The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-03-25
THE INDUCED TRANCE.
Franz Anton Mesmer and His Weird
Hypnotic Methods.

Franz Anton Mesmer cnd ffis Weird
Hypnotic Methods.
Charatan though he was. mankind
owes n greater debt to Franz Anton
Mesmer than has generally been ac-
knowledged. As the present writer has
elsewhere said, "Wben Mesmer pub
llshed In 1773 his account Of the mar
velous cures effected by what he was
pleased to term animal magnetism, he
sowed seed which was to render In
eyltabe the dlllgent husbandry of to-
day" Grant that hypnotlsm hnd still
to be clarified by the researches OF an
Esdaie an llllotson II Braid, Char
cot. Llcbeault. n Gurney. before II be
came what II Is tO1ay-a wonderful
curative Instrument aud aid to psy
Geological experimentation grant all
this and Mesmer remains the first Of
line of psychothcrnpeutlsls and psy-
chopa pathoOglstS whose fame, II belated,
Is steadily growing. That lie SHOULD
have been rpbulfed by the orthodox
practitioners Of his day Is not sur
prlsing When In 1I7S he went TO
Paris he went with n well developed
sense of the value of advertising The
campaign he lnaugurated was of II
character to disgust the conservative
and thoughtful, but to take sensa-
tlon loving populace by storm. Most
extravagant tales of cures he had ac-
compllshed In Berlin, Vienna and else
where were nolsed abroad. Through n
convert he challenged the physicians
of Paris to enter into contest with
him, they to treat twelve patients by
the orthodox methods, he to treat twelve
by his. or course this challenge was
rejected, and equally, OF course, Its re-
lection was interpreted by the thought
less MS an acknowledgment of the SUI
perorlty Of Mesmers treatment. His
rooms were thronged; his purse waxed
constantly heavier.
The treatment he gave was such as
to appeal vlvldly to the imagination of
the paiient-in a word, to increase his
suggestbilty. Suggestion, indeed, was
Its root element, although Mesmer
failed or pretended to fail to recognize
this and taught that its efficacy de-
pended upon the eflluence Of myste-
rious fluid. In room dlmly lighted
and hung with mirrors the patients
were seated about a circular vat OF
considerable size covered with n lid
and containing various chemicals. A
long cord connected the patients with
one another, while in the lid OF the
tub were several holes, through each OF
which passed an iron rod bent In such
way that Its point could be applied
to any part Of patients body. The
patients were requested not to speak,
the only sound in the room being
strains Of soft music. When eXpectan-
cy was at its flood Mesmer would en-
ter clad in the robe of a magician and
carrying an iron wand. At one pa
tient he would gaze intently; another
he would stroke gently with his wand.
Soon some would burst into laughter,
others into tears, while still others
would fall into convulsions, finally
passing into lethargic state, out of
which, 1t is claimed, they emerged
cured or on the highroad to a cure.
Occasionally the treatment was given
outdoors, tree being "magnetlzed'
and the patient collapsing in n swOon
so soon as he approached it.
In such wise were Europeans first
made acquainted with the phenomenon
of the induced From "The
Riddle of Personality" by II. Adding
ton Bruce.