Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-02-07

u Glass AlI.-Sp0clll la4fanEeS whleh
seem to point to the agency of an ex-
tsriof intellieence. =z-s--Azs=-.s-sssr..s-z
Glass XIII.-Miscellaneous occur
Fences ola complex character.
The matter of these chapters COM
prises a description of almost every
phase of spiritual manifestation. ,eb,
served under the :strIctestI coudItions,
and reported IN concise and perspicu-
GUS language and, without quoting
one word of this testimony, what has
already been addueed shows that Mr..
Crookes regards all varieties of these
phenomena-even the most extraordin-
ary-as we'll established scientific facts.
Respecting the sounds or raps, he
says, abiding to the mediumship of.
Miss Kate Fox:
1t seems only necessary for her to
place her hand on any substance for
loud thuds to be heard in it, like
triple pulsation, sometimes loud enough
to be heard several rooms off. In this
manner L have heard them in living
tree on sheet Of glass on stretch
ed iron wire on stretched membrane;
tambourine the roof of cab; and
the floor of a theatre. Moreover, ac-
tual contact is not always necessary. /
have had these sounds proceeding from
the floor, walls, &c, when the medi-
um's hands and feet were held; when
she was standing on chair; when she
was suspended i'll swing from the cell
ing; when she was enclosed in a wire
cage; and when she had fallen faint
ing on a sofa. | have heard them on
glass harmonicon; have felt them on
my own shoulder and under my own
h md. | have heard them on sheet
of paper held between the fingers by
piece of thread passed through one.
corner. With full knowledge of the
numerous theories which have been
started, chiefly in America, to explain
these sounds, have tested them in
every way that | could deyise, until
there has been no escape from the
conviction that they were true object
i've occurrences, not produced by
trickery or mechanical means"
Mr.. Crookes corroborates cele-
brated experiment of the Committee
of the Dialectical Society. The fol-
lowing extracts are conclusive on the
deviation of bodies and human
beings: aW
ION three successive evenings a
small table moved slowly across the
room, under conditions. which l had
specially pre-arranged, so as to answer
any objection which might be raised to
the evidence RS
ION five separate occasions heavy
dining table rose between few inches
and one and half feet off the floor,
under special circumstances, which
rendered trickery impossible
The most striking cases of levita-
ton which | have witnessed have been
with Mr.. Home. On three separate
occasions have | seen him raised com
pletely from the floor of the room
once sitting in an easy chair, once
kneeling on his chair, and once stand
ing up.
Mr.. Crookes regards the occurrence
of forms and faces as the rarest of the
phenomena but if he had included in
his selection manifestations witnessed
at greater variety of circles, he might
have very much strengthened this por-
ton of his testimony We quote one
of his instances
The following is still more strik-
ing instance. As in the former case,
Mr.. Home was the medium. A phan-
tom form came from a corner of the
room, took an ACCORDION in its hand,
and then glided about the room play
ing the instrument. The form was
visible to all present for many minutes,
Mr.. Home also ,c>ing seen at the same
time. Coming rather close to lady
who was sitting apart from the rest of
the company, she gave a slight cry,
upon which it vanished"
OF almost the same character is the
following variety of manifestation
Under the strictest test conditions
| have seena solid. self-lumiuous body,
the size and nearly the shape of tur-
keys egg, float noiselessly about the
room, at one time higher than any one
present could reach standing on tiptoe,
and then gently descend to the floor.
1t was visible for more than ten min
utes, 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 insepsible, in an easy
chair.
The appearance of hands, &C., is
simply variety of this kind of phe
nomena; but when these hands pro-
duce writing, the issues involved are
much more complicated. Here is an
instance:
a luminous hand came down from
the upper part of the room, and after
lowering near mo for few seconds,
took the pencil from my hand, rapidly
wrote on sheet OF paper, threw the
pencil down, and then rose up over
heads, gradually fading into dark
Mr.. Crookes gives some occurrences
indicating the agency of what he calls
ian exterior Intelligence, or the action
of an intelligent being other than the
medium. But this field of research he
scarcely touches and which, it will be
admitted, is the most Important de-
of the question. The follow
ing experiment'is interesting:
"A lady was writinE automatically
by means of the planchette. | was
trying to devise a means Of proving
that what she wrote was not due to
unconscious cerebration.' The plan
Ghetto, as it always does. insisted that
it was moved by the hand and
arm of the lady, the intelligence was
that Of an Invisible being who was
playing on her brain as ON musical
instrument, and thus moving her mus
olas. ! therefore said to this intelli-
gence, Can you see the contents of this
ROOM? Yes wrote the planchette.
Can you see to read this newspaper?
said |, putting my finger on copy of
the Times, which was on table behind
me, but without looking at it. Yes
was the reply of the phapchette. 4
WELL | said, if you can see that,
write the word which is now covered |
by my finger, and I will believe you.
The planchette. commenced to move.
Slowly. and with great difficulty the
word however was written. / TURNED |
round, and saw that the word how !
ever was covered by the, tip of my
finger"
In conclusion, Mr., Crookes discusses
eight theories to account for the phe- |
n6mena observed, and finishes by
resting the parentage of the |
theory upon Mr SERGEANT
Cox. The scope of the article before
US is necessarily limited to the consid-
GRAFTON of the more objective or ma
terialistic phases Of these manifesto
lions. This department of the sub