HE8MEHISM. 



MRSOXALIC ACID. 



H u alo said to poesess tho nme faculty of internal 

 Inepirthn with regard to other persons who have been pUoed in 

 Bteameriu connection < ranporf) with turn. 



. drgree : I'niversal lucidity ; in (lerniui. All irmeine Klarkril. 

 ID thi. >Ut the lucid viaion becomes greatly increased, and extend* to 

 obicU whether near or at a dintancc. 



Such are the sUUw of the system recognised by meimeriiiU, and 

 works on the lubject abound with case* illustrative of each . ' 

 aix degrees. However, there are many who practise mesmerism who 

 are sceptical with regard to the real existence of the two hut degrees, 

 although nich cut* are recurded by the beat authorities on animal 



.e most niugular statements with regard to uiemn 

 iU application to phrenology. It U asserted that persons iu the ulecp- 

 waking atate, when that region of the head U touched or pointed at 

 by the meanieruer which u over the aeat of the supposed phrenolo- 

 gical organi in Uie brain, will exhibit tho mental emotions and states 

 which are peculiar to the exercise of these organs. Thus when the 

 organ of language ia touched, the patient talk* ; when wit, he laugha ;' 

 benevolence, he ia kind, and so forth. Such cases are attested 

 by Dr. ElUotaun, Mr. Braid, Mr. James Simpson, and others. 



The mesmeric state has been applied mostly to the cure of disease, 

 for which purpose it was used by Mesmer when it first attracted public 

 -n. It has also been used for the purpose of producing sleep 

 during surgical operations, as well as a means of divination for the 

 purpose of ascertaining past and future events. A case of this kind 

 was related by Miss Martineau. in which one of her attendants was 

 asserted to be able in the mesmeric condition to predict future events. 

 The class of diseases which have been cured by its means are 

 those which are known to medical men as functional nervous diseases. 

 Various nervous diseases, such as paralysis, epilepsy, &c., come on 

 from changes in the structure of various organs, but these are not 

 susceptible of benefit from the mesmeric state. It u iu those cases 

 where no stru -tural lesion can be supposed to exist, and which often 

 yield to sudden changes of the mind from various causes of excite- 

 ment, and which frequently cease without obvious cause, that the 

 disfisn has yielded to this remedy. 



Many theories have been propounded in order to embrace the facts 

 of iiml magnetism. Mesmer and his immediate followers attributed 

 them to the action of a subtle fluid iu the bodies of animals, which 

 enabled them to exercise an influence on each other at a distance, 

 just as a magnet affects iron; li.no/ he called it animal magnetism. 

 This hypothesis of a nervous fluid susceptible of being influent 

 producing an influence morn or less modified, was adopted by 

 moat writers on mesmerism till the appearance of Mr. Braid's experi- 

 ment/!. The mesmeric state having been produced by Mr. Braid 

 without any influence from a second person, he accounted for the phe- 

 nomena by supposing that there was " a derangement of the O 

 spinal centres and of the circulatory and respiratory and muscular 

 system*, induced by a fixed state, absolute repose of body, fixed 

 attention, and suppress.nl respirat. > ml with that fixity of 



attention." He further added, that in all cases he believed " that the 

 whole depended on the physical and psychical condition of the patient, 

 arising from the cause* referred to, and not at all on the volition or 

 pastes of the operator throwing out a magnetic fluid or exciting into 

 activity aome mystical universal fluid or medium." 



Whilst there can be little doubt with regard to many of the facts 

 recorded on this subject, they have been so remarkably misrepresented 

 through the feelings of those who have observed and narrated tln-m, 

 that men of science, disgusted with the imposture of some and the 

 credulity of others, have generally shunned iu investigation, and turned 

 deaf ear to what they consider the pretensions of iU professors. 

 There hare been recorded several instances in which mesmeric cases 

 have been tested by unprejudiced observer*, and which have led to the 

 conclusion that in these particular cases either imposition was practised 

 or a false conclusion had been drawn from the facts. In the case of 

 two girls put to the test by >Ir. Wakley, editor of the ' I..UK 

 recorded in that periodical <er 1, 1838, there was strong 



reason to believe that many of the phenomena attributed to nninml 

 magnetism were assumed at the volition of the |>atient. Another 

 instance U recorded by Sir J.-hn I'..rbes, in the same journal for 

 August 3, 1844, in which he testd the powers of dairroyancc of a 

 Frrnch youth named Alexis. In these experiment*, which were con- 

 ducted before many observers, the youth entirely failed to give 

 evidence of any extraordinary mental powers during tho mesmeric 



A more scientific aspect was given to the who!. t :!,. pi,. nomena of 

 animal magnetism by M. Ucichcn bach, a dinting 1. .1 <.. :,!,, !,. mi-l, 

 who imagined be bad discovered a new force in i. [.,... which he called 

 . ur Odyle. This he regarded as a peculiar forte in nature, 

 whose presence could only be detected by persons of a highly SUK. 

 natur*. and all his experimenta ii|m the .' performed 



r < -U. h individual-. He applied In* c'.nc.ln 

 ' the phenomena of animal magnetism, l.nt U 

 I of all his ex perimenta having been perf.irmcd through tin- 

 medium of other*, and those confessedly In a morbid state, has led to 



j general rejection of his theory. 

 Another form which the public exhibition of animal magnetism has 



unied is that which is called " electro-biology." In the public per- 

 formances of lecturers on this subject, persons are made < 

 certain length of time on a piece of money v. , their 



hands. In susceptible individuals this produces a kind . 

 sleep, from which they pass to a sleep-waking state. It i- in this con- 

 diti"ii ill v cxhil.it all the phenomena of the mesmeric stato. Tiny 

 become the victim* of every suggestion made to them by the op, 

 If be tells them they ore drunk, they stagger; if he says a glass of 

 water is sweet, bitter, acid, or strong, they appear t :. In 



this state, also, they are capable of exerting an :imunt of ia< 

 i which they are utterly incapable whilst in their i 

 state. The mode of producing this sleep is nothing more th..n th.it 

 which had Wen discovered by Mr. Braid, aud tbe term electro-biology 

 was only adopted to awakcu attention to an old subject. 



Although not essentially connected with mesmerism, from the absence 

 of the characteristic sleep, yet having a relation to mesmerism in the 

 mental states of those who are operated u|ion, we may In 

 table-turning, table-talking, spirit-rapping, ami magnetouictry. 



The process of table -t , -uin the moving a table round, 



as the result of several persons joining their hands and resting them upon 

 the table. They then resolve that the table shall move iu one direc- 

 tion, and without any conscious effort on their part, the table moves. 

 Professor Faraday showed by means of an ingenious instrument, that 

 muscular force was exerted by the individuals surrounding the bible, 

 aud that, when it was all made to tell in one direction the i 

 in that direction, but if no force was exerted, or the force was exerted 

 in different directions, the table did not move. In this case it was 

 clearly shown that the persons operating were under the influence of a 

 suggestion which, without Professor Faraday's instrument, they could 

 hardly have suspected. 



An instrument called a magnetometer was invented, which was sup- 

 posed to indicate delicate magnetic states of the system. It consisted 

 merely of a piece of sealing-wax, or wood, suspended on a string of 

 silk. A variety of curious effects were said to be arrived at by this 

 instrument. It moved in one direction when held by males, and 

 another when held by females. It was influenced by persons holding 

 different kinds of metals in their hands, ami so on. The whole of 

 this subject, however, was exploded when it was found that no di -finite 

 effects were produced when persons were blindfolded, ll-i. 

 the operators were the victims of their suggestions. They ex. 

 their volition unconsciously, and attributed it to the existence of a 

 mysterious force. This explanation serves to explain the further 

 absurdities of table-talking and spirit-rapping. In the former the 

 flopping of the turning-table when a question was asked, was certainly 

 the result of the suggestion in the minds of tln.fi- who were turning 

 the table, and thus answers were got to all kinds of questions. 



In spirit-rapping there appears to be more than mere self-delusion. 

 In this case a person called a medium undertakes to communicate 

 with spirits. The presence of the spirit is indicated by raps. These 

 raps are undoubtedly performed by the medium, whilst the on 

 given to questions put by deluded persons, are dependent on the 

 mi ilium shrewdly taking advantage of their being under the influence 

 of their own suggestions. 



With regard to the mesmeric sleep, there con be no doubt that it is 

 a real phenomenon, as w. l.-ep w.il.in-; eon lit ion. It is, ho\v- 



. -. r. when persons are in this condition that they become, as it were, 

 the slaves of suggestion. It is thus that tin 



upon them at his will, and it is in this state that they become clair- 

 voyant and universally lucid under the same law of suggestion. 



The known fact of the great increase of force that takes place ill 

 normal conditions of the system whin the whole attention is i- 

 tratcd on an idea, serves to explain the feats of strength ] 

 persons in tho sleep-waking state. The whole of this curious subject 

 has been ably discussed by Dr. Carpenter in an article in the ' Quarterly 

 Keview.' 



Although so many of the phenomena of mesmerism admit now of a 

 rational explanation, it is still practised as a mystery, and large p 

 of the public give credence to the most marvellous assertions of those 

 who practise it. In many of tho cases exhibited public 



there u really no sleep- waking at all, and the persons who t-ihil.it . l.;ir- 

 voyance, and a power of reading thoughts without language, and books 

 without eyes, are clever conjurors, who are ]>erfectly awake, and 

 exhibit none of the genuine symptoms of those psychological states 

 which have excited so much interest iu the minds of an uneducated 



public. [.SoMXAMIlfl.ISM.] 



MKSOLAU1UM, an old name for any geometrical construction or 

 proportion for finding two mean proportionals between two given 



OXALIC ACID (C.O,,2HO). When a saturated solution of 

 alloxanatc of baryta or strontia is heated to ebullition, a ] 

 obtained which consists of a mixture of mesoxolate, alloxanatc, and 

 rail.on.ite of the base employed. On evaporating the barytic solution 

 crystalline crusta are formed composed of urea and mesoxalate of 

 baryta. When these are digested in alcohol the urea is dissolved 



oxalato of baryta is unacted upon. If a solution of allo.v.m 

 is gradually added to a boiling one of acetate of lead, a heavy gi 



I'.ite of mesoxalate of lead is formed, and there remains in the 

 acid liquor merely the excess of acetate of lead and pure urea. The 



