Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library's
Victoria College Material Culture Internship Project by Sophia Arts
Mesmerism
Franz Anton Mesmer and Animal Magnetism
Animal magnetism was a theory proposed by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) in 1776 about how physicians can channel “magnetic fluid” to identify and cure illness. He believed invisible forces like gravity and magnetism connected all living things to the stars and was responsible for health. At first, Mesmer used magnets to direct the fluid throughout the body, but discovered through his experiments that he could use his hands to sweep over diseased areas.
Animal magnetism became popular in France after Mesmer set up two clinics in Paris, one for the rich and one for the poor. However, his theories were rejected by the medical establishment in France and were even deemed dangerous. Mesmerism gained popularity in the hostile political climate of pre-revolutionary France. Animal magnetism treatments offered an instant solution to physical and mental illnesses.
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Franz Anton Mesmer. Engraving by N. Dupin, Wellcome Library no. 23327i.
The theory was both based on and acted as a counter to Enlightenment ideas of reason and control over nature. Although it was rooted in the scientific discoveries of the 18th century like gravity, magnetism, and chemistry, it drew heavily on Western esoteric traditions like astrology and miraculous healing. The combination of science, religion, and magic made animal magnetism appealled to all classes. Mesmer and his followers did not simply believe he discovered a useful method of treating illnesses, rather animal magnetism was a universal truth.
One of Mesmer’s students, the Marquis of Puységur (1751-1825) discovered people went into a kind of “magnetic trance” where they could convey information about their own or other people’s illness but did not remember when they woke up. Mesmer’s teachings spread throughout Europe and English physician James Braid (1795-1860) coined the familiar term “hypnotism” in 1842. In England, animal magnetism became associated with phrenology, the study of the skull to understand psychological traits. Hypnotism began to be used as a way to understand mental illness, and was even experimented with as an anesthetic for surgery. However, psychological notions associated with Mesmerism soon fell out of popularity with the much more spectacular Spiritualist movement.
Print of Amand-Marie-Jacques de Chastenet, Marquis de Puységur, Public Domain
Engraving after Dodd, 1794. Plate from Ebenezer Sibly’s book, A Key to Physic, 1794. Public Domain.
Wood engraving, ca. 1845, Wellcome Library no. 11823i.
Colour lithograph, 1852, unknown author, Wellcome Library no. 563269i. A satirical cartoon of mesmerism, where the doctor is thinking "Glorious practice this mesmerism is, because it gives us so much power over the imagination of the patient; it really is very satisfactory."
Engraving after Dodd, 1794. Plate from Ebenezer Sibly’s book, A Key to Physic, 1794. Public Domain.