English Origin of Hypnotism—John Elliotson—James Esdaile— James Braid—A. A. Liébeault and Bernheim—Charcot and Charles Richet—Heidenhain—Literature of Hypnotism
Hypnotism is generally regarded as of French extraction, and few know that England was its birthplace. To understand its origin, we must go back to the later mesmerists and to Braid. Further, ignorance of what was done by the rival schools of mesmerism and hypnotism was answerable for the reproduction of mesmeric errors at the Salpetriere, and for the claims of the Nancy school to be the discoverers of what had been demonstrated by Braid.
In 1837, John Elliotson, the foremost physician of his day, saw some mesmeric experiments, and began to mesmerise patients at University College Hospital. His students, as well as those of other hospitals, became interested’ and attended in large numbers, but his colleagues, while boasting of their refusal to witness his demonstrations, disgracefully persecuted him. The Dean advised him to desist, urging that the interests of ‘the school ought to be considered rather than those of science and humanity, and that the risk of losing public favour was of more importance than the truth of the facts alleged, or their value in the treatment of disease. Elliotson replied “that the institution was established for the discovery and dissemination of truth; all other considerations were secondary, and we should lead the public, not the public us. The sole question was whether the matter were the truth or not.”
In 1838, the Council of University College passed the following resolution: “That the Hospital Committee be instructed to take such steps as they shall deem most advisable to prevent the practice of mesmerism within the hospital.” Elliotson, on being ordered to cease mesmerising his patients, immediately resigned his appointments, and never afterwards entered College or Hospital,.
In 1843, Elliotson and his sympathisers started the Zoist, a journal for the diffusion of information connected with cerebral physiology and mesmerism. It appeared quarterly from April, 1843, until it was discontinued on December 31st, 1855. Its writers then claimed that its object was fulfilled, as their views had been made public for thirteen years. As the result of its influence, Mesmeric Infirmaries and Institutions were opened in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and elsewhere. At one of these, at Exeter, Mr. Parker, surgeon, mesmerised 1,200 persons and performed 200 painless surgical operations.
Elliotson was a constant writer in the Zoist, and contributed many medical and surgical cases observed by himself and others. These comprised amputations of the thigh, leg, arm, breast, etc., which had been performed painlessly during mesmeric trance in England and Scotland, as well as on the Continent and in America.
Cure or improvement was alleged to have followed mesmeric treatment. in insanity, epilepsy, hystero-epilepsy, hysteria, stammering, neuralgia, asthma, torticollis, headache, functional affections of the heart, rheumatism and other diseases. Elliotson asserted that mesmerism was especially useful in hysteria and other functional nervous disorders. These diseases, he said, were misunderstood and treated in ‘a worse than useless manner’ by blistering, bleeding and salivation. Marriage was suggested as a. remedy for hysterical women, with disastrous results, on the supposition that the disease was sexual. It was not, however, necessarily connected with the uterus, nor confined to the female sex, but occurred in boys and in men. Mesmerism, not marriage, was the appropriate treatment for hysteria.
Elliotson found children easy to mesmerise, and cured or relieved many of their diseases; at the same time he insisted upon the injury done by ordinary medical treatment Thus, children suffering from nervous diseases were made worse by being needlessly tortured with blisters and other external irritants. Yet the little creatures were far more sensitive than adults, and felt more pain from an equal cause. When he thought of medical men’s cruelty to innocent little children, he wished their complaints had been left to nature. Despite abuse and persecution, Elliotson continued to employ mesmerism in his practice up to hisdeath in 1868. He did not, however, consider it universally applicable. He only suggested it in cases which he thought specially suitable, and where, in addition, there existed no prejudice regarding it.
The most important mesmeric operations were those performed by Esdaile in India, and narrated in the Zoist from time to time. James Esdaile was born on February 6th, 1808; he graduated at Edinburgh in 1830 and obtained an appointment in the East India Company. On April 4th, 1815, when in charge of the native hospital at Hoogly, he made his first mesmeric experiment; his subject being a Hindoo convict about to undergo a painful operation. At that time he knew nothing of mesmerism, except what he had read of Elliotson’s doings, but he tried to mesmerise this patient, in order to render him insensible to pain. The man fell into a deep. trance and became profoundly analgesic. Encouraged by this, Esdaile continued his experiments, and soon reported 75 painless mesmeric operations to his Medical Board. His letter was not acknowledged. At the end of the year, when his operations amounted to over a hundred, he placed the results before the Government. The Deputy-Governor of Bengal, Sir Herbert Maddock, appointed a “Committee of Investigation,” mainly composed of medical men. Their report was extremely favourable, and in November, 1816, the Government placed Esdaile in charge of a hospital in Calcutta, in order that he might continue his mesmeric operations on a larger scale. The following official visitors were appointed:
R. Thompson, M.D.; D. Stewart, M.D. J. Jackson, F.R.C.S.; F. Mouat, M.D.; and R. O’Shaughnessy, F. R. C. S.
Esdaile was as successful at Calcutta as be had been at Hoogly, and in December, 1847, the official visitors reported that complete insensibility to pain had been obtained by mesmerism in the most .severe operations, and that its influence reduced shock. Esdaile bad only been appointed to the hospital for a year, but before this period expired a petition was sent to the Governor-General, signed by over three hundred native gentlemen of Calcutta, praying for the continuance of the Mesmeric Hospital, on the ground that they had studied the reports, witnessed the operations and their results, and satisfied themselves of their value.
Despite the favourable official report and petition, the hospital was closed. A second one, supported by voluntary subscriptions drawn from native sources, was opened on September 1st, 1848, and Esdaile placed in charge. It was closed in six months, because the Deputy-Governor had appointed Esdaile Surgeon to the Sarkea’s Lane Hospital and Dispensary, for the express purpose of employing mesmerism for the induction of anaesthesia.
Esdaile performed thousands of painless minor operations and about 300 capital ones. Amongst the latter were 19 amputations and one lithotomy but the greater number were for the removal of the enormous scrotal tumours so common in India. His account of his work, and of the flocking of the natives to be operated on under the new— and at that time the only—anaesthetic, forms one of the most fascinating pages in the history of surgery. The removal of the larger scrotal tumours was considered so dangerous an operation that few surgeons attempted it. Dr. Goodeve (Trans. Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta, vol. vii.) put the mortality at 50 %; but, although many of Esdaile’s cases were particularly formidable ones, upon which other surgeons had refused to operate, his mortality in 161 consecutive cases was only 5 %. Further, none of the patients died immediately after operation, but subsequently from fever, cholera, or like causes.
The following commentary on Esdaile’s work appeared in Dr. Webb’s introductory lecture at the Medical Hospital of Calcutta: “In the Mesmeric Hospital in this city the most dreadful operations are daily performed without pain; and I regard this as the greatest surgical triumph of our time. I cannot recall without astonishment the extirpation of a cancerous eye, while the man looked at, me unflinchingly with the other one. In another case, the patient looked dreamily on with half-closed eyes the whole time, even while I examined the malignant tumour I had removed, and then, having satisfied myself, concluded the operation.”
Until Esdaile left India in 1851, he devoted himself entirely to mesmeric work. This brought him no profit, for it involved no increase in his official salary, and he also sacrificed all private practice and other chances of making money.
When Esdaile returned to Scotland and settled in Perth, in December, 1852, he informed Elliotson that the inhabitants of the Far North were as susceptible to mesmerism as those of the Farthest East. Dr. Fraser Thompson, Surgeon to the Perth Infirmary, became a convert and performed painless mesmeric operations; his colleagues, however, called a meeting of the directors and threatened to resign if the practice of mesmerism were continued in the hospital.
James Braid was born in Fifeshire about 1795, educated at Edinburgh, and, after practising in Scotland, settled at Manchester, where he gained high reputation as a surgeon. In November, 1841, he was present at a mesmeric seance. At that time the phenomena were believed to be due either to a mysterious force or to self-deception and trickery. Braid held the latter theory and at first saw no reason to -alter his views. At the next séance he thought genuine phenomena had been produced, and tried to discover their cause. After making a series of experiments, he asserted that the phenomena were purely subjective, instead of being due to a mysterious force or fluid. From that time, until his death in 1860, Braid employed “suggestion “with success in his medical and surgical practice. In 1843 he published “Neurypno1ogy, or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep,” of which 800 copies were sold in a few months. This was followed by other works on the same subject; of these I have traced forty-one, but all have long been out of print in this country.
In 1859, Dr. Azam, of Bordeaux, became acquainted with Braid’s work and began to investigate the subject; an account of his experiments, with much reference to Braid, appeared in the Archives de Médecine in 1860. About the same time Broca, who had obtained marvellous results with Braid’s methods, read a paper on hypnotism before the Acad4mie des Sciences, which attracted much attention. From that date the subject was never lost sight of in France, but it was not until forty years after its original publication that “Neurypnology” was translated by Dr. Jules Simon.
Elliotson and Esdaile regarded Braid as their opponent, but he did not really destroy mesmerism root and branch, and substitute hypnotism as something totally different in its place. Hence, amongst hypnotic phenomena are to be found those mesmeric ones which have stood the test of investigation and are mow explained more scientifically.
At Braid’s death hypnotic work practically ceased in England, despite the attention drawn to it by Professors Carpenter and John Hughes Bennett, but the torch that Braid had lighted passed into France, where Lidbeault originated the hypnotic movement now so widely spread.
Dr. A. A. Liebeault, born in 1823, was first attracted to mesmerism in his student days, but did not renew his researches till 1860. He then found he could induce by suggestion a condition which he regarded as analogous to sleep and termed sommeil provoque. To find subjects for experiment he took advantage of the parsimony of the French peasant. His patients had confidence in him, but were accustomed to being treated in the ordinary way. He said to them: -”If you want drugs I will give them, but you will have to pay me; if you will allow me to hypnotise you, I will do it for nothing.”
He soon had so many patients that he was unable to find time for rest or study. In 1864 he abandoned general practice, settled at Nancy; and gave himself up to hypnotic work. Two years later he published his book, “Du Sommeil et des Etats analogues,” but one copy only was sold. For twenty years he devoted himself to the poor, and refused to accept a fee, lest he should be regarded as making money in unrecognised ways. His theories only found sceptics, his methods were rejected without examination, and he was laughed at and despised by all. His colleagues regarded him as a madman, the poor as their Providence, calling him “the good father Lidbeault.”
In 1882, a patient, who had suffered from sciatica for six years, entered Professor Bernheim’s wards; lie was discharged unrelieved six months later, consulted Liebeault and quickly recovered. Hearing this, Bernheim visited Liebeault’s clinic: at first he was sceptical, but soon his interest was excited; he multiplied his visits and became an eager pupil.
In 1882, Bernheim began to hypnotise his hospital patients, his work being carefully watched from the physiological side by Professor Beaunis, from the legal side by Professor Lidgeois. In a few years 10,000 cases were recorded, hypnosis being obtained in 85 %. In 1884, Bernheim published “De la Suggestion,” and in June, 1886, “La Therapeutique suggestive.” From that date Liebeault’s name became known, his book was bought, and doctors flocked from all countries to study the new therapeutic method; most were convinced of the genuine nature of hypnotism and began to study and practise it.
In 1878, while Liebeault’s work was ignored, Charcot and Charles Richet asserted that the phenomena of hypnotism were genuine. Chartot’s researches attracted attention in England, but his observations were not confirmed, and, if his experiments were quoted, it was,only to discredit hypnotism:
In Germany, about 1880, Heidenheim interested himself in hypnotism, but his influence was not lasting, and it is mainly owing to Forel that treatment by suggestion is widely spread there. Hypnotism now plays an important part in the medical practice of most European countries; it is taught in university class rooms, and has occupied a prominent place at medical congresses, especially at the International Congresses of Experimental Psychology It possesses a rich literature. Max Dessoir, in his “Bibliography of Modern Hypnotism,” published in 1888, and augmented by an Appendix in 1890, cites 1,182 works by 774 authors, and since then the number has largely increased. Several journals, notably the Revue de l’hypnotisyne, occupy themselves almost exclusively with the subject, while others, such as the Annales de Psychiatric, contain from time to time important contributions to its psychological side. The Proceedings of .the Society fOr Physical Research contain valuable articles on hypnotism by Edmund Gurney and Frederic W. H. Myers. The views of the former were markedly in advance of those held at that time, while Myers’ attempt to explain the phenomena by the intelligent and voluntary action of a secondary consciousness still remains the most important contribution to the theoretical side of the subject. At the Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association, held in Edinburgh, July, 1898, Myers, by special request, explained his theories to the Section of Psychology.
Until quite recent times, few medical men in England have employed hypnotism in their practice, On November 8th, 1906, however, the Medical Society for the Study Of Suggestive Therapeutics was formed; its members now number seventy-six, and several Parts of its Transactions have been published. The main objects of its founders are —(1) to facilitate the study of “suggestion” by medical practitioners; (2) to bring the value of “suggestion” as a therapeutic agent more prominently before the profession. The membership of the society is confined to registered medical practitioners. Further, none are eligible for election who are connected in any way with any non-medical society which has for its object the treatment of disease by unqualified persons, whether by “suggestion “or by other methods.
My introduction to mesmerism was due to James Esdaile. In my native town, Perth, many of his experiments were seen and afterwards reproduced by my father, the late Dr. J. P. Bramwell; these, which I witnessed as a boy, deeply impressed me. At Edinburgh my attention was drawn to hypnotism by Professor John Hughes Bennett: an account of Braid’s work formed part of his course of physiology, and he asserted that some day hypnotism would revolutionise the practice of medicine.
In May, 1889, a case occurred in my own practice in which hypnotic treatment was apparently indicated. Although I told my patient how little I knew of the subject, I had .no difficulty in influencing him. My success encouraged me to persevere—at first cautiously amongst personal friends, then boldly with my patients in general. At that time I was only acquainted with Braid’s “Neurypnology,” and it was not until after successful work, conducted on his lines, that I visited Continental hypnotic clinics.
On March 28th, 1890, I gave a demonstration of hypnotic anaesthesia to a large gathering of medical men at Leeds. This was reported in the British Medical Journal and the Lancet, and so many patients were sent to me that I gave up general practice and came to London in November, 1892, and, since then, have devoted myself to treatment by suggestion.
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