I am not a medical doctor. Therefore I am considered a psychologist." A rather devious answer, I thought, but I let it pass. I was reminding myself that Michael, who was nobody's fool, had been impressed by this man. I could not help wondering why Van Zant was not creating a similarly favorable impression upon me. I pressed on: "So you would say that mesmerism is . . . what? An inferior form of hypnotism? A trick?" "Or a fraud, or charlatanism. Mesmerism has gone the way of vaudeville, not the way of science, Miss Jones. If that is why you wished to consult me, because of some misguided interest in an outmoded, often deceptive practice, then I fear you have come to the wrong place." "No, I do not think I have come to the wrong place at all," I said, summoning a smile, "because I desire to be educated and you are educating me. Michael, Mr. Kossoff, told me you have acquired something of a reputation for debunking fraudulent Spiritualist practices in the East. Have you been involved in any of those same activities since your arrival in San Francisco, Dr.
