rge Pelham had been present at one of her sittings. The
name of George Pelham must have been revealed to her considerably later
on, for, in her normal state, she is quite ignorant of what she has said
in her trance state; she learns it, as do all those who are interested
in these questions, by reading the _Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research_ except when Dr Hodgson thinks proper to tell her
anything.

With the appearance of George Pelham there arose a new method of
communication--the method of automatic writing.

It was only on March 12, 1892,[53] that it was granted to Dr Hodgson to
be present for the first time when this writing was produced; although
it had occurred on rare occasions before. Phinuit was serving as
intermediary for a communicator who called herself Annie D. Towards the
end of the sitting Mrs Piper's arm rose slowly till the hand was over
the top of her head. The arm remained rigid in this position, but the
hand trembled very rapidly. Phinuit exclaimed, "She's taken my hand
away," and added, "she wants to write." Dr Hodgson put a pencil between
Mrs Piper's fingers and a block-book on her head. "Hold the hand," said
Phinuit. Dr Hodgson grasped the wrist and stopped the trembling. Then
the hand wrote, "I am Annie D. I am not dead but living," and some other
words; then Phinuit murmured, "Give me back my hand." The arm remained
contracted and in the same position for a short time, but finally,
slowly, and as though with much difficulty, it moved down to the side.
During the following sittings the writing was produced in the same
inconvenient position. But on April 29, 1892, Dr Hodgson arranged a
table so that Mrs Piper's right arm could rest comfortably on it; then,
seizing the arm and commanding with all his power, "You must try to
write on the table," he succeeded, by using not a little force, in
getting the arm down. Since then the writing has been produced with the
arm resting more or less on the table. When a control takes possession
of the arm to write, it is seized with violent spasmodic convulsions.
The block-books, writing-books, pencils, and everything on the table are
thrown in confusion on to the floor. Sometimes considerable force must
be employed to keep the arm still. Then a pencil is placed between the
fingers, and the writing begins. Sometimes, but rarely, the writing is
interrupted by a spasm; the hand is firmly closed and the wrist bent,
but after a few seconds the spasm