Part 6

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In conclusion we must confess that we have little hope of influencing convinced believers by the preceding discussion. It is just possible that here and there someone may realise that there is more scope for trickery than there appeared to be at first sight, may scrutinise procedure more carefully, may have the courage to distrust his own powers of observation, may even--if he is lucky--catch a swindler out. But this is unlikely. “Once convinced always convinced” seems to be the rule. “What matter if all appearances and all reasoning are against our beliefs? Did not Satan put marine fossils on the tops of hills to shake our faith in Genesis? Did not stupid spirits carelessly leave false beards and dirty muslin in the pockets of Williams and Rita--those wonderful materialising mediums? Do not even the greatest psychics resort to fraud when the Power fails?”

No! Some people’s faith could never be shaken, not though we gave them two hundred methods of fraud instead of twenty and not though a medium were exposed a hundred times instead of but twice or thrice.

But it may be that there are some who still have doubts and still halt between two opinions. We hope that to these this paper may be of some service as a contribution to the evidence available for their study. It is also possible that it may in some measure act as an antidote to the unreliable matter which is now so freely disseminated and which does so much to bring Psychical Research and the better aspects of Spiritualism into undeserved disrepute.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] I am assuming, for the purposes of comparison, that these later phenomena actually occur--a point on which I am doubtful.

[2] I exclude, of course, the very rare instances when photographs of apparently supernormal origin have been obtained by amateurs of unimpeachable integrity. I have yet to meet with a convincing case of this kind.

[3] Hereward Carrington, _The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism_.

[4] _E.g._, to verify the “speed” of the plates.

[5] _Cf._ trick slates used by slate-writing mediums.

[6] This method will probably be scoffed at by some enthusiasts, but it should be remembered that the simpler and more audacious methods are the most likely to succeed, just because they are so obvious that no one thinks of them. The sitter _must_ keep still and _must_ look at the camera for some seconds while the exposure is being made, and provided the accomplice is revealed by a carefully silenced mechanism the chances of detection are negligible.

[7] _E.g._, on the back with a diamond.

[8] This may have been true, but was certainly not the principal reason that I had to have the plate destroyed! I had over-exposed my spirit, and I feared this plate would not bear closer inspection (I did not sign the minutes of the first three meetings).

[9] Unless, of course, there happens to be in the room a source of ultra-violet rays other than the ordinary illuminant by which the photograph is taken but which does not emit visible light rays. This possibility may be disregarded for practical purposes.

[10] _Note._--Some believers in spirit photography will dissent from this view on the ground that experiment has shown that when a photograph is taken the extra is not produced by the reflection of ultra-violet light from an “object” (partial materialisation or the like) but by the use of a “psychic transparency” applied to the plate and exposed to “spirit” light. With the first part of this we cordially agree, but the hypothesis of the “psychic transparency” seems to be no more than a resolute attempt to evade the plainest indications of fraud. _Vide infra._--[ED., P.R.Q.]

[11] Readers should refer to Mr. E. J. Dingwall’s interesting article on “Magic and Mediumship” in the January number of the _Psychic Research Quarterly_.

[12] Cf. pp. 11-12.

[13] _Note._--This is a case where recognition _is_ possible because (_a_) the “extra” and the original portrait can be laid side by side and directly compared, (_b_) careful measurements can be made of the facial angle and other characteristics, and (_c_) independent witnesses in any desired number can make the comparison for themselves.

[14] Similar observations apply to “The Hunter Test” (_Light_, Feb. _19th_.)

[15] _Cf._ p. 30 above.

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