called spiritualistic, with an attempt to discover their causes and general laws.
"6. The collection and collation of existing materials bearing on the history of these subjects.
"The aim of the society will be to approach these various problems without prejudice or prepossession of any kind, and in the same spirit of exact and unimpassioned inquiry which has enabled science to solve so many problems once not less obscure nor less hotly debated. The founders of this society fully recognize the exceptional difficulties which surround this branch of research, but they, nevertheless, hope that, by patient and systematic effort, some results of permanent value may be obtained."
In accordance with this programme, the society went to work. Generous donations of money were received, and there were numerous accessions to the membership. It is a mistake to suppose that membership in the society implies anything more than a genuine scientific interest in the investigations. The constitution of the S. P. R., as it is popularly known in England, expressly states that membership in the society "does not imply the acceptance of any particular explanation of the phenomena investigated, nor any belief as to the operation in the physical world of forces other than those recognized by physical science."
Notwithstanding all these precautions, it was asserted in many quarters that the society had in view a particular explanation of the phenomena it was investigating. Professor Sidgwick, in his first presidential address, commented upon the criticisms passed upon the foundation of any such society, and succinctly explained and defended its course of action. In this address, Professor Sidgwick had occasion to define what the society meant by "sufficient evidence" for the phenomena with which it proposed to deal, and he declared that "sufficient evidence is evidence that will convince the scientific world, and for that we obviously require a good deal more than we have so far obtained." In the face of this, it is plain that Professor Ray Lankester's comment, "puerile hypothesis," would have been more in the nature of a scientific judgment had it been delivered after a review of the testimony, and not before.
From the date of organization until the present time the council and committees of the society have labored assiduously. Facts were the great desideratum, and they have been looked for in every conceivable place. Records of experiences were invited from any and every quarter, and many thousands have been received. It is characteristic of the society's method that no story has been accepted as genuine on newspaper testimony, or on second-hand evidence of any kind. In each case places and dates were verified, and the persons directly concerned sought out. As might be supposed, a very large proportion of the stories received were either wholly or partly ficti-
