0.0 – Christian Science Publication Contents

first names used to describe what is today called hypnotism

100:1 - 101:7 ~ Mesmerism or animal magnetism was first brought into notice by Mesmer in Germany in 1775. According to the American Cyclopedias, he regarded this so-called force, which he said could be exerted by one living organism over another, as a means of alleviating disease. His propositions were as follows:
"There exists a mutual influence between the celestial bodies, the earth, and animated things.  Animal bodies are susceptible to the influence of this agent, disseminating itself through the substance of the nerves." 
In 1784, the French government ordered the medical faculty of Paris to investigate Mesmer's theory and to report upon it. Under this order a commission was appointed, and Benjamin Franklin was one of the commissioners. This commission reported to the government as follows:
"In regard to the existence and utility of animal magnetism, we have come to the unanimous conclusions that there is no proof of the existence of the animal magnetic fluid; that the violent effects, which are observed in the public practice of magnetism, are due to manipulations, or to the excitement of the imagination and the impressions made upon the senses; and that there is one more fact to be recorded in the history of the errors of the human mind, and an important experiment upon the power of the imagination."