feel after awaking as if a great change had taken place in them; they
are apt to remain serious, and apparently plunged in deep thought for
several days. If their case is in unskillful hands, nervous disorders
are rarely avoided; phantastic visions may be seen, and convulsions and
more threatening symptoms even may occur. Youth is naturally more
susceptible to the influence of magnetism than riper years; really old
persons have never yet been put to sleep. In like manner women are more
easily controlled than men, and hence more capable of being magnetized
than of magnetizing others. If men appear more frequently in the annals
of this new branch of magic than women, this is due merely to the fact
that men appear naturally, and so far at least voluntarily more
frequently in public statements than women. The latter, moreover, are
very rarely found able to magnetize men, simply because they are less in
the habit of exerting their will for the purpose of influencing others;
the exceptions were mostly so-called masculine women. Over their own
sex, however, they are easily able to obtain full control.
Among the curious symptoms accompanying the magic phenomena of this
class, the following deserve being mentioned. A distinguished physician,
Dr. Heller, examined the blood corpuscules of a person in magnetic sleep
and found that their shape was essentially modified; they were raised
and pointed so as to bear some resemblance to mulberries; at the same
time they exhibited a vibrating motion. Another symptom frequently
observed in mesmerism are electric shocks, which produce sometimes a
violent trembling in the whole person before the beginning of magnetic
sleep and after it has ceased. As many as four thousand such shocks have
been counted in an hour; they are especially frequent in hysterical
women and then accompanied by severe pain, in men they are of rarer
occurrence. Finally, it appears from a number of well-authenticated
cases that magnetic convulsions are contagious, extending even to
animals. Persons suffering with catalepsy have more than once been
compelled to kill pet cats because the latter suffered in a similar
manner whenever the attacks came, and the same has been noticed in
favorite dogs which were left in the room while magnetic cures were
performed. This is all the more frequently noticed as many magnetizers
look upon convulsions as efforts made by nature to restore the system to
a healthy condition, and hence excite in their patients convulsions
without magnetizing them fully.
A new doctrine concerning the magic phenomena of magnetism establishes a
special force inherent in all inorganic substances, and calls it
Siderian. This theory is the result of the observation that certain
substances, like water and metal, possess a special power of producing
somnambulism, and at one time a peculiar apparatus, called _baquet_, was
much in use, by means of which several persons, connected with each
other and with a vessel filled with water and pieces of metal, were
rendered clairvoyant. The whole subject has not yet been fully
investigated, and hence the conclusions drawn from isolated cases must
be looked upon as premature. It has, however, been established beyond
doubt that metals have a peculiar power over sensitive persons, in their
natural sleep as well as in the magnetic sleep. Many somnambulists are
painfully affected by gold, others by iron; a very sensitive patient
could, after an instant's touch, distinguish even rare metals like
bismuth and cobalt by the sensations which they produced when laid upon
her heart. Dr. Brunner, when professor of physics in Peru, had a patient
who could not touch iron without falling into convulsions, and was made
clairvoyant by simply taking her physician's pocket-knife in her hand.
This Siderian or Astral force, so called from a presumed influence
exercised by the heavenly bodies, as well as by all inorganic
substances, admits of no isolation, although it is possessed in varying
degrees by certain metals and minerals. It has no effect even upon the
electrometer or the magnetic needle; its force is radiating, quite
independent of light, but considerably increased by heat. Persons
magnetized by the mysterious force of the _baquet_ have, however, an
astonishing power over the magnetic needle and can make it deflect by
motion, fixed glance, or even mere volition. In _Galignani's Messenger_
(25th of October, 1851) the case of Prudence Bernard in Paris is
mentioned, who forced the needle to follow the motions of her head.
Whatever we may think of the value of this theory, it cannot be denied
that the effect which certain physical processes going on in the
atmosphere have on our body and mind alike is very striking and yet
almost entirely unknown. Science is leisurely gathering up facts which
will no doubt in the end furnish us a clue to many phenomena which we
now call magic, or even supernatural. Thus almost every hour of the day
has its peculiarity in connection with Nature: at one hour the
barometer, at another the thermometer reaches its maximum; at other
periods magnetism is at its highest or the air fullest of vapor, and to
these various influences the diseases of men stand in close relation.
When Auroras are seen frequently the atmosphere is found to be
surcharged with electricity; they are intimately connected with gastric
fevers, and according to some physicians, even with typhus and cholera.
It has also been ascertained that the progress of the cholera and the
plague--perhaps also of common influenza--coincides accurately with the
isogonic line; these diseases disappear as soon as the eastward
declination of the magnetic needle ceases. In recent times a
correspondence of the spots in the sun with earth-magnetism has also
been observed. In like manner it has been established that continued
positive electricity of the air, producing ozone in abundance, is apt to
cause catarrhs, inflammations, and rheumatism, while negative
electricity causes nervous fevers and cholera. Even the moon has
recovered some of its former importance in its relations to the human
body, and although the superstitions of past ages with their absurd
exaggerations have long since been abandoned, certain facts remain as
evidences of a connection between the moon and some diseases. Thus the
paroxysms of lunatics, epileptics, and somnambulists are undoubtedly in
correspondence with the phases of the moon; madmen rave most furiously
when the latter is full, and its phases determine with astonishing
regularity the peculiar affections of women, as was triumphantly proven
by the journal kept with admirable fidelity during the long life of Dr.
Constantine Hering of Philadelphia.
Another name given to these phenomena is the Hypnotism of the English.
(Braid, "Neurohypnology," London, 1843.) This theory is based upon the
fact that sensitive persons can be rendered clairvoyant by looking
fixedly at some small but bright object held close to their face, and by
continuing for some time to fix the mind upon the same object after the
eyelids have closed from sheer weariness. The method of producing this
magnetic sleep, and some of the symptoms peculiar to mesmerized persons,
has since been frequently varied. Dodds makes the patient take a disk of
zinc, upon which a small disk of copper is laid, into his hand, and
regard them fixedly; thus he produces what he calls electro-biology.
Catton, in Manchester, England, prefers a gentle brushing of the
forehead, and by this simple means causes magnetic sleep. Braid's
experiments, in which invariably over-excitement of nerves was followed
by torpor, rigidity, and insensibility, have since been repeated by
eminent physicians with a view to produce anaesthesis during painful
operations. They have met with perfect success; and the removal of the
shining object, fresh air, and slight frictions, sufficed to restore
consciousness. The same results have been obtained in France, where,
according to a report made to the French Academy, in 1859, by the
renowned Dr. Velpeau, persons induced to look at a shining object, held
close between their eyes, began to squint violently, and in a few
moments to fall, utterly unconscious and insensible, into magnetic
sleep. Maury explains the process as one of vertigo, which itself again
is caused by the pressure of blood upon the brain, and adds, that any
powerful impression produced upon the retina may have the same effect.
Hence, no doubt, the _mal occhio_ of the Italians, inherited from the
evil eye of the ancients; hence the often almost marvelous power which
some men have exercised by the mere glance of the eye. The fixed look of
the magnetizer, which attracts the eye of the patient, and holds it, as
it were, spell-bound, has very much the same effect, and when this look
is carefully cultivated it may put others beside themselves--as was the
case with Urbain Graudier, who could, at any time, cause his arms to
fall into a trance by merely fixing his eyes upon them for a few
minutes.
From all these experiments we gather, once more, that men can, by a
variety of means, which are called magnetism or mesmerism, influence
others who are susceptible, till the latter fall into magnetic sleep,
have cataleptic attacks, or become clairvoyant. It is less certain that,
as many assert, these results are obtained by means of a most subtle, as
yet unknown, fluid, which the magnetizer causes to vibrate in his own
mind, and which passes from him, by means of his hands, into the
patient, where it produces effects corresponding to those felt by the
principal. To accomplish even this, it is absolutely necessary that the
magnetizer should not only possess a higher energy than his patient, but
also stand to him in the relation of the positive pole to the negative.
The extent of success is measurable by the strength of will on one hand,
and the degree of susceptibility on the other; both may be infinitely
varied, from total absence to an overwhelming abundance. Practice, at
least, however, aids the magnetizer effectually, and certain French and
Italian masters have obtained surprising results. The most striking of
these is still the cataleptic state, which they cause at will.
Breathing, pulsation, and digestion continue uninterrupted, but the
muscles are no longer subject to our will; they cease to be active, and
hence the patient remains immovable in any position he may be forced to
assume.
The general symptoms produced by magnetizing are uniformly the same: as
soon as a sufficient number of passes have been made from the head
downward the patient draws a few deep inhalations, and then follow
increased animal heat and perspiration, the effect of greater activity
of the nerves, while pain ceases and cheerfulness succeeds despondency.
If the passes are continued, these symptoms increase in force, produce
their natural consequences, and, the functions becoming normal, recovery
takes place. Magnetic sleep is frequently preceded by slight
feverishness, convulsive trembling and fainting. The eyelids, half or
entirely closed, begin to tremble, the eyeballs turn upward and inward,
and the pupils become enlarged and insensible to light. The features
change in a striking manner, peculiar to this kind of sleep, and easily
recognized. After several experiments of this kind have been made upon
susceptible persons, the outward sleep begins to be accompanied by an
inner awakening, at first in a half-dreamy state and gradually more
fully, till conversation can be attempted.
Contrary to the general impression, faith does not seem to be an
essential element of success, at least on the part of the patient, for
infants and very young children have been rendered clairvoyant as well
as grown persons. On the other hand, natural susceptibility is
indispensable, for Deleuse (_Def. du Magnetisme_, p. 156) states that in
his extended practice he found only one out of twenty persons fit to be
magnetized. Of those whom he could influence, only one in twenty could
converse in his sleep, and of five of this class not more than one
became fully clairvoyant. Certain persons, though well endowed, impress
their patients unfavorably, cause a sensation of cold instead of heat in
their system, and produce a feeling of strong aversion. The most
remarkable feature in all these relations, however, is the fact that the
patient not unfrequently affects the magnetizer, and this in the most
extraordinary manner. One physician took into the hand with which he had
touched a dying person, two finches; they immediately sickened and died
a few days later. Another, a physically powerful and perfectly healthy
man, who was treating a patient suffering of _tic douloureux_ by means
of magnetism, became unwell after a few days, and on the seventh day
fell himself a victim to that painful disease, till he had to give up
the treatment. He handed his patient over to a brother physician, who
suffered in the same manner, and actually died in a short time.
After continued practice has strengthened the magnetizer, his "passes"
often become unnecessary, and he can at last, under favorable
circumstances, produce magnetic sleep by a simple glance or even the
mere unuttered volition. Some physicians had only to say Sleep! and
their patient fell asleep; others were able to move the sleepers from
their beds by a slight touch with the tip of the thumb. One of this
class, after curing a poor boy of catalepsy, retained such perfect
control over him that he only needed to point at him with his finger, or
to let him touch some metal which he had magnetized, in order to make
him fall down as if thunderstruck. The great German writer, known as
Jean Paul, relates of himself that he, "in a large company and by merely
looking at her fixedly, caused a Mrs. K. twice to fall almost asleep and
to make her heart beat and her color go, till S. had to help her." The
Abbe Faria, who seems to have been specially endowed with such power,
would magnetize perfect strangers by suddenly stretching out his hands
and saying in an authoritative tone: Sleep, I will it! He had a
formidable competitor afterwards in Hebert, who played almost at will
with a large number of spectators in his crowded hall, making them
follow him wherever he led, or causing them to fall asleep by simply
making passes over the inside of their hats. In the case of young girls
he produced rigidity of members with great facility, and then caused
them to assume any position he chose; his patients were utterly helpless
and powerless. Dupotet, already mentioned, possessed similar influence
over others; he once magnetized an athletic man of ripe years, by merely
walking around the chair on which he was seated, and forced him to turn
with him by jerks. On another occasion he made a white chalk-mark on the
floor, and then requested a gentleman to put both his feet upon the
spot; while he remained quietly standing by the side of his friends.
After a few minutes the stranger began to shut his eyes, and his body
trembled and swayed to and fro, till it sank so low that the head hung
down to the hips--at last Dupotet loosened the spell by upward passes.
An Italian, Ragazzoni, excited in 1859, no small sensation by his
remarkable success as a magnetizer. Unlike other physicians, he used an
abundance of gestures to accompany the active play of his expressive
features, and yet by merely breathing upon persons he could check their
respiration and the circulation of their blood; in like manner he caused
the chest to swell and paralyzed single limbs or the whole body. He
pushed needles through the hand or the skin of the forehead without
causing a sign of pain; he enabled his patients to guess his thoughts,
and set them walking, running or dancing, although they were in one room
and he in another. When he had paralyzed their senses, burning sulphur
did not affect their smell, nor brilliant light the open pupil; the
ringing of a large bell close to the ear and the firing of a pistol
remained unheard. In fine, he repeated all the experiments already made
by Puysegur with his patient, Victor, but generally without the use of
passes. (Schopenhauer, _Ueber d. Willen in d. Natur._ 1867, p. 102.)
Maury, who has given a most interesting and trustworthy account of
similar cases (_Revue des Deux Mondes_, 1860, t. 25), states in speaking
of General Noizet, that the latter caused him to fall asleep by saying:
"_Dormes!_" Immediately a thick veil fell upon his eyes, he felt weak,
began to perspire, and felt a strong pressure upon the abdomen. A second
experiment, however, was less successful.
Besides passes, a variety of other means have been employed to produce
magnetic sleep and kindred phenomena. Dr. Bendsea, one of the earlier
practitioners, frequently used metal mirrors or even ordinary
looking-glasses; another Dr. Barth, maintained that by touching or
irritating any part of the outer skull, the underlying portions of the
brains could be excited. By thus pressing upon the organ of love of
children, his patients would at once begin to think of children, and
often caress a cushion. In this theory he is supported by Haddock, who
first discovered that the magnetizer's will could force his patient to
substitute his fancies for the reality, and, for instance, to believe a
handkerchief to be a pet dog or an infant, and an empty glass to be
filled with such liquids as he suggested. The influence in such cases
must, however, be rather ascribed to the fact that the magnetizers were
also phrenologists, than to the presumed organs themselves.
It must lastly be mentioned that some persons claim to possess the power
to magnetize themselves, and Dupotet, a trustworthy authority in such
matters, supports the assertion. A case is mentioned in the _Journal de
l'ame_ (iv. p. 103), of a man who could hypnotize himself from childhood
up, by merely fixing his eye for some time upon a certain point; in
later years, probably by too frequent excitement of this kind, he was
apt to fall into trances and to see visions.
The sympathetic relations which by magnetism are established between two
or more persons who are in a state of somnambulism or clairvoyance, is
commonly called _rapport_, although there is no apparent necessity for
preferring a French word. The closest relations exist naturally between
the magnetizer and his subject, and the intensity of the rapport varies,
of course, with the energy of will of the one, and the susceptibility of
the patient of the other. The same rapport exists, however, often
between the patients of the same magnetizer, and may be increased by
merely joining hands, or a strong effort of will on the part of the
physician. It has often been claimed that mesmerism produces
exceptionally by _rapport_ what in twins is the effect of a close
natural resemblance and contemporaneousness of organization.
Clairvoyants endowed with the highest powers which have yet been
observed, thus see not only their own body as if it were transparent,
but can in like manner watch what is going on within the bodies of
others, provided they are brought into _rapport_ with them, and hence
their ability to prescribe for their ailments. Puysegur was probably the
first to discover this peculiarity: he was humming to himself a
favorite air while magnetizing a peasant boy, and suddenly the latter
began to sing the same air with a loud voice. Haddock's patients gave
all the natural signs of pain in different parts of the body, when he
was struck or pinched, while at the very time they were themselves
insensible to pain. Dr. Emelin found that when he held his watch to his
right ear, a female patient of his heard the ticking in her left ear; if
he held it to her own ear she heard nothing. He was, also, not a little
astonished when another patient, in a distant town to which he traveled,
revealed to him a whole series of professional meditations in which he
had been plunged during his journey. And yet such a knowledge of the
magnetizer's thoughts is nothing uncommon in well-qualified subjects who
have been repeatedly magnetized. Mrs. Crowe mentions the case of a
gentleman who was thus treated while he was at Malvern and his physician
at Cheltenham. He was lying in magnetic sleep, when he suddenly sprang
up, clapped his hands together, and broke out into loud laughter. His
physician was written to and replied that on the same day he had been
busy thinking of his patient, when a sudden knock at the door startled
him and made him jump and clap his hands together. He then laughed
heartily at his folly! (I. p. 140.) Dupotet once saw a striking
illustration of the _rapport_ which may exist between two patients of
the same magnetizer, even where the two are unknown to each other.
He was treating some of his patients in a hospital in St. Petersburg, by
means of magnetism, and found, to his surprise, that whenever he put one
of them to sleep in the upper story, the other in the lower story would
also instantly drop asleep, although she could not possibly be aware of
what was going on upstairs. This happened, moreover, not once, but
repeatedly, and for weeks in succession. If both were asleep when he
came on his daily round, he needed only arouse one to hear the other
awake with a start and utter loud cries.
Magnetic sleep generally does not begin immediately, but after some
intermediate danger; most frequently ordinary sleep serves as a bridge
leading to magnetic sleep, and yet the two are entirely different
conditions. When at last sleep is induced, various degrees of
exceptional powers are exhibited, which are evidences of an inner sense
that has been awakened, while the outer senses have become inactive. The
patient is, however, utterly unconscious of the fact that his eyes are
closed, and believes he sees through them as when he is awake. When
somnambulists are asked why they keep their eyes shut, they answer: "I
do not know what you mean; I see you perfectly well." The highest
degree, but rarely developed in specially favored persons, consists of
perfect clairvoyance accompanied by a sense of indescribable bliss; in
this state the spiritual and moral features of the patient assume a form
of highest development, visions are beheld, remote and future things are
discerned, and other persons may be influenced, even if they are at a
considerable distance. It is in this condition that persons in magnetic
sleep exhibit in the highest degree the magic phenomena of magnetism.
The latter are generally accompanied by a sensation of intense light,
which at times becomes almost painful, and has to be allayed by the
physician, especially when it threatens to interfere with the
unconscious conversations of the patient. This enjoyment has, however,
to be paid for dearly, for it exhausts the sleeper, and in many
instances it so closely resembles the struggle of the soul when parting
from the body in death, that dissolution seems to be impending.
Somnambulists themselves maintain that such magnetic sleep shortens
their lives by several years, and has to be interrupted in time to
prevent it from becoming fatal. Recollection rarely survives magnetic
sleep, but after awaking, vague and indistinct impulses continue, which
stand in some connection with the incidents of such sleep. A well known
magnetizer, Mouillesaux, once ordered a patient, while sunk in magnetic
sleep, to go on the following day and call on a person whom she did not
like. The promise was given reluctantly, but not mentioned again after
she awoke. To test the matter, the physician went, accompanied by a few
friends, on the next day, to that person's house, and, to their great
surprise, the patient was seen to walk up and down anxiously before the
door, and at last to enter, visibly embarrassed. Mouillesaux at once
followed her and explained the matter; she told him that from the moment
of her rising in the morning she had been haunted by the idea that she
ought to go to this house, till her nervousness had become so painful as
to force her to go on her unwelcome errand. (_Expose des Cures, etc._,
iii. p. 70.)