"Those persons," he continues, "who possessed the accomplishment of calling forth the spirit sounds and explaining them, were called 'mediums.' They were mostly of the female sex. The mediums announced themselves as traveling commission agents, by cards and through the public journals; and they worked for pay. They consisted of four classes: rapping, writing, hearing, and seeing mediums. In the way of machinery, they availed themselves of several instruments with which to question the spirits; the Spiritoscope and Psychograph. But the spirits, even those of the notable dead, gave very contradictory answers and show a remarkable lack of historical, biblical, and grammatical knowledge. The followers of spiritualism represent no religious system; but its pantheistic, socialistic, subjective, elective tendencies; its polytheistic sympathies; its terrible effects upon the health of body and soul (developing nervous disease, insanity and suicide), characterize spiritualism as the enemy of the open, temperate, transparent spirit of Christianity."

It

With this the theologian considers the matter finished. then only remains to destroy the members of the monster. Then he treats especially of the fees of the mediums, although this comes from their poverty, etc.

Our author's "manifestations," (Friese) bring forward much that is interesting and noteworthy, and that seems to deserve most careful attention. In "Advice," the last chapter (XXIII.) of the book, there are some instructive reflections given, and counsel offered. Here is included a whole list of carefully prepared statements, respecting the organization of spiritual circles, and how to assist the spirits in making reply. These might be found useful in many circles, and they make many things plain, respecting which people are now doubtful.

The principal discussion over the question of spiritism in Germany now lies before us. As the empire of Germany is surrounded by enemies without, and has foes in its own bosom, so by analogy is spiritism. The indolence of the masses on the matter is disgraceful, but still more disgraceful is that active opposition which rejects it beforehand without investigation. The beginning of investigation looks like a hopeful concession. If any enter upon a partial investigation, the partial investigation will not suffice, and that by so much the more as the investigators desire to find their presumptions unconditionally confirmed. If the manifestations are not satisfactory, they may very likely not go on to test their presumptions, but in spite of evident facts refuse to go on.

We need above all a complete philosophical examination, test, and overthrowal of Pantheism, Naturalism, and Materialism, before the way shall be open for a dispassionate, genuinely scientific investigation and testing of spiritistic phenomena. And on the other side there is just as much need of a philosophic investigation and testing of the teachings of Revelation and Christian symbols in their full contents, so that light may be shed upon the relationship of the so-called posi tive teachings to the more recent theories of spiritualism.

POSTSCRIPT.

MY POSITION WITH REFERENCE TO SO-CALLED SPIRITUALISM.
BY H. ULRICI.

The preceding review of Friese's book, which includes at the same time a general review of Spiritism, gives me the opportunity which I have desired to state clearly my own views, these having been in many respects misunderstood, and indeed intentionally perverted. I am generally considered by the opponents of Spiritism, as well as by its adherents, as a decided advocate of the now wide-spread faith in the existence of spirits, who in whatever way they are able to do it, not only hold intercourse with certain individuals, but manifest their existence by various physical phenomena, and actually perform many feats. I am not an advocate of this faith. The very title of my first Article published in this magazine, "The So-called Spiritism, a Scientific Question," ought to convince every unprejudiced person that I do not reckon myself as a believer. This, as I supposed, very inoffensive Article, which drew its contents from the statements of Zöllner's "Scientific Memoirs," has accomplished the wonderful result of diverting the attacks of the numerous opponents of Spiritism from my principal, the real defender of it; and toward myself who became, so to speak, his mouthpiece. And these attacks have, moreover, in a very wonderful manner not been occupied to any extent with the matter in hand, but with my personal relation to it. Their subject matter has been my assertion that the so-called spiritism has become, through the investigations of Zöllner and his fellow laborers, an open question for scientific investigation. This was my statement; and their main

work was to prove it, or disprove it. Whether I, or any other person, may believe in the so-called spirits, is a matter of very little consequence. Although I have never at any time or place, acknowledged myself a believer, still the attacks in scientific and unscientific journals have been directed principally at me, as though I stood at the very head of believing spiritists. On the contrary, I have never left the scientific basis on which I placed myself. I only asked at the very end of my Article, and as the outcome of it, "What do these phenomena mean, or how can they be explained?" This "or" moreover was only added for the purpose of pointing directly to the statement that "I do not profess to have found an explanation in the ordinary sense of the word, but desire briefly to discuss the explanations hitherto offered, and the most apparent causes of them, not excluding the objective cause."

From this thoroughly scientific discussion I practically attained the following result: "We cannot from these things concur in the commonly received hypothesis of the spiritic origin of the phenomena we have been discussing." Finally I attempted to show the mere plausibility of this hypothesis, by some remarks designed to explain the actions of these manifesting spirits, the subject matter of the revelations, and the reason for their appearance. But I added emphatically: "This attempt at explanation of the spiritual phenomena does not profess to be any explanation at all, in the scientific sense, but only a mere hypothesis." And in full accord with the intent and sense of my Article, I close it with these words: "The deeper the darkness which surrounds this whole subject, and the more important the disclosures which shall be made, when the darkness shall be overcome with light; by so much. more is it the bounden duty of the 'man of science' to do his best toward the solution of the riddle now presented to him."

Prof. Wundt, the well known physiologist and psychologist, as is well known and to my great satisfaction, recognized, and in his open letter, attempted what I requested. Unfortunately, however, he confined himself chiefly to my hypothesis and reflections, which were after all only a sort of postscript to the discussion. The subject which was to me the main topic he treated as a secondary affair. He antagonizes my position

that through Zöllner's work, Spiritism has become a scientific question, since he denies the "scientific value of these investigations." But he denies them only for this reason, that these spiritual manifestations have only impressed him as jugglers' tricks, and not natural phenomena. He seeks, I admit, to justify this conclusion. But so long as he is compelled to admit that "he is not in condition to risk even a conjecture as to how these experiments were performed"-just so long his judgment respecting the spiritual phenomena becomes mere personal opinion, and has no right to the title of a scientific hypothesis, because it does not afford any possible explanation of the phenomena in question.

Assuming for argument's sake that he is right in denying the scientific value of Zöllner's "Investigations,"-I myself came to this same conclusion in my much combatted Article, and it is the conclusion generally accepted as the most probable by most people. The result only sets one hypothesis over against the other, and neither of them has any scientific value. Indeed my statement as to the condition in which so-called spiritualism stands to science, is in no wise overthrown by his hypothesis. Indeed his hypothesis does not touch it at all. The statement remains true to-day even if the case is one of simple jugglery. For this trickery is by universal consent of such an extraordinary kind, so different in form and substance from everything which the most celebrated jugglers have hitherto executed, that high authorities in that craft (Ballachini, and others) have emphatically denied that these phenomena can possibly be performed by their art. An examination therefore ought to be made in the interests of science, as well as for practical reasons, so as to find out how such results as these have been accomplished in the presence of such men as Zöllner, W. Weber, Fechner, Scheibner, etc., by Slade and his associ ates, even if the things have not been done scientifically. It is exceedingly remarkable that of all those who with Wundt believe in the juggler theory, not one has ever attempted to take any part in Slade's manifestations or expose his humbuggery.

So much as this remains unquestionably true: SO-CALLED SPIRITISM IS A SCIENTIFIC QUESTION, WHICH SCIENCE IN HER

OWN INTEREST OUGHT TO INVESTIGATE.

ARTICLE III.-THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN MECHANICAL SCIENCE.

WHEN We look upon mechanical science as an abstract science, having for its foundation only a few simple axioms, dynamical laws, and geometrical theorems, and divest it of many of its complicated mathematical applications, we can hardly help regarding the science as complete.

The controversies and discussions which marked its growth, and which for centuries absorbed the attention of the scientific world, have ceased, and there is left to the present generation a clear, well defined science treating of the forces of nature and the movements which they produce, or are capable of producing, in the ordinary phenomena of force and motion.

Even the last great extension of this science in the development of the true theory of heat, which in its conception and importance was but a fit culmination of the labors of a long line of illustrious men, has now become universally accepted in all its significant features; and although some of the men are now living who were chiefly instrumental in establishing the purely mechanical nature of heat, and in bringing all its manifestations into harmony with mechanical laws, yet this result seems now to have been only the realization of anticipations long looked for, and long before predicted.

No such anticipations now lie before us to excite the zeal of the investigator. There are now no such controversies or opportunities for discovery to stimulate analytical investigation as marked the last and the preceding centuries. Whatever may be the nomenclature chosen, the forms used, or the classification of subjects, there is no longer any contention regarding the theorems established by Benedetti, Decartes, Leibnitz, Newton, D'Alembert, Bernoulli, and others; and more recently, in our own generation, by Clausius, Rankine, Helmholtz, and Sir William Thomson.

But while we inherit in all its completeness a science so comprehensive and exact, in its generalizations, as to embrace