Mesmerism, Spiritualism, &c., Historically & Scientifically Considered: Being Two Lectures, Delivered at the London Institution, with Preface and Appendix

Mesmerism, Spiritualism, Etc: Historically and Scientifically Considered – is a work which was published in 1877 and written by William Benjamin Carpenter. He was an English naturalist, physician, zoologist and physiologist, who played a significant role in the formation of the University of London. This work is regarded as an early text on anomalistic psychology. Based on Carpenter's position, spiritualistic practices can be explained by psychological factors such as suggestion and hypnosis. He rejected any supernatural and occult interpretation of hypnosis or trance-like states and firmly believed that these states were fully explained by the physiology of the human mind. Carpenter also argued that the phenomenon of table-turning and dowsing could explain the ideomotor effect.