Complete Hypnotism, Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spritualism | Page 2

magnetism, has left the following account of Mesmer's experiments:
"In the middle of a large room stood an oak tub, four or five feet in
diameter and one foot deep. It was closed by a lid made in two pieces,
and encased in another tub or bucket. At the bottom of the tub a
number of bottles were laid in convergent rows, so that the neck of
each bottle turned towards the centre. Other bottles filled with
magnetized water tightly corked up were laid in divergent rows with
their necks turned outwards. Several rows were thus piled up, and the
apparatus was then pronounced to be at 'high pressure'. The tub was
filled with water, to which were sometimes added powdered glass and

iron filings. There were also some dry tubs, that is, prepared in the
same manner, but without any additional water. The lid was perforated
to admit of the passage of movable bent rods, which could be applied to
the different parts of the patient's body. A long rope was also fastened
to a ring in the lid, and this the patients placed loosely round their limbs.
No disease offensive to the sight was treated, such as sores, or
deformities.
"A large number of patients were commonly treated at one time. They
drew near to each other, touching hands, arms, knees, or feet. The
handsomest, youngest, and most robust magnetizers held also an iron
rod with which they touched the dilatory or stubborn patients. The rods
and ropes had all undergone a 'preparation' and in a very short space of
time the patients felt the magnetic influence. The women, being the
most easily affected, were almost at once seized with fits of yawning
and stretching; their eyes closed, their legs gave way and they seemed
to suffocate. In vain did musical glasses and harmonicas resound, the
piano and voices re-echo; these supposed aids only seemed to increase
the patients' convulsive movements. Sardonic laughter, piteous moans
and torrents of tears burst forth on all sides. The bodies were thrown
back in spasmodic jerks, the respirations sounded like death rattles, the
most terrifying symptoms were exhibited. Then suddenly the actors of
this strange scene would frantically or rapturously rush towards each
other, either rejoicing and embracing or thrusting away their neighbors
with every appearance of horror.
"Another room was padded and presented another spectacle. There
women beat their heads against wadded walls or rolled on the
cushion-covered floor, in fits of suffocation. In the midst of this panting,
quivering throng, Mesmer, dressed in a lilac coat, moved about,
extending a magic wand toward the least suffering, halting in front of
the most violently excited and gazing steadily into their eyes, while he
held both their hands in his, bringing the middle fingers in immediate
contact to establish communication. At another moment he would, by a
motion of open hands and extended fingers, operate with the great
current, crossing and uncrossing his arms with wonderful rapidity to
make the final passes."

Hysterical women and nervous young boys, many of them from the
highest ranks of Society, flocked around this wonderful wizard, and
incidentally he made a great deal of money. There is little doubt that he
started out as a genuine and sincere student of the scientific character of
the new power he had indeed discovered; there is also no doubt that he
ultimately became little more than a charlatan. There was, of course, no
virtue in his "prepared" rods, nor in his magnetic tubs. At the same time
the belief of the people that there was virtue in them was one of the
chief means by which he was able to induce hypnotism, as we shall see
later. Faith, imagination, and willingness to be hypnotized on the part
of the subject are all indispensable to entire success in the practice of
this strange art.
In 1779 Mesmer published a pamphlet entitled "Memoire sur la
decouverte du magnetisme animal", of which Doctor Cocke gives the
following summary (his chief claim was that he had discovered a
principle which would cure every disease):
"He sets forth his conclusions in twenty-seven propositions, of which
the substance is as follows:-- There is a reciprocal action and reaction
between the planets, the earth and animate nature by means of a
constant universal fluid, subject to mechanical laws yet unknown. The
animal body is directly affected by the insinuation of this agent into the
substance of the nerves. It causes in human bodies properties analogous
to those of the magnet, for which reason it is called 'Animal
Magnetism'. This magnetism may be communicated to other bodies,
may be increased and reflected by mirrors, communicated, propagated,
and accumulated, by sound. It may be accumulated, concentrated, and
transported. The same rules apply to the opposite virtue. The magnet is
susceptible