Oliver Wendell Holmes was a poet and novelist, but as the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ says: “In 1843 he published his essay on the _Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever_, which stirred up a fierce controversy and brought upon him bitter personal abuse, but he maintained his position with dignity, temper and judgment, and in time was honored as the discoverer of a beneficent truth.” It was about the same time that Semmelweiss was making similar observations, but he did not take preventive measures until 1847, and Lister came still later. S. Weir Mitchell was one of the most prominent novelists of America at the close of the 19th century, but he was also conspicuous as a neurologist and member of many scientific societies. The mentality of a man cannot be determined by his profession or by his prevailing occupation. Mendel, who influenced biology hardly less than did Darwin, was a monk and an abbot. Copernicus, who revolutionized solar astronomy, was canon of a cathedral, and astronomy was only his avocation. A thing _is_ as it acts. An automobile is a good automobile if it behaves as an automobile should. We shall see how Mr. Sinclair carried on his experiments and how he reported them. At times he pursued a defective method, but he was aware of the fact and reports it, while certain technically scientific investigators of telepathy and other matters have not seemed even to be aware of their mistakes. Footnote 2: From earlier correspondence and other sources, Mr. Sinclair was quite aware that the man to whom he was sending the materials is hard-boiled enough to reject them and drop the whole case or report on it adversely if the results of examination were unsatisfactory. Footnote 3: In some cases it might be necessary to increase rigidity of the conditions gradually, as friendly confidence and ease of the percipient became better established. It is futile to ignore the fact that nervous excitement and mental unrest are unfavorable to success. Footnote 4: For example, in 1906 Mr. Sinclair assisted the Government in the investigation of the Chicago stockyards. Footnote 5: [Historical reference deleted.] Footnote 6: If there are those who think there is no value in knowing something of the make-up of the chief witnesses in this case, I emphatically do not agree with them. That such knowledge is not absolutely determinative is, of course, true.