PSYCHIC FORCE AND PSYCHIC MEDIA. 
37 
new apparatus without the necessary diagrams also arises in 
this case. 66 A piece of thin parchment is stretched tightly 
across a circular hoop of wood. At the end b of a freely- 
moving lever is a vertical point touching this membrane, and 
at the other end is another needle point projecting horizontally 
and touching a smoked glass plate, which is moved along by 
clockwork. The end of the lever is weighted so that it shall 
quickly follow the movements of the centre of the disk, and 
these movements are transmitted and recorded on the smoked 
glass plate by means of the lever and the other needle point. 
Holes are cut in the side of the hoop to allow a free passage of 
air to the under side of the membrane.” It was then ascer- 
tained that “no shaking or jar on the table or support would 
interfere with the results — the line traced by the point on the 
smoked glass was perfectly straight in spite of all our attempts 
to influence the lever by shaking the stand and stamping on 
the floor.” As we read this statement we were very much 
astonished and could scarcely credit it, but thought that it was 
only fair to Mr. Crookes to test it by an appeal to a very simple 
experiment. A banjo was placed on an ordinary dining-room 
table, with the strings first stretched tight and subsequently 
relaxed. It is obvious that the membrane in this instrument 
roughly represents the membrane in Mr. Crookes’ apparatus ; 
but, as we have only the ear to detect any vibrations, the means 
of observation are probably much less delicate in our experi- 
ment than in his. Yet, with all these disadvantages, it was 
found in all cases that the very slightest tremor communicated 
to the table sufficed to agitate the membrane, whilst walking 
across or stamping on the floor produced a distinct resonance. 
We shall return to the discussion of this point later on, but 
proceed now with the account of the experiment. The lady 
placed her fingers on the wooden stand at some little distance 
(the exact distance is not stated) from the membrane, and Mr. 
Crookes placed his hands over hers in order to detect any 
conscious or unconscious movement. In a short time came the 
result. Presently “ percussive noises were heard on the parch- 
ment, resembling the dropping of grains of sand on its surface, 
and at each percussion the further end of the lever moved up 
and down. Sometimes these sounds were rapid, and at other 
times more than a second apart.” Five or six tracings were 
taken on the smoked glass, some of which are given in the 
paper, and the disturbances it will be seen are in all cases very 
small indeed, showing that as the delicacy of the apparatus is 
increased the results decrease. Mr. Home was then tried with 
the same apparatus, but he did not touch the board. His 
hand was held over the diaphragm about 10 inches from its 
surface, and after remaining in this position for about half a 
