SCIENCE AND THE " SPIRITS'' 



119 



wine, still oscillating in the glasses, and 

 I was asked whether that was not con- 

 vincing. I readily granted the fact of 

 motion, and began to feel the delicacy of 

 my position. There were several pairs 

 of arms upon the table, and several pairs 

 of legs under it ; but how was I, without 

 offence, to express the conviction which 

 I really entertained ? To ward off the 

 difficulty, I again turned a wine-glass 

 upside down and rested my ear upon it. 

 The rim of the glass was not level, and 

 my hair, on touching it, caused it to 

 vibrate, and produce a peculiar buzzing 

 sound. A perfectly candid and warm- 

 hearted old gentleman at the opposite 

 side of the table, whom I may call A., 

 drew attention to the sound, and ex- 

 pressed his entire belief that it was 

 spiritual. I, however, informed him that 

 it was the moving hair acting on the 

 glass. The explanation was not well 

 received; and X., in a tone of severe 

 pleasantry, demanded whether it was the 

 hair that had moved the table. The 

 promptness of my negative probably 

 satisfied him that my notion was a very 

 different one. 



The superhuman power of the spirits 

 was next dwelt upon. The strength of 

 man, it was stated, was unavailing in 

 opposition to theirs. No human power 

 could prevent the table from moving 

 when they pulled it. During the evening 

 this pulling of the table occurred, or 

 rather was attempted, three times. 

 Twice the table moved when my atten- 

 tion was withdrawn from it ; on a third 

 occasion, I tried whether the act could 

 be provoked by an assumed air of 

 inattention. Grasping the table firmly 

 between my knees, I threw myself back 

 in the chair, and waited, with eyes fixed 

 on vacancy, for the pull. It came. For 

 some seconds it was pull spirit, hold 

 muscle ; the muscle, however, prevailed, 

 and the table remained at rest. Up to 

 the present moment, this interesting fact 

 is known only to the particular spirit in 

 question and myself. 



A species of mental scene-painting, 

 with which my own pursuits had long 



rendered me familiar, was employed to 

 figure the changes and distribution of 

 spiritual power. The spirits, it was 

 alleged, were provided with atmospheres, 

 which combined with and interpenetrated 

 each other, and considerable ingenuity 

 was shown in demonstrating the neces- 

 sity of time in effecting the adjustment 

 of the atmospheres. A re-arrange- 

 ment of our positions was proposed 

 and carried out ; and soon afterwards 

 my attention was drawn to a scarcely 

 sensible vibration on the part of the 

 table. Several persons were leaning on 

 the table at the time, and I asked per- 

 mission to touch the medium's hand. 

 " Oh ! I know I tremble," was her reply. 

 Throwing one leg across the other, I 

 accidentally nipped a muscle, and pro- 

 duced thereby an involuntary vibration 

 of the free leg. This vibration, I knew, 

 must be communicated to the floor, and 

 thence to the chairs of all present. I 

 therefore intentionally promoted it. My 

 attention was promptly drawn to the 

 motion ; and a gentleman beside me, 

 whose value as a witness I was particu- 

 larly desirous to test, expressed his belief 

 that it was out of the compass of human 

 power to produce so strange a tremor. 

 " I believe," he added, earnestly, " that 

 it is entirely the spirits' work." " So do 

 I," added, with heat, the candid and 

 warm-hearted old gentleman A. " Why, 

 sir," he continued, " I feel them at this 

 moment shaking my chair." I stopped 

 the motion of the leg. " Now, sir," A. 

 exclaimed, "they are gone." I began 

 again, and A. once more affirmed their 

 presence. I could, however, notice that 

 there were doubters present, who did not 

 quite know what to think of the mani- 

 festations. I saw their perplexity ; and, 

 as there was sufficient reason to believe 

 that the disclosure of the secret would 

 simply provoke anger, I kept it to myself. 

 Again a period of conversation inter- 

 vened, during which the spirits became 

 animated. The evening was confessedly 

 a dull one, but matters appeared to 

 brighten towards its close. The spirits 

 were requested to spell the name by 



