propagated somewhat the same doctrine. He was a
firm believer in sympathetic cures, and assumed a vital spirit of the
universe which related all bodies. It was probably from this that
Mesmer got his idea of what he called the universal fluid. It would
seem, however, that Maxwell was aware of the great influence of
imagination and suggestion. He said: "If you wish to work prodigies,
abstract from the materiality of beings--increase the sum of
spirituality in bodies--rouse the spirit from its slumbers. Unless you
do one or other of these things--unless you can bind the idea, you can
never perform anything good or great." About the same time, in Italy,
Santanelli propagated the theory of a universal fluid. Everything
material possessed a radiating atmosphere which operated
magnetically. He also recognized, however, the great influence of the
imagination.

[Illustration: F. A. MESMER]

About the year 1771, Father Hell, a Jesuit, and professor of astronomy
at the University of Vienna, became famous through his magnetic cures,
and invented steel plates of a peculiar form which he applied to the
naked body as a cure for several diseases. In 1774 he communicated his
system to Mesmer, the man who, more than any one else, drew the
world's attention to the investigation of mental healing. Various
estimates have been made of Mesmer's character and he frequently has
been condemned. He was fond of display, but it is doubtful if he was
more avaricious than most persons who lived before and have lived
since. He was evidently honest in his scientific investigations and
opinions, and this is our main concern.

Friederich Antony Mesmer (1733-1815) was born at Mersbury, in Swabia,
and studied medicine at the University of Vienna. He read freely the
books written by the authors already mentioned, and accepted much of
their teaching. His originality consisted principally in applying to
the sick this universal principle, by means of contact and passes,
while his predecessors infused the vital spirit through the use of
talismans and of magic boxes. He took his medical degree in 1766 and
chose as the subject of his inaugural dissertation "The Influence of
the Planets in the Cure of Diseases." In this dissertation he
maintained "that the sun, moon, and fixed stars mutually affect each
other in their orbits; that they cause and direct in our earth a flux
and reflux not only in the sea, but in the atmosphere, and affect in a
similar manner al