The introduction of mesmerism, as an anaesthetic and curative agent, into the hospitals of India / by James Esdaile.

Date:
1852
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The introduction of mesmerism, as an anaesthetic and curative agent, into the hospitals of India / by James Esdaile. 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.

    14/52 (page 12)
    CHAP. I. MESMERIC SURGERY. CONSIDEEING the prejudices entertained against mesmerism, and the contemptuous manner in which the subject has been hitherto treated by the Medical Press, it is greatly to Dr. Simpson's honour that he should have requested me to furnish him with an account of my mesmeric experience in India, for publication in the Journal he is connected with. Mesmerism has been so completely a tahooed subject by the Medical Press, that the readers of this Paper will be astonished to learn, that while mesmerism and its cultivators were treated with contumely and ridicule in England, three successive Governors of Bengal, Sir Herbert Maddock, the ]\'Iarquis of Dalhousie, and Sir John Littler, were publicly acknowledg- ing its importance, encouraging its introduction into the Go- vernment Hospitals, and rewarding the person who introduced mesmerism into India. This result was not brought about by addressing the passions of the public, and by flattering profes- sional prejudices. The only levers I have used, by which to move the minds of men, have been truth, reason, and the na- tural sense of justice,—and on these I still exclusively rely. It is impossible that such notorious facts can be much longer concealed, and the attempt to do so must be ruinous to the reputation of any professional Journal. It will not be thought to detract from the intended practi- cal character of this Paper, I hope, if I give a short resumS'' of the rise, progress, and establishment of mesmerism in India, as an ansesthetic and curative agent.