the medium
is sometimes seated out of reach of the slates and in no case actually
touches the pencil.

The Slate Writing Circle.

Independent slate writing is performed as follows: The circle selects
two common slates, or else one folding slate. A small bit of chalk, or a
tiny piece of slate pencil is placed between the two slates, the latter
being then placed tightly together, and then bound with thick, strong
twine--in some cases the ends of the twine are fastened with sealing
wax. This trying and sealing is for the purpose of eliminating the
suspicion of fraud or deceit, and for the purpose of scientifically
establishing the genuineness of the phenomena. The bound slates are then
placed on the table in the middle of the circle. In some cases the
medium rests his hands on the slate, and in other cases he keeps his
hands entirely away from them--the phenomena itself evidently being
produced with equal facility in either case. A written question may
either be placed inside the slate on a small bit of paper, or else
sealed and placed on top of the tied slates. In some cases the
scratching sound of the pencil may be heard proceeding from the tied
slates, while on others no sound is heard while the writing is being
done. When the slates are opened, at the end of the seance, the slates
will be found to contain writing--the answer to the question, or else a
general message to the circle--the writing sometimes consisting of but a
word or two, while in other cases both of the inside surfaces of the
slate will be found to be covered with writing. It often requires quite
a number of sittings before this phase of phenomena is secured; in many
cases it is never actually secured in a satisfactory form.

Spirit Paintings.

There are cases of record in which crayon drawings have been produced on
the slates by enclosing small bits of various colored crayons therein
when the slates are tied together. Again, oil paintings have been
secured on the slates, after small dabs of oil paint of various colors
have been placed on the inside surface of the slates, a little linseed
oil being poured on each.

Fraudulent Slate Writing.

Slate phenomena has been brought into some degree of discredit and
disrepute during the past ten years or more, by reason of the fact that
a number of unscrupulous "fakers," or bogus-mediums, employed a system
where this class of phenomena was counterfeited by trick methods. But,
as all careful investi