Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/391

Rh everything, however absurd, and the skepticism that admits nothing, not even that which is true. A German physician named Mesmer arrived in Paris in 1778. Marvelous stories were told of him. He had, several years before, published a curious, somewhat mystic book, in which he affirmed the existence of a universal fluid, diffused in all nature, and competent to pass into the body of man. He had not yet become celebrated, but Paris, then as now a center and focus of opinion, speedily gave him a brilliant renown. He established himself in quarters in the Place Vendôme, proceeded to teach his theory of the magnetic fluid, and soon gained some pupils, among whom was a doctor named Deslon, who became associated with him. Disputes arose in course of time between the two magnetizers. Deslon was reprimanded by the faculty and excluded from its association as a charlatan.

Throngs of clients came to Mesmer. Everybody wanted to be magnetized. Mesmer could not attend to all the applicants, and employed an assistant who made the passes in his place. This was not enough, and Mesmer then invented the famous baquet, or magnetizing chest, by means of which thirty or forty persons could be magnetized at once. The subjects were introduced together into a large room, in the middle of which was an oaken chest, containing jars, connected with each other by metallic rods. This apparatus was inclosed in another chest, from which projected handles of iron. These were taken hold of by the persons desiring to be put under the magnetic influence. A complete silence is prevailing, when suddenly sounds of melody are heard proceeding from an adjoining room. Then, under the influence of a sympathetic emotion or of irritation, a kind of nervous excitation is communicated from one to another among all those who are assisting; curious symptoms appear among the magnetized persons. First, there is languor, then drowsiness; shortly afterward, a frantic agitation, which is succeeded by contortions and convulsions. The silence is broken only by the muffled tones of the organ and the groans of the patients as they fall seized with the convulsive attack. It is easy to conceive how well-suited are such scenes to develop nervous crises* in persons who are predisposed to them. The infatuation became general in Paris, and there were showers of apologies, pamphlets, songs, and caricatures on Mesmerism. It was all the fashion; the house in the Place Vendôme became too small, and Mesmer bought the Hôtel de la Bullion, Place de la Bourse. In the course of five years, from 1779 to 1784, he magnetized eight thousand persons. But the Tarpeian Rock is near the Capitol; discredit rapidly followed the general favor. Mesmer was ridiculed at the opera, was abandoned by his disciples whom he had lived upon, was insulted in the streets of Paris, and had at last, in 1785, to take refuge in Switzerland.

The learned societies were not indifferent to the pretensions of animal magnetism. The Academy of Sciences appointed a committee, of