ts, when subtle causes and forces
are in operation (as they doubtless are during a seance) it is only
natural to suppose that instruments, _far more delicate than our
senses_, should be the logical method of detecting them, and, as yet,
such experiments have rarely been attempted.

When we take into consideration, finally, the electrical theory of the
nature of matter; when we remember the many striking analogies between
electricity and the life-force; when we remember that the science of
electricity is yet in its infancy, it should hold out to us the hope
that, _here_, we may find a solution of many of these obscure problems,
and that further investigations in the field of electricity may serve to
explain to us many of these unknown and mysterious secrets of our inner
nature, and the still more mysterious secrets of the seance-room. No
more interesting and profitable researches could be attempted than those
which endeavour to establish a connection between known and unknown
phenomena; between physical and electrical manifestations, on the one
hand, and these curious "psychical" phenomena, on the other. The crying
need of the day is a "Psychical Laboratory," wherein such experiments as
these could be conducted. It is my sincere hope that, some day, I may
assist in the foundation of such a laboratory.

CHAPTER III

LIFE: AND ITS INTERPRETATION

(_In the Light of M. Bergson's Philosophy_)

The philosophy of life which M. Bergson advocates is more than a mere
philosophy--more than a metaphysical doctrine; for, in so far as it
endeavours to account for the "phenomena" of life, it entrenches upon
biology; and M. Bergson himself is the first to acknowledge this. His
own books are filled with interesting scientific data, which he has
interpreted most ingeniously; and no broad-minded biologist can afford
to neglect his work in the future. Two points of his theory call for
special mention, however, it seems to me, and are subject, not to
criticism but to discussion. One of these is that M. Bergson has not
gone far enough in his interpretation of the facts; in the other he is,
I believe, wrong in his interpretation--though his is the one commonly
advanced and accepted. A few remarks on these two points may not,
perhaps, be without interest.

It is apparent to any student of these problems that the interpretation
of life which M. Bergson has adopted is very different from that usually
held. The _facts_, the phenomen