108 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. V., No. 105. 



chair, and the direction of motion was that of 

 the pressure. 



Three men, or indeed as many as could 

 get hold of the chair, were then invited to hold 

 it still if the} T could. This was the most 

 amusing and exciting part of the spectacle. 

 The men tried in vain to hold the chair still, 

 while Miss Lulu simply moved around in the 

 quietest imaginable wa}. , touching it with her 

 finger first here and then there, until finally 

 the force became so great that the chair began 

 to crack, and seemingly almost pull itself to 

 pieces. The explanation was, however, per- 

 fectly obvious. There was no concert of 

 action among the four muscular holders, more 

 than that each one tried to keep the chair 

 still by resisting an}' force which he felt it to 

 exert. A few jerks in various directions by 

 the performer led them to begin resisting her 

 motion by pulling the chair first this way and 

 then that. It was of course impossible for 

 any one holder to tell whether the motion came 

 from the performer or from his companions. 

 The result was, that they all began to wrench 

 desperately against each other until the chair 

 came to pieces. 



The scientific tests were productive of the 

 usual result, — that ghosts, spirits, and occult 

 forces absolutely refuse to perform their func- 

 tions in the presence of scientific parapherna- 

 lia. A platform had been placed on rollers in 

 the middle of the room, and Miss Hurst was 

 invited to set the rod in motion while she stood 

 on that platform. Her parents were perfectly 

 confident that she could do it, and she did go 

 so far as to commence one feeble attempt ; 

 but the forces refused to operate, or rather 

 the platform persisted in rolling about, and 

 the attempt had to be given up. She then 

 stood upon the platform of a pair of scales, 

 the counterpoise of which was so adjusted, that, 

 when she exerted a lifting-force exceeding 

 forty pounds, the arm would be raised. A 

 spectator sat in the chair in front of the scales. 

 It was soon found, that, owing to the platform 

 being some six inches above the floor, the 

 chair was lower than she had been accustomed 

 to have it : it was therefore set upon a little 

 platform of the same height as that of the 

 scales, so that the position was the same as if 

 both stood on the floor. The performer pressed 

 her hands against the sides of the back of the 

 chair, according to custom. The motion was 

 long in commencing, and, when it began to 

 appear, click ! went the lever of the scales, 

 showing that a force of more than forty pounds 

 was exerted. This seemed to demoralize the 

 performer, and, notwithstanding a great deal 



of chiding from her parents, nothi-ng more 

 could be done while she stood in this position. 



From various allusions in the public press, 

 it would seem that the wonderful ' magnetic 

 girl ' has not yet ceased to draw full houses. 

 The editor of the Chicago Inter-ocean made 

 a careful investigation of the case, and showed 

 that it could not possibly be electricity which 

 caused the motion ; but he does not essay an 

 explanation of what the force was. 



Although it would be unjust and pretentious 

 to say that no one sees the absurdly simple 

 character of the performance, it would appear 

 that there are man}' who are mystified by it, 

 and that, should we accept the existing testi- 

 mony on the subject as complete, we should 

 be compelled to admit that some new form 

 of force had been discovered. It is indeed 

 possible that the absurd simplicity of the 

 affair may help to give it vitality ; for, as 

 already indicated , not only is there no mystery 

 or concealment, but there is not even a resort 

 to the tricks of legerdemain, which consist 

 very largely in distracting the observers' at- 

 tention at the critical moment. The assump- 

 tion, that, because Miss Lulu begins by touch- 

 ing the articles deftly with her fingers, she 

 never takes them with a firm grip, is one 

 which the spectator takes upon himself with- 

 out any effort on the performer's part to cause 

 that illusion. 



This account is presented to the readers of 

 Science, because, taken in connection with de- 

 scriptions of the performance given by thou- 

 sands of spectators, many of them critical 

 observers, it affords the basis of a reply to 

 those who have seen chairs, tables, and pianos 

 dance without human agenc}\ 



S. Newcomb. 



THE NANTUCKET MUSEUM. 



The little town of Nantucket, on the island 

 of that name off the southern coast of Massa- 

 chusetts, boasts a little museum sui generis. 

 The first thing which strikes a visitor is the 

 extremely heterogeneous character of its collec- 

 tions. It is certainly amusing to see, side by 

 side with specimens of rare interest and scien- 

 tific value, such entirely valueless things as 

 pieces of melted glass from the Chicago fire, 

 and bits of wood from the frigate Constitution ; 

 but most of the ' curiosities ' have some local 

 value, being connected with the past whale-fish- 

 eiy, and were collected by the whalemen of the 

 town in their wide wanderings. Hanging on 

 the walls, lying on the tables and even on the 



