THE JUMPING TABLE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 231, 24 June 1919, Page 5

THE JUMPING TABLE

tf— LORD RAY-LEIGH'S SEANCE. Lord Rayleigh, in his presidential address, to the Society of Phychical Research in London, said he had no definite conclusions to announce. He had attended seances at which a Mrs. Jcncken was the medium, and'tho results were' disappointing, v althouglv it was not easy to explain all .that' happened. Coat-tails were pulled, paper-cutters flew about, their, chairs were shaken, and so forth. ' What struck him most was the floating about of lights. A table at which they had been sitting gradually tipped over until tho circular top nearly touched the floor, and then roso again to the normal position. Mrs. Jonckon was apparently standing quite clear of them. The medium was a small woman without much muscular development, and tho table was heavy. They had been for a long time in 6cmi-darkncss. 'He (Lord Rayleigh) repudiated the idea of hallucination j the incidents were always unexpected. After somo supposed ■spirit-writing, he arranged pencils nnd paper inside a largo glass retort, with the neck' hermetically sealed, nnd placed It in a wooden box. This was set on a table during several seances, but there was no writing insido tho retort. Ho found on recent investigation that the opportunity had remained neglected after forty-five years. (Laughter.) Seldom or never did Mrs. Jencken make nn intelligent remark. Her interest seemed to be limited to tho spirits and ,her baby. No pains should be spared to establish the reality of telepathy. Telepathy with the dead would present comparatively little dilfienlly if it were admitted with regard to the living. Sir Oliver Lodge, referring to the vanishing hand, said that Mr. Gilbert Murray was determined not to' lot go of it. The hand drew him up, and ho got on a chair. Then tho hand vanished in his grasp, leaving nothing. Evidence showed thai: words and sentences, could be read inside a closed book. Thero was no reason for rejecting a fact liecause they had not a theory to account for it.