MEDIUM  , primarily a

person through whom, as an inter-mediate, communication is deemed to be carried on between living men and spirits of the departed, according to the spiritistic hypothesis; such a person is better termed sensitive or automatist . The phenomena of mediumship fall into two classes, (I) " physical phenomena " (q.v.) and (2) trance and automatic phenomena (utterances, script, &c.); both these may be manifested by the same person, as in the case of D . D . Home and Stainton Moses, but are often independent . I . No sufficient mass of observations is to hand to enable us to distinguish between the results of trickery or hallucination on the one hand, and genuine supernormal phenomena on the other; but the evidence for raps and lights is good; competent observers have witnessed supposed materializations and there is respectable evidence for movements of objects . Mediumship in the modern sense of the term may be said to have originated with the Rochester rappings of 1848 (see SPIRITUALISM); but similar phenomena had been reported by such authors as Apollonius of Tyana; they figure frequently in the lives of the saints; and the magician in the lower stages of culture is in many respects a counterpart of the white medium . Among physical mediums who have attained celebrity may be mentioned D . D . Home (q.v.), Stainton Moses and Eusapia Palladino; the last has admittedly been fraudulent at times, but no deceit was ever proved of Home; Stainton Moses sat in a private circle and no suspicion of his good faith was ever aroused . W . Stainton Moses (1839–1892) was a man of university education, a clergyman and a schoolmaster .

In 1872 he became interested in spiritualism and soon began to

manifest mediumistic phenomena,which continued for some ten years . These included, besides trance communications, raps, telekinesis, levitation, production of lights, perfumes and musical sounds, apports and materialized hands . But the conditions under which the experiments were tried were not sufficiently rigid to exclude the possibility of normal causes being at work; for no amount of evidence that the normal life is marked by no lapse from rectitude affords a presumption that uprightness will characterize states of secondary personality . Eusapia Palladino has been observed by Sir O . Lodge, Professor Richet, F . W . H . Myers, and other eminent investigators; the first named reported that none of the phenomena in his presence went beyond what could be accomplished in a normal manner by a free and uncontrolled person; but he was convinced that movements were produced without apparent contact . Among other phenomena asserted to characterize the medium-ship of Eusapia are the production of temporary prolongations from the medium's body; these have been seen in a good light by competent witnesses . It was shown in some sittings held at Cambridge in 1895 that Eusapia produced phenomena by fraudulent means: but though the evidence of this is conclusive it has not been shown that her mediumship is entirely fraudulent . Automatic records of seances can alone solve the problems raised by physical mediumship . It has been shown in the Davey-Hodgson experiments that continuous observation, even for a short period, is impossible, and that in the process of recording the observations many omissions and errors are inevitable .

Even were it otherwise, no care could provide against the possibility of hallucination . II . The genuineness of trance mediumship can no longer be called in question . The problem for

solution is the source of the information . The best observed case is that of Mrs Piper of Boston; at the outset'of her career, in 1884, she did not differ MEDLAR 69 from the ordinary American trance medium . In x885 the attention of Professor William James of Harvard was attracted to her; and for twenty years she remained under the supervision of the Society for Psychical Research . During that period three phases may be distinguished: (1) 1884–189r, trance utterances of a " control " calling himself Dr Phinuit, a French physician, of whose existence in the body no trace can be found; (2) 1892–1896, automatic writing by a " control " known as " George Pelham," the pseudonym of a young American author; (3) 1896 onwards, supervision by " controls " purporting to be identical with those associated with Stainton Moses . There is no evidence for regarding Mrs Piper as anything but absolutely honest . Much of the Piper material remains unpublished, partly on account of its intimate character . Many of those to whom the communications were made have been convinced that the " controls " are none other than discarnate spirits . Probably no absolute proof of identity can be given, though the reading of sealed letters would come near it; these have been left by more than one prominent psychical researcher, but so far the " controls " who claim to be the writers of them have failed to give their contents, even approximately . Professor Flournoy has investigated a medium of very different type, known as Helene Smith; against her good faith nothing can be urged, but her phenomena—trance utterance and glossolalia—have undoubtedly been produced by her own mind .

These represent her to be the reincarnation of a

Hindu princess, and of Marie Antoinette among others, but no evidence of identity has been produced . The most striking phenomenon of her trance was the so-called Martian language, eventually shown by analysis to be a derivative of French, comparable to the languages invented by children in the nursery, but more elaborate .