SCIENCE AND THE 'SPIRITS.' 451 



not end here. Our host continued his repetition of 

 the .alphabet, and the next letter of the name proved 

 to be ' 0.' Here was manifestly an unfinished word; 

 and the spirits were apparently in their most communi- 

 cative mood. The knocks came from under the table, 

 but no person present evinced the slightest desire to 

 look under it. I asked whether I might go under- 

 neath; the permission was granted; so I crept under 

 the table. Some tittered; but the candid old A. ex- 

 claimed, ' He has a right to look into the very dregs of 

 it, to convince himself/ Having pretty well assured 

 myself that no sound could be produced under the 

 table without its origin being revealed, I requested our 

 host to continue his questions. He did so, but in vain. 

 He adopted a tone of tender entreaty; but the ' dear 

 spirits ' had become dumb dogs, and refused to be 

 entreated. I continued under that table for at least a 

 quarter of an hour, after which, with a feeling of 

 despair as regards the prospects of humanity never be- 

 fore experienced, I regained my chair. Once there, 

 the spirits resumed their loquacity, and dubbed me 

 ' Poet of Science/ 



This, then, is the result of an attempt made by a 

 scientific man to look into these spiritual phenomena. 

 It is not encouraging; and for this reason. The pres- 

 ent promoters of spiritual phenomena divide them- 

 selves into two classes, one of which needs no demon- 

 stration, while the other is beyond the reach of proof. 

 The victims like to believe, and they do not like to be 

 undeceived. Science is perfectly powerless in the pres- 

 ence of this frame of mind. It is, moreover, a state 

 perfectly compatible with extreme intellectual subtlety 

 and a capacity for devising hypotheses which only 

 require the hardihood engendered by strong conviction, 

 or by callous mendacity, to render them impregnable. 



