The Missing Link in Modern SpiritualismUnderhill, A. Leah (Ann Leah)
Religion
The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism
Underhill, A. Leah (Ann Leah)
Fox family; Spiritualism
"Without the knowledge of the persons in whose presence the
manifestations are made, the Committee selected the hall of the 'Sons
of Temperance,' for investigation of the subject under consideration.
That the sounds, on the floor near where the Mediums stood, were heard
as distinctly as at the other places; and that part of the Committee
heard the rapping on the wall behind them; that a number of questions
were asked, which were answered not altogether right nor altogether
wrong; that, in the afternoon, they went to the house of a private
citizen, and while there, the sounds were heard _on the outside_
(apparently) of the front door, after they had entered, and on the
door of a closet. By placing the hand upon the door, there was a
sensible jar felt when the rapping was heard.
"One of the Committee placed one of his hands upon the feet of the
ladies, and the other on the floor, and though the feet were not moved,
there was a distinct jar of the floor. On the pavement and on the ground
the same sounds were heard; a kind of double rap, as of a stroke and a
rebound, was distinguishable. When the sisters were separated at a
distance from each other, no sound was heard; but when a third person
was interposed between them, the sounds were heard. The sisters seemed
to give every opportunity to the Committee to investigate the case
fully, and would submit to a thorough investigation by a committee of
ladies, if desired. They all agree that the sounds were heard, but they
entirely fail to discern any means by which it could be done."
On the following evening, each member of the Committee spoke for
himself, and they all perfectly agreed as to the facts stated. Their
report was received with surprise by such of the audience as had come
with the expectation of having the subject exposed as a fraud, and the
rappings stopped.
After some further remarks by Mr. Capron, and a discussion of a brief
character upon the subject, another Committee was appointed consisting
of the following gentlemen: Dr. H. H. Langworthy, Hon. Frederick
Whittlesey, General D. C. McCallum, William Fisher, of Rochester, and
Hon. A. P. Hascall, of Le Roy, subsequently member of Congress.
At the meeting, on the evening after this lecture, this Committee
reported that "They went into the investigation at the office of
Chancellor Whittlesey, and they heard the sounds on the floor, on
the wall, and on the door; that the ladies were placed in different
positions, and, like the other Committee, they were unable to tell from
what the sounds proceeded, or how they were made; that Dr. Langworthy
made observations with a stethoscope to ascertain whether there was
any movement of the lungs, and found not the least difference when
the sounds were being made, and there was no kind of probability or
possibility of their being made by ventriloquism, as some had supposed;
and they could not have been made by machinery."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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