MESMERISM, ODYLISM, TABLE-TURNING, ETC. 169 



porting framework of a microscope or telescope, and who recognizes 

 that the construction of the " magnetometer " is exactly such as will 

 enable the smallest amount of imparted motion to produce the great- 

 est sensible effect, will be prepared to expect that the oscillations 

 of the suspended ball are as much maintained and gnided by the 

 expectancy of the operator as they are when it is hung directly from 

 his own finger. Experiment soon proved this to be the case : for it 

 was found that the constancy of the vibrations entirely depended 

 upon the operator's watching their direction, either by his own eyes 

 or by those of some one else ; and, further, that when such a change 

 was made icithout his knoioledge in the conditions of the experiment, 

 as ought, theoretically, to alter the direction of the oscillations, no 

 such alteration took place. 



A very amusing expose, of the mystery of the " magnetometer " 

 resulted from its application b)^ Dr. Madden, an homoeopathic phy- 

 sician at Brighton, to test the virtues of his "globules," as to which 

 he had, of course, some preformed conclusions of his own. The 

 results of his first experiments entirely corresponded with his ideas of 

 what they ought to be ; for when a globule of one medicine was taken 

 into his disengaged hand, the susj^ended ball oscillated longitudi- 

 nally ; and when this globule was changed for another of opposite 

 virtues, the direction of the oscillations became transverse. Another 

 homoeopathic physician, however, was going through a similar course 

 of experiments ; and his results, while conformable to his own no- 

 tions of the virtues of the globules, were by no means accordant with 

 those of Dr. Madden. The latter was thus led to reinvestigate the 

 matter with a precaution he had omitted in the first instance ; name- 

 ly, that the globules should be placed in his hand by another person, 

 without any hint being given him of their nature. From the moment 

 he began to work upon this plan, the whole aspect of the subject was 

 changed ; globules that produced longitudinal oscillations at one 

 time gave transverse at another, while globules of the most opposite 

 remedial virtues gave no sign of difference. And thus he was soon 

 led to the conviction, which he avowed with a candor very creditable 

 to him, that the system he had built up had no better foundation 

 than his own anticipation of what the results of each experiment 

 should be ; that anticipation expressing itself unconsciously in invol- 

 untary and imperceptible movements of his finger, which communi- 

 cated a rhythmical vibration to the framework when the oscillations 

 of the ball suspended from it were watched. 



Thus, by the investigations of scientific experts who were alive to 

 the sources of fallacy which the introduction of the hmnan element 

 always brings into play, the hypothesis of odylic force was proved to 

 be completely baseless ; the phenomena which were supposed to mdi- 

 cate its existence being traceable to the physiological conditions of 

 the human organisms through whose instrumentality they Avere mani- 



