Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the ghostly fingerprints
"Things which, in the old days, would have been called miracles, or the results of miracles. A miracle, now and always, is simply the intrusion of some natural force which we do not yet understand. That is why it is incorrect to use the words ‘supernatural’ or ‘supernormal’ in connection with these manifestations of powers of whose methods we are as yet ignorant. Everything in Nature is ‘natural’ and ‘normal,’ whether we understand it or not. We can show you results here before we can accurately explain their causes." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the famous writer of the iconic Sherlock Holmes series. He was also a very well-known spiritualist who spent the later years of his life trying to tell the World that ghosts and spirits not just existed, but that he had the evidence to prove it. To read more about Doyle and his involvement with Spiritualism check out my article Spiritualism and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle remains one of the more controversial figures in the spiritualism community, namely due to his willingness to believe those who were outed as frauds. He was genuine in nature with a big heart and a strong belief in spiritualism. It was this blind belief that caused him much ridicule and even a falling out with famous magician and his former best friend Harry Houdini.
In 1925, Doyle and his wife Jean opened 'The Psychic Bookshop', a brick-and-mortar store that was a book shop, a library, a museum, and a book publishing company based in London. Below is the heading of an article published in various publications where Doyle would take journalists on a tour showing them the amazing evidence he had on display in his psychic museum. Some of his most prized positions were that of spirit hands and spirit fingerprints.
In the above article, Doyle presented a photo plate with what the writer described as smeared with soot. On the wax was what appeared to be impressions of fingerprints. To gather these prints, Doyle said the plate had been hung above a medium during a seance that took place under a red light. Doyle claimed that spiritualists were able to communicate better with ghosts by using red light. They invited the spirit to leave their fingerprints on the plate. After a rapping sound, they soon found that the spirit had seemingly left behind behind their fingerprints. Doyle then had the medium cast their own fingerprints so it could be shown that they spirit and medium fingerprints were not a match. The plates were on display at Doyle's psychic museum, which was downstairs from his Psychic Bookshop.
Photo of Doyle in his psychic museum. Image Source: arthur-conan-doyle.com
Arthur Conan Doyle with his daughter Mary Louise Conan Doyle in front of The Psychic Bookshop.
Spirit Hands
Fingerprints were not all Doyle would experiment with. Proudly on display in his museum was also Spirit Hands. In his book The History of Spiritualism Vol 2, Doyle talks about casting spirit faces and body parts such as fingers and hands. Ectoplasmic hand he would enthusiastically call them. He claimed even his former best friend Mr Harry Houdini could not recreate the process.
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 séance 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
The History of Spiritualism Volume 2 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1926)
Image Source: The History of Spiritualism Volume 2 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1926)
Houdini of course would disagree with the claims, especially those saying that the wrist was too narrow and therefore proved it was spirit.
Image Source: Public domain
The ghost of Doyle?
In a twist, the same year Doyle passed away, it was published that the ghost of our favourite spiritualist supposedly left behind a set of his own fingerprints. In 1923, expecting that no one would believe the phenomenon years later, Doyle stopped by the police headquarters where he had the police make copies of his fingerprints to compare against, should his spirit be successful years later in trying to make himself known. Years later in 1930, the same police headquarters was called upon to compare Doyle's fingerprints to a wax plate that supposedly contained the fingerprints left behind by Doyle's spirit. Leading the charge was medium Nino Pecoraro who often attended seances with Conan Doyle. It was Pecoraro who claimed to have communicated with Doyle's spirit during a seance in which he left behind a momento.
"At the seance Pecoraro was bound, wore mittens, and was placed in a mesh bag. The "spirit" of Sir Arthur spoke from a cabinet, apparently posed for his picture, and in addition to imprinting his fingers on the wax, picked up a pencil and wrote on a piece of paper."
Making the judgement was Joseph Dunninger - head of Science Investigating Committee of Psychic Phenomena, Sergent Joseph Wrynn and Detective William Hunt. The latter being a fingerprint expert. Witnessing the judgement was also medium Pecoraro. He had a particular interest in the ruling as there would be a $21,000 prize awarded which the Science Investigating Committee had pledged to pay to anyone who was able to display proof of inexplicable psychic phenomena. The experts ultimately decided that the impression of the fingerprints on the wax left behind from the seance was too badly blurred that they could not be compared to the original. In fact, Dunniger went on to say that they predicted as such before the fingerprints were even cast during the seance, that these kinds of claims would surface.
Doyle it seems never deliberately deceived people, but his trusting nature had many questioning just how easily his belief allowed him to be deceived. Were the spirit hands and fingerprints a case of paranormal proof or blind belief? Perhaps in strong contrast to the quote that opened this article, I shall leave with you some words from his frenemy Houdini.
"I beg of you, Sir Arthur, do not jump to the conclusion that certain things you see are necessarily “supernatural,” or the work of “spirits,” just because you cannot explain them" Harry Houdini
References:
* Names and information have been transcribed from poor-quality newspaper articles and may contain errors - particularly with names.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197640091
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/220665973
https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_World%27s_Happiest_Museum
The History of Spiritualism Volume 2 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1926)
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