SCIENCE AND THE "SPIRITS" 473 



nipped a muscle, and produced thereby an involuntary 

 vibration of the free leg. This vibration, I knew, must 

 be communicated to the floor, and thence to the chairs of 

 all present. I therefore intentionally promoted it. My 

 attention was promptly drawn to the motion; and a gen- 

 tleman beside me, whose value as a witness I was par- 

 ticularly desirous to test, expressed his belief that it was 

 out of the compass of human power to produce so strange 

 a tremor. "I believe," he added, earnestly, "that it is 

 entirely the spirits' work." "So do I," added, with heat, 

 the candid and warm-hearted old gentleman A. "Why, 

 sir," he continued, "I feel them at this moment shaking 

 my chair." I stopped the motion of the leg. "Now, sir," 

 A. exclaimed, "they are gone." I began again, and A. 

 once more affirmed their presence. I could, however, 

 notice that there were doubters present, who did not 

 quite know what to think of the manifestations. I saw 

 their perplexity; and, as there was sufficient reason to 

 believe that the disclosure of the secret would simply pro- 

 voke anger, I kept it to myself. 



Again a period of conversation intervened, during 

 which the spirits became animated. The evening was 

 confessedly a dull one, but matters appeared to brighten 

 toward its close. The spirits were requested to spell the 

 name by which I was known in the heavenly world. Our 

 host commenced repeating the alphabet, and when he 

 reached the letter "P" a knock was heard. He began 

 again, and the spirits knocked at the letter "O." I was 

 puzzled, but waited for the end. The next letter knocked 

 down was "E." I laughed, and remarked that the spirits 

 were going to make a poet of me. Admonished for my 

 levity, I was informed that the frame of mind proper for 



