DOCTOR GELEY'S EXPERIMENTS
Nothing could be imagined more fantastic and grotesque than
the results of the recent experiments of Professor Geley, in
France. Before such results the brain, even of the trained
psychical student, is dazed, while that of the orthodox man of
science, who has given no heed to these developments, is
absolutely helpless. In the account of the proceedings which he
read lately before the Institut General Psychologique in Paris,
on January of last year, Dr. Geley says: "I do not merely say
that there has been no fraud; I say, `there has been no
possibility of fraud.' In nearly every case the materialisations
were done under my, eyes, and I have observed their whole genesis
and development." He adds that, in the course of the
experiments, more than a
hundred experts, mostly
doctors, checked the results.
These results may be briefly stated thus. A peculiar whitish
matter exuded from the subject, a girl named Eva, coming partly
through her skin, partly from her hands, partly from the orifices
of her face, especially her mouth. This was photographed
repeatedly at every stage of its production, these photographs
being appended to the printed treatise. This stuff, solid enough
to enable one to touch and to photograph, has been called the
ectoplasm. It is a new order of matter, and it is clearly
derived from the subject herself, absorbing into her system once
more at the end of the experiment. It exudes in such quantities
as to entirely, cover her sometimes as with an apron. It is soft
and glutinous to the touch, but varies in form and even in
colour. Its production causes pain and groans from the subject,
and any violence towards it would appear also to affect her. A
sudden flash of light, as in a flash-photograph, may or may not
cause a retraction of the ectoplasm, but always causes a spasm of
the subject. When re-absorbed, it leaves no trace upon
the
garments through which it has passed.
This is wonderful enough, but far more fantastic is what has
still to be told. The most marked property of this ectoplasm,
very fully illustrated in the photographs, is that it sets or
curdles into the shapes of human members — of fingers, of hands,
of faces, which are at first quite sketchy and rudimentary, but
rapidly coalesce and develop until they are undistinguishable
from those of living beings. Is not this the very strangest and
most inexplicable thing that has ever yet been observed by human
eyes? These faces or limbs are usually the size of life, but
they frequently are quite miniatures. Occasionally they begin by
being miniatures, and grow into full size. On their first
appearance in the ectoplasm the limb is only on one plane of
matter, a mere flat appearance, which rapidly rounds itself off,
until it has assumed all three planes and is complete. It may be
a mere simulacrum, like a wax hand, or it may be endowed with
full power of grasping another hand, with every articulation in
perfect working order.
The faces which are produced in this amazing way are worthy
of study. They
do not appear to have represented anyone who
has ever been known in life by Doctor Geley.
My impression
after examining them is that they are much more likely to be
within the knowledge of the subject, being girls of the French
lower middle class type, such as Eva was, I should imagine, in
the habit of meeting. It should be added that Eva herself
appears in the photograph as well as the simulacra of humanity.
The faces are, on the whole, both pretty and piquant, though of a
rather worldly and unrefined type. The latter adjective would
not apply to the larger and most elaborate photograph, which
represents a very beautiful young woman of a truly spiritual cast
of face. Some of the faces are but partially formed, which gives
them a grotesque or repellant appearance. What are we to make of
such phenomena? There is no use deluding ourselves by the idea
that there may be some mistake or some deception. There is
neither one nor the other. Apart from the elaborate checks upon
these particular results, they correspond closely with
those
got by Lombroso in Italy, by Schrenk-Notzing in Germany, and by
other careful observers. One thing we must bear in mind
constantly in considering them, and that is their abnormality.
At a liberal estimate, it is not one person in a million who
possesses such powers — if a thing which is outside our volition
can be described as a power. It is the mechanism of the
materialisation medium which has been explored by the acute brain
and untiring industry of Doctor Geley, and even presuming, as one
may fairly presume, that every materialising medium goes through
the same process in order to produce results, still such mediums
are exceedingly, rare. Dr. Geley mentions, as an analogous
phenomenon on the material side, the presence of dermoid cysts,
those mysterious formations, which rise as small tumors in any
part of the body, particularly above the eyebrow, and which when
opened by the surgeon are found to contain hair, teeth or
embryonic bones. There is no doubt, as he claims, some rough
analogy, but the dermoid cyst is, at least, in the same flesh and
blood plane of nature as the foetus inside it, while
in the
ectoplasm we are dealing with an entirely new and strange
development.
It is not possible to define exactly what occurs in the case
of the ectoplasm, nor, on account of its vital connection with
the medium and its evanescent nature, has it been separated and
subjected to even the roughest chemical analysis which might show
whether it is composed of those earthly elements with which we
are familiar. Is it rather some coagulation of ether which
introduces an absolutely new substance into our world? Such a
supposition seems most probable, for a comparison with the
analogous substance examined at Dr. Crawford's seances at
Belfast, which is at the same time hardly visible to the eye and
yet capable of handling a weight of 150 pounds, suggests
something entirely new in the way of matter.
But setting aside, as beyond the present speculation, what
the exact origin and nature of the ectoplasm may be, it seems to
me that there is room for a very suggestive line of thought if we
make Geley's experiments the starting point, and lead it in the
direction of other manifestations of psychomaterial activity.
First of all, let us take
Crookes' classic experiments with
Katie King, a result which for a long time stood alone and
isolated but now can be approached by intermittent but definite
stages. Thus we can well suppose that during those long periods
when Florrie Cook lay in the laboratory in the dark, periods
which lasted an hour or more upon some occasions, the ectoplasm
was flowing from her as from Eva. Then it was gathering itself
into a viscous cloud or pillar close to her frame; then the form
of Katie King was evolved from this cloud, in the manner already
described, and finally the nexus was broken and the completed
body advanced to present itself at the door of communication,
showing a person different in every possible attribute save that
of sex from the medium, and yet composed wholly or in part from
elements extracted from her senseless body. So far, Geley's
experiments throw a strong explanatory light upon those of
Crookes. And here the Spiritualist must, as it seems to me, be
prepared to meet an objection more formidable than the absurd
ones of fraud or optical delusion. It is this. If the body of
Katie King the spirit is derived
from the body of Florrie
Cook the psychic, then what assurance have we that the life
therein is not really one of the personalities out of which the
complex being named Florrie Cook is constructed? It is a thesis
which requires careful handling. It is not enough to say that
the nature is manifestly superior, for supposing that Florrie
Cook represented the average of a number of conflicting
personalities, then a single one of these personalities might be
far higher than the total effect. Without going deeply into this
problem, one can but say that the spirit's own account of its own
personality must count for something, and also that an isolated
phenomenon must be taken in conjunction with all other psychic
phenomena when we are seeking for a correct explanation.
But now let us take this idea of a human being who has the
power of emitting a visible substance in which are formed faces
which appear to represent distinct individualities, and in
extreme cases develop into complete independent human forms.
Take this extraordinary fact, and let us see whether, by an
extension or modification of
this demonstrated process, we
may not get some sort of clue as to the
modus operandi in
other psychic phenomena. It seems to me that we may, at least,
obtain indications which amount to a probability, though not to a
certainty, as to how some results, hitherto inexplicable, are
attained. It is at any rate a provisional speculation, which may
suggest a hypothesis for future observers to destroy, modify, or
confirm.
The argument which I would advance is this. If a strong
materialisation medium can throw out a cloud of stuff which is
actually visible, may not a medium of a less pronounced type
throw out a similar cloud with analogous properties which is not
opaque enough to be seen by the average eye, but can make an
impression both on the dry plate in the camera and on the
clairvoyant faculty? If that be so — and it would not seem to be
a very far-fetched proposition — we have at once an explanation
both of psychic photographs and of the visions of the clairvoyant
seer. When I say an explanation, I mean of its superficial
method of formation, and not of the forces at work behind, which
remain no less a mys
tery even when we accept Dr. Geley's
statement that they are "ideoplastic."
Here we have, I think, some attempt at a generalisation,
which might, perhaps, be useful in evolving some first signs of
order out of this chaos. It is conceivable that the thinner
emanation of the clairvoyant would extend far further than the
thick material ectoplasm, but have the same property of moulding
itself into life, though the life forms would only be visible to
the clairvoyant eye. Thus, when Mr. Tom Tyrrell, or any other
competent exponent, stands upon the platform his emanation fills
the hall. Into this emanation, as into the visible ectoplasm in
Geley's experiments, break the faces and forms of those from the
other side who are attracted to the scene by their sympathy with
various members of the audience. They are seen and described by
Mr. Tyrrell, who with his finely attuned senses, carefully
conserved (he hardly eats or drinks upon a day when he
demonstrates), can hear that thinner higher voice that calls
their names, their old addresses and their messages. So, too,
when Mr. Hope and Mrs. Buxton stand with their hands joined
over the cap of the camera, they are really throwing out a
misty ectoplasm from which the forms loom up which appear upon
the photographic plate. It may be that I mistake an analogy for
an explanation, but I put the theory on record for what it is
worth.
A PARTICULAR INSTANCE
I have been in touch with a series of events in America
lately, and can vouch for the facts as much as any man can vouch
for facts which did not occur to himself. I have not the least
doubt in my own mind that they are true, and a more remarkable
double proof of the continuity of life has, I should think,
seldom been published. A book has recently been issued by
Harpers, of New York, called "The Seven Purposes." In this book
the authoress, Miss Margaret Cameron, describes how she suddenly
developed the power of automatic writing. She was not a
Spiritualist at the time. Her hand was controlled and she wrote
a quantity of matter which was entirely outside her own knowledge
or character. Upon her doubting whether her sub-conscious self
might in some way be producing the writing,
which was
partly done by planchette, the script was written upside down and
from right to left, as though the writer was seated opposite.
Such script could not possibly be written by the lady herself.
Upon making enquiry as to who was using her hand, the answer came
in writing that it was a certain Fred Gaylord, and that his
object was to get a message to his mother. The youth was unknown
to Miss Cameron, but she knew the family and forwarded the
message, with the result that the mother came to see her,
examined the evidence, communicated with the son, and finally,
returning home, buried all her evidences of mourning, feeling
that the boy was no more dead in the old sense than if he were
alive in a foreign country.
There is the first proof of preternatural agency, since Miss
Cameron developed so much knowledge which she could not have
normally acquired, using many phrases and ideas which were
characteristic of the deceased. But mark the sequel. Gaylord
was merely a pseudonym, as the matter was so private that the
real name, which we will put as Bridger, was not disclosed. A
few months after the book was published Miss
Cameron
received a letter from a stranger living a thousand miles away.
This letter and the whole correspondence I have seen. The
stranger, Mrs. Nicol, says that as a test she would like to ask
whether the real name given as Fred Gaylord in the book is not
Fred Bridger, as she had psychic reasons for believing so. Miss
Cameron replied that it was so, and expressed her great surprise
that so secret and private a matter should have been correctly
stated. Mrs. Nicol then explained that she and her husband, both
connected with journalism and both absolutely agnostic, had
discovered that she had the power of automatic writing. That
while, using this power she had received communications
purporting to come from Fred Bridger whom they had known in life,
and that upon reading Miss Cameron's book they had received from
Fred Bridger the assurance that he was the same person as the
Fred Gaylord of Miss Cameron.
Now, arguing upon these facts, and they would appear most
undoubtedly to be facts, what possible answer can the materialist
or the sceptic give to the assertion that they are a double proof
of the continuity of per
sonality and the possibility of
communication? Can any reasonable system of telepathy explain
how Miss Cameron discovered the intimate points characteristic of
young Gaylord? And then, how are we afterwards, by any possible
telepathy, to explain the revelation to Mrs. Nicol of the
identity of her communicant, Fred Bridger, with the Fred Gaylord
who had been written of by Miss Cameron. The case for return
seems to me a very convincing one, though I contend now, as ever,
that it is not the return of the lost ones which is of such
cogent interest as the message from the beyond which they bear
with them.
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
On this subject I should recommend the reader to consult
Coates' "Photographing the Invisible," which states, in a
thoughtful and moderate way, the evidence for this most
remarkable phase, and illustrates it with many examples. It is
pointed out that here, as always, fraud must be carefully guarded
against, having been admitted in the case of the French spirit
photographer, Buguet.
There are, however, a large number of cases where the
photograph, under rigid test conditions in which fraud has been
absolutely barred, has reproduced the features of the dead. Here
there are limitations and restrictions which call for careful
study and observation. These faces of the dead are in some cases
as contoured and as recognisable as they were in life, and
correspond
with no pre-existing picture or photograph.
One such case absolutely critic-proof is enough, one would think,
to establish survival, and these valid cases are to be counted
not in ones, but in hundreds. On the other hand, many of the
likenesses, obtained under the same test conditions, are
obviously simulacra or pictures built up by some psychic force,
not necessarily by the individual spirits themselves, to
represent the dead. In some undoubtedly genuine cases it is an
exact, or almost exact, reproduction of an existing picture, as
if the conscious intelligent force, whatever it might be, had
consulted it as to the former appearance of the deceased, and had
then built it up in exact accordance with the original. In such
cases the spirit face may show as a flat surface instead of a
contour. Rigid examination has shown that the existing model was
usually outside the ken of the photographer.
Two of the bravest champions whom Spiritualism has ever
produced, the late W. T. Stead and the late Archdeacon Colley —
names which will bulk large in days to come — attached great
importance to spirit
photography as a final and
incontestable proof of survival. In his recent work, "Proofs of
the Truth of Spiritualism" (Kegan Paul), the eminent botanist,
Professor Henslow, has given one case which would really appear
to be above criticism. He narrates how the inquirer subjected a
sealed packet of plates to the Crewe circle without exposure,
endeavoring to get a psychograph. Upon being asked on which
plate he desired it, he said "the fifth." Upon this plate being
developed, there was found on it a copy of a passage from the
Codex Alexandrinus of the New Testament in the British Museum.
Reproductions, both of the original and of the copy, will be
found in Professor Henslow's book.
I have myself been to Crewe and have had results which would
be amazing were it not that familiarity blunts the mind to
miracles. Three marked plates brought by myself, and handled,
developed and fixed by no hand but mine, gave psychic extras. In
each case I saw the extra in the negative when it was still wet
in the dark room. I reproduce in Plate I a specimen of the
results, which is enough in itself to prove the whole case of
{Plate I. Caption = IMPRESSION RECEIVED UPON A MARKED PLATE WHICH
NEVER WENT OUT OF THE AUTHORS HANDS, SAVE WHEN IT WAS IN THE
CARRIER. THERE IS A PARTIAL MATERIALISATION BEHIND. IN FRONT IS
AN INSCRIPTION SIGNED "T. COLLEY"
{Plate II. Caption = SPECIMEN OF ARCHDEACON COLLEY'S WRITING
DURING HIS LIFETIME
{Plate III. Caption = PHOTOGRAPH IN LIFE OF LIEUT. WILL. HEWAT
MACKENZIE
{Plate IV. Caption = PHOTOGRAPH OF LIEUT. WILL. HEWAT MACKENZIE,
TAKEN SOME MONTHS AFTER HIS DEATH, IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED
IN THE TEXT
survival to any reasonable mind. The three sitters are Mr.
Oaten, Mr. Walker, and myself, I being obscured by the psychic
cloud. In this cloud appears a message of welcome to me from the
late Archdeacon Colley. A specimen of the Archdeacon's own
handwriting is reproduced in Plate II for the purpose of
comparison. Behind, there is an attempt at materialisation
obscured by the cloud. The mark on the side of the plate is my
identification mark. I trust that I make it clear that no hand
but mine ever touched this plate, nor did I ever lose sight of it
for a second save when it was in the carrier, which was conveyed
straight back to the dark room and there opened. What has any
critic to say to that?
By the kindness of those fearless pioneers of the movement,
Mr. and Mrs. Hewat Mackenzie, I am allowed to publish another
example of spirit photography. The circumstances were very
remarkable. The visit of the parents to Crewe was unproductive
and their plate a blank save for their own presentment.
Returning disappointed, to London they managed, through the
me
diumship of Mrs. Leonard, to get into touch with their
boy, and asked him why they had failed. He replied that the
conditions had been bad, but that he had actually succeeded some
days later in getting on to the plate of Lady Glenconnor, who had
been to Crewe upon a similar errand. The parents communicated
with this lady, who replied saying that she had found the image
of a stranger upon her plate. On receiving a print they at once
recognised their son, and could even see that, as a proof of
identity, he had reproduced the bullet wound on his left temple.
No. 3 is their gallant son as he appeared in the flesh, No. 4 is
his reappearance after death. The opinion of a miniature painter
who had done a picture of the young soldier is worth recording as
evidence of identity. The artist says: "After painting the
miniature of your son Will, I feel I know every turn of his face,
and am quite convinced of the likeness of the psychic photograph.
All the modelling of the brow, nose and eyes is marked by
illness — especially is the mouth slightly contracted — but this
does not interfere with the real
form. The way the hair
grows on the brow and temple is noticeably like the photograph
taken before he was wounded."
THE CLAIERVOYANCE OF MRS. B.
At the time of this volume going to press the results
obtained by clients of this medium have been forty-two successes
out of fifty attempts, checked and docketted by the author. This
series forms a most conclusive proof of spirit clairvoyance. An
attempt has been made by Mr. E. F. Benson, who examined some of
the letters, to explain the results upon the grounds of
telepathy. He admits that "The tastes, appearance and character
of the deceased are often given, and many names are introduced by
the medium, some not traceable, but most of them identical with
relations or friends." Such an admission would alone banish
thought-reading as an explanation, for there is no evidence in
existence to show that this power ever reaches such perfection
that one who possesses it could draw the image of a dead
man from your brain, fit a correct name to him, and then
associate him with all sorts of definite and detailed actions in
which he was engaged. Such an explanation is not an explanation
but a pretence. But even if one were to allow such a theory to
pass, there are numerous incidents in these accounts which could
not be explained in such a fashion, where unknown details have
been given which were afterwards verified, and even where
mistakes in thought upon the part of the sitter were corrected by
the medium under spirit guidance. Personally I believe that the
medium's own account of how she gets her remarkable results is
the absolute truth, and I can imagine no other fashion in which
they can be explained. She has, of course, her bad days, and the
conditions are always worst when there is an inquisitorial rather
than a religious atmosphere in the interview. This intermittent
character of the results is, according to my experience,
characteristic of spirit clairvoyance as compared with thought-reading, which can, in its more perfect form, become almost
automatic within certain marked limits. I may add that the
constant prac
tice of some psychical researchers to take no
notice at all of the medium's own account of how he or she
attains results, but to substitute some complicated and unproved
explanation of their own, is as insulting as it is unreasonable.
It has been alleged as a slur upon Mrs. B's results and character
that she has been twice prosecuted by the police. This is, in
fact, not a slur upon the medium but rather upon the law, which
is in so barbarous a condition that the true seer fares no better
than the impostor, and that no definite psychic principles are
recognised. A medium may under such circumstances be a martyr
rather than a criminal, and a conviction ceases to be a stain
upon the character.