下载辰思小说免费APP
ProceedingsSocietyforPsychicalResearch，Vol。IV。，pp。385-6。
“NowIthinkithighlyimprobablethatthemovementofthejugglerentirelyescapedtheperceptionoftheofficer；highlyimprobable，thatistosay，thattheofficerwasabsolutelyunawareofthejuggler’sactionatthemomentofitshappening；butIsupposethat，althoughanimpressionwasmadeonhisconsciousness，itwassoslightastobespeedilyeffacedbytheofficer’sIMAGINATIONofhimselfasstoopingandplacingthecoinupontheground。Theofficer，Imaysay，hadobtainednoinsightintothemodusoperandiofthetrick，andhisfundamentalmisrepresentationoftheonlypatentoccurrencethatmighthavegivenhimaclewtoitsperformancedebarredhimcompletelyfromafterwards，onreflection，arrivingatanyexplanation。Justsimilarly，manyanhonestwitnessmayhavedescribedhimselfashavingplacedoneslateuponanotheratasittingwithamedium，whereasitwasthemediumwhodidso，andwhopossiblyeffectedatthesametimeoneortwootheroperationsaltogetherunnoticedbythewitness。“
Inreadingthroughdescriptionsofslate-writingseances，weveryseldomfindthestatementmadeastoWHOplacedtheslatesonthetable，orunderthetable，etc。，generallytheaccountreading“theslateswerethenplacedonthetable，“withoutanyqualifyingstatementastoWHOplacedthemthere。Accountsofthiskindareabsolutelyworthless，fromanevidentialstandpoint。Wemustatonceaskourselves：whoplacedtheslatesinthatposition？andifitwasthemedium——asitprobablywasinthevastmajorityofinstances——thenthattest，inallprobability，ceasestohaveanyevidentialweight。Anyonecanreadoveranumberofaccountsofslate-writingperformances，andverifythesestatements，ifhechoosestodoso。Frequently，thestatementismadethatthesitterdidactuallyplacetheslateonthetable，wheninrealitythemediumdidso。Thiserrorisquiteunconsciousonthesitter’spart，ofcourse，buttheaccountisfalsified，nevertheless。
Mistakesofthiskindareverycommon，thesitterthinkingafterwardsthathe(thesitter)MUSThaveplacedtheslatesonthetablehimself!
ItwillbeseenfromtheabovethatthereisagreatdifferencebetweenwhatACTUALLYtranspired，atanygivenseance，andwhattheaccountsSAYtranspired。Thegeneralpubliccannotgetthatall-
importantfacttoostronglyrootedinitsmind：thattheeventswhichtranspiredataseancemaynotbereportedaccurately，sothatthereportoftheseancemaybealtogetherwronganderroneous，thoughthesitters，andthosewhodrewupthereport，mayhavebeenthoroughlyhonestintheirbeliefthatthereportisaccurateineveryrespect。Theeffectofallthisisverygreatindeed。ManyspiritualisticseancesarequiteinexplicableASDE-
SCRIBED，butthedescriptionisnotatruereportofwhattookplaceattheseanceinquestion。Thefactsaredistorted。
Consequently，thepersontakingituponhimselftoexplainwhattookplaceattheseanceiscalledupontoexplainanumberofthingswhich，inreality，nevertookplaceatall。Wemustremember，inthisconnection，thatanumberofconjuringtricks，AS
wouldbequiteimpossibletoexplainbyanyprocessoftrickery。Thedescriptionofthetrickwasnotcorrect。
Letmemakethisstillclearer，andatthesametimeillustratethedifferencebetweenwhatapparentlyoccurs，andwhatactuallyhappens，bythefollowingexample：Aconjurerplacesacoin(sayaquarter)ineachhand，andcloseshishands。Anotherquarterisnowplaceduponthefingersofeachhand，sothatthereisnowonequarterineachhandandone-quarteronthefingersofeach。Themagicianannouncesthat，bysimplyopeningandclosinghishands——
whichareheldatsomedistancefromeachother——hewilltherebytransferoneofthecoinsfromonehandtotheother，sothattherewillbethreecoinsinoneofthehands，andonlyoneleftintheother。
Now，ifthesitterwerewritingoutanaccountofwhathappened，itwouldmostcertainlyreadasfollows：
“Themagicianthentriedtheexperiment——ofopeningandclosinghishandsrapidly，andcausingthecointobetransferred，aspromised——
butfailedintheattempt，thecoinsfromthebackofeachhandfallingontothetableinratheraclumsymanner。Theywere，however，againplaceduponthebacksofthemagician’shands；themovementwasrepeated，andthistimesuccessfully。Thecoinsdisappearedfromthebacksofbothhands，inoneofwhichwasnowfoundthreeofthecoins，whiletheotherhandcontainedonlyone。“
Suchispreciselyt
