After an interval of waiting, during which, by constantly looking at the slate as though impatient for the…
- Date of account
- Published 1887
- Source
- Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert
- Reference
- Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert · selected passage 192
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-24
Record summary
After an interval of waiting, during which, by constantly looking at the slate as though impatient for the writing to begin, whereby his sitters become accustomed to the appearance and disappearance of the slate, the Medium reaches for a second slate, ostentatiously washes both sides, lays it on the table, removes the …
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyAfter an interval of waiting, during which, by constantly looking at the slate as though impatient for the writing to begin, whereby his sitters become accustomed to the appearance and disappearance of the slate, the Medium reaches for a second slate, ostentatiously washes both sides, lays it on the table, removes the pencil from the first slate to the second, and places over it the first slate with its prepared message, face downward, and the trick is done. The two slates are held for a minute under the table, and are then held to the ear or on the shoulder of the sitter on the Medium's right hand--never to any other sitter, since to do so would reveal the scratching of the Medium's finger-nail on the rim of the slate, whereby the writing of the pencil within the slates is counterfeited. I have distinctly, three or four times, watched the motion of the Medium's finger while thus scratching; as I sat facing the window the fingers which held the slate and made the fictitious writing were sharply outlined against the light.
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis source supplies historical scientific, skeptical or conventional context. Its terminology and conclusions may not reflect current scholarship.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice uses this as an alternative-explanation source, not as an automatic dismissal of testimony. Claims still need to be compared with the actual evidence and current knowledge.
Investigate related details with Anomaly Graph’s account-based search, or read how matching and provenance work.