capsule would, of course, force up the mercury in the tube. The vessel of water was enclosed in a wooden box, the side of which rose high above the capsule. The top of the capsule was blackened. In place of a lid the box was covered with cloth, so as to prevent pressure on the capsule by normal means. At the close of the séance the mercury was found to have risen; but the cloth covering was torn. The experimenters still attach weight to the result of the experiment, on the ground that the wooden box was outside the cabinet, so that no one could have approached it without being seen. They add: "We do not know why the stuff which had covered the wooden box was torn. Certainly Eusapia did not understand the importance which would have attached to the experiment, if it had remained intact."[1]
It cannot be said that these recent researches have done much to strengthen the case for Eusapia's genuineness. The phenomena are still of the same indeterminate kind; they take place still under the same dubious conditions; and for their substantiation we still have to trust entirely to the accurate observation of the witnesses, working under conditions not of their own choosing. Sometimes, as above indicated, the circumstances attaching to the feats are in themselves extremely suspicious. But if we can attach little weight to the records, it is impossible not to be impressed by the scientific standing and the obvious sincerity of the witnesses.
- ↑ Annals of Prysical Science, May, 1907, p. 385.
