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178 at these séances with a distressing cough; he would constantly—through fatigue, as he alleged—change the position of his limbs or even shift momentarily the hand which held the slate; sometimes the slate itself would be dropped on the floor; he would now and again go to the door to answer a summons from the servant. Ordinary good manners would prevent the visitor from taking notice of such incidents at the time, and generally they would leave no trace in the memory. But the cough would have served to hide the sound of an unlocked slate or an unfolded paper; the shifting of the hand admitted of the shifting of the slate also; the movement to the door gave opportunity for an actual substitution. In fact, the performance, as was soon to be proved, was commonly effected in one of two ways. The shorter messages were actually written by Eglinton on the under surface whilst the slate was being held under the table, and opportunity was subsequently found, without exciting the sitter's suspicions, to reverse the slate; the longer messages were written beforehand on another slate, and opportunity found for substitution. When the secret was guessed expert observers could watch all the processes of legerdemain throughout the performance.

The following extracts from independent accounts written by two Associates of the Society. Mr. G. A. Smith and the late Mr. Murray Templeton, will serve to illustrate the nature of the discrepancies and omissions actually observed, or