Mat 20, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



779 



regards the class of phenomena which Pal- 

 ladino has attempted to produce in this coun- 

 try, though as regards quantity, rather than 

 quality, they should be regarded as poor sit- 

 tings. 



I was particularly struck by an incident 

 which occurred during the third sitting (Jan- 

 uary 22, 10:32 p.m.) which goes to show how 

 very cautious one must be in accepting as 

 evidential motions of objects apparently out of 

 reach of the medium. 



From 10:29 p.m. until 10:32 p.m. objects 

 were moved in the cabinet behind E. P. while 

 she was under the following conditions of con- 

 trol — feet tied together by a rope which pre- 

 vented her from separating them by more 

 than eight inches, in addition her ankles were 

 held by one of the sitters who had taken up a 

 position on the floor, each wrist tied to a wrist 

 of her neighbor, on the right and left, by 

 means of a rope which allowed her ten 

 inches free motion in case she should elude 

 the tactile control which her neighbors were 

 endeavoring to keep. The light in the room 

 at the time was that from a frosted electric 

 bulb which I estimated to be giving about 

 four candle power, placed about four feet 

 from the medium's head. 



It would seem that the objects moved in the 

 cabinet were outside the range of free motion 

 of her hands and feet and the motions seemed 

 to be taking place under what might be called 

 " test conditions." However, the shorthand 

 report of this sitting shows that three of the 

 sitters were convinced that the motions were 

 caused by the medium knocking over objects 

 in the cabinet with the back of her chair — I 

 noted that so soon as her chair was moved 

 openly a few moments afterwards more ob- 

 jects fell. 



I mention this particular incident as I 

 think it shows how difficult it is to obtain 

 really " test conditions." Incidents of a similar 

 character at other sittings I have attended, 

 where at first sight the conditions of control 

 seemed excellent, have rendered me extremely 

 reluctant to base an opinion as to this re- 

 markable woman on the very interesting re- 

 ports of her numerous European sittings, but, 



so far as the evidence collected at the rela- 

 tively uninteresting American series of sit- 

 tings is concerned, I think it is decidedly un- 

 favorable to Eusapia Palladino's pretensions. 

 Augustus Trowbridge 



After attending six sittings with Eusapia 

 Palladino, I find myself in much the same 

 position as at the start. 



Many things have occurred which I find 

 great difiiculty in explaining by fraud while I 

 have repeatedly seen trickery employed. I 

 have succeeded in watching the manifesta- 

 tions within the cabinet throughout two entire 

 evenings, the floor being illuminated with a 

 feeble light which was thrown by means of a 

 mirror through a crack between the bottom of 

 the cabinet and the floor. The cabinet was 

 of wood built into a doorway, so that it pro- 

 jected back into the adjoining room. My 

 plan was to employ a powerful X-ray appa- 

 ratus and a large fluorescent screen, so that a 

 shadow picture of whatever was going on 

 within the cabinet could be obtained in the 

 back room at any instant without the knowl- 

 edge of the medium. 



The interior of the cabinet I viewed 

 through a large hole cut in the top, reclining 

 on a mattress placed on the top of an instru- 

 ment case adjoining the doorway. The X- 

 ray tube was placed within the instrument 

 case and carefully muffled, the fluorescent 

 screen three feet square was placed against 

 the opposite wall of the cabinet, on the out- 

 side of course. This apparatus was never 

 actually used, owing to the sudden termina- 

 tion of the sittings, but it was set up and 

 thoroughly tested, and gave excellent satis- 

 faction. I mention it as it may be of use to 

 future investigators, for, if properly installed, 

 it is proof against any fraud, as it can be 

 used without the medium's knowledge. 



Erom my position above the cabinet I saw 

 that whenever anything in the cabinet was 

 moved the curtain was pushed back, a black 

 object reaching in from Palladino's back 

 groping around and finally seizing the table. 

 Those who believe in Eusapia's supernormal 

 powers will say that this was the third arm. 



