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. 27, 1860.] There were eight persons round the table in question, in this case an obvious assistance to concealment, since, as I infer, they must have been closely packed. The table rose “with a slight jerk,” just the effect which would be produced by setting it in motion upwards by means of the performer’s foot as described in the former paper; and it steadily mounted till it attained such a height as rendered it necessary for the company to stand up. In fact, unless they did stand up before the table was raised too high, they would be liable, as I showed on a former occasion, to see some such spectacle as the following:—



It is a most material point to observe that the table as it rises is stated to have been “swung out of its orbit;” in other words, that it ascended not perpendicularly, but obliquely, and that it reverted from this position as it descended—a circumstance pretty conclusive as to the employment of the leg and foot, which would act thus, and would act in no other way. By this means the table is raised until there is “a blank interval from the carpet to its foot of perhaps two feet, perhaps three;” though I hardly assume that it can have been three feet in this instance, since “nobody has thought of providing a means of measuring it, and we must take it by guess.” In this position, a desire having been expressed to the following effect, “the carpet is examined, and the legs and under surface of the table are explored, but without result.” A good deal depends on the question, Who is the examiner? There are none so blind as those who won’t see; but, assuming the inspection to be bonâ fide, still it may be made perfectly clear to any one that “there is no trace of any connection between the floor and the table,” for the means of support is not thence derived. The inspector soon ascertains that “the table has not been raised by mechanical means from below,” and as this is what he looks for (it is to be observed that those who are impressed by the phenomenon invariably harp on this), he is at once satisfied, and he rises to the surface with the blood in his head, and his inquisitiveness completely frustrated. It is not an easy matter for any but very wary persons to detect the real means of support, if the circle is closely packed and there is a sufficiency of the great conniving medium Crinoline. The inspection is confessedly “hurried and brief.” It is comprehensive enough to satisfy the company that the table has not been raised by mechanical means from below, though it is jumping to a rather hasty conclusion, to assume that it is not raised by means such as I am indicating. In fact, if two persons connive, nothing is easier than for one of them to push the table against the chest of the other, as in the following figure:—



—and then, as the company rises, the foot may be removed and the table will present the appearance of being self sustained. Even a suspicious person may then look under it without detecting anything, and may pass his head beneath its claws (Fig. 14), with merely the risk of a contusion in case it should suddenly slip from its precarious holding. If this latter contingency should not occur, he has reason to congratulate himself, in addition to the satisfaction arising out of his self-deception; and when the company resume their previous attitude, the foot of the Medium again coming into play, the table will descend as easily as it ascended. Its downward motion will be as “slow” as you please, “and, if I may use the expression, graceful, and the table reaches the ground with a dreamy softness that renders its touch almost imperceptible.”

Another movement of a table, which the writer seems to think more strange, must yet be accounted for, before I proceed to the more complex devices of Mr. Home. In this case “the company are seated at a large, heavy, round table, resting on a pillar with three massive claws, and covered with a velvet cloth, over which, books, a vase of flowers, and other objects are scattered.” In the midst of the séance the table abruptly forces way (or rather, we should say, is forced) all up the room, pushing on before it the persons who are on the side opposite to that from whence the impetus is derived—no remarkable consequence, if the pushing Mediums are sufficiently strong. The persons opposite are thrown into confusion by the unexpectedness and rapidity with which they are driven backwards on their chairs; and this very confusion, as is perfectly obvious, would prevent a steady attention on their