Spiritualism I. Professor Zollner and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Spiritualism I. Professor Zollner and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is an article written by E. J. D. published in The Freethinker on 1 february 1920.
Spiritualism I.
Professor Zollner and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Now that Spiritualism is again being discussed seriously in this country, and well-known writers and lecturers are telling us about a new revelation which has been granted to a distracted world, it is well for every man and woman to consider calmly what sort of attitude he or she ought to adopt with regard to it. It is, of course, quite useless to attempt to get any reliable in formation from at least two classes of people: firstly, the old ladies of Bayswater, whose faith in the "dear spirits" is as sublime as it is ridiculous; and, secondly, from that group of elderly writers on popular science who, whilst confessing that their knowledge of the subject is of the flimsiest, nevertheless lead us to believe that supernormal phenomena of this character rarely, if ever, take place at all. Another mistake that people are too apt to make is to follow the current custom amongst us of thinking that, because a man is a King's Counsel and knows a great deal of law, or because an author may be a brilliant writer of detective stories, therefore his opinion about Spiritualism is worth consideration. I remember one popular novelist, whose utterances about the life beyond are now received with reverence by all seasoned Spiritualists, who makes statements of such a remarkable character that I propose to examine just one for the sake of illustration, so that my readers can see on what sort of evidence he himself relies. I refer to that eminent writer of fiction, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who, in a letter to the Times of August 2, 1919, spoke of the work of the Magic Circle, and hinted at the belief that their investigations could have little weight besides such scientific tests as those described by a Dr. Zollner, of Leipzig. I cannot believe that Sir Arthur knows very much about Professor Zollner and his experiments, or he would not have brought him forward as an authority, as the case in point is a very unfortunate one to produce — how unfortunate, my readers will judge if they have the patience to bear with me a little further.
Now, Professor Zollner was formerly a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Leipzig, and his "scientific" experiments took place in that city with a person calling himself Dr. Henry Slade, reported to be a powerful medium, and very successful in procuring messages from the spirits. Some of Zollner's experiments were conducted in the presence of Professors Weber, Scheibner, Wundt, and G. T. Fechner, also a Professor of Physics at Leipzig. The seances began in 1877, and Zollner was soon quite convinced of the genuine character of Slade's claims, later publishing his results in a volume which has been translated into English under the title of Transcendental Physics (2nd ed., 1882). For those who wish to read a brief sketch of Slade's previous record, I would recommend Podmore's Modern Spiritualism, ii., 87 ff, where they will find a short account of his activities prior to 1877, when the Zollner sittings commenced. Here it must suffice to state that in 1876 he was prosecuted for fraud during a slate-writing seance, a slate having been discovered with the "spirit message" all ready prepared. Slade, however, left England, and arrived at Leipzig on November 15, 1877. The seances soon began, and included such wonders as messages on previously cleaned slates, knots on endless cords, the passage of matter through matter, etc. It was all very successful. The worthy Professor, childlike and trustful in character, expected everybody to be as honest and frank as he was himself. He therefore watched Slade closely only during the first three or four sittings, afterwards allowing him to do as he liked, and meekly submitting to all the conditions imposed by the spirit operators. Bent on proving a four-dimensional space, all his energies were directed to that one object; and it is a noteworthy fact that he was at that time suffering from an incipient mental disturbance, his friends noticing at the period that the sittings took place that he was somewhat abnormal. His supporters during the seances were even more untrustworthy witnesses. Professor Fechner's eyesight was extremely bad, suffering as he was from cataract, whilst Scheibner knew nothing of trickery, and never went to see conjuring performances because he was so shortsighted that even if he went he would not have been able to see anything at all! Weber also knew nothing of trickery, and held the curious opinion that, although Fechner was suffering from cataract, he was one of the best observers in the world. So much for the scientific experiments whose results are now paraded by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for our approval.
Fortunately, Slade's mediumship did not cease with the Zollner seances. In 1885 he had sittings with members of the Seybert Commission in Philadelphia, which body had been then appointed to investigate spiritualistic phenomena. Their results and decisions were of a different character from Zollner's, although it is difficult to say whether it was due in their case to the fact that they had some small acquaintance with trick methods, and were not half blind, or suffering from cataract and incipient mental disease. The fact remains that they had a series of sittings with Henry Slade, Medium, and were rewarded by being permitted to see the "spirits" at work on many occasions. The principal test consisted in requesting the departed to write messages upon the surfaces of freshly-cleaned slates. "Every step in the process we have distinctly seen," they say, and at the last seance noticed a couple of slates on the floor resting against the leg of a small table behind the medium. No messages were received during the sitting upon these slates, as Slade had noticed that they had been observed by one of the sitters, but when the seance was over, a member of the Commission managed to displace one of the slates, whereupon the previously-prepared message was revealed!
But that is not all; Slade made at least two confessions as to the modus operandi of his performances. One was to John W. Truesdell, to whom he explained how he produced his effects, and the other to a Mr. Furness, who, on a certain occasion, whilst passing along Shawmut Avenue, Boston, saw Slade at a window and went in to talk to him. Settling himself in a chair, Mr. Furness remarked: "Well, and how are the old Spirits coming on?" To which Slade laughingly replied: "Oh, pshaw! you never believed in them, did you?" This was the medium, whose wonderful tests to half-blind old men with no knowledge of trickery are now being held up to us (1) by Sir A. C. Doyle as scientific experiments, after which any further investigations by experts skilled in deceptive contrivances would be superfluous.
E. J. D.
(1) And also apparently by Light. See issue for October 11, 1919, and of J. C. F. Grumbine, Beckoning Hands from the Near Beyond (Lond., 1917), p. 47. Sir Arthur himself, in his latest book, The Vital Message, still relies on Zollner as "one of the greatest intellects who have examined and endorsed the facts!"
