After the usual preliminaries of an introduction to denizens of the “spirit land,” the soul of Henry Seybert was announced. He declared through the “medium” that he knew the names of the members of the Commission, and particularly of the one who was addressing him. Mr. Sellers, who happened to be this person, requested the spirit to spell his name by the aid of a written alphabet, each letter of which was pointed to in turn, the letter intended by the “spirit” being indicated by three “raps.” The result was that the name spelled out was the following:
“CHARLES CERI!”
Without commenting upon this blunder of the “spirit,” the Commission encouraged Mrs. Kane to proceed. She took a station at some distance from the table, her hands resting upon the back of a chair, and “raps” were heard which seemed to come from a point very near or under her. Again, when she stood close to a bookcase, “raps” were produced which she declared to proceed from the glass door upon which Mr. Sellers rested his hand. The latter felt not the slightest vibration of the glass. Mrs. Kane then produced written messages, addressed to two persons present, whose names she might have ascertained with very great ease. The writing was an irregular scrawl, running from the left, and leaning backward, and could only be read from the observe side by holding the paper up to the light.
The second séance in which Mrs. Kane acted as “medium” took place at the same place on the 6th of November, 1884. Dr. Leidy, Mr. Furness, Dr. Koeing, Mr. Fullerton and Mr. Sellers, members of the Commission, Mr. George S. Pepper, Mrs. Kane and a stenographer were present. The experiments of this evening were more lengthy and exhaustive than those of the previous one. For convenience of narration I shall divide them into two series: those made while the “medium” either stood upon the floor or sat upon an ordinary seat in an ordinary position; those in which she was separated from the floor, either by glass or by some object of considerable height, upon which she stood; and those in which she produced writing upon ordinary paper, said to have been dictated by the “spirits.” The experiments did not always take place in the consecutive order in which I shall note them.
The report says: “The ‘spirit rappings’ during the evening, aside from those heard during the test with glass tumblers, were apparently confined to the floor space in the immediate vicinity of and directly beneath the table around which the company were seated.”
The stenographic report of this part of the investigation proceeds as follows:
“Mr. Sellers. Is any spirit present now?
“Three raps—faint and partly distinct—are almost instantly audible. The raps apparently emanate from the floor-space directly beneath, or in the immediate vicinity of the table. This remark is applicable to all the ‘rappings’ during the séance at the pine table.
“The ‘Medium’ (interpreting the sounds). That was ‘yes.’
“Mr. Sellers (aside). They sounded like three.