The New York herald., 1921-01-02
Doctors NJ alta and
Van Zeist of Holland
Weighed a Ghost
and Found It Tipped
Scale at Two and
One-quarter Ounces

ing cardboard drum shaped cylinder of
about two-flfths the size of an average adult
human body represented their progress.
This was placed In small structure spe-
cially built. and with concrete floor, and so
constructed that earth vibrations could not
account for any phenomena demonstrated
The cylinder was hermetically sealed and
fitted with a thermometer that registered the
displacement of air In the cylinder, denoting
the presence of liquids or solids accounting
for such displacement.
The form Of their acquiring what they
regarded as being the result of direct effort
on the part of manifesting Spirits" con-
frmed their faith in having invisible assist
ants In their remarkable experiments who
at their request could manifest by entering
the sealed cylinder and, as the erratic move
ment Of the alcohol in the thermometer tube
recorded, contract or expand at the will" of
the manifesting force.
With the progress of their experimenting
In this direction larger cylinders were en-
ployed until finally one corresponding to the
size Of fully grown adult was used With
the thermometer recording that the entire
interior of this cylinder was occupied by
something other than the air it contained at
the commencement of the experiment a
method of weighing the cylinder and its in
visible occupant was applied. with the result
that the experimenters deduced that the
weight of their (purported) discarnate COM
municant was approximately two and a
quarter ounces.
1t would seem that this stage of their
unique undertaking encouraged experiment
ing In the direction Of providing their ghost
ly cooperators with the means to demon
strate their respective individuality and in
telligence-in other words, to prove that the
force behind the contraction and expansion
OF the occupant of the cylinder had the
knowledge of a human being and the intelli-
gence to manifest that knowledge in a man
ner that would conclusively prove the sue
cess of the instrument scientifically solv-
ing the problem of communication between
this and other spheres.
Weighing the Spiritual Collaboration
Showed Him or Her at aT Ounces
1t may be noted that Drs. Malta and Van
Zeist have regulations for scientific skill
and personal integrity in Scandinavian Eu-
rope on parallel with those of Sir Oliver
Lodge, the late Sir William Crookes and, in
fact, any known scientist. Their belief In
their having been assisted in a practical way
by the communicating entities with whom
they sought contact in the course Of some
hundreds of recorded instances of purported
correspondence" was duplicated in the in
stance of the late DR.. Crawford Of the
Queens University. Belfast, Ireland, whose
entific investigation Of the occult detail the
help he received from the invisible. as he
termed them, operators" in his deductions
as to the persuasive force applied in the
course of his experiments and such forming
the code method of their" suggestions as to
how he could best assure receiving assist
ance from them"
After some twenty years of laborious and
tireless mental and physical effort the Dutch
scientists would seem to have accomplished
a marked success and apart from their sue
ceeding in correlating the molecular atoms
as providing for a manifesting force, with
the result that the fully completed instru-
ment Of communication. their "dynamisto-
graph" apparently satisfied them that they
had achieved definite stage Of their re-
search-the actual identification of the COM
municating entities and their willingness
and ability to assist the experimenters.
The mechanical action of their instrument
may be more simply described a combina-
ton of the much debated ouija board and an
ordinary typewriter. with, in addition to the
cylinder already referred to. a second cyin-
der that was vaguely referred to as con-
trolling the manifesting force contained in
the other one when in operation. With the
depressing of a membranel,ke fabric band
by the manifesting force the letters or nu-
merals required to form complete words and
sentences were In turn depressed and
through the medium of an linked ribbon
were imprinted upon narrow strips of paper
precisely in the case Of the familiar news
ticker. With the depression of the MEM
brane in the slightest of degrees a delicate
contrivance was set at work that formed an
electrical contact that, in operating upon
magnet, caused a hammer to descend sharply,
with the result that the required letters
were imprinted upon the strip of paper
In Dry Weather Spirits Worked Best:
In Wet, Electrical Device Was Altered
The ouija board element OF the device
found it's place in the system governing the
selection Of the proper letters or numbers
desired to form sentences and groupings OF
words. A slowly revolving disc. on which
were painted the letters of the alphabet and
the ten numerals. was so placed behind a
blank disc that each letter appeared momen-
tarily visible through small aperture cut
in the outer disc. Synchronizing with the
revolution Of the lettered and numbered disc
and the appearance consecutively of each
letter and number at the aperture n dupli-
cate type letter fell into place I'm readiness
10 be recorded on the depression of the
membrane. simple explanation of the
operation of the elaborately designed mech
anism Is apparent I'm the theory of the
inventors that the invisible manifesting force
had human intelligence and sight, a knowl
edge of the alphabet and its uses in word
forming. also the physical power to depress
the membrane key at the right moment and
as the letters or numbers required appeared
at the aperture.
With the use Of acetylene gas II was
noted that better results were obtained. and
especially so when extremely dry weather