Hypnotism / by Doctor Foveau De Courmelles ; translated by Laura Ensor.

Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hypnotism / by Doctor Foveau De Courmelles ; translated by Laura Ensor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    ''' ,v A.AAAA/v/VA >/w «/ V/ »/ x/vy> vVW \yvu»/>/i/'M/./«»'/</«/»/»/Vwv/ complexion tanned like that of a peasant, a bright and quick eye, a hurried and resonant voice, he has an open countenance, a mixture of gravity and simplicity, of authority and gentleness; the gaiety of a child and something of the calm of a priest about him. Moreover he is an apostle, an apostle who has sacrificed every- thing— fortune, consideration and comfort—for his belief. He never stirs out, and even in his own town is so ignorant of the very names of the streets that he is frequently obliged to ask his way, and has been known to wander about unable to find the railway station. Indeed his appearance is little known to the inhabitants of Nancy, but his name is famous among the poor for thirty miles around.” The son of peasants, he first studied for the priest- hood, but afterwards became medical student at the University of Strasbourg. In 1848 he read something —he hardly remembers what—on magnetism, and was at once struck with the dilemma that was suggested : the difficulty of being neither duped nor cheated by the subjects. He sought for a hook on it, and a sub- ject ; and having found both became convinced of the efficacy of the method. He was at that time (1850) doctor in medicine, and settled at Port-Saint-Yincent, about eight miles from Nancy, and in good practice. One day, as he proposed to magnetize the epileptic daughter of a farmer, the latter made this discouraging reply: “This is a new-fangled idea, you know how such innovations are looked upon, especially in the
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