Definition of clairvoyance--Accounts of phenomena observed with Mrs. Piper, by Professor Lodge, Professor W. James, and others--Accounts of experiments by Mr. A. W. Dobbie, Dr. Wiltse, Mr. W. Boyd, Dr. F----, Dr. Backman. CHAPTER XV. ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE 351 Observations of M. Keulemans--Crystal-visions, Miss X., Dr. Backman, Miss A. and Sir Joseph Barnby--Spontaneous clairvoyance, Mrs. Paquet, Mr. F. A. Marks, Mrs. L. Z.--Clairvoyance in dream, Mrs. Freese--Clairvoyant perceptivity in an experiment, Dr. Gibotteau. CHAPTER XVI. THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS 371 _Resumé_, the proof apparent--The proof presumptive--The alleged influence of magnets and metals--The alleged marvels of spiritualism--Usage of the word telepathy--On various theories of telepathy--Difficulties of a physical explanation--Value of theory as a guide to investigation--Is telepathy a rudimentary or a vestigial faculty?--Our ignorance stands in the way of a conclusive answer--Imperative need for more facts. PREFACE. The following pages aim at presenting in brief compass a selection of the evidence upon which the hypothesis of thought-transference, or telepathy, is based. It is now more than twelve years since the Society for Psychical Research was founded, and nearly eight since the publication of _Phantasms of the Living_. Both in the periodical _Proceedings_ of the Society and in the pages of Edmund Gurney's book,[1] a large mass of evidence has been laid before the public. But the papers included in the _Proceedings_ are interspersed with other matter, some of it too technical for the taste of the general reader; whilst the two volumes of _Phantasms of the Living_, which have for some time been out of print, were too costly for the purse of some, and too bulky for the patience of others. The attention which, notwithstanding these drawbacks, that work excited on its first appearance, the friendly reception which it met with in many quarters, and the fact that a considerable edition has been disposed of, encouraged the hope that a book on somewhat similar lines, but on a smaller scale, might be of service to those--and their number has probably increased within the last few years--who take a genuine interest in this inquiry. Accordingly in the autumn of 1892 I obtained permission from the Council of the Society for Psychical Research to make full use, in the compilation of the present work, not merely of the evidence already published by us, but of the not inconsiderable mass of unpublished records in the possession of the Society.