My own experiments with this board have not, unfortunately, proved nearly so conclusive as those of Professor Alrutz--owing, doubtless, to the rarity of good "physical mediums" or those capable of exercising their will in the desired manner. It must not be thought that any one possessing a "strong will" can manipulate the board--as Professor Alrutz has pointed out. It is only a peculiarly endowed person who can move the board, one capable not only of exercising the necessary will power, but also of externalising it--a very rare power. Hence the small number of successes. Out of all those tried, I have found only two who could (apparently) move the board at all, and even in their cases the results were far less striking than in the cases reported by Professor Alrutz. In one case a number of slight depressions were obtained; but these were so fleeting, and lasted for so short a time, that it was almost impossible to be certain that the results were not due to mere oscillations of the board. In the second case, however, more definite results were obtained. On several occasions, depressions of half an ounce were noted; and, on two occasions, of more than an ounce, lasting for several seconds. I was enabled to assure myself at the time that these depressions were real, and were not the result of fraudulent manipulation of the board. Although these results are few and meagre compared with those of Professor Alrutz, still they tend to confirm his views, and add to the testimony adduced by him and by Professor Flournoy, in favour of the reality of the facts--of the actual physical pressure by the Will upon the board in question. In view of these results, then--of this apparently mutually confirmatory testimony--it seems impossible to doubt the fact that we have here definite and conclusive proof that the human will has succeeded in depressing the board in question--in being registered upon the balance, and, consequently, that it is a physical energy, capable of affecting the material world just as any other physical energy does. PART II Theories It may be contended, however, that in thus postulating the human will as a physical energy I have not taken into account the alternative explanation of the facts which might be adopted or assumed. This theory contends that it is not the will itself which causes the movement we observe, but the cerebral activity which corresponds to it, and is its physiological counterpart. It has frequently been pointed out before (_cf._ Ribot, _The Diseases of the Will_, pp. 5, 6), that when we will to move our arm, e.g., it may not be the will at all, _per se_, which affects the movement, but the brain-state or neural activity which accompanies the act of will. In other words, mind or will never affects matter (as we feel it does), but it is always one portion of the body which affects another portion--the will or state of consciousness being merely coincidental with this observed action.