The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-06 00:00:00

E‘ ENING, JANUARY 6, 1844.

ANUARY 5, 1844.

h of January, 1841, showing the Increase

EXTRAORDINARY UPROAR.
LECTURE ON AIESNIERISAL
On Thursday evening a lecture was given at the Greenwich
Literary and Scientific Institution by Mr. Vernon on Mesme-
rism, which has latterly excited great attention, particularly in
that district. At eight o'clock the lecture hall, which will con-
tain upwards of 1,000 persons, was crowded to excess. Amongst
the company were a great number of ladies, several of the
county magistrates, gentry, and professional anti scientific men.
On the platform, which was devoted to the lecturer, patients,
and medical gentlemen, who attended to take part in the pro-
ceedings, were Dr. Oak, of Blackheath ; Dr. Purvis, of Green-
wich ; and Messrs. Oak, Mitchell, Sherwin, Atkins, Apple-
ton, Smith, and Addison and Hope, surgeons of the Dread-
nought Hospital ship; besides a number of medical students
from the London hospitals in the gallery.
Mr. BF.NNETT, silversmith, of Stockwell-street, Greenwii h,
was called to the Chair.
Mr. VERNON then came forward and introduced three mes-
meric patients—namely, the boy Cook, a very intelligent look •
ing youth ; a young man, apparently about 90 years of age, and
the very reverse in appearance to Cook ; and a young woman,
about the same age. She was very pale, and having looked
timidly round sat down and appeared to pay great attention to
the lecturer's address.
Mr. Smith, jun., who it will be remembered mesmerised the
boy Cook, was also present.
Mr. VERNON said that, from the great number of persons
present, he felt assured a strong interest was felt on the subject
of mesmerism. The cause which had mere directly brought
him down was the ease of the boy Cook, whom he had been
requested to visit, and lie now came forward more particularly
to meet the gentlemen of the medical profession, who had so
boldly asserted that it was a delusion from beginning to end.
Ile had no doubt he should show effects which would convince
any unbiassed mind that mesmerism yeas not a delusion, but
deserved to be ranked amongst the sciences. He then went
on with a formal lecture on the subject, and was occasionally
saluted with laughter from the medical gentlemen, and on two
or three occasions audible hisses greeted his ears.
The Lecturer then cleared the front of the platform, so that
no persons might touch the patient or be near enough to nega-
tive the mesmeric influence. The female was then seated in
a chair facing the auditory.
Mr. VERNON requested any two or three gentlemen to stand
by during the operations. He hoped to have seen Mr. Hope,
who had so positively denied the existence of mesmeric in-
fluence over the boy Cook, come and defend his assertions if
he could.
There was a general call for Mr. Hope, who, accompanied
by Mr. Addison, another surgeon on board the Dreadnought,
stepped on to the platform.
The LECTURER, in answer to questions, said he had mes-
merised the patient four times before, but never publicly. He
had done so six weeks ago at a private soiree at Dr. Partridge's
in Upper Montague-street.
Dr. OAK said that only a few minutes before the girl said
she had only been mesmerised twice; her memory, therefore,
was, at all events, very defective.—(Hear.)
Mr. MITCHELL--Well, if there is any truth in the argument,
I ask the lecturer to mesmerise me. As a professional man I
shall be a better patient.--(Laughter.) I must confess I am
sceptical, but if I am wrong I am willing to become a convert
—the test, howi4er, must be my being subjected to the mes-
meric influence, and here lam to submit to it.—( He seated
himself in a chair amidst tumultuous applause, which appeared
at first to astound the operator.
Mr. VERNON appealed to the Chairman whether it could be
expected of him to do any other than appeared in the bills.
He had attended, not of his own accord, but by special
invitation ; neither was he doing it for pecuniary gain.
He had no hand in drawing up the bill, but had prepared
himself to act up to the promise held out in it. He
thought he would be doing sufficient in demonstrating
what he could do, without attempting that which might be
successful, or from many causes an utter failure. It was a
subject which ought to be acted upon with solemnity and calm-
ness, and not in the manner which the gentleman who had
strutted out and thrown himself into antics something amount-
ing to mountebank-ism.—( Hear, hear, and laughter—and " No
shuffling.") The person who cried "no shuffling" had put
himself /ion de combat—he kept aloof and proved he could not
approach the subject as a matter of science. With regard to
the gentleman (Mr. Mitchell) he would undertake to say that
on any future occasion he would mesmerise him—if he could.—
( Hear, and laughter.)
Mr. Sneawist said that by the invitation of the Learned
Professor they had left the pleasures of private life to meet him
on the occasion, and all they asked was a fair opportunity to in-
vestigate the matter.
Mr. VERNON—Don't call me a learned professor.—( A voice,
" Hold your tongue, don't quarrel; who can go to sleep in such
a noise ?")—(Laughter.)
Mr. VERNON—I say it was not my summons for you to
attend. I had no interest in the matter, and have only come
to prove facts within my own knowledge.—( Hisses, and much
confusion. )
The CHAIRMAN called loudly to order, and begged to know
whether it was desired that the lecture should proceed?
Dr. Punvis said it was a matter which ought to be met
fairly, calmly, and dispassionately; and, as Mr. Vernon had
come to oblige, it was not treating him fairly. They could
not tell what those phenomena were, and it was not fair to chal-
lenge him to do what he had not professed.
Order having been restored,
Drs. Purvis and Oak were called 'on by the audience to act
as judges, and give their impartial opinion as to the result of
the experiment.
The Lecturer then made the usual passes, and in less than
one minute the patient was declared by the operator to be in a
state of mesmeric coma.
Mr. Addison and Mr. Sherwin then applied a bottle of strong
ammonia to her nostrils and mouth, for several minutes, and
the patient showed but very slight oppression.
Mr. Sherwin afterwards unclosed her eyelids and introduced
his fingers into her mouth, without any visible effect, but caused
loud cries of " shame " from many persons. On being loudly
called on to state his opinion as to whether the patient was
in a mesmeric trance, he, after some ambiguous answers, said
there was more the appearance of a person assuming sleep
than otherwise. She evidently had a will and responded to
the touch.
Mr. VERNON. said she was not sleeping the sleep of death,
nor was it pretended that she had no will or imagination; the
real question was, was it a mesmeric or natural sleep. The
test of the strong ammonia which Mr. Sherwin had adminis-
tered at half the strength and applied for half the time, would
have awoke him out of the soundest natural sleep.
Dr. Owe said he had been thirty-five years in the prVession,
and he hoped he might venture an opinion on the case. He
wished to be convinced whether there was any truth in the
matter, but, looking at the patient, it was evident she was
hysterical, and not in health ; at present she was labouring
under hysteria ; besides that, he had just previously heard her
speak.
Mr. VERNON—Yes, to be sure you did, to
Dr. OAK (vehemently).-_W hen I hear the operator speak to
the patient, who answers rationally, how the devil can you
think otherwise than that she is awake ?—(Loud cries of " re-
turn our money," and great confusion. )
Mr. VERNON-Dr. Oak said that from 35 years' experience
he was qualified to decide whether it was a case of mesmerism
or not.
Dr. OAK—I did not say mesmerism. I don't believe in it,
and I won't have words put into my mouth.
Mr. VERNON—II is one of the facts connected with the
phenomena.—( Great uproar, and cries of " you are practising
an absurdity—the imposture is sufficiently apparent," &c.)
The CHAIRMAN—ShaII the meeting be dissolved ? (Up-
roar. ) The lecturer, of course, does not expect to make every
man here of the same opinion, but he is entitled to a hearing.
Those who are dissatisfied 'might have their money returned if
they thought proper to leave.—( Hear.)
Mr. VERNON said he expected to have met with a profes-
sional reception, instead of the uproarious conduct which was
more like that in the gallery of a theatre, than of those met for
the acquirement of scientific knowledge. Whatever the ge-
neral tenor of their minds might be at that time they were not
capable of appreciating any scientific explanation. Unless,
therefore, sonie pledge was given of more orderly conduct he
would not demean himself by continuing the lecture to
them.—( Great uproar, during which the lecturer led the patient
off; he then returned). Such uproar was truly disgraceful.
He must be excused, if, after such treatment, he was some-
what excited. He had not run away, but had been perform-
ing an act of common courtesy to a female who had voluntarily
come forward for their information.—(Hear, hear.) She was
not kindly treated by the medical gentleman, and the mes-
meric influence had been partially destroyed.—(Cries of "It's
all a humbug," &c.)
Sir. WADE (of Deptford) said there were two facts which
ought to be stated, which were, that Mr. Vernon had come
forward purely for the sake of truth ; and the next, that the
money received for admission was to go to the institution, and
not a farthing went to him—( Applause).
order having been in some degree restored, the lecturer
said it was quite impossible for him to say what the mesmeric
phenomena might now be, as he himself had been excited and
flurried by the riot and uproar, and so no doubt had been the
young man whom he was now about to operate on. fie then
made the passes, and after a few contortions of the face he
dropped for a moment apparently in a state of coma, but
startled up and rubbed his eyes. The operator placed his hand
on him, and let him gently down. He frequently started up,
exclaiming " I am so hot—be quiet—let me go—you are
bothering me about being mesmerised again." He then ap-
parently fell into a state of profound coma, and a lengthened
conversation took place between Mr. Appleton and the lec-
turer as to the tests to be applied. Thu lecturer said he had
never operated on the lad before, but was told that whilst in
that state he was susceptible of feeling, smell, and partial sight.
fie could, however, be laid in a state of catalepsy, or one arm
could be catalepsed, and there would be a difference in the
pulsation, which he thought would be a sufficient test.
Sir. APPLETON said it would not in his opinion, for he
could by the extension of the muscles of one arm reduce the
pulsation in the other.
1)r. Purvis and Mr. Taylor examined the pulse of each arm,
and the difference when the left arm was in a state of
catalepsy was four beats in a minute, and when reversed only
two beats. The left arm appeared as immovable as a statue,
but the most magical change took place by the operator pass-
ing his hand slightly down,—it fell instantaneously.
At this juncture, a Mr. Harris, a cabinet-maker, in South-
street, Greenwich, in a ruffianly way, struck the patient a
tremendous blow on the hand with a stick ; the blow sounded
above the buzz and noise of the meeting. In an instant
there was a simultaneous burst of indignation even by these
who had been most prominent in their opposition to the lec-
turer. There were loud cries of " Turn him out," " police,"
" shame, shame," &c., and he was pretty roughly handled.
Several accidental collisions led to the exchange of 'blows, and
for a few minutes the confusion was indescribable. At length
Harris was taken into custody by the police.
Mr. VERNON again appeared. He said he must absolve
every one in the place of any participation in the dastardly con-
duct of the party who had struck the inoffensive lad whilst in
such a state ; but he could not think of continuing the lecture
that evening when there was so much excitement, but hereafter
he would meet the gentlemen of the profession and their friends
as many times as they liked, and explain his knowledge, and
would undertake to mesmerise any of their family. Mr. Hope
should even be the agent, and should be able to mesmerise a
person by his, Mr. Vernon's, power and communication; the
patient should also disclose the taste of whatever he gave to
Sir. Hope., or Mr. Hope gave to him. Ile felt certain of the
truth, but could not define it, or reduce it to a prisciple—it
was like the laws of gravitation, motion, and heat, only known
to exist. Physiology and pathology had been intensely studied
for upwards of 2,000 years, and yet there were doubts. Ales.
merlons, therefore, ought not to be condemned as chimerical
without a fair inquiry,— ( Applause).
The lecturer then withdrew with his patients. Strange to
say, the lad never flinched under the blow, nor did his hand
show the least mark.
Mr. Here, who was the first to contradict the existence of
mesmeric influence, declined passing any opinion,
It was publicly stated, on the authority of some medical men,
that the students bad come down purposely to create a dis-
turbance, and stop the lecture.

MORTALITY IN TILE METROPOLIS.--The number
of deaths during the week ending Dec. 30, was 1,007, exceed-
ing those of the preceding ucek by 39, and the average at
this season by 60. The increase i 3 chiefly caused by deaths
from scarlatina, hooping cough, croup, bronchitis, and
asthma. Those from pneumonia (inflammation of the
lungs, which some weeks since were nearly 200, have fallen
to 99, only 9 above the average. Deaths from small-pox
are on the increase ; of the 1.5 persons who died last week 11
had not been vaccinated. The .table contains the death of a
man who died at the age of 100 years and 9 months.