KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



55 



executed by Lynch law. Never having heard of 

 such a circumstance before, I send it for the infor- 

 mation of yourself, and your many entomological 

 readers. — C. F. T. Y., Stockleigh Pomeroy, 

 Crediton. 



Changes. — Knowing the sentiments of " Our 

 Editor," and his ceaseless aim to make people 

 "think;" I send for insertion in our own, some 

 very impressive lines, which have a voice worth 

 listening to. How true it is that " Little things " 

 (your favorite theme !) make up our sum of human 

 happiness ! — 



The tree that's lopp'd, in time may grow again ; 

 The naked plants renew both leaf and flower ; 

 The sorriest wight may find release from pain ; 

 The driest soil suck in some moistening show'r. 

 Times go by turns ; and changes come by course ; 

 From foul to fair, from better hap to worse. 



Not always fall of leaf, — not always Spring ; 

 Not endless night, yet not eternal day, 

 The saddest birds a season find to sing, 

 The roughest storms a calm may soon allay. 

 Thus, with succeeding turns, God tempereth all — 

 That Man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall. 



A chance may win what by mischance was lost ; 

 The net that holds no great, takes " little" fish ; 

 In some things all, — in others none are crost ; 

 Few all they need, but none have all they wish : 

 Unmingled joys here to no man do fall, 

 Who least have some ; who most have never all ! 



Worcester. Gilly- Flower. 



Cats, — their Sensitiveness to Mesmeric Influ- 

 ence. — I note in your last, that a want of leisure 

 has prevented your going into the philosophy of 

 this interesting inquiry ; and that your pen can- 

 not discharge one-twentieth part of its required 

 duties. How should it? Well then; let me 

 help you. [Most cordially do we thank you ; 

 and accept the profivred service.] I do so cheer- 

 fully ; for it is a subject in which I take particular 

 pleasure. Electricity is now engaging the atten- 

 tion of all the world. Europe in particular is 

 making rapid strides in a knowledge of its wonder- 

 ful powers. The Electric Telegraph faithfully 

 transmits our messages, and with the rapidity of 

 thought. It will no doubt bear its part in helping 

 on a moral revolution. There is a body of evidence 

 in existence, waiting to be examined as to the 

 truth of its miraculous influence. You are well 

 aware of the progress now making by professional 

 mesmerists, — despite the sneers of our " great 

 physicians" (so ca led), and our soi-disant philoso- 

 phers who rank as " eminent men." Why will not 

 these individuals investigate the truth of this 

 science, and wait patiently to learn more of its won- 

 derful powers ? [For the best of all reasons : medi- 

 cine would then become " no mystery." Lord Bur- 

 leigh's head when shaken would mean " nothing." 

 Gravity would not "go down;" and the physi- 

 cian's coffers would become gradually exhausted. 

 Good sense would soon banish superstition ; and 

 " fancy" — the physician's idol — would give way to 

 the enjoyment of ruddy health. This will never 

 do !] Hitherto, their medical press has shamefully 

 distorted facts, and refused publication of the as- 



tounding cures by Mesmerism in the Hospitals at 

 Calcutta ; as ako in England. Why will they 

 not investigate ? — why will they continue to refuse 

 to visit and examine ? The " reason" is surely ob- 

 vious. The Mesmeric influence, rightly directed, 

 is one of great power; this has been proved, times 

 out of number, by the cure of many obstinate 

 states of disease which defy the power of medicine. 

 Indeed, its legitimate use is in the cure of disease, 

 and the alleviation of pain ; in the giving a sound 

 and fortifying sleep when opiates are of no use. 

 Public exhibitions of Mesmeric and Electro-Bio- 

 logical experiments cannot be too much con- 

 demned [Arrant "humbugs" are all these pseudo- 

 doctors, and charlatans]. If medical men go 

 there to investigate (more especially if prompted 

 by a cavilling spirit), they had better stay at 

 home. An exhibition-room is not the place for 

 patient physical and psychical study. Let them 

 divest themselves of bigotry and prejudice, and 

 watch the good that is daily effected. Then will 

 they soon convince themselves (if they are not 

 already convinced) of the existence of a power 

 more potent, and less dangerous than chloroform. 

 They will learn that operations which could not 

 possibly be performed under chloroform, can be 

 safely commenced and triumphantly completed in 

 the deep mesmeric sleep. Their continued oppo- 

 sition to Dr. Elliotson has but ended in their 

 shame; whilst he is now universally recognised as 

 a public benefactor. The advancement of scientific 

 truth, cannot now be stifled. The evidence of the 

 existence of a mesmeric influence is quite as con- 

 clusive to all who perseveringly seek for it, as the 

 evidence on which philosophers and men of science 

 believe in. the wonders of electricity, galvanism, 

 or magnetism. This mesmeric influence is of 

 great permeating power. As the magnet attracts 

 the needle through glass; so, bodies in a state 

 of disease attract or draw from the mesmerist 

 his life-giving mesmeric influence. Hence the 

 exhaustion sometimes felt by mesmerists. I 

 believe that we all possess this power, but not 

 all in the same degree. And ere long it will be 

 proved, that it varies in men not only in degree, 

 but in quality. It appears to me, from observation 

 and experiment, that the power admits of classi- 

 fication. Men and women — I mean human beings, 

 differ so much in temperament and in mental con- 

 formation, that their mesmeric emanations cannot 

 but receive a character. The intensity, character, 

 and quality must differ ; and the judgment of the 

 experienced mesmerist should direct where, when, 

 and how to use them. In a paper like Our Journal, 

 it is impossible to do justice to so important a 

 subject. [We can only allow it to be introduced 

 incidentally.] We are waiting for true physicians. 

 In time they will appear, and command their 

 natural position. Thus much prefatory. All who 

 have studied mesmerism know, that inferior ani- 

 mals are in various degrees as susceptible to the 

 mesmeric influence as human beings. This proves 

 that the imagination cannot be the actuating cause. 

 Not long since, a horse was cured of lock-jaw by 

 the mesmeric passes. (By the way, can any of your 

 readers enlighten us on the subject of " Horse-whis- 

 perers ?") Miss Martineau cured a cow of a dan- 

 gerous disease by the mesmeric influence. Birds, 

 both wild and tame, have often been placed in the 

 deep mesmeric sleep ; and fish have been subjected 



