Research source

But even if this be not granted, I can quite see how a certain rapport between the sitter and the hand--or the…

Date of account: Published 1921
Source: The Problems of Psychical Research Experiments and Theories in the Realm of the Supernormal
Reference: The Problems of Psychical Research Experiments and Theories in the Realm of the Supernormal · selected passage 146
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

But even if this be not granted, I can quite see how a certain rapport between the sitter and the hand--or the intelligence behind the hand--might easily enable one sitter to perceive it, and not another

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 only

But even if this be not granted, I can quite see how a certain _rapport_ between the sitter and the hand--or the intelligence behind the hand--might easily enable one sitter to perceive it, and not another. Analogies from trance phenomena and even from experimental thought-transference might be drawn here, in favour of such a theory. The whole theory of apparitions at the moment of death depends upon this established _rapport_, since, if it did not exist, and affect the results, the apparition might just as well appear to Tom, Dick, and Harry as to the percipient--and the percipient is such (supposedly) simply by reason of this pre-established _rapport_.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

The passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.

Investigate related details with Anomaly Graph’s account-based search, or read how matching and provenance work.