128 BAILLT. 



communication and of influence among the celestial 

 globes ; a fluid capable of flux and reflux, which intro- 

 duced itself more or less abundantly into the substance 

 of the nerves, and acted on them in a useful manner, 

 thence the name of animal magnetism given to this 

 fluid. 



Mesmer said: "Animal magnetism may be accumu- 

 lated, concentrated, transported, without the aid of any 

 intermediate body. It is reflected like light; musical 

 sounds propagate and augment it." 



Properties so distinct, so precise, seemed as if they 

 must be capable of experimental verification. It was 

 requisite, then, to be prepared for some instance of want 

 of success, and Mesmer took good care not to neglect it. 

 The following was his declaration : " Although the fluid 

 be universal, all animated bodies do not equally assimi- 

 late it into themselves ; there are some even, though very 

 few in number, that by their very presence destroy the 

 effects of this fluid in the surrounding bodies." 



So soon as this was admitted, as soon it was allowed 

 to explain instances of non-success by the presence of 

 neutralizing bodies, Mesmer no longer ran any risk of 

 being embarrassed. Nothing prevented his announcing, 

 in full security, " that animal magnetism could immedi- 

 ately cure diseases of the nerves, and mediately other 

 diseases ; that it afforded to doctors the means of judging 

 with certainty of the origin, the nature, and the progress 

 of the most complicated maladies ; that nature, in short, 

 offered in magnetism a universal means of curing and 

 preserving mankind." 



Before quitting Vienna, Mesmer had communicated 

 his systematic notions to the principal learned societies 

 of Europe. The Academy of Sciences at Paris, and the 



