Ectoplasm is a substance believed to exude from a medium during a séance. It can materialise in different forms, being sometimes vaporous, sometimes viscous, sometimes a mass of fine threads and sometimes a cloth-like substance. It supposedly disintegrates when exposed to light or human touch. This example was captured during a séance given by the medium Helen Duncan, one of the last people to be prosecuted under the Witchcraft Act of 1735.

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Portsmouth, ca 1950
MS SPR Mediums/Duncan/Ectoplasm
By kind permission of the Society for Psychical Research