New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-07-02

i"oe ~ accept theSc conditions, and
their seances are valueless from point
Of view of serious study. But all me-
diums who are paid for their services
are not necessarily frauds because Of
that There are many who have no other
means Of living, and there is no reason
why they should not be paid for their
time and health But if any medium
won't permit these severe precautions
to be taken, it Immediately casts sus-
plcion on her and on her sincerity No
sitting is of any use unless the condi-
tions specified are put into full effect,
the professor insists
why or how ectoplasm is pro-
duced are not questions that a scien-
fist is interested in at this stage" said
Richet. HE must make numerous OBJ
servations and try to establish the alb
soluteness Of the facts. 1t will only
be after years Of experimenting that
we will have a sufficient familiarity
with the conditions and circumstances
of this phenomenon to be able to lay
down the laws governing it. But we
will never know Why any more than
we can answer that question in any
other branch of science"
Eva is the name taken by Martha Be-
raud, the daughter of a high officer in
the French army, who was engaged to
the son of General Noel. The generals
son was killed in the Congo just be-
fore the marriage, and Martha stayed
with the Noels for several years. The
general accidentally discovered her me-
diumistic ability and helped her de-
velop it by practice.
Ectoplasm Appears While
Pair Are in Sound Sleep
The seances with Martha were held
in the grounds of the Villa Carmen
where General Noel lives in Algeria.
The sittings took place in a little
pavilion, in which the second floor was
composed of one room with a nailed
window and door with very good
lock. This room was not too large
with only one entrance which was kept
carefully locked during the sittings
Before each study of this strange
phenomenon the room was carefully
searched, as were Martha and her ne
gress servant. The Noels insisted on
the servant sitting with Martha during
the seances as projections; but Martha
disliked this very much and gave much
better examples of ectoplasm later
when the servant was no longer in
sisted upon. In a corner of the room
was black curtain, behind which
Martha sat, but which was opened as
soon as the manifestation started.
1T seems shady, I know, that g
medium must sit behind a curtain, ;
Richet said. "But what difference
can it make after everything has beer
carefully inspected?
When the ectoplasm appeared J
could see both Martha and her ser.
want sitting asleep in their chairs" the
professor explained, "for the room was
we'll lighted by red lamp such as
photographers use for developing pic
lures. After each seance I examined
the room with the same care that had
used in the beginning, and am certain
that there was no possibility for Martha
to use any theatrical accessories.
I'VE had some extraordinary ma
terializations there. One form ap-
peared five or six different days, which
we called Bien-Boa. He seemed dark,
middle-aged man, with heavy black
beard, wearing a metal helmet of the
dark ages and covered with a great
wooden white cape. He walked around
and we could see his eyes looking about
him. We could even see his lips NOV
ing s he tried to speak. He did not
seem to have any legs, only the upper
part of his body being materialized.
We could see both Martha and the
negress during the whole time he was
there. His breathing was so audible
that decided to try an experiment to
find out whether he was really living
organism, even momentarily producing
the normal chemical reactions of a
human being. I handed him a glass
full of barium solution (BaOH) and a
glass tube asking him to breathe
through the liquid. He smiled an
agreement, and we watched his breath
gurgling through the solution with in
tense interest. To our immense sur
prise and delight, the liquid immediate
ly clouded and formed a prccipitate,
which meant that the form before us
was exhaling carbonic acid gas, as we
all do. The test was definite because
whenever carbonic acid Gas (CO3) is
passed into barium hydroxide the nat
ural result is solution Of barium
carbonate (BaCO3), which clouds the
liquid. We ciapped our hands and
shouted involuntarily 'Bravo' And
with that the form vanished. 1t was
like a play where the actor has done
we'll and is applauded, because Bien.
Boa reappeared three successive times
right after that, opening the curtain
and bowling low, and then vanished for
good.
Another day we were sitting wait
ing in front Of the curtain for some
time when I suddenly saw white
vapor on the floor about foot away
from me. 1t looked like white veil