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"CONFESSIONS  OF  A MAGNETISM'*

        EXPOSED!
            EXHIBITING THE


   FOLLY AND FALSEHOOD

OF A RECENT PAMPHLET WITH THE ABOVE TITLE.

              WITH

 REMARKS, SHOWING THE FALSITY OF THE NOTIONS
   HITHERTO PREVALENT IN REGARD TO WHAT
         HAS BEEN DENOMINATED
Q i
MESMERISM;"
AND GIVING THE OUTLINES OF THE AUTHOR S
NEW THEORY OF MIND.
BY LA ROY SUNDERLAND.
"God made us, and we marvel at it.
       BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY REDDING AND COMPANY.
     NO. 8 STATE STREET.
         1845.
 
 
"CONFESSIONS   OF  A  MAGNETIZER"
                     EXPOSED.
LETTER  I.
                                      Boston, July 14, 1845.
  Dear Sir,—As you requested, I have given the pamphlet purporting
to be the " Confessions of a Practical Magnetizer," or " An Expose of
Animal  Magnetism," a  thorough reading, and, but for your request, I
should have thrown it aside, as utterly unworthy of a moment's notice.
However, the reasons you assign, have, upon farther consideration, in-
duced me to comply with your wishes in exposing the folly and wicked-
ness of this silly publication.   With you, I do not suppose, that it will
be read by many intelligent people, of any class, nor that any one with
a thimble full of brains, who knows any thing of the subject of which it
professes to treat, would be likely to be deceived  by its puerile details,
as false and improbable as they so manifestly appear to be.  But, the
fact that this subject has  fallen into disreputable  and unworthy hands,
like this one who dubs himself as a " practical" " animal magnetizer,"
that there is a vast amount of  misconception  and prejudice  in the com-
munity  generally,  against the subject, and that  this pamphlet  will be
likely to be read only by those who have not the means of detecting the
falsehoods palmed off upon them by this writer, forces upon me the con-
viction,  that, upon  the whole, it  may  be  best for me to " expose "  the
"humbugry" of this  pamphlet,  as  worthless as it  may be.   The
mass, we know, do not enter into  a thorough investigation  of the laws
of mind, and hence it is  reasonable  to suppose, that  most who may 
 4     "CONFESSIONS  OF A  MAGNETIZER "   EXPOSED.

 read  this production, will  receive a vague  impression that, if it be  not
 strictly true in all its details,  yet there may be something in the thing
 denominated " animal magnetism " which should render it disreputable
 or  dangerous,  according  to  the  representations  contained  in  this
 pamphlet.
   In  the  notice, therefore, which I purpose to bestow upon  this self-
 styled " practical animal magnetizer," you will perceive  I have a two-
 fold object in view, — not merely to expose  the folly, the falsehood,  the
 deception and hypocrisy of this author, but in doing this, to set forth  the
 real nature  of that  form  of  human  influence hitherto most  generally
 known under the name of" Mesmerism," and the  useful purposes  to
 which it may be applied.  And in the sequel, I doubt  not, it will be made
 to appear, not only how very  unworthy of credit this nameless book is,
 and, withal, how blameworthy, how deserving of censure, the individual
 must be who could allow himself to  resort to the publication of such a
 book, for the purpose of making money.  We shall see with what a be-
 coming grace this " animal magnetizer " tells us that he " had taken a
 most solemn oath " that he would  never, on any account, receive pecu-
 niary  compensation for his " animalizing,"  and how much  worse it
 would have been for him to have received pay for doing the good which
he tells us  he did, than it was for him to attempt to make money by  the
 falsehoods which he has put forth in his pamphlet, under the pretence  of
 exposing the humbugry of  Magnetism.
  If there by any offence deserving  of severe  reprehension, any which
 should expose one to the unmixed condemnation of  the public, any  for
which the perpetrator  should be made to feel  ashamed and degraded  in
 the estimation of the  community, it is the  publication of falsehood and
misrepresentation, under the pretence of exposing " humbugry."  The
 man who purposely deceives the public mind, who wilfully misleads those
whom he  assumes to teach, in matters  that concern  the character,  the
health, the  happiness  and lives of his fellow men, commits  a crime  as
really deserving of punishment, as if he were to  set fire to their dwell-
ings, or shorten their earthly existence by  furnishing them with a deadly
poison, under the pretence  of  selling them wholesome  food.   Where is
safety ?   Where is public  confidence ?  How shall the mass, who have
not the time nor means for acquiring correct information upon matters
of philosophy, avoid the mischiefs  of humbugry, when  they are hum-
bugged under  the guise of  attempts  at  exposing  humbugry?  And
yet, how  very much of this kind of deception we often see  around us !
A quack cries out against quackery !   A pretended "  Magnetic College " 
      " CONFESSIONS  OF  A  MAGNETIZER "  EXPOSED.     5

is reported  to have  been formed by three or four persons, as  ignorant
of the true philosophy of what is called Magnetism, as they are of the
Chinese language, and they tell us it  is done to " guard"  the public
against imposition !"   Public attention is called by advertisements in
the papers, to what purports to be an " Expose of Animal Magnetism,"
by " A Practical Magnetizer,"  by  which  we are given to understand,
that a credible person, thoroughly acquainted with what the most intelli-
gent writers assume in relation to this subject,  has  written  something
which  honest people would be enlightened in reading, but, on examina-
tion, it is found that this very pretended exposure is a deception, a. fraud
upon the  public confidence, and a  base ruse to make money, as mean
and dishonest, and a thousand times more so, than if it were filched from
your pocket.   He who steals your  money " steals trash," but he who is
the means of deceiving you with regard to the philosophy of your being,
and the laws of life, does you a greater injury and one which  may cause
you more misery than all the riches of  earth would ever do you good.
1* 
LETTER  II.
                                        Boston,  July 15, 1845.
   Dear Sir,—Before I point out the contradictions and falsehoods of
 this writer, it may be necessary for me to premise, that, though for more
 than twenty years I have been a firm believer in that form of human in-
fluence  denominated " Mesmerism," or " Magnetism," I  have not been
 in the habit of speaking of it under either of these terms.   Mesmer him-
 self never put one person into a state of somnambulism.  He operated
 by what is called the  " passes," and with trees, ropes,  bottles of water,
 wires, and many other things, by which he produced certain  strange
 effects,  like convulsions, but he never induced that state of Coma, more
 recently denominated  " sleep-waking," and for this reason, it has always
 seemed to me very unsuitable to call this state " Mesmeric sleep.''''  The
 first instance of this  sleep, in the  days of Mesmer, was produced by
 Pysegar, and there is no evidence to prove  that Mesmer ever induced
 any such  condition, during the whole  course of his operations.    And,
 for a similar reason, I have not been  accustomed, as you know, to call
 this sleep a " magnetic " state, or the influence by which it  is induced,
 " magnetism."   In  the second volume of the Magnet, and  also in my
 work,*  I have  given what is believed to be the  true philosophy of this
 subject, and shown that there are no  appreciable reasons for calling it
 " Magnetism," and  least of all "Animal Magnetism."  Those reasons
 put forth in my work, it may not be necessary, perhaps, to repeat here,
 but merely to say, that it seems always most appropriate, when speaking
of new things, to use names the most expressive of their true  nature and
laws, and as this influence is universally acknowledged  by all  to partake
of the nature of mental or physical sympathy, I  make use of a similar

  * Pathetism; with Practical Instructions.  Demonstrating the falsity  of the
hitherto  prevalent assumptions in regard to what has been called « Mesmerism "
and " Neurology," and illustrating those Laws which induce Somnambulism,
Second  Sight, Sleep, Dreaming, Trance, and Clairvoyance, with numerous
facts tending to show the Pathology of Monomania, Insanity, Witchcraft, and vari-
ous other Mental or Nervous Phenomena.  For sale by  Redding & Co., No. 8
 State St., Boston.  Price 25 cents.  It  may be sent by mail to any part of the
 United States, subject only to pamphlet postage. 
       " CONFESSIONS  OF  A  MAGNETISER "  EXPOSED.     7

term, Pathetism, expressive of  this philosophy, and to signify not only
the agency by which one person is enabled to produce emotion, feeling,
passion, or any physical or mental effects, in the  system of another, but
also that susceptibility of emotion or feeling, of any kind, in  the sub-
ject operated upon.
   You will, therefore, please  to bear in mind, that when I use any of
the ordinary terms, as  " Mesmerism," or " Animal  Magnetism," I bor-
row them from this writer whom I am reviewing, as a matter of conve-
nience, and not because  I either  believe in the  notions he puts forth
about the  " nervo-vital fluid," or would sanction  the use of  these terms
when  speaking of the  functions and  susceptibilities of the nervous sys-
tem.   During the  last four years, I have induced a state of  somnambu-
lism, or what I denominate hypnopaihy (sympathetic sleep) in more than
fifteen hundred cases, and on more than thirty of these persons surgical
operations have  been  performed, without the  consciousness of pain.
Through this  influence, I have permanently cured numerous cases of
insanity, and many other forms of  nervous difficulty.   Besides my work,
before referred to, you well know, that  for some two years I published
and edited a periodical  devoted expressly to this subject, and which af-
forded me unusual facilities  for  becoming familiar  with  operators in
other parts of this country and Europe ;  so that I have had extraordinary
means for knowing what has  been done, and the views entertained in
other parts of the world upon this subject.   And to the above I may add,
that for a number of years I have been in the habit of importing about
every  thing published in  England and  France  upon this  philosophy.
Nor is this all; for some two years before I commenced writing or pub-
licly lecturing upon Pathetism,  I devoted my time, wholly, to a course of
experimental  study, in the  investigation of the  theories prevalent  un-
der  the names " Mesmerism," " Magnetism," and " Neurology."  At
considerable  expense, and in the  use of  Electricity, Galvanism,  and
mineral Magnetism, for years  I was  prosecuting my  inquiries, for the
purpose of ascertaining the real nature of this agency, so that I think it
not unreasonable  for me to suppose, that during this time, and with the
facilities above referred to, I must have possessed advantages for arriv-
ing at  the truth on this  subject, which warrants the conclusion, that if I
do not know as much about it as some others, it must be for the  want of
a well developed brain, and not for the want of time, nor  expense,  nor
" experience," nor opportunities of finding out what it is.
  The great difficulty with most whom I have known, or heard  of, who
have set up for " practical magnetizers " and public lecturers on this sub- 
S      "CONFESSIONS  OF A   MAGNETIZER "  EXPOSED.
ject, has been, they do not seem ever to have experimented, at all, for the
purpose of finding out the true nature  of this agency.  They have never
attempted to test the truth of the old notions about a " fluid," and hence
their want of a knowledge of  the true philosophy of the nervous func-
tions.  A man, to excel as a mechanic, is under the necessity of devot-
ing seven years, or more, to the study and practice of the " mysteries "
of his  art.  But here and  there we see men who do not  know enough
of the science of  language, to tell  what they mean  by a  " nervo-vital
fluid ;" men who  have scarcely brains enough  to originate or  put two
ideas together, and who positively could not give an intelligent descrip-
tion of any thing, yet such persons are often  found announcing them-
selves as " Practical Magnetizers," or public lecturers on the  " Philoso-
phy of Life," and  dubbing themselves as " Doctors," " Professors," and
the like.   Indeed,  the public are beginning to take it as prima facia evi-
dence  of a greenhorn or a sap-head, when they see  an operator an-
nouncing himself as " Dr. ----,"  or  " Professor  ----, from New
York," or " Boston," or " Philadelphia," &c. &c. &c.  Nor  could  we
scarcely conceive of a greater display in the ludicrous, than when we see
the names of these " Drs." and  "  Professors "  exhibited  on showbills,
oflering to " examine diseases " by  a " clairvoyant  subject," or to give
a " Course of Lectures on the  sublime science of Animal Magnetism ! !"
  To perform a few experiments may be a very easy  thing.   But  this
done, and anon  we have  the  soi-disant " Dr." or " Professor," giving
•ectures on a science more intricate, more difficult of attainment, a thou-
sand times, than that of Mathematics or Astronomy.   And yet, upon the
mysterious functions of the nervous system, and the lawS of mind, you
will  frequently  find  persons  setting- themselves up as  teachers  and
" practical magnetizers," with the  gravity of " an owl  in ivy  bush."
And then comes the long harangue, as in the pamphlet  before us, about
the  " nervo-vital fluid," the " will," the  " passes," &c. &c. &c.  And,
last of all, comes one of these " Drs.," or " practical magnetizers," with
a flourish of trumpets, begging the sale of his ninepenny book, under the
pretence  that he, more  wise or honest than all  the rest, had really  dis-
covered a cheat in the thing ; but, being very modest, and detailing cer.
tain " Animal " propensities quite prevalent in  his own heart, he is of
course, ashamed to put his name to  it.*

  * 1 think I could give the name of the writer of this pamphlet, and, as a mat-
ter of curiosity, I may do so, in another work I am preparing  for the press, pro-
vided he will consent to have me add a chapter of his real history, as I received
it from one who knows him well!  It is an old proverb, " Follow  not too near
the heels of truth, lest she dash your teeth out."' 
       "CONFESSIONS  OF A MAGNETIZER"  EXPOSED.     9

  He begins by telling us, first,  that he narrates " facts," and secondly,
that they " had all been experienced by the author."   That he did " ex-
perience " the  predominance of certain  " animal "  propensities, when
" placed opposite a young and lovely female," and that he was the mag-
netizer who  did actually  " choose his wife among his subjects," we are
bound to believe, from his own  showing.   But, that his gross ignorance
of the subject upon which he puts himself before the public as a teacher,
or that his strong " animal"  propensities  should pass and  be taken for
the true philosophy of mind, I cannot admit, by any means.  The guise
thrown over his attempt, is too thin to  hide the deformity  within.  The
merest novice might discover the ignorance and deception exhibited upon
almost every page of this pamphlet, which, so  far from exposing any
thing objectionable  in the thing  ahout  which  he professes to write, ex-
poses the toeakness of his own head, and shows how utterly unfit he ever
was to be a "  magnetizer," and  still more, how  unsafe it  was  for any
" young and lovely female " to  be  placed any where within his reach.
Never were the words of the poet  more  strikingly exemplified than in
the case of this self-styled " practical magnetizer :"

                " Lust, though to  a radiant angel linked,
                Will satiate itself  in a celestial bed,
                     And prey on garbage.
                But virtue never will be moved,
                Though lewdness  court it in the garb of heaven."

When a man  writes a book of  fifty pages, and publishes to the world
that he never could sit " opposite a female,"  or come near to them, and
especially that he could not look one in the eye, without having

                 " Unlawful thoughts of many things,"

is such a man to be accredited,  when  he  attempts  to palliate  his own
crimes by affecting to show that every other man is like  himself, and
that  every  lady is  precisely of the  same  character as those whose
" eyes  have closed " on  him  " in dreamy  and spiritual  affection ? "
Set him down as a weak-brother, " a practical" any thing but a teacher
of the laws  of mind.   He may, perchance,  be a good man, but  ten
thousand chances to the contrary.  Beside " a young and lovely female "
his heart melts like butter before the fire, and he is  just silly enough to
imagine every  other person  like  himself.   Such is this  anonymous
author,  who comes  before the public  with  his  " Confessions  !" and to 
10    "CONFESSIONS OF  A  MAGNETIZER"  EXPOSED.
make them sell, sticks out his shingle as " a practical magnetizer," when
the soft-head never put a person into a real state of somnambulism since
he was born, probably; that he never  put  one person to  sleep  in the
manner he describes, I know.  The thing was never done  in that way,
never; and he but shows his ignorance in supposing (if, indeed, he does
believe) the truth of what he says.
••'•r'H.* 
LETTER III.
                                          Boston, July 16,  1845.
  Dear Sir,—Nothing can be more evident, than that this " practical
Animal Magnetizer" was deceived, if he  did  fully  believe the  truth
of his details; and being himself deceived, of  course  he will deceive
others just as much as they may  confide in  the  truth of his statements.
He says:

  " I am one of those who believe that there is a certain will within the cultiva-
tion of every powerful mind, which may be so exercised over the dormant pow-
ers  of another, as to render the person, for the time  being, subject to the wish
of the active agent."

  The meaning here is, that  merely by the  will, without contact, or
without signifying the intention to the subject, one person may over-
come another never operated upon before, and  throw him into a state of
unconscious sleep!  And, upon this  assumption, this writer goes on to
tell us of cases  in which  he says he induced  the sleep merely by  his
will, where the persons had no  suspicion of  his  design; and even he
himself, he tells us, was put to sleep in this same way!   Now, I pro-
nounce this whole representation  about the will a sheer fabrication,  a
deception,  & fraud.  A state  of  sleep was  never  induced in this way,
that is, by  the will, merely, where the person  had never been operated
on before, and when  he had no apprehension, at  the time, of what was
going on.  It would be  a libel on the Author  of  our  being to suppose
such a result possible!  It is what never was done, and what never  can
be done.   Remember, I am not,  noio, speaking of what may be done, by
the will,  without the patient's knoxoledge, after he has been once oper-
ated  upon, and the sleep brought  on; though I believe the sleep is
scarcely, if ever, induced without the  patient's knowledge, even after
they have  been put to sleep many times.   I am  aware, that operators
have sometimes thought it was induced in this way, but I am certain they
were deceived.   But at first,  I affirm, without the fear of contradiction,
that without  the  patient's knowledge (and consent, direct or  indirect,)
no impression was ever made upon him  by  the mere volition of another. 
12    "CONFESSSIONS  OF A  MAGNETIZER"  EXPOSED.

And this writer's silly stories about his having put certain young ladle's
to sleep, merely by his will, and induced them to love himself or others,
is a. farce, a deception, of  which any person may  be easily satisfied by
the trial.  The truth appears to be, this writer wanted to make a show
of an expose of something, and so  he takes the old and long exploded
notions about " a nervo-vital fluid," and  the power of the will, and, fab-
ricating a few silly  cases,  he pretends to have  done by his will certain
things, which he never did do, and which he could not do, if  he would ;
and on the  prejudice which generally has  prevailed on this  subject, he
makes a show of great danger from "Animal Magnetism," as if his sto-
ries should  be  credited  as the sober truth, by any  intelligent person
who  might read them.  How the sleep, when  it is induced,  is brought
on, I may show in the sequel; but it is never produced, at first, without
the patient's knowledge, by the mere will of the operator — never!
   This writer betrays his ignorance, again, when he assumes  to dogma-
tize on the  power of " sympathy," and represents  that the subject in a
■<tatc of somnambulism, "  reflects  the mind of the operator, or the per-
son with whom he is in communication."  This is true  only in a very
few, rare cases, and then only  in a limited degree.   Ordinarily, the
sleep-waker has no  conception of the operator's  will, except  when it is
expressed in words or signs.   This I know to be a fact.   And hence it
is manifest,  that when this writer  speaks of certain feelings having been
manifested by  the females whom he says he  put to sleep, if he speaks
the truth, he said or did  something to  excite those feelings, over and
above  what  was necessary to induce the state of sleep.
   Of course, our " Animal magnetizer " professes to be " honest."  Hear
him:

  " As I propose to be honest in this expose, 1 will frankly acknowledge, that
when I found out the deception that had been practiced upon me, and in which
I had been an innocent agent of  deception  to others, I did not do  as I  should
have  done.  I was ashamed to acknowledge my error, being actuated by a false
pride, which led me to cleave to falsehood, rather than acknowledge my error."

   What,  pray, was the  " deception"  practiced upon this confiding
youth, this paragon  of purity ?  It was  not that  " Magnetism " was  not
true ; for, in the truth of this agency consists the whole gist, of his book.
It was not that he was not an  " Animal Magnetizer " of the  first water
for he  tells us  he " had loved a hundred limes,'''' and a hundred different
females,  and that he even procured his present wife by putting her to
sleep and "  willing " her to love him !   In what, then, are we to under- 
       "CONFESSIONS  OF A  MAGNETIZER"  EXPOSED.     13

stand the  " deception " consists ?  " 0," says he, " there is vice to be
feared, as concealed  under  the cloak of Magnetism !! "   " Vice to be
feared!"  And how does this  appear?  Why, this precocious  youth
had so much of the " animal " himself, and took  such frequent  advan-
tages of the  opportunities which his peculiar process of " Magnetising "
afforded  him, to indulge his " animal " propensities, that he now comes
to the wise conclusion to turn a  penny by his depravity, in writing  and
selling a book on the subject!  Nor will  any one  doubt, I think, for one
moment, that if all men were like this writer, it would be better for phy-
sicians, clergymen, and all others, to be separated wholly from all inter-
course with the fairer sex, " for  fear that some vice might be concealed
beneath the cloak " of the profession.   He tells us he " had loved a hun-
dred times,  ay, and  with  his  xohole heart" while sitting  " opposite
young and lovely females," for the purpose of " magnetizing " them.  No
doubt of it.   The " critter " has  so  much of the " animal" in him, that
no one could doubt this part of his story.
   The sickening details told in chapters 5, 6 and 7, about " Helen " and
" Milton," though  evidently fabricated for  the occasion,  show  off the
hypocrisy of this writer, to the life.  He feigned a knowledge of physi-
ognomy, and told the young lady whom he deceived, that it was " the only
science that is not made the foundation of some humbug  ;" and this he told
her  while he was humbugging her, that  very moment, and now he at-
tempts  to humbug the public by a most miserably written, silly story
about it.
   In chapter 3d, this wiseacre makes a number of false statements about
myself, which  shows his ignorance both of  my theory and my manner
of operating in  my  public  lectures.   His  directions for causing the
sleep by  " a bow-knot of ribbon pinned  to the wall," is given as a rev-
elation of a great secret, just as if such a process had not been published
in the Magnet years ago, and the  explanation which he gives of it far-
ther shows that his knowledge of the human mind, and the effects which
one's own attention has upon his nervous system,  is scarcely up to medi-
ocrity.   Indeed, the jumble  he  makes of effects produced in this way,
and  those produced  (as  he thinks)  by the human will, is  enough  to
show, that Mental Philosophy was unfortunate indeed when seized upon
by this " Animal Magnetizer," — more so than the " silly women " whom
he tells us he " led captive at his will," " laden with sins, led away with
divers lusts."  But, we are  told, that " the folly of such shall be mani-
fest unto all."
2 
LETTER IV.
                                          Boston, July 16, 1845.
   Dear Sir—Having exposed the ignorance, falsehood, and humbug-
ry  of the pamphlet  under notice, I will now give you a  very brief
account of the  rationale  of what has been  known under the name  of
" Mesmerism,"  and, in doing this, I shall not only further show the false-
hood of this pamphlet, but you will see, from my remarks, that I not
only discard the old  futile notions about " a  nervo-vital  fluid," but the
objectionable method of inducing the sleep, by gazing the patient  in the
eyes, taking hold of  the thumbs, and making the passes over the body.
These mummeries were discarded, years ago, by intelligent operators in
every part of the country, and they  are now only resorted to by those
who believe in the old notions of a fluid.
  The  greatest  mistake made in relation to what has been denominated
L- Mesmerism,"  has been in viewing it as something essentially different
from the ordinary influence which one mind  has always been known to
have over another.   A correction of this misapprehension will put  you
upon the right course of investigation for ascertaining what  this agency
or influence is.  Those who have  produced certain results by what has
been called " Animal Magnetism," have been most egregiously  bewil-
dered and deceived, by the assumption about a fluid, said to be  elimi-
nated out  of one  brain, by the  will of the operator, into the nervous
system of the patient.  As I have sifted this question, I believe, to the
bottom, and  made use of every available means  for arriving at the truth,
it will not, perhaps, be thought strange that I should speak somewhat
confidently upon this subject.   It would not be possible to comprise  any
considerable outline of the course of reasoning  which shows the  futility
of the old theories about a fluid, nor is this necessary here, as I have done
what I believe to be ample justice to this subject  in my  book; and in
another work, which I have in the course of preparation  for the press,
I hope to be able to shed still more light upon what is denominated Path-
etism, or the " New Philosophy of Mind."
  Before you can form an enlightened judgment of this  influence, it
will be  necessary  to have some knowledge of the  susceptibilities of the 
WHAT  IS  IT?                       15
nervous system; and the identity of this system, with that aggregate of the
nervous functions to which we apply the term, mind.   These prelimina-
ries understood, then ask yourself this question : —
  "How, or by what laws, does one mind affect another, in the common
concerns of life ?  Or, hoio  does your own mind become affected, in any
given state ? "
  The true answer will  give you the philosophy of Pathetism, or what
has been denominated the "  Mesmeric influence."  The term " Human
Influence " would be much better, because the influence by which I induce
a state of Somnambulism, Trance, or Catalepsy, is precisely the  same,
and depends upon the same conditions in the mind of the patient and
the operator, that allows of any sensation or emotion brought on by any
thing said,  or done, for the purpose of producing any results.
  Pathetism, then, includes all that is peculiar to a feeling of sympathy
or antipathy, joy or grief,  mirth or sadness, love or  hatred, pride or
humility, adhesiveness or aversion, health or disease, sleep or wakefulness,
when these states are brought upon one person, by something said or
done by another; or when these states come on through the mind of the
patient, without any design of a second person to induce them.
   Hence you  will see upon how many different things, states, conditions,
circumstances, motives, &c, the results you may attempt to produce will
depend.  The age, sex, temperament, health, state of the mind at the
time, are all concerned, and must be taken into the account, in determin-
ing the amount of influence which one may be able to exert over another
at any given  time.  But, as I have already stated,  nothing can be
done, at first,  without the patient's knowledge and consent — nothing at
all.   Hence  this  great  bugbear, conjured  up  by  the " Animalists,"
vanishes " into thin air."
   Nothing, perhaps, would  tend more to demonstrate  the falsity of the
hitherto prevalent notions about a, fluid in the  production of the phenom-
ena current, under the term of " Mesmerism," than  an examination of
the infinitely  diversified effects alleged to have  been  produced by this
influence.  Out of the tens of thousands of subjects operated upon, there
have never been found  any two who were affected in all respects ex-
actly alike.  At first view, to be sure, a  superficial observer might take
these discrepances as so many evidences against the reality or utility of
the thing under notice.   This, however, would not be  the wiser course ;
the same objection might be brought against the treatment of disease by
medicine.  There is, really, just as much  uncertainty  in the  anticipated
results of medicine, just as much want of agreement among the medical 
16                       WHAT  IS   IT?

faculty, and far more, than has ever prevailed  among the advocates of
" Mesmerism."
  The difference in  the results of this influence do not prove that no re-
sults are actually produced, but they do prove, that they are not resolvable
into the laws which we know to be  peculiar to magnetism or electricity.
In my work, I have entered somewhat in detail, into the  examination of
this question, as  to the medium of  communication between mind and
mind, and to that work I must refer  all who wish for further information
upon this feature of our subject.   I have been much gratified, in reading
four very  interesting papers,  in  the  London  Lancet, re-published  for
April, May, June and July, 1845, bearing directly upon this point.   They
were written by Dr. Charles  R.  Hall, of the Royal College of Physicians,
London.*   The Dr.  has, evidently, never been considered favorable  to
what has been known under the name  of" Mesmerism," as he does not
seem to have been either a believer or an operator; but the information
he has given  in  his  papers  on this  subject, I venture  to  say, will tend
more to settle the question as  to the real  nature of this  influence, than
any thing which has been  previously published  in England ;  and it is to
be earnestly hoped, that the friends of this science (for so it is getting to  be
called) will profit by the papers of Mr.  Hall.  The following are the con-
clusions at which his researches have brought his own mind.   He says :

  " Of the alleged results of the Mesmeric  process, I believe there are,
  " Proved— Quietude, composure, sleep.
   " Probable,  but   requiring  confirmation — Traction,   convulsion,
heightened sensibility, diminished sensibility, double  convulsions.
  " Possible, hut not very probable—Insensibility  to severe  pain, for
any given length of time, at pleasure.
  " Impossible, as far as any thing can be so — Clairvoyance,  intuition,
community of thought, involuntary  and complete  subjection of mind to
the  mesmerizer.
  " And, lastly, I believe, that  we have not a shadoio of evidence in sup-
port of tlie existence of any new agency, whether designated Mesmeric,
Magnetic, occult, or by any  other name.''''

  With the exception of his doubts on the question of clairvoyance, and
a modification of what he  denies as  to the " community of thought," and
insensibility to pain, you  will  perceive that Dr. Hall has but reiterated

  *  On  the Rise, Progress, and Mysteries of Mesmerism,  in  all  ages and
countries." 
WHAT  IS  IT ?
17
the views published by myself years ago.   It does not appear, that he
had ever seen or even heard of my theory ; but it is gratifying to find that
an opponent, when writing upon this subject, and  especially, one  who
had taken as much pains to inform himself, as Dr. Hall has done, should
come so very near to admitting the whole truth.  Indeed, it would hardly
seem possible for any believer in " Mesmerism " to read the quotations
he has made from a vast number of writers upon  this subject, and not
come to a  similar conclusion with respect to the  non-existence of any
new agency, in the production of what are denominated Mesmeric re-
sults, or any such agency as " Mesmerists " have  supposed, under the
names " Magnetism," or a " nervo-vital fluid."
   In speaking of " Mesmerism " under the terms of an " agency," the
mind is apt to be misled; because this gives the idea that it is something
separate and distinct from the mind itself.   But this is the error to be
removed, before we can arrive at the truth of this subject, as you will see
more plainly on  examination of my theory.   The results produced by
" Magnetism," always depend upon the state of the patients mind, and
 not so  much upon the process adopted  to induce them, nor upon the  mere
will of the operator.  The operator, therefore, who is the most ac-
 quainted with the human mind and the nature of  its susceptibilities, the
conditions of the nervous system, upon which mental manifestations de-
 pend, will succeed the best, cceteris paribus, in producing any given re-
 sults.   He will be able, of course, to adapt his process of operating to
 the occasion and  condition  of the  patient, for  the  purpose of bringing
about the right state of mind.  The mind depends upon the state of the
 nervous system, always, and they reciprocally affect each other.  A
change in the  condition of the  nervous system produces a change in
 the mind, and  a change  in the state of the mind, made through the ex-
 ternal senses, or by any other  means, produces a change in the nervous
 system.  Medicines, when taken  into the stomach or applied to the sur-
 face  of the body, operate upon precisely the same susceptibilities of the
 nervous system ;  and  hence  it is that  medicine produces no change in
 the dead body, and sometimes it produces no change in the living body,
 owing to the condition of the nervous susceptibilities when it is taken.
 In cases of insanity, the ordinary symptoms of some diseases do not ap-
 pear, and the  ordinary methods of medical treatment  produce no effect,
 owing entirely to the state of the patient's mind, or the changed  condi-
tion of the nervous susceptibilities.*   A knowledge of these facts  is of

   * For evidence of the truth upon which the  above statement is made, see
 the London Lancet for October, 1844, re-published Jan., 1845, p. 17.
                  2* 
18
WHAT  IS  IT?
the utmost importance  in  the  treatment of  disease, and especially in
cases of insanity.
  But you ask me, if there be not danger, after the operator has induced
a state of sleep, and  got the patient under his power ?  I answer : —
  This  state  is  never brought on, nor this  " power" obtained over a
patient, suddenly, nor in a short time.   The man who assumes to be able
to put a woman to sleep without her knowledge, or against her will, the
first time trying, and above all, to make her change her feelings towards
him, as is represented in  the pamphlet under notice, is deceived;  and
when lie publishes such trash to the world as is here  put forth, I do not
hesitate to pronounce him a deceiver, utterly unworthy of any confidence
at all.
  The only objection which could, justly, be brought against this subject,
or agency, is this: the intercourse  necessary to bring on  the  sleep,
affords  a  vicious man extra  opportunities for working upon the affec-
tions of his female patients;  and,  after he  has gained their confidence,
and produced a state of  feeling in them congenial with his own, then he
may injure them.  Hence it will  be  seen, this objection does  not lie
against  Pathetism, per se; not against the  influences which  one  mind
bas, in the nature of mind, over another, in  given  cases, but,  against
-affording a certain class of persons opportunities for winning the affec-
tions of females.  Precisely the same objection will lie against the  pro-
fessional services of  physicians and clergymen ; though it is admitted,
that the access which a " Magnetiser " is allowed to have, generally, to
the mind and feelings of his female subjects,  afford him greater facilities
for controlling their  susceptibilities than most  other persons have ;  and
on this  account,  patients should exercise the more caution in  permitting
operators to experiment upon them.  If there were any real merit in this
writer's pretended fears and cautions, it would be  merely  borrowed
from  Deleuze and others who wrote  upon  this subject before he  was
born.  Indeed, scarcely any writer can be found, but  who has re-echoed
the same cautions, in which the real danger has been distinctly pointed
out.  The following is  from the  Magnet,  published long  before  this
writer, whom we are now castigating  for his  " Animalisms," committed
the depredations on female innocence so unblushingly told in  the pages
of his pamphlet: —

   " That some subjects, after they have been frequently operated on
may be made to obey  the will of the  operator, cannot  admit of an
doubt.  I do  not say, that they can be willed to do things that are disa 
WHAT  IS  IT?
19
greeable 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  may
receive the impress, as it were, of the operator's heart.  The mental dis-
position of the latter has much to do with  the  impression made on  the
person who is put into the hypnopathic  state.   Of this fact I have  had
numerous demonstrations, which leave no room for the shadow  of a
doubt.  All therefore should understand what  results  may follow,  and
those which do alioays follow,  the influence which is exerted upon them
by pathetism.   That influence may, and should be good, and nothing but
good ; but this  will depend, of course, upon the health,  skill, and motives
of the operator."

   I say, upon the  motives of the  operator, and the same remark might
be made, whatever might be the  professed object, or the process adopted
for accomplishing it.  If a man  is disposed to do what would result in
the injury of any body, he would find the means if he could, for accom-
plishing his object, and he  would be sure to use the means  if they were
furnished at his hand.
   This writer alludes to others besides himself, who have trifled with the
affections of confiding females, under the guise of" Animal Magnetism,"
and some of whom, in this city, have comr.itted crimes,  which,if tried
before the proper tribunals would result in their confinement in the State's
Prison.  All this is admitted, and it is equally well known, that the char-
acters of those persons were notoriously bad before they  had any thing
to do with this subject; and  the  public  papers teemed with cautions
against one of them more  than  twenty  years ago, as a base villain  and
imposter;  and now whose  fault is it, after the public has  been so  fre-
quently cautioned against him. if he should succeed in  the ruin of one or
a dozen females  who have fallen in his way?
   I  have spoken  of the opportunities which the old process  of " Magnet-
ising," as it is called, afforded for  working upon the  feelings of female
patients.  These are increased by staring in the  face, and passing the
hand over the system, practices which I  repudiated years ago, and which
have been discontinued by every operator of any intelligence throughout
the country.   There is  no need  of those  mummeries,  and  as  they  are 
20
WHAT  IS  IT?
highly objectionable on  other grounds, as I anticipated years ago, they
have been continued only by a few " animalizers," like this one before
us.
  The state of somnambulism may, at first, be  induced by almost any
process which is not disagreeable to the patient.   As good a way as any
is, for the operator to stand behind the patient, or  by his side, while  he
places his hand upon the top  of  the head, and over the forehead.  The
patient should be directed to close his  eyes, or  keep them  steadily set,
till  the attention is immovably jixed  upon  the  sleep.  The  sleep will
come on just in proportion to the fixedness of  the  patient's attention,
without any passes, or efforts of the operator's will.
  A few puffs of air  in his face, or slight pats  upon the back part  of
the head, will be sufficient to restore him  to  his  normal state.  Thus,
when you have dispensed with the old process of pawing and scraping
over the bodies of your patients, and discarded  the absurd  and prepos-
terous  notions about  the  power  of the " will," we  have removed the
foundation of every reasonable objection which has ever been suggested
against the practice of Pathetism in the cure of  disease.
  After the sleep has been once  induced, and the susceptibility of the
patient sufficiently excited, the sleep may be induced by the mere direc-
tion of the operator, and removed in the same way.*
  In these remarks, of course, I say nothing of my manner of producing
results in my public  Lectures, as that is still  more peculiar to  my nere
theory of mind, and I am confident it  never was adopted by any other
Lecturer, in any  part of the world, till after the  publication  of the Mag-
net,  and  the papers had  given accounts  of my having induced  the
sleep in my public Lectures, in the cases of strangers whom I never had
seen before, and without contact, or the passes, or any particular efforts of
the "will,"  so  called.  But,  since the  accounts of my Lectures were
published, I have heard of numerous attempts at  imitation of my manner,
and some have even  gone so  far as to issue verbatim copies  of my hand-
bills,  and in Lowell, Nov. 27,  1843, one of these  imitators procured
Messrs. Norton and Bellows to print an exact copy of my bills, with  my
oion name in it, including some  of the  newspaper notices  of my  Lee-

  * It has been common for some Lecturers to  advise persons indiscriminately
to practice or experiment with this influence, and from which many mischievous
results  have followed.   It should never be  undertaken  without a thorough
knowledge of its laws.   For " Practical Directions  "  and rules for operating,  see
the book entitled "Pathetism," before referred to. 
WHAT  IS  IT?
21
tures!!   These counterfeit bills  were posted  about the city, but  before
the time for the lectures, the lecturer was missing.*

  * A copy of that counterfeit bill now lies before me.  I have another counter-
feit of my bills, got out in the city of New York, by one W. C.  Tappan, dated
Sept. 23, 1843.   I arrived in the city that very evening; but Mr. Tappan cleared
out without giving his lecture.  I have heard of other instances  of the same
kind, but the most glaring instance  of an  attempt to  appropriate  some things
peculiar to my theory, have been made by a man by the name of Grimes.  The
monstrous blunders committed by this man, I have exposed in  another work,
now ready for the press.  His true character may be inferred from the following
fact, which I have upon what I believe to be good authority.  When he had a
bust taken of his head, he caused  the sculptor to raise the organs of conscien-
tiousness in the bust, so as to make them larger than the organs actually were in
his head !!  This ruse is much like one practised by a man now living in Edgar-
town, Mass., who bears the reputation of a miser,  but when I was in that town,
a few months ago, I saw a superb and costly monument, which he had actually
caused to be put up in the grave yard, on the spot  where he is to be buried ; and
an inscription upon it lauding his  character for benevolence in the highest terms! 
CHAPTER V.
                                        Bo ston, July 17, 1845.
  Dear Sir :—Although the  author of this pamphlet affects to deny,
and even to ridicule what has been denominated " clairvoyance," it will
be seen that he does, nevertheless, admit the existence of this  power,
and, even to a greater  extent than  what is assumed  by most persons
who profess to believe  in it.  He goes so far as to say, that, ordinarily,
subjects when  first put  to sleep, even, will  be able to  tell the thoughts
of those with whom they are in communication.   This I do not believe.
What he thus  affirms of subjects, as common, is very seldom developed,
in any considerable  degree, even after they have been experimented
upon for  a length of time.
  In my  previous  writings  on clairvoyance, years ago,  I  resolved this
power into what has been denominated instinct; and since that time, I
have been confirmed in this conjecture, beyond  all doubt.  An instinc-
tive  action  is   one which  is performed, independent of  the external
senses ; it results  neither from observation nor experience ; and is per-
fect from the first, and  not  susceptible of any improvement.  Hence we
notice those  animals,  as man, for instance, which are  accustomed to
use  reflective   faculties, are guided the least by instinct.  And  those
which  have no reflective  faculties, are guided  alone  by this  sense.
Hence we find it the most developed in  man, when the external  senses
are suspended, as in natural or induced sleep.   That there is  a sense in
man, which often perceives the presence and qualities of things without
the use of either of the external organs of  sense, we have the  testimony
of the highest medical authorities to prove.  The following  remark is
from the celebrated Dr. Good :—" We occasionally meet  among man-
kind, with a sort of sensation  altogether  wonderful  and  inexplicable.
There are  some  persons  so  peculiarly affected  by the presence of a
particular object, that  is neither seen, tasted, heard, smelt or touched,
as not only to  be conscious of its presence, but to be in agony  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." 
CLAIRVOYANCE.
23
  Indeed, no intelligent physiologist doubts the existence of this power;
and works on mental philosophy frequently detail dreams, which are to
be accounted for only by the existence  of  this mysterious sense.  I
have  found persons, who could  exercise it in a remarkable degree, in
their normal or waking state.   Letters put into their hands have been
described by them with astonishing  accuracy, and sometimes they will
tell the nature of medicinal drugs, when enveloped in wrappers, merely
by holding them a few moments in their hands.
  I have  had numerous demonstrations of the clairvoyant power, and
in a vast variety of ways, so that, I am just as certain of its reality as I
am of any other function of the nervous system. But, at the same time,
I feel bound to declare, that I place little or no confidence  in most of
the stories which are told, under the  name of clairvoyance, as the cir-
cumstances under which this power is said to have been developed are
not such as to secure an intelligent conviction of its reality, or to make
it sufficiently evident that the operators and the subjects were  not  in
some  way deceived, in  regard to many  of the particulars making  up
the case.
  As  to  the  examination of disease, and prescribing  medicine  by a
clairvoyant, it may be sufficient for  me  to observe, that I have never,
professionally, examined diseases in this way, for the very good reason,
that  I  believe I can give the diagnosis, myself, better than any clairvoy-
ant,  though I would  not hesitate to give  any person who might consult
me,  the satisfaction  of such an examination, if it were preferred.  With
a few exceptions, however, I must admit, that, as this business is carried
on, I have but little  confidence in it.  The subjects and operators may
be divided into two  classes :—
   1.  Those who are natural  somnambulists and clairvoyants, who have
fallen  into this habit spontaneously.   Some of these I have known who
have given the true  diagnosis, and  their  prescriptions have resulted in
as many cures as you could  affirm in favor of any of the  patent medi-
cines, or, indeed, of many of the " regular faculty."
  2.  The other class, are  mere imitators.  The  subjects are put to
sleep,  and, without having any instinctive  faculty for detecting disease,
they are pressed into the habit of examining  and prescribing,  as  a
money making business.  And, somef  of  the  medical faculty have led
the way  in this kind of examinations.  It is but a short time since I saw
the advertisement of one of them, inviting invalids  far and near,  to
come to his office, and, as it were, have their fortunes told;  but, said 
24
CLAIRVOYANCE.
he, " you must not wear silk," because his subject could not see through
silk !  What nonsense ! *
   The extreme into which many of the " Drs."  and " Professors " of
the science  have carried this business of examining disease, prescribing
and selling medicine, has  completely overdone the thing, and disgusted
intelligent  believers in this disputed power.  Indeed, how could it be
otherwise, when ignorant persons carry individuals about with them  for
examining the sick " in a  state of  clairvoyance," whose subjects were
never in  a sound state  of sleep !   And then, again, when they resort to
collusion  with the clairvoyants, as I know some have done in this  city !
I lament  this state of things, but do  not see  how it can be prevented,
unless  the   friends of  this  science unite  in  setting their faces ngain6t
these abuses.   Truth  should not be made to  suffer, because unworthy
persons do,  sometimes, set themselves up as its advocates ;  and it does
seem to me to  be a great injustice when this subject is made  responsible
for the badness of character,  in those cases where certain  individuals
were  notoriously infamous  before  they had  anything to do  with it;
and also, when worthy intelligent persons are hindered  from doing the
good they might, because the  ground is so extensively occupied by in-
competent operators.
  3. And, then, there  are  difficulties in the  way of the  best  subjects
who undertake to  examine  disease.   They are  not always in a good
condition—the ignorance  of those who operate  upon them,  and the
fact, that this  power does  not last long, in the best cases ;  indeed, it
may become exhausted, or interrupted in a few days, beyond the possi-
bility of  recovery.t   And, in such cases, ignorant  operators may keep
up a course  of examinations long after the power  is gone.
  The same remarks  might be made upon lectures, and public exhibi-
tions of  the old process of pawing  and  staring  subjects in the face.

  * Out of some fifteen hundred persons  whom I have put to sleep, I have  not
found one who  was  spontaneously affected with silk, or any metallic substance,
according to  what has been assumed by the "Animal" Magnetisers, in relation
to these conducting or non-conducting substances.

   t "I say,  "possibility of recovery," though 1 have  restored it in two cases.
One was a lady of one of the regular medical faculty in this vicinity, and a very
interesting case it was.  She  soon after went to Dr. Buchanan, who  was then
in this city, and though  she was one of the  most susceptible subjects 1 evei
saw, the Dr.'s "neuraura" made no impression upon her.  This was one of a
number of similar  cases in  which the Dr.'s "neuraura" was found  incapable
of affecting highly susceptible subjects upon whom he tried his experiments. 
CLAIRVOYANCE.
25
For, while there  are  a few  intelligent,  and truly worthy persons en-
gaged  in  this business, there are many others  who, for whatever else
they may be qualified,  are certainly  not  fit  for  public  lecturers  on
the Science of Human Life.  Some of them I have known  who  have
experimented upon persons who were never asleep, and they themselves
did not know enough to tell whether their subjects  were asleep or not!
And their manner of lecturing [!] and experimenting, of course, must tend
to prejudice well informed people against this subject, and  lead them to
the conclusion, that though  the thing  itself is  true, and may be made
the means of great good, yet  there has been, in some instances, a vast
deal of humbugry mixed up with it.
   But  there is one  remark which I would make for the consideration
of such  persons, in relation to the abuse of this power;  it is this,—
every thing that is true, is liable to be abused just in proportion  to  its
importance, and the want of information, or honesty, in those who  have
the management of it*  Hence the necessity of information upon this
subject.  Let the community be informed ; let all know what it is, and
how one  mind  may, under certain  circumstances, influence another;
and no one need be injured  any more by this science,  than they are by
religion, or the practice of law, or medicine.

  *" I doubt not, that in regard both to Phrenology and Mesmerism, the grand
principle will prove true, that the more ominous of evil  any branch of knowl-
edge seems to be, in its incipient state, the more prolific it will ultimately become
in illustrations favorable both to morality and religion."—Dr. Hitchcock, Presi-
dent of  Amherst College.
3 
LETTER  VI.
                                          Boston, July 18, 1845.
   Dear  Sir, — Pathetism comprehends the science of mind, the knowl-
edge  of the nervous functions, the science of human life.   And a
knowledge of this subject will enable us to account, in a rational and sat-
isfactory manner, for every thing  peculiar to the  constitution of  man,
^very thing in relation to those extraordinary mental and physical phe-
nomena peculiar to  Sleep,  Dreaming,  Trance, Second  Sight,  Witch-
craft, Insanity, and those curious sympathetic imitative results produced
among the Hindoos, Mohammedans, Anabaptists, French Prophets,
Roman  Catholics,  Shaking Quakers, Mormons,  Methodists, and other
sects,  which  have  by ignorant  fanatics  been thought superhuman or
miraculous.  And from which it will be seen, that  it claims the serious
attention  of all who wish to understand the philosophy of Human Influ-
ence.
  The new  theory of  mind, or what  I believe  to  be such, I pub-
lished in my  work, before alluded  to, some three years ago.  It  was,
[  believe,  the first  ever issued in  the  English  language, in  which
an  attempt was made  to  show the  falsity  of  the opinions  hitherto
prevalent, in  relation to the agency of a fluid in the production of the
results peculiar to a state of induced somnambulism.   And, though it
was written in considerable haste, amidst a  pressure of other arduous
duties, and was, in fact, a  mere outline of my views, yet the reception
it has  met with has abundantly confirmed me  in the conviction, that the
theory advanced and advocated in its pages, is destined to prevail just
in proportion  to  the attention which intelligent, unprejudiced  operators
may, from  time to time, give to the investigation of the  subject.   Not a
single case has  come to  my knowledge, where any one  of common in-
formation has given my work a candid reading, but  it has resulted in an
admission of  the truthfulness of my theory, and  among professional
gentlemen, especially, not excepting many of the clergy, the philosophy 
THEORY  OF  PATHETISM.
27
of the mental functions, explained in that work, has been received with
a favor which very much encourages  me to hope  that the time is not
far distant when the  great mass, the world over, will be found to agree
in the true science of mind.
  Since its publication, I have  seen enough to confirm me, also, in the
apprehension I expressed,  years  ago,  that this subject  had nothing to
fear  one hundredth part  so much as the injudicious handling of opera-
tors.   To read  the assumptions put forth in the advertisements  of some
of these persons, would be amusing indeed, were it not  for the  import-
ance of the subject, and the disgust one is  forced to feel, on witnessing
the exhibitions of such unpardonable ignorance.   Nor can it  be denied
that  a part of this  blame does, unquestionably, belong  to  professional
men, to those whose  education and opportunities, in other respects, have
fitted them, more than others, for  the investigation of human physiology.
Had they taken hold on this subject, as they might and should have
done, instead of treating it with ridicule, long ago  it would have taken
its place among the  positive sciences, and nothing would have been left
for feeble intellects to do, but to receive the benefits which  this science
would have afforded  them.   But, unfortunately, it has so  happened, that,
while  many physicians and clergymen have been convinced of the truth
of Pathetism, they have been prevented from  suffering themselves to be
identified with it in any way, merely from seeing it handled by so many
incompetent minds.   This is a  great inconsistency, to be sure, but it
is one  of which we but too  often find even many good men guilty, in
other relations besides those they sustain to science.  From these facts,
however, we  learn some of the laws peculiar to the human mind, and see
how  it is that truth prevails, notwithstanding the numerous impediments
thrown in its way.
  But few efforts have been made, during the last two years, in  this
country, to keep alive the old notions of a. fiuid.  As far as I am able to
judge, the theory advocated by Dr. Buchanan, under the  name of " Neu-
rology," has  made  no converts,  and  even the Dr. himself, I  believe,
has ceased to advocate it; and the few who embraced it, on its first pre-
sentation to the  public, have, as  far as I know, without a single excep-
tion, given  it up, as  indefensible.   In  my travels through the different
States, I have, now and  then, met with a pamphlet  pretending to some
new development of the  old notions first put  forth  by Van  Helmont, in
Germany, more than two hundred years ago, but I have seen nothing in
the form of fact or argument which confirms the truth of those notions, in 
28
THEORY  OF  PATHETISM.
the least conceivable degree, while my own opportunities for observation
and experiments have been increased a thousand  fold, and have  abun-
dantly confirmed me in the truth of the following


                           THEORY;

                  FIRST PUBLISHED IN MARCH, 1843.

                                  I.

   That Animal Life consists  in  tioo alternating forces, which control
matter, including Electricity and  Magnetism.   The alternations of the
vital forces carry on a series of revolutions, which perfectly correspond
with the  alternating forces, or states of every thing else in nature, and
hence we have sleeping, waking — cold, heat — motion, rest.

                                 II.

   That these vital forces give  those qualities to the body which  consti-
tute a sympathetic system, and render all its parts susceptible to an influ-
ence  from every other  part,  organ,  or entity,  between  which and the
different organs or parts of the body, a difference in quality or function
is found  to exist.

                                 III.

   The effects produced by these alternating forces depend upon certain
connections or relations which different  parts  of the body or different
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 qual-
ities  or functions, and the difference  in the nature or qualities of things
depends  upon the balance  of power between the two alternating forces.
This  accounts for the difference in the susceptibilities  of  different per-
sons,  to be influenced by any given substance or agency which  is brought
into a relation with the mind, or any part of the body (as the stomach)
for the purpose of bringing about a change. 
THEORY  OF  PATHETISM.
29
                                  V.
   That a  peculiar  connection  between  two entities,  organs or  sub-
 stances, which differ in certain qualities or functions, produces a positive
 relation, or the law of sympathy.  A connection between two which are
 precisely alike, produces a negative 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 neu-
 tral relation, or a state of apathy, is the result.

                                 VI.
   This  law of duality and contrariety, in the alternating forces, pre-
 vails in  the nature of things, and, of course, in  the constitution of
 man, and the organs through which mind is manifested.   Hence, as there
 are two forces, so there are two perfect parts (so to speak) to one human
 body ; two eyes, two ears, two  hands, two  feet, &c, and two entire
 brains, which may, and often do, act independently of each other.   The
 brains  combine  the different mental organs, which not only exist in
 pairs, but in groups, or families, in each brain; and the pairs and groups
 are balanced by other pairs and groups, whose  functions  are directly op-
 posite.   On the due development of these  normal relations does con-
 sciousness 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 idiocy, monomania, insanity, and sleep.   When  the nor-
 mal sympathetic relations are disturbed between the two brains, or 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 phys-
 ical or mental irregularities.

                                VII.
  The cerebral system possesses  the  power of sensation, or perception,
 without the use of the external senses ; and when this power is exercised
 without these senses, and  also without any dependence upon observation
 or experience,  it results  in  what we denominate instinct, or  clair-
 voyance.  The  aggregate of all  the mental  faculties, when manifested
 through the external senses, constitutes mind.  The mind is identical
 with the cerebral or sympathetic system, and  hence  they reciprocally act
 upon each other.  The latter is the medium through which the emotions
 and volitions of mind are manifested, and through the same medium all
its impressions are received.
                  3* 
30
THEORY  OF  PATHETISM.
                               VIII.

   By establishing a positive relation between two persons, the mind of
one may thereby control the susceptibility of  the other ; or by applying
the hand of one to any part of the othej, different mental and physical
changes may thus be  produced.  Hence  it follows, that  the only influ-
ence extended  from  one mind or body  to another, depends  upon  the
kind of relation established between them, and the same is true with re-
gard to any influence felt by the living body, from any  other cause.

                                IX.

   A positive relation is kept up,  between the  vital organs and the  sub-
stances on  which the  system  depends for its  nourishment, such as air
and food, and, also, by the different  functions of these organs ;  and upon
the proper balance of all the different  relations depends the health and
vigor of the body.  Their disturbance produces disease, and their anni-
hilation, death.

                                  X.

   The muscles, limbs, and organs, are controlled  by  the brain  on the
opposite side of the body ;  that is, the  right brain  corresponds with the
left side, and the left  brain  with the right side,  and   the  muscles 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 re-
lation.

                                 XI.

   These sympathetic relations exist between the mental organs  and the
nerves and  muscles of the  face;  they  shape the  features, 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,  between
which  and the susceptibility a positive relation has  been established. 
THEORY  OF  PATHETISM.
31
                                XII.
  The positive and  negative relations are  controlled, in certain cases,
by the mind; so that the system is positively  or negatively affected  ac-
cording 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 relation ;
and in cases of high susceptibility, it does  sometimes either create, or
transfer it from one substance or agent, to another; and hence the sys-
tem is affected precisely according to the anticipations of the mind,  and
not according to the real qualities of those  things to which the relation
has been transferred.
                                XIII.
   The various vital, organic,  and  mental functions, are carried on by
these different relations; and from  which it must follow, that  upon  the
latter does the heallhffulness and integrity  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 jive senses
may be transposed and  concentrated entirely in the sympathetic system ;
or they may be wholly suspended, or  even controlled  by the sympa-
thetic system of the operator.

                                XIV.
   It is a universal lata of nature, that positive results are produced by a
relation between  an agent, and a  subject, or two  or  more  substances,
brought into relation with each other.   It is only  by establishing a con-
nection  between two things, or forms which differ in quality, that a pos-
itive result differing in quality from either of the two is produced.  This
is the first law of Pathetism, and from which we see how it  is, that  one
may not be able to produce the same effects upon different persons.
  The vast number of experiments which I  have performed, confirm-
atory of the truth  of the  above theory, have  been of every  possible
variety, and have been performed under those circumstances which have
afforded me the best advantages for determining the true nature of this
influence, as to whether it is a fluid, eliminated  out of one  brain and
received into another; or, whether it must not be  resolved  into the rela- 
3-2
THEORY  OF  PATHETISM.
 tions of things, and the laws by which the  Great First Cau.se has deter-
 mined they shall be governed.
   The laws above described do obviously exist, and  we daily  observe
 their results, and hence there is no necessity for attributing  the phenom-
 ena which occur, connected with the human mind, to remote and extra-
 ordinary causes.
   I have found every imaginable variety of temperament and susceptibility,
 necessary for the production of all those results, from  which the nature
 of this influence alone could be determined.  Besides the  thirty cases of
 surgical operations on the  persons whom  I have rendered insensible to
 pain, and the scores  and  hundreds  of invalids whom  I  have entirely
•cured or relieved, in New  York, Boston,  Providence,  Lowell, New
 Bedford, Bangor, Portland, and many other places where 1  have lectured
 among which I may  mention  some twelve  cases of  insanity, which I
 have cured by my  new process of impressing the  nervous system.   To
 state each case in detail would  require more space than could be given
 in this  letter; nor does it seem so necessary, as these  cures  have been
 effected in  my  public lectures, on  persons  who attended them for this
 purpose.   Among these cases the  following may be mentioned:__Tic-
 doloroux, Spasms, Neuralgia,   Chorea, Rheumatism,  Sick  Headache.
 Paralysis, Insanity, Cholera Morbus,  Stammering, Epilepsy, Monoma-
 nia, Deafness, Fits, Hysteria, Loss of Voice, Hypochondria, Toothache,
 Want of Sleep, St. Vitus' Dance, and Blindness, besides numerous Con-
 gential Difficulties, and  bad habits, such  as the  use  of  Tea  Coffee
 Tobacco, and Intoxicating  Drinks.
   In this respect my  lectures  have, certainly, as  far  as  I  know, been
 distinguished from those of any, and all other persons, who have attempt-
 ed to call public attention  to this subject.   It  has been  my object  to
 make them of practical benefit,  not merely to exhibit  those  phenomena
 by which the truthfulness  of my theory is  demonstrated  ; but,  also  to
 show the useful  purposes to  which this  agency may be  applied   in
 the  relief of pain,  in  developing  the  laws of  mind,  in explaining the
 nervous functions, and in  accounting for  many strange mental  condi-
 tions, hitherto considered supernatural.  How far  I have  succeeded  in
 these efforts, the thousands must judge  who have witnessed the results of
 my  lectures, in different parts of the country, as well as the numbers
 who have professed to be, personally, benefitted by them.   There is but
 one drawback on the pleasure which the contemplation of these results
 affords me, and that is, the state of feeling  which mv success seems to 
THEORY  OF  PATHETISM.
33
have produced in the  minds of a few  other operators, as if the  world
were not large enough for them and me.  A very few, also, of the med-
ical profession have been stumbled, in perceiving that I have succeeded
better in curing some of the worst forms of nervous disease far  better
without medicine than they were ever able to do with it.   A still larger
number  of the profession, I am  happy to say, have, after attending  my
lectures,  candidly avowed their  belief in Pathetism, and not a few of
them have  been  quite  successful in the treatment of disease  by  this
influence alone. 
LETTER  VII.
                                            Boston, July 21, 1845.
   Dear Sir,—It was supposed  that the efforts  of Dr. Buchanan, some
 two years  since, to give a new  development of the old notions about a
fluid, would be the last attempts  of the kind, at least by any one pretend-
 ing to scientific  attainments.  But that supposition, it seems, was not
 well  founded.   In the work to  which  I  have  before referred, by Mr.
 Grimes, a labored attempt is made to revive the  old notions of Van Hel-
 mont, under the new-fangled name of " Etherium /"   And yet, Mr. G.
 belabors  Dr. Buchanan with great severity, for doing this very thing!
 This " etherium," says this author,

   " Is a material substance, occupying  space, which  connects the planets and
 the earth, and which communicates  light and heat, electricity, gravitation, and
 mental emotion from one body to another, and from one mind to  another."

   Admitting the truth of this new version  of the fluid notion, you will,
 undoubtedly, desire to be  informed what the Deity is, or  what he ever
 did, or can  do.   For this  " Etherium " occupies  all space, communi-
 cates all motion between  matter and mind.  But perhaps Mr. Grimes
 would tell us that this " Etherium " is, itself, God.   He says  :—

   " The  motions of etherium are the  ne plus  ultra  of human knowledge.  It
 moves and  communicates its motions to other things, this is certain; but what
 is the origin of its motions we cannot know."*

   The visions of the prophets, and the miracles of the New Testament,
 are, by this writer, ascribed to this  same " etherium :"

   " The practice of laying on of hands upon the siek, to heal them, referred to
 in the New Testament, is precisely the etheriopathic practice.*'
   " Who that compares the  ancient seers with modern clairvoyants, and pos-
 sessors of second sight, can doubt that they all belong to the same class ?"t
* Etherology, p. 156.
t lb., p. 41. 
CRITICAL REMARKS.
35
  However, it would not be consistent with my present design, to at-
tempt an examination of these  notions.   I  merely wish to show that
this work contains nothing new, in the form of a theory, which was not
anticipated, and, as I think, sufficiently refuted in my work on Pathetism,
two years ago.   If the influence heretofore  known under the name of
" Mesmerism," be a. fluid, eliminated out of one body into another, it is
not of the least consequence what you call it, whether Animal Magnet-
ism, with Van Helmont and Mesmer, or Neuraura, with Dr. Buchanan,
or Electiricty, Etherium, or any  thing else you please.   Nor is it easy
to see any singular merit in substituting new terms  for the same old no-
tions.   I say  old notions, for, though this writer has elaborated a  work
of some 350 pages, professedly in explanation of the " Philosophy of
Mesmerism," and has  numerous  repetitions of his  ideas on the same
subject, yet I cannot perceive that  he has, in the principal features of his
theory,  advanced a  single step from Mesmer and Puysegar, or even Dr.
Buchanan.   The fluid notion is common  to them all, and it is one and
the same thing, by  whatever  name it may be distinguished.  I find in
his book not a few contradictions,  and incorrect  statements; and a dis-
play of more self-esteem than was necessary to  antagonize all  the ex-
citement  he could  induce in his conscientiousness, benevolence and
suavity combined.   As he makes a show of having confuted my own the-
ory of Pathetism, it will not, perhaps, be out of place for me to give the
work a passing notice ; and in doing so, if it should appear  that he has
made statements which will not bear the scrutiny of scientific research,
statements about historical facts, which are false, and, withal, if it should
appear that  he has  borrowed a few  " new discoveries " from  my own
work  on Pathetism, and claimed them as his  own, I will leave it to you
to say, how much these things are to weigh in favor of the " etherium "
notions  of Mr. J. Stanly Grimes.
   As his avowed object was to prove the truth of the fluid theory, in op-
position to the theory of Pathetism, it was  to be expected, as a matter of
course, that he would  have informed  his readers what the theory of
Pathetism was, that  he might have the full  benefit of  its  confutation.
This, however, he  has  not done, and though he quotes  largely from the
Magnet, (and when it suits his purpose) from my book on Pathetism, yet
he has never once  attempted to state my theory in my own words !  My
book  contains my  views on this subject, up to the time it was issued.
The Magnet  was never designed  to advocate any  theory, exclusively,
and hence I stated in its pages, from time to time, that its object was to
give facts, and  afford an opportunity for all friends of the science to ex- 
36
CRITICAL REMARKS.
press their own views in  their own way.   And yet, while Mr. Grimes
had my book before him, (for he says he " had read it carefully,") he
fills a dozen of his  own pages with quotations, not from  my work, but
from the numbers of the Magnet, and which contained views that I had
expressly repudiated in my work on Pathetism.   If this was without de-
sign, on the part of Mr. G., it shows his ignorance ; if it was done from
design, it shows a dishonest motive.
  But, waiving this  ground of complaint, let us  proceed to notice a  few
of the rays of  light  which  Mr.  G. himself assumes to have shed upon
this subject.

  "One mind cannot influence another but through  the instrumentality of mo-
tion.—p. 17.

  This is obscure.  He should have told us, of which mind the motion
is affirmed —the one that is acted upon, or the other; and also whether
there can be  thought without motion.  Because if a mere thought may-
be the cause or effect of  cerebral motion, or may  be the necessary ac-
companiment of cerebral  motion, there is a sense  in which one  mind,
without motion in itself, at  the time, may act upon another mind.   It is
when one mind is excited or depressed, or impressed, in any way,  by its
conceptions, merely, of another mind.

  " One thing cannot influence another with which it is not in contact, unless
there is some material substance existing or passing between every  portion of
the space which separates them."—lb.

  Doubted.  It would follow, from this assumption, that the Deity him-
self  cannot influence  mind without physical " contact,"  or that there
could be no relation or connection between two  different minds, with-
out physical  " contact."   My mind  is, at this  moment, influenced by
my conceptions of Adam, so that it is true, that in some sense, Adam's
existence  communicates  motion or  emotion to  my own mind; but  it is
not true, that there  is  a " material connection " between  my mind and
that of Adam, the first man that ever lived.
  The following contains a new idea :

  "The involuntary motions constitute life.—p. 26.

  What is  the difference in " involuntary  motions ?!'   Are  they not
alike ?   And if so,  then  it follows that all " involuntary " motions are 
CRITICAL  REMARKS.
37
life !  Hence all magnetic, or electrical, motions constitute life, and this
" etherium," which " generates," as this writer tells us, every thing else,
besides itself, must be alive, also!  And in the same breath he informs
us, in addition  to the above, that this " etherium "  modifies every thing,
and is, at the same time, modified  by every object from  which it is
emanated !   It is the cause and the effect, at one and the same time, of all
things!"
   Here is another " etherium " definition :—

  " Sympathy is  when an active organ in the  operator communicates its own
motions to the corresponding organ in the subject, so as to make it act in  a sim-
ilar manner."—p. 36.
  " Sympathy means same emotion, same feeling, same condition."—p. 160.
  " The currents of the operator's etherium, after having moved the organs of
the operator  himself, proceeded to the corresponding organs of the subject, and
moved them  in a similar manner.   This is sympathy in a strict philosophical
sense."—p. 196.

   Let us see.  The operator, it is said, wills his  subject to  laugh, and
he laughs.   The " active organ "  in the  operator, in this  case, is  his
will; but the active organ in the subject is  not his will, but  his mirth.
The operator, by a  mere volition (it  is said) causes his subject to walk;
and  in this,  as well as in a thousand other like cases, the " active organs "
in the operator and his subject are not the same.   Our author furnishes a
case in point, and I will quote it here, inasmuch as he " takes the liberty
to recommend it to the attention of Dr. Elliotson."   To my own mind, it
affords conclusive evidence that the author of " Etherology " is not so
familiar  with the real nature of  the  subject on  which he has written, as
he himself seems to imagine.  He says :

  " Take almost any person who  is unacquainted with the subject, or with the
object of the experiment — ask him to sit down  and close his eyes, and keep
them closed. Take hold of his hands, as if you were  going to induct him in
the usual manner, and, after you have  held them above five or ten minutes, let
go carefully  of one hand, and will the  thumb to  move,  and in five cases out of
six it will do so, even though the subject is not in the least asleep, and though
he is so slightly affected that he stoutly denies that he is affected at all."—p. 292.

   And the  movement  of a thumb, after  having  been  tightly held, in
this  manner, " for five or ten minutes," is appealed to by Mr. Grimes, as
a demonstration that a mere volition of the operator is sufficient to  move
the muscles of the patient!  And to  such an experiment he  invites  the
                   4 
38
CRITICAL  REMARKS.
attention of one of the most able physiologists in England, for the pur-
pose of enabling him to make up his mind as to the effects of the human
will, when  exerted, independently  of all contact, over  a subject in the
sympathetic sleep !!
   The  slightest  attention to the sense of feeling, or of consciousness,
would seem sufficient to enable the merest novice to account for a move-
ment of the thumb, or  any other part of  the body under the control of
the subject's own will, after it has been subjected to  the pressure  of the
process above described.   The mind, or the sense of feeling, instinctively
prompts one to such  a movement, that he may perceive the state  of the
part which has been compressed or subjected to a kind of involuntary
restraint.  The effects would be the same upon the  limbs  of animals;
and I am serious in  saying, that Mr. Grimes would  be still more  suc-
cessful, if in future,  he were to try, in the way he describes,  the effects
of his " will" upon  the tail of  a cat, or  any  of the  canine race.   He
would, undoubtedly, see their tails move in all directions, after pinching,
but I could not advise him to believe that they moved solely in obedience
to a fluid eliminated  into them from  his brain.  Let him go  through
with the process  of clasping or pinching the  thumbs, or  the tails, " and
then let go carefully," and " will" them not to move, and see  if " in five
cases out of six" he  succeeds, or that he can satisfy " Dr. Elliotson "
that the results are produced by his will, independently of the imagina-
tion of the subject on whom he operates.
   But, suppose the thumbs do  move, as he assumes, merely because he
wills them to move ?   How do results of this kind agree with  his defini-
tion of sympathy, which he represents as a result that comes out from a
corresponding activity in  the same organs, both in  the operator and  the
subject.
   Mr. G. has considerable to say upon  consciousness, and here  is a
new idea upon it:

  " There are some reasons for suspecting, that every atom of matter in exist-
ence is capable  of consciousness, when placed in the circumstances  and  condi-
tions favorable to its development."—p. 140.
  " If consciousness depends upon an ultimate material particle, it is not im-
possible that the very identical consciousness which is now  possessed by Queen
Victoria, was once possessed by  Queen Maud;  and  it may be, that if Her
Majesty will  resolutely set to work, she may  be  able to recollect the circum-
stance.  If this principle be  admitted, it may be also, that the future state, con-
dition, and associations of consciousness, will be dependent upon the aptitudes
and habits, the  moral  and physical sympathies and antipathies  which  it  has
acquired in its past and present state — but we can no longer  touch bottom."—lb. 
CRITICAL  REMARKS.
39
   Such is the light which this writer sheds upon consciousness, and  the
above is in perfect keeping with two-thirds of his book, in which he ex-
patiates with equal  clearness, when  it is  equally impossible  for him or
any of his readers to " touch bottom,"  or tell, with any degree of cer-
tainty, what his meaning is.  The following extracts  show us  one way
in which this writer accounts for clairvoyance:

  " I have seen a ring handed to a subject; and the owner of the ring, who lived
at a distance, described—the sex, health, residence and state of mind, and many
other circumstances, with great accuracy.  The ring  being  inducted by the
etherium of the owner, partially retains and communicates the motions which it
has received, just as a magnet does, or a scented handkerchief.  The ring, if it
has continued to emanate motions of etherium all the way from the place where
the owner resides, to the residence of the subject, has made a path  which may
aid the clairvoyant subject in finding him.—pp. 233, 234.

   " If it has."   Why does the writer put in this " if?"  According to
his theory, every particle of matter is constantly emitting the " etheri-
um," and if the  ring does not emit the etherium before  it  reaches  the
clairvoyant, it emits none afterward; and if it emits none after it reaches
the subject, of course he could not, according to this " etherium " theory,
tell where the ring came from !
   Nor is this the only difficulty :

  " The motions of the etherium are peculiarly modified in each successive ave
nue or stage through which it is obliged  to pass."
  " Etherium is  modified by each external object from which it emanates ;  for
there is no doubt that every object imparts its  own peculiar character, in some
degree, at least,  to the etherium which it is constantly receiving and emitting."
—p. 21.

   Now, conceive, if you can, of a "path"''' made  by this " etherium,"
say five hundred miles, " all the way " from the place where the owner
of the  ring resides, to the residence of the subject," and  this, too, while
every particle of the atmosphere, and every other object  with which  the
ring has come  in contact, during this immense distance, has, in  ten
thousand ways, operated in " modifying " its " motions."  The mind has
no faculty for conceiving the possibility of  results  brought about in this
way, except, indeed, it be  done by  that all potent organ of Creden-
civeness, of which Mr. Grimes makes so great an account.  The notion,
however, is not original, as Mr. Grimes seems to think.  The same idea
is advanced by Mr. Townshend, and it is believed to have  been suffi-
ciently refuted, in my work on Pathetism, three years  ago. 
40
CRITICAL  REMARKS.
   But it is impossible to reconcile Mr. G.'s notions with his own the-
 ory,  and in his attempts to  confute  Dr.  Buchanan's notions, he com-
 pletely upsets his own.  For instance, Mr. G. says :

   u Admitting that emanations of etherium stream from the extremities of the
 fingers, would they not be conducted away in all directions by the innumerable
 nerve and blood vessels, the skull and membranes which intervene between the
 spot touched and the phreno-organs which are supposed to be excited?"—p. 282.

   Precisely so !  And admitting that the " etherium  streams " from the
 ring, how is  it conducted into one of the clairvoyant's organs rather than
 another ?  " Etherology"  does  not, and  cannot,  tell  how;  and  thus
 you will perceive, that while Mr.  G. confutes Dr.  Buchanan, he con-
 futes himself also ;  though, I should add, perhaps, that  the above argu-
 ment is not original with Mr. G., as it  was published  some two years be-
 fore his book appeared, as you will see, by turning to my work, pages 73
 and 343, where  you will find that I used this very same argument, and for
 a similar purpose ;  it was to show the falsity of Dr.  Buchanan's theory,
 in relation to the excitement of the cerebral organs  by a fluid.
   The following direction  for  operating, will  show that Mr.  Grimes
 himself has what he  calls the organ of " Credencinusness " well devel-
 oped, as well as his subjects :

  " Let the subject sit  down, and not cross his legs, as  it will interrupt  the
 circulation."—p. 315.

   Crossing the legs " interrupts the circulation " of the etherium !! !
   And on page 236 he gives the  particulars of an experiment with one
 of his " credencive "  subjects, who saw the fluid [ ! ]  or " etherium,"
 as he calls it:—

  " The moment she mentioned the fluid,  I interrupted her, and asked her what
fluid she meant.   She answered ' This,' holding out her fingers and moving
 them  as if she perceived  something  emanating from them; ' this  is it, don't
 you see it?' "

   Whether our  author himself actually saw the fluid, or not, he has not
 informed us.   But he  has yet to  learn that when " Marvellousness " is
 once excited to a certain degree,  he or his subjects can see   or believe
 any thing.   He  can see  the " fluid " stop the moment a subject happens
 to " cross his legs " while the operator is inducing  the sleep ; and one
 of Dr. Buchanan's followers, in  New York, (S.  J., Esq.,) once told  me
 that he himself  had positively " seen  the fluid  streaming from his own 
CRITICAL  REMARKS.
41
fingers," at a certain time, while in the act of operating for the cure of
some disease !   It was, he said, of " the color of smoke ! ! "
  It has been in the excitement of the same organs of Marvellousness,
that somnambulists have been made to declare that they " saw the fluid ;"
but this is not so much to  be wondered at, as it is when we  find opera-
tors, claiming a medium degree of intelligence, who profess their belief
in these sights.   A man who could believe that  his subject actually saw
an invisible "fluid,'''' must have an organ of " Credenciveness " by  far
too  large to allow of his hesitating  to believe any thing  which afforded
the  least  prospect of  gratification  to  his  love  of  distinction,  or self-
esteem.  A change of circumstances would put him in a position of ri-
valship with  Joe  Smith, or Joanna  Southcote;  and you  will, I  think,
agree with me, when  I declare it  as  my opinion, that science has but
little to expect from the labors of such  minds. 
LETTER  VIII.
                                           Boston, July  24,  1845.
   Dear Sir,—As you  desire it, I proceed to point out a few of Mr.
 Grimes's incorrect statements — statements which are so palpably false,
 some of them, at least, that I find it utterly impossible to account for
 them, consistently with either his intelligence or honesty.  If he did not
 know that the following representations were false, he was  incompetent
 for writing  upon the subject on which he  undertook to enlighten the
 public.   If he made  them, knowing them to be false, he is guilty  of  a
 crime that renders him  unworthy of public  confidence  as an author or
 teacher on any subject.   He says :

  " My  object is to rebut the absurd  doctrine of Sunderland, Buchanan, and
-others, that clairvoyance depends upon a peculiar  organ, which was bestowed
 upon man for that very purpose."—p. 218.

   My theory is contained in my work, the latest publication I have made
-on the subject of clairvoyance, and every thing else connected with this
 subject till now.   And Mr.  Grimes  declares, page 112, that  he had  read
 this work carefully.  I never taught that clairvoyance depended upon  a
 peculiar organ given us for this purpose.   As you have seen, I resolve this
 power into what  has been denominated Instinct.    There is  not  the
 least  reason for this representation of Mr. Grimes.
   Here  is another mistake  :

  " It should be understood that La Roy Sunderland  claims to have been the
 first to discover that the organs of the  brain can be excited by touching them,"
 —p. 109.

   This is not true ;  as you will see by turning to pages 139, 141, and
 142 of my book, and especially the first and second paragraphs  on page
 141.   I  stated, years ago, that I had no confidence in those cerebral ex-
 citements for proving the precise locations of the  mental organs.
   And here is another :

  " Not one of those who have adopted this doctrine concerning the excitement
 of the phreno-organs, has yet retracted, or even  expressed a doubt concerning
 the truthfulness of their conclusions."—p. 281. 
CRITICAL  REMARKS.
43
   Almost every page of my work might be referred to as a confutation
 of the  above statement.   See  especially, pages  141,  145,  146, 147,
 240, and 247 inclusive.  Compare these pages  with the following, and
 it will be seen that while I make nothing at all of the excitement of the
 phrenological organs by Pathetism, Mr. G. himself makes every thing of
 it.  He is speaking of  his clairvoyant subject  who sato [ ! ] the " ethe-
 rium :"—

   " I then asked  her concerning the location and  uses of several new phreno-
 organs, which I suppose that J had discovered, and, to my surprise, she answered
 me without  the  least hesitation, and confirmed all my previous opinions [of
 course she did, for she got her views from Mr. Grimes' mind, according  to his
 own theory,] not even excepting those opinions I had never mentioned  to any
 one, and which she  could only  have known from clairvoyance.  As far as 1
 know, this was the first attempt to learn the functions of the brain by means of
 Mesmerism; and notwithstanding all the boasting of the Pathetizers  and Neu-
 rologizers, I still think that this method is the only one which will be found of
 any use."—p. 237.

   Now, I depend neither  upon cerebral excitements, by Pathetism, nor
 upon the  statements of clairvoyants, for fixing the locations of the men-
 tal organs ;  and all this I published to the world years ago.*
   On page  250, Mr. G. informs us that the credit of having discovered
 the head-touching  principle is supposed  to belong  to Spencer T.  Hall;
 but in  making this statement, he  only shows his want of  information, as
 you will  see  by turning to page 142 of " Pathetism."
   Mr. G. complains bitterly of " Buchanan, Sunderland, Caldwell," and
 even  " Dr.  Elliotson and others," for having, as he thinks, so strangely
 overlooked  his  wonderful  discoveries,  for  you  should  know, that he
 seems to claim  the credit  of having discovered about  every thing in
 " Phrenology and Mesmerism " there was to be found out.
   Throughout his  book he has  much to say on what he  denominates

  * When I first excited the separate cerebral organs, in August, 1841,1 thought
 I had made an important discovery, one by which I could demonstrate the truth
of Phrenology, and the precise location of each of the  mental organs.   But  I
 very soon found that those excitements could not be depended upon, as 1  at first
 supposed, and becoming satisfied that what I thought was a discovery was of no
 very great importance, and, as I found A. B. C. D., &c, throughout the coun-
 try, claiming the  same discoveries, 1 long ago relinquished my claims, being
 perfectly willing  that those who  wished the credit of priority in those experi-
ments of exciting the mental organs, should enjoy it without any  rivalship from
me. 
44
CRITICAL REMARKS.
 " Credenciveness,"  and " Credencive experiments."   By Crcdcncivc-
 ness, he  means  precisely  what Gall, Spurzheim, Combe, and other
 phrenologists mean  by Marvellousness, or Credulity, and precisely what
 I explained in my book, by " Faith," or the " mental apprehensions " of
 the patient.  The drift of my entire work goes to show, that I accounted
 for most  of the results produced by Dr. Buchanan, Mesmer, Baird, and
 others, not by a fluid, but by the operation of certain relations brought
 to bear upon the  patient's mind, through his " apprehensions," or knowl-
 edge of the operator's design, as you will have seen from my Theory,
 (XIII.)
   It  was by this law  of " Credenciveness,"  that I accounted for the
 results produced by  Mesmer, (page 65,) also the results which follow an
 "assertion" of the  operator, (pages 232, 246, 234, and  111.   In  this
 way I accounted  for the effects produced by the u Tractors " of Perkins,
 (pp. 106-108) and  numerous other phenomena, which  had  seemed to
 remain shrouded in  mystery, or  attributed to supernatural agency.  In-
 deed, this very idea  may be found repeated upon  almost every page of
 my book, so that any  school-boy, who  reads  it, as Mr. Grimes says he
 had, " Carefully," could not fail of perceiving  this fact recognized as a
fundamental principle in my theory.   But  this same Mr. Grimes, who
 " declines " an " acquaintance  with George Combe," says he  " finds it
 impossible to understand "  my  theory, or, " if he does  understand it,
 it is perfectly obscured."—p. 112.
   But now for the proof, that Mr.  Grimes  did understand my theory,
 or a part of it, at  least, and that he has borrowed it, and having baptized
 it  under the name of " Etherology," he has published it to the world as
 his own, and claimed it as his own original discovery :

  " Credenciveness will  induct any  part which the operator pleases, or even
 any part which the subject believes or  suspects that the operator desires to in-
 duct.  This principle of self-induction has never before, to my knowledge, been
 announced."—p. 38.

   And, lest the  reader  should  not remember the  above original  an-
 nouncement, he repeats the account again, in the following terms:

  "While engaged in  performing various experiments,  I made a very import-
 ant discovery, which  I have never  before  communicated to the  public in
 writing." [!]

   Preserve your gravity.   Such  oracular announcements as the above
 should be received with becoming solemnity.  Here is another : 
CRITICAL REMARKS.
45
  " This explanation of the nature of credenciveness is a key to most of the
wonderful experiments and discoveries of Buchanan and Sunderland, of Baird,
Hall, and Elliotson.  It explains, also, the apparent contradictions and absurdi-
ties which embarrassed the celebrated French Committee of which Dr. Frank-
lin was a member."—p. 195.

  Now, Mr. Grimes  does not seem to have known that a Committee of
the French Academy, in 1825, accounted  for  Mesmeric results in  pre-
cisely the same way; though indeed he has,  on page 67  quoted from
the report  of that Committee,  the  evidence  of  this  fact,  where they
account for those results by the " expectation " of the subject.  And in
precisely the same way I accounted for them ;  and if you examine pages
111 and 113 of Mr. G.'s book, you will find he has quoted passages from
my work, in which I had maintained this very same doctrine, in relation to
the effects caused by " credenciveness," or the " apprehension " of the
patient; effects which have been well known to all persons familiar with
mind ever since the world was made, and which Mr. G. so gravely thinks
no one ever knew before  himself!   I noticed them in my  work simply
for the  purpose of illustrating certain laws of the mind, which I had
attempted to arrange and classify in my Theory.  And now, two years
after the announcement of my  Theory, this writer, " while engaged in
performing experiments," makes and solemnly announces a most  im-
portant and wonderful discovery  of precisely the same  thing!
  I have already quoted an argument he uses  against Dr. Buchanan's
theory,  (page 282,) and shown that the same  argument was used two
years before, in "my work, which Mr. Grimes says he had  read " care-
fully."  And, on pages 40, 41, he gives  an explanation of Witchcraft,
which he had "read  carefully"  in my book, page 210.  On  page 226,
he  attempts to show how it  is  that " whole  communities" are often
affected by  sympathy  and  imitation, as  if this explanation of those
strange results had never been thought of before ; but turn to my work,
pages 51 and 57,  inclusive, and you will  find the same explanation
had already been given, and which Mr. Grimes had  " carefully  read."
His illustrations of the clairvoyant power by " instinct," (page 232,) may
be found in my book, pages 213  and  214.
  Mr. G. not only labors hard to establish  his  own priority of claim to
certain discoveries, but he puts forth certain claims in  behalf of  others,
which are equally unfounded, as  the reader may see.   Speaking of  the
excitement  of the separate cerebral organs, he  says : —

  " There is no evidence that Sunderland or Buchanan made their experiments
before the spring of 1841, whereas  Mr. Garfield made his known to me in  the 
46
CRITICAL  REMARKS.
previous winter, so that if there is any honor in the priority, it belongs of right
to Mr. Garfield."—p. 238.

   I have already referred to the places in  my book, from which it will
be seen that I do not n^ike any claims to priority, like those Mr. Grimes
represents; and on page 141 he will find that I gave Dr. Cleaveland, of
Providence, R. I., the credit of having excited  the cerebral organs by
this agency, as long ago as 1837, five years before the  time when this
writer tells us it was first done by Mr. Garfield.   Mr. Grimes must have
known this  fact.   Mr. G. refers to the first volume of the Magnet, for
what he says  of  my " claims " to priority ; and  this, too, while he had
my work on Pathetism before him,  in which I disclaimed every thing of
the kind, except what I have stated  in the preface, page 7.
   The following  extracts are sufficient to  show that Mr. G.  has a little
self-esteem, as well as " credenciveness:"

  " Mr. George Combe had just arrived in this country, at  the time when my
work  was issued, and I was desirous to receive his sanction of the new doctrines
which I had advanced.  But, before I had an opportunity to make his acquaint-
ance,  I learned that he considered my new system as dangerous to his own per-
sonal  ambition; — under these circumstances, I declined his acquaintance."
p. 12.
  "I believe that I  am  the first who has attempted  to show their fallacy."—
p. 281.
  " I believe that / am the first to attempt to give an explanation, and on this
ground I claim some indulgence."—p. 300.

   The above forcibly reminds one of  the lion in the  verses of Sir Rich-
ard Blackmore —
               " The lordly lion looked so wondrous grim,
                 His very shadow durst not follow him."

   Mr. Grimes seems to feel extreme mortification that  neither " Fowler,
Buchanan, nor Sunderland," had  ever read his  work  on  Phrenology!
and he charges them with appropriating his phrenological discoveries in
terms indicative of great wrath : —

  " The reader may, perhaps, suppose  that these  great discoverers, when they
found that they had previously done me injustice, were prompt in acknowledge-
ments, and  loud in their proclamations of my priority and correctness.  My
dear reader, let me  assure you that, on the contrary, they have forgotten, or
never knew, that such a work as that of mine was ever published." [! !!] p. 245.
         ****«♦* 
CRITICAL REMARKS.
47
  For Messrs, Fowler and  Buchanan I cannot speak; but for myself, I
am  under the disagreeable  and painful necessity of confessing  to you,
that I never did know, previous to reading the above humiliating an-
nouncement, " that  such a work" as that referred to by the said  J.
Stanley Grimes, " was ever published."   Indeed, I scarcely knew that
such a man as this Mr. Grimes had ever existed; his book I never read,
never saw  it, that I  know  of,  and, though I perceive  that this  want  of
knowledge  on my part  is a  cause of poignant grief to  the said Mr.
Grimes, for the life of me I cannot tell how he may find relief, unless he
should set his " credenciveness " to work, and " induct" his good  sense
enough to  counteract the  undue  development of his self-esteem.   In
that case he might, perhaps, upon  mature reflection, come to the  grave
conclusion, that  there may  be a very  few other  blockheads in this
world, who, indeed, never  did know, that  the said J. Stanley  Grimes,
" Etherologist," " Counsellor at Law," " President  of  the Buffalo  Phre-
nological Society," " Professor of Medical Jurisprudence," and " Author
of  a New System of Phrenology," had condescended to  enlighten the
world upon this or any other subject. 
       Preparing  for  the  Press.


              PATHETISM;

    A  NEW  THEORY  OF  MIND,
                       ILLUSTRATING the
PHILOSOPHY OF  HUMAN INFLUENCE  AND  ACTION, THE
  SUSCEPTIBILITIES  AND POWERS  OF  THE NERVOUS
       SYSTEM, AND GIVING  THE RATIONALE OF

            LIFE  AND  HEALTH,

SLEEP, DREAMING, SOMNAMBULISM, TRANCE, ECSTACY, SPEC-
  TRAL ILLUSIONS, VISIONS, INSANITY, CHARMS, WITCH-
    CRAFT,  SECOND-SIGHT,  SPELLS,  ENCHANTMENTS,
       FASCINATION, DOUBLE  CONSCIOUSNESS,  HAL-
         LUCINATION, DELUSION, INSTINCT or CLAIR-
                 VOYANCE, PRESENTIMENTS,
AND EVERY SENSATION, EMOTION, CONCEPTION, PERCEPTION,  AND CON-
                     DITION, PECULIAR TO

                      MIND;
                     TOGETHER WITH THE
       EXTRAORDINARY  PHENOMENA
Prevalent among the Ancient Egyptians, the Hindoos, Mohammedans,
Anabaptists, French Prophets, Ranters,  Roman Catholics, Shaking
Quakers, Mormons, and other Sects, which have hitherto been considered
            SUPERNATURAL OR MIRACULOUS,
And many similar and strange results sometimes  connected with Reli-
gious, Political, and various other excitements, showing the  nature of
Moral, Sympathetic, Mania, Temptations, the Principles  concerned in
the Formation of Character, and the  pursuit of the highest good, includ-
ing whatever relates  to
        PHRENOLOGY, PATHOGNOMY, PHYSIOGNOMY,
          AND  THE TRUE  SCIENCE  OF LIFE.
               BY  LA  ROY SUNDERLAND.

 "There cannot be a sounder maxim of reasoning, than that which points out to ua the error of
attributing the phenomena that occur to remote and extraordinary causes, when they may, with equai
propriety, be referred to causes which obviously exist, and the results of which we daliy observe."
  With Appendices, containing critical remarks on the Theories of Mesmer,
Townshend, Braid, Dr. Buchanan, J. S. Grimes, and others, and showing the
Philosophy of Religion, in its adaptation to the constitutional susceptibilities of
the Human Mind, &c. &c. 
 
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