it may be as
well to state that the class of people known as spiritualists, hold
that when raps are heard, it is the best thing for the hearer to say
aloud, "If you are intelligent, will you please to rap three times?"
and if this is done, to ask the intelligence to rap three times for
_yes_, once for _no_, and twice for _doubtful_. It is obvious that
considerable conversation can be carried on by such a code, and where
it is inadequate, as, for instance, in obtaining proper names, it is
usual to propose to repeat the alphabet slowly, asking the
intelligence to rap once when the proper letter is reached. This
simple method was entirely unknown to Father H----. He had done
nothing but throw holy water about his rooms, and repeat the prayer
_Visita quaesumus_, which invokes the Divine protection of a house and
its inhabitants against all the snares of the Enemy, and which,
therefore, in no way concerned any person or thing which is not
associated with the powers of darkness. It was natural that no result
should be produced.

Sir W. Huggins told Lord Bute, as the result of his examination of
Father H----, that he felt absolutely certain that what the latter had
experienced was not the outcome of morbid hallucination, but that it
was possible that the sounds themselves might be hallucinatory or
subjective. To ascertain whether this were so, or whether they had any
physical cause, he suggested the use of a phonograph, as this would at
least show whether the sounds were accompanied by atmospheric waves.
Lord Bute happened to know Mr. S---- slightly, having met him
accidentally while travelling abroad. He accordingly wrote to him, and
communicated Sir William Huggins's suggestion. Mr. S----, after a
delay of some days, refused absolutely to allow any scientific
investigation to be made, a refusal remarkably coincident with the
recent refusal of his son, the present proprietor, to allow any
similar investigation with seismographical instruments. It would seem
a legitimate conclusion that neither father nor son doubted that the
sounds are of a psychical character. As regards the present
proprietor, such a conclusion renders it obvious that we must
understand in some peculiar sense the letter published in _The Times_,
dated June 10, 1897, in which he says, "As to the stories contained in
the article [_i.e._ of the anonymous _Times_ correspondent], they are
without foundation." These words must, however, be, in any case,
accept