money, and his wish to have his
discovery at once recognised by the government. He then retired to Spa, in
a fit of disgust, upon pretence of drinking the waters for the benefit of
his health.

After he had left Paris, the Faculty of Medicine called upon M. D'Eslon,
for the third and last time, to renounce the doctrine of animal magnetism,
or be expelled from their body. M. D'Eslon, so far from doing this,
declared that he had discovered new secrets, and solicited further
examination. A royal commission of the Faculty of Medicine was, in
consequence, appointed on the 12th of March 1784, seconded by another
commission of the Academie des Sciences, to investigate the phenomena and
report upon them. The first commission was composed of the
principal physicians of Paris; while, among the eminent men comprised in
the latter, were Benjamin Franklin, Lavoisier, and Bailly the historian of
astronomy. Mesmer was formally invited to appear before this body, but
absented himself from day to day, upon one pretence or another. M. D'Eslon
was more honest, because he thoroughly believed in the phenomena, which it
is to be questioned if Mesmer ever did, and regularly attended the
sittings and performed experiments.

Bailly has thus described the scenes of which he was a witness in the
course of this investigation. "The sick persons, arranged in great numbers
and in several rows around the _baquet_, receive the magnetism, by all
these means: by the iron rods which convey it to them from the
_baquet_--by the cords wound round their bodies--by the connexion of the
thumb, which conveys to them the magnetism of their neighbours--and by the
sounds of a piano-forte, or of an agreeable voice, diffusing the magnetism
in the air. The patients were also directly magnetised by means of the
finger and wand of the magnetiser moved slowly before their faces, above
or behind their heads, and on the diseased parts, always observing the
direction of the holes. The magnetiser acts by fixing his eyes on them.
But above all, they are magnetised by the application of his hands and the
pressure of his fingers on the hypochondres and on the regions of the
abdomen; an application often continued for a long time--sometimes for
several hours.

"Meanwhile the patients in their different conditions present a very
varied picture. Some are calm, tranquil, and experience no effect. Others
cough, spit, feel slight pains, local or general heat, and have sweatings.