Charles H. Foster

He became a medium as a young man producing in his séances a phenomenon known as "skin writing", alleged names of spirits would appear on parts of his body such as his arms or forehead.

This involved séance sitters writing the names of the deceased on slips of paper that were rolled into pellets and put on a table.

[4] Foster's biographer George C. Bartlett endorsed his feats as genuine, describing him as the "most gifted and remarkable Spiritual Medium since Emanuel Swedenborg".

[5] However, psychical researcher Hereward Carrington commented that most of the feats described in the book could easily be the "result of trickery... That Foster was an impostor there can be no doubt.

According to Truesdell: The professional magician R. D. Chater who attended séances with Foster also claimed to have detected his tricks.