A Theory of the Mechanism of Survival: The Fourth Dimension and Its Applications

APPLICATION TO CERTAIN OF THE FACTS ELICITED BY PSYCHIC RESEARCH

In this chapter I propose to give some instances of the way in which the higher space hypothesis throws light on certain Psychic Phenomena which, without its aid, appear extremely obscure and difficult of explanation, but I shall make no attempt to cover the whole range of phenomena known to students.

Some are not yet, in my opinion, sufficiently well authenticated to necessitate consideration, and those which are, some—such as Telekinesis, Prevision, and certain aspects of unconsciousness—are more conveniently treated in later chapters; others are so mysterious as to render any attempt at explanation premature until we have a wider and firmer foundation of fact on which to build; others again, such as thought transference or Telepathy, will probably prove explicable without introducing the Higher Space hypothesis in any direct connection.

There are some, however, which may well be considered here.

The first, and by far the most important problem which confronts us in attempting to form an idea of post-mortem conditions, or of the existence of personality apart from the physical body, lies in the fact that we cannot conceive of personality as absolutely disembodied—as pure essence. Yet we know that if personality does in fact survive physical death, it must do so in some form, completely non-material in the ordinary sense of the word, which is invisible, impalpable, in short entirely imperceptible, to our normal senses.

Probably it is the difficulty of conceiving such a mode of existence which has chiefly prevented physical scientists, as a whole, from accepting the obvious interpretation of the evidence for Survival offered by various Psychic phenomena.

Few people, I think, who have studied the literature of the subject, would be prepared to deny that Survival is, at least, strongly indicated by the evidence in question.

But this difficulty of conceiving a state of existence, at once real and non-physical, has induced scientists to prefer to seek an explanation of the observed facts in terms of Thought transference, Secondary personality and so forth.[1]

But as soon as we introduce the concept of the Fourth Dimension this difficulty disappears.

We have but to suppose that after physical death the Individual consciousness is embodied in a vehicle organised, not from physical matter, but from Four-dimensional matter, i.e., that which, in four space, corresponds to what we call "Matter" in three space.

Such a vehicle fulfills the required conditions in every way. It is scientifically real—that is to say, it has its habitat in a region as subject to law and as susceptible to mathematical analysis as the three dimensional world in which we at present live.

And yet it must be supposed to be, of its very nature, inapprehensible by our normal physical senses.

We are thus enabled to understand how those who have left this physical world may, although discarnate, be none the less as truly alive as ever, close to us and yet invisible, constantly in touch with us and yet beyond our normal ken.

This is the first and supremely important application of the hypothesis and it is impossible to over-emphasise it.

Of the more specific phenomena suitable for discussion here, I will first deal with Clairvoyance.

This is probably far from being a simple phenomenon of unvarying nature. There would appear to be at least four varieties and it is possible that as our knowledge of the subject increases we shall come to recognise still more.

The four at present distinguishable may be denoted as follows:—

Instances of each of these four forms are abundant and amply verified except, perhaps, in the case of class 3 where verification is scarcely possible.

It is easy to understand how clairvoyance of the first type arises. We know that light consists of very rapid vibrations in the ether which impinge upon the retina and cause the sensation of sight. We also know that if a beam of white light is passed through a triangular glass prism it is bent aside and split up into the seven colours of the rainbow, viz., Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. The resulting band of colour is called a Spectrum. If the Spectrum so obtained is thrown upon a screen and a number of people are asked to mark thereon the limits of what they can see it will be found that these limits vary considerably.

We know, too, that there is a wide range of light-vibrations beyond the furthest of these visible limits, for although our eyes do not respond to them the photographic plate does. We also know that some of these vibrations will penetrate substances which are opaque to ordinary light although the opposite is the case for some substances. This is particularly the case with "ultra-violet" light which consists of vibrations more rapid even than those of violet light which are themselves the most rapid in all the visible spectrum. It seems reasonable therefore to suppose that certain people with abnormal retinæ or in an abnormal condition might be especially sensitive to these ultra-violet rays and that they might not only see things invisible to us but even see them through obstacles which are opaque to the sort of light to which normal eyes respond.

This explanation may serve for certain simple cases of clairvoyant vision but it soon breaks down because the visual image of any object seen in this way must be liable to confusion by the superimposed images of intervening objects.

Suppose for instance that a clairvoyant wishes to see, by this method, what is written on page 100 of a closed book. We will suppose that the covers and paper of the book are transparent to some kind of ultra-violet light to which the eye of the clairvoyant responds, whereas the ink is opaque to the same light.

On looking at the book the writing on page 100 would be visible all right, but so would that on the preceding 99 pages; it would, therefore, be practically impossible to read the 100th page.

It will be seen, therefore, that clairvoyance of this type must be of very limited scope and cannot be held to account for cases of the second type where the clairvoyant perceives events happening at a considerable distance, amounting in some instances to a matter of hundreds of miles.

I freely admit that at present I am not prepared to give an explanation of all cases where the distances involved are very large.

But to cases where the incidents or objects perceived are reasonably near the percipient, the higher space hypothesis offers a simple and elegant solution.

Consider the two dimensional analogue.

Suppose that "A" Fig. 7, represents a two-dimensional observer and that X, Y, and Z are two-dimensional closed spaces, rooms, houses, or what not. The interiors of these closed spaces will be invisible to "A." All he will be able to see will be a straight line as at "B," for the boundaries of X, Y, and Z will be opaque and impassable to him.

But now suppose that he were to be lifted up vertically, out of the plane of the paper altogether. He would from this new position be able to see the interiors of X, Y, and Z, together with any two space incidents occurring therein. They would present approximately the appearance shown in Fig. 7 and the degree of foreshortening would diminish with the height to which he ascended above the plane of the paper.

In a precisely analogous manner we must suppose that three-dimensional obstructions do not exist for, and that the interiors of closed three-dimensional spaces are entirely open to, anyone who could regard them from a point situated in four space, i.e., removed from three space to a suitable distance in the direction of the fourth dimension. The greater this distance the less will be the foreshortening and the greater will be the range of vision.

There would be no question of intervening objects obscuring the view, simply because, in four space, three space objects do not intervene—the view of X in Fig. 7 is in no way obscured by the presence of Y or Z.

Compare with this the statements of many clairvoyants to the effect that when in the clairvoyant state they can, and do, see the front, sides, back, and every internal point of three space objects simultaneously.

The parallel is almost irresistible in its significance. Compare also the following case given by Professor de Morgan, and which is typical of the very numerous cases of this nature on record.

In this case the percipient was a little girl who was undergoing mesmeric treatment for fits by Mrs. de Morgan. While in the mesmeric state she was desired to follow Professor de Morgan mentally to the house at which he was dining and which was totally unknown to the child. The girl got there at once and gave an accurate description of the room in which the Professor was, the furniture which it contained, the people to whom he was talking and various small incidents which took place. On his return Professor de Morgan confirmed every detail of the description.

This is, of course, a very condensed resumé of the occurrence. Interested readers should consult contemporary Psychic literature which abounds with such cases. The point is that no amount of retinal hypersensibility will so much as begin to explain this sort of case, whereas it is not so utterly incomprehensible when we introduce the idea that the percipient may have been seeing four-dimensionally.

It is hardly necessary to observe that the sense organs involved cannot be the physical eyes. They must be supposed to belong to the four dimensional vehicle.

In attempting to explain this second type of clairvoyance along these lines, there seem to be two main difficulties involved and these are admittedly very great.

First, how is it that the four space vehicle possesses organs capable of perceiving three space objects and incidents? One would expect it to respond to four space impressions only.

Secondly, as soon as the distances involved become more than quite small it is very difficult to conceive how the percipient can simultaneously describe the events by the use of physical speech mechanism and also perceive them from a point of view which must be supposed to be very considerably removed in the direction of the fourth dimension.

A correspondent of my own who appears to possess this power of clairvoyance at a distance in a remarkable degree and to be able to exercise it at will, tells me that when she is seeing a distant scene, she is yet so closely in touch with her physical body that she is conscious of moving her hand, for example.

It is difficult to account for this on the four dimensional or any other theory.

I have no wish to minimise these difficulties or to claim that the introduction of the Higher space hypothesis clears up the whole matter. It does nothing of the sort.

But it does give us a dim inkling of what the general nature of the causes at work may be, especially as regards the power of "internal vision" mentioned above and which I particularly wish to emphasise.

This is more than can be said of any alternative theory with which I am acquainted.

Future study will probably show that this class of phenomena is far from simple and is really capable of being resolved into a number of sub-classes, each requiring its own appropriate explanation.

It is interesting to note that Mr. C.W. Leadbeater, the well-known Theosophical writer and clairvoyant, definitely introduces the four-dimensional concept in his book on Clairvoyance and ascribes the power of long-range perception to the intervention of what he calls an "astral telescope"; but there would appear to be no evidence in support of this idea beyond the ipse dixit of the writer and even he is very vague on the point.

The third form of clairvoyance, namely, the perception of non-physical things, is readily explicable on the hypothesis which we are considering.

Just as the physical body has sense organs adapted for the perception of physical things, so the four-dimensional body or "vehicle" will presumably possess analogous organs adapted for the perception of four-dimensional things.

In ordinary persons, we must suppose either that these organs are almost completely undeveloped, or else that the mechanism, whereby the impressions received are conveyed to the consciousness and recorded as memories, is defective or inhibited.

In the clairvoyant on the contrary we may suppose that they are well developed and active and that he is able consciously to perceive by their aid.

In advancing this explanation of the third form of clairvoyance, I do not wish it to be thought that I attribute an objective origin to all visions of objects which have no obviously physical reality.

Hallucination is often a vera causa and indeed it is comparatively seldom that we can eliminate it with certainty.

But I do not think it can legitimately be applied to all visions of this class.

The point is of some interest and worthy of a moment's thought even though it involves a digression from the main topic.

The essence of hallucination is that it should have a purely subjective origin and be unfounded on objective reality.

If I were to look round and find my sofa occupied by three green cassowaries playing nap I should, I think, be justified in assuming that I was the victim of an hallucination having no foundation in objective fact. It would, presumably, have arisen from a simultaneous excitation of the memory centres associated with the game of nap, cassowaries, the number three, and the sensation of greenness, occasioned, more or less fortuitously, by over-work or alcoholic excess.

On the other hand if I were to see the figure of an old man with a long white beard, one front tooth missing, shaggy eyebrows, black velvet smoking jacket, gold watch and chain, and so forth and were subsequently to find that such a person, answering the description in every detail, and previously entirely unknown to me, had really once lived, or was still living, then the view that this vision was the result of pure hallucination, would be untenable.

The probabilities against any chance stimulation of memory centres giving rise to precisely that combination of characteristics, are immeasureably large.

In such cases—and they are by no means unknown—we must attribute some degree of objectivity to the origin of the vision.

This is of importance in view of the tendency in some quarters to dismiss all such visions as purely hallucinatory.

We shall see later that the problems connected with Prevision and Postvision are also, if not completely explained, at least rendered less utterly incomprehensible by the introduction of the higher space hypothesis.

With the third class of clairvoyant phenomena is closely associated that group of facts known as "Phantasms of the Living, of the Dying, and of the Dead."

Certain aspects of the dream state, again, seem to be related to clairvoyance at a distance and are conveniently dealt with here.

Let us follow up the idea of a four-dimensional vehicle and see what light, if any, it throws on these questions.

Let us suppose that the four-dimensional vehicle becomes detached from, and loses touch with, the three-dimensional physical body during unconsciousness; or rather that unconsciousness is due to this detachment.

It follows that the "Ego" embodied in this four-dimensional vehicle can no longer receive impressions through the three-dimensional sense organs and that it is wholly dependent for communication with the outside world on those which belong to the four-dimensional vehicle. The nature of the impressions received will depend on the degree of development of these organs.

If they are completely undeveloped the Ego will be utterly oblivious of its surroundings, whereas if they are well developed the reverse will be the case and we may suppose the Ego to be as fully cognizant of the surrounding world as we are in ordinary waking life. It is interesting to compare with this the statements of those who claim to have consciously explored the "Astral plane" or four space world. They often describe sleepers as being present, but "in a brown study." Compare also the statement often found in communications purporting to emanate from discarnate personalities to the effect that, "We have seen so-and-so, but do not know whether he is dead or not."

Of course, it by no means follows that it will be possible, even under these latter conditions, to remember in waking life the impressions received during unconsciousness. On the contrary we should expect this to be the exception rather than the rule.

In their passage from sense organ to consciousness the impressions received will, ex hypothesi, not pass through the physical brain and the memory centres with which they become associated may be located in a position which is inaccessible to consciousness when embodied in the physical vehicle.

It would be possible, though not perhaps absolutely necessary, to account on these lines for the impression which most people have sometimes had, of apparently "remembering" a place which they have certainly never visited previously in waking life. They might, however, on this theory, have done so in sleep.

It would also account for those dreams in which the dreamer perceives an incident at a distance which is subsequently verified.

As for the ordinary chaotic dream, this, it seems to me may be accounted for in either of two main ways. If we suppose that the stimulation of certain cells (memory centres) in the brain causes an uprush into consciousness of the associated item of memory or "souvenir," it is not unreasonable to suppose that such stimulation is going on in the body all the time. But it will only be in the state, intermediate between profound sleep and waking, that these aroused souvenirs will, on the one hand get through to the consciousness—which in deep sleep is separated from the body altogether—and, on the other will escape over-ruling by the Will or obliteration by the influx of normal sensory impressions.

This would account for the fact that the majority of dreams appear to be of very short duration and to take place in the very act of waking.

The other cause of ordinary dreams is probably in its general nature suggestive. That is to say the Ego cut off from the outside world by the imperfections of its four-dimensional senses is quiescent, and in a state peculiarly favourable for the telepathic picking up of stray thoughts which suggest dreams.

This of course is especially the case when the dream is deliberately suggested by a hypnotic specialist, as is sometimes done.[2]

The subject of Phantasmal apparitions is also both complex in its varieties and obscure as to its causes.

The commonest explanation, namely, the telepathic influence of the percipient by the agent, does not seem to me to be applicable to every case. For instance, it is difficult to conceive how a man shot through the head can visualise himself sufficiently clearly at that moment to project a telepathic image of himself, including the wound, to the percipient. And, more generally, it is probable that few of us could visualise our own appearance with sufficient accuracy to do more than convey, telepathically, a vague general impression. On the other hand, if we are to suppose that the details are filled up, so to speak, by the percipient, how are we to explain accurate perception of clothing and so forth of which the percipient could have no knowledge?

Finally, the whole telepathic theory seems weak in this respect. If I in the act of death, vehemently long for, or think of, a certain person, it is clear that the thought in my mind which is most likely to be transmitted to the brain of a percipient will not be the thought of myself—still less of my own appearance—but rather of the other person. Why should this suggest me to his mind?

In experimental telepathy it is the idea on which the agent concentrated his mind that is transmitted to the percipient, not some other idea, and I see no reason for supposing that this is not always the case.

In cases where the apparition has been deliberately produced as the result of an act of will on the part of the agent, the apparition has invariably been preceded by the agent concentrating his mind on the person to whom he wishes to appear, not on himself.

In view of these considerations I frankly do not see how the telepathic theory can be unreservedly maintained.

When we add that in some of these experimentally produced cases the agent has himself seen the percipient and given details, subsequently verified, of the circumstances prevailing at the percipient's end; and then compare this with certain of the varieties of clairvoyance at a distance, we must surely admit that the supposition that the agent was really present, though not in the physical body, is by far the simplest explanation.

For cases of this sort the reader should consult "Phantasms of the Living." Some good selected instances are also given in "Death, it's Causes and Phenomena," by Messrs. Carrington and Meader.

The idea that conscious existence in a vehicle other than the physical body is possible even during life is borne out to some extent by the evidence of those who testify to having seen their own body, from outside, while in a state of unconsciousness. An interesting one is given in the above mentioned work. The narrator describes how as he lay in bed he felt a cold sensation creeping up his legs from the feet and gradually extending throughout his body. After this had gone on for some time he became momentarily unconscious and on coming to himself again "seemed to be walking on air" and to be entirely free from his body. He thought of a friend who was some hundreds of miles distant and in a few seconds he found himself in the presence of his friend in circumstances which he describes. His friend spoke to him but he could not stay. After much difficulty and perplexity he decided that he ought to return to his body and as soon as he had made up his mind on the point he found himself looking at his apparently dead body propped up in bed as he had been when this experience began. He tried to control it and in due course was able to do so and after a time successfully "re-embodied" himself apparently none the worse for his experiences.

The credentials of this case are good, and it is important to note that the friend referred to wrote spontaneously to say that he had seen the narrator at the time and in the circumstances which the latter describes.

For this reason it can hardly be dismissed as a mere hallucination or dream and it is relevant to the present discussion because the narrator saw his own body from outside and was apparently embodied all the time in a vehicle of some sort.

Another somewhat similar and equally remarkable case is given in the same work. This I shall deal with in a later chapter. In view of the foregoing considerations, I think it fair to say that the idea of a non-physical vehicle of consciousness capable, under the proper conditions, of temporary detachment from the physical body, has strong claims to be adopted as a working hypothesis for future investigations even though it is too early, as yet, to accept it as a proven fact.

It certainly seems to clear up certain cases of apparition and abnormal acquisition of information as to distant events, in a way which other theories do not do without being strained to an extent which I regard as unwarrantable.

It seems probable that the chief reason why such an hypothesis has not been adopted before is simply the difficulty of conceiving the nature of such a vehicle. But this is overcome if we suppose that it is four-dimensional.

The theory has, of course, its own attendant difficulties and I have no desire disingenuously to ignore them.

First it may be asked: How does the percipient see the apparition? For four-dimensional objects are, ex hypothesi invisible to three-dimensional sight.

Second: Why does the four-dimensional vehicle present the exact appearance of the three-dimensional body—clothes and all?

Third: How can it speak, i.e., set up vibrations in three-dimensional matter, as it is sometimes recorded as doing?

It is admittedly far from easy to answer these questions, in the light of our present knowledge.

As regards the first, I should feel disposed to say that such apparitions would be the rule rather than the exception, were it not for the fact that only those whose four-dimensional organs are fairly well developed can see them. Even so it may be that they are only called into activity as a result of some special "rapport" existing between the agent and the percipient.

Professor Joire, in his book "Psychical and Supernormal Phenomena" points out that in nearly every case the percipient is in a state which he describes as "superficial somnambulism or passive mediumship" i.e., in some condition which from the facts of Hypnosis we may consider to be especially favourable to the receiving of supernormal impressions of any kind.

This observation appears highly relevant and important.

The second difficulty may be met, though not, I must admit, in a particularly convincing manner, by supposing that the four-dimensional vehicle is so mobile and plastic, in respect to appropriate forces, that it is capable of being moulded by the mere power of will.

It would thus take the form which the agent commonly associated with himself, or which he observed his physical body to have after he had left it.

It would be possible to adduce a number of considerations in support of this view, but none of them are in any way conclusive and I therefore leave the reader to form his own opinion on the matter.

As regards the third point, there are two possible answers which might be offered.

On the one hand it might be suggested that the words heard are really objective; the result, that is to say of actual vibrations in the atmosphere, and that this result is produced because, in all such cases, the percipient is sufficiently mediumistic to provide the necessary material for the agent to "work up" some form of speaking apparatus. This is very difficult to conceive as possible, and yet we must suppose some such process to be involved in the production of the "Direct Voice," a phenomenon which, though baffling, seems well authenticated.

But this is rendered improbable by the cases where the speaking agent has been a living person, who records no such process as having taken place.

Besides, it is grossly improbable that a living person, or for that matter a newly 'dead' person, would know how to perform this operation.

The most probable explanation seems to be a combination of telepathic communication between the agent and the percipient accompanied by an auditory hallucination on the part of the latter. This would be, I think, quite natural.

These difficulties are much reduced, though not entirely removed, if we suppose that the agent is embodied, not in the four-dimensional vehicle, but in what, for lack of a better word, is called the "Etheric Double." This appears to be of a semi-material nature and is discussed at length in the chapter dealing with "The Connecting Link."

But this supposition would involve special difficulties of its own.

There is reason to suppose that the "Etheric Double," if it exists at all, is incapable of moving far from the physical body during life and it does not appear well adapted for use as a vehicle after death.

But on this point I shall have more to say later.

Generally speaking, it seems probable that no one of these explanations will be found to cover all the cases in question. But each is likely to prove applicable to some of them, although much careful investigation and analysis will be necessary before we can hope to be able to allot each case to its true cause with any degree of assurance.

None the less I am convinced that the hypothesis of a four-dimensional vehicle, detachable on occasion from the physical body, puts us, at least, on the right track.

I will now turn to the consideration of a series of phenomena which, from the point of view of the higher space hypothesis, are of far greater interest and significance than any we have yet considered.

I refer to the phenomena of "apport" and of "apparent penetration of matter by matter."

If we have a closed room, of which all the windows, doors, and other apertures have been carefully shut and sealed, it is clearly impossible to introduce any solid object into that room, by normal means, without breaking the seals and opening one of the apertures. The same would apply to a closed, locked and sealed box.

But the literature of Psychical research abounds with instances where objects are alleged to have been introduced into such closed and sealed rooms and boxes—or removed from them, which comes to the same thing—without breaking the seals. This is the phenomenon of "apport" properly so called and it forms a special case of the more general class of "apparent penetration of matter by matter."

Other cases of the latter are the tying of knots in an endless cord of such a nature that they can only be untied by breaking the cord or separating its previously sealed ends; or the passing, on to the wrist or ankle of some person or other, of a ring so small that it could not possibly be pushed on over the hand or foot.

A very good test would be the interlinking of two rings turned from different sorts of wood—as was attempted without success in the Slade-Zöllner investigation; or the passing of a piece of weldless drawn steel tube on to the middle portion of an ordinary wooden dumb-bell.

With regard to these phenomena I propose, first, to show in what their very great importance lies and then to discuss the nature of the evidence we have for their actual occurrence.

If the reader will refer back to the first chapter, he will at once perceive why I laid what must have appeared to be unnecessary stress on the fact that "rooms" and "boxes" which would appear to be absolutely closed to a two space being would be perfectly open to us who live in a three space world. Just as every point in the interior of a two space figure is absolutely open in the direction of the third dimension, so we must suppose from analogy that the interior of a closed three space figure—a box or room—is perfectly accessible from the direction of the fourth dimension.

Consequently on the hypothesis that four space actually exists as a reality, and is peopled by intelligent beings, possessed of the necessary "apparatus"—whatever that may be—the explanation of the phenomenon of apport is quite simple.

We have only to suppose that the object in question is moved out of the containing space, in the direction of the fourth dimension, and then put down again into three space outside the box or room in which it originally was. Or conversely, when it is a question of introducing an object into a closed space.

During transit, the object would, of course, be located entirely outside of three space.

I will not go at length into the question of how the tying of knots in an endless cord could be performed in four space. Any reader who cares to tie together the two ends of a piece of string for himself, will soon realise that it is not possible then to tie a simple knot in the string without untying the ends. If such an operation were to be performed, under test conditions, it would clearly be a case of apparent penetration of matter by matter.

Consider this case which is analogous to that of the steel tube and the dumb-bell suggested above:

Let A and B be two space objects. Fig 8. A two space being could not conceive of their being brought into the second position shown in the figure.

But we, having the advantage of a third dimension of space could very easily pick up the object A and put it down in the second position with regard to B. Similarly a four space being of sufficient knowledge and manipulative ability could, theoretically, slip on to the middle part of the dumb-bell a piece of steel tube of a diameter too small to be passed over the two large ends. There are, of course, a large number of variations which could be introduced into this class of experiment but the foregoing will be sufficient to indicate their salient features.

For the purpose of detailed consideration I shall deal only with the case of the removal of a solid object from the interior of a closed and sealed box, which is typical of the whole of this class of phenomena.

Let it be clearly understood that at the moment I am not expressing any opinion as to whether this or any allied phenomenon has actually occurred. I am concerned merely with the inferences we should be compelled to draw if such an occurrence were substantiated scientifically beyond all possibility of doubt.

We have seen that given four-dimensional space as a reality and an intelligent four-dimensional being equipped with the necessary knowledge, powers, facilities and so forth, which I have included under the general term of "apparatus" the thing could be done in a comparatively comprehensible manner, although the actual manipulative details would still require clearing up.

The question now arises: Is this the only conceivable modus operandi that could bring about the same result? It is not. There is one other, and so far as I know only one other, theory which has been advanced to account for this type of phenomenon.

It has been supposed that the solid object in question is dissociated, by some obscure means, into ultra-atomic particles, is passed in this condition through the walls of the box and finally "integrated" again into its original form outside the box.

Now, apart from the obvious difficulty of imagining how these ultra-atomic particles are integrated into the precise form originally possessed by the object, this theory has at first sight a certain plausibility.

We know that all matter is probably susceptible of dissociation in a fashion that was originally supposed to be the exclusive property of Radium and other Radio-active substances.[3]

If, then, we postulate the existence of intelligent beings in a non-physical state of existence, there is nothing to prevent us from supposing that certain of them have acquired a sufficient knowledge of physical laws to enable them to effect a process of this nature artificially.

I do not say that this idea commends itself to me; but it is the explanation most commonly offered for the phenomena in question, and this fact taken in conjunction with its prima facie plausibility, entitles it to careful consideration before we dismiss it as untenable.

The real objection to it is a mere matter of Physics. The work of the scientists mentioned above goes to show that what we call matter is no more than a condensation of energy in the ether; and that the dissociation of matter is invariably accompanied by an enormous liberation of energy.

For calculations on this point the reader may refer to M. Le Bon's book "The Evolution of Matter."

Without going into such calculations it may be said that the amount of energy that would be liberated in the dissociation of a gramme of matter, would be amply sufficient, if it were produced in the form of heat, to fuse, and for that matter vaporise, the experimenters, the room, the whole house, and probably about half the town as well!

What becomes of this enormous quantity of energy which must be liberated during the process if the dissociation theory of the phenomena is correct? Why is its liberation not apparent, and painfully apparent, to the experimenters? How is it prevented from being dissipated and how is it collected again and recondensed into matter?

This point seems to me to be insuperable.

If the object within the box is dissociated, then energy must inevitably be liberated. If energy is liberated, then it cannot conceivably escape detection in such quantities.

I hope I have made my point clear. I am quite sure that any scientist accustomed to think in terms of energy will at once see the difficulty to which I allude.

I can see only one way out and that is to suppose that in some mysterious manner the liberated energy is stored in a "reservoir," so to speak, which is not situated in our space at all, and this at once lets us in for the original idea of a fourth dimension and higher space and all the rest of it.

Hence I maintain, and I think I have reason to maintain, that if these phenomena do actually occur at all, then we are compelled to admit that four-dimensional space does actually exist; and this no matter whether we accept as the proximate cause of the phenomena a simple four-dimensional movement or the far more elaborate and less satisfactory notion of dissociation and re-integration.

The reader will now understand why it is that I attach such great importance to these phenomena of apport and of the "apparent penetration of matter by matter."

If one of these phenomena could be established by absolutely incontrovertible experimental evidence, with the same degree of certainty, for instance, as the phenomenon of levitation without contact has been established by the recent researches of Crawford, I should regard the four-dimensional hypothesis as virtually proven.

I should be much interested to hear whether any interested reader can get out of the difficulty, assuming the authenticity of the phenomenon for the sake of argument, but I do not think that it will prove possible.

I will now pass to the consideration of the nature of the evidence that exists for the actual occurrence of this sort of phenomenon.

I will preface my remarks by two quotations from writers who appear to hold somewhat different views on the subject.

In "The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism" Mr. Hereward Carrington says:

It should be noted that the above refers to cases where the séance room is found, after the sitting, to contain objects which were certainly not there before. In this connection the last sentence of the passage quoted above is eminently justifiable and it is for this reason that I prefer to deal with varieties of the phenomenon which are more amenable to experimental control on the part of the experimenter; as for instance the removal of a solid object from the sealed box which we are considering.

Compare with this first quotation the following taken from Mr. Gambier Bolton's book "Psychic Force."