The incident is used as a cautionary tale among scientists on the dangers of error introduced by experimenter bias. N rays were cited as an example of pathological science by Irving Langmuir. Nearly identical properties of an equally unknown radiation had been recorded about 50 years before in another country by Carl Reichenbach in his treatise "Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, Heat, Light, Crystallization, and Chemical Attraction in their relations to the Vital Force" in 1850, and before that in Vienna by Franz Mesmer in his "Mémoire on the Discovery of Animal-Magnetism" in 1779. It is clear that Reichenbach was aware of Mesmer's work and that researchers in Paris working with Blondlot were aware of Reichenbach's work, although there is no proof that Blondlot was personally aware of it.