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

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Private Siances and Spiritualism at Home. 39
the cord, unravelling it, and raising the netting
;
(c) by untwisting the wire meshes, and thus
freeing them from the cord. In doing this, however, the coating of zinc put on in the
galvanising process, and which filled the crevices of the twisted wire, must be broken.
3. Lift the cage from the
:
bench (a) by breaking some cords ;
(b) by disturbing the knots
sealed to the spikes in the bench-posts. As a last precaution flour was sprinkled on the
ground for a considerable distance in front of the cage.
The medium was fastened in at ten o'clock, p.m., and we took our seats as in the first
garden seance. After a short time a man's form, draped in white, appeared from behind the
bushes, and bowed many times. A female figure afterwards approached us from the other side,
heavily draped. These familiar manifestations were received with a murmur of pleasure.
Upon examining the cage, the network was found intact; all the seals and cords were unbroken;
none of the meshes had been untwisted ; no tracks were in the flour. From the nature of
the position a confederate could not have entered the garden undetected. This seance was
a perfect test that the medium, in that instance, was not used, but it is chiefly interesting
for a point of spirit physics, viz., that a wire network forms no obstacle to a materialisation.
The spirits only complained of the wooden frame. A more commodious cage on a simpler
plan without a clumsy wooden frame would thus seem one of the best tests for proselytising
purposes.
V.
On June 22nd, a farewell seance with Mr. Eglinton was held in the garden of Aldwyn
Tower, Malvern, the residence of Dr. T. L. Nichols. Mrs. Nichols took a seat in the
balcony (A), a position commanding a bird's-eye view of the whole field of operation. The
rest of the party descended to the lawn, and at 10.45 P-m - it was judged sufficiently dark
to begin.
Mr. Eglinton reclined on the bench (B), and was covered with a rug. He was presently
controlled by " Dr. Richards," a spirit, who has often spoken through him of late, and
who gave minute directions as to our conduct. " An experiment," he said, " is about to be
tried regarding the distance from the medium to which a materialised spirit can attain. Spirits
desire to experiment as well as you. It is, however, a matter of danger. A spirit will try to
go up into the balcony where Mrs. Nichols is sitting. The farther he departs the more
he must draw from the medium, whose safety depends upon the orderly return of the
spirit, and hence upon the strictness with which you keep the conditions." He then
indicated the place for our seats, and requested us to join hands as soon as seated. When
the spirit had passed us we were scrupulously to refrain from turning our heads to view it for
the magnetism from the eyes has a strong tendency to dissolve a materialised form, as heat
melts a snow man, and hence the spirit might not be able to reach his destination. Above
all, we were to show no signs of alarm, as this would throw the spirit suddenly back and
harm the medium. These directions were made known to the sitters, and we took our seats
at C, a point distant about $J feet from the bench, which was directly before our eyes.
Where we sat the light was sufficient to enable us to read the figures on a white-faced watch.
The corner where the bench stood, being shaded by trees, was much darker. Immediately after