Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and ObservationsMaxwell, J. (Joseph)
Philosophy
Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and Observations
Maxwell, J. (Joseph)
Parapsychology -- Investigation
Finally, here is a crucial experiment, an account of which M. de Rochas
has published in the _Annales des Sciences Psychiques_ in 1898. At that
moment I still suspended my judgment, not that my opinion with regard
to the phenomena produced by Eusapia and verified by me was uncertain,
but because I wished to study other mediums before pronouncing my
judgment. My studies are now sufficiently complete, from the point of
view of the observation of these facts, to permit me to declare my
opinion. The reasons of prudence, which led me to beg M. de Rochas to
withhold my name from his report, no longer exist. Here is the extract
from my notes made at the time of the experiment:—
‘I had bought, during the day, a letter-balance, which I brought to the
seance. Eusapia makes us sit for two or three minutes with our hands
on the table. Then she approaches her hands to the letter-balance,
placing her left hand on top of Dr. D.’s right hand. Dr. D. mentions
the sensation of a cold breeze, which ceases and recommences. Eusapia’s
hands are at about fifteen centimetres away from the letter-balance.
She makes two or three ascending and descending movements with
her hands, palm directed downwards. At the second movement the
letter-balance is pushed to the limit of its course, requiring for this
a force of more than one hundred and seventy grammes. Eusapia takes
P.’s left hand, and tries the experiment with him. She asks if he feels
the cool breeze. In a few seconds P. feels it over the third and fourth
fingers. (P.’s left hand is under the medium’s right hand.) The tray is
lowered, and the hand stops at the division 20.
‘Eusapia takes Dr. D.’s hand again. She forms a triangle with her
hands. Dr. D. has always his right hand in Eusapia’s left. The latter’s
hands are about fifteen centimetres away from one another, and about
ten centimetres away from the edge of the apparatus. The tray of the
latter is lowered; the hand marks 90 grammes, and _slowly_ returns to
0; in the two preceding experiments it had returned abruptly.
‘Eusapia tries to raise the scale. She directs her hands palms upwards.
The scale raises itself.
‘P. puts a black pocket-book weighing seventy grammes on the tray.
Eusapia begins the last experiment over again. After two or three
movements of her hands, palms upwards, the tray is raised to its
uttermost limit.’
These experiments were made in a good green light.
In conclusion, we never hesitated to act openly with Eusapia, telling
her what we thought. For example, at one time, in obscurity, Eusapia
drew the table to her without announcing it was she who did it. P.
immediately said: ‘It is the medium who’s drawing the table.’ Eusapia
was not annoyed, and said that P. was right to speak of what he noticed.
These experiments at Choisy and Bordeaux, in the course of which there
were both good and bad seances, convinced me that I had not been the
victim of illusion at l’Agnélas in M. de Rochas’ house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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