Tin foil hat replaced with aluminium. An early allusion to an "insulative electrical contrivance encircling the head during thought" appears in the unusual 1909 non-fiction publication "Atomic Consciousness" by self-proclaimed "seer" John Palfrey (aka "James Bathurst") who believed such headgear was not effective for his "retention of thoughts and ideas" against a supposed "telepathic impactive impingement". The usage of a metal foil hat for protection against interference of the mind was mentioned in a science fiction short story by Julian Huxley, "The Tissue-Culture King", first published in 1926, in which the protagonist discovers that "caps of metal foil" can block the effects of
Foil (fencing) or fastening a knob on the point ("blossom", French "fleuret"). In addition to practising, some fencers took away the protection and used the sharp foil for duels. German students took up that practice in academic fencing and developed the "Pariser" ("Parisian") thrusting small sword for the "Stoßmensur" ("thrusting mensur"). The target area for modern foil is said to come from a time when fencing was practised with limited safety equipment. Another factor in the target area is that foil rules are derived from a period when dueling to the death was the norm. Hence, the favoured target area is the