New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-03-27
SPIRITUALISM.
is 1T WITHIN THE LIMITS OF sCIENCE'
. nrnrx TO TILE .REYIEW OLE "rEN YEARS WIFI


SIR: Having been confined to my room fof
some days and 80 IN a. have read NV TRIBUNE
the review OF the work on sprituail'm' 'e''-
ing the initials OF gentleman very gen
orally known as neurologls ana pu"'lS"e"
some days ago has ul.il to-day escaped NV
attention Under ordinary circumstances 1t IA not worth
ones while 10 dscuss scientific questions through 'he
newspapers; but THE TRIBUNE has so Tar earned Inc
appcllation OF the daily organ OF the best sclehhc
tbous that should hold myself NJ liberty to venture
an exclamation did not the article in question bear the
inals Of one IN quarters accepted as an expert
will beg you, therefore, "a matter OF coure sy' 10
hermit the space OF condensed rondcr TO several OF
the positions taken by your reviewer, IN when ne mas
unwttingly misrepresented the volume suoWltteo
TO him.
His main point seems to be that the phenomena OF
spriiuals are outside OF the limits OF science and
cannot be properly considered by scientific men, ana
his main reason Tor taking this position appears 10 be IN
cludad in the Oae dOgnatic assertion that the pne-
nomena not real and genuine THIS Is question u
fact not OF general ana er edeaTa tneo
rizing As stated in the volume under CONSIDERATION
observed the phantom phenomena OF
ISM except In the form of bodiless hands wrng win
pencils under conclusive test conditions. Before WIFI
ing the volume I attended the Katie King seances,
which were lust then attracting attention. MY cOnciu-
sion evenings attendance was that theJ were
fraudulent, and have had occasion since to reverse
the opinion. After writing submitting It, aud reading
the oof-sheets the seaDces OF the Eddy orothers
attracted NY attention. and made visit to Spirit Vale
with of determining their genuneness aud Win
the general conclusion they did admit OF serious
investigation, except in their minor aspects Ine re-
viewer, therefore, totally misapprehends the point OF
view from which the book was written IL was not
within the scope Of the investigation TO enter into de-
tailed exposures OF clever optical frauds but on the
other hand to collect SIT. record. and classify the
NJ
offer the public and to experts care
full analysis of the conditions under which
they / did not stop TO discuss the trlcKs anu
illusions the trade at all. When came TO nyestigate
the antecedeus and hereditary tendencies OF protested
mediums two constant facts forced themselves upon
my attention. The first that, as general rule, the
mediums themselves had been subject to nervous at
acks decidedly epepc type from the age OF puberty
on; aud the second was that in the majority OF
instances, they OF epieptlc parentage IN one
instance which the sister was celebrated as clair
yOyant medium, the brother was subject to we-narAed
attacks OF grand NAL In a second instance OF three
brothers in a family inheriting epepc neurosis from
the father two were noted tabetipDers and the third
was the victim OF cerebral epilepsy The Eddy brothers.
AGAIN inherit nervous disturb from both parents
and as showing now the hereditary tendency may
exhibit itself intellectual Influence IN one MEMBER
OF family. and in morbid nervous phenomena IN
another, Of the Eddy boys is SwedenOorSan mH-
ister holding religious tenets peculiarly AKIN 10 JUG
doctrines of spirituasm, while two of them are pro-
fessed spiritual mediums Another important fact soon
presented Itself namely, that the pronounced dynamic
phenomena OF spirituaism limited to mediums OF
decided vital temperament while the more pronounced
trance phenomena are limited as exclusively 10
mediums OF cerebral temperament. These are facts
resting uDOn thorough observation pursued as oppJr
tuuity has occurred during the last 10 years IN New
York city among professed mediums Of all classes and
hey
of the volume you have done the honor to
consider so exhaustivey The explanation nave Onered
very minor Importance. and may be accepted or re-
iected as OF science think best; but the DATA COZ
lected cOated determnatve OF the etology OF the
phenomena observed facts and must and will ut-
n,atev he accented as such. w A H." has only TO
verify them He mas, indeed only TO verify the genuine
OF the phenomena by careful and exhaustive lnVes
tgaon rcract the rash assertions or his review Tor
there IL no more admissible doubt the reality ana
genuineness OF large and important residue OF the
facts OF spirituasm, after the testing and Sitting pro-
ce has carried the last extremity than there
"a 70 the genuneness OF the poetic inspiration in the
cases OF Byron. Shelley, Co.eridge and Wordsworth
To employ the reviewers special llnstrauon tue test
mony would be sufficient to convince Mr. Greeneaf tue
learned author Of the textbook on legal evidence, al
though it very doubtful whether Greenleas work is
particularly applicable to scientific questions, or OF any
material value except a very general treatise 1t
should not however be passed upon from the lecturers
rostrum without examination. In one or two points
W A. H." has done injustice to the statements OF
the volume. There intention OF implying that
Helmnoz's familiar experiments as to tue trans
mission OF innervat0n have any relation To the
subject Of nerve aura, there intention OF
Implying more IN the than would be In
cuded the definition OF the specific molecular in
auenca OF nervous in high state OF excItat0n.
such as periodically occurs In epilepsy as "e as IL
many other astrological processes
Now as TO the experiments OF the German Baron as
TO the octiOn OF magnetism the nerves OF cataleptc
patients which has Oeen denied in some quarter, and
Affirmed in others. The difficulty with the Baron was
that he establish and demonstrate a. general
law OF magnetism that which is only applicable IN
spccil instances Ii matter OF expert
ment know that the nervous organism responds with
very decided spasns to the presence OF an ordinary
horseshoe magnet. In what percentage or instances
this would hold good OF socaed mediums In the trance
state will Eot attempt 10 say but my Impression Is
that tue exceptions would be few as 20 cast doubt
on the genuneness Of the trance. My acceptance OF the
Barons experiments was the result OF personal ver
cation of them IN accessible instances several Of which
have briefly detailed in the cursOry dissertation
molecular physics There are however, am per-
suaded, palpable plumbers in the volume W.
A. H." has done the honor to review. One OF them
very subordinate and incidental One-consists 10 the
quasi acceptance OF the view that the associated move
ments concerned 10 articulation co0rdnated by
nerve center situated the left anterior lobe CT the
brum frankly confess after full examination Of the
evidences so far DR. Hammond and Dr. Flint have re-
corded them that the facts TO me wholly INSULT
Gent to establish the proposition and that must reluc
family retract It.
Another very important question hos been started oy
your reviewer He objects to the application OF lAe
term epileptic' to those fits of absence and those
peculiar OF the system presented In the
biographies OF many intellectual menautnors painters,
poets and artists class. This again. question OF
fact, in which he Is at with the best
contemporary among them DR.. Maudsley, and
with the testimony OF eminent alienists here and
sewhere He Ia also at issue with very numerous