- J. Malcolm Bird, managing editor of
the Scientific American declared in an address last night before
the Medill School of Journalism that psychic phenomena genuinely exist.
"There are real 'spirit voices' though we have no proof
that they are spirits," he said. "There are genuine
clairvoyants who can see pictures of the past, present and future.
There are spirit writings which display power far beyond the ability
of the writer.
"And there are even more surprizing genuine phenomena
in the field of the objective or physical manifestations."
He said that at least half of the so-called spirit mediums are
fraudulent and outlined many of the fakes uncovered during the
testing of mediums by the Scientific American committee, which
offers two $2500 prizes for proof of genuine manifestations.
Mr. Bird cited the case of "Margery," wife of Boston
physician, as proof of his theories. He disagreed with a committee
of five appointed by his magazine to pass judgment on "Margery."
Harry Houdini had called her a fraud and three scientists, he
said, had refused to risk their scientific reputations, contenting
themselves with saying she failed to convince.
"Ectoplasm is a fact," he said. "It issues from
openings in the anatomy. Margery, for example, ruptured an eardrum.
Ectoplasm appeared at Margery's seances when the hands and feet
of everyone in the room and Margery's head were banded with luminous
bands."
