s: 'Use a small room,' he says, 'and have it warm. Medium and
sitters must not have cold hands or feet.'"

"I can understand the psychic having cold feet now and then,"
interjected Harris.

"Maxwell finds dry air and clear weather most favorable; rainy and windy
weather often cause failures. There seems to be some connection with the
electrical condition of the atmosphere. After proving that a white light
deters phenomena, he uses green, violet, or yellow screens for his
lamps. 'Any kind of a table will do for the raps, or for levitation,' he
says, 'but one with a double top seems to give best results.' His
sitters use wooden chairs with cane seats, and my own experience is that
a bare floor helps. He especially directs that the guide be
consulted--'let the phenomena come as spontaneously as possible,' he
adds."

"Does he find this sandwiching of the sexes helpful?"

"Yes. He says six or eight people, men and women alternating, make the
best circle. 'Take things seriously, but not solemnly,' he advises.
'Don't argue; address the "control," and follow his advice. Avoid
confusion by electing a director and asking for only one thing at a
time. Keep the same people in the group for at least six sittings. Sit
in a circle and touch hands. Be patient and good-tempered. A worried,
irritated, sullen medium is a poor instrument. Finally'--and this is
most important--'don't overwork the medium.' And with this important
statement he ends: '_I am persuaded of the absolute harmlessness of
these experiments, provided they are properly conducted._'"

"I am glad to know that," said Mrs. Quigg. "After seeing Mrs. Harris's
trance, I was in doubt."

"Maxwell's hints are extremely valuable to me," I continued, "for they
confirm my own methods, some of which I had to learn by tedious
experience. If I had known, for instance, the folly of allowing
everybody to quiz the psychic, I might have been spared many hours of
tiresome sitting. Maxwell is, indeed, an ideal investigator--he has made
a great advance in methods, and his conclusions, though tentative, are
most suggestive. No unprejudiced reader can finish his book,
_Metapsychical Phenomena_, without feeling that its author is a brave
and fearless writer, as well as a cautious and sane reasoner. His
published experience throws a flood of light on mediums and their
puzzling peculiarities."

"But it seems to me those rules give the medium and his 'guides' the
free hand," said Miller,