45^ RiiroRT S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



ni(j(]es of sensation than (jurs ? If the chnsalises uf a male and 

 a female moth be separated l)\ miles, and if. when the perfect insects 

 emerge, the female he confined in a wire cage and the male liberated, 

 the latter will reach the former in just about the time it takes him to 

 fi\ the direct distance. The experiment was tried in England with 

 an exotic .species so rare that the identity of the male might be con- 

 fidently presumed. Could this be the result of any sense we know? 

 Many animals develop phosphorescence; some can give electric 

 sh(H-ks: is it n(jt possible that some of them may find their (iirection 

 in sj)ace b\' some organ sensitive to magnetism ? 



Now. supposing these gaps in possible perc^eptive power to be 

 filled uj) -supposing, for example, we became directly conscious of 

 electric aiifl magnetic variation as we are of variations of light — 

 would it make a substantial difference to our knowledge? Are there, 

 ncjt merelv qualities, but things, which form part of the universe 

 around us. but which we could perceive only by vibrations in the 

 gaps (jf our scheme? 1 am inclined to think we have reason for 

 saving No. It is a curious fact, so familiar that we have perhaps 

 never adverted to it. )et really curious, and bearing very strongly on 

 the proof of the reality of an objective world, that our senses always 

 corroborate one another. If the world were merely, a.s J. S. Mill 

 ])uts it, " a jiermanent possibility of sensation,"' — if it were simply a 

 complex arrangement of vibrations in ever\' possible phase, — I do 

 not understand why we should not see things which we could not 

 touch, or taste things beyond the reach of sight. .As a matter of fact, 

 however, every " thing " has some sort (jf appeal to all our senses. 

 So much is this ttie case, that when a phenomenon appeals only tc 

 one sense, we instinctively call it an illusion. Generally touch is 

 regarded as the chief test of reality ; " we pinch ourselves to see if 

 w^e are awake " : but in truth each sense tests the others. 



Herein lies a hint to spiritualists. They are so anxious to prove 

 spirituality that they fail of reality. Voices that proceed from 

 nowhere, apparitions that evade touch, touches by agencies that can- 

 not be seen, do* not prove spiritualism; they only prove illusion, or 

 at least something purely subjective. A truly objective spiritual 

 manifestation, in order to be reasonablv believed, must iirst satisfv 

 the tests of reality, by appealing to all the senses ; there would lie 

 many ways after that of proving its spirituality. I wHI believe in 

 no ghost that will not come to me in broad da\light anrl shake hands 

 with me and talk to me and let my dog smell his presence : let him 

 thereafter vanish at will, or prove his spirituality as he max. .As 

 long as he imprints his form vaguelv on a photographic [ihite. or 

 bangs me on the head in the dark with a tambourine, or raps with 

 invisible knuckles on a table, psychology justifies me in putting him 

 down as either a fraud or a subjective phenomenon. 



The fact of the convergence of the senses is ihus a verv im- 

 portant one. If we had more senses, we should have fuller " pencils 

 of convergence." as a mathematician would sa\. We should know 

 more qualities, but (except incidentallx ) we should n(jt know more 

 things. Everything that is a "thing"' is a centre of so mam [jha.ses 



