Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and ObservationsMaxwell, J. (Joseph)
Philosophy
Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and Observations
Maxwell, J. (Joseph)
Parapsychology -- Investigation
“Three seances in all were held. There were present, Professor Richet,
Dr. Maxwell, M. Meurice, and myself. The seances were held in a very
small room on the top floor of the medium’s house.
“The following is a diagram showing the disposition of the room in
which the three seances, of which I am giving the _compte rendu_, took
place.
[Illustration]
“The door, which was shut, leads into another room, the two doors of
which—leading into a corridor—were locked during the experiment. The
window and shutters of this adjoining room were closed, and the room
darkened, so that no light therefrom could penetrate under the door of
the seance-room.
“The seances were held between 5 and 6.30 o’clock in the afternoon.
Total darkness was obtained by closing the outside shutters and
the window, and by hanging a large black curtain—kept for the
purpose—across the window. No ray of light was visible on the sides of
the window; the position of the latter could be guessed at during the
seance—simply because we knew where it was—but could not be perceived.
The darkness was profound. A candle and box of matches were placed on
table _A_. When the experimenters were seated, the candle was blown out.
“_Results._—Tuesday, 1st November 1904. The four experimenters were
seated around the table (see diagram); the medium (who is not marked
on the diagram, because he was in the cabinet whenever phenomena
were forthcoming) was seated between Dr. Maxwell (_M_) and Professor
Richet (_R_), with his back to the cabinet: No results—nothing
whatever—neither raps nor anything else.
“The medium goes into the cabinet. After an interval of a quarter of an
hour, _M_ and _X_ think they see milky-looking clouds floating about
near the cabinet, but they are unable to affirm the objectivity of this
appearance. At the close of the seance, feeble raps are heard on the
table; the raps dictate that Professor Richet is to sit in the cabinet
on the following day.”
* * * * *
_Second Seance_
“_Wednesday, 2nd November 1904._
“Professor Richet sits in the cabinet. The medium sits at the spot
marked _M_ on the diagram; Dr. Maxwell sits at _R_. After sitting
in this way for a quarter of an hour—during which time nothing
occurred—the medium asked to be allowed to go into the cabinet.
Professor Richet then sits at _R_, and Dr. Maxwell at _M_. Almost
immediately _M_ and _X_ see a phosphorescent, milky-looking, amorphous
light, of about six inches in diameter in parts, floating about outside
the door of the cabinet. It was decidedly objective, lasted for about
one minute, and gradually disappeared.
“_R_ did not see the light.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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