suggests, nothing but a
subtle adjustment of our 'collective consciousness' to hers. Can't you
see how necessary it is that we should proceed with her full consent?
After an immense experience, following closely Crookes, de Rochas,
Lodge, Richet, Duclaux, Lombroso, and Ochorowicz, Maxwell says: 'I
believe in these phenomena, but I see no need to attribute them to any
supernatural intervention. I am inclined to think they are produced by
some force within ourselves--'"

"Just what does he mean by that?"

"I can't precisely explain. It's harder to understand than the spirit
hypothesis. He himself admits this, and goes on to say that while he is
certain that we are in the presence of an unknown force, he is convinced
that the phenomena will ultimately be found orderly, like all other
facts of nature. 'Therefore, in the critical state of research, the
scientific problem, it seems to me, is not whether spiritism be true or
false, but whether metapsychical phenomena are real or imaginary. Some
future Newton will discover a more complete formula than ours,' he
prophesies. 'Every natural fact should be studied, and if it be real,
incorporated in the patrimony of knowledge.' He then adds, with the
true scientist's humble acknowledgment of the infinite reach of the
undiscovered universe: 'Our knowledge is very limited and our experience
young.'"

"That is good talk," said Miller in reply, "but the question is, Does he
really experiment in that condition of mind? An astronomer with his eye
to a telescope is a highly specialized and competent being. An
astronomer listening to whispers in the dark may be as simple and
credulous as a child."

"I grant all that. But I see in it the greater reason why men like
yourself should take up the investigation of these illusive and
disturbing problems. These phenomena, as Flammarion says, introduce us
into uncharted seas, and we need the most cautious and clearest-sighted
scientists in this world as pilots. Will you be one of them?"

"You flatter me. As a matter of fact, I'm a very poor sailor," he
answered, with a smile.

IV

If there is any one thing true in these manifestations of "spirit
power," it is that the psychic is the agent for their production.
Actively or passively, consciously or unconsciously, she completes the
formula--her "odic force" is the final chemical which permits
precipitation. Sometimes her will to produce, her wish to serve, hinders
rather than helps