SCIENCE AND SPIRITS. 



THEIR refusal to investigate &quot; spiritual phenomena &quot; is 

 often urged as a reproach to scientific men. I here propose 

 to give a sketch of an attempt to apply to the &quot; phenom 

 ena &quot; those methods of inquiry which are found available 

 iu dealing with natural truth. 



Some time ago, when the spirits were particularly 

 active in this country, a celebrated philosopher was invited, 

 or rather entreated, by one of his friends to meet and ques 

 tion them. He had, however, already made their acquaint 

 ance, and did not wish to renew it. I had not been so 

 privileged, and he therefore kindly arranged a transfer of 

 the invitation to me. The spirits themselves named the 

 time of meeting, and I was conducted to the place at the 

 day and hour appointed. 



Absolute unbelief in the facts was by no means my con 

 dition of mind. On the contrary, I thought it probable 

 that some physical principle, not evident to the spiritualists 

 themselves, might underlie their manifestations. Extraor 

 dinary effects are produced by the accumulation of small 

 impulses. Galileo set a heavy pendulum in motion by the 

 well-timed puffs of his breath. Ellicot set one clock going 

 by the ticks of another, even when the two clocks were 

 separated by a wall. Preconceived notions can, moreover, 

 vitiate, to an extraordinary degree, the testimony of even 

 veracious persons. Hence my desire to witness those ex 

 traordinary phenomena, the existence of which seemed 

 placed beyond a doubt by the known veracity of those who 

 li;i;l Avitnessed and described them. The meeting took 



