SPIRITUALISM 



5502 



SPIROMETER 



were already current (particularly in France), 

 and were readily used for spiritualistic com- 

 munication; they are examples of unconscious 

 movements (see SUBCONSCIOUS). Finally, the 

 apparitions, haunted houses, noisy spirits have 

 always been reported as part of popular belief 

 and referred to a spirit origin. Thus modern 

 spiritualism is essentially a revival of a general 

 belief adopting newer modes of expression (and 

 in its most recent phases raising issues more 

 scientifically stated), which has a long history 

 and has served to satisfy a certain type of in- 

 terest and inquiry; such interest is closely re- 

 lated to the "occult." The loose character of 

 the evidence, the invitation to fraud and self- 

 delusion, the emotional interest in the issue, 

 the contagious spread, the attraction of such 

 beliefs to those of unstable mental disposition 

 all contribute to the readiness with which the 

 spiritualistic performances were made to sup- 

 port unscientific belief and to conceal true 

 motives for its popularity. 



A critical investigation of spiritualism dis- 

 tinguishes the physical phenomena and the 

 spiritual or revelational. The former consist 

 of appearances seemingly defying the laws of 

 physics; typically, they involve the assump- 

 tion that the effect could not be ascribed to the 

 ordinary agency of the medium. There is ab- 

 solutely no connection between the failure to 

 detect the manner in which the performance 

 (or trick) is done and the conclusion that it is 

 to be referred to a spirit. Nothing is more 

 constant in the annals of spiritualism than the 

 emphatic statement of investigators that fraud 

 was eliminated, and yet the result was shown 

 to be nothing more than a bare-faced or 

 shrewd trick. Mediums have made interna- 

 tional reputations, and there have been per- 

 formances heralded as marvelous and endorsed 

 by men of great reputation and scientific dis- 

 tinction; yet a proper investigation readily 

 disclosed the method. 



The best known of such instances is that 

 of Eusapia Paladino, whose performances in- 

 volved nothing more than the movement of a 

 light table or the disturbance of objects in a 

 draped corner, while apparently her hands and 

 feet were controlled. As a fact, she is remark- 

 ably skilful in concealing the action by which 

 she moves table and objects and in escaping 

 from the control of the sitters. Substantially 

 all the authentic performances of mediums 

 have been repeated by conjurers; while in such 

 tricks as slate writing the whole effect depends 

 upon the illusion of the sitter that he has had 



constant sight of the slates, or upon the failure 

 to detect the substitution of a prepared slate, 

 or upon the action of the table to serve as a 

 screen while the message is written under the 

 table. A piece of gauze, a low light, an ex- 

 pectant atmosphere and a convinced sitter will 

 create a recognized spirit; while releases from 

 ties and knots prove nothing but the adroit- 

 ness of the medium. The vulgar atmosphere 

 of fraud surrounding the physical performances 

 is established. Yet they have served an edu- 

 cational purpose in proving how treacherous is 

 unimpeachable evidence, how elusive fraud 

 may become, how technical is the skill needed 

 to discover it, how readily bias makes marvels 

 out of plain tricks. 



The revelational evidence (apart from the 

 crude answers to questions in an ordinary 

 seance) is of a different nature. It depends for 

 its value upon its intrinsic character; upon the 

 probability that the medium could not have 

 attained it by ordinary means; upon the cor- 

 roboration of the revelations. This type of evi- 

 dence is difficult to estimate; the opportunities 

 for exaggeration and delusion are subtle; more 

 than all else, the cooperation of the medium 

 (who may be in a trance state) is indispensable, 

 and is not readily secured. It is the impressive- 

 ness of cumulative revelation that makes con- 

 verts to the spiritualistic hypothesis of survival 

 and communication of the departed. While 

 leaving as open-minded a reserve as is com- 

 patible with' a scientific attitude, one may yet 

 maintain that recent studies in psychology, 

 which prove the extreme subtlety of the mind's 

 operations and the large part played by sub- 

 conscious tendencies, will eventually account 

 for the revelational aspect of evidence . j .j . 



Consult Abbott's Behind the Scenes with the 

 Mediums; Flournoy's Spiritism and Psychology. 



Relating: to Various Beliefs. The articles on 



the following topics, while not bearing on spir- 

 itualism, are of interest in this connection: 



Alchemy Occult 



Astrology Palmistry 



Clairvoyance Phrenology 



Conjuring Physiognomy 



Demonology Psychical Research 



Divination Psycho-Analysis 



Faith Cure Suggestion 



Hypnotism Superstition 



Magic Telepathy 



Medium Theosophy 



Mesmerism Trance 



Mind Reading Witchcraft 

 Necromancy 



SPIROMETER, spirom'eter, a device for 

 measuring the capacity of the human lungs; 



