February 20th, 1885.

The Commission met on Friday, February 20th, 1885, at 8 P.M., again at the house of Mr. Furness, to attend a second seance in the presence of Mrs. Lord.

On the part of the Commission were present Mr. Furness, Mr. Sellers and Mr. Fullerton.  There were also present several women and men, some of whom had been present at the previous sitting.  The circle, when formed, was about six feet in diameter.

A ring was given by the Medium to Mr. Sellers and another to Miss Logan to wear during the evening, with the expectation that they might be taken by the Spirits and passed to another person in the circle, in accordance with the unexpressed wish of the one holding the ring.  This was not done during the evening.

A small musical-box was also given to one of the women to hold, and a zither placed upon the lap of a man.  The former was, during the seance, taken from the woman holding it, and passed to another person in the circle.  The Medium sat as before, with her hands free, while those in the circle clasped hands, as was done on the former evening, each one having his left wrist grasped by the right hand of his neighbor, or vice versa.

The zither was undisturbed during the evening.

Touches were felt here and there on the knees of those in the circle, and whispers were again heard from time to time.

The whispers were, as before, never simultaneous with the speeches of the Medium, which were heard just after in another part of the circle.

I distinctly noticed, on several occasions, the same rustle, as of a change of position on the part of the Medium, between the whisper and the remark by the Medium.

Many Spirit forms were described by the Medium as coming to those present, with about the same proportion of success as on the former evening.

At various times during the sitting, lights were seen, which appeared and disappeared rapidly.  They were indistinct and phosphorescent—­such as can be produced in a dark room by rubbing a match-head, or by exhibiting an object rubbed with a match.

The lights—­at least all that were clearly seen by several persons—­were within the circle and about the Medium.

Occasionally the Medium spoke of lights as without the circle, and one or two of those present (not members of the Commission) assented.  But, as on two such occasions, when those opposite myself described the light as above and behind me, I saw it above and in front of me, or between me and the Medium; there is no reason to believe that they were not deceived by the difficulty of judging of the distance of an indistinct and evanescent appearance in a quite dark place.  The direction, but not the distance, can in such a case be readily known.

After a sitting of about two hours, the attempt to produce more striking phenomena was abandoned.

During both seances Mrs. Lord kept up an almost continuous clapping of hands—­the noise was not loud, but sufficient to aid in hiding any rustle of the Medium’s dress, or creaking of a chair.  The Medium also talked constantly.