
faculty to see through opaque substances; in the same manner
we have " clairaudience " and ''clairesthesia," as in Paul
Sollier's instance above mentioned (same chapter, 85 c).
Therefore, I eliminate from this paragraph the subjects
popularly called "voy antes" (female seers).
In case clairvoyance be ever verified, the subject gifted
with this power will possibly be able to detect the presence
of an extraneous body in the stomach (after the manner of
Rontgen's rays). In case he has previous knowledge of nor-
mal anatomy, he wiU be able to ascertain the increase in the
bulk of a liver, and should he be experienced in medicine, he
might possibly ascertain if there is some liquid in the pleura,
or stones in the biliary vesicle ; but he will be unable to diag-
nose a disease unknown to him, and far less, to indicate its
remedy; nor will he be in a position to find treasures or fore-
tell the future.
Even if clairvoyance should be later on verified, it would
be possible to ascribe only to a deceitful quack, or to a
364 CLAIRVOYANCE
swindler, advertisements such as the one below, taken from
the Petit Marseillais (December 27, 1906) :
/ advise, guide and comfort.
APPLY TO MME. M
Spiritistic Somnambvlist
THE FAMOUS SEER
Fortune-teller by Cards and Medium Healer
O! you who are suffering and in despair, apply to Mme.
M , she will cure and comfort you, owing to her magical
secrets. She breaks spells, and makes everything successful.
Apply to her, or write in all confidence.
(Here follows the address)
The author of the two following statements in the Sau-
veur des Malades (October, November, December, 1906) is
perhaps more unconscious, but not less noxious:
"All the recipes used up to the present day by M. de S. R. in the heal-
ing of the sick who applied to her, so as to make them free from their
bodily sufferings, and from their social and mental sorrows, are of no
effect, from this day of Christmas, 1906; neither for the salvation of
any one; the great Spirits who presided over them, have entered a
psychical Rest. The new Spirits who have succeeded them with M. de
S. R., in her mission of universal salvation, have disclosed as curative
possibilities only the positive will whose expression is included in the
above call. The truth spoken by the tip of the tongue would he a mere
form. To have in the brain the desire of wishes exprest, will prove
useful to our dear patients, poor victims of civil or rehgious legislators."
L. C. C. P. D. U.i
"M. de. S. R., founder and editor of the newspaper le Sauveur des
Malades, is at home [here is the address] on Fridays and Saturdays.
She may be taken advice of by letter. Notice is hereby given to patients
given up by doctors. Hope is still possible for them."
In the same number (No. 3 "from Raphaelle's birth")
dedicated " to all wives who died victims to syphilis and to
the misconduct of their husbands"), M. de S. R. declared
that " she has been already sent to prison eight times for un-
lawful practise of medicine, but she has promised to stick to
'Such a bit of prose, as turned into English, will seem somewhat
ambiguous to readers. It is not more intelligible in French. I chiefly
refer here to the sentence which I have italicized. (Translator's note.)
CLAIRVOYANCE 365
her mission, even before the executioner. It will be impos-
sible to dispirit or dishearten her."
Therefore I do not use the word "clairvoyance" in the
meaning ascribed by most authors to it, or to the word
lucidness.^
I have dealt in the chapter devoted to telepathy (Chap-
ter X, 78 b.) with Mile. Couesdon, and various prophets,
psychometers and diviners, and also with premonitions and
forecasts. I believe I may say that the opinion exprest
here is shared by the whole world of scientists. Therefore,
scientists were rather surprised to hear a few years ago of
the Saint Quentin (female seer's) trial. ^
b. The Female Seer of Saint Quentin.
Near Saint Quentin, Estelle B., a female seer of the sub-
urb of Isle, is induced to sleep by her father or brother; then
she is put into contact with the patient ; she diagnoses the
disease and writes a prescription in due form. The Annates
des Sciences Psychiqiies wonders whether there is an "in-
ward alloscopia" in the case. The doctors there are quite
upset. The office of the public prosecutor at Saint Quentin
takes proceedings for unlawful practice of medicine and
swindling, and M. Dorigny, the examining magistrate, is
trusted with the inquest, while Maitre Cornet, the counsel for
the defense, requests the judge to make a magnetic experi-
ment with the seer, and if necessary, to appoint one or sev-
eral physicians for the purpose of investigating Estelle B.
Wide Charles Richet, "Note sur un cas particulier de lucidity," An-
nales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 161; and H. A. Fotherby,
"L'^ther, v^hicule de la conscience subliminale. La clairvoyance,"
ibid., 1906, p. 410.
Wide Les Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1905, p. 709, and 1906,
pp. 112 and 385; L'Echo du Merveilleux, 1905, pp. 183 and 205; Les
Archives generales de Mcdecine, 1906, p. 1853 ; la Revue de I'Hypnotisme,
1906, p. 146; Le Journal, January 7, 1906; Le Matin, May 10, 1906.
366 CLAIRVOYANCE
Dr. Paul Magnin, professor of the School of Psychology, is
appointed and works on this experiment, " in the office of the
examining magistrate, the public prosecutor and his assist-
ant being present, as well as the judge and his clerk,
Maitre Cornet, the counsel for the defense, and Dr. Moutin
whom he has introduced. ' ' The expert finds in Mile . B . very
noticeable stigmas of hysteria (general and special anes-
thesia, amyosthenia, etc.). He makes her sleep and awaken
near her father, then he hypnotizes her quite easily, estab-
lishes that there is no feigning whatever, and concludes that
she belongs to this class of " hysterics easily liable to hypno-
tism in any manner, whose number is pretty appreciable
and among whom somnambulists are to be found." But,
from this verification in Mile. B. " one should not infer at all
a special qualification for interpreting physiological or
psychological conditions or phenomena, either on individ-
uals present with whom she was in direct contact with the
hand, or at a distance, on persons remote from her, with
whom she was in immediate communication by touching an
object used personally by them (undercloth, scarf, etc.) or a
lock of hair. The hypnotic condition, even in case it is very
sound, bestows on those who are involved in it no extraor-
dinary faculty, no peculiar qualification. A hypnotized
subject does not acquire by the fact of his sleep the faculty
of painting a portrait if he does not understand drawing and
painting; in short, he is unable, by the fact of his sleep, to
perform an act which he could not perform at waking. A
fortiori, it is quite impossible for him to diagnose or make
forecasts and write prescriptions, things which are already so
hard to do after long theoretical and practical investiga-
tions."
At 'the same time, Dr. Paul Magnin refused to be present
when Mile. B. was giving medical advice to her patients, and
he concluded: "In the actual period of Science, I may assert
CLAIRVOYANCE 367
that no somnambulist is able in any circumstances what-
ever to know the disease of a person or to state the suitable
remedy without having made medical studies. This asser-
tion is not the expression of my personal opinion only. It
is ratified by the authority of the most prominent scientists."
After this the barrister asked for a cross-examination by Dr.
Baraduc. In his report this physician traces an outline of
psychometry "after the peculiar ideas adopted by himself on
the matter — ideas which have not been shared by many,
even among occultists and followers of the soul theory^
— rather than according to well-established experimental
data." He makes with Mile. B. experiments as little con-
clusive as they are little scientific, in which he causes the
subject to guess the temper, the disease or the sex of a per-
son, by the contact of a lock of hair, by a handkerchief or a
waistcoat, and concludes that she is " a living psychometri-
cal instrument, whose veracity must he acknowledged hy jus-
tice in case it would be thought convenient to circumscribe
the use of such a power."
On May 17, 1906, the police court of Saint Quentin
nearly sanctioned by their sentence, the momentous pas-
sage I have italicized, and almost discharged the prisoner.^
They made diffuse quotations from the ideas exprest by
Baraduc, relying upon the disagreement existing between
professors and doctors in the matter of occult phenomena.
The fact is important and has deeply imprest the scien-
tific world, as I have said above. Indeed, one should re-
member that Baraduc's ideas are quite his own; I have dis-
cust them (Chapter VIII, ii, 70) when dealing with the
theory of the radiant psychical force — and it is usually con-
^Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1906, p. 385.
^he Court sentences Mile. B. to a fine of 40 frs; her father to a fine
of 100 frs.; and her brother to 20 frs.; (the latter with reprieve, as he
had never been tried before) for unlawful practice of medicine.
368 CLAIRVOYANCE
sidered that they have not become as yet a matter of real
scientific demonstration, and that, on the contrary, the
state of positive science on that point has been very clearly
established in this statement unanimously adopted on June
19, 1906, by the Societe d'hypnologie et de psychologie,
under the chairmanship of M. Georges Rocher (formerly a
member of the Committee of the Corporation of Barristers,
and vice-chairman of the Societe de Medecine Legale),
after the reading of Paul Magnin's report, and a debate in
which Paul Farez, Rocher, E. Favre, Felix Regnault,
Berillon and Jules Voisin took part :
" The production of the hypnotic condition enables one to
obtain the making of definite acts, the growth of emotions,
feelings or opinions, and also a modification of certain mo-
dalities of temper; but in no circumstance whatever is the
subject hypnotized endowed with aptitude or qualifications
only afforded by science and experience. Especially as re-
gards the medical profession, the so-called clairvoyance con-
cerning the diagnostic or cure of diseases is contrary to facts
perfectly verified and must be viewed as of no value."
91. Cases and Discussion.
Since I have cleared the chapter on clairvoyance from all
that does not belong to it, I first wonder whether there are
subjects capable of seeing through opaque substances. This
would, a 'priori, involve nothing antiscientific; opaqueness
and transparency being things absolutely relative, as has
been shown by the facts detected and surveyed by Rontgen.
a. A Few Cases.
Dupouy^ relates that Trajan, "who was very skeptical
regarding somnambulists in his era, sent to the oracle of
HeliopoMs written questions under a sealed envelope. The
'Dupouy, loc. cit., p. 115.
CLAIRVOYANCE 369
god gave directions that blank paper be sent back to him.
Trajan was surprised. Indeed, he had forwarded only a
notebook without any writing." A cataleptic subject of
Petetin " could see the contents of a letter which strongly
leaned upon her fingers; another was able to see a portrait
placed over her epigastrium„ " Dr. Bertrand was very much
surprised to see a subject who could detect through gowns a
herpetic disease of the genital organs. Another saw a bullet
hidden in the head, and found it out quite easily." In all
these facts, there is only the beginning of a scientific demon-
stration of clairvoyance.
Richard Hodgson^ gives, after the "Revelations d'un
medium spirite" the following description of a trick used in
order to counterfeit clairvoyance:
"The onlooker is provided with a strong white envelope
of small size, and with a blank card, of about the size of an
ordinary visiting card. He is requested to write on this card
the name of a friendly spirit, and one or two questions, at
most. When he has written what has been asked of him,
he is requested to place the card under the envelope, the
handwriting being on the smooth side and remote from the
glue. When this is done, he is supplied with sealing wax so
as to close the envelope and prevent it from being opened.
At this moment the medium takes a seat opposite the on-
looker and near a window. He places the envelope on a
slate and both are put under the table. After a sufficient
time so as to enable him to do his work, knockings are heard
on the slate, which he withdraws and holds out to the by-
standers. The envelope is still on the slate and nothing
shows that it has been touched. The seals are intact with-
out any marks or laceration. Answers to the questions
'Richard Hodgson, "Comment M. Davey a imite par la prestidigita-
tion les pr^tendus phenomenes spirites," Annales des Sciences Psy-
chiques, 1894, p. 364, note.
370 CLAIRVOYANCE
asked are written on the slate and the name of the spirit to
whom they had been made is signed at the end of the mes-
sage. An experienced man, in ascertaining whether an en-
velope has been opened or not, would infer rightly that the
envelope has not been touched, and in case he should give
no scope to his ignorance of peculiar inventions, he would
readily ascribe the phenomenon to a power of clairvoyance.
In order to make this trick one should do exactly what the
medium did before he placed the slate under the table.
Instead of holding it there with your hand, slide one of the
corners between your leg and your chair. Then, you are at
liberty to do what you please with your hand. The on-
looker is unable to see your movements, since the table is
between you. You take a small sponge saturated with al-
cohol from the pocket of your coat. By moistening the en-
velope on the card you will quite easily read the name as
well as the question. You write the answer and sign the
name to which the question was addrest. You may be
sure that the bystander will be utterly astonished. Alcohol
only is suitable for moistening the envelope. Nothing else
would enable you to read the writing on the enclosed card;
nothing else would dry quickly enough without leaving any
mark of manipulation. Water would dry too slowly and
wrinkle the envelope at the place where it was used, and by
this the onlooker would guess that you had not been dealing
rightly."
There are, however, more serious experiments.* Richet
places drawings under an opaque envelope, and next makes
a somnambulist depict or reproduce them. In some cases
bystanders had no knowledge of drawing whatever; 30 ex-
periments of this kind out of 180 have been more or less
successful. According to M. Richet, this indicates the aver-
'Albert Coste, he. cit., p. 100.
CLAIRVOYANCE 371
age number of days of lucidness. Only for one day out of
six do somnambulists have flashes of lucidness, and even
during that day lucidness is quite varying and unsettled."
Mrs. Sidgwick's^ experiments are only "guesses at cards
taken out of a pack without having been seen by anyone.
My friend has attempted about 2585 experiments of this
order, and in 187 instances she accurately guessed the cards;
at the same time she guessed to their suit and number.
However, in 75 instances it has been necessary to repeat the
trial (for instance, so as to know whether the three of hearts
or of spades was the one). By registering these instances as
semi-successes, we reach a total of 49 successful trials, thrice
superior to the number ascribed to chance by the computa-
tion of probabilities."
h. Personal Instances.^
I thought I had found a conclusive instance of vision
through opaque substances with a subject whom my col-
league. Dr. Ferroul of Narbonne, had very much talked of
to me, and on whom interesting reports had already been
issued in the Annates des Sciences Psychiques.^
A first experiment was perfectly successful. The subject
read through a sealed envelope and a sheet of tin* a few lines
I had written in French; he also indicated Russian prints
marked underneath. But a second experiment instituted
with very strict supervision by a Committee of the "Acad-
^Mrs. Sidgwick, "Experiences sur la clairvoyance," Annales des
Sciences Psychiques, 1891, p. 157.
^"Une experience de lecture a travers les corps opaques/' Semaine
medicale, December, 1897, No. 56, p. 443; "Rapport de la Commission
de I'Acad^mie des Sciences et lettres de Montpellier, sur la vue a travers
les corps opaques," ibid., 1898.
^A. Goupil, "Lucidite. Experiences du Dr. Ferroul," Annales des
Sciences Psychiques, 1896, pp. 139 and 193.
^This hindered the trick pointed out by Hodgson.
372 CLAIRVOYANCE
emie des Sciences et Lettres de Montpellier,"* proved a com-
plete failure, and even photographic plates were found im-
prest by light, although it had been asserted that they had
been kept inside their frame. Those were perhaps uncon-
scious frauds. Anyhow, it was an absolute failm'e.
c. Conclusions. Rules for Further Experiments.
Therefore, this is the newest matter which Science has
not brought to light.^ Still, it is rational and even conven-
ient to make a scientific survey of the question, and to know
how experiments of this kind ought to be instituted.
I think it is interesting to give in this respect a few partic-
ulars as to the manner in which my colleagues Bertin-Sans
and Meslin had prepared the Narbonne experiment men-
tioned above. Dr. Ferroul and the two other members of
the committee were not in the secret of the preparations in
order that they might preserve greater independence in
registering results.
Three experiments were prepared: "The first was the
reading of a letter stitched inside the coat of one of us, and
whose contents was unknown to us; the second was the
reading of an analogous letter which we might hold out to
the subject whilst we were leaving it, under no pretence
whatever, in his hands. Lastly, we had provided for the
case in which, owing to any cause whatever, both experi-
ences just mentioned, having been rendered impossible, we
would have been led to leave in the subject's hands, when de-
*This committee consisted of MM. Henry Bertin-Sans, superintendent
of the studies of psychics at the Faculty of Medicine (now Professor of
Hygiene at the same faculty) ; Grasset, Professor of Clinical Medicine
at the same faculty; Louis Guibal, Chairman of the Corporation of
Barristers, and Meslin, Professor of Physics at the Faculty of Sciences.
'"We only declare," says Boirac, (loc. cit., p. 257) "that, at least in
the case I have surveyed, the transposition of lenses is solely apparent,
and consists, in fact, of a supernormal and subconscious interpretation
of tactile sensations usually unperceived."
CLAIRVOYANCE 373
parting from Narbonne, a letter he was to forward back to
us, untouched, and whose contents he was to disclose to us
by correspondence."
In order to carry out this program, "we took a new
pack of 32 cards, and wrote a different word on every card;
besides, we used 32 tickets and wrote on each of them a
special sentence and number from 1 to 32. We next in-
scribed on a sheet of paper opposite each of the numbers,
1, 2, 3, . . .32, the sentence corresponding to one on our
tickets, and opposite each playing-card, the word written on
it. The schedules being thus filled up, were placed under an
envelope sealed with five seals of black wax; moreover, the
middle seal was dissimilar to those on the corners.
" After this we mixed up our cards and tickets and en-
closed them, two by two, in distinct envelopes. Those
thirty-two envelopes were mingled, and we selected three
of them haphazard in order to use them in the intended ex-
periments. The twenty-nine envelopes left were enclosed in
a larger one, which was sealed by black wax seals as above.
Each of the three envelopes selected was folded in a sheet of
tin and next placed in another envelope. Two of them were
sealed with black wax in the manner already stated. Both
envelopes were then ready for the first two experiments.
The third envelope, destined for the third experiment, was
fixt against half a photographic plate of 13 x 18 cm., and
care was taken to insert a sheet of black paper between the
letter and the gelatinous face of the plate. The whole was
then wrapt up in eight folds of black paper and locked up
between two layers of shavings in a wooden box which was
itself covered with strong paper, and sealed with ten seals of
black wax, in the same manner as the envelopes. The other
half of the photographic plate was disposed in a similar way,
with a sheet of blank paper (instead of the letter). The
plate had been previously imprest in the dark room: we
374 CLAIRVOYANCE
had taken the photograph of a monument and one of us had
stood towards one of the ends of the field, and a workman
unknown to us at the opposite end. One of those invisible
images was on a half of a plate and the other on the second
half." Therefore, it was impossible, unless operating in a
room illuminated only with red light, to read the contents of
the letter, and especially the characters marked on the plate,
without coloring it. This cloud would be easily detected
when developing this half of the plate by comparing it with
the other half.
The schedules were placed inside one of the lower com-
partments of a safe belonging to one of us. M. Bertin-Sans
kept the outward key of the safe, whilst M. Meslin had the
keys of the inner compartment. As to the twenty-nine en-
velopes placed under the same sealed envelope, they were
placed together with the two envelopes to be used in the
first two experiments and the box prepared for the third
one, in a safe hired at the Credit Lyonnais, The key
was taken by M. Bertin-Sans, and M. Meslin, for his part,
locked it up with a secret key which he alone understood.
I think it is rather hard to imagine better and more
multiplied precautions to avoid fraud, and really make an
experiment of clairvoyance or vision through opaque
substances.
Dariex^ made the objection that nobody knew what the
subject was to read, and he deemed it to be a defective con-
dition of experimentation. " For, until the contrary proof is
afforded, especially because of the whole of the experiments
previously made with this subject, and also because of our
actual knowledge of what might be called the phenomenon
of thought-reading, or of unconscious mental suggestion, it
'Xavier Dariex, " Analyse et critique du Rapport de la Commission
de I'Acad^mie des Sciences et Lettres de Montpellier," Annates de&
Sciences Psychiques, 1898, p, 20.
CLAIRVOYANCE 375
was far more rational to conjecture a faculty of mental
reception than a power of objective vision through space and
opaque substances."
I answer that our purpose was to try, not thought-reading
or mental suggestion, but vision through opaque substances.
And if I mention all the precautions instituted and taken by
Meslin and Bertin-Sans, it is because they accurately pro-
vide the requisites of our aim, and because I think that the
scientific fate of all those matters is connected with strict
and limited experiments instituted for a well-known pur-
pose
CONCLUSIONS
1. Occult phenomena and psychical phenomena are of a
pre-historic character, that is to say, they do not as yet be-
long to science, but they may some day enter its domain;
they cease to be wonderful and occult when once they be-
come scientific. Occultism is therefore a sort of promised
land, which science is constantly attempting to approach
and invade.
This pre-scientific character distinguishes occult phe-
nomena and Occultism from the supernatural, from miracle
and from the traditional science of the magi and of theos-
ophy, which are and will always continue to be by their very
division quite out of the range of science.
2. That which makes the difficulty of studying Occultism
and retards our progress is (a) on one side the complexity of
experimental determinism which distinguishes phenomena
which are not easily capable of repetition at the will and in
the laboratory of the explorer; (b) on the other side, the ne-
cessity of always having a medium in order to make ex-
periments and, consequently, the frequency of fraud, con-
scious or unconscious, in these mediums.
These difficulties are not, however, insuperable and science
is constantly making conquests in the domain of Occultism
and rendering a certain number of its phenomena no longer
occult. Thus it happens that the boundaries of Occultism
are changing and constantly becoming narrowed, so that
the Occultism of yesterday is no longer the Occultism of to-
day.
3. The phenomena which at present have been re-
CONCLUSIONS 377
deemed from the domain of Occultism, and which consti-
tute the Occultism of yesterday, may be grouped under
three heads: first, animal magnetism, now known as hypno-
tism; secondly, the involuntary and unconscious move-
ments which are revealed in turning tables, etc. ; thirdly, the
sensation of memory, so-called polygonal, and resulting in
false divination, polygonal hallucination and crystallomancy,
reminiscences and false judgments of a so-called polygonal
character; fourth, the association of ideas and imaginations
which are cognizable in the trances of the mediums.
4. In order to study the occultism of the present day it is
indispensable to make a clear distinction between the study
and discussion of theories and the study and discussion of
facts.
5. What we call a theory is that which has not been es-
tablished and is not yet irrefragable. Neither spiritism nor
psychical radiations have yet been demonstrated as facts.
If their existence as facts is some day actually established it
will be easy to discover the theory that underlies them, and
that too, without any recourse to the evocation or reincar-
nation of spirits.
We should not therefore expect to find in the facts of Oc-
cultism any new proof of a future life and of the immortality
of the soul any more than we ought to see in them argu-
ments against spiritualism. The study of Occultism is abso-
lutely independent of all the philosophical or religious doc-
trines which look on from their tower of ivory, with interest
indeed, but without personal danger, at the experimenta-
tions and the discussions of the neiu-obiologists : the exist-
ence or development of any philosophical or religious doc-
trines does not depend at all upon the solution which the
future may sometime yield to the unanswered questions of
Occultism.
6. The facts which used to belong to Occultism may be
378 CONCLUSIONS
divided into two groups; I., the group of facts whose demon-
stration, if it is possible, seems in their case to be very far
off; it comprises (a) telepathy and presentiments; (b) com-
munication between persons at long distances; (c) material-
ization; II., the group of facts the demonstration of which
appears to be less out of our reach and ought at once to be
investigated; it comprises: (a) mental suggestion and direct
communication of all thought; (b) the movement of objects
without human contact, levitation and rappings; (c) clair-
voyants,
7. There is still another form of Occultism to be discust;
there are occult phenomena which still remain far beyond
the range of positive science and whose scientific demon-
stration has not yet been accomplished. But it is none the
less evident that this demonstration is not rationally im-
possible, and it is reasonable that scientific men should in-
vestigate these grave questions. It is even their duty to
study them, and we may look forward to the moment when
certain of these facts will cease to be occult and will be recog-
nized as scientific.
8. In order to obtain these results and expedite the reali-
zation of this program, it is desirable that all these experi-
ments be conducted with a most rigorous method.
It would be a good thing to lay aside for the moment all
complicated researches or extraordinary experiences in
which the elements of definiteness and finality are too nu-
merous and too complex for scientific control. Such are the
experiments in distant telepathy, of communications at a
long distance, or materialization. However intense may be
the caution of those making the experiments, no one yet
knows beforehand on what particular point of the investi-
gation scientific control should be concentrated; a com-
munication will sometimes come from the left when the
experimenter has his attention fixt on the right; a telepathic
CONCLUSIONS 370
communication will not seem to be of much importance
until later on the event to which it refers has become mani-
fest; a fantom may rise in such darkness as renders im-
possible precise observation, and when it is forbidden to
touch suddenly the button of the electric light, which
ought to be allowable in every such scientific experiment.
Experimenters of the present day should confine them-
selves simply to things, and should investigate under a full
light, or at any rate with the option of suddenly turning on
the light. They should define their single object and it
should be fully recognized before they begin. It seems to
me that in this group of experiments should be classed the
movement of objects and the levitation of furniture, tables
or paper-weights without human contact, experiments
of mental suggestion, or of the transmission of thought
without contact, experiments of clairvoyants and the per-
ception of objects through opaque bodies.
These are the three points which, in spite of all contra-
diction, are still occult, and whose elimination from Occult-
ism would mark an immense advance and a great triumph
in the domain of positive science.
The End.
INDEX
Abbott, Annie, the "little Georgia
magnet," 35; her tricks ex-
amined by Sir Oliver Lodge, 36
Absent-mindedness, 73; an inci-
dent of, told by Dostoiewski,
112; conditions during, 116
Aksakoff, a medium, experiments
with, 42
Amnesia, general and polygonal,
123-126
Arago, -, on table-turning, 72
Astral body, the, 215-219; what is
proved by it, 230-242 ; mistakes
as to the term, 235; leaning
upon no scientific proof, 237-
239
Aymar, a conjurer, his use of the
divining rod, 85-86
Babinet, , his disbelief in spir-
itualism, 192
Bailey, the Australian medium,
40-41
Bain, , on imagination, 128
Balsamo, Joseph, see Cagliostro
Barker, Frederick, case of, 287
Barthez, Dr., court physician,
summoned in Helen Smith's
stances, 163-164
Bernheim, , conclusions of as
to psychical radiations, 233
Besant, Mrs. Annie, 24
Bianchi, Prof., 39
Blavatsky, Madame, 16; her re-
ligion, 24
Boirac, , on psychical radia-
tions, 223-225
Bois, Jules, his book on spiritual-
ism, 27 ; on suggestion, 227
Boissier, Dr., on cases reported by
Sollier, 324
Bon-jean, Albert, detects frauds,
332
Bonnayme, Dr., on the apparatus
used with psychical radiations,
243
Bonnet, Geraud, case quoted by,
331
Bossuet, , puerile sermons at-
tributed to, 195
Bourget, Paul, a report by, 52 ; per-
sonal observation by, 120; his
seances with Mrs. Piper, 269-
270
Bozzano, Ernest, quoted, 248
Braid, , on mesmerism, 58
Burke, Edmund, on being angry, 75
Cadwed, Miss, the medium, ex-
posed, 45
Cagliostro and Marie Antoinette,
105; and Helen Smith's stances,
158, 160
Cambridge, England, exposure of
Palladino at, 49-50
Chapron, Leon, appears to Bour-
get, 266
Charcot, M., experiments by, 20;
his investigation of hypnotism,
59; case of amnesia cited by,
124-125; his account of an hys-
terical family, 140
Chevreul, on table-turning, 71-72;
experiments of, with the explor-
ing pendulum, 83; investigates
the divining rod, 86; his scienti-
fic explanation of the divining
rod, 89
Clairvoyance, defined and dis-
cust, 363-375 ; experiments
with, 371; rules for experiments
with, 372-375
Cloparede, , his views of sensa-
tion, 128
C alley, Archdeacon, his welcome to
spiritualism, 253 ; his story of a
ghost, 310-311
Couesdon, Mile., emancipation of
her polygon, 144; her account
of an angel speaking to her, 267 ;
her mediim^iship, 268; vague-
ness of prophecies by, 278
382
INDEX
Congress of prophets, the, resolu-
tions of, 271
Conjuror's wand, the, see Divin-
ing Rod
Corneille, the dramatist, childish
poetry attributed to, 195
Carney, the English spiritualist, 38
Coste, Albert, treatise by, 18
Craddock, the medium, exposed,
44 ; seized while playing the part
of a ghost, 310
Crookes, William, observations
by, 29; experiments by, with
gjiosts, 302; experiments by,
with Douglas Home, 343
Crystal vision, described, 104-107 ;
how to produce it, 107-109;
analyzed, 109-111
D'Alesi, Mme. Hv^o, alterations of
personality in, 142-143
Damiani, Signer, trains Palladino,
339
Dantec, Felix le, quoted, 26
D'Ardenne, Dr., reports a case,
323
Dariex, M., founds a periodical,
18 ; on fraud in mediums, 50
Davenport brothers, the, 35
Davis, W. S., stances given by, 38
Dee, John, practises crystal vision,
106
Delanne, Gabriel, his book on spir-
itualism, 190-191
Delboeuf, dreams by, 113
Denis, Leon, his book on spiritual-
ism, 189; his account of psy-
chical radiations, 220; quoted,
245
Divining rod, the, explained, 84-
90; uses of, 85; now in the do-
main of science, 88
D'Orino, Ch., her book on the
genesis of the soul, 204
Dostoiewski, an incident described
by, 112
Dreams, curiosities of, 98 ; those of
Delboeuf, 113
Drumont, Eduoard, quoted, 249
Dubois, , his report made in
1837, 9
Dumas, Alexander, pbre, a story of
Cagliostro by, 105
Duprat, , on mental instabil-
ity, 148
Dupouy, Edmond, on psychical
radiations, 221
Eldred, Charles, obtains materiali-
zations, 42; exposed as a pro-
fessional medium, 43 ; his ghost
tricks, 309
Encausse, Dr. (Papers), criticises
Dr. Grasset, 22-23 ; quoted, 23,
32 ; his account of the psychical
radiations theory, 214-219; con-
clusions of as to psychical radi-
ations, 230-231
Epstein, the medium, exposed in
Berlin, 46
Exploring pendulum, the, ex-
plained, 82-84
Faguet, Emile, introduction by,
xv-xxii
Faria, Abbe de, makes people
sleep, 8
Farraday, Michael, on table-tum-
ing, 72; exposes fraud, 77
Fere, , an anecdote related
by, 129
Flammarion, Camille, at stances,
14; his experiments with Kar-
dec, 196 ; as to the case of Mme.
Werner, 203 ; his conclusions as
to spiritualism, 212; his report
on a ghost, 303 ; on experiments
with Palladino, 346-347
Flournoy, comments by, on Miss
Frank Miller, 175-176 ; on Spir-
itualism, 193; on spiritualistic
messages as caused by the medi-
um's imagination, 199 ; on errors
by mediums, 207-209; conclu-
sions of, against spiritualism, 212
Fogazzaro, Antonio, at stances, 41
Fortin, Abbe, his apparatus for
measuring psychical radiations,
229
Fox, John, of Hydeville, N. Y.,
raps in house of, 10
Fox sisters, the, as pioneers in
spiritualism, 10-12; confession
by one of them, 34
France, Anatole, his tribute to
Grasset, xx
France, spiritualism in, in 1853,
12-14
Francis, St., of Sales, on stimu-
lating emotions, 76
INDEX
383
Francis I., of France, resorts to
crystal vision, 106
Frauds, conscious and unconsci-
ous, 34-35; conclusions as to,
53-54; conscious, in motor phe-
nomena, 292-295; unconscious,
295-300; at the Villa Carmen,
313
Funk, Dr. Isaac K., as to Dr.
Hodgson's promise to communi-
cate with the Society for Psy-
chical Research, 202
Gabriel the angel, incarnation of,
268
Gasparin, Agenor de, his code used
in experiments, 81
Gayet, M., his discovery of a Bac-
chante, 275
Germany, spiritualism reaches, 12
Ghosts, the cases of Katie King
and others, 302; photographs
and moldings of, 303 ; tricks by,
309
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von,
quoted, 132
Grasset, Joseph, presides at a
meeting to consider occult phe-
nomena, 18; premonition by,
287
Greece, divination practised in an-
cient, 106
Groes, Jean, on speaking-tables, 72
Hallucinations, polygonal, 102-
104 ;discust, 305-306
Hans, a horse, experiments with,
93-94
Haunted houses, 10; studied by
Calmette, 104; 140; a medium
always in one, 335 ; cases of, 366
Haxby, frauds by, 47
Hervas, Mons. Sancho, his con-
demnation of hypnotism, 253
Hobbes, Thomas, an anecdote
recorded by, 129
Hodgson, Dr. Richard, investiga-
tions by, 37; his revelations
from Mr's.Piper, 46-47 ; on frauds
in mediums, 53; his promise to
communicate with the Society
for Psychical Research, 202;
Prof. Hyslop's statement as to,
202; his description of a trick
used to counterfeit clairvoy-
ance, 369-370
Home, Douglas, the medium,
Crookes' experiments with, 343-
344
Hooker, Stenson, on the spectrum
of the human rays, 223
Houdin, Robert, his methods in
juggling, 330
Hugo, Victor, as the "guide" of
Helen Smith, 146-147
Husson, , his report made in
1831, 8
Hyslop, James H., conclusions as
to Miss Abbott's tricks, 36;
analyzes the "Martian ro-
mance," 172-173; as to Mme.
Smead, 177; statement by, as to
Dr. Hodgson's promise to com-
municate with his society, 202;
his report of a message from
America to England, 266
Hypnosis, ridiculous representa-
tions of great men in, 178
Hypnotic sleep, defined, 60-61;
how to provoke it, 62
Hypnotism, historical account of,
58-60
Janet, Pierre, experiments by, 20;
his researches as to hypnotism,
60; on table-turning, 72; on ex-
periments with willing-game,
92; tells how crystal vision may
be practised, 107; case cited by,
124; on mediimis, 137; on spir-
itualism, 195; a case reported
by, 295-300
Joire, Dr., his apparatus for
measuring psychical radiations,
229
Joseph, Pharaoh's minister, the
story of the cup, 105
Jounet, his apparatus for measur-
ing psychical radiations, 239-
240
Kardec, Allen, stances at the
house of, 14; his over-confidence
in spiritualism, 195; admits de-
ceit in mediums, 208
Kellar, the juggler, oflFers to imi-
tate spiritualistic phenomena,
36
384
INDEX
Lafontaine, the magnetizer, 228
Lapponi, Dr. , his book on spiritual-
ism, 191, 192; his conclusions
as to spirituaHsm, 252
Lattes, Dante A., quoted, 253
Laurent, Dr. , tests made by, 332
Leopold, a spirit, and the medium
Helen Smith, 147, 158, 166; his
knowledge of the French lan-
guage, 177
Lemaitre, Jules, on the intellectual
life as unconscious, 121 ; seances
at his house, 165
Le Veeder, Dr. A. M., his investi-
gations of ghost photographs,
304-307
Levitation, discust, 335-336; dis-
cussion of the results of experi-
ments in, 349-355; instances of
fraud in, 351-352; documents
relating to, 355; prizes offered
for, 356
Lodge, Sir Oliver, examines Miss
Abbott's tricks, 36; assists in an
exposure of Palladino, 50
Lombroso, Prof., experiments by,
with thought transference, 325;
experiments with Palladino,
337; a report by, 342
Lucas, Louis, his apparatus for
measuring psychical radiations,
228
MacNab, Donald, his report on
experiments, 290-293
Magnin, Dr. Paul, investigates
the seer of Saint Quentin, 366
Maistre, Xavier de, anecdote of,
73
Mangin, Marcell, quoted, 246
Marie Antoinette, Cagliostro's pre-
diction to, 105; and Helen
Smith's "Royal Romance,"
159, 161-164
Marrillier, M., his comments on
investigations, 288
Alars, the planet, a novel dealing
with life on, 164-172; canals
and animal life on, 177
"Martin Novel, the," described,
164-172; French language coun-
terfeited in, 167-171; Flour-
noy's conclusions as to, 172;
power of imagination in pro-
ducing, 177-178
Mashenyn, the juggler, tricks by,
38
Materializations, discust, 300-319
Matthews, Colonel, seizes a ghost,
310
Maupassant, Guy de, describes
phenomena, 109
Maurecy, Mme. Louise, her ac-
count of experiments, 274-275
Maury, dreams by, 113
Maxwell, M., quoted, 24; con-
clusions by, 30; quoted, 31-37;
on frauds in mediums, 53; on
the divining rod, 87-88; on the
errors of mediums, 205-206; ob-
jections to spirits regarded by
him as irrefutable, 210; his in-
vestigations of Palladino, 345-
346
Mayhew, Lieutenant-Colonel, ex-
poses Craddock the medium, 44
Medicine, use of hypnotism in,
69-70
Mediums, the need for, 33; frauds
by, 34-52, 134; definition of,
135-138; trances of, 138-141;
personalities of, 141-143; famil-
iar spirits of, 144-151; stages
of, 151-157; those who become
insane, 141; the polygonal
novels of 158-173; polygonal
imagination in, 174; produc-
tions of easily imitated, 180;
some who are earnest, 198; ideas
exprest by, in trances those of
the mediums themselves, 194-
204; errors made by, 205-211
Memory, elementary kinds of, 99;
unconscious, 100
Mental suggestion, discust, 321-
334; definition of, 331 ; advice as
to experiments in, 329; rules to
observe in investigating, 333-
334
Mery, Gaston, phenomena in crys-
tal vision shown by, 108; on the
materialization of famous per-
sons, 204; as to Miller's experi-
ments, 316-317
Mesmer, , his arrival in Paris,
5-6
Mesmerism, report on, 7
Miles, Clarisa, experiments made
with, 327-328
Miller, the San Francisco medium,
INDEX
385
exposed, 48; new experiments
by, 315-318
Miller, Miss Frank, on polygonal
imagination, 174-175
Miracles, 25-28
Montorgueil, Georges, his struggle
with a ghost, 302
Moore, Rear- Admiral, witnesses
materializations, 42
Marin, , his disbelief in spirit-
ualism, 192
Motor phenomena, discust, 289-
300; conscious fraud in, 292-
295; unconscious fraud in, 295-
300; soon to be scientifically
explained, 354
Myers, F. W. H., comments by,
on crystal vision, 115-116;
quoted, 246-247
Newholt, , comments on crys-
tal vision, 109
Noel, General, experiments at the
house of, 312
Nostradamus, a prophecy of dis-
aster by, 279
Occultism, defined, 3; historical
account of, 5 et seq.; as the
promised land of science, 19-21 ;
what it is not, 22; phenomena
of, cannot be reproduced at will,
29-31 ; its independent position,
244-257; various views of, 254;
has nothing to do with the Su-
pernatural, 255; not philosophi-
cal, 256; criticism of should be
analytical, 257; a list of the phe-
nomena of, 259; two groups of,
260; the promised land of
science, 376; phenomena in
which have been reduced to
science, 377; those which have
not, 378
Ochorowicz, on frauds in mediums,
50; gathers evidence as to men-
tal suggestion, 322
Olcott, Col, 24
Palladino, Eusapia, an experi-
ment with, 39 ; exposed at Cam-
bridge, 49; her irresponsibility,
51; Flammarion's failure with,
203; fraud by, 308; experiments
with, 337-343; an account of,
338,339; experiments with, in
Paris, 343; frequently caught in
cheating, 355
Papus, , see Encausse
Paulhan, M., quoted, 17; on au-
tomatism, 134
Pavey, M., imitates spiritualistic
phenomena, 37
Pease, Edward, conclusions of, as
to the divining rod, 87
Pedley, Charles H., a case reported
by, 332 _
Persia, divination practised in
ancient, 106
Petetin, description by, 8
Petersen, ■ Dr., his body found
through a medium's help, 272
Pfungst, Oskar, investigates the
horse Hans, 94
Phaneg, the medium, on psychical
radiations, 223 ; experiments by
274
Piper, Mrs., her revelations to
Dr. Hodgson, 46; Paul Bour-
get's report on, 145; a message
received through, 266; Paul
Bourget on the seances of, 269-
270, 274
Place Saint Georges, the seer of
251
Polygonal hallucinations, discust,
102-103; disorders that account
for, 103
Polygonal inspiration, 129-133
Polygonal imagination, 128-130;
reality of, 174-179
Polygonal reminiscences, examples
of when absent of mind, 111-
112; when dreaming, 113; be-
fore crystal vision, 114; when
awake, 115; conditions of, 118,
126; recognition of as real, 121
Polygonal romances, the inferior
character of, 176-178
Polygonal sensibility and memory,
97; 102; proof of the phenomena
of, 97; a kind of elementary
memory, 99
Prevost, Marcel, quoted, 17
Prince Imperial, the, of France, as
materialized by a medium, 197
Psychical radiations, more con-
formable to reason than spirit-
ualism is, 214; account of the
theory of, 214-243; Rechenbach
386
INDEX
on, 220-221 ; apparatus to meas-
ure, 227-230; nothing yet scien-
tifically verified as to, 232, 234-
236; and wireless telegraphy,
240; not yet better verified
than spiritualism, 242
Puys^gur, Marquis de, facts found
out by, 7
Ramsden, Miss Hermione, her
book quoted, 327
Raps, experiments with, 357-363;
how obtained, 358; Maxwell's
experiments with, 358; not yet
understood, 359; frauds in, 361;
supervision of difficult, 362
Raupert, Godfrey, deplores spiritu-
alism, 253
Rechenbach, Charles von, on psy-
chical radiations, 220, 221
Regnault, Jules, quoted as to psy-
chical radiations, 241
Ribot, on polygonal inspiration,
131-133
Richet, Charles, quoted, 3, 4, 6, 18,
21, 30; on experiments with de-
ceitful mediums, 53; on spiritu-
alism, 194; cites an objection to
spiritualism, 200-201; his con-
clusions as to spiritualism, 213;
as to telepathy, 277; as to frauds
at the Villa Carmen, 313; in
praise of his work, 314-315
Robinson, George, anecdotes of,
146
Rochester, N. Y ., the Fox sisters
at, 11
Rochas, Col. Albert de, exposes
Valentine the medium, 46; his
experiments, 227
Rolfi,, Pie Michel, his opinion
quoted, 251
Rothe, Anna, the "flower me-
dium," 40, 289
"Royal Circle, the," a polygonal
novel, 158-164
Saint Quentin, the female seer of,
365-367
Santa Prassede, Signer di, de-
scribes stances, 198
Sarak, Comte de, tricks by, 39
Sardou, Victorien, present at
seances, 14, 15, 16
Schema, or diagram, the author's,
xxiii
Schurz, Carl, his accoimt of ex-
periments, 276
Septimus Severus, resorts to di-
vination, 106
Sidgwick, , assists in exposure
of Palladino, 50
Slade, Dr., the mediiuu, experi-
ments by, 42
Smead, , the Martian novel
of, 172-173
Smith, Helen, the medium, Victor
Hugo as her "guide," 146-147;
her polygonal novels, 158-172
Sollier, Paul, cases reported by,
323-324
Somnambulism, 74
Spencer, Mrs. MacAlister, of Chi-
cago, as a medium, 137
Spiritualism, ancient cases of, 10;
definition and outline of, 187-
189; the theory of, 189-192;
proofs it should bring forth, 193;
conclusions unfavorable to, 211-
213; various comments on, 246-
254; downfall of, as a theory,
300
Stainton, Moses, comJixunications
with, 47
Strombo of Athens, exposes fraud,
78
Suggestion, various kinds of, de-
fined, 63-68
Supernatural, the, 25-28
Surbled, , on the divining rod,
89; on spirits and mediums, 156;
his comments on spiritualism,
195-196; on the magnetic fluid
of himian beings, 222; on ghosts,
303
Table-turning, 71; the subject dis-
cust, 76-81; unconscious fraud
in, 79, 80
Telepathy, its relation to animal
magnetism, 224; defined, 262,
263 ; the scientific demonstration
of, near at hand, 264; recorded
facts about, 265; case recorded
by Bourget, 266; mediiuns in-
fluenced by the living subject,
272; instances of discust, 265-
288; cases of, not hallucina-
tions, 276-278; no case proves
INDEX
387
divination, 278; many cases of,
already disoccultated, 280-286;
erroneous instances of, 286; how
cases of should be investigated,
286-288
Thebes, Madame de, her prophe-
cies, 279-280
Trajan, his interest in somnambu-
lists, 368
Trance, in nervous sufferers, 138-
141
"Trust of witches," the, 271
Valentine, the medium, exposed,
46
Venzano, Joseph, comments by,
on thought transference, 321;
experiments with Palladino,
326
Vesme, C. de, experiments scru-
tinized by, 40; serious moral
dangers that beset mediums, 52;
quoted, 294; as to Miller's ex-
periments, 316-318
Vicentini, Prof., apparatus de-
signed by, 348
Villa Carmen, experiments at the,
312-315
Vinet, Alfred, on alterations in the
personality, 149-150
Voisin, Auguste, experiments by,
101
Vuagniaux, Madame, and the find-
ing of Dr. Petersen's body, 272
Wallace, Dr. Abraham, exposes the
medium Eldred, 43
Williajns, Mrs., frauds by, ex-
posed in Paris, 45
Willing-game, explained, 90-95;
may be nothing but juggling, 91
Zuccarini, the medium, levitationa
by, 347-349
By JOSEPH GRASSET, M.D.
THE SEMI-INSANE
AND THE
SEMI-RESPONSIBLE
"P\R. GRASSET has had a most extensive experi-
ence in neuropathology and writes from a very
thorough study of all phases of mental and nervous
disorders.
"At the present time, when ' the unwritten law,' sanity and semi-insanity are
thrust prominently forward as a defense by persons accused of murder, this work
will be particularly timely. It is the only literature in English treating on this
classification.'* — Springfield (Mass.) Union.
" Prof. Grasset has a decidedly practical motive as the inspiration for this book,
which is nothing more nor less than to furnish the legal profession with reliable
data from which may be determined the varying degrees of responsibility and
irresponsibility that may be attributed to the commission of criminal acts and the
consequent punishment or medical treatment to be accorded the criminal." —
Ne-w York Press.
" A dangerous paranoic cannot be cured. There are no authenticated cases
of recovery, but the victims are capable of dissimulation, and frequently deceive
their attendants. It is, comparatively speaking, an uncommon disease, tho fre-
quently found among the criminal insane. Delusions which are as strong as logical
beliefs dominate the life ana acts of paranoics. They can not be corrected by
argument or experience. They are ' systematized,' and used to be called mono-
mania, an inexact term which means the same thing as paranoia. ' ' — Neiv Tork Times.
" It presents, in a striking manner, many questions which will merit extended
consideration and discussion." — Hon. Victory. Doivling, Supreme Court Judge,
New York.
" It would be well if this book were placed upon the bench and before the
eyes of every judge so that its title page might be a constant reminder of the
unfairness of demanding impossible responses from medical witnesses." — Journal
of Abnormal Psyckologs, Boston.
8vo, Cloth. $2.50, net ; post-paid, $2.68
FUNK y WAGNALLS COMPANY, Pubs.
44-60 East Twenty-third Street, NEW YORK
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