1853.] Experimented Investigation of Table-Moving. 389 



strong lateral action of the hand. All being thus arranged, 

 except that the lever was away, the two boards were tied 

 together with string, running parallel to the vulcanized rubber 

 springs, so as to be immoveable in relation to each other. They 

 were then placed on the table, and a table-turner sat down to 

 them : the table very shortly moved in due order, showing 

 that the apparatus offered no impediment to the action. A 

 like apparatus, with metal rollers, produced the same result 

 under the hands of another person. The index was now put 

 into its place and the string loosened, so that the springs should 

 come into play. It was soon seen, with the party that could 

 will the motion in either direction (from whom the index was 

 purposely hidden), that the hands were gradually creeping up 

 in the direction before agreed upon, though the party certainly 

 thought they were pressing downwards only. When shown that 

 it was so, they were truly surprised ; but when they lifted up 

 their hands and immediately saw the index return to its normal 

 position, they were convinced. When they looked at the 

 index and could see for themselves whether they were pressing 

 truly downwards, or obliquely so as to produce a resultant in 

 the right- or left-handed direction, then such an effect never 

 took place. Several tried, for a long while together, and with 

 the best will in the world ; but no motion, right or left, of 

 the table, or hand, or anything else occurred. [Then occurs a 

 passage from the ' Times,' already printed at pp. 383, 384-.] 



Another form of index was applied thus : a circular hole 

 was cut in the middle of the upper board, and a piece of 

 cartridge paper pasted under it on the lower surface of the 

 board ; a thin slice of cork was fixed on the upper surface of 

 the lower board corresponding to the cartridge paper; the 

 interval between them might be a quarter of an inch or less. 

 A needle was fixed into the end of one of the index hay-stalks, 

 and when all was in place the needle point was passed through 

 the cartridge paper and pressed slightly into the cork beneath, 

 so as to stand upright : then any motion of the hand, or hand- 

 board, was instantly rendered evident by the deflection of the 

 perpendicular hay-stalk to the right or left. 



I think the apparatus I have described may be useful to 

 many who really wish to know the truth of nature, and would 

 prefer that truth to a mistaken conclusion ; desired, perhaps 



