In 1820 it might have been supposed that animal magnetism was about to enter upon a scientific era. Dr. Bertrand, a former pupil of the Polytechnic School, had just brought the subject before the public in a course of lectures. General Noizet, about the same time, drew up a paper for the Royal Academy of Berlin on somnambulism and animal magnetism. Experiments were performed in the hospitals, directed at the Hôtel-Dieu by Du Potet, pupil of Husson, and at the Sâlpetrière by Georget and Rostan. The experiments made on hysterical patients were not such as to modify the scepticism of the scientific world, and it was thought probable that the experimenters had been deceived by their patients. Indeed Pétronille, one of Georget's well-known somnambulists, afterwards confessed that she had imposed on the observers. But Richer justly observes that such confidences are the common boasts of hysterical patients, and that those who believe them incur the same reproach of credulity as their opponents are charged with.
The general council of the hospitals put an end to these operations, on the ground that the patients should
not be subjected to such experiment, but on all sides the need of some definite proof was felt.
In 1825 Foissac induced the Academy of Medicine, which had succeeded to the Royal Society of Medicine, to take part in the controversy. He drew up a paper, in which he undertook to show that simple contact enabled his somnambulists to diagnose their diseases, with an intuition worthy of the genius of Hippocrates. Although such language did not seem to be adapted to convince the Academy, its members nominated a commission charged to decide whether it was expedient to undertake a fresh examination into the question of animal magnetism. The report presented by Husson was in favour of such an examination, and the Academy, by a majority of thirty-five votes against twenty-five, nominated a commission of inquiry, consisting of Bourdois, Double, Fouquier, Itard, Guéneau de Mussy, Guersant, Leroux, Magendie, Marc, Thillaye, and Husson. Magendie and Double, finding that the experiments were not very carefully performed, took no part in the labours of the commission. At the end of five years' patient research, in June, 1831, Husson presented a report in which the existence of animal magnetism was affirmed. "The results are negative or insufficient in the majority of cases," the report declares; "in others they are produced by weariness, monotony, or by the imagination. It appears, however, that some results depend solely on magnetism, and cannot be produced without it. These are physiological phenomena, and well established therapeutically." The importance of this work decides us to reproduce its principal conclusions in extenso.
"The contact of the thumbs and hands, friction, or
the employment of certain gestures within a short distance of the body, which are called passes, are the means employed to place the patient en rapport, or, in other words, to transmit the action of the magnetizer to his subject.
"The time necessary for transmitting and effecting this magnetic action varies from half an hour to one minute.
"When once a person has been thrown into the magnetic sleep, it is not always necessary to have recourse to contact and passes in order to magnetize him afresh. A glance from the magnetizer, or his will alone, may have the same influence.
"The effects produced by magnetism are extremely varied; it agitates some people and calms others; it generally causes a momentary quickening of the respiration and of the circulation; this is followed by fibrillary, convulsive movements like those produced by electric shocks; by a more or less profound torpor; by stupor and somnolence; and, in a few instances, by what magnetizers term somnambulism.
"The perceptions and faculties of individuals who are thrown by magnetism into a state of somnambulism are modified in various ways.
"Some, amid the noise of general conversation, only hear the voice of their magnetizer; many make a direct reply to the questions which he or the persons with whom they are placed en rapport address to them; others converse with all those who surround them; in few instances are they aware of what is passing. They are generally completely unconscious of any sudden external noise made close to their ears, such as the
striking of copper vessels, the fall of a piece of furniture, etc.
"The eyes are closed, and the lids yield with difficulty to any effort made with the hand to open them. This operation causes pain, and the pupil of the eye is then seen to be contracted and turned upwards, or sometimes towards the base of the orbit.
"Sometimes the sense of smell is altogether absent, and they may be made to breathe nitric acid or ammonia without being incommoded, or even without their becoming aware of it. But this is not always the case, and some subjects retain the sense of smell.
"Most of the somnambulists whom we have observed were completely insensible. The feet might be tickled, the nostrils and the corner of the eyelid might be touched with a feather, the skin might be pinched until it was discoloured, pins might suddenly be driven to some depth under the nails, and the subjects would betray no sign of pain, nor even a consciousness of the fact. Finally, a somnambulist has been rendered insensible to one of the most painful surgical operations, and neither the countenance, the pulse, nor the respiration betrayed the slightest emotion.
"We have only observed one individual who was thrown into the state of somnambulism when magnetized for the first time. Sometimes somnambulism only occurs after the eighth or tenth séance.
"We have constantly observed that natural sleep, which is the repose of the organs of the senses, of the intellectual faculties, and of voluntary movements, precedes and terminates the state of somnambulism.
"The magnetized subjects whom we have observed
under somnambulism retain the faculties of the waking-state. The memory even appears to be more retentive and of wider range, since they recollect all that occurred on each previous occasion when they were under somnambulism.
"We have observed two somnambulists who were able, with closed eyes, to distinguish the objects placed before them; who could declare, without touching them; the suit and value of playing cards; who could read words traced with the hand, or some lines from a book opened at random. This phenomenon has even occurred when the fingers are firmly pressed upon the closed eyelids.*
"In two somnambulists we observed the power of foreseeing the more or less remote or complicated acts of the organism. One of them announced, several days, and even months, in advance, the day, hour, and minute on which an epileptic attack would occur; the other indicated the epoch of his cure. Their previsions were verified with remarkable accuracy. These appear only to apply to the acts and lesions of their own organisms.
"We only observed one somnambulist who indicated the symptoms of the diseases of three persons with whom he was placed en rapport, although we inquired into a considerable number of cases.*
with some distinctness, and some of the words which were more legibly written than the rest. In all these experiments the fingers were applied to the whole surface of each eye, by pressing the upper on the lower lid from above in a downward direction, and we observed that there was a constant rotatory movement of the eyeball, as if it were directed towards the object presented to the vision." — Text of the Report.
* "M. Marc, a member of the commission, consented to undergo examination by a somnambulist, and Mile. Celine was requested to consider attentively the state of our colleague's health. She applied her hand to his forehead and to the region of the heart, and at the end of three minutes she said that there was a determination of blood to the head, and that on its left side M. Marc was now suffering from pain; that he was often oppressed, especially after eating; that he was subject to a hacking cough; that the lower part of the chest was congested with blood; that there was obstruction to the passage of food; that there was a contraction in the region of the ensiform appendix; and that in order to effect a cure, M. Marc should be frequently bled, that hemlock plasters should be applied, that he should be rubbed with laudanum on the lower part of the chest, that he should drink lemonade prepared with gum Arabic, that he should eat little and often, and not go out walking immediately after meals.
"We were anxious to hear whether M. Marc's experience agreed with the somnambulist's assertions. He said that he really suffered from oppression after eating, that he was subject to a cough, and had pain on the right side of the head, but that he was not conscious of any uneasiness in the digestive canal.
"We were struck by the analogy between M. Marc's sensations and the
"Some of the magnetized patients experienced no benefit. Others derived more or less relief from the treatment; in one case habitual suffering was suspended, in another strength returned, in a third epileptic attacks were averted for several months, and in a fourth serious paralysis of long standing was completely cured.
"Considered as the agent of physiological phenomena, or as a therapeutic expedient, magnetism must take its place in the scheme of medical science, and consequently it should be practised or superintended by physicians only, which is the rule in northern countries.
"The commission has had no opportunity of verifying the other faculties which are said by magnetizers to be possessed by somnambulists. But the facts collected and now set down, are of sufficient importance to justify the belief that the Academy ought to encourage researches into magnetism, since it is an interesting branch of psychology and of natural history.
"(Signed) Bourdois de la Motte, Fouquier, Gueneait de Mussy, Guersant, Itard,
J. Leroux, Marc, Thilaye, Husson (reporter)."
Such was the celebrated report, of which the magnetizers made so much that the Academy did not venture to print it.
It must be admitted that the commissioners did not pursue in their researches a rigorously scientific method. Since they were chiefly desirous to prove the existence
or non-existence of animal magnetism, they applied themselves almost exclusively to the study of extraordinary facts. They thought that if the results of a given experiment exceeded the limits of the possible, animal magnetism would thereby be proved. In this way the question was wrongly stated, since it was possible that magnetism might be at once a natural fact, and a fact which agreed with known physiological laws. The commissioners did not understand this elementary truth. Impelled by curiosity with respect to the marvellous and the supernatural, they directed their attention to those phenomena which were the most disputed and the most open to dispute, such as the transposition of the senses, the power of reading with bandaged eyes or vision by means of the internal organs, by the epigastrium or the occiput, together with the diagnosis of diseases and an acquaintance with their remedies.
It appears that on all these points the conduct of the inquiry was unsatisfactory, and that the commissioners neglected to take any sufficient precautions. Some of the experiments were really futile. The report states that a somnambulist named Petit, whose eyes were so firmly closed that the eyelashes were interlaced, and who was constantly watched by commissioners who "held the light," was able to read what was presented to him, and played several games of piquet with great spirit. It does not appear that any precautions were taken to prevent this individual from reading through his eyelashes. The commissioners were content to watch his eyes, and it did not occur to them that there is nothing more easy than to read with the eyes apparently closed.
At another séance, Paul, a young law-student, over whose eyes a commissioner placed his hand, displayed a marvellous clairvoyance; he divined the cards in a pack and could read almost fluently. The reporter observed, however, that the eyeball was constantly rolling, and appeared to be directed towards the object presented to the vision. When we add that the young man read slowly, before a large circle, and that he made mistakes, we shall agree with Ségalas, a member of the Academy, who had himself on one occasion kept the eyes of the subject closed, that it was probably possible to move the eyelids, to catch a glimpse of some of the words, and to guess the rest. At any rate, more careful experiments were needed before admitting that it is possible to see and read with closed eyes. We do not speak of internal vision, of the prevision of crises, and the instinctive knowledge of remedies, since the experiments were all of the same stamp.
Together with these unsatisfactory statements, we find some good descriptions of somnambulism. The commissioners observed that when the subjects were put to sleep they presented "an acceleration of the pulse and of the breathing, fibrillary movements like those produced by electric shocks, stupor, and somnolence. . . . The subject sometimes made a direct replied to the question addressed to him, but in general he was quite unconscious of any sudden noise made at his ear. . . . The eyes were closed, and on raising the eyelid, the pupil was seen to be contracted and turned upwards. . . . The surface of the body was generally insensible to pain; . . . the skin might be pinched until it was discoloured, pins might be driven
under the nails without disturbing the subject's impassibility." All this description is excellent: it is unfortunate that the commissioners, who observed the natural phenomenon with such accuracy, were unable to detach it from the phantasmagoria by which it was surrounded.
Finally, the commissioners were mistaken in two points. First, in confounding the question of animal magnetism with the extraordinary and supernatural phenomena described by the magnetizers; secondly, in not bringing to a study of these phenomena, which required the utmost caution, the rigorous care which we have a right to demand from an academical commission.
The Academy, which did not include among its members many partisans of magnetism, was somewhat astonished by Husson's report. It was read in the meetings held on the 21st and 28th of June, 1831. But there was no public debate, nor was the question put to the vote. The report was not even printed, only committed to writing. The Academy shrank from deciding such burning questions.
In 1837 the brooding discussion burst forth, on account of the painless extraction of a tooth during the magnetic sleep, which was related by M. Oudet.
Bema, a young magnetizer, implored the attention of the Academy of Medicine, and a fresh commission was nominated. It consisted of Roux, Bouillaud, Cloquet, Emery, Pelletier, Caventou, Cornac, Oudet, and Dubois, the last-named acting as reporter. The Academy was again drawn in the wrong direction. Berna urged them to examine extraordinary phenomena, such as vision without using the eyes, and the communication of the
magnetizer's thoughts to his subject, phenomena which he boasted of producing in two of his somnambulist subjects.
The results of this inquiry, which was conducted with greater care than that of the previous commission, were negative. We give the conclusions of this report, as we have already given those of Husson's report.
"1st Conclusion. — Dubois, in terminating his report, states that it appears from all the facts and incidents witnessed by us that, in the first place, no special proof has been given to us as to the existence of a special state, called the state of magnetic somnambulism; that it is only by way of assertion, and not by way of demonstration, that the magnetizer has affirmed at each séance, before undertaking any experiments, that his subjects were in a state of somnambulism.
"It is true that, according to the magnetizer's programme, we might be assured that the subject, before he was thrown into a state of somnambulism, was in perfect possession of all his senses, that for this purpose we were to prick him, and that he would then be put to sleep in the presence of the commissioners. But it appeared from our experiments at the séance of the 3rd of March, and before any magnetizing process had taken place, that the subject of experiment was as insensible to pin-pricks before the supposed sleep as he was when it had occurred; that his countenance and replies varied little before and after the so-called magnetic sleep. Your commissioners are unable to decide whether this was from inadvertence, from a natural or acquired insensibility to pain, or from an unreasonable
desire to attract attention. It is true that we were told on each occasion that the subjects were asleep, but this was purely a matter of assertion.
"If, however, experiments made upon subjects presumed to be in a state of somnambulism should ultimately prove the existence of such a state, the conclusions we are about to draw from their experiments will show whether such proofs have any value or not.
"2nd Conclusion. — According to the terms of the programme, the second experiment is intended to establish that the subjects are insensible to pain.
"We must, however, recall the restrictions imposed on your commissioners. The face was not to be subjected to such experiments, nor yet those parts of the body which are usually covered, so that they could only be performed on the hands and the neck. These parts were not to be pinched nor twitched, nor placed in contact with any burning substance, nor exposed to any high temperature; the only thing permitted was to insert the points of needles to the depth of half a line, and at the same time the face was half covered by a bandage which did not allow us to observe the expression of the countenance, when the attempt was made to inflict pain. When we recall all these restrictions, we deduce from them the following facts: — (1) that the sensations of pain we were permitted to excite were extremely slight and of limited extent; (2) that they could only be excited on a small portion of the body, which was perhaps accustomed to receive such impressions; (3) that since these impressions were always of the same kind, they were of the nature of tattooing; (4) that the face, and particularly the eyes, in which the expression of pain is most
apparent, were concealed from the commissioners; (5) that under these circumstances, impassibility, however absolute and complete, could not be accepted by us as a conclusive proof that the subject in question was devoid of sensibility.
"3rd Conclusion. — The magnetizer undertook to prove to the commissioners that, by the mere exercise of the will, he had the power of making his subject either locally or generally sensible to pain, which he terms the restitution of sensibility.
"As, however, he had been unable to give us any experimental proof that he had taken away and destroyed this girl's sensibility, this experiment was correlative with the other, and it was consequently impossible to prove such a restitution; moreover, the facts observed by us showed that all the attempts made in this direction had completely failed. You must remember, gentlemen, that the only verification consisted in the somnambulist's assertions. When, for instance, she assured the commissioners that she was unable to move her left leg, this was no proof that the limb was magnetically paralyzed; even in this case her words were not in accordance with her magnetizer's pretensions, so that we only obtain assertions without proof, opposed to other assertions, equally without proof.
"4th Conclusion. — "What we have just said with reference to the abolition and restitution of sensibility, is applicable in every respect to the so-called abolition and restitution of the power of movement, of which your commissioners did not obtain the slightest proof.
"5th Conclusion. — One paragraph of the programme is entitled, 'Obedience to the mental order to cease, in
the midst of a conversation, to reply verbally and by signs to a given person.'
"In the séance of March 5, the magnetizer attempted to prove to the commissioners that the power of his will went so far as to produce this effect: but it resulted from the facts which occurred during this séance that, on the contrary, the somnambulist was still unable to hear when the experimenter no longer wished to prevent her from hearing, and that she appeared to possess the power of hearing when he distinctly desired her to hear nothing. So that, according to the somnambulist's assertions, the faculty of hearing, or of ceasing to hear, was in this instance in absolute revolt against the will of the magnetizer.
"But well-considered facts lead the commissioners to the conclusion that there was neither a revolt nor a submission of the will; only an absolute independence.
"6th Conclusion. — Transposition of the sense of sight.
— The magnetizer, as you are aware, complied with the commissioners' request in turning from the study of the abolition and restitution of sensibility and the power of movement, in order to consider more important facts; namely, the facts of vision without the aid of the eyes. All the incidents in connection with these facts have been shown to you; they occurred in the stance of April 3, 1837.
"Berna undertook to show the commissioners that a woman, influenced by his magnetic manipulations, could decipher words, distinguish playing cards, and follow the hands of a watch, not by means of her eyes, but by her occiput— a fact which would imply either the transposition or the inutility of the organs of sight
during the magnetic state. These experiments were made, and, as you are aware, were a complete failure.
"All which the somnambulist knew, all which she was able to infer from what was said in her immediate vicinity, all which she could naturally surmise, she uttered with bandaged eyes; from which we at once concluded that she was not without ingenuity. Thus, when the magnetizer invited one of the commissioners to write a word on a card, and to present it to the woman's occiput, she said that she saw a card, and even the writing on the card. If she was asked how many persons were present, she could, since she had seen them enter, approximately declare their number. If she was asked whether she saw a commissioner sitting near her, engaged in writing with a scratching pen, she raised her head, tried to see under the bandage, and said that this gentleman held something white in his hand. When asked whether she saw the mouth of the same individual, who had left off writing and placed himself behind her, she said that he had something white in his mouth. Hence we concluded that this somnambulist, more experienced and adroit than the former one, was able to make more plausible surmises.
"But with respect to facts really adapted to establish vision by means of the occiput, decisive, absolute, and peremptory facts, they were not only altogether absent, but those which we observed were of a nature to give rise to strange suspicions as to this woman's honesty, as we shall presently observe.
"7th Conclusion. — Clairvoyance. — When the magnetizer despaired of proving to the commissioners the transposition of the sense of sight, the nullity and super-
fluity of the eyes during the magnetic state, he sought to take refuge in the fact of clairvoyance, or of vision through opaque bodies.
"You are acquainted with the experiments made on this subject. The main conclusion deduced from these facts was that a man, placed before a woman in a given attitude, is unable to give her the power of distinguishing the objects presented to her when her eyes are bandaged.
"Here your commissioners were occupied with a more serious reflection. Admitting for a moment an hypothesis which is very convenient for magnetizers, that in many cases somnambulists lose all lucidity, and are as unable as ordinary mortals to see by means of the occiput, of the stomach, or through a bandage, what are we to conclude with respect to the woman who gave minute description of objects quite different from those presented to her? We are at a loss what to think of a somnambulist who described the knave of clubs on a blank card, who transformed the ticket of an academician into a gold watch with a white dial-plate inscribed with black figures, and who, if she had been pressed, would perhaps have gone on to tell us the hour marked by this watch. . . .
"If, gentlemen, you now ask what is the ultimate and general conclusion to be inferred from all these experiments, made in our presence, we declare that M. Berna undoubtedly deceived himself when, on February 12 of this year, he wrote to the Royal Academy of Medicine that he could boast of affording us the personal experience of which we were in need (these are his words); when he offered to show to your delegates con-
dusive facts; when he affirmed that these facts were of a nature to throw light upon physiology and upon therapeutics. You have now been acquainted with these facts; you agree with us that they are by no means conclusive as to the doctrine of animal magnetism, and that they have nothing in common either with physiology or with therapeutics.
"We do not attempt to decide whether the more numerous and varied facts supplied by other magnetizers would lead to a different conclusion, but it is certain that if other magnetizers exist, they do not openly appear, and they have not ventured to challenge the sanction or reprobation of the Academy.
"(Signed) M, M. Roux (President), Bouillaud, H. Cloquet, Émery, Pelletier, Caventou, Cornat, Oudet, Dubois (Reporter).
"Paris, July 17, 1837."
When this report, taking such a decided part against animal magnetism, was read, Husson felt himself to be directly attacked, and replied. The Academy, however, accepted the conclusions of the report by an immense majority. In our opinion this report did not prove much, since general conclusions could not be drawn from the negative experiments performed on only two somnambulists.
In order to settle the question of animal magnetism, the younger Burdin, a member of the Academy, proposed to award from his private fortune a prize of 3,000 francs to any person who could read a given writing without the aid of his eyes, and in the dark. The Academy accepted the proposal. In this way the field of ex-
periment was restricted, and it seemed that by limiting the point at issue, it was rendered more decisive. This was a defiance hurled by the Academy at the magnetizers, and at the first glance it might appear that Burdin went straight to the heart of the question. He, speaking for the Academy, seemed to say, "If there is a single somnambulist capable of reading without using his eyes, we will admit the existence of animal magnetism, and go into the question. If no somnambulist can stand the test, animal magnetism has no existence." But as Kicher has observed, the dilemma is false. Somnambulists might easily be admitted to be incapable of reading without using their eyes, and yet be genuine somnambulists. In fact, the Academy demanded that a miracle should be wrought before they would believe in animal magnetism.
At this time Pigeaire, a Montpellier doctor, had a daughter, ten or eleven years of age, who, in a state of somnambulism, did many wonderful things, and especially could read writing when her eyes were covered by a bandage of black silk. This was attested by Lordat, the Professor of Physiology at Montpellier. Pigeaire brought his daughter to Paris, in hopes of gaining the Burdin prize. He began with giving private séances, which were completely successful; and, indeed, the private séance generally succeeds. A very favourable report, signed by Bousquet, Orfila, Ribes, Réveillé-Parise, etc., is still extant. But the scene changed when it was necessary to appear before the commission nominated by the Academy. The commissioners suspected that the bandage used by Pigeaire did not serve as a complete obstacle to the normal vision. In fact, there is nothing
apparently so simple, and in reality so difficult, as to find a bandage which is absolutely opaque; any one may see perfectly through an extremely minute hole, such as may, for instance, be perforated in a card, and especially if there are more holes than one, placed at intervals of one or two millimetres from each other. If our readers wish for further information on this interesting question, we must refer them to Déchambre's article on Mesmerism (Dictionnaire encyclopedique des Sciences Medicales).* Déchambre took the pains to try for himself the arrangements made by magnetizers for covering the eyes of their somnambulists; and he was satisfied that none of these arrangements, although apparently very complex, would after a while prevent them from reading the writing placed under their eyes. We may add that errors become more probable from the excessive keenness of sight common in somnambulists, from the time which elapses before the reading begins, and from the contortions by which the subject tries to displace or loosen the bandage. The Academicians were, therefore, justified in rejecting the bandage used by Pigeaire. They suggested a mask or headpiece of black silk, very light and stretched on two iron wires, so that it might be held at the distance of six inches from the girl's face, so as not to interfere with her breathing, nor with her freedom of action. Pigeaire, on his side, objected to this, and they were unable to come to an agreement, in spite of the concessions made by the commissioners, so that the experiments did not take place. In fact, Pigeaire's stipu-
lations would, as it was said at the time, have degraded the experiment into a mere game of blind-man's-buff.
Pigeaire was succeeded by another magnetizer, Teste, who presented himself before the Academy: he boasted of the possession of a somnambulist who could read writing which was enclosed in a box. This experiment was easily performed, and the magnetizer and the commissioners soon agreed upon the conditions. But the failure was complete, since the subject was unable to divine a single word of the writing.
The Burdin prize was not awarded.
In conclusion, Double proposed that the Academy should henceforward refuse to pay any attention to the proposals of magnetizers, and that animal magnetism should be treated as the Academy of Sciences treats the propositions which refer to perpetual motion, or to the squaring of the circle. Such was the result of so many efforts, of such patient research, of so many discussions and reports: an absolute and complete negation of the existence of animal magnetism.
This failure of the long labours of the Academy of Medicine was, as we have already said, primarily the fault of the magnetizers. Instead of contenting themselves with the study of the simplest and most ordinary phenomena, they were bent on establishing the existence of complex psychical phenomena, such as vision by means of the occiput, or an acquaintance with future events. The Academy was also mistaken in being seduced by them into this research into the marvellous. It may be said that at the outset of the Academic history of animal magnetism, the problem was wrongly
stated. It seems to us that the Academy ought to have clearly stated a question which the magnetizers were allowed to obscure; it should have been seen that among the phenomena proclaimed by the magnetizers, there might be some which were connected with known physical laws, and which might become the object of serious and fruitful study.
At any rate, the Academy ought not to have accepted Double's trenchant proposition, declaring that the question as to animal magnetism was definitively closed, as if no new facts might subsequently arise to compel the Academy to reverse its summary judgment. These new facts consist, as we are aware, in hypnotism, formerly regarded as an illusion and now accepted as a truth of which no one can doubt the reality.
In fact, the history of animal magnetism is of all histories the most instructive and philosophic: we must be indeed incorrigible if it does not disgust us with à priori negations.
It was a matter of course that after the Academy had pronounced its sentence, somnambulists continued to see through opaque-bodies, to predict future events, and to prescribe remedies, just as if the Academy had not spoken at all. Du Potet, the celebrated inventor of the magic mirror, was at this period the chief representative of magnetic science. This famous mirror, which had the effect of throwing people into convulsions, was made as follows: — The performer of the experiment described a circle on the parquet with a piece of charcoal, taking care to blacken the whole circle, and he then withdrew to a distance. The subject approached the magic circle, regarded it at first with confidence, raised
his head to look at the assembly, and again looked down to his feet. "Then” says Du Potet, "the first effect might be observed. The subject drooped his head still lower with an unquiet movement of his whole person, and he revolved round the circle without losing sight of it for an instant; again he stooped lower, drew himself up, retreated a few paces, advanced anew, frowned, became gloomy, and breathed hard. The most singular and curious spectacle followed; the subject undoubtedly beheld images reflected in the mirror; his agitation and extraordinary gestures, his sobs and tears, his anger, despair, and fury — everything, in short, revealed the trouble and emotion of his mind. It was no dream nor nightmare; the apparitions were actually present. A series of events was unrolled before him, represented by signs and figures which he could understand and gloat over, sometimes joyful, sometimes gloomy, just as these representations of the future passed before his eyes. Very soon he was overcome by delirium, he wished to seize the image, and darted a ferocious glance towards it; he finally started forward to trample on the charcoal circle, the dust from it arose, and the operator approached to put an end to a drama so full of emotion and of terror."
Du Potet, a sincere enthusiast, incapable of any scientific research, explained the effects of his mirror by the intervention, of magic. Gigot-Suard subsequently performed similar experiments on hypnotized subjects. This was at the time when table-turning, spirit-rapping, Home's apparitions, and other eccentricities of spiritual ism were carried on. Lacordaire, in a sermon preached at Notre Dame in 1846, gave his adhesion to magnetism, which he regarded as the last flash of the old power,
destined to confound human reason, and abase it before God; it was a phenomenon of the prophetic order. * He went on to say, "Thrown into an artificial sleep, man can see through opaque bodies, he indicates healing remedies, and appears to know things of which he was previously ignorant.'' Other members of the clergy went further, and practised magnetism with the avowed object of obtaining revelations from on high. The Court of Rome intervened on several occasions, and in 1856 an encyclical letter from the Holy Roman Inquisition was sent to all bishops to oppose the abuses of magnetism. The following is a translation of the Latin text : — +
"July 30, 1856
"At the general assembly of the Holy Roman Inquisition, held at the convent of Santa Maria Minerva, the cardinals and inquisitors-general against heresy throughout the Christian world, after a careful examination of all which has been reported to them by trustworthy men, touching the practice of magnetism, have resolved to address the present encyclical letter to all bishops, in order that its abuses may be repressed.
"For it is clearly established that a new species of superstition has arisen respecting magnetic phenomena, with which many persons are now concerned, not with the legitimate object of throwing light on the physical sciences, but in order to mislead men, under the belief that things hidden, remote, or still in the future may be brought to light through magnetism, and especially by the intervention of certain women who are completely under the magnetizer's control.
"The Holy See, when consulted in special cases, has repeatedly replied by condemning as unlawful all experiments made to obtain a result which is foreign to the natural order and rules of morality, and which does not make use of lawful means. It was in such cases that it was decided, on the 21st of April, 1841, that magnetism as set forth in this petition is not permitted. So likewise the holy congregation thought fit to forbid the use of certain books which systematically diffuse error on this subject. But since, exclusive of special cases, it became necessary to pronounce on the practice of magnetism in general, the following rule was established on July 18, 1847: — 'For the avoiding of error, of all sorcery, and of all invocation of evil spirits, whether implicit or explicit, the use of magnetism — that is, the simple act of employing physical means, not otherwise prohibited — is not morally unlawful, so long as it is for no illicit or evil object. With respect to the application of purely physical principles and means to things or results which are in reality supernatural, so as to give them a physical explanation, this is an illusion, and an heretical practice worthy of condemnation.'
"Although this decree sufficiently explains what is lawful or unlawful in the use or abuse of magnetism, human perversity is such that men who have devoted themselves to the discovery of whatever ministers to curiosity, greatly to the detriment of the salvation of souls, and even to that of civil society, boast that they have found the means of predicting and divining. Hence it follows that weak-minded women, thrown by gestures which are not always modest into a state of somnambulism, and of what is called clairvoyance, pro-
fess to see those things which are invisible, and claim with rash audacity the power of speaking on religious matters, of calling up the spirits of the dead, of receiving answers to their inquiries, and of discovering what is unknown or remote. They practise other superstitions of like nature, in order by this gift of divination to procure considerable gains for themselves and their masters. Whatever be the arts or illusions employed in these acts, since physical means are used to obtain unnatural results, the imposture is worthy of condemnation, since it is heretical and a scandal against the purity of morals. In order, therefore, effectually to repress so great an evil, which is most fatal to religion and to civil society, the pastoral care, vigilance, and zeal of all the bishops cannot be too earnestly invoked. Aided by divine grace, the ordinary of each diocese must do all in his power, both by the admonitions of paternal love, by severe reproaches, and, finally, by legal means, using these according to his judgment before the Lord, and taking account of the circumstances of place, of time, and persons; — he must do his utmost to avert the abuses of magnetism, and to bring it to an end, so that the Lord's flock may be preserved from the attacks of the enemy, that the faith may be maintained in its integrity, and that the faithful committed to their care may be saved from the corruption of morals.
"Given at Rome, at the Chancery of the Sacred Office of the Vatican.
"V. Cakd. Macchi.
"August 4, 1856."
It will be seen from this document that the Court of Rome appealed to a singular motive in their condem-
nation of magnetism. "With respect to the application of purely physical principles and means to things or results which are in reality supernatural, so as to give them a physical explanation, this is an illusion, and an heretical practice worthy of condemnation." The encyclical letter goes on to define this idea, and speaks of "weak-minded women . . . who profess to see those things which are invisible, and claim with rash audacity the power of speaking on religious matters, of calling up the spirits of the dead, of receiving answers to their inquiries, and of discovering what is unknown or re mote." It would be impossible to declare more plainly that the Holy See proposes to maintain a monopoly of the supernatural.
Condemned by the Court of Rome, as it had been condemned by the Academy of Medicine, animal magnetism did not perish, but took refuge in the popular imagination. To this day we possess clairvoyant, and even excessively clairvoyant somnambulists who find the trade profitable. They are to be found in the drawing-rooms of private houses, as well as at public fairs, It is certain that animal magnetism will not perish, since it is one of the thousand forms assumed by that belief in the marvellous which is eternal.
As we here conclude the history of the wonders of animal magnetism, which must give place to the positive facts of hypnotism, we ought to say that it would be an error to suppose that all the phenomena of this species of legend are absolutely false. There are degrees in the marvellous. The transmission of thought, or mental suggestion, which constitutes the first stage in this domain, has been recently the subject of an article by
Ch. Richet, in the Révue Philosophique of December, 1884. He has attempted to show "the influence exerted in a definite direction by the thought of one individual on another in his vicinity, without any external phenomenon, appreciable by the senses." Although these phenomena are not logically connected with hypnotism, since they could be produced in Eichet's friends when they were in normal health, awake, and in no sense hypnotized, yet it is true that public opinion has confounded together, under the name of animal magnetism, the nervous disturbance termed hypnotism, somnambulism, etc., and the phenomena which appear to be supernatural, such as the communication of thought, vision through an opaque body, prevision of the future, etc. For this reason we propose to say a few words on mental suggestion.
The facts in question are not absolutely new. Richet observes that we may perhaps trace the first accounts of mental suggestion to the well-known case of possession at Loudun. According to the story, Gaston d'Orléans found the Ursuline nuns agitated by frightful demoniac attacks, and he declared that they obeyed orders transmitted mentally. This was regarded as one of the chief signs of demoniac possession. De Puységur also mentions facts of mental suggestion. In the course of this century, many magnetizers have asserted that they could transmit their thoughts to somnambulist subjects; but they have been unable to prove this faculty to the satisfaction of learned bodies, which throws some doubt on their sincerity, or at any rate leads to the supposition that they unconsciously placed themselves en rapport with the subject by some external sign. It is now known that the slightest contact suffices to
establish a communication between the one who divines and the one who suggests. Cumberland's recent experiments must not be forgotten, of which the wonderful results were shown to be explicable by very simple causes. Cumberland held the hand of an individual who had hidden, or who was thinking of, some particular object, and, with his eyes bound, went directly towards the object in question. Kichet has ascertained that when the experiment succeeds, the subject, who is generally impressionable, unwittingly and involuntarily makes slight movements with his hand. This involuntary action betrays his thought, and puts the seeker on the right track in a way which no one who has not tried the experiment for himself would suspect.* Gley has thrown further light on Cumberland's method by his tracing of the muscular movements which explain the so-called thought-reading. The tracings clearly show that throughout the experiment there occurs in the subject's hand fibrillary contractions, slight movements of pressure, and in some cases a traction movement of the hand and whole arm. These movements increase in intensity when the object is approached, and when it is reached they suddenly cease. + Positive results were obtained from sixteen out of twenty-five persons.
We now come to Richet's experiments, and to the three orders of proof by which he sought to demonstrate mental suggestion.
1. In naming at a venture a card taken from a pack
of playing-cards, or a picture from picture-cards, the repetition of the experiment for a given number of times will show an average more or less in agreement with the calculus of probabilities. For instance, in a hand containing six cards, the probability of guessing aright is one-sixth; that is, one time in six.
This is not the case when the card taken at random has been seen by another person; the average, varying with the sensitiveness of the subject, is then somewhat higher than that which would have been afforded by the calculus of probabilities. In 218 experiments, it would be 67 instead of 42.
2. With the aid of a rod which reveals the unconscious action of the diviner's muscles, the average is still higher than that indicated by the calculus of probabilities. The probable number in 98 experiments would be 18; the actual number was 44.
3. If the subject be placed in what are call spiritist conditions, which only serve to reveal the slight, unconscious movements of a sensitive person, the average obtained is very much higher than that of the calculus of probabilities.
The author considers that these latter experiments prove more than all the others. Three persons are seated at a table, engaged in conversation; the middle one, termed the medium, unconsciously moves the table, and this movement, by means of a simple arrangement, causes an electric bell to ring. Two other persons are seated at a second table, placed behind the former one, and concealed from the other three persons: one silently runs through the alphabet with a pencil; the other notes on which letter the pencil rests when the bell
rings. Finally, there is a sixth person in the room, who has thought of a given word. On consulting the letters dictated by the table, it will be seen that there is a singular correspondence between these letters and the word thought of by the sixth person, who is neither seated at the spiritist table nor before the alphabet. We give instances —
Words thought of. Words dictated by table.
1. Jean Racine. 1. Igard.
2. Legros. 2. Neghn.
3. Esther. 3. Foqdem.
4. Henrietta. 4. Higiegmsd.
5. Cheuvreux. 5. Dievoreq.
6. Doremond, 6. Epjerod.
7. Chevalon. 7. Cheval.
8. Allouand. 8. Iko.
On a first inspection our readers will doubtless find these results very unsatisfactory. Richet has, however, deduced some curious results from them, after submitting them to mathematical analysis. Thus, in experiment three, where the word Esther was thought of, and the medium replied through the table Foqdem, the exactly corresponding number of letters counts as 6/24 in the calculation of chances, since the alphabet consists of twenty-four letters, and the word of six letters, so that it represents six attempts to guess right. The actual number is, however, much higher than the probable number; it is one out of six, namely— the letter e, which is in its right place. On applying this analysis to all the other cases cited, Richet finds that the total probable number is equal to 57/24 = 2, a calculation our readers may make for
themselves. The actual number obtained was fourteen, which is very high.
Richet comes to the definitive conclusion that the probability in favour of mental suggestion may be estimated at two-thirds. He, therefore, admits it to be probable that intellectual force is projected from the brain and echoed in the thought of another individual. He likewise admits that this re-echo acts chiefly on the unconscious intelligence of the individual who perceives and of the individual who transmits. This accounts for the success obtained with the spiritist table. Under these conditions the thought of the transmitting individual acts on the unconscious thought of the medium: the latter is endowed with a faculty of semi-somnambulism, in which one portion of the brain effects certain operations without giving notice to the ego. Finally, it should be said that this transmission of thought occurs in a degree which varies with the individual, since some are much more sensitive than others.
While we heartily applaud the step taken by Richet, who has had the courage to declare at his own risk what he believes to be the truth, we cannot accept his theory without reserve. It will generally be found that the facts prove less than he asserts, and that his interpretation of them is too favourable. One main objection consists in the fact that the calculation of chances is not adapted to decide questions of this nature: the mental transmission of thought is one of the phenomena which can only be accepted when demonstrated by proofs which should be strong in proportion as they are remote from established knowledge. The calculation of chances is, however, for the most part incapable of affording a
peremptory proof; it produces uncertainty, disquietude, and doubt.
Yet something is gained by substituting doubt for systematic denial. Richet has obtained this important result, that henceforth the possibility of mental suggestion cannot be met with contemptuous rejection.
While Richet, followed by Pierre Janet and others, has been trying experiments in France, a Society has been formed in England, called the Society for Psychical Research, which likewise makes the transmission of thought the object of study. This coincidence shows that the question is "in the air." The results obtained in England are surprising, and much higher than those of Richet. The least we can infer from them is that research should be continued in this direction, and that we should not be justified in à priori denial of the possibility of these phenomena because they appear to be improbable or supernatural.
Moreover, if we consider the question of mental suggestion in its simplest aspect, if we study thought-reading in the absence of any deliberately expressed movement, we shall soon see that we touch upon phenomena which physiologists do not disdain to consider.*
Of late years Stricker has strongly insisted on the fact that a mental representation of a word or letter cannot occur without a corresponding movement in the muscles which serve for the articulation of this word or letter. This movement, constituting external speech, is
not generally considered as such, since it may remain unperceived by the individual in whom it occurs. Yet such a movement is visible enough to be rapidly understood by certain subjects, as we have observed for ourselves; nor will the fact appear surprising to those who understand the process by which the deaf are able to understand what is spoken. This can only be regarded as mental suggestion, since it is the reading of unexpressed ideas.
But it is not only the muscles concerned in articulation which undergo modifications of tension under the influence of external excitement, or of mental representations: all the muscles of the organism take part in this modification.* There is no paradox in the statement that certain subjects are endowed with a peculiar sensitiveness which enables them to seize these changes of form. The experiments in graphology undertaken by Richet, Ferrari, and Hericourt constitute another and no less interesting process, which shows that each psychical state corresponds to a dynamic state, characterized by objective phenomena which come within the department of physiology.
If it is true that every psychical phenomenon is accompanied by vascular modifications,+ and consequently by modifications of colour, of temperature, of secretion, etc., we shall not push the hypothesis too far if we admit that excessively sensitive subjects are capable of feeling these thermic or secretory modifications.
Nothing occurs in the mind without a modification
of matter, and it is impossible to say at what point these modifications of matter may become perceptible. The study of mental suggestion is thus reduced to the reading of involuntary signs, and includes research into our most subtle reactions, and the measurement of the differential sensitiveness of various subjects, and especially of those who in their several states are hyper-excitable. This study should not be relegated to the occult sciences, to the unknowable; it is a most interesting physiological question.