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one of the chief aims of the Society. Though at the time of its founding public mediumship seemed to have declined; there was still more than enough phenomena for the Society to investigate, and the testimony of Sir William Crookes and others of standing and intellectual strength indicated that the matter was at least a fit subject for investigation. In connection with slate-writing, which many persons declared to be genuine and so simple that fraud was impossible, Mr. S. J. Davey, a member of the Society, gave a number of pseudo-séances. Having been himself deceived for a time by the performances in that line of the well-known medium, William Eglinton, and having at length discovered the modus of his slate-writing feats, Mr. Davey set himself to emulate the medium's "manifestations." In the interests of psychic research he undertook to give sittings, which were carefully recorded by Dr. Hodgson. So well were the devices of the professional mediums reproduced that none of the sitters were able to detect the modus operandi of Davey's performances, even though they were assured beforehand that it was simply a conjuring trick. Such a demonstration could not fail to do more than any amount of argument to expose the phenomenon " of slate-writing. (See article on Slate-writing.) Excellent work was done by the Society in the collection of evidence relating to apparitions of the dead and the living, many of which are embodied in Phantasms of the living, by Messrs. Myers, Podmore and Gurney. A statistical enquiry on a large scale was undertaken by a Committee of the Society in 1889. Some 17,000 cases of apparitions were collected by the committee and its assistants. The main object in taking such a census was to obtain evidence for the working of telepathy in veridical or coincidental apparitions, and in order to make such evidence of scientific value, the utmost care was taken to insure the impartiality and responsible character of all who took part in the enquiry. The result was, that after every precaution had been taken the apparitions coinciding with a death or other crisis were found greatly to exceed the number which could be ascribed to chance alone. also Psychical Research.) But the most fruitful of the Society's researches were those concerning telepathy (q.v.), or thought-transference, and it was through the influence of its members that the doctrine of thought-transference, so long known to the vague speculations of the old magnetists and mesmerists, was first placed on a definite basis as a problem worthy of scientific enquiry. Investigations into this matter are still progressing, and trustworthy proof of such a mode of communication would affect the scientific view of spiritualism to a remarkable degree. Among the individual efforts of members of the Society for Psychical Research the most complete and the most successful were those conducted by Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick in 1889-91. (See Telepathy.) At the same time there was much to encourage the belief in some supernormal agency, especially in the last decade of the nineteenth century. The two mediums whose manifestations led many able men in this country, in America, and on the Continent, to conclude that the spirits of the dead were concerned in their phenomena were the Italian medium Eusapia Palladino (q.v.) and the American Mrs. Piper. In 1885 Professor James, of Harvard, studied the case of Mrs. Piper (q.v.), and a few years later Dr. Richard Hodgson of the American Society for Psychical Research also investigated her case, the latter commencing his investigations in an entirely sceptical spirit. Of all the trance mediums she offers the best evidence for a supernatural agency. Dr. Hodgson himself declared his belief that the spirits of the dead spoke through the lips of the medium, and among others who held that fraud alone would not account for the revelations given by Mrs. Piper in the trance state were

(See

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Professor James, Sir Oliver Lodge, Mr. Myers and Professor J. H. Hyslop. On the other hand, Mr. Podmore, while not admitting any supernormal agency, suggests that telepathy may help to explain the matter, probably aided by skilful observation and carefully-conducted enquiries concerning the affairs of prospective sitters. Mrs. Sidgwick, again, suggested that probably Mrs. Piper received telepathic communications from the spirits of the dead, which she reproduced in her automatic speaking and writing. The other medium was Eusapia Palladino, who, after attracting considerable attention from Professors Lombroso, Richet, Flammarion, and others on the Continent, came to Britain in 1895. Several English scientific men had already witnessed her telergic powers on the Continent, at the invitation of Professor Charles Richet-Sir Oliver Lodge, Mr. Myers, and others and of these Sir Oliver Lodge, at least, had expressed himself as satisfied that no known agency was responsible for her remarkable manifestations. The English sittings were held at Cambridge, and as it was proved conclusively that the medium made use of fraud, the majority of the investigators ascribed her "manifestations" entirely to that. Later, however, in 1898, a further series of séances were held at Paris, and so successfully that Richet, Myers, and Sir O. Lodge once more. declared themselves satisfied of the genuineness of the phenomena. A further account of this medium will be found under a separate heading. Perhaps the most convincing evidence for the working of some supernormal agency, however, is to be found in the famous cross-correspondence experiments conducted in recent years. Mr. Myers had suggested before he died that if a control were to give the same message to two or more mediums, it would go far to establish the independent existence of such control. On the death of Professor Sidgwick (in August, 1900) and of Mr. Myers (in January, 1901) it was thought that if mediums were controlled by these, some agreement might be looked for in the scripts. The first correspondences were found in the script of Mrs. Thomson and Miss Rawson, the former in London, the latter in the south of France. The Sidgwick control appeared for the first time to these ladies on the same day, January 11th, 1901. On the 8th of May, 1901 the Myers control appeared in the script of Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Verrall, and later in that of Mrs. Piper and others. So remarkable were the correspondences obtained in some cases where there could not possibly be collusion between the mediums, that it is difficult to believe that some discarnate intelligence was not responsible for some, at least of the scripts. (See also Cross-Correspondences.)

See also the biographies of the various eminent spiritualists, mediums, and investigators dealt with in this work, and the articles on Telepathy, Hallucination, Table-turning, etc. Also the articles on the various countries of Europe. M.J.

By far the most extraordinary experiments in connection with psychic phenomena were those undertaken by Sir William Crookes. Working under the most stringent conditions he and his fellow experimenters assured themselves that entrance or exit to the room in which their séances were held was impossible. Yet he succeeded by the aid of a medium in obtaining the best possible evidence of the presence of spirits or other entities in the apartment. These were of a tangible nature and were actually weighed by Sir William, who on one occasion even succeeded in obtaining a portion of the protoplasmic matter from which these entities were built up, which he kept in a box for several days. These entities emerged from the body of the medium or from that of one of the sitters, walked about, spoke, and even debated loudly and noisily with Sir William and the other sitters on many different topics over

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a prolonged space of time. They frequently vanished through the floor. Sir William found their average weight to be about one-third of that of a human being. These phenomena were witnessed by numerous persons of the highest intelligence and probity, among them, it is understood, some of exalted rank. A full statement regarding the phenomena in all their details may be found in Mr. Gambier Bolton's interesting little volume Ghosts in Solid Form.

No work of recent times furnishes the student of psychic research with such a masterly conspectus of the subject as Sir William F. Barrett's On the Threshold of the Unseen (1917). Expanded from an address on the phenomena of spiritualism delivered some twenty years ago, it covers the whole history of psychical research during that period and a notice of it may well serve to complete this article and furnish the reader with data concerning psychical research during the present century. The introductory chapter briefly reviews the work of eminent scientists and provides a frank statement of the present position of psychical research. Public opinion regarding the quest, and the conflicting objections of science and religion are briefly reviewed in chapters II. and III., and are followed by an essay on the physical phenomena of spiritualism, which contains little that is not noticed in the present article. Chapter VII., "On Certain more Disputable Phenomena of Spiritualism," deals with examples of the direct voice and direct writing, materialization and spirit photography, all of which phenomena have been termed ectoplasms by Professor Ochorowicz of Warsaw. By Ectoplasy," says Sir William, "is meant the power of forming outside the body of the medium a concentration of vital energy or vitalized matter which operates temporarily in the same way as the body from which it is drawn, so that visible, audible or tangible human-like phenomena are produced. This is very much like the psychic force' hypothesis under a new name. The chapter "On the Canons of Evidence in Psychical Research includes a sentence which might well be taken to heart by the too sceptical: "It is utterly unphilosophical to ridicule or deny well-attested phenomena because they are inexplicable." Sir William shows how the critical examination of psychic phenomena has languished because of the lack of trained scientific observers, those devoting themselves to the subject being for the most part persons of more enthusiasm than judgment. The chapter on theories is eminently useful." have never yet," says the author," met with anyone who has seriously studied the evidence or engaged in prolonged investigation of this subject who holds that all mediums are impostors.' The theories examined to account for supernormal phenomena include those of hallucination, which is only partially admitted as a cause. Exo-neural action of the brain which is, however, a sub-conscious action, an effect of the subliminal self, but perhaps the most interesting of the hypotheses which account for these miraculous happenings is described as follows: "It may be that the intelligence operating at a séance is a thoughtprojection of ourselves-that each one of us has his simulacrum in the unseen; that with the growth of our life and character here a ghostly image of oneself is growing up in the invisible world." The Problem of Mediumship is the subject of the tenth chapter. Objection is taken to the word "medium," not only because of its associations, but for more scientific reasons. A separate division of the book is occupied with the phenomenal evidence afforded by apparitions, automatic writing, supernormal messages, and the evidence of identity in the discarnate condition and of survival after death. The last portion of the volume brings the question of human personality up to date, especially as regards its higher aspects, the conclusion being

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that only the barrier of our sense perceptions, a threshold of sensibility," divides us from the world beyond our normal consciousness, just as "the organism of an oyster constitutes a threshold which shuts it out from the greater part of our sensible world." As regards the question of immortality it is concluded that Life can exist in the unseen," but it does not follow that spirit communications teach us the necessary and inherent immortality of the soul. "If we accept the evidence for identity,' that some we have known on earth are still living and near us," we have still to remember that "entrance on a life after death does not necessarily mean immortality, that is eternal persistence of our personality, nor does it prove that survival after death extends to all. Obviously no experimental evidence can ever demonstrate either of these beliefs, though it may and does remove the objections raised as to the possibility of survival."

Towards the end of 1916 a great sensation was made not only in occult but in general circles by the publication by Sir Oliver Lodge of a memoir upon his son, the late Lieutenant Raymond Lodge, who was killed near Ypres in September, 1915. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which contains a history of the brief life of the subject of the memoir. The second part details numerous records of sittings both in the company of mediums and at the table by Sir Oliver Lodge and members of his family, and it is claimed that in these many evidences of the personal survival of his son were obtained, that the whole trend of the messages was eloquent of his personality and that although if the evidential matter were taken apart for examination single isolated proofs would not be deemed conclusive, yet when taken in a body it provides evidential material of an important nature. There is certainly ground for this contention and it must be admitted that proofs of identity are more valuable when experienced by those who were familiar with the subject during his earthly career. But to those who have not had this opportunity the balance of the evidence seems meagre and it is notable that in this especial case most of the tests of real value broke down when put into practice. The third part of the book deals with the scientific material relating to the life after death which is reviewed and summarized in a spirit of great fairness, although a natural bias towards belief in immortality is not a little obvious. In this the work differs from that by Sir William Barrett, with its wholly scientific attitude and its greater natural ability to discern dialectical weaknesses, but it is far from being unscientific in character. On the other hand Sir Oliver Lodge's work is inspired throughout by an enthusiasm which if not entirely absent in that of Sir William Barrett, is certainly not conspicuous in that writer's treatise. Sir Oliver's enthusiasm is, indeed, that of a Columbus or a Galileo. Throughout the centuries the pioneer and discoverer have been uplifted and assisted more by faith than by reason, and it is probably because of his abounding faith in human immortality that Sir Oliver Lodge will in future be regarded as perhaps the greatest pioneer in psychic science, not only of his own generation but of many generations. L. S.

Spiritualism as a Religion.-Spiritualism was, and is, regarded by its adherents as a religion, or a supplement to an existing religion, imposing certain moral obligations and offering new and far-reaching revelations on the conditions of existence beyond the grave. The continuity of life after death is, of course, one of its most important tenets, though not a distinctive one; since on it depend most of the world's creeds and religions. But the spiritualist's ideas concerning the nature of the life of the freed soul are peculiar to his creed. The soul, or spirit, is composed of a sort of attenuated matter, inhabiting the body and resembling it in form. On the death of the body the soul withdraws

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itself, without however, undergoing any direct change, and for a longer or shorter period remains on the "earth plane." But the keynote of the spirit-world is progress; so after a time the spirit proceeds to the lowest "discarnate plane," and from that to a higher and a higher, gradually evolving into a purer and nobler type, until at length it reaches the sphere of pure spirit. Another central belief of spiritualism is that the so-called dead can, and do, communicate with the living, through the agency of mediums, and can produce in the physical world certain phenomena depending for their operation on no known physical laws. To the earnest spiritualist, requiring no further proof of the reality of his creed, the subjective phenomena, as they are called, comprising trance-speaking, writing, etc., are of vastly greater importance than the physical manifestations, just as the latter are more in favour with psychical researchers, because of the better opportunities they offer for investigation. From the trance-speaking of the medium are gathered those particulars of the spirit world which to the outsider present one of the most unattractive pictures extant of that domain. The spirit life is, in fact, represented as a pale and attenuated reproduction of earthly life, conducted in a highly rarified atmosphere. Trance drawings, purporting to depict spirit scenes, afford a description no less flattering than the written picture. From their exalted spheres the spirits are cognisant of the doings of their fellow-men still on earth, and are at all times ready to aid and counsel the latter. This they can do only through the medium, who is a link between the seen and the unseen, perhaps through some quality of supernormal sensitiveness. There are those who maintain that those mediums who hold séances and become the direct mouthpieces of the spirits are only supereminently endowed with a faculty common to all humanity—that all men are mediums in a greater or less degree, and that all inspiration, whether good or bad, comes from the spirits. It is in connection with this idea of the universality of mediumship that the effect of spiritualism on the morals and daily life of its adherents is most clearly seen. For the spirits are naturally attracted to those mediums whose qualities resemble their own. Enlightened spirits from the highest spheres seek high-souled and earnest mediums through whom to express themselves, while mediums who use their divine gifts for a base end are sought by the lowest and wickedest human spirits, or by beings termed " elementals," who do not even reach the human standard of goodness. Indeed, it is stated that the lower spirits communicate with the living much more readily than do the higher, by reason of a certain gross or material quality which binds them to earth. The path of the medium is thus beset with many difficulties, and it is essential that he should be principled and sincere, a creature of pure life and high ideals, so that the circle of his "controls be select. For not only do the tricky elementals deceive the sitters and the investigators with their lying ways, but they ofttimes drive the medium himself to fraud, so that under their control he secretes apports about his person, and materialises false beards and dirty muslin. And as it is with the full-fledged medium, so with the normal individual. If he is to insure that the source of his inspiration be a high one he must live in such a way that only the best spirits will control him, and so his impulses shall be for his own good and the betterment of the race. It will thus be seen that spiritualism is in itself a complete religion; but it also combines well with other religions and creeds. In America the spiritualistic and the socialistic elements mingled harmoniously and many of the socialistic communities were founded by spiritualists. Other sects there were which associated themselves with spiritualism during the early history of the movement in America, and rumour

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-somewhat unfairly, it must be admitted-would have associated with it some less creditable ones, such as that which advocated free Love. But the many forms which spiritualism took in America were, as has been said, the product of the country and the time. In other lands the forms were different. In England, for instance, where wont and tradition were more happily settled, spiritualism was regarded as by no means incompatible with Christianity but rather as affording a fuller revelation of the Christian religion, a view which the trance utterances of the medium confirmed. In France, again, Allan Kardec's doctrine of re-incarnation blended happily with the doctrines of spiritualism to produce spiritism. Then we have the more modern example of theosophy (q.v.), a blending of spiritualism with oriental religions. But all these varied forms contain the central creed of spiritualism; the belief in the continuance of life after the "great dissolution," or death of the body, and in continual progress; and in the fact of communication between the freed spirit and living human beings. On the whole spiritualists have shown themselves rather tolerant than otherwise to those who were not of their band. On the one hand their mediums did not hesitate to claim kinship with the wizards, shamans and witchdoctors of savage lands, whom they hailed as natural mediums; and on the other, there were many able and sincere spiritualists who joined forces with the Psychical Researcher, in the unflinching endeavour to expose fraud and get at the truth. M. J.

Spiritual Magazine: Spiritualistic Journal. (See Spiritualism.) Spiritual Notes: (See British National Association of Spiritualists.) Spiritual Philosopher: Spiritualistic Journal. (See Spiritualism.) Spiritual Portraits: (See Blake.) Spiritual Telegraph: Spiritualistic Journal. (See Spiritualism.) Spiritualist: Spiritualistic Journal. (See Spiritualism.) Spodomancy: Divination by means of the cinders from sacrificial fires.

Spunkie, The A goblin of the same nature as the Scottish Kelpie." He is popularly believed to be an agent of Satan, and travellers who have lost their way are his especial prey. He attracts his unfortunate victim by means of a light, which looks as if it were a reflection on a window, and is apparently not far away; but as the man proceeds towards it, like the rainbow it recedes. However, he still follows its gleam, until the Spunkie has successfully lured him over a precipice or into a morass. Squinting: An ill omen. In the book of Vairus it is said. "Let no servant ever hire himself to a squinting master." Squire, J. R. M.: (See Spiritualism.) Stapleton, William : (See England.) Staus Poltergeist: The village of Staus, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, was in the years 1860-62 the scene of the most remarkable case of poltergeist-haunting to be found in modern records. The outbreak occurred in the house of M. Joller, a distinguished lawyer and a member of the Swiss national council, a man, moreover, whose character both in public and private life was beyond reproach. The household comprised M. Joller himself, his wife, seven ǝhildren (four boys and three girls), and a servant-maid. One night in the autumn of 1860 the latter was disturbed by a loud rapping on her bedstead, which she regarded as a presage of death. M. Joller ascribed the sounds to the girl's imagination, and forbade her to speak of them. A few weeks later, returning after a short absence, he found his family much alarmed. The knocks had been repeated in the presence of his wife and daughter, and had even