222 MEMOIR OF AUGUSTUS DE MORGAN. 



1853. ' Yes.' I then began pointing to the alphabet, with a book to 

 conceal the card, Mrs. H. being at the opposite side of a 

 round table (large), and a bright lamp between us. I pointed 

 letter by letter till I came to F, which I thought should be the 

 first initial. No rapping. The people round me said, ' You 

 have passed it ; there was a rapping at the beginning.' I went 

 back and heard the rapping distinctly at C. This puzzled me, 

 but in a moment I saw what it was. The sentence was begun 

 by the rapping agency earlier than I intended. I allowed C to 

 pass, and then got ~D T F C, being the initials of the con- 

 secutive words which I remembered to have been applied to my 

 father in an old review published in 1817, which no one in the 

 room had ever heard of but myself. C D T F C was all right, 

 and when I got so far I gave it up, perfectly satisfied that some- 

 thing, or somebody, or some spirit, was reading my thoughts. 

 This and the like went on for nearly three hours, during a great 

 part of which Mrs. H. was busy reading the ' Key to Uncle Tom's 

 Cabin,' which she had never seen before, and I assure you she 

 set to it, with just as much avidity as you may suppose an 

 American lady would who saw it for the first time, while we 

 were amusing ourselves with the raps in our own way. All this 

 I declare to be literally true. Since that time I have seen it 

 in my house frequently, various persons presenting themselves. 

 The answers are given mostly by the table, on which a hand or 

 two is gently placed, tilting up at the letters. There is much 

 which is confused in the answers, but every now and then comes 

 something which surprises us. I have no theory about it, but 

 in a year or two something curious may turn up. I am, how- 

 ever, satisfied of the reality of the phenomenon. A great many 

 other persons are as cognizant of these phenomena in their own 

 houses as myself. Make what you can of it if you are a philoso- 

 pher. 



Now I must shut up. Give my best regards, &c. 



Yours very sincerely, 



A. DE MORGAN. 



To Professor Michael Foster. 



November 15, 1853. 



University DEAR SIB, You have asked me for a sketch of my chief 



Examina- objections to the system pursued in the University of London. 



tions. This is a matter into which I have not time to enter in great 



detail ; nor would it be necessary. I have always looked forward 



