f r UM — ^ ^ ^. . "^-^^^ i! 41 J THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID A T H E T I S M ; P A T H E T I S M ; WITH PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS, Demonstrating the Falsity of the hitherto prevalent assumptions in regard to what lias heen called 5J > "MESMERISM" AND « NEUROLOGY And illustrating those Laws which induce SOMNAMBULISM, SECOND SIGHT, SLEEP, DREAMING, TRANCE, km CLAIRVOYANCE, With numerous Facts tending to show the Pathology of MONOMANIA, INSANITY, V/ITGHCRAFT, AND VARIOUS OTHEK MENTAL OR NERVOUS PHENOMENA, BY LA ROY SUNDERLAND. " There cannot be a sounder maxim of reasoning, than that which points 'out to us the error of attributing fne phenomena that occur to remote and extraordinary causes, when they may, with equal propriety, be referred to causes which obviously exist, and the results of whicn we daily observe." NEW-YORK : PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY P. P. GOOD, AT THE "MAGNET" OFFICE, 138 FULTON STREET, AND BY THE BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. 1843. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by La Roy Sunderland, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of the State of New-York. J. Douglas, Printer, 34 Ann Street, I ^j V- PREFACE, It is now generally admitted, that some knowledge of Pathetism prevailed in Egypt, more than three thousand years ago. The celebrated Anthony Piuche, in his account of the Ancient Egyptians, copies from Montfaucon a complex figure, which has heen under- stood to represent the Eg^fptian process of pathetis- ing. A patient is stretched upon a couch, while a large Anubis is painted in the act of making the passes over him, with one hand raised above his head, and the other placed upon his breast.* It is said, that the priests of Chaldea practised pa- thetism as a medicinal agent, many years before the Christian era. Celsus, a philosopher of the first cen- tury after Christ, speaks of a physician, who soothed the ravings of the insane by manipulations j and he adds, that his manual operations, when continued for some time, produced a degree of sleep or lethargy. Various authors, from the earliest ages, have refer- red to cases of disease which have been cured by si- milar means ; and almost every sect of enthusiasts has had its records of cures performed, not, indeed, by miracle, but in some instances, it may have been, by the touch or friction of the human hand ; as it is well known that similar means were recommended for * Did. des Sc. Med, This picture is copied into "Fellow's Ex- position of the Mysteries of the Ancient Egyptians," p. 304» 1* =*'^crf?/r;:»o/i vi PREFACE.' the cure of certain diseases, long before the days of Mesmer. In no other country where this agency has become known, has its therapeutic benefits been so little sought after, or so poorly appreciated, as in our own. This may be accounted for, in part, by the manner in which this subject has been exhibited, from time to time, in different places. Where people have to de- pend upon public exhibitions, and know nothing more of its use than what they see in experiments made for mercenary purposes, we are not to expect them ta place a very high estimate upon any of its alleged practical beneSts. It is believed, however, that a large number of the most intelligent of the learned professions in this coun- try, are convinced of the truth of pathetism ; and not a few of these classes have seen and tested the valu- able benefits to be anticipated from its use, in the cure of disease. Did the limits of this work permit, we should gra- tify our readers w^ith some accounts of the present state of pathetism in France, Russia, Germany, and Prussia, countries where its practice has long been patronised by the learned, and especially by the me- dical profession. The government of Prussia, in 1817, attempted to guard its practice by legislative enact- ments, prohibiting any but regularly organised physi- cians from its use, and requiring them, when they did so, to report their proceedings, quarterly, to the au- thorities of the state. A societ}^ of Paris, from 1814 to 1820, published two periodicals, devoted entirely to the narration of facts, and the diffusion of intelligence connected with this subject. In Prussia and some PREFACE. VlJt Other countries, hospitals have been established for the sole purpose of treating the sick by the use of pa- thetism. And a decree of the Medical College of Denmark, passed in 1815, and another in 1817, im- posed upon physicians the duty of reporting the re- sults of their pathetetic practice. But we have not the space necessary for any considerable proportion of the testimony which might be quoted, showing the estimate placed upon it by the learned in other coun- tries, as a medicinal agent. And to deny it, as obser- ved by Dr. Marc, before the Paris Academy of Medi- cine, (in 1825,) " to deny it, would be to suppose that men of the preatest merit, two learned bodies of the first resnectabilitVi and o-overnments known to have surrounded themselves v/ith the best physicians, must have, in various places, and at various periods of time, fallen dupes of miserable jugglers, and propagated, favored, and executed, labors merely chimerical.* In our own country, nothing, probably, has done more to bring this subject into disrepute, than the manner in v/hich it has been treated by its professed friends. Public attention was first called to it under a most disagreeable name, and the many silly stories- put in circulation about its wonders, could but arouse prejudice, and unfit the mind to give it a candid exa- mination. Though it Vv'ill be seen that the author of the present volume claims originality for the theory advocated in the following pages, as well as some of the processes of operating, yet it must be borne in mind, that no new agency is assumed, by whatever names this influence may have been known in previous ages of the world. * Progi-ess of Animal Magnetism. By Dr. C. Poyen, Boston, 1837, pp. 19—22. Vlll PREFACE. The autlior's iiuincrous cerebral experiment^, have been conducted with the special design of ascertain- iu2 more than seemed to have been kno^^'^l heretofore of the functions of animal life. And the folloAving pages contain the results of investigations connected with nervous difficulties, which have been continued for a number of years. Upon mature consideration, it was believed preferable that the results of the author's observations should be given, rather than the details of numerous experiments ; as volumes might easily be filled with the latter, without affording any real benefit to those for whom this work is designed. His oppor- tunities for observing those classes of mental pheno- mena, supposed to be of the utmost importance in forming right conclusions as to the lavvs of mind, have been ample \ and the experiments in Phrenopathy hav- ing now been repeated by a large number of operators, on both sides of the Atlantic, no room seems left to doubt as to what some of those laws must be which govern the vital, organic, and mental functions of the human system. It is easy to conceive how great the disappointment of many will be, on finding that the author, after de- voting so long a time to the investigation of this sub- ject, should reject the hitherto prevalent assumptions in relation to vrhat has been called the magnetic or nervous fluid. But that these assumptions have not been rejected without som.c good reasons, the follow- ing pages will show. Nor can the author entertain any doubt, that if previous writers had taken up the subject as he has done, they would have arrived at similar results. Instead of attempting to tesi these ns- vumptions, it has been everv where taken for erantcd PREFACE. IX that a fluid was eliminated from the operator, into the system of the patient j and the various phenomena have been explained accordingly. Indeed, the author of what has been called "Neurology," has frankly told us, that he formed his theory first, and then commen- ced his experiments in proof of it ! And in the same way the notion has so generally obtained, that the agency treated of in this work was really a magnetic or nervous fluid ; and one generation has believed it after another, because the necessary pains have never been taken to arrive at the truth on this subject. Mw'York, March 1, 1843, contents: CHAPTER I. Pages Explanation of Terms. 1 — 4 CHAPTER n. Human Life. Life is an element. Its power over inalter. Its control ever the imponderable fluids, magnetism, electricit}^ and heat. Life is not electricity — these forces do not amount to what we know of life. They do not modify or control life, as they would Vv-ere life nothing but electricity. The nerves are non- ductors of electricity. Life has laws peculiar to itself. It has motion, moisture — it is affected by mere sound. Life may, as it were, be shaken out of the system. It has the sense of feeling. The nerves, themselves, are destitute of feeling, ex- cept upon the surface. Hence, if electricity v;ere life, every part, and especially the nerves, would be alike sensitive to pain from contact with any disturbing body, 5 — 15 CHAPTER HI. Susceptibility. Peculiar to animal life. Effects cf m.edicine. Differences in the effects of the same medicine on the same persons. Idio- syncrasy. Emotions of pleasure or pain. What is the quality of the system operated on in producing pain ? How is conta- gion or infection received? Reciprocal influences between the mJnd and one's own susceptibility. "What is the mind ? How is this question answered ? The mind is dependent upon XII CONTENTS. Pages the developments of this ?i;sccptibilily. Where is the mind of the foetus ? It sympathises with the body. Sexual diirorcnce. Temperaments. Diet. The health. The power of thought depends upon the state of tlic nervous system. Ejects of the atmosphere. Influence of the mind over the susceplihility. The voice. Effects of the mental apprehensions on the sus- ceptibility. Adaptation of the di/Tercnt susceptibilities to the general purposes of life. Rules for judging of this susceptibi- lity. Temperament. Phrenclogical developments. 16 — 36 CHAPTER IV. SympaVn y — Anlipaih y. These states do not depend upon the judgment, but upon a peculiarity in the physical nature of each person. The corre- spondence of the different parts of the body, and tlie general sympatiiy of the whole with the mind. Syropathies peculiar to different parts of the system, depending on the relation which one part sustains to another. Physical s^Tnpathy does not, ne- cessaril)', depend upon continuity of surface, or the contiguity of the parts affected. Reflex nervous action. JS"o sensation independent of the brain, or medulla oblongata — but sympa- thies do exist independent of this organ. Anatomy and func- tions of the ganglia. Two separate living bodies are some- times affected by the same s^'mpaihetic laws. The same laws shown to extend to animals. Two persons far apart, di-eam- ing at the same time precisely the same dream. These laws of sympathy are resolvable into what we know to be the laws of mind ; and its influence may be extended from one person to another. Case of the children at the poor-house in Haer- lem. Strange occurrences in Kentucky in 1801, and in Scot- land, England, and Germany. Catalepsy under religious ex- citement, precisely like that produced by pathetism. 37—57 CHAPTER V. / Relaiion. Relation is the connection established between two things. CONTENTS. Xlil Pases 'a^ Chemical effects depend upon the qualities of two different bo- dies brought together. The relation which produces positive results, depends upon certain contrarieties in two bodies brought together. This law is universal. Nature works bv contrarieties. Two things precisely alike in quality, produce negative results. All the effects of pathetism depend upon this relation, established between the patient, the operator, or the process. This relation is increased by habit, and sometimes it acquires supreme control over ihe mind of the subject. Sometimes it depends wholly upon the mental apprehensions of the patient, — and the mind transfers it from one object to another. Persons have been killed by this power. It ex- plains the phenomena produced by Mesmer, which have never been reasonably accounted for to this day, and shows how sleep is induced by a mere process, adopted for this purpose. 58 — 67 CHAPTER VI. Pathetism. What pathetism is. No mora mystery in this agency than in any other. Its effects upon the sense of touch, the sight, taste, smell, hearing. Effects upon the muscles, the nerves, the organs of animal life, the mental organs, consciousness, the will. Disposition and character of the patient. Effects in the cure of disease. Anomalous results, by pathetising, by the imponderable fluids. 68 — 98 CHAPTER YH. Theory of Patheiism. What is the nature of this agency ? Is it a universal fluid ? These results are not the necessary effects of magnetism or electricity. The magnetic forces reclprccally affect each other — not so with the operator and his subject. The results pro- dueed by pathetism are radically different from any induced by the mere electrical forces. Effects of metals applied to the body. Perkins's tractors. Effects of pathetism on animals. The nen'es are non-conductors of electricity. Is it a neryous 2 XIV CONTENTS. Pages iluid? How can this ho, when sleep is induced without any pliysical couUet or mental cx'jrtion of the operator ? Effects produced on idiots and infants. Discrepancies in the results prove that it is not a fluid. Operators have been deceived by what they supposed to be the effects of the will upon patients. The immediate agency for affecting the mind, must be the same in all cases. 99 — 116 CHAPTER Vm. Pathetising. Have all persons this power ? The hand — passes — the ope- rator. His health, temperament, age, mental character, good motives, skill. Balance of power. The patient. Tempera- ments. Idiosyncrasy. Quiet. Sleep. Time and place for operating. Process of pathetising. Cautions. 117 — 127 CHAPTER IX. Phrenopafhy. Discoveries of Dr. Gall. Phrenology. The relation of tlie encephalon to the body. Acephalous foetiises. Numerous phenomena explained. Functions of the ganglia. Hemis- pheres. Decussation. Sections of the encephalon. Cerebel- lum. Base of the brain. Coronal region. Frontal region. Occipital region. Cerebral excitement by galvanism. Origin of phrenopathy. Theory of phrenopathy. Mental organs. Experiments. 128 — 161 CHAPTER X. Sleep ayid Dreaming. The relation of sleep to wakefulness. The will in a state of sleep. The external senses. Dreaming. Voluntary sleep. Continued wakefulness, E.xcessiTe sleep. Means of inducing natural sleep. 162 — 168 CONTENTS. XV CH.AJPTER Xr. Somniumj Trance, Somnambulisvi. Pages Similarity "between these states. Case of a somnambulist at East Bloomfield, X.Y. Case of a lady in the state of Maine. Numerous other cases stated. An account given by a som- nambulist of himself. Case of Eev. W. Tennant. Conclu- sions to be drawn from these facts. 169 — 190 CHAPTER XII. Second Sight, Trampcsiiicn of the Seiises, Doubh Consciomness, Presentiments, , Prophetic Breams, Witchcraft. Cases of second sight stated. Transposition of the external senses, tasting, smelling, hearing, &c. to the pit of the sto- mach. Living in two states, altei-nately. Presentiments, Prophetic Dreams, Witchcraft. 191 — 210 CHAPTER Xni. Clairvoyance. Objectionable manner in which this subject has been pre- sented. Human knowledge. The question stated. Sense of perception without the external organs. Instinct. What is clairvayance? Manner of inducing this phenomenon. Speci- mens of sympathetic perception. Cases of independent clair- Toyance. 211—230 CHAPTER XIV. Conclusuyn. The reality of this agency. Its nature. How operators have been deceived. What is the medium of this agency? Impossibility of transmitting a Jluid of any kind, in the man- ner hitherto supposed. Vibratory medium. Mental apprehen- sions. Intrinsic importance of the subject. Its application to XVI CONTENTS. Pages the purposes of education, and the different relations of life. A well-balanced head. What should be done wh'in the organs are unequally balanced? Parents responsible for the mental developments of their children. Conjugal union. 231 — 240 Appendix 241 ERRATA. The reader is requested to make the follo-^ring corrections : Page 5, 4th line from the bottom, for " be composed," read " is composed." Page 35, 9th line from the top, " tvhich" should be stricken out. Page 36, 2d line from the bottom, for "pathist" read "paihc- tist." Page 42, 9th and 15th lines from the bottom, for "niflex," read « reflex." Page 44, 12th line from, the top, for "fact" read " facts j" and 5lh line from the bottom, for "sympathy" read " sc7nni].athy." Page 81, 2d line from the top, for "it," read "ihem." Page 108, 14th line from the bottom, tor "thus," read "this." Page 109, 13th line from the bottom, for "magnetic," read *' magnet.'' Page lis, 2d line from the bottom, for " these" read ''there.'* Page 128, 3d line from the top, for "Phrenis" read " Phren." Page 133, 20th line from the top, for "'venesection," read " fj- visedion." P A T H E T I S M . CHAPTER I. EXPLANATION OF TER3rS. Most persons, at all familiar with the subjects we propose to investigate, have felt the want of suitable terms, by which to designate them; and some terms we have been in the habit of using, have not been understood by all, and others, have been used in a sense widely different from what their radical meaning would justify. — Somnambulism, from so7nnus and amhulo, properly signifies walking in a state of sleep; but it is often incorrectly used to signify a state of sleep, merely, and without any reference to its peculiar nature, or the manner in which it may have been induced. But, as there is manifestly a marked distinction between natural sleep, and that which is artificially produced, we w^antsome term suitable for designa- ting the state o{ induced sleep, to distinguish it from any oth- er. And so of the process for producing sleep. The term *' Magnetising," has been used for this purpose, to some con- siderable extent, but all have been agreed that this was not, by any means, so appropriate as could be desired. The truth is, many of the phenomena common to a state of induced sleep, are so new and unaccountable, that language does not seem to have afforded the necessary terms for designating them all ; and though we offer the following, we must confess that these do not, by any means, cover the entire field, nor, indeed, are some of them quite so "classical" as we could de- 2 PATHETlSjr. sire ; yet they will, we are persuaded, answer a good purpose till belter terms can be found. It is well known that our term sympathy is from two Greek words which signify fellow-feel- ing, or a like feeling with another, as sumpascho, was used amonff the Greeks in this sense. And hence the use which has since been made, in medical theories of the (erm palhosy which signifies not only disease, but passion, feeling, excite- ment, emotion ; and pathetikos, susceptible of emotion, that which produces emotion or feeling. And, that, what has al- ready been understood, among physicians by the term sympa- thy and antipathy, has its foundation in that quality, or nature of living bodies w^liich is the ground-work, if we may so speak, of all that has ever really been produced under the name of Mesmerism, there can be no doubt at all. I do not say that the phenomena of the induced sleep for instance, is produced by nothing more nor less, than what has been known of the laws of sympathy, but, what I mean is, that all that has been understood of physical or mental sympathy, has originated, or been founded in that same susceptibility, upon which we operate in producing any mental or physical ef- fects upon the sytem of another by manipulation. No term, therefore, so well expresses what is really meant when speak- ing of the agency by which one person operates on the mental or physical organs, of another, and for the production of all those phenomena peculiar to the induced sleep, as one which gives the idea, of sympathy, and a state of susceptibility, vjluch renders this influence efficient and successful in producing the desired results in any part of the system on which the op- eration is performed. Every physician knows that disease is often communicated by sy7npathy ; and it will appear on ex- amination, I think, that this same agency may be equally ef- ficient in its cure. But tlic results brought about in this way amount to nothing more or less, than what has so long been known under the term "animal magnetism." Hence my au- thority for the adoption of the following terms; and I may add, that they have not, heretofore, been appropriated to any other ase, and hence there i?, there can be, no reasonable ob- jection to their application in the sense here proposed. EXPLANATION OF TEK3IS. 3 Patheiisfn. — I use this term to signify, not only the agency by which one person by manipulation, is enabled to produce emotion, feeling, passion, or any physical or mental effects, in the system of another, but also that susceptibility of emo??oru or feelins;, of any kind, from manipulation, in the subject op- erated upon, by the use of which these effects are produced; > as also the laics by which this agency is governed. I mean it as a substitute for the terms heretofore in use, in connection with this subject, and I respectfully submit it to all concerned, whether this be not a far better term for the thing signified^ than either Magnetism or Mesmerism. The former of these has, for centuries, been appropriated, and which, when used, expresses more than is necessarily included in its meaning, when applied to the human body. The term Galvanism would be far more appropriate, than that of Mesmerism, but, I think it best to use one which answers my purpose, much better, and to which there can be no serious objections. Pathetise. — The act of manipulating the human body, for the purpose of inducing sleep, the relief of pain or the cure of disease. The act of applying the fingers to different parts of the head, or the body, for the purpose of exciting, or control- ling the mental organs. Somnium. — This term was first used, I believe, by Dr. Mitchell, of New York, to designate what has been called by some sleep-waking, that is, a state in which persons, in a pe- culiar sleep, perform acts of which they are, at the time or afterwards, wholly unconscious. The term is needed to des- ignate the state of spontaneous sleep, merely in distinction, from that state Vv^hich is accompanied with walking, and also from the other states described below. Somnist. — One who spontaneously falls into a state of som- nium, or sleep-waking. Somnipathy. — The induced sleep, brought on by the process of pathetising. Somnipathist. — One in a state of sleep, induced by pathe- tism. Somnnilor/uist. — One who is made to talk, in a state of somnipathy, 4 I'ATIIETISM. Phrcnopathy. — The developement of the mental functions by pathclism. The theory which teaches the susceptibilities and influences of the human brain; the method of controling the different cerebral organs, and the results produced on the 7nind, by manipulating different parts of the body. Upon the discovery of the susceptibility of the separate cerebral organs, to the control of pathetisra, for the want of a better term? these experiments were reported under the terms, " Phreno- Magnetism," " Cerebration," kc. But as, from the first, I have controlled the mental organs, not merely by applications directly over them, but also by manipulating different portions of the face, necii, limbs, trunk, and indeed the teeth, fingers and toes of the human system, I think the above term more appropriate. Whatever impression, therefore, is made upon the mind, by applying this agency to any part of the body comes within the sense, in which it is used in this work. Clairvoyance. — Simply clear-sight ; but it has come into use to signify, sight without the eye. Second-sight. — This term as is well known, is used to sig- nify a sight of distant objects; or what would be called a su- pernatural perception of persons, or things at a distance. The terms, super sentient, and somniscience are used, also, in the same sense. CHAPTER II HLOIAN LIFE. As our enquiries relate to the nature of living bodies, it is plain, that what we want to know, is most directly concerned with human life, and the laws by which it affects and con- trols matter. When it is said, that we never can know any- thinij with regard to the essential nature of life, it is affirmins: no more than we are forced to admit of matter itself. For, who has ever been able to tell what matter is ? Some of the laws by which it is governed we know, but who has been able to demonstrate whether matter be composed of one or more elements ? Nor are our enquiries with regard to life, really, any more difficult ; for over the essential nature of both life and matter, there hangs the same impenetrable shade of mystery, and whether we shall ever be able to advance be- yond the knowledge of our predecessors or not, onthese ques- tions, remains to be seen. If we merely use the term life, as expressive of a fact, like th€ term attraction or repulsion, it may be as easily defined as any known property of matter. The following are some of the reasons which incline me to the opinion, that life is not the result of organization, but that it is, itself, a distinct e/e- merit, and governed by laws of its own. 1. Its power over the laws of matter. The fluids of which the embryo is formed must be endowed with life, because, from their union, or by one, when in contact, or sufficiently influenced by the othex, it is certain, a living substance, or being is produced, which partakes of the qualities ot its parents. If it be assumed that this fluid be composed of particles, in an organized form, we might answer, that life gave them this form, and hence they must be the results and not the cause of life. Al 6 TATHETISX. From the scripture account it is plain, that tlic formation of the human hody preceded the gift of life. After man was formed from the dust of the earth, we are told, {Gen. 2: 7,) God " hreathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and man became a living soul." And some have supposed that the lan'i-ua'Te of Moses, (Lev. 17: 11), is to be understood as af- firming that the blood is alhx, and that life is deposited in this fluid. But, the meaning is simply, that the life depends upon the blood, so that when it is withdrawn, life ceases. If this be not his meaning, it would involve the absurd notion, that the blood is the only part of the system which is alive, but this we know is not the fact. We admit, that without the constant operations of the well-known chemical affinities, life could not exist for a mo- ment ; but these affinities are controlled by life, and hence de- composition cannot take place; and the system is thus pre- served from death and decay. And in a word, we may say that almost every function of living bodies is performed in opposi- tion io {he all-pervading law of gravitation. The fluids as- cend against this law ; and so of the sap in vegetables, it is forced up by the principle of vitality, which controls matter, and which, therefore, cannot be a mere result of its organiza- tion. For, to suppose that tliis phenomenon, is the result mere- ly of organization, would be to assume that matter has a self- determining, self-controling power. But it is an acknowl- edged law of matter, that by itself, it is absolutely inert, and any power it may manifest, must be derived ; so that whatev- er changes may be observed in its different states, they are produced by some extrinsic cause; hence the conclusion seems reasonable that life is an element, distinct from matter, as much so as light or caloric. This power of animal life may be seen also in its uIoiiitT/ and perpetuity, if we may so speak. It remains the same in whatever clime, or color, oi state, it appears. Since the world existed, no change has been produced in this element. It is the same in the human body — it is the same in the va- rious forms of beasts, birds and reptiles. True, some of llic particular features of the bodies which it animates, may HU.-MA2\ LIFE. 7 change, but this principle remains the same, and from the first, it has possessed the power of perpetuating itself, un- changed, from generation to generation and from age to age. But if life be nothing more than the result of organization, or mere electricity, it could not be shown how the life of one ani- mal could be preserved distinct from another; or how man could preserve his identity, or why the animals, birds and in- sects do not so mix up their existences as to become lost in one general amalgamation. 2. Life possesses the power of contkclling the im- ponderable FLUIDS. We say life, because we know, that the same bodies when derpived of life, are immediately operated on by these agen- cies, when, on the living system they produce no effect at all. The power of the human body to resist heat is well known. Its natural temperature in this country is not far from 96^ Fahr. But Dr.Fordyce, formerly physician to St. Thomas' Hospital, London, went into a room heated to 120°, where he remained twenty minutes, and afterwards, into a room heated to 130^ and remained fifteen minutes while tJie thermometer in his hand rose only to 100^ Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Solan- der and Sir Charles Blagden, remained several minutes in a room heated to between 196° and 211°, the temperature at which water boils; and the latter of the above gentlemen re- mained eight minutes in a room heated to 260^ We have accounts of a young female at Rochefoucault, w^ho was in the habit of staying ten and twelve minutes at a time in an oven heated to 276°, and Tillet and Duhamel inform us that they bore a heat of 290° for nearly five minutes. Chantry, the sculptor, often entered his furnace, when heated for drying his mould, to 320°, and his workmen did the same with impunity when the thermometer was up to 340°. A dog of moderate size was subjected to a heat of 220°. — The only signs of distress was holding out the tongue, and in 30 minutes the heat was 236°. On being taken out, the bot- tom of the basket was found wet with saliva. By the same heat, beef steaks were cooked in thirty minutes, and in twenty, eggs were roasted hard. 8 P.\TIIETISM. Mosl of my readers, have probably, lieard of Mons. Chabert, the " fire king," and who, as is stated by Dr. Dunglingson, entered an oven when the heat was raised above 400 \ And we find llie living body possessed also, of the same power to generate calori"c. We have seen that its natural temperature is about 96"^; but in the account of Capt. Parry's voyage to the arctic seas, we are told that his crew were fre- quently exposed to a temperature oO'" below zero, and 150 be- low that of their own bodies, without being frozen I We may be told, we know, that heat is resisted by the pro- cess of evaporation. But what carries on this process? Or, what causes the living body to evaporate more than the dead piece of flesh? The two put into the oven together, the lat- ter is cooked, while the former remains in the same tempera- ture unchanged. This astonishing power is attributable to nothing but the laws of animal life. It is also susceptible of the clearest demonstration, that life controls the forces of the electric fluid. Most persons have noticed the sparks which are often emitted from the hair of a cat, when it is rubbed in very cold weather; and a similar phenomenon is also seen, on taking ofl^ flannel drawers, 6cC. from the human body. A steel needle, plunged into a nerve, becomes magnetic; and on being withdrawn, it is found to have the power of at- tracting light substances- Mullcr aflirms, that eflicient galvanic piles may be formed from organic animal substances, without the use of metals. — AVienlioln states that he has seen sparks obtained by bringing the divided ends of two nerves together. The electrical prc- perties of the torpedo, and a species of eel, are also well known. The gijmnotus, for instance, it w^ould seem, possesses a complete galvanic battery. Two troughs are found on each side of the spine, separated from each other by a ligament ex- tending the whole length of the fish; and the resemblance of this apparatus to the galvanic pile, is certainly very remarka- ble. A ladv whom I cured of a most severe attack of neural- HOIAX LIFE. y gia, by Pathetism, was often known to have noises in the front part of her head, which sounded exactly like the discharge of electrical sparks. And I know another lady, who, when indisposed a year or two since, gave off sparks from her body whenever she was approached by the physician who attend- ed her. She was, at the time, partially deranged. Dr. W. H. Muller, of Pittsburg, Pa., has demonstrated the evolutions of electricity from the human body, in certain con- ditions, by a series of original experiments, a full account of which may be seen in the Magnet for February, 1S43. As those experiments seem to have been more decisive than any others of the kind, so far as I know, and as the conclusions derivable from them, are directly in favor of the theory now under notice, I think it proper to give Dr. Muller's account, in his own words. It is as follows : " Before mentioning more particularly the conditions to be attended to for a successful trial of the experiment, I must state, that this evolution of electricity is entirely independent of any friction between the clothes and skin. That so far from this being the case, not the smallest appreciable quantity can be Droduced bv any friction that can be made bv the clothes against the skin, though the body and limbs be moved slowly or quickly in every direction. I have, also, when undressed and insulated, with one hand on the electrometer, rubbed the surface of the body with flannel or cotton without causing the slightest movement of the gold leaf. "The conditions spoken of are as follows: First a proper dryness of the air, — hence a situation in front of a good fire is preferable. As a very cold air is generally very dry, also, the experiment has succeeded at an open window, when the ther- mometer stood at 3S^; but as here the air soon derived mois- ture from the room or the body, the electricity of the latter was so soon carried off, that it was gone before I could touch the electrometer twice, after rising from the chair. But, be- fore the fire, I could count slowly forty or fifty, after rising, before I had parted with the electricity evolved by the act of rising. It was for want of attention to having the air dry, and to my overlooking a cause of moisture, that I was, at first, in doubt whether the electricity did in fact arise from the body without the aid of clothing. I had succeeded once or twice, perfectly, I thought, in affecting the electrometer, when trying the experiment before the fire, undressed ; but I afterwards failed continually, until I ascertained that by wuik- 10 PATHETISM. ing a ft'w moments in tlie cool side of the room, and then trying the experiment before the fire — I found it succeeded completely. I repeated this often, and always with the same result. The cause of my former failure w^as owing to the in- creased evaporation of moisture from the skin, produced by the heat of the tire ; by cooling the surface, and then trying the experiment before the fire, where the air was dry, I could a/Tect the electrometer eacli time I rose and sat, until the heat had produced a too copious exhalation from the skin to allow the electricity to remain on the body. For the same reason, I have very rarely been able to affect the electrometer after returning from a walk, the cutaneous exhalation carrying off the electric fluid as fast as it was formed. — Secondly, the po- sition requisite. This is as follows : place the electrometer over the mantel-piece over a good fire. Take a common sized chair, of such a height that the feet resting on the floor, the thighs shall be horizontal. Sit towards the front edge of the chair and lean back, so as to have the trunk of the body quite relaxed; then rise quickly, and touch the cover of the elec;rometer. The leaf or leaves will scarcely fail to indicate the presence of electricity. If the first trial should fail, it will be owing to the non-observance of some of the above condi- tions. A second or third attempt mvst succeed. The elec- trometer may be placed on a table before the fire; the experi- menter, seated on a chair near it, may place his hand on the cover, and then, after leaning back, he should lean a little for- wards and rise quickly, or but partly assume the erect posi- tion. At the instant of rising, and very often at that of sitting again, the elpotromefer will indicate a large amount of elec- tricity. I have charged with as much as could be detected by the instrument, by thus alternately rising and sitting. By the application of the jar, however, the leaf has never moved more than half an inch, while by keeping the finger on the electrometer while I thus rose and sat, I could as before stat- ed, cause a continual flight of the leaf to and fro thro' an inch or more. I have hitherto found my own electricity positive, and I have a suspicion that the electricity is different accord- ing as I rise up or sit down. This shall be decided in future. "It is indispensable, that the chair be neither too high nor low. If the chair with which I succeed when in its proper position, be turned on its side, making it lower, and I then sit down and rise, the electrometer is not affected. Neither have I succeeded by rising from a rocking chair ; at the sug- gestion of a friend the effect of sitting upon pillows as upon non-conductors, was tried ; and it was found that, insulation aside, the yielding nature of the articles diminishes the indica- tion of electricity. If the chair be placed upon pillows, and HUMAN LIFE. 11 also if the feet of the experimenter sit on a pillow placed in the scat, or against the back of the chair, the effects on the electrometer are irregular, or for the most part small. Any position in short which does not call into action the proper muscles, or impedes their complete action, entirely prevents or lessens the developement of electricity. Lowering the bodv, so that it rests upon the heels, and then rising and touching the instrument, will be as .void of influence on the leaf, as movement from any other position than the one de- scribed. Complete insulation, by placing the legs of the chair in glass tumblers, and the feet on pillows, seems to in- crease the electricity." Now, if it should be assumed that the above experiments ^0 to show, that life itself is electricity, I reply : — (1.) That this assumption does not enable us to explain how it is that this (life) electricity is evolved merely by rising up from a peculiar position, and stretching out the hand in the way above described. If muscular action evolves life, why should it not be much more evolved, in the act of rising up from a recumbent posture; or in the act of lifting some heavy body ? But in such acts, it does not appear that any electricity was evolved. (2.) The electrical, galvanic, or magnetic forces, as far as known, do not amount to what we do know of the vital for- ces. No effects have been produced by the action of electri- city upon matter, which would render it capable of resisling heat, as we have seen the living body has the power of doing. (3.) Admitting life to be either of the ox(iim^xy imponderalle JIuids, it should follow that it would be modified, controlled, de- stroyed or restored by their application to the human system, in innumerable cases, where they are not now known to produce any effects whatever. Friction of an electric, produces electri- city ; but no such results follow the friction of the living body. The application of an ordinary magnet produces no effects, though it be ever so powerful, except in a few isolated cases, where there is a peculiar state of susceptibility, developed by disease, or the process of pathetising. And even, when per- sons are susceptible to any peculiar influences from the im- ponderable fluids, it is found that their effects do not agree in any two cases, nor scarcely in any two experiments, at differ- 1'2 PATIIETISM. eh t times, upon the same person ; facts wliich can never be accounted for on the supposition that animal life is nothing more than electricity. And, on this hypothesis, how can it be shown that in certain cases, at least, we should not be able to restore life by a galvanic battery ? It is not known that death, or the mere cessation of life, produces any change of structure in any pan of the system; and in cases of death by fright or excessive joy, why should not life be restored by an application of the ordinary electrical forces ? (4.) The forces of the different imponderable fluids may constitute some of the a,^enc/(?5 by which life per/o/vns its/wnc- tions ; but this does not prove that these agencies constitute life, any more than the pen with which these lines are written could be proved to be the mind by which it is moved. (5.) This assumption is sufficiently confuted by anatomy. Bischoff has proved, that the nerves are among the worst pos- sible conductors of electricity or galvanism; from which it follows, that the fluids can neither be life, nor the sole agent by which its functions are carried on. This fact will be made to appear more fully in the chapter on Pathetism. "We observe, 3. That life has laws of its own, which, though they MAY BE similar TO THE ELECTRICAL FORCES, YET THEY CAN- NOT EE IDENTIFIED WITH ANYTHING BUT LIFE ITSELF. (1.) All animal life has more or less motion. Butitisnot necesssarily so with the imponderable fluids. The magnetic forces may exist in any degree, without producing motion at all. True, we can detect these forces only by their effects on matter, as they may appear when two kinds of matter without life, are brought into a particular relation to each other; but no relation between different qualities of any inan- imate matter has ever produced animal life. (2.) Moisture and heat are often necessary conditions of animal life. But the magnetic forces may exist where neither moisture nor heat can be delected. (3.) It has never been proved that sound has any in- fluence over the galvanic forces. But we know that mere sound may not only produce all the passions and feelings of HUMAN LIFE. 13 which the human mind is known to be susceptible, but it has, in some cases, produced instant death, as in cases of threats or fright, as will be fully shown in the succeeding- chapter. These facts illustrate laws peculiar to living bodies, and which therefore, cannot be affirmed of the mere electric or magnetic forces. (4.) But it might be thought that these results are pecu- liar, only to those who have 7ninds or reason ; and that it is this faculty \vhich is operated on by the magnetic forces, and the mind reacts on these forces, and thus extinguishes life. — This comes quite near to what is called reasoning in a circle. That the mind is not the life is plain ; and we further admit, that the mind may affect the life, but how this is done is the thing to be proved. It has never been proved that the ordi- nary magnetic forces were ever controlled by mind, merely, and hence it is not sufficient to assume, that the mind des- troys life, by operating on these forces. But to prove that life, may, as it were, be shaken or extin- guished out of the system, by comparatively slight causes, when the mind can have no agency in the result. Dr. R. Nelson, of this city, states that he has noticed, that per- sons hit by cannon or musket balls, after the balls had spent their forces, are often most shockingly mangled and torn to pieces ; but yet, they live, for a longer or shorter time. But Avhen the body is struck by the ball immediately on its discharge from the cannon, the person is killed instantly, though the system may scarcely be injured at all. (5.) Another law peculiar to animal life, may be found in the sense o^ feeling. This peculiar sense seems to have been given for the preservation of the system from danger, and in- jury of every kind. And yet, we find the more essential any part in the vital economy is, the more insensible it is, and the less susceptible to the sense of feeling from mere touch or vio- lence from contact with any other substance. Even the heart, the centre of the circulating organs which attracts and pro- pels the blood throughout the entire system, does not seem to possess, itself, any feeling, by which it can detect the touch B l-^ PATHETISM/ of any external object, and tliis same insensibility seems ta pervade all those organs most essential to life and health. — And the brain, and indeed, the entire nervous system, may be injured to any extent, without any sensation of pain in those organs. The brain may, and has been entirely destroyed, •without destroying life at the same time. In cases of difficult labor, the brain of the fcEtus has been let out of the cranium for the purpose of procuring delivery, and yet the infant lived for some hours after birth. Dr. Nelson before referred to, narrates one or two cases of this kind, which occurred in his own practice. And a case is referred to in Graham's Sci- ence of Human Life, where the fcetus was hoin alive without any brain, or the least semblance of a spinal marrow.* Now, how does it come to pass, if the galvanic forces con- stitute life, and these forces are conducted by the nervous sys- tem, we say hoAV does it come to pasS;, that the nerves have no sensation except on the surface of the system ? Why have not the nerves, or the electric fluid in the nerves, as much sensation in one place as another ? How is it that the optic nerve is so insensible to everything hnt light ? How is it that the brain, the grand organ of thought and the centre of all feeling and sensation, itself has no feeling at all I Especially if the brain be a real galvanic battery, which eliminates the vital energy which /«ee/6-, how shall we account for it, that that important organ may be cut and^ in fact, taken out of the cranium, without giving so much sense of pain even as the mere prick of a pin on the surface of the hand ? Is it not too plain to be doubted, that if electricity constituted animal life, every part of the system should be alike sensitive to pain from contact with any disturbing body ? Indeed, we should sup- pose, that in those portions where we could fmd the greatest amount of nervous matter, we should find the most electricity, and consequently, the highest se7ise of feeling from touch. — * It is said that brainless foetuses are not uncommon ; and we have the description of a case by Dr. Mayer, of IJerlin, where one was born without either brain, spinal chord, or enciphalo-spinal nerves.— There was one nervous twig accompanyinfj the venal artery, and aris- ing, apparently from the venal plexus. Other cases have been known wiiere, though some of the cerebral organs were evolved, yet no nerves could be discovered. HUMAN LIFE. 15 But, on examination we find the state of things directly the reverse of this. The nerves themselves, have no more feel- • ing than dead matter, except upon the surface of the system, and as we shall see, there are conditions of the living system in which the nerves of sensation are deprived of this function, a phenomenon which can satisfactorily be accounted for, only upon the supposition, that life is an element, governed and perpetuated by laws of its own. If it be objected that this element has never been seen, we answer, neither has the for- ces of the magnet ever been seen. And yet, Avho doubts of their existence ? In the succeeding chapter, some of the laws will be made to appear, by which living bodies are affected, and by which Those results are induced, which we class under the terms ex- plained in the preceding pages. CHAPTER III. SUSCEPTIBILITY. In treating on the susceptibilities of the living body, we en- ter upon a field, which has not, I believe, been so thorough- ly explored, as muny other questions involved in the subject of human physiology. And yet, if I mistake not, it will be found to be one of immense importance, as it is connected with everything, which relates to human weal or wo. There is no pain or pleasure, no feeling, emotion, or passion com- mon to our nature, but has to do with that quality of the liv- ing body which I denominate susceptibility. And in a word, all the results produced by any agency, whatever it may be, when exerted upon the mind or body, depend entirely, upon this quality of the human system. 1. This susceptibility is peculiar to andial life. No agencies are known, by which any effects are produced, of the kind now under consideration, upon a dead body. Hence, it appears that all the influence ever excited upon the human system by pathetism, depended upon this peculiar yt^a/z^t/ of the system. 1. Medicine produces no effects except hy its power over this susceptibility. But why should not the stomach, and other portions of the system, immediately after death, be affected by medicine? Who has ever been able to answer this question ? Indeed, we know, that while life remains, in certain cases, the most powerful drugs in the materia medica produce no effect at all. A case is on record of a man being engaged in alchemy, who could take four ounces of sweetened and sublimated mercury, without being purged. The only reason that can be assigned in such cases, is that the vital forces become so far destroyed or annihilated, that medicine cannot reach them; and from SUSCEPTIBILITY. 17 vvhicli it follows that the prmciple or susceptibility on which medicine operates in any case, is this quality, and which is peculiar to animal life; and certainly, the various theories of medicine are just as much responsible for their failure, as path- etism, when this agency is found inadequate to produce any desirable change in the health of the system. It will be found on enquiry, that the beneficial results of medicine, in any giv- en case, are nearly or quite as uncertahi, as those attending the ordinary process of pathetising for the cure of disease. 2. The effects of m.edicine are not only known to be ex- tremely uncertain, but widely different in different persons^ and the eflects vary at different times on the. same system. This, we are told, depends upon the idiosyncrasy of the pa- tient, or that peculiar state of the constitution by virtue of which one feels a like or a dislike, or an indifference towards any given object. It is precisely so with pathetism; and we can no more account for these different dispositions in different individuals, than for the difference m the effects produced by manipulating the human system. 3. All the emotions of pleasure or pain are produced through this susceptibility. I do not, now, assume to tell, in what peculiar qualities or combinations of matter, this susceptibility consists; but I af- firm what every one knows, when I say, that there is a vast difference in the degrees to which different persons will be af- fected, agreeably or otherwise, by the same agency. Sensa- tion has been considered as the condition of^self consciousness, v,'hich presupposes nothing more than life, for its existence. But we have seen that there may be life, where there is no susceptibility; and this shows that sensation depends on a pe- culiar condition of life, which is nothing more nor less than the susceptibility, upon which w^e operate in producing plea- sure or pain. And when we prcduce any kind of sensation in the mind of another through the eye or ear, or by a blow upon the body, there is really just as much mystery in the im- mediate agency by which an impression is produced upon the mind, in this case, as there is when we put a person into a state of sleep by merely holding the hand on the head. All we know is, that certain results follow certain means used. 18 PATHETISM. 4. No change of any kind is hrouiiht about in the living body without operating on this susceptibility. It is not reached through any one organ alone, but is dif- fused throughout the entire system. Nor is it reached with equal facility by the same means in different persons. One is found quite difficult to be affected by the ordinary course of medical treatment, and he is relieved at once by pathetising. The strains of music which melt and move the soul of one, liave no effect at all upon another, who would at the same lime be affected to tears, at the sight of human suffering. A knowledge of this quality of the living body will account for the diseases produced by contagion oi infection', for, whe- ther the substance producing the change, be received into the system, through the slomach or lungs, or the pores of the skin, this is the medium through which the change is made, whether the agents be material substances, or those only, which produce feeling, emotion, passion, or change of any kind in the human mind. 2. There is a recipkocal influence between this sus- ceptibility AND THE HUMAN MIND. I use the term mind to signify an intellectual, iiilelligent 7Jou-er, which is not predicable of mere aninial life. Life is not intelligence. . But that self-determining power in man, de- nominated the mind, is certainly manifested through the body, and all we know of its nature, we acquire through those or- gans, upon the healthy functions of which, it is dependent, from first to last, for the integrity of its deductions. For, to whatever standard we appeal, for the purpose of determining its nature and powers, we do so in the exercise of the cerebral functions, and whether we correctly apprehend what is admit- ted to be a divine revelation on this question or not, must de- pend upon the healthy state of those organs, through which the conclusions of the mind are manifested. (1.) The dependence of mind upon the developments of this susceptibility. Where is the mind of the foetus or of the child just born ? Where is the mind of the infant, or the id- iot, fifty years old? It is agreed on all hands, that in these cases, there are no manifestations of mind. As in the vege- SUSCEPTIBILITY. 19 table kingdom, those leaves which appear first, and are near- est the earth, are less matured, and soonest decay, while the flower and ripened seed require time for their full develop- ment ; so in the human species: in infancy we find little or no appearance of mind, till, by age, diet and exercise, the phy- sical organs become sufficiently developed for its various man- ifestations. At first, its faint gleamings are perceived, which correspond w4th the infantile proportions of the body, and up through childhood and youth, its powers may be traced in connection with the grovvTth and health of the cerebral organs. When the body has reached the meridian of its development, in a healthy state, the mind also, is seen in the full exercise of its powers, and from this period, down through the decrep- itude of age, it sympathises with the infirmities of the body. To notice a few things a little more in detail : Sexual difference. In the male, the bones and muscles are stronger, and more regular, the arterial and cerebral systems are more developed; the lungs are stronger, and hence, more compass of voice and respiration. On the contrary, women will generally be found inferior in the bones and muscles, with larger venous and ganglionic systems. In men, the coarser, rougher qualities — in women, the finer and more delicate. — And hence, a corresponding psychological difference. Man is disposed for labor, courage, liberty and power. Woman, for purity, kindness and patience. The temperaments. As there are as many temperaments, properly speaking, as there are differences in the qualities of the physical systems of different persons, we have no terms by which they could be designated. The term temperamcnty from tempero, to mix together, has been used to signify that peculiar combination of the materials constituting the difTer- ence in the susceptibilities and dispositions of difierent indi- viduals. Hence, we say that in a person of sanguine temper- ament, there is a corresponding development of hope and joy. In the nervous, the cerebral portions correspond; in the bi- lious, hard muscle, large firmness and energy ; in the lym- phatic, deficiency in firmness and industry, love of ease and inactivity. Diet makes a difference. It is well known, that 20 PATHETISM. all substances taken into tlic human stomach, which produce over excitement, or cause any derangement in the nervous system, invariably affect the mental powers more or less. — Instance the effects of alchohol, tobacco and opium. More than one-third of all the cases of insanitT/, in this country and in Europe, are produced by the use of intoxicating li(iuors: and in China, similar results follow the use of opium. And will any one assume, that insanity, in these cases, is not caus- ed by the influence of the_ physical organs over the mind? — Poisonous food frequently causes delirium. Two monks ate water-hemlock. Both immediately complained of thirst, and plunged into the water, one thinking himself a goose, and the other that he was a duck, and both affirming, that they could live no where else but in the water.* And who does not know the weakening effects of hunger upon the mind, and the exhilaration which follows a full meal ? The difference between a flesh and a vegetable diet is well known. Flesh is more stimulating, producing a bi- lious, active, passionate, and sensual disposition; while a ve- getable diet is favorable to the cultivation of a meek, subdued, childlike feeling, as is abundantly proved by the accounts we have of nations, communities, and individuals who have con- fined themselves to this way of living. The state of the health. The power of thought depends upon the state of the nervous system. Every one knows how difficult it is to put forth any considerable mental effort when the stomach or any of the vital organs are much diseased. — Severe pain in the head distracts the thoughts, and fevers fre- quently rage to such a degree, that mental derangement, and even raving madness ensues. A slight blow upon the head, changes entirely the activity of the mind, and at other times, instant death is the result. The want of sleep enfeebles the mind, and when wakeful- ness is continued too long, in some cases, it causes mental de- rangement. The effeots of the air, the new moon and planets, have long been known, and more or less acknowledged, by all classes of * Dr. Raucli. SUSCEPTIBILITY. 21 people. Indieed, the effects of climate are not more visible, scarcely, upon the vegetable or animal kingdoms, than upon the minds of men. Insanity has often been known to follow, what is called, a "stroke of the sun;" and that it has an in- fluence on animal life seems now lo be generally admitted. M. Arago, in his account to the Academy of Sciences of the solar eclipse of 8th July, 1842, states, that he had often heard accounts of birds dying from the mere influence of an eclipse of the sun; but could scarcely credit the statement, as they could only die from fear; and the discharge of a gun ought to frighten them more, and yet it is certain that it does not kill them, unless they are actually hit. One of M. Arago's friends made the following experiment : He placed five linnets in a cage, they were lively and active, and fed up to the moment of the eclipse ; when the eclipse had terminated three of them were dead. A dog was kept fasting from morning; immediately before the eclipse he was offered food, and fell on it greedily ; but when the dusk commenced he suddenly ceased eating. The horned cattle in the fields seemed affected with a kind of vague terror; during the eclipse they lay down in a circle, their heads being arranged toward the circumference, as if to face a common danger. The darkness influenced even the smaller animals. M. Froisse observed a number of mice which w^ere running brisk- ly, become suddenly still when the eclipse began. The notion prevailed among the ancients, that the influence of the moon had a tendency to produce insanity, and hence this disease has taken the nam^e of lunacy from luna the moon. The extremes of heat and cold are known to be unfavora- ble to the development of extraordinary intellectual powers. Too great a degree of heat relaxes the nervous and muscular- systems; and by too much cold they are contracted, and cor- responding effects are produced upon the mind. It is in the temperate zones that we find the greatest exhibitions of intel- lectual power. It is here that we find it luxuriating in the majesty of its strength, and where, in the exercise of its attri- butes, it explores the hidden mysteries of nature,*soaring ia 2'2 PATHETISM. illiniiiablc space, Willi ilie stars and planetary worlds, or com- inandinir the laws which control the red winged lightning of heaven. (2.) The influence of the mind over the susceptibility. — The effects of joy are well known under this emotion, theres- j)iration becomes easy, the face is Hushed with color, and the entire system seems animated with nev/ life. Anger has been known both to cure and protluce disease. This emotion is no sooner excited in the mind, than its influence is shown in the face, and throughout the muscular system. The eye is seen to change quickly, the teeth grate, and the hand is clenched in correspondence with this stale of the mind. The vascular system, also, partakes of the general excitement. The blood is quickened in its circulation, and hence the heat of the body is increased. The secretions become more copious ; and in some cases, their quality is perceptibly changed. Indeed, most of the emotions and passions of the human mind, are usually shown in the countenance, and excite more or less in- fluence over tlie nervous system; and hence the origin of the various theories of physiognomy which have been put forth from time to time. One of the most mysterious agencies in nature is that which is communicated from the mind through the voice. All the emotions of the heart have corresponding tones of voice. In joy it is clear and full; in anger loud and rough; in fear, it is tremulous and low, as it is, also, under deep and tender emo- tions. And it is worthy of remark, that those gestures which are true to nature, are at first, perfectly involuntary. In fear, the face grows pale ; in fright, the hands are raised and drawn back; in devotion or joy, the hands are raised and clasped. — So in the look of the eye, the turn of the lip, wrinkling of the forehead, emotion is frequently expressed, with more empha- sis than could be done in words, alone. One hand open, and stretched out, salutes ; both open and extended, invite; and with one finger we direct, point out, or command. The head affirms or assents by nodding, and denies by shaking. Bend- ing forward, it indicates devotion, or modesty, and thus the whole body is made to talk and express the emotions of the mind. SrSCEFTIBILITY. 23. Volumes might be filled, demonstrating this power, but my limits will only allow a partial view of this subject. A skilful physician related to me the following : — A man called on him for medical advice, complaining that all the medicines he had taken for some time previous, had the effect of an aperient. He seemed to think he had been imposed upon by the doctors, and begged to know of my friend Dr. W. if he could not give him something that would benefit him without producing this effect. The Doctor assur- ed him that he had no doubt at all, that he could gratify him in this respect. Accordingly, he retired to another room, and prepared a few pills, entirely of icheat bread, and handed them to the patient, with suitable directions. In the course of a few days, the Doctor fell in with the patient, and received from him a severe ,castigatioD. "AYhy, Doctor," said he, -' those yills you gave me physicked me almost to death. I never took any thing before so powerful !" I reminded the Doctor that he had made a mistake in giv- ifio: the patient -piUs of any kind. Had the sam.e substance been given in the form of powders, probably it would have produced no effect at all. I had the following from a scientific gentleman of this city. A little daughter of his was indisposed, and he gave her, for an aperient, a little pure water slightly coloured with wine. She thouofht it was tincture of rhubarb, and it affected her accordingly. I had a patient, a very intelligent lady, who was so susceptible that she would drink from a tumbler of clear v/ater, and be- lieve what she drank to be lemonade, coffee, brandy, or any other liquid which I told her it was; and this she did in the waking state. I once gave her a tumbler of water slightly coloured with molasses, telling her it was senna; and she de- clared it to be senna, on drinking it, and it produced the desir- ed effect. Burton (Anat. Mel. vol. 1, p. 221,) says, a person who has often taken nauseating medicines, will be nauseated by the thought of receiving it again; and a thought has often proved a powerful emetic. And not only has a thought proved an 24« PATHETISM. emetic, but the sight of a distasteful cathartic has for some time operated the same, as when that medicine is actually ^ received into the stomach, as testilied by many experienced physicians, especially as related by Cornelius Agrippa (out of Gulielmus Parisiensus). In another place he says: " Men, if tliey see but another man tremble, giddy, or sick of some fearful disease, their apprehension and fear are so strong in this kind, that they will have such a disease. Or if by some soothsayer, wise man, fortune teller, or physician, they be told they shall have such a disease, they will so se- riously apprehend it, that they will instantly labour of it — a thing familiar in China (saith Riccius the Jesuit). If it be told them that ihey shall be sick on such a day, when that day comes they will surely be sick, and will be so terribly af- flicted, that sometimes they will die upon it." A fact is stated in Lockhart's life of Sir Walter Scott, which shows the power of mind over the system, to prevent at will, the usual effects of medicine. It is related by Scott himself, of a common farmer, whose father had given him a quantity of laudanum, instead of some other medicine. This mistake was instantly discovered ; but the young man had sufficient energy and force of mind to resist the operation of the drug. AVhile all around him w^ere stupid wMth fear, he started up, saddled his horse, and rode to Selkirk, a distance of six or seven miles, thus saving the time that the doctor must have taken in coming to him. His agony of mind prevented the operation of the opiate until he had alighted, when it instant- ly began to operate. He was, however, perfectly recovered. Some ten years ago, while laboring under a severe inflamma- tion of the throat and lungs, a friend prepared for me a mix- ture of molasses and camphor. Soon after taking it I began to feel strangely, and, on inquiry, found that I had actually eaten a piece of the gum, larger than a nutmeg. I felt, of course, a little alarmed, but immediately resolved that it should not overcome the nervous system, inasmuch as I had an appointment to appear before a public meeting that even- ing. I walked, durrng an hour or so, resisting all the while the action of the camphor by a determined resolution not to be overcome by it ; and, without any difficulty, I succeeded, SUSCEPTIBILITY. 25 to the no small surprise of the friends who had become cognizant of what I had done. Dr, James Gregory ordered an opiate to a young man, to relieve sleepless nights, under which he had suffered in con- valescence from fever. He informed the patient that he had prescribed an anodyne, to be taken at bedtime; but the invalid being somewhat deaf, understood him to say an aperient. Next morning, on the doctor's inquiring whether he had slept after the anodyne, he replied " Anodyne I I thought it was an aperient, and it has indeed operated briskly." -*. A female lunatic was admitted into the county asylum, at Hanwell, under Sir Wiliam Ellis. She imagined that she was labouring under a complaint that required the use of mercury ; but Sir William, finding the idea of that disease was an insane delusion, yet considering that flattering the opinion of the lunatic to a certain degree, would be favorable to the recovery of her reason, ordered bread pills for her, and called them mercurial pills. After a few days she was sali- vated, and the pills were discontinued. On again ordering them after the salivation had subsided, she was a second time affected in the same manner ; and this again happened on the recurrence to the use of the pills a third time. A physician states, that a lady under his care assured him that opium, in any form, always caused headache, and rest- lessness, and vomiting on the following morning; and on pre- scribing laudanum for her, under its usual name, " tinctura opii," he found that her account of its effects was correct ; but on prescribing it under the term "■ tinctura thebaica," which she did not understand, (she read every prescription,) it produced its usual salutary effect, and was continued for some time without inducing the smallest inordinate action. I have heard of a case, in which the hair was changed, from black to gray, in a few hours, merely by the effects of fear. And, numerous cases of death, have occurred, produced merely by the influence of mind over this susceptibility. The Areekee are a sect among the heathen in New Zea- land, described by Mr. White, a Wesleyan Missionary, who c 26 PATHETISM. says: "They pretend to have intercourse with departed spirits, by which they are able to kill, by incantation, any person on whom their anger may fall ; and it is a fact," adds Mr. White, " that numbers fall a prey to their confidence in the cflicacies of the curses of these men, and pine under the influence of despair and die." — Miss. Her. vol. 23, p. 314, Burton, (Anat. of Mel.) speaks of a Jew in France, who walked by chance, in the dark, over a dangerous passage or plank, that lay over a brook, Avithout harm ; the next day perceiving what danger he had been in, he dropped down dead. He further records that at Basil, a child died through fright by seeing a malefactor hung in gibbets ; and that in the same town, beyond the Rhine, another child died on seeing a carcase taken from the grave. The case of the criminal who was condemned to die, is well known. The physicians obtained leave to experiment upon him in the following manner: He was blindfolded, and made to believe that he was to be bled to death. A vessel of water was placed near him, and when his arm had been operated upon, as if a vein had been opened, the w^ater was set to run- ninff, so that the noise of the small stream sounded like the blood issuing from the arm. In a few minutes the patient began to complain of faintness. His pulse grew more and more feeble, till in a short time he actually expired, and this, too, when not one drop of blood had been drawn from his veins. It is recorded of a Roman mother, that she instantly died of joy, on meeting her son as he returned from the battle of Cau- nce, where she supposed he had been slain by the veterans of Hannibal. A lady in Kentucky, the wife of David Prentiss, Esq. fell dead in an instant, while reading a letter which brought her the news of her husband's death. Well authenticated cases are upon record, which go to show that the mind may sometimes assume such an astonish- ing degree of power over this susceptibility, as to control the involuntary muscles, and indeed, suspend the entire functions of the animal system. It is said of Betterton, an actor, that SUSCEPTIBILITY. 27 he could, at will, render his face pale, and perfectly bloodless ; and a case is mentioned by Blumenbach, of a man, who could in the same way, control the action of his own stomach. A German, now living, by the name of Kerner, it is said,* pos- sesses the power of suspending the action of his own heart; and I have frequently done the same thing for a few moments, in some cases of somnipath)''. A most extraordinary instance, illustrating this power, is given by Dr. Cheynef It was in the case of Col. Townshend, who, after having been sometime indisposed, sent for Drs. Baynard and Cheyne, the latter of whom gives the folloAving account of what they heard and saw : — '' He told us he had sent for us to give him some account of an odd sensation he had for some time observed and felt in himself: he could die or expire when he pleased, and yet by an effort, or somehow, he could come to life again ; which it seems he had sometimes tried before he had sent for us. We heard this with surprise; but as it was not to be accounted for from any common principles, we could hardly believe the fact as he related it, much less give any account of it, unless he should please to make the experiment before us, which we were unwilling he should do, lest in his weak condition he mi^ht carry it too far. He continued to talk very distinctly and sensibly above a quarter of an hour about this (to him) surprising sensation, and insisted so much on our seeing the trial mnde, that we were at last forced to comply. We all three felt his pulse first; it v/as distinct though small and ihreadv, and his heart had its usual beating. He composed himself on his back, and lay in a still posture some time; while I held his right hand, Dr. Baynard laid his hand on his heart, and Mr. Skrine held a clean looking glass to his raouth. I found his pulse sink gradually, till at last I could not feel any by the most exact and nice touch. Dr. Baynard could not feel'the least motion of his heart, nor Mr. Skrine the least soil of breath on the bright mirror he held to his mouth; then each of us by turns examined his arm, heart, and breath, but could not by the nicest scrutiny discover the least symptoms of life in him. We reasoned a long time about this odd appearance as well as we could, and all of us judging it inexplicable and unaccountable ; and finding that he still continued in that condition, we began to conclude that he had * London Lancet, Feb. 18, 1843, I Treatise on Nervous Diseases, p. 307. • 28 ' PATHETISM. indeed carried the experiment too far, and at last "vvere satisfied he was actually dead, and were just ready to leave him. This continued about half an hour, by 9 o'clock in the morning, in autumn. As we were going away, we observed some motion about the body, and upon examination, found his pulse and the motion of his heart returning; he began to breathe gently, and speak softly : we were all astonished to the last degree at this unexpected change, and after some further conversa- tion with him and among ourselves, we went away fully sat- isfied as to all the particulars of this fact, but confounded and puzzled, and not able to form any rational scheme that might account for it. He afterwards called for his attorney, added a codicil to his will, settled legacies on his servants, received the sacrament, and calmly and composedly expired about five and six o'clock that evening." A case was related some two years since by an eminent physician to his medical class, in Boston, Mass., substantially as follows. A lady applied to him for the treatment of a can- cer upon the right side of her face, about the size of a two- quart bottle. Upon deciding that an operation would be ne- cessary to save her life, she expressed great unwillingness to submit to it, and asked him if he could not give her some- thing that would lessen the pain when it was performed. To gratify her he gave her something for this purpose. Three days after, she came to him again, and informed him, that she had fortunately, heard of a cure, and which she would try^ with his approval. It was this — that if she should apply the hand of a dead man to the cancer, three mornings in succes- sion^ it would certainly prove effectual; a neighbor had just died, thus affording an opportunity for the trial. At first, the Dr. was disposed to laugh at her notions, but finally, concluded it best to yield to them, and so expressed a hope that the means proposed might prove successful. In about three weeks afterwards, this same woman returned, and putting her hand up to her face where the cancer had been, said, "Dr., look here!" And sure enough, the Dr. on examination, found the cancer had wholly disappeared. The above cases show most clearly, the astonishing influ- ence which the mind often exerts over one's own nervous sys- tem. And that the mind of one person may exert an influ- ' SrSCEPTIBILITY. 29 enre over the susceptibility of others, is just as plain as that we are ever affected at all by what we hear or see done by others. How often are whole assemblies of people moved even to tears, by what they see and hear from another, speaking or acting before them. But that peculiar agency by which the speaker transfers his own feelings into the minds of his hear- ers, is nothing more nor less than the subject of our present in- quiry. The following case will show the power which one mind sometimes acquires over the susceptibility of another, even when the latter does not seem to have any apprehension of what is done to him. Mr. Forbes, in the 2d vol. of his oriental memoirs, says that — " he was acquainted with a Banian named Lullabhy, the richest man in the city, who was universally believed to possess the power of curing the bite of venomous serpents, by a knowledge peculiar to himself, which he never impart- ed to another. By this art, he certainly recovered many na- tives from a desperate state, after being wounded by the cobra' di-capello and the scarlet snake of Cubbeer-Burr, without touching the patient, or prescribing any thing inwardly. " Mr. Gambler, at that time chief of Earache, was extreme- ly incredulous respecting talismans, charms, divinations and preternatural pretensions of the Bramins; and his opinion of Lullabhy was publicly known, when a circumstance in his own garden afforded a fair opportunity of detecting its fallacy. One of the under gardeners was bitten by a cohra-di-capello, and pronounced to be in danger. Mr. Gambler was holding a council in an upper pavilion, and at the desire of Blr. Per- rott, their second council, immediately sent for Lullabhy, without informing him of the incidents, of which he remain- ed ignorant until ushered into the chief's presence. The gar- dener was lying on a slight bed of cane rope, in a veranda adjoining the council room. "Being asked if he could effect a cure, Lullabhy modestly replied, that by God's blessing he trusted he should succeed. The poor wretch was at this time, in great agony and deliri- ous; he afterwards became torpid and speechless; still Lul- labhy was not permitted to commence his operations. The members of council anxiously waited the chief's permission, especially, when Lullabhy asserted, that any farther loss of time would render it too late. Mr. Gambler examined the man's pulse by a stop watch, amd when convinced that his dissolution was inevitablv approaching, he allowed Lullabhy cl 30 PATHETI&M, to exert his influence. After a short silent prayer, Lullabhy in presence of all the company, moved his short dagger over the head of the expiring man, without touching him. The patient continued for some time, motionless; in half an hour his heart began to bcai, circulation quickened, and within the hour he moved his limbs and recovered his senses. At the ex- piration of the third hour, Lullabhy had effected his cure. — The man was sent home to his family, and in a few days re- covered from the weakness occasioned by convulsive parox- isms, which probably would neither have been so severe nor of such long continuance, had the counteracting power been sooner applied." Of the truth of this account there can be no reasonable doubt, and it is scarcely more extraordinary than many well attested cases of cure by pathetism ; though it differs from the common cases of the latter kind, inasmuch as it does not appear, that the operator in this cure, came in contact wnth his patient, or that he even so much as touched him with his dagger. The laws by which the mind, (and through this the susceptibility,) is affected without contact, will appear in the sequel. The foregoing facts demonstrate the influence of the mind over health and life. The following are of another class, but show as clearly the power of which I am nov/ speaking. — Cases are well known, where a sudden fright of the mother has left an indelible impression upon the child. Dr. Howship relates the case of a woman who was crossing a frozen river in a state of pregnancy. The ice cracked and burst, and she was terribly frightened. When the child was born, its skin was gaped considerably in several places. The sight of an epileptic has been known to transfer this disease to the foetus ; and a case is reported by Dr. Joslin, in which a child was born with small pox, in consequence of the exposure of its mother, only thirty days previous to the birth, of the child, and this too, when the mother had been perfectly secured from varioloid, by vaccination, some thirty years before. There were upon the body of the child, about one hundred and sev- enty regularly formed small-pox pustules, of the usual size, and filled with a yellowish purulent matter.* • New York Lancet, May 21, 1842.— Two similar cases arc given in SUSCEPTIBILITY. 31 The sight of an ugly or disagreeable person has been known to produce an effect upon the features of the embryo. Indeed, this principle is recognised in the bible as governing the sus- ceptibilities of animals. [Gen. 30: 37.] It was acknow- ledged by the Lacedemonians, when they placed beautiful sta- tues in the rooms with their pregnant wives. It would seem that this susceptibility is greatly increased during the period of gestation. I knew a mother, who, during this state, drank two quarts of brandy in twenty-four hours, without showing any degree of intoxication; and at another time, she ate two quarts or more of raw rice, without any injury. Tulpius speaks of a lady who devoured 1400 herrings during pregnan- cy; and of a woman who ate twenty pounds of pepper; and another who ate a live carp from head to tail. Another bit off the heads of twelve mullets and ate them; and another who actually murdered her own husband, and after eating what she could, salted the rest for future use. There is another property of the living body, which it would be unpardonable not to notice in this connection, and especially as it would seem to be so directly connected with the general subject now under consideration. The skin, which covers the entire surface of the body, is filled with innumera- ble pores, so inconceivably small, that in many places they are scarcely visible to the naked eye. In this covering the nerves of sensation are commenced, but thefunctions to which I would call the attention of the reader, are those, simply, which are known under ihe term perspiration and absorption, or inhibition. Life and health could not be continued for any length of time, but for the constant exhalation of a fluid through these pores, amounting in weight to more than one- the same work for March 26, and April 26, 1S4>; and another in the London Lancet for Feb. 4, 1S42. And from such facts as the following it would seem, that the same law predominates over the susceptibili- ties of the feathered tribe also. " A hen belonging to Benj. Gallaway, Esq , of Weakley county, Tenn., was some time ago bitten by a rattle- snake, but by proper attention the wound was cured. However, strange to tell, we are informed that every egg laid since that time by this heii has a picture of a rattlesnake represented upon the shell ! j\Ir. Galla- way, who is afraid to use these eggs in the family, has kept them, and will with pleasure exliibit them to the inspection of the incredulous. — N. Y. Sun, April 14, 1843. 32 TATHETISM. half of all the food and drink received into the stomach, and lander, also, than that disposed of by the other secretions. That various substances are received into the system, ihrou^^h the skin, or from the surface of the body, is as well known as any fact connected with human physiology. The liand, immersed in warm water, will absorb between seventy and one hundred grains of the lluid, in the course of one hour; and the weight of the entire system is proportionally increased, bv remaining for a short time, completely covered with wa- ter. Seamen, when suffering from thirst, have obtained relief by applying wet clothes to the skin, or bathing even in salt wa- ter. Bathing the head with alchohol will produce intoxication, and metallic quicksilver has been found even in the bones of persons who had been subjected to mercurial frictions. Va- rious medicines and poisons are received into the system by being merely applied to the skin; and from this well-known disposition of the system to drink in the substances applied to the surface, a theory of medicine was commenced some three or four cenluries before Christ, and which has since re- ceived the nameof /«/ro/e;)//c, from the practice of anointing the body, or applying medicine to the surface by friction. If the system be thus pervious to fluids, how much more so must it be to imponderable gases, or agencies as subtle as magnetism or electricity ? If a bladder be filled with hydro- gen gas, and suspended in the air, it will be penetrated in a short time by the air with which it is surrounded ; and when external agencies are applied to the surface of the body, it is not unreasonable to suppose, but that they may penetrate and affect the vital forces, with equal facility. Two of the most important pathological facts, demonstrat- ino"this susceptibility, we find detailed in the London Lancet for Jan. 14, 1843. They are given by Dr. W. F. Bow, and are as follows: — *' One remarkable phenomenon, incomprehensible without the aid of the law of nervous induction, results from the ac- tion on the surface of the body produced by a blister. This SUSCEPTIBILITY. 33 phenomenon I shall describe in the words of the author, who first made me cognizant of it: — ' Thus I have been informed by a respectable surgeon, that he found on opening the cran- ium of a patient who had died after a blister had been recent- h'' applied, an inflamed mark, exactly corresponding in shape and size with the external mark of the blister, ivhich penetra- ting the scalp, and the cranium, ivas distinctly visible on the dura mater. ^ " Mr. Porter, in his surgical observations on the diseases of the Larynx and Trachea, expresses himself strongly against the use of blisters in acute laryngites, particularly when ap- plied to the neighborhood of the part. He says they cannot be resorted to at an early period without doing considerable mischief. A case is related when, in acute pneumonia, the application of a blister was followed by an aggravation of the symptoms and death. On dissection, a portion of the surface of the lung exactly corresponding to the size and shape of the blister, was found in a more advanced stage fif inflamma- tion than the remaining pulmonary tissue. " I have been told by a gentleman whose opportunities for observation have been frequent, that he has repeatedly seen marks on the pleura, covering the lungs, leaving the size and shape of the blister which had been applied to the chest, and the same on the intestinal peritoneum, of the size ajnd shape of the blister which had been applied to the abdomen." And Dr. Bow adds : " The knowledge of the fact, that a morbid action artificial- ly produced on the skin, will excite a similar action on an in- ternal surface, is of the highest practical importance ; for if we find, that by lessening the contractile power of the capil- laries of an internal surface, we may rest assured, that we have also the power of increasing the contractile power of the capillaries of an internal surface, by applying to the adja- cent external surface, agents which we know do augment the contractile power of the capillaries of the skin." The inferences to be drawn from the foregoing facts, will be seen in the course of the following pages. 3. The adaptation of the different susceptibilities TO the economy and general purposes of life. In no part of the Great Creator's works do we see his wis- dom and goodness more strikingly exhibited, than in this pro- perty of the human system. Thus we find the organic sus- ceptibility of the stomach, is adapted to those articles of food 34 TATHETISM. wliich by the same plastic liand, have been organized and prepared for the nourishment of the body. And this import- ant organ lias ^vilh propriety enough, been denominated the conscience of the system ; for when in a healthy condition, with what fidelity does the little feelers with which its inner surface is endowed, detect the qualities of the different sub- stances received into it? And with what surprising readi- ness do its muscular fibres commence their action on these substances, and the whole structure, as it were, becomes agi- tated in its efforts to digest and dispose of them, according to the wants of the various parts of the body. So if we exam- ine the circulating organs, we shall see the same adaptation in the susceptibility of the heart, veins, arteries, and capilla- ries. We find in the human species, what we may call a double heart, as it certainly consists of two separate organs, each of which gives motion to a different kind of blood. And as the blood is poured from one of them into the arteries, the extreme elasticity of these little tubes, aid in sending that im- portant fluid into every part of the system. And the same forces assist in circulating the lymph and chyle, and in some cases this -subtile power has continued to act for some thirty minutes after death had separated the head from the body. And how susceptible are the respiratory organs to the pres- ence and properties of air? If we examine the texture and shape of the lungs, together with their functions, and the re- lation they sustain to the other vital organs, we shall see the truth of this remark. The same may be said also, of. the sensorial functions. — The nerves of sensation commence in the extremes of every portion of the system, so that no part of the surface can be found where they are not; and all centering in the brain, we see their adaptation to the great and important purposes for which they were designed. All the organs of motion also, send their respective nerves up to the same centre, where the mind takes cognizance of the impressions made upon the nerves, and from which the will gives out its mandates to be obeyed by the various parts of the system which have been subjected to its control. In a word, the whole of this suscep- SUSCEPTIBILITY. 35 tibility may, perhaps, be traced, more or less, to the functions of the nervous or ganglionic system. Consisting of so many parts, so minutely and mysteriously constructed, and distribu- ted over the entire body, and all concentrating in the brain, it is curious enough, to see how insensible the brain, nerves and ganglia, themselves are, while they are evidently the medium through which all sensation, emotion, passion, or feeling of any and every kind, which become subjects of recollection and reflection in the human mind. Hence, it is plain, that the diff'erent susceptibilities of the living body, are exactly adapted to the real necessities of the system ; and it follows, that if we find one susceptible to the influence of pathetism, it is because the system needs its aid in the performance of its various functions; and, on the other hand, if the patient is not susceptible to any influence from this agency, it is because the system does not need it, but having other susceptibilities, it must be relieved by the most appro- priate means. This chapter shall now be concluded, by a few observations designed to assist in judging of what maybe denominated the pathetetic susceptibility; that quality of the system which renders one susceptible of any influence from the process of manipulation. 1. The Temperament. — I have before stated, that there may be said to be as many temperaments as there are per- sons in existence. What I mean is, that the qualities of no two systems are exactly alike, or are afl'ected precisely in the same manner under the same process. The temperament which is most susceptible to the influence of pathetism, is one, which, for distinction's sake, we may denominate the sympathic, be- cause it most readily yields to the touch of the human hand. JMost somnambulists, and somniloquists, will be found of this temperament. It is most readily recognized as a mix- lure of the nervous lymphatic, or lymphatic, sanguine, and nervous. In such persons we shall generally notice a bland, blue, or grey eye, with extended pupil; soft muscle; hair tend- ing to hazel, or light sandy color. The mouth will be some- what wider than ordinary, and the inside of the hand will be found generallv cold, or in a state of perspiration. 36 PATHETISM. 2. Phrenological Developments. — The organs of firmness small, and the occipital and basilar portions, inferior. Per- sons highly susceptible will usually have the front portion marked on the ordinary phrenological busts as Ideality, large, and fully developed. There are other marks, which every experienced operator must have noticed, but they are not so easily described. Various diseases often develope this susceptibility, and ren- der it quite easy to affect persons when indisposed, who are not influenced, by this agency at all, in a state of good health. The manner of testing a person's susceptibility, is described in the process of pathetising, in a succeeding chapter. There is, however, a still more simple process, as follows : Let the subject be seated where one of the hands and arms may lay perfectly easy. The patient should consent to give you complete control of that hand, and cease to exercise his will over it in any way. Then pass your hand, gently, from the shoulder down inside of his,, to the ends of the fingers. Bring your fingers inside of his, gently, as if you would cause it to follow your own. Let this process be continued, and if the patient be susceptible, the effects will be felt, or seen, in the course of five or ten minutes.* * Since the above chapter was in type, my attention has been called tolKahneman's Organon of Homcepalhic medicine, pp. xviii. xx. 193, 199, 200,202, 207, 208, 211, from which it is perfectly' evident, that Hahne- man recognized the principle of pathetism, (or magnetism,) in the preparation of his medicine ; and not only so, but his infinitesimal doses, when effectual, perform their cures by this very agency. So that every consistent Homcppathist is; in fact, a palhist, though he may not be aware of it. CHAPTER IV. SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. It will facilitate the object we have in view, if we next in- quire into the nature of those laws of the livinof body which are concerned in producing what has generally been under- stood by Sympathy and Antipathy. In the last chapter I have merely taken a cursory view of a few psychological and path- ological facts, the most of which have long been well known, though, indeed, it will be acknowledged, I think, that they have not been so well understood, nor has there been so much use made of them in the various medical theories as we misrht now, suppose, would have been, had correct views more generally obtained with regard to the true science of human life. And, a similar remark may be made of what I am about to offer on the subject of sympathy and antipathy. I have before shown, that the term sympathy has been used to signify a state of fellow feeling or suffering; when applied to the physical system it has been used to signify the suffer- ing, or state of one part of the body, produced by the state or suffering of another. Without attempting a repetition of all that may be found in medical works on this subject, it will perhaps best subserve my purpose, if I bring to my aid the conclusions to which previous writers have arrived, and add, also, whatever may appear to be connected with these laws, in the examination I have been enabled to give to this part of human physiology. In the use, therefore, which I here make of the term sympathy, it must not only be under- stood to signify the state of one part which suffers, by the in- jiucnce which another, in a previous state of suffering, extends to it, but also, that influence which one organ, or portion of the system, is found to exert upon another part, what- ever its nature may be; and further, the reciprocal in-* D 38 PATHETISM. fluences which arc extended from one part of the body to an- other, and which harmonise in producing any one effect which may be seen throughout the system generally. By ajitipathy, must be understood, of course, the reverseof sympathy. The following remark is from Dr. Good : ''We occasionally meet amonir mankind, with a sort of sensation altogether wonderful and inexplicable. There are some persons so peculiarly affected by the presence of a partic- ular object, that is neither seen, tasted, heard, smelt or touch- ed, as not only to be conscious of its presence, but to be in ag- ony till it is removed. The vicinity of a cat not unfrequently produces such an effect, and I have been a witness to the most decisive proofs of this in several instances." I knew a person who was so much affected with the smell of onions, as to be unable to remain in the house where they were ; and it is said, Henry the Third, of France, could not en- dure the presence of a cat. Lord Chancellor Bacon fell down in a fit whenever there was an eclipse of the moon; the phi- losopher Boyle could not endure the sound of water drawn from a cock. Erasmus trembled at the smell or sight offish; Marshall d'Albert fainted at the sight of a sucking pig; La MoUie la Voyer could not endure the sound of music ; and Shakspeare speaks of some person in his day who could not endure the sound of the bagpipe. The celebrated astronomer Brahe, was totally paralyzed in his limbs at the sight of a live hare; and we have known intelligent persons who could not endure the sight of a rat. Some persons are peculiarly af- fected on touching certain kinds of metals, and others are af- fected in the same way if they touch them only in their imagin- ation. An intelligent lady of my acquaintance had such an antipathy to spiders, that for eight years she retained the sense of disgust and horror, which it gave her, on finding one upon her person. Now, it is quite certain, that these states of feeling do not depend upon the judgment, but they must have their origin in a peculiarity of the physical nature of each person. So it is in common life. There is, as it were, an atmosphere sur- rounding every individual, and which you perceive at once, when you approach him. On the first sight of one person, SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. 39 you feel instinctively repelled, and you do not find it possible to feel pleased with being near to him, or to delight in his company. But, with another person you are delighted at once. You feel an attachment to him, for which you can render no reason at all, no more than you could for the anti- pathy you felt for the other. All our feelings of love, friendship, and dislike, are founded in this peculiarity of our nature. It is a law of nature to work by opposite forces. Two poles of the same denomination, repel and expand ; two opposite poles contract and attract. Two contiguous keys on the piano, harmonise less, than two divided by a third. The attraction grows out of the relation hetiveen the two, when one possesses positiveh/, what is possessed by the other negatively. So, nature has provided the two sexes for the propagation of the different species of living bodies, and, it will be found, thai parents of the same susceptibilities, have the least issue, and iheir offspring, if they have any, is generally short lived. This much premised, observe — 1. The corp.espoxdexce of the different parts, and the general sympathy of the whole body with the MIND. I have, already, noticed the reciprocal influence of the body and mind, and we have seen the effects which the one is known to produce upon the other. This influence is shown in the features and form of the body. Hence, in the face of a savage we see a savage mind. With a well formed head we anticipate understanding and strength of intellect. A low, thick head, selfishness and stupidity ; a small head, small mind. A large, well developed body, full chest — muscular strength. Round, blunt features, obtuseness of mind ; sharp features, hard muscle, correspond with quickness of temper, speech, and action. Persons of a bilious temperament, will, usually, be found with large firm.ness, destructiveness, and combativeness. — They may, indeed, have large pity, kindness, and friendship, but the organs first named, either make this temperament, or most generally accompany it. So, we find persons of the sanguine temperament, with large hope ; those of the lym- 40 PATHETISM. phatic; with industry, firmness, and will, moderate. And, slight observation will convince us that in every case, a mark- ed correspondence may be traced throughout the mental and physical developments, extending to the face, limbs and trunk of the body, and manifested in the tones, gestures, and gen- eral conduct. 2. There are sympathies peculiar to different parts OF the system, depending on the relation which one part sustains to another. That is, the part that is said to suffer by sympathy, is af- fected by its relation to some other part, in which the cause of the difficulty really exists. Thus, titillation of the fauces produces vomiting. In this case the stomach is not touched, nor affected, only by sympathy. The same means applied to the nostrils produces motion in the exspiratory muscles in the act of sneezing. The sight of food, excites the salivary glands* A slight increase of action in the stomach, will frequently/ diminish the action of the brain, and increased mental activity will decrease the action of the stomach. Injury of nerves, just as of any other organs, in proportion to their importance, may affect parts, which they do not supply; but with which they are connected ; as amaurosis, and even cataract may follow wounds of the nerves belonging, not to the eye, but to the lace; and convulsions may follow wounds of the acoustic nerve; and diseases of the kidneys, says Dr. EUiotson, some- times produce inflammation in the corresponding portions of the spinal chord. Hence, it is evident that the effects of sympathy do not, al- ways, appear in the portions of the system which are mostly affected. When a voluntary muscle is made to contract, the suffering produced by sympathy, would seem to be in the nerves, peculiar to this agency, connected with the muscle, while the effects are shown in the muscle. And hence, Bichat found that sympathy of animal contractibility occurs only when the nerves connecting the affected muscle with the brain, or spinal chord, were entire. For, when he divided them, the convulsions in the corresponding muscle ceased, as the pupil of the eye ceases to contract when the third pair SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. 41 have beea divided, although light is made to glare upon the optic nerve. It should be borne ia mind, however, that great uncertainty must necessarily attend deductions made from re- sults produced by such mutilations of the living body. For, in the very nature of things, it must be next to impossible for us ever to know precisely, when the parts are injured in this manner, just how far the sufferings of one organ may extend to others, in different parts of the system. 3. Physical SYMPAXHr does not depend upon continu- ity OF SURFACE, OPw THE CONTIGUITY OF THE PARTS AFFECT- ED BY IT. It is well known, that vomiting may arise from a blow on the head, disgust, sailing, pregnancy, or a stone in the kid- ney. The effects of the blisters, detailed in the preceding chapter, put this fact beyond all doubt. For, what connection could be traced through the scalp to the dura mater ? And hence it must follow, that if the laws of sympathy, or that ■susceptibility of the system in which they have their founda- tion, or on which they operate, maybe acted on or controlled by the touch of the human hand, we may see, at once, how it is, that the states of the system may be changed from wake- fulness to sleep, and vice versa, by mere manipulation. We are, certainly, not able to trace any nervous connection between the organs of mirth, and the muscles of the mouth concerned in the act of laughing. And yet, who doubts, but that the act of laughing is produced by sympathy with the mental organs ? And so of the organs of self esteem, and sad- ness, or grief These, and many others, when excited, either naturally or artificially, operate upon the muscles of the face by sympathy ; and yet, we are not able to trace any nervous connection between the organs, and the portions of the face, corresponding in which these emotions are shown, when the organs are excited. In the last stages of pulmonary consump- tion, we see the hectic blush in a particular place in the face, thus demonstrating that, between the lungs and those points in the face, the vital forces have established a sympathetic connection, as if to give notice by a visible sign of the suffer- ing condition of the lungs within. In this case there is svm- Dl 4-2 PATHETISiVI. palhy without any continuity of surface, or any direct connec- tion by the motor and sensitive nerves. Hence we arrive at the lollowing conclusions. 4. That a portion of the nervous substance, inclu- ding, IT MAY BE, THE GANGLIONIC SYSTEM, IS DEVOTED, EX- CLUSIVELY, TO SY3IPATHETIC FUNCTIONS. It would transcend ray limits to enter upon an examination of the physiology of the nervous system in all its parts, I must therefore content myself with a mere statement of those conclusions which are legitimately authorised by the few an- atomical examinations, and pathological observations, which seem to be directly connected with this view of the subject. (1.) The nerves oi^ sensation and motion cannot, in all ca- ses, convey sympathy, because, we know that sympathy does often occur independently of sensation or motion. Nor is this all ; some sympathising parts have no susceptibility at all. It may be objected that all vascular parts acquire sensibility un- der inflammation. But in saying this, the objector overlooks the fact, that there is no inflammation without sijmpathy. In- flammation is, in all cases, the eff'ecls of sympathetic laws. These sympathetic or antipathetic influences are what Dr. M. Hall and others have denominated the "morbid and re- ■flex actions of the spinal marrow." This distinguished anat- omist, by a long series of experiments and observations, thinks he has proved, that these " inflex actions do not depend upon sensation or volition, but upon some other principle of the an- imal economy ; the only known principle which remained, and which could be the probable agent in these actions, was the vis nervosa.''^ The following are his conclusions. The term sympathetic, or antipathetic action, might be substituted for the term " inflex," in these conclusions, and the idea would be as well, and perhaps better expressed : 1. It is proved by the series of facts which have been ob- served in the human subject, that the excito-motory reflex ac- tions are independent of sensation and volition, however they may be accompanied by sensation, or influenced by volition, in the perfect animal. 2. It is proved as a consequence, that the reflex actions are dependent on another principle of the nervous system ; and it SVMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. 43 is proved by a series of experiments, that this principle is the vis nervosa of Haller, acting according to a new reflex law. 3. The phenomena of the excito-motory reflex actions are obvious in cases of paralysis, in proportion as that paralysis is more complete; they are therefore, more observable in par- aplegia, than in hemplegia, in general, but in each of these according to their intensity ; they are therefore not only inde- pendent of sensation and volition, but inversely as these, fre- quently disappearing as these return. 4. In accidents, as in experiments, the excited reflex ac- tions are not immediately observed, but are manifested only after the lapse of certain intervals of time; it is plain, there- fore, that the first influence of the shock is to diminish the ex- cito-motory power ; and this may remain until the patient falls a prey to the accident; as in the case noticed in Dr. W. Budd's paper. 5. It is observed that at a subsequent period, in more fa- vorable ca.ses, the excito-motory power is not only restored to its normal condition, but morbidly augmented. 6. This is especially observed in certain diseases, as teta- nus, the efl'ects of strychnine, &:c. 7. The reflex arcs of the nervous system will be imperfect in cases of disease or injury of the lumbar or other regions, as in the case noticed in Dr. W. Budd's paper, and the reflex ac- tions will consequently be absent; a fact which aff'ords in its turn an important source of diagnosis, as to the seat of the disease. 8. In certain cerebral affections attended by coma, the pres- ence or absence of reflex actions, in the eyelids especially, gives us an index of the degree of severity of disease. 9. Certain diseases, as hydrophobia, epilepsy, hysteria, and certain remedies, as strychnine, cantharides, &c., not only in- duce augmented excitability, but manifest their efl'ects pre- cisely upon the organs which are, physiologically, under the influence and dominion of the excito-motory power. 10. There are new forms of disease of the true spinal func- tions, not hitherto described; such as the disphagia, the pecu- culiar action of the rectum, &c. which have been briefly no- ticed. 11. Certain parts, as the sides of the thorax, the soles of the feet, &c., are more susceptible of the excitement in ques- tion than others. 12. Dr. W. Budd has very justly observed, that in many cases of violent reflex and even convulsive actions, there was no sense of fatigue, and little emaciation of the muscles. In fact, fatigue is a cerebral stale, and cannot be expected to oc- cur in the cases in which the reflex actions are most observ- 44 PATHETISM. ed ; and emaciation is most obvious in spinal paralysis, it! which the reflex arcs being interrupted, the reflex actions are also precluded from taking place. Fatigue \i= fdt severely af- ter violent attacks of epilepsy and other spasmodic diseases, in which the cerebral functions are afterwards restored. — Med. Chir. Rev. Jan. 1S41. The reader will readily perceive, how exactly the foregoing conclusions agree with the sympathetic phenomena, peculiar to the results produced by pathetism. Nor can I see why these laws should not satisfactorily ac- count for the following fact, stated in Dupuytren's lectures, where he says : " It is oi almost constant occurrence, that diseases of the up- per part of the thigh are felt, so to speak, at the knee ; and also, that those of the upper part of the humerus are felt at the elbow. "It is a curious circumstance, that in certain individuals after lithotomy, or other great operations, an abscess is apt to be formed in the calf of the leg. We cannot form any idea how this should be, but so it is. " Generally, in affections of the brain, the effects of purga- tives on the bowels, are much less powerful than usual; for example, five or six grains of tartar emetic, and several oun- ces of Epsom salts, will not often produce either vomiting or purging. In these cases, the oleagenous purgatives, such as castor or croton oil, succeed best. " Extensive and severe burns are almost always followed by- constipation." (2.) There is no sensation independently of the brain.* But sympathies may, and do exist, independently of that organ.— Various portions of the system may be made to sympathise with the influence of pathetism, when the brain is not affect, ed at all; and we have seen, that foetuses have been born alive without any brain. Communications of nerves exist without any connection with the brain. And if the phenom- ena, common to a state of sympathy, be admitted, no fact could be more clearly demonstrated, than \hdX sympathy may, and does exist independently of sensation, and sometimes in- dependently of the brain. I have seen hundreds of cases, * Or without the medulla oblongata. SYMPATHY AND A^'TIPATHY. 45 where sympathy has been manifested in the liighest degrees, when at the same time, there was no evidence of sensation whatever. We have also seen that disease has been cured by sympa- thy ; that is, cures of a most extraordinary kind have been ef- fected, which could not be traced to any other known laws. — And, the same may be said of the cause of disease. Every physician knows, not only that every part of the system may suffer from sympathy, but that diseases are sometimes caused by this agency, alone. For a few specimens of this kind, see the American Journal of Medical Science for October, 1841, in which a number of cases are stated by Dr. Zabriskie, dem- onstrating the existence of " sympathetic paralyses.'''' Six ca- ses are enumerated, at length, and from them, the Dr. gives the following reasons for believing that paralysis was sympa- thetic of enteritis, when the encephalo-spinal system was not affected at all : — "1. The inflammation always precedes the paralysis, and often for some lime. " This took place in Dr. Waddel's case and in all the cases of Mr. Abernethy, and in all the cases observed by myself. " 2. From the absence of all morbid appearances on dis- section, the nervous apparatus appearing sound. " 3. From the inability of all remedies applied to the spine, to the brain, or to the general nervous system. " 5. The remedies which gave the most relief, were those which relieved the inflammatory systems." Cases in support of the above conclusions might be quoted in great numbers, if it were at all necessary. (3.) All that is known of the anatomy and functions of the ganglia, confirms the assumption as to their exclusive sympath- etic functions. That communications are made from different parts of the system, without particular reference to the ence- phalo-spinal mass, is as certain, as that the mind takes no cognizance of the processes constantly going on in the animal economy, and there can be no room for doubt, but these im- perceptible sympathetic influences are carried on by the gang- lionic nerves ; which may serve as so many little brains, as it were, distributed throughout the system for the receptiou 46 PATHETISM. and transmission of sympathetic influences, the same as the enccphalon, receives impressions from the nerves of sensation, and transmits, perliaps, ihrougli this medium, the motive pow- er to the different parts of the system. The vital functions depend much more upon the ganglionic system, than upon the brain or spinal nerves. Foetuses have been born without any brain or spinal chord ; but in these cases, the ganglions were perfectly developed. Lobstein relates the cases of six foetuses born with absent brain, and other organs, in each of which the ganglionic system was perfect, and even unusually large.* And Dr. Cayre relates the cases of nine idiots dissected by him, in which the encephalo-spinal sys- tem was wasted or diseased, while the ganglionic was per- fectly healthy. From these facts, it follows, as will more ful- ly appear hereafter, that breathing, and, in fact, all the animal functions, have been carried on without a brain, but never, so far as is known, without the ganglionic nerves. The func- tions of the heart have never been performed without its gang- lia, so that the cardiac ganglia, as the heart is the first or- gan that comes into action, is the first process towards the formation of a nervous system. But this assumption would seem to be more fully confirmed by a recent discovery made by Dr. Remak, of Berlin, who has elicited the following facts : ''The nervous substance is contained in tubes. The tubes enclosing the medullary matter of the sensitive nerves are exceedingly thin and transparent, while those surrounding the substance of the motor nerves are much more resisting and dense; to which latter condition the greater whiteness and opacity uf those nerves appears to be owing. It is well known, that nervous filaments from the cerebro-spinal system go to join the ganglia of the sympathetic system ; but according to the researches of Dr. Raraak, they only traverse the ganglia without forming, with them, any more intimate connection, as was formerly supposed. The nervous matter of the sym- pathetic system is distinguished by its peculiar reddish tint, but the nerves given off by the sympathetic ganglia, carry both reddish and white (cerebro-spinal) matter; the latter, howev- er, exists in the least quantity in the nerves going to the or- gans removed from the agency of the will, as the liver, spleen, &:c. But, in nearly every bundle of nervous matter, it * London Lancet for Nov. 19, 1842. SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. 47 would seem, ihai motor, sensitive, and sijmpathetic filaments are present. Two kinds of functions are well established to belong to the cerebro-spinal nervous system, a perception of sensation and a motive power ; and Dr. Remak supposes a dou- ble functioji of a similar kind to belong to the sympathetic sys- tem, thus rendering necessary the existence of a double se?i- sorium commune, in the same living being, one of organic or vegetative, and the other of (so called) animal life."* Here, then, we find the foundation oi xhose susceptihilitiesy described in a preceding chapter. The ganglia and sympa- thetic nerves, form the union heticeen ?nind and matter. They constitute the medium through which the mind operates, both upo7i its own organs, and upon the mind, or organs of others ; and also, by which one part of the same system, influences, sympathetically, another part. They are the connecting link between the mind and the nerves of motion and sensation, and through which the fmictions of all the other nerves may be controlled, or suspended, or transposed from one organ to another, in the same body, or transferred from one system to another, as in somnipathy and the phenomena common to that f?tate. 5. Two SEPARATE LIVING BODIES ARE SO^IETBIES GOVERNED EY THE SA:ME SYMPATHETIC LAWS. Manj' cases are on record, of two persons, having such an identity of life, that the health of both, and indeed, their men- tal exercises, have been affected in precisely the same way, even when they were not in the same place. A reputable physician of this city informs me that he is well acquainted Avith two twin sisters, who were affected in this way. One was always sick precisely at the same time with the other, though some tw^enty miles apart. One was married ; and having arrived at the full period of gestation without the know- ledge of the other, the single sister, was taken with slight la- bor pains, at the very time they commenced with the other sister. The following case was communicated to the Royal Academy of Medicine, by M. Cagentre, in 1824. " Twin brothers were affected, precisely alike, for a number of years. Whatever indisposition one suffered, was suffered * De Nervo Sympathetico, p. 25. 48 PATHETISM. by the olhcr at the same time. Derangement of the alimentary canal, intestinal worms, kc, always made iheir appearance, in both, exactly at one and the same moment, and the symptoms in both were of equal intensity. Dr. Nourel carefully watched them, after their return from a fifteen montii's slay in the coun- ry, and verilied the observations of the nurses. He found that quotidian intermittent fever commenced and terminated on I he same day in both ; both had acute conjunctivities together, and also colic, which lasted in each for twenty-four hours. — Two molar teeth made their appearance in each, at the same time. These things took place in 1831. In 1832 they had different eruptions, but both suffered contemporaneously. In the winter both had bronchitis together. In 1S33, they w^ere attacked with measles, and after these, with scarlet fever; in these diseases each lAvin had symptoms precisely similar to the other, and the commencement and termination, in both, were at precisely the same period. In 1834 they had ear ache and intermitting fever together; and also vesicular erup- tion on the back of the neck. But their dispositions were en- tirely opposite; one was thin and lively, the other robust and indolent." It is an old observation, that two persons are often known to have similar affections, at the same time, or where the sympathy is said to be so strong between them, that the sick- ness of one necessarily affects the other. But in the above remarkable case, it will be seen, the affection of one was not caused by sympathy with the other, but, the same cause op- erated on both, precisely alike, at one and the same time, through a number of years.* * The sam3 sympathetic laws are supposed to govern animals. The charm of serpents has been proverbial from immemorial time. A case in illustration of this law, is given in the New York Sun, for April 6, 1843. Some years since, a gentleman, by the name of A. W. was travelling in Mississippi, and found in the road side a rattle-snakc. The road was narrow, and it is impossible to say that the snake was on the right Kand. Mr. W dismounted, and procured a stick to kill the snake, struck it a blow, so as to disable it, and to his aslonis^hment, heard a partridge flutter on the left hand side of the road at the instant the blow was inflicted on the snake. The partridge w^as eight or ten feet from the snake, and he immediately went to it and picked it up, intending to secure it first and then despatch the serpent. He recollected, however, liaving heard that the charm of the bird was communicable, by contact with it to any other living animal, and deposited it in the place whenco he had taken it, and resumed his ' labors of love' on the ' charmer.' To his great astonishment, he observed that every blow on the snake, seemed to tell on the partridge, which fluttered at every one : and as SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. 49 Facts ia abundance are at command, fronn which it •would seem, that the same laws sometimes operate upon two differ- ent minds, even when at a great distance apart. A case of this kind is given by Dr. Abercrorabie, where a mother and her son, a hundred miles apart, had precisely the same dream, at the same hour of the same night. The son was the Rev. J. Wilkins, dissenting minister at Weymouth, England, and the particulars of his dream are thus staled by himself: " One night, soon after I was in bed, [ fell asleep, and breamed I was going to London. I thought it would not be much out of my v^ray to go through Gloucestershire, and call upon my friends there. Accordingly I set out, but remem- bered nothing that iiappened on the way, tilf 1 came to my father's house, when I went to the front door, and tried to open it, but found it fast. I then went to ihe back door, which I opened, and went in ; but finding all the family were in bed, I went across the rooms only, went up stairs, and en- tered the chamber where my father and mother were in bed. As I went that side of the bed in which my father lay, I found him asleep, or thought he was so; then I went to the other iside, and just turned the foot of the bed. I found my mother awake, to whom I said ;hese words, 'Mother, I am going a lon^ journey, and I am come to bid you good bye.' Upon which she answered me in a fright, 'O dear son, thou art dead !' With this I awoke, and took no notice of it, more than a common dream, only it appeared to me very perfect, as some dreams will. But in a few days after, as soon as a letter could reach me, I received one by post from my father, upon the receipt of which I was a little surprised, and con- cluded something extraordinary must have happened, as it the work of deaih progressed with tlie snake, i' seemed to proceed ^art passu with the bird. When the snake writhed, the bird fluttered, and when the snake was dead, the bird absolutely fell on its side, made sundry gapes and expired. The following is from the Philadelphia Public Ledger: — A gentlc- manof great respectability in St. Croix, showed me a hen's egg which has on it, in relief, the figtire of a goose. The annexed is a sketcli of the figure, taken in my presence, and the following is his account of the case : The circumstances connected with this phenomenon may not be un- worthy of notice. There was only one fine wliite goose on the place, which constantly associated with the other lowls oi" the yard. Having no other companion, he frequently seated himself in the yard, among the rest of the fowls, precisely in the posture of the figure in the egg, which egg was laid by one of the hens constantly in company with the goose. The feathers on the body of the goose were in rather a roue)! state, but the neck was covered with down an.l no leathers. E 50 rATHETISN. was but a little before I had a letter from my friends, and all were well. Upon opening it, I v/as more surprised still, for my father addressed me as though I was dead, desiring me, if alive, to write immediately ; but if the letter should find mc living, they concluded I should not live long, and gave this as tiie reason of their fears: — That on such a night, nam- ing it, after they were in bed, my father asleep, and my mother awake, she heard some one try to open the frontdoor; but finding it fost, he went to the back door, which he open- ed, came in, and came directly through the rooms up stairs, find she jjcrfectly knew it to be my step. I came to her bed- side, and spoke to her these words, ' Mother, I am going a long journey, and am come to bid you good-bye; upon which she answered me in a fright, '0 dear son, thou art dead I' which were the very words and circumstances of my dream ; but she heard nothing more, and saw nothing; neither did I. in my dream, as it was quite dark. Upon this she awoke my father, and told him what had passed ; but he endeavour- ed to appease her, by persuading her it was only a dream; she insisted it was no dream, for that she was as perfectly awake as ever she was, and had not the least inclination to sleep since she had been in bed. From these circumstances I am apt to think it was the very same instant when my dream happened, though the distance between us was a hun- dred miles; but of this I cannot speak positively. This oc- curred whilst I was at the academy at Ottery, Devon, in the year 1754, and at this distance of time it is still fresh upon my mind. I have since had frequent opportunities of talking over the affair with my mother, and the whole was as fresh upon her mind as it was upon mine. I have often thought that her sensations as to this matter were stronger than mine. What some may think strange, I cannot remember that any thing remarkable happened hereupon. This is only a plain simple narrative of a matter of fact." Almost any person, indeed, would be very apt to suspect, that a dream so very remarkable as this seemed to be, was a prognostication of something extraordinary, but the sequel proved, that nothing out of the common course of events hap- pened to either of the parties; for Mr. Wilkins lived nearly fifty years afterwards, and died a natural death. 4. What we know of sympathy and antipathy is re- solvable INTO the laws which AFFECT BOTH THE BODY AND TIIE MIND, AND ITS INFLUENCE MAY BE EXTENDED FROM ONE i'ERSON TO ANOTHER. SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. 51 Every Phrenologist knows, that the exercise of one organ by one person, will excite the same organ in another. Thus, for instance, combativcness will excite combativencss, mirth- fulneos will excite mirthfulness, and so of the other organs. This is according to a law of the human mind which explains the aptitude of minds, in society, to assume a common train of thought or feeling, grave or gay, as if by contagion. We could not, of course, find room for any considerable por- tion of the facts there are at command, elucidating this part of our subject, but the following, it is believed, will be suffi- cient to bring it sufficiently before the mind of the reader: '•In a poor house at Harlem, under the inspection of the learned Dr. Boerhaave, a girl, under an impression' of terror, fell into a convulsive disease, which returned in regular par- oxysms. An interested by-stander witnessing her, was seized wi'th a similar fit, which "also recurred at intervals. On the day following, another was attacked; then a third, and a fourth; and finallv, nearly the v.^hole of the children, both girls and boys, came to be affected in the same manner. — No sooner was one seized than the paroxysms pervaded near- ly all the company." , Here were the effects of sympathy; but the remedy, per- haps, would be denominated antipathy. The account proceeds: "Every remedy was prescribed by attending physicians which their skill "could suggest, but all in vain. They then applied to Dr. Boerhaave to come and examine the nature of this complaint, and to prescribe a remedy if possible. The learned doctor immf-diately observed that the disease was communicated from one to another by sight ; and he inferred that it was the effect of the imagination solely, and that he must apply his means to the minds of ihese children, rather than to their bodies. He resolved, therefore, on the experi- ment of diverting their minds from those paroxysms by ren- dering a fit extremely hazardous. Having apprised the ma- gistraie of his design, he ordered in presence of all the chil- dren, that several portable furnaces should be placed in differ- ent parts of the chamber, containing burning coals, and that irons, bent to a certain form, should* be placed in the fur- naces. He then jrave these further commands : — that all me- dicine would be entirely useless, and the only remedy with which he was acquainted was, that the first which should be seized with a fit, whether boy or girl, must be burnt in the 52 PATHETISM. arm, to the very bone, by a red-hot iron. He spoke this willit uncommon dignity and gravity, and it was completely suc- cessful. The idea of burning in case of a fit, was enough la enable them to counteract the tendency of their minds to fits, or these spasmodic atfections, and the complaint occurred not again." Rees^ Cyc. vol. 19, part 2, Art, Imitation. Most of our readers liave, probably, heard, or read, of the strange occurrences which took place in Kentucky and Ten- nessee, some forty years ago, during what was denominated the Great Revival there. A particular account of them is given in Lorenzo Dow's Journal, and in the £d. Med. and Surg. Jour. voL3. p. 4AG; and also by many others, which may be seen quoted in Powers' " Essay on the Influence of the Imagination over the Nervous System." The following ac- count is from Dr. F. Kobinson, of Tenn. : "The churches in those states, at that period (1800), were small and uncomfortable, and the people from necessity as- sembled in the open field at extraordinary meetings. These meetings lasted from three to five days. They remained up- on the spot day and night, and worshipped their Maker inces- santly. The outward expression of their worship consisted chiefly in alternate crying, laughing, singing and shouting; and at the same time, performing that great variety of gestic- ulation, which the muscular system is capable of producing. It was under these circumstances that some found themselves unable, by voluntary efforts, to suppress the contraction of their muscles; and to their own astonishment, and the diver- sion of many of the spectators, they continued to act from ne- cessity, the curious character which they had commenced from choice. The disease no sooner appeared, than it spread with rapidity through the medium of imitation. Thus it was not uncommon, for an affected person to communicate it to a greater part ofa crowd, who from curiosity or other motives, had collected around him. It attacks both sexes, and every constitution; but evidently, more readily those who are en- thusiasts in religion. The contractions are sudden and vio- lent, such as are denominated convulsive; being sometimes so powerful, when in the muscles of the back, that the pa- tient is thrown on the ground, where for some time, his mo- tions more resemble those of a live fish, when thrown on land, than any thing else to which I can compare them. During the intermission, a paroxysm is often excited at the sight of a person affected, but more frequently by the common salute of shaking hands. The sensations of the patient in a paroxysm are generally agreeable, which the enthusiastic class often en- SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. 53 deavor to express by laughing, shouting, dancing, &c. Fa- tigue is almost always complained of after violent paroxysms ; and sometimes a general soreness is experienced. It has not proved mortal in a single instance within my knowledge, but becomes lighter by degrees, and finally disappears." The author adds by a subjoined note, — " some who took the dis- ease in 1803, have not yet (1S05) entirely got rid of it; but these instances of its long continuance, are very few." These convulsions were commonly called " the jerks." — Another writer (McXeraan), quoted by Mr. Powers, gives the following account of them : " At first appearance, these meetings exhibited nothing to the spectator, but a scene of confusion, that could scarcely be put into human language. They were generally opened with a sermon; near the close of which, there would be an unusual outcry; some bursiing forth into loud ejaculations of prayer or thanksgiving for the truth; ethers flying to their careless friendsrv/itli tears of compassion, beseeching them to turn to the Lord. Some, struck with terror, and hastening through the crowd to make their escape, or pulling away their rela- tions;— others trembling, weeping, and crying out for the Lord Jesus to have mercy upon them, fainting and swooning away, till every appearance of life was gone, and the cxtrem- ities'of the body assumed the coldness of a dead corpse. Oth- ers surrounding them with melodious songs, or fervent prayers for iheir happy resurrection in the love of Christ. " The rolling exercise consisted in being cast down in a violent manner^doubled with the head and feet together, and rolled over and over like a wheel, or stretched in a prostrate manner turned swiftly over like a dog. They Avere some- times driven in this manner through the mud, and were sul- lied from head to foot. JNothing in nature could belter rep- resent ihe jerks, than for one to goad an'other alternately on every side with a piece of red hot iron. The exercise com- monly began in the head, which would fly backward and for- ward', and from side to side, with a quick jolt, which the per- son would naturally labor to suppress, but in vain. He must necessarily go as he was stimulated, whether with a violent dash on the ground, and bounce from place to place like a foot-ball, or hop round, with head, limbs and trunk twitching and jolting in every direciion, as if ihey must inevitably fly asunder. °Sometinies the head would be twitched right and left, to a half round, wnth such velocity, that not a feature could be discovered, but the face appear as much behind as before. Head-dresses w^ere of little account among the fe- male ierkers. Even handkerchiefs bound tight round the El 5'1 PATIIETISM. head, would be flirted off almost with the first twitch, and the hair put into the utmost confusion ; this was a great in- convenience, to redress whicii, the generality were shorn, though directly contrary to their confession of laith. The ^arA? consisted in being compelled to imitate the canine ani- mal ; and persons thus affected moved about on all fours, growling and snapping the teeth, and barking in so persona- ting a manner, as to set the eyes and the ears of the specta- ^ tor at variance. These persons, however, were the most gift- ed in prophecies, in trances, dreams, visions, fragrant smells, and delightful singing in the breast. Some were favored with an interview with their departed friends, and learned their different allotments in the invisible world ; some saw the holy city, and heard the songs of the angelic hosts, others, in their visions were employed in crossing rivers, climbing moun- tains, finding treasures, fighting serpents, or more delightfully employed in eating the fruits of the tree of life, bathing in clear water, casting off old garments and putting on new." The following account of these singular occurrences is from Dew's Journal, before referred to. In the year 1S05, ho preached in Knoxville, Tenn. before the governor, when about one hundred and fifty persons, (among whom were a number of Quakers) had the jerks. He adds: "I have seen all denominations of religion exercised by the jerks, gentleman and lady, black and white, young and old, without exception. I passed a meeting house, where I ob- Jierved the undergrowth had been cutaway for a camp meet- ing, and from fifty to a hundred saplings were left, breast-high, on purpose for the people who were jerked to hold by. I ob- served where they had held on, they had kicked up the earth ds a horse stamping flies. A Presbyierian minister told me, while he was preacliini the day before, some had the jerks. 1 believe it dues not affect those naturalists, who wish to try fo get it to philosophise upon it;— and rarely those who are ♦he'most pious; but the luke-warm, lazy professor, is subject to it. The wicked fear it, and are subject to it, but the per- secutors are more subject to it than any ; and they sometimes have cursed and swore, and dauuied it whilejerking." Mr. Powers details the particulars of a family in Chelms- ford, Mass. where one of the children was affected with chorea, and five others exercised themselves with imitating his odd •Gestures until every one of them Avere irresistibly affected in the same way. And the spell was not broken until the father one day, brought a block and axe, and sternly threatened to SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY. 55 take off the head of the first child who should exhibit any more of those singular gestures. Dr. Haygarth gives a similar account of the effects of sym- pathy, which took place in 1796 among some peasants in the Island of Anglesey. It commenced with one female, and in a short time extended to some twenty others. And a similar account may be found in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 3, p. 43S, given by the Rev. Mr. Archibald, of Unst. He says, at first, the affection commenced with a fe- male; but, on her manifesting the affection at church, it was immediately communicated to others. And, in another par- ish, some sixty persons were seized in the same way ; and be- ing carried out and laid in the yard, they would struggle and roar with all their might, for five or ten minutes, and then rise up, without remembering any thing that had happened to them. Affections of the same kind prevailed among the Anabap- tists in Germany, and the French Prophets in Dauphiny, and in England ; and after them the Quakers, and also among the Puritans of New England, in 1745, and more recently among the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians; and especi- ally, among the Mormons. Nor are these affections confined to Protestant sects; they have been equally prevalent among the Papists, and, indeed, among those, as we have before seen, who are not religiously disposed. I have been inform- ed of similar affections among the Mahometans. A gentle- man who has been among them during seasons of prayer, states, that for some time, he had seen some of them con- vulsed, and they would emit a kind of froth at their mouth. — Those less favored, would take this foam from the mouths of their companions, and by rubbing it upon their own bodies would thus excite a similar state of feeling and action in themselves. That the affections above described, were communicated by the laws of sympathy, there can be no doubt. And it would be equally easy to show, that many diseases deem- ed contagious, have been communicated in the same way. The history of the Asiatic Cholera, would as plainly demon- 5(i PATHETISM. slralc llie truth of this position, as it would prove, that any such disease ever existed. And the same might be said of oilier diseases, and afTections, both mental and physical, which are frequently known to gain upon individuals, fami- lies, neighborhoods, and generally Avhole districts of country. Sometimes, an enormous crime will be committed ; and its flagrancy excites a kind of susceptibility in the mind of an- other, and another, until it has been followed by a dozen or more of the same kind. The same sympathetic panic often seizes upon large as- semblies of people. A word or a hint from one individual communicates a shock through the whole. In this way mobs are frequently stimulated to ungovernable fury, and soldiers, in the day of battle, rush on in the face of death ; or panic struck, the fear spreads from one to thousands, and those who but a moment before, were ready to brave the cannon's mouth, are now tremlDling with fear, and find it impossible to summon either courage or self-possession. At other times, a word, or look from some master spirit, electrifies the mass around him, and from one to another the impulse communicates a feeling of heroism and intrepidity, which increases as it spreads, till the entire mass are impatient to throw their lives away in the whirlwind of their ambition. If one person is said to see a ghost, it not unfrequently happens that a sensibility is awakened in the minds of many others, till the infection has" spread, and ghosts are multiplied in proportion to the susceptibility of the people, who happen to hear the strange details of the departed spirits. So, if one in a family, or neighborhood, happens to have a singular dream, it is followed Vv'ith others of the same kind. In a word, whatever is related to the strange or marvellous, what- ever is calculated to excite credulity or fear, operates hy sT/m- pathy, and in this way we may easily account for the preva- lence of many crimes, and the various forms of witchcraft and delusion which have, from time to time, so much dis- turbed and cursed the world. I know, indeed, that many pious people, attribute some of the exercises I have described to the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit. That many persons affected in these ways, are SYMPATHY A>iD ANTIFATIIY. 57 pious, sincere christians, there can be no doubt. But a knov/- ledge of the susceptibility of which I have spoken, and the nature of the human mind, would leave us little doubt, that these things may be rationally accounted for in some other way. I have seen persons "lose their strength," as it is called, at camp meetings, and other places of great religious excite- ment ; not pious people alone, but those also, who were not professors of religion. In the spring of 1824, while perform- ing pastoral labor, in Dennis, Mass., I saw more than twenty men affected in this way. Two young men of the name of Crowel -came one day to a prayer meeting. They were quite indifferent. I conversed w^ith them freely, but they showed no signs of penitence. From the meeting they went to their (shoemaker's) shop to finish some work, before going to the meeting in the evening. On seating themselves, (hey were both struck perfectly stiff, as if paralyzed by catalepsey. — I was immediately sent for, and found them sitting, paralyzed, on their benches, with their work in their hands, unable to sit up, or to move at all ! And I have seen scores of persons affected in the same. way. I have, by pathetisra, thrown numbers of persons into a state precisely similar to that, in which they are said to "lose their strength" under religious excitement. They, themselves, declare, that the two states are exactly alike, nor is there any reason for supposing that there is any material difference be- tween them. CHAPTER V. RELATION. \Vc have seen that sympathy and antipathy, in the human system, depends upon the Relation subsisting between tAVo organs. That is, there can be no sympathy, witliout two persons, things or parts ; and between Avhich there must be some connection established. If the brain is affected by the stomach, or vice versa, it is because they sustain a peculiar re- kttion to each other, and so of every effect which comes to pass, throughout universal nature. Two things must not only exist, before the third is produced, but there must be a rela- tion brought about between them ; for, without this, there can be no cause, no effect of any kind. Some results may re- quire more than two things to be combined, but it is a fact so well known, that no effect of any kind, can be produced w^ith- ^ out a relation first established between an agent and a sub- stance to be acted upon, that we need not stop here, to argue this point. It is one of those self-evident truths, which every where first meets the opening senses of the human mind, and therefore is no more susceptible of proof than one's own con- scious?iess of thinking, speaking, or acting. It will be suffi- cient, therefore, if I merely, in this connection, add, what may be necessary to show how this first law of nature applies to the subject now under consideration. 1. If you take two pieces of soft, smooth iron, and apply them together, you will discover no attraction between them. But ifyou rub one upon the other, lengthwise, in one direc- tion, only for a few minutes, you will perceive a mutual at- traction between them. Kow, we say, this attraction de- pends on the relation established between those two pieces of iron, by bringing them in contact, in that peculiar manner.— 'For ifyou merclv rub one upon the other, as in the process of RELATION. 59 filing, no effects of this kind, are produced. So, if you take an ordinary iron rod, and hold it horizontally, on applying the needle it will not show any signs of polarity ; but hold the rod perpendicularly to the earth, and it acquires polarity, so as to affect the needle. The reason to be assigned for this, is, that in the one case, the rod sustains a relation to the earth from which its polarity is derived, which it does not sustain in the other. Zinc and copper, produce no galvanic effect, till a relation is established between ihem by a suitable fluid. So we say of light and heat, x^o effects are produced by the sun until his influence is extended to the earth, and a cer- tain relation roust be brought about between the earth and the sun, before the process of vegetation is commenced ; and not then, even, unless the sun is brought in contact with earth of a certain quality. All chemical results come to pass, from relations establish- ed between two or more substances; and the effects depend always, upon the qualities of the bodies which are brought to- gether. 2. This relation hcticeen two bodies, ichich produces any 'positive results, depends upon certain contrarieties in their qualities. This law is universal. True, when you bring two poles of the same denomination in contact, a result is produced, but it is of a negaiive character: they mutually re- pel or destroy each other. But, to bring about a positive re- sult, to change the state of one substance or body, it must be brought into relation with another of an opposite quality. — We have already observed, that nature works by contrarieties. Throughout the animal kingdom, we see the species produced by the union of male and female, and husbands and wives of the same temperament usually, cccteris paribus, will either have no issue, or their children, should they have any, will be found feeble and short lived. And the law" of God, forbid- dins: the raarriasre of near relations, is hence seen to be foun- ded upon a law. of our nature; and thus we may see why it is, that the offspring of such marriages are followed by cretin- ism, or feeble mental endowmients. Mr. Marchant, a physi- 60 PATHETISM. cianand a native ofihe Pyrenees, says,* that the inhahitants of a village in the region of the narrow valleys seldom marry with others out of the neighborhood, and that the consequen- ces of this custom are so powerful, that mental imbecility is quiie common, even in the most noble and wealthy fami- lies. As in the animal, so we find a correspondence in vegetable life. The seed, for instance, in the pod, is produced on the line which unites two leaves, and the same law governs throughout the vegetable kinsfdom. All the changes produced in the human system by medi- cine, all the changes produced in any substance, in any way, are brought about by establishing a relation belw^een the thing acted upon, and the other body brought into relation with it. Changes are brought about in the mind by the same means. — All our duties to God, and our fellow men, grow out of the rela- tions we sustain to him and them. All our feelings of love or compassion, or hatred, spring from these relations. And so of hope and fear, so of faith, and every emotion of which the mind is susceptible, the whole depend on the qualities of other persons, and things, between whom and ourselves certain relations have been established. And hence we find, that in order to produce any change in the human system by pathetism, it is always necessary to establish a relation be- tween the operatory the process, or the agent, and the patient to be acted upon. Nothing is done until this relation has been formed, and upon its strength, if I may so speak, will depend all the results which follow the process of pathetising The human system, or any mental effort exerted over the sys- tem of another. 3. This relation is increased hy habit, and sometimes aC' (piircs supreme control over the mind. This fact explains hov) it is, that some persons are made sick by the mere thought of an emetic. The mind having become accustomed to the effects produced by this drug, the mere sight or thought of it, calls up this relation, and the sickness follows. So, when the mind becomes habituated to the effects of any other medicine * Gazette Des Hopiteaux, RELATION. 61 or any pecuWar process for ihe produclion of certaia results; it is often effected by this relaiion in the same way. Instance the condition of one confirmed in habits of intoxi- cation. While the rum-bottle is out of sight, he remains qui- et and sober; but on merely seeing the vessel from which he has so often quaffed the bewitching liquid, his susceptibility is awakened at once, and his desire for it again becomes un- governable, till he is carried, it may be against his will, into the vortex of destruction. What is called the " association of ideas," is attributable to this same power. The sight of one object cr.lls up another, with which it had become associated. The first note of a well-known tune, brings to mind the en- tire piece of music. Cases of severe tooth-ache, have often been cured by the mere sight of the forceps. Persons injured by fright, in cases of fire, or great danger, are sometimes alarmed, on hearing similar sounds, or merely seeing any place or object which brings the scene again before the mind. Some will sink into a state of sleep, by merely sitting in the chair where they have been often pui to sleep before; and the sight of any place, where the mind has been peculiarly im- pressed, revives the same feelings, and we live over again the scenes which, otherwise, had remained entirely obliterated from recollection. 4. This relation, in some cases, seems to depend, wholhj, up- on the mental apprehensions of its nature, and the mind trans- fers it from one object to another. — That the mind has this power, is proved by innumerable facts of the same kind of those we have already adduced, in the chapter on suscepti- bility. How else did it come to pass, that the opiate given by Dr. Gregory, operated according to what the patient thought it was, and not according to its real nature? How else, did it come to pass, that Sir W. Ellis' patient was salivated with bread pills? Indeed, almost every practitioner of any consid- erable experience, will be found able to refer to cases of the same kind, when the effects of medicine have been just in pro- portion to the apprehensions of the patient, and not according to their well-known medical properties. F 62 ' PATIIETISM. What made the criminal die, when he thought himself bleeding^ to death, and not a drop of blood had been drawn from his veins? Why, evidently, he had transferred, in his mind, to himself, the real danger, from actual bleeding; and the consequence was, he did just as he would, had his eyes been open, and he had seen the blood issuing from his own arm. Many persons have, unquestionably, died in this way. The New Zealanders die under the same power, when cursed by the Areekee. The mind, once fully impressed wiih a con- viction of the UNERRING CERTAINTY of death, the suscep- tibility yields beyond the power of recovery, and death follows as a matter of course. Some years ago, a lady in this city went to " Old Bones," as he was called, to have her fortune told. He told her she would be a corpse before three o'clock the next day, and, if she Avould only go home and look into the cistern,' she would there see her own coffin. The result verified the prediction. On looking into the cistern, with her susceptibility excited beyond her control, as of course it would be under such circumstances, she saw her coffin, and at the appointed hour, laid down and died. And persons may be found in all classes of society, who might be killed in the same way, indeed, as they no doubt have been, in times past. And the history of witchcraft, would afford some of the most striking illustrations of this law of the human mind, and most clearly show how it is, that the susceptibility becomes affected by the mental apprehensiojis oi ^d^w^QX, or infection from some unseen or supernatural power. Many of the results, which followed the trials made to test the reality of Mesmer's assumptions with regard to the " uni- versal fluid," have often been referred to for the purpose of proving that the whole was a delusion. However, we shall find, upon examination, that those results prove the truth of pathetism, and demonstrate the reality of the law here laid down. Let us notice a few of them, as stated in the lan- guage of the opposition. The report of the Royal Acadamy of Sciences, of which Dr. Franklin was one, is well known. To understand the ac- cx>unts given by this committee, of what they saw, it must be RELATION. 63 borne In mind, that Mesmer was in the habit of operating by the means of ropes, trees, glass bottles, .Sec; and while we al- low, that he was both* ignorant and avaricious, it is but jus- tice to add, also, that the report of the commissioners does not seem to evince so much candor, on their part, as we should judge necessary for the purposes of a true and impartial ver- dict on the subject of their investigations. But, to show that all the effects were produced without the agency which was assumed by Mesmer and his disciples, the following cases are given : — "A female servant submitted to the same operation; and she affirmed tliat she felt a heat in every part where the mag- netised finger was pointed at her; that she experienced a pain in her head, and during a continuance of the operation, she became faint and swooned. When she had fully recov- ered, they ordered her eyes bandaged, and the operator was removed at a distance, when they made her believe she was still under the operation, and the effects were the same, al- though no one operated, either near her, or at a distance. She could tell the very place wherein she was magnetised ; she felt the same heat particularly about the back and' loins, and the same pain in her eyes and ears. At the end of one quarter of an hour, a sign was made for her to be magnetised, but she ftlt nothing On the following day, a man and a wo- man were magnetised in a similar manner, and the result was the same. It was found that to direct the imagination to those parts where the sensations were to be felt, was all that was necessary to produce these Vv'onderful effects. "Mesmer and £)elson, asserted that they could magnetise a tree, and every person approaching the tree in a given lime would be magnetized, and either fall in a swoon, or in con- vulsions, provided the Magnetizer was permitted to stand at a distance and direct his look and cane towards the tree. Ac- cordingly an apricot tree was selected in Dr. Franklin's gar- den atPassy, for the experiment ; and M. Delson came and magnetised the tree while the patient was retained in the house. The patient was then brought out with a bandage over his eyes and successively led to four trees, which were not magnetised, and was directed to embrace each tree tAvo min- utes, while M. Delson at a distance, stood pointing his cane to the tree actually magnetised At the first tree, which stood about twenty-seven Yeet from the magnetised tree, the patient sweat profusely, coughed, expectorated, and said he felt a pain in his head. At the second tree, now thirty feet 64} PATIIETISM. from the masfnelised tree, he found himself giddy, attended with headache as before. At the third tree, his giddiness and headache were much increased, and he said he believed he was approaching the magnetised tree, although he was still tweaty-eight feet from it. At length, when brought to the fourth tree, 7iot inairnctised, and at the distance of twenty- four feel from that which was, the young man fell down in a stale of perfect insensibiliiy ; his limbs became rigid, and he was carried to a grass-plor, where M. Delson went to his as- sistance and recovered him ; and yet in no instance, had he approached within a less distance than twenty-four feet of the magnetised tree. " A similar experiment was soon after made on two poor females at Dr. Franklin's house. These women were separ- ated : three of the commissioners with one of them in one chamber; and iv/o of them with the other, in an adjoining chamber. The first had a bandage over her eyes, and was then made to believe that M. Delson had commenced magne- tising her, although he never entered the room. In iliree minutes the woman began to shiver ; she felt, in succession, a pain in her head, and in her arms, and a pricking in her hands; she became stiff, her hands stuck together, got up and stamped, etc but nothing had been done to her. The woman in the adjoinins: chamber was requested to take her seat by the door which was shut, wirh her sight at liberty, and was then made to believe that M. Delson would magnetise tae door on the opposite side, while tlie commissioners would wait to witness the result. She had scarcely been seat- ed a minute before she began to shiver, her breathing soon became hurried; she stretched out her arms behind her back, writhing them strongly, and bending her body forwards; 'a general tremor of the whole body came on: the chattering of her teeth was so loud as to be heard out of the room ; and she bit her hand so as to leave the marks of her leeih in it ; but M. Delson was not near the door, nor in either chamber ; nor was either of the women touched, not even their pulse examined. "Dr. Sigualt, an eminent physician of Pans, communicated to the commissioners some effects he witnessed upon his mere pretence of his being an adept in the art of Mesmer. Being at a great house one day, he caused it to be announced that he could mao-netise. The voice and serious air he assumed, had a sensible effect on a lady present, althoui^'h she endeav- ored to conceal the fact. But having carried his hand to the region of the heart, he found it palpitating. She soon experi- enced difficulty in respiration ; the muscles of her face were affected with convulsive twitches, her eyes rolled; she shortly RELATION, 65 foii down in a fainting fit ; vomited her dinner, purged several limes, and experienced incredible weakness and languor. He further adds, that having met a celebrated artist one day on the Pont-Royai, and being informed Jby him ihat he had been afflicted several days with a severe head-ache, the Doctor persuaded him that he was instructed in the mysteries of Mesmer, and by means of a few gestures, he almost immedi- ately removed the pain, to the astonishment of the artist." Now, on examination, it will be found, I think, that these accounts, so far from proving any thing against pathetisrn, prove exactly the reverse. Observe : 1, The persons affected in the manner above described, had all heard, more or less, of the effects said to be produced by mesmeric operations. In this way their susceptibilities were excited, of course, and prepared to be controlled by the appre- hensions of the mind. 2. The relation established in their minds between them- selves, and the agencies by which they were supposed to be produced, brought about the results above described. Just so, if a hungry person fancies he sees an article of food : the sa- liva is at once excited, and his "mouth waters," from the asj sociation in his mind. But, on inspection, what he thought to be a mellow peach, perhaps, proves to be a painted piece of stone ! I knew a lady who was seized with vomiting, on the arri- val of the morning which she had appointed for going on board a packet, for a few hours' sail. Long before she entered on board, she was completely prostrated with " sea sickness." Persons are often exceedingly frightened in the same way. They think they see a ghost, which proves, however, to be a lamp post. Eut these cases, so far from demonstrating the mere ideality of the agency by which we operate on the human system, in producing relief from pain, or inducing sleep, by a mere process, adopted for this purpose, they go rather to prove the reverse, and to show how it is, that the mind creates or transfers this relation from one object to another, and ap- propriates to itself all the influences which could, in any case, he exerted by contact with physical causes. Others have fancied philosophy and science not a little in- Fl (5G PATHETTSM. debted to themselves, when they have pointed to cases simi- lar to the above, and assumed that the cflTects were produced by the imagination. But what the " imagination" is, they have not told us. The knowledge ot^this law of the human mind sufficiently explains how it is, that sleep follows from certain processes, without contact with the patient; and, J humbly conceive, it shows the ralwnale of this mystery much more satisfactorily than the theory of Mr. Baird, of Manchester, England, which was published a year or two sinse, and was as follows: ** The artificial mode of effecting sleep is Xo fatigue the rec- tus and levator muscle of the eye, which is efi'ected by a con- tinuously strained and intent gaze at an object viewed vjnder an acute angle. Under such circumstances, the irriiability of those muscles becomes exhausted, as well as the irritability of the optic nerve; a mist rises up before the eye, and sleep en- sues." But this amounts to no more than what almost every per- son may have observed and felt, when the attention has be- come fixed under certain circumstances. Any barber would •have ffiven as dear an account of cases of somnolency produ- ced under the operation of shaving. However, " physiology and anatomy" do not furnish us with sufficient proof for demonstrating this theory, as has bfeen supposed. An article may be found in the 18th vol. of the Dublin Med. Journal, p. 70, from Mr. G. Stokes, clearly de- monstrating that the closure of the eyelids is not a mere pas- sive condition from fatigue, and relaxation of the levator, as taught by Bichat, but that muscular agency is employed in its accomplishment. An interesting case is there giyen of para- lysis of the portio dura, occasioning lagophthalmos, in which, as in similar cases, by no means very uncommon, the upper evelid assumes that position in which the force of gravity, un- aided by muscular effort, would place it. Mr. Stokes consi- ders this muscle as a true sphincter, for the reasons that it pre- sents all the anatomical and physiological characteristics pe- culiar to such muscles, viz. a mixed function — the voluntary power being employed during a state of wakefulness, and the involuntary during sleep. And, further, it does not appear RELATION. 67 ihat this kind of sleep is induced merely by fatiguing the eye- lids. Ordinary sleep may be brought on by fatigue, or a dose of laudanum; but in such cases it differs, widely, from that sleep which is induced by sympathy with any peculiar pro- cess, adopted for its production. Somnipathy may be induced without contact, or the passes, whenever a positive relation is established between the susceptibility of the patient, and the process used to produce it. Nor is this all. According to this theory, if the patient were to be seated with his eyes closed, sleep would not follow, because, in that case, the mus- cles of the eye would not become fatigued. It is well known, that menoiony, or whatever tends to fix the attention, has a tendency to induce sleep; and in persons of the right suscep- tibility, somnipathy may be brought on in this Avay, or, in- deed, any other change produced in the system, which the patient is led to anticipate^ under the direction of the ope- rator. CHAPTER VI PATIIETISJI. From the foregoing pages it will have been seen, that by what I denominate patheiism, is meant susceptibility to the influence of an agency which is concerned in every feeling or emotion, or passion, or action which was ever felt, or put forth by any human being. It has to do with the laws of an- imal life — with nervous susceptibility to pleasure or to pain. Without it man is a lifeless body of matter. All the feelings therefore which one human being may be able to excite in the mind of another, whether pleasureable or otherwise, all the influence he is enabled to exert over^mind, are identical with this same agency. If they be fromthe materia medica, receiv- ed into the stomach, or agencies applied to the surface of the body, their eflects depend upon a susceptibility, peculiar to the living body. Or, if impressions be made upon the sensorium through the eye or ear, or through the nerves of sensation, the immediate agency which carries those impressions to the mind is pathctism. It is heard in the tones of the voice, it is seen in the look of the eye, and the features of the face; and in its effects thus produced, nothing is thought of it, because these are common and always before the mind. But when precisely the same thing, is felt from the touch of the human hand, those not familiar with the true philosophy of mind start back and tell us this cannot be? But why not? AYhat has been known, or what is now known of the human system, which proves that the same influence may not be communi- cated to one, from the touch of the hand, which at other times reaches the soul through the eye, or the ear ? Or, who has been able to tell how it is that an impression is made upon the tnijid through the ear? AVhat is there in sound to af- fect mind? Or, when the rays of light strike upon the optic PATHETISM. 69 nerves, what makes the intellect take cognizance of the im- age which they make ihere? In a word, hoiu is it that what we call mind is impressed by natural agencies, in any way ? Can matter control spirit ? And pressing these inquiries thus far, I might ask an objec- tor to tell the difference between matter and spirit — What is an element ? What are the laws by which mind and matter reciprocally affect each other ? What is life ? What is dis- ease and death ? Do you say that we know nothing of these first principles ? that we are in the dark as to the laws which operate in pro- ducinor the most common occurrences of life ? Then it must not, it will not be denied, but that there are other things as mysterious and unaccountable, as the wonders of phrenopathy or clairvoyance. When I place my hand upon the head of another, and he manifests a feeling of sadness or joy ; when by the same simple process, I cause him to weep or to sing, laugh or to pray, to rave with madness or to soar in ecstacies of pleasureable emotions, is there any more real mystery in the agency by which these things are done, than when one is made to weep by merely looking upon a scene of suffering; or when he is induced to sing from the influence of certain sounds which break upon the ear? And thus of mental perceptions, when the external senses are closed. It is not uncommon for persons to have more viv- id and impressive views of objects in their natural sleep, than they ever had in their waking state. The system being composed and all the faculties at rest, except the one or two whose excitement constitutes the dreaming, the energies of the whole seem to be concentrated upon those organs, and an impression is thus made more powerful than any which could be produced when all the organs are in a state of general wakefulness. The phenomenon of dreaming is common, and therefore excites no surprise. But when one is put into a state of sleep by artificial means, and in that slate he is found to see with his eyes fast closed, and to have perceptions of dis- tant objects, the phenomenon is new, and we cannot admit it. If we take two pieces of smooth soft iron, and put them in 70 PATHETISM. contact, we do not see that one has any influence upon the other; but if we rub one piece upon the other, in one direc- tion only, for a length of time, wc perceive that by this pro- cess, we have established such a relation between the two, that they mutually attract each other. And yet we cannot detect any substance in either of them which was not there before; nor do we see that a fluid of any kind is actually com' municated by one and received by the other. All we know about this phenomenon is, that by a certain process, a relation has been established between those two pieces of iron, which causes them to stick together in this manner. What that re- lation is we do not know. It would seem, however, that this process had actually produced a difl'erence in the qualities of iron; for before they were passed upon each other in the way I have stated, they v/ere precisely alike in quality ; for on applying either of them to either pole of an ordinary magnet, they aff'ected it exactly alike. But, not so, after they have been rubbed together, as above; for, after this process, one of them will be found to possess north polarity, and the other south; thus proving that though they were precisely alike in quality, before, yet, this process has changed the quality of both, and rendered them susceptible of attraction or repulsion. But who, on seeing this simple phenomenon, would set it down as humbuggery ; and yet, is there not precisely as much of mystery and the marvellous in all this, as in any of the alleged eff'ects produced by pathetism ? Every one knows, that the health of a well person is endan- gered, more or less, by coming often in contact with another who is diseased. But by what law is disease communicated in such cases? Children who sleep wnth the aged and infirm, are known to become enfeebled, and sometimes even to as- sume the decrepid appearance of old age. When the little one is hurt, by accident, the mother instinctively passes her hand over the place, as if it were an impulse of nature which prompted the removal of pain by this simple process. And you will see similar promptings of sympathy, even among animals, when their young or their species give signs of pain or suffering, so easy it is to trace this same law through the PATHETISM. 71 various grades of animal existence. Yet in all these things we see one of the laws of this same agenciy and susceptibiliti/ ; and we may understand how mistaken the views of those persons are, who look upon the subjects discussed in tbe pages of this work, as exclusively connected with the marvel- lous, and confined to those who deal in jugglery, or fortune telling, or the mysteries of the " black art." We see, moreover, how it is, that our labours present their claims upon the benevolence of the philanthropist, and the faith of the christian; inasmuch as the grand object is the il- lustration of those causes which induce the most frio-hlful forms of disease and suffering which human beings are doom- ed to endure. What disease is to be more dreaded than m- sanity? What affliction more terrible than that which deran- ges the mental functions, and unhinges the human mind ? What more appalling than a disease which makes shipwreck of the intellect, and converts the reason into the ravings of madness ? What calamity like that which changes the dearest, tenderest ties of the kindest heart, into the bitterness of gall, and the furious paroxysms of hatred? What malady so frightful, so pregnant with woes, so difficult to manage, so painful to friends, and so fearful in its tendencies ? Before the blight of this dreadful affliction, the fairest, tenderest flowers are swept away, as by the blast of the tornado. The loft- iest minds, the stars and suns of our intellectual heavens, are blolted out; neither age nor sex, nor profession, are spared. Even the consolations of our holy religion, do not afford per- fect security ; the devoted christian, and the man of God, at the altar, are alike liable, and as often fall beneath this fatal scourge. Alas ! when, oh ! when Avill professed christians see and know as they should do, that upon these laws, depend those states of the mind, which render obedience to the Divine Be- ing, and religious enjoyment, even possible? that the laws of mind, those laws by which mind is developed and made to understand its various relations, are as really the laws of God's appointing, as any contained in the sacred pages? and that the violation of these laws unfits us for the Divine will as really as the commission of any other crime ? 72 PATHETISM. We have, thus far, considered the mind only in its manifes- tations through the physical organs; and this view of it will be continued in speaking of ilie effects produced by pathetism; so that I must always be understood as having reference to the entire person compounded of mind and matter, and which, as we have seen, reciprocally act upon each other. It must be remembered also, tliat the effects I speak of ia this chapter are produced on subjects both in the waking and sleeping state ; though, in an infinite variety of degrees, in different persons, and also by processes entirely different in producing the same effects. Let us consider a few of them in detail. 1. The five senses. (1.) Touch and feeling. This sense seems to be the first, and most perfectly developed, and hence, it is the first usually affected by this process. Passing the hand quietly down the arm, and inside the hand of the patient, produces numbness, or a sensation similar to that felt when the limb is said to be asleep ; and when particular portions of the brain are operated upon, or the common mode of pathetising is continued long enough, the sensation of feeling is ccropletely annihilated, thou<^fh, in such cases, sense would seem to be t7-ansferred and not destroyed. For, it not unfrequently happens, that while the patient has no sensation of pain from any violence done to his own system, yet his sense of feeling in other res- pects, is increased when asleep, a hundred fold. He becomes, perhaps, exceedingly affected, on being touched by a stranger, or one who is disagreeable (o him, or by any metallic or min- eral substance. Some persons, in a state of somnipathy, are agreeably affect- ed by the touch of an ordinary magnet, others are disagreeably affected by it, and others, still, are not sensible of any effect when touched by it, at all. Somnipathists not unfrequently raanifest a most singular sympathy of feeling with the opera- tor; so that, while they are not conscious of any violence in- flicted on their own persons, they show the keenest sense of feeling on the infliction of any pain upon the paihetiser, and Bometimes, also, when the pain is inflicted on any one who is PATHETISM. 73 in contact with either of them. In such cases it would seem, that the skin performs all its ordinary functions, except that the nerves of sensation do not convey impressions to the brain. But where are the nerves of sense all this while ? What becomes of their functions ? And if the influence by which this result is produced, be, correctly speaking, "a nervous flu- id," or an agency peculiar to the nerves of motion, and by which these organs perform their functions, how comes it to pass, that the patient, when brought under its influence, is aionce, deprived of this important function of the nervous system? — It may be said, that this agency must be conveyed, and its in- fluence received by the ordinary nerves, because, it takes away their functions. But, this inference cannot, necessarily, follow, because we know, that this result is seen only in particular cases. And, besides, if in the process of pathetising, a nervous fluid is actually communicated from the operator to the pa- tient, the inference would be reasonable, that the power of the nerves of sensation and motion, in the patient, would be greatly increased. The increase of the power by which the nerves perform this office, should, certainly, increase the sus- ceptibility, and make the patient more sensible to the inflic- tion of pain, and, indeed, it should heighten, in every way, the nervous powers of the system. We nnd, however, upon ex- amination, that, generally, the results are directly the reverse of this ; for, instead of the patient's becoming more refined in his sense from touch or violence, he is wholly insensible ; and on the other hand, substances which produced no sensation from mere contact in the waking state, produce the strongest impressions when the patient is asleep; and from mere con- tact with the hand of some somnipathists, as well as others of a peculiar temperament, when wideawake, they have a sense of difl'erent substances, and are able by this process, alone, without the sense of sight or hearing, to tell their qualities, and the feelings which others seem to entertain towards them. Medicines held in the hand of such persons, produce slight ef- fects upon the stomach ; and they will, frequently, be found able to distinguish different persons by touching them, and not only so, but to distinguish between different articles, placed 74? ' PATHETISM. before them, while their eyes are closed, and ihey will distri- bute each one to its rightful owner. I have had a patient who, when asleep, and half a dozen articles were thrown into his lap, as handkerchiefs, penknives, pencils, pieces of mo- ney, linger-rings, &c., with his eyes fast closed, would select them one by one, and not only hand each toils owner, but he would put the articles into the same hand from which they had come to him. So that, if one held out the left hand to receive a handkerchief which he had deposited with his right, the patient, after touching it, would perceive it, and keep back the article until he found the right hand. Mr. Cornwall, a recent graduate of the Wesleyan Universi- ty, Middlelown, Ct., gives an account of two cases, in which this sense was developed, so as to distinguish colors in a most remarkable degree. His subjects were two sisters, aged seven 'and twelve years. They discovered the color of any article handed them, merely by tlie sense of feeling. The youngest would put the article in contact with her lips before fully de- ciding. They told the color of things equally well in the dark as in the light, with their eyes blind-folded, and without his knowledge of the articles. Once, when they were both asleep together, he presented to the eldest a piece of calico, with a white ground, and minute diamond shaped figures upon it, and asked her for the color, she replied, " it is white, but there are little things in it, I don't know what." The calico was then handed to her sister, and she was asked what shape the " little things" were ? After feeling it, she answered, " I guess they are diamond shaped." When different articles of different colors were presented, they invariably designated the several colors of each. And, at the present time, I have a subject who is able to read words, and distinguish articles, apparently from this sense alone. It is well known to what an astonishing degree of acuteness the sense of touch has often been cultivated by the blind; and the case of a mute in the Hartford Asylum, (Ct.) is, perhaps, one of the most remarkable of this kind upon record. She finds little or no difficulty in designating persoi'^s by this sense, and she will even select her own cloth- PATHETISM. 75 ing, at any time, from any number of other articles, even if made of precisely the same materials. She performs various kinds of needle work, and threads her needle in her mouth, a most singular performance to be sure, but that she does it, I know, from actual observation. But it will be noticed, that between the cases of the blind and the sense of feeling in somnipathists, there is this marked difference — the former have ihe sense of pain, from contact or touch, in the latter it does not seem to exist, except by sym- pathy with another; or when a particular organ in the brain is excited, for this purpose. There is a point between the organs of firmness and venera- tion, which I have called the organ of sensation. It is very small, and when excited, it renders the surface of the entire system so inconceivably sensitive, that the patient manifests the greatest dread of contact with any thing, and in persons of the highest susceptibility it should never be touched, at all; as I have known mischievous results to follow from its excite- ment, and I doubt not, in some cases, it might produce death. And yet, though the human s-ystem may be rendered so ex- ceedingly sensitive by the Influence of another, it seems still more wonderful, that it can by the same agency, be so complete- ly deprived of all sensation i'rom the infliction of violence, to such an extent, even, that the teeth have been extracted, the limbs amputated, and various difficult surgical operations performed upon the system, without the patient's know- ledge, and without the infliction of the least imaginable de- gree of suffering. A case is detailed in the 4th number of 1st volume of the Magnet, of an adipose tumor, cut out of the arm of a lady, while in a state cf somnipathy. The tumor was five inches long, and five in breadth, at the lower half; and though the lady was exceedingly nervous and fearful in her normal state, yet she knew nothing of what had been done to her, till restored to her waking state. More recently the papers have given an account of a pa- tient in the Wellow Hospital, Nottingham, England, who had his thigh amputated while in this state, and it is curious enough, to see how unwilling some of the medical professioa 76 PATHETISM. seem to be, to admit any thing in favor of the agency of path- etism in that case. Sir R. Dobson* adduces a number of ca- ses, to show, that patients have borne surgical operations without giving any signs of suffering, witliout the aid of pa- thetism or opium, and then adds: . " If ever I have wanted to magnetize aman who was about to undergo a painful operation, 1 have done it by u'orking up- on his mind through his ears, (not by moving my hand before his eyes), and have, over and over again, succeeded in crea- ting in my patients, a fortitude and resolution under which they have never murmured during the operation." Now, I should like to know, what Sir R. Dobson would make the difference to be, betv/een an effect, produced on the 7nind, through the ears, and the same thing done through the eyes, or through any other sense? The truth is, he does not seem to know enough about the nature of the human mind, to see that in whatever way the mind is affected, the iynmedi- ate agency is the same, and hence, when it is admitted that the mind may be affected through the ear, enough is admitted to prove all I ask, in behalf of pathetism. (2.) The sight. This faculty may be improved, we know, in the waking state, by practice, as when mutes are compel- led to depend upon this sense to supply the deficiency in hear- ing. We have seen an account of one who, from long prac- tice in reading the telegraphic language of the deaf and dumb, had acquired a quickness of sight, which enabled him to read the evanescent writ-ing, made by the. fore finger of another in the air, with the rapidity of thought. The power of sight may be increased or diminished by pa* thetism, and when the patient is thrown into a state of som- nipathy, it would seem to be often taken from the eye and transferred to the ends of the fingers, and some are said to be able to see also, from the end of their toes. In most cases of somnipathy, the pupil is turned upwards in an unnatural man- ner, and if the lids be opened, nothing is discerned by the eye, except, sometimes, the operator, or whatever else he may di- rect the patient to look at. But, when somnipathists describe * London Lancet, Jan. 21st, 1843. PATHETISM. 77 things sometimes, with the eyes wide open, it is not certain that they exercise the functions of the eye ; for, we know, that often, when they are commanded to open the eye, no impres- sion can be made upon the optic nerve, by the strongest light. In some cases the power of sight would seem to be trans- ferred to the epigastrium, and I had one patient who in this state, could describe nothing without putting it to the pit of the stomach; and many cases are reported where this sense has been, by catalepsy, lost to the eye, and strongly developed in the region of the solar plexus. In two cases I have known, pathetism, as it would seem, has given the power of sight, or perception, without touch, to persons born blind. One of these patients when asleep, I have known to read scores of names, without the sense of touch or sight, or hearing ; and she has done this in the pre- sence of scores and hundreds of people, physicians and clergy- men. But her powers of clairvoyance are not equal to those of ordi- nary somnipathist, who have the organs of natural vision unim- paired. And she does not read, or describe what is altogether unknown to the operator, except in cases of sickness, or whea she has been requested to describe the anatomy of the human system; and this she has done, when I had put her to sleep, in the presence of medical and scientific gentlemen, and she has done it in her own case with an accuracy which could not be counterfeited. Often, when I have put her to sleep, she has given the most minute and accurate description of the vi- tal and mental organs, and their various functions, and I know that She gave these descriptions without any direction from me, or any other person, and without even having had any previous knowledge of the things she described. She has de- scribed things to me, in the presence of competent witnesses, which she could not have known before the moment when her attention was called to them. But in saying this, I should add, perhaps, that in these ca- ses, this patient often made mistakes, and gave accounts more or less fanciful, of most things which she was requested to describe. G* 78 FATIIETISM. The sight, also, may be increased, in the waking state, bf applying the fingers to portions of the brain, and we have known patients whose power of vision by the eye would be- come much augmented, also, by the mere direction of the op- erator, wlien in the state of somnipaihy. (3.) Tasting. This sense may be controlled more or less in the waking state, by applying the fingers to the organs of ali- mentivcness, or their sympathetic points. In other cases, I have controlled it without any contact, when the patient was highly susceptible, and have known them to take water and declare it lemonade, tea, &:c., merely on my offering it to them as suc]i. But when the subject is in a state of somnipathy, this faculty is often found to be most strangely perverted; for any substance put into the patient's mouth, is not tasted at all ; but when taken by his pathetiser, it is tasted, and the patienx declares immediately, what it is. If the operator eats an ap- ple, or a meal, while his patient is in this state, the latter gives evidence of the same sensations, as if he, himself, were eating'. And sometimes they may be made- to eat a hearty meal, and being restored to wakefulness, they are more hun- gry than before ; but if the operator eat, and command his pa- tient to be satisfied wiih it, on waking up, the patient feels that he has taken a full meal, though he has eaten nothing. Some- times, the sympathy is so great, that if you give the patient for instance, an apple, and if, after he commences eating it, you eat salt or pepper, the patient instantly throws away the apple, declaring it to be the substance you, yourself, are tast- ing at the moment. I placed a piece of copper and zinc in the mouth of a Somni- pathist, the one above and the other below the tongue; and on bringing them in contact, he declared no sensation was pro- duced ; but on putting them in my own mouth, without his knowledge, he seemed considerably afl'ected by it. In the Magnet for February, 1843, the case of two mutes is described, who were thrown into a state of somnipathy, and who, while in this state, exhibited many of the phenomena developed up- on others. They were susceptible of/asie and /eeZzn^ through the operator ; exhibited some of the phenomena in phreno- PATHETISM. 79 p.athy, and communicated with the operator by their usual signs. (4.) Smell. In some cases this sense may be excited by holding the fingers to what the French call the " wings of the nose." When asleep, however, and someiimes when awake, like the other senses, already noticed, it seems to be perverted, or singularly transferred, to different parts of the patient's own system, or to the olfactory nerves of the operator. I have had somnipathists, who could detect the smell of substances, by holding them in the hand, and yet, the strongest ammonia, held to their nostrils while they were breathing through them, produced no visible effect, at all. But, on holding it to the nostrils of the operator, they would be strangled, and thrown into convulsions. Being invited to operate before a private commitlee, the following case occurred. The chairman had requested a no- ted physician to inspect the proceedings, and had taken with him a phial of highly concentrated ammonia. After the patient had been put to sleep, the chairman handed the phial to the physician, and {supposing she could hear,) he said to me, — "Mr. S., let me pinch your hand." But instead of pinching my hand, the Dr. held the open phial to the patient's n(xe for some time, during which she gave no signs of the sen- sation of smell at all. This experiment was repealed w'nh the same results. I then, (unknown to the patient) took the phial, and on placing it to my own nose, the patient was quite strangled, and thrown into convulsions. Her face became quite colored, and she begged she might not be " compelled to smell that hartshorn, again, as it ahvays took away her breath so." This attempt to deceive the patient should and icould have been successful, had she not been perfectly asleep; and had there been no real sympathy between her nervous system and that of the operator, no one could be able to account satisfac- torily, for the manner in which she was affected. (5.) Hearing. This seems to be the last sense which is af- fected by ordinary sleep, and the first which is reached in the change from common sleep to wakefulness. And we find, al- so PATHETISiM. SO, that it is the most difficult one to be affected by pathetism, for we are frequently able to produce somnipathy, and even the highest degrees of ecstacy, while the patient retains this sense, and heightened to an extraordinary degree. During the process of operating, patients are frequently annoyed by the least noise, and in a large number of cases, where every other sense seema to be closed by this process, the hearing remains the same, or more generally improved, by having the other senses subdued, so that the attention becomes wholly occu- pied through this medium. When it is completely subdued in sleep, the patient hears nothing, except the voice of the op- erator, and often, not this, unless it be directed to him. Thus I have often called the names of my patients aloud, while they were asleep, but they did not seem to hear, without I direct- ed the voice to them, with the design that they should hear. At other times I have directed patients to wake up without the sense of hearing, and oncoming back to the normal state, they have been perfectly deaf Others still, while they hear the sound of the voice, are not able to understand what is said to them by any beside the operator, and sometimes, though they do understand, they lack the power to answer, or to give their attention to it. But when this sense is perfectly subdued, the patient may be made to hear any other persons, either by their coming in contact with him, or with the operator, or by being directed by the latter to hear what is said. On putting an intelligent physician to sleep, he could not distinguish the notes of a pi- ano, till I passed my hands over the keys; and at other times the patient can hear the piano, if I lay my hands upon it when at a distance from him. Having considered the effects of pathetism upon the five senses, in detail, let us now proceed to some of the changes observed from this process upon : 2. The Muscles. One of the first effects noticed upon the muscles is, that the will of the subject cannot control them. — They are rendered perfectly rigid, and put into any imagina- ble position, from which the patient finds it impossible to change them. Passing the hand down the arm, and occa- PATHETISM. 81 sionallv claspinsr it with both hands, carrying it downward, at the same time, will, often, render it so rigid that it w^ill re- main an indefinite Jengih of time, in any position where the operator places it. And, when a sympathetic relation has be- come sufficiently established between the operator and sub- ject, the former may, by a mere effort of his will, render the limbs, and the entire muscular system of the latter, as rigid as if frozen, aid contract them or extend them to such a degree, that they cannot be altered without manifest injury to the sys- tem. This may be done, while the subject is either awake or asleep, and the strength of the limbs may be increased some- times ten-fold beyond what can be put forth by the subject ia the normal state. 3. The Nerves. By all persons who have heretofore writ- ten on this subject, it has been assumed, as a matter of intui- tion, that what I denom'm^le pathetism, or the "human influ- ence," is conveyed from one system to another by the nerves of sensation, or motion, or both. Hence it has been called the " nervous fluid," " neuraura," kc. But no one of these theo- rists have ever been able to tell which class of the nerves, convey or receive this influence. Are they the nerves of sen- sation ? , We have already seen that the process of pathetis- ing most generally suspends the function of these nerves, entirely/. Are they the nerves of motion ? This process usu- ally suspends the power of locomotion, and, indeed, all vol- untary muscular motion throughout the system. Hence the conclusion is inevitable, that a distinct class of organs or nerves exist, constituting a part of the medullary matter, probably, whose functions are purely symvathelic. This accounts for the effects of pathetism, and shows how it is that sensations are conveyed from the pathetiser to hissomnipathist, without contact, and when the latter is wholly insensible to pain from- violence done to the nerves of sensation. By this process the function is suspended, and at the same time, the subject may be made to suffer more from mere sympathy with the opera- tor than he would from violence to his own sys'.em. All the sympathetic nervous sensibilities are heightened to an extra- ordinary degree, while the functions of the other nerves are partially or wholly suspended. 82 TATHETISM. 4. It is certain, that all the organs concerned in the func- tions o{ animal life may be affected, and their action modified or increased by pathetism. The stomach, as we have seen, is reached by operating on the organs of alimentiveness, and in some persons we have found other contiguous, sympathe- tic points, through which the same effects could be produced, or its action reversed, and fits of vomiting brought on. The lungs are usually more or less affected, either directly or sympathetically, by this process. By placing the fingers on the points in the face where the hectic flush appears in phthi- sis, I have often relieved the lungs; and by a similar process the respiration and exspiration may be increased or diminished. Not unfrequently, patients will be affected more or less in the organs of respiration, by the simple process of pathetising with- out any such design, and sometimes, severe convulsions en- sue. These effects followed most of Mesmer's operations, but they are not the necessary results, and seem generally to come on, either through the fear or anxiety of the patient, or the want of skill or health in the operator. All the circulations may be affected, according to the sus- ceptibility of the patient. I have increased the pulse to 150 or more, and reduced it so low, that it could not be perceived at all, and as far as I could judge, it ceased for a few moments entirely. I have also produced action in the kidneys, and defecation. And, in a word, the functions of the different vital organs, may be controlled by this agency in all susceptible subjects, to a degree, which is truly astonishing to such as have not made themselves familiar Avith its influence. We have only to ascertain the portions of the brain, or those sympathetic points in the system, which correspond with any given organ, and it is just as easy to produce any degreeof excitement or change in the functions of these organs, as it is to affect the patient at all. Nor, indeed, is this always necessary, for in many cases, the sympathetic relations of the system, are so fully developed, that decided changes may be produced in any of the animal functions, merely by operating on the general susceptibilities of the system, and passing the PATHETISM. 83 hand over the part where the disease is located. In this way many extraordinary cures have, undoubtedly, been effected. 5, The Mental Organs. Whatever effects are produced by operating directly upon the vital, or mechanical organs, the cerebral organs, yield, more or less, by sympathy, in the gen- eral results. Thus, if you make the passes over the arm till it becomes rigid, the brain loses all control over that limb. — And, if you operate on any other portion of the body, the brain sympathises in the effects produced, more or less; and indeed, there is no conceivable emotion, feeling or passion, nor any ac- tion either of the human body, or of animals, fowls, or fish, that a susceptible subject may not be made to imitate by this agen- cy. Dancing, laughing, singing, weeping, scolding, fighting, praying, leaping with joy, or raving with madness, swimming like a fish, crawling like a snake, hopping like the frog; and, indeed, any other conceivable action or noise peculiar to any living creature, may be brought out of subjects who are high- ly susceptible. In one moment they may be rendered wholly insensible to pain, and perfectly reckless as to their persons and character; in the next, so exquisitely sensitive that they feel like being crushed by the weight of a feather, and so fear- ful that the breath is well nigh suspended, lest it should ex- pose them to some dreadful impending catastrophe. The effects produced by operating directly upon the sepa- rate cerebral functions, will be noticed in a succeeding chap- ter, under the head of Phrenopathy. 6. Consciousness. My control over the consciousness of patients, is just in proportion to the susceptibility. The func- tions of all the mental organs may be increased to insanity, or subdued into a state of perfect repose, where the patient seems lost to this world, as really as though he had ceased to live. And from this state of unconsciousness, he may be waked up as it were, into another world, where all his feelings, views and perceptions, differ, toto csslo, from those peculiar to him in his normal condition. In this slate he may sometimes be made to take cognizance of the thoughts and feelings of his operator, and those in relation with himself. Sometimes he perceives distant persons, places, and things, and describes with accu- S4 PATHETISM. racy, objects of which neither he nor any other person pre- sent had any previous knowledge. If he be diseased himself, he will often point out the seat and the cause of the difficulty, and direct to the appropriate means for a cure. Or if his atleniion be called to the disease of another, whether present or absent, he sometimes gives the diagnosis with surprising accuracy ; and the menial characters and particular habits and peculiar dispositions of persons are described in the same way, of whom neither himself nor opera- tor could have had any knowledge beforehand. Sometimes somnipathists remember all that look place, in the sleeping state ; but generally, they remember nothing, ex- cept such things as the operator impresses upon the memory. And on the minds of some, almost any imaginable impressions iTiay be made, when asleep, and when in the normal state, the whole seems to them as a reality. If directed to forget their own names, or places of residence, or any thing else, which they had ever known, these results sometimes follow, and I have known such impressions to remain for months, and in one case, for a year, at least. One of the most singular effects produced upon the mind, is the change in the feelings, peculiar to somnipathists, while in this state. A lady, whom I cured of insanity, conversed with rae freely about her mental difficulties, and the causes which bad contributed to bring them on, but she cautioned me so- lemnly, against suffering her to know any thing about it in her waking state; and she extended this injunction to every thing she said or saw in her sleep, as she declared, that for her to know in her normal state, anything of what she said or did in her sleep, would have a tendency to augment her mental aber- rations; and her predictions were, unhappily, verified by the malicious interference of a professed friend, who, wishing to prejudice her mind against the process by which she had been relieved, told her of things she had said in her sleep, and it excited her mind to such a degree, that it induced partial in- sanity ; and since that, she has obstinately refused to submit asain to this method of cure. Others will speak freely of the habits and feelings, when PATHETISM. 85 asleep, and disclose matters which they would on no account consent to have known when awake. This they will do, at times, both of themselves and others. Though the mental perceptions of moral relations and du- ties seem to be considerably heightened in this state in the generality of subjects, yet I have usually found that somnipa- thists carry with them, into this state, many of their ordinary views and peculiar prejudices. I knew a skeptic, who, when asleep, maintained hisdeistical views, and advocated also, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, affirming, that he had lived in a number of bodies, previous to his appearance in the one he now occupied. But how does it come to pass, that while somnipathists are found to be so clairvoyant, in respect to things at a distance, they maybe, at the same time, so strangely deceived with re- gard to the nature of things they hold in their hand, or which they can test by the sense of taste? A handkerchief thrown into the lap of one, becomes a babe, or a cat, or a dog, or snake, according to the will of the operator, and the substance is han- dled by the patient, with the same feelings which he would have, on holding these various animals. And similar decep- tions may be practised upon them with regard to persons, time, and places. I have put them to sleep, and caused them to hold conversation with imaginary persons, or persons at a distance, which have been carried on with all the soberness of reality, while, at the same time, the patient was more con- scious of the presence and characters of persons around him than he could have been in the normal state. If asked the time of day by any particular watch, the pa- tient will tell accurately, a dozen times in succession ; while at the same time, if told to believe when he is waked up, that he has been asleep a week, he implicitly obeys, and does not suspect that any deception had been played upon him. I di- rected a patient to remember on waking that he had lived in the house where he had just been put to sleep for one year, though he had never lived there one day. On waking, the hallucination remained, and three months afterwards, on being asked how long he had lived in that family, he answered, ** one H 86 PATnETISM. year." When told to wake up, and remain awake, one, two, or five minutes, some somnipathists will obey to a second, and when in this sleep, if directed to go into it again, at any fu- ture time, without being pathetised for the purpose, they do so, and without any seeming consciousness of the cause or the connection of one state with the other. Some, by being di- rected, forget the names of their friends, and, indeed, their own names, and may be made to answer to any other name as if it were their own. And so of places. They may be made to believe them- selves in any imaginable place, however distant, and when told to remember the appearance of the things they saw, on waking up, they describe them frequently, as the remembrance of a dream, and sometimes with the vividness of waking con- sciousness. / 7. The Will. Nothing can be done without the will of the operator, and the consent of the patient. That is, no re- lation can be established, without the consent of the patient; but when this relation has been once established, effects may be produced without the patient's knowledge or consent. — This statement, however, should be received with some cau- tion. It is not, by any means, true, in a general sense, that one person can put another to sleep against his ivill ; especi- ally if the subject has never been previously pathetised. Be- fore the will of one person, without physical contact, can ex- ert much of any influence upon another, so as to produce any of the effects we have, now, under consideration, a posi- tive relation must be established between the parties. We have seen, that the will controls the susceptibility ; and hence, when a relation once exists between the susceptibility of the subject and the will of the operator, the former when sulTiciently developed, may be made to obey the latter. Some- times the will may be made known to the patient by words or signs, or communicated through a piece of paper, or any other substance; so that by sending a finger ring, for instance, when the patient is a mile or more distant, I have produced a state of somnipathy. At other times, this state may be in- duced without any other means, than a mere effort of the will. PATHETISM. 87 "wtiea, as far as I have been able to judge, the patient could have no knowledge, either of the presence or design of the op- erator. When subjects have gone to sleep at a distance from the operator, it is not easy to prove, that they may not have been thinking of his designs, and thus have fallen into this state from an apprehension of his wishes, as I have known some to do. But other cases have come under my notice, where, as far as could be known, the patient went to sleep without the slightest knowledge or apprehension of the oper- ator's presence or design. So, that it must be confessed, that a highly susceptible subject may be put to sleep, sometimes, at least, by mere volition, when the operator is not present ; but this can happen only in peculiar cases, as I have already stated- That some somnipathists may be made to ob^y the wilKof the operator, cannot admit of any doubt. I do not say, that they can be willed to do things that are disagreeable to them, but they may be made willing to do many things they could not be made willing to do in the normal state. And hence, it should be known, that the person who submits to this process by another, of whose health, character, and other necessary qualifications he is not well assured, runs a hazard far more dangerous than the patient who merely swallows the nostrum of the quack, of whom he knows nothing; and that just so far as this operation is successful, just so far he receives the im- press, as it were, of the operator's heart. The mental dispo- sition of the latter has much to do with the impression made on the person who is put into the somnipathic state. Of this fact I have had numerous demonstrations, which leave no room for the shadow of a doubt. All therefore should under- stand what results may follow, and those which do alicai/s fol-] low, the influence Avhichis exerted upon them by pathetism. ^ That influence may, and should be good, and nothing but -i good ; but this will depend, of course, upon the health, skill, ] and wio^zfes of the operator. It is not yet agreed, among those familiar with this sub- ject, whether the influence exerted on the subject when he is put to sleep, be purely physical, or mental, or both. By mea- 88 PATIIETISM. tal influence, is understood an eflbrt, me?-g/y, of the will, with- out giving any visible signs of it to the patient. Tlie truth is, there is no such thing as an effort of the will without an exercise of the physical, or cerebral organs. We have al- ready seen, that the mind never acts without the brain, and how it is, that the mind and the susceptibility reciprocally affect each other. We have no evidence that a mere volition without any previous physical contact, ever induced a real case of somnipathy. Effects have been noticed, we know, that seemed to come very near such a case; as it is well known, how powerful an influence may sometimes be exerted by the look of the eye, and from the features of the face; but I am not ready to believe, that the will of one person could be ex- erted to such an extent over the susceptibility of another without any previous physical contact. Nor is it true, that sleep could be induced without the operator's willing directly or indirectly to bring it on. But how much influence the will may have excited, in certain cases, it would not be possible to show. When I merely put a patient in a peculiar, sitting, recumbent, or standing posture, and lead him to anticipate re^ ]ief from pain or sleep as the result, without ivilling him in any other sense, of course, my will has something to do with the effects, if any are produced; but evidently, not what has been supposed by many, heretofore. When the patient is in a state of somnipathy, and the relation is sufficiently strong, he may be made to obey the mere volitions of the operator, in various ways, and hence it is quite common for the subject to walk, raise the limbs, open his eyes, and perform various evolutions when simply willed to do so by the operator. Nor is this pow- er confined to the sleeping state; as I have found it equally easy to exert a similar influence over susceptible subjects when awake. The only difference between them, is, in the latter case it is not so easy to communicate the wishes to the subject without some visible or audible sign; but when he is by any means, made to understand what my wishes are, they are obeyed; and I have as much control over the limbs and muscles, as in a state of perfect somnipathy. Without the will of the operator, when restored to his wak- PATHETISM. 89 ing State, the patient sometimes remembers nothing said or done to him in his state o^ sormiipathy ; nay, his own will, the ma- chinery of his own mental operations, is frequently found to have been completely under the will of the operator. For in- stance: the operator says to his patient, while in a state of somnipathy, " to-morrow, at nine o'clock, you must read the 14th chapter of St. John." The patient is waked up, but re- members nothing of this direction till precisely nine o'clock the succeeding day, Avhen he feels singularly inclined to read that particular chapter, and when the moment arrives he opens the Bible and reads it. Again : the operator says to his pa- tient, when asleep, " to-morrow, at such an hour, you must go into this state again, or at such an hour you must fall into a state of natural sleep, and sleep just so many hours and thea wake up." The patient obeys to the very letter, and this, too, without being, in the meantime, able to give any reasoa for what he feels inclined to do. In such case it is seen that the will of the operator is so thoroughly impressed upon the subject, that he not only obeys while asleep, but this obedience is carried from his sleeping to the natural state of wakefulness. 8. Disposition and Character. I have had numerous cases which would seem to prove, that the disposition and charac- ter of susceptible subjects may be controlled for some time af- ter the operation of pathetising. A gentleman called on me who appeared to be in great trou- ble; and with some reluctance stated, that his wife, (other- wise an amiable woman) had long been addicted to habits of intoxication. On informing him that I thought it possible I might help her, either by advice, or by the influence of pathe- tism, or both, he brought her to see me. At the second sit- ting she w'ent into a sound sleep; and by suppressijig the ac- tivity of certain portions of the brain, and exciting their nega- tive organs, she declared that she had no conceivable disposi- tion to taste or touch stimulating drink of any kind. It is now a year since, and she has remained thus far perfcctl}'" cured. I was called on to operate upon a patient who had been quite insane, and strongly inclined to suicide. In her sleep H* 90 PATHETISM. she frankly described her temptations, and declared, that she would probably put an end to her existence, unless her feelings upon that subject were very much changed, which she in- formed me, was in my power to do. The effort proved suc- cessful, and since that time it is not known that she has been at all disposed in that way. Another of my patients had been sunk in a state of mental despair, for six years. She had been previously, quite zealous in religion, and during that time, she was known frequently to "lose her strength," as it is called, when she would appear to be exceedingly happy, and remain hours in a state of apparent catalepsy. On pathetising her, I not only removed her despair, but by exciting some of the or- gans, she declared herself perfectly happy, and what is re- markable, when I excited a particular organ, she instantly lost her strength and her limbs became rigid, precisely as she was formerly affected, under religious excitement. Indeed, she declared the two states to he precisely the same. This was a year ago, and thus far, I believe, her despair has not returned. Other cases have come to my knowledge of a similar kind, which leave no room to doubt, but that the character, and mental disposition of persons, who are highly susceptible, may be controlled, almost to any extent by this agency. And this follows as a matter of course, if we may control the separate cerebral organs; and just as far as we may be able to cause the impressions to remain, the influence must appear in the character of the patient. One or two cases of a similar influence are detailed in the Magnet for November, 1842, by Mr. L. N. Fowler. A highly susceptible lady, had long complained of a poor appetite. — He put her to sleep, excited alimentiveness, and after willing her to have a good appetite, waked her up. On visiting her a month afterwards, he was informed by her and her husband, that she never had a better appetite, that she had not missed a meal since he last saw her, and that she had no desire lor tea, coffee, or cucumbers, of which before he put her mind against them she was verv fond. Her husband added, that after being pathetised, she ate more in one day, than in three before. Formerly, she had a great passion for reading, so PATHETISM. 91 much SO, that it amounted to dissipation, and injured her health. Mr. F. willed her in the sleep not to read but little; if she did he would cause her to be confused and sleepy. — From that time she lost about two thirds of her relish for read- ing. After reading a few minutes she became tired and sleepy, and unable to finish the article she commenced. Mr. F. pathetised a young lady with small veneration, which organ he excited, and willed her to say her prayers every night before retiring. She informed him afterwards, that she was unable to go to bed until she had said her prayers. He exci- ted time and tune in another person, and the influence was ap- parent three days afterwards. 9. Disease. It would swell this volume to an undue size to attempt a detail of particular cases, which have yielded to pathetism. That it has been successfully applied after the usual courses of medical treatment had long been tried in vain, is well known. And why not, when it u a fundamental prin- ciple laid down by the highest medical authors, that " all dis- eases must be cured bi/ the inherent energies of the living si/s- tem ; and that medicine can do no more than place the body in the most favorable circumstances for resisting disease." Whatever, therefore, tends to assist the " inherent energies of the living system," in the greatest degree, must be the best remedial agent for the subject; and that pathetism does this in many cases, is a fact susceptible of the clearest demon- stration. And it is an observation common to the most intel- ligent and experienced pathetisers, that the only legitimate application of this influence is in the cure of disease and the relief of human suffering. Hence those efibrts for the ac- complishment of these objects have always proved far more successful, than such experiments as have been carried on merely to gratify an unjustifiable curiosity. And hence, also, somnipathists will, usually, be found more ready and able to describe their own diseases, or the cases of others who need re- lief, than to test their clairvoyance in describing places or things, merely. The following are some of the diseases which, to my know- ledge, have been successfully treated, or greatly relieved by this 92 PATIIETISM. process : Ilead-achc, Sick Head-ache, Rheumatism, Paralysis, Pulmonary AlTections, Pain in dillerent parts of the system, Spinal AfToctions, Swollen Throat, Laryngiles, Chorea, Liver Complaint, Neuralgia, Spasms, Fits, Hysteria, Cholera Mor- bus, Burns, Loss of Voice, Hypochondria, Madness, Insanity, Monomania, Liflammalion, Tooth-ache, Contractions of the Muscles, Troublesome Sleep, Epilepsy, Intoxication, Deliri- um Tremens. As an anodyne, or for producing a state of quietude, and calming the nervous system, pathetism may be used, prob- ably, with greater advantage than almost any other remedy. And, as an auxilliary to the common medical agents, it has claims which should entitle it to the serious examination of all who make any pretensions to knowledge of the healing art. 10. Anomalous Results. I say anomalous results, though I am confident that all that could be put down under this head, might be traced to the laws of Sympathy and Antipathy, ^ which, as we have seen, governs the various susceptibilities of the living body. But these different effects should be examined, in order to determine how far they may be supposed to be produced by any of the known laws of magnetism or electricity; or whe- ther they are produced by nervous induction, or the communi- cation of a nervous substance, from the operator into the sys- tem of the patient. (1.) By the process of pathetising. There are numerous mysteries attending a state of somnipathy, not particularly noticed in the preceding pages. For instance, numbers whom I have put into this state have, while in it, inquired ichy we called it a state of sleep ? They have insisted that it was not a state of sleep, at all. One patient while in this state, does not remember he was ever in any other state; and yet, at the same time, all the ordinary avenues to the senses are fast clo- sed. He can neither see, hear, smell, taste, nor feel, without the consent of the operator. How is this ? He is alive; he can be made conscious of things, can be made to have clear and distinct perceptions of distant objects, which neither he nor the operator ever saw ! PATHETISM. 93 And then, again, the various ways in which different per- sons are affected by similar processes, would seem to set all rules at defiance. One has a sense of heat, another of cold ; another is put to sleep, and another is convulsed from head to foot. One pa- tient remembers nothing in his waking state which took place in his sleep, except what he is directed to remember by the operator; another remembers everything; a third remembers nothing at one time in the somnipathic state, which took place in a previous state of somnipathy ; but it is not so with the fourth, who remembers every thing done in the same stale at all previous sittings. Another patient remembers everything in the sleeping state, from one time to another, except what he is made to do by the excitement of any one of the mental organs; but what he does under these excitements, he never has any recollection of, except when the same organs are again excited. It is remarkable, that in some the somnipathic state differs so essentially from the waking state, while in others it seems scarcely to differ at all. Indeed, some, I know, seem to be in a state resembling somnipathy nearly or quite all the time. — I know an intelligent lady, who assures me that she is frequent- ly conscious of being in two different states, in which her per- ceptions of things are arrived at by entirely different mental processes. Many have, no doubt, been greatly misled by what has been supposed to be the effects of the passes. But I am certain that the best way of putting persons to sleep, is without any passes, or any contact with the patient at all; nor, indeed, are they necessary in relieving pain, where the susceptibility is suffi- ciently developed. I do not mean, that any one has ever been put to sleep by a mere mental effort who had never been op- erated upon before, as I have already stated, for it is yet to be determined, as to how much the wills of the operator and the patient have to do in bringing about the results under notice. I have frequently known persons to become considerably affect- ed on witnessing for the first time, the process of pathetising on others. This I can easily explain, on the supposition thai Oi PATHETISM. this susceptihiJiLy, and the agency by which we operate, are traceable into that state of the system which gives rise to what has been denominated sympathy. Some, we know, man- ifest sympathetic phenomena, who were never trained or in- formed about it in any way; while others manifest nothing of it, and for the simple reason, that their susceptibilities are not of the right kind. Every person much familiar with pathetisra, knows that the effects often produced on the cerebral organs do not depend merely upon any influence conveyed from the hand of the op- erator. Results of this kind vary, and these " variations" may be carried almost to any extent. The same mental results are produced in different cases, by touching different places on the head, and in some cases, all or most of the mental manifestations are brought out, by merely touching the toes^ joints, fingers, and different portions of the body, without any contact with the head. Touching the fin- gers of one patient, produces anger, love, mirth, &c. Touch- ing the same fingers of another, the hand is moved in certain mathematical lines; and a third, declares that touching his fingers, each one gives off or receives a different influence, like, or identical with electricity, magnetism and galvanism ! But, for these different and ever varying results, in subjects both awake and asleep, neither the magnetic nor the neurau- ra theories render any satisfactory account, as they do not, indeed, for numberless other phenomena, which so complete- ly annihilate many other beautiful castles, which have been so ingeniously constructed upon a few isolated facts. It has been supposed, that the true reason for these different results, is to be found in the different degrees in which the various subjects may have been pathetised. And I might think so too, probably, had I not performed a vast variety of experiments which go far, very far as I believe, towards demonstrating the contrary. Instance the following. Here is a person whose cerebral organs I can control, while he is awake, but he can- not be put to sleep. Another may be put to sleep, and his cerebral organs cannot be excited at all. Another is suscep- tible of the excitement of any portion of the brain, provided he PATHETISM. 95 understands before hand what the impression is you wish to produce. I shall assign in the sequel what I suppose to he the correct solution of these mysteries. The attraction produced by pathetising, though real, is not reciprocal. The hand of the operator may, and often does attract the subject, but the hand of the subject does not at- tract that of the operator; and in some, there does not appear to be any attraction at all, though the subject is in a state of sound sleep. Different results are produced by the same process on dif- ferent individuals, both when awake, and after they are asleep. There are points in the face and neck, and indeed, throughout the entire system, which sympathise with particular portions of the brain, and this fact shows how it is, that when any or» gan is controlled in any way, it speaks out through the eyes or muscles of the face. But there is nothing to demonstrate the existence of any connexion between the influence convey- ed by manipulation, exclusively through the nerves either of motion or sensation. I do not mean to be understood as con- veying the idea, that they are not affected by this influence, whatever it may be; but I know, and have demonstrated by numerous experiments, that this agency is not confined to these nerves, nor exclusively conveyed by them. It is well known, that when the operator applies his hand to any part of the system of a person in a state of somnipathy neither the nerves of motion nor sensation will be affecied without he designs to produce some such result; and often, when they are touched by a third person, the patient is not sensible of it at all ! One somnipathist hears nothing said to him by any person except the operator, unless they put their hands upon either him or the pathetiser; another will hear anything said by one whom the pathetiser directs or wills him to hear, and nothing else. Another has the sense of feeling so much developed, that hg can tell the difference in colors bv it, and others have nothino- of this sense, and scarcely of any other. 9(3 PATIIETISM. * The truth is, no two subjects are affected in all respects, alike; and hence it is quite easy for an operator to be misled in forming conclusions from experiments, performed on a score or less of individuals. I have found what appeared to be a correspondence, not only in the phenomena which are pro- duced on certain classes of persons, but also a correspondence in the results produced by the same operator on different sub- jects. Nor can there be any doubt, but that many subjects often, undesignedly, deceive themselves and those who operate up- on them. I have known some to affirm they did not hear, for instance, when I know they did hear ; and others have said they did not hear because they loould not, and consequently, refused to answer when spoken to, not because they could not hear, but simply because they did not choose to answer. (2.) The Imponderable Fluids. I include under this term, Electricity, Magnetism, and Galvanism. And one remark should be made in the outset, with regard to them. It is this, that I have never known any results produced by these agen- cies upon the human system, which had any resemblance to the phenomena described in the preceding pages, except in a few cases, v^here the subjects had been previously pathetised, and a degree of susceptibility, had, by this process, been awaken- ed in the system. I have performed .various experiments with electricity and the magnet, but have never been able to pro- duce any decided results, until I had pathetised the subject for this purpose. And in all the effects I have ever known or heard of, produced by these agencies, on pathetised subjects, I have not been able to reduce them to any of the known elec- trical or magnetic forces, but they would seem to fall in with what we denominate the sympathetic and antipathetic laws of the human system, enumerated in the succeeding pages of this work. Applying a pointed steel to particular organs in the head of some subjects, the function of one is excited, while by the same means another is suppressed ; and applying the instru- ment to portions of the head, and noticing that one side was repelled, while the opposite would be attracted, first led me to PATHETTSI^r. 97 the conclusion, that the different cerebral organs were bal- anced in opposition to each other, and hence I called them positive and negative. But nothing of this kind have I ever observed, from persons who had not been previously pathetis- ed. Persons of extraordinary susceptibility will be affected by holding one end of an iron bar, in the hand of another person; but they are affected, usually, just as much, if no one holds the other end. Some have gone to sleep merely by holding a natural magnet in the hand, or by having the passes made over them with it ; but such have first been influenced by pa- thetism, and the same remark is true of the case described in the first number of the Magnet, where a lady, after having been repeatedly pathetised, fell into a state of sleep on the ap- proach of a thunder cloud; but while in this state, her path- etiser had the same influence over her, as if he, himself, had operated in order to bring about the result. A highly susceptible subject of my own, was affected direct- ly the reverse of this, for when asleep, I had to wake her up on the approach of a thunder cloud, and merely turning an electrical machine, within forty feet of her, when asleep, would throw her into spasms. Some somnipathists are favorably affected by the touch of a magnet or any metallic substance; and others are so much disturbed by being touched by them, that it either wakes them, or they become convulsed. One is attracted by it, and another is repelled. The north pole attracts one portion of the system of one patient, and repels the same portion of an- other; and so also of the south pole; and, indeed, the same effects are produced by the application of any metallic sub- stance, and sometimes, when the pathetiser merely holds a piece of iron, or steel, in his own hand, unknown to the pa- tient. Nor is it always true, as has been supposed, that ef- fects produced by the magnet, cannot be removed without it, as we have had patients, when affected by the application of any kind of metal, who could be relieved onl^ by pathetism, without any other means. The same is true, with regard to minerals. They do not seem to be uniform in their effects upon different patients, nor upon the same patijent, at differ- I 98 PATHETISM. ent times ; and never having been able to produce any very decided efTecfs, either with minerals or electricity, until the subject had been previously pathelised, and thereby rendered highly susceptible, or in a few cases where the susceptibility had been supernaturally developed by disease, it would not, perhaps, assist us much in this enquiry, to give the details o^ these experiments. The history of Perkins' Tractors would be sufficient to show, that a susceptibility may be created in the system, which yields as readily to a piece of wood, as to a piece of steel or brass; and having now sufficiently prepared the way, I proceed to state, what may be considered some of those laws of life, which give the true reasons for these vari- ous influences, exerted by so many apparently discordant agents over the human body. CHAPTER VI. THEORY OF PATHETISM. What is the nature of that agency which has generally- been known under the terms Living Magnetism, Mesmerism, or Nervous Fluid? Is it any thing different from the ordinary forces of Electricity, Galvanism, or Magnetism ? Or, does the human brain eliminate a fluid or current, similar to the mag- netic forces, and which is governed by laws peculiar to itself? Many theories heve been fabricated in answer to these ques- tions; but still, the subject would seem to be far from having been satisfactorily settled. It is, certainly, one of some diffi- culty ; nor can we anticipate the time as very near, when sci- entific minds will give it that attention which its importance would seem to demand; and, much less, that they will very soon agree as to the real nature of this influence, whatever it may be. It will not be necessary, perhaps, for me to attempt a detail of the various theories which have, from time to time, obtain- ed upon this subject. Having examined some of the efi"ects of the agency I denominate Pathetism, or, as Mr. Townshend calls it, " human influence," we may now be able to judge as to what those laws must be, by which such results are pro- duced. The following is a summary of the conclusions at which I have arrived ; and, whether they assign the true rea- sons for the phenomena I have described, or not, will, of course, be left to the decision of my readers. THEORY. I. That Animal Life is an £/emen^,"possessing attracting and resisting forces, peculiar to itself; and which control matter and the imponderable fluids. 100 PATHETISM. II. That these vital forces, give those qualities to 'the body which constitute a si/mpathetic system, and render all its parts susceptible to sympathetic and antipathetic Laws. ni. That these Laios depend upon certain Relations, which dif- ferent substances, or entities, sustain to each other. iv. That the nature of these Relations, between two or more substances, organs, or entities, depends upon the difference, or likeness, in their qualities ox functions. V. That the susceptihiUty of different persons depends upon the developments of the ganglionic, or sympathetic system, which unites the mind, and the nerves of sensation and mo- tion. VI. That a peculiar connection between two entities, organs or substances, which differ in certain qualities or functions, pro- duces a positive relation or the law of sympathy. A connec- tion between two which are precisely alike, produces a nega- tive relation, or the law of antipathy. And, where bodies or substances are brought together which do not come up to a certain degree of difference, in quality or functions, a neutral relation, or a slate oi apathy, is the result. VII. The functions of the mental organs are balanced by contra- rieties, one against another. That is, they not only exist in pairs, but in groups, or families, in each hemisphere of the brain ; and the pairs, and groups, are balanced by other pairs and groups, whose functions are directly opposite. On the due development of these normal relations does consciousness and mental power depend. For, when they are deficient, or become disturbed or exhausted, the results appear in the states of the mind, such as idiotcy, monomania, i7isanity, and sleep. -> When the normal sympathetic relations are disturb- THEORY OF PATHETISM. 101 ed between the cerebral organs and the nerves of motion or sensation in other parts of the system, the results are shown in apoplexy, paralysis, and other physical irregularities. viir. The mind, and this susceptihility, or the sympathetic sys- tem, reciprocally act upon each other. The latter is the me- dium through which the emotions and volitions of mind are manifested, and through the same medium all its impressions are received. vs.. By establishing a positive relation between two persons, the mind of one may thereby control the susceptihility of the other ; or by applying the hand of one to any part of the oth- er, different mental and physical changes, may thus be pro- duced. Hence it follows, that the only influence extended from one mind or body to another, depends upon the kind of relatio7i established between them, and the same is true, with regard to any influence felt by the living body, from any- other cause. X. A positive relation is kept up, between the vital organs and the substances on which the system depends for its nourish- ment, such as air and food, and, also, by the different func- tions of these organs ; and upon the proper balance of all the dif- ferent relations depends the health and vigor of the body. Their disturbance produces disease, and their annihilation, death. XI. The muscles and limbs are moved through these relations, which exist between different portions of the same muscles, and also, between these and the sympathetic nerves, through which the mind operates. From which it follows, that there is a reciprocal influence between the different nerves and the other organs of the entire system ; and hence it is, that the state of one organ, or part, is changed by the state of another, with which it is in positive relation. 1* 102 PATIIETISM. xir. These sympathetic relations exist between the ?wenia/ organs and ilie nerves and muscles of the face; they shape the fea- tures, and thus lay the foundation for all that may be known of Physiognomy ; they give the contour to the entire system, so that relations may be traced between all the mental and physical developments; and from corresponding points of sympathy, throughout the body, the different cerebral organs may be excited and controlled by those external agencies, be- tween which and the susceptibility a positive relation has been established. XIII. The positive and negative relations are controlled in cer- tain cases, by the mind; so that the system is positively or negatively affected according to the mental apprehensions. In the same way relations may be created, or transferred from one substance to another. When the mind has been once impressed to a certain degree, from a mere apprehension of an influence from any cause, it takes cognizance of this re- lation ; and in cases of high susceptibility, i* does sometimes either create, or transfer it from one substance or agent, to another; and hence the system is affected, precisely accord- inor to the anticipations of the mind, and not according to the real qualities of those things to which the relation has been transferred. XIV. The various vilah organic, and mental functions, are car- ried on by these different relations ; and from which it must follow, that upon the latter does the healthfulness and integ- n7y of the former depend. And by applying those agencies which change these relations, we may increase or modify the mental or physical powers, and thus the five senses may be transposed and concentrated entirely in the sympathetic sys- tem; or they may be wholly suspended, or even transferred, to the sympathetic system of the operator. XV. It is a universal law of nature^ that positive results are THEORY OF PATHETISM. 103 produced by a relation between an agent, and a subject, or two or more substances, brought into re/a^?on with each other. It is only by establishing a connection between iico things, or forms which differ in quality, that a positive result differing in quality from either of the two is produced. This is the first law of Pathelism, and from which we see how it is, that one may not be able to produce the same effects upon differ- ent persons. This theory, itself, presents my reasons for rejecting the common views of a universal fluid. But yet, it may be neces- sary, in order to do the subject justice, that I should add a few remarks in answer to the following inquiries : — 1. Is IT A UNIVERSAL FLUID ? It is not necessary, here, to inquire whether there is any difference between galvanism, magnetism, and electricity. It is generally admitted, that these terms designate, essentially, one and the same agency; and in this sense I shall use them. And it must be borne in mind, also, that these forces pervade all matter, and hence they must, more or less, affect the living body. We have further seen, that the electricity of the air, and the magnetism of the earth, may influence the vital phe- nomena in a greater or less degree. The lunar and solar in- fluences have been referred to ; but, it is certain that the vital forces control or resist these influences, as we have seen in the cases of heat applied to the living body. If this power were not inherent in vitality, it is not possible to determine how life could be perpetuated for any time. And, I shall not be expected, perhaps, to account for cases where, it is said, the needle has been affected by the approach of the human hand. But, though I have often tried, I have never seen any results of this kind. And even if any such have been produ- ced, a few of them could not outweigh the mass of preponder- ating facts which every where meet us, when examining this subject. They would merely prove what we all know to be true, that the human body has sometimes exhibited certain galvanic properties, which, however, do not depend upon any peculiar process, as far as is now known. 104 PATHETISM. And, I may also be referred to a few cases, where a state of sleep lias been brought on by the approach of an electrical cloud, or the application of an ordinary magnet; and it may be said, further, that many of the phenomena attending sora- nipathy are so very much like the effects of magnetism, that it is reasonable to conclude that this is the agency by which these results are produced. To which I reply : — 1. No effects of this hind are known to have been 'produced, until the system had been previously operated upon, and ren- dered highly susceptible by pathetism. This fact, alone, is sufticient to forbid the assumption, that the mere magnetic forces constitute ihe agency by which these results are produced. With a galvanic battery life may be annihilated from the body; but, no one was ever put into a real state of somnium, or somnipathy, by a battery, till the system had been previously pathetised. We know, that va- rious effects may be produced upon the physical organs, even after death, by galvanism ; but nothing resembling the pheno- mena I have described in the preceding chapter, were ever induced by electricity. If it be said that " Magnetism, in an organised form," pro- duces these results, I might ask, what magnetism is in an or- ganised form ? and what gives it this organisation ? If it is life, then there is something in animal life which controls the magnetic forces, as I have already shown. If magnetism has a different form in living bodies from what it has in any other substances, it must be owing to the vital forces; these, there- fore, cannot be magnetism. 2. The magnetic forces reciprocally affect each other. — That is, the positive pole in magnetism attracts the negative. Two pieces of iron differently magnetised, equally attract each other. But we have seen, that in pathelising, though the sub- ject is attracted by the operator, he, himself, produces no such effects upon the latter. Nor, indeed, could such an ef- fect be anticipated agreeably to one of the first laws of nature. We have seen that one must be the agent, the other the sub- ject, and if the subject could affect the agent, to the same ex- tent he, himself, is affected, it would be in direct oppositioii THEORY OF PATHETISM. 105 to the well known course and constitution of things. Nothing is known of the electrical laws, by which it could be shown, why the physical attraction between the operator and patient should not be reciprocal, if this agency were magnetism; nor why the former should not be able to attract his patient, so as to raise his body, entirely, against the force of its own gravi- tation. It is well known, that the patient, in some cases, may be so strengthened and excited by pathetism, that he will be able to lift more than his own weight. But, in such cases, no one was ever raised, entirely, by these forces, which, however, the operator should be able to do, if the mag- netic forces constitute the agency by which he attracts the limbs or muscles of his patient. And in this case, if the oper- ator were to place his patient alone in a boat a few rods from himself, on shore, should he not be able to draw him that dis- tance over the water? Why not, if this attraction be mag- netism ? Nor is this all ; if this agency be magnetism, it should be just as easy for an operator to magnetise a piece of iron by making the passes over it, as it is to affect a living body in this way. But we all know, that this is not, by any means, the case. The power which the operator is able, many times, to exert over his patient, is truly astonishiag; and yet this same influence, when directed to a few minute iron filings, is not sufficient to produce the least imaginable effect. And, though we know that electricity may be evolved by the living body, sometimes in sufficient degrees so as to ef- fect the electrometer, and even to give off sparks, yet, these same bodies are not any the more susceptible to pathetism, oa this account, alone, nor do they seem to possess any more than ordinary power for inducing the sleep in others. And be- sides, if it were the natural tendency of magnetism to induce sleep, it would always have this efi'ect when the magnet was applied to the system. 3. The radical difference in the results produced by this agency, proves that it cannot be the magnetic forces. The effects of the electrical forces, when they can be pro- duced at all, always agree, both as to their nature and in the laws by which they are evolved. But, by manipulation, 106 ^ TATIIETISM. scarcely any two bodies can be afTected alike. By the same process by which one may be put to sleep, another may be waked up ; and the same fingers which suppress the action of one or more of the cerebral organs, excites them; and this, too, when the patient is asleep. The ever varying discrepan- cies in the effects produced by manipulation can never be re- conciled with the assumption that the agency is magnetism or electricity. 4. The effects produced, it may he, hy the application of metallic substances to the living body, even before it may have beeji pathetised, do not prove the agency to be magnetism. Precisely the same effects have been, and may be produced by any other substance. Who has not heard of Perkins' *' Tractors," of whose potency thousands and tens of thousands, of all ranks and profession, but a few years ago, professed to have experimental knowledge. Indeed, it is asserted on the best authority, that Perkins returned from England possessed of ten thousand pounds sterling, which he received for cures performed by the use of two small pieces of different kinds of metal, pointed and polished in a peculiar manner. And never, perhaps, were so many of the medical profession, and other intelligent persons, so egregiously deceived as to the true na- ture of any medical agency, as in the matter of those tractors. And at the present time, so general has this conviction be- come, that these tractors seem never to be mentioned but in derision, and to remind the unwary how easy it is to be led astray by deductions drawn from facts of this kind. It was assumed by Perkins and his disciples, that the influ- ence of those metallic points was electrical, and this accounted most satisfactorily for numerous cures performed by them, some of which were, indeed, of a most extraordinary charac- ter. But Dr. Haygarth was the first to suggest, I believe, that u'ooc?c/i tractors would, probably, have a similar effect; and accordingly Dr. Falconer selected five persons for an experi- ment, who were labouring under chronic rheumatism in the liip, knee and wrist. Wooden tractors had been prepared, and painted to resemble those made of metal. Their first trial was made January 7, 1799, and proved, of course, success- THEORY OF PATHETISM. 107 ful. Three were much benefited. One felt his knee warm- er, and could walk much better. Another was easier for nine hours till he went to bed, and then his pain returned. An- other had a tingling sensation for two hours. The next day, the metallic tractors were employed with the same effect as that of the preceding day. This led to further experiments of a similar kind; and they were continued, until the physicians became fully satisfied, that the wooden tractors were of the same utility with the metallic, provided the patients svpposed them metallic. Similar experiments were shortly made at Edinburgh, and the result was the same. A servant girl, afflicted with a most acute head-ache, which had rendered her nights altogether restless for nearly a fortnight, readily submitted to be pointed at with these icoodcn tractors. The operators moved them round her head, but never touched her. In a few minutes she felt a chilliness in the head ; in a minute or two more, she felt as though cold water was running down the temples, and the pain was diminished ; in ten minutes more she declared that the head-ache was entirely gone; and the next day she returned to express her thanks to her benefactors for the good sleep she enjoyed through the night. It is to be regretted that the medical profession did not profit by this discovery, instead, as they seem to have done, turning the whole subject into ridicule, and attributing cures really performed to a mere imaginary cause, that uever had any real existence. Though some of them thought, no doubt, that by referring all that was done to the "■ imagination" they had giv- en the true explanation of these phenomena, and placed the subject where it would never again be agitated by the expres- sion of any doubt. Perkins attributed the influence of his tractors to electricity, — the physicians, after the wooden tractors were found equally efficacious, attributed it to the i?naginatio7i of the patient. — Neither party has given the true version of the mystery. The facts detailed in the preceding pages, as well as the history of these tractors, are abundantly suflicient to show, how it is that the mind creates or transfers relations from one subject 108 PATHETISM. to another, and by which the susceptibility becomes affected according to the mental apprehensions, and not according to the real qualities of those things to which the relation may have been transferred, as I hav^e already shown. Indeed, there is cnousrh in the facts connected with Perkins' tractors to annihilate, forever, the notions which have prevailed with regard to animal magnetism, or the influence of a " universal fluid" over the living body, which is exerted, and modified, merely by manipulation or the mental efforts of the operator. 5. Its effects on animals. It is worthy of notice, that though this agency has so long borne the name oi '^ animal magnetism," no effects have ever been produced upon animals which amount to any thing at all. We have seen, that animals have a degree of suscepti- bility which is peculiar to the living body, but nothing upon which you can operate by the magnetic forces. Eut if this agency be magnetism, there is nothing to hinder its effects on animals, in as great a variety of degrees, as on human beings. We should not only be able to put them to sleep so that they could not hear, see, taste or feel, but should also cause them to walk, if not to talk, in this state. If it be objected, that animals have not the cerebral organs for the same manifestations, then it is admitted, that this in- fluence is something more than magnetism; it is one which is peculiar to cerebral developments. Thus admitted, I do not see what objection could be successfully urged against the preceding theory. 6. The nerves are non-conductors of electricity. I have already adduced a number of admitted facts, in the Chapter on susceptibility and sympathy, which can never be reconciled to the assumption, that this influence, whatever it may be, is evolved, received and transmitted by the nerves. — And I may now add, that if the nerves should be found to be non-conductors of electricity, this question must be considered settled. The following account of a paper recently read before the Royal Society, by Dr. James Stark, is from the London Athe- naeum for March 4, 1843; THEORY OF PATHETISM. 109 ** The author gives the result of his examinations, both mi- croscopical and chemical, of the structure and composition of the nerves; and concludes, that tliey consist in their whole extent, of a congeries of membraneous tubes, cylindrical in their form, placed parallel to one another, and united into fasciculi of various sizes; but, that neither these fasciculi, nor the individual tubes, are enveloped by any filamentous tissue ; that these tubular membranes are composed of extremely mi- nute filaments, placed in a strictly longitudinal direction, in exact parallelism wiih each other, and consisting of granules of the same kind as those which form the base of all the solid structure of the body; and that the matter which fills the tubes is of an oily nature, differing in no essential respect from butter or soft fat; and remaining of a fluid consistency, during the life of the animal, or while it retains its natural temperature, but becoming granular, or solid, when the ani- mal dies, or its temperature is much reduced. As oily sub- stances are well known to be non-conductors of electricity, and as the nerves have been shown, by the experiments of Bischoff, to be among the worst possible conductors of this agent, the author contends, that the nervous agency can be neither elec- tricity nor galvanism, nor any property related to these pow- ers." And we should probably arrive at the same result, from a similar examination of the other tissues, and the fluids of the living body. The blood has been said to be strongly impreg- nated with iron, but it has never been satisfactorily proved. — But even if it were so, this fact would not assist the magnetic theory. We do not find that the blood is attracted by the magnetic any more than the nervous matter; and indeed, it would be easy to show, that if this agency were electricity or magnetism, surrounded as we constantly are, with such quan- tities of metallic substances, it would be next to impossible to restore either health or life, or to avoid, w^ithout the greatest trouble, the ever attracting influences which they would be constantly exciting over us. 2. Is IT A Nervous Fluid ? Are the eff'ects produced by manipulating the human system, which appear in sleep, and mental excitements, caused by the communication of a neuraura,orjf?7/zW, from the operator, and received into the nervous system of the patient? The ques- tion now under notice, is not, whether there is not what has been called a fluid, or substance, exhaled from the extremi- E 1 10 rATHETISM. ties of the nerves, though the highest medical authorities ad- mit that if such a fluid exists, it is of so subtile a consistence, as never yet to have heea detected, either by taste., sight or smell. Nay, they further admit, that the constituent princi- ples of this liquid are perfectly unknown, as they cannot be rendered visible by art, or proved by experiment.* But it is assumed, that such a fluid must exist, because, on making a ligature on a nerve, the efl'ccts of volition or sensation are sus- pended. There may, indeed, be a fluid peculiar to the veins, arteries, muscles, the viscera, and indeed the osseous parts of the sj^stem. Nor is the present enquiry as to whether there are certain exhalations from the surface of the human body, of carbon, or carbonic acid gas, or a peculiar oderous substance. What we •wish to ascertain, is, whether the brain or nervous system eliminates a ^Mt£?, which is received into the sysie?n of the subject, who is afl'ected by pathetism ? When the fingers are applied to the cerebral organs, and the subject manifests any given emotion, is that emotion excited by the reception of a nervous substance from the hand of the operator ? Or when one operates upon another, (as it is said,) by his will, merely, is there in this case, a transmission of any fluid or substance from the nerves of the operator, into the nerves of the patient? The following are some of the reasons which incline me to the negative of this question : — 1. The results produced xoithout any physical contact, and without any effort of the ivilL It is susceptible of the clearest demonstration, that sleep, for instance, maybe induced without any physical contact, or any mental effort of the will of another, whatever. And so of many of the results already described in the preceding chap- ter. To suppose the transmission of a fluid in the case of the wooden tractors, or in the case of the non-magnetised tree of Mesmer, is perfectly preposterous. When the patient touch- ed a tree that had not been magnetised, he was seized with convulsions; but when he came in contact with the tree upon which the operator assumed to have thrown the magnetic fluid, • Dr. Hooper. THEoay OF PATHETISM. Ill he was not affected at all ! No wonder the French commis- sioners put the seal of their condemnation upon Mesmer's the- ory.* Take the case of the cure of the cancer, effected by the ap- plication of the hand of a corpse. Is the nervous fluid trans- mitted from the hand of a dead man? Or, the cure performed by the East Indian. Who can believe, that in these and the thousands of other similar cases, the change was effected by the transmission of a nervous fluid ? And so of the method recommended for testing what has been called the '* impres- sibility" of persons to the " neurauric influence." The patient is directed to take hold of an iron rod or bar, held in the hand of the operator. If he feels any sensation in his hand or arm, the " neuraura" is said to have been transmitted from the hand of the operator, by means of the metallic conductor, into the arm or hand of the subject. And I have seen numbers of the medical profession operating in this way ; and when they found persons thus affected, they have taken it for granted, that a nervous current was thus received by the patient from the operator. And during this time, they seem never to have once thought of the wooden tractors ; and what the disciples * When Dr. B., the originator of v.hat is called the Neurauric theory, was in this city, in the fall and winter of 1S42, the following incidents occurred. He had a highly susceptible subject ; and whom he had im- pressed with a deep antipathy against an operator whom I will call Mr. S. It so happened, that the Dr. was invited, one evening, with his subject, to a house where there was a person whom Mr. S. had pathe- tised some three months before. And, of course, his subject took it into his head to become very much convulsed on coming near the per- son whom he thought Mr. S. had operated upon, and he was so much affected, that the Dr. found it somewhat difficult to relieve him. The reason assigned was, that he could not touch or even come near per- sons who had been operated upon by Mr. S., as the neuraura given off by them was so offensive to him! A few evenings after, Mr. S., (un- known to the Dr. or his subject) came in contact with the latter, sat by his side, and put his hands upon him, but it produced no eflects at all. This is one of many other facts which could be given showing the fal- lacy of the Dr's. assumptions about the transmission of a nervous cur- rent. If his subject was atiected in the first case, as he thought he was by a nervous current from the patient operated on by Mr. S., why was he not still more affected when he came in contact with Mr. S. hirnself? Answer, because, in the first case an influence was apprehended, in the other it was not. In the^first case, effects were produced without any physical contact ; in the other there was physical contact, but no effects followed as the result. 112 PATIIETISM. of this tl\cory will say, whea they come to find out that the same feeling in the hand or arm of the subject may be induced with a wooden rod as well as with a metallic one, and, indeed, without any rod at all, or any contact with the operator, re- mains to be seen. Something must be allowed, of course, for the habits to which patients may have been trained. If they have been accustomed to a metallic rod, they will be most af- fected by that instrument ; and the same remark may be made of ivory, wood, or anything else. But, that persons often sink into a state of real somnipathy, without any influence from physical contact or the will of an- other, is a matter of certainty. I have known persons to fall into this state, partially, who had never been pathetised, merely by seeing me operate on another; and, limes without number, have I had my patients iall into this state, when they have been in the same room, or in the same dwelling where they knew I was operating upon others, when I had no volition at all upon the subject. Only the present week, a patient on whom I had not operated for more than six months, happened to be present while I was patheiising another; and though she was decidedly opposed to going to sleep herself, and though I did not wish her to fall into this state, yet, she did so. And what was remarkable, when asleep, she refused to let me touch her for the purpose of waking her up; and after remaining in this state all night, she remembered nothing of what had happened, on waking up the next morning. Her opposition to being pathetised arose from her dread of ridi- cule; but we see from this case how it is, that the mind of a person overcomes the susceptibility, and induces sleep, with- out any Avill on the part of another, and indeed, in some cases, even against the wishes of the patient himself. But I may be referred to cases like the following: — the pa- tient is blindfolded, and the operator merely brings his fingers within an inch or so of any particular organ, and its function is excited. Or, the patient places his finger near any given organ in the head of another, and his own mind becomes af- Jected. To this I answer : THRORY OF PATHETISM. 113 (1.) If the excitement of the separate organs is caused by the actual transmission of a fluid, the results should always be the same; that s, the emotions excited in one subject should be the same as those excited from precisely the same place in the head of another. But this is not the case; for though the cerebral organs may be excited without contact, in some sub- jects, yet the same feelings are not always excited from the same locations, in different heads. These discrepancies can be accounted for, only, by the laws of sympathy before de- scribed. (2.) Exciting the cerebral organs without contact, no more proves the transmission of a fluid, than the relief of pain, or sleep, induced without contact. (3.) The cases in which the cerebral organs can be control- led by pathetism, to any considerable degree, are very few; and hence, it is hardly safe to deduce a general law from these few cases. (4.) Among the subjects susceptible of cerebral excitement, by manipulation, the number is iewer still whose organs can be controlled without any contact ; and the world over, per- haps, not one individual was ever found, in whom each of the organs could be excited without contact. But, if one organ may be excited in this way, and if there be an actual trans- mission of a fluid into the brain of the subject, it is plain, that we should be able to excite one organ as well as another. But this is not, by any means, the case. 2. Effects produced on idiots and infants. Every operator must have noticed, how much more diflScult it is to affect infants and idiots, than it is adults, and persons in whom the cerebral organs are fully developed. But, if a fluid be actually transmitted, why should it not be received with equal readiness into the heads of idiots and children? — Infants, who have all the organs proportionably large, are not (other things being equal,) so easily affected as adults. Nor, indeed, am I aware that there has ever been an instance, where the cerebral organs have been separately excited in in- fants. But why not ? Why should not the finger of the ope- rator transmit the neuraura to the organ of Benevolence or 114 PATHETISM. Self-Estccm, in a brain six montiis old, as easily as into one twenty-five or thirty years ? The true reason is, these effects, in many cases, depend much upon the mental apprehensions of the subject, as I have already stated in the preceding the- ory. 3. The different results from the same locations, and the same results from different locations. For instance: in one subject Combativeness is excited by touching the " bridge of the nose," so called ; in another, by touching the muscles in the under lip; in another, by touch- ing the scapula ; and in another, by touching one of the fingers or teeth ! Can any one, in his senses, believe these results to be produced by the transmission of a fluid? But, to get rid of this difficulty, an advocate of the fluid theory tells us, that in these cases the patient is under the control of the operator's will, and, therefore, these results are not to be depended upon ! Just as much as the man who makes this objection, and no more. I have operated on hun- dreds, and, I may say, thousands of cases, where I know that the subjects were no more under the influence of my will, in the sense above supposed, than any other person whom I never saw, I have put them to sleep by my will, as it is called, and without it— I have examined this agency in every imaginable aspect, and tested it in every conceivable manner possible, and aflnrm what I know, when I say, that I have in- duced these different results from persons who were not asleep, and from others who were, and yet, they were not caused or modified by my will, in the least conceivable degree. The inference, to my own mind, is irresistible, that the notion of a jimd transmitted from the operator to the subject, is utterly unfounded. How could a subject be influenced by my will, when I had no will about the result, as to what it should or would be ? The truth is, many operators have, unquestionably, been most egrcgiously deceived as to many things they have attributed to their own wills. How the susceptibility is controlled by the will, and how the will and the susceptibility reciprocally act upon each other, I have already shown. But, to assume THEORY OF PATHETISM. 115 that, when I touch the same organs in three different subjects, and they every one manifest a different result, one must be more in love with theories than I desire to be, to believe that the results are either caused by the transmission of a fluid, or that they are the results of my own volitions, when I know that I exerted no will in the cases at all, and the patients were no more controlled by my will than the chairs on which they sat. 4. The immediate agencies for affecting the mind, must, in all cases, be the same. Titillation of the feet or sides, excites the organs of mirth. Is there, in such cases, a fluid transmitted ? And what is the difference between the agency by which mirth is excited, either by tickling the soles of the feet, or by applying the fin- gers 10 the organs of mirth in the head? A tread upon a gouty toe, not unfrequently excites the organs of Combative- ness. Is there a fluid transmitted in such cases ? How often do we feel our Hope, Faith, Courage, Devotion, Love, and Benevolence excited, by what we hear said in a public assembly ; and in this way, thousands of organs are all excited at the same moment. Is there a fluid transmitted in such cases ? Who can believe it ? But I might ask, what excites emotion in any case ? What is the immediate agency which exciles feeling of any kind? If it be by a fluid eliminated in one case, why not in all? and if the hand transmits this nervous current or fluid, on applying it to the head, how is it to be rationally accounted for, that this fact was never discovered before the nineteenth century? How has it come to pass, that among the millions of millions who have had their hands upon each other's cerebral organs, since the world began, not one of them ever received this fluid in any perceptible degree, before the year 1841 ? Really, to swallow such an assumption, one needs an organ of Marvel- lousness, to say the least, much larger than the one possessed by the writer of these pages. The truth of the case is, most who have ever manifested any interest in the investigation of this subject, under what- ever name it has been presented, have taken it for granted, all lib PATHETISM. along, that there must be a magnetic or nervous fluid actuallj'' transmitted in order to produce these results, because those who have gone before have said so. And thinking of no other way for solving all the phenomena which followed the process of manipulation, we have readily adopted the crude notions of others. And this is the more remarkable, when we examine the results of the wooden tractors, together with the history of Mesmer's operations, and observe what an abundance of facts they present, which go directly to annihilate the fluid theory. A few of these facts the reader will have seen in the foregoing pages ; and if, after digesting these, he can make out an explanation more to his mind than the one presented in the present work, let him not withhold the light which it mav be in his power to shed upon this intricate subject. CHAPTER VIII. PATHETISING. From an examination of the principles laid down in the preceding chapter, an answer will have been obtained to the question so frequently asked, " Have all persons the necessary power for pathetising ?" It is plain, that this power depends, not on the health and character of the operator merely. There are many assisting and disturbing causes, and the whole must be considered together, before we shall be able to judge with any tolerable accuracy as to the power of any one to produce any given results. Some things depend upon the operator, others upon the patient, and others, still, upon the persons or circumstances with which they may be surrounded during the operation. Before coming to particulars as to this process, it may be necessary to explain, that by a pass is simply meant the act of passing the hand over any part of the syslem. This is done with the fingers loosely extended, and moved downward quite lightly over the head or limbs. Reverse passes are made up- wards. The nerves of sensation are more fully developed in the hands, and hence the fingers become the principal organs of touch, so called; and the Sacred Scriptures recognise its use in the communication of blessings, as when the patriarch Ja- cob placed his hands upon the heads of Joseph's children, and pronounced his blessing upon them. The attempt to excite kind feelings in the mind of a friend, is usually accompanied by taking him by the hand and looking him in the eye. Iq pathetising, therefore, the hand becomes the principal instru- ment for exerting this agency, and applying its influence to different parts of the system. 118 rATHETISM. 1. TiiK Operator. It could not be supposed to be a matter of indifference with persons wishing to be treated by pathetism, whether the per- son who is to perform this operation be qualified, or not. No person willingly trusts his health with one whom he, himself, considers a quack. Let us notice, then, a few things, of which we should wish to be well satisfied, before submitting to this method of treatment. 1. Health. Nothing can compensate for the want of sound health in the operator. He should not only be free from all constitutional or nervous difficulties, but he should he perfectly WELL. We have known a number of cases, where disease has been communicated from the operator to the patient. If the former be nervous, feeble, or sickly, as a matter of course, we should expect the patient to sympathise with him, and to become diseased, just in proportion to the influence exerted upon him. 2. Tejyiperameni. Persons of what are called nervous or lymphatic temperaments, do not usually succeed so well in palhetising. The best temperament for the operator is that called bilious, or nervo-bilious. The sanguine, or a mixture of the bilious and sanguine, is also a good temperament. But it should be understood, that the temperament, whatever it may be, should be different from that of the patient. 3. Age. The operator, of course, should be neither green in youth, nor decrepid with age. During the first stages of adolescence, the mental faculties are not suflficiently matured, and the physical energies but imperfectly developed. The vigor of manhood is the time for the full exercise of this pow- er, and the period when the system can best endure the exer- tion necessary for its application to the cure of disease. In youth and old age, the physical and mental strength become soonest exhausted, and during these periods the vital forces are barely sufficient to supply the wants of his own system. 4. Mental character. Large Pity, Benevolence, Firmness, Self-Confidence, Concentration, Conscientiousness, and Perse- verance, are the necessary mental qualifications. These are other phrenological developments which go to constitute a PATHETISING. 119 well-balanced head ; but when either of the above qualities are wanting, it makes a marked deficiency in the character of an operator. Much may depend on the mental disposition. He should be possessed, especially when operating, of undisturbed calm- ness, decision, and kindness of heart. A rough word, or the indulgence of any passion, while his patient is in a state of somnipathy, might produce serious mischiefs, and such as he might find it impossible to control. 5. Good motives. Every patient, of course, possesses the undoubted right to judge of the motives of an operator, and hence our chapter would be incomplete, without a statement of what they should be. And besides, it has much to do with the success of an operation. Is it not a matter of intuition, that what we attempt from a sincere desire to do good, we prosecute with far more confidence of success, than when, conscience-smitten, one undertakes what he knows to be wrong? Every sinner, when seeking an unworthy object, is discouraged with more or less fear, and want of confidence ; and these are states of mind which are every way unfavorable to that quiet and self-respect, which are necessary for opera- tions of this kind. The more faith and expectation of success the better. This is a principle of the Christian religion, and it holds equally good of every judicious, well-meant effort, for the relief of human suffering. 6. Ski/l. The knowledge of the pathetiser should be of this subject, and the laws by which it is to be applied for the cure of disease. The most learned and intelligent in mathematics, languages, medicine, and the various other branches of sci- ence, may be perfectly ignorant of tliis agency. The skill ne- cessary for its use, is not to be learned from ordinary works on human physiology or medicine. This, if we may so speak, is a science by itself; it has its peculiar laws,— is diflferenl from all other subjects in so many respects, that a man does not become qualified to operate merely by possessing good health, and a desire to do good. He should become familiar with the nature of the sympathic system, and study the dif- ferent susceptibilities, sympathies and antipathies of the living 120 TATIIETISM. body. He sliould perceive how it is, that the mind and these susccplibiliiies reciprocally affect cacli other. A thorough knowledge of Physiognomy and Phrenology are great helps, though not indispensable. But there is what may be called an aptness for this work, which enables the skilful operator to adapt himself to the condition, idiosyncrasy, and peculiar views of liis patient, and by which he causes different agen- cies and circumstances to contribute to his assistance, in his attempts to relieve suffering humanity. 7. Balance of power. The operator may be either male or female; but in what would be understood by nervous or syin- palhetic poicer, the operator should be superior to the patient. We have seen, that positive effects are produced by establish- ing a positive relation between two bodies that differ in tem- perament, or some other physical qualities which render one susceptible to an influence from the other. Of course, there- fore, the stronger the operator may be in all those qualifica- tions which give an influence, either physical or mental, over others, the better for this agency. And so, also, when the system of the patient is enfeebled by disease, or worn down with suffering, it forms a greater contrast with the power which is brought to bear upon it, and the results will gene- rally correspond. 2. The Patient. 1. Temperament. We have already seen, that everything, as it were, depends on the susceptibility or sympathetic fem- ;?eramen^ of the patient. True, there may be but few cases where some slight 7'e//e/ could not be given, by an experienc- ed operator; but we do not know enough of this agency to induce the belief, that it may, at present, be considered a pan- acea for '* all the ills that flesh is heir to." That different op- erators have succeeded in performing some very extraordinary cures, is true, and I have been successful in a few remarkable cases of my own ; but yet we know but little of the laws of this agency. And this is saying no more than we might af- firm of the materia medica. Who has been able to tell, why the same medicine does not produce the same results on dif- erent persons, and at different times not even on the same PATHETISING. 121 person ? Does not every thing depend upon the idiosyncrasy of the patient? And do we doubt the efficacy of any medi- cine, merely because it does not always produce the same ef- fects, in the same time, upon different patients, or indeed up- on the same patient ? There is a peculiarity in the temperament of those persons most susceptible. They generally partake, more or less, of what is understood by the sanguine, lymphatic, and nervous. Persons highly nervous, as it is called, are not the best sub- jects. Those in whom the above combinations seem to meet, are of what we should denominate a syynpathetic temperament. 2. Excitement — Quiet. All nervous or mental excitement in the patient, as well as in the pathetiser, are decidedly un- favorable. The entire system should be in a state of perfect quiet. The mind should be unoccupied. There should be no anxiety about the process, or its results. The patient should be previously prepared, so that, when the operation 13 com- menced, the mind may at once yield to its influence, without any opposing or disturbing influences. 3. Sleep. When a state of somnipathy follows this process, new responsibilities are imposed upon the pathetiser. In cases of sickness, experiments, merely, should never be at- tempted; nor should the patient be worried with questions. If he is properly managed, he will be able to describe his own case; and after some experience, that of others, without much difficult V. The time during which the sleep may be continued, must be determined by the case. No definite rule can be given — the operator should use his own judgment. A few hours, daily, may be sufficient. 3. Time and place for operating. 1. The patient and the operator should not only be in a state of perfect quiet, but the process should be commenced where they will not be likely to be disturbed. They should not be entirely alone : one or more judicious friends should always be present, when the operator and patient are of dif- ferent sexes. Strangers sliould not be admitted. To the pre- sence of persons who are disagreeable to the patient, or who L 122 PATHETISM. arc obstinateh' set against the agency which is to be applied for his relief, there are insuperable objections. Deleiize, Dr. Rostan, and the most intelligent operators in every part of the world, have united in bearing this testimony.* No conversation should be carried on within hearing; and things should be so arranged, that persons may not be passing in and out of the room, during the sitting. 2. The sittings should be protracted from thirty minutes to one hour, and should be had, as near as may be, at the same hours every day. They should be repeated as often as once a day ; and when continued for thirty minutes only, they may be repeated a number of times during the twenty-four hours. 4. Process of Pathetising. Different effects may be produced in various ways on highly susceptible subjects ; or, after the relation has been sufficiently established between the pathetiser and patient; and it should be remembered, that it is by no means necessary to produce sleep, in order to relieve one from disease or pain. The patient should be comfortably seated, w^here the head may recline without fatigue. He should then be directed to elevate his eyes, and immovably set them on something sta- tionary, with his mind fixed upon the certainty of the result tckich you design to produce, whether it be sleep, or the relief of bodily pain. The longer and the more steady his eyes and mind are kept thus united, in anticipation of the designed re- sults, the better. And in some subjects, the effects are in- creased by their standing up, either against the side of the room, or near a chair or sofa, where they may easily sit down if they wish to do so. At other times, the effects are very much increased if the operator sits by the side of the patient during this process, and holds one of his hands; or if he give him a piece of steel, or any substance not offensive, which the patient should hold in his hand. * " There is," says Dr. Georget, " a very essential precaution to be taken by those who wish to make useful experiments. It is, to avoid surrounding one's self with dishenest and incredulous persons. I had frequently to complain of them ; and my somnambulists have experi- enced gicat troubles from them, and, almost always, serious accidents." — P/ii/5. Nerv. System, Jo\. ],p. 270. PATHETISING. 123 In this manner I have put a room full of persons to sleep at once, and believe I could operate successfully upon twenty at one time, without the least inconvenience to myself. The old method of staring the patient in che eyes, is highly objection- able, especially when the parties are strangers, and of the dif- ferent sexes; and the extreme mental efforts put forth by some operators, are as unnecessary as they are sometimes ludi- crous- Indeed, I am confident, that the manner of passing the hands about the persons of some patients, and gazing them in the eye with such barbarous tenacity, has often prevented the anticipated results ; as I have often induced sleep in a few minutes by the above process, in persons, where the other method has failed after a dozen trials. Of course, the attention should not be directed from the pa- tient, any more than the patient's attention should be directed from the process used for inducing sleep, or the relief of pain. And the sleep, and results, will become more and more sym- pathetic as this process is repeated, as it must be for a length of time before the susceptibility will be found sufficiently de- veloped to be controlled, merely, by the will of the operator. For increasing the sympathy, and also for relieving pain, the passes may be made, or the hand applied in the following manner. Standing by the side of the patient, when reclined or seated as above directed, the operator should place one hand over the whole of the forehead, from the super orbiter plate upward, and the other directly above it; or, while you hold the right hand over the frontal region as above, place your thumb and middle finger directly back and a little below the centre of the organs marked by Gall as Caution. If you wish to vary the method, stand directly behind the patient, and place your middle fingers on the points above named : by this process alone sleep is often induced, and no other means will, in some cases, succeed so well in producing a state of mental tranquillity. When the patient seems to be more or less subdued, pass your hands gently from the coronal region down the sides of the head, extending them off in a circle to the top of the head again. And, if you wish, you can pass 124? PATHETISM. your hand slowly from the head down, inside his arms and Jiands, end extend ihem off and in a circle again, lo the head, as before. As a sound state of somnipalhy rarely follows the first sit- ting, the process should be repeated till it is successful. When the sympathetic relation is once established, the patient will sink into a state of sleep, or wake up, merely by the direction of the operator, and frequently without any direction, if the patient has a distinct apprehension of what he supposes the operator's wishes arc. To wake up the patient by tlie passes, place one hand over the back part of the licad, covering from the portion allotted to Philoprogeniliveness down over the cerebellum; and with your other hand place your tvi'o fingers upon Causality, or pass the hand quickly upward, over the frontal region, as if you wished to brush away something collected there. Or, standing in front of him, put your thumbs over his eyes, and pass them upward quickly over his forehead. Put both hands upon the sides of his head, and pass them upward and off quickly ; and pass them from his hands, upward, and along the arms. These processes should be continued till he is per- fectly relieved. For the relief of local pain, the hand should be held and passed gently over the part affected. To cure the headache, let the patient lean his head back, so as to rest it firmly in your hand, your hand being sufficiently low to cover the cere- bellum. With your other hand, make the passes down and over the forehead and temples. If the pain is in the frontal region, cover the whole of the occipital, or those portions al- lotted to Approbativeness, Self-Esteem, and Firmness. For hypochondria and nervous derangements generally, the passes should be made, more or less, over the portions marked for Ideality and Sublimity. In all cases of fainting, languor, &c. the hands should be held upon the occipital region of the head. Many nervous difficulties may be perfectly relieved, by simply connecting the process ofinducing sleep, with an anti- cipation in the mind of the patient of the certainty of the cure. pathetising. 125 5. Cautions. On no account should the pathetiser ever become excited or alarmed, while operating, and especially while his patient is in a state of somnipathy. If it be found impossible to wake him up, let him alone : — he will come out of it in time, if left to himself Sometimes patients, after being rendered highly susceptible, involuntarily sink into a state of sleep. This may be prevent- ed by the fixed will and direction of the pathetiser. Direct the patient, when asleep, never to sink into that state again. If this be not effectual, leave him to himself You should never meddle with a patient, whom you find it impossible to con- trol. All excitement should always be removed, before the pa- tient is waked up ; and great care should be taken to remove the excitement from each organ in which it may have been produced. I have known mischievous results to follow these excitements : they should therefore be attempted with great caution, and only for good and justifiable purposes. Nor should the stomach be loaded with food, during the ex- citement of alimentativeness. These excitements, of course, are morbid, or beyond the demands of nature, and should be continued but a few moments at a time. No liberties should be taken, or allowed, with the person of a somnipathist, which he would not consent to, when awake. It is a great injustice and breach of confidence, when your patient, after having trusted his life to your care, while in a state of unconscious slumber, wakes up and finds his flesh pricked with pins, and mangled in various ways, to satisfy the incredulity of unreasonable minds. It is quite common for those but partially familiar with this subject, to recommend and urge their friends and others to attempt the production of the somnipathic state, merely to gratify their curiosity, or to satisfy themselves of its truth. This is certainly wrong; I have seen many mischievous results from those attempts. When any injury follows the use of medicine which has been administered by an intelli- gent physician, people do not set it down to the discredit of L* i'lij PATUETISM. science, but we infer from such cases, the necessity of care and extensive information, by which such injuries may be avoided. Or, if the mischief be done by the ignorance of the practitioner, he is blamed, of course — and punished, it may be, by the tribunals of justice. But it is still worse when mischiefs follow from misman- agement of pathelism. From the deep-rooted prejudice which everywhere prevails against this agency, all the mis- chiefs which may result from its misuse, are attributed to the agency itself; and thus the greater injury seems to be done to truth, than in the cases above stated. I was recently called to the following case. An operator had succeeded in putting a person to sleep. The attempt had been made a number of times, and from curiosity merely. — But, finally, he found it impossible to remove the sleep, and convulsions and insanity followed. I have known a number of cases of this kind. The physicians and friends, of course, lay all this mischief to pathetism. It should be attri- buted to the ignorance, and in some cases to the imprudence of the operators. The most intelligent may sometimes fail; and if these are not always successful, if should caution others never to at- tempt to produce a state of feeling in another, which they may find themselves unable to control. If you have health, and a heart for this work, and have made yourself familiar with its laws, commence ?t77A Me sick: let your efforts be made not to produce the sleep, nor any of its phenomena, but to re- lieve the suffering. Evil could scarcely be anticipated from such attempts provided ihe motive were what it should be, and the process were agreeable to the patient. Pathetism has to do with the sympathetic system, not of the operator and his patient merely, but with the nervous sympathies and anlipalhies of every other person present. And, the success of the operator's efforts must depend, more or less, on the state of feeling with which he is surrounded. And, it is an admitted law of this subject, that no one should ever attempt to operate on another, merely to satisfy an idle or a wicked curiosity. The motive should always be the re- PATHETISING. 127 lief of the patient : or if it be for the benefit of the science, the attempt should be made agreeably to the rules which the subject itself prescribes for its own management. I do not disapprove of all exhibitions of the sleep; there are occasions enough for all benevolent and scientific purposes, when this phenomenon may be seen and tested, without ex- posing patients in the way they have been, by many hereto- fore. Indeed it is a subject which every one should investi- gate for himself, and this all may do without giving counte- nance to its abuse by exhibitions, in the way some of them have hitherto been managed. CHAPTER IX. PHRENOrATHT. Phreaopathy, from phrenis, mind, and paschos, to feel, ex- perience, to be acted upon. I have already informed the reader as to the reasons for applying this term to those operaiions on the human brain, by which we are enabled to control the ce- rebral organs through the agency of pathetism. A term is needed for the purpose of designating those operations which control the mental functions; and this is as suitable as any other, if we choose to use it for this purpose. But, before we come to the distinguishing principles of Phrenopalhy, it may be desirable that the reader should have some general account of the brain and its fanctions, as far as they seem to have been determined, heretofore, by the labors of previous ages. Of the discoveries of the immortal Gall, it is not my design to speak here. The science which he had the honor of founding, though still in its infancy, has well nigh lived down the ridicule and opposition which were for- merly waged against it. Had it not been true — had it not been founded in fact — the name, talents, and wealth, which have been arrayed for its annihilation, would have proved successful long ago ! But what a glorious triumph has Phre- nology achieved over the world, in arms against it ! Its claims, as a science of the first importance, are at the pres- ent time generally admitted, and the best minds in the civi- lized world are convinced of its truth. Not a class of the learned can be mentioned, not a party, in religion, medicine or politics, but among whom we shall find numbers who firmly believe its truth ; and many who will acknowledge themselves indebted to its light, as much, or more, than to any other science, for the knowledge they have of themselves PHRENOPATHY. 129 or the mental character of others. Indeed, we do not be- lieve that any other science could boast of men higher in the scale of intelligence or learning, than are now the firm advo- cates of Phrenology. To Dr. Gall, also, belongs the honor of shedding more light on the anatomy of the human brain, than, probably, to any other man who has ever lived ; and it would not be difficult to show, that numbers have since written upon the physiology of the nervous system, without giving that distinguished man due credit for the obligations they were under to his previous discoveries.* All that can be attempted here, will be, merely to give some general observations on the anatomy and functions of the encephalon, by which the reader may be the better pre- pared to apprehend the principles of Phrenopathy. 1. The Relation of the Encephalon to the IIuman Body. We have already seen, that foituses have been formed with- out any brain. Of course, they could not live long. Other cases have been stated, where the whole of the cerebral mass has been let out of the cranium, for the purpose of facilitating delivery, and yet, life has remained some hours afterwards. The fact, that fostuses are sometimes born without any brain, or spinal chord, does not, certainly, seem to favor the assump- tion, that the brain is the point from which all the nerves ori- ginate. It is far more probable, that the nerves of sensation, properly speaking, originate or commence in the extremes of the system, and from the surface thus transmit impressions up to the sensorial centre in the brain. f That vitality does not depend so much upon the brain as * Spurzheiin exposed himself to this censure, as the reader will see bv consulting Dr. Eliiotson's Humaa Physiology, 5th London edition, 1849, 8vo., p. 1147. t Dr. R. Nelson states, that on dissecting two moles, he found the optic nerve did not extend to the brain If these animals do not use ihe eye, there is no necessity for connecting the eye with the brain. — On the same principle of nature, we I nd the fish in the celebrated Mam- moth Cave in Kentucky, have no eyes — simply because they have no use for them. 130 PATHETISX many have supposed, — and, indeed, that all the functions of the vital or animal economy may he carried on, for a time, without it, is further proved from the fact, that all the other parts of the body are formed, and considerably developed, even before the brain and spinal chord have assumed any degree of consistence, more than the white of an egg, and, consequent- ly, are utterly incapable of any functional power. Magendie mentions the case of a girl, who lived to the age of eleven years, with the use of her senses, and with feeble voluntary motion, but sufficient for her wants and progression. After death, no cerebellum nor mesocephalon could be found. In 1673, M. Duverney removed the cerebrum and cerebellum from a pigeon, and found that the animal lived for some time, and searched for its food. Mr. Lawrence saw a child four days old, without any encephalon except a mere bulb, which was a continuation for about an inch above the foramen occi- pitale from the spinal chord. Its breathing and temperature were natural.* Mr. Ollivier saw another case of the same deficiency, and the child not only cried and sucked, but squeezed with its hand; and another is mentioned by Lolle- mand, which lived three days. Dr. Kaan, a century since, observed a frog move all its limbs half an hour after its head had been cut off, and even after its body had been divided in two. Foutana declares, that after removing the brain of a turtle, and entirely emptying the cranium, it lived six months, and walked as before. Mr. Flurens took both hemispheres from a chicken, and yet it walked, flew, shook its wings, and cleaned them with its beak, as before. A viper, after decapitation, moved towards a heap of stones where it had been accustomed to hide itself Rede extracted the brain of a land tortoise, and it lived and walked for SIX months afterwards. Magendie says, " it is droll to see animals skip and jump about of their own accord, after you have taken out all their brains, a little before the optic tuber- cles. New born kittens tumble over in all directions, and walk so nimbly, if you cut out their hemispheres, that it is • Med. Chir. Trans, vol. v. p. 166. PHEENOPATHY. 131 quite astonishing." And he speaks of a hedgehog, which gratified him in this way two hours after the operation ! We are told, thai in foetuses full grown, without any ence- phalon, or even spinal chord, the circulation, nutrition, secre- tions, &c. proceed equally as in others, which, besides a spinal chord and ganglia, possess also a brain. These facts would seena conclusive against the supposition, that the brain is a kind of galvanic battery, which supplies vitality or nervous power to the other portions of the system. As it is the last part formed or matured, it is reasonable to suppose, that its relation to the body is secondary, when compared with the heart and other organs in that region. It is, certainly, a law of nature, that those organs, in living bodies, should be first produced and developed, whose functions are most essential in the vital economy; and hence, we find the formations com- mence with the solar plexus, the ganglia of the dorsal region, together with the heart and blood-vessels. And if what has been offered in a preceding chapter be correct, with regard to the peculiar functions of the ganglionic system, we may see why it is that there seem to be more ganglia in the dorsal and lumbar regions, than have been found in all the other parts of the system ; and it will explain a number of phenomena which have hitherto remained in the dark. As, for instance : — 1. That the sensation of sympathy is generally felt in the region of the solar plexus. When this feeling is powerfully excited, the hand is instinctively placed upon the epigastrium. 2. That the five external senses are sometimes, by disease, transposed and located in this region. In cases of catalepsy and trance, persons have been unable to hear or see, except from this region. 3. In many cases of somnipathy, I have been unable to cause the patient to see or hear any thing, except from the pit of the stomach. 4. A slight blow upon this region has frequently occasioned instant death; while severe blows upon the head, or mutila- tions, or even the destruction of the brain, did not immediately destroy life. 5. These ganglia, and, indeed, the ganglionic system, as I 132 rATIlETlSM. have stated before, have been found fully developed in those ftctuscs bom without a brain or spinal marrow. Hence it is plain, that the animal or vital functions can be carried on without a brain, but not without the ganglia and solar plexus. 6. It explains the reasons why the heart continues its func- tions after the head has been struck from the body. Dr. Bor- tels declares, that Avhen he opened the chests of six men, in 182G, immediately after decapitation, near Marbourg, he found the hearts beating regularly for half an hour afterwards; and, when languishing, they were excited by irritating the great sympathetic nerve, — and yet, irritation of the spinal chord had no effect on the heart whatever, though it did affect the mus- cles of the trunk. And he further informs us, that on dividing the cardia plexus, the action of the heart ceased instantly.* And after the cerebrum and cerebellum of a man had been entirely blown off by an explosion of firearms, the circulation and respiration continued for more than half an hour. There are many plausible reasons for supposing, that the different parts of the system are commenced, in the process of formation, independently of each other; and hence it is, that foBtuses are born with parts wanting or redundant. f 2. Hemispheres. It seems necessary that we should take cognizance of the division of the encephalon into two brains, as it were; for, like the organs of animal life, it is double, and hence the im- pressions made upon it, though they are, in fact, double, are perceived as one, the same as the double impressions made upon the eyes and ears are one. Hence, all the mental func- tions must be double, so that when we speak of an organ, the term includes two, one in each hemisphere of the brain. This accounts for the fact, that when one side of the brain is some- times seriously injured, the effects do not appear in the mind. And it will be seen from it, also, how careful we should be in performing experiments in Phrenopathy, as, if the fingers are • Bichat says he had observed no effects on dividing the cardiac fila- ments. t We have accounts of parts of fceinses found in the bodies of males, one nine, and another some twenty-six years of age. PHRENOPATHY. 133 not placed on precisely the same organs on both sides of the head, there must, of couse, be confusion in the results. 2. Decussation. The nerves extending- from the brain to the body, or from the body to the brain, cross each other in the medulla oblon- gata, so that one side of the brain answers to the opposite side of the body; and though cases do often happen where the op- posite side of the body is affected from that of the head, as in paralysis, yet this does not always occur. We have exam- ples of ague, affecting one entire perpendicular half of the sys- tem; and of persons who sweated in one entire perpendicular half; and of persons becoming pale and emaciated in one en- tire perpendicular half, while the other remained healthy. 3. Sections of the Encephalon. 1. The Cerebellum. Though this portion of the cerebral system seems to be a distinct brain of itself, and therefore peculiar in its functions, it is usually considered as a part of the cerebrum, or generally in connection with it. The light which Phrenology and Ve- nesection have shed upon its functions, would seem to have fully settled this question beyond all possible doubt ; and yet, we have recently heard of attempts, under the name of "Neu- rology," to prove that Gall, Magendie, and a host of other anatomists, whose labors have so much enlightened the world, were most egregiously mistaken in their views of the cerebel- lum, and that this portion of the cerebral system, instead of having any thing to do with the sexual propensity, is appro- priated principally, or wholly, to the function of nutrition. To give any considerable proportion of what might be said, showing the real functions of this organ, would fill a volume by itself The following may be taken as the summary of what seems, now, to have been generally demonstrated, by Phrenology and pathological investigations. It is from Dr. Jamison, a physician of high distinction in England : — "Since I became acquainted v/ith the science of phrenology, some years ago, my attention has been directed to the cond'i- lion of the cerebellum in those individuals who have consult» ed me for impotence, and in others. I have attentively ob- j3i PATHETISM. served and studied a f^reat number of cases, and am led to re- jO^ard the lbllowin;Tf conclusions as correct. I hope their pub- lication may have the elVect of directing medical practition- ers more closely to observe the undoubted connection Avhich exists between the state of ihe genital organs and the cerebel- lum, and a disease which in its various degrees is much more prevalent than is commonly imagined, and is the cause of a great many evils. 1. The sexual passion has its seat in the cerebellum, and is energetic or the reverse in proportion to the size and tone of this organ. 2. Smallness of the cerebellum, much inequality of its lobes, and deficiency ofiis tone, are the cause of impotence. 3. When the cerebellum is very small, impotence is per- manent. 4. When the cerebellum is small, it soon suffers in tone if made to preform its functions with ordinary frequency. 5. When one lobe of the cerebellum is small and the other large in a man, it is sometimes the case, that he, at in- tervals distant in proportion to the size of the large lobe, performs the generative act imperfectly, until the large lobe which had been exhausted, recovers its tone. 6. When the cerebellum is very large and is much exerted, as it usually is in such cases, it becomes impaired in tone, and impotence is sometimes the result; but the generative act may be well performed by a large cerebellum, even when impaired in tone. 7. Average endowment of the cerebellum is most favoura- ble to permanent potency. 8. When the cerebellum becomes much deficient in tone, if it be not soon cured, the spinal marrow and its nerves, the organic nervous system, the intellect and moral feelings, are successively debilitated. 9. Deficiency of tone of the cerebellum in the male or female is often transmitted to the olfspring. 10. Impaired tone of the cerebellum is the cause of sperma- torrhea. 11. The size of the genital organs exercises no influence on their activity or vigour; they are often inert when large, and vigorous when small. 12. The father of a monstrosity, an account of the post- mortem examination of which I published some time ago, had the cerebellum small and debilitated, and had also sper- matorrhea ; he was permanently weak in the genital organs, and was the means of making me acquainted with many similar cases, and their peculiar symptoms. His wife be- came jealous and went mad, in consequence of believing that PH^1E^-0PATHY. 135 he was unfaithful, and that what was the result of debility, was caused by dislike of her. She died in a lunatic asylum. These facts, in connexion with remark No. 8, render it prob- able, in my opinion, that the subjects of abnormal organiza- tion are the products of parents whose generative apparatus was diseased, and general health consequently impaired. I think the condition of the cerebellum in the parents of mon- strosities should be observed. 13. Permanent or frequent impotence, or even continued partial debility of the genital organs, in men who have large self-esteem and destructiveness, and benevolence or conscien- tiousness not very large, often produces strongly selfishness and malignity; and also cunning and falsity; for though se- cretiveness should not be large, it is so much exercised in these cases to conceal the symptoms of their disease and pre- serve the reputation of virility, that it operates as if it pre- dominated in size. This is in accordance with the remark of Dr. Cox, *' that it seemed to be a law of the human constitu- tion, that when any of the faculties is pained or disagreeably active," destructiveness instantly comes into play. Here am- ativeness is mortified, and self-esteem and love ofapprobation disagreeably active, and destructiveness becomes consequently excited, secretiveness being active also, malevolence, cunning and falsehood, result. 14. Over exertion or exhausliou of the cerebellum robs ad- hesiveness and combativeness of their power, and thus causes cowardice. 15. Whatever exhausts the power of the constitution, seems not only to diminish the power of combativeness, but also to stimulate cautiousness. 16. In some men an activity of the cerebellum greater than what we would expect from their temperaments and devel- opments, may exist lor a long time without producing impo- tence; here it seems to appropriate more than its own share of the nervous energy of the system ; the other organs of the body suffering a diminution of power, apparently that the generative apparatus may obtain an increase. 17. The cerebellum is in general too much exercised in the married state. 18. When the cerebellum is too much exercised, no matter what the size of it may be, it becomes impaired in tone. 19. Men and women who have the cerebellum much below the average size should not marry. 20. Impotence is curable in all cases but where the cere- bellum is very small and disorganized. 21. Fluor albus is caused by deficient tone of the cerebellum in many cases. 136 PATHETISM. 22. Deficient size and tone of the cerebellum in males or females is a cause of want of liveliness, and sometimes of mclanciioly and madness. 23. Disease of the cerebellum is often the real cause of ab- surd eccentricities. 24. The treatment of impotence should always be directed with a view of its origin i'rom the cerebellum." I doubt the correctness of the conclusions numbered 2 and 20, without some qualification, as I am convinced that impo- tence is often caused by the sameness in the temperaments; and if so, it cannot be cured, even where there is no difficulty in the cerebellum. 2. Base of the Brain. Facts are at hand, also, to prove that the cerebellum and lower portions of the cerebrum, are particularly related to the muscles and limbs. Indeed, it would not be unreasonable to infer this fact, from what is known of the functions appropri- ate to other portions; for, as the upper and frontal organs an- swer for intellectual functions, we might suppose that the lower portions would hold relations with the animal and lower parts of the system. And hence we find, that a severe blow upon the lower and back part of the head, rendered a man paralytic in his arms and legs. And it may be noticed, that paralysis of the lower part of the body, even when arising from lesion in the corresponding portions of the brain, does not affect the mental functions at all. 3. Coronal Region. It has long been known to Phrenologists, that the lower the organs in the head, the more their functions corresponded with the propensities common to the animal creation. And expe- riments in Phrenopathy have tended to show, most conclu- sively, that one pair of the same organs are more elevated and refined in their functions than the pair below it. Thus, I find, the first pair of Amativeness are common to animals ; the pair above appropriate to intellectual enjoyment. The lower organs of Comparison take cognizance of things, the upper ones compare ideas; the lower organs of Causality are exercised on things, the upper oa metaphysical subjects. And rHSENOPATHY. 137 it is a remarkable fact, that from mere animal instincts^ which relate to the preservation of life, and selfish gratifica- tion, the organs not only ascend in the head, but also in the nature of their functions, till we come to the highest, which take cognizance of our relation to the Deity, and a future state, not excepting, perhaps, one which is appropriate to cal- culating, or perceiving future contingencies ! 4. Frontal Region. Here we find those organs which are appropriated to sci- ence, intelligence, and knowledge of men and things, and which distinguish men from all other living animals. And, not only so, but the size of some of these organs (others in proportion) distinguish the intellectual powers of one mind from another. 5. Occipital Region. In this portion of the brain we find the balance of the fron- tal region. A blow upon the lateral portion of the occiput, has been known to restore the intellectual functions which a previous blow upon the opposite region in the forehead had destroyed. Here are those organs whose functions control the muscles, and give the power of physical resistance. The connection between the brain and stomach has already been alluded to. The effects of a blow on the head, or from swinging, or turning round, or the motions of the vessel at sea, are well known. These arise in the stomach, from sym- pathy with the brain. And, in like manner, the brain is af- fected by the state of the stomach, as in cases of indigestion, poison, and intoxication. The pathology of the heart is, in many cases, intimately connected with the state of the brain. Hypertrophy of the heart disposes to apoplexy.* Dr. Hudson, of Navoo, has pub- lished a valuable paper, showing, most conclusively, that de- lirium is connected with, or produced by, certain states of the heart in fever. The excitement of some of the cerebral organs increases the action of the heart, as for instance, fear or ex- * An able paper on this subject may be seen in the Dublin Med. Jour. May, 1840. M* 138 PATHETISM. ccssive joy. The same is true of the liver and lower intes- tines. I have known cases, where intense menial excitement has produced action of the kidneys and defecation. 4. Excitement of the separate Cerebral Organs by External Applications. It was long since demonstrated by Professor Muller, that some of the organs of external sense could be excited by gal- vanism. He says, " The stimulus of galvanism excites, in all the organs of sense, different sensatiois in each organ, namely, the sensation proper to it. In the eye, a feeble galvanic current excites the special sensation of the optic nerve, namely, that oiUght. la the auditory nerve, electricity produces the sensation of sound. It has not, at present, been much observed, whether peculiar smells are produced by the application of galvanism to the or- gans of smell. Rilter, however, has perceived them; and it is a known fact, that the electricity excited by friction, gives rise to the smell of phosphorous." This is, probably, ^!)e first account ever published of any excitement of the cerebral function;?, by direct external appli- cations to any part of the system.* Dr. W. Phillip declared, many years since, that any substance, in its nature stimulat- ing, applied to the brain about the origin of the nerves, excites contraction of the muscles; and a substance, in its own nature stimulating, excites the heart and capillaries when applied to any part of the brain or spinal chord, if applied to a consider- able portion of it. And, considering how long these facts have been before the world, and, also, what has been known for years, of the agen- cy of pathetism, it is marvellous that the susceptibility of the cerebral organs to this influence was not tested many years ago. Bichat describes a series of experiments which demonstrate, as he thinks, that cerebral action does not directly interrupt the organic fimctions. He says : — " Acephalous foetuses, while in the uterus, possess an or- * I quote from Walker's Pathology, p. 131. The extract from Mul- ler iirst appeared, I believe, in 1834. PHRENOPATHY. 139 ganic life altogether as active as the most perfectly formed foetus; indeed, they sometimes discover, at birth, preternatu- ral proportion of increase. This I have had an opportunity of witnessing in two fcctuses of this description, that were brought to my amphitheatre. Not only was the face better developed, as is always the case, because the cerebral vascu- lar system being void, that of the face is 'proportionably in- creased; but all the parts, those of generation particularly, which generally before birth are scarcely evolved, displayed a correspondent plenitude of development. Nutrition, &:c., are therefore as active in these as in ordinary cases, though tho cerebral influence is actually wanting."* The way is now prepared for some account of the origin of those experiments upon the human brain, which have given rise to the term Phrenopathy, and the principles by which it is distinguished from Phrenology, Cranioscopy, and the former known results of Pathetism. More than twenty years ago, my mind was interested on seeing persons very strangely affected by religious excite- ment, when they were said to "lose their strength," and swoon away as in cases of catalepsy. This phenomenon led me to suppose the existence of laws which governed the nervous system, which had not been un- derstood, and which afforded the only true foundation which could be assigned for any thing real which had ever taken place under the nam.e of Mesmerism. Accordingly, I deter- mined on an investigation of this subject, for the purpose of sifting it to the bottom, and acertaining how far the nervous system could be affected by pathetism. In the New- York Watchman, for October 23, 1841, of which I was then editor, I published the first account that everlappearedy as far as I know, of this process of operating upon the separate cerebral organs. That account did not ap- pear till more than two months after I made this discovery, which occurred as it is there stated. I had been engaged in collecting facts on various " Mental Phenomena ;" and un- * Bichat further shows, what I have assumed in a preceding chapter, that the ganglions do not transmit the cerebral action, (except, it may be, sympathetically,) inasmuch as the nervous system belonging to theso bodies is perfectly independent of the cerebral nervous system. ItO PATHETISM. der tills head, was then publisliing a series of articles, show- ing the " influence of the niind over the nervous system." And, while preparing those articles for the press, I commenc- ed a course of experiments in Pathelism, for the purpose of bringing out, in ihem, an account connected with the state of somnipalhy ; andliience that account was not published until it best fell with the other subjects under examination. The first operation of the kind was on the 5th of August, 1S41, and my published account of its origin made m the paper as above stated, and is as follows: "If it has occurred to the reader, that there might have been some collusion in the matters detailed in our last, in re- gard to what was done by the somnipathist, we ask him to weigh, candidly, the following details, in some of which, it will be seen, deception was scarcely, if at all possible. "As far as we know, the following phrenological tests were the first of the kind ever tried, in this or any other country ; and as they did not originate w^ith either of the par- ties concerned, the reader will not suppose that it would re- quire a very large development of marvellousness in us, to believe that there was something extraordinary in these re- sults. How far they may tend to demonstrate the truth of palhetism or phrenology, in the mind of the reader, will de- pend altogether on his belief that there was, really, no decep- tion in either of the persons concerned. "I had noticed, as before stated, that the limbs of the pa- tient could never be made to obey the Avill of the operator, when the brain was not pathetised, and having tested this fact a sufficient number of times to satisfy myself that I was not deceived in this matter, it occurred to mc, that particular por- tions of the brain inight he operated upon in the same u-ay. I therefore, at the sitting last mentioned [Aug. 5, 1841], re- quested the operator, while the patient was asleep, and play- ing at the piano, to reverse the passes over those portions of the brain appropriated by phrenologists to the organs of tune. He did so, after I had designated the places to which I refer- red. The passes were reversed a few times, simply with his thumbs. She was now ordered to play ; but she replied, that ' she could not think of the tune^ ! She was repeatedly urged to play, but uniformly made the same reply. Satisfied, as I was, that there could not have been a7nj collusion in this experi- ment, the reader may easily imagine how deeply I was inter- ested by it, — demonstrating, as it did, the truth of phrenology in my own mind, beyond the shadow of doubt. The same PHRENOPATHY. 14-1 thing I have since done, and seen repeated, on diflferent pa- tients, and in various ways, and the results have always been the same." Though I have never atttached so much importance to this discovery as some others seem to have done, yet I am thus particular in stating the dates connected with the results of my cerebral experiments, that, if any account of a similar process of operating should have been previously published, I may not seem to attempt a monopoly of what belongs to ano- ther; as, since the above account was first published, it has been said that others, in different places, had operated in a similar manner; and, though, at the time, I had never heard any thing of the kind, as no account of the process of operat- ing had been published, previous to my own, yet I have no doubt but the same thing may have been done perhaps, some years before. Dr. Cleaveland, of Providence, R. I., informs me, that, in 1837, he used this same agency in exciting some of the men- tal functions, though he did not apply it in the same way. Nor is it unreasonable to suppose that the same process of operating may have suggested itself, about the same time, to different persons, both in this country and England. Dr. Bu- chanan, of Louisville, Ky., affirms, that he performed similar experiments in the spring of 1841, by means of a " galvanic fluid," on persons in the waking state. And in a work enti- tled "Sketches of Buchanan's Discoveries," published by him- self in 1842, professedly to give an account of his discoveries, he says : " I determined to excite the different portions of the brain by a galvanic or galvanoid fluid, and calling them separately into action, to watch the resultant phenomena ; or by excit- ing them in myself, to enjoy at once a perfect consciousness of the nature of each faculty, and its organ. In this attempt, I have met with even a more glorious success than I had ev- er anticipated." And then he adds in a note, page 10 — " I say NOTHING of my mode of operation at present, as that will be displayed hereafter, publicly." 142 PATHETISM. From this, it appears that Dr. B. himself, in presenting the reports of iiis numerous experiments, tells us that he had not, and WOULD not, then, reveal his method of operating., or ap- plying what he calls the " galvanoid fluid." And those who have read his book, know that he does not disclose his 7nethod of operating; nor, indeed, has he published any account of it, that I know of, to this day. And I frankly confess, that I never could form a satisfactory idea as to what his peculiar method was,* till I heard his lectures in this city, in Novem- ber, 1842. The truth is, we were deceived by his professing to have discovered "a new agency," which he claimed to have ** added to our therapeutic list," (page 21); and his disclaiming, so explicitly, all dependence upon what had been called mesmerism. See his book, pages 55 — 62. The origin of these experiments in England, is fully descri- bed by Dr. Engledue, in the report of his address before the London Phrenological Society, published in the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal for October, 1S42. It is there stated, that they were first performed by a Mr. Mansfield, December 18, 1841. The manner in which this process of operating seems to have been discovered by different persons, must be considered in the light of a coincidence, and which must go very far to- wards demonstrating the reality of that agency by which these results have been induced. The discovery of what I called the "sympathetic points," or the susceptibility of the mental organs to the influence of pathetism, when the hand or fingers are applied, not to the head, but to any portions of the face, neck, trunk, limbs, fin- gers, &;c., was made on the 5th of January, 1842, and pub- lished in the Watchman on the 29th of the same month. On the 12th of February, 1842, I also published in the same pa- * Nor will the reader attribute this to our dulness of apprcliension, we think, if he has ever read the Doctor's book. And tlie editors of the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal, it seems, were equally dull ; for in that work for October, 1842, they speak of having received an account of Dr. B.'s discoveries, from liimseli", (the same, probably, published in his book, ])age SO,) but v/liich, they say, did not vnike it appear what his inetliod of operating was, otherwise ihau his disclaiming mesincrism. rHRENOPATHY. 143 per, an account of what I denominated the sympathetic con- ductors of the human system, whose functions I supposed to differ from those of the nerves, both of motion and sensation. And about the same time, I arrived at the conclusions stated in the following theory, in relation to the laws which balance the organs into ''positive and yiegative,'^'' thus making one opposed to the function of another ; but no distinct account of this fact was published, till that which appeared in the Watchman of March 2Q, 1842. Besides the principles generally involved in my theory of Pathetism,! consider the following as having been sufficiently demonstrated, and settled, so far as this agency is concerned, in proceeding from, or influencing in any way, the different faculties of the human mind. 5. Theory of Phkenopathy. I. That the Cerebral system is appropriated to those functions: which constitute Instinct, Intelligence, and Reason. IT. That the Intellectual powers depend upon the size, ceeteris paribus, and proportional developments of the different cere- bral organs. III. That these organs are susceptible to the control of Pathe- tism, by which their action may be separately suppressed or excited, at the will of the operator, by manipulation merely. IV. The degree of their susceptibility depends on the develop- ments and the state of the sympathetic system ; and the con- trariety between the temperament of the operator and the subject. V. That the mental functions may be separately controlled, by applying the fingers, or other appropriate agencies, directly 144 PATIIETISM. over the organs in the head, or to different sympathetic points in the face, iicck, limbs, &:c. of tlie entire system. VI. That the cerebral organs exist in pairs, and corresponding groups in each hemisphere of the brain, and their functions are balanced in opposition to each other. VII. That this principle of antagonism is not only common to all the cerebral organs, but it extends to the functions of organic life, and by it all changes in volition and motion are made. VIII. That the cerebral organs hold such relations to different parts of the entire system, that they reciprocally affect each other. IX. That this connection is kept up between the mental organs and the muscles and nerves of the face, and thus is laid the foundation for all that may be known of physiognomy. X. That the different mental and animal functions are control- led by sympathetic and antipathetic laws, which may extend their influences from one organ or from one person to another, by the nerves appropriated to these influences. XI. That these laws do, sometimes, give perceptions, without the use of the external senses. XII. That where the sympathetic system is sufficiently deve- loped, any impression may be made upon it by pathetism, which comes within the range of human conception. Having, in a preceding chapter, given some of the reasons •which incline me against the prevalent notions with regard to the agency of a magnetic or nervous jiuid, supposed to be PHRENOPATHY. 145 communicated from the hand of the operator, and received into the cerebral system of the patient, it may here be suffi- cient merely to add a few words, in confirmation of the fore- going theory. 1. Each of the cerebral organs may be excited, as we know, through the external senses; hut, excitements produced in this way do not differ from those produced by pathetism, and hence I infer, that the immediate agency is the same. If there is no fluid communicated or received into the nervous system of the patient, when his Caution is excited by a mere sound, how does it appear to be by a fluid, when I excite that organ by merely placing my finger upon it ? 2. The cerebral organs reciprocally afiect each other, in the same person. Combativeness excites Destructiveness. Com- passion excites Benevolence. But, is this done by a fluid ? The sight often excites Combativeness: if this be done by a fluid, how comes it to pass, that this fluid, in passing from the optic nerve, or the organ of sight, to Combativeness, does not excite the numerous intermediate organs ? Who can tell? 3. We have seen, that one must be the subject, and ano- ther the agent or operator. But the agent may excite the or- gans of the subject, either by touching him in any given point, or the subject may touch the agent, and the eflects are the same. Now, when the subject touches, for instance, the organ of Benevolence in the head of the operator, and feels his own Benevolence excited, by what law is the influence directed to that organ, rather than any other ? I humbly conceive, that the only rational answer that can be given here, is to be found in the foregoing theory. For, even if it should be admitted that a fluid is actually received by the patient from the ope- rator, without the laws of pathetism we could not tell why it should excite one organ any more than another. If it should be said, that the fluid passes from the cerebral organs of the operator into the same organs in the brain of the subject, be- cause organs affect their like, I answer, this is by no means clear. For we have seen above, that one organ in the same head excites others whose functions are entirely different. HS PATHETISM. 4. It not unfrequently happens, that when a subject is un- der tlie operation of one person, his organs cannot be affected at all by any one else. But why not, if the brain actually receives a fluid from the hand of the operator ? 7. Mental Organs. In concluding this chapter, it may be desirable that I should give some account of the bearings which this agency would seem to have in determining the number and location, as well as the functions, of the mental organs. From what has been already stated, it will be seen, that we cannot with safety de- part entirely from the Gallian method of determining these questions. True, Pathetism affords new and extraordinary facilities for bringing out the mental functions, both in the sleeping and waking state ; but it cannot, for the reasons al- ready stated, be depended upon for fixing the precise location of organs, to the entire exclusion of the old method. TSTor are the difficulties obviated, by operating on persons in the wak- ing state. We have seen, that in many cases it makes a de- cided difference, when the operator or patient knows, or anticipates beforehand, what the results should be. The best way, therefore, is for them both to be ignorant of Phrenology, and no questions should by any means be asked, or any thing said or done, which could give the subject any idea of the re- sults which should follow any experiment in phrenopathy. Operators should always be aware, that patients are very apt to anticipate the results and thus train themselves into certain habits and susceptibilities jsecw/mr to each case. For instance the operator makes a pass, or places his hand on the head of the patient, with the design of controlling the arm, and he says to his patient, 'Raise your arm.' Now this di- rection gives, at once, the appreheyision of the effect designed to be produced; and the patient, it may be, makes the effort, and finds it impossible to raise his hand. So, in exciting or- gans. The fingers are placed on any given portion of the head; and if he says he feels a certain emotion, he may be easily led to associate that feeling with that place in his head ; but whether it be the appropriate place or not, must be deter- mined by other things. I have seen heads both awake and asleep, turned ' topsy-turvy' in this way. PHRENOPATHY. 147 Nor are the accounts which patients give of themselves to be depended on, alone; for though they may be remarka- bly correct, in some respects, they do not prove to be so in all. The inference would at first thought seem to be well founded, that when you excite any emotion, by placing your fingers over a particular place in the head, that the corresponding or- gan must certainly be in that place. But this does not follow. You place your fingers on two points in the face, and excite the lungs; but the lungs are not beneath the surface touched in this case. And even if you should affect the mental organ, directly under your finger, the laws of sympathy might cause the results to appear from some other portion of the system. It should be remembered, that all these excitements, from ex- trinsic agencies, are more or less morbid; and, from the na- ture of the case, it must be exceedingly diiRcult to distinguish between these and the normal functions, or to tell, in each case, precisely how much is to be allowed for sympathy with other excitements in the system, of which we know nothing at all. Indeed, it should be known, that the phrenological organs, m some subjects, may be excited by touching any parts of the body. I have excited them in some patients, by touching the different teeth, in others by touching the different fingers, and the joints, as the hnees, elbows, &;c., and even the toes of the feet ; nor is this any more unaccountable than, that mirth, for instance, should be excited, by tickling under tlie arms or any other parts of the body. The precise number of mental faculties it will probably be impossible to ascertain, as must appear, if we consider how difficult it must be, to distinguish between simple and com- pound functions, or the action of one and the combined func- tions of two or more organs. The only way, therefore, for rendering this agency available in fixing the location of the organs, is the following: 1. Become familiar with the laws of sympathy and antipa- thy ; and what the exciting or disturbing causes are, which may, in any case, interfere with their influences. 2. By comparing the results of different operators, 3. By induction and observation. 14-8 PATHETISM. Proceeding in this way, I have set down the following ad- ditions to the discoveries of Gall, Spurzheim, Vimont, and others. True, I could have increased the number, ad infiiw turn; but cannot persuade myself, that if I were to put down all the manifestations which I have brought out from time to time, that it would be of any special service to science; as it is by no means perfectly evident, that all these manifestations are from the normal functions of so many distinct cerebral or- gans. For instance : is there a distinct organ for thinking ? Are there distinct organs for gaping, squinting, fouling, for opening and clenching the hand, pointing the finger, turning the head, nodding, whistling, deglutition, vojniting, shaking the hand, looking up, opening the mouth, &:c. &;c. It has been affirmed, I am aware, that ** every fibre of the brain'' is a distinct organ, for some mental or physical manifestation, and that every actual, possible, or imaginable emotion, per- ception, apprehension, conception, or motion, mental or me- chanical, is performed by a distinct cerebral organ. If so, there must be an organ for every letter in every alphabet ; an organ for every word in every language; an organ for all kinds of food and drink ; and, in a word, an organ for every science and every action which comes within the power of man ! Who can believe this ? But it would seem, that this notion of the infinitude (so to speak) of the cerebral organs, has arisen from a want of at- tention to the nature of the mental functions. We find, for instance, an organ of Causality, or two if you please— one for physical or mechanical causes, and the other for metaphysical subjects ; both together embracing, of course, all the causes of all things. Now it would be just as reasonable to assume the necessity of an organ of Causality, for every individual effect that has ever taken place, as it is to have one for every possi- ble action or emotion. The truth is, no one can tell, precisely, what emotions or conceptions come out as the results of one simple function. AVe cannot tell, in many cases, how many organs sympathise with each other. And while I know that the same results may be produced from different subjects, by applying this agency to different parts of the system, I do not PHRENOPATHY. 149 see what is to be gained by putting down every manifestation as the function of a distinct organ. It seems to me, therefore, that the better way is, not to give up entirely the old method for determining the number and location of the cerebral or- gans. The chief assistance I havd,derived from this agency, has been in the development of their fuQctions. Their loca- tion and precise number, must be left for time and observation to determine. In the following list (first published in the Magnet for Oc- tober, 1842), I omit the results I have noticed since that time, and also the old organs belonging to the system of Gall and Spurzheim. All I have found do not, materially, deviate from the locations marked by those distinguished men : they would seem, rather, to confirm them. The antagonist organs are also omitted in this enumeration, except in a few instances. They will readily be understood in each case, without a dis- tinct specification. 1. Dread of Death. Fear of dying, unwillingness to pass through the struggle of death, in distinction from Vitality/. 2. Thirst. In the group of Alimentativeness. 3. Smell. In the same group. 4. Taste. The power of distinguishing flavors, as distinct from Alimentativeness. Connected with Alimentativeness. 5. Acquativeness. Disposition for water, as in bathing and swimming. Its antagonist function would seem to be Hydro- phobia ; nor is it improbable that there is such a negative or- aran, inasmuch as this disease does seem to have occurred spontaneously.* That the brain is susceptible of such an ex- citement, is certain. 6. Desire for Money. In distinction from Acquisitiveness. 7. Grief. A disposition to grieve, to sadness, melancholy, gloom, despondency, and despair. It is the opposite of Joy. 8. Anger. Indignation, the feeling of anger, with or with- out cause ; and leading to opposition, resistance. In the group of Destructiveness. 9. Ravenousness. When excited, it gives an appetite for * See Med. Chir. Review, Jan. 1341, p. 231. N* 150 PATHETISM- gormandising snakes or reptiles of any kind. In the group with Alimentaliveness. 10. Desire for Hoarding up Treasures. When excited produces Covetousness, as distinguished from Acquisitiveness^ or the mere desire to procure, acquire. In the group witli Acquisitiveness. 11. Physical Fear. Fear of pain, physical suffering. In the group with Caution. 12. Discontent. When excited makes one discontented with his condition, giving a desire for a change. In the fa- mily of Combativeness. 13. Inquisitiveness. A desire to pry into, to find out, what concerns the affairs of others. 14. Desire for Precious Things. Makes one fond of dia- monds, jewels, &;c. 15. Love of Stimulants. Gives an appetite for intoxicating drinks and hot substances, such as vinegar, pepper, &c. 16. Desire for Protection. Giving a sense of dependence, helplessness. Opposed to a sense of independence and safety. 17. Praise. Disposed to praise and flattery. Makes one delight in speaking well of those around him. 18. Censure. Disposed to find fault, to censure, criminate. 19. Deception. Gives the power of deceiving by falsehood. 20. Disguise. Gives the power of acting the hypocrite. 21. Boasting. Disposition for speaking in one's own praise. 22. Aversion. The feeling which says, " Go away, let me alone, do not trouble me, I do not like your company." 23. Retribution. Disposition for punishing one who has wronged or offended us. When excited, it purposes sly mur- der. 24. Covetousness. Tenacity in keeping money when it is once possessed. Acquisitiveness procures it. 25. Contradiction. Disposed to contradict, to cavil. 26. Watchfulness. Constant solicitude, anticipation of time and events. 27. Jealousy. Unwillingness to have any one else liked so well as self. 28. Suspicion. Inclined to imagine evil without any rea- son. PHRENOPATHY. 151 29. Sarcasfyi. Disposed to scornful, cutting expressions. 30. Hatred. The opposite of love, disposing, not merely to dislike, but to a feeling of malignant opposition. 31. Courage. Without fear, reckless. 32. Parental Love. Love of parents. 33. Love of Pets. Giving fondness for litlle animals, dolls, &c. 34. Love of Gifts. A love for things because they are gifts, keepsakes. 35. Love of Enemies. Gives a feeling of pleasure in forgiv- ing injuries. 36. Love of Country. Patriotism, opposed to treason. 37. The Will. Giving a feeling of personal identity, and the power of self-determination. Wilfulness. 38. Self-Confidence. As distinguished from ^eM-esteetn. — Gives confidence in one's own talents, ability to accomplish. 39. Dignity. Giving a sense of propriety of conduct, re- moved from meanness, or servility. 40. Ambition. Giving a disposition for excelling in occupa- tion, profession, talents, or character. 41. Desire of Display. Disposition to make one's self known, and to show otf to advantage. 42. Dread of Ridicule. I once examined the head of an unmarried female, who had been tried for infanticide, in whom this organ was unusually large. She acknowledged to me, that she would rather die than be exposed to ridicule. 43. Vanity. As distinct from Love of Approbation. Giv- ing an overweening conceit of one's self. When excited, the words are minced, and the head kinked back, in characteristic style. 44. Modesty. Giving a shamefaced, shrinking feeling, ac- companied with blushing, and which leads one to hide or co- ver the face. 45. Concentration — Recent. The power of confining the attention to recent events or subjects. 46. Concentration — Ancient. Power of confining the at- tention to past events. Concentration was first discovered by Spurzheim or Vimont, 152 PATHETISM. but I put it down here, as I do a few others, because I sup- pose them to be double, as they seem to be from the results of my experiments. 47. Perseverance. Persistance against opposing influences. In the family of Firmness. 48. Endurance. Power of enduring. 49. Responsibility. Sense of obligation, responsibility. 50. Industry. Giving a disposition to industry, application to labor. Opposed to laziness. 51. Comprehension. Power of viewing things in masses, in their relations to one another. 52. Calculation. The power of calculating figures, as dis- tinct from the organ of number. 53. System. Method, giving the disposition to be regular, doing things systematically and at the time. 54. Conservativeness. As opposed to Destructiveness. 55. Harmony. The power of combining and judging of the harmony of sounds, as distinct from Tune or simple melody. 56. Things. As distinct from individuals, or Individuality. 57. Names. There would seem to be a number of organs appropriate to language : one for words, one for ideas, and another for names. 58. Light and Shade. The power of distinguishing be- tween them. 59. Recent Events. The recollection of recent events. 60. Ancient Eventuality. The power of calling up re- miniscences. 61. Comparison of Ideas. There are two organs appropri- ated to Comparison, one takes cognizance of^ things, the other of ideas. 62. Prevision. The power of perceiving and calculating future contingencies. 63. Generalization. The power of extending the mind from particulars to generals. 64. Analysis. The power of analyzing, taking to pieces, viewing things in detail. 65. Remote Causality. As distinguished from Recent Cau- sality. One enquires for the immediate, and the other for the first cause. PHRENOFATHY. 153 66. Sense of Direction, As distinct from Locality, or a mere recollection of places. This gives a recollection of the points of the Compass, and the relative position of one place to another. 67. Desire for Seeing New Places. Giving a disposition to travel. QS. Desire for Seeing Ancient Places. 69. Sublimity and Ideality. In the portions of the brain where these organs have been marked, there seems to be a large number, such, for instance, as give a taste for seeing Architecture, Waterfalls, Statuary, Volcanoes, Caverns, the Heavens, the Earth, Aniinals, Birds, Insects, Storms, Battles, the Ocean, Fruits, Flowers, Meteors, Landscapes, Pyramids, Sj'C. 70. Antiquities. Desire for knowledge of antiquities. 71. Sense of Perfection. Admiration of symmetry, com- pleteness. 72. The Beautiful. Giving a sense of the fitness of proper- ties and things. 73. Contentment. As opposed to discontent. 74. Cheerfulness. Disposing to animation, good spirits. 75. Joy. Disposing to joy, in opposition to sadness. 76. Playfulness. Disposing to play, to fun, buffoonery. 77- Curiosity. Giving a desire to pry into things and af- fairs which are not immediately made known. 78. Fiction, The power of creating ideal events. 79. Confidence. Disposed to trust, without fear. 80. Wit. The power of associating ideas in a new and unexpected manner ; as distinct from Mirth, or the disposi- tion to laugh. 81. Worship. Gives a disposition to adore, to worship ; appropriate to the Deity ; Veneration is applied to men. 82. Obedience. Disposed to yield obedience to superior au- thority. 83. Gratitude. 84. Pity. Compassion. This gives the feeling of com- miseration. Benevolence bestows the gift. Many persons have large Pity, but small Benevolence. 154 rATHETlSM. 85. Faith. Aq organ appropriate to the exercise of faith, in the Deity, and a future slate, as distinct from Marvellous- ness. 86. Spirituality. Giving the power to distinguish between spiritual, and material things. 87. Fear of God. As distinct from mere caution, or the fear of bodily pain. We have seen how the action of the organs may be in- creased, in certain persons, either awake or asleep ; but that the excitement, when it is extraneous, or when it is out of proportion with the state of the other organs, or with the nat- ural and healthy state of the brain, is morbid, cannot admit of a doubt. Probably no one will feel disposed to deny, that an unnatural or extraneous excitement, of any one or more of the mental organs, is morbid. I say unnatural, because, some- times, an organ may need exciting to its natural tone, or de- gree of activity ; in such cases, the action may be perfectly healthy, though, indeed, not caused by any inherent stimulus. But I refer, now, to those excitements of the mental organs which produce the remarkable results which have so much astonished all who have witnessed them; those excitements which exceed the nature of the person in whom they are pro- duced. We know what results follow Monomania. A man of good education, and intelligent, called on me, and gave the follow- ing account : " I see," said he, *' constantly above me a man w^alking upon the clouds !" But where is he, I inquired ? " 0," said he, " there ! there ! there I! he is, see, see him ! See ! he has a cloud wound around his hat." And I could make nothing so real to the perception of that Monomaniac, as the sight of that man walking upon the clouds. Another, suffering from an over excitement of Marvellous- ness and Veneration, told me he saw the devil, and he even showed me the spot where he had had a fight with his Satan- ic majesty ; and pointed to the ground, torn up and scattered in various directions, as evidence indisputable, of what he stated. Now in these cases, the perceptions of these Mono- maniacs were as real, and probably of the same character, as PHRENOPATHY. 155 those produced by Pathelism. A short time since I excited the Ideality of a very intelligent lady, and she immediately saw and described a very singularly looking man, dancing. At another time she saw various odd looking animals and persons, all of them, undoubtedly, the creations of this exci- ted organ. Indeed volumes might be filled with accounts of a similar character, describing visits to the sun, moon, aud stars ; and of which we may make just as much, as of the man seen walking upon the clouds. I have slated that the action of the separate organs maybe either suppressed or excited, both in a state of somnipathy and when the patient is awake, and I will now bring this chapter to a close by giving a few specimens of the results of these different effects. Soon after discovering this susceptibility of the cerebral or- gans, a meeting was called at my instance by the proprietor of the New York Museum, of a number of scientific gentle- men, for the purpose of testing, in all suitable ways, the real- ity of this agency in controlling the cerebral organs. The first meeting was held at the Museum, vSeptember 8, 1841. The experiments were conducted under the inspection and di- rection of a committee, and the results were written down at the time by one of the Committee, and published in the New York Watchman for November 6, 1841. The patient had been perfectly blind, from the time she was six weeks old, her eye sight having been destroyed by accident. It was believed by those who knew this lady, that she had no knowledge of Phrenology. Before suppressino- or exciting either of the organs, it will be noticed, the questions were proposed to her to ascertain what their action was in the normal state, and, to see how it would correspond with the effects produced upon them by pathetism. On being put to sleep, the experiments proceeded as follows: — Q. " Do you know me, Mary ? " A. " Yes, it is Mr. Sunderland." Q. "I want to talk with you on the subject of religion. Do you love the Savior ? " A. "Yes, I love the Savior." 156 PATHETISM. Q. " What are your views on ihc subject of religion ?" A. " 0, I think a great deal of it.'' Q. " Have you faith in God ? " A. "Yes." Q. "Who baptized you and admitted you into the church ?" A. " Dr. Eastburn." Q. "What do you think of Dr. Eastburn?" A. " 0, I think he is a very good man, — I like him very much." Q. " Where do you think you ^ill go when you die ?" A. " To heaven, I hope." The organs involved in these questions, it will be seen, were Veneration, Worship, Love, Faith, Hope, and Adhesive- ness. The action of these organs was now arrested, by mere- ly reversing the passes over them. My questions and her an- swers were then as follows: — Q. " Do you love the Savior any, Mary ?" A. " No, I donH know as I do." Q. " Have you any regard for religion ?" A. " No, I donH care ?)iuch about it." Q. "Where do you think your soul will go when you die ?" A. " O, I do7iH know much about that." Q. "What do you think of Dr. Eastburn?" A. " I don't think he is any better than other folks." Q. " Have you any desire to go to heaven ?" A. " / don't care any thing about it." These organs were excited and brought back to their pre- vious state, and the action of Acquisitiveness was next arrest- ed in the same way. Q. " Would you like to have me make you a present of my watch?" A. " I don't care much about it." Q. " Do you care much about those rings on your fingers ?" A. "No, only for the sake of those who gave them tome." Q. " Suppose some one were to take all your money and clothes from you ?" A. " Well, they might keep them." These organs were then excited.: — PHRENOPATHY. 157 Q. "What would you think if a person should take all your clothes and money from you ?" A. " I should think they were very cruel to take them from me, for I cannot get mone} so well as other folks." Q. "Are you fond of property ?" A. *' 0, yes, if I could only have enough of it." Her action of TVit was next arrested. She was then asked numerous questions calculated to ex- cite laughter, but without effect. The operator now restored those portions of the brain, by his will, merely, and by the feeling which he showed (by signs) in himself, she was thrown into a violent fit of laughter. And when one of the questions, which had just been put to her without effect before, was now proposed to her, she was convulsed v/ith laughter, and said she was par'iicularly fond of fun. One of the spectators having suggested that the last exper- iments v/ere not satisfactory, inasmuch as the questions, in some cases, would give her (admitting she was not asleep) an idea of the olject we had in view, Dr. Channing wrote down the follov/ing questions. Adhesiveness, it is said, forms attachments to friends. It will be seen, that some of the questions do not relate, at all, to this faculty. This was de- signed to deceive her, in case she was not really asleep : — Q. " Do you love money ?" A. " Yes, very well." Q. ^* Are you fond of your friends?^'' A. " Yes, sir." Q. " Do you love dress ?" A. "Yes, sir, more than I wish I did." Q. "Do you love your relations better than any body else ?" A. "I don't know; but I find friends who are not my relations." Q. " Do you admire beautiful things ?" A. " Yes, sir, anything I can get at, or hear, such as Poet- ry, &c." Q. " Do you love to he with your friends .?" .A. "Yes, sir." o 15S PATHETISM. Q. "When they are absent do you love to call them to mind?" A. *^Yep, I do." The operator row reversed the passes ever Adhesiveness, whoa the iiucstions and answers were as fellows: — Q. " Do you love dvess ?" A. " 0, yes, beL 208 PATHETISM. Immediately that lie came to the steps at the entrance of the lobby, he said, ' This place is as distinctly within my recollec- tion, in my dream, as any room in my house;' and he made the same observation when he entered the lobby. He then pointed out the exact spot where Bellingham stood when he fired, and which Mr. Perceval had reached when he was struck by the ball, and where and how he fell. The dress, both of Mr. Perceval and Bellingham, agreed with the des- criptions given by Mr. Williams, eren to the most minute particular. The Times states, that Mr. AVilliams was then alive, and the witnesses, to whom he made known the particulars of his dream, were also living; and that the editor had received the statement from a correspondent of unquestionable ve- racity. Dr. Binns, after relating the case of Dr. Walker, of Dublin, who was buried alive, observes — " Here is a man who, as it were, possessed an instinctive knowledge that he should be buried alive, and who was so convinced of it, that he wrote a treatise, with a view if possi- ble to avert so horrid a calamity ; and still farther to assure himself, entered into a compact with a second party, for the fulfilment of certain precautions before he should be consigned to earth, yet, disappointed in the end, and compelled to bow to the inscrutible fiat of that law of natural contingencies which the imaginative Greeks erected into supertheism, and consecrated by the tremendous name of Destiny." The following case is quoted by the same author, from Dr. Abercrombie, who states, " that Ip accuracy may be relied on in all its particulars." Two sisters had been for some days attending their broth- er, who was suffering from a common sore-throat, severe and protracted, but not considered dangerous. At this time one of the sisters had obtained the loan of a watch from a friend, her own being ou t of repair. As this watch was a kind of heir- loom m the family of the lady from whom it had been bor- rowed, particular caution was given lest it should meet with some injury. Both of the sisters slept in a room adjoining that ot the brother's, and one night the elder awoke the younger in extreme alarm, and told her that she had dreamed that "** Mary's watch had stopped," and that when she had PROPHETIC DREAMS. S09 told her of it, she had replied—" Much worse than that had happened, for Charles's breath had shopped also." To quiet her agitation, the younger immediately arose, proceeded to her brother's room, found him asleep, and the watch which had been carefullv put away in a drawer, going correctly. The following night the same dream occurred, accompanied by the same agitation, and quieted in the same manner— the brother being sound asleep, and the watch going. In the morning, after breakfast, one of these ladies having occasioa to v/rite a note, proceeded to her desk, while the other sat with her brother in the adjoining room. Having vmtten and folded the note, she was proceedmg to take out the watch which was now in the desk, to use one of the seals appended to it, when she was astonished to find it had stopped, and at the same instant a scream from her sister hurried her to the bed side of her brother, v/ho, to her grief, had just breathed his last. The disease was considered to be progressing fa- vorably, when he was seized with a sudden spasm, and died of suffocation. The coincidence between the stoppage of the watch and the death of the brother, is the most perplexing circumstance of the case, since the mere stopping of the watch, or the death of the brother, might have been explain- ed on very rational principles; or had the watch stepped be- fore or after the death of the brother, it might have been eas- ily supposed to have been forgotten to be woundup; or it m'ay have suffered some injury from the hurry and trepida- tion incidental to anguish and bereavment, but as the case is related, it is certainly a most extraordinary, surprising, and mysterious incident. In the Life of Sir Henry Wotten, by Isaac Walton, there is a dream related of Sir Henry's father, Thomas Wotten. A little before his death, he dreamed that the University of Oxford was robbed by townsmen and poor scholars five in num- ber ; and being that day to write to his son Henry, at Oxford, he thought it worth so much pains as by a postscript to his let- ter to make a slight inquiry of it. The letter was written from Kent, and came into his son's hands the very morning after the night on which the robbery was committed ; for the dream was true, and the circumstances, though not in the ex- act time, and by it such light was given to this work of dark- ness, that the five guilty persons were presently discovered and apprehended. Waltqn also says, " that Thomas AVotten, * s 210 PATHETISM. and his uncle Nicolas "Wotten, who was Dean of Canterbury, both foresaw and foretold the day of their deaths." Dreams of this kind have been known from the earliest ages of the world ; and some of the most remarkable instances of which may be found recorded in the Bible, Genesis xxxvii. 5—36. 6. Witchcraft. Did the limits of the present work admit of it, it would be an easy matter to explain all the mysteries of witchcraft, by the lavvTs of the human mind developed in a preceding chap- ter. Take, for instance, the case of the woman who consult- ed the fortune teller, and who actually died the next day, ac- cording to his prediction. Or, the cases of the children in Holland, who were seized with sympathetic convulsions ; or either of the fanaticisms before referred to ; and notice, how they were spread by sympathy, or by excitement, or fear. — The susceptibility becomes highly developed, and moulded into almost any shape, which the fanaticism or v/hims of the affected ones may please to give it. There is not a case of witchcraft upon record, but which would confirm this statement. What more likely to bev/itch an ignorant, fearful, and per- haps a highly susceptible person, than to charge him with witchcraft, as many have been, from envy or hatred ? The bare suspicion spreads from ear to ear, and strikes terror throughout the neighborhood and country where the belief in witches obtains. The suspected person is shunned, as being worse, if possible, than the devil himself; and the horror and fear attendant on the mere suspicion of a crime so monstrous, and dreadful in its effects, prostrates all before it, and leaves nothing but fear and witchery in its train. CHAPTER XIII. CLAIRVOYANCE. Nothing, perhaps, has tended more to check the confidence of intelligent people inPathetism, than the assumptions which have been put forth, at different limes, in behalf of what has been called Clairvoyance. Nor is it at all surprising that per- sons, not familiar wdth the laws developed in such cases as have been detailed in the preceding chapter, should be stum- bled at these assumptions, and refuse their credence to reports which, to them, are as really extravagant, as if they ac-serted the actual resurrection of the dead. The human mind, when well balanced in the cerebral developments, is not to be con- vinced in this way; and hence, it is quite unphilosophical to attempt to bring it over, by appeals, merely, to the organs of marvellousness, or belief. The intellect must first be inform- ed — we must first have an apprehension of the laws of mind, and be able to see how it is, that the mind obtains its percep- tions in a waking normal state, before we can readily admit its power of seeing without the use of the eye. In order to fully understand the human mind, and as far as possible, the nature of its capabilities and exercises, of course we must examine it in its different states. We must dissect, as it were, its numerous phenomena; we must examine it in its sleeping state ; we must analyze its operations when they are manifested through a diseased brain ; we must know how difi*erent states of the nervous system affect its mysterious agency, and be able to show tlie difference between the re- sults of morbid and healthy cerebral action. And hence it be- comes an inquiry, of the utmost importance, as to what kind of action the brain is subjected in the production of clairvoy- ance. Is it morbid, or healthy ? .Human knowledge is the conscious perception of any posi- tive or relative existence. But this consciousness raay exist 21 '2 PATIIETlSiM. in various degrees in diflerent persons, and in different de* grees in the same person at different times, according to the size and proportions of the mental organs. Uodoubtedly it must exist in the greatest perfection in those persons, where the cerebral developments are the nearest to perfection, not only as it respects their size and proportion, but as it regards their healthy exercise. It is therefore manifestly evident, that knowledge must be highest in those cases, where tlie brain is of the necessary size, and where the organs are properly balanced, and sufficiently exercised with healthy ac- tion; and we must admit the compctencij of the human mind in a waking state, where the mental organs are thus proper- ly developed and balanced, to determine on the question whether any given proposition be true or false. We cannot allow that the human mind may ever set up a standard of its own attainments, in any but a healthy waking state. To admit the reverse of this would be opening the door for the annihilation of all knowledge, without leaving us any availa- ble use of either sense or perception. The question is not whether the mind, in a state of som- nipathy, may not have a perceptions of facts, which it. could not know in the waking slate ; but it is as to whether the knowledge said to be obtained in this state, should form a standard by which all other knowledge possessed by the human mind, in a waking state, should be tried and judged ? That is, shall we judge of the knowledge said to be possessed by a person in this sleep, by the knowledge we have of the mind, and the nature and limits of evidence in the waking stale, or shall we judge of the latter by the former? We have seen, that there are certainly two kinds of sleep. At least the nervous system of certain persons, is susceptible of being put into a stale, which in many respects resembles sleep, enough to be designated by this term. And many have noticed the phenomena peculiar to somnium or som« nambulisra, v/ho wholly reject all that is said to be peculiar to a slate of somnipathy, and this, too, when it will be seen, at once, that there is scarcely anything more remarkable in the latter than has often been known to occur in the former slate. CLAIRVOYANCE. 213 But in regard to the induced clairvoyance of which such mar- vellous stories have beea circulated, there are many things to be taken into the account, which should not be overlooked, especially by those who think they have penetrated, by this agency, as it were, into the secrets of another world. When this subject becomes better understood, it will not, perhaps be a matter of so much surprise, that different operators have been so frequently deceived as to the real nature of the phe- nomena which they may have, in some form or another, been the means of producing. There is something quite cap- tivating in many of the aspects which this subject often as- sumes. Of the reality of " the human influence" there can be no reasonable doubt. Where it is used for the relief of human suffering, or in those cases where a state of sleep is produced, the mind of the operator is frequently taken by surprise, and carried so far from its true bias, that it be- comes quite ready to receive, as equal realities, whatever may be, in any way, associated with this strange state. The facts detailed in the preceding chapters of this work, are sufficient to demonstrate, beyond all question, that man has a faculty, or sense, which in some cases sees, or has ac- curate perceptions of things, without the use of the external senses. Is it not this sense which guides the feathered tribes in their migrations from one hemisphere to another ? Is it not this sense which guides the ox in selecting tvv^o hundred and seventy-six kinds of herbs, and, at the same time, teaches him to avoid two hundred and eighteen, as unfit for food ? A species of spider digs a hole in the earth, about two feet deep, and closes it with a curious trap door, so as to deceive and keep out every intruder, "^e tortoise, though hatched a mile from the water, no sooner leaves its shell, than it runs directly to the ocean, without a guide. The sphex fabulosa, as if moved by a prophetic instinct, prepares little cells in the earth, then she fetches spiders and deposites one with each egg, that the little ones may have food as soon as they break forth from the shell. All animals, without instruction, move with perfect skill from the time of their birth, from one place to another ; and they use their limbs, and select their ^l-i* PATIIETISM. food at the proper time and place. Mix salt and arsenic, and it is said a sheep will select the former from the latter, a thing which man could not do. A gentleman on one of tho wharves at Edgartown, Mass., noticed a large spider floating on a chip; the tide was run- ning out of the harbour, and the wind blowing on shore, and the spider after surveying all parts of his vessel, found him- self near the outer corner spile of the wharf, when, perceiving that he should soon drift by, he immediately began to spin his web. The threads were fortunately blown against the spile and firmly fixed. Having thus succeeded in making fast to the wharf, the ingenious voyager hauled along side and landed in safety. This sense has been called insti7ict, but it demonstrates the power of sensation and perception, as really as these powers are known to exist in the human species. True, for the exer- cise of perception in man, we have the largest cerebral deve- lopments, the strength and activity of which depend on the power of the vital forces, and the balance of the sympathetic laws before referred to ; and that this 'perceptive power in maa is sometimes most extraordinarily developed, and transposed from one part of the system to another, is well known. In diseases of the nervous system, persons have been able to see without the use of the eyes, and to do things Avhich they could not do when in a healthy or waking state. And cases have often occurred, where persons long sick, and enfeebled with disease, have, all at once, become so strong by an ex- citement of the cerebral system, as successfully to resist the strength of two or three able-bodied men. The nerves and muscles, in such cases, sg|k to possess superhuman power, and the brain to be endo^^r with a most unaccountable sus- ceptibility. The cases before the reader are abundantly sufficient to show, that what we call clairvoyance is simply the exercise of this sense, which is spontaneously developed in cases of disease or nervous derangement. And, though I doubt not but I have witnessed \vliat would be considered some of the most remarkable cases of induced clairvoyance ever knowu^ CLAIRVOYANCE. 215 yet, I should not be willing to assume beforehand, that one person out of the v/hole would describe, without any mistake, what neither of us knew any thing about, till the time the description was given. True, I have had many such descrip- tions; but they have been given under circumstances which have taught me to be careful how I presume upon this pow- er, or report accounts of its exercise which will not bear the most rigid investigation. There are so many chances for mistakes, and there may be so many disturbing causes, that I never like to give descrip- tions from somnipathists, as demonstrative eviderices of clair- voyance to those who know nothing of this phenomenon. — Descriptions of what is in the mind of the operator mio-ht be evidences of clairvoyance to him, while it would not be evi- dence to any other person. But these accounts, in order to satisfy others, should be made of things under the following circumstances : — The patient should repeatedly describe accurately, what no other person present knows, or what all the persons present know; that neither the patient nor operator had any previous knowledge of; and the things described should be examined immedtately afterwards by all who heard the description, that they may see and judge of its accuracy. I have before stated, that I have frequently rendered per- sons clairvoyant, as it is called, without putting them into a state of sleep; and in seme of these cases their descriptions were accurate, as near as could be ascertained, as much so as those of persons perfectly asleep. I have long been fully satisfied, that the most appropriate and perhaps the only proper application of this power, is to the description and cure of disease, and to the delineation of MIND, and the best methods for its development; as it is nothing more or less than the exercise of that sense by which we become cognizant of mind and things; that sense by which we obtain knowledge of every thing which is knowa- ble, and which seems to be peculiarly adapted to the investi- gations which relate to the human system. There are two considerations which hare produced the 216 PATIIETISM. conviciion above stated. The first is, that all persons in a state of somyiipathij, as well as those called natural sleep- wakcrs, have always been known to describe diseases, and the physiology of the human system, better than they could describe anything else. Every person who is familiar with the induced sleep, will agree in this statement. I have had the testimony of some of the best and most experienced palh- etisers, to this fact. They all agree, that their subjects des- cribe, with the greatest ease and accuracy, when their atten- tion is directed to the human body for benevolent purposes. It is true, some allowance should be made for the manner in which patients have been educated, as somnipathists may be trained into habits of doing various things; but I am certain that v/hen this sleep follows an effort for their own or anoth- er's good, they will be more accurate in describing disease or the mental powers, of themselves or others, than in their de- scriptions of anything besides. If I am right in this supposi- tion, it follows that it is a perversion of this faculty when it is made to ateD:ipt descriptions of various articles, merely to gratify an idle curiosity. And it may account for the numer- ous failures which always occur in the attempts to produce what is called clairvoyance ; as we know but few of what are called clairvoyants, have ever been able to give descrip- tions o{ things which neither they nor the operator ever saw, which were strictly true. Two thirds of these may be set down as failures, and half the other third will be found to be wholly or partially untrue, while the remainder is given in such terms as often forbid our setting the description down as plain, unmixed matter of fact. The other consideration to which I have alluded is the fact that most somnipathists are not olny averse to any at- tempts at clairvoyance of things, but these attempts not unfre- quently are followed with injury to the patient. An operator called on me a short time since, to relieve a patient from a fit ot ijisanity, brought on by his attempt to make her clairvoy ant ; but no such mischiefs follow the legitimate application of this agency. Where you find a somnist or one in a state of somnipathy, their descriptions of disease, and of the men- CLAIRVOYANCE. 217 tal character of others, will be spontaneous, or follow the wish of the operator provided the patient be properly manag- ed. One of the first phenomena noticed by Puyseger, (the first who produced a state of somnipathy of whom we have any account), was the knowledge which his patient seemed to have of his own disease ; and from that time to the pres- ent it has been found, that all persons in this state more read- ily describe their own or another's disease, or the mental dis- positions of others, than any thing which is not connected with the health or character of any one. I have subjects at the present time, who describe diseases with an accuracy truly astonishing, and what is still more remarkable, they de- scribe the diseases of persons whom they never saw. One lady in this city has described accurately the cases of numbers of persons, whom she never saw, and of whom she knows nothing in the waking state ; and of part of this number, I knew nothing at the time. Sometimes we have the persons present who are to be ex- amined. In these cases, the somnipathist puts his hands on the head, and traces from different portions of the brain to the parts afi"ected; and seldom have I ever known them to fail in finding and describing the difficulty which consti- tuted the disease; and this they have often done when phy- sicians had failed altogether in their attempts to tell what the malady was, and also in their attempts to remove it. They tell me, also, in many cases what will prove the most success- ful ia effecting a cure ; and I could produce the testimony of scores whom I have examined in this way, who would affirm that these descriptions of their cases by a person in the som- nipathic state, were more correct and satisfactory than any they ever had from physicians or others. In this way I have obtained the most remarkable and accu- rate delineations of character and the mental pow^s of dif- ferent persons. This may seem to be mere fancy to some, I know, but I speak the words of truth and soberness. The first thing of this kind that attracted my attention was the fact, that one of my subjects never failed to tell me the feelings and peculiar dispositions of every one who was put T 218 TATHETISM. in communication with her; and some time after I had com- menced the course of cerebral experiments heretofore de- scribed in this work, I found one of my patients excessively- fond of putting his hands on the head of different persons, and when he did so he instantly sympathised with them in the feelings of the different organs. The folloAving is a specimen : it is from the minutes of my experiments commenced in December, 1841. It is the des- cription of the head of a lecturer on phrenology, who was present, and who had for the first time the day before, wit- nessed the excitement of the phrenological organs by palhe- tism. After having given a correct description of his head, she gave a specimen of the controversy which had been go- ing on during the day between his mental organs, on the truth of what he had seen: — Causalilij. " I don't know about it— I must examine it fur- ther." Faith. "Yes, it is true." Conscience. "But is it right ?^^ Human Nature. "I don't know, there may be deception in all this." Acquisitiveness. " Can I make any thing by magnetism ? How will it affect my purse ? can I make money by it ?" Faith. " Yes, I must believe it." Causality. "Hold, I must inquire more about it." Comparison. "Wait till I can compare it with other things I know, and then I can tell better." Mirth. "Ha, ha, ha! Faith has the majority." " The organs had been in such a conflict, that his brain is much heated and excited." Language 'of Ideas. "Says nothing, but like the girPs beau, looks glorious thoughts." The gentleman bore us witness, that he was both amused and not a little surprised, on hearing the thoughts of his mind, which he himself had never uttered, so correctly de- scribed by another. Nor is this power confined to persons in a state of somni- pathy, or natural somnambulism. Persons have been known CLAIRVOYANCE. S119 in different ages, %Yho have possessed a remarkable laculty for arriving at a knowledge of the diseases and characters of others. In soma this faculty seems to be natural, and in oth- ers to have been acquired. The following are a few of the many cases of my own, which may be taken as specimens of the manner in which this faculty is exercised. Mr. T. applied to me, saying he had consulted physicians in vain for some years, and was stiil at a loss in determining what the cause of the difficulty was under which he was suf- fering. Nothing was said to me of his symptoms. He re- tired, with the promise of calling again the following day. — On consulting my patient, he at once said he saw the person to whom I referred, and described him as follows : — Tall, small stature, light complexion, thin light hair. His brain is somewhat diseased, but the difficulty of which he complains, is a pain located in the calf of the right leg. It is quite painful at times, and was caused by taking mercury some years ago. My patient, among other prescriptions, men- tioned the medicated vapor bath. On calling the next day, Mr. T. declared the description to be literally correct. About three weeks after Mr. T. called again, and on ursrino- the privilege of an examination of another case, when he might be present, the arrangement was made accordingly. — The time and place having been agreed on, Jie came, but was not introduced to my patient. After putting the latter in a state of somnipathy, I asked him if he saw any body in the room with us ? He answered, no. I then directed him to iook in the direction in which Mr. T. was sitting, and at once he said, " Oh, this is the gentleman whom I examined some weeks ago, and who had the pain in the right leg. Oh, he is better, much better now ; he has done as I directed him to; see, he is quite cheerful." The eyes of the patient were fast closed all this while. Mr. T. testified to the truth of what was said; and then handed me a lock of hair. The patient refused to touch the hair, but readily gave the following de- scription of the person to whom it had belonged : — 220 TATHETISM. " It is from the head of a man. He seems to be a Christian, a minister of the Gospel. He is troubled with a difficulty in his speech, he speaks in a monotonous tone of voice. His throat is aiTected -with — what do you call it? [I said, bron- chitis ?J Yes, that is it. His throat is very much inflamed. He is not in this city, but is at a distance. He has been in the habit of taking some kind of stimulants, I should think tea and coffee, perhaps, and speaking in crowded rooms. He is very firm and self-confident." This account Mr. T. declared to be literally correct ; and he affirmed, that that person had long been known to be a most inveterate tea-drinker, and his monotonous style of speaking was known to every one who had ever heard him ; and as an evidence of his self-confidence, he mentioned his boasting of his having carried his views against overv/hclming opposition, in a recent meeting of the American Bible Society in this city. An intelligent lady applied to me for information about her own health; but without giving me any idea as to what it related. On putting my patient to sleep, she described the lady, and stated distinctly what it was she wanted to know. On giving this account to the lady, she was quite overcome, and confessed the account was of the precise matter concern- ing which she wished to be informed. A lock of hair was sent me from Providence, R. I., with a request that one of my patients should describe the person to whom it had belonged. There were two physicians present on making the examination, and one of them took down the following description from the lips of the somnipathist. She refused to touch the hair, and begged that it might not be put into her hand. However, I placed it in contact with her hand, and she immediately became convulsed from head to foot. She cried, and acted strangely, as if deranged. In a moment she became so rigid throughout the muscular system, that it was with some difficulty I could restore her. On being ren- dered calm, she said : — " I see him — he is a great way off. He has a good many complaints, caused in the first place by sudden cold. I see him sitting alone in a small room ; he holds his hands strange- CLAIRVOYANCE. 221 !y; now he is walking about. He once was intelligent, but now he does not knoiv — his reason is lost — he is deranged. Oh, he is very pale. I do not like to look at him. I was af- fected just now as he is. He seems to be about thirty years of age, and has been deranged more than eight years." Two days alter, I obtained a second description of the same case, from another subject, of course. This somnipathist knew nothing of the person to be described. On requesting her to examine and see if she could find the person to whom that hair belonged, she gave an involuntary shudder, and was considerably convulsed ; and described the case as follows : — " Oh, he is crazy ^ he is crazy ! Oh, do take him away — do, do take him av/ay from that place. They '11 kill him ! Oh, it will never do for him to stay there. They have almost killed him, by giving him so much medicine. Oh, why did they make him take so much medicine ! His stomach is in a dreadful state. He has been crazy for eight or nine years. They must sweat it out of him. It would do him good to sweat it out of him, especially if he could be pathetised. But they must not keep him confined in that place; he must exer- cise mere." During this description the patient complained of sickness, and seemed to suffer sympathetically with the person she was describing. These descriptions I sent to the sister of the person descri- bed, and soon after received from her the following reply : — Providence, R. /., Feb, 2, 1S43. ^ Mr. Sunderland. Sir, — The description of my brother's case, given by your clairvoyants, as to the cause of his complaint, the time it has been upon him, his condition, &c. is very correct. At the time of your examination, he had been confined in the county jail for six months; and in justice to your descrip- tion I would further state, that in the sprmg of 1S35, when we first became fully convinced that he was decidedly deran- ged, he was conveyed to the Insane Hospital in . We were not permitted to receive any intelligence of him in three months, when we learned that he was so far reduced by their treatment, that they judged him unable even to ride home, a distance of forty miles. At the end of about six months, we 222 PATHETISM. brought him away, merely skin and bones, and in a stale of complete dementalion. He did not know one of his family, and frequently crawled about on his hands and feet, like a beast. As his mind gradually returned, he would speak of his treatment at the Hospital, and said they pumped medicine into his stomach three or four times a week, and sometimes this was done at midnight. By some means, while there he was deprived of the use of his left arm and hand, and has not been able to straighten three of his lingers on the other hand from that time to this. Respectfully, Waity a. Mowrt. Mr. 0. Wilmarth, of Providence, R. I., may be called on for a confirmation of the above account. It has long been a question, upon which different patheti- sers have found it difficult to agree, as to whether the patient obtains his knowledge from the mind of the operator, or inde- pendently of him. The true answer undoubtedly is, they ob- tain their perceptions in different ways. That the foregoing descriptions were not given from .sympathy with my own mind, is certain ; for I had no views of the cases. And yet, it will be found that somnipathists do often sympathise with the views and feelings of the operator to such a degree, that he merely gives his views and feelings upon the subject in- quired about. Nor do some pathetisers seem to be aware, how very easy it is to give a somnipathist an apprehension of the desired answer, by the manner of pressing the question. Hence I could place little or no dependence on the reported descriptions of any patient, unless I knew all the circumstan- ces of the case, and especially as to how the questions were put in order to get the information.* * I have known of a number of cases like the following : — A patient by some means had been throvv'n into severe convulsions, ■while in the somnipathic state. The operator, unable to relieve her, inquired of her (she Avas said to be clairvoyant) to know how she could be rclie\ed ; but «he covJd not tell. I was sent for, and relieved her instantly, without, however, shov/ing the operator how I did it. A few days after, the same patient was alarmingly convulsed again ; but ■ now, she directed the operator to relieve her in the very way I had done before. This was considered, by the operator, as a valualjle dis- covery ! Another operator put a patient of mine to sleep, and on questioning her, she directed him as to the best process for putting one to sleep, and waking him up. It was the very process by which 1 had always CLAIRVOYANCE. 223 The following experiments are interesting, inasmuch as they were performed on a person perfectly blind, (the same one referred to in a preceding chapter,) and under the inspec- tion of an intelligent committee, as before stated. Each of the patient's answers, except vAien the action of the cerebral organs were suppressed or excited, were of the things knoivn to the operator ; and hence it is certain, that she got her knowledge, in these cases, by syynpathy with his mind ; as she could tell nothing, when asleep, which depend- ed upon the sense of sight or hearing, which was not known to him. To render the proceedings more satisfactory, the committee was appointed to determine on the order of proceeding, and to see that there could be no collusion between the operator and the patient. . On being put to sleep, a stranger v/ent up and was put in communication with her. In answer to the questions put to her, she stated his name, (Eddy,) and the number of his resi- dence, 17 Park Place. A card was held over her head ; she told what it was, and pronounced the name (Stewart) written upon it, correctly. A piece of paper was placed over her head which had the following letters, prominently written upon it: — A. H. 0. R. S. V. Z. She pronounced all the letters except one. The following figures were next read: 1. 3. 4. 7. 8. 0. 6. Apiece ofpaper witha red wafer was held over her head. operated on that same patient ; but the operator in this case, thought it a most important discovery. Another still more important " discovery," was made in the follow- in"- manner. With the patient in v/hom I first excited the mental or- gans, by touching various places in the face, I had had frequent con- versations in the somnipathic slate, to find out what she would state in relation lo Dr. II. H. Sherwood's hypothesis of tlie polarity of the human brain. Soon after exciting lier mental organs from different points in the face and neck, another person put her to sleep, and asked her what those points in the face were. " Oh,'' said the patient, '•' they are the poles of the mental organs." And " upon this hinV^ that same person reported himself as havhig made the discovery of the " poles of the cerebral organs ;" and I have seen his claims thus announced in a foreif^n Journal ! But the manner in which that same man interfered ■with mv subject, for the purpose of intercepting my experiments, may be left for detail to another occasion. 224 PATHETISM. She was asked what colour the thing wrs; and answered, *'red." A phial was handed, by one of the Committee, to the oper- ator. When he had tasted the liquid in il, the patient made up quite a wry face. She was questioned, and answered as follows , — Q. •' What is the matter, Mary ?" A. " It tastes sour." Q. "What is it?" A. " Vinegar." The phial contained vinegar. The operator irritated his hand with a knife. She threw her hand about, and manifested considerable uneasiness. One of the Committee tookher bonnet, and putting it on his own hdad, stepped behind her. On being asked, she told who it was that stood behind her, as, also, what he had on his head, and to whom it belonged. An Almanac was held over her head. . Q. "What is this, Mary?" A. "An Almanac." Q. " What is its date ?" A. "1842." This was correct. The almanac was just from the press, prepared for the next year. Q. " What kind of Almanac is it?" A. "Phrenological." Q. " What is on the first page ?" A. "Picture of a man's head." She was shown a part of a newspaper, and read a part of its name. One of the Committee took a finger ring from Dr. L. and handed it to the operator. Q. " What is this, Mary ?" A. " A ring." Q. " To whom does it belong ?" A. "To-L." Dr. L. said it was not his, but Prof. M. had said to the op- erator, that it belonged to Dr. L. CLAIRVOYANCE. '2'25 A cane was held over her head. Q. " What is this, Mary ?" A. "A cane." Q. " To whom does it belong." A. "ToMr. V." Q. "What are the letters on the end of it ?" A. "J. V." This was trile. Another cane was presented to her. Q. " To whom does this belong, Mary ?" A. *'R— ." The letter "R." was all that could be heard in this an- swer. The cane belonged to Mr. Reed. A number of watches were presented. Q. "What is this, Mary 1" A. "A watch." Q. " What time is it by this watch, Mary ?" A. " Twenty minutes past eight." The watch had stopped at that hour. Q. " What time is it by this watch ?" A. " Half-past ten." This answer was correct. She was now seated at the Piano. The tune, " Spring is not Spring to me," was selected by one of the audience. After repeating " They tell me Spring is coming," at a signal given by one of the spectators, she was suddenly stopped. The Committee signified what they wished the operator to cause the patient to do by signs ; no noise was made, and as she was blind, of course she could not know what she was de- sired to do, except by sympathy. At a given sign to the operator the patient commenced playing " The Old Arm Chair." Another sign, and she stop- ped in the midst of a bar, as before. A sign was made again, and she commenced exactly where she left off in the first tune. Another of the spectators then selected, *' Woodman, Spare that Tree." A sign was given, and she stopped. An- other sign, and she commenced exactly where she left off, " The Old Arm Chair." 226 PATHETISM. The operator reversed the passes over those portions of the brain appropriated to tune. " Mary, I want you to play this tune for me." Mary. " I can't play it." *' I want you to play this, Mary; you know it is a great favorite of mine." M. "I would play it if I could; but I can't think of the air." " Can you repeat the words to me?" M. "O yes." ** Well, repeat ihem." M. "My sister dear," &c. (repeating the verse.) And while she was repeating the verse, the operator excit- ed the organs of tune ; and while doing this she commenced playing, and sung, "My Sister Dear," kc. And while she was singing this, he reversed the passes over her head for the purpose of waking it up. She ceased playing, and as if awake, in her natural state, answered whatever questions were put to her, by one of the spectators. While she was conversing with her, the operator, (unknown to her) pathe- tised her head, and she immediately began where she left off in the last tune. I am aware that patients, in a state of somnipathy, may often be made to hear at a great distance ; but it is not clear, as to whether they hear by the ordinary sense of hearing, or by the same sense by which they see in this state. I am in- clined to the latter opinion. These are a few of the many experiments of the'kind which demonstrate the reality of a peculiar sympathy between the patient and operator, and which shew beyond all reasonable doubt the existence of that perceptive power, which, in certain states of the physical system, may be exercised so as to give accurate descriptions of things without the use of the external senses. The following details are furnished me by Dr. W. B. Fah- nestock, of Lancaster, Penn., and may be depended upon as a faithful report of facts, which resulted from his own experi= ments : — CLYIRVOYANCE. 227 Subject, Mrs. H- — , of most exemplary character, who had been laborhi;^ under a nervous affection of the eyes and lower extremities for nearly two years, but who has been en- tirely restored by pathetism alone. She was requested to tell what a certain gentleman had in his yard, at the distance of several miles. When asked whether she would gratify the gentleman by looking, she said she did not care ; and after she had looked, she asked me what kind of an animal it was. I told her I did not know what was there, as the gentleman had been very careful not to tell me. " Well," says she, " it is a raccoon ; he is fastened, and is now lying in a box near the oven, asleep." The gentleman frankly stated, that she was correct. lie had placed it there, and came over in the evening to test her powers. Some time previous to this, she was requested by a sceptic to visit a gentleman's apiary at a distance, and to tell the number of hives, and the condition of the bees, which he represented to be in a very flourishiog con- dition. After looking, she remarked that he had about twenty hives, but that the bees were all dead. This seemed strange to me, and I asked her whether she was sure that they were all dead. She said, " Yes, you will see they are all dead." The gentleman then stated that such was the truth, and that the fact had not been known to any but himself. On another occasion, she was requested by a neighbour to visit his house, and to state where his wife was, and what she was doing. After stating several things respecting her to his satisfaction, she asked me when the tree before Mr. B.'s door had blown dov/n. I asked Mr. B. whether that was the fact, and instead of answering my question, he requested me to ask her whe- ther it was all iiluwn down. She said, "No, about the half of it." Such was the fact. Half of the tree, a very large willow, which stood before the door, had blown down the evening before, and next morning early the fa-jt was stated to the owner, unasked, and independent of any communication between the two houses. His intended visit was unexpected to us, and the distance betv/een the two houses is about four miles. Patients are always in sympathy with the operator, yet, as they frequently relapse into that peculiar state of forgetful- ness which they call sleep, it is necessary, when the operator is desirous of performing an experiment, fi-^st to draw their at- tention, and to obtain their lull consent, before he can succeed. They have the power of placing themselves in communica- tion with any one they please, even at a distance, and caa read or knov/ their rnind, if they be so disposed. They can do this at any *' angle," without the aid of *' that bowl of m.o- lasses," or any other agent. 2*28 PATHETISM. • This peculiar power enables them to know the mind of any one in the rooni, and is the reason why all unfair and ungen- tlcmanly skeptics are unable to receive such proofs of their abilities as would be satisfactory. I have no doubt, some will smile at this assertion ; and yet, I can assure those who are interested, that in good subjects this power is very evident, and that it will be impossible for any one to receive satisfac- tion, unless they prosecute their experiments with the right spirit. It now gives me pleasure to state, that I am able to give you the result of some of my experiments, which were prose- cuted to test the powers of the other senses, under like cir- cumstances, in the same state, and more particularly the sense of hearing, which, together with the other senses, strange and unnatural as it may seem, they are enabled to translate and use at a distance. When the sense of hearing is pathetised, the subject does not hear unless there is an express desire on his or her part to do so; and when that desire ceases, the sense relapses into its former forgetfulness, and is then deaf to every sound but the voice of the operator. They are ahvays obliged to hear him, and if they are willing to listen he can direct them to do so, and they will hear others speak, &c. without any other communication. This they can do, independent of his will ; and v/hen they desire to listen, they can hear the slightest whisper even at a distance, and I have as yet not been able to set any bounds to it, if, indeed, there be any. My experiments have been conducted with the utmost care ; and I am confident, that if similar experin^ents be re- peated by others, with proper care, the results will be as sa- tisfactory to them, as mine have been to me. Experiment 1st. Subject, a young lady. Three persons were requested to retire into a distant part of the yard, and to speak of something which they should bear in mind. When asked what they were speaking about, she said, " they are talking about the kitchen and the piazza;" and when request- ed to state the exact words they were speaking at that mo- ment, she replied, that " Mr. Z. just now said that it will do very well," alluding to the manner of the trimming of the trees, &c. They were then requested to come in ; and when told v/hat she said, they declared that those were the subjects spoken about, and the exact words that had been uttered. Experiment 2d. Subject, a lady in the country. \Vas re- quested to state, what they were speaking about in the house of a neighbor about one hundred yards distant, and the doors being both closed. She said they were speaking about a Mr. M , who lived at a distance. Answer ascertained to be CLAIRVOYANCE. 229 correct. This experiment was perforraed on the spur of the moment, without anv previous arrangement, and therefore puts the possibility of collusion out of the qnesticn. Experiment 3d.' Subject, a young lady. Was requested to state what two young ladies were speaking about in the next room, who had retired for that purpose. They were directed to whisper barely loud enough for the one to hear the ether. Her answer was correct. Experiment 4th. Subject, a lady. Was requested to listen to some music at a distance. Said she heard it, named the tunes that were played in succession, and the Irind of instru- ment upon which they were performed, kc. This was also performed without any previous arrangement. Ker state- ments were ascertained to be correct. Experiment 5th. Subject, a lady. Was requested to listen to what a young lady was singing, who had been sent out into the woods for that purpose by certain skeptics, with di- rections to sing m^ercly loud enough to hear herself, and to note \vhich piece she sang first, kc. Answer : " She is sing- ing, 'My soul is heaven bound, glory, hallelujah !'" and after a pause of perhaps half a minuie she said, "and now she has commenced the Promised Land." Answer correct. She sang but two pieces, and those so low, that (to use the young la- dy's own expression,) it was impossible for any person to have heard at the distance of three yards. I have two subjects, both gentlemen, in Vv-hom. the sense of seeing is not pathetised, at the same time that the sense of hearing is, and who are both able in that state to translate themselves, or rather their senses, to a distance; and al- though they can see nothing, they are enabled to hear every thing that is said, &:c. They have frequently told what was spoken at the distance of several miles; and when taken to a cocoonery at the distance of four miles, they declared they could hear the worms feeding as distinctly as if their ears had been within an inch of them. Both of these gentlemen were at one time skeptics, and en- tered this state out of curiosity. One of them has lately en- tered into this state m.ore perfectly, and upon the tenth trial was enabled to see, and has now become a most excellent clairvoyant. With these and several other subjects, I have performed many like experiments at even a much greater distance; and so far as I have been able to ascertain, they have ahvays been correct. If, then, they can hear and repeat the exact words spoken, or the music played, kc. at a distance so far exceed- ing the powers of the same sense in a natural state, how can V 230 rATIIETISM. we limit their abilities ? I have also made many experiments to test the powers of the senses of touch, taste, feeling, smell, &:c. at a distance, with the most decided success; and I am now perfectly convinced, that they can translate all their fa- culties to a distance, and use them, as correctly and with as much judgment as in tlieir natural state. CHAPTER XIV. CONCLUSION. If the reader has made a candid and impartial examination, of the facts and arguments detailed in the preceding pages, I cannot doubt as to the conclusions to which he must already have arrived. And if he has accompanied his observations with experiments, for the purpose of testing the soundness of the theory I have advocated in this work, I am quite confi- dent that, though he should not agree with me in some minor points, yet we shall not differ in the more important princi- ples. As, for instance : — 1. With regard to the reality of that agency which I have denominated pathetism. No fact in physiology is more clearly demonstrated, than the existence of that susceptibility of the human system, en which impressions are made by mere men- tal or physical sympathy. To doubt this, with the evidences before him, which are always available to the candid inquirer after truth, one must, indeed, doubt his own senses ; and he might as well distrust his own competency to arrive at the truth upon any subject. 2. As to the nature of this agency. I have fully shown, I think, that it is not, and cannot be, any kind of fluid elimina- ted from the operator into the subject, either magnetic, elec- trical, galvanic, or nervous. And since I became quite fami- liar with this agency, it has appeared to me a matter of no small astonishment, that the many intelligent and scientific minds who have hitherto investigated this subject, should not have seen the reasons which demonstrate, as I think they do, so clearly, the fallacy of the old theory of a universal fiuid. Indeed, the difficulties in the way of this notion are insupera- ble : they can never be reconciled to what we know to be matter of fact. 232 PATHETISM. Nor is there any necessity for such a mediiuTi. If it be asked, how the cerebral system of one person can be impress- ed by the cerebral influence of another, without a connecting fluid, I might answer: — How does the brain become impressed, or how does the mind have perceptions of distant objects, sucii as the planets, or distant friends? Is the mind so constituted, that it cannot have perceptions and views of distant things wiihcut a con- necting medium, through ichich those views are conveyed from the objects to the brain ? If so, how does it come to pass, that every mind has views of things which never did actually exist ? How easy for the mind to form to itself pic- tures of ideal existences, which cannot, in the nature of things, ever become real. But these impressions arc not caused by any fluid, as a connecting medium between these objects and the brain, for this is impossible. These impressions are spon- taneous, and caused by the mind's own inherent action, or by external agencies by which its functions become excited to action. An operator sits down before his patient, and wills him, as it is said, to go to sleep. The sleep follows this effort, and he concludes, of course, that his will has caused the elimination of a fluid which has penetrated the nervous system of the pa- tient, and produced the desired result. But suppose the same results follow, when he wills that the subject should not fall into a state of sleep ? What then ? What becomes of the will and the fluid in this case ? And I have had scores of patients, who would go to sleep just as soon against my will, as with it. That is : if you give the subject an apprehensioji that sleep is the anticipated result, if he be susceptible it will follow the process adopted for its production, whether 3'^ou will it or not. And with thousands of such facts as these be- fore us, how can we subscribe to the hitherto prevalent no- tions upon this subject ? I have no doubt that many ope- rators have been deceived, (as I know some of them have been most cgregiously,) both in respect to the reE^lity of the results, as well as the agency by which they were supposed to have been induced. It is quite an easy thing for some pei- CONCLUSION. 233 sons to feign this sleep, as well as the mental excitements in phrenopathy ; and I have known instances where subjects, under the management of these considered experienced opera- tors, who feigned, to admirable perfection, all the phenomena peculiar to a state of sornnipathy. And seme such subjects have even been exhibited before public audiences as the finest specimens of this singular state ! Admitting all that has been assum^ed in those cases, in which we are told by operators that they have put their subjects to sleep without their knowledge, when miles dis- tant from them, it by no means proves the existence of the assumed fluid. Vie have seen that two minds, at a great dis- tance apart, do sometiiines yield to the same influences or sympathetic laws, as in the case of Mr. Wilkin's dream. Nor is it unreasonable to suppose that this influence depends upon a peculiar relation previously established between two minds. If I v\'ere asked what the medium of this sympathy is, I might answer, that there is no more necessity for a medium for the transmission of this sympathy, than there is for the transmission of thought from one place to another. Sympa- thy, itself, is a medium, if we may so speak, which always exists wherever there is a relation established between the right persons or things. Nor is it possible to show, how thoughts may be communi' cated from one mind to another, at a distance, without the use of the external senses, by such a pervading medium as is supposed to surround the earth, and even to fill universal space. Vv^'ith this medium, all the imponderable fluids, such as light, heat, and electricity, have more or less connection. Nor do we see how thought could be transmitted through this medium to a great distance, and be received into the nervous system of anoiiier, where there were so many all-pervading, disturbing causes. And especially, if this be a vibratory me- dium, does nothing but thought cause the vibrations? If so, it is impossible to see how mere thought should be received from another at a distance, inasmuch as all thought must have more or less effect in producing the vibrations, and, conse- quently, the medium itself must be kept ia unending confusion 234 PATIIETIS>r. by the ever varying vibrations which arc caused by every thinking being in every part of universal space. Imagine, if possible, the condilion of this medium in a room full of peo- ple. What currents and counter-currents, vibrations and cross vibrations, must be kept in perpetual motion, in such a place. And how is the straggling thought to be vibrated through so many inconceivably subtile and ever changing vibrations in the surrounding medium, already filled and crowded with other thoughts and influences, which cause innumerable vi- brations in other and contrary directions ? Or, suppose we allow that it may be in the nature of this medium to admit and transmit mere thought, without any limits to their nature or numbers. Then it will follow, that we should be able to transmit our mere volitions whenever and wherever we pleased. It should be just as easy for me, while in the city of New- York, to put any person to sleep in London, as to do it in this city, where I can reach the subject by my voice ? Why not ? We should be able to put any one to sleep, not only as distant as the extent of this medium, but any one who is susceptible, though the patient had never seen or heard of the operator. This, however, cannot be done, as every operator knows. You cannot put a stranger to sleep, however susceptible he may be, whom you never saw, and w^ho never has had any apprehension of your influence. And while this fact is enough to annihilate the fluid or " vi- bratory medium" theory, it presents no diflicidty in the way of Pathetism; for, according to this theory, a patient may be put to sleep as well a million cf miles distant, as one, provi- ded he be in a suitable condition at the time, and have the ne- cessary apprehension of the anticipated or designed result. Where the relation has been sufficiently established between tv/o persons, the subject may be pat to sleep at any distance / from the operator, provided the former have an apprehension of the influence to be exerted upon him. The vibratory, or fluid medium theory, has been argued from the perceptions which some subjects have been found to have of articles breathed upon or touched by the operator; but I have, I think, in the preceding pages, satisfactorily ac« CONCLUSION. 235 counted for this perception, by deraonstratirig the existence of a peculiar sense, which is developed in cases of caialepsy and natural or induced somnambulism. What is it that enables the dog' to trace the footsteps of his master, or the course of the fox, for miles together? The feet of the former may be covered, so that no imaginable effiuvia could be left from the hasty steps upon the surface of the ground passed over; and yet, to the dog is given a sense by which the steps and the di- rection taken by his rpaster is traced for miles and days toge- ther, with mierring accuracy. Is this done by a vibrating medium ? I grant, that the contact of any article with the operator, or the effects of his breath upon it, may so change its quality as to render it perceptible by tbe above sense ; but this does not involve any necessity for a fliiid, nor for any vi- brating medium, as has been supposed. It rather relieves the subject from any such necessity ; as this change in the quality of substances is brought about by that first law of paihetism already described, v/hich requires that a relation should be established between two different things, in order to produce any change in the quality of either. But this " vibratory medium" affords no solution for the peculiar sympathy which is found to exist, in most cases, be- tween the operator and his patient. Vv'h;/ should not any pa- tient be as much affected through this universal medium, by the will of one person as of another, provided the operators have an equo.i force of will ? In all the reported experiments with magnets, electricity, the galvanic battery, the eye, and the will, we can deduce lit- tle or nothing in favor of this fluid theory, because we cannot know how much the mental apprehensions of the patients were impressed. These are of no avail in proving any lij-pothesis, until you have succeeded by these processes on a new patient, one who had no mental apprehension or anticipation of the process, or its anticipated results. So of operating by mine- rals and metallic substances, or through any other medium. Much depends upon the apprehensions of the patient, and much, also, upon the apprehensions of the operator. Hence, some always complain of fatigue after operating, and great 236 PATIIETISM. exhaustion: the reason is, they conceive great mental effoi't necessary to induce any results. I never feel exhausted, though I have put fifteen or twenty persons to sleep In a day, and could just as well put fifty or five hundred to sleep in the same time, without feeling any exhaustion at alh* If the operator fancies himself ■weak, or that the state of the atmos- phere is unfavorable, and especially if he gives his subject any idea of these supposed disturbing cause,^, of course he will not succeed so well. It is not denied, but that an opeiator may exhaust his own mental and physical energies, by eiforts of this kind ; but there is no more necessity for iJiis, than there is of becoming exhausted by giving the attention to any other subject or effort. I have often been conscious of relief, afier writing all day, by operating in the evening for an hour or so; and I can easily see how this comes to pass. The mind al- ways suITers when one or more of the organs are kept long directed to one object ; and relief ensues, v/hen the action of these organs is suspended, by the excitement of other por- tions of the brain. Having in the preceding pages spoken so freely on the na- ture of this agency, and assigned v/hct I considered to be some conclusive reasons, to show that it is not a nervous jiuid, or current, transmitted from the operator into the system of the subject, it is not necessary for me to enter more at large upon the examination of this question. The more I see and hear on the subject, the more I am confirmed in the conclusions al- ready expressed upon it. One additional fact, omitted in the proper place, may be stated here. It is this : J find it equally easy to cause patients to excite their own 7nental organs. I have only to cause the subject to place his finger upon his own head, and just as certain as he apprehends what the result should be, he will manifest the appropriate function I Is there a " neuraiir-a''^ eliminated in these cases ?"t Finally, as to the intrinsic importance of this subject. It must be understood, of course, to be fully appreciated. It is ^ I have put a number into a state cf somnipatlr/ in my office, while sitting at my dosk composing tke pages of this work. t See Appendix. CONCLUSION. 237 in this fie'd of inquiry, that we are to become familiar with the laws of mind. From this source is to emanate that light, which is indispensable to the right understanding of the men- tal functions, and the nature of those agencies which control or modify them. Hence its application to the purposes of education and the management of children. Is it not plain, that the mental dis- positions and susceptibilities of children should be perfectly understood, before they can be managed and controlled to the best possible advantage ? And what greater injury could be inflicted on a child, than that impression made upon his sus- ceptibility by the undue excitement, perhaps, of an organ, when at the same time its opposite function should be aroused and brought into action ? The whole difficulty lies here : if the parent or teacher be ignorant of the avenues to those men- tal functions on which Good Nature, Kindness, Zeal, Benevo- lence, and Ambition depend, he will be as likely to excite An- ger, Aversion, Deception, and those other passions which ren- der children so exceedingly difficult to manage, as the former. And is it no injury to the child, v.'hen you excite his anger in- stead of his love, and his revenge instead of kindness? In this way the disposition may become radically changed in a very short time, and impressions made upon the mind that will last as long as the power of thought endures. This subject gives a most clear and satisfactory account of the different relations of life, and the manner in which they should be fuldlled. Suppose we take a perfectly balanced head, for an example. Here is a congeries of various mental functions, for every relation which it is possible for man to sustain, — one giving a sense of obligation to the Deity, and others for the various duties of life, disposing him to the avoid- ance of all evil, and the pursuit of the best ends, by the most appropriate meane. These organs are balanced by opposing functions, so that the best minds are susceptible to temptations to swerve from dut3^ If this were not the case, it is not easy to see how one could be tempted at all, or what would constitute the virtue of obedience. 238 PATHETISM. For instance, if a man commits an act of injustice, it surely is not the organ of Conscientiousness which perpetrates that wrong, but its opposite, which can be excited to action only when the former is suppressed. And hence we see what con- stitutes the perfection of any one character. It is the indul- gence or exercise of all the organs, in harmony with each other. Acquisitiveness is not so excited as to control Consci- entiousness; Revenge is not suffered to control the Will, nor to become excited above the activity of Compassion. The man has Benevolence, but this organ is not to be excited to the injury of others, and hence, with all the other organs it is ba- lanced with an opposing function, which regulates its activity, when necessary, in 'perfeot harmony Mith the rest. All the laws of God agree; hence, when the mind is properly balan- ced, and all the mental and physical functions harmoniously exercised, His laws are obeyed in the use of the one, two, three, or five " talents," according to the cerebral endowments of the individual. Whatever is done, will be in accordance with the Divine Law, and the best interests of ail. We see, also, what should be done when the cerebral func- tions are deficient in any respect. The person should be made acquainted with these laws; and, knowing his own mental constitution, he may guard against those agencies which are calculated to excite his susceptibilities to wrong doing. If he knows he has large Anger, large Resistance, large Destruc- tiveness, and little Suavity, and small Benevolence, he may and should govern himself in view of these facts. Ke is just as really responsible (though not to the same degree,) as if his functions were perfectly balanced, and in the Scripture language he were possessed of the " five talents." The principles here advocated make parents responsible for the mental characters of their children. We have seen how wonderfully the susceptibility is developed in females during the time of gestation, and to what an extent the foetus shares in this quality of the living body, — so much so, that it is in the povv^er of the mother, by a knovvledge of these laws, and the government of herself according to them, to transmit to her offspring mental quahties far superior to her own. If, CONCLUSION. 239 during that interesting and important period, her mind be oc- cupied by the contemplation of the good, the kind, and bene- volent, — if all the baser functions and passions be suppressed, and no unhallo7/ed emotions be permitted to find a lodgment in her disposition, the laws of God must be reversed, or the good elfects T^ill appear in the cerebral developments of the children born of such mothers. No intelligent physiologist can conscientiously doubt this doctrine. It is recognised in the Inspired Scriptures, as I have before shown ; and it might be seen demonstrated in the case of every child, if we could know the history of its mother's mental exercises during the time above named. I cannot doubt but that the characters of many children are affected very much, by the want of what I may denominate a real conjugal unicn betw^een the parents; and were the sub- jects treated of in this work sufficiently understood, I firmly believe, far less of those marriages would take place, where conjugal union between the parties was wanting. It is now generally admitted, that a large proportion of the marriages which take place, prove unhappy. The parties are united for life, before they find out that they are not the persons they thought they were: in other words, that they have little or no conjugal love for each other. Hence, each is displeased, more or less, with the habits, the mental endowments, the tastes and views of the other, which constitutes a source of unending difiTerence, and perhaps strife and discontent. Now all this knowledge the parties should have of each other be- fore the union is formed ; and it might and would be obtained, were the necessary means used for this purpose. There are some persons so constituted, that their minds can never be made perfectly to harmonise. They may be too much alike in some respects, that is, if each have large Aversion, Self- Esteem, Will, Self-Ccnfidence, and Firmness, the conjugal love must be very strong indeed, to secure them against fre- quent collisions. But when persons find themselves married with this unhappy balance of views and tastes, they need not be miserable, necessarily, on. this account. By an acquaint- ance with the nature and laws of mind, and a fixed resolution 240 PATHETISM. to fulfil all the duties of every relation, the action of these predominant organs may be more or less modified, and the mind rendered comparatively happy, in its efforts to make the best of its susceptibilities. It is a matter of reason, for every unpervcrted mind to desire the greatest amount of good ; and when once convinced that the greatest good of the whole is the greatest possible good to each individual, the mind should not hesitate in coming to the decision, to make use of all the available helps to secure this end. Such are some of the practical purposes to which these principles arc to be applied. They are concerned in all the passions, emotions, feelings, perceptions, and volitions of hu- man existence. They show how one mind affects another, for good or for evil; and not, merely, how the body may be relieved from pain, but how the mind may be governed and developed, so as to secure the greatest amount of holiness and happiness which it is possible for each one to enjoy. THE END. APPENDIX. Since the sheets of this work were in press, I have seen v/hat purports to be a " Diagram of the Phrenological portion of Neurology, by Dr. James R. Buchanan." It is a little larger than life, and is sold for one dollar each. It has his assumed new organs marked upon the head, face, and neck, besides a number of letters and hieroglyphics, which are not explained, but which, to the uninitiated, will of course give quite an im- pressive sense of the mysteriousness of the science. All the locations of the organs on this chart, differ in almost every respect from the busts marked by Dr. Gall and his suc- cessors; and as Dr. B. has drawn up this chart from the re- sults of experiments made by the agency treated of in the preceding pages, it may not be out of place for me to offer a few remarks here concerning his assumptions, though I am by no means disposed to spend much time upon it, or to notice any considerable proportion of the many and insurmount- AELE difficulties which lie in the way of Dr. B.'s theory. The Doctor, himself, made a remark about his system, in one of his public lectures in this city, last winter, which at the time surprised many who heard it; but it will afford no little assistance in accounting for the arrangement of the dif- ferent organs in this diagram. The remark was this : that he invented his theory ^irs^ and then commenced his experiments in its confirmation ! That is, he first decided how the phre- nological or 'ydius should be located, and afterwards commenced his experiments to prove his theory correct ! To those who know any thing of the sympathies of the human system, or its svsceptiUlities, I certainly need not undertake, here, to say, how much dependence they should place on the assump- T 242 ^.PPENDIX. tions of one who goes to work in this manner to find out the functions and localities of the cerebral organs. Indeed, I cannot withhold an expression of ray astonishment, that a man of Dr. Buchanan's apparent intcUigence should have been so completely bewildered in the labarynths of his own fancy, as he has evidently been, in building up his theory of " Iveurology." This was to have been expected, to be sure, from the manner in which he boasts of having begun his in- vestigations; but the marvel is, as to how he could be as fa- miliar as he assumes to have been, with the functions of the nervous system, for some tv/o years cr more, and yet never have been able to discover, during all this time, the real na- ture of that agency by v/hich his experiments upon the cere- bral system were performed. He tells us, that he has experi- mented upon some sixty different subjects, who were highly susceptible to what he calls his neuraura, and from these ex- periments he has drawn up this chart. And as I do not at all ao-ree with the Doctor in his conclusions, eicher as to his lo- cations of the different organs, or the nature of that agency by which he operates, it is due to truth that I should state, can- didly, the reasons for dissent. Of course, I cannot go fully into this subject here, nor is it necessary, as I have already done this in the preceding pages of this work. The following is one of Dr. Buchanan's fundamental princi- pleg — it is the foundation of what he calls "Neurology": — That a nervous jiuid is eliminated from the operator into the subject, and this jluid, when the finger of the former is applied to the cranium of the latter, excites the mental organ located in the place touched hy the operator* Thus, if the operator place his finger on what Dr. B. calls the organ of ^^ Ignorance,''^ the subject becomes ignorant; if on the organ of *' Stupiditij,^^ he becomes stupid; if on the organ of '' Aivhcardyi ess, ^^ he becomes awkward; if upon the organ of ^^ Disease," he becomes sick; if upon the organ of '■'■ Idiotcy," he becomes idiotic; if upon the organ of ^' Intox- ication," he becomes drunk, not with alcohol, to be sure, but with the neuraura eliminated into him from the hands of the operator. APPENDIX. 24-3 Now it will be admitted, on all hands, as I have already stat- ed, that the immediate agency ■which excites the organs in any case, must be the same, by whatever cause that agency is brought to bear upon the mental functions. For instance, you titillate the sole of the foot, or under the arms, and you excite the organs of mirth. Bat, is there a fluid eliminated, in this case, from the hand of the operator ? Is there a fluid in this case eliminated from the finger of the operator, into the foot of the subject, and from thence up into the organs of mirth ? V/'hat conveys that fluid to those organs instead of any other part of the system ? You tread upon the patient's toe, and it excites his organ of Ccmbativeness. But is there a fluid communicated from the foot of the operator, into the toe of the subject, and thence up the limb into his organ of Combativeness ? Again, in the base of the brain Dr. B. locates an organ of Calorification, and the fluid reaches the organ, he tells us, when the hand of the operator is applied to the chin of the patient. But what hinders the fluid, in this case, from being conveyed to other portions of the brain? The truth is, how- ever, that every susceptible person, the world ever, if he is left in total ignorance on the subject, will be just as likely to have any other sensation, on taking hold of the chin, as that of heat ; and if you tell the patient before hand, that the de- sign is to give a sensation of cold, in a majority of cases, that sensation will be produced. If the subject have no idea of the design, or anticipated results, he will be as likely to have one sensation as another. This I know and have demonstra- ted, not by experiments upon " sixty or seventy impressible subjects, but upon hundreds. Indeed, I have demonstrated this fact, by experiments upon some of the very subjects to whom Dr. B. refers; and I am well persuaded, that he could not find a subject, but from whom I could bring out results, directly opposed to his own assumptions. And to show how egregiously the Dr. may have been deceived in his conclusions, it may be proper here to state a few facts. 1. It is well known, that while in this city and in Boston, Dr. B. experimented mostly, not upon new subjects, but upon 244 APPENDIX. those who had been frequently palhclised, and experimented upon before, with very different results. Two lengthy re- ports were drawn up, and published in the Evening Post of this city, of his experiments here — the most of which were performed on two well-known subjects — from both of whom altogether different results were brought out, by different op- erators, long before Dr. B. arrived in this city. And that he Avas deceived in one of them, is a matter well known here. Of this fact the gentleman was informed, after he drew up the account for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and which was published, also, in the Evening Post, in January last. 2. Dr. B. was understood to affirm, that Mr. I. whom he brought here from Cincinnati, was one of the best, and the very best subject he ever had. And if I am correctly in- formed, Mr. I was Dr. B.'s oracle. He was often heard to say, that Mr. I.'s " impressibility" was so great, that he could give a perfect diagnosis, by merely touching the subject to be examined; and he carried this to a delineation of the men- tal powers, the passions, emotions, and thoughts of the mind, even to telling husbands whether their affections for their wives had ciianged within one or two years. The following is a specimen. It is from the pen of Dr. B. himself, and may be found in the first number of the Journal of the Cincinnati Phreno-Magnetic Society. He is giving an account of t-he manner in which Mr. I. and Mr. C. (his " stu- dents,") examine heads, and adds, — *' We hear them say — You are not so much attached to your wife as you were once ; your conjugal feelings have been much excited ; you have been to see your wife lately, and are very much attached to her," &c. Now, we put it to the reader to draw his own inference, when we inform him, that the character of one of the sub- jects on whom Dr. B. operated for some weeks, in this city, (and once before a committee appointed by a public meeting) and who was frequently examined by Mr. I., and whose con- dition was quite ;?ecM/e«r all the w^hile, was never found out APPENDIX. 245 by him, nor do we suppose it was even suspected — for certain we are, if it had been, no report of any experiments perform- ed on such a subject would ever have been made public. And, what is worthy of notice, Mr. I. and this subject were often understood to affirm that the sympathy between them was so great, that if one were sick at a distance, it rendered the other sick also ! And yet, the neuraura did not enable Dr. B. or his oracle to discover, that they were both humbug- ged and deceived by that subject, as it is well knov/n they most assuredly were. To show still further, that Dr. B. was really deceived in his assumptions about Mr. I.'s power, I will state one other fact. Dr. B. long before he reached this city, from some causes, which it may not be necessary to explain here, conceived a very strong prejudice against a gentleman, whom v/e will here call Mr. S.* As might be expected he imbued Mr. I. his highly impressible subject, with the same feeling, and Mr. I. from the circumstances of his situation, of course, would be very apt to manifest his sympathy with his teacher. Hence when in Albany, Mr. I. happened to see a bust, which he was told came from Mr. S., and (will the reader believe it,) it actually threw him into convulsions ; [Dr. E. was heard to say repeatedly, that Mr. S.'s ''neuraura'' was decidedly pernicious, [!] and how could poor Mr. I. who was so "highly impressible," help falling into fits whenever he came near any thing, ox person touched by Mr. S. ?] The reader has seen another case, stated in the note on page 111, where Dr. B. and his oracle were most egregiously deceived in the same way, while in this city. The facts there stated, I had from persons present when they occurred; and they put the matter beyond all doubt as to whether Dr. B. was not deceived in his assumptions, both as to the " impres- sibility" of his subjects, and also as to the real nature of that agency by which they were affected. And yet, it is from the results brought out from such a subject, that Dr. B. has founded his science of "Neurology," and scattered to the four winds * For proof, see Journal of the Phreno-Majnetic Society, No. 1, page 13. 246 APPENDIX. the protracted labors of Gall and Spurzheim.* There are not more than five or six of GalPs locations, which are allowed as correct in this chart. Where Gall places Destrucliveness, Buchanan puts Conservativeness ; where Gall locates Love of Children, Buchanan places Tyranny ; and where Union for Life should be, Buchanan places Cruelty. I do not see how it can be possible, that Dr. B. has experi- mented on seventy good subjects, as he says, and yet has re- mained, till now, ignorant of the fact, that no two of them could be affected precisely alike in all respects. I venture to say, there is not an operator to be found, of any experience, who will not ag-ree in this statement. True, the results may agree in part ; as for instance, you can excite the same func- tions in two or more subjects, but you cannot always do it from precisely the same locations. But, if these excitements are produced by a fluid they should agree, and not only so, but we should be able to excite all the different organs in ev- ery subject in Avhich we can excite one by this agency. But this is not the case, as I know. These excitements depend, in a great degree, on the mental apprehensions of the subject; and hence the answers, in most of the cases experimented on in this city by Dr. B. were suggested by the manner in which the questions were put, so that the subject apprehended the anticipated results. Indeed w^hat could be more evident, than this fact, knowing as I do, that patients may be taught to ex- cite their own organs, by touching them, just as well as an* other could do it for the?n ; and this fact, alone, is enough to annihilate, forever, the laboured theory of "Neurology." For these and other reasons I have but very little confidence in Dr. Buchanan's chart. I am satisfied beyond all doubt, that his notions about the elimination of a fluid from the oper- ator into the subject are totally unfounded. The phenome- * The following is a specimen of the estimate v»'hich one of the me- dical profession of this city, (but we believe he was the only one who received Dr. B.'s theory,) put upon these monstrous assumptions. Dr. S. Forry, speaking of Dr. Buchanan's discoveries, says : '' Before this discovery, on the assumptions of its truth, those of Gall, Spurzheim, Majendie, and Sir Charles Bell, dv.'indle into comparative insignifi- cauce.'' isurely the age of Tractors is not past! APPENDIX. 247 na induced by his experiments, and those also under the name of Mesmerism, are produced by the laws of sympathy or ner- vous induction. I have a thousand times produced these phe- nomena, without contact with the subject, and without uil- ling them as it has been called, and consequently without any fiuid, magnetic or nervous, RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (415)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW JUL 14 1930 NRLF DUE JAN 1 a ]991 !M0 -ihl^s NOV 1 6 2002 APR 12 2004 (Bl39s22)476 University of California Berkeley B] o.c.B««^^^!r- 00700^