The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1874-11-29

amusc themselves and deceive the world.
have no basis in truth The theory that
nerve-lorce and electricity are identical
has has been overthrow. and i only
held by those who stopped thinking aud
reading fifteen years ago
| sPETrUAiIsM NuGulNG NEW.
Spiriiralism. clairNovancc. and mind
rcrding are not new claims they are ~
old as human ignorance. and their early
| history can never h. written. The Spirit
uali>t. of il, country count
although they uvcrc-timatc by
several hundred per cent yet there
never was u time IN the history of The
! world when. in proportion tu the popula-
| ton. there was 80 little Spirituali-m ~
| now. In it, ancient and medieval form
II carried whole continents IN it, train I.
| for ages. under the various phases of
| Witchrrall II was the dominant faith of
! the world. Even in that comparatively
| barren interval between the Witchcrail
| excitement IN Salem and the rise of spirit
rapping- in Rochester. there were vast
| numbers even in civilized lands who re-
tanned their faith in some form of witch
craft, or at least iu the theory Of ghosts.
and then rs now audalVay.. the majority
81 >cni-SaNagcs everywhere have been
! NpirituHli-tS.
NATURE OF nm CONFLICT.
! The lines should be- drawn. Thought
| ml men IN sccucc and out of science
| should understand the nature Of these
! dclusion>. and ON one side or the other
all should enlist The contest between
! Npiriill1lism and auti-Spirituali~m j. a
contest between reason and passion. be-
tween Wuinali~m and humanity. between
babari-ln and civilization between the
lOiifitcuth century and twentieth. II
| amounts to-day Tar morc Ia savage than
| cINlllItd land~, aud was more potent and
| more universal ia the earlier than in
| the later civilizations. Like many other
| dclu-ion~ II exists to-day-a specie. of
barbariSm in Civilizations projection of
antiquity and the mcdipval ages into the
! twentieth century. II i. Africa inoculatcd
! into America
FoWH-Avail Yourselves. Il. much n
possible, of preliminary practice before
! joining l->u" IN the final contest with
| these characters.
These men. or some of them. rcprc-cnt
! the accumulated trickcry and himbng-
gerry of history. To contend with them
without special preparation by reading.
by study. and by experiment I, a. alb
-uld and m-cicntiiic rs 1t would De- To at
tempt to contend with u great artist with
out knowing tie elements OF art. or to
attempt To calculate the eclipse without
having learned mathematics. Partly il i
Tor lack Of th, prccautiou that nearly all
the tests that are made between scientific
men and real or suspected frauds in these
departments. result in victory for the
fraud or else Il drawn battle In other
and allied physiological researches. We
feel the necessity of time. leisure oppor-
iunllN. and frequently of u force of
trained aud trustworthy assistants. and
inc experiments must Frequently De mad,
under variou, conditions, and with Nari.
ous cooperation. 80 that every concciya.
Die or >uppo-ablc source of error may b,
eliminated. Investigations In thi, realm
must be- conducted in the same spirit. III
order that the results may convince ~chol
arly and truth-loyiug men. II it be- diff
cut III the calmncsS OF the lahratOry tul
Trained Psychologists to rightly interpret
or To agree on any Interpretation of som,
apparently simple physiological questions
rom experiments on living or dead ami
mails, how vastly more difficult must it be
FOR unframed men who are not physiulo.
giSt>. who have had little or no practical
experience in eliminating errors, and III
arriyingat truth in physiological questions
Ia settle. in the presence of an angry and
ilnappreciaiive and impatient audience
the most complex and intricate problem
relating To- the physiology of and the
nerves of q highly civilized man, c-pcci-
ally when, in addition 10 the error that
i liable to come ia allied Investigations.
!, added the error that j. liable To enter
through the real or supposed fraud of the
performer or his operator
! FuM--Nlways act on the assumption
! that the burden Of proof rest, with
! tho>" who make these ,iupcndOu- claims.
| The presumption i thai there j. no such
! force of psychic force. no clairNoyant.
liilhd-rcading. or -ecoud--ight power, and
| that the spirits of the departed do not re-
appear on the earth. or make thcm.rlvr.
known to H. through any mean. that can
be appreciated by our SENSES, The hur-
den of proof is with those who claim that
such thing, do exist. The evidence that
i needed 10 overcome thi, presumption
must DE of the most overwhelming char
Aclcr. The experiments of Wallace
and trookcS, even if these men were au-
thorilies, in the special department of
neuropllyslology could never bc accepted
by Psychologists until they had been CON
llrmcd again and again by different Oh
~ we W 'lll'l'lll N'NllllllfNs anu llIllI
they were forced to accept them by suf-
iicicnt evidence to overcome the pre-
sumption against their truth. riIi- r',ao
principle applies to all scientific nycsti-
cations. in the study of SpritualiStic
phenomena, clairNOyanl-, or OF second
,lglit power We apply no new principles.
hui study them ~ We do our other phy.-
biological subjects. For these reasons.
Then. ! would advise those who are look
ille INTO ms not 10 publish. nor allow To
ne published, the results that occur To
llelh IN the various stages of their prog
res. but loiolloW the example of physi- |
oI"glS's ana eNpcrlmcntcr- in lhcIupcu- !
tlrS cNcryWhcrc,w who keep silent concern |
ing the results of their studio, until the, |
nave conrnccd,thc by uycrWhclni- |
my evidence. II !. hardly lust or ,chol- |
hrly, or In accordance with thctrur sciru-
lillc spirit 10 publicly express AN outside |
opinion ~ regard 10 amy Of these ones
ll"h> WIN long and careful study: but. if |
one mus declare himself on one side or
me olhcf, II i more consistent with sci |
cnrc to take the side which ha. pIrsumu-
ton I'm it, favor
NLrL-Lct your courage be absolute.
II any man wants 10 know what il /, To
hc thoroughly snubbcd. let him make
some scientific research. aud then bring
lhc result of the research To the attention
ol those who are 10 bee most benefited by
II, While this j. true enough in the
world OF science, II i prc-cmincutly true
~ That realm where science never enters.
lllal l. III all our experience with the To-
iiorant mass of mankind. No man WHO
+ AFRAID of abuse ought ever 10 attempt
70 impress unpopular truth on unwilling
i'?Fls. Any attempt 10 expose. by
scientific methods. the lOhic, aud crimes
oi clairNoymcc, mind-rcadmg. or Spirit
,lilIsln. al once rouse. all the demon of
humanity everywhere. The vast body of
'lId'rdohr young men, who know lust
-nuugh " sllmhlc mln nNnrN mnNrltv