Research source

XII. Explanatory Hypotheses--Theories And Doctrines-- Conclusions Of The Author 406

Date of account: English edition published 1907
Source: Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants
Reference: Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants · selected passage 56
Rights: public_domain
Language: English translation from French
Translation: English translation from Camille Flammarion
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Those who have sufficiently studied the subject know that fraud does not explain what they have observed

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

Those who have sufficiently studied the subject know that fraud does not explain what they have observed. To be sure, in fashionable Spiritualistic soirees people sometimes amuse themselves. Especially when the seances take place in the dark, and the alternation of the sexes is provided for so as to "reinforce the fluids," it is not altogether an unheard of thing for the gentlemen to profit by the temptation to temporarily forget the object of the meeting and break the established chain of hands in order to begin another on their own account. The ladies and the young girls like these changes in the program, and scarcely a complaint is heard. On the other hand, apart from fashionable soirees, to which everybody is invited for their amusement, the more serious reunions are frequently no safer; for the medium, who is, in one way or another, an interested person, is anxious to give the most he can--and something to boot.

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.

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