Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and ObservationsMaxwell, J. (Joseph)
Philosophy
Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and Observations
Maxwell, J. (Joseph)
Parapsychology -- Investigation
“M. Meurice hears the same sounds on his bedroom door. There are three
doors to M. Meurice’s bedroom: one leads into a dressing-room, one
into a clothes-room, the third into a study; it is at this third door
that the above-mentioned phenomena occur.
“Sometimes M. Meurice hears the window of his own bedroom, as well as
that of the room upstairs, open and shut. He has got up repeatedly,
and gone upstairs to see what was happening, but has always found the
door closed, which he fancied he had heard being opened. Whenever, on
returning to his bedroom, he left the door of the room upstairs open,
the noise of footsteps would begin again as soon as he had left, but
without the sound of the opening and shutting of the bedroom door.
“3. Noises as of furniture being moved about. The medium hears the
chairs and tables of the room above him move about; his faculties of
observation are well developed, and he believes he recognises:—
“(_a_) Accompanying the noise of the displacement of chairs and
tables, Chappe’s footstep.
“(_b_) H. B.’s footsteps, on the contrary, are accompanied by the
noise a heavy person might make when sitting on a bed. The
medium hears the mattress creaking.
“(_c_) Lastly, he hears a noise similar to what would be produced
by a person lying back in an armchair.
“4. Noises of material objects other than furniture: these noises are
like:—
“(_a_) A bag of corn or nuts emptied on to the floor of the bedroom
upstairs.
“(_b_) Something hard striking the floor: these sounds are given
rhythmically upon request.
“(_c_) Wings beating the air. M. Meurice compares these sounds to
the flapping of the wings of a turkey.
“(_d_) The rubbing of paper.
“5. Diverse human noises:—
“(_a_) Sighs.
“(_b_) Heavy breathing.
“Are these sonorous phenomena subjective? I have never been in the
house at the hour, when these sounds are said to be heard; and the
noises I have heard from time to time are not sufficiently pronounced
for me to be able to form any conclusion. I have assured myself that
no water-pipes exist in the upper stories of the house; the latter is
isolated, but any loud noises made in a neighbouring house can be heard
in M. Meurice’s house.
“No one sleeps in the second story. A domestic, who occupies a room on
the same floor as M. Meurice, has heard the noise of footsteps, and has
often got up out of bed and gone upstairs to see who was moving about.
Never finding any one, the domestic attributes these sounds to rats: an
insufficient explanation. Moreover, a close examination of the house,
repeated on several occasions, has revealed to me no signs of rats.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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