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 nationale 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.

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    ing that the laws of nature can only be legitimately deduced from an attentive observation of the pheno- na of nature. They might have added, in the words of Fernelius : desipientis arrogantie est, argumenta- tionis necessitatem sensuum auctoritati anteponere ; and here was a simple question of fact, which, laying all the other evidence aside, may be considered as having been completely set at rest by the decisive ex- periments made upon the cataleptic patients of Dr Petetin at Lyons. In ascertaining the actual existence of a natural phe- nomenon, it is by no means necessary that we should be able to point out its cause. ‘There are many facts in nature, of which, in the present state of our know- ledge, we are unable to assign the causes. In the words of Vigneul de Marville, “ we are not acquainted with the whole of man’s constitution. His body is a delicate pneumatic, hydraulic and static machine, which possesses a million of secret springs, producing a million of effects which we do not know, and upon which we never reflect. When any strange pheno- menon does force itself upon our notice, in consequence of some organic change ; not knowing to what cause we should ascribe it, we immediately exclaim: A mi- racle !|—whereas, were we carefully to investigate the matter, we might probably find something of every day’s occurrence, when the secret has once been dis- covered, and that our surprise has been excited by nothing in the least degree wonderful.” If these observations are just in reference to the changes that occur in _ corporeal organism, much