The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
SOME NEW BOOKS.

BY PAU L PRY.

suoJeee too uneanny," he wishes to CO., operate With him In the effort to demon strate whether the dead can communicate. And he very aptly adds those who have the nerve"
 Mir Funk wishes All who are in terested in psychic research to form cir eles in different communities after the pan outlined on page 52O and write to the author their successes or failures, af- ter pauently making tests at not less than twenty meetings, devoting no. less than an hour to each meeting
 In the appendix tho author cites some comments by psychologists and other scholars on the finding of the Widows Mite.n The medium states: T must sol emnly declare before Almighty God that rever knew. before the night of the seance at my home in which the Widows Mite was talked about, that the Funk 2 Wag- nails Company had borrowed from any hody coin of this character or any other character etc"
 Alfred Russell Wallace, English seen- tist says in conclusions ITO me the hy- pothesis of spirit communication is not only possible, but the only probable solu- tion."
 Prof c. A. Young, professor of astron- omy of Princeton, among other things says; T am too obstinately prejudiced, so that it is much easier for me to believe that we have to do with a trick or de- fusion of some kind than that MT. Beech CTS spirit should really busy itself in such a manner, or even that thought can be transferred in the way necessary to ex- plain the phenomena"
 Edward H. Griffin, professor of history and philosophy. Johns-H Hopkins, says in part: Tt is certain that fraud is not a | probable explanation. Nor can l regard | the theory of sub-conscous faculties as | reasonable explanation. The triviality of so-called spirit communications is a | fatal objection in my mind to the spirit | hypothesis. Why should great men lapse into such imbeclity? If the future life is so far inferior to the present one, who need take the trouble to confirm belief in 1t? If l were compelled to choose hy- pothesis, it would be that of fraud, but I am inclined to give the problem up with l out solution"
 l. J. de Bussy, professor of ethics and religious philosophy, University of Am | sterdam( Is of the opinlon that the ex- planation of the facts may be sought in the hidden consciousness of Dr. Funk.
 Thomson J. Hudson, author of "'rhe Law of Psychic Phenomena" says in part: 'I regard telepathy as affording a perfectly easy explanation of all that appears mysterious in the case. The an- swers given by the control to your ques- | lions are just such as might be reason l ably expected from a fairly competent 1 tele epathist etc." Dr. Hudson then offered to write out in full an explanation of his theory if Dr. Funk wished him to do so. But, says the author In a few days he telegraph acquainted the world with the doctors death.
 A. Riehl, professor of philosophy, Halle. | a spirits, and know only One Spirit" John Trowbridge, professor of physics, i Harvard, says in conclusions: q have too 1 great respect for MT. Beecher to suppose that he is occupied in another world with trivial matters; and am forced to believe that spirltualism is dangerous. This way 1 madness lies i"
 Minot J. Savage, D. D., says in part: "Belieging as I do that such a thing as communication from the spirit world is possible, what are the difficulties in the way of accepting 1t in this case? In the light of the statement you have made, ] they are chiefly of a negative kind. Why was this particular thing said and not something else? Why was not more said :? Why did not somebody else speak? Why this? Why that? Questions of this kind imply that we have a right to establish conditions. Now it seems to me that we l impose conditions on nature or reject l facts unless they are of the kind we ox- pect or like, but that we observe and record the facts, whatever they are. and then try to find out what they mean. If there is a possible great new truth whose half-uttered, frsgmentary whispers only as yet we can hear, let us at least listen until the whispers sink to silence or swell 1 into some clear revelation"
 The Rev. c. H. Parkhurst. D. D., says in conclusion: "As to spirit communica- tion being possible solution, my answer is: Possible, yes.