Mesmerism. *

the shore of the beautiful Bodensee , and devoted himself wholly to study ancl works of benevolence . There he died in peace on March Sth , 1815 . In the cemetery of Meersburg rest the mortal remains of him

"Who strove to lift tbe veil from nature ' s face , And bore the laugh of all his race Who dread results of honest thought . " The best life of Mesmer is that by Dr . Justinns Kerner . It has not yet appeared in an English garb . I may remark en passant that I am at

present engaged in translating it from the German , and that I hope ere long to give the English reader an opportunity of perusing the biography of a man who will yet be universally acknowledged to have been a benefactor to his species .

And now what has been the progress of Mesmerism ? On the Continent it has been received as a fact for years . In Germany it is practised and studied to a considerable extent . In Prussia many physicians make use of it under the

authority of government . In Stockholm , degrees are granted in the university by an examination in its laws . In Russia , the emperor appointed a commission of medical men to inquire into ifc , and this commission pronounced ifc a very

important agent . . In Denmark , physicians practise it under a royal ordinance and by a decree of the College of Health . In Holland , some of the first men take it up . In France , the extent to which it is practised is considerable indeed . A commission of the Royal Academy of Medicine there recommended that mesmerism should be

allowed a place withm the circle of the medical sciences . Its progress has not been so rapid in the United Kingdom for reasons with which I need not now trouble you . However , even here some

progress has been achieved . Societies were formed in London , Edinburgh , ancl Dublin ,- —in the last city with the truly great Archbishop Whately at its head . A mesmeric infirmary has been established in . London , 36 , Weyinoufch-streefc ,

Portland-place , of which Archbishop Whateley was one of the presidents . I am well acquainted with its working , having been for some vears one of the governors , and I can testify that some extraordinary cures have been effected and great

good achieved . The annual reports' are well worthy of perusal . Some of the most distinguished and the ablest men in the United Kingdom are believers in and practisers of mesmerism . Indeed

I may safely say that I never met any person who knew anything about it , who Avas not fully convinced of its value and importance . But I have found a great many who railed against it as they do against many other good things , for Avhat ,.

I suppose , is to them the best reason in the world —that they are profoundly ignorant of ifc—had never witnessed an . experiment , never read a book on the subject . 2 . Let me now quote a few testimonies of

eminent men as to its reality and its value as a curative agent . Archbishop Whateley says that " he himself was a living monument of the truth of mesmerism having suffered severely for many

years from rheumatism . When the doctors had done their best , or their worst , as the case might be , he was advised to have recourse to mesmerism as a last resource . " In the course of one week , he was perfectly cured . "

Dr . Keane , writing to Dr . Esdaile , says concerning his lunatic asylum at Berhampore : — "Taking a hasty glance over the years 1847-8 , I see that above seventy-four patients were mesmerised , and that of these , sixty-five were

discharged cured . Dr . Elliotson , one of the most distinguished jihysicians , has recorded in an excellent pamphlet some wonderful operations without the slightest pain on persons in the mesmerio slumber .

But if you would be fully convinced that mesmerism is no silly humbug , read the twelve volumes of the " Zoist , " whose pages teem with testimonies as to its value , as one of God ' s gifts to sufferinghumanity ; or peruse its extensive literature

produced by men of the highest ability ancl culture ,, as well as of the most sincere piety and benevolence .

3 . But I must briefly answer a few of the most common objections , ( a ) . One is , "Mesmerise mean J I will believe . " Aro there no conditions requisite ? Does it follow that because I fail , another mesmerist may not succeed ? Men ' s constitutions

differ . And , moreover , sleep is only one of the many symptons . Great effects may result , and no sleep take place . ( b ) . Another objects : mesmerism is hysteria . Now what is hysteria ? Doctors themselves do

not know what it is . To explain mesmerism by hysteria is only to exchange one difficulty for another . ( c ) . Again , mesmerism is contrary to the laws of nature . May we ask what edition of the laws of