Mesmerism in India : and its practical application in surgery and medicine / by James Esdaile.

  • James Esdaile
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mesmerism in India : and its practical application in surgery and medicine / by James Esdaile. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    more than rouse the public to a sense of danger, it will not have been written in vain. Small as is my personal expe- rience of Mesmerism, I have yet, with my own hands, done enough to impress me with a profound conviction that, manifold as are the blessings it confers, it must be used with care, and that it is a most formidable source of mis- chief in the hands of the ignorant and the unprincipled. In a note, in the body of the work, will be found an ac- count of the influence I exerted over a young gentleman in London. I can now relate a still more striking case. When lately inviting a lady to pay me a visit, I thus wrote to her:— Unbeliever in Mesmerism as you are, I hope to convince you of its reality by setting you asleep. In her reply she observed:—You will, indeed, find me hard to be convinced ; but if you can procure me refreshing sleep, it will be the greatest blessing, for I have not had a sound sleep for eighteen months. Knowing the anguish she had endured by family bereavements, and that her health was much impaired, a desire to relieve her sufferings made me resolve to try whether she could be brought under the in- fluence of Mesmerism. An opportunity presented itself shortly after her arrival here. On the evening of the 9th of this month (June,) the oppressive heat of the weather rendered her languid ; her voice was very rough, and she was evidently labouring under a slight attack of bronchi- tis. Believing that the inflammation might be subdued by means of Mesmerism, I requested permission to try its effi- cacy. This having been kindly granted, I subjected her to the usual manipulation for half an hour. She became perfectly placid, but did not fall asleep; she was merely drowsy, and disinclined to rise. No marked symptoms having been exhibited, I concluded that the experiment had failed; but, next morning, I was agreeably surprised to
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