Rufus Osgood Mason

Rufus Osgood Mason (January 22, 1830, in Sullivan, New Hampshire – May 11, 1903, in New York City) was a physician, surgeon, and teacher and an early researcher in parapsychology and hypnotherapy.

Biography

Mason was the son of Rufus and Prudence (Woods) Mason. He prepared for college at Thetford, Vermont, and later graduated from Dartmouth College in 1854. He then entered Union Theological Seminary (1854–1855) before moving to medicine. In 1859, he graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City (now a part of Columbia University). He became one of the most noted surgeons of his day in New York City.

During the American Civil War, he became an assistant surgeon for the United States Navy. From 1861 to 1864 he served on the USS Santiago de Cuba. In 1864 he took up medical practice in New York City, where he was attending physician at Northwestern Dispensary until 1869.

Works

Telepathy and the Subliminal Self (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1897)