PSYCHICAL RESEARCH

Shannon News, 23 November 1926, Page 1

PSYCHICAL RESEARCH

■ 4 NEW ZEALANDER BAFFLED. DR. It. J. TILLYARD'S INQUIRIES EXPERIMENTS IN COPENHAGEN LONDON, Oct. 6. Being a' scientist of repute, probably; with little or no previous knowledge of spiritualism or of occult teachings. Dr. It. J. Tillyard’s statements regarding psychical matters will be taken seriously by the general public. Such is human nature. The New Zealand scientist ip likely to make a name for himself, therefore, not because he speaks of any new thing, but because, while being an accredited authority on exact sciences, he yet has the courage to investigate a subject which is unpopular among conventional thinkers. While in tho United States, Dr. Tillyard attended a seance given by. a famous medium. He was permitted to apply tests which wore quite satisfactory to himself and which convinced him that he was not being deluded in any way. Since then he has attended a course of experiments in Copenhagen, and he has given some of his impressions to an audience at the National Laboratory of ’Psychical Research. Dr. Tillyard confessed he could .not at present accept the things the spiritualist did, and ho wanted all the available phenomena studied, and not a mere picking out of scientific facts that fitted the theory one wanted to support. He looked for an all-embrac-ing theory to correlate in one whole the varied phenomena of psychical research, just as Darwin’s theory of evolution correlated the facts of biology. “A Remarkable Experience.” As a biologist, Dr. Tillyard said, he was totally unable' to account for the phenomenal substance known as teleplasm. “It is a most remarkable experience for a biologist, to handle this substance, as 1 have done i'n the course of experiments conducted in Copenhagen,” he said. “It lias been suggested that teleplasm was some form of animal tissue and that,- therefore, it would be easily spotted by a biologist. I may say definitely that there is no tissue in tho body of an animal, and certainly none in tho body of a medium, that corresponds in any way with what 1 felt and handled. “It is a phenomenon of tremendous significance, I Know, but it connect it with our, ideas of mcrbaffles me absolutely, and I cannot phology or physiology, while, in my view, it. is impossible that teleplasm could bo produced on the lines of natural selection.” During one experiment .at which Dr. Tillyard was present, the medium, ho said, went into a semi-trance. The circle observed that she was undergoing a transfiguration during which all her features changed from feminine to masculine, while she began to speak in a. deep masculine voice. “I understand that the group conducting the experiment were quite satisfied, that this', phenomenon was traceable to natural causes,” he ' added. Opinions of a Bishop. The Bishop of Gloucester, writing in his diocesan magazine, says: “I am given to understand that some of tho clergy are inclined to take part in spiritual seances. Now I do not wish do interfere with tno freedom of investigation, into anything which occurs, dr is reputed to occur. Our proper attitude with regard to such, phenomena as those concerned with spiritualism is not to be too anxious to condemn anything unheard; at tho same time my general feeling is that it is unfortunate if wo allow ourselves to be mixed up with these things. I have read various books which have been written on the subject, and I am bound to say it is very difficult to believe in the genuineness of most of. these manifestations. “I think there is no doubt in some cases there is quite definite fraud. ... . Where there is no fraud I think' there is what one may call self-hypuotism. I think that probably some of the mediums really believe tha t the manifestations which come through them are genuine. . In any case, quite sufficient evidence has come to me of the very harmful character of these on the minds of .some people. In some cases I think they lead definitely to loss of • reason. I think that, in any case, wo clergy ought. . to keep ourselves entirely free from anything which has such unsatisfactory associations. J think we may leave it to scientific men to investigate and form their opinion about tho phenomena, and when they have finally settled the question, then it is for us more definitely to make up our minds. My own opinion is that the whole thing is partly imposture and partly self-hypnotism and delusion.”