I» HEREWARD CARRINGTON I nia cuurw UAKUi I o — L_: tj ^<!/0JllV3JO^ University Research Library s 8 8 U V t a K » £ « ft £ ft This book is DUE on the last date stamped below MOV 2 V:3A4 19^T MAY 1 3 *' " 1^ 1 3 ^^/ f©T IS 6 ^.^'A 0£C171961J '^fiK)V'^n'i^' UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA LIBRARY y , iA^ t*'^V^ <^ -A / s /\-f:- A BUUK ()}• fRorOlM) Sli.MIU.IXCI: PSYCHOTHERAPY By HUGO MUNSTERBERC^. M.D., PH.D., LITT.D., LL.D. Professor of Psycliology in Harvard i')iivc} sity 8t'o, $2.00 »('/. Hy iiuiil. $2.20. A maslerl\- discussion, wrillcn in simple un- technical language, of the Psychological IJasis of Psychotherapy, its Methods, Re- suits and Place in Civilization. It is the second hook in a series which Prof. Miin- sterherg is writing "to discuss for a wider public the practical applications of modern psychology." it deals with the relation of psychology to medicine. 1 the most "Undoubtedly important publij tion of the year."—Phila. Public Ledger.'. "On tlie whole, the best popular presentat| A the subject has ever had in English."—/:/7»(^ 1 can Journal of Psycliology. "Places for tlie first time the whole ma ler of the ni'W(.st and most wonder fvil o sciencess plainly, clearly and effecli\ely befnre an interested pul)lic."-—Minneapolis Trill II It I EUSAPIA PALLADINO AND HER PHENOMENA By HEREWARD CARRINGTON <^^-^-z^ Eusapia Palladino AND HER PHENOMENA BV HEREWARD CARRINGTON AUTHOR OF "the PHYBICAL phenomena of 8PIKITUALI8M," "VITALITT, FASTING AND NUTRITION," "the coming science," "HINDU MAGIC," ETC. ' . ^ ^ ' '•' ''' ' ' .'. y .'. '. '. J" ''', ''\' ' ' ' ' > t . ii > ' ' ' ' • ' ' I' t , J ' . 1 ' > NEW YORK B. W. DODGE & COMPANY 1909 83327 Copyright, 1909, by B. W. DODGE & COMPANY Entered in Stationtrt' Hall, London AH Right* Reserved Printed In the United States of America THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMOEY OF MY FATHER E. C. CARKINGTON, F.E.G.S., F.E.A.S., F.R.S.L. 8 A TOKEN OP MY RESPECT AND ESTEEM FOB HIS UNRECOGNIZED GENIUS lereward Carrington, a firm believer in Mme. Palladino and her manager on her recent visit to America PREFACE While much has been written in France and Italy con- cerning the remarkable woman who forms the subject of this book, but little has appeared either in England or America—with the exception of M. Flammarion's work, Mysterious Psychic Forces, and a series of articles that have appeared from time to time in the English edition of the Annals of Psychical Science. Yet the case is one of the most remarkable that has come to the attention of the scientific world for many years—since we are concerned, apparently, with movements of physical objects without contact, and even far more startling phenomena—contrary to the known laws of physics and physiology. In the following book I propose to lay before the reader 1 a summary of all the historic evidence available, together with a detailed record of our own experiments with this medium, conducted in Naples, in November and December, V 1908; a complete resume of every theory that has been ad- V- vanced to date—with a provisional hypothesis of my own; and then to discuss at some length the biological and psy- chological peculiarities of the case—from the point of view of one who assumes, on the strength of the existing testi- mony, that the facts are established. One forms a very different opinion of Eusapia's seances before and after he has obtained personal sittings. Before, although I was vastly impressed with the cumulative evi- vii Vlll Preface —an atti- dence, I was far from being irrevocably convinced tude vv^hich I occupy to-day. I had given a rapid survey of the Palladino case in one of my previous books, The Physi- cal Phenomena of Spirit ualisni, saying in part: "And thus the matter stands: One half the world is con- vinced that Eusapia is a fraud, and the other half is con- vinced that the phenomena witnessed in her presence are to genuine! What the ultimate verdict will be it is hard is not foresee; but it is certain that the case, as it stands, convincing to the scientific world, and fresh evidence must be forthcoming if the case is ever to be decided in her favor. If Eusapia possesses genuine mediumistic gifts, it ought only to be a matter of time and sufficiently careful experimenting in order to establish that fact." Professor Morselli took occasion to make this the text of a lengthy reply to my book (appearing in the Annals of on his Psychical Science, August-September, 1908), based seances with Eusapia, in which he said: "I hope and believe that my voluminous work on Palla- dino's spiritism will give a satisfactory answer to the dis- tinguished American psychist, who is so severe on physical mediumship, and only accepts as valid, in general, the bygone categories of the historical phenomena of spiritism. He is guided by the preconceived idea that in the earlier times, from the Fox Sisters to Home, the physical phenomena were more authentic, because then the mediums did not copy one another and mediumship was confined to the spontaneous revelation of new biopsychical forces, without the interven- tion of mimicry. "Now it is hazardous to express judgments on a powerful but variable medium like Eusapia on such slight documentary evidence; but Mr. Carrington, like all the English and American psychists, is still under the impression received from the check at Cambridge, caused by an excess of rigidity Preface ix In the interpretation of the movements of the medium's hands and feet. We have the obsession of tricker>^ by the substi- tution of one hand for the other, according to the formal accusation made by E. Torelli-Viollier against Palladino in 1892, at the time of the celebrated experiments in Milan, at the house of M. E. Finzi. And in reality, in America also, where the conjuring ability of mediums has reached the highest degree, the trick of the freeing of one hand from the chain of controllers is practised every day by charlatan mediums, v^^ho are very numerous there. I append two very significant illustrations which Mr. Carrington has inserted in his book, . which show very plainly the method of deception used by mediums for evading the surveillance of the controllers to right and left; with the freed hand they are able to produce touchings, raps, noises, slight move- ments of objects, apports, etc. "Mr. Carrington, whom I still quote for precaution, for he is not only a firm believer in immortality, but also a psychist of authority, assumes an attitude of extreme distrust when he says: " 'It is not only probable, but certain, that the vast ma- jority of modern occult phenomena are fraudulent. I am disposed to believe that fully ninety-eight per cent, of the phenomena, both mental and physical, are fraudulently pro- duced. .* "No critic or skeptic, were it Dr. Hodgson returned to earth, could ever convince me that, in a long series of seances with Eusapia, and especially in the last ones of 1906-7, I had only seen, in all, two genuine phenomena in every hun- dred! This Is my opinion, and I live in this confidence toward myself and my fellow-investigators, notwithstanding all that Carrington writes about Eusapia Palladino. ." This will, I trust, serve to show the reader that I did not to seances too to be go Eusapia's any ready convinced ; and the fact that I was so convinced (this being the first case of genuine physical mediumship I had ever seen during ten X Preface to that years continuous investigation) proves, it seems me, the severest skeptics are likely to become converted if they would but deign to stop criticising the reports and sittings in of others, and go and have sittings themselves. Only that manner can one's mental attitude be changed, and the — were genuine nature of the facts be forced upon one as they iorced upon me. to that I In spite of my conviction, however, I wish say am just as skeptical as ever of all other professional mediums; as and still think that as large a percentage of fraud exists when I wrote the above passage. Eusapia is genuine; but and I shall believe in she is, so far as I know, almost unique; submitted the genuineness of none other, until they have their mediumship and their phenomena to tests similar to those Imposed upon Eusapia. It Is very true that, granting that her seances are genuine, it is highly probable that many others are genuine also—only the evidence does not prove condi- it. However, until phenomena are produced under tions which preclude the possibility of fraud, it is useless to speculate as to whether they are genuine or not. Of condi- course It is possible that phenomena only occur under tions which render fraud possible; but if that be the case, it Is useless to continue the investigation, since nothing will ever be proved. We should always have to assume that fraud was the real explanation of the facts so long as it was possibly operative. In our own seances, we (my fellow-investigators and my- under conditions self) felt that we had obtained phenomena fraud were forced to the con- that absolutely precluded ; we clusion, In consequence, that genuine phenomena occurred; and, that being the case, they should be studied by scientists —not with the object of detecting trickery, but in the hope Preface xi of discovering the hidden causes and laws of certain unknown and as yet unrecognized biological phenomena.