MAGNETISM. 



MAGNETISM, ANIMAL. This name was given 

 by Mesmer, in the latter part of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury, to certain phenomena (not yet explained in an 

 entirely satisfactory manner) produced by the action 

 of one man upon another. The origin of the term 

 was a fancied analogy between the action of the 

 mineral magnet and that of the animal energy, or vis 

 vita, to which these effects were attributed. Experi- 

 ence has shown the analogy to be unfounded. The 

 principal means used to produce the effects of animal 

 magnetism, are such as touching and stroking with 

 the hands, according to rule (manipulation), breath- 

 ing on a person, fixing the eyes upon him, &c.; the 

 magnetized person must always be of a weaker con- 

 stitution, and, if possible, of a different sex, from the 

 niagnutizer ; and it is indispensable that lie should be 

 of a disposition to believe without doubting. The 

 phenomena themselves consist partly in bodily sensa- 

 tions (for instance, dullness, heaviness, flying pains, 

 oppressions, &c.), partly in a diminished activity of 

 the external senses, partly in fainting, convulsions, 

 sleep, with lively dreams (magnetic sleep), in which 

 the magnetized person is transported to higher 

 spheres, observes the internal organization of his 

 own body, prophesies, gives medical prescriptions, 

 receives inspired views of heaven, hell, purgatory, 

 &c., reads sealed letters laid on his stomach, and, 

 when awakened, is totally unconscious of what he 

 has experienced. At the same time, the soul becomes 

 so elevated and refined, that the magnetized indi- 

 vidual has an instinctive perception of the presence 

 of the impure, and falls into fits at the approach of 

 disbelievers in animal magnetism, and of all who 

 investigate it by the rules of ordinary reason. Hence 

 it is necessary to keep sceptics at a distance, when it 

 is desired to witness the highest phenomena. The 

 magnetized person shows a remarkable connexion 

 with, and dependence on, the magnetizer, tasting 

 what he eats, smelling what he holds before his nose, 

 and no one else can bring him back from the mag- 

 netic state. In the sequel we shall give a brief 

 exposition of the phenomena, as stated by Kluge, 

 who appears, in his Attempt at an Exhibition of 

 Animal Magnetism (in German), to have given the 

 fullest account of them. A scientific investigation 

 of the influence which we are considering is hardly 

 consistent with the views entertained of it by its 

 adherents, for they maintain that mere reason can- 

 not approach, nor conceive this great mystery ; it 

 can be rightly apprehended only by a believer. 

 Since the blow which magnetism received in 1821,* 

 the number of its adherents has been greatly 

 diminished, and its pretensions have been much 

 checked. The whole of its effects seem to be 

 ascribable to a heated imagination, to an excite- 

 ment, half spiritual, half sensual, and to a morbid 

 sensitiveness. Animal magnetism originated thus : 

 Anthony Mesmer (q. v.), in 1772, attempted cures 

 with the mineral magnet, and excited some sensa- 

 tion in Vienna, but at length declared, that not the 

 magnet, but a mysterious power in his own person 

 caused the effects ascribed to the magnet, and that 

 this power was related not only to the magnetic 

 jiower, but to the attraction dispersed throughout 

 the universe. But a fraud which he attempted (the 

 pretended restoration of sight to a girl) having been 

 discovered, he proceeded, in 1778, to Paris. The 

 attention which he attracted there, and the final re- 

 port of a committee of the academy on magnetism, 

 or, as it is also called, Mesmerism, we shall speak of 

 under Mesmer. The great supporters of animal 

 magnetism have recently been Kieser, in Jena, and 



* A votary having become enceinte by a celebrated pmeti- 

 tioner. 



Wolfart, in Berlin ; the former explains the pheno- 

 mena by the, striking difference between life by day 

 and life by night, both in the case of animals and 

 vegetables; the latter adopts the mystical jargon of 

 Mesmer. (See Archives of Animal Magnetism, by 

 Kieser, Nasse, and Nees von Esenbeck, published 

 since 1817, in numbers, and since 1825, under the 

 title Sphinx, or New Archives of Animal Magnetism; 

 and Wolfart's Annals of Animal Magnetism (Lebens- 

 Magnetismus), ten numbers, 1818 et seq.) Among 

 the numerous works on the subject, are Deleuze's 

 Histoire critique du Magnetisms Animal (Paris, 1813); 

 J. Ennemoser's Der Magnetismus ineiner Geschicht- 

 lichen Entwickelung von alien Zeilen und lei alien 

 Volkern (Leipsic, (1819), in the spirit of Mesmer and 

 Wolfart; J. C. L. Ziermann's Geschichtliche Darstcl- 

 lung des Thierischen Magnetismus als Heilmilters 

 (Berlin, 1824), less prejudiced ; Del Magnetismo 

 Animale, by Basevi Florence, 1826, and Ms Kevelata; 

 an Inquiry into the origin, progress, and present state 

 of Animal Magnetism. By J. C. Colquhoun, Esq. 

 2nd Edition, Edinburgh, 1836, 2 vols. 8vo. See also 

 Russell's Travels in Germany (in Constable's Miscel- 

 lany); Foreign Review, vol. v., where a full but 

 unfavourable historical account of the science is 

 given; Tail's Edinburgh Magazine for Jan. 1834; 

 and Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, No. 71. 



We now proceed to an outline of the phenomena 

 of animal magnetism, as described in the work of 

 Mr Kluge, mentioned above. The phenomena, in 

 the case of the magnetizer and the magnetized, are 

 as follows : 



1. The Magnetizer. He is generally capable of 

 producing a positive effect only so far as he possesses 

 a higher degree of energy and vital power than the 

 person magnetized. The man generally effects more 

 than the woman. If the magnetizer is the weaker 

 person, there either takes place no apparent effect, 

 or the effects are inverted, viz. the positive effects 

 are apparent in him, and the negative in the person 

 magnetized. If the magnetizer undertakes the mani- 

 pulation of a susceptible subject, he always feels a 

 glow, and the sensation of a gentle flow from his 

 palm, and particularly from the points of his fingers. 

 If he covers his hands with silk gloves, or other 

 electric bodies, he has not this latter feeling, and his 

 operation is fruitless ; but linen or leather gloves do 

 not prevent the effect. After a successful operation, 

 the magnetizer feels a general unpleasantness, a 

 weakness in the digestive system, and, in general, a 

 loss of power, in proportion to the susceptibility of 

 the magnetized subject, and the duration or frequency 

 of the operation. If the magnetizer, during the 

 operation, is isolated with the magnetized subject by 

 electrical bodies, his loss of power is less, but the 

 effects which he produces are stronger. 



2. Phenomena in the Person magnetized. The 

 phenomena produced in the subject by a positive ope- 

 ration, are of a double kind; either they have refer- 

 ence to the general state of the body, are then not 

 periodical, but last during the whole cure, and, 

 therefore, may be considered as the general effects 

 of magnetism ; or they have reference only to parti- 

 cular activities of the organization. Of the former 

 sort are 1. a general awakening and strengthening of 

 the vital powers in all parts of the body, without con- 

 siderable excitement, as well as in the systems of 

 the nerves and muscles, the vascular and digestive 

 system, as the organs of secretion ; 2. a mild excite- 

 ment over the whole surface of the body, by which 

 every irregularity and local re-action is neutralized 

 and the equilibrium restored ; 3. a withdrawing ot 

 the heightened vital power from the suffering organs 

 to others ; 4. a diminution or total suppression of the 

 excitement producing the morbid activity of the 



