Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 4.djvu/93

Rh of an exact natural investigation, a slight comprehension of the strength of the proof which science must absolutely command, if it treats of the confirmation of events, and the connection of the simplest circumstances, they would entirely cease from their senseless and fruitless endeavors, and seek to acquaint themselves with the valuable acquisitions of to-day's teachings, without which man—comparable to a ship without a compass or rudder—tossed about on the sea of error and deception—can be perplexed to imbecility! The excellent advice to keep at a distance all mysterious and supernatural manifestations, in spite of their charms and attractions, has already been communicated to you. An instructive maxim says, "There is a virtuous spirit of relinquishment in intellectual as well as in moral power." And here, in order not to be led into temptation, men must carry this relinquishment to the extreme of intellectual "teetotalism." It is more difficult to deal with the second group of this class. It is clear that if the few natural investigators who compose this group were not entirely divested of the spirit of strict research which they may once have possessed, they would have found ways and means to confirm, in a scientific manner, the "events viewed unequally" which they are not ashamed to testify to as though they were actual circumstances, so as to win the confidence and esteem of all natural investigators. As they have by no means succeeded in this, the weight of their testimony sinks, in spite of its truth, to the level of that of the unlearned persons mentioned in the first group of this class.

In reference to the perception and knowledge of natural events one cannot vote, per majora, as in human laws. The votes here must be weighed. However, to give no opportunity for misconstruction, I will say, beforehand, that the natural investigators of whom I speak have not lost all their weight and respectability in science because they vouched for the reality of unheard-of and absolutely incredible events, but because of the foundation on which they placed this testimony.

They refer us triumphantly to the "scientific" investigation of a Hare, a Crookes, a Butterow, and other well-known "natural investigators!" However, he who examines this startling literature, will only become more confirmed in his ideas. The way alone in which these "investigators" perform their experiments, and the manner in which they make their reports, prove very clearly that they are really no investigators at all. To give one striking example, Crookes announces earnestly to the scientific society of London, of which he is a member, that he has discovered a new feature in Nature, which he calls "psychic force." Through the influence of this force, according to Crookes, the weight of a body can be increased or diminished several pounds, without visible interference!

And how do you think Crookes has investigated and