Can such things be in this nineteenth century, and the wise ones pass away in utter ignorance of their existence?—Yours very sincerely,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
At the Glasgow Meeting of the British Association in 1876, Prof. (now Sir) W.F. Barrett read a paper "On some Phenomena associated with Abnormal Conditions of Mind." Wallace was Chairman of the Section in which the paper was read, and a vigorous controversy arose at the close between Dr. Carpenter, who came in towards the end of the paper, and the Chairman. The paper set forth certain remarkable evidence which Prof. Barrett had obtained from a subject in the mesmeric trance, giving what appeared to be indubitable proof of some supernormal mode of transmission of ideas from his mind to that of the subject. The facts were so novel and startling that Prof. Barrett asked for a committee of experts to [pg 196] examine the whole question and see whether such a thing as "thought transference," independently of the recognised channels of sense, did really exist. This was the first time evidence of this kind had been brought before a scientific society, and a protracted discussion followed. The paper also dealt with certain so-called spiritualistic phenomena, which at the time Prof. Barrett was disposed to attribute to hallucination and "thought-transference." The introduction of this topic led the discussion away from the substance of the paper, and Prof. Barrett's plea for a committee of investigation on thought-transference fell through. So strong was the feeling against the paper in official scientific circles at the time, that even an abstract was refused publication in the Report of the British Association, and it was not until the Society for Psychical Research was founded that the paper was published, in the first volume of its Proceedings. It was the need of a scientific society to collect, sift and discuss and publish the evidence on behalf of such supernormal phenomena as Prof. Barrett described at the British Association that induced him to call a conference in London at the close of 1881, which led to the foundation of the Society for Psychical Research early in 1882.
Wallace, in his letter to Prof. Barrett which follows, refers to Reichenbach's experiments with certain sensitives who declared they saw luminosity from the poles of a magnet after they had been for some time in a perfectly darkened room. Acting on Wallace's suggestion, Prof. Barrett constructed a perfectly darkened room and employed a large electro-magnet, the current for which could be made or broken by an assistant outside without the knowledge of those present in the darkened room. Under these circumstances, and taking every precaution to prevent any knowledge of when the magnet was made active by the current, Prof. Barrett found that two or three persons, out of a large number with whom he experimented, saw a luminosity streaming from the poles of the magnet directly the current was put on. An article of Prof. Barrett's on the subject, with the details of the [pg 197] experiment, was published in the Philosophical Magazine, and also in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research (Vol. I.).
TO PROF. BARRETT
Rosehill, Dorking, December 18, 1876.
My dear Prof. Barrett,— ... I see you are to lecture at South Kensington the end of this month (I think), and if you can spare time to run down here and stay a night or two we shall be much pleased to see you, and I shall be greatly interested to have a talk on the subject of your paper, and hear what further evidence you have obtained. I want particularly to ask you to take advantage of any opportunity that you may have to test the power of sensitives to see the "flames" from magnets and crystals, as also to feel the influence from them. This is surely a matter easily tested and settled. I consider it has been tested and settled by Reichenbach, but he is ignored, and a fresh proof of this one fact, by indisputable tests, is much needed; and a paper describing such tests and proofs would I imagine be admitted into the Proceedings of any suitable society.
You will have heard no doubt of the Treasury having taken up the prosecution of Slade. Massey the barrister, one of the most intelligent and able of the Spiritualists (whose accession to the cause is due, I am glad to say, to my article in the Fortnightly), proposes a memorial and deputation to the Government protesting against this prosecution by the Treasury on the ground that it implies that Slade is an habitual impostor and nothing else, and that in face of the body of evidence to the contrary, it is an uncalled-for interference with the private right of investigation into these subjects. On such general grounds as these I sincerely hope you will give your name to the memorial....—Yours very faithfully,
A.R. WALLACE.