The Washington herald., 1908-08-02
The List includes EHgIaHd'S
Foremost Scientists, Sir
Oliver Lodge and Sir
William CrookeS; the Gel
ebrated Prot. Simon Ne1U-
comb; Camille FIamma-
rion, Cesare LombrOSO,
and ROentgen.
By JOHN 5. HARDWOOD.

Bv JOHN <. HARDWOOD.
Is there a spirit-Iand? To-day. many Of 1
the worlds most famous scientists-men 4
who have contributed to the good and ad-
vancement Of mankind in countless ways /
are bringing their highly trained minds |
10 bear on the great absorbing. and over
shadOwinE question Of an after life. Not 4
u run over the list exhaUstiveiy. Sir /
Oliver Lodge and Sir William Crookes, |
England's leading men Of science. Ca /
mile Flammarion and Prof Simon New
comb, the noted French and American I
astronomers. respectively Prot William /
James this country's best-lnown psy- /
choIogist. Dr. Robert Koch. discoverer Of I
the germ Of tuberculosis; Roeutgen. of
X-ray fame. Behring. contributor 10 /
mankind OF the diphtheria serum; Schi- I
apareIH. dIscoverer OF The canals OF Mars, I
Cesare Lomb7oso. the, criminolosist-
these are a handful Of the more famous Z
OF the worlds present corps Of highly
trained scientific thinkers who are en-
gagged from tine 10 time IN investigating
scientifically. as far as such a thing is
possible, this question OF a future ex-
-stence-
Everything that is capable Of being
placed under the term psychicaI receives
me keen scrutiny OF these eminent
sezrchers for hereafter That is. they
consider everything occult their proper
field Of research. at the present state Of
the search. And 50 i Is no unusual thing
for this or that great man, whose epoch
making discoveries have resulted from
the coolest sort Of reasoning. to attend
secret spi-ituaIistic seances, to frequent
clairvCyance paTlOrs. 10 show keen inter
est in the latest stories OF relepathy. and.
yes, even TO give serious attention and a
lot OF valuable tine 10 investigating a
ghost incident reported 10 a society Of
psychicaI research in which he has mem
bership.
Seeking an Explanation.
Generally speaking. the scientist
searchers for a spirit-Iand have been led
10 make their Investigations Of psychic
phenomena through the weII-known scien-
tifc dictum that it is the duty Of scien,e
20 explain the unexpIainabIe whenever
and wherever possible The things called
psychic phenomena may or may not be
material evidence Of the existence Of a
future staJei Yet. when a noted man Of
science begins his research in this com
paratively new feld for his kind he be-
comes. perforce. q searcher after The
spirit-land-
Il is interesting 10 note the present re-
suits Of their investigations on the minds
Of the men making them Camille FIam-
marion has conducted researches IN psy-
chic phenomena for f0rty-five years Tsu-
ally. he has made his Investigations IN
sometimes with the aid of such well-bal-
anred laymeu as the late Sully PrUd-
houIe. and. ilfrequeu0y. alone. soma
tine since he dlsavowed any belief IN
splrirual5su. and yet he has placed him
self on record as believing that all scisn-
-iic investigators Of spi-ilua-isn have
not been made the dupes OF the mediums
What them Right here The eminent as
-r01omer halcs. declaring that mans
knowledge IS not Yet sufficient 20 explain
these phenomena which his Investigations
have caused him 20 hold 10 be realities.
This. broadly speaking. is the attitude
OF SchilparelN and Lombros0. Of Behri1E
and Koch Prof James has stated that
he has discovered from time TO time
in his psycEieal research things strange
ly real ST William Cro0kes has ex-
pressed rather guardedIy his belief in the
existence OF spirits and their ability TO
communicate with mortals- But as for
Sir Oliver Lodge. he Eas boldly announced
10 the world that communications were
received from the dead in secret and
exhaustive tests which he and other
members Of the Society for PsychicaI Re
search conducted
Require Definite Proof.
Not easily or early do We make this
admission said Sir Oliver In spite
Of Ions. conversations with what pur-
ports TO be the surviving intelligence Of
1hese friends and Investigators. we were
by 10 means convinced of their identity
BY more general conversation. even when
It was of a friendly and intimate charac-
Ter. such as in ordinary cases would
have been considered amply sufficient for
Identification Of friends speaking. say.
through the telephone OF typewriter We
required definite and crucial proof. a
proof difficult even TO imagine as well IS
difficult 10 supply. The OstensibIe com
rnUnlcators realize the need of such proof
as fully as we DO and nave done their
best 10 satisfy the rational mind Some
OF Us think they succeeded. Others are
still doubtful.
This was the statement that recently
sstonished all England. coming as il
did from so world-famous a man OF
science Perhaps. as the venerable Gold
VIII EAALA cAEEt5L<s o4E ClLFeE. EreaI
IN his own line has been duped in this.
And perhaps At any rate. Sir Oliver
not excepting Camille Flammarion-is
probably spending more time investigating
psychic phenomena than any other sci
enlist who includes this among his other
recognized fields Of endeavor.
Long a Leading Worker.
Sir Oliver has long been a leading
spirit In the English Society for Psy-
chical Research. founded 10 investigate
alleged material Manifestations Of an
other life and numbering numerous sci
entists and laymen among its members
Il was through his aGorss that a na-
-ional psyChiCal Observato. was founded
In England for the scie1 hc investiga-
tioH Of all psychical subje ets. and under
his direction the observatory's work has
been largely carried out. His interest
in psychical matters goes back 70 his
student days when he met and became
a friend Of F. ". H Myers. known in
England before his death as z critic
poet. psychologist. and ,spiritualist- Sir
Oliver. who was then. as he Is row, en-
thusiastic on the subject Of scientific re-
search. saw in the OcCulIta splendid field