Notice to the Reader

by distorting them, that envy, presumption, and incredulity have succeeded in a short time in placing them in the rank of illusions, and causing them to fall into oblivion.

I have vainly endeavored to bring them back to life through a multiplicity of facts; prejudices have prevailed, and the truth has been sacrificed. But, it is asked today, in what does this discovery consist? — how did you arrive at it? — what ideas can one form of its advantages? — and why have you not enriched your fellow citizens with it? Such are the questions that have been put to me since my stay in Paris The author likely refers to his arrival in Paris to seek official recognition for his theories on Animal Magnetism, by