i88i.j 
Physiology of Mind-Reading. 
419 
explained. It is a tyrant that rules over the whole realm of 
the seemingly mysterious ; the success of the orator on the 
platform, and of the physician at the bedside, is attributed 
to its aid, as of old superior learning and skill were attri- 
buted to the occult forces of magic. It may be doubted 
whether any other false belief of our time has had a more 
serious influence in retarding the progress of right reasoning 
than this, since it blocks the doors of investigation and pre- 
judges the case when investigations are made, stimulates 
the too common habit of making the emotions do the work 
of the intellect, and becomes a sort of foster-mother to other 
and allied delusions. . 
It was the universality of this belief in animal magnetism 
that made mind-reading popular, since it furnished a basis 
as broad as the wildest theoriser could wish, on which could 
be erected a limitless variety of hypotheses ; and many who 
rejected intuitively the claim of direct supernatural aid were 
made happy by the equally false and untenable claim of 
literal conveyance of thought from subject to operator 
through the agency of a supposed magnetic fluid. 
