Animal Magnetism, Or Mesmerism, an influence analogous to terrestrial and metallic magnetism, supposed to reside in animal bodies and to be capable of transmission from one to another. It was first brought into notice in Germany in 1775 by Mesmer, a native of Swa-bia, who had graduated in medicine at Vienna nine years before, and had written as his inaugural thesis a treatise on "The Influence of the Planets on the Human Body." He regarded the new force, which he said could be exerted by one living organism upon another, as a means of alleviating or curing disease. Maximilian Hell, a professor of astronomy at Vienna, had made some suggestions to Mesmer a few years earlier as to the possibility of producing an effect on the human body by magnetism, and he soon claimed to be the discoverer of the new influence. Mesmer declared that the effects he produced were those of animal magnetism, capable of transmission without his touching the body of the patient, while Hell's theory, he affirmed, had made necessary the actual contact of the patient with a metallic magnet. The disputes to which this rivalry gave rise, together with various accusations of imposture, caused Mesmer to receive a warning from the government.

He left Vienna, and in 1778 transferred his residence to Paris. Here he appears to have been from the first regarded with dislike, or at least with suspicion, by the medical profession, but with great favor by the general public. He received at his house patients suffering from various diseases, and performed upon them many reputed cures by the influence of the magnetic fluid. His method was to seat himself in front of the patient, with his eyes steadily fixed upon him, and to perform with the hands a few preliminary manipulations about the epigastrium and hypochon-drium in order to establish between them what he called the "magnetic relation." lie then proceeded to operate upon the diseased part by touching it with the right hand on one side and the left on the other, and performing certain circular or vibratory movements with the fingers which were left free; an essential condition being that actual contact should be kept up on the two opposite sides in order that the magnetic influence might circulate, passing into the body of the patient on one side and out again on the other.

His idea with regard to the nature of the influence termed animal magnetism may be best conveyed in his own words, as contained in a set of so-called "propositions " or "assertions,'1 in a volume published by him in 1779 and entitled Memoire sur la decouverte du mugnetisme animale. The most important of these propositions are as follows: 1. "There exists a mutual influence between the celestial bodies, the earth, and animated beings.1' 2. "This reciprocal action is regulated by mechanical laws which up to the present time have been unknown." 3. "Animal bodies are susceptible to the influence of this agent; and they are affected by it on account of its disseminating itself through the substance of the nerves." In cases where the body was affected by some disorder which pervaded all parts of the system, Mesmer was in the habit of magnetizing his patients with long and wide passes, made from a distance, either with the open hands or with the aid of a short-rod or wand of glass or steel. His success with the public, however, and the number of patients who presented themselves, increased so rapidly that he could no longer give to each one the personal attention rendered necessary by this method of practice, and a new one was adopted which soon became the main feature of the magnetic system, and was in fact the principle from which mesmerism, or animal magnetism as practised by Mesmer, acquired its greatest reputation and popularity.

This was the "magnetic tub," about a foot and a half high and six feet in diameter, placed in the centre of a spacious apartment. This tub was filled with water up to a certain level, and its bottom covered with a mixture of iron filings and broken glass. Around its outer circumference were ranged a series of bottles with their necks looking inward toward the centre, and around its centre another set of bottles with their necks looking outward. The whole tub was surmounted by a wooden cover pierced with a number of small holes; and through these holes were inserted an equal number of glass or metallic rods bent at right angles, the inner ends of which dipped beneath the surface of the water, while the outer portions radiated horizontally in every direction, and were held in contact with the bodies of the patients, arranged in concentric circles round the tub. Thus a large number could be subjected at the same time to the magnetic influence. The tub was a sort of reservoir in which the magnetic force was condensed, and from which it radiated in continuous currents through the bodies of the patients.

Its circulation was secured by means of a long cord, attached by one extremity to the tub, and passed in successive loops round the waist of each person, the magnetizer himself forming one link in this continuous chain of living bodies. Thus the magnetism, radiating from the tub by the metallic rods, returned again to it by means of the cord, and so continued its course in a closed circuit without ever becoming exhausted. The more susceptible of the patients soon felt a nervous influence pervading the affected parts, or even their whole bodies. This often became so intensified as to produce irregularity of respiration, and, especially among the female patients, sobs and laughter of an hysterical nature, exaltation of the sensibilities, partial unconsciousness, and even convulsions and a kind of maniacal delirium. These effects, however, lasted but for a time after the patient was removed from the magnetic circle, and resulted in many cases, according to the assertions of Mesmer and his friends, in the relief or cure of diseases previously regarded as hopeless. The receipts of Mesmer from the patients resorting to his establishment were said at one time to amount to nearly 100,000 francs a year.