About the some time that the Society for Psy chical Research was founded a Mr. Seybert gave a fund to the University of Pennsylvania for the investigation of spiritualism, and the Seybert Commission was appointed for the purpose. The commission exposed many of the ordinary frauds of professional mediums, and its conclusions were adverse to the usual spiritistic claims. After publishing a Report, the commission was allowed to lapse.
In German• and France the movement has had a similar history and outcome. In Germany Ileichenhach was the most important investigator, and in France Cahagnet and Du Potet are the principal men of interest. This was ill the earlier period. Later we have Karl du Prel, A. N. Aksakofi', a Russian, and Schrenck-Notzing, who manifested interest in the subject and wrote freely upon it.
In recent years the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research have recorded Bala, espe cially in the phenomena of coincidental appari tions and experiments with a Mrs. Piper, a Bos ton 'medium,' which some of the members have thought favorably confirm the possibility of the spiritistic theory. She has been the subject of ex periment for nearly eighteen years. This, with two recent volumes of Mr. F. W. II. Myers, has had the effect of reviving an interest in the gen eral problem. But the subject must still run the gauntlet of scientific skepticism and investi gation. The early history of the movement has been so infected with charlatanism, fraud, half baked science, and various forms of radicalism in religious and social matters as to put it under abeyance by the intelligent part of the com munity.
It is not possible to determine with any accu racy the number of adherents to the spiritualistic belief. They are certainly very numerous, and
have many thriving organizations. These take the form of the ordinary church. It is claimed that they have nearly 350 churches and over 200,000 members. It is probable that the num ber of believers far exceeds this figure. There is nothing in the belief to suggest the necessity of organization as in the orthodox Christian Church. Their periodicals are quite numerous. There are few, however, of first class character. Light, a weekly, published in London, England, is, per haps, the best. The Banner of Light is published in Boston, Mass.
The literature on the subject is a very large one, but most of it is not of much importance. Even the best of it has to he read with more than the usual caution. The following, in addition to those mentioned in the body of the article, is a brief list of the most important works connected with the claims of spiritualism and dealing with various phases of it: Edmonds and Dexter, Spiritualism (New York, 1554-55) : Allan Kar dee, Lirre des esprits (Paris, 1553) ; Mrs. De Morgan, From Matter to Spirit (London, 1S63) ; Alfred Russel Wallace, Miracles and Modern Spiritualism (ib., 1S76) ; Karl Du Prel, Philoso phy of Mysticisnz (Eng. trans., ib., 1S89) ; Frank Podmore, Aspects of Psychical Research (ib., 1S97) ; id., Modern Spiritualism (ib., 1902) ; Frederick W. H. Myers, Human Personality am! Its Surciral of Bodily Death (ib., 1902) ; Elam marion, L'inconnu (Paris, IS99) ; Flournoy, Des Tildes a hi planete Mars (Geneva, 1900) ; Parish, Hallucinations and Illusions (London, 1597).