SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALISM.

Otago Witness, Issue 1179, 4 July 1874, Page 8

SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALISM.

New York Weekly Tribune. No more remarkable article has appeared in any scientific journal for many years than one in the January number of the Quarterly Journal of Science, from the pen of its editor, Mr William Crookes. It may be remembered that, several years ago, Mr Orookes gave an account of certain experiments which he had made upon the so-called spiritual manifestations, as developed in the presence of Mr David D. Home, and the flutter into which the scientific community was thrown by the statements presented by this gentleman, in view of the fact that he is a chemist of high reputation and a scientist of acknowledged position, editing not only the Quarterly Journal of Science, but also the Chemical News, the leading chemical publication of Great Britain. In the present article he gives the result of continued enquiry into this subject up to this date, covering a period of nearly four years, during which time he has been subjected to the ridicule of some and to indignant outbursts from others, for his continuance in what was considered a preposterous investigation. In the beginning of this article, Mr Crookes remarks that the phenomena he is prepared to attest are so extraordinary and so directly oppose the most firmly rooted articles of scientific belief — among others, the übiquity and invariable action of the law of- gravitation — that even now, on recalling the details of what he had witnessed, there is controversy in his mind between reason, which pronounces it to be scientifically impossible, and the consciousness that his senses, both touch and sight— and these corroborated by the senses of all who were present — not lying witnesses when they testify against his preconceptions. But the supposition that there is a sort of mania or delusion which suddenly attacks a whole room- full of intelligent persons who are quite sane elsewhere, and that they all concur as to even the minutest particulars in the details of the occurrences of which they suppose themselves to be witnesses, seems still more incredible than the facts they attest. Mr Crookes fully appreciates the incredulity with which his statements are likely to be met, and in the results attained they seem so foreign to his preconceived ideas, and the prepossessions gained by the teachings of modern science, that he almost questions whether he ig asleep or awake. In connection with this he quotes the remarks of a friend, who writes to him that " any intellectual reply to his facts "he cannot see. " Yet," he says, "it is a curious fact that even I, with all my tendency and desire to believe Bpiritualistically, and with all my faith in your power of observing, and in your thorough truthfulness, feel as if I wanted to see for myself ; and it is quite painful to me to think how much more proof I Avant. Painful, I say, because I see that it is not reason which convinces a man, unless a fact is repeated so frequently that the impression becomes like a habit o£ mind, an old acquaintance, a thing known so long that it cannot be doubted. This is a curious phase of a man's mind, and it is remarkably strong in scientific men, stronger than in others, I think. For this reason we must not always call a man dishonest because he does not yield to evidence for a long time. The old wall of belief must be broken down by much battering." Mr Crookes says that the subject is far more difficult and extensive than it appears ; that four years ago he intended to devote a month or two to ascertaining whether certain marvellous occurrences he had heard about would stand the test of close scrutiny. Having, however, soon arrived at the same conclusion as every other impartial enquirer, that there was something in it, he could not, as a student of nature's laws, refuse to follow the inquiry whithersoever the facts might lead. Thus the proposed labours of a few months were continued for several years, and the subject widened before him. As the health of Mr D. D. Home is not so good as it was, and as the marriage of Miss Kate Fox (now Mrs Jencken) interferes with the opportunities of experimenting upon her powers, the two best " mediums " known to him, Mr Crookes has been obliged for the present to suspend hiß inquiry, and in the meantime he proposes to sum up, in the fewest possible words, the character of the results. He remarks upon the difficulties which science experiences in prosecuting such investigations, based largely upon the fact that, as these manifestations are entirely dependent upon the presence of certain persons usually known as mediums, it is not always convenient to have access to them, a certain halo of mystery being generally thrown around them by their friends, either for purposes of gain or in their desire to prevent too great notoriety. And furthermore, the exercise of their powers involves a certain amount of physical and jiervoufi prostration on the part of the W«<Ji\W wfewh &ey are averse to under-

going. It was very rarely indeed that, with the exception of Mr Home and Miss Fox, he was able to have the mediums come to places where the experiments could be prosecuted without any inconve- j nience. He, however, assures us, most positively, that "the statements he presents in this paper constitute a record of actual occurrences which have taken place in his own house, and in the presence of witnesses, and under as strict test conditions as he could devise ; and that every fact is, moreover, corroborated by the records of independent observers at I other times and places." Although these facts are of the most astounding character, and seem utterly irreconcilable with ail known theories of modern science, Mr Orookes says he has satisfied nimself of their truth, and thinks it would be moral cowardice to withhold his testimony because his previous publications were ridiculed by critics and others who knew nothing whatever of the subject, and who were too prejudiced to see and judge for themselves whether or not there was truth in the phenomena. He proposes to state simply what he has seen and proved by repeated experiment and test, and has yet to learn that it is irrational to endeavour to discover the causes of unexplained phenomena. He then proceeds to explain one or two of the errors that have occupied the public mind in regard to the "manifestations" ; one of which is that darkness is essential to the phenomena. This, he says, is by no means the case. Everything recorded by him took place in the light, excepting in a few cases which he has specified, and when some degree of darkness was a necessary condition. Another error is that the occurrences can be witnessed only in the rooms of the medium, and at hours previously arranged. To show how far this is from the truth, he assures us that, with few exceptions, the many hundreds of facts he is prepared to attest— facts the imitation of which by known mecHanical or physical means would baffle the skill of a Houdin, a Bosco, or an Anderson, backed with all the resources of elaborate machinery and the practice of years — have all taken place in his own house, at times appointed by himself, and under circumstances which absolutely precluded the employment of the very simplest instrumental aids. He remarks that, although darkness is not essential, yet that when the force is weak, a bright light exerts an interfering action on some of the phenomena ; but that the power possessed by Mr Home was sufficiently strong to withstand this antagonistic influence, and he therefore always objects to darkness at his seances. Mr Crookes next proceeds to classify some of the phenomena which have come under his notice, passing from the simple to the more complex, and giving, under each heading, an outline of the evidence he is prepared to bring forward ; at the same time reiterating his assurance that, with the exception of cases specially mentioned, all the occurrences took place in his own house, in the night, and with only private friends present beside the medium. • In classifying the various phenomena that have presented themselves to him in the course of his inquiries, Mr Crookes refers, first, to the movement of heavy bodies with contact but without mechanical exertion. This he states to be one of the simplest forms of the phenomena observed, varying in degrees from a quivering or vibration of the room and its contents to the actual rising into the air of a heavy body when the hand of the medium is placed upon it. These movements, and indeed most of the phenomena, are preceded by a peculiar cold air, sometimes amounting to a de3ided wind, sufficient to blow sheets of paper about the room, and to cause a lowering of the thermometer by several degrees. j The second class manifested themselves I as percussive and other allied sounds j sometimes as delicate ticks ; sometimes a cascade of sharp sounds, as from an induction coil in full work ; detonations in the air, sounds like scratching, twittering as of a bird, &c. These sounds were most prominently developed in the presence of Miss Kate Fox, and manifested themselves in all directions around her and in every variety. He assures the reader that, with a full knowledge of the various theories in regard to the sounds, he has tested them all, and is well satisfied that they are true objective occurrences, not produced by trickery or mechanical means. The third class of phenomena consists in the alteration of the weight of bodies, which will be presented in detail in an early number of the Quarterly Journal of Science. The fourth class, namely, the movement of heavy substances when at a distance from the medium, he has seen in many instances. His own chair, he says, has been twisted partly round, while his feet were off the floor. A chair was seen by all present to move slowly up to the table from a far corner, when all were watohing it. On one occasion, an e,rop.ty arrn'ohair, at his request, moved, to.

where he was sitting, and then slowly back again, a distance of about three feet. He has repeatedly seen, in full light, the movement of a heavy table, and, on several occasions, chairs turned with their backs to the table, about a foot and a half off, each occupant kneeling on his chair, with his hands resting on the back, but not touching the table. The fifth class is that of the rising of tables and chairs off the ground, without contact with any person. On five separate occasions, a heavy dining-table rose between a few inches and a foot and a half from the floor, under special circumstances, which rendered trickery impossible, the hands and feet of the medium being held by him during this movement. The sixth class is that of the levitation of human beings, which has occurred in four instances in his presence. He has seen Mr Home raised completely from the floor of his room in severalimtances. The accumulated testimony, establishing Mr Home's levitations, Mr Orookes considers overwhelming ; and he thinks it greatly to be desired that some person, whose evidence will be accepted as conclusive by the scientific world, shall seriously and patiently examine these alleged facts. The seventh class ot phenomena consists in the moving of various small articles without contact with any person, which he has very frequently observed, and where there could be no suspicion of trickery. He j thinks that when he is in his own diningroom, seated in one part of the room, with a number of persons keenly watching the medium, the latter could not, by any trickery, make an accordeon play in his (Mr Crookes's) own hands, when the keys ate held downward, nor cause the same accordeon to float about the room, playing all the time. He thinks it impossible to introduce machinery which shall wave window curtains ; pull up Venetian blinds eight feet off ; tie a knot in a handkerchief and place it in a remote corner of the room ; sound notes on a distant piano ; cause a card-plate to float about the room ; raise a water-bottle and ' tumbler from the table ; make a coral necklace rise on end ; move about a fan so as to fan the company; or set in motion a pendulum when enclosed in a glass case firmly cemented to the wall. The eighth class is that of luminous appearances, which, according to Mr Crookes, require that the room shall be dark, as the lights are in many cases faint. He states that he has seen a solid self-luminous body, of the size and nearly the shape of a turkey's egg, float noiselessly about the room, being visible for more than ten minutes, and striking the table three times, with a sound like that of a hard solid body, before fading away. He has seen a self-lmninous crystalline body placed in his hands by a hand which did not belong to any person in the room, and a luminous cloud floating upward to a picture. In the daylight he has seen a luminous cloud hover over a heliotrope on a side-table, break off a sprig, and carry the sprig to a lady ; and on several occasions he has seen a similar luminous cloud visibly condense to the form of a hand, and carry about small objects. This leads him to the next, or ninth class, namely, the appearance of hands, either self-luminous or visible by ordinary light. O£ these, phenomena he gives numerous instances. In one case a small hand rose up from an opening in the dining-table, and gave him a flower ; ifc appeared and then disappeared three times, at intervals, affording Mr Crookes ample opportunity of satisfying himself of its reality, as it occurred in the light, in his own room, while he was holding the medium's hands and feet. The hands and fingers do not always appear solid and life-like, sometimes indeed seeming like a nebulous cloud, partly condensed in the form of a hand. He has more than once seen first an object move, then a luminous cloud appear to form, about it, and, lastly, the cloud condense into shape and become a perfectly-formed hand. At this stage it waa visible to all present. Sometimes it was life-like and graceful, the fingers moving, and the flesh apparently as human as that of any person in the room. At the arm or wrist it became hazy, and passed off into a luminous cloud. To the touch the hand appeared sometimes icy cold and dead, at others warm, grasping his own Avith the firm pressure of an old friend. In one instance he retained one of these hands in his own, firmly resolved not to let it escape. There was no struggle, no effort to get loose, but it gradually seemed to resolve itself into vapour, and faded in that manner from his grasp. The next or tenth class of phenomena comprised those of direct writing, exhibited sometimes in darkness, sometimes in light, sometimes without any apparent agency, at others through the medium of a hand. The eleventh class embraces the rarest phenomena, namely, those of phantom forms and faces, which he witnessed in a very few instances only. The twelfth class covers phenomena that seem to point to the ' agency of an exterior intelligence, other than that of, the njediuro, or aome person

in the room. Although the hypothesis has been suggested that the medium is the source of this intelligence, by those who think they see in this an ex]Dlanation of many of the facts, yet Mr Crookes has reason to believe that in certain instances at least, they result from the agency of an outside intelligence, not belonging to any human being present. Under the thirteenth head, Mr Crookes includes a variety of miscellaneous occurrences of a complex character, not easily grouped under any of the preceding divisions, to which, however, he refers only briefly, reserving the details for the volume which he is now preparing. He then proceeds to indicate the theories that have been brought forward to account for the phenomena observed. The first theory, that the phenomena are all the results of tricks, clever mechanical arrangements, or legerdemain — the mediums impostors, and the rest of the company fools — he considers inadequate to explain more than a very small proportion of the facts. He has throughout given a truthful account of what he himself observed, and has taken occasion to prevent any collusion or trickery. He furthermore states that although professional exhibitors frequently simulate many of the phenomena referred to, it usually requires an apartment specially prepared, the lights properly arranged, and placed in a particular direction, with a variety of machinery and confederates. In the most striking of the cases men- ■ tioned^ by him, the experiments took place in his own house, and under circumstances precluding the possibility of trickery. A second theory is that the persons a a seance are the victims of a sort of mania or delusion, and imagine phenomena to occur which have no real objective existence ; a third, that the whole is the result of conscious or unconscious cerebral action. These two theories Mr Crookes considers incapable of embracing more than a few of the phenomena, and dismisses them. The spiritual theories are next presented, that the phenomena are the result of the action of the spirit of the medium, perhaps in association with the spirits of some or all of the people present ; that they are the actions of evil spirits or devils personifying whom or what they please in order to undermine Christianity and ruin men's souls ; or that they are the actions of a separate order of beings, living on the earth, and invisible, but occasionally able to manifest their presence. Another of the spiritual_ theories is that they are the action of departed human beings. This is the spiritual theory par excellence. Finally, Mr Crookes comes to the "Psychic Force" theory, which is a necessary adjunct to the others rather than a theory of itself. According to this, the medium (or the circle of people associated together as a whole) is supposed to possess a force, power, influence, virtue, or gift, by means of which intelligent beings are enabled to produce the phenomena observed. The view held by Mr Crookes himself in regard to the subject he proposes to present in the volume to which reference has already been made, which will proj bably make its appearance at an early day, and which will undoubtedly be the subject of careful consideration on the part of persous interested in the phenomena referred to. In conclusion, we will repeat that Mr Crookes is a gentleman well known in scientific circles as a chemist and physicist, and the editor of two prominent English scientific journals, from the advanced sheets of which we are enabled to give this summary of his paper.