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

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Scientific Investigation on the Continent. 65
seances, spends little time in physical studies and practice, is not altogether to be described
as absolutely impossible. The crucial tests for the solution of this phenomenon lie in the
lights and in the head itself. I have discussed the question with a practical physicist,
who manages a warehouse for scientific apparatus, and who is a great specialist for every
kind of optical instrument, with a view to discover if the effect is due to a cunning arrangement
of mirrors. We agree that the presence of such a head, or such a figure, is quite impossible
without a place where the original could be put, and of a large mirror which could reflect the
objects ; therefore, as every expert will confess, there can be no thought of that theory, inasmuch
as the phenomena occurred in a room closely locked, with no other entrance, and where
every preparation was impossible. Such optical illusions could therefore by no means be
carried out.
"The assumption that Eglinton might have such a mask in readiness, and be provided
with means to obtain certain lights, is likewise inadmissible. Such a dummy could not have
living eyes and movements ; there is therefore nothing left to be suggested except that he himself
personates the apparition. I will leave out of the question how Eglinton could illuminate
his face so brightly, and yet everything else in the room remain in total darkness, and place
before the reader the following questions :
" Can the reader believe that I could fail to recognise a face which appeared twice very
distinctly before me, and remained for many seconds, only about four inches distant from mine
"Can the reader believe that a beard, each separate hair of which I could see to the roots,
could be made away with, together with all the other paraphernalia, in the space of two
minutes
" And can the reader credit that Eglinton, for years, should be able to perform these
optical wonders in the presence of such men as Zollner, and also in that of others, and yet
at other times could not perform them
" These arguments are absolutely unanswerable not,
;
however, from the circumstance that
Eglinton was free. I am not justified in calling that an impossibility, simply because it is
utterly beyond my conception. In so doing I should be guilty of the same error as our
scientists. I, therefore, believe the head I saw to be a psychical apparition for the following
reasons :—That, in the presence of three different mediums, under the most stringent test
conditions, I have seen and felt hands not mortal, is as certain as that there exist comets and
meteoric stones. That Zollner, under the same test conditions, felt the presence of feet, is
equally well authenticated. I ask, therefore, if hands and feet arc thus projected (materialised)
why should there not be materialisation of heads Have such not been observed by Wallace
and Crookes under the most rigid test conditions Is it more difficult to believe that Eglinton
is a trickster, or that hands have been materialised under strict test conditions There
is a scepticism which surpasses in imbecility the obtuseness of a clod-hopper.
"A young and gifted friend of mine, who was much interested in obtaining genuine proofs,
wished to have a seance with me and my afore-named relative alone. Eglinton himself proposed
a light seance, such as he had formerly held, if I am not deceived, with Wallace. For this
purpose two towels were hung over the open door between the middle room and the library,
so as to form curtains. Eglinton sat in this doorway on a chair, so that his knees and feet
were in one room and the rest of his body in the library, behind the improvised curtains.
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