Research source

I asked the meaning of this bizarre and portentous conglomeration of letters. The reply was

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 227
Rights: public_domain
Language: English translation from French
Translation: English translation from Camille Flammarion
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Under these conditions, the end of the table having been lifted six and a half inches, the dynamometer showed seventy-seven pounds

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

Under these conditions, the end of the table having been lifted six and a half inches, the dynamometer showed seventy-seven pounds. The medium sat at the same narrow end of the table, with her hands _wholly_ on the table, to the right and the left of the point where the dynamometer was attached. Our hands formed the chain upon the table, without pressure: they would not have been able in any case to do more than _increase_ the pressure brought to bear on the table. On the contrary, the desire was expressed that the pressure should diminish, and soon the table began to rise on the side of the dynamometer. M. Gerosa, who was following the marks on the apparatus, announced this diminution, expressed by the successive figures 7-1/2, 4-1/2, 2-1/2, 0 (pounds).

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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