A few notes on mesmeric phenomena : [shewing their coincidence and harmony with the important discoveries which are developed in the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg, addressed more particularly to the readers of the Intellectual Repository] / By Aleph [i.e. W. Harvey].

  • Harvey, William, 1796-1873
Date:
[1845?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A few notes on mesmeric phenomena : [shewing their coincidence and harmony with the important discoveries which are developed in the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg, addressed more particularly to the readers of the Intellectual Repository] / By Aleph [i.e. W. Harvey]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    we have a practical proof of the value and importance of this kind of evidence, by which its principles have already been developed, which have led him to verify the facts by actual experiment. Vvrith a mind unso¬ phisticated by educational prejudices, he gives the simple detail of the operation of those laws of testimony which in the nature of things we are compelled to act upon in the most important concerns of human life. If there is nothing particularly new as to experiment in his state¬ ments of this vital inliuence, yet the cases which he introduces in illus¬ tration are >vell worthy of the deep consideration of the profoundest philosopher and gravest divine. They are simply related—mthout any artificial coloming, and speak to the understanding and to the heart of every well-disposed mind. He thus introduces the manner in which his attention w^as drawn to the subject, and wdiich gave the impetus to his desire in the further prosecution of his inquiries: — “ In the Memoir of that distinguished scholar, Lavater, by Heisch, it is stated, that, while at Geneva, he had frequent opportunities of seeing the operation of animal magnetism performed; and having from these observations become convinced of its salutary influence in many illnesses, particularly nervous ones, he determined, on his return to Zurich, to try this new method of cure on his wife, who had often been affected with nervous complaints, and was at the time labouring under a severe and obstinate illness. He foudd all the phenomena which he had witnessed on his journey, or of which accounts had been communi¬ cated to him by others, confirmed. In this case, too, there was no fear of deception. Having been thrown by the operation into magnetic sleep, Mrs. Lavater conversed on things of which, while awake, she knew nothing. Lavater, who was so well acquainted with the extent of her knowledge, could judge with accuracy of the new ideas she expressed during this exalted state of her mind. This operation, which he con¬ tinued for some time, having greatly alleviated her illness, Lavater and his brother, a highly respectable physician, tried it also upon others; and the following is the result of his obseiwations, so far as they relate to health, in his ovm words:—‘ I am not satisfied with the whole of Mesmer’s system, but I believed what I heard from respectable witnesses, and now believe—what I have often seen with my own eyes, and what my brother has seen more than a hundred times, and what any one may see every day—that there is a power in man, which by a certain manifestation can pass into another, and produce the most striking effects. I believe that some intelligent persons suffering under disease, particularly such as labour under nervous complaints, can, through this operation, be thrown into a kind of trance, in which they have finer perceptions than in their waking state, and often foretel, with the