University of Virginia Library

Earliest investigations

MESMERISM or animal magnetism was first brought into notice by Mesmer in Germany in 1775. Ac- cording to the American Cyclopaedia, he regarded this so-called force, which he said could be ex- erted by one living organism over another, as a means of alleviating disease. His propositions were as follows:

"There exists a mutual influence between the celestial bodies, the earth, and animated things. Animal bodies are susceptible to the influence of this agent, disseminat- ing itself through the substance of the nerves."

In 1784, the French government ordered the medical faculty of Paris to investigate Mesmer's theory and to report upon it. Under this order a commission was appointed, and Benjamin Franklin was one of the com- missioners. This commission reported to the govern- ment as follows:

"In regard to the existence and utility of animal mag- netism, we have come to the unanimous conclusions that there is no proof of the existence of the animal magnetic

fluid; that the violent effects, which are observed in the public practice of magnetism, are due to manipula- tions, or to the excitement of the imagination and the impressions made upon the senses; and that there is one more fact to be recorded in the history of the errors of the human mind, and an important experiment upon the power of the imagination."