South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-01-06

THE other day l witnessed sur
prising action at friends house. A
table was exposed to the center of
the room and the guests were invit-
ed to put their hands on the table
with their palms downward. Dur
ing an hours time a person would
ask the table to rise, and the table
would rise according to the times 1t
was asked to- Now, this table was
exposed to all witnesses and was
surely not raised by person or thing
on the sly. Would appreciate an ex-
planation.-C. r., Bronx, n. Y"
The curious phenomenon that you
witnessed, known as table turning"
or table tipping" has played a
large part in modern mysticism. In
the middle of the last century, when
spiritualism was a new sensation,
table turning was a popular method
of getting into communication with
the spirits" Michael Faraday
proved by means of very simple
apparatus, consisting essentially of
n table with a double top, the upper
one resting upon balls supported by
the lower one, that it was the hands
of the sitters that moved the table,
and not the table that moved the
hands.
In other words, the impulse came
from the sitters themselves or from
one or more of them. This point
being established, together with the
/ known tendency of unconscious mus
cular action 10 follow mental sug
gestions, there was no mystery left,
except for those who preferred a SUI
/ pernatural 20 a natural explanation.
In some of its alleged forms. how
( ever. the phenomenon assumes the
character Of deviation" J. E., the
whole table is said 10 rise bodily
! from the floor and pass from one
place TO another, dragging" the sit
/ ters (who must now be standers)
along with it. Such conduct on the
part of an inanimate object-if any
thing of the kind ever really occurs
is not so easily explained by the
operation of known physical laws.
1t is only fair 20 say that about 1854,
when table turning was attracting
much attention, both in America and
in Europe. the Count de Gasparin,
assisted by Prof. Thury of Geneva,
Switzerland. convinced themselves
by series of experiments conduct
ed without the aid of professional
mediums that there exists some UNI
known force. which they called
"ectenic force. associated with hu-
man being and capable Of moving
objects. such as table, even with
out physical contact
What their idea of the nature Of
this supposed force was is indicated
by the name they gave il. "ectenic."
coming from a Greek word meaning
strain" They imagined that the
state of strain 20 which the nervous
systems OF the sitters. or operators,
were subjected by long fixing of the
attention produced or brought into
action a force capable Of acting
across space upon material objects.
The persons concerned in these
experiments appear TO have been
unexcep uonable in reputation for
honesty Of purpose and truthfulness.
Yet doubt remains whether their
work was conducted with all the
I necessary precautions that should
/ surround an investigation OF that
kind. When you set out 70 over
throw established laws and princl-
pies OF nature that have been rec
ognfznd as inyarfahle from time I'm
memorial and that moreover. have
been prove1 To be- connected up in
/ 10 d logical system. YOU must leave
/ IN element OF uncertainty i'm your
work, no loophole for doubt. But
( those who invented "ectenic force
neglected TO describe their opera
tions in such a way as to eliminate