DURING his residence in Paris Mesmer was involved in continual disputes with the doctors. This was neither his intention nor his desire. But the attitude of the Medical Faculty of Paris towards him was such that he was compelled in his own defence to waste valuable time in unprofitable debate.
It was impossible for the medical profession of Paris to ignore Mesmer as, no doubt, it would like to have done. His reputation had preceded him, and it was of that awkward kind which springs from results obtained instead of being founded upon honours and degrees which maybe secured through favouritism or purchased by hard cash. Therefore, at first, the Faculty thought it wise at least to appear interested and friendly.
The President of the Academy of Sciences, M. Leroi, proposed that Mesmer should demonstrate the usefulness of his discovery by treating
a selected number of cases, chosen by a Committee of the Royal Society of Medicine, composed of Drs. Daubenton, Desperriers, Mauduyt, Andry, Tessier, and Vicq d'Azyr.
This offer Mesmer declined. To have accepted it would, he said, have been useless. His experiences at Rohow and in Vienna had taught him that those who do not desire to be convinced will not be convinced by the most incontestable and sensational cures. His object, he said, was to induce the Faculty to try his system for themselves and not to set himself in opposition to them. He wrote to M. Leroi: "My principal object is to demonstrate the existence of a physical agent hitherto unobserved, and not to array against my discovery medical men whose personal interests would necessarily induce them to injure my cause, and even my person. It is as a natural philosopher myself, and not as a physician, that I call on you, men of science, requesting you to observe natural phenomena and to pronounce on my system."
Wishing, however, to work in conjunction with the Faculty, he made a counter-proposition. He asked that twenty patients should be selected by the Committee of the Royal Society of Medicine, comprising cases of all
kinds, equally severe; half of these to be treated by the Faculty according to the old and approved methods, and the other half by himself. The division was to be made by lot. Neither the Academy of Sciences nor the Royal Society of Medicine would listen to this proposition.
In May 1778, weary of what he called the "puerile objections" of the doctors, Mesmer selected several bad cases and took them to his establishment at Creteil, six miles from Paris,
first applying to the Royal Society of Medicine to examine and certify them. The Society sent two doctors for that purpose. But, on their arrival, they apparently mistrusted their skill in diagnosis, for they declined to make a report. The maladies chosen (epilepsy, paralysis, blindness, deafness) might, they said, be feigned.
Mesmer then applied to M. Vicq d'Azyr, Secretary of the Royal Society of Medicine, asking leave to present his patients before the whole Society for certification. "For," as he pertinently remarked, "men who thus doubt their own ability to ascertain the truth of a disease, would doubt still more when requested to pronounce on restoration to health." At the same time he enclosed certificates of independent members of the Faculty as to the
genuineness of the diseases of his patients. His application was refused and the certificates returned unopened.
Hearing nothing further, Mesmer wrote again to M. Vicq d'Azyr, saying that he would proceed with the treatment, and hoping that, when the time came, the Society would not refuse to hold an inquiry. In August Mesmer wrote to M. Leroi. His patients, he said, were almost ready for inspection. The President of the Academy of Sciences took no notice. Nothing daunted, he again applied to M. Vicq d'Azyr, requesting the Royal Society of Medicine to examine his patients. The only reply was a curt refusal. Nothing remained for Mesmer to do but to publish the sworn statements of his patients and of his witnesses. The most interesting of these sworn statements is that of Charles du Hussay, Major of Infantry and Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis.
Major du Hussay had suffered from typhus in the Indies. He was a physical wreck when he consulted Mesmer, broken in mind and body. His statement is as follows:—
"After four years of useless experiments and the constant attendance of eminent physicians, among whom I can name several members of
the Royal Society of Medicine of Paris, who personally know me and my case, I consented, as a last resort, to accept the proposition of Dr. Mesmer to try the proceedings of a method hitherto unknown. When I arrived at his establishment my head was constantly shaking, my neck was bent forward, my eyes were protruding from their sockets and greatly inflamed, my tongue was paralysed, and it was with the utmost difficulty that I could speak; a perpetual and involuntary laugh distorted my mouth, my cheeks and nose were of a red purple, my respiration was very much embarrassed, and I suffered a constant pain between the shoulders; all my body trembled and I staggered when walking. In a word, my gait was that of an old drunkard, rather than that of a man of forty. I know nothing of the means resorted to by Dr. Mesmer; but that which I can say with the greatest truth is that, without using any kind of drugs, or other remedy than ‘Animal Magnetism,’ as he calls it, he made me feel the most extraordinary sensations from head to foot. I experienced a crisis characterised by a cold so intense that it seemed to me that ice was coming out of my limbs; this was followed by a great heat, and a perspiration of a very fetid nature, and
so abundant at times as to cause my mattress to be wet through. The crisis lasted over a month; since that time I have rapidly recovered, and now, after about four months, I stand erect and easy. My head is firm and upright, my tongue moves perfectly, and I speak as well as anyone. My nose and cheeks are natural, my colour announces my age and good health, my respiration is free, my chest has expanded, I feel no pain whatever, my limbs are steady and vigorous, I walk very quickly, without care and with ease. My digestion and appetite are excellent. In a word, I am perfectly free from all infirmities.
"I certify that this statement is in every particular conformable to truth. Given under my hand and seal, at Paris, the 28th of August, 1778.
"(Signed) CH. DU HUSSAY, ETC."