“Phenomena of Materialisation.”

Abstract

IN NATURE of November 18 I find what purports to be a review of Dr. von Schrenck-Notzing's work translated by me under the above title. I have always supposed that a reviewer should tell the reader what the book is about. The review in question is headed “The Newer Spiritualism,” and begins: “‘Of making-many books’ on spiritualism ‘there is no end.’” It states that the phenomena are alleged to have “a spiritistic interpretation,” and refers to “the numerous photographs of her [the medium] sandwiched between faked spirit photographs.” All this is thoroughly misleading. The book is not about spiritualism. Both the author (p. 30) and the translator (p. x) discard the “spirit hypothesis” as unnecessary. The author says that “it impedes and hinders in every way serious scientific investigation.” The book contains no portrait of the medium, and not a single “spirit photograph,” faked or otherwise. The photographs reproduced have not been manipulated in any way except Nos. 127, 128, 134, 136, 138, and 140, in which, for purposes of publication, the sex characteristics have been obliterated. These six photographs are marked “retouched,” and the reason for retouching is stated in the text.