View source for Organization:National Laboratory of Psychical Research

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[[File:Price testing Erto.jpg|thumb|Harry Price testing the medium Pasquale Erto at the laboratory in 1931 – the "Luminous Man" from Naples was exposed as a fraud.]]

The '''National Laboratory of Psychical Research''' was established in 1926 by [[Biography:Harry Price|Harry Price]], at 16 Queensberry Place, [[Place:London|London]].  Its aim was "to investigate in a dispassionate manner and by purely [[Science|scientific]] means every phase of [[Unsolved:Parapsychology|psychic]] or alleged psychic phenomena".  The honorary president was Lord Sands, K.C.,  LL.D., acting president was H. G. Bois, and the honorary director was Harry Price. In 1930 the Laboratory moved from Queensberry Square, where it had been a tenant of the London Spiritualist Alliance to 13 Roland Gardens.  In 1938, its library was transferred on loan to the University of London.<ref>Trevor H. Hall. (Oct 1978). ''Search for Harry Price''. Gerald Duckworth and Company. pp. 212-216. {{ISBN|0-7156-1143-7}}</ref>

The National Laboratory of Psychical Research was a rival to the [[Organization:Society for Psychical Research|Society for Psychical Research]].<ref>Rene Kollar. (2000). ''Searching for Raymond''. Lexington Books. p. 79. {{ISBN|978-0739101612}}</ref> Price had a number of disputes with the SPR, most notably over the mediumship of [[Biography:Rudi Schneider|Rudi Schneider]].<ref>James Houran. (2004). ''From Shaman to Scientist: Essays on Humanity's Search for Spirits''. Scarecrow Press. p. 169. {{ISBN|978-0810850545}}</ref> Price paid mediums to test them, the SPR criticised Price and disagreed about paying mediums for testing.<ref>Jenny Hazelgrove. (2000). ''Spiritualism and British Society Between the Wars''. Manchester University Press. p. 206. {{ISBN|978-0719055591}}</ref>

In 1934 the Laboratory was replaced by the University of London Council for Psychical Investigation (not an official body of the University) under the Chairmanship of [[Biography:C. E. M. Joad|C. E. M. Joad]] with Harry Price as Hon. Secretary.<ref>{{cite book | title=Fifty Years of Psychical Research | author=Harry Price |  edition=reprint | publisher=Kessinger Publishing | year=2003 | isbn=0-7661-4242-6 | page=64 }}</ref> [[Biography:John Flügel|John Flügel]], [[Biography:Cyril Burt|Cyril Burt]], [[Biography:Cecil Alec Mace|Cecil Alec Mace]] and [[Biography:Francis Aveling|Francis Aveling]] were members of the Council. Price suspended the operations of the Council in 1938.<ref>Valentine, E. R. (2012). ''Spooks and Spoofs: Relations Between Psychical Research and Academic Psychology in Britain in the inter-war period''. History of the Human Sciences. 25(2), 67–90.</ref><ref>[https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-26/edition-5/looking-back-spook-hunting-and-ghost-busting "Looking Back: Spook Hunting and Ghost Busting"]. The British Psychological Society.</ref> It was never revived.<ref>Trevor H. Hall. (Oct 1978). ''Search for Harry Price''. Gerald Duckworth and Company. pp. 171-173. {{ISBN|0-7156-1143-7}}</ref>

==Publications==
* British Journal for Psychical Research, Bimonthly, discontinued in 1929
* Proceedings of the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, volume I, discontinued in 1929
* Bulletins of the National Laboratory of Psychical Research:
** I. ''Regurgitation and the Duncan Mediumship'', by [[Biography:Harry Price|Harry Price]], 1932
** II''. Fraudulent Mediums'', an essay by Prof. [[Biography:D. F. Fraser-Harris|D. F. Fraser-Harris]], repr. from Science Progress, January 1932
** III. ''The Identification of the "Walter" Prints'', by E. E. Dudley, 1933
** IV. ''An Account of Some Further Experiments with Rudi Schneider'', by Harry Price, 1933
** V. ''Schneider: The Vienna Experiments of Professors Meyer and Przibram'', by Stefan Meyer and Karl Przibram, 1933

==Investigations==

===Eileen Garrett===
On October 7, 1930 it was claimed by spiritualists that [[Biography:Eileen J. Garrett|Eileen J. Garrett]] made contact with the spirit of Herbert Carmichael Irwin at a [[Unsolved:Séance|séance]] held with Price at the National Laboratory of Psychical Research two days after the R101 disaster, while attempting to contact the then recently deceased [[Biography:Arthur Conan Doyle|Arthur Conan Doyle]], and discussed possible causes of the accident.<ref name="Harris2003">Melvin Harris. (2003). ''Investigating the Unexplained: Psychic Detectives, the Amityville Horror-mongers, Jack the Ripper, and Other Mysteries of the Paranormal''. Prometheus Books. pp. 171-182. {{ISBN|978-1591021087}}</ref> The event "attracted worldwide attention", thanks to the presence of a reporter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.euro-tongil.org/swedish/english/er101.htm |title=R101 |access-date=10 September 2011}}</ref> Major Oliver Villiers, a friend of Brancker, Scott, Irwin, Colmore and others aboard the airship, participated in further séances with Garrett, at which he claimed to have contacted both Irwin and other victims.<ref>{{cite book |last=Leasor |first=James |year=2001 |orig-year=1957 |title=The Millionth Chance: The Story of the R.101 |place=London |publisher=Stratus Books |page=181 }}</ref> Price did not come to any definite conclusion about Garrett and the séances:

<blockquote>It is not my intention to discuss if the medium were really controlled by the discarnate entity of Irwin, or whether the utterances emanated from her subconscious mind or those of the sitters. "Spirit" or "trance personality" would be equally interesting explanations - and equally remarkable.  There is no real evidence for either hypothesis.  But it is not my intention to discuss hypotheses, but rather to put on record the detailed account of a remarkably interesting and thought-provoking experiment.<ref>[[Biography:Harry Price|Harry Price]]. (1933). ''Leaves from a Psychist's Case-book''. Gollancz. p. 132</ref></blockquote>

Garrett's claims have since been questioned. The magician [[Biography:John Booth (magician)|John Booth]] analysed the mediumship of Garrett and the [[Unsolved:Paranormal|paranormal]] claims of R101 and considered her to be a fraud. According to Booth Garrett's notes and writings show she followed the building of the R101 and she may have been given aircraft blueprints from a technician from the airdrome.<ref>[[Biography:John Booth (magician)|John Booth]]. (1986). ''Psychic Paradoxes''. Prometheus Books. pp. 164–165. {{ISBN|978-0879753580}}</ref> However, the researcher Melvin Harris who studied the case wrote no secret accomplice was needed as the information described in Garrett's séances were "either commonplace, easily absorbed bits and pieces, or plain gobblede- gook. The so-called secret information just doesn't exist."<ref name="Harris2003"/>

===Helen Duncan===
[[File:Helen Duncan with roll of cheesecloth.png|thumb|left|Helen Duncan with a roll of cheesecloth.]] In 1931, the National Laboratory of Psychical Research took on its most illustrious case. £50 was paid to the medium Helen Duncan so that she could be examined under scientific conditions.<ref name="Edmunds1966">Simeon Edmunds. (1966). ''Spiritualism: A Critical Survey''. Aquarian Press. pp. 137-144</ref> Price was sceptical of Duncan and had her perform a number of test séances. She was suspected of swallowing cheesecloth which was then regurgitated as "ectoplasm".<ref>Harry Price. (1931). ''Regurgitation and the Duncan Mediumship''. (Bulletin I of the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, 120pp with 44 illustrations.)</ref> Price had proven through analysis of a sample of ectoplasm produced by Duncan, that it was made of cheesecloth.<ref>Marina Warner. (2008). ''Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphors, and Media into the Twenty-first Century''. Oxford University Press. p. 299. {{ISBN|978-0199239238}}</ref> Duncan reacted violently at attempts to X-ray her, running from the laboratory and making a scene in the street, where her husband had to restrain her, destroying the controlled nature of the test. Price wrote that Duncan had given her fake ectoplasm to her husband to hide.<ref name="Tabori1966">Paul Tabori. (1966). ''Harry Price: The Biography of a Ghosthunter''. Living books. p. 136</ref> The ectoplasm of Duncan in another test was analysed by psychical researchers to be made from [[Biology:Egg white|egg white]]. According to Price:

<blockquote>The sight of half-a-dozen men, each with a pair of scissors waiting for the word, was amusing. It came and we all jumped. One of the doctors got hold of the stuff and secured a piece. The medium screamed and the rest of the "teleplasm" went down her throat. This time it wasn't cheese-cloth. It proved to be paper, soaked in white of egg, and folded into a flattened tube... Could anything be more infantile than a group of grown-up men wasting time, money, and energy on the antics of a fat female crook.<ref name="Tabori1966"/></blockquote>

Price wrote up the case in ''Leaves from a Psychist’s Case Book'' (1933) in a chapter called "The Cheese-Cloth Worshippers".<ref>[[Biography:Harry Price|Harry Price]]. (1933). [http://www.harrypricewebsite.co.uk/Seance/Duncan/leaves-duncan.htm ''The Cheese-Cloth Worshippers''] in ''Leaves from a Psychist’s Case Book''. Gollancz. pp. 201–209.</ref> Price in his report published photographs of Duncan in his laboratory that revealed fake [[Unsolved:Ectoplasm (paranormal)|ectoplasm]] made from cheesecloth, rubber gloves and cut-out heads from magazine covers which she pretended to her audience were spirits.<ref>[[Biography:Paul Kurtz|Paul Kurtz]]. (1985). ''A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology''. Prometheus Books. p. 599. {{ISBN|978-0879753009}}</ref> Following the report written by Price, Duncan's former maid Mary McGinlay confessed in detail to having aided Duncan in her mediumship tricks, and Duncan's husband admitted that the ectoplasm materialisations to be the result of regurgitation.<ref name="Edmunds1966"/> Later Duncan was caught cheating again pretending to be a spirit in the séance room. During Duncan's famous trial in 1944, Price gave his results as evidence for the prosecution. This time Duncan and her travelling companions, Frances Brown, Ernest and Elizabeth Homer were prosecuted and convicted. Duncan was jailed for nine months, Brown for four months and the Homers were bound over.<ref>Helena Normanton. (1945). [https://archive.org/stream/trialofmrsduncan00duncuoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''The Trial of Mrs. Duncan'']. Edited with a Foreword by [[Biography:C. E. Bechhofer Roberts|C. E. Bechhofer Roberts]]. Jarrolds Publishers.</ref>
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===Rudi Schneider===
[[File:Frederick Tansley Munnings.png|thumb|Frederick Tansley Munnings with trumpet.]]
In 1920s and early 1930s Price investigated the medium [[Biography:Rudi Schneider|Rudi Schneider]] in a number of experiments conducted at the National Laboratory of Psychical Research.<ref name="Spence2003 p. 806">[[Biography:Lewis Spence|Lewis Spence]]. (2003). ''Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology''. Kessinger Reprint Edition. p. 806</ref> Rudi claimed he could [[Unsolved:Levitation (paranormal)|levitate]] objects but according to Price a photograph taken on April 28, 1932 showed that Rudi had managed to free his arm to move a handkerchief from the table. After this, many scientists considered Rudi to be exposed as a fraud.<ref>[[Biography:Harry Price|Harry Price]]. (2003). ''Fifty Years of Psychical Research''. Kessinger Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0766142428}} (reprint)</ref> Price wrote that the findings of the other experiments should be revised due to the evidence showing how Rudi could free himself from the controls.<ref name="Spence2003 p. 806"/>

After Price had exposed Rudi, various scientists such Karl Przibram and the magician [[Biography:Henry R. Evans|Henry Evans]] wrote to Price telling him that they agreed that Rudi would evade control during his séances and congratulated Price on the success of unmasking the fraud.<ref>Paul Tabori. (1966). ''Harry Price: The Biography of a Ghosthunter''. Living Books. pp. 114-115</ref> In opposition, SPR members who were highly critical of Price, supported Rudi's mediumship and promoted a [[Unsolved:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theory]] that Price had hoaxed the photograph.<ref>[[Biography:Hilary Evans|Hilary Evans]]. (1982). ''Intrusions: Society and the Paranormal''. Routledge Kegan & Paul. p. 166. {{ISBN|978-0710009272}}</ref> SPR member [[Biography:Anita Gregory|Anita Gregory]] suggested that Price had deliberately faked the photograph to discredit SPR research and ruin Rudi's reputation.<ref>[[Biography:Anita Gregory|Anita Gregory]]. (1977). ''Anatomy of a Fraud: Harry Price and the Medium Rudi Schneider''. Annals of Science 34, 449-549.</ref> However, a photographic expert testified that the photograph was genuine.<ref>Harrison, V. (1979). ''Letter to the Editor''. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. 50: 45-46.</ref> SPR member John L. Randall reviewed the Price and Schneider case and came to the conclusion the photograph was genuine, Price had caught Rudi in fraud.<ref name="Randall2000">John L. Randall. (2000). [http://www.harrypricewebsite.co.uk/Biography/price-randall.htm ''Harry Price: The Case for the Defence'']. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research (Vol. 64.3, No. 860).</ref>

===Others===

Price tested the trumpet medium Frederick Tansley Munnings at the laboratory who claimed to produce the independent "spirit" voices of Julius Caesar, Dan Leno, Hawley Harvey Crippen and [[Biography:Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. Price invented and used a piece of apparatus known as a voice control recorder and proved that all the voices were those of Munnings. In 1928, Munnings admitted fraud and sold his confessions to a Sunday [[Biology:Newspaper|newspaper]].<ref>Paul Tabori. (1966). ''Harry Price: The Biography of a Ghosthunter''. Living Books. p. 125</ref> Price also investigated the Italian chemist and medium Pasquale Erto in 1931. During the séances he utilised his knowledge of chemistry to produce luminous light effects. Traces of [[Chemistry:Ferrocerium|ferrocerium]] were discovered and Price concluded the phenomena were produced fraudulently.<ref>Paul Tabori. (1966). ''Harry Price: The Biography of a Ghosthunter''. Living Books. p. 128</ref><ref>Rodger Anderson. (2006). ''Psychics, Sensitives and Somnambules: A Biographical Dictionary with Bibliographies''. McFarland & Company. p. 52. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-2770-3}}</ref>

In 1933, Frank Decker was investigated by the Price at the laboratory.<ref>Paul Tabori. (1966). ''Harry Price: The Biography of a Ghosthunter''. Living Books. p. 132</ref> Under strict scientific controls that Price contrived, Decker failed to produce any phenomena at all.<ref>[[Biography:Stuart Holroyd|Stuart Holroyd]]. (1976). ''Minds Without Boundaries''. Aldus Books. p. 49</ref>

==Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:National Laboratory of Psychical Research photographs.png|Photographs of the laboratory
Image:Seance room.jpg|Séance room of the laboratory
Image:National Laboratory of Psychical Research Seance room.png|Equipment of the séance room
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Unsolved:Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab|Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab]]oratory
*List of parapsychology topics

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.harrypricewebsite.co.uk/Seance/Laboratory/nat-lab-intro.htm Harry Price Website] - Contains a comprehensive section on Price's National Laboratory
*[https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-26/edition-5/looking-back-spook-hunting-and-ghost-busting Looking Back: Spook Hunting and Ghost Busting]
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[[Category:Paranormal organizations]]
[[Category:Parapsychology]]

{{Sourceattribution|National Laboratory of Psychical Research}}