Trials of Animal Magnetism on the Brute Creation

Excerpt from Trials of Animal Magnetism on the Brute Creation I have never been myself disposed to yield an easy or credulous assent to the doctrines of the science. Indeed some years ago, when resident at Paris, I felt so little curiosity or interest in the subject, that, though it was then undergoing a formal investigation, I did not think it worth while to direct any of my time or attention to it. In consequence, however, of the renewed experiments which have been lately made, I conceived a desire to institute such researches, as were consistent with strict propriety and due caution, into the reality of this magnetic influence, in order to satisfy myself whether the existence of such an influence had been established as a physical fact; and, if so, whether this new power might be safely and beneficially applicable, as a remedial agent, in the treatment of diseases of the human frame. Accordingly, in some peculiar cases which came under my medical care, and in which the ordinary remedies had been applied in vain, I thought it allowable to try whether any effects, such as have been ascribed to animal magnetism, could be produced upon my patients with beneficial consequences. I employed only the most simple processes, and advanced by slow and cautious steps. The results were surprising to myself.