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 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 opportuni