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CHAPTER 5 - Animal Magnetism Unmasked
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the
things which defile a man. - Jesus.
(Earliest investigations)
Mesmerism or animal magnetism was first brought
into notice by Mesmer in Germany in 1775. According
to the American Cyclopaedia, he regarded this
so-called force, which he said could be exerted
by one living organism over another, as
a means of alleviating disease. His propositions were
as follows:
"There exists a mutual influence between the celestial
bodies, the earth, and animated things. Animal bodies
are susceptible to the influence of this agent, disseminating
itself through the substance of the nerves."
In 1784, the French government ordered the medical
faculty of Paris to investigate Mesmer's theory and to
report upon it. Under this order a commission was
appointed, and Benjamin Franklin was one of the
commissioners. This commission reported to the government
as follows:
"In regard to the existence and utility of animal magnetism,
we have come to the unanimous conclusions that
there is no proof of the existence of the animal magnetic
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