ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 855, 12 October 1853, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator. Wellington, Oi-tober 11, 1853. Sir, — A* the subject of table-turning has been the universal topic of conversation and experiment during the last two days in Wellington, and as almost everybody has tried it in some Way or other with various success, it would appear scarcely necessary to publish anything respecting it through the medium of your journal ; but as the whole subject is involved in mystery in Europe as well as New Zealand, perhaps you will permit me to describe the result of my first and subsequent experiments, with the view of inducing all your numerous readers to try the experiment for themselves, and thus set a greater number of minds to work in investigating these curious and intricate movements. , Th 6 experiments w6re chiefly tried on a round mahogany table, 3 feet 6 inches in diameter, suppoited by a pedestal, and a base of three claws or feet in the drdintry manner. In the first experiment, four persons sat round it, three gentlemen and a lady, with their hands spread out upon it, so that their little fingers touched each other ; the hands were laid lightly on the table so that there should be as little weight as possible ; as soon as this was done it was mutually agreed that the motion should be from left to right ; in about three minutes a slight motion was observed as if one of the party was trying to move it with his foot, and a similar motion wa«» again observed about two minutes afterwards, but Was supposed to arise ( from the same cause, aa none of us expected the movement would take place. | In about seven minutes from the commencement of the experiment, a decided movement took place in the previously determined 'direction, and continued until the table had moved about a foot, When the whole party rose from their seats and pushed them back ; the movement now continued until it had made abaut two complete i evolutions, when a wish was ex- ' pressed that it should move more quickly, hnj mediately upon which the motion was considerj ably accelerated, and became so rapid that we , could scarcely walk fast enough to keep pace with it. We then agreed that it should stop which it did simply (to all appearance) from the mere expression of the wish, and then that it should move in the contrary direction, which it did with the same velocity after about half a minute's rest. * One of the party then left and another joined in, making two gentlemen and two ladies ; upon the circle being completed as before, the movement took place after waiting only -about a minute and a half. Since the above, which I believe, Was the first experiment tried in Wellington, [ have found the same results with the same table even when loaded so as to increase its weight to about IQO pounds, it appeared in every tase to obey the will of the operators. After the first experiment three persons tried in a similar manner to move a large book weighing about 14 lbs, which in about a minute moved round in any required direction. It appears that things made of all kinds of materials., are capable of being turned by the same process, — such as hats, chairs, books, boards, tubs, plates, and what is very remarkable, the human body. It is my intention to institute a series of experiments on the subject, the results of which I will communicate to you in some future number or numbers of your journal. Yours, &c, R