ABSTRACT
Mystery and controversy surround the medium Daniel Dunglas Home to this day. He has been called a ‘parasite’ because of the way he never had to earn his living but instead enjoyed a peripatetic existence as the guest of other, richer people. However, this was very much the aristocratic code of hospitality and one, moreover, that men of science themselves used during annual meetings of the British Association when they were guests of local scientists, landowners and bigwigs. Men of science and their wives were bedded, breakfasted and dined in exchange for discussions about work in progress or advice on and admiration for the owner’s collections of specimens. By the same token, Home stayed as a roving guest in exchange for the entertainment he was able to provide by way of mystifying and providing consoling messages to owners of grand houses and their guests.
