The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-03 00:00:00

MESMERISM, BY DR. ELLIOTSON.
We attended yesterday, by the invitation of Dr. El-
liotson with a select company of literary men, barristers,
and physicians, to witness a series of mesmeric experi-
ments, which took place at - his residence in Conduit-
street. The manifestations of the magnetic influence
which were produced•were decided and obvious, and in
the highest degree curious and interesting, although it is
by no means an easy task to describe them satisfactorily
in writing. The•first subject was a young lady, about
twenty-four or 0-vent) -five years of age, who, having been
for several years subject to epileptic fits, without expe-
riencing any relief from the • constant and costly assist-
ance of the most eminent physicians, to whom her parents
were from time to time recommended, was cured by the
magnetic operations of Dupotet, and has not had a
fit since the first time (four years ago),- when the pe-
culiar sleep called mesmeric was induced by the Baron's
manipulations. We have heard of several well-attested
cases in which, by the application of the same means,
she has lately afforded to others the same relief which
she herself derived from magnetism. The object of her
introduction upon this occasion Was to show, by contrast
with the next subject, the very different effects of mes-

meristn on different constitutions. On this oc-
casion she was sent to sleep in twenty seconds.
Her limbs were rigid, and she was in a state
of absolute and unquestionable insensibility. Yet she
followed every motion of 1)r. Elliotson's hands precisely
as a needle v ill follow the magnet ; and when he caused
her to stop in her extraordinary progress after him
across the room, she stood fur twenty minutes fixed and
motionless as a marble statue, in a position in which the
most vigorous and adroit posture-master in the world
could not sustain himselt for a minute. The rigidity of
her muscles was extreme, as in the case of the young
man who has been the principal subject of M. Lafon-
, taine's experiments at the Queen's Rooms. In this re-
spect the next subject was very differently affected ; for
in her there was not only no rigidity of the muscles, but
no power to raise the body from the reclining position,
or to hold a limb for many seconds in the position to
which the
.movements of the magnetizer attracted it.
She was between fifteen and sixteen years
of age,
.and with a countenance so sweetly
expressive of ingeniousness and good-nature, that if
the allegations that mesmeric exhibitions are all fraud
and collusion have any truth in her case, the " human
face divine " is a most villainous and unpardonable liar.
Her story has some traits of painful interest. She is one of
a family of nine daughters, of whom (we believe, three
years ago) seven were at the same time attacked with
scarlet fever. Upon the subsidence of that specific
plague, she became subject to epileptic fits of the most
clisixessing character% suffering no less than fifteen a-
day ! Her father obtained for her, at vast expense,
the continual aid of the most distinguished medical men;
but without any mitigation et her sufferings. He
says he cared nothing for the cost, but he was heart-
broken to Ivitness the condition of his child ; and
although he had
.little faith in mesmerism; he determined
to try it as a forlorn hope. Under 1)r. Elliotson's care,
with the application of that remedy alone, she has ob-
tained such complete relief, that there is reason to hope
that she will never have another fit ; and this is her
own opinion. In the experiments of yesterday, we had
some extraordinary proofs of the mysterious sympathy
between the magnetiser and the patient, which we de-
spair of making intelligible by any exertion of our
powers of description. When she was in a state of ap-
parent catalepsy, and insensible to all that passed
around her, she manifested in the most unequivocal
manner, a consciousness of, and pleasure in, the Doc-
tor's being near her—inquietude and distress when he
moved away—and annoyance and disgust when any
one else approached her. Notwithstanding this, how-
ever, several experiments were tried by every gentleman
present as to the subjection of her insensible limbs
to their mesmeric attraction ; and her hands and feet,
her head and eyelids, were moved to and fro, up and
down, as the experimenters thought proper, but with
strong and evident expressions of displeasure on her part.
We were also informed of several extraordinary cases
of mesmeric cure, upou the authority of tradesmen of
high respectability, and far removed from all suspicion
of deceit ; but we do not think that a detail of them
comes properly Within
,the scope of this notice.

THE TIMBER TRADE.—The extremely de-
pressed state of the timber trade, at the present moment,
furnishes a convincing proof of the insufficiency even of
the highest protecting duties to preserve particular
interests in a state of prosperity, whilst the country
generally is suffering. The decline in the price of
most descriptions of timber has been. from 20 to 25 per
cent. - This, we believe, is entirely owing to the ces-
sation of building throughout the kingdom, which is
always a certain and immediate consequence of public
distress. There have been seldom fewer houses build-
ing in Liverpool than at present. In the manufacturing
districts it is too difficult to find employment for the
mills which are already erected for any new ones to
be built. *The present miserably low rates of freights
to all parts of the world, besides depreciating the value
of ship property already in existence, also act:: most
injuriously on the timber trade and on ship building.
We have already alluded to the depressed state of
shipping: and we may add, that although there is no
interest in' the kingdom of more importance than this,
there is none which is more heavily pressed upon by
impolitic legislation. The duties on all descriptions of
timber greatly enhance the cost of. building British
ships ; the duties on corn and provisions add greatly to
the expense of navigating them ; and -the exclusion of
foreign corn, except by fits and starts, deprives the Bri-
tish shipowner of the carriage of the bulky article,
greatly needed in this country, and to be obtained in
greater or smaller quantities in all those ports from which
there is at present the greatest difficulty in procuring
cargoes. Under these circumstances, there can be no
wonder that the timber trade is depressed, and that the
protecting duties on colonial timber, high as they are,
have altogether failed to keep it in a state of prosperity.
—Liverpool
It will be remeinered that the Lord Chancellor;
on Monday night, just before the House of Peers ad-
journed, presented a Bill to relieve " a Noble Lord "
(the name was not mentioned at the time) from the dis-
abilities and penalties he had incurred in consequence of
having taken his seat and voted before taking the oaths
and going through the other prescribed and requisite
forms. It now appears that the Noble Lord then alluded
to was the Earl of Scarborough, and the Bill in question
bears this title :—" A Bill to relieve the Right Hon.
John Savile Lumley Savile, Earl of Scarborough, from
certain disabilities, in consequence of his having sat and
voted in the House of Peers without being duly
qualified by taking the oaths and making the declaration
prescribed by law, and subscribing the same respec-
tively." It was presented by the Lord Chancellor by her
Majesty's command, and read the first time. The Stand-
ing Orders, Nos. 26 and 155 (that Bills should not be
read twice in a day, &c.), are to be taken into considera-
tion on Monday next, with a view to this Bill going
through all its stages on that day ; and the Lords have
been summoned to attend on that occasion. The dis-
abilities incurred (according to' the 30th Charles 11.,
stat. 2, cap. 1) are very numerous and serious ; and the
accidental omission to comply with that, statute in the
present case has brought the Noble Earl into a curious
position in relation to the severe enactments of that Actl
A BRIDAL BLUNDER.—At Walcot, last week,
a dashing carriage drove up to the church from Box, and
a bride, attended by her bridesmaid, was handed out by
her papa. The parson and the whole party were soon
in readiness for the important ceremony, with the ex-
ception that a chief performer in the drama was unac-
countably absent. The bride trembled as the minutes
moved away, and—" He cometh not, she said, she said :
he cometh not, she said." Her father waxed wrrth at
the bridegroom's unpardonable non-appearance, and,
taking horse, gallopped in search of his intended son-
in-law. On arriving at the sinner's house, he found him
quietly pursuing his wonted avocations, unconscious of
the presence of his dulcinea at Hymen's altar. An ex-
planation ensued. He had left the lady and her brides-
maid to fix the day—Ahe important day :—and they had
sent him a note—a sort of warrant—announcing to him
his loss of batchelor-life on the 10th of August, 1841 :
but, unfortunately, they committed the blunder of ne-
glecting to ascertain if the intimation was received as
well as sent. The fact was, it was not received—and
hence the disappointment. The bride thanked her stars.
it was no worse. and the wedding took place on the fol-
lowing day.—Tyne Mercury.
DEATH FROM WANT OF MEDICAL AID.--
Yesterday evening, Mr. Payne held an inquest at the
Bell public-house, Poppin's-court, Fleet-street, on view
of the body of Elizabeth Biggs, aged 28. Deceased had
been subject to fits of epilepsy during the last three
years, and on Tuesday last, she was suddenly seized with
a renewal of her former attacks. She continued in fits
all that night, and died in consequence on the following
morning. Just before her death a medical man was
called in, but it was too late. In giving his evidence, this
gentleman stated deceased's life would undoubtedly have
been saved if she had had proper and timely medical
aid. Verdict —" Died from the effect of fits."

SUDDEN DEATH OF E. J. SNIYTI4 E, Esq.—
We have to announce the melancholy and sudden death
of E. J. Smythe, Esq., eldest son of Sir E. J. Smythe,
Bart., of Acton Burnell Hall, in this county. On Satur-
day last, whilst riding with the respected Baronet and
others after a buck in the park, he was suddenly seized
with illness, and fell senseless from his horse ; and so
violent was the attack, that before surgical aid (Mr.
John It. Durnell, of Pitchford, who lost no time in being
on the spot) could reach Acton Burnell, life had fled.
It is supposed that from exertion a ruptured vessel
caused his death.—Salvian Journal.
RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—An aged man, named
James Chorley, employed on the Bristol and Exeter
Railway, on Thursday night fell asleep, and the deceased.
who had unfortunately sat close to the line, must have
fallen across the rail. The mail train came clown at its
usual hour, and being undisturbed by its noise, it passed
over him, severed his head froin his
.body, carrying it to
a considerable distance, and divided his trunk at a little
below his chest. So little alteration in the motion of the
engine and carriages did the accident occasion, that the
engineers, guards, and passengers were, on their arrival
at Bridgewater, unconscious of the occurrence of any-
thin; unusual.—Bristol Standard.
AN AUTHENTIC JOE MILLER.—As if to re-
deem the habitual dullness of Joe Miller, one solitary,
joke of his stands on respectable authority. Joe, sit-
tingeure
must;
at the window of the Sun Tavern, in Clare-street,a.
while a fish-woman was crying,
ymoyu ar maids
not I"
contentexclaimteod 's
lAh yourly ctu:: own‘Bv wicked
!buy
Pueld,y m
old y solesyroe uat b
sell your maid's too."—Bentley's lifisce lany.
A GAME PIKE.--A gentleman, fishing in the
neighbourhood of Fochabers, a few days ago, caught a
pike, upwards of two feet long, from the stomach of
which he extracted a well-grown leveret. or young hare
—the head, shoulders, and fore-paws being as fresh and
entire as if' newly coursed down. The presumption is,
not that the pike had gone a-poaching, but that pussy
had unwittingly trespassed upon the watery domain of
this sharkish gourmand.—Aberdeen Journal.