Page:The Naturalisation of the Supernatural.pdf/182

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
162
Poltergeists

phenomena, again, move in the same groove. Many of them, as described, are quite inexplicable; especially is this true of the movements of objects, which are frequently spoken of as hovering, floating, or being gently wafted by an invisible agency. Members of the Society for Psychical Research have from time to time investigated on the spot a large number of these occurrences. Sometimes the disturbances had ceased before the investigator had actually arrived on the scene, and it has been possible only to interrogate the witnesses and examine the theatre of the display. But in one or two instances we have actually been present during the performance, and have detected trickery on the part of the children; in other cases trickery has been detected at the time by others; sometimes the child has subsequently confessed to trickery. It would not be fair, on the sole ground that trickery has been proved to account for some of the movements and noises in certain cases, to infer that trickery is the explanation of all the disturbances in all cases. The real justification for that conclusion can only be fully appreciated after a careful study and comparison of the records. Space would not permit of the proof being stated here at adequate length. But let us take, as an illustration merely, the evidence just quoted in the Cideville case. On a superficial reading it would seem as if the marvels recounted could not be due to the trickery of a couple of children. But we may see from the account given by the untrained observer