xxxvi] TWO INQUIRERS INTO SPIRITUALISM 325 



taken him to the cabinet, placed him inside the sack, tied the 

 mouth of the sack as tightly with the string as you could, and 

 sealed the knots and likewise the two ends of the string to 

 the outside of the sack. Lastly, you might have shut and 

 locked the cabinet door. Then after a period varying from 

 one to two minutes, you would have heard the medium 

 knock, and on opening the door would have found him 

 outside the sack with his hands handcuffed behind his back 

 as before — the mouth of the sack being wide open, and all 

 the knots and seals intact. This performance the medium 

 would repeat any number of times. Having seen him do 

 this I was completely baffled (as I was with Williams), and 

 so would you have been unless you can suggest ' how it was 

 done,' and unless I add, what I do now, that I persuaded this 

 man to explain the trick." 



In reply to this I pointed out that the " sack " and hand- 

 cuff trick involved only one essential operation, that of quickly 

 slipping his hands in and out of the handcuffs, and that this 

 was probably done partly by a natural mobility of the bones 

 of the wrists and hand, partly by induced suppleness by long 

 practice. That being done while being put into the sack 

 inside the cabinet when the movement of his arms would 

 not be noticed, he had only to insert one or two fingers in the 

 neck of the sack while it was being tied, and all the rest was 

 easy. Nothing was needed or done but to slip out of the 

 handcuffs and slip off the string tied round the neck of the 

 sack. 



In the case of Williams, solid objects were moved which 

 were a long way from the medium, and two self-moving 

 objects — a luminous hand, and a head and face with mov- 

 able features, were produced and seen by all while the medium 

 was held and one of the party looked on outside the circle. 

 And I asked him what became of these solid objects after- 

 wards ? 



In his reply he said I was substantially right about the 

 way the " sack " trick was done. Also, that several years 

 afterwards Darwin wrote to him that Williams had been 

 detected by some one striking a light ! He therefore felt 



