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THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
the spirits themselves have repeatedly supplied the answer to the
questions he raises. Through many mediums they have given almost
identical explanations.
Dr. L. V. Guthrie, superintendent of the West Virginia Asylum
at Huntingdon, Mrs. Blake’s medical adviser, was convinced of her
powers. He wrote:
I have had sittings with her in my own offi ce, also on the front
porch in the open air, and on one occasion in a carriage as we were
driving along the road. She has repeatedly offered to let me have
a sitting and use a lamp chimney instead of a tin horn, and I have
frequently seen her produce the voices with her hand resting on
one end of the horn.
Dr. Guthrie gives the following two cases with Mrs. Blake where
the information supplied was not known to the sitters, and could
not have been known to the medium.
One of my employees, a young lady, whose brother had joined the
army and gone to the Philippines; was anxious to receive some word
from him, and had written letters to him repeatedly and addressed
them in care of his Company in the Philippines, but could receive no
answer. She called on Mrs. Blake and was told by the “spirit” of her
mother, who had passed away some several years, that if she would
address a letter to this brother at C – she would get an answer. She
did so and received a reply from him in two or three days, as he had
returned from the Philippines, unknown to any of his family.
The next case is even more striking.
An acquaintance of mine, of prominent family in this end of the
State, whose grandfather had been found at the foot of a high bridge
with his skull smashed and life extinct, called on Mrs. Blake a few
years ago and was not thinking of her grandfather at the time. She
was very much surprised to have the “spirit” of her grandfather tell
her that he had not fallen off the bridge while intoxicated, as had
[120]
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ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
been presumed at the time, but that he had been murdered by two
men who met him in a buggy and had proceeded to sandbag him, relieve him of his valuables, and throw him over the bridge. The “spirit” then proceeded to describe minutely the appearance of the two
men who had murdered him, and gave such other information that
led to the arrest and conviction of one or both of these individuals.
Numerous sitters with Mrs. Blake noted that while the medium
was speaking, spirit voices were heard at the same time, and further,
that the same spirits pre served the same personality and the same
intonation of voice through a course of years. Hyslop gives details of
a case with this medium where the voice communication gave the
correct solution for opening a combination lock to a safe, when it
was unknown to the sitter.
Among modern voice mediums in England are Mrs. Roberts
Johnson, Mrs. Blanche Cooper, John C. Sloan, William Phoenix, the
Misses Dunsmore, Evan Powell the Welsh medium, and Mr. Potter.
Mr. H. Dennis Bradley has given a full account of the voice mediumship of George Valiantine, the well-known American medium.
Mr. Bradley was able himself to secure voices in his own Home Circle, without any professional medium. It is impossible to exaggerate
the services which Mr. Bradley’s devoted and self-sacrifi cing work
has rendered to psychic science. If our whole knowledge depended
upon the evidence given in these two books, it would be ample for
any reasonable man.
Some few pages may also be devoted to a summary of the very
cogent objective evidence which is offered by the casts that have
been taken from the bodies of ectoplasmic fi gures-in other words,
of materialized forms. The fi rst who explored this line of research
seems to have been William Denton, the author of “Nature’s Secrets,” a book on psychometry, published in 1863. In Boston
(U. S. A.) in 1875, working with the medium Mary M. Hardy, he
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THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
employed methods which closely resemble those used by Richet and
Geley in their more recent experiments in Paris. Denton actually
gave a public demonstration in Paine Hall, when the cast of a spirit
face was said to have been produced in melted paraffi n. Other mediums with whom these casts were obtained were Mrs. Firman, Dr.
Monck, Miss Fairlamb (afterwards Mrs. Mellon), and William Eglinton. The fact that these results were corroborated by the later Paris
sittings is a strong argument for their validity. Mr. William Oxley, of
Manchester, describes how on February 5, 1876, a beautiful mould
of a lady’s hand was obtained, and how a subsequent mould of the
hand of Mrs. Firman the medium was found to be quite different.
On this occasion Mrs. Firman was confi ned in a lace net bag which
went over her head and was fastened round the waist, enclosing her
hands and arms. This would seem to be fi nal as regards any fraud on
the part of the medium, while it is also recorded that the wax mould
was warm, which shows that it could not have been brought into the
seance room. It is hard to see what further precautions could have
been taken to guarantee the result. On a second occasion a mould
of the foot as well as of the hand was obtained, the openings of the
wrist and ankle being in each case so narrow that the limb could
not have been withdrawn. There seems to have been no explanation
open save that the hand or foot had dematerialized.
Dr. Monck’s results seem also to stand the test of criticism. Oxley
experimented with him in Manchester in 1876, and had the same
success as with Mrs. Firman. On this occasion different moulds from
two separate fi gures were obtained. Oxley says of these experiences,
“The importance and value of these spirit moulds cannot be overestimated, for while the relation of spiritual phenomena to others
of doubtful and sceptical turn is valuable only on the ground of
credibility, the casts of these hands and feet are permanent and patent facts, and now demand from men of science, artists, and scoffers
423
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
a solution of the mystery of their production.” This demand is still
made. A famous conjurer, Houdini, and a great anatomist, Sir Arthur
Keith, have both tried their hands, and the results, laboriously produced, have only served to accentuate the unique character of that
which they tried to copy.
In the case of Eglinton it has been recorded by Dr. Nichols) the
biographer of the Davenports, that evidential casts of hands were
obtained, and that one lady present recognized a peculiarity-a slight
deformity-characteristic of the hand of her little daughter who had
been drowned in South Africa at the age of fi ve years.
Perhaps the most fi nal and convincing of all the moulds was that
which was obtained by Epes Sergeant from the medium Mrs. Hardy,
already mentioned in connexion with Denton’s experiments. The
conclusions are worth quoting in full. The writer says-
“Our conclusions are:
“1. That the mould of a full-sized perfect hand was produced in
a closed box by some unknown power exercising intelligence and
manual activity.
“2. That the conditions of the experiment were independent of
all reliance on the character and good faith of the medium, though
the genuineness of her mediumship has been fully vindicated by
the result.
“3. That these conditions were so simple and so stringent as
completely to exclude all opportunities for fraud and all contrivances for illusion, so that our realization of the conclusiveness of
the test is perfect.
“4. That the fact, long known to investigators, that evanescent,
materialized hands, guided by intelligence and projected from an
invisible organism, can be made visible and tangible, receives confi rmation from this duplicated test.
424
THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
“5. That the experiment of the mould, coupled with that of the
so-called spirit photograph, gives objective proof of the operation of
an intelligent force outside of any visible organism, and offers a fair
basis for scientifi c investigation.
“6. That the inquiry ‘How was that mould produced within that
box?’ leads to considerations that must have a most important bearing on the philosophy of the future, as well as on problems of psychology and physiology, and opens new views of the latent powers
and high destiny of man.”
Seven reputable witnesses sign the report.
If the reader is not satisfi ed by such various examples of the validity of these tests by casts and moulds, he should read the conclusions
which were reached by that great investigator Geley, at the end of his
classical experiments with Kluski, already shortly alluded to.
Dr. Geley carried out with KluskI a number of remarkable experiments in the formation of wax moulds of materialized hands. He
[122]
has recorded
for this purpose. In a dim light the medium’s right hand was held
by Professor Richet and his left hand by Count Potocki. A trough
containing wax, kept at melting-point by warm water, was placed
two feet in front of Kluski, and for the purpose of a test the wax was
impregnated (unknown to the medium) with the chemical cholesterin, this to prevent the possibility of substitution. Dr. Geley writes:
The feeble light did not admit of the phenomena being actually seen; we were aware of the moment of dipping, by the sound
of splashing in the liquid. The operation involved two or three immersions. The hand that was acting was plunged in the trough, was
withdrawn, and, covered with warm paraffi n, touched the hands of
the controllers of the experiments, and then was plunged again into
the wax. After the operation the glove of paraffi n, still warm but solidifi ed, was placed against the hand of one of the controllers.
the results of a series of eleven successful sittings
425
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
In this way nine moulds were taken: seven of hands, one of a foot,
and one of a chin and lips. The wax of which they were composed on
being tested gave the characteristic reaction of cholesterin. Dr. Geley shows twenty-three photographs of the moulds and of plaster
casts made from them. It may be mentioned that the moulds exhibit
the folds of the skin, the nails and the veins, and these markings
in nowise resemble those of the medium. Efforts to make similar
moulds from the hands of human beings were only partially successful, and the difference from those obtained at the sittings was
obvious. Sculptors and moulders of repute have declared that they
know of no method of producing wax moulds such as those obtained
at the seances with Kluski.
Geley sums up the result thus:
“We will now enumerate the proofs which we have given of the
authenticity of the moulds of materialized limbs in our experiments
in Paris and Warsaw.
“We have shown that quite apart from the control of the medium, whose two hands were held by us, all fraud was impossible.
“1. The theory of fraud by a rubber glove is inadmissible, for
such an attempt gives crude and absurd results which can be seen at
a glance to be imitations.
“2. It is not possible to produce such gloves of wax by using a rigid mould already prepared. A trial of this shows at once how impossible it is.
“3. The use of a prepared mould in some fusible and soluble substance, covered with a fi lm of paraffi n during the seance and then
dissolved out in a pail of water, will not fi t in with the actual procedure. We had no pail of water.
“4. The theory that a living hand was used (that of the medium
or of an assistant) is inadmissible. This could not have been done,
for several reasons, one being that gloves thus obtained are thick
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THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
and solid, while ours are fi ne and delicate, also that the position of
the fi ngers in our moulds makes it impossible that they could be
withdrawn without breaking the glove. Also that the gloves have
been compared with the hands of the medium and of the assistants,
and that they are not alike. This is shown also by anthropological
measurements.
“Finally, there is the hypothesis that the gloves were brought
by the medium. This is disproved by the fact that we secretly introduced chemicals into the melted wax, and that these were found in
the gloves.
“The report of the expert modellers on the point is categorical
and fi nal.”
Nothing is evidence to those who are so fi lled with prejudice
that they have no room for reason, but it is inconceivable that any
normally endowed man could read all the above, and doubt the possibility of taking moulds from ectoplasmic fi gures.
CHAPTER XXI
FRENCH, GERMAN,
AND ITALIAN SPIRITUALISM
Spiritualism in Trance and the Latin races centres round Allan
Kardec, who prefers for it the term Spiritism, and its predominant
feature is a belief in reincarnation.
M. Hippolyte Leon Denizard Rivail, who adopted the pseudonym “Allan Kardec,” was born in Lyons in 1804, where his father
was a barrister. In 1850, when the American spirit manifestations
were exciting attention in Europe, Allan Kardec investigated the
subject through the mediumship of two daughters of a friend.
In the communications which were obtained he was informed
that “Spirits of a much higher order than those who habitually communicated through the two young mediums, came expressly for
him, and would continue to do so, in order to enable him to fulfi l an
important religious mission.”
He tested this by drawing up a series of questions relating to
the problems of human life, and submitting them to the supposed
operating intelligences, and by means of raps and writing through
the planchette he received the replies upon which he has founded
his system of Spiritism.
After two years of these communications he found that his ideas
and convictions had become completely changed. He said:
“The instructions thus transmitted constitute an entirely new
theory of human life, duty and destiny, that appears to me to be
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THE HISTORY OF SPIRITUALISM
perfectly rational and coherent, admirably lucid and consoling, and
intensely interesting.” The idea came to him to publish what he had
got, and on submitting this idea to the communicating intelligences,
he was told that the teaching had been expressly intended to be
given to the world, and that he had a mission confi ded to him by
Providence. They also instructed him to call the work Le livre des
esprits (The Spirits’ Book).
The book thus produced in 1856 had a great success. Over twenty editions have been published, and the “Revised Edition,” issued
in 1857, has become the recognized text-book of spiritual philosophy in France. In 1861 he published “The Mediums’ Book”; in 1864,
“The Gospel as Explained by Spirits”; in 1865, “Heaven and Hell”;
and in 1867, “Genesis.” In addition to the above, which are his main
works, he published two short treatises entitled, “What is Spiritism?” and “Spiritism Reduced to its Simplest Expression.”
Miss Anna Blackwell, who has translated Allan Kardec’s works
into English, thus describes him:
In person, Allan Kardec was somewhat under middle height.
Strongly built, with a large, round, massive head, well-marked
features, and clear, grey eyes, he looked more like a German than
a Frenchman. Energetic and persevering, but of a temperament that
was calm, cautious, and unimaginative almost to coldness, incredulous by nature and by education, a close, logical reasoner, and eminently practical in thought and deed; he was equally free from mysticism and from enthusiasm. Grave, slow of speech, unassuming in
manner, yet not without a certain quiet dignity resulting from the
earnestness and single-mindedness which were the distinguishing
traits of his character; neither courting nor avoiding discussion, but
never volunteering any remark upon the subject to which he had
devoted his life, he received with affability the innumerable visitors from every part of the world who came to converse with him
429
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
in regard to the views of which he was the recognized exponent,
answering questions and objections, explaining diffi culties, and giving information to all serious inquirers, with whom he talked with
freedom and animation, his face occasionally lighting up with a genial and pleasant smile, though such was his habitual sobriety of demeanour that he was never known to laugh. Among the thousands
by whom he was thus visited were many of high rank in the social,
literary, artistic, and scientifi c worlds. The Emperor Napoleon III,
the fact of whose interest in spiritist phenomena was no mystery,
sent for him several times, and held long conversations with him at
the Tuileries upon the doctrines of “The Spirits’ Book.”
He founded the Society of Psychologie Studies, which met weekly at his house for the purpose of getting communications through
writing mediums. He also established La Revue Spirite, a monthly
journal still in existence, which he edited until his death in 1869.
Shortly before this he drew up a plan of an organization to carry on
his work. It was called “The Joint Stock Company for the Continuation of the Works of Allan Kardec,” with power to buy and sell,
receive donations and bequests, and to continue the publication
of La Revue Spirite. After his death his plans were faithfully carried
out.
Kardec considered that the words “spiritual,” “spiritualist,” and
“spiritualism” already had a defi nite meaning. Therefore he substituted “spiritism” and “spiritist.”
This Spiritist philosophy is distinguished by its belief that our
spiritual progression is effected through a series of incarnations.
Spirits having to pass through many incarnations, it follows
that we have all had many existences, and that we shall have others,
more or less perfect, either upon this earth or in other worlds.
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