JUGGLING. 
M'. Mefiner, was cattied in Paris, the French king appoint¬ 
ed a committee', confiding of four phyficians, and five 
members of the Royal Academy of Sciences, to invefti- 
gate the matter, in the year 178+. Among the latter were 
MM. Bailly, Lavoifier, and Dr. Franklin, who was at 
that time the American minifter at Paris. This agent, 
which Me finer pretended to have dii'covered, he affirmed, 
was “ a fluid univerfally diffufed, and filling all fpace, being 
the medium of a reciprocal influence between the celeltial 
bodies, the earth, and living beings; it inflnuated itfelf into 
the lubltance of the nerves, upon which therefore it had 
a direct operation ; it was capable of being communicated 
from one body to other bodies, both animate and inani¬ 
mate, and that at a confiderable diftance, without the af- 
liftance of any intermediate l'ubftance ; and it exhibited 
in the human body fome properties analogous to thofe of 
the loadltone, efpeciaily its two poles. This animal nagne- 
tifm he added, “ was capable of curing diredtly all the 
dil'ordefs of the nervous fyftem, and indireftly other ma¬ 
ladies ; it rendered perfect the operation of medicines 5 and 
excited and direifed the falutary crifes of difeafes, fo that 
it placed thefe crifes in the power of the phyfician. More¬ 
over, it enabled him to afcertain the ftate of health of each 
individual, and to form a correct judgment as to the ori¬ 
gin, nature, and progfefs,of the molt complicated difeafes, 
S: c.” In ffiort, he laid, “ La Nature ofl're dans le magne- 
tifme un moyen univerfel de guerir et de preferver les hom¬ 
ines.” See Memoirefur la Dccouvcrtc du Magnctifne Animal, 
par M. Mefmer, D06L en Med. de la Faculte de Vienne, 
1779. Aifo his Precis Hiforique des Fails relatifs atix Mag. 
An. jiifques en Avril 1781. Monf. Dellon, a pupil of Mei¬ 
tner, alio praiftifed animal magnetilin at Paris, and under¬ 
took to demonftrate its exiftence and propertiesto the com- 
miilioners. He commenced his inftruftions by reading a 
memoir, in which he maintained, that “ there is but one 
nature, one difeafe, and one remedy; and that remedy is 
animal magnetifm.” , 
The firft Step of the commiffioners was to examine the 
mode and inftruments of operation, and the effects of the 
agent. It was obferved that M. Deflon operated upon 
many individuals at the fame time. In the middle of a 
large room was placed a circular cheil of dak, railed about 
afoot from the floor, which was called the baquet: the lid 
of this cheft was pierced with a number of boles, through 
■which there iffued moveable and curved branches of iron. 
The patients were ranged in feveral circles round the cheft, 
each at an iron branch, which, by means of its curvature, 
could beapplied diredtly to the difeafed part. A cord, which 
was paHed round their bodies, connedted them with one 
another; and forrietimes a fecond chain of communication 
was formed by means of the hands, the thumb of each one’s 
left band being received and prelfed between the fore-finger 
and thumb of the right hand of his neighbour. More¬ 
over, a piano-forte was placed in a corner of the room, on 
which different airs were played ; found being, according to 
the principles of Mefmer, a conductor of magnetifm. The 
patients, thus ranged in great numbers round the baquet , 
received the magnetic influence at once by all thele means 
of communication ; by the branches of iron which tranf- 
mitted to them the magnetifm of the baquet; by the cord 
entwined round the body; by the' union of thumbs, which 
conveyed to each the magnetifm of his neighbour; and by 
the found of the mufic, or of an agreeable voice, which 
diffufed the principle through the air. The patients were, 
beftdes, diredtly magnetifed, by means of the finger of the 
magnetifer, and a rod of iron, which he moved about be¬ 
fore the face, above or behind the head, and over the dif¬ 
eafed parts, always obferving the diftindtion of the mag¬ 
netic poles, and fixing his countenance upon the indivi¬ 
dual. But above all, they were magnetifed by the appli¬ 
cation of the hands, and by preffure with the lingers upon 
the hypochondria, and the abdominal regions, which was 
often continued for a long time, occaflonally for feveral 
hours together. 
The patients, fubjedted to this treatment, at length be- 
Vql. XI. No. 77c. 
493 
gan to prefent very various appearances in their condition, 
as the operation proceeded. Some of them were calm and 
tranquil, and felt nothing ; others were affedted with 
coughing and i'pitting; others again experienced flight 
pains, partial or univer'fal heats, and confiderable perlpr 
rations; and others .were agitated and tortured with con¬ 
vulfions. Thele convulfions were extraordinary in their 
number, feverity, and duration. The commiflioners law 
them, in fome inftances, continue for three hours, when 
they were accompanied with expectoration of a vilcid 
phlegm, which was ejedted by violent efforts, and fome- 
times ltreaked with blood ; one young man often brought 
up blood copioufly. The convulfious were characterized 
by violent involuntary motions of the limbs and of the 
whole body, by fpafms of the throat, by agitations of the 
epigaftrium and hypochondres, and wandering motions of 
the eyes, accompanied by piercing fhrieks, weeping, im ¬ 
moderate laughter, and hiccup. They were generally pre¬ 
ceded or followed by a ftate of languor and rambling, or 
a degree of drOwflnefs and even of coma. The leaft un¬ 
expected r.oife made the patients ftart; and it was remarked, 
that even a change of meafure in the air, played upon the 
piano-forte, affedted them, fo that a more lively movement 
increafed their agitation, and renewed the violence of then 
convulfions. Nothing can be more furprifing, or more in¬ 
conceivable by thofe who have not witneffed it, than the 
fpeCtacle of thefe convulfions, lay the commiffioners ; ail 
feem to be unde!' the power of the magnetifer; a figri from 
him, his voice, his look, immediately roules them from :< 
ftate even of apparent fopor. In truth, they add, it was 
iinpbffible not to recognilb, in thefe conftaht effecls, a great 
power or agency, which held the patients under its domi¬ 
nion, and of which the magnetifer appeared to be the foie 
depofitary. See Rapport, des Commiffaircs charge's par le Roi 
de FExamen du Magnetifm Animal ; Paris, 3784. 
Such, then, were the phenomena produced by the ope¬ 
ration of this new agent, the nature and origin of which 
it was the duty of the commiffioners to inveiligute. This 
convullive and lethargic ftate, it may be noticed, was con^ 
lidered as a crifs, fuch as the constitution or the art of 
medicine is enabled to effeCt,* for the purpofe of curing 
difeafes; and, for the fake of brevity, we lhall adopt the 
term, to expref's this occurrence, regardleis of the hypo- 
thefis which led to its ufe. 
On witheffing the lame experiments, frequently repeat¬ 
ed, the commiflioners remarked, that, among the patients 
who fell into the crifes, there were always many women, 
and very few men : that the crifes were not effected in lei's 
than the IpaCe of an hour or two ; and that, as foon as one 
perfon was thus taken, the reft were firnilarly feized in a 
very fhort time. But they were unable to obtain any Sa¬ 
tisfactory refuits from experiments made upon fo many 
perfons at once. They refolved, therefore, to endeavour, 
by experiments upon individuals, in a more private way, 
to afcertain the diredt effedts of the newly-difcovered agent 
on the animal economy, in a ftate of health ; which, if 
the agent existed, could 6f courfe be rendered manifelt by 
its eft'ett ; and they determined to become themfelves the 
fubjeds of the firft experiments. No inquiry was ever 
conducted in a more philofophical manner, or terminated 
in a more complete and unequivocal developement of 
the nature of the fubject. Great and extraordinary as 
the powers of this new agent feemed to be, the phenomena 
were proved to be referable folely to the imagination of 
the parties magnetifed. 
The commiffioners Submitted to be magnetifed together, 
excluding all Strangers, by M. Dellon, once a-week, for the 
Ip^pe of two hours and a half. They were ranged round 
the baquet, encircled by the cord of communication, with 
an iron branch from the baquet refting upon the left hy- 
pochondre of each, and forming from time to time the com¬ 
munication of thumbs: they were magnetifed by the fin¬ 
gers or the metallic rod being moved about and prefented 
to different parts of the body, as well as by the preffure 
of hands on the pit of fffe llomach and fides of the belly. 
£ K The 
