Materialisation : A term denoting the formation by a spirit of a temporary physical organisation, visible and palpable, by means of which it can come into touch with material objects. Materialisation is the most important of the physical phenomena of spiritualism, and in its earlier stages was confined to the materialising of heads and hands, or vague luminous figures. In common with much of the physical phenomena, it had its origin in America, where it was known at a comparatively early period in the history of the movement. So early as 1860 seances were held with the Fox sisters by Robert Dale Owen and others, at which veiled and luminous figures were witnessed. One sitter, Mr. Livermore, saw and recognised the spirit of his dead wife many times during a series of seances \vith Kate Fox, extending over some six years. In this case, however, there were no other sitters, and the seances were held in the dark, the whole atmosphere being peculiarly favourable to fraud. In 1871 another American medium, Mrs. Andrews, held sittings at which materialised forms were seen, and in the following year Mrs. Guppy and another medium attempted the production of a similar phenomenon in England, but without marked success. The mediums, Herne and Williams, succeeded a few months later in materialising shadowy forms and faces in a dark seance-room. It was, however, Miss Florence Cook, to whose phenomena Sir William Crookes has so abundantly testified, who was to give the most remarkable demonstration of this form of spirit manifestation. Miss Cook was, at the commencement of her spiritualistic career, a young girl of sixteen or seventeen years, described by a contemporary writer as -' a pretty, Jewish-like little girl." She was at that time a private medium, though at the outset she held some materialisation seances with Herne. From her childhood, it was said, she had been attended by a spirit-girl, who stated that her name on earth had been Annie Morgan, but that her name in the spirit-world was Katie King. Under the latter name Miss Cook's control was destined to become very famous in spiritualistic circles. Usually the medium was put in a sort of cupboard, or cabinet, tied to her chair, and the cords sealed. A short interval would ensue, during which the sitters sang spiritualistic hymns, and at length there would emerge from the cabinet a form clad in flowing white draperies, and not to be distinguished from an ordinary human being. On one occasion a seance was held at Mr. Cook's house, at which several distinguished spiritualists were present. Among the invited guests was Mr. W. Volckman, who thought to test for himself the good faith of the medium and the genuineness of " Katie." After some forty minutes close observance of the materialised spirit Mr. Volckman concluded that Miss Cook and Katie were one and the same, and just as the white-robed figure was about to return to the cabinet he rushed forward and seized her. His indignant fellow-sitters released the " spirit," the light was extinguished, and in the confusion that followed the spirit disappeared. Miss Cook was found a few minutes later bound as when she was placed in the cabinet, the cords unbroken, the seal intact. She wore a black dress, and there was no trace of white draperies in the cabinet. Sir William Crookes, whose investigations into the phenomena
of this medium extended over a period of some years, had better opportunity of examining Katie's pretensions than Mr. Volckman had, and he had left it on record that the spirit form was taller than the medium, had a larger face and longer fingers ; and whereas Florence Cook had black hair and a dark complexion, Katie's complexion was fair, and her hair a light auburn. Moreover Sir William, enjoying as he did the complete confidence of Katie, had on more than one occasion the privilege of seeing her and Miss Cook at the same time. But Miss Cook was not the only medium who was controlled by Katie King, who, with her father, John King, became in time a most popular spirit with materialisation mediums. From that time onwards materialisation was extensively practised both by private and professional mediums, among the number being Mrs. Showers and her daughter, Rita, Miss Lottie Fowler, William Eglinton and D. D. Home; while in recent years materialisations are stated to have occurred in the presence of Eusapia Palladino. Many sitters claimed to see in these draped figures and veiled faces the form and features of deceased relatives and friends, though frequently there was but the smallest ground for such a claim—parents recognised their daughter by her hair, a man recognised his mother by the sort of cap she wore, and so on. There is no doubt that fraud entered, and still enters, very largely into materialisation seances. Lay figures, muslin draperies, false hair, and similar properties have been found in the possession of mediums; accomplices have been smuggled into the seance-room; lights are frequently turned low or extinguished altogether. Add to this the fact that other spirits besides " Katie" have on being grasped resolved themselves into the person of the medium, and it will be seen that scepticism is not altogether unjustified. Then, as already mentioned, the rash and premature recognition of deceased friends in draped forms whose resemblance to the medium is patent to the less-interested observer, has also done much to ruin the case for genuine spirit materialisation. Yet that there is a case we must believe on the assertion of some of the most distinguished of modern investigators, men fully alive to the possibilities of fraud, trained to habits of correct observation. M. Flammarion felt constrained to attribute the materialisations he had witnessed in the presence of Eusapia Palladino to fluidic emanations from the medium's person, while judging the recognition accorded to them the result of illusion. Others state that the physical organisation formed by the spirit is composed of fine particles of matter drawn from the material world. By way of explaining the numerous exposures that have been made from time to time various theories of a more or less ingenious character have been advanced by spiritualists. In a case of obvious fraud they declare that the spirits have controlled the medium to secrete wigs and draperies in the cabinet. If a spirit on being held by a sitter proves to be the medium herself an explanation is also forthcoming. The medium, it is said, imparts to the spirit a certain portion of her vital energy, so that the spirit may " manifest." When the latter is ruthlessly grasped these two portions of the medium's -vital spirits tend to re-unite, so that either the medium will draw the spirit into the cabinet, or the spirit will draw the medium out. The reason that the union generally takes place without the cabinet is that the medium has imparted to the control more of her energy than she had retained.