inadvertance, he appears altogether as well and strong as the paternal regard I feel for him could make me wish.

CASE II-CURE OF HYSTERIA.

James Knight, Esq. and Mr. Mason, surgeon, of Burton-on-Trent, introduced me, in October, 1843, to a highly respectable and intellectual lady, who for twenty years had been subject to hysteria, in its worst form, and had spent an exceedingly large sum of money in medicine, without relief. For some time not a day had passed without a series of distressing paroxysms, and she had consented to try mesmerism-not that she had the slightest faith in it, but because of having tried every other reputed specific to no purpose, she wished to have the satisfaction of knowing that she had not neglected herself in this. Of the gentlemen who introduced me, one-Mr. Knight-was a firm believer in the efficacy of mesmerism; he is, in fact, one of its most enthusiastic, benevolent, and successful practisers; but Mr. Mason at the time had no faith in it at all, yet as the last chance in the patient's case, he was desirous of seeing it tried, saying that if it cured her he should certainly admit its great usefulness; for, since she was of a strong and somewhat philosophical mind whatever might be the reduction of her physical powers, it would be wrong to attribute any change merely to what is often miscalled the imagination.

It has long been my belief, that as by inoculation we bring on a premature crisis of some disorders of the grosser animal juices-as in small-pox or measles for instance-and thus assist nature in getting rid altogether of the virus; so, where there is a constitutional tendency to maladies more purely nervous, we may by mesmerism hasten a crisis in them, and by an analogous law prevent their recurrence in a more distressing form, In one case we impregnate the blood with ponderable matter scarcely less gross than itself, and in the other case, by an agent more refined, we influence the im

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ponderable fluid constituting those vital forces by which our normal motions are regulated, and the derangement of which occasions those convulsions and tremors incident to some of the more subtle forms of disease. With this idea, I begged of the patient not to be uneasy whatever might transpire, but to submit quietly and let the influence have its own effect. In about eight minutes, whilst I was pursuing my manipulations, her breathing appeared affected. At about the twelfth minute there was an occurrence of the kind of paroxysms to which she was ordinarily subject. These I allowed to go on for a short time, and then concentrating my will upon the purpose,-using soothing passes with my hands downwards, over the face and chest, and afterwards gently taking hold of her own hands with the same idea, I changed her condition to one of perfect serenity, and after a few more passes awoke her from what appeared to be a conscious sleep; for though she could not open her eyes, she was perfectly aware of her state and could reason upon it, or answer any of my questions with the greatest facility. When recovered she could remember and describe all she had undergone, but said there was now complete freedom from the exhaustion that invariably followed her ordinary paroxysms. At the next séance she was mesmerised in a much shorter period, the paroxysms were more feeble, and her refreshment greater on being awoke. On the third occasion she had scarcely any paroxysms at all, was thrown into ecstacy by music, and awoke still better. Thus she went on improving at every séance until the eighth, when on my awaking her, she declared that she felt quite well-as she was wont to feel twenty years before, but as she had never felt in the interim! I gave instructions to one of her female friends how to proceed with her, should there be any return of the complaint, and left the town. Some months afterwards, Mr. Knight wrote me that she continued perfectly well, and that they were all thankful for mesmerism. More than a year afterwards, the lady

herself favoured me with a friendly and gratifying letter, in which she said there had then been no return whatever of her disorder, although before I mesmerised her she had not for years been a day without some appearance of its painful symptoms.*

CASE III.-EPILEPSY AT HALIFAX.

In February, 1844, I visited Halifax, where a "Medical Commission for the Investigation of Mesmeric Phenomena" was instituted, and many experiments, of a most convincing character, were tried at the Philosophical Hall. At one of our meetings, a girl, subject to daily attacks of epilepsy, was introduced, for the purpose of being operated upon. She knew nothing of mesmerism; and, though attended by her mother, on seeing so many medical men, she was evidently fearful of some severe operation, and so resisted the tendency to sleep resulting from my manipulations. She asserted, in fact, that she was not influenced at all; but on leaving the room fell into a sound sleep, from which no ordinary measures could awake her. This one of her family came in a state of

* On mentioning this case in one of my lectures, a medical practitioner got up and endeavoured to invalidate its effect upon the audience by saying, that "it was only a case of hysteria, the symptoms of which were merely results of the imagination; and that he was quite willing to let mesmerism have the full benefit of such cases, since the Faculty were well aware how useless it was to treat them medically!" My reply was, that he could not have paid the profession a worse compliment than by the remark; for if what he said were true (which, however, I denied in toto), those who had been for nearly twenty years receiving fees from the lady for medicine, knowing it to be useless, might as well have robbed her-since the loss of her money, at all events, was not imaginary. The doctor was silent.

It is worth recording, as a feature of the age, that a physician of fashionable practice in the town, on being invited to assist in this investigation, protested against it altogether in the most contemptuous terms, on the ground that the fallacy of mesmerism was too apparent to permit him to entertain the thought that it needed inquiry at all; in short, that any such inquiry would be disgraceful to the profession!

alarm to tell us, and, accompanied by Dr. Inglis, I went to her immediately, and soon restored her by one of the simple processes of "demesmerising," namely, wafting her briskly with a silken handkerchief.

At our next meeting she was again operated upon, and presented several of the ordinary somnolent and other phenomena. Subsequently Dr. Inglis (a physician of very superior intelligence and skill, residing in the town,) mesmerised her occasionally, and some months afterwards I was informed that there had not been any recurrence of her paroxysms.

CASE IV.-CURE OF HEADACHE AND NAUSEA,

AGNES RANDY, domestic servant to Mr. Edward Charlton, bookseller of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, came to me on the 21st of June, 1844, having been afflicted with a violent headache and sickness every morning and evening for a year and a half, during which time she had been treated by several of the Faculty without advantage. Having made passes over the head and stomach, and given her mesmerised water occasionally, she had gone on improving from the first interview until the 29th of the month, when she came to me for the last time, and declared herself quite well.

CASE V-CURE OF TIC-DOLOUREUX.

About the period of the foregoing case, the lady of an officer in the customs at Newcastle came to me, under a grievous attack of tic-doloureux, and was cured by downward passes over the head and face, without the accompaniment of sleep, or even of the slightest drowsiness. I have had three or four other similar cases: so has Dr. G. C. Holland, having given, by the same simple means, permanent relief to one of my own intimate friends after other measures had failed.

CASE VI-SPINAL AFFECTION CURED.

JOHN M WILLIAMS, cotton-spinner, Caldew-gate, Carlisle, aged thirty-four, had been ill nine weeks of a bilious attack, ending in an affection of the spine, which made it painful for him to walk, and, in short, nearly suspended all power in his lower limbs. He had been under the treatment of two of the Faculty, was cupped, and took a great variety of medicine, but without any beneficial effect. He came to me on the 7th of August, 1844, when I made passes over his back and legs, whilst he remained in a passive but vigilant state, and also acted by gentle pressure of my thumbs upon such points as through the agency of the nerves were in especial sympathy with the affected parts. Water was afterwards poured upon the nape of his neck and the palms of his hands, and on the following day he came to me again much improved. On the third day he appeared at the Athenæum, before a very large and respectable audience, declaring himself quite free from pain, and able to walk without the slightest distress.

CASE VII.-PAIN AND SWELLINGS CURED.

ROSINA WYBELL, aged 17, servant to Mr. Chamberlain, Water Lane, Carlisle, had been afflicted nine months with a continual pain in her head and left side, accompanied occasionally by swellings of the face. She had tried medicine the whole time, under regular professional advice, but without relief. She came to me on the morning of August the 9th, 1844, weeping for pain. I threw her into the mesmeric sleep for a short time and she awoke quite well. In the evening she was mesmerised again in the presence of her master and many of the citizens. On the following day she came to thank me for the cure, saying she had never felt better in her life. When in the sleep her case presented several curious features; but there was nothing in it to