Magic Circle and, like Harry Houdini, tried to dispel the notion of supernatural powers. To this end, in 1914 he founded the Occult Committee, to "investigate claims to supernatural power and to expose fraud". In particular, it attempted to prove that the Indian rope trick had never been performed. Spiritualist Alfred Russel Wallace did not accept that Maskelyne had replicated the feats of the Davenport brothers utilizing natural methods, and stated that Maskelyne possessed supernatural powers. Maskelyne's observations of trickery at the Cambridge séance sittings in 1895 were important for the exposure of the medium Eusapia Palladino. In 1876, Maskelyne was a witness in a fraud case against Henry Slade, a purported medium who was convicted at the end of the trial. Maskelyne's writings criticising Spiritualism and Theosophy were included in the book The Supernatural? (1891) with psychiatrist Lionel Weatherly (1852–1940). It was an early text in the field of anomalistic psychology and offered rational explanations for occult and Spiritualistic practices, paranormal phenomena and religious experiences. In 1910, Maskelyne debated Hiram Maxim in The Strand Magazine on the trickery of the Davenport brothers. Inventions With his son, John Nevil Maskelyne Jr., Maskelyne invented a typewriter whose types were inked by a pad and which typed proportionally (some characters receiving greater widths than others). This machine was probably introduced to the market in 1893. The 1897 Victoria model of the Maskelyne Typewriter introduced further refinements. Maskelyne's invention of the door lock for London toilets required the insertion of a penny coin to operate it, leading to the euphemism to "spend a penny". With John Algernon Clarke, Maskelyne invented the Psycho Automaton, a machine that could supposedly play Whist. At London's Egyptian Hall, Psycho appeared in more than 4,000 performances. Personal life Maskelyne married Elizabeth Taylor (1840-1911) in Pershore in 1862. Their children were: Nevil Maskelyne (1863–1924) Minnie Jane Maskelyne (1866–1942) Edwin Archibald Maskelyne (1879–1920) Nevil became the father of Jasper Maskelyne. Both Nevil and Jasper were magicians, and Jasper has been credited as a possible creator of large-scale ruses, deceptions and camouflage used during the Second World War. Maskelyne claimed to be a descendant of Nevil Maskelyne (1732–1811), the Astronomer Royal; although some sources repeat this, other recent biographical accounts establish otherwise. Death Maskelyne died from pneumonia in 1917. Publications Maskelyne and Cooke: An Exposé of the Falseness of Their Pretensions (1873) Modern Spiritualism: A Short Account of its Rise and