“Thought-Reading”

Abstract

THE public mind has of late been somewhat agitated by the doings of a Mr. Bishop, who has come before the world of London society in a capacity no less startling than that of a professed reader of thought. Armed with a favourable letter of introduction from Dr. W. B. Carpenter, he has not only taken by storm the general public and daily press, but also succeeded in convening an assembly of scientific men to witness his performance, which in point of numbers and importance resembled in miniature a soirée of the Royal Society, while still more recently he has had the honour of exhibiting his powers before the Heir Apparent to the Crown. There is no doubt that Mr. Bishop owes this wide and sudden celebrity to the patronage which was extended to him by the great opponent of all humbug; and although Dr. Carpenter doubtless intended his letter to exert a salutary influence by recommending Mr. Bishop to the attention of the credulous, it is to be regretted that it served to recommend him also to the attention of the scientific. This is to be regretted, because the result was to endow the powers which were afterwards exhibited with a fictitious degree of importance in the eyes of the public, and also to bring a large number of distinguished men into the somewhat undignified position of acting the stalking-horse to Mr. Bishop's notoriety. But however this may be, it seemed to Prof. Croom Robertson worth while to make a more careful trial of Mr. Bishop's powers than was possible in the first crowded assembly, and he therefore invited Mr. Francis Galton, Prof. E. R. Lankester, and myself, who were all present on the first occasion, to join him in an investigation. When we had assented to the proposal, Mr. Bishop was invited to meet us at Prof. Croom Robertson's house. He immediately accepted the invitation, and it is but just to state that throughout the investigation which followed he placed himself entirely in our hands, and with the utmost good nature submitted to all our requirements. He professes that he is himself ignorant of his modus operandi, and merely desires that this should be adequately investigated and satisfactorily explained.