'Twixt two worlds : a narrative of the life and work of William Eglinton

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Twixt Tzvo Worlds.
answer is signified by three taps with the pencil on the slate ; the latter is brought to the
top of the table, and a pertinent answer to the question is always found written on the side
of the slate which has been nearest the under surface of the table. No movement by which
it could have been produced has been detected on the part of the medium. The result is
probably puzzling, and a second and third and fourth experiment is made, in the course of
which internal evidence of the identity of the agency at work is often gained.
What may be termed the more crucial tests as to the reality of this phenomenon have
been very common with Mr. Eglinton. The simple phenomena when seen are perfectly
satisfactory, and by means of these alone, an inquirer can learn a great deal with regard to
the subject. The so-called crucial tests, however, are more satisfactory to those who are
Fig. 16.—Method of obtaining Writing between Two Slates held over the Table.
obliged to depend upon the testimony of others, inasmuch as they show that every
precaution human ingenuity can devise has been exhausted before ordinary explanations are
abandoned for abnormal ones.
One of the most frequent of these tests is represented in Fig. 16, where the slates,
placed face to face, are held over the table in full view of all present, the writing being
produced while so held. This engraving is an exact representation of what took place at a
seance at which I was present. Two slates, exact pairs, fitting accurately when placed one on
top of the other, were cleaned and securely tied in transverse directions, a crumb of slate
pencil having been placed between the two enclosed surfaces. They never left the sight of
the three witnesses the whole time. Held by Mr. Eglinton at e, and the sitter at / (Figs.
13 and 16), over the table, the sound of writing between the two slates was heard, ending in