Through years of study and experimentation with
hypnotists and
mediums, Mckenzie wrote what is considered his main work,
Spirit Intercourse: Its Theory and Practice in 1917. A number of pamphlets on the related topics also bear his name including his 1917 work
If a Soldier Die in and
Personal Experiences in Spiritualism 1920. He devoted his time to helping spiritual mediums develop their abilities. Such mediums included
Gladys Osborne Leonard,
Franek Kluski,
Maria Silbert and
Eileen J. Garrett.
British College of Psychic Science The British College of Psychic Science was founded in April 1920 in London by McKenzie and his wife to study psychical phenomena, similar to the
Institut Métapsychique International in Paris. In December 1938 the college merged with the International Institute for Psychical Research, becoming the Institute for Experimental Metaphysics. During World War II the institute closed, and in 1947 all of its library and records were destroyed.
Harry Houdini In his book
Spirit Intercourse: Its Theory and Practice, McKenzie claimed the magician
Harry Houdini's feats such as being able to unbolt locked doors and escape from handcuffs were the result of
psychic power. McKenzie also claimed in his book that Houdini had the power to materialize and dematerialize objects and other stage mentalists such as
Anna Eva Fay and
Julius and Agnes Zancig had genuine psychic powers. Houdini referred to this as "one of the most, if not the most flagrant instances of mal-observation" and in his book
Magician Among the Spirits wrote a response to McKenzie "I do claim to free myself from the restraint of fetters and confinement, but positively state that I accomplish my purpose purely by physical, not psychical means. The force necessary to "shot a bolt within a lock," is drawn from Houdini the living human being and not a medium. My methods are perfectly natural, resting on natural laws of physics." ==Publications==