Evening star., 1902-03-22
SPIRITUALISTS LECTURED.
Chairman Of Psychical Society Cau-
tions Against Credulity.
From the London Standard.

From the London Standard.
Inc opening meeting of the session OF
the Society Of Psychcal Research took
place at Westminster Town Hall. when DIR.
Oliver Lodge F. r. 8, delivered his presi.
Dental address. He said he wished To deal
with trance lucidity and clairyoyance In
particular. On trance lucidity he took the
View that an explanation based on telen-
athy as a vera causa could be pressed toe
far Telepathy was the one ultra-normal
human faculty to the reality of which
every one who had engaged In these re-
searches was prepared to assent; that was,
TO assent to II as a bare fact a summary
OF certain observed phenomenal but its
laws were unknown and its scope and
meaning were not yet apparent II was
propabiy put one of a whole chapter Of
sclentlncally unrecorded and unrecognized
human faculties, and 1t might turn out to
oe mistake to attempt to employ it for
the purpose OF explaining a great number
OF other powers which might he co-eyten-
slve or equivalent with itself though the
attempt was a natural and proper one to
Rake' Tor time. Telepathy itself how
was In need OF explanation Until
could answer that question il was
pa> \Rossfble 10 regard telepathy as an
eApia or ciairvoyance or lucidity I'm
generaN hypothesis which sought to
explain ~ \Etrol Of a mediums body In
trance by n2cy of discarnate spirits
presumed that - borate macbi,!e like
our bodies was cafa~ >pf being OCCASION
ally used not only by Nns.ud or intelli-
gence which manufacturer to speak.
put temporarily and with~ Guilty by
other minds or intelligence permitted to
make Sc of il.
The main assumption here was that such
other lntelligences existed. But that he
confessed was TO him not a very imnrob-
able assumption: for, knowing what thew
already certainly knew Of the material uni
verse, or its immense scope, and the num-
Der OF habitable worlds 1t contained 1he did
not say inhabited, for that the evidence did
not yet reveal. but habitable worlds real
lzlng also the absurdity OF the idea that
their few senses had instructed them con-
cerning all the possibilities Of existence
which could be associated in their minds
with the generalzed idea of 'habitable.'
perceiving also the Immense variety of life
Wnlcn luXurlated everywhere on this planet
wherever the conditions permitted he foun6
II impossible to deny the probability that
tnere might be in space an immense range
OF OF nfe and intelligence of which at present
they know nothing. Indeed. they were on
this planet and in this body for only few
score revolutions of the earth round the
sun; thousand months exceeded what
they called the "lifetime' Of most of them
Nhere or what they We're before and
where or what they should be after were
questions which as yet remained unan-
swered. and apparently unanswerable. OBJ
servatOnally, they learned that as n gen
eral rule. the visible and sensible inhabit-
ants Of this world were, to all appearance
left to pursue their own policy undisturbed
except by mutual collision. conflict or CO.
operation. In the psychological world had
they ever experienced any ultra-normaI
phenomenon. any interference from with
out OF their normal aud placid condition,
any thrush of intelligence or of moral
character beyond the standard of human
1ty, any avenue to information not normal
ly accessible. any revolution In their ideas
or God and of humanity, and of the mean
ing or existence? 1t was question of evi-
dence whether such things have occurred,
and opinions differ Science had a horror
or the unintelligibe; il could make nothing
of a capricious and disordery agent and
1t preferred to ignore the existence of any
such.