1 877.] 
Notices of Boohs. 
405 
well be excused if they thought it was a trick to impose upon 
them. I find now that in the other case quoted by Dr. Carpenter, 
the note for £100 publicly stated to have been enclosed by Sir 
Philip Crampton in a letter, and placed in a bank in Dublin, to 
become the property of any clairvoyant who should read the 
whole of it — this was actually the case. After six months the 
letter was opened, and the manager of the bank certified that it 
contained no note at all, but a blank cheque ! The correspond- 
ence on the subject is published in the “ Zoist,” vol. x., p. 35, 
Dr. Carpenter’s indignation was therefore misplaced ; for, as a 
medical knight in Ireland did actually play such a trick, the mere 
supposition on my part, that ignorant clairvoyants might think 
that a medical knight in Scotland was capable of doing the same, 
was not a very outrageous one. 
We now come to the last part of Dr. Carpenter’s lecture — - 
Table-Turning and Spiritualism, and here there is hardly any 
attempt to deal with the evidence. Instead of this we have 
irrelevant matters put prominently forward, backed up by sneers 
against believers, and false or unproved accusations against 
mediums. To begin with, the old amusement of table-turning 
of fifteen or twenty years ago, with Faraday’s proof that it was 
often caused by unconscious muscular action, is again brought 
to the front. Table-tilting is asserted to be caused in the same 
way, and an “ indicator ” is suggested for proving this ; and the 
whole matter is supposed to be settled because no one, so far as 
Dr. Carpenter is aware, “ has ever ventured to affirm that he has 
thus demonstrated the absence of muscular pressure,” and “until 
such demonstrations shall have been given, the tilting — like the 
turning — of tables may be unhesitatingly attributed to the un- 
conscious muscular action of the operators.” We suppose Dr. 
Carpenter will shield himself by the “ thus ” in the above 
sentence, though he knows very well that a far more complete 
demonstration of the absence of muscular pressure than any 
indicator could afford has been repeatedly given, by motion, both 
turning and tilting, of the table occurring without any contact 
whatever . Thus, in the Report of the Committee of the Dialec- 
tical Society, we have (p. 378), Experiment 13, nine members 
present, all stood quite clear of the table, and observers were 
placed under it to see that it was not touched, yet it repeatedly 
moved along the floor, often in the direction asked for. It also 
jerked up from the floor about an inch. This was repeated when 
all stood 2 feet from the table. Experiment 22. Six members 
present, the same thing occurred under varied conditions. 
Experiment 38 (p. 390). Eight members present, the conditions 
were most rigid ; the chairs were all turned with their backs to 
the table at a foot distant from it ; every member present knelt 
on his chair with his hands behind his back ; there was abund- 
ance of light, yet, under these test-conditions, the table moved 
several times in various directions, visible to all present. Finally 
