Mesmerists Manual 00 Bart
Mesmerists Manual 00 Bart
Mesmerists Manual 00 Bart
PUBLISHED BY H. BAILLIERE,
219, REGENT STREET, LONDON
;
AND 169, FULTON STREET, NEW YORK, U.S.
ASHBURNER
(JOHN). Facts in Clairvoyance, with Obser-
vations on Mesmerism, and its Application to the Philosophy
> of Medicine, and to the Cure of Diseases. 8,vo. London, 1848. Is.
DELEUZE.
Practical Instruction on Animal Magnetism.
Translated by Thomas Hartshorn. Fourth Edition. With
l Notes, and a Life, bv Dr. Foissac. 12mo. London, 1850.
I
4s. 6d.
REICHENBACH
(BARON CHARLES). Physico-Physiolo-
gical Researches on the Dynamics of Magnetism, Electricity,
? Heat, Light, Crystallization, and Chemism, in their Relations to
\ Vital Force. The Complete Work from the German, Second
\
Edition, with Additions, a Preface, and Critical Notes. By
\
John Ashburner, M.D. 8vo. with Woodcuts, and one Plate.
> London, 1850. 15*.
"
Dr. Ashburner has made the book particularly interesting by
his Notes. Some of them are exceedingly curious, and they all
\
give evidence of unparalleled industry and talent in the investiga-
tion of a subject not immediately productive either of wealth or
I professional influence."
quite
enough to enable me to form an opinionand I declare
that I would not permit a person ignorant of the mes-
meric conditions and phenomena to practise upon my
wife or one of my children, unless I was present to
direct and control the operation. That which I would
not like done to my own I cannot recommend as proper
to be done to others. The query here suggests,
"
Why
would you not permit an ignorant person to practise ?
what harm could he do ? can persons be injured by the
application of mesmerism?" My reply is, "That there
are some few persons, of exceedingly delicate and sen-
sitive nervous temperament, who might be seriously
inconvenienced, and probably injured, by an improper
application of the mesmeric influence." I cannot pos-
B
2 MESMERISM.
sibly conceive or believe that a perfectly healthy and
competent operator, who already knows what he ought
to dowhat end he proposes to obtainhow best to
accomplish that endunderstands the peculiar abnormal
state he may induce on his subjecthow to control and
manage that stateand how to restore the patient to
his natural state,I cannot conceive that such operator
is at all likely even to inconvenience his patient. It is
not the operation of the instructed but of the uninformed
mesmeriser which might be injurious to the subject of
the experiment. The particular sort of mischief to be
apprehended I will explain in my subsequent pages.
Fortunately, the information necessary to qualify a
person for a safe and proper mesmeriser is not difficult
of acquisition. I hope in the following chapters to
succeed in placing much that it is needful the mesmeric
operator should know before the reader, and in so plain
and simple a form that he will not have any difficulty
in comprehending it. I advise all who wish to exercise
the art to make acquaintance with practical mesmer-
isers,
N
That in man there sits enthroned a noble energy, whereby
he is endowed with a capacity to act, extra se, without and
beyond the narrow territories of himself, and by the natural
magic of his will enabled to transmit a subtile and invisible
virtue, a certain influence that operates upon an object at a
very great distance,"
And to this magnetic or will principle he alone attri-
butes curative powers, and not, as is often stated, to
an artificial or extraneous magnet of any kind.
Van Helmont also anticipated the soul-seeing powers
*
Translated
by Dr. Walter Charlton, Physician to King
Charles I., under the title of
"
A Ternary of Paradoxes," and
published in 4to.,
1650, who in the prologomena expressly styles
the work a
"
Theory of Magnetism, or the secret power of
natural actives working on analogous and determinate passives,
by invisible emanations or influential energy transmissive to
remote distances."
f
"
Disquisitionum Magicarum," 3 vols. 4to., 1617.
8 HISTORY.
of Davis, Madame Hauffe, and others
;
and in the 13th
section of his treatise
"
On the Vision of the Soul,"
relates that
"
Having panted incessantly for eighteen years with an
intense desire of knowing the nature of his soul,
'
in a vision he
had a sight of his soul,' in the figure of a man whose whole was
homogeneous, actively discerning, a substance spiritual, crystal-
line, and lucent by its own native splendour, but enshrined in a
second nubilous part, as the husk or exterior cortex of itself."
The first distinct early work on the subject is Dr.
Robert Fludd's Mosaical Philosophy, originally pub-
lished in Latin in 1574
;
and of which an English
translation was published in 1659. Mesmer was
deemed by many of his disciples to have obtained his
knowledge of the subject from this work. The word
magnetic was already used by Van Helmont, and Mes-
mer used the term animal magnetism to designate the
power or force. Mesmer considered the effects produced
to be attributable to a universally-pervading magnetic
element, and invented a system which he enunciated
in twenty-seven propositions, embodying his ideas of
its principles. Some of these ideas were possibly
original, some probably borrowed from the predecessors
referred to. The truth of many of his propositions is
at the present time well established ; of a few we may
say, in an apposite quotation,
"
not ascertained, perhaps
doubtful, but not as yet disproved." Any magnetist
reading these propositions will perceive that Mesmer
had well studied his subject; but he has been con-
sidered to have introduced, in its practice, addenda
which tended to confuse and mystify, rather than
increase its efficacy. Be this as it may, Mesmer made
many cures, and caused a popular belief in animal
magnetism to spread.
I have now before me a volume of magazines pub-
lished in London in 1790, containing three articles
upon animal magnetism, from the tenor of which it is
quite plain that not only the curative power thereof was
HISTORY.
well known, but clairvoyant states as well understood
as at present. Dr. Sibley, in a curious work on physi-
ology and pathology, published towards the end of the
last century, devotes a whole section to the cure of
diseases by animal magnetism. Dr. Bell, in 1792,
published a theory of animal magnetism. Dr. de
Mainaduc is considered to have introduced the sub-
ject under the name of animal magnetism into England
in 1787. Mr. Holloway, who was a clerk in the Bank
of England, and brother of the celebrated engraver, is
reputed to have acquired a respectable fortune by prac-
tising and teaching the art before the present century
commenced. I lately was favoured by a visit from a
lady who practised mesmerism for the cure of rheu-
matism and some other diseases sixty years ago. She
was a pupil of Holloway's, and informed me that the
grandfather of the present Charles Mathews, the come-
dian, was a fellow pupil. I also know of a lady,
residing at the present time near to town, who was
cured of a canceror an alleged cancer
by
mesmerism
fifty years ago, in London.
A commission was appointed in France in 1784, by
order of the king, Louis XVL, to enquire into and
report on the subject. Amongst the men who com-
posed it were the great Benjamin Franklin, Lavoisier
the chemist, and others of acknowledged celebrity in
literature and science. How far these men were com-
petent for the task imposed upon them is matter of
opinion, which will be decided differently by those
who support and those who refuse to entertain the
system. Men may be good chemists, able natural
philosophers, and conversant with physiology to the
full extent to which it is taught in the best schools,
and yet be incompetent to serve as impartial jurymen
on a subject which their peculiar knowledge does not
reveal,nay, they may become prejudiced against a
subject which does not appear to harmonize with their
previous experiences. Their report has been considered
10 HISTORY.
as having exploded the system
;
this is an error. They
seem to have admitted certain of the facts presented,
but denied the theory on which it was presumed the
facts could be explained. One of their number, the
celebrated botanist Jussieu, who had paid great atten-
tion to the proceedings, refused to sign the report,
drew up a counter report, in which he declares, from
the experiments he had witnessed and made, his con-
viction not only of the truth of the facts averred, but
that there was some force or action of one organism
upon another, by which the effects were induced.
Notwithstanding this report being on the whole unfa-
vourable, mesmerism continued to spread in Germany,
France, and other parts of the continent. It was
also introduced and practised as a curative agent in this
country ; but I suppose had no advocate at that time
who was able or willing to promulgate its use and
truth, consequently it was known but to few.
In 1825, a second French commission was appointed
to examine and report on the subject of animal mag-
netism. They met in 1826 and continued their in-
vestigations until 1831, when they made their report,
which was signed by nine physiciansmembers of the
commission. This report, which is drawn up with
considerable ability, confirms the reality of all, or
nearly all the phenomena contended for by mesmerists.
It is too long to quote entire, but a few extracts may
be interesting. The commissioners say, in Article
"
8.A certain number of the effects observed have seemed
to us to depend on magnetism alone, and are not reproduced
without it. These are well attested physiological and thera-
peutical phenomena."
"
9.The real effects produced by magnetism are very va-
ried; it disturbs some, tranquillises others; most usually it
causes the momentary acceleration of the respiration and circu-
lation; temporary convulsive movements of the fibres, resembling
electric shocks ; stupor, more or less profound ; somnolence
;
and, in a small number of cases, that which magnetisers call
somnambulism.
'
'
HISTORY.
}1
"
13.
Sleep brought on with more or less readiness, and
established to a degree more or less profound, is a real but not
a constant effect of magnetism."
"
14.We are satisfied that it has been excited under circum-
stances where those magnetised could not see, and were entirely
ignorant of the means employed to occasion it."
"
16.
D.
Most of the somnambulists that we have seen
were completely insensible. One might tickle their feet, nos-
trils, and the angle of the eyes by the approach of a feather,
pinch their skin so as to produce ecchymosis, prick it under the
nails with pins put in to a considerable depth, without their
evincing any pain, or being at all aware of it. In a word, we
have seen one person who was insensible to one of the most
painful operations of surgery, and whose countenance, pulse, or
respiration did not manifest the slightest emotion."
"29.
Considered as an agent of physiological phenomena, or
as a therapeutical means, magnetism must find its place in the
cadre of medical knowledge, and consequently medical men only
should practise it, or watch and superintend its employment, as
is done in the northern countries."
The commissioners, in concluding their report, ask
if they have used proper precautions to avoid being
taken by surprise
;
whether, with their feeling of con-
stant distrust in the examination of phenomena, they
have scrupulously performed their duty to the Academy
of Medicine, who appointed them, and to themselves.
They reply in the affirmative : they say
"
With what distrust more marked, or more cautious, could
we have been influenced? Our conscience has answered us aloud
that you could expect nothing from us which we have not done.
Then we have been honest, accurate, faithful observers."
"
. Certainly we do not presume to make you share our
conviction regarding the reality of the phenomena observed by
us, and which you have neither seen nor followed, nor studied
with us, and as we did."
"
We do not, then, claim from you a blind credence in all
that we have reported. We conceive that a considerable portion
of these facts are so extraordinary that you cannot grant it to
us
;
probably we ourselves would presume to refuse you ours,
if you came to announce them at this tribunal to us, who, like
you, had neither seen, observed, nor studied any of them."
"
All wc require is, that you judge us as wo should judge
12 HISTORY.
you ; that is, that you will be convinced that neither the love
of the marvellous, nor the desire of celebrity, nor any interest
whatever has guided us in our labours. We were animated by
motives of a loftier character, more worthy of you,
by
the love
of science, and by the necessity of justifying the hopes which
the Academy had entertained of our zeal and our devotion."
The whole of this report is worthy perusal, and will
be found in Teste's Manual
of
Animal Magnetism,
which may be obtained at Bailliere's. There is also an
English translation of Teste's work, by Dr. Spillan, to
be had from the same publisher. The cautious spirit
which pervades it would lead one to believe that the
commissioners gave an assent, rather reluctant than
otherwise, to the truth of the phenomena which had
been presented for investigation. The plain matter-of-
fact manner in which they express their opinion, so
different from that which would characterise the style
of the enthusiastic supporters and advocates of the
system, entitles this report, when we also consider the
men from whom it emanated, to the respect and credit
of their professional brotherhood in this country. We
may wonder nowand our posterity certainly will
per-
ceived not the vapour of strong ammonia or Scotch
snuff applied to her nose, she still evinced consciousness
if it were addressed through her sense of hearing. I
have, after Emma had been subjected to these tests with-
out any signs of perception being apparent, designedly
addressed to Mrs. P., the matron in attendance, re-
marks calculated to wound poor Emma's feelings, such
as
"
that I thought her deceitful and ungrateful
;
doubted if she were modest and virtuous : believed
38 MESMERIC SLEEP.
she could see, and shammed blindness," and such like.
On uttering these observations the expression of grief
and vexation on her countenance was most strikingly-
marked, and plainly showed that she both heard and
understood me. Again, changing the subject, I would
observe
"
that I did not mean the previous observa-
tions
;
that I was only in fun when I spoke ; that I
really thought her a good little girla modest girl;
that she certainly was very pretty and just now looked
particularly interesting," and so forth in this strain.
Presently the look of grief would give place to one
indicating pleasure, and even when much gratified a
smile would be present on her face. I would then
desire Mrs. P., her attendant, to undress her and put
her to bed, not to mind my presence ; or say something
to the matron which, under ordinary circumstances, I
would not have repeated in the presence of any young
unmarried woman. Here again the red suffusion of
Emma's neck and face, her deep blushing, plainly
indicated that I was heard; and if I spoke of her
being undressed, a frown told she disapproved of any
such procedure. Having thus tested her power of
hearing and consciousness as still remaining, I deep-
ened her state by two or three strong passes before her.
Now on testing, there was no indication of auditory
perception left; and beyond this state I could not
advance. These experiments were repeated almost
daily for the month, and always with the like results.
I have also obtained the same effects in other cases
;
but this one may suffice as an example.
When we have succeeded in apparently getting our
patient into mesmeric sleep, we should not be in too
great a hurry to awaken him ; nor should we at first
attempt to speak to him ; we should calmly allow the
state to which he may be predisposed to develope
itself, undisturbed by any needless interference on the
part of the mesmeriser. I have often seen patients
who were fast verging into unconscious sleep aroused
MESMERIC SLEE1'. 39
by some trifling noise or interference, and great diffi-
culty has been experienced afterwards to re-induce a
similar state.
If the patient sleeps soundly and there be no urgent
necessity for awakening him, leave the sleep to expend
itself; this it will, in the majority of cases, do in an
hour or twoand you can ascertain the character and
intensity of the sleep the next time that you mesmerise
him. If, however, it be necessary to arouse him be-
fore the sleep passes off, you can take the opportunity
to ascertain the state which you have induced, as he
must be disturbed under the contingent circumstances
at any rate. Every practised mesmeriser has his own
mode of ascertaining the state induced, and if the
means he employs are not mischievous or troublesome
to the patient, the particular method is matter of little
importance. As I write not for experienced operators
but for the inexperienced, I may subjoin, as a guide,
my own mode of proceeding. My patient has been
placed in a comfortable posture, which he has quietly
retained for the period during which he has appeared
to be asleep. His hands are in an easy position, beside
or before him. I raise one hand and suddenly let it
fall if it will. If it fall like a lump of inert matter the
probability is that my subject has entered into mes-
meric sleepif it remain as it were suspended where I
left it, it is either catalepsed or rigid, and the same
probability holds. I now attempt to raise an eyelid
;
if the lid is strongly closed and resists my slight effort
to elevate it, I desist; if I succeed in observing the
eye, and it is either staring unconsciously, or it is
convulsively turned upwards, the white portion of the
orb only visiblein either case I have an additional
proof that my patient sleeps. On these trials, should
the patient replace his hand in its previous or some
new position, or shut his eye as it were voluntarily, and
give evidence of being disturbed by my testing expe-
riments, he is not in deep sleep, and as I am about to
40 MESMERIC SLEEP.
arouse him it is useless to pursue any other testing
process. I apprize him that he sleeps, by telling him
so, and that I am about to awaken him. He probably
knows that he is not asleep, though in a sleepy or
drowsy condition, and can awaken himself without my
assistance. I, nevertheless, proceed to demesmerise
him as if he really required it, and presently declare
him awake again and enquire if he feels sufficiently so.
I have a purpose in doing this : he has been made
somnolent and might remain so for some time if I did
not dissipate the mesmeric effect; I also create an
impression in his mind that a demesmerising process is
necessary to restore him from the induced stateand
the impression thus created may assist at a future
operation, unconsciously to him, in aid of my intention
when he may really need demesmerisingthe act of
awakening and the demesmerising process becoming
mentally associated.
Should he, however, really appear to be soundly
asleep, I seldom test him rigorously on the first
occasion, I reserve this for a second or third oppor-
tunity, when the state to which he is predisposed shall
have been properly established. We must remember
that although in some cases patients pass at once into a
perfect mesmeric state, in the majority of instances
their ultimate state is only determined after several
mesmeric operationsand until it is established our
interference may hinder its development. I dwell
upon this point because, as is well known to expe-
rienced mesmerisers, young operators sometimes do
mischief by their impatient curiosity; they should
practise self-restraint and never be in any hurry. I
speak from personal experience, having myself, when
I knew not better, done that which I now caution my
readers against. When, on a future occasion, the
patient passes quickly and easily into his sleep, we
may proceed to ascertain his statebut cautiously and
gently, not rudely and roughly. We can only know
MESMERIC SLEEP. 41
how many of his senses are in abeyance by appealing
to these senses. If he remain quiet and does not
disturb himself when we disturb himif tickling his
ears and nose with a feather, his hands and the soles
of his feet, does not incommode him, we may safely
infer that he does not feel it and can try a smart pinch
or two. If he appears insensible to this we can apply
our tests more decidedly, but we must never forget
that although he does not feel the pain now he may feel
it when awakened, if we have been trying him too
sharply ; we should not therefore take advantage of
his helpless state and inflict an injury which he would
resent or refuse to permit were he awake, or which we
would not choose to have inflicted on our own persons
if in the same condition. When the sleep is induced
to cure disease it is not necessary that we should do
so
;
but if it be induced that the subject may be fit to
undergo a surgical operation unconsciously, we are then
justified in employing a sufficiently severe test to war-
rant us in submitting him to the knife and asserting
that he is capable of undergoing the operation without
feeling pain.
Every adherent to the truths of mesmerism who has
undertaken to become a practical expositor of its phe-
nomena should bear in mind that he owes a sacred
duty, not only to his subject, but to the cause
;
and
therefore sedulously guard himself from falling into
errors either of omission or commission which might
be used to weaken or impair the belief in its utility or
efficiency. Whilst the truths of mesmerism have to
overcome so great an amount, not only of dishonest
medical hostility, but of honestthough ignorant
pulls
with the force of a locomotive engine. This is a homely
comparison but not an untrue one.
No class of experiments should be more interesting
to the physician than the impression of various mes-
meric phenomena on subjects in their waking state, as
the subjects can then describe their sensations and
there is no reason to suspect them the effects of imagi-
nation or dreamy hallucinations. Not only can the
cerebral organs be aroused into excessive activity,
but the mesmeriser's power can, in many subjects,
designedly induce a temporary paralysis of some one
or all of the senses, or of voluntary power. The
patient's arms or legs may be made as rigid as if hewn
from marble, or his jaws locked ; or he may be fixed
in his seat without any power of rising from it. He
can be forcibly drawn from a distance to the operator
by his traction, or repelled by his repulsive gestures.
These and various similar experiments are amusing
enough when merely seen from motives of idle curi-
osity, and ignorant persons may witness them, deem it
"
all very funny," see nothing otherwise interesting, and
be excused in consequence of their ignorance ; but what
can be said of the physician?for the man who has
received a medical education who, on examining
these wonderful phenomena, does not at once perceive
48
MESMERIC WAKING STATE.
that such a power must necessarily have an important
relation to the cure of disease ? Will he not think that
the power which can lock a jaw and then unlock it
deprive of hearing and then restore the faculty
probably it was
so. I am only stating as a fact that some sleep-wakers
believe they see and converse with spirits : I do not
state it as a fact that they really do so. When I see
the spirits with my material eyes, and can at pleasure
show them to the material eyes of others, I shall be
fairly entitled to assert their appearance as a natural
fact ; until then the declarations made of their presence
by sleep-wakers can only be received as their declara-
tions. Our belief respecting it is a matter of faith,
which a man has an undoubted right to entertain for
himself, but no right to thrust as a fact upon any
other man.
The possession of a power by some sleep-wakers of
foreseeing and predicting the future, may be accepted
as a well-ascertained and established truth. We can
receive the truth without being able to account for it,
just as we are in the habit of receiving the truth of
various natural phenomena without being enabled to
explain them.
F
(
6G
)
ECSTASY.
Some few sleep-wakers pass into a variety of the
state of a very remarkable character. It has been
known for centuries to occur as it were spontaneously
in isolated instances ; and at times and in certain com-
munities large numbers of personsespecially children
and femaleshave been subject to the phenomena
and conditions of this state, which has been called
ecstasy. Mesmerisers occasionally have cases of
ecstasy presented amongst their patients, but it is not
in general of frequent occurrence,^ although it appears
that some operators produce it more frequently than
others. It is a sleep-waking state of a highly-exalted
character, in which the faculties of clairvoyance, know-
ledge of the past, and prophecy are sometimes especially
well developedsometimes totally absent ; but the
subjects of this state believe that they are not any
longer in the body, or are not seeing as persons but as
spirits. Many declare that they see and hold converse
with spirits; and in this state the subjects are generally
quite indifferent as to their bodily health or circum-
stances
-
T
they have or fancy they have a foretaste of
the happiness which they may enjoy in a spiritual life
'
T
they declare they see most lovely visions of beautiful
spirits, of gardens, flowers, places and scenery, which
fill them with indescribable delight, and only regret
that they cannot remain ever amongst them ; for though
they describe them as visions, they steadily insist upon
their reality and that they are walking amidst these
scenes. The usual feature of ecstasy is abstraction
from all external or worldly matters
;
there is perfect
unconsciousness to feeling and other sensational im-
ECSTASY. 67
pressions, excepting the voice of the mesmeriser ; the
subject is wholly absorbed in religious contemplation,
and the only matters which he willingly discourses
about relate to the life after death and the happiness
which awaits those who have lived a good life. The
countenance of the ecstatic also sometimes undergoes
a remarkable changea change so extraordinary that
no mere description would convey an adequate idea
of it. I had formerly two patients in whom this
peculiarity was especially prominent. I knew that
they were the same parties whom I had mesmerised,
and they had the same hair and clothes on
;
but I cannot
say that they had the same faces apparently. I was
aware of course that they had not changed faces with
any body or spirit either, but they had assumed a new
character and expression of face which gave it the
appearance of a new face. One patient was a highly-
educated, accomplished, and seriously-disposed lady;
tall, well formed, and handsome. The other was a
respectably-connected, innocent, simple-minded little
girl, of some eighteen or nineteen years, with good
features, but pale and sickly looking. The one, when
the ecstasy invaded, rose from her recumbent position
on the sofa in the most graceful and elegant manlier
imaginable, and assumed a kneeling attitude on the
sofa, the hands placed with the palms together, as if in
prayer, and face turned upwards. Unconnected sen-
tences and ejaculations in a whisper occasionally escaped
her
;
such as,
"
Oh ! beautiful place ! Oh ! beautiful
angels ! How I long to be there with you ! Oh ! if I
could but get there, what delight
!"
If I separated her
hands and put them down she gently and quietly placed
them together in their previous position, but her body
remained rigid. I could not easily, or by any force I
used, bend it out of the kneeling position. When
awake or in common sleep-waking, she had no memory
whatsoever of this portion of her state.
The little girl always remained in the recumbent
f 2
68 ECSTASY.
position, but placed her palms together and elevated
the hands. Her countenance was more beautiful in
this state than the lady's, and being naturally less
handsome, the change was more astounding. I may
seem to be writing in an extravagant strain,it is not
so ; for the change of countenance was so extraordinary
that I could hardlymatter-of-fact man as I amlook
on without feeling a sensation of awe. She never spoke
or moved when in this condition, but complained of
being recalled from it when demesmerised. She had
some memory when awake of having been in a most
beautiful place, so beautiful she could not describe it,
and that she greatly regretted having to leave it as
she was so happy there.
I have had cases when the patient has retained a
distinct remembrance of this ecstatic dream when per-
fectly restored to the normal waking state, although
the patient would not allow that it was a dream, but
would insist that it was a reality ; nor am I, indi-
vidually, disposed to treat it as a mere hallucination
;
others have an undoubted right to consider it such if
they please.
Some amount of care on the part of the mesmeriser
is necessary in managing ecstatics ; if allowed to
remain too long in the state, they may get so deep as
to be no longer subject to his control ; he may then
be not able to awaken them, and although the patient
will eventually awaken spontaneously, it is a circum-
stance which causes much anxiety and inconvenience.
I think, as a general rule, that a duration of twenty
or thirty minutes is long enough for patients to be in
this state at one time.
(
69
)
MISCELLANEOUS PHENOMENA.
The other phenomena which are presented by per-
sons under mesmeric influence are Traction, Catalepsy,
Rigidity, Apparent Adhesion, Transposition of the
Senses, Phreno-mesmerism, Nervous and Cerebral
Sympathy or Transfer of Sensation and Thought,
and Dominance of the Volition of the operator over
the will of the subject. Some one or other of these
phenomena may be produced upon subjects in either
mesmeric state. In the deep sleep patients are often
so wholly unconscious that they can neither feel nor
respond to the mesmeriser's action ; but traction may
be sometimes educed, and rigidity and catalepsy are
common in the deep sleep. Many persons are or may
be made so sensible of mesmeric impressions that they
become most beautiful expositors of these phenomena
whilst in the natural waking state. The sleep-waking
state is that in which they are most frequently pre-
sented and easily brought out, especially that degree
of it when the subject has rather a tendency to sleep
than to waking
;
when he is sleeping and passive until
he feels the influence, and merely arouses into sleep-
waking to give expression to the influence communi-
cated by the mesmeriser.
TRACTION
Is when a part or the whole person of the subject may
be drawn towards the operator by tractive motions,
-just as the
power of singing is ; but all men do not sing equally
well, neither is the same singer at all times equally
capable of singing. The essential requisites to con-
stitute a good mesmeriser are sound physical health
and a peculiar cerebral organisation. Unless the
operator possesses good health he cannot communicate
it to others. He should also have so much strength as
will enable him to mesmerise without impairing his
own health by his endeavours to benefit others.
The power exercised in the act of mesmerising is
generally of a mixed charactermental and physical.
The mesmeriser who would excel as an operator should
have large Firmness and Combativeness ; these give
him energy and determination to accomplish his purpose
without them he could not persevere in his efforts
;
full Concentrativeness,this enables him to keep his
efforts directed to the object desired; Self-esteem gives
him confidence in his own power
;
and active Benevo-
lence determines him to exercise his power for its
legitimate usethe good of others. This last faculty
is all essential to form a good mesmeriser. In order to
comfort and cure those who are sick and suffering it
is needful to have good health, patience, and perse-
verance, and an earnest desire to do them good, with a
belief in the power or ability to serve them. As far as
my own experience goeswhich is confirmed by the
experience of othersit is by no means a matter of
indifference who operates. Some mesmerisers are very
successful in bringing out marvellous physical and
psychical phenomena and yet are no more fortunate in
curing diseases than others who possess not, or never
attempt to exercise, the wonder-working faculty. It
is also believed by many mesmerisers of great expe-
rience, that a certain physical and mental organisation
of the mesmeriser is necessary to cure certain diseases.
MESMERIC PROCESSES. 87
Some mesmcriscrs readily and generally induce deep
sleep on their patients ; others never induce the deep
sleep, but make all who do sleep sleep-wakers and
clairvoyants. I am perfectly convinced that instead of
it being a matter of indifference who is selected as a
mesmeriser, that it is a matter of PRIMARY and
ESSENTIAL IMPORTANCE. The treatment of
many cases, especially those of a nervous character,
often perplexes old experienced operators
;
they some-
times, with all possible care and precaution, fail in
inducing comforting and advantageous states in their
patients; sometimes matters appearing to be indifferent
or of no consequence do produce very serious and
distressing effects. In such cases it is absurd to
.suppose that an ignorant operatoras a servantwho
has been merely shown how to make mesmeric passes
can be a proper mesmeriser, however healthy and
well-intentioned he may be. It may be well that
suffering persons try mesmerism from an inexperienced
operator, rather than abandon their cases as hopeless,
after trying every other means of cure ; the treatment
may succeed and if it fail may be nothing worse than
an unsuccessful experiment. As far as the individual
patient is concerned this may be the end of the trial
that I looked at
them and willed sleep and they became speedily quiet
and slept.
This power is not without its use. Every natural
power whatsoever is given to man for some use
;
the
Great Giver of Good gives his creatures no vain gift
;
the creature who receives is responsible to the Giver
for the use which he makes of the gift, and therefore
the exercise of this power is right or is wrong just as
we use it.
FI
98 MESMERIC PROCESSES.
I may be in error, but I attribute to this power the
possibility of influencing persons and causing them to
sleep the mesmeric sleep when at a distance from the
operator. That a person at a distance of many miles,
and wholly unconscious of the experiment made upon
him, can be put into a mesmeric sleep or state by the
action of another is I confess a startling assertion to
makea
"
mesmeric wonder" not easy to believe. It
is nevertheless a most positive and well-ascertained
factone which I have had ample proof of in my own
experienceand which can be confirmed by the expe-
rience of others whose veracity it would be dishonest
to attempt denying. For I hold it to be a breach of
rectitude and common honesty to affirm or to assert
indirectly that a man of character, whose word would
be received as truth on indifferent matters, is guilty of
falsehood when he narrates a circumstance which
merely appears impossible because new and strange
to the man who is ignorant of the subject. I could
give many instances of the success of this power from
the experiences of others, but refrain purposely from
extending the limits of this little volume, excepting to
give one or two of my own, which really belong to
me, and being original can be presented to the reader
as not borrowed from the writings of others.
"When I first determined to ascertain for myself if
the assertion of this power as made by others was
correct, I did not lose sight of the possibility of its
being exercised, if successfully, on a subject at an
improper time, or under injudicious circumstances.
The subject might be seated near the fire, and fall into
it when asleep, or might be affected when in a situation
in which success would be dangerous or prejudicial.
If I apprised my intended subject previously of my
intention, could I be sure that anticipation and imagi-
nation did not produce the effect? If I acquainted the
friends or attendants, might they not communicate
some impression of my purpose, and thus introduce
MESMERIC PROCESSES. !>9
an element of uncertainty? However, I selected a
case free from tlicse objections. I had a patient, Miss
M. M
,
who was very susceptible to mesmeric
influence, who resided about half a mile from me, and
who had regular aud peculiar habits which I was well
acquainted with. She was subject to fits ; had been
more kindly than wisely indulged in certain whims
;
and one of them was to sit up at night, attended by
a maid-servant only, when her parents and family had
retired to rest. I knew that towards midnight she was
always sitting talking to this servant, and did not
apprehend any danger if I did succeed in putting her
asleep at this time. I accordingly made the attempt
one night by willing it strongly, placing a chair before
me and making a few passes before her ideally, but
as if she had been really seated thereon. I mesmerised
for five minutes ; waited five minutes ; and then demes-
merised. Next morning the patient, attended by this
servant, came for a customary doze of mesmerism
;
and after she was asleep, the following colloquy
between the servant and myself ensued.
a
Well,
Anne, at what time did Miss M. go to bed last night?"
"
About half-past one, sir."
"
Ah ! that is bad
;
why
don't she go to bed as she ought to do
?" "
She won't
till she is sleepy, for master or mistress either."
u
Why, what do you amuse yourselves with
?" "
We.
don't do nothingwe don't amuse ourselves
;
I work
and make up my caps."
"
Does M go to sleep
?"
"
No, sir ; she is afraid to sleep, for fear a fit should
come ; she would never go to bed, if master did not
call down the stairs and scold at her."
"
Did she go
to sleep last night at all
?" "
No, not to speak of."
u
But did she at all ? I want to know if she ever does
sleep
?" "
She may sometimes
;
I don't always notice
her ; she was sleepy last night, when she was eating
some bread and butter for her supper. She said she
felt the same as when you mesmerise her, and laid her
head on the table, and dropped her victuals on the
h 2
100 MESMEEIC PROCESSES.
floor ; but I don't know that she slept. She soon got
up, and I had to cut her some more ; she would not
eat that for fear it was dirtied."
"
What o'clock was
it
?" "
Our clock had gone twelve." The time co-
incided with the time of my attempt ; and therefore it
seemed as if my attempt had been successful. But
one successful experiment of this sort is not a sufficient
proof. The concurrence of M.'s sleep and my operation
might have been accidental, though the probability of
my having induced it was somewhat strengthened by
her remark that she "felt as if I was mesmerising her."
I therefore repeated this experiment again and again,
and always with similar success,and yet did not feel
a certain amount of incredulity quite dissipated. The
time I chose was one when sleep might naturally
occur. If I selected an hour in the day, when I did
not know how my subject was engaged, I might do
some mischief.
However: one night, in 1845, we were visited by a
more than usually severe storm of thunder and light-
ning
;
it commenced before eleven o'clock and raged
terrifically for two hours. My patient's mother I knew
to be very timid at such storms, and that she would
not go to bed or allow her family to do so during the
storm. Here was a good opportunity to test my power.
Natural sleep, under the circumstances, was not to be
expected. At five minutes to twelveduring the
height of the stormI mesmerised my subject, our
relative distance apart being, as before stated, about
half a mile. I demesmerised at five minutes past
twelve. Next morning I enquired from Anne, "Did
M
go to sleep last night before she went to bed
?"
"
Mistress would not let any one go to sleep
;
she is
the wrong one for that when she is frightened, but I
think M went to sleep in the garden." " In the
garden ? how came she to be sleeping in the garden
?"
"
She wasn't sleeping in the garden but mistress told
her and I to go into the garden and see if the thunder
MESMERIC PROCESSES. 101
looked likely to go off; and while we were walking on
the gravel looking at the lightning M put her
head on my shoulder and said she wanted to go to
sleep, and I told her she had better then go and sleep
on the sofa, and made her lift her head up
;
and when
she was going into the house she laid hold of the
garden palings, and laid her head down on them, and
.staid ever so long so."
"
Did she sleep then?"
"
I
didn't see her eyes ; but she wouldn't speak to me
when I spoke to her."
"
What o'clock was it
?"
"
Some of the clocks* on the Green struck twelve while
her head was on the palings." After this I communi-
cated to my patient that I had the power of mesmerising
her at a distance. But although she acknowledged
feeling sleepy, and sleeping as if mesmerised, she was
by no means disposed to attribute it to my operation.
She was quite aware that I could mesmerise her
through a wall,-J- but half a mile off was another affair.
"
How could the mesmerism get to me ? It must come
through the air after it got out of your house and the
wind would then blow it away," she used to say. I
several times afterwards mesmerised her by arrange-
ment when I was in London, with apparent success,
though twenty miles distant. On two occasions I
tried to produce the same effect, when she was at some
merry-making parties, dancing, &c. Here my attempt
was a failure ; the circumstances in which she was
placed defeated the influence.
I had a more striking experience soon after these
trials of the power. My professional occupation caused
me to reside away from my family, who lived in the
neighbourhood of Camden Town, whilst my residence
in Essex was distant twenty miles at least
"
as the
crow flies." At this time my wife, who had not been
previously mesmerised, was suffering severely from a
presumed engorgement of the spleen, and was under
the customary medical treatment, but did not take
*
Cottagers' clocks.
f
I often had done so.
102 MESMERIC PROCESSES.
opiates as tliey invariably caused delirium instead of
sleep. One Sunday morning I received a letter from
her in which she stated that she was no better ; and
that pain, restlessness, and irritability deprived her of
sleep at night ; that she was often in the night obliged
to rise from her bed, sit in a chair, or walk the room
for an hour or two at a time, feeling so much distressed
that she could not remain in a recumbent position, and
too irritable to sleep. On receiving this intimation I
determined to try my power of mesmerising at a
distance that very night. I considered that at half-
past eleven she would certainly have retired for the
night, and accordingly at that time commenced willing
her to sleep, and making passes in the direction of the
north of London, as if my influence could reach to her.
I also willed that she should know that I was mes-
merising her. I continued this operation for upwards
of half an hour. Next evening, Monday, I wrote to
Mrs. Barth telling her of my attempt, and enquiring
if she had felt anything unusual. On Tuesday morning
I received from her a letter written on Monday after-
noon, and which had therefore, be it observed, crossed
mine in course of post transit. In this letter she stated
just as he
receives the assumption of a mesmeric influence. The
effects produced by
mesmerising are positive facts;
the methods used to
produce the effects are likewise
MESMERIC PROCESSES. 100
ascertained facts. The effects are real effects, and the
methods real causes ; but the nature of the peculiar
influence by which the cause produces the effect is not
yet wholly ascertained. That there must be a special
influence is undoubtedly true and may be safely
believed. The particular character of this influence
"
stand off, fellow! don't come near me"suiting the
action to the word. These actions are all instinctive
or natural to us. Possibly physicians may not under-
stand the use of them, but it is not improbable that
Nature does and did when she gave us the instinct to
use them.
To produce phreno-mesmeric experiments we point
or put the tip of a finger over an organ, and hold it
there a few seconds until the excitement of its function
is manifested
;
it is sometimes enough to excite one
organ, sometimes we must excite the same organ in
each hemisphere of the brain before we obtain a
response. After exciting one mental faculty, we
should breathe and blow upon its organs to dispel the
112 MESMERIC PROCESSES.
excitement before we excite another, unless we design
to have two in action. If we neglect this we may
have several organs in partial action and the mani-
festation we desire will come out imperfectly. We
may excite the cerebral organs of persons who are
in their natural state, or of persons in sleep-waking
or in deep sleep. When the subject is in the deep
sleep the excitement arouses him into an imperfect
sleep-waking state and he relapses into insensible
sleep the moment the finger is removed from the
organ. Phreno-mesmeric experiments upon persons in
the deep sleep I think present the most beautiful
instances of the phenomena ; the contrast exhibited
betwixt the manifestation of activity whilst the finger
rests above an organ, and the instant death-like
insensibility when the finger is removed is very
striking.
I give no instructions for processes with respect to
the phenomena of community of taste and feeling,
because this is not a state which can be induced by
any particular process ; it occurs during a mesmeric
treatment as it were spontaneously, and its establish-
ment depends rather upon some peculiar harmony or
sympathy naturally existing betwixt the mesmeriser
and his subject than upon processes. The methods
of testing the phenomena are so obvious that it cannot
be necessary to describe them. The experiments may
be made interesting by causing eight or ten persons to
form a chain by holding one another's hands, place the
subject at one end of this chain and the mesmeriser at
the other, and in many cases, whatsoever the latter
tastes or feels is tasted or felt by the subject as dis-
tinctly as if the mesmeriser had his hand. With some
subjects the sympathy is so strong that the mesmeriser
need not touch the subject in order to form the com-
munication, their relation will be sufficiently intimate
when in a room together.
113
)
DEMESMERISING OR AWAKENING PROCESSES.
To demesmerise or remove the influence we proceed
to act as if the power which we had projected into our
patient could be drawn out of him and dispersed, by
blowing, fanning, making transverse passes, the appli-
cation of cold, and a few upward passes if indispensably
necessary.
In performing any of these acts the will or intention
must, as a matter of course, have relation to or direct
the act. For instance, you must not make transverse
passes and will or wish that your patient continues to
sleep, or make downward passes and wish him to
awaken.
Supposing your patient asleep and you have reason
to awaken him, whether he hears you or hears you not,
begin by apprising him of your intention
;
if he hears
you
"Whoso
speaketh ill of his neighbour," &c.
"With whatsoever
measure ye mete," &c.
There remains one other class of vituperators,
a
very malignant class. I allude to certain members of
the medical profession who have descended to publicly
speak, write, and publish lying calumnies of mes-
merism and the whole class of mesmerists. Amongst
these stands prominently forward a member of the
London College of Physicians
(I in charity refrain
from giving his name)who stated, when delivering
the Harveian Oration before and to an assemblage of
his colleagues, that
:
"
The impostors called mesmerists were the especial favourites
"
of
those persons, both male andfemale, in whom the sexual
"
passions burn strongly either in secret or notoriously. Decency
"forbids me to be more expliciV
I do not quote other assertions of a like character
made by medical practitioners, a specimen may be
enough, indeed is too much, were it not that such
lying calumnies do get circulated and may be believed
by decent though silly people. The evident object is
to frighten away all respectable fee-paying
patients
from mesmerism and mesmerisers, under the pains and
penalties of being pointed at as persons particularly
addicted to licentious pleasures. Now be it observed
MESMERIC DANGERS. 137
that these assertions are not directed to one or two
mesmerists singled out from the body but are asserted
of the whole class. Who compose this class? these
calumniators very well know. Their professional
brothers, Drs. Elliotson, Ashburner, Engledue, Simp-
son of York, Storer of Bristol, and a host of other
men of undoubted character and reputation as phy-
sicians and surgeons, are avowed mesmerists. The
Archbishop of Dublin is a mesmeriser ; his lady and
daughters are kind-hearted, worthy and disinterested
mesmerisersthese ladies have performed one of the
most extraordinary cures of total blindness ever re-
corded as done by any human means or by any human
beings. Clergymen of the established church, eminent
and notorious for piety and their benevolent care of the
flocks entrusted to their charge, are avowed mesmerists.
Some of the most dignified and honourable of the
aristocracy, peers of the realm, are mesmerisers
;
ladies
of the same class mesmerise and are mesmerised
;
barristers, lawyers, magistrates, country gentlemen,
dissenting clergymen, men eminent in literature, science,
and the arts are mesmerisers; and ladies, matrons and
unmarried, of all these classes, mesmerise or are mes-
merised. Ignorance cannot be urged in extenuation
of the gross, unmanly, ungentlemanlike, and lying
calumny asserted with respect to so large and respect-
able a portion of societya calumny which, if possible
of proof, would render male mesmerists totally un-
worthy of rank or place in decent society, and reduce
female mesmerists to a station even more degraded
than that of the poor unfortunates driven by necessity
to walk the streets. I should be sorry to think that
the inventor and utterer of this calumny really believed
it, because it would lead us to suspect the propriety
and decency of his own imaginings ; men are considered
prone to suspect others of liking that which they like
;
and it would be unjust and a breach of charity to our
neighbour even to question the character and purity of
138 MESMERIC DANGERS.
his thoughts, unless upon undeniable evidence. I
would rather believe that the medical opposition and
hatred to mesmerism arises from vanity and self-love.
It is feared that if mesmerisers cannot be stayed in their
career of successfully and easily curing diseases, if
respectable patients cannot be frightened from applying
to them for aid,
"
Othello's occupation's gone," or may
at least become an unprofitable trade as to pecuniary
reward. Here is the TRUE SECRET of MEDICAL
HOSTILITY to mesmerism ; certain men have gone
too far in their hasty and ill-judged oppositionthey
hate the idea of retracing their steps, acknowledging
their error, and becoming mesmeristsand they hate
the idea of suffering in their pockets ; so mesmerism
must be put down at all hazards. These opponents
are not honest opponents nor clean-minded opponents,
and may therefore be treated with contempt and silence
as far as mesmerisers are concerned, unless to protest
against and assert their calumnies to be gross lies,
that the weak minds disposed to believe them may
not understand that they cannot be or dare not be
denied or refuted.
Having endeavoured to meet the objections to mes-
merism which are urged on moral and religious
grounds, it only remains that I should caution learners
how to avoid doing the possible mischief which might
follow from an imprudent exercise of the power. They
should observe
:
just as whip
and spur compel a tired horse to put forth his remaining
energiesbut they only remedy the evil temporarily
;
when their action ceases the organ is more tired and
worse than before. The remedies must be repeated
again and again and in increased doses, or with in-
creased power, or they will not produce the desired
effect. If the primary disease is of a persistent cha-
racter, these remedies doand must eventuallylose
their present efficacy ; the nervous energy required to
assist their action is taken from other organs which
thus lose their proper supply, the patient becomes
worse instead of better, the system is weakened, other
organs become affected, and the general health suffers.
When functional derangement is the result of some
cause of a temporary character the remedy applied to
the organ itself may be serviceable ; it is the whip
which compels the horse to trot up the last hill, or
finish the last mile of his journey
;
but the whip never
gives the animal any real strength. You cannot feed
your horse with whip, or rest him with whip
;
you may
get him to his stable by the use of whip when he can
and won't work, but if the journey be very long and
the hills very steep whip will not carry him to the end
of it. He works as long as he is able, then fails, and is
farther from reaching the stable than before. This is like
the medical method of treating the effects of disease ; at
first it promises much; the physic acts and the patient is
satisfied ; the inconvenience from which he suffers is
temporarily remedied ; it is only on the recurrence of
his inconvenience, and the remedy losing its power of
relief, that he begins to suspect that it has not really
cured him. The action of mesmerism is quite different.
When a patient is placed under the general influence
of mesmerism its effort and action seems to be to restore
the harmony or equilibrium of nervous force which is
deranged
;
where disease as to cause most exists, there
does the mesmeric force determine. The mesmeric
160 APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
cure is a radical cure but it does not always present
immediate evidence of curing, as its action is on
primary diseases or causes instead
of
secondary diseases
or
effects.
Mesmerism cures causes and then effects
cease being deprived of their cause. Routine treat-
ment cures effects which return again if the cause is
remaining. Whether my solution be true or untrue
as to the reason, the fact remains that mesmerism may
be applied for many weeks by a proper and efficient
mesmeriser before the most evident symptoms of a
disease cease to disturb or distress the patient, and
then these very effects will almost suddenly be miti-
gated and the disease be cured. Indeed it often
happens that a case remaining uncured after being
mesmerised for some time will progress to a cure after
the mesmerism has been discontinued, even although no
other remedy be tried. I have had several instances
where this has occurred in my own practice.
Certain diseases seem caused by the presence in the
system of some morbid product which acts as a poison,
deranging the functions or ultimately the structure of
organs, and producing specific effects, as inflammation,
fever, &c. Cancer, scrofula, gout, and small-pox are
of this class, which includes many other diseases. The
learner may ask will mesmerism cure these diseases ?
It will or may, undoubtedly, by invigorating and
supporting the vital powers of the system and thus
helping nature to accomplish that which she ever seeks
to donamely, to throw out of the system every thing
detrimental to health and life. Nature does this spon-
taneously in numerous cases when no extraneous
assistance of any kind is rendered. Mesmerism is a
powerful ally aiding the natural method of cure ; and
diseases which can be cured naturally without assist-
ance, may all be cured, and are likely to be cured by a
proper application of mesmerism.
In diseases of this kind are drags or chemicals
admissible in conjunction with mesmerism ? The
APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE. 161
answer must depend upon the nature of the proposed
remedies and the mode of application. If a morbid or
poisonous secretion is positively known to exist in the
stomach or bowels by all means eject it at once by
emetic or purgative if possible ; if it be in the blood,
and the physician does know its exact character and
also a re-agent which will enter the blood and neu-
tralise it by forming an inert or harmless compound,
by all means let him apply it. Whether the specific
character or composition of morbid products in the
living system producing specific diseases and the
remedies which will neutralise such are yet known,
is another question which physicians may settle
;
few
will venture to decide this in the affirmative,and
until this be attained the whole system (unless the
homoeopathic system be an exception) of administering
drugs is necessarily A SYSTEM OF EXPERI-
MENTS. It has already been said that all useless
or mischievous experiments are to be positively inter-
dicted in a mesmeric treatment; whether the exhibition
of drugs falls within this interdiction must therefore
depend on whether they will prove useful or useless in
the case ; it is the province of the accomplished physi-
cian to determine this question ; but the only physician
sufficiently accomplished is the one who truly under-
stands the value and efficacy of his drug remedies and
also the value and efficacy of the mesmeric remedy.
Such a physician is the very man who should be called
in to advise and direct the non-medical
mesmeriser and
no other should be consulted by the believers in and
advocates of mesmerism.*
*
The number of persons who fully believe in the reality and
utility of mesmerism is exceedingly large ; they are far more
numerous than our opponent unbelievers imagine
;
but the ma-
jority are, unfortunately for the cause, a timid and retiring
class. They patronise mesmerism secretly ; they are afraid of
incurring ridicule by coming boldly forward and avowing and
acting on their conviction. Would they only pluck up courage
and refuse to employ any medical man who is ignorant of mes-
M
162 APPLICATION OP MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
The customary mode of applying mesmerism to the
cure of disease is not a matter requiring any very extra-
ordinary instructions. The mesmeriser must in all
diseases which produce general disturbance of the
system endeavour to get his patient subjected to the
general influence of mesmerism. He must commence
his treatment by trying to put his subject into the deep
sleep by using the processes already detailed, and he
should persevere day after day in his endeavours. He
may mesmerise once a day or several times daily if
he conveniently can. If he mesmerises once or twice
each day the operation should always be repeated at
the same hours, or as nearly so as possible.
The times of operating must be determined by the
consent and mutual convenience of the parties ; I am
not aware that it makes any difference in the majority
of cases at what hour the patient is mesmerised.
Do not mesmerise when your stomach is hungry,
nor directly after taking a full meal. In one case you
will not have strength to spare, in the other you will
be depriving your stomach of the energy it requires for
digestion.
Do not mesmerise your patient when he is hungry,
particularly in early experiments. Hunger is a powerful
antidote to sleep and all placid sleepy states. I do not
object to mesmerise a patient who has just taken his
dinner ; I never saw it injure. People can digest as
easily when asleep as waking. Mesmerism accelerates
digestion ; I have known patients actually awake from
sleep when they became very hungry ; the claims of
the stomach were too strong for the repose of the brain.
Mesmerism almost invariably is found to increase the
appetite and digestive powers.
meric treatment, the medical class would speedily become
converted. As a body, they are just as much traders for the
sake of getting money as any traders in society, and their
hostility would be relinquished when found really detrimental
to their pecuniary interests.'
APPLICATION OF
MESMERISM To DISEASE.
163
If the mesmeriser must drink whilst operating
his
beverage should be cold water only. No wine or
stimulants are allowable at the time. This is a positive
and imperative rule. After he has finished his work
a glass of good wine or sound home-brewed ale may
do him good and cannot injure the patient, that is, if
he is exhausted and requires it. A mesmeriser should
take generous diet and sleep soundly at night, or he
will neither mesmerise many patients nor
mesmerise
frequently without injuring himself.
The time which should be spent during each operation
must depend upon the strength of the mesmeriser, the
exhausting effect induced by the recipient, and the
comforting or beneficial period during which the patient
can bear the influence to be given to him. Asa general
rule the mesmeriser must cease to mesmerise as soon
as he feels physical fatigue, or finds it no longer possible
to keep his mind concentrated upon his patient and
work. When his mind wanders and thoughts of other
matters will intrude it is time to desist. He must
always remember that his own state, both mental and
physical, is more or less impressed by sympathy on
the patient. When he is angry or agitated the patient
will not be calmed. When he feels tired the patient
can hardly be strengthened.
It is necessary on commencing a case that a con-
siderable time be spent to subdue the patient. I have
often mesmerised for an hour and a half without any
interval of rest ; strong effects were visible earlier but
a decided state only obtained during the last half hour.
This time is far too long for operating actively during
subsequent sittings after a mesmeric state is established.
Half an hour is quite long enough for an average
mesmerising (the process or passes being actively
maintained) when performed by average mesmerisers.
It is much better that the patient be mesmerised twice
per diem for half an hour each time, than once only for
a whole hour. Many of our best mesmerisers limit
m 2
164 APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
their time to fifteen or twenty minutes ; and this time
from a powerful and experienced operator will suffice
to produce more effect than hours spent by an inefficient
operator in the attempt.
Some persons are much more exhausting subjects
than others. I have felt more strength taken from me
by a delicate emaciated subject in twenty minutes than
by others in an hour.
When spasms, violent pains, convulsions, or fits
attack the patient during the operation, the mesmeriser
must try to subdue the attacks and leave the patient
comfortable before he desists. This may task his whole
energy for two or even three hours and the work then
becomes prodigiously hard work. These are unfrequent
and extreme cases, and a draught of ale or glass of
wine might then be allowed the operator, provided cold
water is not sufficient ; the latter has always served me
very well but that is not a reason why it should be
sufficient for every one else. Mesmerisers who possess
strong mental power will always get enough stimulus
from their own brains, persons who are deficient in
this power may require the artificial stimulant in an
extreme case of long-continued work, these persons may
make good mesmerisers but they are not enduring ones.
With some patients it will be found that a limited
amount of mesmerism is comfortably and pleasantly
endured; after a time they become over-heated or
agitated, or convulsed with nervous twitches : then
desistthey have had sufficient for that operation.
When patients complain of a headache being pro-
duced, demesmerise the head and mesmerise the legs
and feet by drawing-off or negative passes
;
you will
soon relieve the head by this method. If on the next
occasion the headache comes again let the head alone,
it is no business of yours to make the patient's head
ache ; mesmerise the trunk and limbs only. If mes-
merising the limbs causes headache that is your fault,
you are mesmerising with too much energy; re-
APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE. 165
move to a distance, act quietly, employ the negative
method, and you will not produce this effect. A sense
of weight on the head and over the eyes is not a pain
in the head. If the patient only complains of a sense
of weight on the head and pressure on the eyelids go
on you will put him to sleep. When he sleeps, leave
him to sleep the weight off again; or if he awakes
with it, remove it by demesmerising his head and
drawing it down to the feet.
As a general rule when a patient has been mes-
merised, before you leave him he will require to be
demesmerised should he complain of being drowsy, or
powerless and weak, or of any other unpleasant symptom
which has been caused by the mesmerism. If he sleeps
and awakes spontaneously and feels quite comfortable
there is no necessity to demesmerise him.
When your patient sleeps on being mesmerised there
is no need to continue making passes all the time
whilst he sleeps. Mesmerise him for a quarter or half
of an hour, then leave him alone to sleep away the
effects, always taking care to ascertain that he can bear
your absence and that nothing disturbs him. Do not
ask his permission to go away but go silently, leaving
a friend to watch how the patient bears your absence
;
do not leave the house until your friend informs you
that the patient has never moved or been disturbed,
or seemed to miss you. If you ask your patient to
let you leave him he may say,
"
Do not go, I could
not be happy if you did ;"
and distress himself at your
absence if you do not comply with his request to stay
;
whereas if you steal away quietly he may not know
that you are absent, unless mesmeric attraction exist,
in which case you should remain with him. The
learner must not mistake a mere capriee or whim of
the subject for a development of this kind of attraction.
Go away quietly and he may not miss you, but if the
attraction exists he certainly will, go as softly as you
may.
166 APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
The passes may be made at a distance of an inch
from the person of the subject, or from that to three or
four feet. I think the nearer the passes the stronger
the effect ; but you will sometimes more surely accomr
plish a desired purpose by persevering with the weaker
effort, or acting at a moderate distance.
There are many diseases, as neuralgia or rheumatism
of the nerves, tic-doloreux an acutely painful nervous
affection, various rheumatic and gouty pains, nervous
and convulsive paroxysms, fits, spasmodic attacks of
asthma, headache, and other afflicting symptoms of
disease needless to be enumerated, which have regular
periods of accession and remission ; they attack the
sufferer at or about a certain time, last so long, and
then remit until the return of that hour or some other
regular period. The mesmeriser when treating any of
these affections should carefully ascertain the hour of
accession and mesmerise shortly before it. Experience
has taught me the value of this plan. You may mes-
merise day after day in some severe case during the
attack with very little effect. Mesmerise the patient
when easy, and the pain nevertheless returns next day
at its accustomed period, although you may be perse-
vering with your attendance. Commence mesmerising
just before (as a quarter of an hour) and continue
during the period of accession, it is likely that it may
come but in a mitigated form, and in another trial or
two be beaten away altogether.
When patients are suffering from pains or spasms
and mesmerism is tried, it is very common for the
pains to quit the original locality under the influence
of the passes and follow the direction of the hand.
In such a case it is a safe rule always to try and bring
the pain out by the extremities, or from centre to
circumference, and remove it as far as possible from
the head and heart. The pain may sometimes fix
in an extremity and require many operations before it
can be altogether removed. A man may not like a
APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE. 167
neuralgic or any other pain in his knee but he is
better with it there than in his head
;
a man may not
like the gout in his toe but he may bear it with
patience and even be merry under his affliction,let
him get it in his stomach and patience or merriment
are hardly possible. I have designedly brought a
toothache into the sufferer's elbow and left it there
for twenty-four hours before I chose to remove it
altogether.
Some of the older mesmerisers recommended that
mesmerism should always be discontinued during a
particular period incidental to the female economy; I
am not aware that modern mesmerisers attach any
importance to this recommendation. However, female
patients who are sleep-wakers and directing for them-
selves, frequently desire that the mesmerism be omitted
during their period. The operation of a powerful male
mesmeriser usually accelerates the appearance of the
catamenia ; but I have in many instances known the
same mesmeriser suddenly cause a cessation if he
mesmerise during the period, whilst the same patients
have not experienced this effect from a female operator.
Again, other patients will bear the influence of a male
operator during the whole period, without any incon-
venience being experienced. Hence it appears that
there is not any general rule, the circumstances of each
case must guide the treatment ; but it is a matter of
importance that certain precautions be observed when
a lady mesmerises a lady regularly. Some suffer much
from pains in the head, back, and lower abdomen at
such times, and if this be the case with the mesmeriser
the patient is not unlikely to participate in the suffering.
Again, the general state of one is impressed sympa-
thetically upon the other, and therefore the mesmerism
must be intermitted under certain circumstances con-
nected with these periods, or a gentleman or some
other lady must go on with the cure for a few days.
If the periods of both parties coincide, and either of
168 APPLICATION OP MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
the parties have menorrhagia, the lady mesmeriser
should not operate until the circumstances have passed.
Again, should the patient's period cease just as the
mesmeriser's commences, the mesmeriser should be
changed. In many cases where this happens, it will
be found that the patient'
8
period will return and continue
until the mesmeriser
1
s ceasee* This effect will be
exceedingly debilitating to the patient, hence the
necessity of providing against it.
We may assume as an hypothesis, that when we
mesmerise we impart some of our own healthy nervous
or vital influence to our patient and displace or drive
out of him some of his own unhealthy influence, and
that we must not leave this unhealthy influence as an
external atmosphere about and without him, lest his
system attract it again ; we must therefore draw it
quite away from him, throw it away, and disperse it.
We cannot establish this hypothesis. It may or it
may not be true ; but it is always prudent to conduct
ourselves as if it were thefact. When acting to remove
this supposed bad influence from our patient we must
be careful to throw it from us, and not to throw it upon
any other person
;
if this precaution is not observed we
may contract or give to another person very unpleasant
and striking symptoms of the patient's disease. I have
very frequently taken, unintentionally, the symptoms
or pains which I have removed from a patient ; they
did not remain long because I suppose my system was
not predisposed to them
my
own vitality threw the
diseased influence off again
;
but I have known this
kind of influence remain with others. As examples of
this fact I will adduce an instance or two from my
own experience.
I one evening called upon a worthy old farmer,
*
This has been constant and invariable as far as my
experience goes. I also had a patient in whom this occurred at
any and every time whensoever any female operator mes^
merised her.
AMPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE. 169
who was seated beside his fire conning over the news-
paper
;
his niece was sitting opposite to him applying
a smelling-bottle to her nostrils, and complaining of
severe headache. I at once offered my services to
relieve her from her malady which were accepted. I
placed her in a chair in the middle of the room that I
might have space to separate my hands and throw off
the pain, stood behind her and drew my hands from
her head right and left. In a few minutes she said the
pain seemed to be leaving her. I requested her to be
silent and continued my work. Presently the farmer
exclaimed,
"
Halloo I neighbour, what are you doing ?
I have got a headache come ; and have not had one
for this thirty years before." He was seated in a
position directly in a line with my right hand when
thrown off. I smiled, went to him, demesmerised his
head and removed the headache, then altered my
patient's chair, and cured her without causing her
uncle any more inconvenience. He was not a fanciful
hysterical girl, but a sturdy farmer upwards of seventy,
and one rather disposed to laugh at "any such mesmeric
fancy as this." One instance proves nothing; I will
add others. A lady one day requested me to come
and cure her son-in-law's nurse-maid of tic-doloreux.
The poor girl had been subject to it for several years,
had taken medicine, had applications to the teeth, and
been salivated until she had not a sound tooth left in
her jaws. She had been tormented by this attack for
a fortnight, and been under the care of two medical
men, one of whom had scarified her gums pretty freely
(not knowing how to relieve her), but all without any
advantage gained. The lady, who is an intimate friend
of mine, had declared that she believed I could cure
the girl ; and when the latter became so tired of suf-
fering that she talked of throwing herself out of the
window to obtain a final cure, her master sent her to
the lady's house with a message "That if her wonderful
friend could cure the girl he was to do it and the girl
170 APPLICATION OF MESMEPvISM TO DISEASE.
was not to return until she was cured." I mesmerised
her the first time on a Friday evening and sent her
back cured on the following Sunday morning
; but it
certainly was not an easy case, although three mes-
merisations cured it. During the first operation, at the
expiration of half an hour, the pain which had been
most acute suddenly ceased and the right side of the
face and gums rapidly swelled. The tumefaction con
:
tinued increasing until the middle of the night, when
the tumor spontaneously opened and discharged nearly
a pint of clear fluid, which deposited a considerable
white coagulum on standing a few hours. I do not
know if this patient's tic has ever returned, it had not
done so several months afterwards. The first time I
mesmerised this patient, the lady in whose house she
was, felt curious to see the method of treating the case
and seated herself in a chair placed nearly behind me
;
consequently, as I drew my hands over the patient and
threw off the influence it was directed upon the lady.
When I had finished she complained of having the
face-ache, a pain she had never been subject to; it
attacked her whilst I was mesmerising Harriet, and
remained troubling her for several days, until I proposed
to mesmerise this new sufferer, and cured her by the
operation. On two subsequent occasions this lady was
present, hovering about me whilst I cured a member
of her family of tooth or face-ache, and on each occasion
she took it, and kept it until relieved by being mes-
merised, though never troubled with it at any other
time. I have had many analogous cases. When I
resided in the country I had an attached but humble
companion (now deceased) a spaniel dog, who was
often present when I mesmerised John Burton, a poor
labouring man whom I cured of most excruciating
pains in the head, probably neuralgic. This poor man
always made me feel ill whilst I mesmerised him, and
caused me slight pains and an exceedingly distressing
sensation in my own head, which lasted the remainder
APPLICATION
01* MESMERISM TO DISEASE. 171
of the day. When I have felt myself charged, or
seemingly charged with his diseased influence, I have
tried to rid myself of it by mesmerising the dog. In
every instance (twenty at least) when I did this the
dog was ill for a day or two afterwards. He was often
received as a parlour guest, and the matron of the
establishment, who frequently joined me at breakfast,
petted him. Next morning after he had received one
of these doses she never failed to notice that he was
ill,
" Mr. Barth, that poor dog is not well, you should
give him some medicine." I would reply,
"
Cut the
meat off that chop, madam, and give him the bone
;
that is the proper medicine for a dog." When the
bone was proffered he would smell it, and sneak away
and lie down in a corner ; neither meat nor milk would
tempt him ; he would only drink water. The cook
would address me with
"
Poor Toby can't cat his
dinner, sir." If I took up my gun and invited Toby
to accompany me, he frisked about and followed a little
way ; by the time we were half over the first field he
dropped his head and tail and went home. I could not
induce him to follow me; the poor dog was ill, and
showed it as plainly as a human being could have done.
A sick dog is not a subject Avorthy of a place in a book,
but a dog made sick by being mesmerised after a sick
man is a subject quite deserving notice by any medical
philosopher. I mesmerised this dog many times when
I was not charged with diseased influence, and never
saw him made either worse or better by it, but when-
ever I mesmerised him after Burton he was ill ; the
mesmerising and his illness certainly appeared to follow
strictly as cause and effect. I have seen epileptic dogs,
but I have yet to learn that dogs can be affected, as
medical sceptics say hysterical girls are, merely by the
force of imagination. To these remarks I may append
useful advice to the inexperienced mesmeriser. He
should not after mesmerising a sick person immediately
commence operating on another; he should wait awhile,
172 APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
go out into the fresh air, and carefully wash his hands
and face previously, that he may rid himself of any
diseased influence.
Brisk purgative medicines are frequently mischievous
in mesmeric treatment. When the patient suffers
from habitual constipation an effort should at once be
made to discontinue their usethe tendency will
never be overcome whilst purgatives are used. Let
the patient make up his mind to be inconvenienced for
six or eight days, be cautious in his diet, eat food likely
to assist him,as stewed prunes, dressed fruit, coarse
unfermented bread with the bran in, and drink every
morning a tumbler or two of water strongly mes-
merised with the intent of producing the required
effect. I have often known success attend this plan
after a few days' trial in stubborn and long-standing
cases of habitual constipation. When an aperient
must be taken, it should be some mild and simple
laxative ; and if repeated, the doses should be reduced
(if possible to obtain an effect thereby) until they can
be omitted altogether. A patient regularly mesmerised
may bear this reduction when another patient could
not. It is generally advisable for all patients to drink
freely of water well mesmerised by their accustomed
mesmeriser at meals or during the day.
It is exceedingly common when we mesmerise
patients, to find old slumbering rheumatic and other
pains suddenly awake and become troublesome. This
is always a good symptom
;
it may trouble the patient,
but it should give the mesmeriser no other trouble
than a determined endeavour to remove them. If he
has not the pains himself, and has not taken them from
one to give them to another, a cause for them must
have been existing in the patient's system, therefore to
bring them into activity is the first step towards curing.
I shall say but little about the sensations which
mesmerisers experience when operating on diseased
persons ; they must be felt before we can expect
APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE. 173
credence in their existence, and are only to be under-
stood by being felt. When mesmerisers are gaining
experience from constant practice they are educating
their sensibility, and learn to appreciate slight sen-
sations which the inexperienced might not notice.
These sensations will often indicate to the mesmeriser
the locality which is the seat of a disease. I do not
think they will enable him to determine the precise
nature of the disease, but it is still useful to pay
attention to the sensations. When removing pains
and aches the mesmeriser frequently feels pain or
some such sensation follow his hand in certain direc-
tions, and he loses the sensation if he draws the hand
in another direction. This will guide him to the
direction in which he may draw the pain out of the
system. When he feels it, he must continue to feel it
until it be brought to the extremities and thrown off.
If he loses it he must go back and find it, and draw it
away in another direction. A mesmeriser may try to
draw away pain for half an hour without success in
one direction, and find a dozen passes remove it if
made in another direction. Hence the necessity of
paying attention to every seeming trifle which may be
enlisted as an indication of the best method.
When a local disease is accompanied by general
disturbance of the system, whether it be a cause or an
effect of that general disturbance, we must apply mes-
merism to the system generallylocal mesmerism will
not be sufficient to cure. We should mesmerise generally
and locally, by first mesmerising the patient to sleep if
possible and then mesmerising the diseased place.
When the affection is entirely local and does not
affect the general health, it is not often necessary to
put the patient under the general influence. For an
ordinary toothache, or headache, slight burns, chil-
blains, inflamed eyes, cuts and bruises, and all ailments
of a similar character, it will be sufficient to apply the
mesmerism locally.
174
APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
Direct the action at once on the diseased place, by
pointing
or holding the palm Of the hand over it, and
then try
to attract or draw away the pain to the nearest
extremities and throw it off with a jerk. If you feel
any
sensation of pain or heat, or tingling in your hand
or fingers, attend to the hints just given about con-
tinuing to feel it. If there is any disorganisation of
tissue, as from a burn or bruise, a little positive influence
may be applied to the part after the pain is drawn away,
to restore its tone and produce healthy action.To take
away a headache, stand before or behind your patient,
hold the palms of the hands over the seat of the pain,
and draw it off. If the pain is at the top, draw it away
by the side
;
if at the side or back, draw away to the
neck and off; or use demesmerising passes with the
palms of the hands over the head generally, until the
pain abates ; or mesmerise the feet thoroughly ; if
caused by indigestion, mesmerise the stomach.All
unhealthy sores, which are merely local, may be
speedily cured by pointing the fingers over, or moving
them with a circular motion over, or making short
passes over. If they are not speedily cured by local
mesmerism the patient must be mesmerised generally.
Inflamed eyes are easily cured by local mesmerism,
when caused by cold or some local action. If the
affection is from constitutional disturbance, general
mesmerism is of course indicated.For slight deafness,
or dimness of vision, local mesmerism is sufficient.
When these affections are severe, local and general
mesmerism must be used. Breathing warm air from
our lungs into the ears often speedily relieves pains in
them, and temporary deafness. It is a powerful way
of mesmerising locally ; although it removes the effects
of passes it also removes diseased conditions of the
nerves by restoring them to their normal state. (There
is no contradiction in this,the passes often producing
an abnormal state ; they cure a persistent abnormal
state by inducing an abnormal state of a temporary
APPLICATION OP MESMERISM TO DISEASE. 175
kind.)For sprains in the limbs, or "cricks" in the
neck, we may make the passes in contact by friction,
but all in one direction.For cramps or spasms, either
internally or of the limbs, there is no method so
efficacious as by placing a folded handkerchief above
the part and breathing powerfully and with long and
deep expirations on it. We must apply the lips
closely, and try to force the warm air through the
pores of the skin, and rather above than on the part
that we may drive the disturbance downwards.The
distressing morning sickness incidental to pregnancy
may be prevented by making a few strong passes from
the head and over the abdomen of the patient, before
she rises from her recumbent position; I have never
known this fail.Hiccough may be generally cured
by similar means.Feet and hands habitually cold and
subject to chilblains, may be relieved by an occasional
dose of local mesmerism with strong passes.It cannot
be necessary that I should say more of the ailments
which may be relieved by local mesmerism nor of the
methods of application. I have said nothing which is
a deviation from strict truth. The application is so
simple, safe, and easily practised, that any healthy
person in the family may do it ; and so efficacious, that
if all the domestic medicine books ever published and
all the domestic medicines ever compounded were put
together, they would fall very far short, as agents for
domestic utility, of this natural and easily-attainable
domestic remedy.
Sores constantly discharging, whether behind the
ears or elsewhere, must not be stopped by local mes-
merism
;
they are frequently issues set up naturally to
relieve the system. I one day mesmerised a little
boy's sore ear to cure it ; the sore dried up and was
healed next morning ; but the succeeding morning he
had a discharge from the eyes. Such sores must be
treated by general mesmerism.
When the learner mesmerises a patient for a disease
176 APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
requiring his being placed under the application of the
influence, he must not direct his influence to the head
alone, but persevere by long passes made slowly ; he
must act as if he has the power of removing from the
patient a diseased influence which he can draw away
from him by the negative process. This is always a
safe rule whatever the disease be. In many diseases
the head is affected, either directly or from sympathy,
and the patient cannot bear mesmerism strongly applied
to the head to commence with,the passes must be
made for many operations only over the trunk and
limbs ; these passes may soothe him into sleep, when
action directed to the head would have the effect of
exciting and irritating him to such a degree that sleep
would be impossible. We must never persevere to
mesmerise the head only in the hope of eventually
getting our patient to sleep. I know from experience
that in all nervous diseases attended by low spirits,
irritability, fits, or convulsive action, the less the operator
meddles with the head the better it is for the patient.
Fits, whether epileptic, hysterical, or of whatsoever
kind are most distressing afflictions, and are very rarely
cured by any means of a purely medical character.
Mesmerism is a successful remedy for fits,but no
diseases give so much trouble to the mesmeriser and
require more care and assistance from the sufferer's
friends. Fits rarely exist without disturbance more
or less of the cerebral organs of the patient, and all
external circumstances which produce cerebral excite-
ment tend to produce and perpetuate the fits ; thus the
patient requires judicious moral as well as mesmeric
treatment, and the latter may fail to cure solely in
consequence of a neglect of the former. If your patient
be subject to fits it is exceedingly probable that the
mesmeric application will bring on a fit. The patient's
friends should be warned of this possibility, and cau-
tioned not to interfere with the patient during the fit,
unless the convulsive efforts are so violent that the
APPLICATION OF MfcSMKRISM TO DISEAfiJE. 177
patient must be held, or if a temporary state of mania
which requires restraint succeeds. If a fit comes on put
the patient on a sofa, or the floor, and stand or kneel
beside him and continue to mesmerise. If you are
tired wait until the patient becomes quiet and then try
to mesmerise him. You must not expect to produce
any decided effects during the severity of the fit, but
you may shorten its duration and lessen the amount of
distress which often follows the attack. If the fits
occur periodically remember the suggestions about
periodic accessions. If the attacks are distant the
patient should be mesmerised daily and also imme-
diately before the anticipated attack. An experienced
inesmeriser may sometimes prevent a fit when he sees it
approaching but it is not considered judicious practice,
it is
"
putting off the evil day,"it is better to let it
come and conquer it. One method is like the palliative
system of the allopaththe other like the aggravation
of the homoeopath. In some cases the fits become less
frequent and less severe under the treatment until
they finally cease
;
but when they are brought on by
the mesmeric action we may calculate on a more speedy
cure of them.
When patients pass into deep sleep and require long
sleep they may be mesmerised at night after they
retire to bed. I often practise this in my own family.
Servants and many others have not leisure to sleep
long sleeps. We can accommodate them in this way,
but must remember that in case of fire they could not
aid in their own escape ; nor is this plan safe for sleep-
wakers, unless placed under the care of a prudent
bed-companion whose contact and company does not
distress them.
Patients frequently enquire if their clothing makes
any difference in the transmission or reception of the
influence,are certain fabrics non-conductors of it ?
I am satisfied that the clothing does not stop the
passage of the influence although it may be modified
178 APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE.
thereby. If we would understand mesmeric influence
by comparison with other imponderables we must
rather choose magnetism than frictional or voltaic
electricity as its analogue. The magnet attracts the
needle through glass, silk, and all other non-conductors
of electricity as readily as through conducting sub-
stances. Still I would always advise that when local
sores are mesmerised they be mesmerised without the
intervention of any covering, and that patients be
rather clad in loose wrappers or morning dresses of
light colours and thin fabrics than in heavy dark-
coloured materials. The majority of my patients have
always felt the influence from my hands like a cool
wind blowing upon them ; they feel it immediately that
a pass is made where there is no clothing, as the head,
or face, or neck
;
it requires several passes to make it
sensibly felt through the clothes, and where the clothing
is very thick and bulky (as in some parts of a lady's
attire when mesmerising down the spine) a great many
passes must be made before the influence is felt. It
appears to me that the clothing must become saturated
before the full effect is perceptible to the patient.
Patients should be clad as far as comfort and decency
require ; more clothing than is necessary may or may
not be disadvantageous, but it certainly cannot be
advantageous and is therefore better dispensed with.
I may as well hint that during mesmeric sleep the
secretions are often stimulated to increased activity;
the kidneys become particularly active. When a gen-
tleman mesmerises a lady he should not forget this,
and as ladies are very modest he should make an
excuse to retire and leave his patient with a friend or
attendant of her own sex as soon as she is awakened.
I have endeavoured to give in this and foregoing
chapters all necessary instructions to guide a non-
medical mesmeriser to a prudent application of the
power; I have not attempted special directions for
treating each kind of disease; the circumstances of
APPLICATION OF MESMERISM TO DISEASE. 179
each individual case must guide the mesmeriser in
its treatment. I avoid filling pages with details of
my own success in the cure of diseases, because it
would rather increase the price than enhance the value
of this little Manual, and be following a bad example,
common in the medical profession, of advertising cures
in a book to puff up a reputation for skill. Where I
have introduced cases in my own experience, they
have been presented rather as examples of particular
phenomena than of my own power of inducing them.
I may sum up by stating that mesmerism is especially
applicable to cases of insanity and purely nervous
diseases, as there is scarcely any other means of curing.
That it cures diseases of function in all organs and
of whatsoever character. That it cures morbid forma-
tions or enlargementsas effusion, polypus, and various
tumors. That it cures diseases of structureas soften-
ing, hardening, thickening, contraction of tendons and
muscles, and other changes of substance. That it cures
displacements arising from relaxation or loss of tone in
partsas uterine prolapsus and diseases of a similar
character. That it is not necessary
for
a mesmeric cure
that the patient should sleep
; if
he sleeps it is well, it will
save the operator much labour
;
the practice
of
the most
successful mesmerisers is to commence operating at once
for
a cure, avoiding the attempt to induce any special
phenomena, sleep is one
of
them
;
they accept it gladly
if
it comes, and it will come
if
needful and proper
for
the
patient. Nature knows better than the operator and
does that which is best
for
the patient.
(
180
)
DIET.
As mesmerism stimulates the functional powers of
the stomach and system generally, patients frequently
crave and actually require a larger amount of food
than they have been accustomed to previously to com-
mencing mesmeric treatment ; this increase they may
generally be allowed but common sense and common
prudence must dictate the nature and quality of the
food ; and common sense must convince us that such
plain viands, properly but simply dressed, as are
capable of affording the greatest amount of nutriment
when digested are the viands most suitable for our
patients. However, in order that food should afford
nourishment, it is essential that it be properly digested
;
some persons' organs are so capricious that they will
easily digest and assimilate the food which might be
supposed unwholesome, and be overtasked by the
effort to digest such food as is usually considered most
suitable for invalids. We must therefore be rather
guided by experience than by any fixed or arbitrary
rules ; if patients Cat anything which disagrees with
them they are fools if they eat it again. Excessive
drinking of stimulants, or smoking, snuffing, and other
bad habits must be abstained from. Mesmerised water
is the best drink ; coffee should generally be avoided
;
tea, cocoa, milk, sound malt liquor, or good wine may
be allowed in moderate quantities where patients have
been accustomed to their use
;
and may be also mes-
merised with advantage to the patient before being
taken.
LSI
THE PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF
CLAIRVOYANTS.
I do know that certain persons when mesmerised and
in the sleep-waking state, have the faculties of clair-
voyance, intro-vision, medical instinct, and can also see
that which is past, and sometimes foresee that which is
to come. I believe that certain of these faculties may
be used for purposes conducive to the welfare and
happiness of mankind, and therefore the use be morally
justifiable. We may obtain from a good clairvoyant
immediate information of the health and welfare of a
dear relative or friend who is absent and distant from
us, in whatsoever part of the world that person may
be. I cannot see why it is not as allowable to obtain
such instant information through this channel as by the
electric telegraph. We may use the faculty of clair-
voyant intro-vision to obtain a knowledge of the state
and appearance of the internal organs of a sick person,
and of medical instinct to discover what disease affects
them and how it may be relieved or cured if curable
;
and we may thus obtain more certain and useful
information in the case than could be afforded by the
whole London College of Physicians, if they met in
conclave to debate and decide thereon. When the
clairvoyant can give us better information than the
physician, I see no sin in obtaining such information
from him,he is a physician pro temp. If we seek to
know by the clairvoyant faculty what our next-door
neighbour is doing, or to intrude on the privacy of any
one from motives of idle or mischievous curiosity we
abuse the faculty. If we seek to discover the future.
182 PBUDENT MANAGEMENT OF CLAIRVOYANTS.
we may obtain as much information as will satisfy us
that such power does exist ; if we call forth and act on
the sleep-waker's predictions in every-day matters, we
may be so far misled as to teach us that it is not a
faculty given or intended for such application. Clair-
voyants' prophecies are seldom worth much unless
when they are given without being sought for.
When the patient, on a second or third operation,
(having slept once and the sleep being renewed each
time) continues sleeping quietly, if you wish to ascer-
tain his state, address him in a low quiet tone of voice,
or a whisper, and enquire if he is comfortable,if he
knows where he is, and who you are ? If he takes no
notice of your question, and is insensible to your touch
or a gentle pinch, or a tickling, he is probably in deep
sleep and does not hear you,the talking is all your
own ; the conversation cannot be very interesting
;
you
need not continue it. If he attempts to speak and
cannot, but shows by the expression of the face, or by
signs, that he understands you, demesmerise his mouth
by a few transverse passes, and excite his organ of
Language by gently resting the tips of two fingers on
each eyelid over the centre of the eye
;
then address
him again and he will probably be able to answer you.
When your patient speaks to you and has no memory of
having spoken after being awakened, he is a sleep-
waker ; it does not follow that he is in the perfect or
lucid state, or that he has clairvoyance, or any faculty
in this state superior to his customary waking faculties
;
the faculties which he has may be imperfectly awakened
or developed and he may talk incoherently or mistake
his position and present circumstances. This is quite
common with persons when first they pass into sleep-
waking
;
their ultimate state is only attained and
perfected by a frequent renewal of the mesmeric state.
The mesmeriser will judge of his patient's state by the
replies which he obtains. I always enquire from my
sleep-wakers if they are in the light or the dark. If
PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF CLAIRVOYANTS. 183
they say they are in the light, or see a bright light,
they are in a greater or lesser degree capable of
reasoning and useful conversation ; if they reply
"
in
the dark" it is useless to ask many questions, they
cannot have many useful mesmeric perceptions whilst
in mesmeric darkness. We may, when they are in the
light, next enquire if our conversation fatigues them,
ask them what they see, and persuade them to examine
themselves and tell us what it is that ails them. In
this state they may have a perfect memory of all that
which has occurred in their natural state
;
we must
therefore take care not to be deceived by the operation
of their memory. When we enquire from a patient
about his disease he may at once reply that he has some
disease, perhaps a disease of the heart. We must not
accept his reply as the truth but ask how he knows
that this is the case. He may say,
u
Oh ! very well,
the doctor who attends me says so." This may be
right or may be wrong but it is not the information
which we require, he is speaking from his memory not
from his sleep-waking perceptions. If he says he
knows it because he sees his heart and understands
what is the matter with it, we may make a few more
enquiries which will confirm us in a belief of his truth,
our patient then has intro-vision and medical instinct.
If conversation fatigues him and he requests us not to
disturb him we should comply with his wish, excepting
that we might put a question or two about himself and
his disease or if he can be cured and by what means.
We may also enquire if we should awaken him, or if
he will awake without our help,and if we are to
arouse him how long he must first sleep,how long he
will sleep if left to awaken spontaneously,when he
should be mesmerised again,if he can tell us how to
mesmerise him. These questions are allowable to be
put because they are intended for the patient's good; it
is extraordinary how correctly mere somniloquists, who
have very little clairvoyant faculty, will inform us
184 PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF CLAIRVOYANTS.
about these matters. Should the sleep-waker not
object to converse but reply to us readily and declare
that talking does not hurt him, we can at different
times test his powers, remembering that he has a
primary claim on their use for his own benefit, and that
we must not urge him to exercise his powers for others,
or about indifferent things, or idle matters of experiment
unless he enters upon the investigation spontaneously.
Patients in whom the true faculty of clairvoyance is
developed seldom require urging to use it ; they begin
talking and telling you what they see, or where they are,
for many speak as if they were really present in some
distant place, or with some distant person. Mesmerisers
frequently lead them to distant places by imaginary
coach or railway,saying
"
Now we will go to such a
station, tell me when we are there
;
now we will go to
the next station,"and so on until we lead them
mentally to a place which they have not seen, and this
place they will then describe correctly with the cir-
cumstances which are there occurring at the very time.
This exercise is called
"
mental travelling." When
true clairvoyance, or mental vision, or spirit vision