In the West of England there is an excellent example of a genuinely haunted house that has so far resisted all attempts to solve the origin of the haunt, the precise nature of the supernatural intelligence that directs the manifestation, or the motive of the phenomena.[15] It is now extremely difficult to get permission to carry out investigations, as adequate precautions have been taken to safeguard both the phenomena and the incautious dabbler in matters beyond the veil. I may take occasion here to warn my readers against the legal risks attached to stating that a house is haunted. In the eyes of the law such a statement is actionable, as it tends to depreciate the market value of the property. It is for this reason that stories concerning haunted houses when printed in newspapers have to be obscured in their indication of the precise locality and silent with regard to the name, number, or address of the suspected dwelling. The verbal repetition of such statements is also actionable and such cases as the bogus haunting of a house by the tenants or by caretakers in order to avoid payment of rent or the letting of the house are manifest reasons why the matter of haunted houses should always be treated with the utmost discretion. Particulars concerning a reputed haunt can, however, be communicated to a newspaper with safety. All communications to a journal are privileged, and they can be trusted not to print anything which renders them party to an action for damages. In 1913 a well-known student of occult matters announced his theory of _Protective Vibrations_.[16] It was in effect an analysis of the actual physical methods reported to be employed by spirit forces in building up their visible and material forms. His theory contained several assumptions which it is impossible to disregard and which certainly do not admit of rejection. Taken in series he stated that “The presence of human beings was an essential to the appearance of the ghost.” This admits of no disproof, as unless human witnesses are present there can be no testimony to the presence of the manifestation. A general consensus of opinion discredits ghost photographs unless taken under the strictest test conditions which again implies the presence of the human element. “The energy or thought-matter” (i.e. psychoplasm) “extended by the mortals is the matter out of which the astral form is constructed. They are, so to speak, the prime motors or the energy and material, providing units out of which the discarnate intelligence builds its carnate habit.” This conception embraces psychoplasm and ectoplasm as one, but the researches of Schrenck-Notzing were not then known. These and other similar experiments all point to the essential probability that the broad sense of his reasoning is correct.