owing to the flexibility of the wooden frames, it was quite
possible to stretch the slates far enough apart to permit the insertion
of the blade of a knife, and an examination of the edges at this point
revealed only too plainly discolored abrasions. When the slates were
finally opened, not a stroke of writing nor a scratch was to be found,
but at the suspected corner were the discolored marks, visible to this
day, of the knife which had been inserted to extract the pencil, which,
in its enforced outward passage, had left behind, in its scratches on
the wood, a tell-tale trail of dust which the microscope revealed to be
of the same substance as the pencil. The Spirits had not taken even the
precaution to wipe the broad knife clean from rust or dirt. The slates
are preserved in our sad museum of specimens of misdirected ingenuity.

We are continually confronted with statements wherein the narrator
claims a Spiritual solution as the only possible one of the enigma
involved in the phenomena, as he observed them.

To all such statements we have, first, the plain and ready answer, that
we do not attempt to pass judgment on manifestations which we ourselves
have not observed. All that we can vouch for is the result of our own
observation. More cannot be demanded of us.

Secondly, experience has shown us that with every possible desire on the
part of Spiritualists to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, concerning marvelous phenomena, it is extremely difficult
to do so. Be it distinctly understood that we do not for an instant
impute wilful perversion of the truth. All that we mean is that, for two
reasons, it is likely that the marvels of Spiritualism will be, by
believers in them, incorrectly and insufficiently reported.

The first reason is to be found in the mental condition of the observer;
if he be excited or deeply moved his account cannot but be affected, and
essential details will surely be distorted.

For a second reason, note how hard it is to give a truthful account of
any common, everyday occurrence. The difficulty is increased a
hundred-fold, when what we would tell, partakes of the wonderful. Who
can truthfully describe a juggler's trick? Who would hesitate to affirm
that a watch, which never left the eye-sight for an instant, was broken
by the juggler on an anvil; or that a handkerchief was burned before our
eyes? We all know the juggler does not break the watch, and does not
burn th