244 SCIENCE IN SHORT CHAPTERS. 



another professional medium, and yet there are people in 

 London who gravely believe this story, and also the appen- 

 dix, viz. : that another member of the mediumistic firm, 

 finding that Mrs. G. was very incompletely dressed, and 

 much abashed thereby, was translated by the same spirit, 

 Katey, to her house and back again through the door-panel 

 to fetch proper garments. If I could justify the appre- 

 hension and imprisonment of poor gipsy fortune-tellers, 

 I certainly should advocate the close confinement of Mrs. 

 Guppy and her male associates, and thus afford the potent 

 spirit, Katey, an opportunity of further manifestation by 

 translating them through the prison walls and back to 

 Lamb's Conduit Street. 



( The above letter appeared in the " Birmingham Morn- 

 ing News" of July 18, 1871 ; the following on November 

 15. It refers to an article in the " Quarterly \Eeview" of 

 October, 1871.)- 



The interest excited by Mr. Crookes's investigations on 

 Psychic Force is increasing; the demand for the " Quartely 

 Keview" and the "Quarterly Journal of Science" is so 

 great that Mudie and other proprietors of lending libraries 

 have largely increased their customary supplies, and are still 

 besieged with further excess of demand. Not only bor- 

 rowers, but purchasers also are supplied with difficulty. I 

 yesterday received a post-card from a bookseller, inscribed 

 as follows : "Cannot get a ' Quarterly Keview ' in the City, 

 so shall be unable to send it to you until to-morrow." I 

 have waited three days, and am now obliged to go to the 

 reading-room to make my quotations. 



There is good and sufficient reason for this, indepen- 

 dently of the absence of Parliamentary and war news, and 

 the dearth of political revolutions. Either a new and most 

 extraordinary natural force has been discovered, or some 

 very eminent men specially trained in rigid physical in- 

 vestigation have been the victims of a marvelous, unpre- 

 cedented, and inexplicable physical delusion. I say un- 

 precedented, because, although we have records of many 

 popular delusions of similar kind and equal magnitude* 

 and speculative delusions among the learned, I can cite no 

 instance of skillful experimental experts being utterly and 



