James Burns (1835 – 1894) was a Scottish spiritualist, naturopath, journalist, vegetariansm activist and publisher.

The son of a poor Ayrshire smallholder-craftsman, Burns became a gardener at Hampton Court in his late teens.

[3] In 1875, Burns published Alfred Russel Wallace's book On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism.

The project did not prosper but Burns was acknowledged by the British Nature Cure Association as the "Late prominent Naturopathic Evangelist.

Burns opposed the dietary views of Emmet Densmore which he described as an "anti-vegetarian quackery system".