Lombroso, Professor C. Richet, etc., had held some sittings with her at Milan. In their reports, printed early in 1893, they expressed their conviction that some of the things witnessed could not be attributed to normal agency. Professor Richet, however, though attaching great weight to the phenomena which he had observed, was of opinion that complete proof of abnormal agency was wanting. In particular, M. Richet considered that the manner in which Eusapia's hands were held during the dark'séances was suspicious; He writes:
During the experiments, Eusapia generally has the right and left hand held differently; on one side her whole hand is firmly held; on the other side, instead of having her hand held by the person next her, she merely places her hand on his, but touches his hand with all five fingers, so that he can feel quite distinctly whether it is the right or the left hand with which he is in contact.
This is what follows: at the moment when the manifestations are about to begin, the hand which is not being held, but which is lightly placed on the hand of the person on that side (for the sake of simplicity we will suppose that it is Eusapia's right hand, though it is in fact sometimes the right, sometimes the left),—the right hand, then, becomes very unsteady, and begins to move about so rapidly that it is impossible to follow its movements: it shifts about every moment, and for the mere fraction of a second it is not felt at all; then it is felt again, and one could swear that it is the right hand.[1]
In the summer of 1894, Professor Richet invited Sir Oliver Lodge, Mr. F. W. H. Myers, Dr. Ochorowicz, and one or two others, to join him in
- ↑ Annales des Science: Psychiques, January—February, 1893. See also a criticism of the articles in the Annales, by the present writer, in Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. ix., pp. 218–225.
