Editing Alfred Russel Wallace (section)

=== Spiritualism<!--linked from 'Spiritualism (philosophy)'--> ===

Wallace was an enthusiast of [[phrenology]].{{sfn|Slotten|2004|pp=203–205}} Early in his career, he experimented with [[hypnosis]], then known as [[mesmerism]], managing to hypnotise some of his students in Leicester.{{sfn|Slotten|2004|pp=234–235}} When he began these experiments, the topic was very controversial: early experimenters, such as [[John Elliotson]], had been harshly criticised by the medical and scientific establishment.<ref name="Belief and Spiritualism">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Charles H. |title=Alfred Russel Wallace: Evolution of an Evolutionist Chapter One. Belief and Spiritualism |url=http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/chsarw1.htm |publisher=The Alfred Russel Wallace Page hosted by [[Western Kentucky University]] |access-date=20 April 2007 |archive-date=18 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218002120/http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/chsarw1.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Wallace drew a connection between his experiences with mesmerism and spiritualism, arguing that one should not deny observations on "a priori grounds of absurdity or impossibility".<ref>{{cite web |last=Wallace |first=Alfred |title=Notes on the Growth of Opinion as to Obscure Psychical Phenomena During the Last Fifty Years |url=http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S478.htm |publisher=[[Western Kentucky University]] |access-date=20 April 2007 |archive-date=18 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218003415/http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S478.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Wallace Spirit Photograph.png|thumb|upright|[[Spirit photography|Spirit photograph]] taken by [[Frederick Hudson (photographer)|Frederick Hudson]] of Wallace and his late mother in 1882; he may have used [[Multiple exposure|double exposure]].|alt=a purported spirit photograph of Wallace and his late mother as if together]]

Wallace began investigating spiritualism in the summer of 1865, possibly at the urging of his older sister Fanny Sims.{{sfn|Slotten|2004|p=231}} After reviewing the literature and attempting to test what he witnessed at [[séance]]s, he came to believe in it. For the rest of his life, he remained convinced that at least some séance phenomena were genuine, despite accusations of fraud and evidence of trickery. One biographer suggested that the emotional shock when his first fiancée broke their engagement contributed to his receptiveness to spiritualism.{{sfn|Slotten|2004|p=236}} Other scholars have emphasised his desire to find scientific explanations for all phenomena.<ref name="Belief and Spiritualism"/>{{sfn|Shermer|2002|pp=199–201}} In 1874, Wallace visited the spirit photographer [[Frederick Hudson (photographer)|Frederick Hudson]]. He declared that a photograph of him with his deceased mother was genuine.{{sfn|Wallace|1875|pp=190–191}} Others reached a different conclusion: Hudson's photographs had previously been exposed as fraudulent in 1872.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCabe |first=Joseph |year=1920 |title=Spiritualism: A Popular History from 1847 |publisher=[[Dodd, Mead and Company]] |page=157 |oclc=2683858 }}</ref>

Wallace's public advocacy of spiritualism and his repeated defence of spiritualist mediums against allegations of fraud in the 1870s damaged his scientific reputation. In 1875 he published the evidence he believed proved his position in ''On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism''.{{sfn|Wallace|1875|p=v}} His attitude permanently strained his relationships with previously friendly scientists such as [[Henry Walter Bates|Henry Bates]], [[Thomas Huxley]], and even Darwin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/scientific-resources/collections/library-collections/wallace-letters-online/index.html |title=Wallace Letters Online |last=Wallace |first=Alfred Russel |date=16 November 2010 |website=The Alfred Russel Wallace Correspondence Project}} See Wallace's letters dated 22 November and 1 December 1866 to Thomas Huxley, and Huxley's reply that he was not interested.</ref>{{sfn|Slotten|2004|pp=298–351}} Others, such as the physiologist [[William Benjamin Carpenter]] and zoologist [[E. Ray Lankester]] became publicly hostile to Wallace over the issue. Wallace was heavily criticised by the press; ''[[The Lancet]]'' was particularly harsh.{{sfn|Slotten|2004|pp=298–351}} When, in 1879, Darwin first tried to rally support among naturalists to get a civil pension awarded to Wallace, [[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Joseph Hooker]] responded that "Wallace has lost caste considerably, not only by his adhesion to Spiritualism, but by the fact of his having deliberately and against the whole voice of the committee of his section of the British Association, brought about a discussion on Spiritualism at one of its sectional meetings&nbsp;... This he is said to have done in an underhanded manner, and I well remember the indignation it gave rise to in the B.A. Council."{{sfn|Slotten|2004|pp=357–358}}{{sfn|Shermer|2002|p=274}} Hooker eventually relented and agreed to support the pension request.{{sfn|Slotten|2004|p=362}}