The paranormal effects continued. Levy said: “The tambourine rose almost to the height of the ceiling; the cushions took part in the sport, overturning everything on the table; M.M. [Mr. Mathieu] was thrown from his chair. This chair—a heavy dining-room chair of black walnut, with stuffed seat—rose into the air, came up on the table with a great clatter, then was pushed off. Eusapia seems shrunken together and is very much affected. We pity her. We ask her to stop. ‘no, no!’ she cries. She rises, we with her; the table leaves the floor, rises to a height of twenty-four inches, then comes clattering down” (flammarion 1909, pp. 91–92). Soon thereafter, the séance, which lasted two hours, ended. Levy stated: “We took every precaution not to be the dupes of complicity, of fraud . . . And when, on looking back, doubts begin to creep into the mind, we must conclude that, given the conditions in which we were, the chicanery necessary to produce such effects would be at least as phenomenal as the effects themselves. How shall we name this mystery?” (flammarion 1909, p. 92)
Mrs. flammarion recorded the results of the séance held on november 19. The room was lit dimly by a night lamp set some distance from the table. Two of the sitters, Mr. Brisson and Mr. Pallotti, were controlling the medium. Mrs. flammarion and Mrs. Brisson were sitting some yards away from the table, facing Eusapia. The curtain behind Eusapia began to move. “And what do I see?” said Mrs. flammarion. “The little table on three feet, and leaping (apparently in high spirits) over the floor, at the height of about eight inches, while the gilded tambourine is in its turn leaping gayly at the same height above the table, and noisily tinkling its bells” (flammarion 1909, pp. 126–127). Mrs. flammarion drew the attention of Mrs. Brisson to this event. “And then,” she wrote, “the table and the tambourine begin their carpet-dance again in perfect unison, one of them falling forcibly upon the floor and the other upon the table” (flammarion 1909, p. 127). On november 21, flammarion and the other sitters saw a book move through the curtain. flammarion noted (1909, pp. 129–130): “The book went through the curtain without any opening, for the tissue of the fabric is wholly intact.” flammarion’s wife, who was looking behind the curtain saw the book enter the cabinet through the curtain, while outside the cabinet, said flammarion, the book “disappeared from the eyes of the persons who were in front, notably M. Baschet, M. Brisson, M. J. Bois, Mme. fourton and myself. . . . collective hallucination? But we were all in cool blood, entirely self-possessed.”
In his books on psychical research, flammarion included the results of the investigations of others. In 1891, the prominent Italian psychiatrist cesare Lombroso, on hearing of Eusapia’s phenomena, went to naples to experience them for himself. Six sitters participated in a séance. The room was lit by candles. Lombroso and another sitter controlled Eusapia. Levitations of the table occurred. further séances were held, giving positive results (flammarion 1909, pp. 142–146).
Acting upon the testimony of Professor Lombroso, a commission of scientists conducted seventeen séances with Eusapia in Milan. The group included the astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli (director of the Milan Observatory), the physicist Giuseppe Gerosa, and the nobel laureate physiologist dr. charles Richet of Paris. Lombroso was present for some of the experiments. The experimenters signed a report testifying to the reality of the phenomena (flammarion 1909, p. 151). complete levitations of a large table were observed several times. On these occassions, the medium was carefully controlled, her hands being held by the participants sitting next to her, who also kept her feet under theirs and their knees pressed against hers, so as to detect any movement. Here are observations of table levitations from the signed report: “At the end of several minutes the table makes a side movement, rises first to the right, then to the left, and finally mounts off of its four feet straight into the air, and lies there horizontally (as if it were floating on a liquid), ordinarily at a height of from 4 to 8 inches (in exceptional cases from 24 to 27 inches); then falls back and rests on its four feet. It frequently remains in the air for several seconds, and while there also makes undulatory motions, during which the position of the feet under the table can be thoroughly examined” (flammarion 1909, p. 154). The researchers concluded that the conditions they imposed ruled out various possible deceptions, for example hidden rods or supports that the medium might have introduced.
The joint report of the participants recorded several instances of the spontaneous movement of objects, without the touch of any person present. The report stated: “A remarkable instance occurred in the second séance, everything being all the time in full light. A heavy chair, weighing twenty-two pounds, which stood a yard from the table and behind the medium, came up to M. Schiaparelli, who was seated next to the medium. He rose to put it back in its place; but scarcely was he seated when the chair advanced a second time toward him” (flammarion 1909, p. 156). The researchers also noted the movement of objects through the air. To prevent the medium from surreptitiously using her hands, they were securely tied to the hands of her controllers (Flammarion 1909, pp. 157–159). On two occasions the medium herself levitated to the top of the table, seated on her chair while her hands were being held by her controllers. In the first case, the controllers were Richet and Lombroso, who according to the report “are sure they did not assist her in this ascension.” during the medium’s descent from the table, the controllers were finzi and Richet, who according to the report were “following her movements without at all assisting them” (flammarion
1909, pp. 159–160).
Charles Richet (Physiologist)
In 1913, charles Robert Richet, professor of physiology at the University of Paris, won the nobel Prize in medicine and physiology for his pioneering work in immunology. His interest in the occult began with hypnotism. After seeing a stage performance, he performed his own experiments. He then became interested in clairvoyance, and published an article on the statistical validity of extrasensory perception (Richet 1884). His studies involved people correctly naming playing cards turned over by another person beyond their sight. The results were beyond those that could be expected by chance. Richet persuaded his friend, Jean Meyer, a wealthy industrialist, to establish a society for the impartial scientific investigation of psychical phenomena. It was formed in 1919 as the Institut Métapsychique. Richet believed that just as chemistry had emerged from alchemy, a new science of the mind would emerge from metapsychology. Richet summarized the results of his studies in his book thirty Years of Psychical Research (1923).
According to Richet, there are two kinds of metapsychic phenomena—objective and subjective. The objective phenomena comprise physical objects moving under the influence of psychic forces. The subjective phenomena comprise purely mental manifestations, such as remote vision. Richet noted (1923, pp. 4–5): “The forces that govern presentiments, telepathy, movements of objects without contact, apparitions, and certain mechanical and luminous phenomena do not seem to be blind and unconscious forces . . . They have none of the fatality that attaches to the mechanical and chemical reactions of matter. They appear to have intellectuality, will, and intuition, which may not be human, but which resemble human will and intention. Intellectuality—the power of choice, intention, and decision conformably to a personal will—characterizes all metapsychic phenomena.”