April 16, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



34] 



supported by the evidence Mr. Weeks cites from 

 practice. In the hosiery and glove trade at Not- 

 tingham, England, a board of arbitration was 

 established in 1860, and since that time not a 

 single general strike nor difference about wages 

 has occurred that was not settled amicably. The 

 iron trade in the north of England has a similar 

 story to tell. The Conseils des prucFhommes in 

 France and Belgium bring cumulative evidence. 



A coming-together of this kind every month or 

 six weeks, and meeting as equals for the discus- 

 sion of affairs of common interest and importance, 

 would have a magic effect in ascertaining the facts 

 and suggesting concessions, as well as in removing 

 that false pride and foolish obstinacy that aggra- 

 vate so much every dispute about labor. The 

 present appeal to brute force is as absurd and 

 worthless as it is antiquated. It is economically 

 and ethically a crime. Knowledge, moderation, 

 and Christian charity will permanently re-organize 

 industry on a plane where the strikes and boycotts 

 of mediaeval inheritance will be unknown. 



Nicholas Murray Butler. 



APPARITION'S AXD HAUNTED HOUSES. 



The committee on apparitions and haunted 

 houses, of the American society for psychical re- 

 search, have issued a circular to invite communi- 

 cations from persons who may be able to help 

 them in an examination of the phenomena that 

 fall within their province. 



They particularly desire information regarding 

 supposed cases of apparitions of absent or de- 

 ceased persons. It is well known that from time 

 to time there are related or published accounts of 

 people who are said to have seen, as present, per- 

 sons who were it the time actually either absent 

 or dead. As a proof of the genuineness of these ap- 

 pearances, the accounts frequently add that the per- 

 sons who have had these experiences have learned, 

 through them, about some otherwise unknown 

 facts, afterwards verified ; such, for instance, as 

 death or illness, or some other calamity which has 

 actually happened, at or near the time of the ap- 

 parition itself, to the distant person whose ap- 

 pearance is narrated. Other proofs of the reality 

 and significance of the supposed apparitions are 

 sometimes narrated. 



The committee wish to collect accounts, from 

 trustworthy sources, of all such alleged occur- 

 rences, as well as accounts of other similar per- 

 sonal experiences which may have been striking 

 enough for the persons concerned to remember, or 

 perhaps record. Such accounts the committee 

 propose to collate and examine, with a view to 

 drawing such conclusions from them as may seem 



proper and warranted. In order that the results, 

 if any are reached, may have value, the com- 

 mittee, while not wishing to exclude any informa- 

 tion likely to be useful, will be especially glad to 

 hear directly from the persons themselves who 

 have had the experiences in question, with such 

 further information as will enable the committee 

 to verify the accounts given, whether by the ac- 

 counts of other witnesses, by the use of docu- 

 ments, or by means of other collateral testimony. 

 Persons who have information bearing on the mat- 

 ters before the committee may find the following 

 questions useful guides in stating their evidence. 

 Such answers as can be furnished, in any case, 

 should be given as explicitly as possible, in the 

 com m imications addressed to the committee. 



1. To whom and when did the experience in 

 question occur ? What was his (or her) age, na- 

 tionality, and occupation ; and what was his (or 

 her) state of health or of mind at the time of the 

 apparition ? At what horn* of the day did it ap- 

 pear, and at what place ? 



2. Had the narrator of the experience in ques- 

 tion ever had hallucinations, or seen apparitions 

 before, or has such an occurrence ever happened 

 since? If so, describe these other experiences, 

 giving then time and place, and compare or con- 

 trast them with the one in question. 



3. Does the narrator believe in ghosts ? Or has 

 he, before this experience, believed in apparitions 

 of any sort, as probable sources of knowledge 

 about absent or dead persons? 



4. To what senses did the apparition appeal ? If 

 it appeared clearly to the eye, describe the color, 

 the form, place, apparent distance, size, clearness, 

 the length of time of endurance, and all other 

 remembered qualities of the object seen. Was it 

 ' as large as life,' i.e., as large as the person or 

 thing supposed to have been seen would naturally 

 have appeared ? Were the other objects present 

 at the time (such as the real wall, or a real table 

 or chair) visible through it ? Did it stand still, or 

 move about ? Did it remain clear, or come and 

 go ? Could it be touched ? Was it seen in the 

 darkness, or in the light ? If the experience 

 in question was not something seen, but some- 

 thing heard or felt, describe it as clearly as pos- 

 sible, and in a similarly definite manner, laying 

 stress on whatever may show exactly what was 

 experienced. 



5. If the apparition seemed to give warning, or 

 other knowledge of any future or distant fact, did 

 the narrator relate the incident to any one, or give 

 notice of the warning conveyed, before he was 

 able to verify the facts supposed to have been 

 revealed ? Did he record these facts before he 

 verified them ? If so, is the record now extant, or 



