Spirit (despondently). "I wish I could get some sort of idea what you do all the time and what you think about. I thought, when I so unexpectedly got into touch with someone in the future state, that I should be able to learn everything. And I have, so far, learnt nothing—absolutely nothing. In fact, except that I have been able to correct my inferences with regard to one or two purely material experiments, I may say that I know less now than I did before. And, by the way, those things over there—he pointed to the washstand—I noticed that at certain times you go through some ceremony with them upstairs, and as I wished to discover if there was any reason why you should not perform the same ceremony downstairs, I moved the things. Well, I noticed that the spirit who was here before you was apparently very annoyed. Can you give me any explanation of that?"
Myself. "Our bodies become soiled by contact with matter, and we wash ourselves in water. We prefer to do it in our bedrooms."
Spirit. "Why?"
Myself. "We use a certain set of rooms for one purpose and another set for other purposes."
Spirit. "Why?"
Myself. "I don't know why. We do."
Spirit. "But you are sure of the fact, even if you can give no reason?"
Myself. "Absolutely."
Spirit. "I wish I could prove that. One of my fellow-scientists, who has recently been able to press his investigations even further than I have up to the present time, has recently brought forward good evidence to prove that spirits are all black, wear no coverings on their bodies, live in the simplest of dwellings, and, although they have a few ceremonies, certainly have none which in any way corresponds to that you have just described."
Myself. "He has probably been investigating the habits of the Australian aborigines."