ANIMAL MAGNETISM. ; Mesmerism is not yet quite extinct in France, and has been deemed by Mr. Gerdy worthy of another confutation. The time of the Academy of Medicine has been again wasted by a discussion on this absurd delusion. The mesmerists have pretended that their acolytes could see with the nape of the neck, the back, the navel; read through stone walls, boards, or bandages and divine the contents of letters concealed in people's pockets. The somnambulists have sometimes condescended to tell what was going on in the Moon. Lucidity is one of their vulgar attributes; and as it is, unlike some of their other tricks, susceptible of being tested, Mr. Burdin offered a prize of 3000 francs to any mesmerist who should produce a somnambulist capable of reading with the eyes bandaged. The time fixed for the achievement of this feat was three years, which have recently expired; and to the great discomfiture of the crest-fallen disciples of Mesmer, although all the celebrated professors of the art led adepts into the arena, not a single individual was found within the three years able to read, even through a thin sheet of paper. They have lost the prize; and have been driven in disgrace from Paris, to seek dupes in the credulous provinces and country-towns of the kingdom. It would, of course, be a mere coincidence, that this should be the precise time chosen for the début of a new French mesmerist in England. The Burdin prize has been lost; the exposure of the somnambulists has been made by Mr. Gerdy, and the whole fraternity was scouted in Paris a few weeks since. We had Baron Dupotet in London a year or two ago. The Baron had acquired some notoriety in his own country; had written a volume on the subject; and performed some grand experiments, which were proved by a brother mesmerist to be fallacious, after many months of laborious investigation. We make these observations in justice to the French nation, to whom medicine, as well as the other sciences, has been indebted for so many valuable discoveries. Every time mesmerism has been examined, it has been repudiated by the scientific academies of France. Although a mesmerist might prove that he had exhibited his tricks in France, he might not prove that he had ever deceived either a French commission or a single man of science. The Courrier de l'Europe, a weekly paper, published in London, and conducted with great talent, speaks of one mesmerist with a reserve which the English journals would do well to imitate. : Mr. Frappart, who made some noise in Paris, unluckily challenged Mr. Gerdy to be a witness of his pupil's performances. Mademoiselle Pigeaire played at cards and read with her eyes bandaged the eyes were covered with a cotton bandage, a pad of cotton-wool, and a band of black velvet, fixed to the skin with strips of court-plaster. When somnambulism was induced, the young lady complained of uneasiness and pain in the head; raised and depressed her eyebrows violently; struck her head with her hands; and led Gerdy to suppose that the bandages were displaced before vision was effected, particularly as she always appeared to direct her eyes towards the object, and saw only when her head was turned in a particular direction. Under these circumstances, Frappart, who had grossly flattered and then grossly abused Mr. Bailly, the president of the Academy of Medicine, addressed a letter to Mr. Gerdy, inviting him to witness these facts, the first of which never failed. The letter is characteristic of the mesmerists; it begins in the following strain :-Monsieur, vous le savez, généralement en ce monde, il y a cent bétes pour un homme d'esprit, et cent hommes d'esprit pour un homme de cœur. He was in search of such sincere men, and had been informed he should find one in Mr. Gerdy; if so, Mr. Gerdy would consent to see, and to certify what he saw; he expected this from the magnanimity of his character, and requested in reply, a oui, nettement exprimé, or a non, bien positif. Mr. Gerdy actually replied to this epistle, and consented with his medical friends to have the experiments performed at his own residence. Callyste (the patient) was mesmerised, and Mr. Gerdy applied the bandage, which was speedily displaced by the contractions of the muscles of the eyebrows and face; Mr. Gerdy replaced it, and Callyste displaced it several times; until at last the somnambulist, in his deep sleep; said he should never see if he were disturbed every instant. He attempted to play at cards; failed; and tore off the bandage in an ill-humour. Mr. Frappart requested a second trial, and hoped Mr. Gerdy would name another place for the meeting; he feared that the experiment would fail, from the excitement Callyste might experience, where the former experiments had failed; he entreated Mr. Gerdy not to interfere.— not to tie the bandage too tight-not to touch it after it had been once fixed. Mr. Gerdy and his friends refused to be present on such terms; imperfect, unsatisfactory experiments could only amuse the idle curiosity of the public. Callyste was led again, with his eyes bandaged, and in a state of assumed somnambulism, to Mr. Gerdy's residence; he removed the bandage by the ordinary grimaces, and Mr. Gerdy replaced it with equal obstinacy; until Callyste flew at last into a passion, and left the house, declaring that it was impossible to see, as the bandage was every moment interfered with a truth too evident to be disputed. : In March last, Frappart again addressed Mr. Gerdy. In his letter he said, «Last year I was beaten; the experiments failed « twice in succession: you accepted my proposals then; I repeat « them now, as I have, or believe I have, a phenomenon to « exhibit. Shall I be more successful? I know not. If you will devote forty minutes to the examination, one of us will be a gainer: I shall be undeceived, or you will be shaken: 41 44 (je serai détrompé ou vous serez ébranlé). Your mesmerists have the true Napoleonian style-notæque per oppida bucca. Mademoiselle Prudence was the performer. The efforts to deceive were equally palpable. EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED ON ELISABETH AND JANE O'KEY, AT THE HOUSE OF MR. WAKLEY, BEDFORD-SQUARE, At the wish of several professional gentlemen, who had witnessed many of the experiments which had from time to time been performed on Elizabeth and Jane O'Key by Dr. Elliotson, with a view to prove the influence of mesmerism on the human frame, an appointment was made for the attendance of the girls at the house of Mr. Wakley, in Bedford Square. Mr. W. had not invited any persons to witness the experiments, but Dr. Elliotson had asked Baron Dupotet, Dr. Richardson, Mr. Herring, and Mr. Clarke, to be present, and those gentlemen, with Mr. Wakley and Mr. G. Mills (who had drawn up the accounts of the various experiments performed by Dr. Elliotson at University College Hospital, which had appeared in this Journal), formed the spectators on this occasion. Experiments on Elizabeth O'Key. After some of the often-repeated experiments had been performed by Dr. Elliotson, with various results, it was proposed by the doctor that the metal, nickel, should be used, the effects of which he said had been found by him to be, and would now prove to be, quite astounding. A piece of nickel was produced by the doctor, of about three quarters of an ounce in weight, and of an oval form, and also a piece of lead, of nearly the same shape and smoothness, but somewhat larger. Elizabeth O'Key was then seated in a chair, being, as was stated, in the ecstatic delirium, » A piece of thick pasteboard was placed in front of her face, and held in that situation by two of the spectators. By the contrivance it was rendered im possible that she could see what was passing either below or in front of her. Mr. Wakley being seated directly opposite to the girl, and at a short distance from her, received the lead and nickel from Dr. Elliotson, in order that he might rub the two on her hands in such a manner that from merely touching the substance, or from its from, it would be impossible for her to decide which of the two was being used. Dr. Elliotson had, as has been stated, previously described the effect of the magnetic nickel to be of a most extraordinary character, and said at the same time, with much earnestness, that the lead might always be applied with impunity, as no magnetic effect ever resulted from the application of that metal to the skin. The substances were then applied to the hands of the girl. First the lead was applied to each hand, alternately, but in a manner which might have led the girl to believe that both metals were used. No effect whatever resulted from these applications. After the expiration of a considerable period, the nickel was employed, having been received from Dr. Elliotson, who for some time had held it in his hand, in order to charge it strongly with the magnetic influence. In By this proceeding the metal was necessarily heated to the temperature of the skin. Mr. Wakley had previously thought it right to hold the lead in his hand, and heat it in a similar manner. consequence of this obviously necessary precaution, no indication was offered to the mind of the girl by which it could be guided, during the experiment, by the mere temperature of the substances which were employed. The nickel was now used, precisely as the lead had been applied. There was a pause. The expected results did not appear. After, 'probably, a minute had elapsed, the lead was again used; and then again; and after the last application of the nickel, the lead having been repeatedly employed during the interval, the face of the patient became violently flushed, the eyes were convulsed into a startling squint, she fell back in the chair, her breathing was hurried, her limbs were rigid, and her back and abdomen assumed the position which are produced in an attack of opisthotonos. In this state she remained during nearly a quarter of an hour. Certainly that time elapsed before the condition of the patient appeared to warrant a repetition of the experiment. A short conversation then ensued between Dr. Elliotson and Mr. Wakley, as to the cause and reality of the symptoms. The doctor contended that the effects clearly resulted from the application of the magnetised nickel, but that they had not come on with their usual rapidity. Mr. Wakley expressed a contrary opinion, and wanted to know of what value the experiments could be, if there were nothing like certainty in the results, and if the ef |