An account is now given of some remarkable phenomena which occurred at four consecutive seances on the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th of August 1873. Mr. Stainton Moses was on a holiday excursion with Dr. and Mrs. Speer in the North of Ireland. The days were spent in orthodox holiday fashion. The following is condensed from notes written in detail at the time by Dr. Speer:-- On the 10th of August, after some other phenomena had occurred, a large globe of light rose opposite to me, sailed up to the level of our faces, and then vanished. Several more followed. By request one was placed in the centre of the table. It was surrounded with drapery. A light came and stood on the table close to me. "Now I will show you my hand" was rapped out. A large very bright light then came up, and inside of it appeared the materialised hand of the spirit. The fingers moved about close to my face; the appearance was as distinct as can be conceived. I was told to write an exact account of what had been done. The next evening I placed the account I had written and a pencil on the table, and asked that the light might be brought down upon it. This was done. I then asked that if possible the spirit would append his signature. The spirit said he would try. After other lights had been produced, the hand appeared outside the drapery, I heard the pencil moving, and repeating his instruction of the previous evening, he departed, leaving on the paper a specimen of direct spirit caligraphy. On these two evenings no other sitter was present but myself.[53] DIRECT WRITING. As has already been remarked, the wealth of material is so great that selection is a matter of difficulty. There is much more I should like to have included in this chapter, but it must be drawn to a close with a brief detailed account of a case of "Direct Writing." There is perhaps no phenomenon more incredible to the "beginner" in these studies, than that legible and intelligent writing should be produced without human agency, and yet there seems no other way of explaining the facts. The following is an account, by Mr. Stainton Moses himself, of a seance held on 19th September 1872, the last held before a break in the series during the autumn of that year. "Imperator" had recently announced himself as the leading guide or director of the phenomena. [Illustration: Facsimile reduced from original. The paper was blue, with faint blue lines. The corner at the top right hand was torn off for identification of the paper.]