THE NEW YORK TIMES B0»
SPIRITUALISM
A Record of Experiences in Psy-
chical Research
rE:R?:OXAI> EXT'FRIEXCES IX SPIRIT-
UALISM. By }I.rt'\v'ard Curriugtoi . IIlus-
rr-. t.. ; V'r, 'Ti London: T. WV"'-'
MK. L'AlllUXGTON'S new JO'.'ic |,
goes far toward fixing tl j au-
thor's status as a sincere in-
vestigator of abnormal piiencmeiia
whether interpreted as such <•.- as
trickery or as manifestations o; the
supernatural. He frankly states that
he believes 08 per cent, of the me(Uunta
to be false, but deems the remaining 2
per cent, worthy of further invi itiga-
+ ''^n, if not of belief. His attitude to-
id this 2 per cent, is that of t le ex-
I'Kjrer toward an undiscovered river
source, of the chemist toward ya un-
Icnown element— the fact of their power
is believed in but their existence is still
a mystery.
Another interesting feature Cl tl»e
' is that it draws a clear line of
cation between scienUfi.* an*[ ^'hil-
u.-,xjph al research. Many writers on
P3>-chic phenomena employ both meth-
ods, so that one really finds them spec-
ulating upon the attributes of the un-
kr.own before they have established the
>ence of tiie unknown as a fact.
Atr. Carrington's contribution to this
ptiase of the subject is chiefly that of
editor. "Death: Its Causes and Phe-
nonaena," (Funk & Wagnall's Company.)
which he compiled in conjunction with
John R. Meader, is a 5oO-page volume
ainung to set forth all that science has
learned in regard to death, together
with what philosophy has contributed
to show that it is not the end, physical,
mental, or spiritual. This bool- is a
storehouse of unusual information— from
the latest clinical demonstration to the
latest theological belief, from the earliest
manifestations of immortality gathered
Biblical writer^ to the more recent
*-»^alizatlons iii the medium's cab-
both dealing with phenomena comraonlj^
called spiritualistic. In both the writer's
zeal for truth is manifested. He brings
to his experiments a long experience as
prestidigitator and as a detector of trick-
ery. He reveals the truth about u?tny
interesting mysteries which for mouth-s.
and sometime-; years, baffled the most
.searching investigation. " Slate writ-
ing." •■ spirit pictures," &C., are "x
plained; the fraud In tb^ "PMtuigt^jst.-
T.ily Dale, and *' The Great Amhcrs*;
-li sierj- " i.r laia trarr. i ;iu^ .".i; rirst
part of tlie book is an exposure of the
98 per cent., and the results, althong^h,
quite absorbing and oiten drnwnat^TeaHy^^
set forth, are all negative.
The second part of the book ce^nsists
almost entirely of phenomena produced
by the Eusapia Palladino, accounts of
which ha\'e not hitherto been published,
or, if published, have becA set forth
with imperfect accuracy. For example,
it is shown that Prof. Munsterberg'.s
account of one stance published in a
magazine is not in accord with what ac-
tually happened. The author in this
instance lays bare the whole history o.f
the case by the stenographic report
taken at the time. The results of the
second part of the book are positive.
These positive results taken in con-
nection with what Sir Oliver Lodge and
other scientific invcsigators, who are
also philosophers, have expounded or
cA.rfi.iwCv:, hu.vc cauced the ■■■\^.i>'r>v to
express the need of a psychical labora-
tory to take up the subject where the
psychological laboratory of Prof. Mfins-
terberg leaves it.
When the first psychological labora-
tory was established at Harvard In
1890 its raison d'etre was quite as doubt-
ful as that of a psj^chical laboratory
would be to-day. Yet it has been of in-
calculable value in the field of criminol-
ogy alone. The work for a psychical
laboratory would be no less promising.
To be sure, it might very early in its
existence reduce Mr. Carringcon's 2 per
cent, to a nought, but even so, we should
th^n know exactly how t ''' ' W
all mediums in the future,
that the persistent 2 per c
terly annihilated there
as the author points
for scientific investiga ' ■
,5Ixperiments in tJ,
Charles Josselyn
DEATH
ITS CAUSES AND PHENOMENA
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
IMMORTALITY
BY
HEREWARD CARRINGTON
tATE MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL R1;SEA|?CM
AUTHOR OF "VITALITY, PASTING AND NUTRITION," "THE COMING SCIENCE,"
•• THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISIB," ** HINDU HAGIC,'-'
•* EUSAPIA PALLADINO AND HER PHENOMENA," ETC. ETC.
AND
JOHN R. MEADER
("GRAHA.M HOOD")
AEMBER OF THE AMERICAN STATISTICAL SOCIETV AND OF THE SOCIETY
FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH
AUTHOR OP " THE LAWS OF 6DCCB6S," ETC.
** It is apparent that a study of the circumstances of natural
death . . . may give rise to facts of the highest interest to
science and to humanity.'''' — Metchnikoff.
FUNK & WAGNALLS Company
PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK
1912
PREFACE
The subject which we have discussed at length in this
volume — Death — is generally looked upon as some-
thing to be " tabooed " by polite society ; something
unpleasant, which may some day come upon us, but
which we desire to think about as little as possible in
the interval. There is no logical ground for this
position, however, and, scientifically speaking, death
may be made as fascinating a study as any other.
Divested of the superstition and glamour which usually
surround it, death assumes the appearance of a most
interesting scientific problem, both from its physiolo-
gical and from its psychological side.
But there is another side to this question which
must by no means be overlooked. We refer to the
possibility of postponing death, on the one hand, and
of rendering it more painless, on the other. Both of
these results can only be effected by a thorough
understanding of the process involved : and this, in
turn, can only be obtained by a close, scientific
study of the problem — one that includes all its
aspects, and treats of them impartially. In summing
up this evidence, in condensing what has been said —
6158x5
vi PREFACE
the speculations that have been offered during the
past two hundred years (sec Bibliography) — we are
satisfied that we have collated a quantity of interesting
material; while the particular theories as to the
nature of death which we have advanced, will not,
we hope, be without interest, and perhaps utility.
As we differ considerably from one another in our
theories as to the causation of old age and natural
death, we have thought it best to devote separate
chapters to these topics — each advancing his own
views. Later, we have tried to reconcile our opposing
theories. Finally, in collecting and presenting the
views of a number of scientific men on what con-
stitutes natural death, we have sounded opinion upon
a hitherto all but neglected subject, and we wish to
thank our contributors in this place for what they
have done for science, no less than for us.
The final question to which we have addressed our-
selves is, perhaps, the most vital and interesting of
all. The question of what becomes of the mental life
at death : whether consciousness persists, or is extin-
guished — like the flame of the candle — is of interest
alike to science and to philosophy ; and we have
presented a considerable quantity of material bearing
upon this question, tending to show that consciousness
does persist, and that personal identity is assured to
us. In arriving at this conclusion, we feel that an
important forward step has been taken in the correct
PART I
PHYSIOLOGICAL
A
CHAPTER I
THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH
Death is universally recognised as the inevitable fate of
every living thing — the goal towards which animate life
is constantly tending — and yet, strange as it may appear,
human ingenuity has not yet succeeded in formulating a
definition that will adequately cover this last experience
of man. We know that all things that live must grow
old and die, but our theories concerning the causes that
produce this phenomenon are still almost entirely of a
speculative character. To say that death " is a cessation
of life " is to avoid the question. Even Spencer's defini-
tion, in which he pronounced life to be " the continual
adjustment of internal to external relations," and death,
a want of correspondence between those relations, leaves
much to be desired. It presents the fads of life and
death as we behold them, but it fails absolutely to trace
these apparent effects to the causes, of which they are the
natural manifestation.^
As far as positive science is concerned, the only im-
mortality that can be demonstrated is that of race. The
individual dies, from natural causes or by accident, as the
case may be, but, as each living thing is the direct result
of reproduction from another form, the death of the in-
dividual has practically no effect upon the continuance of
^ " Is it not obvious that this definition merely gives or states the effects
of life — its phenomena — and does nothing to state what its real essence is
at all ? . . . Life is that which adjusts, not the adjustments themselves.'' —
y^itality, Fcntinrj and Nutrition, pp. 33-4-5. (See also Appendix C. )
4 DEATH
existence of the race. With this so-called potential im-
mortality, therefore, science is satisfied. Beyond this it
finds no room for speculation — no opportunity for its
experiments.
To make this position clear to the mind of those Avho
have not been accustomed to the materialistic view of
the phenomena of life and death, it may be necessary to
explain that science recognises no new organism in the
product of reproduction any more than it distinguishes a
new creation in the changes that are so constantly occur-
ring in the form of living matter. Even a slight
acquaintance with the first principles of science is
sufficient to explain what this means, for we know
that the atoms that constitute the human body are
so lacking in stability that they are ever being dis-
carded and replaced by other substances derived
through the process of assimilation. In other words,
the one property that best distinguishes living matter
from dead matter is what might be termed the faculty
of self-creation, or the ability to transform the dead
substances assimilated into the same live substance of
which this matter is composed. Thus, as long as life
continues, this process goes on with unceasing regu-
larity. /TDead matter is cast aside, just as one would
discard a worn-out garment, and new matter is created
to take its place. When this faculty ceases to perform
its functions, death follows speedily.',
Both Huxley and Cuvier have used the river whirlpool
as an exact illustration of the nature of this phenomenon
of life, and most physiologists agree that this whirl of
water, as seen, for example, at Niagara, is an extremely
close reproduction of the natural process of assimilation
and disintegration — the alternating attraction and repul-
sion of the ever-changing particles representing the actual
conditions of physical life. That a material substratum
SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH 5
is left unchanged, there can be no doubt ; but even this
theory does not modify the conchisions that science has
drawn from this reproduction of the whirl of life. Though
it may be true that the animal body contains permanent
elements of definite composition, they alone are insufficient
to assure the continuance of physical existence.
It seems to be the popular impression that this
physical body begins its work of development at birth ;
that it continues to progress until the individual has
attained that rather indefinite period generally termed
'* maturity," and that, when this point has been reached,
definite deterioration commences. From all that science
has been able to determine, however, this idea is quite
contrary to fact, for all the practical experiments in
biology indicate that the body begins to lose its re-
creative powers, or the capacity to change dead matter
into living matter, very shortly after the period of birth,
and that, from this time, the decrease in force continues
steadily. As one writer has said : —
"In want of a more exact knowledge of the structure of the
living molecule and the changes in structure that come on in old
age, the physiologist expresses his idea of the general nature of
these changes by similes and metaphors more or less apt. We may
compare living matter to a clock, the mainsjjring of which is so
constructed that, in consequence of slowly developing molecular
changes, it suffers a gradual loss of elasticity. In such a mechanism
there will come a time when ' winding the clock ' will no longer
make it run, since energy can no longer be stored in the spring.
We may imagine this loss of elasticity to develop gradually, giving
stages that may be roughly compared to the periods of life. To
carry out the simile, it is the food we eat and the oxygen we
breathe that take the place of the winding force. In consequence
of a slowly developing molecular change in the organism, this
energy is less efficiently utilised as the individual grows older.
The clock runs more feebly and needs relatively more frequent
6 DEATH
winding, until at last tlie elasticity is gone, the power of assimila-
tion is insufficient, and we have what we call natural death." ^
Brown, in his article on " Old Age," ^ has expressed
this truth more briefly. " The causes of death," he said,
" are not to be found in the summation of many external
mjuries, but are already established wdthin the organism
itself, and death is simply the natural end of develop-
ment." If this theory be true, it is very contradictory
to the definition formulated by Spencer in his Frinciples
of Biology. The latter would logically lead the student to
conclude that " external relations " play the most impor-
tant part in determining the length of life, and that, if
perfect correspondence between the internal and external
relations could be secured, existence would continue
interminably. As has been shown, however, this idea is
entirely contrary to the behefs of modern physiologists.
In their opinion, man would still die, even though there
were no injurious changes of environment, as the natural
weakening of the assimilative powers would alone be
sufhcient to make death inevitable.
Of course the simile of the clock is too simple an illus-
tration to be applied comprehensively to so complex an
organism as the human body. In this combination of
living matter there is no single mainspring to wear out —
no one cause of death against which man may protect
himself — and it is due to these conditions that death
does not come to every portion of the body at precisely
the same moment. While it is necessarily true that
death is actually the cessation of the normal functions
upon which life depends, the causes Avhich result in the
suspension of the bodily mechanism may arise in any one
of the several important or vital centres. According to
the arrangement devised by Bichat, death may be divided
^ W. H. Howell in Reference Handbook of Medical Sciences.
^ British Medical Journal, Oct. 3, 1891.
I
SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH 7
into three classes : — (1) that which begins at the heart ;
(2) that which begins at the lungs; and (3) that which
begins at the head. But the collapse of the vital force
in a single one of these centres is sujfificient to bring
death with more or less rapidity to every other portion
of the organism.
But, while most physiologists hold that it is the
ultimate fate of all living things to die, it must not
be imagined that this is the only theory to which
scientists subscribe, for there are some biologists who
are inclined to accept Weismann's speculative con-
clusions, as presented in the Essays upon Heredity.
In these papers, this eminent biologist expresses the
opinion that all living matter once possessed potential
immortality, and that death is a condition that came
into the world because the continued existence of the
individual had assumed the proportions of a serious
danger to the general well-being of the species. In other
words, death is a condition that did not necessarily exist
in the beginning of things, but was eventually adopted
for the reason that just such a safety-valve was necessary
to permit of the perpetuation of the race.
As an illustration in proof of this theory, Weismann
draws our attention to the amoeba, one of the unicellular
organisms or protozoa, which biologists recognise as the
lowest forms of animal life. While a complete cell in
itself, performing all the functions of assimilation and
reproduction, it knows no process of dissolution that can
be compared to the phenomenon that we designate as
death. On the contrary, its very act of reproducing its
species is, in itself, a striking example of the possibility
of " physical immortality," for it is the fate of this
creature to continue to increase in size until, finally, the
limit of growth is reached. At this point the original
cell divides into two parts, and, where one organism
8 DEATH
existed, there are now two individuals, both of which
are capable of performing the functions of life, and of
dividing in turn into two cells — a process of repro-
duction that, so far as science has been able to ascertain,
goes on indefinitely.
Of course, the objection may be raised — as it has
been — that the original individual cell dies in the act
of reproducing its offspring, and that the two cells that
result from this physical separation of the larger body
are actually different individualities. To this Weismann
replied that there is no death in this change " because
there is no corpse." In this fission we have the illus-
tration of the continuance of life, not its dissolution.
It is upon this hypothesis that Weismann bases his
theory that living matter originally possessed the ele-
ments of potential immortality, and he explains the
appearance of death among the metazoa by reference to
the law of natural selection.
If this theory be correct, the possibility of never-
ending existence possessed by the unicellular creature
was undoubtedly passed on to the more complex
organism which, in the process of evolution, was eventu-
ally produced from this lowlier manifestation of animate
life. In the course of time, however, certain new but
important conditions arose. In the first place, death
became a necessity to the perpetuation of the species ;
and, in the second place, the division of functions
among the many cells of the metazoa made the immor-
tality of each particular cell unnecessary for reproductive
purposes.
The very name that has been applied to this law of
evolution, " natural selection," gives an indication of the
pitiless qualities that mark its operations. As its name
implies, its tendency is always towards the promotion of
the good of the race, without regard to the particular
SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH 9
interests of the individual. Thus, when it became
apparent that natural death was needed to remove
those individuals who were not only no longer necessary
to the welfare of the species, but were actually an
adverse element or obstacle in the path of natural
progress, the presence of those cells that were no longer
required in the process of fecundity gave nature the
opportunity to effect this adjustment in the laws govern-
ing the struggle for existence.
As students of biology are well aware, bodily structures
that are of no further use to nature soon retrograde, or
disappear almost completely. As an example, we have
the cave-dwelling animals and fishes, which, despite the
fact that they show every indication of having once had
eyes, are now sightless. That is to say, when the time
came that they had no further use for eyes, nature
permitted the sense of sight to degenerate, and at last,
even the physical organs themselves deteriorated, until
only a rudimentary record was left of the member that
had once actually existed.
In this illustration, Weismann finds an explanation
of the process by which the element of immortality was
lost by the many-celled organisms. Being not only of
no further utility, but of positive danger to the species,
its perpetuation would have retarded the realisation of
the purpose of evolution. Through the operation of
the law of natural selection, therefore, death came as
a beneficent solution to this great problem of the
moment, the limitation of the population to those indi-
viduals who would be of service in helping to carry out
the scheme of the perpetuation of the species.
It must be stated in this connection, however, that
Weismann's theory is seriously questioned at the present
day, if not altogether discredited. Thus Haeckel, in his
Wonders of Life, pp. 90-101, points out that: —
10 DEATH
" The immortality of the iinicellulars, on which Weismaun has
laid so much stress, can only be sustained for a small part of the
protists even in his own sense — namely, for those which simply
propagate by cleavage, the chromacea and bacteria among the
monera, the diatomes and paulotomes amona: the protophyta, and
a part of the infusoria and rhizopods among the protozoa. Strictly
speaking, the individual life is destroyed when a cell splits into
daughter cells. One might reply with Weismann, that in this
case the dividing unicellular organism lives on as a whole in its
offspring, and that we have no corpse, no dead remains of the
living matter left behind. But that is not true of the majority
of the protozoa. In the highly-developed ciliata the chief nucleus
is lost, and there must be from time to time a conjunction of two
cells and a mutual fertilisation of their secondary nuclei before
there can be any further multiplication by simple cleavage. How-
ever, in most of the sporozoa and rhizopoda, which generally
propagate by spore formation, only one portion of the unicellular
organism is used for this ; the other portion dies, and forms a
' corpse.' ..."
The fact is that each inetazoon consists of many
successive generations of cells — it really is a cell cycle
— and can only be homologised with a cycle of pro-
tozoan generations, not with any single protozoan, which
is but a single cell. Hence it follows that the death
of an individual protozoan is not homologous with the
death of an individual multicellular organism. Weis-
mann committed the fundamental error of assuming the
complete homology of the two forms of death, and thus
reached the false conclusion that protozoa are all
certainly potentially immortal.
E. Maupas contended that there is a distinct loss of
vitality in protozoa in the course of successive genera-
tions, and that conjugation must occur at some stage to
effect rejuvenescence. G. N. Calkins {Studies in the Life-
History of Protozoa) takes the same view — that the
development of the protozoa is cyclical ; and this is
SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH 11
further supported in a recent paper by M. Hartmann,
who also contends that natural death does occur among
the protozoa.
It would seem, therefore, that the general trend ot
science is in the direction of disproving this funda-
mental conception of Weismann ; and we shall have to
reconstruct our universe accordingly, and recast any
system of philosophy that may have been founded on
his theory of the natural immortality of protozoa.
When we come to speak of death, moreover, we must
be very sure that we understand our terms accurately,
as much confusion has always arisen because of in-
accurate definition in all the sciences no less than in
philosophy and metaphysics. We must be very sure as
to just what we mean by " death " before we can under-
take to argue about it ; and there are some very loose
conceptions afloat which it would be well to check at the
outset of the investigation. Let us see what these are.
When we cut off a chicken's head, we say that the
chicken is " dead " ; its conscious life is extinguished,
and if it continues to move, or even to run about the yard,
as it does sometimes, we do not assume for that reason
that any " life " still remains in the chicken, but rather
that " reflex action " causes these phenomena. On the
other hand, if we pluck a rose it keeps its freshness for
several days, and, until that rose has withered and lost
its freshness and beauty entirely, we do not say that
the rose is " dead." In the one case, w^e assume that
death has taken place instantaneously ; in the other,
that death d-bes not take place for several days.
Why is this ?
The difficulty arises from this fact. There are in
reality two kinds of death, which are confused in the
public mind, until only one death is recognised — a
12 DEATH
compound of these two. And yet, to keep the problem
perfectly clear, it is very essential that these two kinds
of death should be kept strictly apart, and in no wise
confused. Only in that way can the problem be under-
stood. Let us take the two instances that we have given,
and with them, as examples, see if we cannot make this
problem somewhat clearer, and distinguish the two, so
that there shall be no more confusion upon this point.
When the chicken's head was cut off*, its conscious
life came to a termination at that moment. It is
probable that the subsequent movements ive^^e purely
reflex, and not in any way the result of conscious action
and volition. The conscious life of the chicken ended at
that moment therefore. Bat the hocly, the cells, and tissues
of the chicken did not die at that time. The body of the
chicken — the tissues — lived on for several days, and not
until the last remnant of vitality had departed could we
say that the bird was dead. That is to say, the tissues
of the body continued to live on for several days after the
conscious life of the bird had ceased. This tissue or
cell-life, the life of the body, is technically known as
" somatic life," as distinct from conscious or mental life.
Now, in the case of the rose, we do not as a rule say
that it is " dead " until somatic death has taken place.
It is probable (to us) that the " conscious " life of the
rose did come to a termination at its plucking ; at that
moment its '' conscious " life, so far as it can be said to
have one, came to an end, while its somatic life did not.
Since the rose does not show its mental life in the same
way that a chicken does, however, it is very difficult
to prove this fact, and doubtless many would contend
that no such conscious life exists at all. It is a
question almost incapable of proof, but it has always
appeared to us that by analogy there must be some sort
of conscious life that is terminated at the moment of
SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH 13
picking the flower. At all events, these examples will
help to clear up this problem, and enable us to distin-
guish the two kinds of death — the conscious and the
somatic — which must be kept carefully in mind
throughout the following discussion.^
While science has, however, been unable to arrive at
a positive conclusion regarding the origin or nature of
death, it is by no means so difiicult to determine the
probable bounds or limitations to the duration of life.
Omitting those instances that depend upon tradition
for their verification, or that cannot be authenticated
because of our inability to fix the unit of time used in
making the calculations, or for any other reason, we
occasionally find cases that show that the scriptural
limitation of " threescore years and ten " falls far short of
representing the greatest possible length of physical exist-
ence in man. Even to-day the death of a centenarian is
not an unknown occurrence. At the same time, this
question of human longevity is a much disputed one,
and many facts have to be taken into consideration
when estimating the evidential value of such cases, and
particularly the historic cases. Leaving out of account,
for the time being, the Biblical records, there are certain
historical cases that have been quoted time and time again
in proof of the possible limit of man's life ; but these
historic examples are, strangely enough, very rarely in-
vestigated. This is to be regretted, for such cases, almost
without exception, when closely inquired into, are found
to rest upon totally inadequate evidence. Mr. William
J. Thoms investigated a number of such cases very
1 A tissue is said to ''die'' when it loses permanently its power of
responding to its appropriate stimuli. The brain and nervous system die,
in man and warm-blooded animals, at the moment of somatic death ;
gland tissue dies very soon after. Smooth muscle retains its irritability
forty-five minutes, skeletal muscle some hours, after death.
14 DEATH
uiinutely, going into the histories of the cases with
extreme care, and pubHshed the results of his investi-
gations in a book entitled, Human Longevity : Its Facts
and Its Fictions, &c. The author shows us how careless
statements are frequently the cause of mistakes that go
for a hundred years or more before they are corrected,
if indeed they ever are. Mr. Thoms points out to us
several sources of error, any of which might have
vitiated the results in many instances. Mistaken
identity may have taken place — two people of the
same name having lived in a certain parish, &c.
Again, a married couple may have a son who dies.
They have a second son a number of years later, and
they give this son the same name as the first child.
These two get confused in memory and in record, and it
is generally the second, or even the third and youngest
son that lives to a good old age ; and he, being
confused with the first or second child of like name,
becomes celebrated for being many years older than
he really is.
A number of such sources of error are shown, and
backed up by several cases in which these errors had
doubtless taken place. The inaccuracy of baptismal certifi-
cates, tombstones, &c., is also illustrated. Mr. Thoms
then examined in great detail the famous cases of Henry
Jenkins, Thomas Parr, and the Countess of Desmond.
Original trials, documents, army and navy registers, parish
registers, &c., were examined in every instance.^ The
cases of Parr, Jenkins, and that of the Countess of
Desmond, when examined, were found to be resting on
* Among other interesting documents in this connection, the reader
may consult Evidcncf.s of the Great Age of Henry Jenkins, with Notes, rc-
spectinij Lonrjcrity and Lo7i;/-Lived Persons. Bell, llichmond, 1850. The
case of old Thomas Parr (who was examined post mortem by Harvey) is to
be found in a work entitled, The Okie, Okie, Very Oide Man ; or. The Age
and Long Life of Thomas Parr.
SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH 15
quite inadequate proof; indeed, there was no proof at all,
that could properly be called evidential ! The author
gives a number of carefully-investigated cases, the results
of which are, briefly, as follows : — Mary Billings, reputed
112 years old, proved to be 91; Jonathan Reeves, 104,
proved to be 80 : Mary Downton, 106, proved to be 100 ;
Joshua Millar, 111, proved to be 90 ; Maudit Baden, lOG,
proved to be considerably less, — how much less is not
certain; Thomas Geeran, 106, ditto; John Pratt, 106,
ditto; George Fletcher, 108, proved to be 92; George
Smith, 105, proved to be 95 ; Edward Couch, 110, proved
to be 95; William Webb, 105, proved to be 95; John
Dawe, 108 or 116, proved to be 87 ; George Brewer, 106,
proved to be 98; Robert Howlinson, 103, proved less;
Robert Bowman, 118 or 119, proved much less ; Frederick
Lahrbush, 106, proved less; Richard Purser, 112, proved
less; AVilliam Bennett, 105, proved to be 95 ; Mary Hicks,
104, proved to be 97; and several others. The author
gives four cases, however, in which the ages of 102, 100,
103, and 101 had undoubtedly been reached, and a chap-
ter of cases in which ages of more than one hundred might
possibly be presumed, although the evidence was not
strong enough to prove the fact. But after the evidence
adduced in the former portion of the book, it is certain
that all such statements, especially if not backed up by
documentary evidence, is to be mistrusted. Dr. De Lacy
Evans gives some seventy cases of persons who had
apparently reached an age of more than a hundred {Hoio
to Prolong Life : An Inqidry into the Cause of " Old Age "
and ''Natural Death" &c., pp. 100-121, London, 1885);
but none of his cases are well certified, and the names
of several of the discredited cases figure prominently.
The same may be said of the collection of forty-seven cases
given by Dr. Hosmer Bostwick, in his Inquiry into the
Cause of Naticral Death; or, Death from Old Age (New York,
16 DEATH
1851). There is no doubt, however, that certain cases
of old age do sometimes come up. So far as we know,
Captain Diamond's great age of 112 years has never been
disproved. Metchnikoff gives us the portrait of an old
woman of 105 years of age in his Proloiujation of Life
(p. 6) ; and it is stated, upon the authority of Albert
Kruger, Superintendent of the Home of the Daughters
of Jacob in New York City, that Mrs. Esther Davis, an
inmate of this institution, was in 1908, 115 years of
aofe.^
It is all the more astonishing that there should be so
few trustworthy examples of old age, when we take into
account the fact that it is all but universally conceded
that from 100 to 120 years should be the normal limit of
life of the individual man and woman. The fact that so
few actually do reach this age, proves conclusively how
perverted are the food and other habits of the people.
Although we know, therefore, both from experience and
from authentic historical facts, that men and women do
occasionally pass the centenary mark, it must be admitted
that such cases are rather exceptional, for, so far as
modern mortality statistics -are concerned, the average
length of human life is nowhere much in excess of forty-
two years.
Strictly speaking, therefore, practically the only positive
fact that science can teach us concerning death is that it
is the inevitable fate of all living things. The law that
stipulates that all those who are born must die is now as
certain in its operation as the law of gravitation. At
^ In his Philosophy of Long Life Joan Finot has given a number of cases
in which men have lived much Iqnger than a hundred years, and some of
them an incredible time ; but his cases do not seem to us to rest on any
very secure basis — many of the old cases being quoted v^hich Mr. Thoms
had conclusively shown to be incorrect. At the same time, we admit that
some of his cases seem well established, while others will be found in
T, B. Young's little book On Centenarians (London, 1899).
SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH 17
this point, however, materiahstic science stops, leaving the
probable fate of the individuality, or thinking-part of man,
an unsolved problem. As to this " soul-part " of being,
in fact, science has even questioned its very existence.
To the ordinary scientist, death is a door that closes upon
consciousness as the breath leaves the body. If there is
any existence behind that door, his experiments have
thrown no light upon it, and the man who is unwilling to
accept these negative conclusions as the last word on this
subject must search elsewhere for the evidence in support
of the hope that is within him.
B
CHAPTER II
THE SIGNS OF DEATH
Many years ago the Marquis d'Ourches offered, through
the Paris Acaddmie de M4decine, two prizes, one of twenty
thousand francs, the other of five thousand francs, for
some simple, certain sign of death. The secretary, Dr.
Roger, reported on the competition. One hundred and
two essays were sent in, but none was deemed worthy the
first prize ! The second was divided between six com-
petitors. Five hundred francs was given to M. de Cordue
for his observations on the effects of the flame of a candle
on the pulp of the finger. M. Larcher was rewarded for
his observations on the eye after death. (As the result
of examining nine hundred patients, he found the occur-
rence of a shaded or greyish spot, first on the outer portion
of the sclerotica, and gradually involving the whole sur-
face.) M. Poncet received an honourable mention for his
observations on the discoloration of the fundus of the
eye ; M. Molland, for his observations on cadaveric livi-
dity ; and MM. Bouchut and Linas for their observations
on the temperature of the body. But nothing definite
and decisive was discovered ; and almost the same might
be said to hold good to-day.
Passing in review the various signs of death, M. Brouardel
has this to say : —
" The comhination of signs of death gives us almost complete cer-
tainty of death. . . . But I believe that it is right to remain in a
state of philosophic doubt ; we know that apparent death may last
for a longer or shorter time, and that in three cases at least . . .
18
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 19
persons considered to be dead have been called to life. . . . The
verification of death should therefore always be entrusted to a
physician, who alone is competent to estimate the value of the
different signs that we have just been examining. ... I believe
that accidents will then be, if not impossible, at any rate infinitely
rare, and I am obliged to add that though there is a great improba-
bility of a living person being buried alive under those conditions,
in which actual death is, or rather is not, complete — still, it is
impossible to assert that the direful contingency might not happen "
(pp. 61, 62).
1. General Signs.
Let us, then, see what these signs are, which are sup-
posed to render death certain, and thus prevent these
unfortunate " accidents," or this " direful contingency."
In death, intelligence is absent ; but so it is in trance
and syncope.
In death, insensibility is complete ; but it is also prac-
tically complete in certain cases of hysteria in which
there is complete anaesthesia. Surface insensibility is
complete, and the patient does not react to the most
painful tests, on occasion. All sense of hearing and smell
are also absent. The eye presents some very interesting
tests. It was noticed that there was an immediate
lessening of the tension of the globe of the eye, just
after death, owing to the fact that the blood-vessels were
emptied of blood. But this proves, merely, that the
heart has stopped beating — not that death has taken
place ; and we know^ that persons can often be revived
long after the heart has ceased to beat. Bouchut con-
tends that atropine and eserine have no effect after
death. The pupil dilates at the moment of death, but
afterwards returns to its normal condition and size, and
the iris is thrown into folds. It is also asserted that the
eyeball is harder after death than during life.
20 DEATH
One very characteristic sign is the sclerotic speck that
appears after death ; the conjunctiva also assumes a
brown hue. Commenting on these signs, Dr. Hartmann
wisely remarked, " All these signs prove that the circu-
lation has stopped ; not that it cannot be started again."
It will be of interest to refer here to a peculiar fact,
the explanation of which is still somewhat uncertain,
but which caused a tremendous sensation some years
ago when it was first made public. It was announced
at the time that in persons dying suddenl}^ the eye pre-
served the impression of whatever object was in front of
it at that moment. It was suggested that murderers
might be traced in this manner — since it is to be sup-
posed that the murderer would be the last object seen
by the murdered man, in most instances. The case was
somewhat overstated, and many persons totally disbelieve
in the possibility of the fact at all. There is, however,
some ground for the belief. Kiihne of Heidelberg placed
a grating in front of a rabbit, then killed the animal
rapidly, removed its eye, exposed the retina, and photo-
graphed it. The cross-bars of the grating were clearly
seen in the print. In the case of a more complicated
object, such as a table or a chair, the outline was much
more blurred and indistinct, but yet recognisable. In
such cases the animal must be killed immediately, and
the retina photographed very soon after death. For
these reasons, it would be difficult to obtain definite
results in the human being. Certainly, very little trace
of any scene would be found on the retina twenty-four
hours after the death of the subject. This is a question
of great importance that should be followed up closely ;
but, until some of the prejudices of the public are over-
come, it is unlikely that any definite results will be
obtained in this possibly fruitful field.
At death the immobility of the body becomes pro-
I
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 21
nounced, and the lower jaw falls on to the breast. But
these signs are not constant, and it has been pointed
out that in tetanus and in hysteria the mouth may
remain closed. Complete rigidity of the corpse may
sometimes be found before rigor mortis supervenes. After
death, as the body cools, the muscles, especially of the
face, continue to contract in odd ways, and sometimes
the face will be pulled into various shapes, and give the
appearance, perhaps, of the patient having died in the
greatest agony. Such may not have been the case
at all ; the death may have been perfectly painless.
Richardson attached considerable weight to the fact that
live bodies usually respond to an electric stirnulus, while
dead bodies do not. But this test also has been found
inconclusive.
Respiration ceases at death ; yet the respiratory test is
quite variable in its results. In some cases the patient
may be in a trance, and appear not to breathe at all,
and yet be alive. On the other hand, a patient may be
dead, and the gases moving about within his body give
every appearance of life. The old test of holding a
mirror to the lips is known to all ; the idea of placing a
glass full of water on the epigastrium of the patient is
not so well known. If this overflows the patient is
supposed to be alive ; if not, he is dead ! The test
is inconclusive for the reasons indicated above.
Brouardel, in his excellent manual on Death and
Sudden Death, thus enumerates the sources of error in
attempting to assure oneself of the fact of death by
observations upon the circulation : —
" Bouclmt, who has studied all these questions with great care,
has riglitly said that one must not be satisfied with feeling the
pulse, but must go higher and consult the heart also. In a
memoir published by him, and submitted to the Academy of
Science, he states that an interruption of the action of the heart.
22 DEATH
lasting for two minutes, was sufficient to render the diagnosis of
death certain. Andral, who was appointed to report on Bouchut's
memoir, believed that this interruption should be prolonged for
five minutes. Later on, he was obliged to acknowledge that even
this length of time was inadequate, since in the interval he had
met with a woman who returned to life some hours after the
action of the heart had ceased to be perceptible ; it is true that a
few contractures could be perceived from time to time, but they
vanished to reappear later.
" Bouchut thinks that the heart should be listened to for lialf-
an-hour. There are at least two sources of error here. You
cannot listen to a heart for half-an-hour continuously. Try to do
so ; in five or six minutes you will hear buzzings and murmurs of
all sorts, and at last you will hear the beating of your oivn heart.
A second source of error is as follows : When an animal is dying,
and you practise auscultation, you hear very plainly the two sounds
of the heart, then only one sound, which presently disappears also.
If the animal is opened the heart is found still beating. There-
fore, it is essential that the heart should beat with a certain degree
of energy in order that its beats should be heard" (pp. 50, 51).
He also points out that the keenness of hearing is not
alike in all.
If the absence of the heart-beat cannot be considered
a certain sign of death, perhaps some of the other signs
connected with the circulation might ? If the vein be
opened immediately after death no blood will issue
therefrom ; but blood will issue in the course of a few
hours if the wound be left open. The arteries contract,
and force the blood through the capillaries into the
veins. Further, the gases formed within the body force
the blood to the surface, so that, if the skin be cut,
blood will sometimes flow. This was the origin of many
of the stories of vampires to which Ave refer elsewhere.'^
Coagulation is also a very uncertain sign. Ligature of the
^ See Appendix A.
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 23
finger, cupping and leeching, have been resorted to ; but
the same objection may be raised to all, viz., the fact
that the heart's action has ceased does not guarantee
that it cannot be set in motion again.
After death, little livid spots appear on the surface of
the body. They are known as cadaveric sigillations or
lividity, and are caused by the exudation of blood into
cellular tissue from the veins. It is an almost invariable
sign. Dr. Holland, who examined 15,146 cases, never
found it absent once. Nevertheless, it may be absent
in cases where there has been abundant haemorrhage
before death ; and, on the other hand, they may appear
before death in certain cases — in cholera, urtemia, and
asphyxia. This sign is also, therefore, inconclusive.
The temperature post-mortem has been considered a
very important sign ; but it is a very uncertain one.
When the surrounding temperature is high, the body
may take a very long time to cool, though death may
have taken place ; and certain diseases also hinder the
cooling of the body. On the other hand the body may
cool considerably in trance, and certain states of a
kindred nature, and yet life be preserved and revived.
In slow deaths cooling is a gradual process, and varies
much in rapidity. The trunk may remain warm, while
the limbs are cold. The cooling is slow if the body is
covered with warm clothing, or bed clothes. Wool is a
bad conductor. The bodies of young persons, which have
generally a subcutaneous layer of fat, take longer to cool
than those of thin, old persons. In wasting diseases the
heat is low in the last hours before death. It has been
supposed that cooling takes place more rapidly in cases
of death from hiemorrhage, but this is rarely true. In
all cases of death by suffocation, cooling seems to be
retarded. Casper's rule as to the cooling of the body is
as follows : '' A body found on the highway with clothes
24 DEATH
on (the air being at a medium temperature), still warm,
has been dead probably not more than three hours. A
body found in bed and still warm has been dead at most
lor ten or twelve hours."
Another sign of death that can sometimes be obtained
is the following. A patch of skin is removed, and, in the
course of some hours, the exposed surface will become
IMTchmcnt-lihe in appearance, and will yield a sharp sound
when tapped. AVe do not know if this has ever happened
in a case of trance ; and we have, consequently, nothing
to guide us in this respect.
A sign that was for long considered certain was that
oihurning or blistering the body. If a live body be burned,
a blister will be raised, surrounded by a reddish areola.
In dead bodies this is supposed not to exist. But is
that the case ? M. Brouardel states that blisters may
very readily be raised on dead bodies : — " Let a drop of
melted sealing-wax fall on to a limb that has just been
amputated, and you will succeed in producing a blister."
The test of burning is therefore a doubtful sign.^
Dr. Franz Hartmann, in his excellent manual. Buried
Alive, has summarised quite exhaustively the various
signs of death. We abridge his account of those tests
that other authors have omitted to mention.
Immobility of a needle stuck in the pericardium : — This
indicates that the heart has ceased to boat ; not that the
person is beyond recovery.
Emptiness of the centred artery of the rethia ; disap-
pearance of the papilla of the optic nerve ; discoloration oj
the clioroid and retina ; interruption of the circidation of
the veins in the retina ; emptiness of the capillary vessels : —
^ The author just cited states that he has found an excellent way of
reviving those in syncope ; it is to place a hammer just dipped in very hot
water on the epigastrium. Patients nearly always revive. It is doubtful
if this would succeed in every case, however — especially where the vitality
is very low ; and indeed the author intimates that it would not.
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 25
All these signs are open to the objection just pointed
out.
Corpse-like face ; discoloration of the shin ; loss of trans-
parency of the hands : — " These signs are now so well
known to be delusive, as to require no further at-
tention." Emptiness of the temporal artery : — This only
indicates that the heart has lost the power to send the
blood to that artery ; but it is no sign that it may not
recover its strength. White and livid colouring at the
poijits of the fingers : — An antiquated and misleading
sim.
Belctxation of the sphincters and the pupil ; glazed eyes and
haziness of the cornea ; insensibility of the eye in regard to the
action of a strong light ; bending of the thtcmb towards the
2mlm of the hand : — All given up nowadays as unreliable.
Discqopearance of the elasticity of the muscles — also takes
place in dropsy and other diseases.
Non-coagulability of the blood : — Unreliable ; in scurvy
and certain other diseases the blood remains incoas^ulable
for several days.
Absence of a humming noise in the auscultation of the finger
joints: — Unreliable. If the finger is not held in just the
right position, nothing will be heard, even if the patient
is alive. Further, humming noises, internal noises in
the body of the physician, &c., are apt to be mistaken
for the sounds going on in the body of the patient.
Galvanism has been considered sufficient to furnish
a test that is certain. Irritability is extinguished first in
the left ventricle; then in the intestines and stomach,
next in the bladder, afterwards in the right ventricle,
then in the oesophagus, and after that in the iris. The
muscles of the trunk finally give way — the extremities
and the auricles. The collapsed edge of a wound in
a dead body, in distinction from a gushing wound in
a living one, is the result of a peculiar irritability — the
26 DEATH
extinction of which is one of the indications of death.
Flaccidity is an uncertain sign of death ; putrefaction is
unequivocal.
Within recent years, two or three additional tests have
been devised. X-ray machines have been employed to
ascertain whether any vital action was taking place
within the body. It was found that, if all the internal
functioning had come to a complete standstill — bowels,
liver, lungs, heart, &c. — the shadow cast on the screen
would come out clear and distinct ; if, on the other
hand, some of these organs were working (and conse-
quently moving) the outline or shadow would be blurred
and indistinct. We do not know to what extent this test
has been carried; and its value and reliability would
depend (1) upon the clearness of the shadow; and (2),
upon the extent to which the internal organs can sus-
pend their functioning, in such states as trance, and yet
life be present, or possibly recalled. We must always
remember that the entire vital machinery might stop,
for some considerable time, and yet be enabled to resume
its functioning. This fact must be taken into considera-
tion when discussing this test.
Still more lately, Dr. Elmer Gates has published an
article in the Annals of Psychical Science (June 1906),
entitled, " On the Transparency of the Animal Body to
Electric and Light Waves : As a Test of Death and a
New Mode of Diagnosis, and a Probable New Method of
Psj'chic Research." He says in part : —
" Several years ago ... I discovered that certain wave lengths
of electric waves (not X-rays or ultra-violet light) pass more freely
through a body of a dead than of a living organism, and I pro-
posed this as a test of death. This greater transparency at death
I found to be due to the absence of the normal electric currents,
which are always present in functionally active nerves and muscles.
. . When the body is alive, it is a bundle of electric currents, and
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 27
electric waves cannot pass through these currents ; but when they
cease, at death, the body becomes transparent to electric waves."
How far these electric currents would be reduced in
trance and kindred states, is a matter for further inquiry.
The objections previously raised must not be lost sight
of in this connection.
There is yet another test of death of a somewhat
" occult " character, which its votaries declare infallible 1
It is the following : —
" The Aura after Death. — It will readily be understood that
death produces an immediate great change in the human auras.
All the higher principles, together with the auric egg that envelopes
them, disappear, leaving the doomed material body with only its
lifelong and inseparable etheric double floating over it ; the caloric
aura gradually ceases with the disappearance of animal heat ; the
pranic aura, which had begun to fade before the actual dissolution,
turns to an ashen-grey light ; all the electric emanations, already
broken up during the sickness, cease ; the magnetic flow alone con-
tinues, though in a sluggish and stationary manner ; the Tatwic
ribbons lose their colour, leaving only dead, colourless lines, as in
mineral matter, whereby it can be said that the auric manifestation
which remains around the body is only that which belongs to the
dead material compounds, until decomposition sets in. Then the
aiu:ic effluvium again becomes alive, and assumes the aspects and
hues of the new lives that issue out of death. Thus, the study of
the human aura will bring out new and more reliable signs of real
death, because to a psychic sight, the aura of a person in coma or
cataleptic trance — however well this may otherwise simulate death
— will never be mistaken for that of a body in which life is really
and positively extinct. . . . " ^
Without discussing the reality of these phenomena in
this place, it may only be said that the diflPiculty of find-
ing a seer possessing the requisite psychic sight might be
^ 2Vte Human Aura, by A. Marques, pp. 5j, oG.
28 DEATH
sufficiently difficult to render this method of diagnosis
impractical under all ordinary circumstances ! Of course,
such theories would have to be rigorously demonstrated
before science could even tolerate them for a moment,
in a life and death problem such as this. It is hardly
necessary to add that this demonstration has so far failed
to appear either in the desired quality or quantity.
2. Odor Mortis; or, the Smell of Death.
In the Cincinnati Clinic of September 4, 1875, was
published a paper on " Odor Mortis ; or, the Smell of
Death," read by Dr. A. B. Isham before the Cincinnati
Academy of Medicine, August 30, 1875. The paper was
based upon observation made while an inmate of one of
the surgical wards of the Stanton Hospital, Washington,
during the summer of 1863, as well as upon instances in
which the " odor " had been met with in private practice.
The character of the odour was muskiferous, yet it appre-
ciably, though almost indescribably, differed from that of
musk. In this paper he presented two recent instances
where this odour attracted notice, together with some new
observations concerning it.
Instance 1. — July 13, 1878, on the eve of Dr. Bartho-
lomew's departure for Europe, Dr. Isham was requested
to assume charge of his patient, Mr. . The patient
was unconscious, with irregular, noisy respiration, with
only a feeble trace of pulse, indistinguishable at times,
and ^V2LS dying slowly from effusion within the membrane
of the brain, the result of chronic alcoholism. He was
with him through the middle of the night, and during
this time he noticed upon his right hand a smell resem-
bling that of musk. This hand was exclusively used in
examining the patient's pulse and in noting the tempera-
ture of the body. Earlier in the night there had been
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 29
no smell upon it. The left hand acquired the same
smell from handling the body, and it was also communi-
cated to the handle of a fan held in the hand. A gentle-
man from Chicago, who had volunteered as a night
watcher, and whose attention had been called to the odour
without any suggestion as to its character, promptly
distinguished it. The ladies of the household did not
use musk, and no perfumery had been in the room or
about the patient. Neither had Isham handled nor come
in contact with anything other than the patient from
which the odour could have been derived. Death
occurred thirty-three hours later.
Instance 2. — About midnight. May 21, 1879, Dr. Isham
was called to see Mrs. G. She had several months pre-
viously been under his care with acute duodenitis, but
with impaired digestion and defective assimilation ; but
she had subsequently passed into the hands of an irregular
practitioner. He found her in articulo mortis, with general
anasarca, the result of blood dilution. Upon entering
the room there was a plainly perceptible musky odour.
There was no musk about the house, nor had any other
perfumery been employed. Death ensued in about half-
an-hour.
The smell, as stated, was closely allied to that of musk,
yet the impression on the olfactory organs was more
delicately subtle. Besides, there was an indescribable
feature pertaining to it which seemed to impress the
respiratory sense and trouble respiration — a vague sensa-
tion of an irrespirable or noxious gas. To the convales-
cent loungers of sharp olfactory sense about the wards of
Stanton Hospital the smell was familiar, and was termed
the death smell. It was not uncommon to hear the expres-
sion, " Some one is dying, for I smell him ! " ^
It was rare to find the odour widely ditfused, and
^ See Appendix E.
30 DEATH
where it appeared to be it was probably due to a con-
tinuance of the first impression upon the olfactory organs.
As commonly encountered, it has suggested the idea of
gaseous aggregation or body containing odoriferous par-
ticles possessing an attraction for each other, and so
held together. In the hospital ward, while present in
one place it was not experienced in another slightly
removed. It also quickly disappeared from the first
place — probably moved along by atmospheric waves.
Thevapour in which the odorous molecules were suspended
appeared, in some instances at least, heavier than the
atmospheric air. Thus, Dr. Isham had sometimes recog-
nised the smell in lower hallways — the patient occupying
the upper portion of the house; and in " Instance 1,"
already detailed, it was only detected on handling the
body. This affords one explanation why it may not
claim more recognition. From its heaviness it subsides,
and does not enter the nose. Other reasons why it may
escape attention are, that the olfactory sensibilities may
be blunted by long continuance in an ill-ventilated, bad-
smelling sick-room ; or the air currents may carry the
odour in a direction not favourable to observation.
The only mention of an odour which might be analo-
gous is reported by Dr. Badgely, of Montreal, in a report
on " Irish Emigrant Fever." It is thus quoted by Drake
in his work on the " Principal Diseases of the Interior
Valley of America," as taken from the British Medical
Journal : —
" I hazard the idea that the ammoniacal odour emanating from
the living body, so strong on opening the large cavities and so
striking on receiving some of the blood of the vessels — arteries as
well as veins — into the hand, were all due to the same condition
of this fluid — the actual presence of ammoniacal salts, one of the
surest proofs of the putrescent condition of the vital fluid ; in fact,
to speak paradoxically, of the existence of death during life."
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 31
Here the source of the smell is indicated as coming
from the development of ammonia in decomposing blood.
It is known that musk contains ammonia largely, together
with a volatile oil. Robiquet holds that its odour de-
pends upon the decomposition of the ammonia, liberating
the volatile matters of the oil. The blood also contains
a volatile oil, and it is well known that it possesses odour.
This odour may be developed by adding sulphuric acid to
blood and boiling it. This process was formerly resorted
to in order to distinguish blood in questionable cases, but
it has been rendered obsolete since the discovery of the
blood corpuscles by the microscope. Such a method
would be well suited to drive off the ammonia, free from
decomposition, together with the volatile oil — to which
substance the odour is very likely due.
Originally, Dr. Isham was inclined to limit the occur-
rence of the manifestation to within a very short time of
death. That it cannot be so restricted is evidenced by
''Instance 1," when it was noticed thirty-three hours
before death. The conditions here were not unfavourable
for its development. From the state of circulation,
chemical changes were evidently proceeding in the blood,
elevating its temperature and liberating those matters
to which we would ascribe the origin of the death smell.
Richardson and Dinnis have shown by experiments
that ammonia salts added to blood preserve its fluidity
by preventing the decomposition of fibrin. This is not
without a bearing upon the origin of the odor mortis.
In gradual death coagulation commences first in the
capillaries, and proceeds towards the heart. The escape
of ammonia from the blood in the peripheral vessels,
liberating the volatile principles and engendering smell,
permits local decomposition of fibrin long before the
heart has ceased its action.
But La.nge has more recently investigated the action
32 DEATH
of ammonia in living and dead blood. He found that
carbonate of ammonia added to living blood was only
given off at a temperature of 176° F. to 194° F. When,
however, ammonia was added to blood from a dead
animal, it was evolved at a temperature of from 104° to
113° F. It is well ascertained that in many diseases,
just previous to death, the blood temperature is raised
above the lowest figure given by Lange. In some
diseases, too, the blood falls below the normal bodily
temperature. This affords another and principal explana-
tion why the odor mortis may not be appreciable. These
experiments of Lange also show why this smell is not
developed by diseases characterised by great elevation of
temperature — simply because the blood has lost none of
its vital properties.
Such is the attempt of science to account for this
remarkable fact. When we come to consider " death
coincidences " in Part III., wo shall, we think, find that
another interpretation of the facts may be put upon such
cases. However, we will not anticipate.
3. Rigor Mortis.
Next to putrefaction, rigor mortis may be considered
the surest sign of death that we know. Unless the
burial clothes are put on the corpse soon after death,
it is almost impossible to get them on at all, owing to the
stiffening of the body. Yet it is contended by certain
authorities that frequently there is no rigor mortis what-
ever. Bichat found that in cases in which an individual
had been struck dead by lightning, or had been suffocated
by charcoal, there was no rigor mortis. When complete,
rigor mortis is very severe ; the body becomes as stiff as
a board, and it is next to impossible to bend or flex the
arms and legs.
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 33
Generally, it may be said that rigor mortis appears
in from three to six hours after death. Quite frequently
it appears before the bodily heat has passed away.
Niederkorn gives us the following table, the result of
103 cases observed by him : —
Rigor mortis within 2 hours after death, 2 cases
From 2 to 4
„ 4 to 6
6 to 8
8 to 10
„ 10 to 13
Total
45
24
18
11
3
103
It is evident, therefore, that the length of time that
elapses between death and rigor mortis varies con-
siderably. It is asserted that " after poisoning by a
large dose of strychnine, rigor mortis follows imme-
diately upon the phenomena of contracture which
existed at the time the patient died."
" With regard to the duration of rigidity," says Dr. Brouardel,^
" \ye are also obliged to make allowance for different influences. It
lasts on an average twenty-four to forty-eight hours. It may, how-
ever, last for a few hours only ; at other times, it persists for
five, six, or seven days. Our data with reference to this subject
are very scanty. We know that in exhausted individuals, such as
those dying with cancer or phthisis, rigor mortis appears early,
l)ut does not last long; on the contrary, in an individual dying
while in good health, it appears late, and is of long duration. . . .
Cadaveric rigidity appears first in the muscles of the lower jaw,
then in those of the neck and eyelids, then the lower limbs, and
lastly the upper limbs. . . . The muscles of the intestinal walls
may present a certain degree of rigidity."
The heart becomes rigid after death also ; a fact
^ Death and Sudden Death, p. GU.
34 DEATH
observed by the illustrious Harvey, and noted by him
in his Second Disquisition}
When persons die from the result of sun-stroke or
heat-stroke, they are already half rigid, and it is stated
that the heart becomes rigid immediately upon the
death of the body. Vallain states that when he was
in Algeria, he opened the bodies of dogs dying from
sun-stroke, and, Avhen he cut into the heart, it yielded
a sound like that of wood ! Generally speaking, rigor
mortis appears much sooner in a warm and moist atmos-
phere. Indeed, it has been asserted that it takes just as
many hours to effect the same result in the summer time
as it does days in the winter. When the body is fatigued,
rigor mortis appears much more rapidly.
Dr. Brown-Sequard, writing on this subject, said :
" In rabbits, guinea-pigs, cats, and birds, as well as in dogs, I
have ascertained that when they are killed by poisons causing con-
vulsions, the more violent and the more frequent the convulsions
are, the sooner cadaveric rigidity sets in, and the less is the time
it lasts ; the sooner also does putrefaction appear, and the quicker
is its progress." ^
What is rigor mortis ? What is its nature ? In what
does it consist ? This has been a very vexed question ;
and only of late years has it been satisfactorily settled.
Kuhne believed that it was due to the coagulation of
myosin, an albuminous substance contained in the mus-
cular tissue. Brown-Sequard objected to this, that no
amount of such coagulation would account for the facts.
Microscopic examination of muscles has frequently re-
vealed no structural difference whatever between those
in a state of rigidity, and those that were flaccid. Some
* Harvey's treatise on the circulation of the blood should be read by
every one, as it is a model of sound, logical argument.
2 Quoted by Savory, Life and Death, pp. 190, 191.
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 35
observers ascertained that an acid reaction was found in
the muscles at such times ; and conchided that rigidity
was due to the conversion of alkahne substances into
acids ; but Achtakaweski has proved that in tetanus
the muscles are not rigid, and that the injection of an
alkali into the muscular tissue does not prevent rigidity.
It has even been ascertained that rigidity will take place
as usual, even if all posthumous circulation be cut off!
Brown-Sequard removed the spinal cord from an animal,
and found that no rigidity resulted. His researches,
however, have been largely disproved by recent experi-
menters.
While much still remains uncertain, it is now generally
admitted that rigor mortis is the first stage of putrefac-
tion — of which we shall presently treat — and is hence
the result of bacterial decomposition. Herzen proved
that there is found in the muscular tissue of a dead
animal, an acid, which he called " sarcolactic acid." By
injecting some drops of this acid into the muscles of
dead animals, he caused rigor mortis to appear in cases
which had not as yet exhibited it. Rigor mortis is
doubtless the result of certain micro-organisms, which
secrete toxins in the muscular tissue, causing rigor mortis
in this manner. The subject will become more clear
when we consider the phenomena of putrefaction. To
this we accordingly turn.
4. Putrefaction.
The phenomena of putrefaction are of great interest and
importance, since they frequently enable the practitioner
to tell almost exactly how long a certain body has been
dead, and for that reason are of great value to forensic medi-
cine. The subject may appear an unpleasant one to many
readers ; but, rightly considered, it is not so, and aftbrds a
36 DEATH
field for very interesting experiments and important de-
ductions. Bear in mind the fact, that putrefaction is merely
the process of returning the body to the native, mineral
elements, and there should be no objection to studying
this process from the scientific point of view. Remove
from the mind the idea of a '' corpse," and replace it by
the following: here is an organic compound; let us
watch its gradual disintegration and return to mother
earth !
It has been proved that if a body be perfectly pre-
served from the air, it will not, cccteris paribus, decay or
putrefy at all. Pasteur experimented with blood and
urine, the most fermentable and putrescible of all organic
fluids. These fluids he sealed up hermetically in glass
tubes. Although these tubes are in his laboratory yet,
having been placed there in 1854, there is to-day not
the slightest trace of putrefaction in any of them. The
presence of air is therefore necessary, in order that
putrefaction may proceed. Why is this ?
When a body dies, three different and distinct sets of
micro-organisms occupy it, one after the other. First,
there are the " aerobic " organisms, so called because
they cannot live without the presence of oxygen, which
they obtain from the air. Following them, there is the
second set, able to live either with or without oxygen ;
and these M. Bordas, in his thesis on " Putrefaction,"
has called " amphibious." These produce carbonic acid,
also hydrogen and hydro-carbons. Lastly, there comes
another category of micro-organisms, the " anaerobic "
class, which do not live in oxygen, and which produce
hydrogen, nitrogen, and more or less compound ammonias.
These organisms follow one another, for the reason that
each class secretes a poison in the presence of which it
is unable to live. It then disappears, and is replaced by
other colonies, and so on, until the destruction of the
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 37
body is complete. This explains why it is that air is
necessary to render putrefaction possible ; the first set of
micro-organisms can only exist and set up their char-
acteristic effects when there is a certain amount of free
oxygen, and this they have to obtain from the atmos-
phere. If this be shut off, putrefaction can be prevented
for a very long time. It illustrates, also, the beautiful pro-
vision of nature ; the method employed to disintegrate
the body and return it to its elements as speedily as
possible.
Putrefaction takes place at a different rate and in a
different manner, according to the medium in which the
body is placed. We have already seen the effects of
withdrawing the body from a medium altogether, placing
it in vacuo. If the body be in the air, it will decompose
in one way, if in water in another ; it will putrefy in a
different manner still in the earth — and even here there
is a great difference, according to the nature of the soil
in which the body is placed.
" Micro-organisms can, of course, enter the body through the
epidermis, but they seem to be very slow in doing so in the
majority of cases. Usually putrefaction begins in the digestive
tract. It is especially a function of the processes which take place
in the intestines. M. Duclaux, who has paid much attention to
the ' vibrios ' of the intestines, has succeeded in determining the
part they play in putrefaction. At death they swarm ; they
penetrate into the intestinal glands, which they destroy, find their
way into the veins and peritoneum, and produce gases there, and
secrete diastase, which liquefies the tissues. What is the conse-
quence of this formation of gas and diastase % The quantity of
gas produced is considerable, its tension is sometimes equal to
that of li atmospheres ; it also pushes up the diaphragm to the
third intercostal space, and drives the liquid contained in the deep
vessels towards the periphery ; that is what I have called the
posthumous circulation."
38 DEATH
The significance of this fact will be apparent when we
come to a discussion on " Vampires." (See Appendix A.)
If a person dies from suftbcation from carbonic acid
gas, his tissues contain very little oxygen, and, in conse-
quence, the first set of micro-organisms have great
difficulty in gaining a foothold within the body.
Brouardel gives a case in which a corpse was found
to be in a perfect state of preservation two months after
death — the man having committed suicide in this
manner.
Of course, other causes influence putrefaction greatly.
The state of health at the time of dying is known to be
one great contributory cause. Patients dying of cancer
putrefy very slowly for some reason. If there be food in
the stomach, decomposition takes place more rapidly
than if there be none, which is what we should expect
a priori. If the coffin is badly closed, decomposition
will be more rapid than if it is well sealed : the degree
of moisture of the soil, or the reverse : whether the body
be placed in a wooden or a leaden coffin — all these
factors help to determine the rate and character of the
subsequent putrefaction.
When bodies are retained in the air for some days,
^nd putrefaction sets in, the body swells up from the
created gas, and this has to be removed, in order to
prevent tainting of the atmosphere. What, then, is
done ? This : holes are pricked in the bodies, and a
lighted match applied to these minute orifices. Long,
bluish flames start forth, like those of a blow-pipe.
These remain ignited sometimes for three or four days,
then the combustibility of the gas ceases. When
decomposition is more advanced the gas will not take
fire in this manner. This is due to the fact that the
gases created during the later stages of decomposition
are not combustible ; those in the earlier stages are.
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 39
During decomposition phosphoretted hydrogen is fre-
quently formed. " Before the time when refrigerating
apparatus was employed at the Morgue — that is to
say, prior to 1882 — phosphorescence was often noticed
there, especially in w^arm weather, Wills-o'-the-wisp,
which ran over and around the bodies. It was a
very impressive spectacle." This has great significance,
when we remember the frequent allusions to " corpse
lights," &c. — spirits that were supposed to hover above
the grave in the graveyard, and which have doubtless
given rise to many a ghost story.
When a body decomposes under the ground little
blebs form all over the surface of the body ; these are
filled with a sort of serum and blood. The epidermis
then separates in flakes. Gases are formed in large
quantities, and when the tissues have been more or less
liquefied by the action of micro-organisms, the flesh is
ruptured, thus giving vent to these gases. It is curious
to note that when a body is completely covered with
animal excreta, it decomposes very slowly indeed ;
whereas precisely the reverse of this is what we should
expect ! We shall not do more than refer to this here,
leaving the more technical discussion for more strictly
medical treatises.
When a body decomposes in water, many interesting
changes take place. Dr. Brouardel assures us that " the
first green patch which appears does not show itself in
the region of the ca3cum, as it does when the body
putrefies in the open air, but over the sternum ; " and he
adds, " I cannot explain to you the cause of this varia-
tion." Hofman calculated that putrefaction is twice as
rapid in air as in water. The Avater in which the body
is floating penetrates the periphery, and enters into the
blood stream, thus preventing coagulation to anything
like the extent that would take place in the air. But
40 DEATH
when the body is withdrawn from the water, putrefaction
takes place with extreme rapidity.
The best account of what takes place in bodies thrown
into water is the following, which we take from Death
and Sudden Death, p. 83 : —
" Bodies more frequently undergo transformation into fatty
matter in the water than in the open air ; this transformation is
sometimes complete by the end of five or six months. If it had
remained exposed in the open air, the corpse might have putrefied
before so long a time had elapsed ; if it had been placed in the
earth, it would be necessary to take into consideration the state of
the coffin and of the soil — putrefaction might be hastened or
retarded thereby. In the water the phenomena of putrefaction
follow the same evolutionary course as those of fermentation
within the intestines. The Fenayrou case affords a demonstration
of this. A druggist named Aubert was murdered in the country
by a husband and wife of the name of Fenayrou, assisted by their
brother. To get rid of the corpse they threw it into the Seine,
after having enclosed it in a piece of lead pipe. They hoped that thus
it would stay at the bottom of the water. Three days afterwards
Aubert floated, though still enclosed in the lead pipe. An enor-
mous quantity of lead would be necessary to jorevent a body from
rising to the surface ; the only means of keeping the body at the
bottom would be to open the abdomen and perforate the intes-
tines ; in this way the gases would escape as soon as they were
produced."
Sajjonijication. — This occurs only in bodies lying in
water, or in very damp ground. As a general rule, this
adipocere forms the more readily the fatter the bodies
are. In recently dead bodies it is a white matter, soft,
brittle, and somewhat watery. When exposed to the air
it dries up.
Saponification is the scientific term. It consists
of the fatty matter combined at first with the ammonia
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 41
disengaged by decomposition. It thus forms an am-
moniacal soap. If it is in water, the lime of the
water drives off the ammonia, and thus forms a lime
soap, and may remain unchanged for a long period.
Some think that the body may be completely saponified
in a year. Bodies of infants may saponify in six weeks
to thirteen months. It is probable that it begins in
three or four months in water. In one case where the
body was half out of the water, after fourteen months
the lower part was saponified and the rest not. This
soapy matter becomes ultimately broken up and washed
away, if in water.
The different organs of the body decompose at very
different rates, and in different manners. The bones, of
course, last longest of all, becoming more and more light
as time goes on, and they gradually lose their animal
matter. It is asserted that the uterus is the last orsfan
to decompose. In adults the brain decomposes slowly,
in children more quickly. The liver becomes light after
death, and will float when thrown into water. This is
due to the formation of gas within its structure. The
lungs of an adult (and those of a child) decompose in a
different manner from those of a babe who has never
breathed. The eye decomposes and vanishes at the end
of about two months ; the nails become loose about the
twentieth day.
Bodies decompose at different rates. Some of them
disintegrate and liquefy very speedily; others take months
and even years to reach the same advanced stage of
putrefaction. The causes of these differences are not
known, but it would not be a difficult matter to con-
jecture, at least, in the majority of instances. That
remarkable cases of the kind exist, there can be no doubt.
Brouardel mentions one in which a leaden coffin was
opened at the end of three months, and the corpse
42 DEATH
" looked as if it were in a bath of sweat ; it was covered
Avith moisture, and the skin was corrugated." In another
case, " a woman poisoned by Pel was found, four years
after death, in the exact condition in which she was
when put into her coffin." In yet another remarkable
case, a number of soldiers were buried together. Five
years later they were disinterred, when we find that
" some of them were skeletons, clothed with remains
of their belts, &c., others were still in such a state of
preservation that their features could be recognised."
" The fact," he adds, " cannot be explained at present.
All sorts of hypqtheses are possible. We may assume
that all these men had not the same species of micro-
organism in their digestive tubes" (p. 98).
As the net result of our inquiry, therefore, we find
that every test of death is unreliable, with the single
exception of putrefaction. Even here, certain discolora-
tions and spots may appear on the surface of the body
on occasion, which may be mistaken for decomposition ;
and it would be well to wait until unmistakable signs
develop. But, on the whole, decomposition may be con-
sidered a fairly reliable test. It is, at all events, the only
fairly reliable sign, and certainly the only sign that
the layman can trust and avail himself of. Sir Benjamin
Ward Richardson, writing on this subject, stated that
only in a comhination of signs, all appearing together,
is safety to be found. He enumerates the following
indications : — Respiratory failure, cardiac failure, absence
of turgescence or filling of the veins on making pressure
between them and the heart, reduction of the tempera-
ture of the body, rigor mortis, coagulation of the blood,
putrefactive decomposition, absence of red colour in
semi-transparent parts under the infiuence of a powerful
stream of light, absence of muscular contraction under the
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 43
stimulus of galvanism, heat, or of puncture, absence of
red blush on the skin after subcutaneous injection of
ammonia, absence of signs of rust or oxidation of a bright
steel blade after plunging it deep into the tissues. Sir
Benjamin sums up the matter thus : —
" If all these signs point to death . . . the evidence may be
considered conclusive that death is absolute. If these leave any
sign for doubt, or even if they leave no doubt, one further point of
practice should be carried out. The body should be kept in a
room, the temperature of which has been raised to a heat of 84° F.,
with moisture diffused through the air, and in this warm and moist
atmosphere it should remain until distinct indications of putre-
factive decomposition have set in."
CHAPTER III
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, SUSPENDED ANIMATION, &c.
Dr. George Moore, in his Use of the Body in Relation to
the Mind, p. 31, says: — " A state of the body is certainly
sometimes produced (in man) which is nearly analogous
to the torpor of the lower animals — a condition utterly
inexplicahle hy any jjrinciple taught in the schools!' This
was written some years ago, but it still holds good.
Very little, indeed, is known about this subject — more
than some of its mere phenomena — which were recog-
nised and carefully studied by Braid, who wrote his
memoir, Observations on Trance ; or, Human Hiheiiiaiion,
in 1850. When we come to inquire into the cause,
the real essence of trance and kindred states, we find
an amazing lack of knowledge on these subjects — mostly
due to the fact, no doubt, that it has always been con-
sidered a mark of '' superstition " to investigate such
cases ; and so, until the last few years, these peculiar
conditions have been left strictly alone by the medical
profession. When a condition of catalepsy could be
shown to be due to a disordered, nervous condition,
then it was legitimate to study such a case ; but when
the causes of the trance were psychological or unknown,
then it immediately became " superstition " ! Even to-
day this state of affairs is not outgrown. We doubt if
more than one physician in a hundred would be willing
to recognise the " medium trance, " e.y., as a separate
state requiring prolonged psychological investigation.
44
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, &c. 45
In spite of the fact that Professor William James
pointed out the absurdity of this attitude, it is still
the one all but universally maintained.
AVriting on trance, ecstasy, catalepsy, and kindred
states in Pepper's System of Mediciiie, vol. v. pp. 314-52,
Dr. Charles K. Mills thus defines these conditions : —
" Catalepsy is a functional nervous disease characterised by
conditions of perverted consciousness, diminished sensibility, and
especially by muscular rigidity or immobility, which is independent
of the will, and in consequence of which the whole body, the limbs,
or the parts affected remain in any position or attitude in which
they may be placed."
The following is the author's definition of ecstasy : —
" Ecdasy is a derangement of the nervous system, characterised
by an exalted visionary state, absence of volition, insensibility to
surroundings, a radiant expression, and immobility in statuesque
positions. Commonly, ecstasy and catalepsy, or ecstasy and
hysterico-epilepsy, or all three of these disorders, alternate, co-
exist, or occur at intervals in the same individual. Occasionally,
however, the ecstatic seizure is the only one that attracts attention.
Usually, in ecstasy, the concentration of mind and the visionary
appearance have reference to religious or spiritual subjects.
" Trance may be defined as a derangement of the nervous system,
characterised by general muscular immobility, complete mental
inertia, and insensibility to surroundings. The condition of a
patient in a state of trance has been frequently and not inaptly
compared to that of a hibernating animal. Trance may last for
minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months. In trance, as in
ecstasy, the patient may remain motionless and ai)parently un-
conscious of all surroundings ; but in the former or visionary
state, the radiant expression and the statuesque positions are not
necessarily present. In trance, as stated by Wilks, the patients
may lie like an animal hibernating for days together, without
eating or drinking, and apparently insensible to all objects around
them. In ecstasy, the mind, under certain limitations, is active ;
46 DEATH
it is concentrated upon some object of interest, admiration, or
adoration. Conditions of trance, as a rule, last longer than those
of ecstasy."
Baird's theory of trance is that it is : —
"A functional disease of the nervous system in which the
cerebral activity is concentrated in some limited region of the
brain, with suspension of the activity of the rest of the brain,
and consequent loss of volition. Like other functional nervous
diseases, it may be induced either physically or psychically —
that is, by the influences that act on the nervous system or on
the mind ; more frequently the latter, sometimes both combined."
Dana ' reported about fifty cases of prolonged morbid
somnolence. He did not include among them cases of
drowsiness due to old age, diseased blood-vessels, cerebral
mal-nutrition, or inflammation, various toxsemiae as
malaria, uraemia, syphilis, &c., dyspepsia, diabetes,
obesity, insolation, cerebral anaemia, and hyperaemia,
cerebral tumours and cranial injuries, exhausting dis-
eases, and the sleeping-sickness of Africa.
He found that the prolonged somnolence shows itself
in very different ways. Sometimes the patient sufiters
from simply a great prolongation of natural sleep ;
sometimes from a constant, persistent drowsiness, which
he is often obliged to yield to ; sometimes from frequent
brief attacks of somnolence, not being drowsy in the
intermission ; sometimes from single or repeated prolonged
lethargic attacks ; finally, sometimes from periodical
attacks of profound somnolence or lethargy which last
for days, weeks, or months. He says that most cases
of functional morbid somnolence are closely related
to the epileptic or hysterical diathesis ; but a class
of cases is met with in which no history or evidence
^ "Morbid Drowsiness and Somnolence." — Journal of Nervous and
Mental Diseases, vol. xi., April 18, 18S4.
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, &c. 47
of epilepsy or hysteria can be adduced, and, though
they may be called epileptoid or hysteroid, these
designations are simply makeshifts ; the patients seem
to be the victims of a special morbid hypnosis.
Very much the same ground is taken by Dr. William
B. Hammond in his Spiritualism and Allied Causes and
Conditions of Nervous Derangement, and by Dr. Marvin in
his Philosophy of Spiritualism. It will be seen at once,
the attitude assumed towards trance, ecstasy, and all
kindred states is the attitude of pure materialism.
Doubtless this attitude would be perfectly justifiable were
it capable of covering and explaining all the facts ; but it
can fairly be said that such an interpretation of the states
noted is quite incapable of explaining them all. The
medium-trance is totally different from any of the states
that have been discussed ; it shows no identity with
any of them. It is not dependent upon any morbid
state of body, and cannot be regarded as a morbid
symptom. Indeed, when a medium is ill, trance is gener-
ally impossible ! Further, the supporters of such a view
would have to account for the supernormal knowledge
displayed by the medium while in the trance state.
That is the crmx. We do not care what theory of the
nature of the trance state may be held, provided that it is
capable of explaining all the facts. The current material-
istic theories certainly cannot do this.
So little is known of this state we call trance, indeed,
that it has been found difficult even to define. Dr. J.
Brindley James says of this condition : —
" What, then, is trance ? It is a sleep-like condition that comes
on spontaneously, quite apart from any gross lesion of the brain
or from any toxic agency, and from which the sleeper cannot be
roused even by the most energetic measures." ^
^ Trance : its Various Aspects and Possible Results, pp. 3, 4.
48 DEATH
It will be obvious that this does little more than define
the state, which is as much as any work on the subject
has so far attempted. Dr. James points out that, owing
to our ii^norance of the nature of trance and of its limi-
tations, it is quite possible to mistake it for death on
occasion unless the most exacting tests be employed.
Various persons are apt to fall into this trance-like
condition — " mostly educated persons of nervous tempe-
rament." ^ This trance-like condition is said to result
most commonly from the following diseases or their
complications : —
" Catalepsy, hysteria, chorea, hypnotism, somnambulism, neuras-
thenia, stroke by lightning, sun-stroke, anaesthesia from chloroform,
&c. ; eclampsic coma in pregnancy, still-birth ; cold, asphyxia
from various gases, vapours, and smoke ; narcotism from opium
and other agents ; convulsive maladies, drowning, nervous shock
from gunshot, electricity, and other injuries; smothering under
snow, earth, grain, or in bed ; strangulation, epilepsy, mental and
physical exhaustion, syncope, extreme heat and cold, alcoholic in-
toxication, haemorrhages, suspended animation from mental dis-
orders, excessive emotion, fright, intense excitement, &c. ; apoplectic
seizures, so-called ' heart-faihires,' and many other diseases." ^
The condition known to us as trance is both uncertain
and fluctuating. There can be no doubt that hypnotic
trance, or trance induced by the mesmeric process (if there
be any difference between them), is remarkably deep — so
deep indeed, that Dr. Esdaile was enabled to perform,
under its influence, some 261 operations of a painful and
critical character, which he enumerates in his Clairvoyance,
pp. 168-9. Such operations as the removal of a cancer
of the eyeball ; amputation of a thigh, a leg, an arm :
^ Hov) the State can Prevent Premature Burial. By James R. Williamson.
2 Plan for Formimj Associations for the Prevention of Premature Burial,
&c., pp. 5,6.
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, &c. 49
various operations for the removal of tumours — opera-
tions that certainly cannot be performed easily or upon a
patient who is not under the influence of an anaesthetic,
mental or physical. It is amusing, in the light of our
present knowledge, to see the attempts of many medical
men of that day to account for Esdaile's cases. They
went so far as to assert that the patients operated upon
were merely hardened rogues paid to withstand the pain !
The phenomenon of trance, both natural and induced,
is noAv acknowledged, however, and recognised by all
psychologists.
When we come to consider the nature and causes of
trance, we find the greatest difficulty in forming any con-
ception of it. All purely physiological explanations must
certainly be abandoned. They do not account for the
hypnotic phenomena, far less for trances of spontaneous
or mediumistic type. Trance differs essentially also from
sleep, though of course the two have something in common.
A nearer analogy, probably, is the hypnotic trance ;
and it has occurred to us that the mediumistic trance
might be a type of hypnotic influence from " the other
side," just as the hypnotic trance that we know is a species
of mental influence from this side. In other words, both
hypnotic and mediumistic trances may be samples of
mental influence — the one from the mind of a living,
the other from that of a dead operator. This would
seem to be strengthened by the fact that mediums are
frequently very insusceptible to hypnotic or even to
normal suggestion from operators on this side. Mrs.
Piper has been tested for this, for example, and no trace
of any faculty of thought transference has been found,
and only a light state of hypnosis could be induced in
her, even after prolonged attempts. This would seem to
indicate that the more an individual spirit is en rapport
with another world, the less is it c?i rapport with this.
D
50 DEATH
Mr. Myers, in his Human Personality, has distinguished
three distinct types of trance. He says : —
" The first step, apparently, is the abeyance of the supra-hminal
self, and the dominance of the sub-liminal self, which may lead in
some cases to a form of trance (or what we have hitherto called
secondary personality), where the whole body of the automatist is
controlled by his own sub-liminal self, or incarnate spirit, but where
there is no indication of discarnate spirits. The next form of
trance is where the incarnate spirit, whether or not maintaining
control of the whole body, makes excursions into, or holds tele-
pathic intercourse with, the spiritual world. And, lastly, there is
the trance of possession by another, a discarnate spirit. We cannot,
of course, always distinguish between these three main types of
trance, which, as we shall see later, themselves admit of different
degrees and varieties,"
Mr. Myers contends elsewhere that the simplest aspect
of trance is " suggested sleep," which Avould seem to agree
somewhat with the theory advanced above. Dreams, the
author shows, by analogy, to be " bubbles breaking upon
the surface from the deep below." Extending his analogy,
he has conceived clairvoyance as a state in which the
spirit of the seer is enabled to leave the body and travel
through different scenes and localities. In ecstasy, the
soul would change its environment and pass for a time
into the spiritual world, retaining such relations to the
organism as enables it to return to its ordinary condition.
And so, our author goes on, " when the last change comes,
and we ask ourselves with what added ground for specu-
lation we now strain our gaze beyond that obscurest
crisis," we find — that death is an irrevocable self-projec-
tion of the spirit : that condition in which the spirit has
emerged from the body, and, because of altered physical
conditions, is unable to return to it.
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, &c. 51
Sleep and Death.
Many analogies have been drawn between sleep and
death, and death is often called " the last sleep." But
there is always this distinction between the two, that
in the one case we revive and return to animate the
body, and in the other case we do not. Where
consciousness is, what becomes of it during the hours
of sleep, has always been one of the most bitterly
disputed points in psychology. Certain it is that self-
consciousness is absent ^;?'o tcm. ; but whether it is anni-
hilated, as materialism teaches, or merely withdrawn, as
the opposite school avers, is a question that is as far as
ever from being satisfactorily answered. Many are the
battles that have been fought over this point, but none
of them have ever been won ! Truly the field is open,
and the world is at the feet of the man who shall discover
the innermost nature of sleep. It is equally a mystery
with death, and it is probable that there is some close
interdependence between them. Veridical and super-
normal dreams ; cross-correspondence between dreams
and the statements made by trance mediums ; above all,
such remarks as " your sleep is our life," would seem to
indicate that the human spirit is simply withdrawn during
the hours of sleep — being revivified in some other sphere.
However, these are questions into which we cannot
enter now.
Both trance and catalepsy occur spontaneously : both
may also be induced artificially by hypnotism. Both
are mistaken for death, and in many respects they are
very similar. In catalepsy the body is rigid, whereas in
trance this is very rarely the case — this forming the chief
mark of distinction (external indication) between the two
states. What the internal differences are we do not know.
Various attempts, however, have been made to define them.
52 DEATH
Dr. Franz Hartmann, e.g., thus distinguishes them : —
There seems hardly any hniit to the time during which
a person may remain in a trance ; but catalepsy is due
to some obstruction in the organic mechanism of the
body on account of its exhausted nervous power. In
the last case the activity of life begins again as soon as
the impediment is removed or the nervous energy has
recuperated its strength.
Whatever the innermost nature of this trance state
may be, it seems certain that some individuals have the
faculty of inducing this condition at will, just as it may
bo induced by hypnotic processes from without. The
Fakirs of India doubtless possess this power to some
extent. Braid gave what was probably the first authentic
account of their remarkable cases of suspended ani-
mation, and voluntary interment ; which are also to be
found narrated in more recent works — e.g., Hudson's Laiu
of Psychic Phenomena, pp. 309—20. There are many such
cases, and it is reported that a number of persons have
been buried alive in consequence of the inability of the
attending physician to distinguish the induced state from
true death. It is not to be wondered at ; and until these
states and conditions receive the study and attention
they deserve, such cases of premature interment will
probably continue to occur.
When we come to inquire into the immediate causes
of catalepsy and allied states, we find that very little is
known about these conditions. Dr. Alexander Wilder,
in his Perils of Premature Burial, p. 19, says that: —
" We exhaust our energies by overwork, by excitement, too mucli
fatigue of the brain, the use of tobacco, and sedatives and anaesthetics,
and by habits and practices which hasten the Three Sisters in
spinning the fatal thread. Apoplexy, palsy, epilepsy, arc likely to
prostrate any of us at any moment ; and catalepsy, jDerhaps, is not
far from any of us."
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, &c. 53
Again, Dr. W. R. Gowers, in Quain's Dictionary of
Medicine, p. 216, says : —
" Nervous exhaustion is the common predisponent ; and emotional
disturbance, especially religious excitement, or sudden alarm, and
blows on the head and back, are frequent immediate causes."
Dr. James Curry, on the other hand, thinks that
fainting fits and losses of blood are the chief factors in
inducing these death-counterfeits. (See Ohservations on
Apparent Death, pp. 81, 82.) M. Charles Londe, in
Za Mart Apparente, p. 16, says: —
"Intense cold, coincident with privations and fatigue, will pro-
duce all the phenomena of apparent death. . . ." ^
Struve, in his essay on Suspended Animation, p. 140,
takes the same view. It has frequently been pointed
out that the sequeloe of certain diseases, the use of
narcotics, &c., will result in states that cannot be dis-
tinguished from death. These cases of suspended ani-
mation will sometimes last for many days, as has
frequently been shown; and if the body be buried
during this interval, we should have a case of " prema-
ture burial."
How long may a body cease to show signs of life, and
yet be revived ? That is a much disputed point ; but
there can be no question that, if air be permitted access to
the body of the patient, it can be revived after a very
long period — a period not of hours, but of days and
weeks. Indeed, Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson said on
this point : —
"We are at this moment ignorant of the time when vitality
ceases to act upon matter that has been vitalised. Presuming that
an organism can be arrested in its living in such manner that its
parts shall not be injured to the extent of actual destruction of
* We have considered freezing to death on p. 115.
54 DEATH
tissue, or change of organic form, the vital ^vave seems ever ready
to pour into the body again so soon as the conditions for its
action are re-established. Thus, in some of my experiments for
suspending the conditions essential for the visible manifestations of
life in cold-blooded animals, I have succeeded in re-establishing the
condition under which the vital vibrations will influence, after a
lapse not of hours, but even of days ; and for my part I know no
limitation to such re-manifestation, except from the simple ignorance
of us who inquire into the subject." ^
Assuredly this is a significant admission ! In the light
of this fact, certain historic cases of " raising the dead "
might be re-interpreted, and put upon a rational basis.
There can be no doubt that re-animation has taken place
after very long intervals on occasion — even when there
has been no external sign of life in the interval. Of
course the time would be comparatively brief, if the
supply of air were cut off. In a coffin of the usual
dimensions, it has been estimated that from twenty-
minutes to an hour would insure death from suffocation.
But even here we must allow, as Tebb and Vollum point
out [Premature Burial, p. 211), for a certain persistence of
the vital energy, which continues after all atmospheric
air has been cut off.
" Experiments on dogs show that the average duration of the
respiratory movements after the animal has been deprived of air is
four minutes five seconds. The duration of the heart's action is
seven minutes eleven seconds. The average of the heart's action
after the animal has ceased to make respiratory efforts is three
minutes fifteen seconds. These experiments further showed that
a dog may be deprived of air during three minutes fifty seconds,
and afterwards recover without the application of artificial
means. " -
^ Ministry of Health, pp. 154-5.
2 Report on " Suspended Animation," by a Committee of the Royal Med.
Chirur. Society, July 12, 1862.
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, &c. 55
It may be said that with modern improvements, and
with the aid of artificial stimulants, this period has been
very greatly exceeded.
It may be objected to all that we have said that, in
practically all instances, death would take place within
a very few minutes in any case — even if the patient woke
and found himself in the coffin. Why, then, make all this
fuss ? Apart from the humanitarian side of the question,
there is often the definite possibility of resuscitating the
patient — if the case be taken in time. And then, forty
minutes must be a veritable eternity to one buried
alive ! In a case of cremation, even if the patient did
revive in the coffin, death would be so speedy that
it would almost be at hand before the situation was
realised.
In this connection we desire to call attention to certain
facts of interest that are to be noted in the animal world.
Professor S. J. Holmes, writing in the Fojndar Science
Monthly, for February 1908, calls attention to the
instinct of feigning death among various animals and
insects. Some of them assume attitudes that render
them almost indistinguishable from their surroundings ;
others draw themselves up into a ball ; still others
remain in a state of apparent catalepsy, in whatever
attitude they are placed, this state lasting for an hour
or even longer. It is interesting to note in this con-
nection that the attitudes assumed by these various
animals at such times often bear no resemblance to the
attitudes they assume in death. Darwin observed this,
and said : —
" I carefully noted the simulated positions of seventeen different
kinds of insects belonging to different genera, both poor and first-
rate shammers. Afterwards I procured naturally dead specimens
of some of these insects (including an lulus, spider, and Oniscus)
belonging to distinct genera, others I killed with camphor by an
56 DEATH
easy slow death ; the result was that in no instance was the attitude
exactly the same, and in several instances the attitudes of the
feigners and of the really dead were as unlike as they could
possibly be."
Professor Holmes does not consider that in the insects
at least, this feigning of death is a conscious impulse,
but rather of the nature of a reflex action. He states
that the mere handling or touching of certain insects —
for example, the water scorpion — will cause them to
feign death for an hour, even if they are left entirely
alone, or covered up, and their tormentor leaves the
room. It is interesting to note, in this connection, that
these creatures cannot be made to feign death by any
amount of handling under water. As soon as they are
in the air, however, they feign death repeatedly. As
soon as the state has worn off, if they are touched
again, they again feign death for an hour or so,
and this may be repeated a number of times in suc-
cession.
Among the higher animals, on the contrary, such as
the fox, it would appear that this instinct is largely an
act of consciousness, and that they are perfectly aware of
their surroundings, and of the reason for their feigning
in this manner. A fox, when feigning death, will often
cautiously open its eyes, raise its head, look around, and
finally scamper off, if its pursuers have withdra^vn to a
safe distance.
It would appear that, in the majority of cases,
especially among the insects, the induced state re-
sembles that of catalepsy ; the muscular rigidity
noticed — which is intense — would indicate this, and
the fact that they suffer a great amount of maltreat-
ment (pricking, mutilation, burning, &c.) without show-
ing any signs of sensibility, would seem to show that
this is lost, and that more or less complete anaesthesia is
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, &c. 57
present. The state is probably closely akin to what has
been called " hypnotism " in the lower animals. Practi-
cally nothing is known of that condition of the nervous
system which makes such results possible, and this is as
true of the higher as of the lower creatures.
CHAPTER IV
PREMATURE BURIAL
1. Cases.
We have seen, as the result of the two preceding chapters,
that there is no certain sign of death (with the single
exception of putrefaction, which is not generally w^aited
for), and that there are, on the contrary, many states and
conditions which very closely simulate death ; that, for
days in fact, it is almost impossible to distinguish true
from false death — so similar are they. The question here
arises, Is it not possible, and in fact probable, that in
certain cases a living person is buried by mistake, under
the impression that he is dead ? Might it not be quite
possible that accidents of the sort occur and premature
burial take place ? It would certainly seem that such
must be the case ; and when we turn to an account of the
actual facts we find that such has happened very fre-
quently. It is improbable that premature burial takes
place as frequently as it did some years ago, but it is
doubtless true that many cases are on record, amply
testifying to the fact that it has occurred with horrible
frequency, from time to time, in the past. A large
number of such cases, authenticated more or less fully,
are to be found in Tebb and Vollum's Premature Burial,
in Franz Hartmann's Buried Alive, and in the Encyclo-
'pcedia of Death, vol. ii., pp. 7-114. A great mass of
cases are here adduced ; and, although Dr. David Walsh
58
PREMATURE BURIAL 59
attacked the evidence in his Httle book, Premature Burial,
there can be no doubt that a large number of the cases
printed stand the test of scrutiny, and are veritable cases
of " premature burial." Similar cases are coming to the
attention of the public from time to time continually,
and it is surely high time that some means be adopted to
check this evil. It is true that there is a Society for the
Prevention of Premature Burial — both in England and
America — but it is unable to accomplish much, owing to
the tyranny that it has encountered in more than one
direction. Such a movement deserves the whole-hearted
support of the people ; and we shall now endeavour to
lay before the reader our reason for taking this stand
so strongly.
Nothinof that the human mind can conceive can
appeal to the imagination as more horrible than the
idea of premature burial. To awake in a coffin — cold,
dark, and helpless — far beneath the surface of the ground,
and know that the living tomb is one from which it is
impossible to escape, suggests a tragedy that is in every
sense appalling. If we attempt to picture such a fate, it
is easy to comprehend how the agony of a whole lifetime
may be compressed within the few minutes that elapse
between the moment when the victim awakes to the
horror of his position and the time when he again lapses
into unconsciousness, as the effect of suffocation. It is
not strange that such a subject should have appealed to
the writer of realistic fiction, but we must not imagine
that these cases occur only in the pages of the sensational
novel. In writing upon this subject. Professor R. L. 0.
Roehrig, formerly of Cornell University, said : —
"The possibility of premature burial always exists, for that there
is real danger of been buried, embalmed, dissected, or cremated
alive has been fully acknowledged by various unquestionable, highly
respectable authorities, and many celebrated authors have written
60 DEATH
on this particularly important subject, among them Alexander
Humboldt, Hartmann, and Hufeland. All have shown that in every
case of death which cannot be plainly accounted for by violent
external causes, fatal vulnerations, accidents by firearms or other
deadly weapons, suicide or murder, it is of the utmost importance
to abstain from all sudden alarm and meddlesome interference, and
most patiently to wait until every possible doubt as to the real and
entire extinction of life has been absolutely removed.
" Under no conditions should the fear of ridicule, supercilious
contempt, or mockery coming from the thoughtless, or any other
sort of intimidation, influence us in our conduct on so grave an
occasion. Nobody can be certain that he will not at some time
have to undergo this horrible misfortune, for the most celebrated
and experienced physicians have been misled by appearances, while
even the assertions of the public inspectors of the dead have often
led to the most deplorable consequences."
Prone as tlie scientist may be to question the accuracy
of the assertion that, at the smallest average, one person
is buried alive in the United States every twenty-four
hours, it is important to note that the London Humane
Society has reported the fact of having brought back to
Hfe no less than 2175 apparently dead persons within
a term of twenty-two years ; that a similar society in
Amsterdam restored 990 persons in twenty-five years;
and that the Hamburg Society saved 107 persons from
premature burial in less than five years. Personally, we
know of several cases of this kind, and, in one instance, a
prominent New York physician recently discovered to his
horror that the body that he was dissecting was that of a
live man. Professor Roehrig, who asserts that he has
saved many persons from this fate, states that he once
rescued a child from the dissecting table, in spite of the
insulting mockery of all the other physicians who were in
attendance. In view of these facts, it is not difficult to
believe that the following gruesome experience, related
PREMATURE BURIAL 61
by a French physician in the Paris Figaro, may be fact,
not fiction : —
"Five years ago," he writes, "I was preparing for an examina-
tion, and went one night alone into the dissecting room for the
purpose of studying certain abdominal viscera, carrying a light in
my hand. An insane woman, having died on the day before, was
extended naked upon the marble slab. I placed my candle upon
her chest, and made a cut through the skin over the stomach. At
that moment the supposed corpse gave a terrible scream, and,
rising up, caused the light to fall and become extinguished. Then
a terrible struggle began ; the woman, with one of her cold, clammy
hands took hold of my hair, and with the other clawed my face
with her finger nails. I was beside myself with terror, and blindly
struck about me with the scalpel which I still held in my hand.
Suddenly my knife struck an obstacle ; a sigh followed, the grasp
on my hair was loosened, I fainted, and knew nothing more. When
I aAvoke it was daylight, and I found myself upon the floor lying
beside the bloody corpse of the woman whom I had killed, as my
knife had gone directly to her heart. I replaced the corpse upon
the table and said jiothing about it ; but the recollection of this
event fills me with horror, while the marks which the nails left
upon my face are still there."
It has been pretty authoritatively asserted that Mdlle.
Rachel, the celebrated actress, was embalmed while still
alive, and there are those who will always believe that
Washington Irving Bishop, the distinguished mind-reader,
died from the effects of an autopsy performed while the
unfortunate man was in one of the trances to which he
was frequently subject. It is also stated that the mother
of the famous General Lee was buried alive and resusci-
tated two years before his birth. Although pronounced
to be dead by her physician, she regained consciousness
suflficiently during the process of interment to attract the
attention of the sexton. Ebcnezer Erskine, one of the
founders of the (United) Free Church of Scotland, is also
62 DEATH
said to have been born after the burial of his mother.
As in the case of Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Erskine was buried while
in a trance. As the gravedigger had noticed that there
was a valuable ring on one of her fingers he determined
to secure it, and, stealing to the new-made grave during
the night, he removed and opened the casket, and cut off
the finger on which the ring had been placed. It was by
this act of felony that her life was saved.
A comparatively short time ago, George Hefdecker, a
farmer living near Erie, Pa., died suddenly of what was
supposed to be heart failure. The body was buried
temporarily in a neighbour's lot in the Erie Cemetery,
and when, some time later, the transfer to a newly-
purchased family lot was made, the casket was opened at
the request of the relatives. To their horror it was then
discovered that the body had turned completely round,
and the face, as well as the interior of the coffin, bore
unmistakable traces of the terrible struggle that had
occurred.
A similar story comes from St. Petersburg, Russia, in
connection with the interment at Tioobayn, near that
city, of a peasant girl named Antonova. She had pre-
sumably died, and was buried, but after the gravedigger
had completed his work he was startled by sounds that
seemed to come from the new-made grave. Instead of
removing the coffin and breaking it open, however, he
rushed off to find a doctor, and when he and the public
officials arrived it was too late. The casket contained a
corpse, but, as the position of the body clearly proved,
death had only just taken place.
When the question of premature burial came up for
discussion before the French Senate some years ago, a
most remarkable story was told under oath by Cardinal
Archbishop Donnot. In part, his testimony was as
follows : —
PREMATURE BURIAL 63
" In the summer of 1826, on the close of a summer day, in a
church which was exceedingly crowded, a young priest who was
in the act of preaching was suddenly seized with giddiness in the
pulpit. The words he was uttering became indistinct; he soon
lost the power of speech, and sank down on the floor. He was
taken out of the church and carried home. All was thought to
be over. Some hours after the funeral bell was tolled, and the
usual preparations made for the interment. His eyesight was
gone ; but if he could see nothing, he could hear, and I need not
say that what reached his ears was not calculated to reassure him.
The doctor came, examined him, and pronounced him dead ; and
after the usual inquiries as to his age, the place of his birth, &c.,
gave permission for his interment the next morning. The vener-
able bishop, in whose cathedral the young priest was preaching
when he was seized with the fit, came to the bedside to recite the
' De Profundis.' The body was measured for the coffin. Night
came on, and you can easily feel how inexpressible was the
anguish of the living being in such a situation. At last, amid
the voices murmuring around him, he distinguished that of one
whom he had known from infancy. That voice produced a mar-
vellous effect, and he made a superhuman effort. Of what followed
I need only say that the seemingly dead man stood next day in
the same pulpit. That young priest, gentlemen, is the same man
who is now sj^eaking before you, and who, more than forty years
after that event, implores those in authority not merely to watch
vigilantly over the careful execution of the legal prescriptions with
regard to interments, but to enact fresh ones in order to i)revent
the occurrence of irreparable misfortunes."
Bouchut, in his Les Signcs de la Mort, p. 43, gives the
following case : —
"A person of high standing was taken with one of those
diseases in which death usually does not occur suddenly, but is
preceded by certain signs. The physician who attended him
found him one evening in a dangerous state, and when he visited
him again the following morning, he was told upon entering the
house that the patient had died during the night. They had the
64 DEATH
body already placed in the coffin ; but the doctor, doubting that
death could occur so suddenly, caused the supposed ' dead ' to be
put back into bed. The man soon revived, and lived for many
years afterward."
Dr. Hartmann gives the two following cases collected
by himself, and published in his Buried Alive, pp.
52, 53:—
" At Wels (Austria) a woman died, and as no signs of putre-
faction appeared at the end of five days, all sorts of means were
resorted to to revive the body. They were of no avail, and it was
finally resolved not to delay the burying any longer. On the
night preceding the funeral a large crowd met for the purpose of
holding the 'Wake.' It was a merry party, and some of those
present got drunk and amused themselves in making jests with
the corpse and offering it liquor. In the midst of the merry-
making, the woman woke and sat up in her coffin ! The company
ran away, and when they returned they found that the woman
had gone to bed, where she slept, and was well the next day.
She had been conscious of all that had taken place, but had not
been able to move.
"In another town in Austria, a student made a bet that he
would not be afraid to go at night to the graveyard, open a grave,
steal the corpse, and carry it to his room. This he did accord-
ingly, and the grave he opened happened to be that of a young
girl who had been buried on the previous day. He took the body
upon his shoulders and carried it to his room, where he put it
upon a lounge near the stove. He then went to sleej). During
the night he was awakened by a noise. The girl had awakened
from her trance, and was sitting up. He was so much terrified
that his hair turned white ; but the girl, thus saved, returned to
her parents."
Sometimes the termination of such cases is not so for-
tunate, however. It Avill bo observed that in the following
case, reported in the British Medical Journal, April 26,
1884, p. 844, death resulted from the interment: —
PREMATURE BURIAL 65
"The Times of India, for March 21, has the following story : —
'■ On last Friday morning the father of a large family at Goa,
named Manuel, aged seventy years, who had been for the last
four months suffering from dysentery, appearing to be dead, pre-
parations were made for the burial. He was placed in a coffin and
taken from his house at Worlee to a chapel at Lower Mahim,
preparatory to burial. The priest, on putting his hand on the
man's chest, found his heart still beating. He was thereupon
removed to the Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Hospital, where he remained
in an unconscious state up to a late hour on last Friday night,
when he died.' "
The following case is quoted in Tebb and Vollum's
Premature Burial, p. 55 : —
"A young married woman residing at Salon died shortly after
her confinement in August last. The medical man, who was
hastily summoned when her illness assumed a dangerous form,
certified her death, and recommended immediate burial in conse-
quence of the intense heat then prevailing, and six hours after-
wards the body was interred. A few days since, the husband
having resolved to re-marry, the mother of his late wife desired
to have her daughter's remains removed to her native town,
Marseilles. When the vault was opened, a horrible sight pre-
sented itself. The corpse lay in the middle of the vault, with
dishevelled hair, and linen torn to pieces. It evidently had been
gnawed by the unfortunate victim. The shock which the dreadful
spectacle caused to the mother has been so great that fears are
entertained for her reason, if not for her life."
Another remarkable case is the following {Encyclo-
pcedia of Death, vol. ii., p. 107): —
" Thirty-four years ago, a man by the name of John Hurelle
was pronounced dead by three doctors, who held an examination.
Everything was prej)ared for the funeral ; the guests were invited,
a clergyman summoned, and the body placed in a coftin. On the
E
66 DEATH
morning when the funeral was to occur, the mother thought she
saw signs of life, though four days had passed since he was said
to have been dead. The funeral did not take place. When those
present took the seemingly lifeless body and placed it on a bed,
the man said : ' Let me ' — and then stopped. For eight months
he lay in a sort of stupor, while his mother gave him nourish-
ment. At the expiration of that time he regained consciousness,
and finished the sentence by saying ' be.' "
Another case collected by Dr. Hartmann himself, is
the following : —
" In a small town in Prussia, an undertaker, living within the
limits of the cemetery, heard during the night cries proceeding
from within a grave in which a person had been buried on the
previous day. Not daring to interfere without permission, he
went to the police and reported the matter. When, after a great
deal of delay, the required formalities were fulfilled and per-
mission granted to open the grave, it was found that the man
had been buried alive ; but he was now dead. His body, which
had been cold at the time of the burial, was now warm and bleed-
ing from many wounds, where he had skinned his hands and head
in his struggles to free himself before suffocation made an end to
his misery."
"In the month of December 1842, an inhabitant of Eyures, in
France, died and was buried. A few days afterwards a rumour
began to spread that his death was due to an overdose of opium
having been given to him by a physician. Finally, the autho-
rities ordered the grave to be opened, and it was found that the
supposed dead man had awakened and oj^ened with his teeth the
veins of his arm for the purpose of ending his torture, and then
he had died in his coffin." — (Lenormand, Des Inhumations
Precipitees, p. 78.)
Many persons seem to think that premature burials
are few and far between. There was never a greater
fallacy, says M. Tozer : —
PREMATURE BURIAL 67
" Some years ago the Paris Figaro dealt at considerable length
mth the subject of the possibility of premature burial occurring
somewhat frequently, and within fifteen days the editor received
over four hundred letters from different parts of France, all from
persons who either had been almost buried alive, or who knew of
such cases." ^
Dr. Franz Hartmann, immediately after the publica-
tion of his book on the subject, and within two months
(May — June, 1896), received no less than sixty- three
letters from persons who had escaped premature burial
throuofh fortunate accident. When such wholesale
numbers are observed, what are we to think but that
premature burial, so far from being a great rarity, is a
frequent phenomenon — happening constantly in our very
midst ?
In an article in the Insurance Ncivs for April 1, 1901,
George T. Angell, founder and president of the American
Humane Education Society, says that
"Nothing can be more certain than that large numbers (and
perhaps multitudes) of persons have been buried alive, and that
many, after having been pronounced dead, have shown signs of
life in time to save themselves from such burial, and have declared
that, lohile unable to move they lueve fully conscious, of ivhat was
said and done about them. My own father barely escaped such
burial, being declared by his physicians dead. There are in
Boston alone many thousands of persons living in hotels and
boarding-houses where, whenever death is declared, every effort
will be made to send the body of the supposed deceased, at the
earliest possible moment, to the undertaker, the crematory, or the
grave. In not one case in a hundred will the body be permitted
to remain in th6 hotel or boarding-house until the beginning of
decay."
Dr. Henry J. Garrigues, of New York City, m a paper
^ Premature Burial^ by Basil Tozer, p. IG.
68 DEATH
read before the Society of Medical Jurisprudence, con-
tended that any law permitting burial without thorough
tests to determine the extinction of life was nothing
short of homicidal. Under the law of " necessary
precautions," he said, " there is nothing to prevent
anybody from being buried alive or frozen to death
in an undertaker's ice-box." His objection to the laws
that now exist so generally throughout the country is
based upon the fact that they are designed to protect
the community, without regard to the protection of the
person supposed to be dead. " And yet," as Dr. Gar-
rigues admitted, " the question of whether a person is
dead or alive is most difficult to decide. If the action
of the vital organs is suspended, every appearance of
death may be produced, when, under proper manipu-
lation, they may be restored to life."
In citing the counterfeits of death. Dr. Garrigues
referred to persons who, though taken from the water
apparently dead, were afterwards resuscitated, and he
stated the belief that, if it were not so common to believe
that people were dead merely because they were cold
and limp, many others would be revived. Asphyxiation,
heart failure, apoplexy, intoxication, lightning stroke,
anaesthetics, narcotics, concussion — all these produced
the counterfeits of death, and often so closely resembled
it that the science and the experience of the physician
were frequently at fault. Thus the danger of mistaking
live persons for dead remains, even after all tests for
determining death have been tried. There is not one
but which may fail under certain conditions. The most
common test of all, that of trying to ascertain if the
breath has stopped, is the one that is usually made,
and yet science knows of many cases of suspended
animation where breathing has ceased for fully forty-
eight hours. The same is true regarding the stopping
PREMATURE BURIAL 69
ot the heart, and so on through the entire list. There
have been cases of suspended animation in which all
signs have failed, and yet the patient recovered. In
his opinion, the only sure indication of death is the
decomposition of the body.
Dr. Garrigues' opinions upon this subject were fully
upheld by Dr. John Dixwell, of Harvard University.
In an address before the Committee on Legal Affairs
of the Massachusetts Legislature, February 12, 1908,
he stated that he personally had narrowly escaped
premature burial. " During an illness, in the early
seventies," he said, " very eminent physicians determined
that I was dead, but I am alive to-day, while they
all are dead. Accordingly I know that this horror exists
as a fact. It is ridiculous to dispute it. I recall a case
at the Massachusetts General Hospital. A woman had
been sent there suffering from bronchitis. After a time
it was decided that she was dead, and she was sent to the
morgue. There she suddenly woke up, and is alive
to-day."
" I have often been told," says Dr. Alexander Wilder/ " that the
modern practice of embalming made death certain. I admit it ;
but those who are too poor to pay for this funeral luxury must
yet take the chance in the old-fashioned way. There is no doubt,
however, that the number annually put to death by the enibalmers
is sufhciently large to demand attention. An investigator of this
subject in New York has openly declared his belief that a con-
siderable number of human beings are annually killed in America
by the embalming process."
Dr. Edward P. Vollum, surgeon in the United States
Army, is another physician who has written freely upon
the danger of premature burial. In addition to colla-
borating with Tebb in compiling a book upon this subject,
* Burying Alive a Frequent Peril, p. I'J.
70 DEATH
he is the author of several papers treating of the dangers
of burial alive, from one of which we quote : —
" Any one whose vital machinery is thrown out of gear by
excesses, strains, or depressing causes may pass into and out
of this transitory state if they have a reserve of strength. Shocks
cause apparent death, such as from gunshot, strokes of lightning,
charges of electricity, concussion, heat and sun-stroke, fright,
intense excitement, etc. So do exhaustions from mental and
physical exertion, especially in the badly nourished, asphyxia from
various causes, intense cold, anaesthesia, intoxicants, haemorrhage,
narcotism, convulsive disorders, so-called heart failures and apo-
plectic seizures, epilepsy, and syncope.
"The above cases are quite plain, and many are saved by
medical aid. But there are other forms of this mysterious state
that may defy the highest medical skill and all known tests and
signs. These are the constitutional cases, due to some warp of
temperament, as seen in trance, catalepsy, cholera, auto-hypnotism,
somnambulism, &c., which, like hibernation, are inexplicable by
any principles taught by science. We know but little of these
idiosyncrasies except that they are usually hereditary, and that
their victims easily fall into a deathlike lethargy from overwork,
worry, and foul air, and that during their attacks efforts at resusci-
tation should be kept up until putrefaction appears, lest they be
mistaken for dead and disposed of accordingly, Quain's Dictionary
of Medicine says : ' The duration of trance has varied from a few
hours or days to several weeks or months.' The British medical
press during the last fifty years has given numerous cases which
revived from the consciousness of the preparations for closing the
coffin. Many notables have been subject to this disorder, such as
the great anatomist Winslow, the French Cardinal Donnet, and
Benjamin Disraeli. The last-named lay in this state for a
week.
" All such cases are in peril because of their uncertainty. Of
course, old cases of heart disease and apoplexy may be recognised
by the patient's physician, but, as a rule, the diagnosis cannot be
sure without an autopsy. All signs of death are deceptive, and
all these cases should be held as not beyond resuscitation until
PREMATURE BURIAL 71
decomposition appears. Hufeland says : ' Death does not come
suddenly; it is a gradual process from actual life to apparent
death, and from that to actual death.'
'' The revivals sometimes reported during epidemics of cholera,
small-pox, and yellow fever depend, as in so-called sudden deaths,
upon the fact that the patients are usually struck down in their
ordinary health with a reserve of strength which bridges them
over after the force of the disease is spent.
" The estimates of such disasters are based upon the discoveries
made when the dead are removed from cemeteries, as is done
in some great cities every five years. A portion of the skeletons
are always found turned to one side or on the face, twisted,
or with the hands up to the head. These are counted as
living burials. And then there is the admittedly large number
of narrow escapes from being buried alive, recovered, as a rule,
by some chance. Hidden and mixed with ignorance, laxity,
and indifference as this whole matter is, the authorities naturally
differ in their views as to the frequency of these cases. A
personal inquiry in Europe and in the United States for several
years past has convinced me that they are alarmingly frequent.
The proportion of discovered cases must be small compared
with those that never come to light. Dr. Lionce Lenormond,
in Des Inhumations Precipitees, says that a one-thousandth part
of the human race have been and are annually buried alive.
M. le Guen, in Dangers des Inhumations Precipitef^s, estimates
premature burials at two a thousand. He collected 2313
cases from reliable sources. Hundreds of foreign authorities
with similar view^s could be given. Dr. Moore Russell Fletcher,
in One Thousand Pe7\<07is Biiried Alive hy Their Best Friends
(Boston, 1890), gives many horrors taken from American
sources. Carl Sextus, of New York, collected in eighteen
years 1500 cases of death counterfeits of scientific value.
He estimates living burials at two per cent."
We have now given a number of cases of premature
burial, or cases in which burial would have taken place
shortly had not some fortunate and unforeseen accident
72 DEATH
happened. A number of similar cases will be found
detailed in the authors quoted, and in other works upon
the subject. Bruhier, in his work, Dissertations sur
V Incertitude cles Signcs de la Mort, &c., produces accounts
of 181 cases, among which there are those of 52 persons
buried alive, 4 dissected alive, 53 that awoke in their
coffins before being buried, and 72 other cases of
apparent death. Hartmann himself gives more than a
hundred cases. Tebb and Vollum collected an equal
number, and very many cases appear elsewhere in the
literature upon this subject. Enough has been said at
all events to show how extraordinarily numerous these
cases are ; and it becomes evident that some steps
should be taken to prevent such burials from taking
place. We hope that the publication of this book will
at all events stimulate public interest in this direction,
and help to initiate some widespread movement for the
prevention of such horrible cases as those described.
2. Efforts to Prevent Premature Burial.
During the past few years the question of the prevention
of premature burial has been taken up by several of the
State legislatures, and laws have been suggested, and, in
some cases enacted, tending to reduce the possibility of such
a catastrophe. One of the best examples of such legisla-
tion is the bill presented to the Massachusetts Legisla-
ture. This provides that local boards of health shall be
notified Avithin six hours of the death of any person, and
that, as soon as possible, an examination shall be made
of the reported deceased, and that certifications of death
shall be issued only after ten tests have been made — for
heart action, respiration, circulation, rigor mortis, &c., and
the use of subcutaneous injections of ammonia.
PREMATURE BURIAL 73
This subject of premature burial, now being agitated
in the United States, was thoroughly considered in
Europe, beginning more than a century ago. As Dr.
Vollum has shown in his article on Final Tests for
Death, France first recognised the necessity for legal pro-
tection against these dangers. Germany was the first
to put them in force. Then followed France, Austria,
Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. The
pith of these laws is in the requirement of an expert
examination of the apparently dead independently of the
attending physician. In Germany, Austria, and Belgium
the examiners, called inspectors of the dead, are officers
of the State, specially qualified for their duties. In the
other States mentioned they are physicians of standing,
also qualified. They must decide the cause and fact of
death, and register a certificate of verified death before
a burial permit can be issued or the body disturbed
in any way with the view to embalming, autopsy
burial, or cremation. The underlying principle of these
laws is well expressed in the Austrian imperial law
thus : —
" That the only sure sign of death being general decomposition,
which as a rule comes late in the case, the examiner of bodies, in
the absence of this proof, must not be guided by any single sign,
and must base his conclusions on an assemblage of all signs that
point to death, and to any injuries that may involve the vital
apparatus."
These laws, framed both in the interests of the State
and the individuals, are supported by the legal and the
medical professions, and have always given satisfaction
to the authorities and comfort and a sense of safety to
the people, excepting in France, where the period allowed
before burial is only twenty-four hours, and the inspec-
tions are thought to be rather perfunctory, especially in
74 DEATH'
Paris. The German and Austrian systems are alike, ex-
cepting in the former all bodies must go to the waiting
mortuaries ; in the latter this is voluntary, as it is in the
other States named.
The German system is best seen in Munich. This
city of about 50,000 people is divided into twenty-
one burial districts, in each of which there is an
inspector of the dead, with an alternate, besides the
woman who makes the toilet of the body, called leichen-
frcm, and who arranges the funeral appointments. She
is also qualified by a technical examination. The attend-
ing physician is always present at the death crisis. He
gives his verdict of death, but the laAv does not trust his
unsupported opinion, however celebrated he may be. The
inspector comes, and in the meantime nothing about the
body must be touched by any one. He makes his
certificate, which covers every possible point in the case,
and this is countersigned by the attending physician.
Delay and resuscitation may be employed at this stage
if the inspector sees fit. Ordinarily he allows from two
to twelve hours' delay in the residence for ceremonies,
&c., when the body must go to the waiting mortuary,
where it remains for seventy-two hours or longer, under
medical observation, when the mortuary physician gives
his certificate, if all goes without unforeseen incidents,
and the interment takes place in the adjoining-
cemetery.
Thus it is seen that there are, with the leichenfrmi,
four independent expert inspectors. All are on the
qui vive in carrying out the system, which is popular and
understood by all classes. The waitmg mortuary consists
of a main hall, where the bodies lie in open coffins,
embowered by plants in the midst of light, warmth, and
ventilation. There is also a laboratory equipped with
apparatus for resuscitation, 2^ost'mortem room, separate
PREMATURE BURIAL 75
rooms for infectious cases and accidents, a chapel, and
quarters for the physician and attendants.
Count Michael von Karnice Karnicki, formerly cham-
berlain to the Czar of Russia, invented, in 1898, an
exceedingly clever apparatus for the prevention of pre-
mature burial. Being firmly convinced that thousands
of persons are buried every year while in a state of
lethargy, he prepared a system of signalling, which has
been adopted in one or two instances, but only, so far as
we know, in Europe.
In this invention, a tube protrudes about four feet
above the surface of the grave, and, upon the top of it,
is fixed a small metal box with a spring lid. To the
lower end of the tube, which just enters the upper lid ot
the coffin, is fixed an india-rubber ball, charged so fully
with air that the slightest extra pressure upon it would
result in the discharge of this air through the tube.
This would release the lid of the box, which is adjusted
to spring open at the slightest pressure. Moreover, the
opening of this lid would automatically raise a small fiag,
and, at the same time, would start an electric bell, not
only over the grave, but in the sexton's house as well.
Under this system, the slightest suggestion of breathing
on the part of the supposedly dead person, or the smallest
movement of the body, would suffice to open the box,
raise the flag, and sound an alarm, while the additional
mechanism in the tube would immediately begin to
pump air down to the interior of the coffin, that the
person who has been buried by mistake might be pre-
served from suffocation until such time as assistance
might arrive.
On March 1, 1909, the House of Commons ordered to
be printed for distribution " A Bill to Amend the Law-
Relating to the Registration of Deaths and Burials."
The Committee of Examination confessed themselves
7G DEATH
" much impressed " by the weight of the evidence brought
before them, tendmg to show that the current medical
examinations were insufficient ; and they ordered a more
thorough and complete examination and certification in
the future.
CHAPTER V
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, &c.
Although burial is an extremely unhygienic and un-
wholesome custom, it is a practice that is common to all
Christian countries. Originating in the popular faith in
the doctrine that the body should be preserved that it
might arise in its entirety at the " day of judgment,"'
this idea, though now seldom advanced as an excuse, is
at the bottom of the antipathy that is so frequently
shown in regard to cremation. Of course, it is needless
to say that, as the process of putrefaction soon returns
the physical body to the dust of the earth, through
which it passes again into all forms of vegetable and
animal life, the impossibility of any sort of bodily
resurrection, without the performance of a more stupen-
dous miracle than the human mind could imagine, is
obvious.
In fact, the only argument that can be advanced
in favour of the practice of burying the dead, as against
that of cremation, is based upon the principle that a
buried body may be exhumed — after a considerable space
of time has elapsed, if necessary — and the effects of
poisons, &c., traced — murderers frequently having been
brought to justice by this means when they would have
undoubtedly escaped punishment for their crimes, if the
most convincing evidence against them could have been
destroyed by fire. Such an argument as this, however,
weighs but little as against the many great advantages
78 DEATH
that would be derived from the practice of cremating
bodies, for cremation is so manifestly the only wholesome
and hygienic method of disposing of the dead, that it
should be legally adopted by all nations calling them-
selves civilised.
Incineration, or cremation, was the ancient Roman
method of reducing the body to ashes, but the ancient
Jews early adopted the custom of burial. Thus Abraham,
in his treaty for the cave of Machpelah, expressed the
desire to secure a suitable place in which '' to bury his
dead out of his sight ; " and about the only records of
burning the dead that we find in the history of the
Jewish people are (1) the case of Saul and his sons,
whose bodies were undoubtedly too badly mangled to be
given the royal honours of embalmment, and (2) the
burning of those who died of the plague, a sanitary
measure apparently adopted to prevent further spread of
the contagion.
As all nations of the ancient civilisation held that it
was not only an act of humanity but a sacred duty to
pay great honours to the departed, the burial and fune-
ral rites were frequently of a very elaborate character.
Among the Hebrews, these began with the solemn cere-
mony of the last kiss, and, after the eyes had been closed,
the corpse was laid out and perfumed by the nearest
relative, and the head, covered with a napkin, was sub-
jected to complete ablution in warm water, a precaution
that was supposed to make premature burial impossible.
While the Jews frequently embalmed the body of the
dead, in no part of the world was this rite performed so
scientifically as in Egypt. When great personages like
Jacob and Joseph died, the greatest care was exercised
in embalminof them, but there is no means of ascertain-
ing whether the earlier generations followed this practice,
or simply buried their dead in caves, or in the ground.
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, &c. 79
We know, however, that the elaborate process followed
in later years was finally abandoned for a simpler and
less effective method — that of merely swathing the corpse
round Avith numerous folds of linen and other stuffs, and
anointing it with a mixture of aromatic substances, of
which aloes and myrrh formed the principle ingredients.
To be sparing in the use of spices on such an occasion
was regarded as a most discreditable economy, for the
profuse use of very costly perfumes was regarded as the
highest tribute of esteem that could be paid to the
departed. In view of these facts, it is easy to believe the
writer in the Talmud who tells us that no less than
eighty pounds of spice were used in burying Rabbi
Gamaliel, and Josephus reports that, at the funeral of
Herod, five hundred servants were in attendance as
spice-bearers. From the narrative in the New Testa-
ment we see that a similar custom was followed at the
burial of Christ.
The Jews, like most Oriental nations, were given to
the most inordinate exhibitions of grief. From the
moment that the vital spark was known to have
departed from the body, the members of the family,
especially the women of the household, burst forth into
the most doleful lamentations, upon which they were
joined by neighbours and relatives, all of whom crowded
to the house as soon as they heard of the bereavement.
By the more aristocratic classes anything like outside
participation in the grief of the family was forbidden,
and, instead, this service was performed by certain
women who were known as public or professional
mourners. When engaged, they seated themselves in
the family circle, and, by studied dramatic effect and
eulogistic dirges, excited greater lamentations on the
part of the immediate family. Sometimes instrumental
music was also introduced.
80 DEATH
As in all Oriental countries, burial among the Jews
occurred more quickly after death than is generally the
practice in this country. Even when the body had been
carefully embalmed, interment was not long delayed, and,
when this precaution had not been taken, it was in-
variably held within less than twenty-four hours. This
was partly due to the climatic conditions, and partly to
the circumstance that the Jews taught that anybody who
came near the death chamber was unclean for a week.
The casket, or coffin, is the invention of the Egyptians,
but the Jews and some other races early adopted it.
Originally these chests of the dead were composed of
many layers of pasteboard glued tightly together ; later
they were of wood, or stone, but for the most eminent
men was reserved the honour of being buried in coffins
of sycamore wood.
Although the bodies of the dead were sometimes
placed in these caskets before being transferred to the
grave, the most common method of transporting the
corpse from the home of the family to the place of
interment was by means of a bier, or bed, which was
sometimes composed of very costly materials. Instances
are known in which kings and extremely wealthy
personages have been conveyed to their tombs on their
own beds, but the bier in common use among the poorer
classes was usually little more than plain wooden boards,
fastened to two long poles, and on which, concealed by
a sheet, or other thin coverlet, the body lay. It is just
such a bier as this that is described in the Bible, and
they are still used in all Eastern countries.
When the deceased was of humble position, none but
the relatives and close friends attended the obsequies,
unless the family could afford to employ the public
mourners and their minstrels, in which case the latter
walked before and around the bier, frequently lifting the
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, &c. 81
coverlet and exposing the corpse, which was always a
signal to the company to renew their shrill cries and
doleful lamentations. Thus, at the magnificent funeral
of Jacob, these mercenaries maintained an almost cease-
less expression of the most passionate grief, and when
the boundary of Canaan appeared — the site of the
sepulchre — the entire company halted, and, for seven
days and nights indulged in these violent exercises of
mourning under the leadership of the host of professionals
who had been employed for the occasion.
Although sepulchres have long been in use in Eastern
countries, even the ancient races seldom made the mis-
take of erecting them in close proximity to human
dwellings. No matter how elaborate they may have
been — and from those that are still left it is easy to
imagine that money was not spared when some of the
tombs were constructed — the health regulations of the
time required that they should be built without the
precincts of the city. Among the Jews — as shown in
the regulations of the Levitical cities — it was specified
that the distance should not be less than 2000 cubits
from the city walls. Jerusalem alone was excepted, and
even there, this privilege was reserved for the members
of the royal family of David, and some few others of
exalted distinction.
During the first three centuries of the Christian era
this custom remained unchanged. The Emperor Theo-
dosius issued an edict expressly forbidding the burial of
the dead within any town, Avhether in churches or not,
and Chrysostom not only confirmed this view, but when
the Donatists buried their martyrs in churches, they were
obliged to remove them. Even in the fourth century,
when the building of oratories, or chapels, over the
remains of eminent Christians — martyrs, prophets, &c. —
began, the canon law held this practice to be unlawful,
F
82 DEATH
and it was not until the sixth century that this statute
was to any great degree disregarded.
Thus, it will be seen that while the Roman nation
continued to maintain the custom of cremation, the
Christians adopted the practices of the Jews, and buried
their dead. St. Augustine, in several passages, com-
mends this custom, not for the reason — as he says — that
we are to infer that there is any sense or feeling in the
corpse itself, but simply because we are to believe that
even the bodies of the dead are under the providence of
God, to whom such pious offices are pleasing, through
faith in the Resurrection.
Cremation.
The idea of having hundreds and thousands of decay-
ing bodies in the immediate vicinity of human habi-
tations should be so repellent to any sensible person,
that argument ought to be unnecessary. The only point
that can be urged against this practice, as we have
already said, is that, in certain cases, it is important,
from a medico-legal point of view, to have the body
where it can be exhumed, if necessary.
It seems to us important that we should insist as
strongly as possible upon this point — the logical neces-
sity of cremating the dead. Rightly considered, this
practice does not in any way conflict with Christian
teaching, but conforms to its highest standards. After
death, we are not concerned with the material man, but
with the spiritual replica (granting anything to exist at
all), and no one in these enlightened days would think
for a moment that a truly physical resurrection of the
body took place. It would not be desirable, in the first
place, and is an obvious impossibility, in the second.
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, &c. 83
Yet it is only this worn-out and effete tradition of phy-
sical resurrection which prevents the general adoption of
cremation — the far more sanitary and rational process.
Let us consider some of its benefits a little more
closely.
In the first place, then, there is the very evident
reason that there will not be enough space, very soon, to
contain all the bodies that are to be consigned to the
earth. The population of Brooklyn and of New York
(to take typical cases) increased more than seven times
in fifty years — from 1840 to 1890, and the population
is now more than four million. And, as Mr. Augustus
G. Cobb well says : ^ —
" The effect, in twenty years, on these six cemeteries will be to
increase by a million additional bodies the 1,336,000 already
received. Brooklyn is twenty-three times as large to-day as it was
fifty years ago, when the first interment was made in Greenwood ;
and, as a natural consequence, this cemetery, once surburban, has
become intramural. It need surprise no one to learn that its
exhalations have been complained of in South Brooklyn, and, con-
sidering the thousands annually interred within its grounds, and
the increasing density of population, we can readily believe that
the evil, instead of diminishing, will increase. . . ."
It is needless to point out that such a mass of decom-
posing organic material, so close to the very homes of
the inhabitants, is apt to prove extremely dangerous :
first, by contaminating the wells, springs, and water in
the neighbourhood ; and secondly, by vitiating the atmos-
phere and rendering a serious epidemic not only possible
but exceedingly likely. When we know that germs can
be carried through the air for miles — as they can — the
immediate peril of a graveyard need hardly be pointed
out. As Sir Lyon Playfair (after making a most ex-
* Earth Burial and Crcviation, pp. 26, 27.
84 DEATH
haustive investigation of the whole question) expressed
it:—
" In most of our churchyards the dead are harming the living
by destroying the soil, fouling the air, contaminating water-springs,
and spreading the seeds of disease."
Says Mr. Cobb : —
" Opposition to incineration springs chiefly from ignorance of
the manner in which it is effected ; and to remove all misappre-
hension, it cannot be too distinctly stated that the body never rests
in flames, while during the entire process there is no fire, or smoke,
or noise to grieve in any manner the bereaved. The consuming
chamber in which the body is placed is built of fireclay, and is
capable of resisting the highest temperature. Under it and around
it the fire circulates, but it cannot enter in. The interior, smooth,
almost polished, and white from the surrounding heat, presents an
aspect of absolute, dazzling purity ; and as the body is the only
solid matter introduced, the product is simply the ashes of that
body. During the entire process of incineration the body is
hidden from view. . . . The heated air soon changes it to a trans-
lucent white, and from this it crumbles into ashes."
Is not this picture far more pleasant than that of the
grave ? Is it not far more cleanly, hygienic, and sen-
sible ? Is it not obvious that cremation is simply
unpopular for the reason that it is based on a mass of
false sentiment and worn-out theological dogmas as to
the resurrection of the body ? From every rational point
of view, everything is in favour of the process, nothing
against it.
We are familiar with the so-called objections to crema-
tion advanced by M. Jean Finot in his Philosojyhy of Loiig
Life. We can only say that they appear to us, for the
most part, as totally inadequate. Some of his facts, it
is true, are worthy of serious consideration : his negative
evidence as to the pollution of the air in the neighbour-
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, &c. 85
hood of cemeteries, &c. But bis idea that the life of the
body is perpetuated in the Hves of the worms that devour
it ! — that appears to us Httle short of absurd. In direct
opposition to this view let us quote the opinion of
Mrs. Annie Besant, who, in her Death, and After ? says : —
" One of the great advantages of cremation, apart from all sani-
tary considerations, lies in the swift restoration to Mother Nature
of the physical elements comprising the dense and ethereal corpses
brought about by the burning, and hence the quicker freedom of
the soul from the body. On the assumption that a soul of some
sort exists, this would certainly seem far the more rational suppo-
sition ; and if materialism be true, and no soul persists, then
cremation has the field entirely, since there would remain no valid
objection to the practice whatever."
Embalming.
Embalming is a method of preserving bodies by injec-
tions and dressings, either internally or externally applied.
This term is generally given to the process employed by
the ancient Egyptians and others, by which corpses were
preserved as mummies. The practice is very ancient,
and is probably founded on religious rites and observ-
ances. The Egyptians believed that it would be possible
for the departed spirit, at some future time, to reanimate
the body of the deceased, and hence took great pains to
preserve it as perfectly as possible. Some of the pro-
cesses employed were very elaborate and expensive, and
could only be afforded by the wealthy. The most elabo-
rate process was somewhat as follows : —
A deep cut was made beneath the ribs on the left
side, and through the opening thus made the internal
organs were removed, with the exception of the heart and
kidneys. The brain was also extracted through the nose
by means of a bent iron instrument. The cavities of the
skull and trunk were washed uut with palm-wine, and
86 DEATH
filled with raisins, cassia, and similar substances ; and
the skull was dressed by injecting drugs of various kinds
through the nostrils. The body was then soaked in
natron for seventy days. It was then removed and
wrapped carefully in linen cloth, cemented by gums.
The less expensive process consisted in removing only
the brains and injecting the viscera with cedar oil.
When the body was soaked in natron for the same period
of time (seventy days), the viscera and soft parts came
away en masse, and only the skin and bones were left.
The very poor, who could not afford either of the above
methods, embalmed their dead by washing the body in
myrrh and salting it for seventy days. The body, thus
embalmed, was ready for the sepulchre ; but it was often
kept at home for a considerable time afterwards, and
was produced on certain occasions — such as a dinner-
party ! — and carried round the room " to remind the
diners that death was ever with them."
Doubtless the method of embalming differed greatly
in different countries and in the same country at various
times. The above process was described by Herodotus
in his writings as being practised in Egypt at that time.
Animals were also embalmed, especially those held to be
sacred. It is certain, however, that only a small per-
centage of the dead organic matter could have been
disposed of in this manner ; and it is not known what
became of the remainder or disposition was made of it.
Embalming is carried on at the present day, but for
very different reasons and in a different manner. The
object is not to preserve the body for centuries, as the
Egyptians hoped to do, and in fact actually succeeded in
doing. In some countries the use of salts of arsenic,
corrosive sublimate, &c., is prohibited by law for medico-
legal reasons ; but embalming can only be performed by
toxic substances. Many of these have been tried, with
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, &c. 87
limited success. Essential oils, alcohol, cinnabar, cam-
phor saltpetre, pitch, resin, gypsum, tan, salt, asphalt,
Peruvian bark, cinnamon, corrosive sublimate, chloride of
zinc, sulphate of zinc, acetate of aluminium, sulphate of
aluminium, creosote, carbolic acid, &c., have all been
recommended by modern embalmers. In these days de-
tails of procedure vary, but all must conform to the law.
The length of time which a body will keep before
decomposition sets in varies greatly. In those cases in
which but little flesh is left on the bones, and when the
blood has decreased greatly in volume (for example, in
consumption, where great emaciation has taken place
before death), the body will keep far longer than one
which has a large amount of tissue still upon the bones
and a large volume of blood. Blood being the active
principle in decomposition, its prompt removal is neces-
sary in cases of this character. The time of year, the
disease from which the person died, &c., all have an
appreciable effect upon the length of time the body will
naturally take to decompose ; and hence all these factors
must be taken into account by the embalmer in selecting
the amount and the strength of the fluid to be injected
into the arteries of the corpse.
The general procedure is somewhat as follows : — The
body being laid out, an incision is made with a sharp
knife, and the artery is drawn to the surface by means
ot a metal hook. The artery selected varies, some em-
balmers chosing the brachial artery, others the axillary
artery, &c. It depends upon the individual choice of
the embalmer. If a visible scar is objected to, the
brachial artery cannot be used. After the artery is
broucrht to the surface and cut, the embalminii: fluid is
forced into it by means of a small pump provided with
two valves, after the manner of the heart. It is intended,
indeed, to take the place ot the heart in forcing the
88 DEATH
blood through the body. One of these valves forces the
fluid mto the artery ; the other sucks up the fluid from
the bottle in which it is contained. The fluid passes
directly across to the heart and other vital organs, and
when this has been done a second incision is made just
below the heart, which is punctured. The blood is then
drawn ofl" from the heart, and the double process is con-
tinued until all the blood in the body has been replaced
by the embalmer's fluid. Sometimes a second artery is
cut in the leg. If the fluid is found to come away clear
at this point, without an admixture of blood, the body is
clear of blood — the chief decomposing agent.
The fluid which is injected into the body has a ten-
dency to harden the tissues, and they could be made
actually brittle if enough were used. The embalmer
uses his judgment as to the strength of the fluid.
Generally, an 8 -ounce bottle of prepared embalming
fluid is mixed with half a gallon of water, this being the
typical " embalmer's solution."
From a medico-legal point of view, there is much
that can be said against embalming. Brouardel has
pointed out that embalming can only be performed with
toxic substances, and this fact would vitiate any sub-
sequent investigations that might have to be made — in
a poison case, for example. Embalming might preserve
bodies a much greater length of time than would other-
wise be the case ; but what is the object to be gained
thereby ? The body must ultimately decompose, whether
embalmed or not, and of what use is the preservation of
bodies ? Our chief object should be, not to preserve
them, but to get them out of the way as speedily and
as hygienically as possible. It is surely a more pleasing
thought to think of a cremated body than to dwell upon
the condition of one that has been buried six months or
a year.
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, &c. 89
Mummification.
The mummified bodies of some of the Egyptians have
doubtless been seen by every one. So perfectly have
some of these bodies been preserved that even the features
can be recognised after more than three thousand years.
The bandages wrapped round the bodies were doubtless
antiseptic in character ; but the details of their methods
have been lost.
Apart from such cases, mummification of bodies may
sometimes take place spontaneously, and the body be
mummified mstead of decomposing. This is especially
the case in dry, hot countries, where there is but little
moisture in the air. In the sandy soil of Mauritius, e.g.,
it is asserted that bodies frequently become mummified.
Where there is a lack of air, the body will also occa-
sionally assume this condition, even in our climate.
M. Audouard reports a case of a mummified body,
discovered by him, in which " the skin was like parch-
ment, shrivelled, and of a buff colour. When it was
tapped with the back of a knife, it resounded like card-
board." The body had become very light. M. Audouard
found also that the skin was perforated with a number
of holes, like a colander, and that dust from within escaped
through these little holes ! A thigh of the leg weighed
just one-third of the normal weight. The body had
been devoured by mites, which had eaten all the tissues of
the woman. The dust within the hollow and mummified
limb consisted mostly of the excretions of the mites.
It is asserted that mummification of the body of an
unborn child will take place, if the child be preserved in
utero, and no air is allowed to enter the uterus. It is
sometimes seen in the young, more rarely in adults.
Lately, when one of us revisited the Eg^-ptian room
in the British Museum, he noticed very carefully the
90 DEATH
physical peculiarities ot some of the excellent specimens
of nmmmification there exhibited. One case is especially
interesting. A hand and arm, stripped of the winding
bandages, is shown — perfect in its texture, all the nails,
and even the texture of the skin, being clearly visible.
The arm is shrunk to about one-fourth its normal size (it
is merely the skin stretched over the two bones of the
fore- arm). The hand is partly clenched. The whole is
jet black, and has the appearance of being made of
unpohshed ebony. The human, living arm has now
become petrified, as it were, and takes on the exact
appearance of wood. The arm is extremely hard and
brittle — so much so, indeed, that it is cracked along its
upper surface — ^just as a piece of Avood might be cracked
or split. This struck us at the time as a very remarkable
phenomenon — apparently showing the ultimate tendency
of such organic substances to petrify, become coal-like
and finally return to the mineral elements from which
they sprang.
M. Megnin divides the work of the " labourers of
death " into four periods. In the first, quaternary com-
pounds are attacked and destroyed ; in the second, fatty
substances are attacked ; in the third, the soft parts are
liquefied; lastly, in the fourth period, the dried-up mummy
is filled with mites.
In all cases (with the exception of cremation), a fer-
mentation takes place before the body is completely
destroyed ; gas is produced, and the organism is returned
to the mineral kingdom more or less rapidly — the rapidity
and character of this return being governed by several
considerations. This is the invariable process, except in
those rare cases in which the body remains frozen, or where
it is devoured by wild animals or birds of prey. When
the body is immersed in the ocean, it is soon devoured
by sharks, crabs, and other carnivorous sea-creatures.
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, &c. 91
The body, Avhen lying in peaty soils, or when sur-
rounded with other antiseptic influences, will mummify.
The body must be rather thin and juiceless, however.
There is a church at Toulouse where the structure of the
place seems to cause mummification of bodies, owing to
a current of air being always present.
The process of preserving the body by drying, which
has sometimes prevailed among savage people, is prob-
ably somewhat similar to the method of preserving meats
which is practised by the natives of certain parts of South
America. As described by Charles J. Post, the artist and
explorer, this is as follows : —
"The national food of the country is the 'chalona' and the
* chuno.' These are consumed so generally that there are many
villages east of the Andes in which the people have no other means
of support than that which is afforded by the preparation of these
edibles. The ' chalona ' is nothing more or less than mutton that
has been dried so thoroughly that it bears a close resemblance to a
mummy. The natives take the carcase of the sheep up into the
mountains — sometimes 2000 feet or more above the sea-level — and
there they let it lie all day beneath the rays of the sun. When the
dew begins to fall, or there is any apparent dampness in the atmos-
phere, they cover it securely, and do not expose it to the air again
until these conditions have disappeared. When fully preserved
under proper conditions, the carcase of the sheep will not weigh
more than ten or twelve pounds,
" The Indians eat this meat raw, masticating it to a degree that
corresponds to our modern method of '■ Fletcherism.' If it is to
be cooked, however, it is necessary to stew it for fully ten hours
the day before it is to be used, and to boil it again for not less
than four hours the day that it is to be served. The natives eat
it in combination with the ' chuno ' — potatoes that have been
treated in the same fashion until they have been dried to about
the size of a bantam egg,"
As Mr. Post suggests, this is a process of mummi-
fication.
CHAPTER VI
THE CAUSES OF DEATH
1. Sudden Death.
In the present chapter we propose to give a brief r(3sum^
of all the causes of sudden death that are known, taking
these descriptions largely from Dr. Brouardel's excellent
work on Death and Sudden Death. Although this author
has omitted consideration of certain causes of sudden
death, his summary of the facts is the completest that
we have been able to discover ; while his extensive experi-
ence entitles him to a respectful hearing in whatever he
says. His own discussions of the causes of sudden death
are very exhaustive ; here we shall but touch upon this
side of the question ; since our chief interest is the study
of natural, and not unnatural, death — as all sudden deaths
are. When death results from any disease, it is tolerably
clear to us what the actual cause of the death is, in that
case. We can at all events form a mental picture, in
rough outline, of what has taken place ; but the same
is not true in cases of sudden and unexpected death.
Often the cause is most difficult to find, and it must be
acknowledged that, even here, much is still uncertain
and unknown. Much less is known of the nature and
cause of " natural " death — as we have seen, and shall
see further. Before we proceed to a consideration of
this last and most vital question, however, we must first
of all consider sudden death, arising from various causes
— when such causes are known.
92
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 93
In the first place, then, it may be said that such a
thing as " sudden death " does not, strictly speaking, exist
at all ! In those cases where it is supposed to have
taken place, it can invariably be shown that some cause
or causes, acting for considerable periods of time upon the
body, have produced these results. Says Dr. Brouardel: —
"Why does sudden death occur? No one dies suddenly, apart
from the effects of violence, as long as all the organs are sound ;
but there are some diseases which develop slowly and secretly,
without the attention of the patients having been called to them by
any pain or by any feeling of illness, and -svithout a physician ever
having been called in, and which terminate naturally by a rapid
death. . . . We will define sudden death as ' the rapid and unfore-
seen termination of an acute or chronic disease, which has in most
cases developed in a latent manner.' . . . However carefully we
may perform every autopsy, however minute our exploration of the
body may be, however thorough may be our knowledge of the causes
of death, we sometimes meet with cases which it is impossible to
explain. The proportion is about 8 or 10 per cent."
This is a very significant admission, of which we shall
have occasion to remind the reader at a later stage of our
investigation.
Turning now to the causes of natural death, we find
the first place occupied by lesions of the heart and circu-
latory system.^ And we read that " a lesion may remain
^ If an artery breaks, that is said to be the cause of the death of the
individual, but few stop to ask, " Why should the artery break ? "' Would
it not be more accurate, strictly speaking, to say that the real cause of the
person's death was that cause which so weakened the wall of the artery
that its rupture was possible? Or, if death takes place owing to some
central inhibition, would it not be better to seek the cause of the inhibi-
tion rather than rest content with the mere verdict of "heart failure"?
To all thinking persons, the true causes of death lie deeper than the mere
effect or resultant — the " last straw that broke the camel's back" in very
truth ! Strictly speaking, the cause of death, in such cases, is the cause of
this last caiise ; and, what that is, ope of us has tried to show in another
place. — Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition (pp. 324-31).
94 DEATH
latent during the greater part of life, and be only revealed
by accident" (p. 125). Lesions of the heart may result
from a number of causes — (1) fatty over-growth of the
heart; (2) fatty degeneration of the muscular tissue of
the heart; (3) fibroid degeneration of the heart; (4)
lesions of the coronary arteries; (5) syphilitic affections
of the heart ; (6) rupture of the heart, &c. Then we
have lesions of the pericardium. Following this, as causes
of sudden death, we have mitral and tricuspid incompet-
ence, endocarditis, angina pectoris, and neoplasms of the
heart.
In looking up the literature on death we came across
a rare manuscript, viz., lectures on medical jurisprud-
ence given by Sir Douglas Maclagan in 1888. This
manuscript is in pen and ink, and is doubtless the only
one of its kind in existence. Amongst a variety of inter-
esting topics, the subject of death in its various forms is
treated by the author at great length, and certain facts
are detailed in this manuscript that we have not dis-
covered in any book printed and on the market. There
are, however, certain statements contained in the book
with which we can by no means agree. Thus, our author
includes under " natural death," deaths due to haBmor-
rhage, diarrhcBa, wasting diseases, deficient power, organic
lesions, apoplexy, toxasmia, epilepsy, mental emotion,
perforation of the viscera, closure of the glottis, conges-
tion of the lungs, effusion in the lungs, diseases of the
spine, paralysis, and tetanic spasm. With the single ex-
ception of deficient power, we should hesitate to class any
of the above deaths as natural. Deaths due to disease
are invariably WTinatural and premature. It is for this
reason that we have not included in this volume deaths
due to disease, murder, suicide, and infanticide. It may
be well for us to state in this place also, that we have
omitted all discussion of death from the medico-legal
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 95
point of view, this seeming to us out of place in a work
of this character.
We next come to lesions of the arteries. Here we
find : Congenital lesions, arterio-sclerosis, aneurisms, spon-
taneous rupture of the aorta. Of the veins : various
ruptures, also air in the veins. There are also lesions
of the capillaries, miliary aneurisms, meningeal hgemor-
rhages, capillary embolisms, local disturbances of the
circulation. Some of these, it naay be said, can hardly
be classed as causes of sudden death, in the orthodox
sense of that term.
A large number of sudden deaths are due to lesions of
the cerebro -spinal system and the major neuroses. Here
we may classify meningitis — tubercular, chronic, cerebro-
spinal, &c. Abscesses of the brain, cerebral tumours,
lesions of the spinal cord, lesions of the nerves, epilepsy,
hysteria, inhibition, and sudden death from emotion or
mental causes. We shall have occasion to recur to this
latter cause of death, when we come to consider its nature
in cases of " natural death."
There is, next, a whole set of causes of sudden death
due to lesions of the respiratory system. Among these
we find : lesions of the larynx, of the trachea, of the thy-
roid body, of the mediastinum, pulmonary congestion,
pneumonia, capillary bronchitis, pulmonary phthisis, cancer
of the lung, emphysema of the lungs, pleurisy, rupture of
the diaphragm, and compression of the chest.
Next, we have lesions of the digestive system. These
are : — Lesions of the pharynx, of the a3Sophagus, of the
stomach (which might include a number of subdivisions),
lesions of the intestines (also subject to subdivisions),
lesions of the liver, of the spleen, of the pancreas, and of
the suprarenal capsules. Among doubtful causes (to us)
are included corpulency, climatic excesses of heat, cold, &c.
These can hardly be called causes of sudden death ; rather,
96 DEATH
occasions of sudden death — when the organism is already
in such a state that life can easily be terminated by a
very slight mal-adjustment of external circumstances.
In the female there are also special causes of death,
to which the male is not subject. Among these are :
vaginal examination, extra-uterine gestation, recto-uterine
hematocele, rupture of the uterus, vulvo-vaginal varices,
syncope arising out of uterine conditions, &c.
There are also many cases of sudden death in fevers
and kindred states — in anthrax, mumps, diphtheria, acute
rheumatism, typhoid fever, plague, &c. &c. A very full
study of death from some of these conditions will be
found in Dr. John D. Malcolm's Physiology of Death from
Traumatic Fever (London, 1893). Sudden death may also
be due to haemophilia.
Sudden death may take place in various diseases which
cannot of themselves be said to be the cause of the death
— e.g. in diabetes, ursemia, gout, dropsy, as well as in cases
of alcoholism. In children, sudden death may result
from syncope, convulsions, asphyxia, pulmonary conges-
tion, and various intestinal disorders. All of these classes
are subject to various subdivisions. They will all be
found discussed in full in Dr. Brouardel's book on Death
and Sudden Death, to which excellent manual we would
refer the reader for further particulars regarding such
cases.
Death jrom Burns and Scalds. — A great intensity of
heat is not required to destroy vitality of the skin. The
danger to life is much more in proportion to the extent
of surface of the body exposed to the action of the fire
than to its intensity. Sometimes it may prove fatal by
setting up inflammation of the internal tissues. In the
case of corrosions with acids, the marks are generally of a
dirty brown colour.
Death hy Haemorrhage. — The body is blanched. On
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 97
dissection, the great venous trunks are flabby and empty.
The large regions internally are pale. We may find
hypostasis in the inferior parts of the lungs, even when
death is caused by haemorrhage. We may find evidence
of haemorrhage in the internal parts, generally partly fluid
and partly clotty. It is often quite impossible to detect
from what vessel the blood has come.
Dr. Harrison, writing years ago on death from haemor-
rhage, said, in his Medical Aspects of Death : —
" Death may be said to begin at different parts of the body ;
and it will be found that the nature, symptoms, and peculiarities
of the act of dying are determined by the organ first mortally
attacked. The alterations which directly occasion dissolution
seem principally effective either in the arrest of the circulation
or the respiration.
"As the heart is the great mover in the circulation, we can
easily conceive that whatever brings it to stop must be fatal to
life. Extensive losses of blood operate in this manner, and they
furnish us with a good illustration of the manner in which death
takes place. The sufferer becomes pale and faint, his lips white
and trembling ; after a while the breathing becomes distressed,
and a rushing noise seems to fill the ears. The pulse is soft,
feeble, and wavering ; the exhaustion and prostration are more
-and more alarming. Soon a curious restlessness takes place, and
he tosses from side to side. At length, the pulse becomes un-
certain, and the blood is feebly thrown to the brain. The surface
assumes an icy coldness; the mind is yet untouched, and the
sufferer knows himself to be dying ; in vain the pulse is sought at
the wrist — in vain efforts are made to re-excite warmth — the body
is like a living corpse. Now, a few convulsive gaspings arise, and
the countenance sets in the stiff image of death. Such are the
more striking phenomena which attend the fatal haemorrhages.
" The failure of the vital powers, from the withdrawal of blood,
may be regarded as a sort of type of this mode of death, since the
various symptoms which have been named arise from the cessation
of the healthy circulation.
G
98 DEATH
"A dread of the loss of blood may almost be considered as an
instinctive feeling ; at any rate, its importance is early impressed
on the mind, and is never forgotten. In childhood, it is looked
at with alarm ; and the stoutest mind cannot but view with horror
those perilous gushes of blood which bring us into the very jaws
of destruction."
2. Mental Causes of Death.
Disease and death are more frequently the effect
of mental causes than might be generally imagined.
We know, for example, that persons who are im-
moderately addicted to intellectual pursuits expose
themselves to affections of the brain, for it, like
any other organ, enters its protest when especially
abused. They are liable to headaches and a host of
nervous ailments, while inflammation and other organic
diseases of the brain will sometimes supervene. As they
advance in life, apoplexies and palsies are apt to appear.
Whenever there exists a predisposition to apoplexy,
close mental application is always attended with the
utmost danger, especially in the latter part of life.
Epilepsy is another disease of the nervous system that
may be induced, or exaggerated, by the state of the
mind, and extreme mental dejection, hypochondria, and
even insanity, may sometimes result from these causes.
Many individuals distinguished for their special talents
and learning have been subject to such unhappy maladies,
and yet it is difficult to determine how much of the
disease may justly be ascribed to the abstract labours of
intellect, and how much to mental anxiety, for it is
known that undue strain upon the emotions — either
excitement or depression — may be productive of these
results.
Thus, in the case of Sir Walter Scott, the extreme
literary labours that he performed do not seem to have
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 99
had any injurious effect upon his health, until the
brightness of his fortune had become overcast by the
clouds of adversity. When, with his mental tasks, were
mingled the agitating emotions of anxiety, resulting in
irregularity of habits, his physical health began to break,
and the fatal disease of the brain soon brought a tragic
ending to his life.
While there may be occasions when even the ordinary
exertions of the brain are attended with danger, their
effect upon the health is usually comparatively slight,
unless they are combined with one or more of the
numerous feelings, pleasurable and painful, which, ac-
cording as they are mild or intense, are known to us as
affections or passions.
As Dr. William Sweetser said, in his work. Mental
Hygiene: —
" The agency of the passions in the production of disease, especi-
ally in the advanced stages of civilisation, when men's relations are
intimate, and their interests clash, and their nervous susceptibili-
ties are exalted, can scarcely be adequately appreciated. It is
doubtless to this more intense and multiplied action of the
passions, in union, at times, with the abuse of the intellectual
powers, that we are mainly to attribute the greater frequency of
the diseases of the heart and brain in the cultivated than in the
rufler states of society. Few, probably, ever suspect the amount
of bodily infirmity and disease resulting from moral causes — how
often the frame wastes, and premature decay comes on, under the
corroding influence of some painful passion. ... In delicate and
sensitive constitutions, the operation of the painful jmssions is
ever attended with the utmost danger ; and should there exist a
predisposition to any particular form of disease, as consunii»tion,
or insanity, it will generally be called into action under their
strong and continued influence."
Modern investigations in psychology have demon-
strated so conclusively that the closest sympathy exists
100 DEATH
between the mind and the body, that the definition
describing passion as " any emotion of the soul which
affects the body, and is affected by it," will not be
subjected to very serious criticism. As to the direct
effects of these passions, they appear especially m those
organs and functions which have been denoted as
organic — in the lungs, the stomach, the liver, the
kidneys, the bowels, &c. In fact, so sudden and apparent
is the influence of the different emotions upon the viscera
of the chest and abdomen, that Bichat, as well as other
eminent physiologists, was once led to draw the erro-
neous conclusion that these organs were actually the seat
of those emotions.
While it is undoubtedly true that some passions act
most obviously upon the heart, others on the respiration,
and some on the digestive organs, it has been clearly
proved that, so far from being limited to one particular
organ, a number of the organic viscera are almost in-
variably included within the influence of a strong emo-
tion. At the same time, such a close correspondence
exists between the mental or moral feelings and the
physical body, that the condition of the former may
either determine or be determined by that of the latter.
For example, indigestion may sometimes be the cause,
and sometimes the consequence of an irritable or un-
happy temper. Sour stomach may either occasion or
result from a sour disposition. To sweeten one is certain
to have a neutralising effect upon the other. It is, there-
fore, obvious that an unhealthy mental state imparts an
unhealthy influence to the bodily organism, and, if such
evidence were needed, scores of historical facts might be
cited to establish the truth of this theory.
The pleasurable passions — love, hope, friendship, pride,
joy, &c. — may, if properly experienced, produce an expan-
sion of vital action, and yet even these emotions, if felt
THE CAUSES OF DEAl^U 101
intemperately, exert a very contrary effect. The expres-
sion that "joy kills" has a basis in fact, for, as Haller says,
in his Psyclwlugy, " Excessive and sudden joy often kills,
by increasing the motion of the blood, and exciting a
true apoplexy." It is said that Pope Leo X. died from
the effect of extravagant joy at the triumph of his party
against the French ; and Dr. Good, in his Study of Medicine,
cites the case of a clergyman who, at a time when his
income was very limited, received the unexpected tidings
that some property had been bequeathed to him. " He
arrived in London in great agitation ; and, entering his
own door, dropped down in a fit of apoplexy, from which
he never entirely recovered."
If such facts are true in regard to the pleasurable pas-
sions, there is much more danger of injurious results when
the emotions are of a painful character. To quote Dr.
Sweetser again : —
" The painful passions act immediately upon the nervous system,
directly depressing, disordering, expanding, and sometimes even
annihilating its energies. . . . Although the general effect of the
painful emotions is to induce a contraction or concentration, and
a depression of the actions of life, yet, in their exaggerated forms,
they are sometimes followed by a transient excitement, reaction,
or vital expansion, when their operation, becoming more diffused,
is necessarily weakened in relation to any individual organ.
Under such circumstances, the oppression of the heart and lungs
is in a measure removed, and the circulation and respiration go
on with more freedom. Hence it is that when anger and grief
explode . . . their consequences are much less to be dreaded than
when they are deep, still, and speechless, since here their force is
most concentrated."
Thus, in extreme paroxysms of anger, the physical
phenomena are most apparent. The face becomes dis-
torted and repulsive, the eyes sparkling with brutal fury.
All the vital actions are oppressed, and often are nearly
102 DEATH
overwhelmed. The blood retreats from the surface ;
tremors and agitations appear in the limbs, or perhaps
in the entire body, and there is frequently indication of
excessive nervous affections, sometimes giving place to
sobbing and hysteria, and sometimes to convulsions and
spasms. The action of the heart is also affected, becom-
ing feeble, laboured, irregular, and even painful. The
effect upon the respiration is shown in the short, rapid,
and difficult breathing, which produces a feeling of
suffocation, a tightness that is felt in the whole chest,
and that occasionally extends to the throat, choking,
and otherwise interfering with the power of speech. If
not noticed at the moment of anger, the influence of
this passion almost invariably proceeds to the abdomen,
as indicated by the subsequent distress appearing in the
region of the stomach, this being due to the disturbance
of the stomach, liver, and bowels.
Almost innumerable instances are known in which
fainting has resulted from violent anger, and in many
cases life itself has paid the price of this paroxysm of
the emotions. According to John Hunter, the eminent
physiologist, death from anger is as absolute as that
caused by lightning. In such cases, the muscles remain
flaccid and the blood dissolves in its vessels. As a
result the body passes rapidly into putrefaction.
Dr. Hunter himself is one of the historical victims of
anger. Though a man of extraordinary genius — as all
medical men know — he was subject to violent passions
which he was never able to control. When engaged one
day in an unpleasant altercation with his colleagues,
some of whom had peremptorily contradicted him, he
became too angry to continue speaking, and, hurrying
into an adjoining room, instantly fell dead. The direct
cause of his death was, of course, the affection of the
heart from which he had long been a sufferer, but there
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 103
can be no question but that the final stroke was super-
induced by anger.
Tourtelle, the French physician, asserted that he had
" seen two women perish — one in convulsions at the
end of six hours, and the other suffocated in two days
— from giving themselves up to transports of fury."
Anger destroys the appetite and interferes with the
functions of digestion, and Dr. Beaumont, who was once
able to look into the human stomach through the
opening caused by a fistula, discovered that anger or
other severe mental emotion, " would sometimes cause
its inner, or mucous, coat to become morbidly red, dry,
and irritable, occasioning at the same time a temporary
fit of indigestion."
The unpleasant dryness of the throat caused by anger
— a condition which occasions the frequent swallowing
action of the muscles — is due to the inspissation of the
saliva ; and some authorities have even gone so far as
to assert that such an exhibition of emotion may cause
the fluid of the mouth to acquire poisonous qualities
" capable of provoking convulsions, and even madness,
in those bitten by a person so agitated." ^
It is well known that haemorrhages from various parts
of the body — the nose, lungs, and stomach — as well as
inflammations of difterent organs, may be produced by
severe attacks of anger; and Dr. Sweetser asserts that
he himself has "now and then met with instances of
erysipelatous inflammation about the face and neck,
induced by paroxysms of passion."
Irritability and moroseness of temper, when long
continued, may also cause inflammatory and nervous
disorders, and it is well known to physicians and
surgeons that the fretful and fractious patient recovers
less promptly, and is more exposed to relapses, than he
^ Broussais' Psycholoyy.
104 DEATH
who is possessed with a quiet resignation to existing
conditions. Wounds that have healed have even been
known to break out afresh as the effect of unfavourable
mental conditions.
Fear, like anger, has its degrees ; and its effect upon
the health depends upon its intensity. When extreme,
however, the results are often astonishing. Thus, in
acute fear, the respiration becomes immediately and
most strikingly affected. At the first impulse, a sudden
inspiration occurs, OAving to a spasmodic contraction of
the diaphragm, and this is immediately followed by
an incomplete respiration, cut short apparently by an
internal spasm — either of the throat, windpipe, or lungs.
The effect upon the respiration is to make the breath
short, rapid, and tremulous. The voice trembles, and,
because of the diminution of secretions of the mouth
and throat, becomes thick and unnatural. At times,
even speechlessness may follow.
Naturally the heart suffers from the effect of such
an acute sensation. Being oppressed, or constricted, it
flutters or palpitates, and in other respects is visibly
agitated. Consequently, the pulse also becomes irregular.
The viscera of the abdomen experience disagreeable
effects from the sensation of fear, and these frequently
show themselves in spasmodic contractions, or in a
morbid increase of secretions. Occasionally vomiting,
but more frequently a somewhat involuntary diarrhoea,
occurs. The urine also, though increased in quantity,
becomes pale and limpid, and there is an urgent if not
absolutely irresistible desire to void it frequently. These
latter symptoms, it may be added, are frequently shown
in other forms of serious attack upon the nerve force.
In time of fear, the blood leaves the surface so
perceptibly that the face becomes pallid, while the
skin, sometimes in all parts of the body, grows cold
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 105
and rough, or, as we commonly say, like " goose-ficsh."
Frequently this apparent chill breaks forth in a cold
sweat on the forehead, and often in other parts of the
body as well. Even the hair of the head may become
elevated, and the general tremor or shuddering, that
attacks the limbs, proceeds to the teeth, producing a
chattering sound very similar to that which is exhibited
under conditions of extreme cold, or in a paroxysm of
fever. As in the case of anger, fear may induce most
painful and unnatural contortions of the countenance,
with convulsive sobbing and, in the case of women
especially, tears; or, under extremely violent emotions,
hysteria. Even in men, how^ever, the depressing effects
of fear sometimes include the entire chest and upper
part of the abdomen within their field of influence,
and if the sense of constriction becomes too agonising,
syncope and sometimes death itself may follow. Just
as a sudden though brief attack of anger may arrest
digestion and disarrange the entire nervous organism
for a whole day, so fear exerts a most dangerous effect
upon the nerves and muscles, sometimes even acting as
a sudden cathartic.
If the expression, " frightened to death," is no idle
jest therefore — and there is no lack of examples to
prove that hundreds of persons have been literally
frightened out of existence — this fear, when severe, but
less pronounced, may exert a distinctly contrary effect.
Thus, while convulsions, epilepsies, and even insanity,
have resulted from this emotion, these, as well as many
other affections, have been immediately suspended or
entirely removed, by a strong expression of this feeling.
It sometimes surprises us to note how quickly a toothache
stops when we enter the dentist's rooms, but we seldom
analyse the mental process carefully enough to deter-
mine that it is the fear of the greater pain of extraction
106 DEATH
that makes the minor nervous affection less. What is
true in regard to the toothache also applies to many
other ills, including sea-sickness, hypochondria, &c.
The horror which we feel in the presence of insects,
reptiles, and other creatures known to be entirely harm-
less, is but another form of fear, and its effect upon the
physical organism is almost as distinctly pronounced.
Thus, there is the same sudden paleness and coldness ;
the contraction of the skin and elevation of the hair ;
the chills and rigors of the body ; the panting and
oppression of heiirt and lungs. When greatly aggra-
vated, the conditions of deadly fear — the convulsions,
epilepsy, and even instant death — are realised. Thus,
Broussais refers to the case of a woman who, on feeling
a living frog that had been dropped into the bosom of
her dress, was seized with profuse bleeding from the
lungs, and survived but a few minutes.
Such antipathies may be innate, like the terror that
so many individuals feel at the sight of mice ; and yet
grown persons as well as children have been thrown
into convulsions, and have even derived serious nervous
injury, by being subjected to the immediate influence of
objects that have been a source of repugnance or horror
to them.
Grief, whatever its cause, is essentially a mental pain ;
and it is inevitably productive of physical phenomena.
In its simplest forms, or when produced by the loss of
kindred, friends, property, or other things that are
generally deemed desirable, it is usually subdued by the
healing balm of time ; but when, as often happens, it is
complicated with some one of the malignant emotions
of the heart — hatred, revenge, envy, jealousy, &c. — the
mental pain is accentuated, and the deleterious effect is
increased. As we cannot escape this suffering when we
give way to the sentiments of envy or revenge, we
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 107
punish ourselves by our hatred far more than we injure
the object of these vicious feeUngs.
When grief is acute, it is usually transient in char-
acter. When it becomes chronic, it develops into melan-
cholia. In its acute stage its symptoms somewhat
resemble those of anger, for all passions founded on pain
are closely related as to their eftect upon the bodily
functions. For example, there is the same agonising
feeling of impending suffocation ; the sense of oppression
and stricture at the heart and luniks. The entire chest
feels as though tightly bound, and the demand for au-
to alleviate this oppression is indicated by the long-drawn
or protracted inspirations. The greatest distress, how-
ever, is experienced in the heart, and, in moments of
thrilling distress, this heart- agony becomes so great, that
it is not uncommon for its victims to die — broken-
hearted.
As in cases of anger, or fear, the influence of the
emotion of grief also extends to the throat and mouth ;
it affects the circulation, weakening the pulse perceptibly,
and, finally, proceeds to the organs of the abdomen, being
experienced especially in the pit of the stomach. The
appetite fails ; the powers of digestion are impaired, or
suspended, and the throat becomes so contracted that
it is impossible for the victim to swallow food without
frequent draughts of liquor to " wash down " every
mouthful.
Those exhibitions of bodily anguish known as " sob-
bing," or " crying," represent one of the greatest safeguards
in moments of grief. Thus, death from grief is said to
be unknown in cases where the sorrow has been attended
by copious weeping, for the tears relieve the oppression
of the head and lungs, forming a sort of natural crisis
to the paroxysm, just as sweating is the crisis to the
paroxysm of fever.
108 DEATH
Insanity and monomania, as well as many other nervous
affections, not uncommonly follow in the wake of grief,
just as they attend upon the emotions that we may term
anxiety. In other words, worry also kills through its
continued depressing effect upon the heart and other
vital functions. Palsy, chronic inflammation, dyspepsia,
are some of the various ills that may be induced by the
protracted operation of the sentiments known as sorrow,
anxiety, or worry, and from any of these disorders man
may die.
As in fear, the depressing effect of sorrow or worry
interferes with the restorative processes of nature. As
Dr. Sweetser says : —
'* When sorrow becomes settled and obstinate the whole economy
experiences its baneful effects. Thus, the circulation languishes,
nutrition becomes imperfect, perspiration is lessened, and the
animal temperature is sustained with difficulty ; the extremities
being in a special manner liable to suffer from cold. The skin
grows pale and contracted, the eye loses its wonted animation,
deep lines — indicative of the distress within — mark the coun-
tenance, and the hair soon begins to whiten or fall out. The
effect of the painful passions in depriving the hairs of their colour-
ing matter, is many times most astonishing. Bichat states that
he has known five or six instances where, under the oppression
of grief, the hair has lost its colour in less than eight days. And
he further adds that the hair of a person of his acquaintance became
almost entirely white in the course of a single night, upon the
receipt of melancholy intelligence. . . . The nervous system, sub-
jected to the depressing influences to which I have referred (in-
cluding the accompanying affliction of lost sleep), soon becomes
shattered, and, in the end, all the energies, both of mind and
body, sink under the afflictive burden."
Although seldom so dangerous in its effects, the sense
of humiliation or shame is scarcely less pronounced in
its physical phenomena. While not frequently a source
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 109
of ill-health, being too transient an emotion to disturb
the bodily functions so seriously, under its severe action
headaches, indigestions, and other nervous agitations
occur, and even insanity and death have succeeded as the
result of greatly aggravated conditions. The records of
insane asylums show that injured self-love, which is one
form that shame assumes, has been the cause of many
mental derangements, while murder and other crimes may
readily be traced to such emotions. When the feelings of
humiliation are exceptionally extreme, the mind suffers ter-
rible anguish, and, of necessity, the physical health becomes
seriously endangered. It is under such a mental strain
that the crime of suicide is sometimes committed, but
even when the victim does not deliberately take his own
life to escape the necessity of facing the caustic comments
of the world under such painful vicissitudes, the very
shame itself may be productive of bodily derangements
that will make death certain.
3. Death by Poisoning.
It is customary to classify poisons as irritant, corrosive,
or neurotic, according to their effect upon the system.
At the same time, certain poisons are so complicated in
their action upon the human organism, that one seems
to present the characteristics of another. Thus there
are some irritant poisons that exert a corrosive effect,
although many do not, and, under certain conditions,
every corrosive poison may act as an irritant.
Most irritant poisons belong to the mineral kingdom
— being both metallic and non-metallic — although the
vegetable kingdom supplies a few, while some of the gases
also come within the province of irritants. Neurotic
poisons, according to Taylor, " act upon the nervous
system. Either immediately, or some time after, the
110 DEATH
poison has been swallowed, the patient suffers from head-
ache, giddiness, numbness, paralysis, stupor, and, in some
instances, convulsions." " But," as Griffiths says {Police
and Crime, Yo\. ii. 159-60): —
" The symptoms of all kinds of poisons intermingle, and the
irritants may produce the same as the neurotics, and some — those
especially which are derived from the vegetable kingdom — have
a compound action. But one and all are defined in legal medicine
as substances which, when absorbed into the blood, are capable
of seriously affecting health or of destroying life."
To again quote the same authority : —
"First among the irritants we may take sulphuric acid, or oil
of vitriol, a poison often used in suicide, and in the form of vitriol-
throwing to do injury without actually causing death. Nitric acid
is the aqua fortis of the Middle Ages, often mentioned in the annals
of poisoning. With nitric acid may be classed hydrochloric or
muriatic acid, which was given by a servant at Taunton to her
mistress in beer. Oxalic acid is a vegetable acid, generally very
rapid in its action, and leaving, as a rule, little trace. Tartaric
acid and acetic acid, although irritants in large quantities, are
not commonly classed with poisons."
Cases of poisoning by phosphorus, an irritant poison,
have been known for long in England, but are more
common in France, the substance having generally been
obtained from the tips of common lucifer matches. A
girl at Norwich put some compound of phosphorus used
for vermin-killing into the family teapot with murderous
intent, but when hot water was poured upon the leaves
the smell betrayed the poison. A woman put some phos-
phorus into soup she gave her husband, who began to
eat it in the dark, when the luminosity of the liquid
showed something was wrong.
Arsenic is the best known of the metallic irritants.
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 111
There are so many preparations of it, that it is easily
obtained; it is not difficult to give, for it imparts no
particular flavour to food. The symptoms vary; they
are shown within eight hours, and sometimes not for five
or six days. This poison may be administered in small
quantities, and spread over some length of time, so as
to constitute chronic poisoning.
Arsenic is sometimes called " the fool's poison," be-
cause it so generally betrays its presence in the human
body, even after long periods have elapsed. The
body of Alice Hewitt — poisoned by her daughter — was
exhumed after eleven weeks, and 154 grains of solid
arsenic were found in her intestines alone. Other still
more remarkable cases are recorded — one in which
the poison was found in children after eight years'
burial ; a second case is quoted where twelve years had
elapsed, and a third fourteen years. Arsenic has also
the inconvenient action (from the murderer's point of
view) of preserving the body and resisting decomposition.
This has been exhibited for months, nay, years, after
interment. It was seen to a marvellous degree in the case
of Pel's Avife, and in the Guestling poisoning. And yet
again in St. Celens (France), where ten bodies were
exhumed and found well preserved. Zinc chloride is
another powerful preservative ; it retards putrefaction
by combining with the tissues. Palmer's wife was
exhumed after twelve months' burial, and all organs
had been preserved by the antimony with which she
had been poisoned. Chloride of lime had the same
effect in the case of Harriet Lane.^
The facility with which arsenic or some of its com-
pounds can be purchased has no doubt multiplied its
felonious use : this, and the plausible excuse so generally
put forward when buying it, that it is to kill rats and
^ For details of quoted cases see Griffiths, Police and CriuK^ 1891>.
112 DEATH
other vermin — an excuse as old as Chaucer. Lady
Fowlis, when indicted for witchcraft and poisoning in
1590, was accused of giving "eight shilUngs money to
a person for buying rateoun poison."
Tartar emetic is a substance with an evil reputation
in the chronicles of poisoning. Two famous cases are
on record, although both are mysteries to this day —
surrounded with such strong doubts that they should,
perhaps, be removed from the records of crime.
Dr. Smith Ely Jelliffe, writing in the Encydopcedia
Americana, admits that a strictly scientific definition of
the word " poison " cannot be given.
" In general it is said," lie adds, " that a poison is any sub-
stance which brings about a change in the molecular composition
of an organ, or organs, causing its functions to depart very dis-
tinctly from the normal. But what grade of molecular disturbance
is necessary to make a substance a poison, and how far from the
normal must be the functional alteration, it is impossible to
say.
"It is believed that for practically all forms of poison a distinct
alteration in the character of the cells of the body takes place, as
well as a change in the chemical composition of the poisonous
substance. ... It is rarely that the reaction between the body-
cell and the poison is purely of a physical nature, yet this very
frequently happens in many poisons that act on the blood. By
some of the poisons — the anilines, for example — the blood under-
goes changes, not so much due to new chemical compounds formed
as in the physical changes in the tension of the blood serum and
the blood corpuscles, whereby the blood-colouring matters stream
out into the plasma, and the oxygen-carrying function of the blood
is lost. Similar types of poisoning result from some of the metals,
and the poison of the cholera organism is thought to act in a like
manner. In other poisons there is a direct union of the ions of
the poison with some constituents in the cells of the body, making
new chemical compounds, and thus interfering with the molecular
activities of the cells."
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 113
The following is a summary of some of the most
common types of poisoning : —
Poisoning by the mineral acids — nitric, sulphuric,
hydrochloric — is not uncommon. In these there is a
marked caustic action, with intense burning pain when
taken by the mouth. The lips are stained yellow, black,
or white respectively, according to the poison taken.
There is nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, with all the
symptoms of an intense gastro-enteritis, with collapse,
pale face, cold sweating extremities, small, feeble pulse,
rapid respiration ; and the patient dies in intense
agony.
Poisoning by alkalies is infrequent. Occasionally
sodium hydrate, or potassium hydrate, is swallowed.
Lime is also taken by accident ; so (rarely) is ammonia.
The symptoms are much like those of poisoning by the
mineral acids, except that there are no marked dis-
colorations. The halogen compounds are very markedly
poisonous as gases, notably chlorine, bromine, fluorine ;
and the iodides and bromides cause forms of chronic
poisoning.
The heavy metals as such are not poisonous, but their
soluble compounds are all poisonous. They vary widely,
however, in strength. In order, from the strongest to
the weakest, they are caustic or astringent. In all the
symptoms are analogous ; there is severe gastro-enteritis,
with symptoms of collapse. According to the solubility
or insolubility of the poison, the burning is more or
less deep.
Arsenic and phosphorus are poisons that give very
similar symptoms : acute gastro-enteritis, with nausea,
vomiting, purging; then some grade of apparent re-
covery, to be followed after a few days with a recrudes-
cence of the gastro-enteritis and the development of
secondary blood-vessel changes, which may cause minute
H
114 DEATH
haemorrhages in any part of the body. Then follow fatty
degeneration and death.
Practically all of the amesthetics and hypnotics belong
to the alcohol group, and produce allied symptoms.
Phenols form a distinct group, in which carbolic acid
may be taken as a type. This causes gastro-enteritis,
with severe pain, white scar of lips and throat, buzzing,
dizziness, smoky to blackish urine, pale, bluish face,
weak heart, quick breathing, coma, and sometimes
convulsions.
Another large group of poisons, the anihnes, include
many of the more modern drugs, such as acetanilid.
Closely alUed are different aniline dyes ; also phenacetin,
antipyrin, &c. In these the characteristic signs of
poisoning are somewhat similar to those seen in the
phenol group, but in the more pronounced ones of this
series the main changes occur in the blood. There is
blueness of the skin and lips, difficulty in breathing,
sometimes pinkish to purplish urine, rapid and feeble
heart action.
Alkaloidal poisons are numerous. The commonest
forms of poisoning from these — the most powerful
poisons — are morphine (opium, laudanum, paregoric),
strychnine (nux vomica), atropine (belladonna), cocaine
(coca), aconitine (aconite), and nicotine (tobacco). In
acute cases of opium poisoning the classical symptoms
are drowsiness, coma, small pin-point pupils, loss of pain,
slow breathing (6 to 8 to a minute), moist skin, dry
mouth, rousing with more or less active consciousness, and
quick relapse. Strychnine poisoning causes twitching of
muscles, cramps, irregular muscular movements, con-
vulsions at slightest jar or touch, fixation of muscles
of breathing, with cyanosis. Belladonna poisoning shows
wide-awake, restless consciousness, sometimes active, busy,
delirium ; dry mouth, skin hot and flushed, pupils widely
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 115
dilated aud paralysed to light and accommodation ; rapid,
feeble heart, and rapid respiration.
Another group of poisons — the glycosides — is charac-
terised by a great similarity in action. Many of these
are used in medicines, and some were used on arrow-
points by wild natives. This group contains digitalin
(digitalis), strophanthin (strophanthus), convallarin (lily-
of-the- valley), bryonin (bryonia), apocynin (dogbane),
oleandrin (oleander), scillain (squills), &c. They are all
heart poisons. They first quicken the heart, then slow
and regulate it, hence their usefulness in many heart
diseases ; but in overdoses they paralyse the heart.
Toxic albumins form a group of special character, and
all are very violent. Some are of vegetable and others
of animal origin. The most important are abrin (in
jequirity seeds), ricin (from the seed- coats of the castor-
oil bean), phallin (in poisonous mushrooms), rattlesnake
poison, cobra poison, heloderma, and the poison of
lizards, &c.
4. Death by Feeezing.
Let us now examine a few of the numerous cases
that have been reported in which individuals have
frozen to death — and almost died, but afterwards
recovered to tell of their sensations. We have ob-
jective evidence in the former case ; subjective in the
latter ; and needless to say, the latter is by far the
more valuable. The objective indications of freezing
are surely too well known to need re-statement — the
whitening and deadening of the parts; the numbness
and stupor which gradually creep over the body — all
this can be observed by an outsider. But let us turn
to the subjective or interior state, meanwhile, and see in
what that consists. A few summarised cases will do for
our present purposes : —
116 DEATH
" The process of dying, arising from freezing and the con-
sequent benumbed feelings and sleepy sensations, is undoubtedly
painless. When a person feels exceedingly drowsy, he dislikes to
be disturbed, and, when freezing, he seems to be oblivious to the
great dangers that threaten him. This, as a natural consequence,
arises from the weakness of the will — however that may be caused
— and a disposition to quietly submit to the domineering actions
of the feelings. Sleepiness caused by freezing is enervating ; the
brain ceases to be stimulated in the proper manner, and vague
dreams, accompanied with strange illusions, succeed the active
energies and thoughtfulness of the mind. In extreme cold, the
physical system is outside of its sphere of normal healthy element,
the same as it would be if thrust into water, in a well where gas
would stifle it, or in an oven, where it would gradually roast. . . .
Freezing may be denominated the ' sleep of death,' for a sleep, calm
and peaceful, precedes the final dissolution, and the awakening
can only be in that region towards which all are tending. Of
course such a death, after the first tingling sensations have quietly
passed away, must be painless. Few, however, seek that method
to commit suicide. The first exposure to the cold is very dis-
agreeable, and those intent on self-murder hesitate before they
expose themselves to its initiatory influence — hence they oftener
use the pistol, or poison, or jump into the water."
Another, narrating the sensations while " dying," thus
describes them : —
''Thousands of coloured lights danced before her eyes ; ^ the roar
of a thousand cannon was sounding in her ears, and her feet
tingled as if a million needle-points were sticking into them as she
walked. Then a feeling of drowsiness came over her. A delight-
ful feeling of lassitude ensued — a freedom from all earthly care
and woe. Her babe was warm and light as a feather in her arms.
The air was redolent with the breath of spring. A delightful
melody resounded in her ears. She sank to rest on downy pillows,
with the many coloured lights dancing before her in resplendent
beauty, and knew nothing more until she was brought to her senses."
It is related in the third person.
1
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 117
Still another writes : —
" The bitter cold does not chill and shake a person, as in damper
climates. It stealthily creeps within all defences, and nips at the
bone without warning. Riding along with busy thoughts, a quiet,
pleasurable drowsiness takes possession of the body and mind, the
senses grow indistinct, the thoughts wander, weird fancies come
trooping about with fantastic forms, the memory fails, and, in a
confused dream of wife and home, the soul steps out into oblivion
without a pang or a regret."
There are several distinguishing marks between rigor
mortis and a body that has been frozen to death. In
cadaveric rigidity the skin is soft and pliant ; in the
frozen body it is not. In cadaveric rigidity, when we
move the limbs there is no sound ; but in frozen bodies
a crackling sound is emitted.
5. Death by Starvation.
The length of time it is possible to live without
food varies greatly in warm and cold-blooded animals.
Chossat found that in different warm-blooded animals
death resulted when the body had lost about 40 per
cent, of its normal weight. He found that in ani-
mals undergoing starvation the symptoms observed
during the first half or two-thirds of the period are
those of calmness and quietness ; the temperature then
becoming elevated, restlessness and agitation prevail ;
and when life is terminated by the rapid fall of the
temperature, stupor supervenes. There can be no doubt
that individuals can subsist without food far longer than
is usually supposed — many cases of sixty-day fasts, and
even of longer duration, being recorded from time to
time in various medical works. These cases have been
studied from the point of view of starvation pure and
118 DEATH
simple ; and, when the individual is normal at the time
of commencing such a starving process, there can be no
doubt that the effects noted would be such as are
mdicative of harmful results to the organism.
Starvation only occurs, as a matter of fact, after a
much longer time than is generally supposed. A man
may exist for two or even three months without food,
under certain conditions ; and, during the first part of
that time, even receive benefit from the abstinence. That
is while fasting, however, and not during the period of
starvation. The two processes are very different, as one
of us has elsewhere tried to show at considerable length.
(See Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, p. 564.) When
fasting ends, starvation begins, and that is a very different
thing. Then the tissues shrink, the body wastes, and
the mind becomes impaired. The moral faculties also
become blunted, there is good reason to believe ; cases
of cannibalism among civilised people would seem to
indicate this. Dr. N. E. Davies, writing some years ago
on this question in the Popular Scie7ice Monthly, said : —
" Reasoning by analogy, we find that, in many cases of bodily
disease, the state of the mind is the first indicator of the mischief
going on in the system. Take even such a simple thing as in-
digestion, which, as every one must know, is only a manifestation
of a deranged stomach, and what do we find ? That the lowness
of spirits induced by the affection may vary from slight dejection
and ill-humour to the most extreme melancholy, sometimes induc-
ing even a disposition to suicide. The sufferer misconceives every
act of friendship, and exaggerates slight ailments into heavy
grievances. So in starvation, the power of reason seems paralysed,
and the intellectual faculty dazed really before the functions of the
body suffer, or even the wasting of its tissues becomes extreme.
Such being the case, the unfortunate individual is not accountable
for his actions, even if they be criminal in character, long before
death puts an end to his sufferings."
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 119
6. Death by Asphyxia and Drowning.
In asphyxia there is more or less complete loss
of consciousness, because of imperfect oxidation of
the blood. The symptoms may be developed rapidly
or slowly. In sudden occlusion of the air passages,
such as is caused by a foreign body in the larynx, or
compression of the throat, as in hanging, there is
usually a quiet period of from twenty to thirty seconds,
after which respiratory movements both of inspiration
and of expiration follow. These gradually increase in
frequency and depth until, in about a minute, powerful
expiratory convulsions occur; convulsive movements of
inspiration are also produced, but these are usually
milder in character. A period of exhaustion sets in, the
respiratory movements become slower and more irregular,
and gradually cease. During this period the face has
become pallid, and then deeply cyanosed and flushed, the
lips blue to purple, and the body temperature, at first
increased, gradually diminishes. The blood-pressure is
at first increased, and then falls gradually to zero. Un-
consciousness develops about a minute after the occlusion,
although there is great individual variation ; the sphincters
relax and the urine and faeces are passed. There is a
loss of muscle tone, and the reflexes are abolished. In
asphyxia both lack of oxygen and increase of carbonic
acid gas in the blood are important factors.
Among the most important phenomena that are to be
observed are the following : — The cooling of the body is
generally slower in all forms of death from asphyxia.
Then in asphyxia the blood is always very fluid, and few
clots are found in the heart or great vessels. Owing to
this fluidity, hypostasis is well marked. The blood is
generally very dark in colour. The next point is the
120 DEATH
congested condition of the lungs. Small patches appear
at the root of the lungs. Tardieu considers them dis-
tinctive of suffocation, but in this he is probably too
dof^^matic.
In strangulation we have the circulation to and from
the brain impeded. The face is commonly pale and
placid ; prominent eyes are not uncommon. Protrusion
of the tongue appears frequently ; the hands are often
clenched.
"Death by asphyxia begins at the lungs, almost simultaneously
paralysing the muscles of the body. The victim is deprived of the
power of action, while still retaining consciousness. Not even an
outcry is possible, and death approaches inch by inch — relentlessly
entangling the agonised victim in its skeins, from which there is
no escape, unless timely help arrives before the last stage in the
passive struggle. While still conscious, the brain, in its attempts
to break the chains of death, pictures the past and present in vivid
colours, flashing like lightning over the memory, which still has
a conception that the end is coming."
This picture-forming faculty of the mind at the
moment of death is supposed to be most common in
cases of drowning. The past will come up before the
mind with marvellous rapidity and detail, at such times ;
and the latter would seem to know no limitations of
time or space. This is a most significant fact, to which
we shall recur in Part III. of the present work. Mean-
while, it may be said that in all such cases, of death from
strangulation, asphyxia, &c., the blood becomes nearly
hlack, by reason of its passing through the lungs several
times without aeration. When death results from the
taking of opium, and certain other drugs, it is said
that consciousness of the entire body is lost before the
senses or intellect become dulled ; but this seems to us
very doubtful.
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 121
7. Death from Shock.
It is asserted that, in many cases of this character,
the patient may be brought back to life by careful
and persistent treatment — on the line of " first aid
to the injured." Kesuscitation may be effected, it is
claimed, just as in cases of drowning, in many instances.
Shock of this character may produce " death " in either
one of three ways : First, by producing destructive tissue
changes, when death is absolute ; second, by producing
sudden arrest of the respiratory and heart muscles through
excitement of the nerve centres, when death is only ap-
parent — in other words, animation is merely suspended ;
or, third, by a temporary exhaustion of nerve force — the
result of a violent, sudden, and excessive expenditure
of it. The subject may be aroused from this syncope
if efforts at resuscitation are not too long delayed. In
cases of this character, the oxygen treatment is some-
times very efficacious. Electricity or even cold water
may be applied with great success in all cases of " shock."
The symptoms of shock vary greatly according to the
type of cause and the individuality of the patient. Some-
times the symptoms begin at once ; under other circum-
stances the alleged results may be delayed for a long
period. Surgical shock is, perhaps, one of the most
severe. The symptoms of all forms of shock are very
similar. The face usually becomes blanched and pale,
the body becomes cold, and is covered with a clammy
perspiration ; the hands and feet usually become icy, the
brain seems to be in a whirl, consciousness is lost, or
much clouded. The pulse is usually quickened; the
eyes sunken and listless.
All such cases bring before us very forcibly the pos-
sibility of bodily resuscitation. Various devices have
122 DEATH
been employed to this end, some of which have been
mentioned above ; and there are yet others — artificial
bellows, &c., and similar moans — besides the well-known
methods classed under " first aid to the injured." In-
jections of certain saline solutions into the veins have
sometimes been accompanied with remarkable results.
Perhaps the most powerful of all these measures, however,
is cardiac massage. It has been asserted that, by this
means, a heart has been made to beat after having
stopped for several minutes — thirty, and even longer,
according to some reports ! A long series of experiments
should be conducted along these lines, and the results
made public. So far as we know, no experiments have
ever been made in which the efficacy of suggestion —
hypnotic or other — has been tried, at the moment of
death.
(We must except Poe's tale, '' The Case of M. Valdemar "
— a work of pure fiction, as Poe afterwards admitted.)
8. Death by Electricity and Lightning.
While it might almost be said that the body died first
in cases of freezing, and that consciousness was only ex-
tinguished slowly at the end, precisely the reverse of this
is present in all cases of electrocution, or death by elec-
tricity. In such cases, the consciousness is certainly
obliterated at once, but the cell-life of the body as certainly
persists for a long time after the electrocution takes place
and the body ultimately putrefies, as in other cases. In
instances of freezing, however, it is very different. Here
the death of the body might be said to take place first !
But these are questions that require much investigation
in order to settle them satisfactorily.
It has been asserted that a large proportion of cases
of electrocution might be resuscitated if the proper
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 123
measures were adopted at once. This may be very
true in certain instances, but it is certainly not true
in the great majority of cases, as electrocution is
performed to-day. A most remarkable instance is
reported, however, from Pittsfield, Mass., where, on
23rd October 1894, James E. Cutter, working in the
testing-room of the Stanley Electrical Manufacturing
Company, accidentally received 4600 volts of electricity,
and was afterwards resuscitated by two fellow electri-
cians, who treated him in the same manner as one
would be treated who had become unconscious through
drownino'. At the end of seven minutes he recovered.
Writing of the incident, he afterwards said : —
*' For a brief instant there was a sensation as if I were being
drawn downwards by the arms, and then everything became blank.
For several minutes there was no sign of life. . . . Then slowly I
began to regain consciousness and to make incoherent remarks
about the accident. Half-an-hour afterward I could recall every
incident before and after the seven minutes' interval, which was a
total and painless blank. The accident occurred about ten o'clock
in the morning. For the remainder of the day I was quiet, but
on the following day I was around as usual. I have experienced
no ill effects other than the scars from the burns, one of which
went to the bone."
As is well known, one of the most important safe-
guards of the human body against the passage of
electrical currents through it is its high degree of
resistance. This degree of resistance, however, is sub-
ject to a considerable amount of variation. If the
skin is dry, the resistance is from five to twenty times
as great as when the skin is wet. From what is known
of the amount of electrical current necessary to cause
death in man, it is probable that 1600 volts of electro-
motive force of a continuous current is sufficient to bring
124 DEATH
about this end, and that an alternating current of half
this voltage would probably be fatal. In fact, the
general deduction has been drawn from the experi-
ments conducted in electrocution work at the Sing
Sing prison, that no human body can withstand an
alternating current of 1500 volts, and 300 has pro-
duced death, while for the continuous current it may
be necessary to pass 3000 volts, in order to bring
about fatal results.
The number of deaths from lightning is larger than
would be ordinarily supposed. The injuries produced
by it often simulate external violence. The clothes are
frequently torn off the body, and part of the clothes or
the bodies themselves thrown great distances. Again,
we may find metallic things about the body fused, and
any iron thing is rendered magnetic. Marks like prints
of trees or foliage may occasionally be found on the
body after it has been struck, as though photographed
upon it. This is an undoubted fact. Many of these
caprices of lightning are very striking. At one time
a stroke of lightning set fire to a man, and he blazed
like a sheaf of straw; at another it reduced a pair
of hands to ashes, leaving the gloves intact; it fused
the links of an iron chain as the fire of a forge would
do ; and, on the other hand, it has killed a huntsman
without discharging the gun which he held in his hand ;
it has melted an earring without burning the skin; it
has consumed a person's clothing without doing him the
slightest injury, or perhaps only destroyed his shoes or
his hat; it has gilded the pieces of silver in a pocket-
book by electro-plating from one compartment to another
without the owner being aware of it ; it has demolished
a wall six or eight feet thick in a moment, or burned a
chateau a hundred years old, yet it has struck a powder
factory without causing an explosion.
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 125
Dr. John Knott, writing in the Neiv York Medical
Journal, says : —
"The materialistic nineteenth century does not fail to find an
explanation in what has since been recognised as return shock.
Every substance capable of conducting the mysterious electrical
fluid, on being placed in the vicinity of an electrified (" charged ")
body — and not connected with the same by a conducting medium
— becomes charged with electricity of the opposite kind, and to
approximately the same potential or electromotive force. In
accordance with the physical necessity which determines this
process, a man may stand within a moderate distance of a
thunder-cloud, which holds an enormous charge of, let us say,
positive electricity. In such position, his body necessarily becomes
charged with negative electricity, by the influence of what is
known as induction. While the state of equilibrium is maintained,
without any abrupt disturbance, he feels no ill effect or incon-
venience whatever. But when that cloud discharges its electricity
in an opposite direction, the inductive influence instantaneously
ceases ; the induced negative charge is (in the same instant)
neutralised by drawing an equal quantity of positive from the
"universal reservoir" of the earth. The shock corresponds in
intensity to that producible by the discharge by the cloud itself,
and passes through the nervous system with such effect that the
individual drops dead instantaneously, and without a single trace
of injury on or around his person."
In cases of direct contact with the lightning flash,
burns, more or less extensive and penetrating, have been
noticeable ; but as a rule there is nothing very remark-
able about them. One of the most characteristic signs
of the post-viortem conditions in cases of death by light-
ning is, that when the shock has been direct and very
powerful, the blood fails to coagulate after the normal
fashion. (After electrocution, imperfect coagulation of
blood has been noticed, giving rise to the supposition
that the subject is not really dead. Such, however,
does not follow, as we have seen.)
126 DEATH
9. Death by Spontaneous Combustion.
Dr. Trail, in his Hydropathic Encyclopcedia, vol. ii., pp.
179-80, says: —
"This is a condition of general combustibility of the body, pro-
duced by the use of alcoholic drinks. Examples of spontaneous
combustion, as having occurred in persons long accustomed to the
immoderate employment of spirituous liquors, are too well authenti-
cated to be longer doubted. The condition of the body liable to
this strange phenomenon may properly be called alcoholic diathesis.
In a majority of the cases recorded, females advanced in life are the
subjects of the malady. In some cases the self-consuming flame
has arisen without any obvious exciting cause ; but in others a fire,
a lighted candle, the heat of a stove, or an electric spark, has ignited
the inebriate body. It is a remarkable fact that the flame which
decomposes and reduces every fragment of the bodily structure to
ashes does not essentially injure the common furniture or bedding
with which it comes in contact ; and more marvellous still is the
statement that water, instead of quenching the fire, seems rather
to quicken it ! "
Again, Dr. Joel Shew, in his Family Physician, pp.
717-18, says of this condition: —
" That the living body becomes at times, in consequence of long-
continued intemperance in the use of alcoholic drinks, liable to
combustion, easily excited and spontaneous, is abundantly proved.
The condition, however, is a rare one. Some doubt the facts, but,
as a French writer has observed, ' it is not more surprising to meet
with such incineration than a discharge of saccharine urine or an
appearance of the bones softened to a state of jelly.'
" This condition of the system will appear more remarkable
when it is remembered that in all other states, whether of health
or disease, the body is with difficulty consumed by fire, even at a
high temperature. . . .
" This phenomenon seems to have taken place for the most part
in the night time, and when the sufi'erer has been alone. It has
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 127
usually been discovered either by the fetid, penetrating scent of
sooty films, which, as we are told, have spread to a considerable
distance ; or by the blue flame that hovers over the body ; or the
unnatural heat, which, however, is not very great. The patient in
all cases has likewise been found either dead or so far consumed
that life appeared to be extinct ; and in no instance has recovery
been known to take place after the appearance of this most singular
of all pathological states."
There is practically no belief in spontaneous combus-
tion in these clays, but it is admitted that in certain cases
the body may acquire preternatural combustibility. This
is founded on the assumed fact that much of the body
has been found consumed while surrounding objects
are not much consumed. In nearly all well-authenticated
cases there has been some source of fire near, probably
setting the clothes on fire, usually when the sufferer was
habitually drunk and so could not help himself.
It is of interest to note, in this connection, that a case
in which such phenomena occurred after death recently
came under our own observation. The patient was a
child who had died of acute indigestion caused by
eating a large quantity of chestnuts without properly
masticating them. After a day spent in the chestnut
grove the child returned home, and about three o'clock
in the morning died in terrible convulsions. As this
occurred in the country, the neighbours volunteered to
prepare the body for burial, and it was while the work of
making the shroud was in progress that it Avas discovered
that the entire body was, to all appearances, on fire.
The glow extended from the head to the feet, and could
not be extinguished, although it finally died out, dis-
appearing altogether. While the heat from the bluish
flames that enveloped the body was quite perceptible, it
was not sufficient to burn the body or even set the bed
on fire ; and yet, when the corpse was removed from the
128 DEATH
sheet on which it had been placed, it was found that the
latter was scorched in such a manner that the outlines
of the human figure could be plainly distinguished. In
this case, it will be noted, alcohol played no part in the
production of the phenomenon, but there can be no doubt
that the chemical changes were similar in character to
the cases previously cited.
Although we have the names of all persons concerned
in this case, and it has been thoroughly authenticated,
the identity of the family is withheld by request.
CHAPTER VII
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY
This subject is of great interest as possibly throwing
some light on the question of natural death. Certainly
it is a question that should receive the closest attention
from scientists. Of late years M. Metchnikoff, of Paris,
has given it much thought, and we shall have occasion
to mention his work immediately. First, however, a few
preliminary remarks.
There can be no doubt that the average length of life
of the human race should be far greater than it is now.
Every animal is supposed to live at least five times as
long as it takes to mature ; this is the all but invariable
rule in the animal world, and should hold good for man
also. He matures about twenty, let us say. According
to our rule, therefore, he should live to be a hundred, and
that without growing decrepit or without being regarded
as exceptionally old or long-lived ! That should be his
normal age limit. But, instead of this, what do we find ?
That the averaofe duration of human life is a fraction
over forty-two years; and, more than that, these forty-
two years are filled with grievous diseases and illnesses
of all sorts, instead of health and happiness. Something
is assuredly wrong somewhere, and one of us has attempted
to show at some length that the chief cause of all this
trouble lies in the perverted food-habits of the people.
But it is enough to say here that life is far shorter
in duration than it should be, and that practically every
129 J
130 DEATH
one dies prematurely. The great majority die either
from some disease or from some " sudden death," which,
as we have shown, is not really sudden death at all, but
the sudden culmination of an unobserved diseased condi-
tion. Of course, all such persons do not die naturally,
and it is probable that very few indeed do die what might
be called a " natural death." :^JPhysiology knows no reason
why the body should ever wear out, provided the organs
remain sound and health be maintained ! This may
be doubted, but it is a fact. Thus, Dr. William A.
Hammond stated that '' there is no physiological reason
at the present day why men should die." G. H. Lewes,
in his Physiology of Common Life, also said : " If the repair
were always identical with the waste, never varying in
the slightest degree, life Avould then only be terminated
by some accident, never by old age." Dr. Munro asserted
that " the human body as a machine is perfect ... it
is apparently intended to go on for ever." Dr. Gregory,
in his Medical Conspectus, wrote : " Such a machine as the
human frame, unless accidentally depraved or injured
by some external cause, would seem formed for perpe-
tuity." Other authors could be quoted to like effect.
Mr. Harry Gaze, indeed, devoted a whole book to this
question, and tried to show why we need never die if we
only made up our minds to stay alive ! ^ The arguments
against this position have been given elsewhere.^
At all events, it will be seen that the great majority
of persons die prematurely. The greatest number of
such premature deaths are from diseases of various kinds.
Such causes of death are analysed and classified in a
little book entitled Premature Death. Here we read that
nine- tenths at least of all deaths are premature ! (p. 5),
and this is doubtless short of the truth. All accidental
^ IIoxo to Live Forever.
2 Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, pp. 328-29.
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 131
deaths are, of course, also premature ; so that the margin
of cases of natural death is small indeed. It is amazing,
when we consider this fact, that so little attention is paid
to it either by doctors or the public. However, this is
not the place to consider that question.
On page 14 of the book just quoted, the author makes
the following assertion : —
" With the completion of manhood, diseases indicative of local
degenerations of tissue begin to be predominant, and, with each
successive stage of life, this predominance becomes more marked.
In old age the degenerative changes, which at earlier periods of
life are regarded as the signs of disease, now appear as the natural
consequences of decay, and death becomes a physiological, not a
pathological fact — as the termination of a natural life, not as the
premature close of a life cut short by disease." ^
Is this so ? We believe the truth to be entirely other-
wise. So far as we can see, there is no reason whatever
for supposing that the degenerative changes that take
place late in life are any more '' physiological " than they
are at its beginning. They are due to excesses in diet
and other unhygienic methods of living, and the body
should die as free from disease as it entered the world.
Then why does the body die at all ? The difficulty in
conceiving a real cause for natural death has been due to
the materialistic science of the past century ; and, when
the body is looked at from another standpoint than that
of a mere bundle of matter and force, we shall be enabled
^ Metchnikoff takes this view very strongl5^ He says, in part: — "It
has often been said that old age is a kind of disease. ... In fact the
great resemblance between these states is incontestable. . . . The theory
of old age and the hypotheses which are connected with it may be sum-
marised in a few words : The senile degeneration of our organism is entirely
similar to the lesions induced bj certain maladies of a microbic origin.
Old age, then, is an infectious chronic disease which is manifested by a
degeneration, or an enfeebling of the nobler elements, and by an excessive
activity of the macrophages." — Old Age, by Elie Metchnikoff. Smithsoniaii
Beport, pp. 542-48.
132 DEATH
to find out the cause of natural death easily enough.
However, we reserve that discussion for a later period ;
at present we arc engaged in a consideration of "old age"
and its phenomena.
Metchnikoff holds that, if death were due to old age,
it would be sought for and anxiously awaited (instead of
being dreaded and feared), just as we long for the night's
sleep after a day of hard and trying work. It is probable
that this is the case. It is probable that nature intended
just such a plan. The dread of death that is so universal
merely shows us that, in practically all cases, death has
been premature ; it has come before it was wanted —
before its appointed time, f There is every reason to
believe, and every analogy points to the fact, that death
should be welcomed, as sleep is welcomed, by those fatigued.
Metchnikoff adduced some cases in support of his con-
tention ; and he is probably right in his central claim. )
Old age is invariably regarded as a period of decrepi-
tude and mental imbecility. And, although this is, as a
matter of fact, the all but invariable rule, there is no real
reason why such should be the case. Hardly any of the
wild animals show signs of decrepitude in a similar manner,
and only some of the domestic animals do. The rule would
seem to be that the closer we live to nature, the longer is
death postponed, and the more painless and sudden it is.
Those living as the majority do, and indulging to an un-
limited extent in rich foods, dissipations of all sorts, and
what are generally known as the " good things of this
world," do degenerate prematurely and early lose their
mental and moral fibre, no less than their physical bodies.
Decay is the rule ; uselcssness is the general condition of
the aged with most civilised nations — and even of some
that are not civilised ! The inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego,
for example, kill their old women before they kill their
dogs, when they are threatened with famine. When asked
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 133
why they do this, they reply : " Dogs catch seals, while old
women do not!" Although civilised nations do not adhere
to the doctrine of survival of the fittest so relentlessly, they
nevertheless show by word and action very frequently that
they wish the day would come when such "nuisances"
shall be removed.
Now let us give a brief survey of what is known of old
age and its causes, and some of the theories that have
been advanced from time to time to explain its phenomena.
Very few of these need be considered, as they are not either
clear enough or comprehensive enough to deserve such dis-
cussion. A few of them, however, are very ingenious, and
deserve careful consideration.
Certain authors have advanced what might be called a
'' psychological " theory of old age and death. One grows
old and dies when there is no longer any incentive to live.
As Dr. E. Teichmann expressed it : " They grow old be-
cause they are no longer occupied with life." ^ This
theory would completely fail to account for the pheno-
mena of old age, even if it succeeded in accounting for
death. There are many pathological, degenerative pheno-
mena connected with old age which must be taken into
account in this connection — degenerations which are not
apparently due to any psychic causes, but to purely
physical conditions. Such a theory would by no means
explain the facts.
"Numerous scientists affirm that old age finally results because
it is impossible for an organism to repair the cellular losses by the
formation of a sufficient number of new elements — that is to say,
because of the exhaustion of the reproductive faculty.
" One of the scientists who has more especially concerned
himself with general questions, Weismann, expresses himself
on this subject in a very categorical manner. According to him,
1 Lije and Death, p. 145.
134 DEATH
the senile degeneration that ends in death does not depend on the
wearing away of the cells of our organism, but rather upon the fact
that cellular proliferation, being limited, becomes insufficient to
repair that loss. As old age appears in different species and
different individuals at various ages, Weismann concludes that the
number of generations that a cell is capable of producing differs in
different cases. It is, however, impossible for him to explain why,
in one example, cellular multiplication may stop at a certain figure,
while in another it may go much further.
*' The theory appears so plausible that no attempt has been made
to support it by precise facts. We even see, in the most recent
attempt at a theory of old age by Dr. Biihler, the thesis of the
exhaustion of the reproductive power of the cells accepted and
developed without sufficient discussion. It cannot be denied that
it is during embryonic life that cells are produced with the greatest
activity. Later on this proliferation becomes slower, but it never-
theless continues throughout the course of life. Biihler attributes
the difficulty with which wounds heal in the aged precisely to the
insufficiency of cellular production. He also thinks that the
reproduction of the cells of the epidermis, which are to replace the
desiccated parts of the skin, diminishes notably during old age.
According to this author, it is theoretically easy to predict the
moment when cellular multiplication of the epidermis must com-
pletely cease ; as the desiccation and desquamation of the superficial
parts continue without cessation, it becomes evident that it must
finally result in the total disappearance of the epidermis. The
same rule is applicable, according to Biihler, to the genital glands
and muscles, and all sorts of other organs." — Old Age^ pp. 538-39.
Metclmikoff advances several arguments against this
theory — none of which, to us, appear in any way conclu-
sive. A much stronger argument against this original-
stock-of-energy theory is to be found in such a case as
this. A person has an attack of sickness, and almost
dies. He comes as near as it is possible to dying, without
actually doing so. Recovering, however, he lives on for
half-a-century, in comparatively good health. Now, at
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 135
the time of the sickness, if that person had died, the re-
productive power of his cells would have been lost for
ever ; and yet, simply by reason of the fact that he
turned the critical point and recovered, his cells continue
to reproduce for half-a-century longer ! Surely, we must
give up the notion that the potential energy of the
cell is inherent at birth in such a case, and assume that
some new stock of energy is imbibed from some external
source, sometime later on in life ? The idea that the
diseased cell, all but dead, possessed the potential energy
to reproduce for fifty years, while still in that condition,
seems too absurd to need criticism.
Bichat says that : —
" In the death which is the effect of old age the whole of the
functions cease, because they have been successively extinguished.
The vital powers abandon each organ by degrees; digestion
languishes, the secretions and absorptions are finished ; the capil-
lary circulation becomes embarrassed ; lastly, the general circula-
tion is suppressed. The heart is the ultimum moriens. Such,
then, is the great difference which distinguishes the death of the
old man from that which is the effect of a blow. In the one, the
powers of life begin to be exhausted in all the parts, and cease at
the heart; the body dies from the circumference, towards the
centre ; in the other, life becomes extinct at the heart, and after-
wards in the parts; the phenomena of death are seen extending
themselves from the centre to the circumference." — Recherches phy-
siologiques sur la Vie et la Mort (p. 143).
These conclusions were confirmed by a number of cases
cited by Dr. John D. Malcolm in his Physiology of Death
from Traumatic Fever.
Other writers have attacked this problem in a different
manner. They, too, have contended that old age and
death are due, in a sense, to the decrease of the vitality
of the body, but have asked themselves the question :
Why should this vitality become lessened with old age,
136 DEATH
seeing that it is (supposedly) constantly being replaced by
a fresh stock of vitality from the food which is eaten all the
time ? On the theory commonly held, the bodily energy
is supposed to come from the food we eat, and that is
constantly being supplied to the system — in old age, as
in youth. Why, then, should these degenerative changes
take place, and the vitality decrease ? These authors
have come to the conclusion that the vitality depends
upon the state of the body — its health; and, so soon as
the body becomes clogged and blocked, as the result of
wrong food-habits and other causes, old age, premature
decay, and death will result.
Two writers who have taken this view are Dr. Homer
Bostwick, who published his Inquirij into the Cause of
Natural Death; or, Death from Old Age, in 1851 ; and Dr.
De Lacy Evans, M.R.C.S.E., who issued his book. How to
Frolo7ig Life : An Inq^idry into the Cause of Old Age and
Naturcd Death, about 1880. The similarity of the views
of these two authors is very remarkable, but each appa-
rently wrote in ignorance of the work of the other — one in
America, the other in England. Yet their views are almost
identical. Both authors contend that " induration and
ossification are the causes of old age and natural death."
Both contend that these are the true causes, and not the
result, of old age. Both these authors contend, further,
that this induration and ossification are due to the excess
of lime and other earthy salts that have accumulated
Avithin the system as life progressed; that old age ad-
vances just in proportion to the amount of this earthy
matter in the system, and that old age is retarded just to
the extent that it is kept out. But since all such sub-
stances can only be introduced into the system through
the food and drink, they sought to find those foods which
contained the minimum of such earthy matter, and these
they found to be fruits. By living on fruits, then, they
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 137
were enabled to retard the progress of old age and natural
death, both in themselves and in all others who undertook
to follow their diet. Careful analysis of the various foods
confirmed their theory, which was also supported by a
number of experimental facts. They therefore concluded
that this was man's natural diet — that best suited to his
body ; and that, by eating fruit, man could very largely
retard the oncoming of old age and natural death.
These authors made the degree of the vitality depend
upon the condition of the body — and hence upon the
food. On the other hand, it must be remembered that
the utilisation of the food, and its successful elimination,
will depend upon the degree of vitality present — i.e. the
vitality will depend upon the state of the body, and the
state of the body will depend upon the degree of vitality.
We are here, therefore, in a vicious circle. Nevertheless,
we think that these authors have attacked the problem in
the right way, and we shall have occasion to recur to their
views later on, when we come to consider this question of
the relation of health to vitality again. There are also
many facts that support such a view. Let us consider
some of these.
The most marked feature in old age is that a fibrinous,
gelatinous, and earthy deposit has taken place in the
system — the latter being chiefly composed of phosphate
and carbonate of lime, with small quantities of sulphate
of lime, magnesia, and traces of other earths. The
accumulation of these solids in the system is doubtless
one of the chief causes of ossification, premature old age, ,
and natural death. In the hones this is most noticeable.
The amount of animal matter in the bones decreases with
age, while the amount of mineral matter increases. This
is especially marked in the long bones and the bones of
the head. They thus clearly show us that a gradual
process of ossification is going on throughout life.
138 DEATH
As age advances the muscles diminisli in bulk, the
fibres become rigid and loss contractile, becoming paler
and even yellowish in colour, and are not influenced by
stimuli to the same extent as in youth. Tendons also
become ossified to a certain extent, while there is a
diminution of the fluid in the sheaths of the tendons.
The brain increases in size, up to about forty years of
age, when it reaches its maximum weight. After this
period there is a gradual and slow diminution in weight
of about one ounce in every ten years. According to
Cazanvieilh, " the longitudinal diameter of the brain of
an old man, compared with that of a young man, is six
inches one line, French measure, for the former, and six
inches four lines for the latter ; whilst the transverse
diameter is four inches ten lines in the old man, and
five inches in the young man." The convolutions of the
brain also become less distinct and prominent.
The dura mater is often found apparently collapsed or
corrugated. It is thickened and indurated, and ossific
deposits on the arachnoid surface are very common. The
membrane is sometimes found to have an abnormal dry-
ness ; the arteries supplying the brain have, in old age,
become thickened and lessened in calibre ; the supply of
blood thus becomes less and less, leading to the mental
imbecility of the very aged. This gradual process of
degeneration in the arteries, not only in the brain but
throughout the body, is well recognised, and is perhaps
one of the most important of all the changes that take
place in old age. So important a symptom is it con-
sidered, that it has given rise to the old saying that " a
man is as old as his arteries." The capillaries also
become choked or blocked and clogged up, as the result
of the earthy matter accumulated in the system.
These changes taking place in the arteries, greater
pressure is thrown upon the veins, which dilate, their
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 139
coats becoming thinner, and they even become tortuous
and varicose.
The gradual process of induration and hardening going
on throughout the system is noticeable also in the heart
— sfivinof rise to various affections known to us under a
variety of symptoms. The lungs gradually lose their
elasticity, and increase in density. The air-cells and
hronchi become dilated — hence emphysema and chronic
bronchitis are so often seen in the aged.
The salivary glands become hardened, and decrease in
bulk. The saliva is either secreted in large quantities,
so that " dribbling " takes place, or in quantities so small
that the mouth is hardly moistened. These changes are
probably due in part also to lack of central inhibition.
In the stomach the gastric juice is secreted in a diluted
form, and is deficient in pepsin ; moreover, the muscular
walls of the stomach gradually lose their wonted con-
tractibility ; the peristaltic motion becomes weak ; chyme
is imperfectly manufactured, and all the processes of diges-
tion weakly performed.
The liver shows the effects of old age by its imperfect
bile-forming qualities. Fatty matters are not thoroughly
emulsified or absorbed by the lacteals — though this maybe
due to an alteration in the fluid secretion in the pancreas.
In the intestines, the small vessels which supply the
follicles and various glands become indurated, or even
clogged up, in old age. The walls of the intestines
become opaque, and lose their contractibility, while the
villi containing the lacteals undergo the same gradual
alteration. It will be seen from the above how necessary
it is that all food should be restricted in quantity and
simplified in quality in old age ! Almost all the viscera,
and particularly those glands and organs connected with
the sexual apparatus, show signs of old age. The walls
and structures become harder in texture, and less pliable.
140 DEATH
In the eye, in old age, there is diminished secretion of
the aqueous fluid in the anterior chamber, the cornea
becomes less prominent, the pupil becomes more dilated,
from lessened nervous sensibility — hence distant sight
and the indistinct and confused view of near objects in
the aged. Cooper states that the retina, in old age, is
found " thickened, opaque, spotted, buff-coloured, tough,
and in some cases even ossified." Quain called attention
to the fact that the colour, density, and transparency of
the lens presented marked differences in different periods
of life. In old age it becomes flattened on both surfaces,
and assumes a yellowish or amber tinge. It loses its
transparency, and gradually increases in toughness and
in specific gravity. Cataract is rarely found in the young,
but frequently in the aged.
The ear is subject to the same gradual process of
ossification. The cartilages of the external ear become
hardened, or even ossified ; the glands which secrete the
ear-wax undergo the same alterations as are found in
other orlands. The secretion becomes less, and altered
in quality. The memhrana tym2xt7ii becomes thickened
and indurated ; the ligaments connecting the ossicles
(maleus, incus, and stapes) become hardened, their plia-
bility is lessened; thus vibrations which are already
imperfect, owing to induration of the memhrana tympani,
are improperly converted by the ossicles across the
cavity of the tympanum, by means of the internal ear (the
structures and fluids of which have undergone the same
processes of consolidation), to the auditory nerve, the
sensibility of which decreases with the senile changes of
the brain. Hence the impaired and confused hearing
so often observed in aged persons.
The whole membrane covering the tongue becomes
thickened and hardened in old age ; its surface becomes
dry and furrowed, while the blood-vessels supplying the
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 141
papillae are decreased in size ; hence the sense of taste is
diminished.
In old age the sense of smell is lessened, owing to
the hardening of the membranes and internal cartilages ;
moreover, the fibres of the olfactory nerves lose their
susceptibility.
The sense of touch throughout the body is greatly
diminished : this for several reasons. The sensibility of
the nerves is lowered, as well as the reactions of the
centres. The epidermis becomes thickened and less
sensitive. The capillaries supplying the papillae are also
lessened in calibre ; the action of the various sebaceous
glands is also diminished ; the skin becomes dry,
shrunken, and leather-like. It thus has a cracked and
furrowed appearance, and has a tendency to pucker-up.
Hence the wrinkles of old persons. In old age the skin
contains more earthy salts than in youth.
As is well known, the teeth are almost invariably lost
before age is far advanced — this being due partly to
external causes, partly to the lessening and corruption
of the blood supply, upon which the nutrition of the
teeth depends. As a result they decay and fall out.
The hair is generally lost, and it usually becomes
white. The cause of this for a long time puzzled physio-
logists ; but it is now pretty conclusively shown that
this blanching of the hair is due to the action of certain
micro-organisms, which devour the colouring matter. Of
course the question still remains, what is that condition
of the body which renders possible the presence of these
micro-organisms — which certainly do not exist so long
as health is maintained ? It would seem to us that this
is more truly the cause of old age. However, we shall
discuss this aspect of the problem a little further on.
Metchnikoff s theory of the blanching of the hair fails to
account for certain facts, however — such as the complete
142 DEATH
whitening of the hair over-night, as the result of purely
nervous shock.
In old age the stock of vitality is decreased, but
whether this is due to the state of the blood, or of the
tissues, or both ; or whether the state of the blood and
the tissues depends upon the amount of vitality ; and
whether this vitality can be replenished as life advances,
and if so, how ; or whether a certain fund of life is
inherent in every living organism at birth — which no
skill of man can add to — all these are questions which
we cannot now discuss. They are treated at considerable
length in Vitality , Fasting and Nutrition, ^^. 225—303, to
which we would refer the reader for further details.
The theory has been advanced that we grow old and
die for the reason that the brain and nervous system
become worn out because of the constant stimuli that
have been poured upon them since they began their
natural life. They are simply worn out, and refuse to
function longer on that account.
There is doubtless a grain of truth in this theory, but
it cannot be accepted as in any way an adequate explana-
tion of the facts. For, were it true, it is obvious that
those persons who experienced the greatest number of
stimuli in their life-times would be the first to wear out,
whereas we know as a matter of fact that nearly all
persons die at about the same age, no matter how many
or how powerful the stimuli were to which they had
been subjected in their life- times. Indeed, statistics
would seem to show that the busy man of the great
city, the mental worker, lives far longer than the
farmer and the man who lives merely a vegetable
existence in the country. Such being the case, it is
hard to see how this theory can be made to hold
water.
Then, too, we have the " cometh up as a flower "
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 143
theory. When we regard the growth, blooming, and
death of a summer flower — the shooting upward of the
flower stalk of a poppy, for example, with its blossoms,
its seeding, and the suddenly ensuing juiceless and dead
rigidity, we contemplate phenomena not wholly unlike
what takes place in the human organism, when regarded
in the large, passing from infancy to maturity and
old age.
What has taken place in the poppy stalk ?
One class of plant cells has developed, multiplied, and
from the products which have issued from them have
been produced the stalk proper and leaves. Immediately
another class has, in like manner, given rise first to the
bud, then to the gorgeous blossom with its stamens and
pistils. Fertilisation follows in its timed order, and
later another class of cells matures as seed.
It has been held that these latter cells in some manner
sap and eviscerate, so to speak, the cells of every other
tissue of the plant ; and, thus sapping them of their
life elements or germs, condense these latter in the
seed, where they may long lie dormant, yet capable of
producing another plant, and that the parent plant,
thus sapped and eviscerated, dies naturally, its life
being virtually taken away and carried forward to the
seed for another year.
The primary object of all plant life, then, according to
this theory, is the perpetuation of the species, and, that
object once accomplished, there is no longer any ''use"
for the plant, which dies at once or soon after. This
same idea has been applied to animal life, and even to
human beings, and it has been contended that the
primary object of living is to bring ever new specimens
of the human race into being.
What a hollow mockery ! An endless procession of
beings with no other aim than to procreate, to perpetuate
144 DEATH
the species — and to what end ? That the offspring may
in turn procreate, and thus the farce be kept up for ever !
Can we conceive that such is the scheme of nature ? Is
it not more rational to suppose that the aim and end of
living is to enjoy, and that only one function (doubtless
an important one, but only one, nevertheless) is to per-
petuate the race ? Would this not seem to be borne
out by the fact that the parents do not die, or
apparently even shorten their lives in the slightest
degree, by giving birth to children, whereas if this
theory were true, that should be one of the cardinal
and central features of it ? The theory cannot be said
to withstand the test of experience any more than the
attacks of logic and common sense.
As we have said above, most authors are inclined to
regard old age as a process of rapid decay and degene-
ration — e.g. MetchnikoflP, quoted before. Some authors,
however, are not at all disposed to take this stand. Dr.
Charles S. Minot, e.g., is inclined to take an entirely
different view of the matter. So far from regarding
old age as some sort of disease that is to be avoided, he
contends that we are ageing far more slowly in old age
than we do in youth, and that the rate of decay is in
precisely inverse proportion to that generally held to be
true. He produces a great mass of evidence in favour
of this contention, for which the reader is referred to his
excellent and interesting volume on the subject (Age,
Growth and Death), but the folloAving quotations may
be accepted as exemplifying this author's theory : —
" Rejuvenation is accomplished chiefly by the segmentation of
the ovum. ... As we define senescence as an increase and differen-
tiation of the protoplasm, so we must define rejuvenation as an
increase of the nuclear material. ... If it be true that growing
old depends upon the increase of the protoplasm, and the propor-
tional diminution of the nucleus, we can perhaps in the future
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 145
find some means by which the activity of the nucleus can be
increased and the younger system of organisation thereby
prolonged. . . . We can formulate the following laws of
cytomorphosis : —
" First, cytomorphosis begins with an undifferentiated cell.
" Second, cytomorphosis is always in one direction, through pro-
gressive differentiation and degeneration towards the death of
the cells.
"Third, cytomorphosis varies in degree characteristically for
each tissue. . . .
" Finally, if my arguments before be correct, we may say that
we have established the following four laws of Age : —
"First, rejuvenation depends on the increase of the nuclei.
" Second, senescence depends on the increase of the protoplasm
and on the differentiation of the cells.
" Third, the rate of growth depends on the rate of senescence.
" Fourth, senescence is at its maximum in the very young stages,
and the rate of senescence diminishes with age.
"As the corollary from these we have this, — natural death is
the consequence of cellular differentiation."
Indeed, as Dr. C. A. Stephens,^ in pondering over
these questions, wrote : —
" When we ask the question boldly : Why does the human
body grow old, and at length cease from function'? — putting the
inquiry in the bio-physical sense, the answer seems to be that
the personal life embodied in the organism is at length overcome
and overmatched hy the totality of the resistance to life which it
encounters, from the embryonic stage onwards, more especially
by the general telluric resistance, physical, chemical, molar, mole-
cular, which the protoplasmic molecules of the organism meet
with as long as they maintain the personal life. After adult age
is reached, they lose ground in the struggle, and at last succumb.
The downward curve of the somatic cell has begun."
The physiological processes by which food is reduced,
comminuted, corrected as to its chemical constituents,
^ Natural Salvation, p. 78,
E
146 DEATH
peptonised, hepatised, oxygenated, and, in a word, carried
forward to higher and higher stages of chemical instability,
fit for assimilation by the tissue cells — all these processes
set up a heavy draught on the collective animal life of
the body, and necessitate the putting forth of energies
on the part of all the cells which cause an ever increas-
ing deficit of potential, a growing debt from overwork,
a chronic accumulation of the effects of fatigue, which,
under present conditions, nmst sooner or later lead to
a running down of the cells.
Under favourable conditions a cell may gain potential ;
but the severe, steady draught on cellular energy neces-
sary to maintain organic nutrition, even on the best food
at present procurable, bankrupts the collective energies
of the cells within a century.
In one sense, therefore, it is our food which brings us
to death's door — that is to say, the exhausting physiolo-
gical processes necessary to prepare it for cell nutrition
will in the end work the most perfect existent animal
organism to death.^
One of the most ingenious and well-worked-out theories
of the causation of old age and natural death (and of
their possible prevention) is that formulated by Mr. C. A.
Stephens, in his book Living Matter : its Cycle of Growth
and Decline in Animal Oy^ganisms. In this excellent
little book the author has discussed the various theories
of old age, and pretty effectually disposed of them. He
then advances one of his own — postulating, at the same
time, a possible course of life that would offset physical
death — at least, for a very greatly extended period. Nor
is the author a fanatic, as might be supposed. After
showing the improbability of the current notion that
we possess a given fund or stock of vitality at birth,
^ See several lengthy discussions of this point in Vitality, Fasting and
Nutrition.
I
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 147
which we simply " Hve out " in a greater or lesser time,
according to the kind of life we lead, he goes on to
show that there is really no direct evidence that living
matter — as such, and per se — ever loses its power or
vitality, but rather that its power of manifesting is inter-
fered with as life progresses, for the reason that it is
forced to occupy a relatively smaller proportion of the
whole space of the vital economy, by reason of the clog-
ging and congesting that goes on with the advance of
years, and with the altered chemical and physical changes
that occur in the organism. Each fragment of " biogen "
(living matter) is as powerful as ever, in other words ;
only it is slowly forced out by the earthy components
in the body and compelled to occupy less space. He
says, in part : —
"... Life is never qualitatively ^ but only quantitatively dimi-
nished; or, in other words, vitality as a physical process never
slackens from any variability of its originating force — that force
being the universal sentience of matter, and as constant as gravi-
tation and the weight of the earth — and hence death comes to
a person, not from a decline of this initial vital power itself, but
from those extrinsic obstacles which befall from the material
environment and from imperfect modes of living. ... It is not
the sentient constant in ' biogen ' that grows old in our ageing
organisms, but the surcease of the biogen from the tissues on
account of mechanical causes connected with growth and the
product of growth. ... A tissue is 'old' because there is little
biogen in it, not so much because the biogen has grown intrinsically
weak."
Mr. Stephens then enumerates the various chemical
and physical causes which constitute old age and death,
and points out that all these causes, being under-
stood, might be removed ; and that there is no reason,
therefore, why death should not be postponed almost
indefinitely — looked at from the theoretical point of view.
148 DEATH
We have elsewhere dealt with this theory, and will not
now discuss it further. His theory of old age contains,
assuredly, more than a grain of truth — in fact, is largely
true. All the newer researches in cell activity and cell
life go to show that ^9?'02?o?'i^zo?is are changed, but that
the innate poiuer of the proportions remains practically
constant. In other words, living matter is living matter
everywhere and always, and its differences are in degree
and not in kind. If less of it be present (owing to
obstruction or other causes), less of it will be manifest ;
and if more of it be present, more of it will be manifest.
That is the whole case in a nutshell.
We need hardly point out that this is a position which
some writers maintained for a long time. In Vitality,
Fasting and Nutrition, a number of reasons for thinking
this to be the correct view of the case are given, as
well as facts and analogies in support of such a con-
ception. And we venture to think that many of the
difficulties of biology would cease to exist if such a
view of the facts were ever taken. It has always re-
mained a standing mystery, e.g., how an oak tree could
spring from an acorn ; how the power and potentiality
of the immense tree could be contained within the small
seed before us. And yet that is what we are asked
to accept ! And in a similar manner we are asked to
believe that man, with all his intellect and varied powers
— gained, as we know, by hard and persistent work
— is potentially contained within the minute speck
of protoplasm which must be studied by means of the
most powerful microscope ! Could any fact be more
difficult of acceptance than this ?
We venture to think that the whole difficulty would
vanish were we to regard the facts from another view-point.
Instead of regarding vitality and life as a function and
product of matter, regard the material body as the instru-
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 149
ment merely for the constant transmission through it
of life. The greater the organism in bulk, and the
pm^er in composition, the more life flows through it ;
and the lesser in bulk and the more obstructed, the less
life will flow through it. This is only what we should
expect a jjriori, and is borne out by facts. On this view
of the case, we should not have to believe that the oak
tree was contained within the acorn; that the future
man was contained within that minute speck of proto-
plasm, and similar absurdities against which the mind
rebels as impossible on their very face. We should
have to believe merely that, as growth took place, and
the organism increased in size, more life manifested
through it — only what we should expect ; and that,
in proportion to the clogging-up of the organism (and
kindred physical and chemical defects) the passage
through it of life became impossible. We venture to
think that many of the knotty problems in biology might
vanish, were such a view of the facts taken; were we
to regard life as a power and the body as a mere engine
for its transmission — a sort of organic burning-glass
through which the life-rays of the universe are concen-
trated and centred. And, just as defects in or injury
to the burning-glass would impede and interfere with
the rays transmitted, just so would the condition of the
organism — its freedom from disease, &c. — regulate the
amount of life-force that might flow through it at
any particular moment. But the decomposition of the
body would no more prove the extinction of the life-
force than would the breakage of the burning-glass prove
the obliteration of the sun. In both cases the instru-
ment for transmission (merely) has been destroyed ; not
the thing transmitted — the animating power behind and
beyond. But to resume our theories of old age.
Few indeed are the men and women of full age — say
150 DEATH
twenty-five — who have not yet contiacted the malady
that will kill them, according to that distinguished
scientist and physician Dr. Felix Regnault. Normally,
as contemporary investigators are beginning to find out,
it takes twenty years for a fatal malady to kill a patient.
It may take thirty years. The popular impression is
that a man may die suddenly, or that he may only
require a year to die in, or six months. To be sure,
a man may be killed or a child may die in a few months
at the age of one year. But ordinarily speaking, all
deaths are very slow indeed, and about 95 per cent,
of civilised adults are now stricken with a fatal disease.
They do not know it. They may not suffer from it.
In due time they will have their cases diagnosed as
cancer, or as tuberculosis or diabetes, or what not. But
so inveterate are current misconceptions of the nature
of death that the origin of the fatal malady — in time —
will be miscalculated by from ten to thirty years.
In the case of human beings, explains Dr. Regnault,
writing in The International (London), death — barring
accident — is nearly always caused by some specific
malady. This malady is as likely as not to be cured
— what is called " cured." The '' cure," however, no
matter how skilful the treatment or how slight the
disease, has left a weakness behind it in some particular
organ of the body. One of the organs is, if not pre-
maturely worn out, at least so worn that its resisting
powers are greatly diminished. All of us in this way
when we have reached a certain age possess an organ
that is much older than the rest of the physique. One
day we shall die because of this organ. Even if we live
to be very old indeed, we shall not die of " old age "
but of weakness of the lungs, or of the kidneys or of
the liver or of the brain. The individual does not
die of senile decay, no matter if he live to be ninety
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 151
or a hundred. He dies of the decay of the lungs, or
of the decay of the heart, or of the decay of the kidneys,
or of the decay of some other organ. That organ has
been dying for years. For if there be one truth more
\ firmly established than others, it is this : no bodily
\ organ can perish from disease in less than ten years.
! Sometimes it takes thirty years. Usually it requires
i twenty years.
I How is it that one organ thus decays more quickly
than the others ? Physicians reply because it has
suffered from the attacks of illnesses. A cure is never
absolute. The organ never comes out of an illness in
exactly the same condition as when it went in. Scarlet
fever, for example, attacks a person. The kidneys have
been thereby affected. For ten, twenty, or even thirty
years more they may perform their functions excellently,
but nevertheless they will have an earlier senility. The
kidney cells slowly perish at a time when the other
organs are still healthy. At the age of fifty or sixty
the sick person is carried off. The same holds true of
other and very unimportant illnesses. A man dies of
heart-weakness. An old rheumatic attack will very
easily be detected as the cause. It long seemed as
though it had left no traces, but they show themselves
only in the fatal illness. Another old man dies owing
to the wearing out of the blood-vessels. If the blood-
vessels age more rapidly than the rest of the body, it
is because they have been weakened by an infectious
disease or some form of poisoning.
Take the case of the man who dies of lung trouble.
It is traceable to bronchitis or to slight tuberculosis
in youth, which did not betray its presence but yet
had weakened the organ. In all cases death is to
be ascribed to an illness which had attacked the in-
dividual in his youth and weakened an organ, or to
152 DEATH
some infection which had permanently remained in
a latent condition. The bacteria which had caused
the illness do not quit the organism when the illness
is terminated. They await in the interior of the organ
the opportunity for a fresh attack.
" Thus many men wlio are outwardly healthy carry the malicious
enemy inside tliem. A fever, caught in youth, returns after twenty,
thirty, or fifty years ; the bacillus, for example, of marsh-fever has
been dormant the whole time, and yet in old age awakens to fresh
and fatal activity.
"To these causes of the decay of single organs may be added
those which are due to the folly of the individual himself. Drinkers
ruin their livers, immoderate eaters overload their stomachs, smokers
weaken their hearts ; life ceases on the day when these organs finally
refuse further service. We do not die suddenly; our existence
perishes gradually with the weakening of the organs. To reach ad-
vanced old age, a man must have been healthy his whole life long."
This theory has been criticised on the ground that
it fails to take into account the fact that the body is
constantly rebuilding its various parts, particularly its
diseased or broken parts, and hence, any innate weakness
would be eradicated long before it worked the havoc
here suggested. Other reasons, too, might be urged
against this theory ; but on the whole it is doubtless
sound in its main contention, and is a valuable suggestion
towards a correct understanding of the causes of death
in a large number of cases.
Very different, again, are the views recently advanced
by Dr. Arnold Lorand, of Carlsbad, who has just issued
an English translation of his work, Old Age Deferred.
According to this theory, old age and premature death
depend, not upon the age of the arteries, as has been so
often suggested, but upon the condition of the ductless
glands. All vital phenomena, he says, are under the
control of the action of these glands ; everything depends
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 153
upon their condition. Symptoms of old age appear after
changes in these glands. The appearance, the condition
of the tissues, all depend upon their condition. Depress-
ing emotions are, perhaps, the most fatal and certain of
all means of breaking down these organs, and insuring
premature old age and death. To summarise this author's
views in his own words : —
"The symptoms of old age are the result of breakdown of the
tissues and organs which, owing to shrinking of the blood-vessels,
are insufficiently suppKed with blood, and, owing to the disappear-
ance of nervous elements, are devoid of proper nervous control.
"Degeneration of the ductless glands and of the organs and
tissues cannot be simultaneous, for the latter are under the
control of the former. These glands govern the processes of
metabolism and nutrition of the tissues, and by their incessant
antitoxic action protect the organism from the numerous poisonous
products, be they of exogenous origin, introduced with air or food,
or endogenous, formed as waste products during vital processes-
After degeneration of these glands the processes of metabolism in
the tissues are diminished, and there is an increase of fibrous tissue
at the expense of more highly differentiated structures.
"The fact that the changes in the tissues are secondary and
take place only after primary changes in the ductless glands, is
best proved by the circumstances that they can be produced, either
experimentally by the extirpation of certain of the ductless glands,
or spontaneously by the degeneration of these glands in disease.
" It is evident from the above considerations that all hygienic
errors, be they errors of diet or any kind of excess, will bring
about their own punishment ; and that premature old age, or a
shortened life, will be the result. In fact, it is mainly our
own fault if we become senile at sixty or seventy, and die before
ninety or a hundred.
" Not only old age, but the majority of diseases, are due to
our own fault in undermining our natural immunity against
infections, and subjecting our various organs to unreasonable
overwork and exertion. We do not believe that the worst slave-
driver of olden days subjected his slaves to such treatment as
154 DEATH
we do our own organs, and especially our nerves. At last they
must rebel, and disease, with early death or premature old age,
will be the result.
"It is literally true, as the German proverb says : 'Jederist
seines Gliickes Schmied ' (every man is the locksmith of his own
happiness), and as a variation on this we would say : ' Every man
is the guardian of his own health.' "
Of recent years. Professor Metchnikoff has devoted
considerable time and energy to this question of " old
age," and discusses the subject fairly and fully in his
Old Age, mentioned above, in his New Hygiene, his
Nature of Man, and his Prolongation of Life. His posi-
tion throughout all his writings remains the same, and
can best be summed up in his own words as follows : —
"... I think I am justified in asserting that senile decay
is mainly due to the destruction of the higher elements of the
organism by macrophags. . . . Since the mechanism of senile
atrophy is entirely similar to that of atrophies of microbic or toxic
origin, it may be asked whether in old age there may not be some
intervention of microbes or their poisons. . . . The principal
phenomena of old age depend upon the indirect action of microbes
that become collected in our digestive tube. ... It is really
intestinal microbes that are the cause of our senile atrophy. . . .
Old age is an infectious chronic disease which is manifested by a
degeneration, or an enfeebling of the nobler elements, and by the
excessive activity of the macrophags. These modifications cause
a disturbance of the equilibrium of the cells composing our body,
and set up a struggle within our organism which ends in a pre-
cocious ageing and in premature death, contrary to nature."
Accordingly, M. Metchnikoff seeks means to destroy
these invading microbes. He thinks that he has found
the remedy, in part at least, in the free use of lactic
acid, which kills the organisms and renders their growth
and presence impossible. Doubtless this method would
dispose of the micro-organisms then in the intestinal
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 155
tube ; but what if more are introduced ? We must
drink more of his soured milk, containing lactic acid !
But is it not obvious that this is merely tinkering at
effects, instead of going direct to the root and cause of
the evil ? ^ Why not render the soil such that no
microbes can live in it, in the first place, and then no
lactic acid treatment or other measures of a similar
nature would be necessary ? M. Metchnikoff is forced to
admit that, if the bowel were perfectly healthy, there
would and could be no auto-intoxication, and hence no
degeneration of the nature indicated. Why not, then,
aim at preserving the bowel in such a state of cleanli-
ness and in such an antiseptic condition that no micro-
organisms could possibly dwell therein ? Should not
that be our ideal ?
M. Metchnikoff practically admits this in several
passages in his works ; but his method of preserving
such a state is very different from one that would be
recommended by any hygienic physician. He contends
that we should never eat raw food, or food that has not
been thoroughly cooked, as we are liable thereby to
introduce germs into the intestinal canal ! All water
should be boiled ; everything sterilised — every precau-
tion taken to prevent the introduction into the body of
micro-organisms, which he so greatly fears. He says
nothing of the air, so we must assume that that is
not sterilised ! M. Metchnikoff believes that cancer is
produced by micro-organisms, and asserts that he has
^ Says Professor Charles Minot on this point: — "It is unquestionable
that phagocytes do eat up fragments of cells and of tissues, and may
even attack whole cells. But to me it seems probable that their role is
entirely secondary. They do not cause the death of cells, but they feed
presumably upon cells which are already dead or at least dying. Their
activity is to be regarded, so far as the problem of the death of cells is
concerned, not as indicating the cause of death, but as a phenomenon
for the display of which the death of the cell offers an opportunity." —
Age, Growth and Death, p. 74. (See Appendix F.)
156 DEATH
eaten only cooked foods for many years, in an attempt
to escape that terrible malady.
[In opposition to this view, I may state that there are
many persons — whole colonies of them in California — who
eat nothing hut raw fruits and nuts, and who never boil
their water, or cook their food at all — and they never suffer
from any of these dread complaints, but are, on the con-
trary, exceptionally healthy and robust and long-lived.
Professor Jaffa, who made a special study of these
" fruitarians," found them to be especially healthy and
possessed of an abundance of energy.^ And all of these
men and women live far longer than the average, and are
almost entirely free from the numerous diseases and com-
plaints from which humanity suffers. How is this ?
The answer is simple enough. As I have already
pointed out in another place, it is not the germ that is
to be dreaded, but that condition of the body which
renders possible the presence and growth of that germ !
If the body were healthy, no germs could live in such
an organism, no matter how many were introduced —
they would be instantly killed, and they could not exist
therein for an instant. We need not bother about the
germs ; keep the body sound, well, strong, and full of
energy, and nature will take care of the rest — including
the germs ! They are quite incapable of doing any
harm in a healthy body. The sounder the body the
less danger of infection, and the longer and the healthier
the life. Now, as fruitarianism, or the practice of living
upon fruits, is one of the best possible means of keeping
the body in this desirable condition, it will readily be
seen that, if we live on raw fruit, and those simple foods
that tend to keep the body in the best possible health ;
and if we are careful, at the same time, not to eat too
^ See his Investigations among Fruitarians, U.S. Dept. of Agr. Report.
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 157
much, we shall keep the intestinal canal free from all
obnoxious microbes — for the simple reason that their
growth and presence there would be an utter impossi-
bility. No matter if we do introduce into it such
micro-organisms with the food, the body would speedily
dispose of them. The state of the body is everything ;
the number of microbes introduced of very small
moment. Eat those foods, therefore, that keep the body
in the best possible health, and do not worry in the
least about the micro-organisms, that may or may not
exist in the intestines. They will soon be disposed of.
The food is the all-important factor ; and fruit — man's
natural food — should be eaten almost exclusively if we
wish to avoid old age, premature death, and all the ills
that exist before both these conditions. It will thus
be seen that I have been forced to agree with Drs.
Bostwick and Evans, previously mentioned, as this was
their contention precisely. M. MetchnikofP has failed to
make sufficient allowance for the germicidal and anti-
septic properties of the body, when maintained in the lest
of health hy means of natural, uncooked foods. He has
studied the effects of these micro-organisms upon bodies
badly nourished with cooked food, and food more or less
diseased. Let him study bodies nourished and main-
tained by their natural food— fruits and nuts, in their
uncooked, primitive form — and then report the results !
There can be no doubt that M. Metchnikoff will have to
materially alter his theories as to the causation of old
age and natural death, and will be forced to the con-
clusion that, after all, these states are caused by the
running down of the vital forces in consequence of
the altered chemical condition of the body, and of its
blockage by mal-assimilated food-material ! These ideas
will, however, be elaborated further on, in our discussion
of the causes of natural death. — H. C]
CHAPTER VIII
THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS
Having failed to derive any satisfactory explanation of
death from the literature upon the subject and from
historic research, it occurred to us to sound the opinion
of the scientific world at the present time, and endeavour
to ascertain, if possible, the opinions of a number of
eminent scientists, philosophers, and others entitled to
a hearing upon this question. By doing so we hoped to
arrive at some more definite conclusion as to the real
nature of this mysterious process, so fancifully and so
inaccurately described by the majority of writers in the
past. It is true that various speculations have been
advanced from time to time by writers upon this subject,
some of which are certainly ingenious and well worthy
of the most serious consideration. Yet, objections to the
theories may be found in almost every case. We shall
return to this presently. Certain it is that the scientific
world as a whole has arrived at no definite conception of
the process, and the attitude of the majority of men
might perhaps be expressed in the following significant
extract. Professor Joseph Le ContC; writing in Balfour
Stewart's Consei-vation of Energy, says : —
"... But death? Can we detect anything returned to the
forces of nature by simple death? What is the nature of the
difference between the living organism and a dead organism ? We
can detect none, physical or chemical. All the physical and
chemical forces withdrawn from the common fund of nature and
embodied in the living organism seem to be still embodied in the
158
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 159
dead, until little by little it is returned by decomposition. Yet the
difference is immense, is inconceivably great ! What is the nature
of this difference expressed in the formula of material science?
What is it that is gone, and whither is it gone ? There is some-
thing here which science cannot understand. Yet it is just that
loss which takes place in death and before decomposition, which
is in the highest sense vital force" (pp. 200-1).
In order to arrive, if possible, at some definite conclu-
sion in the matter, therefore, we devised and sent to a
number of men whose opinion would be well worth hear-
ing, a circular letter asking the following question : —
" What do you consider to be the real nature of
DEATH ? ( JVe mean hy this, of course, nahtral death ;
and not death due to disease, accident, or other causes
of a like nature.) "
We received a number of most interesting answers to
this question from men and women of various types
of mind — some of which we give below. Not the least
interesting and significant fact elicited by our inquiry,
however, is that it showed an almost complete lack of
previous thought on the subject ! It is astonishing to
find the complete indifference that is manifested, not
only by the public but also by scientists, on this subject
of death. Eloquent testimony of this is evidenced by
the fact that so little has been written about the sub-
ject; and in talking to any one about it one soon finds
that he displays the completest indifference to the whole
question ! \ Things of real worth, such as the mental life
of the ant or the crab, fill psychological and scientific
literature ; but such a thing as death, which involves the
whole human race more intimately than anything else
possibly can — since all must die — is regarded as hardly
worthy of serious discussion ! ) Professor F. C. S. Schiller
showed the complete lack of interest of the public in
the question of immortality in his statistical inquiry con-
160 DEATH
ducted some years ago, the results of which were printed
in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research,
vol. xviii. pp. 416-53. A similar indifference as to the
subject of death was pointed out and insisted upon by
Mr. Joseph Jacobs in his little booklet Tlie Dying of Death.
Perhaps we can best illustrate this lack of interest in the
subject by the following letter, which we quote verbatim,
omitting: the name in order to save the feelino^s of the
writer. Suffice it to say that the author of this letter is a
well-known — in fact quite a famous — physician, to whom
we had written, asking him to state his views as to the
nature of death. If any one ought to take an active
and intense interest in this subject, surely that man ought
to be the physician, and yet this is what he wrote in
answer to our question : —
Dear Sir, — . . . I do not take the slightest interest in either
the physiological or psychological aspects of the death question.
Metchnikoff, however, has considerable to say on the subject. I
have no theories as to the cause of natural death, nor, in fact, on
any other subject. — Yours very truly, .
Metchnikoff and others have insisted over and over
again that old age is a pathological process, and that
death is also due to certain obscure physiological and
pathological causes and processes. All sickness bears
the very closest resemblance to these processes, therefore,
and will frequently terminate in death if not properly
treated. And yet here is a man who professes " not the
slightest interest " in any of these vital questions ! Is
this not tantamount to admitting that, although his
practice may bring him in a good living, he has not the
slightest intellectual interest in any of the philosophical
questions that underlie his work and render it of use
and benefit to the world ?
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 161
We regret to say that this same attitude has been
taken by other men who, one would think, should take a
special interest in this question, bearing, as it does, upon
the work that forms their most important life-study.
The following letter is an example of this :—
From Professor James H. Hyslop, Ph.D., LL.D., New York, U.S.A.
My dear Mr. Carrington, — lu reply to your inquiry about
my opinion of death, I can only say that I have no theory or con-
ception of it whatever. I have never bothered my head about its
nature for five minutes. I really do not know, and do not care, what
it is. The cessation of life is all I know or believe about it. —
Very sincerely, James H. Hyslop.
It is remarkable that such a stand should be taken by
this investigator, since the whole question of psychic
research hinges about the point of death, and whether
life persists after it or not. Inasmuch as Dr. Hyslop
believes in the persistence of consciousness after death —
or " the spiritistic hypothesis " — it is certainly an inaccu-
racy on his part to say or infer that the " cessation of life "
is the chief factor of death. Further, a man who devotes
his whole life to the study of psychic problems should
certainly, of all others, be most vitally and fundamentally
interested in this question, since much depends upon the
interpretation given to the phenomenon called death.
We prefer to think that this letter represents the hastily
expressed view of this authority rather than his carefully-
worded opinion of " the real nature " of the process.
A letter of somewhat similar type, though more
cautious, is that of Dr. James J. Putnam, the well-known
neurologist, whose letter follows : —
Fro7n Dr. James J. Putnam, Boston, Mass.
My dear Sir, — I have no special ideas to express upon the sub-
ject of death. — Yours truly, James J. Putnam.
L
162 DEATH
One curious fact elicited by our circular letter is
that so many men expressed their complete ignorance
of the subject, and, what is still more curious, stated
that they had, so far, never had time to think seriously
upon it 1 One sample letter of this kind may be of
interest : —
From Nikola Tesla, New York, U.S.A.
Dear Sir, — Replying to your favour of the 16th inst., I agree
with you that the subject is most interesting. But to express
myself in regard to it would require a concentration of thought
which, in the midst of my present labours, is impossible for me.
Regretting my inability, and thanking you for your courtesy, I
remain. Very truly yours, N. Tesla.
Astonishment at the lack of interest in this question
is expressed by one or two of our correspondents who
have thought and written upon these subjects. Thus,
Professor Schiller writes : —
From Professor F. C. S. Schiller, Oxford, England.
Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
Dear Sir, — In reply to your inquiry about death, I can only
repeat the commonplace, that. Death is a mystery. Two aspects
of this mystery have, however, always excited my astonishment, —
the one physiological, the other psychological.
The physiological mystery consists in the fact that the body,
being a machine which has somehow learned to repair itself,
should not continue to do so indefinitely. The psychological
mystery consists in the fact that people manage to think so little
about death, and to care so little about what happens to them in
that crisis. For the rest, I may refer those desirous of speculating
upon the subject to Riddles of the Sphinx (Ch. xi.), Humanism
(Ch. xiii.-xv.), and Studies of Humanism (Ch. xvii.). — I remain,
yours truly, F. C. S. Schiller, M.A., D.Sc,
Fellow and Tutor, Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 163
One or two of our correspondents were rather more
naive in their expressions of ignorance as to the cause
of natural death ; one writer, for instance, expressing him-
self as follows : —
From Horace Fletcher, Esq., Neiu York, U.S.A.
Dear Sir, — The real nature of death is as obscure to me as is the
real nature of life itself.
I am enjoying life immensely, and more immensely the more I
learn to get pleasure of the constructive sort out of it.
If the span which is now revealed to us is all there is of it for
our present consciousness, I am enormously glad I have inherited
it, and I shall esteem it all clear profit in advance of losing con-
sciousness — a sort of " thanking you in advance," with a return
stamp attached for autograph reply.
If there is persistence of this same consciousness beyond the
curtain called death, I feel quite certain that it will be evolutionary
in character. I am sure to be more comfortable as gas or ether
than when compelled to wear fashionable clothing.
For my best pleasure of thinking I accept the common idealism
which gives human souls persistence of existence, and to the souls
who gave me this blessed life I delight to attribute all of the direction
of my energies which I know would give them pleasure were they
still here to express it.
However ; sufficient unto the day is the opportunity thereof, and to
make the most of passing opportunities, to do good and gain pleasure
thereby, is my most important business oT the moment. — Optimis-
tically yours until death and forever thereafter,
Horace Fletcher.
Apparent hopelessness of ever finding a rational solu-
tion of this problem is expressed in the following letter
from an eminent Dutch physician : —
From Frederick van Eeden, M.D., Holland.
Dear Sir, — As you ask me to answer your question as a scien-
tific man, you will excuse me for being rather scrupulous and
164 DEATH
precise in my answer. Nobody can say what something is. We
can only express a fact in different terms. A scientific answer
cannot be given before we agree entirely upon the meaning and
significance of all the terms of a question. What do you mean by
"the real nature of death"? And how can I say tvhat I consider
this to be ? Death is a very well known fact. Has it something
which you call its " real nature " and which cannot be expressed in
terms more familiar, standing for better known facts, so that we feel
that the thing itself is now clearer to us, is now explained ?
You will get many answers which seem to the point. But these
answers will all be more or less poetical, fanciful, and metaphorical.
Death will be called a Birth, an Extinction, a Sleep, a Transition.
All this is more or less metaphor. Now metaphorical language is
poetical language, and not strictly scientific. The great poets have
said more true and beautiful things about death than any of us can
do now. But it is Science you want, and Science can give you only
the bare observations, and can tell you nothing about what you
call their " real nature " and what I should probably call their
significance.
Yet it is possible to give you a somewhat more satisfactory reply
by saying, that the well known fact. Death, can also be expressed
in these terms : a profound and simultaneous change leading to
disintegration, in all the directly perceptible elements of what tee
used to call a living entity (man, animal, plant, or part of plant).
This is only a definition, but it excludes many prevalent errors.
To say that this change is a total disintegration would be more
than exact science can allow, because we cannot have a clear and
complete knowledge of the former integrity. But most imjDortant
of all, a correct definition can only speak of the directly (i.e. sen-
sorially) perceptible elements. The extreme limitation of our
perceptive (sensorial) powers makes it highly probable that the
unperceptible part (commonly called the Soul) of every living
entity far excels its perceptible part (the body). And that this
larger part may remain untouched by the said apparent disintegra-
tion is a possibility, even a probability, acceptable to what I
consider a sound scientific judgment. — I am, dear Sir, yours very
truly, F. VAN Eeden.
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 165
In spite of Dr. van Eeden's extreme accuracy of
statement, Ave cannot feel that he has supplied us with
an exact definition of death. Dr. van Eeden, it will be
observed, limits the " profound and simultaneous change "
to the directly ;pcrce23tiUe parts or elements of the body.
But we think that there is no evidence whatever that
death may not be due to the action of some purely im-
perceptible parts, or to some non-material elements
altogether. It may be due to the disturbance of the
body's vital energy ; to modifications or chemical changes
in one particular point or spot of the cerebral cortex,
which would not involve the whole body, but which
might be called a purely " local " action. Dr. van
Eeden says that this change takes place in " Avhat
we used to call a living entity," which infers that this
entity or body is now dead. Unless we completely
change our conception of death, however, we cannot
agree that this is in any way a definition, since, it
will be observed, it practically states that death occurs
in a dead body, whereas it occurs in a living body,
and the change is supposedly the cause of death. We
cannot see, therefore, that Dr. van Eeden has supplied
us with a definition of death that can be said to fulfil
all of the fundamental requirements necessary for a
satisfactory explanation.
The following letter is from Professor Charles S.
Minot : —
Hakvard Medical School,
Boston, Mass.,
Jan. 31, 1910.
My dear Sir, — I have received your circular of Jan. 25th.
My views on the subject of death, so far as they can be formulated,
are recorded in my work. Age, Groivth and Death, ^ pubHshed by
^ Quotations from this book will be found elsewhere in this volume.
166 DEATH
Putnam's, in New York. You v:i\\ find in this ])Ook all the
information I can give you. — Yours truly,
Charles S. Minot.
Dr. Minot's theory of death should be recorded in this
place, as he is an author who has given long and serious
attention to this question of death. Writing in Age,
Growth and Death, pp. 214, 215, he says: —
" Death is not a universal accompaniment of life. In many of
the lower organisms death does not occur, so far as we at present
know, as a natural and necessary result of life. Death with them
is purely the result of an accident, some external cause. Our
existing science leads us, therefore, to the conception that natural
death has been acquired during the process of evolution of living
organisms. Why should it have been acquired? You will, I
think, readily answer this question, if you hold that the views
which I have been bringing before you have been well defended,
by saying that it is due to differentiation, that when the cells
acquire the additional faculty of passing beyond the simple stage to
the more complicated organisation, they lose some of their vitality,
some of their power of growth, some of their possibilities of per-
petuation ; and as the organisation in the process of evolution
becomes higher and higher, the necessity for change becomes more
and more imperative. But it involves the end. Differentiation
leads, as its inevitable conclusion, to death. Death is the price
we are obliged to pay for our organisation, for the differentiation
which exists in us. Is it too high a price 1 To that organisation
we are indebted for the great array of faculties with which we are
endowed. To it we are indebted for the means of appreciating
the sort of world, the kind of universe, in which we are placed.
... It does not seem to me too much for us to pay. We accept
the price. . . . Death of the whole comes, as we now know,
whenever some essential part of the body gives way — sometimes
one, sometimes another ; perhaps the brain, perhaps the heart,
perhaps one of the other internal organs may be the first in which
the change of cytomorphosis goes so far that it can no longer
perform its share of work, and, failing, brings about the failure of
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 167
the whole. This is the scientific view of death. It leaves death
with all its mystery, with all its sacredness ; we are not in the
least able to the present time to say what life is — still less, per-
haps, what death is. We say of certain things — they are alive ;
of certain others — they are dead ; but what the difference may be,
what is essential to those two states, science is utterly unable to
tell us at the present time. It is a phenomenon with which we
are so familiar that perhaps we do not think enough about it."
In the following letter from Professor Max Dessoir,
some points of great interest are raised. As, however,
Professor Dessoir treats the question from the philo-
sophical and psychological points of view, rather than
from the biological standpoint, it is evident that his letter
requires no extended criticism in this place. It reads as
follows : —
Beklin, W. Goltzste. 31,
Feb. 17, 1910.
My dear Mr. Carrington, — If I understand your question
as to the nature of death to mean the signification of that event,
I should, as a philosopher, reply as follows : —
I see in death a universal and sublime law. The thought that
men and animals cannot continue in their life-form — as known to
us — is to me unbearable ; and the certainty that no one is an
exception to the law is at least gratifying. The meaning of death
lies also in this : that all the organic forms of being, not excepting
the highest, bear upon them the seal of their own doom ! And
this has also a far wider meaning. With every man who dies
goes, not only his personality, but also the world which he has
imagined, and which only he possesses — a world of thoughtful
ideals — memories, creative conceptions, and so forth. Every death
means, therefore, the death of that man's inner reality. So many
men die : so many worlds are thus annihilated !
Another question is whether immortality exists under change
of form, or whether death changes the appearance, but leaves the
being of man untouched. If the being and appearance are as
closely related as is certainly the case with man, he will continue
168 DEATH
to imagine a continuation of personal identity in that form. It is,
to him, a scientific probability. . . .
Still one more thought. We know that one of the things
taught by hypnotism and psychopathology is this : In some cases
when in this condition, a larger personality is exhibited. One
need only remember Janet's Felida X., or Miss Beauchamp, tfcc.
Which of these iDersonalities shall exist after death? This same
question holds good for normal man — though in a lesser degree.
We all have passed through many changes — have been young and
old, gay and sad, good and bad, heroic and cowardly. And of all
these characteristics, shall only those particular ones live further
which exist at the accidental moment of death 1 Immortality in its
highest sense includes the contents of all these moments ; and yet
we cannot conceive this to be the case. . . . Yours sincerely.
Max Dessoir.
The following letter is representative of the theo-
logian's point of view : —
From Rev. James F. Driscoll, D.D., New York, U.S.A.
Dear Sir, — The notion of natural death as set forth in Catholic
theology and in the traditional Christian philosophy is very simple.
Death consists in the separation of the soul from the body, which
separation is aptly termed " dissolution." The soul is held to be
a spiritual substance, capable of existing independently of the
body, though naturally fitted to be united with it, after the resur-
rection, in some form of new life compatible with personal identity.
I have never been confronted with any facts or reasons which
seemed to call for any mode of conceiving of, or formulating, the
phenomenon called death in any other than this simple notion,
which is the one held by the vast majority of Christians. Neither
have I ever attempted to analyse scientifically the processes that
may be involved in this separation of the soul and body, or to
picture to myself just how it takes place. Some light on this
aspect of the problem, I trust, may be derived from your forth-
coming book. — Sincerely yours, James F. Driscoll.
This represents, of course, the traditional conception
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 169
of death, but cannot be taken as a final, scientific ex-
planation, for the reason (1) that it assumes the
existence of the soul, which cannot be granted by the
scientific man ; and (2) it does not tell us anything of
the actual details of this supposed " separation." In
other words, it states the case, from that particular point
of view, without attempting to solve it. We cannot,
therefore, say that this is in any sense an explanation of
death ; but Dr. Driscoll is frank in stating that his letter
is not intended to be such.
The followins: communication from Count Solovovo
exemplifies the strictly scientific attitude toward this
question ; while it emphasises, at the same time, the
only rational way of solving the problem. He says : —
From Count Perovshy-Petrovo-Solovovo^ St. Petershirg, Russia.
I believe it most probable that Death is the end of everything
throughout the whole realm of Nature. I believe that everything
tends to support this conclusion ; everyday experience, scientific
experiment, and observation, and last — not least — plain common
sense. And, before all, I am convinced of the utter inability of
religion to grapple satisfactorily with the problem. And if, in
spite of all that, there is still a lingering doubt in my mind that
this negative conclusion, though overwhelmingly probable, may
yet be not absolutely certain, I owe this shadow of a doubt to
certain alleged facts of psychical research, so-called, only and
exclusively. Peeovsky-Petrovo-Solovovo.
Sergievskia 24, St. Petersburg,
August 1908.
Compare with these expressions, the following com-
munication, which represents the attitude of the mystic.
It will be observed that Mr. Purinton assumes the
existence of a soul, and also the reality of reincarnation
170 DEATH
— neither of which doctrines can be accepted as vahd
until scientifically proved. It further fails to supply us
with any of the psycho-physiological explanations neces-
sary for a clear understanding of this important crisis.
However, his letter is of great interest, and, should the
existence of a soul be proved, would be well worthy of
serious consideration from the philosophic point of view.
From Edivard Earle Purinton^ Esq., New York City, U.S.A.
Death is the periodic withdrawal of the soul from a body
grown too earthy for the soul to use. Every soul passes through
as many births, lives, and deaths as are necessary for complete
earth experience. But as experience involves encrustation, the
process of learning is also the process of dying.
Animals die a " natural " death, at about the same age in the
same species, because animals have but one dominant trait to
express — strength in the lion, wisdom in the serpent, gentleness
in the dove, &c. But for man, ideally at least, there is no such
thing as natural death. Because man, possessing all the traits of
the lower animals, would require as many lives as they all, in order
to express fully. I think that when man knows himself, and dares
be himself, death will appear a slight episode, or perhaps a forgotten
myth, along the radiant cycle of immortality. And the method
will then be as scientific as this prophecy now looks visionary.
Edward Earle Purinton.
Very different, again, is the theory of death advanced by
Dr. J. Butler Burke, in the communication that follows : —
Fro7n Dr. John Butler Burke, Cambridge, England.
The Nature of Death.
To understand what death is, it would be necessary to know
what life is, for it is obviously — to all appearances, at least —
the cessation of life in the individual organism. I say, "to all
appearances, at least," because we have no evidence whatever that
the unknown principle which infuses, as it were, the organism so
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 171
as to give rise to vital actions, is not something which survives the
dissolution of the organic form, and the garments in which it may
have been clad.
This self-willing and self-conscious entity is generally awakened
in the course of the development of the organism by which it comes
into harmony with the world around it. But it does not follow
that with the disintegration of the organism the self-conscious
principle is also dissolved, although that might be in the majority
of cases, when the mind and will have not developed complete
self-control and mastery over the body. The question is, of course,
one of fundamental interest and importance psychologically.
Amongst men and women of great strength of will, intellectual
power and force of character, this feeling — for after all it is but
a feeling — that the mind is as independent of the body as it is of
the external world, seems to be very common indeed. Tennyson,
if I remember rightly, in The Holy Grail and The Ancient Sage,
talks of feelings such as these : —
" In moments when he feels he cannot die,
And know himself no vision to liimself ; "
and again when :
" The mortal limit of the self was loosed,
And passed into the nameless as a cloud
Melts into Heaven."
He speaks elsewhere of " the clearest of the clearest, the surest
of the surest, utterly beyond words, when death seemed an almost
laughable impossibility." His friend, the late Sir James Knowles,
records many other similar instances in The Nineteenth Century,
January, 1893.
It is, in fact, a very common experience among intellectual
people, and an inclination of a vigorous mind combined with a
correspondingly low vitality, showing, perhaps, a discord between
mind and matter.
The most vivid description of it is by Goethe, in "Wilhelm
Meister's Apprenticeship" in Tlie Confessions of a Beautiful
Soul : —
" During many sleepless nights, especially, I had some feelings
172 DEATH
so remarkable that I cannot describe them clearly. It was as if
my soul were thinking unaccompanied by the body. It looked on
the body as something apart from itself, much as we look on a
dress. It pictured to itself, with the most extraordinary vividness,
past times and events, and felt what would be their results. All
these times have passed away ; what follows will pass too ; the
body will rend like a garment, but I — that well known I — I am."
And again, " The grave awakens no terror in me ; I have an
eternal life,"
It may be said, and it is said, that this is all imagination —
a waking dream, a trance. But it is the opinion of some of the
most profound philosophers that it is not a waking sleep, but the
very awakening of the soul itself. Eminent metaphysicians, from
Descartes onwards, tell us that there is nothing more real than
the consciousness of such a state as this, and that whoso has thus
grasped the reality of his own being and truths, realising in him-
self a conscious, self-determined unit, knows that not only I Am,
but, having reached this height, I Am, and must Forever Be.
John Butler Burke.
Very contrary to the views just expressed are those of
Professor Haeckel, illustrated in the following communi-
cation or letter from him, in reply to the cn^cular
request. He answers as follows : —
From Professor Ernst Haeckel, Jena, Germany.
Jena, 16, 8, 1908.
Dear Sir, — You find my view of Death in the 5th chapter of
my book Lebeiiswunder (1904) — The Wonders of Life. — Respect-
fully, Ernst Haeckel.
Referring to the chapter on " Death " in Professor
Haeckel's Wonders of Life, we extract the folloAving as
representative of his views : —
" The inquiry into the nature of organic life which we instituted
in the second chapter has shown us that it is, in the ultimate
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 173
analysis, a chemical process. The * miracle of life ' is in essence
nothing but the metabolism of the living matter, or of the plasm.
... If death is the cessation of life, we must mean by that the
cessation of the alternation between the upbuild and the dissolution
of the molecules of protoplasm ; and as each of the molecules
of protoplasm must break up again shortly after its formation,
we have, in death, to deal only with the definite cessation of
reconstruction in the destroyed plasma-molecules. Hence, a
living thing is not finally dead — that is to say, absolutely
incompetent to discharge any further vital function — until the
whole of its j)lasma molecules are destroyed. . . . Normal death
takes place in all organisms when the limit of the hereditary term
of life is reached. ... As Kassowitz has lately pointed out, the
senility of individuals consists in the inevitable increase in the
decay of protoplasm, and the metai)lastic parts of the body which
this produces. Each metaplasm in the body favours the inactive
break-up of protoplasm, and so also the formation of new meta-
plasms. The death of the cell follows, because the chemical
energy of the plasm gradually falls off from a certain height — the
acme of life. The plasm loses more and more the power to
replace, by regeneration, the losses it sustains by the vital
functions."
It will be seen that, in its ultimate analysis, this
definition of death furnishes us with no better idea of
the process than might be supplied by the words
" exhaustion of vital function." This question has been
discussed elsewhere, and it can be shown that, from one
point of view, it fails to explain the phenomena of death
entirely, since we come into a " vicious circle," so to
say. The body degenerates because of its loss of
vital power, and loss of vital power takes place because
the body degenerates ! It is obvious that no final de-
finition of death can be obtained from arguments such
as these.
It is true that Haeckel elsewhere defines death as
" physiological degeneration, due to chemical changes."
174 DEATH
This furnishes us with a little clocarer idea of the causes
of this process ; but it does not tell us why it is that
chemical changes of the character postulated should take
place ; and no direct evidence is furnished that such
changes do in fact take place. The body of the old
man is constantly being replaced by fresh material, and
may be said to be in one sense as new as the body of the
babe — since both are formed from new material — viz.
the food supply. Yet in the one case the food wall
build the body of the youth, and in the other the body
of the old man. So long as science fails to recognise
any vital force, or any constructive or destructive
tendency in the body other than the energy supposed
to be derived from food combustion, it is certain that no
definite conclusion can be arrived at by way of explanation
of these phenomena.
It would be impossible to conceive a greater dissimi-
larity of views than those just expressed by Professor
Haeckel, and those that follow — expressed also by a
physician — as to the "real nature of death." In his
communication our correspondent says : —
From Hip2^olyte Baraduc, M.D.
Pakis, France.
Dear Sir, — I refer you to the work which I wrote upon the
death of my dear ones. The world knows nothing about death,
does not prepare for it, and every one is subject to it. It is
a phenomenon against which one is powerless, which allows the
passage of the spirit in the geometrical, stellar, or globular form,
as all the ancient mystics declared. It is sad that Christians do
not know better the point towards which it is necessary to move.
Their religion, so beautiful upon earth, is insufficient for the sum
of the hereafter in the superior planes. — With regards,
Baraduc.
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 175
This letter of Dr. Baraduc merely refers us, it will
be observed, to his book Mes Morts. The experiraents
contained in that work will be found discussed in our
section " On Photographing the Soul." Apart from the
external evidence which the photographs afford, there is,
it will be observed, no attempt at scientific explanation
of the nature of death, but merely comment upon one
or two of the problems associated with it. As such, we
must, therefore, altogether disregard it as an explanation
of the cause of natural death.
Of a very different character is the communication from
Dr. Paul Carus, editor of The Open Court, The Monist, &c.
In replying to our letter on death, Dr. Carus writes : —
La Salle, III., Nov. 6, 1908.
Dear Sie, — Having returned from Europe, I find your cour-
teous letter, and will say in reply that, according to my definition
of " death," it is simply " the ceasing of the functions of life." As
to further explanations of the nature of death and its significance,
I must refer you to passages in my books, among which I would
especially recommend those which you find in Homilies of Science.
For instance, the chapters " The Price of Eternal Youth," "Reli-
gion and Immortality," " Spiritism and Immortality," &c.
This letter may reach you too late, but I will answer your ques-
tion anyhow, in case you would like to know my views on the
subject. — Very truly yours, Paul Carus.
Referring to the passages in Dr. Carus's Homilies
of Science, mentioned by him, we extract therefrom
the following, as samples of his attitude toward this
question : —
'* Death is a natural phenomenon, not less than birth ; and the
agonies of death are generally less painful than the throes of birth.
The problem of death is closely interwoven with the problem of
176 DEATH
birth, so that you cannot disentangle the one without unravelling
the other. . , . Death, then, is a necessity ; but serious though the
idea of death must make our thoughts, it is not terrible ; awful
though it may be, it must not overawe us. Death is like the
northern sunset : the evening twilight indicates the rise of the
new morn. The nocturnal darkness of the end of life is the har-
binger of a new day, clothed in eternal youth. So closely inter-
woven is death with immortality. . . . Death is no mere dissolution
into all-existence. Certain features of our soul-life are preserved
in their individuality. Copernicus still lives in Kepler, and Kepler
in Newton ; and to-day Copernicus lives in every one of us who
has freed himself from the error of a geocentric concept of the
world. The progress of humanity is nothing but an accumulation
of the most precious treasures we have — it is the hoarding up of
human souls. . . . Although a ghost-immortality of disembodied
spirits is impossible, man's existence is not a fleeting phenomenon
of an ephemeral nature. His soul-life is not of yesterday, and
does not vanish into nothingness to-morrow. His ideas, as well
as his actions, are facts that continue to be factors in the future
development of his race. The life of a single individual is not
a separate and single event that begins with his birth, and dis-
appears again with his death. It is the product of a long evolu-
tion of many thousands of generations. Their works and
thoughts live in the present generation, and our soul-life or
thought, accompanied with the same kind of feelings, will con-
tinue to exist in the future. Those who think, who act, and who
feel, like ourselves, possess our souls, and in them we shall con-
tinue to live, move, and have our being."
It will be obvious to the critic that, from the physio-
logical point of view, the above extracts furnish us no
clue as to the nature of natural death ; but perhaps
they are not intended to do so. Dr. Carus's argument
is psychological and philosophical ; and although this
cannot be considered any adequate description of death,
still, let us consider the problem from this other stand-
point. One would think from the first two paragraphs that
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 177
Dr. Carus's conception of the persistence of conscious-
ness, or " immortality of the soul/' amounts to this :
That our thoughts and actions, inasmuch as they are
part of ourselves, persist in the thoughts and memories
of others ! We ourselves, as individuals, have sunk into
nothingness, passed into oblivion. We continue to exist
merely as memories in the lives of others.
Such, then, is Dr. Carus's conception of " immortality."
It is almost a farcical definition of the term, because in
the first place immortality, as it is usually conceived, ^
involves persistence of individual consciousness, and, so
far as we ourselves are concerned, any sort of persistence
without memory and consciousness of self, would be
tantamount to annihilation. From the point of view of
the individual who dies, therefore, such a definition of
immortality is a mere begging of the question, and it
does not appear to us that Dr. Carus's position is in any
way strengthened by his contention that we exist in the
thoughts and memories of others who live after us. To
them, we exist as mental concepts only, and we occupy
the same relative position to their thinking selves as
would any other memory. We would be merely an
abstraction, and would no more form part of their mental
life, or live in them, than would any other mental con-
cept — a memory of a past achievement, a battle, the
picture of some living person. Identity involves a
thinking subject. The thoughts are its products, and we
can no more implant one identity on another than we
can cause two solid substances to occupy the same space.
The fact that we or our deeds linger in the memory of
those still living no more argues that we live, than does
the memory of a conflagration prove that the fire is still
burning.
The two following letters, from Drs. Bozzano and Ven-
zano, respectively, mdicate the position of the scientist-
M
178 DEATH
pliilosoplier — one who has duly weighed the facts and
interpretations of psychical research. It will be observed
that both these authors practically agree in their view
of the case — that a future life is only to be demonstrated
by means of psychical investigation, and that, were it not
for these facts, we should have to conclude in favour of
materialism.
It must be said, however, that both of these letters
merely raise a presumption in favour of immortality, as
we have said before, and cannot be said to prove it.
That can only come from facts. Further, neither of
them gives us any conception of the " real nature of
death ; " they merely state the views of their authors as
to the probable existence of the soul after the death of
the body. Nevertheless, the letters are of great interest
as illustrating the views of scientific men who have been
duly impressed with the facts of psychical research.
From Dr. Ernesto Bozzano, Genoa, Italy.
What do you consider to be the real nature of death ?
Qualora, dopo le profonde indagini isto-fisiologiche cui venne
sottoposto il cervello sullo scorcio del secolo passato, non fosse
occorso I'avvento degli studi metapsichici, ben difficilmente si
sarebbe evitata la conclusione che la crisi della morte per gli orga-
nismi animali significava I'arrcsto funzionale degli organismi
stessi, con cessazione della vita e conseguente annientamento di
quella sintesi di stati di coscienza che si denomina lo personale o
anima ; tutto cio malgrado che una conclusione siffatta conducesse
a una proposizione filosoficamente assurda, quella che I'evoluzione
deir Universo e della Vita si palesino destituiti di finalita.
Non piu cosi dopo Tavvento delle nuove richerche, in virtu delle
quali vennero posti in evideuza asj'ctti nuovi dell' lo subcosciente in
guisa da lasciare intravvedere la possibilita di risolvere sperimen-
talmente in senso afifermativo il grandioso problema dell' esistenza e
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 179
sopravvivenza delF anima ; clie ove cio si realizzasse, la crisi della
morte potrebbe ragguagliarsi a uni crisi di sviluppo in cui avrebbe
termine la fase dell' esistenza terrena, e principio quella spirituale
deir anima, per la quale le facolta supernormali della subcoscienza
costituirebbero altrettanti sensi novelli adattati a novelle condi-
zioni di ambiente ; il cbe, filosoficamente parlando, varebbe a con-
ciliare i portati della Scienza con gli imperativi categorici della
Ragione, non potendo quest' ultima concepire Vita ed Universe
destituiti di finalita. Ernesto Bozzano.
Translation : —
If, after the profound histo-physiological investigations to wbich
the brain was subjected at the ending of the past century, there had
not occurred the advent of metapsychical studies, it would have
been very difficult to avoid the conclusion that the crisis of death
for the animal organism signified the functional arrest of the organ
itself with cessation of life, and the consequent annihilation of that
synthesis of conscious states which is called the personal Ego, or
the soul. All this in spite of the fact that such a conclusion
leads to the proposition philosophically absurd, which is, that the
evolution of the Universe and of Life are declared deprived of
finality.
Since the advent of the new researches it is no longer so. By
virtue of these there are placed in evidence new aspects of the sub-
conscious Ego, in a way allowing to be seen the possibility of
resolving experimentally, in the affirmative sense, the great problem
of the existence and survival of the soul ; that where that should
be true, the crisis of death might be compared to an unfolding, in
which the earthly existence would have an end, and the spiritual
one of the soul a beginning, for which the supernormal faculties
of the subconscious would constitute so many new senses, adapted
to the new conditions of the ambient. Which, philosophically
speaking, would go to conciliate the findings of Science with the
Categorical Imperative of Reason, the latter being unable to con-
ceive of Life and the Universe deprived of finality.
Ernesto Bozzano.
/
180 DEATH
From Dr. Joseph Venzano, Genoa, Italy.
What do you consider to be the real nature of death?
Le pill recenti indagini nel campo della psicologio e della meta-
psichica hanno dimostrato I'esistenza di facoltii latenti nella sub-
coscienza die emcrgono in circostanze peculiari e che per la loro
supernormalita e in virtii di quella legge di finalita che regola tutte
le co-se create sarebbe assurdo ritenere dovessero colla morte andar
perdute in un colle scorie del corpo. Tali facolt^ porterebbero a
considerare I'organismo vivente quale temporanea sede di un' entita
spirituale in via di ulteriore e progressiva perfezione.
La morte pertanto — dovendo il concetto di essa necessariamente
scaturire da quello della vita — non sarebbe che un proscioglimento
dair involucro materiale di uno spirito tendente e sempre piii elevati
destini. Dott. Giuseppe Venzano.
Translation : —
The most recent investigations in the fields of psychology and
metapsychics have demonstrated the existence of faculties latent in
the subconsciousness that emerge under peculiar circumstances, and
that by their supernormality, and in virtue of that law of finality
that rules all created things, it would be absurd to retain [preserve ?]
should they in death be lost with the dross of the body. Such
faculties would lead one to consider the living organism as the
temporary seat of a spiritual entity in the way of ultimate and
progressive perfection.
Death, then — the concept of this having necessarily to spring
from Life — would be but a freeing from the material shell of
a spirit tending ahvays to a higher destiny.
Doctor GuiSEPPE Venzano.
The following letter from Mrs. Laura I. Finch, while
of exceptional interest and representing, as it does, the
philosophico-mystical point of view in an excellent and
forceful manner, cannot be held to explain death from
the psycho-physiological standpoint, which is the stand-
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 181
point assumed in this book, and is the aspect of death
upon which we wished to ehcit further information.
Ultimately, and looked at from a sort of cosmological
point of view, Mrs. Finch's attitude might be largely true.
But for our present purposes and from our present stand-
point, we cannot regard this letter as throwing much
light upon the real nature and causes of death. We
print it, however, as one containing speculations of a
remarkably ingenious character, excellently expressed : —
Fy^om M7's. Laura I. Finch, Zurich, Switzerland {late Editor
of " The Aniials of Psychical Science,^^ &c.\
What is the real nature of death %
The real nature of death should, in its highest sense, be a con-
summation, the termination of a cycle, the last act of the journeying
of the soul out of the Absolute back into the Absolute.
Just as disease and accident may be looked upon as incidents
which the soul lays hold of in order to free itself from the instru-
ment incapable of fulfilling its behests or of serving further as a
means of progress, so death from " natural " causes may likewise
be considered as a sign that the soul is still immature, and in need
of a new vehicle of ever-increasingly finer vibrations, until, ulti-
mately, the same soul has through its various manifestations
acquired a knowledge of nature's secrets, is no longer either the
victim or the slave or even the master, but is one with nature, able
to identify itself with all that is. In this, the highest form of the
manifestation of spirit, the body — under the control of an en-
franchised and perfect soul — should be of such a fine and perfect
nature — at last in harmony with the Spirit of the Universe, that
death, as we now understand it, cannot, simply cannot, exist
for it.
To the Perfect Understanding death is a paradox, an impossi-
bility, just as a deathless body would be an impossibility, a
paradox, to the immature soul.
Disease, accident, old age, and moral weakness — the tottering
steps of the soul in its infancy. And even '^ natural " death, as
182 DEATH
understood to-day, is the soul's mute confession of ignorance, of
failure ; the revelation of its degree of evolution.
The soul which has come into the full possession of its inheri-
tance, Knowledge, such a soul should certainly be able to leave
and resuscitate the body at will, and maintain the body in perfect
health and vitality, just as long as it was deemed necessary, for
cosmic causes, to postpone the final act of consummation. Age
can have no further meaning for such a soul, for time and space
are data of temporary, human invention, and can exercise no
dominion over the liberated. And free, then, indeed, is the soul
— free in the highest sense of the word : standing aloft on the
dazzling summits of manifestation, and at one, even now, with
the Divine. It comprehends, and therefore knows, no limitations ;
its centre is Itself, the Essence of all that is ; its compass is the
Universe, the Absolute, both that which is manifested and that
which is unmanifested.
And the ultimate passing out of such a tenant from the body
could not be called " death " — lacking as it would all the customary
attributes of death. It should be an event, deliberately chosen by
the omniscient soul long since come into the full recognition of its
relationship — its oneness— with the Divine All; an event accu-
rately predicted beforehand, a passing out without illness, without
feebleness, without suffering, without even any momentary loss of
consciousness ; a passing out of the realms of manifestation and
personality ; a passing into the very heart of the Universe, into
the "Arms of God," into the Essence of Life, into the Absolute.
That is my conception of what was meant to be the real nature
of death. Laura I. Finch.
Our next correspondent writes us as follows : —
From Miss E. Katherine Bates (Author of " See?i and Unseen"
*' Do the Dead Depart ? " (&c.).
Death has always appeared to me to be simply the process
through which the real Ego throws off or sheds the outer animal
body of lower rates of vibration ; and functions thenceforth in
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 183
the inner or spirit body of a more attentuated form of matter,
functioning at higher rates of vibration.
This inner body (the spirit body, as St. Paul calls it) is pre-
sumably already existing in our physical bodies, and is the medium
of such phenomena as are provided by the appearance of the
Double, where this is of a tangible and not of a merely subjective
and purely mental nature.
This inner body of finer matter, at higher vibrating rates,
doubtless is the one that leaves the outer physical body during
deep sleep, and is drawn towards those spheres to which it is
affinitive, but whence it must return to the animal body, under
strict conditions of Law, until the moment of entire release from
the physical prison-house arrives.
To my conception, therefore, death is, as a purely scientific fact,
that which the poets have always discerned it to be, i.e. the twin-
brother of sleep.
Sleep lets the prisoner out on " parole," whereas death is the
judge who grants him a complete and final release from his
captivity in the flesh. He will then be able to remain permanently
with his friends on the other side, in place of paying them short
visits during the sleep of the body, visits which must often prove
as tantalising as they are delightful. . . .
I am asked for my opinion, and not for evidential facts on this
great subject. There are many facts, however (upon their own
plane of existence) which bear out these conceptions. The fact of
the spirit leaving its outer physical body under conditions of
trance or of ordinary sleep, and being able to retain the con-
sciousness of experiences gained and knowledge conveyed, under
these circumstances, is a fact to which increasing numbers of
sensitives can testify.
When the racial sensitiveness to higher vibrations has reached
a point where these experiences shall have become sufficiently
numerous to form a majority, or even a very strong minority, it
can no longer be ignored.
As we learn to bring back these experiences of our sleeping
hours, so we shall be able to provide more and more evidence,
strictly scientific and capable of being dealt with on the present
plane of vibration.
184 DEATH
Then death will truly "lose its sting," as the grave has already-
lost its victory — for all but the most obstinate and elementary
materialists.
That sting, however, can never be removed until facts have con-
vinced us that death is no longer to be considered as an entrance
into hitherto unknoivn countries, but the making permanent and
substantial those conditions of life with which we are already
familiar, but of which we are now only conscious in fleeting
moments, few and far between.
" Men counted him a dreamer — Dreams
Are bvit the light of clearer skies
Too dazzling for our naked eyes ;
And when we catch their fleeting beams.
We turn aside, and call them — Dreams."
— E. Katherine Bates.
This letter opens up a number of possibilities ; of that
there can be no doubt. It further insists upon the
fundamental point that only by evidence, by scientific
facts, can the great question of survival of consciousness
ever be solved. This we shall argue at considerable
length in Parts II. and III. While this definition
cannot be said to make plain to us the actual causation
of death, as it does not indicate the cause of the with-
drawal of the body " possessing higher rates of vibra-
tion " ; yet it is doubtless very near the truth — if
anything at all in man survives death. The vibratory
theory of death is set forth at some length in Mr.
Carrington's chapter on the causation of death. From
every point of view, Miss Bates' letter is certainly worthy
of the most respectful consideration.
Of a somewhat similar character is Dr. Walter Leafs
communication, quoted below. It will be observed that
Dr. Leaf accepts as fundamental a " spiritual energy," and
even a " world of spirit," and defines death as " the dis-
sociation of spiritual energy and matter." This may be
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 185
very true, but really goes little further than the older
definition, " the departure of life from the body." It
will be noticed, also, that Dr. Leaf accepts a spiritual
world as proved, which we cannot do, looking at the
matter as scientists, inasmuch as we must first prove
it. But further, we do not desire to know only the
fad of the separation of the life principle from the body
(which is more or less common knowledge), but the
nature and the causes of it. This, it will be observed, we
fail to find fully explained in the following statement : —
From Walter Leaf, Litt.D., London, England.
Dear Sir, — I have had your circular letter on death before me
for some little time, and have been rather puzzled to know exactly
what answer you expect. The limitation to "natural" death
seems to exclude any consideration of death in itself, or how it
should be regarded by the individual, and to confine the subject
to the causes and nature of senile decay. If this is the intention,
I certainly have not the physiological knowledge which would
justify me in answering. I fancy, however, that you may not
wish thus to limit your purview, and desire rather my views as
to the reason of the necessity of death in the scheme of the
universe, though in that case I do not see why death by disease, &e.,
should be excluded. I therefore have endeavoured to compress
my views upon this point into your limits, rather at the expense
of clearness, and in any case without any of the explanations and
reserves which such a statement requires. — I am, dear Sir, yours
faithfully, Walter Leaf.
Our phenomenal world is due to the interaction of two worlds of
higher dimensions — Spirit and Matter.
" Laws of nature " represent so much as we can observe of
regularity in this interaction.
It is a law of nature that a limited amount of spiritual energy
associates itself with a limited amount of matter. The association
we call Life, the dissolution of it Death.
18G DEATH
It is a law of nature that this association can exist only for a
limited time.
Why this should be we caniiot say ; presumal)]y it is a necessary
condition for the fulfilment of that spiritual purpose which we call
Evolution. A time may come when the condition will no longer
be necessary.
The quantum of spirit associated with a quantum of matter
thereby becomes circumscribed, and loses some of its spiritual
relations, descending to a " personality." It is perhaps necessary
that it should after a time be re-absorbed into universal spirit in
order to renew itself. Thus death would be the analogue of sleep.
An extension of Dr. Leaf's view, from the standpoint
of a physiologist, is contained in the following com-
munication from Dr. Rabagliati, which is, we believe,
as near to an exact definition of death as any of the
communications received by us. Dr. Rabagliati is a
believer in the existence of a life or vital force, and
defended this view in his introduction to Mr. Carrington's
Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition. His definition of death,
as submitted to us, is as follows : —
From Dr. A. Eahagliati, ALA., M.D., F.R.C.S., &c., ^-c,
Bradford, England.
Viewing this universe as the effect of a universal cosmic energy,
emanating from an infinite source, which energy therefore consists
of an infinite series or forms or species, I define natural human
death as follows : —
Natural human death is the departure from the human body of
anthropino-bio-dynamic. Animal bodies are procreated, each sort
by its own form of bio-dynamic, to act as fit dwelling places for
animal life. Bio-dynamic itself is a species of the universal cosmic
energy. When it leaves the body, death ensues. The immediate
cause of human natural death is nearly always such a choking up
or blocking of the human house of life by excessive exercise of
tropho-dynamic, i.e. poly-siteism, kako-siteism, and pollaki-siteism,
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 187
and poly-potism, kako-potism, and pollaki-potism, that antliropino-
bio-dynamic is compelled to leave the body, as it is no longer a fit
house for life.
Explanation. — At death all forms of cosmic energy, except hylo-
dynamic (or the power of material substance), chemico-dynamic (or
the chemical power), and katharto-dynamic (or the cleansing power),
mostly exerted through the action of micro-organisms, leave the
human body. Were this not so, the body would not only die, but
vanish, as in fact it does after a long period of time, however our
love for the departed may induce us to try to prevent it.
A. Rabagliati.
Bradford, Eng., 1th August 1908.
The following communication from Prof. E. B. Wilson,
author of The Cell, &c., is the typical and clear-cut point of
view of the biologist. It states the case in a terse and
concise manner : —
Department of Zoology,
Columbia University, New York,
28f7i February 1910.
Dear Sir, — I must apologise for not replying sooner to your note
of Jan. 25th. I should not care to attempt a definition of death
for publication. Biologically, death is to be regarded as the
cessation of the life processes. The definition of death, therefore,
presupposes a definition of the life processes ; and the latter is too
complicated a matter to be stated briefly. — Very truly yours,
Edmund B. Wilson.
The views expressed by the following writers — not
in answer to our circular letter, but in their various
writings to which we have referred — may be printed
consecutively, since they represent, more or less, the
same point of view.
Dr. Brouardel, in his Death and Sudden Death (p. 292),
defines death as follows : —
" Death supervenes when poisons manufactured in the system,
or unwholesome food that has been ingested, can no longer be ade-
88 DEATH
/quately removed by the kidneys. . . . The individual is, there-
fore, poisoned, either by his food, or by poisons which are generated
within his own body, i.e. auto-intoxication."
Dr. J. H. Kellogg defines death thus : —
;/ " The cause of old age and natural death is the accumulation of
waste matters in the body."
Dr. R. T. Trail, in his Physiology, p. 203, favoured the
idea that death ensues when —
" The solids are so disproportioned to the fluids that the nutri-
tive processes can no longer be carried on."
?
Dr. Rosenbach contends that —
" Death ... is that condition of organised matte " in which all
processes of causation have come to such a state of lest that they
can no longer be put in motion, since the grouping of the atoms
in the molecule has become so firm that the liberation of living
force would be associated with a destruction of the molecule "
{Physician versus Bacteriologist, pp. 82-3).
Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, in his Diseases of Modern
Life, pp. 103—4, sums up the causes of death as follows : —
"I have learned that the gradual transformation of the vital
organs of the body from advanced age is due to a change in the
colloidal matter which forms the organic basis of all living tissues.
In its active state this substance is combined with water, by which
its activity and_flexibility is maintained in whatever organ it is
'present — brain, nerve, muscle, eye-ball, cartilage, membrane. In
course of time, this combination with water is lessened, whereupon
the vital tissues become thickened, or, to use the technical term,
' pectous,' by attraction of cohesion, the organic particles are
welded more closely together, until, at length, the nervous matter
loses its mobility, and the physical inertia is complete."
^ One of us has summed up all these proposed causes of
death in the single word, hlockage.
QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEATH— ANSWERS 189
We regard some of these theories of death as accu-
rately representing proximate causes of death, but not the
inner, ultimate cause, so to speak. Further, we must
insist that death from all these causes would really be
death from disease, since natural death can hardly be
defined as due to any of these factors, as we have shown
elsewhere. Natural death should result without any of
the morbid accumulations or functionings which have
been postulated by these authors. We believe that the
life force ceases to operate in the body because of its
blockage in one or another of the ways described by
these authors ; but this blockage is really an indirect
and not a direct cause ; and further, as we have said, we
could hardly define death due to such causes as natural
death. Waiving that, however, we must insist upon this
fundamental point: that the separation of the life from
the body, which may be said to constitute natural death
(judged from an external standpoint), depends upon
certain bodily and mental conditions, but these con-
ditions are not the direct cause of the severance of the
body and the life-energy, but only the indirect cause.
The direct cause is the process of disconnection, and
only by defining the inmost nature of that, can one
actually define the " real nature " of death.
CHAPTER IX
MY OWN THEORY OF THE NATURE OF DEATH
By Hereward Carrington
Not until one begins to look up tlie literature on " death "
does one discover how scanty it is ; not until one begins
to read upon the subject does one discover how little is
really known about it ! For my own part, I may say
that I took every means known to me to make my read-
ing as complete as possible, before attempting to write a
book upon such an abstruse question, and I think I may
fairly claim to have read everything of importance that
has been written upon the subject from the scientific
point of view. But little of any real value was to be
found, with the exception of about two books and an
equal number of magazine articles ! The encyclopaedias
were equally useless. The Encyclopedia Americana con-
tained a couple of pages on the subject — mostly devoted
to sudden death, and its various symptoms ; and a very
brief note was found in one or two other encyclopaedias ;
but not one word did the Encyclopccclia Britannica contain !
When such an authority refrains from even mentioning
the subject, it is hardly to be wondered at that lesser
works should contain little or nothing upon the matter.
And yet it is astonishing, when we come to consider
it, that so little is known, and so little interest is taken
in this most momentous question. Medical men have
the opportunity of studying thousands upon thousands of
death-beds during the course of the year, but practically
I'JO
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 191
nothing of interest is ever said concerning these scenes.
This cannot be due to over nicety of sentiment on their
part, for repeated experiences of the kind tend to deaden
the sense of the awful and the marvellous, as we all know.
Nor can it be that they do not pay strict and close atten-
tion to what is going on before them. Many physicians
have doubtless watched the process of dying with the
utmost care. The only rational interpretation of this
silence is, that no man has had the desire to come forward
and attempt to explain the facts and the phenomena that
he is constantly observing. The/<xc^s are seen often enough ;
but any explanation of the facts is quite impossible 1
That would certainly seem to be the only interpretation
of this remarkable and prolonged silence.
But, seeing that death is taking place all around us,
every day of our lives, and that no man can escape it —
no matter how well or how long he may live — is it not
advisable to try and explain that which has puzzled
philosophers and physiologists so long ? I think every
one would like to see the question solved ; but no one
has had the initiative to come forward and attempt to
solve it ! As both Mr. Meader and myself believe that
we have some grain of truth to offer to the world, how-
ever, upon this question, we do not hesitate to broach it,
and offer our explanation of the facts — for what it may
be worth. Speaking for myself, I may say that, since
I prefer the Truth to all else in this world, I feel that
I have nothing to lose by coming forward in this manner,
and saying that I believe I have discovered the cause of
natural death — and, incidentally, some of the phenomena,
at least, of life.
My chief reason for collaborating in the writing of
this volume was to ascertain how much was known of
the causes of natural death, to summarise what had been
said on this subject, and to advance what is, I believe,
192 DEATH
a new theory of natural death and its causation. Any
theory of death must fill a number of requirements, in
order to be really explanatory. It must reach to the
very heart of the problem, and explain not only the
surface phenomena, but the very essence of the process
we see before us. Further, if the theory be sound,
it must explain all the facts, both physiological and
psychological; and must also be capable of explaining
sudden death, death due to accident, disease, mental
causes, &c., equally with death from old age. I might
indeed contend, and justly, that I am not called upon to
extend my theory to exceptional and odd cases — not to
cases of death due to accident, to sudden death, or to
disease, since I am only attempting to define natural
death ; but if my theory be found to fit into, and explain,
all these phenomena equally well, that is surely so much
the better, and is a more or less conclusive proof that
the theory is correct. All that can be demanded of
any theory is that it explains all the facts, in a simple
and satisfactory manner, and I think I may claim that
the theory does this. Mr. Meader and myself differ
somewhat on this question of the cause of natural death,
and for this reason we have thought it better that each
should elaborate his own idea in a separate place. In
this way we can both express our ideas unimpeded.
The reader also has the advantage of having two sugges-
tions instead of one, and may thus have a double theory
of the causation of death laid before him.
Let us first of all consider " natural " death. We
have been led up to this, and have had most of the mis-
understandings cleared away by our discussion of the
problem of " old age." There we saw that it was not so
much the germs that are to be dreaded, as the condi-
tion of the body that rendered their presence and groAvth
possible ; and we can at least form a conception of what
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 193
that is. Decay, degenerative changes, &c., are all patho-
logical and abnormal states, due to the food and other
habits of the people, and none of these would be present
in normal, healthy old age. But death is commonly
supposed to be due to these very causes, and to result
because of them ; and science knows no reason why
death should ever occur so long as these changes did
not take place. Then are we intended to live for ever ?
Certainly not ! How, then, can natural death take place ?
That is the problem to be solved, and I think it can be
solved easily enough if we consent to lay aside present-
day materialistic physiology and its teachings, and look
for something in man which is a little more hidden,
which cannot be discovered by the aid of the scalpel, but
which is, in very truth, the life principle itself.
It has often been said that we cannot know what
death is until we know something of the nature of life,
and that is very probably true. Death has also been
defined, times without number, as " the cessation of life."
But what is the use of that definition when we have not
the slightest idea of what life is ? Surely Ave are in a
vicious circle here : death is the cessation of life, and life
is the opposite of death ! How can we ever reach any
satisfactory explanation, so long as we are content to
beat about the bush in that fashion ?
In order to define death (natural death), therefore, it
will first of all be necessary to give a definition of life.
I need not, indeed, give a definition of its essence — its
very innermost nature — so long as I can give a satis-
factory definition of its phenomena, its connection with
the organism, and the character of its manifestations
through it. If " life " were once understood, we might
be enabled to see in what its negation consisted. We
can conceive the opposite of a thing we knoAv, but not
the opposite of a thing we do not. Roughly, then, let
me attempt a definition of the phenomenon of life.
N
194 DEATH
As a matter of fact, I have already defined life in my
Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, p. 334, and I need only
re-state the position I there took. I said : " And what is
life ? That, of course, is unknown. But I venture to
think that we shall not go far wrong should we conceive
it — on its physical side — for of its essence we are quite
ignorant — as a species of vibration'' ^ I then attempted
to show how this conception might account for the bodily
heat noted, and how it was in accordance with the theory
of vitality advanced. Here I shall endeavour to extend
the idea in another direction. By it we shall, I think,
be enabled to account for death.
If the manifestation of life is actually a species of
vibration, and life manifests at a certain rate, and at
that rate only (or within certain narrow limits), it will be
seen that, in order to render impossible the manifestation
of life, it would only be necessary to raise or lower the
rate of vibration above or below the limits designed by
nature as possible for the manifestation of life, in order to
render this manifestation impossible. If the rate of vibra-
tion be above a certain speed, life (or its physical base
or body) would be shattered, and its manifestation become
impossible. On the other hand, if the rate of vibration
were to fall below the minimum limit set by nature, then
life would lose its hold of the organism, and drift away,
no longer able to manifest through that body. Such,
1 It may be objected that, in thus defining life as a species of vibration,
I have not explained it in full. As I have repeatedly said, I have not
attempted to do so. All I intend accomplishing here is a definition of
the manifestation of life, and a statement of the possible conditions under
which it might or might not manifest. That is all that is attempted, in
the case of any other energy or quality. For instance, we do not define
the essence of light (so to speak) when we say that it is vibration at a
certain rate ; nor heat, ditto. But we know what we mean by the terms
very well, and there is never any demand made to define "light" or
" heat " more accurately. I feel that it is the same with life. We are
dealing with phenomena still, and not with noumena. My present idea
is merely advanced, to be tested, like any other hypothesis.
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 195
in rough outline, is the theory. Now let us apply it in
detail to the facts.
First, let us consider what " natural death " would
mean on this theory. Assuming that a certain rate of
vibration (of the nervous tissue, or of some ethereal
medium acting upon nervous tissue) represents the
ideal of health, we might suppose that all rates of
vibration above or below this would represent, more or
less, manifestations of abnormality or disease — mental
or physical. A slight lessening of the rate of vibration
would indicate a lessened amount of vitality — sluggish-
ness, enervation, depletion, and all that goes with these
states. On the other hand, an elevation of the rate of
vibration would induce undue excitement, excessive
stimulation, abnormal passions and emotions, feverish
conditions, et hoc gemis omne. I need not here go into
the medical details of this theory, and of its applica-
bility to disease : possibly I shall do so on another
occasion. At present I only wish to indicate its applica-
bility and explanatory power, so far as the phenomena
of life and of death are concerned. But any medical
man will see its applicability and potentialities, if true.
Now, we may suppose that this rate of vibration
would be influenced in two ways — by the condition of
the body, and by the state of the mind. If the body
be choked up with debris, and clogged so that life
cannot manifest through it, then the rate of vibration
will be so lowered that only a very little life, or life
of a low order, can become manifest.^ If, on the other
hand, the mind be unduly excited ; if it be stimulated
^ This might also account for the phenomena of evolution. Professor
F. C. S. Schiller wrote some years ago, in fact {Riddles of the Sphinx,
p. 294) : " If the material encasement be coarse and simple, as in the
lower organisms, it permits only a little intelligence to permeate through
it ; if it is delicate and complex, it leaves more pores and exits, as it
were, for the manifestations of consciousness." I venture to think this
is quite in line with my theory.
196 DEATH
and raised to a pitch of great emotional or intellectual
activity, this would doubtless correspond to an in-
creased rate of vibratory action ; and, thus increasing the
activity of the organism through which it manifests, by
reason of its raising the rate of vibration of its nerve
centres, it would produce disastrous consequences in
that organism. A slight raising or lowering of this rate
of vibration would thus produce disease of one character
or of another ; and when the rate of vibration exceeds
a certain limit, then life would be no longer possible at
all — at least in that body.
Now, applying this theory to the problem before us,
I think we have a satisfactory explanation of natural
death, as well as of all the sudden deaths — deaths due
to accident, disease, &c. Let us see if this is not the
case.
Take, first, a supposedly typical case of " natural "
death. As the result of years of living contrary to
the laws of nature (more or less)/ the body has become
enfeebled, the vitality low, the powers sluggish, the
chemical composition of the body altered, and the
tissues more or less clogged with d(^bris and mal-
assimilated food material. Once this process of blockage
and decay has begun, it proceeds more or less rapidly,
according to the condition of the organism. Thus, I
conceive that it would be impossible for any person in
perfect health to die : but no one is in perfect health !
This process of blockage, then, goes on from day to day,
until there comes a time when life cannot set the vital
machinery in' motion. Thus we have the state which
^ No one can live ahsolutcly according to the laws of nature. That
would be an ideal condition — which does not exist as an actuality.
However closely we may oliey the laws of nature, therefore, so far as
they are known to us, we are pervertinp^ tliem every day of our lives to
a great or an infinitesimal degree. For this reason, death ultimately
comes to us.
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 197
I defined as death in my Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition,
pp. 330-1, viz.: "That condition of the organism which
renders no longer possible the transmission or mani-
festation of vital force through it — Avhich condition is
probably a poisoned state of the nervous system — due,
in turn, to the whole system becoming poisoned by toxic
material absorbed from the blood."
I now think I see a step further than I did when I
wrote that passage. I now think I see how it is that
life is prevented from manifesting through the body. '
It is hecansG the rate of mhration at which life can manifest •■ \
cannot he reached. In such a body, the minimum rate V
of vibration at which life can become manifest to us
cannot be attained. Its nervous mechanism cannot be
set in motion. I should thus, therefore, define natural
death, or death from old age :
IT IS THE INABILITY OF THE LIFE FORCE TO RAISE
TO THE REQUISITE RATE OF VIBRATION THE
NERVOUS TISSUE UPON WHICH IT ACTS ITS
MANIFESTATION THUS BEING RENDERED IM-
POSSIBLE.
We have here, I think, a complete and satisfactory
definition of natural death — offered, I believe, for the
first time.
I am well aware of the fact that present-day science
does not recognise any such separate life force as I have
postulated ; but, on the contrary, asserts that life is the
very product of the functioning of the body. Some
years ago this was held (in the crudest form) to be
true of mind also ; but this is now universally given up,
and I feel assured that the present position with regard
to life and vitality will shortly have to be given up also.
There is no proof whatever that the present conception
or interpretation of the facts is correct ; all that science
198 DEATH
has shown in this particular field is that a certain
amount of organic tissue change, and a certain amount
of life (so to speak) are present at the same time ; and
it has been by no means proved that one creates the
other. All that is proved is coincidence; not causation.
Orthodox science claims that the destruction of a
certain amount of matter (organic) brings into being a
certain amount of life : Dr. Rabagliati and myself, on
the contrary, hold that the manifestation or expenditure
of a certain amount of life wastes or displaces a certain
amount of organic matter (which is made good by a
proportionately small or large amount of food-material).
We can take all the facts of physiological science and
interpret them in a different manner. Just as one
school of psychologists asserts that the waste of the
substance of the brain does not actually produce the
thought, but is only coincidental with it (or is even
caused by it) ; so we contend that all the vital wastes
of the body may be looked at from the same stand-
point ; and that, instead of the food causing the bodily
energy, vital energy wastes the bodily tissues by acting
upon them ; and this loss is invariably made good by
a proportionate amount of food. I argued this position
at great length in my Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition,
pp. 225-303, and Dr. Rabagliati also strongly insisted
upon this possible alternate interpretation of the
observed facts, in his masterly and excellent Intro-
duction to my book ; and I shall only refer the reader
to the text for an elaboration of that idea. Here I
need only say (and on this I insist), that this idea of
a separate life force is quite 'possible, and is a tenable
position and theory, is in accord with all the known
facts of experimental physiology, and also enables us to
explain many facts which on the ordinary theory we
cannot explain. For these reasons, I accept this theory
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 199
as substantially correct, and shall proceed with the
argument as if it were true.) See Appendices B and C.)
Dr. Charles S. Minot, indeed, when discussing this
difficult question, expressed himself as follows : —
" No mechanical explanation or theory of conscious automatism
suffices, but a vital force is the only reasonable hypothesis; the
nature of that force is, for the present, an entire mystery, and
before we can expect to discover it, we must settle what are the
phenomena to be explained by it."
And thirty years later Dr. Minot was still able to say : —
"So Uttle have we gained since 1879 in our comprehension
of the basic phenomena of living things, that were I to re-write
the abstract in accordance with present knowledge, I should not
change it essentially. The vitalistic hypothesis still seems to me
scientifically the best" {Age, Groivth and Death, p. 267).
It may be added that there is a slow but distinct
tendency among biologists to revert to some vitalistic
hypothesis for an explanation of living matter and its
phenomena. (See, e.g., Wilson, The Cell, pp. 394, 417,
434, &c.) And I may point out, that if this alterna-
tive explanation of the facts is a possible one, it throws
an entirely new light on many ill-understood historical
phenomena. Take, for instance, the cases of " raising
the dead." I think we shall find that many of these
cases assume an entirely new aspect when considered
from this standpoint, and having in mind the theory
advanced. Thus, Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, in
his Ministry of Health, writes as follows : —
"What, then, we should abstractly call 'vitality' is universal,
and in persistent operation in inanimate matter constituted to be
animated. What we call life is the manifestation of this persistent
and all-pervading principle of nature in properly organised sub-
200 DEATH
stance. What we call death, or de vital isation, is the reduction
of matter to the sway of other forces, which do not destroy it,
but which cliange its mode of motion from the concrete to the
diffuse, and, after a time, render it altogether incapable of mani-
festing vital action until it be recast in vital mould. We are at
this moment ignorant of the time when vitality ceases to act
on matter that has been vitalised. Presuming that an organism
can be arrested in its living in such a manner that its parts shall
not be injured to the extent of actual destruction of tissue or to
change of organic form, the vital wave seems ever ready to pour
into the body again so soon as the conditions for its action are
re-established. Thus, in some of my experiments for suspending
the conditions essential for the visible manifestation of life in cold-
blooded animals, I have succeeded in re-establishing the condition
under which the vital vibrations will influence after a lapse, not of
hours, but even of days ; and, for my part, I know no limitation
tc such re-manifestation."
The extreme suggestiveness of these remarks need
hardly be pointed out, bearing as they do upon the
possible interpretation of historic cases of raising the
dead. So long as no part of the organic structure is
impaired, or rendered useless, there seems to be no valid
reason why the bodily vitality and life should not be
forced back into the body by some one, who perhaps
understands the law of such vital re-adjustment. On
the theory that vitality is a separate force ^vhich can
exist apart from the bodily structure, this could easily
be conceived; and it could even be conceived on the
materialistic hypothesis — that vital energy is a mere
resultant of the total bodily functions. On that theory
life is a product, as it were, of such functionings, and
is merely arrested or ceases to be, because the organs
which brought life into being cease their activity.
Once these organs could be re-stimulated into action,
life should re-manifest, by all the laws known to us, or,
at least, there is no valid objection, to our thinking,
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 201
to its doing so. Whij life does not thus re-manifest in
bodies whose structure is unimpaired is really a mystery,
but it is probably due to the fact that the adjustment
between the life force and the body is impaired, and
in some way interfered with beyond recall. There are
many cases on record in which a man has, e.g., read a
telegram and dropped dead instantaneously. Surely
the bodily conditions before and after such a catastrophe
must differ almost infinitesimally ; and yet there is all
the difference in the world between that man's condition
before and after such a stupendous event ! What has
taken place ? What physiological reason is there for
thinking that life cannot be made to re-manifest in
such a body ? It has always appeared to me that,
were the laws of life — its manifestation and vital con-
nection with the body — more thoroughly understood,
cases of " raising the dead " might be far more plenti-
ful than they are at present, and they would no longer
be considered " miraculous " by the public at large.
Surely this must be because the nervous system is
involved, and it is because of the shock that death takes
place ? The total insufficiency of the current theories
of life and of death is never more plainly illustrated than
in cases of this character. On the materialistic theory,
why should stoppage of the heart, or its emptying of
blood, cause sudden death ? And how comes it about
that cardiac massage can restore the heart-beat and life,
several minutes after a heart has stopped beating, when
the man would normally be pronounced quite dead ?
On the theory outlined above, it seems to me all such
facts are readily explained. Cardiac massage, e.g., would
restore a certain vibratory action to the system, which
would render possible the re-manifestation of life through
it. In the case of the heart-failure, the rate of the life-
vibration would be either raised or lowered so suddenly
202 DEATH
and so tremendously, thiit its manifestation would no
longer be possible. Just as light would suddenly jump
into invisibility were we sudd'enly to increase its rate of
vibration, and remain invisible indefinitely so long as
we retained that rate, just so would life instantly become
invisible and intangible, and would cease to function on
this plane, where it is visible or sensible to us.
Having defined natural death, let us see if this theory
applies to all the other known facts, and explains them
in a satisfactory manner. I think we shall find that it
does. I should begin with death from mental causes.
To take a typical case, a man reads a telegram, and
drops dead. In such a case, I have only to suppose
that the rate of vibration was raised to such a pitch,
in consequence of the mental emotion and excitement,
that life shattered itself, as it were, and destroyed its
physical basis for life-manifestation. Death from exces-
sive heat or excessive cold would be caused by the
gradual raising or lowering respectively of the vibratory
action of life. Death from sudden physical shock,
jar, electric current, lightning, &c., would raise the
vibration of life to such a pitch that it would become
extinct immediately. Just as light would cease to bo
light (for us) as soon as the rate of its vibrations
passes a certain number per second, so would life
vanish (for us) as soon as the rate of its vibrations
passed its proportionately fixed and set limit. In both
cases there would be apparent annihilation, but in both
cases the vibrations would continue to persist unseen,
unsensed, and unknown to us. Life might then per-
sist, after the physical destruction of the body ; and, in
fact, must so persist, unless we are prepared to defend
the doctrine of immediate annihilation of energy and
the complete upsetting of the laws of evolution, pro-
gression, continuity, and the conservation of energy.
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 203
The bearing of all this on psychical research need only
be pointed out in this place.
Coming now to death from diseases of various kinds,
we find the same theory equally applicable here, as before.
In all such cases life would be unable to manifest, for the
reason that it would be unable to raise the rate of bodily
vibration to the requisite pitch, in order to manifest
through it. The condition would be very much the
same as in all cases of natural death, but death would
come more suddenly, more painfully, and would cut off a
number of years from that person's life. But, beyond some
differences in detail, the same cause would apply equally
in both cases, and would explain them both equally well.
Now let us turn to the most difficult of all — cases of
sudden death. Take a ease of rupture of the heart.
Personally, I could never see why (apart from the shock
to the nervous mechanism) rupture of the heart, and
even its complete emptying of blood, should induce
sudden death. The nerves throughout the body are
still nourished with blood, and would be for some minutes
after the heart was ruptured. Why, then, should this
cause sudden death ? ^
I think all cases of sudden death might be explained
as easily and as fully. The sudden raising or lowering
of the vibration of life, because of the suddenly induced
mental or physical change, would necessitate the raising
or the lowering of the vibration of the nervous mechanism
^ In looking through works on sudden death, one cannot help but be
struck by the total lack of inquiry into the real cause of such deaths.
The author is invariably content to state that death has resulted from
a rupture of the cardiac muscle, e.g., or from angina pectoris. But when
we stop to ask how can either of these conditions actually cause death,
we find no answer whatever — not even an attempt at an answer! We are
told that death does take place suddenly because of these accidents,
and that is all. Certainly we cannot be blamed for attempting to formu-
late an hypothesis which will explain these facts, and look at this matter,
not from the mere standpoint of an outsider, helpless ; but as one
attempting to understand the very innermost essence of the phenomenon
he sees.
204 DEATH
accordingly ; and, if this were to pass beyond a certain
rate in either direction it would mean annihilation —
so far as we are concerned — until the rate of vibration
could again be lowered or raised sufficiently to allow
the re-manifestation of life. In some cases this might
be possible. Massage might effect this result, for one
thing ; hypnotic suggestion or spontaneous trance might
bring this to pass, for another — when the vibration had
been too high previously — this enabling us to perceive
the rationale of Miss Molly Fancher's remark, e.g., that
" only the trances and spasms saved my life." -^ Electricity
mioht stimulate into action nerves whose vibration had
been a trifle too slow to allow of the manifestation of life ;
other stimulants might act in a similar manner. Only
in those cases in which the shock and the rate of change
had been so great, that (1) either the structure of the
body had been destroyed; or (2) the medium of re-
manifestation had been shattered, would re-manifesta-
tion and re-vivification become impossible. In such cases
life would be severed from the body for good and all.
This theory of life and its connection with the or-
ganism also enables us to explain several puzzling facts
which have always been stumbling-blocks in physiology,
and still are. I refer to sleep and to insanity. Let us
first take sleep. The innermost nature of this process
is a mystery to orthodox science ; but it becomes intel-
ligible to us on the theory outlined above. We should
suppose, from all analogy, that the vibration of life would
get shaken and jarred out of its perfect rlujtlim as the
result of the day's excitement and activities; and that
it would be necessary to induce some state of the body
in which these vibrations of life could be again equalised,
ready for the next day's activities ; and if this period of
rest and re-adjustment was not allowed, then the vibra-
^ Molly Fancher, by Judge A. N. Dailly, p. 22.
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 205
tions would become more and more disturbed, more and
more inharmonious and unrhythmic, until the connec-
tion of the life force with the organism would be
totally mal-adjusted, and insanity and death ensue.
Sleep would be, therefore, a time of rest necessary for
the re-halancing and re-ccdjustment of the vibrations of life.
We have just said that continued loss of sleep will
induce insanity more readily and more quickly than
almost any other cause. It is asserted that ten days
is, as a rule, the greatest length of time that any human
organism can exist without sleep. Why should so short
a period prove so disastrous ? Science cannot answer ;
but I think the answer is found easily enough if the
theory just outlined were true. For, in this case, we
can see that the longer that sleep is suspended or post-
poned, the more will the vibrations of life be upset,
unequalised, and rendered more inharmonious. We
have the analogy of mitsic to guide us here. We know
that we have harmony and all the sweet strains of music
so long as the vibrations are equal ; but so soon as they
become uiiequal in time-interval, then we have discord,
or merely noise. And it would be the same with the
human mind. The continued de-equalisation of the
vibrations of life would tend to induce more and more
mental mal- adjustment to the body ; and hence an
unbalancing of the mind. Insanity, therefore, might
be defined as a condition of the mind residting from the
mal-adjustmcnt and. U7iequalising of the vibration of life.
It would result from the disharmonious connection of the
mind and the body — a fact upon which Andrew Jackson
Davis insisted years ago in his Mental Disorders.^ This
would enable us to see why it is that, in the majority
' He says : " Disturbances, therefore, originate neither in the matter of
the body, nor primarily in the j)rinciples of the soul, but among the iinJcs,
or rather, in the sensitive connections by which both body and soul are
compelled to live together . . ." (pp. 147-8).
206 DEATH
of cases, persons insane to us here might be perfectly
sane so soon as they died {i.e. so soon as they became
" spirits," and this connection consequently no longer
existed). It would also enable us to understand the
beneficial effects of music on the insane — which is now
receiving so much attention — and the rationale of the
various " rest-cures " for mentally sick patients. This
unequalising and unbalancing of the vibration of life
would enable us to account for all such facts very easily,
and would show us why it is that no physical disturbance
is to be found (post-mortem) in a large number of insane
patients. We shall have to go beyond materialistic
science to explain many cases of this character.
CHAPTER X
MY OWN THEORY OF THE NATURE OF DEATH
By John E. Meader
The theories that men advance to explam the simple
phenomena of Hfe sometimes appeal to us as absurd,
when, as a matter of fact, our objections to such ideas
may be the result of our own unfamiliarity with the
mode of investigation, or processes of reasoning, through
which they have been derived. Thus, when we carry
our most dogmatic assertions to the last analysis, we are
very apt to discover that our belief that this theory is
false, and that theory true, is an assumption based upon
no better evidence than a mere line of perspective ; and
this fact applies to the vaunted wisdom of the scientist,
and the doctrinal presentments of the theologian, quite
as appropriately as it does to the personal opinions of
the individual, who — in accordance with a common,
though erroneous, idea — has no legitimate authority to
theorise upon very important subjects. As President
Faunce, of Brown University, said in his Commencement
address, June 1908 : —
" There is no better definition of dogmatism than that long ago
given by the humorist — it is 'grown-up puppyism.' It is youthful
presumption ripening into mature intolerance. We are thoroughly
familiar with this in religion, but we often fail to realise that it
is quite as common in other realms. Have we not often seen a
similar sectarianism in science, in philosophy, in politics? It is
precisely the youngest and least established sciences . . . that are
207
208 DEATH
most tempted to assume finality. The extraordinary vitality of
the Christian Science movement of to-day has come about mainly
because of the unwillingness of medicine and theology even to
examine the indisputable facts of mental therapeutics. Psycho-
logy is to-day showing a similar aversion to all facts which have
been brought to light by the Society for Psychical Research.
Dogmatism is not the monopoly of any sect, or creed, or scientific
theory. It is the attitude of the mind that has lost its receptivity
and candour, and has hardened into premature finality."
My reference to this mental attitude of dogmatic
stupidity is neither a challenge to the scientist nor an
attack upon the intelligence of the theologian, but is
merely introduced as a warning note, that those who
do not agree with my particular theory regarding the
cause of natural death may not be too ready to brand
it as impossible and absurd. To the dogmatic scientist
and the mentally-constricted theologian such a pre-
caution may be useless, for when men are unwilling to
examine alleged facts — however w^ell authenticated they
may be — simply because they might possibly tend to
overthrow some already-conceived opinion — it is practi-
cally impossible to appeal to their sense of reason. How
often during the past hundred years have revolutionary
theories been dismissed with ridicule by scientists, merely
because they were contrary to the laws of the inde-
structibility of matter and force, or the conservation of
energy and matter ! Accepted as demonstrated facts, it
was generally conceded that these principles must be
true, and an elaborate system of scientific speculation
based upon these conditions of cause and effect was
constructed with these laws as a foundation. And yet,
if Gustavo Le Bon's experiments are to be accepted —
and it seems impossible that even the most dogmatic
scientist should decline to accept them — matter is so far
from being indestructible and eternal, that, under certain
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 209
conditions, it dissociates and vanishes without return.
If this be true, modern science will have to pass through
another period of reconstruction.
Although science and theology agree in opposing every
new phase of thought that promises to be at all revolu-
tionary in its effect, this is about the only point in which
they are in full accord. Science, for example, denies the
possibility of the soul's existence, merely because it has
been unable to discover the soul by means of its instru-
ments of investigation ; and it ridicules the idea of an
intelligent Creator for the reason that it has been unable
to put its finger upon any particular point in the uni-
verse and say, " There He is." Haeckel, in The Riddle of
the Universe, facetiously defined God as a "gaseous verte-
brate," and yet he seriously asks us to accept, not only
the etheric hypothesis, but the statement that he has
weighed this unseen medium of energy, and has found
that an amount equal in bulk to the dimensions of
this planet is equivalent in weight to about 250 lbs.
avoirdupois !
As every student of science will admit, the atom,
which was once regarded as the ultimate particle of
matter, is itself unperceivable by any scientific instru-
ment that has yet been devised. To say that the atom is
composed of still smaller particles known as " electrons "
is, therefore, a proposition that appeals solely to the
imagination, and must be accepted on faith alone. In
other words, such a hypothesis goes beyond the province
of demonstrable science, and enters the realm of pure
metaphysical speculation.
Dr. Rabagliati, in his introduction to Vitality, Fasting
and Nutrition, by Mr. Carrington, gives due consideration
to this aspect of the question.
"Does the scientist," he asks, "mean to imply that 'purely
metaphysical speculations ' are any less metaphysical in the mouth
O
210 DEATH
of the scientist thinking to prove their truth through experiments,
than in the mouth of the philosopher thinking to prove them by
reasoning ? The scientist is on very dangerous ground if he does
think this. He would realise this better if he would reflect more
about it and about the results of his experiments, for it is not his
experiments that are important so much as the conclusions, always
metaphysical, which he draws from them. It is not so much facts
and experiments which sway and modify us, as the interpreta-
tion of the same — and the interpretation always is and must be
metaphysical."
That is to say, a belief in the existence of a soul that,
however intangible it may seem to us, may be, at the
same time, composed of very tangible material, is in no
respect a greater strain upon the intellect than the theory
that the absolutely imperceptible atom is composed of
material of infinitely less apprehensible substance ; and
yet science, which accepts the latter hypothesis, utterly
denies to us the right to believe in the former.
Therefore, when we say that thought is a force, or
energy, as real in its operation as the force that we know
as electricity, or as the absolutely unknown law of
gravitation, most scientists will accuse us of the crime
of exploiting an entirely irrational theory. It is true
that materialistic science has long affirmed that " thought
is a function of the brain " ; and this idea had been so
generally accepted that, as Professor James has said,
" only a few belated scholastics, or possibly some crack-
brained theosophist or psychical researcher can be found
holding back, and still talking as if mental phenomena
might exist as independent variables in the world." If
this is, or has been, the established scientific view, how-
ever, there is considerable logical reason for the belief
that this theory, like several of the so-called " laws " of
science, is in danger of serious modification, for many of
the most progressive physiologists are now reaching the
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 211
conclusion that the brain is nothing more than an in-
strument ; that it is not in itself the source or producer
of thought, but is merely the organ through which the
mind operates.
If we are to admit that this newer view of our mental
processes is in accordance with fact, we not only remove
one of the most serious objections to the existence of the
soul, but we provide a basis for a hypothesis that will
explain all the phenomena by which so-called erratic
thinkers have sought to verify their theories of the close
union existing between the force denoted as " thought "
and the physical condition of the body.
Dr. Paul Dubois, of the University of Berne, may be
mentioned as one of the scientists who have arrived at
this conclusion, for while he is in no respect a dogmatic
religionist, he admits that we must recognise " the re-
ciprocal influence which the spirit and the body, the
moral and the physical, exert upon each other." Con-
tinuing his argument, he says : —
" The physique of man is the entire body, comprising in it the
brain with its thousands of cells and fibres, with the organs of
feeling, these delicate antennse which put it in communication
with the outside world. This body exists; we can see it, can
touch it. We have no doubts of its reality, its materialism, in
spite of the specious reasoning of some philosophers who have
pushed idealism to the extreme. To say that the physical has an
influence over the moral is, then, to affirm that the state of our
body can modify our ideas, our sentiments, the condition of our
soul. Inversely, if we admit the influence of the mind over the
body, that is declaring that the mental representations which we
make, the feelings which animate us, can influence the body and
modify the functions of its organs " {Influence of the Mind on the
Body, pp. 4, 5).i
1 One case known to us is of extreme interest, since it illustrates the
possible hold upon life possessed by the human spirit, so long as con-
sciousness and will are active. A patient lying in bed in a hospital was
212 DEATH
As we have already seen in a previous chapter (" The
Mental Causes of Death "), all the apparent phenomena
of the mind's action upon the ph3^sical organism ade-
quately support this theory. That diseases due to the
imagination are not necessarily imaginary diseases, but,
as Dr. A. T. Schofield asserts/ " may produce various
functional and even organic disturbances," there can be
no doubt. Then, Dr. Moll succeeded both in counter-
acting the effects of purgatives by suggestion, and in
producing this action of the bowels by suggesting that
a cathartic had been taken, when none had actually
been g^iven. Dr. Krafft-Ebins: ^ also describes a case in
which a patient " was much injured and offended by the
culpable act of a medical student, who, when she was in
a hypnotic condition, laid a pair of scissors upon her
chest, telling her that they were red-hot, and thus
created a serious wound, which took three months to
heal."
As these experiments are in no way exceptional, they
tend to explain the so-called miraculous cures that have
been reported in all ages, as well as to make the well-
authenticated cases of " stigmata,'' so generally regarded
as miraculous, appear in the light of perfectly natural
fast sinking into a moribund condition. Consciousness was fast slipping
away, and it was quite certain to the attendant physicians and nurses
that if the patient were not revived by some artificial stimulus, and
some mental stimulus at that, she would soon become unconscious, and
within the half-hour would be dead. The patients in the remaining beds
of the ward were warned not to be alarmed whatever occurred, and four
nurses quietly posted themselves at the four corners of the patient's bed.
At a given signal, just as this patient was losing hold of life and passing
into an unconscious state, the four nurses simultaneously shrieked at the
tops of their voices, and forcibly wheeled the patient's bed out into the
centre of the ward. The result was a start or shock to the consciousness
of the patient. The impetus was all that was required to revive in
our patient consciousness and an interest in life. From that moment
she improved, and within two months was discharged from the hospital
cured.
^ Nerves in Disorder, p. 6.
2 Hypnotism, p. 12'.).
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 213
phenomena; for while it is true that many scientists,
like Virchow, have thought that there were but two
possible explanations of such a physical condition — that
if it was not the result of " fraud," it must have been
a " miracle " — Dr. Moll has shown, in the case of Louise
Lateau, of Bois d'Haine, near Mons, France, that, when
she directed her whole attention " continually to the
wounds of Christ," the " anatomical lesions resulted from
this strain of attention, as in other cases from external
suggestion."
While it has been demonstrated that hypnotic sug-
/ gestion is capable of exerting a most pronounced physical
effect upon the bodily organism, there are as many
cases — even excluding that of the " stigmata " — that
prove that every mental process has a corresponding
action upon the physique, even when that suggestion is
apparently automatically produced. To illustrate, it is
only necessary to refer again to the many cases recorded
in the section of this work on " The Mental Causes of
Death," or to cite Dr. Hack Tuke's well-known case
where an infant was poisoned, and died, as the result of
the effect of anger upon the mother's milk.
It may be thought by some that I have devoted far
too much attention to this preliminary argument in
support of my own theory of the nature of death ; but
when I state that I am personally convinced that natural
death is a habit to Avhich man has become addicted
through countless centuries of anticipatory suggestion,
the necessity of leading up to such a theory by some-
what slow argumentative stages may become apparent.
To understand this theory, it is first necessary to realise
that our present scientific conceptions of the phenomena
of life are in no respect infallible ; that they change, like
our views upon other questions, as our horizon widens
and we become better acquainted with the laws governing
214 DEATH
our being. / It is also requisite that we should know
that the mind is not only independent of the brain,
operating through it as an instrument, just as the sense
of sight makes use of the organ known as the eye, but
we must also understand that there is so close a
bond between the mental and the physical elements of
the human organism, that each exerts a demonstrable
effect upon the other. With so much determined, it
becomes possible to present the arguments for such
a theory Avith less danger of making it appear as the
product of irrational, if not absolutely erratic, reasoning.
Of course, I do not mean to imply that all death is
purely a matter of habit. Death from disease, or from
accident, would occur under any conditions ; nor do I
wish the reader to infer that the habit of dying is one
from which we can break ourselves at any time. Such
assertions would be a test of sanity to which I should
not care to subject myself. But I do admit that, in my
opinion, the physical body possesses the means of length-
ening life within its own organism, and to this extent I
am supported by some eminent medical authorities.
For example. Dr. William A. Hammond admits that
" there is no physiological reason why man should die,"
and to this Dr. Thomas J. Allen agrees, adding : " The
human body is not like a machine which must wear out
by constant disintegration, for it is self-renewing." It is
to this fact that Harry Gaze refers, in his book How to
Live Forever, when he says : —
" As natural activity does not wear away the body, but simply
brings a change, so man is not made old by normal changes. . . .
The centenarian and the little child are both continually building the
body from equally new food and material. The mental conditions,
however, are very different, and determine the great difference
that is manifested. The centenarian thinks that his body is one
hundred years old, while the child believes his body to be but a few
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 215
years old. Neither is correct. The human body cannot exist for
centuries, or even for years. The body of the centenarian, which
seems to be very old, in reality is new. . . . The fact that the
body is incessantly changing demonstrates that old age is not
caused by the passing of years, but by a lack of proper
adjustment."
As we well know — for this is a scientific fact and not
a mere theory — the changes in the material of which
the human body is composed continue ceaselessly. The
body that we have to-day is in no sense the same body
that we are to possess a foAv years from this time.
Every day the process of the rejection of waste and the
renewal of tissue continues, and it is only logical to
assume that the various phenomena which we call
" old age," and the final disintegration that attends upon
natural death, could, even at this time, be long post-
poned if we could succeed in effecting a perfect balance
between the process of elimination and that of renewal
of tissue. Moreover, as every logical argument seems to
indicate, the destructive element that produces physical
decay may be traced directly or indirectly to the mind.
It has been objected to this theory that, while it explains
death, as viewed and found in the human race, it does
not explain the death of animals, insects, and plants.
Are we to suppose that they too possess mind enough to
bring about their own extinction ? Or is it not rather
the result of some organic and natural cause — inevitable,
and consequent upon some purely physical, as distinct
from psychical, cause ?
It must not be thought that I have been unmindful
of this objection; or that I intend to disregard it. It is
a serious objection to the theory, and indeed, were it not
for the considerations I propose below, might be said to
disprove it, and the whole theory might thus be held up
to ridicule. But there is an answer to this objection,
216 DEATH
which renders it quite ineffective, and which, I think,
conchisively disposes of the argument. It is this : —
If this objection is to have due Aveight, it must be
shown that the modes of death are the same in the two
cases ; and what evidence is there of this ? Need we
suppose that the nature of the death of plants and the
lower animals is necessarily like that of man ? If this
objection is to have due force, it must be shown that the
kind of life is also similar in the two cases — for death
has most often been defined — as we have seen — as the
cessation of life. And if the life, or the principle of life,
be different in the two cases, what evidence is there that
the process of death is the same ? Perhaps the question
may be raised — whether the life is so different in the
two cases; but on this point I am glad to be able to
quote so eminent an authority as Professor C. Lloyd
Morgan, the eminent English biologist, who, writing in
his Habit and Instinct, says : —
" It is probable that, tliroughout the vegetable kingdom, evolu-
tion is merely in the organic phase. If there is consciousness
associated with the life of plants, there is no evidence of its being
a factor in the process of development. It is not what we have
termed before effective consciousness. The lowest animals fall
under the same category ; but where is the line to be drawn in the
animal kingdom, between those in which consciousness, if present,
is inoperative, and those in which it is effective, who can say with
any certainty? . . . We must be particular to note the subservient
position which mental evolution holds in the life of animals . . ."
(pp. 263, 333).
It will be seen that Professor Morgan is careful to em-
phasise the comparative unimportance of consciousness,
as a factor of evolution in the vegetable and lower
animal world, and its great influence in the higher
animal realm. Consciousness, that is, actively tends
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 217
to shape the destiny of the higher animals, while it
has but little effect in the lower planes of activity.
Nevertheless, we have only to threaten certain insects
with death, to bring about a complete cessation of their
vital functions. This would seem to indicate that there
is probably more directly psychic life than is commonly
supposed. It also serves to indicate the tremendous
power of the mind, even in such lowly forms of life, to
cause death. The type of life, and the manner in which
the life was formed, is different in the two cases.
And if the kind or character of life is different, it is
probable — nay, certain — that the mode of death would
be different also ; for, as we have seen, death has always
been defined as the cessation of life. And, if the manner
of upbuilding life be different in the two cases, it is
probable, and this amounts almost to a certainty, that
the method of its destruction or withdrawal would be
different also — that is, the manner of death would he different
in the two cases. The psychic life, which plays so im-
portant a part in the evolution of man, and so large a
part of his life, while here, must surely play an im-
portant part in his death also. The life of plants and
the lower animals would probably die in an entirely
different manner ; ^ that factor which had proved so
important in the upbuilding and destruction of man —
consciousness — would probably be almost a negligible
quantity in the case of the lower forms of life. Their
death would be largely a matter of physical conditions
and surroundings ; while man's death would depend
largely for its fulfilment — as does his evolution and
condition while here — upon his mind — the form and
content of his conscious and subconscious life.
1 " The death of organisms is capable of teaching us something as to
their life ; their mode of dying is typical of their mode of living. The
more highly developed an organism has become, the more has specialisa-
218 DEATH
If Weismann's theory were correct,^ and the first
animal organism possessed the qualities of physical im-
mortality, it would be easy to imagine how the present
element of mortality came into the world, and by what
means it has been transmitted to the present time, for
it is not necessary to go back on the law of heredity to
discover a comprehensive explanation of the phenomena
which we call " death."
In the valuable little book from which I have already
quoted. Professor Dubois considers this phase of heredity.
" By the fact of heredity and of atavism," he says,
" we are born already influenced in a certain direction ;
we enter this world more or less well endowed. This
is a heritage which we are obliged to accept."
While Professor Dubois introduces this statement to
explain the different manifestation of brain development
in various individuals, it may be applied with equal
force to the disintegrating effect of the mental fear, or
expectation of death. We know, from many authori-
ties, that the emotion of worry exerts just such a de-
pressing influence upon the bodily organism, and that,
if the habit of worrying be continued, or the emotion of
anxiety becomes chronic, death is the natural and, I
might add, the inevitable result. We know, too, that
tion been brought about in the functions of its several parts, and (in
almost the same proportion) the more has the all become welded into a
whole. The greater the degree of interdependence existing between the
actions of its several parts, the more is the well-being of the entire
organism interfered with by damage occurring to any one of these
special parts. Through the intervention, for the most part, of the
nervous system and vascular system, this individuality of the entire
organism is carried to the most marked extent in the highest vertebrata,
so that the life of one of these creatures — regarded as a whole, or sum-
total of phenomena — differs almost as widely as it is possible from that of
some of the lowest animals on the one hand, and from the plants on the
other. Their mode of death also is quite difierent. And as with life, so
with death ; we are perhaps too apt to form our notions concerning each
from what we see taking place in man himself and in the higher living
things." — Bastian, The Beginuings of Life, vol. i., p. 108.
^ See Chapter I., " The Scientific Aspect of Life and Death."
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 21^\
fear, anger, and humiliation will kill as certainly, in \
extreme conditions, as the most deadly poison ; and,
if these facts be true, in what respect is it irrational
to suppose that the knowledge of the absolute certainty / .
of death which we have inherited from countless genera- ^ '
tions of ancestors who have died, when added to our
own experience, should produce the depressing conditions
that would make the continuance of life beyond the /
customary period of existence practically impossible ?
There can be no doubt that mental characteristics
of all kinds are transmitted from generation to gene-
ration by heredity. Ribot, in his Heredity, brings
together a great mass of material upon this subject,
and has shown us that not only our instincts and bodily
traits are hereditary, but that such complicated psycho-
logical characteristics as touch, sight, hearing, smell and
taste, memory, imagination, intellectual ability, sentiment,
passions, will, national character — such as those of the
Jews, Gypsies, &c. — morbid psychological characteristics,
— such as tendency to hallucination, suicide, homicide,
hypochondria, mania, dementia, general paralysis, &c. —
all these are hereditary.
If such traits and characteristics can be transmitted,
surely it is but reasonable to believe that the instinct
of death might be transmitted also — the anticipation or
expectation of it particularly, as this is supplemented by
constant suggestions from without during the life of the
individual, and hence would form part of his environment
and education. Further, in order to form any intelligent
conception of the modus operandi of heredity, one must
always assume that the purely psychological character-
istics are associated with, if not dependent upon, bodily
structure of peculiarities of a certain type, so that we
would inherit, as it were, a physiological instinct for death,
just as we should the psychological attitude towards it.
220 DEATH
That the food we eat, the air we breathe, and our
obedience to all other hygienic laws, are matters that
have an important bearing in perfecting the adjustment
of physical conditions is a fact that requires no re-asser-
tion ; and yet, while the violation of natural laws might
be quite sufficient to cause death, our obedience to such
laws does not alone enable us to lengthen life far beyond
the customary span. Thus the animal, who does not
reason as we do, and who probably has little if any idea
of the imminence of death, dies of old age, owing to the
gradual cessation of the normal functions of the organism
due to improper adjustment of both body and mind.
Dr. Graham, in the Science of Hitman Life, explains this
by saying that " the vital constitution itself wears out,"
or that " the ultimate powers of the living organs, on
w^hich their replenishing and renovating capabilities
depend, are, under the most favourable circumstances,
gradually expended and finally exhausted."
Admitting all this to be true — admitting, even that
the vital constitution does " wear out " — is there any
reason to presume that, in the case of man at least,
it is not the action of the mind that is one of the direct
causes of this deterioration of the bodily functions ? It
is apparent from the fact that the body possesses the
faculty of renewing itself continually — casting off all
useless tissue and supplying new tissue to take its place
— that man was not constructed to go to pieces after
such a brief period of life. In fact, as Dr. Gregory, in
his Medical Conspectns, wrote : " Such a machine as the
human frame, unless accidentally depraved, or injured
by some external cause, would seem formed for per-
petuity." If there is some element that makes this
frame wear out, therefore, it is only logical that we
should look for it somewhere else than in the actual
physical organism itself, and, realising as we do, the
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 221
effect of thought processes upon the body, to what point
would it be more reasonable to turn in search of this
disintegrating influence than to the mind ? We have
seen that it is possible for an individual to worry him-
self to death. It has been proved that other emotions
slay. By what law of logical reasoning are we forbidden
to presume that a fear of death that has become innate
in man through countless manifestations of the law of
heredity should not be able to produce death — irre-
spective of other causes — at the approximately appointed
time ? Is it not entirely reasonable to believe that old
age and death are actually " founded on misconceptions
due to ignorance of the simple laws of being ; " that the
secret of immortal youth is not to be found in any
patent nostrum or hidden spring, but that it can come
alone through our conscious co-operation with these natural
changes ? In other words, to refer to Gaze once more,
" consciously to perpetuate existence is to manifest fresh
vitality by the constant conception and realisation of new
ideas of growth."
^ Although somewhat less radical in some respects,
/ Professor Dubois' doctrine is always pregnant with this
I same truth — that a healthy mind is most conducive to'
the health of the body. He, too, appreciates the danger
of permitting the thought-force to assert its depressing
effect upon the human organism. Thus, he says : —
" When we have arrived at the age of reason, personal education
begins, and our greatest task is to retain command over ourselves.
It is necessary, above all, for one to believe in his good health,
and his power to resist morally as well as physically. As soon as
a man believes himself to be ill, he is so. He is not only so in
imagination — he becomes so really, physically.
"All those which have been justly called the unhappy passions
— fear, inquietude, discouragement, anger — lower the nervous
tension and, as all organs work under the influence of the
222 DEATH
nervous system, they can all suffer from the rebound of our
moral feebleness.
" We must take literally the popular expression to improve bad
blood, or, on the contrary, to improve good blood. When one is
gay, contented ; when one is able to believe fully in his good
health, the circulation improves, the nutritious exchanges are
accelerated, and the human machine works harmoniously. On
the contrary, when one doubts his strength, it diminishes, and all
the organs manifest functional trouble, as in an electric circuit
where all the lamps burn badly because the current has lost its
force."
We must admit, if our own personal experiences have
been of any service to us in teaching us the lessons of
life, that these facts are absolutely true. Even in the
matter of personal or material success, the introduction
of the disquieting elements of fear — discouragement, or
lack of confidence in ourselves or our purpose — is certain
to nullify our efforts as completely as though it was our
physical organism that had refused to respond to the
demands upon it. Inquietude, anxiety, and all other
" unhapi^y passions " — as Dubois calls them — produce a
correspondingly similar effect. If we want to enjoy the
blessings of health and happiness — the joys of living, in
fact — Ave must keep the mind in the right humour, for
it is just as impossible to derive healthy thoughts from
a diseased, abnormal, or otherwise unhealthy mind, as it
is to produce a harmonious operation of the physical
organism when most of the mechanism is out of order.
Thus Dr. Sweetser says : —
" The mind is never agitated by any strong emotion without a
sensible change immediately ensuing in some one or more of the
vital phenomena, and which, according to its nature, or the cir-
cumstances under which it occurs, may be either morbid or
sanative in its effects, in the same manner as in the action of
strictly physical agents — the various medicaments, for example.
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 223
Mental emotions, when curative, operate mostly, it is to be supposed,
on that principle generally admitted in medical science called revul-
sion ; that is, by calling forth new and ascendant actions in the
animal economy, they repress or destroy the distempered ones
already existing. It is no more strange, then, that the passions
should, through their influence on our physical organisation, be
capable of engendering or subduing morbid phenomena, than that
agents, essentially material in their nature, should j)ossess such
powers."
As the reader will undoubtedly note, this is a remark-
ably clear and comprehensive explanation of the process
by which it is possible for the mind to act in breaking
down the balance of adjustment upon which the health
of the body and the duration of life depend. In a per-
fectly healthy body this equilibrium between the vivifying
and the destructive forces would naturally attain perfec-
tion, but how many of us know what it means to enjoy
really perfect health ? Many writers admit that perfect
health at the present day, among civilised nations, is
probably nowhere to be found, and while this condition
is undoubtedly due to the fact that we, as a race, are
addicted to most unwise habits of living, it is wrong to
surmise that our disobedience to the laws of life is the
only influence that operates upon this balance of the vital
forces. If we eat too much and exercise too little ; if
we select the wrong kinds of food, and consume it in an
improper manner ; if we neglect our sleep, or live in con-
ditions of filth — all these circumstances will have a de-
teriorating effect upon the tissues. But, even admitting
that we attain to an ideal mode of living, so far as
physical conditions are concerned, all this will be of no
avail in the lengthening of life, unless a corresponding
equilibrium of the mental balance is also maintained.
That is to say, the mentft" processes exert sufficient
influence upon the body to nullify the effect of an
224 DEATH
merely physical habits, however estimable they may be
in themselves. It is this circumstance that explains the
fact that so many persons live to — what seems to us —
an exceptional age in spite of habits that would ordinarily
be expected to shorten life materially. But this is the
secret of their longevity : although they may abuse the
physical organism, they maintain the quietude and
cheerful qualities of the mind, and the stability of
this mental balance offsets, to a large degree at least,
the disintegrating action which their bad physical habits
would otherwise exhibit in the operation of the bodily
functions.
Fresh evidence in support of this theory has recently
been forthcoming. In his Philoso'phy of Long Life, M. Jean
Finot devotes a number of pages to a consideration of the
problem : " Will as a means of prolonging life." He says
in part : —
" The forces of the mind, well utilised, may render us most im-
portant services from the point of view of the prolongation of life,
as we have demonstrated elsewhere. It is suggestion ill- employed
which undoubtedly shortens it. Arrived at a certain age, we drug
ourselves with the idea of the approaching end. We lose faith in
our powers, and they abandon us. Under the pretext of the weight
of age upon our shoulders we take on sedentary habits. We cease
to busy ourselves actively with our occupations. Little by little our
blood, vitiated by idleness, together with our ill-renewed tissues,
opens the door to all kinds of diseases. Premature old age attacks
us, and we succumb sooner than we need in consequence of a
harmful auto-suggestion.
" Let us try to live by auto-suggestion instead of dying by it. . . .
Evil suggestions surround us on all sides. . . . Just as the hypo-
chondriac begins to beam with happiness by continually repeating
that he is gay, so persons obsessed by the thought of old age and
death will think calmly of their approach. The unreasoning fear
of them, by demoralising their consciousness, only quickens their
destroying march. Man, arrived at a certain age, or even at a
MY OWN THEORY OF NATURE OF DEATH 225
certain mental state, undergoes a sort of auto-suggestion of death.
He then believes himself to have reached the end of his days, and
feeds as much on the fear of death as on daily foods. From this
moment onwards death fascinates him. He hears its call with
terror everywhere and always. The philosophic and salutary con-
sciousness of a hereafter gives place to a cowardly and nervous fear
of separation from life. The victim feeds upon this fear, intoxicates
himself with it, and dies of it ! "
While these facts are true — and can be demonstrated
to be true — and while it is difficult to comprehend why
anybody should object to this theory as a plausible expla-
nation of the phenomena of so-called natural death, I
still believe that the presentation of these ideas will be of
advantage to the world, whether my ultimate conclusions
are finally accepted or rejected. While most theories
that men have devised to explain the phenomena of
life and death appeal to the intellect alone, this theory
which I have attempted to elucidate cannot fail to exert
a far deeper effect, if any of its basic principles are ac-
cepted. Thus, if we believe that the " unhappy passions "
or emotions are both physically and mentally inju-
rious to us, it is but natural to suppose that we should
endeavour to bring them under better control. If we
agree that quietude of mind, cheerfulness of thought, and
the attitude of love and charity towards all mankind will
have a tendency to improve our physical health, increase
our happiness, and, finally, add to the number of our
days, the mere recognition of the existence of these laws
of life would inevitably tend to inspire the ambition to
obey them. In other words, whereas other theories are
purely intellectual in their aspect — speculative concep-
tions of conditions that could have little, if any, effect
upon the actual life, whether they were or were not true
— the principles that I have suggested constitute a prac-
tical law of sane living, which, if adopted, would not only
p
226 DEATH
add materially to the comfort and pleasure of this exist-
ence but could not fail to bring our mental processes to
that 'degree of adjustment which would best fit us to enter
upon the experiences of a hfe beyond the grave, whatever
such conditions might be.
CHAPTER XI
ON THE POSSIBLE UNIFICATION OF OUR THEORIES
To any one who has read through the theories of death
that we have advanced, it will be obvious that, although
they are widely divergent in certain respects, they yet
approach one another very closely in other ways^ — and
that, were each of us willing to make certain concessions
to the other, it might be possible to unify these theories,
and so bring into harmony the two aspects of the problem
— which, it will be seen, we have attacked from opposite
sides — one from the physical or physiological, the other
from the psychological, point of view. Now, it has gener-
ally been found possible, in the history of psychology, to
form some monistic conception of the facts, which oppo-
site schools have been in the habit of discussing from
their respective standpoints. One school, for example,
would discuss mental facts in purely psychological lan-
guage ; the other school would discuss these same facts
in physiological language ; but, after all, it has generally
been found possible to unify the divergent views, and to
find that, upon closer analysis, they were really arguing
about the same facts after all. Both beheld the same
shield, to use an old analogy, but were looking at opposite
sides. It may be the same here !
It will be evident to any one reading Mr. Header's
theory of death, that he considers the mind all-powerful,
and that which is capable of inducing natural death
alone, and practically unaided by any other physiological
227
228 DEATH
causes. Mr. Carrington, on the contrary, while allowing a
place for mental causes of death, considers them, it would
appear, of secondary importance. In this connection we
desire to discuss only natural death, or death from old
acife ; since the authors are in virtual ao^reement as to the
cause of death from accident, shock, disease, or other
causes of a like nature. It remains for us, therefore, to
consider merely the question of " natural " death.
Let us first of all remind the reader of Mr. Carrins^ton's
definition of death, as put forward in his chapter on the
theory of its causation. It is : " The inability of the life
force to raise to the requisite rate of vibration the nervous
tissue upon which it acts — its manifestation thus being
rendered impossible."
While this may be the true definition of the physical
aspect of death, as it were — that is, of the inability actively
to manifest life into the material world — it only states
the primary cause of this inability. Mr. Carrington stated
that this might be due either (1) to the condition of the
body, or (2) the state of the mind. Mr. Header has
called attention to the interesting fact that, no matter
how well at present, physically, the body may be, or how
great care be taken of it, there comes a time, never-
theless, when natural death takes place, in spite of all our
efforts to preserve it — that is, although we may, by care-
ful living, and by following the laws of hygiene, extend
our lives from fifty to one hundred years, there comes a
time, nevertheless, when all must die.
Now, if we could conceive (what is no great strain upon
the imagination) that the depressed mental states — the
expectancy of death and other psychological attitudes,
acquired or hereditary — would correspond to a greatly
lowered rate of the vibration of life, it might be possible
to unify our theories. For, it will be seen, by depressed
mental conditions — by anticipation, worry, fear, expec-
POSSIBLE UNIFICATION OF THEORIES 229
tancy of death, &c. — (all largely subconscious, perhaps)
we lower thereby the rate of this vibration — until it
is no longer possible for life to become manifest. It is
not maintained at the minimum standard required by
nature for the preservation of life ; mental stimuli, in the
form of hope, faith, anticipation, and the assurance of
continued living, &c., would stimulate into activity a
greater fund of the reserve of life, and would render its
continuation possible ; and, if these stimuli were not
forthcoming, life would flutter out and become extinct.
One objection — a very practical one — will be raised to
this theory. It is this : That no matter what man may
do or think, he does ultimately die as a matter of fact.
This would be due to a combination of two causes. In
the first place, he would have inherited the psychological
tendencies and characteristics which rendered his sub-
conscious anticipation of death necessary. On the other
hand, the physiological alterations going on in his body
would render difficult the continued existence of life
within it. Perfect health, as before pointed out, is an
ideal condition, not an actual one ; and every one is in a
more or less diseased state throughout his life — and
especially is this the case in old age. On any theory,
life has to manifest through and be coloured by a
material body — upon the characteristics of which it
would depend largely for its manifestation. The fact,
therefore, that perfect health is ideal, and more or less
diseased states of the body universal, would indicate, in
part at least, why it is that death is universal. If the
vibratory theory of the activity of life be true ; and if,
further, it be true that mental states can modify this
energy known to us as life, lowering its tone and rate
because of the lessened activity of the mind, it might be
possible to conceive a unification of the theories advanced :
one that would enable us to see how death is induced on
230 DEATH
the one hand, and how it may be largely postponed (as is
often the case) by icill power and other mental states on
the other. It is to be hoped that, in years to come, this
question will receive the attention it deserves, when some
definite results may be forthcoming — founded upon ex-
tended observation and experimental evidence ; and then
it may be that we shall find our conclusions verified —
or, on the other hand, supplanted by a theory that may
be better and more inclusive than either of ours, or any
other so far advanced.
CHAPTER XII
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
The twentieth century, says Professor Fournier D'Albe/
"is too busy to occupy itself much with the problems presented
by death and what follows it. The man of the world makes his
will, insures his life, and dismisses his own death with the scantiest
forms of politeness. The churches, once chiefly interested in the
ultimate fate of the soul after death, now devote the bulk of their
energies to moral instruction and social amelioration. Death is all
but dead as an overshadowing doom and an all-absorbing subject of
controversy.
"The spectacle of 2,000,000,000 human beings rushing to their
doom, with no definite knowledge of what that doom may be, and
yet taking life as it comes, happily and merrily enough as a rule,
seems strange and almost unaccountable. The spectacle somewhat
resembles that inside a prison during the Reign of Terror, when
prisoners passed their time in animated and even gay converse,
not knowing who would be called out next to be trundled to the
scaffold.
" Every year some 40,000,000 human corpses are consigned to
the earth. A million tons of human flesh and blood and bone are
discarded as of no further service to humanity, to be gradually
transformed into other substances and perhaps other forms of life.
Meanwhile the human race, in its myriad forms, lives and thrives.
. . . The individual perishes, the species survives. ..."
As Professor F. C. S. Schiller ^ (of Oxford) also says : —
^ Neio Light on Immortality, pp. 1-3.
^ Humanism, and other Essays, pp. 284-86.
231
2 32 DEATH
" Death is a topic on which philosopliers have been astonishingly
common-place. . . . Spinoza was right in maintaining that there
is no subject concerning which the sage thinks less than about
death, which, nevertheless, is a great pity, for the sage is surely
wrong. There is no subject concerning which he, if he is an
idealist and has the courage of his opinion, ought to think more,
and oiiglit to have more interesting things to say.
" In partial proof of which let me attempt to arouse him to
reflection by pronouncing some old paradoxes about death which
will, I think, be germane to our subject : —
"(1) No man ever yet perished without annihilating also the
world in which he lived.
" (2) No man ever yet saw another die ; but, if he had, he
would have witnessed his own annihilation. . . .
" (3) To die is to cut off our connection with our friends ; but
do they cut us, or we them, or both, or neither 1 "
As regards (1), reference is here made to the world of
his experience, or, as we might perhaps say with still
more accuracy, the objective world, in so far as it was
assumed to explain his experience : (2) is true because
we can never see another's self ; what we see is the death
of the hocly, which is merely a phenomenon — is ottr oivn
world of experience. Death is not the same thing for
him who experiences it and for him who witnesses it.
Indeed the subject of death is as little studied as it is
fascinating and all but insoluble. For, on its psychological
side, it presents the great problems of immortality and
the persistence of consciousness beyond the grave. And
on its physiological side it presents also (as we have seen)
phenomena of the greatest interest. Myers defined death
as the "irrevocable self- projection of the spirit,"^ and
attempted to show the link of connection with certain
psychic phenomena in this life. Doubtless life presents this
psychological side, and to this we shall address ourselves
^ Human Personality , vol. ii., p. 524.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 233
in Part III. It also presents a purely physiological side
and offers problems for solution which cannot be solved
in any such offhand manner as many physiologists would
lead us to believe.^ Indeed, the very moment of death is
altogether uncertain — so much so, in fact, that Schultze
and Virchow (1870) coined the term "necrobiosis" to
designate the transition stage between life and death.
Often there is no definite time at which life ceases and
death begins ; but there is a gradual passage from normal
life to complete death, which frequently begins to be
noticeable during the course of some disease. Death is
developed out of life.
And if this be true, might not the reverse be true
also ? Might not life be developed out of death ? Truly
death is a tragedy to those who are left; but is it also a
tragedy to the one who has solved the great mystery ?
If " every cloud has a silver lining " might we not take
it for granted that this one has too ; and that, beyond
" the valley of the shadow," there is surely a hill-top
upon which the golden rays of the sun fall with ever-
quickening glow ? Such would assuredly be the outcome
of a cheerful and healthy philosophy ' As Stevenson
said in his Acs Triplex — and we cannot do better than
conclude in his stirring words : —
1 Thus: "Death . . . is simply the destruction of protoplasm, which
would, of course, destroy its properties " {The Living World, by H. W.
Conn, p. 32). Apart from accident, however, we see no reason for this
"destruction," so calmly supposed. Why should it take place ? Again,
Loeb {The Dynamics of Living Matter, p. 223) says : " In man and the
higher mammalians death seems to be caused directly or indirectly
through micro-organisms or other injuries to vital organs." Surely this
can hardly be considered a definition of natural death, which, according
to his own earlier statements, does take place. And, in opposition to this
view. Professor Wesley Mills {Animal Physiology, p. 669) says : " Few
animals perish from simple decay leading to a gradual slowing of the
vital machinery down to zero, so to speak ; but when death is not due to
violence, as it frequently is, it arises from some essential part getting out
of gear, either directly or indirectly."
234 DEATH
" All literature, from Job and Omar KhayyAm to Thomas Carlyle
or Walt Whitman, is but an attempt to look upon the human state
with such largeness of view as shall enable us to rise from the
definition of the living to the Definition of Life. And our sages
give us about the best satisfaction in their power when they say
that it is a vapour, or a show, or made out of the same stuff with
dreams. Philosophy, in its more rigid sense, has been at the same
work for ages ; and after a myriad bald heads have wagged over
the problem, and after a pile of words have been heaped one upon
another into dry and cloudy volumes without end, philosophy has
the honour of laying before us, with modest pride, her contribution
toward the subject, that life is a Permanent Possibility of Sensa-
tion. Truly a fine result ! A man may very well love beef, or
hunting, or a woman ; but surely, surely, not a Permanent Possi-
bility of Sensation I . . .
" Even if death catch people like an open pitfall and in mid-
career, laying out vast projects and planning monstrous foundations
flushed with hope, and their mouths full of boastful language ;
should they be at once tripped and silenced, is there not something
brave and spirited in such a termination ? and does not life go down
with a better grace, foaming in full-body over a precipice, than
miserably straggling to an end in sandy deltas ? When the Greeks
made their fine saying that those whom the gods love die young, I
cannot help believing that they had this sort of death also in their
eye. For surely, at whatever age it overtakes a man, this is to die
young. Death has not been suffered to take so much as an illusion
from his heart. In the hot-fit of life, a-tiptoe on the highest point
of being, he passes at a bound onto the other side. The noise of
the mallet and chisel are scarcely quenched, the trumpets are
hardly done blowing, when, trailing with him clouds of glory, this
happy-starred, full-blooded spirit shoots into the spiritual world."
PART II
HISTORICAL
CHAPTEH I
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY
The problem of the perpetuity of existence is one that
has been a strong dynamic force in stimulating and
shaping the thought of man from the moment that he
arose sufficiently from the plane of barbarism to be
able to commence to exercise his mental qualities in this
direction. In the earlier days of his existence he may
have been satisfied with the life that the objective senses
knew ; but when the character of the great mystery of
the origin and destiny of life began to dawn upon him,
the element of dissatisfaction invariably took possession
of his thoughts. Instinctively he felt that, as he must
have come from something, it was quite reasonable to
suppose that he was the object of the solicitude of the
Invisible Power that had created him, and that it was
the purpose of that Power to convey him through the
experiences of this world to some higher plane, where
life would flow on more smoothly, or even in an unbroken
round of bliss.
It is to such longings for the preservation of the " Ego "
that we owe the origin of our religious faiths and systems,
for, as Max Miiller says, " without such a belief religion is
like an arch resting on one pillar." ^ In the course of
his intellectual development there comes a time when
man, to some extent, rises above the necessity of a belief
^ Chips from a Gennan Workshop, i. 45.
237
238 DEATH
in immortality ; but there can be no doubt but that such
a theory of negation is a mental conception that cannot
be attained except through the process of reason. That
is to say, while it is possible for man to argue himself
into a belief in almost anything, he is quite as capable of
persuading himself that he believes in nothing — either
nothing here or nothing in the hereafter; whereas the
question, if it is left to the instinct or to the desires of
the human soul, inevitably resolves itself into a cry for pro-
tection from the annihilation of the grave. As M. Soldi,
the eminent archaeologist, has shown, the rudimentary
drawings on the practically shapeless monuments that
represent our earliest record of man's physical existence
clearly interpret a belief in a survival of conscious exist-
ence ; and even the savage tribes, far though they may
be from the pale of civilisation, refuse to admit that
the human personality that distinguishes one man from
another is destroyed by death. Though the body must
perish, that something within the body that stands for
individual identity still lives on in the faiths and tradi-
tions of almost every land and from the furthest days of
antiquity. Naturally, some of these notions are exceed-
ingly crude, and some, perhaps, are extremely materialistic.
Behind even the darkest and most obscure ideas, however,
the star of hope is shining. Behind the most primitive
superstitions there is always the theory that death is not
the end of conscious being.
So far as we have been enabled to ascertain, ancestor
worship was one of the first systematic religious ideas
that the human mind was able to formulate. Prior to
the acceptance of this system, religion, where it existed
at all, was extremely gross in its sentiments. In the
beginning it had undoubtedly consisted in the worship of
fetiches, and the semi-superstitious notions that followed
these cruder manifestations of man's innate dependence
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 239
upon a superior power mark the first appearance of the
theory of survival among primitive people.
Among savage tribes the idea prevailed that the soul,
while in one sense independent of the human body, could
not entirely depart from it ; and it was due to this notion
that both the custom of preserving the body of the dead
and the practice of eating it originated. If the corpse
was preserved the soul would not be required to abandon
it entirely, and could re-enter its envelope on the day of
resurrection; while the theory of eating the dead was
based upon the belief that this assimilation of the flesh
by the relatives of the departed was the best sepulchre
that could be provided.
Repellent as these notions may seem, it must be
admitted that belief in the survival also led to other
criminal customs that are even more horrible to contem-
plate, for the terrible practice of cannibalism, as well as
the slaughter of the aged and infirm, was a ceremonial
crime that had its origin in this wrong conception of
the future life.
It is a long step from the savage beliefs in cannibalism
and the lowest form of metempsychosis to the more
civilised worship of ancestors to which the Chinese race
still adheres ; for, while one represented the grossest
sentiment of barbarism, the latter introduced the family
institution, a social system that was destined to become
one of the leading civilisations of antiquity.
While it is true that Confucius did not explicitly teach
the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, his avoidance
of this subject does not imply a lack of belief in survival,
for there is no record of any time when the Chinese have
not believed that, at the moment of death, each person
" returned to his family." Even Confucius taught that
the spirits of the good were permitted to revisit their
former habitations on earth, or such other places as
240 DEATH
might be prepared by their descendants who desired to
pay them homage and receive their benedictions. From
this idea came the duty of performing sacred rites in
such places, the penalty of any neglect of this service
being the loss, to those living, of the supreme felicity
flowing from the homage of their own descendants when
they, too, had departed. While the survival of the
Chinese is in one respect an impersonal immortality, it
being a blending of the individual spirit in a kind of
collective family-soul, the union of this soul with its
descendants is so close that it may almost be said to owe
its very existence to the continuance of the homage paid
to it.
Among the Egyptians we find the idea of immortality
assuming a more definite shape, for they clearly recognised
both a dwelling-place of the dead and an actual judg-
ment, with its separation of the just and the unjust. Osiris
was to sit as judge, and, all hearts having been weighed
in his scales of justice, the wicked were sent to the regions
of darkness, while the elect were admitted to a participa-
tion in the blissful existence enjoyed by the god of light.
Bound up with this very clear idea of immortality were
many esoteric doctrines regarding the nature of the soul,
as well as beliefs that made the preservation of the body
so necessary to the proper continuance of the soul life,
that vast tombs were built and the remains of the dead
were embalmed, undoubtedly with the intention of making
them last forever.
If it is not easy to find an affirmation of the doctrine
of the survival in the books of the Old Testament, it
appears in the esoteric books of the Hebrews, and in no
uncertain tone. In fact, there can be no question as to
the Jewish acceptance of this idea, for while Moses
concealed the knowledge that he must have derived
from the Egyptians, there is good reason to believe that
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 241
it was preached to the initiates. In speaking of this
reserve upon the part of the illustrious legislator, Bishop
Warburton held that this very silence was an indication
of his divine mission. " Moses," he said, " being sustained
in his legislation and government by immediate divine
authority, had not the same necessity that other teachers
have for a recourse to threatenings and punishments
drawn from the future world, in order to enforce
obedience."
Professor Ernst Stahelin, in The Foundations of Our
Faith, argues along similar lines : —
" Moses and, Confucius did not expressly teach the immortality
of the soul ; nay, they seemed purposely to avoid entering upon
the subject ; they simply took it for granted. Thus Moses spoke of
the tree of life in Paradise, of which if the man took he should live
forever, and called God the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
thus implying their continued existence, since God could not be a
God of the dead, but only of the living ; and Confucius, while in
some respects avoiding all mention of future things, nevertheless
enjoined honours to be paid to departed spirits (thus assuming
their life after death) as one of the chief duties of a religious
man."
Another evidence that the Jews believed in immor-
tality may be drawn from the laws which Moses pro-
mulgated against necromancy, or the invocation of the
dead. This magic art was very generally practised by
the Canaanites, and, notwithstanding these laws, prevailed
among the Jews at the time of King Saul (1 Sam. xxviii.),
or even later (Ps. cvi. 28, &c.).
Job, the Maccabees, and several other biblical books,
present a striking exception to this rule of silence regard-
ing the future life which so generally prevails throughout
the Old Testament. To illustrate, in J«l» (xix. 25-27)
we may read : —
242 DEATH
" For I know that my Redeemer livetli, and in the last day I shall
rise out of the earth, and I shall be clothed again with my skin,
and in my flesh shall I see God : whom I myself shall see and my
eyes shall behold, and not another ; this my hope is laid up in my
bosom."
This, as well as many other passages that might be
quoted, if necessary, show very clearly that the ancient
Hebrews not only believed in the survival of the soul, but
in a literal bodily resurrection as w^ell, while the Cabala and
the Zoliar, the two books that summarise the doctrines
taught to the initiates, make it impossible to doubt that
the idea of immortality was early adopted by the Jewish
people.
All the Hindu sects have a distinct leaning towards
the mystic or metaphysical view of life. There are so
many different expressions of opinion among Hindu
philosophers, however, that it is impossible to select any
single theory as one that can be presented as a standard
of comparison with other religions. In every instance,
however, some sort of survival is recognised, and, in most
cases, both the theory of the transmigration of souls and
the doctrine of the desirability of a life of purely
meditative asceticism are presented.
"To the modern Hindu mind, the soul is a complex creation,
made up of a number of fluid-like, invisible elements centred about
an immaterial principle. Each of these elements corresponds to a
particular faculty of the soul, and may, therefore, be considered
as relatively independent of the others. The element is more
subtile and attenuated in proportion as the corresponding faculty is
higher and more characteristic of man. At death the astral body,
accompanied by the superior elements, detaches itself from the
physical body, which is now deprived of vitality ; it thus preserves
a complete individuality, which, according as it is good or bad,
determines which place it shall henceforth inhabit as the con-
sequence of its terrestrial existence " (Elbe, vi. 73, 74).
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 243
The more abstract conceptions of Nirvana and Moksha
have been largely superseded by these and other more
modern theories.
Although our knowledge regarding the teachings of
the Magi of Chaldea is very incomplete, the portions
that have been recovered are quite sufficient to establish
the fact that the Chaldeans not only accepted the idea
of survival, but that their interpretation of this theory
was more rational than the notions displayed by most
other ancient nations. The Egyptians, for example, were
utterly unable to escape from the idolatrous notions that
obtrude themselves into almost every phase of their
religious system, whereas the Chaldeans lost all idea
of idolatry in their construction of a religion of pure
ideals and lofty conceptions. The ancient Chaldeans
believed in the survival of the soul, even accepting
the idea of a bodily resurrection. As Pausanias says
(Book IV. c. xxii.), the Magi always taught that those
who had lived pure and just lives would go to the bright
realm of Ormuzd, while the wicked would pass into the
region of darkness. This doctrine, which was taught by
Zoroaster, is still held by the modern Parsees. Their
position respecting the soul and its destiny was thus
explained by Edward Barucha, a Parsee priest in Bombay,
in a communication to the Religious Congress : —
" The undying spiritual element was created before the body,
and both were united at birth and are parted at death. The soul,
which comes from the spirit world, is possessed of various senses
and faculties ; it enters the new-born body, out of which it will
return at death into the spiritual world. Zoroaster teaches us
that God grants to the soul such means and assistance as are
requisite for the carrying out of its allotted task : these are
knowledge, wisdom, judgment, thought, action, free-will, religious
conscience, a guardian angel or beneficent genius, and, above all,
revelation. At the resurrection of the dead, when all things shall
244 • DEATH
be renewed and the whole of creation will begin over again, the
souls will be provided with new bodies, that they may taste, in the
life to come, bliss ineffable."
Amonof the ancient nations that believed in the soul's
survival, none had a firmer or more active faith in im-
mortality than the Gauls ; for it was this doctrine of a
future life, with its rewards and punishments, that laid the
foundation for their institutions as well as their individual
life. The acts of heroism with which they accentuated
their devotion to the State and their contempt for deatk,
were the direct effect of their belief in a future worli.
Unfortunately, as in the case of the Druidic and some
other doctrines, a complete idea of the teachings of the
Gauls' philosophy is unobtainable. Thus we know that
they held that man's immaterial part was a divine
emanation, and that this was the one vital principle of
life. Prior to its appearance as the soul of man, however,
it had animated many forms of inferior life — first plants,
and afterwards animals. After this experience it was
imprisoned in the
"circle of the abyss, anufu, but, after long years of struggle
and waiting, it escaped thence, and entered the circle of liberty,
ahred, which is also the circle of transmigration. This circle includes
all the worlds of trial and atonement peopled by mankind ; and of
these worlds the earth is one. After many transmigrations the
soul will pass on, and will attain the circle of happy worlds and
felicity, gwynjid. But even this is not all. Far higher and
inaccessibly removed is the circle of the infinite, ceugant, encom-
passing the other circles and belonging to God alone " (Elbe,
c. viii. 89, 90).
While the Gauls taught the passage of the soul
through many forms, their doctrine of transmigration
was infinitely nobler than the more or less crude ideas
that appear in the early theories of metempsychosis. It
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 245
was a passing through many bodies, inckiding those of
animals, or even plants, but its progress was marked by
a steady ascent towards the heights of infinite perfection,
and there was no place in this plan for the return of the
soul to lower conditions. So thoroughly were the Gauls
convinced of the truth of their doctrines, and so firm was
their faith in the glory of the future life, that they always
gave a condemned prisoner five years in which to prepare
for death, not only that he might have time for repent-
ance for his own sake, but for the reason that they did
not desire to sully the spirit world by sending a guilty
soul into it.
In the Druidical doctrine, the earth was an inferior
world devised as a transient abode for the soul during
its work of preparation for admission to the world of
love. This goal, which is attained only after many
transmigrations, is the reward bestowed upon those who
have conquered the three great shortcomings of life :
(1) neglect of self-instruction, (2) lack of love of good,
and (3) attachment to evil.
When the ancient Greeks maintained the idea of
survival, as may be seen by an examination of their
legendary tales or mythology, it seldom appeared to
form a reason for their acts. It was at the foundation
of their mysteries, and the arguments that their philo-
sophers advanced for a l^elief in a future existence are
often adapted to modern use. So far as the character of
this doctrine of immortality was concerned, however, it
was not to be compared to the clearly defined notions
maintained by the Gauls. According to the Greek
idea, the soul of the deceased person enjoyed at least a
semi-conscious existence, in which it retained a sort of
half-sensible dependence upon the physical comforts
of life. Accordingly the smell of blood of animals, or
their cooking flesh, was supposed to be most agreeable to
246 DEATH
the shades of the dead heroes. It was due to this belief
that funeral banquets were held, to Avhich — when the
holy fire had been kindled upon the altar of Zeus by
the head of the family — the souls of the ancestors were
summoned that they might derive their pleasure from
the food that was to be sacrificed for the satisfaction
of their ghostly appetite.
Crude as these ideas of the people may seem, the poets
and philosophers upheld more spiritual theories, by which
they not only taught the future existence of the soul,
but the two alternatives of good and evil awaiting it
after death. Thus Hesiod wrote : —
" Wrapped in the fluid-like envelopes rendering them invisible,
the souls of the righteous wander over the earth wielding their
regal powers. They mark the good and evil deeds, and they
extend their special protection to such as they have loved in life.
As to the souls of the wicked, they are held in Tartarus, where
they are punished by the ever-present memory of the crimes which
they have committed."
Some six centuries later these views were more
definitely and, in many respects, more rationally for-
mulated by Pythagoras, one of the greatest of the world's
philosophers. He asserted that, in addition to the natural
body, a spiritual element existed — an element possessing
unity and surrounded by a semi-material soul. In
appearance this soul resembled the body, to which it
was so necessary that life would become extinct the
moment it was withdrawn. Thus death was the with-
drawal of the soul from the body, and in the act of
withdrawing it took with it the spirit, or the immaterial
element which it enfolded, and proceeded to a region in
space corresponding in character to the nature of the
deeds that it had performed in the flesh. As Plato
described it, the pure soul soared upward with the spirit
to the spheres divine, while the impure soul fell back
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 247
" into the dark regions of matter." To explain the
inequality of human conditions and the apparent injus-
tices of life, Pythagoras took refuge in the doctrine of
reincarnation.
The Romans were not dissimilar from the Chinese in
their early adoption of the system of ancestor worship,
and it was upon this religious idea that they constructed
the family organisation that contributed to the successful
upbuilding of their social state. Their ideas of immor-
tality, however, while more impersonal in their tendency
than those of the Greeks, were still sufficiently apparent
to be recognisable. They did not theorise as to the
effect of this future life upon the general harmony of
the universe, or apply its rewards to the acts of this
existence, for, as Elbe has said, " the thought of immor-
tality appears rather as a pious longing of the imagination
devoid of sufficient support in the reality of fact."
Despite this, however, the idea of immortality appears
quite conspicuously in the works of many Roman writers.
Thus Ovid not only explicitly announces his belief in a
future existence, but even adopts the theory of trans-
migration as a logical explanation of the phenomena of
natural life. " Nothing perishes," he says, '' but every-
thing changes here on earth. Souls come and go
unceasingly in visible form; the animals that succeed
in acquiring goodness take upon them human form."
Cicero, too, expresses his belief in immortality, and adds
that it has been the universal theory from the day of
man's first appearance upon earth. To quote the passage
from Scipio's Dream : —
" Know that it is not thou, but thy body alone which is mortal.
The individual in his entirety resides in the soul, and not in the
outward form. Learn, then, that thou art a god ; thou, the im-
mortal intelligence which gives movement to a perishable body,
just as the eternal God animates an incorruptible body."
248 DEATH
As the speculations of Christian theology are described
in the chapter on " The Theological Aspect of Death and
Immortality," it is only necessary to refer at this time to
two ideas that are iu direct opposition to these modern
religious opinions. These are the ideas of Spiritualism
and Theosophy, which embody many of the more or less
esoteric doctrines of antiquity, but reproduced in modern
Of course, the use of the word " Spiritualism " in this
connection is due entirely to the fact that the term has
derived the authority of popular approval. Literally, the
title " Spiritualism " should be used solely to describe
theories that are contrary to those of " Materialism," and
in this respect every professing Christian is spiritualistic
in his beliefs. Ordinarily, therefore, the term " Spiritism"
is much to be preferred ; but in this instance we will
follow the line of least resistance, and speak of the
" Spiritists " in the manner that will be generally under-
stood.
It is the teaching of this theory that the discarnate
soul, on entering the future world, carries with it the
'perisprit, or astral body, which it had possessed during
the period of earthly existence. So far as rewards and
punishments are concerned, the soul finds its future
already written into the record of its earthly acts. If its
mind has been centred upon elevating thoughts, if it
has not been too deeply absorbed in material things, and
if it has lived in accordance with the purest law of love,
it finds it possible to go far from the earth plane, into
the condition in which good and righteous souls abide.
If, on the other hand, it passes into the next life under
evil conditions, it is practically chained to earth. Its
perisprit is far more material, and its ability to retain
the memory of the pleasures and needs of the physical
life inspires so strong a craving for these material things,
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 249
that it remains close to earth, where it may seize upon
every opportunity to appear to the hving. When spirits
appear under noxious conditions they become what may
be termed " evil spirits," or what are popularly known as
" demons." It is upon this theory that the idea of
demoniac possession is based.
Under more favourable conditions, however, the spirit
succeeds in animating the partially free perisprit of a
living person, after which it is able to produce the
phenomena that have played so important a part in the
development of modern spiritualism, sometimes giving
communications that are intended to establish the fact
of the existence of the personality after death. Dr.
Alfred Russel Wallace, in his Miracles and Modern
Spirihcalism, pp. 115-16, thus sums up the belief of
the average spiritualist on this question : —
" After death man's spirit survives in an ethereal body, gifted
with new powers, but mentally and morally the same individual
as when clothed in flesh. Then he commences from that moment
a course of apparently endless progression, which is rapid just in
proportion as his mental and moral faculties have been exercised
and cultivated while on earth. Thus his comparative happiness
or misery will depend entirely on himself. Just in proportion as
his higher human faculties have taken part in all his pleasures,
here will he find himself contented and happy in a state of exist-
ence in which they will have the fullest exercise ; while he who
has depended more on the body than on the mind for his pleasures
will, when the body is no more, feel a grievous want, and must
slowly and painfully develop his intellectual and moral nature
until its exercise shall become easy and pleasurable. Neither
punishments nor rewards are meted out by an External power,
but each one's condition is the natural and inevitable sequence of
his condition here. He starts again from the level of moral and
intellectual development to which he had raised himself while on
earth."
250 DEATH
Emma Hardinge Brittain, in her address on Hades,
thus further explains the position of the spiritualist : —
" Of the nature of these spheres and their inhabitants, we have
spoken from the knowledge of the spirits, — dwellers still in
Hades. Would you receive some immediate definition of your
own condition, and learn how you shall dwell, and what your
garments shall be, what your mansion, scenery, likeness, occu-
pation ■? Turn your eyes within, and ask what you have learned,
and what you have done in this, the school-house for the spheres
of spirit-land. There — there is an aristocracy, and even royal rank
in varying degree, but the aristocracy is one of merit, and the
royalty of soul. It is only the truly wise who govern, and, as the
wiser soul is he that is best, as the truest wisdom is the highest
love, so the royalty of soul is truth and love. And within the
spirit-world all knowledge of this earth, all forms of science, all
revelations of art, all mysteries of space, must be understood. The
exalted soul that is then all ready for his departure to a higher
state than Hades, must know all that earth can teach, and have
practised all that heaven requires. The spirit never quits the
spheres of earth until he is fully possessed of all the life and
knowledge of this planet and its spheres. And though the pro-
gress may be here commenced, and not one jot of what you learn
or think or strive for here is lost, yet all achievements must be
ultimated there, and no soul can wing its flight to that which you
call, in view of its earth perfection. Heaven, till you have passed
through Earth and Hades, and stand ready in your fully com-
pleted pilgrimage, to enter on the new and unspeakable glories
of the celestial realms beyond."
Theosophy, on the other hand, is a more mystical
philosophy, as it seeks to solve the problems of life,
death, and the future existence by means of a system
of higher metaphysics. In many cases it has adopted
the ideas of the most ancient religions, especially the
esoteric doctrines of the Hindu philosophers, all of which
combine to produce a system of belief that, however
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 251
logically it may be presented, is beyond the possibility
of objective proof.
Theosophy declares that the material world is but an
insignificant portion of the created universe, and that
the human being, so far from being confined to a physi-
cal body, possesses a spiritual body, or invisible, fluid-
like, intermediary body through which the conscious
Ego acts. Moreover, this inner body is extremely com-
plex in its construction, being composed of several
distinct and different bodies, one encased within another.
As summarised by Elbe, these bodies are distinguished
as follows : —
First, in order of materiality, there is the etheric hocly,
which assumes the form and existence of the physical
body, to which it is bound by an indissoluble bond.
It is composed of ether-like particles that are so in-
finitely minute that it is impossible to compare them
to any earthly substance. Born at the inception of
organic life, and expiring at its death, it governs its
manifold operations.
Second, is the kamic or astral hody, the organ of man's
passions and desires. It is the vehicle of feeling and
emotion, and through its operations the human being
becomes conscious of pleasure, pain, passion, desire, and
regret. Although composed of elements that are more
subtile than those of the etheric body, the materiality
of this body differs in individuals, just as sensitiveness
does.
Third, comes the mental hody, which is the organ
of the intellect, and so, of course, manifests itself vari-
ously in different individuals.
Fourth, is the causal body, through which man con-
ceives abstract ideas, receives the unconscious residue
of past experiences, and from which springs the germ
that is to expand into future existences.
252 DEATH
Lastly, the Biiddhidic hodyy which is beUeved to be
in a very embryonic state, even in persons of a high
degree of righteousness. It is the organ of unselfish
love, charity, and self-sacrifice.
While the etheric body, like the physical body, does
not survive death, the soul continues to exist in the
astral body for a brief or lengthy period, according to its
earthly acts. This astral body is finally destined to die,
whereupon the soul joyously departs from the plane of
conscious suffering in which till then it has found its
existence, to ascend, now clothed in the mental body,
to a plane of purer ideas and greater bliss. Still, even
this is but a temporary heaven, or plane of observation,
from which the soul can look back and study the various
lives through which it has passed, thus viewing the con-
nection existing between the successive existences, and
appreciating the happy and unhappy incidents of life
in their proper light as the manifestation of the opera-
tions of the law of karma, which leaves neither act nor
thought unpunished or unrewarded.
If, during the course of these lives, the soul has
succeeded in cancelling its debt to karma, and has
developed the qualities that compose the Buddhistic
body, it ascends into yet another world, much closer
to God, in which the process of evolution may be
continued upon a plane where subsequent reincarnations
are unnecessary. But if, in this ascent, the demands
of karma have been left unsatisfied, and the thoughts
and deeds of life have not been expiated, the soul turns
back from this temporary heaven, to pursue its life
on earth once more. It is at this time that the most
important purpose of the causal body is developed, for
it is through the operations of this organ that the
various bodies needed as a covering for the immaterial
soul are reconstructed. Thus, step by step, the soul that
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 253
is condemned to live again, enwraps itself in its different
envelopes, and, in this manner, it finally shuts out all
recollection of the past lives because of which it has
been judged unworthy to ascend to the higher realms
of light and joy.
While these are by no means the only opinions that
man has held upon these ever vital subjects of com-
templation, they are suflScient to indicate that he has
so far failed to solve the mystery that envelops the
fact of being. In spite of all his speculation, there is
but one fact that he has been able to establish to his
own satisfaction. He is here, but whence he came,
and whither he is going, or why, are questions to which
faith alone has made answer.
Myths as to the Origin of Death. — Many curious beliefs
have been held by savage nations as to the cause of death
— how death originally came into the world. Taylor, in
his Primitive Culture, tells us that natural deaths are by
many tribes regarded as supernatural. These tribes
have no conception of death as the inevitable ; as the
eventful obstruction and cessation of the powers of the
bodily machine ; the stopping of the pulses and processes
of life by violence or decay or disease. The savage
believes that the only real death is due to accident, or
by bewitching the unfortunate patient. He knows
nothing of " natural " death. For him, man would
never die at all, if he were not bewitched, or if some
unfortunate accident did not carry him off. Many races
in Australia hold this view. The negroes in Central
Africa have very much the same belief. Every man
who dies what we call a natural death is really killed by
witches ! The Esquimaux hold similar views.
Myths as to the origin of death are numerous.
Usually, death is supposed to have come into the world,
254 DEATH
owing to some sin of omission (not commission). It was
due to the fact that some message from a deity was not
properly delivered, or because of the failure to live up
to a compact with the gods. Here are some of the
Australian myths. " The first created man and woman
were told not to go near a certain tree in which a bat
lived. One day, however, the woman was gathering
firewood, and she went near the tree. The bat flew
away, and after that came death." Here is another :
" The child of the first man was wounded. If his
parents could have healed him, death would never have
entered the world. They failed. Death came." Some
of the natives of Bengal believe that death came into
the world owing to one of their number having bathed
in a certain pool of water, which was forbidden. The
Greek origin of death is too well known to need re-
statement. Pandora and her box will always live in the
memory of lovers of art.
In New Zealand it is believed that death came because
of the neglect of a ritual process. The Bushman story of
the origin of death is very quaint : " The mother of the
little hare was lying dead (but we do not know how she
came to die). The moon then struck the little hare on
the lip, cutting it open, and saying, ' Cry loudly, for
your mother will not return, as / do, but is quite dead.' "
There are several variations of this myth. Some natives
believe that death is caused by a snake stealing away
souls while God is asleep ! In another version, a woman
offered to instruct two men how to sleep. " She held the
nostrils of one, and he never woke at all." In still other
cases, death was due to direct murder, in the first instance.
In Banks Island it was believed that death came in order
to keep down the population, which had become too
numerous, owing to man's inherent immortality !
According to the Satapatha BraJmiaiia, death was
MAN'S THEORIES ABOUT IMMORTALITY 255
made, like the gods and other creatures, by a being
named Prajapati. " Now, of Prajapati, half was mortal,
half was immortal. With this mortal half he feared
death, and concealed himself from death in earth and
water. Death said to the gods : ' What hath become of
him who created us ? ' They answered : ' Fearing thee,
hath he entered the earth.' The gods and Prajapati
now freed themselves from the dominion of death by
celebrating an enormous number of sacrifices. Death
was chagrined by their escape from the ' nets and clubs '
which he carried in the Aitareya Brahmana. ' As you
have escaped me, so will men also escape,' he grumbled.
The gods appeased him by the promise that, in the hody,
no man henceforth for ever should evade death. ' Every
one who becomes immortal shall do so by first parting
with his body.'" (See also Appendix E.)
CHAPTER II
THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT OF DEATH AND
IMMORTALITY
The late Professor William A. Hammond, of Cornell
University, writing upon " Immortality," asserted that
" the question of the . . . sm-vival of the soul is not a
scientific problem. Positive science is impotent either
to prove or disprove the dogma," and it is this theory
that has been maintained by most philosophers. As
Stahelin^ says: —
" We might take up a line of argument used by philosophy both in
ancient and modern times — from Socrates down to Fichte — to prove
the immortality of the inner being, an argument derived from the
assertion that the soul, being a unity, is, as such, incapable of
decay, it being only in the case of the complex that a falling to
pieces, or a dissolution, is conceivable. . . . But the abstruse
nature of this method leads us to renounce a line of argument
from which, we freely confess, we expect little profitable result.
For, after all, what absolute proof have we of this unity of the
soull Can we subject it to the microscope, or the scalpel, as we
can the visible and tangible ? It must content us for the present
simply to indicate that the instinct and consciousness of immor-
tality have nothing to fear from the most searching examination
of the reason, but find far more of confirmation and additional
proof than of contradiction in the profoundest thinking. Further,
that this instinct and consciousness do actually exist, and are
traceable through all the stages and ramifications of the human
^ Foundations of our Faith, p. 232.
256
PHILOSOPHY OF DEATH & IMMORTALITY 257
race ... is confirmed to us by our opponents themselves . . .
that there is in man something which is deeper and stronger than
the maxims of a self -invented philosophy, namely, the divinely
created nobility of his nature, the inherent breath of life, breathed
into him by God, the relation to the Eternal, which secures to him
eternity."
Watson goes still further, even to the extent of
declaring ^ that no where else but in the Bible is
there any
"indubitable declaration of man's immortality . . . any facts
or principles so obvious as to enable us confidently to infer it.
All observation lies directly against the doctrine of man's im-
mortality. He dies, and the probabilities of a future life, which
have been established upon the unequal distributions of rewards
and punishments in this life, and the capacities of the human soul,
are a presumptive evidence that have been adduced . . . only by
those to whom the doctrine has been transmitted by tradition, and
who were therefore in possession of the idea ; and even then to
have any effectual force of persuasion, they must be built upon
antecedent principles furnished only by the revelations contained
in holy Scriptures. Hence some of the wisest heathens, who were
not wholly unaided in their speculations on these subjects by the
reflected light of these revelations, confessed themselves unable to
come to any satisfactory conclusion. The doubts of Socrates, who
expressed himself the most hopefully of any on the subject of
a future life, are well known ; and Cicero, who occasionally ex-
patiated with so much eloquence on this topic, shows, by the
sceptical expressions which he throws in, that his belief was by no
means confirmed."
The first, and, parenthetically, one of the most logical
attempts to formulate a philosophical tenet on the
doctrine of immortality, is that Avhich is contained in
Plato's Phcedo. It was upon this presentation that the
Neo-Platonists reared their argumentative structure, and
^ Institutes, vol. ii,, p. 2.
R
258 DEATH
nearly all the efforts that have been made to find a
logical solution to this problem, since that work was
written, have been adapted from it.
The Platonic argument for the immortality of the
soul maybe summarily stated as follows: — (1) The fact
that the mind brings to the study of truth a body of
interpretive principles and axioms with it, as part of its
native endoAvment, shows that they can be only reminis-
cential, and, therefore, derived from a pre-existent state;
(2) the soul is an ultimate unity — {i.e. monadic in
character), and, therefore, not being composite or
divisible, it cannot be disintegrated; (3) the term
" soul " means the " principle of life," having the ideal
of life essentially immanent in it, and inseparable from
it, and therefore it must exclude the opposite idea,
death; (4) the soul is self-moving, deriving its activity
from within ; consequently its motion, and, therewith,
its life, must be perpetual; (5) the soul as an immaterial
reality is essentially related to the immaterial, invisible,
eternal idea ; and, as the former is akin to the latter in
nature, so is it also akin in duration; (6) the superior
dignity and value of the soul argue for its survival of
the crass body, and even the crass body persists for
a time; (7) the cyclical movement of nature shows
everywhere the maintenance of life by opposition, as
night, day ; sleeping, waking ; the dying seed, the
germinating flower (this is an argument from analogy ;
out of the decay and death of one living organism, a
new life is generated) ; (8) the instinctive aspiration of
the soul towards a future existence shows that the belief
is founded on natural law; (9) things that are de-
structible are destroyed by their peculiar evil or
disease ; the peculiar evil of the soul is vice, which
corrupts the soul's nature, but does not destroy its
existence; (10) the world as a moral and natural
PHILOSOPHY OF DEATH & IMMORTALITY 259
world demands a future life of rewards and punish-
ments for the rectification of inequalities in this life,
else the wrong would ultimately triumph, as in a bad
play. This argument is based on the ethical claim that
there must be a final equivalence between inner worth
and external condition or reward. The views of the
Greeks, and especially the vicAvs of Plato, have had
a profound, an incalculable influence on Christian
thought, on early theological formulae, and on the
sum of occidental philosophy.
The discussions of the dogma of immortality, which
attracted so much attention during the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries, brought no more satisfactory
answer to this riddle of existence. In fact, most philo-
sophical writers, who kept within the bounds of logic,
came to Emerson's admitted conclusion that '' we cannot
prove our faith by syllogisms." The French materialists,
for example, denied absolutely the possibility of the
presence of a soul and the existence of a future life,
psychic life to them being purely an organic function.
Not less materialistic is the position of the pantheists,
headed by Spinoza, for they held that the World-Soul,
which, according to their theories, produces and fills the
universe, also fills and rules man ; that it is only in him
that it reaches its special end — which is self- conscious-
ness — and attains to thought and will, but they hold
that, at the death of the individual, this World-Soul
retreats from him, just as the setting sun seems to draw
back its rays into itself; so self-consciousness sinks once
more into the great, unconscious, undistinguished spirit-
ocean of the whole.
In its effect Schopenhauer's doctrine is not dissimilar.
To him life was the manifestation of the Will-to-Live,
and death, the extinction of that Will. In Fichte's
system of Idealism, the creative Ego is not the indi-
260 DEATH
vidual, but the Absolute Ego. " The individual Ego
realises itself only by negating its individuality, by
universalising itself, and the Ego thus exemplifying the
conceptual life of truth, continues to all eternity, as an
indestructible part of the reality of the Absolute Ego."
So far as individual existence after death is concerned,
this is practically the absorption of the Indian Nirvana.
Hegel, personally, paid little attention to the problem of
life and death, bat his disciples were split into two
badly divided factions upon this question of continued
existence.
Lotze, in his teleological idealism, bases his theory of
the immortality of the soul on the principle of value,
taking the ground that a thing will continue for ever
which by reason of its excellence should be an abiding
constitutive part of the Cosmical Order. In other words,
immortality, in his opinion, depended upon individual
excellence, and was not the fate of all souls. This idea
of what may be termed " conditional immortality," was
taught by M'Connell, in The Evohition of Immortality ; by
Dr. Edward White, in Conditional Immortality, or Life in
Christ; and, later, by Professor Henry Drummond, in
Natural Law in the Sjnritual World, a work that excited
so much attention that more than one hundred thousand
copies were sold.
The conditionalist ar<?ues that the soul of man has no
inherent right to immortality, but that this privilege has
been acquired through the operation of the infinite merits
of Jesus Christ, who, by his triumph over death, opened
the door to a future existence, that pure spirits might
participate with him in the joys of eternal life. The
sinner who rejects divine grace, however, is doomed to
disappear, like all useless organisms, which, in the
struggle for life, fail to adapt themselves to existing
conditions.
PHILOSOPHY OF DEATH & IMMORTALITY 261
Kant, Locke, and other metaphysicians, agree with
those theologians who exclude all these problems as
being beyond the province of actual scientific demon-
stration. They hold that it is impossible to prove a
future existence from a belief in a Creator, regardless of
the attributes that we may admit that such a Creator
possesses. As Professor Hammond indicates, however,
in the article already quoted, they admit that " the
work of man as a moral being, with infinite potentialities
[i.e. infinite possibilities], necessitates an infinite time
for their realisation." The laws of the moral life are
drawn from a transcendental sphere, free from conditions
of time and space, and so the very essence of man's
moral being is invested with the eternal. Man is
infinitely progressive and perfectible in his moral and
intellectual evolution, and this fact points indubit-
ably to a further existence. If death were the end,
the moral idea would be illusory, and man would
perish a fragment. An infinite moral imperative im-
plies an infinite moral ability. Duty demands moral
perfection. Further, the moral ideal is a character-ideal,
an ideal of personal aim, which implies a personal destiny,
and the non-illusoriness of the moral life implies the
possibility of realising its ideal.
Professor Chase, in his article in the BiUiotheca Sacra,
February 1849, assumed a somewhat similar position,
although he expressed the conclusions in a different way,
for he based his argument chiefly upon the gradual and
progressive development of life in this planet, and this
development, in his opinion, when taken in connection
with the capacities and endowments of the soul, indicated,
on the part of the Creator, a purpose to continue it in
being.
Generally speaking, however, the conclusions of most
philosophical speculations regarding man's destiny arrive
262 DEATH
at the same melancholy finale, that, Avhatever we may
accept upon faith, or however strongly we may hope for a
continuance of existence in another world, there are no
facts to demonstrate that the tomb does not write the
word " Finis " to the book of conscious life. It was such
an idea as this that Lord Bacon had in mind when he
wrote : —
" Our inquiries about the nature of the soul must be bound over
at last to religion, for otherwise they still lie open to many errors ;
for, since the substance of the soul was not deduced from the mass
of heaven and earth, but immediately from God, how can the know-
ledge of the reasonable soul be derived from philosophy 1 "
And even Alger confesses : —
" The majestic theme of our immortality allures yet baffles us.
No fleshly implement of logic or cunning tact of brain can reach
the solution. That secret lies in a tissueless realm, whereof no
nerve can report beforehand. We must wait a little. Soon we
shall grasp and guess no more, but grasp and know."
Although scarcely intended to do so by the author of
The Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life, in the
light of modern investigations the words ring with all the
promise of prophecy.
CHAPTER III
THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT OF DEATH AND
IMMORTALITY 1
Cicero defined death as " the departure of the rnrnd from
the body," and, if the term " soul " should be substituted
for the word " mind," this definition would give a very
accurate impression of the theological view of the physi-
cal aspect of this common phenomenon. Thus, Tertullian
describes death as '' the disunion of the body and soul,"
and, unsatisfactory as this definition may be in many
respects, it is quite as explanatory as most of the conclu-
sions that have been reached by philosophers and scien-
tists. Of course it is easy to see that, even granting the
existence of the soul, death would not consist in this
separation between the material and the spiritual parts of
our being. Such a separation would occur, but it would
be the consequence of the death of the body, and not the
cause of it. To say that death is the " termination " of
life, therefore, is to parry the question. Spencer's " cessa-
tion of life " definition is not more evasive.
So far as theology is concerned, however, it has no
better terms in which to describe the termination of life,
towards which every human being is tending ; so it satis-
fies itself by accepting this single general conclusion, and
1 A very good summary of what may be considered the theological
aspect of death is to be found in Mr. H. M. Alden's volume, A Study of
Death. The author makes death and sin synonymous terms, and uses
them in that manner throughout his work. His book is, consequently, of
no use to a scientific writer, and has only historical and religious interest.
263
264 DEATH
presenting several theories in explanation of the pheno-
mena that it cannot adequately define. Thus, since the
days of St. Augustine, accepted orthodox theology has
held that as sin and death came into the world through
Adam's violation of the commands of God, it was not
until the second Adam — Jesus Christ — came that the
penalty of the first man's disobedience was provisionally
forgiven and the birthright of immortality restored to
man. That this is the literal teaching of the Bible there
can be no question, nor was it questioned to any consider-
able degree in its application to either animal or man,
until the time that the discoveries of geology demon-
strated the prevalence of death in ages long anterior to
the creation of man, or countless ages before the appear-
ance of sin, as described in the Book of Genesis. The
earth's strata are full of the remains of extinct life — life
that existed, died, and was buried by the slow process of
nature during periods that greatly antedated the appear-
ance of any civilised race. Even before primitive man
had left a mark to indicate his occupancy of the earth
there was life, some of which had already become extinct,
and it is easy to determine, from an examination of these
fossil remains, that in those periods life was inevitably
followed by, and in many instances actually sustained by,
death.
As the result, most theologians now admit that, long
before the period of man's innocence, the phenomena of
death had its place in the economy of the world. Even
then the revolving years were marked by the opening
and closing of the earth's foliage ; by the ripening, con-
summation, and decay of the earth's fruits. When our first
parents went to drink of the waters of the streams in
Paradise, every draught they took to quench their thirst
required the destruction of myriads of animalculae, just as
the drinking of water does to-day. If they walked in
THEOLOGY OF DEATH & IMMORTALITY 265
the fields, or plucked fruits or vegetables to gratify the
demands of hunger, each act brought death to some
creature that had hitherto experienced the joy of living.
In fact theology, as represented by most theologians, now
agrees with the assumption of science, that this state of
things has existed since the earliest days of the creation
of life, and that, in fact, death is the logical ultimate of
the law of life under which God, in His good pleasure,
placed all creatures that He made, with the single excep-
tion of man.
In the case of man, the last and highest creation of the
Divine will, the idea of death was immediately set before
him as the consequence, or, in fact, the just desert that
must follow his disobedience of the law of his Maker,
and there is every reason to believe that his very clear
conception of the import of this threatening evil was de-
rived directly from the ever-apparent evidence of death's
dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowls of the
air, and all things that came up out of the earth.
With regard to the animals, or to creatures possessing
what may be termed " mere instinct," theology finds
nothing that indicates that there is anything judicial in
their ordination to death. It is man that has been
punished in this manner, and yet, for some reason that is
often unexplained, the curse from which he has suftered
has also " been brought upon the ground," with the result
that " the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together." Just how this arrangement of affairs is to be
reconciled with the idea of a benevolent Creator is one
of those problems which many theologians have found
it difficult to solve, but one explanation is given by
M'Clintock and Strong : —
" It may relieve the mystery that, as a general rule, the enjoy-
ments of the inferior creatures greatly exceed their suiferings, and
death is but little, if at all, the object of their fear, or even a cause
266 DEATH
of mucli pain. That 'the sum of animal enjoyment quenched in
death is amply compensated by the law of increase and succession,
which both perpetuates life and preserves it in the vigour of its
powers and the freshness of its joys is certain ' ; also (as bearing
on the physical and moral condition of man, to whom, as chief
in this lower world, all arrangements and disposals affecting the
lower forms of life were subordinated) their subjection to death
has enlarged immensely the extent of man's physical resources,
and multiplied manifold the means of his mental development and
discipline."
Theology holds that, as " it is appointed unto all men
once to die," death is actually a physical necessity devised
by the Creator as a means of carrying out His purposes
regarding the welfare of the human race, and, being such,
it has become a universal law which now extends to all
organisations in the material universe. This is an opinion
that has long been held by exponents of nearly all schools
of theological thought.
At the same time, as it would be contrary to the
doctrine of God's omnipotence to urge that such a law
must operate despite His desire to maintain the fulfil-
ment of the law of life, it is held that there are other
orders of creation dwelling on an immortal plane who
are not subject to this condition, the ultimate fate of
every human being. It is also held that these creatures
are constituted of some kind of material, or, in other
words, that so far from being all spirit, they have their
own form of organised existence. And in evidence of
this, we are pointed to the fact that the bodies of the risen
saints were " clothed with incorruption and immortality."
Theology also contends that even these frail bodies of
ours, in the antediluvian period, were able to prolong
the objective existence to the verge of a millennium'V
and it is argued from this that it is quite possible for
God to imbue the human organism with the power, or
THEOLOGY OF DEATH & IMMORTALITY 267
the means, of repairing the waste of the forces of Ufe
in such manner as to preserve man in unabated vigour
and freshness, even to the end of time. It was un-
doubtedly this belief in God's power to find a means
to suspend all laws of His own creation that gave rise
to the legend of the Wandering Jew, which was so
commonly accepted throughout the entire civilised
world a few centuries ago. According to this story,
the Jew was punished for his insult to Jesus by being
condemned to travel ceaselessly until the Christ should
come again in glory on " the last day."
According to the covenant that was originally given
to man, he was to remain exempt from the operation
of this law of death so long as he remained obedient
to the divine command : " Thou shalt not eat of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil, for in the day thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Again, after this
law or command had been violated, the Bible is equally
explicit in ascribing the beginning of the reign of
death over mankind to the transo^ression of this law :
" By one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned."
Drawing its conclusions from such passages of Scrip-
ture, theology assumes that immortality was actually
originally ordained for man, but that it was only pro-
visionally ordained. Death was the penalty that would
be imposed for the violation of the covenant. As long
as man remained steadfast to his agreement with God,
the latter would abide by the conditions of His sacra-
mental pledge; and it was due to man's transgression
of the law that he was compelled to pay the price of
his sin by renouncing the gift of immortality that had
been promised to him and to his offspring.
In regard to other forms of creation, however, there
268 DEATH
is no indication in these passages of Scripture that they
had also been inchided in the provisions of this contract.
It was man only to whom the law applied, and it is
argued, therefore, that the other orders of creatures that
may have lived in that time or in preceding stages
of the world's existence, were exempt, both from the
necessity of obedience to the law and from the penalty
required in case of its violation.
Whether, in any way, they may have been con-
stituted under a law of death by anticipation, and as
in keeping with a state of things in which death should
reign over man, we do not venture to pronounce. That,
indirectly, as a consequence of their relation to man
as a sinner against God, their sufferings have been
increased and their lives shortened, it is impossible to
doubt or deny. But if, in this view, sin be the occasion
of their death, it cannot be the cause of it. They are
incapable of sin, and cannot die judicially for sin. The
contrary opinion which long and generally prevailed,
that the creatures were immortal until man sinned, has
as little to justify it in Scripture as in science. Death,
it is there said, is the law of their being ; and the true
doctrine of the Scripture is not that they die because
man has sinned, but that man because he has sinned
has forfeited his original and high distinction, and has
become " like the beasts that perish." It is unnecessary
to multiply Scripture proofs of this awful and humbling
truth. Every one is familiar with the frequent and
equivalent testimonies that death is " the fruit," " the
wages," " the end " and consummation of sin, and the
circumstances which attend and induce it impressively
connect it with sin as its cause.
In order to argue that death, now that it has come,
does not necessarily mean the end of all life ; theologians
have assumed that, in addition to the objective body,
THEOLOGY OF DEATH & IMMORTALITY 269
each human being possesses a soul or spirit. In this
opinion, of course, they differ from the materialist, who
holds that man is composed of a physical body alone ;
that, in fact, he is no more than a superior animal,
whose mental and moral strength are merely the effect
of the higher development of this physical organism.
To the materialist, the theory that man is possessed of
a soul distinct from the body, and that it is this soul
that is the seat of the nobler intelligence, is the height
of absurdity. To the theologian, however, this belief is
a necessity, for if it were not for the existence of this
spiritual part of man, it would be impossible to show
that death, instead of being the end of all things, is
really a second birth — a birth into another, a more
important, and an eternal state of being.
As evidence of the existence of the soul, the theo-
logian points to numerous passages of Scripture, for the
books of the New Testament are filled with testimony
that conclusively establishes the truth of this theory,
provided we are Avilling to accept them as authoritative.
According to these passages, man's intercourse with the
outward existence is through the body, which is entirely
objective in its mode of operation, but his communion
with God and his ability to attain any degree of spiritual
development comes to him through the soul, or spiritual
self that, while associated with the body, is a distinct
and different organism.
The effect of this complexity of being not only
appears in the affairs of life, but also tends to com-
plicate the nature and the result of death. If man had
his body alone, it would be easy to dispose of such a
problem, for death extends to every part of the body,
and includes every portion of his objective nature. In
this manner the threat that death should follow the
violation of the divine command has been literally
270 DEATH
enforced. Man does die or perish, so far as his earthly
body is concerned. The important question is in regard
to the other self — the soul, the spirit, through which he,
in accordance with tlie Biblical promise, may eventually
experience far greater joys of living.
In reading the Bible it is easy to discover that
reference is made to two kinds of death — the death of
the body and the death of the soul — or a spiritual
death as well as a material death. In other words,
while condemning the outward or objective man to
experience " the pangs of death " as a punishment for
his sins, God does not permit the inner man — the actual
cause of that sin — to escape the penalty. On the con-
trary, the Scripture assures us that the soul that sinneth
shall surely die, and there are many references that
might be made to passages that indicate that it is
possible to be dead in sin while yet alive in the objec-
tive or physical body.
Precisely what effect God's penalty has upon the
body and soul, both severally and together, constitute
questions over which there has been considerable dis-
pute. According to some theologians, it is the actual
physical body that is to be raised from the grave on
the " last day." In the opinion of others, the physical
body will play no part in this resurrection, but, being
dead, will perish for all time, while the soul alone Avill
be called upon to account for the sins committed in the
flesh.
Naturally, the literal effect of death upon the bodily
organism is a matter of common observation. When
death comes, the body soon loses its comeliness. Corrup-
tion follows, and finally, the structure that was once a
human form becomes a shapeless mass of dust. That
this dust should be brought together again, to serve
once more as the soul's envelope during eternity, is an
THEOLOGY OF DEATH & IMMORTALITY 271
idea that is branded as absurd by nearly all so-called
rational thinkers. In spite of its apparent absurdity,
however, this theory has been very generally held by
nearly all schools of theology, and it is still accepted by
many Christian sects, some of which could scarcely be
designated as " primitive."
Whatever disposition may be made of the body, all
creeds admit the eventual immortality of at least a
certain number of the souls of those who have died.
Just when this eternity of bliss is to open its doors to
the waiting soul, or to what degree divine mercy will
operate in extending the scope of the plan of redemption,
are among the many questions that are still in dispute.
One school, more liberal than the others, grants eventual
salvation to all mankind ; another school — the Roman
Catholic Church — provides an intermediate state, or
place of purification, in which those who do not merit
eternal damnation may expiate the sins committed in
this life ; while the several schools of Protestant theo-
logy differ in their conceptions of the plans of divine
justice — ranging from the ultimate salvation of all, as
preached by the most liberal Christians, to the final and
absolute extinction of the wicked, a doctrine that seems
to have lost many of its adherents during the past few
years.
Unpopular as this belief may have become, Hudson,
in his Laiv of Psychic Phenomena, insists that it is the
only logical view of the situation. He says : —
" The first proposition of my theory is that the death or
practical extinction of the soul as a conscious entity is the neces-
sary result of unbelief in immortality. The second proposition
is that the soul, having attained immortality through belief, is
then subject to the law of rewards and punishments, ' according
to the deeds done in the body.' The same propositions are more
sententiously expressed in Romans ii. 1 2 : ' For as many as have
272 DEATH
sinned without law shall also perish without law : and as many
as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.'
"In other words, the condition precedent to the attainment of
immortality, or salvation — that is, the saving of the soul from
death — is belief. The condition precedent to the attainment of
eternal bliss, and the avoidance of the punishments incident to
sin, is righteousness.
" Again, we find a spiritual penalty following a violation of
spiritual law in what Christ taught regarding the sin against the
Holy Ghost. Just what that sin consists in, never has been satis-
factorily defined. We are told that it is a sin that cannot be
forgiven. It must therefore consist of a violation of some funda-
mental law of the soul's existence, the penalty for which is inevit-
able according to the fixed laws of God. It cannot be a moral
offence, consisting simply in wrong-doing, for such sins can be
atoned for. ... It must, therefore, be the sin of unbelief, and
consist of a blasphemous denial of the existence of the soul and
its Father, God. This would be in strict accordance with the
fundamental law of suggestion."
So far as the popular vie^v of death and life after death
is concerned, it now differs widely from the position that
theology must take when it decides to stand by the
logical aspect of the question. According to the popular
impression, the souls of those who die go directly to the
seat of judgment, and remain eternally in the realm of
bliss if they are able to establish their worthiness to
participate in this glorious existence of the blessed.
That this idea is suggested by preachers and teachers of
religion there can be no doubt, but it is equally certain
that the Bible nowhere presents any such theory. On
the contrary, it teaches that, as sin and death came into
the world through Adam, it was through Christ, the
sacrifice, that they have been overcome. It was Christ
alone who came sinless into the world, and who lived a
sinless life ; it was Christ alone who arose triumphant
over death, and it is through the acceptance of Christ
THEOLOGY OF DEATH & IMMORTALITY 273
alone that the soul can be saved. This is the promise
of the Bible : that he who believes in Christ, and who
lives in accord with that faith, shall have eternal life,
but no salvation is promised for those who fail to take
advantage of this opportunity. In fact, for the unbe-
liever, the best that is offered is eternal darkness. To
him the eternity that is to be so blissful an experience
for the faithful Christian becomes a burden, a period of
ceaseless torment — either of mind or body — a time of
" weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth."
This, in brief, is the position to which the logical
student of theology must turn, contradictory though it
may be to the popular view upon these questions, for
there can be no doubt that this is the literal gospel
that is taught in the Bible. The sin of Adam, which
separated him from God, and which sent him flying with
fear from the Garden of Eden, began its disrupting work
at the very moment of his transgression. The act of
treason — the violation of the covenant — intercepted the
happy intercourse that had existed between God the
Maker, and man His creature. In this manner God's
contract was instantly fulfilled. Man had sinned, and
God ceased to live with him. The law of God had been
broken, the fruit of the forbidden tree had been eaten,
and death, through this sin, was brought into the life of
the man — the one creature of earth to whom the provi-
sional promise of immortality had been given. " In the
day thou eatest thou shalt surely die," God had said, and
in the day that he ate the work of death began in the
creature's disrupted relations with the Creator.
Although these conditions are sufficient to cause death
(and death without delay), through the mercy of God, as
displayed in the plan of atonement, man lives on in the
body for a little time, that he may have an opportunity
to take advantage of the new covenant that God has
274 DEATH
made with him. Tlirough the expiation of the Cross
the doors of eternal life have been opened once more,
that he who will may enter. The price that must be
paid is faith plus works, and to every man is given the
chance to win this prize which was once lost through
Adam's sin : immortality — not immortality in this life
indeed, but in a life that lies beyond the grave. Thus,
whatever the result of God's forbearance and mercy to
each individual soul, the physical man must still die.
In theology this mortal crisis which each and all must
face is known as the " temporal " death, to distinguish
it from the " spiritual " death, which makes it possible
for a man to be " dead while he liveth."
When this point has been reached, when this dread
day has come, theology recognises but one more step
before the complete and final issue is attamed, for when
the last plans of the divine administration have been
realised, and the God who created all things is ready to
take His own unto Himself, the bodies of all who have
slept in dust will be reorganised ; both the just and the
unjust shall rise from their graves to stand with the
quick before their judge, that they may give account of
their experience in the flesh, and be judged in accord-
ance with their deserts. It is then that the just shall
be raised by faith through grace to the life eternal and
incorruptible, while the unjust, the unbeliever, and im-
penitent sinner shall go away from God's presence into
the place of everlasting punishment which is devised for
the " resurrection of damnation." It is this that is meant
by " the second death."
CHAPTER IV
THE COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY
While it is true that positive science has been unable
— with microscope or scalpel — to find the smallest trace
of an immortal spark in man ; while theology has nothing
more evidential to offer than an appeal based upon the
presumptive accuracy of its revelation, and philosophy
stands ready to confess its inability to cope with the
problems of death and the continuance of conscious
existence, the great majority of human beings are quite
as confident of the reality of the next world as it would
be possible for them to be if their theories were sup-
ported by the most conclusive scientific evidence. Of
course, as has been shown, the inability of man to demon-
strate the mere existence of the soul to the satisfaction
of any law of logic leaves mankind absolutely dependent
upon the hope that is in him, that instinctive desire for
immortality, the arguments for which are so beautifully
summarised by Addison : —
^' Plato, thou reason'st well,
Else whence this pleasing hope^ this fond desire,
This longing after immortality ?
Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror
Of falling into naught ? Why shrinks the soul
Back on herself, and startles at destruction ?
'Tis the divinity that stirs within us ;
'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter,
And intimates eternity to man." ^
1 Cato.
275
276 DEATH
True as these words may be, if we are to regard them
solely as a picture of man's protest against the doctrine
of extinction, they are not of the faintest evidential value
in support of the belief that life continues beyond the
grave. In fact, as Hudson has said : ^ —
" Natural theology stands precisely where it did when Thales
philosophised and Simonides sang ; and the arguments are iden-
tical with those which Socrates employed in his confutation of the
atheism of Aristodemus. Not one of the physical sciences in
which we excel the Idumeans has advanced us one step in solution
of the great problem propounded by Job, ' If a man die, shall he
live again 1 ' "
Professor Hammond mentions five traditional argu-
ments that have commonly been used to establish the
fact that death is not the end of conscious being. These
are : —
"(1) The ontological argument, which bases immortality on the
immateriality, simplicity, and irreducibility of the soul-substance ;
(2) The teleological argument, which employs the concept of man's
destiny and function, his disposition to free himself more and more
from the conditions of time and space, and to develop completely
his intellectual and moral potentialities, which development is
impossible under the conditions of earthly life ; (3) The theo-
logical argument : the wisdom and justice of God guarantee the
self-realisation of personal beings whom He has created ; (4) The
moral argument, i.e. the moral demand for the ultimate equival-
ence of personal deserts and rewards, which equivalence is not
found in life ; (5) The historical argument ; the fact that the
belief is widespread and ancient, showing it to be deep-seated in
human nature, and the historical fact of the resurrection of Christ
and the statements of the New Testament Scriptures."
As all of these arguments have already been con-
sidered in previous chapters, it is unnecessary to dwell
upon them further, except to the degree in which they
A Scientific Dernonstration of the Future Life, p. 27.
COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 277
apply to the arguments that are in more common use
among men ; for while many of us may be unable to
follow the philosophers and logicians through the intri-
cate mazes of reasoning that lead to their ultimate
conclusions, there are certain arguments — more com-
mon-place, perhaps — that appeal to ordinary thinkers as
extremely convincing. As Hudson says in A Scientific
Demonstration of the Future Life : —
" It may sound very unscientific, but I must confess that I
attach more of scientific value to Emerson's dogmatic assertion
that ' man is to live hereafter ' than I do to the aggregate of
philosophical speculations known to the literature of the subject.
He was one of those pure, lofty, and poetic souls whose intuitive
perception and recognition of truth is oftentimes as perfect as a
mathematical demonstration."
And there are many individuals who, whether their
process of reasoning is scientific or not, will heartily
agree with this statement.
Of course, as a matter of fact, there are but two
methods of reason that can be applied logically to any
question. One is inductive reasoning — the reasoning
which begins with accepted facts, or particulars, and
from them argues up to the last logical conclusions.
The other is deductive reasoning, or the reasoning that
begins with conclusions, and from them argues down
to facts. Inductive reasoning, therefore, is a logical
appeal to fact ; whereas deductive reasoning takes the
facts that have been obtained more or less inductively,
and from them proceeds to calculate its logical par-
ticulars. While both methods of reasoning are perfectly
legitimate, therefore, both are liable to be mistaken in
their conclusions, for both depend upon the accuracy of
the facts, or observations, upon which these conclusions
are based.
278 DEATH
As may easily be imagined, the exponents of the
doctrine of life after death have found it extremely
difficult to present a very conclusive inductive argument
in support of their theories, owing to the absence of
facts from which to approach the general conclusion.
Accordingly, the tendency shown by modern science —
both biology and physiology — has been to dismiss the
theory of the soul's existence as undemonstrable.
At the same time it must not be imagined that no
attempt has been made to adduce a sound and rational
argument based upon the accepted facts of science.
Thus, the relations existing between the molecular move-
ments of the brain and their manifestation in human
thoughts and feelings have been held to be evidence of
the fallacy of the materialistic theory. Professor James,
in Human Immortality, attempted to " draw the fangs of
cerebralistic materialism " by ascribing to the brain a
" transmissive " function, but many scientists have not
accepted his theory.
It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that, because
mental activity and molecular change always go hand
in hand, the one is not therefore producGcl by the other.
It is certainly true that for every thought we think,
there is a corresponding change in the brain substance ;
but this merely proves the coincidence to us, and does
nothing to solve the problem of causation. We know
that there is a definite activity of the brain during all
thinking processes, but tliat does not tell us what the
activity is. It is usually assumed that this is a causa-
tive function, but that is merely an assumption, as a
matter of fact ; and Professor William James and other
writers have shown us, and indeed insisted upon the
fact, that this function might be other than causal in
character — it might be coincidental, or even the result
of mental operations ! In his Human Immortality, Pro-
COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 279
fessor James contended that this function of the brain
might be a transmissive function just as well as a causal
one ; and, on that theory, consciousness might exist apart
from the brain, and merely function throiigh it ; and such
an interpretation of the facts would leave us quite open
to believe anything we pleased regarding the possible
separate existence of consciousness. At all events, it
would appear that there is no valid reason, physio-
logically considered, for denying immortality ; it is
merely a question of interpretation of the observed
phenomena. Although certain facts would seem to tell
in favour of materialism at first glance, it will be seen
that this alternate explanation is ahvays open to us ;
and hence physiology is as helpless as philosophy
when it comes to this question of immortality — and
the possibility of solving the problem on a 'priori
grounds.
In the Unseen Universe, by Stewart and Tait, an effort
was made to establish the existence of an unseen world
from which this world has come, and to which it is
connected by bonds of energy. These physicists believe
that their theory explains both the origin of molecules
and the force which animates them. They claim that
the idea that the visible universe has the power to
originate life is utterly contradictory to the facts of
observation and experiment ; and they assert that the
hypothesis of an eternal unseen universe is necessary if
we are to explain the law of evolution, the conservation
of mass and energy, the law of biogenesis (every living
being presupposing an antecedent life), the law of con-
tinuity (there being no break in reality, the universe
being of a piece), and other recognised phenomena of
life in the visible world.
Louis Elbe, who endeavours to explain existence, both
in this life and in a world to come, by means of scientific
280 DEATH
facts, resorts to the etlioric hypothesis for some of his
most important arguments.^ He says : —
" Seeing tliat the pliysical sciences acquire paramount import-
ance in our inquiry, we turn to them . . . and discover the
fundamental law of indestructibility governing all the manifesta-
tions of matter and mechanical forces. We know that we are
impotent to create or to destroy the minutest material atom, and
we can induce no new manifestation of energy without at once
causing an equal quantity under another form to disappear. We
remarked that the law of indestructibility applied not only to
matter and energy, but also to all events of the past, which also
become indestructible when they have once been recorded in the
vibrations of the ether, and we have every reason to suppose that
the law holds good of phenomena purely immaterial in appear-
ance. . . . W^e recognise, in fine, that nothing whatsoever in the
universe can elude the inevitable operation of the incorruptible
law which eternally preserves the memory of the past ; and we
are hence justified in concluding that the living, and especially
the conscious, forces must also be amenable to the same law, for
it can scarcely have determined to preserve the memory of our
most insignificant acts and yet be unwilling to preserve the being
who is their author. -
" If we then proceed to inquire into the mode of action of the
physical forces, in the hope of thence drawing some important
deductions concerning the nature of conscious force, the existence
of which we are thus led to surmise, we find that all of them are
exercised through the agency of a hypothetical medium which we
term the ether, for it is to it that we trace back the most divergent
manifestations of energy. According to our conception the ether
effects the solidarity of all the elements of this immense universe,
which it entirely pervades ; it is capable of transmitting the effort,
almost immeasurably great, by which the planets are maintained
in their orbits, and at the same time the most minute of electric,
calorific, or luminous actions. It produces with equal fidelity each
1 FxUure Life, p. 370.
2 For the modern scientific objection to these theories see Mr. Header's
Theory of Death, pp. 207-26.
COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 281
tremor of life, and it is the requisite agent in the production of all
phenomena. But the ether is even more than this, for we think
to discover it to-day in the very constitution of matter. The
atom, despite its infinitely small dimensions, appears to us to be a
kind of infinite world, formed by the union of etheric molecules,
the existence of which determines its fundamental properties.
" Thus, in order to explain the slightest material fact, we are
bound to fall back upon the hypothesis of an ether, which hence-
forth becomes for us the one reality, the hidden reason inspiring
matter ; as the ancients put it, ' Mens agitat molem.^ Are we not,
therefore, entitled to look to ether for an explanation of life itself ?
May we not consider life as depending upon the action of some
special immaterial aggregate, perhaps more subtile even than the
ether ? "
Convincing as such arguments may seem to those to
whom they appeal, the critical mind is compelled to
admit that their validity does not stand the test of the
infallible rules to which all such propositions must
logically submit. So, too, the analogical argument
inevitably falls when exposed to the analysis of the
rules of correct reasoning.
In presenting the details of the analogical argument
in support of a future life, it is impossible to summarise
such speculations more briefly and completely than by
quoting from Alger's Critical History of the Doctrine of a
Future Life : -^ —
" Man, holding his conscious being precious beyond all things,
and shrinking with pervasive anxieties from the moment of
destined dissolution, looks around through the realms of nature,
with thoughtful eye, in search of parallel phenomena further
developed, significant sequels in other creatures' fates, whose
evolution and fulfilment may haply throw light on his own.
With eager vision and heart-prompted imagination, he scrutinises
whatever appears related to his object. Seeing the snake cast its
1 Pp. 38, 39.
282 DEATH
old slough and glide forth renewed, he conceives that in death man
but sheds his fleshly exuvias, while the spirit emerges regenerate.
He beholds the beetle break from its filthy sepulchre, and com-
mence its summer work ; and straightway he hangs a golden
scarabaeus in his temples as an emblem of a future life. After
vegetation's wintry deaths, hailing the returning spring that brings
resurrection and life to the graves of the sod, he dreams of some
far-off spring of humanity, yet to come, when the frosts of man's
untoward doom shall relent, and all the costly seed sown through
ages in the great earth- tomb shall shoot up in celestial shapes.
On the moaning seashore, weeping some dear friend, he perceives,
now ascending in the dawn, the planet which he lately saw
declining in the dusk ; and he is cheered by the thought that —
" * So sinks the day-star in the ocean-bed,
And yet anon repairs his drooping head,
And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore
Flames in the forehead of the morning sky :
So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high.'
" Some traveller or poet tells him fabulous tales of a bird which,
grown aged, fills his nest with spices, and, spontaneously burning,
soars from the aromatic fire, rejuvenescent for a thousand years ;
and he cannot but take the phoenix for a miraculous type of his
own soul swinging, free and eternal, from the ashes of his corpse.
Having watched the silkworm, as it wove its cocoon and lay down
in its oblong grave apparently dead, until at length it struggles
forth, glittering with rainbow colours, a winged moth, endowed
with new faculties, and living a new life in a new sphere, he con-
ceives that so the human soul may, in the fulness of time,
disentangle itself from the imprisoning meshes of this world of
larvae, a thing of spirit beauty, to sail through heavenly airs ; and
henceforth he engraves a butterfly on the tombstone in vivid pro-
phecy of immortality. Thus a moralising observation of natural
similitudes teaches man to hope for an existence beyond death."
Butler, in the Analogy,^ presents a very similar argu-
ment, assuming that because the caterpillar is transformed
^ Part I. 0. i.
COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 283
into the butterfly, and " worms into flies," we are to exist
hereafter " according to a natural order or appoint-
ment of the very same kind with that we have already
experienced " ; but, like Alger and other exponents of
analogical reasoning, he makes the mistake of trying
to adapt poetic figures of speech or fanciful comparisons
to questions that must be determined upon a purely
logical basis. To be legitimate, analogical reasoning
must justify itself by its conformity to all the conditions
of correct logical induction. Thus the field in which
analogical reasoning may be properly employed has very
decided limitations. It may be proper to employ it
when dealing with matters which are known to be
governed by the same or substantially the same laws ;
but never when instituting comparisons, either between
subjects which are known not to be governed by the
same laws, or between subjects which are not known to
be governed by the same laws. ... In all inductive
reasoning there is one proposition that is, or may be,
always assumed, namely, the constancy of nature. Thus,
by the observation of a series of phenomena, say the
rising and the setting of the sun, we are enabled to
predict with absolute confidence that it will on any
given day in the future rise in the east and set in the
west. Why? Because we have such confidence in the
immutability of the laws of nature that we may assume
that the order of the rising and the setting of the sun
will never be reversed. It is upon this assumption of
the constancy of nature, or rather upon the sublime
verity of this assumption, that all advancement in the
arts and sciences depends ; for if it were not true, we
would derive no certain information from our experience,
or from our observation of the phenomena of nature.
If gravity operated one day and on the next refrained
from operating, the whole human race would be instantly
284 DEATH
put to confusion, and lose faith in the integrity of the
Creator. Inductive reasoning, therefore, could have no
possible value as a means of interpreting the laws of
nature but for the fact that we know that nature is ever
constant.
It is interesting to note, in this connection, that
Professor S. P. Langley did not believe that any
" LaAvs of Nature " exist at all, as a matter of fact,
but are merely mental conceptions ! Thus he believed
that Nature exists, and that her phenomena are uniform,
and from this uniformity we have constructed modern
science, and formulated what we choose to call " the laws
of nature." But these laws do not exist as absolute,
fixed realities, as a matter of fact ; they are merely
mental concepts. At any time new facts may come
upon the scene, which will make us alter our concep-
tion of the laws of nature, and extend them in a fashion
hitherto undreamed of. And yet the laws are not
really altered, in the old sense of the term ; the fact
was that no such laws existed as we had postulated,
and constant readjustment must be made to fit new facts.
Professor Langley insisted upon this over and over again,
and wrote in this connection : —
"The immensely greater number of things we know in almost
every department of science beyond those which were known
one hundred and fifty years ago has had an effect which
doubtless could have been anticipated, but which we may not
have wholly expected. (^It is, that the more we know the more
we recognise our ignorance, and the more we have a sense of
the mystery of the universe and the Hmitations of our know-
ledge, v. • Innumerable are the illusions of custom, but of all
these perhaps the cleverest is her knack of persuading us that
the miraculous, by simple repetition, ceases to be miraculous.
. . . Suppose that a century ago, in the year 1802, certain
French academicians, believing like every one else then in the
COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 285
' laws of nature,' were invited, in the light of the best scientific
knowledge of the day, to name the most grotesque and outrage-
ous violation of them which the human mind could conceive.
I may suppose them to reply, ' If a cartload of black stones
were to tumble out of the blue sky above us before our eyes in
this very France, we should call that a violation of the laws of
nature, indeed.' Yet the next year, not one, but many cart-
loads of black stones did tumble out of the blue sky, not in
some far-off land, but in France itself.
" It is of interest to ask, what became of the ' laws of nature '
after such a terrible blow ? The ' laws of nature ' were adjusted,
and after being enlarged by a little patching, so as to take in
the new fact, were found to be just as good as ever. So it is
always ; when the miracle has happened, then and only then it
becomes most clear that it was no miracle at all, and that no
' law of nature ' had been broken.
" Applying the parable to ourselves, then, how shall we deal
with new facts which are on trial, things perhaps not wholly
demonstrated, yet partly plausible 1 During the very last
generation hypnotism was such a violation of natural law.
Now it is part of it. What shall we say, again, about telepathy,
which seemed so absurd to most of us a dozen years ago ? I do
not say there is such a thing now, but I would like to take the
occasion to express my feeling that Sir William Crookes, as
president of the British Association, took the right, as he took
the courageous course, in speaking of it in the terms he did.
. . . Though nature be external to ourselves, the so-called
' laws of nature ' are from within — laws of our own minds — and
a simple product of our human nature." ^
To return, however, we see that analogical reasoning
is a form of deductive reasoning, and it depends for its
validity upon the accuracy of the facts which it assumes.
Thus, when it begins to argue from one subject up to
an entirely different subject, or attempts to make con-
ditions existing in one class of phenomena apply to
phenomena that are entirely dissimilar in character, it
1 Smithsonian Report, pp. 545-52.
286 DEATH
is trending upon dangerous ground. If the laAvs govern-
ing the subject-matter observed are not identical with
those of the subject-matter investigated, the analogical
argument must fall to the ground from sheer lack of
supporting facts.
Professor Chase, in his Bihliotlieca Saci^a article already
mentioned, objects to Bishop Butler's argument as being
" less fortunate than any other part of that great work."
In particularising, he said : " Both of the main arguments
employed by him are no less applicable to the lower animals
than to man, and just as much prove the immortality
of the living principle connected with the minutest
insect or humblest infusoria as of the human soul. It is
not a little remarkable that this fact, w^hich in reality
converts the attempted proof into a redtictio ad absurdum
of the principles from which it is drawn, should not have
awakened in the cautious mind of Butler a suspicion of
their soundness, and led him to seek other means of
establishing the truth in question. These he would have
found, and, as we think, far better suited to his purpose,
in the facts and principles so ably and so fully set forth
in his chapters on the moral government of God, and
on probation considered as a means of discipline and
improvement."
In addition to the particulars to which Professor
Chase objects, there are other directions in w^hich these
analogical arguments fail to meet the test of criticism.
For example, if it had merely been inferred that because
a silkworm is metamorphosed into a butterfly, other
larvae were destined to be transformed into winged
insects, there might be a reasonably logical basis for
such an assumption, because the laws governing the one
case might reasonably be assumed to be applicable to all
other like cases. The laws governing man, and those
that apply to the life of insects, are, however, of an
COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 287
entirely different class, and to attempt to make the
mortal life of one prove the immortal existence of the
other is certainly an illegitimate use of the principles of
analogy, especially in view of the fact that the changed
conditions of the life of this insect do not in any sense
present the elements of immortality, as the insect dies after
its transformation is concluded. Equally fallacious are
Butler's arguments based upon the hatching of the bird
from the egg, or the birth of man from the womb. In
no case do the same physical laws act as the governing
force. On the contrary, as several writers have said, the
presumptions from analogy, when they are legitimate, are
against rather than in favour of the continued existence
of man after death. If we take Nature as an illustration,
her phenomena would lead the logical mind to assume
that death is actually the end of the process of life.
Even the analogical argument drawn from the germina-
tion of the seed fails as ignobly to apply in the case of
continued existence, for the vegetable life that is derived
from the seed that has fallen to the ground and dis-
integrated is in no respect the same life as that which
existed in the plant from which the seed was produced,
and, if the analogy applies to man at all, it simply
bears out the theory of the materialistic scientists who
hold that man's only immortality is in his posterity.
If we believed, like the Saracens, that the individual
soul is instantaneously transferred to the universal
soul at death there might be some logical justification
for the assumption that an analogy exists " between
the gathering of the material of which the body of
man consists from the vast store of matter in nature
and its final restoration to that store, and the emana-
tion of the spirit of man from the universal intellect, the
Divinity, and its final reabsorption." ^ As here, also,
^ Draper's Conflict between Religion and Science.
288 DEATH
however, the validity of this analogy depends upon
the assumption of the existence of a soul — and this
is the very fact that must be proved, not assumed —
it would fall far short of meeting all the logical
requirements of science. In fact, no analogy can be
instituted
" Between the operations of physical nature and those of the
spiritual realm . . . unless it is first clearly shown that the
laws of the two worlds are identical. And as it is manifestly
impossible to know the laws which prevail in the unseen
universe, it follows that reasoning from such analogies is not
only unsatisfactory to the last degree, but, measured by logical
and scientific standards, it is, to employ no harsher expression,
positively nugatory. It is like trying to demonstrate a proposi-
tion in mathematics by citing a rule in grammar. Nor does it
avoid the objection to express the analogy in the negative form,
which was such a favourite of the late Bishop Butler ; for it is
the logical equivalent of saying, ' There is no presumption from
analogy to be found in the rules of grammar against the
possibility of squaring the circle. Therefore the circle can be
squared.'"
There are many Christians who feel that it is little
better than a waste of time and brain - matter to
endeavour to establish the fact of immortality when
this doctrine has been so explicitly taught in the New
Testament. It was this analogical argument that Paul
used when (1 Cor. xv. 14) he wrote: —
" Now, if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how
say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead ?
" But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen, and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and
your faith is also vain."
Even should we go to the extent of assuming — as
science will not — that the New Testament narrative of
the resurrection of Jesus is literally true, and that every
COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 289
doctrine of the Christian faith can be substantiated be-
yond the shadow of doubt, we are still confronted by the
same objections, that exist in every instance in which the
argument from analogy is made to apply to the question
of immortality. Thus, if the dogmas of orthodox Christi-
anity be true, and Christ the God who was raised from
the dead, the very fact of His divinity subjects Him to
the operation of a different kind of law from that which
governs mankind. Moreover, if we are to assume — with
some other sects — that, while Christ was mere man, the
Father performed a miracle in restoring Him from death,
this assumption leaves us in the same position as before,
for what right have we to imagine that because a miracle
was performed in this case the law of nature is to be
violated for every man who dies ?
It will be remembered, of course, that these objections
to the New Testament approval of the doctrine of im-
mortality are simply raised to show that we must resort
to something more evidential than mere prescriptive
authority if we are to prove the continuance of conscious
life to the satisfaction of science. As an intuitive argu-
ment, the teachings of the various scriptures are of far
more importance as showing the persistence of man's
belief in a future life.
As has already been shown in previous chapters, the
antiquity of this belief in eternal life is beyond question.
All races have held it, and in all ages it has been the
star of hope to which all men have instinctively turned.
Thus, Alger says : —
"It is obvious that man is endowed at once with foreknowledge
of death and with a powerful love of life. It is not a love of being
here, for he often loathes the scenes around him. It is a love of
self-possessed existence, a love of his own soul in its central con-
sciousness and bounded reality. This is the inseparable element
of his very entity. Crowned with free-will, walking on the crest
T
290 DEATH
of the world, enfeoffed with individual faculties, served by vassal
nature with tributes of various joy, he cannot bear the thought of
losing himself or of sliding into the general abyss of matter. His
interior consciousness is permeated with a self-preserving instinct,
and shudders at every glimpse of danger or hint of death. The
soul, pervaded with a guardian instinct of life and seeing death's
steady approach to destroy the body, necessitates the conception of
an escape into another state of existence. Fancy and reason, thus
set at work, speedily construct a thousand theories filled with
details. Desire first fathers the thought, and then thought woos
belief."
This restless yearning for another world, a realm in
which the disembodied spirit may continue the conscious
existence that the physical senses now know as life, has
been at the bottom of all religious faiths ; but while it is
possible that this belief in immortality may be the logical
expression of the immortal spark within us, this argument,
conclusive though it may be to many persons, does not,
and will not, satisfy science until we can demonstrate
that it is something more than the material instinct of
self-preservation which is common to all physical organ-
isms. Like the analogical argument presented by Alger
and Butler, the argument of intuition applies to the lower
animals quite as logically as it does to man. Though
we may look upon ourselves as of more account in the
eye of the Creator, the final product of an evolutionary
process to which we are no longer subject, such pre-
sumptions do not constitute a particularly valid argument.
As Schopenhauer says : —
"Every one feels that he is something different from a being
who has once been created from nothing by another being. In
this way the assurance rises within him that although death can
make an end of his life, it cannot make an end of his existence." ^
* Indestructibility of our Nature by Death.
COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 291
Clearly as Schopenhauer states this argument with
which mankind has sought to establish a basis for its
belief in immortality, man is too logical a reasoner not to
recognise the fact that such a theory cannot be adapted
exclusively to the members of the genus homo. " Man is
something else than an animate nothing," he asserts, and
with this all who believe in immortality will agree ; but
to this he adds, " and the animal also."
In conclusion, we may say that, while we are ready to
admit that the presence of the belief in eternal life in
almost every human heart may be taken as sl presumption
that such a desire may yet be realised, we still deny that
such theories as those we have described can logically be
accepted as a conclusive argument. Before the doctrine
of the continuance of conscious existence after death can
be accepted as proved, we must demonstrate that another
world actually exists, and that in this unseen realm the
disembodied spirit, by whatever name we may designate
it, continues to maintain the individuality that it possessed
on earth. When this result has been attained, and not
until then, will man be justified in regarding his hope for
immortality as anything more than the manifestation of
that instinct of self-preservation that has ever been the
" first law of nature."
PART III
PSYCHOLOGICAL
INTRODUCTORY
All things perish ! So far as we can see, there is not
one thing in the universe which escapes that fate, unless
it be energy. Science has always contended that every
individual organism must die ; that, no matter how long
death may be postponed, it must come sooner or later.
Everything in the universe perishes, it was said — all
but two things, matter and energy. But now the newer
school of physicists contends that matter, too, perishes,
and that the old dogma of the indestructibility of matter
is erroneous, and not in accord with the latest discoveries
of modern science. Yet, oddly enough, life, the most
precious of all the energies, is supposed to become extinct
at death ! The energy we call life is supposed, it is true,
to pass into other modes of energy ; but it does not
persist as such. The only trouble experienced by those
who condemned this view and contended that the mental
life did persist after bodily dissolution was that there was
no evidence that it did ! In the absence of this proof
the doctrine had, naturally, to be given up.
When consciousness came to be treated as a function
of the brain, still more doubt was thrown upon the belief,
which now seemed to have no solid ground for its rational
support. On the materialistic theory, consciousness was
considered a mere product of the brain's functioning — a
position, however, open to many objections, as one of us
has already shown.^ But in the absence of positive proof
1 The Coming Science, pp. 114-179 ; The Physical Phenomena of Spirit-
ualism, pp. 413, 414.
295
296 DEATH
to the contrary, there was always a justification for the
scepticism that prevailed, for the most part, during the
closing years of the last century.
But now we come to psychical phenomena. Here are
facts which (apparently at least) prove that conscious-
ness does persist apart from the body, and evidence is pro-
duced in support of that belief. Whether the evidence
is sufficiently conclusive or not is, of course, another
matter ; but no one can dispute the fact that this is the
rational method — the right way of solving the problem,
and the only way in which it can ever be solved. Argu-
ments as to world-theories and metaphysics might go on
forever ; but if definite facts can be produced, indicating
that some consciousness is active (that consciousness
having been severed from its body previously), then rival
theories will have to be adjusted to the facts, and only
by such facts can the question ever be satisfactorily
settled.
This, then, is the method we propose to adopt in our
investigation or inquiry. All speculations will be avoided,
and we shall devote ourselves to a study of the facts. If
these tend to prove the survival of consciousness, theories
will have to be readjusted to conform to them.
CHAPTER I
THE MOMENT OF DEATH
1. The Hour of Death.
That more deaths occur at some particular hour of the
day or night than at any other time has been more
than once maintained by statisticians, who have always
produced figures to support their claims. The latest
essays in this line, the investigations of Dr. H. D. Marsh,
of New York, indicate that the wave of diurnal efficiency,
or the range of mental and physical activity, varies with
the habits of the individual as regards work and sleep,
and that with inhabitants of civilised communities the
hour of greatest efficiency is likely to be 5 p.m. Says
The British Medical Journal (London, January 18, 1910),
in an article on this subject : —
" This conclusion was the outcome of a special investigation
conducted by Dr. Marsh, and curiously enough an examination
of the records of death in New York City, likewise made by
him, showed that during the period under examination 5 p.m.
was also the hour at which the majority of 23,439 deaths from
disease occurred. It is certainly notable that the period of
the twenty-four hours at which the average man is most alive
should be the same as that at which his death is most likely
to occur, and the apparent inconsistency has led to turning
over our own columns in search of previous observations on
the question of what may be called the hour of death. The
general result is to indicate that before any final statement
can be made as to the hour of the twenty-four at which coiteris
297
298 DEATH
paribus death is most likely to occur in any given individual,
much more extended and thorough investigations of the point
will have to be carried out than have yet been undertaken.
At present the evidence is somewhat conflicting. Thus it is
found that Finlayson, writing in the Glasgow Medical Journal
and using some statistics compiled by the City Chamberlain,
found that of 13,000 deaths recorded in 1865, the greatest
number occurred between the hours of 5 and 6 a.m., while
Schneider, writing in Virchoios Archiv on deaths in Berlin,
concluded that the most fatal hour was between 4 a.m. and
7 A.M. The number of deaths upon which he based his con-
clusions was 57,000 ; while Berens, arguing from the limited
number of 1000 deaths in Philadelphia, and writing in the
Philadelphia Medical Times, concluded in favour of the hour
between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. In 1896 Dr. C. F. Beadles pub-
lished the result of an examination of the statistics of Colney
Hatch Asylum. These showed a difference between the two
sexes as regards the hour of greatest mortality. Thus, among
1000 women the most fatal hour was between 6 and 7 in
the evening, while among 3424 men it was between 5 and 6
in the morning."
Apparently there is a pretty wide choice here for
those who prefer to die at the popular hour. The
majority, however, would appear to lean toward the
earlier hours of the day, as against the conclusion reached
by Dr. Marsh. None of them, however, the writer in
The British Medical Journal reminds us, give counten-
ance to the popular belief that an invalid is most likely
to succumb at about 2 a.m., when, according to the
Duke of Wellington, the heroic attitude is most difficult
to assume. We read in conclusion : —
" On the surface of things, it seems unlikely that any
particular hour should be more fatal than another, and in
any case it is clear that those who have investigated the
matter have not always been dealing with truly comparable
units. Precision in recording the exact hour of death is not
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 299
easy to obtain, and, besides this, data such as the nature
of the illness, its duration, and the age and sex of the. patient,
have also to be considered. The observers, as a rule, seem to
be alive to this point."
2. Pain at the Moment of Death.
Contrary to general opinion, there is seldom any pain
at the moment of death. A great deal of evidence could
be adduced in support of this statement, but we shall con-
tent ourselves with citing a certain number of authorities
and a limited amount of evidence only. Dr. Thomas D.
Spencer, writing in the Popular Science Monthly, some
years ago, said : —
**At birth the babe undergoes an ordeal that, were he
conscious, would be more trying than a most painful death ;
yet he feels it not. Born in an unconscious state, the brain
incapable of receiving conscious impressions, his entrance into
this hitherto unknown world is accomplished during a state
of oblivion, known as ' Nature's anaesthesia.' From the earliest
period of history, death has been considered as necessarily accom-
panied by pain ; so general is this belief, that the terms ' death
agony,' 'last struggle,' 'pangs of death,' &c., have been in
almost universal use in every age and under all conditions
of society.
" Nothing could be more erroneous ; the truth is, pain and
death seldom go together — we mean the last moments of
life. Of course, death may be preceded by weeks or even
months of extreme suffering, as occurs during certain incurable
diseases.
"The blood sent to the brain is not only diminished in
quantity, but is laden with carbonic-acid gas, which, acting on
the nervous centres, produces a gradual benumbing of the
cerebral ganglia, thereby destroying both consciousness and
sensation. The patient gradually sinks into a deep stupor,
the lips become purple, the face cold and livid, cold perspiration
300 DEATH
(death-damp) collects on the forehead, a film creeps over the
cornea, and, with or without convulsions, the dying man sinks
into his last sleep. As the power of receiving conscious
impressions is gone, the death struggle must be automatic.
. . . Even in those cases where the senses are retained to the
last, the mind is usually calm and collected, and the body free
from pain."
Professor Tyndall stated that death by lightning
must be quite painless, and, from an experience of
his own, in which he was shocked into insensibility,
on one occasion, he should be entitled to speak upon
this point with exceptional authority {Fragments of
Scie7icc). Dr. Edward Clark, in his book on Visions,
asserted that '' death is no more painful than birth."
Dr. James M. Peebles stated that in all cases of death
from shock, there could be no pain — consciousness
being obliterated too suddenly. Henry Ward Beecher
asserted that " there is no pain at the last moment."
An article in the Medical National Review, some years ago,
pointed out that death, in cases where a rifle ball passes
through the brain, &c., must be painless. Many other
cases and statements to like effect could be adduced,
if it were necessary.
Of course there is pain in a certain number of cases ;
of that there can be no doubt. In a few cases, notably
in those who " fight for life," self- consciousness, with pain,
is present, but such cases are very rare. In most cases,
'' nature's ana3sthetic " is doubtless operative.
Regarding this question of pain at the moment of
death. Dr. Osier has said : —
" I have careful records of about five hundred death-beds,
studied particularly with reference to the modes of death
and the sensations of the dying. The latter alone concern us
here. Ninety suffered bodily pain or distress of one sort
or another, eleven showed mental apprehension, to positive
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 301
terror, one expressed spiritual exaltation, one bitter remorse.
The great majority gave no sign one way or the other; like
their birth, their death was a sleep and a forgetting.
j» 1
Says M. Finot : ^ —
"The pains which accompany death are chiefly imaginary.
Even putting on one side accidental death caused by the
breakage of nerves, apoplectic strokes, and diseases of the
heart, in which pain is absent, the cases in which we suffer
at the approach of death are very rare."
It is a curious fact that pain is generally lost when
nature " gives up the fight." In cases of cancer, e.g.,
pain is experienced so long as there is life and activity,
but this pain almost invariably passes away a few hours
before death. So long as there is pain, some attempt
is being made to repair the vital damages; but when
pain ceases, then nature has given up the fight.
It is certainly a noteworthy fact that shock to the
nervous system or the mind will induce a sort of stupor,
and render pain absent, for the time being. Thus, Dr.
Livingstone, the African traveller, relates that on one
occasion he saw a lion which was just in the act of
springing upon him : —
"He was on a little height. The animal caught him^ by
the shoulder as he sprang, and they both came to the ground
together. Growling horribly close to his ear, he shook him
as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor
similar to that which seems to be felt by the mouse after
the shake of the cat ; it caused a sort of dreaminess in which
there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, although he
was quite conscious of all that was happening. It was like
1 Science and Immortality : quoted by Dickinson, Is Immortality Desirable ?
p. 11.
2 The Philosophy of Long Life, pp. 225-6.
2 Related in the third person, and re-written from dictation.
302 DEATH
those experiences which patients partially under the influence
of chloroform describe — who see all the operation, but feel
not the knife. He claims that this condition was not the
result of any mental process. The shake annihilated fear,
and allowed no sense of horror on looking around at the
beast. Fortunately he was rescued from his perilous condition
without receiving any serious injury."
But, while it is generally asserted that the law of
painless death is universal, unfortunately it must be
admitted that there are some striking exceptions to this
rule. Even very aged persons, who seem to view the
approach of death with calm serenity, occasionally fight
strenuously against it when the moment of final dissolution
arrives, just as the convicted murderer, who knows that
nothing can save him from the fate that is awaiting him
in the person of the executioner, sometimes struggles so
violently that the keepers find it necessary to drug him
into a temporary state of semi-insensibility.
The exceptions to this law that sometimes present
themselves are usually displayed just as conspicuously
as the manifestations of the law; that is to say, the
calmness and courage shown by the dying are qualities
that often excite our wonder and admiration, and yet, as
a matter of fact, they are generally held to be the natural
result of the benumbing process that Dr. Livingstone
and many others have described ; but when the will
to live is sufficiently strong to overcome the quieting
suggestion of impending dissolution, the phenomena of
death assume entirely different characteristics. Under
these conditions death indeed becomes a fight for life,
and this hopeless contest with nature sometimes con-
tinues up to the very moment that the last breath is
drawn, to the surprise and horror of those who are pre-
sent as witnesses of this unequal struggle between Death
and his victim. Personally, we have records of but few
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 303
cases of this kind, but we have known of a few. We
believe, however, that the prevailing theory is sub-
stantially correct, and that, ordinarily, death is compara-
tively painless.
It is also a remarkable fact that in certain cases the
nearer the patient is to the point of death the more in-
different to it does he become. There are many instances
on record in which the patient has fought against the
oncoming of death for many hours or even days, but
shortly before death occurred assumed a placid and
peaceful expression and even attitude of mind. In some
cases this is doubtless due to the accumulation within
the system of carbon-dioxide and other toxic substances,
which serve as deadeners to the sensitive nerves, and
induce practical insensibility. But there are also cases
on record in which the mind has remained apparently
clear to the last, and yet no aversion to death has been
manifested by the patient, though he was in terror of
it before. Examples of this will be found in the next
section.
304 DEATH
3. The Consciousness of Dying.
" Sir Benjamin Brodie states that lie has been curious to watch
the state of dying persons, and is satisfied that where an ordinary
observer would not for an instant doubt that the individual is in a
state of complete stupor the mind is often very active even at the
very moment of death.
*' Dr. Bailie once said that 'all his observations of death-beds
inclined him to believe that nature intended that we should go out
of the world as unconscious as we came into it.' * In all my
experience,' he added, ' I have not seen one instance in fifty to
the contrary.' Yet even in such a large experience the occurrence
of ' one instance in fifty to the contrary ' would invalidate the
assumption that such was the law of nature (or ' nature's inten-
tion,' which, if it means anything, means the same). The moment
in which the spirit meets death is perhaps like the moment in
which it is embraced by sleep. ' It never, I suppose ' (says Mrs,
Jameson, whose observations we quote), ' happened to any one to
be conscious of the immediate transition from the waking to the
sleeping state.' " ^
A letter on this subject is to be found in the Journal of
the (English) Society for Psychical Research, June 1898,
pp. 250—55, and we quote that part of it which bears
upon the problem before us : —
"... From the materialistic point of view it would seem
difficult, if not impossible, to account for such a phenomenon (as
the consciousness of dying). Thus, if materialism be true, death
must be the extinction of consciousness. It would seem that it
must be impossible ever to be conscious of dying ; that is, con-
scious that consciousness is being extinguished. Consequently,
materialism would seem to make impossible the phenomenon
which is at least an apparent fact. . . .
" I have stated the a jiriori difficulty in supposing the fact, and
this is the circumstance that direct proof must be found in the
^ Mysteries of Life, Death and Futurity, by Horace Welby, p. 147.
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 305
experience of the individual himself who is dying, and external
observers can only conjecture the condition of consciousness of the
dying. But there is another difficulty. Often enough a person
fears that he is dying when he is not, and also we often observe
cases where persons evidently near death think that they are dying,
when, in fact, they may survive hours, days, weeks, or even recover
altogether. When, therefore, we measure such instances against
those which happen to be connected with actual death, we may
raise the question whether they are not after all merely inferences
on the part of the decedent, and not immediate cognitions of it.
Then, again, in favour of materialism and against the hypothetical
assumption here made, we have to meet the allegation that we
can be conscious of going to sleep, which on a materialistic theory
ought to be as impossible as any alleged consciousness of dying,
though the fact of going to sleep is perfectly consistent with
materialism. Hence, if I can be conscious of going to sleep, which
may be only a temporary suspension, as death is the permanent
suspension of consciousness, why, the materialist will ask, may it
not be possible to be conscious of dying 1 All these facts throw
the burden of proof on the anti-materialist."
The writer (Dr. Hyslop) attempted to meet these
arguments in several ways. First, he pointed out that
many persons are never conscious of going to sleep. Yet
one might be conscious of going to sleep without being
conscious of dying. But it would appear, at all events,
that a consciousness cannot be aware of its own suspen-
sion. It might be aware of its own withdrawal, but not
its extinction ; and the obvious inference to be drawn
from this fact is that consciousness is probably with-
drawn in both cases — sleep and death. This would
agree with the traditional conception of the departure
of the soul from the body. Certainly there seemed to be
a consciousness, and a distinct consciousness, of dying in
the case observed by him. And what is significant
about the case is that his father (who was the patient
observed) afterwards " communicated " through Mrs. Piper,
u
306 DEATH
apparently, and confirmed some of these inferences
regarding the moment of death and the consciousness
of dying ! To be conscious of a thing we must possess
a large amount of consciousness, and be able to reason
clearly ; and if consciousness were being extinguished at
that time it would seem quite impossible for any person
ever to be conscious of dying. The inability to express
thought in motor action might be present, but that is
a very different thing from an extinction of conscious-
ness. Sometimes, indeed, there may be an intensely
active consciousness, and yet it may be totally unable
to express itself. In paralysis this is often the case ;
and when certain drugs are administered the body is
unable to show any signs of consciousness, and yet all
the senses and the mind are painfully active. It may
be the same here. It is probable that at death there
is a partial extinction of consciousness owing to the
shock and wrench of death, and in the majority of cases
this would doubtless prevent the individual spirit from
exhibiting any external signs of consciousness ; indeed,
there was but little there — though we must always bear
in mind the great distinction between the state of being
conscious and the ability to express that consciousness in
motor action. This is a distinction which is frequently
overlooked by psychiatrists, but it should receive their
careful attention. This subject of the consciousness of
dying persons should certainly receive most careful atten-
tion from all physicians and others who have oppor-
tunities for studying the dying.^ A tremendous mass of
valuable pyschological information might be gained in
this manner, and it might throw light on the human
spirit, its destiny and its potentialities, that could be
obtained in no other way.
^ A number of such cases are to be found in a little book entitled
X-Jiays, by Gail Hamilton.
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 307
In one case known to us, a most interesting and
suggestive phenomenon took place. The patient, who
knew that she was dying, was dictating her last wishes —
verbally — to those about her. Within a few minutes of
her death she became too weak to speak, and requested
that a pencil be placed in her right hand, and a pad
of paper under the point of the pencil, so that she
might write without hindrance. Her hand then pro-
ceeded to write out her dying wishes in a perfectly clear
handwriting. The hand seemed to possess remarkable
strength — a force of its own — the writing being bold
and distinct, and the ideas conveyed Avere consistent and
logical to the end. While this writing was going on,
however, the patient completely lost control of her body ;
the breathing became stertorous, and she passed into a
state of seeming unconsciousness. This state grew
deeper and deeper, until the patient passed into a con-
dition which might have been pronounced " death." The
pulse and respiration ceased, to all appearances ; the
temperature fell ; a limpness of the whole body ensued ;
the face became deathly pale, and yet her right hand and
arm continued to write and write, and correct, and give
clear and intelligible messages, which could only be
interpreted as issuing from a sound and alert conscious-
ness — in full possession of all its faculties. Where this
intelligence resided we cannot say, but there can be no
question as to its actual existence during the dramatic
scene. The dead, inert body on the bed, the right hand
and arm alive, mobile, active — writing out the behests of
that consciousness — the whole scene came as closely as
anything well could to a distinct utilisation of a dead
body by a living " spirit." It seems to us to bridge the
gulf which separates normal, conscious influence from
the automatic writing of an entranced medium.
We can, perhaps, throw some light on these questions
308 DEATH
by considering the last words of certain famous men ; an
analysis of their words may lead to some clue as to the
nature of their mental operations at such times. We
quote a number of these, on the authority of a writer in
Notes and Queries.
Last Words of Distinguished Persons.
John Quincy Adams — It is the last of earth.
Addison — See how a Christian can die.
Alexander II., of Russia (when wounded) — Take me to the palace,
there to die.
Alexander III. — This box was presented to me by the Emperor of
Prussia.
Archiriiedes (when ordered to leave Syracuse) — When I have
finished this problem.
Augustus Ccesar — Have I not played the farce of life well ?
Thomas a Becket — I confide my soul, and the cause of the Church
of God, to the Virgin Mary, to the patron saints of the
Church, and St. Denis.
Th£ Venerable Bede — Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and
to the
Beethoven (deaf) — I shall hear.
/. Wilkes Booth — Useless, useless !
John Bunyan — Take me, for I come to Thee.
Robert Burns — Don't let the awkward squad fire over my grave.
Byron — I must sleep now.
Julius CsRsar — Et tu, Brute !
Charlemagne — Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.
Charles I. — Remember !
Charles II. — Don't let poor Nell starve.
Cicero — Strike !
Columbus — Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.
Copernicus — Now, O Lord, set free Thy servant.
Queen Elizabeth — All my possessions for a moment of time !
Erasmus — Domine domine, fac finem, fac finem.
George IV. — Watty, what is this 1 It is death, my boy ; they have
deceived me !
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 309
GoetTie — Light — more light !
Lady Jane Grey — Lord, into Thy hands I commit my spirit.
King Gustavus Adoljphus — My God !
Hannibal — Let me now relieve the Romans of their fears.
Haydn — God preserve the Emperor.
Hazlitt — I have led a happy life.
Henry VI 11. — Monks, monks, monks !
Alexander von Humboldt — How grand these rays ; they seem to
beacon earth to heaven.
Eobert E. Lee — Have A. P. Hill sent for.
Dr. David Livingstone — I am cold ; put more grass on the hut.
Mirabeau — Surround me with perfumes and the flowers of spring ;
dress my hair with care, and let me fall asleep amid the
sound of delicious music.
Mohammed — Lord, pardon me and place me among those whom
Thou hast raised to grace and favour.
Mozart — Let me hear once more those notes so long my solace and
my delight.
Napoleon Bonaparte — Mon dieu ! La nation fran9aise ! Tete
d'armee !
Thomas Paine (to Dr. Manley, who asked him, " Do you wish to
believe that Jesus was the son of God?") — I have no wish
to believe on the subject,
SiGedenborg — What o'clock is it? (He was told.) It is well ;
thank you, and God bless you.
Washington — It is well.
Daniel Webster — I still live !
William the Conqueror — I commend my soul to Mary.
Rabelais — Ring down the curtain ; the farce is over !
Sir Walter Raleigh (to the executioner) — Why dost thou not
strike ? Strike, man !
Comparatively few of the ejaculations quoted, un-
fortunately, afford any clue to our problem. The
majority of these " last words " — even if authentic —
were spoken before falling asleep, apparently, in which
sleep they died, or were too exhausted to speak upon
310 DEATH
awakening. Such " last words," therefore, are of Kttle
use. Nor can those of Charles I., Cicero, &c., be con-
sidered, since these men were in full possession of their
faculties when they spoke. A few of the other sentences
were apparently spoken in delirium, and we should have
to disregard these also. A few of interest remain. The
dying words of Goethe, Alexander von Humboldt, and
Daniel Webster are perhaps the only ones that could be
cited as bearing directly on this question ; but their
words have peculiar significance. It would be useless
to speak of Goethe's words. More has been written about
those famous words already than many persons read in a
lifetime ! But Webster's remark, " I still live," and Hum-
boldt's apparent attempt to describe what he was seeing,
would indicate that an intelligence was active in both
these cases, and that remarkable things were happening
to the mental man which they were endeavouring to
describe. These last words of dying persons should be
recorded with the utmost care, and all those who see
much of death-beds should make it their duty faithfully
to record all such utterances — as possibly bearing on this
question of the consciousness of dying, and even on the
far greater question of the immortality of the soul.
Another fact of great interest in this connection, and
bearing more or less directly on the problem, is the
question of sensations (mental operations) by those who
thought they were dying, and were, as a matter of fact,
revived, after they had lost consciousness.
In connection with this question of the existence of
consciousness, and of its relation to the organism during
the time of sleep, trance, &c., we desire briefly to refer to
the argument by F. R. C. S. in his article, " Hora Mortis
Nostra}," in the Contcmj^orary Review for August 1905.
After emphasising the fact that there is probably no pain
at the moment of death in the majority of cases, and
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 311
quoting Sir James Paget, who even was inclined to the
opinion that if we were conscious of death it would be a
pleasure — he states his own opinion — which is, that it
is a condition involving neither pain nor pleasure, but
is, on the contrary, a condition of total unconsciousness.
In support of this he cites certain facts, observed by
hiniself, of the effects of ansesthetics upon patients.
Here he points out that after the senses have been
obliterated one by one, there probably comes a moment
when the patient is conscious of but one fact still left
standing — that he is he. At that moment, if he be of a
logical turn of mind, he may expect that he will now
get behind the veil, see things as they are in themselves,
contemplate pure Being, stand before the merum ens of
his philosophy — and then somebody says, '' He'll be all
right now ; it's a good thing that he had it done " ; and
behold he is back in bed sick and sore, and drunk, pain-
fully sorting unpleasant phenomena, and as far as ever
from pure Being ! ^
The writer turns to what he conceives to be the
likeness between ansesthesia and death. He asks if we
can find any clue to the nature of death in such states,
and he is inclined to think that we can. His conclusion
is in favour of materialism, as against the possible per-
sistence of consciousness after death. He insists that
these phenomena conclusively prove that no such thing
as a soul-entity existing apart from the body is possible.
He says : —
" To the notion of the soul as an invisible personage, made, and
put into the body at birth, and extracted from it at the end of
life, they [these facts] are utterly opposed. The anaesthetised
body contains nothing save that which is bodily ; no spark or
vestige of consciousness ; there it lies, still working, but without
an occupant ; just pumping the blood through the vessels, and
maintaining the physical interchanges of the tissues ; and if the
312 DEATH
loss of consciousness be due, not to an anaesthetic, but to injury, or
disease of the brain, it may last an interminable time. Here, in
these cases, is the best object lesson in materialism ever given to
the world. . . . No amount of corpses can advance materialism,
but to watch day after day a case of profound unconsciousness,
the body a mere log, fed through a tube, fouling the bed, a
physiological machine, a thing with no more thought in it than a
dummy figure, and to see men and women brought to a like state
in a few minutes by chloroform or ether, and kept there, just as
part of the day's work ; and to see the process reversed, and the
lost owner of the body spirited back into it by an operation on his
brain — here are the arguments ready made for materialism to be
used with effect."
The writer sees no way out of this difficulty, since, as
he said, if the mind was still there, in the anaesthetised
body, with consciousness suspended, what is this mind,
and where ? To these questions he can find no answer.
Now it seems to us that a solution of these facts may
be found, were we to conceive the relation of conscious-
ness to organism from a different point of view than is
afforded by present-day physiology, and the current pro-
duction theory of consciousness. If the brain were the
actual producer of consciousness, as is taught, of course
its annihilation would be the only rational conclusion at
which to arrive from these facts ; but there is another
way of viewing and interpreting these same phenomena.
Consciousness might exist apart from the body, be en
ra'pport with it, and merely manifest through it. On that
theory the brain and nervous system, and even the body as
a whole, would act merely as its transmitter, or vehicle for
expression, and the paralysing of any centre in the brain
by means of drugs, chemicals, &c., would mean simply
that we have rendered impossible the motor expression
of consciousness; we have rendered its manifestation
to our sense perception impossible, but we have by
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 313
no means proved that we have annihilated conscious-
ness. We could take the same facts, and merely inter-
pret them in a different manner. The conclusion which
the author has drawn is therefore unwarrantable, and all
his facts might be just as readily explained on the theory
of an external consciousness or soul, which is active at the
time elsewhere, and which persists after the death of
the body.
Let us illustrate this fact : —
Dr. Stephens {Natural Salvation,^^. 179—80) says: —
" What happens at death ?
" First, the interlacing neurons let go their hold on each
other, and self-consciousness of the person vanishes. It goes out,
as flame vanishes when atoms of carbon and oxygen no longer
combine.
"What next ■?
" The heart no longer propels the life-tide of refined food in
the blood to the brain — as in sleep — and after a few minutes
the neurons themselves die from suffocation and starvation.
All those thousands of little individual lives vanish, as did the
larger self -consciousness of the person; for in each the con-
stituent bond of living molecules, atoms, and ions is disrupted.
"What next?
" The dissipation of the brain as cadaver is a somewhat
slower, more homogeneous process, involving invasions of bac-
teria, disintegration, and reduction to more stable compounds,
but tending ultimately to a return from the highly complex
living substance, with all its maze of organisation, to the
abysmal base of the primeval ions and their lowly endowment
of life-potential."
Here, it will be seen, we have as the first and most
important condition the abolition of self-consciousness.
It is considered the sine qua non. Yet we have seen
that in many cases this self-consciousness is not abo-
lished in the manner supposed at all ; but that it is
314 DEATH
conscious and aware of all that is going on. As we have
argued, this does not look in the least like extinction,
but rather transition. And again, it would be most
difficult to account for many of those cases in which
the subject had dropped dead instanter. Are we to
suppose that the interlacing neurons let go their hold
on each other all at once ? Or would it not rather
appear to be an instantaneous process complete in itself,
and that this " letting go " phenomenon was merely one
of the many physiological processes that resulted from
death, rather than the one that caused it ? We must
be most careful to distinguish between cause and effect
here. Does consciousness cease because the neurons no
longer function ; or do the neurons cease to function
because consciousness is no longer present ? Of course
that is always a ground for debate, and is a question
that has not yet been settled — opposite schools taking
opposite views — and although we cannot claim that the
facts tell in favour of our theory, yet we must insist
that they do not tell in favour of the opposing theory
either. The question remains an open one, and must
be settled by other methods entirely.
In Part I. we made mention of certain cases, when dis-
cussing the question of drowning, in which remarkable
flashes of memory are reported. There are a few cases
on record in which similar mental flashes have been
observed by persons falling great distances, and it is
probable that we should have a large number of such
examples if more people who had fallen great distances
lived to tell the tale. The following instances, however,
cannot fail to be of interest in this connection.
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 315
4. Sensations while Falling.
The following is a typical example of a case of this
character. The psychological interest is remarkable.
It runs, in part, as follows : —
" Although I fell backward from a tremendous height, I
experienced none of the anxiety which occasionally attacks us
in dreams at supposed falling accidents ; on the contrary, I
felt as if I were carried doAvnwards slowly on giant wings that
protected me against collision. During the whole time of this
fall, consciousness never left me. Without feeling the least
bit embarrassed or frightened, I reviewed my situation and the
future of my family ; and the various features of my own life
passed before me with unequalled rapidity. I have heard people
say that, in falling a great distance, one loses his breath ; I never
lost my breath, and when my body finally bounded against the
rocks at the foot of the glacier, I became unconscious without
experiencing any pain whatever. I felt nothing of the many
wounds on head or limbs received during my journey down the
precipice from coming in contact with rocks and masses of ice.
The moments when I stood at the brink of a future life were
the happiest I ever experienced. I remember reading the
provisions of my life insurance policy with my mind's eye :
the big sum of money which death was bound to bring to my
loved ones I saw before me counted out on a green table-cloth,
all in crisp bills and shining gold."
Dr. Heim gives the following description of his fall
down a mountain side, which he fully expected would
end in certain death : —
" Quick as the wind I flew against the rocks to my left,
rebounded, and was thrown upon my back, head downward. Sud-
denly I felt myself carried through the air for at least a hundred
feet, to finally land against a high snow wall. At the instant
I fell, it became evident to me that I was to be thrown against
the rock, and I did my utmost to avoid that calamity by digging
316 DEATH
with my fingers in the snow and tearing the tips of them hor-
ribly without knowing it. I heard distinctly the dull noise
produced when my head and back struck against the different
corners of the rock ; I also heard the sound it gave when my
body bounded against the snow wall, but in all this I felt no
pain ; pain only manifested itself at the end of an hour or so "
{Encyclopedia of Death, vol. ii., pp. 384-5).
5. Memory at the Moment of Death.
Those apparently supernormal flashes of memory and
conscious activity at the moment of death are of very
great interest from many points of view. If memory
be a purely physiological process, as materialistic psycho-
logy would have us believe, how comes it that such
instantaneous and vast recallings are possible — at a time,
too, when the brain is supposed to be in a lessened con-
dition of activity ? It is not that the brain is preter-
naturally stimulated at such times, precisely the reverse ;
it is practically inert and unresponsive to external stimuli ;
and, one would think, would be in no condition to think
and remember normally, far less recall such immense
numbers of facts in so short a period of time. And not
only is the time remarkably brief on such occasions,
but facts are often recalled which had entirely passed
out of the conscious mind, and would never have been
remembered in the normal course of the conscious life.
It would almost seem that nothing is forgotten — a state-
ment which agrees with De Quincey's estimate of the
case. In his Opium-Eater, he says : —
" Of this, at least, I feel assured, that there is no such thing
as forgetting possible to the mind; a thousand incidents may and
will interpose a veil between our present consciousness and the
secret inscriptions of the mind ; accidents of the same sort will
also rend away this veil ; but alike, whether veiled or unveiled,
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 317
the inscription remains for ever, just as the stars seem to with-
draw before the common light of day, whereas, in fact, we all
know that it is the light which is drawn over them as a veil,
and that they are waiting to be revealed when the obscuring
daylight shall have withdrawn."
Similarly, the author of the Hasheesh Eater says : —
" De Quincey's comparison of it to the palimpsest manuscripts,
while it is one of the most powerful that even that great genius
could have conceived, is not at all too much so to express
the truth. We pass, in dreamy musing, through a grassy
field ; a blade of the tender herbage brushes against the foot ;
its impression hardly comes into consciousness ; on earth, it
is never remembered again. But not even that slight sensation
is utterly lost. The pressure of the body dulls the soul to its
perception ; other external experiences supplant it, but when
the time of the final awakening comes, the resurrection of
the soul from its charnel of the body, the analytic finger of
inevitable light shall search out that old impression, and to the
spiritual eye, no deep-graven record of its earthly triumphs
shall be clearer ! "
Surely this closely resembles the " Book of Judgment "
of theology !
CHARTER II
VISIONS OF THE DYING
Only very rarely have " visions of the dying " been
mentioned in the literature either of psychology or of
physiology. The only extended discussion of them that
we have been enabled to find is contained in a book by
Dr. Edward H. Clarke, entitled, Visions : A Study of False
Sight. After giving a resume of all that was known at
that time of this subject, the author devoted some twenty
pages to visions of the dying. He pointed out the fact
that automatic activities of the brain and of vitality may
take place without any conscious knowledge on the part
of the patient, who might be completely unconscious.
Cerebral excitement, congestion, and the abnormal con-
ditions that might be supposed to surround the moment
of death, would account for many of these hallucinations ;
memory pictures and images would come before the mind,
elaborated and dramatised by the dream-consciousness
of the patient. In this manner, we are told, are these
visions to be accounted for. And this is the belief of
practically every physician to-day. They see in these
states and visions nothing but the activities of a dis-
ordered and feverish imao^ination. And vet, one cannot
study such facts for long before he becomes convinced
that there is often something not accounted for in
at least some of the instances. Even Dr. Clarke, who
started out very dogmatically to " shatter the hopes " of
318
VISIONS OF THE DYING 319
his readers, ended up this section of his work very humbly
by saying : —
*' In Correggio's ' Notte ' the light which illumines the group
round this infant Jesus proceeds from the face of the Christ
child, who, reposing on His mother's lap, unconsciously baptizes
all with heavenly beauty. Such should, and such must, be the
ineffable expression of transfigured humanity upon the features
of whoever gets a sight of heaven before he has left the earth.
If ever a scene like this occurs, who will dare say that the
explanation of it may not come from a height inaccessible to our
imperfect physiology ? " (p. 279).
Dr. Hyslop, in an able article in the Journal of the,
American Society for Psychical Research (January 1907),
writes as follows : —
" Visions of the Dying.
"The interest which such phenomena may have for science
will depend upon a variety of considerations. The first is that
we shall be able to attest their existence and their nature. The
second is that we shall have some reason to believe that they
have a selective character pertinent to their apparent sig-
nificance. The third is that we shall have some means of
distinguishing them from those capricious and kaleidoscopic
phenomena that are classifiable as ordinary hallucinations.
The fourth is that their characteristics shall suggest some
coincidental incidents not referable to chance, and, at the same
time, distinguishable from others possibly due to subjective
causes. It will not be an easy task to conduct such an
investigation, but it is possible by long efforts and per-
severance to accumulate facts enough for some sort of study
and analysis. The method of effecting this object will be the
subject of discussion later in this article. We must first
describe the phenomena to which attention needs to be called.
" The phenomena which I have in mind are a type of
apparition. Whatever their explanation, they have one char-
320 DEATH
acteristic which distinguishes them from ordinary deliria.
They represent the appearance of deceased persons to the
vision, imagination, or other source of sensory representation,
of the dying person. If we should find that they bear
evidences in any case of supernormal information, they would
become especially significant. But one of the most important
things to study in them would be their relation to instances of
hallucination under the same circumstances that had no co-
incidental value. That is, we need to study the statistical
aspects which would require a comparison of the really or
apparently coincidental cases with those which are unmistak-
ably hallucinatory and subjective in their origin. For this a
large collection is necessary, and this can be made without any
presumption regarding their explanation. I shall illustrate the
kind which are particularly interesting and suggestive. They
are, as described above, instances in which dying persons seem
to see previously deceased friends claiming, in certain cases, to
be present for the purpose of aiding in the passage of death.
When this claim of assistance in the crisis of death is made,
it is through mediums, and it is sometimes or generally made
when there has been no evidence at the death scene that such a
presence was remarked. I shall give a few illustrations of both
kinds.
" The following instance I received from a correspondent
whose testimony I have no reason to question : —
"'I called this afternoon (May 14th, 1906) upon a lady who
buried a nine-year-old boy two weeks ago. The child had
been operated upon for appendicitis some two or three years
ago, and had had peritonitis at the same time. He recovered,
and was apparently quite well for a time. Again he was taken
sick, and from the first, the doctor thinks, he did not expect to
get well. He was taken to the hospital and operated upon. He
was perfectly rational, recognising his parents, the doctor, and
the nurse after coming out from under the influence of the
anaesthetic. Feeling that he was going, he asked his mother to
hold his hands until he should be gone. He had, I forgot to
say, been given strong stimulants after the operation, which, I
suppose, made his mind very active.
VISIONS OF THE DYING 321
'^ ' Soon he looked up and said : Mother, dear, don't you see
little sister over there ?
" ' No, where is she ?
" ' Right over there. She is looking at me.
" ' Then the mother, to pacify him, said she saw the child. In
a few moments his face lighted up full of smiles and he said : —
" ' There comes Mrs. C [a lady, of whom he was very
fond, who had died nearly two years before], and she is smiling
just as she used to. She is smiling and wants me to come.
" ' In a few moments : —
" ' There is Roy ! I'm going to them. I don't want to leave
you, but you'll come to me soon, won't you ? Open the door and
let them in. They are waiting for me outside. And he was gone.
" ' No, I forgot to tell about his grandmother. I gathered the
impression that he did not know his maternal grandmother, but
may be wrong.
" ' As his mother held his hands, he said : How small you
are growing ! Are you still holding my hands ? Grandma is
larger than you, isn't she ? There she is ! She is larger, isn't
she? Her hand is larger than yours. She is holding one hand,
and her hand is larger than yours.
" * Remember that the boy was but nine years old. Did he
really see spirits and recognise them 1 Or was it the result
of the highly sensitive condition of the brain caused by the
medicine 1 '
'* The mother confirms this narrative, and inquiry brings out
the following facts : — The boy had never known his grandmother,
who had died twenty years ago. His sister had died four years
before his own birth. Roy is the name of a friend of the child,
and he had died about a year previously.
"The following case was reported at first hand : —
" ' Four or five weeks before my son's death Mrs. S was
with me — she was my friend and a psychic — and a message was
given me that little Bright Eyes (control) would be with my son
who was then ill with cancer. The night before his death he com-
plained that there was a little girl about his bed and asked who
it was. This was at Muskoka, 160 miles north of Toronto. He
had not known what Mrs. S had told me. Just before his
X
322 DEATH
death, about five minutes, he roused, called his nurse for a
drink of water, and said clearly : I think they are taking me.
Afterward, seeing the possible significance of this, I wrote to
Miss A and asked her to see Mrs. S and try to find
why the word tliey was used, underscoring it in the letter, as
I always supposed the boy's father would be with him at death.
Miss A went to see Mrs. S , and did not mention the
letter. When I saw Mrs. S more than a week later we
were having a sitting, and Guthrie, my son, came and told me
how he died. He said he was lying on the bed and felt he was
being lifted out of his body and at that point all pain left.
His first impulse was to get back into his body, but he was
being drawn away. He was taken up into a cloud and he seemed
to be part of it. His feeling was that he was being taken by
invisible hands into rarefied air that was so delightful. He
spoke of his freedom from pain and said that he saw his father
beyond.'
"We quote next a well authenticated instance on the autho-
rity of Dr. Minot J. Savage. He records it in his Psychics: Facts
and Theories. He also told me personally of the facts, and gave
me the names and addresses of the persons on whose authority
he tells the incidents. We are not permitted to mention them.
But the story is as follows : —
" In a neighbouring city were two little girls, Jennie and
Edith, one about eight years of age, and the other but a little
older. They were schoolmates and intimate friends. In June
1889, both were taken ill of diphtheria. At noon on Wednesday,
Jennie died. Then the parents of Edith, and her physician as
well, took particular pains to keep from her the fact that her
little playmate was gone. They feared the effect of the know-
ledge on her own condition. To prove that they succeeded and
that she did not know, it may be mentioned that on Saturday,
June 8th, at noon, just before she became unconscious of all
that was passing about her, she selected two of her photographs
to be sent to Jennie, and also told her attendants to bid her
good-bye.
" She died at half-past six o'clock on the evening of Saturday,
June 8th. She had roused and bidden her friends good-bye, and
VISIONS OF THE DYING 323
was talking of dying, and seemed to have no fear. She appeared
to see one and another of the friends she knew were dead. So
far it was like the common cases. But now suddenly, and with
every appearance of surprise, she turned to her father, and
exclaimed, ' Why, papa, I am going to take Jennie with me ! '
Then she added, ' Why, papa ! Why, papa ! You did not tell
me that Jennie was here ! ' And immediately she reached out
her arms as if in welcome, and said, ' O Jennie, I'm so glad you
are here.'
"As Dr. Savage remarks in connection with this story, it is
not so easy to account for this incident by the ordinary theory
of hallucination. We have to suppose a casual coincidence at
the same time, and while we should have to suppose this for
any isolated case like the present one, the multiplication of
them, with proper credentials, would suggest some other ex-
planation, whatever it might be.
" We shall turn next to two instances which are associated
with the experiments and records of Mrs. Piper. They both
represent the allegation of death-bed apparitions and statements
through Mrs. Piper, purporting to represent communications
from the deceased, showing a coincidence with what was other-
wise known or alleged to have taken place at the crisis of death.
The records in these cases are unusually good, having been
made by Dr. Richard Hodgson. We quote his reports. The
first instance is the experience of a man who gives only initials
for his name, but was well known to Dr. Hodgson. It occurred
at a sitting with Mrs. Piper.
'"About the end of March of last year (1888) I made her
(Mrs. Piper) a visit — having been in the habit of doing so,
since early in February, about once a fortnight. She told me
that a death of a near relative of mine would occur in about six
weeks, from which I should realise some pecuniary advantages.
I naturally thought of my father, who was in advanced years,
and whose description Mrs. Piper had given me very accurately
a week or two previously. She had not spoken of him as
my father, but merely as a person nearly connected with me.
I asked her at this sitting whether this person was the one who
would die, but she declined to state anything more clearly to
324 DEATH
me. My wife, to whom I was then engaged, went to see Mrs.
Piper a few days afterwards, and she told her (my wife) that
my father would die in a few weeks.
" ' About the middle of May my father died very suddenly in
London from heart failure, when he was recovering from a very
slight attack of bronchitis, and the very day that his doctor had
pronounced him out of danger. Previous to this Mrs. Piper (as
Dr. Phinuit) had told me that she would endeavour to influence
my father about certain matters connected with his will before
he died. Two days after I received the cable announcing his
death my wife and I went to see Mrs. Piper, and she (Phinuit)
spoke of his presence, and his sudden arrival in the spirit world,
and said that he (Dr. Phinuit) had endeavoured to persuade him
in these matters while my father was sick. Dr. Phinuit told me
the state of the will, and described the principal executor, and
said that he (the executor) would make a certain disposition in
my favour, subject to the consent of the other two executors when
I got to London, England. Three weeks afterwards I arrived in
London ; found the principal executor to be the man Dr. Phinuit
had described. The will went materially as he (Dr. Phinuit) had
stated. The disposition was made in my favour, and my sister,
who was chiefly at my father's bedside the last three days of his
life, told me he had repeatedly complained of the presence of an
old man at the foot of his bed, who annoyed him by discussing
his private affairs.'
" The reader will remark that the incident is associated with
a prediction, but it is not the subject of important observation
at present. The chief point of interest is that the prediction is
connected with a reference to a will affecting private business
matters, that the sister reported a number of visions or appari-
tions on the man's death-bed, and that subsequent to his death,
not known apparently to Mrs. Piper, the statement was made
by Phinuit that he had influenced or tried to persuade the man
in reference to these matters. The coincidence is unmistakable,
and the cause is suggested by the very nature of the phenomena
and the conditions under which they occurred. But we should
have a large mass of such incidents to give the hypothesis
something like scientific proof.
VISIONS OF THE DYING 325
" The next case is a most important one. It is connected
with an experiment by Dr. Hodgson with Mrs. Piper, as was
the previous one, and came out as an accidental feature of the
sitting. The account is associated in his report with incidents
quoted by him in explanation of the difficulty and confusion
accompanying real or alleged communications from the dead.
It will be useful to quote the report on that point before
narrating the incident itself as the circumstances associated
with the facts are important in the understanding of the case,
while they also suggest a view of the phenomena which may
explain the rarity of them.
"'That persons just deceased,' says Dr. Hodgson, 'should
be extremely confused and unable to communicate directly, or
even at all, seems perfectly natural after the shock and wrench
of death. Thus in the case of Hart, he was unable to write the
second day after death. In another case a friend of mine, whom
I may call D., wrote, with what appeared to be much difficulty,
his name and the words, " I am all right now. Adieu," within
two or three days of his death. In another case, F., a near
relative of Madame Elisa, was unable to write on the morning
after his death. On the second day after, when a stranger was
present with me for a sitting, he wrote two or three sentences,
saying, " I am too weak to articulate clearly," and not many days
later he wrote fairly well and clearly, and dictated to Madame
Elisa (deceased), as amanuensis, an account of his feelings at
finding himself in his new surroundings.'
"In a footnote Dr. Hodgson adds an account of what this
Madame Elisa communicated regarding the man. We quote
this in full. Referring to this F. and Madame Elisa, he
says :—
" ' The notice of his death was in a Boston paper, and I hap-
pened to see it on my way to the sitting. The first writing of the
sitting came from Madame Elisa, without my expecting it. She
wrote clearly and strongly, explaining that F. was there with
her, but unable to speak directly, that she wished to give me an
account of how she had helped F. to reach her. She said that
she had been present at his death-bed, and had spoken to him,
and she repeated what she had said, an unusual form off expres-
326 DEATH
sion, and indicated that he had heard and recognised her. This
was confirmed in detail in the only way possible at the time, by
a very intimate friend of Madame Elisa and myself, and also of
the nearest surviving relative of F. I showed my friend the
account of the sitting, and to this friend a day or two later, the
relative, who was present at the death-bed, stated spontaneously
that F., when dying said that he saw Madame Elisa, who was
speaking to him, and he repeated what she was saying. The
expression so repeated, which the relative quoted to my fiiend,
was that which I had received from Madame Elisa through Mrs.
Piper's trance, when the death-bed incident was of course entirely
unknown to me.' "
The cases which we have mentioned show interesting
coincidences and are too valuable for us to disregard the
opportunity to collect similar instances with a view to
their study m detail. We must expect the largest
number of them to be non-evidential — that is, to repre-
sent facts which are not verifiable regarding " the
other side." But if they can be obtained in sufficient
numbers to exclude chance, then we may have a
scientific problem. To exclude chance we need to
compare them with visions that do not represent the
discarnate as thus appearing, but that may be treated
as casual hallucinations. Hence we should want to
take account of all types of dying experiences as
observed by the living. It will be especially important
to have records from those who were thought to be
very ill or dying, and recovered, who may describe
peculiar experiences in conditions bordering on death.
Our chief object will have been gained, however, if we
have shown that such visions are not invariably pro-
ducts of diseased imaginations, but may sometimes
represent glimpses of a reality — of a spiritual world,
into which the soul of the dying person is apparently
about to enter.
VISIONS OF THE DYING 327
In an interesting article in the Annals of Psychical
Science, Dr. Bozzano enumerates some twenty-two cases
of this character, of which the following is one. It will
be seen that apparent supernormal information is given
here, seeming to indicate that some unexplained faculty
is operative, enabling the dying man to be cognisant of
facts normally unknown to him. The account reads : —
"My brother, John Alkin Ogle, died at Leeds, July 17th,
1879. About an hour before he expired he saw his brother,
who had died about sixteen years before, and looking up with
fixed hiterest said, ' Joe ! Joe ! ' and immediately after exclaimed
with ardent surprise, ' George Hanley ! ' My mother, who had
come from Melboiu-ne, a distance of about forty miles, where
George Hanley resided, was astonished at this, and, turning to
my sister-in-law, asked if anybody had told John of George
Hanley's death. She said, ' No one,' and my mother was the
only person present who was aware of the fact. I was present
and witnessed this." (Signed, Harriet H. Ogle.) In answer to
inquiries, Miss Ogle states: "J. A. Ogle was neither delirious
nor unconscious when he uttered the words recorded. George
Hanley was an acqviaintance of John A. Ogle, not a particularly
familiar friend. The death of Hanley was not mentioned in his
hearing."
It will be seen that in this case the dying man
became conscious of the fact that his friend had died,
but how he came into possession of that knowledge, if
he did not actually see something corresponding to his
physical body, it would be hard to say.
CHAPTER III
DEATH DESCRIBED FROM BEYOND THE VEIL
1. Clairvoyant Descriptions of Death.
Many persons who possess that pecuhar gift which, for want
of a better name, we term " clairvoyance," have been en-
abled to perceive (apparently) just what takes place at
death, and have described this with great detail and exacti-
tude. Here, for example, is a description given by Andrew
Jackson Davis, in his Great Harmonia, vol. i., p. 15 7, &c. : —
" When the hour of her death arrived, I was fortunately in a
proper state of mind and body to induce the superior (clair-
voyant) condition ; but, previous to throwing my spirit into that
condition, I sought the most convenient and favourable position,
that I might be allowed to make the observations entirely un-
noticed and undisturbed. Thus situated and conditioned, I
proceeded to observe and investigate the mysterious process of
dying, and to learn what it is for an individual human spirit to
undergo the changes subsequent upon physical death or external
dissolution. They were these : —
" I saw that the physical organism could no longer subserve
the diversified purposes or requirements of the spiritual prin-
ciple. But the various internaj organs of the body appeared to
resist the withdrawal of the animating spirit. The body and the
soul, like two friends, strongly resisted the various circumstances
which rendered their external separation imperative and abso-
lute. These internal conflicts gave rise to manifestations of
what seemed, to the material senses, the most thrilling and
painful sensations; but I was unspeakably thankful and de-
328
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 329
lighted when I perceived and realised the fact that those physical
manifestations were indications, not of pain or unhappiness, but
simply that the spirit was eternally dissolving its copartnership
with the material organism.
" Now the head of the body became suddenly enveloped in a
fine, soft, mellow, luminous atmosphere ; and, as instantly, I saw
the cerebrum and the cerebellum expand their most interior
portions; I saw them discontinue their appropriate galvanic
functions; and then I saw that they became highly charged
with the vital electricity and vital magnetism which permeate
subordinate systems and structures. That is to say, the brain,
as a whole, suddenly declared itself to be tenfold more positive,
over the lesser proportions of the body, than it ever was during
the period of health. This phenomenon invariably precedes
physical dissolution.
" Now the process of dying, or the spirit's departure from the
body, was fully commenced. The brain began to attract the
elements of electricity, of magnetism, of motion, of life, and of
sensation, into its various and numerous departments. The
head became intensely brilliant; and I particularly remarked
that, just in the same proportion as the extremities of the
organism grew dark and cold, the brain appeared light and
glowing.
" Now I saw, in the mellow, spiritual atmosphere which
emanated from and encircled her head, the indistinct outlines of
the formation of another head ! This new head unfolded more
and more distinctly, and so indescribably compact and intensely
brilliant did it become, that I could neither see through it, nor
gaze upon it as steadily as I desired. While this spiritual head
was being eliminated and organised from out of and above the
material head, I saw that the surrounding aromal atmosphere
which had emanated from the material head was in great com-
motion ; but, as the new head became more distinct and perfect,
this brilliant atmosphere gradually disappeared. This taught
me that those aromal elements, which are, in the beginning of
the metamorphosis, attracted from the system into the brain,
and thence eliminated in the form of an atmosphere, were in-
dissolubly united in accordance with the divine principle of
330 DEATH
affinity in the universe, which pervades and destinates every
particle of matter, and developed the spiritual head which I
beheld.
" In the identical manner in which the spiritual head was
eliminated and unchangeably organised, I saw, unfolding in
their natural progressive order, the harmonious development of
the neck, the shoulders, the breast and the entire spiritual
organisation. It appeared from this, even to an unequivocal
demonstration, that the innumerable particles of what might be
termed unparticled matter, which constitute the man's spiritual
principle, are constitutionally endowed with certain elective
affinities, analogous to an immortal friendship. The innate
tendencies, which the elements and essences of her soul manifest
by uniting and organising themselves, were the efficient and
imminent causes which unfolded and perfected her spiritual
organisation. The defects and deformities of her physical body
were, in the spiritual body which I saw thus developed, almost
completely removed. In other words, it seemed that those
hereditary obstructions and influences were now removed, which
originally arrested the full and proper development of her physi-
cal constitution ; and, therefore, that her spiritual constitution,
being elevated above those obstructions, was enabled to unfold
and perfect itself, in accordance with the universal tendencies
of all created things.
" While this spiritual formation was going on, which was
perfectly visible to my spiritual perceptions, the material body
manifested to the outer vision of observing individuals in the
room many symptoms of uneasiness and pain ; but the indica-
tions were totally deceptive ; they were wholly caused by the
departure of the vital or spiritual forces from the extremities
and viscera into the brain, and thence into the ascending
organism.
" The spirit rose at right angles over the head or brain of the
deserted body. But immediately previous to final dissolution of
the relationship which had for so many years subsisted between
the two, spiritual and material bodies, I saw — playing energeti-
cally between the feet of tlie elevated spiritual body and the
head of the prostrate body — a bright stream or current of vital
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 331
electricity. . . . And here I perceived, what I had never before
obtained a knowledge of, that a small portion of this vital, elec-
tric element returned to the deserted body immediately subse-
quent to the separation of the umbilical thread ; and that that
portion of this element which passed back into the earthly or-
ganism, instantly diffused itself through the entire structure,
and thus prevented immediate decomposition. . . .
" As soon as the spirit, whose departing hour I thus watched,
was wholly disengaged from the tenacious physical body, I
directed my attention to the movements and emotions of the
former ; and I saw her begin to breathe the most interior or
spiritual portions of the surrounding terrestrial atmosphere. . . .
At first, it seemed with difiiculty that she could breathe the new
medium ; but in a few seconds she inhaled and exhaled the
spiritual elements of nature with the greatest possible ease and
delight. And now I saw that she was in possession of exterior
and physical proportions, which were identical in every possible
particular — improved and beautified — with those proportions
which characterised her earthly organisation. That is to say,
she possessed a heart, a stomach, a liver, lungs, &c. — just as her
natural body did previous to (not her, but) its, death. This is a
wonderful and consoling truth. But I saw that the improve-
ments which were wrought upon her in her spiritual organisation
were not so particular and thorough as to destroy or transcend
her personality ; nor did they materially alter her natural
appearance or earthly characteristics. So much like her former
self was she that, had her friends beheld her as I did, they cer-
tainly would have exclaimed — as we often do upon the sudden
return of a long-absent friend, who leaves us in illness and
returns in health — ' Why, how well you look ! How improved
you are ! ' Such was the nature — most beautifying in their
extent — of the improvements that were wrought upon her.
**I saw her continue to conform and accustom herself to the
new elements and elevating sensations which belong to the
inner life. I did not particularly notice the workings and
emotions of her newly-awakening and fast-unfolding spirit,
except that I was careful to remark her philosophical tranquillity
throughout the entire process, and her non-participation with
332 DEATH
the different members of her family in their unrestrained be-
wailing of her departure from the earth, to unfold in love and
wisdom throughout eternal spheres. She understood at a glance
that they could only gaze upon the cold and lifeless form which
she had but just deserted ; and she readily comprehended the
fact that it was owing to a want of true knowledge upon their
part that they thus vehemently regretted her merely physical
death. ^
" The period required to accomplish the entire change which I
saw was not far from two and a half hours ; but this furnished no
rule as to the time required for every spirit to elevate and reorga-
nise itself above the head of the outer form. Without changing
my position of spiritual perceptions, I continued to observe the
movements of her new-born spirit. As soon as she became
accustomed to the new elements which surrounded her, she
descended from her elevated position, which was immediately
over the body, by an effort of the will-power, and directly passed
out of the door of the bedroom in which she was laid, in the
material form, prostrated with disease for several weeks. It
being in a summer month the doors were all open, and her
egress from the house was attended with no obstruction. I saw
her pass through the adjoining room, out of the door, and step
from the house into the atmosphere ! I was overwhelmed with
delight and astonishment when, for the first time, I realised the
universal truth that the spiritual organisation can tread the
atmosphere, which, while we breathe in the coarser earthly
form, is impossible, so much more refined is man's spiritual con-
stitution. She walked in the atmosphere as easily and in the
same manner as we tread the earth and ascend an eminence.
Immediately upon her emergement from the house she was
joined by two friendly spirits from the spiritual country, and
^ This aspect of the case, this view of death, is brought out quite beau-
tifully by Mrs. Mary F. Davis in her little book, Death, in the Light of the
Harmonial Philosophy. One or two sentences may serve as examples :
" When our soul becomes weary of companionship with the body, then
does she gather the frail form in lier loving arms and lay it away to rest,
opening the door meanwhile for the spirit's ingress to the higher and
better mansions of our Father. . . . Like falling asleep upon a bed of sand
to awake in a garden of roses, would be the natural departure of the spirit
from earth " (pp. lu, 23).
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 333
after tenderly recognising and communing with each other, the
three, in the most graceful manner, began ascending obliquely
through the ethereal envelopment of our globe. They walked
so naturally and so fraternally together that I could scarcely
realise the fact that they trod the air — they seemed to be
walking upon the side of a glorious but familiar mountain. I
continued to gaze upon them until the distance shut them out
from my view ; whereupon I returned to my external and ordi-
nary condition."
The same author, in his later work, Death, and the After
Life, pp. 15, 16, thus further describes the process of
dying :—
" Suppose the person is now dying. It is to be a rapid death.
The feet first grow cold. The clairvoyant sees right over the
head what may be called a magnetic halo — an ethereal emana-
tion, in appearance golden, and throbbing as though conscious.
The body is now cold up to the knees and elbows, and the
emanation has ascended higher in the air. The legs are cold to
the hips and the arms to the shoulders ; and the emanation,
though it has not risen higher in the room, is more expanded.
The death-coldness steals over the breast and around on either
side, and the emanation has attained a higher position nearer
the ceiling. The person has ceased to breathe, the pulse is
still, and the emanation is elongated and fashioned in the outline
of the human form. Beneath, it is connected with the brain.
The head of the person is internally throbbing — a slow, deep
throb — not painful, but like the beat of the sea. Hence the
thinking faculties are rational while nearly every part of the
person is dead. Owing to the brain's momentum, I have seen
a dying person, even at the last feeble pulse-beat, rouse impul-
sively and rise up in bed to converse with a friend ; but the
next instant he was gone — his brain being the last to yield up
the life principle.
" The golden emanation, which extends up midway to the
ceiling, is connected with the brain by a very fine life-thread.
Now the body of the emanation ascends. Then appears some-
thing white and shining, like a human head ; next, in a very
334 DEATH
few moments, a faint outline of the face divine ; then the fair
neck and beautiful shoulders ; then, in rapid succession, come all
parts of the new body down to the feet — a bright, shining image,
a little smaller than its physical body, but a perfect prototype
or reproduction in all except its disfigurements. The fine life-
thread continues attached to the old brain. The next thing is
the withdrawal of the electric principle. When this thread
snaps the spiritual body is free ! and prepared to accompany its
guardians to the Summer-Land. Yes, there is a spiritual body ;
it is sown in dishonour and raised in brightness."
2. Separation of Soul and Body.
These clairvoyant descriptions of the departure of the
soul from the body gain greater credibility when we take
into account the fact that, even during this life, certain
instances have occurred in which this temporary separa-
tion has taken place ; the spirit has left the body, seen
it, looked at it from without, and travelled to great dis-
tances and accurately seen what was taking place there,
and returned to the body at the end of a varying period.
All this time the external intelligence retained full pos-
session of its mental faculties, and remembered perfectly
what was happening ! Let us give one or two cases of
this character by way of illustration, and these will tend
to show that the body and the life principle are far more
separable, even in this life, than they are supposed to be,
or possibly could be, if Materialism were true. Here at
least are the facts, which we leave for the reader's
consideration.
The Indian adept has always claimed the possession of
the power to send his " astral body " to any portion of
the world to which he might direct it to go. Science,
however, has been especially reluctant to accept such
tales, demanding more proof of the phenomena than has
ordinarily been forthcoming.
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 335
On several occasions since its organisation, the London
Society for Psychical Research has had its attention
drawn to cases of this character, and, in every instance,
has investigated them as thoroughly as possible. Some
of these investigations are reported in Phantasms of the
Living, and it is from these volumes that the following
facts are drawn. In the first case the percipient was
the Rev. W. S. Moses, and he corroborates the report, as
written by the agent : —
'* One evening I resolved to appear to Z. at some miles' dis-
tance. I did not inform him beforehand of the intended experi-
ment, but retired to rest shortly before midnight with my
thoughts intently fixed on Z., with whose rooms and surround-
ings I was quite unacquainted. I soon fell asleep, and awoke
next morning unconscious of anything having taken place. On
seeing Z. a few days afterwards, I inquired, * Did anything
happen at your rooms on Saturday night ? ' * Yes,' replied he, ' a
great deal happened. I had been sitting over the fire with M.,
smoking and chatting. About 12.30 he rose to leave, and I let
him out myself. I returned to the fire to finish my pipe, when
I saw you sitting in the chair just vacated by him. I looked
intently at you, and then took up a newspaper to assure myself
that I was not dreaming ; but on laying it down I saw you still
there. While I gazed, without speaking, you faded away.' "
The second case quoted is also written by the agent,
who is known to the public as " S. H. B." It was con-
firmed, to the satisfaction of the investigators, by both
percipients.
"On a certain Sunday evening in November 1881, having
been reading of the great power which the human will is capable
of exerting, I determined, with the whole force of my being,
that I would be present in spirit in the front bedroom on the
second floor of a house situated at 22 Hogarth Road, Kensington,
in which room slept two ladies of my acquaintance, namely
Miss L. S. V. and Miss E. C. V., aged respectively twenty-five
336 DEATH
and eleven years. I was living at this time at 23 Kildare
Gardens, a distance of about three miles from Hogarth Road,
and I had not mentioned in any way my intention of trying
this experiment to either of the above ladies, for the simple
reason that it was only on retiring to rest upon this Sunday
night that I made up my mind to do so. The time at which I
determined that I would be there was one o'clock in the morn-
ing ; and I also had a strong intention of making my presence
perceptible. On the following Thursday I went to see the ladies
in question, and, in the course of my conversation (without any
allusion to the subject on my part), the elder one told me that
on the previous Sunday night she had been much terrified by
perceiving me standing by her bedside, and that she screamed
when the apparition advanced towards her, and awoke her little
sister, who also saw me.
"I asked her if she was awake at the time, and she replied
most decidedly in the affirmative ; and, upon my inquiring the
time of the occurrence, she replied, ' About one o'clock in the
morning.'
"This lady at my request wrote down a statement of the
event, and signed it. . . /'
Mr. Gurney (one of the authors of Phantasms of the
Living), became deeply interested in these experiments
and requested Mr. B. to notify him in advance of the
next occasion when he proposed to make his presence
known in this strange manner. Accordingly, March 22,
1884, he received the following note : —
Dear Mr. Gurney, — I am going to try the experiment
to-night of making my presence perceptible at 44 Morland
Square, at 12 P.M. I will let you know the result in a few days.
— Yours very sincerely, S. H. B.
The next letter, which was written on April 3, con-
tained the following statement, prepared by the percipient,
Miss L. S. Verity : —
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 337
" On Saturday night, March 22, 1884, at about midnight, I
had a distinct impression that Mr. S. H. B. was present in my
room, and I distinctly saw him while I was quite awake. He
came towards me and stroked my hair. I voluntarily gave him
this information when he called to see me on Wednesday,
April 2, telling him the time and the circumstances of the
apparition without any suggestion on his part. The appearance
in my room was most vivid and quite unmistakable."
Miss A. S. Verity also furnished this corroborative
statement : —
" I remember my sister telling me that she had seen S. H. B.,
and that he had touched her hair, hefore he came to see us on
April 2."
The agent's statement of the affair is as follows : —
" On Saturday, March 22, I determined to make my presence
perceptible to Miss V. at 44 Morland Square, Netting Hill, at
twelve midnight ; and as I had previously arranged with Mr.
Gurney that I should post him a letter on the evening on which
I tried my next experiment (stating the time and other par-
ticulars), I sent him a note to acquaint him with the above facts.
About ten days afterwards I called upon Miss V., and she volun-
tarily told me that on March 22, at twelve o'clock, midnight, she
had seen me so vividly in her room (whilst widely awake) that
her nerves had been much shaken, and she had been obliged to
send for a doctor in the morning."
Andrew Lang, in The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, relates
a curious but authenticated story about another '' send-
ing " of the '' astral body." It is as follows : —
"Mr. Sparks and Mr. Cleave, young men of twenty and nine-
teen, were accustomed to ' mesmerise ' each other in their
dormitory at Portsmouth, where they were students of naval
engineering. Mr. Sparks simply stared into Mr. Cleave's eyes
as he lay on his bed till he ' went off.' The experiments seemed
Y
oo>
DEATH
so curious that witnesses were called, Mr. Darley and Mr. Thur-
good. On Friday, January 15, 1886, Mr. Cleave determined to
try to see, when asleep, a young lady at Wandsworth, to whom
he was in the habit of writing every Sunday. He also intended,
if possible, to make her see him. On awakening, he said that
he had seen her in the dining-room of her house, that she had
seemed to grow restless, had looked at him, and then had
covered her face with her hands. On Monday he tried again,
and he thought he had frightened her, as, after looking at him
for a few minutes, she fell back in her chair in a kind of faint.
Her little brother was in the room with her at the time. On
Tuesday next the young lady wrote, telling Mr. Cleave that she
had been startled by seeing him on Friday evening (this is an
error), and again on Monday evening, ' much clearer,' when she
nearly fainted."
At Mr. Giirney's request, Mr. Cleave wrote an account
of this experience, and Mr. Sparks, Mr. Darley, and Mr.
Thurgood corroborated it as to their presence during the
trance as well as to Mr. Cleave's statements when he
awoke. The young woman's statement, dated Janu-
ary 19, and post-marked "Portsmouth, January 20,"
was also produced. In this letter she mentions her
first vision of Mr. Cleave as occurring on Tuesday (not
Friday), and her second, while she was alone with her
little brother at supper on Monday.
In commenting upon this fact, Mr. Lang adds : —
" But the very discrepancy in Miss 's letter is proof of
fairness. Her first vision of Mr. Cleave was on ' Tuesday last.'
Mr. Cleave's first impression of success was on the Friday follow-
ing. But he had been making the experiment for five nights
previous, including the Tuesday of Miss 's letter. Had the
affair been a hoax, Miss would either have requested him
to re-write her letter, putting Friday for Tuesday, or, what is
simpler, Mr. Cleave would have adopted her version and written
' Tuesday ' in place of ' Friday.' "
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 339
In other words, in Mr. Lang's opinion, the apparent
error in dates actually tends to prove the accuracy of all
the statements about the experiment.
Goethe declares that he once met himself face to face
at a certain place, and noticed that he was wearing some-
what peculiar garb. Several years later he found him-
self in the same place, wearing the same costume. Some
of Shelley's friends once saw him at Lerici, when he
was not there — in the flesh at least. He passed along
a balcony in full view of all, and disappeared as
mysteriously as he had come, although there was no
exit through which a man could have passed. Mark
Twain, who was much interested in psychic research,
relates that, at a crowded reception, he saw a woman
whom he had not met for many years. Although she
approached him, he lost sight of her just before she
reached him, and, when later he met her in reality-, he
discovered that she was in a railway train, travelling
towards that town, at the moment her apparition had
appeared to him.
These may be hallucinations, but it is not so easy to
account for the following tale, which is taken from the
Journal of the American Society for Psychical Hescarch^
December 1907. Like many of the experiences related
in Phantasms of the Living, it suggests possibilities that
are entitled to serious consideration. The story is as
follows : —
** At one o'clock on Sunday morning, I was awakened from
a perfectly sound, dreamless sleep, with the consciousness that
some one was in the room. On becoming clearly awake, I saw
standing at the foot of the bed my wife. I remember she wore
a dress which she ordinarily wore about the house when attend-
ing to her morning duties. I was not conscious until later that
the room was absolutely dark. In dress, and every other way,
my wife appeared perfectly natural.
340 DEATH
" I half sprung up in bed, and exclaimed, ' What are you
doing here?' She replied, 'I thought I would come out and
see how you are getting along.' She walked around from the
foot of the bed, where she was standing, to the side and head of
the bed where I was lying, bent over, kissed me, and disap-
peared. In an instant I sprang to my feet, realised then that
the room was absolutely dark, lighted the gas, and, as a result
of the experience, was nervously in a chill, with the cold per-
spiration starting out all over the body.
" On going down to the breakfast table the next morning, I
related the experience to both Dr. K. and Mr. P. I was so
worried by the whole experience, in spite of what I supposed
was usually good, common sense, I made up a sham telegram
and sent it to my wife, asking if a letter had come making a
certain engagement. Later in the day I received her reply,
' No such engagement ; we are all well.'
" Upon returning to my home several days later, I was at
once impressed with the fact that my wife was interested with
regard to my sleeping on Saturday night. After some sparring
over the matter, I finally asked her why she asked the ques-
tions she did. She then told me that she had been reading
Hudson's Psychic Phenomena, in which he had stated that if a
person fixed his mind just at the point of losing consciousness
in sleep upon another person, and the desire to meet that
person under certain conditions, that the result with the second
party would be practically as determined by the original
experimenter.
" After reading me the extract from Hudson, she told me
that, on retiring on Saturday night, she had fixed her mind
upon the fact that at one o'clock in the morning she would
appear to me, and kiss me.
" The above are the facts as I now remember them. I have
never had a similar experience, and though she has confessed
to me that she has tried the same experiment at other times,
it has never proved successful, unless it may have been in some
disturbing dream. — Very sincerely yours,
" C. W. S."
I
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 341
Dr. Hyslop has in his possession the original letter of
Mrs. S., wife of Mr. S., in which she describes her
experiment. This was sent to him by Dr. Funk, and it
made unnecessary the re-writing of the whole experi-
ence. It was not possible to obtain the exact date of
the experiment described. The letter to Dr. Funk was
written before the above account of the experience as
submitted by Mr. S. The original narrative is as
follows : —
" Having read a convincing statement made by Mr. Thomp-
son Jay Hudson, in his Laio of Psychic Phenomena, to the effect
that by a mental process it is possible to appear in visible form
to people at a distance from one's self, I tried the experiment
some years ago, with my husband as object. According to Mr
Hudson's directions, I went to sleep one night (at home, in
Derby, Conn.), willing myself to appear to my husband in his
room, whether in New York City, Syracuse, Schenectady, or
Buffalo, I do not now remember. My purpose was to awaken
him from sleep, to attract his attention to myself as I stood on
the opposite side of the room, and, as some act seemed neces-
sary to the drama, to walk over to his bedside and kiss him on
the forehead. (I do not remember having spoken or intending
to speak.)
" I remember holding the matter well in mind as long as I
was conscious. Several days later my husband returned. I
was most anxious to know the result of my efforts, but did not
wish to ask him outright for fear of hearing of failure on
my part. After various general remarks on both sides with
regard to the health of each during his absence, my husband
asked pointedly, ' What have you been doing since I've been
gone? Have you tried any of your psychic experiments on
me 1 ' (He knew that I had been reading the book, but up to
that time I had not presumed to attempt anything of that sort
myself, and he had nothing to base his question on except my
general interest in the subject.)
"I replied, 'Why, what has happened?' Then he told me
342 DEATH
that he had awakened suddenly, out of a sound sleep, on
Saturday night, about eleven o'clock, and was frightened
by seeing me standing in the room. So real did I seem
that he exclaimed, ' Rosa, why are you here ? ' With that I
walked over to his bedside, kissed him on the forehead, and
was gone.
" He was thoroughly shaken and alarmed, and did not sleep
again for hours. Then I confessed my part of the experience.
The only detail that did not tally in the working out of the
thought with the original plan had to do with time. I had in
mind one o'clock, and he saw the vision at eleven, or vice versa.
The hour was not correct.
'' My husband begged me to try nothing more of the sort on
Saturday night, since it upset him sadly for his Sunday work.
'•I believe this is substantially the whole story.
" R. T. S."
In reply to inquiries for further information regarding
certain features of his experience, Mr. S. makes the
following statements : —
" New York, June 25, 1907.
'* My dear Dr. Hyslop, — Very briefly, for I have only a
moment, the answers to your questions are as follows : —
" 1. I did not notice that the room was dark until after the
apparent disappearance of my wife.
'' 2. My attention was not drawn to the fact with regard to
the light in the room any more than it would have been if
my wife had walked into any ordinary room at any time in
the day.
'*3. This question which you ask is a difficult one to answer.
Psychologically I am not sure just at what point I was fully
awake. At the cessation of the experience I found myself
sitting half out of bed, in a dripping perspiration. The
impression, as I look back, is that of an actual occurrence and
in no way a dream.
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 343
" 4. There was no consciousness on my part of the presence
of any other person in the room other than my wife.
" 5. So far as I know, Mrs. S. had no impressions beyond
those accompanying the resolution just before going to sleep,
as I have stated it in my letter.
"6. I have never had any experience of this nature previous
to or since this. — Very truly yours, C. W. S."
As both persons concerned in this case are known to
be eminently honest and trustworthy, the possibility of
conscious deception may be said to be practically elimi-
nated. As Dr. Hyslop says, in commenting upon the
experience : —
" The psychologically interesting incident of these replies
is found in the answer to question second. The phenomenon
shows a resemblance to the hypnogogic condition which often
precedes or follows certain cases of sleep. It involves that
action of the optical centres which show that they may con-
tinue their dream or hallucinatory functioning while the central
self-consciousness is normally awake. It suggests a more or
less central source of the phantasms which accompany the con-
dition, though they may have an extraneous origin in respect to
their stimuli."
The next case we take from Dr. I. K. Funk's book. The
Psychic Riddle (Funk & Wagnalls Co.), pp. 179-184, quot-
ing only that passage which directly bears on our pro-
blem. The narrator, in this instance, was an educated man,
a physician of standing, who had been suffering for some
time past from a remarkable malady, which rendered
complete control of his body impossible. After describ-
ing some of his early experiences, he goes on : —
" After a little while I put out the light and retired, but no
sooner had I done this than the action became more rapid, and
I could feel it almost as though it was a creeping sensation
moving up my legs. I got up and lit the gas and went back to
344 DEATH
bed ; with pillows arranged in such a way as to make me com-
fortable. In a comparatively short time all circulation ceased
in my legs, and they were as cold as those of the dead. The
creeping sensation began in the lower part of my body, and
that also became cold. . . . There was no sensation of
pain or even of physical discomfort. I would pinch my legs
with my thumb and finger, and there was no feeling or no indi-
cation of blood whatever. I might as well have pinched a piece
of rubber so far as the sensation produced was concerned. As
the movement continued upward, all at once there came a flash-
ing of lights in my eyes and a ringing in my ears, and it seemed
for an instant as though I had become unconscious. When
I came out of this state, I seemed to be walking in the air.
No words can describe the exhilaration and freedom that I
experienced. No words can describe the clearness of mental
vision. At no time in my life had my mind been so clear and
so free. Just then I thought of a friend who was more than a
thousand miles distant. Then I seemed to be travelling with
great rapidity through the atmosphere about me. Everything
was light, and yet it was not the light of the day or the sun,
but, I might say, a peculiar light of its own, such as I had never
known. It could not have been a minute after I thought
of my friend, before I was conscious of standing in a room
where the gas jets were turned up, and my friend was standing
with his back toward me, but, suddenly turning and seeing me,
said, * What in the world are you doing here ? I thought you
were in Florida ' — and he started to come toward me. While
I heard the words distinctly, I was unable to answer. An
instant later I was gone, and the consciousness of the things
that transpired that memorable night will never be for-
gotten. I seemed to leave the earth, and everything per-
taining to it, and enter a condition of life of which it is
absolutely impossible to give here any thought I had concern-
ing it, because there was no correspondence to anything I
had ever seen or heard or known of in any way. The wonder
and the joy of it was unspeakable ; and I can readily under-
stand now what Paul meant when he said, ' I knew a man,
whether in the body or out of it I know not, who was caught
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 345
up to the third heaven, and there saw things which it was not
possible (lawful) to utter.'
" In this latter experience there was neither consciousness of
time nor of space ; in fact, it can be described more as a con-
sciousness of elastic feeling than anything else. It came to me
after a time that I could stay there if I so desired, but with
that thought came also the consciousness of the friends on
earth and the duties there required of me. The desire to stay
was intense, but in my mind I clearly reasoned over it, —
whether I should gratify my desire or return to my work on
earth. Four times my thought and reason told me that my
duties required me to return, but I was so dissatisfied with
each conclusion that I finally said, ' Now I will think and
reason this matter out once more, and whatever conclusion I
reach I will abide by.' I reached the same conclusion, and
I had not much more than reached it when I became con-
scious of being in a room and looking down on a body propt
up in bed, which I recognised as my own. I cannot tell what
strange feelings came over me ! This body, to all intents
and purposes looked to be dead. There was no indication of
life about it, and yet here I was apart from the body, with
my mind thoroughly clear and alert, and the consciousness of
another body to which matter of any kind offered no
resistance.
"After what might have been a minute or two, looking at
the body, I began to try and control it, and in a very short
time all sense of separation from the physical body ceased,
and I was only conscious of a directed effort towards its use.
After what seemed to be quite a long time, I was able to
move, got up from the bed, dressed myself, and went down
to breakfast.
" I may add here that the friend referred to as having
been seen by me that night was also distinctly conscious of
my presence and made the exclamation mentioned. We both
wrote the next day, relating the experiences of the night,
and the letters corroborating the incident crossed in the post."
Dr. Funk states that the author of this narrative
34G DEATH
has long been known to him, and that he has every
confidence in his honour and powers of observation.
A most interesting case of this kind is given in Mr.
Myers' paper '' On Indications of Continued Terrene
Knowledge on the Part of Phantasms of the Dead,"
in Proceedings S. P. R., vol. viii., pp. 180-93. We
quote some passages from this account, which is of
great interest, as apparently showing the disunion of
soul and body. The narrator is again a physician,
and sworn statements from several witnesses are in-
cluded in the original report, together with answers
to a number of questions by Dr. Hodgson. The narra-
tive runs in part as follows : —
'* I passed four hours in all without pulse or perceptible
heart-beat, as I am informed by Dr. S. H. Raynes, who was
the only physician present. During a portion of this time
several of the bystanders thought I was dead, and, such a
report being carried outside, the village church bell was tolled.
Dr. Raynes informs me, however, that by bringing his eyes
close to my face, he could perceive an occasional short gasp,
so very light as to be barely perceptible, and that he was
upon the point several times of saying, 'He is dead,' when
a gasp would occur in time to check him.
"He thrust a needle deep into the flesh at different points
from the feet to the hips, but got no response. Although
I was pulseless for four hours, the state of apparent death
lasted only about half-an-hour.
" I lost, I believe, all power of thought or knowledge of
existence in absolute unconsciousness. Of course, I need not
guess at the time so lost, as in such a state a minute or a
thousand years would appear the same. I came again into
a state of conscious existence, and discovered that I was still
in the body, but the body and I had no longer any interests
in common. I looked in astonishment and joy for the first
time upon myself — the me, the real Ego, while the not-me
closed it upon all sides like a sepulchre of clay.
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 347
"With all the interest of a physician I beheld the wonders
of my bodily anatomy, intimately interwoven with which,
even tissue for tissue, was I, the living soul of that dead body !
I learned that the epidermis was the outside boundary of the
ultimate tissues, so to speak, of the soul. I realised my con-
dition and calmly reasoned thus: I have died, as man terms
death, and yet I am as much a man as ever. I am about to
get out of the body. I watched the interesting process of
the separation of soul and body. By some power, apparently
not my own, the Ego was rocked to and fro, laterally, as the
cradle is rocked, by which process its connection with the
tissues of the body was broken up. After a little time, the
lateral motion ceased, and along the soles of the feet, beginning
at the toes, passing rapidly to the heels, I felt and heard,
as it seemed, the snapping of innumerable small cords. When
this was accomplished, I began slowly to retreat from the feet,
toward the head, as a rubber chord shortens. I remember
reaching the hips, and saying to myself, 'Now, there is no
life below the hips.' I can recall no memory of passing through
the abdomen and chest, but recollect distinctly when my whole
self was collected in the head, when I reflected thus : 'I am all
the head now, and I shall soon be free.' I passed around the
brain as if it were hollow, compressing it and its membranes,
slightly on all sides, towards the centre, and peeped out between
the sutures of the skull, emerging like the flattened edges of a
bag of membranes ! I recollect distinctly how I appeared to
myself something like a jelly-fish as regards colour and form !
As I emerged, I saw two ladies sitting at my head. I measured
the distance between the head of my cot and the knees of the
lady opposite the head, and concluded there was room for me
to stand, but felt considerable embarrassment as I reflected that
I was about to emerge naked before her, but comforted myself
with the thought that in all probability she would not see me
with her bodily eyes, as I was a spirit. As I emerged from
the head, I floated up laterally like a soap-bubble attached to
the bowl of a pipe, until I at last broke loose from the body and
fell lightly to the floor, where I slowly rose and expanded to
the full stature of a man. I seemed to be translucent, of a
348 DEATH
bluish cast and perfectly naked. With a painful sense of
embarrassment, I fled toward the partially opened door to
escape the eyes of the two ladies whom I was facing, as well as
others who I knew were about me, but upon reaching the
door I found myself clothed, and satisfied upon that point, I
turned and faced the company. As I turned, my left elbow
came in contact with the arm of one of two gentlemen, who
were standing in the door. To my surprise, his arm passed
through mine without apparent resistance, the several parts
closing again without pain, as air reunites. I looked quickly
up at his face to see if he had noticed the contact, but he gave
me no sign — only stood and gazed toward the couch I had just
left. I directed my gaze in the direction of his, and saw my
dead body.
" Suddenly I discovered that I was looking at the straight
seam down the back of my coat, ' How is this, I thought, how
do I see my back ? ' and I looked again, to reassure myself,
down the back of the coat, or down the back of my legs to the
very heels. I put my hand to my face and felt for my eyes.
They were where they should be : I thought, ' Am I like an owl
that I can turn my head half-way round ? ' I tried the experi-
ment and failed.
"No! Then it must be that, having been out of the body,
but a few moments, I have yet the power to use the eyes of the
body, and I turned about and looked back in at the open door,
where I could see the head of my body in a line with me. I
discovered then a small cord, like a spider's web, running from
my shoulders back to my body and attaching to it at the base of
the neck, in front.
" I was satisfied with the conclusion that by means of that
cord, I was using the eyes of my body, and, turning, walked
down the street.^
^ This has frequently been described by clairvoyants, and others. See
A. J. Davis' account, given above. Numbers of others of like nature could
be cited. It is generally asserted that so long as this cord remains un-
broken, re-manifestation in the body is possible ; but if it gets ruptured
for any reason, re-habitation of the body becomes impossible. In natural
death, it is asserted that this cord snaps some minutes after the spiritual
body has completely emerged from the material body.
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 349
" A small, densely black cloud appeared in front of me and
advanced toward my face. I knew that I was to be stopped.
I felt the power to move or to think leaving me. My hands
fell powerless to my side, my shoulders and my head dropped
forward, the cloud touched my face and I knew no more.
*' Without previous thought and without effort on my part,
my eyes opened. I looked at my hands and then at the little
white cot upon which I was lying, and, realising that I was
in the body, in astonishment and disappointment, I ex-
claimed : ' What in the world has happened to me ? Must I
die again V . . ."
Many cases of a like nature are to be found in the
Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, and in
Mr. F. W. H. Myers' Human Personality. A remarkable
case of a somewhat different character, but more eviden-
tial in that the " double " was seen by another person, is
the following instance, narrated in Phantasms of the Living,
vol. i., pp. 225-6, by the Rev. P. H. Newnham, as
follows : —
" In March 1854, I was up at Oxford, keeping my last term,
in lodgings. I was subject to violent neuralgic headaches,
which always culminated in sleep. One evening, about 8 p.m.,
I had an unusually violent one ; when it became unendurable,
about 9 P.M., I went into my bedroom, and flung myself, without
undressing, on the bed, and soon fell asleep.
" I then had a singularly clear and vivid dream, all the inci-
dents of which are still as clear in my memory as ever. I
dreamed that I was stopping with the family of a lady who
subsequently became my wife. All the younger ones had gone
to bed, and I stopped chatting to the father and mother, stand-
ing up by the fireplace. Presently I bade them good night, took
my candle, and went off to bed. On arriving in the hall, 1 per-
ceived that m.y fiancee had been detained downstairs, and was
only then near the top of the staircase. I rushed upstairs,
overtook her on the top step, and passed my two arms around
her waist, under her arms, from behind. Although I was carry-
350 DEATH
ing my candle in my left hand, when I ran upstairs, this did
not, in my dream, interfere with this gesture.
**0n this I woke, and a clock in the house struck ten almost
immediately afterwards.
" So strong was the impression of the dream that I wrote a
detailed account of it the next morning to my Jiancee.
" Crossing my letter, not in answer to it, I received a letter
from the lady in question : ' Were you thinking about me very
specially last night, just about ten o'clock 1 For, as I was going
upstairs to bed, I distinctly heard your footsteps on the stairs,
and felt you put your arms round my waist.' "
Mrs. Newnbam's confirmation of this account was
received.
Such cases would surely seem to indicate that the
spiritual body is more or less detachable from the mate-
rial body, and, that once granted, materialism would be
overthrown, and the case practically won for some sort
of spiritualism.
3. The Process of Dying as Described by
"Spirits."
Throughout spiritualistic literature there exists a great
mass of evidence on this subject of the future life ;
and we are told with the utmost detail and precision
exactly what we shall do when we come to pass the
" great divide " ourselves, what our occupations shall be,
and in fact all about the future state. If we could
believe these statements, the future must be a very
rational sort of existence — not very far removed from
our present state; and, in fact, if we can credit the state-
ments made by Mr. John K. Wilson, in his singular book
Death : its Meanings and Results, things must be very much
the same as they are here. Throughout the three large
volumes of The Encyclo'paidia of Death, are to be found
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 351
many passages of the kind ; and, indeed, the volumes are
mostly taken up with spiritualistic material of this sort.
From such passages we select the following narrative
as of especial interest for our present purpose — since it
describes the process of dying very minutely, and will
be found to agree, largely, with the descriptions given by
clairvoyants and others : —
"When I awoke in the spirit-life, and perceived I had hands
and feet, and all that belongs to the human body, I cannot ex-
press to you in form of words the feelings which at that moment
seemed to take possession of my soul. I realised that I had a
body — a spiritual body. ... I realised at that moment, as I had
never done before, the glorious truth of my own unfoldings. I
had expected to sleep a long sleep of death, and awake at last,
at the general resurrection, to receive commendation or con-
demnation, according to the deeds done in the body. . . .
" Imagine then, if you can, what the surprise of a spirit must
be to find, after the struggle of death, that he is a new-born
spirit, from the decaying tabernacle of flesh that he leaves
behind him. I gazed on weeping friends with a saddened
heart, mingled with joy, — knowing, as I did, that I could be
with them, and behold them daily, though unseen and unknown ;
and, as I gazed upon the lifeless tenement of clay, and could
behold the beauty of its mechanism, I felt impelled to seek the
author of so much beauty and use, and prostrate myself in
adoration at his feet. I felt a light touch on my shoulder, and,
joy unspeakable ! I beheld the loved ones of earth, some of
whom had long since departed from the earth plane, saying to
me, ' Leave this sad and weeping group of mourning friends,
and come with us, and behold your future home — your place
appointed unto you — and be introduced by us into the society
of congenial spirits, who have long known you while sojourning
on the earth plane, but of whose presence you were ignorant.
And I felt myself ascending, or rather floating onward and
upward through the regions of space ; and I beheld worlds in-
habited with people like unto those who dwell upon the earth ;
352 DEATH
and ascending from each of these beautiful orbs were freed
spirits, and their guides, bearing me company through the bright
realms of immensity . . ." {Encyclopedia of Deaths vol. i., pp.
47, 48).
Again, we read that Judge Edmonds, when describing
his death through the lips of Cora L. V. Tappan, stated
that —
" During the whole of the death-change, he was in the full
and clear possession of his faculties, and he felt no pain,
although for some years previously he had been suffering from
debility. His body sank into sweet repose, whilst his spirit,
already free, gazed upon it as one would look upon a worn-out
garment ; he was not aware of losing any faculty ; he re-entered
his body at times to see the loved ones around his bed ; and he
admonished his children not to mourn. He sprang into the
new existence as one would leap from bonds which for years
had encircled him and chained him to the flesh and to physical
suffering — he sprang forth delighted, as one would leap into a
golden sea, which immediately gave strength, vigour, and immor-
tality. . . ."
In the record of experiences, published in vol. i.,
part ii., of the Proceedings of the American Society for
Psychical Research^ the author, " G. A. T./' asserts that an
intelligence purporting to be that of his deceased father,
frequently communicated with him by means of auto-
matic writing. Some of the answers to questions are of
interest in this connection, even if it is impossible to
confirm them. Thus, on one occasion, this intelligence
was asked if his present life was eternal. To this the
answer was, " I don't know." Asked if any of his com-
panions had disappeared, he replied, " No." To ques-
tions in regard to the lapse of time, he answered, " There
is no time."
When conversing with what purported to be the dis-
carnate spirit of a friend named " H. R.," the author
DEATH FROM BEYOND THE VEIL 353
asked her if she was happy. She said, " Yes ! " — " I asked
her if she was happier than when in the body, and she
answered, ' Yes, far ! ' I asked if the spirits hved on
earth as of old, and the reply was, ' We can stay here if
we wish.' I asked if it was her desire to stay here, and
she said, ' Yes.' "
The communications which have been received by
Dr. Hyslop, purporting to come from Dr. Hodgson,
contain many references regarding the conditions exist-
ing in the world beyond the grave. Many of these
messages belong more appropriately to a later chapter,
" Intracosmic Difficulties of Communication," but as all
the facts pertaining to this subject have not been in-
cluded in the discussion of that phase of the question,
we quote the following from the Journal of the American
Society, April 1907: —
" Thus, after some reference to experiments which he had
wished to carry out while living, he interrupted the communi-
cations with an allusion to an unverifiable experience after
death. He said: 'It is delightful to go up through the cool
ethereal atmosphere into this life and shake off the mortal
body.' He had himself believed that the spiritual world was
ethereal, and we have in this passage one of the many inter-
polations of communicators which represent possibilities but not
evidence of what these phenomena purport to be.
" At another sitting ' he became greatly excited and confused,
and the hand wrote so heavily and rapidly that it tore the paper,
and when we managed to have it calm down, the following
came, and was almost likely the interpolation of the control or
trance personality : —
" ' In leaving the body the shock to the spirit knocks every-
thing out of one's thoughts for awhile, but if he has any desire
at all to prove his identity he can in time collect enough evi-
dence to prove his identity convincingly.'
" To try a question which was designed to test the possibility
of our getting marginal thoughts of the communicator instead
Z
354 DEATH
of the main ones intended, I asked at this latter sitting if some
of the thoughts came through that he did not intend to send.
The answer and colloquy was as follows : —
'"At times they do, and then again his thoughts are some-
what changed. They are not exactly what they were when in
the body.'
" ' Very good — I understand.'
" ' The change called Death, which is really only transition,
is very different from what one thinks before he experiences- it.
That in part explains why Myers never took a more active
part after he came over here. He had much on his mind before
he came which he vowed he would give after he came over, but
the shock was such that many of his determinations were shat-
tered from his living memory. This is a pretty excuse for a
living reality — a fact. It is unmistakably so with every one
who crosses the border line.' "
Other quotations might be made, but these are suffi-
cient to indicate the character of the communications
that purport to penetrate from the " Spirit World."
CHAPTER IV
EXPERIMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHING AND IN WEIGHING
THE SOUL
1. Experiments in Photographing the Soul.
The clairvoyant descriptions of death, and of what takes
place at that moment, are of great interest — that must
be granted, no matter how we may choose to interpret
the facts. But these experiences in themselves — backed
up, as they are, apparently, by the statements of
so-called Spirits — cannot be taken as conclusive, in the
absence of any external evidence tending to corroborate
these visions. In spite of the a 'priori improbability
that these visions should agree with one another in the
marvellous manner they do, there is still the possibility
that these perceptions are merely subjective hallucina-
tions, coincidental in the minds of several seers. But
if we could obtain external evidence that these visions
are not merely subjective ; if we could obtain such
evidence as the photographic camera and the balance
afford, then we should assuredly have striking proof —
or at least a strong presumption — that something does
actually leave the body at death, and that this "some-
thmg " can be photographed and even weighed.
Having these considerations in mind, then, let us now
turn to the facts, and see how much evidence there is
that such phenomena ever have occurred. We shall
discuss primarily the experiments that have been con-
355
356 DEATH
ducted in photographing the soul — these having been
made by Dr. Hippolyte Baraduc, of Paris. This physi-
cian has written much on nervous diseases, on the
stomach, gynaecology, and especially upon human vitality.
Of late years, his attention had been called to the possi-
bility of photographing the invisible ; and it was asserted
that he had succeeded in photographing the thought
of a living person, and obtaining impressions of such
" thought-forms," created by the living. As these experi-
ments will naturally open the way for our consideration
of the more marvellous experiments to follow, we shall
commence by describing these researches — coming to
the experiments in " photographing the soul " later on.
Dr. Baraduc asserted that he had obtained photo-
graphs of human radiations and of human thought,
under certain conditions. For instance, calm, peaceful
emotions produce pictures of softly homogeneous light,
or the appearance of a gentle shower of snow-flakes
against a black background ; whereas sad or violent
passions suggest, in the arrangement of the light and
shadows, the idea of a whirlpool or revolving storm,
somewhat like a meteorological diagram representing a
cyclone. If these photographs are really what they are
believed to be, they would seem to indicate that, in our
ordinary normal condition, we emit radiations which are
regulated and flow forth in smooth, even succession ;
but when violent emotions, such as anger or fear, break
through the control of the will and take possession of
us, they produce a violent and confused emission.
There is no reason, a priori, why the soul should not
be a space-occupying body, save for the tradition of
theology. For all that we know, the soul might be a
point of f^rce, existing within and animating some sort
of ethereal body, which corresponds, in size and shape,
to our material body. But at all events, there is an
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 357
abundance of very good testimony to the effect that the
shape of the spiritual body corresponds to that of the
material body ; and, as such, it certainly occupies space,
and possibly has weight also. It might and it might
not ; it is a question of evidence. It will have to be
settled, if at all, not by speculations, but by fads. Are
there any facts, then, that would seem to indicate that
the soul might be photographed ? Have we any evidence
that the soul may be photographed under certain con-
ditions, and particularly at the moment of death ? If
so, we shall have advanced a great step in our know-
ledge of this subject.
Before we adduce our evidence on this point, however,
it may be well to illustrate the fact tbat there is no
inherent absurdity in the idea, as many might suppose.
Of course the spuitual body would have to be material
enough to reflect' light waves, but where is the evidence
that it is not ? There seems to be much evidence, on
the contrary, that it is. And it must be remembered
that the camera will disclose innumerable things quite
invisible to the naked eye, or even to the eye aided by
the strongest glasses or telescopes. Normally, we can
see but a few hundred stars in the sky ; with the aid
of telescopes, we can see many thousand ; but the photo-
graphic camera discloses more than twenty million !
Here, then, is direct evidence that the camera can
observe things which we cannot see ; and, indeed, this
whole process of sight or " seeing " is a far more com-
plicated one than most persons imagine. As Sir Oliver
Lodge has recently pointed out {Harpers Magazine,
August 1908), there is no reason why we should not
be enabled to photograph a spirit, when we can photo-
graph an image in a mirror — which is composed simply
of vibrations, and reflected vibrations at that ! We are
a long way from the tangible thing, in such a case ; and
358 DEATH
yet we are enabled to photograph it with an ordinary
camera. Any disturbance in the ether we should
be enabled to photograph likewise — if only we had
delicate enough instruments, and if the " conditions " for
the experiment were favourable. The phenomena of
spirit-photography, and especially the experiments of
Dr. Baraduc, to which we shall immediately recur, would
seem to be proof of this.
These experiments, as well as those that are about
to follow, gain greater credibility Avhen considered in
the light of the newer experimental researches in
physics, which demonstrate, apparently, that matter can
be made to disintegrate and disappear, and can be
again re-formed from invisible vortices in the ether into
sufficiently solid bodies to be photographed by the
sensitive plate. In his remarkable work, The Evolution
of Matter, Dr. Gustave Le Bon has devoted a whole
section of his argument to what he has denominated
" the dematerialisation of matter." He proves by experi-
ments in the physical laboratory that matter can dis-
sociate, and vanish into apparent nothingness. What
really takes place, however, is that the solid matter, as
we have been accustomed to conceive it, is resolved into
its finer constituent parts — not only into the material
atoms of which it is composed, but these atoms are
in turn dissociated and resolved into a series of etheric
vortices, invisible to normal sense perception. Appa-
rently, therefore, matter has ceased to be, as such ; and,
in fact, it has been resolved into energy ! Conversely,
Dr. Le Bon proved that, by producing artificial equilibria
of the elements arising from the dissociation of matter,
he could succeed in creating, with immaterial particles,
" something singularly resembling matter." These equi-
libria were maintained a sufficient length of time to
enable them to be photographed.
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 359
On p. 164 of Dr. Le Bon's Evolution of Matter, are to
be found photographs of what is practically materialised
matter. This author says, in part : —
" Such equilibria can only be maintained for a moment. If
we were able to isolate and fix them for good — that is to say,
so that they would survive their generating cause — we should
have succeeded in creating with immaterial particles some-
thing singularly resembling matter. The enormous quantity
of energy condensed within the atom shows the impossibility
of realising such an experiment. But, if we cannot with
immaterial things effect equilibria, able to survive the cause
which gave them birth, we can at least maintain them for a
sufficiently long time to photograph them, and thus create a
sort of momentary materialisation."
If, therefore, physical science now admits, as it does,
that vibrations, or disturbances in the ether, can be
photographed, there is no longer any a priori objection
to these experiments by Dr. Baraduc — which claim,
merely, that similar vibrations have been photographed
— such vibrations being the external modification or
impression left upon the ether by the causal thought.
So much for theoretical possibilities : now for the
facts.
In a remarkable little booklet, entitled, Unseen Faces
Photographed, Dr. H. A. Reid has presented a number of
cases of supposed spirit photography, some of which are
certainly difficult to account for by any theory of fraud.
It is true that the methods of imitating this process
by fraudulent means are numerous and ingenious ; but
practically none of them are unknown to us. In The
Physical Phenomenct of Spiritualism, pp. 206—23, one of
us has described these fraudulent methods in consider-
able detail ; and has also published an account of a
case in which trickery was actually detected in the
360 DEATH
process of operation — a personal incident. (See Pro-
ceedings of the Ainerican S.P.R., vol. ii., pp. 10—13.) But
there seem to be certain cases on record that are
most difficult to account for by any theory of trickery —
partly because of the excellence of the conditions, and
partly because of the character of the experimenter.
Let us glance at one or two of the cases in which the
character of the experimenter would seem to insure the
fact that no conscious and voluntary fraud was practised.
A resume of a few such cases is to be found in Mr.
Edward T. Bennett's book on Spiritualism (T. C. & E. C.
Jack, Edinburgh), pp. 113-20. We quote in part: —
" The most notable exception to this (rule of fraud) which I
am able to quote is that of the late Mr. J. Traill Taylor, who
was for a considerable time the editor of the British Journal of
Phot()(jra2)Jiy . The following quotations are from a paper on
* Spirit Photography ' by Mr. Taylor. It was originally read
before the London and Provincial Photographic Association in
March 1893, and was reprinted in the British Journal of Photog-
raphy for March 2Gth, 1904, shortly after Mr. Taylor's death.
He says : —
" ' Spirit photography, so called, has of late been asserting its
existence in such a manner and to such an extent as to warrant
competent men in making an investigation, conducted under
stringent test conditions, into the circumstances under which
such photographs are produced, and exposing the fraud should
it prove to be such, instead of pooh-poohing it as insensate
because we do not understand how it can be otherwise — a
position that scarcely commends itself as intelligent or philo-
sophical. If, in what follows, I call it "spirit photography,"
instead of psychic photography, it is only in deference to a
nomenclature that extensively prevails. ... I approach the
subject merely as a photographer.'
" Mr. Taylor then gives a history of the earlier manifesta-
tions of spirit photography, and goes on to explain how
striking phenomena in photographing what is invisible to the
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 361
eye may be produced by the agency of florescence. He quotes
the demonstration of Dr. Gladstone, F.R.S., at the Bradford
meeting of the British Association in 1873, showing that
invisible drawings on white cards have produced bold and clear
photographs when no eye could see the drawings themselves.
Hence, as Mr. Taylor says : ' The photographing of an invisible
image is not scientifically impossible.'
*' Mr. Taylor then proceeds to describe some personal
experiments. He says : ' For several years I have experienced
a strong desire to ascertain by personal investigation the
amount of truth in the ever-recurring allegation that figures,
other than those visually present in the room, appeared on the
sensitive plate. . . . Mr. D., of Glasgow, in whose presence
psychic photographs have long been alleged to be obtained, was
lately in London on a visit, and a mutual friend got him to consent
to extend his stay in order that I might try to get a psychic photo-
graph under test conditions. To this he willingly agreed. My
conditions were exceedingly simple, were courteously expressed
to the host, and entirely acquiesced in. They were that I, for
the nonce, would assume them all to be tricksters, and, to guard
against fraud, should use my own camera and unopened packages
of dry plates purchased from dealers of repute, and that I should
be excused from allowing a plate to go out of my own hand till
after development, unless I felt otherwise disposed ; but that as
I was to treat them as under suspicion, so must they treat me,
and that every act I performed must be in the presence of two
witnesses ; nay, that I would set a watch upon my own camera in
the guise of a duplicate one of the same focus — in other words,
I would use a binocular stereoscopic camera and dictate all the
conditions of operation. . . .
'' ' Dr. G. was the first sitter, and, for a reason known to
myself, I used a monocular camera. I myself took the plate
out of a packet just previously ripped up, under the surveillance
of my two detectives. I placed the slide in my pocket and
exposed it by magnesium ribbon which I held in my own hand,
keeping one eye, as it were, on the sitter, and the other on the
camera. There was no background. I myself took the plate
from the dark slide, and, under the eyes of the two detectives,
362 DEATH
placed it in the developing dish. Between the camera and the
sitter a female figure was developed, rather in a more pronounced
form than that of the sitter. ... I submit this picture. ... I
do not recognise her, or any of the other figures I obtained, as
like any one I know. . . .
" ' Many experiments of like nature followed ; on some plates
were abnormal appearances, on others none. All this time Mr.
D., the medium, during the exposure of the plates, was quite
inactive. . . .
" ' The psychic figures behaved badly. Some were in focus,
others not so. Some were lighted from the right, while the
sitter was so from the left ; some were comely . . . others not
so. Some monopolised the major portion of the plate, quite
obliterating the material sitters. . . . But here is the point :
Not one of these figures which came out so strongly in the
negative was visible in any form or shape to me during the
time of exposure in the camera, and I vouch in the strongest
manner for the fact that no one whatever had an opportunity of
tampering with any plate anterior to its being placed in the
dark slide or immediately preceding development. Pictorially
they are vile, but how came they there ?
" ' Now, all this time I imagine you are wondering how the
stereoscopic camera was behaving itself as such. It is due
to the psychic entities to say that whatever was produced on
one-half of the stereoscopic plates was produced on the other —
alike good or bad in definition. But, on a careful examination
of one which was rather better than the other ... I deduce
this fact, that the impressing of the spirit form was not
simultaneous with that of the sitter. . . . This I consider an
important discovery. I carefully examined one in the stereo-
scope and found that, while the two sitters were stereoscopic
per se, the psychic figure was absolutely ./?a^/ I also found that
the psychic figure was at least a millimetre higher up in one
than in the other. Now, as both had been simultaneously
exposed, it follows to demonstration that, although both were
correctly placed, vertically in relation to the particular sitter,
behind whom the figure appeared, and not so horizontally, this
figure had not only not been impressed on the plate simul-
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 363
taneously with the two gentlemen forming the group, but had
not been formed by the lens at all, and that, therefore, the
psychic image might be produced without a camera. I think
this is a fair deduction. But still the question obtrudes : How
came these figures there ? I again assert that the plates were
not tampered with by either myself or any one present. Are
they crystallisations of thought? Have lens and light really
nothing to do with their formation ? The whole subject was
mysterious enough on the hypothesis of an invisible spirit —
whether a thought projection or an actual spirit, being really
there in the vicinity of the sitter — but it is now a thousand times
more so. . . .
" ' In the foregoing I have confined myself as closely as possible
to narrating how I conducted a photographic experiment open to
every one to make, avoiding stating any hypothesis or belief of
my own on the subject.' "
A remarkable series of experiments has been reported
by Mr. J. Godfrey Raupert in his book, The Bankers of
Spiritualism (Kegan Paul & Co.). His conclusions are
certainly entitled to due weight and consideration —
coming, as they do, from so careful an investigator.
Personal interviews with Mr. Raupert but served to
strengthen our faith in his conclusions. His account
runs as follows : —
" The ordinary methods of spirit photography give an oppor-
tunity for so much trickery that the most conservative psychical
researchers seem doubtful whether authentic results can be
attained at all. In this connection, therefore, it is interesting
to note that I claim to have succeeded in getting such photo-
graphs under what, to me at least, are satisfactory ' test '
conditions.
" In the course of my inquiries I came across a professional
photographer who thoroughly believed in psychic photography,
and who maintained that he had obtained genuine pictures. He
had, of course, suffered a good deal on this account at the hands
of a sceptical public and of a certain class of psychical researchei's,
364 DEATH
who appear to think that they are the only honest people in the
world.
*' There seemed, in the case of my new friend, no moral objection
to the experiment. He had obtained the pictures in question in
his studio in broad daylight and under perfectly normal conditions.
He had no need of a ' circle ' or ' stance,' and his time of exposure
was no more than the time allowed for ordinary pictures. He
declared, moreover, that he was not conscious of any loss of vital
power or nervous energy in connection with the process : that
he could eat and sleep well, and that his health was normal.
He had become convinced that the mysterious photographs were
produced by intelligences external to, and independent of, the
operator, but that they were in some inexplicable way connected
with his own physical or psychical personality. After many
visits to his studio, I succeeded in thoroughly gaining his con-
fidence so that I found him ready to agree to any experiments
I might propose. He assented to my bringing my own marked
plates, placed beforehand in the dark shutter ; to my taking
any attitude I liked in front of the camera, and to my watching
the entire process of developing in his dark room. It thus
became my habit to go to his studio at all odd times, often
dropping in for a chat quite unexpectedly, and then proposing
to sit for a picture. It was but seldom that he raised any
objection to an experiment thus suggested. When he did so, it
was generally on account of his health. Experience had taught
him that indisposition, mental or physical, interfered with his
success.
"The plates obtained under these conditions invariably dis-
closed a vague, cloud-like formation hovering near my own
person, and sometimes showed distinct outlines of a form. In
one or two instances features would become distinctly visible in
this cloud-like emanation on the third or fourth plate — the very
gradualness of the development of the form seeming to me to
tell in favour of the genuineness of the pictures. I have thus
obtained an infinite variety of pictures on plates prepared by
myself and remaining under my constant observation to the last.
Some of them are extremely interesting and have quite a history
of their own ; but they are all photographically of much the
PHOTOGRAPHING & AVEIGHING THE SOUL 365
same value. Experienced photographers who have seen them
maintain that they could be produced normally, although they
also admit that this could not possibly be done under the
conditions stated.
"Finding myself one winter's morning unexpectedly near the
studio in question, I felt tempted to look in and have a talk
about psychical matters. I found my photographer friend
busily engaged with his ordinary work, but evidently pleased
to see me. We talked a good deal about 'fresh tests,' ' favour-
able conditions,' and ' evidence,' and we agreed as to the
difficulties which stood in the way of obtaining the latter.
He thought that photographically the evidence was as perfect
as it was ever likely to be, but that our greatest difficulties
were due to our ignorance of the laws which govern the
phenomena. I expressed it as my opinion that good evidence
would have to be sought for in a different direction altogether,
since I had come to see that it could never photographically
be of such a character as to carry conviction to any outside
mind.
"Putting on my hat and opening the door, I was on the
point of leaving the studio when the thought occurred to me to
make an experiment on the spur of the moment. My friend
consented at once. As I had no marked plates with me, I felt
that we could not under any circumstances create 'test'
conditions. He put two of his own plates into a dark shutter,
left me to arrange myself in front of the camera, and made an
exposure in the ordinary way. The result was a figure, the
face and upper part of which would seem to be those of a
woman shrouded in ' psychic ' drapery. I could not recognise
the features as those of any person I had known, although they
seemed familiar to me, and I expressed my regret at the
circumstance. At that moment there flashed across my
memory the details of a statement which had some months
before been made in my presence, and which was to the effect
that these psychic figures in all probability possessed the
power of assuming any form, and that the drapery was
probably only adopted because it facilitated the shaping of
some kind of body, and because it involved the least amount
366 DEATH
of expenditure of force. Assuming, therefore, the presence of
an intelligent being which could hear and see me, I exclaimed : —
"'I cannot recognise you in the drapery which you have
assumed in this picture : but I might do so if I were to see
you in the dress you last wore in your earth life, I am told
that it is merely a question of memory, and that you can
change your appearance. Try and think of what you were and
looked like before you passed out of this life, and we will make
another exposure.'
" The photographer smiled at the boldness of the experiment,
but I took my place again before the camera. He exposed the
second plate. I have not been able to identify the result, but
it was all that could be desired. The question was, Is the
face on the second plate that of the first plate ? \Ye examined
the faces very closely as soon as we had printed the pictures,
and the magnifying glass certainly disclosed a very striking
likeness. But the predisposed mind, I have reason to know, is
no very reliable judge. We are very apt to see what we wish
to see. I have consequently submitted the pictures to what I
believe to be the highest authority on this subject in England,
requesting that no pains might be spared to discover the truth,
with the result that the faces were pronounced to be identical."
(The pictures referred to in this connection are reproduced in
Mr. Raupert's book.)
" It will be seen that the evidence in favour of the genuine-
ness of these pictures, whatever their origin, is very strong, and
that it is quite independent of anything that might be urged
from the photographic point of view. Any other theory clearly
involves difficulties which, to say the least, make it infinitely more
cumbrous and incredible. If will be remembered that I had no
appointment with the photographer, and that I had myself no
intention of making any experiment. The first photograph was
taken entirely on the spur of the moment, and it was only after
I had obtained it that the thought of suggesting the transforma-
tion entered my mind. I do not know what modern photography
is able to accomplish, but I do know that the most ingenious
photographer cannot prepare for an experiment which the
experimenter himself has not even contemplated when he
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 367
sets to work, and which is only suggested to his mind by
what occurs in the process.
"It is clear that in this instance the solution of the problem
must be sought for elsewhere, and that the evidence in favour
of the action of abnormal agencies is exceptionally strong. It
increases in force when other important circumstances, such as
the appearance of the forms on marked and observed plates, the
curious cloud-like formations, and other things are borne in
mind. It does not necessarily follow, of course, that these
forms, because they are genuine, are actually representations
of the dead. That is a different question altogether. All I
claim is that the plates disclose the existence of a certain force
or matter at present not known to a great many scientists, and
the existence of an intelligence, or intelligences, other than
those of the operators that are capable, under certain conditions,
of causing that force or matter to assume certain forms. This,
to my mind, is an undeniable fact, which can be ascertained by
any person who chooses to investigate carefully and patiently,
and who is prepared to expend upon this great problem of
human life as much time and interest as men expend upon the
examination of a new species of useless fish or of a new lump
of shining dirt."
Having thus cleared the ground, so to speak, let us
now consider the more startling statements and experi-
ments by Dr. Baraduc, summarised by him in his Avork,
Mes Morts; leurs Manifestations, &c. (1908). A brief
resume of this book cannot fail to be of interest, since
the events he records naturally lead up to the experiments
in photography recorded at its end.
At a quarter-past nine, on a certain memorable day in
April 1907, died Andre M. Joseph Baraduc, at the age of
nineteen years. Throughout his life there had been a
close bond of affection between himself and his father,
and we are assured that during the lifetime of the son,
telepathic communication had been frequent between
368 DEATH
them. When he was but nineteen it was discovered that
Andre was suffering from that dread disease, consumption;
and henceforward he grew rapidly worse, dying within
the year. Toward the close of this year he made two
visits to Lourdes, without, however, receiving much
benefit in either case, and returning apparently without
augmented faith in the cures brought about at that
centre. Andre was exceedingly religious in tempera-
ment, as was his father, and both were given to
experiments in psychic research. We are informed
that, during the lifetime of the son, his " astral " form
had been experimentally separated from his bodily
frame on more than one occasion. It was only
natural to suppose, therefore, that, at the death of
this favourite son, the father's grief should be so
intense that the emotional reflex found expression in
various visions and apparent conversations with the
dead boy. For within six hours after the death of
Andre, the son appeared to his father, and thence-
forth many apparitions were seen, and several long
conversations were apparently held between father and
son. Of course, these in themselves would, under the
circumstances, have no evidential value, since it is only
natural to suppose that hallucinations, both of sight and
hearing, would result in a mind so wrought.
These subjective and apparently telepathic experiences
of Dr. Baraduc cannot, therefore, be considered of value ;
but the objective experiences — that is to say, the experi-
ments performed by him are of great interest, since one
can hardly suppose that the camera can be hallucinated,
because of the grief of the photographer ! The impres-
sions left upon the plates, then, such as they are,
have their evidential and scientific value, and it is to
a consideration of these photographs that we now turn.
Nine hours after the death of Andr^, Dr. Baraduc took
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 369
the first photograph of the coffin in which the body was
deposited. When this plate was developed, it was dis-
covered that, emanating from the coffin, was a formless,
misty, wave-like mass, radiating in all directions with
considerable force, impinging upon the bodies of those
who came into close proximity to the coffin, as though
attracted to them by some magnetic force. On one
occasion, indeed, the force of this projected fluidic
emanation was so great that Dr. Baraduc received an
electric shock from head to foot, which produced a
temporary vertigo. On studying the photograph, it
will be seen that there emerge from the body dark,
tree-shaped emanations, issuing in formal lines, which
gradually diverge, and become more and more attenuated
and misty as they recede further and further from the
body. Although this photograph does not in itself
prove anything supernormal, it is highly suggestive,
and it aroused Dr. Baraduc's interest in the subject,
and enabled him to pursue his more conclusive ex-
periments immediately upon the death of his wife.
Six months after the death of Andre, Nadine, Dr.
Baraduc's wife and the mother of Andre, passed quietly
away, giving vent, at the moment of her death, to three
gentle sighs. Remembering the result of the former
experiments (photographing the body of Andre shortly
after his death),. Dr. Baraduc had prepared a camera beside
the bed of his wife, and, at the moment of her death,
photographed the body, and shortly after developed the
plate. Upon it were found three luminous globes resting
a few inches above the body. These gradually condensed
and became more brilliant. Streaks of light, like fine
threads, were also seen darting hither and thither. A
quarter of an hour after the death of his wife. Dr. Baraduc
took another photograph. Fluid cords were seen to have
developed, partly encircling these globes of light. At
2a
370 DEATH
three o'clock in the afternoon, or an hour after her death,
another photograph was taken. It will he seen from this
photograph that the three globes of light have condensed
and coalesced into one, obscuring the head of Madame
Baraduc, and developing towards the right. Cords were
formed in the shape of a figure eight, closed at the top,
and opened at the point nearest the body. Thus, as the
globe develops in one direction, the cords seem to become
more tense, and pull in the opposite direction. The
separation becomes more and more complete, until finally,
three and a half hours after death, a well-formed globe
rested above the body, apparently held together by the
encircling, luminous cords, which seemed also to guide
and control it. At this moment, the globe becomes sepa-
rated from the body, and, guided by the cords, floats into
Dr. Baraduc's bedroom. He speaks to the globe intensely;
the globe thereupon approaches him, and he feels an icy
cold breeze, which seems to surround and issue from the
ball of light.
Frequently, within the next few days after these experi-
ments, Dr. Baraduc saw similar globes in various parts of
the house. By means of automatic writing, obtained
through the hand of a non - professional psychic, he
succeeded at last in establishing communication with this
luminous ball, and was informed that it w^as the encase-
ment of Madame Baraduc's soul, which was still active
and alive within it ! It was asserted that, as the days
progressed, the encircling cords were one by one snapped,
and that the spirit more nearly assumed the astral body
facsimile of the earthly body. Andre, however, was seen
by him to be a completely developed astral body; and
his wife asserted that she too would shortly take her
place beside Andre in her permanent form. As further
photographs were not developed, however, there is no
experimental evidence confirming these statements.
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 371
Although these initial experiments of Dr. Baraduc
cannot, of themselves, be considered conclusive, they are
nevertheless highly interesting, and should lead to further
research in the same direction. The evidence afforded by
apparitions, single and collective ; by haunted houses ; the
indirect testimony afforded by the apparent psychic per-
ception by animals ; the evidence, such as it is, for " spirit
photography"; the recent experiments in thought-photo-
graphy, and the photographs made at the seances of
Eusapia Palladino, all tend to confirm, it seems to us, the
conclusions arrived at by Dr. Baraduc, as the result of his
preliminary researches. If an astral body of some sort
exists, it must occupy space ; and, being space-occupying,
must, a priori, be material enough to occupy it ! Whether
or not this material is sufficiently solid to reflect light
waves, and make an impression upon the sensitive plate
of the camera, is an aspect of the problem still open to
debate. Certainly, there can be no longer any a 'priori
objection to such an hypothesis. The recent discoveries
in physics, the experiments in photography, by means of
the X-rays, ultra-violet light, and the "black-light" of
Dr. Le Bon, all serve to indicate that it is possible to
photograph thousands of objects invisible to the naked
eye. Indeed, this is well known, for, as before stated,
while the naked eye can see but a few thousand stars
in the heavens, the photographic plate is capable of
receiving impressions from some twenty millions.
Further indirect testimony is afforded by the state-
ments of clairvoyants, and by the direct testimony (taking
it for what it is worth) of so-called " spirits " who com-
municate their sensations and the knowledge they have
gained after bodily death. They invariably assert that
there is an astral facsimile, or spiritual replica, of the
physical body. Repellent as the idea may be to some of a
semi- material, space-occupying soul, the facts would seem
372 DEATH
to indicate that such is true. Yet there might be a way
out of the difficulty, since we might still suppose that the
soul, or seat of consciousness, exists as a point of force
within this spiritual organism. Whichever theory is
ultimately proved correct cannot, of course, be settled by
a 'priori speculation, but by facts ; and such experiments
as those conducted by Dr. Baraduc in photographing the
soul are, perhaps, the best line of investigation to follow,
and one from which, with the improvements in photog-
raphy, most is to be hoped.
2. Experiments in Weighing the Soul.
Some time ago great interest was aroused by the
publication of certain reports of experiments in weighing
the soul — the body of a man being weighed just before
and just after death — it being found that there was a
considerable loss in weight just after the death of the
patient, not accounted for by any of the known channels
of loss. When these reports were published, the American
Society for Psychical Research obtained all the original
documents and correspondence concerning these tests, and
printed them in full in the June, 1907, issue of its Journal.
Any one desiring the full and authentic account of these
facts will find it there. Dr. Duncan MacDougall also
wrote a special article describing his experiments, and
from this we quote the following : — ■
" According to the latest conception of science, substance or
space-occupying material is divisible into that which is gravi-
tative — solids, liquids, gases, all having weight — and the ether
which is non-gravitative. It seemed impossible to me that the
soul substance could consist of ether. If the conception be true
that ether is continuous and not to be conceived of as existing or
capable of existing in separate masses, we have here the most
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 373
solid ground for believing that the soul substance we are seeking
is not ether, because one of the very first attributes of personal
identity is the quality or condition of separateness. Nothing is
more borne in upon consciousness, than that the you in you, and
the me in me, the ego, is detached and separate from all things
else — the non-ego.
" We are therefore driven back upon the assumption that the
soul substance so necessary to the conception of continuing per-
sonal identity, after the death of this material body, must still
be a form of gravitative matter, or perhaps a middle form of
substance neither gravitative matter nor ether, not capable of
being weighed, and yet not identical with ether. Since, how-
ever, the substance considered in our hypothesis must be linked
organically with the body until death takes place, it appears to
me more reasonable to think that it must be some form of gravi-
tative matter, and therefore capable of being detected at death
by weighing a human being in the act of death.
"The subjects experimented upon all gave their consent to
the experiment weeks before the day of death. The experiments
did not subject the patients to any additional suffering.
" My first subject was a man dying of tuberculosis. It seemed
to me best to select a patient dying with a disease that produces
great exhaustion, the death occurring with little or no muscular
movement, because in such a case the beam could be kept more
perfectly at balance and any loss occurring readily noted.
"The patient was under observation for three hours and forty
minutes before death, lying on a bed arranged on a light frame
work built upon very delicately balanced platform beam scales.
The patient's comfort was looked after in every way, although he
was practically moribund when placed upon the bed. He lost
weight slowly at the rate of one ounce per hour, due to evapora-
tion of moisture in respiration and evaporation of sweat.
" During all three hours and forty minutes I kept the beam
end slightly above balance near the upper limiting bar in order
to make the test more decisive if it should come.
" At the end of three hours and forty minutes he expired,
and suddenly coincident with death the beam end dropped with
an audible stroke, hitting against the lower limiting bar and
374 DEATH
remaining there with no rebound. The loss was ascertained
to be three-fourths of an ounce.
" This loss of weight could not be due to evaporation of respira-
tory moisture and sweat, because that had already been deter-
mined to go on, in his case, at the rate of one-sixtieth of an
ounce per minute, whereas this loss was sudden and large, three-
fourths of an ounce in a few seconds.
"The bowels did not move; if they had moved, the weight
would still have remained upon the bed except for a slow loss
by the evaporation of moisture depending, of course, upon the
fluidity of the fseces. The bladder evacuated one or two drachms
of urine. This remained upon the bed, and could only have
influenced the weight by slow gradual evaporation, and there-
fore in no way could account for the sudden loss.
" There remained but one more channel of loss to explore, the
expiration of all but the residual air in the lungs. Getting upon
the bed myself, my colleague put the beam at actual balance.
Inspiration and expiration of air as forcibly as possible by me
had no effect upon the beam. My colleague got upon the bed,
and I placed the beam at balance. Forcible inspiration and
expiration of air on his part had no effect. In this case we
certainly have an inexplicable loss of weight of three-fourths
of an ounce. Is it the soul substance ? How else shall we
explain it ?
" My second patient was a man moribund from consumption.
He was on the bed about four hours and fifteen minutes under
observation before death. The first four hours he lost weight at
the rate of three-fourths of an ounce per hour. He had much
slower respiration than the first case, which accounted for the
difference in loss of weight from evaporation and respiratory
moisture.
'' The last fifteen minutes he had ceased to breathe, but his
facial muscles still moved convulsively, and then, coinciding
with the last movement of the facial muscle, the beam dropped.
The weight lost was found to be half -an -ounce. Then my
colleague auscultated the heart and found it stopped. I tried
again, and the loss was one ounce and a half and fifty grains.
In the eighteen minutes that elapsed between the time he ceased
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 375
breathing until we were certain of death, there was a weight loss
of one and one-half ounces and fifty grains, compared with a loss
of three ounces during a period of four hours during which time
the ordinary channels of loss were at work. No bowel move-
ment took place. The bladder moved, but the urine remained
upon the bed, and could not have evaporated enough through
the thick bed clothing to have influenced the result.
"The beam at the end of eighteen minutes of doubt was
placed again with the end in slight contact with the upper bar
and watched for forty minutes, but no further loss took place.
" My scales were sensitive to two-tenths of an ounce. If
placed at balance, one-tenth of an ounce would lift the beam up
close to the upper limiting bar, another one-tenth ounce would
bring it up and keep it in direct contact, then if the two-tenths
were removed the beam would drop to the lower bar and then
slowly oscillate till balance was reached again.
" This patient was of a totally different temperament from
the first ; his death was very gradual, so that we had great doubt
from the ordinary evidence to say just what moment he died.
*' My third case, a man dying of tuberculosis, showed a weight
of half-an-ounce lost, coincident with death, and an additional
loss of one ounce a few minutes later.
" In the fourth case, a woman dying of diabetic coma, unfor-
tunately our scales were not finely adjusted, and there was a
good deal of interference by people opposed to our work, and
although at death the beam sunk so that it required from three-
eighths to one-half ounce to bring it back to the point preceding
death, yet I regard this test as of no value.
" With my fifth case, a man dying of tuberculosis, showed a
distinct drop in the beam requiring about three-eighths of an
ounce which could not be accounted for. This occurred exactly
simultaneously with death, but peculiarly, on bringing the beam
up again with weights and later removing them, the beam did
not sink back to stay back for fully fifteen minutes. It was
impossible to account for the three-eighths of an ounce drop,
it was so sudden and distinct, the beam hitting the lower bar
with as great a noise as in the first case. Our scales in this case
were very sensitively balanced.
376 DEATH
" My sixth and last case was not a fair test. The patient
died almost within five minutes after being placed upon the
bed, and died while I was adjusting the beam.
*' The net result of the experiments conducted on human
beings is that a loss of substance occurs at death not accounted
for by known channels of loss. Is it the soul substance ? It
would seem to me to be so. According to our hypothesis such
a substance is necessary to the assumption of continuing or
persisting personality after bodily death, and here we have
experimental demonstration that a substance capable of being
weighed does leave the human body at death.
" If this substance is a counterpart of the physical body, has
the same bulk, occupies the same dimensions in space, then it is
a very much lighter substance than the atmosphere surrounding
our earth, which weighs about one and one-fourth ounces per
cubic foot. This would be a fact of great significance, as such
a body would readily ascend in our atmosphere. The absence
of a weighable mass leaving the body at death would of course
be no argument against continuing personality, for a space-
occupying body or substance might exist not capable of being
weighed, such as the ether.
" It has been suggested that the ether might be that substance,
but with the modern conception of science that the ether is the
primary form of all substance, that all other forms of matter
are merely differentiations of the ether having varying densities,
then it seems to me that soul substance, which in this life must
be linked organically with the body, cannot be identical with
the ether. Moreover, the ether is supposed to be non-discon-
tinuous, a continuous whole and not capable of existing in
separate masses as ether, whereas the one prime requisite for
a continuing personality or individuality is the quality of
separateness, the ego as separate and distinct from all things
else, the non-ego.
" To my mind, therefore, the soul substance cannot be the
ether as ether ; but if the theory that ether is the primary form
of all substance is true, then the soul substance must necessarily
be a differentiated form of it.
"If it is definitely proven that there is in the human being a
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 377
loss of substance at death not accounted for by known channels
of loss, and that such loss of substance does not occur in the
dog, as my experiments would seem to show, then we have here
a physiological difference between the human and the canine at
least, and probably between the human and all other forms of
animal life.
" I am aware that a very large number of experiments
would be required before the matter could be proved beyond
any possibility of error ; but if further and sufficient experi-
mentation proves that there is a loss of substance occurring
at death ;and not accounted for by known channels of loss,
the establishment of such a truth cannot fail to be of the
utmost importance.
'' One ounce of fact more or less will have more weight in
demonstrating the truth of the reality of continued existence
with the necessary basis of substance to rest upon than all the hair-
splitting theories of theologians and metaphysicians combined.
'* If other experiments by other experimenters prove that
there is a loss of weight occurring at death, not accounted for
by known channels of loss, we must either admit the theory
that it is the hypothetical soul substance, or some other explana-
tion of the phenomenon should be forthcoming. If proved true,
the materialistic conception will have been fully met, and proof
of the substantial basis for mind or spirit or soul continuing
after the death of the body, insisted upon as necessary by the
materialists, will have been furnished.
" It will prove also that the spiritualistic conception of the
immateriality of the soul is wrong. The postulates of reli-
gious creeds have not been a positive and final settlement of
the question.
" The theories of all the philosophers and all the philosophies
offer no final solution of the problem of continued personality
after bodily death. This fact alone of a space-occupying body
of measurable w^eight disappearing at death, if verified, fur-
nishes the substantial basis for persisting personality or a
conscious ego surviving the act of bodily death ; and the element
of certainty is worth more than the postulates of all the creeds
and all the metaphysical arguments combined.
378 DEATH
" In the year 1854 Rudolph Wagner, the physiologist, at the
Gottingen Congress of Physiologists, proposed a discussion of a
" Special Soul Substance." The challenge was accepted, but no
discussion followed, and among the five hundred voices present
not one was raised in defence of a spiritualistic philosophy.
Have we found Wagner's soul substance 1 "
At the time these experiments were published, one of
us (Mr. Carrington) issued the following criticism, Avhich
appeared in the same issue of the Journal : —
"... Taking the experiments, then, as Dr. MacDougall has
described them, the question arises : Granting that the facts
exist as stated, would these results prove the contention that
the observed loss of weight was due to the exit from the body
of some hypothetical soul substance, or may the facts (granting
them to exist as stated) be explained in some such manner as to
render Dr. MacDougall's hypothesis unnecessary ?
" I must say that Dr. MacDougall seems to have provided
pretty thoroughly against all normal losses of weight. His
papers (which I have had the privilege of reading) indicate this
clearly. The only channel that need be taken seriously into
account is the lungs ; i.e. the loss of weight due to expired air.
It therefore becomes a question of the amount of air the lungs
may contain, and its consequent weight — granting, for the sake
of argument, that every particle of air is forced out of the lungs
at death. A cubic foot of air, at the ordinary temperature and
at sea-level, weighs about 1^ ounces, we are told — a statement
that is confirmed by the EncyclopcEclia Britannica and other
authorities. In the cubic foot there are 1728 cubic inches.
Now, we know that the average capacity of the lungs of a
healthy human being is about 225 to 250 cubic inches (Kirke,
Physiology J p. 262) ; but let us say 300 cubic inches, to be on
the safe side. This is, as nearly as possible, one-sixth ounce,
granting that all the air is expired at death — for which we
have no evidence — and that the lungs contained as much as
300 cubic inches of air. This is also a practical impossibility,
in such cases as those quoted, for the reason that this repre-
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 379
sents the state of healthy lungs at the moment of the fullest
inspiration. The majority of persons, however, could not inhale
200 cubic inches (the twelfth of an ounce), while consumptive
patients, dying, and in the last stages of the disease, would not
contain within their lungs anything like 100 cubic inches — the
eighteenth of an ounce. When, therefore. Dr. MacDougall
tells us that more than a whole ounce is lost instantaneously,
at the moment of death, we must seek elsewhere than in this
direction for the explanation of the facts."
In saying this, however, we must not lose sight of the
fact that there are certain remarkable variations in the
human body, Avhen it is alive — variations which are most
difficult to account for upon normal, physiological lines.
There are cases on record in which patients have been
known to take on more weight than the food consumed
by them — though all the bodily w^eight is supposed to be
obtained from the food eaten ! Cases of this character,
however, might perhaps be explained as follows : The
patient's tissues are congested and hardened (obstipated,
as it is called), and there is a disproportion of solids and
fluids within the system. This condition has been
brought about by the ingesting of too much solid and
too little liquid food. When such a person is deprived
of solid food for some time, but allowed plenty of water,
the solid portions of these tissues are drawn upon, and a
portion oxidised off, the interstices being filled in Avith
water. In some such manner, then, Ave could account
for these extraordinary increases in Aveight.
There are also remarkable losses in Aveight — hard to
account for by knoAvn laAvs. Chief of these (and far too
little attention has been paid to this question) is the
astonishing loss of flesh and Aveight sometimes observed
in those patients Avho are suflering great pain or mental
anguish. In such cases, very frequently, a number of
pounds is lost Avithin a few days, although the patient
380 DEATH
may be, throughout that period, eating his regular allow-
ance of food, upon which he is accustomed to maintain,
or even increase, his weight. Losses of weight of this
character cannot be put down to the mere inability of
the organism to assimilate the food, for the reason that
far more weight is lost, very frequently, than would be
lost if the patient fasted entirely, and ate nothing at all.
Nor can the Aveight be accounted for on the grounds that
a larger amount of katabolism and excretion is taking
place than normally, for such is not the case. There is
doubtless an altered chemical composition of the body at
such times ; but, so far as we know, no detailed study of
this has yet been made.
Rear-Admiral George W. Melville has published a
remarkable case {The Submarine Boat, p. 723), in which a
person was incased in an air-tight coffin for one hour, no
fresh air being allowed him during that period. He
survived the test, but it was found that he had lost five
pounds in weight in the time indicated — and this, be it
observed, in spite of the fact that he had taken no
physical exercise whatever ' He had throughout re-
mained at rest within the coffin. When this case was
cited, in an attempt to offset Dr. MacDougall's results,
he replied, saying that, under the circumstances, the
man incased in the coffin would doubtless perspire
profusely, and this w^ould account for the observed loss.
Such might possibly have been the case; but, for want
of further corroboration, it is impossible to settle the
matter at present one way or the other.
Dr. MacDougall's experiments are at all events highly
interesting and important — whether they prove the con-
tention made or not — and should be repeated by
physicians and physiologists whenever the opportunity is
presented. Certainly experiments of this nature, whether
successful or not, would fail to settle the question of
PHOTOGRAPHING & WEIGHING THE SOUL 381
immortality in any case — for the reason that, if negative
results were reached, it would be open for us to believe
that there might be a soul which is incapable of being
weighed ; and if positive results Avere reached, it might,
on the other hand, be contended that the observed loss
of weight corresponded merely with some vital or etheric
principle which left the body at death, and which was
in no way related to consciousness or personal identity.
The experiments, therefore, cannot be said to settle the
question ; but they remain highly interesting never-
theless.
CHAPTEE V
DEATH COINCIDENCES
1. Apparitions of the Dying.
If death were the end of all, it would represent and
necessitate the total cessation of consciousness ; if it be,
on the contrary, the "departure of the soul from the
body," as we have so long been taught, then we should
expect that, in exceptional cases, or under exceptional
conditions, it might be possible for this departing soul to
manifest itself to its friends, either in the immediate
vicinity, or even at a distance — since there is good
reason to believe that " space " has no such meaning in
the spiritual w^orld as it has here. (Nor time.) From
the accounts we have read it is evident that the depart-
ing spirit sometimes retains full possession of its faculties,
though it is probable that this only happens on occasion,
and that, in a large number of cases, probabty the
majority, the shock and Avrench of death produces a
sort of temporary suspension of consciousness, just as a
shock or accident would in this world. Yet, when we
come to inquire into the literature of this subject, we
find that such death coincidences, or manifestations of
the departing spirit, at the moment of death, are by no
means uncommon, but are, on the contrary, very numer-
ous ; and it would be impossible to question any very
large number of individuals without finding one among
them who had experienced something of the sort in his
3S2
DEATH COINCIDENCES 383
life, or who knew of some one who had. When the
English Society for Psychical Research began its pioneer
work, in 1882, it had no notion that such a preponder-
ance of coincidences would be found, all merging towards
the moment of death ; but the investigators soon found
that such manifestations far outweighed all others in
number and in character ; and, within the first five years
of the Society's work (besides all the cases printed in the
Proceedings and Journal of the Society), it was enabled
to publish two bulky volumes, bearing entirely on this
question of death coincidences, entitled Phantasms of the
Living. In these volumes were printed some 702 coin-
cidental cases — in which an apparition of the dying
person had been seen by others at a distance, or some
other sensory, motor, or emotional effect had been noticed
— coincidental with the death of the subject whose
figure was seen. Putting the cases to the test of calcu-
lation, it was found that the coincidences were many
times more numerous than chance could account for ;
and they adopted " telepathy " as the most rational
explanation for these facts. The scientific world, how-
ever, contended that not enough evidence had been
collected ; and the Society accordingly set about a
large international statistical inquiry, which occupied
several years. Thirty thousand answers were received
to the circular of inquiry sent out, seventeen thousand
of these being English. The Report on this " Census
of Hallucinations " occupies (practically) the whole of
the tenth volume of the Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research. After making allowances for error in
every possible direction, and really overstating the case
in favour of scepticism, the result was again reached,
that the coincidences were many times more numerous
than chance could account for. The more recent inquiry
of the American Society, so far as it has gone, and the
384 DEATH
statistical inquiry conducted some years ago by M.
Flaiimiarion, both confirm this view. (See his The Un-
knoiofi). In all these publications many instances of the
kind are to be found ; and so well authenticated are they,
indeed, that we feel it is unnecessary for us to do more
than give one or two cases, as typical of this kind of
phenomenon.
The following is a good example of the " apparition "
type of death coincidence. It was printed in Proceedings
of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. x., pp. 213, 214 : —
"... About the 14th of September 1882, my sister and I
felt worried and distressed by hearing the ' death watch ' ; it
lasted a whole day and night. We got up earlier than usual
the next morning, about six o'clock, to finish some birthday pre-
sents for our mother. As my sister and I were working and
talking together, I looked up, and saw our young acquaintance
standing in front of me and looking at us. I turned to my
sister ; she saw nothing. I looked again to where he stood ;
he had vanished. We agreed not to tell any one. . . .
" Some time afterwards we heard that our young acquaintance
had either committed suicide or had been killed ; he was found
dead in the woods, twenty-four hours after landing. On looking
back to my diary, I found that my marks corresponded to the
date of his death."
Mr. Podmore personally interviewed the witnesses, and
ascertained that the story was as represented.
The following incident is taken from M. Flammarion's
book, The Unknown, p. 108 : —
" My mother, who lived at Burgundy . . . heard one Tuesday,
between nine and ten o'clock, the door of her bedroom open and
close violently. At the same time she heard herself called
twice, ' Lucie ! Lucie ! ' The following Tuesday she heard that
her uncle Clementin, who had always had a great affection for
her, had died that Tuesday morning, precisely between nine and
ten 0^ clock. . . ."
DEATH COINCIDENCES 385
On pp. 169-72 of this work is described a remarkable
case, in Avhich the brother of the percipient was killed in
the attack on the Redan. That night he (the percipient)
awoke suddenly and saw : —
" Opposite to the window and beside my bed, my brother on
his knees surrounded by a sort of luminous mist. I tried to
speak to him, but I could not. ... I jumped out of bed. I
looked out of the window and I saw that there was no moonlight.
The night was dark and it was raining heavily, great drops
pattering on the window panes. My poor Oliver was still there.
Then. I drew near. I walked right through the ap]parition. I
reached my chamber door, and as I turned the knob to open it
I looked back once more. The apparition slowly turned its head
towards me, and gave me another look full of anguish and of
love. Then for the first time I observed a wound on his right
temple, and from it trickled a little stream of blood. The face
was pale as wax, but it was transparent. . . ."
Later, a letter was received, stating that a wound
existed on the face of the dead man exactly correspond-
ing to that seen in the apparition.
Various cases of raps at a distance are recorded — cases
in which these mysterious rappings corresponded exactly
to the death of some person ; but no natural cause for
these rappings has yet been discovered. In most cases
nothing of the sort had ever been heard before or since.
In the following case, which is very remarkable, a 'physical
effect was noted, as will be seen. It is included in Miss
Alice Johnson's paper " On Coincidences," Proceedings of
the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xiv., pp. 242—44 : —
"A friend of [the narrator] Mrs. F., a daughter of a well-
known geologist, has related to [him] a rather striking instance
of telepathy of which she was a witness.
" A few years ago, she was sitting on the rocks above the sea
at Nervi, near Genoa, where she resides habitually, with an
American young girl, who has since become her son's wife. The
2b
386 DEATH
young lady, her gloved hands resting on her knees, was talking
with Mrs. F., when all at once she gave a slight scream.
" ' What is the matter 1 ' asked Mrs. F.
*' ' My finger has been stung.'
" She took off her glove, and discovered that a ring of hers
had snapped. She looked at it with a scared look and exclaimed :
' Oh, Mrs. F., a dear friend of mine has just died ! '
*'She went on to explain that the ring had been given her by
a young man at the time of her leaving the United States, and
that he had said, * If I were to die this ring would apprise you
of the fact.'
" Mrs. F. pooh-poohed the matter, herself being not a believer
in psychical matters. But, a few weeks later, came the news
of that young man's death. Mrs. F. could not tell [the narrator]
me if it was on the very day of the breaking of the ring ; but she
has little doubt about it."
Here we have a choice of two explanations. Either
it may be supposed that a telepathic impulse from the
dying man reached the subliminal consciousness of the
percipient and produced a motor instead of a sensory
effect, which led to an involuntary muscular spasm of
the fingers, resulting in the breaking of the ring; or it
was an effect produced by unknown means on matter
at a distance — telekinetic agency. In any case the
incident is a remarkable one, no matter how we may-
interpret it.
The following experience is signed by three persons :
the lady, Mrs. S. A. C , who had the dream ; her
daughter, Mrs. J. C. J ; and the latter's husband,
Mr. J. C. J . The reporter writes : " I know Mr. and
Mrs. J. C. J personally, and can vouch for their
intelligence as witnesses " : —
"It has taken some time to find dates connected with the
dream I mentioned to you, hence the delay. I have at last
gathered the facts as follows : —
DEATH COINCIDENCES 387
" Mrs. D , my father's sister, had, with husband and
family, removed from our home in Indiana to Nebraska in 1882 j
and in November 1885 she and her husband returned to visit
the old home. They had spent but a day or two with us, when
a special invitation came from friends ten miles distant, which
they accepted, promising to return to us about November 13th.
On November 13th, about 8 a.m., my mother, Mrs. S. A. C ,
dreamed that Mary, the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
D , who had been teaching in Nebraska, was very ill and
could not live, and that a message had been sent to her father
and mother to come home at once. My mother was so impressed
by the dream that she awoke and slept no more that night.
As soon as we arose she told us of the dream and of her anxiety ;
but we made light of her fears, thinking it was only a slight
attack of indigestion.
" However, we learned later, that at 3 a.m. on the 14th, just
twenty-four hours after the dream, the message came, ' Mary
was very ill, come home at once ' ; and still later, that she died
the evening of the 14th, many hours before her parents reached
home."
The following case is reported in M. Flammarion's
The Unknown, p. 1 : —
^'I can certify to you the truth of the following fact, which
occurred in a little town in the department of the Var. My
mother was sitting in a room in the lower storey of her house,
either knitting or sewing, when suddenly she saw before her
her eldest brother, who lived in a village in the arrondissement of
Toulon, about twenty-five miles distant. Her brother, whom
she recognised perfectly, said, ' Adieu,' and disappeared. My
mother, much excited, hastened to her husband, and cried, ' My
brother has just died ! ' She knew he was ill.
" The next day or the day after news reached them of the
death of my uncle, which happened in the afternoon jpreciMly at
the time of the apimrition. There were no telegraphs in those
days. The news had been sent by letter to Aix.
" Utte."
388 DEATH
The following case appears on p. 101 : —
" It has twice in my life happened to me to experience a dis-
tinct impression to have near me a person who was absent, and
to mark the exact hour at which this occurred. Both times the
impression received was found to coincide within five minutes
with the death of the person whom I knew to be ill, but who I
had no idea was so near his end.
"These two striking cases of telepathy have been reported in
the Journal of the Psychical Society in London, of which I have
the honour to be an associate member,
" Aug. Glardon,
" Man of Letters at Tour de Peitz,
" Yaud, Switzerland."
The following case is from Mr. Frank Podmore's
Apparitions and Thovght Transference, p. 265 : —
"The first Thursday in April, 1881, while sitting at tea with
my back to the window, and talking with my wife in the usual
way, I plainly heard a rap at the window, and, looking round,
I said to my wife, ' Why, there's my grandmother,' and went
to the door, but could not see any one ; and still feeling sure
it was my grandmother, and knowing, though eighty-three years
of age, she was very active and fond of a joke, I went round
the house, but could not see any one. My wife did not hear it.
On the following Saturday I had news my grandmother died
in Yorkshire about half-an-hour before the time I heard the
rapping. The last time I saw her alive I promised, if well,
I would attend her funeral ; that was some two years before.
I was in good health and had no trouble ; age, twenty-six years.
I did not know that my grandmother was ill.
" Rev. Matthew Frost."
Mrs. Frost writes : —
" I beg to certify that I perfectly remember all the cir-
cumstances my husband has named, but I heardjand saw nothing
myself."
DEATH COINCIDENCES 389
The following is an unusually interesting case :—
*'It was in Milan on 10th of October 1888. I was staying
at the Hotel Ancora. After dinner, at about seven o'clock,
I was seated on the sofa reading a newspaper. My wife was
resting in the same room on a couch behind a curtain. The
room was lighted by a lamp upon the table near which I
was sitting reading. Suddenly I saw against the background
of the door, which was opposite me, my father's face. He
wore as usual a black surtout, and was deadly pale. At that
moment I heard quite close to my ear a voice which said to me :
' A telegram is coming to say your father is dead.' All this only
took a few seconds. . . . On the evening of the same day, at
about eleven o'clock, we were going to tea in the company
of several other people. . . . All at once there was a knock at
the door, and the concierge presented a telegram. Pale with
emotion I immediately exclaimed, ' I know my father is dead ;
I have seen. . . .' The telegram contained these words : ' Papa
dead, suddenly. — Olga.' It was a telegram from my sister
living at St. Petersburg. I learned later that my father had
committed suicide on the morning of the same day.
''(Signed) E. A."
Madame A. writes : —
" I was present at the time, and I testify to the accuracy of
the account."
The following case is from Phantasms of the Living,
vol. ii., p. 50 : —
"On February 26th, 1850, I was awake, for I was to go
to my sister-in-law, and visiting was then an event for me.
About two o'clock in the morning my brother walked into our
room (my sister's) and stood beside my bed. I called to
her, ' There is .' He was at the time quartered in Paisley,
and a mail-car from Belfast passed about that hour not more
than about half-a-mile from our village. . . . He looked down
most lovingly, and kindly, and waved his hand, and he was
gone. I recollect it all as if it were only last night it occurred ,
390 DEATH
and my feeling of astonishment, not at his coming into the
room at all, but whence he could have gone. At that very
hour he died."
Mr. Gurney writes : —
" We have confirmed the date of death in the Army List, and
find from a newspaper notice that the death took place in the
early morning, and was extremely sudden."
There is an interesting account in another part of the
volume in which the percipient awoke suddenly, feeling
that he had received a terrible blow across his face.
He even put his hands to his lips, to see if there was
any blood upon them. The pain persisted for some
time after he had awakened. No explanation was found
for this until later, when it was ascertained that his
brother had been struck violently in the mouth by the
boom of a sailing-boat in a storm and almost knocked
overboard. The coincidence in time was also verified.
This is a very striking incident.
Many other cases of a like nature could be quoted in
this connection, but space does not permit; and any
lengthy discussion of the point would be out of place in
a work of this character. We cannot refrain from adding
one or two remarks, however, on a subject that is of
peculiar interest and to which we referred in the first
part of this work. We refer to certain olfactory pheno-
mena of a peculiar nature.
2. Olfactory Phenomena.
In Part I. of the present work, we gave some remarkable
cases in which a certain smell was noted at the moment
of death ; and a summary of the attempts that had been
made to solve this mystery. We shall now give a few
cases where very much the same phenomena have been
DEATH COINCIDENCES 391
noted under conditions that render the hypothesis pre-
viously advanced quite impossible. The theory was
that some sort of chemical action went on in the body,
and that this was the cause of the odour noted. Of
course, if such were the case (and it may have been
in the cases cited), it would be quite impossible for
such smell to be noticed heyond the limits of sense ^ercerp-
tion ; and if such an odour was noticed miles away at
the time of death, and found afterwards to correspond
with it, it would be pretty fair evidence that chemical
action and sense-perceptions would not serve to account
for all the facts, but that some sort of " psychic " factor
entered into the case also. That this is so in a number
of instances, we think we can easily prove.
There is a case recorded in the Journal of the Ameri-
can Society for Psychical Research, e.g. (Sept. 1907, pp.
436-9), in which the smell of violets was very plainly
observed whenever the inmates of the house had good
reason to suppose the son of the house (deceased) was
present. This happened on several occasions, and was
observed by the mother, the little boy, the eldest son,
and his wife. All sensed the perfume of violets very
strongly. In a case known to one of us, a family of
spiritualists was in the habit of holding seances in their
own family circle, no one else being present, and especially
were these st-ances held on the anniversary of the father's
death. On such occasions there was frequently a strong
smell of violets manifest — so strong, we are assured,
that the fragrance remained in the room for several hours
after the seance had terminated. In both of these cases
the person who died was especially fond of violets, and
in the former case a bunch of violets was buried with
the body. Mr. Myers gives an instance in which thyme
was strongly smelt by a gentleman walking through a
field, in which it was reported that a young woman had
392 DEATH
been murdered, and that " any one walking in that field
would smell thyme." Mr. Highton, who experienced
this, was engrossed in other thoughts, and had totally
forgotten the incident — at least for the time being.
There are several cases known to us in which a distinct
scent has been perceived at a distance by individuals
— such scent corresponding to the death of the person
with whose individuality this scent was closely associated.
Certainly such cases are not due to chemical com-
bustion, or to any physical cause — whatever their real
nature may be. They are mental or psychological facts.
That they are hallucinatory in most cases cannot be
doubted — this being borne out by a series of experi-
ments in the transference of certain tastes from operator
to percipient in thought-transference experiments. (See
Phantasms of the Living, vol. i., pp. 51-8; vol. ii., pp.
324-31, 339, 344, 666-8). But it would seem that
in some cases real scent may be secreted by the body — -
or something closely resembling it — as was the case with
Stainton Moses. At some of his stances, it was asserted
that scent was manufactured, and came from the top of
his head, where it could be felt ! Certainly it was smelt
by all present. It was closely allied to the scent of
flowers. Nor is this so inherently improbable as many
might suppose. Sir William Ramsay stated that : —
" Perspiration ^ consists of caproate of glyceryl, mixed with
free acid, I believe. It does not smell nice ; but pure caproates
are very fragrant if the right alcoholic^ base is combined. I
1 It must be remembered, in this connection, that animals are enabled
to follow the *' scent " of a person with great precision, and often for
miles. This would certainly seem to indicate that some subtle but power-
ful odour is emitted from the surface of the body, and that it permeates
the clothing and atmosphere of the person in every case. How, other-
wise, is the above fact to be accounted for — a fact so well attested that
any dispute on this point is useless ? It would certainly seem that each
person has an " aura" of his own — physical as well as psychical. There
are indications, also, that this odour is largely characterised by the char
DEATH COINCIDENCES 393
fancy that woodruffe and verbena are of the same nature as
turpentine, and have probably the same percentage composition.
However, so far as I know, they have never been investigated."
acter of the diet. It is a well-known fact that a carnivorous animal will
not eat a carnivorous animal — will not eat a man if a horse is near by, for
example. Instinct tells a carnivorous animal that the flesh of other carni-
vorous animals is tainted ; that it is not good food, and he will not eat it.
Otherwise a dog would not only kill a cat, but would eat it too. But both
a cat and a dog will eat a mouse, for the reason that the mouse is a vege-
tarian animal. It is the same throughout the animal world. These facts
certainly seem to indicate that the character of the bodily odour is largely
determined by the nature of the food ; and, in support of this, it may be
said that, in the case of those persons who subsist largely on fish, the
odour of their bodies is often very repellent and characteristic. They
smell decidedly of fish 1
CHAPTER VI
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE— PSYCHICAL RESEARCH
Part I. — The Physical Phenomena.
And now we come to the final, and to many minds tlie
most conclusive, proofs of the persistence of conscious-
ness after the death of the body — the " Immortality of
the Soul." In the first part of this book we confined
ourselves to a consideration of the physical or physio-
logical side of death only ; and for our purposes it made
no difference to us whether man had a soul or no. We
were studying his death and its causes as we might study
that of any animal. With that we stopped. But the
question could not but come up in this connection :
" What becomes of the mental man after this dis-
ruption of the body — his consciousness or soul-life ? Is
that too annihilated, as his body is disintegrated, or does
it continue to persist in some other sphere of activity ? "
To that question we then addressed ourselves ; and we
found that, although a strong presumiDtion was raised in
favour of the persistence of individual consciousness
by the philosophical, theological, and other arguments
that were advanced in its favour, none of these proved
conclusive ; we had to seek further, and obtain more direct
evidence still. We accordingly turned to science — to see
what that had to say upon this question, and Avhile we
found that " orthodox " science was silent on this subject,
the phenomena forming the basis of so-called psychical
394
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 395
research are apparently real ; and, taken together, form
a strong case in favour of the survival of some sort of
soul — something in man capable of producing these re-
markable phenomena, after it has ceased its connection
with the bodily organism. The series of cases we have
presented form a gradual but yet logically-connected chain
— showing that the soul of man leaves the body at the
moment of death — being seen by others, as well as being
aware of that fact itself; and that this soul is able to
manifest at great distances, on occasion, at the moment
of its departure, or very shortly afterwards. We en-
deavoured to support this testimony by actual experi-
mental evidence — photographing and weighing the soul.
All these cases, taken en masse, may fairly be said to
raise a presumption in favour of the persistence of some-
thing in man capable of surviving the death of the
body ; and it only remains for us to see whether this
" something " possesses memory and the personal identity
we once knew. If that be proved, then a spiritual
world of some sort may fairly be said to have been
demonstrated.
Now, there are two types of phenomena which might
prove this persistence of consciousness and personal
identity. These are (1) physical phenomena; and (2)
mental phenomena. In the former case we have
certain material happenings — real, objective facts, and,
behind them, there is often an intelligence — one, ap-
parently, which is not that of the medium through
whom these manifestations occur. We shall consider
these first. Coming next to the mental phenomena, we
shall find much more abundant and conclusive evidence
in favour of personal identity. But to these we shall
come in good time.
396 DEATH
1. The Phenomena of Independent Voices.
The phenomena we are now about to record are so
remarkable that a certain amount of scepticism is
warrantable. We shall merely state the facts, however,
and let the reader form his own opinion as to the causes
of the phenomena. In cases of this character, the in-
vestigators sit in a room (in some cases darkened and in
other cases light), and " voices " issue from the air — oc-
casionally coming from " empty nothingness " ; some-
times from a horn, which has been provided to direct
and intensify the sounds. When the room is in darkness
there is, of course, no evidence that the medium herself
is not manipulating the trumpet and doing the talking ;
and we always have to assume for evidential purposes
that she is. In light seances it can be seen that she
herself is not doing the talking. In any case the fact of
the independent voice — whether it exists or not — is of
secondary importance for our present purposes. For us,
the primary question is : Does the voice tell us anything
that is evidential ? Does it tell us anything which the
medium could not have known ? Is there proof of
identity ? That is the crucial problem. Assuming, for
the sake of argument, that the medium actually does all
the talking, in such cases, the question arises, — Where
does she get the facts that are imparted ? The super-
normal information given is the crux, in cases of this
character. We summarise one or two striking cases of
this type in which apparently supernormal information
was given. The first appeared in the 02:)en Court Magazine
(May-June, 1908), under the signature of Mr. David P.
Abbott — a gentleman who is very well versed in all
methods of trickery, and whose book. Behind the Scenes with
the Mediums, is a classic in its way. Nevertheless, Mr.
Abbott has some remarkable things to tell us of his
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 397
visit to Mrs. Blake. The following passages are from
his report on the case, entitled " The History of a Strange
Case : A Study in Occultism " : —
'* Dr. X stated that at his first sitting he was completely
* taken off his feet, so to speak,' and considered spirit communion
as proven ; but that upon subsequent occasions, he was sorry to
state things had occurred to lessen this belief. He related
many marvellous incidents of conversation with the voices, and
stated that he had taken many friends to the lady under assumed
names ; ^et he had neve?- failed to hear the voices call these persons
hy their right names, etc. He also stated that the information
furnished by Mrs. Blake's voices at times had seemed so
marvellous that he had seriously contemplated referring her
case to the Society for Psychical Research, in order that he
might have an authoritative statement with regard to what her
powers really consisted of. I quote a few extracts from many
in his letters : —
" ' Twenty-two years ago this summer, my father took me to
Virginia for the purpose of entering me in college. I was an
only child, had not been away from home a great deal, and was
quite young ; therefore he accompanied me to Blacksburg,
Virginia, introduced me to the president of the school, and
otherwise assisted me in getting started. It was a military
school, and every new-comer was called a " rat," and this was
yelled at him by the older students in chorus until it grated
upon his nerves to a considerable extent.
" ' As my father and myself walked up towards the college
buildings over the broad campus, the word "rat" was yelled at
us with depressing distinctness. We went across the campus
and on beyond to a large grove of virgin forest, where we sat
down upon a large log ; and here my father gave me some
paternal advice. He was going to leave the next morning, and
I felt very sad and lonely ; and it was with great difficulty that
I kept back the tears that in spite of myself would now and then
trickle down my cheeks. At all of this my father laughed and
said that I would be all right in a few days.
*' ' When conversing through Mrs. Blake's trumpet with the
398 DEATH
supposed voice of my father, the following conversation with the
voice occurred. I had previously written out the questions and
I have since added the answers of the voice : —
" ' Do you remember the time you took me off to college? ' I
asked.
" * Yes, as distinctly as if it were yesterday/ the voice replied.
" ' When we walked towards the buildings, what was said to
me by some of the students 1 '
*' ' They yelled " Rat " at you.'
" ' Spell that word,' 1 requested, as I desired no misunder-
standing.
<' ' R, — a — t,' spelled the voice.
" ' Where did we go after leaving the campus and college
buildings ? ' I next asked.
" ' We went to a large grove near the college buildings and
sat down upon a hickory log,' responded the voice.
" ' What did I do and say while sitting on this log? '
" ' You cried because I was going to leave you and go home,'
answered the voice. All of this was wonderfully accurate, but
I do not know whether or not the log was hickory.'
" In another letter he says : — ' On one occasion a voice sup-
posed to be my grandfather's talked with me, and I asked it
what had caused him to depart this life. Just previous to
asking this question the voice had been full and strong ; but
upon asking it the voice became indistinct, and I concluded that
my question had ' put the lady out of business.' To my surprise,
in a few minutes my grandfather commenced to talk again ;
and I reminded him that he had not answered my question.
He replied by saying that I knew perfectly well what had
caused him to depart this life, and that it was not necessary to
ask such unimportant questions.
*' I replied by stating that I wanted the question answered, in
order that I might be convinced as to his identity ; and also to
know that he had sufficient consciousness and intelligence to
reply. He then stated that the immediate cause of his death
was a fracture of the skull. ' How did this happen ? ' I asked.
" ' By falling down a stairway,' answered the voice.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 399
" 'In what town and house did this occur?'
** ' In Galliopolis, Ohio, in my son's home,' again responded
the voice. All of this was correct.
"I next asked my grandfather's voice if he remembered what
he used to entertain me with when I was a child. He replied
that he did ; that he had made little boats for me, and had
floated them in a tub of water. I asked how old I was when
this took place, and he replied that I was five years old. This
was correct, and had occurred some thirty-four years ago. . . .
" A loud voice of a man now broke into the conversation. It
was vocal in tone, low in pitch, and had a weird effect.
" ' How do you do ? ' said the voice.
" ' How do you do, sir 1 Who are you ? ' asked Mr. Clawson.
'* ' Grandpa,' replied the voice.
" ' Grandpa who ? ' asked Mr. Clawson.
" ' Grandpa Abbott,' said the voice, and it repeated, hurriedly,
a name that sounded like ' David Abbott ' ; and then the voice
expired with a sound as of some one choking or strangling, as it
went off dimly and vanished. ' David ' was my grandfather
Abbott's Christian name.
" The lady now laid the trumpet down in her lap and said, * Let
it rest in our hands until we regain strength.' In a few
moments she turned her chair so as to face the opposite direc-
tion, and said, ' I will use my other ear ; my arm is tired.'
" Now, while they were resting, I determined to offer a sug-
gestion to the lady indirectly, and to note what the effect would
be. Turning to Mr. Clawson, but not calling him by name, I
remarked, ' It is strange that those we want so much do not
come ; that your daughter, to whom you would rather talk than
to any one, does not speak to you. You have evidently talked
to her, and she seems to identify herself ; but is it not strange
that she does not give her name correctly ? ' I said this in
order to convey to the lady the fact that the name which
appeared to be * Edna ' was not the correct name of the
gentleman's daughter.
" When next he raised the trumpet to his ear a whispered
voice said, 'Daddie, I am here.'
" ' Who are you ? ' asked Mr. Clawson.
400 DEATH
" ' Georgia, replied the voice.
" ' Georgia ? Georgia, is this really you ? ' asked Mr. Clawson,
with intense emotion and earnestness.
"'Yes, Daddie. Didn't you think 1 knew my own name?'
asked the voice.
"■ ' I thought you did, Georgia, but could not understand why
you would not tell it to me. Where do we live, Georgia?'
" ' In Kansas City,' responded the voice, and then continued,
' Daddie, I am so glad to talk to you, and so glad you came
here to see me. I wish you could see my beautiful home. We
have flowers and music every day.'
" ' Georgia, what is the name of your sweetheart to whom you
were engaged ? ' now asked Mr. Clawson.
" ' .' The reply could not be understood.
*' ' Georgia, spell the name,' requested Mr. Clawson.
*' 'A — r — c, Ark,' responded the voice, spelling out the letters
and then pronouncing the name.
" ' Give me his full name, Georgia,' requested Mr. Clawson.
*' ' Archimedes,' now responded the voice.
" ' Will you spell the name for me ? ' asked Mr. Clawson, who
wished to prevent a misinterpretation of sounds.
"' A — r — c — h — i — m — e — d — e — s,' spelled the voice.
"'Where is Ark, Georgia?' now asked Mr. Clawson. The
reply could not be understood, but an inarticulate sentence was
spoken, ending with a word which sounded like ' Denver.'
'" Do you say he is in Denver, Georgia?' asked Mr. Clawson.
" ' No, no,' responded the voice loudly and almost vocally,
and then continued, 'He is in New York.' This, Mr. Clawson
afterwards informed me, was correct ; but he thought the
gentleman was at the time out of New York City, though
somewhere in that State.
" ' Daddie, I want to tell you something. Ark is going to
marry another girl,' now continued the voice.
" ' Georgia, you say Ark is going to marry another girl,' asked
Mr. Clawson.
" ' Yes, Daddie, but it's all right. It's all right now. He does
not love her as he did me, but it is all right. I do not care
now.'
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 401
Much more to like effect could be quoted from investi-
gations of Mrs. Blake, did space permit. It will be seen,
at all events, that, no matter what the source of the
voice, much information, apparently supernormal, was
given — and information suggesting the intelligence of
some deceased person.
In his Psycliic Bidclle, Dr. I. K. Funk has recorded a
remarkable case of apparently independent voices —
though the evidence is not so good or so convincing as
in the last case. But it is very striking, none the less.
The medium — Mrs. Emily S. French — insists upon com-
plete darkness, and no ray of light is admitted at any of
her seances. Mrs. French is quite an old woman, and is
deaf to much that passes around her. This deafness was
attested by several doctors. Nevertheless, the voices in
this case catch up any remark that the sitters may make,
and pass comments upon it with surprising alacrity. Dr.
Funk assures us that he frequently heard (so it seemed)
the normal voice of the medium at the same time as the
voice of the intelligence doing the talking. If this is so, it
is very curious, to say the least. Dr. Funk devoted most
of his twelve sittings, and his supplementary sitting at
Rochester, to testing the hypothesis of fraud, and he
details his precautions at great length. " Red Jacket," a
supposed Indian control, did most of the talking, and
there was very little supernormal information volun-
teered. The case is most interesting, and it deserves
thorough and prolonged investigation. Its nature, how-
ever, prevents our quoting it at length in this
place.
The case of " Mrs. Smiley," detailed by Hamlin Garland,
in " The Shadow World," a series of articles that appeared
in Emryhodys Magazine, beginning in April 19 08, presents
another interesting case of independent voice phenomena.
The " Mrs. Smiley," introduced in these studies, is a
2c
402 DEATH
Western woman who is well known to all the leading
investigators of psychical problems ; and while the semi-
fictional style adopted by the author detracts from the
evidential value of the experiences described, Mr. Gar-
land's assurance that the facts are personal experiences,
and as true in every particular as the reports that he has
filed with the American Society for Psychical Research,
may to some degree remove this objection. If we did
not accept Mr. Garland's statement, we should not
mention the experiments here.
In describing the precautions that were taken to pre-
vent trickery, Mr. Garland states that he took from his
pocket a spool of strong silk twist, with which he very
carefully fastened the psychic's wrists. " Each arm was
tied separately in such wise that she was unable to bring
her hands together, and could not raise her wrists an
inch from the chair. Next, with the aid of Mrs. Cameron,
I looped a long piece of tape about Mrs. Smiley's ankles,
knotted it about the rungs of the chair at the back, and
nailed the loose ends to the floor. I then drew chalk
marks on the floor about the chair legs, in order that
any movement of the chair, no matter how slight, might
show. Finally, I pushed the table (on which the tin
horn stood) fully two feet away from the psychic's
utmost reach."
After describing the physical phenomena produced
through " Mrs. Smiley's " mediumship — the ringing of
bells, the movement of objects, the writing, and other
results that were obtained, apparently without any effort
on the part of the psychic, Mr. Garland details what he
terms " the supreme test" — a test that was a complete
failure in one respect, though astonishingly successful in
another.
We quote at length from Evcryhodys Magazine, July
1908:—
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 403
" Hardly were we settled in place when a sound came from
the cone as though some one were tapping on it with the end
of a lead pencil. 'Is that you, comrade Wilbur?' I asked.
'* Tap, tap, tap, he answered vigorously.
" ' I thought I recognised your tap,' I answered. ' I am glad
you are here, and I hope you are going to hand us out the finest
possible test. Is Mr. Mitchell present ? '
*' To my delight the cone was instantly lifted, and the voice
of ' Mitchell ' answered me. . . . He spoke to me upon the in-
vestigation that we were pursuing. , . . He solemnly urged me
to proceed in this work, and at last said, ' Good-bye for the
present/ and fell silent.
*'The cone was then deposited on the table, and 'Maudie'
(another control) said : ' If Mr. Garland and Mr. Fowler will go
quietly up to mamma's side, holding all the time tightly to the
threads, Mr. Mitchell will do what Mr. Garland so much desires.
Please be very careful not to touch mamma until I tell you.
Keep as far apart as you can as you go up to her. When you
reach my mamma's side, you may put one hand on her head and
one on her wrist. Mr. Mitchell says : Please have Mr. Brierly
take Mrs. Fowler's hand, so that every hand in the circle is
accounted for.'
" I was now very eager and very alert. Surely no trickster
would permit such rigorous control as that which we were now
invited to exercise. My admiration went out towards this
heroic little woman, who was enduring so much pain and sus-
picion for the sake of science.
" Slowly we crept to her side, being careful to touch nothing
until directed by the voice of ' Maud.' At last the childish
voice said : ' Mr. Garland may put his right hand on top of
mamma's head, and his left hand on her wrist. Mr. Fowler may
put his left hand on Mr. Garland's, and his right hand on
mamma's wrist. Mr. Mitchell says that he will then see if the
voices will not come.'
" I then said aloud : ' Brierly, my right hand is on the
pyschic's head, my left is on her wrist.'
" Fowler repeated : * My left hand is above Garland's right,
which is on the psychic's head, and my own right hand is on the
right wrist of the psychic. Now, Wilbur, go ahead.'
404 DEATH
" Our challenge was almost instantly caught up. While we
were thus doubly safeguarding the psychic, the cone, which was
resting on the table a full yard away, rose with a sharp, metallic,
scraping sound, and remained in the air for fully half-a-minute,
during which I called out sharply : ' We are absolutely control-
ling the psychic ; her hands are motionless. Brierly, be sure of
both Mrs. Fowler's hands.'
" ' I have her hands in mine,' he answered.
" As the cone was gently returned to the carpet, I said :
' Fowler, that was a supreme test of the psychic. She was
absolutely not concerned in any knoion luay with that movement.
Save for a ciu-ious throbbing, wave-like motion in her scalp, she
did not move. If she lifted the horn, it was by the exercise of
a force unrecognised by science.'
"'Mitchell' was then asked if it would not be possible to
produce the voices through the cone at the same time that the
psychic was being held.
" He seemed to hesitate, and at last said, ' We will try.' I
perceived in his tone a certain doubt and indecision. Again we
were permitted to hold the psychic's wrists, and, as before, the
cone was lifted and drummed upon as if to show its position
high in the air, hut no voices came. Hidden forces seemed to be
struggling for escape beneath our hands, and with a sense of
some baffling, incredible, externalisation of the psychic's nerve
force, I could well understand why the command had so often
been given not to touch her unbidden, and not to flash a sudden
light.
" At last the cone dropped upon the table, and we resumed
our seats. ' Maud ' then said : ' Mamma will waken very soon.
Mr. Mitchell will try to do what you wish.' . . . Mrs. Smiley
seemed to pass through another period of intense suffering,
moaning and gasping more piteously than before. ' Maudie '
then asked us to sing again, and put her mother back into
deeper sleep. Shortly after this the tapping came again upon
the cone, and ' Wilbur's ' strong hand grasped and lifted it, and
his voice — vigorous, almost full-toned — spoke in a perfectly
life-like way, and while his voice was still sounding, the psychic
sighed deeply and awoke I
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 405
" ' Is anybody here ? ' she asked, in her natural voice.
" Profoundly surprised at the sudden change, I answered,
* Yes, Wilbur is here ; at least, he was speaking but a moment
ago.' . . . Now came a completely mystifying performance,
and an overthrow of my theory, for with Mrs. Smiley perfectly
normal, mentally, ' Wilbur,' very much alive, remained at
my elbow alert to perform. His activities suffered no diminu-
tion. He went about his pranks with greater vigour than before,
handling the cone and whisking paper and pencil about, while
Mrs. Smiley talked freely in answer to my questions, seemingly
quite unconcerned about results. A singularly engrossing game
of hide-and-go-seek now began. I tried every expedient to get
Mrs. Smiley's voice and that of the ' spirit's ' at the same time.
But never did I succeed in getting ' Wilbur's ' voice at precisely
the same moment with her own, though he followed swiftly on
her speech, interjecting remarks echoing her questions.
*' At last the cone dropped to the table ; it was apparently
taken up by another hand, and ' Mitchell ' asked : ' What can I
do for you, Mr. Garland ? '
" ' First of all, I want the privilege of going to the psychic's
chair again, in order to hold her wrists and listen at her lips.
May I do so ? '
*' ' Mitchell ' did not reply, but, when the question was re-
peated, three faint taps on the cone answered 'Yes.'
"Leaving my seat I felt my way to Mrs. Smiley's side. 'I
am very close to the ultimate mystery, Mrs. Smiley,' I said, as
I placed my hand upon her wrist. ' Proceed, Wilbur. Let me
hear your voice now.'
" With tense expectation, I put my ear close to the psychic's
lips, and listened breathlessly. The horn soared into the air,
and was drummed there as if to show that it was out of the
reach of the psychic, hut no voice came from it. This was a dis-
appointment to me, and I said, banteringly : ' You know this
failure is suspicious, Wilbur. It seems to prove that Mrs.
Smiley is only a wonderful ventriloquist, after all. If your
vocal organs are independent of hers, show it.'
" No reply came to this, but, while my hands were firmly
pressed upon her wrists (both sleeves still being nailed to the
406 DEATH
chair) the loose leaves of the paper in the centre of the table
were whisked away to the left. . . . But I did not forget my
further test. ' Mrs. Smiley,' I said, . . . ' I want to place my
hand over your lips, or to muffle you in some way. I must prove
that you have nothing to do with the production of those voices.
Will you permit this test ? '
" ' Certainly,' she answered, with patient sweetness. ' You
may gag me in any way you want.' . . . So, taking a large
kerchief from my pocket, I tied it tightly around her mouth,
knotting it at the back, and then challenging the ghostly one,
' Now, Wilbur, let's hear from you. Prove your psychic's
innocence ! '
" A moment later the voice came from the cone, but ap-
parently very much muffled and blurred, 'That is easy.'
" ' You are not articulating well,' I rather sarcastically ob-
served.
" Instantly the voice came out clearly, more sharply than
ever before, ' / was foolinfj you ! ' Upon lighting the gas, we
found our victim as before, sitting absolutely as we had placed
her. The table edge was twenty-four inches from her finger
tips. The place where the cone had lain, which we had marked
with chalk when the cone was first drummed upon, was thirty-
six inches from one hand and forty inches from the other. But
most inexplicable of all, the tangible permanent record was the
seven sheets of paper that we found lying upon a couch six feet
from Mrs. Smiley's left hand. They loere all loritten upon legibly,
and pinned together with a black pin, which had been thrust through
the writing."^ The pencil was on the carpet forty inches from
Mrs. Smiley's hand. The leaves of paper, at the moment when
they were grasped and lifted, had been more than forty inches
from her finger tips."
2. Raps.
There are certain cases on record in which raps have
been known to occur in the presence of no professional
medium, and under circumstances that are practically
^ The italics are Mr. Garland's.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 407
convincing. Thus, Dr. J. Maxwell, in his Metapsychical
Phenomena, p. 278, relates a case in which raps took
place out of doors, in the presence of a friend of his
(not a professional medium), and under very favourable
circumstances. He says : —
*'The raps on the open umbrella are extremely curious. We
have heard raps on the woodwork and on the silk at one and
the same time ; it is easy to perceive that the shock actually
occurs in the wood, that the molecules of the latter are set in
motion. The same thing occurs in the silk ; and here observa-
tion is even more interesting still ; each rap looks like a drop of
some invisible liquid falling on the silk from a respectable
height. The stretched silk of the umbrella is quickly and
slightly but surely dented in ; sometimes the force with which
the raps are given is such as to shake the umbrella. Nothing
is more absorbing than the observation of an apparent con-
versation — by means of the umbrella — between the medium's
personifications. Raps, imitating a burst of laughter in re-
sponse to the observer's remarks, resound on the silk, like the
rapid play of strong but tiny fingers. When raps on the
umbrella are forthcoming, M. Meurice either holds the handle
of the umbrella, or some one else does, while he simply touches
the handle very lightly with his open palm. He never touches
the silk."
This personification of the raps has been observed
on several occasions. Again, Dr. Maxwell — who has
made a special study of this subject — says, in his Meta-
'psychical Phenomena, pp. 81—3 : —
" One of the most curious facts revealed by the observation of
raps is their relation to what I call personification. Each per-
sonified individuality manifests its presence by special raps.
In a series of experiments that have now lasted for more than
two years, I have had frequent opportunities of studying raps,
personifying diverse entities. Sometimes the raps imitate a
burst of laughter ; this coincides with either an amusing story
408 DEATH
related by one of the sitters, or with some mild teasing. Not
only do the raps reveal themselves as the productions of
intelligent action, they also manifest intelligence in response
to any particular rhythm or code which might be suggested."
Whatever the cause and nature ot these raps, there-
fore, it is certain that there is some intelligence connected
with them ; and that intelligence is independent either
of the medium or of the sitter. As no other visible
being is present, the intelligence apparently belongs to
an mvisible one ; and what that may be we do not
pretend to say. It will be apparent that the pheno-
mena are at all events spiritistic in appearance, like
many others, no matter what their ultimate explanation
may be.
3. The Case of D. D. Home.
As there are comparatively few cases in which any
attempt has been made to establish the question of
identity by means of the so-called physical phenomena,
such manifestations of psychic power, interesting though
they may be to the investigator, are worthy of but little
attention in a work of this character. If we were en-
gaged in a thorough examination of the various problems
of psychical research, we might feel disposed to go more
deeply into the mysteries of alleged telekinesis, but
when, as is the case, the interest centres entirely around
the question of identity, the reports pertaining to levi-
tations, materialisation, and other exhibitions of ab-
normal physical force may be disposed of with the
briefest possible mention.
In the case of D. D. Home, therefore, there are com-
paratively few facts that need be included in these pages,
for while he stands practically alone among professional
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 409
mediums, being the only producer of physical phenomena
who has never been exposed, or caught in some act of
trickery, the manifestations of his power have, almost
without exception, been of a character in which the
question of identity could not naturally enter. That
his phenomena are of a most mystifying order, however,
there can be no question. Even Mr. Podmore, who was
none too ready to grant the existence of supernormal
forces, was willing to admit that there is no valid evidence
upon which to base a suspicion against this medium.^
In the first place, Home invariably sat in the circle,
side by side with the other sitters. Moreover, he always
exhibited a great objection to darkness, insisting upon
having as much light as possible, and, on one occasion
at least, he offered to change his clothes just before the
stance to prove that he had brought no mechanism, or
paraphernalia concealed about his person. In fact, the
most searching investigation that such men as Lord
Adare and Sir William Crookes were able to make
disclosed nothing that seemed to warrant the assumption
that the phenomena which he produced were not genuine,
at least so far as conscious fraud on the part of the medium
was concerned. Even the severe scientific tests devised
by these well-trained investigators produced no other
result than to indicate that, as Sir William Crookes says,
in his Researches in Modern Spiritualism, they apparently
demonstrated the existence of some force which was able
to move objects in a supernormal manner.
So far as the extraordinary levitations and other
exhibitions of telekinesis are concerned, readers who are
interested in such phenomena will find these wonders
fully described in many books on psychical investigation,
including Sir William Crookes' Researches, and the Pro-
ceedings of the {London) Society for Psychical Research.
1 Modern Spiritualism, vol. ii., p. 230.
410 DEATH
It is from these sources that we have obtained the fol-
lowing facts in regard to the famous " accordion test."
It is stated that Home took an ordinary accordion
by the end furthest from the keys, and that, while hold-
ing it in that manner beneath the table, the accordion
commenced to play. All who were present were per-
mitted to look under the table, when they saw the
instrument open and close, the keys rising and falling,
exactly as though some unseen hands were fingering them.
After describing this experiment, and assuring the reader
that music was obtained even when all eyes were fixed
upon the instrument. Sir William Crookes continued : —
"But the sequel was still more surprising, for Mr. Home
then removed his hand altogether from the accordion, and
placed it in the hand of the person next to him. The instru-
ment then continued to play, no person touching it, and no
hand being near it. The accordion was now again taken with-
out any visible touch from Mr. Home's hand, which he removed
from it entirely and placed upon the table, where it was taken
by the person next to him, and seen, as now were both his
hands, by all present."
As a further test, Sir William devised a wire cage,
circular in shape, and composed of laths of wood, fastened
together at the top and bottom, and with wire encircling
it in twenty-four rounds, the openings being less than an
inch apart. In other words, while this cage would hold
the accordion easily, it was impossible to turn the in-
strument after it had been put in it, while the hand that
held the accordion in the cage could in no manner reach
the keys. To further prevent the possibility of outside
communication, the wires that passed around the cage
were charged with electricity from a battery situated
in the next room. In spite of these precautions, however,
the instrument continued to play. Sir William says : —
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 411
"I and two of the others present saw the accordion distinctly
floating about inside the cage with no visible support. I
grasped Mr. Home's arm below the elbow, and gently slid my
hand down until I touched the top of the accordion. He was
not moving a muscle. His other hand was on the table,
visible to all, and his feet were under the feet of those next
to him."
On another occasion,
" The accordion was held by Mr. Home in the usual position
under the table. Whilst it played, Mrs. I. looked beneath and
saw it playing. Mr. Home removed his hand altogether from
it, and held both hands above the table. During this Mrs. I.
said she saw a luminous hand playing the accordion."
This mention of a luminous hand brings us to a very
interesting phenomenon, one that has been frequently
attested in Home's case, however. We refer to the
" dematerialisation " of hands while they are being held
by the sitter. Sir William Crookes mentions this on
several occasions, and not only casually, but very em-
phatically. (See Journal of the Society for Psychical
Research, vol. vi., p. 342.) There he says: "The hands
were warm and lifelike, and if retained would appear to
melt in one's grasp. They were never dragged away."
Other witnesses speak to like effect. Thus, Mr. H. D.
Jencken, in a paper read before the London Dialectical
Society, said: "Spirit hands are usually luminous, and
appear and re-appear all but instantaneously. I have
once been enabled to submit a spirit hand to pressure.
The temperature was, as far as I could judge, the same
as that of the room, and the spirit hand felt soft, velvety,
dissolving slowly under the greatest amount of pressure
to which I could submit it." {Be'povt, p. 120.) Dr. A. D.
Wilson and Professor Mapes testify to like effect. (See
R. D. Owen, Delateable Land, pp. 351-2; also Hardinge,
Modern American Spiritualism, p. 106.)
412 DEATH
It would seem that we have here, then, an indication
of an external spiritual being ; for the phenomena, if not
the result of hallucination pure and simple (it certainly
could not have been fraud on many occasions, for these
hands were clearly seen, when Home was also seen
in another part of the room), do not point to any
" unknown force " as an explanation, but to an entity,
having a body, and a volition of its own. Certainly
the phenomena are sufficiently startling to warrant a
certain amount of scepticism, but the only rational
way out of the difficulty, apparently, is to suppose that
hallucination of the sitters took place. This hypothesis
has been advanced and defended from time to time by
various writers, notably Mr. Podmore, and more recently
by Miss Alice Johnson in her reply to Count Solovovo
(vide Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol.
xxi., pp. 436-515). But the objections that have been
raised to the theory still hold good : (1) that several
persons, all apparently normal, saw the hands at the
same time; and (2) that the hands often moved various
articles from place to place, and they were found to
have been actually moved after the seance ended.
Unless we are prepared to admit that a hallucination
of a hand can move a material object, it would be very
difficult to account for many of the Home phenomena on
any other theory than that an actual hand of some semi-
material substance was present and active, producing
observed phenomena.^
4. William Stainton Moses.
The case of William Stainton Moses is of particular
interest, as bearing upon the question of the reality of
1 See a criticism of the hallucination theory by one of us (Mr.
Carrington) in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
December 1909, pp. 711-27.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 413
physical phenomena, of the spiritualistic type. Stainton
Moses was born in 1839, received an excellent education
at Oxford, and in 1863 accepted a curacy in the Isle of
Man. He continued his clerical duties for several years,
being generally loved by his parishioners, and gained for
himself an excellent personal reputation. Coming to
London in 1870, he obtained the appointment of master
oi English in the University College School, which
position he held until 1889. Encountering by chance
Dale Owen's book, The DebateaUe Land, he read it with
interest, and finally became a student of spiritualistic
philosophy. He investigated various mediums, and
soon found that he was possessed of mediumistic
capacity himself. He then rapidly developed into a
remarkable medium, continuing, however, his work at
the University College for a number of years, until he
resigned to become editor of Light, the official Spiritualistic
paper.
The phenomena occurring in the presence of Moses
were both physical and mental in their character. Much
automatic writing was received, some of it of a distinctly
evidential character. Many of these messages, apparently
establishing personal identity, were published in his book,
Spirit Identity. But, further, a great number of re-
markable physical phenomena are alleged to have taken
place in his presence. Raps, which intelligently answered
questions ; lights, varied in character, and often remark-
able for their brilliancy ; scents of various descriptions ;
cold breezes ; musical sounds of all kinds (sometimes
resembling the chords of an organ, at other times those
of a harmonium ; bells, notes of various wind instru-
ments, horns, &c.), being some of the phenomena which
are recorded to have occurred at his seances. Direct writ-
ing was received on slates and on paper. Movements of
light and of heavy objects, without contact, and without
414 DEATH
apparent cause, the supposed passage of matter through
matter, direct voices, levitations, &c., formed only a part
of the manifestations that occurred in this gentleman's
presence. Incredible as they may appear, they have
never been satisfactorily explained, and there is no
reason whatever for supposing that Moses would produce
these phenomena by fraudulent means. He was not a
professional medium, but a gentleman moving in good
social circles in London ; he received no money for the
seances, which were not public, only a few of his personal
friends being allowed to attend these sittings. The records
of these seances were never published in Mr. Moses'
lifetime, so that the love of notoriety cannot be urged
as a justifiable reason for his resorting to fraud on these
occasions. Difficult as it may be to believe in their
reality, it is almost equally difficult to believe that Mr.
Moses resorted to a few petty tricks in order to deceive
his personal friends for a number of years ! As Mr.
Lang so well put it, " the choice is between a moral and
a physical miracle ; " and there the matter may be said
to rest to this day.
5. EusAPiA Palladino.
So much has been written of late concerning the
Italian medium Eusapia Palladino that we feel it is
unnecessary to do more than refer our readers to the
sources from which the information relating to this
medium is drawn — chiefly Mr. Carrington's Eusapia
Palladino and her Phenomena, M. Flammarion's book,
Mysterious Psychic Forces, and to the Annals of Psychical
Science} We shall quote one or two typical seances from
1 It is extremely interesting and significant to note, in this connection,
that many of the Italian investigators have progressed so far, and are now
so certain of the facts, that they are treating the phenomena obtained in
the presence of Eusapia Palladino as proved for science, and now speak of
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 415
each. Professor Porro, successively Director of the
Observatories of Genoa and Turin, and then Director of
the National Observatory of the Argentine Republic,
writes concerning one of his sittings as follows : —
"The tenth sitting (the last) was one of the best attended and
was perhaps the most interesting of all.
*' Scarcely had the electric lights been extinguished when we
remark an automatic movement of the chair upon which a lump
of plaster had been placed, while the hands and feet of Eusapia
are carefully controlled by me and by No. 3. However, as we
wish to forestall the objection of the critics that the phenomena
take place in the dark, she typtologically (that is, by taps) asks
for light, and the experimenters light the electric lamp.
" Presently all the company see the chair on which the lump
of plaster lies (not at all a light chair), moving between myself
and the medium, without our being able to understand the
determining cause of the movement.
"Madame Palladino puts her outspread hand upon the back
of the chair, and her left above it. When our hands rise up,
the chair rises also without contact, reaching a height of about
six inches. This performance is several times repeated, with
the addition of the intervention of the hand of No. 5, under
conditions of light and of control which leave nothing to be
desired.
" The room is again almost completely darkened ... a
current of cold air upon the table preceded the arrival of a little
branch with two green leaves. We know that there are no
plants in the neighbourhood of the company. It appears that
we have here a case of ' bringing in ' from the outside.
" No. 3 is greatly exhausted from the heat. And lo ! a hand,
" unexplored regions of human biology" instead of mediumistic pheno-
mena, when discussing her case ! In other words, they think that the
problem is now a definite biological problem, and as such comes within
the recognised and legitimate field of science. They believe that these
phenomena can no longer be treated as mediumistic freaks, or oddities of
Nature, any more than they can be disposed of with a wave of the hand, as
" all humbug." This recognition and classification of the facts is certainly
most significant.
416 DEATH
which takes his handkerchief from his neck and with it dries
the perspiration on his face. He tries to seize the handkerchief
with his teeth, but it is snatched from him. A big hand lifts
his left hand, and makes him rap several strokes with it on
the table.
" Gleams of light begin to appear, at first on the right hand
of No. 5, then in different parts of the hall. They are perceived
by everybody.
" The curtain is inflated as if it were pushed against by a
strong wind, and touches No. 11, who is sitting in a small easy-
chair a yard and a half from the medium. The same person is
touched by a hand, while another hand pulls a fan from an
nside pocket of his jacket, carries it to No. 5, and then to
No. 11. The fan is soon returned to its owner, and is moved
to and fro above our heads, to the great satisfaction of all of us.
A tobacco-pouch is taken from the pocket of No. 3. The In-
visible empties it on the table, and then gives it to No. 10.
Various stems of plants drop upon the table.
"Transfers of the fan from one hand to another begin again.
Then No. 11 believes that he ought to announce that the fan
had been offered to him by a young girl who had expressed the
wish that it be transferred to No. 11, then given back to No. 5.
Nobody knew of this except No. 11.
" No. 5, who at present occupies the arm-chair, where
formerly No. 1 1 was seated, a yard and a half from the medium,
feels the edge of the curtain touching him, and then perceives
the presence of the body of a woman whose hair rests on
his head.
" The seance is adjourned about one o'clock.
" At the moment of parting Eusapia sees a bell on the piano ;
she extends her hand ; the bell glides along on the piano, turns
over, and falls on the floor. The experiment is renewed, in full
light as before, the hand of the medium remaining several
inches from the bell. . . ."
The following case is perhaps one of the best attested,
and at the same time one of the most remarkable stances
witnessed in the presence of this medium. The incident
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 417
here quoted occurred during a seance held with Eusapia,
under the supervision of Professor P. Foa, Professor of
Pathological Anatomy ol the University of Turin, and
Drs. A. Herlitzka, C. Foa, and A. Aggazzofcti, assistants
of Professor Mosso, the eminent physiologist. The record
reads, in part, as follows : —
"A luminous interlude ensued: above Eusapia's head, at a
height of about 18 inches, all the sitters saw a bright light
appear, similar to that of a small electric pocket lamp. One
of us (Dr. Foa) went out of the circle, and held a photographic
plate above the medium's head to find out whether it was pos-
sible to register the radiations. A few moments later the
bright light, well localised, reappeared ; immediately afterwards
the toy piano, which was on the table all the time with the
keyboard turned away from the medium, made a few sounds ;
the sitters observed the spontaneous depression of the keys
which accompanied the sounds.
" Still with the object of obtaining a record of possible radia-
tions, one of us (Dr. Foa) held the photographic plate, wrapped
in paper, over Eusapia's head, and he felt the plate seized by a
hand covered with the curtain ; he passed one hand behind the
curtain, but found nothing there.
"The hand (for reasons that will appear later we apply this
term to the force that acted on the plate, although no form of a
hand was visible) made an effort to seize the plate by snatching it
unexpectedly, and renewed this attempt repeatedly, but without
success. Dr. Foa seized the hand which was covered with the
curtain, and had the impression of pressing real fingers; the
fingers escaped him, however, and gave him a blow ; the plate
was changed, and the invisible hand began another struggle,
during which it had tight hold of the plate for several seconds.
At last a sudden blow given to the plate caused it to fall on the
stance table without breaking. Dr Aggazzotti, who held
another plate over the medium's head, had in his turn to
struggle in order to prevent its escaping him — a struggle in
the course of which his hand was even bitten !
2d
418 DEATH
•' At this juncture the medium told Professor Pio Foa not to
be alarmed whatever might happen, and advised all present not
to touch the objects which would be suspended in the air, other-
wise she would be unable to restrain the movements, and might
hurt somebody.
" Table Ko. 1 rose in the air many inches high, and passed
once over the head of Professor Foa ; returning to the ground,
and, keeping all the time outside the cabinet, it turned over,
and then stood up again.
" Needless to say that the controllers were always vigilant, and
that the hands and the feet of the medium were always held in
our hands and under our feet. Often during the occurrence of
the most important phenomena, Eusapia's legs were placed
horizontally on our knees.
" After table No. 1 had stood upright, Dr. Arullani approached
it, but the piece of furniture, moving violently towards him,
repulsed him; Dr. Arullani seized the table, which was heard
to crack in the struggle : it was a strong table of white wood,
about 2 feet 9 inches high and 3 feet long by 22 inches broad,
weighing 17 pounds.
" Dr. Arullani asked that the hand behind the curtain should
grasp his. The medium replied in her own voice, ' First I am
going to break the table, then I will give you a grasp of the
hand.' This declaration was followed by three fresh, complete
levitations of the table, which fell back each time heavily on the
floor. All those who were on the left of the medium could
observe, by a very good red light, the various movements of the
table. The latter bent down and passed behind the curtain,
followed by one of us (Dr. 0. Foa), who saw it turn over and rest
on one of its two short sides, whilst one of the legs came off
violently, as if under the action of some force pressing upon it.
At this moment the table came violently out of the cabinet, and
continued to break up under the eyes of every one present. At first
its different parts were torn off, then the boards themselves
went to pieces. Two legs, which still remained united by a
thin slip of wood, floated above us and placed themselves on the
stance table.
" The medium said, ' Unhappy owners of the house ! ' As
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 419
the medium had thus kept her promise to break the table,
Dr. Arullani asked for the handshake, and was invited by the
medium to approach the curtain. He had hardly reached it
when he felt himself hit by pieces of wood and hands, and we
all heard the noise of the blows.
" One of us, who was in control, felt himself tickled under the
arm, but could not see any hand, although the subjective im-
pression was of four fingers which moved rapidly under the
armpits.
" During the whole stance the condition of the medium and
her power were being discussed. Dr. Arullani maintained that
this force was only manifested at a few inches' distance. The
medium then told him to stand upon the seance table. Dr.
Arullani confined himself to kneeling upon it, and was struck
on the head by a piece of wood : then two feet of the table were
raised three times, the third time more violently, and the doctor
was sent rolling over to the ground.
" The seance approached its close ; the medium seemed very
tired ; she leaned her head on the shoulder of one of the con-
trollers. A very interesting experience was yet in store for us.
The medium, as well as all the sitters, who formed a chain,
stood up. The table moved towards the centre of the room, and
afterwards rose completely in the air. After a brief pause,
during which one of us mentioned the fact that a photographic
plate was fixed under the seance table, and whilst every one
was standing up at some distance from the table, which was
free and quite visible on all sides, the medium asked for Dr.
Aggazzotti's hand, and immediately afterwards the photographic
plate was seen to fall with violence on to the seance table.
Dr. C. Foa and Dr. Aggazzotti saw it distinctly come out from
under the table, move round the edge, and pass on to the upper
surface.
" It was 1 A.M. ; the medium was asked whether the stance
should be closed, but she did not reply : she was seen to be very
fatigued, and we broke off the stance without further demur ;
the medium was placed in an arm-chair, and carried to a small
adjoining sitting-room."
420 DEATH
On returning to the field of battle, it was found that
the table was broken into small pieces of various sizes.
On the indiarubber membrane, covered with lamp black,
was found the mark of the stuff which had been torn
only in some of the places ; and on one of the plates was
the impression of a thumb and fingers. Evidently, there-
fore, the results obtained at this sitting were objective,
and cannot be attributed to hallucination.
The final case we quote is one of peculiar interest, as
it involves personal identity and supernormally acquired
information, as well as the mere physical phenomena.
It is reported at first hand, immediately after the sitting,
by Dr. Joseph Venzano, whom Professor Morselli states
to be " an excellent observer." He says : —
" In spite of the dimness of the light, I could distinctly see
Madame Palladino and my fellow-sitters. Suddenly I perceived
that behind me was a form, fairly tall, which was leaning its
head on my left shoulder and sobbing violently, so that those
present could hear the sobs ; it kissed me repeatedly. I clearly
perceived the outlines of this face, which touched my own, and
I felt the very fine and abundant hair in contact with my left
cheek, so that I could be quite sure that it was a woman. The
table then began to move, and by typtology gave the name of
a close family connection who was known to no one present
except myself. She had died some time before, and on account
of incompatibility of temperament there had been serious dis-
agreements with her. I was so far from expecting this typto-
logical response that I at first thought that it was a case of
coincidence of name ; but whilst I was mentally forming this
reflection I felt a mouth, with warm breath, touch my ear, and
whisper in a low voice in Genoese dialect a succession of sentences,
the murmur of which was audible to the sitters. These sen-
tences were broken by bursts of weeping, and their gist was to
repeatedly implore pardon for injuries done to me, with a ful-
ness of detail connected with family affairs which could only be
known to the person in question. The phenomenon seemed so
riiotograph of Andre's body in the coffin, taken at G r.M.,
nine hours after death (p. 3G8).
riioiujjraph ul' Madame Baraduc, taken a quarter of an hour
after death (p. 369).
Photograph of Madame Baraduc, taken at 3 r.M., a bare hour
after death (p. 370).
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 421
real that I felt compelled to reply to the excuses offered me
with expressions of affection, and to ask pardon in return if
my resentment of the wrongs referred to had been excessive.
But I had scarcely uttered the first syllables when two hands,
with exquisite delicacy, applied themselves to my lips and pre-
vented my continuing. The form then said to me, ' Thank
you,' embraced me, kissed me, and disappeared."
It will be seen that, in the above account, the medium
was awake and not in a trance ; and further, and still more
important, she was distinctly visible to Dr. Yenzano and
to all the circle, and remained so throughout the whole
of the phenomena. Whatever theory we may choose to
explain these facts, it is certain that neither fraud nor
hallucination alone will suffice. Certain it is also that
the spiritistic interpretation is the simplest and would
seem the only one capable of explaining all the facts.
However, we leave this question of theories and inter-
pretations for discussion at some later time, as they are
somewhat out of place in a work of this character.
Not unnaturally, perhaps, we regard as amongst the
most conclusive experiments, so far conducted, those in
which one of us (H. Carrington) participated. In the
autumn of 1908 he found himself in London, and there
met the Hon. Everard Feilding and Mr. W. W. Baggally,
both members of the Council of the English Society for
Psychical Research. The three journeyed to Naples, and
there obtained a series of sittings with Eusapia Palladino.
It would be impossible in this place to detail these
sittings, as the reports are extremely laborious and
lengthy ; we must content ourselves with a summary
of the degree of control maintained throughout the
sittings, and a general description of the phenomena
obtained. This will at least give the reader an idea of
the precautions observed and of the manifestations that
occurred. (For the details of these sittings, we would
422 DEATH
refer the reader to Proceedwigs of the Society for Psychical
Research, vol. xxiii., pp. 306-569 ; and to the book,
Eusapia Falladino and her Phenomena, by Hereward
Carrington.)
The conditions under which the seances took place
were as follows : — The sittings were held in our own
rooms at the Hotel Victoria, Naples. Before each seance
the rooms were carefully searched, and the instruments,
&c., inspected. The room was situated on the fifth floor,
the windows opening out on to the street. After the
medium had entered the room, every door and window
was carefully locked and bolted. On several occasions
the medium was carefully searched, and nothing suspicious
was found upon her person or in her clothing. In fact,
she offered to wear another dress if the investigators cared
to provide her with one. Confederates were certainly
not present. It became simply a question of whether
or not the medium could produce these results herself
and unaided. It depended upon her " controllers," then,
so to hold and secure her that it was impossible for her
to produce the phenomena herself.
In one corner of the stance room two thin black
curtains were hung, forming a " cabinet," in which were
placed a small table containing a tea-bell, a toy piano, a
tambourine, a tin trumpet, a guitar, &c. Nothing else was
placed in the cabinet except some cakes of wet clay at
the later seances, upon which, it was hoped, the '' spirits "
would impress their hands or faces. The cabinet was
examined just before each stance and found to be empty.
Moreover, during each sitting one of the investigators
frequently lifted the curtains of the cabinet and looked
inside. Nothing was visible except the phenomena which
were taking place at the time !
The medium sat outside this curtain, and about a foot
or eighteen inches from it. In front of her was placed
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 423
the stance table ; and on either side of her sat one investi-
gator or " controller/' whose duty it was to see that the
hand, foot, and knee on his side were firmly held or con-
trolled. Other sitters sat round the table in positions
which enabled them to see what was taking place. The
light was regulated so that it could be varied from a
bright white light (sufficiently good to enable the sitters
to read small print with ease) to a light so faint that one
could distinguish only the faces of the sitters round the
table. These preliminaries settled, the seance com-
menced. Let us now turn to the method of control.
The hands and feet of the medium were held away
from one another and usually separated a foot or more,
so that approximation or substitution was impossible.
Often one hand was held in the lap, the other on the
table. Frequently the whole arm was under complete
control as far as the shoulder. The head of the medium
was visible to all throughout the sittings. The knees
were constantly held by the hands of the controllers.
The feet of the medium were placed upon the feet of
her controllers, on either side of her, or were held under
theirs. Often they were tied to the rungs of her chair
with rope. Several times one of the sitters w^ould go
beneath the table and hold her ankles in his hands,
while the other controllers paid particular attention to
the hands, knees, and head. On several occasions the
whole body of the medium was under complete control,
for, when she passed into a deep trance state, she leaned
heavily against one of her controllers,, who supported her
by placing his arm about her. At such times her head
would be in contact with the head of her controller — the
temples touching. Further, on numerous occasions her
hands were tied to the hands of her controllers, but in
spite of all these precautions, of their constant vigilance,
in spite of the fact that the observations were checked oft'
424 DEATH
by mechanical apparatus which was employed for the
purpose, phenomena continued to happen — as the report
fully testifies.
Throughout these sittings the light was usually quite
sufficient to enable the sitters to see the whole of the
medium's body without difficulty. Her hands and head
were nearly always perfectly visible. The sitters con-
stantly dictated to the stenographer (who sat at a
separate table on the opposite side of the room) just
what was taking place and the manner in which the
hands, feet, and knees of the medium were being held.
The utmost rigour was observed in this direction ; and it
must be taken into account, when considering this case,
that all three of the investigators were fully aware of all
the methods of trickery employed by mediums in order
to release their hands, feet, &c., and were fully prepared
to detect it, should trickery of this kind exist. It must
be remembered also, that it was sufficiently light to enable
the sitters to see the medium distinctly. The medium
submitted to all these conditions without demur, as the
following extracts will show. We quote a few sample
passages from the records as given verlatim to the steno-
grapher at the time. These form, therefore, a con-
temporary record of everything that transpired at the
sittings.^
During the second sc^ance, the following series of
remarkable table levitations occurred, which were
recorded as follows : —
10.54 P.M. F. : I have changed the control from my left foot
to my right; my right foot is now between hers and the leg of
the table.
10.58 P.M. The table tilted on the two right legs. C : The
medium's left hand is held in mine over the table, her left foot
^ Throughout the sittings F — Feilding, B — Baggally, and C — Cairington.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 425
being pressed on my right, and my right knee being in contact
with her left knee. F. : Her right hand was on my shoulder.
The table was then raised entirely, and both Carrington and
she afterwards pressed on Carrington's side of the table, which
went up in spite of their pressure. C. : I pushed strongly.
11 P.M. Total levitation of the table. 0. : The medium's
left hand pulled up my right about 4 inches above the table, the
medium's left foot pressing against my right foot, my right knee
pressing against her left knee. F. : The medium's right hand
was partly in mine, the wrist just touching the top of the table,
my left hand across both her knees, my right foot touching her
right foot between it and the table leg, my face being within
6 inches of the edge of the table.
11.1 P.M. The table tilts on the two legs farthest from
medium, both her hands being clearly visible and about a foot
away from the table, and her fists being clenched. F. : On a
line with her waist. C. : The control of the feet being the
same as before, except my right hand is now also grasping her
thigh. F. : My left hand across both her knees. (The medium
sat well back in her chair, and her body was at least 9 inches
from the table. We clearly remember the conditions of this
striking phenomenon. November 23.)
11.5 P.M. Complete levitation of the table. F. : The table
lifts above 6 inches, only C.'s and my hands were on the table,
clasped across the middle. Complete levitation of the table.
F. : Nobody's hands were on the table ; it goes up all by itself.
Another complete levitation of the table. C. : All hands being
off the table, her right hand was free but perfectly visible, and
about 6 inches off the table.
11.9 P.M. F. : Asks medium to attempt levitation whilst
standing up ; she agrees, but presently says that she cannot
stand any longer.
11.11p.m. Complete levitation of the table. C. : Both hands
of the medium were about 8 inches above the table. I can
clearly feel her left foot across my right ; the leg of the table
was not in contact with her skirt. Second complete levitation
of the table. F. : My left hand was underneath the bottom of
the leg of the table. Her right hand was off the table alto-
426 DEATH
gether. C. : There is 9 inches between her body and the table.
Partial levitation of the table.
11.13 P.M. F. : She removed her hands entirely from the table
about 2 feet, and the table went up on the two legs farthest
from her about 1 foot. Immediately afterwards she repeated
the same, taking our hands in her lap ; whereupon the table
again lifted up and wriggled about without anybody touching it.
F. : My hand was on her left hand all the time. 0. : My right
hand was on her left hand. F. : I could see right down the leg
of the table.
During the sixth seance the following series of pheno-
mena took place ; they were perhaps the most striking
of the whole series, and obtained mider excellent condi-
tions of control. The record stands as follows : —
C : She now leans her head against mine. F. : She did not
lean back, her face being clearly visible and motionless.
11.41 P.M. C. : I am touched by a hand on the head. F. : I
saw a white thing come out from the curtains over the medium's
head towards C.'s head. C. : While this was going on the
medium's head was resting against mine, my right arm being
around her shoulder ; her left hand being visibly on mine on the
table ; her left foot pressing on my right. B. : Mine exactly
the same as before ; her right hand was resting on my left hand
on the table, under the curtain ; and her right foot is resting on
my left foot, and her right knee is pressing against my left
knee. (B. : I could tell it was her right hand by the feeling of
the relative position of her hand to her fingers and feeling the
thumb and the palm of her hand, and that it was her real hand
by the warmth and by the responses to my squeezes. Decem-
ber 5, '08.)
11.44 P.M. Medium says it is coming there ! (Medium said
to C. : " Look, he will come there! " indicating a particular spot
to the left of B. December 5, '08.) C. : I am touched on the
head through the curtain twice; the medium's head resting
against my head, the left hand visibly on the table in my left
hand ; her left knee pressing against my right knee. B.: Her
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 427
right hand is resting on my left hand on the table, and her right
foot is resting on my left foot, and I still continue pressing my
knee against her knee. F. : I saw something white just over
the medium's head ; a sort of a flash of white. The medium's
head was motionless. C. : I am hit right on the head by a
hand through the curtain. (C. : I felt the four fingers and the
thumb this time ; the hand was open, and a minute after the
fingers were closed and I was again hit on the head. Decem-
ber 5, '08.) Control exactly the same ; the medium's head
against mine, and she kicked with her foot under the table in
front of her. B. : My control exactly the same as before.
F. : Note that I can see the position of all the three heads quite
plainly. B. : A hand comes out from behind the curtain and
presses me tightly on my shoulder ; I felt the thumb and the
four fingers, which are now pressing downwards with a very
considerable force. 0. : I was holding her left hand by the
thumb on her left thigh, her left foot being on my riijht, her
head pressing against my head. B. : Her right hand is resting
on my left hand ; I can feel both her knees with my left hand,
which I have passed under the table ; her right foot is on
my left foot and our knees are touching. F. : I have asked
the medium whether I could feel the hand also ; she replied yes.
F. stands to the left of C, and leans over with his left hand
outstretched about 2| feet above and to the left of the medium's
head. Immediately after : F. : I am touched by something
straight on the point of my finger.
12.11 P.M. F. : I am touched again ; I am taken hold of by
fingers, and I can feel the nails quite plainly. (F. : My fore-
finger was pressed hard by three separate fingers above it and
by a thumb below through the curtain. I felt the nails quite
distinctly as they pressed into my finger. December 6, '08.)
C. : Her head resting against my head. I am absolutely holding
her left hand on the table ; both her legs are around my right
leg under the chair. B. : I am absolutely certain that her right
hand is on my left hand on her right knee. F. : I am touched
again ; grasped this time as though by the lower part of a
thumb and fingers. B. : I am touched gently on my hand, and
at the same moment I am touched by a hand on my shoulder.
428 DEATH
B. : Also the curtain came out as though struck violently by a
hand from within. (The touches in this case on F.'s hand,
which was high up, and on B.'s shoulder, who was sitting on the
other side of the table with the curtain over the table and
at least 3 feet from F.'s hand, appeared to be absolutely simul-
taneous ; and immediately afterwards the curtain was thrust
violently out, as though it was struck hard several times by
a hand within. December 6, '08.) B. : Same control. C. : Same
control. (B. : In acknowledgment of this outburst of pheno-
mena I said, " Thank you, John " ; and a hand replied by coming
out from behind the curtain and patting me on the shoulder in
a friendly kind of way. December 6, '08.) C. : She squeezed
my left hand while this was going on.
12.20 A.M. C. : The medium has taken her two legs from
around my right leg, and now has her left foot on my right
foot. B. : And she places her right foot on my left foot, and I
am feeling her knee with my knee. C. : The medium rests
her head on my right shoulder, and is pressing against mine ;
I have my arm around her neck ; I have her left hand in my
left hand on the table. I saw the curtain blow out in front of
me. B. : Medium's right hand in ray left. F. : I saw some-
thing white appear on the farthest side of the cabinet from the
medium, up by the door. The white thing I saw was about half
way up the curtain, and about 3 J feet from the medium.
B. : My control the same as before. C. : I am touched on the
head by a hand. At this moment the medium's head is pressing
against my head ; her left hand in my left on the table ; and
with my right hand I am holding the whole of her left arm.
Her left foot on my right foot. B. : Medium's right hand rest-
ing on my left on the table ; right foot on my left foot, which
she moves backwards and forwards, and I follow with my foot.
C. : My foot was motionless.
12.23 P.M. C. : I am touched plainly by a hand on the head.
C. : My control the same as before. F. : I saw it also. It was
a grey thing.
The ninth seance was one of the most remarkable of
the whole series. Phenomena began almost at once,
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 429
and continued in spite of our utmost endeavours to
prevent them. The following extract gives a good idea
of the extreme rapidity with which phenomena followed
one another, as well as their extraordinary character. At
12.47 A.M. we have the following record : —
12.47 A.M. F. : I ask "Carlo" to give me the tambourine
(Medium said he would do so, and I moved round C. F. :
14/12/08.) B: She holds my right hand over the table in
front of her, and makes gestures with it in the air, and the
tambourine slid along the ground. C. : I am touched again.
C. : The same thing has happened again. C. : I was touched
three times with fingers on my left hand. The tambourine
then jumped up about ten to twelve times inside the curtain,
apparently trying to get to the edge of the curtain, and was
then pushed outside the curtain. C. : I am grasped very firmly
by a hand through the curtain on the left lap. I felt the
medium's right hand on my left on the table at the same
moment that the tambourine was kicking about the inside of
the cabinet. B. : I am holding her hand on the table. I can
see it quite clearly.
12.51 A.M. Medium wishes to touch C, which she does.
C. : I was grasped just above the left elbow by four fingers and
a thumb, which pressed very hard indeed. C. : I am touched
on the left side by a hand. I am holding both medium's hands
in both of mine, and she is squeezing tightly. Her right foot
pressing strongly on my left foot in contact with my right.
B. : I was holding the wrist of her left hand with my right
hand on the table in full view of us all and perfectly visible.
My right knee against her left knee. My right foot under her
left foot. C. : I am holding both medium's hands in both of
my hands, one being clearly visible and one on the table under
the curtain. Absolute control of right foot and leg.
1.0 A.M. C. : I am touched on the face' by a hand through
the curtain as the medium kicks to and fro. C. : I am
again touched on the face by a hand, medium having both
her legs round my left leg, her right hand holding my left on
430 DEATH
the table in the middle under the curtain. B. : Her left hand
holding my right hand on the table, which I see clearly.
These extracts will at least serve to indicate that
fraud was apparently impossible, and that, to all appear-
ances, the phenomena were real. Yet, if real, what a
complex problem is before us ! And, short of some
spiritistic theory — how adequately account for the
facts ?
5. EusAPiA Palladino's American Stances.
Eusapia Palladino visited America in 1909-10, under
the management of Mr. Carrington, and gave a large
number of se'ances, which were attended by scientific
men and members of the S.P.R. While fraud was
detected on several occasions, the seances were on the
whole good, and afforded strong confirmatory evidence
of the supernormal character of these manifestations.
It would be impossible in this place to give any
detailed account of these sittings — (the report of which
was published in the Annals of Fsychical Science, 1910-11)
— but the following summary, written by Mr. Carrington,
will give a fair idea of the evidence, as it appeared to
him, after witnessing more than thirty seances : —
" Every one who has studied Eusapia's phenomena knows
that practically every stance (for some reason) commences with
table levitations — this, whether they are wanted or not ! It
seems the necessary programme, and it is almost invariably
carried out. Seeing them time after time, one can obtain a
very fair idea of their nature and reality. And I may say
that I now consider these levitations as well established as
any other physical facts. They are not open to the objection
to which most psychical phenomena are subjected — that they
cannot be repeated or induced and studied experimentally, as
one would study other physical facts — for they can be induced
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 431
and studied in just this laboratory manner. I have probably
seen several hundred of these levitations, now, under every
conceivable condition and in excellent light, and I consider
them so far established that, as Count Solovovo said, the
burden of proof is now on the man who asserts that they
are not real ; not upon the man who asserts that they are.
I have seen levitations take place time after time in a
brilliantly-lighted room, when Eusapia's feet were clearly
seen, when her knees were held, and no part of her clothing
was in contact with the table, when her feet had been tied with
rope to the feet of her chair, when both Eusapia's feet were held
under the table by a third controller, when the ' stocks ' ap-
paratus was in use, when the controllers on either side of her
passed their hands to and fro repeatedly between the medium's
legs and body and the table, when her hands were off the
table altogether, when the medium was standing up. These
levitations, too, were not all of them of the sudden, almost
instantaneous character seen by us in Naples. We have had
levitations lasting twenty and twenty-five and thirty seconds,
and even longer, as timed by the watch on the stenographer's
table. These levitations, too, some of them, have been two feet
or more from the floor. On two occasions the table rose to a
height of about two feet, remained vip for several seconds,
fell almost to the floor — without touching it, however — and
then rose again to its former height. On at least one
occasion the table rose so high that Eusapia had to stand,
with her hands raised above her head, in order to keep them
on the top of the table. In this position Eusapia walked
five or six feet away from the cabinet, the table still sus-
pended in the air, before it fell with a crash to the floor.
During nearly all these levitations the controllers had ample
time, as a rule, to pass their hands between the table and
the medium's body, in order to prove that no hook or similar
attachment was possible, as Mr. W. S. Davis suggested, and,
in fact, publicly stated was the case !
" The ' curtain phenomena,' seen in America, were of the
usual variety seen before, and presented nothing of particular
interest. It is curious to note that, throughout a long course of
432 DEATH
sittings, the bulging of Eusapia's dress was noticed only on one
occasion. The breeze from Eusapia's forehead was noted, in .all,
five or six times, and I have learned one rather interesting
thing in this connection. It is this. After a good seance
this breeze is strong, and after a poor stance it is altogether
lacking — or so feeble that it can hardly be detected. On
three occasions Eusapia gave a sort of ' after-sitting ' to three
or four of us who had remained (after the other sitters had
departed), and the most startling phenomena I have ever seen
occurred at these ' informal ' stances. A strong breeze was
always found to issue from E. P.'s scar after these sittings,
though none had been noticed after the regular or ' formal '
seance given earlier the same evening.
" Of transportation of objects without apparent cause we have
had many examples, and under excellent conditions. The small
table from the cabinet has repeatedly been placed on the seance
table, when both Eusapia's feet were well controlled ; and in
several instances, when her feet had been tied with rope to
the feet of her controllers, or to the rungs of her chair. On
one occasion, the small table was slowly lifted out of the
cabinet, beyond and round the left-hand curtain, in a light
sufficiently good to see that the medium was not touching it.
The table rose to a height of nearly four feet from the floor,
rapped five times against the wooden partition, forming the
* wall ' on that side of the room, turned upside down, and
fell to the floor. It was between three and four feet from
Eusapia at the time, and, as I have said, it was light enough
to see that nothing was touching it. While this was in progress,
both her hands were separately accounted for, and I was
holding both her feet under the table in my hands.
" At nearly everyone of our stances we have had one or more
of the musical instruments pla3'ed upon. The music-box has
been played upon for several seconds together — the handle
being turned twelve or fourteen times, to judge by the sound.
Ample time was afforded for the controllers to ascertain that
they were holding separate hands. The tambourine has been
played upon for almost a minute — it being seen to play over the
medium's head, then beyond the left-hand curtain ; again over
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 433
the medium's head, over the head of the left-hand controller,
again over the medium's head, again beyond the left curtain,
and finally it was thrown to the floor in the cabinet. The small
bell has repeatedly been rung for several seconds together — a
hand being seen ringing it.
" One of the most remarkable manifestations, however, was the
playing of the mandolin, on at least two occasions. The instru-
ment sounded in the cabinet first of all — distinct twangings of
the strings being heard, in response to pickings of Eusapia's
fingers on the hand of one of her controllers. The mandolin
then floated out of the cabinet, on to the stance table, inhere, in
full view of all, nothing touching it, it continued to play for nearly
a minute — first one string and then another being played upon.
Eusapia was at the time in deep trance, and was found to be
cataleptic a few moments later. Her hands were gripping the
hands of her controllers so tightly that each finger had to be
opened in turn — by the aid of passes and suggestion.
" At the second stance an incident occurred which cannot be
explained by any normal means — even granting, for the sake
of argument, that Eusapia had succeeded in releasing one
hand ; and as such incidents are rather rare, it should be
recorded. One of the sitters was standing behind the right-
hand controller, and about five feet from Eusapia. The medium
seemed to be well controlled. Suddenly, immediately in front
of this sitter, about on a level with his eyes, appeared in space
the small flageolet, which had been placed on the table in the
cabinet. ^'No one saw how it got into its present position ; but
there it was, suspended in space, about five feet from Eusapia,
and certainly too far for her to have reached with her right
hand, even had it been free, and had she been standing up..
As a matter of fact, however, her right hand was not free, and
every one could see her seated in her usual place at the table.
--Here, then, we have an example of a phenomenon that could
not have been produced by the medium's hand (even supposing
it to be free), because the flageolet was seen to be far beyond
her reach. It remained in this attitude long enough for Mr. B.
to reach out his hand and take the flageolet — after his atten-
tion had been drawn to it. Certainly it remained suspended
2 E
434 DEATH
in space for several seconds, without visible means of sup-
port.
" The hands and faces seen during our seances here were of
the same general character as those seen at Naples. Some
would appear to be fleecy, gaseous, evanescent ; some, on the
contrary, would seem to be perfectly solid and human, and,
were it not for the fact that Eusapia's hands were held securely,
and frequently seen lying upon the table at the time, one
would swear that they were her own hands and arms perform-
ing the 'touchings.' As it was, she appeared to develop a
' third arm,' which issued from her shoulder, and seemed to
recede into it. There were one or two rather remarkable
demonstrations of this. As before, ' touchings ' were frequently
experienced when nothing could be seen touching the sitter.
On such occasions there was a clearly-lighted space between
Eusapia and the sitter who received the touches. On the
other hand, Eusapia's ' materialised ' hands frequently remained
visible for several seconds together ; and in one case a hand
rested on the right controller's back while she counted eleven.
" On one or two occasions, faces were seen by some of the
sitters (I personally never saw one), and at another time an
entire form was seen standing behind one of the sitters. On this
occasion, the controller on the right had received a touch on
his shoulder, and looking round saw a distinct form standing
behind him. As he looked, the form slowly disintegrated and
vanished — disappearing like a wisp of smoke into the cabinet.
This process of ' dematerialisation ' took several seconds.
" We have secured at least one print of ' spirit fingers ' in
clay, placed in the cabinet. It must be acknowledged that the
conditions pertaining to this experiment were not evidentially
perfect. It would be hard to say wluj not, as the controllers
seemed satisfied throughout that they had constant control of
the medium's hands. Nevertheless, the impression did not
induce in me a feeling of complete confidence. At the same
time it must be acknowledged that we found it impossible,
when experimenting after the stance, to imitate the marks we
found on the clay. For, whereas the ' spirit fingers ' were smooth,
any impression made by our own fingers was rough — the fingers
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 435
pulling away some of the clay. The texture of the touch, so to
say, was different. A photograph of this clay is given in my
report on the American seances.
" We also obtained an imprint on a photographic plate, which
had been wrapped in several thicknesses of black paper, and
placed in the cabinet. It will be remembered that Professor
Lombroso gave an example of this in his book After Death —
^V^lat ? p. 84 (Fig. 35). The phenomenon is of such rare occur-
rence that this new confirmation of the fact cannot fail to be of
interest. The plate was provided by Dr. Frederick T. Simpson,
of Hartford, Conn., who placed it in the cabinet. It was
brought to New York wrapped, and taken out of Dr. Simpson's
bag just before the seance. When developed, the impression
of three fingers was found on the plate. (An illustration of
this is also given in my report.) There is no normal ex-
planation of this fact, as every precaution was taken. The
photographer who wrapped the plate took an impression of his
own fingers later, and they are about three times the size of
those upon the plate. Whatever their interpretation, they
cannot be explained by normal means.
" Readers of our Naples Report will remember that^ on one
occasion, the rope fastening Eusapia's left leg was untied.
Mr. Feilding's amusing comments on this incident will also be
remembered. In one of our stances a white hand appeared,
remained visible to all, and untied both Eusapia's hands and
one of her feet. [They had all been fastened with rope.]
First of all, the left wrist was untied. Eusapia said that ' it
was not her fault,' and asked to be tied up again. This was
done, even more securely than before. A white hand then
appeared, and untied the knots on both Eusapia's wrists and
her left ankle, coiled up the rope and threw it at one of the
spectators. The whole operation took more than a minute,
during which time, it need hardly be said, the controllers had
ample time to verify their control, in response to my urgent
and repeated entreaties to do so ! The controllers on this
occasion were well-known business men, extremely sceptical in
the ordinary walks of life. They had to admit, however, that
there was no doubt as to the reality of this phenomenon.
436 DEATH
" Intelligent action has been shown on several occasions.
Once, a gentleman seated to the left of Ensapia had his cigar-
case extracted from his pocket, placed on the table in full vie-w
of all of us, opened, a cigar extracted, and placed between his
teeth. It was light enough at the time to see that no one was
touching the case, which was lying on the table.
" Incidents of this kind could be multiplied indefinitely. The
shorthand reports of some of these stances read like fairy tales.
0]i the other hand, of course, we had our bad seances. Some
points of great theoretical interest have come up during this
American series of sittings.
" To sum up the effects of these stances upon my own mind, I
may say that, after seeing nearly forty seances, there remains
not the shadow of a doubt in my mind as to the reality of
the vast majority of the phenomena occurring in Eusapia
Palladino's presence. And I refer not only to the table levita-
tions, raps, and curtain phenomena, but to movements of
objects without contact, playing upon musical instruments
without apparent cause, and the ' materialisation ' of hands
and arms, which perform intelligent and complicated actions.
It appears incredible to me that, inasmuch as I have had no
difficulty, in the past, in seeing the modus operandi of fraudulent
spiritualistic phenomena in one, or at most, two seances, that,
after seeing thirty-six stances, I should be unable to detect the
trick — if trick there were ; and, further, that the oftener I saw
the phenomena, the more convinced I became that no trick had
been employed, and that the phenomena were genuine ! I can
but record the fact that further study of this medium has con-
vinced me more than ever that our Naples experiments and
deductions were correct, that we were not deceived, but that
we did, in very truth, see prseternormal manifestations of a
remarkable character. I am as assured of the reality of Eusapia
Palladino's phenomena as I am of any other fact in life •
and they are, to my mind, just as well established." (See
Appendix C.)
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 437
Part II. — The Mental Phenomena.
We have just presented a mass of material, selected
from a much larger quantity, tending to show that the
spirit of man is capable of producing certain material
changes in the physical world. Although many of the
phenomena seem to suggest some spiritistic interpre-
tation, it may be said that the physical phenomena do
not prove it ; and more conclusive evidence will have to
be forthcoming before we can definitely accept spiritism
as a working hypothesis. We accordingly turn to the
mental phenomena, to see whether any such evidence is
forthcoming. We think that we are safe in asserting that
the evidence now becomes very striking — even forcing
some sort of acceptance of the facts, and necessitating
an explanation of the observed phenomena. We propose
in this section, therefore, to lay before the reader a
summary of the most striking evidence so far obtained
of the operation of an independent intelligence, — other
than that of the medium, — possessing a mind, will, and
memory of its own — in fact, all the attributes of a
personality. Only by such evidence can the persistence
of consciousness be proved. To this evidence we accord-
ingly turn.
1. The Subliminal Consciousness.
Whether or not the powers of the mind afford any
evidence for the survival of the soul is a question that
is much in dispute. Some authors. Professors Jastrow
and Mlinsterberg, e.g., claim that such faculties as we
have good evidence for do not warrant any such conclu-
sion ; others — notably Myers — assert that they do — at
least, if the reality of certain facts be admitted, for which
438 DEATH
there is good evidence. In the marvellous powers of the
subconscious mind — the " subjective mind " of Hudson,
the " subliminal consciousness " of Myers — evidence is
seemingly afforded that the human mind is not destined
to assert its sway upon this earth alone. It is certain
that, if powers are possessed by man for which there
is no use, such powers would long ago have passed out
of existence — the result of the selective process of evolu-
tion. If man's mind, then, seems to possess faculties
which are useless in this world, but which might possibly
be of some use in some other, supersensible world, then
surely, here is good evidence that the mind of man is not
merely the result of terrene evolution, but is destined for
higher things. The flashes of genius, the extraordinary
powers manifested under hypnotic suggestion, especially
the supernormal faculties of telepathy, clairvoyance, &c.,
are of practically no use in this life of ours, but are
supposed to be the normal methods of communication
in the next life. The extensive and accurate memory
possessed by the mind — the " latent memory " that Sir
William Hamilton so strongly insisted upon — is another
indication that the mind is destined to utilise these
thoughts and memories at some time in the future —
for otherwise why are they so carefully preserved ? Mr. Myers
is, of course, the great apostle of this doctrine, having
made it the central theme of his magnificent book,
Euman Personality. His conception is, perhaps, most
clearly stated in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical
Research, vol. vii., p. 301. There he said: —
" I suggest, then, that the stream of consciousness in which
we habitually live is not the only consciousness that is in connec-
tion with our organism. Our habitual or empirical consciousness
may consist of a mere fraction from a multitude of thoughts and
sensations, of which some at least are equally conscious with
those that we empirically know. I accord no primacy to my
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 439
ordinary waking self, except that among my potential selves this
one has shown itself the fittest to meet the needs of common life.
I hold that it has established no further claim ; and that it is
perfectly possible that other thoughts, feelings, and memories,
either isolated or in continuous connection, may now be actively
conscious, as we say, ' within me ' — in some kind of co-ordination
with my organism, and forming some part of my total indivi-
duality. I conceive it possible that at some future time, and
under changed conditions, I may recollect all ; I may assume
these various personalities under one single consciousness, in
which ultimate and complete consciousness the empirical con-
sciousness which at this moment diverts my hand may be only
one element out of many."
As is well known, Myers thought that the powers of
the subliminal consciousness were, in a way, good evidence
for " survival " ; however, as the point is so much in dis-
pute, we will not press it unduly.
2. Clairvoyance.
The phenomena classed under the general head of
clairvoyance are of peculiar interest, for our present pur-
poses, in showing (apparently) the possibility of separation
of soul and body. In many cases of induced mesmerism,
what is called " travelling clairvoyance " results ; that
is, a state in which the mind of the mesmerised sub-
ject seems to be transported, or sent away on long
journeys, at the end of which it is enabled to see certain
events that are taking place and scenes that the subject
has never beheld in the body. The following account by
Professor De Morgan is a good example of this, which we
quote somewhat in full : —
" I have seen a good deal of mesmerism, and have tried it
myself on for the removal of ailments. But this is not the
point. I had frequently heard of the thing they called clairvoy-
440 DEATH
ance, and had been assured of the occurrence of it in my own
house, but always considered it as a thing of which I had no
evidence, direct or personal, and which I could not admit until
such evidence came.
** One evening 1 dined at a house about a mile from my own —
a house in which my wife had never been at that time. I left it
at half -past ten, and was in my own house at a quarter to eleven.
At my entrance my wife said to me, ' We have been after you,'
and told me that a little girl whom she mesmerised for epileptic
fits (and who left her cured), and of whose clairvoyance she had
told me other instances, had been desired in the mesmeric state
to follow me to Street, to 's house. The thing took
place at a few minutes after ten. On hearing the name of the
street, the girl's mother said :
" ' She will never find her way there. She has never been so
far away from Camden Town.'
" The girl in a moment got there. ' Knock at the door,' said
my wife. ' I cannot,' said the girl ; ' we must go in at the gate.'
(The house, a most unusual thing in London, stands in a garden;
this my wife knew nothing of.) When she had been made to go
in and knock at the door, or simulate, or whatever the people
do, the girl said she heard voices upstairs, and being told to go
up, exclaimed, 'What a comical house ! there are three doors,' de-
scribing them thus (diagram given). (This was true, and is not
usual in any but large houses.) On being told to go into the
room from whence the voices came, she said, ' Now I see Mr. De
Morgan, but he has a nice coat on, and not the long coat he wears
here ; and he is talking to an old gentleman, and there are ladies.'
This was a true description of the party, except that the other
gentleman was not old. 'And now,' she said, 'there is a lady
come to them, and she is beginning to talk to Mr. De INIorgan
and the old gentleman, and Mr. De Morgan is pointing at you
and the old gentleman is looking at me.' About the time indi-
cated I happened to be talking to my host about mesmerism, and
having mentioned what my wife was doing, or said she was doing
with the little girl, he said, ' Oh, my wife must hear this,' and
called her, and she came up and joined us in the manner de-
scribed. The girl then proceeded to describe the room : stated
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 441
that there were two pianos in it. There was one (piano), and
an ornamental sideboard, not much unlike a pianoforte to the
daughter of a poor charwoman. There were two kinds of cur-
tains, red and white, and curiously looped up (all true to the
letter), and that there were wine and water and biscuits on the
table. Now my wife, knowing that we had dined at half-past six,
and thinking it impossible that anything but coffee could be on
the table, said, 'You mean coffee.' The girl persisted, 'Wine,
water, and biscuits.' My wife, still persuaded that it must be
coffee, tried in every way to lead her witness and make her say
coffee. But still the girl persisted, ' Wine, water, and biscuits,'
which was literally true, it not being what people talk of under
the name of a glass of wine and a biscuit, which means sand-
wiches, cake, &c., but strictly wine, water, and biscuits.
" Now all this taking place at twenty minutes after ten, was
told to me at a quarter to eleven. When I heard that I was to
have an account given, I said, ' Tell me all of it, and I will not
say a word ' ; and I assure you that during the narration I took
the most special care not to utter one syllahle. For instance,
when the wine, water, and biscuits came up, my wife, perfectly
satisfied that it must have been coffee, told me how the girl
persisted, and enlarged upon it as a failure, giving parallel
instances of cases in which clairvoyants had been right in all
things but one. Now all this I heard without interruption.
Now that the things happened to me as I have described at
twenty minutes after ten, and were described to me at a quarter
to eleven, I could make oath. The curtains I ascertained the
next day, for I had not noticed them. When my wife came to
see the room she instantly recognised a door, which she had
forgotten in her narrative.
" All this is no secret. You may tell whom you like and give
my name. What do you make of it ? Will the never-failing
doctrine of coincidence explain it ? "
We next give a case of spontaneous clairvoj^ance, in
which a distant scene was apparently visited in a dream.
The experience is recorded by Mrs. Alfred Wedgwood
the daughter-in-law of Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood, who
442 DEATH
was an English savant of some reputation and the
brother-in-law of Charles Darwin. The narrative is
given in her own language : —
" I spent the Christmas holidays with my father-in-law in
Queen Anne Street, and in the beginning of January I had
a remarkably vivid dream, which I told to him the next day at
breakfast.
" 1 dreamt I went to a strange house standing at the corner
of a street. When I reached the top of the stairs I noticed a
window opposite with a little coloured glass, short muslin blinds
running on a brass rod. The top of the ceiling had a window
veiled by gathered muslin. There were two small shrubs on a
little table. The drawing-room had a bow-window, with the
same blinds ; the library had a polished floor, with the same
blinds.
" As I was going to a child's party at a cousin's whose house
I had never seen, I told my father-in-law that I thought that
that would prove to be the house.
"On January 10, 1 went with my little boy to the party, and,
by mistake, gave the driver a wrong number. When he stopped
at No. 20, I had misgivings about the house, and remarked to
the cabman that it was not a corner house. The servant could
not tell me where Mrs. H. lived, and had not a blue-book.
Then I thought of my dream, and as a last resource I walked
down the street looking up for the peculiar blinds I had observed
in my dream. These I met with at No. 50, a corner house, and,
knocking at the door, was relieved to find that it was the house
of which I was in search.
" On going upstairs, the room and windows corresponded
exactly with what I had seen in my dream, and the same little
shrubs in their pots were standing on the landing. The window
in which I had seen the coloured glass was hidden by the blind
being drawn down, but I learnt, upon inquiry, that it was
really there."
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 443
3. Phantasms of the Dead.
As we have previously pointed out, apparitions that
do not coincide either with any death or illness of the
agent will have to contend with the objection that they
are mere empty hallucinations ; and we have to depend
upon the content of the apparition, as it were, in order
to establish the fact that they are anything more than
the ordinar}^ hallucinations with which we are familiar.
When an apparition furnishes information previously
unknown to the percipient, however, there is very fair
evidence for the fact that an independent intelligence is
operative ; and if this bears upon the personal identity
of the person deceased, there is evidence of a sort that
he is there in reality — initiating, or in some way regulat-
ing, the observed phenomena. Mr. Myers, in his paper,
" On Recognised Apparitions Occurring more than a Year
after Death" [Proceedings S.P.B., vol. vi., pp. 13-65), enu-
merated a number of cases of this character, and we
quote one by way of illustration : —
" When my old friend, John F. Harford, who had been a
Wesleyan lay preacher for half a century, lay dying, in June of
1851, he sent for me, and when I went to his bedside he said,
' I am glad you have come, friend Happerfield ; I cannot die
easy until I am assured that my wife will be looked after and
cared for until she may be called to join me in the other world.
I have known you for many years, and now want you to pro-
mise me to look to her well-being during the little time she may
remain after me.' I said, ' I will do what I can, so let your
mind be at rest.' He said, ' I can trust you,' and he soon after,
on the 20th day of the month, fell asleep in the Lord. I
administered his affairs, and when all was settled there remained
a balance in favour of the widow, but not sufficient to keep her.
I put her into a small cottage, interested some friends in her
case, and I saw that she was comfortable. After a while Mrs.
444 DEATH
Harford's grandson came, and proposed to take the old lady
to his house in Gloucestershire, where he held a situation as
schoolmaster. The request seemed reasonable. I consented,
providing she was quite willing to go ; and the young man took
her accordingly. Time passed on. We had no correspondence.
1 had done my duty to my dying friend, and there the matter
rested. But one night as I lay in bed wakeful, towards morn-
ing, turning over business and other matters in my mind, I
suddenly became conscious that there was some one in the
room. Then the curtain of my bed was drawn aside, and there
stood my departed friend gazing at me with a sorrowful and
troubled look. I felt no fear, but surprise and astonishment
kept me silent. He spoke to me distinctly and audibly in his
own familiar voice, and said, ' Friend Happerfield, I have come
to you because you have not kept your promise to look to my
wife. She is in trouble and in want.' I assured him that I had
done my duty, and was not aware that she was in any difficulty,
and that I would see about her first thing, and have her attended
to. He looked satisfied and vanished from m}^ sight. I awoke
my wife, who was asleep at my side, and told her what had
occurred. Sleep departed from us, and, on arising, the first
thing I did was to write to the grandson. In reply he informed
me that he had been deprived of his situation through persecu-
tion, and was in great straits, insomuch that he had decided on
sending his grandmother to the Union. Forthwith I sent some
money, and a request to have the old lady forwarded to me
immediately. She came, and was again provided with a home
and had her wants supplied. These are the circumstances as
they occurred. I am not a nervous man ; nor am I superstitious.
At the time my old friend came to me I was wide awake,
collected, and calm. The above is very correct, not overdrawn.
"G. Happerfield."
The case we are now about to give is a very
complicated one, being a combination of apparitions,
dreams, premonitions, and mediumistic phenomena. It
was investigated at the time, and more or less vouched
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 445
for, by the Marquis of Bute, Dr. Ferrier, and Mr. Andrew
Lang. Mr. Myers also took special pains to investigate
the case, and interview Mrs. Claughton personally. He
stated that she was " a widow living in good society,
cheerful, active, has seen much of the world, and a good
observer, being in no sense morbid or hysterical." In
the original report, published in vol. xi. of the Proceedings,
there are three long narratives signed by the gentlemen
whose names are given above, and the case covers con-
siderable space. Here w^e must be brief and summarise
it, giving chiefly the facts bearing upon personal identity.
The general description of the phenomena is as
follows : —
*' Mrs. Claughton visits a house reputed haunted. She there
twice sees a phantasm that she is able to describe — the descrip-
tion suiting a deceased lady unknown to her who had lived in
that house. There is external evidence to the fact that she
twice saw this phantom and was greatly impressed. The
phantom appeared to speak at some length, and made many
statements of facts unknown to Mrs. Claughton. Some of these
were such as could be verified, and were found correct. Others
related to an expedition which Mrs. Claughton was enjoined to
make to a village, here called Meresby, of which she had not
previously heard. Certain persons whom she would find there
were described by name and with other details. Certain
incidents of her future journey thither were also described. Mrs.
Claughton went to Meresby, and found all as foretold. She
there received (as had also been foretold) additional communica-
tions, and she then obeyed certain orders as to the communica-
tion of facts to survivors. That she made the journey, and
certain subsequent visits, is proved by external evidence."
Mrs. Claughton's first experience was as follows : —
Living in a house she knew to be haunted, she was
awakened one night by footsteps of a person coming
downstairs. The steps stopped at the door. The sounds
446 DEATH
were repeated twice more at an interval of a few moments.
Mrs. Claugliton rose, lit the candle, and opened the door.
There was no one there. She noticed the clock outside
was 1.20. She shut the door, got into bed; read, and,
leaving the candle burning, went to sleep. Woke up,
finding the candle spluttering out. Heard a sound like
a sigh. Saw a woman standing by the bed, she had a
soft white shawl around her shoulders, held by the right
hand towards the left shoulder, bending slightly forward.
She said, " Follow me." Mrs. Claughton rose, took the
candle, and followed her out of the room, across the
passage, and into the draAving-room. She had no recol-
lection as to opening the doors. The housemaid, next
day, declared that the drawing-room door had been
locked by her. On entering the drawing-room, Mrs.
Claughton, finding the candle on the point of extinction,
replaced it with a pink one from the chiffonier near
the door. The figure went nearly to the end of the
room, turned three-quarters round, said, " To-morrow,"
and disappeared. Mrs. Claughton returned to the bed-
room, where she found the elder child (not the one in
bed) sitting up. It asked, " Who is the lady in white ? "
Mrs. Claughton thinks she answered the child, " It is
only me — mother; go to sleep," or the like words, and
hushed her to sleep in her arms. The baby remained
fast asleep. She lit the gas, and remained awake for
some two hours, then put out the light and went to
sleep. Had no fear while seeing the figure, but was
upset after seeing it. Would not be prepared to swear
that she had not walked in her sleep. Pink candle
partly burnt in her room next morning. Does not know
if she took it burnt or new.
The next night the figure again appeared to Mrs.
Claughton. The latter was sitting up dressed, with the gas
burning. She (the figure) bent down over Mrs. Claughton,
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 447
made a certain statement, and asked Mrs. Claughton to do
certain things. Mrs. Claughton said, " Am I dreaming, or is
it true ? " The figure said, " If you doubt me you will find
that the date of my marriage was. . . ." The date of a
marriage in India was then given, which Mrs. Claughton
was able to verify the following Thursday from Dr. Ferrier.
After this Mrs. Claughton saw a man standing on Mrs.
B.'s left hand, tall, dark, well-made, healthy, sixty years
old or more, ordinary man's clothes, kind, good expression.
A conversation ensued between the three, in the course
of which the man stated himself to be George Howard,
buried in Meresby churchyard (Mrs. Claughton had
never heard of Meresby nor of George Howard), and
gave the date of his marriage. These dates and entries
in Mrs. Claughton's pocketbook were seen and verified
by Mr. Myers. He, Howard, desired Mrs. Claughton
to go to Meresby and verify these dates from the registers,
and, if found correct, to go to the church at 1.15 a.m.
and wait at the grave therein of Kichard Hart. When
Mrs. Claughton had done all this she should hear the
rest of the history. Towards the end of the conversation
Mrs. Claughton saw a third phantom. The three then
disappeared. Time, 1.20 a.m.
Next day Mrs. Claughton found that Meresby existed,
but took no steps to go there. Friday night Mrs.
Claughton dreamt that she arrived at five, after dusk,
and that a fair was going on. The next day she missed
the proper train, and did not arrive in Meresby until
dusk. She found and interviewed Joseph Wright, whom
George Howard had described. She also verified dates
in registers. After that she slept, and had a dream of a
terrifying character, whereof has full written description.
Dark night, hardly any moon, a few stars. To church
with Joseph Wright, 1 a.m., with whom searched the
interior, and found it empty. At 1.20 was locked in
448 DEATH
alone, having no light ; had been told to take Bible, but
had only church service, which she had left in the vestry
in the morning. Waited near grave of Richard Hart.
Felt no fear. Received communication, but does not
feel free to give any detail. No light. History begun
at Blake Street then completed. Was directed to take
another white rose from George Howard's grave, and
give it personally to his daughter. About 1.45 Joseph
Wright knocked, and let Mrs. Claughton out. Picked
rose, and sent as directed. Home, to bed, and slept well
for the first time since seeing first apparition. When
delivering rose to daughter recognised strong likeness
to her father — apparition previously seen. The wishes
expressed to her were not illogical nor unreasonable,
as dreams often appear, but clear, connected, and of
natural importance.
4. Haunted Houses.
We have seen from the foregoing that there are
numerous cases on record in which apparitions, both of
the living and of the dying, have appeared to friends
and relatives at great distances, at times coinciding with
either the illness or the death of the person whose
presence the figure represented. In such cases it was
generally possible to trace the time-connection between
the apparition seen and the bodily or mental illness of the
agent ; and, in that manner, we were enabled definitely
to ascertain that there is some time-connection between
the two events — either due to chance or to some causal
agency. When, however, we turn to phantasms of the
dead, we have no such time-connection to guide us, for
the reason that we are enabled to see, as it were, only
one end of the line ; and although the agent, in these
cases, might be actively endeavouring to impress the
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 449
thoughts of his hving friend, we have no definite froof
of the fact; and all such cases must consequently be
treated as simple hallucinations, unless additional ex-
ternal evidence be forthcoming of the reality of the
figure seen, or its cause. Now, in cases of haunted houses,
we have apparent instances of " localised " apparitions —
where the haunting is connected, that is, with some
locality rather than with some yerson ; and in the
majority of such cases, every person visiting that locality
(at least, every one who is at all sensitive), sees the
figure, or hears sounds, similar to those experienced by
others.
There are certain facts which, if established, would
indicate that some external intelligence is at work in such
cases, and that they are not mere empty hallucinations.
Some such proofs would be the following: — (1) That
the same figure was seen by several persons at the same
time, and described by them in identical language.
(2) That several persons in succession, each individually,
saw the same figure in the same locality. (3) Cases in
which a figure has been seen, and the features distin-
guished, but unrecognised at the time; later, however,
the seer has been enabled to identify the apparition
as a former occupant of the house by selecting a photo-
graph of that person from among a number shown him.
Let us now briefly summarise one or two cases of this
character, in order that the reader may form some idea
of the nature of the evidence, before turning to the theo-
retical explanation. One most interesting case of this
kind is published in Proceedings of the Society for Psychical
Research, vol. viii., pp. 311-32, entitled, "The Record of
a Haunted House." In this case Miss Morton, who
drew up the report, saw a figure many times in the
house, and heard its footsteps. Either figure or foot-
steps were also seen or heard by her sister Mrs. K.,
2f
450 DEATH
the housemaid, her brother, and another little bo}',
who were playing outside, her sister E., her sister M.,
Miss Campbell, W. H. C. Morton, F. M. K., Mrs.
Brown, Mrs. Twining, and others. Sometimes a number
of these witnesses would hear the footsteps of the
phantom at the same time — generally at night — and
open their doors leading into the hall simultaneously.
Miss Morton herself was a very calm and careful investi-
gator. Not only did she endeavour to ascertain any
normal cause for these phenomena, but she experimented
in every way possible along psychical lines. For instance,
she, on several occasions, fastened fine strings across
the stairs at various heights, before going to bed, but
after all others had gone up to their rooms. They were
fastened in such a manner that the slightest touch would
displace them, but yet would be quite invisible at night.
Speaking of this test, she says : " I have twice, at least,
seen the figure pass through the cords leaving them
intact." She also saw the figure disappear several
times; saw it walk through doors that were shut, and
on several occasions, when trying to touch or grasp the
figure, found that it invariably evaded her clutch. There
is also strong evidence of the peculiar behaviour of dogs
and other animals while in this house. Thus : —
" Twice I remember seeing this dog suddenly run up to the
mat at the foot of the stairs in the hall wagging his tail, and
moving his back in the way dogs do when expecting to be
caressed. It jumped up, fawning, as it would do if a person
had been standing there, but suddenly slunk away with its tail
between its legs and retreated, trembling, under the sofa."
A case of remarkable interest is that investigated by
Miss X., and to which she devoted a whole book, entitled.
The Alleged Haunting of B House. Miss X., who is
highly sensitive, and herself a psychic, spent several weeks
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 451
in this house, keeping throughout a minute diary of all
events of interest. The first night Miss X., and Miss
Moore, her friend, were awakened by a sound which they
described as metal struck with wood. The vision called
up before the mind by the sound was that of " a long
metal bar struck at intervals with a wooden mallet." It
will be seen from this description that the sound was by
no means small in volume ; and, in fact, both Miss X.
and her friend, as well as the servants, were instantly
awakened by it. The next night the sound as of a
man readino- aloud was heard. These sounds continued
in frequency and in violence for some time ; and, a little
later on, figures, mostly of nuns, were seen by Miss X.,
and other inhabitants of the house. Animals also saw
the figures in this case, and on some occasions the dog
would " point " and run to the figure, expecting to be
caressed upon reaching it — only to find nothing there,
— when it would immediately signify its astonishment
by prolonged barking and howling. The inmates of the
house tried on several occasions to imitate the sounds
which they heard, by striking the pipes, knocking the
fire-irons together, knocking upon the roof, &c. But in
no case could they make as much noise as the haunting
influence made each night ! Many attempts were made
at automatic writing and at crystal gazing, during the
occupancy of the house, but with no very definite results.
Many spontaneous phenomena of great interest occurred,
however, of which the following is a sample : —
"I had an experience this morning which may have been
purely subjective, but which should be recorded. About 10 a.m.,
I was writing in the library, face to light, back to fire. Mrs. W.
was in the room, and addressed me once or twice ; but I was
aware of not being responsive, as I was much occupied. I wrote
on, and presently felt a distinct^ but gentle push against my
chair. I thought it was the dog, and looked down, but he was
452 DEATH
not there. I went on writing, and in a few minutes felt a push,
firm and decided, against myself, which moved me on my chair.
I thought it was Mrs. W., who, having spoken and obtained
no answer, was reminding me of her presence. I looked back-
ward with an exclamation — the room was empty. She came in
directly, and called my attention to the dog, who was gazing
intently from the hearth-rug at the place where I had expected
(before) to see him."
The end of the stay in this house was quite unpleasant.
The phenomena, it is true, became less frequent, and less
aggressive, as the weeks went by, but Miss X. was forced
to write on May 3rd : —
" The general tone of things is disquieting, and new in our
experience. Hitherto, in our first occupation, the phenomena
affected one as melancholy, depressing, and perplexing, but all
now, quite independently, say the same thing, — that the influ-
ence is evil and horrible, — even poor Spooks (dog) was never
terrified before, as she has been since our return here. The
worn faces at breakfast are really a dismal sight" (p. 210).
Many cases of a like nature could be cited, but space
does not permit. It is evident to any impartial student
of the records that supernormal phenomena do undoubt-
edly occur in haunted houses, and the question narrows
itself down to their intoyretation. The supernormal
nature of the facts once granted, this question becomes
one of deep interest.
Various theories have been advanced from time to
time to explain these facts. Some have thought that a
sort of atmosphere exists in and about a house of this
nature, permeating it as its physical atmosphere might,
and affecting the minds and senses of all inhabitants of
that house, sensitive enough to perceive this influence.
Others have thought that the figures seen represented
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 453
actual spiritual forms or bodies (which is the popular
interpretation of the facts). Still others have contended
that thouo^ht-transference between the living^ would
account for these phenomena, the first percipient ex-
periencing a simple hallucination (subsequent figures
representing, on this theory, but a recurrence of the
hallucination), and when this tenant moved, and others
took his place, the phantom would be handed on, as it
were, by telepathy, from the original occupant ! A fourth
class of thinkers holds that a species of telepathy from
the dead is the best hypothesis to explain the facts. On
this theory we have the analogies of hallucination and
telepathy to guide us : the figure would be an halluci-
nation, and have no external existence, any more than
do the figures in a feverish dream ; but it was initiated,
nevertheless, by some external source or mind, and
for that reason cannot be classed as purely suhjective.
Telepathy from the mind of the dead person would
explain many of the facts, but it is very doubtful if it
would explain them cell. In view of the evidence we
have presented for the existence of a spiritual, or ethe-
rial, or semi-material body, it is to many of us far easier
to conceive that real entities are operative within the
house than to imagine any such complicated hypothesis.
The fact that various figures are seen ; the fact that
animals behave in the manner they do, in such houses ;
the fact that on some occasions it is reported that two
independent witnesses have seen the same figure from a
different angle, and described it as they would, if they
were viewing a real figure — all this would seem to indi-
cate that some ethereal body is present in at least some
instances. What the final verdict ma}'' be on cases of
this character it is hard to say. The only thing that
remains definite and clear is that all cases of haunted
houses should be investigated carefully by trained
454 DEATH
experts, and the results impartially recorded. Were this
done, we might hope that, in the course of three or four
hundred years, some definite progress would be made in
this field of research !
5. Planchette Writing.
The case we are about to give is reported by Mr.
Hensleigh Wedgwood (the cousin and brother-in-law
of Charles Darwin, and himself a well-known savant), and
the automatic writing was obtained through the instru-
mentality of his own wife. It comes, therefore, from an
exceptionally authentic source, and, no matter how we
may choose to interpret these facts, the hona fides of the
Avitnesses can hardly be questioned.
Planchette Writing in the Normal State.
This case appeared originally in the Journal of the Society
for Psychical Research, but was reprinted in the Proceedings,
vol. ix., pp. 93-7. It runs as follows : —
*' * A spirit is here to-day who we think will be able to write
through the medium. Hold very steady, and he will try to
draw.'
" We turned the page, and a sketch was made, rudely enough
of course, but with apparent care.
" ' Very sorry can't do better. Was meant for test. Must
write for you instead. — J. G.'
" We did not fully understand the first drawing, taking it for
two arms and hands clasped, one coming down from above. Mr.
Wedgwood asked the spirit of J. G. to try again, which he did.
" Before the drawing he wrote : ' Now look.' We did, and
this time comprehended an arm and sword.
" ' Now I will write for you if you like.'
" Mr. W. : ' What did the drawing represent?'
'' ' Something that was given me.'
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 455
" I said, * Are you a man or a woman ? '
'"Man, John G.'
" Mr. W. : ' How was it given to you ? '
" ' On paper and other things. My head is bad from the old
wound I got there when I try to write through mediums.'
" Mr. W. : 'We don't know J. G. Have you anything to do
with us ? '
" ' No connection.'
"Mr. W. said he knew a J. Giffard, and wondered if that
was the same.
'* ' Not Giffard. Gurwood.'
" Mr. W. suggested that he had been killed in storming
some fort.
" ' I killed myself on Christmas Day, years ago. I wish I
had died fighting.'
" ' Were you a soldier? '
" ' I was in the army.'
" ' Can you name what rank ? '
" ' No, it was the pen that did for me, and not the sword.'
"The word pen was imperfectly written, and I thought it was
meant iov fall. I asked if this was right?
" ' No.'
'' Mr. W. : 'Is the word pen ? '
" 'Yes, pen did for me.'
"We suggested that he was an author who had failed, or had
been maligned.
" ' I did not fail. I was not slandered. Too much for me
after . . . pen was too much for me after the wound.'
" ' Where were you wounded, and when did you die ? '
" ' Peninsula to first question.'
" We were not sure about the word Peninsula, and asked him
to repeat.
" ' I was wounded in the head in Peninsula. It will be forty-
four years next Christmas Day since I killed myself. Oh, my
head ... I killed myself. John Gurwood.'
" ' Where did you die ? '
"'I had my wound in 1810. I cannot tell you more about
myself. The drawing as a test.'
456 DEATH
" We asked if the device was intended for his crest.
" ' I had it, seal.'
" ' Had it anything to do with your wound? '
" ' It came from that, and was given me. Power fails to
explain. Remember my name. Stop now.' "
Later, the following was obtained : —
" ' Sword — when I broke in, on the table with plan or fortress
— belonged to my prisoner ; I will tell you his name to-night.
It was on the table when I broke in. He did not expect me ;
I took him unawares. He was in his room, looking at a plan,
and the sword was on the table. Will try and let you know how
I took the sword to-night.'
" In the evening after dinner : —
" ' I fought my way in. His name was Banier ' (three times
repeated). ' The sword was lying on the table, by a written
cheme of defence. Oh, my head ! Banier had a plan written
out for the defence of the fortress. It was lying on the table,
and his sword was by it.'
" To a question : ' Yes ; surprised him.'
" Kow, when these facts came to be verified, the following
was found. None of those having their hands on the board
knew anything whatever about these facts, and considerable
letter-writing had to be gone through, in order to verify them.
" When I came to verify the message of the planchette, I
speedily found that Colonel Gurwood, the editor of the Duke's
despatches, led the forlorn hope at the storming of Ciudad
Rodrigo, in 1812, and received a wound in the skull from a
musket ball which affected him for the remainder of his life.
In recognition of the bravery shown on that occasion he received
a grant of arms in 1812, and the Duke of Wellington presented
him with the sword of the Governor, who had been taken
prisoner by Captain Gurwood.
*'The services thus specified were symbolised in the crest,
* Out of a mural coronet, a castle ruined in the centre, and
therefrom an arm in armour embowed, holding a scimitar.'
" In accordance with the assertion of the planchette, Colonel
Gurwood killed himself on Christmas Day, 1845, and the
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 457
Annual Register of that year, after narrating the suicide, says :
' It is thought that this laborious undertaking (the editing the
despatches) produced a relaxation of the nervous system and
consequent depression of spirits. In a fit of despondency the
unfortunate gentleman terminated his life.' "
In such a case as the above, the absurdity of attempt-
ing to explain the facts by any theory of telepathy should
be apparent. There is only one rational explanation of
the incident, — if we rule out conscious fraud, as we must
in this case, owing to the high social position of the
recorders. That explanation is spiritism.
6. The Case of Mrs. Piper.
The primary question that concerns us in this place
is the truth of personal identity — since only in that
manner can persistence of consciousness, or what is
usually known as " the immortality of the soul," be
proved. In order that the reader may understand the
problem aright, it is necessary for him to realise, first
of all, the position and strength of materialism. That
doctrine tells us that consciousness is a mere function or
product of brain-activity, and that, when this organ
ceases to function, consciousness must come to an
abrupt termination — as, of course, would be the case at
death. Just as digestion, circulation, secretion, &c., do
not continue after the disintegration of the organs upon
which these functions depend ; so, it is contended, con-
sciousness cannot persist after the destruction of the
brain- — upon the functional activity of which it depends.
Consciousness, in short, is supposed to be intimately
bound up with nervous activity, and with the nervous
system, and there is no evidence, it is claimed, for the
activity or persistence of any consciousness, except in
connection with such nerve activity. And, outside of
458 DEATH
the facts classed under the general heading of psychic
research, it will be seen that there is no such evidence —
at least none that would appeal to the scientific man.
To those who are content to rely upon faith, or to whom
any of the arguments we have advanced appeal as
sufficiently conclusive to warrant belief in survival, we
have, of course, no further word to say. But there are
a large number of critics — and among these may be
classed most scientific men — who feel that such evidence
is not conclusive, and that facts will have to be adduced,
answering the position of materialism, if that doctrine
is ever to be overthrown. It will be seen at once that
the only way to meet this objection is to produce such
facts ; and they consist, primarily, in proofs of the fact
that an individual consciousness — one known to us
previously, let us say — does continue to exist after the
death of the body. The evidence desired in order to
prove this, and the only evidence that ever will prove
it, is the establishment of the identity of the deceased
person ; and it will be seen that this can only be done
by obtaining specific facts and details from that con-
sciousness, which were known to it when alive, but which
were presumably in the possession of no other conscious-
ness. If we could get in touch, directly or indirectly,
with what claimed to be such a consciousness, therefore,
and it could produce for us certain facts known only to
it when alive (which facts we were enabled afterwards to
verify), then we should have fairly good evidence for the
belief that such an individual intelligence was operative in
the case before us. When once the facts pass beyond the
limits of chance, guessing, inference, telepathy, and clair-
voyance, and when the honesty of the medium has been
proved, there would seem to be no other alternative than
to accept the doctrine of spiritism, as at least a thinkable
and working hypothesis. Now let us see what the facts
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 459
are that have been obtained by investigations of this
nature.
The most famous medium through whom we have
obtained messages of this character is Mrs. Piper — well
known to all students of psychic research. We shall
summarise a small part of the evidence that has been
obtained through the instrumentality of this medium —
after first describing the conditions under which the
communications are received.
Mrs. Piper passes into trance (the reahty of which has
been attested frequently by physicians and others), in
which state she remains for about two hours. (See Ap-
pendix D.) During that time the voice speaks, or more
frequently the hand writes — the content of the message
being, it will be seen, the problem to be solved in this
case, and not the method of its production. The writing
is read at the time by the sitter, who asks questions of
the medium's hand (not ear), which comes up to his
mouth for the purpose. When this hand converses with
a spirit, so-called, it is raised into space, and is extended
at arm's length, slightly elevated. The hand then comes
down, and writes upon a pad of paper the information
that is received. In this manner the messages are
obtained.
The First English Experiments.
Mrs. Piper was taken to England in November 1889,
so that the group of eminent investigators in that country
— Sir Oliver Lodge, Professor Walter Leaf, Professor
Henry Sidgwick, Mr. F. W. H. Myers, and others — might
test the powers that had proved so mystifying to American
students of psychical research. As Mr. Myers says, every
precaution was taken to make fraud impossible : —
" Professor Lodge met her on tlie Liverpool landing-stage,
November 19, and conducted her to a hotel, where I joined her
4G0 DEATH
on Kovember 20, and escorted her with her children to Cam-
bridge. She stayed first in my house ; and I am convinced that
she brought with her a very slender knowledge of English
affairs and English people. The servant who attended on her
and on her two young children was chosen by myself, and was
a young woman from a country village, whom I had full reason
to believe to be trustworthy, and also quite ignorant of my own
or my friend's affairs. For the most part I had myself not
determined upon the persons whom I would invite to sit with
her. I chose these sitters in great measure by chance ; several
of them were not residents in Cambridge ; and, except in one or
two cases where anonymity would have been hard to preserve,
I brought them to her under false names — sometimes intro-
ducing them only when the trance had already begun."
In the report raade by Sir Oliver Lodge, a description
of the precautionary measures adopted at other times is
given.
"Mrs. Piper's correspondence was small," he says, "some-
thing like three letters a week, even when the children were
away from her. The outsides of her letters nearly always
passed through my hands, and often the insides, too, by her
permission.
" The servants were all, as it happened^ new, having been
obtained by my wife through ordinary local inquiries and
registry offices, just about the time of Mrs. Piper's visit. Con-
sequently they were entirely ignorant of family connections,
and could have told nothing, however largely they had been
paid. The ingenious suggestion has been made that they were
her spies. Knowing the facts, 1 will content myself with
asserting that they had absolutely no connection with her of
any sort. . . .
" In order to give better evidence, I obtained permission, and
immediately thereafter personally overhauled the whole of her
luggage. Directories, biographies, Men of Our Time, and such-
like books were entirely absent. In fact, there were scarcely
any books at all. . . . Strange sitters frequently arrived at
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 461
11 A.M., and I admitted them myself straight into the room
where we were going to sit ; they were shortly after introduced
to Mrs. Piper under some assumed name."
Although the report specifies other similar methods
that were adopted to anticipate, and, if possible, prevent
fraud, these are sufficient to indicate that the tests re-
ceived, such as they were, are of some value from an
evidential point of view.
At the first sittmg with Sir Oliver Lodge, Mrs. Piper
gave a correct description of Mrs. Lodge's father, but the
name was incorrectly given as " Uncle William," a mistake
that was subsequently rectified. An " Aunt Ann " was
also described correctly, both as to her personal ap-
pearance and characteristics. The name was also given,
and the fact was mentioned that she had been the one
to care for Professor Lodge after the death of his
mother. Professor Lodge was also asked if he still
possessed " the little old-fashioned picture of her, on
a small card," and she seemed pleased when he said that
he had kept it. She also announced that she was now
caring for Professor Lodge's child, who had died when
very young (a fact that Mrs. Piper may or may not have
known), but the failure to state the sex of this child
correctly at the first attempt throws the shadow of doubt
upon the test. The immediate cause of " Aunt Ann's "
death was also given incorrectly.
At the second sitting Mrs. Lodge's father again professed
to appear, although he seemed to find great difficulty in
making himself clear. At last Phinuit took the matter in
hand : —
*' ' He says,' said the control, ' you have got something of his.
He says if you had this it would help him. . . . It's a little
ornament with his hair in it.' Mrs. Lodge immediately recog-
nised the ornament referred to. It was a locket containing
some strands of hair, but she had never known whose hair it
462 DEATH
contained. Upon the appearance of the locket it was identified,
and the statement was made that it had been given by the father
to Mrs. Lodge's mother. The name * Alexander ' was given as
that of the father. Both statements were correct. After some
rather rambling statements, Phinuit took affairs in his own
hands again. ' He had an illness and passed out with it,' said
the control. ' He tried to speak to Mary, his wife, and stretched
out his hand to her, but couldn't reach, and fell and passed away.
That's the last thing he remembers in this mortal body.' "
It was also stated that he had had trouble with his
right leg ; that it was due to a fall ; that it was below the
knee; and that it gave him pain sometimes. In describ-
ing him further, Phinuit stated that he had much trouble
with his teeth ; that he travelled a great deal ; and wore
a uniform with " big bright buttons " on it.
All these statements were absolutely correct. He had
been a captain in the merchant service, and, as the natural
consequence, travelled almost continuously. There vjere
big bright buttons on his uniform. On one of his trips he
had fallen down the hold and broken his right leg below
the knee, and this sometimes pained him severely. He
also suffered severely from toothache ; and the facts
attending his death were very accurately described.
Inquiries were made regarding " Uncle William," whose
name had first been given instead of that of the father,
and Phinuit announced : —
" ' Never saw a spirit so happy and contented. He was
depressed in life — had blues like old Harry, but he's quite
contented now. He had trouble there [prodding himself in
lower half of the stomach, and me over bladder]. Trouble
there, in bowels or something. Had pain in head ; right
eye funny. Pain down here, abdomen ; stoppage urine. Had
an operation, and after it was worse, and with it passed out.' "
Although the name of " Uncle William ' was given at
the first sitting, it was not until a subsequent occasion
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 463
that the full name, William Tomkinson, was produced.
It was then stated that he was an old man with white
hair and beard, and the trouble with the bladder was
again insisted upon. In verification of these facts.
Professor Lodge says that he used to have just such
severe fits of depression as Phinuit described : " His
right eye had a droop in it. He had stone in bladder,
great trouble with urine, and was operated on towards
the end by Sir Henry Thompson."
At the second sitting Mrs. Lodge's father's name was
given in full, " Alexander Marshall," with more particulars
concerning the injury to his leg by a fall " through a hole
in the boat." Mention was also made to " two Florences,"
with the information that one painted and the other did
not ; that one was married and the other was single, and
that it is " the one who doesn't paint who is married."
This was true, as Professor Lodge had two cousins of the
name of Florence, and the description fitted exactly.
Phinuit continued, however, by saying that the married
cousin had a friend named " Whiteman," who had some-
thing the matter with her head. As this information
was unintelligible to all the sitters, Professor Lodge wrote
to this cousin and learned that the lady's friend was
" Whytehead," but that, so far as known, she was in good
health. Apparently the " head trouble " was a confusion
resulting from the termination of the name.
In the course of these sittings Professor Lodge and
others received several communications indicating super-
normal knowledge of earthly afiairs. Some were of too
personal a nature to be given to the public. At one
sitting, however, a gentleman (Mr. G. H. Kendall) was
introduced as " Mr. Roberts." During the experiment he
placed a locket in Mrs. Piper's hand — a locket containing
a miniature head of a first (step) cousin, named " Agnes,"
who had died of consumption in 1869. This picture was
464 DEATH
faced by a ring of hair, but, as the locket remained
closed, there was no ordinary way in which Mrs. Piper
could have ascertained these facts. Instantly Phinuit
announced that the object was associated with an old
friend, and the name " Aleese " was given, incorrectly, of
course, although the pronunciation is explained by the
fact that this control, assuming to be a French physician,
frequently spoke with a French accent. When he was
informed that he had made a mistake in the name, he
excused himself by saying that " It is the cough she
remembers — she passed out with a cough," and he
immediately gave the name as "Agnese," nor was he
able to give a better interpretation, even using the name
" Anyese " during the remainder of the sitting. While
much of the information given was of a character that
could not be regarded as particularly evidential, he gave
a number of facts that were surprisingly correct. Thus,
he announced that " She's got greyish eyes and brown
hair " ; " she passed out with a cough " ; " when she
passed out she lost flesh, but she looks better now —
looks more like the picture you have in here " (indicating
the locket), " rather fleshier." Then he added : " There
was a book, when she was in the body, connected with
you and her — a little book and some verses in it." And,
finally, " That's her hair in there " (pointing to the locket
again).
As a matter of fact every statement was practically
correct, even in regard to " the book," for Mr. Kendall
had, as a keepsake, her " Roundell Palmer's Booh of
Praised There was some confusion and error in the
subsequent communications, with a few facts of evi-
dential value, the particulars of which may be found in
Sir Oliver Lodge's reports.
The most important experiment, however, occurred at
one of the early sittings. It is quoted entire : —
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 465
" It happened that an uncle of mine in London, now quite an
old man, and one of a surviving three out of a large family, had
a twin brother who died twenty or more years ago. I interested
him generally in the subject, and wrote to ask if he would lend
me some relic of this brother. By morning post on a certain
day I received a curious old gold watch which this brother had
worn and been fond of ; and that same morning, no one in the
house having seen or knowing anything about it, I handed it to
Mrs. Piper when in a state of trance.
" I was told almost immediately that it had belonged to one
of my uncles — one that had been mentioned before as having
died from the effects of a fall — one that had been very fond of
Uncle Robert, the name of the survivor — that the watch was
now in possession of this same Uncle Robert, with whom he was
anxious to communicate. After some difficulty and many wrong
attempts, Dr. Phinuit caught the name Jerry, short for
Jeremiah, and said emphatically, as if a third person was
speaking : * This is my watch, and Robert is my brother, and I
am here. Uncle Jerry, my watch.' All this at the first sitting
on the very morning the watch had arrived by post, no one but
myself and a shorthand clerk, who happened to have been
introduced for the first time at this sitting by me, and whose
antecedents are well known to me, being present.
" Having thus got ostensibly into communication through
some means or other with what purported to be a deceased
relative whom I had, indeed, known slightly in his later years
of blindness, but of whose early life I knew nothing, I pointed
out to him that to make Uncle Robert aware of his presence it
would be well to recall trivial details of their boyhood, all of
which I would faithfully report. He quite caught the idea, and
proceeded during several successive sittings ostensibly to instruct
Dr. Phinuit to mention a number of little things such as would
enable his brother to recognise him. Reference to his blindness,
illness, and main facts of his life were comparatively useless from
my point of view ; but these details of boyhood two-thirds of a
century ago were utterly and entirely out of my ken. My father
was one of the younger members of the family, and only knew
these brothers as men.
2g
466 DEATH
" ' Uncle Jerry ' recalled episodes such as swimming the
creek when they were boys together, and running some risk of
getting drowned ; killing a cat in Smith's field ; the possession
of a small rifle and of a long peculiar skin, like a snake-skin,
which he thought was now in the possession of Uncle Robert.
" All these facts have been more or less completely verified.
But the interesting thing is that this twin brother, from whom
I got the watch, and with whom I was in a sort of communica-
tion, could not remember them all. He recollected something
about swimming the creek, though he himself had merely looked
on. He had a distinct recollection of having had the snake-
skin, and of the box in which it was kept, though he does not
know where it is now. But he altogether denied killing the cat,
and could not recall Smith's field.
" His memory, however, is decidedly failing him, and he was
good enough to write to another brother, Frank, now living in
Cornwall, an old sea captain, and ask him if he had any better
remembrance of certain facts, of course not giving any inexplic-
able reason for asking. The result of this inquiry was trium-
phantly to vindicate the existence of Smith's field as a place near
their home, where they used to play, in Barking, Essex ; and the
killing of the cat by another brother was also recollected ; while
of the swimming of the creek, near a mill-race, full details were
given, Frank and Jerry being the heroes of that foolhardy episode.
" Some of the other facts given I have not been able to get
verified. Perhaps there are as many unverified as verified. And
some things appear, so far as I can make out, to be false. One
little thing I could verify myself, and it is good, inasmuch as no
one is likely to have had any recollection, even if they had any
knowledge, of it. Phinuit told me to take the watch out of its
case (it was the old-fashioned turnip variety), and examine it
in good light afterwards, and I should see some nicks near the
handle, which Jerry said he had cut into it with his knife.
" Some faint nicks are there. I had never had the watch out
of the case before, being, indeed, careful neither to finger it
myself nor to let any one else finger it.
" I never let Mrs. Piper in her waking state see the watch till
quite towards the end of the time, when I purposely left it lying
I
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 467
on my desk while she came out of the trance. Before long she
noticed it, with natural curiosity, evidently becoming conscious
of its existence for the first time."
The Sittings of Dr. Leaf.
On the occasion of this visit to England, several sittings
were given under the supervision of Dr. Walter Leaf.
At these experiments similar precautions were taken, a
full description of which are given in Dr. Leafs report.
While some of the communications that were obtained
evidenced a knowledge of personal matters that were
certainly foreign to Mrs. Piper's conscious intelligence,
all tests are here excluded, with the exception of those
that indicate the appearance of a separate individuality.
As none of these experiences were so convincing as those
that contributed to the success of Sir Oliver Lodge's
sittings, it will be unnecessary to describe them with so
much attention to detail.
On one occasion, when Dr. Leaf and a Mr. Clarke had
withdraw^n from the room, leaving Mrs. Piper with Mrs.
Clarke, Phinuit mentioned that a cousin of Mrs. Clarke
was present. He then continued : —
" ' There was something the matter with his heart and with his
head. He says it was an accident. He wants me to tell you
it was an accident. He wants you to tell his sisters. There's
M. and E., they are sisters of E. And there is their mother.
She suffers here (pointing to abdomen). E. told me. His
mother has been very unhappy about his death. He begs you
for God's sake to tell them that it was an accident — that it was
his head — that he was hurt there (making motion of stabbing
heart) ; that he had inherited it from his father. His father
was off his mind — you know what I mean — crazy. But the
others are all right and will be.' "
In a note that follows Mrs. Clarke says : —
" A striking account of my uncle's family in Germany. The
468 DEATH
name and facts are all correct. The father was disturbed in his
mind for the last three years of his life in consequence of a fall
from his horse. The son committed suicide in a fit of melan-
cholia, by stabbing his heart, as described. . . . The most
important events — my uncle's . . . death and my cousin's
suicide . . . were known to only two persons in England
besides my husband."
The most interesting, if not the most important
communication, occmTed at another sitting.
"* Here's M.,' exclaimed Phinuit, 'not the M. who hurt her
ankle, but — another. She is your aunt. . . . She is in the
spirit. . . . She is here and wants to speak to you.' ' What
does she say about her husband ? ' Mrs. Clarke asked. ' She
says he has changed his life since. She does not like it that he
married again . . . she does not like him to have married again
so soon. He married her sister. Two brothers married sisters.
Her husband has children now. There are two boys. And
there are Max and Richard, or Dick, as they call him ; they
are with your uncle's children. Now what do you think of
this ? Don't you think I can tell you many things ? You just
ask me anything you like and I'll tell you. . . . Shall I tell
you how you ran away (chuckling) with that man — that boy, I
mean. You were a little devil to do that. It worried your
mother almost to death.' "
In her notes Mrs. Clarke explains these disclosures : —
" This is an accurate description of the family of another
uncle. His wife died childless, and he soon after married her
sister, by whom he had children. His brother had previously
married a third sister.
" When five years old I rambled off with two boys, staying
hours away from home, an event which in my family is jestingly
referred to as my running away."
At a sitting at which Mr. F. W. H. Myers was present,
Phinuit said, speaking to Mr. Myers : —
" * Timothy is the nearest spirit you have got to you ; some call
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 469
him Tim ; he is your father. Timothy was your grandfather
also. Your father tells me about S. W. — stay, I can't get that
— I must wait. Your mother had trouble in the stomach ; she
is in the spirit world. Your father had trouble in heart and
head.' Myers' father passed away from disease of the heart."
It is stated in an explanatory note that, " except the
allusion to ' S. W.,' which is not recognisable, the above
is all true, if the ' trouble in heart and head ' be taken to
refer to Mr. Myers' father, as seemed to be intended."
Mr. Myers then asked Phinuit if he could tell what his
father did in his earth- existence, and what now interested
him. Phinuit replied : —
" ' He is interested in the Bible — a clergyman. He used to
preach. He has a Bible with him ; he goes on reading and
advancing. He is living with your mother just the same as on
earth. He has been in the spirit-world longer than she has.
Your mother is a little nervous. I can't get her to come near.
Your father has a graceful, solemn manner, as he had on earth.
He had trouble with his throat — irritation (points to bronchial
tubes). The boys used to call him Tim at college.' "
It is stated that all statements that could be verified
were found to be correct. Some confusion was exhibited
regarding a picture of Mr. Myers' father " in the hall," for
while it was admitted that it was not a photograph,
Phinuit seemed somewhat unable to determine whether
it was a crayon or an oil painting. It was finally stated
that the father's dress was more like the ecclesiastical
garb which he wore in an oil painting hanging in Mrs. A.'s
sister's house, a fact which could not have been known to
Mrs. Piper.
Professor William James, in a long letter printed at
the end of this report, stated that : —
*' Taking everything I know of Mrs. P. into account, the result
is to make me feel as absolutely certain as I am of any personal
fact in the world that she knows things in her trances which
470 DEATH
she cannot possibly have heard in her waking state, and that
the definite philosophy of her trances is yet to be found."
D7\ Hodgsons First Report.
In Dr. Hodgson's first report there are many items of
interest that should be recorded, chiefly occurring in con-
nection with the control, — Dr. Phinuit. The following
is a typical example of the evidence obtained in those
days, before the character of the control changed, the
Imperator group assumed control, and the automatic
writing developed : —
" January 5th, 1888, I was told, ' Here is somebody who says
he is your grandfather. He is tall, wears glasses, and is smooth
shaven.' ('Which grandfather?') 'He gives his name F.'
('Yes, it must be my grandfather F., if smooth shaven.') 'Well,
it is. But do you mean that your grandfather E. wears a
beard ? ' (' Yes.') ' I think you must be mistaken.' (' No,
I am sure that he did.') ' I never see him so, and I see him
often.' (My grandfather E. died before my birth, but I had been
sure that he had been described to me as full-bearded, like his
son. But my father, when appealed to, disappointed me. ' No,
you are wrong,' he said. ' I am like him in figure and features,
but not in cut of beard. He was always smooth shaven.' "
There were three prophecies recorded, one from a
deceased friend, giving her name, and saying that
another friend of Miss W.'s, giving his name, would
marry soon. The " communicator " was the deceased
wife of the person named, her surviving husband. Miss
W. exclaimed that it was preposterous, and would not
believe that it was her friend who was communicating.
But the prediction was insisted on, and Miss W. had
finally to admit that the communications were charac-
teristic of her friend, but attached no importance to the
prediction. But the prophesied marriage occurred in a
few months.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 471
The last prediction is very interesting, and should be
quoted in full. Miss W. says : —
"In the spring of 1888, an acquaintance, S., was sufFeiing
torturing disease. There was no hope of relief, and only
distant prospect of release. A consultation of physicians
predicted continued physical suffering, and probably mental
decay, continuing perhaps through a series of years. S.'s
daughter, worn with anxiety and care, was in danger of
breaking in health. ' How can I get her away for a little
rest?' I asked Dr. Phinuit, May 24, 1888. 'She will not
leave her father,' was the reply, 'but his suffering is not for
long. The doctors are wrong about that. There will be a
change soon, and he will pass out of the body before the
summer is over.' His death occurred in June 1888."
From time to time various tests have been made by
the aid of sealed letters. An individual has written a
letter, sealed it, and sent it to the Society, where it
remains until the death of that person. During the
life of the writer of the letter no other living conscious-
ness is in possession of its contents, we may suppose ;
and after the death of that person, and until the letter
was opened, no living consciousness at all was in
possession of its contents. Now, if the writer of such a
letter purported to communicate, and, by means of auto-
matic writing, gave the contents of such letter, it would
be good evidence of the presence and identity of that
person. At all events, in order to offset the spiritistic
interpretation of the facts, we should have to assume,
among other things, that the contents of the letter
were passed on telepathically to other living minds
during the lifetime of the writer of the letter; and,
after the death of the writer, this knowledge Avas
obtained from their minds by Mrs. Piper, through
some telepathic process unknown to us — for any of
which assumptions there is not the slightest particle
472 DEATH
of evidence, experimental or otherwise. At all events,
several such letters have been written, and a few of
them tested, while a number yet remain in the offices of
the Society, awaiting the death of the writer. Most of the
cases so far tested have been practical failures, but there
is some reason for this, even assuming the spiritistic hypo-
thesis to be true. Many persons might write a letter
containing what seemed to them important material at the
time, but might totally forget its contents. To give an
incident of this character. About eight years ago, a
sister-in-law of a friend of ours wrote a letter of this
nature, and gave it to us to take to a medium, to see if
she could tell its contents without breaking the seal of
the envelope in which it was enclosed. It concerned an
incident which at that time seemed very important to
her, and one that she could never forget ! At the
present day, however, she has not only forgotten the
contents of the letter, but has totally forgotten the fact
that she ever wrote one ! Were she to die, therefore,
and were we to ask her about this letter, she would
be not only unable to tell its contents, but would
deny having written any such letter at all ! Doubtless
it is the same in other cases. The contents of the
letter would naturally be forgotten; and when we take
into account, in addition to this, the tremendous diffi-
culties experienced while communicating, it would seem
quite natural to expect very little conclusive evidence —
even were the spiritistic hypothesis true.
There is one incident, however, which is quite
striking, and which certainly deserves mention in this
place. The incident is thus summarised by Dr. Hj^slop
in his Science and the Future Life, pp. 189—91 : —
**Miss Hannah Wild and her sister, Mrs. Blodgett, had
frequently talked over the possibility of spirit return, and
the former promised to write a letter, whose contents she
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 473
would reveal after death, if any such thing as communication
with the dead were possible. It was some time, however,
before she was persuaded to write the letter. One day,
about a week before she died, she said, ' Bring me pen and
paper. If spirit-return is true, the world should know. I
will write the letter.' She wrote the letter, and enclosed it
in a tin box, and when she handed it to her sister, she said,
' If I can come back it will be like ringing the city hall
bell.' She spoke about the letter often. Miss Hannah Wild
died July 28, 1886. Towards the latter part of the same
year, Mrs. Blodgett saw in a paper a notice of the Society
for Psychical Research, in which the name of Professor
James was mentioned, and it led to correspondence, and her
telling him what she had for a test. Professor James pro-
posed trying Mrs. Piper, and the letter was sent to him
properly sealed. Some articles that had been worn by Miss
Wild were sent to Professor James, and by him to Mr. J.
M. Piper, where Mrs. Piper was living at the time, and the
nature of the test explained without giving any names. The
letter remained in the possession of Professor James.
" At this first experiment, Mrs. Blodgett not being present
and her name not being known, Phinuit obtained the name
of Hannah Wild, and perhaps some perception of her con-
nection with the Woman's Journal, in which she was interested,
and to whose pages she had contributed ; also the name of her
sister, Bessie (Mrs. Blodgett), to whom she was to give the
test, and some impression to the then recent marriage of her
sister. Beyond these facts practically nothing correct was
obtained. Mrs. Piper had numerous sittings for the purpose
of getting the details of what Phinuit gave as the death-bed
letter, and he was confident that he had been conversing with
the spirit of Hannah Wild ; yet the description of her
personal appearance was almost entirely wrong. Phinuit's
letter contained no hint of the substance of the real letter
which Mrs. Blodgett had forwarded to Professor James for
comparison with Phinuit's statements, and the numerous cir-
cumstances referred to in Phinuit's letter had scarcely any
relation to the life of Hannah Wild, They were chiefly a
474 DEATH
tissue of incorrect statements. The result so far suggested
that, however Phinuit succeeded in obtaining the names and
other impressions which proved to be more or less correct,
he at least did not get them from the 'spirit' of Hannah
Wild.
"The next experiment was made with both Mrs. Blodgett
and Dr. Hodgson present, Dr. Hodgson taking notes. The
sitting had been arranged before, and no names were men
tioned, so that Mrs. Piper apparently had no normal knowledge
of the relation of the sitter to the letter whose contents it was
desirable to obtain. At the first shot came the following : —
" ' You have a sister here, and did you ever find out about that
letter ? Anna. Hannah. Hannah Wild. She calls you Bessie
Blodgett. You were in an audience, and a message was
thrown to you. She'll tell you all about that. How's the
Society — the women, you know ? Moses. He's in the body.
I want to tell you about that letter.'
" The pertinence of some of the incidents will here be apparent
without comment. The name Moses seems not to have been re-
cognisable by Mrs. Blodgett. She had been at Lake Pleasant,
where a ' medium,' John Slater, had said, pointing to Mrs. Blod-
gett in a large audience, ' Lady here who wants to have you
know she is here. Henry, the lame man, is with her. She wants
to know about the big silk handkerchief. Says she will tell
you what is in that paper very soon.' The name Henry was
also alluded to here, at this sitting with Mrs. Piper, and Mrs.
Blodgett says, ' This Henry was my mother's only male
cousin, and she had lived with him all her life till she was
married. He was lame.'
'* A little later in this sitting with Mrs Piper came the
question purporting to come from Hannah Wild. ' Do you
remember I told you it would be like ringing church bells?'
With the substitution of ' church bells ' for ' city hall bell,*
the reader will recall this was the statement made by Hannah
Wild living, when she handed the letter in the box to
her sister; but when asked just after this allusion to tell
the contents of the letter, the reply was irrelevant. Five
attempts to obtain the contents of the letter were entire
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 475
failures, though in the process of the experiments a large
number of true incidents were given through Mrs. Piper,
such as those here indicated. But most of them, at least,
were known to Mrs. Blodgett, and little was given that she
did not know, while other living persons knew what was
unknown to her.^
Dr. Hodgson s Second Report.
Coming to Dr. Hodgson's second report, we find a
tremendous mass of evidence presented which we can
but summarise briefly. The following passages will
give the reader an idea of the nature of the evidence,
as well as its complications. Theoretical explanations
we reserve until later : —
G. P. : Don't you want me to give, — please give me mother's
letter. (Mrs. Howard had received a letter from Mrs. Pelham,
which was then given to the hand.) Oh, I see father is not well.
Mrs. Howard : She says that in the letter.
G. P. : I am sorry, but it cannot be helped. Where is it she
says in that letter she is going ?
Mrs. Howard : First to New York, and then perhaps to come
here, George, to see you.
G. P. : Oh, I am sorry I asked you now (crumpling letter in
hand) ; going to dispose of it all right ; then it will be far better.
Mrs. Howard : Let us see that word again, George.
G. P. : For father, since he is so delicate.
Mrs, Howard : Now what is the place they are going to dis-
pose of, — what does it say in the letter, George ? Tell me the
name.
G. P. : The house and
Mrs. Howard : I can't read that. Write it again. The house
and what?
^ This resembles another case very closely, in which the communicator
stated certain facts — none of which were true. It was afterwards
ascertained, however, that the patient had made precisely these same
statements in the delirium of death ; see p. 510.
476 DEATH
G. P. : The property in
Mrs. Howard : Wait a minute. Have another sheet.
G. P. : N.Y.
Mrs. Howard : What is the name of the place, George ? If
you remember the name write it down.
G. P. : (Scrawl.)
R. H. : Can't read that, George.
Mrs. Howard : Never mind, George. Take the letter and read
it, and then write it down. Wait a second ; be patient.
G. P. : (Crumpling letter.) (Scrawl.)
R. H. : Take your time, George ; capital letters, George ;
capital letters.
G. P. : I do wish Hodgson would be more patient.
R. H. : I think I am patient, George. I am telling you to
be patient.
G. P. : He exasperates me.
R. H. : All right, George. I will keep entirely silent if
you like.
G. P. : In the extreme. Fire away, Mary. Go.
Mrs. Howard : Now, George, I want you, if you remember the
name of that place in New York, that country place that is
going to be disposed of — I want to know the name of it. Yes,
here is the letter, and if you can give me the name, write it
down.
G. P. : Well, why do you confuse me so 1 Why don't you let
me go on and tell you what she says ?
Mrs. Howard : Yes.
G. P. : Without interrupting me so often (crumpling letter
again). Why don't you answer?
Mrs. Howard : George, you know there is a question she
wants me to ask you in that letter.
G. P. : Potomac.
Mrs. Howard : Yes, it is on the Potomac. That is all right.
(Some confusion here. The town Z., which had been mentioned
by G. P. in a previous sitting, and which was the place referred
to, was on the Hudson, and this was well known to Mrs.
Howard. Washington, where his father lived in the winter, is
on the Potomac. — R. H.)
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 477
G. P. : What is it, Hodgson ?
R. H. : Nothing, George, nothing. I am listening.
G. P. : Why don't you say your say ?
R. H. : I have said my say. Now I am letting Mrs. Howard.
Mrs. Howard : George, I want to ask you a question. Just read
what she says there, something about what she has been doing.
G. P. : I prefer you (Hodgson) to ask, for evidential purposes,
for she knows.
Mrs. Howard : Yes, I do.
R. H. : Well, but she knows what questions to ask, George,
and I don't. It is all right if she asks ; never mind if she does
know.
G. P. : Those ... oh, all right.
R. H. : Now Mrs. Howard will ask.
Mrs. Howard : I want to know, George, what you have seen
your mother doing.
G. P. : I simply see the letter and tell you for test.
R. H. : Well, George, I am going to look at this letter again,
and ask a test that nobody knows here at all. She says that
you perhaps saw her.
G. P. : Please look, but I tell you all I can any way whether
you ask or not.
R. H. : Yes ; well, there is a question, George, if you will wait
just a minute, I want to ask, because your mother asks it.
G. P. : She has asked me what she has been doing.
Mrs. Howard : Yes, that is true.
G. P. : Well, she has been shaking up my things a little — I
mean my clothes ; it is a simple thing, but it will go for a test.
(I believe that this was ascertained by Mrs. Howard to be
correct, but she has not filled up the spaces for her notes to
this sitting.— R. H., 1896.)
R. H. : First rate^ George ; we will find out from her about
this.
(He is told that Marte is coming the next time, and requested
to find out the name of Marte's father in the spirit. Some
remarks about Marte, and the difference between him and Y. Z.)
G. P. : . . . Ask me anything you like.
478 DEATH
Mrs. Howard : Well, he said at the last sitting that he had
something for Orenberg.
G. P. : Well, it was this he wrote you, Jim, about me.
Mrs. Howard : Yes.
G. P. : And wanted to know what I had to say. (Orenberg
had written for information about the sittings. — J.)
Mrs. Howard : Go on ; yes.
G. P. : Well.
Mrs. Howard : If we had gotten that before the letter, it
would have been interesting.
G. P. : All I want is to convince him that there is a real
existence after the liberation of the spirit from the
Mrs. Howard : Wait a minute ; I can't see.
G. P. : Material organism.
R. H. : Material organism.
Good, Hodgson ; if you can read this you do mighty
Well, I think you are doing mightier well to write it,
Well, I wish you knew how many . . .
R. H. Write that word over again. Difficult ?
Oh no, . . . stumbling blocks there are, Hodgson.
Well, perhaps I shall know them some day, George,
when I come to try it myself.
G. P. : Yes ; then you will be glad to congratulate me for
what I have done.
Dr. Hodgson says in speaking of this : —
" It is only by more or less prolonged conversations that
glimpses into personalty may be obtained in inquiries of this
sort, and the evidence in relation to G. P.'s identity rests not a
little upon the characteristics of his mental make-up, including
not only his intellectual, but his emotional qualities, his affec-
tions, his weaknesses, his sympathies and antipathies, and his
loyalties. In the badgering (this is really the nearest term to
suggest the actual fact) to which I had subjected him in the
persistence of the inquiry which I made in connection with
Y. Z.'s question, I had touched unwittingly the very core of
G.
P.
well.
R.
H.
Geor
ge-
G.
P.
R.
H.
G.
P.
R.
H.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 479
that loyalty to his friends which was highly characteristic of
the living G. P., and which apparently led (by my association)
Y. Z. to the manifestation against myself of a certain amount
of annoyance — followed, be it noted, by a desire to remove the
dissatisfaction produced in me by his remarks."
Again, a graphic and most interesting passage is that
given on pp. 321-22 : —
" It was during this sitting that perhaps the most dramatic
incident of the whole series occurred. Mrs. Howard was sup-
porting Mrs. Piper's head, I was following the writing, and
Mr. Howard was sitting some distance away smoking a long
pipe, when the following conversation occurred : —
G. P. : Now what will I do for you ?
R. H. : Well, George, is there anything that you would like
to give us — any special message that you thought, it would be
desirable for us to have, or anything about philosophy? we
should be glad to have that !
Mr. Howard : Well, George, before you go to philosophy — you
know my opinion of philosophy —
G. P. : It is rather crude, to be sure.
Mr. Howard : Tell me something ; you must be able to
recall certain things that you and I know. Now, it makes no
difference what the thing is ; tell me something that you and I
alone know. I ask you because several things I have asked
you have failed to get hold of.
G. P. : Why did you not ask me this before ?
Mr. Howard : Because I did not have occasion to.
G. P. : What do you mean, Jim 1
Mr. Howard : I mean, tell me something that you and I
alone know — something in our past that you and I alone know.
G. P. : Do you doubt me, dear old fellow ?
Mr. Howard : I simply want something — you have failed to
answer certain questions that I have asked. Now, I want you
to give me the equivalent of the answers to those questions in
your own terms.
G. P. : What were they 1
Mr. Howard : The questions were about where we dined —
480 DEATH
and that you did not remember. Now tell me something you
do remember.
G. P. : Oh, you mean now.
Mr. Howard : Tell me something now that you remember
that had happened before.
G. P. : Well, I will. About Arthur ought to be a test. How
absurd. . . . What does Jim mean ? Do you mean our conver-
sations on different things, or do you mean something else ?
Mr. Howard: I mean anything. Now, George, listen for a
moment ; listen, listen.
G. P. : I know.
Mr. Howard : I mean that we spent a great many summers
and winters together, and talked on a great many things, and
had a great many views in common, went through a great many
experiences together. Now (G. P. commencing to write), hold
on a minute.
G. P. : You used to talk to me about . . .
The transcription here of the words written by G. P. conveys,
of course, no proper impression of the actual circumstances ; the
inert mass of the upper part of Mrs. Piper's body turned away
from the right arm, and sagging down, as it were, limp and
lifeless over Mr. Howard's shoulder ; but the right arm, and
especially hand, mobile, intelligent, deprecatory, then impatient
and fierce in the persistence of the writing which followed, con-
tains too much of the personal element in G. P.'s life to be
reproduced here. Several statements were read by me and
assented to by Mr. Howard, and then was written ' private/
and the hand gently pushed me away. I retired to the other
side of the room, and Mr. Howard took my place close to the
hand, where he could read the writing. He did not, of course,
read it aloud, and it was too private for my perusal. The hand,
as it reached the end of each sheet, tore it off from the block
book, and thrust it wildly at Mr. Howard, and then continued
writing. The circumstance narrated, Mr. Howard informed me,
contained precisely the kind of a test for which he had asked ;
and he said that he was ' perfectly satisfied, perfectly.' After
this incident there was some further conversation with reference
to the past that seemed especially natural, coming from G. P."
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 481
Bt. Hysl(yps First Report.
We come next to Dr. Hyslop's series of sittings, the
account of which occupies 650 pages, or the entire six-
teenth volume of the Proceedings. We can, of course,
refer to but one or two incidents here. An interesting
passage is the following : —
"On February 5, 1900, after a spontaneous reference to my
Aunt Eliza and some pertinent conversation about her, my
father said again spontaneously : ' What I would now ask is, that
Eliza should recall the drive home and — let me see a moment —
I am not sure but it was one of the shafts ; but the wagon broke,
some part of it, and we tied it with a cord. I remember this
very well.' Inquiry showed the incident false in relation to my
aunt mentioned in the message. She said that no such incident
had ever occurred in their lives.
*' My uncle did not try to communicate personally after this
date until June 2, 1902. I then asked him if he remembered
what we did just after father passed out, and the reply came,
' You are thinking of that ride ; I guess I do not forget it.'
But he became too confused to continue, and the next day when
he appeared I put the question about the ride just after father
passed out. After saying, ' Your father told you before, but had
it on his mind, Eliza,' he referred immediately to a ride that we
had taken to father's grave to see a gravestone that I had ordered
placed there. This was correct, but was not the incident I had
in mind. From my attitude on one of the incidents men-
tioned in this connection, he apparently came to the conclusion
that we were not thinking of the same things, and said : ' I
think we are thinking of different things. Let me think. You
don't mean the Sunday afternoon, do you?' I replied that
I did. Immediately he mentioned that we had a breakdown ;
that we broke the shaft ; that we mended it with a piece of
harness ; that the horse was a red one ; that we got home late
in the evening ; and that it was a dog that frightened the horse.
There were a number of slight errors in the messages. The thing
that frightened the horse was a negro boy with a goat and wagon.
" The facts [were these : — My father died on Saturday at
2h
482 DEATH
my uncle's home. The next morning, Sunday, a telegram
arrived, which we had to deliver at once, and we hastened to
deliver it in the country with a buggy and hoise. On the road-
side we met a negro boy with a goat and wagon, which fright-
ened the horse, and it shied, overturning the buggy, dragging it
over us, and injuring both of us rather badly ; broke the shaft,
which we had to mend with a string or a piece of harness ; and
we arrived home late in the evening, having promised each
other that we would say nothing about it, so that it would not
* leak out,' so to speak. But we were so badly hurt that we
could not conceal it longer than the next morning."
The following incident, summarised in Science and
a Future Life (Putnam's Sons), pp. 227-8, certainly
deserves mention. Dr. Hyslop writes : —
*' My uncle, James McClellan, in his ' Communications,' just
after giving the name of my father as ' John James McClellan,'
it being only John McClellan, said, ' I want to tell you about his
going to the war, and about one of his fingers being gone before
he came here.'
" Inquiry showed that John McClellan, the father of James
McClellan, my uncle, had not been in any war, and had not lost
a finger before he died. But I found that a John McClellan,
no relative of mine but probably a distant relative of my uncle
from another bi^anch of the McClellans, and who lived in the
same county, was mentioned in the history of that county as
having been commissioned as an ensign in the war of 1812.
Earlier in the sittings in connection with the name John and
associated with the name of Robert McLellan, who was a com-
municator, was the name Hathaway, and three of the Williams
family. I had great difficulty in running down the incidents.
But I found finally that this John McClellan, who had been an
ensign in the war of 1812, had lost a finger there; that he had
died some years before I was born, and that Hathaway was the
name of his son-in-law's cousin ; and this son-in-law's son
remembers that the Williamses had been mentioned in connec-
tion with John McClellan, who had lost a finger. He was
known prior to his death as ' Uncle John McClellan.' In the
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 483
earlier references to the name John there was one by my father
in which he was once called ' Uncle John,' and then a mention
of the university where my father had sent me, and where I
had known the John McClellan who was my uncle's brother,
but who was neither mine nor my father's uncle. The old
' Uncle John McClellan ' had lived near my mother's birthplace,
and might have been known to her in her early days."
Experiments since Dr. Hodgson s Death.
The following account of the experiments made by
Dr. Hyslop with Mrs. Piper, and other mediums, since
the death of Dr. Richard Hodgson, has been condensed
from the official reports as published in the Journal of
the American Society for Psychical Research, in the issues
of February, March, and April 1907. As abridged, Dr.
Hyslop's narrative is as follows : —
" In accordance with a previous promise, I summarise here
some results of experiments since the death of Dr. Richard
Hodgson. They of course implicate Mrs. Piper, but I do not
mean to confine the phenomena to what has occurred through
her. The reason for this is apparent. The scientific sceptic
would not easily be convinced by any alleged messages from
Dr. Hodgson through that source. It is not that any suspicion
of Mrs. Piper's honesty is to be entertained at this late day,
as the past elimination of even the possibility of fraud as well
as the assurance that she has not been disposed to commit it,
are sufficient to justify ignoring it. But a far more compli-
cated objection arises, and this is the unconscious reproduction
of knowledge acquired in a perfectly legitimate way. Dr.
Hodgson had been so long associated with Mrs. Piper that
we cannot know, without having his own ante-mortem statement,
what he may casually have told her about himself and his life.
" One incident of great importance occurred in my first
sitting after Dr. Hodgson's death. After he had referred to
some discussions which he and I had over my Report on the
Piper case in the spring of 1900, and had made some refer-
ence to his posthumous letter, he suddenly broke out with the
484 DEATH
statement : ' Remember that I told Myers we would talk
nigger talk.' 1 saw at a glance, owing to my familiarity with
phenomena of this kind, that something was wrong, and I said,
speaking to Mrs. Piper's hand, as we always do : ' No, you
must have told that to some one else.' The reply from Hodgson
was : ' Ah, yes, James. I remember it was Will James. He
will understand. Do you remember the difficulties we had in
regard to our hypothesis on the spiritistic theory?' I knew
nothing of this, and wrote to Professor James, who was in Cali-
fornia at the time, to ascertain whether any such remark had
ever been made to him by Dr. Hodgson, The statement was
pertinent, as I knew that Dr. Hodgson and I had talked with
Professor James on the mental conditions of communicators,
but I did not know whether any such definite incident had
occurred between them. Professor James replied that he did
not recall any incident of the kind. When he returned to
Cambridge late in the spring, the incident was told him again
by his son, and Professor James again denied all recollection of
the matter. At lunch with Mr. Piddington the same day he
was telling his guest what his opinion was of the trance
personalities in the Piper case. Professor James did not believe
them to be spirits, but secondary personalities of Mrs, Piper,
suggested by her knowledge of the same personalities in the
case of Stainton Moses and the development of Dr. Hodgson's
influence during his experiments. In the process of thus
explaining his opinion he said to Mr, Piddington that he had
several times told Dr. Hodgson that, if he would only use a
little tact, he could convert their deific verbiage into nigger
minstrel talk, and then he suddenly recalled what had been
said in the communications and wrote me the facts."
" On another occasion Dr. Hodgson remarked, through Mrs.
Piper : — ' Remember one thing, and keep this on your mind.
I shall avoid referring to things of which you are thinking at
the time as much as possible and refer to my own memories.
I have seen too much not to understand my business.' It is
interesting to remark the allusion to not telling me what I was
thinking of at the time. I doubt if any other communicator
than Dr. Hodgson would think of this point. He was so
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 485
familiar with the objection to the spiritistic hypothesis from
telepathy that he was always on the look-out for the facts that
told against this objection, and here it turns up as a habit of
thought which few would manifest.
"There were a number of allusions to Dr. Hodgson in the
automatic writing of Mrs. Smead before she knew of bis
death, which had been carefully concealed from her by Mr.
Smead, and one or two apparitions of him associated with a
frequent apparition of myself. At one sitting the name of
my father was associated with that of Dr. Hodgson.
" I come now to a set of incidents which are perhaps as
important as any one could wish. I had an arrangement for
three sittings beginning March 19th (1906). Previous to
this I arranged to have a sitting with a lady whom I knew
well in New York City. She was not a professional psychic,
but a lady occupying an important position in one of the large
corporations in this city. This sitting was on the night of
March 16th, Friday. At this sitting Dr. Hodgson purported
to be present. His name was written, and some pertinent
things said with reference to myself, though they were not in
any respect evidential. Nor could I attach evidential value
to the giving of his name, as the lady knew well that he had
died. I put away my record of the facts, and said nothing
about the result to any one. I went on to Boston to have
my sittings with Mrs. Piper.
" Soon after the beginning of the sitting Eector, the trance
personality usually controlling, wrote that he had seen me ' at
another light,' that he had brought Hodgson there, but that
they could not make themselves clear, and asked me if I had
understood them. I asked when it was, and received the
reply that it was two days before Sabbath. The reader will
see that this coincides with the time of the sitting in New
York. Some statements were then made by Kector about
the difficulty of communicating there, owing to the ' inter-
vention of the mind of the light,' a fact coinciding with my
knowledge of the case, and it was stated that they had tried to
send through a certain word, which in fact I did not get.
"When Dr. Hodgson came a few minutes afterwards to
486 DEATH
communicate, he at once asked me, after the usual form of his
greeting, if I had received his message, and on my reply that
I was not certain, he asked me to try the lady some day again.
As soon as the sitting was over, 1 wrote to the lady without
saying a word of what had happened, and arranged for another
sitting with her for Saturday evening the 24th.
*' At this sitting one of the trance personalities of the Piper
case, one who does not often appear there, appeared at this
sitting with ]N[iss X., as I shall call her, and wrote his name,
if that form of expression be allowed. Miss X. had heard of
this personality, but knew that Kector was the usual amanu-
ensis in the Piper case. Immediately following the trance
personality whose name was written, Dr. Hodgson purported
to communicate and used almost the identical phrases with
which he begins his communications in the Piper case — in
fact, several words were identical, and they are not the usual
introduction of other communicators. After receiving this
message I wrote to Mr. Henry James, Jr., without saying
what I had gotten, and asked him to interrogate Dr. Hodgson
when he got a sitting to know if he had recently been com-
municating with me, and if he answered in the affirmative, to
ask Dr. Hodgson what he had told me. About three weeks
after, Mr. James had his sitting, and carried out my request.
Dr. Hodgson replied that he had been trying to communicate
with me several Sabbaths previously, and stated with some
approximation to it the message which I had received on the
evening of the 24th.
" The reader will perceive that these incidents involve cross-
references with another psychic than Mrs. Piper, and though
I am familiar with the methods by which professional mediums
communicate with each other about certain persons who can be
made victims of their craft, it must be remembered that we are
not dealing with a professional medium in Miss X., and that
we cannot call Mrs. Piper this in the ordinary use of the term.
I can vouch for the trustworthiness of Miss X., and think that
the ordinary explanation of the coincidences will not apply in
this instance.
"The next day after the sitting just mentioned, when Dr.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 487
Hodgson came to communicate, he asked me if I remembered
anything about the cheese we had at a lunch in his room.
At first I thought of an incident not connected with a lunch, but
with an attempt at intercommunication between two mediums,
in which a reference to cheese coming from Dr. Hodgson was
made ; but as soon as the mention of a lunch was made which
had no relevance to what I was thinking of, I recalled the
interesting circumstance that once, and only once, I had had
a midnight lunch with Dr. Hodgson at the Tavern Club, when
he made a Welsh rarebit and we had a delightful time.
"Another incident is still more important as representing
a fact which I did not know and which was relevant to a
mutual friend who was named and who knew the fact. At
this same sitting Dr. Hodgson sent his love to Prof. Newbold,
of the University of Pennsylvania, and told me to ask him if
he remembered being with him near the ocean on the beach.
I inquired of Prof. Newbold if this had any pertinence to him,
and he replied that the last time he saw Dr. Hodgson was in the
previous July at the ocean beach."
On the occasion of one of Dr. Hy slop's sittings with Mr.
Quentin, a psychic whose work is doubtless familiar to readers
of the current literature upon this subject, another opportunity
to test the cross-references presented itself. "I had previously
made arrangements to have an experiment with another psychic
in Boston," says Prof. Hyslop, " and as soon as I got the chance
I indicated it, and the following is the record. I was at the
sitting with Mrs. Piper.
" * (Now, Hodgson, I expect to try another case this afternoon.)'
" ' S M I T H,' [Pseudonym.]
'''(Yes, that's right.)'
" ' I shall be there, and I will refer to Books and give my
initials R. H. only as a test.'
'"(Good.)'
" 'And I will say books.^
" I was alone at the sitting with Mrs. Piper. She was in a
trance, from which she recovers without any memory of what
happens or has been said during it. Three hours afterward
I went to Mrs. Smith, who did not know that I had been
488 DEATH
experimenting that day with Mrs. Piper. After some general
communications by the control, and a reference to some one
who was said to be interested in Dr. Hodgson, came the
following. In this case it was not by automatic writing as
with Mrs. Piper, but by ordinary speech during what is ap-
parently a light trance.
" * Beside him is Dr. Hodgson. It is part of a promise to
come to you to-day as he had just been to say to you he was
trying not to be intense, but he is intense. I said I would
come here. I am. I thought I might be able to tell different
things I already told. Perhaps I can call up some past in-
terviews and make things more clear. Several things were
scattered around at different places. [I have several purported
communications from him through four other cases.] He says
he is glad you came, and to make the trial soon after the other.'
" [I put a pair of Dr. Hodgson's gloves which I had with
me in Mrs. Smith's hands.]
" ' You know I don't think he wanted them to help him so
much as he wanted to know that you had them. You have
got something of his. It looks like a book, like a note book,
with a little writing in it. That is only to let you know it.'
" At this point the subject was spontaneously changed, and
I permitted things to take their own course. A little later
he returned to the matter, and the following occurred : —
"'There is something he said he would do. He said: "I
would say like a word." I said I would say — I know it's a
word [last evidently the psychic's mind.] Your name isn't
it 1 [apparently said by psychic's mind to the communicator.] I
said I would say : — Each time the word slips. [Pause.] I
am afraid I can't get it. It sounds Looks as if it had
about seven or eight letters. It is all shaky and wriggly, so
that I can't see it yet.'
" ' Can't you write it down for him so I can see 1 ' [appar-
ently said to the communicator,] C. : [psychic shakes her
head.] [Pause.] Psychic's fingers then write on the table.]
* Would it mean anything like " Comrade " ? ' (' No.') He goes
away again. (' All right. Don't worry.') [Pause.] ' Let me
take your other hand.' [Said to me. 1 placed my left hand
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 489
in the psychic's.] No good. [Pause.] ' I'm trying to do it.
I know that he has just come from the other place, and kept
his promise to say a word.'
''The reader will notice that I got the reference to books,
the promise to say a word, and an apparent attempt to give
the other promised message, which was not successful. It is
noticeable that the word ' initial ' has seven letters in it.
" The message is not so clear as the most exacting critic
might demand, but we must remember that we are not deal-
ing with well established methods of communication involving
perfect command over the mental and cosmic machinery for this
purpose. The main point is that there is a coincidence of per-
sonality and message in the case where it was not previously
known that any such reference to books would be relevant.
" I should add in this connection another important incident
which will strengthen the coincidence involved in the facts just
told. I had another experiment the same evening with another
young lady who is not a professional, and with whose mother
I had been in correspondence for some time. I had arranged
some time before to have a sitting for that evening. I did not
give the slightest hint that I was to be in Boston for any other
business, and no one of the family was informed of my arrival
two days previously or of my intentions of having sittings with
Mrs. Piper and Mrs. Smith. When I arranged to go out to the
house with the mother, I made it appear that I had arrived from
New York only a half-hour before. Hence it was not known to
the mother or to the young lady that I had had any other
experiments that day.
" At the experiment with Mrs. Piper I had used a pair of old
gloves which Dr. Hodgson had worn— the same being used for
purposes which experimenters in this field understand — and
I had placed the same articles in the hands of Mrs. Smith when
I got the reference to books. When I had my experiment with
the young lady mentioned later in the evening of the same day,
it was some time before I placed the same gloves in her hands.
When I did she paused a few minutes, made a general remark,
and then said : ' I get books in connection with these.'
" The coincidence again is apparent, and whether it is to
490 DEATH
have any causal significance will depend upon the judgment of
each reader who is capable of estimating the character of such
phenomena.
" I shall pass now from incidents involving ' cross-reference '
to those which do not, and confine myself to what came through
Mrs. Piper on October 10th. They may be more specific than
the type which I have just illustrated, and must be adjudged by
the reader according to his tastes.
" After the description of the incidents connected with some
Ouija board experiment, Dr. Hodgson, through the automatic
writing of Mrs. Piper, said : —
" ' Do you remember a joke we had about George's putting his
feet on the chair and how absurd we thought it?'
"('George who?')
"' Pelham, in his description of his life here.'
*' ('No, you must have told that to some one else.')
" ' Oh, perhaps it was Billy. Ask him.'
" I knew what ' Billy ' referred to. This was the name by
which he had always called Professor Newbold, and so I made
inquiry of him regarding the pertinence of the incident. He
replied that he and Dr. Hodgson had laughed heartily at some
statements of George Pelham, when he was trying to communi-
cate after his death, about the way he did when he was com-
municating. He claimed that he was in the medium's head
and his feet on the table while he was trying to communicate
through her hand. The description is ludicrous enough, but the
incident, perhaps, is good enough to prove identity, and the best
part of its value is that I did not know the facts.
" There are just three hypotheses which are capable of dis-
cussion in connection with such facts. They are (1) Fraud ;
(2) Telepathy ; and (3) Spirits.
" Secondary personality would not be presented as an alterna-
tive by any one who knows what that phenomenon is. Secon-
dary personality, in respect of the contents of its mental action,
claims to be limited to the normal action of the senses, and is
distinguished from fraud in that its whole character is uncon-
scious, while fraud is properly conscious deception by the normal
subject. If fraud in this case be excluded from view, there can
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 491
be no doubt that such facts as have been enumerated are super-
normal, whatever the specific explanation. But secondary per-
sonality never assumes the supernormal acquisition of knowledge.
It is limited to what has been obtained in a normal manner by
the subject. Hence it is excluded from view by virtue of that
fact. As to fraud, that has been excluded from consideration in
the Piper case for fifteen or twenty years, and only unintelligent
men would talk about it any longer.
" I should be ashamed, as one who has tried to be scientific,
to advance telepathy as an explanation of any such facts. Any
man who knows what he means by the use of this term would
not venture to suppose it an explanation. Really scientific men,
who know what they are talking about, would not, in the light of
the evidence, have the temerity to propose it as an adequate
theory of phenomena involving such a system of ' cross refer-
ences ' illustrative of the personal identity of deceased persons
and nothing else. I do not think the hypothesis worthy of
serious defence. It is an hypothesis worthy only of intellectual
prudes. I should much prefer fraud as an explanation ; for we
have analogies and experiences enough to make that intelligible ;
but for the kind of telepathy necessary to cover such facts we
have no adequate scientific evidence whatever.
"As to the third hypothesis, namely, that of spirits, I shall
not undertake any dogmatic defence. It is obvious to me that
it is the most rational hypothesis after eliminating fraud from
such matters, and my own stand in various publications would
indicate what position I would preferably assume."
Mr. Piddingtons Bepoi^t.
One of the latest reports of the trance phenomena
of Mrs. Piper is that by Mr. J. G. Piddington — issued
as volume xxii. of the Proceedings of the Society for Psychi-
cal Research. It contains a lengthy account of a series
of experiments in what has been called " cross- corre-
spondences," or " concordant automatisms." This series
is very important, not only because a careful record was
492 DEATH
kept of the proceedings — every word spoken, &c. — but
because an entirely new method of obtaining evidential
material was adopted and carried into execution. This
idea was really that of the controls themselves, who seemed
to realise full well the difficulty of supplying information
to the sitters which could not in some way be explained,
as due to telepathy, and they consequently proposed the
following method : — That some sentence or sign should
be given through the hand of one medium, and that this
same word, or sign, or sentence should be given through
the hand of another medium, as soon thereafter as pos-
sible, at some distance from the original experiment.
The idea was to prove that the same intelligence was
operative in the two places — a third and independent
intelligence separate from that of either medium.
Further, in order to complicate matters, it was resolved
that these cross-references should be as difficult and as
roundabout as possible. Instead of the message being
clearly given in both cases, that is, it was to be given
in an evasive form. Thus, if one medium wrote, " To
be or not to be," and another medium wrote " Shake-
speare," and if another medium were to write '' Hamlet,"
all these three communications would obviously refer
to the same thing, and originate from the same source —
especially if the intelligence drew attention to these
words, and told the sitters that these words were part
of the cross-correspondences, and that the rest, the key,
was to be found in the automatic writings of some other
medium. This was the idea proposed by the intelli-
gences, and later carried into operation by them. It
will be seen that the idea was a splendid one, inasmuch
as it practically shut off thought-transference entirely ;
for not one of the mediums — even had she known
what was in her automatic script — would have known
what the key-word was, and hence could not possibly
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 493
have transferred it to another medium by thought-
transference — any more than she could have communi-
cated it by fraud, granting that a possible hypothesis.
Fortunately, we do not have to consider this seriously
in the case, since all the automatists — with the exception
of Mrs. Piper, who has now established her own reputation
— are ladies whose social standing cannot be questioned.
Let us briefly examine some of these cross-references,
then, and see how far they serve to prove the existence
of a third, independent intelligence.
On 16th January 1907, it was proposed to "Mr.
Myers," communicating through Mrs. Piper, that he
should visit other mediums, and give through their
hands some clear sign of his identity — say, a triangle
within a circle. A circle with a triangle within it
appeared in Mrs. Verrall's script on January 28, at the
foot of a remarkable communication embodying a suc-
cessful cross-correspondence. Mrs. Holland's script also
contained undoubted attempts at this figure on May 8.
Another somewhat striking incident is the following,
which we sum up in a few words : —
" On February 4, Mrs. Yerrall wrote a script containing Mrs.
Sidgwick's name, the word * library,' and Frederic Myers' initials ;
and at 11.7 a.m. on February 6, began to write a script in which
the word ' library ' appeared three times ; and on no other
occasion during the period under review did the word ' library '
occur again in her script. On February 6, between 11.32 and
11.37 A.M. (as near as I can calculate), MyerSj, (Myers communi-
cating through Mrs. Piper) ^ said he had referred to a ' library
matter' through Mrs. Verrall; and on February 11, that he
had persistently repeated the word ' library ' to Mrs. Verrall,
also his own name and Mrs. Sidgwick's ; and, to the best of
my recollection and belief, the word ' library ' was not mentioned
^ Throughout Myers p = Myers communicating through Mrs. Piper;
Myers^ = through Mrs. Verrall ; and Myers n = through Mrs. Holland.
494 DEATH
on any other occasion in Mrs. Piper's trance during the whole
period of the English sittings except in connection with this
episode " (p. 57).
On January 23, 1907, the following occurred through
the hand of Mrs. Verrall : —
" That gives the words, but an anagram would be better.
Tell him that — rats, star, tars, and so on. Try this.
It has been tried before, RTATS re-arrange these
five letters, or again tears
stare
seam
same
and so on. ..."
Now, in going through Dr. Hodgson's MSS. after his
death, Mr. Piddington discovered several papers contain-
ing the words star, rats, tars, arts — and adds that this
seems to have been a favourite anagram of Dr. Hodgson's.
Here, then, we have a soi-disant Dr. Hodgson after
death waiting the very words he was so fond of in life,
and which no one had seen until after his death !
The next incident is summed up by Mr. Piddington
as follows : —
"Mrs. Verrall draws an arrow on February 11. Hodgson
on February 12 says he has given an arrow to Mrs. Verrall,
and on February 17 Miss Verrall draws an arrow. In view
of these coincidences the words which follow the drawing: of
the three arrows in Mrs. Verrall's script — 'tria convergentia in
unum ' — become possessed of a strange pertinency " (p. 85).
The next incident is of less evidential value, but
we quote it, as one of the present writers was indirectly
concerned in its production. On February 19, 1907,
Mr. Piddington suggested to the Piper controls that
the words "giant" and "dwarf" be given through Mrs.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 495
Verrall's hand. It was promised that a trial would
be made, and the matter was referred to on several
subsequent occasions, the controls finally stating that
they had succeeded in " getting ' dwarf ' through " — that
is, that Mrs. Verrall had written it. A careful search
of the script, however, failed to disclose any sign of the
word, and the experiment was set down as a complete
failure. When one of us (H. Carrington), however, had
sittings with Mrs. Piper in January 1908, Rector again
stated that he had given ''dwarf" through Mrs. Verrall's
hand. This second claim caused another careful search
through the script, and it was then found that " little
men " had been given through Mrs. Verrall's writing
on February 20, 1907 — one day after the request
was made. This queer roundabout method of giving
the required word was quite typical of Mrs. Verrall's
automatic writing.
Again, summing up another remarkable cross- corre-
spondence experiment, Mr. Piddington says (p. 139): —
" In this concordant episode of Mrs. Piper's trance and Mrs.
Verrall's script, the controlling influence in both cases claims
to be one and the same personality, namely, Frederic Myers.
Let us, however, ignore this claim, and continue to use the
symbols MyerSp and Myers^. The case will then stand thus : To
MyerSp a question is put which could have been answered by
Frederic Myers. MyerSp gives various answers to it — all intelli-
gent, and all but one provably correct. Before MyerSp gives his
first answer, MyerSy showed knowledge of what the answer of
MyerSp will be. Besides' this, MyerSp shows that he knows MyerSy
had previously shown knowledge of his (MyerSp) answer. One
of the facts comprised in this first answer cannot be proved
to have been known to Frederic Myers, but there are good
grounds for thinking that it might well have belonged to that
body of specialised and characteristic knowledge with which his
mind was stocked. The facts involved in the remainder of
the answer given by MyerSp were all known to Frederic Myers;
496 DEATH
and they emerged in a manner which indicates that the intelli-
gence responsible for their emergence was as intimately con-
versant with the closing chapters of Human Personality as
Frederic Myers, its author, must have been."
Indeed, on pp. 242-3 of this report, Mr. Piddington
is forced to say : —
"The concatenation or mosaic of ideas which I am about
to describe, I regard not as the result of telepathic cross-firing
casually exchanged between the automatists, but as the work
of a single directing intelligence, or of a group of intelligences
acting in concert ; and I consider that this directing intelligence
manifested itself chiefly in the communications of MyerSp, MyerSy,
and Myersij. Of the problem of the real identity of this directing
mind — whether it was a spirit or group of co-operating spirits,
or the subconsciousness of one of the automatists, or the con-
sciousness or subconsciousness of some other living person — the
only opinion which I hold with confidence is this : that if it was
not the mind of Frederic Myers, it was one which deliberately
and artistically imitated his mental characteristics."
The report closes with an account of a most remark-
able test, which we must summarise very briefly. A test
question was put to MyerSp, in Latin, and Latin so diflS-
cult in structure that no one, not a scholar, would be
likely to ascertain its meaning, even with the aid of a
dictionary. Mrs. Piper knows little or no Latin. If, then,
MyerSp understood its purport, it would be good evidence
that some intelligence other than that of Mrs. Piper was
active — Myers while living, of course, being a fine Latin
scholar.
The test question, or rather message, given to the trance
personalities, translated into English, reads as follows : —
" We are aware of the scheme of cross-correspondences which
you are transmitting through various mediums ; and we hope
you will go on with them.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 497
" Try also to give A. and B. two different messages, between
which no connection is discernible. Then as soon as possible
give to C. a third message which will reveal the hidden
connection."
It is obvious that this must have been first of all
understood (in the Latin form) by the communicating
intelligence before it could have been acted upon ; then
the request must have been carried out as suggested, in
order to insure a success.
Roughly speaking, and without going into the mass of
evidence that has been presented in this case, it may be
said that MyerSp seemed to have obtained a fairly com-
plete grasp of the contents and meaning of the Latin
message, and to have acted upon it. Although a clear
tri-statement was at no time made, the report seems to
indicate, clearly enough, that a single intelligence was
operative in all three cases, and that it not only under-
stood the question, but answered it as best it could in
the manner suggested. For the details of this remark-
able incident we must refer the reader to the report itself.
Later Statements hy Professor William James and
Sir Oliver Lodge.
In June 1909, appeared Part Iviii. of the Proceedings
of the Society for Psychical Research, containing reports
on the trance phenomena of Mrs. Piper by Professor
William James and Sir Oliver Lodge. Space does not
permit our quoting from these records in any detail.
The general conclusions of the writers must suffice. The
character of the records was very similar to those which
had gone before — the " controls " being Richard Hodgson,
in the one case, and a group of intelligences in the other,
mostly relatives of the sitters. In his report, Professor
James comes out quite squarely, for the first time, in
2 I
498 DEATH
favour of the spiritualistic hypothesis, saying (pp.
120-1):—
" It is enough to indicate these various possibiUties, which a
serious student of this part of nature has to weigh together, and
between which his decision will fall. His vote will always be
cast (if ever it be cast) by the sense of the dramatic probabiUties
of nature, which the sum total of his experience has begotten in
him. / myself feel as if an external loill-to-communicate tvere pro-
haUy there; that is, I find myself doubting, in consequence of
my whole acquaintance with that sphere of phenomena, that
Mrs. Piper's dream life, even equipped with ' telepathic '
powers, accounts for all the results found. But if asked whether
the will-to-communicate be Hodgson's, or be some mere spirit-
counterfeit of Hodgson, I remain uncertain and await more
facts — facts which may not point clearly to a conclusion for fifty
or a hundred years."
Sir Oliver Lodge, in summing up his report, says : —
*'0n the whole, they (the messages) tend to render certain the
existence of some outside intelligence or control, distinct from
the consciousness, and, so far as I can judge, from the subcon-
sciousness also, or Mrs. Piper or other mediums. And they tend
to render probable the working hypothesis, on which I choose to
proceed, that that version of the nature of the intelligences which
they themselves present and favour is something like the truth.
In other words, I feel that we are in secondary or tertiary touch
— at least occasionally — with some stratum of the surviving
personality of the individuals who are represented as sending
messages. . . .
"The old series of sittings with Mrs. Piper convinced me of
survival, for reasons which I should find it hard to formulate in
any strict fashion, but that was their distinct effect. They also
made me suspect — or more than suspect — that surviving intelli-
gences were in some cases consciously communicating — yes, in
some few cases consciously ; though more usually the messages
came in all probability from an unconscious stratum, being
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 499
received by the medium in an inspirational manner analogous
to psychometry " (pp. 282, 284).i
Dr. Hyslo'ps Second Report.
In May 1910, Dr. Hyslop published his second
voluminous report on the mediumship of Mrs. Piper, in
the Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical
Research. It would be impossible for us to summarise
this here, as the facts are spread over some 800 pages.
Detailed reports are given of sittings with Mrs. Piper,
and also other mediums — Mrs. Keeler, Miss W., Mrs.
Chenoworth, &c. — some of which sittings offered apparent
cross-references to the Piper sittings formerly held, and
added other points of interest. The character of the
facts and of the main arguments adduced were similar
to those formerly advanced ; the striking and original
portion of the report being the lengthy chapter devoted
to the " Conditions Affecting Communication." In this
chapter, Dr. Hyslop had discussed in a scholarly and
original way many of the physiological and psychological
problems that surround the process of " communicating "
— granting, for the sake of argument, that such com-
munication takes place. The record must be read in
the original to be appreciated or thoroughly understood.
It will be seen that the superficial appearance, at all
events, of these phenomena, is that the spirit of the
departed person is actually communicating at the time,
with more or less difficulty, in a more or less fragmentary
manner. The difficulties in the way of communicating
must be great indeed, and the wonder is, not that we j
receive so little, but that we receive any messages what- \
ever. As Mr. Andrew Lang so wittily remarked, " The
^ Further details of this series of sittings may be found in the Proceed-
ings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xxiv., part Ix.
500 DEATH
miracle of Balaam's ass was not that it said anything in
particular, but that it said anything at all ! " It is the
same here. The difficulties experienced by all com-
municators must be immense ; and for this reason doubt-
less, so little clear and consecutive information is given.
As we have indicated our own views of these difficulties
in another place, however, we will not dwell upon them
here.
In a work of this sort it is, of course, impossible to
attempt any direct i^roof of survival — the data we
have presented above will merely give the reader an
idea of the nature and character of the evidence, and
especially of the means whereby such evidence is obtained.
We desire only to indicate that by such methods, and by
such methods only, will any direct proof of the immortality
of the soul be obtained. The results may as yet be incon-
clusive — the method of ohtaining th&m is the important factor
to insist upon. While, to many minds, the evidence so
far published is insufficient to warrant a belief in the
existence of '' spirits," it is at least sufficiently strong to
show us that there is here a case for investigation ; one,
moreover, that presents great possibilities ; and which, if
the conclusions be established, would definitely defeat
materialism. (See Appendix H.)
7. Other Trance Mediums.
The Case of Mrs. Smead.
It must not be supposed that, because we have devoted
so much space to the Piper case, that it is the mily one
of the kind that we have any record of. On the con-
trary, there are many cases of the same character; but
in them the phenomena are not so clear and well defined,
and the cases have not been under scientific observa-
tion for so long; and for these reasons the phenomena
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 501
cannot be given the same weight as in the better-attested
case. But, if only to show the similarity in the type of
the phenomena, we quote here one or two incidents,
coming through other mediums, which will serve to
indicate that the same general character of phenomena
appears in all.
Thus, in the case of Mrs. Smead, the following incident
occurred. The sitting was held on the anniversary of
the sitter's wedding-day — a fact certainly unknown to
the medium, or to any one but the sitter herself. Yet
her husband appeared at the sitting and apparently com-
municated as follows : —
"....' Yes, you know we used to talk about it [pause] and
[pause] happier on [pencil ran off sheet]. So it should be only
to you to-day, my love. I do not want to talk to any one else.
We went alone that day and on the cayes [southern pronunciation
for ' cars,' often spelled ' cyahs,' pause and apparent excitement].
You know [pause] your mother did not want to part with her
daughter, but we were so happy. (• Who else was at our
wedding ? ') [Confusion and scrawls in which apparent attempts
at the letter ' o ' are evident] ouch [common expression among
the negroes, bat was a specially common one with an old negro
servant of the family. He prepared the wedding luncheon.]
" ' He says. Law missie. [Mrs, B. again broke down sobbing.]
Don't cry [pause] ; it is no time for weeping, but you must be like
as that other day [pause] yes [pause]. We do not want you to
weep. ('Oh, is that Amos?') [excitement] yes, they know
[pause] , , , [apparently something about going.] It is time, this
friend says. No, I will kiss my sweatheart [sweetheart] and go
[pause] I would talk more now, but I must go, I do not want
to go . , , go. Keep my words for your comfort ; for you know
my love. I cannot want you to give it to to [?] [erased ap-
parently] yes, others, my words. I said not my love, C,
[pause, pencil goes back and begins again, superposing on C.]
Capten. [His name was Captain Benton,] " ^
1 Proceedings, American S.P.R., vol. i., pp. 621-2.
502 DEATH
The Case of Mrs. Thompson.
One very interesting and promising case of trance
phenomena, which the Society was unable, unfortmiately,
to follow up, was that of Mrs. Thompson, reports on
whose phenomena were published in vols. xvii. and xix. of
the Proceedings. In these sittings a number of striking
incidents occurred, among many not so remarkable. In
the sittings of Dr. van Eeden, for example, very strong-
proofs of identity were forthcoming. In his report to the
Society he says : —
"... For instance, the young man who had committed
suicide gave as proofs of his identity Dutch names and places which
were not at all in my mind at the moment. This might have
been unconscious telepathy. At the same time proper names were
given which I had never heard myself. I did not even know
such names existed. Yet later, in Holland, I came across
people who bore these very names, though their connection (if
any) with the young man I could not find out. . . .
" My personal impression [of the value of the evidence] has
varied in the following manner. During the first series of ex-
periments, in November and December 1899, I felt a very
strong conviction that the person whose relics I had brought
with me, and who had died fifteen years ago, was living as a
spirit and was in communication with me through Mrs. Thomp-
son. A number of small particulars, which will be found in
the notes, produced on me, when taken en hloc, the effect of
perfect evidence. To regard these all as guesses made at random
seemed absurd : to explain them by telepathy forced and in-
sufficient.
" But when I came home, I found on further inquiry inex-
plicable faults and failures. If I had really spoken to the dead
man, he would never have made these mistakes. And the
remarkable feature of it was that all these mistakes were in
those very particulars which I had not known myself, and was
unable to correct on the spot. . . .
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 503
" Consequently, my opinion changed. There were the facts,
quite as certain and marvellous as before. I could not ascribe
them to fraud or coincidence, but I began to doubt my first im-
pression that I had really dealt with the spirit of a deceased
person; and I came to the conclusion that I had dealt only with
Mrs. Thompson, who, possessing an unconscious power of infor-
mation quite beyond our understanding, had acted the ghost,
though in perfect good faith. . . .
" But on my second visit, in June 1900, when I took with
me the piece of clothing of the young man who had committed
suicide, my first impression came back, and with greater force.
I was well on my guard, and if I gave hints, it was not uncon-
sciously, but on purpose ; and, as will be seen from the notes,
the plainest hints were not taken, but the truth came out in the
most curious and unexpected ways. . . .
" Up to the sitting of June 7th, all information came through
Nellie, Mrs. Thompson's so-called spirit-control. But on that
date, the deceased tried, as he had promised, to take the control
himself, as the technical term goes. The evidence then became
very striking. During a few minutes — though a few minutes
only — I felt absolutely as if I were speaking to my friend him-
self. I spoke Dutch and got immediate and correct answers.
The expression of satisfaction and gratification in face and
gesture, when we seemed to understand one another, was too
vivid to be acted. Quite unexpected Dutch words were pro-
nounced, details were given which were far from my mind, some
of which, as that about my father's uncle in a former sitting, I
had never known, and found to be true only on inquiry after-
wards. ..."
Mrs. Thompson, it need hardly be said, is entirely
ignorant of the Dutch language. Dr. van Eeden's next
remarks are very interesting and important — enabling
us to understand much of the difficulty and confusion
that exists, in cases of this character. He says : —
" But being now well on my guard, I could, exactly in this
most interesting few minutes, detect, as it were, where the
504 DEATH
failures crept in, I could follow the process and perceive when
the genuine phenomena stopped and unconscious play-acting
began. In hardly perceptible gradations the medium takes
upon herself the role of the spirit, completes the information,
gives the required finish, and fills in the gaps by emendation
and arrangement. . . .
** We see how recklessly and carelessly the spirit-control,
Nellie, enters into explanations about things of which she
evidently understands nothing, though she referred to them
spontaneously herself. And we see, moreover, how easily and
imperceptibly the role of any spirit is taken up by the medium,
after the genuine information has ceased. . . .
" At this present moment it is about eight months since I had
my last sitting with Mrs. Thompson in Paris, and yet when I
read the notes again, it is impossible for me to abstain from the
conviction that I have really been a witness, were it only for
a few minutes, of the voluntary manifestation of a deceased
person."
CHAPTER VII
ON THE INTRA-COSMIC DIFFICULTIES OF
COMMUNICATION
We have now brought forward and presented for the
reader's consideration a number of striking examples of
the apparent communication of a deceased person with
the hving, through the instrumentality of a medium's
organism ; and we think that the evidence, supported
as it is by great masses of material of like character, is
sufficiently strong to warrant our belief in the persistence
of individual consciousness and personal identity ; and
this renders some form of spiritism necessary, as a work-
ing hypothesis. Granting that communication between
this world and another is open to us on occasion — how,
we know not — it becomes a problem for science to study
this process of communication, and endeavour to ascer-
tain something about it. There must be tremendous
difficulties in the way of any sort of communication —
this being evidenced by the rarity of the phenomena.
The facts once admitted, however, we should set our-
selves to work, in an effort to find out all that we can
concerning them — their meaning, and interpretation —
and to discover, if possible, the difficulties that prevent
a greater facility for intra-cosmic communication.
We have but little material of our own to add in this
connection in the way of original suggestions, and shall
for the most part refer to the opinions of Drs. Hodgson
and Hyslop, who have studied Mrs. Piper and the trance
505
506 DEATH
state longer and more closely than any one else who
has so far published a report on a case of this type.
There are many facts to be taken into consideration in
cases of this character, the chief of which is the pre-
judice of the reader, which is sure to colour his view-
point largely in his consideration of all such phenomena.
He expects to hear certain things, if " spirits " are to talk
at all ; and if he does not hear the things he anticipates,
he immediately comes to the conclusion that no spirit
has been there at all ! In other words, he insists on
dictating ivlmt the intelligence shall say to him ; and is
not content to receive whatever they tind it possible to
give. Only when this attitude is abandoned, and more
sympathetic open-mindedness is shown, will progress be
made in this field.
The chief objection raised, of course, by all, or nearly
all, is the apparent triviality of the facts stated, or told,
by the communicating intelligences. " If spirits are really
there," we often hear, " why do they not tell us some-
thing really worth while — something that we do not
know ? " The triviality of the incidents repels most in-
vestigators, and causes them to conclude that no spiritual
intelligence is really present at all. This, however, is
quite an unjustifiable conclusion, as can easily be
shown.
In the first place, we have no reason to suppose that
I / " spirits " have any more knowledge of certain things than
we ourselves possess. Only the traditions of theology
cause people to cling to the idea that spirits are in
possession of a great amount of illumination and intel-
ligence unknown to us. In reality, this conception is
contrary to all that we know of continuity and evolu-
tion ; and everything would lead us to suppose that
spirits, leaving the body, would start in another world
I just as they left off here — no better and no wiser ; and
INTRA-COSMIC COMMUNICATION 507
that any progress they might make would be due to
their own effort and labour in the next life. We should
even have to assume that, for some time at least, imme-
diately following physical death, the spirit would be in
possession of far less intelligence, possess less mental life,
than it did here, for the simple reason that the shock
to consciousness, which death would surely occasion,
would render anything like the full manifestation of its
powers o[uite impossible. (This seems to be especially
the case with suicides ; they take a very long time to
recover, and they are not clear, mentally, for weeks and
even months after death.) However, all spirits do ulti-
mately return to their normal condition, to all appear-
ances, sooner or later. We only make these remarks to
indicate that we must not expect any great intellectual
brilliancy or illumination from spirits soon after death.
Again, it has been proved abundantly that ordinary
'persons, even here in this life, deliberately choose trivial
incidents to identify themselves to others. They do not
indulge in grand spiritual exhortations, but in trivial,
personal incidents. And, when we come to think of it,
only such incidents can ever prove personal identity.
Suppose we are speaking to a soi-disant spirit, through
a medium. He claims to be so-and-so. How do we
know that it is he ? Simply by getting him to relate
certain specific but trivial incidents connected with his
own past life, and known to no one else, but which can
afterwards be verified. He could never prove his identity
by any amount of scientific teaching or spiritual exhorta-
tion. All such material we should have to assume, came
from the subliminal consciousness of the medium ; and,
until personal identity is established, we have no proof
whatever that any intelligence, other than that of the
medium, is operative. But if we obtain certain specific
facts bearing on the personality of the deceased, and
508 DEATH
seeming to indicate that his personality is active, and can
accept it as truth ; then we have some sort of evidence
that he is really there — for, otherwise, how account for
the statements ? And when we take into consideration
the well-known fact that persons will deliberately choose
trivial incidents to identify themselves to others in this
life, we are forced to conclude that the only way to settle
this question of spirit intercourse is to prove personal
identity by means of trivial, personal incidents — just
such incidents as that person would choose, were he
alive.
Another difficulty that we have to contend with is
this. It is probable that the conditions are so different
on the " other side " that the communicating intelligences
find it difficult, if not impossible, to describe things to
us as they are, or to make us understand and appreciate
them. Were a deaf man to try to explain the visible
world to a blind man ; or the blind man the nature of
sound to a deaf man, each would find his task next to an
impossibility. He would have no language with Avhich
to express his thoughts and ideas ; and, however hard he
might try, it is improbable that the other would ever
have any real conception of that which the other de-
scribed. It is probably the same in this case. When
spirits undertake to explain to us the nature of the next
life, and what goes on there, they have no language with
which to express their thoughts, and we can never get a
clear idea of what their world may be like. Again and
again this is stated to be the case by those communicat-
ing ; and it is certainly possible, not to say probable,
that such is the case.
Still another difficulty, in obtaining any glimpses of
intelligence from across the border, is this. It is probable
that they on the other side do not see us and come into
direct contact with our material world, any more than we
INTRA-COSMIC COMMUNICATION 509
do with theirs. We can see a spiritual world only occa-
sionally, fitfully, through the instrumentality of specially
gifted seers ; and there is evidence which seems to indicate
that they must have " mediums " on the other side, corre-
sponding to our mediums on this side, to permit of
communication at all ! Thus, communication is not an
easy process, but a difficult and tedious one; and it is
probable that " spirits " — granting that they exist — do
not come into much closer personal contact with us than
we do with them.
Still another difficulty in communicating is the fact
that the nervous mechanism of the medium, which the \
spirit supposedly controls, is unfamiliar to the operating
intelligence ; and he or she has to learn to use it before
any clear and systematic messages can be sent or received.
We find no difficulty in operating our oivn nervous
mechanism, when in health, because it is educated to our
needs, and we understand it thoroughly ; but it must be
remembered that, even in this life, such education is a
long and a tedious process, and that very little is required
to bring about a condition which prevents the proper
operation of that nervous mechanism. How much
greater must be the difficulty experienced by a spirit
in working, or operating, through the nervous mechanism
of another organism entirely ! It is a wonder that any-
thing clear and systematic is obtained at all !
There is yet another difficulty to be overcome before
any clear messages are received from the other side ;
and, to some, this difficulty is the greatest of all. Both
Dr. Hodgson and Dr. Hyslop take this view, which is
now very widely accepted in certain directions. The
difficulty is this. It is probable, both from the contents
of the messages and from actual statements made by the
communicators, that the intelligence has to pass into a
more or less abnormal or dream-like state of conscious-
510 DEATH
ness, while communicating. However normal such an
individual may be, in his ordinary life (so to speak), he
must enter this sort of dream-like or trance condition, to
communicate ; and this would, of course, befog his mind,
and render the so-called communications confused and
uncertain. Dr. Hodgson first pointed this out, and in-
sisted very strongly upon this fact in his Second Report
(Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xiii.,
pp. 284-5 82). He then clearly indicated the difficul-
ties which we should expect '' spirits " to experience, who
are really communicating with us. Dr. Hyslop has
lately defended and extended this view% and, in his
latest book, Psychical Research and the Resurrection, he
says : —
" One good illustration of this abnormal mental condition on
the part of communicators is found in an incident told me by
Dr. Hodgson before his death, and which I have mentioned else-
where in another periodical. It was the incident of a communi-
cator telling through Mrs. Piper a circumstance which he said
had represented some act of his life. But inquiry showed that
no such act had been performed by him when living. But it
turned out that he had made the same statement in the delirium of
death. It is especially noticeable in certain forms of com-
munication of the ' possession ' type that the last scenes of the
deceased are acted over again in their first attempts to control
or communicate. The mental confusion relevant to the death
of my father was apparent in his first attempt to communi-
cate through Mrs. Piper, and when I recalled this period of his
dying experience, this confusion was repeated in a remarkable
manner with several evidential features in the messajjes.
Twice an uncle lost the sense of personal identity in the
attempt to communicate. His communications were in fact so
confused that it was two years before he became at all clear
in his efforts. He had died as the result of a sudden accident.
Once my father, after mentioning the illness of my Hving sister
and her name, lost his personal identity long enough to confuse
INTRA-COSMIC COMMUNICATION 511
incidents relating to liimself and his earthly life with those that
applied to my sister and not to himself. The interesting feature
of the incident was that, having failed to complete his messages
a few minutes previously, when he came back the second time
to try it again, Rector, the control, warned me that he was a
little confused, but that what he wanted to tell me certainly
referred to my sister Lida. Then came the message, claiming
experiences for himself, when living, that were verifiable as my
sister's. On any theory of the facts a confused state of mind is
the only explanation of them, and when associated with inci-
dents of a supernormal and evidential character they afford
reasonable attestation of the hypothesis here suggested."
The following quotation further exemplifies this
view : —
" At this point Dr. Hodgson read over the automatic writing
to indicate that he had got the message and how he under-
stood it. The communications then went on : —
"'Your thoughts do grasp mine. Well now you have just
what I have been wanting to come and make clear to you, H.,
old fellow.'
" (' It is quite clear ').
" ' Yes, you see I am more awake than asleep, yet I cannot
come just as I am in reality, independently of the medium's
hght.'
" (' You come much better than the others.') ' Yes, because I
am a little nearer and not less intelligent than some others here.' "
" At one of Dr. Hodgson's later sittings the same communi-
cator, George Pelham, used the word ' prisoned ' in a passage
in which ' prisoning ' was in Dr. Hodgson's view the more
correct term, and he suggested the correction. George Pelham
broke out with the reply : —
" ' See here, H., " Don't view me with a critic's eye, but pass
my imperfections by." Of course I know all that as well as
anybody on your sphere. I tell you, old fellow, it don't do to
pick [out] all these little errors too much when they amount to
nothing in one way. You have light enough and brain enough.
512 DEATH
I know, to understand my explanations of being shut up in this
body [that of the medium], dreaming as it were and trying to
help on science. . . .'
" We have only to study dreams and deliria in order to
understand the influences which tend to produce confusion and
fragmentary messages. If accidents and shocks in life which
are less violent than death disturb the memory, as we know
they do ; the student of abnormal psychology, being perfectly
familiar with the phenomena in numerous cases, would expect
that so violent a change as death would disturb memory and re-
production still more seriously. Add to this the mind's freedom
from the body with all the physiological inhibitions cut off, and
we might well expect less control of the processes which recall
the past in the proper way for illustrating one's identity. This
disturbance might not last indefinitely. The individual might
fully recover from it in a normal spiritual life, though the time
for this recovery might vary with individuals and with the cir-
cumstances of their death. But the recovery of a normal mental
balance in the proper ethereal environment on the ' other side '
would not of itself be a complete guarantee of its retention
when coming into terrestrial and material conditions to com-
municate. We may well suppose it possible that this ' coming
back' produces an effect similar to the amnesia which so often
accompanies a shock or sudden interference with the normal
stream of consciousness. The effect seems to be the same as
that of certain kinds of dissociation which are now being studied
by the student of abnormal psychology, and this is the disturb-
ance of memory which makes it difficult or impossible to recall
in one mental state the events which have been experienced
in another. G. P. showed always an impressively marked
and characteristic personality. Hart, on the other hand, did
not become so clear till many months later. I learned long
afterwards that his illness had been much longer and more
fundamental than I had supposed. The continued confusion
in his case seemed explicable if taken in relation with the
circumstances of his prolonged illness, including fever, but
there was no assignable relation between his confusion and
the state of my own mind. . . .
INTRA-COSMIC COMMUNICATION 513
" But the proper evidence for this dream life or semi-trance
and somnambulic condition will be found in incidents which
also contain supernormal facts. I quote one of remarkable
interest. A man who had had sittings with Mrs. Piper before
his death, some time after his decease, which took place in
Paris, turned up as a communicator without Mrs. Piper having
known of his death. He had always been perplexed by the
confusion and fragmentary nature of the messages of his
deceased friend George Pelham. When he himself became a
communicator, it was some time before he was able to com-
municate clearly. When he could communicate he delivered
the following message to Dr. Hodgson : —
" * What in the world is the reason you never call for me ?
I am not sleeping. I wish to help you in identifying myself.
I am a good deal better now.'
*' (* You were confused at first.')
" < Very, but I did not really understand how confused I was.
I am more so when I try to speak to you. I understand now
why George spelled his words to me.'
" The allusion to George Pelham's spelling out his words is
an evidential incident, as it was verifiable. He recognised after
death the explanation of confusions which he could not under-
stand while living. A similar though not evidential passage
came from this George Pelham himself. It represents the
point of view which I am advancing to account for the curious
nature of the messages, and was perhaps the communication
which suggested the theory to Dr. Hodgson. I quote it from
the latter's report : —
" ' Remember we share and always shall have our friends in
the dream life, i.e. your life so to speak, which will attract us
for ever and ever, and so long as we have any friends sleeping
in the material world ; — you to us are more like as we under-
stand sleep, you look shut up as one in prison, and in order for
us to get into communication with you, we have to enter into
your sphere, as one like yourself asleep. This is just why we
make mistakes as you call them, or get confused and muddled,
so to put it, H.'
" The general supposition which, to the mind of Dr. Hodgson
2k
514 DEATH
and myself, explains the persistent triviality and confusion of
the messages is that the communicating spirit at the time of com-
municating (not necessarily in his normal state in the spirit world)
is in a sort of abnormal mental state, p>er haps resembling our dream
life or somnamhulic condition. We cannot determine exactly
what this mental condition is at present and may never be able
to do so, but it can be variously compared to dream life,
somnambulism, hypnosis of certain kinds, trance, secondary
personality, subliminal mental action, or any of those mental
conditions in which there is more or less of disintegration of the
normal memory. Ordinary delirium has some analogies with it,
but the incidents are too purposive and too systematic in many
cases to press this analogy to any general extent. But the
various disturbances of the normal consciousness or personality
in the living offer clear illustrations of the psychological pheno-
mena which we produce as evidence of spirits when these
phenomena are supernormally produced.
" But this hypothesis does not explain all the confusion
involved. There is the more or less unusual condition of the
medium, mental and physical. The medium through which
the messages purport to come is in a trance condition, and
when not a trance the condition is one which is not usual, and
perhaps in the broad sense may be called abnormal, though not
technically this in any important sense. This condition offers
many obstacles to perfect transmission of messages. It is illus-
trated in many cases of somnambulism in which the stream of
consciousness goes on uninhibited, and when this is suppressed,
as it is in deep trances, the difficulty is to get systematic com-
munications through it. Add to this the frequently similar
condition of the communicator, according to the hypothesis, and
we can well imagine what causes triviality and confusion. The
student of abnormal psychology will recognise the applicability
of this view at once, even though he is not prepared to admit
that it is a true theory.
" There are two aspects of such an hypothesis which have to
be considered. They are its fitness or explanatory character,
and its evidential features. They are quite distinct from each
other. The hypothesis might fit and yet have no evidence that
INTRA-COSMIC COMMUNICATION 515
it was a fact. I think, however, that all who are familiar with
abnormal mental phenomena will admit without special conten-
tion that the hypothesis will explain the triviality and confusion
of the alleged messages, but they will want to know what
evidence exists for such a view. It is to this aspect of the
theory that we must now turn.
" Dr. Hodgson had discussed this supposition in his report
on the Piper case in 1898. It is therefore not new, and some
incidents in his communications seem to point to the influence
of this view on his messages. I shall quote one passage from
his report in illustration of the hypothesis and of some of his
evidence for it : —
" ' That persons just deceased,' says this report (p. 377),
' should be extremely confused and unable to communicate
directly, or even at all, seems perfectly natural after the shock
and wrench of death. Thus in the case of Hart, he was unable
to write the second day after his death. In another case a
friend of mine, whom I may call D., wrote, with what appeared
to be much difficulty, his name and the words, " I am all right
now. Adieu," within two or three days after his death. In
another case F., a near relative of Madame Elisa, was unable to
write on the morning after his death. On the second day after,
when a stranger was present with me for a sitting, he wrote
two or three sentences, saying, " I am too weak to articulate
clearly," and not many days later he wrote fairly well and
clearly, and dictated also to Madame Elisa, as amanuensis, an
account of his feelings at finding himself in his new surround-
ings. Both D. and F. became very clear in a short time.
D. communicated later on frequently, both by writing and
speech.' "
We think that, were we to assume the truth of some
such theory as the above — and there is a great deal of
evidence in its favour — we could account for nearly all
the difficulties involved, and could see why it is that
more definite information is not received from the " other
side."
516 DEATH
There are doubtless other difficulties also which the
communicating intelligence would have to overcome,
some of which have been pointed out in the before-
mentioned report. But for the sake of our present
purposes the above will at least suffice to illustrate the
enormous difficulties which we should expect any surviv-
ing " spirit " to have to overcome were he to attempt to
send '* messages " to those still in the body.
CHAPTEH VIII
CONCLUSIONS
We now approach the termination of a task which has
been, for both of us, a labour of love and of keen in-
tellectual enjoyment.
In the First Part of this volume, we studied death from
its purely physical or physiological side; summed up
what was known of death, and advanced our ov\^n separate
theories as to the nature of the change which we see
before us. Whether true or not, such speculations are
not, we hope, without value — if only because of the
impulse they may give others to speculate in this direc-
tion. If we have succeeded, in any way, in formulating a
definite theory or conception of the nature of life and of
death, that, too, is not without its interest to science.
In Part II. we considered the varied speculations in
which man has indulged since he began to consider these
great questions ; and found that, although the common
arguments afford a strong presumption in favour of con-
scious survival, they none of them prove it, or Avarrant our
belief on such grounds alone.
Part III. we devoted to a discussion of the scientific
evidence (or, rather, a very small part of it) for " survival "
— the strength of which the reader must decide for him-
self, /^aken en masse, we cannot help feeling that we
have^Kere a great quantity of material, all evidence of
the supernormal and pointing to " spiritism " as its most
intelligible interpretation — which must" 'accordingly be
517
518 DEATH
looked upon as a rational theory, and accepted provision-
ally as a " working hypothesis." It may not be absolutely
proved by the evidence in the case, but every theory has
a right to be tested — -and a right to win acceptance, if it
be found to fit into and satisfactorily explain all the facts,
The nature of death is likely to remain unsolved for
many years to come — so long as we are ignorant of the
nature of life. When the one is isolated, and its inner-
most " essence " known, then we shall know and under-
stand the other. But in this field, as in all others, there
must be pioneers — the first crude attempts must be made
to solve the problem. We can but hope that our book
may in some way have helped to solve it — may, perhaps,
be a starting-point for future work by qualified experts.
The world-old problem, " If a man die, shall he live
again ? " might, perhaps, be answered, were we to study
minutely and carefully enough the evidence bearing upon
this all-important subject — Death.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
On " Vampires."
For several centuries there has existed a belief in vampires
in certain parts of the world, especially in Silesia, in Moravia,
and along the frontier of Hungary. Even to this day such
stories are circulated among the people, and implicitly
credited by them. It is asserted that certain persons, who
have died, have the power of returning from time to time
(generally at night) and sucking the blood of living persons ;
and that in this manner they are enabled to maintain them-
selves in a state, if not of life, certainly one very different
from death. They are supposed to be enabled to maintain
this sort of intra-cosmic existence so long as they can find
fresh blood with which to supply themselves. Preferably
they attack young persons who are full-blooded and possess
an abundance of vitality. Occasionally these persons wake
during the process, and frightful have been some of the
fights that are said to have taken place between mortal and
vampire ! Sometimes one and sometimes the other would
be victor. More commonly, however, the person so attacked
would not wake, and then he or she would rise in the mornino-
pale, emaciated, weak, and exhausted, for no apparent reason.
This went on, as a rule, until that person died, when another
would be attacked in like manner. This would continue
until the vampire was finally caught, exhumed, his head
cut off, and his heart cut out or impaled ; when, with a
fearful shriek, he would finally give up the ghost. When
the body of the vampire was impaled, fresh blood would
gush out. The body would be so full of blood, on occasion,
that it could scarcely contain it all ; and it would be found
dripping from the lips, or even exuding from the eyes, ears,
519
520 APPENDICES
and pores of the skin ! Any one bitten by a vampire would
become one himself when his turn came to die. Such was
the gruesome belief held for several hundred years in parts
of Europe, and which is even yet not extinct.
In a curious old work entitled llic Phantom World, its
author, Augustine Calmet, a priest, attempted to find a
rational explanation of these stories, and his ingenious
speculations will be found in vol. ii. of that treatise. He
says : —
" I lay down at first this principle, that it may be that there
are corpses which, although interred some days, shed fluid blood
through the pores of their body" (p. 41).
Although this can hardly be said to be so, it is almost the
case, on occasion, as may be seen by referring to the discus-
sion under " Putrefaction," pp. 37-8. However, our author
goes on : —
" I add, moreover, that it is very easy for certain people to
fancy themselves sucked by vampires, and that the fear caused
by that fancy should make a revolution in their frame sufiiciently
violent to deprive them of life."
The author was evidently well aware of the power of
" suggestion " ! Keturning to the original theme, however,
he continues : —
" I now come to those corpses full of fluid blood, and whose
hair, beard, and nails had grown again. One may dispute these
parts of the prodigies, and be very complaisant if we admit the
truth of a few of them. All philosophers know well enough
how much the people, and even certain historians, enlarge upon
things which appear but a little extraordinary. Nevertheless,
it is not impossible to explain their cause physically. Experi-
ence teaches us that there are certain kinds of earth which will
preserve dead bodies perfectly fresh. The reasons for this have
been often explained without my giving myself the trouble to
make a particular recital of them. ... As to the growth of the
nails, the hair, and the beard, it is often perceived in many
corpses. While there yet remains a good deal of moisture in
the body, it is not surprising that some time we see some augmen-
tation in those parts which do not demand a vital spirit. . . .
APPENDICES 521
"The fluid blood flowing through the canals of the body
seems to form a greater difiiculty, but physical reasons may be
given for this. It might very well happen that the heat of the
sun, warming the nitrous and sulphurous particles which are
formed in those earths that are proper for preserving the body,
those particles having incorporated themselves in the newly-
interred corpses, ferment, decoagulate, and melt the curdled
blood, render it liquid, and give it the power of flowing by
degrees through all the canals. ... As to the cry uttered by
the vampires when the stake is driven through their heart,
nothing is more natural ; the air which is there confined, and
thus expelled by violence, necessarily produces that noise in
passing through the throat. . . ."
The figures of the vampires that were seen, Calmet con-
siders to be apparitions, occasionally helped out by dreams
and other morbid phenomena. Considering the fact that
this author lived and wrote in 1751, his speculations may
be considered quite remarkable.
Vampires are, however, not unknown in these days. In
an article on " Vampires " in The Occult Revie^u, June 1908,
Dr. Hartmann described a method of what might be termed
natural vampirage. He said : —
" In the Bible it is claimed that when David grew old, a
young girl was given to him to supply him with vitality ; and not
very many years ago certain institutions based upon this principle
were existing in France. Young girls were supplied to old men
or women as bedfellows. Usually the old person (after having
had to submit to certain precautionary measures) had to sleep
between two girls, a fair-haired and a dark one, for which privi-
lege he had to pay a certain sum. All of these girls soon lost
vitality, some of them died, and these establishments were
finally closed by order of the police."
If popular opinion is correct in its assumption that vitality
may thus be transferred from the young to the old, it is easy
to understand that there may be a great deal of truth in the
theory that it is not healthy for children to sleep in the
same bed with old persons. Certainly medical science has
given at least tacit approbation to this opinion.
Dr. Hartmann also cites the case of the " wonder girl " at
522 APPENDICES
Radein, who attracted considerable attention some time ago.
For seven years, according to the statement of investigators,
this girl lived without food or drink, and yet was able to
maintain phenomenally good health ! According to Dr.
Hartmann's theory, she lived upon the vitality of others.
** Instead of taking food," he says, " she withdrew vitality
from the children who were brought to her for the purpose of
receiving her blessing. Some of these children sickened, some
wasted away and died. She did not do this consciously and
willingly, for she was a very pious person, and, owing to her
long fasting, even considered a saint."
There are historical records of many similar cases, but
nearly all of them have been proved to be fraudulent ; and
at the present day science refuses to accept any of them as
authentic.
APPENDIX B
Life and Vitality.
Several times we have had occasion to refer to the theory
of vitality, outlined and defended in Vitality, Fasting ami
Nutrition ; and it might be well, in this place, briefly to
refer to the argument there set forth. It will only be
possible to mention a few of the arguments, and those
briefly ; but it may suffice, at all events, to give the reader
an idea of the theory and render the subsequent argument
clearer. In brief, the theory is this : —
The generally accepted view of the causation of vital energy is
.somewhat as follows : — Food taken into the body is burned up or
oxidised in it ; and during this process of oxidation energy is
liberated and given to the system, in very much the same way
as the fuel of the engine supplies it with energy. In fact, the
two (the engine and the human body) have been frequently
compared by physiologists, and their similarity is apparently
true ; but I endeavoured to show that the body does not derive
its energy from the food eaten at all, but from another source
altogether, and that the present system of regarding the vital
APPENDICES 523
energy of the body as due to food combustion (chemical com-
bustion) is totally false. I believe that the present theory is
disproved by a number of arguments — chief among them being
the phenomena of fasting, which show that patients frequently,
if not invariably, get stronger as the fast progresses, whereas
they should get weaker. If the daily food supplied the strength
of the body and its vital energy, it should weaken when this food
is withdrawn, but the facts are that — in all diseased conditions
at any rate — this is not the case, and that patients who enter
upon a fast so weak and debilitated that they cannot walk down
stairs, are strong enough to be walking four and five miles a
day, at its conclusion, and after having fasted forty or fifty days !
Again, we need only observe the facts of everyday experience.
If we derived our energies from the food eaten, it would only
be necessary to go first to the dining-room and then to the
gymnasium, in order to recuperate our strength and energies.
But we all know from actual, practical experience that such is
not the case : we must seek sleep and rest at the end of a trying
day's work, and nothing will take the place of this rest and sleep,
and no amount of food will replace the energy lost. There is
therefore some source of energy other than the food, distinguish-
ing the body from the engine on that account — whose energies
are derived exclusively from the fuel consumed. In the self-
recuperative powers of the organism, and in its necessity for
sleep, I see distinctions which differentiate it from the engine
or any other mechanically operating machine. "The engine
does not recuperate and restore itself, during its periods of rest,
and the body does ; the engine continues to wear out, and can
never replace its own parts by new ones, and the body can. . . .
The great difference between them is that one is self-recuperative
and human and needs sleep in order to effect this ; and the other
is not self -recuperative, and needs no rest, so long as it works at
all ; and, in spite of this most obvious and all-important differ-
ence (since sleep is the greatest restorer of vital energy, as daily
observation shows), and merely to bolster up the absurd attempt
to include vital force in the law of conservation ; and in spite
of the most everyday and obvious proofs to the contrary, the
scientific world has continued to ignore this question of sleep
altogether, and to treat this matter of the renewal of the vital
force by food as a proved fact, instead of a mere theory — open
to these very objections, and a monstrous absurdity because of
them. In short, the plain difi'erences between the human body
and the steam engine have been completely ignored, and treated
as if they were non-existent — merely because they were
524 APPENDICES
impossible to dovetail into the present materialistic theory . . ."
(pp. 244-5).
I contend, in short, that the life or vital force is wrongly
placed in the circle of forces, each of which is convertible into
the other — i.e., it is wrongly placed in the law of conservation of
energy. I hold that " life is absolutely alone, separate, distinct,
per se" and that "it is in no wise related to, or derivable from,
any of the other forces." I believe that we replenish our
energies by rest and sleep alone (this giving us a new theory of
sleep) — it being defined as "that physiological condition of the
organism in which the nervous system of the individual (in
precisely the same manner as the electric storage battery) is
being recharged from without, by the external, all-pervading,
cosmic energy, in which we are bathed, and in which we live
and move and have our being " (p. 309). I conceive the organism
as a vehicle for transmitting vital energy, merely — " we have the
will to expend, but never to make or ' manufacture ' this energy
by any means in our power. I contend, further, that the body
is not an exact parallel, in its action, to the steam engine . . .
but rather resembles the eleciric motor which has the power of
recharging itself with life or vital energy, just as the motor of
the electrician receives its energy from some external source —
the brain or nervous system being that part of us which is thus
recharged, and constituting the motor of the human body ; that
this recharging process takes place during the hours of rest, and
particularly of sleep, and at such times only — all activity denoting
merely an expenditure or waste of this vital force ; that we can
thus only allow or permit vitality to flow into us, as it were, in
this recharging process — such coming from the universal, all-
pervading, cosmic energy, with which we are surrounded, and
which our nervous systems (and bodies) merely transmit or
transform into the external work of the world — acting merely
as channels through which the all-pervading energy may find
personal expression ; channels through which it may indi-
vidually manifest" (pp. 249-50). Death was defined by me
then as "that condition of the organism which renders
no longer possible the transmission or manifestation of vital
force through it — which condition is probably a poisoned state
of the nervous system — due, in turn, to the whole system
becoming poisoned by toxic material absorbed from the blood "
(pp. 330-1).
Now, if the vital energies, the life forces, are not dependent
upon the daily food, then materialism is threatened — for it is
doubtful if life, or the vital forces of the body, can be classed
APPENDICES 525
with the other energies of the universe, they seem rather to
occupy a separate place. I pointed this out at the end of my
chapter on " Vitality," where I said (pp. 300-3) : —
"It is not the province of this book to touch upon the wider
problems of world philosophy or metaphysics, but I cannot refrain
from adding one or two remarks upon what I conceive to be the
logical philosophic import of my theory. For I can see in it
far more than a mere scheme of vitality ; more than a mere
speculation as to its nature and its relation to the human
organism and to the intake of food ; more than its revolutionary
effect upon medical practice — important as these should be. It
is more than all these. It is an answer, if not an absolute re-
futation, of the present, generally accepted materialistic doctrine
of the universe, and its influence upon our conceptions of the
origin and destiny of the human soul. Without further ado, let
me illustrate the great importance of the theory in its application
to the phenomena of mind, and the world-old question of the
immortality of the soul.
" I have endeavoured to show, in the preceding pages, that the
life or vital force is in no way inter-related with, transformable
and transmutable into any one or other of the physical forces
known to us ; that it seems to stand absolutely imr se, in this
respect, and that, in fact, its laws and actions are, apparently,
totally different from — if not actually opposed to — the other
forces, in their actions and laws ; that it is in no way related to
them, and that the nervous or life energies are different, toto
ccelo, from all other forces or energies whatsoever. But if this
is the case, we must most certainly revise our ideas and beliefs
with regard to the supposed impossibility of the soul's im-
mortality ; for that problem at once assumes a different and a
new meaning in the light of these newer facts.
''Let me better illustrate my meaning by first quoting from
Professor Shaler's excellent book. The Individual (pp. 301-2),
the following paragraph, which tersely states the argument of
the materialistic philosopher, and well illustrates the position
assumed by the majority of physicians, psychologists, biologists,
physicists, and in fact by most scientific men to-day. It is
this : —
" ' . . . The functions of the body are but modes of expression
of the energy which it obtains through the appropriation of food.
As regards their origin, these functions may be compared to the
force which drives the steam engine, being essentially no more
mysterious than other mechanical processes. Now, the mind is
but one of the functions of the body, a very specialised work of
5 26 APPENDICES
the parts known as the nervous system. We can trace the
development ot" this mind in a tolerably continuous series from
the lowest stages of the nervous processes, such as we find in
the Monera or kindred Proto?:oa, to Man. Thus it is argued that,
though the mental work of our kind is indefinitely more ad-
vanced than that of the primitive animals, there is no good
reason to believe that it is other than a function of the body;
that it is more than a peculiar manifestation of the same forces
which guide digestion, contract muscles, or repair a wound.
Furthermore, as is well known, at death all the functions of the
organic body fall away together in the same manner and at
essentially the same time, so there is in fine no more reason to
believe that the functions of the brain persist than that a like
persistence occurs in the digestive function or in the blood-
impelling power of the heart. All this, and much more, can be
said to show that the phenomenon of death appears to possess
us altogether when we come to die.'
"Now this position is, to my mind, perfectly logical. The
conclusion arrived at is, indeed, the only one to which we can
possibly come — is, in fact, the actual ' truth ' if the premises
are correct. No ! Provided that these are true, I can see no
possible loophole of escape for the logical mind ; the conclusion
is inevitable. Professor Shaler's attempts to abstract himself
from the position into which he has been led, and which he so
well and plainly states, are to me pathetically futile ; it is
a hopeless failure ; his arguments would, I think, prove quite
inconclusive to the critical, scientific thinker ; and, in any case,
philosophic and metaphysical speculations have no place what-
ever in a purely scientific argument of this kind — which should
deal with facts, and facts only.^
^ " Professor John Fiske, indeed, tried to surmount this difficulty — here
presented — in his writings, and I select the following passage as illustra-
tive of his argument. He says {Life Everlastinrj, pp. 77-9) :' ... If we
could trace in detail, the metamorphosis of motions within the body, from
the sense organs to the brain, and thence onward to the muscular system,
it would be somewhat as follows : the inward motion, carrying the message
into the brain, would perish in giving place to the vibration which ac-
companies the conscious state ; and this vibration in turn would perish in
giving place to the outward motion, carrying the mandate out to the
muscles. If we had the means of measurement we could prove the
equivalence from step to step. But where would the conscious state, the
thought or feeling, come into this circuit ? Why, nowhere. The physical
circuit of motions is complete in itself ; the state of consciousness is ac-
cessible only to its possessor. To him it is the subjective equivalent of
the vibration within the brain, whereof it is neither the producer nor the
APPENDICES 527
" No : provided that the premises are correct, the conclusion
stated by Professor Shaler is not only legitimate, but absolutely
incontrovertible, and the conclusion we are driven to adopt if
the premises of the argument are sound.
" And now we perceive the great significance of my theory in
its relation to the problem of immortality, and of its revolu-
tionary effects upon the present-world philosophy. It is not
only anti-materialistic or negative, but pro-vital and positive in
its attitude. It is not destructive, but constructive ; not devolu-
tionary, but evolutionary. For we now perceive that this great
argument against immortality crumbles to dust ; it is worse than
useless. The premises are not correct; for, as we have seen,
nervous or vital force is not dependent upon food combustion
at any time, nor under any circumstances whatever ; and con-
sequently mental energy — one form of nervous energy — is not
dependent upon this physiological process either ; it is alto-
gether independent of it ; mental energies, together with all
other bodily activities, are quite separate and distinct from, and
independent of, this process; so that, when the process itself
ceases, it is no proof whatever — and there is not even a pre-
sumption in favour of the argument — that mental life ceases at
the death of the physical organism. In fact, the presumption is
all the other way. So that this main, oft-quoted, and central
argument against survival is no valid objection at all. Provided
my theory be true, it proves to have no foundation in fact.
The possibility of conscious survival of death is thus left quite
an open question — capable of scientific investigation or of
philosophic dispute ; but the grand, negative physiological
offspring, but simply the concomitant. In other words the natural history
of the mass of activities that are perpetually being concentrated within
our bodies, to be presently once more disintegrated and diffused, shows
us a closed circle, which is entirely physical, and in which one segment
belongs to the nervous system. As for our conscious life, that forms no
part of the closed circle, but stands entirely outside of it, concentric with
the segment which belongs to the nervous system.' (See also in this con-
nection, The Parallelism of Mind and Body, by Arthur K. Rogers, Ph.D.,
pp. 3-4 ; Sir Oliver Lodge, Life and Matter, p. 110, &c.). This theory
is defective, it seems to me, in that it takes no account of abstract think-
ing, but only of sensations ; and we know that a man may sit still at his
desk all day and think, and yet be as tired as though he had exercised
vigorously, and even more so. Or he may exercise half a day and think
half a day, and be as tired as though he had done either one or other the
whole day. Obviously, then, thinking does use up vital energy ; and,
inasmuch as this energy is derived from our food — so it is claimed — the
mental life must be directly or indirectly dependent upon the food supply
and the energy derived from it."
528 APPENDICES
argument vanishes.^ And it is because of this fact that I think
my theory not only of practical importance to the physician, but
of theoretical importance in its bearing upon human thought ;
upon current scientific and religious opinion ; upon the morals
and the ethics of the race."
f^ And, as I contended, at the end of the book (p. 580): ". . .
I The theory has tremendous philosophic, no less than medical
/ importance — enabling us to see that surrounding this universe,
/ and pervading it, is a conscious vital energy which is, in all
\ probability, the energising force of the universe, and which, for
I want of a better name, we might call God."
2^'//
APPENDIX C
On the " Creation " of Life.
It may be contended that our theories of life and death
are not in accord with the newer teachings of science, in
so far as they relate to the recent experiments in the
creation of life by artificial means. Professors Loeb, Butler
Burke, Bastian, Le Dantec, and others have recently been
conducting a series of investigations in which it would
seem that life has been created from inorganic substances,
and, for that reason, it may be said that it cannot be the
character of life postulated in this volume, and, con-
sequently, that our theory of death must also be at
fault. If life can be brought into being by means of
chemical combinations and compounds, it might logically
be urged that it is closely related to the other material
energies, and by no means a force or energy jper se. We
1 " I would point out in this connection that, if this theory of vitality
be true, there can be no valid objection to the actual existence — far less
the investigation of — psychic phenomena, because the objections to a future
life would thus be cleared away, and the field left open for facts. Such
facts psychic phenomena apparently are ; and at least there can no
longer be any objection to their study. I would also point out that the old
materialistic notion, which compared the body to a lamp, vitality and life
to the flame, which simply ceased to exist with the extinction of the lamp,
is thus shown to be invalid, and based upon an incorrect interpretation of
the facts. Life is not the result of any process of combustion or oxidation
whatever, but, on the contrary, the guiding, controlling principle — the
real entity, for whose manifestation the body was brought into being."
APPENDICES 529
think that this view of the facts is based upon a super-
ficial examination only. In the first place, the experiments
themselves are largely open to question. Many biologists
have never accepted Dr. Bastian's work, and do not accept
it to-day, while Dr. Burke's researches are now all but uni-
versally discredited. Dr. Burke experimented upon radium
and sterilised bouillon, and created, apparently, minute
organisms which he called " radiobes." It was afterwards
ascertained, however, that these organisms could be dupli-
cated without either radium or bouillon, and that they
further lacked all the essentials of life. Dr. Bastian's experi-
ments are more conclusive. Having placed some cleansed
chemicals and distilled water in a sterilised glass flask, he
sealed this hermetically while steam was issuing from the
neck, and then immersed this flask in a fluid at a tem-
perature of 260° F. for twenty minutes. The flask was
then removed and stood in diffused daylight for a few days.
At the end of that time its contents was examined, and it
was found to contain bacilli which multiplied and showed
all the signs of life. There are many imperfections in Dr.
Bastian's experiments, and certain biologists have questioned
whether the organisms obtained are typical bacilli at all,
but for our present purposes we shall grant their existence
and assume that the experiments are theoretically perfect —
life being present where there was formerly no life.
Now for the interpretations. It would usually be con-
tended under these circumstances that life had actually
been created by the chemical substances employed, or
through or by means of their combinations and reciprocal
influences. But there is another way of viewing the facts
which enables us to hold the theory of life herewith
advanced, and to perceive that there is no objection to it
that can be urged on account of these experiments. Instead
of life having been brought into being, let us view the facts
from another standpoint.
Let us postulate life as a separate energy or force in the
universe. In order to become manifest to us here, it must
operate through or by means of a material organism. For
it to manifest in this way, the material basis, inter-
mediary for such manifestation, must be perfect, the delicate
relations and inter-relations of all the particles of the
2 L
530 APPENDICES
material l)ody, as well as its affinities and forces, must be
adjusted to one another with the utmost exactitude. If
this perfect balance or adjustment is not present, life cannot
manifest through that material body. It cannot utilise that
particular combination of matter to manifest through. On
the other hand, if these material conditions are perfect, then
life can become manifest to us, because it can utilise the
material basis as a medium for its expression or trans-
mission. Life, therefore, might well be a separate force or
energy which only becomes manifest to us when such con-
ditions are supplied as render this manifestation possible.
APPENDIX D
Mrs. Piper^s Trance State.
A NOTE on Mrs. Piper's trance condition may be of in-
terest in this connection. Mrs. Piper passes into trance
somewhat in this fashion: She seats herself upon a chair,
remains passive, fixes her eyes upon some point in space or
upon the opposite wall, and within five or ten minutes
slowly passes into the trance state. Her breathing becomes
stertorous, the eyes assume a look of vacancy ; gradually
the head droops, the body becomes limp, sags forward, and
is supported upon the cushions piled upon the table to
receive it. The coming-out of the trance condition is most
interesting to watch, and no one who has witnessed it can
well doubt the genuine nature of the trance state. From
fifteen to twenty minutes is frequently required to regain
full consciousness and possession of the faculties, and
frequently the mind is not clear for an hour or so after
apparently normal conditions have been restored. In coming
out of the trance the hand first drops the pencil with which
the automatic writing has been done, then pushes away the
articles (" influences ") that have been presented to it. A
few moments of passivity then follow. Soon a general
writhing movement of the body is noted, accompanied by
groans, semi-articulate exclamations, and movements of the
hands and arms. The head is then raised and the face
APPENDICES 531
can be seen to be perfectly expressionless. The eyes are
generally open and staring into vacancy. In this state
words and fragments of sentences are muttered, which
can be caught by placing the ear close to the mouth.
These fragmentary remarks are frequently of great interest
and importance, and supernormal information, such as
names, &c., have been obtained at this time, which had
been sought in vain during the regular trance state. What
apparently happens, and what the controls say does happen,
is that Mrs. Piper's " soul " is taken out of her body and set
to one side, while other entities manipulate her organism,
during the trance ! That is what the appearances suggest.
The trance is certainly genuine. In the early years of
the Society's work, Mrs. Piper was carefully tested for
anaesthesia and various reactions. It was found that the
eyes reacted slightly to light, that her pulse was affected,
and that there was, sometimes at least, complete insensibility
to pain. In later years, since the control has changed,
the trance has become much deeper, and there is now no
sensibility such as existed formerly, though no severe pain
tests have been tried of late.
APPENDIX E
Superstitions, Sayings, ^c, concerning Death.
" Superstitions, Sayings, &c., concerning Death," by C.
W. J., in Chambers Book of Days, vol. ii., pp. 52-53: —
" If a grave is open on Sunday, there will be another dug in
a week.
" This I believe to be a very narrowly limited superstition,
as Sunday is generally a favourite day of funerals among the
poor.
" If a corpse does not stiffen after death, or if the rigor mortis
disappears before burial, it is a sign that there will be a death
in the family before the end of the year.
" In the case of a child of my own, every joint of the corpse
was as flexible as in life. I was perplexed at this, thinking that
perhaps the little fellow might, after all, be in a trance. While
532 APPENDICES
I was considering the matter, I perceived a bystander looking
very grave and evidently having something on her mind. On
asking her what she wished to say, I received for an answer
that, though she did not put any faith in it herself, yet people
did say that such a thing was a sign of another death in the
family within the twelvemonth.
" If every remnant of Christmas decoration is not cleared out
of church before Candlemas Day (February 2), there will be a
death that year in the family occupying the pew where a leaf
or berry is left.
" An old lady (now dead) whom I knew was so persuaded of
the truth of this superstition that she would not be content to
leave the clearing of her pew to the constituted authorities, but
used to send her own servant on Candlemas Eve to see that her
own seat, at any rate, was thoroughly freed from danger.
"Fires and candles also afford presages of death — coffins
flying out of the former, and winding-sheets guttering down
from the latter. A winding-sheet is produced from a candle ;
if, after it has guttered, the strip which has run down, instead
of being absorbed into the general tallow, remains unmelted ;
if, under these circumstances, it curls over away from the flame,
it is a presage of death to the person in whose direction it points.
" Coffins out of the fire are hollow, oblong cinders, spirited
from it, and are a sign of coming death in the family. I have
seen cinders which have flown out of the fire picked up and
examined to see what they presaged ; for coffins are not the only
things that are thus produced. If the cinder, instead of being
oblong, is oval, it is a cradle, and predicts the advent of a baby ;
while, if it is round, it is a purse, and means prosperity.
" The howling of a dog at night under the window of a sick-
room is looked upon as a warning of death being near.
"Perhaps there may be some truth in this notion. Every-
body knows the peculiar odour which frequently precedes death,
and it is possible that the acute nose of the dog may perceive
this, and that it may render him uneasy ; but the same can
hardly be alleged in favour of the notion that the screech of an
owl flying past signifies the same, for if the owl did scent death
and was in hopes of prey, it is not likely that it would screech
and so give notice of its presence."
APPENDICES 533
APPENDIX F
The Death of Cells.
From Age, Growth, and Death, by C. S. Minot, pp. 75-76 : —
I. Death of Cells.
1. Causes of Death.
A. External to the organism : —
1. Physical (mechanical, chemical, thermal, ifec).
2. Parasites.
B. Changes in intercellular substances (probably primaiily
due to cells) : —
1. Hypertrophy.
2. Induration.
3. Calcification.
4. Amyloid degeneration (infiltration).
C. Changes inherent in cells.
2. Morphological Changes of Dying Cells.
A, Direct death of cells : —
1. Atrophy.
2. Disintegration and reabsorption.
B. Indirect death of cells : —
1. Necrobiosis (structural change precedes final death).
2. Hypertrophic degeneration (growth and structural change
often with nuclear proliferation precede final death).
3. Removal of Cells.
A. By mechanical means (sloughing or shedding).
B. By chemical means (solution).
C. By phagocytes.
II. Indirect Death of Cells.
A. Necrobiosis: —
1. Cytoplasmic changes —
(a) Granulation.
{h) Hyaline transformation,
(c) Imbibition.
{d) Desiccation,
(e) Clasmatosis.
534 APPENDICES
2. Nuclear changes —
(a) Karyorhexis.
(b) Karyolysis.
B. Hypertrophic degeneration : —
1. Cytoplasmic —
(a) Granular.
(b) Cornifying.
(c) Hyaline.
2. Paraplasmic —
(a) Fatty.
(b) Pigmentary.
(c) Mucoid.
{(l) Colloid, &c.
3. Nuclear (increase of chromatin).
APPENDIX G
Eusapia Pallad'md' s Phenomena and Fraud.
It may be thought that we have, in our discussion of the
evidence in this case, ignored the fraud that was brought to
light during the American investigation, and which, in the
estimation of a large proportion of the American public at
least, deprives the case of evidential value. We wish to state
most emphatically, however, that such is not the case, and that
we have given due weight to this negative evidence in summing
up the results. In spite of the fraud which has been discovered,
we do not feel in the least inclined to alter our former opinion,
and for the following reasons : — For more than twenty years, it
has been known that Eusapia Palladino resorts to trickery when-
ever possible ; all her European investigators knew this, and
have caught her repeatedly. We ourselves detected fraud, or
attempts at fraud, on several occasions. In spite of this, how-
ever, no one who has studied her case for any length of time
has failed to be convinced that genuine supernormal manifesta-
tions are witnessed in her presence ; and the longer they study
her, the more certain are they that fraud cannot account for
many of the observed facts. Under certain conditions, Eusapia
can produce phenomena which are unquestionably genuine ; but
APPENDICES 535
if those conditions are lacking, and the medium, for any reason,
cannot succeed, she invariably resorts to trickery, rather than
admit that she is unable to produce them. Particularly has
this been the case of late years, as her powers have gradually
waned, and increasing difficulty has been experienced by the
medium in obtaining any phenomena at all ; or phenomena of
so feeble a character that no man of common sense could expect
to be convinced by them. But the genuine phenomena are
undoubted. No one who has attended a really good seance can
doubt this. And the fraudulent phenomena are a very weak
imitation of the genuine manifestations, which frequently take
place in light sufficiently good to enable the sitters to see clearly
that the medium is not producing the phenomena herself.
While, therefore, we acknowledge that Eusapia practised fraud,
and probably a good deal of fraud, during her later American
seances, we still deny that this in any way proves that her
earlier phenomena were also fraudulent. We admit her trickery ;
but then, everybody who had studied the case already knew
that she tricked, and no new form of trickery was disclosed
by the American series. We feel, therefore, and feel strongly,
that, in spite of the fraud disclosed, the case as a whole remains
in statu quo ; and that the evidence has not been materially
shaken. Indeed, a great mass of material evidencing the
supernormal has been presented at these seances, for the
details of which we refer the reader to the Annals of Psychical
Science, 1910-11.
APPENDIX H
Dr. Tan7ier's " Studies in S'piritis'm,^^ and Survival.
While our book was passing through the press. Dr. Amy E.
Tanner's important work, Studies in Spiritism, was issued. It
gives an account of a short series of sittings, by herself and Dr.
Stanley Hall, with Mrs. Piper, and incidentally discusses the
evidence for survival, and for supernormally-acquired informa-
tion, not only in the Piper case, but by means of telepathy,
clairvoyance, &c. The book attempts to show that the whole
of the evidence for survival is groundless, and that telepathy,
clairvoyance, and spirit- communication are believed in only
because of inexact analysis of the evidence. The case is most
forcibly presented in her book, and it is certainly an epoch-
536 APPENDICES
making work in the history of psychical research. Dr. Tanner
attempts to show that experimental thought-transference can
be explained by a combination of hypersesthesia, chance-coin-
cidence, and by that parallelism or similarity of thought which
is so common to all individuals living in the same commu-
nity, and in much the same environment. Apparitions at the
moment of death are examined, and deemed to be due to
chance-coincidence and other normal causes. The entire evi-
dence for the supernormal is considered and dealt with in a
similar way.
It would be impossible, in the limited time and space at our
disposal, adequately to consider or discuss this book, and its
attempted reduction of psychical research to "rationalism."
The attack on the Piper case most intimately concerns us ; and
it may be said at once that we consider much of this destructive
evidence — particularly of the cross-correspondences — wholesome
and sound. Her facts and arguments are, indeed, in many cases
convincing. Thus, it is evident that when a fictitious person-
ality is suggested to the " controls," and when this personality
— which never had any existence, except in the minds of the
experimenters — turns up and " communicates," giving lengthy
descriptions of his own life, and recalling many incidents which
never in reality took place at all, it is evident that no such
personality really existed ; but that it was probably a portion
of Mrs. Piper's subliminal consciousness, acting out the part it
is supposed to play. This does not mean that Mrs. Piper is
consciously fraudulent; and both Dr. Tanner and Dr. Hall
state their complete faith in the medium's honesty. But it
does seem to imply that portions of the medium's mind may
assume the guise of " spirits," and pass themselves off as
" spirits," whereas, as a matter of fact, they are not spirits at
all, but, as before said, mere portions of the medium's own mind.
Good evidence is advanced, also, in proof of the contention that
Hodgson is not Hodgson — at least the Hodgson whom we once
knew — but is some masquerading intelligence, again a mere
fragment of the medium's subconsciousness, or some external
and mischievously-inclined intelligence, palming itself off as
Dr. Hodgson, and wilfully pretending to be he. [This is, we
may say, the belief of some psychical researchers, who admit
the mere facts.] But the general conclusion seems fair, that
the soi-disant " spirits " were not, in these sittings, what they
purported to be, and, that being so, it is possible, even probable,
some may think, that they were not "spirits" in other cases
either.
APPENDICES 537
Theoretically, the argument is perfect, and it would take
much space to show why it is not so actually. As briefly as
possible, however, we believe that the case is not closed — the
whole of the evidence is not shown to be due to normal causes,
for the following reasons : —
1. Adequate allowance is not made for the supernormal
knowledge shown. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that
the personalities in the Piper case are not " spirits," in the
sense that they are usually thought to be, that does not prove
that no supernormal knowledge is displayed ; or even that
Spiritism may not ultimately be true. Professor James always
took the stand that Rector, Imperator, &c., were mere " per-
sonifications " by Mrs. Piper, and that R. H. was not really
present every time the hand wrote, "Here I am, R. H. —
How are you ? " &c. He always assumed that this was sub-
conscious acting on the part of Mrs. Piper ; yet, in spite of
this, he believed that " dips down " from a spiritual world
frequently occurred, and that the actual germ of knowledge
displayed emanated from the intelligence it claimed to issue
from. It was merely symbolised and dramatised and elabo-
rated by the medium's subliminal, just as dreams are elaborated
and extended from actual, external stimuli. In both cases, the
stimuli actually exist ; but they are not recognised in the mass
of symbolism and elaborate detail with which they were clothed
before they emerged into consciousness. Thus, a spiritual world
might well exist, and information be imparted therefrom, but
it would have to come through the medium's mind and organ-
ism, and be enacted and personified by it. But the destruction
of the " psychological burning-glass " would not annihilate the
sun ; the vehicle might be destroyed, but the reality remain
behind, unmanifest.
2. The method adopted in the book of disposing of the super-
normal evidence in the Piper case is by no means conclusive to
us. It is impossible to reduce to figures psychological facts of
this character ; and Dr. Tanner should know that. Due allow-
ance is not made for the " personal factor" ; much of the best
evidence for survival is of so private a nature that it has not
been and never can be published ; and Dr. Tanner begins by
ruling this all out as non-evidential, because not printed ! This
is hardly fair treatment of the evidence, and this method of
disposing of valuable material in too offhand a manner appears
to us to have been applied too freely in the work under review.
We expect to see this portion of her book disproved and shown
to be unjustifiable, by later researches. Certainly there are,
538 APPENDICES
in our estimation, many hundreds of incidents in the Piper and
other similar cases, which have not been adequately accounted
for in the book under review.
3. The attempts to show that " Dr. Hodgson " and Mrs. Piper
are possessed of a common memory and common emotional
background are, to us, quite inconclusive, and display as great
a " selective capacity " in the mind of the writer, forcing her to
pick out only those facts which it wanted to see hidden in the
material, as Mr. Piddington's mind could be accused of dis-
playing, in his selection of the cross-correspondence tests ! Dr.
Tanner asserts that " a memory common to the two person-
alities " is proved by these observations (p. 22). Four incidents
are quoted in support of this view : —
(1) The "control" asked for more air, as the room was
" stuffy " ; and this was taken to indicate that Mrs. Piper's
subconscious mind requested it, as she is known to be very
sensitive to closeness, &c. Yet Dr. Hodgson, when alive, knew
the value of fresh air during the sittings, and always insisted
upon it ; hence, if he reacted to the bodily condition of the
medium at all, he might have requested this.
(2) Dr. Tanner pretended that gas was leaking in the hall ;
and the hand at once wrote that " anything wrong was to be
attended to at once." From this fact Dr. Tanner draws the
conclusion that Mrs. Piper, and not the control, did the writing.
Why, it is hard to see, inasmuch as the "controls" have always
been solicitous regarding her health and comfort during the
trance state. We fail to see in this the slightest evidence that
Mrs. Piper herself was doing the thinking or writing.
(3) The "control" was asked if some "pain-tests" might be
tried ; and the control stated that she (the medium) would not
feel the pain, but that " they had better not try them," as " the
machine might suffer after the sitting had ended." Again,
Dr. Tanner draws the conclusion that " a memory common to
the two personalities " is proved by this fact. We fail to see
the slightest reason for thinking so.
(4) The strongest evidence for this " common memory," in
Dr. Tanner's estimation, is furnished by the following incident :
" Dr. Hall, before the trance, quoted the phrase, * a white
blackbird,' to Mrs. Piper, and in the trance Hodgson used the
phrase, ' Catch me, and you catch a white crow.' "
From this fact Dr. Tanner concludes that there is a " com-
mon memory " in the two cases, because a remark uttered in
Mrs. Piper's presence comes out in the trance, as if from Dr.
Hodgson. But it is dangerous for a critic, however acute he
APPENDICES 539
(or she) may be, to draw large conclusions from scarce data ;
and this is well shown in the present instance. For, in this
case, there is no evidence that the remark was " carried over,"
into the trance ; on the other hand, there is good reason to
believe that it originated in Dr. Hodgson. And for the
following reason : —
In a sitting which one of us had with Mrs. Piper in January
1908, the following conversation occurred : —
(You won't forget that message you promised to give me
through another light, will you ?)
Not much. Catch me to forget, and you'll catch a white
blackbird.
(White blackbird? Do you remember Professor James's
joke about that?)
Of course I do ; you mean croic.
(Yes.)
Do you mean as applied to this? [the medium].
(Yes.)
Oh yes, blackbird I said just for fun. Well, Carrington, old
chap, I'm glad to know you . . . cfec.
It will be seen that Dr. Hodgson and the sitter had discussed
this " white crow " incident in a sitting which has never been
published, but which took place January 13, 1908. Dr. Tanner
did not have her sittings until more than a year later. It is
very evident, therefore, that the "white blackbird" incident,
which is supposed to indicate more strongly than any other the
bond of connection between Dr. Hodgson's memory and that of
Mrs. Piper, is evidentially worthless, and open to quite another
interpretation.
We have said enough, at all events, to show the reader that
the book here under review, while possessing many fine
qualities, yet fails to explain or take into account many factors,
and unduly slights much supernormal information which has
been given from time to time in the past, through Mrs. Piper.
For this reason we believe that the book, despite its excellence,
will not have the effect which the authors doubtless believe it
should have — viz., of arresting, to a great extent, the growth of
spiritualism ; inasmuch as they fail to explain much of the
strongest evidence in favour of the survival or persistence of
human consciousness after death. (For a detailed reply to
Dr. Tanner's book, see Journal of the American S.PM., Jan.,
1911, pp. 1-98.)
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540
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INDEX
Abbott, David P., 396, 397-400
Accordion test, 410-11
Adare, Lord, 409
Addison, 275
Aggazzotti, Dr. A., 417-19
Air, capacity of lungs for, 378-79
Alden, H. M., 263
Alger, 262, 281-82, 289-90
Allen, Dr. Thomas T., 214
American seances of Eusapia Palla-
dino, 430 36, 534-35
Anaesthesia and death, similarities
of, 310-13
Ancestor worship, 238-40
Angell, George T., 67
Apparitions, coincidental, 382-84
experimental, 335-43
Arullani, Dr., 418-19
Asphyxia, death by, 119-20
Audouard, M., 89
Aura, after death, 27-28
Automatic writing, during death,
307
Bacon, Lord, 262
Baggally, W. W., 421, 424-30
Baraduc, Dr. H., 174, 356, 358, 359,
367-71, 372
Barucha, Edward, 243-44
Bastian, Dr. H. Charlton, 217-18,
528 29
Bates, Miss Katharine, 182-84
Beaumont, Dr., 103
Beecher, Henry Ward, 300
Bennett, Edward T., 360
Besant, Mrs. Annie, 85
Bibliography, 540
Bichat, 100, 135
Bishop, Washington Irving, 61
Black light, 371
Blake, Mrs., 397-400
Book of Judgment, 317
Bordas, M., 36
Bostwick, Dr. Homer, 15, 136, 157
Bouchut, Dr., 63-64
Bozzano, Dr. Ernesto, 178-79,327
Braid, Dr. James, 44, 46
Brittain, Emma Hardinge, 250
Brouardel, Dr., 18, 19, 21, 22, 24,
33, 38, 39, 40, 41-42, 92, 93, 96,
187-88
Broussais, Dr., 103, 106
Brown-Sequard, Dr., 34, 35
Biihler, Dr., 134
Burial customs, 77-82
Burke, Dr. John Butler, 170-72,
528-29
Burns and scalds, death from, 96
Bute, Marquis of, 445
Butler, Bishop, 282-83, 286, 287, 290
Calkins, G. N., 10
Calmet, Augustine, 520-22
Cannibalism, origin of, 239
Cardiac massage, 122
Carus, Dr. Paul, 175-77
Catalepsy, defined, 45, 51-52
Cazanvieilh, 138
Cells, cause of death of, 533-34
Chaldeans, beliefs of, 243
Chase, Prof., 261, 286
Chenoworth, Mrs., 499
Christ, raisingf rom the dead, 288-89
Christians, early beliefs of, 248
Cicero, 247, 263
Clairvoyance, 439-42
Clark, Dr. Ed. H., 300, 318-19
Claughton, Mrs., 445-48
Cobb, Augustus G. , 83, 85
Communications, confusion in, 508-
516
Conclusions, 517-18
Conditional immortality, 260
Confucius, 23'.'-40
Confusion in communications, 508-
516
54
INDEX
549
Conn, H. W., 233
Consciousness, its relation to
organism, 312-13, 313-14
Consciousness, as a function of the
organism, 4r)7-58
Cremation, 82-85
Crookes, Sir William, 409, 410-11
Curry, Dr. James, 53
Cutter, James E. , 123
Cuvier, 4
D'Albe, Fournier, 231
Dana, Dr. C. L, 46-47
Darwin, Charles, 55-56, 442, 454
Davis, Andrew Jackson, 205, 328-
334, 348
Davis, Dr. N. E., 118
Davis, Mary F., 332
Davis, W. S., 431
Death, various kinds of, 11-13,
215-17
conscious, 12
somatic, 12
Delirium, statements made during,
514
Dematerialisation of matter, 358-59
De Morgan, Prof., 439-41
De Quincey, 310-17
Desmond, Countess of, 14
Dessoir, Prof. Max, 167-68
Diamond, Captain, case of, 16
DiflSculties in communication, 508-
516
Dixwell, Dr. John, 69
Donnet, Archbishop, 62-63
Draper, Henry, 287
Dreams, nature of, 50
Driscoll, Dr. James F., 168-69
Drowning, death by, 119-20
Druids, beliefs of, 245
Drummond, Prof. Henry, 260
Dubois, Prof. Paul, 211, 218, 221-22
Ductless glands, degeneration of,
as a cause of old age, 153-54
Ecstasy, defined, 45
Edmunds, Judge, 352
Egyptians, beliefs of, 240
Elbe, L., 242, 244, 247, 279-81
Electricity, death by, 122-25
Embalming, process of, 85-88
Emerson, R. W., 259
Energy and matter, 358-59
Erskine, Ebenezer, 61, 62
Esdaile, Dr., 48, 49
Evans, Dr. De Lacy, 15, 136, 157
Evidence of survival, 535-39
Experimental apparitions, 335-43
Eye, pictures in, after death, 20
Fakirs of India, 52
Falling, sensations while, 315-16
Fancher, Molly, 204
Faunce, Pres. , 207-8
Feigning death, 55-56
Feilding, Hon. Everard, 421, 424-
430, 435
Ferrier, Dr., 445, 447
Finch, Mrs. Laura I., 180-82
Finot, Jean, 16, 84-85, 224-25, 301
Fiske, John, 527
Flammarion, Camille, 384, 385, 387
Fletcher, Dr. Moore R., 71
Fletcher, Horace, 163
¥oh, Dr. Charles, 417-19
, Prof. P., 417-19
Freezing, death by, 115-17
French, Mrs. Emily S,, case of, 401
Fruitarianism, 156-57
Funk, Dr. Isaac K., 341, 343, 401
Garland, Hamlin, 401-6
Garrigues, Dr. Henry, 67-69
Gates, Dr. Elmer, 26-27
Gauls, beliefs of, 244-45
Gaze, Henry. 130, 214-15, 221
Glardon, Auguste, 388
God, conception of, 528
Goethe, 339
Good, Dr., 101
Gowers, Dr. W. R. , 53
Graham, Dr. Sylvester, 220
Greeks, beliefs of, j:45-47
Gregory, Dr., 130, 220
Griffiths, Dr., 110, 111
Guen, M. le, 71
Gurney, Edmund, 836, 338, 339, 390
Haeckel, Ernst, 9, 10, 172 74, 209
Haemorrhage, death by, 90-98
Hair, blanching of, 141
Hall, Dr. G. Stanley, 535
Haller, 101
Hallucination theory of physical
phenomena, 412
Hallucinations, census of, 383
Hamilton, Gail, 306
Hamilton, Sir William, 438
550
INDEX
Hammond, Dr William A., 47, 130,
214, 256, 2<U, 276
Hands, materialised. 411
Hannah Wild, letter, 472-75
Harrison, Dr., 97
Hartmann, Dr. Franz, 20, 24, 52,
58, (14, 66, 67, 72, o21-22
Hartmann, M., 11
Harvey, 34
Haunted Houses, 448-54
Haunting, theories of, 452-54
Hegel, 260
Heim. Dr., 31.'.
Heredity, 219
Herlitzka, Dr. A., 417-19
Hesiod, 246
Hindus, beliefs of, 242-43
Hodgson, Dr. Richard, 323-26,346,
353, 470-72, 475-80, 510
Holland, Mrs., 493
Holmes, Prof. S. J., 55-50
Home, D. D., case of, 408-12
Hudson, T. J., 52, 27 1-72, 276, 277,
340, 341
Hunter, John, 102
Huxley, Thomas, 4
Hyslop, James H., 101, 304-5,319-
326, 341, 342, 343. 353, 472-75,
481-91, 499-500, 510-15
Insanity, theory of, 205-6
Isham, Dr. A. B., 28, 29, 30, 31
Jacobs, Joseph, 160
Jaffa, Prof., 156
James, Dr. J. Brindley, 47, 48
James, Prof. William, 45, 210, 278,
469-70, 497, 498
Jastrow, Prof. Joseph, 437
Jelliffe, Dr. Smith Ely, 112
Jencken, H. D., 411
Jenkins, Henry, case of, 14
Jews, beliefs of, 240-42
Johnson, Alice, 385-86, 412
Kant, 201
Keeler, Mrs., 499
Kellogg, Dr. J. H., 188
Knott, Dr John, 125
Krafft-Ebing, Dr., 212
Kuhne, Dr., 20, 34
Lang, Andrew, 337, 414, 445, 499-
COO
Langley, Prof. S. P., 284-85
Last words of distinguished men,
308-9
Lateau, Louise, case of, 213
Laws of nature, 284-85
Leaf, Dr. Walter, 184-86, 459.
467-70
Le Bon, Dr. Gustave, 208, 350, 359,
371
Le Conte, Prof. Joseph, 158-59
Le Dantec. Prof., 528
Lee, General, case of, 61
Lenormand, Dr. L., 71
Lewes, G. H., 130
Life, definition of, 3, 4, 5, 6, 194.
524-25, 527-28
creation of, 528-30
Lightning, death by, 122-25
Livingstone, Dr. David, 301-2
Locke, 261
Lodge, Sir Oliver, 357, 459, 460-
461, 461-67, 498-99
Loeb, Prof. Jacques, 233, 528
Lombroso, Prof., 435
Londe, Charles, 53
Longevity, human, 13-16
Lorand, Dr. Arnold, 152-54
Lotze, 260
M'Clintock, 265-66
M'Connell. 260
M'Dougall, Dr. Duncan, 372-78,
379, 380
M'Lagan, Sir Douglas, 94
Malcolm, Dr. John D., 96, 135
Mapes, Prof., 411
Marsh, H. P. 297-98
Marvin, Dr., 47
Materialism, theory of, 457-58
Materialisation, 358-59
Matter and energy, 358, 359
Maupas, E., 10
Maxwell, Dr. J., 407-8
M(5gnin, M., 90
Melville, Rear-Admiral George N.,
380
Mental causes of death, 98-109
Mental life and bodily energy, 524-
528
Mental phenomena, 437
Metchnikoff, Elie, 16, 129, 131, 132,
133-34, 141, 144, 154, 155, 157,
160
Mills, Dr. Charles E., 45
INDEX
551
Mills, Prof. Wesley, 233
Minot, Prof. Charles S., 144-45,
155, 165-G7, 199, 533-34
Moll, Dr. Albert, 213
Moment of death, memory at, 316-
317
Moore, Dr. George, 44
Morgan, Prof. C. Lloyd, 215
Morselli, Prof. Henry, 420
Morton, Miss, 449-50
Moses. William Stainton, 335, 392,
412-14
Miiller, Max, 237
Mummification, 89-91
Munro, Dr., 130
Munsterberg, Hugo, 437
Music, value of, in insane cases,
206
Myers, F. W. H., 50, 232, 346, 349,
391, 437, 438-39, 443, 445, 459-
460, 468, 469
Myths as to the origin of death,
253-55
Newnham, Rev. P. H., 349-50
Niederhorn, Dr., 33
Odor Mortis, 28-32
Old age, causes of, 129-57
Olfactory phenomena, 390-93
Osier, Dr. William, 300-1
Ourches, Marquis d', 18
Ovid, 247
Paget, Sir James, 311
Pain, causes of, 301
Palladino, Eusapia, 414-36, 534-35
Parr, Thomas, case of, 14
Parsees, beliefs of, 243-44
Pausanias, 243
Peebles, Dr. James M., 300
Perspiration, composition of, 392-93
Photography of the invisible, 356-
358
Piddington, J. G., 491 97
Piper, Mrs. L. E.,49, 323-25, 457-
500, 510 15, 532 33, 535-39
Planchette vpriting, 454-57
Plato, 246 47, 257 59
Platonic argument for immortality,
258 59
Playfair, Sir Lyon, 83-84
Podmore, Frank, 384, 388, 409, 412
Poe, Edgar Allan, 122
Porro, Prof., 415-16
Post, Charles J., 91
Presumption versus proof of future
life, 291
Protozoa, life of, 7-11
Purinton, E. E., 169-70
Putnam, Dr. James J., 161
Putrefaction, 35-40
Pythagoras, 246
Questionnaire on death, 1 59
Rabagliati, Dr. A., 186-87, 198,
209-10
Radiobes, 529
Raising the dead, 54, 199-200
Ramsay, Sir William, 392-93
Raps, coincidental, 385
indicating intelligence, 406-8
Raupert, J. Godfrey, 363-67
Re-animation, 53-54
Regnault, Dr. Felix, 150-52
Reid, Dr. H. A., 359
Resuscitation, 201
Ribot, Prof., 219
Richardson. Sir B. W., 42, 43, 53,
54, 188, 199-200
Rigor mortis, 32-35
Roehrig, Prof. R. L. 0., 59-60
Romans, beliefs of, 247
Rosenbach, Dr., 188
Saponification, 40-42
Savage, Rev. M. J., 322-23
Scent, at seances, 392-93
of animals, 392-93
Schiller, Prof. F. C. S., 159-60, 162,
195 231-32
Schofield, Dr. A. T., 212
Schopenhauer, 259-60, 290-91
Schultz, 233
Scott, Sir Walter, 98
Shaler, Prof. N. S., 526-27
Shelley, 339
Shew, Dr. Joel, 126-27
Shock, death from, 121-22
Sidgwick, Prof. Henry, 459
Simpson, Dr. F. T., 435
Sextus, Carl, 71
Sleep and death, 51-57, 305-6
Sleep, theory of, 204-5, 524-25
Smead, Mrs., case of, 500-1
Smiley, Mrs., case of, 401-6
Soldi, M., 238
552
INDEX
Solovovo, Count, 169, 412, 431
Somnolence, morbid, 46-47
Soul, weighing, 372-78
Space, question of, 382
Spencer, Dr. Thomas D., 299-300
Herbert, 3, 6, 263
Spinoza, 232, 259
Spirit photography, 359-67
Spiritistic doctrine of immortality,
248-50
Spiritual body, 371-72
Spontaneous combustion, 126-28
Stahelin, Dr., 241, 256-57
Starvation, death by, 117-18
Stephens, Dr. C. A., 145, 146-47,
313
Stevenson, R. L., 233-34
Stewart, Prof. Balfour, 158, 279
Stigmata, 212-13
Strangulation, death by, 120
Struve, Dr., 53
Subliminal consciousness, 437-39
Sudden death, causes of, 93, 94-96,
203
Superstitions, &c., concerning
death, 534-35
Sweetser, Dr. William, 99, 101, 103,
108, 222-23
Tanner, Dr. Amy E., 535-39
Tappan, Cora L. V., 352
Taylor. J. Traill, 360-63
Tebb (and Vollum), 54, 58, 65, 72
Teichmann, Dr. E., 133
Tertullian, 263
Tesla, Nikola, 162
Tests of death, 19-24, 42-43
Theosophv, doctrine of immorta-
lity, 251-53
Thompson, Mrs., 502-4
Sir Henry, 463
Thorns, William J., 13, 14, 15, 16
Tissues, rate of death of, 13
Toortelle, Dr., 103
Tozer, Basil, 66-67
Trail, Dr. R. T., 126, 188
Trance, 44, 50, 51, 52
Mrs. Piper's, 530-31
Transmission of life, theory of, 149,
524-25, 528
Triviality, question of, 506-8
Tuke, Dr. Hack, 213
Tyndall, Prof., 300
Ultra-violet light, 371
Uncooked foods, 156-57
Vampires. 38, 51^-21
Van Eeden, Dr. ¥., 163-65. 502-4
Venzano, Dr. Joseph, 180, 420-21
Verrall, Mrs., 493. 494, 495 et seq.
Vibration theory of life, 194-206
Virchow, 213, 233
Vital exhaustion, theory of, 134-35
Vitality, theory of, 522-28
Voices, independent, 396-40G
Vollum, Dr., 70-71, 73. See Tebb
Voltage, to produce death, 123-24
Wagner, Rudolph, 378
Wallace, Prof. A. R., 249
Walsh, Dr. David, 58-59
Warburton, Bishop, 241
Watson, Prof., 257
Wedgwood, Hensleigh, 442, 454
Mrs. Alfred, ^41-42
Weight, remarkable losses of, 379-
381
Weismann, Prof., 7, 11
White, Dr. Edward, 260
White crow incident, 538-39
Welby, Horace, 304
Wilder, Alexander, 52, 69
Williamson, James R. , 48
Wilson, Dr. A. D., 411
Wilson, Prof. E. B., 187, 199
Wilson, John K., 350
X., Miss, 450-52
X-rays, 371
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