SKETCH OF JEAN MARTIN CHARCOT. 695 



various signs and wonders of religious history and tradition. 

 Regarding them all as remarkable hypnotics, the mystics of the 

 past were favorite subjects of contemplation with him. He 

 accumulated the works of the mystical painters, Andrea del 

 Sarto, Deudato Delmont, Matteo Roselli, and Van Breughel, and 

 read the works of the great mystical writers Thomas a Kempis, 

 Fe*nelon, Pascal, and St. Francis of Sales. Hysteria had before 

 this time been regarded as peculiarly the disease of women. He 

 found it attendant upon many forms of disorder from which men 

 suffer, detected it in some of their petty weaknesses and vanities, 

 and regarded it as lying at the bottom of the literary peculiari- 

 ties of some of the most popular French authors. 



He was an intense materialist, and in this he and his school 

 were directly opposed to the other school of alienists in France, 

 that of Nancy and the Charite* Hospital, who supposed a psychical 

 force behind the phenomena which came under their observation. 

 With this he had a touch of intolerance toward his opponents. 

 At his demonstrations, according to Mrs. Crawford, he " seemed 

 to command every nerve of his patients. There were but two 

 seats in the room where he taught one for himself and the other 

 for the patient. The students, disciples and laics which last 

 came in crowds stood, some taking notes, and others listening 

 with profound attention. He flattered himself that he forced by 

 the mere power of his will the idlers to be attentive. There was 

 nothing he more resented than for persons of rank, whom he 

 thought not competent to understand him, to compliment him. 

 . . . He began to lose his power ' to fascinate ' his pupils some 

 time before his death, and noticed it with sorrow. Though he 

 despised the eulogiums of the incompetent, or wanted no conven- 

 tional praise, he enjoyed feeling that he was celebrated." 



Charcot's literary work was considerable. He published a 

 large number of memoirs, articles, and studies on chronic and 

 nervous diseases, rheumatism, and softening of the brain ; and his 

 writings are known, appreciated, and sought for in all countries. 

 His lectures have been translated into several languages. The 

 Lancet, in its estimate of his publications, says: "It is rather 

 more than twenty years since the first part appeared of Legons 

 sur les Maladies du Systeme Nerveux. Modest and unpretending, 

 with a gray paper cover and no great thickness of letterpress, the 

 publication was somewhat long in attracting general attention 

 among the profession in this country (England) ; but to those 

 who had the good fortune to open the brochure, what a wealth of 

 interest was laid bare ! Custom has made us so familiar with M. 

 Charcot's style that it is difficult to describe the charm of a first 

 introduction to his writings. Putting aside for an instant the 

 scientific value of the material, there was something in the writ- 



