The science of hypnotism has been evolved from such a labyrinth of idle superstition and wild speculation that even those keenly interested in the development of human knowledge have held aloof from a subject which apparently presents so entangled a maze of soluble riddles.
In the long course of its history it has been the frequent prey of the unscientific investigator, and indeed almost all the quacks, at one time or another, have endeavoured to make some use of it.
Its peculiar attraction for these men lay in the fact that the ordinary run of mankind knew nothing of the hypnotic state, and in the narrowness of their philosophy were wont to attribute to the supernatural or the unknowable all that they, in their ignorance, could not appreciate or fathom. Many, however, of these unscientific advocates were painfully in earnest, and the study of the subject was still making headway when the professional entertainer, the charlatan, the juggler, the trickster, laid their hands on the much-suffering science.
No sooner had the showman's heart been gladdened by his latest “find,” than he proceeded to add some “business” that his “entertainment might be still more effective, and in a space as short in time as it was dire in its effects, “mesmerism” became a bye-word for all that was low and contemptible.
To those, therefore, who would have a clear knowledge of what hypnotism is and what it is not, a study of its history is a necessity; but since to many the suspension of the judgment while wading through the tale of exploded ideas may not be an easy matter, it may be well for some to read first the later chapters dealing with the modern theory of hypnotism, and then to recur to these first chapters for an indication of the various superstitions connected with the subject.
It were unlikely that a definite condition of the human mind could for long be entirely unknown to all, and a study of ancient writings shows that however curious the ancient ideas may have been, yet the state itself had been observed in the earliest times. Thus the history of hypnotism begins almost in fable. Methods were in use amongst the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, which present a striking similarity to the means adopted by modern hypnotists. In the British Museum there is a bas-relief taken from a tomb in Thebes; the “subject,” as he would be termed in modern phraseology, is sitting down, whilst at a short distance from him a man is standing with his hand uplifted and evidently about to “pass” over his patient. The goddess Isis on the zodiac of her temple at Denderah is represented as making the same “passes.” The earliest Greek physicians were in the habit of using processes having a strong resemblance to the “cutaneous irritations” of Heidenhain.
The Ebers Papyrus, which gives us some account of the medical methods practised in Egypt prior to 1552 B.C., mentions the laying of hands on the head of the patient as a part of the treatment.
Even the “clairvoyant” theories of the mesmerists seem to have an history, since probably the early soothsayers and oracles relied largely on the hypnotic states; and the acuteness and subtlety which the faculties often gain in deep states of hypnosis would enable the subjects to speak with a foresight and wisdom calculated to excite the admiration and reverence of those who made use of their services.
St Justin says: “The Sibyls spoke many great things with justice and truth, and that when the instinct which animated them ceased to exist, they lost the recollection of all they had declared.” Asclepiades was in the habit of putting frenzied persons to sleep by rubbing, and when these frictions were prolonged, the patient was plunged in a deep lethargy.
Martial, touching apparently on some luxurious refinement, has a curious reference to the subject. Pliny refers to the method, which will be described later on, of “fascination.”
The author of the “Denarium Medicum” writes –“Fuerunt ante Hippocratem multitint docti qui nulla prorsus medicina corporea usi sunt sed sola spiritus et animae facultate.”
Tacitus and Suetonis testify to the cures performed by the Emperor Vespasian.
Finally, St Augustine tells of a priest whom he knew and who could reduce himself to a state not to be distinguished from death.
Everyone has heard of the cures due to the “royal touch.” Numerous cures were effected in this manner by the early kings of France, and the “touch” was still in vogue in Queen Anne's time.
It seems to have been first exercised by the Scandinavian princes, and particularly by St Olaf, who is supposed to have reigned from 1020 to 1035. Thus we notice in various times a number of phenomena which may, at first sight, strike the reader as but distantly connected with each other; the nature and extent of their connection may be more apparent in the later chapters.
How far the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans knew of the scientific import of these phenomena, and how much they knew seems impossible to decide. We have but the bare record of a number of isolated facts; there seems to be no evidence of any common method or principle. It is not improbable, since many of the phenomena were connected with the oracles or with the most learned physicians, that the people either took no trouble to look for any explanation, or attributed the results to supernatural agency. The first traces of any system appear towards the end of the Middle Ages, and this system grew out of the doctrines of astrology. Some of the famous men of the time were at work on the subject, and notwithstanding the strange doctrines advocated in most of their writings, the student who ventures on them will find them curiously interesting, though lengthy and ponderous. Prominent amongst these writers are Theophrastus Paracelsus, Petrus Pomponatius, Rod [sic], Glocenius, Athanasius Kircher, Van Helmont, Sir Kenelm Digby, Gul. Maxwell, J. G. Burggrav, Sebastian Wirdig, and others, including Fludd and Helinotius.
All these men, in various ways, attempted to demonstrate the existence of an universal magnetic force by which the reciprocal action of bodies, in general, upon each other, and particularly the phenomena of the human body and mind, were to be explained. The human will was capable of producing an effect upon the minds and organisms of other persons. Pomponatius and Van Helmont were the two most systematic upholders of this view. Pomponatius, professor of philosophy at Padua, was born at Mantua in 1462, and died in 1525. He sought to prove that sickness and disease were curable by means of the “magnetism” existing in each person. “When those who are endowed with this faculty operate by employing the force of the imagination and the will, this force affects their blood and their spirits, which produce the intended effects by means of an evaporation thrown outwards.”
John Baptist van Helmont was born at Brussels in the year 1577. He was educated for the medical profession, but spent his life in chemical researches. The discovery of laudanum, of the spirit of hartshorn, and of the volatile salts are due to him; he also discovered the existence of the abriform fluids, to which he gave the name Gas, a name they still retain. He died in 1644.
His book was intended partly as an answer to Glocenius, an earlier writer, who had advocated the doctrines of magnetism, but not in a manner agreeable to Helmont, and partly as a reply to Fr. Robert, a Jesuit, who had contended that the cures performed by means of this magnetism were due to diabolical agency.
He makes short work of his opponents:-
“Magnetism is an universal agent; there is nothing new in it but the name; and it is a paradox only to those who are disposed to ridicule everything, and who ascribe to the influence of Satan all those phenomena which they cannot explain.”
He defines magnetism as “that occult power which bodies exert over each other at a distance, whether by attraction or repulsion.”
Wirdig sums up his own position in few but incisive words:” Totus mundus constat et positus est in magnetimo, onmes sublunariura vicissitudinem fiunt per magnetismum, vita conservatur magnet; interitus minium rerum fiunt per magnetismum.”
It is noticeable that the theories of magnetism gain force and precision in each successive writer. Paracelsus and Glocenius rather hint at than advocate the doctrine of magnetism, but Wirdig takes up a much more decided position; whilst Maxwell's “spiritus vitalis” indicates a great development, and, in fact, was the legitimate precursor of Mesmer's doctrine of the “universal fluid.”
In accordance with the spirit of this ecclesiastical age they made no effort to prove their conclusions - the more impossible the theory the more vehemently was it advocated; thus their works are full of the fruitless discussion of untenable premisses. Still it is not difficult to be wise after the event, and a study of the reports of the Psychical Research Society, the works of Hack Tuke [sic] and Carpenter, together with those of Kircher, Van Helmont, and others, affords in some respects a demonstration of the -relations of later psychology to its embryonic form.
In the middle of the eighteenth century another figure comes on the scene. Friedrich Anton Mesmer was born on the banks of the Rhine, in a small town called Stein, on the 5th of May 1734. He attained his doctor's degree at Vienna, where he studied principally under Professor Van Swieten and Professor Haen. He chose for his thesis on taking his degree-” The Influence of the Planets on the Human Body.”
Whilst at Vienna, Mesmer seems to have been attracted still more to the whole question of Magnetism by witnessing the wonderful “cures” performed by Father Hehl, a Jesuit. These cures were supposed to be due to the subtle influence or fluid of magnetism, which was imparted to the patients from steel plates and magnets specially prepared for the purpose.
Having investigated the matter, and having satisfied himself of the genuineness of the cures, he entered upon a series of independent experiments. On one occasion Mesmer had bled a patient, and was getting the “magnetic tractors” to heal the wound, when he accidentally passed his hand over the cicatrix, and was astonished to find that the pass of his hand had done what had hitherto been effected only by means of the magnets.
This shed a new light on the phenomena, and in 1775 Mesmer issued a circular letter, addressed, in the first place, to the leading academies. In this he maintained the existence of Animal Magnetism, by means of which men could 'mentally influence each other, and he drew a strong distinction between the magnetism which he termed animal and the magnetism of metals. The Academy of Berlin was the only one that replied to his letter, and its answer was not favourable.
About this time, however, the Academy of Bavaria nominated him as a member. The publication of reports of Mesmer's cases in the newspapers roused Vienna to a high pitch of excitement. One of the directors of the Academy of Science at Munich, a Doctor Osterwald, said that he had been cured of paralysis; another professor, named Baur, stated that he had been completely cured of ophthalmia. Not only the people but the-court were to be seen at his levees and his séances. Mesmer at first cured only by contact, but he put forward later the theory that various objects of iron, wood, etc., were capable of receiving the necessary magnetism, and he used in consequence various mechanical means for the conveyance of the fluid.
Vienna had indeed been roused by Mesmer's work, but from the first he was the object of great enmity. This hostility was largely due to the vested interests of the faculty which seemed at stake; but Mesmer himself was anything but conciliatory, and in 1778 he left Vienna and went to Paris.
Billet and Féré state that, “obliged to quit Vienna, in consequence of some adventure not clearly explained, Mesmer came to Paris.” This rumour of some scandalous adventure seems to have been industriously circulated by Mesmer's many enemies as his reason for leaving Vienna, till by its constant repetition it gained general credence, but there seems no reason to-suppose that the cause of his leaving was anything more than the general hostility manifested against him. In Paris, Mesmer constructed his famous “baguet” or tub. This seems to have been a wonderful piece of apparatus. Deleuze describes it as follows:
“In the centre 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 enclosed 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 magnetised water, tightly corked down, were laid in divergent rows with their necks turned outwards. Several rows were thus piled up, and the apparatus was then said to be at 'high pressure.' The tub was filled with water, to which was 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 allow of the passage of movable bent iron rods, which could be applied to the different parts of the patients' bodies. A long rope was also fastened to a ring in the lid, and the patients placed this loosely round their limbs. No diseases offensive to the sight, such as sores, wens, or deformities, were healed. The patients then drew near to each other, touching hands, arms, knees, or feet. The handsomest, youngest, and most robust magnetisers held also an iron rod, with which they touched the dilatory or refractory 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 harmonies 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 neighbours with every appearance of horror.
“Another room was padded, and presented a different spectacle. There, women beat their heads against the padded 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 towards 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 the 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.” Bailly, who was later the reporter to one of the scientific commissions which were appointed to examine the Mesmeric' theories, was a witness of these scenes, and he also has left an account of them. The year 1779 is important as the one in which Mesmer published a paper,' claiming that he had discovered a principle capable of curing every disease. He sums up in twenty seven propositions:-
1. There is a reciprocal action and reaction between the planets, the earth, and animate nature.
2. The means by which this influence acts and reacts is a fluid universally diffused, so continuous as not to admit of a break, incomparably subtle and susceptible of receiving, increasing, and communicating all motor disturbances.
3. This reciprocal action is subject to mechanical but as yet unknown laws.
4. The reciprocal effects resulting from this action may be considered as flux and reflux.
5. This reflux is more or less general, more or less special, more or less complex, according to the nature of the causes which determine it.
6. It is by this action, the most universal which occurs in nature, that the exercise of active relations between the planets, the earth and its constituent parts, takes place.
7. The properties of matter and of organic substance depend on this action.
8. The animal body experiences the reciprocal effects of this agent, and is directly affected by its insinuation into the substance of the nerves.
9. Properties are displayed analogous to those of the magnet, particularly in the human body, in which diverse and opposite poles are likewise to be distinguished, and these may be communicated, changed, destroyed, and reinforced. Even the phenomenon of declination may be observed.
10. This property of the human body, which renders it susceptible of the influence of the planets and of the reciprocal action of those which environ it, manifests its analogy with the magnet, and this has led° me to adopt the term “animal magnetism.”
11. The action and virtue of animal magnetism, thus characterised, may be communicated to other bodies inanimate or animate.
12. This action and virtue may be strengthened and diffused by such bodies.
13. Experiments show that there is a diffusion of matter, subtle enough to penetrate all bodies without any considerable loss of energy.
14. Its action takes place at a remote distance, without the aid of any intermediary substance.
15. It is, like light, increased and reflected by mirrors.
16. It is communicated, propagated, and increased by sound.
17. This magnetic virtue may be accumulated, concentrated, and transported.
18., I have said that animated bodies are not all equally susceptible; in a few instances they possess so opposite a property that their presence is sufficient to destroy all the effects of magnetism upon other bodies.
19. This opposite virtue likewise penetrates all bodies; it also may be communicated, propagated, accumulated, concentrated, and transported, reflected by mirrors, and propagated by sound. This does not merely constitute a negative, but a positive opposite virtue.
20. The magnet, whether natural or artificial, is like other bodies susceptible of animal magnetism, and even of the opposite virtue; in neither case does its action on fire or on the needle suffer any change, and this shows that the principle of animal magnetism essentially differs from that of mineral magnetism.
21. This system sheds new light upon the nature of fire and of light, as well as on the theory of attraction, of flux and reflux, of the magnet and of electricity.
22. It teaches us that the magnet and artificial electricity have, with respect to diseases, properties common to a host of other agents presented to us by nature, and that if the use of these has been attended by some useful results, they are due to animal magnetism.
23. These facts show, in accordance with the practical rules I am about to establish, that this principle will cure nervous diseases directly, and other diseases indirectly.
24. By its aid the physician is enlightened as to the use of medicine, and may render its action more perfect, and he can provoke and direct salutary crises so as to have them completely under his control.
25. In communicating my method, I shall, by a new theory of matter, demonstrate the universal utility of the principle I seek to establish.
26. Possessed of this knowledge, the physician may judge with certainty of the origin, nature, and progress of diseases, however complicated they may be; he may hinder their development and accomplish their cure without exposing the patient to dangerous and troublesome consequences, irrespective of age, temperament, and sex. Even women in a state of pregnancy and during parturition may reap the same advantage.
27. This doctrine will finally enable the physician to decide upon the health of every individual, and of the presence of the diseases to which he may be exposed. In this manner the art of healing may be brought to absolute perfection.
These propositions, highly vague and mystic in their language, possess some interesting features indicating the constant attempt of ignorance to harmonise the results of observation with its preconceptions.
Mesmer's statements and methods had, however, struck the popular imagination in a remarkable manner, and it became necessary for measures to be taken which might settle some of the questions so hotly disputed. Accordingly a commission was appointed to inquire into and report upon the whole question. There were in fact two commissions. The one, composed of members of the Faculty of Medicine, of the Academy of Sciences, and some well-known men, such as Franklin and Lavoisier; the other taken from the members of the Royal Society of Medicine. The reports of both were unfavourable to Mesmer's claims. The two commissions presented elaborate reports, giving a detailed account of their meetings and experiments. Owing to their great length it is impossible to quote them in full, but as it is necessary that the reader should have a clear view of the nature of the questions in dispute, and of the position assumed by the various scientific men of the time, the conclusions are given below.
The student will find the full text in the printed reports published, and a valuable historical commentary on this is supplied by the work of Burdin and Dubois, which also contains the reports of the later commissions.
The commission of the Academy of Science was the first to publish its report, and its conclusion is as follows:-
“The commissioners have ascertained that the animal magnetic fluid is not perceptible by any of the senses; that it has no action, either on themselves or on the patients subjected to it. They are convinced that pressure and contact effect changes which are rarely favourable to the animal system, and which injuriously affect the imagination. Finally, they have demonstrated by decisive experiments that imagination, apart from magnetism, produces convulsions, and that magnetism without imagination produces nothing. They have come to the unanimous conclusion with respect to the existence and utility of magnetism, that there is nothing to prove the existence of the animal fluid; that this fluid, since it is non-existent, has no beneficial effects; that the violent effects observed in patients under public treatment are due to contact, to the excitement of imagination, and to the mechanical imitation which involuntarily impels us to repeat that which strikes our senses. At the same time, they are compelled to add, since it is an important observation, that the contact and repeated excitement of the imagination which produced the crises may become hurtf; that the spectacle of these crises is likewise dangerous, on account of the imitative faculty, which is a law of nature; and consequently that all treatment in public in which magnetism is employed must in the end be productive of evil results.”
(Signed) B. FRANKLIN, MAJACLT, LE ROY,
SALLIN, BAILEY, D'ARCET, DE BORY, GUILLOTIN, LAVOISIER.
PARIS, 11th of August 1784.
From the report it will be seen that the commissioners considered the imagination responsible for the phenomena they had been appointed to examine, and denied altogether the existence of the force to which Mesmer had given the name animal magnetism.
In addition to this public report the commissioners presented a private report to the king, in which they referred to the objectionable features of the séances, and insisted strongly on the moral danger of the practice of animal magnetism.
The Royal Society of Medicine issued their report on the 16th of August, and their conclusions 'agreeing in the main with that of the Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine were as follows1:-
It follows from the first part of our report-
1. That the so-called animal magnetism, as it has been put forth in our days, is an ancient system, praised in past centuries, and then forgotten.
2. That the advocates of animal magnetism, either those who invented this system or those who have revived it amongst us, have not been able in the past, nor can they now give any proof of the existence of the unknown agent, or of “the fluid” to which they have ascribed certain powers and effects, and that consequently the existence of this agent is gratuitously assumed.
3. That what has been called animal magnetism, reduced to its proper value by the examination and analysis of facts, is the art of causing to fall into convulsions by the touching of the most irritable parts of the body, and by the friction exercised on these parts, very sensitive persons, after they have been prepared for this result by multiplied and concomitant causes, which can be varied at will, and of which some alone are capable of producing most violent convulsions in certain cases and in certain subjects.
4. We have begun the second part of our report by remarking that if the so-called animal magnetism vaunted in the last century had really been useful, the use of it would have been established and perpetuated.
5. We have shown that it is by an error in the use of terms that the effects produced by animal magnetism have been called crises; that between these which are the means nature employs to heal, and the effects of the so called magnetism, there is no relationship except in the similarity of names, whilst all the essential and constituent conditions are diametrically opposed.
6. We have detailed the numerous and serious dangers to which we are exposed by the use of the so-Sled animal magnetism; we have insisted on the evil effects which are -to be feared from the convulsions it excites and the evacuations it causes.
Consequently we are of opinion-
1. That the theory of animal magnetism is a system absolutely without proof.
2. That this so-called method of healing, reduced to the irritation of sensitive parts, to imagination and its effects, is at least useless to those in whom neither evacuations nor convulsions follow, and that it may become dangerous by provoking and carrying to a too high degree the tension of fibres in those whose nerves are highly sensitive.
3. That it is very harmful to those in whom it produces effects which have been wrongly called crises; that it is all the more dangerous as the so-called crises are stronger or the convulsions more violent and the evacuations more abundant, and that there are many natures in whom the consequences may be fatal.
4. That the treatment in public by the process of animal magnetism adds to all the drawbacks mentioned above that of exposing a large number of otherwise well-constituted persons to contract a spasmodic or convulsive habit, which may become the-source of the greatest evils.
5. That these conclusions must extend to all that is now presented to the public under the name of animal magnetism, since the apparatus and effects being everywhere the same, the inconvenience and dangers to which it exposes persons deserve everywhere the same attention.
(Signed) POISSONIER, CAILLE,
MANDIITT, ANDRY. Paris, 16th of August 1784.
These reports, however conclusive they might otherwise have been, were rendered less useful by the withdrawal of Laurent de Jussieu, the great botanist, from the commission of the Royal Society of Medicine. Jussieu had admittedly examined the experiments with extraordinary care and thoroughness, and found himself unable to agree with his colleagues. He published a separate report with the object of showing that he had produced certain effects which could not be explained by imagination; and he stated, as the result of his observations, that a sensible action was produced by friction, by contact, and even by proximity. He did not adopt the term animal magnetism, but attributed the influence to “animal heat,” or as he termed it later, “animalised electric fluid.”
He discussed the subject elaborately in his report and his conclusion was as follows:-
“The theory of magnetism cannot be admitted until it is developed and supported by solid proof. The experiments made to verify the existence of the magnetic fluid only prove that man produces a sensible action on his fellow by friction, by contact, and more rarely by the mere fact of drawing nearer. This action, attributed to a non-established universal fluid, certainly belongs to the animal heat in bodies, which continually emanates from them, goes sufficiently far, and can pass from one body into another. Animal heat is developed, increased, or diminished in a body by causes either mental or physical; judged by its effects, it shares the properties of tonic medicines, and produces, like them, effects either good or bad, according to the dose and the circumstances under which it is used. A widespread and more intelligent use of this agent will better show its real action and degree of utility. Every doctor may follow the methods he considers advantageous to the treatment of diseases, but on condition that he publishes his methods when they are new or opposed to the ordinary practice. Those will have established, spread, or followed the treatment known as magnetic, and who propose to continue, are therefore bound to reveal their observations and discoveries; and we must proscribe any such treatment the process of which shall not be made known by prompt publication.”
A. L. DE JUSSIEU.
After the report of the commissions, there seemed little temptation for Mesmer to remain in Paris, and he returned to Germany.
He died in Morsburg in 1815, arid the Berlin physicians erected a monument over the grave in honour of his memory.
Despite his sensational methods and extravagant assertions, there is good reason to believe that Mesmer was sincere-to the poor he was always indulgent, and he seems to have been actuated by high motives; but, like many enthusiasts, he regarded the facts he had observed as so many proofs of his theories in reference to them-turning the facts to fit the theories in suo more. He firmly believed in the “animal magnetism” possessed by himself, and so forcibly did he impress his beliefs on his generation that the term “Mesmerism” with its connoted ideas still has a powerful hold on the popular imagination.'
The question was not allowed to drop with the retirement of Mesmer; but, on the contrary, the greatest interest was manifested in the experiments and observations of his disciples. Prominent amongst these was the Marquis Chastenet de Puységur. Many causes tended towards the progress of magnetism in his hands. It must be admitted that Mesmer had made extremely rash anti inconsiderate attacks on every one who would not forth with join him; and in addition to this unfortunate propensity he seemed to be imbued with an innate k love of the mysterious; whilst he must have displeased many who might otherwise have been attached to him, by his sensational manner of procedure.
None of these faults were present in de Puységur. At Buzancy, he lived on his estate a quiet and retired life, contenting himself with his experiments, and curing those whom he could. To him is due the discovery of the hypnotic stage known as “somnambulism,” a condition many fall into, under hypnosis, and in which the most striking experiments may be performed. It will be referred to more fully when discussing the various forms of hypnosis.
De Puységur, as was very natural under the circumstances, wrongly interpreted many of the strange characteristics of this state. At that time the power of the subject to receive “unconscious suggestion” was not known, and, indeed, remained unknown for some long time after.
Ignorance of this led the Marquis to conclude that in the somnambulistic state “thought transference,” “clairvoyance,” and other impossible powers were to be found in the subject.
De Puységur seems to have thought that Mesmer knew of this state, and Dr Moll, whilst admitting that it is doubtful, inclines to the opinion that Mesmer was aware of it. It is difficult to suppose that in the thousands of eases which came under Mesmer's notice there were no patients who fell into the state of somnambulism; at the same time, Mesmer thoroughly believed that his own personal and mental influence was a most important factor, and this, with him, might easily have accounted for the phenomena common to the state. It seems quite possible that, the idea of a stage, distinct and sui generis, never occurred to him.
De Puységur apparently first identified the state in a peasant who was suffering from “inflammation of the lungs.” The peasant, by name Victor, was thrown into a quiet sleep free from the convulsions which had generally attended the induction of the state. It was found that he could be made cheerful or sad, to sing or to dance in accordance with the suggestion conveyed to him by the operator.
Guided by the new knowledge, de Puystur at once proceeded to look for similar cases, and to his great delight found many. This time Buzancy was the rendezvous of all the sick; they came in their numbers, and the quiet, humble Marquis soon found himself at his wit's end to know how to attend to the wants of all his patients. The scientific world was better represented than it had been with Mesmer, and it is related that at Buzancy the patients were to be seen quite free from the terrible convulsions and fits which Mesmer induced, enjoying a peaceful and refreshing sleep.'
The number of patients increased so rapidly that the plan of Mesmer was resorted to, and de Puységur magnetised an elm which was widely known as “Puységur tree.” In this case the operator, however, was frequently in attendance, and it was stated that many cures were effected.
Mesmer's pupil was still a very long way from the truth, but he had made a great advance on his master's system. It is admitted by all that de Puységur was as honest as the day, and no doubt much of the real impression which he created was due to his quiet, disinterested, and more scientific efforts.
It can be easily understood, however, that the super-normal element of the somnambulistic stage, which entered into de Puységur's theory, presented great scope for the professional entertainers, of which they were by no means too slow to avail themselves, and the silly and the credulous were greatly imposed upon by these charlatans, who invented the most ridiculous theories, and succeeded in disgusting most sober-minded people. In a large number of semi-educated communities a rage started for the formation of societies devoted to the study and practice of magnetism. They generally took the name of Harmonic Societies, and under their auspices untold wonders were performed ad libitum. Pététin's name must be mentioned in passing. He was President of the Medical Society at Lyons, and strongly opposed all the theories of Mesmer. He is noticeable as having been the first to publish an account of the phenomena known as “transposition of the senses.” He brought before the Lyons Society a woman, who, according to his account, could see, hear, feel, smell, and taste by means of the stomach, and also by means of her fingers; several observations of a like nature were made by him. It is still a point of controversy whether this transposition is a physical fact or whether it is due to suggestion, and the increased faculties of the person hypnotised; they who maintain the actual transposition of the senses are, however, very few, and there seems little doubt that it falls under the category of suggestive faculties (see Chap. III ). In 1813 a very striking development, in reality the first sign of a distinct break from the ideas of Mesmer, was introduced by the Abbé Faria who came from India. He claimed, perhaps indefinitely, and with no very clear perception of the change from the waking to the sleeping state; that the hypnotic sleep was due not to magnetism 'or to any influence possessed by the operator, but to physiological action on the brain that, in fact, it depended not on the hypnotist, but on the subject. In this year, too, Deleuze published his valuable work on the history of Animal Magnetism.
The advocacy of the magnetic doctrines had not been confined to Paris, though the ever-varying course of its fortunes there claims most of o the historian's attention. As early as the year 1785 Animal Magnetism had gained grounds in Germany.
Throughout, the enquiry was of a much more thorough and scientific nature than at Paris; so much so that the foremost physicians were lecturing at the Universities on the subject. In France, the study of magnetism had been practically left to laymen, and the natural results of such negligence were soon apparent; in Germany the opposite was the case, and. many scientific men were engaged in its investigation. By 1800 it had spread to practically every country, and was received in Denmark and Russia with much enthusiasm.
The Prussian Government (1812) commissioned Dr Wolfart to visit Mesmer and report on the subject. He returned a zealous supporter of Magnetism, using it in his treatment, and lecturing on the, subject at the Berlin University.
In all these countries, however, Magnetism led a quiet, sober, and respectable life. The sturdy Teuton took “magnetism” as he takes most things-quietly. Not so with the French; there, one was a magnetist or not a magnetist, a believer or not a believer; so that it became the béte noire of every patient investigator. Dr Bertrand, in 1820, gave a series of public lectures on the old theme, and General Noizet prepared a paper for the Royal Academy at Berlin; in both of these there is evidence that the Abbe Faria's experiments and observations had not been without effect, though neither Bertrand nor Noizet had been able to free himself from the current theories, and their contributions to the question are of little value Till the governors of the hospitals put an end to them, Du Potet, Georget, and Rostan were carrying out experiments at the Hotel Dieu and the Salpetriere. Foissac endeavoured to persuade the Academy of Medicine to take up the question again, relying chiefly on the fact that Laurent de Jussieu had broken at the time with the commission of 1784, and had published the report which has been mentioned. Foissac eventually succeeded in gaining the hearing of the Academy, and they appointed a committee to decide whether a further examination of Animal Magnetism were necessary or expedient. The committee reported in favour of a commission being appointed, and in June 1825 a commission of eleven was nominated. The commission seemed to be in no hurry, and it was only after five years' research that in June 1831 they presented their report.
The members of the commission proved unable to rid themselves of the prevalent superstitions, and “magnetism” in consequence is responsible for everything; the volition of the operator still holds its sway; nevertheless, if we leave aside these various etiological assumptions, we find evidence of much careful observation.
In their sixteenth conclusion they give a remarkable description of certain phenomena occurring in hypnosis, which has since been abundantly confirmed. The whole report is interesting as one of the earliest attempts at a systematic description of the state. A summary of the report is appended.
CONCLUSIONS.
1. The contact of the thumbs or of the hands; frictions, or certain gestures which are made, at a small distance from the body, and called passes, are the means employed to place ourselves in magnetic connection; or, in other words, to transmit the magnetic influence to the patient.
2. The means which are external and visible are not always necessary, since on many occasions the will, the fixed look, have been found sufficient to produce the magnetic phenomena, even without the knowledge of the patient.
3. Magnetism has taken effect upon persons of different sex and age.
4. The time required for transmitting the magnetic influence with effect has varied from half an hour to a minute.
5. In general, magnetism does not act upon persons in a sound state of health.
6. Neither does it act upon all sick persons.
7. Sometimes during the process of magnetising there are manifested insignificant and evanescent effects 'which cannot be attributed to magnetism done; such as a slight degree of oppression of heat or of cold, and some other nervous phenomena, which can be explained, without the intervention of a particular agent, upon the principle of hope or of fear, prejudice, and the novelty of the treatment, the ennui produced by the monotony of the gestures, the silence and repose in which the experiments are made; finally, by the imagination, which has so much influence on some minds and on certain organisations.
8. A certain number of the effects observed appeared to us to depend on magnetism alone, and were never produced without its application. These are well-established physiological and therapeutic phenomena.
9. The real effects produced by magnetism are very various. It agitates some and soothes others. Most commonly it occasions a momentary acceleration of the respiration and of the circulation, fugitive fibrillary convulsive motions resembling electric shocks, a numbness in a greater or less degree, heaviness, somnolency, and in a small number of cases that which the magnetisers call somnambulism.
10. The existence of an uniform character to enable us to recognise, in every case, the reality of the state of somnambulism has not been established.
11. However, we may conclude with certainty that this state exists, when it gives rise to the development of new faculties, which have been designated by the names of clairvoyance, intuition, internal provision, or when it produces great changes in the physical economy, such as insensibility, a sudden and considerable increase of strength, and when these effects cannot be referred to any other cause.
12. As among the effects attributed to somnambulism there are some which may be feigned; somnambulism itself may be feigned, and furnish quackery with the means of deception. Thus in the observation of these phenomena which do not present themselves again, but as isolated facts, it is only by means of the most attentive scrutiny, the most rigid precautions and numerous and varied experiments, that we can escape illusion.
13. Sleep produced with more or less promptitude is a real but not a constant effect of magnetism.
14. We hold it as demonstrated that it has been produced in circumstances in which the persons could not see, or were ignorant of, the means employed to occasion it.
15. When a person has once been made to fall into the magnetic sleep, it is not always necessary to have recourse to contact in order to magnetise him anew. The look of the magnetiser, his volition alone, possess the same influence.
16. In general, changes, more or less remarkable, are produced upon the perception and other mental faculties of those who fall into somnambulism in consequence of magnetism.
(a) Some persons amidst the noise of confused conversation hear only the voice of the magnetiser, several answer precisely the questions he puts to o them or which are addressed to them by those individuals with whom they have been placed in magnetic connection; others carry on conversation with all the persons around them.
Nevertheless, it is seldom that they hear what is passing around them. During the greater part of the time they are complete strangers to the external and unexpected noise which is made close to their ears, such as the sound of copper vessels struck briskly near them, the fall of a piece of furniture, etc.
(b) The eyes are closed, the eyelids yield with difficulty to the efforts which are made to open them; this operation, which is not without pain, shows the ball of the eye convulsed and carried upwards and sometimes turned towards the lower part of the orbit.
(c) Sometimes the power of smelling appears to be annihilated. They may be made to inhale muriatic acid or ammonia without feeling any inconvenience, nay, without perceiving it. The contrary takes place in certain cases, and they retain the sense of smell.
(d) The greater number of the somnambulists whom we have seen were completely insensible. We might tickle their feet, their nostrils, and the angle of the eyes with a feather; we might pinch their skin so as to leave a mark, prick them with pins under the nails, etc., without producing any pain, without even their perceiving it. Finally, we saw one who was insensible to one of the most painful operations in surgery, and who did not manifest the slightest emotion in her countenance, her pulse, or her respiration.
17. Magnetism is as intense and as, speedily felt at a distance of six feet as of six inches, and the phenomena developed are the same in both cases.
18. The action at a distance does not appear capable of being executed with success excepting upon individuals who have been already magnetised.
19. We only saw one person who fell into somnambulism upon being magnetised for the first time. Sometimes somnambulism was not manifested until the eighth or tenth sitting.
20. We have invariably seen the ordinary sleep, which is the repose of the organs of sense, of the intellectual faculties, and the voluntary motions, precede and terminate the state of somnambulism
21. While in the state of somnambulism the patients, whom we have observed, retained the use of the faculties which they possessed when awake. Even their memory appeared to, be more faithful and more extensive, because they remembered everything that passed at the time and every time they were placed in the state of somnambulism
22. Upon awaking they said they had totally forgotten the circumstances which took place during the somnambulism and never recollected them. For this fact we can have no other authority than their own declarations.
23. The muscular powers of, somnambulists are sometimes benumbed and paralysed. At other times their motions are constrained, and the somnambulists walk or totter about like drunken men, sometimes avoiding and sometimes not avoiding the obstacles which may happen to be in their way. There are some somnambulists who preserve entire the power of motion; there are even some who display more strength and agility than in their waking state.
24: We have seen two somnambulists who distinguished, with their eyes closed, the objects which were placed before them; they mentioned the colour and the value of cards without touching them; they read words traced with the hand, as also some lines of books opened at random. The phenomena took place even when the eyes were kept tightly closed with the fingers.
25. In two somnambulists we found the faculty of foreseeing the acts of the organism more or less remote, more or less complicated: One of them announced repeatedly, several months previously, the day, the hour, and the minute of the access and return of epileptic fits. The other announced the period of his cure. Their provisions were realised with remarkable exactness. They appeared to us to apply only to acts or injuries of their organism.
26. We found only a single somnambulist who pointed out the symptoms of the diseases of three persons with whom she was placed in magnetic connection. We had, however, made experiments upon a considerable number.
27. In order to establish with any degree of exactness the connection between magnetism and therapeutics, it would be necessary to have observed its effects upon a great number of individuals and to have made experiments every day, for a long time, upon the same patients. As this 'did not take place with us, your committee could only mention what they perceived in too small a number of cases to enable them to pronounce any judgment.
28. Some of the magnetised patients felt no benefit from the treatment. Others experienced a more or less decided relief-viz., one, the suspension of habitual pains; another, the return of his strength; a third, the retardation for several months of his epileptic fits; and a fourth, the complete cure of a serious paralysis of long standing.
29. Considered as a cause of certain physiological phenomena, or as a therapeutic remedy, magnetism ought to be allowed a place within the circle of the medical sciences, and, consequently, physicians only should practise it, or superintend its use, as is the case in the northern countries.
30. Your committee have not been able to verify, because they had no opportunity of doing so, other faculties which the magnetiser had announced as existing in somnambulists. But they have communicated in their report facts of sufficient importance to entitle them to think that the Academy ought to encourage the investigations into the subject of animal magnetism as a very curious branch of psychology and natural history.
(Signed) BOURDOIS DE LA MOTTE, President; FOUQUIER, GUENEAU DE MUSSY, GUERSENT, HUSSON, ITARD, J. J. LEROUX, MARC, THILLAYE
MM. DOUBLE and MAGENDIE did not consider themselves entitled to sign the report as they had not assisted in making the experiments.
As long as the theory of hypnotic suggestion remained unknown, it was impossible for any investigator to avoid falling into many errors. The reader will notice in the report itself the result of this ignorance; but as a critical and scientific examination of the state, so far as the then existing knowledge allowed, the report cannot be too highly praised. The fact that in the investigation of a subject so surrounded with pitfalls, they drew so few erroneous conclusions, testifies, more than anything else, to the thoroughness of their work.
The Academy, however, were not prepared to accept a report which seemed to establish the fact of a “magnetic” condition, and endeavoured to, as far as possible, repress the publication of these investigations. Acting, presumably, on precedent, the British Medical Association in 1892 referred a report back to their committee complaining that it seemed to bind the medical profession to the use of hypnotism. In 1893 they received the report.
The mistakes which the French commission made were mainly due to the element of suggestion not being satisfactorily eliminated, though in addition to this primary error they bestowed an amount of attention on the extra-normal phenomena, such as those presented by hysterical patients, not at all proportionate to the results obtained. The importance given to this more or less mystical side of the question provided the Academy with a much desired excuse for ignoring the report as far as possible.
Thus, the second investigation, so far from setting at rest any of the disputed points, only served to intensify the general doubt and wonder. The controversy became more keen, the recriminations more violent, as time went on, and in 1837 a fresh attempt was made to arrive at some definite conclusion on the subject. One, by name Berns, urged the Academy to grant another commission to examine his experiments, and a committee was appointed in answer to his continued requests. Their report was published on July 17, 1837, and they made a resume of their researches in the seven conclusions which follow. The pretensions of Berns with reference to the supernormal characteristics of the “magnetic condition” were overthrown; and, in fact, none of these claims have ever been substantiated in a scientific manner.
CONCLUSIONS.
1. It results from all the facts and incidents which we have witnessed that, first of all, no special proof has been given us of the existence of a special state called the state of magnetic somnambulism; that it is solely by assertion not proof that the magnetiser has proceeded in this respect, by affirming to us at each séance and before any attempt at experiment, that his subjects were in a state of somnambulism.
The programme given us by the operator stated, it is true, that the subject enjoyed his full sensibility, in proof of which he could be pricked, and would afterwards be sent to sleep in presence of the committee. But it results from the experiments we made at the séance of the 3rd March, and before any magnetic process, that the subject did not seem to feel the pricking before the supposed sleep more than during it, that his bearing and answers were much the same before and during the operation called magnetic. Was it a mistake on his part? Was it natural impassibility or one acquired by habit? Was it to at once make himself interesting? That is what the committee are unable to decide. It is true afterwards that each time we have been told that the subjects were asleep; but we were told, and nothing more.
And if the proofs of the somnambulistic state were later on to result front experiments on subjects supposed to be in that state, the valuelessness and worthlessness of these proofs would follow from the conclusions we are about to draw from these very experiments.
2. According to the programme the second séance was to consist in testing the insensibility of the subjects. But, after recalling the restrictions imposed on your committee, that the face was excluded from any such experiment; that the same was the case for all parts naturally covered, so that the hands and neck alone remained; after recalling that, on these parts were allowed neither pinching or pulling, nor contact with a body either ignited or at a somewhat high temperature; that we had to confine ourselves to inserting needles to a depth of about half a line [about 1/24 inch]; and lastly, that the face being partly covered by a bandage, we could not judge of the expression of the face whilst trying to cause pain; after recalling all these restrictions, we are justified in deducing:- 1st, that only very slight and limited painful sensations could be produced; 2nd, and that, only on a few parts perhaps used to this kind of impressions; 3rd, that this kind of impression was always the same, that it resulted from a kind of tattooing; 4th, that the face, and especially
the eyes, where painful expressions most easily show themselves, were hidden from the committee; that owing to these circumstances even absolute, complete impassibility could not have been to us a conclusive proof of the abolition of sensibility in the aforesaid subject.
3. The magnetiser was to prove to the committee that by his mere will he could restore, either locally or generally, sensibility to his subject; this he called restitution of sensibility.
But as it had been impossible for him to prove to us by experiments that he had removed or abolished sensibility in this young lady, this experiment being correlative to the last, it has been for that very reason impossible to prove this restitution; and besides it results from the facts we have observed that all essays in this direction have failed. The subject described quite the reverse of what he had announced. You remember, gentlemen, that we were reduced for verification to the assertion of the subject; when she affirmed for instance that she could not move her left leg, that surely was no proof to the committee that she was magnetically paralysed in that member; but even then her words disagreed with the pretensions of the magnetiser; so that from all this resulted assertions without proof, opposed to other assertions equally without proof.
4. What we have just said about the abolition and restitution of sensibility applies to the pretended abolition and restitution of movement; not the slightest proof could be given to the committee.
5. One of the sections of the programme was entitled: “Obedience to a mental order to cease, in the middle of a conversation, and to answer verbally or by signs a particular person.”
The magnetiser tried, in the séance of March 13th, to prove to the committee that the power of his will could produce this effect; but it results from what took place, that far from producing these results, the subject seemed to no longer hear before he wanted to prevent her from so doing, and that she again seemed to hear when he positively did not want her to hear; so that, from the subject's assertions, the faculty of hearing or not hearing would have been, in her, in complete opposition to the will of the magnetiser.
But, after well-understood facts, the committee no more conclude an opposition, than a submission; they have found a complete independence and nothing more.
6. Transposition of Sight. -Yielding to the entreaty of the committee, the magnetiser, as we have seen, had left alone his abolitions and restitutions of sensibility and movement to come to the more important facts-viz., vision without the use of the eyes. All the incidents relative to this have been told you; they took place at the séance of 3rd April 1837.
By the power of his magnetic passes, M. Berna was to show the committee a woman reading words, recognising playing-cards, following the hands of a watch, not with the eyes but with the occiput, which implied either the transposition, or the uselessness, or the superfluity of the organ of sight in the magnetic state. The experiments took place; you know how they utterly failed.
All that the subject knew, all she could infer from what was said near her, all she could naturally suppose, she told while she was blindfolded; from which we conclude, first of all, that she did not lack a certain amount of skill. Thus the magnetiser invited one of the committee to write a word on a card and present it to this woman's occiput; she said she could see a card and even some writing on it. Were she asked the number of people present, since she had seen them enter, she said approximately the number of persons. Were she asked whether she saw a certain member of the committee placed near her, writing with a squeaky pen, she would raise her head, try to see under the bandage, and said the person held something white in his hand. Asked whether she could say what was in the mouth of this person who, ceasing to write, had placed himself behind her, she would say he had something white in his mouth; from which we conclude that the said subject was more experienced and skilled than the first, and knew how to make more plausible suppositions. But, as for facts really fit to prove sight by the occiput, decisive, absolute unanswerable facts, not only were they wanting, entirely wanting, but those we saw were of such a nature as to make us conceive strange suspicions as to the morality of this woman, as we will presently show.
7. Giving up the hope of proving to the committee the transposition of sight, the uselessness of the eyes in the magnetic state, the magnetiser wished to take refuge in clairvoyance or sight through opaque bodies.
You know the experiments made on this point here facts carry with them their chief conclusion, viz., that a man placed before a woman in a certain position was unable to make her distinguish, through a bandage, objects presented to her.
But here a more grave thought occupied the committee. Let us admit for a moment the hypotheses so handy for magnetisers, that at times the best subjects lose all lucidity, and that, like the rest of mortals, they can no longer see by the occiput, stomach, not even across a bandage; let us, if you will, admit all this; but what are we to conclude, with regard to this woman, from her minute description 'of objects other than those presented to her? What can we conclude of a subject who describes a knave of clubs on a blank card, who on a counter sees a gold watch with white dial and black letters, and who, had we insisted, would perhaps have ended by telling us the time indicated by this watch?
If now, gentlemen, you ask us what last and general conclusion we are to draw from the whole of these experiments made before us, we will say that M. Berna has, without doubt, deceived himself, when on February 12th of this year, he wrote to the Royal Academy of Medicine that he would undertake to give us the personal experience we lacked (those were his words), when he offered to show your committee conclusive facts; when he affirmed these facts would he of a nature to enlighten physiology and therapeutics. You know these facts; .you know they are far from conclusive, that they have shown nothing in favour with this doctrine of animal magnetism, that it can have nothing in common with either physiology or therapeutics.
Should we have found anything else in more numerous, more varied cases provided by other magnetisers? We will not attempt to decide; but what is well established is that if other magnetisers still exist, they have not dared to show themselves in daylight, they have not dared to challenge the academical sanction or condemnation.
(Signed) ROUX, President; BOUM, LAUD, CLOQUET, EMERY,
PELLETIER, CAVENTOU, CORNAC, OUDET.
DUBOIS (d'Amiens), reporter.
PARIS, 17th July 1837.
It will be seen that in this case the committee reported strongly against Animal Magnetism, and their report was accepted, despite the protests of Husson, by a large majority of the Academy. If the report of 1831 were unsatisfactory and indefinite, this last was even more so. By far the greater part of, if not all, the attention of the commission was devoted to a demonstration of the non-existence of certain alleged magnetic conditions, transposition of the senses, prevision, clairvoyance, etc., etc.
In fact, the commission and the Academy had both been following the wrong scent, and it was regarded as a final settlement when Burdin (the younger), with the approval of the Academy, offered a prize of 3000 francs to any one who could read, or who could produce a person capable of reading, a given writing without the aid of his eyes and in the dark. The first candidate for this prize was a Dr Pigeaire, who claimed that his daughter, a young girl about ten years old, could in the somnambulistic state, amongst many other wonders, read writing with her eyes covered by a bandage. He came to Paris, not without credentials. The Professor of Physiology at Montpellier testified to the power possessed by this girl, and in Paris he gave some séances before several doctors, who also stated that they had witnessed an exhibition of these powers. In the beginning of the Academy's investigation a hitch occurred with regard to the bandage. The committee would not accept the black silk one provided by Pigeaire. They justly demanded that the bandage should be of such a kind that the subject could neither see over, nor under, nor through it. Under ordinary circumstances, a bandage is but a slight security against fraud, whilst, in the case of a somnambulistic subject, any such provision would be of little value.
Those conducting the investigation, therefore, proposed a light and easy fitting mask, that the vision might be absolutely obscured. To this Pigeaire would not listen, nor would he assent to any modifications proposed by the committee, and, as neither side would agree to the terms proposed by the other, the trial never took place.
One, by name Teste, came before the Academy with greater pretensions and ones that were easily decided. This gentleman produced a somnambulist who, he said, could read a letter or other matter enclosed in a box. The conditions were in this case, soon agreed upon, and the supposed power as soon shown to be fictitious. The subject was not able to read a word.
Others came forward with similar claims, and, on their failure, complained that the presence of the commissioners had an exciting and disturbing influence on their subjects. The Academicians then said they were ready to award the prize if the contents of the box were defined out of their presence. M. Burdin kept his francs.
That this effectively settled the question of the super-normal states, with regard to clairvoyance, is apparent, but it by no means decided the controversy with regard to .animal magnetism proper. Nevertheless, the Academy resolved, chiefly in consequence of these last experiments, that henceforth any propositions of the magnetists should not be entertained, and that the question of magnetism itself should be regarded as definitely and finally closed a conclusion which can only be described as foolish.
The repeated failures of the various commissions, which were composed of the most learned and scientific men of the day, to separate the true from the false, or even to arrive at any near approximation of the truth, affords a striking illustration of the general uselessness of resorting to such means: Every trouble was taken, the most minute investigations, for the greater part of a century, were made, and at the end no one was much the wiser than he was at the beginning. The real issues were, throughout, little understood. The magnetisers devoted all their efforts to proving, not the existence of the magnetic state, but phenomena which were only incidental and chiefly non-existent; whilst the commissions allowed themselves to be led into the discussion of multitudinous theories to the almost entire neglect of the real question they had been appointed to investigate.
From about 1825 we hear little of animal magnetism in Germany, though, scattered about the country, there were many thoughtful and critical enquirers. One of the most curious points is its influence on the philosophy of the time. Schopenhauer, and some other less known writers, made magnetism and its phenomena the basis of a large part of their philosophy. In most countries, and in France particularly, the abuses of magnetism common to its vulgar use were increasing year by year. Impostors and charlatans made free use of it for the purposes of extortion and fraud of every kind, whilst the most extravagant and preposterous notions were spreading amongst the ignorant and the credulous concerning it.
There are several instances on record where the clergy practised magnetism with no less an object than that of obtaining supernatural revelations.
Père Lacordaire preached a sermon in 1846 at Notre Dame, eulogising magnetism as a power that would once and for all confound the infidels, and demonstrate to humanity the power of the Infinite.
The Church was constantly intervening in the attempt to cheek these strange abuses, and in 1856 an encyclical letter was sent to all the bishops “contra abusus magnetismi,” but this attempt to check the prevalent abuses was fruitless.
England was late in adopting magnetism. In 1837, however, the amiable but unscientific enthusiast, Du Potet, came to London, where he met Dr John Elliotson of the University College Hospital. Du Potet succeeded in engrafting on his newly made friend all the magnetic theories, and from this time Elliotson made use of magnetism in the hospital, and adopted it into his regular practice. The council of University College, however, soon passed a resolution against its use in the hospital, and Elliotson at once resigned. The medical papers of the time are curious evidence of what bigotry and ignorance are capable. The most vile and indecent insinuations were levelled at Elliotson, who was, at any rate, a physician of high attainments, and a perfect gentleman. Many of the charges and much of the prejudice, it is only fair to say, were due to the nonsense which Elliotson combined with his mesmeric theories. The wise man introducing such a novel method of treatment would have been most careful to avoid anything like quackery. Elliotson's experiments became little more than sober fooling. “Clairvoyance” and “Phrenology” were his constant stock-in-trade, whilst he regularly employed the two sisters “Okey” in his operations. No doubt his character was unimpeachable, but he has himself to thank for much of the persecution from which he suffered. Elliotson certainly could only have retarded the progress of hypnotism, and however we may regret the treatment to which he was subjected, it is a matter of congratulation to have been so soon delivered from what Dr Lloyd Tuckey has well called “a mass of superincumbent rubbish.”
We now pass from the history of Magnetism to the beginnings of Hypnotism. Dr James Braid of Manchester, instead of contenting himself with the mesmeric theories, placed the subject, for the first time, on a scientific basis, by a careful examination of the phenomena. The Abbé Faria had anticipated his discovery to a certain extent, but he lacked method, and his language was vague and unscientific. Braid entered upon his investigations a complete sceptic. In 1841 he attended a demonstration given in Manchester by Ea Fontaine, a magnetist from Switzerland, with the avowed object of endeavouring to discover the means by which the tricks (as he regarded them) were performed. Soon, however, he had to admit that whatever was their explanation, the facts themselves were undeniable but, unlike Elliotson, he did not rest content with the operator's explanation that the means of the influence was a magnetic fluid, and he set himself to a serious study of the question. The first phenomenon that appears to have attracted his attention, as a possible clue to the secret, was the fact that the subjects were unable to open their eyes. He attributed this to the exhaustion of the optic nerves, and was led thereby to the conclusion, which he verified by experiments, that the induction of hypnosis was due to physiological modifications of the nervous system: Braid tired the nerves of his patients by fixing their gaze on some given object, a method which is very common to-day. He found that it was necessary for the subject to concentrate his thought as well as his vision, or in other words that “expectant attention” was a necessary factor. Braid primarily demonstrated two things:-
1. That the assumption of any force as a magnetic fluid, mesmeric influence, or other unknown agency, was unnecessary.
2. That the state was a supernormal physiological one, induced by a physical or appreciable action on the nervous system.
In order to distinguish these conclusions from the inchoate mass of speculation and superstition known under the name of animal magnetism, he invented the term “Hypnotism.”
Braid has left accounts of his various experiments and observations which show the thoroughness of his examinations, whilst they are also important as evidence of the development of the science since his time. He found that verbal suggestion was sufficient to produce hallucination, and this was a contribution to the subject of the highest importance; but he had not fathomed the theory of suggestion, and this was left for later writers, first and foremost Dr Liebeault of Nancy, to examine more fully.
The attitude would, Braid observed, affect the sentiments of the subject With his fist clenched, the subject would assume an angry expression and prepare to fight; a pleasing action would promote a corresponding mental mood. Then again, in his Neurypnology he details a series of experiments in “phreno-hypnotism.” By pressing on the phrenological “organs” he found he could induce the emotions belonging to each; thus, by pressing on the “organ of veneration” the subject would kneel in the attitude of prayer; if the “organ of acquisitiveness” were touched, the subject would steal, and so forth. Phrenology has been exploded till it is beneath explosion; yet these experiments were unquestionably honest and genuine. The source of his error lay in his failure to recognise that the hypnotised subject is extremely sensitive to suggestion; a word, a gesture, a remark of one of the spectators, is often sufficient to indicate the wish of the operator. To this feature of unconscious suggestion nearly all the fallacies of serious students of hypnotism have been due.
It is also a curious fact that, in most cases of deep hypnosis, the subject, when hypnotised, remembers the events which took place on the previous hypnoses, though he knows nothing of them in the waking state. It is thus frequently possible, by an uniform adherence to certain touches for certain actions or emotions, for the hypnotist to dispense altogether with verbal suggestion, and rely on the touch, which the subject will instantly interpret in the desired manner. Braid was remarkably successful iii the application of hypnotism to the alleviation and cure of disease, and it is difficult to explain how, after his death, the subject came to be practically forgotten. Carpenter, the physiologist, supported him, and others of high repute. It has been thought probable that Elliotson's experience frightened Braid from attempting to at all hastily force his ideas on the profession; but he, in fact, was indefatigable in its advocacy and cannot be accused of undue caution.
The fact seems to be, that just about this time chloroform was introduced, and those of the medical profession who had paid any serious attention to hypnotism persisted in placing its chief value in the anaesthetic properties of deep hypnosis. No one properly acquainted with the subject would maintain that hypnosis could replace the general anaesthetic, though it may be of the greatest value in cases where the administration of the usual anaesthetic would be dangerous or inexpedient.
This point, however, was quite neglected, and on the use of chloroform coming in, hypnotism seems to have been ignored, only to be reintroduced into England within quite recent years. Littré and Robin, and others, published extracts from Braid's writings in France, and Meunier wrote an article for the Praise; but the interest was for some time purely theoretical, and Braid's discovery attracted little attention. However, in 1850, Azam, a surgeon of Bordeaux, tried experiments, suggested by Braid's writings, on a patient suffering from spontaneous catalepsy. He also made experiments on another patient, and found they confirmed Braid's conclusions. He published the results in the Archives de Medecine. In France, too, the endeavour was made to use hypnotism as a general anaesthetic; the difficulty was increased since it was not known that insensibility could be produced by suggestion, and thus only the subjects in the deepest forms of hypnosis could be operated on: without pain. Its use for such purposes was soon rejected in favour of chloroform. From 1860, many competent investigators were engaged on the subject, and a number of works were published dealing with the subject. In 1866 appeared the famous work by Dr Liebeault, entailed “Du Sommeil et des Etats Analogues,” etc. At the time of its publication, however, it was received with derision by the medical faculty, but within recent years a change has come over the scene, and Liebeault is quoted and referred to largely by every, writer on hypnotism or kindred subjects. For a long time Liebeault laboured at Nancy, but little noticed by his profession. In 1882, M. Dumont, who had witnessed the methods and practice in vogue at Nancy, tried some experiments on his own account. The results were so successful that he read a paper to the Medical Society thoroughly supporting Liébeault's methods and treatment. This combined, possibly, with Charcot's experiments at Salpetrière, led Dr Bernheim to investigate the subject. He, by his own account, set to work in a very sceptical spirit, but met with results so striking and certain that he felt bound to speak. Bernheim already possessed a wide reputation and his adoption of hypnotism had at once the effect of securing for the subject a much more patient hearing than had ever before been the case.
Many scientific men in France and Germany had interested themselves in hypnotism, but it was not till the school of Nancy dealt with the question that it took up a real position in the scientific world. Bernheim, who had devoted himself to its study with Liébeault's, published his work “De la Suggestion,” etc., in 1884. Nancy became the headquarters of the leading French hypnotists. There Beaunis and Liegeois worked at the physiological and the medico-legal aspects of the question. The contests between the schools of the Salpetrière and Nancy soon followed, and every year has served to increase the reputation, amongst scientific men of all nations, of Liébeault and his followers, whilst Charcot's school, despite the leader's eminence in his own branch, has become more and more discredited till, outside Paris, their views are hardly represented at all.
To enumerate the many students and writers in the various countries would be a lengthy task. It must suffice to say that, besides the two countries France and Germany, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, the United States, South America, are all represented by many patient and learned investigators; whilst in England, Dr Milne Bramwell, Dr Kingsbury, and Dr Lloyd Tuckey, have all made valuable contributions to the study of the subject. The British Medical Association has found hypnotism “worthy of investigation,” though, apparently, it could hardly reconcile itself quite so suddenly to the course recommended by the committee they appointed to investigate and report on the question.'
Mention must be made of a few who hold many of the mesmeric ideas. The Society for Psychical Research is responsible for most of them in England: The work done by Myers and Gurney, under its auspices, must rank high, and they have provided much that claims our attention and investigation. Edmund Gurney died some time ago, but the work has been carried on by Myers and others. Though this Society has published some valuable records of its work in this direction, they can hardly be considered convincing, having regard to all the circumstances; and, indeed, it has not yet claimed that the experiments can be considered as at all conclusive.
It may be fairly claimed that hypnotism has now gained a position in the scientific world that makes it imperative on all students of physiological psychology to study the facts and properties of hypnotism. The medical man who would frighten his patients by telling them tales of insanity following the induction of hypnosis, and the various fictions with which most are familiar, is beginning to be generally recognised as one using long words and ominous sentences wherewith to cloak his own ignorance. At the same time, it ought to be understood that the dangers of the unscientific and ignorant use of hypnotism are manifold; and it is to be hoped that, before long, the State will intervene to regulate its use by rendering the practice of hypnotism illegal except in the hands of duly qualified men under proper restrictions.
On the historical aspect of the question we have, perhaps, bestowed more attention than is deserved; but the student of the subject will to-day meet with every variety of idea with regard to “animal magnetism,” “mesmerism,” and “hypnotism.” The popular mind is at present quite unable to draw any distinction between them, and it is essential for the scientific student to have a clear conception of the origin of these erroneous ideas. A practical study of the question shows at once how easily such fallacies arose, whilst the practical knowledge obtained by experiment at once disposes of all the mystical superstitions, placing the investigator on a sound and scientific basis. And it will be the object of the writer in the ensuing chapters to put before the reader an account of hypnosis dealt with from a physiological point of view.
My newsletter brings you insights, information and practical tools you can use to create more happiness and inner peace in your life. Sign up to the newsletter here.
To arrange an appointment, or for more information, ring and speak to me direct. Clinics for hypnotherapy & counselling in Clifton, Bristol, Avon BS9 1JE; Portobello Rd, London W11 3DL; and in Taunton, Somerset, TA2 7BZ
0845 351 0604
Copyright © 1995-2010 Andrew White All rights reserved