rfects the action of medicines, and
heals affections of the nerves. In animal magnetism nature presents a
universal method of benefiting mankind. Such, at least, was the
declaration of Mesmer.[147:1]

With a view to influencing the imaginations of his patients, this shrewd
practitioner caused his consulting apartments in Paris to be dimly
lighted and surrounded by mirrors. Strains of soft music were heard,
subtle odors pervaded the air, and the patients were seated around a
circular oaken trough or _baquet_, in which were disposed a row of
bottles containing so-called electrical fluid. A complicated system of
wires connected the mouths of the bottles with handles, which were
grasped by the patients. After the latter had waited for a while in
expectant silence, Mesmer would appear, wearing a coat of lilac silk,
and carrying a magician's wand, which he manipulated in a graceful and
mysterious manner. Then, discarding the wand, he passed his hands over
the bodies of the patients for a considerable time, "until the
magnetized person was saturated with the healing fluid."

So great was the interest aroused by Mesmer's methods and the many
seemingly marvellous cures resulting therefrom, that the Royal Society
of Paris appointed a commission, which included Benjamin Franklin, to
investigate the subject. The members of this commission reported that
those patients who were not aware of the fact that they were being
magnetized experienced no effects from the treatment. Those who were
told that they were being magnetized experienced symptoms, although the
magnetizer was not near them. Imagination, apart from magnetism,
produced marked effects, while magnetism, without imagination, produced
nothing. The benefits resulting from Mesmer's treatment were due,
according to the commission's report, to three factors, namely: (1)
actual contact; (2) the excitement of the imagination; and (3) "the
mechanical imitation which impels us to repeat that which strikes our
senses."

The ability to cure disease without the use of medicines or surgical
appliances has been claimed by alleged healers in all ages. When such
cures were effected, they were attributed to a special gift with which
the healer was divinely endowed, and this gift was bestowed, in rare
instances, upon individuals who were distinguished by especial sanctity.
Mesmer did not claim this quality, and yet he performed cures which were
as notable as those of any saint or inspired