The Spiritualist > No.32, April 15th 1872

A F^ECOF^D Of THE PROQREff Of THE 3CIEJMCE /ND ETHICf OF fP/F^ITU^LIfM.
[EEQ-ISTEBED FOE TRANSMISSION ABROAD.]
No. 32.—(VOL. IL, No. 4.)
LONDON: MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1872.
Published on the 15th of every
Month; Price Threepence.
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY.
For several years past much in the way of rumour,
and a little in the way of official information has reached
us about spirit photography in America, whilst there
has been a total absence of such manifestations in Eng¬
land, hut within the last six weeks in Loudon, spirit-
photography has set in like a flood. Some months
since Mr. Guppy, as an amateur photographer tried to
obtain spirit photographs through Mrs. Guppy’s medium-
ship and failed, though in some instances traces of
abnormal phenomena were visible on the plates, and
over the picture of Mr. Coleman something appeared
bearing a shadowy resemblance to a cross. Mr. Guppy
discontinued his experiments till about six weeks ago,
when in Mr. Hudson’s studio he obtained a likeness of
himself with a veiled figure behind him, as he says,
“ like a person dressed in a sheet.” Mrs. Guppy was
near him, hut behind the screen used as a background
when this was taken. At subsequent trials other veiled
figures were obtained, and at last a portrait of the
spirit “ Katie ” behind Mrs. Guppy and her little boy.
The British Journal of Photography of March 28th,
says of this picture :—
It is a group composed of Mrs. Guppy and her child, and
behind them is seen a female figure in light clothing, grace¬
fully posed, very sharp, and well defined, being in this respect
quite different from any pictures of this class we have hitherto
seen. Some “ expert” professional photographic friends who
have seen the picture are of opinion that the light female
figure could not have been placed on the negative by any
known system of double printing, and hence think that at the
time of the negative being taken the figure must have been
standing behind the sitters. In addition to the assurance of
Mr. Guppy that no such figure was visible to the eye, we have
received an affidavit (dated March 25th, the day on which it
was taken) by Mr. Hudson relative to the picture that was
enclosed, in which he says “ that at the time of my taking the
enclosed photograph, signed by me, there was no human being
in my studio besides Mr. and Mrs. Guppy and their child ;
that Mr. Guppy was behind the dark screen the whole of the
time (eleven seconds) of the photograph being taken, and
that I looked at Mrs. Guppy and child most particularly when
I uncovered the camera, and there was no person visible
except Mrs. Guppy and child.—Fbed. A. Hudson.”
The editor of the same journal also says :—
In the company of a friend—a professional photographer in
the city—we called upon Mr. Hudson, who is a photographer
in the Hollo way-road. We here take occasion to thank him
for the readiness with which he submitted for our examina¬
tion everything in connection with this subject that he had,
including the prints, the negatives, the studio, and the camera.
He informed us that he would not lend, himself to any kind of
deception, and that he really had no idea how the figures
came upon the negatives, which he had treated an every
respect as was his wont. In reply to a question, he said that,
although with strangers he usually turns his back to his sitter
during exposure, in this case he did not do so, and that if any¬
thing had been projected from behind he must have seen it.
We have written to Mr. Guppy, inquiring if there would be
any objection to our being present with a friend when he next
attempted to obtain photographs of this description, and also
whether he would allow us on that occasion to operate on
plates that we should bring with us.
Mr. Guppy’s reply is published in the British Journal
of Photography, of April 5th, as follows :—
Dear Sir,—In reply to the question put by you, as soon
as your health and your time and the weather permit, I will
arrange for you as follows :—You shall take your own camera
and glass plates, and you shall sit for a spirit photograph.
I cannot answer for your getting one, but if you will give time
and patience, and attend to my suggestions, it is very probable
you will get one—if not at once, after a trial or two. You
shall develope it yourself with your own chemicals (this I take
on me to answer Mr. Hudson will allow, at my request, in
your special case).—Yours, very truly, Saml, Guppy.
The editor remarks :—“ This is fair enough.”
. Soon after the publication of the fact of spirit
photographs having been taken, other media went to
Mr. Hudson’s to see if they had power to get them.
They were obtained through the mediumship of Messrs.
Herne and Williams. They failed in the case of Mrs.
Everitt and Miss Florence Cook, though with Miss
Cook good pictures were produced when other mediums
were near. Mr. Slater, the optician, obtained a spirit
photograph. At first, most of the spirit forms were
veiled, though why they should cover their faces when
sitting for a photograph is a mystery. Later on, small
portions of their hands and faces were uncovered, and
they began to appear in front of the sitters instead of
behind them. In no case was anything visible to the
sitter in the place where the spirit forms came out on
the plate, though Mrs. Guppy sometimes saw a flash
like lightning passing before her eyes at the time that
Mr. Hudson took the cap off the lens. In every case,
Mr. Hudson, in accordance with his usual habit.
brought the wet negative out of his dark room, and
showed it upon a piece of black velvet to the sitter, so
that he or she saw the result within two or three
minutes after the plate was exposed. Then he took
the plate back into the dark room and intensified or
“ re-developed” it, so as to fit it for printing on albu-
menized chloride of silver paper, in the usual way.
On critical examination it- is evident that the spirit
forms are illuminated by the same light as the sitter,
and that if any other than reflected or scattered light
comes from these forms, it is so small in proportion as
to be inappreciable. In some cases the spirits have
moved a little during the exposure, and caused just
such a double impression as the movement of a mortal
sitter would have done. How an invisible object can
reflect so many chemical rays is at present inexplicable,
and leads to the supposition that there may be greater
differences between the chemical and less refrangible
rays of the spectrum, than differences in wave-length.
Another point of scientific interest is that things at
first seen only by seeing-mediums were photographed
by the camera. How important this fact is, is proved
by the circumstance that medical men in their ignorance
of psychology often kill or drive mad patients who dis¬
play incipient seeing-mediumship; the doctors, not
understanding the subject, send the victims of these
“ hallucinations ” to a lunatic asylum, where the seer,
at first sane on all other points, is subjected to bad
influences which soon drive him mad in real earnest.
Among the most remarkable spirit photographs at
present obtained are two of Mrs. Guppy and Master
Tommy Guppy, in which the face of a spirit is visible ;
a third in which the spirit “ Katie ” is visible in a
chair near Mr. Herne ; a fourth in which a sheeted
figure appears in front of Mrs. Alfred Russell Wallace;
two in which Miss Cook is entranced, and veiled
figures are standing over her; and one in which Mr.
John Jones, of Enmore Park, South Norwood, has the
spirit of his daughter sitting on the floor, in front of
him, by his feet.
The following letters give further details. We begin
with the one from Mr. John Jones :—
To the Editor of11 The Spiritualist."
Sir,—Hearing that the photographs of spirits were being
obtained in London as well as at Boston, United States,
instead of finding twelve reasons why they could not be done,
I took it for granted there were persons in London as shrewd
and observant as I was, and determined to “ go and see,” as
I had found that nearly all the great scientific discoveries in
nature in past time, had been discovered by unknown persons
called unscientific, and that ]the knowledge was afterwards
appropriated by “ societies,” when generally acknowledged by
the public.
I went, therefore, to headquarters, and saw several photo¬
graphs of persons, several of whom I knew ; and above them,
and beside them, draped figures and parts of figures, so over¬
lapping the solid figures of the sitters as to show that the
draped substances 'were partly in front. Therefore, if trickery
there had been, it was with the knowledge and consent of the
photographer and sitters. On enquiry, the persons solemnly
denied seeing any one at the time. I, though not doubting
the truth of their averments, naturally desired personal
evidence.
As this phase of Spiritualism, so antagonistic to the
“ Psychic unintelligent force,” theorists, had been suggested
by Mr. Samuel Guppy of Highbury, because his wife and he
had experiences of no ordinary kind, as to the personality of
ghosts, I obtained the favour of Mrs. Guppy’s company to
Mr. Hudson’s, photographer, Holloway-road, on the 5th April,
1872, at half-past three o’clock. My son Rupert (age 15),
went with us, and I had given him instructions to remain in the
studio during the sitting, and stand near the camera, facing
and watching me and the screen, so that if any embodied or
disembodied substance presented itself, he might report.
I found that the photographic room was situate in the back
garden ; it was a rough structure, admirably adapted to let in
the cold air in winter, and let out the hot air in summer.
The screen behind the sitter was a seven feet by seven frame,
on which was stretched tightly a kind of felt cloth, neutral
tint. Behind the screen and the outer boarding was a space
about three feet wide. The room for the sitter was, say
twenty feet long by nine wide.
Mrs. Guppy voluntarily went "behind the screen, from which
she could not get out without pushing back the screen, and
holding it to prevent it from falling. By that means she was
out of sight.
I sat down on a chair in front of the screen, put myself in
my usual position, as when at home, which position ran nearly
parallel with the screen. I then turned my head round to the
west, so as to look into the camera at the end of the room,
saw it, and Rupert.
A lively conversation was carried on by us all, till the
moment the photographer said he was ready. Thirty seconds,
and all was over for good or bad. My son and Mr. Hudson
went into the developing room. Mrs. Guppy pushed aside the
screen, joined me excitedly, saying, “ I saw something white
flash across meand then she hurried into the developing-
room.
The photographer was excited, his hands trembling, and
then his cry came—“ Oh ! what is this ? It is spoilt, you
(Rupert) must have passed in front of the camera and spoiled
it. No ! It is a female figure kneeling in front of your
father.” The three heads, Hudson, Guppy and Rupert came out
with the plate, and there, clear and distinct, was the draped
figure of a young girl apparently kneeling in front of me, the
forehead, eyebrow, and part of the face in profile, clearly
shown. My son said, “ It is Marion,” his deceased sister.
We were surprised and delighted. It was the best spirit
picture that had been ever taken. I was, of course, cool, but
the others were like parched peas, all on the jump.
Rupert states he saw no one embodied or disembodied near
me during the sitting; my position was such, that I must
have seen if any “ body ” had been near me.
A ghost, therefore, must have been in the room, and taken,
the position for a purpose. A ghost must have seen and heard
us, and that ghost a human disembodied one. What issues
involved and evolved in the fact, religiously and politically !
Now for the possibility of the ” impossible.” Lockyer, in his
fourth lecture on Spectrum Analysis at the Crystal Palace
last month, showed us on the screen the appearance of the
corona round the body of the sun, at the time of the eclipse, as
seen by the human eye and by the aid of instruments. It
showed the luminosity shedding,—or rather flowing out in—
say, five or six triangular spikes, as we have in the usual
emblem of a star ; and between the interstices there was no
luminosity. He then proved the value of photography by
giving on the screen the corona as photographed, and lo ! the
interstices 'werefilled with luminosity, Lockyer said, “This
proves there is a substance round the sun, so ethereal that the
human eye, even by the aid of instrumeuts, cannot see it.”
If a substance so thick in volume cannot be seen by the
human eye, why refuse credence to the possible invisible
presence of ethereal beings called spirits ?
When I reached home on the evening of April 5th, there
was on the table a packet of six spirit photographs from
America, sent to me by Mumler, the Boston photographer,
who some time ago was accused of deception, tried, and
acquitted. One of the likenesses sent was that of Mrs. Abra¬
ham Lincoln, and behind her, having his hands on her
shoulder, was the shade or ghost of her husband, “the
President.” His son was with him.
“ What a cloud of witnesses ” is coming up in the sky of
life. Longfellow was not wrong when he told us that his
spirit wife:
“ Took the vacant chair beside me,
Laid her gentle hand in mine.”
John Jones.
Enmore-park, South Norwood.
The following was read last Thursday night, at the
meeting of the Dalston Association of Inquirers into
Spiritualism :—
To the Committee of the Dalston Association of Inquirers into
Spiritualism.
Ladies and Gentlemen,—In presenting to you the follow-1
ing report of my experiences in the above most remarkable and
recent phase of spirit manifestations in England, and in sub-!
mitting for your inspection the accompanying copies of spirit
photographs already taken, it is my wish that the attention of
the members of the association should be immediately drawn
to the facts, and that further experiments should be tried by
individual members. Thomas Blyton, Secretary.
London, E., 9th April, 1872.
“ In the course of conversation during an evening visit to
Mr. Guppy on 12th March, that gentleman showed me some
spirit photographs which he had obtained at Mr. Hudson’s
studio in Palmer-terrace, Holloway-road, through the medium-
ship of Mrs. Guppy, whom he had accompanied there a few
days previously for the purpose of having her photograph
taken. Mr. Guppy explained that, after the sitting was over,
the idea came into his head of trying an experimental sitting
to see whether any spirit friends could so far materialise their
bodies as to admit of the photographing of the same, similar
to the productions of Mr. Mumler, of America. The results
were of a most remarkable and satisfactory character, which
led Mr. Guppy to think that the spirits would succeed with
other media. On the following Saturday, 16th March, 1.872.
I went with Miss Florrie Cook, Mr. Guppy, and a friend of
that gentleman’s, to Mr. Hudson’s, where we placed Miss
Cook, as a medium, behind a curtain, while I sat in front of
the same, in the hope that we might obtain a spirit picture,
but without success, although we had other indications of the
presence of our spirit friends. (See photograph No. 1).
“ On Saturday, 6th April, 1872, I again went to Mr. Hud¬
son’s ; this time being so fortunate as to have the presence of
Miss Florrie Cook and Messrs. Herne and Williams as media,
the latter of whom sat first by themselves, but without any
successful result. Miss Cook then went into the studio, where
she was entranced in a reclining position, Messrs. Heme and
Williams placing themselves behind the screen (which forms a
kind of cabinet), and on developing the plate a draped figure
of a woman was found standing over Miss Cook. (See photo¬
graph No. 2). Having entered the studio, I proposed to sit for a
spirit-picture, and obtained the consent of Messrs. Heme and
Williams to act as media; they were again placed in the
little cabinet, and the screen closed up against it. On giving
a glance at them, previous to taking my seat, we found them
both entranced. I then seated myself close to and in front of
the screen, when the spirits John and Katie King at onc»
greeted me in their usual hearty manner, while Katie inti¬
mated her intention to try and appear with her baby. I urged
them both to do their utmost to produce a good spirit picture.
The plate was then exposed in the camera, when the media
roused up and passed some remarks between each other, while
John and Katie urged them in loud tones to keep still for fear
of spoiling their efforts. Messrs. Herne and Williams were
distinctly heard speaking by me at the same time as the spirits -