A defence of modern spiritualismWallace, Alfred Russel
Religion
A defence of modern spiritualism
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Spiritualism
1. If a person with a knowledge of photography takes his own glass
plates, examines the camera used and all the accessories, and watches
the whole process of taking a picture, then, if any definite form
appears on the negative besides the sitter, it is a proof that some
object was present capable of reflecting or emitting the actinic rays,
although invisible to those present. 2. If an unmistakable likeness
appears of a deceased person totally unknown to the photographer. 3. If
figures appear on the negative having a definite relation to the figure
of the sitter, who chooses his own position, attitude and
accompaniments, it is a proof that invisible figures were really there.
4. If a figure appears draped in white, and partly behind the dark body
of the sitter without in the least showing through, it is a proof that
the white figure was there at the same time, because the dark parts of
the negative are transparent, and any white picture in any way
superposed would show through. 5. Even should none of these tests be
applied, yet if a medium, quite independent of the photographer, sees
and describes a figure during the sitting and an exactly corresponding
figure appears on the plate, it is a proof that such a figure was there.
Every one of these tests have now been successfully applied in our own
country, as the following outline of the facts will show:
The accounts of spirit-photography in several parts of the United States
caused many Spiritualists in this country to make experiments; but for a
long time without success. Mr. and Mrs. Guppy, who are both amateur
photographers, tried at their own house, and failed. In March, 1872,
they went one day to Mr. Hudson’s, a photographer living near them (not
a Spiritualist), to get some _cartes de visite_ of Mrs. Guppy. After the
sitting the idea suddenly struck Mr. Guppy that he would try for a
spirit-photograph. He sat down, told Mrs. G. to go behind the
background, and had a picture taken. There came out behind him a large,
indefinite, oval white patch, somewhat resembling the outline of a
draped figure. Mrs. Guppy, behind the background, was dressed in black.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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