(3 of 3)
At one sitting the investigators were permitted to control Margery's hands and feet while she was supposedly sprouting "ectoplasmic rods" from her thighs. Excerpts from their impressions, dictated to a stenographer during the séance:
McComas: Dr. McComas' hand directed to the substance. . . . It seemed like a cylindrical substance about ¾ in. in diameter with a hard, bonelike centre or axis. . . . Psyche's [Margery's] voice said, "I feel bad here," and pushed my hand up to the point on this cylindrical substance.
Dunlap: The "thing" [feels] cold and smooth and soft. . . .
McComas: During the time that the teleplasmic rod was striking at Dr. Dunlap's head, Psyche's ankles were in my lap.
McComas: Dr. McComas feeling Psyche from thigh to knee finds tights. This search made at Dr. Crandon's suggestion.
Dunlap: Dr. Dunlap finds that Psyche has silk bloomers on.
When the sitting was over, someone suggested that Margery be examined at once. To this Margery had a magnificent answer. She leaned forward, gagged convulsively, seemed to be vomiting, rushed from the room, followed by her husband. The investigators then examined the floor with a flashlight to see if the vomiting was genuine. It was not.
In their report to the society, the commissioners observed that the "Psychic rods" seemed to be some animal intestine stuffed with cotton and stiffened with wire. They had no way of assuring themselves that these were not handled by a confederate. The medium claimed that the rods were extremely sensitive, but when a commissioner slyly squeezed one as hard as he could there was no complaint from Margery.
The mechanical tricks—luminous effects, voice effects, card-reading in the dark, mysterious bell ringing—were all matched by Dr. McComas in a séance of his own which impressed a group of seasoned Margery sitters.
* Scribner ($2).
† Williams & Wilkins ($2).