SCIENTIST AT SEANCE

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 237, 6 October 1928, Page 13 (Supplement)

SCIENTIST AT SEANCE

DR. TILLYARD'S STORY.

DEAD' MAN WHO SWORE. MASCULINE VOICE DISTINCT FROM : MEDIUM'S. The claim, that a /series of seances have proved the survival of human personality after death is made by Dr. R. J. Tillyard, a scientist of some note, whose mother lives in Worthing.

; Dr. Tillyard is Assistant- Director' and Chief of the Cawthron Institute, kelson, New Zealand, and honorary vice-presi-dent of the x National Laboratory of Psychical Research,, London. He is also a Fellow of. the IWyal Society, the Geographical Society, the Lirinean Society, and the Entomological' Society, and'has published 150 scientific papers dealing with insects. ,< i.

I Detailing his' experiences at one of the seances—theyj were held in Boston (Mass.), and'all were attended and controlled by him—Dr. Tillyard describes how a man named Walter Stinson, who died in 1912, "evinced a personality independent of the medium, by speaking in a distinct masculine voice, whistling and swearing:, dtld also left hisythumb-prints in dental wax in the dark more quickly than an man can do them in the light. «■"■•■.'■

"My-ftivn con *usion," writes the doctor, "is £hat Stinson has fully proved in a sc.'pntific manner his claim that his persj: ality has survived physical death.'-' TR4j ! aniazijig story is told by the doct<lj«B(M" "Nature," ;i scientific journal of which analyses Dr. Till--jrMvd's claims in a leading article of severaicojumns.' Its conclusions are that the evidence on which the doctor bases his claims is not strong enough to justify them.- : ■

The seance at which the fincer-prints of the dead man arc alleged to have been reproduced was held on June 1 of this year at the house of Dr. Mark Richardson, in Boston. Besides Dr. Tillyard himself there were present in the seance room: I The medium, Mrs. Xi. R. G. Crandon, the wife of a doctor, and sister, of the dead-man, Walter Stinson, who was killed on August S, 1912, in a railway accident; '"••■ ■ : ' . Gat>tain Fife,' the finger-print expert of ti.j U.S. Navy Yard. ' ■' . Man On Guard. .'Mr. J. W. Evu'ns, B.A. (Cantab), a young entomologist, gifarded the door of the room from the outside. A red shade was placed over the electric light. Previous to the seance a number of pieces of dental wax called "Kcrr," were, in the absence of the medium, marked secretly by Dr. Tillyard and Mr. Evans; a number, given. to each, and a piece broken oft the side. Other implements for marking thumb prints were also provided. .-• -

Describing, the dead man's operations, Dr. Tillvard writes:—

"With Tctl light frequently turned on to verify the position of the pieces of "ICcrr, , to reriiove each one from the cold water when 'Walter' (the dead man) reported it. done, or •to piit a new piece into the hot water wheivhe asked, for it, we had a .most •extraordinarily quick; and accurate performance by 'Walter'.of the technique of making tluunb-prints.-: ■ : _,;• -'-Seven Good . ; v , ,'V' "In taking Marjery's (Mrs. CraiidofiT, Capt. Fife's and my own thumb-prints— which I did/in bright light within a few minutes of the end of the seance —considerable difficulties were met with,: epecially owing -to the wax melting too . much if the water were too hot."I timed Captain Fife, a finger-print expert; taking-.one of .his. own thumbprints, and it-took him ten minutes. " 'Walter' didvseven good prints in the dark in about half an hour, remarkiiiir that itjwas easy for him, as he -carried his. cold about Avith-him.' ' ■ ■• "On one oceasiolY lie said, 'Xo' in a loud voice, as I was about to put some 'Kerr' into' the dish. '.. Dead Man Speaks. '"On a second occasion," continues Dr. Tillyard, "while I was looking straight at the medium, he said, 'Go ahead.' •• "I iioted thatneithei- the medium's lips nor her larynx moved at all. ' "When doing the fourth print "Walter' said that it would prove to be a mirror image of his ordinary thumb-print. This wo verified as correct later. . "During tlio seance I was frequently touched and stroked by 'Walter's' teleplastie terminal, and water was spring kled over me. . '■• ' .

Altogether, "Walter" made ; seven clear right thumb-prints, all of which were markedly . different from the thumb-prints of any of those present." ' The ulnar area.of the prints, adds the doctor, agreed exactly with the same area of a thumb-print found on Stinson'e razor, which Ire'used on.the morning of the fatal accident.. : ...

"" Humour From. Beyond. Summarising the results, : of two seances, Dr. Tillyard says:—> "The 'personality , of 'Walter' is shown to be independent of that of the medium by the possession of "a distinct mascur line voice and strong whistling powers, these never proceeding from the mouth or,larynx of the medium; by his alert mental powers, tendency to impatience and the use of swear words; by a marked sense of humour,' a 'Canadian accent, and many other qualities which cannot fail to produce in a sitter the definite feeling that he is dealing with an independent personality. . "Besides this," he adds,. "'Walter' shows that he has the power of smell, can see in the dark, can handle delicate objects and place them accurately in the dark without doing any damage."