THE PROGRESS OF PSYCHICAL RESEARCH. 485 



called spiritualistic, with an attempt to discover their causes and gen- 

 eral laws. 



"6. The collection and collation of existing materials bearing on 

 the history of these subjects. 



" The aim of the society will be to approach these various prob- 

 lems without prejudice or prepossession of any kind, and in the 

 same spirit of exact and unimpassioned inquiry which has enabled 

 science to solve so many problems once not less obscure nor less hotly 

 debated. The founders of this society fully recognize the exceptional 

 difficulties which surround this branch of research, but they, neverthe- 

 less, hope that, by patient and systematic effort, some results of per- 

 manent value may be obtained." 



In accordance with this programme, the society went to work. 

 Generous donations of money were received, and there were numerous 

 accessions to the membership. It is a mistake to suppose that mem- 

 bership in the society implies anything more than a genuine scientific 

 interest in the investigations. The constitution of the S. P. R., as it 

 is popularly known in England, expressly states that membership in 

 the society " does not imply the acceptance of any particular explana- 

 tion of the phenomena investigated, nor any belief as to the operation 

 in the physical world of forces other than those recognized by physi- 

 cal science." 



Notwithstanding all these precautions, it was asserted in many 

 quarters that the society had in view a particular explanation of the 

 phenomena it was investigating. Professor Sidgwick, in his first 

 presidential address, commented upon the criticisms passed upon the 

 foundation of any such society, and succinctly explained and defended 

 its course of action. In this address, Professor Sidgwick had occasion 

 to define what the society meant by " sufficient evidence " for the phe- 

 nomena with which it proposed to deal, and he declared that " suffi- 

 cient evidence is evidence that will convince the scientific world, and 

 for that we obviously require a good deal more than we have so far 

 obtained." In the face of this, it is plain that Professor Ray Lankes- 

 ter's comment, " puerile hypothesis," would have been more in the na- 

 ture of a scientific judgment had it been delivered after a review of 

 the testimony, and not before. 



From the date of organization until the present time the council 

 and committees of the society have labored assiduously. Facts were 

 the great desideratum, and they have been looked for in every con- 

 ceivable place. Records of experiences were invited from any and 

 every quarter, and many thousands have been received. It is charac- 

 teristic of the society's method that no story has been accepted as 

 genuine on newspaper testimony, or on second-hand evidence of any 

 kind. In each case places and dates were verified, and the persons 

 directly concerned sought out. As might be supposed, a very large 

 proportion of the stories received were either wholly or partly ficti- 



