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Hypnotism and the Doctors

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Hypnotism and the Doctors ( 2 ) 'T'SkQ. X 3 11 ^ HYPNOTISM AND THE DOCTORS i. ANIMAL MAGNETISM. Mesmer : His Theory of Disease. His Method of Cure. His Fight with the Faculty. / De Puysegur: Somnambulism. New Theories and Methods. By Richard Harte. LONDON: L. N. FOWLER & Co., 7, Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus. NEW YORK: FOWLER & WELLS Co., 27, East Twenty-first Street 1902. [All Rights Reserved.] l Cl K/f* _/\ V V4 vPKOf'b / 1 (VllffAlfl?; ARaks. /KvWlC/^V- nutttivt'T, /W^/W<? Uauima* 'K n (J ' / uN > ©f' K L T(2lG3 WHH D — CONTENTS. PAGE Preface vii. What is meant by Hypnotism?—-T he term “Hypnotism” indefinite—Importance of Hypnotism to the public The power of Suggestion—The Mesmerist and the Hypnotist— “ Hypnotism ” now the inclusive name Mesmer’s Theory.— ypnotism the evolution of Animal Magnetism — Mesmer’s discovery— His Twenty-seven Propositions—The “vital fluid” — Instinct—Mesmer’s theory of disease—The vis medicatrix—Man, a magnet —The “ Crisis ” —Human magnetism io Mesmer’s Methods.— is instructions for magnetising— The baquets—The public treatments 2 7 Mesmer’s Personality.— r. Kerner’s account— Herr von Lassberg’s relics of Mesmer—Mesmer’s visit to a great Baron’s Castle 33 Mesmer’s Fight for his Discoveries in Vienna.— Deleuze’s estimate of Mesmer—Father Hell and his Magnets— Baron von Stoerk—Father Gassner the Exorcist— Mile. Paradis’s blindness; her father’s state- ment; Mesmer’s account ... 44 Mesmer in Paris.— hy he went there—Cases treated at Creteil—Mesmer’s treatment by the Academy of Sciences and Royal Society of Medicine—Major du Hussay’s cure— Dr. Deslon and the Royal Society of Medicine— The King's offer to Mesmer—The “moral” baquet— The Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism 57 Mesmer’s Later Life. —M esmer goes to Spa— His bene- volence—-The fund for the propaganda of his system— Animal Magnetism in Germany—Mesmer’s old age and death 70 — F D —— PAGE Mesmer’s Successors — The “Spiritualist” and the “Experimentalist” schools—The Great Magnetisers ” The brothers De Puysegur— “ Believe and will —De Puysegur’s process for magnetising—De Puysegur’s discovery of “lucid” somnambulism—Characteristics of the Somnabulist—The discovery of the “ passes— The convulsive cries abandoned— “ Medical instinct” r j Progress of Animal Magnetism ... ... ... 80 The Old School and the : Animal Magnetism ' New • ' ' ‘ I r 5 • yf, in France and Germany. rGermany follows the methods of Mesmer France, those of De Puysegur ; The ideas of De Puysegur and Deleuze—Limits of the magnetiser’s power — The “Fluid” —-“Will and believe ” — Deleuze’s process for magnetising—Mag- netism in 1820 ... ... ... ... ... 94 The Doctors investigate Somnambulism.— istinguished Physicians investigate in the Hospitals—Cruel tests of ” insensibility— Doctor’s logic —Natural and artificial Somnambulism ... ... ... ... ... no Magnetism before Mesmer’s Day.— riends and foes search old authors—Many theories similar to Mesmer’s found—A universal magnetic “ fluid ” postulated Quotations from old philosophers and physicians Mesmer’s superior merit ... ... ... ... 119 ; PREFACE. The history of the treatment whicn Hypnotism has received at the hands of the doctors is a long story of ignorance, prejudice, cruelty, stupidity, and conceit on their part — an intensely sad history to anyone who believes, as I do, that no other pro- fession has a function so important to the community as the medical. Dr. R. Osgood Mason, writing about “ Hypnotism, says : Here is the work of the physician —to implant higher ideals in the mind of the patient —help him to see them, and then to rise towards them.” This view of the function of the physician seems strange to us because we think of the doctor only as prescribing remedies for our personal ills and, at first sight, Dr. Mason seems to be con- founding the Physician with the Educator and the Moralist but he is speaking of the in ; doctor his collective rather than in his individual capacity—as physician to the nation, as it were—and what he says is then quite true. What the family doctor is to the household, the medical Faculty should be to the nation but the family ; obeys the doctor, whereas the nation treats the advice of the Faculty with indifference, even with contempt. This is a pretty good proof that, for some reason or another, the medical profession has not got the con- fidence of the nation. Imagine for a moment a doctor called in t-o advise and treat an ailing family, most of the members of which he found to be in a chronic state of anxiety, overworked and underfed, insufficiently ; vill. Preface. warmed, scantily clothed, crowded together without proper ventilation adulterated food in the larder, ; poisonous drinks in the cellar; a pigsty next to the kitchen, a cesspool under the stairs and the children ; never allowed out in the fresh air. Every honest doctor in the land would say to the head of that “ household : The sickness in your family comes from a number of causes which now make it absolutely impossible for them to be healthy, and which it is therefore imperative to remove. I have no pills that will cure overwork, no potions that will remedy the want of food, or of fresh air, or of cleanliness in person and surroundings. I could blister you, but that would not remove your pigsty or your cesspool; I could bleed you, but that would not make your adulterated foods and poisonous drinks wholesome I could poultice you, but that would not ; take away your worry. It is true that I could make you up doses, and could tell you that they will cure the various complaints of your family, well knowing all the time that they would not if I did so, however, I would be a charlatan who is robbing and deceiving you.” Is there a father of a family in England who would not thereupon set to work to remove the causes of sick- ness in his family, if by any possibility he could do so ? And why would he make haste to follow the doctor’s advice ? Evidently because he believed in the doctor’s competence and disinterestedness. Now the Faculty, the medical profession collectively, says pretty much the same thing about the health of the nation that the family doctor says about the health of the ailing family. All the great medical authorities have told us, over and over again, that the health of the nation can be secured Preface. IX. only bv establishing healthy conditions of life, and that medicines can never take the place of nourishing and plentiful food, of wholesome drinks, of pure air, of warmth, of cleanliness in person and surroundings, and of peace of mind. But there is this great difference between the two cases : the compelling power which the words of the family doctor possess is wanting when the Faculty speaks; and the community, therefore, does not hasten to act upon the advice which the Faculty gives it. It is as if the Faculty had not spoken at all. The medical profession as a unit is allowed no part in the councils of the nation, is given no voice in the national expenditure, although the health of the com- munity is universally allowed to be the most important of all considerations. There is only one possible explanation for this extraordinary remissness and in- difference, namely, that the nation does not believe either in the competence or in the disinterestedness of the medical profession. And so the doctors, finding that they have got no influence collectively with the nation, very naturally confine themselves to the personal work of prescribing for individual patients, ignoring their corporate duties and responsibilities as guardians of the health of the community, and discreetly holding their tongues about the characteristics of the Charlatan. The mistake which Hypnotists of every School have made, from Mesmer down, is that of supposing that the doctors recognise their responsibilities towards the public, and enjoy its confidence. Mesmer said that the physician only could worthily practice magnetism, because physicians are “ the depositaries of the confidence of the public in regard X. Preface. to everything which concerns the preservation of health, and the happiness of man.” Are they indeed! Were that the case, it is certain that the doctors would be ever on the look out for more knowledge, and would gladly listen to anyone who brought a new and powerful healing medium to their notice ; and it is precisely because they do not perceive that it is their duty to do this, that the Faculty has lost the confidence of the public, and their words of wisdom are treated with contempt by the rulers of the nation. Instead of welcoming the discoveries of Mesmer, of De Puysegur, of Braid, of Liebeault, studying their theories, verifying their facts, and testing the efficacy of their methods and processes, what the doctors have always done is to attack with fury and malignity everyone who has the audacity to assert that what they do not already know is worth knowing, or that there is any need for them to learn more than their books contain, or than they can teach each other. It was, and still is, in vain that those who have studied and practised Hypnotism assure the Faculty that (to use the words of Dr. Cocke), “ Hypnotism is a remedial agent, so mysterious and overwhelming in its effects that it is likely to impress too profoundly the invalid who is seeking relief. It is more wonderful than surgery, more subtle in its influence than drugs, and permeates every part of the psychic life of the patient.” The only reply of the doctors to those who speak like that has always been to redouble their cries of “Charlatan,” and to reiterate their appeals to the secular power to rid them of their enemies.
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