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The History of Spiritualism – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - CHAPTER XV - THE CAREER OF EUSAPIA  PALLADINO

The Society for Psychical Research in 1895 had decided that Eusapia's phenomenon were all fraudulent, and would have no more to do with her.  But on the Continent of Europe group after group of scientific inquirers, adopting the most rigorous precautions, endorsed Eusapia's powers.

Then in 1908, the Society for Psychical Research decided to investigate this medium once more. It nominated three of its most capable sceptics. One, Mr. W. W. Baggally, a member of the Council, had been investigating psychic phenomena for more than thirty-five years, and during that time-with the exception, perhaps, of a few incidents at a seance with Eusapia a few years before - had never witnessed a single genuine physical phenomenon.

" Throughout his investigations he had invariably detected fraud, and nothing but fraud."

Also, he was an expert conjurer.

Mr. Everard Felding, the honorary secretary of the society, had been investigating for some ten years, but
" during all that time he had never seen one physical phenomenon which appeared to him to be conclusively proved"

unless, again, perhaps in the case of a seance with Eusapia.

Dr.Hereward Carrington, the third of the nominees, though he had attended countless seances, could say, until he sat with Eusapia,

" I had never seen one single manifestation of the physical order which I could consider genuine."

At first blush this record of the three investigators seems like a crushing blow to the assumptions of the Spiritualists. But in the investigation of Eusapia Palladino this trio of sceptics met their Waterloo.

The full story of their long and patient research of this medium at Naples will be found in Dr. Hereward Carrington's book, " Eusapia Palladino and Her Phenomena " (1909).