The New York herald., 1922-07-09
SPIRITISTS DECRY
ECTOPLASM DENIAL
SOrbonne Can't Contradict
Conan Doyle in Belief
of Cult Here.
CUT AND DRY, IT'S SAID
One Mediums Experiments
Not Conclusive, Argu-
ment Made.
PARIS REPORT HARD BLOW
Existence of Any Substance
as, Contended Is Disproved,
Scientists Decide.

Ectoplasm or no ectoplasm, life will
probably move along just about the
same as ever, and the world will be
no unhappier, is the consensus Of per-
sons interested In spiritism and not
too deeply impressed with the an
nouncement yesterday by investi-
gators for the Sorbonne at Paris that
this mysterious supply Of gray sub
stance. with which Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle is on handshaking terms, does
not exist. Their experiments with a
woman medium named Eva have
proved nothing, these spirttists de-
clare. and believers will continue to
follow in the footsteps Of Sir Arthur
or stride by his side in their further
adventures into the world beyond.
Three eminent scientists conducted
the Sorbonne investigation in an ef-
tort to get in touch with Sir Arthur's
ectoplasmic aura. The result LOT their
experiments. they state. is in sum
total that "the first matter" as the
British spiritist says alchemists OF
the Middle Ages called 1t, simply
doesn't exist. And that's all there is
about this so-called bond between the
celestial and the terrestrial"
Part of Body, Doyle Believes.
SIR Arthur believes that the ectoplasm
Is really part of the body OF the medium
and If amputated the medium would die.
A small portion of the substance has
been disengaged. he said on his recent
4tour. and under tests had been found
to consist of the same sort Of chemicals
and cells as are in the human body
To check up conclusively in their ex-
periments the Sorbonne professors held
fifteen seances and they could not To-
cate. isolate or feel the queer putty
like mass.
Arthur Edward Stillwell, well known
psychic OF 800 West End avenue, said
that he had read about the investiga-
lions at Paris. but that the announce
ment made no impression on him.
Il don't think that any one attempt
to discover the existence of such q
substance amounts to anything" he
said. Book after book has been writ
ten about ectoplasm saying that 1t does
exist. Perhaps, If the Sorbonne pro-
fessors had tried another medium they
might have been NOR successful They
have tried to prove that there is no
ectoplasm instead Of trying to prove
that there is. I have never seen ecto-
plasm. but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is
authority for the statement that it ex-
lists. and 1t must exist
Happy ithout 1t All His Life.
I've been perfectly happy all my life
without ectoplasm. and I expect to go
on being happy without 1t. But I do
not feel that the Sorbonne men have
proved anything"
DIR. w. F. Prince secretary of the
American Society for Psychical Re-
search, said that he did not consider the
Paris experiments conclusive proof that
ectoplasm does or does not exist
I'm the journal of this society a year
ago / stated that the printed evidence
for ectoplasm referred to the Sorbonne
report Is not sufficient for a Judgment
on this side Of the water, and say SO
STILL" he stated. THE English Society
for Psychical Research has had experi-
ments with about the same results. But
on the other hand, neither the English
nor the Sorbonne experiments have dis
rro vedanything. If / find only part
iAu6cS III d PlcCe Ol WOOu IL may seem
unlikely that some one else saw a bear
but 1t does not dlsprove 1t. This society
Is not working on experiments for &C.
top!asm, since there is no known me-
dunn In America producing it,
The scientists who conducted the Sor-
bonne experiments were DIR. Laughter.
director of the physiological laboratory
of the Faculty of Science; Dr. G. Dumas,
professor of experimental psychology.
and Prof. Henri Pieron. director of the
Sorbonne laboratory Of physiological
psychology.
The medium was called Eva. a
woman informed the professors that she
had had wonderful results In producing
ectoplasm with Eva that the substance
came out of her mouth and took the
shape of faces and heads and bodies
OF spirits and that 1t actually spoke.