LEONID FYODORITCH. Vous avez la main heureuse. [10] Fancy, that very peasant whom I mentioned to you this morning turns out to be an undoubted medium. SAHATOF. Dear me! Yes, that is peculiarly interesting! LEONID FYODORITCH. Yes, we tried a few preliminary experiments with him just after dinner. SAHATOF. So you've had time already to experiment, and to convince yourself.... LEONID FYODORITCH. Yes, perfectly! And he turns out to be an exceptionally powerful medium. SAHATOF (incredulously). Dear me! LEONID FYODORITCH. It turns out that it has long been noticed in the servants' hall. When he sits down to table, the spoon springs into his hand of its own accord! (To the PROFESSOR.) Had you heard about it? PROFESSOR. No, I had not heard that detail. SAHATOF (to the PROFESSOR). But still, you admit the possibility of such phenomena? PROFESSOR. What phenomena? SAHATOF. Well, spiritualistic, mediumistic, and supernatural phenomena in general. PROFESSOR. The question is, what do we consider supernatural? When, not a living man but a piece of stone attracted a nail to itself, how did the phenomena strike the first observers? As something natural? Or supernatural? SAHATOF. Well, of course; but phenomena such as the magnet attracting iron always repeat themselves. PROFESSOR. It is just the same in this case. The phenomenon repeats itself and we experiment with it. And not only that, but we apply to the phenomena we are investigating the laws common to other phenomena. These phenomena seem supernatural only because their causes are attributed to the medium himself. But that is where the mistake lies. The phenomena are not caused by the medium, but by psychic energy acting through a medium, and that is a very different thing. The whole matter lies in the law of equivalents. SAHATOF. Yes, certainly, but.... [Enter TANYA, who hides behind the hangings. LEONID FYODORITCH. Only remember that we cannot reckon on any results with certainty, with this medium any more than with Home or Kaptchitch. We may not succeed, but on the other hand we may even have perfect materialisation. SAHATOF. Materialisation even? What do you mean by materialisation? LEONID FYODORITCH. Why, I mean that some one who is dead--say, your father or your grandfather--may appear, take you by the hand, or give you something; or else some one may suddenly rise into the air, as happened to Alexey Vladimiritch last time. PROFESSOR. Of course, of course. But the chief thing is the explanation of the phenomena, and the application to them of general laws. [Enter the FAT LADY. FAT LADY. Anna Pavlovna has allowed me to join you. LEONID FYODORITCH. Very pleased. FAT LADY. Oh, how tired Grossman seems! He could scarcely hold his cup. Did you notice (to the PROFESSOR) how pale he turned at the moment he approached the hiding-place? I noticed it at once, and was the first to mention it to Anna Pavlovna. PROFESSOR. Undoubtedly,--loss of vital energy.