The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-14 00:00:00

At the request of General Letizia, the armistice
has been indefinitely prolonged. It is to be hoped
General Garibaldi does not trust too much to Nea-
politan honour.

MESMERIC INFIRMARY, WEYMOUTH-
STREET; PORTLAND-PLACE.

The annual general meeting of the friends of this
institution, of which his Grace the Archbishop of
Dublin is the president, and.T. Elliotson, Esq., M.D.,
Cantab, F.R.S., is the hon. treasurer, was held on
Tuesday at Willis's Rooms, St. James's.
The chair was occupied by Frederick Boileau
Elliott, Esq., and amongst those present were Dr.
Elliotson, F.R.S., Dr. Purland, H. B. Poland, Esq.,
Magendie, Esq., F.R.S., Adolphe Kiste, Esq.,
William Wing, Esq., Mr. Capella, &c.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said
that, notwithstanding the attractions of her Ma-
jesty's drawing-room, he vas extremely gratified
at the attendance that day. He felt it would not
be required of him, on the present occasion, to go
deeply into the question to prove that mesmerism
was a great fact, of that they were all agreed,
and the interesting cases mentioned in their report
would, he trusted, convince others who still doubted
its existence. It was a great, strange, and remark-
able fact, that the existence of that wonderful power
should have remained so long buried to the world;
involuntarily it was resuscitated, and its discovery
in the present time must date from the time of its
enlightened restorer Mesmer. (Hear, hear.) Since
that time many hid practised it for their own pri-
vate benefit rather than to develope its blessings to
the human race. But the Mesmeric Infirmary was
the first attempt made practically to utilize discovery.
The infirmary was established in the face of great
opposition, but in spite of all obstruction it steadily
existed, and was advancing on the path of pro-
gress in a manner to afford the highest gratifica-
tion to all its admirers. Other hospitals that had
been established had met with public support, but it
had not been so with the Mesmeric Infirmary, and I
although such was the fact, its admirers had estab-
lished an institution which would most certainly
take its piece amongst the magnificent curative in-
stitutions of the country. An hospital was estab-
lished in India, but that was more for operations
than for the cure of diseases; but the action of chloro-
form having been introduced which produced easier
results, it was not in nature it should be so successful
as this infirmary had been. Mesmerism was op-
posed only by the self-interested, bigoted, and the
blind; but in spite of this it had made progress,
and experience had shown how applicable it was
to the alleviation of much human suffering. They
who were the advocates of mesmerism did not lay
claim to an infallible power, nor did they pretend
to be successful in their treatment on every occa-
sion ; but when they considered the cases which
had been brought before them, and that the results
showed a triumph over every other mode of curs—
when they saw what had been achieved those
results were really marvellous. He congratulated
the meeting that the funds of the institution
during the year had been in a most satisfactory
state ; but still they needed the assistance of their
friends to enable them to extend their operations.
Mr. WING then read the annual report, of which
the following are extracts
The work of the Infirmary has been steadily going on
since the last annual meeting, and much good been effected.
But, from the smallness of our means through the limited
knowledge on the part of the public of the truth, the facts,
and the utility of mesmerism, we are able to treat such pa-
tients only who can go about and do not live too far off to
go backwards and for wards to the institution. This greatly
lessens not only the number of our patients, but the range
of the diseases which we treat. Would it were otherwise

But, with the means which we possess, the results are very
satisfactory. _ _

No fewer than seven epileptic patients appear to have
been cured. This is a considerable number when we reflect
that the disease is generally so obstinate as to be called one
of the opprobria mcdicorion, and how few patients or their
friends have perseverance enough to persist sufficiently long
to give a chance of cure. Four of these were treated by our
Secretary, Mr. Fradelle, two by Mr. Charles Fisher, and
one by our other male mesmeriser, Mr. Russell. The fol-

lowirrg narrations must interest every one of the meeting

Epilepsy and Palsy with, Previion—Charlotte Wood•
land, aged 21, from Standford, near Hy-the, was sent to us.

August 17th, 1859, by Mr. Whitfield, a surgeon long estab-
lished at Ashford, who for many years has honestly de-
clared his conviction of the truth of mesmerism, and who
subscribed from the first to the Zoist, and to the infirmary.
On November 2d, 1855, she was seized with complete in-
sensibility, from a fright, and it returned once a month in
the evening- at the same hour for a whole year. From
being hysteria the disease became epilepsy, and the attacks
very frequent, sometimes one every few days and some-
times several in a day. After one of these she was left
with palsy throughout her right half. From the age of
six years she had suffered from frequent pains in the left half
of her head in consequence of a fall. Her eyes were often
inflamed and her throat ulcerated. On account of her pre-
sent fits and the palsy, she was placed under the parish
surgeon, who bled her in the arm to fainting every month
for half a year ; salivated her till her teeth were loose ; ap-
plied leeches; blistered her on the chest and on the back of

the neck ; and once shaved her head and kept a blister upon
it for 16 hours, and she was thus rendered worse than be-
fore. Her legs were sometimes enveloped in mustard poul-
tices, sometimes placed in hot water containing mustard,
and the length of the fits greatly increased. She was now
sent to a country hospital, where she remained nine weeks,
and was treated with leeches, mustard poultices, every two
or three hours, and hot baths which made her faint off and
weakened her greatly,—without the least benefit. So she,
returned home to the parish surgeon, who repeated his for-
mer treatment, and of course without any benefit. She
was next in a London hospital for six months, took medi-
cine again in abundance, was salivated, blistered, and well
supplied with mustard poultices. But the fits increased in
violence, length, and frequency, and once continued with
scarcely an intermission for 30 hours. A nurse, who consi-
dered that all her sufferings were a sham, threw, to test her,
a large basin of cold water upon her on different occasions as
she lay in bed, and allowed her to remain soaking all night
in her unconscious state. The result was a severe colol ; and

from that time she was not free from cough, quick breath-
ing, inability to breathe deeply or lie on her left side, and her
head moved at every breath ; her expectoration was copious
and often &odd. Cod liver oil was given to her for some time,
and she continued to have four fits a week, and returned
home to the care first of her former doctor and then of
another, gaining power in her palsied arm and leg, but still
so weak at the time of her application tp us as to be unable
to retain the erect position for a moment, or totter d
few steps, or even to stand, without support ; and she had
for nine months violent fits every night for eleven hours and a
half, and often in the day time. She had great pain in the
stomach and loins, and intense torpidity of bowels and want
of sleep ; indeed her only sleep for nine months was the
coma, attended by rigid closure of herhands, after each fit.
It was a most wretched case, but we had to do our best, and
Mr. Fradelle without hesitation took the case, and deter •
mined that, if it was curable by Mesmerism, he would cure
it. He mesmerised her on Sundays as well as on the other
days of the week, and allowed her to sleep many hours. He
began Aug. 29, and on the 30th she had less aching in her
chest. On September 1, she was sent to sleep, and remained
asleep from 10.45 a.m. till 2.15 p.m. The fit came on an hour
later than usual, and yet only continued to its usual hour.
On Sept. 4, her mesmeric sleep became sleep-waking, for
she spoke in it, thougik on waking she was perfectly igno-
rant of all that had passed. She even proved clairvoyant
as to her own case ; for, on being asked by Mr. Fradelle
whether he would cure her, she replied,
"Yes_ ," and on
being asked when, she replied, "In five months." She
gradually remained longer and longer in the sleep-
waking at the Infirmary and also at home, so that at
length she was in the Institution from 10 in the morn-
ing till past 8 in the evening in sound mesmeric sleep.
On the 9th of September she predicted in her mesmeric
sleep•waking that her daily attacks would cease in a fort-
night, and that she would then have natural sleep. On the
234 ehe predicted more minutely, gitilg the dem holm, i