Evening star., 1927-10-14
ECTOPLASM BOGUS,
PHYSICISTS VIEW
Noted Driton SCOTS at Claim
Made in Present-Day
Spiritism.

By Science Service.
LoNDON.-"Ectoplasm." one of the
chief items in the stock in trade OF
present-day spiritism. is something as
vet quite improved scientifically, and
all efforts to demonstrate II by really
critical methods have ended by dem
onstrating something quite different:
to wit. fraud on the part OF the me-
dium or psychic" who claimed to
have the power Of producing 1t.
Thus declares DR.. E. Z. Fournier
d'Albe, one Of the foremost or living
British physicists, writing In the sci
entific magazine, Nature.
DIR. Fournier d'Albe's opinion Is not
the snap Judgment Of a person dog
matically prejudiced against such al.
legged phenomena and unwilling to AK
anime the case before pronouncing his
verdict. On the contrary, Nature
states in an editorial remark. he has
given much sympathetic but critical
study to the subject Of psychic phe-
nomena, insisting only that the evil
lence pass the tests usually given to
any other claims advanced for serious
scientific attention.
Thoroughly Probes Claim.
And he states, at the end Of a long
investigation Of all the available evil
dence, that there Is no proof OF the
reality Of ectoplasm, the hazy. gauzy
stuff that is supposed to exude from
the bodies Of mediums to form spirit
naturalization. Neither Is there any
proof, he adds, OF the reality OF tele-
kinesis, of the ability Of certain me-
Cliums to raise and move objects at a
distance, holding them suspended in
midair at will.
Concerning the fraudulency OF ecto.
plasnl, the British scientists opinion
is emphatic. But the credulity OF the
believers in this sort OF thing makes
the fraud easy. Indeed, the habitues
OF the seances stoutly defend the per-
sons who trick them.
practically all the we'll known me.
diums have been detected in fraud at
one time or other" he says. "But for
every such exposure there 10 q ready
excuse. The medium Is in a state
OF trance or semi-consciousnesS and
the controlling spirits are OF all kinds.
even tricksters. . The supernat.
ural element is introduced at every
stage. Even when not deliberately
1t Is made to influence the
investigator in the form Of a demand
for sympathetic conditions"
Examination OF Specimens"
Ectoplasm seems to be different stuff
at different times. ION two occasions
DIR. Won Schrenck.Notzing was able TO
obtain samples Of the substance and
subject 1t to analysis. The first sam
pie was indistinguishabie from human
skin such as might be peeled OF a
human heel. The second sample
closely resembled saliva In its micro
scopical character. t+
f"Quite recently another case of
was Investigated by 4.
J. Dingwall. He found the rnateriali-
cations resembling animal tissue. The
he says. suggests some
thing analogous to lung tissue and the
smell Of the substance. according to
Dr.. Worcester. resembled the smell of
the entrails Of q freshly killed ami
NAL
DIR. Fournier d'Albe IL Of the opin-
on that, in view Of the often-exposed
frauds, a further pursuit OF the sub
Iect would be Improbable. ''lt Is i'm
possible to admit the existence OF any
new facts" he concludes, ''and even
A tentative explanation Of them is, un-
,alled for. Science might just as well
concern itself with the anatomy and
Of fairies"