230 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



regulations on the part respectively of our sani- 

 tary authorities and our police-officers, are pre- 

 sumably prerequisites. These are matters with 

 which I am neither called upon nor competent to 

 deal. There will be difficulties in the way, but I 

 am persuaded that, if resolutely grappled with, 

 they will not prove invincible. 



Here, then, my share toward the accomplish- 

 ment of the great object of this paper comes nat- 

 urally to a close. Meanwhile, until the needful 

 steps for the extirpation of rabies can be fully 

 organized and brought into operation, great vigi- 



lance will be necessary to keep in check the ex- 

 isting evil. The superfluity of dogs in the king- 

 dom must be abated by the unshrinking destruc- 

 tion of many ; and all dogs should be narrowly 

 watched, most especially dogs known to have 

 been bitten or to have been quarreling, sick dogs, 

 wandering and ownerless dogs, and such as are 

 the playthings of dog-fanciers and others ; and 

 all such other measures as may be legal should 

 be taken for lessening the peril and the panic 

 which is at present said to be " frighting the isle 

 from her propriety." — Nineteenth Century. 



PSYCHOLOGICAL CUEIOSITIES OF SKEPTICISM. 



A REPLY TO DR. CARPENTER. 



By ALFEED E. WALLACE, F. E. S. 



IN the last number of this periodical Dr. Car- 

 penter has treated his readers to a collection 

 of what he terms " Psychological Curiosities of 

 Spiritualism." Throughout his article he takes 

 Mr. Crookes and myself as typical examples of 

 men suffering under " an epidemic delusion com- 

 parable to the witchcraft epidemic of the seven- 

 teenth century," and he holds up our names to 

 wonder and scorn because, after many years of 

 inquiry, observation, and experiment,, and after 

 duly weighing all the doubts suggested and ex- 

 planations proposed by Dr. Carpenter and oth- 

 ers, we persist in accepting the uniform and con- 

 sistent testimony of our senses. Are we, indeed, 

 " psychological curiosities " because we rely upon 

 what philosophers assure us is our sole and ulti- 

 mate test of truth — perception and reason ? And 

 should we be less rare and " curious " phenomena 

 if, rejecting as worthless all our personally ac- 

 quired knowledge, we should blindly accept Dr. 

 Carpenter's suggestions of what he thinks must 

 have happened in place of what we know did 

 happen ? If such is the judgment of the world, 

 we must for a time submit to the scorn and ridi- 

 cule which usually fall to the lot of unpopular 

 minoritios, but we look forward with confidence 

 to the advent of a higher class of critics than 

 our present antagonist, critics who will not con- 

 descend to a style of controversy so devoid of 

 good taste and impartiality as that adopted by 

 Dr. Carpenter. 



It is with great reluctance that I continue a 



discussion so purely personal as this has become, 

 but I have really no choice. If Dr. Carpenter 

 had contented himself with impugning my sanity 

 or my sense on general grounds, I should not 

 think it worth while to write a word in reply. 

 But, when I find my facts distorted and my words 

 perverted, I feel bound to defend myself, not for 

 the sake of my personal character, but in order 

 to put a stop to a mode of discussion which ren- 

 ders all evidence unavailing, and sets up un- 

 founded and depreciatory assertions in the place 

 of fair argument. 



I now ask my readers to allow me to put be- 

 fore them the other side of this question ; and I 

 assure them that, if they will read through this 

 article, they will acknowledge that the strong 

 language I have used is fully justified by the facts 

 which I shall adduce. 



Those who believe in the reality of the ab- 

 normal phenomena whose existence is denied by 

 Dr. Carpenter and his followers have, for the 

 most part, been convinced by what they have 

 seen in private houses and among friends on 

 whose character they can rely. They constitute 

 a not uninfluential body of literary and scientific 

 men, including several Fellows of the Eoyal So- 

 ciety. The cases of public imposture (real or 

 imaginary) so persistently adduced by Dr. Car- 

 penter do not affect their belief, which is alto- 

 gether independent of public exhibitions ; and 

 they probably, with myself, look upon the learned 

 doctor, who tilts against facts as Don Quixote 



