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This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1920. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VI THE DANGER OF FBATJD OF ALL KINDS AT SEANCES I Now come to another danger which faces those who adopt the cult of Spiritualism and take up seances at every turn, and that is the danger of being tricked. I believe that for one medium who does at times conscientiously endeavor to get in touch with bond fide spirits of the dead, there are ninety-nine who never make such an attempt, but wholly rely on their powers of deception, in order to rake in the shekels, which is the goal of all mediumship. I will deal with the table-tilting medium first. Now I am neither a conjuror nor a scientist, so that I must regard the question purely from the view-point of the looker-on, the person possessed with the average amount, perhaps, of observation and common sense. To begin with, I have been to innumerable seances, some of them conducted by mediums, who have lately acquired considerable notoriety through the "backing" of several eminent professors of phy sics, and I have never yet been convinced that anything that has taken place when any of these scientific psychics have been present has in any way been due to bond fide spirit intervention. It is so easy to make a table, of the weight and dimensions of those usually used on such occasions, tilt. Try it for yourself, and you will find that a very little downward pressure with the tips of your fingers will cause the side opposite you to rise. I have frequently watched the fingers, arms, and mouth (the mouth is a very sure indicator) of mediums when they have been at the table, and I have often seen unmistakable signs there of pressure being used, a pressure which can, as a rule, be exerted with impunity, since mediums generally prefer to hold their seances in the dark, pretending that such a condition is very helpful,...
