# The Ghostly Glow of Victorian Séances: The Chemistry of White Phosphorus

*History · History Desk · Published 2026-11-09T15:40:32Z*

Canonical: https://amk.news/article/the-ghostly-glow-of-victorian-s-ances-the-chemistry-of-white-phosphorus

> In the mid-19th century, spiritualist mediums used white phosphorus to mimic supernatural light, unknowingly exploiting a dangerous chemical reaction. This deceptive practice caused severe health risks while simultaneously contributing to early scientific discoveries regarding chemiluminescence.

## Key points

- In mid-November 1857, spiritualist medium Leah Brown caused a glowing light and suffered burns using white phosphorus during a séance in Jersey City.
- Alchemist Hennig Brand first isolated white phosphorus in Hamburg in 1669 by boiling and distilling vats of urine.
- Chemist William Crookes claimed in 1874 to have taken precautions against tricks while observing a self-luminous object during a séance with Florence Cook.

In mid-November 1857, a dark séance held at the home of Simeon S. Post in Jersey City, New Jersey, took a peculiar turn. The medium, Leah Brown, retreated from the crowded room into an adjoining bathroom. According to her account, the room began to glow so intensely that the light seemed ready to ignite, and her hands began to burn. She placed her hands under cold water before rushing into the yard with the hostess, burying her hands in the freshly rain-soaked soil.[1](#dipnot-1)

The following evening, Mrs. Post discovered a ghostly light emanating from the exact spot where Brown had pressed her hands into the earth. Upon digging, she unearthed several solid grains of phosphorus.[1](#dipnot-1)

Key topics covered in this article:

- Did Leah Brown deny the presence of phosphorus in the soil or provide an alternative explanation?
- What substance did a prominent chemist use to illuminate his séance room while claiming to prevent fraud?
- Why was a bottle neck wrapped in postage stamps in Amsterdam in 1878?
- How did the light seen in séances share an origin with the "phossy jaw" disease in match factories?

## What was the explanation for the phosphorus found in the séance garden?

Leah Brown was the eldest of the Fox sisters, who gained fame for the "spirit rappings" that began in Hydesville, New York, in 1848. The community in Jersey City had trusted her for years, yet on November 24, 1857, a member named George Willets wrote to her. He noted that while Mrs. Post was not suspicious of the medium, the appearance of light exactly where Brown had touched the ground remained inexplicable, and he pressed her for a credible explanation.[1](#dipnot-1)

Leah Brown did not deny the existence of the phosphorus. In her 1885 memoir, published under the name Ann Leah Underhill, she dedicated a chapter to the incident, asserting that the solid, granular phosphorus had been produced by spirits. Her editor added a footnote suggesting the spirits might have extracted the phosphorus from the air or the brains of the attendees.[1](#dipnot-1)

Supporters of Leah held subsequent séances to prove these claims. According to the testimony of Daniel Underhill, whom Leah later married, Henry Sheldon once brought soil from Brooklyn Heights in a cigar box. In the darkened room, Leah dipped her fingers into the box, and they glowed brightly enough for the table to see. When the lights were turned on, Dr. A. D. Wilson used a pocketknife to extract granular phosphorus from the box. Some grains had not yet solidified and scattered; as Wilson collected them, he suffered severe burns on his fingers. In an August 1858 séance at the Post house, women stripped Leah entirely in a separate room and dressed her in their own clothing. A sealed box of earth was placed before her, the lights were extinguished, and fifteen minutes later, large grains of phosphorus were found in the box.[1](#dipnot-1)

These searches only inspected clothing. Once the lights were off, the activities at the table went unobserved. While the human body contains phosphorus as phosphate compounds in bone and cells, there is no known biological tissue capable of producing pure white phosphorus, which emits light upon contact with air.

## How does oxygen create the light associated with phosphorus?

The alchemist Hennig Brand first isolated white phosphorus in Hamburg in 1669 by boiling and distilling vats of urine. The name itself is derived from the Greek word for "light-bearing." In 1680, Robert Boyle observed that this luminosity weakened as the air in the container was consumed.[2](#dipnot-2)

Solid phosphorus constantly releases a faint vapor. This vapor slowly reacts with oxygen in the air, and the resulting phosphorus oxide molecules release excess energy as visible light. Chemists refer to this as chemiluminescence, or light born from chemical reaction. Spectral measurements conducted after 1974 identified the emitting molecules as HPO, P2O2, and PO2.[2](#dipnot-2) The reaction also generates heat. If phosphorus is crushed or the air is warm, it can spontaneously ignite, causing deep burns upon skin contact.

_White phosphorus glows in the dark. The light originates from the reaction between surface vapor and atmospheric oxygen. Photo: Endimion17, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons._
This light entered the history of 20th-century chemistry as well. In 1926 in Leningrad, Yuliy Khariton and Zinaida Valta measured that phosphorus vapor does not glow at all below a certain oxygen pressure. Based on this threshold, Nikolay Semyonov developed the theory of branched chain reactions, for which he shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Cyril Hinshelwood.[3](#dipnot-3)

## What was the nature of William Crookes’s phosphorus lamp?

William Crookes, a chemist and member of London’s Royal Society who discovered the element thallium in 1861, claimed in 1874 to have taken all necessary precautions against "phosphorous oil" and other tricks during séances. In the same report, he described observing a self-luminous object the size of a turkey egg floating in a room for more than ten minutes.[4](#dipnot-4)

In a letter published that same year, he described his own lamp: a bottle of 6 to 8 ounces (roughly 170 to 230 milliliters) containing phosphorus oil, tightly corked. During a séance at the home of medium Florence Cook on March 12, 1874, a white-clad figure known as Katie King requested the lamp from Crookes and appeared under its light. On another evening in Hackney, Crookes entered the dark room, knelt down, and admitted air into the lamp, writing that he could see both the motionless Cook on the floor and the figure of Katie standing behind her.[4](#dipnot-4)

_William Crookes and the figure known as Katie King. This photograph is dated to Crookes's 1874 séances; public domain, Wikimedia Commons._
Injecting air into the lamp was the key to triggering the light: when the cork was sealed, the oxygen in the bottle was exhausted and the glow faded; when air was introduced, it reignited. In a letter written that February, Crookes stated his belief that Cook was entirely honest.

## Notes and Sources

- Underhill, A. L. (1885). *The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism*. New York: Thomas R. Knox & Co. Chapter XX, "Phosphorus". [gutenberg.org](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40485)
- Serrano-Ruiz, M., Romerosa, A. and Lorenzo-Luis, P. (2014). "Elemental Phosphorus and Electromagnetic Radiation". *European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry*, 2014(10), 1587–1598. [doi:10.1002/ejic.201301361](https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.201301361)
- Dainton, F. (1990). "Nikolai Nikolaevich Semenov, 16 April 1896 – 25 September 1986". *Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society*, 36, 526–546. [doi:10.1098/rsbm.1990.0042](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1990.0042); Chariton, J. and Walta, Z. (1926). "Oxydation von Phosphordämpfen bei niedrigen Drucken". *Zeitschrift für Physik*, 39, 547–556. [doi:10.1007/BF01322093](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01322093)
- Crookes, W. (1874). *Researches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism*. London: J. Burns. "Notes of an Inquiry into the Phenomena Called Spiritual" and "Spirit-Forms" sections. [loc.gov](https://www.loc.gov/item/unk82104454/)
- "Entlarvung der Medien Rita u. Williams in Amsterdam" (1878). *Psychische Studien*, 5, 434–436. [ub.uni-freiburg.de](http://diglit.ub.uni-freiburg.de/diglit/psychische_studien1878/0445/ocr)
- "The Williams-Rita Case" (1878). *The Spiritualist*, November 1878; H. P. Blavatsky scrapbooks, Vol. 8, p. 74. [teopedia.org](https://en.teopedia.org/lib/HPB-SB-8-74)
- Lorinser, F. W. (1845). "Necrose der Kieferknochen, in Folge der Einwirkung von Phosphordämpfen". *Medicinische Jahrbücher des k.k. österreichischen Staates*, Vienna; Stockman, R. (1899). "On the Cause of So-Called Phosphorus Necrosis of the Jaw in Match-Workers". *British Medical Journal*, 1(1984), 9–10. [doi:10.1136/bmj.1.1984.9](https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.1984.9)
- International Agreement respecting the Prohibition of White (Yellow) Phosphorus in the Manufacture of Matches, Bern, September 26, 1906. [fedlex.admin.ch](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/24/70_72_69/de)
- Heaton, C. W. (1880, May 22). "Balmain's Luminous Paint". *Scientific American Supplement*, 9(229), 3647. [doi:10.1038/scientificamerican05221880-3647bsupp](https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican05221880-3647bsupp)
- National Bureau of Standards (1942). *Letter Circular 703: Luminous Paint*. Washington. [doi:10.6028/nbs.lcirc.703](https://doi.org/10.6028/nbs.lcirc.703)

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