Triiiixition Stniliix tV.\ 



Darwin iuid (ialton iilnnc. It is jnohahle that this n-hictance Ird (iajton i<i 

 a less agnostic attitude towards spiritualism. If there w«Te any other ex- 

 periences which \vx\ to his final rejection of spirituahst clainis, I have not 

 found traces of them in his correspondence. It is possihle that he In'rame 

 acijuainted witli iiohert JJruwning's poem, Mr SlmU/f, " The MnHniii," and 

 he would be certain to read Huxley's ref)<»rt to Darwin on the trickery of 

 another medium. The letters and paragraphs in letters to Charles Darwin 

 on this subject are as follows: 



a Bertie Terrace, I.«aniin!rton. March 28, '72. 

 My deak Dahwin I enclose tlie reviswl HtaUMiu-iit libuut tlie curious trick' in Dr X's 

 family. I questioned hi.s widow only a fortnight lx!fore lior death, all his 7 children, his son's 

 wife and her 2 nufst<s. There is no contradictory evidence whatever. 



Now about Mr Crookes, T have Ix'en twice at his house in seance with Miss P. who puts her 

 powers us a friend entirely at his disposal, and once at a noisy but curious st^ancn at .Sergeant 

 Cox's. 1 can only say, as yet, that I am utterly confounded with the resultH, and am very dis- 

 inclined to discredit thoni. Crookes is workinsj delilierately and well. There is not the slightt-st 

 excitement durin;; the sittinjtjs, but they are conducte<l in a chatty ea.sy way; and though a 

 large part of what occurs might lie done, if Uie ni'-diiitn wert free^ yet I don't see how it can lie 

 done when they are held hand and foot as is the case. I shall go on with the matter as far as 

 ^^^^I can, but I see it is no use to try to enquire thoroughly unless you have (as Crookes says) com- 

 ^^fclete jHjssession of « first chuss mediuui. The whole rubliish of spiritualism seems to me to stand 

 ^^Knd fall together. All oniers are given by nips, — levitation, luminous appearances, hands, 

 ^^■Writings and the like are all part of one complete system. 



^^H The following is confidential at present. What will interest you very much, is that Crookes 

 ^^Bias needles (of some material not yet divulged) which he hangs in vacuo in little bulbs of glass, 

 ^^^^hen the finger is approachi^d the needle moves, sometimes (?) by attraction, .sometimes by 

 repulsion It is not affected at all when the operator is jaded but it moves most rapidly when 

 he is bright, and warm and comfortable, after dinner. Now different people have different power 

 over the needje and Miss F. has extraordinary fujwer. I moved it myself and saw Crookes move 

 it, lint I did not see Miss F. {f-ren the warmth of the hand cannot radiate through glass). 

 Crookes Ix^lieves he has hold of quite a gratul di.scovery and Ujld me and showeiJ me what I have 

 described quite confidentially, but I asked him if I might say something about it to you and he 

 gave permission'. 



I can't write at length to describe more particularly the extraordinary things of my last 

 B^nce on Monday. I had hold in one of my hands of bulk han<ls of Mi.ss F.'s companion who 

 also rested both her feet on my in8t«>p and Crookes had equally firm fKwses-sion of Miss F. The 

 other i>eople present were his wife and her mother and all hands were joined. Yet paper 

 went skinmiing in the dark about the room and after the word 'Listen' was rapj)ed out the 

 1^^ pencil was heard (in the complete darknes-s) to be writing at a furious rate under the table, 

 f^J between Cnwkes and his wife and when that was over and we were told (rappetl) to light up, 

 the paper was writU'n over — all the side of a bit of marked note pajwr (marked for the ocensidti 

 and therefore known to be blank when we began) with very respectable platitudes — rather alxive 



te level of Martin Tupper's compositions and signed "Benjamin Franklin"'! The absurdity on 

 ' An hereditary habit of rather violently stroking the nose, while aslet>p, .so that the thumb- 

 il occivsionally laoerate<l that organ. I have just ascertained that it has been transmittetl to 

 Mneration liorn since 1872. 

 ^ It is not clear from this passage how far either Crookes or Galton originnlK- «svo.-|ated 

 l/Tookes' radiometer with mediumi.stic powers. 



' As to Franklin : " yourself 



Explaine<l the case so well last Sunday, sir, 



I^|i When we had summoned Franklin to clear up 



^^t^ A point about those shares i' the telegraph:" 



^fr Sludge, ''The M/'dium,' R. Browning's Works, Vol. VII, p. 1^3, i -■-.' 

 Sludye was Home, and Browning although, unlike Galton, he was able to con^^ct him of ti ,u;.i 



