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 LIBRARY 
 
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 Estate, oh 
 George E. Hasutman 
 
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THE SITTING-ROOM AT LEIPSIC. 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS 
 
 v 
 
 gWrouut of (gxpcrim-cntat 
 Jrom jfrfontifir Statist 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHANN CARL FRIEDRICH ZOLLNER, 
 
 Professor of Physical Astronomy at the University of Leipsic 
 Member of the Royal Saxon Society of Sciences; Foreign 
 Member of the Royal Astronomical Society of London; of 
 the Imperial Academy of Natural Philosophers at 
 Moscow; Honorary Member of the Physical Associa¬ 
 tion AT FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN; OF THE “ SCIENTIFIC 
 Society of Psychological Studies,” at Paris; 
 
 AND OF THE “ BRITISH NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 
 
 of Spiritualists,” at London. 
 
 SEuanslateti from tije (German, toft!) a preface anti SlpjicutJiccs, bg 
 
 CHARLES CARLETON MASSEY, 
 
 OF LINCOLN’S INN, LONDON, ENGLAND, BAllRISTER-AT-LAW. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 COLBY & RTCTL PUBLISHERS, 
 
 No. !) Montgomery Place. 
 
i J J* * 
 
 Z«?T 
 
 c. X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 l-AGE, 
 
 Translator’s Preface,.0 
 
 Author’s Dedication to Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S., 27 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Gauss’and Kant’s Theory of space.—-The Practical Appli¬ 
 cation of the Theory in Experiments with Henry Slade. 
 
 — True Knots produced upon a Cord with its ends in 
 view aud sealed together,.31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Magnetic Experiments.—Physical Phenomena.—Slate-Writ¬ 
 ing under Test Conditions,.4G 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Permanent Impressions obtained of Hands and Feet.— Pro¬ 
 posed Chemical Experiment.—Slade’s Abnormal Vision. 
 
 — Impressions in a Closed Space. — Enclosed Space of 
 Three Dimensions open to Four-Dimensional Beings, C3 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Conditions of Investigation.— Unscientific Men of Science. 
 
 — Slade’s Answer to Professor Barrett, ... 72 
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
4 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Production of Knots in an Endless String.—Further Experi¬ 
 ments.— Materialisation of Hands. — Disappearance and 
 Reappearance of Solid Objects.— A Table Vanishes, and 
 afterwards Descends from the Ceiliug in Full Light, . 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Theoretical Considerations. — Projected Experiments for 
 Proof of the Fourth Dimension.— The Unexpected in 
 Nature and Life.—Schopenhauer’s “Transcendent Fate,” 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Various Instances of the so-called Passage of Matter through 
 Matter, . 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Phenomena suitable for Scientific Research. — Their 
 Reproduction at Different Times and Places. — Dr. 
 Friese’s and Professor Wagner’s Experiments in Confir¬ 
 mation of the Author’s, . 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Theoretical; “The Fourth Dimension.” — Professor Hare’s 
 Experiments.—Further Experiments of the Author with 
 Slade.— Coins Transferred from Closed and Fastened 
 Boxes.— Clairvoyance,. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 An Experiment for skeptics.— A Wager. — Slade’s Scruples. 
 — A Rebuke by the Spirits.— An Unexpected Result.— 
 Captious Objections, . 
 
CONTKNTS. 
 
 5 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Writing through a Table.— A test in Slate-Writing conclu¬ 
 sively Disproving Slade's Agency, .... 1G5 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A “ Fault” in the Cable.— A Jet of Water.— Smoke.—“ Eire 
 Everywhere.”—Abnormal Shadows.—Explanation upon 
 the Hypothesis of the Fourth Dimension.—A Seance in 
 Dim Light.— Movement of Objects.—A Luminous Body, 17G 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Phenomena Described by Others,.18G 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 Appendix A. — The Value of Testimony in Matters Extraor¬ 
 dinary, .197 
 
 Appendix 15. — Evidence of Samuel Bellachini, Court Con¬ 
 jurer at Berlin,.213 
 
 Appendix C. — Admissions by John Nevil Maskclync and 
 
 other Professional Conjurers,.215 
 
 Appendix D. — Plate X, .218 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 7- 
 
 FRONTisriEcn.—The room at Leipsic in which most of the 
 Experiments were conducted. 
 
 Plate I.— Experiment with an Endless String, . . 40 
 
 “ II.— Leather Bands Interlinked and Knotted under 
 
 Professor Zollner’s Hands, .... 87 
 
 “ III.— Experiment with an Endless Bladder-Band and 
 
 Wooden Rings, . . . . . . 103 
 
 “ IV.— Result of the Experiment, .... 105 
 
 “ V.— Ditto, on an Enlarged Scale, .... 107 
 
 “ VI.— Experiment with Coins in a Secured Box, 142, 143 
 
 “ VII.— The Representation of Conditions under which 
 
 Slate-Writing was obtained, .... 1G7 
 
 “VIII.— Slate-Writing Extraordinary, . . . 171, 173 
 
 “ IX.— Slate-Writing in five Different Languages, 194,195 
 
 “ X.— Details of the Experiment with an Endless Band 
 
 and Wooden Rings,.218 
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. 
 
 “ These things, O Asclepius, will appear to be true if thon understandeth them, 
 but if thou understandeth them not, incredible. For to understand is to 
 believe, but not to believe is not to understand.”— The Divine Pimander. 
 
 “ Transcendental Physics ” is the title of the third volume 
 of Professor Zollner’s Scientific Treatises. Some of the parts com¬ 
 prised in the following translation belong to the earlier volumes, 
 where the facts recorded are introduced in connection with the 
 author’s physical speculations. It is with some concern that the 
 translator has been compelled to forego a full presentation of the 
 latter; but it is hoped that enough is given to show their bearing 
 upon facts, the public recognition of which is the principal object 
 in view. With such assistance as is afforded by the author’s occa¬ 
 sional explanations,' the English reader must be left to grapple, as 
 best he can, with the unfamiliar conception of the fourth dimension 
 of space. Professor Zollner traces this hypothesis historically in 
 the writings of some of the most eminent philosophers and mathe¬ 
 maticians ; but it was not possible to disengage this account from 
 other metaphysical and scientific disquisitions, or from controversial 
 topics, in which it is involved. A very general abstract is given 
 in the first chapter, which is a reprint, by permission of Mr. 
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
10 
 
 TRANSLATORS PREFACE. 
 
 Crookes, F.R.S., of an article published in the Quarterly Journal 
 of Science, of April, 1878, on the appearance of the first volume 
 of the author’s treatises. 
 
 The writer ventures to hope that this English version of facts so 
 well-attested may be read by those to whom the intellectual worth 
 and achievements of the principal witnesses arc already known. 
 Rut for tho information of the general public, the following par¬ 
 ticulars concerning them are here given. 
 
 Professor Zollncr, the author and chief deponent, in whose 
 house many of the facts he records occurred, was born in 1834, 
 and is thus in tho mature vigor of his intellectual life. He is 
 Professor of Physics and Astronomy in the University of Leipsic, 
 and has taken place in the front ranks of the scientific men of 
 Europe. lie has published many works, among which are 
 Sketches of a Universal Photometry of the Starry Heavens, Physi¬ 
 cal Nature of the Heavenly Bodies, The Nature of Comets, and 
 these treatises. 
 
 William Edward Weber, bom in 1804, is a Professor of Phys¬ 
 ics, and known as the founder, in common with his brother, of the 
 doctriuc of the Vibration of Forces. He has published an exhaust¬ 
 ive work on Electro-Dynamic Measurement (4 vols., 184G-1S54). 
 No scientific reputation stands higher in Germany than that of 
 Weber. 
 
 Professor Scheibncr, of Leipsic University, is a well-known and 
 highly-distinguished mathematician. 
 
 Gustave Theodore Fechner, bom 1801, is eminent as a natural 
 philosopher, and is likewise Professor of Physics at Leipsic. 
 Among his works are The Soul of Plants, The Zendavesta, The 
 Things of the Future, Elements of Psycho-Physics, The Problem 
 of the Soul, and About the Life Hereafter. 
 
 It is not surprising that the testimony of these men, publicly 
 given to such facts as those described in the following pages, has 
 caused much excitement and controversy in Germany. The indis¬ 
 position to see in the alleged phenomena of Spiritualism, as regards 
 their reality and independence of known causes, a simple question 
 
translator's preface. 
 
 11 
 
 of evidence has been everywhere apparent. Nevertheless, it is 
 just from tills point of view that the public must, by degrees, be 
 brought to regard the subject. The irrelevance of any other mode 
 of treating it will sooner or later be recognized. The value of 
 human testimony is determinable by known criteria, which can 
 only be applied by a critical examination of the statements made, 
 having regard also to what is ascertained about the witnesses. 
 Supposing the veracity and intelligence of the latter to be above 
 suspicion, we have to consider what were their opportunities for 
 exact observation, with reference, of course, to the nature of the 
 fact observed. The latter, indeed, is the main point, because we 
 know that the faculty of accurate observation differs widely in 
 different people, and we cannot have the same confidence in this 
 special capacity of the witness that we may have in his general 
 intelligence. For example: during the prosecution of Slade at 
 Bow Street in 187G by Professor Lankester, the latter declared 
 himself unable to say on which side of a slate, pressed by Slade 
 against the under surface of the table, a certain writing was pro¬ 
 duced ; remarking, that the slate might have been reversed on 
 withdrawal by sleight of hand, and that it was part of the art of a 
 conjurer to effect such a change without observation. That there 
 was some force in this suggestion could not be denied; * and had a 
 witness in support of Slade stated that the writing, produced under 
 the conditions described, appeared on the side of the slate which 
 was pressed against the table, the accuracy of his observation, and 
 therefore the value of liis testimony, might have been challenged 
 on this ground. How far a similar criticism is applicable to any 
 of the facts here recorded by Professor Zbllner, to any of them, at 
 least, which he lays stress upon, and thinks it worth while particu¬ 
 larly to describe, the reader must judge for himself. But take, for 
 instance, those of which circumstantial accounts are given at pages 
 
 *Tlie writer tested it afterwards, by making Slade withdraw the slate very 
 slowly, inch by inch, as soon as the sound of writing ceased, when the writing 
 appeared in successive lines on the ttj'per surface of the slate (that against the 
 table). 
 
12 
 
 translator’s preface. 
 
 14, 34, and 91, and contrast them, in relation to this all-important 
 point, with the one just mentioned. If in the latter case average 
 powers of observation might possibly be baffled, in the others the 
 nature of the phenomena was such that, so far as Slade’s physical 
 instrumentality in them is in question, the suggestion that it might 
 have eluded observation will be felt to transgress the limits pre¬ 
 scribed by candor and common sense. 
 
 The evidence of testimony is the evidence of the senses, or, to 
 speak more accurately, of sense-impressions as interpreted by "he 
 mind, one degree removed. The only elements of fallacy possi¬ 
 bly added by testimony to original observation are such as may 
 result from defects of veracity, defects of memory, defects of judg¬ 
 ment as to what is material to be mentioned, and defects of lan¬ 
 guage, or the understanding of it by the recipient of the testimony. 
 In short, the peculiar infirmity of proof by testimony is the uncer¬ 
 tainty whether it conveys to the mind an exact or sufficient tran¬ 
 script of the fact as it was perceived by the original observer. 
 For whatever concerns defects of observation belongs to the per¬ 
 ception, and not to the transmission of facts by testimony. Even 
 if we could be satisfied that we had got a perfect copy of the origi¬ 
 nal objective impression made upon the witness, we still could not 
 be sure that the fact so conveyed to us would not have contained 
 more or less for ourselves had we been in his place. In all mat¬ 
 ters requiring skilled observation, it is obvious that the testimony 
 of an expert has far higher value as evidence for those who are 
 not experts than their own observations would have. 
 
 In considering what is the particular risk of any of the above- 
 mentioned fallacies of testimony, except the first, attaching to a 
 statement of facts, the same remark is applicable as has been 
 already made in speaking of the value of original observations. 
 Assuming the veracity of the witness, we must have especial regard 
 to the nature of the facts, and of the statements concerning them. 
 Are the latter so full, precise, and intelligible as to evince that 
 the witness is speaking from a strong recollection, with a clear 
 appreciation of what is necessary to be known, and with a faculty 
 
translator’s preface. 
 
 1 .°> 
 
 of expression sufficient, to convey distinct and unmistakable mean¬ 
 ings to an ordinary understanding? In order to know whether 
 the statements are really sufficient in these respects, we have to 
 consider what is the fact to he -proved from the particular facts 
 described,— as iu the following accounts the fact to be proved is 
 that Slade had no active physical participation in the production 
 of what occurred. Just as the probative force of original observa¬ 
 tion depends bn the supposition that no circumstance -which could 
 have escaped observation would impair the demonstration, so the 
 probative force of testimony (veracity being granted) is addition¬ 
 ally less iu so far only as a similarly important circumstance actu¬ 
 ally observed could have escaped the memory, or be regarded in 
 the judgment of the witness as too unimportant for mention. As 
 the faculty of observation differs in different persons, so also differ 
 the memory and intelligence. But as there are limits, which it 
 would be contrary to all experience to suppose exceeded, to the 
 fallibility of observation', so, likewise, we cannot ascribe to memory 
 and intelligence, in reference to deliberate statements, defects so 
 gross that we should infer with far more probability intentional 
 untruth. 
 
 The validity of testimony to facts of such a nature that conceiv¬ 
 able errors of observation, memory, and judgment may be left out 
 of account in concluding from them is tjius reduced to a question 
 of veracity. There is no issue so studiously shirked as this by the 
 people who heap contempt on all evidence in favor of occult phe¬ 
 nomena. The imputation of lying is felt to be too crude, coarse, 
 and unintelligent a way out of the difficulty. Aud so we hear a 
 great deal of the folly and credulity of the witnesses, and of their 
 unacquaintance with the wiles of the conjurer, but hardly at all of 
 their mendacity. And yet no testimonies, taken singly at least, to 
 such things are worth much, unless the issue can be narrowed to 
 this of veracity. If there is any chance or possibility, consistently 
 with the witnesses’ truth, of the whole thing being only a more or 
 less skillful trick, the testimony is scarcely worth adducing at all. 
 
 It will be seeu that this demand, that trickery and conjuring 
 
14 
 
 TRANSLATOR S PREFACE 
 
 sliull not be sue-^ested at lare:e, without regard to the nature of 
 what occurs, or to the conditions of its occurrence, as affording or 
 not affording opportunities for the exercise of these arts, does not 
 require from the critic of the evidence an exposition of the particu¬ 
 lar modus operandi of the supposed conjurer, which only the lat¬ 
 ter could supply. No one, for example, is called upon to explain 
 the modus operandi of Psycho’s performances at the Egyptian 
 Hall, or, as the alternative, to admit that some occult agency is 
 concerned in them. It is enough that on Messrs. Maskelyne and 
 Crookes’ own stage communication with the automaton, by means 
 known to science, is possible, though Mr. Maskelyne stands at a 
 distance from it, and no assistant is visible. But transport Mr. 
 Maskelyne and his automaton to a private house, to a room which 
 the conjurer has never entered before, of which he has had no 
 facilities for adapting to his purposes; let him be unaccompanied 
 by any assistant, and stand aside under close observation while 
 Psycho plays his intelligent hand at whist with some of the com¬ 
 pany, or works out the sum3 in arithmetic which they set him. 
 There would then arise a question for science the importance of 
 which it could not affect to underrate. For on the assumption that 
 Mr. Maskelyne was directly and consciously instrumental in what 
 occurred, it must be that he had discovered a method of applying 
 and directing natural forces at a distance,* while apparently him¬ 
 self inactive, which would be capable of the most practically im¬ 
 portant uscs.f 
 
 If, now, the production of the true knots in an endless string, 
 the rending of Professor Zdllncr’s bed-screen, the disappearance of 
 the small table and its subsequent descent from the ceiling, in full 
 light, in a private house, and under the observed conditions, of 
 which the most noticeable is the apparent passivity of Slade dur¬ 
 ing all these occurrences, are to be ascribed to any conscious opera¬ 
 tion of his, we can hardly avoid attributing to him scientific dis- 
 
 •That Psycho is not vvorkcJ by Mr. Maskelyne himself from the stage by 
 means of a magnet has been repeatedly demonstrated. 
 
 t See Appendix C. 
 
translator’s preface. 
 
 15 
 
 coveries, or tlie possession of secrets of nature at, least equally 
 remarkable. But in that ease he could, and it would clearly be 
 his interest to produce these and similar astonishing effects with 
 constant regularity. Professor Lankester would have witnessed 
 them no less than Professor Zollner, and Slade would long ago 
 have amassed a fortune by his exhibitions. The fact that he can¬ 
 not command these phenomena, at least the most striking of them, 
 at will, points to conditions of their production varying with his 
 own physical and mental states, and probably with those also of the 
 persons resorting to him. And this is the reason why these phe¬ 
 nomena, though as capable of verification by scientific men and 
 trained observers (by whom they have in fact been repeatedly 
 verified) as by any one else, arc not exactly suitable for scientific 
 verification. There is a clear distinction between the two things. 
 Scientific verification supposes that the conditions of an experiment 
 are ascertained, that they can be regularly provided, and the ex¬ 
 periment repeated at pleasure. One hears occasionally of offers 
 from men of science to investigate and attest certain phenomena 
 of Spiritualism, selected by themselves, provided they can witness 
 them under conditions of their own prescribing. These, in some 
 cases well-meant overtures, proceed on the assumption that the 
 phenomena, if genuine, require nothing but the mere physical 
 presence of the medium, and that it is only necessary to take ade¬ 
 quate precautions (no matter what these arc) against deception by 
 the latter, in order to obtain a scientific demonstration. When 
 such an offer is rejected or neglected, the inference of course is 
 drawn that the “phenomena” only occur when facilities for their 
 fraudulent production are allowed. Yet it is equally consistent 
 with the medium’s knowledge that the conditions (of which he is 
 himself ignorant) cannot be controlled, and with his consequent 
 indisposition to be put upon a formal trial which may result in 
 failure and discredit. Systematic investigation of this subject by 
 men of science is much to be desired, but it must not be under¬ 
 taken iu a magisterial spirit, with the imposition of a test, and the 
 demand of an immediate result. The only claim which spiritual- 
 
translator’s prepack. 
 
 10 
 
 ists make upon scientists is tlmt they shall not, in entire ignorance 
 and contempt of the evidence, sanction and encourage the public 
 prejudice by their authority.* But even tills claim cannot be 
 preferred with confidence. Since the Council of the Royal Society 
 refused, by its rejection of Mr. Crookes’ paper, “ On the Experi¬ 
 mental Investigation of a Force,” to be informed of the evidence, 
 it must be considered that the Fellows of that distinguished body 
 do. in general, dispose of the question on a •priori grounds, and 
 hold that no quantity or quality of human testimony can suffice to 
 establish facts of this description, or even a primu facie case in 
 favor of them. So far as this peremptory rejection appeals to the 
 principle of incredulity expounded in Hume’s celebrated Essay on 
 Miracles, it shows an utter ignorance of the reasoning by which 
 that monstrous fallacy, and the contradictions in which its author 
 involved himself, have been repeatedly exposed. This has never 
 been better done than in the introduction to Mr. Alfred Russel 
 Wallace’s book, entitled “ Miracles and Modern Spiritualism.” 
 There is, however, another proposition commonly put forward to 
 dispose a priori of unacceptable testimony, substantially, but not 
 logically, equivalent to Ilume’s, and which embodies a fallacy no 
 less demonstrable, though so widely prevalent as to necessitate 
 particular examination. This proposition is that evidence, to com¬ 
 mand assent, should be proportional to the probability or improba¬ 
 bility of the fact to be proved. Two years ago the writer dealt 
 with it at some length in a paper read before the Psychological 
 Society, and which is reprinted in an Appendix at the end of this 
 volume, f Inasmuch as the fallacy in question, and the loose and 
 inaccurate phrases, applied to the whole class of facts now in evi¬ 
 dence, are in the nature of preliminary objections to the testimony 
 about to be adduced, the reader is urgently referred to that essay, 
 which cannot be conveniently comprised within the limits of a 
 preface. 
 
 ♦For example, by describing Spiritualism, as “a kind of intellectual whore¬ 
 dom." — Professor Tyndall. 
 
 t Appendix A. “ On the value of testimony in matters extraordinary.” 
 
translator’s preface. 
 
 17 
 
 Every opponent who recognizes the obligation of dealing seri¬ 
 ously with evidence, whether by explicitly objecting to its admissi¬ 
 bility, or by questioning its intrinsic value, must be fairly and 
 squarely encountered. To writers in the press who never miss an 
 opportunity of discrediting Spiritualism, by derisive articles on the 
 “exposures,” real or reputed, of mediums, and on the occasional 
 follies of spiritualists, only a passing word can be spared. To the 
 present writer, at least, so-called Spiritualism represents no relig¬ 
 ious craze or sectarian belief, but an aggregation (not yet to be 
 called a system) of proven facts of incalculable importance to 
 science and speculation. Those who so regard the subject would 
 be unmoved in their convictions of its truth and importance though 
 it were proved that every medium was a rogue, and that many 
 spiritualists were their willing dupes. Much of the evidence on 
 which they rely has proceeded on that very assumption, and on the 
 precautions which were accordingly taken. In noue of it which is 
 imparted to the public does the element of personal confidence iu 
 the medium enter in the smallest degree, though that feeling 
 doubtless does and must often exist, especially when the manifesta¬ 
 tions occur, as they often do, in private families, and with persons 
 whose characters are beyond all suspicion. 
 
 As regards the medium, Henry Slade, with whom Professor 
 Zdllner’s investigations were carried on, all the world knows, or did 
 know a few years ago, that he was convicted at How Street Police 
 Court, under the fourth section of the Vagrant Act, of using “ sub¬ 
 tle crafts and devices, by palmistry or otherwise,” to deceive Pro¬ 
 fessor E. Ray Lankestcr, F.R.S., and certain others; that he was 
 sentenced by Mr. Flowers, the magistrate, to three months’ impris¬ 
 onment with hard labor; and that the conviction was afterwards 
 quashed on appeal to the Middlesex Sessions, for a formal error in 
 the conviction, as returned to that Court. Professor Zollner gives 
 the whole report of the various proceedings from beginning to end, 
 at length, in his book, but it has not been thought necessary to 
 reproduce it here. It may be stated generally that Professor Lan- 
 kester had two sittings with Slade, at each of which he believed 
 
ltf translator's preface. 
 
 himself to have detected the mode in which the writing was pro¬ 
 duced on the slate. On the second occasion he was accompanied 
 hy a friend, Dr. Donkin, whose evidence agreed with his own. 
 The modus operandi, according to these gentlemen, was this: 
 Slade took one of his own slates, and held it for a time, concealed 
 from the view of his visitors, between himself and the table, before 
 placing it “ in position,” that is, pressed against the under surface 
 of the corner of the table, for the pretended purpose of obtaining 
 “ Spirit-writing.” During this interval the observers detected 
 sounds as of writing, and observed motions of Slade’s arm, sue'- 
 gestive that ho was employed in writing on the slate, held, prob¬ 
 ably, between his legs. As to other “ messages,” obtained while 
 the slate was in position, they supposed Slade to indite them by 
 means of a bit of pencil stuck in the nail of one of his lingers. 
 At length, after hearing writing as first described, Professor Lan- 
 kestcr snatched the slate from Slade’s hand as soon as it was 
 placed against the table, and found the message already inscribed 
 upon it. 
 
 Such was the clumsy trick — if trick indeed proceedings so 
 imperfectly disguised can be called—-of which a man, who, if not 
 a “medium,” is unquestionably the most wonderful conjurer and 
 illusionist in the world, was convicted, by inference, to use the 
 magistrate’s expression, “ from the known course of nature.” And 
 there the matter might be left to the reader’s rellcctions. Some 
 few additional facts must, however, be stated. Previous to Pro¬ 
 fessor Lankester’s visit to him, Slade had been two months in 
 London, being on his way to St. Petersburg, where he was under 
 an engagement with a scientific committee of the Imperial Univer¬ 
 sity of that city. During this time he had been giving sittings to 
 all comers, including not a few of literary and scientific attain¬ 
 ments. We may safely conclude that the great impression he had 
 produced was not the result of proceedings such as those described 
 by his accusers. Among those named in the information against 
 him, and whom lie was charged, contrary, it was understood, to 
 their express wish, with having deceived, were several well-known 
 
TRANSLATORS PREFACE. 
 
 19 
 
 gentlemen, Dr. W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., being one. Only one 
 of these gentlemen, Mr. 11. H. Hutton, was called as a witness by the 
 prosecution. His evidence was on the whole favorable to the 
 accused. Of other witnesses called by the prosecution, not one 
 professed to have detected trickery, though all seemed to suspect 
 it. For the defence, it was proposed to call a number of wit¬ 
 nesses of education and intelligence, for the purpose of giving evi¬ 
 dence of phenomena — slate-writing and other—witnessed by 
 them in Slade’s presence, of a character and under conditions 
 wholly inconsistent with any agency of his. Four only were 
 allowed to give evidence, one of them being Mr. A. R. Wallace, 
 the eminent naturalist. The present writer had been called by the 
 prosecution (he being counsel in the case for another defendant), 
 but believes that his evidence could not have been entirely satis¬ 
 factory to that side. The effect of the evidence was described by 
 the magistrate from the bench as “overwhelming;” but in giving 
 judgment he expressly excluded it from consideration, confining 
 himself to the evidence of the complainant, Professor Lankester, 
 and of Dr. Donkin, and basing his decision upon “inferences to be 
 drawn from the known course of nature”—a main question in the 
 case being whether there are not some operations in nature not 
 “generally known.” An attempt had been made, with the wholly 
 irregular assistance of Mr. John Nevil Maskelyne, the professional 
 conjurer, to show that the table used by Slade, and which was pro¬ 
 duced in court by the defence, was a “ trick table,” and expressly 
 constructed to assist in the effects at the seances. This attempt 
 utterly broke down. In order to allow room for the slate to bo 
 placed in the position usual for obtaining writing, a single central 
 support was used for the flap of the table instead of side ledges. 
 A wedge inserted at the pivot of this support had been pointed out 
 as a most suspicious feature; it was explained by the carpenter 
 that he had inserted it himself, without orders, for the simple pur¬ 
 pose of remedying a defect in his own construction of the table. 
 Professor Lankester, in his evidence, had described the table, 
 before its production in court, as without a frame, and as thus 
 
20 
 
 translator’s preface. 
 
 enabling Slade to move bis legs and knees under it with greater 
 facility. It turned out that the table bad a frame of rather greater 
 depth than usual. The table was impounded, and remained for 
 several months in the custody of the court, and open to inspection 
 and examination for concealed magnets, and so forth. None were 
 discovered, and the table is now at the rooms of the British 
 National Association of Spiritualists, at 38 Great Russell Street, 
 where it can be seen by the curious. 
 
 Nothing was more prejudicial to Slade, or more tended to pro¬ 
 duce the impression that he was an impostor than his ascribing the 
 “messages” on his slates to spirits of the dead. “ Allie,” bis 
 deceased wife; Professor Lankester’s fictitious “Uncle John:” 
 the random names that came, and the messages of recognition to 
 which they were signed, naturally seemed to the public, little j 
 accustomed, or in this case disposed, to distinguish issues, even 
 more indicative of fraud than the direct evidence. The writer, 
 from the intimate knowledge he acquired of Slade, is satisfied that 
 the latter really believed in the identity of his “spirits.” Nor was 
 this belief at all unnatural. A large proportion of his visitors do 
 obtain writing signed by the names of deceased friends of whom 
 usually Slade has never heard; this being often the case with 
 strangers visiting him for the first time. That there is any “ pump¬ 
 ing” process applied to his visitors before sitting for the writing is 
 utterly untrue. This suggestion was put forward as part of the 
 case of the prosecution in the opening statement; and it had its 
 effect on the public mind; but not one particle of evidence was 
 adduced in support of it; on the contrary, all the witnesses, upon 
 cross-examination, admitted that no questions were put to them, 
 nor was any attempt made to draw them into conversation before 
 the sittings; and it was on this ground that a charge of conspir¬ 
 acy against Slade and another defendant, Simmons, broke down 
 and was dismissed. It was a suggestion which seems to have been 
 made simply because, on the assumption that Slade was an habit¬ 
 ual impostor, it ought to have been true, and perhaps it was 
 
translator’s preface. 
 
 21 
 
 expected that something of the sort would turn up in the evi 
 dence. 
 
 To the writer, it has always appeared that the presence of a 
 departed friend, in propria persona , is very insufficiently proved 
 by communications purporting to be thus derived, even when all 
 knowledge by the medium of the name of the deceased, or of the 
 circumstances called to the recollection of the survivor by way of 
 identification, can be conclusively disproved. We are so pro¬ 
 foundly ignorant of the deeper mysteries of life that in this region 
 we are not entitled to accept an explanation as true simply 
 because it is sufficient, and because we cannot represent to our¬ 
 selves any other. Usually, in the writer’s experience invariably, 
 in these communications any attempt to pursue the test by fur¬ 
 ther probing the memory and intelligence of the supposed spirit 
 results in failure. And the frequency of admittedly deceptive com¬ 
 munications proves at least that there are mixed influences abroad, 
 and that the hospitality of the medium’s spiritual neighborhood is 
 shared by very questionable guests. Some time before the com¬ 
 mencement of the proceedings against Slade, the writer, being 
 extremely skeptical of spirit-identity, wrote a fictitious name on the 
 back of a slate (carefully concealing the side on which he wrote, 
 and the motions of the pencil), and handing the slate, clean side 
 uppermost, to Slade, requested that the individual whose name was 
 written would communicate, if present. Slade took the slate with¬ 
 out reversing it, and laid a morsel of pencil upon it; then at once 
 pressed it against the under surface of the corner of the table, so 
 that the clean side was in contact with that surface, the side on 
 which the name was written being the lower one. Writing was 
 heard directly, and the slate being withdrawn and immediately 
 inspected, on its upper side was found a kind little message of 
 friendly remembrance signed by the fictitious name. Never was 
 the writer more satisfied of Slade’s integrity than on this occasion, 
 and the circumstance is only mentioned here to show how distinct 
 are issues which were confused in the Slade prosecution. Such 
 experiments, however, are regarded by spiritualists as highly 
 
22 
 
 translator’s preface. 
 
 objectionable. They believe, and they have some grounds in 
 experience for their belief, that fraud in the investigator will, by a 
 subtle attraction, elicit fraud in the manifestations. Some go fur¬ 
 ther, and maintain that the strong animus of prejudice, uncon¬ 
 sciously but powerfully willing the very appearances it expects, 
 may mesmerically control the sensitive medium, and force his 
 actions in the direction it dictates. 
 
 But to return from this degression : 
 
 Immediately after the conviction was quashed, Professor Lan- 
 kester applied for and obtained a fresh summons against Slade, as 
 it was stated, “in the interest of science.” (He had already, in 
 the “ Times,” described the proceedings of the British Association 
 as having been “degraded” by the introduction of the subject of 
 Spiritualism, on which Professor Barrett had read a paper.) 
 But meanwhile, Slade had broken down under the pressure of 
 anxiety, and the agitation caused by public contumely and his own 
 indignant sense of wrong. He had resolutely refused to listen to 
 suggestions that he should leave the country, by consent of his 
 bail, before the appeal case came on. As the time approached, he 
 had a slight attack of brain fever, as was certified by two physi¬ 
 cians. During its continuance he was occasionally delirious, and the 
 writer saw him in this condition. Partially recovered, he with 
 difficulty dragged himself to the court; he appeared apathetic and 
 almost unconscious during its critical proceedings. It was the 
 belief of his friends that further persecution would kill him out¬ 
 right ; but, independently of this, immediate change of scene and 
 associations was imperatively necessary to his recovery. He left 
 England with his niece and with his friend Mr. Simmons a day or 
 two after the appeal case was determined. From the Hague, after 
 a rest of a few months, he addressed, through Mr. Simmons, the 
 following offer to his accuser; — 
 
 “Professor E. B. Lankester — Dear Sir,— Dr. Slade having 
 in some measure recovered from his very severe illness, and his 
 engagement to St. Petersburg having been postponed (by desire 
 
translator’s preface. 
 
 23 
 
 of Ills friends there) till the autumn, desires me to make the fol¬ 
 lowing offer: — 
 
 “ He is willing to return to London for the express and sole 
 purpose of satisfying you that the slate-writing occurring in his 
 presence is in no way produced by any trickery of his. For this 
 purpose he will come to your house unaccompanied by any one, 
 and will sit with you at your own table, using your own slate and 
 pencil; or, if you prefer to come to his room, it will suit him as 
 well. 
 
 “In the event of any arrangement being agreed upon, Slade 
 would prefer that the matter should be kept strictly private. 
 
 “ As he never can guarantee results, you shall give him as many 
 as six trials, and more if it shall be deemed advisable. And you 
 shall be put to no charge or expense whatever. 
 
 “ You on your part shall undertake that during the period of 
 the sittings, and for one week afterwards, you will neither take 
 nor cause to be taken, nor countenance, legal proceedings against 
 him or me. That if in the end you are satisfied that the slate- 
 writing is produced otherwise than by trickery, you shall abstain 
 altogether from further proceedings against us, and suffer us to 
 remain in England, if we choose to do so, unmolested by you. 
 
 “ If, on the other hand, you are not so satisfied, you shall be at 
 liberty to proceed against us, after the expiration of one week from 
 the conclusion of the six or more experiments, if we arc still in 
 England. You will observe that Slade is willing to go to you 
 without witnesses of his own, and to trust entirely to your honor 
 and good faith. 
 
 “ Conscious of his own innocence, he has no malice against you 
 for the past. lie believes that you were very naturally deceived 
 by appearances which to one who had not previously verified the 
 phenomena under more satisfactory conditions may well have 
 seemed suspicious. Should we not hear from you within ten days 
 from tills date, Slade will conclude that you have declined bis 
 offer.— I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 J. Simmons.” 
 
 “37 Si'CJi Stueet, The Hagce, May 7th, 1877. 
 
24 
 
 translator’s preface. 
 
 To this letter no answer was ever received. 
 
 After a long rest on the Continent, Slade was able to give the 
 wonderful seances recorded in this volume. He went on to St. 
 Petersburg and fulfilled his engagement there. Returning to 
 London for a day or two in 1878, he embarked for Australia, and 
 made a great impression in the colonies. He returned to America 
 by San Francisco last year, and is now once more in New York. 
 During his travels after leaving England, he is said to have suf¬ 
 fered from a partial paralysis, induced by his troubles here. 
 
 With Slade, as with no other medium known to the writer, the 
 conditions of investigation are essentially simplified by the fact 
 that he invariably sits with his visitors in a full light. “In the 
 interests of science ” it is greatly to be desired that he may be 
 able to revisit London, liberated by an improved state of public 
 opinion from all danger of molestation. We who urge the truth 
 of these things are only anxious that the investigation should be 
 conducted in the light of day, and by the most competent persons. 
 So strong is this feeling, that it is believed a fund would easily be 
 raised for the purpose of bringing Slade over to England and 
 placing him in the hands of a scientific committee who should 
 examine this question of the slate-writing with the facilities sug¬ 
 gested in the offer of Slade to Professor Lankester. That the Slade 
 prosecution was designed to deal a blow at Spiritualism, or rather 
 at the serious investigation of facts which are usually included in 
 that term, will hardly be doubted. But without in the least 
 questioning that Professor Lankester bad in his own belief, as in 
 that of the vast majority of the public, the strongest justification 
 for the course he took, it is to be trusted that a truer apprecia¬ 
 tion of the interests of science will shortly prevail. Professor 
 Zollner in these volumes, speaking from the point of view of a 
 true man of science, expresses his indignation at these transactions 
 in England, and at the unmeasured abuse of Slade in the German 
 press, in strong terms. The translator has thought it better to 
 omit all this, leaving the facts to speak for themselves, and in the 
 
translator’s preface. 
 
 25 
 
 assurance that hereafter, if not at present, public opinion will pro¬ 
 nounce a just judgment upon them. 
 
 Professor Zollner’s polemic, referred to in his dedication to Mr. 
 Crookes, has a far wider scope and application than will be appar¬ 
 ent from the following translation. He has set himself, in the 
 course of these treatises, to encounter with unsparing force certain 
 tendencies among men of science, and in the Press, which he 
 regards as demoralizing in the highest degree. All particular 
 reference to these subjects is here avoided. This is almost exclu¬ 
 sively a volume of evidences, and the introduction of other topics 
 of controversy might not be favorable to the judicial calmness with 
 which the former should be considered. Nevertheless, the belief 
 may be avowed that the substantiation of the facts before us, in 
 scientific and public ojrinion, cannot fail to have, indirectly, a 
 revolutionary effect on many departments of speculation and prac¬ 
 tice. All that is asked at present, however, is a fair judgment on 
 the facts themselves, without regard to the possible extent of their 
 significance. For further and very striking evidences of the phe¬ 
 nomenon of writing by unknown agencies, the reader is referred 
 to a small volume entitled “ Psychography,” by M. A. (Oxon) : 
 (Harrison, London, 1878.) 
 
 Although the popular suggestion that the phenomena of Spirit¬ 
 ualism arc merely conjuring under false pretenses will not find 
 acceptance with any one who seriously considers the evidence, it 
 has been thought worth while to meet it additionally by the testi¬ 
 monies of some well-known experts in the arts of illusion. These 
 will be found in Appendices B and C; the evidence of Bcllachini, 
 Court Conjurer at Berlin, who was employed to conduct a system¬ 
 atic investigation of the phenomena in Slade’s presence, is espe¬ 
 cially remarkable. 
 
 The literary merit of the following translation is of such infinite 
 unimportance in comparison with the matter that the writer hardly 
 cares to disarm criticism on this point, provided the substantial 
 accuracy of the rendering is not impugned. He is quite sensible 
 of its other defects, and has only to plead that he is almost entirely 
 
26 
 
 TRANSLATORS PREFACE. 
 
 self-taught in German, having never visited countries in which it 
 is spoken, or studied for any length of time under a master. He 
 has only undertaken the work because it seemed that otherwise it 
 would not be done at all, or at least not yet. Nor has he any 
 pecuniary interest in it. He now gives it to the English public 
 in the hope that it may conduce to a more rational appreciation 
 and to a juster treatment of evidence on this subject than haa 
 hitherto prevailed. 
 
AUTHOR’S DEDICATION. 
 
 TO WILLIAM CROOKES, F.R.S. 
 
 With the feeling of sincere gratitude, and recognition of your 
 immortal deserts in the foundation of a new science, I dedicate to 
 you, highly-honored colleague, this Third Volume of my Scien¬ 
 tific Treatises. By a strange conjunction our scientific endeavors 
 have met upon the same field of light, and of a new class of phys¬ 
 ical phenomena which proclaim to astonished mankind, witli 
 assurance no longer doubtful, the existence of another material and 
 intelligent world. As two solitary wanderers on high mountains 
 joyfully greet one another at their encounter, when passing storm 
 and clouds veil the summit to which they aspire, so I rejoice to 
 have met you, undismayed champion, upon this new province of 
 science. To you, also, ingratitude and scorn have been abund¬ 
 antly dealt out by the blind representatives of modern science, and 
 by the multitude befooled through their erroneous teaching. May 
 you be consoled by the consciousness that the undying splendor 
 with which the names of a Newton and a Faraday have illustrated 
 the history of the English people can be obscured by nothing, not 
 even by the political decline of this great nation: even so will 
 your name survive iu the history of culture, adding a new orna¬ 
 ment to those with which the English nation has endowed the 
 human race. Your courage, your admirable acuteness in experi¬ 
 ment, and your incomparable perseverance, will raise for you a 
 
 (27) 
 
28 
 
 author’s dedication. 
 
 memorial in the hearts of grateful posterity, as indestructible as the 
 marble of the statues at Westminster. Accept, then, this work 
 as a token of thanks and sympathy poured out to you from an 
 honest German heart. If ever the ideal of a general peace on this 
 earth shall be realized, this will assuredly be the result not of 
 political speeches and agitations, in which human vanity always 
 demands its tribute, but of the bond of extended knowledge and 
 advancing information, for which we have to thank such heroes 
 of true science as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Faraday, 
 Wilhelm Weber, and yourself.* ***** 
 
 In the first place it is necessary that the truth should be regard- 
 lessly outspoken, in order to encounter lies and tyranny, no matter 
 under what shape they threaten to impede human progress, with 
 energy and effect. In this sense I beg you to judge my combat 
 against scientific and moral offenses, not only in my own but also 
 in your country. 
 
 Every polemic, even the justest, has in it something uncon¬ 
 genial, like the sight of a battle or of a bloody battle-field. For 
 hereby is man reminded impressively of the imperfections and 
 faults of his earthly existence. And yet are gathered the noblest 
 blossoms of the human heart, in its self-renouncing devotion of the 
 dearest to the Fatherland, round the graves of the fallen warriors. 
 The poetry and history of all peoples glorify these blood-saturated 
 spots with their noblest breath, and the returning spring sees 
 crosses woven with roses and ivy, where a year before the battle 
 raged. So, hereafter, will this literary battle-field appear to the 
 generation growing up. They will have understood the moral 
 necessity of the strife, and in the morning splendor of a new epoch 
 of human culture will have forgotten the repulsiveness {das 
 TJnsymp atlas die) of my polemic. 
 
 But united England and Germany may always remember the 
 words of your great physicist, Sir David Brewster, who, in his 
 
 * Here follow references to subjects of controversy foreign to the purpose of tills 
 translation, and which occupy much of this, as of the preceding volumes of the 
 treatises. 
 
author’s dedication. 
 
 29 
 
 “ Life of Newton,” reminds us of the indestructibility and immor¬ 
 tality of the works of human genius: — 
 
 “ The achievements of genius, like the source from which they 
 spring, are indestructible. Acts of legislation and deeds of war 
 may confer a high celebrity, but the reputation which they bring is 
 only local and transient; and while they are hailed by the nation 
 which they benefit, they are reproached by the people whom they 
 ruin or enslave. The labors of science, on the contrary, bear 
 along with them no counterpart of evil. They are the liberal 
 bequests of great minds to every individual of their race, and 
 wherever they are welcomed and honored, they become the solace 
 of private life, and the ornament and bulwark of the Common¬ 
 wealth.” 
 
 With these consolatory words of one of your celebrated country¬ 
 men, accept, my honored friend, the present work as a token of the 
 sincere esteem of the Author. 
 
 Leipsic, October 1st, 1879. 
 

 
 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS 
 
 CHAPTEK FIRST. 
 
 ON SPACE OP POUR DIMENSIONS.* 
 
 GAUSS’ AND KANT’S THEORY OF SPACE—THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF 
 THE THEORY IN EXPERIMENTS WITH HENRY SLADE — TRUE KNOTS PRODUCED 
 UPON A CORD WITH ITS ENDS IN VIEW AND SEALED TOGETHER. 
 
 In the first treatise the author shows that both Newton and 
 Faraday were advocates of the theory of direct action at a distance 
 
 •This first chapter consists of an article which appeared in the Quarterly Jour¬ 
 nal of Science, April, 1878, and is reprinted here by permission of Mr. William 
 Crookes, F.R.S. The facts are from “ Wissenschaftliche Abhandlungen von Job. 
 Carl Friedrich Zollner, Professor der Ast.ropysik an dor Universitat zu Leipzig. 
 Erster Band, Leipzig: L. Staackmann, 1878. (With portraits and facsimilics of 
 Newton, Kant, and Faraday. Svo, 732 pages.) ” 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 1. On action at a Distance. 
 
 2. Emil du Bois Reymond and the Limits of Natural Knowledge. 
 
 3. Newton’s Law of Gravitation, and its Derivation from the Static Effects 
 
 of Electricity. 
 
 4. The Laws of Friction, and their Deduction from the Dynamic Effects of 
 
 Electricity. 
 
 5. As to the Existence of Moving Electric Particles in All Bodies. 
 
 6. Adhesion and Cohesion as deducted from the Dynamic Forces of Elec¬ 
 
 tricity. 
 
 7. 8, 9. The Mechanical, the Magnetical, and the Electrical Effects of Light 
 
 and of Radiant Heat. 
 
 10. Radiometrical Researches. 
 
 11,12. On the Theory of Electric Emission and its Cosmical Application. 
 
 13. Thomson's Demons and the Phantoms of Plato. 
 
 (30 
 
32 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 through a vacuum, in opposition to the views of many modern 
 scientific men. In the last treatise, which is of the highest inter¬ 
 est, the author describes experiments which he made in Leipzic, 
 in December, 1877, with Mr. Henry Slade, the American. These 
 experiments were only the practical application of Gauss’ and 
 Kant’s theory of space, which these two eminent men imagined 
 might contain more than three dimensions. The author will try 
 to give to the readers of the Quarterly Journal of Science an idea 
 of this theory, though he must of course refer to the work itself 
 for a more ample explanation of it. 
 
 In accordance with Kant, Schopenhauer, and Helmholtz, the 
 author regards the application of the law of causality as a func¬ 
 tion of the human intellect given to man a priori , i.e., before all 
 experience. The totality of all empirical experience is communi¬ 
 cated to the intellect by the senses, i.e., by organs which communi¬ 
 cate to the mind all the sensual impressions which arc received at 
 the surface of our bodies. These impressions are a reality to us, 
 and their sphere is two-dimensional, acting not in our body, but 
 only on its surface. 
 
 We have only attained the conception of a world of objects with 
 three dimensions by an intellectual process. What circumstances, 
 we may ask, have compelled our intellect to come to this result? 
 If a child contemplate its hand, it is conscious of its existence in a 
 double manner,— in the first place by its tangibility, in the second 
 by its image on the retina of the eye. By repeated groping about 
 and touching, the child knows by experience that his hand retains 
 the same form and extension through all the variations of distance 
 and positions under which it is observed, notwithstanding that the 
 form and extension of the image on the retina constantly change 
 with' the different position and distance of the hand in respect to 
 the eye. The problem is thus set to the child’s understanding: 
 How to reconcile to its comprehension the apparently contradictory 
 facts of the invariableness of the object, together with the varia¬ 
 bleness of its appearance. This is only possible within space of 
 three dimensions, in which, owing to perspective distortions and 
 
ON SPACE OF FOUK DIMENSIONS. 
 
 33 
 
 changes, these variations of projection can he reconciled with the 
 constancy of the form of a body. 
 
 So, likewise, in the stereoscope, the representation of the corpo¬ 
 reality— i.e., of the third dimension — springs up in our mind 
 when the task is presented to our intellect to refer at once two 
 different plane pictures, without contradiction, to one single object. 
 
 Consequently our contemplation of a three-dimension space has 
 been developed by means of the law of causality, which has been 
 implanted in us a priori, and we have come to the idea of the 
 third dimension in order to overcome the apparent inconsistency 
 of facts, of the existence of which experience daily convinces us. 
 
 The moment we observe in three-dimensioned space contra¬ 
 dictory facts, i.e., facts which would force us to ascribe to a body 
 two attributes or qualities which hitherto we thought could not 
 exist together, — the moment, I say, in which we should observe 
 such contradictory facts in a three-dimension body, our reason 
 would at once be forced to reconcile these contradictions. 
 
 There would be such a contradiction, for example, if we were to 
 ascribe to one and the same object at once mutability and immuta¬ 
 bility, the most universal attribute of a body being the quantity 
 of its ponderable matter. In conformity with our present experi¬ 
 ence we consider this attribute as unalterable. As soon, however, 
 as phenomena occur which prove it to be alterable, we shall be 
 obliged to generalize our representation of the ideality of a body 
 so as to bring the observed change in the quantity of its matter in 
 accordance with its hitherto-imagined unchangeableness. 
 
 On page 235 of his book the author quotes the celebrated 
 mathematician Itiomann, who says in his work Concerning the 
 Hypotheses upon which Geometry is founded: — 
 
 “ The explanation of these facts can only be found by starting 
 from the actual theories of the appearance of all phenomena which 
 are confirmed by experience, and of which, as they now arc, New¬ 
 ton has laid the foundation. Urged forward by facts, which we 
 cannot explain through our hitherto-conceived theories, we slowly 
 remodel our conceptions. If phenomena occur which, according 
 
34 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 to our conception, were to be expected with probability, our theo¬ 
 ries are confirmed, and our confidence in them is founded upon this 
 confirmation by experience. If, however, something occurs which 
 w r e do not expect, which according to our theory was improbable 
 or impossible, the task is imposed on us to remodel our theory, in 
 order to make the observed facts cease to be in contradiction with 
 our improved theory. The completion of our system of ideas 
 forms the explanation of the unexpected observation. Our con¬ 
 ception of nature by this process grows slowly to be more com¬ 
 plete and more just, at the same time it retreats more and more 
 beneath the surface of appearances.” 
 
 I now proceed to apply the higher conception of space to the 
 theory of twisting a perfectly flexible cord. Let us consider such 
 a cord to be represented by a b, showing us, when stretched, a 
 development of space in one dimension — 
 
 (a- b ) 
 
 If the cord is bent so that during this action its parts always 
 remain in the same plane, a development of space in two dimen¬ 
 sions will be required for this operation. The following figure 
 may be given to the cord: — 
 
 (a-^- b) 
 
 and all its parts, if conceived of infinite thinness, may be con¬ 
 sidered so lying in the same plane, i.e., in a development of space 
 in two dimensions. If the flexible cord, without being broken, 
 has to be brought back into the former figure’ of a straight line, in 
 such a manner that during this operation all its parts remain in 
 the same plane, this can only be effected by describing with one 
 end of the cord a circle of 860°. 
 
 For beings with only ftoo-dimeusional perceptions these opera¬ 
 tions with the cord would correspond to what wo, with our three- 
 dimensional perception, call a knot to the cord. Now if a being, 
 
ON SPACE OF FOUR DIMENSIONS. 
 
 35 
 
 limited on account of its bodily organization to the conception of 
 oidy two dimensions of space, possessed, nevertheless, the ability of 
 executing by his will operations with this cord which are only pos¬ 
 sible in the space of three dimensions, such a being would be able 
 to undo this two-dimensional knot in a much simpler way. Merely 
 the turning over of a part of the cord would be required, so that 
 after the operation, when all parts again lie in the same plane, the 
 cord would have passed through the following positions: — 
 
 __ _ n _ .- 
 
 By the same operations, but in an inverted sense, such a being 
 would be able again to form the knot without needing that circum¬ 
 stantial process, during which all parts of the thread have to re¬ 
 main in the fttfo-dimcnsional space of perception. 
 
 If this consideration, by way of analogy, is transferred to a knot 
 in space of £Aree-dimensions, it will easily be seen that the tying 
 as well as the untying of such a knot can only be effected by 
 operations, during which the parts of the cord describe a line of 
 double curvature, as shown by this figure — 
 
 We three-dimensional beings can only tie or untie such a knot 
 by moving one end of the cord through 300° in a plane which is 
 inclined towards that other plane containing the two-dimensional 
 part of the knot. But if there were beings among us who were 
 able to produce by their will four-dimensional movements of mate¬ 
 rial substances, they could tic and untie such knots in a much 
 simpler manner by an operation analogous to that described in 
 relation to a two-dimensional knot. 
 
 It is by no means necessary—nay, not even probable — that 
 such beings should have a contemplative consciousness of these 
 actions of their will. For all our conceptions in relation to tlio 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 movements of our limbs, and to those produced by their means in 
 other bodies, have been acquired by us solely by way of experi¬ 
 ence. Having observed from childhood that a voluntary move¬ 
 ment of our limbs is always connected with a corresponding change 
 in our visional impressions, accompanying the action of our will, it 
 is only in this way that we are now able to connect the movements 
 of our body or of other objects with a corresponding conception of 
 such motion. 
 
 Berkeley demonstated this truth in the year 1709, in his Essay 
 Towards a new Theory of Vision and in his Principles of Human 
 Knowledge. In the last-mentioned treatise he remarks, on the 
 relation of our visional perceptions to the sensations of touch: — 
 
 “ So that in strict truth the ideas of sight, when we apprehend 
 by them distance, and things placed at a distance, do not suggest 
 or mark out to us things actually existing at a distance but only 
 admonish us what ideas of touch will be imprinted in our minds 
 at such and such distance of time, and in consequence of such or 
 such actions.”— Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge (Fra¬ 
 ser’s Edition, vol. i., p. 177.) 
 
 Litchenberg, in 1799, expresses himself in like manner when he 
 says: — 
 
 “ To perceive something outside ourselves is a contradiction; we 
 perceive only within us; that which we perceive is merely a modi¬ 
 fication of ourselves, therefore, within us. Because these modifica¬ 
 tions are independent of ourselves, we seek their cause in other 
 things that are outside, and say there are things beyond us. We 
 ought to say ‘ preeter nos;' but for ‘ preeter' we substitute the 
 preposition ‘ extra' which is something quite different, i.e., we 
 imagine these things in the space outside ourselves. This evi¬ 
 dently is not perception, but it seems to be something firmly inter¬ 
 woven with the nature of our sensual perceptive powers; it is the 
 form under which that conception of the ‘ preeter nos' is given to 
 us,— the form of the sensual.” 
 
 The want of these conceptions would necessarily be felt by us, 
 if in some individuals, and these only occasionally, the will should 
 
ON SPACE OF FOUR DIMENSIONS. 
 
 37 
 
 be capable of producing physical movements, for whose geometro- 
 matheraatical definition a four-dimensional system of co-ordinates 
 is necessary. 
 
 To my knowledge Gauss was the first to direct, from the point 
 of view of the “ Geometria Situs,” his attention to the tlicory of 
 the twistings of flexible cords. In his manuscripts left behind 
 (Gauss’ Werke, vol. v., p. G05) we find the following remarks: — 
 
 “ Of the Geometria Situs which Leibnitz foresaw, and on which 
 to throw a feeble glance was allowed only to a few mathematicians 
 (Euler and Vandermonde), we, after a lapse of 150 years, know 
 and possess hardly more than nothing. One of the principal prob¬ 
 lems on the boundary of the Geometria Situs and the Geometria 
 Magnitudinis will be to calculate the number of the twistings of 
 two closed and endless cords.” 
 
 In my first treatise, On Action at a Distance , I have discussed 
 in detail the truth, first discovered by Kant, later by Gauss and 
 the representatives of the anti-Euclidian geometry, viz., that our 
 present conception of space, familiar to us by habit, has been 
 derived from experience, i.e., from empirical facts by means of the 
 causal principle existing a priori in our intellect. This in par¬ 
 ticular is to be said of the three dimensions of our present concep¬ 
 tion of space. If from our childhood phenomena had been of 
 daily occurrence, requiring a space of four or more dimensions for 
 an explanation which should be free from contradiction, i.e., con¬ 
 formable to reason, we should be able to form a conception of space 
 of four or more dimensions. It follows that the real existence of a 
 four-dimensional space can only be decided by experience, i.e., by 
 observation of facts. 
 
 A great step has been made by acknowledging that the possibility 
 of a four-dimensional development of space can be understood by 
 our intellect, although, on account of reasons previously given, no 
 corresponding image of it can be conceived by the mind. (Dass 
 die moeglichkeit cincs vierdiinensionalen Raumgebietes bctjrijflich 
 olmc Widerspruch denlcbar, wenn auch nicht anschaulick vorstell- 
 bar ist.) 
 
38 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL rnYSXCS. 
 
 But Kant advances one step farther. From the logically recog¬ 
 nized possibility of the existence of space having more than three 
 dimensions, he infers their “very probably real existence” when 
 he verbally remarks: — 
 
 “If It is possible that there be developments of other dimen¬ 
 sions in space, it is also very probable that God has somewhere 
 produced them. For His works have all the grandeur and variety 
 that can possibly be comprised.” 
 
 “In the foregoing I have shown that several worlds, taken in a 
 metaphysical sense, might exist together, but, at the same time, 
 here is the condition, which, according to my belief, is the only 
 one which makes it probable that several such worlds really exist .” 
 — (Kant’s Works, vol. v., p. 25.) 
 
 I may further cite the following observations of Kant: — 
 
 “I confess I am much inclined to assert the existence of imma¬ 
 terial beings in this world, and to class my soul itself in the cate¬ 
 gory of these beings.” 
 
 “We can imagine the possibility of the existence of immaterial 
 beings without the fear of being: refuted, though, at the same time, 
 without the hope of being able to demonstrate their existence by 
 reason. Such spiritual beings would exist in space, and the latter 
 notwithstanding would remain penetrable for material beings, 
 because their presence would imply an acting power in space, but 
 not a jiUing of it, i.e., a resistance causing solidity.” 
 
 “It is, therefore, as good as demonstrated, or it could easily be 
 proved, if we were to enter into it at some length; or, better still, 
 it will be proved in the f uture — I do not know where and when — 
 that also in this life the human soul stands in an indissoluble com¬ 
 munion with all the immaterial beings of the spiritual world ; that 
 it produces effects in them , and in exchange receives impressions 
 from them, without, however, becoming humanly conscious of them 
 so long as all stands welir 
 
 “ It would be a blessing if such a systematic constitution of the 
 spiritual world, as conceived by us, had not merely to be inferred 
 from the—too hypothetical — conception of the spiritual nature 
 
Plate I. 
 
EXPERIMENTAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 41 
 
 generally, but would be inferred, or at least conjectured, as prob¬ 
 able from some real and generally acknowledged observation .”— 
 (Kant’s Works, vol. vii., p. 32.) 
 
 I have already in the above-cited treatise discussed some phys¬ 
 ical phenomena, which must be possible for such four-dimensional 
 beings, provided that under certain circumstances they are enabled 
 to produce effects in the real material world that would be visible, 
 i.e., conceivable to us three-dimensional beings. As one of these 
 effects, I discussed at some length the knotting of a single endless 
 cord. If a single cord has its ends tied together and sealed, an 
 intelligent being, having the power voluntarily to produce ou this 
 cord four-dimensional bendings and movements, must be able, with¬ 
 out loosening the seal, to tie one or more knots in tills endless 
 cord. 
 
 Now, this experiment has been successfully made within the 
 space of a few minutes in Leipzig, on the 17th of December, 1877, 
 at 11 o’clock a.m., in the presence of Mr. Henry Slade, the 
 American. The accompanying engraving (Plate I.) shows the 
 strong cord with the four knots* in it, as well as the position of 
 my hands, to which Mr. Slade’s left hand and that of another gen¬ 
 tleman were joined. While the teal always remained in our sight 
 on the table, the unknotted cord was firmly pressed by my two 
 thumbs against the table’s surface, and the remainder of the cord 
 hung down in my lap. I had desired the tying of only one knot, 
 yet the four knots—minutely represented on the drawing — were 
 formed, after a few minutes, iu the cord. 
 
 The hempen cord had a thickness of about 1 millimetre; it was 
 strong and new, having been bought by myself. Its single length, 
 before the tying of the knots, was about 148 centimetres; the 
 length therefore of the double string, the ends having been joined, 
 about 74 centims. The ends were tied together in an ordinary 
 knot, and then— protruding from the knot by about 1.5 centims.— 
 
 •In tho enlarged drawings the knots have been represented by mistake sym¬ 
 metrical; they were tied on one side, in accordance with the small liguro of tho 
 
 cord. 
 
42 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 wove laid on a piece of paper and sealed to the same witli ordi¬ 
 nary sealing-wax, so that the knot just remained visible at the bor¬ 
 der of the seal. The paper round the seal was then cut off, as 
 shown in the illustration. 
 
 The above-described sealing of two such strings, with my own 
 seal was effo ted by myself in my apartments, on the evening of 
 December 16th, 1877, at 9 o’clock, under the eyes of several of 
 my friends and colleagues, and not in the presence of Mr. Slade. 
 Two other strings of the same quality and dimensions were sealed 
 by Wilhelm Weber with his seal, and in his own rooms, on the 
 morning of the 17th of December, at 10.30 a.m. With these four 
 cords I went to the neighboring dwelling of one of my friends, 
 who had offered to Mr. Henry Slade the hospitalities of his house, 
 so as to place him exclusively at my own and my friend’s disposi¬ 
 tion, and for the time withdrawing him from the public. The 
 seance in question took place in my friend’s sitting-room immedi¬ 
 ately after my arrival. I myself selected one of the four sealed 
 cords, and, in order never to lose sight of it before we sat down 
 at the table, I hung it around my neck,—the seal in front always 
 within my sight. During the seance, as previously stated, I con¬ 
 stantly kept the seal — remaining unaltered — before me on the 
 table. Mr. Slade’s hands remained all the time in sight; with the 
 left he often touched his forehead, complaining of painful sensa¬ 
 tions. The portion of the string hanging rested on my lap,— out 
 of my sight, it is true,— but Mr. Slade’s hands always remained 
 visible to me. I particularly noticed that Mr. Slade’s hands were 
 not withdrawn or changed in position. He himself appeared to be 
 perfectly passive, so that we cannot advance the assertion of his 
 having tied those knots by his conscious will, but only that they, 
 under these detailed circumstances, were formed in his presence 
 without visible contact, and in a room illuminated by bright day¬ 
 light. 
 
 According to the reports so far published, the above experiment 
 seems also to have succeeded in Vienna in presence of Mr. Slade, 
 
OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE. 
 
 43 
 
 although under less stringent conditions.* Those of my readers 
 who wish for farther information on other physical phenomena 
 which have taken place in Mr. Slade’s presence, I refer to these 
 two books. I reserve to later publication, in my own treatises, 
 the description of further experiments obtained by me in twelve 
 seances with Mr. Slade, and, as I am expressly authorized to men¬ 
 tion, in the presence of my friends and colleagues, Professor Fech- 
 ner, Professor Wilhelm Weber, the celebrated electrician from 
 Gottingen, and Ilerr Seheibner, Professor of Mathematics in the 
 University of Leipzig, who are perfectly convinced of the reality 
 of the observed facts, altogether excluding imposture or prestidigi¬ 
 tation. 
 
 At the end of my first treatise, already finished in manuscript 
 in the course of August, 1877, I called attention to the circum¬ 
 stance that a certain number of physical phenomena, which, by 
 “ synthetical conclusions a priori ,” might be explained through 
 the generalized conception of space and the platonic hypothesis of 
 projection, coincided with so-called spiritualistic phenomena. Cau¬ 
 tiously, however, I said: — 
 
 “ To those of my readers who are inclined to see in spiritual¬ 
 istic phenomena an empirical confirmation of those phenomena 
 above deduced in regard to their theoretical possibility, I beg to 
 observe that from the point of view of idealism there must first be 
 given a precise definition and criticism of objective reality. Indeed, 
 if everything perceivable is a conception produced in us by 
 unknown causes, the distinguishing characteristic of the objective 
 reality from the subjective reality (phantasma) cannot be sought 
 in nature, but only in accidental attributes of that process, produc¬ 
 ing conceptions. If causes unknown to us produce simultaneously 
 in several individuals the same conception, only subject to those 
 distinctions which depend upon differences in the position of the 
 
 •Mr. Slade’s "Aufenthalt in Wien: Ein oifoner Brief an meine Freundp.” 
 IVien: I. C. Fischer & Co., 1878. “Dor Indmdualismus in Lichte der 15IoIogie 
 und Pliilosophie der Gegenwart von Lazar 15. Hollenbach.” Wien: BrauiuiiUer, 
 
44 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 observers, we refer such conception to a real object outside of us; 
 this conception not taking place, we refer that conception to 
 causes within us, and call it hallucination. 
 
 “ Now, whether the spiritualistic phenomena belong to the first 
 or to the second category of these conceptions, I do not venture to 
 decide, so far never having witnessed such phenomena. On the 
 other hand, I do not possess, with regard to men like Crookes, 
 Wallace, and others, such an exalted opinion of my own intellect, 
 as to believe that I myself, under similar conditions, should not 
 be subject to the same impressions.” (Written in August, 1877.) 
 
 This supposition received, four months after my writing it down, 
 a full confirmation by the above-mentioned experiments with the 
 American, Mr. Henry Slade. In making them I was intent upon 
 giving full consideration to the above-cited distinction between a 
 subjective phantasma and an objective fact. The four knots in 
 the above-mentioned cord, with the seal unbroken, this day still lie 
 before me ; I can send this cord to any man for examination; I 
 might send it by turn to all the learned societies of the world, so 
 as to convince them that not a subjective phantasma is here in 
 question, but an objective and lasting effect produced in the mate¬ 
 rial world, which no human intelligence, with the conceptions of 
 space so far current, is able to explain. 
 
 If, nevertheless, the foundation of this fact, deduced by me on 
 the ground of an enlarged conception of space, should be denied, 
 only one other kind of explanation would remain, arising from a 
 moral mode of consideration that at present, it is true, is quite cus¬ 
 tomary. This explanation would consist in the presumption that 
 I myself and the honorable men and citizens of Leipzig, in whoso 
 presence several of these cords were sealed, were either common 
 impostors, or w r ere not in possession of our sound senses sufficient 
 to perceive if Mr. Slade himself, before the cords were sealed, had 
 tied them in knots. The discussion, however, of such a hypothe¬ 
 sis would no longer belong to the dominion of science, but would 
 fall under the category of social decency. 
 
 Some other still more surprising experiments — prepared by me 
 
SLACK AND 1IIS ACCUSKltS. 
 
 45 
 
 with a view to further testing this theory of space — have suc¬ 
 ceeded, though Mr. Slade thought their success impossible. The 
 sympathizing and intelligent reader will be able to understand my 
 delight caused thereby. Mr. Slade produced on me and on my 
 friends the impression of his being a gentleman: the sentence for 
 imposture pronounced against him in London necessarily excited 
 our moral sympathy, for the physical facts observed by us in so 
 astonishing a variety in his presence, negatived on every reason¬ 
 able ground the supposition that he in one solitary case had taken 
 refuge in willful imposture. Mr. Slade, in our eyes, therefore, was 
 innocently condemned,— a victim of his accuser's and his judge’s 
 limited knowledge. 
 
CHAPTER SECOND. 
 
 MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS.— PHYSICAL PHENOMENA.—SLATE-WRITING UNDER 
 TEST CONDITIONS. 
 
 The facts testified to l>y Mr. Wallace and oilier well-known 
 Englishmen, as observed by them in the presence of Slade, I can 
 fully confirm on the ground of an investigation of more than eight 
 days with the latter in my own house. As witnesses of the phe¬ 
 nomena then observed, and about to be particularly described, I 
 am expressly authorized to cite my friends Professor Eechner, Pro¬ 
 fessor Wilhelm Weber, and Professor W. Scheibner. 
 
 On the 15th November, 1877, at five o’clock in the afternoon, 
 Slade came to Leipzig for the first time, and took a room in the 
 Palmtree Hotel (Polmbcium ), which had been ordered for him by 
 two of my friends, at whose invitation he had come here from Ber¬ 
 lin. Although I was not a stranger to the literature of Spiritual¬ 
 ism, I had hitherto declined to occupy myself personally with its 
 asserted phenomena, because, in the first place, I was quite satis¬ 
 fied to leave these for the present in the hands of two such excel¬ 
 lent and unprejudiced observers as Crookes and Wallace; and, 
 secondly, because my time was already fully occupied with my 
 physical researches. Still, I had no reason for refusing the request 
 of my friends to use so convenient an opportunity as the present, 
 and at least to have a look at Slade. I therefore accompanied my 
 two friends on a visit to him on the evening of his arrival, without 
 the least intention, however, of taking part in a sitting, or even of 
 arranging; one. 
 
 O O 
 
 (46) 
 
slade’s first visit to Leipzig. 
 
 47 
 
 Slade came along to Leipzig. lie bad left bis neiee (tbe 
 daughter of . his deceased wife’s sister) as well as bis secretary, 
 Mr. Simmons, and bis daughter — which three persons accom¬ 
 panied him on his travels — in Berlin, at the Hotel Kronprinz; 
 these persons, are, therefore, wholly unknown to me. 
 
 The personal impression which Slade made upon me was a 
 favorable one. Ills demeanor was modest and reserved, and his 
 conversation (he spoke only English) was quiet and discreet. The 
 conversation soon turned upon Lankcster’s accusation, and his 
 manner and language indicated moral indignation at the proceed¬ 
 ings against him in England. To change the subject, I asked him 
 whether he had ever tried to influence a magnetic needle, for I 
 remembered that Professor Fechncr had observed a similar phe¬ 
 nomena with Erdmann, late professor of chemistry at the Leipzig 
 University, in the presence of a certain Madame Ruf, a sensitive 
 whom Reicheuback had introduced to those gentlemen. 
 
 To give my readers here the interesting result of that investiga¬ 
 tion, the following is quoted from Fcchner’s small pamphlet, 
 “Recollections of the Last Days of 'the Science of Od and its 
 Authors,” which appeared two years ago (Leipzig: Brcitkopf-& 
 Ilartel; 187G), under the heading, “Experiments with Madame 
 Ruf.” 
 
 Fechners Magnetic Experiments with a Sensitive. 
 
 “Saturday, 4th July, 18G7.— Early to-day Herr von Reich- 
 enbacli surprised me with a visit. To my repeated refusal by let¬ 
 ter to join in his experiments, after I had been unable to obtain a 
 commission from my colleagues to examine the same, and the 
 experiment with the pendulum had come to nothing, he had replied 
 that lie would come notwithstanding, and would even bring with 
 him a sensitive to show me the experiments, without claiming from 
 me a public judgment upon them, naturally presuming that I 
 would not avoid giving it if called upon by him for it, supposing 
 only that 1 had at lirst convinced myself. 
 
48 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL niYSICS.' 
 
 “I received him very coldly, explained to him again that I had 
 desired to abstain from a participation in his experiments, of which 
 nothing would come even for himself: but as he was there, I went 
 with him to his hotel, where he introduced to me his sensitive, a 
 large but rather lean woman, between forty and fifty years old, 
 who might once have been handsome; and I saw a table on which 
 he had laid out all possible preparations,— magnets, sulphur and 
 metals melted down in pipes, a raw and a boiled egg, and so forth, 
 as far as I knew. 
 
 “The sensitive explained that she was not quite well, and her 
 sensibility was not very highly developed this day. 
 
 “ An experiment which Reichenbach himself conducted, while I 
 was with him at the hotel, surprised me, and I did not know what 
 to make of it. A common box-compass, with a needle some inches 
 long, under glass, was placed on the table. He caused the sensi¬ 
 tive to move a finger to and fro before one of the poles (not over 
 the glass, but in front of the case), and thereby the needle began 
 to oscillate, as if an iron or magnetic rod had been similarly passed 
 before the same pole. These oscillations were not inconsiderable, 
 and the experiment succeeded with each repetition, even when 
 Reichenbach was in other parts of the room, and also when the fin¬ 
 ger alternately approached and removed from the pole. Trying 
 the experiment in like manner, myself, the needle remained quite 
 motionless. Reichenbach said the phenomenon was weak that 
 day; at times the sensitive had drawn the magnetic needle com¬ 
 pletely round. I examined the finger in its extent and under the 
 nails as closely as possible, caused the arm to be bared above 
 the elbow, in order to discover any iron or puncture through which 
 needles could be passed under the skin; in vain. However, I 
 reserved myself for re-examination of this experiment. 
 
 “July 13th.— Since the last experiments, the sensitive had fal¬ 
 len into such a condition of insensibility that Reichenbach, as he 
 wrote me, could stick needles down to the blood in her limbs 
 without her feeling anything. Early to-day he came to me, and 
 said that his sensitive was not sufficiently recovered for a repeti- 
 
PROFESSOR FECHNEr’s EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 4 !) 
 
 tion of the experiments with the horse-shoe, bar-magnet, or pen¬ 
 dulum ; hut the deviation of the magnetic needle, which had ceased 
 during her state of insensibility, again succeeded; and lie begged 
 me to satisfy myself of it immediately, as he was not sure of the 
 continuance of the existing conditions. So I went with him. The 
 magnetic experiments, to which I confined myself, were so success¬ 
 ful, that my understanding, so to speak, was in suspense, notwith¬ 
 standing I endeavored to exclude all posssible means of decep¬ 
 tion. 
 
 “In the foregoing experiments, the sensitive had sat in front of 
 the magnetic needle; this time I made her sit at the side. If the 
 sensitive had had a magnet under her clothes, a suspicion which 
 could be entertained and was all the more to be reckoned with, 
 as it had been very seriously suggested from highly respectable 
 quarters, this would have established quite different conditions of 
 motion of the needle from the former, and rendered generally 
 impossible the regular phenomena which I observed: and even 
 without the pointing of the linger must of itself have produced 
 irregularities in the motion of the needle,— nothing of which hap¬ 
 pened. Such a suspicion after this could not be maintained. I 
 throughout examined whether the motion of the magnetic needle 
 indicated attraction or repulsion, and it generally appeared that 
 whatever part of the left or right hand or of the arm was applied, 
 the south pole of the needle was repelled, the north pole was 
 attracted; notwithstanding lieichenbach, who appears to have 
 instituted the experiment with the magnetic influence quite super¬ 
 ficially to my question, whether the polar characteristics were dis¬ 
 tributed to the right and left respectively, so that the one attracted 
 what the other repelled, equilibrium resulting from their joint 
 action, had replied that would indisputably so appear; whereas, in 
 fact, right and left were quite alike in tiiis respect, only the left 
 seemed to act more strongly than the right. A proof, at any rate, 
 that lieichenbach himself had nothing to do with any trick; the 
 phenomenon contradicting his theory, and he being unable to give 
 any definite explanation of it. lieichenbach stood throughout so 
 
50 
 
 TRANSCENDENT AT. physics. 
 
 quietly and at such a distance that there was nothing to guard 
 against from him; and as to the sensitive, I never remarked a 
 motion of the body to support the suspicion that she had a magnet 
 under her clothes, by the motion of which the results were brought 
 about. Moreover, I frequently made her try the experiment only 
 with the finger, expressly bidding her keep her whole body at the 
 same time as quiet as possible; nor could I, with the closest atten¬ 
 tion, perceive that she disobeyed me. 
 
 “ After all, one cannot suppose that the woman had stuck need¬ 
 les under the skin in all her fingers, and up to the elbow; and, 
 moreover, only magnetic needles, and these everywhere with a like 
 direction of the pole. Again, as to the suspicion that she con¬ 
 trived the magnetic phenomena of the needle by the motion of a 
 magnet under the clothes, that is entirely excluded, for the reason 
 that the increase or disturbance of the oscillations of the needle, 
 according to the approximation or removal of the finger (with the 
 principle of which act the sensitive was unacquainted, Iteiehen- 
 bach himself not knowing the right application), were exactly such 
 as they must have been supposing a magnetic property in the fin¬ 
 ger ; a result which could not have been produced 1 ;y art, even if 
 the sensitive had known the principle. 
 
 “July 14th.— At eleven o’clock this morning I repeated the 
 experiment with the magnetic needle, in company with Professor 
 Erdmann, whom I had in the meanwhile been able to induce to 
 take part in it. It resulted as before, and Professor Erdmann was 
 impressed as well as myself. Any means of deception could be 
 discovered to-day as little as on former occasions. I had before 
 asked the sensitive whether she had not iron about her, and she had 
 said she had not, but neither she nor I had then thought of her 
 crinoline; to-day, however, she mentioned of her own accord that 
 the experiment succeeded just as well without the crinoline as with 
 it, and offered, as she then had it on, to take it off, which she did 
 in the room. And in fact, the experiment was as completely suc¬ 
 cessful as before. Moreover, it will at once be seen that the 
 earlier-described, results, cvcu if possibly iniiueucod by the crino- 
 
professor feciiner s experiments. 
 
 r» 1 
 
 line, would much rather have been disturbed in their regularity 
 than induced by it. In addition, Reichenbach declared that lie 
 was ready to let the experiment be undertaken by ladies whom we 
 might appoint, the sensitive being wholly divested of her clothes. 
 
 “Postscript .— The following day the woman became so ill that 
 Reichenbach was obliged to send her back; and even later on she 
 was not fit for the experiments. At her second visit here I recom¬ 
 mended her, if the magnetic power returned to her, to introduce 
 herself to some physicist or physiologist by profession, for the pur¬ 
 pose of experimentation, and she might thus become a celebrated 
 person; but I have heard nothing more of her. 
 
 “ Yet are the magnetic results obtained with Madame Ruf gen¬ 
 erally so novel ( unerwartet ) that, with regard to the hitherto 
 proved impossibility of reproducing them with others, every doubt 
 of their genuine character must be permitted. Was there actually 
 no deception in them? That Reicheubach himself was incapable 
 of willful deception every one will admit who, from personal inter¬ 
 course with him, or from reading his writings, knows that lie was 
 much too possessed with the reality of the facts adduced by him to 
 hold it necessary to resort to any artifices in support of their credi¬ 
 bility; and that even the sensitive herself was not intentionally 
 deceiving may be inferred from the fact that she throughout pre¬ 
 sented herself only as a passive instrument of Reichenbach in the 
 experiments, and manifested rather a passive than an active inter¬ 
 est in them, as appears from the above accounts. Rut even should 
 the intention to deceive be presupposed cither in him or her, I am 
 absolutely at a loss how such deception could have held out 
 against the altered conditions of the experiments, as I have 
 described them. Could the experiments have been continued, 
 doubtless yet other means of control would have been instituted; 
 but at least , for my own part, 1 confess myself convinced, already 
 by that which I have been able to communicate hereupon. It 
 may lie thought an hallucination on my part, and indeed I asked 
 myself repeatedly whether I saw rightly; but Professor Erdmann, 
 
5 2 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSIOS. 
 
 whom unfortunately, since his departure, I can no longer call as a 
 witness, must have shared it likewise.” 
 
 The above fact, established by two well-known reliable wit¬ 
 nesses (Professor Fechnor and Professor Erdmann), of an influ¬ 
 ence exercised by a human being upon a magnetic needle, is so 
 remarkable, and stands so wholly outside our ordinary experience, 
 that it must be a matter of the highest interest to cveiy true inves¬ 
 tigator of nature to be able to confirm and repeat this fact with 
 another individual. I therefore put the question to Mr. Slade, 
 whether he experienced anything similar in himself. Slade 
 answered me that last Sunday (11th November, 1877) he had 
 been examined as to this peculiarity by a Berlin professor (whose 
 name he did not remember), and on that occasion, the power 
 which he did not know himself to possess, of diverting a magnetic 
 needle and putting it in lively oscillation, had manifested itself. 
 This account first awakened in me the desire to experiment with 
 Mr. Slade in like manner as Fcchncr had douc ten years before 
 with the above-mentioned Madame Tluf. 
 
 As I was expecting Fecbncr and Wilhelm Weber on the follow¬ 
 ing evening (Friday, lGth November) at a small party of friends 
 who assembled every week at my house, I invited Mr. Slade to 
 come and take a cup of tea with us. I explained to him that we 
 should be quite satisfied if he could produce nothing but the diver¬ 
 gence of a magnetic needle under conditions that would preclude all 
 notion of suspicion even for the most distant bystanders. Slade 
 accepted my invitation, and was even ready to come at once to my 
 house in company with one of my friends. I wished to make sure 
 of the experiment that evening, in order to guarantee its success 
 the following day in the presence of my friends. This intention I 
 of course did not intimate to Slade. 
 
 Arrived at my dwelling, my friend asked whether I had a com¬ 
 pass at hand. I brought a celestial globe in the stand of which a 
 compass was fixed, and placed it on the table. At our request 
 Slade moved his hand horizontally across the closely-fitted glass 
 cover of the magnet case. The needle remained immovable, and 
 
PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 53 
 
 I concluded from this that Slade had no magnet concealed 
 beneath his skin. On a second trial, which was made immedi¬ 
 ately afterwards, in the manner stated, the needle was violently 
 agitated in a way which could only be the result of strong mag¬ 
 netic power. 
 
 This observation decided my position towards Mr. Slade. I 
 had hero to do with a fact which confirmed the observation of 
 Fechner, and was, therefore, worthy of further investigation. 
 
 The next evening (Friday, November 16th, 1877) I placed a 
 card-table, with four chairs, in a room which Slade had not yet 
 entered. After Fechuer, Professor Braunc, Slade, and myself 
 were seated, and had placed our interlinked hands upon the table, 
 there were raps on the table. Two hours previously I had bought 
 a slate and marked it; on this the writing began in the usual man¬ 
 ner. My pocket-knife, which I had lent to Slade to cut oft' a 
 fragment of pencil, was laid upon the slate, and while Slade was 
 placing the slate partially under the flap of the table, the knife 
 was suddenly projected to the height of one foot, and then thrown 
 down upon the table, but, to our extreme surprise, was open. The 
 experiment was several times repeated with like result, and for proof 
 that the knife was not projected by any movement of the slate, 
 Slade laid at the same time as the knife a bit of slate-pencil on the 
 slate, and, to fix its position, made a small cross on the place. 
 Immediately after the knife had been projected, Slade showed us 
 the slate, on which the bit of pencil remained unmoved near the 
 mark. 
 
 The double slate, after being well cleaned and a piece of pencil 
 placed in it, was then held by Slade over the head of Professor 
 Braune. The scratching was soon heard, and when the slate was 
 opened, a long piece of writing was found upon it. 
 
 While this was going on, a bed which stood in the room behind 
 a screen suddenly moved about two feet from the wall, pushing the 
 screen outwards. Slade was more than four feet distant from the 
 bed, had his back turned towards it, and his legs crossed, always 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL PIIYSTCS. 
 
 54 
 
 _ visible, and towards the side away from the bed. I then returned 
 the bed to its original place. 
 
 A second sitting took place immediately with Professor Weber, 
 Scheibner, and myself. While experiments similar to those first 
 described were being successfully made, a violent crack was sud¬ 
 denly heard, as in the discharging of a large battery of Leyden 
 jars. Ou turning, with some alarm, in the direction of the sound, 
 the before-mentioned screen fell apart in two pieces. The strong 
 wooden screws, half an inch thick, were torn from above and be¬ 
 low, without any visible contact of Slade with the screen. The 
 parts broken were at least five feet removed from Slade, who had 
 his back to the screen; but even if he had intended to tear it 
 down by a cleverly-devised sideward motion, it would have been 
 necessary to fasten it on the opposite side. As it was, the screen 
 stood quite unattached, and the grain of the wood being parallel 
 to the axis of the cylindrical wooden fastenings, the wrenching 
 asunder could only be accomplished by a force acting longitudi¬ 
 nally to the part in question. We were all astonished at this 
 unexpected and violent manifestation of mechanical force, and 
 asked Slade what it all meant; but he only shrugged his shoulders, 
 saying that such phenomena occasionally, though somewhat rarely, 
 occurred in his presence. As he spoke, he placed, while still stand¬ 
 ing, a piece of slate-pencil on the polished surface of the table, laid 
 over it a slate, purchased and just cleaned by myself, and pressed 
 the five spread fingers of his right hand on the upper surface of 
 the slate, while his left hand rested on the centre of the table. 
 Writing began on the inner surface of the slate, and when Slade 
 turned it up, the following sentence was written in English: “It 
 was not our intention to do harm; forgive what has happened.” 
 We were the more surprised at the production of the writing under 
 these circumstances, for we particularly observed that both Slade’s 
 hands remained quite motionless while the writing was going ou. 
 
 The above-mentioned phenomena, which we witnessed at our 
 first meeting with Slade, appeared to me and my friends so extra¬ 
 ordinary, and so much at variance with all our- former conceptions, 
 
ECRTtIRIt PHENOMENA. 
 
 that William Weber and myself resolved to give some of our col¬ 
 leagues the opportunity of testifying to them. We therefore went 
 the next day to Professor C. Ludwig and informed him of the 
 facts. The interest which he took in the subject encouraged me 
 to invite two other friends to come to my house the next day (Sun¬ 
 day, November 18th), to judge for themselves in the presence of 
 Slade. I proposed my colleagues, Herr Geheimrath Thiersch, sur¬ 
 geon, and Herr Wundt, Professor of Philosophy, in which choice 
 Herr Ludwig fully concurred. 
 
 On Sunday, the 18th November, at three o’clock in the after¬ 
 noon, these three gentlemen met at my house. I had purchased 
 the previous day a new walnut-wood card-table from a cabinet¬ 
 maker in this town, named J. G. Hitter, and had put it in the place 
 of the table used at the former sitting. The slates, single and 
 folding, which we placed at Slade’s disposal were bought by my¬ 
 self and my friends, and were marked by us. There were present 
 at the seance only Herr Geheimrath Thiersch, C. Ludwig, and 
 Professor Wundt: after half an hour’s sitting, they left the room. 
 Of the phenomena observed by them I will only mention that 
 related to me by Ilerr Thiersch, vi.n, a successful experiment simi¬ 
 lar to my own with my pocket-knife, and, in addition, that between 
 the folds of a double slate, which Slade held in his right hand over 
 the table in view of all, three sentences were written in the Eng¬ 
 lish, French, and German languages, each one in an entirely differ¬ 
 ent handwriting. The slate remains in my possession, and affords 
 opportunity for investigation with regard to the question of previ¬ 
 ous preparation. 
 
 It is to be understood that thp present relation of facts in no 
 way presupposes a judgment in the minds of my colleagues as 
 regards the causes of the phenomena. I perfectly agree with the 
 Imperial Court conjurer, Herr ilellachiui, whose testimony con¬ 
 cerning Slade begins with the following words : — 
 
 “ I hereby declare it to be a rash act to form any conclusion 
 with regard to the objective mcdiumistic performances of the 
 
56 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 American, Mr. Ilenry Slade, even with the minutist observation, 
 after one sitting only.” [See Appendix B.j 
 
 Slade returned the same afternoon, about six o’clock, to Berlin. 
 All that had been observed in his presence appeared to me and 
 my friends to be of so interesting a nature, and so entirely worthy 
 of further investigation, that we thankfully and willingly accepted 
 the oiler of my friend, Mr. Oscar von Hoffmann, to invite Slade 
 to spend a longer time in Leipsic as his guest, that he might be 
 thus withdrawn from all publicity, and placed entirely at our dis¬ 
 posal for the purposes of scientilic research. In consequence of 
 this invitation, Slade came a second time alone to Lcipsic, on 
 Monday, 10th December, 1877, and took up his appointed quar¬ 
 ters in the house of my friend. 
 
 Next morning (Tuesday, 11th December), at half-past eleven 
 Slade came to my house. This was high and detached, and I had 
 placed the above-mentioned card-table in a corner room which had. 
 four large windows, three to the south, and one to the west. Pro¬ 
 fessor W. Weber, Professor Scheibner, Slade, and I seated our¬ 
 selves forthwith at the card-table, which was quite detached, and 
 placed in the middle of the room. Weber was opposite to me, 
 Scheibner at the left, Slade at the right. While our eight hands 
 were upon the table, in contact, and Slade’s feet, crossed sideways, 
 were continually observed by the sitter at the side next him, a large 
 hand-bell which had been put under the table suddenly began to 
 ring, and was then violently projected before all our eyes about 
 ten feet distance horizontally upon the floor. After a short pause, 
 in which phenomena similar to those already described took place, 
 a small note-table, fixed to a door-post by a movable iron support, 
 began suddenly to move, and so violently that a chair standing in 
 front of it was thrown down with a great noise. These objects were 
 behind Slade, and at least five feet from him. At the same time, 
 and at the like distance, a book-case, loaded with many books, was 
 violently agitated. A small paper thermometer-case was laid on 
 the slate, which Slade held half under the edge of tli£ table. This 
 disappeared, so that Slade could show the slate empty ; after about 
 
EXPERIMENTS WITH A COMPASS. 
 
 57 
 
 three minutes it came again into view upon the slate. Both here, 
 and iu the following account, I take no notice of the continually 
 repeated writing between the slates. 
 
 On the same day, the same persons assembled in the same room 
 for a second sitting. W. Weber placed on the table a compass, 
 enclosed in glass, the needle of which we could all observe very 
 distinctly by the bright candlelight, while we had our hands joined 
 with those of Slade (which were both visible, and over a foot dis¬ 
 tant from the compass). After about five minutes the needle 
 began to swing violently in arcs of from 40° to G0°, till at length 
 it several times turned completely round. Slade now got up, and 
 went from the table to the window; he hoped that the movements 
 of the needle (which were especially remarkable by reason of the 
 frequent sudden revolutions and the resting points) would be con¬ 
 tinued in his absence : this, however, did not happen. But when, 
 standing, he again put his right hand with ours (always joined to 
 his) in motion (Slade’s hand, however, remaining at least a foot 
 and a half from the compass), the peculiar agitations of the needle 
 suddenly recommenced, and were finally changed into rotations. 
 
 In order to repeat some observations with an accordion, in the 
 presence of Home (which were made and published by Crookes 
 and Huggins), besides the above-mentioned large hand-bell, an 
 accordion had been brought by one of my friends. The bell was 
 placed under the table, as in the morning, and Slade grasped the 
 keyless end of the accordion (which lie had never had in his hands 
 before, but saw now for the first time) above, so that the side with 
 keys hung down free. While Slade’s left hand lay on the table, 
 and his right, holding the upper part of the accordion above the 
 table, was visible to us all, the accordion began suddenly to play, and 
 at the same time the bell on the floor to ring violently. The latter 
 could thus not be touching the floor with its edges during the ring¬ 
 ing. Hereupon Slade gave the accordion to Professor Sclieibner, 
 and requested him to hold it in the manner aboved described, as it 
 might possibly happen that the accordion would [day iu his hand 
 also, without Slade touching it at all. Scarcely had Sclieibner tho 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL rilYSTCS. 
 
 58 
 
 accordion in liis hand than it began to play a tune exactly in the 
 same way, while the hell under the table again rang violently. 
 Slade’s hands meanwhile rested quietly on the table, and his feet, 
 turned sideways, could be continually observed during this pro¬ 
 ceeding. 
 
 Encouraged by the success of this exactly-described experiment, 
 Slade renewed the repeated attempt, hitherto in vain, to obtain 
 writing on a slate held by another, and not touched at all by him¬ 
 self. He therefore handed to Professor Scheibner one of the 
 slates purchased by myself and kept in readiness, requesting him to 
 hold it at first with his left hand under the table, while Slade held 
 it firmly at the edge with his right hand: Scheibner could thus 
 always judge from a pull or pressure whether Slade was holding 
 the slate close under the table. Scheibner’s right hand and Slade’s 
 left rested meanwhile on the table. After waiting vainly for a 
 short time, Slade remarked that he felt a damp body touching the 
 hand that held the slate, and at the same time Professor Scheibner 
 also testified to the same sensation, which he likened to the touch 
 of a piece of damp felt-cloth. Scheibner then withdrew the slate, 
 which in fact was freely moistened on the upper side, both in the 
 centre and at the edges for a breadth of from two to three inches, 
 as were also the hands, both of Scheibner and Slade, which had 
 held the slate. 
 
 While we were conjecturing in what conceivable manner this 
 moistening could have happened, and all our hands were on the 
 table, there appeared suddenly a small reddish-brown hand at the 
 edge of the table, close in front of W. Weber, and visible to us 
 all, which moved itself vivaciously and disappeared after two sec¬ 
 onds. This phenomenon was several times repeated. 
 
 In order, conclusively, to establish the elevation above the floor 
 of one body sounding against another, I had suspended a steel ball, 
 of about three-quarters of an inch diameter, by a silk thread inside 
 a cylindrical glass bell of one foot in height and one-half foot 
 diameter. The bell so formed was placed under the table instead 
 of the other bell, and very soon there began a lively tinkling with 
 
SLADE AND TIIE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE. 
 
 59 
 
 unmufilcd tones as the steel hall struck against the glass side. As 
 Slade’s hands were on the table, and his feet were observed; and 
 even in case of an application by the latter, the tone of the bell 
 would have been affected by the contact of another body; this phe¬ 
 nomenon could only be brought about by an elevation of the bell 
 to freedom from contact. 
 
 On the next day, the 13th December, 1877, Slade proposed to 
 us liiinself that we should make a direct observation of the move¬ 
 ment of the said bell under the table, and thereby make sure that 
 this movement happened without any contact on • his part,. With 
 this view we sat at a distance of about four feet from the table; 
 by means of caudles suitably placed we could conveniently observe 
 everything which happened under the table. The glass-bell was 
 now placed under the table, and indeed towards the side facing us, 
 about in the line between the two feet of the table which were 
 nearest us. Slade sat on the opposite side, and had his feet, visi¬ 
 ble to us all, drawn back under his chair, so that they were about 
 three feet from the bell. After a short time the bell, without any 
 touching on Slade’s part, began moving violently, rolling about in 
 an oblique position upon the lower glass edge, the steel ball there¬ 
 by grinding against the glass side. 
 
 On this evening occurred writing between a double slate, bound 
 cross-wise by a tight knot, and laid on a corner of the table, and 
 which no one touched. This result may be compared with that 
 obtained at St. Petersburg, recorded in an English journal, The 
 Spiritualist, of March 1st, 1878, which contains the following 
 paragraphs under the title, “ Dr. Slade’s Seances with the Grand 
 Duke Constantine”: — 
 
 “ On Wednesday last, Dr. Slade, accompanied by M. Alexandre 
 Aksakow and Professor Boutlerof, gave a seance to the Grand 
 Duke Constantine. The Duke gave them a cordial reception, and 
 after a few minutes’ conversation, the manifestations began with 
 great power. The Duke held a new slate, alone, and obtained 
 independent writing upon it. 
 
 “The Grand Duke Constantine has before this shown his appro 
 
no 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 ciation of now branches of science. When Lieutenant Maury was 
 oliliineil to ilce from the United States during the late civil war, 
 the Duke recognized the — then scarcely appreciated — value of 
 his researches ou the physical geography of the sea and oceanic 
 currents, so offered him a home and a welcome in Russia. 
 
 “ Dr. Slade is fully engaged in St. Petersburg, and sometimes 
 obtains messages in the Russian language. At one of his sittings 
 last week he obtained writing in six languages upon a single slate.” 
 
 The above fact is additionally confirmed by the following pub¬ 
 lic testimony by M. Aksakow, Imperial Privy Councillor: — 
 
 “ I can, as a witness, testify that the writing was produced upon 
 a slate which the Grand Duke alone held under and close to the 
 table, while Slade’s hands were on the table and did not touch the 
 slate. Slade lias since had the honor of being invited to two 
 seances by the Grand Duke.— Aksakow.” 
 
 The above experiment, described as succeeding with the Grand 
 Duke Constantine, was never successful in my sittings, although 
 Mr. Slade with this object has repeatedly given the slate to be held 
 alone by Professor W. Weber and Professor Schcibner. On the 
 other hand, that of the evening in question (13th December, 1877) 
 which succeeded with W. Weber and me was yet more remarkable. 
 Two slates were bought by myself, marked, and carefully cleaned. 
 They were then — a splinter of about three millimetres thickness 
 from a new slate-pencil having first been put between them — 
 bound tightly together, cross-wise, with a string four millimetres 
 thick. They were laid on, and close, to the comer of a card-table 
 of walnut wood which I had shortly before purchased myself. 
 While, now, W. Weber, Slade, and I sat at the table, and were 
 busied with magnetic experiments, during which our six hands lay 
 on the table, those of Slade being two feet from the slate, very loud 
 writing began suddenly between the untouched slates. When we 
 separated them, there was upon one of them the following words, 
 in nine lines, “ We feel to bless all that try (?) to investigate a 
 subject so unpopular as the subject of Spiritualism is at the pres¬ 
 ent. But it will not always be so unpopular; it will take its 
 
TEST EXPERIMENT IN SLATE-WRITING. (11 
 
 place among the . . . (V) of all classes and kinds.” The slate 
 had the mark (II.2) previously placed by me upon it. There can 
 be no talk here of a trick or of antecedent preparations. 
 
 In addition, the large hand-bell which was laid on the floor at 
 the side of the table opposite to me was placed quietly and slowly 
 in my left hand, ivhich I held close under the table ; during this 
 proceeding also Slade’s hands were both visible, and his feet 
 were under our control. Finally, Mr. Slade himself proposed an 
 experiment which should serve as proof that the slates were not 
 previously prepared and the writing already present on them, invisi¬ 
 bly, before the apparent production of it. He took as usual the 
 slate which came to hand, laid a bit of slate-pencil of the size of a 
 pea upon it, and asked me, while ho pushed the slate half under 
 the edge of the table (so that his hand could be continually 
 observed), what should be written upon it. I said “Littrow, 
 Astronomer.” The usual scribbling began immediately, and when 
 Slade drew out the slate, the two above words were perfectly distinct 
 upon it, with the letters widely apart. If Slade did not write the 
 words himself (at the time), which from the position of his hand 
 and of the letters upon the slate was impossible, so likewise could 
 these words certainly not have been produced by means of a pre¬ 
 vious preparation of the slate, since the words themselves had 
 occurred to me quite suddenly for the first time. 
 
 Friday, 14th December, 1877 (11.10 to 11.40 a.m.) To-day, 
 first one of the slates kept always in readiness, which I myself 
 selected and cleaned, was laid open with a bit of slate-pencil upon 
 the floor under the table. Now, while Slade had both his hands 
 linked with ours upou the table, and his legs, turned sideways, were 
 continually visible, writing, loudly perceptible by us all, began on 
 the slate lying below. When we raised it, there were on it the 
 words — “Truth will overcome all error!” Next, two magnetic 
 needles, a larger and a smaller one, both completely enclosed in 
 glass cases, w T cre placed close in front of W. Weber. Our hands 
 were linked upon the table with those of Slade in the usual man¬ 
 ner, and were at least one foot from the magnetic needle. Sud- 
 
02 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 dcnly the small needle began to oscillate violently, till it got into 
 constant rotation, while the larger one showed only slight agitations, 
 which appeared to proceed from a shaking of the table. Since 
 here forces were manifestly at work (no matter what their origin) 
 which were able to act upon the magnetism of bodies, I suggested 
 to Slade the attempt permanency to magnetise an unmagnetic 
 steel needle. Slade hesitated at first, and seemed to think our 
 success doubtful. However, he was at once ready to consent to 
 the proposition. I fetched a large number of steel knitting-need¬ 
 les, and W. Weber and I chose from them one which, immediately 
 before the experiment (on the table at which we sat), was ascer¬ 
 tained by means of the compass to be wholly unmagnetised, inas¬ 
 much as both poles were attracted. Slade laid this needle upon 
 a slate, held the latter under the table just in the same way as for 
 writing, and after about four minutes, when the slate with the 
 knitting-needle was laid again upon the table, the needle was so 
 strongly magnetised at one end (and only at one end) that iron 
 shavings and sewing-needles stuck to this end; the needle of the 
 compass could be easily drawn round in a circle. The originated 
 pole was a south pole, inasmuch as the north pole of the (compass) 
 needle was attracted, the south pole repelled. The needle is still 
 in my possession, and can at any time be tested. 
 
CHAPTER THIRD 
 
 PERMANENT IMPRESSIONS OBTAINED.OF HANDS AND FEET—PROPOSED CHEMI¬ 
 CAL EXPERIMENT —SLADE’S ABNORMAL VISION —IMPRESSIONS IN A CLOSED 
 SPACE —ENCLOSED SPACE OF THREE DIMENSIONS OPEN TO FOUR-DIMENSIONAL 
 BEINGS. 
 
 As almost regularly at all the sittings (while Slade’s hands 
 rested on the table, visible to all present, and his feet, in the side¬ 
 ways position frequently mentioned, could be at any time observed) 
 we felt the touch of bauds under the table, and, as above-remarked, 
 had even seen these transiently under the same conditions, I 
 desired to institute an experiment by which a convincing proof of 
 the existence of these hands could he afforded. I therefore pro¬ 
 posed to Mr. Slade to have placed under the table a flat porcelain 
 vase filled up to the edge with wheat flour, aud that he should 
 then request his “spirits” to put their hands in the flour before 
 touching us. In this manner the visible traces of the touching 
 must be shown on our clothes after the contact, and at the same 
 time Slade’s hands and feet could be examined for remains of 
 flour adhering to them. Slade declared himself ready at once for 
 the proposed test. I fetched a large porcelain bowl of about one 
 foot diameter and two inches deep, filled it evenly to the brim 
 with flour, and placed it under the table. We did not trouble our¬ 
 selves at first about the eventual success of this experiment, but 
 continued for over five minutes the magnetic experiments, Slade’s 
 hands being all the time visible upon the table ; when suddenly I 
 felt my right knee powerfully grasped and pressed by a large hand 
 under the table for about a second, and at the same moment, as 
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
04 
 
 TRANSCENDENT AT. 1>II YSICS. 
 
 I mentioned tliis to tlie others and was about to get up, the bowl 
 oi' meal was pushed forward from its place under the table about 
 foui' feet on the lloor. Upon my trousers I had the impression in 
 meal of a large strong; hand, and on the meal surface of the bowl 
 were indented the thumb and four fingers with all the niceties of 
 structure and folds of the skin impressed. An immediate examina¬ 
 tion of Slade’s hands and feet showed not the slightest trace's of 
 Hour, and the comparison of his own hand with the impression on 
 the meal proved the latter to be considerably larger. The impres¬ 
 sion is still in my possession, although through frequent shakings 
 the delicacy of the lines is becoming gradually obliterated by the 
 falling together of the particles of meal. 
 
 Slade was highly pleased at the success of the magnetic experi¬ 
 ments, particularly the magnetising of the knitting-needle, an 
 attempt which we often repeated on the following day with always 
 the like result. lie expressed in warm terms his happiness that 
 he had, for the first time, succeeded in interesting men of sincere 
 inclination to truth for his peculiar endowments in such a degree 
 that they had resolved to institute scientilic experiments with 
 him. 
 
 I was uow sufficiently encouraged gradually to set on foot those 
 experiments which I had prepared from the stand-point of my 
 theory of a space of four dimensions. Since the magnetic experi¬ 
 ments had proved that under the influences which invisibly sur¬ 
 rounded Slade, the molecular currents, present in the interior of 
 all bodies, could be turned, that is, altered in their position 
 (whereon, according to Ampere’s and Weber’s theory, the mag¬ 
 netising of bodies principally depends), I entertained the hope 
 that an experiment indicated in the first volume of my Scientific 
 Treatises would succeed; viz;., the conversion, by a four-dimen¬ 
 sional diversion of molecules of tartaric acid, which diverts the 
 plane of polarized light to the right, into racemic acid, which 
 diverts it to the left. To this end I had kept in readiness one of 
 Mitchell’s simple polarizing saccharometers, the tube of which con¬ 
 tained a solution of tartaric acid. The diversion of the plane of 
 
ABNORMAL VTSTON. 
 
 65 
 
 polarization amounted to about 5’. I intended that the glass tube 
 (200 millimetres long and 15 outer diameter), filled with the solu¬ 
 tion, should be laid on the slate, the latter being held by Slade 
 under the table, as in the case of the knitting-needles which were 
 to be magnetised; in the expectation that after the experiment I 
 should see the tartaric acid changed into racemic acid. Wisliing 
 first to explain to Mr. Slade the meaning of the experiment, I 
 began by pointing out to him in the apparatus itself, after remov¬ 
 ing the tube, the optical effect of two crossed Nicol’s prisms. I 
 desired him, while sitting in his chair, to fix his eye on the front 
 prism, and then to look with the apparatus at the clear sky (the 
 experiment took place at my house at 11.45 in the morning of the 
 14th December, 1877), while I slowly turned the front Nicol. I 
 now asked Slade, when the two prisms were about crossed, if he 
 observed the gradual darkening of the field of view. To my groat 
 surprise, he said he did not. I supposed him to be deceived by 
 the side light, and therefore disposed the two prisms from the front 
 at right angles, so that neither I nor my friends could sec through 
 at all. Slade still asserted that he did not perceive the least 
 change in the clearness of the sky; and as proof lie read an Eng¬ 
 lish writing, placed before the two crossed Nicols, covering his 
 left eye, as we saw, with his left hand. I was not, however, con¬ 
 tented with this proof of the fact. Next morning, when we were 
 again assembled at my house, I had two very large Nicol’s prisms 
 (for the production of a greater lield of view) fixed to turn closely 
 one over the other, and a large circular screen, which completely 
 covered the sight of the observer, so placed in connection with the 
 prisms, that external objects could only be perceived through the 
 two Nicol’s prisms. I then took au English book, Tyndall’s Fara¬ 
 day as a Discoverer, and in Slade’s absence marked by interlinea¬ 
 tions the following words on page 81:—“The burst of power 
 which had filled the four preceding years with an amount of 
 experimental work unparalleled in the history of Science.” When 
 1 again made Slade look through the two crossed Nicols at the 
 sky, and he declared, as on the day before, that lie did not remark 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 GG 
 
 (ho least change in the clearness of the sky when the prisms were 
 turned, I requested him to sit on a chair, and to read to me the 
 underlined words from the hook, held at a distance of about two 
 feet from his sight. To the great astonishment of us all, he imme¬ 
 diately read the above words with perfect accuracy. When, about 
 ten minutes later, I held the two prisms crossed again before 
 Slade’s eye, he was no longer able to sec, and the experiment was 
 not more successful in the evening of the same day by candlelight, 
 lie informed me that in the morning, soon after the experiment in 
 question, he had perceived “an influence,” to which he ascribed 
 the change of his condition. In connection with what has been 
 quoted above, from Professor Fechner, with reference to the 
 change in the magnetic condition of a sensitive, this alteration in 
 Slade’s optical powers may afford an interesting confirmation of the 
 transitory character of such anomalous organic functions. The 
 originally intended experiment with the tartaric acid was discon¬ 
 tinued in consequence of the above extraordinary observations. I 
 purposed to carry it out at a future investigation of Slade’s pecu¬ 
 liarities. 
 
 On Saturday, the 15th December, 1877, at eleven in the morn¬ 
 ing we assembled again at my house. While we were taking a 
 small breakfast, standing in my work-room, and I was talking to 
 Slade near my book-ease, some twenty feet from the stove, about 
 the experiment with the crossed Nicol’s prisms (which Slade desig¬ 
 nated a “clairvoyant experiment”), there fell suddenly from 
 the ceiling of the room a piece of coal the size of a fist. A simi¬ 
 lar incident happened half-an-hour later, when my colleague Scheib- 
 ner, in conversation with Slade, was on the point of leaving the 
 sitting-room; a piece of wood, instead of coal, falling suddenly 
 from the ceiling. On the morning of the 11th December when we 
 stood talking, after the sitting, and I was standing near Slade, we 
 suddenly saw my pocket-knife, fortunately shut, fly through the 
 air, and strike the forehead of my friend Scheibncr with some 
 force, the scar remaining visible on the following day. Since at 
 the time of the incident I was conversing with Slade, and the lut- 
 
IMPRESSION OF A FOOT. 
 
 67 
 
 ter had his hack turned to my friend at a distance of about ten 
 feet, Mr. Slade, at any rate, could not have thrown the knife at 
 my friend’s head. I only cite this incident because it appears to 
 me to belong to the same class as the above-mentioned facts. 
 
 Those experiments seem to me far more important, however, in 
 which 'permanent impressions of contact were left behind, as was 
 the case with the impression of the hand in the bowl of flour. 
 
 With this view I stuck half a sheet of common letter-paper upon 
 a somewhat larger board of wood; it was the cover of a wooden 
 box, in which Herr Merz had sent me some large prisms for spec¬ 
 troscopic purposes from Munich four days before. By moving the 
 paper over a petroleum lamp without a cylinder it was spread all 
 over with soot (lamp black), and then placed under the table at 
 which W. Weber, Slade, and I had taken out seats. Hoping to 
 obtain upon the sooted paper the impress of the hand, as on the pre¬ 
 vious day, we at first directed our attention again to the magnetic 
 experiments. Suddenly the board was pushed forward with force 
 under the table about the distance of one meter, and on my rais¬ 
 ing it, there was on it th e imp ression of a naked left foot. I at 
 once desired Slade to stand up and show me both his feet. Ho 
 did this most willingly ; after he had drawn off his shoes, we exam¬ 
 ined the stockings for any adhering particles of soot, but without 
 finding anything of the sort. Then we made him put his foot on 
 a measure, from which it appeared that the length of his foot from 
 the heel to the great toe was 22’5 centimetres, whereas the length 
 of the impression of the foot between the same parts amounted 
 only to 18'5 centimetres. 
 
 Two days later, on the 17th December, 1877, at eight o’clock in 
 the evening, I repeated this experiment, only with the difference 
 that instead of a board 46 centimetres long by 22 broad a slate 
 was used, whoso surface, not covered by the wooden frame, was 
 14’5 centimetres broad and 22 long. Upon this free surface I 
 stuck a half sheet of letter-paper (Bath) cut down to exactly the 
 same dimensions. Immediately before the sitting, I myself, in the 
 presence of witnesses, sooted the paper in the manner above 
 
G8 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 described. The slate was then, as before the board, laid under 
 the table at which we sat, with the sooted side uppermost. Upon 
 a given sign we got up after about four minutes, and upon the 
 slate was again the impression of the same left foot which we had 
 obtained two days earlier upon the board. I have had this impres¬ 
 sion reproduced photographically on a reduced scale. 
 
 I learned subsequently, from my colleague, Councillor Thiersch, 
 that the method of taking impressions of human limbs on sooted 
 paper was already frequently applied for anatomical and surgical 
 purposes. In the judgment of Herr Thiersch, who had taken a 
 great number of such impressions of feet of different persons for 
 comparison from that obtained by us, the impression produced in 
 the presence of Mr. Slade is that of a man’s foot which had been 
 tightly compressed by the make of the shoe, so that, as often hap¬ 
 pens, one toe is pressed over the two next, and thus only four toes 
 touch the sooted surface on imposition of the foot, as is also the 
 case on the photograph. Herr Thiersch showed me the impression 
 of a human foot in which likewise only four toes appeared in the 
 way denoted. To fix these soot impressions, it is only requisite to 
 pass them through a thin alcoholic solution of shellac. With 
 reference to the greatly abbreviated length of the foot in propor¬ 
 tion to its breadth, Herr Thiersch remarked that this could be 
 effected by not putting down the heel and the fore part of the 
 foot at the same time. In fact, he showed me an impression of a 
 foot in which a nearly similar abbreviation had been produced in 
 this way. If upon these observations it should be supposed that 
 Mr. Slade had himself produced the impression by putting on his 
 foot in this way, it must first be assumed that he was able to draw 
 off and on his shoes and stockings without application of his hands 
 (which were all along observed by us upon the table) ; and, sec¬ 
 ondly, that he was so expert in the imposition of his foot on a nar¬ 
 rowly limited space (the surface of the slate) that, without seeing 
 lids surface, he could, nevertheless, always hit upon it with accu¬ 
 racy. This, certainly, would presuppose a large practice in Mr. 
 blade for the object intended, and thereby it must be conjectured 
 
SLADE NOT AN EXPERT. 
 
 G9 
 
 that he had been used to bring forward this experiment. Putting 
 aside his lively astonishment and his assurance that such phe¬ 
 nomena had never yet been observed in his presence,* up to the 
 present time I am not aware of any published accounts of Mr. 
 Slade’s production of similar facts, t That Slade’s stockings had 
 not been cut away underneath for this purpose-^as was conject¬ 
 ured by some “men of science” in Leipsic, who iu unimportant 
 things accept our physical observations with absolute confidence, 
 hut in reference to the foregoing have not hesitated to instruct us 
 in the elementary rules for instituting exact observations—of that 
 as already mentioned, we satisfied ourselves immediately after the 
 experiment. 
 
 Meanwhile, to meet all such doubts (and the attempts at expla¬ 
 nation are scarcely less wonderful than are the facts themselves), 
 I proposed to Mr. Slade an experiment which, according to the 
 theory of the four-dimensional space, must easily succeed. In fact, 
 if the effects observed by us proceed from intelligent beings occu¬ 
 pying (welche sich befinderi), in the absolute space, places which 
 in the direction of the fourth dimension lie near the places occupied 
 by Mr. Slade and us in the three-dimensional space,!: and therefore 
 
 * With reference to this statement, the translator may observe that he has 
 himself had many sittings with Slade, previous to that time, hss received 
 accounts of the phenomena occurring in his presence from many who have had 
 equal or greater experience of them, and has read many accounts of them ; yet 
 the above, and nearly all other of the special experiments described in the text 
 (Professor Zullner’s), are wholly new to him. 
 
 tTo appreciate the importance of this, with reference to the suggestion that 
 Slade is an expert, it is necessary to bear in mind that he has been for many 
 years following his vocation as a medium in the light of the utmost publicity; the 
 Spiritualist journals (which are numerous) of America and England having 
 printed innumerable accounts of his s auces. — Tit. 
 
 t The conception of the juxtaposition of different, infinitely-extended regions 
 of space ( Kaumgebiete ) necessarily presupposes the conception of the next higher 
 region of space. Thus a two-dimensional being could indeed oonceiveany num¬ 
 ber of parallel infinite straight lines ; that is, infinitely extended spaces (llaum- 
 gebiete) of one dimension, but the infinite plane in which it moves, as we with 
 our bodies in the infinitely extended (Aree-dimensional space, could represent to 
 itself only once, although we, as three-dimensional beings, know that there can 
 be any number of infinitely-extended parallel planes, which accor Jing to a per¬ 
 pendicular direction, that is, according to the third dimension, can be arranged 
 
70 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL lMIYSICS. 
 
 necessarily invisible to us, for these beings the interior of a liguro 
 of three-dimensional space, enclosed on all sides, is just as easily 
 accessible as is to us, three-dimensional beings, the interior of a 
 surface enclosed on all sides by a line — a two-dimensional figure. 
 A two-dimensional being can represent to itself a straight line with 
 only one perpendicular ( Normale ) in the respective two-dimen¬ 
 sional regions of space (to which it belongs phenomenally). We, 
 on the contrary, as three-dimensional beings, know that there are 
 infinitely many perpendiculars ( Normale ) to a straight line in 
 space, which collectively form the two-dimensional geometrical 
 place of the perpendicular plane of that straight line. Analo¬ 
 gously, we can conceive only one perpendicular to a plane; a 
 being of four dimensions would, however, be able to conceive infin¬ 
 itely many perpendiculars to a plane, collectively forming the three- 
 dimensional place which in the fourth dimension stands perpendicu¬ 
 lar to that plane. By our nature as three-dimensional beings we 
 could form for ourselves no representation of these space relations, 
 although we are in the position to discover ideally ( begrijjllch ), 
 by analogy, the possibility of their real existence. The reality of 
 their existence can only be disclosed through facts of observation. 
 
 In order to obtain such an observed fact, I took a book-slate, 
 bought by myself; that is, two slates connected at one side by 
 cross hinges, like a book for folding up. In the absence of Slade 
 I lined both slates within, on the sides applied to one another, with 
 a half sheet of my letter-paper, which, immediately before the sit¬ 
 ting, was evenly spread with soot in the way already described. 
 This slate I closed, and remarked to Mr. Slade that if my theory 
 of the existence of intelligent four-dimensional beings in nature 
 
 in juxtaposition. All these planes would represent infinitely-extended two- 
 dimensional worlds, whose occurrences in each region of space are completely 
 separated from those in another. If, however, under certain anomalous condi 
 tions, a two-dimensional being of the one plane were causally connected with 
 more two-dimensional beings of another plane, so that these beings by move¬ 
 ments according to the third dimension could produce effects in the two-dimen¬ 
 sional region of the lirst plane, this would seem just as wonderful to the moving 
 beings in the latter as do to us the effects witnessed in the neighborhood of Mr. 
 Slade. 
 
A HYPOTHESIS AND AN EXPERIMENT. 
 
 71 
 
 was well founded, it must be an easy thing for them to place on 
 the interior of the closed slates the impression of feet hitherto only 
 produced on the open slates. Slade laughed, and thought that 
 this would be absolutely impossible; even his “ spirits,” which he 
 questioned, seemed at first much perplexed with this proposition, 
 but finally answered with the stereotyped caution, “We will try 
 it.” To my great surprise, Slade consented to my laying the 
 closed book-slate (which I had never let out of my hands after I 
 had spread the soot) on my lap during the sitting, so that I could 
 continually observe it to the middle.* We might have sat at the 
 table in the brightly-lighted room for about five minutes, our hands 
 linked with those of Slade in the usual manner above the table, 
 when I suddenly felt on two occasions, the one shortly after the 
 other, the slate pressed down upon my lap, without my having per¬ 
 ceived anything in the least visible. Three raps on the table 
 announced that all was completed, and when I opened the slate 
 there was within it on the one side the impression of a right foot, 
 on the other side that of a left foot, and indeed of the same which 
 we had already obtained on the two former evenings. 
 
 My readers may judge for themselves how far it is possible for 
 me, after witnessing these facts, to consider Slade an impostor or 
 a conjurer. Slade’s own astonishment at this last result was even 
 greater than my own. Whatever may be thought of the correct¬ 
 ness of my theory with regard to the existence of intelligent beings 
 in four-dimensional space, at all events it cannot be said to be use¬ 
 less as a clue to research in the mazes of Spiritualistic phenomena. 
 
 *Iu (lie previous experiments the board and the slate had been laid open upon 
 the floor under tho table. 
 
CHAPTER FOURTH. 
 
 CONDITIONS OF INVESTIGATION — UNSCIENTIFIC MEN OF SCIENCE — SLADE’S 
 ANSWER TO PROFESSOR BARRETT. 
 
 Passing over the numerous other physical phenomena, such as 
 violent movements of quite unattached chairs and the like, since 
 the same have been so often observed and circumstantially 
 described by others, I may next discuss the question how far it is 
 justifiable and reasonable iu dealing with new phenomena, the 
 causes of which are entirely unknown to us, to impose conditions 
 under which these new phenomena should occur. That for the 
 production of electricity by friction on the surfaces of bodies the 
 driest possible air is requisite, and that in a damp atmosphere 
 these experiments fail entirely, are also experimental conditions, 
 which could evidently not be prescribed a priori, but have been 
 discovered only through careful observations among those relations 
 under which Nature in individual cases willingly offers us these 
 phenomena. Just therein, indeed, consists the acuteness and skill 
 of an observer, that without arbitrary meddling with the course of 
 the phenomena, he so prepares his observations that the conclu¬ 
 sions drawn from them exclude the possibility of every error and 
 every deception. Would it have been possible to dictate condi¬ 
 tions under which the fall of meteorolites should be observed upon 
 those who first asserted the reality of those phenomena? On 
 entering new provinces one must always take to heart the words of 
 Virchow, which he uttered at the last meeting of scientific men at 
 
 (7 2 ) 
 
THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR IGNORANCE. 
 
 Munich, in his speech “ Upon the Freedom of Science in the Mod¬ 
 ern State.” 
 
 “ That which I pride myself on is just the knowledge of my 
 ignorance. Since, as I imagine, I know with tolerable accuracy 
 what it is that I do not know, I always say to myself, when I have 
 to enter upon a province as yet closed to me, ‘ Now must thou 
 begin again to learn ! ’ ” 
 
 How far Ilcrr Virchow himself, when the occasion is forthcom¬ 
 ing, makes use of the teachings of modesty which he imparts to 
 others we may learn from the following words of Herr State Coun¬ 
 cillor Aksakow: * — 
 
 “ The attempts which I caused to be made by Herr Wittig in 
 Berlin for a scientific examination of Mr. Slade by Professors 
 Helmholtz and Virchow have failed; and I will take this opportu¬ 
 nity to show by an example how right I was in speaking of the 
 difficulties which we still have to experience with the learned, even 
 when it is a question of simply putting the mediumistic phenomena 
 to the proof, and this solely by reason of their disinclination for this 
 province of investigation. Thus, Herr Virchow is willing indeed to 
 see Mr. Slade, but only upon the terms that, Joe latter submits 
 himself to aU conditions which Herr Virchow shall please to lay 
 upon him. Here now is a man of science ( Gelehrter') who, not 
 knowing even the A B C of the phenomena which he undertakes 
 to make an object of his study, at the outset imposes upon them 
 his own conditions of observation! Could a similar method have 
 been at all approved or endured in the study of any branch of 
 natural science whatsoever ? ... So the first false step ! And 
 then what were these conditions ? Mr. Slade should allow Pro¬ 
 fessor Virchow to bind his hands and .feet, and to place an observer 
 two feet from the table. These are the conditions required by a 
 German man of science of great renown, and, nevertheless, how 
 
 * Psychicche Stud ten, monthly journal devoted principally to tho investigation 
 of the little-known phenomena of the soul-life. Published and edited by Alex 
 ander Aksakow, Russian Imperial Councillor of State, at St. Petersburg,—Janu ' 
 ai y number, 1878. 
 
74 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 ‘illogical aud inconclusive’ (‘ unlogisch und beweis-unhrdftig ’) 
 arc they! Take it that Mr. Slade submits to these conditions, and 
 the seance is successful. Herr Virchow will be the first, aud with 
 him the whole great multitude, thence to conclude that he had tied 
 badly, that his sentinel had observed badly , and that the adroitness 
 of the conjurer had taken him at a disadvantage. At a second 
 seance Ilcrr Virchow will bind the medium in a different manner, 
 and will appoint two sentinels; the same result, the same conclu¬ 
 sion ! At the third seance he will discover yet another system of 
 fastening and precautions much more elaborate and ingenious; 
 the same result, the same conclusion, and so on for ever! * Mr. 
 
 •Even if the above supposition is thought unjust to Professor Virchow (as it 
 perhaps is), it is one which Slade’s past experience made a reasonable ground for 
 the rejection of the professor’s conditions. When Slade was in London in 1876, 
 a distinguished man of letters was anxious to obtain writing in a new book-slate 
 furnished with a padlock, and locked before it was brought to the seance. Slade 
 declined the attempt, greatly to the dissatisfaction of the gentleman referred to, 
 whoso distrust on this account was reflected in the tone of his evidence at Bow 
 Street, on the charge against Slade by Professor Lankester, though otherwise he 
 was witness to inexplicable manifestations. On my urging Slade subsequently 
 to comply, ho told me that this very test had once been successfully allowed, but 
 that the fact getting known, it had led to other new contrivances being devised 
 and insisted on, with an utter disturbance of the usual conditions. He never 
 could be sure beforehand that a a a nee would succeed (the manifestations being 
 wholly out of his own power or control), and the failure of a test imposed by the 
 investigator was regarded as more suspicious than many merely weak and incon¬ 
 clusive seances under ordinary conditions. (See also Slade’s letter to the Times, 
 page 07 post.) There is also the fact, well recognized among Spiritualists, that 
 the influence of some persons is far more favorable to the evolution of phe¬ 
 nomena through mediums than that of others. One investigator will witness the 
 most extraordinary manifestations at his first * entice, whereas another will be 
 long in obtaining anything like satisfactory evidence, as was the case with myself 
 before I saw Slade. This interaction of medium and sitter is a fact that should 
 never be left out of sight; especially in estimating testimony to facts far exceed¬ 
 ing our own or general experience of similar phenomena. It by no means fol¬ 
 lowed from Profess® Zollner’s success in nearly all the experiments he insti¬ 
 tuted with Slade, that another man of science, of perhaps altogether different 
 constitution, physical or psychical, would be equally fortunate. The true cause 
 of scientific complaint against Prof. Virchow appears to be that he would not 
 even in theJir.it instance witness the phenomena under the ordinary condition3of 
 their occurrence ; assuming that there could be only one mode of demonstrating 
 them to be genuine, or that, out of many modes, that which occurred to him must 
 also be agreeable to nature. Probably he only thought how he could baffle a 
 conjurer, not entertaining the possibility that the very course and natu.e of the 
 phenomena themselves might put the hypothesis of conjuring out of the ques¬ 
 tion.— Translator. 
 
slade’s reply to professor barrett. 75 
 
 Slade did well to decline Herr Virchow’s conditions: for in 
 imposing them the latter had given proof of an utter ignorance of 
 the subject which he professed his willingness to engage in. The 
 history of all the systems of fastening by which mediums have 
 been tortured would alone fill a thick volume. The Martyrology 
 of Mediums is a book of the future. . . . Professor Virchow need 
 only open the book by Colonel Olcott — People from the Other 
 World —at page 39, to see a pictorial representation of the tor¬ 
 tures to which mediums have been subjected in the name of sci¬ 
 ence and truth. There is represented the medium Eddy, with 
 every finger of the hand separately fastened by a string nailed to 
 the floor. Eddy’s hands are in consequence of these bindings, to 
 which they have been subjected for years, quite disfigured. And 
 have all these bindings ever convinced any one ? The conditions 
 devised by Professor Virchow would have the same fate. 
 
 “ Slade’s great merit is to have simplified the conditions of his 
 seances in such a manner that it is sufficient for any one to come 
 to him armed only with his sound senses and with his sound reason 
 to be convinced — if he will be convinced. In fact, tbe phenomena 
 take place in full light, and while the medium’s hands and feet 
 are held,* or, also, when the medium does not even touch the 
 object upon which the mediuinistic phenomena are accomplished, 
 and while the observer does not cease to hold both his hands, and 
 to see with his own two eyes! What more is necessary ? ” 
 
 I cannot refrain from setting down here the letter, full of sound 
 manly sense, which Mr. Slade sent to the Times in London, in 
 reply to some points raised by Professor Barrett of Dublin : — 
 
 •That is, when Slade does not himself hold the slate partly under the table. 
 He is always willing to use new slates, brought by the visitor, on which writing 
 is often obtained above the table. The luU light is an invariable condition. The 
 most conclusive tests cannot, however, be insisted on arbitrarily, at once, always, 
 and by any one, but are usually given in the course of a few sittings.— Trans 
 LATOR. 
 
76 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 DR. SLADE’S ANSWER TO SOME POINTS OF THE LETTER OF 
 PROFESSOR BARRETT. 
 
 “ London, 8 Upper Bedford Place, 
 “ September 22, 1876. 
 
 “ Sir,— In Professor Barrett’s statements published in the Times 
 to-day I think he erred (I hope unintentionally) in saying: — 
 ‘ Slade failed to procure the writing on a slate enclosed, along with 
 a fragment of pencil, in a sealed box; he also failed when I used 
 a box with a tortuous passage to allow the introduction of such 
 bits of pencil as suited his fancy; he declined to try and get writ¬ 
 ing within a hinged slate that was sealed, but succeeded when the 
 hinged slate was unfastened; and again he failed, according to the 
 writer of an article in the Spectator, when a spring lock was used.’ 
 
 “Instead of trying to obtain writing on the Professor’s boxed 
 slates, I declined using them at all. I assured him they would 
 not be used, and gave him my reasons for objecting. He urged 
 me strongly to make the experiment, and placed the box contain¬ 
 ing the slate on the table, where it remained undisturbed until he 
 put it on the slate, which I held, with the box on it, under the 
 table for a short time, when, as I had hoped, nothing occurred. 
 This he calls a failure. 
 
 “ Mr. Simmons says that Professor Barrett, on entering the 
 drawing-room after the sitting, told him that Dr. Slade had 
 refused to use the boxed slates; that he had left them in the room 
 where the sitting was held, hoping he (Dr. Slade) would make the 
 trial at some future time. 
 
 “ Having had at least fifteen years’ experience in demonstrating 
 the fact of various phenomena occurring in my presence, I claim 
 to know something of the conditions required. At the same time 
 I do not know how they are produced. I do not object to persons 
 bringing an ordinary slate, either single or folding, but I do object 
 to using locks, boxes, or seals, for this reason. I claim to be as 
 honest and earnest in this matter as those who call upon me for the 
 
Slade’s REPLY TO PROFESSOR BARRETT. 
 
 77 
 
 purpose of investigation. Therefore I shall continue to object to 
 all such worthless appliances whenever they are proposed. 
 
 “ Mark the following, which Professor Barrett also says:— 
 * Taking a clean slate on both sides, I placed it on the table so 
 that it rested above, though it could not touch, a fragment of slate- 
 pencil. In this position I held the slate firmly down with my 
 elbow. One of Slade’s hands was then grasped by mine, and the 
 tips of the fingers of his other hand barely touched the slate. 
 While closely watching both of Slade’s, which did not move per¬ 
 ceptibly, I certainly was much astonished to hear scratching going 
 on, apparently on the under side of the slate, and when the slate 
 was lifted up I found the side facing the table covered with writ¬ 
 ing. He also says a similar result was obtained on other days; 
 further, an eminent scientific friend obtained writing on a clean 
 slate when it was held entirely in his own hand, both of Slade’s 
 being on the table.’ 
 
 “ The above being true, would the fact of the writing being pro¬ 
 duced by some agency foreign to myself have been more strongly 
 established had it occurred on the Professor’s boxed slate V I 
 think the reader will agree with me in saying it would not. 
 
 “ On the other hand, had it so occurred and a statement of it 
 been published, it would only have served as an incentive for 
 others to conjure some plan whereby they might prevent an occur¬ 
 rence of phenomena, instead of being content to witness them in 
 the simple manner in which they do occur. To my mind it would 
 be as reasonable to sever the wire and then ask the operator to 
 send your message as it is to violate the conditions which experi¬ 
 ence has taught me are essential in these experiments in order to 
 obtain successful results; and when the investigator comes in the 
 spirit of a seeker for truth instead of trying to prove me an impos¬ 
 tor, I shall be most happy to unite with him in the further pursuit 
 of these experiments.— Very truly Yours, 
 
 “Henry Slade.” 
 
 The above letter, in which the so severely calumniated Ameri- 
 
78 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 can medium recalls — in a manner no less urgent than civil — to 
 the recollection of our modem “ men of science ” the first rales of 
 experimentation in natural science, may suffice for the present to 
 afi’ord the reader an idea of the intellectual worth of the man who 
 was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment with hard labor, on 
 the charge of fraud brought against him by a young “man of 
 science.” 
 
CHAPTER FIFTH * 
 
 PRODUCTION OF KNOTS IN AN ENDLESS STRING.—FURTHER EXPERIMENTS. 
 MATERIALIZATION OF HANDS. — DISAPPEARANCE AND REAPPEARANCE OF 
 SOLID OBJECTS.—A TABLE VANISHES, AND AFTERWARDS DESCENDS FROM THE 
 CEILING IN FULL LIGHT. 
 
 The establishment ( Constatirung ) of physical facts falls within 
 the domain of the physicist; and if men of such distinguished emi¬ 
 nence as Wilhelm Weber, Fechner, and others, after thorough 
 experimental investigation, publicly attest the reality of such facts, 
 it is evidently nothing but an act of modern presumption for unsci¬ 
 entific people,' at their pleasure, to accept as facts absurd conjec¬ 
 tures concerning the possibility of trickery without more inquiry, 
 and thus to deny the capacity of these men for exact observa¬ 
 tions. 
 
 I have already described in detail the conditions under which 
 the knots (represented in Plate I.) occurred in the string fastened 
 by a seal, in the presence of Mr. Slade, without the string being 
 touched. Every possibility that these knots were in the string 
 already, before the sealing of the ends, and had only been brought to 
 another part of the same by pushing, is hereby definitely excluded. 
 
 It will in the first place interest my readers to learn that this 
 experiment succeeded four months later in London in presence of 
 another medium. Under the title, “Remarkable Physical Mani¬ 
 festations,” Dr. Nichols has published the following in two letters 
 to the Loudon Spiritualist of April 12th and 19th, 1878: — 
 
 AOh., Vol. ii., part 2, p. 1105. 
 
 (79) 
 
80 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL IHIYSICS. 
 
 REMARKABLE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 “It may seem tiresome to you to repeat facts, and cumulate 
 evidence, but this appears to be the only way to convince the skep¬ 
 tical. Then you are to consider that each number of the Spiritu¬ 
 alist falls into the hands of some who have seen no other. So I 
 give you some facts new to me, though they may be familiar to 
 you and most of your readers. 
 
 “Busy at my writing the other day in my study, at about two 
 p.m., the housekeeper came with her eyes ‘round’ with wonder, 
 and begged me to go instantly to the drawing-room over my head. 
 It seemed an urgent case, and I ran up stairs and found every 
 chair but three turned upside down; the large and heavy sofa 
 lying forward in the room, legs upward; and the upright piano¬ 
 forte prone upon the carpet, flat upon its face. 
 
 “The windows are sixteen feet from the ground; no person in 
 the house had visited the room that morning; no one could by any 
 possibility have come in from the street to do this work, and it cer¬ 
 tainly was not done by any of the inmates of the house; at my 
 desk I can hear every footstep in the drawing-room; in a word, it 
 is certain that no visible being had done it. It required two 
 strong men to lift up the pianoforte and restore it to its proper 
 position. The bouleversement seems to have been accomplished 
 while most of the family were at lunch, between one and two 
 o’clock; with them were Mr. W. Eglinton and Mr. A. Colman. 
 Mrs. Nichols was with them at table, and reports that, as they 
 were conversing, loud raps responded, and the heavy table loaded 
 with dishes, when no one touched it, rose up some inches from the 
 floor, and so remained, while she stooped down to see that all its 
 feet were in the air. This is common enough in the presence of 
 mediums, but the very powerful action in the drawing-room, in the 
 light of mid-day, with no person near, seems to me novel and 
 remarkable. 
 
 “I gave you some account, I think, of chairs being ‘threaded’ 
 
MANIFESTATIONS IN A PUYSICIAN’s UOUSE. 
 
 81 
 
 on the arms of persons while they were firmly holding the hands of 
 others. This is as great a wonder as that reported by the German 
 astronomer at Leipsic,— the tying of knots in a cord, the ends of 
 which were sealed together. I have seen the chairs on the arms 
 of seven persons, whose word I could perfectly trust, but I wished 
 to make assurance doubly sure; so at a recent seance I tied the 
 two wrists together with cotton thread. In three seconds the 
 chair was hanging upon the arm of one, and I found the thread 
 unbroken. I then held the hand of Mr. Eglinton as firmly as pos¬ 
 sible in mine, and in an instant the chair, one of our cane bottoms 
 with bent backs, was hanging on my arm. This, beyond all doubt, 
 was matter passing through matter, but whether the wood passed 
 through flesh and bone, or flesh and bone through wood, I have 
 not yet been able to determine. 
 
 “ On Saturday, by special appointment, four of us sat at noon, 
 Eglinton, Colman, Mrs. Nichols, and myself. Supposing there 
 might be writing or drawing, I laid a sheet of marked note-paper 
 and pencil on the table around which we sat. It is a small room, 
 and sitting in a good light we heard a slight noise of something 
 moving, of light raps or knocks in one corner. Looking, we all 
 saw a light cane-bottom chair, about six feet from the table, tilting 
 itself on two legs, rocking backward and forward, tilting back and 
 balancing on its hinder legs, answering our questions with its move¬ 
 ments; and finally, at our request, it walked forward on two of its 
 legs and placed itself at the table, pressed against my knee caress¬ 
 ingly, and behaved in all respects like a chair gifted with sense 
 and locomotion. It was a weird spectacle ; but it was also a very 
 interesting fact, seen for ten or fifteen minutes by four persons, 
 with ou t the possibility of trick or hallucination. I examined the 
 chair carefully, though it was quite needless to do so, for no con¬ 
 ceivable machinery could, under the circumstances, have produced 
 the phenomenon. 
 
 “Then the light was turned off for a minute or so, during which 
 we heard rapid movements of a pencil, and on relighting the gas, 
 we found on the marked sheet of paper the portrait of a deceased 
 
82 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 friend, and a letter of more than a page in the well-known hand¬ 
 writing of a beloved child whose spirit often visits us. I have 
 now from her hand five elaborate drawings and four letters, no one 
 of which occupied two minutes under absolute test conditions. No 
 living artist could make them in from ten to twenty times the time 
 occupied in their production. 
 
 “ Your readers may be glad to know that, on the night of April 
 7th, we had repeated, in my house, in the presence of six persons, 
 including Mr. W. Eglinton and Mr. A. Colman, Professor Zoll- 
 ner’s marvel of tying knots in a cord, the ends of which were tied 
 and sealed together. I have the sealed cord, which I prepared 
 myself, with the knotted ends firmly sealed to my card, on which 
 the fingers of every person present rested while five knots were 
 tied, about a foot apart, in the central portion of the cord. I have 
 no doubt that this splendid manifestation can be repeated at any 
 time under like conditions. 
 
 “ April 12th, 1878.” 
 
 TYING KNOTS IN AN ENDLESS CORD. 
 
 To the Editor of the “ Spiritualist,” April 19 th, 1878 . 
 
 “ Sir,— I am sorry to learn that my account of the repetition in 
 London of the great Leipsic experiment, of tying knots in a cord 
 whose ends were firmly sealed together, was not so accurate as 
 should have been the record of so astounding a phenomenon. 
 
 “ Permit me to say, therefore, that after reading the account by 
 Professor Zollner in the Daily Telegraph, I asked, at the first 
 opportunity, our spirit-friend, ‘ Joey,’ if he could do the same thing 
 here. He said, ‘ We will try.’ 
 
 “ I then cut four yards of common brown twine — such as I use 
 for large book packets—from a fresh ball, examined it carefully, 
 tied the two ends together by a single knot, which included both, 
 then passed each end through a hole in my visiting card, tied a 
 square knot, and firmly scaled this knot to the card, and asked a 
 
KNOT EXPERIMENT WITH ANOTHER MEDIUM. 
 
 83 
 
 gentleman to seal it with his seal ring. On this card I also put 
 my signature and the date. The loop of the string, whose two 
 ends were thus sealed on the card, I again examined, and found it 
 free from knots. 
 
 “ Six persons, including Mr. Eglinton and Mr. Colman, sat 
 round a small table. The sealed card was placed on the centre of 
 the table, and the fingers of each person present placed upon it, 
 while the loop hung down upon the floor. 
 
 “ This position was maintained for about a minute, when raps 
 were heard, and I examined the string. The ends were firmly 
 fastened and sealed as before, and five single knots were tied upon 
 it, about a foot apart — on the single endless string, observe, 
 whose perfect fastening had never left my sight — where they now 
 remain. 
 
 “ It is certain that no mortal man could have tied these knots,— 
 equally certain that all the philosophers and all the ‘ magicians ’ of 
 Europe cannot now unite them under the same conditions. 
 
 “ Here is a fact which can be proven in any court of justice, and 
 for which any conceivable number of dimensions of space cannot 
 account. 
 
 “T. L. Nichols, M.D. 
 
 “32 Fopstone Road, London, S. W.” 
 
 I now pass on to relate, from my numerous successful experi¬ 
 ments from Mr. Slade, during his further presence in Leipsic from 
 4th to 10th May, 1878, those in the first place which represent a 
 modification of the experiments with knots, and which may be 
 regarded as an experimental confirmation of the reality of a fourth 
 dimension of space. 
 
 At his third residence in Leipsic, Mr. Slade had again received 
 the hospitable invitation of my friend Oscar von Hoffmann, and 
 therefore lived in his house during the time from the 2nd to the 
 10th of May. To protect him from the rudeness of the learned 
 and the unlearned public (scientific and unscientific people), as 
 well as of the press, and to prevent a possible repetition here of 
 
84 
 
 EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 Ins expulsion by the police * at the demand of the public, we had 
 taken care, as at his second visit in December of last year, wholly 
 to seclude him from the public. 
 
 As regards the following experiments with Mr. Slade, I describe 
 them in tbe first place for physicists, that is, for scientific men who 
 are competent to understand my other physical investigations and 
 experiments, to which, during the space of twenty years, I have 
 given publicity in scientific journals. Such men alone are able to 
 form an independent judgment, on the ground of my antecedent 
 work, as to bow far confidence should be extended to me as a 
 physical experimentalist. For though the theoretical considera¬ 
 tions— by which the facts of observation so imparted by me dur¬ 
 ing that space have been connected hitherto — deviate in many 
 respects from my own, the facts themselves so observed by me 
 have up to this time received only confirmation in their entirety. 
 As regards such men, also, who on the ground of my labors here¬ 
 tofore are able to form jtheir own independent judgment on my relia¬ 
 bility and credibility, I am relieved from the useless trouble of 
 describing more minutely and circumstantially than is necessary 
 for intellectual and scientific men the conditions under which the 
 following phenomena were observed by me. Suppose, for exam¬ 
 ple, I observed during a physical investigation (as in that con¬ 
 cerning the electric fluid) deviations of the magnetic needle under 
 hitherto unusual conditions. If now a physicist, wishing to bring 
 my observations into contempt, were to suggest that I had perhaps 
 accidentally had a magnetic knife on the table, or had not duly 
 taken into account the daily variations of the earth’s magnetism, 
 such suppositions might be entertained with respect to a student 
 or beginner in the province of physical observations, but I myself 
 should feel them, coming from a scientific colleague, as an insult, 
 and should hold it beneath my dignity as a physicist to reply to 
 them.f 
 
 *That had happened at Vienna.— Tn. 
 
 t The above protest recalls that of Mr. Crookes, “ in referring to a suggestion 
 ttiat, in his researches with Mr. Home, he had possibly allowed the latter to sup¬ 
 ply a board forming an essential part of the apparatus employed.” 
 
KNOTTING TOGETHER OF LEATHER BANDS. 
 
 85 
 
 I assume entirely the same position in describing the following 
 experiments with Mr. Slade, which I conducted partly alone, partly 
 in company with my above-named friend, Oscar von Hoffmann, as 
 in describing the greater number of my former physical investiga¬ 
 tions. 
 
 With respect to the preposterous demand, on entering a new, 
 and tc us wholly unfamiliar, province of physical phenomena, to 
 impose a priori conditions under which these phenomena “ought” 
 to occur, I refer to the strictures contained in the above letter of 
 Slade, and in the previous remarks of Herr Axsakow to Herr 
 Gekeimrath Virchow at Berlin on the first principles of exact 
 investigation. After this necessary preface I pass on to describe 
 some experiments which I had devised with a view to the confir¬ 
 mation of my space-theory. 
 
 The experiments formerly described (17th December, 1878) 
 with the knotted cord suggest two explanations, according as one 
 supposes a space of three or of four dimensions. In the first case 
 there must have been a so-called passage of matter through mat¬ 
 ter; or, in other words, the molecules of which the cord consists 
 must have been separated in certain places, and then, after the other 
 portion of cord had been passed through, again united in the same 
 position as at first. In the second case the manipulation of the 
 flexible cord being, according to my theory, subject to the laws of 
 a four-dimensional region of space, such a separation and re-union 
 of molecules would not be necessary. The cord would, however, 
 certainly undergo during the process an amount of twisting which 
 would be discernible after the knots were tied. I had not paid 
 attention to tills circumstance in December last year, and had not 
 examined the cords with regard to the size and direction of the 
 twist. The following experiment, however, which took place on 
 
 “Is it seriously expected,” says Mr. Crookes, “that I should answer such a 
 question as ‘did Mr. Home furnish the board?’ Will not my critics give me 
 credit for the possession of some amount of common sense? And can they not 
 imagine that obvious precautions, which occur to them as soon as they sit down 
 to pick holes in my experiments, are not unlikely to have also occurred to me 
 in the course of prolonged and patient investigation?”—Tit. 
 
8G 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 tho 8th of May this year, in a sitting of a quarter of an hour’s 
 duration with Mr. Slade in a well-lighted room, furnishes an 
 answer to the above question in favor of the four-dimensional 
 theory without separation of material particles. 
 
 The experiment was as follows: — I took two hands cut out of 
 soft leather, 44 centimetres long, and from 5 to 10 millimetres 
 broad, and fastened the ends of each together, as formerly described 
 with the cords, and sealed them with my own seal. The two 
 leather bands were laid separately on the card-table at which we 
 sat; the seats were placed opposite to one another, and I held my 
 hands over the bands (as shown on Plate II.). Slade sat at my 
 left side, and placed his right hand gently over mine, I being able 
 to feel the leather underneath all the time. Slade asserted that 
 he saw lights emanating from my hands, and could feel a cool wind 
 over them. I felt the latter, but could not see the lights. Pres¬ 
 ently, while I still distinctly felt the cool breeze, and Slade’s hands 
 were not touching mine, but were removed from them about two 
 or three decimeters, I felt a movement of the leather bands under 
 my hands. Then came three raps in the table, and on removing 
 my hands the two leather bands were knotted together. The twist¬ 
 ing of the leather is distinctly seen in Plate II. (copied from a 
 photograph). The time that the bands were under my hands was 
 at most three minutes. A pair of unconnected strips of leather 
 are also represented on the Plate for clearness of apprehension. 
 
 Much pleased, I examined the connected strips of leather for a 
 long time with my friends. I then took a slate myself, and held 
 it with my right hand under the table, in order to repeat the 
 experiment which had. succeeded with the Grand Duke Constan¬ 
 tine of Russia.* While now, as I did so, Slade’s hands, continually 
 visible to me, lay quietly on the table, there appeared suddenly 
 a large hand close in front of me, emerging from under the edge 
 of the table. All the lingers of the hand moved quickly, and I was 
 able to observe them accurately during a space of at least two min- 
 
 * Ante, p. 43. 
 
Plate IT. 
 
 (Copied from a Photograph.) 
 
VISIBLE AND TANGIBLE HANDS. 
 
 89 
 
 utes. The color of the hand was pale and inclined to an olive-green. 
 And now while I continually saw Slade’s hands lying before me 
 on the table, and he himself sat at the table on my left, the above- 
 mentioned hand rose suddenly as quick "as an arrow, still higher, 
 and grasped with a powerful pressure my left upper-arm for over 
 a minute long. As my attention was wholly occupied in the 
 observation of the strange hand, and the grip upon my left upper 
 arm happened so suddenly, forcibly, and unexpectedly, I am not 
 able to say anything concerning the condition of the arm which 
 connected the hand with the edge of the table. When this hand 
 had disappeared,— Slade’s hands lying on the table after as before, 
 ■—I was so violently pinched on my right hand, which during 
 these four minutes was all along holding the above-mentioned slate 
 under the table, that I could not help crying out. With this mani¬ 
 festation the extraordinary sitting closed. 
 
 To complete the account of the phenomena of visible and tangi¬ 
 ble human hands which occurred the year before in presence of 
 my friends and colleagues, Feclmer, W. Weber, and Scheibner, I 
 may mention in addition that on the morning of the 15th Decem¬ 
 ber, 1877, at half-past ten o’clock, while W. Weber and I were 
 again engaged with Slade in the above-mentioned magnetic experi¬ 
 ments, suddenly Weber’s coat was unbuttoned under the table, 
 his gold watch was taken from his waistcoat pocket, and was placed 
 gently in his right hand, as he held it under the table. During 
 this proceeding, which occupied about three minutes, and was 
 described exactly in its particular phases by Weber, Mr. Slade’s 
 hands were, be it understood, before our eyes upon the table, and 
 his legs crossed sideways in such a position that any employment 
 of them was out of the question. The sitting took place in my 
 residence, in the corner room lighted by four large windows, as 
 already described. 
 
 Those who seek to explain the phenomena described here, tad 
 proved also at other places by reliable observers, of visible and 
 tangible human limbs, by suppositions of possible deception by 
 means of gutta-percha bands, and so forth, treat the matter without 
 
90 
 
 TRANSCKNDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 consideration, since they judge of phenomena which they have 
 neither seen nor examined referably to the conditions of their 
 occurrence. That such visible and tangible human limbs can, 
 under suitable circumstances, leave behind visible impressions, as, 
 for instance on flour or sooted paper, will no longer appear sur¬ 
 prising after the last-mentioned facts.* 
 
 Should the foregoing experiments have afforded proof that there 
 are, outside our perceptible world of three dimensions, things fur¬ 
 nished with all the attributes of corporeity which can appear in 
 three-dimensional space and then vanish therefrom, without our 
 being able, from the standpoint of our present space-perception, to 
 answer the questions whence they come and whither they go, then 
 should the following experiment complete this proof, by establish¬ 
 ing the appearance and disappearance of bodies which do, in fact, 
 belong to our three-dimensional world of space. I have already 
 mentioned (p. 56) the disappearance and reappearance of a small 
 cardboard thermometer-case, and also (p. 66) the sudden appear¬ 
 ance of a piece of coal and of wood at a particular place where 
 these bodies had not previously been. Similar and almost more 
 surprising phenomena happened during Slade’s residence at Vienna. 
 Baron von Hellenbacli writes me as follows: — 
 
 “ The disappearance of the book was only superficially treated 
 in my pamphlet,! since therein I only concerned myself with 
 those occurrences which took place beyond the reach of Slade’s 
 limbs, as I wished to meet the thoughtless objection, “ He did it 
 somehow.” The thing happened in the following manner: Slade 
 laid a book and a bit of pencil (at a spot exactly marked) on the 
 slate, which he then conveyed under the surface of the table. The 
 book vanished, and having often been looked for everywhere, fell 
 
 *1 may here call attention to the results obtained in London by one of our 
 countrymen, Herr Christian Reimers, and published in “ Psychische Stu/lien" 
 which results, obtained partly in the presence of Mr. Alfred Russel Wallace, 
 justify the boldest expectations for the future. 
 
 t “ Mr. Slade's Ilexidence in Vienna. An open letter to my friends.” (Anonym.) 
 Vienna. Trinted and published by T. C. Fisher & Co., 1878. Compare also “Indi¬ 
 vidualism in the Light of the. Biology and Philosophy of the Present ,” by Lazar B. 
 Hellenbacli, Vienna, 1878 (Braumaller). 
 
A BOOK VANISHES AND REAPPEARS. 
 
 91 
 
 several times from the ceiling of the room upon the table, between 
 the globes of the three-branch chandelier. Once it struck the 
 chain off the roller by which the chandelier was drawn up. A 
 projection by the hand under the table is altogether impossible, 
 since a projected book cannot describe this curve. Slade’s upper 
 and under arm were visible and quiet, and a projection by the foot 
 would as certainly have been remarked as the rise of the book. 
 The experiment was too often repeated, and our attention was too 
 great. I regard as very important a demonstration on your part 
 of a similar disappearance; for if the seen and felt ascent of the 
 slate at my foot proves an unperceived mechanical agency, and 
 the production of knots in the endless cord a four-dimensional 
 agency, so would the entrance and exit of an object prove another 
 space-dimension, as it were in our immediate neighborhood, in so 
 stupendous a manner that it could not be for a moment doubted in 
 my opinion, which is that our illusion of consciousness is nothing 
 but a three-dimensional intuition of a more-dimensional world, 
 brought about by a strange organism. Should your endeavors be 
 similarly successful, I beg you kindly to inform me. 
 
 B. IIellenbacu.” 
 
 I had received the above letter at eight in the morning of the 
 5th of May. Without having mentioned it to Slade or to Herr 
 0. von Hoffmann, I expressed the wish, at the sitting which took 
 place with Mr. Slade at eleven o’clock, to have the opportunity of 
 observing again, as in December of the year before, the disappear¬ 
 ance and reappearance of a material body in some very striking 
 manner. Ready at once for the experiment, Slade requested Herr 
 von Hoffman to give him a book; the latter thereupon took from 
 the small bookshelf at the wall a book printed and bound in octavo. 
 Slade laid this upon a slate, held the same partly under the 
 edge of the table, and immediately withdrew the slate again with¬ 
 out the book. We searched the card-table carefully everywhere, 
 outside and inside. So also we searched the small room, but all in 
 vain; the book had vanished. After about live minutes we again 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL niYSICS. 
 
 OH 
 
 took our places at the table for the purpose of further observations, 
 Slade opposite me, Yon Hoffmann between us on my left. We had 
 scarcely sat down when the book fell from the ceiling of the room 
 on to the table, striking my right ear with some violence in its 
 descent. The direction in which it came down from above seemed 
 from this to have been an oblique one, proceeding from a point 
 above and behind my back. Slade, during this occurrence, was 
 sitting in front of me, and keeping both his hands quietly on the 
 table. He asserted shortly before, as usual on occasions of simi¬ 
 lar physical phenomena, that ho saw lights hovering in the air or 
 attached to bodies, whereof, however, neither my friend nor myself 
 were ever able to perceive anything. 
 
 In the sitting of the following day, the 6th May, at a quarter- 
 past eleven, by bright sunshine, I was to be witness, quite unex¬ 
 pectedly and unpreparedly, of a yet far more magnificent phe¬ 
 nomena of this kind. 
 
 I had, as usual, taken my place with Slade at the card-table. 
 Opposite to me stood, as was often the case in other experiments, 
 a. small round table near the card-table, exactly in the position 
 shown in the photograph (taken from nature) upon Plate III. [see 
 page 103 , illustrating the further experiments to be described 
 below. The height of the round table is 77 centimetres, diameter 
 of the surface 46 centimetres, the material birchen-wood, and the 
 weight of the whole table 4 - 5 kilogrammes. About a minute 
 might have passed after Slade and I had sat down and laid our 
 hands joined together on the table when the round table was set 
 in slow oscillations, which we could both clearly perceive in the 
 top of the round table rising above the card-table, while its lower 
 part was concealed from view by the top of the card-table. 
 
 The motions very soon became greater, and the whole table 
 approaching the card-table laid itself under the latter, with its 
 three feet turned towards me. Neither I nor, as it seemed, Mr. 
 Slade, knew how the phenomenon would further develop,* since 
 
 *The movement of heavy objects without any possible contact by Slade was 
 so common that we looked on the movement of the table as only the beginning 
 of a further succession of phenomena. 
 
A TABLE VANISHES AND REArPEARS. 
 
 93 
 
 during the space of a minute which now elapsed nothing whatever 
 occurred. Slade was about to take slate and pencil to ask his 
 “ spirits ” whether we had anything still to expect, when I wished 
 to take a nearer view of the position of the round table lying, as I 
 supposed, under the card-table. To my and Slade’s great astonish¬ 
 ment we found the space beneath the card-table completely empty, 
 nor were we able to find in all the rest of the room that table which 
 only a minute before was present to our senses. In the expecta¬ 
 tion of its reappearance we sat again at the card-table, Slade close 
 to me, at the same angle of the table opposite that near which the 
 round table had stood before. We might have sat about five or 
 six minutes, in intense expectation of what should come, when sud¬ 
 denly Slade again asserted that he saw lights in the air. Although 
 I, as usual, could perceive nothing whatever of the kind, I yet fol¬ 
 lowed involuntarily with my gaze the directions to which Slade 
 turned his head, during all which time our hands remained con¬ 
 stantly on the table, linked together (iiber-einander liegend) ■ 
 under the table, my left leg was almost continually touching 
 Slade’s right in its whole extent, which was quite without design, 
 and owing to our proximity at the same comer of the table. Look¬ 
 ing up in the air eagerly and astonished, in different directions, 
 Slade asked me if I did not perceive the great lights. I answered 
 decidedly in the negative; but as I turned my head, following 
 Slade’s gaze up to the ceiling of the room behind my back, I sud¬ 
 denly observed, at a height of about five feet, the hitherto invisi¬ 
 ble table with its legs turned upwards very quickly floating down 
 in the air upon the top of the card-table. Although we involun¬ 
 tarily drew back our heads sideways, Slade to the left and I to the 
 right, to avoid injury from the falling table, yet we were both, 
 before the round table had laid itself down on the top of the card 
 table, so violently struck on the side of the head, that I felt the 
 pain on the left of mine fully four hours after this occurrence, 
 which took place at about half-past eleven. 
 
CHAPTER SIXTH. 
 
 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS.—PROJECTED EXPERIMENTS FOR PROOF OF 
 THE FOURTH DIMENSION.—THE UNEXPECTED IN NATURE AND LIFE.—SCHO¬ 
 PENHAUER’S “TRANSCENDENT FATE.” 
 
 The foregoing facts of observation are thus empirically at vari¬ 
 ance with the dogma of the unchangeableness of the quantity of 
 matter in our three-dimensional world.* Since, however, that 
 dogma of the constancy of substance cannot derive its dogmatic 
 character from experience, but merely from the principles of our 
 reason , which are inherent in our mind just as in the a priori law 
 of causality, that is to say, before all experience, there is thus 
 imposed on our reason the task of freeing our understanding from 
 the above contradiction between the facts of observation and a 
 principle of our reason. I have already shown in detail, in the 
 first volume of these treatises, how very easily this problem is 
 solved by the acceptance of a fourth dimension of space. The 
 table which disappeared during six minutes must nevertheless have 
 existed somewhere, and the quantity of the substance constituting 
 it must, according to the above principle of reason, have remained 
 absolutely constant. If, however, we can only answer the ques¬ 
 tion “where?” by assigning a place,— and it has been empirically 
 shown that this "place cannot lie in the region of space of three 
 dimensions perceptible to us,—-it follows of necessity that the 
 answering of the question “where?” hitherto so easy to us, must 
 
 *Not altogether, as it might be suggested that the vanished objects only 
 assumed a gaseous form,— the quantity of matter thus remaining the same, as in 
 the case of combustion.— Tr. 
 
 ( 94 ) 
 
THEORETICAL. 
 
 95 
 
 be an incomplete answer, and therefore one both requiring and 
 capable of amplification. How by this means also the conception 
 of juxtaposition obtains an extension by help of the fourth dimen¬ 
 sion of absolute space I have already above explained at length in 
 a note,* to which I may refer my readers. 
 
 So also I have already shown in the treatise “ On Action at a 
 Distance,” vol. i., p. 269, that the so fruitful “Axiom of the Con¬ 
 servation of Energy” retains all its validity for space of four 
 dimensions, while at another place I remarked, “ If one regards 
 the distance of two atoms and the intensity of their interaction, in 
 our three-dimensional space, as projections of similar magnitudes 
 from a space of four dimensions, a change would be effected in the 
 magnitudes, form, and supply of kinetic energy of the three-dimen¬ 
 sional projection (the material body) simply through alterations 
 in the relative positions of the four-dimensional object, without 
 these properties in the latter undergoing any change. The axiom 
 oj the conservation of a constant amount of energy thus retains its 
 full validity for space of four dimensions, nay, on closer consid¬ 
 eration, it is even the premise on which rests the correspondence 
 of the extended conceptions of space to physical occurrences." * 
 To the considerations offered in the early part of this treatise 
 concerning the “actual” or “real” lying at the ground of space, 
 I may here add the following words of liieinann : f — 
 
 “ The question of the validity of the postulates of geometry in 
 the infinitely little is connected with the question of the inner prin¬ 
 ciples of the mass-relations of space. In this question, which can 
 well be accounted as still belonging to the doctrine of space, the 
 above observation has the application that in a discrete diversity 
 (Mannigfaltigkeit ) the principle of mass-relations is already con¬ 
 tained in the conception of this diversity, whereas, in a continuous 
 diversity, this principle must come to it from without ganders 
 welter kinzukommen muss). Thus, either the reality underlying 
 
 *Ante, p. 69. 
 
 tRiemann’s collected mathematical and posthumous scientific works, edited, 
 With the assistance of R. Dedekind, by H. Weber, Leipsic : (Teubner), 1876. 
 
9G 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 space must form a discrete diversity or the principle of mass-rela¬ 
 tions must bo sought without (ausserhalb*) in binding forces 
 acting thereon ( indarauf wirkenden hindenden Kraften). 
 
 “ Tlio decision of these questions can only be found by tran¬ 
 scending the hitherto empirical conception of phenomena of which 
 Newton established the principle, and, impelled by facts which 
 cannot be explained by it, gradually reforming this conception. 
 Such researches, which, like the present, transcend common con¬ 
 ceptions, can only serve to prevent this work being hindered by 
 the narrowness of ideas and advance in knowledge of the con¬ 
 nection of things being impeded by traditional prejudices. This 
 carries us over into the province of another science, that of Physics, 
 which is not permitted by the nature of our present subject.” 
 
 These words of Riemann prove incontrovertibly that he, as one 
 of those acute founders of the theory of an extended space-concep¬ 
 tion, recognized as thoroughly necessary the introduction ( Hinzu - 
 zieliung ) of physical elements ( Momente ), that is, derived from 
 observed facts, t 
 
 I now proceed to the description of further successful experi¬ 
 ments in the presence of Mr. Slade, which will partly confirm those 
 already mentioned, partly establish them more thoroughly by new 
 modifications. 
 
 In order to exclude as far as possible the dependence of to us 
 inexplicable phenomena upon human testimony, I desired to devise 
 
 •The word “ ausserhalb ” in relation to the whole circuit of the three-dimen¬ 
 sional region of space given perceptibly to us has only one sense, if for the cen¬ 
 tre of those “ binding forces, acting thereon ” is presupposed a fourth dimension. 
 
 t The recently introduced “ conception of solidity ” or “ rigidity ” (der Fatig- 
 kf.it oder Sturrheit) is only another expression for this physical side of the prob¬ 
 lem. For though the geometrical conception of solidity can bo defined as the 
 unchangeableness of the distance of the points of a system of points, yet the 
 intuition underlying this “conception” is only derived from experience, just 
 as the conception of motion is abstracted from experience. Compare Helmholtz 
 “On the Origin and Meaning of Geometrical Axioms” (Popular Scientific 
 E-.mu/s, November 3rd, 187C). So Wilhelm Fiedler, “ Geometry and Geomechan¬ 
 ics,” in the “ Fourth Yearly Journal of the Society of Natural Philosophy at 
 Zurich,” 21st yearly vol., 1876, same number “ On Symmetry ” by Fiedler, num¬ 
 ber 2, p. 18G et seg. 
 
PROJECTED EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 97 
 
 experiments such that the permanent effect, as final result, should 
 he completely unexplainable according to the conceptions we have 
 hitherto entertained of the laws of nature. With this object, I 
 had arranged the following experiment: — 
 
 1. Two wooden rings, one of oak, the other of alderwood, were 
 each turned from one piece.* The outer diameter of the rings was 
 105 millimetres, the inner 74 millimetres. Could these two rings 
 he interlinked without solution of continuity, the test would be 
 additionally convincing by close microscopic examination of the 
 unbroken continuity of the fibre. Two different kinds of wood 
 being chosen, the possibility of cutting both rings from the same 
 piece is likewise excluded. Two such interlinked rings would con¬ 
 sequently in themselves represent a “miracle,” that is, a phenome¬ 
 non which our conceptions heretofore of physical and organic pro¬ 
 cesses would be absolutely incompetent to explain. 
 
 2. Since among products of nature, the disposition of whose 
 parts is according to a particular direction, as with snail-shells 
 twisted right or left, this disposition can be reversed by a four- 
 dimensional twisting of the object, I had provided myself with a 
 large number of such shells, of different species, and at least two 
 of each kind. 
 
 3. From a dried gut, such as is used in twine-factories, a band 
 without ends {in sick geschlussenes ) was cut, of a breadth of from 
 four to five millimetres, and a circuit of 400 millimetres. Should 
 a knot be tied in this baud, close microscopic examination would 
 also reveal whether the connection of the parts of this strip had 
 been severed or not. 
 
 4. In order to demonstrate yet more evidently the so-called 
 penetration of matter, which comes in question in all these experi¬ 
 ments, I had a glass ball, enclosed on all sides, of 40 millimetres 
 diameter, blown by the glass-manufacturer, Herr Gotze, of this 
 
 ♦Both these rings I received in February of this year, through the kindness of 
 Ilcrr G. Do Liagre. I tako this opportunity publicly to thank this gentleman, 
 as also the frequently-mentioned Herr Oscar von Hodmann, for their energetic 
 assistance in the experiments with Mr. Slade. 
 
08 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 place. From a paraffin caudle I liad then cut off with a sharp 
 knife a piece of such a length that it just fell short of that of the 
 interior of the ball. I asked Herr Gotze if he thought it possible 
 to blow a glass ball of the prescribed size round such a piece of 
 paraffin provided with sharp edges, without melting the paraffin, 
 at least at the edges. He replied most decidedly in the negative; 
 and, even independently of his authority, I believe I do not risk 
 contradiction in asserting that such a piece of paraffin with sharp 
 un molten edges in the interior of the said glass ball would be, 
 according to our heretofore limited conception of the laws of nature, 
 an inexplicable miracle. 
 
 The foregoing preparations sufficiently show what sort of phe¬ 
 nomena I wished to see in Slade’s presence. Since, however, in 
 the course of more than thirty sittings with Mr. Slade, I had come 
 to the conviction that he did not himself “ do” the mysterious things 
 which happeued near him, I could not rationally demand of him 
 that he should “ show ” me all the above-mentioned experiments. 
 Far more unreasonable still must I have hence considered the 
 desire on my part to impose “conditions” on Mr. Slade, under 
 which lie should effect these to himself inexplicable proceedings. 
 I preferred therefore to comport myself towards Mr. Slade and the 
 phenomena occurring in his presence just as I did towards nature 
 in my physical discoveries up to that time, or to the previously 
 anticipated fall of meteors, which happened when our earth 
 crossed the path of Biela’s comet, on the 27th November, 1872. I 
 accordingly remained patient, and in a passive, receptive disposi¬ 
 tion for the things which should come, and left it confidently to 
 nature of her own free-will to reveal to me as much of her secrets 
 as seemed fitting to her without blinding my intellectual eyes by 
 the splendor of her majesty, mindful always of Goethe’s words: —• 
 
 “ Geheimnissvoll aus lichtcn Tag 
 Lasst sick Nutur des Schleiers nicht berauben, 
 
 Und was sie deinem Geist nicht offenbaren mag. 
 
 Das Zwi ,gst da ilir nicht ab mit Ilebeln und mit Schrauben.” * 
 
 * Faust alone, after Wagner had left him with the words •" Zicar weiss ich vicl. 
 
SCHOPENHAUER ON FATE. 
 
 99 
 
 “Inscrutable in noon-day’s blaze, 
 
 Nature lets no one tear the veil away; 
 
 And what herself she does not choose 
 Unasked before your soul to lay, 
 
 You shall not wrest from her by levers or by screws.” 
 
 — Theodore, Martin’s translation 
 
 And in fact I know no better comparison whereby to indicate 
 the character of the constantly unexpected occurrences in their 
 succession and ingenious connection than the manner in which 
 men are led by fate. Seldom happens just that which we, accord¬ 
 ing to the measure of our limited understanding, wish; but if, 
 looking back on the course of some years, we regard what has actu¬ 
 ally come to pass, we recognize gratefully the intellectual superi¬ 
 ority of that Hand which, according to a sensible plan, conducts 
 our fates to the true welfare of our moral nature, aud shapes our 
 life dramatically to a harmonic whole. Volentern fata ducunt , 
 nolentem trahunt, says an old proverb, often quoted by Schopen¬ 
 hauer. That such a conception of the significance, and of the inner 
 intellectual connection of our fate, does not merely spring from an 
 idealism colored by optimism, but powerfully imposes itself even on 
 a pessimist with sufficiently high powers of understanding, we have 
 the most striking proof in Schopenhauer’s treatise, “ On Apparent 
 Design in the Fate of the Individual.” ( Uber die anscheinendc 
 Absichliclikeit im Schicksale des Einzelnen). He says: — * 
 
 dock mocht ich alien uissm ” (much, it is true, I know: yet would know all). In 
 the monologue that Follows, Faust expresses his sentiments upon that “Famu¬ 
 lus,” and doubtless later “professors,” in these words: — 
 
 *• Wie nur dem Kopf nicht a lie IJoffnung sc/noindet , 
 
 Der itnmer/orl an schalem Zenge l'debt ; 
 
 Mil gier’ger Hand nach Schdtzen grabt, 
 
 Und froh ist , teen a er Ilegenicurmer findet." 
 
 “ Strange that all hope has not long since been blighted, 
 
 In one content on such mere chaff to feed; 
 
 Who digs for treasure with a miser’s greed, 
 
 And if he finds a muck-worm is delighted.” 
 
 — Theodore Martin's translation. 
 
 •Parerga and I’aralipomena, vol. i., pp. 218, 219. 
 
100 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 “ At all events, however, the perception, or rather the opinion, 
 that this necessity of all that happens is no blind necessity, thus 
 the belief in an evolution of the events of life not less methodical 
 than necessary, is a fatalism of a higher kind, though not so easily 
 demonstrable, and one which perhaps occurs to every one, sooner 
 or later, at one time or another, and is held by him, for a time, or 
 ever after, according to his mode of thinking. We might name it 
 transcendent fatalism , to distinguish it from the common and 
 demonstrable fatalism. . . . Thus, in regard to particular individual 
 fate, grew up in many that transcendent fatalism which the attent¬ 
 ive consideration of his own life, after its thread has been spun to 
 a considerable length, suggests, perhaps, to every one once; and 
 which has not only much that is consolatory but it may be also 
 much that is true; and therefore has it at all times been affirmed, 
 even as dogma. Neither our conduct nor our career is our work; 
 but that, indeed, which nobody supposes to be so — our nature and 
 existence (unser JVesen und Dasein). For on the foundation of 
 these, and of the circumstances and external events occurring in 
 the strictest causal connection, our actions and whole career pro¬ 
 ceed with complete necessity. Already at a man’s birth, there¬ 
 fore, is his whole career irrevocably determined even in its details, 
 so that a somnambule in high power could predict it exactly. We 
 should keep this great and certain truth in view in the considera¬ 
 tion and judgment of our career, our acts and sufferings.” 
 
CHAPTER SEVENTH. 
 
 VARIOUS INSTANCES OF THE SO-CALLED PASSAGE OF MATTER THROUGH 
 MATTER. 
 
 After this digression I now go on to the description of those 
 physical modifications which have actually been effected in some of 
 the above objects prepared by me, without their having been 
 touched at all by Slade. 
 
 On the 3rd of May of this year at half-past eight in the evening, 
 during a sitting in which, besides myself, Herr O. von Hoffmann 
 took part., there lay on the table with other objects two of the 
 above-mentioned snail-shells. I had bought both of them on the 
 morning of the same day from an Italian shell-dealer, who offered 
 his wares for sale at Leipsic fair. The smaller shell belonged to 
 a species commonly found here; the larger to a species which, 
 according to the dealer, is found on the shore of the Mediterra¬ 
 nean Sea; he wrote down the name of it— Capo Turbus (Lat. 
 Caput turbo ) — at my desire. The nearly circular aperture of 
 this shell had a diameter of about 43 millimetres, while the smaller 
 one measured only about 32 millimetres in its greatest extent. On 
 this evening I had, without definite design, so capped the smaller 
 shell with the larger that the latter, lying with its opening next 
 the surface of the table, completely hid the former. This had hap¬ 
 pened during a sitting in which wholly different manifestations 
 occurred. When, now, Slade held a slate* under the edge of the 
 
 •In order to deprive the suggestion that Mr. Slade writes himself on the slalo, 
 by means of a bit of pencil inserted under the finger-nails, of every rational 
 
 (lOl) 
 
102 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 table in tbe usual way to get writing on it, something clattered 
 suddenly on the slate, as if a hard body had fallen on it. When 
 immediately afterwards the slate was taken out for examination, 
 there lay upon it the smaller shell which a minute before I had 
 capped with the larger, as above mentioned. Since both shells 
 had lain before almost exactly in' the middle of the table, untouched 
 and constantly watched by me, here was, therefore, the often 
 observed phenomenon of the so-called penetration of matter con¬ 
 firmed by a surprising and quite unexpected physical fact. Reserv¬ 
 ing the account of numerous other phenomena of this kind to the 
 third volume of my Scientific Treatises* I yet mention here one 
 very remarkable circumstance. Immediately after Mr. Slade 
 drew the slate from under the table with the smaller shell on it. I 
 seized the shell in order closely to examine it for any changes that 
 might have happened in it. I was nearly letting it drop, so very 
 hot had it become. I handed it at once to my friend, and he con¬ 
 firmed the fact of its remarkably high temperature. This fact is, I 
 believe, of physical importance with regard to one circumstance in 
 the following experiments. 
 
 On the 9th of May, at seven o’clock in the evening, I was alone 
 with Slade in our usual sitting-room. A fresh wind having blown 
 all the afternoon, the sky was remarkably clear, and the room, 
 which has a westerly aspect, was brilliantly lighted by the setting 
 sun. The two wooden rings and the above-mentioned (p. 97) 
 entire bladder band were strung on to a piece of catgut one milli¬ 
 metre in thickness, and 105 metre in length. The two ends of 
 the catgut were tied together by myself in a knot, and then, as for¬ 
 merly in the case of the string, secured with my own seal by 
 myself. Plate III. represents the condition of things at the begin¬ 
 ning of the sitting; Plate IV., at its conclusion. 
 
 foundation, I had provided myself, from the stationery establishment of Mylius 
 at this place, with half a dozen slates having a length of 31 centimetres and a 
 breadth of 15 centimetres (with the fabric mark, A. W. Faber, no. 39). With a 
 slate so much longer than usual, it was impossible that Mr. Slade could write 
 with his lingers, while holding the slate, over its whole surface. 
 
 * Post. 
 
(Copied from a Photograph .) 
 
( Confer? fr nnc» 
 

Platk V. 
 
 (Copied from a Photograph.) 
 
AN UNEXPECTED PHENOMENON. 
 
 109 * 
 
 When Slade and I were seated at the table in the usual niau- 
 ner, I placed my two hands over the upper end of the sealed cat¬ 
 gut, as shown in the plate, photographed from life. The small 
 round table, already referred to, was placed shortly after our entry 
 into the room in the position shown in the picture. * 
 
 After a few minutes had elapsed, and Slade had asserted, as 
 usual during physical manifestations, that he saw lights, a slight 
 smell of burning was apparent in the room,— it seemed to come 
 from under the table, and somewhat recalled the smell of sulphu¬ 
 ric acid. Shortly afterwards we heard a rattling sound at the 
 small round table opposite, as of pieces of wood knocking together. 
 When I asked whether we should close the sitting, the rattling was 
 repeated three times consecutively. We then left our seats, in 
 order that we might ascertain the cause of the rattling at the round 
 table. To our great astonishment we found the two wooden rings, 
 which about six minutes previously were strung on the catgut, in 
 complete preservation, encircling the leg of the small table. The 
 catgut was tied in two loose knots, through which the endless blad¬ 
 der band was hanging uninjured , as is seen in Plate IY. (See 
 Plate X., Appendix D.) 
 
 Immediately after the sitting, astonished and highly delighted 
 at such a wealth of permanent results, I called my friend and his 
 wife into the sitting-room. Slade fell into one of his usual trances, 
 and informed us that the invisible beings surrounding him had 
 endeavored, according to my wish, to tie some knots in the endless 
 band, but had been obliged to abandon their intention as the band 
 was in danger of “melting” during the operation under the great 
 increase of temperature, and that we should perceive this by the 
 whiteness of a spot on the band. Having taken the band into my 
 own hands immediately after the sitting, and held it up to the 
 
 »It is scarcely necessary to remark that the photographs were taken not dur¬ 
 ing, but some days after, the sittings. The two tables are those used in the sit¬ 
 tings, but the sealed catgut, with the two wooden rings and the strip of bladder, 
 were afterwards prepared to show the condition of these objects before the sit¬ 
 ting, and are as far as possible exactly copied from the originals shown on I’lato 
 Ill. 
 
110 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 moment of Slade’s communication, I felt great interest in testing 
 the correctness of this assertion. There was, in fact, a white spot 
 as indicated, and when we took another piece of exactly the same 
 material and held it over a lighted candle, the effect of the increased 
 temperature was to produce precisely such another white spot. 
 This fact, in connection with the burning smell perceived during 
 the sitting, as well as the increase in temperature in a former 
 experiment (related above), will be worth bearing in mind in fur¬ 
 ther experiments with four-dimensional movements of bodies. 
 
 In fact, if, according to the above-cited alternative of Riemann, 
 “ the reality underlying space must be sought in binding forces 
 acting thereon,” so could such increase of temperature be produced 
 in like manner as in the motions of conducting bodies in the mag¬ 
 netic held. For suppose we knew nothing of the magnetic induc¬ 
 tion discovered by Faraday, and were observing in a space lying 
 between the poles of an electro-magnet, not otherwise perceptible 
 to us, the increase in temperature of quickly-moved conducting 
 bodies would appear to us just as wonderful and incomprehensible 
 as the heat produced in mundane bodies in the above instances by 
 four dimensional changes of place. 
 
 Doubtless, a highly-developed understanding which, from meta¬ 
 physical principles, that is, from principles derived from reason, 
 had recognized the necessity and universal significance of Weber’s 
 law for every interaction of spatially separated bodies would have 
 inferred the existence of Faraday’s magnetic induction a priori; 
 he would therefore regard the heating of conducting bodies on 
 their motion only as an empirical confirmation of his a priori 
 deductions, and thus would have inferred the real existence of 
 such an electro-magnet, even if his mortal eye had never seen it, 
 and his mortal body had never touched it. 
 
 From the foregoing it will be seen that my prepared experi¬ 
 ments did not succeed in the manner expected by me. For exam¬ 
 ple, the two wooden rings were not linked together, but instead, 
 were transferred within five minutes from the sealed catgut to the 
 leg of the round birchen table. Since the seal was not loosened, 
 
FAILURES AN ARGUMENT AGAINST TRICKERY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 and the top of the table was not at any time removed,— it is still 
 tightly fastened,— it follows, from the standpoint of our present 
 conception of space, that each of the two wooden rings penetrated 
 first the catgut, and then the birch wood of the leg of the table. 
 If, however, I ask whether, in the eyes of a skeptic, the experiment 
 desired by me or that which actually succeeded is most fitted to 
 make a great and convincing impression, on closer consideration 
 every one will decide in favor of the latter. For the demonstrat¬ 
 ive force of the interlinked rings would rest merely on the credi¬ 
 bility of the botanically-edticated inicroscopist, who must have been 
 my witness (as the Imperial Court conjurer, Bellachini, was for 
 Mr. Slade) that the natural conformation of the rings had never 
 been disturbed. How wholly useless, however, such testimonies 
 are at present, when, according to Goethe’s expression, “incredu¬ 
 lity has become like an inverted superstition for the delusion of 
 our time,” we have seen in the sort of criticism which Bellachini’s 
 testimony has undergone at the hands of the Berlin literati.* The 
 question will moreover be asked, why just here in Leipsic the experi¬ 
 ments with Mr. Slade have been crowned with such splendid suc¬ 
 cess, and yet the knot experiment, for example, has not once suc¬ 
 ceeded in Russia, notwithstanding so many wishes. If it is con¬ 
 sidered how great an interest Mr. Slade must have in seeing so 
 simple and striking an experiment everywhere and always success¬ 
 ful, every rightly judging and unprejudiced person must see just 
 in this very circumstance the most striking proof that Mr. Slade is 
 no trickster who by clever manipulations makes these knots him¬ 
 self. For such an one would evidently be at the trouble so to 
 increase his expertness, by frequent repetition of the experiment, 
 as to be able to rely with certainty on his art to deceive other “ men 
 of science.” That, nevertheless, this obvious consideration has not 
 suggested itself, the above-mentioned failure being regarded, on 
 the contrary, as just the proof that Mr. Slade has only deceived us 
 at Leipsic, which he could not do with the higher intelligence of 
 
 •Merc contemptuous abuse —Professor Zollner gives the articles at length in 
 an earlier part of his volume.—Tu. 
 
112 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS 
 
 the liussian learned, is shown by the following words of a scien¬ 
 tific friend from Russia, to whom I had sent my “Scientific Treat¬ 
 
 ises. 
 
 -“ February 22d, 1878. 
 
 “ Perhaps the following fact may open your eyes. Two days 
 ago, iu consequence of your letter and in dependence on it, two 
 scientific friends visited Mr. Slade, and requested him to undertake 
 in their presence the strikiug operation of the four knots. Mr. 
 Slade’s answer was, ‘This operation has only succeeded twice (in 
 Leipsic?); at present my medium is not strong enough for it.’ 
 After this can you look upon that operation as an actual proof of 
 the existence of the fourth dimension'? ” 
 
 It has further been asked, why the communications which are 
 written for Mr. Slade on his slates, as is supposed by invisible 
 spirits, are for the most part so commonplace, and so completely 
 within the compass of human knowledge; high spirits must yet 
 necessarily write with more genius, and also spell properly. A 
 private teacher of philosophy at Berlin having made this objection 
 to me personally, on his visit to Leipsic, I observed to him any 
 communication transcending the present horizon of our understand¬ 
 ing must necessarily appear to us absurd and incomprehensible, 
 and I quoted the following words of Lichtenberg: — * “If an 
 angel were to discourse to us of his philosophy, I believe that 
 many propositions would sound to us like ‘ 2 and 2 make 13.’ ” Far 
 from understanding me, that young philosopher asked me quite 
 seriously, and with an expression of the highest curiosity, whether 
 such propositions, then, ever appeared on Mr. Slade’s slates to 
 attest their angelic origin. Completely unprepared for such a 
 naive question, I was silent, and looked with some astonishment at 
 my young philosopher, who had even already published a book ou 
 the now theory of space. Without replying, I thought, “ Ouly 
 
 # Miscellaneous Writings vol. i., p. 105. 
 
A NAIVE MISCONCEPTION. 
 
 113 
 
 wait; soon thou also wilt be at rest” (“ Warte nur, balde ruhest 
 auch du”), as regular professor of philosophy in the bosom of 
 some famous German university, and then will it be with thy stu¬ 
 dents just as with us “if an angel had discoursed to us of his phi¬ 
 losophy;” for Lichtenberg says, “We live in a world where one 
 fool makes many fools, but one wise man only a few wise men.” * 
 
 The fact that, just here in Leipsic, experiments devised from 
 the standpoint of a definite theory have been so surprisingly suc¬ 
 cessful in the presence of Mr. Slade, I regard as one of the most 
 striking proofs of the great intelligence of the invisible beings sur¬ 
 rounding him. For if, without appearing presumptuous, I may 
 include myself in that class of intelligent beings in which indeed all 
 my fellow-men also number themselves, by the name of their spe¬ 
 cies, “ homo sapiens ,” yet would I make more precise communica¬ 
 tions and explanations concerning my physical observations only to 
 such men as I hold to be sufficiently trained. In a society of 
 social democrats, or in one of German or English scientists, where 
 Mr. Tyndall or Sir W. Thomson finds such a ready sale for their 
 wares,f—-yes, even in the Berlin Academy,—I would refrain from 
 speaking or experimenting on my theory of space. Were I, for 
 example, myself one of those invisible spirits who hover round Mr. 
 Slade, and were my medium invited to a “scientific” examination 
 by the Berlin academicians, it would be easy for me to write on 
 the slate the following proposition, tor instance: “We are the 
 play of our brain-molecules,” or, “ The first life on the earth took 
 its rise in germs enclosed in the cool folds of a meteoric stone.” 
 
 These propositions would evidently have been greeted with joy 
 by Mr. E. du Bois-Eaymond and Herr Helmholtz as striking 
 proofs of the high intelligence of those invisible beings, and would 
 certainly have brought much honor and glory to my medium. As 
 an invisible spirit, I might perhaps have perpetrated in good-humor 
 
 * Thoughts and Maxims, p. 4G. 
 
 t To make this allusion intelligible, it should be mentioned that much of these 
 volumes is devoted to criticism of the atomic and other speculative hypotheses 
 of these scientitic gentlemen.— Tu. 
 
114 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 such a jest with the Berlin academicians, just as Sir W. Thomson 
 did with his “unscientific people” at the Edinburgh meeting of 
 scientists seven years ago.* Since, however, in the higher world 
 of spirits truth is held as something sacred, with which only lower 
 spirits permit themselves to jest, so by such purport of my slate¬ 
 writing should 1 have made myself guilty of an injury to the 
 moral law, which, according to the laws of divine and eternal jus¬ 
 tice, would bring its own punishment. May not possibly similar 
 considerations have prevailed to hinder Slade’s invisible beings 
 from displaying at another place their treasures, which have been 
 shown to us partly here in Leipsie, in such wonderful abundance ? 
 
 Lastly, a circumstance may be briefly noticed which relates not 
 so much to the moral and intellectual qualities of the invisible 
 spirits as to those of the visible mediums, whom those spirits need 
 for their manifestations. It has been alleged as a characteristic of 
 all such mediums that, notwithstanding the most wonderful occur¬ 
 rences in their proximity, they have yet the inclination to deceive, 
 that is, when opportunity offers, to produce the desired effect by 
 such operations as they consciously endeavor to hide from observa¬ 
 tion. Having regard to the great danger of such attempts to the 
 medium, and to the entire disproportion between the effects which 
 can be so produced by an inexperienced trickster and those result¬ 
 ing from genuine mediumship, the question arises whether, when 
 this is the case with a medium who has been proved with certainty 
 to be really such, the same consideration does not apply as with 
 persons suffering under so-called kleptomania. It is asserted 
 that a well-known and highly-gifted lady in distinguished circles of 
 Berlin society suffers from this disease. For example, after mak- 
 
 * When he made the suggestion that the first life on this earth originated in 
 germs enclosed in meteorites. This idea was for a long time discussed quite 
 seriously by, among other scientific authorities, E. du Bois-Raymond, Helmholtz 
 (who claimed priority of it for himself), and by Zollner. But in “Nature" of 
 4th July, 1874, appeared the following, in a criticism of Zdllner’s book," On, the 
 Hatnre of Comet*:" —“The celebrated moss grown fragments from the ruins of 
 another world was only a jest, taken in earnest even by many of our own coun¬ 
 trymen, so wo can scarcely reproach Professor Zollner for falling into the sarno 
 mistake.”—Tit. 
 
PHENOMENA INCONSISTENT WITH TRICKERY. 
 
 115 
 
 ing large purchases at a jeweller’s shop, she will secretly abstract 
 an ornament which, when she has got home, she will return by her 
 servants to the proprietor. Sometimes a similar perversion of the 
 moral instinct appears with women in the state of pregnancy. In 
 all these persons we do not hold the persons in question morally 
 accountable for these proceedings, since the end attained thereby 
 is out of all proportion, considering the innocent and suitable 
 means at hand. Although I never, during my thirty sittings and 
 other intercourse with Mr. Slade, perceived anything of such per¬ 
 verse methods, yet I ask every unprejudiced person whether, if 
 this has been the case elsewhere, the above morally and legally 
 admissible judgment in relation to kleptomaniacs is not here also 
 exculpatory, considering the certainly anomalous physiological con¬ 
 stitution of such mediums. 
 
 Reserving until later on in these treatises the detailed communi¬ 
 cation of further and not less remarkable phenomena which hap¬ 
 pened in Slade’s presence, I will here add an observation to tho 
 accurate description (supra, p. 54) of the physical manifestation 
 which occurred on the occasion of Slade’s first visit, on the 16th 
 November, 1877, in my house and in the presence of my friends 
 and colleagues, Wilhelm Weber and Scheibner.* In all phe¬ 
 nomena in the presence of spiritualistic mediums hitherto observed 
 and published, it is almost exclusively the modus operandi that 
 has led to controversies concerning the explicability of the phe¬ 
 nomena from the standpoint of our conception of nature hereto¬ 
 fore. An argument has been founded on the fact that things 
 occur also in the presence of conjurers in which the modus oper¬ 
 andi of the performer is concealed from us, and thus the causal 
 connection between the muscular movements of the artist and the 
 effect produced by him is so interrupted (apparently) that for the 
 spectator there arises the impression of the inexplicable, and there¬ 
 fore of the miraculous. This argument, however, has for its pre¬ 
 mise the understood and thus unexpressed presupposition that the 
 
 •The sudden rending of tho wooden frame of a bed-screen at least live feet 
 from Slade. 
 
116 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 muscular force requisite for the production of these tricks of the 
 conjurer remains within those limits which according to experience 
 are prescribed to human beings bj the organization of their bodies. 
 
 If, for example, one man alone were to perform a trick requir¬ 
 ing; the strength of two horses, in relation to such a result the 
 above argument would be no longer admissible, since then there 
 would be no conceivable modus operandi able to produce the 
 effect. 
 
 In the case of my bed-screen,— the manifestation mentioned at 
 p. 54,— I am fortunately able to establish such an instance. 
 
 The material of the frame was alder wood; the screen was new, 
 and had been bought by me about a year before at the furniture 
 shop already mentioned (p. 55). The cross-cut of the two pieces 
 of wood which were longitudinally * and simultaneously rent, 
 above and below, amounted to 3 142 cubic centimetres. Accord¬ 
 ing to the experiments of Ettelwein,f the amount of pull requisite 
 for the longitudinal rending of such a piece of alder wood is 4957 
 kilogrammes, or about 99 cwts.; since, therefore, two such rods 
 have been simultaneously rent, for the production of this effect a 
 force of pull ( Zuykraft ) amounting to 298 cwts. must have been 
 used. 
 
 In order, now, to compare the force here given with that exer¬ 
 cised by men, in what follows I quote literally the appended infor¬ 
 mation from Gehler’s Dictionary of Physics, vol. ii., p. 976: — 
 
 “ The muscles of the thigh hold upright the body, whose weight 
 
 ‘That the pull (zug) upon the screen has in fact acted longitudinally only is 
 still evidenced quite independently of the above-mentioned direction of the fibres 
 at the places of division (p. 64). For between the two strong beams for connect¬ 
 ing the movable parts of the frame are two thin, parallel pieces of wood for 
 securing the green, woolen stuff with which the screen is overlaid. These thin 
 pieces are fastened without glue to the vertical supports loosely in holes about 
 25 millimetres deep; if, therefore, instead of a longitudinal pull a rupture (bruch) 
 had takeD place, these two pegs must have been broken away, which was not the 
 case. 
 
 t Handbook of Statics of Solid Bodies, with particular regard in their applica¬ 
 tion to Architecture, vol. iii., Berlin, 1808. A very complete review of earlier 
 experiments is given in the “Edinburgh Encyclopaedia.'' Compare Gehler’s 
 Dictionary of Physics , vol. ii., p. 138. 
 
THE LIMITS OF PHYSICAL HUMAN STRENGTH. 
 
 117 
 
 can be put at 150 lbs.; and since there are muscles which bear 
 300 lbs. in addition, the weight of pressure already amounts in 
 itself to 450 lbs. To cite, however, some examples only of extra¬ 
 ordinary strength, I have myself known a man who without prepa¬ 
 ration and on an accidental occasion carried six Ilhenish cubic feet 
 (Brunswick bushels) of wheat, and upon this a large, strong man, 
 up a flight of about eight steps. This weight of itself can be esti¬ 
 mated at 450 lbs., and, with the added weight of the bearer, in the 
 whole at 600 lbs., resting on the feet and legs of that man. 
 
 “There are, moreover, many instances of a vastly greater exer¬ 
 tion of strength produced by the extensor muscle of the leg, like 
 that mentioned by Desaguliers, of a man who thus tore a rope 
 which sustained a weight of 1800 lbs. = 18 cwts.; he himself 
 and some others having raised 1900 lbs. weight by means of a 
 strap hanging down over the hips, by bringing the somewhat bent 
 leg into a straight direction. 
 
 “I have myself seen a strong man raise 2000 lbs., by placing 
 himself in a bent posture under a board, whereon this weight 
 rested, bringing its point of gravity somewhere near the hips, sup¬ 
 porting the arms on the knees, and then straightening the bent 
 legs. The muscles here applied are, among all in the human 
 body, able to overcome the greatest weights, and so therefore a man 
 raises much heavier burdens in the way described than on the 
 shoulders or with the upper part of the body, if at the same time 
 the backbone has to be straightened. 
 
 “I myself knew a man who raised a cwt. from the chair on to 
 the table on the little finger of the right hand with outstretched 
 arm; and even this instance is by no means the strongest, judging 
 from credible narratives; so I saw the above-mentioned Hercules, 
 who raised the 2000 lbs., grasp with his right hand a perpendicu¬ 
 lar rod of iron, sufficiently secured, and with outstretched arm 
 keep his whole body sustained in a horizontal position for about 
 five seconds wdthout other support.” 
 
 Comparing the above with the force 198 cwts., requisite for the 
 rending of my bed-scrcen, it will be seen that the strength of the 
 
118 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 Hercules referred to would have to be multiplied by nearly 10 
 — applied in a favorable position—to produce the physical mani¬ 
 festation which took place in Slade’s presence without contact. 
 Since “ the force in the movement of weights by carrying on tko 
 flat” is with a horse on the average about five times greater than 
 that of a man,* so for the production of the mechanical effect in 
 question in Slade’s presence about two horses would have been 
 necessary. Even if Slade should be assumed to be a giant, and 
 the faculty ascribed to him of moving so swiftly in space that my 
 friends Wilhelm Weber, Scheibner, and I myself were prevented 
 by tliis rapidity from perceiving how he tore asunder the screen by 
 his own action, yet will rational skeptics be disposed to renounce 
 such an “ explanation ” after the statements just given. 
 
 But in case I should be reproached with having in the above 
 supposition caricatured the so-called “ rational ” attempt at expla¬ 
 nation, I may observe that one of my esteemed colleagues who, on 
 the day after the sitting in question, was himself present with two 
 other of our colleagues at a sitting with Mr. Slade, sought quite 
 seriously to appease his scientific conscience by the supposition that 
 Slade carried dynamite about with him for the purpose of such 
 strong mechanical manifestations, concealing it in some clever 
 fashion in the furniture, and then with equal adroitness exploding 
 it by a match. This explanation reminded me of one by which a 
 peasant in the remote part of Pomerania attempted to account for 
 the motion of a locomotive. To mitigate in some degree the ter¬ 
 ror which the first sight of a self-moving locomotive must naturally 
 excite in rude and ignorant men, the priest of the village in ques¬ 
 tion tried to explain to his parishioners the mechanism and effect of 
 a steam-engine. When now the pastor had conducted his peasants, 
 enlightened by this “popular lecture,”! to the railroad just as the 
 
 *Gehler’s Dictionary of Physics, vol. v., p. 1004. Literally “ There Is therefore 
 in the movement by carrying of weights on the flat, a force, 
 
 Of a man = l according to Coulomb. 
 
 Of a horse = 4.8 according to Hrunacci. 
 
 Of a horse = 6.1 according to Wessermann.” 
 
 1 For reasons given in other parts of Ins treatises, Professor Zollner holds popu¬ 
 lar expositions of scientilic subjects in small esteem.—Tit. 
 
CATALYTIC FORCES. 
 
 119 
 
 first train rushed by, they all shook their heads incredulously, and 
 answered the priest, “ No, no, parson, there are horses hidden 
 inside!” That, in fact, within all bodies electrical forces are 
 potentially latent, which, suddenly released, could exceed the 
 strongest effects of a charge of dynamite, I have already remarked 
 in the first volume as follows: “ It is proved that the electrical 
 energy present in the mass of one milligram* of water (or any 
 other body) would be able, if it could be suddenly set free, to pro¬ 
 duce the amount of motion which the explosion of a charge of 1(57 
 kilogrammes f of powder in the largest of cannons now existing 
 can impart to a shot of 520 kilogrammes.” 
 
 In the presence of spiritualistic mediums there must therefore 
 have been operative so-called catalytic J forces, hitherto concealed 
 
 * = 0.01543 grains. 
 
 11 kilogram = lbs. 2.2046213. 
 
 tThat the ordinary chemical and physical processes require for their explana¬ 
 tion the supposition of such catalytic forces was first recognized by Berzelius, 
 with whom, as is well known, the designation of these forces originated. 
 
 It is certainly a proof of the great acuteness of Wilhelm Weber, and of the 
 universal significance of his law, that already, thirty-two years ago, immediately 
 following the discussion of the analytical expression of his law (compare my 
 Principle* of an Electro-Dynamic Theory of Hatter, vol. i.), he expressed himself 
 concerning the existence of catalytic forces in nature as follows: — 
 
 “Thus this force depends on the quantity of the masses, on their distance, on 
 their relative velocity, and further on that relative acceleration, which comes to 
 them partly in consequence of the persistence of the motion already present in 
 them, partly in consequence of the forces acting upon them from other bodies.” 
 
 “ It seems to follow from thence that direct interaction between two electrical 
 masses depends not exclusively upon these masses themselves and their mutual 
 relations but also in the presence of third bodies. Now it is known that Berze¬ 
 lius has already conjectured such a dependence of direct interaction of two bod¬ 
 ies in the presence of a third, and has designated the force thence resulting by 
 the name of catalytic. Adopting this name, it can therefore be said that even 
 electrical phenomena proceed in part from catalytic forces. 
 
 “ This proof of catalytic forces for electricity is not, however, strictly speaking 
 a consequence of the discovered principles of electricity. It would only then be 
 go, if with these principles was necessarily connected the idea that only the 
 forces by which electrical masses act directly on each other from a distance were 
 thereby determined. It is, however, conceivable that among the forces compre¬ 
 hended under the discovered principles are some exercised mediately by elec¬ 
 trical masses on one another, which must therefore depend, in the first instance, 
 on the interposing medium, and furthermore on all bodies acting on this medium. 
 Such mediately exercised forces, if the interposing medium is withdrawn from 
 our view, may easily pass for catalytic forces, although in fact not so. The con- 
 
1‘20 
 
 TKANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 from us, which were able to release and convert into active force 
 a small part of the potential energy laid up in all bodies. That 
 fifty years ago a physicist could venture with impunity publicly to 
 declare tbo possible existence of “forces, up to the present 
 unknown t6 us,” without on that account having dirt thrown upon 
 him by anonymous writers in (so-called) “respectable journals,”is 
 proved by the following words of the then professor of physics in 
 the University of Heidelberg in the year 1829:* “Not a few, 
 and among them, moreover, advantageously known scholars, have 
 supposed different unknown forces in nature, and especially in 
 man. That there may be such, from whose action many as yet 
 mysterious phenomena of vegetable and animal vital processes 
 could be explicable, certainly cannot be denied generally and a 
 priori ; but, on the other hand, it is quite certain that the greatest 
 circumspection and a skepticism much to be recommended to a 
 physicist should be exercised in this supposition.” 
 
 How far the paternal counsel here given to uncritical physicists 
 is justifiable and decent when applied to men of the scientific emi¬ 
 nence of Wilhelm Weber or Feclmer, particularly from the mouths 
 of literati and pretended ( so-genannten ) “men of science,” pos¬ 
 terity may judge. In the meanwhile, we console ourselves with 
 words addressed by Galileo to Kepler: — 
 
 “ What will’st thou say of the first teachers at the Gymnasium 
 at Padua who, when I offered it to them, would look neither at 
 the planets nor the moon through the telescope ? This sort of 
 men look on philosophy as a book like the iEneid or Odyssy, and 
 believe that truth is to be sought not in the world or nature but 
 only in * comparison of texts.’ How would’st thou have laughed, 
 when at Pisa the first teacher of the Gymnasium there endeavored, 
 
 ception of catalytic forces must at least be essentially modified in speaking of 
 them in such cases. That is to say, under catalytic force must then be understood 
 such a mediately exercised force as can bo defined according to a general rule 
 through a certain knowledge of the bodies to whose influence the interposing 
 medium is subjected, although without knowledge of this medium itself. The 
 discovered fundamental law of electricity gives a general rule for the determina¬ 
 tion of catalytic forces in this sense.” 
 
 *Muncko in Gehler’s Dictionary of Physics , vol. v., p. 1007. 
 
GALILEO ON PERVERSENESS OF LEARNED MEN. 
 
 121 
 
 in the presence of the Grant! Duke, to tear away the new planets 
 from heaven with logical arguments, like magical exorcisms! ” 
 Kepler, however, hereupon answered Galileo: — 
 
 “ Courage! Galileo, and advance. If I see rightly, few of 
 Europe’s eminent mathematicians will fall away from us; so great 
 is the power of truth." 
 
CHAPTER EIGHTH. 
 
 THE PHENOMENA SUITABLE FOB SCIENTIFIC ltESEARCH.— TnEIR REPRODUC¬ 
 TION AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND PLACES.—DR. FRIESE’S AND PROFESSOR WAG¬ 
 NER’S EXPERIMENTS IN CONFIRMATION OF THE AUTHOR’S. 
 
 Before passing on to the description of further experiments and 
 observations which I conducted with Mr. Slade, I may mention 
 that the essential facts (and of these just the most wonderful and 
 incredible) have already been repeated, not in presence of Slade, 
 but among private individuals with medial gifts, under the most 
 stringent conditions. This circumstance disposes first of the argu¬ 
 ment that Mr. Slade is a swindler and impostor merely on the 
 ground that as a “professional” medium lie makes a “business” 
 of his powers like any other conjurer; and secondly it diverts spir¬ 
 itistic phenomena of the exceptional character which might seem 
 to unfit them for becoming objects of scientific research. For the 
 characteristic of natural phenomena is that their existence can be 
 confirmed at different places and times. Tlius is proof afforded 
 that there are general conditions ( no matter whether known or 
 unknown to us, or whether we can provide them or not at pleas¬ 
 ure) upon which these phenomena depend. It is in the discovery 
 and establishment of these conditions under which natural phe¬ 
 nomena occur that the task of the scientific observer and experi¬ 
 menter consists. 
 
 The method applied by me for demonstrating the appearance 
 and disappearance of human limbs by means of sooted paper has 
 
 Wise Abli., vol. iii. (Transcendentale J’hysit), p. 215. 
 
EXPERIMENTS WITH PRIVATE MEDIUMS. 
 
 1-23 
 
 proved particularly successful. Paper so treated is like a photo¬ 
 graphic camera obscura which can be placed unobserved and well 
 guarded in the neighborhood of the medium, so that deception 
 becomes a physical impossibility. In this way Dr. liobert Friese 
 of Breslau, sitting with a family of that place, a lady with medi- 
 umistic powers being present, obtained the impression of a hand 
 upon sooted paper fixed to a slate, which was placed on a stove 
 and covered with a sheet of paper to protect it from dust. The 
 impression was obtained while the medium sat on a sofa between 
 Dr. Friese and a friend of his, and was held by them both. The 
 medium in a state of trance distinctly saw the figure which mounted 
 on the stove and made the impression of the hand, so that the 
 whole operation was described by her during the process, Dr. 
 Friese and his friend perceiving nothing. The slate was taken 
 down from the stove directly the medium awoke, and on it was 
 found the impression of the hand just as she had described it. 
 
 But the most brilliant repetition of one of my experiments with 
 sooted slates was achieved in the autumn of last year * with a pri¬ 
 vate medium in St. Petersburg. It has been published by Dr. 
 Nicolaus Wagner, Professor of Zoology, and honorary member of 
 the university there, in the June number of Psychische Sludien, 
 with a photo-lithographic representation of the impression obtained. 
 I reproduce this account here literally, since it also illustrates the 
 ecclesiastical and religious prejudices which now, as in the age of 
 Galileo, attempt to obstruct the work of the scientific investigator. 
 
 REPETITION OF ONE OF PROFESSOR ZOLLNER’s EXPERIMENTS WITH 
 PRIVATE MEDIUMS. 
 
 By Nicolaus Wagner, Professor of Zoology, and Honorary Member of 
 the Imperial University at St. Petersburg. 
 
 “The reaction against the spiritual movement runs its course 
 with the same violence as every fanatical opposition. If “ blind 
 
 1878. — Ta. 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 124 
 
 faitli ” is flic motive power of religious fanaticism, so also is the 
 direction of the contrary movement determined by a force which is 
 quite as illogical—“blind skepticism.” In the one and the other 
 the cause is the same, — feeling, passionately excited, and resisting 
 every cool, matter-of-fact (objective) consideration. There is no 
 better proof of this than the attacks of the savans upon those of 
 their colleagues who had the inexcusable temerity to satisfy them¬ 
 selves of the reality of mediumistic phenomena, and to publish 
 their experiences to the world. Until their fall into Spiritualism 
 the work and opinions of these men were recognized as entirely 
 logical, accurate, and satisfying the conditions of scientific inquiry. 
 But scarcely have these same scientists carried their researches 
 into the region of mediumistic phenomena than they are forthwith 
 encountered with the feeling of antipathy; and that even before 
 the phenomena themselves have been adjudicated upon by sound 
 reason.* Impelled by this antipathy, even the strongest under- 
 
 * This reminds us of Mr. Crookes: “ It is edifying to compare some of the pres¬ 
 ent criticisms with those that were written twelve months ago. When I first 
 stated in this journal (Quarterly Journal of Science) that I was about to investi¬ 
 gate the phenomena of so-called Spiritualism, the announcement called forth 
 universal expressions of approval. One said that my‘statements deserved re¬ 
 spectful consideration ; ’ another expressed ‘ profound satisfaction that the sub¬ 
 ject was about to be investigated by a man so thoroughly qualitied as,’ &c.; a 
 third was ‘gratified to learn that the matter is now receiving the attention of 
 cool and clear-headed men of recognized position in science; ’ a fourth asserted 
 that ‘ no one could doubt Mr. Crookes’ ability to conduct the investigation with 
 rigid philosophical impartiality;’ and a fifth was good enough to tell its readers 
 that • if men like Mr. Crookes grapple with the subject, taking nothing for granted 
 until it is proved, we shall soon know how much to believe.’ 
 
 “These remarks, however, were written too hastily. It was taken for granted 
 by the writers that the results of my experiments would be in accordance with 
 their preconceptions. What they really desired was not the truth, but an addi¬ 
 tional witness in favor of their own foregone conclusion. When they found that 
 the facts which that investigation established could not be made to fit those 
 opinions, why,—* so much the worse for the facts,’— they try to creep out of their 
 own confident recommendations by declaring that ‘Mr. Home is ft clever con¬ 
 jurer, who has duped us all.’ ‘Mr. Crookes might, with equal propriety, exam¬ 
 ine the performances of an Indian juggler.’ ‘Mr. Crookes must get better wit¬ 
 nesses before he can be believed.’ ‘The thing is too absurd to be treated seri¬ 
 ously.’ ‘ It is impossible, and therefore can’t be.’ ‘ The observers have all been 
 biologized (1), and fancy they saw things occur which never really took place.’” 
 &c.,&e.— Crookes’ lletKarch.ee in the Phenomena of Spiritualism, p. 22.— Note by 
 Translator. 
 
PROFESSOR WAGNER ON “BLIND SKEPTICISM.” 125 
 
 standing is blind; it seeks support from and attaches itself to such 
 strangely childish arguments and suppositions as to any sound 
 thinking and unprejudiced person are in the highest degree 
 absurd. 
 
 “In the relations of the savans to my colleague, Professor Zoll- 
 ner, who lately experimented in the mediumistic field, we havo the 
 most complete evidence of the justice of the above observation. 
 Satisfied through the force and reality of facts of the entire genu¬ 
 ine objectivity of the mediumistic phenomena, he detailed his inves¬ 
 tigations. But as in the case of the investigations of Crookes and 
 Boutlerow, so were these also forthwith exposed to suspicion, and 
 set down to clever conjuring; and the name of the cautious and 
 accurate investigator swelled the sad list of scientists who had been 
 deceived by (so-called) charlatans. 
 
 “Now, since the whole weight of this charge rests on the merely 
 supposed fraud of the mediums, it will not be superfluous if I give 
 to the Press the results of some investigations, analogous to those 
 of Zollner, which I have made with non-professional mediums. I 
 do not in the least expect that this narrative, any more than hun¬ 
 dreds such, will make the slightest impression on the fanaticism of 
 the skeptic: on the other hand, I have the strongest belief that it 
 will serve to confirm the growing conviction of those who are not 
 disinclined to be convinced by the truth of things. 
 
 “ Since the force of the evidence chiefly depends on the confi¬ 
 dence in the mediums, and in the persons composing the circle 
 among whom the seances took place, I consider it essential first of 
 all to discuss this question, and to follow it up with some historical 
 statements. Moved by my and my colleague Boutlerow's writings 
 in certain Russian periodicals, the family of the engineer aud 
 chemist E-, as also some of their intimate friends and rela¬ 
 
 tives, desired to convince themselves of the reality or otherwise of 
 the mediumistic phenomena. It must further be remarked that in 
 these families earlier cases of a mediumistic character had been 
 already observed, but had been ascribed to different causes, such 
 as accident or hallucination. 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 126 
 
 Three ladies took part constantly in the sittings,— the wife of 
 
 the chemist, Sophia E-; her sister, A. M-; and her 
 
 friend, A. L-, who had for years been united with Mrs. E-- 
 
 in the most genuine friendship and sympathy. Of these ladies 
 the two tirst were gifted with very remarkable mediumistic apti¬ 
 tudes. All three were distinguished by deep religious feelings, 
 and every deception, even for a good end, is abhorred by them as 
 a heavy sin. The manifestations occurring almost from the very 
 first were regarded by them as miraculous, and this feeling was 
 confirmed as the phenomena became more and more developed. 
 
 “ The fourth lady, who was likewise constantly present, was Miss 
 
 Catherine L-, one of the greatest friends of Sophia E-, the 
 
 wife of the chemist E-. At the commencement of the seances 
 
 she was an atheist; all her convictions leaned to materialism. She 
 held the principles of the well-known Russian publicist, Herr Pisa- 
 ref, as irrefragable dogmas. The power of the manifestations 
 shook, and at length overthrew, this fanaticism of hers. 
 
 “ This small circle was formed with the firm expectation that it 
 would succeed in demonstrating the mediumistic manifestations to 
 be simply a further development of already-known physical phe¬ 
 nomena. With this object the table at which they sat was placed 
 upon glass supports, and round the feet of the table was wound a 
 wire, the ends of which were attached to a galvanometer. Instead, 
 however, of the expected physical phenomena, the table at the 
 very first seance urgently demanded the alphabet, and by means 
 of blows with the foot of the table the following sentence was 
 spelled out: — 
 
 “ ‘ I suffer because thou believest not.’ 
 
 “ ‘To whom does that refer?’ asked those present 
 
 ‘“To Catherine L-.’ 
 
 “ ‘Who, then, art thou?’ asked L-. 
 
 “ ‘I am thy friend, Olga N-.’ 
 
 “ This dearly beloved friend, also an atheist, had died about a 
 year before, and on this account Catherine L-was deeply aston¬ 
 
 ished and moved by the information communicated through the 
 
PHENOMENA IN A PRIVATE FAMILY. 
 
 127 
 
 table. This information, given in the same seance , referred to 
 
 dillerent particulars of au event known only to Catherine L -, 
 
 and thoroughly convinced her of the existence of the soul of her 
 beloved friend, even though in another world. 
 
 “ Henceforth, the before-mentioned physical experimentation 
 was laid aside, the conversations were more and more striking, and 
 confirmed their faith in the reality of another world. This faith 
 soon became a firm conviction with all. To show the relations of 
 
 the circle, and especially of Catherine L- , to the phenomena, 
 
 I here add some extracts from her diary, which was written for her 
 own eye only, and communicated to me after her death, which 
 happened somewhat later. 
 
 “‘29th March, 1876, 1.30 a.m. Scarcely had S- and I 
 
 retired to rest, and left off talking that we might sleep, than sud¬ 
 denly there sounded a beating on the wall at the head of my bed. 
 I supposed at first that some one was probably passing on the 
 stairs adjoining my wall, but after some minutes the knocking was 
 
 repeated, and with such force that S - also became attentive, 
 
 and asked me if I had knocked. Now I guessed what it was. 
 
 ‘“Probably my Olga is now come to me,’ said I. In assent 
 sounded immediately three times, one after the other, a muffled 
 ' blow, as if a soft wall had been struck with a hammer wrapped up 
 in something soft. 
 
 “ ‘ Is it thou, Olgchcn ? ’ I asked the spirit aloud. Three regular 
 knocks answered. 
 
 “‘Can I sleep quietly tills night?’ Again the like three 
 knocks. 
 
 “‘30th March, G.45 p.m. 
 
 “‘Why did you knock at my wall yesterday, Olinka?’ 
 
 “ ‘ Evil spirits prevent you going to the supper. Thou wouldst 
 do it, and hast abandoned this intention. I came yesterday to say 
 to thee that thou, dear one, shouldst not obey them. I will not 
 come for a whole week. I have much to do. On Thursday, after 
 the supper, 1 will visit thee.’ 
 
 “‘So, if I take the supper, thou will’st come to me?’ 
 
128 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 “ ‘ Yes, and I will make thee a present.’ 
 
 “ * What sort of a present? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ Thou canst show it to every one.’ 
 
 “ ‘Thou will’st give it to me on the day of the Communion?’ 
 
 “ ‘ Yes, in the church.’ 
 
 “ ‘ First of April. I have confessed. After the supper I went 
 and took my place in the church. Suddenly in my hand there 
 came a nosegay of white rose and myrtle, tied with a lock of the 
 dear and well-known hair! That was the promised present. 
 
 “ Come home from church, we sat ourselves at the table. Our 
 heavenly friend was already among us. Her first words were — 
 
 “ ‘ I wish you all happiness. I am happy for you. My dar¬ 
 ling ! art thou content with my present ? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ What significations have the rose and myrtle?’ 
 
 “‘Pure love. Eternity.’ 
 
 “ ‘ I could scarcely restrain my tears. 
 
 “‘30th April, 10 o’clock. S. E-, sitting on a chair, fell 
 
 into a trance, of which the spirit informed us. Afterwards a 
 hand was shown to us, one after the other; at our wish it touched 
 our hands, and came close to the sight of those of us who had not 
 been able to distinguish it clearly enough. I asked the spirit 
 whether I could kiss this hand ? The spirit replied that its hand 
 would be between the table and the cloth, and that I might kiss 
 it through the cloth. Twice I kissed the dear hand, and convinced 
 myself thereby of its reality; it was a living, flexible hand.’ 
 
 “ I have given these extracts to show the genuine and cordial 
 relations of the deceased to these observers of the phenomena 
 which took place before their eyes. Again, I repeat, that she 
 wrote her diary for herself alone, and probably never thought of 
 the possibility that extracts from it might appear in the Press. 
 The circle itself, in the sittings of which she took part, was exclu¬ 
 sively interested in the phenomena for their own sake, and was 
 utterly and altogether unconcerned with the spiritualistic propa¬ 
 ganda. All the usual mediumistic phenomena, such as the self- 
 moving of objects, lights, appearance of hands, &c., took place at 
 
MATERIALIZATION THROUGH A PRIVATE MEDIUM. 129 
 
 these seances. Especially often were objects brought to the cir¬ 
 cle, most frequently pictures of saints, hair, and flowers. During a 
 seance in the spring the whole table was literally covered with 
 
 flowers. During another seance the daughter of Sophia E- , a 
 
 young lady of fourteen years old, received a live green frog, to 
 make up for the loss of one that had died a few days before. 
 This frog remained with her for some days alive, and afterwards 
 disappeared. 
 
 “On one occasion the spirit of Olga N-declared that she 
 
 would fully materialize, and designated Sophia E- as the 
 
 strongest medium, through whose means the materialization would 
 be effected. On the evening appointed by the spirit the medium was 
 laid upon a sofa and separated from the rest by a curtain formed 
 by hanging up a plaid. She remained, howeverjso far visible 
 that her position could always be observed. It was half dark in 
 the room. After the medium had fallen into a trance she was 
 several times raised in the air, placed upon the boards, and again 
 carried back to the sofa. Afterwards a white figure, covered with 
 a thick veil, was raised behind and above the curtain. Quietly, 
 calmly, it came over the curtain to the table at which the party 
 
 were sitting. Then it went to Catherine L- , embraced and 
 
 kissed her, touched her face with its hand and disappeared, whilst 
 raised asaiu in the air. At the next seance, which was in dark- 
 ness, the phenomenon was repeated, and Catherine L - was cov¬ 
 
 ered with a veil, which was left behind upon her.* After this 
 phenomenon the sittings of the circle almost ceased. Amazed 
 with what they had seen, they were all convinced that it would be 
 a sin, after these proofs of the reality of another world and of a 
 higher power, to continue the seances, though at the same time 
 
 •The condition of the medium during the trance made a deep impression on 
 all present, the most lasting one, naturally, upon her husband. After the einnee, 
 she was for some days ill; at the same time there appeared upon her left side 
 a broad blood-swollen spot. (Compare the description of a materialization from 
 the left side of the medium, Dr. Monck, in I'sychisdte Studien, 1S77. — Note by 
 the Editor). These unfortunate results were supposed by the sitters to be owing 
 to their having put forward the seance earlier than the appointed time. 
 
130 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL HIYSICS. 
 
 they did not refuse individual communications and instructions 
 from that world, and for this purpose availed themselves from 
 time to time of the usual means of intercourse, such as tabic tip¬ 
 ping and psychography. Of course, therefore, the phenomena did 
 not cease, and they were not seldom concerned in different events 
 which happened to the families of the mediums. 
 
 “All this had gone on for about a year, up to the winter of 1877, 
 
 when I accidentally made the acquaintance of the chemist E- 
 
 and his family. Entertaining the wish to receive some proofs of 
 the objectivity and reality of the phenomena, I begged some of 
 those who had taken part in the earlier seances to afford me the 
 opportunity. I obtained their entire consent, and found the great¬ 
 est readiness to comply with my wish, although the sentiments of 
 •the whole circle were opeuly opposed to my opinions. This oppo¬ 
 sition was especially marked in the case of Catherine L-, who, 
 
 as compensation for her discarded materialism, was now fanatically 
 addicted to ultra-orthodoxy. She continually maintained against 
 me that no evidences of these.things could ever convince any one 
 since they were matters of faith and not of knowledge. Such being 
 the relations of the circle, it was not to be expected that we should 
 obtain any decided results. 
 
 “ During the first sitting in which I took part, and which was 
 held in a dim light, a hand w T as formed above the small table, 
 which was covered with a cloth, and afterwards came out from 
 under the cloth, remaining above the table some minutes, and, 
 gently moving, touched those who inclined themselves towards it. 
 This was the only materialization, and the only remarkable phe¬ 
 nomenon in the series of not very numerous seances which lasted 
 up to the end of the winter. 
 
 “ Catherine L-had long suffered from a chronic catarrh, 
 
 which at this time took the form of consumption. Her disposition 
 was still hostile to my objects, so that we were compelled to give 
 
 up the seances. She died in the arms of Mrs. Sophia E--, 
 
 amidst the proofs of her love, friendship, and affection. 
 
 “ In the autumn of the year 1878 the relations of the circle to 
 
REPETITION OF ONE OF ZOLLNER’s EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 131 
 
 the mediumistic phenomena were completely changed. After the 
 
 spirit of the deceased Catherine L-had given consent to the 
 
 continuance of the sittings, and promised good success, remarking, 
 however, at the same time, that the results would be received with 
 distrust, the circle was widened by the addition of some young 
 people; the engineer, the mechanist M-, was one of the con¬ 
 stant sitters; sometimes the physician L-took part in the sit¬ 
 
 tings. 
 
 “In the very first sitting we were directed by raps to repeat the 
 experiment of Professor Zollncr; and since it is the object of this 
 publication to confirm that experiment, I will not dwell upon other 
 more or less remarkable phenomena which occurred at our seances. 
 
 “ We look an ordinary folding slate, with clasps; on each side 
 within was fastened, by means of wax, paper, blackened with soot. 
 The slate was then tied together with a string, and the ends of the 
 string, as well as the edges of the slate, were fastened with four 
 
 seals with the signet of the chemist E-, and the signet was 
 
 entrusted to me for safe custody at home. We were informed by 
 means of raps that this slate must lie upon the table for four 
 seances, and impressions would then be found upon it. At the 
 seances the table was always covered with a cloth, and between 
 this and the table the slate was laid. With the development of 
 the phenomena the slate began to move of itself. It went from 
 one to the other, in order that it might remain for some minutes 
 under the hands of each of those present. 
 
 “ In the third sitting we were enjoined to seal the slate with 
 
 seven seals, with another signet of the chemist E-. We asked, 
 
 ‘Is there anything on the slate?’ It was answered, ‘Ido not 
 know.’ Thereupon we asked if we might open it? The answer 
 was, ‘ Yes, you can.’ We opened the slate; both papers were 
 untouched. We closed it again, bound, and scaled it with seven 
 seals. The signet I again took away with me. At the following 
 sitting violent movements of the slate again occurred, and finally 
 1 was directed to lay the slate on my knees. I did so, and then 
 placed my hands again upon the table. For some minutes the 
 
132 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 slate remained quiet; then I bad the sensation as if some one 
 lightly touched it for a while. Soon after we were told, through 
 sharp decided raps, to take away the slate. To the question, ‘ Is 
 there an}thing on it?’ a strong definite affirmative answer was 
 returned. ‘Can we open it?’ ‘Yes.’ 
 
 “We struck a light (the seance was in the dark), opened the 
 slate, and perceived an impression on each side: upon the right, 
 that of a hand; upon the left, that of a foot. All three female 
 mediums and the chemist E-at once recognized in the impres¬ 
 sion the hand of Catherine L-, which had characteristic pecu¬ 
 
 liarities. It was unusally large and long for a female hand, the 
 little finger being strongly bent out. The foot, also unusually 
 large, could not find room enough on the slate, and this impression, 
 moreover, was not very clear. The hand was much more sharply 
 impressed, if not quite so distinct, as was the case with Zollner’s 
 impression. (I here add the copy of our impression.*) For 
 greater certainty this impression was shown to a sculptor, who well 
 knew the hand of the deceased, and he at once asked, ‘ Is this an 
 
 impression of the hand of Catherine L-? ’ He supposed that 
 
 'the impression had been taken during her life. We were appar¬ 
 ently ourselves partly to blame for the want of distinctness in the 
 impression. Every one who is familiar with mediumistic phe¬ 
 nomena knows their whimsicality, and that promises given at 
 seances are often not fulfilled. Not much expecting success, we 
 went only superficially to work in the preparation of the slate — 
 did not fasten the paper with smooth regularity over the sides of 
 the slate, and the soot was not thickly and regularly spread. Had 
 we only found any thing when we opened the slate after the third 
 seance, which would have given us but a remote assurance of 
 future results, we should then have rectified every defect in our 
 preparations. 
 
 “The above-recorded objective proof I regard as sufficient to 
 obviate every suspicion of deceit. Had it been even possible 
 
 •There is here a foot-note relating to the illustration omitted in this translation, 
 the illustration itself, as two or three others, not seeming indispensable.—Ta. 
 
VALUE OF TIIE FACTS. 
 
 ins 
 
 to imitate tlie seal and open the slate, yet was it at any rate 
 impossible, and indeed without aim or object, to imitate the im¬ 
 pression of the hand of the deceased C. L-. All those who 
 
 took part in the seance were “believers;” all were in like manner 
 interested in the experiment: no one among them was so depraved 
 and mischievous as to contrive so cruel a mystification, cruel 
 in relation to the persons to whom the memory of the deceased was 
 sacred. That young lady was more than a relative in the family 
 of the chemist E——; one could not but see the joyful rapture of 
 the mediums at the moment when they recognized in the impres¬ 
 sion the hand of Catherine L-. All crossed themselves and 
 
 wept: all regarded this result as a miracle. 
 
 “ After this phenomenon some of those present proposed to ter¬ 
 minate the sittings, since no better, more objective, more all con¬ 
 vincing, complete proof could be obtained; I, however, wished to 
 continue them, though they must at all events soon cease. The 
 next sitting had already lost the characteristics of our usual seances. 
 The phenomena were languid and intermittent. The spirit of 
 
 Catherine L- declared that it could not appear for a whole 
 
 month. Other disturbing circumstances concurred, so that we 
 resolved to postpone our seances to a more opportune time. An 
 unexpected misfortune intervening compels us to renounce them 
 for a long time, perhaps for always. 
 
 “ In giving this simple history, with its childlike full conviction 
 and faith in the personality of the spirit (Fetishism), I repeat that 
 it can have no effect upon the stubborn skepticism of those who 
 have become the slaves of their u priori convictions. This narra¬ 
 tive can have only an irritating tendency with such, excite their 
 skepticism up to a fanatical point, and drive them, even should they 
 admit the facts, to discover some explanation even more senseless 
 than Carpenter’s ‘ unconscious cerebration.’ But those with whom 
 Fetishism * is no subjective product of our brain and feeling, who 
 recognize the necessity and legitimacy of individuality as the lever 
 
 *“ Eetischismus ” is the word used, but not, it is conceived, in the sense that 
 word bears in English.— Nute by J'rausUitor. 
 
134 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 of the development of humanity and of well-being, those will find 
 in these facts the proof and confirmation of their views. 
 
 “ Again, these facts convince us of the necessity of widening the 
 domain of recognized science and its methods and means for the 
 exploration of the invisible and unknown world, of the existence 
 of which we have in our hearts from childhood so clear, so simple, 
 and so warm a presentiment. N. Wagner.” 
 
CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 THEORETICAL; “THE FOURTH DIMENSION.”—PROFESSOR nARE’S EXPERI¬ 
 MENTS. — FURTHER EXPERIMENTS OF THE AUTHOR WITH SLADE.—COINS TRANS¬ 
 FERRED FROM CLOSED AND FASTENED BOXES.—CLAIRVOYANCE. 
 
 Passing on to the account of further experiments with Mr. Slade, 
 I take those on the first instance which I had devised on the prin¬ 
 ciple of the extended conception of space * ( Raum-anschauung ) 
 — for the purpose of experimental proofs of the reality of a fourth 
 dimension. 
 
 Among these proofs there is none so instructive and convincing 
 as the transport of material bodies from a space enclosed on every 
 side. Although for our three-dimensional intuition such a space 
 apparently allows of no other exit than through the material 
 boundaries, yet from the fourth dimension it can be opened, and 
 thus the transport of the body in this direction can be effected 
 without disturbance of the three-dimensional material walls. Since 
 the so-called intuition of a four-dimensional space is wanting to us, 
 as three-dimensional beings, we can only form to ourselves a con¬ 
 ception of this proceeding by an analogy taken from the next lower 
 region of space. Suppose in a plane a figure of two dimensions 
 
 •The philosophical sense of the word intuition (Anurhauung) may have some 
 difficulty for non-metaphysical English readers. With us it usually denotes an 
 internal sense; in German philosophy it is the act of perception, whether of the 
 external or internal sense, before all application of the categories of the under¬ 
 standing by which the “ matter” of the perception becomes an “object.” In the 
 Kantian philosophy, which Zollner follows, space and time are intuitional 
 “forms.” The word Atischiiuuug is translated intuition and conception at differ¬ 
 ent places as the context seems to require.—T r. 
 
136 
 
 TRANSCENPEXTAb PHYSICS. 
 
 enclosed by a line on every side, in which is a movable object. 
 By movements only in the plane that object could not escape from 
 the interior of that two-dimensionally enclosed space otherwise 
 than by an opening of the line of enclosure. But if the object 
 were capable of a movement in the third dimension, it would need 
 only to be raised perpendicularly to the plane, to be passed over, 
 and let down again on the other side of the line. To two-dimen¬ 
 sional beings who reasoned on the assumption that only such move¬ 
 ments were possible as they could intuitively represent to them¬ 
 selves, i.e., only two-dimensional movements, the proceeding just 
 described would seem a miracle. For the body which they sup¬ 
 pose to be completely enclosed must at a certain spot transiently 
 vanish for them, in order suddenly to reappear at another spot. 
 Although similar facts have been so frequently observed at spiritu¬ 
 alistic seances, and publicly testified to by the most credible and 
 intelligent men, yet as an introduction to the description of my 
 own experiments, I cannot omit to impart the following fact 
 observed by the celebrated American scientist and chemist, Pro¬ 
 fessor Hare.* 
 
 ♦Robert Hare, Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Chemistry at the University 
 of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; born 1781, died May 15, 1858. In Poggendotff's 
 l.lterary Biographical Dictionary, from which I have taken the above particu¬ 
 lars, will be found a catalogue, tilling a whole columu, of Hare’s numerous chemi¬ 
 cal and physical treatises. In text-books of Physics his name survives in the so- 
 called “Hare’s Spiral,” a galvanic element, in which a copper and zinc plate, 
 properly separated by bad conductors, are rolled over one another for the pro¬ 
 duction of the greatest possible surface. With this arrangement, previously to 
 the construction of constant batteries, very strong effects of light and heat 
 could be produced. The treatise of Hare's referred to is published in Tilloch’s 
 Philosophical Magazine, of the year 1837, under the title “ New Voltaic Battery.” 
 
 In his later years Professor Hare undertook, as a true man of science, the most 
 thorough experimental investigation of the phenomena of Spiritualism, for 
 which, in his country, convenient opportunities offered. He even evinced his 
 acuteness in this liehl in the construction of suitable apparatus and instruments. 
 One of these he named the “ spiritoscope.” It consisted of an apparatus con¬ 
 nected with a cipher-plate and index, similar to that which was applied to the 
 first electric telegraphs. A detailed description, with picture, of this ingenious 
 apparatus, in which the motions of the index are completely concealed from the 
 medium, will be found in the pamphlet, Experimental Investigations of Spirit- 
 Manifestations, by Dr. Robert Hare, Professor of Chemistry, &e., &e.,” German 
 edition by Alex. Aksakow, Leipsic, 1874, Mutze. 
 
EXPERIMENTS OF DR. HARE. 
 
 137 
 
 It is that described by State Councillor Aksakow in Psychische 
 Studien (edited by him) in the July number of this year (1879), 
 under the title “Some Experiments of Professor Hare Coufirma- 
 toiy of Zollner’s Experiments.” I confine myself here to the first 
 experiment, described in a letter published on the 1st of May, 
 1858, by an eye-witness, Dr. S. A. Peters, who had visited Pro¬ 
 fessor Hare in his laboratory, in order himself to witness some of 
 tho remarkable phenomena which Hare had publicly reported. The 
 letter is addressed to the editor of The Spiritual Telegraph , and 
 is as follows: —■ 
 
 “PuiLADELruiA, April 18, 1858. 
 
 “ Mr. Editor,— Finding myself in this city on a visit from the 
 State of Missouri, I availed myself of the opportunity to visit Pro¬ 
 fessor Hare, in order to see what new developments or discoveries 
 he has made in Spiritualism. I have no doubt that a history of 
 the most astonishing spiritual manifestations which are now tak¬ 
 ing place in the Professor’s laboratory will shortly be given to the 
 public. 
 
 “ I will now confirm what I saw myself. Dr. Dare, the medium 
 (a young man named Ituggles, of from eighteen to nineteen years, 
 to whom I was quite a stranger when t entered the laboratory), 
 and myself, were the only persons present. 'The medium sat down 
 in front of tho spiritoscope, which stood on the table in the mid¬ 
 dle of the room. Dr. Hare and I sat opposite and close to the 
 table. After some minutes it was said to us through the spirito¬ 
 scope, ‘ Let Dr. S. A. Peters put two glass tubes of Russian metal 
 in the box.’ Dr. Hare thereupon left his seat, and fetched me 
 two glass tubes of about six inches length, and half an inch diame¬ 
 ter, hermetically sealed at the ends, and also two pieces of Rus¬ 
 sian platinum, each of the shape of a common musket-ball. I 
 first examined the box in which I was to deposit these objects. It 
 stood on the table before me. It resembled a writing-desk : was 
 about two feet long and half a foot broad, four to eight inches 
 deep, and had a lid which let down slantwise, with hiuges and a 
 
138 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 lock. In this box I placed the two glass tubes and the balls of 
 platinum, — there was nothing else in it,— and locked it. Dr. 
 Hare and I then took our seats as before, and the medium, Mr. 
 Buggies. continued at the spiritoscope. After the lapse of fifty- 
 tivc minutes there was said through the spiritoscope, ‘We have a 
 present for Dr. S. A. Peters; let him go to the box and fetch it.’ 
 Hereupon I went to the box, which was only a single foot from 
 me, opened it, and fouud— the two pieces of Russian platinum 
 inside the two hermetically sealed glass tubes. 
 
 “I will make no observations on the above. What I have seen 
 I hold it to be my duty to make known to the world. I have no 
 other interest in making the above statement than the desire to 
 serve my fellow-men. S. A. Peters.” 
 
 I go now to the account of similar experiments, which have suc¬ 
 ceeded with me in the presence of Mr. Slade, but which have a 
 yet higher interest for me, in that they have produced in me a con¬ 
 viction of the reality of the so-called clairvoyance, or clear-seeing. 
 
 On the 5th May, 1878, at about twenty-live minutes past four, 
 Mr. Slade, Ilerr Oscar von Hoffmann, and I took our places at the 
 table, and in the sun-lighted room, of which a photographic copy is 
 seen in the frontispiece. Besides a number of slates, purchased 
 by myself, there lay upon the table other things, among them two 
 small cardboard boxes, in which, at Slade’s lirst residence at Leip- 
 sic, in December, 1877,1 had put some pieces of money, and then 
 firmly plastered it up outside with strips of paper. I had already 
 at that time been in hopes of the removal of the enclosed pieces of 
 money without opening of the boxes. However, my friends and I 
 were so astonished aud occupied with the multitude of the other 
 phenomena which happened at Slade’s first and second visits to 
 Lcipsic (November and December, 1877) that I abandoned‘the 
 above-mentioned experiment for the time, and postponed it till 
 Slade’s return to Lcipsic. One of these boxes was in form circular, 
 and within it was a large piece of money; this box was firmly fast¬ 
 ened by a strip of paper, the breadth of which corresponded to the 
 
AN EXPERIMENT WITH COINS. 
 
 139 
 
 height of the bos, and its length much exceeded the circuit of the 
 box; so indeed that first the strip of paper was spread with liquid 
 glue on one side over its whole length and breadth, and was then 
 stuck several times round the box, so that the latter, after the fast¬ 
 ening, presented the appearance of a low cylinder of pasteboard. 
 The other box was rectangular, of the same sort as those in which 
 steel pens are kept. In this box 1 had put two small pieces of 
 money, and had then closed it by sticking a strip of paper round it, 
 perpendicularly to its length, by means of liquid glue. 
 
 As mentioned above, I had already, in December, 1877, fast¬ 
 ened up these boxes, and as I had observed neither the value of 
 the enclosed coius nor their date I could afterwards only ascertain 
 by the noise from shaking the boxes; that enclosed in the circular 
 one was a large German coin (a thaler or a live-mark piece), in 
 the rectangular one two smaller coins; whether these were pen¬ 
 nies, grosehen, or five-groschen pieces I had, after the lapse of 
 half a year, at the time of Slade’s last stay in Leipsic, entirely for¬ 
 gotten. 
 
 After we had taken our places at the card-table on the above- 
 mentioned day in the manner described, I took up the round box, 
 and satisfied myself, by shaking, of the presence of the coin 1 had 
 enclosed in it. Herr O. von Hoffmann did the same, and lastly 
 Mr. Slade, who asked us for what purpose I had designed this 
 box. I explained my purpose in a few words, and at the same 
 time declared that it would be one of the finest confirmations of 
 the reality of the fourth dimension, if his invisible iutelligeut 
 beings succeeded in removing that coin from the box without open¬ 
 ing it. Slade, ready, as always, to conform to my wish, took in 
 the usual manner one of the slates which lay at hand, laid a mor¬ 
 sel of slate-pencil upon it (indeed, as it happened, a considerably 
 larger one than usual), and held the slate with his right hand half 
 under the table. We heard writing, and when the slate was 
 drawn out, there was found upon it the request to lay a secon 1 
 piece of pencil on the slate, which was done. Then Slade, who 
 sat at my left ( Von Hoffmann was on my right), held the slate 
 
140 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 with the two bits of pencil again under the table, while lie as well 
 as we waited intently what should come there. Meanwhile the 
 two fastened-up boxes lay untouched on about the middle of the 
 table. Some minutes passed without anything happening, when 
 Slade gazed fixedly in a particular direction in the comer of the 
 room, and at the same time said, quite astonished, but slowly, the 
 words dragged after one another, and partly with repetition: “ I 
 see — see funf and eighteen hundred seventy-six.” Neither Slade 
 nor we knew what that could mean, and both Herr 0. von Hoff¬ 
 mann and myself remarked almost simultaneously that, at any rate, 
 “funf” signified “funf” (five), and made the sum of the addition 
 5 + 1870=1881. While 1 threw out this remark half in jest, we 
 heard a hard object fall on the slate, which Slade during all the 
 time had held under the table with his right hand (the left lying 
 before us on the table). The slate was immediately drawn out, 
 and on it was found the five-mark piece, with the date 1876. 
 Naturally I forthwith snatched up the pasteboard box, standing 
 before me, and which during all the foregoing had been touched 
 by nobody, to ascertain, by shaking, the absence of the piece of 
 money which had been in it half an hour before; and, behold! it 
 was quite empty and silent; the box was robbed of its contents in 
 the shape of the five-mark piece. 
 
 As may bo supposed, our pleasure at such an unhoped-for suc¬ 
 cess of our experiment was extremely great; all the more that by 
 it at the same time was established the existence of a direct per¬ 
 ception of objects, not effected in the ordinary way of our sense- 
 conceptions. 
 
 Moreover, it could not be any so-called thought-reading by the 
 medium; that is, the perception of representations already in the 
 heads of human beings. For neither I, and much less Mr. Slade 
 and Herr von Hoffmann, knew what sort of coin there u r as in the 
 box, nor what date it bore. 
 
 I was so satisfied with the success of this experiment under such 
 stringent conditions that I was thinking of putting an end to the 
 sitting, and postponing further attempts to a later one. However, 
 

Plao 
 

THE EXPERIMENT SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 145 
 
 Slade remarked that he did not feel himself at all exhausted by the 
 sitting, which had lasted at most ten minutes. This remark of 
 Slade caused us to keep our places at the card-table, and to engage 
 in unconstrained conversation with him. I introduced the subject 
 of his sitting with the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, and 
 requested him to give us a detailed account of the phenomena 
 which took place at it, as hitherto we had seen only the brief para¬ 
 graph statement about them in the press. Thus urged, Slade men¬ 
 tioned that a very remarkable experiment in slate-writing had suc¬ 
 ceeded in the presence of the Grand Duke Constantine. Acci¬ 
 dentally there had been two bits of pencil on the slate; when he 
 held it under the table the writing of two pencils was heard at the 
 same time, and when he drew out the slate the one pencil had 
 written from left to right, the other, at the same time, from right 
 to left. I at once proposed to try whether this experiment would 
 succeed also with us; the suggestion arose from me quite natu¬ 
 rally, from the association of ideas elicited by the two bits of pen¬ 
 cil which had been required in the above-mentioned experiment, 
 without our having as yet known the object of this written 
 demand. 
 
 Slade, at once ready to comply with my wish, held the slate 
 with the two bits of pencil under the table-surface, and we soon 
 heard, very clearly, writing upon it. 
 
 When the slate was withdrawn there was a communication in 
 English as follows : — 
 
 “ 10 — Pfennig— 1876 
 2 — Pfennig —1875. 
 
 Let this be proof to you of clairvoyance. After the nine days you 
 must, rest, or it will harm you and the medium. Believe in me, 
 your friend.” 
 
 We at once referred the first part of this message to the two 
 coins contained in the rectangular box still unopened. 1 was just 
 about to open it, we having immediately before convinced our- 
 
14G 
 
 TKANSCENDKNTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 selves by shaking the box and the distinct jingling within it, of the 
 presence of the two smaller coins, yet without knowing the value 
 or date of them. Suddenly, however, I changed my intention, 
 and set the little box again uninjured on the middle of the table, 
 while as well Herr von Hoffmann as also Slade suggested the 
 possibility that perhaps the two coins, in like manner as shortly 
 before the five-mark piece, might fall from tho unopened box upon 
 the slate held underneath. Immediately upon this suggestion, Slade 
 again held an empty slate under the middle of the table. Scarcely 
 was this done, when we distinctly heard two coins drop down on the 
 surface of the slate, and on closer examination, the above state¬ 
 ments on the slate we, in fact, found confirmed. Highly delighted, 
 I now seized the still closed box in the confident expectation that 
 it would, like the round box, be empty, and that, therefore, on 
 shaking no rattling within would be heard. How great was my 
 surprise when nevertheless the rattling happened, proceeding, in¬ 
 deed, likewise from two bodies, which yet, judging from the 
 altered character of the sound, could not be coins. Already I 
 was intending to convince myself of the contents of the box by open¬ 
 ing it, which could not be done without tearing the strips of paper 
 pasted over it, when Slade prepared to get our question answered, 
 as usual in such cases, through slate-writing, by his “spirits.” 
 Scarcely had he taken a slate with a fragment of pencil lying upon 
 it, and held it half under the table, when we distinctly heard writ¬ 
 ing. Upon the upper surface of the slate was written in English — 
 
 “ The two slate-pencils are in the box.” 
 
 In fact the two larger pieces of slate-pencil were nowhere to 
 be found, and when I now opened the box by tearing the strip of 
 paper glued to it, there within it, to our delight, were both the 
 pieces of pencil. 
 
 The foregoing facts are of great value in a three-fold aspect. 
 First, there is proved the occurrence of writing under the influ¬ 
 ence of Slade, the purport of which was necessarily unknown to 
 him before. It is consequently impossible that these writings occur 
 
FOURTH DIMENSION EXPLAINS CLAIRVOYANCE. 
 
 147 
 
 under tbe influence of the conscious will of Slade, whatever modus 
 operandi is presupposed. 
 
 Secondly, the apparent, so-called passage through matter is 
 proved in a highly elegant and compendious manner. In order to 
 reach by the shortest way the surface of the slate, the coins must 
 apparently have penetrated not only the walls of the box, but also 
 about 20 millimetres thickness of the oak table. The two slate- 
 pencils must have traveled the same way in a reverse direction 
 from the surface of the slate. 
 
 Thirdly , by these experiments an incontrovertible proof is 
 afforded of the reality of so-called clairvoyance, and that in a 
 double way. The first time, with the five-mark piece, the con¬ 
 tents of the closed box appeared in the form of a definite repre¬ 
 sented image in Slade’s intuitional life; he “ saw ” the numbers 5 
 and 1876. The second time this was not the case; but the con¬ 
 tents were communicated to us in the form of written characters on 
 the slate. The contents of this rectangular box must therefore 
 have existed as imaged in another, not a thrce-dimeusionally incor¬ 
 porated intelligence, before that represented image could be trans¬ 
 mitted to us by the aid of writing. Hereby is proved, as it seems 
 to me, in a very cogent manner the existence of intelligent beings, 
 invisible to us, and of their active participation in our experiments. 
 
 I have already shown that the whole phenomenon of clairvoy¬ 
 ance admits of a very easy and natural explanation by help of the 
 fourth dimension. From the direction of the fourth dimension, 
 the, to us, three-dimensionally enclosed space must be regarded as 
 appearing open, and indeed in an interval from the place of our 
 body so much tbe greater the higher the soul is raised to the 
 fourth dimension. At the same time, with the increasing eleva¬ 
 tion to this fourth dimension there is a widening of the overlooked 
 space of three dimensions, just as by elevation above the surface 
 of the earth there is, according to geometrical laws, a widening of 
 the overlooked two-dimensional expanse. Also in thrce-diincn- 
 sioual space, representations of the changes of place of our bo ly 
 at rest, as for example, when we are in the car of a balloon, are 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL RHYSICS. 
 
 148 
 
 produced merely by changes in the appearances oE objects. The 
 manner in which this happens, for instance, in our present organi¬ 
 zation by help of the sense of sight, is only a modification of the 
 above-mentioned general fact, and depends, as observed, upon the 
 changeable forms of the organic disposition ; that is, of our body, 
 through which the representations of our soul are mediated. Thus 
 Slade’s soul was, in the first case, so far raised in the fourth 
 dimension that the contents of the box in front of him were visi¬ 
 ble in particular detail. In the second case, one of those intelli¬ 
 gent beings of the fourth dimension looked down upon us from 
 such a height that the contents of the rectangular box were visible 
 to him, and lie could describe its contents upon the slate by means 
 of the pencil. 
 
 It is of iuterest to compare the theory of clear-seeing here indi¬ 
 cated with the description of this condition by persons who have 
 become clairvoyant by being thrown into the so-called magnetic 
 sleep by a “ magnetiser.” In accordance with the above theory, 
 and the principle of continuity, we should expect that from the 
 beginning of the clairvoyant condition its increasing development 
 must be attended with a spatial widening of the three-dimensional 
 circle of sight, that is, bodies must gradually become transparent 
 in continually greater intervals; quite in analogy with the increas¬ 
 ing number of objects which we perceive by continual elevation 
 above the earth. This supposition appears to be confirmed in fact 
 by the descriptions of the American clairvoyant Davis, who depicts 
 his perceptions in the magnetic sleep and otherwise in the follow¬ 
 ing words: — * 
 
 “ The sphere of my vision now began to widen. . . . Next, I 
 could distinctly perceive the walls of the house. At first they 
 seemed very dark and opaque ; but soon became brighter, and 
 then transparent: and presently I could see the walls of the 
 adjoining dwelling. These also immediately became light, and van¬ 
 ished,— melting like clouds before my advancing vision. I could 
 
 * The Magic S (iff. an autobiography, by Andrew Jackson Davis, p. 217 (13tU 
 edition). New York, li>7U. 
 
TTIE CRITERION OF OR.TECTIVITY. 
 
 119 
 
 now see the objects, the furniture, and persons, in the adjoining 
 bouse as easily as those in the room where I was situated. At 
 this moment I heard the voice of the operator. He inquired, ‘if 
 I could hear him speak plainly: ’ I replied in the affirmative. lie 
 then asked concerning my feelings, and ‘ whether I could discern 
 anything.’ On my replying affirmatively, he desired me to con¬ 
 vince some persons who were present, by reading the title of a 
 book, with the lids closed, behind four or five other books. Hav¬ 
 ing tightly secured my bodily eyes with handkerchiefs, he then 
 placed the books in a horizontal line with my forehead, and I saw 
 and read the title without the slightest hesitation. This test and 
 many experiments of the kind were tried and repeated; and the 
 demonstration of vision, independent of the physical organs of 
 sense, was clear and unquestionable. . . . But my perception 
 still flowed on! The broad surface of the earth, for many hun¬ 
 dred miles, before the sweep of my visiou — describing nearly a 
 semicircle—became transparent as the purest water; . . and I 
 saw the brains, the viscera, and the complete anatomy of animals 
 that were (at that moment) sleeping or prowling about in the for¬ 
 ests of the Eastern Hemisphere, hundreds and even thousands of 
 miles from the room in which I was making these observations.” 
 
 Confidence in the above description of subjective representations 
 in the magnetic and clairvoyant condition being presupposed, and 
 that these representations can also be repeated and confirmed, 
 according to a law, by other individuals under other conditions in 
 the clairvoyant state, there would be connected with the increased 
 duration and depth of the magnetic sleep an extension of the 
 field of our cubical vision similar to the extension of our field of 
 quadratic vision, according to the laws of perspective, which is 
 associated with elevation over the earth. 
 
 The ascertainment of these laws of perspective for space intui¬ 
 tion widened by a dimension would first of all be the task of 
 geometry, just as the elements of Euclid must have been known 
 and have become the common property of physicists and astrono¬ 
 mers before the spatial significance of celestial phenomena could 
 
150 TUANSCENDENTAE piiystcs. 
 
 lie thought. That intuitional images, or representations of objects 
 of sight clothed with all the attributes of sense, arise, change and 
 disappear iu our soul without the intervention of the physical sight 
 is proved by dreams, hallucinations, and illusions. Of the causes 
 by which these representations are produced in us we know noth¬ 
 ing, and can therefore only advance hypotheses about them. But 
 if we ask ourselves wherein consists the difference between these 
 images and those which are produced in us in daily life by means 
 of the sense of sight, we see that there is greater vivacity, regu¬ 
 larity, and continuity in the latter. But the essential criterion for 
 the fact that the latter class of representations have real objects in 
 an external world corresponding to them is the geometrical crite¬ 
 rion,— that is, the possibility for our understanding to refer a part 
 of the changes and differences of those representations to the geo¬ 
 metrical laws of remoteness and position. Should the same hold 
 good of the former class of representations,— those not obtained 
 through the sense of sight,— we should be compelled to relate 
 these also to real objects iu an external world, no matter whether 
 the requisite geometrical laws are to be sought in space as hitherto 
 conceived, or as widened by a dimension. 
 
 In both cases, however, the causes by which those images are 
 produced remain unknown to us so long as their homogeneity can¬ 
 not be experimentally proved. We know from internal experience 
 that our will is able up to a certain degree, by means of the so- 
 called force of imagination, to produce at pleasure representations 
 of objects of sight in our own soul. In this case we recognize our 
 own will as the cause of our representations. If, now, experiments 
 could be instituted, in which this individual will of a single man 
 could produce iu like manner, at pleasure, representative images 
 in the soul of another, spatially separate from the willing subject, 
 these images being clothed with all the attributes of reality which 
 we ascribe to the so-called real or actual world surrounding us, 
 thereby would experimental proof be afforded that the phenome¬ 
 non of a real external world can be produced and evoked by an 
 individual will, matched with intelligence, iu another individual. 
 
MESMERIC INFLUENCE. 
 
 151 
 
 But in that case it would be a necessary conclusion, according to 
 the principles of scientific induction, to accept also a qualitatively 
 similar cause for the representation of our whole real corporeal 
 world, — that is, an individual will combined with intelligence, how¬ 
 ever much that individual will may excel the human will in strength 
 and intelligence quantitatively. I maintain that the above induc¬ 
 tion is scientifically and logically necessary, and, moreover, the 
 only possible one open to a rationally operating understanding. 
 Newton asserts the same in the third book of his Principia in the 
 third Regular Philosophandi in the following words: — 
 
 “ Ideoque cffectuum naturalium ejusdem generis ecedeni assig- 
 nandce sunt causae quatcnus fieri potest; — utique respirationis 
 in homine et in bestia; descensus lapidum in Europa et America; 
 lucis in igne culinari et in Sole ; refiexionis lucis in terra et in 
 planetis 
 
 “ Therefore, the same causes are to be assigned, as far as possi¬ 
 ble, of natural effects of the same kind; —as of respiration in man 
 and in beast, of the descent of stones in Europe and in America; 
 of light in a kitchen fire as in the sun; of the reflection of light 
 on the earth and in the planets.” 
 
 In the above case there remains only the question whether it is 
 experimentally demonstrable that the human will is able to induce 
 such vivid representations in the consciousness of another that the 
 latter regards them altogether as he regards the representations 
 whose causes we ordinarily designate as real objects, or “ bodies.” 
 Experiments of this kind have been, in fact, publicly instituted in 
 Germany, by the magnetiser Hansen, of such a surprising and 
 convincing nature that it is impossible to doubt the reality of tliis 
 influence of an individual intelligent will upon another, spatially 
 distinct, individual.* Consequently our understanding is con¬ 
 strained, according to the laws of scientific induction and Newton’s 
 third Regular Philosophandi, to accept an individual will, joined 
 
 ♦Later, in the same volume, the author gives a detailed account of the experi¬ 
 ments referred to. The English reader will find abundant evidence on the sub¬ 
 ject in the lab' I’rofessor Gregory’s book ou Animal Magnetism, of which a new 
 edition has been recently published. Harrison; Loudon, 1377.— Tr. 
 
TTtANSCEXDENTAL PIIVSICS. 
 
 152 
 
 with intelligence, as cause and author of that world of representa¬ 
 tions which surrounds us in daily life, the so-called real external 
 world, or Nature. Whether this intelligent will in the production 
 of our human world of representations makes use of numerous 
 other individual and intelligent existenees, or whether there is no 
 other individualization of intelligent will in nature than human 
 beings and animals, so that that highest author of our real repre¬ 
 sented world alone influences us, directly and according to har¬ 
 monious laws, is for the present a question of secondary import¬ 
 ance. This only is established, that an individual being, gifted 
 with intelligence and will, must be presupposed as the cause of 
 our real world of representations. 
 
 I may here point out that the foregoing inductions are not new 
 and peculiar to myself. The priority is incontestably due to the 
 English philosopher Berkeley, a contemporary and follower of 
 Newton. In his celebrated treatise “ On the Principles of Human 
 Knowledge ” (section 33) Berkeley remarks : — 
 
 “The ideas impressed on the senses by the author of Nature are 
 called real things: and those excited in the imagination, being less 
 regular, vivid, and constant, are more properly termed ideas, or 
 images of things, which they copy and represent. But then our 
 sensations, be they never so vivid and distinct, are nevertheless 
 ideas, that is, they exist in the mind, or are perceived by it, as 
 truly as the ideas of its own framing. The ideas of sense are 
 allowed to have more reality in them, that is, to be more strong, 
 orderly, and coherent than the creatures of the mind; but this is 
 no argument that they exist without the mind. They are also less 
 dependent in the spirit or thinking substance which perceives them, 
 in that they are excited by the will of another and more powerful 
 spirit; yet still they are ideas, and certaiuly no idea, whether faint 
 or strong, can exist otherwise than in a mind perceiving it.” Cor¬ 
 responding to this deduction, Berkeley, in his 30th section has the 
 following, on the signification of the laws of Nature: “ The ideas 
 of sense are more strong, lively, and distinct than those of the 
 imagination; they have likewise a steadiness, order, and coherence, 
 
Berkeley’s idealism. 
 
 153 
 
 and arc not excited at random, as those which are the effects of 
 human wills often are, hut in a regular train of series,— the admir¬ 
 able connection whereof sufficiently testifies the wisdom and benevo¬ 
 lence of its author. Now the set rules, or established methods 
 wherein the mind we depend on excites in us the ideas of sense, 
 arc called the laws of nature ; and these we learn by experience, 
 which teaches us that such and such ideas are attended with such 
 and such other ideas, in the ordinary course of things.” 
 
 After this digression, I return to my experiments with Slade, 
 and will first describe another experiment, by which the above 
 facts with some modifications were essentially confirmed. 
 
CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 AN EXPERIMENT FOR SKEPTICS.—A WAGER.— SLADE’S SCRUPLES. —A RE¬ 
 BUKE BY THE SPIRITS.—AN UNEXPECTED RESULT.—CAPTIOUS OBJECTIONS. 
 
 In order to satisfy others, who have not personally taken part 
 in the sittings with Slade, of the reality of the phenomena, espe¬ 
 cially of the slate-writing within a locked double, or ‘book,’ slate, 
 I hit upon the following expedient. I had bought at the paper 
 and office-utensil warehouse of F. G. Mylius, in this place (Mar¬ 
 ket No. 13), a great number of such book-slates provided with 
 hinges. These bear inside on the polished wooden frames the 
 manufacture mark “A. W. Faber, No. 38,” are rectangular, and 
 their outer extent amounts to 200 millimetres in length and 184 
 millimetres in breadth. Since the breadth of the wooden frames 
 is 20 millimetres, there remains for the size of the two interior 
 slate surfaces a rectangular surface of 220 millimetres in length, 
 and 144 millimetres in breadth. Since the plane of the wooden 
 frame overtops that of the slate-surface within, on each side, by 
 about 3 millimetres, there is within such a book-slate, when com¬ 
 pletely closed, a free space of 220 millimetres length, 144 milli¬ 
 metres breadth, and 6 millimetres depth. At the side where the 
 hinges arc (which are very solid, of brass, and 20 millimetres 
 broad) the edges of the wooden frame shut together so tight that 
 it is impossible to pass between them any object of appreciable 
 thickness (for example a single sheet of writing-paper), and so 
 to introduce it into the inner space of the closed slate. More¬ 
 over, the interval between the brass hinges — each fastened by 
 
 OS 4) 
 
FASTENING A COOK-SLATE. 
 
 155 
 
 six wooden screws — is only 122 millimetres. On the front side, 
 cacb of the two wooden frames has a pierced cylindrical brass 
 spiral of 15 millimetres length, and 6 millimetres inner aperture; 
 so that, the slate being shut, a slate-pencil can be stuck through 
 both these spirals, by which means the two slates can then be 
 firmly closed together. When thus closed, the space covered by 
 these two spirals on the front side in the middle of the wooden 
 frame amounts, like the hinges, to 40 millimetres, while between 
 the two spirals is still left a small interval of 3 millimetres. On 
 the outside the slates are cased with brown lacquered wood. 
 
 With one of these slates I betook myself, on the 6th May, 1878, 
 in the forenoon, to the residence of my colleague Wach, Professor 
 of Criminal Law in this University, and imparted to him my above- 
 mentioned idea. Professor Wach was entirely of my opinion, that 
 such a slate, if firmly sealed after insertion of a small piece of 
 pencil, and then written upon inside in the presence of Slade, 
 would afford convincing proof, even for persons who had not them¬ 
 selves taken part in such a sitting, of the reality of one of the most 
 remarkable phenomena occurring in Slade’s presence. My col¬ 
 league was also ready immediately to make an experiment him¬ 
 self in the manner proposed. After a small splinter of pencil, of 
 the size commonly used by Slade, was laid upon one of the slates, 
 the slate was shut and then fastened by sticking two strips of 
 paper, 35 millimetres broad, with liquid glue over the shorter frame 
 (184 millimetres long). Oyer the edges of the strips of paper so 
 glued on Professor Wach also placed two seals, on each side, im¬ 
 pressed with his own signet. The strips of paper were intention¬ 
 ally inscribed on the inner side to facilitate discovery in the event 
 of an artificial reunion after tearing. My suggestion to place two 
 seals also on the front side for greater security, my colleague 
 rejected as superfluous, since he was firmly convinced that the 
 securing with four seals completely sufficed already for the dis¬ 
 covery of any artifice. With the slate thus fastened 1 repaired 
 to the residence of my friend Oscar von Hoffmann, and told him 
 my design in this way to induce a conviction of the reality of some 
 
156 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL, PHYSICS. 
 
 remarkable spiritualistic facts even in those who were not taking 
 part in the sittings. I gave it, at the same time, as my opinion 
 that it would be much more convenient for strong mediums to con¬ 
 vince the world of their innocence in this way than by public or 
 private sittings; and that Mr. Slade could render his material 
 existence much less troublesome and full of care by simply allow¬ 
 ing such well-sealed slates to be sent to him, for a fixed price, in 
 order to be returned to the sender when written upon. Of course 
 the whole applicability and demonstrative force of the proceeding 
 depends on the presupposition that it must be possible so to secure 
 such a double slate that it would be impossible for the cleverest 
 conjurer or other artist so to open and fasten it again that this 
 operation could not be detected by the sender of the slate on 
 receiving it back. In principle, indeed, the postal authorities and 
 the public go upon this assumption in the transmission of well- 
 sealed letters containing money. Consequently, for the experi¬ 
 mental application of this proceeding with respect to Slade’s slate¬ 
 writing, the condition that the so sealed slates should not be acces¬ 
 sible to Slade before the sitting, is eoipso dispensed with. For it 
 is just this precaution which is laid aside as superfluous by reason 
 of the secure mode of fastening, so that Mr. Slade, even if he 
 wished fraudulently to open the slate, and after writing on it a 
 message, to close it up again, would find it impossible to do this 
 without discovery. The aim of the whole proceeding would thus 
 fail, if the condition had been imposed upon me to keep the so 
 sealed slates continually under my care and observation till the 
 sitting. After my conversation with Herr Oscar von Hoffmann, 
 I therefore placed that slate quietly in the room in my friend’s 
 house appointed for Slade’s use. Slade himself, §o far as I can 
 recollect, was not at home at that time; and I first saw him again 
 on the evening of that day (6th May, 1878, at about 8.45) for 
 the purpose of a sitting. After some words of greeting I took 
 the slate from the closet * near the table, and explained to Mr. 
 
 * In the frontispiece, showing the sitting-room, will be seen the closet, with 
 other objects on it, among the rest a Mitchell’s 1'olarizing Saccharometer. 
 
THE SLATE ADDITIONALLY SEALED. 
 
 157 
 
 Slade, who now apparently saw the slate for the first time, the 
 object I had in view in regard to it. We both, one after the other, 
 satisfied ourselves, by shaking, that the small piece of pencil was 
 between the surfaces of the two slates. I now laid this slate on 
 that side of the card-table (to Slade’s left) where were the other 
 slates and different objects, with which it remained lying from now 
 continuously under my eyes. Immediately after laying down the 
 slate I sat with Slade at the card-table, on which a brightly-burn¬ 
 ing candle stood. Slade hereupon took up again in his hands the 
 slate referred to, I narrowly and continually watching it, and 
 asked me whether I would not like to affix two seals to both sides 
 of the above-described cylindrical brass spirals, and to impress 
 them with my own signet. Having the latter in my pocket, and 
 a stick of sealing-wax lying on the table among other writing uten¬ 
 sils, I at- once, on the above words of Slade, took the slate with 
 my left hand, drew the signet from my right trouser pocket, laid 
 it on the table, then took the sealing-wax, holding the slate all the 
 time with my left hand, with the wooden edges which had to be 
 sealed turned upwards. Thereupon, holding these edges firmly 
 pressed together with my left hand, I placed on the above-indi¬ 
 cated places two large seals, pn which I pressed my signet. When 
 the wax had become cold, the two w r ooden edges of the closed 
 slates were thus so tightly connected that it was impossible to push 
 a sheet of paper through those parts which were not stuck with 
 paper and seals. Thereupon I laid the slate so fastened upon the 
 table, and indeed at a place at least a foot and a half removed 
 from Slade’s hands, which lay under mine, and were thereby con¬ 
 trolled. I now joined in conversation with Slade, and asked him, 
 among other things, whether he had not yet tried, instead of slate¬ 
 writing, to obtain writing with lead pencil and paper, since this 
 would be an extremely interesting variation of the direct writing 
 produced in his presence. Slade replied that he had not, but was 
 at once ready to make the attempt. We unlinked our hands, and 
 I took from the writing utensils lying ready on the table a half 
 sheet of common letter paper (219 millimetres long, 143 millime- 
 
158 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL niYSICS. 
 
 trcs broad, manufacture mark Bath), folded it again about the 
 middle, as if it had to be put into a large letter-cover 144 milli¬ 
 metres broad and 110 millimetres deep, and laid between the two 
 halves of this sheet a cylindrical piece of graphite of 5 millimetres 
 length, and 1 millimetre thickness, such as is used for lead-pencil 
 holders. I was about to lay this piece of paper, so folded with the 
 bit of graphite lying in the fold, under the above-described sealed 
 slate, when Slade, under control, proposed that I should tear o(F 
 two bits from a comer of the folded paper and keep these by me. 
 I at once recognized the importance of this precaution, to estab¬ 
 lish the identity of the piece of paper in case it was written on, or 
 disappeared and reappeared after some time. Two pieces were 
 therefore, according to Slade’s suggestion, tOm off at the same 
 time from one comer of the folded half sheet, and these I forth¬ 
 with put into the gold-compartment of my purse. Then the slate 
 was again laid on the above-described place on the table, and under 
 it was pushed the folded half sheet of letter paper with the stick 
 of graphite lying between the folds, so that the slate completely 
 covered it. We next laid our hands again upon the table, as 
 before, Slade’s hands firmly covered by mine, and thus prevented 
 from moving. 
 
 We had sat quietly in this position for some time, perhaps five 
 minutes, but nothing worth notice occurred. Slade often shuddered 
 as by a spasm passing through him, but all remained quiet, so that 
 we became impatient, and Slade resorted to his usual expedient of 
 begging information from his spirits, by help of a slate held half 
 under a table. We unjoined our hands for this purpose. Slade 
 took the uppermost of the slates, which always lay in readiness at 
 his left, bit a splinter from a slate pencil, laid it on the slate, and 
 held the latter with his left hand half under the table, while he 
 placed his right hand again under both of mine. We forthwith 
 distinctly heard writing, and very soon afterwards the three ticks 
 (, tick-taclcs ) which announced that the writing was finished. When 
 the slate was drawn out and eagerly examined by us, the follow¬ 
 ing words were upon it,“Look for your paper.” I immediately 
 

 SUCCESS OF T1IE EXPERIMENT. 159 
 
 raised the sealed slate to look for the folded sheet of letter 
 paper pushed under it, with the bit of graphite inside, about 
 five minutes before: both had disappeared. I was startled, 
 indeed, at this unexpected phenomenon, but not particularly aston¬ 
 ished, since I had already in earlier sittings witnessed the disap¬ 
 pearance and reappearance of objects so abundantly and under 
 such stringent conditions that this fact in and for itself offered 
 nothing any longer new for me. I looked often anxiously to the 
 ceiling of the room, in the hope that the paper would fall down, 
 by good chance written upon, but it came not, nor did anything 
 else remarkable happen. I therefore desired Slade again to ask 
 his spirits in the usual manner, which he at once did by means of 
 one of the slates lying ready. The noise of writing was immedi¬ 
 ately heard, and on the slate being withdrawn, was upon it — 
 “The paper is between the slates, and it is written on it" {sic). 
 Highly pleased at the ingenious combination of physical and intel¬ 
 lectual phenomena, I forthwith seized the sealed slate, shook it 
 violently, and in fact distinctly heard the shifting movement of a 
 paper lying- between the sides. Notwithstanding the lateness of 
 the hour (it was about half-past ten o'clock), I repaired at once 
 to the residence of my colleague Wach, in order that the double 
 slate, sealed by him in the morning, might be opened in his pres¬ 
 ence and by himself. However, I did not find Professor Wach 
 at home; I could only leave word that I would come again the 
 next morning. The slate itself I did not let out of my custody, 
 and took it with me to my residence for the night. Previously, 
 I returned to the residence of my friend 0. von Hoffmann, and 
 informed him of my fruitless visit to my colleague Wach. We 
 decided to request the latter the next day to go with us (Von Hoff¬ 
 mann and me) all together to the residence of my colleague 
 Thiersch, there to open the sealed slate and take a view of llie 
 contents. Herr Councillor Thiersch was so far interested in this 
 experiment that he likewise had furnished me with a slate, scaled 
 with the greatest care and circumspection, for application to the 
 purpose named. The continuing and advancing phenomena, and 
 
1 GO 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 the certainty with which they presented themselves in my daily 
 sittings with Slade (morning and evening), for the most part 
 immediately we had taken our places at the table, had so raised 
 my confidence in the success of all my proposed experiments that 
 I engaged without thinking in a wager with my colleague Thiersch 
 to the amount of 300 marks, which in event of failure I engaged 
 to pay in any form he thought proper. On the other hand, if writ- 
 ing appeared within the slates sealed by him, I desired the sum of 
 300 marks due to me to be paid as recompense to Mr. Slade. My 
 colleague accep ed this wager, and, being fond of a good cigar, pro¬ 
 posed that I should pay him the appointed value of the bet in the 
 shape of a thousand cigars. I requested my colleague to send me 
 a slate well sealed to the residence of Herr 0. von Hoffmann, that 
 evening, when, with my mother, I took supper in company with my 
 friend’s family circle and Slade. When the slate in a great sealed 
 packet was brought and delivered to me towards eight o’clock, 
 just as we were sitting at table, I mentioned half jestingly to Mr. 
 Slade the object with which it was sent, also the bet, exclusively 
 in his interest, with my colleague. A certain displeasure was at 
 once apparent in Slade’s features, as if I had done something 
 repugnant to his feelings, and for which I had not been authorized 
 by him. I endeavored to allay his scruples by the remark that I 
 indeed had concluded the wager on my own account, and it rested 
 entirely with me or with him to apply the 300 marks when won to a 
 benevolent object. Slade replied he would very willingly try 
 whether his spirits were ready to write upon that slate, but he 
 refused beforehand acceptance of any of the money in case of 
 success; he begged me, notwithstanding my last remark, to retire 
 from the wager into which I had entered. I accordingly wrote by 
 return a few lines to my colleague Thiersch, informing him of 
 Slade’s decidedly expressed wish, and that under these circum¬ 
 stances the agreement between us had fallen through. I have inten¬ 
 tionally communicated in some detail this rejection by Slade, a3 
 reflecting a trait of his character, in order, on the one hand, to 
 show his opponents the injustice of their allegations that he is a 
 
A WAGER DISAPPROVED. 
 
 1G1 
 
 fraudulent conjurer who wishes to make “ money ” and “ com¬ 
 merce” ( Geschufte ) of his “art;” on the other, to enable my 
 readers to form a judgment, from the contents of the following 
 slate-messages, upon the moral characteristics of Slade’s “four¬ 
 dimensional intelligent beings.” The original English text of this 
 communication, obtained upon a slate on the Gth May, 1878, is 
 word for word as follows: — 
 
 “Dear Friends, — A work is before you of a vast interest to 
 all humanity, and is the best to follow the plans laid down by us 
 in order to develop the good that is to come out of your investiga¬ 
 tion — never make any boast, or never put up money on this holy 
 subject — it is a law not made by men but by God — we will 
 bring you light as fast as you are able to see — and not be blinded 
 by its rays.” 
 
 When, next morning, I made my appearance again at the resi¬ 
 dence of my friend O. von Hoffmann with my sealed slate, in 
 which should be the piece of paper written on with pencil, Slade 
 fell suddenly, at breakfast, into one of his well-known trances; 
 and with closed eyes and altered tone of voice made an address to 
 me in English which, in conclusion, contained statements of what 
 we should find (on opening the sealed double-slate) written with 
 pencil on the paper lying therein. As generally in such cases, 
 Ilerr 0. von Hoffmann wrote down, as far as possible, the words 
 spoken by Slade during his state of trance. They were as fol¬ 
 lows:— * 
 
 “ Persevere firmly and courageously untroubled about thy oppo¬ 
 nents, whose daggers drawn upon thee will turn back upon them¬ 
 selves. The scattered seed will find a good soil,— the minds of 
 good men, although lower natures are not able to value it. In 
 what you have witnessed, others later on will discover new beau¬ 
 ties which escape you at the time. For science it will be an event 
 of unprecedented significance. We rejoice that the atmospheric 
 
 ♦ The original English is not given, so that the German translation has to be 
 re-translated into English, not probably verbally identical with Slade’s language. 
 —Note by Translator . 
 
IG2 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 conditions have been favorable to us, for the conditions must be 
 present, and, in part, prepared. They cannot be explained any 
 more than those, for example, which must immediately precede the 
 falling asleep. Neither in the one case nor in the other can they 
 be compelled. Many enemies of the movement will be its friends, 
 as one of the most important, Carpenter, whose antagonistic dispo¬ 
 sition has been already, now, through thy labors, somewhat shaken, 
 and who later will be thy fellow-laborer in the same field. As 
 regards the manifestation of yesterday evening, you will find upon 
 the paper sentences in three different languages; there are some 
 faults in the German and English. At the lower end you will 
 find circles, by which we ivill denote the different dimensions of 
 space. Tomorrow morning 0. von Hoffmann shall again take part 
 in the sitting, and tomorrow evening something strange will hap¬ 
 pen.” * 
 
 These words were spoken by Mr. Slade, in a trance, as remarked 
 somewhere about ten o’clock in the morning of the 7th May, 1878, 
 quite unexpectedly to us, during a lunch-breakfast, and three hours 
 later I met my colleagues Wach and Herr 0. von Hoffmann at the 
 residence of the Councillor Thiersch, in order to open the slates 
 fastened with six seals, and which had been up to this time continu¬ 
 ally in my custody. When this was done, we found within the 
 piece of paper which had been folded by me the evening before, with 
 the stick of graphite, completely smooth , without showing any other 
 foldings whatever which could denote a forcible insertion through a 
 narrow cleft. This would moreover have been, altogether impossi¬ 
 ble without injury to the seals, since the extent of the edges of the 
 frame left free between my seals and the strips of paper employed 
 for fastening by Professor Wach—quite apart from their tight 
 adhesion to each other amounted at the maximum to only 80 milli¬ 
 metres, whereas the narrowest side of the folded sheet of letter 
 paper amounted to 119 millimetres. The often-mentioned two 
 
 *On the evening of tiie 8th May (from 8.20 to 8.35 o’clock) the two endless 
 leather strips were knotted fourfold under my hands, held over them. See ante, 
 p. 81. 
 
VERIFICATION. 
 
 103 
 
 brass spirals on the front side of the slate clasped one over the 
 other in such a manner that every possibility was excluded of shov¬ 
 ing in a piece of paper from this side. After opening the slate, I 
 took from my purse the two bits of paper torn off on the evening 
 before and satisfied myself and my friends of their perfect adapta¬ 
 tion to the sheet of paper found. All little irregularities of the 
 edges fitted into each other so exactly that not the slightest doubt 
 could prevail that the torn-off bits of paper formed the completion 
 of the half sheet of letter paper. 
 
 I reproduce here the writing obtained, so far as it is possible for 
 me to read it. 
 
 Gotten Vntertreue geht 
 Ueber alle Welt hinaus 
 Bete dass sie (?) kerht 
 Ein in unser urmes Hans. 
 
 Wir mussen alle sterben 
 Ob arm wir oder reieh 
 End warden einst erwerben 
 Das sehone Himmelreich. 
 
 Now, is the \th dimension proven ? We are not working with 
 the slate-pencil or on the slate, as our powers are now in other 
 directions. 
 
 The strange writing is unknown to me. (Javanese'?) 
 
 Thus was fully established the correctness of that which Slade 
 had said in the state of trance about the contents of the writing 
 three hours before opening the slate. If I had not had the sealed 
 slate from the end of the sitting continually in my custody, it 
 would be possible, by disregarding the circumstances described by 
 me above with the utmost exactitude, under which the sheet of 
 paper disappeared and was written upon, just on this account to 
 raise suspicion against Slade, as was in fact the case with my col¬ 
 leagues Thiersch and Wach. Already the circumstance that the 
 writing was not, as expected, with the slate-pencil on the inside of 
 
164 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 the sealed slate had awakened their distrust,'and was looked upon 
 by them as a violation of the conditions prescribed by them. 1 
 myself, who had personally witnessed all the above-described mani¬ 
 festations, and was accustomed to similar deviations, was exceed¬ 
 ingly pleased with the result obtained. It was also in fact far 
 more instructive for me than slate-writing produced between the 
 slates would have been. For of the reality of that fact I had 
 satisfied myself* so often, and under such stringent conditions, 
 partly alone, partly with my honored friend W. Weber, that I my¬ 
 self could have learned absolutely nothing now thereby. On the 
 other hand, through the modification of the experiment, first, my 
 wish was fulfilled of getting writing with lead-pencil upon paper 
 instead of on a slate; secondly, I obtained a splendid proof of the 
 apparent penetration of matter; thirdly, an equally cogent proof 
 of clairvoyance, since Slade, to whom nothing of the contents of 
 the sealed slate could be conveyed by his senses, was nevertheless 
 able to make a correct statement concerning them in his state of 
 trance. 
 
 This admirable economy of instruction, which is evidenced in 
 the whole arrangement and progress of the phenomena that I was 
 so fortunate as to observe in Slade’s presence, proves for me, more 
 than all other circumstances, the high intelligence and friendly 
 disposition of those invisible beings, under whose guidance these 
 experiments were. 
 
 I can here only thankfully express that conviction by again 
 referring to the comparison already made between these unexpected 
 occurrences and the providential fatality observed in life.f 
 
 •Compare the experiment in presence of AV. Weber (described ante. p. 441. in 
 which a long writing was obtained between two slates bound together cross¬ 
 wise, not touched by Slade’s or our hands, these all lying linked together on the 
 table. 
 
 i See ante, p. 99. The passage is repeated in the text from a former volume. 
 'I he phrase" providential fatality ” is not the author’s, but appears to summarize 
 the view expressed in the passage referred to. — Tit. 
 
CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 WRITING THROUGH A TABLE.—A TEST IN SLATE-WRITING CONCLUSIVELY 
 DISPROVING SLADE’S AGENCY. 
 
 The most physically astonishing thing in the experiments hith¬ 
 erto related is, without doubt, the facility with which material 
 bodies apparently pass through each other. Thus, the folded sheet 
 of paper, without betraying the slightest traces of force applied, or 
 of pressure in the transit, had apparently penetrated through a 
 slate covered outside with wood into the interior of the double 
 slate. 
 
 I obtained one of the most remarkable confirmations of this 
 apparent suspension of the law of impenetrability of matter in a 
 sitting on the 9th May, 1878, from eleven to a quarter-past eleven 
 • in the morning. Immediately after I had sat down with Slade 
 at the card-table, I conversed with him at first on the power of his 
 invisible intelligent beings, by means of which material bodies 
 could be apparently penetrated with as much facility as if they 
 were permeable. Slade shared my amazement, assuring me that 
 never until now had such an abundance of this sort of phenomena 
 been observed in his presence. Immediately after this remark he 
 took up with his left hand two slates of equal size from among the 
 slates which lay on the table at his left, and which had been 
 bought and cleaned by myself. He handed me these two slates, 
 and desired me to press the one upon the upper surface, the other 
 against the under surface of the table, with my left hand, so that 
 the thumb of my left hand pressed the upper, my other four fin- 
 
 (165) 
 
ICC TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 gers the under slate, against the flat of the table, as may he seen 
 from the woodcut, Plate VII. Beneath the upper slate on the 
 table, a splinter of slate-pencil had first been laid, so that it was 
 thus completely covered by the upper slate. Slade then placed 
 both his hands on the middle of the table, about a foot from the 
 two slates, and requested me to cover his hands with my right 
 hand. Scarcely was this done when I distinctly heard writing on 
 one of the slates which were pressed firmly by me against the table. 
 After the conclusion of the writing was signified, as usual, by 
 three ticks quickly in succession, I took the slates apart, and of 
 course expected that the one which had been above the table would 
 be that written on, since on the table still lay the bit of pencil in 
 the same place in which I had laid it a minute before. How great 
 was my astonishment to find the under slate written on, on the 
 side that had been turned to the table. Just as if the bit of pen¬ 
 cil had written through the three-quarter inch of oak table, or as 
 if the latter had, for the invisible writer, not been there at all. 
 Upon the slate was the following message in English: — 
 
 “We shall not do much for you this morning,— we wish to 
 replenish your strength for this evening; you will require to be 
 very passive, or we shall not be able to accomplish our work. 
 
 “The table does not hinder us the least,— we could write in 
 this way more often, but people are not prepared for it.” 
 
 On the evening of the same day (6th May, 1878) took place 
 the amazing transport of the wooden rings from a sealed string of 
 catgut to the foot of a wooden table.* 
 
 In order to meet the above suggestion, so repeatedly raised, that 
 Mr. Slade himself writes on slates by means of a small piece of 
 pencil which he has inserted between the nail and the flesh of one 
 of his fingers, I had purchased at the above-mentioned writing- 
 utensil-warehouse of Mylius, half a dozen slates, of such dimen¬ 
 sions that such a manipulation was absolutely impossible. I here 
 presuppose in my readers so much understanding that they con- 
 
 * Ante , p. 105. 
 
Plate VII. 
 
 t 
 
AN EXPERIMENTAL REFUTATION. 
 
 169 
 
 cede to me tha t any one who will write on a slate in the manner 
 indicated, while holding it at the same time, must be able to touch 
 with his fingers all those parts of the slate which are written upon. 
 Now the slates purchased by me possess a length of 334 millime¬ 
 tres, and a breadth of 105 millimetres, with the manufacture mark 
 A. W. Faber, No. 39. Grasp and hold such a slate as one will, 
 even the largest human hand with the fingers completely spread 
 out, cannot by a long way reach all points of the slate-surface. 
 Is therefore such a slate, in the way usually employed by Mr. 
 Slade, written over upon its whole upper surface, so is the above- 
 adduced explanation physically impossible, and therefore out of 
 the question. 
 
 When I repaired with Slade to our sitting-room at the house of 
 my friend 0. von Hoffmann at half-past eight on the evening of 
 the 7th of May, 1878, I took with me several of such slates, 
 bought by myself, and first carefully cleaned, and laid them down 
 before me on the card-table, at which we at once took our places. 
 Scarcely were we seated when Slade fell into a trance, which till 
 then had never happened so immediately after our sitting down, 
 folded his hands and uttered, with altered voice and head upturned, 
 so fine a pr ayer that I never shall forget the impression which the 
 noble speech and the fervor with which the prayer was spoken 
 made upon me. The impression was to me so unexpected, and inter¬ 
 ested me, by the aesthetic in the whole demeanor of Slade with his 
 almost transfigured countenance, so highly, that I did not remember 
 to write down the words. The substance of the prayer was a peti¬ 
 tion to God further to vouchsafe his blessing on our experiments, 
 and to suffer the work undertaken to end happily for the good of 
 mankind. As usual with Slade, on waking out of such states of 
 trance, there was first a rolling motion of the head, and then he 
 awoke suddenly with a spasm, which shook his whole body, and 
 there was always, before opening of the eyes, a peculiar cracking 
 of the muscles of his neck and jaw. Of what lie had spoken in 
 trance, Mr. Slade asserted that he knew absolutely nothing. Those 
 who have been witnesses of the experiments of the magnetiser 
 
170 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 Ilauscn will bo able most clearly to represent to themselves the 
 demeanor of awaking out of these trance-states, if they recall the 
 expression of the “sensitive” at the summons “Awake!” of the 
 magnetiser. 
 
 After Slade awoke, his glance fell upon the newly-added oblong 
 slates. His question, for what purpose they were designed, I 
 answered evasively. Hereupon lie proposed to try again whether 
 spontaneous writing would be produced upon two slates laid one 
 over the other, not touched by either him or me, as in the experi¬ 
 ment which had succeeded so splendidly in the presence of 
 William Weber and me on the 13th December, 1877, when 
 between two slates bound together crosswise with strong pack¬ 
 thread, and which lay quietly on the card-table, neither Slade nor 
 we touching it, a writing was suddenly produced, perceptible to us 
 all.* 
 
 Slade now desired me to take two of the new slates, to lay a 
 splinter of slate-pencil between them, and then to seal these two 
 slates firmly together. I did this, after having again satisfied 
 myself that the slates were perfectly clean. The sealing was in 
 four places on the long sides, and now I laid these slates, with the 
 bit of pencil between them, on the corner of the card-table most 
 remote from our hands. The latter we joined over one another on 
 the table, so that Sla de’s hands were covered by mine, and were 
 thus prevented from moving. Scarcely had this happened when 
 the untouched slates were raised many times upon one of the 
 edges, which was clearly perceived by us both by the bright light 
 diffused by a candle standing on the middle of the card-table. 
 Then the two slates laid themselves down again on the card-table 
 in a somewhat altered position, and now writing between the 
 slates began to be immediately audible, as if with a slate-pencil 
 guided by a firm hand. After the well-known three ticks had 
 announced the conclusion of the writing, we sundered our hands, 
 which up to this time had been continually and firmly joined, 
 
 * Ante, p. CO. 
 
Plate VIII, 
 
LONG MESSAGE ON A NEW SLATE. 
 
 175 
 
 closed the sitting, and betook ourselves with the double-slate, which 
 I had immediately seized, to the next room, where Herr von Hoff¬ 
 mann and his wife awaited us. I n pre sence of these persons the 
 slate shortly before scaled by me was opened. Both sides were 
 completely written over with English. (Plate VIII. represents a 
 photographic reproduction of the two slates in reduced scale. By 
 clapping together the slates, the two inscribed sides, lying one 
 over the other, show the position in which these surfaces wore in 
 fact written over.) Here follows the English original. 
 
 “This is a truth — not for select—but for all mankind — with¬ 
 out respect of rank or race — -no matter how one may be insulted 
 or persecuted by his investigation — it will not take from them the 
 truth, no more than a blind man’s words; by saying there is no 
 sunshine, it does not prevent the sun from shining or bring dark- 
 ness at noonday; the blind man can say there is no sunshine, for 
 he cannot see the light of the sun. The man, that says this is not 
 true, lie says so becau se he has not had proof of its being true; 
 people that cannot see, do not chide them, but help them by show¬ 
 ing them the way to this divine truth; we are not able to say more 
 now as our space is now full; go on in your investigation, and you 
 will receive your reward.” 
 
CHAPTER TWELFTH. 
 
 A “FAULT” IN THE CABLE.— A JET OF WATER.— SMOKE.— “FIRE EVERY¬ 
 WHERE.”—ABNORMAL SHADOWS.—EXPLANATION UPON THE HYPOTHESIS OF 
 THE FOURTH DIMENSION.— A SEANCE IN DIM LIGHT.— MOVEMENT OF OBJECTS. 
 — A LUMINOUS BODY. 
 
 I pass now to the account of further facts observed by me, 
 which prove the intimate connection of another material world with 
 our own, and may be considered iu general as a confirmation of 
 the numerous observations of Mr. Crookes and other physicists. 
 Generally, hitherto, my accounts have had reference to the sud¬ 
 den disappearance and return of solid bodies; the following facts 
 will show the advent ( Eintritt ) of bodies in the fluid and gaseous 
 condition without our being able, from the standpoint of our ordi¬ 
 nary and limited conception of space, to give an answer to the 
 question “whence?” 
 
 On the 7th May, 1878, at fifteen minutes past eleven in the 
 morning, I had taken my place with Slade at our card-table. In 
 order that we might first learn something of what we were to 
 expect, I took one of the slates kept in readiness, cleaned it, laid 
 a small bit of slate-pencil upon it, and handed it to Slade to hold, 
 as usual, half under the edge of the table, that it might be written 
 on by his invisible beings. Slade proposed, as a variety in this 
 proceeding, the following modification. He desired me to press the 
 slate from below against the table with my left hand, as is shown 
 in the above wood-cut,* while he grasped the slate at the other 
 comer with his right hand, and pressed it in the same manner 
 
 *Ante, p. 1GT. 
 
 (l 7 6) 
 
(Copied from a Photograph .) 
 

AN IMPORTANT FACT. 
 
 177 
 
 against the table. His left hand Slade laid extended on the mid¬ 
 dle of the table, and I covered it with my right hand. Scarcely 
 was this done when writing began on the slate; this gave the 
 opportunity of confirming a phenomenon observed also at other 
 times by myself, and frequently by others, that the di stinctly audi¬ 
 ble sound of writing immediately ceased as soon as by raising my 
 right hand I removed it somewhat from Slade’s left. As soon as 
 the connection was re-established, the writing immediately recom¬ 
 menced.* Three ticks on the surface of the slate having declared 
 the writing ended, the following was found on the slate on its 
 upper surface, whicli had been pressed against the table : — 
 
 “ Tomorrow morning wc would be pleased to have Baron II. 
 sit with you—and shall begin a new power, and give you more 
 proof of what can be done; please ask us no question, or make 
 any more requests; we will do all in our power for you — we wish 
 to say more tomorrow morning by controlling the medium.” 
 
 Slade and I then rose to look in a closet near for a somewhat 
 larger piece of slate-pencil, but before this could be done, almost 
 in the moment when we rose, we were sprin kled from above by a 
 sort of drizzle. We were wet on the head, clothes and hands, and 
 the traces of this shower — of perhaps one-fourth of a second dura¬ 
 tion — were afterwards clearly perceptible on the floor of the 
 room. 
 
 Remains of the liquid being especially on the upper side of my 
 right hand, I touched it with the tip of my tougue ; so far as taste 
 could inform, the moisture was pure water. I should mention 
 here, that in the room in which we were there was no vessel with 
 water, although there was in that immediately adjoining. After 
 the above-related facts concerning the transport of solid bodies 
 from three-dimensionally enclosed spaces, such a conveyance of 
 water from one room to another would appear to be a phenome¬ 
 non of the same kind. 
 
 *The translator observed this on several occasions when sitting with Slade in 
 London, in 1870. The same fact is also recorded by the lato Mr. Serjeant Cox in 
 the “ Spiritualist August, 1870. — Tit. 
 
ITS 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 Surprised at this unexpected phenomenon, and yet busied in 
 drying our clothes, we took our places again at the table, and were 
 about to join hands, when suddenly the same thing was repeated 
 almost more strongly. This time the ceiling and walls of the room 
 were also moistened, and there seemed, judging from the direction 
 and form of the traces of water, to have proceeded several differ¬ 
 ent. jets of water at the same time from a point in the middle of 
 the room, perhaps four feet high above our heads; as if a jet of 
 water were to be discharged perpendicularly upon a plane, where 
 it would then spread itself out radially in all directions in this two- 
 dimensional region of space, from the point at which it reached the 
 ground. If one applies this analogy to a jet of water discharged 
 from the fourth dimension into the three-dimensional region of 
 space, the water would then appear at a particular spot of this 
 space, and under suitable conditions must extend itself thence 
 radially to all three dimensions. 
 
 I may further remark that I met with the same phenomenon in 
 just as unexpected a manner at a sitting with Slade at which 
 Herr Gillis of St. Petersburg was present.* Since that sitting 
 took place in the sitting-room of the restaurant-keeper of the Thu- 
 ringian railway station, which Slade had set foot in shortly before 
 for the first time, the possibility of a conjuring apparatus is 
 excluded; and, independently of this, the same phenomenon in the 
 presence of Slade has since been confirmed by numerous other 
 observers. 
 
 On the next morning (8th May, 1878, eleven o’clock) Herr 0. 
 von Hoffmann took part in the sitting; he sat at my right, Slade 
 in his usual place at my left. After some short writings on the 
 slate had been obtained in the usual manner, and Slade had joined 
 his hands with ours again on the middle of the table, there rose 
 suddenly, in three different places above the edge of the table 
 from beneath, a smoke which, judging from the smell, contained 
 some acid of Sulphur and saltpetre. We immediately looked under 
 
 •Referred to, but not described, in un earlier part of the volume.— Tit. 
 
“FIRE EVERYWHERE.” 179 
 
 tbe table, but saw nothing further than the still present remains of 
 this smoke, as after the lighting of a lucifer match. Scarcely had 
 we again joined our hands, to await the further development of 
 the phenomena, when the same thing was repeated yet more 
 strongly. 
 
 Almost at the same time Slade proposed to me to place a can¬ 
 dle under the table, to see if the invisible, beings were able to 
 light it. Thereupon Herr von Hoffmann took two candlesticks, 
 provided with new unused candles, from his writing-table, and 
 placed them both on the floor under the table,* at which we imme¬ 
 diately resumed our seats, and joined our hands in the manner 
 already 'mentioned. After we had waited for some minutes, 
 smoke rose up again from under the table, almost from all sides; 
 and at the same time one of the candlest icks with the candle burn¬ 
 ing hovered up above the edge of the table opposite to me; after 
 a few seconds it sunk down again; and when we locked under the 
 table one of the candles was lighted, and under the middle of the 
 table. To refute the suggestion of a transient hallucination or 
 “unconscious cerebration,” a half sheet of writing paper was taken, 
 held close over the burning candle, and in this way a hole was 
 burned through the paper. I then took a stick of sealing-wax, 
 held it in the same light, and let a part of the melted wax drop on 
 the paper, and then impressed the seal with my signet. The half 
 sheet of paper with the seal under the in-burnt hole is still safe in 
 my possession. After our agreeable astonishment at this unexpect¬ 
 edly successful experiment had somewhat subsided, we sat again 
 at the card-table, and placed the burning light in the middle of it. 
 Scarcely had this been done when Slade fell into a trance, and 
 with closed eyes uttered an address, of which Herr von Hoffmann 
 took down the following words, while Slade was slowly speaking 
 them: — 
 
 “All seems strange that is not understood; fire is everywhere. 
 Think of the Hint from which you draw it; it is in all the ele- 
 
 * Not under the middle of the table, but under the edge at his right, the place 
 furthest removed from Slade’s feet. 
 
ISO 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL TIIVSICS. 
 
 meats around you. Let this light be a beacon light in the path of 
 investigation, let it be symbolical of the light that must break 
 through the darkness of the world. The light of the brain will 
 light thy pathway! This evening we will enter into a new phase; 
 tomorrow morning we will replenish the forces, and in the even¬ 
 ing show you another phase, if the atmosphere be favorable.” 
 
 In fact, our invisible friends kept their promise of the morning 
 in a manner astonishing to us all. 
 
 We were sitting at half-past seven in the evening at the tea- 
 table in the dining-room. On the table burned a large lamp; 
 Slade sat opposite me, his back turned to the window, the cur¬ 
 tains of which were let down. At my left, on one side of the 
 table, sat Frau von Hoffmann; opposite to her, on the other side 
 of the large tea-table, Herr von Hoffmann; I myself had my back 
 turned to the great folding-doors, provided with a brown curtain, 
 by which one entered the room from the corridor. Since in gen¬ 
 eral we had never observed remarkable manifestations with Slade 
 during meals,— I leave quite out of sight particular risings of the 
 table and movement of detached chairs,— we naturally were not 
 expecting anything surprising on this evening. Suddenly, how¬ 
 ever, Frau von Hoffmann cried out, and said that she saw on the 
 wall and on the door to which my back was turned the reflection 
 of a bright light which appeared to issue from a place under the 
 table at which we sat. Slade, who front his place was facing the 
 side of the room referred to, confirmed this assertion. We looked 
 first under the table, examined everything narrowly, but found 
 nothing which could explain the origin of such a light. In the 
 expectation that this phenomenon would be repeated, we fre¬ 
 quently looked at the side in question, and for easier observation 
 I had placed my chair somewhat obliquely. Suddenly this phe¬ 
 nomenon occurred again, and then, immediately afterwards, again. 
 The color of the light was bluish-white, as if proceeding from a 
 suddenly-kindled electrical light, and, what was for me the most 
 remarkable, the shadows of the feet of the table were sharply pro¬ 
 jected, nevertheless, so far as I could ascertain in the short time, 
 
SIIADO W-C ASTING. 
 
 181 
 
 perceptibly of the same size as the objects casting the shadows. 
 Although I might consider this phenomenon, owing to the want of 
 sufficient test-conditions ( Controle) , as a not scientifically estab¬ 
 lished fact, raised above all doubt, yet I hold it, nevertheless, for 
 my scientific duty to make mention of it, in order that other 
 observers may be attentive to its extraordinary importance. 
 
 If, for instance, the origin of this ray was a luminous point in 
 the space beneath the table, the shadows of the feet of the table 
 must, according to the laws of shadow-casting, have been consid¬ 
 erably larger on the wall than the feet themselves, as anyone can 
 easily prove by placing a lighted candle under a table having sev¬ 
 eral feet. The size and form of the shadow-projection of an object 
 approximates, as one knows, more to the size of the shadow-cast¬ 
 ing object the further the source of light is removed from the lat¬ 
 ter, or, in other words, the nearer the rays are to the parallel. The 
 sharpness in the outline of the shadow affords, moreover, an infer¬ 
 ence as to the apparent size of the light-source ; if, for example, 
 the apparent diameter of the sun’s disc were twenty times greater 
 than is in fact the case, the shadows cast by opaque bodies in sun¬ 
 light would be effaced at the edges to a far greater extent than 
 actually happens. Apart from the phenomena of refraction, a 
 body would cast an absolutely sharp shadow of absolutely similar 
 size with the shadow-casting object if the rays proceeded from an 
 infinitely remote point. Since, now, in the above-mentioned case, 
 surprisingly sharp shadows of the feet of the table of perceptibly 
 similar size to the feet themselves were observed, it follows from 
 this that the rays which produced that projection of shadow, must 
 have issued from a light source, first, possessing a very small 
 apparent size, and, secondly, being at a great distance. No place 
 underneath the table could have satisfied the second condition, and 
 since the remaining space of the room was observed, and even the 
 distance of the nearest wall at Slade’s back, would not have suf¬ 
 ficed to comply with the above condition, the said phenomenon 
 would thus point to another place as the point of issue, which can¬ 
 not lie at all in our three-dimensional space. This contradiction is 
 
TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 182 
 
 solved as soon as one presupposes the reality of a four-dimensional 
 region of space, and admits that it is possible for those invisible 
 intelligent beings, who have showed us so much of their powers, 
 also to divert rays of light, which are diffused in the direction of 
 the fourth dimension, so that they fall in our three-dimensional 
 region of space. We are, indeed, likewise able, by reflection and 
 refraction of light, to divert rays in such a manner as to transfer 
 their point of issue to another than the true place. Upon this 
 diversion of rays of light depends most of the physical-optical illu¬ 
 sions. Since similar phenomena of lights are very frequently 
 observed at spiritualistic sittings, and among others Mr. Crookes 
 has also given detailed testimony to them,* I may be permitted to 
 call the attention of other observers to the circumstance mentioned. 
 For approximate determination of the point of divergence of the 
 
 "“Notes of an Inquiry into the Phenomena called Spiritual ,” by William 
 Crookes, F.R.S., London, 1874. Mr. Crookes enumerates and describes thirteen 
 classes of phenomena observed and verified by himself in his own house, and 
 with only private friends present,besides the medium. Of class viii., “Luminous 
 Appearances,” ho says : “These, being rather faint, generally require the room 
 to be darkened. I need scarcely remind my readers again that, under these cir¬ 
 cumstances, l have taken proper precautions to avoid being imposed upon by 
 phosphorized oil, or other means. Moreover, many of these lights are such as I 
 have tried to imitate artificially, but cannot. 
 
 “Under the strictest test conditions, I have seen a solid self-luminous body, 
 the size and nearly the shape of a turkey’s egg, float noiselessly about the room, 
 atone time higher than anyone present could reach standing on tiptoe, and then 
 gently descend to the floor. It was visible for more than ten minutes, and before 
 it faded away it struck the table three times with a sound like that of a hard, 
 solid body. During this time the medium was lying back, apparently insensible, 
 in an easy chair. 
 
 “ l have seen luminous points of light darting about, and settling on the heads 
 of different persons ; 1 have had questions answered by the flashing of a bright 
 light a desired number of times in front of my face. I have seen sparks of light 
 rising from the table to the ceiling, and again falling upon the table, striking it 
 with an audible sound. I have had an alphabetic communication given by 
 luminous flashes occurring before me in the air whilst my hand was mov ng 
 about amongst them. I have seen a luminous cloud floating upwards to a picture. 
 Under the strictest test conditions, I have more than once had a solid, self-lumin¬ 
 ous, crystalline body placed in my hand by a hand which did not belong to any 
 person in the room. In the. liijht 1 have seen a luminous cloud hover over a helio¬ 
 trope on a side table, break a sprig off, and carry the sprig to a lady ; and on some 
 occasions I have seen a similar luminous cloud visibly condense to the form of a 
 hand and carry small objects about.” 
 
l.TCIIT Fl'.OM THE FOURTH DIMENSION. 1 S3 
 
 rays of such luminous phenomena* the following proceeding may 
 he recommended as the simplest. Phenomena of light arc observed 
 by aid of an opera-glass, by the adjustment of which the object 
 may be removed as far as possible. Objects at so short a distance 
 as those in the room require, to appear in sharp outline, a special 
 adjustment of the glass, and this adjustment — the determinate dis¬ 
 tance of the eye-piece from the objective — enables us, according 
 to simple optical laws, to determine the distance of the object, that 
 is, of those luminous points, from which the rays extend themselves 
 in space. If, now, it should really appear, with respect to these 
 spiritualistic luminous phenomena, that the distance of the point of 
 divergence of the rays does not agree with the distance of the 
 luminous object, the difference of these two distances would deter¬ 
 mine the length of a tract ( Strecke ) falling in the fourth dimen¬ 
 sion, and hereby would be made the first step towards quantitative 
 determinations in the four-dimensional field of space. Such an 
 observation would, in the history of transcendental physics, be 
 comparable to the first determination of parallaxes in the history 
 of astronomy, whereby we obtained the first approximate concep¬ 
 tion of the distance of our moon, the nearest to us of the heavenly 
 bodies. 
 
 I may mention that the above-described luminous phenomena 
 were repeated on two other evenings (9th May and 19th May) 
 under similar circumstances, and in presence of others who were 
 sitting at tea at the same table. On these evenings, however, for 
 the sake of a better control over Slade, and for more convenient 
 observation of the shadow-projection on the opposite side, I had 
 taken my place close beside Slade, so that he sat at m 3 ' left. The 
 only difference of the phenomenon from that observed on the first 
 evening consisted in the color of the light being yellowish-red 
 instead of bluish-white. It will therefore be useful in future at 
 similar sittings to have with one a pocket spectroscope, to examine 
 the nature of the light, as opportunity offers. 
 
 Finally, I mention here a sitting with Slade which took place at 
 five o’clock in the afternoon of the 15th December, 1S77, in the 
 
184 
 
 TUANSCENDKNTAt PHYSICS. 
 
 usual sitting-room of the house of my friend 0. von Hoffmann, 
 whose wife was present. It was tho only one in which the room 
 was partially darkened, to try whether in Slade’s presence, as in 
 that of the young lady of fifteen (Miss Cook), a human form, or 
 at least a “phantom form,” as Mr. Crookes described it in his 
 book, under the heading “ Phantom Forms and Faces,” would bo 
 evolved. In order to improvise a cabinet, a string was drawn 
 obliquely across the part of the room opposite my usual place, at 
 about two metres * above the floor, and of a breadth corresponding 
 to that of the edge of the table, a dark green curtain being fixed to 
 it. Slade sat at his usual place, at his right Frau von Hoffmann, 
 I next, and Herr von Hoffmann at my right. We had already 
 laid our hands, linked together, on the table, when I remarked it 
 was a pity we had forgotten to place a small hand-bell on the 
 table. At the same moment it began ringing in the corner of the 
 room at my right front, at least two metres from the middle of the 
 table; and the room being faintly illuminated by gaslight from the 
 street, we saw a small hand-bell slowly hover down from the stand 
 on which it stood, lay itself down on the carpet of the floor, and 
 move itself forward by jerks, till it got under our table. Here 
 immediately it began ringing in the most lively manner, and while 
 we kept our hands joined together as above described on the table, 
 a hand suddenly appeared through an opening in the middle of 
 the curtain with the bell, which it placed on the middle of the 
 table in front of us. I hereupon expressed the wish to be allowed 
 to hold that hand once firmly in my own. I had scarcely said this, 
 when the hand appeared again out of the opening, and now, while 
 with the palm of my left hand I covered and held fast both Slade’s 
 hands, with my right I seized the hand protruded from the open¬ 
 ing, and thus shook hands with a friend from the other world. It 
 had quite a living warmth, and returned my pressure heartily. 
 After letting go the hand, I reached it a slate, and challenged it 
 to a small proof of strength; I would pull to one side, and it 
 
 •About G 1-2 feet.—Ta, 
 
A LUMINOUS FORM. 
 
 185 
 
 should pull to the other, and we would see which of us kept the 
 slate. This was done, and in the frequent give-and-take, I had 
 quite the feeling of an clastic tug, as though a man had hold of 
 the slate at the other side. By a strong wrench I got possession 
 of it. I again remark tha t d uring all these proceedings Mr. Slade 
 sat quietly before us, both his hands being covered and detained 
 by my left hand, and by the hands of the two others. 
 
 I may here point out that such a pull on one side by a human 
 hand or other solid body, as a slate, would be a violation of the 
 principle of the equality of action and reaction if no material 
 object undergoing the equal, but resisted, pull were to be found in 
 three-dimensional space. But no such object being to be found in 
 the space ordinarily perceivable by us (in unserem gewohnlichen 
 Auschauungsraum ), it must occupy a position in absolute space, 
 falling in the next higher region of space. Only in this manner 
 can the apparent contradiction, here introduced, of a fundamental 
 law of the interaction of bodies, be satisfactorily solved for our 
 understanding. 
 
 While I was still busied with the above observations and experi¬ 
 ments, there suddenly emerged from above the upper border of the 
 curtain, a half circular mass gleaming in phosphorescent light, of 
 the size of a human head. It moved slowly to and fro at the 
 same height from one side of the curtain to the other frequently; 
 and gave us all the impression of appertaining to a luminous form 
 close behind the curtain. Approaching that side of the curtain at 
 which Slade sat, this luminous form became visible in its whole 
 extent. Slade drew back, evidently alarmed, whereat we laughed, 
 and the form immediately hovered back behind the curtain, and 
 with the same speed moved to the other side, here also emerging 
 up to the middle. We could^not distinguish features or limbs. In 
 brightness and color the phosphorescent light resembled that 
 observed in the so-called “after shining” Geissler’s tubes:. 1 
 much regretted that I had not at hand my pocket spectroscope, in 
 order more closely to examine the nature of the emitted light. 
 
CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. 
 
 PHENOMENA DESCRIBED BY OTHERS. 
 
 The foregoing comprises in essentials all the phenomena which 
 I have myself observed in Slade’s presence during a series of more 
 than thirty sittings and other meetings. The precautionary meas¬ 
 ures which I had taken on these occasions were such that, for my 
 understanding, every possibility of deception or subjective illusion 
 was excluded. I do not, however, assert that these measures will 
 be regarded as sufficient by the understanding of other men. I 
 am therefore quite ready and willing to receive instruction and 
 enlightenment as to better precautions than those adopted by me, 
 provided that my advisers have given other proofs of intellectual 
 competence superior to my own, to induce me to defer to them and 
 to recognize them as judges of facts of observation which they 
 have not seen but have learned for the first time from my descrip¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Before Mr. Slade left Germany, he visited Annathal in Bohe¬ 
 mia, by special invitation from Herr J. E. Schmid, the owner of 
 a factory there. In the family of this gentleman he found the 
 most friendly reception, and remained a week. Herr Schmid has 
 already published a short account in a letter to Psyschische Stu- 
 dien (July, 1878). For the following detailed description I am 
 indebted to Herr Heinrich Gossmann, Herr Schmid’s bookkeeper, 
 who witnessed all the phenomena during Slade’s residence with 
 Herr Schmid, and gave me a verbal account of them when on a 
 visit to Lcipsic. In accordance with my request, and by permis- 
 
 (186) 
 
 
VARIOUS PHENOMENA. 
 
 187 
 
 sion of Herr Schmid, he afterwards furnished me the following 
 written account.* 
 
 “Mr. Slade arrived here on the 14th May, last year (1878), 
 hut was too tired by his journey to give us a sitting on that day. 
 Notwithstanding which, to the surprise of us all, on his entering 
 the room, we heard thundering blows on the sofa, for which Mr. 
 Slade could certainly have made no preparations, as he had never 
 been in the room before. To the question whether this was a mani¬ 
 festation, Mr. Slade replied in the affirmative, remarking that the 
 spirits could uot wait till the next day to announce themselves, and 
 that he had often found this to be the case where harmony pre¬ 
 vailed. We took our seats at the table, without intending a regu¬ 
 lar sitting, and had scarcely done so when all at once a seat at 
 some distance, near the piano, put itself in motion, and came up to 
 the table of its own accord. Continually, as our astonishment 
 increased, we did not neglect to watch Mr. Slade closely and atten¬ 
 tively. I was sitting next him, and after some time was swiftly 
 and unexpectedly swung round in a half circle, with the chair on 
 which I sat, so that I nearly fell off it. Others at the table were 
 now touched, sometimes softly, sometimes powerfully, and to me 
 this happened often. . . . 
 
 “ One manifestation now followed another, chairs moved up to 
 the table, touches on our knees were constantly felt, a knife and 
 fork were put across each other on a cloth at the lower end of the 
 table, as if they were cutting meat, then from another side of the 
 table a fork flew off on to the floor in a slight curve. 
 
 “ On the next and two following days seances were held in 
 another room at a table appropriated to them. Many persons, 
 skeptics and the like, to whom spiritualism was as yet unknown, 
 took part in them. A chain was formed, and we gave Mr. Slade 
 a slate which he had never had in his hands before. He laid on it 
 a small bit of pencil, and asked the spirit of his deceased wife to 
 tell them, by direct writing, if it was possible for any of the departed 
 
 •The introductory and concluding parts of this letter are here omitted, as not 
 material.—T b. > 
 
188 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 relatives of the family to communicate in the same way, to which an 
 affirmative answer was returned. Mr. Slade now put the pencil on 
 the table, showed us that the slate was quite clean and without writ¬ 
 ing, and then laid it on the table over the pencil. Writing under 
 the slate was at once heard; we could distinctly follow the scrib¬ 
 bling and taking off of the pencil. This sitting, as all the rest, was 
 in bright daylight; the slate lay there free, before all our eyes, when 
 we formed the chain, and Slade laid one hand on the slate. The 
 conclusion of the spirit-writing was denoted by three sharp raps; 
 and the slate being lifted up, we found the whole under side of it 
 written over, first by an address from Slade’s wife in English, and 
 next by a message in German from a spirit-relative. A communi¬ 
 cation from the deceased father of the lady of the house was especi¬ 
 ally striking, as his characteristics and habitual expressions when on 
 earth were quite distinctly recognizable in it. Besides the great 
 resemblance of the writing on the slate to that of the deceased, his 
 identity was apparent from a certain manner of speech, and such 
 phrases as ‘ We must all die,’ which came upon the slate. And 
 in many of these communications the like resemblances were 
 observable. Among others, the brother of the lady of the house 
 communicated, and in verse, a custom he had when on earth, 
 especially in writing to his sister, whom he generally addressed in 
 rhymes. She recognized her brother very clearly in this, and on 
 comparing the writing with that of his letters, just the same strokes 
 were found in them. This communication was obtained in the 
 following manner: — 
 
 “ A young lady (a relative of the family) who sat at the lower 
 end of the table, opposite Mr. Slade, took in her left hand, by his 
 direction, two slates connected by binges; a small pencil was laid 
 between them, and she joined her right hand to the chain of hands 
 on the table. Mr. Slade sat quite away from the slates, and his 
 hands were likewise joined in the chain; and under these condi¬ 
 tions, to our great astonishment, writing began between the slates. 
 The young lady, according to Mr. Slade, was mediumistic, there¬ 
 fore it was that she could obtain writing while holding the slate 
 
SLATE-WRITINO. 
 
 189 
 
 herself alone, which was not the case with the others; she also 
 jperceived the pressure upon the under side of the slate while it 
 was being written upon. . . . 
 
 “ Such direct writings covered at least twelve slates, which were 
 bought here, and came to Mr. Slade’s hands for the first time 
 before all eyes, without bis having any possible opportunity for 
 * preparing ’ them, or for writing upon them without continual 
 observation. Mr. Slade often held the slate quite sloping, at an 
 oblique angle, and yet the pencil upon it did not slip to the edge, 
 but wrote quietly on. The supposition one so often hears that the 
 slates are ‘ prepared ’ by Mr. Slade will not stand examination, 
 because he washes out the answers, given to his questions by the 
 spirits , on the slate, which (the same one) is again written upon; 
 this also, as always, happening under observation. When once 
 during a seance, at which writing was going on under a slate, one 
 of the circle raised his hand, quietly and without being observed, 
 from that of his neighbor, the writing suddenly ceased, the con¬ 
 nection being thus disturbed. Mr. Slade looked up, and, seeing 
 what had happened, requested the gentleman referred to to try 
 the experiment frequently, and each time the writing ceased, and 
 began again as soon as the chain was re-closed. There were 
 many other manifestations. For instance, a bell under the table 
 came out of its own accord, ringing, rose high up in the air, and 
 let itself gently down, still ringing, on the table. A slate placed 
 under the table was shivered into small pieces, as by lightning, 
 and the fragments flew in a curve over our heads, and so on to the 
 floor. During a seance another heavy table, which stood at some 
 distance from the one at which we sat, came with a rush of extra¬ 
 ordinary speed and force to the side of a gentleman among us, 
 whom we thought must have been hurt; but it only touched him 
 quite gently. The spirits gave to a hydropathic doctor, who was 
 present, a token of esteem for his practice by wetting him with a 
 jet of water, which came from a corner of the ceiling opposite him. 
 Just afterwards my knee was tightly grasped by a wet hand, so 
 that I felt the wet lingers sharply, and on examination I found tbo 
 
100 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PIIVSIC3. 
 
 moisture on my trouser. (Mr. Slade, during this time, had hi3 
 hands linked in the chain formed by those of all present.) 
 
 “Another interesting fact is that when my Principal (Herr 
 Schmid), Mr. Slade, and I were holding our hands lightly on the 
 table, the latter went up, hovering in the air, and turned itself 
 over above our heads, so that its legs were turned upwards. 
 
 “What an enormous force Mr. Slade must have applied to 
 evoke these manifestations deceptively is shown by the following 
 case. When I was sitting a little distance from him, he likewise 
 sitting, he stretched out his arm and laid his hand on the back of 
 my chair. All at once I was raised, with the chair, swaying in 
 the air about a foot high, as if drawn up by a pulley, without any 
 exertion whatever by Slade, who simply raised his hand, the chair 
 following it as if it were a magnet. This experiment was often 
 repeated with others. 
 
 “ Mr. Slade held an accordion under the table, grasping it by 
 the strap at the side; his other band lay on the table. Immedi¬ 
 ately we heard the falling boards move, and a fine melody was 
 played. 
 
 “ The experiment with two compasses was also tried; these were 
 placed close together, and when Mr. Slade held his band over 
 them, the magnetic needle in one of the compasses began quickly 
 swinging round in complete rotations, while the needle in the 
 other compass remained at rest, and so also conversely. Accord¬ 
 ing to the laws of physics known hitherto, if Mr. Slade had been 
 secretly applying a magnet, as is so frequently alleged by oppo¬ 
 nents, both needles must have been set in motion, as they were 
 quite close together, yet this was not the case. 
 
 “ One of the most wonderful manifestations was the following : 
 Mr. Slade stood in the middle of the room, I on his right, on 
 my right my Principal, and behind us, at the window, stood a 
 young lady. While in this position we were conversing, and my 
 Principal was about to go into the next room to fetch something, 
 a heavy stone, as if originating in the air, fell before all our eyes 
 with a very heavy blow upon the floor, so that a regular hole was 
 
SLATE-WRITING AT BERLIN. 
 
 101 
 
 made in the latter; the stone fell quite close to my Principal's 
 feet. Immediately afterwards there fell a second stone, the fall 
 of which, as of the first, we saw very distinctly. This did not 
 happen close to Slade, for I and my Principal were both between 
 him and the place. 
 
 “ Occasionally at a sitting we saw a materialized hand; it would 
 tear the slate forcibly out of Slade’s hand under the table ; it 
 appeared suddenly at the side of the table, and quickly vanished 
 again; it was a strong hand, quite like one of flesh and blood. 
 
 “ A slate was regularly wrenched out of my Principal’s hand ; 
 it then made the round of the table, hovering free in the air 
 before all eyes . Slade came here alone without any com¬ 
 
 panion.” 
 
 Professor Zdllner next refers to the manifestations obtaiued 
 through Slade at Berlin, of which he had .received information 
 from visitors and correspondents. Among the slates which were 
 brought or forwarded to him was one w ritte n upon in six differ¬ 
 ent. languages, and which Professor Zdllner ascertained, upon 
 examination, to be free from the “preparation” by artificial means 
 so often suggested as the probable explanation of the long sen¬ 
 tences coming upon apparently clean slates during Slade’s seances. 
 In this ease, moreover, as will be seen, t he sl ate was brought by 
 the investigators, and was never in Slade’s custody at all; nor was 
 there the smallest opportunity afforded for effecting an exchange. 
 The correspondent from whom the author received the account was 
 a “Herr Director Inching,” of Berlin, who obtained the details 
 from the owner of the slate, in whose presence it was written upon, 
 with full authority to transmit them to Professor Zdllner for pub¬ 
 lication, with the slate. Although it would have been preferable 
 to have had the account direct from this gentleman, it appears 
 from the correspondence in the text (which it is not thought neces¬ 
 sary to reproduce literally and at length in this translation) that 
 the statement was submitted to him for correction, was in fact cor¬ 
 rected by him, and is thus, as here given, in effect his own. lie 
 was a Ilerr Klccberg, residing at No. 5 Schmied Street, Berlin, 
 
 O’ O 77 
 
192 
 
 TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 
 
 and “'of a very respectable firm” in that city. He and a friend 
 of his, a “ thorough skeptic,” took two slates to Slade. One slate 
 was covered by the other, and beyond putting a piece of slate-pen¬ 
 cil between them, Slade never touched them, at all. Herr Klee- 
 berg and his friend then held the two slates, so joined together by 
 their hands, above the table, suspended over it, in full daylight, 
 and writing at once began. When it was over, and the slates 
 were separated, the lower one was found covered with writing, as 
 shown in Plate IX. One long passage was in English, five short 
 sentences in French, German, Dutch, Greek, and Chinese (the 
 latter according to the judgment of a student of Oriental lan¬ 
 guages), respectively. They were as follows: — 
 
 1. Look about over the great mass of human intelligence and 
 see for what these endowments are given to man. Is it not to 
 unfold (in) the great truths God has embodied in him ? Is it not 
 mind that frames your mighty fabrics ? — the soul that is endowed 
 with powers. Shall he not go on unfolding these powers as God 
 has sent His angels to do? Must man pass his judgments on God’s 
 laws that lie does not understand? We say No. 
 
 2. Es ist mir schmeichelhaft Sie bedienen zu konnen. (I am 
 proud to be able to serve you.) 
 
 3. Que la grace soit avec vous tous qui etes en Jesus Christ. 
 Amen. (The grace of God be with you all who are in Jesus 
 Christ. Amen.) 
 
 4. Ol novrjQOi sjV to x e()8oi j uovov dnof/dnovaiv. (Bad men 
 look only to their own advantage.) 
 
 5. Die het zaadije wasdom geeft En verzadigt al wat leef’t. 
 (Who to the seed-com increase gives nourishes all that therein 
 lives.) 
 
 The last sentence, supposed to be Chinese, was not understood. 
 

APPENDIX A. 
 
 T HE VALUE OF TESTIMONY IN MATTERS EXTRAOR¬ 
 DINARY.* 
 
 BY CHARLES CARLETON MASSEY. 
 
 The proposition that evidence, to command assent, should be 
 proportioned to the probability or improbability of the fact to be 
 proved is constantly appealed to as the rational foundation of 
 skeptical or negative judgment. I ask you this evening to come 
 to close quarters with it, to consider what it means, and whether it 
 is legitimately applied. There are perhaps no two words iu the 
 language more liable to abuse, or more frequently abused, than 
 probability and the word expressing that upon which probability 
 is said to be founded, namely, experience; for there is here no 
 question of those definitely-ascertained probabilities which result 
 from the computation of known chances, and which are, therefore, 
 not matters of experience at all. It is by reference to these, how- 
 "cver, that we shall have the principle in question most clearly 
 before us. Suppose, for example, evidence of such a character 
 and amount that the chance against its being forthcoming for what 
 is not true is as 5 to 1, and that it is given for an event against 
 which the chance is as 10 to 1, the resulting probability is 2 to 
 1 against the evidence. Now it is said that the inductions from 
 experience afford us a similar, though not equally definite, meas¬ 
 ure of proportion between the probability of facts and the value of 
 evidence. 
 
 *A Paper read before the Psychological Society of Great Britain,on Thursday, 
 June Cth, 1878. . 
 
 097 ) 
 
198 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 And as to a large class of alleged facts, we arc met at the out¬ 
 set of our inquiry liy the previous question, whether testimony in 
 relation to them has any value whatever? The probability in 
 favor of testimony, even at its best, it is said, can never equal that 
 which results from the uniform negative experience of mankind. 
 Urn- faith in testimony is based on the same principle of experi¬ 
 ence, and therefor e tes timony can never prove a fact which is con¬ 
 trary to a wider induction. This is the extreme application .of the 
 principle as we lind it in Hume’s celebrated argument against 
 miracles. It is not quite the same, though practically it has the 
 same effect, as that absolute a priori denial of the possibility of 
 the facts attested to which few scientific minds will explicitly com¬ 
 mit themselves. It does not say that our inductions as to what is 
 possible, or in rerum naturd, are certain, but that they have a 
 greater force - than any testimony which can be adduced against 
 them, which therefore is not entitled even to consideration. 
 
 Now, in the first place, I would invite you to consider when it 
 can and when it cannot be said with accuracy that an alleged fact 
 contradicts experience. In one sense, of course, it cannot be accu¬ 
 rately said at all. Your experience that contact with fire has 
 always burned you remains unchallenged and uncontradictod by 
 any assertion of mine that on one occasion or on half-a-dozen occa¬ 
 sions it has not burned me. But experience is a term used loosely 
 to denote our inductions from experience; and this is the first 
 thing I ask you to mark. What, again, is a fact in relation to 
 experience? If you and I have seen the same object, and you 
 describe it as of one apparent dimension, and I describe it as of 
 another and vastly different apparent dimension, does my experi¬ 
 ence contradict yours? Not necessarily; for we may have both 
 described the apparent object abstracted from the conditions of 
 distance under which we severally saw it. This tendency to 
 abstract from the context of experience, in other words, to ignore 
 conditions, is just what distinguishes the popular from the scientific 
 conception of a fact. And until we know all the conditions under 
 which anything is said to have occurred, we cannot properly speak 
 of it as opposed to our own experience. The next remark I have to 
 make is that, d priori, we do not know which of the circumstances 
 attending even the most familiar facts of experience are conditions 
 and which arc entirely irrelevant. Transport yourself to an imag¬ 
 ined infancy of experience, and you could not predict from the 
 fact that lire had burned you in one place or time that it would 
 bum you in another, or that it would burn me. .Difference of 
 place, time, or person might, for all you could know beforehand, 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 199 
 
 provide entirely new conditions. Now if it was asserted, as in 
 tact it is asserted with regard to a large class of alleged phe¬ 
 nomena, that personality, that spccalities of human organism do 
 introduce new conditions, resulting in these unusual phenomena 
 under certain other conditions not scientifically known, tliis would 
 not be and is not to contradict the common experience which, ex 
 hypothesi, knows nothing of these exceptional personalities. Bear¬ 
 ing in mind, then, that no experience or amount of experience has 
 the least relevance to an alleged fact except under the exact con¬ 
 ditions, inclusive and exclusive, of its occurrence, and that we can¬ 
 not say beforehand what are conditions and what are not, the 
 experience argument, in relation to the phenomena in question, 
 resolves itself into this: that inasmuch as the alleged personalities 
 which, as the one constant element must be regarded as the condi¬ 
 tion, are exceptional and abnormal, therefore their existence is so 
 improbable that testimony cannot prove it. What is this but to 
 say that the abnormal can never be proved by testimony V Nay, 
 more, that testimony can never make such a provisional and primu 
 facie case as to justify a reasonable man in seeking for the higher 
 evidence of his own experience, in other words, in investigating 
 for himself. Nor such a primu. facie case is a probable case, and 
 here it is said that the balance of probability is largely against the 
 fact. I am endeavoring to get at the precise point in issue; and 
 1 say that the man who exclaims “ Objects moving without phys¬ 
 ical contact! writing read without eyes! matter passing through 
 matter! writing without hands! these things are opposed to all 
 human experience! ” is talking wildly and loosely. What, if he 
 would condescend to be exact and logical, he really means is that 
 it is opposed to a negative induction from the absence of experi¬ 
 ence that individuals should exist who can provide new conditions 
 of physical operation. But the question is, is this induction to 
 he regarded as final? And as we are dealing with the experience 
 school solely with its own weapons, let us see what experience says 
 to that; and I should have thought that if there was one induc¬ 
 tion from experience historically and scientifically valid it was that 
 other inductions from experience — and especially negative induc¬ 
 tions— are not final. Our widest inductions are precisely those 
 which we make in the infancy of experience and science. Scie nce 
 advances by the discovery of new conditions which limit general 
 rules. What was rejected as abnormal yesterday is found to have 
 a law of its own today. In a word, if the widest and highest, 
 experience of mankind can afford us a canon of probability, it is 
 tliis—that testimony, otherwise sufficient, to the exceptional, the 
 
•200 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 abnormal, tbc strange, and the new is probably true, and not 
 probably false. Set side by side the cases in which new facts of 
 nature have been asserted and proved to be true with the cases in 
 which they have been well asserted and yet disproved, or not 
 proved, and who that is acquainted even superficially with the his¬ 
 tory of science and discovery would hesitate to say which list 
 affords us the best foundation for an induction ? 
 
 I submit, then, as the results of the foregoing considerations — 
 
 1. That testimony to the extraordinary, of which the phenomena 
 referred to may be taken as a type, is falsely opposed to experi¬ 
 ence. 2. That what it is opposed to is simply a negative induc¬ 
 tion from the absence of experience. 3. That a more general 
 experience teaches us that such negative inductions cease to be 
 probably true so soon as they are opposed to testimony of a char¬ 
 acter sufficient to establish any other fact. 
 
 It is a great satisfaction to me to be able to state that since the 
 above was written I have found the distinction between positive 
 and negative experience, and the character of the inductions from 
 caeh„very ably and elaborately explained in a long note by Mr. 
 Starkio, in his Treatise on the Law of Evidence. I do not quote 
 this note in extenso, because I hope the distinction is already obvi¬ 
 ous to all. Mr. Starkic’s observations refer expressly to Hume’s 
 principle of incredulity; and he shows, as Mr. A. R. Wallace has 
 also shown, that pushed to its logical consequences that principle 
 would be absolutely fatal to all scientific progress. One could 
 almost imagine the following passage to have been written in pro¬ 
 phetic protest against the appeals to Hume by the skeptics who 
 treat with contumely and derision every testimony to the occult 
 phenomena of the present day: “Experience, then, so far from 
 pointing out any unalterable laws of nature, to the exclusion of 
 events or phenomena which have never before been experienced, 
 and which cannot be accounted for by the laws already observed, 
 shows the very contrary, and proves that such new events or phe¬ 
 nomena may become the foundation of more enlarged, more general, 
 and therefore more perfect laws.” And in the text Mr. Starkio 
 says: “ As experience shows that events frequently occur which 1 
 would antecedently have been considered most improbable, and 
 as their improbability usually arises from want of a more intimate 
 and correct knowledge of the causes which produced them, mere 
 improbability can rarely supply a sufficient grouud for disbeliev¬ 
 ing direct and unexceptionable witnesses of the fact where there 
 was no room for mistake.” 
 
 And again: “ Mr. Ilume’s conclusion is highly objecti ble 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 2C1 
 
 in a philosophical point of view, inasmuch as it would leave phe¬ 
 nomena of the most remarkable nature wholly unexplained, and 
 would operate to the utter exclusion of all inquiry Estoppels are 
 odious even in judicial investigations, because they tend to exclude 
 the truth; in metaphysics they are intolerable. So conscious was 
 Mr. Hume himself of the weakness of his general and sweeping 
 position that, in the second part of his 10th section, he limits his 
 inference in these remarkable terms: ‘ I beg the limitations here 
 made may be remarked when I say that a miracle can never be 
 proved so as to be the foundation of a system of religion ; for I 
 own that otherwise there may possibly be miracles or violations of 
 the usual course of nature of such a kind as to admit of proof 
 from human testimony.' ” 
 
 Now this limitation, by which Hume reduced the breadth of his 
 original proposition, is simply a too arbitrary application of a prin¬ 
 ciple of criticism of testimony, in itself entirely unobjectionable, 
 and upon which, indeed, it is one of the objects of this paper most 
 strongly to insist. Obviously, what is regarded in the proposition 
 thus limited is not the improbability of the fact at all, but the 
 temptation of the witnesses to deceive, or their liability to be 
 deceived. That is a legitimate and necessary consideration, result¬ 
 ing from our experience of human motives and of the ell'ect of pre¬ 
 possessions, in the estimation of testimony. If the object of the 
 witness, as of the early Christian, for example, is to persuade the 
 world of the divine authorship of a religion, that object, and the 
 heat and zeal with which it would probably be pursued, might un¬ 
 doubtedly supply a motive, proper to be taken into account, for 
 statements of miracles performed by the author of the religion. 
 And so the preconception of Ilis divine powers would predispose 
 to a facility of accepting appearances as miraculous, quite incon¬ 
 sistent with the cool and scientific observation which we desiderate 
 in the witnesses. These considerations undoubtedly go to weaken 
 the force of testimony; whether they do so in such a degree as to 
 deprive it of all value is really a ma ter of individual opinion, and 
 certainly, apart from the circumstances of each case, cannot pre¬ 
 tend to the dignity of a universal principle of judgment, llurne 
 has few greater admirers than myself; but I am forced to the con¬ 
 clusion that the celebrated Essay on Miracles, which he put forth 
 with almost exulting confidence, is one of the weakest, the most 
 ill considered, and the most inconsistent pieces of reasoning with 
 which I am acquainted. It has been completely overthrown by 
 three writers who have dealt with it, and of whom the later do not 
 appear to have met with the earlier refutations,— by Mr. Starkic, 
 
202 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 by Mr. Babbage, in the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, and by Mr. 
 A. II. Wallace, in the Introduction to his Miracles and Modern 
 Spiritualism. 
 
 I have endeavored to point out the fallacy of what seems to me 
 a false application of the principle that evidence should be propor¬ 
 tioned to probability. I will now attempt to state, in an abstract 
 form, what 1 submit is its true result in our experience of testi¬ 
 mony. If it is possible to assign a ratio of probability to a fact, 
 not being one subject to exact computation, it is also possible to 
 assign a similar ratio to the value of evidence, for the value of 
 evidence is just the probability against its being forthcoming for 
 that which is not a fact. If it is legitimate to consider the proba¬ 
 bility of a fact apart from the evidence for it, so it is legitimate to 
 consider the general value of a particular quality and amount of 
 testimony apart from the probability of any special fact to which 
 it may be applied. No antecedent preference is duo to the one 
 probability over the other if they arc equal, but the result is that 
 precisely in proportion as both the fact is improbable and the evi¬ 
 dence is probable, you will not get the evidence for the fact, that 
 is to say, just in that proportion you are unlikely to get it. And 
 if we find, and find often, evidence which we deem to be good for 
 a fact which we deem to be improbable, of one of two things we 
 may be certain, either we have miscalculated the value of the evi¬ 
 dence or the probability of the fact. Now, in relation to facts new 
 to our experience, to facts of which the proof of their possibility 
 is also the proof of their existence, which of these alternatives is 
 the most probable ? Whatever induction experience may afford of 
 what may be called the abstract value of evidence — that is with¬ 
 out regard to the antecedent probabilities of the fact to be proved 
 — is positive and affirmative. It is constantly being verified. It 
 depends on tests and criteria, the efficiency of which arc also being 
 constantly guaranteed by experience. How stands the case with 
 that other negative induction to which it is opposed? The proba¬ 
 bility in its j'avor is just the probability that good evidence will 
 •not be forthcoming to contradict it. It is a probability which arises 
 entirely from the absence of evidence. It is impossible to con¬ 
 ceive more vicious reasoning than that which would make it a 
 ! ground of rejecting evidence. It depends on the proposition : “If 
 this were true, we should have had the evidence before” — which 
 amounts to this, as has been pointed out by Mr. Starkie, and by 
 Mr. A. H. Wallace, in the admirable Introduction to his book, 
 Miracles and Modern Spiritualism, that no new fact can ever bo 
 proved by testimony. And I cannot conclude this part of the 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 20.1 
 
 argument hotter than by quoting that writer’s neat dilemma in 
 reply to Hume: “If the fact were possible, such evidence as we 
 have been considering would prove it ; if it were not possible, that 
 evidence would not exist.” 
 
 Something remains to he said on the effect of cumulative evi¬ 
 dence. The late Mr. Babbage, in the Ninth Bridgwater Treatise , 
 has worked out an elaborate mathematical refutation of Hume’s 
 principle. And he concludes that if any definite measure of 
 improbability, however large, he adopted, that is to say, if the 
 improbability be short of infinite (and no one has ever contended 
 that it is this, or, in other words, that the fact is impossible ),_a 
 miracle, so called, can be proved hy testimony. Taking m as the 
 measure of improbability, lie says, “ It follows therefore, that how¬ 
 ever large m may be, however great the quantity of experience 
 against the occurrence of a miracle (provided only that there are 
 persons whose statements are more frequently correct than incor¬ 
 rect, and who give their testimony in favor of it without collusion), 
 a certain number, n, can always be found, so that it shall he a 
 greater improbability that their unanimous statement shall he a 
 falsehood than that the miracle shall have occurred.” Taking the 
 case of only six witnesses who will speak the truth, and are not 
 themselves deceived in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, Mr. 
 Babbage deduces the result that the improbability of their inde¬ 
 pendent concurrence in testifying to what is not a fact is five 
 times as great as an assumed improbability of two hundred thou¬ 
 sand millions to one against the miracle which they are supposed to 
 attest, or it is one billion to that number. And it hardly needs 
 demonstration that the same result is arrived at by increasing the 
 number of witnesses in proportion to any definite numerical deduc¬ 
 tion from the value of the individual testimony of each. To this 
 scientific authority I will add a legal one to the same effect. “ It 
 would,” says Mr. Starkie, in his treatise on the Law of Evidence, 
 “ theoretically speaking, he improper to omit to observe that the 
 weight and force of the united testimony of numbers upon abstract 
 mathematical principles increases in a higher ratio than that of the 
 mere number of such witnesses. Upon these principles, if definite 
 degrees of probability could be assigned to the testimony of each 
 witness, the resulting probability in favor of their united testi¬ 
 mony would be obtained not hy the mere addition of the numbers 
 expressing the several probabilities, hut hy a process of multiplica¬ 
 tion.” Now it is obvious that in applying these principles to a 
 class of alleged facts denied on the ground of antecedent improba¬ 
 bility, we ought to take, in computing the cumulative force of tes- 
 
204 ' 
 
 APl'UNDIX A. 
 
 timony, not simply the testimony which this or that fact of tho 
 class adduces, hut all the testimony which exists for all similar 
 alleged facts comprised in the class. Let M represent the class, 
 comprising under it a, b, c, d, particular alleged instances. We 
 may state the result in either one or two ways. Either we may 
 oppose the improbability of (class) M to the cumulative evidence 
 of a, b, c, d, taken together, or, taking a by itself, we may say that 
 the improbability against a is the improbability of M, the class, 
 minus the probability resulting from the cumulative testimony in 
 favor of b, c, ami d taken together. Now to apply the foregoing 
 considerations to cases of actual occurrence. I could not go into 
 details here without protracting this paper beyond reasonable 
 limits, but the cases I shall take arc already familiar to many in 
 this room, and as they are ou record, with the utmost particularity 
 of description, others may be referred to the printed accounts. I 
 select then a number of testimonies to distinct facts of the same 
 class, namely, of physical effects produced by means unknown to 
 science, and each depending on the introduction of new physical 
 conditions by special human organisms, which, as before stated, 
 and not any particular effect, is the fact really, if at all, opposed 
 to experience. Let me again request you to keep this clearly in 
 mind. If I say that an effect depends upon the powers of a cer¬ 
 tain person, your experience is evidently not opposed to the effect 
 except so far as it is opposed to the existence of such powers in 
 members of the human race. Your experience of the uniform 
 course of physical nature is wholly and absolutely irrelevant. 
 Nobody has ever asserted that these things would occur in your 
 presence alone. If ycu are to bring the experience argument to 
 bear at all, it must be in denying the alleged conditions of their 
 occurrence,— the chief of these conditions, in this case, relating to 
 the personality of individuals. That premised, the several alleged 
 facts, I take, belong to the same class, namely, those that depend 
 on the presence of persons reputed to be psychics, or mediums. 
 The first is the experiment recorded in the April number of the 
 Quarterly Journal of Science of Professor Zbllner and other Ger¬ 
 man scientists with Dr. Slade. In this, as in the other cases to 
 be presently mentioned, I have taken the testimony of well-known 
 men of scientific eminence, because, although their veracity may 
 not be worth more than that of other witnesses to these facts, it 
 may be called a known quantity. The improbability of Zollner’s 
 lying would, 1 imagine, be admitted to exceed Mr. Babbage’s 100 
 tc 1. And so also of the others to be named. But how arc we 
 to assign a value to the improbability of his being deceived? Now 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 205 
 
 here, I must remind you, the improbability of the fact attested is 
 wholly beside the question. That is a matter to be taken into cal¬ 
 culation subsequently. For the present purpose die probability of 
 his being deceived or mistaken is just what it would have been if 
 he was performing the most ordinary experiment in the world, 
 under the same conditions of observation, and with, of course, the 
 same suppositions of a motive and design to deceive him. When 
 we have got this value, then we will set oft’ against it the improba¬ 
 bility of the fact. But to consider the latter at present would be 
 just as if, having to subtract an unknown quantity, x, from a given 
 number, say 10, we begun by subtracting 10 from x, and so made 
 the problem 10—(x-10) instead of 10-x, an algebraical begging 
 of the question. Regarding, then, the experiment without this 
 prejudice, I should say no numeral would be considered quite high 
 enough to express the improbability of Zollner’s being deceived. 
 Add to this, the improbability of his colleagues also being deceived. 
 But whatever value we determine upon, is it to be opposed by 
 itself to the improbability of the fact which would then be proper 
 to be considered ? No; for look at the next case of the same 
 class. That shall be the electrical test experiment of Mr. Crookes ' 
 with Mrs. Fay, at his own house, assisted by several Fellows of 
 the Royal Society, as well as by our President, Mr. Serjeant Cox, 
 who all agreed in the conclusive nature of the experiment. Lying 
 again is out of the question, practically. Deception by the 
 medium ? Inaccuracy of observation V A scientific test, devised 
 by the most competent experts, the nature of it not explained to 
 the medium till she, who may almost be assumed to be a scientific¬ 
 ally ignorant young woman, is in the house (that of Mr. Crookes), 
 the apparatus unknown to her, and its working watched and 
 recorded from minute to minute. The results beyond all explic¬ 
 able power of production, even had the medium been herself an 
 accomplished electrician, and intimately versed with the apparatus. 
 In calculating probabilities, the same observations are applicable 
 here as to the case of Professor Zbllner. But the improbability of 
 deception here must be added, in the ratio pointed out by Mr. 
 Babbage and Mr. Starkic, to that of the former case. Take yet 
 another, and here again one at least of the witnesses is a man of 
 high scientific standing, Lord Lindsay, who has recently been 
 elected on the Council of the Royal Society. He describes the 
 levitation of Mr. Daniel Home, and his floating in and out of a 
 window seventy feet from the ground by bright moonlight. I 
 will read the account iu Lord Lindsay’s own words ?— 
 
206 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 “ I was sitting with Mr. Home and Lord Adarc, and a cousin of 
 liis. During the sitting Mr. Home went into a trance, and in that 
 state was carried out of the window in the room next to where we 
 were, and was brought in at our window. The distance between 
 the windows was about 7 feet 0 inches, and there was not the 
 slightest foothold between them, nor was there more than a 12-inch 
 projection to eacli window, which served as a ledge to put flowers 
 on. 
 
 “ We heard the window into the next room lifted up, and almost 
 immediately after we saw Home floating in the air outside our win¬ 
 dow. 
 
 “ The moon was shining full into the room; my back was to the 
 light, and I saw the shadow on the wall of the window-sill, and 
 Home’s feet about six inches above it. He remained in this posi¬ 
 tion for a few seconds, then raised the window and glided into the 
 room, feet foremost, and sat down. 
 
 “ Lord Adare then went into the next room to look at the win¬ 
 dow from which he had been carried. It was raised about 18 inches, 
 and he expressed his wonder how Mr. Home had been taken 
 through so narrow an aperture. 
 
 “ Home said, still entranced ‘ I will show you,’ and then with 
 his bach to the window he leaned back, and was shot out of the 
 aperture, headfirst, with the body rigid, and then returned quite 
 quietly. 
 
 “ The window is about 70 feet from the ground. I very much 
 doubt whether any skillful tight-rope dancer would like to attempt 
 a feat of this description, where the only means of crossing would 
 be by a perilous leap, or being borne across in such a manner as I 
 have described, placing the question of the light aside. 
 
 “ Lindsay. 
 
 “July 14th, 1871.” 
 
 I will call one other witness before you, likewise of scientific 
 position and attainments, begging you to remember that these are 
 only specimen cases. It is Dr. Lockhart llobertson, one of the 
 Visitors in Lunacy. Among other phenomena which took place 
 in his own house, in the presence of himself and his own friends, 
 the medium being a Mr. Squire, Dr. llobertson describes the fol¬ 
 lowing: “ A h eavy circular chair, made of birch and strongly 
 constructed, was lifted a somersault in the air and thrown on the 
 bed, the left hand only of Mr. Squire being held on the surface, 
 his other hand held, and his legs being tied to the chair on which 
 lie sat. The table was afterwards twice lifted on to the head of 
 the writer and of Mr. Squire. .... At the writer’s request this 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 207 
 
 table was afterwards smashed and broken, and one fragment 
 thrown across the room, the table at the time being held by the 
 writer and Mr. Squire. This occurred in half a minute. The 
 writer has since vainly endeavored with all his strength to break 
 one of the remaining legs. The one broken was rent across the 
 grain of the wood.” Dr. Robertson states that all this took place 
 in the dark, but probably, looking at the nature of the phenomena 
 and the conditions described, most candid persons would be of the 
 opinion, he concludes by expressing, “that fraud was utterly and 
 entirely impossible and impracticable.” I will add just one other 
 testimony of Lord Lindsay:—“A friend of mine was very anx¬ 
 ious to find the will of his grand-mother, who had been dead forty 
 years, but could not even find the certificate of her death. I 
 went with him to the Marshalls, and we had a seance ; we sat at 
 a table, and soon the raps came. My friend asked his questions 
 mentally; he went over the alphabet himself, or sometimes I did 
 so, not knowing the question. We were told that the will had 
 been drawn by a man named Walker, who lived in Whitechapel; 
 the name of the street and the number of the house were given. 
 We went to Whitechapel, found the man, and subsequently, 
 through his aid, obtained a copy of the draft. lie was quite 
 unknown to us, and had not always lived in that locality, for he 
 had seen better days. The medium could not possibly have known 
 anything about the matter, and even if she had, her knowledge 
 would have been of no avail, as all the questions were mental 
 ones.” 
 
 If you would be rational, do not laugh at these cases one by 
 one, but study the evidence for each of them separately, and then 
 appreciate their cumulative force, as belonging to the same class. 
 Then, if you please, set oft' the improbability arising from your 
 own and others’ ignorance. I don’t know if you will estimate 
 that at Babbage’s two hundred thousand millions, but if so, you 
 are bound to show — mind, once more, without any reference, 
 express or tacit, to the improbability of the facts — why the evi¬ 
 dence should be estimated at less than Babbage’s billion, or rather, 
 since we have here more than six witnesses whose testimony for 
 any ordinary fact would have so great a value, at this billion mul¬ 
 tiplied in a greater ratio than my small mathematical powers could 
 easily calculate. 
 
 But, in fact, I place the argument far higher than either Mr. 
 Starkie or Mr. Babbage, though I believed I am in accord with Mr. 
 Wallace. Both the former assumed that there is an antecedent 
 improbability to be deducted from the value of the positive testi- 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 208 
 
 mony. I deny that altogether. I say that an improbability aris¬ 
 ing from want of evidence — which is the nature of these negative 
 inductions — is just the improbability that evidence will be forth¬ 
 coming. When you have got the evidence the improbability van¬ 
 ishes just in proportion to the value of the evidence per se. What 
 you mean by the improbability of a fact beyond experience is that 
 it is probably impossible or not in rerum naturd. What conceiva¬ 
 bly legitimate measure of this probability can you adopt than that 
 which also determines the relation between evidence and fact? 
 The fallacy consists in assuming any numerical value whatever for 
 such antecedent improbabilities apart from this relation. Say that 
 the best single human testimony has a value of 100 to 1. Now 
 today, because I have never had that evidence, I say the proba¬ 
 bility against the fact is represented in my mind as 1000 to 1. 
 Tomorrow I get the evidence of that intrinsic value of 100 to 1, 
 and I say, “ Oh, but the adverse probability is 1000 to 1, and the 
 value of this evidence must be reduced accordingly to a minus 
 quantity.” This surely is unreasonable. But I may quite logically 
 say, “Inasmuch as this 100 to 1 evidence has never been forth¬ 
 coming, it raises in my mind a presumption worth 1000 to 1 that 
 such evidence never will be forthcoming.” If the evidence arrives 
 after all, there is no presumption against its truth. Wo have a 
 right to our surprise, but not to our incredulity. Because there 
 'was no evidence, we thought there was no fact. We had a right 
 to think so. But the moment we have evidence we are in the 
 region of evidence whose intrinsic value we have to estimate, all 
 presu mptions, being henceforth merely impertinent. The case is, 
 of course, very different when we are dealing with actual, ascer¬ 
 tainable probabilities, as the probability of a given ball being 
 drawn by chance from a hundred others. Then the chance being 
 real, and not merely supposititious, we properly set it off against 
 the evidence. But in the other case the evidence destroys the 
 supposition, precisely in proportion to its own intrinsic value. 
 
 But even allowing the presumption to co-exist with the evidence, 
 it has appeared that if no other evidence of similar facts had 
 existed from the beginning of recorded time to the present besides 
 these three cases I have mentioned, the probability in their favor 
 would still be greater than the probability against them. You are 
 instinctively repelled by this statement; so am I. We all feel that 
 there must be something wrong somewhere. And so there is. It 
 is not that the hypothesis is an impossible one. Mr. Babbage has 
 made a very ingenious supposition. He has conceived the course 
 of nature to be like a machine constructed on the principle of his own 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 209 
 
 calculating engine. A thousand revolutions of the wheel shall 
 bring up only scpiare numbers, but the machine shall be con¬ 
 structed so that the thousand and first shall show a cube number 
 — a “miracle.” We can conceive that certainly. And so a man 
 might be born today who should be the first of mankiud bora with 
 these abnormal powers we have been considering. But all 
 observed analogies protest against this supposition of a purely 
 exceptional fact, even though we may conceive such a fact to be 
 subsumed under a higher law of extremely rare application. If 
 we have once proved the fact under its own conditions, it is in the 
 highest degree probable that the law of its occun - ence is in con¬ 
 stant operation. To suppose that it is not is to encounter a new 
 improbability and it is this new improbability which repelled us 
 just now in the supposition that no other similar cases had existed 
 in human experience. We should expect to find them in every age. 
 See now how we have shifted the onus of improbability. The 
 proved case in the present makes such cases in the past highly 
 prob able; in other words, exp erience cannot have been truly 
 opposed to that which has just been proved on the assumption that 
 expe rience is opposed to it. And what do we find in fact'! 1 Why, 
 that records of occult phenomena, and especially of such as occur 
 through the mediation of particular individuals, form an appreci¬ 
 able part of the literature of every generation of men since the 
 invention of printing, and anterior to that we have, besides the 
 manuscript accounts of antiquity, the universal belief of mankind, 
 which must presumably have rested on experience. Addison, 
 indeed, speaks of the “ general testimony of mankind” in favor of 
 those facts to which eighteenth century skepticism — a product of 
 intellectual causes which have been traced by Mr. Lecky—has 
 unwarrantably opposed that very general testimony. I have said 
 nothing of the innumerable mob of witnesses in the present time, 
 and in almost every country in the world, to whose separate and 
 individual testimony we arc unable to assign a positive value. I 
 have said nothing even of that respectable array of known and in 
 various ways distinguished witnesses whom we have still among 
 us, or who have recently deceased. I have said nothing of the 
 admission of experts in the art of conjuring,— that art to which 
 such illimitable powers are ascribed by the credulity of the incredu¬ 
 lous,— of the celebrated conjurer Iloudiu, of the celebrated con¬ 
 jurer Bellachini, of the cele brated conjurer John Nevil Maskelyne, 
 the latter of whom I pub licly challenged in the Examiner news¬ 
 paper to explain away, if he could, certain printed and published 
 admissions of his own to the existence of phenomena of this class 
 
210 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 not produced by trickery.* I am not attempting the prodigious 
 task of estimating in figures tlio cumulative evidence for the phe¬ 
 nomena called spiritualistic, a Pelion piled upon an Ossa of testi¬ 
 mony, and which would crush any logical resistance, but not the 
 illogical power of that against which, it is said, the very gods strive 
 vainly. I charge this stupidity with gross ignorance of the princi¬ 
 ples upon which evidence should be estimated; and I have traced 
 this ignorance to four fallacies: First, to the confusion of the posi¬ 
 tive affirmative induction which we legitimately draw of the course 
 of nature under ordinary conditions of observation, with the nega¬ 
 tive induction from inexperience, of the non-existence of other con¬ 
 ditions. Secondly, to the assumption that this inexperience, in 
 fact, exists, as the ground even of this negative, far more limited, 
 and far less valid induction, an assumption which is made by an 
 arbitrary rejection of historic evidence. Thirdly, to the assump¬ 
 tion that antecedent improbability thus arising can co-exist with 
 testimony of a certain assignable value. Fourthly, to neglecting 
 to estimate the cumulative force of testimony. 
 
 That these fallacies are, nevertheless, sanctioned by common con¬ 
 sent, and by authority, need not sin-prise us. It is a popular error 
 that priests have been the greatest enemies to science. It has 
 been the “common sense ” of each generation, supported and sanc¬ 
 tioned by the highest scientific authorities of the day, that has 
 always been found opposed to the reception of evidence conflicting 
 with presumptions which have their origin in ignorance. It was 
 not a churchman, but a very learned professor, notorious for his 
 anti-religious tendencies, who refused to look through Galileo’s 
 telescope. Was it religious persecution or popular and scientific 
 ridicule that Harvey, Jenner, Franklin, Young, Stephenson, Arago, 
 and Gregory encountered for their respective discoveries and 
 ideas? It is significant that in an American book, called the 
 Warfare of Science, that was republished in England last year 
 under the avowed patronage of Professor Tyndall, there is much 
 that is well and eloquently told of the wrongs of science at the 
 hands of religious bigotry, but not one word of the constant and 
 determined obstruction of scientific men. 
 
 To avoid misapprehension I wish to add one remark. In speak¬ 
 ing of the abstract value of testimony I have not for a moment 
 meant to imply that testimony, or evidence generally, can bo 
 
 ‘Notice of the terms of the above reference to Mr. Maskelyne was sent to the 
 latter, with a card of admission to hear the paper read, available for Maskelyne 
 himself, or for any friend by whom he might wish to be represented, and who 
 might make any statement by permission of the chairman. For Mr. Maskelyno’a 
 admissions see Appendix C. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 211 
 
 appreciated without reference to the nature of the fact attested. It 
 is only the assumed improbability of the fact which I have regarded 
 as a separate factor. But in accounts of the extraordinary there 
 are undoubtedly elements of fallacy which only a very inexperi¬ 
 enced judge of testimony would ignore. For instance, we may 
 almost appropriate a special set of motives to such narrations. 
 The mere vanity of producing an impression of wonder, or of mak¬ 
 ing out an unanswerable case, is responsible for many a false or 
 liighly-colored account. There is the temptation to support a hasty 
 exaggeration by a specific falsehood, or by suppression of truth. 
 Then, again, the fact may be of such a nature that the whole value 
 of the testimony depends on minuteness and accuracy of observa¬ 
 tion. Kegard to time prevents my doing more than advert to 
 these considerations. Only to each case as it arises can their 
 proper weight be assigned. Unfortunately there is assigned to 
 them an enormously exaggerated weight in general, without refer¬ 
 ence to particular cases at all, and this because it is assumed to be 
 more probable that the evidence is thus vitiated than that the facts 
 attested are true. No doubt the presumption that evidence is not 
 good is a far more rational presumption than that evidence, how¬ 
 ever good, is false. And, moreover, it is one which can be 
 brought to the test of examination, whereas the latter cannot. We 
 can show whether evidence does or does not come up to a certain 
 standard, and if it does, the presumption is falsified; but to the 
 man who says, “I won’t listen, and I don’t care how good your 
 evidence may be,” wc can have nothing further to say. 
 
 In conclusion, I will lay down the following proposition broadly. 
 A negative probability, by which I mean an inference of non-exist¬ 
 ence from the absence of evidence, cannot in the least affect the 
 value of positive evidence of existence. It is only provisional. 
 It vanishes at the touch of sufficient evidence; and sufficient evi¬ 
 dence I define, for this purpose, to be evidence which would 
 establish a fact—having strict regard to the nature of the fact — 
 as to which there was no antecedent presumption or probability for 
 or against. Would I therefore accept the statement of a casual 
 stranger as to some unheard-of marvel with the same facility that I 
 would accept his statement as to its having rained somewhere 
 yesterday,— a fact which may be said to answer the description of 
 having no antecedent presumption either way? Certainly not, 
 for I have said that the nature of the fact is to be regarded, not 
 as probable or improbable, but as communicating elements of 
 fallacy to testimony. Thus understood, I say that the evidence is 
 our whole concern, and that if it stood every test and every criti- 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 212 
 
 cism which experience could suggest, I would accept on the 
 strength of it any marvel in the Arabian Nights, or Gulliver's 
 Travels. And I submit tha t the mau who would not is the creat¬ 
 ure of prejudice and the victim of prepossessions. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF SAMUEL BELLACHINI, COURT CONJURER 
 AT BERLIN. 
 
 The following is a translated copy of an official document: — 
 
 No. 482 Notary’s Register for 1877, drawn at Berlin, the 6th 
 day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, 
 in presence of the undersigned notary, residing at Tauben-strasse, 
 No. 42, in the jurisdiction of the Royal Supreme Court of judica¬ 
 ture, Gustav Ilaagen, Counsellor, and in presence of the under¬ 
 signed witnesses, personally known to the notaiy, of full age, who 
 can read and write, and are residents here. 
 
 Carl TrUmper, Letter Carrier, 
 
 Gustav Griintz, Letter Carrier, 
 
 who as well as the notary, as notaiy and witnesses both hereby 
 declare they have no connection with the case, which according to 
 pages five to nine of the Act of July the eleventh, eighteen hun¬ 
 dred and forty-five, would exclude them from participating in this 
 document, 
 
 Did appear this day personally before the undersigned notary, 
 known to him and found duly qualified to act. 
 
 The prestidigitator and Court Conjurer to his Majesty the 
 King and Emperor William, I, Mr. Samuel Bellachini, residing 
 at Grossbaaron-strassc, No. 14, which gentleman did prefer the 
 following statement, under date Berlin, the 6th of December, in 
 this year, and that he certified, 
 
 That the signature of my name, hereby appended, was written 
 by me in due form I hereby acknowledge. Read, approved, and 
 executed. (Signed) Samuel Bellachini 
 
 (zi 3 ) 
 
214 
 
 APPENDIX IS. 
 
 Wo, the notary and witnesses, attest that the above transaction 
 took place as herein stated; that it was in the presence of us, 
 notary and witnesses, read aloud to the person concerned, approved 
 by him, and sigued by his own hand. 
 
 (Signed) Gustav Gruntz, 
 
 Carl Thumper, 
 
 Gustav Haagen, Notary. 
 
 Executed at Berlin on the sixth of December, one thousand 
 eight hundred and seveuty-seven, and entered in the Notary’s 
 Register under the number four hundred and eighty-two, for the 
 year eighteen hundred and seventy-seven. Signed and officially 
 stamped. Gustav Haagen, Counsellor and Notary. 
 
 I hereby declare it to be a rash action to give decisive judgment 
 upon the objective medial performance of the American medium, 
 Mr. Henry Slade, after only one sitting, and the observations so 
 made. 
 
 After I had, at the wish of several highly-esteemed gentlemen 
 of rank and position, and also for my own interest, tested the phys¬ 
 ical mediumship of Mr. Slade in a series of" sittings by full day¬ 
 light, as well as in the evening, in his bedroom, I must, for the 
 sake of truth, hereby certify that the phenomenal occurrences with 
 Mr. Slade have been thoroughly examined by me with the minutest 
 observation and investigation of his surroundings, including the 
 table, and that I have not in the smallest degree found anything to 
 be produced by means of prestidigitative manifestations, or by 
 mechanical apparatus; and that any explanation of the experi¬ 
 ments which took place under the circumstances and conditions 
 then obtaining by any reference to prestidigitation, to be absolutely 
 impossible. 
 
 It must rest with such men of science as Crookes and Wallace, 
 in London, Perty, in Berne, Butlerof, in St. Petersburg, to search 
 for the explanation of this phenomenal power, and to prove its 
 reality. I declare, moreover, the published opinions of laymen, 
 as to the “IIow’‘ of this subject to be premature, and according 
 to my view and experience, false and one-sided. This, my declara¬ 
 tion, is signed and executed before a notary and witnesses. 
 
 (Signed) Samuel Bellacuini. 
 
 Berlin, Gth December, 1877. 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 
 ADMISSIONS BY JOHN NEVIL MASKELYNE AND OTHER 
 PROFESSIONAL CONJURERS. 
 
 Mr. John Nevil Maskelyne, the well-known conjurer of the 
 Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, who, without having been present at a 
 single sitting with Slade, was irregularly admitted as a witness 
 against him at Bow Street, had long been adding to the attraction 
 of his performances by holding them out to be exposures of spiritu¬ 
 alistic phenomena. In June and July, 1873, a correspondence 
 took place between this gentleman and a Spiritualist, in which the 
 latter offered Mr. Maskelyne £1000 if he could reproduce cer¬ 
 tain mediumistic phenomena with the conditions under which they 
 had been observed by three persons, one only to be a Spiritualist. 
 The negotiation came to nothing, but the correspondence was 
 printed, and the following extracts are quoted with a view to show 
 that Mr. Maskelyne has himself made distinct admissions of the 
 reality of some of such phenomena, not due to trickery, that he 
 even avows them as part of his own public exhibitions, and that 
 he merely protests that spirits of the dead have nothing to do with 
 them. That this is not the true issue every one but Mr. Maskel¬ 
 yne will admit. This issue is simply trickery by the medium , or 
 not. If not, the phenomena must be entitled to admission and 
 investigation, and must give rise to scientific questions of the 
 utmost moment. 
 
 The extracts are taken from the printed correspondence entitled 
 as follows: — 
 
 “ £1000 Reward. 
 
 Maskelyne and Cooke. 
 
 An Expose &c., 
 
 By Iota. 
 
 (Proofs corrected by Mr. Maskelyne). 
 
 London, J. Bukns, 15 Southampton Row, W. C.” 
 
216 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Tu order to make them intelligible it should be premised that 
 “ the manifestations stated in the report of the Dialectical Society ” 
 were distinctly mediumistic, the committee of that society which 
 made the report having been appointed for the express purpose of 
 investigating and reporting upon spiritualistic phenomena. The 
 report with the evidence at length is published. 
 
 On the 1st July, 1873, Mr. Maskelyne, in the course of a let¬ 
 ter to his correspondent, writes as follows: — 
 
 “ In accepting this challenge, I wish you distinctly to 
 
 understand that I do not presume to prove that such manifesta¬ 
 tions as those stated in the report of the Dialectical Society are 
 produced by trickery; I have never denied that such manifesta¬ 
 tions are genuine, but I contend that in them there is not one iota 
 of evidence which proves that departed spirits have no better occu¬ 
 pation than lifting furniture about.” 
 
 Agreed, Mr. Maskelyne; those Spiritualists, if any, who are not 
 entirely of your opinion on this point, seem to deserve your impu¬ 
 tation of credulity in the highest degree. Accordingly, the other 
 party to the correspondence replies on the following day — 
 
 “ .... I do not care to dispute your contention about the 
 occupation of departed spirits. IVhat I understand by medium- 
 power is something which is neither mechanics, nor conjuring, nor 
 chemistry, nor electricity, nor magnetism, nor even mesmerism, nor 
 a combination of all or any of these, nor anything to be explained 
 by any of the commonly known ‘ laws of nature,’ and without which 
 1 defy you to equal, or even to approach, the ‘so-called spiritual 
 manifestations.’ ” 
 
 Then on the 6th Mr. Maskelyne again writes—“I have never 
 stated that you cannot produce some phenomena in a genuine man¬ 
 ner ; I have done this or assisted in doing it myself, and tell my 
 audience so at every performance; yet I am not a medium, but I 
 know that, if I were scoundrel enough, I could become one, and 
 should have no difficulty in humbugging Spiritualists to an alarm¬ 
 ing extent.” Here, again, Mr. Maskelyne appears to be speaking 
 merely of an explanation which he holds to be false, and which he 
 believes that professed mediums must know to be false. But in 
 urging these phenomena upon public attention we have nothing to 
 do with spiritualistic explanations, true or false; it is the fact 
 ouly that is in question. What Mr. Maskelyne means by saying 
 that he tells his audience at every performance that he produces or 
 assists in producing phenomena “in a genuine manner” (by which 
 as will be seen, he excludes the notion of trickery) is very doubt¬ 
 ful. The writer has attended the performances at the Egyptian 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 
 217 
 
 Hall frequently, but, with the exception of some words at the con¬ 
 clusion of the cabinet seance which could convey no meaning to an 
 inexperienced audience, Mr. Maskelyne certainly said nothing to 
 which his above statement could apply. These occasions, how¬ 
 ever, were of much later date than the correspondence. 
 
 His correspondent replies on July 8th — 
 
 “ You say you tell your audience at every performance that you 
 admit that we have some genuine phenomena. I confess that I 
 have never been able to understand distinctly your remarks on 
 this head. You seem to me to say that most of the so-called phe¬ 
 nomena are humbug, but some few genuine; that the genuine 
 ones are produced by trickery, exactly as your own stage perform¬ 
 ance is. Nor can I gather any more from the admissions in your 
 letters.” 
 
 In a postscript to his next letter, Mr. Maskelyne says, in refer¬ 
 ence to the above, “ How genuine phenomena can be produced by 
 trickery I am at a loss to know. If you understand me thus, my 
 remarks must be a contradiction, and I must look to them.” 
 
 Robert Houdin, the great French conjurer, investigated the sub¬ 
 ject of clairvoyance with the sensitive, Alexis Didier. In the 
 result he unreservedly admitted that what ho had observed was 
 wholly beyond the resources of his art to explain. See “ Psy- 
 ehische Studien” for January, 1878, p. 43. 
 
 “Licht, mehr Licht,” a German paper published in Paris, in its 
 number of 10th May, 1880, contains a letter from the well-known 
 professional conjurer, Jacobs, to the Psychological Society in 
 Paris, avowing himself a Spiritualist, and offering suggestions for 
 the discrimination of genuine from spurious manifestations. 
 
APPENDIX D. 
 
 Plate X. 
 
 (218) 
 
 PRINTED FROM THE BAILEY COMBINATION-TYPE. 
 
 W. J, Schofield, 105 Summer Street, Boston.