From the author's Preface. THIS volume has grown out of a paper originally read at a discussion meeting of the British National Association of Spiritualists, held at their rooms, 38 Great Russell Street, London, on the evening of December 16, 1878. In that paper I presented certain evidence for the identity of spirits who have from time to time communicated with me; and I founded an argument upon the evidence produced. Confined within narrow limits by the exigencies of the occasion, I dealt with one phase of the subject only, and my treatment of it was cursory. I have, however, considered it best to print the paper as it originally was delivered, with some few additional facts, and to supplement its imperfections and omissions, to some extent, in other parts of the book, especially in the Introduction. I have also reprinted from the Spiritualist certain papers bearing on the general subject of this work; and I have added in another Appendix cases of identity before published...