ProceedingsSocietyforPsychicalResearch，Vol。IV。，pp。385-6。
“NowIthinkithighlyimprobablethatthemovementofthejugglerentirelyescapedtheperceptionoftheofficer；highlyimprobable，thatistosay，thattheofficerwasabsolutelyunawareofthejuggler’sactionatthemomentofitshappening；butIsupposethat，althoughanimpressionwasmadeonhisconsciousness，itwassoslightastobespeedilyeffacedbytheofficer’sIMAGINATIONofhimselfasstoopingandplacingthecoinupontheground。Theofficer，Imaysay，hadobtainednoinsightintothemodusoperandiofthetrick，andhisfundamentalmisrepresentationoftheonlypatentoccurrencethatmighthavegivenhimaclewtoitsperformancedebarredhimcompletelyfromafterwards，onreflection，arrivingatanyexplanation。Justsimilarly，manyanhonestwitnessmayhavedescribedhimselfashavingplacedoneslateuponanotheratasittingwithamedium，whereasitwasthemediumwhodidso，andwhopossiblyeffectedatthesametimeoneortwootheroperationsaltogetherunnoticedbythewitness。“
Inreadingthroughdescriptionsofslate-writingseances，weveryseldomfindthestatementmadeastoWHOplacedtheslatesonthetable，orunderthetable，etc。，generallytheaccountreading“theslateswerethenplacedonthetable，“withoutanyqualifyingstatementastoWHOplacedthemthere。Accountsofthiskindareabsolutelyworthless，fromanevidentialstandpoint。Wemustatonceaskourselves：whoplacedtheslatesinthatposition？andifitwasthemedium——asitprobablywasinthevastmajorityofinstances——thenthattest，inallprobability，ceasestohaveanyevidentialweight。Anyonecanreadoveranumberofaccountsofslate-writingperformances，andverifythesestatements，ifhechoosestodoso。Frequently，thestatementismadethatthesitterdidactuallyplacetheslateonthetable，wheninrealitythemediumdidso。Thiserrorisquiteunconsciousonthesitter’spart，ofcourse，buttheaccountisfalsified，nevertheless。
Mistakesofthiskindareverycommon，thesitterthinkingafterwardsthathethesitterMUSThaveplacedtheslatesonthetablehimself!
ItwillbeseenfromtheabovethatthereisagreatdifferencebetweenwhatACTUALLYtranspired，atanygivenseance，andwhattheaccountsSAYtranspired。Thegeneralpubliccannotgetthatall-
importantfacttoostronglyrootedinitsmind：thattheeventswhichtranspiredataseancemaynotbereportedaccurately，sothatthereportoftheseancemaybealtogetherwronganderroneous，thoughthesitters，andthosewhodrewupthereport，mayhavebeenthoroughlyhonestintheirbeliefthatthereportisaccurateineveryrespect。Theeffectofallthisisverygreatindeed。ManyspiritualisticseancesarequiteinexplicableASDE-
SCRIBED，butthedescriptionisnotatruereportofwhattookplaceattheseanceinquestion。Thefactsaredistorted。
Consequently，thepersontakingituponhimselftoexplainwhattookplaceattheseanceiscalledupontoexplainanumberofthingswhich，inreality，nevertookplaceatall。Wemustremember，inthisconnection，thatanumberofconjuringtricks，AS
wouldbequiteimpossibletoexplainbyanyprocessoftrickery。Thedescriptionofthetrickwasnotcorrect。
Letmemakethisstillclearer，andatthesametimeillustratethedifferencebetweenwhatapparentlyoccurs，andwhatactuallyhappens，bythefollowingexample：Aconjurerplacesacoinsayaquarterineachhand，andcloseshishands。Anotherquarterisnowplaceduponthefingersofeachhand，sothatthereisnowonequarterineachhandandone-quarteronthefingersofeach。Themagicianannouncesthat，bysimplyopeningandclosinghishands——
whichareheldatsomedistancefromeachother——hewilltherebytransferoneofthecoinsfromonehandtotheother，sothattherewillbethreecoinsinoneofthehands，andonlyoneleftintheother。
Now，ifthesitterwerewritingoutanaccountofwhathappened，itwouldmostcertainlyreadasfollows：
“Themagicianthentriedtheexperiment——ofopeningandclosinghishandsrapidly，andcausingthecointobetransferred，aspromised——
butfailedintheattempt，thecoinsfromthebackofeachhandfallingontothetableinratheraclumsymanner。Theywere，however，againplaceduponthebacksofthemagician’shands；themovementwasrepeated，andthistimesuccessfully。Thecoinsdisappearedfromthebacksofbothhands，inoneofwhichwasnowfoundthreeofthecoins，whiletheotherhandcontainedonlyone。“
Suchispreciselythedescriptionofthetrick，asitwouldbegivenbytheaverageperson，onseeingit，anditwouldrepresenthishonestopinionofwhatoccurred；asitstands，itisquiteinexplicablebytrickery。Needlesstosay，theaccountisNOTatruestatementofwhatactuallyoccurred，asthefollowingexplanationwillmakeclear：
Thefirsttimethecoinsweredroppedontothetable，themovementwasnotso“clumsy“asmighthavebeensupposed。Itwas，infact，intentional，beingtheprincipalfactorintheaccomplishmentofthetrick。WhatACTUALLYtranspiredatthattimewasthis：Themagician，byaquickmovement，droppedbothcoinsfromONEhandontothetable，atthesametimedexterouslyopeningtheotherhandatrifle，andallowingthesecondcoin，onthathand，tofallintotheinteriorofthehanditself。Thus，whilebothhandsarestillseentobeclosed，oneisempty，andtheothercontainstwocoins。
Itisobvious，therefore，that，whenacoinisplaceduponeachofthehandsagain，themagicianhasonlytorepeattheopeningandclosingmovement，andtherewillbethreecoinsinoneofthehands，andonlyoneintheother。
Thistrickillustrates，inaverysimpleandstrikingmanner，thepossibilityofreportingafactinanentirelyerroneousmanner，quiteunconsciousofthefactthatthiserrorinreportinghasbeencommitted。Justinthissamemanner，aremanyslate-writingandotherphenomenamisreported，andhenceanexplanationoftheseance，ASREPORTED，isrenderedimpossible。Thetroubleisthatthe“report“doesnotREALLYreportwhatactuallyoccurred。
Manyofmyreadersmayfeelsomewhatinsultedatthisaccusationthattheycannotdetectsuchobvioustrickerywhenitexists，andthattheyareliabletomakesuchmistakesinrecordingaseanceasthoseherementioned。Theymaycomfortthemselveswiththethought，however，thatitisnodisgracetomakemistakesanderrorsofthiskind；for，asProfessorJastrowpointedout：[1]
FactandFableinPsychology，p。148。
“Thematterisinsomeaspectsasmuchatechnicalacquisitionasinthediagnosticatingofadisease。Itisnotatalltothediscreditofanyone’spowersofobservationorintellectualacumentobedeceivedbytheperformancesofaconjurer；andthesameholdstrueoftheprofessionalpartofmediumisticphenomena。
Untilthishomelybutsalutarytruthisimpressedwithallitsimportanceuponallintendinginvestigators，thereislittlehopeofbringingaboutaproperattitudetowardtheseandkindredphenomena。“
Theseremarkswillmakeitcleartouswhymanymenofsciencehavebeendeceivedbyverysimpletricksandfraudulentdevices，whileinvestigatingspiritualisticphenomena——theirscientificcultureisnoguarantythattheyareanymorecapableofdetectingfraudthanistheman-in-the-street——infacttheirtraininghasmadethemverymuchLESScapableofdetectingfraudthantheaverageperson，whocomesmoreincontactwiththeworld，andisanacuterjudgeofcharacterandhumannature。
AnonymousHowSpiritsMaterializeFrom“TheRevelationsofaSpiritMedium“——abookoutofexistencenow，sincetheplatesandallcopieswereboughtupby“spiritualists“anddestroyed。ThefollowingisgivenbycourtesyofMr。HerewardCarrington：
Reader，haveyoueverattendeda“seance“for“full-formmaterialization？“Haveyoueverthoughtyouhadmetyourdeadrelative’sspiritatthese“seances“？
Ifyouhaveneverhadthepleasureofattendingaseanceofthis“phase“youhavemissedararetreat。Thewriterhasassistedatmanyaoneandwillrelatetoyousomeofthewonderfulphenomenaoccurringatthemandthemeansusedtoproducethem……Therearehundredsof“materializingmediums“doingbusinessinthiscountry，whoareswellingagood-sizedbankaccount。Theirbusinesssometimesrunsintothehundredsofdollarsinasingleweek。This“phase“ofmediumshipisconsideredbythespiritual-
istsasthehighestpossibleattainable，andifyouareaclever“full-formmedium“yourfinancialwelfareisassured……Manyandvariousarethemethodsemployedbythedifferent“mediums“inproducingthisphase。ItisinBoston，NewYork，andSanFranciscothatitisworkedthefinest。Thefull-formseancesmostoftenmetwithareverysimplyworked，andeasyofperformancebythemedium。
Youareusuallygivenaseatinacircleofchairsaboutthefrontofa“cabinet“madebyhangingheavycurtainsacrossthecorneroftheroom。Ifyouareastrangeroronewholooksoractsasthoughhewould“grab“the“spirits，“youareseatedatthefarthestpointfromthecabinet；or，iftherearetworowsofseats，youwillbegivenaseatinthebackrow……
Imademywaytothe“materializingseance，“atwhichmyfriendshopedtomaterialize。Iwasadmittedtotheseanceroomandfoundabouttwentypersonsalreadyassembled。Iwasseatedinthefrontrowofchairs。Thecabinetusedwasaclosetaboutsixfeetlongandfourfeetwide。Theceilingofboththeroomandthecabinetwasofwood。Afterathoroughexaminationhadbeenmadeofthecabinetbyallthosewhocaredtodoso，thesitterswererearrangedtosuitthemedium。Therewerepresentnowthirty-fivepersons。Theseanceroomwasverylarge。Thedoorhadbeentakenofftheclosetthatservedasacabinet，andinitssteadwerehungheavycurtains。Theflooroftheroomwascarpetedwithadarkcarpet，aswasthecabinet。Thelightwasfurnishedbyalampplacedinaboxthatwasfastenedtothewallsomeeightfeetfromthefloor。Thisboxhadaslidinglidinfront，controlledbyacordpassingintothecabinet。Bythismeansthe“spirits“couldregulatethelighttosuitthemselves，withoutanymovementonthepartofanyofthoseintheseanceroombeingnecessary。Wheneverythingwasinreadinessthemediumenteredthecabinet，seatedhimselfandwastied，andsosecuredtohischairthatitwasimpossiblethathecouldhaveanyuseofhimself。Hewasmostthoroughlysecuredtohischair，andhischairnailedfasttothefloorbypassingleatherstrapsovertheroundsinthesideandnailingtheendstothefloor。Afteritwasshowntothesittersthathewasutterlyhelpless，thecurtainwasdrawn。Themanagernowplacedanordinarykitchentableinfrontofthedoorofthecabinet，sothatitstoodawayfromitabouttwofeet。Thetablecontainednodrawer。Onthetablewaslaidwritingmaterials，aguitar，andsmallbell。Themanagerseatedhimselfclosetoonesideofthecabinetentrance，andstartedalargeSwissmusicbox。
Beforeithadfinishedthefirstairthelampwasshutentirelyoff，makingtheroominkydark。
Anilluminatedhandandarmwasnowseentocomefrombehindthecurtain，andplayedanaccompanimenttothemusicboxontheguitar。Wecouldseeplainlythemovementsofthehand，arm，andfingers，asitmanipulatedthestringsoftheinstrument。Itdidnotappearnecessarytofingerthestringsonthekeyboard，althoughtheairwasinakeythatmadeitimpossibletotunetheguitarsothatanaccompanimentcouldbeperformedWITHOUT
fingering。However，butonehandwasvisible，anditwaspickingthestrings。Afterthetunewasfinished，thehandleftthein-
strument，andmovedoutintotheroomtothefrontofthetable，andfromthesoundweknewitwaswritingonthetabletthathadbeenplacedthere。Thearmwasofbluishlightandappearedtoendjustabovetheelbow，andtohavenoconnectionwiththebody。Itfinishedwritingandseemedtofloatintothecabinetnearthetop。
Thelightwasopenedandthemanagerrequestedthosewhohadtiedthemediumtoexaminehisconditionandseeiftheropeshadbeentamperedwith。Theexaminationwasmadeanditwasevidentthatthefasteningswereundisturbed。Thecommunicationwasreadaloudtothosepresent，andcontainedthefollowing：
“Wearepleasedtomeetsomanyseekersafterlightandtruthherethisevening，and，fromtheconditions，aswesensethem，wewillhaveasatisfactoryandpleasantseance。Thewaytoobtainthebestresultsisforeachpersontomaintainapassiveconditionandtakewhatwehavetogive。Youmayrestassuredthatourbesteffortswillbeputforthtogiveyouentiresatisfaction。TheControl。“
Thewritingwasexactlyontheruledlinesalthoughwritteninabsolutedarkness。Thehandandarm，althoughluminous，didnotgiveoutaparticleoflight。Thearmhadbeenatleastfivefeetfromthecabinetopeningandsevenfeetfromthemedium。Surely，itwasnothe。Themessageread，thelightwasagainshutdownandthemusicagainstarted。
Oncemoreahandappeared，andfloatingouttothetable，againbeganwriting。Ofasuddenthehanddisappeared，and，afterafewseconds，Iwasastonishedtofeelahandthrustingapaperintomytopcoatpocket。Nowappearedtwohandsandtheyplayedanairontheguitar。Nowcamethree，thenfourhandswerevisible，brightastheday。Twoofthembeganwritingagain，and，whentheyhadfinished，twomoresittersweretherecipientsofsheetsofpaper。
Soonthelightwasopenedforaninspectionofthecabinet，whichwasmade，withtheconclusionthatthemediumhadnotmoved。Thoseofusreceivingcommunicationswereaffordedanopportunitytoreadthem。Wefoundthemnicelywritten，asbefore，andallcontained“tests。