prevailing tendency to cover all facts by a single
explanation that has led to the difficulty. If we were willing to admit
that there may be operative many different influences and causes, on
different occasions, it seems to me that much of the difficulty would
vanish.

There can be no doubt as to the fact that the ouija board is a far more
mysterious little instrument than the majority of persons suppose--or
rather, the forces and the mentalities behind the movement of the board
are exceedingly complex, and but little understood. As the author of
_The Planchette Mystery_ said: "A wonderful jumble of mental and moral
possibilities is this little piece of dead matter, now giving utterance
to childish drivel, now bandying jokes and badinage, now stirring the
conscience by unexceptionable Christian admonitions, and now uttering
the baldest infidelity or the most shocking profanity; and often
discoursing gravely on science, philosophy, or theology." Any theory
that is advanced to explain the facts must take all this into
consideration, and much more. Let us turn for a few minutes to consider
the automatic script, as frequently obtained.

There are, very frequently, answers to mental questions--questions, too,
the answer to which none of those having their hands on the board could
possibly know. Often, again, remarks are volunteered conveying
information not possessed by any one of the writers. The distinct
characterization of a personality is frequently seen,--and a personality
of a very detestable sort. The language employed, frequently, is quite
unprintable. The "ouija" lies as coolly and confidently as it tells the
truth; in fact, it is dogmatically positive that its statements are
correct in every case, even when they are glaringly incorrect at the
very time they are written. This spirit of dogmatism is shown in many
passages, and suggests to us the attempt at domineering on the part of
an intelligence unused to such a position, and rejoicing in its
supremacy.

I wish to insist primarily upon the action of the board itself, and its
apparently _human_ characteristics--quite apart from any information
which it volunteers; and this will be of the greater interest, I fancy,
for the reason that such observations have, to the best of my knowledge,
rarely been made. I can perhaps best illustrate my point by giving a few
concrete examples.

There can be no question that the board has _moods_. It gets angry on
occasion, fo