More especially is this true in the case of mediumistic messages. If these prove to be delusory--the result of subliminal activity and so forth--if there be no spiritual world, then "psychics" may be said to be "founded upon the sand." It can hardly be called a "science." Only when the _fact_ of communication is proved, will the real study of the subject begin. Much of the work, up to the present, has been undertaken with a view to establishing the reality of the facts. But this is a question of evidence, not scientific research. When the facts themselves are established, then the real study--the work of the future--will begin. It will probably be the task of future generations to attack the problem from this standpoint. Let me illustrate what I mean by a somewhat striking example. Take the facts presented in the case of Mrs. Piper. Hitherto the question has resolved itself into that of the _evidence_ for survival. Have or have not the various personalities who have communicated through her entranced organism proved their personal identity? That is the problem; and, as we know, opinions differ! But, granting the reality of the facts, granting that "spirits" really do communicate, as alleged--then the study of the question, from the "scientific" point of view, will only have begun. _How_ do they communicate? Why are these communications so rare? Why such trouble with proper names? How do the "spirits" manipulate the nervous organism, and particularly the brain, of the medium? Upon what cells or centres do they operate? and how? Does the psychic constitution of the communicator affect the results--and if so, how? What is the condition of the communicator's mind while communicating? Is the medium's spirit entirely removed from the body during the process of communication? and if so, where is it, and what is it doing? How does the medium's mind affect the content of the communications--and to what extent? These, and a thousand other questions of a like nature, immediately present themselves, and call for solution, as soon as the reality of the facts be granted--as soon as spirit communication be accepted as a fact. This will constitute the work of the future--the detailed study of the facts--not merely regarding them from the point of view of evidence. Real, scientific psychical research will then begin. The subject will then, for the first time, become a legitimate branch of human study. Yet, even now, it may not be altogether unprofitable to adduce a few reflections which have been suggested by a study of the facts, up to the present time. If theories and speculations of this nature have in themselves no value, they often stimulate others to experiment or to reflect upon the same line--sometimes with strikingly important and interesting results. It is chiefly with this object in mind that I offer the following suggestions--the result of some years of thought and research in this particular field.