{"id":2674,"date":"2014-08-26T08:20:24","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T12:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/preserving\/?p=2674"},"modified":"2014-09-15T10:52:19","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T14:52:19","slug":"mesmerizing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/2014\/08\/26\/mesmerizing\/","title":{"rendered":"Mesmerizing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mesmerism orginated with Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 \u20131815), a German physician who postulated the theory of\u00a0natural energetic transference, which occurs in all animated and inanimate objects. The term he used for this energy was “animal magnetism”. Mesmer considered all human illness a breakdown in the balance and flow of this magnetic force. When nature failed to resolve this blockage spontaneously, “mesmerism”could be used\u00a0to remedy the problem. Mesmerism\u00a0attracted practitioners and audiences, with its peak between 1780 and 1850. The technique\u00a0usually involved\u00a0some social role-playing where the\u00a0mesmerizer would make\u00a0suggestions to his\u00a0clients who eventually became\u00a0absolutely “mesmerized” by him in some sort of\u00a0hypnosis-like trance. Mesmer used his extraordinary powers of suggestion to send people into frenzied convulsions, swooning, or sleeplike trances. It was all very ceremonious and dramatic, attracting audiences to observe and participate.<\/p>\n

Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798-1868) was a poet who became fascinated with mesmerism during his\u00a0tour of Germany. He became a enthusiastic supporter for its further study and application in England. Townshend is now mostly know for his collections donated to the Victoria & Albert Museum, but during his lifetime, he was an established literary figure and close friend of Charles Dickens (Great Expectations was dedicated to Townshend). Townshend published a\u00a0work on mesmerism in 1841 where he acknowledged\u00a0the worldwide\u00a0skepticism of the theory, but offered\u00a0a counter-argument for continued experimentation and examination. To support his quest, he supplied a number of testimonies, including Louis Aggasiz, who participated as a mesmeric subject for Townshend in 1839.<\/p>\n

Townshend states:<\/p>\n

“The original cause of the ill reception which<\/em>
\n mesmerism has met with from the world, is undoubtedly<\/em>
\n to be found in the character of its discoverer, Mesmer,<\/em>
\n in his want of candour and philosophic strictness.<\/em>
\n Had it been introduced to notice by a Newton or an<\/em>
\n Arago, by one who would have stated his facts honestly,<\/em>
\n and drawn from them none but legitimate conclusions,<\/em>
\n the difference of its career may be estimated by<\/em>
\n all who are aware how much depends upon a propitious<\/em>
\n beginning. But, unfortunately, from the very outset,<\/em>
\n mesmerism was associated with the soiling calculations<\/em>
\n of self-interest and the errors of an over-heated brain.<\/em>
\n Mesmer wished to make a monopoly of that which<\/em>
\n should have been the property of all mankind..<\/em><\/p>\n

…We should lay aside all prejudice,<\/em>
\n connected either with the origin, name, or injudicious<\/em>
\n exposition of mesmerism, and try the subject,<\/em>
\n wholly and impartially, upon its own merits.<\/em>
\n Unalarmed by the apparent strangeness and incongruity<\/em>
\n of the phenomena to be investigated, we should call<\/em>
\n to mind how frequently “appearances of external nature,<\/em>
\n puzzling at first sight, and seemingly irreconcilable<\/em>
\n with one another, have all been solved and harmonized<\/em>
\n by a reference to some one pervading principle”… – <\/em>Townshend<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Under “hypnosis”-<\/p>\n

Nothing could be more curious than to<\/em>
\n see the two sisters sitting opposite to each other, both<\/em>
\n with their eyes shut, and yet, by the expression of their<\/em>
\n countenances, appearing to look at each other. I now<\/em>
\n went away to another part of the room, when Anna<\/em>
\n M got up, and walked to just half way between her<\/em>
\n sister and myself; but she seemed arrested there by the<\/em>
\n attraction of contending forces, and so she remained,<\/em>
\n turning from me to her sister, and vice versa, as if she<\/em>
\n knew not to which she should go, till I put an end to<\/em>
\n this curious scene by returning to my sleepwaker, and<\/em>
\n begging her to awake her sister. This, however, she declared<\/em>
\n that she could not do, but added, ” The moment that<\/em>
\n you awake me, my sister will wake also.”<\/em><\/p>\n

While mesmerism began a steady decline in popularity in the later part of the 19th century, one\u00a0practitioner carried on the tradition into the 1880s.\u00a0D. Younger advertised broadly in newspapers as a mesmerist and healer\u00a0of various maladies.<\/p>\n

“With an experience of nearly forty years as a professional\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
practitioner of mesmerism, I publish this work to demonstrate\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
the wonderful resources of this science, especially in its\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
application to the alleviation of suffering and cure of disease.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
The results I have been able to accomplish by this natural\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
method of treatment, in conjunction with the various herbal\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
remedies I recommend, have, in many cases, been most surprising,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
never failing to afford relief, and often effecting a\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
permanent cure, after all the usual orthodox methods have been\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
tried in vain. “<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Producing mesmeric sleep<\/p><\/div>\n

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producing a cataleptic state<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Breathing into the patient<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
Townshend, Chauncy Hare. Facts in mesmerism :with reasons for a dispassionate inquiry into it. New-York :\u00a0Harper & Brothers,\u00a01841.<\/span><\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:11815343<\/a><\/dd>\n
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Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
Younger, D. Full, concise instructions in mesmerism (falsely termed hypnotism), curative magnetism, and massage :with brief hints on natural medicine, etc. : with illustrations showing various phases of mesmeric treatment. [London] : E.W. Allen, [1887?].<\/span><\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:2562357<\/a><\/dd>\n
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Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Mesmerism orginated with Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 \u20131815), a German physician who postulated the theory of\u00a0natural energetic transference, which occurs in all animated and inanimate objects. The term he used for this energy was “animal magnetism”. Mesmer considered all human illness a breakdown in the balance and flow of this magnetic force. When nature failed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2674"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2799,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674\/revisions\/2799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}