HYSTERIA AND DEMONISM. 377 



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, dif- 

 fused in all nature, and competent to pass into the body of man. 

 He had not yet become celebrated, but Paris, then as now a cen- 

 ter and focus of opinion, speedily gave him a brilliant renown. He 

 established himself in quarters in the Place Vendome, 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 magne- 

 tizers. 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 em- 

 ployed 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 an- 

 other 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 assist- 

 ing ; curious symptoms appear among the magnetized persons. First, 

 there is languor, then drowsiness ; shortly afterward, a frantic agita- 

 tion, 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 Vendome became too small, and Mesmer bought the Hotel 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 ani- 

 mal magnetism. The Academy of Sciences appointed a committee, of 



