New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-01-17
place in his own house. in the night, and with only
private friends present beside the medium.


In classifying the various phenomena that have
presented themselves to him in the course of his
inquiries Mr. Crookes refers. first, to the movement
of heavy bodies, with contact but without mechan-
zeal exertion This he states to be one Of the Sim
plest forms of the phenomena observed, varying in
degrees from a quiyering vibration OF the room
and its contents to the actual rising into the air OF
a heavy body when the hand of the medium Is
placed upon it. These movements, and indeed most
Of the phenomena, are preceded by peculiar cold
air, sometimes amounting to a decided wind sui
icicnt to blow sheets of paper about the room and
to cause a lowering of the thermometer 10y several
degrees.
The second class manifested themselves az percus-
sve and other allied sounds; sometimes as delicate
ticks; sometimes cascade of sharp sounds, AS from
an induction coil in full work; detonaions in the
air, sounds like scratching, twtterng az OF bird,
etc. These sounds were most prominently developed
in the presence of Miss Kate Fox, and manifested
themselves in all directions around her and IN every
variety. he assures the reader that. with a full
knowledge of the various theories IN regard
to the sounds, he has tested them all,
and is well satisfied that they true objective oc
currences not produced by trickerv or mechanical
means The third class of phenomena consists m
the alteration of the weight of bodies, which will he
presented in detail in early number of The Omar
terly Journal Of Science The fourth class, namely
the movement of heavy substances when at
distance from the medium, he has seen IN many III,
stances. His own chair he SAYS, has 11een twlslea
partly round while his feet were OF the floor. A
chair seen by all present to move slowly mp 10
the table from far corner, when all
were watching il: On one occasion; All
empty armchair, at his request, moved 10
where he sitting, and then slowly
back again, distance Of about three feet. He has
repeatedly seem in full light the movement of a
hoo tDIl anln ns pI.lo
with their backs to the table, about "A foot and a
half Off, each occupant kneeling on his char, with
hands resting the back, but not touching the
table. The fifth class is that of the rising of tables
and chairs off the ground, without contact with any
person. On five separate occasions heavy dining
table rose between few inches and foot and
half from the floor, under special circumstances
which rendered trickery impossible. the hands and
feet of the medium being held by him during this
The sixth class is that of the deviation of human
beings which has occurred in four Instances IN his
presence. He has seen Mr. Home raised completely
from the floor OF his room IN SeNeral instances; Inc
accumulated testimony, establishing Mr.. Homes
Invitations, Mr.. CroOkes considers overwheiIning
and he thinks it greatly to be desired that some
person, whose evidence Will be accepted as con
elusive by the scientific world, shall seriously and
patiently examine these alleged facts. The seventh
class of phenomena consists IN the moving OF Nal-
Ons small articles without contact WIN any person.
which he has very frequently observed. ana
where there could be no suspicion of trlckery. lie
thinks that when he Is in his own dinlng-room,
persons keenly watching the medium. the latter
could not by any trickery make an ACCORDION play
in his (MT. CrOOkessl own hands, when the Keys are
held downward, nor cause the same accordion 10
float about the room, playing all the time lie
thinks it impossible to Introduce machI merry
which shall wave, window curtains; pun up
Venetian blinds eight feet off; tie knot in a hand
kerchief and place II in a remote corner OF the
room; sound notes distant piano; cause card
plate to float about the room: raise Waer-DOttle
and tumbler from the table; make a coral necklace
rise on end move about a fan so to fan the com
pany. or set in motion pendulum when Enclosed IN
glass case firmly cemented to the wall me elghth
class is that of luminous appearances which, accord
ing to Mr. Crookes, require that the room snail be
dark as the lights are III many cases fat lie states
that he has seen SOLID se1-iininols pody, Oh tlle
size and nearly the shape OF a turkeys eSg, iioat
pOiselessy about the room, being visible Tor more
than ten minutes, and striking the table three times
with sound like that of hard solid body, before
fading away. He has "a self-lumlnOus crystal
line body placed in his hand by hand which did
not belong any person IN the room. and luminous
cloud floating upward to picture. In the dayllght
he has seen luminous cloud hover over hellotrope
on table. break Oft sprig, and carry the Sprg
to a LADY, and on several occasions he has seen
similar luminous cloud visiby condense to the form
of hand, and carry about small objects.
This leads him to the next or ninth class, namely,
the appearance of hands, either sef-luminous or
visible by ordinary light. OF these phenomena he
gives numerous instances. In one case small
hand mp from an opening in the dining-tablc.
and gave him flower; it appeared and then disap-
peared three times, at intervals, affording Mr..
Crookes ample opportunity of satisfying himself of
its reality, as it occurred in the light in his own
ROOM while he was holding the mediums hands and
feet. The hands and fingers do not always appear
solid and life-lIke, sometimes indeed seeming like
Eebulous cloud. partly condensed in the form OF a
hand. He has more than once seen first
an object move, then a luminous, cloud APP
cloud condense into shape and become a perfectly
formed hand. At this stage 1T was visible to all
present Sometimes ii was life-hke and graceful.
the fingers moving, and the flesh apparently as hui
man as that of any person in the room. At the arm
or wrist it became hay, and passed OIL INTO
luminous clOud. To the touch the hand appeared
sometimes icy cold and dead at others warm, grasp
ing his own with the firm pressure of an old friend
In one instance he retained one OF these hands IN
his own firmly resolved not 10 let IL escape There
was struggle, no effort TO get loose
but il gradually seemed to resolve ltseIt
into vapor, and faded in that manner from
his grasp. The next or tenth class OF phenomena
comprised those of direct writing. exhibited some
times in darkness, sometimes IN light, sometimes
without any apparent agency, at Others through the
medium of hand. The eleventh class embraces the
rarest phenomena, namely those of phantom forms
and faces, which he witnessed in a very few IN
stances only. The twelfth class covers phenomena
that seem to point to the agency of an exterior in
telligence other than that of the medium or some
person in the room. Although the hypothesis
has been suggested that the medium is the
source of this intelligence, by those who
think they see in this explanation
of many of the facts yet Mr. Cro0kes has reason to
believe that certain instances at least they result
from the agency OF an outside intelligence not Pc
longing to any human being present. Under the
thirteenth head, Mr.. Crookes includes variety OF
miscellaneous occurrences of complex character.
not easily grouped under any Of the preceding di-
visions to which, however, he refers only briefly,
reserying the details for the volume which he is now
preparing. He then proceeds to indicate the theo-
res that have been brought forward to account for
the phenomena observed.
The first theory that the phenomena are all the
results of tricks clever mechanical arrangements or
legerdemain-the mediums mpostors and the rest OF
the company fools-he considers inadequate to ex-
plain more than very small proportion of the facts.
He has throughout given truthful account OF what
he himself observed and has taken occasion to pre-
vent any collision trickery. He furthermore
states that although professional exhibitors fire.
Quently simulate many Of the phenomena referred