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Said Charles Richet in Thirty Years of
Psychical Research (W. Collins & Sons, 1923):
"To pretend that Bien Boa was a doll is more
absurd still; he walked and moved, his eyes could be seen looking round,
and when he tried to speak his lips moved.
"He seemed so much alive that, as we could hear his breathing, I took a
flask of baryta water to see if his breath would show carbon dioxide.
The experiment succeeded. I did not lose sight of the flask from the
moment when I put it into the hands of Bien Boa who seemed to float in
the air on the left of the curtain at a height greater than Marthe could
have been even if standing up. While he blew into the tube the bubbling
could be heard.
"A comical incident occurred at this point. When we saw the baryta show
white (which incidentally shows that the light was good), we cried
'Bravo'. Bien Boa then vanished, but reappeared three times, opening and
closing the curtain and bowing like an actor who receives applause.
"These phenomena are very remarkable, not
only from the theoretical point of view with respect to ectoplasms, but
because they furnish decisive proof of their objectivity. No legerdemain
can produce a living hand that melts in the hand that holds it. I have
seen the form of Bien Boa disappear into the floor under my eyes."
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Text below Bien Boa image in Thirty Years
of Psychical Research:
"Marthe is seen seated. Note the helmet
covered with drapery, the height of the figure which is in front of
Marthe, not apparently supported by lower limbs. Her steroscopic
photograph is much better than this one."
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