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THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
the hand when some would-be exposer fl ashed an electric torch.
When the ectoplasm fl ies back to a mucoid surface the result may
be severe hemorrhage, several instances of which have come within
the author’s personal notice. In one case, that of Susanna Harris, in
Melbourne, the medium was confi ned to bed for a week after such
an experience.
It is vain in a single chapter of a work which covers a large
subject to give any detailed view of a section of that subject which
might well have a volume to itself. Our knowledge of this strange,
elusive, protean, all-pervading substance is likely to increase from
year to year, and it may be prophesied that if the last generation
has been occupied with protoplasm, the next will be engrossed with
its psychic equivalent, which will, it is to be hoped, retain Charles
Richet’s name of ectoplasm, though various other words such as
“plasm,” “teleplasm,” and “ideoplasm” are unfortunately already in
circulation. Since this chapter was prepared fresh demonstrations
of ectoplasm have occurred in various parts of the world, the most
noticeable being with “Margery,” or Mrs. Crandon, of Boston, whose
powers have been fully treated in Mr. Malcolm Bird’s volume of that
name.
CHAPTER XIX
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
The fi rst authentic account of the production of what is called
a spirit photograph dates from 1861. This result was obtained by
William H. Mumler in Boston, U.S.A. In England in 1851 Richard Boursnell is said to have had a similar experience, but no early
photograph of this nature has been preserved. The fi rst example in
England capable of being verifi ed occurred with the photographer
Hudson, in 1872.
Like the rise of modern Spiritualism, this new development was
predicted from the Other Side. In 1856 Mr. Thomas Slater, an optician, residing at 136 Euston Road, London, was holding a seance
with Lord Brougham and Mr. Robert Owen, when it was rapped out
that the time would come when Mr. Slater would take spirit photographs. Mr. Owen remarked that if he were in the spirit world when
that time came he would appear on the plate. In 1872, when Mr.
Slater was experimenting in spirit photography, he is said to have
obtained on a plate the face of Mr. Robert Owen and also that of
Lord Brougham.
by Mr. Slater, and said:
The fi rst of his successes contained two heads by the side of
a portrait of his sister. One of these heads is unmistakably the late
Lord Brougham’s; the other, much less distinct, is recognized by
Mr. Slater as that of Robert Owen, whom he knew intimately up to
the time of his death.
[99]
Alfred Russel Wallace was shown these results
392
THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
After describing other spirit photographs obtained by Mr. Slater,
Dr. Wallace goes on:
Now whether these fi gures are correctly identifi ed or not, is not
the essential point. The fact that any fi gures, so clear and unmistakably human in appearance as these, should appear on plates taken
in his own private studio by an experienced optician and amateur
photographer, who makes all his apparatus himself, and with no
one present but the members of his own family, is the real marvel.
In one case a second fi gure appeared on a plate with himself, taken
by Mr. Slater when he was absolutely alone, by the simple process of
occupying the sitter’s chair after uncapping the camera.
Mr. Slater himself showed me all these pictures, and explained
the conditions under which they were produced. That they are not
impostures is certain, and as the fi rst independent confi rmations of
what had been previously obtained only through professional photographers, their value is inestimable.
From Mumler in 1861 to William Hope in our own day there
have appeared some twenty to thirty recognized mediums for psychic photography, and between them they have produced thousands of those supernormal results which have come to be known
as “extras.” The best known of these sensitives, in addition to Hope
and Mrs. Deane, are Hudson, Parkes, Wyllie, Buguet, Boursnell and
Duguid.
Mumler, who was employed as an engraver by a leading fi rm of
jewellers in Boston, was not a Spiritualist, nor a professional photographer. In an idle hour, while trying to take a photograph of himself
in a friend’s studio, he obtained on the plate the outline of another
fi gure. The method he adopted was to focus an empty chair, and after uncovering the lens, spring into position by the chair and stand
until the requisite exposure was made. Upon the back of the photograph Mr. Mumler had written:
393
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
This photograph was taken of myself, by myself, on Sunday, when
there was not a living soul in the room beside me-so to speak. The
form on my right I recognize as my cousin, who passed away about
twelve years since.
W. H. MUMLER
The form is that of a young girl who appears to be sitting in the
chair. The chair is distinctly seen through the body and arms, also
the table upon which one arm rests. Below the waist, says a contemporary account, the form (which is apparently clothed in a dress
with low neck and short sleeves) fades away into a dim mist, which
simply clouds over the lower part of the picture. It is interesting
to note features in this fi rst spirit photograph which have been repeated many times in those obtained by later operators.
News of what had happened to Mumler quickly became known,
and he was besieged with applications for sittings. He at fi rst refused, but at last had to yield, and when further “extras” were obtained and his fame spread, he was compelled fi nally to give up his
business and to devote himself to this new work. As his experiences
have been, in the main, those of every psychic photographer who
has succeeded him, we may glance briefl y at them.
Private sitters of good repute obtained thoroughly evidential
and recognizable pictures of friends and relatives, and were perfectly satisfi ed that the results were genuine. Then came professional
photographers who were certain that there must be some trick,
and that if they were given the opportunity of testing under their
own conditions they would discover how it was done. They came
one after another, in some cases with their own plates, camera, and
chemicals, but after directing and supervising all the operations,
were unable to discover any trickery. Mumler also went to their
photographic studios and allowed them to do all the handling and
developing of the plates, with the same result. Andrew Jackson Da-
394
THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
vis, who was at that time the editor and publisher of The Herald of
Progress in New York, sent a professional photographer, Mr. William
Guay, to make a thorough investigation. He reported that after he
had been allowed to control the whole of the photographic process,
there appeared on the plate a spirit picture. He experimented with
this medium on several other occasions, and was convinced of his
genuineness.
Another photographer, Mr. Horace Weston, was sent to investigate by Mr. Black, the famous portrait photographer of Boston.
When he returned, after having duly obtained a spirit picture, he
said he could detect nothing in the operations that differed from
those employed in taking an ordinary photograph. Then Black went
himself and personally performed all the manipulation of plates
and development. As he watched one of the plates developing and
saw appearing on it another form besides his own, and fi nally found
it to be that of a man leaning his arm on his shoulder, he exclaimed
in his excitement, “My God, is it possible?”
Mumler had more applications for sittings than he could fi nd
time for, and appointments were made for weeks ahead. These came
from all classes-ministers, doctors, lawyers, judges, mayors, professors, and business men being mentioned as among those particularly interested. A full account of the various evidential results obtained by Mumler will be found in contemporary records.
In 1863 Mumler, like so many other photographic mediums
since his day, found on his plates “extras” of living persons. His
strongest supporters were unable to accept this new and startling
phenomenon, and while holding to their former belief in his powers, were convinced that he had resorted to trickery. Dr. Gardner, in
a letter to the Banner of Light (Boston, February 20, 1863), referring
to this fresh development, writes:
[100]
395
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
While I am fully of the belief that genuine spirit likenesses have
been produced through his mediumship, evidence of deception in
two cases, at least, has been furnished me, which is perfectly conclusive. Mr. Mumler, or some person connected with Mrs. Stuart’s
rooms, has been guilty of deception in palming off as genuine spirit
likenesses pictures of a person who is now living in this city.
What made the case even more conclusive to the accusers was
the fact that the same “extra” of the living person appeared on
two different plates. This “exposure” set the tide of public opinion
against him, and in 1868 Mumler departed for New York. Here his
business prospered for a time until he was arrested by order of the
mayor of New York, at the instance of a newspaper reporter who
had received an unrecognized “extra.” After a lengthy trial he was
discharged without a stain on his character. The evidence of professional photographers who were not Spiritualists was strongly in
Mumler’s favour.
Mr. Jeremiah Gurney testifi ed:
I have been a photographer for twenty-eight years; I have witnessed Mumler’s process, and although I went prepared to scrutinize everything, I could fi nd nothing which savoured of fraud or
trickerythe only thing out of the usual routine being the fact that
the operator kept his hand on the camera.
Mumler, who died in poverty in 1884, has left an interesting
and convincing narrative of his career in his book, “Personal Experiences of William H. Mumler in Spirit Photography,”
which is to be seen at the British Museum.
Hudson, who obtained the fi rst spirit photograph in England
of which we have objective evidence, is said to have been about
sixty years of age at that time (March, 1872). The sitter was Miss
Georgiana Houghton, who has fully described the incident. There
is abundant testimony to Hudson’s work. Mr. Thomas Slater) al-
[101]
a copy of
396
THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
ready quoted, took his own camera and plates, and after minute
observation reported that “collusion or trickery was altogether out
of the question.” Mr. William Howitt, a stranger to the medium,
went unannounced and received a recognized “extra” of his two
deceased boys. He pronounced the photographs to be “perfect and
unmistakable.”
Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace secured a good picture of his mother.
[102]
Describing his visit he says
I sat three times, always choosing my own position. Each time
a second fi gure appeared in the negative with me. The fi rst was
a male fi gure with a short sword, the second a full-length fi gure,
standing apparently a few feet on one side and rather behind me,
looking down at me and holding a bunch of fl owers. At the third
sitting, after placing myself, and after the prepared plate was in the
camera, I asked that the fi gure would come close to me. The third
plate exhibited a female fi gure standing close in front of me, so that
the drapery covers the lower part of my body. I saw all the plates
developed, and in each case the additional fi gure started out the moment the developing fl uid was poured on, while my portrait did not
become visible till, perhaps, twenty seconds later. I recognized none
of these fi gures in the negatives; but the moment I got the proofs, the
fi rst glance showed me that the third plate contained an unmistakable portrait of my mother-like her both in features and expression;
not such a likeness as a portrait taken during life, but a somewhat
pensive, idealized likeness yet still, to me, an unmistakable likeness.
The second portrait, though indistinct, was also recognized by
Dr. Wallace as a picture of his mother. The fi rst “extra” of a man was
unrecognized.
Mr. J. Traill Taylor, who was then editor of the British Journal of
Photography, testifi ed
[103]
this medium, using his own plates, “and that at no time during the
:
that he secured supernormal results with
397
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
preparation, exposure, or development of the pictures was Mr. Hudson within ten feet of the camera or dark room.” Surely this must be
accepted as fi nal.
Mr. F. M. Parkes, living at Grove Road, Bow, in the East End of
London, was a natural psychic who had veridical visions from his
childhood. He knew nothing of Spiritualism until it was brought to
his notice in 1871, and early in the following year he experimented
in photography with his friend Mr. Reeves, the proprietor of a dining-room near King’s Cross. He was then in his thirty-ninth year.
At fi rst only irregular markings and patches of light appeared on
the plates, but after three months a recognized spirit extra was obtained, the sitters being Dr. Sexton and Dr. Clarke, of Edinburgh. Dr.
Sexton invited Mr. Bowman, of Glasgow, an experienced photographer, to make a thorough examination of the camera, the dark room
and all the appliances in use. This he did, and declared imposition
on the part of Parkes to be impossible. For some years this medium
took no remuneration for his services. Mr. Stainton Moses, who has
devoted a chapter to Mr. Parkes, writes:
On turning over Mr. Parkes’s album, the most striking point is
the enormous variety of the designs; the next, perhaps, the utterly
unlike character of most of them, and their total dissimilarity to the
conventional ghost. Out of 110 that lie before me now, commencing
from April 1872, and with some intermissions extending down to
present date, there are not two that are alike-scarcely two that bear
any similarity to each other. Each design is peculiar to itself, and
bears upon the face of it marks of individuality.
He states that a considerable number of the photographs were
recognized by the sitters.
M. Ed. Buguet, the French spirit photographer, visited London
in June, 1874, and at his studio at 33 Baker Street had many wellknown sitters. Mr. Harrison, editor of The Spiritualist, speaks of
[104]
398
THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
a test employed by this photographer, namely, cutting off a corner
of the glass plate and fi tting it to the negative after development.
Mr. Stainton Moses describes Buguet as a tall, thin man, with earnest
face and clearly-cut features, with an abundance of bushy black hair.
During the exposure of a plate he was said to be in partial trance.
The psychic results he obtained were of far higher artistic quality
and distinctness than those obtained by other mediums. Also a big
percentage of the spirit forms were recognized. A curious feature
with Buguet was that he obtained a number of portraits of the “double” of sitters, as well as of those living, but not present, with him in
the studio. Thus Stainton Moses, while lying in a state of trance in
London, had his picture appear on a plate in Paris when Mr. Gledstanes was the sitter.
In April, 1875, Buguet was arrested and charged by the French
Government with producing fraudulent spirit photographs. To save
himself he confessed that all his results had been obtained by trickery. He was sentenced to a fi ne of fi ve hundred francs and imprisonment for one year. At the trial a number of well-known public men
maintained their belief in the genuineness of the “extras” they had
obtained, in spite of the production of dummy “ghosts” said to have
been used by Buguet. The truth of spirit photography does not rest
with this medium, but those who are interested enough to read the
full account of his arrest and trial
own conclusions. Writing after the trial, Mr. Stainton Moses says:
“I not only believe – I know, as surely as I know anything, that some
of Budget’s pictures were genuine.”
Coates says, however, that Buguet was a worthless fellow. Certainly the position of a man who can only prove that he is not
a rogue by admitting that he made a false confession out of fear is
a weak one. The case for psychic photography would be stronger
without him. As to his confession, it was extracted from him by
[105]
[106]
should be able to form their
399
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
a criminal action which the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toulouse took against the Revue Spirite, when Leymarie, the editor, was
tried and condemned. Buguet was told that his one chance was to
confess. Thus pressed, he did what so many victims of the Inquisition had done before him, and made a forced confession, which did
not save him, however, from twelve months’ imprisonment.
Richard Boursnell (1832-1909) occupied a prominent position
in the middle period of the history of spirit photography. He was in
partnership with a professional photographer in Fleet Street, and is
said to have had psychic markings, with occasional hands and faces,
on his plates as early as 1851. His partner accused him of not cleaning the plates properly (those were the days of the wet collodion
process), and after an angry dispute Boursnell said he would have
nothing more to do with that side of the business. It was nearly forty
years later before he again got markings, and then extra forms, with
his photographs, much to his annoyance, because it meant injury
to his business and the destruction of many plates. With great diffi culty Mr. W. T. Stead persuaded him to allow him to have sittings.
Under his own conditions, Mr. Stead obtained repeatedly what the
old photographer called “shadow pictures.” At fi rst they were not
recognized, but later on several that were thoroughly identifi ed
were obtained. Mr. Stead gives particulars of precautions observed
in marking plates, etc., but says that he attaches little importance to
these, considering that the appearance on the plate of a recognized
likeness of an unknown relative of an unknown sitter a test far superior to precautions which any expert conjurer or trick photographer might evade. He says:
Again and again I sent friends to Mr. Boursnell giving him no
information as to who they were, or telling him anything as to the
identity of the person’s deceased friend or relative whose portrait
they wished to secure, and time and again when the negative was
400
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