Dr Monck
Medium Dr Monck
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Dr. Monck Medium
Some few pages may also be devoted to a summary of the very cogent objective
evidence which is offered by the casts that have been taken from the bodies of
ectoplasmic figures-in other words, of materialized forms. The first who
explored this line of research seems to have been William Denton, the author of
"Nature's Secrets," a book on psychometry, published in 1863. In Boston (U. S.
A.) in 1875, working with the Medium Mary M. Hardy, he employed methods which
closely resemble those used by Richet and Geley in their more recent experiments
in Paris. Denton actually gave a public demonstration in Paine Hall, when the
cast of a Spirit Face was said to have been produced in melted paraffin. Other
Mediums with whom these casts were obtained were Mrs. Firman,
Dr. Monck, Miss Fairlamb (afterwards Mrs. Mellon), and William Eglinton. The fact that these
results were corroborated by the later Paris sittings is a strong argument for
their validity. Mr. William Oxley, of Manchester, describes how on February 5,
1876, a beautiful mould of a lady's hand was obtained, and how a subsequent
mould of the hand of Mrs. Firman the Medium was found to be quite different. On
this occasion Mrs. Firman was confined in a lace net bag which went over her
head and was fastened round the waist, enclosing her hands and arms. This would
seem to be final as regards any fraud on the part of the Medium, while it is
also recorded that the wax mould was warm, which shows that it could not have
been brought into the seance room. It is hard to see what further precautions
could have been taken to guarantee the result. On a second occasion a mould of
the foot as well as of the hand was obtained, the openings of the wrist and
ankle being in each case so narrow that the limb could not have been withdrawn.
There seems to have been no explanation open save that the hand or foot had
dematerialized.
Dr. Monck's results seem also to stand the test of criticism. Oxley experimented
with him in Manchester in 1876, and had the same success as with Mrs. Firman. On
this occasion different moulds from two separate figures were obtained. Oxley
says of these experiences, "The importance and value of these Spirit Moulds
cannot be overestimated, for while the relation of spiritual phenomena to others
of doubtful and sceptical turn is valuable only on the ground of credibility,
the casts of these hands and feet are permanent and patent facts, and now demand
from men of science, artists, and scoffers a solution of the mystery of their
production." This demand is still made. A famous conjurer, Houdini, and a great
anatomist, Sir Arthur Keith, have both tried their hands, and the results,
laboriously produced, have only served to accentuate the unique character of
that which they tried to copy.
In the case of Eglinton it has been recorded by Dr. Nichols) the biographer of
the Davenports, that evidential casts of hands were obtained, and that one lady
present recognized a peculiarity-a slight deformity-characteristic of the hand
of her little daughter who had been drowned in South Africa at the age of five
years.