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174 by preference turn its attention to physical phenomena occurring in private circles, thought himself justified in assuming the existence of a mass of evidence of this kind. Mr. Sidgwick went on to express the hope that the occurrence of such phenomena would be more rapidly and extensively communicated to the representatives of the Society for impartial investigation. That hope was not destined to be realised. In the twenty-five years which have elapsed, whilst few opportunities have been afforded to the Society's representatives for continuous investigation of any sort, no positive results have been obtained worthy of record.

In short, just when an organised and systematic investigation on a scale not inadequate to the importance of the subject was for the first time about to be made, the phenomena to be investigated diminished rapidly in frequency and importance, and the opportunities for investigation were further curtailed by the indifference or reluctance of the mediums to submit their claims to examination. The researches of the Society have not, however, been entirely fruitless. On the one hand, some of us have had the opportunity of witnessing in private circles physical movements and other phenomena, claimed as due to occult forces, which on further examination have proved to be produced fraudulently. In two of these cases at least the "medium" was a well-educated man, with no apparent motive for deception, and the deception itself was of a systematic kind, involving careful preparation. The