Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and ObservationsMaxwell, J. (Joseph)
Philosophy
Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and Observations
Maxwell, J. (Joseph)
Parapsychology -- Investigation
Generally the effluvium appears to unite the tips of the fingers of
each hand. But it is not always so. Often two or three digital effluvia
converge into one of the fingers of the opposite hand, instead of
uniting the corresponding fingers.
I noticed that the meteorological conditions and variations of
temperature had a decided influence upon the visibility of the
effluvia. When the seance-room is very cold, or when the weather is
damp or rainy, the effluvia are scarcely perceptible. They appear to
reach a maximum intensity in summer, when the temperature is high, and
especially when the air is sultry. When the weather is threatening
and stormy, the effluvium is thick and clearly visible to me; when
the storm has burst, and the atmosphere has cleared, its intensity
diminishes.
It often varies according to the individual. Some people give forth an
effluvium, which is more visible than that of others. I have not been
able to seize any relation between the appearance of the effluvium and
the sex, age, and temperament of the various persons with whom I have
experimented; on the contrary, a relation seems to exist between the
state of health or fatigue and the emission of this mist; it is rarely
visible, when the person who emits it is tired or ill.
Such are the principal remarks, which observation of this curious
phenomenon has allowed me to make. I have summed them up carefully,
but I ought to say, that to me the reality of this appearance does not
seem to be demonstrated. After all it may only be due to an effect of
contrast. The conditions under which it is observed with the greatest
convenience are those, where the hands stand out clearly on a dark
background. In drawing the hands away one from the other, the image of
the fingers persists perhaps on the retina, and gives rise, maybe, to
an illusion; but this explanation is not always sufficient.
There is an _optima_ distance for the realisation of this effluvium. As
a rule the effluvium appears denser when the fingers are fairly close
together; as they move away the density diminishes; it becomes thinner
and more attenuated. But if the hands cease to move, the effluvium
disappears. This is the case as long as the tips of the fingers are
not more than 2 to 3 centimetres away. If the movement of withdrawal
ceases when the finger-tips are within 10 to 15 centimetres proximity,
the effluvium remains visible for a longer time. This is what generally
happens, but the facts have not always the same regularity. There is,
in psychical phenomena, the same diversity and variability, which are
observed in other biological phenomena.
I have said that the effluvium persists longer and is best seen when
the finger-tips of each hand are within 10 centimetres proximity. Under
these conditions, the movement of separation being suspended, the
slight mist, which I described, persists several seconds. Sometimes the
effluvium is clearly visible, when the fingers are 25 to 30 centimetres
apart.
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