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Mr. Editor,

Mr. Editor,

On March 25th the scientific Commission formed to investigate psychic phenomena made its report public and a month later on April 24th and 25th Professor Mendeleev delivered two lectures on Spiritism. For lack of approving reviews of the Commission, Mr. Mendeleev himself took the trouble to say a laudatory word about its activities. During the last lecture he expressed the thought, that in the report of the Commission the truth speaks with irresistible force, and society, illumined by it, involuntarily bowed before the verdict of science. But the honourable lecturer is mistaken. The attached protest, signed by one hundred and thirty persons, testifies that in our society, contrary to the opinion of Mr. Mendeleev, there are quite a few people who distinguish science from the Commission.}}

On March 25th the scientific Commission formed to investigate psychic phenomena made its report public and a month later on April 24th and 25th Professor Mendeleev delivered two lectures on Spiritism. For lack of approving reviews of the Commission, Mr. Mendeleev himself took the trouble to say a laudatory word about its activities. During the last lecture he expressed the thought, that in the report of the Commission the truth speaks with irresistible force, and society, illumined by it, involuntarily bowed before the verdict of science. But the honourable lecturer is mistaken. The attached protest, signed by one hundred and thirty persons, testifies that in our society, contrary to the opinion of Mr. Mendeleev, there are quite a few people who distinguish science from the Commission.

The groundlessness of the unsubstantiated conclusions of the latter became obvious for our press as well. Here is another fact, pointing to this. In the April issue of "Otechestvennye Zapiski", which treats Spiritism with Olympic (and rather amusing) arrogance, they admit that the Physical Society Commission, which was set to expose and suppress Spiritism, has not reached the desired result at all. According to a fair comment of the above mentioned journal, the Commission vainly tries to conceal its real police-judicial character and to give itself a scholarly flavor. Its purpose was to condemn "heresy" and not to conduct a scientific research, which it did not intend to do. That is why "Otechestvennye Zapiski" calls the members of the Commission "modern fathers of orthodox science", who, being zealous for the right science, resolved to establish a council of orthodox scientists to judge the heretical teaching, confident that no one would dare to doubt the infallibility of their biased, unfounded sentence.

The groundlessness of the unsubstantiated conclusions of the latter became obvious for our press as well. Here is another fact, pointing to this. In the April issue of "Otechestvennye Zapiski", which treats Spiritism with Olympic (and rather amusing) arrogance, they admit that the Physical Society Commission, which was set to expose and suppress Spiritism, has not reached the desired result at all. According to a fair comment of the above mentioned journal, the Commission vainly tries to conceal its real police-judicial character and to give itself a scholarly flavor. Its purpose was to condemn "heresy" and not to conduct a scientific research, which it did not intend to do. That is why "Otechestvennye Zapiski" calls the members of the Commission "modern fathers of orthodox science", who, being zealous for the right science, resolved to establish a council of orthodox scientists to judge the heretical teaching, confident that no one would dare to doubt the infallibility of their biased, unfounded sentence.