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quisition
and
seemed
determined
to
ban
"claims
of
the
paranormal."
The
author
states
that
blind
faith
in
one’s
own
belief
leads
to
underestimating
the
quality
of
the
proponent and
the complexity
of the subject under
discus-
sion.
This
explains
the
unfair
treatment
of
the
French
psychologist/statistician,
Michel
Gauquelin.
Hoebens
and
other
skeptics
who
supported
the
investigation
of
Gau-
quelin
feared
that
the Committee was
a
lost
cause:
All
moderates would
probably
leave
and
turn
their
backs on
the crusaders.
Fortunately,
this year (1984) a "Reappraisal"
took
place
through
internal
and
external
pressure.
It
seems
to
the
author
that
they
have
learned
their
lesson
from this
affair.
He
praises the new evolution which aims
at
cooperation
between
skeptics
and
critical
para-
psychologists
as
allies
in
the
fight
against
irrationalism.
-
D.D.
02441.
Dumalin,
Daniel.
Spierlczcn: 'The show must
go on
.
.
.
Psi-Forum, 1984,
7(1), 25-29.
1 ref
The human
automatic
reflexes are
used
in
a number
of
mentalistic
tricks and can
give
the layman
the
impres-
sion
of a paranormal
feat
In a few
recent TV programs
this
method
was
used
by
people
who
claimed
to
be
psychics.
In our home town
(Ghent,
Belgium),
a man
is
still performing this act under the guise of telepathy.
This
article shows
under
what
form
and
in
what way human
reflexes
can
be
used
to
give
people
the
impression
that
one
is gifted with psychic
abilities.
- D.D.
02442.
Martens, Ronny.
Randi’s Project Alpha.
Psi-
Forum, 1984,
7(1), 30-35.
2 ref
The
history
of
parapsychology
is
heavily marked
by
fraud
and
poorly
controlled
experiments.
This
article
re-
views an experiment by Randi
(Project Alpha) to
test cur-
rent
parapsychological
research
standards.
Unfortunately,
Randi’s
experiment
shows
that
things
have
not
improved
through
the
years.
His
two
hypotheses:
(1)
that
the
availability of money does not
necessarily improve research
standards and
(2) that
scientists arc
in a very bad
position
to uncover subject fraud, were confirmed.
The author con-
cludes
(a)
that
Randi's
experiment
urges
the
paranormal
investigator to reconsider
his position and
research, and
(b)
both the researcher and the skeptic should
strive towards a
meaningful dialogue and cooperation.
- DA
02443.
Zorab,
George.
Poltergeist-syndrome.
Psi-
Forum,
1984,
7(2), 66-8L
refs
The author
traces the origin of
the term
“poltergeist"
and the
history of the phenomena.
This
is
illustrated with
well-known
cases between
the
years
1450-1968. The
author
states
that
now,
after
years,
it
has
become
clear
that
there
is
no
difference
between
local
(haunting)
and
per-
sonal
(poltergeist)
hauntings.
In
both
cases
the
same
phenomena
can
occur.
He
concludes
that
the
paranormal
is dominated by the
living and there
is no need
for super-
natural
entities.
- DA
02444.
Gondry,
Dirk.
250 years:
Franz A. Mcsmcr.
Psi-Forum, 1984, 7(2), 86-82.
13 refs
The career
of Mesmer
is
placed
in
its
historical
con-
text The author shows that the ideas of Mesmer were not
original,
but
can
be
placed
next
to
the
works
of
other
authors as early
as 450
B.C. His idea of animal magnetism
and
his
life seem
to have been
influenced by
several
per-
sons
such
as M
Hell,
Count
de
Gebelin,
and
Maria-
Theresia
Paradis.
After
his downfall
his ideas were taken
up by several persons such as Dr.-E. Perkins (U5.) and
de
Puysegur (France).
- DA
02445.
Martens, Ronny.
Observational theories: Part
I.
Psi-Forum,
1984,
7(2),
108-117.
refs
The author introduces the reader
to the new observa-
tional
theories
within
the
field
of
parapsychology.
These
theories are based on quantum
physics, which
shares some
elements
with
paranormal
phenomena.
The
reader
is
provided
with
an
introduction
to
quantum
physics
upon
which
two
of
the
three
most
developed
theories
are
elaborated.
- DA
Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie
02446.
Tenhacff,
W.II.C.
Spontaneous
clairvoyance.
Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 1932/1933, 5, 62-79.
Tenhaeff
notes
that
since
1929
many
people
have
written
to him
about
clairvoyant
experiences,
which were
mostly
of
a
precognitive
nature.
A
drawback
was
that
none
of
the
cases was
told
to
other
people
so
that
they
could be corroborated.
He presents 10 of the
cases.
- G.Z.
02447.
Koster, H.E.
Aspects of the occult
Tijdschrift
voor Parapsychologie,
1934, 6, 24-26.
Serious
investigators
of
the
occult,
i.e,
the
paranor-
mal,
have observed
several
times
that
the
manifesting
en-
tities
at seances are
not
able
to see what
is
happening
in
the
seance
room.
This
fact
applies
especially
to
those
seances
where
table-tilting,
planchctte-writing,
and
other
such phenomena take
place.
The Dutch
spiritualist, Mr. de
Fremery, during a seance asked
the manifesting entity
if
it
knew what
the
persons
attending
the
seance
were
doing.
The answer
was, "You
are busy washing the
dishes."
The
answer was
given
by
the
table
knocking
with
one
of
its
legs on
the
floor.
Mr.
Koster
writes
that he himself once
put
that same
question
to
the
entity
that
was
present
at
the
seance he was
attending.
The answer
was,
"You
are
doing the washing with a washingboard."
For
a
long time Mr. Koster
thought about
this queer
kind
of
sight of the
spirits but
failed
to find any explana-
tion.
Some
years
later, when
staying
in
Java, he
believed
he
had
the
explanation.
In
Java
he
had
himself
mag-
netized.
When
he
fell
into a
kind
of magnetic
sleep,
he
suddenly
found
that
his
sight
has
become
quite
different.
It
is
his
opinion
that
a
deceased
person
is
in
the
same
situation
as
a
living
person
in
a
magnetized
trance.
Al-
tered perceptions occur
in both
situations.
- G.Z.
02448.
Dietz, P.A.
Experiments concerning the homing
of dogs.
Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie,
1934,
6,
86-
92.
These
experiments
took
place
in
the
South
of
Ger-
many
in
the
neighborhood
of
Munich.
Three
dogs
were
tested.
The
transport
of
a dog
was done
in
such
a way
that
it
could
not
see
where
it
was
going.
They
were
taken
to
a
place
about
miles
from
their home,
in
the
middle of woods and
hills.
According to the experimenters
the dogs found
their way home
not
by
using
their
senses,
but by
a capacity of orientation which migrating
birds also
possess.
- G.Z.
02449.
Tenhaeff, W.II.C.
Dr. G. van Rijnberg and
parapsychology.
Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie,
1934,
6, 123-129.
Professor van
Rijnberg, who
for many
years was
the
editor
of
a
prominent
Dutch
medical
journal,
was
inter-
ested
in
spiritualism and
all
things
mystical.
He was one
of
the
very few Dutch
people who attended
seances
with
the famous medium Eusapia Palladino.
He published what
he observed
at
these
seances
in
a Dutch
periodical
under
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