“On our second visit I need recount but three effects: First, difference in the method of obtaining writing on the large slates which began the seance, as in the first visit. Slade showed one slate and cleaned it thoroughly, then while keeping up a running fire of conversation, he casually reached to the small table, spoken of as having several piles of slates on it, and taking one as though at hazard, placed it flat on the big table. Rubbed its upper surface with his fingers, and placed a piece of pencil on it, held it under the table. After a pause he brought it out and taking the upper slate off the under, showed both surfaces without writing. He remarked that perhaps a different piece of pencil would be better and he placed another pencil on the upper surface of the top slate and then placed the lower slate over it, without at any time having shown its under surface. This surface was found covered with writing, the purport of which I do not now recall. “The second variation of the first seance was when Slade asked me if I had ever seen the ‘dematerialization of a solid object?’ I said I had not, whereupon Slade took a small slate and, looking around as though to find a proper object for his test, picked up a match box from the mantelpiece, and put it on the upper surface of the slate rather close to where he would hold it. He then placed the slate and its superimposed object carefully under the table and after a moment brought out the slate, without the match box. I looked under the table but found nothing suspicious there. “In a moment Slade replaced the slate under the table and on bringing it out, we saw the match box in its former place. This disappearance did not impress me greatly as I concluded the whole secret of dematerialization consisted in turning the slate over and holding the box in place by a finger, then after showing the surface empty, the slate was again turned over on being replaced under the table, and so the materialization of the box was realized. “The last test was quite startling. Slade drew his chair close to mine, placed one of his hands on the chair back and the other on the table. My hands were resting on the table top. Suddenly I felt the chair rise, and I was tipped forward, but kept my balance by pushing back with my hands, which, as I have said, were resting on the table top. Then the force was quickly withdrawn and my chair and I came back to the floor with a grand thud. This concluded the second seance. I never saw Slade again.” Powell explains the levitation thus: