Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism: In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry SeybertUniversity of Pennsylvania. Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism
Religion
Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism: In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert
University of Pennsylvania. Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism
Parapsychology -- Investigation; Spiritualism
Mr. Sellers: My habits of observation have been trained in this kind of
work, and I watched the slates intently during the process.
Subsequently certain raps were audible, when the Medium called the
attention of Dr. Pepper to the fact that some of the raps were made upon
the chair on which the Doctor was seated. It was very evident that the
raps were, in fact, made on that chair; there was no doubt about that at
all.
Throughout this entire sitting the Medium complained sadly of his
physical disability. He said that he was afraid that he was going to
lose the power of his right side, that he was becoming numb all over.
The peculiar symptoms which he described will be reported upon in the
observations of Dr. Pepper, by whom they were noted.
(Mr. Furness here stated that the notes of Dr. Pepper would be read
later in the evening.)
Mr. Sellers (continuing): The Medium did very little more in the way of
writing. He repeated some few of the experiments previously made, such
as the throwing off of the pencil. He declined to play upon the
accordion, as the instrument had been broken.
At this meeting two pocket compasses, one brought by Mr. Furness and the
other by Mr. Sellers, were placed at a point near the circle of the
hands in order to observe whether any deflection from the magnetic
course occurred. No such result was noted. No change whatsoever in the
needles was observed other than that which was caused by a vibration due
to shakings of the table. From time to time the Medium would call
attention to one of the needles with the remark, 'There, one of those
needles is moving now.' In point of fact, the needle at the time would
show no motion other than that caused by the jarring of the table. The
Medium went on to say that frequently, under like circumstances, when
placed close together, he had seen two needles point around in opposite
directions. This might have been true, in the present instance, if the
Medium had placed a magnet attached to his foot at a point at which it
would have been between the two needles. Its effect would have been just
the one which he has described. No such result was noticeable during our
observations.
A large part of the sitting was devoted to the discussion of the
Zoellner experiments, the Medium narrating some of the phenomena that
had been witnessed in the presence of Dr. Zoellner. He said, however,
that Zoellner was a peculiarly impressible person, and one who had
entire confidence in his (the Medium's) ability.
Before the conclusion of the séance, the writer (Mr. Sellers) asked the
Medium if he was acquainted with the methods of operation of any
conjurors. The Medium replied that he did not know many of them, but he
always liked to have conjurors at his sittings, as they produced a very
good influence upon him. At this point the following colloquy ensued:
Mr. Sellers: Do you know a man named Kellar, who is exhibiting in this
city?
Dr. Slade: I do not. I never knew him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account