Western union. (City of Hannibal, Mo.) 1850-1851, 1851-08-21
What Is Mesmerism.

the Alexandria Gazette) perhaps too much in
the er caihedra tone /; but that is the way Of
Backwood
The question in regard to nesmeri.m i.
two fold first. how the me,meric prostration
is To be accounted for ? and, secondly how is i,
to be disposed OFF Ii may be accounted for,
we conceive, by the natural tendencies just re
cited, without its being necessary TO postula,e
any new or unknown agency it may BE- dis
posed Of by the influence vi public opinion,
which would very soon put stop to these pit
iaeie exhibitions, and very soon extihguish the
nagne.'zer's power and 10 patients suscept
bilty, II 1t were but to visit the performers
with the contempt and Reproduction they de
aerve. a few words VII each of these heads
may not be out Of place, as u qualifyin post
script to the foregoing letter, which in our
opinion treats the mesmeric superstition with
TAR too much indulgence.
81. The exlstence of any physical force or
nuid in man or III nature 10y which the mesmeric
phenomena are induced, has been distinctly dis.
proved by every carefully conducted expert
ment. No person was eref magnetised when 10.
tally msuspicious Of lie operation Of wh'ch he
aras The subject. This Is conclusive +; because a
physical agent, which never does, of itself and
unheralded, produce any effect is no ply sical
be prepared for the magnetic condition, and a
ware Of what is expected OF them and the eff
fects are equally produced, whether the pre-
tended influence he eXerted or not. 1t seems
simply ridiculous to postulate all odylic 1--WE
should like TO be favored with the derivation Of
this Yord) fluid 10 account fvr phenomena
which show themselves just as cons pciousl,
when no such fluid is or can be in operation.
But it is argued by some Of the advocates Of
mesmeric influences that their agent, though
perhaps not ply steal, is at any rate moral that
the will, or some spiritual energy on the part
OF the mesmerist, IL the power by which his
victims are entraced and rendered obedient to
his bidding. Here, too, oil the well authenti-
Gated cases established totally different can-
clusion. They prove that the ~ i'll or spiritual
power Of The 'nesmeris.s has Of itself no ascen
dency or control whatsoever over the body or
mind Of his victim. Every well guarded serie.
of experiments has exhibited the me smer,t and
his patient at cross purposes with each other,
the patient frequently doing those things which
the operator was DESTROYS he should do, aud
doing those things which the operator was
DESTROYS he SHOULD do. As for the buffoonry
begotten by mesmerism on phrenology, this
exhibition can scarcely be expected to provoke
much asonishment, or credence, or comment,
except among professional artists themse elves
Like Kei,e,icto with their hair end
Al their own wonders wondering for their bread"
1.-THE true explanation Of mesmersm is to be
found, as we have said, in the weakness or in.
fatuHtion of human nature ITSELF No other |
causes ore at all necessary to account for the
mesineric pros,ra,ion. There is far more era
illness, both physical and moral in man than he
usually give. himself credit for. The reser-
voir Vi human folly may be it, great measure
occult but it is always full and all that sill
ness, whether Of oody or mind. at any time
wants is TO yet its clue.
"These gem raj remarks are of Course more
applicable to some individuals than they are to
others. In soft an weak natures, where the
nervous system is subject TO cataleptic seizures,
mental and bodily prostration is frequently al |
most the normal condition. Such OF our rea-
ders as may have frequented mesmeric exhib.
tiuns must have observed kind Of SEMI hu .
manity visible in the expression and demeanor
OF most Of the subjects whom the proe .sonal
operators carry about with them. These poor
creatures are at all times ready to impihe the
magnetic stupeiaction, because it is only by an
effort that they ever free from il. There
is always at work within them an occult ten. !
dency to self.abandonment--an unintentional
proximity to alteration, imitation, and deceit,
which only requires signal to precipilate lis
morbid depusltes.
"This constitutional infirmily Of body and of
mind furnishes to the mesmerist a basis for his
operations, and the source Of all the wonders
which he works.
''lt is only in the case of individuals
who, without being tatuouS, are lowering on
the verge OF faulty, that the magnetic phc-
nomena and the mesmeric prostration can
be admitted to be in any considerable de-
gree real Real to a certain extent they
may be marvellous they certainly are not.
lmbeclity of the nervous system, Il ready
abandonment Of the will, facility in re
llnqushing every endo wment which makes
man human these ineligible causes, eked
out by vanity and cunning which are al
ways inherent in natures of an inferior
type, are quite sufficient to account for the
effects of the mesmeric manipulations on
subjects of peculiar sof,ncss and pliancy.
ain those persons of Il better organized
structure, who yield themselves up to the
mesmeric degradation, the physical causes
are less operative, but the moral causes are
still more influential In all cases the pros.
tration is seli-induced. But in the sub i
jec;s of whom we have spoken it is main
ly induced by physical depravity, although
moral Irailtes concur TO bring about the
condition. In persons Of superior type.
the condition is mainly due to moral causes,
although physical imbecily has some share
in facilitating the result These peo-
pie have much vanity, much curiosity, and
much credulity, together with a weak i'm
hat l., t..,,,