_Account of Animal Magnetism._
I shall devote this letter to a full account of the theory of Animal
Magnetism, which was put a stop to in France by the joint authority of
the Church and State, but had its fair career in England. The Lectures
of Mainauduc, who was the teacher in this country, were published, and
from them I have drawn this detail:
Leggilo,[18] che meno
Leggerlo a te, che a me scriverlo costa.
According to this new system of physics, the earth, its atmosphere, and
all their productions are only one, and each is but a separate portion
of the whole, accasionally produced and received back into itself, for
the purpose of maintaining a continual and regular rotation of animate
and inanimate substances. An universal connection subsists between every
particle and mass of particles of this whole, whether they be
comprehended under the title of solids or fluids, or distinguished by
the particular appellation of men, beasts, birds, fish, trees, plants,
or herbs; all are particles of the same original mass, and are in
perpetual cycle employed in the work of forming, feeding, decomposing,
and again re-forming bodies or masses. A regular attachment universally
exists between all particles of a similar nature throughout the whole;
and all forms composed in and of any medium of particles, must be
influenced by whatever affects that medium, or sets its particles in
motion; so that every form in the earth and atmosphere must receive and
partake of every impulse received by the general medium of atoms in
which and of which they are formed.
All forms are subject to one general law; action and re-action produce
heat, some of their constituent atoms are rendered fluid by heat, and
form streams, and convey into the form atoms for its increase and
nourishment; this is called composition by vegetation and circulation.
Circulation not only brings in particles for growth and nourishment, but
it also carries off the useless ones. The passages through which these
particles pass in and out, are called pores. By a pore we are to
understand a space formed between every two solid atoms in the whole
vegetating world, by the liquefaction of the atom, which, when solid,
filled up that space. As circulation, vegetation, and consequently
animal life, arise from the formation of pores, so the destruction of
them must terminate every process of animal existence, and each partial
derangement of porosity induces incipient destruction of the form, or
what is called disease.
By the process of circulation atoms of various kinds are carried in,
deposited, and thrown out of each part of every form; and every form is
surrounded and protected by an atmosphere peculiar to itself, composed
of these particles of circulating fluids, and analogous to the general
atmosphere of the earth. This is the general atmosphere of the form. The
solid parts of the body throw off in the same manner their useless
particles, but these pass off and become blended with those of the
general atmosphere of the earth. These are called the emanations of the
form. Thus, then, earth and atmosphere are one whole, of which every
form is but a part; the whole and all its parts are subject to the same
laws, and are supported by action; action produces re-action; action and
re-action produce heat; heat produces fluidity; fluidity produces pores;
pores produce circulation; circulation produces vegetation; vegetation
produces forms; forms are composed of solids and fluids; solids produce
emanations; fluids produce atmospheres; atmospheres and emanations
produce partial decomposition; total decomposition is death; death and
decomposition return the atoms to the general mass for re-production.
The whole vegetating system is comprised in miniature in man. He is
composed of pipes beyond conception numerous, and formed of particles
between which the most minute porosity admits, in every direction, the
passage of atoms and fluids. The immense quantity of air which is
continually passing in and out through every part and pore of the body,
carries in with it such atoms as may become mixed with the general
atmosphere, and these must either pass out again, or stop in their
passage. If they should be of a hurtful nature, they injure the parts
through which they pass, or in which they stop; if, on the contrary,
they should be healthy and natural, they contribute to health and
nourishment. Butchers, publicans, cooks, living in an atmosphere of
nutritious substances, generally become corpulent, though they have
slender appetites; painters, plumbers, dyers, and those who are employed
in atmospheres of pernicious substances, become gradually diseased, and
frequently lose the use of their limbs long before decomposition takes
place for their relief.
Hence it appears that the free circulation of healthy atoms through the
whole form is necessary, and that obstructions of its porosity, or
stoppage of its circulating particles, must occasion derangement in the
system, and be followed by disease. To obviate this evil, innumerable
conductors are placed in the body, adapted, by their extreme
sensibility, to convey information of every impression to the sensorium;
which, according to the nature of the impression, or the injury
received, agitates, shakes, or contracts the form to thrust forth the
offending cause. This is Nature's established mode of cure, and the
efficacy of the exertion depends on the strength of the system; but
these salutary efforts have been mistaken for disease.
As every impression is received through one medium, disposed over the
whole form for that purpose, it may be asserted that there is but one
sense, and that all these impressions are only divisions of the sense of
feeling. The accuracy of any of these divisions depends on the health of
the nervous system in general.—This nervous or conducting system is only
a portion of a much greater one, similar in its nature, but far more
extensive in its employment.
There are in the general atmosphere innumerable strings of its component
atoms; the business of these strings is to receive and convey, from and
through every part of the atmosphere, of the earth and of their
inhabitants, whatever impulses they receive. These conductors are to be
called atmospherical nerves; the nerves of the human body are connected
with these, or rather are a part of them.
This is elucidated by the phænomena of sound. Theorists agree that sound
is produced in a bell by the tremulous motion of its component atoms,
which alternately changes its shape from round to oval a million times
in one instant; as is proved by horizontally introducing a bar into the
aperture, which, counteracting one of the contractions, the bell
splits.—The conveyance of sound they account for by saying that the
atoms of the atmosphere are displaced by the alternate contractions of
the bell. Place a lighted candle near the bell, and this theory is
overthrown: if the general atmosphere is agitated, wind must result, but
the flame of the candle remains steady. Let us substitute the true
process.
Every impression in nature has its own peculiar set of conductors, and
no two sets interfere with, or impede, each other. The stroke of the
bell affects the nearest atom of the nerves of sound, and runs along
them in every direction. Human nerves are continuations of the
atmospherical; all animated beings being only as warts or excrescences
which have sprung up amidst these atmospherical nerves, and are
permeated by them in every direction. The atmospherical nerves of sound
are parts of the auditory nerves in man; the atmospherical nerves of
light are continued through man to form his optic nerves; and thus the
auditory and optic nerves of one man are the auditory and optic nerves
of every animated being in the universe, because all are branches sent
off from the same great tree in the parent earth and atmosphere.
It may be asked, What prevents the derangement of these innumerable
strings when the atmosphere is violently agitated? Aërial nerves are
like those of animated bodies, composed of atoms, but the atoms are in
loose contact. When a ray of sunshine comes through the hole in a
window-shutter the atoms are visible, and the hand may pass through
them, but they instantly resume their situations by their attractive
connection.
Every inanimate substance is attached to its similar; all animate and
inanimate substances are attached to each other by every similar part in
each of their compositions; all animate beings are attached to each
other by every similar atom in their respective forms, and all these
attachments are formed by atmospherical nerves. If two musical
instruments perfectly in unison be placed one at each end of the same
apartment, whatever note is struck upon the one will be repeated by the
other. Martial music may be heard by a whole army in the field; each
note has its peculiar conductor in the general atmosphere, and each ear
must be connected with the atmospherical conductor of each note; so that
every note has not only its separate conductor in the atmosphere, but
also its separate conductor in every ear.—We have got through the
hypothesis, now to the application.
The mind is the arbitrator over the bones, the muscles, the nerves, and
the body in general, and is that something which the anatomist's knife
can neither dissect, discover, nor destroy. But to define what that
something is, we must apply to the words of our Saviour,—"It is not ye
that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." The
decisions, adoptions, and commands of this spirit are man's volition;
but we are not accustomed to investigate the means by which volition is
exerted, nor to seek for the privilege of improving it beyond the common
necessary avocations of life. Yet, if it be properly sought for, a power
of volition may be called forth in man, in a far more exalted degree
than what he now exerts; a power subordinate to a far superior one, by
whom it is portioned out to individuals according to the purposes for
which they exert it, and which is partially or totally recalled when
neglected or abused. The accomplishment of any purpose of the will
depends physically on the length of time required for its performance,
and on the undisturbed continuance of the act of volition during that
time. The least interruption, or the change of the will to any other
subject before the first intention is accomplished, totally destroys the
influence. This axiom is unalterable in this new science of healing,
that to produce salutary effects the suggestion must be pure and moral,
the attention steadily determined, the intention single and fixed, and
volition vigorously exerted, continuing unvaried and unrelaxed either
till the purpose is effected or relinquished.
On the pretensions to inspiration which are implied here I shall remark
elsewhere, nor will I interrupt the account with any comments upon the
impudent hypocrisy with which it is seasoned to the public taste. To
proceed then;—the atmospherical part of the human body is capable of
contraction, of distention, and of direction; it may be attracted from,
or distended to, any unlimited distance, and may be so directed as to
penetrate any other form in nature.
The rejected atoms from the fluid, and emanations from the solid parts
of bodies, when rightly understood, are the only and unerring criterion
by which the obstructions and diseases of each part can be ascertained,
and when judiciously employed they become material instruments for the
removal of every malady. They are subject to the influence of volition,
and may be forced out of their natural course, or attracted into the
pores of the operator; and the human body, which in many respects
resembles a sponge, is adapted to receive such emanations and
atmospheres as a skilful practitioner may propel into any part of it,
and to afford them a free passage wherever he directs them. The
countless number of universal nerves which combine with, and are regular
continuations of, those similar conductors called nerves in animal
forms, are subject to the influence of man's spiritual volition, and are
affected or influenced if we strike one or more of them with the atoms
which are continually flowing from us; that affection is conveyed on to
such parts of the body as those conductors are attached to, and the
nature and degree of the impulse will be according to the nature of the
intention and the energy of the volition.
To determine the situation, nature, and extent of derangement or
disease, recourse must be had to the atoms which proceed from the
patient, for the rejected atoms resemble in their healthy or diseased
qualities the parts from which they pass. These particles of matter are
so immediately subject to the influence of combined spiritual volition,
that the established system by which they are mixed with the universal
medium gives way during our exertion, and they follow the course which
we prescribe; and whatever may be the direction or medium through which
we propel them, they remain unalterably the same, and continue passive
and unchanged either by distance, direction, or contact, until we
withdraw that influence, and discharge them from our service.
To judge of the state of the part from whence these atoms proceed, they
must be attracted to some part of the examiner's body, and must strike
his nerves; this process is called receiving impressions or sensations
from the patient. Every substance in nature will afford some impression
to that part of his body which the experienced examiner opposes to
receive it, but professors usually prefer the hands and especially the
fingers. The roots of the nails most commonly announce the first
impressions, because the cuticle is thinnest in that part, and the
pungent emanations more readily arrive at the nerves. No part perhaps of
this astonishing science, says the lecturer, creates more jealousy among
students than their susceptibility of sensations. Some enjoy that
privilege to a great degree of accuracy even at the first essay, whilst
others are in pursuit of it for months. This difference is at first
constitutional; but when the science has produced a proper influence on
the mind and morals, the impressions insensibly grow into accuracy. It
sometimes happens that they who were most susceptible at first become
totally deprived of that blessing until they approve themselves more
worthy servants. It is essentially necessary to render the process of
receiving the atoms emitted from every object familiar; this will be
effected by habitually seeking for them. For this purpose students
should frequently receive the emanations from salt, sugar, water, fire,
and in short from every substance which occurs; by this means they soon
become expert.
There are two modes of Examination; the first is that which should
accurately be attended to by newly initiated students, as it affords a
catalogue of sensations which become a regular standard to judge of all
diseases by, and to reduce examination to accuracy and perfection. This
mode consists in opposing one or both hands towards the patient. The
examiner should sit or stand in an easy position, cautiously avoiding
all pressure on his body or arms, lest he should suspect the impressions
to proceed from that cause rather than from the disease. He should fix
on some particular part of the patient, external or internal; then
turning the backs of his hands, he must vigorously and steadily command
the emanations and atmosphere which pass from that part to strike his
hands, and he must closely attend to whatever impressions are produced
on them. He must not permit his attention to wander from the object: if
he should, his labour is entirely lost. To render the process more
steady, the eyes of the examiner should be fixed on the part to which he
is attending, with the unvaried intent of directing the effluent atoms
towards his hands; it might naturally be supposed that his eyes should
be open, but is better they were shut, as all extraneous objects are by
that means excluded, and the porosity of the eyelids removes the idea of
impediment. It is perfectly immaterial what may be the distance between
the examiner and the patient: the process and the impressions will be
exactly the same, provided he calls forth in himself the requisite
exertion.
The second mode of examination is by opposing the whole body to that of
the patient. In this the operator must not seek to know where the
patient is, but recollecting that all human beings are connected to each
other by innumerable atmospherical nerves, and that the whole medium in
which they are placed is composed of loose atoms, he must fix his
attention upon the patient, as if he stood before him. Thus situated, he
must vigorously exert his power to attract all the emanations and
atmospheres proceeding from the patient to himself. The atoms, then,
which proceed from each particular part of the patient run to the same
parts of the examiner, who feels in every part of his own person
whatever the patient feels in his, only in a less degree, but always
sufficiently to enable him to describe the feelings of the patient, and
to ascertain the very spot in which the derangement exists, and the
consequences resulting from it. If the examiner's attention is directed
only to one particular viscus, that same viscus alone will receive
information in himself; but if it be generally directed, every part of
his body will give an account of its own proceedings. It is to be
remarked that undiseased parts will not convey any remarkable impression
to the examiner, as nothing results from health but gentle, soft,
equable heat.
The mode of healing is termed Treating;—it is a process made use of by
the operator to create, if partially obliterated, or to increase, if
become languid, the natural action and re-action in any part of the
body; and to assist nature by imitating and re-establishing her own law,
when she is become inadequate to the task. This process is the opposite
to the last; in that the examiner attracted the atoms from the patient
to himself, but in this he must propel the atoms from himself to the
patient. By a steady exertion of compound volition we have it in our
power to propel the particles which emanate from our own body, against
and into whatever part of any other form we fix our intention upon, and
can force them in any direction and to any distance. Thus, by a
continual and regular succession of particles directed vigorously in a
rapid stream against those atoms which are stopt in their passage and
accumulated into a heap, we break down the impediments, push off those
atoms which we detach, direct them into the circulating currents for
evacuation, and save the system from all the evil consequences which its
impeded functions were occasioning. This is like throwing handfuls of
shot at a heap of sand in a rivulet, which, as the grains of sand are
separated from each other, washes them along before it. As all
obstructions are not equally hard or compact, they are not all destroyed
with the same facility. A single look will often prove sufficient for a
recent accumulation of particles, for an accidental contraction, or a
sudden distention, whereas those of long standing and of a more serious
nature demand frequent, long, and judiciously-varied treatment.
The general process of treatment is an influence of mind over organized
matter, in which unorganized matter is the occasional instrument. The
mind should be able to perform this work without any particular motions
of the body, or of its extremities. But, says the professor,
inexperience, and the frequent disturbances which occur to divert the
attention, induce us to adopt some mode of action, the constant
repetition of which may attract, rouse, or recall the mind to its
subject, when it becomes languid, or diverted from its employment.
Hence, he adds, we generally employ our hands in the act of treating,
and write, as it were, our various intentions on each part by the
motions we make towards it: or, in fact, we trace on the diseased part
with our current of emanations the various curative intentions of our
mind or spirit.
The Pathology is soon explained. The impressions produced upon the
fingers of the examiner by the stone will be heaviness, indolence, and
cold. Burns and scalds produce heavy dull pricking at first, when
inflammation has taken place great heat and sharp pricking, but indolent
numbness from the centre. Rheumatic headache occasions pricking,
numbness, and creeping or vermicular motion, heat if the patient be
strong, cold if he be relaxed. Inflammation caused by confined wind
produces intense heat, pricking and creeping; the heat is occasioned by
the inflammation, the pricking by the wind acting against the obstructed
pores, and the creeping by the motion of the wind from one part to
another. Pus communicates to the hand of the examiner such a feeling of
softness as we should expect from dipping the hand in it, but combined
with pricking from the motion which the wind contained in it makes in
its endeavours to escape. Diseased lungs make the fingers feel as if
dough had been permitted to dry on them, this is called clumsy
stiffness. Pleurisy occasions creeping, heat and pricking; deafness,
resistance and numbness. Contracted nerves announce themselves to the
examiner by a pressure round his fingers, as if a string was tightly
bound round them; cases of relaxed habit by a lengthened debilitated
sensation; diseased spleen, or ovaries, by a spinning in the fingers'
ends, as if something were twirling about in them. The impression which
scrofula produces upon the practitioner is curious and extraordinary: at
every motion which he makes, the joints of his fingers, wrists, elbows,
and shoulders crack. Worms excite creeping and pinching; bruises,
heaviness in the hands, and numbness of the fingers.
The Modus Operandi must now be exemplified, premising, according to the
professor's words, that the operator's own emanations become for him
invisible fingers, which penetrate the pores, and are to be considered
as the natural and only ingredients which are or can be adapted to the
removal of nervous, or of any other affections of the body.
Instead therefore of lithotomy, the stone may thus be cured without
danger or pain. This invisible power must be applied to the juices which
circulate in the vicinity of the stone: and they must be conducted to
the stone and applied to its surface, that the stone may be soaked in
them for the purpose of dissolving the gum which makes the particles of
sand cohere. If the hands are employed in this process, the mind must
conceive that the streams of atoms which continually rush forth from the
fingers, are continued on, and lengthened out into long invisible
fingers which become continuations of our natural ones; and which, being
composed of minute particles, are perfectly adapted to pass through the
pores of another form, and to be applied, as we should apply our visible
fingers, to the very part on which it is intended to act. The last
process is Action: by striking those very emanating particles that
constitute that invisible elongation of the part of our own body which
it is intended to employ, whether it be the hand, the eye, or any other
part,—by striking them forcibly in constant and rapid succession against
the stone, the particles of sand, having been rendered less tenacious by
the soaking, loosen, and fall apart, and are washed out of the body by
the natural evacuation.
One instance more will suffice. In cases of indigestion the sensations
produced by the ropy humour in the stomach are a thick gummy feel on the
fingers; and when they are gently moved they meet with a slight degree
of resistance. To judge of the depth of this slimy humour the fingers
must be perpendicularly dipt in it to the bottom of the stomach; the
consequence will be the impression of a circular line as if a string
surrounded each finger, marking the depth to which they had sunk. Now to
remove this derangement, the coat of the stomach must be cleared, which
is done by the invisible fingers scraping all the internal surface.
You have here the whole sum and substance of a secret for which a
hundred guineas were originally paid by aspirants, and which was
afterwards published at five guineas by subscription. The list of
subscribers contains the names of some nobles and of one bishop; but it
is short, and for that reason I suppose the second and third parts,
which were to contain new systems of anatomy and midwifery, as improved
by this new science, were never published.
It follows incontrovertibly from the principles which have been
advanced, that as the practitioners in this art heal diseases, so they
can communicate them; that they can give the itch by shaking with
invisible hands, and send a fit of the gout to any person whom they are
disposed to oblige. The Indian jongleurs, who, like these English
impostors, affect to feel the same pain as the patient, lay claim to
this power; but it did not answer the purposes of imposture here to
pretend to a power of doing mischief.
[18] _Read it; for it will cost you less to read it than it did me to
write it._—TR.