After a short stay during which his demonstrations completely satisfied such men as Rev. Stainton Moses, who was liberal with his endorsements, Buguet returned to Paris, where the next year he was placed under arrest “charged with the fraudulent manufacture of Spirit photographs.” Unlike Mumler, his conscience did not prove court-proof, or perhaps the evidence against him was such that a friendly Spirit advised confession, at any rate he told the court that all of his Spirit photographs were the result of double exposure. On the strength of this confession Buguet was convicted and sentenced to one year of imprisonment and a fine of five hundred francs. A like sentence was given to M. Leymaire, Editor of the Revue Spirits, who admitted suggesting to Buguet that he should enter the field of Spirit photography.
The police seized all the paraphernalia in the studio of Buguet and took it to court. Amongst it was a lay figure and a large stock of heads. These with dolls and assistants at the studio took turns as inspirations for Spirit extras. But the real interest of the trial was not these revelations, Podmore tells us, for after all Buguet did little to improve on the methods inaugurated by his predecessors. It is the effect produced on his dupes by Buguet’s confession, and the display of his trick apparatus, which is really worthy of attention. Witness after witness—journalist, photographic expert, musician, merchant, man of letters, optician, ex-professor of history, Colonel of Artillery, etc., etc.—came forward to testify on behalf of the accused. Some had watched the process throughout, and were satisfied that trickery had not been practiced. Many had obtained on the plate unmistakable portraits of those dear to them, and found it impossible to relinquish their faith. One after another these witnesses were confronted with Buguet, and heard him explain how the trick had been done. One after another they left the witness-box, protesting that they could not doubt the evidence of their own eyes. Here, chosen almost at random from many similar accounts, is the testimony of M. Dessenon, picture-seller, aged fifty-five. After describing how he had obtained in the first instance various figures which he could not recognize, he continues:—
“‘The portrait of my wife, which I had especially asked for, is so like her that when I showed it to one of my relatives he exclaimed, “It’s my cousin!”’
“The Court: ‘Was that chance, Buguet?’
“Buguet: ‘Yes, pure chance. I had no photograph of Mme. Dessenon.’
“The Witness: ‘My children, like myself, thought the likeness perfect. When I showed them the picture they cried, “It’s mama.” A very fortunate chance!... I am convinced it was my wife.’
“The Court: ‘You see this doll and all the rest of the things?’
“The Witness: ‘There is nothing there in the least like the photograph which I obtained.’”
Incidentally there were two or three curious bits of evidence on the value of recognition as a test. A police officer stated that Buguet showed him a portrait which had done duty as the sister of one sitter, the mother of a second, and the friend of a third. Again, it came out in the evidence that a very clearly defined head (reproduced as an illustration to Stainton Moses’ articles in Human Nature) which had been claimed by M. Leymaire as the portrait of his almost life long friend, M. Poiret, was recognized by another witness as an excellent likeness of his father-in-law, still living at Breux, and much annoyed at his premature introduction to the Spirit world.
From Mumler’s first pictures to the present day, Spirit photography has played a large part in the field of Spiritualistic devotion, and innumerable mediums have discovered that they possessed the same phenomenal power for producing the coveted likeness in the form of “extras” on the sensitized plate. The art has now advanced to such a stage that it is no longer necessary for one to sit but all that is needed is a relic of the departed one, something which either belonged or was of especial interest, to the person. This relic is photographed and when the plate is developed there appears beside it as an “extra” the face of the departed; that is, I should say, if your imagination is strong enough to see a resemblance to the person supposed to be represented.