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Mrs. Piper & the Society for Psychical Research by Michael Sage

• Preface by Sir Oliver Lodge
• Objects of the Society
• I Mrs Piper's mediumship--Is mediumship a neurosis?
• II Dr Richard Hodgson--Description of the trance--Mrs Piper not a good hypnotic subject.
• III Early trances--Careful first observations by Professor William James of Harvard University, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
• IV The hypothesis of fraud--The hypothesis of muscle-reading--"Influence."
• V A sitting with Mrs Piper--The hypothesis of thought-transference--Incidents.
• VI Phinuit--His probable origin--His character--What he says of himself--His French--His medical diagnosis--Is he merely a secondary personality of Mrs Piper?
• VII Miss Hannah Wild's letter--The first text given by Phinuit--Mrs Blodgett's sitting--Thought-reading explains the case.
• VIII Communications from persons having suffered in their mental faculties--Unexpected communications from unknown persons--The respect due to the communicators--Predictions--Communications from children.
• IX Further consideration of the difficulties of the problem--George Pelham--Development of the automatic writing.
• X How George Pelham has proved his identity--He recognises his friends and alludes to their opinions--He recognises objects which have belonged to him--Asks that certain things should be done for him--Very rarely makes an erroneous statement.
• XI George Pelham's philosophy--The nature of the soul--The first moments after death--Life in the next world--George Pelham contradicts Stainton Moses--Space and time in the next world--How spirits see us--Means of communication.
• XII William Stainton Moses--What George Pelham thinks of him--How Imperator and his assistants have replaced Phinuit.
• XIII Professor Hyslop and the journalists--The so-called "confession" of Mrs Piper--Precautions taken by Professor Hyslop during his experiments--Impressions of the sittings.
• XIV The communications of Mr Robert Hyslop--Peculiar expressions--Incidents.
• XV The "influence" again--Other incidents--Statistics.
• XVI Examination of the telepathic hypothesis--Some arguments which render its acceptance difficult.
• XVII Some considerations which strongly support the spiritualistic hypothesis--Consciousness and character remain unchanged--Dramatic play--Errors and confusions.
• XVIII Difficulties and objections--The identity of Imperator--Vision at a distance--Triviality of the messages--Spiritualist philosophy--Life in the other world.
• XIX The medium's return to normal life--Speeches made while the medium seems to hover between
  the two worlds.
• XX Encouraging results obtained--The problem must be solved.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

It is obvious that such a body of men, pledged to impartial investigation, as the Society for Psychical Research could not officially stand sponsor to the speculative comments of M. Sage, however admittedly clear-sighted and philosophical that French critic may be.

But the publication of this translation has been actually desired and encouraged by many individuals in the Society, it has been revised throughout by a member of their Council, and it is introduced to the general reader by their President.

The Society, indeed, is prepared to accept M. Sage's volume as a faithful and convenient _résumé_ of experiments conducted under its own auspices, and so far as it contains statements of fact, these statements are quoted from authoritative sources. For the comments, deductions or criticisms therein contained, the acute intellect of M. Sage is alone responsible.

It remains only to state in detail the principles on which the original text has been "slightly abridged" by the translator. No facts or comments have been left out that bear directly on the main subject of the book, the omissions are wholly of matters which might be regarded as superfluous for the understanding of the case of Mrs Piper. Occasionally paragraphs have been condensed, a tendency to vague theorising has been checked throughout, and certain irrelevant matter has been altogether omitted. Such omissions are confined, indeed, to single sentences or paragraphs, with only the exception of a somewhat technical discussion of the Cartesian philosophy in Chapter XVII. It had at first been intended to omit the whole of Chapter XI., as containing only fanciful and non-evidential matter; but statements of this kind form an integral part of the communications, and so, on the whole, it was thought fairer to retain M. Sage's chapter on the subject, especially as it may be found of popular interest.

The original appendix has been incorporated, after modifications, in Chapter XII., since the incident here discussed was in progress as M. Sage wrote and has since been closed. His conjectures as to its possible development are naturally omitted. Finally all references to the _Proceedings_ (or printed reports) of the Society itself have been carefully verified. In every case the words of the reports themselves are given in preference to any re-rendering of M. Sage's translations.

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