Animal magnetism

Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was the name given by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the
18th century to what he believed to be an invisible natural force (Lebensmagnetismus) possessed by all living
things, including humans, animals, and vegetables. He believed that the force could have physical effects,
including healing, and he tried persistently but without success to achieve scientific recognition of his ideas.[1]

The vitalist theory attracted numerous followers in Europe and the United States and was popular into the 19th
century. Practitioners were often known as magnetizers rather than mesmerists. It was an important specialty
in medicine for about 75 years from its beginnings in 1779, and continued to have some influence for another
50 years. Hundreds of books were written on the subject between 1766 and 1925, but it is almost entirely
forgotten today.[2] Mesmerism is still practised as a form of alternative medicine in some countries, but
magnetic practices are not recognized as part of medical science.

Contents
Etymology and definitions
"Magnetizer"
"Mesmerism"
Royal Commission
Royal Academy investigation
Mesmerism and hypnotism
Vital fluid and animal magnetism
Social skepticism in the Romantic Era
Political influence
Mesmerism and spiritual healing practices
Contemporary development
Professional magnetizers
Mesmerism in Literature
See also
Notes
References
Further reading

Etymology and definitions

"Magnetizer"
The terms "magnetizer" and "mesmerizer" have been applied to people who study and practice animal
magnetism.[3] These terms have been distinguished from "mesmerist" and "magnetist", which are regarded as
denoting those who study animal magnetism without being practitioners;[4] and from "hypnotist", someone
who practises hypnosis.[4]

The etymology of the word magnetizer comes from the French "magnétiseur" ("practicing the methods of
mesmerism"),[3] which in turn is derived from the French verb magnétiser.[5] The term refers to an individual
who has the power to manipulate the "magnetic fluid"[6] with effects upon other people present that were
regarded as analogous to magnetic effects.[7] This sense of the term is found, for example, in the expression of
Antoine Joseph Gorsas: "The magnetizer is the imam of vital energy".[8]

"Mesmerism"

A tendency emerged amongst British magnetizers to call their clinical techniques "mesmerism"; they wanted to
distance themselves from the theoretical orientation of animal magnetism that was based on the concept of
"magnetic fluid". At the time, some magnetizers attempted to channel what they thought was a magnetic
"fluid", and sometimes they attempted this with a "laying on of hands". Reported effects included various
feelings: intense heat, trembling, trances, and seizures.[9]

Many practitioners took a scientific approach, such as Joseph Philippe François Deleuze (1753–1835), a
French physician, anatomist, gynecologist, and physicist. One of his pupils was Théodore Léger (1799–1853),
who wrote that the label "mesmerism" was "most improper".[10] (Léger moved to Texas around 1836).

Noting that, by 1846, the term "galvanism" had been replaced by "electricity", Léger wrote that year:[10]

Mesmerism, of all the names proposed [to replace the term animal magnetism], is decidedly the
most improper; for, in the first place, no true science has ever been designated by the name of a
man, whatever be the claims he could urge in his favor; and secondly, what are the claims of
Mesmer for such an honor? He is not the inventor of the practical part of the science, since we
can trace the practice of it through the most remote ages; and in that respect, the part which he
introduced has been completely abandoned. He proposed for it a theory which is now [viz.,
1846] exploded, and which, on account of his errors, has been fatal to our progress. He never
spoke of the phenomena which have rehabilitated our cause among scientific men; and since
nothing remains to be attributed to Mesmer, either in the practice and theory, or the discoveries
that constitute our science, why should it be called mesmerism?

Royal Commission
In 1784 two French Royal Commissions appointed by Louis XVI studied Mesmer's magnetic fluid theory to
try to establish it by scientific evidence.[11][12] The commission of the Academy of Sciences included Majault,
Benjamin Franklin, Jean Sylvain Bailly, Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, Sallin, Jean Darcet, de Borey, Joseph-Ignace
Guillotin, Antoine Lavoisier. The Commission of the Royal Society of Medicine was composed of
Poissonnier, Caille, Mauduyt de la Varenne, Andry, and Antoine Laurent de Jussieu.

Whilst the commission agreed that the cures claimed by Mesmer were indeed cures,[11] it also concluded there
was no evidence of the existence of his "magnetic fluid", and that its effects derived from either the
imaginations of its subjects or charlatanry.[11]
Royal Academy investigation
A generation later another investigating committee, appointed by a majority vote in 1826 in The Royal
Academy of Medicine in Paris, studied the effects and clinical potentials of the mesmeric procedure - without
trying to establish the physical nature of any magnetic fluidum. The report says:

what we have seen in the course of our experiments bears no sort of resemblance to what the
Report of 1784 relates with regard to the magnetizers of that period. We neither admit nor reject
the existence of the fluid, because we have not verified the fact ; we do not speak of the baquet ...
nor of the assemblage of a great number of people together, who were magnetized in the presence
of a crowd of witnesses ; because all our experiments were made in the most complete stillness ...
and always upon a single person at a time. We do not speak of ... the crisis[13]

Among the conclusions were:

Magnetism has taken effect upon persons of different sexes and ages. ... In general, magnetism
does not act upon persons in a sound state of health. ... Neither does it act upon all sick persons.

... 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
prevision; 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.

... We can not only act upon the magnetized person, but even place him in a complete state of
somnambulism, and bring him out of it without his knowledge, out of his sight, at a certain
distance, and with doors intervening.

... The greater number of the somnambulists whom we have seen, were completely insensible ...
we might pinch their skin, so as to leave a mark, prick them with pins under the nails, &c. 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.

... 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.

...Magnetism ought to be allowed a place within the circle of medical sciences...[14]

Mesmerism and hypnotism

Abbé Faria was one of the disciples of Franz Anton Mesmer who continued with Mesmer's work following
the conclusions of the Royal Commission. In the early 19th century, Abbé Faria is said to have introduced
oriental hypnosis to Paris[15] and to have conducted experiments to prove that "no special force was necessary
for the production of the mesmeric phenomena such as the trance, but that the determining cause lay within the
subject himself"—in other words, that it worked purely by the power of suggestion.[16]
Hypnotism, a designation coined by the Scottish surgeon, James
Braid,[17] originates in Braid's response to an 1841 exhibition of
"animal magnetism", by Charles Lafontaine, in Manchester.[18]
Writing in 1851, Braid was adamant that, in the absence of the sorts of
"higher phenomena" reportedly produced by the mesmerists,

and in contra-distinction to the Transcendental [i.e.,

metaphysical] Mesmerism of the Mesmerists …
[allegedly] induced through the transmission of an occult
influence from [the body of the operator to that of the
subject,] Hypnotism, [by which] I mean a peculiar
condition of the nervous system, into which it can be
thrown by artificial contrivance … [a theoretical position
that is entirely] consistent with generally admitted
principles in physiological and psychological science
[would] therefore [be most aptly] designated Rational
Mesmerism.[19]
Baquet. Interior view: Drawing room
scene with many people sitting and
standing around a large table; a man
on a crutch has an iron band
wrapped around his ankle; others in
the group are holding bands similarly;
to the left, a man has hypnotized a
woman. (1780)

Vital fluid and animal magnetism

A 1791 London publication explains Mesmer's theory of the vital
fluid :

Modern philosophy has admitted a plenum or universal

principle of fluid matter, which occupies all space; and
that as all bodies moving in the world, abound with
pores, this fluid matter introduces itself through the
interstices and returns backwards and forwards, flowing
through one body by the currents which issue therefrom
to another, as in a magnet, which produces that
phenomenon which we call Animal Magnetism. This
fluid consists of fire, air and spirit, and like all other
fluids tends to an equilibrium, therefore it is easy to Advertisement poster of 1857:
conceive how the efforts which the bodies make towards Instant sleep. Miscellaneous effects
each other produce animal electricity, which in fact is no of paralysis, partial and complete
more than the effect produced between two bodies, one catalepsy, partial or complete
attraction. Phreno-magnetic effects
of which has more motion than the other; a phenomenon
(...) Musical ectasy (...) Insensitivity
serving to prove that the body which has most motion
to physical pain and instant
communicates it to the other, until the medium of motion
awakening (...) transfusion of
becomes an equilibrium between the two bodies, and
magnetic power to others
then this equality of motion produces animal
electricity.[20]

According to an anonymous writer of a series of letters published by editor John Pearson in 1790, animal
magnetism can cause a wide range of effects ranging from vomiting to what is termed the "crisis". The
purpose of the treatment (inducing the "crisis") was to shock the body into convulsion in order to remove
obstructions in the humoral system that were causing sicknesses.[21] Furthermore, this anonymous supporter of
the animal magnetism theory purported that the "crisis" created two effects: first, a state in which the "
[individual who is] completely reduced under Magnetic influence, although he should seem to be possessed of
his senses, yet he ceases to be an accountable creature",[22] and a second "remarkable" state, which would be
"conferred upon the [magnetized] subject … [namely] that of perfect and unobstructed vision … in other
words, all opacity is removed, and every object becomes luminous and transparent".[23] A patient under crisis
was believed to be able to see through the body and find the cause of illness, either in themselves or in other
patients.

The Marquis of Puységur's miraculous healing of a young man named Victor in 1784 was attributed to, and
used as evidence in support of, this "crisis" treatment. The Marquis was allegedly able to hypnotize Victor and,
while hypnotized, Victor was said to have been able to speak articulately and diagnose his own sickness.

Jacob Melo discusses in his books some mechanisms by which the perceived effects of animal magnetism
have been claimed to operate.[24]

Social skepticism in the Romantic Era

The study of animal magnetism spurred the creation
of the Societies of Harmony in France, where
members paid to join and learn the practice of
magnetism. Doctor John Bell was a member of the
Philosophical Harmonic Society of Paris, and was
certified by the society to lecture and teach on
animal magnetism in England.[25] The existence of
the societies transformed animal magnetism into a
secretive art, where its practitioners and lecturers
did not reveal the techniques of the practice based
on the society members that have paid for
instruction, veiling the idea that it was unfair to
reveal the practice to others for free.[26] Although
the heightened secrecy of the practice contributed to Play media
the skepticism about it, many supporters and A caricature of Mesmer filmed by George Mèliés, 1905
practitioners of animal magnetism touted the ease
and possibility for everyone to acquire the skills to
perform its techniques.[27]

Popularization of animal magnetism was denounced and ridiculed by newspaper journals and theatre during
the Romantic Era. Many deemed animal magnetism to be nothing more than a theatrical falsity or quackery. In
a 1790 publication, an editor presented a series of letters written by an avid supporter of animal magnetism and
included his own thoughts in an appendix stating: "No fanatics ever divulged notions more wild and
extravagant; no impudent empiric ever retailed promises more preposterous, or histories of cures more devoid
of reality, than the tribe of magnetisers".[28]

The novelist and playwrighter Elizabeth Inchbald wrote the farce Animal Magnetism in the late 1780s. The
plot revolved around multiple love triangles and the absurdity of animal magnetism. The following passage
mocks the medical prowess of those qualified only as mesmerists:

Doctor: They have refused to grant me a diploma—forbid me to practice as a physician, and all
because I don't know a parcel of insignificant words; but exercise my profession according to the
rules of reason and nature; Is it not natural to die, then if a dozen or two of my patients have died
under my hands, is not that natural? …[29]
Although the doctor's obsession with the use of animal magnetism, not merely to cure but to force his ward to
fall in love with him, made for a humorous storyline, Inchbald’s light-hearted play commented on what society
perceived as threats posed by the practice.

De Mainanduc brought animal magnetism to England in 1787 and promulgated it into the social arena. In
1785, he had published proposals to the ladies of Britain to establish a "hygean society" or society of health,
by which they would pay to join and enjoy his treatments.[30] As both popularity and skepticism increased,
many became convinced that animal magnetism could lead to sexual exploitation of women. Not only did the
practice involve close personal contact via the waving of hands over the body, but people were concerned that
the animal magnetists could hypnotize women and direct them at will.

Having removed all misconceptions, foretelling of the future, explicit or implicit invocation of the
devil, the use of animal magnetism is indeed merely an act of making use of physical media that
are otherwise licit and hence it is not morally forbidden, provided it does not tend toward an
illicit end or toward anything depraved. (The Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office: 28 July
1847.)

Political influence
The French revolution catalyzed existing internal political friction in Britain in the 1790s; a few political
radicals used animal magnetism as more than just a moral threat but also a political threat. Among many
lectures warning society against government oppression, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote:

William Pitt, the great political Animal Magnetist, ... has most foully worked on the diseased
fancy of Englishmen ... thrown the nation into a feverish slumber, and is now bringing it to a
crisis which may convulse mortality![31]

Major politicians and people in power were accused by radicals of practising animal magnetism on the general
population.

In his article "Under the Influence: Mesmerism in England", Roy Porter notes that James Tilly Matthews
suggested that the French were infiltrating England via animal magnetism. Matthews believed that "magnetic
spies" would invade England and bring it under subjection by transmitting waves of animal magnetism to
subdue the government and people.[32] Such an invasion from foreign influences was perceived as a radical
threat.

Mesmerism and spiritual healing practices

Today, some scholars believe mesmerism to share a concept of life force or energy with such Asian practices
as reiki and qigong. However, the practical and theoretical positions of such practices are on whole
substantially different from those of mesmerism.

During the Romantic period, mesmerism produced enthusiasm and inspired horror in the spiritual and religious
context. Though discredited as a medical practice by many, mesmerism created a venue for spiritual healing.
Some animal magnetists advertised their practices by stressing the "spiritual rather than physical benefits to be
gained from animal magnetism" and were able to gather a good clientele from among the spiritually inspired
population.[33]
Some researchers, including Johann Peter Lange[34][35] and Allan Kardec,[36][37] suggested that Jesus was the
greatest of all magnetizers, and that the source of his miracles was animal magnetism. Other writers, such as
John Campbell Colquhoun[38] and Mary Baker Eddy,[39] denounced the comparison. Mary Baker Eddy went
so far as to claim animal magnetism "lead to moral and to physical death."

Contemporary development
Sporadic research into animal magnetism was conducted in the 20th century, and the results published; for
example, Bernard Grad wrote a number of papers related to his observations of "a single, reputed healer,
[Hungarian] Oskar Estebany" on the subject.[40]

Professional magnetizers
In the Classical era of animal magnetism, the late 17th century to the mid-19th century, there were professional
magnetizers,[41] whose techniques were described by authors of the time as particularly effective. Their
method was to spend prolonged periods "magnetizing" their customers directly or through "mesmeric
magnets". It was observed that in some conditions, certain mesmerizers were more likely to achieve the result
than others, regardless of their degree of knowledge.[4]

Alexandre Bertrand
Étienne Félix d'Henin de Cuvillers
Andrew Jackson Davis
Hector Durville
Adam Karl August von Eschenmayer
Abade Faria
Charles Foster[42]
Paul Gibier
Valentine Greatrakes
Allan Kardec
Justinus Kerner
Charles Lafontaine
Johann Kaspar Lavater
William Maxwell
Franz Anton Mesmer
Baron du Potet
Marquis of Puységur
Phineas Parkhurst Quimby
Albert de Rochas
Alphonse Teste[43]
Georges Gilles de la Tourette
Charles de Villers
Alfred Russel Wallace

Mesmerism in Literature
Ursule Mirouët, an 1841 novel by Honoré de Balzac, features a character who converts to
Christianity in part because of an experience with animal magnetism.
 Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 short story "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is based on the
premise that a person could be mesmerised at the moment of death. Poe published the work
without explicitly stating that it was fictional, leading some readers to believe it was a true
account.

See also
Biomagnetism
James Esdaile
Magnetoception
The Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology & Mesmerism, and Their Applications to Human
Welfare

Notes
1. Wolfart, Karl Christian; Friedrich Anton Mesmer. Mesmerismus: Oder, System der
Wechselwirkungen, Theorie und Anwendung des thierischen Magnetismus als die allgemeine
Heilkunde zur Erhaltung des Menschen (in German, facsimile of the 1811 edition). Cambridge
University Press, 2011. ISBN 9781108072694. Foreword.
2. Adam Crabtree Animal Magnetism, Early Hypnotism, and Psychical Research, 1766–1925 –
An Annotated Bibliography ISBN 0-527-20006-9
3. Dictionnaire Notre Famille, (1987), Magnetiseur (http://www.notrefamille.com/dictionnaire/defini
tion/magnetiseur), notrefamille.com. Accessed 19 August 2015
4. Hector Durville, Theory and Animal Magnetism procedures, Rio de Jan ed. Léon Denis, 2012
ISBN 978-85-7297-510-0.
5. Thouvenel, Pierre, Mémoire et medical physique (http://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org/rarebook
s/item/698/thouvenel-p.-second-m%C3%A9moire-physique-et-m%C3%A9dicinal-montrant-des
-rapports-%C3%A9videns-entre-les-ph%C3%A9nomenes-de-la-baguette-divinatoire,-du-mag
n%C3%A9tisme-et-de-l'%C3%A9lectricit%C3%A9.-avec-des-%C3%A9claircissemens-sur-d'a
utres-objets-non-moins-importans,-qui-y-sont-relatifs,-1784.) Paris Ed. Didot Chez le jeune,
Quai des Auguftins. (1781) p. 300
6. Baron du Potet, Student Handbook Magnetizer , ed. Life – 3rd Edition, 2013
7. Franz Anton Mesmer, Mémoire sur la découverte du animals magnétisme , 1779, Édition
numérique disponible sur Wikisource. Il ya aussi une édition papier chez Allia, 2006
ISBN 2844852262
8. Gorsas, Antoine-Joseph, L'Ane promeneur, 1784, p. 41 and p. 342
9. Connor C. (2005). A People's History of Science, Nation Books, pp. 404–5
10. Léger, 1846, p.14.
11. Orsucci, 2009, p.66
12. Lopez, 1993
13. COLQUHOUN, John Campbell, Isis Revelata, Volume 2 (http://www.forgottenbooks.com/book
s/Isis_Revelata_v2_1000899412), p. 199
14. COLQUHOUN, John Campbell, Isis Revelata, Volume 2 (http://www.forgottenbooks.com/book
s/Isis_Revelata_v2_1000899412), pp. 283-293
15. See Carrer (2004), passim.
16. Hull, Clark L. "Hypnotism in Scientific Perspective", The Scientific Monthly 29.2 (1929): p. 156.
17. Yeates, (2013), passim.
18. Gilles de la Tourette. "The Wonders of Animal Magnetism", The North American Review
146.375 (1888): p.131-132.
19. Braid (1850), p.6 (https://archive.org/details/observationsont01braigoog/page/n8).
20. Wonders and mysteries of animal magnetism displayed; or the history, art, practice, and
progress of that useful science, from its first rise in the city of Paris, to the present time. With
several Curious Cases and new Anecdotes of the Principal Professors. Eighteenth Century
Collections Online. London (1791): pp.11–12
21. Pearson (1790), p.12.
22. Pearson (1790), pp. 13–15.
23. Pearson (1790), p.15.
24. Lecture given at the III World Meeting of Magnetizers (http://jacobmelo.webs.com/Jornal%20Vor
tice/JORNAL%20VORTICE%2024%20MAIO%202010.pdf)
25. Bell, John, Professor of Animal Magnetism. "The general and particular principles of animal
electricity and magnetism, &c. in which are found Dr. Bell's secrets and practice, AS Delivered
To His Pupils in Paris, London, Dublin, Bristol, Glocester, Worcester, Birmingham,
Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury, Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, &c. &c. Shewing how to
Magnetise and Cure different Diseases; to produce Crises, as well as Somnambulism, or
Sleep-Walking; and in that State of Sleep to make a Person eat, drink, walk, sing and play
upon any Instruments they are used to, &c. to make Apparatus and other Accessaries to
produce Magnetical Facts; also to Magnetise Rivers, Rooms, Trees, and other Bodies, animate
and inanimate; to raise the Arms, Legs of a Person awake, and to make him rise from his Chair;
to raise the Arm of a Person absent from one Room to another; also to treat him at a Distance.
All the New Experiments and Phenomena are explained by Monsieur le Docteur Bell,
Professor of that Science, And Member of the Philosophical Harmonic Society at Paris, Fellow
Correspondent of M. Le Court de Geblin's Museum; and the only Person authorised by Patent
from the First Noblemen in France, to teach and practise that Science in England, Ireland, &c".
Price Five Shillings. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. [London](1792): p.2
26. Pearson, John (1790). A plain account, p. 6
27. "Wonders and mysteries of animal magnetism displayed; or the history, art, practice, and
progress of that useful science, from its first rise in the city of Paris, to the present time. With
several Curious Cases and new Anecdotes of the Principal Professors". Eighteenth Century
Collections Online. London (1791): p.16
28. Pearson, John (1790). A plain account, p. 37
29. Inchbald, Elizabeth. Animal Magnetism. p. 9
30. Wonders and mysteries of animal magnetism displayed; or the history, art, practice, and
progress of that useful science, from its first rise in the city of Paris, to the present time. With
several Curious Cases and new Anecdotes of the Principal Professors. Eighteenth Century
Collections Online. London (1791): p.7
31. Requoted from: Fulford, Tim. "Conducting and Vital Fluid: The Politics and Poetics of
Mesmerism in the 1790s", Studies in Romanticism 43.1 (2004): pg.1
32. Porter, Roy. "UNDER THE INFLUENCE: MESMERISM IN ENGLAND," History Today 35.9
(1985): pg.28
33. Fara. "An attractive therapy: animal magnetism in eighteenth-century England", History of
science 33 (1995): pg:142
34. LANGE, Johann Peter, A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Kings, Ed. C. Scribner &
Company, 1872.
35. LANGE, Johann Peter, The Life of The Lord Jesus Christ: A Complete Critical Examination of
the Origin, Contents and Connection of the Gospels, Volume 1 (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=Io1TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA431&lpg=PA431&dq=Jesus++animal+magnetism&source=bl&ot
s=I0EDQG5rE_&sig=PShNc3gAGJMjrCNh4iFK6UnHRhA&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ei=27YeVenXIcif
sAXY4IGYCQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=Jesus%20%20animal%20magnetism
&f=false), Ed. Smith, English and Company, 1872
36. KARDEC, Allan, Genesis – FEB 53 rd Ed. – Cap.XV – Item 1 – p. 273
37. KARDEC, Allan, Genesis – FEB 53rd Ed – Cap.XV – Item 2 – pag.274
38. COLQUHOUN, John Campbell, An History of Magic, Witchcraft, and Animal Magnetism,
Volume 1 (https://books.google.com/books?id=z3lHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq=J
esus++animal+magnetism&source=bl&ots=NoJe1Z5O7O&sig=5yS--Ry7yRWYz3-tKQg2re_g
Y48&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ei=27YeVenXIcifsAXY4IGYCQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q
=Jesus%20%20animal%20magnetism&f=false), Ed. Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans,
1851.
39. Eddy, Mary Baker, "Animal Magnetism Unmasked," Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures, Trustees Under the Will of Maker Baker G. Eddy, Boston, 1934. pp.101
40. Gauld, (1992), pp.254-255, 647.
41. Franklin Rausky, Mesmer ou la révolution thérapeutique ("Mesmer, or the therapeutic
revolution"), Paris, 1977
42. The Zoist, Facts and Observations on the Mesmeric and Magnetic Fluids. Offprint from The
Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology and Mesmerism (http://www.abebooks.com/book-searc
h/title/facts-mesmerism/first-edition/), April 1846
43. Teste, Alphonse (1843). A Practical Manual of Animal Magnetism: containing an exposition of
the methods employed in producing the magnetic phenomena; with its application to the
treatment and cure of diseases (https://books.google.com/books?id=7ahdAAAAcAAJ). H.
Baillière.

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Further reading
Anton Mesmer, "Propositions Concerning Animal Magnetism" (1779), from: Binet, A. & Féré, C.
Animal Magnetism, New York: Appleton and Co., 1888; web archive (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20040710162753/http://www.unbf.ca/psychology/likely/readings/mesmer.htm)
The Baron Dupotet de Sennevoy. An Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism. London:
Saunders & Otley, 1838; full text (https://archive.org/details/anintroductiont01conggoog)
William Gregory. Letters to a Candid Inquirer on Animal Magnetism. Philadelphia: Blanchard
and Lea, 1851; full text (https://archive.org/details/letterstoacandi00greggoog)
Charles Poyen. Animal magnetism. Boston: Weeks, Jordan & co., 1837; full text (https://archive.
org/details/progressanimalm01poyegoog)

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