Report of the experiments on animal magnetism : made by a committee of the Medical Section of the French Royal Academy of Sciences : read at the meeting of the 21st and 28th of June, 1831 / translated, and now for the first time published, with an historical and explanatory introduction, and an appendix by J.C. Colquhoun.

  • Académie de médecine (France)
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the experiments on animal magnetism : made by a committee of the Medical Section of the French Royal Academy of Sciences : read at the meeting of the 21st and 28th of June, 1831 / translated, and now for the first time published, with an historical and explanatory introduction, and an appendix by J.C. Colquhoun. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    PREFACE. called,—becomes absolutely irresistible. And if these facts be true, and not entirely suppositi- tious and delusive, it cannot be denied that they are calculated to open up many new and most important views in medical and physio- logical science—indeed, in the whole philo- sophy of the human mind. Ever since the time of that singular com- pound of genius and folly, Paracelsus, physi- cians in general, seem to have been in the habit of relying too exclusively upon the effi- cacy of the chemical remedies, to the almost entire neglect of many simple, and natural, though equally efficacious sanative processes, especially those powerful psychical influ- ences, which appear to have been known and employed in ancient times, and which are de- veloped, with such prodigious effect, in the magnetic treatment. Thus, for example, in cases of epilepsy and other spasmodic diseases, the regular practitioner would perhaps pre- scribe the internal administration of lunar caustic, ammoniate of copper, or some other dangerous drug; whereas, the magnetic doc-