Ectoplasm, << EHK tuh plaz uhm, >> is a term with two meanings, one used by spiritualists and the other by biologists. Spiritualists believe that spirits of the dead can communicate with the living through a person called a medium (see Spiritualism ). According to spiritualists, ectoplasm is a mistlike substance that floats from the body of a medium when he or she is in a trance. The spirits of the dead supposedly mold ectoplasm into temporary hands, vocal cords, or other body parts with which they communicate with the living. The existence of such a mistlike substance has not been proved. Biologists define ectoplasm as the outer portion of the cytoplasm of a cell (see Cell (The cytoplasm) ).
