n its very infancy. It has swept like a
hurricane of fire through the land, compelling faith from the
baffled scoffer, and the most determined doubter."

Dr. W. F. Barrett, Professor of Experimental Physics in the Royal College
of Dublin, says:--

"It is well known to those who have made the phenomena of
Spiritualism the subject of prolonged and careful inquiry, in the
spirit of exact and unimpassioned scientific research, that
beneath a repellent mass of imposture and delusion there remain
certain inexplicable and startling facts which science can neither
explain away nor deny."--_"__Automatic, or Spirit, Writing,__"__ p.
11 (1896)._

In the _Arena_ of November, 1892, p. 688, Mr. M. J. Savage, the noted
Unitarian minister of Boston, says:--

"Next comes what are ordinarily classed together as 'mediumistic
phenomena.' The most important of these are psychometry, 'vision'
of 'spirit' forms, claimed communications by means of rappings,
table movements, automatic writing, independent writing, trance
speaking, etc. With them also ought to be noted what are generally
called physical phenomena, though in most cases, since they are
intelligibly directed, the use of the word 'physical,' without
this qualification, might be misleading. These physical phenomena
include such facts as the movement of material objects by other
than the ordinary muscular force, the making objects heavier or
lighter when tested by the scales, the playing on musical
instruments by some invisible power, etc.... Now all of these
referred to (with the exception of independent writing, and
materialization) I know to be genuine. I do not at all mean by
this that I know that the 'spiritualistic' interpretation of them
is the true one. I mean only that they are genuine phenomena; that
they have occurred; that they are not tricks or the result of
fraud."

In the _Forum_ of December, 1889, p. 455, the same writer describes his
experience at the house of a friend with whom he had been acquainted eight
or ten years. When about to depart, he thought he would try an experiment.
He says:--

"She and I stood at opposite ends of the table at which we had
been sitting. Both of us having placed the tips of our fingers
lightly on the top of the table, I spoke, as if addressing some
unseen force connected with the table, and said: