BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
Cerebral Hyperemia 
THE RESULTS OF 
Mental Strain, or Emotional 
Disturbance 
i6mo, cloth, - - fi.oo 
“Under the disguise of these hard words Dr 
Hammond presents a variety of admirable coun- 
sels with regard to an excess of blood in the head, 
pointing out its causes, its symptoms, the mode 
of its medical treatment, and the means of its 
prevention.”—New York Tribune. 
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. ON 
CERTAIN CONDITIONS 
OF 
NERVOUS DERANGEMENT 
SOMNAMBULISM HYPNOTISM HYSTERIA HYSTEROID 
AFFECTIONS, ETC. 
BY 
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D., 
SURGEON GENERAL U. S. ARMY (RETIRED LIST) J PROFESSOR OF DISEASES OF 
THE MIND AND NERVOUS SYSTEM IN THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF 
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ETC. 
“ Ratio quasi quadarn lux lumenque vita.”—Cicero. 
NEW YORK 
"%■ P. PUTNAM’S SONS' 
.182 FIFTH AVENUE 
' \ I88l COPYRIGHT BY 
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS 
1881 PREFACE. 
A book,* published in 1876, having for the last two 
years been out of print, I have taken the opportunity 
afforded by the demand for a new edition—which 
would long ago have been complied with but for the 
stress of other engagements—to thoroughly revise the 
work, and while adding largely to the subjects now con- 
sidered, to make it more homogeneous by omitting 
everything specially relating to spiritualism. 
The interesting conditions of which the present vol- 
ume treats are being very attentively studied both in 
this country and in Europe, and ought to be brought 
to the knowledge of the general reader. They are the 
fields upon which the miracle-worker expends his most 
energetic labor, for he knows something of the forms 
under which they are manifested, and he also knows that 
by making adroit use of them he can deceive thousands 
of innocent but ignorant people to his own advantage, 
and that of any system which requires miracles for its 
establishment or aggrandizement. 
As a knowledge of the conditions in question be- 
comes more diffused, the ability to work miracles will 
be correspondingly diminished, and in the hope of con- 
tributing to these ends this little book is written. 
New York, Jan. i, 1881. 
* “Spiritualism and Other Causes and Conditions of Nervous Derange- 
ment.” New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1876. CONTENTS 
CHAPTER PAGE 
I. Certain Conditions of Nervous Derange- 
ment ...... i 
II. Some Phases of Hysteria . . -38 
III. Another Phase of Hysteria—Fasting Girls. 83 
IV. The Hysteroid Affections—Catalepsy, Ec- 
stasy AND HySTERO-EpILEPSY . . 114 
V. Stigmatization ..... 154 
VI. Supernatural Cures .... 188 
VII. Some of the Causes which lead to Senso- 
rial Deception and Delusional Beliefs 229 CERTAIN CONDITIONS OF NERVOUS 
DERANGEMENT. 
CHAPTER I. 
IN the condition known as somnambulism there appears to 
be a more or less perfect state of automatism, which is 
the governing power of the individual. Certain faculties and 
senses are intensely exalted, while others are as completely 
suspended in action. If the attention can be concentrated 
upon any particular idea, circumstance or object, great lucid- 
ity is manifested. On the other hand, there may be, and gen- 
erally is, the most profound abstraction of mind in regard 
to all other ideas and things. 
The most thorough work on natural somnambulism is that 
of Bertrand,* published over fifty years ago, but which is still 
admirable for the truthful account of the various phenomena 
attendant upon the condition in question. Bertrand assigns 
somnambulism to four causes :— 
1. A particular nervous temperament, which predisposes 
individuals otherwise in good health to paroxysms of som- 
nambulism during their ordinary sleep. 
2. It is sometimes produced in the course of certain dis- 
eases, of which it may be considered a symptom or a crisis. 
SOMNAMBULISM—NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL. 
* “ Traite du somnambulisme et des differentes modifications qu’il pre- 
sente.’’ Paris, 1823. 2 
SOMNAMB UL1SM. 
3. It is often seen in the course of the proceeding neces- 
sary to bring on the condition known as animal magnetism. 
4. It may result as a consequence of a high degree of 
mental exaltation. It is in this state contagious by imitation 
to such persons as are submitted to the same influence. 
From these four categories of causes, Bertrand distinguishes 
four kinds of somnambulism—the natural, the symptomatic, 
the artificial, and the ecstatic. Under the artificial variety we 
must include Mr. Braid’s hypnotism. In general terms, there- 
fore, there are two kinds of somnambulism, the natural and 
the artificial. As an instance of the former condition, the 
following case is adduced from a recent monograph of the 
writer: * 
“ A young lady of great personal attractions had the 
misfortune to lose her mother by death from cholera. Several 
other members of the family suffered from the disease, she 
alone escaping, though almost worn out with fatigue, excite- 
ment, and grief. A year after these events her father removed 
from the West to New York, bringing her with him and putting 
her at the head of his household. She had not been long in 
New York before she became affected with symptoms resem- 
bling those met with in chorea. The muscles of the face were 
in almost constant action ; and though she had not altogether 
lost the power to control them by her will, it was difficult at 
times for her to do so. She soon began to talk in her sleep, 
and finally was found one night by her father, as he came 
home, endeavoring to open the street door. She was then, as 
he said, sound asleep, and had to be violently shaken to be 
aroused. After this she made the attempt every night to get 
* “ Sleep and its Derangements,” p. 205. Philadelphia, 1869. NATURAL SOMNAMBULISM. 
3 
out of bed, but was generally prevented by a nurse who slept 
in the same room with her, and who was awakened by the 
noise she made. Her father now consulted me in regard to 
the case, and invited me to the house in order to witness the 
somnambulic acts for myself. One night, therefore, I went to 
his residence, and waited for the expected manifestations. 
The nurse had received orders not to interfere with her charge 
on this occasion, unless it was evident that injury would result, 
and to notify us of the beginning of the performance. 
“ About twelve o’clock she came down stairs and informed 
us that the young lady had risen from her bed and was about 
to dress herself. I went up-stairs, accompanied by her father, 
and met her in the upper hall partly dressed. She was walk- 
ing very slowly and deliberately, her head elevated, her eyes 
open, and her hands hanging loosely by her side. We stood 
aside to let her pass. Without noticing us, she descended the 
stairs to the parlor, we following her. Taking a match which 
she had brought with her from her own room, she rubbed it 
several times on the under side of the mantel-piece until it 
caught fire, and then, turning on the gas, lit it. She next 
threw herself into an arm-chair and looked fixedly at a portrait 
of her mother which hung over the mantel-piece. While she 
was in this position I carefully examined her countenance, and 
performed several experiments, with the view of ascertaining 
the condition of the senses as to activity. 
“ She was very pale, more so than was natural to her; her 
eyes were wide open, and did not wink when the hand was 
brought suddenly in close proximity to them; the muscles of 
the face, which, when she was awake, were almost constantly 
in action, were now perfectly still; her pulse was regular in SOMNAMB ULISM. 
4 
rhythm and force, and beat eighty-two per minute, and the 
respiiation was uniform and slow. 
* I held a large book between her eyes and the picture she 
was apparently looking at, so that she could not see it. She 
nevertheless continued to gaze in the same direction as if no 
obstacle were interposed. I then made several motions as if 
about to strike her in the face. She made no attempt to ward 
off the blows, nor did she give the slightest sign that she saw 
my actions. I touched the corner of each eye with a lead- 
pencil I had in my hand, but even this did not make her close 
her eyelids. I was entirely satisfied that she did not see, at 
least with her eyes. 
“I held a lighted sulphur-match under her nose, so that 
she could not avoid inhaling the sulphurous acid gas which 
escaped. She gave no evidence of feelipg any irritation. 
Cologne-water and other perfumes and smelling-salts likewise 
failed to make any obvious impression on her olfactory nerves. 
“ Through her partially-opened mouth I introduced a piece 
of bread soaked in lemon-juice. She evidently failed to per- 
ceive the sour taste. Another piece of bread saturated with a 
solution of quinine was equally ineffectual. The two pieces 
remained in her mouth a full minute and were then chewed 
and swallowed. 
“ She now arose from her chair and began to pace the 
room in an agitated manner; she wrung her hands, sobbed, 
and wept violently. While she was acting in this way, I struck 
two books together several times so as to make loud noises 
close to her ears. This failed to interrupt her. 
“ I then took her by the hand and led her back to the 
chair in which she had previously been sitting. She made no NATURAL SOMNAMBULISM. 
5 
resistance, but sat down quietly and soon became perfectly 
calm. 
“ Scratching the back of her hand with a pin, pulling her 
hair, and pinching her face, appeared to excite no sensation. 
“ I then took off her slippers and tickled the soles of her 
feet. She at once drew them away, but no laughter was 
produced. As often as this experiment was repeated, the feet 
were drawn up. The spinal cord was therefore awake. 
“ She had now been down-stairs about twenty minutes. 
Desiring to awake her, I shook her by the shoulders quite 
violently for several seconds without success. 
I then took her head between my hands and shook it. 
This proved effectual in a little while. She awoke suddenly, 
looked around her for an instant, as if endeavoring to com- 
prehend her situation, and then burst into a fit of hysterical 
sobbing. When she recovered her equanimity she had no 
recollection of any thing that had passed, or of having had a 
dream of any kind.” 
This case illustrates very well some of the principal 
phenomena of natural somnambulism. Many others are on 
record which, in many respects, are more remarkable, but it is 
scarcely necessary to refer to them here at greater length, 
though a word or two in regard to Jane Rider, the Springfield 
somnambulist, will be both instructive and interesting. 
When she began her manifestations Jane Rider was in her 
seventeenth year. She was intelligent, of mild and obliging 
disposition, and had the confidence and esteem of those who 
knew her. Her education was superior to that of persons oc- 
cupying her class in society, and she was particularly fond of 
poetry and of reading generally. She was of full habit and of 6 
SOMNAMB ULISM 
prepossessing appearance, but was subject to headaches, and 
about three years previously was affected for several months 
with chorea. A small spot on the left side of her head had 
been tender from her earliest recollection, and the sensibility 
was much increased when she suffered from headache. 
Dr. Belden,* from whose account I derive the foregoing and 
the following particulars, states that the first attack began on 
the night of June 24, 1832. When he saw her she was strug- 
gling to get out of bed, and complained at the same time of 
pain in the left side of the head. Her head was hot, the face 
flushed and her pulse much excited. An emetic was given her, 
and she vomited a large quantity of green currants; after which 
she became quiet. 
Nearly a month elapsed before she had another paroxysm. 
Then, after several attempts on the part of her friends to keep 
her in bed, it was determined to allow her to take her own 
course and to watch her movements. Having dressed herself 
she went down stairs and proceeded to make preparations for 
breakfast. She set the table, arranged the various articles 
with the utmost precision, went into a dark room and into a 
closet at the most remote corner, from which she took the 
coffee cups, placed them on a waiter, turned it sideways to pass 
through the doors, avoided all intervening obstacles, and de- 
posited the whole safely on the table. 
She then went into the pantry, the blinds of which were 
shut, and the door closed after her. She then skimmed the 
milk, poured the cream into one cup and the milk into another 
without spilling a drop. She then cut the bread, placed it reg- 
* An account of Tane C. Rider, the Springfield Somnambulist. Spring- 
field, 1834. ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 
ularly on the plate, and divided the slices in the middle. In 
fine, she went through the whole operation with as much pre- 
cision as the cook in open day; and this with her eyes closed 
and without any light except that from one lamp which was 
standing in the breakfast room to enable the family to observe 
her operations. During the whole time, she seemed to take no 
notice of those around her, unless they purposely stood in her 
way, or placed chairs or other obstacles before her, when she 
avoided them, with an expression of impatience at being thus 
disturbed. 
She finally returned voluntarily to bed, and on finding the 
table arranged for breakfast when she made her appearance in 
the morning, inquired why she had been allowed to sleep while 
another performed her work. None of the transactions of the 
preceding night had left the slightest impression on her mind. 
Then she had many more paroxysms similar in general 
character to that just described, and during which she was sub- 
mitted by Dr. Belden and others to many experiments. 
Though it was found that her sense of sight was greatly in- 
creased in acuteness, she had no clairvoyance, properly so-called. 
It was ascertained, too, that though she had no recollection, 
when awake, of what she had done during a paroxysm, she re- 
membered in one paroxysm the events of the preceding one. 
Finally she was sent to the hospital at Worcester, and there, 
under suitable treatment, her seizures became less frequent and 
finally disappeared altogether. 
Now, it has long been known that somnambulism can be 
artificially induced. Even before the time of Mesmer there 
were occasional illustrations of this fact; but Puysegur is 
entitled to the credit of being the first to systematize them and 
7 8 
SOMNAMB UL/SM. 
to practise the art of producing factitious somnambulism. He 
caused it by passes, and finally, it is claimed, by simple acts of 
the will. The Abbe Faria induced it by shouting, and Bar- 
berin by praying! Other methods were also employed ; and, 
as its identity with mesmerism became generally recognized, it 
had ascribed to it the name of mesmeric or magnetic sleep. 
No one has more thoroughly investigated the nature of 
artificial somnambulism than Mr. Braid,* who gives the follow- 
ing as his ordinary method of procedure : 
“Take any bright object (I generally use my lancet-case) 
between the thumb and fore and middle fingers of the left 
hand, hold it from eight to fifteen inches from the eyes at such 
position above the forehead as may be necessary to produce 
the greatest possible strain upon the eyes and eyelids, and 
enable the patient to maintain a steady, fixed stare at the 
object. It will generally be found that the eyelids close with 
a vibratory motion, or become spasmodically closed. After 
ten or fifteen seconds have elapsed, by gently elevating the 
arms and legs, it will be found that the patient has a disposi- 
tion to retain them in the situation in which they have been 
placed, if he is intensely affected. If this is not the case, 
desire him to retain the limbs in the extended position, and 
thus the pulse will speedily become greatly accelerated, and 
the limbs, in process of time, become quite rigid and involun- 
tarily fixed. It will also be found that all the organs of 
special sense, excepting sight, including heat, and cold, and 
muscular motion or resistance, are at first prodigiously exalted,, 
such as happens with regard to the primary effects of opium, 
* “ Neurypnology, or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep, considered in 
Relation with Animal Magnetism,” etc. London, 1843. HYPNOTISM. 
wine, and spirits. After a certain point, however, this exalta- 
tion of function is followed by a state of depression far 
greater than the torpor of natural sleep. From the state of 
the most profound torpor of the organs of special sense and 
tonic rigidity of the muscles, they may at this stage i?ista?itly 
be restored to the opposite condition of extreme mobility and 
exalted sensibility, by directing a current of air against the 
organ or organs we wish to excite to action, or the muscles we 
wish to render limber, and which had been in this catalepti- 
form state. By mere repose the senses will speedily merge 
into the original condition again.” 
Mr. Braid gives examples of this artificial somnambulism 
or hypnotism, as he designates it, which show that its phe- 
nomena are identical with those of natural somnambulism, and 
that it covers much that is alleged to be due to animal magnet- 
ism and modern spiritualism. He found the same condition 
to be produced, though he left the room, if the subject followed 
his directions, so that there could be no suspicion that he 
acted through the medium of any force emanating from his 
body. 
The persons who most readily come into the hypnotic 
condition are of the same class as those who were such 
favorable subjects for the odic force of Von Reichenbach, and 
who now make the best mediums. The writer has very care- 
fully investigated this division of the subject, and has made 
many experiments in regard to it, which leave no doubt in his 
mind that the relation really exists. As an illustration of the 
character of the phenomena, the following case is adduced. 
He does not doubt that the thoughtful reader will at once see, 
that if such a person, as the one whose actions while in the 
9 10 
SOMNAMB UL/SM. 
hypnotic state are described, should be disposed to deceive, or 
should be under the control of designing or ignorant individ- 
uals, she would not fail to be received by many as a medium 
of the first order. 
A short time after writing the account of the young lady 
whose case has just been quoted as an example of natural 
somnambulism, I was informed by her father that her affec- 
tion, which had been cured by suitable medical treatment, had 
returned, owing, as he supposed, to excessive mental exertion, 
she having contracted a taste for philosophy, in the study of 
which she had indulged to a great extent. 
Upon examination, I found that she not only had par- 
oxysms of natural somnambulism, but that she had acquired 
the power of inducing the hypnotic state at will. Her process 
was to take up some one of the philosophical works she was 
in the habit of studying, select a paragraph which required 
intense thought or excited powerful emotion, read it, close the 
book, fix her eyes steadily, but not directing the foci so as to 
see any particular object, and then reflect deeply upon what 
she had read. From the revery thus occasioned, she gradu- 
ually passed into the somnambulic condition. During this 
state it was said she answered questions correctly, read books 
held behind her, described scenes passing in distant places, 
and communicated messages from the dead. She therefore 
possessed, in every essential respect, the qualifications of 
either a clairvoyant or a spiritualistic medium, according to 
the peculiar tenets of belief held by the faithful. 
In accordance with my request, she proceeded to put 
herself into the hypnotic state. With a volume of Plato in 
her hand, she read thus from the Apology of Socrates. Her ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 
11 
voice was calm and impressive, as though she felt every word 
she uttered : 
“ Moreover, we may hence conclude that there is great 
hope that death is a blessing. For to die is one of two 
things: for either the dead may be annihilated and have no 
sensation of any thing whatever, or, as it is said, there is a 
certain change and passage of the soul from one place to 
another. And if it is a privation of all sensation, as it were a 
sleep in which the sleeper has no dream, death would be a 
wonderful gain. For I think that if any one having selected a 
night in which he slept so soundly as not to have had a dream, 
and having compared this night with all the other nights and 
days of his life, should be required on consideration to say 
how many days and nights he had passed better and more 
pleasantly than this night throughout his life, I think that not 
only a private person, but even the great king himself, would 
find them easy to number in comparison with other days and 
nights. If, therefore, death is a thing of this kind, I say it is 
a gain; for thus all futurity appears to be nothing more than 
one night.” 
As she reached the close, her voice became inexpressibly 
sad, the book dropped from her hand, her eyes were fixed on 
vacancy, her hands lay quietly in her lap, her breath came 
irregularly, and tears were flowing down her cheeks. Her 
pulse, which before she began to read was eighty-four per 
minute, was now one hundred and eight. As her abstraction 
became more profound, it fell, till, when she was unconscious, 
three minutes after she ceased reading, it was only seventy- 
two. 
To satisfy myself that she was completely hypnotized, I 12 
SOMNAMB UL/SM. 
held a bottle of strong aqua ammonia to her nostrils. She did 
not evirce the slightest degree of sensibility. Touching the 
eye with the finger—a test that a person practising deception 
could not have borne—equally failed to afford the least 
response indicative of sensation. I was, therefore, satisfied 
that she was in the condition of artificial somnambulism. 
To describe in detail all that took place would lengthen 
unduly this account; such parts, therefore, as are material, and 
which illustrate essential points, will alone be given. 
The writer asked her if there were any spirits in the room. 
“ Yes.” 
“ Whose spirits are they ? ” 
“The spirit of Socrates is here, the spirit of Plato, the 
spirit of Schleiermacher.” (She had been reading before 
my arrival “ Schleiermacher’s Introductions to the Dialogues 
of Plato.”) 
“ Do you not also see the spirit of Schenkelfiirst ? ” 
This was a ruse, there being no such person. 
“ Schenkelfiirst ? ” she asked. 
“Yes; he was Schleiermacher’s constant companion and 
friend.” 
“ Schenkelfiirst,” she repeated ; “ what a singular name ! ” 
She was silent for a moment, and then her face was lit up 
with a smile, and she exclaimed: 
“ I see him ; he is a small, dark man, with sharp, piercing 
eyes; he wears a coat trimmed with fur; he approaches 
Schleiermacher; they embrace; they are talking to each 
other.” 
“Will not Schleiermacher send some message through 
you ? ” ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 
13 
“ No ; he has gone away with his friend.” 
“ Will no other spirit communicate ? ” 
“ Yes, there is one coming now ; a man with a mournful 
face ; his name is Bruno—Giordano Bruno. He speaks; he 
says, ‘O my friends, be of good cheer ; there is no end, even 
as there has been no beginning; the weak-hearted fall from 
the ranks, and, for a time, are lost; but, as there is a portion 
of the divinity in all God’s creatures, even they are regen- 
erated.’ ” 
She stopped, and then in a low voice said, while tears 
streamed down her cheeks : 
“ Majori forsitan cum timore sententiam in me fertis quam ego 
accipiam ”—the words used by Bruno when sentence of death 
was pronounced upon him. She had finished reading his life 
a few weeks before. 
Desiring to change the current of her thoughts, and also to 
test her powers of prevision, she was asked who would be the 
first patient to enter the office of the writer that day week, and 
with what disease would he or she be affected ? 
She answered promptly: 
“ A gentleman from Albany, I see him now; he is thin, 
and pale, and very weak; he is lame, I think he is paralyzed.” 
The first person in reality who entered the office on the 
day in question was a lady of New York, suffering from 
nervous headache. 
She was then asked where her father was at that moment 
(4.10 p. m.). Her answer was : “At the corner of Wall Street 
and Broadway; he is looking at the clock on Trinity Church ; 
he is waiting for a stage.” During the hour between four 
o’clock and five her father was in Brooklyn. SOMNAMB ULISM. 
14 
A table with paper was now placed before her, a pencil put 
into her hand, and she was requested again to place herself en 
rapport with some spirit. She immediately began to write as 
follows : “ Let all the world hear my voice and follow the 
precepts I inculcate. There are many fools and but few wise. 
I write for the former, and am probably a fool myself, for I 
constantly see a chasm yawning at my side ; and though my 
intellect tells me there is no chasm near me, I place a screen 
so that I cannot see it. Pascal.” She had that very day 
been reading a memoir of Pascal, in which the hallucination 
referred to was mentioned. 
The following conversation then took place : 
“ Where are you now ? ” 
“ In New York.” 
“ No, you are in a vessel at sea; there is a terrible storm ; 
are you not afraid ? ” 
“Yes, I am very much frightened ; what shall I do? Oh, 
save me, save me ! ” 
She wrung her hands, screamed with terror, rose from her 
chair and paced the room, apparently suffering intensely from 
fear. In the midst of her agitation she awoke, and it was not 
without difficulty that the impression she had received could 
be removed. 
On a subsequent occasion her somnambulic powers of 
vision were tested by asking her to read the writing on a slip 
of paper; to tell the time marked by a watch held to the back 
of her head ; to read a particular line from a closed book, 
etc.; but, though she always made some answer, she was 
never once right. The senses of touch and of hearing were 
the only ones she appeared to be capable of exercising, and ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 
15 
these were not in any degree exalted in their action. Con- 
joined with integrity of touch there was well-marked analgesia, 
or inability to feel pain. Thus, though able to tell the shape, 
texture,' and consistence of objects placed in her hands, she 
experienced no sensation when a pin was thrust into the calf 
of her leg, or when a coal of fire was held in close proximity 
to any part of her body. 
It will readily be preceived, therefore, that certain parts of 
her nervous system were in a state of inaction, were in fact 
dormant, while others remained capable of receiving sensa- 
tions and originating nervous influence. Her sleep was 
therefore incomplete. Images were formed, hallucinations 
entertained, and she was accordingly in these respects in a 
condition similar to that of a dreaming person ; for the images 
and hallucinations were either directly connected with thoughts 
she had previously had, or were immediately suggested to her 
through her sense of hearing. Some mental faculties were 
exercised, while others were quiescent. There was no correct 
judgment and no volition. Imagination, memory, the emo- 
tions, and the ability to be impressed by suggestions, were present 
in a high degree. 
Now, the writer is satisfied, from a careful study of this 
lady’s case, and of others similar to it in general character 
which have come under his observation, that the phenomena 
of hypnotism are not those of pure somnambulism, but that 
three other conditions are present in greater or less degree. 
These are hysteria, catalepsy, and ecstasy. To a brief con- 
sideration of some of the more important features of these 
abnormal states of the nervous system the attention of the 
reader will presently be invited. 16 
SOMNAMB ULISM. 
That many of the phenomena exhibited by honest mediums 
are referable to the condition now under notice is not a matter 
for doubt; and this view is rendered still stronger by a con- 
sideration of the fact that the hypnotic state can be readily 
induced in many species of animals. This has been known, 
with different interpretations of the cause and nature of the 
condition, for very many years, but for a revival of the knowl- 
edge, and for giving incentives to new lines of inquiry, we 
owe a debt to the students of animal magnetism or mesmer- 
ism. 
In 1646, Kircher, a Jesuit priest, and like many others of 
his fraternity, fond of scientific investigations, published an 
account of an experiment performed by him and which he 
called “ experimentum mirabile de imaginatione gallince—a won- 
derful experiment showing the imagination of the hen. 
He tied the hen’s feet together with a cord, and then laid 
the animal on the ground, where, after struggling for a while, 
it lay perfectly quiet, as if despairing of escape, it had yielded 
to the superior will and power of its conqueror. Then with a 
piece of chalk Kircher drew two lines on the ground, one 
from each eye, and uniting at an acute angle a little in front 
of the head. He then loosened the band which fastened the 
legs together; but the hen, though physically free to escape, 
remained still, and could scarcely be forced out of its posi 
tion. 
So far, the facts ; now for the theory. Kircher attributes 
this very remarkable result to the strong imaginative powers, 
with which, in his opinion, hens are gifted ; for the animal 
seeing the chalk line, takes it for the string with which it had 
been fastened, and having acquired experience of the futility HYPNOTISM IN ANIMATS. 
17 
of all efforts to escape, and thinking itself still bound, remains 
perfectly quiet on the ground. 
The late Prof. Czermak, a short time before his death, 
placed Kircher’s and similar experiments before the world in 
their true light; and I therefore do not hesitate to cite his ob- 
servations at some length.* 
While on a visit to Bohemia, Czermak was informed, by a 
gentleman whose acquaintance he made, that he had not only 
seen crawfish magnetized, but had himself put these animals 
into the magnetic state, and that the matter was exceedingly 
simple. 
The crawfish is to be held firmly in one hand, while with 
the other, passes are to be made from the tail of the animal 
towards the head. Under this manifestation the crawfish now 
becomes quiet, and if placed on its head in a vertical position, 
remains motionless until passes are made in the opposite 
direction, when it staggers, falls, and finally crawls away. 
Czermak did not question the facts, but he doubted the 
explanation and expressed a desire to witness the experiment. 
A basket of crawfish was obtained from a neighboring brook, 
and the friend, sure of his results, seized one of the animals 
and began his “ magnetic strokes ” from the tail to the head. 
The crawfish, which at first resisted, gradually became calm, 
and finally stood erect on its head, remaining motionless as if: 
* Czermak’s experiments were performed before the class of the private 
physiological laboratory of the University of Leipsic, Jan. 24th and 25th, 
1873, and were published with his remarks in subsequent numbers of the 
“ Gartenlaube." These lectures were translated by Clara Hammond and; 
published in the “ Popular Science MonthlySept, and Nov., 1873. 18 
SOMNAMB ULISM. 
asleep, in this forced and unnatural position, supporting itself 
with its antennae and two under claws. 
But in the mean time Czermak had taken one of the crawfish 
and endeavored to make it stand on its head without the passes 
being previously made. The animal staggered at first, as did 
the other, and ended by becoming perfectly quiet and standing 
on its head exactly as had the one which had been magnetized. 
As to the awakening process the friend made his passes from 
the head to the tail and Czermak made his from the tail to 
the head. The result was the same in both, for both soon 
fell over and crawled away. In fact whether the strokes were 
made or not, the animals regained their normal condition in 
about the same length of time. 
Hence it was demonstrated that “ magnetic passes ” were 
neither necessary to induce the hypnotic state nor to cause the 
animal to emerge from it. The act, therefore, constituted what 
Czermak calls “ a fact viewed unequally.” His friend had 
not thoroughly investigated the phenomenon in all its relations, 
and that is just what is done everyday by certain people calling 
themselves “ inquirers,” who make imperfect attempts to solve 
the pseudo-mysteries of mesmerism, spiritualism, etc. 
Now to return to Kircher and his experiments, which he 
thought demonstrated the existence of a great degree of im- 
agination in the hen. 
It has long been known that wild and frightened hens may 
be rendered perfectly quiet by placing them, for instance, on a 
table and holding them there while a chalk line is drawn so as 
to connect the eyes ; or even a single line for an inch or two from 
the end of the beak. In calling attention to this fact Czermak 
caused one of his assistants to bring him a hen and to hold it HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 
19 
fast on the table. This was done after much resistance and 
many cries from the frightened bird. Then, with his left hand, 
he held the head and neck of the hen upon the table, and with 
his right hand drew a chalk line on the table, beginning at the 
end of the beak. Left entirely free, the hen, though breath- 
ing heavily, remained entirely quiet on the table; then without 
resistance it allowed itself to be placed on its back, in which 
unnatural position it remained till the end of the lecture, not 
awaking till the audience began to leave. 
Czermak states that when he first performed this experi 
ment, he was for a moment dumb with astonishment, for the 
hen not only remained motionless in its forced and unnatural 
position, but did not make the slightest attempt to fly away or 
to move in any manner when he endeavored to startle it. It 
was clear that the hen had altogether lost the functional capa- 
cities of its nervous system, under the apparently indifferent 
and useless arrangements of the experiment, and had placed her- 
self in this remarkable condition as though by magic. But 
Czermak was not a man to stand still at an “ event viewed un- 
equally,” and as soon as he recovered from his extreme astonish- 
ment at the result, he rubbed out the chalk line.. The hen still 
remained perfectly quiet. But as this might have been due to the 
continuing effect of the chalk line, he performed another experi- 
ment in which he held the hen firmly for some time and 
stretched out the head and neck as though he were going to 
draw the chalk line, but in reality he did not draw it. He then 
released the hen and the animal remained just as immovable as 
in the previous experiment. 
The cord around the legs and the chalk line were therefore 
entirely unnecessary, and accordingly Kircher’s theory of the 20 
SOMNAMB ULISM. 
imagination of the hen falls to the ground. The only part 
which survives is the immobility of the hen when laid upon a 
table after having been previously held in the hand for a short 
time. He has therefore reported an unequally viewed event. 
He stopped too soon in his investigations, and in his anxiety to 
discover a cause for the remarkable phenomenon before him, 
jumped at a conclusion which, as we have seen, has nothing what- 
ever to support it. Suppose Mr. Crookes or Mr. Wallace had 
seen Mr. Home perform this experiment, and that they had 
never heard of it before. Can there be a doubt that had he told 
them that the hen was held down by the power of a spirit they 
would have been ready to believe him ? This is exactly what 
they have done in accepting his theories of levitation, immunity 
from fire, accordeon playing, raising weights, etc. 
I have repeatedly performed Czermak’s experiments, using 
young lobsters, frogs, hens, geese and ducks, with scarcely a 
failure. Of all animals in my experience, the frog passes into 
the hypnotic condition most readily. All that is necessary is to 
hold it firmly for a minute or two by the sides of the body just 
behind the fore legs, and then gently lay it on its back on a 
table, board, or palm of the hand. So profound is the hypnotism 
that the blade of a pair of scissors may be introduced into the 
lower part of the belly and the animal cut open its whole 
length, without its moving, or apparently experiencing the least 
sensation. Over ten years ago I became acquainted with the pos- 
sibility of inducing the condition in question in frogs, and often 
in my medical lectures brought the fact before the class in attend- 
ance. In general, without the causation of hypnotism, there 
is no position seemingly so disagreeable to a frog as the dorsal, 
and it gets out of it as soon as possible. HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 
21 
A short time since, being at Mr. Eugene Blackford’s stalls 
in Fulton Market, I noticed a basket full of very lively crabs on 
the counter, and I offered to mesmerize a dozen of them. Con- 
sent was given, and in a few minutes I had more chan the 
.number mentioned standing motionless on their heads in a cir- 
cle, to the great astonishment of a crowd of fish-dealers that 
had collected. I merely caught the animals by the posterior 
fins, in the manner which all who know the ways of crabs and 
desire to avoid being nipped understand, and stood them up on 
their heads, where they remained supported in part by their 
claws and legs. To mystify the spectators a little, I at first 
stroked the animals gently down their backs, but I showed 
them ultimately that this was not necessary. The livelier the 
crabs were the more readily were they brought into the hypnotic 
condition. After they had remained in the rather ungraceful 
attitude in which they were placed for several minutes, a slight 
tap on the back with the end of the finger caused each one to 
run away as if conscious that its security consisted in rapid 
flight from the vicinity. 
While crabs are in this hypnotic state, the claws, legs and 
fins may be successively cut off with a stout pair of scissors, 
and the animals evince no sign of experiencing the slightest 
sensation. Care should be taken, however, not to interfere 
roughly with those limbs by which the erect position is main- 
tained, or the spell will be at once broken. 
Such experiments on cold-blooded animals do not succeed 
well in winter. They appear then to be in too torpid a condi- 
tion to admit of the strong neurotic revulsion characteristic of 
the passage from the natural to the hypnotic state. 22 
SOMNAMB ULISM. 
But with some animals it appears as if an object to gaze at is 
necessary in order to produce the hypnotic state, and hence we 
cannot say that the chalk line of Kircher, or something analo- 
gous is in every case unnecessary. Thus pigeons are not brought 
into this condition by simply stretching out their necks and hold- 
ing them firmly for a short time. Czermak ascertained that 
in order to hypnotize them it was requisite to hold something, 
as the finger, before their eyes, so as to attract their attention, 
and then the birds remained rigid and motionless as if tired, 
for several minutes. The same result follows if a piece of glass 
tube, a cork, a small wax candle, or any other equally lifeless 
object, be placed on the top of the pigeon’s bill. All that is ne- 
cessary, is to place the article in such a position as to admit of 
its attention being attracted and fixed upon the substance used. 
And with hens ; if they be seized by the bodies with both 
hands so that their heads and necks are quite free, and the 
bodies be pressed against a pedestal on which a glass tube rests 
so as to come in contact with their bills, they remain perfectly 
quiet for some time gazing at the object before them. 
Again, if a piece of twine be hung so that the end comes just 
between the eyes, a hen not only remains perfectly motionless 
but closes its eyes and sleeps, the head sinking till it comes in 
contact with the table. Before falling asleep, the hen’s head 
can be pressed down or raised up and it will remain in the posi- 
tion in which it may be placed, as though it were made of wax. 
This fact shows the analogy which exists between hypnotism 
and catalepsy as it occurs in the human subject, and to which 
attention will presently be invited. 
In this connection I may state that I have recently repeated 
an experiment which I remember to have seen when a boy, HYPNOTISM IN ANIMATS. 
23 
long beiore Mr. Braid began his investigations, and which 
shows that there is at least one other way of inducing hypnotism 
in hens. I took a hen, and putting its head under its wing, held 
it in that position for a couple of minutes. On placing it on a 
table, it stood erect without removing its head from the position 
in which I had placed it, and remained motionless for several 
minutes apparently in a deep sleep. As I had formerly seen 
this experiment, it was .somewhat different. The head was 
placed under the wing, and then the animal, held in that posi- 
tion, was swung round three or four times before being placed 
on the ground. The explanations then given of the subse- 
quent insensibility was, that the animal was affected with ver- 
tigo, and did not move for fear of falling. 
Czermak therefore found, as he proceeded with his investiga- 
tions, that the drawing of the chalk line in Kircher’s experiment 
was of some significance, though not such as the old priest 
supposed. The hand which draws the line, and the line itself 
constitute an object upon which the animal’s look and atten- 
tion are placed, and there is developed a marvellous condition 
of certain parts of its nervous system, accompanied by cataleptic 
phenomena and sleep. 
We have already seen how Mr. Braid produced hypnotism 
in the human subject, and we now perceive that a like process 
causes it in the lower animals. 
Upon one occasion Mr. Braid, in the presence of eight 
hundred persons, put ten full grown men, out of fourteen, into a 
state of complete sleep ; all began the experiment at the same 
time. The persons fixed their eyes steadily upon pieces of 
cork fastened upon their foreheads; the others of their own will 24 
SOMNAMBULISM. 
gazed steadily at certain points in the direction of the audience. 
In three minutes the eyelids of the ten had involuntarily closed. 
With some, consciousness remained ; others were cataleptic and 
entirely insensible to being stuck with needles, and others on 
awaking knew absolutely nothing of what had taken place 
during their sleep. In 1859, Velpeau and Broca, two distinguish- 
ed French surgeons, placed twenty-four women in the hypnotic 
condition by Braid’s method, and then performed surgical op- 
erations on them without causing the slightest pain. 
I have repeatedly placed women in the hypnotic state, and 
performed surgical operations which would otherwise have 
caused great pain, without the least sensation having been ex- 
perienced. Only a few days ago I cauterized, with a red-hot 
iron, the spine of a lady, having previously hypnotized her by 
causing her to look for a few minutes at a cork which I had 
fastened to her forehead a little above the root of the nose. The 
anesthesia was complete, and the sleep so profound that she not 
only did not hear the sound produced by the burning of the skin, 
but very loud noises made close to her ears were equally unper 
ceived. After about seven minutes she spontaneously awoke. 
Czermak was preparing to extend his observations to mam- 
mals, but death prevented the fulfilment of his intentions. 
Experiments of my own, however, show that there is nu diffi- 
culty in bringing dogs, rabbits, and cats fully under the hypnotic 
influence. Rabbits require to be held firmly in the hands at the 
same time that some bright object, as a key, is allowed to hang 
from a string, just in front of, and a little above the eyes. Five 
or at most ten minutes are sufficient to induce hypnotism. 
Or, the animal may be held firmly in a squatting position on SAINTLY INFLUENCE ON ANIMALS. 
25 
a table while an object, as a key, a piece of chalk, or a cork, is 
placed about an inch in front of its nose. After a few minutes 
sleep ensues. 
With dogs, the procedure is much simpler. My experiments 
have been conducted with the several varieties that have been 
taught to stand up on their haunches and “ beg.” It is exceed- 
ingly easy to engage their attention and thus to cause them to 
pass into the hypnotic state. For this purpose a piece of chalk 
the size of a cherry is fastened to a string and allowed to hang 
between the eyes of the dog at a distance of an inch or two. 
The experiment seems to succeed better if the animal be made 
to take the begging position, though this is not necessary. In- 
deed, the condition can often be induced by simply engaging 
the attention of the dog for a few minutes by pointing the finger 
at him, or by any other convenient method. 
After a due consideration of the experiments of Czermak 
and myself, we are able to appreciate, at their full value, the 
accounts which are given us of miraculous and mesmeric power 
exercised by man over the lower animals. Thus we may dismiss 
as absolutely untrue the stories which are told of the bees com- 
ing to Sts. Ambrose, Isidore, Dominic, and others, while they 
were yet infants, and depositing honey on their lips, and of 
following them into the desert and obeying the commands 
addressed to them. We may also refuse to regard as within 
the domain of truth, the account given of St. Rose of Lima 
by Gorres,* as follows : 
This young lady had built a little arbor in her mother’s 
* Op.y cit., t. 1, p. 480. 26 
SOMNAMB ULISM. 
garden, and was accustomed to repair thither for meditation and 
praise. The place was continually thronged night and day by 
mosquitoes, the walls were covered with them, and the music oi 
their hum continually resounded throughout the place. Not one 
of them, however, ever touched her, but if her mother or any other 
person visited her in her solitude they were at once bitten and 
their blood sucked by the insatiable insects. Every one was 
astonished that St. Rose was never injured by them. But she 
smiling, said “ When I came here I made a pact with these little 
creatures.” [It would have been somewhat more filial if she 
had included her mother in the bargain.] “ It was agreed that 
they should not bite me and that I should not injure them. 
Therefore they dwell here in peace with me ; and not only that, 
but they aid me with all their power to praise God.” In fact 
every time the virgin came into the arbor at sunrise she said to 
the mosquitoes. “ Come, my friends, let us praise God,” and then 
the little insects formed a circle around her, and began their 
little songs with a degree of order and harmony such as no choir 
directed by a master could have excelled ; and this was kept up 
until the saint enforced silence upon them. 
These circumstances are cited by Pope Clement X. in the 
bull canonizing St. Rose. 
It must be admitted that the character of the mosquito has 
greatly degenerated since that time, for it has, apparently, ac- 
quired habits of association with demons rather than saints. 
Fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, have also been brought 
under saintly influence. Jacques de Cerqueto, an Augustine 
monk, enforced silence on the frogs that troubled him when he 
was saying mass. St. Ida could not approach a stream without MESMERISM OF ANIMALS. 
27 
hundreds of fish coming to greet her, and if she placed her 
hands in the water, “ the fish took hold of her fingers as infants 
do the breasts of their mothers.” 
Gondisalvo Amaranthi, being in want one day of a din- 
ner, made the sign of the cross on the river near by, and 
instantly numerous fish placed themselves at his disposal. The 
good man took what he wanted and put the rest back into the 
water. St. Joseph of Copertino, among others, controlled birds, 
making them sing when he wished, and St. Jacques de Stephano 
was thanked by a flock of pigeons which he had saved from 
destruction at the hands of some hunters. 
Among quadrupeds, lions have always been remarkable for 
the docility with which they submit to saintly influence. From 
the time of Daniel, down through the early ages of Christianity, 
these naturally ferocious beasts have at times shown an appre- 
ciation of the character of those exposed to their fury, which 
is certainly not a usual attribute of their savage nature. 
St. Thomas of Florence calmed furious bulls by a single 
word. St. Francis de Paul selected two of the most savage of 
these animals out of a herd and led them like lambs. The like 
is asserted of wild horses and angry dogs, both kinds of animals 
being quieted by a look, a word, or a gesture from a saint or 
other holy person. 
It would scarcely be wise to refuse belief to all incidents of 
the kind which are referred to in the acts of the saints. We can 
accept some as being true in point of fact, and we attribute the 
result, not to supernatural agency, but to the hypnotic power, 
illustrations of which have engaged our attention. 
Strange to say, however, the influence over the lower 28 
SOM NAM B ULISM. 
animals is denied, or at least regarded by some mesmerists as 
not proven. Thus, Teste* states that the results are so vague, 
so fleeting, so inappreciable, that it is not possible to certify 
their existence. 
But, on the other hand, Dr. Elliotson believes fully in the 
mesmeric power of man over the brute creation, and gives sev- 
eral instances in support of his opinions. Among them the 
following.f The Duke of Marlborough, writing to Dr. Elliot- 
son, says:— 
“ At Lord Ely’s farm there is a yard dog so savage and fero- 
cious that no one can approach him. I was determined to 
beat him and in thirty minutes had him fast asleep, his last sigh 
being a deep growl. In presence of several persons I then 
kissed the dog on his forehead, and then left him to awake 
at his leisure.” 
A month afterwards the dog was still stupid. 
Again the Duke wrote to Dr. Elliotson. “ I must now tell 
you what I have been doing here. I have also a very savage 
yard dog, I tried him to-day; in about fifteen minutes he ran 
into his kennel and hid his eyes from the manipulating process 
growling, snarling, and biting most furiously; notwithstanding, 
I then made the man who feeds him, and who is the only per- 
son who dares go near him, drag him out of his kennel and nail 
up a hurdle before the entrance, so as to keep him effectual- 
ly outside. I then went to work again, the dog, as you may 
suppose, being ten times more ferocious. In about five minutes 
* “ A Practical Manual of Animal Magnetism,” etc., translated by D. 
Chilian, M.D., etc., London, 1843, P- 22&- 
t “ Mesmeric Phenomena in Brutes; as effected by the Duke of Marlbor- 
ough and the Rev. Mr. Bartlett,” Zoist, October, 1850. p. 295. HYPNOTISM IN ANIMATS. 
I had him so quiet, oppressed and stupid, that he dropped his 
nose several times in the mud around his kennel. Carts and 
horses, and men and boys were passing and repassing, which 
served continually to alarm him, so that I could not satisfacto- 
rily complete the task and leave him dead asleep ; besides which 
a heavy snowstorm was falling all the while, and I could not 
feel my finger ends. But I completely subdued the beast and 
patted him on the head before I left.” 
29 
The Rev. Mr. Bartlett writes as follows : 
“ Upon descending a mountain I found myself in a narrow 
road between two stone fences which perhaps separated the 
lands of different proprietors. On one side of the fences were 
cattle and a bull. The bull approached the fence in an angry 
mood and walked along the other side of it parallel with me for 
more than a quarter of a mile : he then grew more excited, tore 
the ground with his horns, and bellowed fiercely. As I could 
not but apprehend that, should there be a breach in the wall, he 
might leap over and attack me, I was considering what course 
it was best to take, when we came to a very high and strong 
gate. Upon reaching the gate the bull rushed close up to it 
and bellowed loudly through it. As I knew that he could 
neither leap over nor force this gate I also approached it and 
looked him steadily in the face. In about a minute I caught 
his eye, which then fixed upon me, in about another minute a 
trembling of the eyelids arose, very similar to that of a human 
subject at an early stage of mesmeric influence. After probably 
three or four minutes, the eyes gradually closed, and the bull 
remained quiet and appeared to be as immovable as if he had 
been chiseled by the hand of the sculptor. The transition from 30 
SOMNAMB ULISM. 
his previously excited state to that of his perfectly motionless 
state was indeed most striking. 
“I could not but feel thankful that all danger from the bull 
was now passed and after looking at his fixed form for a few 
moments I descended the remainder of the mountain, and did 
not stop to wake him.” 
That some animals possess the power of acting upon others 
so as to induce a condition analogous to, if not indentical with, 
hypnotism, is well known. Serpents appear to be especially 
endowed with this faculty, and make use of it to secure birds 
and mammals for food. There is some reason also for believ- 
ing that serpents can, in rare cases, exercise a like influence 
over man. 
Now, after this survey of some of the principal phenomena 
of natural and artificial somnambulism are we able to deter- 
mine in what their condition essentially consists ? I am afraid 
we shall be obliged to answer this question in the negative, 
and mainly for the reason, that with all the study which has 
been given to the subject, we are not yet sufficiently well ac- 
quainted with the normal functions of the nervous system to 
be in a position to pronounce with definiteness on their aber- 
rations. Nevertheless, the matter is not one of which we are 
wholly ignorant. We have some important data upon which to 
base our investigations into the philosophy of the condition in 
question, and inquiry, even if leading to erroneous results, at 
least promotes reflection and discussion, and may in time carry 
us to absolute truth. 
If we turn our attention to the operations of the mind—by 
which term I understand the force developed by nervous ac- HUMAN A UTOMA TISM. 
tion—we shall see that they are performed under two very dif- 
ferent conditions. In the one there is consciousness ; in the 
other unconsciousness. 
A few examples will place the matter more distinctly before 
the reader. 
If we are engaged in composing or writing, the only part of 
the process of which we are conscious, is the conception of our 
ideas, or the expression of them in suitable language. We are 
not conscious of every motion we give the pen. We do not 
even think of it, our whole attention being engrossed with 
higher thoughts. We can turn our minds to the penmanship if 
we are so disposed, and can make it the chief subject of our 
thoughts ; but persons who write out original ideas rarely 
bother themselves with the nice formation of the letters. Hence 
their handwriting is generally bad, in the ordinary sense of the 
term. On the other hand, persons who copy, or those whose 
writing is not the expression of much thought, usually write 
with care and precision; to do so, is with them the chief ob- 
ject. 
Or in the act of walking : a person, for instance, desires to 
measure the length of a room by pacing it. He starts at one 
end of it and makes his steps, conscious of each one, for his 
attention is turned especially to them; he counts them, in fact, 
and when he gets to the end knows exactly what he has done 
from the beginning to the end. Another person rises from his 
chair for the purpose of going to the book-case for a volume he 
desires. His mind is not on his steps—his will is directed 
towards getting the book he wants. He goes to the place 
where he knows it to be, but is not conscious of the act oi 
31 SOMNAMB ULISM. 
method of getting there; but his legs have been accurately di- 
rected, there has been no mistake, his feet have been raised at 
exactly the right moments, and obstacles in the way have been 
avoided. 
At another time we may begin to wind our watch. At that 
very instant some, engrossing subject comes to our mind, we 
lose all consciousness of the act we have set out to perform, 
and yet it is carried out to the end, the key is taken out, the 
watch is closed and put in its pocket, and we may go on and 
perform other movements to which we have been accustomed 
before consciousness takes cognizance of the actions. In fact, 
so thoroughly taken up is consciousness with the thoughts 
which have come into the mind, that it fails altogether, at 
times, to embrace within its scope the act of winding the 
watch; and hence we do not know whether we have per- 
formed the act or not, and we begin the whole movement over 
again. 
Again, a person will play a difficult piece of music and carry 
on a conversation at the same time ; the conversation, if more 
interesting, engrosses the consciousness, and the music is per- 
formed automatically or unconsciously. If the piece has not 
been thoroughly learned, mistakes are made. If, on the other 
hand, the music interests more than the conversation, the in- 
dividual is distrait and errors are committed, which show that 
the thoughts are not in the speech. 
It would be easy to adduce other familiar examples, but 
the intelligent reader will have many such occur to his or her 
mind as instances in daily, hourly experience. 
Now, somnambulism, natural or artificial, appears to be a 
32 SUGGESTION. 
33 
condition in which consciousness is subordinated to automa- 
tism; the subject performs acts of which there is no complete 
consciousness, and often none at all. Consequently there is 
little or no subsequent recollection. There is diminished ac- 
tivity of those parts of the nervous system which preside over 
certain faculties of the mind, while those which are capable of 
acting automatically are unduly exalted in power. 
The condition is therefore analogous to sleep; for in all 
sleep there is in reality something of somnambulism. For the 
higher mental organs, as the sleep is more or less profound, are 
more or less removed from the sphere of action, leaving to the 
others the duty of performing such acts as may be required, or 
even of initiating others not growing out of the immediate 
wants of the system. If this quiescent state of the brain is ac- 
companied, as it often is in nervous and excitable persons, by 
an exalted condition of the spinal cord, we have the higher 
order of somnambulistic phenomena produced, such as walking, 
or the performance of complex and apparently systematic 
movements; if the sleep of the brain be somewhat less pro- 
found and the spinal cord less excitable, the somnambulic mani- 
festations do not extend beyond sleep-talking; a still less 
degree of cerebral inaction and spinal irritability produces sim- 
ply a restless sleep and a little muttering; and when the sleep 
is perfectly natural and the nervous system of the individual 
well balanced, the movements do not extend beyond chang- 
ing the position of the head and limbs and turning over in 
bed. 
But the actions of the spinal cord—which is, I conceive, 
the organ chiefly controlling the mind in somnambulism—are SOMNAMB ULISM. 
34 
not always automatic in character, as I have endeavored to 
show in another place.* The motions of frogs and of some 
other animals when deprived of their brains exhibit a certain 
amount of intellection or volition. That they are not more ex- 
tensive is probably due to the fact that all the organs of the 
senses except that of touch have been removed with the brain, 
and hence the mechanism for coming into relation with the ex- 
ternal world is necessarily diminished. 
In profound somnambulism the whole brain is probably in 
a state of complete sleep, the spinal cord alone being awake. 
In partial or incomplete somnambulistic conditions certain of 
the cerebral ganglia are not entirely inactive, and hence the 
individual answers questions, exhibits emotions, and is re- 
markably disposed to be affected by ideas suggested by others. 
The ability to originate trains of thought exists only in very 
imperfect somnambulistic states. 
Thus a girl, just after her first communion, while im- 
pressed with the solemnity of the occasion, or with the con- 
versation which had been addressed to her, fell into a som 
nambulistic state, and exclaimed that she saw beautiful and 
glorious things. When asked by the elders around her what 
she saw, she answered, “God surrounded by the angels, the 
apostles, and Mary.” Subsequently this girl got into the 
company of an individual who was a great admirer of Vol- 
taire, and others of his philosophical sect, and on one oc- 
casion was hypnotized by him. Again she saw glorious 
* The Brain not the Sole Organ of the Mind.—Journal of Nervous and 
Mental Disease, January, 1876. , SUGGESTIONS. 
35 
sights, and when he asked her what she saw she replied, 
“ God, accompanied by His two apostles, Voltaire and Rous- 
seau.” * 
In this and similar cases the brain originates nothing. It 
simply reflects the ideas which have recently been brought 
prominently before it, just as in dreams we imagine things 
and events with which in our waking moments the attention 
has been engaged. 
The existence of a tendency to natural somnambulism is 
evidence of a highly impressionable and irritable nervous or- 
ganization. Young persons are more often its subjects than 
those of mature age, and there are few children, who do not 
exhibit, at some time or other, manifestations of the condition 
in question, such as muttering or talking in their sleep, 
laughing, crying, or getting out of bed. The same irritable 
nervous system leads often to the supervention of other con- 
ditions, more of the nature of actual disease, such as cata- 
lepsy, ecstasy, epilepsy, chorea, convulsion, tremor, etc. 
Much may be done in the way of medical treatment to 
correct the faulty neurotic condition, and much also, which 
more properly lies within the domain of home management. 
The reading of exciting fictions, and the witnessing of sensa- 
tional theatrical exhibitions, are always prejudicial to persons 
subject to attacks of somnambulism, and are often the causes 
of severe visitations of the disorder. I have, at the time of the 
present writing, a young lady under my care who invariably* 
* Franz Dilitzsch, D.D., Professor of Theology, Leipsic. A System of 
Biblical Psychology. Translated from the German, by the Rev. Robert 
Ernest Wallis, Ph.D. Second English Edition. Edinburgh, 1875, P- 3^7 SOMNAMB ULISM. 
36 
after attending a performance at a theatre, walks in her sleep, 
or at least would do so were she not prevented by the atten- 
tions of her friends. To succeed in stopping her it is only 
necessary to place a tub of cold water at her bedside, so that 
on rising she is awakened by the contact of the liquid with her 
feet. The plan never fails ; she awakes instantly, wipes her 
feet dry, and is secure for a good night’s rest thereafter. 
The bed-room in which the patient sleeps should be well 
ventilated and kept at a proper temperature—neither too warm 
nor too cold. It is a great mistake to imagine that no room is 
too cold to sleep in provided the bed-covering is sufficient. A 
low temperature reduces the vitality of the body, and hence 
makes the nervous system weak. A weak nervous system is 
always an irritable one. 
The food should be ample in quantity and quality, but the 
lightest meal should be the latest. If there be gastric or intes- 
tinal dyspepsia it should be subjected to special medication, for 
few causes are more potent in the dynamics of somnambu- 
lism than gastric or intestinal irritation. I have known of 
many instances of the affection in which paroxysms were only 
caused after some special articles of food had been injested. 
Thus, in several, they always followed the eating of any kind 
of pastry ; in others, shellfish were certain to induce them, and 
in others again some kinds of fruit, especially bananas. All 
6uch things, therefore, should of course be avoided, as should 
also every other cause known to give rise to the disorder. 
Somnambulism, when the general health has been regulated 
and exciting causes obviated, is by no means a difficult patho- 
logical condition to manage, and even under the most unfavor- SOMNAMB ULISM. 
37 
able circumstances it rarely happens that a case does not yield 
to proper medical treatment. 
It is not worth while to enter into a detailed consideration of 
the various mediums capable of curing somnambulism. Some 
one of the several bromides—as of sodium, potassium, ammo- 
nium, calcium or lithium—if properly administered, will be 
found to meet all the expectations of the physician and pa- 
tient. Either one of them, given in the dose of from fifteen 
to twenty grains three times a day, the last dose just at bed- 
time, and continued for several months, will effectually break 
up all tendency to sleep-walking in the most obstinate case. 38 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
CHAPTER II. 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
TT is not to be expected that, in a work like the present, 
hyster a can be treated with that degree of fulness re- 
quisite for the study of the disorder in all its multiform 
aspects ; neither would that be desirable, as such a course 
would lead us far into the domain of pure medical science, and 
one object—the principal which I had in writing this little work, 
would be defeated. All that is necessary or proper, is to make 
the reader acquainted with certain broad features of the affec- 
tion, and to indicate the relations which it bears to various 
delusions prevalent among mankind* 
There is a strong tendency in all persons afflicted with hys- 
teria, to the occurrence of symptoms which simulate organic 
diseases of various kinds. Paralysis, both of motion and of 
sensation, is one of the morbid conditions thus assumed ; this 
tendency is not generally voluntary, though undoubtedly cases 
are not infrequent in which the simulation is clearly inten- 
tional, and others more numerous, in which volition, when 
drought to bear with full force upon the disposition, will over- 
* For a full account of hysteria and hysterical affections, the reader is 
referred to the author’s treatise on Diseases of the Nervous System, seventh 
edition. New York, 1881. HYSTERICAL ANAES THE SI A. 
39 
come it. In these latter cases there is, as it were, a paralysis 
of the will. In other instances, hysterical persons will deliber- 
ately enter upon a systematic course of deception and fraud, 
more apparently for the sake of attracting attention and ob- 
taining notoriety, than from any other motive. 
Thus, a hysterical woman will suddenly take to her bed 
and declare that she has no feeling and no power in her arms 
or legs. The most careful examination shows that she is 
speaking the truth. Pins may be thrust into the affected 
limb, it may be punctured or scorched ad libitum, and yet the 
possessor does not wince. A somewhat analogous state exists 
in us all at times. When the mind is intensely occupied, or 
the passions greatly aroused, there is a like insensibility to 
pain. Many a soldier wounded in battle, has not discovered 
his injury till the heat of the contest was over. We have seen 
how a similar insensibility to pain, is present during the 
somnambulic or hypnotic condition. 
Now, when great mental exaltation is induced in a hysteri- 
cal person, we find this analgesic condition developed to its 
utmost extent. Under these combined influences weak girls 
have submitted to all kinds of maltreatment and suffered no 
pain, and have been able to resist blows and other bodily in- 
juries, which in their normal condition would have caused 
death. Thus it is stated by Montgeron,* in his account of the 
Jansenist Convulsionnaires, who visited the tomb of the Abbe 
Paris, that some women gave themselves severe blows with iron 
instruments in such a manner, that sharp points were forced 
* La Verite des Miracles, tome ii. 1737. Quoted by Calmeil, De la 
Folie, etc. Paris, 1845. 40 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
into the flesh. Fouillon states that another had herself hung 
up by the heels with the head downward, and remained in this 
position three-quarters of an hour. One day as she lay ex- 
tended on her bed, two men who held a cloth under her back, 
raised her up and threw her forward two thousand four hun- 
dred times, while two other persons placed in front, thrust her 
back. Another day, four men having taken hold of her by the 
extremities, began to pull her, each with all his strength, and 
she was thus dragged in different directions for the space of 
some minutes. She caused herself to be tied one day as she 
lay on the table, her arms crossed behind her back and her 
legs flexed to their fullest extent, and, while six men struck 
her without ceasing, a seventh choked her. After this she re- 
mained insensible for some time, and her tongue, inflamed and 
discolored, hung far out of her mouth. Another insisted upon 
receiving a hundred blows upon the stomach with an andiron, 
and these were so heavy that they shook the wall against which 
she was placed, and upon one occasion a breach in it was 
caused at the twenty-fifth blow. 
A physician, hearing of these things, insisted that they 
could not be true, as it was physically impossible that the skin, 
the flesh, the bones, and the internal organs, could resist such 
violence. He was told to come and verify the facts. He has- 
tened to do so, and was struck with astonishment. Scarcely 
believing his eyes, he begged to be allowed to administer the 
blows. A strong iron instrument, sharp at one end, was put 
into his hands ; he struck with all his might and thrust it deep 
into the flesh, but the victim laughed at his efforts, and re- 
marked that his blows only did her good. JANSENIST CONVULSIONNAIRES. 
41 
The government tried for a long time, unsuccessfully, to 
stop the epidemic, and at last was obliged to close the tomb 
and to place a guard over it, with orders to disperse the crowd 
that habitually collected in the cemetery, and to arrest the 
convulsionnaires. A wit of the period was almost justified in 
sticking up the following lines over the gate :— 
“ De par le Roi, defense a Dieu 
De faire miracle dans ce lieu.” 
“ And,” says Voltaire, who relates this event, “ Ce qu’il y a 
de plus c’est qui Dieu obeit.” 
This immunity from injury, though remarkable, is frequently 
met with among hysterical persons at the present day, but is 
much more frequently assumed. Calmeil* states that many 
of the Jansenist fanatics were subject to great illusions on this 
point; for many among them exhibited very obvious effects of 
the treatment, such as patches of discoloration on the skin, 
and innumerable contusions on the parts which had suffered 
the most severe assaults. Then it must be remembered that 
the blows upon the belly were given while the paroxysms were 
present, and when the stomach and intestines were distended 
with wind—a condition almost inseparable from the hysterical 
state. The prize-fighters of our own day, by filling the chest 
with air, endure blows which untrained persons could not 
receive without serious injury. 
The writer has had the opportunity of witnessing many 
manifestations of hysteria analogous in character to those de- 
scribed in the foregoing remarks. Upon one occasion, a young 
* Op. cit., tome ii. p. 386. 42 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
woman, a patient in the wards of the Pennsylvania Hospital, 
began a series of movements consisting in bending her body 
backward till it formed an arch, her heels and head alone rest- 
ing on the bed, and then, suddenly straightening herself out, 
would fall heavily. Instantly the arch was formed again ; 
again she fell; and this process was kept up with inconceivable 
rapidity for several hours every day. In another instance, a 
lady, during an access of hysterical paroxysms to which she 
was liable, beat her head with such violence against a lath and 
plaster partition, that she made a hole in it, while little or no 
injury was inflicted on herself. In another, a girl eighteen 
years of age lay down on the floor, naked, and made all the 
members of her family, five in number, stand each in turn for 
several minutes on her abdomen. In another, a lady, in order 
that she might resemble those martyrs who suffered on the 
rack, tied her wrists with a stout cord, mounted a step-ladder, 
fastened the cord to a hook in the wall, and then, jumping from 
the ladder, succeeded in dislocating her shoulder. In another, 
a lady rigidly closed her mouth, and refused to open it, either 
to take food or to speak, for over forty-eight hours. No force 
that it was safe to use, could overcome the contraction of her 
muscles, and no persuasion induce her to relax them. She 
only yielded to an irresistible impulse to talk, and a degree of 
hunger that human nature could no longer endure. It would 
be easy to go on and cite, from the writer’s practice or from 
monographs on the subject, hundreds of other instances of 
hysterical folly in which the subjects have been able to violate 
the laws of their being without apparently suffering serious 
pain or injury. LOUIS GAUFRIDI. 
43 
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, an epi- 
demic of hysterical chorea with catalepsy prevailed in many 
convents of Europe, and many grievous wrongs were in conse- 
quence inflicted upon perfectly innocent persons whom the 
“ possessed ” accused of having bewitched them; among 
others, Louis Gaufridi, a priest of Marseilles, and a man of 
cultivation and strict morality, was accused by two Ursuline 
nuns, named Madeline de Mandol and Louise Capel, the lat- 
ter but nineteen years of age. At the time of the accusation 
these women were suffering from attacks of a hysterical kind, 
accompanied with hallucinations and illusions, fearful convul- 
sions and cataleptic paroxysms, all of which were ascribed to 
possession of the devil, moved and instigated by Louis Gau- 
fridi. At first, the accused denied the charges made against 
him, and endeavored by arguments to show the true nature of 
the seizures. The effort was in vain ; he became insane, and 
confessed all that was laid to his charge, with numerous other 
offences, which had not been imagined. He declared that he 
had worshipped the devil for fourteen years, and that “ ce 
ddmon m’engagea k rendre amoureuses de ma personne toutes 
les femmes que j’atteindrais de mon souffle. Plus de mille 
femmes ont ete empoisonnees par l’attrait irresistible de mon 
souffle qui les rendraient passionnees. La dame de la Pallude, 
mere de Madeleine, a et£ prise pour moi d’un amour insensd 
et s’est abandonnee k moi soit au sabbat soit hors du sabbat.” 
Gaufridi was burned at the stake, and the two Ursuline 
nuns “ continuerent k delirer.” * Among the convents visited 
by this terrible disorder was that of Sainte-Brigitte, at Lille. 
* Calmeil, De la Folie, etc. Paris, 1845, *•» P- et seq. 44 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
Several of the nuns had been present at the proceedings against 
Gaufridi, and had thus been subjected to influences readily 
capable of producing the disease. 
Among the sisters was one named Marie de Sains, who 
was remarkable for her many virtues, but who was now sus- 
spected of devoting herself to sorcery and of being the cause 
of the “ possessions ” of which the other nuns were the vic- 
tims. She remained a year in prison, without any formal 
proofs of her guilt being adduced, until at last she was posi- 
tively accused by three of the sisters with having intercourse 
with demons. At first, the poor nun appeared to be surprised 
at this charge; but suddenly she recanted her denial, and 
avowed herself the perpetrator of a series of such wicked and 
abominable acts, that it was difficult to understand how the 
conception of them had ever entered her mind. Among them 
were numberless murders, stranglings of innocent children, 
ravaging of graves, feeding on human flesh, revelling in orgies 
of superhuman atrocity, unheard-of sacrileges, poisonings, and 
in fact every imaginable crime. In the presence of her ac- 
cusers and exorcists she improvised sermons which she ascribed 
to Satan, discoursed learnedly on the apocalypse, and made 
long discourses on antichrist. Like others of the present day, 
she was a speaking medium. 
Marie de Sains was not burnt. She was merely stripped 
of her religious character, and condemned to perpetual im- 
prisonment at Tournay. 
A more noted example of spiritual possession is that af- 
forded by the nuns of Loudun, and which resulted in the death 
of Urban Grandier at the stake, after he had been submitted to FATHER SANTERRE’S SIGNS. 
45 
the most atrocious tortures, in the vain attempt to make him 
confess to an alliance with the devil.* 
As showing the nature of the phenomena exhibited in the 
cases of monomania occurring among the nuns of Loudun, 
the following questions were proposed by Santerre, priest and 
promoter of the diocese of Nimes, to the University of Mont- 
pelier : 
Question i. Whether the bending, bowing, and removing 
of the body, the head touching sometimes the soles of the feet, 
with other contortions and strange postures, are a good sign of 
possession ? 
2. Whether the quickness of the motion of the head for- 
ward and backward, bringing it to the back and breast, be an 
infallible mark of possession ? 
3. Whether a sudden swelling of the tongue, the throat and 
the face, and the sudden alteration of the color, are certain 
marks of possession ? 
4. Whether dulness and senselessness, or the privation of 
sense, even to be pinched and pricked without complaining, 
without stirring, and even without changing color, are certain 
marks of possession ? 
5. Whether the immobility of all the body which happens to 
the pretended possessed, by the command of their exorcists, 
during and in the middle of the strongest agitations, is a cer- 
tain sign of a truly diabolical possession ? 
* For a very full account of this lamentable event, see the “ Cheats and 
Illusions of Romish Priests and Exorcists discovered in the History of the 
Devils of Loudun. Being an account of the. Pretended Possession of the 
Ursuline Nuns, and of the Condemnation and Punishment of Urban Gran- 
dier, a Parson of the same town. London, 1705. SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
46 
6. Whether the yelping or barking like that of a dog, in the 
breast rather than in the throat, is a mark of possession ? 
7. Whether a fixed, steady look upon some object, with- 
out moving the eye on either side, be a good mark of pos- 
session ? 
8. Whether the answers that the pretended possessed made 
in French, to some questions that are put to them in Latin, are 
a good mark of possession ? 
9. Whether to vomit such things as people have swallowed, 
be a sign of possession ? 
10. Whether the prickings of a lancet upon divers parts of 
the body, without blood issuing thence, are a certain mark of 
possession ? 
All these questions, to the credit of medical science, were 
answered in the negative. No one can read them without be- 
ing struck with the absolute identity of the symptoms, in all 
essential characteristics, with those which in our day are as- 
serted to be due to spiritual possession, and with those met 
with in the various forms of hysteria. Cases almost exactly in 
point have already been cited in this essay. 
Nicholas Remigius, judge of the Criminal Court of Lorraine, 
who in the course of his official career, caused eight hundred 
women to be burned for sorcery, believed that magic was prev- 
alent far and near around him. This became with him a 
fixed idea, a veritable madness. He wished to preach a cru- 
sade against the sorcerers with whom he believed Europe to 
be filled. Desperate when he was not believed on his word, 
that every one was guilty of magic, he ended by declaring him- 
self to be a sorcerer, and on his own confession was burned at NEIV ENGLAND WITCHCRAFT. 
47 
the stake.* Can any fact indicate more strongly than this, 
the overwhelming influence of a strongly rooted belief and the 
danger of allowing the mind to become possessed with one 
idea? 
Nor have these epidemics been restricted to convents or 
catholic lands. Protestants of the straitest sects have been 
visited, and our country has afforded many notable examples, 
besides possessing the doubtful honor of originating spiritua- 
lism in its present form. 
The history of witchcraft, as it existed in New England 
during the latter part of the seventeenth century, is exceedingly 
instructive to the student of human nature, and of great interest 
in the present connection. As an illustration of the symptoms 
exhibited by the so-called “ possessed ”—the “ mediums ” of 
our day—I subjoin the following case, being the “ninth exam- 
ple ” adduced by the Rev. Cotton Mather. | It would be dif- 
ficult to select from all the records of medicine better examples 
of the blending of hysteria, chorea, and catalepsy. The evi- 
dence concerning the diabolical character of the “ Quaker’s 
book,” “popish books,” and the “Prayer-book,”is incidentally, 
though with manifest gusto, thrown in by the narrator for what 
it is worth. 
Four children of John Goodwin, of Boston, remarkable for 
their piety, honesty, and industry, were in the year 1688 made 
the subjects of witchcraft. The eldest, a girl about thirteen 
* Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie Par Elaphas Levi. Paris, 1861 
Tome second, p. 290. 
f “ Magnalia Christi Americana,” etc. First American, from the Lon- 
don edition of 1702. Hartford, 1820 vol ii., p. 396. 48 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
years old, had a dispute with the laundress about some linen 
that was missing, whose mother, a “scandalous Irishwoman of 
the neighborhood,” applied some very abusive language to the 
child. The latter was at once taken with “odd fits, which 
carried in them something diabolical.” Soon afterwards the 
other children, a girl and two boys, became similarly affected. 
Sometimes they were deaf, sometimes blind, sometimes dumb, 
and sometimes all of these. Their tongues would be drawn 
down their throats, and then pulled out upon their chins to a 
prodigious length. Their mouths were often forced open to 
such an extent that their jaws were dislocated, and were then 
suddenly closed with a snap like that of a spring-lock. The 
like took place with their shoulders, elbows, wrists, and other 
joints. They would then lie in a benumbed condition, and be 
drawn together like those tied neck and heels, and presently be 
stretched out, and then drawn back enormously. They made 
piteous outcries that they were cut with knives, and struck with 
blows, and the plain prints of the wounds were seen upon 
them. 
[This latter is not an uncommon occurrence. I once de- 
tected a woman cutting herself with a knife, and thus inflicting 
wounds which she afterwards declared were given her by a 
spirit whom she had offended in the flesh.] 
At times their necks were rendered so limber that the bones 
could not be felt, and again they were so stiff that they could 
not be bent by any degree of force. 
The woman who by her spells was supposed to have caused 
these “ possessions,” was arrested. Her house was searched, 
and several images made of rags and stuffed with goat’s-hair, NEW ENGLAND WITCHCRAFT. 
49 
were found. These the woman confessed she employed for 
the purpose of producing the torments in the children, which 
she did by wetting her finger with saliva and stroking the 
images. The experiment was made in court, to the entire 
satisfaction of all concerned. The woman, who was evidently 
insane, and probably rendered so by the accusations made 
against her, acknowledged that she was in league with the 
devil. She was tried, condemned to death, and executed. On 
the scaffold she declared that others remained who would carry 
on the work of tormenting the children; and so the calamities 
of the victims went on. They barked like dogs, purred like 
cats, at times complained that they were in a red-hot oven, and 
again that cold water was thrown on them. Then they were 
roasted on an invisible spit, and would shriek with agony; 
their heads they said were nailed to the floor, and it was be- 
yond ordinary strength to pull them up. They would be so 
limber sometimes, that it was judged every bone they had 
might be bent, and then so stiff that not a joint could be flexed. 
And so the story goes on through several pages of details. 
Unseen ropes and chains were put around them, blows were 
given, and then the narrator continues, in regard to the eldest 
of the children, who was specially under his observation :— 
“ A Quaker’s book being brought to her, she could quietly 
read whole pages of it; only the name of God and Christ she 
still skipped over, being unable to pronounce it, except some- 
times stammering a minute or two or more over it. And when 
we urged her to tell what the word was that she missed, she 
would say: ‘ I must not speak it. They say I must not. You* 
know what it is. ’Tis G, and O, and D.’ But a book against SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
50 
Quakerism they would not allow her to meddle with. Such 
books as it might have been profitable and edifying for her to 
read, and especially her catechisms, if she did but offer to read 
a line in them, she would be cast into hideous convulsions, and 
be tossed about the house like a football. But books of jest 
being shown her, she could read them well enough, and have 
cunning descants upon them. Popish books they would not 
hinder her from reading, but they would from books against 
popery. 
“ Divers of these trials were made by many witnesses, but 
I, considering that there might be a snare in it, put a season- 
able stop to this kind of business. Only I could not but be 
amazed at one thing. A certain prayer-book being brought to 
her, she not only could read it very well, but also did read a 
large part of it over, calling it her Bible, and putting a more 
than ordinary respect upon it. If she were going into her tor- 
tures, at the tender of this book, she would recover herself 
to read it.” 
Then she rode invisible horses, and continued other pranks, 
till at last “one particular minister” (who seems to have 
been very negligent heretofore), “ taking a peculiar compassion 
on the family, set himself to serve them in the methods pre- 
scribed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly, the Lord be- 
ing besought thrice in three days of prayer, with fasting, on 
this occasion, the family then saw their deliverance perfected.” 
In the tenth example it is stated that one Winlock Curtis, 
a sailor, “ was violently and suddenly seized in an unaccount- 
able manner, and furiously thrown down upon the deck, where 
he lay wallowing in a great agony, and foamed at the mouth, NEW ENGLAND WITCHCRAFT. 
51 
and grew black in the face, and was near strangled with a great 
lump rising in his neck nigh his throat, like that which be- 
witched or possessed people used to be attended withal.” 
Winlock Curtis clearly had an epileptic fit, and the lump 
spoken of was the well-known globus hystericus, which few of 
my nervous readers have failed to experience at some time or 
other of their lives. 
Finally, the epidemic spread with such rapidity, and so 
many accused themselves of converse with the devil, that the 
common-sense of the people put a stop to further executions. 
In the language of Mather, “Experience showed that the 
more there were apprehended the more were still afflicted by 
Satan, and the number of confessions increasing did but in- 
crease the number of the accused; and the executing of some 
made way for the apprehending of others. For still the af- 
flicted complained of being tormented by new objects, as 
the former were removed. So that those that were concerned 
grew amazed at the number and quality of the persons ac- 
cused, and feared that Satan by his wiles had enwrapped 
innocent persons under the imputation of that crime; and at 
last it was evidently seen that there must be a stop put, or 
the generation of the children of God would fall under that 
condemnation. Henceforth, therefore, the juries generally 
acquitted such as were tried, fearing they had gone too far 
before, and Sir William Phips, the governor, reprieved all that 
were condemned, even the confessors as well as others.” 
The epidemic, being thus let alone, died a natural death, 
as would likewise be the case with the spiritualism of the 
present day with similar treatment. SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
52 
The vagaries of the shakers and jumpers of our own coun- 
try, and of the whirling dervishes and other sects of the old 
world, and the contortions, trances, and beatifications of camp- 
meetings and revivals, may also receive a portion of our 
attention. 
McNemar,* who was an eye witness of what he describes, 
but whose book has almost passed out of sight, says of the 
Kentucky revival:— 
“ At first appearance these meetings exhibited nothing to 
the spectator but a scene of confusion, that could scarcely be 
put into any language. They were generally opened with a 
sermon, near the close of which there would be an unusual 
outcry, even bursting out into loud ejaculations of prayer, etc. 
“ The rolling exercise consisted in being cast down in a 
violent manner, doubled with the head and feet together, or 
stretched in a prostrate manner, turning swiftly over like a dog. 
Nothing in nature could better represent the jerks than for one 
to goad another alternately on every side with a red-hot iron. 
The exercise commonly began in the head, which would fly 
backwards and forwards and from side to side with a quick 
jolt, which the person would naturally labor to suppress, but 
in vain. He must necessarily go on as he was stimulated, 
whether with a violent dash on the ground and bounce from 
place to place like a foot-ball, hopping round with head, limbs 
* The Kentucky Revival; or, A Short History of the Late Extra- 
ordinary Outpouring of the Spirit of God in the Western States of 
America, agreeable to Scripture Promises and Prophecies concerning the 
Latter Day. With a brief account of the entrance and progress of what 
the world calls Shakerism among the subjects of the late revival in Ohio 
and Kentucky. Presented to the True Zion Traveller as a Memorial of 
the Wilderness Journey. Cincinnati. 1807. THE JERKERS. 
53 
and trunk twitching and jolting in every direction, as if they 
must inevitably fly asunder.” 
Lorenzo Dow, in his Journal, states that at one of the 
meetings at which he preached, at Knoxville, Tennessee, in 
1805, a hundred and fifty persons, among them several qua- 
kers, were affected with the “jerks.” “I have seen,” he says, 
“ all denominations of religion exercised by the jerks, gentle- 
man and lady, black and white, young and old, without ex- 
ception. I passed a meeting-house where I observed the un- 
dergrowth had been cut down for camp-meetings, and from 
fifty to a hundred saplings were left for the people who were 
jerked to hold by. I observed where they had held on, they 
had kicked up the earth as a horse stamping flies.” 
Another account of the Kentucky revival is that of Mr. 
Geo. A. Baxter,* a man of whom the Rev. Archibald Alex- 
ander, President of Hampden Sidney College in Virginia, 
says, “ I never knew a man in whose judgment in a matter 
of this kind I could more confidently rely.” 
The account states that the people were accustomed to 
assemble on sacramental occasions to the number of from 
eight to twelve thousand, and to continue on the ground in de- 
votional exercises for several days and nights. They were 
addressed by several ministers, and presently some of the 
audience began to fall down, which at first created some dis- 
order, but soon this fall became so general and frequent that 
it excited no disturbance. At Cane-Ridge sacrament, it was 
* Quoted by Dr. Brigham from the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, 
Vol. II., in Observations on the Influence of Religion upon the Health. 
Boston, 1855, p. 229. 54 
generally supposed that not less than one thousand persons 
fell prostrate to the ground, and among them many infidels. 
At one sacrament at which Mr. Baxter attended, the number 
that fell was thought to be over three thousand. It was com 
mon to see the fallers shed tears plentifully for about an hour. 
Then they were seized with a general tremor, and sometimes 
they uttered, at the moment of falling, piercing shrieks. Some- 
times they could not sit up or speak, the pulse became weak 
and the breathing very slow. At others, all signs of life left 
them, for an hour or more. In many cases the falling was 
very sudden ; some would go down as if struck by lightning. 
Many infidels and other vicious characters were arrested in 
this way, and sometimes at the very moment in which they 
were uttering their blasphemies against the work. 
On one occasion he says:—“ The people, as usual, met on 
Friday, but they were all languid, and the exercises went on 
heavily. On Saturday and Sunday morning it was no better. 
At length the communion service commenced, and everything 
was still lifeless. The minister of the place was speaking at 
one of the tables without any unusual liberty. All at once 
there were several shrieks from different parts of the assem- 
bly. Persons fell instantly in every direction. The feelings 
of the hearers were suddenly relieved, and the work went on 
with extraordinary power from that time to the conclusion of 
the solemnity.” 
And all this was called “ The outpouring of the Holy 
Spirit! ” 
Some ministers were then, as now, more potent to convert 
than others. Thus, one of the most gifted in this respect, at 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. REV. MR. WESLEY'S MINISTRATIONS. 
55 
least in his own estimation, was the Rev. Mr. Foote,* who says, 
“ Most ministers, I suppose, do not expect to convert a hundred 
souls in all their lives ; but though I am a poor creature, I 
should not think I did anything unless I converted two 
thousand or two thousand five hundred a year.” 
In England, like performances resulted from the ministra 
tions of Mr. Wesley, and are thus described in his Journal: 
“ Sunday, May 20, being with Mr. B—11, at Everton, I was 
much fatigued and did not rise, but Mrs. B did, and ob- 
served many fainting and crying out, while Mr. Berridge was 
preaching ; afterwards, at church, I heard many cry out, espe- 
cially children, whose agonies were amazing; one of the old- 
est, a girl of ten or twelve years old, was full in my view, in 
violent contortions of body, and weeping aloud, I think, inces- 
santly during the whole service ; and several much younger 
children were in Mr. B—IPs full view, agonizing as they did. 
The church was equally crowded in the afternoon, the windows 
being filled within and without, and even the outside of the 
pulpit to the very top, so that Mr. B seemed almost stifled 
with their breath ; yet feeble and sickly as he is, he was con- 
tinually strengthened, and his voice, for the most part, dis- 
tinguishable in the midst of all the outcries. I believe there 
were present three times more men than women, a greater part 
of whom came from afar ; thirty of them having set out at two 
in the morning, from a place thirteen miles off. The text was : 
‘ Having a fear of godliness but denying the power thereofl 
When the power of religion began to be spoken of, the pres- 
* “Account of the Seven Protracted Meetings in Berkshire Co., 
Mass.” By the Rev. D. D. Field, of Stockbridge. Boston Recorder, April 
3, 1835, cited by Brigham, op. cit., p. 242. 56 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
ence of God really filled the place; and while poor sinners 
felt the sentence of death in their souls, what sounds of distress 
did I hear ! The greatest number of those who cried or fell, 
were men; but some women and several children felt the 
power of the same almighty spirit, and seemed just sinking 
into hell. This occasioned a mixture of various sounds ; some 
shrieking, some roaring aloud. The most general was a loud 
breathing like that of people half strangled and gasping for 
life; and, indeed, almost all the cries were like those of human 
creatures dying in bitter anguish. Great numbers wept with- 
out any noise ; others fell down as dead ; some sinking in si- 
lence ; some with extreme noise and violent agitation. I stood 
on the pew seat, as did a young man on the opposite pew, an 
able-bodied, fresh, healthy countryman; but in a moment, 
while he seemed to think of nothing less, down he dropped 
with a violence inconceivable. The adjoining pew seemed to 
shake with his fall. I heard afterwards the stamping of his 
feet; ready to break the boards as he lay in strong convulsions 
at the bottom of the pew. Among several that were struck 
down in the next pew, was a girl who was as violently seized 
as he. When he fell, Mr. B—11 and I felt our souls thrilled with 
a momentary dread; as when one man is killed with a cannon- 
ball another often feels the wind of it. 
“ Among the children who felt the arrows of the Almighty, 
I saw a sturdy boy about eight years old, who roared above his 
fellows, and seemed, in his agony, to struggle with the strength 
of a grown man. His face was red as scarlet, and almost all on 
whom God laid his hand, turned either very red or almost black. 
When I returned after a little walk to Mr. Berridge’s house, I REV. MR. WESLEY'S MINISTRATIONS. 
found it full of people. He was fatigued, but said he would 
nevertheless give them a word of exhortation. I stayed in the 
next room and saw the girl whom I had observed so peculiarly 
distressed in the church, lying on the floor as one dead, but 
without any ghastliness in her face. In a few minutes we were 
informed of a woman filled with peace and joy, who was cry- 
ing out just before. She had come thirteen miles, and is the 
same person who dreamed Mr. B would come to her 
village on that very day whereon he did come, though without 
either knowing the place or the way to it. She was convinced 
at that time. Just as we heard of her deliverance, the girl on 
the floor began to stir. She was then set on a chair; and 
after sighing awhile, suddenly rose up rejoicing in God. Her 
face was covered with the most beautiful smile I ever saw. 
She frequently fell on her knees but was generally running to 
and fro, speaking these and the like words: ‘ Oh, what can 
Jesus do for lost sinners ? He has forgiven all my sins! I am 
in heaven ! I am in heaven! Oh, how he loves me! And 
how I love him ! ’ Meantime, I saw a thin, pale girl, weeping 
with sorrow for herself and joy for her companion. Quickly 
the smiles of heaven came likewise on her, and her praises 
joined with those of the other. I also then laughed with ex- 
treme joy, so did Mr. B—11 (who said it was more than he 
could well bear). So did all who knew the Lord, and some of 
those who were waiting for salvation, till the cries of those who 
were struck with the arrows of conviction, were almost lost in 
the sounds of joy. * * * * 
“ Immediately after a stranger, well dressed, who stood 
facing me, fell backward to the wall; then forward on hia 
57 58 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
knees, wringing his hands and roaring like a bull. His face at 
first turned quite red and then almost black. He rose and 
ran against the wall, till Mr. Keeling and another held him. 
He screamed out, ‘ Oh, what shall I do, what shall I do ? Oh, for 
one drop of the blood of Christ! ’ As he spoke, God set his 
soul at liberty; he knew his sins were blotted out; and the 
raptures he was in seemed too great for human nature to bear. 
He had come forty miles to hear Mr. B , and was to leave 
the next morning; which he did with a glad heart, telling all 
who came in his way, what God had done for his soul. * * * 
“ And now did I see such a sight as I do not expect again 
on this side eternity. The faces of the three justified children, 
and I think of all the believers present, did really shine; and 
such a beauty, such a look of extreme happiness and at the 
same time of divine love and simplicity, did I never see in hu- 
man faces till now. The newly justified eagerly embraced one 
another, weeping on each other’s necks for joy. Then they 
saluted all of their own sex and besought men and women to 
help them in praising God.” 
On the 24th, Mr. Wesley went to hear Mr. Hicks preach at 
Wrestlingworth, and thus describes what ensued : 
“ While he was preaching, fifteen or sixteen persons felt 
the arrows of the Lord and dropped down. A few of these 
cried out with the utmost violence, and little intermission for 
some hours, while the rest made no great noise but continued 
struggling as in the pangs of death. I observed besides them, 
one little girl deeply convinced, and a boy nine or ten years 
old, both of them, and several others, when carried into the par- 
sonage house, either lay as dead or struggled with all their SHAKERISM. 
59 
might, but in a short time their cries increased beyond meas 
ure, so that the loudest singing could scarcely be heard. Some 
at last called on me to pray, which I did, and for a time all 
were calm ; but the storm soon began again.” 
This is not all. There is a great deal more to the same 
effect, and were it not that there is such a condition as hysteria, 
we should be disposed to take the other alternative of de- 
moniacal possession, as an explanation of the frightful orgies, 
which under the blasphemous designation of the “ outpouring 
of the spirit of God,” excelled in hideousness the frenzies of 
the demonolaters of the East. 
Hysteria from any other cause is marked by exactly such 
phenomena—the emotional disturbance, the falling, the loss of 
consciousness, the spasms, convulsions, coma, are all so many 
symptoms which physicians see every day arise from very dif- 
ferent factors than the “ spirit of God.” The well-known force 
of contagion by example, has no more marked exponent than 
hysteria affords, and hence, when one began to sob, and to be 
convulsed, to cry out in agony and to fall in a coma, the spark 
was set to the train, and the others with pent-up emotions, 
were ready to do likewise. 
But the relations of hysteria to religion have never been 
more distinctly shown than in the fact that women under its 
influence, have been able to gather numerous followers and ac- 
tually to originate new religious faiths, of such preposterous 
tenets and practices, as to inevitably lead to the conclusion 
that the adherents are either fools or knaves. 
Take for instance, the shakers. This sect professes to be- 
lieve that Christ made his second appearance on earth in the 60 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
person of one Ann Lee, an Englishwoman, daughter of James 
Lee, a blacksmith of Manchester, England. This woman was 
employed in a hat manufactory, was married when very young, 
and had four or five children all of whom died in infancy. At 
a very early period of her life, Ann Lee began to feel the 
“ awful sinfulness of sin and the depth of man’s fall.” Al- 
though she could neither read nor write, she managed to pick 
up from others a little smattering of the Bible, and evinced a 
great interest in the Apocrypha, as was natural she should, 
under the peculiar circumstances of her career. She always 
said the Apocrypha was the cream of the Bible. 
Night and day she labored to discover the root of all evil, 
and being convinced beyond a doubt where it lay, she opened 
a flaming testimony against it, which called down upon her 
head showers of persecutions, too cruel for long endurance. 
But many adopted her views and she was called “mother,” as 
the head of the band of followers she had gathered around 
her. 
By continual fasting and prayer, much agony of soul, inces- 
sant cries, tears and entreaties by day and by night, she wasted 
away, till becoming helpless, her followers were under the ne- 
cessity of taking her in their arms as an infant. It is said she 
was fed with pap from a spoon, the greater portion of the time 
during which she was travailing in the “New Birth.” She tra- 
vailed nine years in this way, and then she announced that she 
was born again “ completely redeemed from all the propensi- 
ties of a fallen nature, in July, 1790.” She then separated from 
her husband and was duly regarded as the second Christ— 
the Redeemer of the world. SHAKERISM. 
61 
Like all new religions, this met with violent persecution— 
not enough to crush it, just enough to feed it. In every place 
in England in which Mother Ann undertook to worship God 
by dancing on Sunday and preaching against the institution of 
marriage, persecution was excited ; but she bore up against it 
and her followers increased. 
As in the case of other of religious dogmas, 
which do not admit of proof, Mother Ann began to work mira- 
cles for the confusion of the unbelievers, and the strengthening 
of the convictions of the faithful. 
Thus we are told she was dragged before the magistrates, 
for no other offence than worshipping God in the way laid 
down by herself, and was condemned to a cold, dark prison, 
with a small allowance of bread and water; yet she lived, to 
the great astonishment and confusion of her enemies. After 
being confined in this dark prison, in delicate health, and with 
insufficient food, the doors were thrown open, and thousands 
of spectators in breathless anxiety awaited the egress of an 
emaciated and subdued woman, supported by one of her fol- 
lowers; but to their great astonishment Mother Ann came 
forth in unsurpassed beauty, with an air of dignified buoyancy, 
a halo of glory around her head, singing a song of paradise 
given her by an angel who attended her in the prison, and who 
had fed her with food sent by the Eternal Mother. For the 
Shakers worship a quadruple God, consisting of the Eternal 
Father, the Eternal Mother, the Son and Holy Ghost, corres- 
ponding to Power, Mother Ann, Jesus Christ and Wisdom. 
This miraculous event so incensed the people that she was 
taken, with her followers, to a valley a short distance from 6 2 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
Manchester. The mob collected on a hill near by, and com- 
menced a furious attack on them with stones and other missiles, 
These projectiles flew with tremendous velocity till within a 
few inches of their object, and then fell harmless to the ground. 
Mother Ann saw a circle of power of God around about them 
like a high wall. 
Then they determined to leave a country where they met 
with so little appreciation, and so set sail for America. On 
the voyage Mother Ann stilled a raging tempest, and kept the 
sea calm till they landed. She died in a few years, and took 
her place in heaven, to be worshipped as a member of the 
Godhead.* 
The religious ceremonial of these degraded creatures has no 
one redeeming feature about it. The demonolatrous worship 
of the Hindoos has an object—the propitiation of a powerful 
being—but the shaker ritual is abjectly degrading to human 
nature, without even the excuse of adoration. 
There are many among them who profess to see God, Christ 
and Mother Ann. They are taken to the spiritual world and 
introduced to good spirits, where they often sit at table with 
the Godhead. At their meetings, some one called the visionist 
directs the proceedings. Standing at the head of the room, 
this person, who professes to see God, Christ or Mother Ann, 
and to be in communion with them, gives his orders to the 
assembled people. He calls on one to step forth and shake. 
The victim comes forward, drops his or her hand's to the side, 
* This account, as well as what follows, is quoted in an abridged form 
from “Extract from an Unpublished Manuscript on Shaker History; by an 
Eye Witness.” Boston, 1850. SHAKERISM. 
63 
and begins shaking the whole body and stamping with the feet, 
while the visionist calls out at the top of his voice “ Shake ! 
Shake ! Shake ! There is a great spirit on you, shake him 
off! shake him off ! Christ says, shake him off! ” Another 
then takes up the cry : “ Down ! down ! come down ! Christ 
says, come down ! Low ! low ! low ! ” At which every person 
in the room bends and bows like willows in a high wind. 
Sometimes one of the gifted, will see the devil come into the 
meeting, and, like a faithful sentinel, gives the alarm, when 
every true believer opens the battery at once by drawing the 
right arm nearly to the chin, placing the arm in the position as 
if to shoot, and then straightening the body out with a jerk and 
a stamp of the foot, accompanied by a quick bursting yelp in 
imitation of a gun, all being the work of a moment. “ There,” 
says the visionist, “ see him dart; he has gone down towards 
the chimney; shoot him ! shoot him ! kill him ! ” and a rush 
is made for spiritual weapons, given by the visionist from the 
spiritual armory. 
Sometimes Christ or Mother Ann enters the meeting-room, 
bearing such presents as the band wants. These presents are 
“ spiritual,” and are handed round by Christ to the faithful, 
who receive them as though they were real gifts. To one 
golden potatoes are given; to another, oranges; to others, cake, 
puddings, jellies, etc., with various other things not known to 
this world. 
Mother Ann has a splendid vineyard; the walks are of pure 
gold, with angels walking around among the vines. There are 
ten thousand kinds of grapes. Mother Ann superintends her 
own wine press, and often brings wine ( “ spiritual ” again) as 64 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
a present. The visionist pretends to take a waiter filled with 
wine-glasses ; every body must have faith, and take one as it is 
handed to them. Those who have little or no faith are told by 
the visionist whether they have taken theirs. Then they all 
raise their hands to their lips as in the act of drinking, and 
presently they begin to reel and stagger around the room as 
though actually drunk. Indeed, they act in all respects as 
drunken persons, stamping, shaking, vomiting, etc., till finally, 
exhausted, they gradually sink away till all is silent. Then, 
standing in a circle, they throw their handkerchiefs over their 
shoulders, raise their hands to their heads, and make six solemn 
bows, saying with each, “ I kindly thank Mother for this 
beautiful gift.” 
Often some one will feel a “ laughing gift,” and will begin 
with—he, he, he ; ha, ha, ha; ho, ho, ho. Another takes it up, 
and soon all in the room are engaged in boisterous laughter. 
Once under full “laughing gift,” they will hold on to their 
sides and reel in their chairs till they become exhausted. This 
gift ends in a song: 
Ho, ho, ho; he, he, he ; 
O, what a pretty little path I see: 
Pretty path, pretty play, 
Pretty little angels, 
Play, hay, hay. 
The first and last lines are sung with a loud laugh. 
A gift sometimes called the “ mortification gift ” enters the 
room. One might suppose it came direct from the barn-yard, 
as the inspired begin slapping their hands against their sides 
and crowing in imitation of a chicken-cock. Some will cackle, 
others imitate the turkey, duck, hen, goose, or guinea-fowl. SHAKERISM. 
65 
Sometimes young men and women are exercised by what 
they call the “ jerks,” for two weeks at a time, during the whole 
of which period the head is kept in continual motion by quick, 
convulsive motions of the shoulders and neck. The author of 
the little book from which these particulars are quoted says she 
once saw a young woman whose face was frightfully swollen, 
her eyes dilated and bloodshot, and who had been exercised by 
the “ jerks” for three weeks. Directly after the “jerks” she 
began to talk in unknown tongues, and continued at short in- 
tervals for three or four days ; then she stopped suddenly, and 
remained entirely mute for two weeks, no possible persuasion 
being sufficient to make her say even yes or no. This expe- 
rience is called the “ dumb devils.” 
“ At one time,” she writes, “ while in a mission meeting, the 
visionist said ‘ Vicalun ’ was present. I was told that ‘ Vica- 
lun ’ was the angel of repentance, and he had come to visit me, 
if I would ‘ own the gift.’ I informed the visionist that I felt 
honored by the notice. 
“ They then sang a very solemn song in ‘ unknown tongues ’ 
and English, called ‘ Vicalun’s Prayer,’ reading thus:— 
' Hark! hark I my holy, holy, 
Vicalun seelen sor, 
I have come to mourn 
And weep with you 
In low humiliation; 
Pray to the silun sool, 
Whose hand can stay the billows, 
And san si rulun sool.’ 
“ I cannot do justice to these songs by writing them. The 
spiritual gifts are never set to music. They have some excel- 
lent songs, however, and very difficult to execute correctly 66 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
The song just quoted has a variety of changes, accompanied 
by the following motions : At the first line the head is inclined 
forward, with the forefinger pointing to the right ear, as in the 
act of listening. At the third line the hands are brought for- 
ward with an earnest beckoning motion. At the fourth line 
the hands are carried to the eyes as in the act of weeping, the 
body gradually bending till it sinks on the knees and the face 
touches the floor at the close of the fifth line. At the com- 
mencement of the sixth line both hands are brought up to the 
side of the head as in prayer; at the seventh the right hand is 
thrown convulsively upward ; at the word ‘ Vicalun ’ both hands 
are extended wide. At the last line, and at the last word, they 
are clasped over the heart. The last four lines are repeated 
twice. Appropriate motions accompany all songs sung by 
them.” 
Now, can any person not utterly lost to all sense of the dig- 
nity of the human species think of these things without doubting 
the sanity of those who practise them ? In what essential 
respect do these acts differ from those of the demonolaters, as 
described by Caldwell ? * A devil has been angered, and must 
be propitiated. 
“ Beat the tom-tom louder. Let the fattest sheep be offered 
as a propitiation ! Let the horns blaze out as the priest rolls 
about in the giddy dance, and gashes himself in his frenzy. 
More fire ! Quicker music ! Wilder bounds from the devil- 
dancers ! Shrieks and laughter, and sobs, and frantic shouts ! 
And over the long, lone valley, and up the bouldered mountain- 
side, under the wan moon, thrills out loud and savage and 
* “ Demonolatry, Devil-Dancing, and Demoniacal Possession.” Tht 
Contemporary Review, Feb., 1876. DE VIL-DANCING. 
shrill, the wild, tremulous wailing of women and yells of mad- 
dened men. ‘ Ha, ha ! I am God ! God ! The God is in me, 
and shrieks! Come, hasten, tell me all! I will solace you, 
cure you ! God is in me, and I am God ! Hack and slaugh- 
ter ! The blood of the sacrifice is sweet! Another fowl! 
Another goat! Quick, I am athirst for blood! Obey your 
God ! ’ Such are the words which hoarsely burst from the 
frothing lips of the devil-dancer, as he bounds and leaps and 
gyrates, with short, sharp cries, and red eyes almost starting 
from their sockets.” 
Mr. Caldwell appears to believe that the devil-dancers are 
in reality, as they believe, possessed by demons. What would 
he say if present at some such shaker gatherings as have been 
described ? He and others may believe in possession, but those 
who know how low the majesty of the human mind can fall, and 
what strange and degraded acts, hysteria and hysteroid affec- 
tions lead their subjects to commit, will see only in spiritualism, 
shakerism, camp-meetings, devil-dancing, and their congeners, 
fresh reasons to doubt the existence of any very broad line of 
demarkation between man and the rest of the animal kingdom. 
Mr. Wesley, had he been present at a shaker meeting, 
would doubtless have seen little of the “ outpouring of the spirit 
of God ” in their acts. He would probably have regarded the 
performers as possessed by evil spirits and as mocking the God 
they pretended to please. But “ heterodoxy is your doxy, or- 
thodoxy is my doxy,” the world over. This is what the 
shakers think of him. 
“ After singing this prayer, the young prophet rose from his 
seat and approached me saying, “ Will you hear what the spirit 
67 68 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
has to say to you ? ’ I answered, yes. He then returned to his 
seat and commenced bowing his head as is the custom in the 
opening of a £ gift,’ and said, ‘ O, look there and see that great 
spirit! He has got a large rope in his hand and it is tied 
around your waist; and O look ! there is another on the other 
side, he has got a rope around your waist. There ! see him 
pull you.’ I asked him who these spirits were. ‘ Why,’ said 
he, ‘ Christ says, the one on your left side is John Wesley, and 
the other on your right side is John Murray. First you incline 
to the one and then to the other. But oh look, there is an aw- 
ful spirit! He has got a great iron chain around both these 
men. O mother, do tell us who that awful spirit is! ’ After a 
moment’s pause, he exclaimed, ‘ Why it is the devil! so you 
see, let you go to either of these men, you will go to the devil, 
for he has them both.’ I asked him why I did not go if Mur- 
ray, Wesley and the Devil had united their forces to draw me 
with cable ropes and iron chains ? The young man sat a mo- 
ment and then said, ‘ Oh, I see it all now ; there is a beautiful 
spirit all light and glory, right behind you. Dear, good spirit, 
do tell me what you are, so very glorious ? Why now I know, 
it is our blessed mother, and she has got a splendid gold chain 
around your waist, holding your arm, so you had better let 
methodism and universalism alone, and cheat the devil by 
being a good child of mother’s kingdom.’ ” 
Again, there is the remarkable example of Joanna 
Southcott, who announcing that she had conceived by super- 
natural agency and was about to give birth to a second Christ, 
or rather that Christ was to be born again through her, ob- 
tained many followers who anxiously expected the promised JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 
69 
advent. She called herself the woman spoken of in the Revela- 
tion of St. John, as the “Bride, the Lamb’s Wife clothed with 
the sun,” as she said,* “by types, shadows, dreams and visions, 
I have been led on from 1792 to the present day.” 
Day and night she had hallucinations or visions, as she 
called them, which she accepted as realities, and which formed 
the basis of her prophecies and system of religion. Meetings 
were held to inquire into the truth of her pretensions, and at 
once a court was organized and a trial instituted. The result 
was that she was accepted for all she claimed to be, as the 
document was published, worded as follows : 
“ We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, being invited 
by divine command for seven days to the examination of Jo- 
anna Southcote, do individually and voluntarily avow by our 
separate signatures, our firm belief that her prophecies and 
other spiritual communications, emanate wholly and entirely 
from the Spirit of the living Lord.” 
And among the names subscribed to this precious instru- 
ment of human folly, are those of several of the clergy! 
She was subject to paroxsyms of weeping, to trances and 
convulsions of a hysterical character. She often saw and con- 
versed with the devil, and his Satanic majesty did not hesitate 
to abuse and threaten her in language scarce fit for polite ears. 
“ Thou infamous ,” said Satan, enraged at the opposition he 
met with, “ thou hast been flattering God that He may stand thy 
friend ! Such low cunning I despise ! Thou scheming wretch, 
*“ The Strange Effects of Faith with Remarkable Prophecies (made in 
1792, etc.) of Things which are to come; also, Some Account of My Life.” 
Printed for the author, Exeter, 1801. p. 16. 70 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
stop thy eternal tongue ! God has done something to 
choose a of a woman that will argue down the devil and 
scarce give him room to speak.” * 
On other occasions she was visited by Christ. It is pain- 
ful to be obliged to refer to such events, but it must be remem- 
bered that this woman was sincere, actually believing in the 
reality of all she imagined she saw, and thousands of others 
drinking in as truth, every word that fell from her lips or pen. 
“Who,” says the author from whom I have just quoted, 
“ can peruse the account of the following vision, for example, 
related by Miss Townley in the pamphlet entitled ‘ Letters and 
Communications of Joanna Southcott,’ and not be staggered 
at the disclosure of such scenes? Monday evening, July 
2d, 1804, it seems that Joanna tried to compose herself after a 
hard contest with the devil, when “ at last she fell asleep, and 
whether awake or asleep,” continues Miss Townley, “ she does 
not know, but she remembers she was quite awake when 
she felt the hand of the Lord upon her, but in that heavenly 
and beautiful manner, that she felt joy unspeakable and full of 
glory. She felt herself lying as it were, in heaven, in the 
hands of the Lord, and was afraid to move fearing she should 
remove his heavenly hand, which she felt as perfect as ever 
woman felt the hand of her husband.” Here the “ Lamb’s Wife ” 
herself, takes up the tale. ‘ In this happy manner,’ affirms 
* Memoirs of the Life and Mission of Joanna Southcott, interspersed 
with authentic anecdotes and elucidated by interesting documents ; includ- 
ing the Progress of her Pregnancy, detailed by Herself, together with the 
opinions of Drs. Reece and Sims, to which is added a Sketch of the Rev. W. 
Tozer, M.J.S., embellished with a likeness of the Prophetess. London, 
1814, p. 15. JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 
71 
Joanna, ‘ I fell asleep, and in my sleep I was surprised with 
seeing a most beautiful and heavenly figure that arose from the 
bed between Townley and me. He arose and turned himself 
backwards towards the foot of the bed, and his head almost 
reached the tester of the bed, but his face was towards me, 
which appeared with beauty and majesty, but pale as death. 
His hair was a flaxen color, all in disorder around his face. 
His face was covered with strong perspiration and his locks 
were wet like the dew of night, as though they had been taken 
out of a river. The collar of his shirt appeared unbuttoned, 
and the skin of his bosom appeared white as the driven snow. 
Such was the beauty of the heavenly figure that appeared be- 
fore me in a disordered state ; but the robe he had on was like 
a surplice down to his knees. He put out one of his legs to 
me, that was perfectly like mine, no larger, but with purple 
spots at the top, as mine are with beating myself, which Town- 
ley, Underwood, and Taylor, are witnesses of. Methought in 
my dream, he got himself into that perspiration by being 
pressed to sleep between Townley and me. I said to him, 
* are you my dear dying Saviour that is come to destroy all the 
works of the devil ? ’ He answered, ‘ Yes.’ I thought I called 
Underwood and waked Townley, to look at him, which they 
did with wonder and amaze.” 
Such sexual orgasms were frequently misinterpreted by 
the mystical women of the middle ages, into acts of intercourse 
with angels and members of the Godhead, so that Joanna’s 
experience was not isolated. 
Then, when in her sixty-fifth year, she gave out that her 
pregnancy had at last occurred, and that Christ would be born 72 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
again of her, several medical men examined her and certified 
that she was actually pregnant. But a Dr. Sims took another 
view of the case, and gave his views at length, for arriving at a 
contrary opinion. 
Nevertheless, the faithful continued to believe. A crib of 
satin wood, mounted in gold, was provided for the heavenly 
infant. This was called “ the manger.” Bed-clothing of the 
finest linen, lace, satin and silk, embroidered with doves and 
trimmed with gold lace, was supplied, and the bed was of eider- 
down. The whole cost upwards of two hundred pounds. 
The time arrived, her adherents waited patiently, but there 
was no birth. Excuses were made, and the number of her 
followers scarcely diminished during her lifetime. 
It is hardly credible that human folly can reach to such ex- 
tremes, as it is shown to have attained in the development of 
Shakerism and the delusions of Joanna Southcote. We shall, 
however, see that there are still lower depths. That Spiritual- 
ism, therefore, should have its adherents, need excite no sur- 
prise. A little inquiry into the operations of the human mind, 
as they relate to matters of faith, is sufficient to reveal to us 
the fact that the extent of human credulity is illimitable, and 
that nothing can be asserted so absurd, so degrading, so blas- 
phemous, so impossible, that there will not be found men and 
women with minds badly enough organized, to accept it as an 
article of belief. 
In a recent work,* which certainly may be regarded as good 
* Modern American Spiritualism; a Twenty Years Record of the Com- 
munion between Earth and Heaven. By Emma Hardinge. Second Edi- 
tion. New York, 1870, p. 159. JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 
73 
spiritualistic authority, there is an account of a medium who 
was by turns under the influence of a good spirit called, 
‘ Katy,’ and of a bad one whom she asserted to be a ‘ sailor 
boy.’ This latter, took great delight in swearing through her 
and in uttering such profane language as he had been accus- 
tomed to on earth. Many manifestations of the power of these 
spirits were given : 
“About 1846, a most singular and distressing phase of 
these phenomena was superadded to the rest, under what 
claimed to be the influence of the profane sailor. The girl’s 
limbs in several directions, would be thrown out of joint and 
that with apparent ease, in a moment and without pain. To 
replace them seemed to be either beyond the power or the will 
of her invisible tormentor, and Dr. Larkin, (a weak minded 
man, whose servant she was) though an experienced surgeon, 
was often obliged to call in the aid of his professional brethren, 
and his or their strong assistants. 
“ On one occasion the knees and wrists of the girl were 
thrown out of joint, twice in a single day. Those painful feats 
were always accompanied by loud laughter, hoarse and profane 
jokes, and expressions of exultant delight, purporting to come 
from the sailor, while the girl herself seemed wholly uncon- 
scious of the danger of her awkward situation. The preter- 
natural feats of agility and strength exhibited on these 
occasions could scarcely be credited, and the frightfully 
unnatural contortions of the limbs with which she became tied 
up into knots and coils, baffle all physiological explanation or 
attempts at description. 
This last statement arises from Mrs. Hardinge’s ignorance of 74 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
the capacities of hysteria. Can any body familiar with its va 
garies doubt for an instant that this girl was suffering from it, 
and that her condition was aggravated by the notoriety which 
she gained by her performances ? In what respect do these 
so-called spiritualistic exhibitors differ from those which have 
been cited, and, except in being less strongly marked, from 
those to which attention will be asked in the following chapter. 
But though we can deplore the ignorance of those who be- 
lieved this girl to be possessed by two spirits, what are we to 
think of the lamentable darkness in which certain of her neigh- 
bours seemed to have lived. Mrs. Hardinge* makes the state- 
ment that the Rev. Horace James, one of the ministers of 
Wrentham in the year 1849, and an unceasing slanderer and 
persecutor of Dr. Larkin, summoned three magistrates, who, 
together with a few persons of the place, inimical to the 
manifestations, constituted a judicial court, before which Dr. 
Larkin was cited to appear, and on authority of which the un- 
fortunate sick girl was dragged from her bed and arrested on 
the charge of “ necromancy ! ” 
In this notable case the Rev. Horace James, according to 
Mrs. Hardinge, appeared as complainant, chief witness, and 
even judge. 
“ If,” says Mrs. Hardinge, “ the details of this unheard oi 
court of justice should seem to draw too largely on the credulity 
of nineteenth century readers, if it seems impossible to believe 
that in 1849 a poor sick girl could be dragged from her bed on 
the charge of * necromancy,’ and a respectable physician hauled 
before a court of his own neighbors on a charge of sorcery, let 
* Op. cit., p. 162. MODERN NECROMANCY. 
75 
the sequel speak for itself. Mary Jane was convicted on this 
charge and and actually sentenced to sixty days’ confinement 
in Dedham jail: witness the Dedham jail records in the State 
of Massachusetts.” 
This seems almost incredible, but the account is circum- 
stantial, and has never, to my knowledge, been denied. 
From the same volume* the following account is taken — 
“ Four badly-educated girls, of ages ranging from fifteen to 
twenty, having gathered together at a friend’s house to have a 
time with the spirits, or, in other words, to trifle with spiritual 
manifestations, seated themselves around a table, and after 
asking all manner of foolish questions, requested the spirits to 
lay hold of them. 
“ The spirits at once complied, seized them, treated them in 
the roughest manner, and, shaking them, caused them to use 
the most violent actions and outrageous language, etc. In this 
strait one of the dignitaries of the mother church was sent for 
in haste to ‘ expel the obsessing demons.’ After the priest had 
arrived at the scene of disorder, he put on his robes, got ready 
the holy water, and approached the possessed girls in the due 
formulae proper to such occasions. After many sallies with the 
holy fluid, and a vast number of incantations, none of which 
produced the slightest effect, the mediums at length charged 
upon him with such irresistible power and such capacity of 
finger-nails, that the worthy padre fled precipitately, leaving the 
field in possession of the ‘ demons ’ and the spectators who had 
gathered together to witness the ‘exorcism.’ The girls still 
continued to be used roughly, by the discordant spirits they 
* Op. cit., p. 271. 76 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
had invoked, until the arrival of some of their spiritualistic 
friends, by whose judicious passes and gentle remonstrances 
with the spirits, they were instantly relieved.” 
That these “ silly, badly-educated girls ” were simply hys- 
terical, no one with even a superficial acquaintance with the 
normal condition of the nervous system, and the aberrations to 
which it may be subjected, can entertain the slightest doubt. 
It is from just such persons as these that the best mediums are 
obtained. That such phenomena as they and the girl whose 
case was previously quoted, exhibited are regarded as spiritual- 
istic, is sufficient of itself to throw discredit on all the other 
alleged manifestations of the spirits.” “ Falsum in uno, fa/sum 
in omnibus.” 
At most of the spiritualistic meetings which the writer has 
attended there have been hysterical phenomena manifested by 
some of the men and women participating in the exercises. At 
a recent public exhibition of the kind he predicted, from their 
personal appearance, with perfect accuracy who of those assist- 
ing would be thus affected. The symptoms of disordered ner- 
vous action which the audience was invited to consider proofs 
of spiritual agency consisted of incoherent utterances and con- 
vulsive movements of the head, arms, and legs. In one case 
these symptoms became permanent for several months ; a well- 
developed case of chorea, or St. Vitus’s dance was thus 
established. The patient finally came under the writer’s care, 
and was only cured by the persistent administration of iron and 
strychnine—medicines which, with good food and fresh air, 
appear to possess more exorcising power than the formulas of 
the good priest mentioned by Mrs. Hardinge. SPIRITUALISTIC CHOREA. 
77 
In hysteria, hallucinations of the several senses are very 
common. Attention has already been directed to the fact that 
they may be produced by an excessive amount of blood circu- 
lating through the brain. Hysteria is always accompanied by 
an anaemic condition of the brain, and hence we have an illus- 
tration of the well-known fact that opposite pathological states 
may give rise to similar sets of symptoms. It frequently hap- 
pens that, just before death from exhausting diseases, the brain, 
enfeebled with the other organs of the body, is deceived by 
hallucinations of sight and hearing. 
The records of spiritualism abound with instances of spirits 
being seen by the faithful, and many of the cases are to be re- 
ferred to the existence of hysteria.* From among numerous 
similar examples which have come under the professional care 
or observation of the writer, the following are adduced :— 
A young lady gave very decided evidence of suffering from 
mental aberration. She had imbibed the delusion that she had 
a “ double,” whom she saw almost constantly, and with whom 
she conversed whenever she pleased. At first she had been very 
much frightened, but gradually had become accustomed to her 
imaginary companion, and was lonesome and uncomfortable 
without her. There was no other well-marked delusion, though 
some of her absurd fancies partook more or less of that charac- 
ter. Headache was almost an inseparable symptom, as was like- 
wise pain in the back, nausea, and constipation. Her menstrual 
function was deranged, and her whole aspect was that of a 
* For a very philosophical account of hallucinations due to slight cere- 
bral disturbance, the reader is referred to “ An Essay toward a Theory ol 
Apparitions,” by John Ferriar, M.D. London, 1813. 78 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
person whose physical powers were below par. Strychnia, 
iron, and whiskey, and a full, nutritious diet, were not long in 
banishing her delusional visitor, and in otherwise restoring her 
health. 
A married lady consulted the writer for advice regarding 
hallucinations of sight and hearing, with which she had suffered 
for several months. It was only necessary for her to think of 
some particular person, living or dead, when she immediately 
saw the image of the person thought of, who spoke to her, 
laughed, wept, walked about the room, or did whatever other 
thing she imagined. In fact, to such an extent had her pro- 
clivity reached, that it was often impossible for her to avoid 
thinking of persons, and immediately having their figures 
brought to her perception. 
At first she religiously believed in the reality of her visions, 
and that she really saw the spirits of the various individuals of 
whom she happened to think. But, as the hallucinations be- 
came more common, she lost her faith, and ascribed them to 
their true cause—disease. Upon examination, I found that she 
was preeminently of an hysterical type of organization, and was 
then laboring under other symptoms of its presence, besides the 
hallucinations. Thus she had hysterical paralysis of motion 
and sensation in the right leg, to such an extent that she could 
neither move it, nor feel a pin thrust through the skin ; there 
was occasional loss of voice and of the power of speech, and 
tonic contractions of various muscles, especially of those of the 
fingers and toes. Her pulse was small and weak, her bowels 
obstinately constipated, her appetite capricious, and her com- 
plexion pale. Not the least of her afflictions was an almost HYSTERICAL HALLUCINATIONS. 
79 
perpetual headache. Under a suitable hygienic and medicinal 
treatment, this lady entirely recovered. 
A young lady, whom I saw at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 
consultation with my friends Drs. Hubbard and Ohnesorg, had 
hallucinations of sight, in conjunction with other symptoms of 
the hysterical condition. 
Another, whom I visited in consultation with my friend Dr. 
Blakeman, of this city, constantly saw a man, armed with a gun, 
whom she called Peter, and with whom she carried on a con- 
versation. She described him in detail, and tried to make 
others see him. 
Another young lady, in regard to whom I was not long 
since consulted, was subject to fallings like those described by 
Mr. Wesley, convulsions and trances, during which she had 
visions of various kinds, as the result of emotional disturbance 
of even the slightest description. Upon one occasion she lay in a 
trance for seventeen hours, because a dress which had been made 
for her was not trimmed exactly to her liking ; and on another had 
a violent epileptiform convulsion, during which she foamed at 
the mouth, because a novel she was reading turned out dif- 
ferently from her expectations. 
Occasionally persons have the power of voluntarily pro- 
ducing hallucinations of various kinds—a practice fraught with 
danger, for the time comes, sooner or later, in which they can- 
not get rid of their false perceptions. Goethe states that he 
had the power of giving form to the images passing before his 
mind, and on one occasion saw his own figure approaching him. 
Abercrombie* refers to the case of a gentleman who had all 
* Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, and the Investigation 
of Truth. Tenth edition. London, 1840, pp. 380. 80 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
his life been affected by the appearance of spectral figures. To 
such an extent did this peculiarity exist, that, if he met a friend 
in the street, he could not at first satisfy himself whether he 
saw the real or the spectral figure. By close attention he was 
able to perceive that the outline of the false was not quite so 
distinct as that of the real figure, but generally he used other 
means, such as touch or speech, or listening for the footsteps, 
to verify his visual impressions. He had also the power of 
calling up spectral figures at will, by directing his attention 
steadily to the conceptions of his own mind; and this either 
consisted of a figure or a scene he had witnessed, or a compo- 
sition created by his imagination. But though he had the 
faculty of producing hallucinations, he had no power of banish- 
ing them, and, when he had once called up any particular per- 
son or scene, he could never say how long it might continue to 
haunt him. This gentleman was in the prime of life, of sound 
mind, in good health, and engaged in business. His brother 
was similarly affected. 
Several like cases have come under the professional obser- 
vation of the author. In one, the power was directly the result 
of attendance at spiritual meetings, and of the efforts made 
to become a good “ medium.” The patient, a lady, was of 
a very impressionable temperament, and was consequently 
well-disposed to acquire the dangerous faculty in question. 
At first she thought very deeply of some particular person, 
whose image she endeavored to form in her mind. Then she 
assumed that the person was really present, and she address- 
ed conversation to him, at the same time keeping the ideal- 
istic image in her thoughts. At this period she was not de- VOL UNTA R Y HALL UCLNA TLONS. 
81 
ceived, for she clearly recognized the fact that the image was 
not present. 
One day, however, she was thinking very intently of her 
mother, and picturing to herself her appearance as she looked 
when dressed for church, on a particular occasion. She was 
reading a book at the time, and, happening to raise her eyes, 
she saw her mother standing before her, clothed exactly as she 
had imagined her. At first she was somewhat startled, and in 
her agitation closed her eyes with her hands. To her surprise 
she still saw the phantom, but yet, not being aware of the cen- 
tric origin of the image, she conceived the idea that she had 
really seen her mother’s spirit. In a few moments it disap- 
peared, but she soon found that she had the ability to recall it 
at will, and that the power existed in regard to many other 
forms—even those of animals, and of inanimate objects. 
During the spiritualistic meetings she attended, she could 
thus reproduce the image of any person on whom she strongly 
concentrated her thoughts, and was for a long time sincere in 
the belief that they were real appearances. At last she lost 
control of the operation, and was constantly subject to hallu- 
cinations of sight and hearing. She was unable to sleep, 
complained of vertigo, pain in the head, and of other symp- 
toms indicating cerebral hyperaemia. The application of ice 
to her head, and other suitable medication, saved her from 
an attack of insanity. But her nervous system was for several 
months in a state of exhaustion, from which she rallied with 
difficulty. 
A young lady has recently informed me that she is able to 
bring visually before her the images of the characters contained' 82 
SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
in any novel she may have been recently reading, or in any 
striking play she may have witnessed. 
It is probable that many of the visions of Jerome Cardan, 
and Swedenborg, were voluntary productions. On this princi- 
ple can be explained many of the instances of spiritualistic 
hallucinations which have been detailed by inquirers willing to 
be deceived. 
Quite recently, Mr. Francis Galton,* in a paper which, 
though interesting to the lay reader, cannot but excite, on some 
accounts, a feeling of disapproval in the minds of neurologists, 
advises the cultivation of the faculty of forming mental im- 
ages. The ability to recall desirable impressions is one which 
is developed in different degrees by different people, and is 
one which may be developed not only without detriment to 
the individual, but with advantage. It is simply an instance of 
the power of memory, and its exercise leads to close and exact 
observation. But this is a very different thing from forming 
images which have not been transmitted to the brain through 
the retina and optic nerve, and the perception of which is 
therefore purely imaginary. As Mr. Galton says, the power is 
very high in some young children, who seem to spend years of 
difficulty in distinguishing between the subjective and the ob- 
jective world. Undoubtedly, the high cultivation of this 
faculty would lead to a like difficulty in adults. My own ex- 
perience is sufficient to assure him of the great advantage of 
developing a power, which we all possess to some extent, and 
it would be very easy for me to adduce other instances than 
those given, of the disastrous results likely to result from the 
indiscriminate following of Mr. Gabon’s views. 
* Mental Imagery. Fortnightly Reviexv, September, 1880. CHAPTER III. 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA—FASTING GIRLS. 
AMONG the many remarkable manifestations by which 
hysteria exhibits itself, for the astonishment of the 
credulous and uneducated portion of the public, and—alas, 
that it should have to be said,—for the delectation of an oc- 
casional weak-minded and ignorant physician, the assumption 
of the ability to live without food may be assigned a promi- 
nent place. I am not aware that this power has been claimed 
in its fullest development for the male of the human species. 
When he is deprived of food he dies in a few days, more or 
less, according to his physical condition as regards adipose 
tissue, and strength of constitution ; but if a weak, emaciated 
girl asserts that she is able to exist for years without eating, 
there are at once certificates and letters from clergymen, pro- 
fessors, and even physicians, in support of the truth of her 
story. The element of impossibility goes for nothing against 
the bare word of such a woman, and her statements are ac- 
cepted with a degree of confidence which is lamentable to 
witness in this era of the world’s progress. 
The class of deceptions occasionally induced by hysteria, 
83 84 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
and embracing these “fasting girls,” has been known for many 
years, though it is only in comparatively recent times that the 
instances have been taken at their proper value. Gorres* gives 
a number of examples occurring among male and female saints 
and other holy persons, in which partial or total abstinence 
from food was said to have existed for long periods. 
Thus Liduine of Schiedam fell ill in 1395, and remained in 
that state till her death, thirty-three years subsequently. Dur- 
ing the first nineteen years she ate every day nothing but a 
little piece of apple the size of a holy wafer, and drank a little 
water and a swallow of beer, or sometimes a little sweet milk. 
Subsequently, being unable to digest beer and milk, she re- 
stricted herself to a little wine and water, and still later she 
was obliged to confine herself to water alone, which served her 
both as food and drink. But after nineteen years she took 
nothing whatever, according to her own statement made to 
some friars in 1422, she averring that for eight years nothing in 
the way of nourishment had passed her lips, and that for twenty 
years she had seen neither the sun nor the moon, nor had 
touched the earth with her feet. 
Saint Joseph of Copertino remained for five years without 
eating bread, and ten years without drinking wine, contenting 
himself with dried fruits, which he mixed with various bitter 
herbs. The herb which he used for Fridays had such an 
atrocious taste, that one of the brethren, by simply putting 
his tongue to it, was seized with vomiting, and for several days 
thereafter everything he ate excited nausea. He fasted for 
* La Mystique divine naturelle et diabolique. Paris, 1861. t. I., p. 
194, et seq. FASTING GIRLS. 
85 
forty days seven times every year, and during these periods ate 
nothing at all except on Sundays and Thursdays. 
Nicolas of Flue, as soon as he embraced the monastic life, 
subsisted altogether on the holy eucharist. The pious Gorres 
in explanation of this miracle says : 
“ In ordinary nourishment he who eats being superior to 
that which is eaten, assimilates the aliments which he takes, 
and communicates to them his own nature. But in the eu- 
charist the aliment is more powerful than he who eats. It is 
no longer therefore the nourishment which is assimilated, but 
on the contrary, it assimilates the man, and introduces him into 
a superior sphere. An entire change is produced. The super- 
natural life in some way or other absorbs the natural life, and 
the man instead of living on earth, lives henceforth by grace 
and by heaven.” 
This is about on a par, as regards lucidity and logic, with the 
explanations which we are given of the alleged case of pro- 
longed fasting in Brooklyn. 
Doubts arose in regard to Nicolas, and the bishop had him 
watched, but without detecting him in fraud. Finally he ordered 
him to eat a piece of bread in his presence. Nicolas did as he 
was commanded, but at the first mouthful he was seized with 
violent vomiting. The bishop inquired of him how he thus 
managed to live without eating, to which the brother answered 
that when he assisted at mass, and when he took the holy 
eucharist, he felt a degree of strength and suppleness like that 
derived from the most nutritious food. 
Still the doubters continued, and the inhabitants of Under- 
wold, where Nicholas lived, appear to have been at first very 86 
ANOTHER PHASE OE HYSTERIA. 
much inclined to suspect him of deceit. But they were finally 
converted, for having during a whole month guarded every 
approach to his cabin, and having during that time detected 
no one in taking food to him, they were convinced that for 
that time at least he had lived without food. The sceptical 
reasoner of the present day would probably regard the test as 
insufficient. 
In 1225, Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, having heard that there 
was at Leicester a nun who had taken no nourishment for 
seven years, and who lived only on the eucharist, which she 
took every Sunday, gave at first no faith to the story. He sent 
to her, however, fifteen clerks, with directions to watch her 
assiduously for fifteen days, never for an instant losing sight 
of her. The clerks reported to him that they had strictly 
obeyed his commands ; that she had taken no nourishment, 
and that yet she nevertheless preserved her full strength and 
health. Whereupon the Bishop declared himself convinced, 
“ as,” adds Gorres, “ it was proper for a sensible man to do.” 
Among others of the holy persons who acquired the power 
of living on the sacramental bread, may be mentioned St. 
Catharine of Sienna, Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Collete, Saint 
Peter of Alcantara, and many others. 
But if saints and other holy people were able, through 
miraculous power, to live without food, the same ability was 
claimed for those who were under the influence of demons and 
devils. Gorres* states that a person possessed by a devil often 
loses all taste for food of any kind, and can retain no nourish- 
ment in his body. Another symptom is a disgust which is 
* Op. cit. t. IV., p. 446. FASTING GIRLS. 
87 
formed for the companionship of other persons. Thus a man 
was tormented by a demon, who forced him to fly into the 
forests, where he hid himself from mankind. One night he 
quit his house, and concealed himself in a cavern, remaining 
there entirely without food for sixteen days. Again he re- 
mained in the woods twenty-four days, neither eating nor 
drinking during this period. Finally his children found him, 
and taking him to a priest, had the devil exorcised, and he was 
cured. 
Saint Prosper, of Aquaintoin, speaks of a young girl pos- 
sessed by a devil, and who went seventy days without eating. 
Notwithstanding this long fast, she did not become emaciated, 
because every night at twelve o’clock a bird sent by the devil 
took a mysterious nourishment to her. 
An astonishing feature in the cases of the diabolical abstain- 
ing from food, is that, as in the holy instances, they exhibit 
various manifestations of hysteria. Gorres, with a charming 
degree of simplicity, details these symptoms and failing, under 
the influence of the predominent idea which fills him, to recog- 
nize their real character, ascribes them without hesitation to 
devilish agency. Thus he says : 
“ The functions of the organs of nutrition are sometimes pro- 
foundly altered in the possessed, and these alterations are mani- 
fested by violent cramps, which show the extent to which the 
muscular system is affected. The hysterical lump in the throat 
is a frequent phenomenon in possession. A young girl in the 
Valley of Calepino had all her limbs twisted and contracted, 
and had in the oesophagus a sensation as if a ball was some- 
times rising in her throat, and again falling to her stomach. 88 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
Her countenance was of an ashen hue, and she had a constant 
sense of weight and pain in the head. All the remedies of 
physicians had failed, and as evidences of possession were 
discovered in her, she was brought to Brignoli (a priest) who 
had recourse to supernatural means, and cured her.” 
Strange to say, the ability to live on the eucharist, and to 
resist starvation by diabolical power, died out with the middle 
ages, and was replaced by the “ fasting girls,” who still con- 
tinue to amuse us with their vagaries. To the consideration 
of some of the more striking instances of more recent times 
the attention of the reader is invited, in the confidence 
that much of interest in the study of the “ History of 
Human Folly” will be adduced. 
II. 
Among the more striking cases under this head, is that 
of Margaret Weiss, a young girl ten years of age, who 
lived at Rode, a small village near Spires, and whose history 
has come down to us through various channels, but principally 
from Geraldus Bucoldianus,* who had the medical charge of 
her, and who wrote a little book describing his patient. 
Margaret is said to have abstained from all food and drink for 
three years, in the meantime growing, walking about, laugh- 
ing, and talking like other children of her age. During the 
first year, however, she suffered greatly from pains in 
ABSTINENCE IN MODERN TIMES. 
*“De puella quae sine cibo et potu vitam transigit.” Parisiis Ann. 
MDXLII. FASTING GIRLS. 
89 
her head and abdomen, and, a common condition in hysteria 
—all four of her limbs were contracted. She passed neither 
urine nor foeces. Margaret, though only ten years old—hys- 
teria developes the secretive faculties—played her part so well 
that, after being watched by the priest of the parish and Dr. 
Bucoldianus, she was considered free from all juggling, and 
was sent home to her friends by order of the King, “ not,” the 
doctor adds, “ without great admiration and princely gifts.” 
Although fully accepting the fact of Margaret’s abstinence, Dr. 
Bucoldianus appears to have been somewhat staggered, for he 
asks very pertinently : “ Whence comes the animal heat, since 
she neither eats nor drinks, and why does the body grow when 
nothing goes into it ? ” 
Schenckius * quotes from Paulus Lentulus the “ Wonderful 
History of the Fasting of Appolonia Schreira, a virgin in 
Berne.” Lentulus states that he was with this maid on three 
occasions, and that, by order of the magistrate of Berne, she 
was taken to that city and a strict guard kept upon her. All 
kinds of means were set in operation to detect imposture if 
any existed, but none was discovered, and she was set at lib- 
erty as a genuine case of ability to live without food. In the 
first year of her fasting she scarcely slept, and in the second 
year never closed her eyes in sleep; and so she continued for 
a long while after. 
* “ TiaqarrjcrjGEuv, sive observationum medicarum, novarum, admirabil- 
ium et monstrasarum volumen j tomis septem de toto homine institutum.” 
Lugduni 1606, p. 306. 
These cases are cited by Wanley in his “Wonders of the Little 
World,” but I have taken care in most instances to refer to the originals, 
several of which are in my library. 90 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
Schenckius also advances the case of Katharine Binder, of 
the Palatinate, who was closely watched by a clergyman, a 
statesman, and two doctors of medicine, without the detection 
of fraud on her part. She was said to have taken nothing but 
air into her system for nine years and more, as Lentulus report- 
ed on the authority of Fabricius. This last-named physician 
told Lentulus of another case, that of a girl fourteen years old, 
who certainly had taken neither food nor drink for at least 
three years. 
“ But,” says Dr. Hakewel,* “ the strangest that I have met 
with of this kind, is the history of Eve Fliegen, out of Dutch 
translated into English, and printed at London, Anno 1611, 
who, being born at Meurs, is said to have taken no kind of sus- 
tenance for the space of fourteen years together; that is, from 
the year of her age, twenty-two to thirty-six, and from the year 
of our Lord 1567 to 1611 ; and this we have confirmed by the 
testimony of the magistrates of the town of Meurs, as also by 
the minister who made trial of her in his house thirteen days 
together by all the means he could devise, but could detect no 
imposture.” Over the picture of this maid, set in front of the 
Dutch copy, stand these Latin verses : 
“ Meursse haec quam cernis decies ter, sexque peregit, 
Annos, bis septem prorsus non viscitur annis 
Nec potat, sic sola sedet, sic pallida vitam 
Ducit, et exigui se oblectat floribus horti.” 
Thus rendered in the English copy: 
“ This maid of Meurs thirty and six years spent, 
Fourteen of which she took no nourishment; 
* “ Wonders of the Little World.” London, 1806, p. 375. FASTING GIRLS. 
91 
Thus pale and wan she sits sad and alone, 
A garden’s all she oves to look upon.” 
Franciscus Citesius,* physician to the King of France and 
to Cardinal Richelieu, devotes a good deal of space and atten- 
tion to the case of Joan Balaam, a native of the city of Con- 
stance. She was well grown, but of bad manners. About the 
eleventh year of her age she was attacked with a fever, and 
among other symptoms vomited for twenty days. Then she 
became speechless and so continued for twenty-four days. 
Then she talked, but her speech was raving and incoherent. 
Finally she lost all power of motion and of sensibility in the 
parts below the head and could not swallow. From thence- 
forth she could not be persuaded to take food. Six months 
afterwards she regained the use of her limbs, but the inability 
to swallow remained and she acquired a great loathing for all 
kinds of meat and drink. The secretions and excretions ap- 
peared to be arrested. Nevertheless she was very industrious, 
employing her time in running errands, sweeping the house, 
spinning, and such like. This maid continued thus fasting for 
the space of nearly three years, and then by degrees took to 
eating and drinking again. 
Before coming to more recent cases, there is one other to 
which I desire to refer for the reason mainly that in it there 
was probably organic disease in addition to fraud and hysteria. 
It is cited by Fabricius f and by Wanley. Anno Dom., 1595, a 
maid of about thirteen years was brought out of the dukedom 
* Opuscula Medica. Parisiis, 1639, pp. 64, 65, 66. 
t Observationum et curationum chirurgicae, centuria secunda. Geneva, 
1611, p. 116. 92 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
of Juliers to Cologne, and there in a broad street at the sign 
of the White Horse exposed to the sight of as many as desired 
to see her. The parents of this maid affirmed that she had 
lived without any kind of food or drink for the space of three 
whole years ; and this they confirmed by the testimony of 
divers persons, such as are worthy of credit. Fabricius ob- 
served her with great care. She was of a sad and melancholy 
countenance; her whole body was sufficiently fleshy except 
only her belly, which was compressed so as that it seemed to 
cleave to her back-bone. Her liver and the rest of her bowels 
were perceived to be hard by laying the hand on the belly. As 
for excrements, she voided none ; and did so far abhor all 
kinds of food, that when one, who came to see her privately, 
put a little sugar in her mouth she immediately swooned away. 
But what was most wonderful was, that this maid walked 
up and down, played with other girls, danced, and did all 
other things that were done by girls of her age ; neither had 
she any difficulty of breathing, speaking or crying out. Her 
parents declared that she had been in this condition for three 
years. 
A great many more to the same effect might be adduced, 
but the foregoing are sufficient to indicate the fact that belief 
in the possibility of such occurrences was quite general, and 
that if doubt did exist in regard to their real nature, it was not 
so strong as not readily to be overcome by the tricks and de- 
vices of hysterical women. 
In the following instances of more modern date the reader 
will perceive the view which is taken of them by physicians of 
the present day, and will doubtless discover their real nature. FASTING GIRLS. 
93 
About sixty-five years ago, a woman of Sudbury, in Staf- 
fordshire, England, named Ann Moore, declared that she did 
not eat, and a number of persons volunteered to watch her, in 
order to ascertain whether or not she was speaking the truth. 
The watch was continued for three weeks and then the watch- 
ers, as in other instances, reported that Ann Moore was a rea1 
case of abstinence from food of all kinds. The Bible was al- 
ways kept open on Ann’s bed. Her emaciation was so extreme 
that it was said her vertebral column could be felt through the 
abdominal walls. This sad condition was asserted to have 
been caused by her washing the linen of a person affected with 
ulcers. From that time she experienced a dislike for food, and 
even nausea at the sight or mention of it. 
As soon as the watchers reported in favor of the genuine- 
ness of Ann’s pretensions her notoriety increased, and visitors 
came from all parts of the country, leaving donations to the 
extent of two hundred and fifty pounds in the course of two 
years. Doubts, however, again arose, and, bold from the im- 
munity she had experienced from the first investigation, Ann 
in an evil moment, for the continuance of her fraud, consented 
to a second watching. This committee was composed of nota- 
ble persons, among them being Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., Rev. 
Legh Richmond, Dr. Fox, and his son, and many other gen- 
tlemen of the country. Two of them were always in her room 
night and day. At the suggestion of Mr. Francis Fox, the bed- 
stead, bedding, and the woman in it were placed on a weighing 
machine, and thus it was ascertained that she regularly lost 
weight daily. At the expiration of the ninth day of this strict 
watching, Dr. Fox found her evidently sinking and told her 94 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
she would soon die unless she took food. After a little prevar- 
ication, the woman signed a written confession that she was an 
impostor, and had “ occasionally taken sustenance for the last 
six years.” She also stated that during the first watch of three 
weeks her daughter had contrived, when washing her face, to 
feed her every morning, by using towels made very wet with 
gravy, milk, or strong arrowroot gruel, and had also conveyed 
food from mouth to mouth in kissing her, which it is presumed 
she did very often.* 
In a clinical lecture delivered at St. George’s Hospital,! Dr. 
John W. Ogle calls attention to the simulation of fasting as a 
manifestation of hysteria, and relates the following amusing 
case: 
A girl strongly hysterical, aged twenty, in spite of all per- 
suasion and medical treatment, refused every kind of food, or 
if made to eat, soon vomited the contents of the stomach. On 
November 6th, 1869, whilst the girl was apparently suffering in 
the same manner, the Queen passed the hospital on her way to 
open Blackfriars bridge. She arose in bed so as to look out of 
the window, although up to this time declaring that every 
movement of her body caused intense pain. On December 29, 
the following letter in the girl’s handwriting, addressed to an- 
other patient in the same ward, was picked up from the floor : 
* My Dear Mrs. Evens,—I was very sorry you should take the 
trouble of cutting me such a nice piece of bread and butter, 
yesterday. I would of taken it but all of them saw you send 
♦Wonderful Characters : By Henry Wilson and James Caulfield. Lon- 
don. 
t British Medical Journal, July 16, 1870. FASTING GIFTS. 
95 
it, and then they would have made enough to have talked 
about. But I should be very glad if you would cut me a nice 
piece of crust and put it in a piece of paper and send it, or else 
bring it, so that they do not see it, for they all watch me very 
much, and I should like to be your friend and you to be mine. 
Mrs. Winslow, (the nurse) is going to chapel. I will make it up 
with you when I can go as far. Do not send it if you cannot 
spare it. Good bye, and God bless you.’ Although she pre- 
varicated about this letter, she appears to have gradually im- 
proved from this time on, and one day walked out of the hos- 
pital and left it altogether. She subsequently wrote a letter to 
the authorities expressing her regret at having gone on as she 
did. 
One of the most remarkable instances of the kind, is that of 
Sarah Jacob, known as the “Welsh Fasting Girl,” and whose 
history and tragical death excited a great deal of comment in 
the medical and lay press in Great Britain a few years ago. 
The following account of the case is mainly derived from Dr. 
Fowler’s * interesting work. 
Sarah Jacob was born May 12th, 1857. Her parents were 
farmers and were uneducated, simple minded, and ignorant 
persons. In her earlier years she had been healthy, was intel- 
ligent, given to religious reading, and was said to have writ- 
ten poetry of her own composition. She was a very pretty 
child and was, according to the testimony of the vicar, the Rev. 
Evan Jones, a “good girl.” 
* A complete History of the Welsh Fasting Girl (Sarah Jacob,) with 
Comments thereon, and Observations on Death from Starvation. London, 
1871. 96 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
About February 15th, 1867, when she was not quite ten 
years of age, she complained of pain in the pit of the stomach, 
and one morning on getting up, she told her mother that she 
had found her mouth full of bloody froth. The pain continued, 
and medical attendance was obtained. Soon afterwards she had 
strong convulsions of an epileptiform character and then other 
spasms of a clearly hysterical form, during which her body was 
bent in the form of a bow as in tetanus, the head and heels only 
touching the bed. Then the muscular spasm ceased and she 
fell at full length on the bed. For a whole month she con- 
tinued in a state of unconsciousness, suffering from frequent 
repetitions of severe convulsive attacks, during which time she 
took little food. Mr. Davies, the surgeon, said in his evidence, 
that she was for a whole month, in a kind of permanent fit, ly- 
ing on her back, with rigidity of all the muscles. For some 
time her life was despaired of, then her fits ceased to be con- 
vulsive and consisted of short periods of loss of consciousness 
with sudden awakings. For the next two or three months (till 
August, 1867) she took daily, from six, gradually decreasing to 
four, teacupfuls of rice and milk, or oatmeal and milk, which 
according to her father’s account, was cast up again imme- 
diately and blood and froth with it. During this time the 
bowels were only acted on once in six or nine days. “ Up to 
this time,” said her father, “ she could move both arms and 
one leg, but the other leg was rigid.” 
By the beginning of October, 1867, her quantity of daily 
food had, it was affirmed, dwindled down to nothing but a little 
apple about the size of a pill, which she took from a tea-spoon. 
At this time she made water about every other day ; she looked FASTING GIRLS. 
97 
very bad in the face, but was not thin. On the tenth day of 
October, it was solemnly declared that she ceased to take any 
food whatever, and so continued till the day of her death, De- 
cember 17th, 1869, a period of two years, two months, and one 
week. 
“ Of the veracity of the assertion in respect of the one week” 
says Dr. Fowler, “ there is unfortunately plenty of evidence. 
To the absurdity of believing in the barest possibility of twenty- 
six months absolute abstinence, it is sufficient to reply that 
when to our knowledge, she was completely deprived of food, 
the girl died ! The parents most persistently impressed upon 
every private as well as official visitor, both before and during 
the last fatal watching, that the girl did not take food ; that 
she could not swallow ; that whenever food was mentioned to 
her she became as it were, excited ; that when it was offered 
to her she would have a fit, or the offer would make her ill. 
The sworn testimony of the vicar, the Rev. Wm. Thomas, Sis- 
ter Clinch, Anne Jones, and the other nurses, is sufficiently 
confirmative on this point. Furthermore, the parents went so 
far as to expressly forbid the mere mention of food in the girl’s 
presence.” 
Towards the end of October, 1867, the case had attracted 
so much attention that the inhabitants in the neighborhood first 
began visiting the marvellous little girl. 
“ In the beginning of November of the same year, the Rev. 
Evan Jones, B.D., the vicar of the Parish, was sent for by the 
parents to visit Sarah Jacob. He was at once—by the mother 
—told of the girl’s wonderful fasting powers ; it was admitted 
she took water occasionally. He was also informed of the 98 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
extraordinary perversion of her natural functions (the suppres- 
sion of urine and foecal evacuations.) He found her lying on 
her back in bed, which was covered with books. There was 
nothing then remarkable about her dress. The girl looked 
weak and delicate, though not pale, and answered only in 
monosyllables. ‘ The mother said her child was very anxious 
about the state of her soul, that it had such an effect upon her 
mind that she could not sleep.’ I asked her myself if she had 
a desire to become a member of the Church of England ? She 
said ‘ Yes! ’ She continued to express that wish until July, 
1869. At this time the reverend gentleman did not believe in 
the statements relative to the girl’s abstinence. “ Every time ” 
he says, “ that I had a conversation with her up to the end of 
1868, the parents both persisted that she lived without food, 
and continued their statements in January and February, 1869. 
I remonstrated with them and dwelt upon the apparent impossi- 
bility of the thing. They still persisted that it was a fact.” 
“ Even as late as September, 1869, the vicar reiterated his 
ministerial remonstrances. When, in the beginning of the 
spring of 1869, he observed the fantastical changes the parents 
made in the girl’s daily attire, he told them about the remarks 
made in the papers about this dressing and dwelt upon the im- 
propriety of it. They replied, ‘ She had no other pleasure— 
they did not like denying it to her.’ During the following sum- 
mer, finding that the girl looked more plump in the face and 
that her general improvement was more conspicuous, he said, 
‘ Sarah is evidently improving and gaining, and you say she 
takes no food ; you are certainly imposing on the public.’ I 
then dwelt on the sinfulness of continuing the fraud on the FASTING GIFTS. 
99 
public. I said there were on record several cases of alleged 
fasting, some of which had been put to the test and had been 
discovered to be impositions; that those families would ever 
be held in execration by posterity, and such would be the case 
with them whenever this imposture was found out. The mother 
then assured me no imposition would be discovered in that 
house, because there was none.” 
The father and mother both said that the Lord provided for 
her in a most natural way, and that it was a miracle. The 
father always talked about the “ Doctor Mawr,” meaning God 
Almighty; that she was supported by that “ Big Doctor.” 
Then soon began the custom of leaving money or other 
presents with the child, till at last every one who visited her, 
was expected to give something. Open house was kept and 
pilgrims came from near and far to see the wonderful girl who 
lived without food. 
When money was not forthcoming, presents of clothes, 
finery, books, or flowers, appear to have been substituted. Ad- 
vantage was taken of these presents to bedeck the child in 
every variety of smartness. At one time she had a victorine 
about her neck and a wreath about her hair, then again, orna- 
ments and a jacket on, and her hair neatly dressed with rib- 
bons. At another time she had a silk shawl, a victorine around 
her neck, a small crucifix attached to a necklace, and little 
ribbons above the wrists. She had drab gloves on and her bed 
was nearly covered with books. 
Notwithstanding the alleged fasting, Sarah Jacob continued 
to improve in health. 
And now comes an astounding feature of this most remark- ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
100 
able case. The vicar became convinced that the instance was 
one of real abstinence. A little hysterical girl twelve years of 
age, by her perseverance in lying, had actually succeeded in 
inducing an educated gentleman to accept the truth of her 
statements ! The following letter which was published on the 
19th of February, 1869, speaks for itself:— 
“A STRANGE CASE. 
“ To the Editor of the Welshman. 
“ Sir: Allow me to invite the attention of your readers to a 
most extraordinary case. Sarah Jacob, a little girl twelve years 
of age, and daughter of Mr. Evan Jacob, Lletherneuadd, in this 
parish, has not partaken of a single grain of any kind of food 
whatever, during the last sixteen months. She did occasion- 
ally swallow a few drops of water during the first few months 
of this period ; but now she does not even do that. She still 
looks pretty well in the face and continues in the possession of 
all her mental faculties. She is in this and several other re- 
spects, a wonderful little girl. 
“ Medical men persist in saying that the thing is quite im- 
possible, but all the nearest neighbors, who are thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the circumstances of the case, entertain no doubt 
whatever of the subject, and I am myself of the same opinion. 
“ Would it not be worth their while for medical men to 
make an investigation into the nature of this strange case ? Mr. 
Evan Jacob would readily admit into his house any respectable 
person who might be anxious to watch it and to see for him- 
self. FASTING GIRLS. 
“ I may add, that Lletherneuadd is a farm-house about a 
mile from New Inn, in this parish. 
101 
“ Yours faithfully, 
“The Vicar of Llanfihangel-ar-Arth.” 
The suggestions of the vicar relative to an investigation, 
were soon after afterwards acted upon by certain gentlemen of 
the neighborhood. A public meeting was called and a com- 
mittee of watchers was appointed to be constantly in attend- 
ance in the room with Sarah Jacob, and to observe to the best 
of their ability, whether or not she took any food during the 
investigation. It was agreed that the watching was to con- 
tinue for a fortnight. 
Prior to the beginning of this watching, no precautions 
were taken against food being conveyed into the room and con- 
cealed there. The parents actually debarred the watchers 
from touching the child’s bed. The very first element of suc- 
cess was therefore denied, and no wonder that the whole affair 
was subsequently regarded as an absurdity. The watching 
consisted in two different men taking alternate watches from 
eight till eight. The watching to see whether the child partook 
of food, commenced on March 22d, and ended April 5th, 1869 
—a period of fourteen days. 
“ During the above fortnight, one of the watchers, in turn, 
was always close to her bed, and in her sight day and night, 
and at the time the bed was being made, which was generally 
every other morning, the four persons were always present and 
had every article thoroughly examined. The parents were 
allowed to go near the bed, as also was the little sister, six 102 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
jears old, who had been Sarah’s constant companion and bed* 
fellow. 
“ On Wednesday, April 7th, 1869, a public meeting was 
held at the Eagle Inn, Llandyfeil, to hear the statements of 
the parents and of the several persons who had watched the 
child during the fourteen days. The parents briefly detailed 
the condition and symptoms of their daughter from the com- 
mencement of her illness. At no time during the whole four- 
teen days did the pulse ever reach above ninety per minute, 
although exceedingly changeable, as it always had been. The 
following evidence was received from the watchers, and it is 
said that their statements were duly verified on oath before a 
magistrate:— 
Watcher No. 1 said : I, Evan Edward Smith, watched Sarah 
Jacob for two consecutive nights, (i. <?., nights 22d and 23d of 
March) at the request of Mr. H. H. Davies, surgeon. The pa- 
rents gave every facility to investigate the matter. I watched 
her with all possible care, and found nothing to suspect that 
food or drink was given her by foul means. I am quite sure 
she had nothing during my watch. I was dismissed on account 
of being suspected to doze on the second night. 
Watcher No. 2. This watcher watched Sarah Jacob for a 
whole fortnight, and found no indications that the child had 
anything to eat or drink. He was a college student, Daniel 
Harris Davies. 
Watcher No. 3. John Jones, a shopkeeper, gave similar 
evidence. He was a decided sceptic before he began watching, 
but after twelve days was thoroughly convinced of the fact that 
nothing in the shape of nourishment was given to the poor FASTING GIRLS. 
103 
child. He watched every movement of all the inmates, and 
found nothing that would lead him to suspect that any nourish 
ment was given to the little girl. 
Watcher No. 4. James Harris Davies, a medical student, 
spoke in like manner, and was perfectly positive that nothing 
had been given to her during the fortnight he had watched 
there, with the exception of three drops of water, once, to 
moisten her lips with. He was as great a sceptic as any one 
before he began watching, but as he saw nothing to confirm his 
suspicions, he could conscientiously say that nothing had been 
given her during his watch. 
Watcher No. 5. Evan Davies, of Powel Castle, who only 
watched her for one day, gave similar evidence, but as he was 
a neighbour he was dismissed for a stranger. 
Watcher No. 6. Herbert Jones, watched only one day, and 
spoke in a similar manner, and was dismissed on account of 
his credulity. 
Watcher No. 7. Thomas Davies, who had been the greatest 
sceptic of all, was strongly convinced. He watched Sarah Ja- 
cob twelve days, and was quite positive that nothing could have 
been given her during his watch. He watched her with all 
possible care, and was very cautious to be in a prominent place, 
where Sarah Jacob’s mouth was always in sight. 
Evidence, however, was given which went to show that the 
watching was very imperfectly performed ; that occasionally 
the watchers left before their time had expired ; that intoxicat- 
ing liquors were taken by them to the house, and that one of 
them was drunk while there. It was also shown that the father 
and mother had free access to the bed, while the watchers were  ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
104 
absolutely prohibited from examining it. It is therefore with 
entire justification that Dr. Fowler states that the watching 
“ was the greatest possible farce and mockery.” 
After the report of the watchers the notoriety of Sarah Ja- 
cob of course became still greater; crowds came to visit her, 
and among others the Rev. Frederic Rowland Young went to see 
her, and made an unsuccessful effort to cure her by laying on 
of hands. When Dr. Fowler visited her, August 30th, 1869, on 
getting out at the nearest railway station, he was met by little 
boys bearing placards with the words “ Fasting Girl,” and 
“ This is the shortest way to Llethernoryadd-ucha,” on them. 
In his letter to the Times, giving an account of his visit, Dr. 
Fowler says:— 
“ The first impression was most unfavorable, and to a medi- 
cal man the appearances were most suspicious. The child was 
lying on a bed decorated as a bride, having around her head a 
wreath of flowers, from which was suspended a smart ribbon, 
the ends of which were joined by a small bunch of flowers, after 
the present fashion of ladies’ bonnet strings. Before her, at 
proper reading distance, was an open Welsh book, supported 
by two other books on her body. The blanket covering was 
clean, tidy, and perfectly smooth. Across the fire-place, which 
was nearly opposite the foot of her bed, was an arrangement of 
shelves, well stocked with English and Welsh books, the gifts 
of various visitors to the house. The child is thirteen years of 
age, and is undoubtedly very pretty. Her face was plump, and 
her cheeks and lips of a beautiful rosy color. Her eyes were 
bright and sparkling, the pupils were very dilated, in a measure 
explicable by the fact of the child’s head and face being shaded FASTING GIRLS. 
from the window-light by the projecting side of the cupboard 
bedstead. There was that restless movement and frequent 
looking out at the corners of the eyes so characteristic of 
simulative disease. Considering the lengthened inactivity of 
the girl, her muscular development was very good, and the 
amount of fat layer not inconsiderable. My friend stated 
that she looked even better than she did about a twelvemonth 
ago. There was a slight perspiration over the surface of the 
body. The pulse was perfectly natural, as were also the sounds 
of the lungs and heart, so far as I was enabled to make a 
stethoscopic examination. Having received permission to do 
this, I proceeded to make the necessary derangement of dress, 
when the girl went off into what the mother called a fainting fit. 
This consisted of nothing but a little and momentary hysterical 
crying and sobbing. The color never left the lips or cheeks. The 
pulse remained of the same power. Consciousness could have 
been but slightly diminished, inasmuch as on my then opening 
the eyelids I perceived a distinct upward and other movement 
of the eyeballs. Each percussion stroke of my examination, 
and even the pressure of the stethoscope, produced an expres- 
sion of pain, which elicited a natural sympathy from the mother, 
and an assertion that a continuance of such examination would 
bring on further fits. On percussing the region of the stomach, 
I most distinctly perceived the sound of gurgling, which we 
know to be caused by the admixture of air and fluid in motion. 
The most positive assertion of the parents was subsequently 
made that saving a fortnightly moistening of her lips with 
cold wrater, the child had neither ate nor drank anything for the 
last twenty-three months. The whole region of the belly was 
105 106 
ANOTHER PHASE OE HYSTERIA. 
tympanitic, and the muscular walls of this cavity were tense 
and drum-like—a condition not infrequently concomitant of a 
well-known class of nervous disorders. The child’s intellectual 
faculties and special senses were perfectly healthy. Before her 
illness she was very much devoted to religious reading. This 
devotion has lately considerably increased. She is a member 
of the Church of England, and has been confirmed.” 
Dr. Fowler then adds some other interesting particulars, all 
going to show the impossibility of the girl’s being the subject 
of any exhausting disease, or of even having been continuously 
in bed, as her parents asserted, for nearly two years ; and then 
says :— 
“ The whole case is in fact one of simulative hysteria, in a 
young girl having the propensity to deceive very strongly de- 
veloped. Therewith may be probably associated the power or 
habit of prolonged fasting. Both patient and mother admitted 
the occasional occurrence of the choking sensation called 
globus hystericus. 
This letter excited renewed discussion in the newspapers, 
and a second public meeting was called to make arrangements 
for a second watching. At this meeting it was decided to bring 
down from Guy’s Hospital, London, several trained nurses, who 
were to conduct the watching; and the following resolutions 
were adopted, as expressing the terms under which the inquiry 
was to be conducted :— 
i. It would be advisable, before taking any steps in the 
matter, to obtain a written legal guarantee from the father of 
Sarah Jacob sanctioning the necessary proceedings. 2. That 
the duty of the nurses shall be to watch Sarah Jacob with a FASTING GIRLS. 
107 
view to ascertain whether she partakes of any kind of food, and 
at the end of a fortnight to report upon the case before the 
local committee in Carmarthenshire, and, if required, at Guy’s 
Hospital. 3. That two nurses shall be constantly awake and 
on the watch in the girl’s room, night and day. 4. It would be 
advisable for the nearest medical practitioner to watch the pro- 
gress of the case ; and it will be absolutely necessary for him 
to be prepared against any serious symptoms of exhaustion, super- 
veiling on the strict enforcement of the watching,; and to act accord- 
ing to his judgment. 5. That the room in which the girl sleeps 
shall be bared of all unnecessary furniture, and all possible 
places in the room for the concealment of food shall be closed 
and kept under the continual scrutiny of the watchers. 6. That 
if considered desirable by the local medical practitioner, or by 
the nurses, the bedstead on which the girl now lies shall be re- 
placed by a single iron one. 7. That the bed on which the 
parents now sleep, in Sarah Jacob’s room, shall be given up 
absolutely to the nurses. 8. That the parents be not allowed 
to sleep in the same room as the girl • that if they cannot at all 
times be prevented from approaching her, they should be pre- 
viously searched (their pockets and other recesses of clothing 
as well as the interior of their mouths); and that no wetted 
towels or other such articles be allowed to be used about the 
girl by the parents, or any other person save the nurses ; that 
the children of the family, and in fact every other person what- 
ever (except the nurses), have similar restraints put upon them. 
9. That the nurses have the sole management of preparing the 
room, bed, and patient, prior to the commencement of the 
watching. 10. That, as it is asserted the action of the bowels  ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
108 
and bladder is entirely suspended, special attention must be 
directed to these organs. 
Four experienced women nurses were accordingly deputed 
from Guy’s Hospital to take the entire charge of Sarah Jacob, 
and to watch her for fourteen days. They were instructed not 
1o prevent her having food if she asked for it, but they were to 
see that she got none without their knowledge. On the 9th of 
December, 1869, at 4 p.m., the room was cleared of people and 
the watching began. 
In the first place it was ascertained that the girl had re- 
peated evacuations of urine, and once, at least, of foeces. 
Gradually evidences of mental and physical disturbance be- 
gan to appear. The watch was so closely kept that no food or 
drink reached the child, and she did not ask for any. 
“At 10 P. M.,” to quote the language of the journal kept 
by the sister nurse, “ she was restless and threw her arms about. 
She was very cold, and the nurses put warm flannels on her. 
This was the last day on which she passed urine. 
Thursday, December 16, 3 a. m.—She was rolling from one 
side of the bed to the other. At half-past three she wished 
the bed made, and they made it. She was looking very pale 
and anxious. Her eyes were sunk and her nose pinched, and 
the cheek bones were prominent. Her arms and hands were 
cold, her feet and legs were the same. Ann Jones, one of the 
nurses, says in her memoranda, “ She was very restless and 
appeared to me to be sinking. Her lips were very dry, and 
her mouth seemed parched.” The peculiar smell (the starva- 
tion smell) about the bed was so strong as to make the sister 
nurse quite ill. FASTING GIRLS. 
At 11 a. m., the vicar saw her and told the parents that the 
child was gradually failing, and suggested to them the pro- 
priety of sending the nurses away and giving her a chance 
to obtain food, but they refused, saying that there was nothing 
to do but what the nurses were doing, and that they had seen 
her quite as weak before. The parents were urged by others 
to give up the fight by sending the nurses away, but they re- 
fused on the ground that want of food had nothing to do with 
the symptoms, and that she would not eat whether the nurses 
were there or not. 
Ann Jones subsequently testified before the coroner: “Be- 
fore one and two o’clock on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 16), she 
kept talking to herself. I could not understand whether she 
was speaking Welsh or English. Up to that time I could un- 
derstand her. She pointed her fingers at some books ; I gave 
her one, but she took no notice of it; she was not able to read 
it. Both parents were then told the girl was dying.” 
Repeatedly they were begged to withdraw the nurses, and 
again and again they refused, saying there was no occasion— 
that she had often been in that way, that it was not from want 
of food, etc. The girl became weaker and weaker; low, mut- 
tering delirium ensued, and on the 17th of December, 1869, at 
about half-past three o’clock, p.m., the “ Welsh Fasting Girl ” 
died, actually starved to death, in the middle of the nineteenth 
century and in one of the most Christian and civilized countries 
of the world ! 
But this was not the end. Public opinion was much ex- 
cited both against those who had sanctioned and conducted 
what appeared to have been a senseless and cruel experiment, 
109 110 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
and against the father and mother who had wilfully and per- 
sistently refused to allow food to be given to the dying child. 
A coroner’s inquest was held, and the coroner appears to have 
made a very satisfactory charge to the jury after the rendition 
of the testimony. He said there could be no doubt of the child 
having died of starvation, and that the responsibility rested 
with the father, who had knowingly and designedly failed to 
cause his child to take food. The mother was not responsible 
unless it could be shown that she had been given food for the 
child by the father, and had withheld it from her. It was mar- 
vellous, he said, how the father could have made out such a 
story—such a hideous mass of nonsense, as he had under oath 
attempted to impose on the jury. 
The jury deliberated for a quarter of an hour, and then re- 
turned a verdict of “ Died from starvation, caused by negli- 
gence to induce the child to take food on the part of the 
father ; ” which constituted manslaughter. 
Evan Jacob was therefore arrested. But the Secretary of 
State for the Home Department took the matter up and deter- 
mined that the proceedings should go farther than the local 
authorities intended. At first it was contemplated to indict 
the members of the General Committee for conspiracy, but it 
was finally concluded to include only the medical gentlemen who 
had accepted the responsibility of superintending the watching, 
as well as both parents of the deceased child. 
The initial proceeding took place before a full bench of 
magistrates, and continued eight days. The Crown and the ac- 
cused had eminent counsel, and many witnesses were exam- 
ined. At the conclusion of the inquiry the presiding magistrate FASTING GIRLS. 
111 
announced that it had been determined by the court that no 
case had been made out against the physicians, who had not 
been shown to have undertaken any other duty than that of 
advising the nurses, and that it did not appear that their ad- 
vice had been asked. As to the father and mother the court 
had decided to send them both for trial for manslaughter, at 
the next assizes. In due time they were arraigned, they 
pleaded not guilty, but after being defended by able counsel, 
the jury, after an absence of about half an hour, returned with 
a verdict of guilty against both the prisoners, but with a re- 
commendation of the mother to the merciful consideration of 
the court, on the ground that she was under the control of her 
husband. The man protested his innocence, and the woman 
“ buried her face in her shawl and wept bitterly.” 
His Lordship, in passing sentence, said: “ Prisoners at 
the bar, you have been found guilty of a most aggravated 
offence. I entirely concur with the verdict which the jury have 
given, and I shall act upon the recommendation which they 
have presented in favor of the female prisoner, the mother, 
though, I must say, that I cannot but feel that it is a greater 
crime in the mother than the father, since it is more contrary 
to the common nature of mothers, to neglect their children in 
the manner in which you have treated this unfortunate child. 
It is contrary to the nature, even, of a father. But I shall act 
upon the recommendation of the jury, upon the ground they 
have put forward, that you have been subject to the control of 
your husband more than has appeared from the evidence of 
the case. But the offence is, as I have said, a serious one, on 
this ground; that there can be no doubt that both of you have 112 
ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
persisted in this fraudulent deception, upon your neighbors, 
and upon the public, and that in order to carry out that fraud- 
ulent deception and to preserve yourselves from detection you 
were willing to risk the life of that child. The life of that 
child has been lost in that wicked experiment which you tried. 
Therefore, the sentence that I shall inflict on 3'ou, Evan Jacob, 
is, that you be imprisoned and kept at hard labor for twelve 
calendar months ; and that upon you, Hannah Jacob, will be 
more lenient in consideration of the recommendation of the 
jury, and it is, that you be imprisoned and kept to hard labor 
for the period of six calendar months.” 
Thus ended one of the most remarkable and interesting 
histories of human folly, credulity, and criminality which the 
present day has produced. Comment upon its teaching is 
scarcely necessary ; but the thoughtful reader will not fail to 
perceive how important a bearing it has upon the whole sub- 
ject of belief without-full and free inquiry, and that how all 
the facts which science has gathered during ages of painful 
labor, go for naught, even with educated persons, when 
brought face to face with the false assertions of a hysterical 
girl, and of two ignorant and deceitful peasants. If there is 
any one thing we know, it is that there can be no force without 
the metamorphosis of matter of some kind. Here was a girl 
maintaining her weight—actually growing—her animal heat 
kept at its due standard, her mind active, her heart beating, 
her lungs respiring, her skin exhaling, her limbs moving when- 
ever she wished them to move, and all, as very many persons 
supposed, without the ingestion of the material by which alone 
such things could be. And yet such is the tendency of the FASTING GIRLS. 
113 
average human mind to be deceived, that it would be perfectly 
possible to re-enact in the city of New York the whole tragedy 
of Sarah Jacob, should ever a hysterical girl take it into 
head to do so ; and there would not be wanting, even from 
among those who might read this history, individuals who would 
credit any monstrous declarations she might make. Even 
now in a little town in Belgium, an ecstatic girl is going 
through the same performance with extraordinary additions, 
and books are written by learned physicians and theologians, 
with the object of establishing the truth of her pretensions. 
To this most remarkable instance, and one other of similar 
though perhaps even more remarkable characteristic, the at- 
tention of the reader will presently be invited. But in view of 
these things one is almost tempted to say with Cardinal Car- 
rafa, “ Quandoquidem populus decipi vult, decipiatur” 114 
HYSTEROID AFIECTIONS. 
CHAPTER IV. 
THE HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS CATALEPSY, ECSTASY AND 
HYSTERO-EPILEPSY. 
ALTHOUGH in systematic medical treatises these dis- 
eases would properly be considered separately, for the pur- 
poses of the present inquiry they may be advantageously 
brought together under one head. They are hysteroid without 
actually being hysteria. It is very often the case that they are 
co-existent in the same patient, or they alternate one with the 
other. Indeed, it is quite rare to find a case in which one of 
them is present, without one or both of the others being also 
manifested. 
In all of these diseases, we have affections which are well 
calculated to impress ignorant and superstitious persons with a 
sense of mystery, and they are therefore admirably adapted to 
fulfil the requirements of religious enthusiasts and impostors, 
or of spiritualistic mountebanks. 
Catalepsy is characterized by the suspension of the under- 
standing and of sensibility, and by a tendency in the muscles 
to preserve for a long time any degree of contraction which 
may be given to them. Thus if the arm of a cataleptic patient 
be extended it remains so for several minutes, sometimes 
hours ; if the leg be raised from the bed, the muscles continue CATALEPSY. 
115 
to keep it in that position till they become thoroughly exhaust- 
ed, when it sinks slowly down. These facts are well shown in 
the accompanying wood cut, (Fig. 6) taken from a photograph 
of a patient, in Bellevue Hospital, under the care of Dr. M. B. 
Early, of this city. 
Fig. I. 116 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
The aspect of a cataleptic patient is very striking. The 
eyelids are sometimes wide open, at others gently closed ; the 
pupils are dilated and do not respond to strong light; the 
respiration is slow, regular, but generally so feeble as to be per- 
ceived with difficulty; the pulse is usually almost imperceptible, 
but is rhythmical and sluggish; the face is pale, the mouth is 
half open, and the rigidity of the body and the coldness of the 
extremities add to the death-like appearance which impresses 
all beholders. 
The cutaneous sensibility is ordinarily completely abolished. 
Pins may be thrust into the skin, and they are not felt; but 
owing to the abolition of the power of motion and of reflex 
action, it is possible that in some cases at least, the patients 
would give some evidence of sensation if they could. Cases 
are on record in which tears have been caused by excessive 
emotional disturbance, excited by the words or actions of 
persons surrounding the patients ; thus showing that the senses 
of sight and hearing were capable of being exercised. Such 
instances are, however, rare, and are probably imperfectly 
developed paroxysms, or those complicated with hysteria or 
ecstasy. 
The paroxysm may last a few minutes or hours, or may be 
prolonged for several days. In a case recently under my care, 
one paroxysm continued, with scarcely even a remission, for 
eleven days. The ability to swallow was not lost—it very 
rarely is, and the patient was fed at regular intervals, taking 
what was put in her mouth and eating it, without appearing to 
appreciate the taste or character of the food. 
In the less perfectly developed forms of the cataleptic con- CATALEPSY. 
117 
dition, the afflicted individuals, though taking no cognizance of 
circumstances surrounding them, are capable of a certain ex- 
alted esoteric mental action, which passes with the vulgar for 
illumination, inspiration, or spiritualism. Such cases were 
common enough among the women of the thirteenth, four- 
teenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, shut up in convents, 
and are not infrequently met with in our own time. Chambers * 
cites from DeHaen, the case of a child twelve years of age, 
who began a paroxysm by being cataleptic, and ended by re- 
citing the metrical Protestant version of David’s Psalms, saying 
her catechism with proof texts, and preaching a sermon on 
adultery.. 
A young girl, recently under my professional care, was cata- 
leptic on an average once a week, and epileptic twice or three 
times in the intervals. Five years previously she had spent 
six months in France, but had not acquired more than a very 
slight knowledge of the language, scarcely, in fact, sufficient to 
enable her to ask for what she wanted at her meals. Imme- 
diately before her cataleptic seizures, she went into a state of 
ecstasy, during which she recited poetry in French, and de- 
livered harangues about virtue and godliness in the same 
language. She pronounced at these times exceedingly well, and 
seemed never at a loss for a word. To all surrounding influ- 
ences she was apparently dead. But she sat bolt upright in 
her chair, her eyes staring at vacancy, and her organs of speech 
in constant action. Gradually she passed into the cataleptic 
paroxysm. She was an excellent example of what Mrs. Flar- 
dinge calls a “ trance medium.” The materialistic influence of 
♦Reynold’s System of Mediums, p. 104; Art. Catalepsy. 118 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
bromide of potassium, however, cured her catalepsy and epi- 
lepsy, destroyed her knowledge of the French tongue and made 
her corporeal structure so gross that the spirits refused to make 
further use of it for their manifestations. 
.Many of the cases to which reference has already been 
made as being induced by emotional disturbance at camp- 
meetings, revivals, and other religious gatherings, were in- 
stances of catalepsy. The electro-biologist knows well the 
ease with which the condition can be excited by the principle 
of suggestion, and he therefore employs it in his public exhibi- 
tions with great effect. He renders the arms and legs of his 
subjects rigid, by telling them in a confident and commanding 
tone that they are so, and he produces the other phenomena of 
the cataleptic state with equal facility. 
Catalepsy often exists in combination with somnambulism, 
either natural or artificial. In former times cataleptics were 
thought to be “possessed,” and even in our own day, such 
afflicted persons are by some authorities regarded as being 
under demoniac influence. To this division of the subject we 
shall presently return. 
Ecstasy, though closely allied to catalepsy, differs from it 
in several important particulars, among others, in the fact that 
the ecstatic recollects the train of thought which has been 
going on during the seizure, and speaks of it usually on emer- 
ging from the paroxysm. Besides, in ecstasy there is rather 
muscular immobility than rigidity, although this latter is some- 
times present. The eyes are open, the lips parted, the face is 
turned upward, the hands raised as if to heaven; and the body 
is erect and stretched out to its utmost height, or else is ex- ECSTASY. 
119 
tended to its full length in the recumbent position. A peculiar 
expression of joy lights up the face, and this is the radiance 
spoken of by camp-meeting and revivalist preachers, ignorant of 
the symptoms of the affection in question. 
At times, various attitudes are assumed which are in con- 
sonance with the ideas passing through the ecstatic’s mind. 
The body may thus be elevated on the toes, and the arms ex- 
tended as if in serial flight, or it is stretched out on the bed or 
floor, the feet crossed one over the other and the arms placed 
at right angles to the body, in the position of crucifixion. 
Mr. Bourneville * cites the case of Ler., a hystero-epilep- 
tic, to whom, hereafter, fuller reference will be made, who 
at one time had a cruciform paroxysm. Her head was 
strongly thrown back; her eyelids, half open, were in con- 
tinual motion ; the muscles of the jaws were contracted, and 
those of the neck were hard and tense. 
The superior extremities wer£ extended at right angles 
with the trunk, the hands closed, and the fingers flexed so 
strongly on the palm as to render it impossible to open them. 
The inferior extremities were stretched out to their full 
length, the sole of one foot being in contact with the dorsum 
of the other. 
In a word, the rigidity was such that the body could have 
been raised from either end like a bar of iron, (Fig. 7.) The 
attack lasted about four hours, and then Ler. opened her eyes 
and recovered consciousness, exclaiming, “ O, my God, I was so 
happy! ” 
Among celebrated cataleptics and ecstatics, may be men- 
* Louise Lateau, etc., Paris, 1875, p. 13. 120 
HYSTER01D AFFECTIONS. 
Fig. 2. ECSTASY. 
121 
tioned Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Gertrude, St. Bridget, St. 
Catherine of Sienna, Joan of Arc, St. Theresa, and Madame 
Guyon. Others who were not only cataleptics, ecstatics, and 
hystero-epileptics, but who were also the subject of the stig- 
mata, will be separately considered. 
The conventual life was especially favorable to the pro- 
duction of all forms of catalepsy and ecstasy, and sometimes, 
as in the instances of the nuns of Loudun, the disorder as- 
sumed a degree of malignancy which all the powers of the 
Church could not abate. 
It is a striking fact, which would be laughable, but for the 
frequently lamentable results which ensued, that while the Cath- 
olic ecstatics inveighed against the heretical sects which were 
springing up on all sides, and consigned them to torture and 
the flames, these, the Calvinists, Camisards, Pre-adamites, Jump- 
ers, Anabaptists, Bewailers, Sanguinarians, Tremblers, etc., etc., 
denounced the Pope as Anti-Christ, desecrated churches and 
exhibited a ferocity which, in its sanguinary character, has 
rarely been equalled in the history of the world. 
Now, as has already been remarked, in the imperfect forms 
of catalepsy or ecstasy, consciousness is not altogether lost. 
Montgeron noticed this fact, and in speaking of persons af- 
fected, says, “ they generally saw those who were about them, 
spoke to them and heard their answers, though at the same 
time their minds were entirely absorbed in the contemplation of 
objects which a superior power enabled them to see.” It must 
be recollected that Montgeron was a believer in the super- 
natural origin of these manifestations of disease. At the present 
day he would have been a shining light among Spiritualists. HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
122 
He further observes, that in these undeveloped forms of 
both diseases, as noticed among the Jansenist convulsionnaires, 
the affected individuals appeared as if struck by the sight of 
some object before unseen, and the contemplation of which 
filled them with the most ravishing joy. They raised their eyes 
and their hands on high, leaped towards heaven, and seemed as 
if about to fly into the air. They appeared to be absorbed in 
the contemplation of celestial beauties. Their faces were ani- 
mated with a brilliant glow, and their eyes, which could not be 
closed during the continuance of the ecstasy, remained open 
and fixed on the spiritualized object on which they gazed. 
They were, in a manner, transfigured; they appeared to be per- 
fectly unlike their natural selves. Those who ordinarily were 
low and repulsive, were changed so profoundly that they could 
not be recognized. 
It will be brought to mind that Mr. Wesley, in the extracts 
from his journal which I have cited, speaks of this change of 
countenance as a supernatural gift. 
The following example is domestic, and is taken from the 
Norfolk Beacon, of August 19th, 1824. It was copied into other 
religious papers without the least doubt being expressed of its 
being produced by the direct and special action of the “ Spirit 
of God.” * 
“ A singular display of the goodness and power of Almighty 
God at a camp-meeting held at Tangier Island. 
“Miss Narcissa Crippin, a highly-respectable young lady, 
*“ Observations on the Influence of Religion upon the Health and Physi- 
cal Welfare of Mankind. By Almirah Brigham, M.D.” Boston, 1835, p. 
3°5- ECSTASY; RACHEL BAKER. 
123 
nineteen years of age, and a zealous Christian, was, on the even- 
ing of the 15th instant, so operated on by the Spirit of God 
that her face became too bright and shining for mortal eyes to 
gaze upon without producing the most awful feeling to the 
beholders. It resembled the reflection of the sun upon a bright 
cloud. The appearance of her face for the space of forty 
minutes, was truly angelic, during which time she was silent, 
after which she spoke and expressed her happy and heavenly 
feelings, when her dazzling countenance gradually faded, and 
her face resumed its natural appearance. The writer of this 
paragraph was an eye-witness of the circumstance above stated 
—such a sight he never expected to behold with mortal eyes, 
and to give a true description of which would be beyond the 
ability of mortal man. While she remained in the situation 
above described, she was seen by more than two hundred per- 
sons, a few of whom have subscribed their names hereto. 
“ Wm. Lee (Rev.), 
“ Wm. E. Wise, 
“John Bayly.” 
I have frequently seen this remarkable change induced in 
the faces of persons of both sexes. It appears to be directly 
due to a relaxation of all the muscles of the face concerned in 
expression, and is accompanied by suffusion of the eyes and 
dilatation of the pupils. Undoubtedly the instances mentioned 
in the Bible as transfigurations, (see Exodus xxxiv. 29-35 ; 
Matthew xvii. 1, 2 ; Mark ix. 2, 3 ; Luke ix. 29) were of this 
character. 
Almost fifty years ago, a very remarkable case of preaching- 
ecstasy, or, as it would now be called by some, trance-medium- HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
124 
ship, occurred in this city in the person of a maiden lady, of 
delicate health, named Rachel Baker. Dr. S. L. Mitchill took 
great interest in her case, and had her sermons reported by a 
stenographer, and published. Miss Baker was the daughter of 
a respectable farmer in Onondaga County, New York, and had 
received a plain but substantial education. About the age of 
twenty, she became much exercised on the subject of religion, 
and at length her mind became seriously affected, and she 
fell into the habit of trance-preaching. Her parents were at 
first impressed at what they regarded as a most extraordinary 
gift, though they afterward became convinced that it was the 
result of disease, and accordingly brought her to the city of 
New York, in order that she might have the benefit of the best 
medical skill. Crowds flocked to hear her preach at the houses 
of different medical practitioners. Her discourses were highly 
respectable in point of style and arrangement, and were inter- 
spersed with Scripture quotations. After her health was re- 
stored, she lost the faculty of trance-preaching and never re- 
gained it. She died in 1843.* 
But ecstatics and cataleptics do other things fully as remark- 
able as trance-preaching. The performances of the Jansenist 
convulsionnaires have already been alluded to, but they are so 
various in their character, that there is scarcely a subject con- 
nected with paroxysms of disturbed mobility and sensibility, 
with which some of them are not en rapport. 
Among them was a woman, or rather a girl, Marie Sonet, 
who, on account of her apparent incombustibility, was called 
* Remarkable sermons of Rachel Baker and Pious Ejaculations delivered 
durffig sleep, taken down in short hand, etc. London, 1815. ECSTASYj THE SALAMANDER. 
125 
the salamander. We have seen what Mr. Home has done in 
the way of showing his ability to resist heat; the salamander 
was immeasurably his superior. Let us begin with a certificate 
which was published at the time : 
“ We, the undersigned, Francois Desvernays, priest, doc- 
tor of theology of the house and society of the Sorbonne ; Pierre 
Jourdan, licentiate of the Sorbonne, Canon of Bayeux; Lord 
Edmund de Rumond, of Perth ; Louis Bazile Carre de Mont- 
geron, Counsellor to the Parliament; Armand Arouet, Treasurer 
of the Chamber of Accounts; Alexandre Robert Boindin, 
Esquire ; [and five others ; ] certify that we have this day, be- 
tween the hours of eight and ten o’clock in the evening, seen 
Marie Sonet while in convulsion, her head on one stool and her 
feet on another, the said stools being entirely within a large 
fire-place and under the mantel-piece, so that her body was in 
the air above the fire, which burned with extreme violence, re- 
maining in that position for thirty-six minutes in four different 
times, (nine minutes each time) without the cloth in which she 
was wrapped (she was without other clothes) being burned, 
although the flames sometimes extended above her—the which 
appears to us to be quite supernatural. 
' “ Again, we certify that while we were signing the present 
certificate, the said Sonet placed herself over the fire in the 
manner previously described, and remained there nine minutes, 
appearing to sleep above the brazier, which was very hot, 
having been replenished with fifteen large logs, and a faggot of 
kindling wood, during the last two hours and a quarter. In 
testimony of which,” etc., [here follow the signatures.] 
The Abbd Asfeld, who wrote against the Jansenists, thus 126 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
describes what he saw: “ Sonet went behind a screen and was 
there divested of all her clothing, except her chemise and a 
little jacket. Then she was entirely wrapped up in a cloth, 
which was fastened with strong pins.” To this Carre de Mont- 
geron replies, “ It is not true that she was reduced to a chemise 
and a jacket; she had besides, a corset, a petticoat, and stock- 
ings.” “Then,” continues the Abbe Asfeld, “being thus 
enamelled, she called for the stools, and immediately two of the 
brethren brought them and placed them near the fire-place, 
where there was a good fire. Sonet placed herself on them, 
and from this performance she has received the name of ‘ Sala- 
mander.’ ” To this Carrd de Montgeron rejoins, “ One would 
think, from this account, that the stools were placed opposite 
the fire. Now, it is a fact which has been witnessed a num- 
ber of times by many persons, that at each representation the 
two stools, which were of iron, except two boards on which 
Sonet supported her head and feet, were placed in the fire-place 
on each side, so that when the girl was on them she was imme- 
diately over the flames, and so that no matter how great the 
fire was, she suffered no inconvenience therefrom, nor was the 
cloth in which she was wrapped even singed, although it was 
often in the midst of the flames.” And he pushed his adver- 
sary so hard that the Abbd had to admit that ordinarily the 
convulsio?inaire remained long enough in the fire for a piece of beef 
mutton, or veal, to be roasted! * 
Marie Sonet was not the only “incombustible.” Many 
others appeared, the example she afforded spreading, like other 
* Mathieu. “ Histoire des Miracules et des Convulsionnaires de Saint 
Medard.” Paris, 1864, p. 262, et seq. THE SUCKER. 
127 
hysterical performances, by contagion. Of course Marie Sonet 
and her imitators did not expose their unprotected persons to the 
fire, and we have already seen how the necessary immunity can 
be obtained. The cloth in which she was so securely enveloped 
was of incombustible material, or rendered fire-proof by some 
one of the preparations to which reference has already been made. 
But this was not all. There was one Charlotte Laporte, 
called the “ Sucker,” whose proceedings were so disgusting that 
it is with hesitation I mention them. We must, however, re 
member with Bacon that: “ Quidquid essentia dignum est, id 
etiam scientia dignumThe fact that such things could be, is 
my excuse for bringing them forward in illustration of the occa- 
sional depravity of the human mind, even when actuated by 
noble impulses. The “ Sucker,” then, went about claiming to 
cure ulcers, cancers, and other open sores, by sucking them 
while in a state of ecstasy. She, also, had her imitators— 
women all. They applied their tongues and lips to the most 
disgusting ulcers, full of pus and horrible to see, and sucked 
them till they were perfectly clean. They even swallowed the 
foetid exudations with impunity and even relish. They washed 
the dressings which had been applied to such sores, and then 
drank the water ! 
These people were heretics, but such vile actions are not 
confined to those who are heterodox in religious faith. Thus 
we read in Gorres* that so great was the holiness of St. 
Catherine of Sienna that she did some things that were almost 
incredible. There was a widow named Teeta who, on account 
of her poverty, lived in a hospital. But her body was covered 
* Op. cit., t. I., p. 277. 128 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
entirely with a hideous leprosy, and she was required to quit 
not only the hospital, but the city, because she was an object 
of horror to everybody. Catherine, however, took care of her, 
and with admirable charity dressed her sores. The woman, 
however, was puffed up with pride, and treated her nurse in the 
most haughty and overbearing manner. Nevertheless, Cathe- 
rine continued her cares, and even contracted the leprosy in 
consequence of the frequent contacts with this woman. The 
latter died, as was very proper, and Catherine laid out the 
body. She had her reward, as was also proper—for if the 
story be true, she had acted with tender charity—for her hands 
immediately became free from leprosy. 
So far, so good; but she went farther. There was another 
woman who had a cancer of the breast, from which the odor was 
such that no one could remain near her, and she had great dif- 
ficulty in getting the attention she required. Catherine, how- 
ever, assumed the charge and cleansed the sore, with a cheerful 
face, to the great astonishment of the woman herself. But it 
was really so disgusting that one day the stomach of Catherine 
revolted. Indignant against herself, she said to her body: 
How! Thou hast a horror of thy sister, baptized, as thou hast 
been, in the blood of our Lord ! I will pay thee up ! Saying 
which she applied her mouth, her nose and her whole face to 
the disgusting wound, and kept them there till she felt that her 
soul had conquered the repugnance of the flesh. Nevertheless, 
the virgin had at times her moments of loathing. “ And then,” 
says Gorres, “ she did what perhaps no one had ever done be- 
fore her—she drank the pus and the filthy discharges which 
she had sucked from the wound. She subsequently declared ECSTASY ; BERGUILLE. 
129 
to her confessor that she had never drank in all her life a 
more agreeable beverage.” We see, therefore, that four hun- 
dred years before Charlotte Laporte began her horrible opera- 
tions, there was a proto-sucker in the person of one of the most 
worthy saints of the Calendar. 
MM. Mauriac and Verdalle* give a very interesting ac- 
count of an ecstatic woman, who daily enacted the passion of 
Jesus, terminating in the usual manner in the crucifixion. This 
woman, Berguille, had been of good health till, in 1871, she lost 
one of her children. A short time afterward she began to have 
visions of her child every night, and then she was seized with 
obstinate vomitings, which were only cured by drinking the 
water of Lourdes, ordinary therapeutics not having been very 
efficacious. 
In a short time she began to have paroxysms of ecstasy. 
In these, there were more or less profound abolition of sensi- 
bility, general and special, and hallucinations of various kinds. 
At first these seizures were at no fixed intervals of time, but 
after a while they occurred regularly on Friday and in the 
afternoon. The duration was in the beginning only a few 
minutes, but latterly they got to lasting several hours. 
Like many other ecstatics, Berguille was devoted to making 
predictions both in religion and politics. Unfortunately for her 
reputation, nothing that she foretold ever came to pass. Thus, 
on the 26th of July, 1873, she said, “The great king, the most 
Christian king, promised to France, will come very soon. He 
is Monseigneur the Count de Chambord.” On the 24th of 
August: “ The three days of darkness are near; terrible events 
* Etude Mddicale sur l’extatique de Fontet. Paris, 1875. HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
130 
are about to take place. Paris will be entirely destroyed.” 
On the nth of September Berguille declared that “ The great 
King Henry V. will come, not by the votes of men, but by the 
will of the all-powerful God, and because it is necessary for him 
to save France.” 
When visited by MM. Mauriac and Verdalle, Berguille was 
lying in bed. She is described as a woman of about forty-five 
years of age, brown complexion, muscles and limbs well de- 
veloped, but without much fat, eyes blue, widely open and 
staring vaguely. She smiled kindly when questions were put 
to her, and answered with sufficient intelligence. 
On being asked why she was in bed, she answered that she 
was in pain night and day; and when requested to state where 
she felt the pain, she answered the backs and palms of her 
hands, the tops and soles of her feet, and the right side. These 
places were in correspondence with the five wounds of Christ, 
but the pain in the side, she had on the right, while other 
ecstatics, as Louise Lateau, had it on the left. The miracle- 
believers ought to find it difficult to reconcile a discrepancy like 
this. 
Relative to her visions and what she heard during her ecsta- 
sies, she said that she saw Jesus Christ in His passion, that she 
heard voices, but she could not repeat what was told her. Her 
pulse was from 68 to 72. 
At about one o’clock the ecstasy began. Her pulse rose 
to 80. She clasped her hands over her heart, her gaze 
became fixed, her eyes were widely opened, her lips moved 
as though she was muttering prayers, and there were fre- 
quent movements of deglutition. Her pupils were slightly ECSTASYj JOAN OF ARC. 
131 
dilated, but contracted when a light was brought to them. 
Her limbs were rigid, but it was noticed that she flexed 
them very readily when she altered her position a little 
or arranged her dress. In a few minutes she raised herself 
somewhat awkwardly on her knees, her hands still being clasped 
and her eyes fixed. Then began the passion on the way to the 
cross, during which she walked on her knees around the bed, 
changing her position twelve times and falling three times in 
the traditional manner. To make this journey, required thirty- 
six minutes, and this done the next act, the crucifixion, was in 
order. 
Suddenly she threw herself back on the bed, extended her 
arms from each side, and remained immovable. The pulse 
was 112, the respirations ioo. The muscles of the chest 
seemed to be paralyzed, only the diaphragm acting. The eyes 
were closed. 
The limbs were in a state of forced extension and very 
rigid ; the cutaneous sensibility to pinching, pricking, and to 
the electrical stimulus was abolished. The latter, a very strong 
induced current, caused muscular contractions, but no sensa- 
tion. There was not the least flinching. Things went on in 
this way for over three hours, and then she sang the “ Salve Re- 
ginaexclaimed “ Oh, what sorrow ! ” and gradually recovered 
her senses. 
We have seen how greatly a weak, hysterical girl can dis- 
turb the community in which she lives. The history of the 
world is full of examples, in which whole nations and groups 
of nations have been so deeply influenced by ecstatics of both 
sexes, as to have their entire political status changed thereby. [32 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
The instance of Joan of Arc has already been cited. It is in- 
teresting to quote her own touching and evidently sincere words, 
detailing how she was led to take the leadership of the armies 
of France, and conduct them on to victory. 
“ It is now seven years ago,” she said to her judges, “ on a 
summer’s day, towards the middle hour, I was about thirteen 
years of age, and in my father’s garden—that I heard for the 
first time on my right hand, towards the church, a voice, and 
there stood a figure in a bright radiance before my eyes. It had 
the appearance and look of a right good and virtuous man, bore 
wings, was surrounded with light on all sides, and by the angels 
of heaven. It was the Archangel Michael. The voice seemed 
to me to command respect; but I was yet a child, and was 
frightened at the figure, and doubted very much whether it 
were the Archangel. I saw him and the angels as distinctly 
before my eyes as I now see you, my judges.” With words of 
encouragement the Archangel announces to her that God had 
taken pity upon France, and that she must hasten to the assist- 
ance of the King. At the same time he promised her that St. 
Catherine and St. Margaret would soon visit her; he told her 
that she should do what they commanded her, because they 
were sent by God to guide and conduct her. “ Upon this,” 
continued Joan, “ St. Catherine and St. Margaret appeared to 
me, as the Archangel had foretold. They ordered me to get 
ready to go to Robert de Baudricourt, the King’s captain. He 
would several times refuse me, but at length would consent, 
and give me people who would conduct me to the King. Then 
should I raise the siege of Orleans. I replied to them that I 
was a poor child, who understood nothing about riding on ECSTASY; JOAN OF ARC. 
horseback and making war. They said I should cariy my 
banner with courage; God would help me, and win back for 
my King his entire kingdom. As soon as I knew that I was 
to proceed on this errand, I avoided as much as I could 
taking part in the sports and amusements of my young com- 
panions. So have the Saints conducted me during seven years, 
and have given me support and assistance in all my needs 
and labors, and now no day goes by but they come to see me. 
I seldom see the Saints that they are not surrounded with a 
halo of light; they wear rich and precious armor, as it is 
reasonable they should. I see them always under the same 
forms, and have never found in their discourse any discrepan- 
cies. I know how to distinguish one from the other, and 
this as well by the sound of their voices as by their salutation. 
They come often without my calling upon them. But when 
they do not come, I pray to the Lord that He will send them 
to me, and never have I needed them but they have visited 
me.” 
These judges were nearly all ecclesiastics, selected by 
the Bishop of Beauvais for this particular work, sixty in all— 
bishops, writers of theology, mitred abbots, etc. ; men skilled 
in all the subtleties of theological fence. She was a peasant 
girl, nineteen years of age, who could not even read and write. 
The only evidence that we have that they were not thoroughly 
depraved, is the fact that it was proposed to put her to the tor- 
ture, and only three votes—from doctors of theology—were re- 
corded in favor of this proposition. It is said, however, that 
the only reason why she was not tortured was the fact that 
being weak, she might die, and thus cheat the stake. 
133 <34 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
Of course she was found guilty. They found her to be : 
“A sorceress, a divinitress, an invoker of demons, a conjur- 
ess, superstitious, and entirely given to magic, thinking evil 
of the Catholic faith, sacrilegious, an idolatress, an apostate 
from the faith, a blasphemer of the name of God and of the 
Saints, scandalous, seditious, a disturber of the peace, excit- 
ing to war, cruel, wishing for the effusion of human blood, en- 
tirely abandoned and in variance with the sense of decency 
and shame, taking the dress of a man-at-arms as her habili- 
ment, contemning and despising the law of God and of nature, 
and ecclesiastical discipline before God and men, a seducer 
of princes and peoples, consenting to the adoration of her per- 
son and allowing her hands and vestments to be kissed, to 
the great contempt and injury of the honor and the worship 
of God, therefore demanding that she be declared a heretic, 
and legitimately punished according to divine and canon- 
ical law.” 
She was sentenced to be burned alive, and this determina- 
tion was kept concealed from her till the arrival of the day 
appointed for the execution. When told of it by her confessor, 
she exclaimed, in her misery, “ Alas for me ! It is dreadful 
that my healthy, youthful body, all unspotted, must this day be 
destroyed and reduced to ashes ! Ah, it were better for me to 
be beheaded seven times over than to be burned to death! ” 
While on the scaffold, a sermon was preached to her from 
the text, “ When one member suffers, all the other members 
suffer also.” The discourse concluded with the words, “ Depart 
in peace, the Church can no longer protect thee.” 
Then the Bishop of Beauvais, her relentless persecutor, who ECSTASY; JOAN OF ARC. 
135 
had wielded the mighty ecclesiastical power against her, read 
the sentence:— 
“ In the name of God, Amen. We, thy lawful judges, found 
thee, Jeanne, called the Pucelle, guilty of apostacy, of idolatry, 
of invoking the devil, and of various other crimes ; but as the 
Church ever opens its arms to receive the penitent, so we, be- 
lieving that thou didst truly abjure and swear never to relapse 
into thy delusions, admitted thee again to repentance, as one 
resolved evermore to dwell in the unity of the Church. But thy 
heart was led astray by the Prince of lies, and thou art fallen 
back into thy errors, even as a dog returns to its vomit. Thou 
didst abjure thy errors with a false heart and not in good faith, 
as thou hast thyself acknowledged. Therefore, by the present 
sentence, we proclaim thee a relapsed heretic, and a withered 
branch. And lest thou corrupt others, we cast thee out of the 
bosom of the Church, and we deliver thee over to the temporal 
authorities, praying them to deal mildly and humanely by thee, 
and to rest satisfied with the death of thy body and the destruc- 
tion of thy members.” 
As Madden* says, from whom I quote this account: “ This 
last phrase is merely the deceitful form proper to the eccle- 
siastical sentence of death, for the temporal judge was far 
more under subjection to the inquisition than to the temporal 
powers of France, and by the rights delegated to the Church 
was liable to be himself accounted heretical, if he did not con- 
sign the person thus given over to him to the flames.” And 
then she was burnt to death, and her ashes thrown into the 
river. 
* Phantasmata. London, 1857, p. 186. [36 
It was, therefore, in thorough consistency that the Church, 
bearing in mind its former action, recently refused to canon- 
ize this high-minded and virtuous maid. Perhaps a hundred 
or two years from now it will act differently in regard to an- 
other ecstatic who is fortunate enough during her lifetime to 
receive the favor of those who have the management of such 
things, and to whose history during the last few years I ask 
the attention of the reader. 
Bernadette Soubirous, according to the account given by 
M. Henri Lasserre *, whose book is prefaced by a letter of ap- 
proval from his Holiness the Pope, a young girl of Lourdes, 
in the south of France, went out one day with her two sisters 
to gather dry wood on the neighboring hills. On their way they 
had to cross a brook, and they stopped at the bank to take off 
their sabots. Bernadette was behind the other two, and being 
the only one who had on stockings, she stooped to take them 
off. It was about noon, and the Angelas was about to sound 
from all the bells of the neighboring villages. 
She was in the act of taking off her stockings when she 
heard a sound as if a wind was rushing by her. To her sur- 
prise the poplars which bordered the banks of the river were 
in a state of complete repose, there being not the slightest ruf- 
fle of the leaves. 
“ I am deceived,” she said to herself. 
And remembering still the rushing sound she had heard, 
she did not know what to think. 
Again she began to take off her stockings. 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
* Notre Dame de Lourdes, Paris, 1874. ECSTASY j BERNADETTE SO UBI ROUS 
137 
And again the sound as if the wind were rushing by passed 
through her ears. 
Bernadette raised her head, looked in front of her and 
uttered a loud cry, or rather, as M. Lasserre says, she would 
have uttered a loud cry if she had not been choked with fear. 
She trembled in all her limbs, and fell to the earth daz- 
zled, completely overcome by what she had seen; she 
crouched on the ground on both knees and waited in terror 
for what was to come. For in a niche formed by nature, in 
the rock, stood a female figure of incomparable splendor. 
There was nothing fantastical or vague about this lovely being. 
She appeared to be a real woman, and the light that came from 
the aureola above her head, and from her whole body, though 
of surpassing brightness, did not hurt the eyes. 
She was of middle height; she seemed to be quite young, 
and she had all the grace of a girl of twenty ; but without de- 
tracting in the least from the delicacy and beauty of her form, 
there was at the same time, an air of eternal grandeur about 
it, which was in entire accordance with the fitness of things. 
Her face was oval, her eyes blue, her lips bore an expression 
of divine gentleness and love, her forehead appeared to ex- 
press supreme wisdom—that is to say, the knowledge of all 
things, united to a virtue without limits. 
The garments worn by this heavenly being were of an un- 
known material, and were doubtless, as M. Lasserre says, 
manufactured in a mysterious workshop, where lilies of the 
valley are made into textile fabrics; for they were as white as 
the immaculate snows of the mountains, and more magnificent 
in their simplicity than the gorgeous vestments worn by Solo- ‘3» 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
mon, when arrayed in all his glory. Her robe long and er 
train, fell in chaste folds, allowing her feet to be seen as they 
stood upon the rock, pressing lightly a branch of eglantine. On 
each one of her feet, which were in a state of original nudity, 
bloomed the mystical golden colored rose. 
In front a girdle, blue as the heavens, and tied half around 
the body, fell in *wo long bands which almost touched her 
feet. Behind, enveloping in its fulness her shoulders, and the 
upper part of her arms, was a white veil, which was fastened to 
her head and reached to the lower border of her robe. 
There were neither rings, nor necklace, nor diadem, nor 
jewels; none of the ornaments with which human vanity, from 
all time, has loved to ornament her. A chaplet, of which the 
beads were as white as drops of milk, and of which the chain 
was as yellow as the harvest corn, fell from her hands, fervent- 
ly clasped as they were. The beads of the chaplet glided one 
after the other through her fingers. Sometimes the lips of 
this Queen of Virgins were still. Instead of reciting her rosary 
she was then perhaps listening to the eternal echo in her heart 
of the angelic salutation, and to the murmur of the invocations 
coming from the earth. Each bead as she touched it was 
doubtless a shower of celestial graces, falling on souls as the 
drops of dew fall upon flowrers. 
She was silent, but afterwards her own words, and the 
miraculous facts mentioned, attested that she was really the 
immaculate Virgin, the very august and very holy Mary, the 
Mother of God. 
It must be admitted that, considering the state of mental 
confusion into which Bernadette was thrown by this sudden ECSTASY ; OUR LADY OF LOURDES. 
139 
appearance, she had a wonderful perception for the details of 
face, form, and dress, of the celestial figure before her. She 
tried to make the sign of the cross, but her agitation was so 
great that she could not raise her arm from her side. But 
the figure, as if to encourage her, made the sign with infinite 
grace, and then Bernadette, partially nerving herself, ran over 
her rosary, and as she finished it, the apparition disappeared 
and she was left alone. 
No one believed the account she gave, even her mother 
regarding it as based on hallucination; but she saw the figure 
again, though her companions, not being gifted with the power 
of seeing spiritual things, saw only Bernadette fall on her knees, 
her face illumed with the light of ecstasy, as she gazed 
towards the place where she declared she perceived the Virgin- 
On another occasion two women went with her to the grotto, 
but though Bernadette saw the Virgin and fell on her knees 
at the sight, her two companions, as the others, saw only Ber- 
nadette, whose countenance was again transfigured by ecstasy. 
After that, Bernadette was told by the Virgin that she 
wanted a church built on the spot. The water of the spring 
in the grotto became suddenly possessed of healing powers, 
and though the government attempted for a time to put a 
stop to the spread of the belief in Bernadette’s visions, it was 
found to be impossible to do so, especially after a commission 
appointed by the bishop had rendered a report in favor of 
their authenticity. The rest is well known ; the church was 
built by the contributions of the pilgrims who visited the place, 
either for purposes of devotion or to bathe in the healing pool, 
and the water of Lourdes became famous for the wonderful 140 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
cures it accomplished. It is now exported to all parts of the 
world, and even in the city of New York is in extensive use 
as a therapeutical agent, its qualities being miraculous, accord- 
ing to the belief of those who place faith in its virtues. 
This is the same old story over again, simply clothed in a 
new dress—a story that in one form or another has been re- 
peated a thousand times, and that is probably destined to be 
reiterated again and again, while the world lasts, and the 
human mind continues to be constituted as it now is. But we, 
who know how to take such recitals at their true value, can 
derive from them many a lesson of use to us, in our dealings 
with men and women of sound and unsound minds and bodies. 
That thousands have been cured by the water of Lourdes ad- 
mits of no doubt. Such facts are, however, only another group 
to be added to those embracing the results of the royal touch, 
the powder of sympathy, the metallic tractors, mesmerism, the 
acts of the Zouave Jacob and of Dr. Newton, and the bread 
pills and colored water, which, when taken in faith, are fully as 
miraculous in their effects as the water of Lourdes. And again, 
we see how prone man is to view facts “ unequally,” as Czermak 
puts it; to accept the most improbable explanation that can be 
offered of matters with which he is not wholly familiar, and 
while wise, as a child of the world ordinarily is in the conduct 
of his worldly affairs, a very prince of fools when an appeal is 
made to his sense of the marvellous. 
There are few books of its kind more instructive, if read 
with a mind free from superstition and full of the knowledge of 
the wonderful workings of the human intellect, than the “ Notre 
Datne de Lourdes ” of M. Lasserre, and no one can rise from its ECSTASY; OUR LADY OF LOURDES. 
141 
perusal without being impressed with a sense of the incompar- 
able adaptability of the Roman Catholic Church to the wants 
of those who are guided more by emotion than by reason, more 
by faith than by facts; and these constitute the majority of the 
human race. 
As to Bernadette, let the reader recall to mind the circum 
stances under which she first saw the vision. She was stooping 
down in the act of taking off her stockings. The position was 
one which was calculated to accelerate the flow of blood to her 
brain, and to retard its return. A temporary cerebral congestion 
was thus induced, a condition particularly favorable to the pro- 
duction of hallucinations, as has already been pointed out. 
The roaring sound in the ears when there was no wind, was also 
the result of the augmented quantity of blood in the cerebral 
vessels. 
Then, M. Lasserre repeatedly speaks of her ecstatic condi- 
tion. “ Suddenly Bernadette’s countenance appeared to be 
transfigured, and it was in reality transfigured. An extraordi- 
nary emotion was depicted on her face, and her beaming 
expression seemed to be the result of a divine light.”* “ They 
(her two companions,) perceived that the features of the child 
were transfigured by ecstasy.”! “ Bernadette, ravished in 
ecstasy, gazed upon the immaculate beauty before her.”! And 
again : “ A minute afterwards her forehead appeared to become 
illuminated and radiant. The blood did not appear to rush to 
her face; on the contrary, she looked somewhat paler than 
natural, as if nature receded a little in the presence of the 
apparition which was before her. All her features seemed to 
* Op. cit., p. 37. 
fid., p. 41. 
t Id., p. 42. 142 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
be enlarged, and as if in a higher sphere, in a country of glory, 
to express feelings and things which do not belong to this 
world. Her mouth, half open, was expressive of the admiration 
which filled her soul, and which appeared to raise her towards 
heaven. Her eyes, fixed and beaming with happiness, gazed 
on the beauty invisible to others, but which all felt to be 
present, which all, thus to speak, saw reflected in the face of 
the child. This poor little peasant girl, so ordinary in her 
natural state, seemed now not to belong to this earth. 
All those who have seen Bernadette in ecstasy, speak of the 
spectacle as a thing quite without analogy in the world.''* 
So much for the orthodox account. The fact of ecstasy is 
admitted, but it is contended that while in this state the girl 
saw the Virgin Mary, although no one else, of the hundreds 
who went with her to the grotto, saw anything at all but the 
girl herself in the ecstatic state. If this kind of thing can be 
true, facts go for nothing. I have had under my own imme- 
diate charge fifty girls and women, who, in the condition of 
ecstasy, have had visions of, from God himself, down to the 
school-mistress who had locked them up in dark closets. That 
there were many sensible people who held this view in regard 
to Bernadette is very evident from M. Lasserre’s admissions. 
Thus the editor of the “ Lavedan,” in detailing the events in 
question, said : 
“ Three children of early ages had gone out to collect 
the branches, which had been cut from some trees near 
the town. The girls were surprised by the proprietor of the 
* Op. cit., p. 63. ECSTASY ; OUR LADY OF LOURDES. 
land, and fled as fast as their legs could carry them to one of 
the grottos near the road through the forest of Lourdes. We 
shall not stop to detail the thousand versions which have been 
given of this occurrence; we will only say that the young girl, 
with a wax taper in her hand, and escorted by more than five 
hundred people, goes every morning to pray at the entrance of 
the grotto. There she is seen to pass from a state of profound 
and sighing meditation into a most pronounced condition of 
ecstasy. Tears flow from her fixed eyes, which remain con- 
stantly turned towards that part of the cave where she believes 
she sees the figure of the Blessed Virgin. Everything leads us 
to suppose that the poor visionary is the subject of catalepsy.” 
Of such people as the editor of the “ Lavedan ” M. Lasserre 
speaks with becoming disdain. 
“ Some physicians,” he says, “ some autocthonous Socrates, 
some local philosophers, calling themselves Voltairians to make 
us believe they have read Voltaire, bristling up against their 
curiosity, held it to be a point of honor not to visit the grotto 
with the stupid crowd, which daily grew in size. This is 
almost always happens; the fanatics of “Free Examination” hold- 
ing the principle of only examining what suits them. For them 
no fact is worthy of attention which is capable of overturning 
the inflexible dogmas they have learned in the Credo of their 
journal. From the height of their infallible wisdom, on the 
steps of their shops, on the terrace in front of the cafes, from 
the windows of the club houses, these spirits of the first order 
saw, with supreme disdain, the innumerable human souls which 
sauntered along on their way to the grotto.” 
These “ disdainful spirits ” were probably silenced, if not 
143 144 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
convinced. Some of these days perhaps they, or their de- 
scendants, will have more voice in restraining the delusional 
vagaries of their fellow-creatures than they seem to have had 
in the matter of Our Lady of Lourdes. 
After the first paroxysm, it was no difficult matter for Ber- 
nadette to have others. The mere fact of her fixing her gaze 
steadily in one direction would have been sufficient to produce 
them, just as the similar paroxysms of hypnotism are caused in 
the human species, and even in animals. This fact is well- 
known to the people of many nations. Thus, in India the 
seeker for wisdom, the anchorite, is told to go to some place of 
solitude, to seat himself neither too high nor too low, to keep 
the head, neck and body immovable, to look fixedly at the point 
of his nose, and to remain calm, chaste, free from fear, and to 
think only of God. A similar method is followed in China. 
The monks of Mount Athos enter into ecstasy by placing 
their thoughts on God and their eyes on the navel. Simeon 
Abbot, of the monastery of Xerocos, writes the following in- 
structions : “ Being in thy cell, shut the door, and seat thyself 
in a corner of the room. Turn thy thoughts and thy eyes 
towards the middle of thy belly, that is to say, to thy navel. 
Hold thy breath, not even breathing through thy nose.” 
3. Hystero-Epilepsy. The combination of hysteria with 
epilepsy has long been recognized as one of the most frightful 
affections to be found in the whole range of neurological medi- 
cine. It is the condition which more frequently than any other 
led to the idea in former times—an idea which, however, as I 
shall presently show, holds its own among theologians of the 
present day—that demons entered the body and produced the HYSTERO-EPILEPS V. 
145 
symptoms of the disorder by tearing and contorting it for diver- 
sional or malicious purposes. 
An attack of hystero-epilepsy is characterized by the 
occurrence of convulsions more or less resembling those of 
epilepsy. There is usually, in the first place, a spasm resem- 
bling such as characterizes tetanus or lock jaw, as it is pop- 
ularly called. During this stage the body is bent backward so 
as to resemble a bow in shape. Then follow convulsions, 
during which the body is violently agitated; there is frothing 
at the mouth, the urine is sometimes passed involuntarily and 
occasionally the tongue is bitten. During all this period the 
patient is unconscious. 
Next ensues a remarkable series of movements, at the 
beginning of which, or during their continuance, the patient 
recovers consciousness to such an extent as to answer ques- 
tions, though there is not often recollection of the incidents 
that may have occurred. These movements are apparently 
voluntary, and consist of the most extraordinary contortions of 
the face, neck, trunk and extremities, so that superstitious or 
ignorant people would be very apt to imagine the existence of 
an internal or external diabolical agency. During the continu- 
ance of this part of the paroxysm, the patient tears with the 
hands and teeth anything tearable that comes within reach, 
and continually utters inarticulate sounds or words, apparently 
in relation with the ideas passing through the mind. Finally 
the purely hysterical element ceases to predominate, and the 
patient alternately weeps and laughs, and gradually acquires a 
knowledge of what is passing around. 
During the whole of the paroxysm the face is flushed, the 146 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
pupils are moderately contracted, the pulse is accelerated, the 
perspiration is increased in quantity, and the respiration is 
hurried and irregular. 
But there are numerous deviations from this type. Some- 
times the tetanic spasm is wanting, and again it, or some mod- 
ification of it, may constitute the most marked part of the con- 
vulsive period. Thus in a lady who was lately under my 
charge the paroxysm began with the bending of the body, and 
the bowlike form was at once relaxed, and again assumed to 
be again relaxed, and so on for over half an hour, during which 
time the patient was sobbing, groaning, and shrieking alter- 
nately. 
In a case now under my charge the patient, a woman, has 
daily attacks at about the same hour—three o’clock p. m.,— 
which are more distinctly tetaniform in the beginning than 
any that have come under my observation. They consist of a 
series of spasms, during the first part of which the body is 
extremely rigid. The convulsion is, however, unlike others 
that have come under my notice, very slowly developed. The 
body extended at full length in the recumbent position grad- 
ually becomes exceedingly rigid, the legs are slightly separated, 
the arms are pressed closely to the sides, the jaws are tightly 
closed and' the gaze fixed. Respiration is entirely suspended 
and the heart beats rapidly, sometimes as frequently as one 
hundred and sixty pulsations in a minute. Then the body is 
slowly bowed so that the head and heels alone touch the bed, 
and is so rigid and strongly arched that no ordinary force, such 
as a powerful man can exert, suffices to overcome the extreme 
tonicity of the muscles. In about a minute from the begin- HYSTERO-EPILEPS Y. 
147 
ning of the rigidity the spasm suddenly relaxes, and with a 
long-drawn inspiration the paroxysm ends to be again resumed 
in a few minutes with a like sequence. In the accompanying 
woodcut (Fig. 8) is an exact representation of this patient when 
the tetanic spasm is at its height. 
No one has written with greater effect in regard to the 
manifestations of hysteria and hystero-epilepsy than Charcot. 
As a most striking instance of this latter affection I cite from 
him the following instance, * already referred to in another 
communication under the head of ecstasy. 
Ler., aged forty-eight, is a patient well known to all physi- 
cians who visit the Salpetribre as one of the most remarkable 
instances extant of hystero-epilepsy. Her menstruation has 
ceased for four years, and yet all the neurotic symptoms persist. 
She is a demoniac, a possessed, and presents a striking exam- 
ple of that type of hysteria manifested by the “Jerkers”in 
“ Methodist camp meetings,” and who exhibit in their parox- 
ysms the most frightful attitudes. 
Fig. 3. 
* “ Le9ons sur les Maladies du Syst&me nerveux,” Paris, 1872-73, p. 301, 
et seq. 148 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
The probable origin of these nervous phomonema in Ler. 
deserves to be noted. She has had, as she says, a series of 
frights. At eleven years of age she was terrified by a furious 
dog, at sixteen she was frightened at the sight of the corpse of 
an assassinated woman, and again about the same time when 
going through a wood by robbers, who attacked her and took 
away her money. 
With her, there are various local manifestations of hysteria, 
consisting of ansesthesia of one half of the body, tenderness 
over the ovaries, semi-paralysis of various parts, and at times 
contractions of the limbs on the right or left side. The attacks 
are characterized at first by epileptiform and tetaniform con- 
vulsions, after which come extensive movements of an inten- 
tional character in which the patient assumes the most hideous 
postures, recalling the attitudes which history ascribes to demon- 
iacal possessions. At the moment of the attack she is seized 
with delirium, which evidently turns on the facts which have 
produced the initial seizure. She hurls invectives at imaginary 
persons: “ Scoundrels ! robbers ! brigands! Fire, fire ! Oh the 
dogs, they bite me.” When the convulsive part of the accession 
is over, there ensue generally, hallucinations of sight. She 
sees frightful animals, skeletons and spectres. Her power of 
swallowing food is impaired for several days, and the tongue 
is more or less contracted, leading to indistinctness of her 
articulation. 
Later, M. Bourneville * has given an account of Ler. some- 
what fuller than that of M. Charcot. In illustration of the 
period of contortions, I take from M. Bourneville’s excellent 
* Louise Lateau, ou la stigmatisee Beige. Paris, 1875, P- 38, et seq. H YS TERO-EPILEPS Y. 
monograph the accompanying wood cut, (Fig. 9) made from a 
sketch taken on the spot, by Mr. Charcot. 
A case at this time is under my care, in which phenomena 
very similar to those exhibited by Ler. are present. The pa- 
tient is a girl who was brought to me after various remedies, 
149 
calculated to exorcise a supposed demon, had been employed. 
Although a Protestant, she had been taken to a “Christian 
Brother,” who had laid his hands on her head, as her mother 
informed me, and had bid the devil depart, at the same time 
washing her with holy water. These means not succeeding, 
the water of Lourdes was next drunk and the forehead bathed 
with it. But these means also failed. Evidently Protestant 
Fig- 4* 150 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
devils are not amenable to Catholic spiritual therapeutics. She 
was then brought to me, and I had the opportunity of seeing 
her in a paroxysm. 
It began with slight tetanic rigidity, then there were general 
clonic convulsions, epileptiform in character, with foaming at 
the mouth, and then the consciousness having been regained, 
the volitional muscular contractions made their appearance, as 
wTell as a higher state of delirium. The face twitched, the 
tongue was protruded, the eyes rolled. She seized books and 
other articles within her reach and hurled them about the 
room. She swore fearfully, and uttered the most obscene words 
with a horrible leer on her face. Then she threw herself on the 
floor and kicked, rolled and tossed about without regard to 
decency, or the safety of her own or others’ limbs. She dashed 
her head against a chair, scratched her face, tore her hair, beat 
her breast, and almost entirely divested herself of clothing. 
Finally she fell asleep utterly exhausted, and did not awake 
for several hours. She was then sore from head to foot, and 
professed—evidently with truth—that she had no recollection 
of what had taken place. Such a case as this would, undoubt- 
edly, at a not very remote anterior period have been regarded, 
almost without a dissentient voice, as one of diabolical or de- 
moniacal possession, and even now there are not wanting learn- 
ed and pious theologians, Catholic and Protestant, who would 
certainly thus designate it, for it fulfils in all respects the de- 
scription given of such cases, both in ancient and modern times. 
Thus if we go back to the writers of the New Testament, we 
find the phenomena well described. There are convulsive 
movements, the body is contorted, the patient cries out, he HYSTERO-EPILEPS Y. 
151 
foams at the mouth, falls down and then reposes.* The patient 
is torn, he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth.f He falls 
on the ground and wallows foaming.t He is contorted (vexed), 
falls sometimes into the fire and sometimes into the water.§ 
Delitzsch || admits that these are the symptoms of epilepsy, 
but he very weakly attempts to make a distinction between the 
ordinary disease and that produced by the entrance of a devil 
into the human body, in that, plus these symptoms, one of the 
subjects was deaf and dumb. But it very often happens that 
patients are both epileptic and deaf and dumb, and that the 
cure of all the morbid conditions takes place at one time, being 
due as they are to an essential anatomical lesion, or some hys- 
teroid state. 
In contending for the reality of obsession and possession, 
Delitzsch, with a degree of learning and ability which it is la- 
mentable to see wasted in such a cause, endeavors to locate the 
situation of the devil who has taken up his abode in the human 
organism. According to him the soul itself can never be inva- 
ded, and however strongly such a view may have been held, it 
must now be given up, as he says the locality of possession is 
the human body. “ In this—and indeed just where the soul 
exerts an influence upon it by means of the nervous system, 
and receives reacting influence from it—the demon establishes 
himself, but from here outward exercises a forcible influence, 
extending itself to soul and spirit: to the soul at once so far 
as he makes the corporiety, e. g., the instrument of speech, a 
means of his self-manifestation, and thereby dislodges the soul 
*Lukeix. 39-42. tMark viii. 18. JMark ix. 20. § Matt. xvii. 15. 
|| A System of Biblical Psychology. English Translation. Edinburgh, 
1875, P- 348. l52 
HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
from its relation of power to the body that it vitalizes; to the 
spirit inasmuch as he degrades the will to a mere potentiality 
and places it in fetters that cannot be broken. So this affects 
the nature of man even to its very foundation. Even to the will, 
and thus even to the root of the soul and of the spirit, his influ- 
ence penetrates. He binds the will in a magical manner, and 
makes it subservient to himself, and thus deprives the entire 
man of independence and of all further power over himself.”* 
Nor does the learned author stop here. He believes in the 
ability of man to form pacts or covenants with the devil—witch- 
craft. Thus he says : 
“ Nevertheless, that prevalence of demoniacal disorders, es- 
pecially of possession, had also certainly a deep psychological 
reason in the superstition of that day, in virtue of which it was 
mingled with all kinds of magic. Superstition is not absolute- 
ly a mere subjective, guiltless delusion ; and, moreover, it is not 
a complication which is dissolved by truly scientific illumination 
into a mere nothing. It opens the human soul to demoniacal 
influences just as much as faith does to divine. And witchcraft 
is not empty, guiltless legerdemain, and neither is it an empty 
fraud, disclosing itself to intelligent cultivation; it is, in its of- 
ten sufficiently undeniable reality, the fearful opposite of the 
sacred miracles, which apart from God sets in movement created 
powers.” t 
Now what is the logical practical deduction from this ? 
Obviously, that, if there are individuals capable of entering into 
contracts with demons or devils to torment their fellow beings, 
they ought to be put out of the world as rapidly as the machin- 
* Op. cit., p. 355. 
t Op. cit., p. 360. HYSTERO-EPILEPS Yj POSSESSION. 
153 
ery of the law can be brought to bear against them. Burning 
at the stake would be a merited punishment for such fearfully 
degraded creatures. The error of our ancestors was not in the 
conclusions at which they arrived, but in the premises from 
which they reasoned. Admitting the truth of these, and they 
were perfectly right in consigning children and old men and wo- 
men to the stake, the scaffold and the water. And Dr. Delitzsch, 
the Protestant professor of theology in the University of Leipsic, 
tells us they were right, and he says this in our day, right into 
our ears ! Doubtless this very talented divine, who inveighs 
against superstition in the same breath with which he expresses 
his belief in witchcraft, would send Bernadette Soubirous to the 
category of fanatical and bigoted papists, and smile in derision 
at his Holiness the Pope, for writing approvingly to M. Lasserre 
and speaking kindly of Bernadette. But the Pope and his 
Church are at heart consistent, and it does seem to us—in our 
ignorance perhaps—that consistency is a virtue which those 
who set up to be teachers of mankind in the knowledge of eter- 
nal and never-changing truths, might cultivate with more advan- 
tage to themselves and their disciples. The Catholic Church 
believes in the possibility of possession, and it supplies a for- 
mula to its ministers by which demons are to be exorcised. 
This is the formula which exorcised the devils who had entered 
the body of the hystero-epileptic girl whose case I have just de- 
tailed : R. zinci bromidi 3i; sodii bromidi, 3i; aquae, 5 iv; 
M. ft. sol. Sig. A teaspoonful in water three times a day. De- 
mons of the present time have a great antipathy to the bromides, 
and in most cases they refuse to dwell in any body into which 
any one of the saints of that company obtains a lodgment. *54 
A TIGMA TIZA TJON 
CHAPTER V. 
STIGMATIZATION. 
IT is claimed by the Catholic Church (not, be it understood, 
as an article of faith which all must believe,) that there 
have been instances in which certain highly-favored individuals 
have, through miraculous agency, been marked in a manner to 
represent the wounds which Christ received in the crucifixion. 
When fully developed, these wounds consist of one in the palm 
of each hand, one on the dorsum of each foot, each indicating 
the place where a nail was inserted in the act of nailing Jesus 
to the cross, and one in the side, which represents the thrust 
of the spear which the Roman soldier is reported to have made. 
In some cases there have been, in addition, signs upon the 
forehead, which stand for the lacerations produced by the 
crown of thorns; and others in various parts of the body, which 
are interpreted according to the fancy of the subject. To some 
of these remarkable instances of the consequences of religious 
fervor I propose to ask the attention of the reader before en- 
tering into the consideration of the philosophy of the occur- 
rences. 
Gorres * admits that in all the periods of Christian antiquity 
* Op. cit., t. ii., p. 202. ST. FRANCIS NASS/SSI 
155 
there is not to be found a single example of stigmatization, 
properly so-called. The first to exhibit this mark of divine 
favor was St. Francis of Assisium, who was born in 1186, 
who died October 4th, 1226, and who, in 1224, became marked 
in the manner mentioned. In memory of the event a special 
day, the 17th of September, in every year was set apart as a 
feast of the Holy Stigmata by Pope Benedict XI. 
One morning—the day of the exaltation of the cross—as 
St. Francis was praying on the mountain-side, he experienced 
a violent desire to be crucified with Christ. At the same time 
he saw a seraph descend from heaven towards him. This 
celestial being had six fiery and luminous wings, and as he 
approached, St. Francis saw between the wings, the figure of a 
man crucified, his arms and legs extended. Two of the wings 
were elevated above his head, two were used in flying, and the 
other two covered the body. Filled with astonishment at this 
sight, he nevertheless felt great joy that God had thus favored 
him, and at the same time profound grief at the painful spec- 
tacle of which he was a witness, and which pierced his heart 
like a sword. When the apparition had faded from his sight, 
there remained in his soul the most fervent emotions, and on 
his body very marvellous impressions, for on each hand and 
each foot was the mark of a nail, and in the right side a wound, 
such as would have been made with the point of a spear. 
These wounds were large, and blood flowed from them. In the 
middle of those in the hands and feet were nails like nails of 
iron. They were black, hard, with a head above and a point 
below, but though movable to some extent they could not be 
withdrawn. St. Clara tried to pull them out after St. Francis i56 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
was dead, but was unable to do so. After receiving these wounds 
he could move his fingers and use his hands and feet as before. 
Nevertheless, walking was difficult to him, and therefore in his 
journeys he usually went on horseback. The wound of the side 
was deep and of the width of three fingers, as one of the 
brothers, who had by chance touched it, testified. His clothing 
was often stained with the blood which flowed from it. 
There was never formed in his wounds any appearance of 
gangrene, nor even of suppuration ; and the sain-t never em- 
ployed any remedy for the purpose of curing them. It was 
regarded as miraculous, that notwithstanding his sufferings and 
the continued loss of blood, he lived for two years after receiv- 
ing the stigmata. 
The history of Christine de Stumbele is one of the most 
remarkable that has come down to us. She was born in 1242 
at Stumbele, a village situated a few miles from Cologne. 
When she was only six years old the Lord appeared to her under 
the form of a beautiful young man, and said to her, “ My dear 
daughter, I am the Lord Jesus ; give thyself entirely to me, 
and continue always in my service.” At nine years of age she 
went to live with the sisters at Cologne. There she led a life 
of prayer, austerities and ecstasies. At fifteen years began the 
diabolical temptations to which fuller reference will presently 
be made, and which lasted for thirty-one years. These were 
considered by the sisters to be epileptic, and they sent Chris- 
tine home to her parents. These attacks prevented her being 
admitted to the sisterhood at Stumbele. 
Christine had remained with her parents ten years, continu- 
ally subject to these diabolical assaults, when she was visited CHRISTINE DE STUMBELE. 
*57 
by Pierre de Dacie, who had prayed to God to show him a true 
saint, and who sent him to Christine. Hardly had Pierre en- 
tered her house when she was seized by an invisible hand and 
thrown violently against the wall, with such violence that the 
house shook. Although this was repeated seven times, Chris- 
tine exhibited neither impatience nor pain. Pierre, touched 
with compassion, placed a mattrass against the wall, so as to 
soften the violence of the blows in case of fresh assaults. But 
she soon began to groan with pain on account of wounds, which 
she said she had received in her feet. On examination, a fresh 
wound was found on each foot, from which blood flowed. This 
was repeated several times. Afterwards, while she was talking 
with Pierre, she again began to groan, and on his asking what 
was the matter, she replied, “ I am wounded in the knee.” 
After a few moments she passed her hand under her robe and 
drew out a nail, which she showed him, and which he declared 
had a most extraordinary degree of heat, as if in fact it were 
newly arrived from hell. Towards midnight he joined his 
companion monk, and began the recital of the office, but had 
barely got to “ Laudes,” when they heard such a noise in 
Christine’s room that they were obliged to interrupt their 
prayers and go to her relief. The young girl suffered horribly, 
and appeared to be dying. A moment afterwards she drew 
from under her clothing another nail, red-hot, and of hideous 
shape ; and putting it in the hand of his companion (after it 
had cooled, it is to be hoped), said, “ See what has been wound- 
ing me ! ” The two monks looked at this horrible nail, and 
were struck with stupor and fear. Pierre requested permission 
to keep it as a souvenir; “ and,” he says, in his account of the 158 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
matter, “ I have kept it to this day.” In the morning, the two 
brothers departed on their way to Cologne, and Pierre thanked 
God for having allowed him to witness all these manifestations. 
The foregoing details in regard to St. Christine de Stum- 
bele are taken almost literally from the recent work of Dr. 
Imbert-Gourbeyre,* professor in the school of medicine of 
Clermont Ferrand, in Belgium, who quotes the principal part 
from Pierre de Dacie, with full acceptance of all that is stated. 
It is lamentable that a member of a profession, so little prone 
to be deceived in matters of the kind, should exhibit such igno- 
rance of his own science, and such credulity and superstition. 
We shall see hereafter that he is not the only Belgian physician 
who views facts “ unequally.” 
But to continue the account of Christine— 
Pierre made a second visit to Stumbele, and was invited to 
dine with the curd in company with Christine. After the repast, 
one of those present undertook to chant “ Jesu dulcis memorial 
but he had hardly begun before Christine was taken with 
ecstasy, was motionless, rigid in all her limbs and completely 
insensible. She could not even be seen to breathe. “ I wept 
with joy,” says Pierre, “ stupefied with this miracle, and I thank 
God for granting me such a favor. I could not attribute it 
either to nature or to man, and I venerated the divine pres- 
ence.” 
Christine remained in this condition for several hours, 
stretched out on a bench, her body wrapped in her veil. Then 
she began to cry and sob, and her body became agitated. Her 
* Stigmatises. Louise Lateau, etc., 2d Edition. Paris, 1873, *• i* 
p. 268. CHRISTINE DE STUMBELE. 
159 
breath then began to return, though at first, very feebly. 
Finally she began to murmur a few words, such as “O my 
well-beloved ! O my spouse ! ” and then she went into such a 
state of jubilation that her body trembled with excess of emo- 
tion. 
On another occasion while in a profound state of ecstasy, 
her body exhaled a most delicious perfume, “the odor of 
sanctity,” which has been exhibited by many other holy per- 
sons. It must be confessed, however, that if the stories which 
have come down to us, relative to the personal habits of most 
of the holy men and women whose histories have been written, 
are true, the odor exhaled from their bodies could not have 
been of a very delectable character. 
Christine had numerous temporary stigmatizations, which 
always took place on Good Fridays and lasted a few days. 
The first one occurred in 1267—being preceded by the crown 
of thorns, which came on Tuesday of Passion Week, and by the 
bloody sweat which occurred on Holy Thursday. The follow- 
ing morning she had the fire wounds. 
Pierre has left a description of the stigmata as he observed 
them on one occasion. There was a wound in the palm of 
each hand of about the size of a shilling piece. The flesh was 
exposed but the abrasion was only superficial. The stigmata 
on the backs of the hands were in complete relation, both as 
regarded size and situation, with those on the palms. All these 
wounds remained but for eight days, diminishing little by little. 
Subsequently the devil again began to torment her and her 
friends. Pierre, accompanied by another monk, paid her a 
visit, at the request of her father. They had saluted the 160 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
young girl and had gone into the next room to dry their gar 
jnents, when another clerical visitor who had taken a seat in 
front of the fire, was suddenly struck violently on his legs by 
an invisible hand, and at the same time covered with human 
excrement. 
In a few minutes afterwards this was repeated. “ I ascer- 
tained,” said Pierre, “ that the demon more than twenty differ- 
ent times during that night, covered Christine with excrement. 
Sometimes it was on her clothing, sometimes on her body, and 
on one occasion, though her head was veiled, it was covered 
with excrement as if with a paste. It was in her eyes, in her 
mouth, and it stuck so fast that it was difficult to remove it. 
“ I must avow,” continues Pierre, with great naivety “ that some 
of it got on my hands.” 
These are filthy matters to talk or write about, and nothing 
but the necessity which I think exists for giving a true idea of 
the vagaries which hysterical women at times indulge in, causes 
me to place them before the reader. All of these phenomena 
—the sticking of sharp instruments into the body, the introduc- 
tion of them into the various passages, the drinking of wine, 
and tricks with excrementitious substances, both of man and 
the lower animals, together with many others, which do not 
seem to have occurred to Christine de Stumbele, are common 
enough as manifestations of hysterical, or hysteroid affections* 
But to return to the performances of this saintly creature. 
The next night all the doings of the previous night were 
re-enacted with additions. “ Towards the hour of midnight,” 
he continues in his journal, “ I asked Christine if she saw the 
demon. As for us, it was easy to know the presence of the CHRISTINE DE STUMBELE. 
161 
demon by his acts—by all our senses, by the eyes, by the nose 
by the touch, and even by the ears. Christine declared that 
she saw him all the time, even with her eyes closed, or covered 
with a veil. He took all possible forms. At that moment she 
only saw his figure, but it was hideous. However deformed it 
might be, it was always a human figure, having two great horns.” 
Pierre asked whether or not the demon would go, if he 
sprinkled the chamber with holy water, and Christine replied 
that he would, but that he would soon return. 
“ The following day,” says Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, * in his 
book published only three years ago, and prefaced with a letter 
of endorsement and approval from the Bishop of Nantes, “ was 
passed tranquilly as was also the night, but on the third night 
the same scenes recommenced. Brother Wipert was then abso- 
lutely determined to recite the prayers of exorcism, in order to 
put the devil to flight. Christine, however, took occasion to 
say that it would be useless, and that she was still condemned 
to submit to the assaults of the devil, so long as the good God 
should determine. But Brother Wipert was obstinate and be- 
gan to recite the formula. Hardly had he begun, however, 
when a tremendous noise was heard in the room, the candle 
was extinguished, and Brother Wipert panic-stricken, rose up 
and attempted to seek safety in flight. At that moment he 
felt a blow, and was covered with excrement. He rushed from 
the room repeating “ O my God, I have lost an eye ! ” In the 
next chamber, before the fire and with hot water, he 
himself in washing his clothing, soiled by the demoniacal opera- 
tion. The sisters helped him in his cleansing processes. Brother 
* Op. cit., p. 285. 162 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
Wipert had been very badly treated. One-half of his body 
from head to foot was covered with liquid excrement. A few 
minutes afterwards, well cleaned, he entered Christine’s room 
laughing. ‘The devil,’said he, “has dirtied me all over and 
has given me such a blow that I thought at first he had 
put out my eye,’ Pierre de Dacie could not help laughing 
also.” 
How it is possible for any person claiming to have a human 
brain normally constituted—that noblest work of God—to be- 
lieve such stuff as this, passes comprehension. 
It is scarcely worth while to inquire further into the acts of 
this filthiest of hysterical women, this most degraded of all the 
individuals who have pretended to stigmatization as the act of 
God. I will only further state, that her performances are con- 
tained in not less than one hundred and fifty folio pages in the 
collection of the Bollandists, extending over a period of twenty 
years, from 1267 to 1287, and that they are accepted as verita- 
ble acts of the devil and of God, according as one or the other 
was for the time being in the ascendency, by bishops, priests, 
deacons, and laity of the most important of all the Christian 
churches. 
Yes, there is one thing more to state in regard to this 
woman who is honored as a saint, by the church that has re- 
cently refused canonization to Joan of Arc. Her relics were 
first taken to Niedeck, then, towards the end of the sixteenth 
century, to Juliers. Here in the year 1685, they were visited 
by Father Steinfunder, who reported that a green crown, the 
width of the finger, was in process of growing from the fore- 
head to the occiput. When he saw it, it had reached the ears. VERONICA GIULIANI 
163 
“God thus wished,” said he, “to crown the chastity and the 
invincible patience of the virgin.” In 1692 he inspected the 
relics a second time. The virginal crown was still growing, 
and it was sprinkled with red drops, which were symbolical of 
the points of insertion of the crown of thorns she had re- 
ceived during her life. 
Veronica Giuliani had frequent ecstasies, during which she 
saw and conversed with Christ and the Virgin Mary. In one 
ot these interviews she prayed that she might be crucified with 
her Saviour, and the promise was given her that she should 
receive the stigmata on the following Good Friday. When that 
day arrived she had repeated ecstasies, and received the stig- 
mata during one of her prayers. She saw the Lord attached to 
the cross, and His mother seated at His feet. She prayed to 
the Holy Virgin to intercede for her, knowing that of herself 
she could do nothing. The Holy Virgin promised to grant her 
prayer, and she immediately received an assurance from the 
Lord that He would cause her to remember Him in everything. 
Three times He asked her what she desired, and three times 
she answered that it was her wish to be crucified with Him. “ I 
accord it to thee,” said He, “ but I wish you to be always faithful 
to me and I will give the grace thou needest by means of these 
wounds, which I now impress upon thy body as a sign of 
the gift I have bestowed upon thee.” Immediately five brilliant 
rays emanated from the five wounds of the Saviour, and were 
directed towards her. In these rays she saw little flames. Four 
of them represented the nails and the fifth the lance. The 
nails and the lance seemed to be of gold, but were blazing at 
the same time. “ The heart, the hands, and the feet of the 164 
STIGMATIZATION. 
Saint were pierced. She experienced great pain, but simulta- 
neously she felt herself transformed into Our Lord.” * 
Awakened from her ecstasy, she perceived that her arms 
were extended and rigid. She tried to look at the wound in 
her side, but she could not on account of the pain she felt in 
her hands ; nevertheless, after renewed efforts, she succeeded, 
and then she saw that it was open, and that water and blood 
were pouring from it. 
Doubts in regard to the truth of her story arose, and she 
was ordered by her confessor to submit to a very severe exam- 
ination, which the inquisition ordered the bishop of her diocese 
to make in order to ascertain whether she was deceiving or not. 
This, according to Gorres and other authorities, was of such a 
character that if she had been a fraud the fact would inevitably 
have been discovered. But she came triumphantly out of all 
her trials, and the stigmata were accepted as genuine gifts of 
God, according to the account she had given. Veronica was 
beatified by Pope Pius VII., and canonized by Gregory XVI., 
May 26th, 1839. 
Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre f gives a list of one hundred and 
forty-five persons who have received the stigmata, besides eight 
now living, known to him. He has reason to think there are 
many others now on the earth. America has only had one, 
and, according to Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, she is still living. In 
regard to her he gives the following details without, however, 
citing his authority. I quote them for what they may be worth : 
“ Vitaline Gagnon was born twenty years ago, of poor pa- 
* Gorres.—Op. cit. t. ii. p. 216. 
t Ixs Stigmatisees. Palma D’Oria, etc., 2d edition. Paris, 1873, p. 263 VITALINE GAGNON. 
i65 
rents, in the diocese of Quebec. From her earliest infancy she 
gave evidences of piety, and while quite a child experienced 
great delight in visiting the cemeteries and saying Ave Marias 
among the tombs. Hence she acquired a great regard for the 
souls in purgatory, who often rendered themselves visible to 
her to ask the benefit of her prayers. About the age of thir- 
teen she entered the noviciate of the Sceurs Hospitaliers of 
Quebec, but she was obliged to leave by direction of her physi- 
cians, who declared that a cloistered life was not to be endured 
by one of her weak constitution. Some time afterwards she 
presented herself to the Sceurs Grises at Ottara [Ottawa ?], after 
being cured of a cough which was thought to be incurable. 
Threatened with being sent away on account of this cough, she 
prostrated herself at the feet of the Holy Virgin and coughed 
no more. She made her profession two years afterwards, and 
on the same day received the stigmata. Since that time the stig- 
mata bleed, every Friday, and every time that she offers her 
sufferings with the object of obtaining a grace for any one who 
is commended to her prayers. Since her profession, now two 
years, she has taken no nourishment, and she suffers terribly. 
A little wine is all that has passed her lips. She has exteriorly 
all the signs of perfect health ; she is even stout. The water 
which flows from her wounds is always perfumed, and a person 
has only to remain in her room a few minutes to be quite im- 
pregnated with perfumes. She offers all her sufferings for the 
souls in purgatory. The author of this note states that he 
reports only what he knows and has seen.” 
Of the seven other stigmated individuals of the present day, 
I propose to consider at some length the main points in the 166 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
histories of two, Palma d’Oria and Louise Lateau, and in so 
doing I shall avail myself of the works of those, who are firm 
believers in the miraculous interposition of God to produce the 
effects, of which they are said to be the subjects. These cases 
are very little known in this country. Instances of the kind 
are extremely rare among practical common sense nations, like 
those inhabiting the British Isles, and their descendants in 
America. Of the whole one hundred and fifty-three cases re- 
corded by Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, but one—Jane Gray—was 
British, and hers is the most doubtful case in the list, for the 
fact rests only on the testimony of one Thomas Bourchier, an 
English minor brother, who asserts that she had the stigmata 
in the feet. Of the remainder, the very large majority are of 
Italy, and as Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre says : 
“ Quel pays fut jamais si fertile en miracles ? ” * 
To the account of a visit made to Oria for the purpose of 
studying the phenomena exhibited by Palma, made by Dr. Im- 
bert-Gourbeyre, I am indebted for the following details : 
Palma, at the time of the visit in 1871, was sixty-six years 
old, hump-backed, thin, small, and with light, expressive eyes* 
For several years she had not left the house, and was, on ac- 
count of her sufferings, scarcely able to walk. Occasionally, 
when she felt particularly well, she took a few steps about the 
room supported by a cane. In her youth she had been very 
strong and active. 
At the first interview, after some conversation in the course 
of which Palma declared that she had often seen Louise La- 
teau while in ecstasy, the doctor directed the conversation 
* Op. cit., t. ii. PALMA D'ORIA. 
167 
towards the subject of hallucination. While thus engaged and 
seated close to Palma, he felt her strike him gently on the 
arm, and at the same time saw the abbe, who had come with 
him, fall on his knees. He turned toward Palma; her eyes 
were closed, her hands clasped, her mouth wide open, and on 
her tongue he saw the host—the body of Christ. Immediately, 
he fell on his knees also, and worshipped it. Palma protruded 
her tongue still farther, as if she wanted to give him every op- 
portunity of seeing that the host was really there; then she ate 
it, closed her mouth and remained perfectly quiet on the sofa 
upon which she was reclining. It was then almost four o’clock 
in the afternoon, the day was fading, the room was badly lit 
by a little window, high from the floor. The miraculous host 
appeared to him to be as white as wax, and somewhat thick. 
On account of the little light, and the short time that this ex- 
traordinary communion lasted, he was unable to determine 
whether or not it was marked according to the custom of the 
church. 
In regard to this wonderful event—that is, if it be not a fact 
viewed unequally—it is further to be said that Palma dis- 
closed to Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, that two or three times, the 
holy element, which be it remembered is believed by the great 
majority of Christians to be the real body of Christ, was brought 
to her by the devil, and that then she refused it. Sometimes 
he had the figure of an angel, but she knew him by the sign of 
reprobation which he wore on his forehead—a little horn. 
Moreover she saw that the wicked creature hesitated, and was 
a little embarrassed. She intoned the Gloria Patri, and made 
the sign of the cross, and he instantly took flight and disap- 168 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
peared. In order to ascertain what it all meant, her confessor 
forbade her to receive the miraculous communion for eight 
days. Hardly had that period expired when Jesus Christ him- 
self brought her the communion. Before giving it to her he 
made her recite the Gloria Patri three times. Then he said to 
her, “ Have I fled as the demon did ? No. Therefore reas- 
sure yourself. It is really I.” 
These miraculous circumstances had been going on for 
about two years when Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre made his visit to 
Palma. Sometimes it was brought to her by Christ, as in the 
instance specified, or by some saint, as St. Peter, St. Vincent 
de Paul, St. Francis d’Assisi, in the company of her guardian 
angel, and other saints and angels. At other times it was brought 
by priests and confessors of the olden time, long since dead. 
An Italian bishop stated, that at the moment of the mirac- 
ulous sacrament on one occasion, he had seen the host flying 
through the air before entering Palma’s mouth, but the doctor 
questioned her attendant on this point, and she declared that 
she had not seen that, and she assured him that the host was 
never seen by any one till it rested on Palma’s tongue. The 
doctor inclines to the belief that the attendant was right, but 
he states, that nevertheless a French apostolic missionary had 
asserted that he had seen the same thing. 
Well, if the consecrated bread be really the body of Christ 
that was given for the salvation of the world, what horrible 
blasphemy to state such things of it, what vileness to believe 
them, what a barefaced imputation on the reason of mar 'co 
spread these shocking details before him and ask him tG ac- 
cept them as true of the God he worships ! PALMA D'ORIA. 
After witnessing the communion, Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre 
was requested to withdraw into the adjoining room, while 
Palma got ready for her other performances. In a few min- 
utes he was informed that all was in order. One of the women 
went in first and returning immediately, the others were invited 
to enter. The stigmatization had already begun on the fore- 
head. He saw a stream of blood flowing from the left frontal 
eminence along the side of the nose. A handkerchief was 
given to Palma; she held it to her nose for a moment and the 
haemorrhage soon stopped. He examined the blood and found 
that it did not differ in appearance, color or temperature from 
ordinary blood. He then examined the handkerchief, and be- 
sides numerous rotund spots he perceived other figures resem- 
bling hearts, with stains of blood proceeding from them, indica- 
ting the flames of love. All this appeared to him to be very 
extraordinary, for though he had often seen people bleed from 
the nose, he had never seen them bleed like that. 
After this incident Palma continued the performances—ac- 
tions de grace he calls them—her hands clasped and her eyes 
closed. In the lower limbs, especially the left, there was a 
tremor like a nervous trembling which was soon quieted. Af- 
ter a few minutes she rubbed her hands together, made the 
sign of the cross and returned naturally to the conversation. 
He then examined her forehead and endeavored to ascertain 
where the blood had come from. The skin was intact without 
the least opening. She showed him above the right frontal em- 
inence a hole in the cranium, from which at a former period, 
five little pieces of bone had been discharged. The opening 
was entirely covered over by the scalp, and he was surprised 
169 170 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
to find that there was no cicatrix. It was round, the end of 
his index finger entered it readily, and it was just such an 
opening as would have been produced by the crown of a tre- 
phine. At the time it was made, the skin opened to allow of 
the exit of the pieces of bone ; then it closed without leaving 
the trace of a scar. It was the same with the stigmata. 
They closed at once without there being any marks to indicate 
the place whence the blood had flowed. This hole in the skull 
had been caused by some particular circumstances that no one 
was willing to reveal to him, but which he says are reported in 
the journal of the directors of this woman, and which will 
soon be published. Most medical men will come to the con- 
clusion that it was due to caries and necrosis of the bone, of 
syphilitic origin. 
During another visit Palma told Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre 
that she had eaten nothing for seven years, but that she was 
obliged to drink frequently on account of the great internal 
heat, which like a fire consumed her. She then drank in his 
presence two carafes of water at one time, and the doctor 
states that “ this water became so hot in her stomach that it 
was vomited boiling. She also had often ejected from her 
mouth oil, and another fluid of a balsamic character, in which, 
on standing for some time, bodies resembling the consecrated 
host were formed.” 
The doctor then relates the following details, which I give 
in his own words, in further illustration of the character of his 
mental organization and of the pretensions put forth by the 
woman, whose word seems to have been sufficient to convince 
him of anything at all, no matter how preposterous. Four years PALMA D'ORIA. 
171 
previously he had been so unfortunate as to lose by death his 
eldest child: 
“ A year after his death, I had met a woman of great 
renown for piety, and who was even regarded as a receiver of 
celestial communications. I had commended my poor Joseph 
to her. Some time after she assured me that my son was 
saved, and that he was in paradise. She declared that in a vision 
she had seen him near our Lord; he was happy. Various cir- 
cumstances, which it is useless to mention here, had caused me 
to believe in the truth of this asserted revelation. Being in 
Oria, I wished to have as much certainty as possible in regard 
to the matter, and as I knew that Palma was in spiritual com- 
munication with many pious souls scattered over the earth, I 
said to her in the course of our conversation, ‘ tell me, Palma, 
do you know M. de X , ’ giving her the baptismal 
\ 
name of the woman in question. ‘ No sir,’ she answered. “ I 
then related to her my history in detail, taking care not to ask 
her opinion in advance, although I felt sure that she would 
explain the thing to me. She listened with the utmost atten" 
tion to the superioress who translated my words, and when 
Mother Becaud came to say that the woman had had a vision of 
my son, and that he was in paradise, Palma stretched out her 
arm in a solemn manner as a sign of negative, and said to me, 
“ ‘ He is saved, but he is still in purgatory.’ ” 
‘ Is it possible ? Palma,’ I cried, profoundly moved : ‘ Since you 
tell me this, you are in conscience bound to get him out of that 
place of expiation as soon as possible, and I commend him im- 
mediately to your prayers.’ 
“ ‘ Yes, sir,’ she said, ‘ I will pray for him, and when I am 172 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
sure of his deliverance, I will send you word by Father de 
Pace. 
“ The following morning at my visit I again commended my 
poor child to Palma, and on the following Friday evening on 
taking leave of her, I asked if she had prayed that morning for 
my son, ‘ No sir,’ she answered. ‘ I will only do so on the day of 
All Saints.’ ‘ Then ’ said I to Palma, ‘ will you allow madame 
the superioress to take the answer.’ ‘ Very willingly said the 
seeress.’ On the 7th of November, I received at Nice the 
following letter : 
“ Sir, 
“ ‘ I have fulfilled the promise which I made to you in 
accordance with your wish to go to Palma on All Saints Day, 
in order to ascertain whether or not your wishes in regard to 
your son had been granted. That good soul assured me twice 
that he had gone to heaven that very morning, God be praised 
a thousand times! 
“ ‘ Thus sir, I have done what I could for your consolation. 
“ ‘ I have the honor to be, etc. 
“ ‘ Sister Marie Becaud.’ 
“ This letter was post marked at Oria, November 2d.” 
I should not venture to insult the intelligence of the reader 
with these idiotic details but for the reasons stated, and addi- 
tionally, that they carry conviction with them to thousands of 
minds, honest doubtless, but which are accustomed to grovel 
in superstition, and falsehood, which they are unable to test by 
right standards. 
A phase in Palma’s spiritual pathology has been alluded to 
cursorily, but has not yet been considered with the fulness PALMA D'ORIA. 
173 
proper in connection with stigmatization, and that is the occur 
rence of haemorrhagic spots on various parts of her body, and 
which she so managed as to convey the idea that they were 
symbolical of various holy things. On the back of her hand 
she convinced Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre that she bled in the 
shape of the cross, and he gives a wood-cut representing a 
cross on the dorsum of the hand, a little above the space be- 
tween the first and second fingers. This is surrounded by 
other rectilinear figures. On her breast and back, other figures 
were obtained by placing handkerchiefs on the parts. The 
doctor thus procured several mementoes of his visit, in the 
shape of pieces of linen stained with spots of blood somewhat 
resembling hearts, with flames coming out of them, suns, 
roses, crosses, etc. He gives several plates in his book repre- 
senting these figures, of the reality of the miraculous formation 
of which he has not the slightest doubt. 
Another phenomenon has also been mentioned incidentally, 
and that is the intense heat which Palma declared she felt, and 
which the doctor refers to as the “ divine fire.” He had 
brought with him from Paris, a thermometer to use in deter- 
mining the extraordinary temperature of this fire. He 
examined her with this instrument while she felt this divine 
fire, but failed to find any abnormal increase ; her pulse at the 
time was 72. “ I made this experiment,” he says, “ to satisfy 
my scientific conscience, [God save the mark !] but I ought to 
say that I was ashamed of myself for presuming to measure 
this divine fire by such an instrument.” He is right, science is 
not for him, or those like him. 
On one occasion while Palma was in ecstasy, Antonietta, 174 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
who was near her, laid bare her chest a little, and cried with 
enthusiasm, “she is burning!” Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre ap- 
proached and smelt something like the burning of linen. 
The dress was opened and her chemise was found to be burnt 
on the left side just over the collar bone, and immediately be- 
low this, scorched in the shape of “ a magnificent emblem rep- 
resenting a monstrance. The fire was invisible, but its traces 
were very evident.” 
In a note he states that it was affirmed that Palma’s tem- 
perature on similar occasions had reached ioo° centigrade, (2120 
Farenheit) a fact which he does not doubt, although his ther- 
mometer did not show it. “Thather chemise,” he says, “burnt 
by invisible fire, which escaped the thermometer, was more ex- 
traordinary than if the instrument had indicated a temperature 
of 1 oo°.” 
I shall not stop now to comment further on the circum- 
stances detailed by Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, and of which I have 
cited but a small part. I will only say at present that science 
and common sense would conclude in regard to Palma d’Oria, 
1 st. That she had probably at a former period contracted 
syphilis. 
2d. That she was strongly hysterical. 
3d. That she was the subject of purpura haemorrhagica. 
4th. That she was a most unmitigated humbug and liar. 
And now we come to the consideration of a case of stigmati- 
zation which has greatly stirred both the theological and the 
scientific world of Europe—that of Louise Lateau—and here 
again I shall draw largely, though by no means exclusively, from LOUISE LATEAU. 
175 
the works of the believers in the miraculous production of the 
phenomena manifested.* 
Louise Lateau was born at Bois-d’Haine, a small village in 
Belgium, on the 30th of January, 1850. She was reared in the 
utmost poverty, was chlorotic, and did not menstruate till she was 
eighteen years old. She loved solitude and silence, and when 
not engaged in work—and she does not appear to have labored 
much—she spent her time in meditation and prayer. She was 
subject to paroxysms of ecstasy, during which, as many other 
ecstasies, she spoke very edifying things, of charity, poverty, and 
the priesthood. She saw St. Ursula, St. Roch, St. Theresa, 
and the Holy Virgin. Persons who saw her in these states de- 
clared that, while lying on the bed, her whole body was raised 
up more than a foot high, the heels alone being in contact with 
the bed. 
The stigmatization ensued very soon after these seizures. 
On a Friday she bled from the left side of her chest. On the 
* For the theological view of this remarkable case the reader is referred 
to the following works, a part only of those written in support of her pre- 
tensions. “ Louise Lateau de Bois-d’Haine, sa vie, ses extases, ses stigmates,” 
etude Medicale, par le Dr. Lefebvre, Louvain 1873. “ Les stigmatisees 
Louise Lateau, etc./' par le Docteur A. Imbert-Gourbeyre Paris, 1873. “ Bio- 
graphic de Louise Lateau” par H. Van Looy, Tournai, Paris and Leipzig 
1874. “ Louise Lateau de Bois d’Haine etc.” par le Dr. A. Rohling, Paris, 
1874. “Louise Lateau, ihr Wunderleben u. s.w.” Von Paul Majunke, Berlin, 
1875. 
Among the treatises in which the miracle is denied, and the phenomena at- 
tributed to either disease or fraud are Louise Lateau ; Rapport Medicale 
sur la stigmatisee de Bois-d’Haine, fait a l’academie royale de medecine 
Belgique, par le Dr. Warlomont, Bruxelles and Paris, 1875. “ Science et 
miracle, Louise Lateau, ou la stigmatisee Beige ” par le Dr. Bourneville, 
Paris, 1875. “ Les Miracles ; ” par M. Virchow, Revue des cours scienti- 
fiques, January 23rd 1875. 176 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
following Friday this flow was renewed, and in addition, blood 
escaped from the dorsal surfaces of both feet; and on the third 
Friday, not only did she bleed from the side and feet, but also 
from the dorsal and palmar surface of both hands. Every suc- 
ceeding Friday the blood flowed from these places, and finally 
other points of exit were established on the forehead and be- 
tween the shoulders. 
At first these bleedings only took place at night, but after 
two or three months they occurred in the daytime, and were ac- 
companied by paroxysms of ecstasy, during which she was in- 
sensible to all external impressions, and acted the passion of 
Jesus and the crucifixion. 
M. Warlomont, being commissioned by the Royal Academy 
of Medicine of Belgium to examine Louise Lateau, went to her 
house, accompanied by several friends, and made a careful ex- 
amination of her person. At that time, Friday morning at six 
o’clock, the blood was flowing freely from all the stigmata. In 
a few moments the sacrament would be brought to her, and 
then the second act of the drama would begin. The scene that 
followed can be best described in M. Warlomont’s own words : 
“ It is a quarter-past six. ‘ Here comes the communion,’ 
said M. Niels [a priest], ‘ kneel down.’ Louise fell on her knees 
on the floor, closed her eyes and crossed her hands, on which 
the communion-cloth was extended. A priest, followed by sev- 
eral acolytes, entered; the penitent put out her tongue, receiv- 
ed the holy wafer, and then remained immovable in the attitude 
of prayer. 
We observed her with more care than seemed to have been 
hitherto given to her at similar periods. Some thought that LOUISE LATEAU. 
177 
she was simply in a state of meditation, from which she would 
emerge in the course of half an hour or so. But it was a mis- 
take. Having taken the communion, the penitent went into a 
special state. Her immobility was that of a statue, her eyes 
were closed ; on raising the eyelids the pupils were seen to be 
largely dilated, immovable, and apparently insensible to light. 
Strong pressure made upon the parts in the vicinity of the stig- 
mata caused no sensation of pain, although a few moments be- 
fore they were exquisitely tender. Pricking the skin gave no 
evidence of the slightest sensibility. A limb, on being raised, 
offered no resistance, and sank slowly back to its former po- 
sition. Anaesthesia was complete, unless the cornea remained 
still impressionable. The pulse had fallen from 120 to 100 
pulsations. At a given moment I raised one of the eyelids, and 
M. Verriest quickly touched the cornea. Louise at once seem- 
ed to recover herself from a sound sleep, arose and walked to a 
chair, upon which she seated herself. ‘This time,’ I said, ‘ we 
have wakened her.’ ‘No,’ said M. Niels, looking at his watch, 
‘ it was time for her to awake.’ ” 
She remained conscious; the blood still continued to flow ; 
the anaesthesia had ceased, her pulse rose to 120, and at the 
end of half an hour she was herself. “ Our first visit ended 
here. At half-past eleven we made another. The poor child 
had resumed her attitude of extreme suffering, against which 
she contended with all the energy that remained to her. The 
wounds in the hands still continued to bleed. M. Verriest aus- 
cultated with care the lungs, heart, and great vessels, and'found 
the bruit de souffle, which he had detected in the morning at the 
apex of the heart and over the carotids. The handle of a. 178 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
spoon pressed against the velum, the base of the tongue, and 
the pharynx, provoked no effort at vomiting. The glasses of 
our spectacles, as they came in contact with the air expired, 
were covered with vapor. As the patient appeared to suffer 
from our presence, we went away. 
“ We made our third visit at two o’clock. There were still 
fifteen minutes before the beginning of the ecstatic crisis, which 
always took place punctually at a quarter past two and ended 
at about half past four. The pupils at this time were slightly 
contracted, the eyelids were almost entirely closed ; the eyes, 
looking at nothing, were veiled from our view. We tried in 
vain to attract her attention ; her mind was otherwise engaged, 
and her pains were evidently becoming more intense. At ex- 
actly a quarter past two her eyes became fixed in a direction 
above and to the right. The ecstacy had begun. 
“The time had now come to introduce those who were 
prompted by curiosity. This could now be done without in- 
convenience, for the ecstatic, for the ensuing two hours, would 
be lost to the appreciation of what might be passing around 
her. The room crowded, could hold about ten persons, but 
enough were allowed to enter to make the total twenty-five. 
These placed themselves in two ranks, of which the front one 
kneeling, allowed the rear ones to see all that was going on 
All this was done under the direction M. le Curd, who took 
every pains to give us a good view of what was going to 
happen. 
“ Louise was seated on the edge of her chair; her body, 
inclined forward, seemed to wish to follow the direction of her 
eyes, which did not look, hut were fixed on vacancy. Her LO VISE LA TEA U. 
179 
eyes were opened to their fullest extent, of a dull, lustreless 
appearance, turned above and to the right, and of an absolute 
immobility. A few workings of the lids were now observed 
and became more frequent if the eyelids were touched. The 
pupils, largely dilated, showed very little sensibility to light, 
and all that remained of vision was shown by slight winking 
when the hand was suddenly brought close to the eyes. The 
whole face lacked expression. At certain moments, either 
spontaneously or as a consequence of divers provocations, a 
light smile, to which the muscles of the face generally did not 
contribute, wandered over her lips. Then the face resumed 
its primitive expression, and thus she remained for the half- 
hour which constituted the ‘ first station.’ 
“ The ‘ second station ’ was that of genuflection. It had 
failed at one time, but had again appeared. The young girl 
fell on her knees, clasped her hands, and remained for about a 
quarter of an hour in the attitude of contemplation. Then she 
arose and again resumed her sitting posture. 
“ The ‘ third station ’ began at three o’clock. Louise in- 
clined herself a little forward, raised her body slowly, and 
then extended herself at full length, face downward, on the 
floor. There was neither rigidity nor extreme precipitation; 
nothing in fact, calculated to produce injuries. The knees 
first supported her body, then it rested on these and the 
elbows, and finally her face was brought in actual close contact 
with the tiled floor. At first the head rested on the left arm, 
but very soon the patient made a quick and sudden movement, 
and the arms were extended from the body in the form of a 
cross. At the same time the feet were brought together so 180 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
that the dorsum of the right was in contact with the sole of the 
left foot. This position did not vary for an hour and a half. 
When the end of the crisis approached, the arms were brought 
close to the sides of the body, then suddenly the poor girl rose 
to her knees, her face turns to the wall, her cheeks become 
colored, her eyes have regained their expression, her counte- 
nance expands, and the ecstasy is at an end.” 
Further particulars are given, and an apparatus was con- 
structed and applied to Louise’s hand and arm so as to pre- 
vent any external excitation of the haemorrhage. It was ap- 
parently shown that there was no such interference, for the 
blood began to flow at the usual time on Friday. 
In addition to the stigmata and the paroxysms of ecstasy, 
Louise declared that she did not sleep, had eaten or drank 
nothing for four years, had had no fecal evacuation for three 
years and a half, and that the urine was entirely suppressed. 
M. Warlomont examined the blood and products of respira- 
tion chemically, and satisfied himself of their normal charac- 
ter, except that the former contained an excessive amount of 
white corpuscles. 
When being closely interrogated, Louise admitted that, 
though she did not sleep, she had short periods of forgetfulness 
at night. On M. Warlomont suddenly opening a cupboard in 
her room, he found it to contain fruit and bread, and her cham- 
ber communicated directly with a yard at the back of the 
house. It was therefore perfectly possible for her to have 
slept, eaten, defecated, and urinated, without any one knowing 
that she did so. 
The conclusions arrived at by M. Warlomont were, that the LOUISE LATEAU. 
181 
stigmatisations and ecstasies of Louise Lateau were real and to 
be explained upon well-known physiological and pathological 
principles, that she “ worked, and dispensed heat, that she lost 
every Friday a certain quantity of blood by the stigmata, that 
the air she expired contained the vapor of water and carbonic 
acid, that her weight had not materially altered since she had 
come under observation. She consumes carbon and it is not 
from her own body that she gets it. Where does she get it 
from ? Physiology answers, ‘ She eats.’ ” 
Relative to the assumed abstinence in the cases of Palma 
d’Oria, Louise Lateau and other subjects of ecstasy and stigma- 
ta, it is not necessary, in view of the remarks already made 
on this subject in a previous chapter, to devote further con- 
sideration to it here. The conclusion arrived at by M. Warlo- 
mont is the only one which science can tolerate. Should Lou- 
ise Lateau or Palma d’Oria ever be subjected to as close watch- 
ing as was the poor little Welsh Fasting Girl, Sarah Jacob, it 
will certainly terminate as badly for them as for her, unless 
they yield to the demands of nature and take the food which 
the organism requires. 182 
STIGMA TIZA TION. 
In the disease known as purpura, the blood is deficient in 
red corpuscles, while there is an increase in the white globules, 
a condition of this fluid which the investigations of M. Warlo- 
mont showed to exist in the case of Louise Lateau. The 
affection is further characterized by a tendency of the blood to 
transude through the coats of the vessels, and in some cases 
to the formation of aneurismal dilatations of the capillaries, 
appearing on the surface as little ulcerations, and the rupture 
of which allows the blood to escape. 
Many cases of haemidrosis, or bloody sweat are scattered 
through medical treatises, and several monographs have been 
devoted to the consideration of the subject. 
Thus Boerhaave relates the case of a young girl who was 
subject to the occurence of ampullas on various parts of her 
body, from which blood flowed in abundance, and which then, 
as did those of Palma d’Oria, disappeared without leaving any 
trace. These haemorrhages took place very often, and among 
other places from the right hand, the front of the neck, the right 
arm and the right leg. She even wept tears of blood, a cir- 
cumstance not mentioned of any one of the stigmatized mys- 
tics. but one calculated still further to excite the astonishment 
of those on the look-out for miraculous events. 
The fact that such haemorrhages follow closely on the occur- 
rence of any strong emotion is well established. As the counter- 
part to the cases of Palma d’Oria, Louise Lateau, and other so- 
called miraculous instances of stigmata, I adduce the following 
instance from Dr. Magnus Huss of Stockholm, as cited by M, 
Bourneville.* 
* Louise Lateau, ou la Stigmatisee Beige. Paris, 1875, P- 32- LOUISE LATEAU 
183 
Maria K., a servant girl aged 23, was born in the country, 
of poor parents- Her father and mother had always been in 
good health, never having shown any disposition either to haem- 
orrhages or to affections of the nervous system. The same may 
be said of the other ancestors of Maria, and of her brothers and 
sisters. 
Maria is of medium height, of lymphatic constitution and 
presents the appearance of good health. Her skin is 
her complexion high colored, her hair brown, almost black, her 
eyes a grayish blue, her figure full. At fifteen years of age her 
menstruation began with regularity, and has continued so 
without any interruption. This fact is to be noted, for M. Le- 
febvre cites a like circumstance in Louise Lateau as one of the 
proofs that her case is not to be classed with those of mundane 
etiology. 
In her infancy, Maria suffered from attacks of convulsions, 
but latterly she has not been ill. Accidental wounds of the 
skin do not give place to haemorrhages, and her flesh heals as 
well as that of other people. At nineteen she went out to ser- 
vice. She asserts that the family with whom she lived treated 
her badly. 
On the 4th of August, 1850, Maria was severely beaten, and 
was struck with a hard body on the head. These blows, with 
the anger and fear they provoked, caused convulsions, and she 
was for half an hour unconscious. When she came to herself 
she observed that a severe haemorrhage had occurred from the 
hairy part of the scalp, and from a place where there had been 
no wound. During the two following weeks the haemorrhage 
from the head continued. Besides, she bled from the eyes, or 184 
STIGMA TIZA TION 
from the face around the eyes, from the left ear, and finally 
she vomited blood. 
For fifteen days she was better, and then another haemor- 
rhage from the scalp and stomach took place during her sleep. 
The haemorrhage continued for eight days, then it stopped spon- 
taneously, and Maria was in a good state of health for two 
months. At the end of that period, and following immediately 
on a strong emotion, she bled from the head, from the borders 
of the eyelids, and from the left ear. Since then the haemor- 
rhages were produced regularly at intervals of from eight to fif- 
teen days, and lasted for one or two days. In the intervals, 
Maria was in good health, although physically weaker than be- 
fore the beginning of this disease. She had a good appetite, 
and her bowels were regular. Her menstruation was not only 
not suspended, but it occurred with perfect regularity, even 
during the periods of the hmmorrhagic attacks, not being changed 
either as regarded quantity or duration. 
In February and July, 1851, the haemorrhages appeared at 
irregular intervals, and were more or less abundant. About 
the middle of July she was admitted into the Seraphim Hospi- 
tal in Stockholm, where she was examined successively by 
Profs. Santessen, Malmessen and Magnus Huss. Aside from 
the existence of a chloro-anaemic condition, all the organs were 
in good health, and all the functions regular. 
The haemorrhages often supervened upon emotional disturb- 
ance, and at irregular periods. They were in general preceded 
by an ensemble of symptoms which recalled to mind those 
observed with Louise Lateau—a sensation of pressure or 
weight on the top of the head, a feeling of vertigo, and of gen- LOUISE LATE iU. 
185 
eral fatigue, noises in the ears, and frequent pulse. When the 
exuding surface was examined with a lens no trace of excoria- 
tion of the skin was discovered. And even when the haemor- 
rhage had lasted five or six days, the most careful inspection fail- 
ed to show any sign of a cicatrix. During the haemorrhages the 
region affected was painful to the touch, and the temperature 
was elevated. 
A certain number of attacks (convulsions and haemorrhages) 
were complicated with vomiting of blood, with ecchymosis, and 
apparent bruises on the left half of the body. They were never 
observed on the right side. The limbs on the left side were 
always, at the time of the haemorrhages, semi-paralysed, and the 
paralysis remained for periods ranging from six days to two or 
three weeks. Consciousness always returned to her suddenly, 
as if she had wakened from a long sleep. 
“ One circumstance,” writes Dr. Huss, “ nearly twenty years 
before Louise Lateau had begun to exhibit the stigmata, de- 
serves to be reported in view of its psychological importance. 
She was not slow to notice that she was the object of particular 
attention, and that her disease was studied with great curiosity. 
As among those visiting the hospital, some saw her while the 
haemorrhages were present, and others hearing them spoken of, 
made her presents, often of considerable value, she began, as 
was very evident, to cause at will the phenomena to take 
place. And this she did by seeking a quarrel with some other 
patient, and the excitement into which she was thereby thrown 
produced the haemorrhage she desired. It seemed also that 
she could, without such cause, by the mere effort of her will, 
throw herself into such a mental condition that the haemorrhage 
resulted.” STIGMA TIZA TION 
186 
In his very valuable memoir, M. Parrot* distinctly affirms 
the fact of haemorrhages of the kind in question. In the case 
of Louise Lateau the haemorrhages occurred on Fridays, some- 
times, however, missing. The mental excitement produced in 
her by the devotional contemplation of the events which the 
Church associates with this day, as well as the exercise of her 
own will in the matter, are sufficient causes of the periodicity 
observed in her case. Besides, when the habit had become 
well established, no other exciting cause would be required than 
the force resulting from the constant repetition of an act by the 
organism at some particular time. No one competent to form 
an opinion after a scientific study of the subject, and not bound 
in the trammels of a most abject superstition, can fail to see 
the absolute identity in all essential respects of the cases of 
Maria K. and Louise Lateau. And this is only one case. 
Many others are mentioned by M. Parrot, M. Chauffard, Wil- 
son, Mason Good, and dermatologists generally. 
One further point only in regard to Louise Lateau. The 
report of M. Warlomont was made to the Royal Academy of 
Medicine of Belgium. In the debate which ensued upon the 
presentation of the report, views were advanced in favor of, and 
against the miraculous interposition of Providence to produce 
the stigmata, according to the predilections of the speakers. 
M. Lefebvre held to his view of miracle in the case, and M. 
Crocq declared that it did not pass beyond the category of 
pathological occurrences. And then, after several forms of 
expression had been proposed, the Academy decided to have 
* Etude sur la sueur de sang et les haemorrhages neuropathiques. 
Paris, 1859. L O UISE LA TEA U. 
187 
nothing further to do with the subject, either in its theological 
or pathological aspects beyond printing the memoir of M. 
Charbonnier, who was the first to. call attention to the scientific 
points of the case, and passing a vote of thanks to him for his 
contribution to its archives. 
In the mean time Louise Lateau continues her ecstasies and 
stigmatizations, and many will continue to regard them as 
miraculous, no matter how thoroughly her pretensions are ex- 
posed ; and while she can gain notoriety by acting the cruci- 
fixion every Friday, it is very certain, unless she wearies of the 
monotony, that she will keep up the habit she has established. 188 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
CHAPTER VI. 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
OF all ways for influencing the human mind, that of heal- 
ing disease has probably the fullest scope, and for various 
reasons has most effect with ordinary individuals; and at all 
times within the historic period there have been persons pre- 
tending to supernatural power in curing the ills to which 
mankind are subject. The fact that success has often followed 
their performances has given them more or less of the prestige 
which so generally attends upon the obtainment of favorable 
results in any direction of effort. It is, however, a very easy 
matter to dissipate the cloud of mystery which envelops such 
proceedings, and to show that whatever good fortune has 
ensued to the subjects who have been operated upon, is due to 
well-known and very commonplace causes. 
The influence by which so-called supernatural cures have 
been effected has been ascribed to various sources, according 
to the time at which the healers have performed. At one 
period it is the direct power of some deity which produces the 
cure, at another the machinations of devils; again it is the 
sanctity which resides in the touch of a king, the holiness of a 
saint, or the superior virtue and godliness of certain other 
persons; then it is magnetism, and again spiritualism; some- ST. SA UVEUR. 
189 
times it is a peculiar power inherent in some particular person, 
and at others the direct interference of God for the relief of 
those who haye propitiated him by prayer. Nor does the 
matter stop here: the bones and other relics of Saints, the 
halter with which a criminal had been hanged, the moss 
growing from a dead man’s skull, the touch of a dead man’s 
hand, especially of one who had been executed; the heart of 
a mule ripped up alive, the lungs of a person who had died a 
violent death, decoctions and powders made from snakes, toads 
scorpions, etc., and according to St. Augustine an efficacious 
process employed by the devil was: “ agentis cum patientibus 
conjungunt, colliger semina serum, eaque materice applicant.” 
To trace all these various forms of delusion through their 
devious courses, though interesting as presenting an important 
phase of human error, would carry us further than the limits 
of this work will allow. It will be sufficient for the purpose I 
have in view to examine into a few of the more prominent, 
especially as a parity of reasoning can be shown to be applica- 
ble to the others. 
And to begin with the power of saints and kings to banish 
disease by a word, a look, or a touch, or even by a visit of the 
patient to their tombs, or by the efficacy residing in their dead 
bones, or in the garments they are said to have worn. 
According to Gorres * the most remarkable instance of 
curative power possessed by a saint is that afforded by St. 
Sauveur of Horta. This holy man was born in Catalonia, and 
received the first part of his name from a presentiment on the 
part of his sponsors that he was to be a saviour of men, and 
the second from the fact of his entering a monastery in Horta. 
* op. at., 1.1. p. 470. 190 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
In a fortunate moment the people seemed to have imbibed 
the idea intuitively that he was possessed of the wonderful 
gift of healing ; for in a short time after he had finished his 
noviciate, patients came in crowds to Horta from all parts of 
the country, so that in one single day there were more than 
two thousand assembled in one place. St. Sauveur was not 
dismayed; he cured them all, and blessed them in the name 
of the Holy Trinity, after they had confessed and partaken of 
Christ’s Body. He continued during several years curing 
those who came to him, and at one time, during the feast of 
the Annunciation he cured six thousand. But this was not 
the greatest feat; for another time, at Valencia, in the square 
before the convent of St. Marie de Jesus, he found 
more than ten thousand patients, from the viceroy to the 
laborer, waiting for his benediction and to be cured of their 
diseases. 
Now notwithstanding the great success which St. Sauveur 
is asserted to have had, he does not seem to have made friends 
of his brother monks. They became weary of the disorder 
and dirt caused by so many people coming to the convent.. 
So on one occasion when the bishop came to visit them they 
complained of their healing brother; and his lordship having 
no faith—for there were skeptics, then as now, high in eccle- 
siastical dignity—in St. Sauveur, called the chapter together, 
summoned him before it, and thus addressed him : “ I had 
hoped to find peace in this house, but on the contrary I meet 
with trouble, and on your account. Tell me then, brother 
Sauveur, who has authorized you to live in this manner. Are 
you not ashamed of hearing people saying ‘ come let us go to 
the saint at Horta ! ’ It would be better for them to say ‘ come ST. SAUVEUR. 
191 
to the evil spirit who troubles the brethren at Horta.’ But you, 
my brothers, have done wrong in assuming that he alone could 
work miracles, for you are just as holy as he. But I will take 
care, my brother, that your name will not be bandied around in 
future, for I am going to put an end to your miracles and all 
these crowds of people. And first, for penance you will re- 
ceive discipline, then you will change your name to Alphonse, 
and at midnight you will depart for the monastery of Reus 
without another word.” 
Sauveur went to the church without making any reply, and 
then at the hour that had been fixed upon he set out for the 
monastery of Reus with a lay brother, passing in silence 
through the crowd that was collected around the monastery of 
Horta. He made the journey plunged in fervent prayer. 
Arrived at Reus he was received by the abbot with these 
words: “ In order to keep you from disturbing the brothers 
with your miracles I will put you in a place where you will not 
be able to incommode them. Go to the kitchen and work 
your miracles with the plates and dishes.” 
But the following morning, as soon as it was day, the 
people of the place came in crowds to the number of more 
than two thousand, and the sick among them demanded to see 
brother Sauveur. The brothers, who knew nothing about the 
matter, went to the abbot, and he, running to the kitchen 
administered a sharp reprimand to the poor brother, who fell 
on his knees before him. But in the meantime the crowd 
besieged the gates and the abbot to appease them was obliged 
to yield to their wishes on condition that they would all go to 
the church. Then the s?int addressed some simple words to 
them, blessed them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 192 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
Holy Ghost, and at once returned to his kitchen. The great 
numbers of crutches, bandages and sticks that were left behind 
testified to the efficacy of the benediction. 
But the abbot at this sight cried out, “ Do you see with 
what filthiness this brother fills the church, making it no better 
than a stable ? ” 
For some time after this the convent was undisturbed, but 
as soon as the people knew the way to the saint the processions 
recommenced. To end them the bishop sent him to Barce- 
lona, then to Saragossa and other places; but after a little 
while, no matter where he was, it was the same thing. Pa- 
tients came in crowds and camped out in tents when they 
could obtain no other shelter. 
A still more determined effort was finally made to stop 
Sauveur’s miracles by sending him to Cagliari in Sardinia, but 
it was the same there as it had been in Spain. Simple, open, 
in his relations with men, austere towards himself, having no 
want for a cell, as he passed his nights in prayer in the church, 
and sleeping, when nature required this indulgence, in a corner 
of the monastery, Sauveur went on doing his work in the 
kitchen, the garden, or at the gate distributing alms and 
blessing the people. He preserved his chastity during all 
the forty-seven years of his life, though often tempted ; his 
patience and resignation never became less under the many 
persecutions to which he was subjected ; he was compassionate 
towards the poor and the sick, and full of zeal for the conver- 
sion of sinners; he had ecstasies, and frequent visions, 
especially before the image of the Blessed Virgin, and often 
while in that state was lifted up in the air in presence of 
many thousand witnesses. He had the gifts of prophecy, of ST. SAUVEUR. 
193 
knowing secret things and of commanding the elements ; and 
in his simplicity was the wonder of his time. The number of 
patients of all kinds that he cured is incredible. He even 
resuscitated three dead persons. Finally he died in 1527 (why, 
is not very evident) after having predicted the exact hour of 
his death. And even to this day miracles are performed at his 
tomb. 
In view of all that is here said in favor of St. Sauveur, it 
would be interesting to learn what his brethren and ecclesias- 
tical superiors had to report of his wonderful performances. 
It is very evident that he was not in favor with them. Cer- 
tainly if there had been no doubt of the truth of his alleged 
cures, they would have cherished him, as one able to give great 
renown to their religious houses, and glory to the Church. 
And if the history given of him by Gorres is only partially 
true, his memory would have not so entirely gone out of the 
records of the past as only to be embalmed in a few books on 
the lives of the Saints. Facts do not disappear so completely. 
If St. Sauveur had really been the great healer he is said to 
have been, we should find his doings recorded in a thousand 
contemporaneous volumes and every schoolboy would have 
them at his tongue’s end. Neither do facts go begging for 
believers, nor will they remain concealed in obscure books. I 
have questioned ten educated and intelligent Catholic gentle- 
men relative to St. Sauveur and not one of them had ever 
heard of him! How will it be with curing mediums three 
hundred years hence ? 
But the mere facts of notoriety and acceptance of assumed 
miraculous acts are of course no evidence of such acts having 
been really performed. The belief in the veracity and power 194 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
of the oracles lasted from far back in the history of Egypt till 
the time of Theodosius of Greece—several thousand years— 
and then the temples were closed. Would they have been 
closed at all if the oracular utterances had really been what 
was pretended ? 
Now I have no reason to doubt that many persons were 
cured by St. Sauveur through their imaginations, and of such 
diseases as are known can be dispelled by such agency. The 
bishops and abbots who disciplined him doubtless took this 
fact into full consideration, and one of the former was 
certainly right when he said that all the other brethren were 
just as capable as he of working miracles. But St. Sauveur 
had somehow got the start and had obtained the power by 
which such deeds in miraculous therapeutics are done—the 
confidence of those subjected to treatment—and hence his 
success. 
At the present day we hear very little of cures by ecclesias- 
tical functionaries. Other agencies equally miraculous have 
taken their place one, by one, and ere long these will also 
disappear to make room for others doubtless as little founded 
on truth. 
The asserted power of sovereigns, to cure diseases, espe- 
cially scrofula, by the royal touch, is another example of the 
rise and fall of a superstitious belief. 
The practice appears to have begun with Edward the 
Confessor, of England, and to have lasted with more or less 
intensity till the accession of the House of Brunswick, the 
last sovereign to touch for scrofula having been Anne. 
According to other authorities, however, it originated with 
the early French kings, and there was for a long time a great THE ROYAL TOUCH. 
195 
dispute between writers of England and France relative to 
the possession of the power—the English denying it to the 
French kings and the French with equal vigor restricting it to 
their own sovereigns. 
Queen Elizabeth with her hard sense, was very much 
averse to the practice, though public opinion required her to 
continue it. Upon one occasion, she told a multitude of the 
afflicted who besieged her that “ God alone could cure their 
diseases.” 
During the reign of Charles II. the practice was at its 
height and yet more deaths took place from scrofula—or king’s 
evil, as it had got to be called—in his reign than in that of 
any previous sovereign. With Anne the faith which had been 
held in the efficacy of the royal touch died out, Dr. Samuel 
Johnson was among the last to receive the imposition of the 
Queen’s hands, which was in his case at least entirely ineffica- 
cious, as he was subject to scrofula all his life. 
Henry VIII. was the first monarch to establish a particular 
ceremony to be observed. This was altered at various times, 
and was printed in the Book of Common Prayer used during 
the reign of Queen Anne. 
With the touch it was customary to give a piece of gold, 
which was hung around the patient’s neck by the sovereign. 
The desire to get this gold was the cause of many presenting 
themselves, who were not afflicted with scrofula, and of others 
repeatedly coming forward. The coins were often found in 
the shops, having been sold by the recipients. Stringent mea- 
sures were therefore taken to prevent imposition on the mon- 
arch, and after the reign of Elizabeth the size of the coin was 
reduced. 196 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
The form employed by Charles II. is thus described by 
Evelyn : * 
6. [July 1660] “ His Majestie first began to touch for the 
evil according to costume, thus—His majestie sitting under his 
state in the Banquetting House, the Chirurgeons cause the sick 
to be brought or led up to the throne, where they kneeling, the 
King strokes their faces or cheekes with both his hands at once, 
at which instant a Chaplaine in his formalities says : ‘ He put his 
hands on them and he healed them : ’ This is sayed to every 
one in particular. When they have all been touched they 
come up againe in the same order; and the other Chaplaine 
kneeling, and having angel-gold strung on white ribbon on his 
arme, delivers them one by one to his Majestie, who puts them 
about the necks of the touched as they passe, whilst the first 
Chaplaine repeats : ‘ That is the true light who came into the 
world.’ Then follows an Epistle (as at first, a Gospel) with 
the Liturgy, prayers for the sick with some alteration, lastly the 
blessing ; and the Lo. Chamberlaine and Comptroller of the 
Household, bring a basin, ewer and towel for his Majestie to 
wash.” 
But there were skeptics, and gradually they outnumbered the 
believers, and the practice was discontinued on the death of 
Anne. Among the unbelievers was Mr. Charles Bernard, sur- 
geon, who on being made sergeant-surgeon to the queen 
became a convert to the doctrine of the efficacy of the royal 
touch. As Oldmixon f says : 
“ Yesterday the queen was graciously pleased to touch for 
the King’s evil some particular persons in private ; and three 
* Memoirs, Charidos Library Edition, London, p. 266. 
t History of England, Vol. II. p. 302. THE ROYAL TOUCH. 
197 
weeks after, December 19, yesterday, about twelve at noon her 
Majesty was pleased to touch, at St. James’, about twenty per- 
sons afflicted with the King’s evil. The more ludicrous sort of 
skeptics, in this case, asked why it was not called the queen’s 
evil, as the chief court of justice was called the Queen’s Bench. 
But Charles Bernard, the surgeon who had made this touching 
the subject of his raillery all his lifetime till he became body 
surgeon at court, and found it a good perquisite, solved all 
difficulties by telling his companions with a fleer ‘ Really one 
could not have thought it, if one had not seen it.' A friend of 
mine heard him say it, and knew well his opinion of it.” 
As we have seen, the French kings also touched for scrof- 
ula, and it is claimed by some, that the practice originated with 
them. Servetus, who was not of a credulous mind, says in the 
first edition of his “ Ptolemy ” published in 1535, that he had 
seen the king touch many persons for the disease, but he had 
never seen any that were cured thereby.* But the last clause 
f 
of this sentence excited the ire of the censor, and in the next 
edition published in 1541, the words “ an sanati fuerint non 
vidi" were changed to “pluresque sanatos passim audivi." 
I have heard of many that were cured. Testimony in 
support of miracles has often been manufactured, but the nat- 
ural obstinacy and truthfulness of Servetus would not ad- 
mit of his giving his personal endorsement at the expense 
of his convictions. 
It is very certain that if there had been any real efficacy as 
such in the royal touch the practice would never have been dis- 
continued. That cases were cured by it is probable, just as 
* “ Vidi ipse Regem plurimos hoc languore correptos tangentem, an sai> 
ati fuerint non vidi.” 198 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
they are cured by any imposing ceremony, or action, or thing 
that appeals to the imagination and rouses the spirit of hope. 
But the respect for kings and queens which once existed in an 
extreme degree, began to fade out after its spasmodic revival 
with the restoration of the monarchy in England, and hence, 
reaching its acme with Charles II., touching gradually lost its 
hold on the people, along with many other notions pertaining 
to the “ divine right of kings.” But it held its sway for over 
seven hundred years—to be utterly extinguished at last—a type 
doubtless of many other delusions which still prevail to a 
greater or less extent. 
The relics of saints and holy men and women of all 
religions have in former times enjoyed a very high reputation 
for their sanitary virtues. At the present day they are at a 
discount with all civilized nations, except among the ignorant 
and superstitious, and whole communities reject all idea of 
their efficacy, substituting, however, very often, some other 
equally absurd belief. 
The therapeutical influence supposed to be attached to 
the tombs of such persons, like that associated with relics, 
is not so powerful as it once was. Credulity runs in other 
channels, and for the same reason we do not now use dead 
men’s skulls, or their dried livers, or mummified reptiles in 
our therapeutics. 
But supernatural powers of healing were claimed by others 
in virtue of some special gift with which they and their followers 
asserted them to be endowed. Among these was Mr. Valen 
tine Greatrix or Greatreakes, who obtained great celebrity 
during the reign of Charles II., as a curer, by the touch, of 
ague, epilepsy, paralysis, deafness, and other affections of the THE ROYAL TOUCH. 
199 
nervous system more or less under the influence of the emo- 
tions and of the imagination. 
Another was Prince Hohenlohe, who likewise operated on 
convulsions, paralysis, deafness, blindness, etc., and who even 
still is regarded by some persons as a veritable worker of 
miracles. 
Again, there was George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, 
whose single case, though very striking at the time, was like 
the greater part of those relieved by similar means, only 
temporary in its duration. He thus records it.* 
“ After some time I went to the meeting at Arnside where 
Richard Meyer was. Now he had been long lame of one of 
his arms ; and I was moved by the Lord to say unto him, 
among all the people, ‘ Prophet Meyer stand up upon thy legs, 
(for he was sitting down) and he stood up and stretched out 
his arm that had been lame a long time, and said : ‘ Be it 
known unto all you people that this day I am healed.’ But 
his parents could hardly believe it, but after the meeting was 
done, had him aside and took off his doublet; and then they 
saw it was true. He soon after came to Swarthmore meeting, 
and there declared how that the Lord had healed him. But 
after this the Lord commanded him to go to York with a 
message from him ; and he disobeyed the Lord; and the Lord 
struck him again, so that he died about three-quarters of a 
year after.” 
There are many other persons who might be menucr. ■ 1 hi 
illustration, but their examples would teach us nothing new 
relative to the matter in question. 
* Journal, Vol. I. p. 103, London, 1794. Cited by Pettigrew in “Super- 
stitions connected with the History and Practice of Medicine.” 
1844, p. 116. 200 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
Mesmerism or animal magnetism has put forward strong 
claims to be regarded as a curative agent, and if we look at 
tne subject from a proper stand-point we will find reasons, as 
in all the other alleged instances, to admit certain facts as 
being sufficiently well established. But experience and care- 
ful investigation show that all such cures are to be ascribed to 
emotional disturbance, to imagination, to hypnotism or artificial 
sleep, to expectant attention, to suggestion or some other well- 
known principle. Some thirty years ago a mesmeric infirmary 
was established in London, and many cases of disease were 
treated there; and by mesmeric operators, in other parts of 
England, cases were reported as being cured. The affections, 
however, were of the nervous system, or were self-limited, or 
were of such a character as to allow of errors in diagnosis on the 
part of the ignorant persons, many of them laymen, who under- 
took the cures. 
For instance, I have before me a number of the “ Zoist, a 
Journal of Cerebral Physiology and Mesmerism, and their 
applications to Human Welfareedited by Dr. Elliotson, a 
learned but credulous physician, who for a time, fought with 
great vigor in support of the doctrines he had embraced 
Though at first mesmerism gained many adherents from Dr. 
Elliotson’s association with it, even his name was not sufficient. 
Its followers deserted in large numbers, the infirmary was 
closed, and Dr. Elliotson himself sank into comparative 
obscurity. 
But to return to the “Zoist.” 
The cases of cure reported in the number referred to—and 
* October, 1851. MESMERISM. 
201 
it is a fair sample of all the others—are “ Good Effect ot 
Mesmerism in an Epileptic Fit.” “ Striking Proofs of the 
remedial Power of Mesmerism over Epilepsy,” “ Cure of a 
Case of Insanity,” “ Cure of a most intense Nervous Affection 
commonly called Spinal Irritation,” “ Cures of Loss of Voice, 
Neuralgia, Spinal Irritation, Excruciating Rheumatism,” “ Cure 
of a large Polypus of the Uterus.” 
And this is a sample of the cures. It is reported by a Mr. 
Masset, Jr. 
“ I was walking out on Thursday evening the 13th when 
I saw a crowd ; and upon asking what was the matter was 
informed that there was a woman dying who had been taken 
into the stable adjoining the inn called the “ Baldfaced Stag.” 
I went in and found a woman in fits, foaming at the mouth. 
A policeman of Highgate had hold of her by one arm, and two 
laborers held the other. She was struggling against them with 
all her might. I immediately without asking questions, com 
menced making passes downwards from her head to her feet, 
and in less than two minutes she was quite calm. I made the 
men leave hold of her, and then she complained of pains in 
her side. These I relieved instantly by local passes on the 
place she pointed out to me. I then instantly threw her into a 
beautiful, calm sleep, and she remained quite still ; her breath- 
ing being hardly visible. I left her, and calling on the follow- 
ing morning found her in the same attitude in which I had left 
her. The men who had slept on some straw by her side all 
night (one of them was her husband) told me that she had 
walked thirty miles, and that she often had fits, but that she 
had slept well all night. I ordered some breakfast for her and 
left her, and have not heard of them since.” 202 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
Every physician will at once see all the fallacious points of 
this case j but others who may read this work may run some 
risk of being deceived with an account which to a person 
unacquainted with the phenomenon of epilepsy appears to 
relate a cure of this terrible disease. I will therefore say : 
i st. That the convulsive stage of an epileptic paroxysm, if 
left to itself, rarely lasts over two or three minutes. This was 
one of the exceptions, as it continued much longer—two 
minutes in fact after Mr. Masset began his passes. 
2d. That stupor almost invariably follows severe epileptic 
convulsions and often lasts several hours. Besides she had 
walked thirty miles and was consequently tired and disposed to 
sleep. 
3d. The woman had had repeated attacks before, from 
which she recovered without treatment. 
4th. Physicians who understand their profession employ no 
treatment for the simple uncomplicated epileptic paroxysm, 
knowing that the natural tendency is for it to cease spontane- 
ously. I have seen hundreds of cases in which just such 
phenomena existed as in Mr. Masset’s case, and in which 
there was no treatment beyond putting something between the 
teeth to prevent injury to the tongue and cheeks. 
5th. The cure of epilepsy consists not in arresting a par- 
oxysm which has already begun, but in preventing the occur- 
rence of others. 
It is however with perfect truth that Dr. Elliotson states in 
a note that had Mr. Masset done this in former days he would 
in due time have been canonized. It was just such cures as 
his that led to the canonization of their performers, and just 
such, produced by mesmerizers and spiritualists of the presen* MESMERISM. 
day, that excite the astonishment of the credulous and ig- 
norant. 
Dr. Ashburner’s “Cure of a large Polypus of the Uterus” 
was effected by his mesmerizing the patient for at least an hour 
every day and pointing the fingers of his right hand at her 
eyes for half an hour daily. In eight weeks the tumor was 
gone. The patient had suffered from profuse hemorrhage from 
the uterus ; and the symptoms were indicative of a miscar- 
riage rather than a polypus. But even if there were a polypus, 
spontaneous cure after profuse hemorrhage is a well known 
occasional circumstance. Dr. Ashburner’s cure of it by point- 
ing his fingers at the patient’s eyes is about on a par with a 
person standing by a railroad track pointing his hand at a 
passing train, and then reporting that he had by that action 
caused the movement of the engine. 
But the mesmerizers do not limit their therapeutical 
operations to the human species. Mr. H. S. Thomson * con- 
tributes to the “ Zoist ” an account of cures of two horses, one 
of a sore eye and the other of an inflamed leg, by passes made 
over the diseased parts. 
A still more remarkable case in the eyes of the faithful is 
that which occurred in Miss Martineau’s experience, and which 
I quote in the language of the estimable reporter.! 
“Bolton near Skipton, 
“August 19, 1850. 
“ Dear Dr. Elliotson, 
“Your note has just reached me having been forwarded 
from home. The story of the cow is this. One very hot even- 
203 
* No xii., p. 522. 
t “ Zoist” Oct. 1850, No. xxxi., p. 301. 204 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
ingin July I took some young cousins to see my stock, and I 
saw a small pail half full of blood at the door of the cow’s 
house. During my absence that day my cow Ailsie had been 
taken violently ill, so that the servants had sent to Rydal for the 
cow-doctor, who had bled her and given her strong medicines. 
This had been done some hours before I saw her, and the 
doctor said that if she was not much relieved before his even- 
ing visit, he was sure she would die. There were no signs of 
relief in any way when I saw her at seven o’clock, nor when 
the doctor came soon after eight. He said she could not 
recover and it was a chance if she lived till morning. At ten 
she was worse, and to be sure no creature could appear in a 
more desperate state. She was struggling for breath, quivering, 
choking and all in a flame of fire. Her eyes were starting; 
her mouth and nostrils dry; and the functions suspended, as 
they had been all day. 
“ It occurred to me then, to have her mesmerized; but I 
am afraid I was rather ashamed. The man knew nothing 
whatever about mesmerism except the fact that I had once 
done it with success to his sister. I believe he had not the 
remotest idea what was done or what it meant. 
“ I desired him to come up to the house at twelve o’clock 
and let me know Ailsie’s state. As I sat during these two 
hours I remembered how I had known cats affected by mes- 
merism, and how Sullivan the whisperer tamed vicious horses, 
and Catlin learned from the Indians how to secure buffalo 
calves by what seemed clearly to be mesmerism, and I deter- 
mined to try it upon the cow if by midnight she proved to be 
past the power of medicine. 
“ At midnight I went down and found that there was nc improvement or promise of any. I then directed the man to 
mesmerize her, and showed him how. He was to persevere till 
he saw some change, in making passes along the spine from the 
head to the tail, and also across the chest, as she labored more 
dreadfully than ever in her breathing. Within a few minutes 
her breathing became easier, her eyes less wild, her mouth 
moist, and before morning she was relieved in all ways. 
“The first news I heard was of the astonishment of the 
Rydal doctor, who came early without an idea that she could 
be alive. He exclaimed that he had * never thought to see 
her alive again,’ that ‘it was a good £10 in Miss M.’s pocket,’ 
and so forth. One thing struck me much. My man called to 
me when I was in the garden and asked me to come and see 
how ‘ Ailsie fare to go to sleep like ’ when he mesmerized her, 
and it really was curious to see how her eyes grew languid and 
gradually closed under the treatment. 
“ This was not all. Towards noon I was told that Ailsie had 
relapsed and was almost as bad as ever. I went down and 
saw that it was so, and ordered an hour’s mesmerizing again. 
The relief was as striking as before, and in two hours more she 
was out of danger, and has been very well since. 
“ I foresee how such a story may be ridiculed; but I 
perceive how important it is that we should gather some facts 
about the power of mesmerizing our brutes; not only for 
truth’s and humanity’s sake, but because the establishment of 
a few such facts would dispose of the objection that the results 
of mesmerism are all imagination. I am fond of my cow and 
stand up for her good qualities, but I cannot boast of any 
imaginative faculty in her. A cow morbidly imaginative is a 
new idea I believe. If it is true that the greatest chemist in 
MESMERISM. 
205 206 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
the world says that he must believe if he saw a baby mesmer- 
ized, I would ask him whether a cow, or a cat, or a vicious 
horse would not do as well.” 
“ If my cows are ever ill again I will try the experiment 
with great care and let you know the result. I may mention 
that some of my neighbors were aware of the desperate illness 
of the cow; and of her doctor’s astonishment at her recovery. 
We did not tell the doctor how we interfered with his patient, 
and I dare say he has not heard of it at this hour, but others 
of my neighbors were deeply interested in the story and 
wished it could be made known. To this I can have no 
objection, as I do not mind a laugh, and should be glad to 
save the ?ife of even a single cow. 
“ I am, dear Dr. Elliotson, yours truly, 
“ Harriet Martineau.” 
That animals as well as men can be put into the condition 
of hypnotism or artificial somnambulism is well known, and has 
been fully considered in a previous chapter of this book. But 
if the curative influence of mesmerism were as strong as Miss 
Martineau and Dr. Elliotson supposed, we should not now see 
the practice confined to the merest ignoramuses and charlatans 
which the world is capable of producing. Miss Martineau’s 
recital simply presents another example of a fact “ viewed 
unequally.” One of those in which all the conditions which 
might have acted in curing the cow independently of mesmer- 
ism, are not eliminated. Thus the animal may have been cured 
by the cow-doctor, or may have spontaneously recovered, the 
disease—probably pneumonia—having run its course. Cer- 
tainly if mesmerism were capable of exercising such immediate MESMERISM. 
207 
and striking influence as Miss Martineau supposes, it would 
not now be disregarded as a healing agent. There is no dif- 
ficulty in getting physicians to accept all means of curing their 
patients which experience show to be useful; but knowing 
the falsity of the claims put forward in behalf of nine out of 
ten of the agents whose therapeutical power is vaunted, they 
naturally fight shy of such things at first. 
It is very certain that all the truth of mesmerism as a 
healing agent is accepted by the medical profession. Thus the 
ability to produce artificial somnambulism in some patients is 
not questioned, nor the fact that during its existence surgical 
operations can be performed without causing pain to the 
subject. These are matters that admit of demonstration, and 
they have been demonstrated. But the mind of a well trained 
and thoroughly educated physician accepts nothing as fact till 
it is proven, and it is the persistent and unreasonable attempts 
of the adherents of theories, to command his acceptance of 
their doctrines on insufficient evidence, and often on no 
evidence at all, that excites his spirit of opposition and 
contempt. He does not cease to remember that proof and 
assertion are two very different things. 
Dr. Elliotson * when he cites the following story does so 
as an instance of an impossibility; but I think I will be able to 
show that it relates to an event which is no more impossible 
than Miss Martineau’s cure of the cow. 
Voltaire advises the devil never to address himself to the 
faculty of physic, but to that of theology, when he wishes to 
impose upon mankind. However, in 1726 a poor woman at 
* Human Physiology Fifth edition, London, p. 672. Also “ Zoist'' 
October, 1851, p. 235. 208 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
Godaiming in Surrey, pretended that after a violent longing for 
rabbits while pregnant, she brought forth these animals ; and 
persuaded her apothecary, Mr. Howard, a man of probity who 
had practised for thirty years, or in common language, a highly 
respectable practitioner of great experience, that in the course of 
about a month he had delivered her of about twenty rabbits. 
George the First, not thinking it impossible, sent his house 
surgeon, Mr. Akers, to inquire into the fact, and the royal 
house surgeon returned to London convinced that he had 
obtained ocular and tangible proof of the truth, and promised 
to procure the woman a pension. The wise king then sent 
his sergeant-surgeon, Mr. St. Andre, and the sergeant-surgeon 
returned to town a firm believer. They both returned with 
rabbits as proof, and the rabbits had the high honor of being 
dissected before the king. An elaborate report of the produc- 
tion and dissection was published by the sergeant-surgeon, and 
the honest, severe, vain and visionary Arian clergyman Whiston, 
(of the faculty of theology indeed) in a pamphlet (for a furious 
controversy arose between the believers and the unbelievers), 
showed that it was an exact fulfilment of a prophecy in Esdras. 
An eminent physician, Sir Richard Manningham, backed by 
Caroline, the Princess of Wales, detected the cheat, and on the 
threat of a dangerous operation and imprisonment, Mary Tofts 
confessed the fraud. 
These are Dr. Elliotson’s own words, italics and all, and he 
cites the case as an actual impossibility. But there are no impos- 
sibilities outside the domain of pure mathematics, and I contend 
that not only is Mary Tofts’ case not an impossibility, but that it 
is fully as probable as most of the more astonishing manifesta- 
tions of mesmerism, spiritualism, or any other pseudo science. MARY TOFTS. 
209 
1. In the first place it is not unique. Bartholinus * states 
that Johannes Naboronsky, a noble Pole and his good friend, 
told him at Basel, that he had seen in Poland, two fish without 
scales, which were born from a woman, and that as soon as 
they were delivered they were put into water, where they swam 
about like other fish. 
The same veracious and honest chronicler gives his testimony 
to the fact that a woman of good quality at Elsinghorn, being 
about to be confined, prepared everything for the event. In 
due time labor ensued, and after much travail she gave birth 
to a creature resembling a large dormouse; which, to the 
great amazement of the women who were present, with wonder- 
ful agility sought and found a hole in the chamber, into which 
it entered, and was never seen afterwards. 
And again ; that in the year 1639, in Norway, occurred the 
remarkable case of a woman, who, the mother of several 
children, again being in labor, was delivered of two eggs, like 
hens’ eggs in every respect. One of these eggs was broken, 
but the other was sent to the famous Dr. Olaus Wormius, who 
kept it in his museum, where all who wished might see it. In 
support of this history he adduces the following certificate. 
“We, whose names are hereunto written, Ericus Westergard, 
Rotolph Rakertad and Thor Venes, coadjutors of the pastor 
in the parish of Niaess, do certify to all men, that anno 1639, 
upon the twentieth day of May (by command of the Lord 
President in Remerige, the Lord Paulus Tranius, pastor in 
Niaess) we went to receive an account of the monstrous birth 
in Sundby ; brought forth by an honest woman, Anna, the 
* Anatomic* institutiones corporis humani utriusque sexus historiajn, 
etc. Lugduni Batavorum hist. 66, p. 103. SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
210 
daughter of Amundus the wife of Gudbandus Erlandsonius, 
who already had been the mother of eleven children, the last 
of which she was delivered of upon the fourth of March, 1638. 
This Anna in the year 1639, upon the seventh of April began 
to grow ill; and being in great pain in her belly, she caused 
her neighbors to be called in to her assistance; the same day, 
about the evening, in the presence of her neighbors, she brought 
forth an egg, in all respects like that of a hen, which being 
broken by the women present, Anna Grimen, Ellen Rudstad, 
Gyro Rudstad and Catharina Sunby, they found that in it the 
yolk and white answered directly to a common egg. Upon 
the eighteenth day of April, about noon, in the presence of the 
same people, she was delivered of another egg, which in figure 
was nothing different from the former. The mother reported 
this to us ; the women that assisted at her delivery confirmed 
the truth of it; as also that the pains of this birth had been 
more sharp to her than all the rest of the former. That this 
was the confession, as well of the mother as of them that were 
present, we do attest with our seals in the presence of the Lord 
President, in the parish of Niaess, the day and year abovesaid.”* 
The great Wormius looked upon this as a diabolical work, 
since by the artifice of the devil many other things are 
conveyed into and formed in the bodies of men and 
women. 
Here we have the testimony of eye witnesses, of a com- 
mission of clergymen, of Wormius, one of the most distin- 
guished of anatomists, besides that of the woman herself and 
the actual existence of the egg in the museum of a University 
Can mesmerism and spiritualism do better ? 
* “ Wonders of the Little World,” by Nathaniel Wanley, London, 1806. WOMEN'S EGGS. 
211 
And further in support of the alleged fact that women are 
at times, like birds and most reptiles, oviparous, we have tes- 
timony to the effect that the women of the Selenetidae, unlike 
other women, lay eggs from which men are hatched, and the 
learned Lycosthenes,* in referring to the circumstance which 
he accepts as a fact, gives an illustration which, as going into 
details, and therefore adding to the testimony, I subjoin. 
Fig. 5. 
Franciscus Rossetus | says: 
“Anne Tromperin, the wife of a certain porter in our 
hospital, being about thirty years of age, was delivered of a 
boy and two serpents upon St. John’s day, anno 1576. She 
told me upon her faith ‘That in the summer before, in an 
* Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon, etc, Basileae, 1557, p. 13. 
t De Partu Caesareo, Basileae, 1582. Wanley, p. 282. 212 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
extreme hot day, she had drank of a spring ii. the grove called 
Brudetholk, a place within a quarter of a mile from Basel, 
where she suspected she had drank of the sperm of serpents.’ 
She afterwards grew so big that she was fain to carry her 
belly in a swathing band. The child was so lean that he was 
scarcely anything but bones. The serpents were each of them 
an ell long and as thick as the arm of an infant, both of which, 
alive as they were, were buried by the midwife in the church- 
yard of St. Elizabeth.” 
Many other examples to the like effect might readily be 
adduced, but the foregoing are sufficient to establish the pre- 
cedent of women giving birth to the lower animals; and 
hence to show that the case which Dr. Elliotson considers an 
impossibility, is supported by analogous instances. 
2. In the second place we have to inquire into the char- 
acter of the evidence offered in support of the alleged births 
of rabbits by Mary Tofts. 
Three medical gentlemen of the highest respectability, 
visited and examined the woman and obtained some of the 
rabbits. The king himself saw them, and they were dissected 
and shown to be veritable rabbits. Besides this, a distin- 
guished clergyman demonstrated from scripture the fact that 
the event did take place, and that it was in fulfilment of a 
prophecy. When science and theology agree, surely the 
probability of error is rendered exceedingly small. 
3. The confession of Mary Tofts to the effect that she had 
committed a fraud, is the strongest point yet adduced tending 
to show that she did not commit a fraud. 
The confession was made under threats of a painful opera- 
tion and punishment. Every jurist knows of how little value MARY TOFTS. 
213 
a confession is, when extorted by such means. Mary Tofts 
would doubtless under like compulsion have acknowledged 
herself to be a witch or anything else that her questioners 
might have desired. “As if” to quote Beccaria,* “truth 
resided in the muscles and fibres of a wretch in torture.” 
Besides, confessions are made continually, every time a 
flagrant crime is committed, by persons seeking notoriety, or 
some other end, or from delusion, or other morbid impulse. 
What more likely, than that Mary Tofts was driven into 
insanity by the questionings to which she was subjected, and 
by the agitation into which she was thrown at the idea of the 
contest which was urged relative to the reality of her lepurine 
delivery ? 
I think therefore it will be admitted that the evidence in 
favor of Mary Tofts is much stronger than that adduced in 
support of Miss Martineau; and yet Dr. Elliotson declares 
the one to have been guilty of fraud, while the other is held 
up as a pattern of nobility and goodness ! 
Spiritualism has not been especially distinguished for its 
remarkable cures, although it puts forward pretensions to 
powerful therapeutical influence. Occasionally we hear of 
some travelling charlatan who pretends to the possession of 
specific healing virtue, and who by impressing the imaginations 
of his ignorant clientelle, or by telling them in a loud and im- 
perious voice, that they are cured, or by knocking them down 
and then bidding them rise and find their maladies gone, 
succeeds, sometimes, in relieving patients of certain affections 
of the nervous system ; or of persuading them for a time that 
* “ An Essay on Crimes and Punishment.” Translated from the Italian, 
with the Commentary of Voltaire. London 1801, p. 56. 2X4 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
they were relieved. Many of these latter have come under 
my notice with their diseases unmitigated, and in whom the 
belief of a cure had been effected solely by the principle of 
suggestion, which the electro-biologist knows so well how to 
use. 
Again, many of the sick who resort to clairvoyant and 
spiritualistfc humbugs, have their maladies temporarily relieved 
through the emotional disturbance consequent on visiting such 
people, who always preserve a certain air of mystery well 
calculated to impress the ignorant. In such cases the abate- 
ment of the symptoms, has its analogue in the fact that a mere 
visit to the dentist often cures a raging tooth-ache. The clair- 
voyant or spiritualistic quack takes advantage of the period of 
momentary relief which the patient experiences, and of the 
gratitude which all patients temporarily feel when freed from 
suffering, to get a certificate setting forth the fact; and this 
is speedily published as a bait for other credulous sufferers. 
The influence of the imagination in curing disease has 
already engaged a good portion of our attention, but the subject 
is very extensive, and can scarcely be touched in any of its 
relations without leading to interesting illustrations. 
Thus about seventy or eighty years ago, an American named 
Perkins excited great interest in this country, and in England 
and France, by curing diseases by the use of little metallic rods, 
which he called tractors, from the fact that they were drawn 
over the diseased part. Many were apparently healed by 
them, but they fell into disrepute as soon as Dr. Haygarth 
demonstrated from numerous examples, that wooden tractors, 
painted to look like the metallic ones, were fully as effica- 
cious. THE METAL CURES. 
215 
Then, quite recently, was the metal-cure of Dr. Burq * of 
Paris, which was endorsed by Dr. Elliotson, who was capable of 
believing everything but that women could conceive rabbits. 
As another instance of human folly, I give the following account 
of this delusion, which, I think, has never taken root in this 
country. 
In 1847, Dr. Burq, as he says, noticed in a woman whom 
he was mesmerizing for hysteria and phthisis, in the hospital 
Beaujon, that as often as she was thrown into a mesmeric 
sleep, the direct contact of certain metals was insupportable, 
while that of others was agreeable to the touch, or at least, 
caused no signs of repugnance. If, for instance, he suddenly 
placed a piece of copper, iron or steel on her bare hand, or any 
other part of her body, she instantly, and sometimes in the 
midst of the apparently deepest sleep, repelled it roughly, 
often with an expression of suffering, or even of anger if the 
experiment was repeated too frequently. If a key, or a shovel, 
or iron tongs were placed upon her bed near enough to her to 
make their influence felt, she instantly discovered them and 
got rid of them, either by a sudden movement, if the object 
were not fixed or large, or with her hand, covered previously 
with something to insulate it, when a greater or more direct 
effort was required. The latter precaution was always care- 
fully taken, when, in order to open a door in her sleep-walking, 
she was under the necessity of slowly turning the key or the 
handle of the lock. 
If, however, gold or silver were placed in her hands, she 
* “ Nervous Affections. Metallo-therapia, or metal-cure; New properties 
of metals illustrated through mesmerism.” Translated, communicated and 
supplied with a note, by Dr. Elliotson ; “ Zoist," July and October, 1852. SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
216 
showed much pleasure in handling them, provided the gold, 
and especially the silver, was not much alloyed with copper. 
If it were, her repugnance was in direct ratio to the extent of 
the debasement of the precious metal. 
Dr. Burq was very much astonished at these results; 
though the exhibition of pleasure in handling gold or silver is 
no very unusual phenomenon. He determined, therefore, to 
investigate farther, and accordingly performed the following 
experiment. 
The patient being mesmerized, and her insensibility per- 
fectly proved by a pin being stuck into her skin, he repeatedly 
applied, to different parts of her body, different pieces of 
money of nearly equal size. With the copper coins, a few 
seconds were sufficient to restore sensibility; first in the parts 
touched by the metal, and then in the surrounding parts; 
whereas with the gold and silver, nothing of the kind was 
observed, except when instead of the silver coin, he substituted 
another piece of the same metal of inferior value by being an 
alloy. 
The patient died a few days afterwards, before Dr. Burq 
could draw any decided conclusion, but he resolved in spite of 
many difficulties to pursue the investigation further, and in the 
course of three years built up the system of practice which he 
called metal-cure. He asserted that cases of anaesthesia, 
cramps, paralysis, etc., were cured by different metals, espe- 
cially if the patient were hysterical. Epilepsy he could not 
manage at all. Brass was found a very efficacious metal in 
the treatment of hysteria; the mental quality which goes by 
that name is also valuable to the practitioner in like cases, and 
Dr. Burq appears to have had a good stock of both. As Dr. THE METAL CURES. 
217 
Elliotson remarks : Dr. Burq, in his memoir entitled “Mesmerism 
Illustrated by the Metals,” shows a “ remarkable relation which he 
has discovered between the effects of brass and those of mes- 
merism.” 
But notwithstanding the publication of remarkable results, 
the metal cure made little headway, until quite recently, when 
having been revived by Prof. Charcot, it is again before the 
public. Its pretensions will be considered in a subsequent 
chapter. 
Another delusion, which over two hundred years ago was 
in high favor, was that relative to the cure of wounds by the 
“ powder of sympathy,” as described and advocated by Sir Ken- 
elm Digby.* 
The first published case of the effects of this mode of 
treatment attracted great attention; and as a further contribu- 
tion, I quote it in Sir Kenelm Digby’s own words as he related 
it in his discourse before the noble and learned assembly he 
addressed. 
“Mr. James Howel (well known in France for his public 
works, and particularly for his Dendrologia, translated into 
French by Monsieur Baudoin) coming by chance as two of his 
best friends were fighting a duel, he did his endeavor to part 
them; and putting himself between them, seized with his left 
hand upon the hilt of the sword of one of the combatants, 
while with his right hand he lay hold of the blade of the 
other ; they being transported with fury, one against the other, 
struggled to rid themselves of the hindrance their friend 
* “ A late discovery made in a solemne assembly of nobles and learned 
men, at Montpellier, in France, touching the cure of wounds, by the Pow- 
der of Sympathy; with instructions how to make the said Powder, etc.” 
London, 1658. 218 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
made that they should not kill one another; and one of them 
roughly drawing the blade of his sword, cut to the very bone 
the nerves and muscles of Mr. Howel’s hand; and then the 
other disengaging his hilt, gave a cross blow on his adversary’s 
head, which glanced towards his friend, who heaving up his 
sore hand to save the blow, he was wounded on the back of 
his hand as he had been before within. It seems some 
strange constellation reigned them against him that he should 
lose so much blood by parting two such dear friends, who, 
had they been themselves, would have hazarded both their 
lives to have preserved his ; but this involuntary effusion of 
blood by them, prevented that which they should have drawn 
one from the other. For they seeing Mr. Howel’s face be- 
smeared with blood by heaving up his wounded hand, they both 
ran to embrace him ; and having searched his hurts, they bound 
up his hand with one of his garters to close the veins which 
were cut and bled abundantly. They brought him home and 
sent for a surgeon. But this being heard at court, the king 
sent one of his own surgeons, for his majesty much affected 
the said Mr. Howel. 
“ It was my chance to be lodged hard by him, and four or 
five days after, as I was making myself ready, he came to my 
house and prayed me to view his wounds, ‘ for I understand,’ 
said he, ‘ that you have extraordinary remedies upon such 
occasions, and my surgeons apprehend for fear that it may 
grow to gangrene, and so the hand must be cut off.’ In effect 
his countenance discovered that he was in much pain, which 
he said was unsupportable in regard of the extreme inflamma- 
tion • I told him that I would willingly cure him, but if haply 
he knew the manner how I would cure him, without touching PO WDER OF S YMF A THY. 
219 
or seeing him, it may be he would not expose himself to my 
manner of curing, because he would think it, peradventure, 
either ineffectual or superstitious; he replied that the wonder- 
ful things which many have related unto me of your way of 
curing, makes me nothing doubt at all of its efficacy; and all 
that I have to say unto you is comprehended in the Spanish 
proverb ‘ Hagase el milagro y hagalo Mahoma.’ Let the miracle 
be done, though Mahomet do it.” 
“ I asked him then for anything that had the blood upon it 
so he presently sent for his garter wherewith his hand was 
first bound; and having called for a basin of water, as if I 
would wash my hands, I took a handful of powder of vitriol 
which I had in my study, and presently dissolved it. As soon 
as the bloody garter was brought me, I put it within the basin, 
observing in the interim what Mr. Howel did, who stood 
talking with a gentleman in a corner of my chamber, not 
regarding at all what I was doing; but he started suddenly as 
if he had found some strange alteration in himself; I asked 
him what he ailed ? I know not what ails me, but I find that 
I feel no more pain ; methinks that a pleasing kind of fresh- 
ness. as it were a wet cold napkin did spread over my hand, 
which hath taken away the inflammation that tormented me 
before. T replied, since that you feel already so good an 
effect of my medicament, I advise you to cast away all your 
plasters, only keep the wound clean and in a moderate temper, 
’twixt heat and cold. This was presently reported to the Duke 
of Buckingham, and a little after, to the king, who were both 
very curious to know the circumstance of the business, which 
was that after dinner I took the garter out of the water and 
put it to dry before a great fire. It was scarce dry but Mr 2 20 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
Howel’s servant came running that his master felt as much 
burning as ever he had done, if not more, for the heat was 
such as if his hand were ’twixt coals of fire; I answered that 
although that had happened at present, yet he should find ease 
in a short time, for I knew the reason of this new accident, 
and I would provide accordingly, for his master should be free 
from that inflammation, it may be, before he could possibly 
return unto him; but in case he found no ease I wished him 
to come presently back again, if not, he might forbear coming 
Thereupon he went, and at the instant, I did put again the 
garter into the water; thereupon he found his master without 
any pain at all. To be brief, there was no sense of pain 
afterward, but within five or six days the wounds were cica- 
trized and entirely healed. King James required a punctual 
information of what had passed touching this cure; and after 
it was done and perfected, his majesty would needs know of 
me how it was done, having drolled with me first (which he 
could do with a very good grace) about a magician and a 
sorcerer; I answered that I should be always ready to perform 
what his majesty should command, but I most humbly desired 
him, before I should pass further, to tell him what the author 
of whom I had the secret said to the great Duke of Tuscany 
upon the like occasion. It was a religious Carmelite that 
came from the Indies and Persia to Florence, he had also 
been at China, who having done many marvellous cures with 
his powder after his arrival to Tuscany, the Duke said he 
would be very glad to learn it of him. It was the father of 
the great Duke who governs now. The Carmelite answered 
him that it was a secret which he had learnt in the oriental 
parts, and he thought there was not any who knew it POWDER OF SYMPATHY. 
221 
Europe but himself; and that it deserved not to be divulged, 
which could not be done if his highness would meddle with it, 
because he was not likely to do it with his own hands, but 
must trust a surgeon or some other servant, so that in a short 
time divers others would come to know it as well as himself. 
But a few months after I had an opportunity to do an impor- 
tant courtesy to the said friar, which induced him to discover 
unto me his secret, and the same year he returned to Persia j 
insomuch that there is no other knowrs this secret in Europe 
but myself. The king replied that he needed not apprehend 
any fear that he would discover, for he would not trust anybody 
in the world to make experience of his secret, but he would do 
it with his own hands; therefore he would have some of the 
powder ; which I delivered, instructing him in all the circum- 
stances. Whereupon his majesty made sundry proofs whence 
he derived singular satisfaction.” 
But the king’s physician, Dr. Mayerne, watched the royal 
practitioner and discovered that vitriol was used. Whereupon 
Sir Kenelm instructed him fully. Dr. Mayerne soon after 
went to France on a visit to his friend, the Duke of Mayerne, 
and told him the secret, and thence it soon became generally 
known, so that Sir Kenelm said it came by degrees “ to be 
so divulged that now there is scarce any country barber but 
knows it.” 
Now, as learning was in those days, Sir Kenelm Digby was 
a learned man, and the object of his discourse was to show, not 
only that wounds could be healed by his manner of proceed- 
ing, but to explain the rationale of the process. For this 
latter purpose he adduced arguments based on the physical 
properties of light, air, etc., and in the course of his reasoning, SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
222 
brought forward certain alleged phenomena which he thought 
were analogous in character. It is a very curious circum- 
stance that of these, there is not one which is true. Thus he 
is wrong when he says that if the hand be severely burnt, the 
pain and inflammation are relieved by holding it near a hot 
fire; that a person who has a bad breath, is cured by putting his 
head over a privy and inhaling the air which comes from it; 
that those who are bitten by vipers or scorpions, are cured by 
holding the bruised head of either of those animals, as the 
case may be, near the bitten part; that in times of great 
contagion, carrying a toad, or a spider, or arsenic “or some 
other venomous substance ” about the person, is a protection ; 
that hanging a toad about the neck of a horse affected with 
farcy, dissipates the disease; that water evaporated in a close 
room will not be deposited on the walls, if a vessel of water be 
placed in the room; that venison pies smell strongly at those 
periods in which “ the beasts which are of the same nature and 
kind are in rutthat wine in the cellar undergoes a fermenta- 
tion when the vines in the fields are in flower; that a tablecloth 
spotted with mulberries or red wine is more easily whitened at 
the season in which the plants are flowering than at any other; 
that washing the hands in the rays of moonlight which fall 
into a polished silver basin (without water) is a cure for warts ; 
that a vessel of water put on the hearth of a smoky chimney, 
is a remedy for the evil, and so on,—not a single fact in all 
that he adduces. Yet these circumstances were regarded as 
real, and were spoken of at the time as irrefragable proofs of 
the truth of Sir Kenelm’s views. 
Sympathetic cures have long since gone the way of kindred 
follies, the way which mesmerism has already begun to take, POWDER OF SYMPATHY. 
223 
and on which spiritualism will surely enter ere many years 
have lapsed. 
And yet, absurd as it was, we owe to Sir Kenelm Digby’s 
practice one of the greatest improvements in surgery which the 
world has known. Artificial somnambulism or hypnotism will 
survive mesmerism; something beneficial may come out of 
spiritualism; but the curing of wounds by the use of sympa- 
thetic powders led to the modern system of healing by the 
first intention, and thus revolutionized the whole art of sur- 
gery, to the inestimable good of the human species. 
We have only to refer to the surgical treatises written before 
Sir Kenelm began to treat wounds, to learn how barbarous, 
and with our light, how senseless, was the system used before 
his day. The object was to keep a wound open so that it 
might discharge itself of its “ bad humors,” the flow of blood 
was stopped by pouring into it melted tar or boiling oil, and 
when operations were performed red hot knives were used so 
as to prevent haemorrhage. 
But in Sir Kenelm Digby’s process the wound was cleaned, 
the edges were brought together, and it was kept quiet and 
protected from the atmosphere. By this treatment the cure 
was greatly facilitated, and as it was attended without the pain 
accompanying the ordinary process, it grew into favor; and 
though the treatment by sympathetical powders fell into 
disrepute, it became the first object of the surgeon to procure 
union without suppuration. 
It has often happened that permanent advances in medical 
science have resulted from experiments made with quite a 
different object in view. Thus the discovery of modern 
anaesthesia by the inhalation of certain vapors, was the direct SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
224 
result of breathing nitrous oxide gas and the vapor of ether 
for purposes of exhilaration. And local anaesthesia from the 
application of the ether spray, which was at first supposed to 
be due to some specific property of the ether, is now known to 
be caused by the intense cold which ensues. In the other 
sciences also, great discoveries have been made by the misdi- 
rected efforts of eager inquirers. The search for the philosopher’s 
stone constitutes almost the foundation of modern chemistry. 
And in regard to the cures by spiritualists. In all alleged 
cases, where the cure is real, imagination or emotional excite- 
ment has been the healing agent. Whether the operator be 
the Zouave Jacob, or Judge Edwards, or Mrs. Emma Hardinge, 
or “Prof.” Brittain, or Andrew Jackson Davis, or Dr. Robert 
Newton, the influence is the same and resides not in the 
operator—except in so far as he is able to obtain the con- 
fidence of the subject—but in the patient, just as it does in 
cases of mesmeric, sympathetic, astrological, and other delu- 
sional agencies, through the apparent action of which maladies 
have been cured. 
That such cures are unjustifiable I am not prepared to say. 
The patient, like Mr. Howel to Sir Kenelm Digby, is always 
ready to exclaim “ Let the miracle be done, though Mahomet 
do it! ” Physicians frequently banish real or imaginary affec- 
tions by the use of bread pills, and many a person has been 
cured by the application of some instrument, as the stetho- 
scope or thermometer, intended only as a means of examina- 
tion. 
Thus Dr. Paris * says that “ as soon as the powers of 
nitrous oxide gas were discovered, Dr. Beddoes at once con- 
* Pharmacologia, p. 28. THERMOMETERS. 
225 
eluded that it must necessarily be a specific for paralysis; a 
patient was selected for trial, and the management of it was 
intrusted to Sir Humphrey Davy. Previous to the administra- 
tion of the gas, he inserted a small thermometer under the 
tongue of the patient, as he was accustomed to do upon such 
occasions, to ascertain the degree of animal temperature, with 
a view to future comparison. The paralytic man, wholly 
ignorant of the nature of the process to which he was to 
submit, but deeply impressed from the representation of Dr. 
Beddoes with the certainty of its success, no sooner felt the 
thermometer under his tongue than he concluded the talisman 
was in full operation, and in a burst of enthusiasm declared 
that he already experienced the effect of its benign influence 
through his whole body. The opportunity was too tempting 
to be lost; Davy cast one intelligent glance at Coleridge, and 
desired his patient to renew his visit the following day, when 
the same ceremony was performed, and repeated every suc- 
ceeding day for a fortnight; the patient gradually improving 
during that period, when he was dismissed as cured, no other 
application having been used.” 
In a recent number of the British Medical Journal * some 
interesting observations are given from the Students Journal\ 
of the impressions which patients occasionally derive from the 
use of the clinical thermometer; a young woman who was 
convalescent, and whose temperature had long remained nor- 
mal, had a slight relapse, which she attributed to having had 
“ no glass under her arm for a week.” A man suffering from 
acute rheumatism, obstinately refused to have his temperature 
taken any more, saying “ it took too much out of him ; it was 
* January 29, 1876. 226 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
a drawing all his strength away.” A man had been in the 
habit for some time of having his temperature taken daily 
under his tongue, with a thermometer that had just been doing 
severe duty in the axillae of other patients. One night a bran 
new thermometer was applied to his mouth; next day he 
declared he was not so well, and said, “ the glass was not so 
strong as usual; he felt at the time the taste was different, and 
it had not done him so much good.” A sister in one of the 
woman’s wards says, that many of the patients think the 
thermometers are used to detect breaches of the rule against 
having unauthorized edibles brought in by friends; and she, 
accordingly, does not disabuse their minds of their innocent 
superstition. These “ impressions ” are precisely the sort of 
evidence on which “ metallic tractors,” galvanic belts, mesmer- 
ists, and animal magnetisers rely for their vogue. 
Only a few days ago a lady consulted me for a severe 
neuralgic attack, involving the fifth pair of nerves throughout 
one side of her face. In order to determine the relative 
temperature of the two sides, I applied to each cheek a thermo- 
electric pile in connection with a delicate galvanometer. Of 
course there was no sensation given to her beyond that of 
contact with the two little piles, but looking at the galvano- 
meter, as it stood on the table she saw the deflection of the 
needle, and imagining that it was for the purpose of cure, 
exclaimed that she felt decidedly better, and expressed the 
belief that another application would entirely cure her. I 
again put the piles on her cheeks, with the result of completely 
relieving her of a pain with which she had suffered for five 
days. 
Similar cases are common enough in the practice of all IMAGINATION. 
227 
physicians, and wise members of the profession taking them 
at their full value, can meditate on the problem which will 
continually recur to their minds : how much such a curative 
power, in any case, is to be ascribed to the purely medical 
treatment, and how much to that confidence in themselves, 
which it should be no small part of their duty to endeavor 
to inspire by all honorable means in the minds of those who 
put health and life in their hands. It is certainly true that 
the only advantage the charlatan has is his unscrupulous- 
ness ; and this in the long run will probably bring him to 
grief. The educated physician, however, skilled as he 
should be in the working of the human mind, may, without 
the sacrifice of dignity or truth, avail himself of all the 
power which his knowledge gives him, and if he has reason 
to think, after a careful study of his patient’s mental organi- 
zation and disease, that colored water will probably effect 
the cure, it is his duty to use it, instead of resorting to medi- 
cines which, like a two-edged sword, may cut both ways at 
once. 
He might even, without much strain on his moral prin- 
ciple, employ the plaster from the chapel at Knock, if his 
patient were weak enough to believe in its efficacy, or send 
him to look at the vision of the Virgin, at Father Ignatius’s 
Abbey, if, being a Protestant, he could not accept Roman 
Catholic miracles.* Such action would at least be as honor- 
* Since the foregoing passage was written, the following telegram from 
London has been published : 
“An Apparition Explained.—The vision of the virgin at St. Ig- 
natius’s Abbey, about which there has been so much speculation, turns 
out to be nothing but a reflection from a window. The cures attributed 
to the mysterious agency of the vision are therefore a sham, and Father 
Ignatius’s monks are in an unpleasant frame of mind.”—New York 
World, October 25, 1880. 228 
SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
able as the duty which all soldiers feel imperatively de- 
manded of them, to deceive the enemy, not only by implica- 
tion, but by positive untruths, or as the “ pious frauds ” 
which the best men and women do not hesitate to perpetuate. CHAPTER VII. 
SOME OF THE CAUSES WHICH LEAD TO SENSORIAL DECEP- 
TION AND DELUSIONAL BELIEFS. 
THERE is an inherent tendency in the mind of man to as- 
cribe to supernatural agencies those events the causes 
of which are beyond his knowledge ; and this is especially the 
case with the normal and morbid phenomena which are mani- 
fested in his own person. But, as his intellect becomes more 
thoroughly trained, and as science advances in its develop- 
ments, the range of his credulity becomes more and more cir- 
cumscribed, his doubts are multiplied, and he at length reaches 
that condition of “ healthy skepticism ” which allows of no be- 
lief without the proof. Thus he does not now credit the ex- 
istence of an archaus dwelling in the stomach and presiding 
over its function, for he knows by experiment that digestion is 
a purely physical process, which can be as well performed in a 
teacup, with a little pepsin and dilute chlorhydric acid, as in the 
stomach with the gastric juice ; he does not now believe that 
the bodies of lunatics, epileptics, and hysterical women, are in- 
habited by devils and demons, for he has ascertained by obser- 
vation that the abnormal conditions present in such persons can 
be accounted for by material derangements of the organs or 
functions of the system. He has learned to doubt, and, there- 
fore, to reason better ; he makes experiments, collects facts, does 
not begin to theorize until his data are sufficient, and then is 
229 230 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
careful that his theories do not extend beyond the foundation 
of certainty, or at least of probability, upon which he builds. 
But there have always been, and probably always will be, 
individuals whose love for the marvellous is so great, and 
whose logical powers are so small, as to render them suscep- 
tible of entertaining any belief, no matter how preposterous 
it may be ; others more numerous, who, staggered by facts 
which they cannot understand, accept any hypothesis which 
may be offered as an explanation, rather than confess their 
ignorance ; and others again—and these the most dangerous 
to the community—whose education, full though it may have 
been in certain directions, is yet narrow, and which has been 
of such a character as to warp their judgments in all mat- 
ters affecting the preconceived ideas by which their whole 
lives are ostensibly governed. 
The real and fraudulent phenomena of what is called 
spiritualism, and of miraculous cases, are of such a char- 
acter as to make a profound impression upon the credulous 
and the ignorant; and both these classes have accordingly 
been active in spreading the most exaggerated ideas relative 
to matters which are either absurdly false or not so very 
astonishing when viewed by the cold light of science. Such 
persons have, probably, from a very early age, believed in the 
materiality of spirits ; and having very little knowledge of the 
forces inherent in their own bodies, have no difficulty in as- 
cribing occurrences which do not accord with their experi- 
ence, to the agency of disembodied individuals, whom they 
imagine to be circulating through the world. In this respect, 
they resemble those savages who regard the burning-lens, the 
mirror, and other things which produce unfamiliar effects, 
as being animated by deities. Their minds are decidedly SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
fetish-worshipping in character, and are scarcely, in this respect, 
of a more elevated type than that of the Congo negro who en- 
dows the rocks and trees with higher mental attributes than he 
claims for himself. 
Then it is possible for the most careful and experienced 
judgment to be deceived by false sensorial impressions of real 
objects, or by non-existing images created by the mind. In the 
first case a gleam of moonlight passes for a ghost, the stump 
of a tree becomes a robber, and the rustling of leaves blown by 
the wind is imagined to be the whispering of voices. No one 
possesses an absolute perfection of sensation, and thus things are 
never seen, or heard, or smelt, or tasted, or felt exactly as they 
exist. In the dark, or in the uncertain light of the moon, or of 
artificial illumination, the liability to self-deception is very 
much increased; and if, in addition to the defect of light, 
there are continual sounds and other means of engaging the 
attention, it is exceedingly easy to induce sensorial confusion and 
thus to impose upon the intellect. 
The so-called mediums, for instance, know very well the 
advantages to be derived from darkness, musical sounds and 
other ways of diverting the senses from the real object they 
have in view, and every magician, conjurer, and legerde- 
mainist makes use of the same means as a spiritual element 
in the success of his tricks. 
Thus the medium, or the honest prestidigitateur tells the 
subject who is to be deceived that he must concentrate his 
mind on his great-grandmother, and that in a few minutes 
she will make her appearance. If the victim be weak of in- 
tellect and highly impressionable, it is fully within the range 
of probability that no further efforts will be required from the 
231 HALLUCINATIONS OF SIGHT. 
23 2 
worker of the pretended miracle The apparition of the de- 
ceased ancestor will be present to the eyes of the descendant. 
But even if he be gifted with an ordinary amount of cerebral 
development the concentration of his attention upon a single sub- 
ject, places him in the most favorable possible condition to be 
deceived by any manoeuvres of the medium or magician, to be 
still further guided by his suggestions, or to misinterpret real 
occurrences which may be produced. 
As regards purely imaginary images—that is, images not 
based on any sensorial impression—the trouble is in the 
brain. An excess or deficiency of blood circulating through 
this organ, or a morbid alteration of its quality, such as is in- 
duced by alcohol, opium, belladonna, and other similar sub- 
stances, will often lead to hallucinations. Those of De Quincey, 
Coleridge, and other opium-eaters, are well known, and several 
striking instances have come under my own notice. 
Various mental emotions act in a like manner by their in- 
fluence in deranging the cerebral circulation. A young lady who 
had overtasked her mind at school, was thrown thereby into a 
semi-hysterical condition during -which she saw spectres of va- 
rious kinds which passed and repassed rapidly before her all 
day long. Everything at which she looked appeared to her of 
enormous size. A head, for instance, seemed to be several 
feet in diameter, and little children looked like giants. When 
I took out my watch while examining her pulse, she remarked 
that it was as large as the wheel of a carriage. Sauvages 
refers to a somewhat similar case, in which a young woman, 
suffering from epilepsy, saw dreadful images, and to whom real 
objects appeared to be greatly magnified. A fly seemed as 
large as a chicken, and a chicken equalled an ox in size. CEREBRAL H VEER ASMIA. 
233 
Physical causes, calculated to increase the amount of blood 
in the brain or to alter its quality, may give rise to hallucina- 
tions of various kinds. A gentleman under the professional 
charge of the writer, can always cause the appearance of images 
by tying a handkerchief mo'derately tight around his neck ; 
and there is one form which is always the first to come and the 
last to disappear. It consists of a male figure clothed in the 
costume worn in England three hundred years ago, and bearing 
a striking resemblance to the portraits of Sir Walter Raleigh. 
This figure not only imposes on the sight, but also on the hear- 
ing ; for questions put to it are answered promptly, and with 
much more intellectual force than those addressed to the 
so called “ spirits.” How easy would it be for the gen- 
tleman subject to this hallucination, were he a believer in spir- 
itualism, and less intelligent, to imagine that his visitor was 
a spirit, and that he held converse with the real Sir Walter 
Raleigh ! 
A similar instance is related in Nicholson’s Journal. * “I 
know a gentleman,” he states, “ in the vigor of life, who, in my 
opinion, is not exceeded by any one in acquired knowledge and 
originality of deep research; and who for nine months in suc- 
cession was always visited by a figure of the same man, threat- 
ening to destroy him, at the time of his going to rest. It 
appeared upon his lying down, and instantly disappeared when 
he resumed the erect position.” The explanation here is very 
simple. The recumbent position facilitated the flow of blood 
to the brain, and at the same time tended, in a measure, to 
retard its exit. Hence the appearance of the figure was due 
to the resulting congestion. As soon as the gentleman rose 
* V©1. vi., p. 166. 234 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
from bed the reverse conditions existed, the congestion dis- 
appeared and the apparition went with it. 
The other senses may be individually affected, or may par- 
ticipate in the general disturbance. It is by no means un- 
common for physicians to meet with cases in which either the 
smell, the taste, or the touch is the subject of hallucinatory 
impressions. A gentleman recently under the care of the 
writer, is constantly under the idea that he smells turpentine. 
For a time the conviction was so strong that he could not 
resist the impulse to search for the origin of this odor, but as 
he was never once rewarded with success in his efforts, he 
gradually came to regard the cause as entirely subjective. 
Still he is never free, except during sleep, from the smell of 
turpentine in his nostrils. 
Another has the sensation of touch on the top of his head so 
deranged, that he is sure there is something pressing hard upon 
his scalp. Even the correction which he is enabled to give 
through the ends of his fingers does not suffice to eradicate the 
idea. He resists, as well as he is able, for several minutes at 
a time, and then, goaded on by the sensation “that there is 
something there,” he raises his hand to remove it, only to be 
undeceived for a brief period. 
Mayo * relates the case of a Herr von Baczko, already sub- 
ject to hallucinations, his right side weak from paralysis, his 
right eye blind, and the vision of the left imperfect, who, while 
one evening engaged in translating a pamphlet into Polish, sud- 
denly felt a poke in his back. He turned round and discovered 
that it proceeded from a negro or Egyptian boy, apparently 
* Lessons on the truths contained in Popular Superstitions, Frankfort 
on-the-Maine, 1849, P- 47- SIM UL TANEO US DECEP TION. 
235 
about twelve years of age. Although convinced that the whole 
was an hallucination, he thought it best to knock the appari- 
tion down, when he felt that it offered a sensible resistance. 
The boy then attacked him on the other side and gave his left 
arm a peculiarly disagreeable twist, when Baczko again pushed 
him off. The negro continued to visit him constantly during 
four months, preserving the same appearance and remaining 
tangible, then he came seldomer, and finally appearing as a 
brown colored apparition with an owl’s head, he took his 
leave. 
The fact that multitudes may be simultaneously impressed 
with the same belief, is no guaranty that this belief is founded 
on reality. A great many otherwise sensible people have been 
convinced that the blood of St. Januarius periodically under- 
goes liquefaction; yet those, whose education and habits of 
thought teach them to look upon such so-called miracles with 
distrust, are not brought to accept the truth of the legend, 
because many thousands of other persons have received it in 
full faith. 
Josephus* states that “a few days after the feast of the 
Passover, on the twenty-first day of the month Artemisius, a 
certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared. I 
suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable were it not 
related by those that saw it, and were not the events that fol- 
lowed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals ; 
for, before sun-setting, chariots, and troops of soldiers in their 
armor, were seen running about among the clouds, and sur- 
rounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast, which we call Pen- 
* The works of Flavius Josephus ; translated by William Whiston, 
A.M., Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge. The 
Wars of the Jews, chap, vi, book vi. SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
236 
tecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner court 
of the temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred 
ministrations, they said that in the first place they felt a quak- 
ing and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a great 
sound as of a great multitude saying, ‘Let us remove hence.’ ” 
The army of Constantine saw the cross in the sky, with the 
legend “ I?i hoc signo vinces.” The Crusaders were often wit- 
nesses of like imaginary prodigies. At the battle of Antioch 
“ a squadron was seen to descend from the summit of the 
mountains, preceded by three horsemen, clothed in white and 
covered with shining armor. ‘ Behold,’ cried Bishop Adelman, 
‘ the heavenly succor which was promise d to you; Heaven 
declares for the Christians; the holy martyrs St. George, 
Demetrius and Theodore come to fight for you.’ Immediately 
all eyes were turned towards the celestial legions. A new ardor 
inspired the Christians, who were persuaded that God himself 
was coming to their aid.”* 
Ferrier f quotes an Italian writer to the effect that upon one 
occasion, in the streets of Florence, a crowd was assembled 
earnestly beholding the image of an angel hovering in the sky. 
A philosopher explained to the excited multitude that the cir- 
cumstance was a deception caused by a mist which partially 
covered the dome of a church, surmounted by the gilded figure 
of an angel, in such a manner as to allow the image to be 
illuminated by the rays of the sun. Without the presence of 
this sensible man the event would have passed for a super- 
natural appearance. 
It is only necessary to refer to the writers of three or four 
* Michaud’s History of the Crusades. Translated from the French by 
W. Robson, London, 1852. Vol. I., p. 175. 
t An Essay towards a Theory of Apparitions, London, 1813, p. 28. ILLUSIONS OF SIGHT. 
hundred years ago to discover how common were the supposed 
miraculous events by which whole communities were deceived.* 
And we see at the present day by the yearly example afforded 
by the pretended liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius in 
Naples, just referred to, that even our own time is not exempt 
from instances (besides those which illustrate the power of 
spiritualism in this respect) of large numbers of people being 
simultaneously subjected to illusions or hallucinations. Thus 
Hibbert, t quoting from Ellis’s edition of Brand’s Popular Anti- 
quities, relates the story of a sea captain of Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne, as follows: * His cook,” he said, “ chanced to die on 
their passage homeward. This honest fellow having had one 
of his legs a little shorter than the other,-used to walk in that 
way which our vulgar idiom calls ‘ an up and a down.’ A few 
nights after his body had been committed to the deep, our 
captain was alarmed by his mate with an account that the cook 
was walking before the ship, and that all hands were on deck 
to see him. The captain, after an oath or two for having been 
disturbed, ordered them to let him alone and try which, the 
ship or he, should first get to Newcastle. But turning out on 
further importunity, he honestly confessed that he had like to 
have caught the contagion, for, on seeing something move 
in a way so similar to that which his old friend used, and 
withal having a cap on so like that which he was wont to wear, 
he verily thought there was more in the report than he was at 
first willing to believe. A general panic diffused itself. He 
237 
* For instance “ Prodigiorum ac ostentorum Chronicon per Conradum 
Lycosthenem. Basileae, MDLVII.” 
t Sketches of the Philosophy of Apparitions, etc., 2nd edition, Edin- 
burgh, 1825, p. 16. 238 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
ordered the ship to be steered towards the object, but not a 
man would move the helm! Compelled to do this himself, he 
found on a nearer approach that the ridiculous cause of all 
their terror was part of a main-top, the remains of some 
wreck, floating before them. Unless he had ventured to make 
this nearer approach to the supposed ghost, the tale of the 
walking cook had long been in the mouths and excited the 
fears of many honest and very brave fellows in the Wapping of 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.” 
Dr. D. H. Tuke,* in his recent very interesting work, gives 
the following instance :— 
“ A curious illustration of the influence of the imagination 
in magnifying the perceptions of sensorial impressions de- 
rived from the outer world, occurred during the conflagration 
at the Crystal Palace in the winter of 1866-7. When the 
animals were destroyed by the fire, it was supposed that the 
chimpanzee had succeeded in escaping from his cage. Attract- 
ed to the roof with this expectation in full force, men saw the 
unhappy animal holding on to it and writhing in agony to get 
astride one of the iron ribs. It need not be said that its 
struggles were watched by those below with breathless suspense, 
and as the newspapers informed us, with ‘sickening dread.’ 
But there was no animal whatever there, and all this feeling was 
thrown away upon a tattered piece of blind, so torn as to re- 
semble to the eye of fancy, the body, arms and legs of an ape.” 
It is even possible for considerable bodies of men to be 
affected simultaneously by the same dream. Laurent f relates 
the following remarkable event:— 
* Illustrations of the Influence of the Mind upon the Body in Health 
and Disease, etc., London, 1872, p. 44. 
t Grand Dictionnaire de Medecine, t. xxxiv., Art. Incubi, par M. Parent DREAMS. 
239 
“ The first battalion of the regiment of Latour d’Auvergne, 
of which I was surgeon-major, while in garrison at Palmi in 
Calabria, received orders to march at once to Tropea in order 
to oppose the landing from a fleet which threatened that part of 
the country. It was in the month of June, and the troops had 
to march about fifty miles. They started at midnight, and did 
not arrive at their destination till seven o’clock in the evening, 
resting but little on the way and suffering much from the heat 
of the sun. When they reached Tropea they found their camp 
ready and their quarters prepared, but as the battalion had 
come from the farthest point and was the last to arrive, they 
were assigned the worst barracks, and thus eight hundred men 
were lodged in a place which, in ordinary times, would not have 
sufficed for half their number. They were crowded together 
on straw placed on the bare ground, and being without cover- 
ing, were not able to undress. The building in which they 
were placed was an old, abandoned abbey, and the inhabitants 
had predicted that they would not be able to stay there all 
night in peace, as it was frequented by ghosts, which had dis- 
turbed other regiments quartered there. We laughed at their 
credulity; but what was our surprise to hear about midnight 
the most frightful cries proceeding from every corner of the 
abbey, and to see the soldiers rushing terrified from the build- 
ing. I questioned them in regard to the cause of their alarm, 
and all replied that the devil lived in the building, and that 
they had seen him enter by an opening, into their room, under 
the figure of a very large dog with long, black hair, and throw- 
ing himself upon their chests for an instant, had disappeared 
through another opening in the opposite side of the apartment. 
We laughed at their consternation, and endeavored to prove to 240 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
them that the phenomenon was due to a very simple and 
natural cause and was only the effect of their imagination; but 
we failed to convince them, nor could we' persuade them to 
return to their barracks. They passed the night scattered 
along the sea shore, and in various parts of the town. In the 
morning I questioned anew the non-commissioned officers and 
some of the oldest soldiers. They assured me that they 
were not accessible to fear; that they did not believe in dreams 
or ghosts, but that they were fully persuaded they had not 
been deceived as to the reality of the events of the preceding 
night. They said that they had not fallen asleep when the 
dog appeared, that they had obtained a good view of him, and 
that they were almost suffocated when he leaped on their 
breasts. 
“We remained all day at Tropea, and the town being full of 
troops we were forced to retain the same barracks, but we 
could not make the soldiers sleep in them again without our 
promise that we would pass the night with them. I went there 
at half-past eleven with the commanding officer ; the other 
officers were, more for curiosity’s sake than anything else, 
distributed in the several rooms. We scarcely expected to 
witness a repetition of the events of the preceding night, for the 
soldiers had gone to sleep, reassured by the presence of their 
officers, who remained awake. But about one o’clock, in all 
the rooms at the same time, the cries of the previous night 
were repeated, and again the soldiers rushed out to escape the 
suffocating embraces of the big, black dog. We had all re- 
mained awake watching eagerly for what might happen, but, 
as may be supposed, we had seen nothing. 
“ The enemy’s fleet having disappeared, we returned next day ANIMAL ELECTRICITY. 
241 
to Palmi. Since that event we have marched through the 
kingdom of Naples in all directions, and in all seasons, but 
the phenomena have not been reproduced. We are of opinion 
that the forced march which the troops had been obliged to 
make during a very hot day, by fatiguing the organs of respi- 
ration, had weakened the men, and consequently disposed them 
to experience these attacks of nightmare. The constrained 
position in which they had been obliged to lie, the fact of their 
not being undressed, and the bad air they were obliged to 
breathe, doubtless aided in the production.” 
There are two forces resulting from vitality, which may or 
may not be correlative, but which are of such a nature that 
some of their more unusual manifestations excite the astonish- 
ment of the vulgar, and are inexplicable to many who consider 
themselves learned. These are the mind, and animal electri- 
city. The latter, thanks to the investigations of Nobili, Matte- 
ucci, Muller, Du Bois-Reymond, and others, is beginning to be 
understood, and its phenomena reduced to fixed laws. All our 
knowledge of animal electricity tends to show that it does not 
differ in any essential particular from the galvanism developed 
outside of the body by chemical action; and that the tissues 
of the organism, the bones, muscles, nerves, etc., act toward it 
precisely as they do toward the galvanism which passes along 
an iron or copper wire and sets a telegraphic instrument in 
operation. It is impossible for us, therefore, to attribute any 
of the real or false manifestations of modern spiritualism to 
this force ; and those persons who do so, show themselves to 
be not fully acquainted either with what is asserted of spiritual- 
ism, or with electricity in its internal or external relations with 
the animal body. The idea that tables are moved, knocks 242 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
made, and apparitions produced by the electricity of the body, 
is simply absurd. 
The mind—under which term are included perception, the 
intellect, the emotions, and the will—is ordinarily supposed to 
have its seat wholly in the brain. That its higher manifesta- 
tions are due to cerebral action is doubtless true; but holding 
the view that where there is gray nerve-tissue, there nervous 
power is generated, the writer believes—and physiology and 
pathology fully support the opinion—that the spinal cord and 
sympathetic system are capable of originating certain kinds of 
mental influence, which, when the brain is quiescent, may be 
wonderfully intensified. The physiology of the nervous system 
is by no means even tolerably well understood. Science has, 
for ages, been fettered by theological and metaphysical dogmas, 
which give the mind an existence independent of the nervous 
system, and which teach that it is an entity which sets all the 
functions of the body in action, and of which the brain is the 
seat. There can be ho scientific inquiry relative to matters of 
faith—facts alone admit of investigation; and hence, so long 
as psychology was expounded by teachers who had never even 
seen a human brain, much less a spinal cord or sympathetic 
nerve, who knew absolutely nothing of nervous physiology, 
and who, therefore, taught from a stand-point which had not a 
single fact to rest upon, it was not to be expected that the true 
science of mind could make much progress. It is different 
now, but the majority of physiologists have scarcely yet thrown 
off the trammels of the past, and, therefore, barely going a step 
in advance of Descartes—who confounded the mind with the 
soul, and lodged it in the pineal gland—they attribute all 
mental action to the brain alone. DEFINITION OF MIND. 
243 
Before we can be qualified to inquire into the powers of the 
mind, we must have a definite conception of what mind is. 
To express the idea in sufficiently full, but yet concise, lan- 
guage is difficult, and perhaps no definition can be given 
which will be entirely free from objection. For the purposes, 
however, of the present memoir, the mind may be regarded as 
a force, the result of nervous action and the elements of 
which are perception, intellect, the emotions and the will. 
Of these qualities some reside exclusively in the brain, but the 
others, as is clearly shown by observation and experiment, 
cannot be restricted to this organ, but are developed with 
more or less intensity by other parts of the nervous 
system. It would be out of place to enter fully into the con- 
sideration of the important questions thus touched upon, but in 
the fact that the spinal cord and sympathetic ganglia are not 
devoid of mental power we find an explanation of some of the 
most striking phenomena to which the attention of the reader 
has been directed. 
But within the past few years several systematic forms of 
delusions have been originated, which are now receiving 
notice not only from emotional clergymen, but from hard- 
headed doctors of medicine. Two of these, the so-called 
“metal therapeutics” and “Our Lady of Lourdes,” have 
been considered probably at sufficient length in other parts 
of this book ; the other, the alleged miraculous appearance 
at Knock, in Ireland, does not differ essentially from the like 
phenomena at Lourdes, either in the hallucination of vision 
which was the starting-point, or in the subsequent cures 
effected at the place. Still the curative influence of metals 
applied to various parts of the body has been endorsed by 244 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
Prof. Charcot of Paris, and other French physicians, and 
the “ miracles ” at Lourdes and Knock have been accepted 
by an eminent and conscientious Episcopal clergyman of this 
city, the Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr. It seems to me, 
therefore, that a few remarks relative to more recent experi- 
ments of my own, bearing upon the subject—for in reality 
“ metal therapeutics ” and the miracles of Lourdes and 
Knock constitute one subject—will not be out of place. A 
few extracts from a lecture* delivered to the medical class of 
the University of New York, on April 18th, 1878, will serve 
very well as a part of these remarks. 
Some years ago, in looking up the subject of delusions 
and impostures, I came across a matter, which for the time 
interested me, and which I made the subject of several 
experiments. This was the “ metal-cure,” invented or dis- 
covered by Dr. Burq, of Paris. 
Now, as I have said, I performed, two years ago, a num- 
ber of experiments according to Dr. Burq’s method ; but as 
they led to no different results from those I am about to show 
you, I let the matter drop, placing the whole system in the 
category with the “metallic tractors ” of Perkins, the “powder 
of sympathy ” of Sir Kenelm Digby, the “ od force ” of Reich- 
enbach, and numerous other delusions of like character which 
have from time to time obtained a false position, to be over- 
whelmed by scientific investigation. You may judge, then, of 
my surprise to learn, a few months since, that so able and 
learned a physician as M. Charcot, of Paris, had become a 
convert to Dr. Burq’s metal therapeutics, and was curing 
* Reported in The Medical &• Surgical Reporter, May 18th, 1878. METAL CURE. 
245 
cases of hystero-epilepsy by placing bands or plates of brass 
or copper on the bodies and limbs of the afflicted patients of 
the Salpetriere. Before, however, considering these and my 
own results more at length, let me explain to you a little more 
fully Dr. Burq’s method of procedure. The source of my in- 
formation is a translation, by Dr. Elliotson, of a paper fur- 
nished for a very remarkable periodical* he edited several 
years ago. I find that Dr. Burq submitted several communi- 
cations to the French Academy of Medicine, which were re- 
ferred to a commission, for inquiry and report, but after a 
careful search through the Bulletin de /’Academie de Medecine 
I have been unable to find that any report was ever made ; 
and Dr. Burq admits that when he came to exhibit his system 
to the commission he obtained nothing but failures, although 
he had the advantage of selecting the cases he deemed most 
suitable for a display of its power. And at the seance of 
November 14, 1854,! he withdrew two letters which, in 1852 
and 1853, he had addressed to the Academy relative to the 
use of metals as preventives and curatives of cholera morbus. 
“ All affections of the nervous system,” says Dr. Burq, “ are 
characterized either by, 1, the absence of anaesthesia and 
amyosthenia (loss of the power of motion) ; or, 2, the pres- 
ence of these conditions ”—a truism admitting of no dispute. 
And he concludes as follows : 
“ Hysteria, hypochondriasis, the majority of spasms and 
neuralgias, or visceralgias, and we may add by anticipation 
*“ The Zoist; a Journal of Cerebral Physiology and Mesmerism, and 
their Applications to Human Welfare.” London, July, 1852 ; October, 
1852 ; and July, 1853. 
f Bulletin de I'Academie de Me’decine, t. xx, p. J93. 246 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
even a certain number of forms of insanity, are only the same 
affection differently manifested, but every form of which, 
however diversified, arises from a defect of equilibrium be- 
tween the healthy promotion and expenditure of the nervous 
influence. Only two kinds of symptoms constitute them : i, 
Negative, or nnervous symptoms, arising from the more or 
less complete absence of the nervous element in the organs 
which display them ; 2, Positive or hypernervous symptoms, 
which result, on the contrary, from excessive nervous afflux ; 
3, Anaesthesia and amyosthenia, occupying the highest place 
among the negative symptoms, may consequently be regarded 
as a sort of touchstone of the disease, calculated to point out 
the most suitable means of cure.” And from these premises 
which, to say the least, embody very bad pathology, Dr. Burq 
concludes further : 
“ That a nervous affection with anaesthesia and amyos- 
thenia being given, all the treatment consists in discovering 
an agent or means, whatever they may be (mesmerism, baths, 
gymnastic exercises, metals employed internally and extern- 
ally, etc.), capable of bringing back the sensibility and motility 
to the natural state. 
“ The best agent known, the action of which almost never 
fails, is a metal which is a good conductor of electricity ; and 
that, according to certain affinities still a mystery to us, is in 
some cases copper, in others steel, in others silver, gold, etc.” 
The apparatus necessary, according to Dr. Burq, consists 
of a dynamometer, from twenty-four to forty little plates of all 
kinds of metals, pure or alloyed, and some pins of platinum 
and steel. On visiting a patient, the sensibility and motility METAL CURE. 
247 
must be first ascertained ; the former by pricking the skin 
with one of the pins, and the latter with the dynamometer. 
Then one or more of the little plates should be applied, be- 
ginning with those of copper or steel, to the parts where the 
sensibility is most defective, till we arrive at a metal which re- 
stores it. Then a ring of the same metal, from three to five 
inches wide, is to be put around the limb which is most anaes- 
thetic and amyosthenic, and if after an hour or two the patient 
experiences a sense of tingling on the anaesthetic surface, heat 
and sweating, and a decided increase in the sensibility and 
strength, we have only to construct a “general armature,” 
composed of two large rings for each extremity, two large 
plates for the trunk, and a crown for the forehead thi,s 
latter should be deemed necessary), and we have put our 
patient in the best possible condition to insure recovery. 
These appliances should preferably be put on at bedtime, 
and should remain two, four, eight or ten hours, according to 
the intensity of the effects desired. 
By this procedure Dr. Burq asserts that the cramps of 
cholera, various neuralgias, hypochondriasis, hysteria, amen- 
orrhoea, chlorosis, paralysis, headache, insanity, etc., were 
effectually cured. Without further alluding to these results, 
or going into details, permit me to read to you the following 
report of one of his cases, as an illustration of his method of 
operating : 
“ Hysteria, Chlorosis, Daily Vomiting for Many Months— 
Rapid Cure with Brass Rings. In June, 1850, a young 
hysterical and chlorotic girl, affected also with ansesthesia, 
amyosthenia, amenorrhoea, and dyspepsia, was two months 248 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
in one of Dr. Rostan’s wards, vomiting every day almost all 
the solids and fluids which she was prevailed upon to swal- 
low. Iron, it is remarkable, had been prescribed in vain, as 
well as many other substances, and only pills of oxide of 
zinc had appeared to do a little good. 
“ Chance having led me to examine this patient, the eminent 
physician of the Hotel Dieu kindly allowed me to try my 
treatment. I began by ascertaining the suitable metal, and 
it proved to be brass, in plates. Afterward the Committee of 
the Academy, many distinguished physicians, Drs. Jobert (de 
Lamballe), Hourteloup, Pasquier, Beau, Tardieu, and Gos- 
selin, whom I had assembled to witness the power of the 
metals on sensibility and motility, and Dr. Rostan himself, 
and his numerous clinical pupils, had satisfied themselves 
that this metal, applied experimentally, removed the anaes- 
thesia and analgesia at the spot of its application and no- 
where else. 
‘'On the 6th of June, in the evening, I made a general ap- 
plication of brass. The next day general and special sensi- 
bility had returned to three-quarters of the surface, and the 
muscular power had mounted to from ten to sixteen kilo- 
grammes on the right side. The patient was greatly fatigued 
by the spoliation which the metal had effected, and even in 
the morning asked for food, and took it with pleasure, and 
digested it properly. 
“ In the evening, and on the following days, a fresh applica- 
tion of the brass armature was made at night ; and after the 
second day of the treatment, sensibility and motility having 
become almost natural, the patient, who has not vomited sub- METAL CURE. 
249 
sequently to the sixth, is no longer satisfied with the full diet 
(four portions), and does all sorts of little jobs for the sister 
of the ward, to gain additional allowance. Five or six days 
more pass, during which the color of the skin shows a ten- 
dency to become natural, and the bellows sound lessens more 
and more in the two carotids. 
“On the 16th and 17th the catamenia, which had been ab- 
sent several months, returned so abundantly, under the influ- 
ence of the metal applied to the stomach and lower extremi- 
ties, that the patient fancied she was flooding. 
“On the 18th, sensibility natural; pressure forty kilo- 
grammes. We suspend the use of the metal, and gradually, 
first the anaesthesia and amyosthenia, then the attacks of in- 
digestion and vomiting returned, and with the latter all the 
symptoms of chlorosis. 
“June 26th.—Analgesia of the upper extremities ; diminu- 
tion of taste and smell; pressure by the right hand twenty 
kilogrammes, instead of forty kilogrammes ; weakness of the 
legs. 
“ I resumed the metals permanently, and the return of sen- 
sibility and motility again preceded the reestablishment of 
the digestive functions, and the return of the healthy compo- 
sition of the blood. 
“ At the end of two months the patient, being perfectly 
cured, left the Hotel Dieu, after having acted as a servant in 
the wards for six weeks.” 
So much for Dr. Burq’s original investigations. 
During last winter, M. Charcot, of Paris, whom you all 
know as an eminent neurologist, delivered a lecture on this 250 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
subject at the great Salpetriere hospital, in which he an- 
nounced himself as a believer in Dr. Burq’s system, especially 
in the treatment of hystero-epilepsy. Two new features are 
declared by M. Charcot to have been discovered by himself : 
1. Transfer phenomena are observed, and are said to consist 
in the transfer of anaesthesia, for instance, from one place on 
the arm to the exactly corresponding place on the other arm, 
and all through the influence of the piece of metal applied to 
the original insensitive surface. 2. The restoration of the 
faculty of discriminating between colors when this power is 
lost in hysterical patients. A girl, for instance, who could 
not tell one color from another, had the perception restored 
by a piece of gold ring held for a little while on the tem- 
ple.* 
But upon M. Charcot’s observations I do not intend to 
dwell, for they are part of the current medical literature, and 
you can readily refer to them in the periodicals should you 
desire to do so. I think I can show you in a few minutes 
just how much there is in Dr. Burq’s metal therapeutics. 
You will probably discover that there is a good deal in it, but 
I scarcely think you will determine that it is exactly what 
he and M. Charcot declare it to be. I have here a small box 
containing several sharp needles of gold, steel, and platina, 
and a number of pieces of metals of various kinds, and of 
other substances not metallic. Among the metals are gold, 
silver, copper, steel, brass, zinc, bronze, lead, nickel, platina, 
tin, etc. Among the non-metallic substances are hard rub- 
* “ Metalloscopy and Metallo-Therapy Applied to the Treatment of 
Grave Hysteria,” December 30, 1878. London Lancet, January 19, Feb- 
ruary 2, and March 2, 1878. METAL CURE. 
25* 
ber, wood, ivory, tortoise shell, etc. They are all of the size 
and shape of a twenty-five cent piece. 
Now, I will call in from the waiting-room a female pa- 
tient, an epileptic, and who is, moreover, strongly hysterical. 
I will give her to understand that I am about to apply a new 
system of practice, the accounts of which, from Paris, are 
very strong in its favor, as a curative agent in diseases like 
hers. I will tell her that by the application, in a particu- 
lar way, of a plate of gold to her arm, the nervous system 
will be so strongly impressed that she will experience very re- 
markable sensations in the part, and that in a short time 
thereafter the feeling of that and the neighboring regions will 
be entirely destroyed. But instead of using a gold disk I 
will take one of these of tortoise shell or ivory, and you will 
probably find that all the phenomena I have mentioned will 
be produced. I may fail, for I have made no experiments on 
this girl, and it is not every case that is favorable. A fact 
which Dr. Burq did not fail to remark. 
[The patient, a girl of fifteen, now entered the lecture- 
room, and Dr. Hammond, after describing the case to the 
class, addressed her as above, and then resumed.] 
You see, gentlemen, that the sensibility is intact, for when 
I prick the skin of any part of the left arm, she winces, and 
the blood flows readily. I now press this little disk (tortoise 
shell) on the surface of the back of the wrist, and hold it 
there firmly a few moments. The patient says it begins to 
feel warm, and that a sensation of heat extends up the arm. 
In a minute or two longer I think the sensibility will be en- 
tirely destroyed, and then I shall stick this steel needle into 
the arm, and I venture to say she will not feel it. SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
[The lecturer waits about two minutes, during which time 
the patient repeatedly calls attention to the fact that 
she feels queer sensations in the arm. Suddenly she says 
the feeling .is all gone ; Dr. Hammond removes the disk 
of tortoise shell, and thrusts the needle into the arm beneath, 
to the extent of half an inch. The patient gives no evidence 
of sensibility, does not appear to know that the skin is 
pierced. Other punctures are made in various parts of the 
arm, above and below, and all are anaesthetic.] 
You see, gentlemen, that the experiment has entirely suc- 
ceeded. It would be perfectly easy to get like results from 
any part of her body. I will now ask her to leave the room 
while I explain the matter more fully to you 
You have seen what effects were apparently produced by 
the little tortoise-shell disk, which she took to be gold. I 
will now show you that when properly managed, exactly op- 
posite effects can be got from the tortoise shell. You can, 
in fact, make it blow hot and cold with the same breath. I 
am going now to use the tortoise-shell disk on the opposite 
arm, telling her that it is platina, a metal of which she does 
not know much, if anything, and that the effect will be to 
cause pain in the arm. and to make it more than naturally 
sensitive. 
[The patient is again called in, and is told that a platina 
disk will be applied to the right arm, and that the effect will 
be to cause intense pain, and to render the arm very sensi- 
tive to the prick of the needle. The tortoise-shell disk is 
placed on the back of the right wrist, and it hardly touches 
the skin before she begins to complain of shooting pains up 
252 METAL CURE. 
the arm, reaching even to the neck. These, as she declares, 
increase in intensity till the disk, at the end of four minutes, 
is removed, in order to obviate her sufferings. The skin is 
now barely pricked with the needle, and she screams with 
pain. Another patient, a woman suffering from apparent 
cerebellar disease, is introduced, and like experiments are 
successfully performed upon her. Dr. Hammond then con- 
tinues.] 
During the last two weeks I have cured several parox- 
ysms of migraine by applying some one of the disks (it does 
not matter which) to the forehead, and have restored sensi- 
bility to a hemi-anaesthetic and hysterical lady by fastening 
disks of hard rubber to the arm and leg with bands of adhe- 
sive plaster, so that she could not see what was underneath. 
I have not tried to transfer anaesthesia from one side of the 
body to the other, or to restore the perception of color, but I 
will show you both these phenomena soon, and probably sev- 
eral others not discovered by MM. Burq and Charcot. 
I will show you one of these, and you can practise it on 
yourselves. Doubtless in some cases it has something to do 
with the result. 
I take this disk (it happens to be copper, but any other 
will serve the purpose) and press it on the back of the wrist 
for a few minutes while I go on talking. You will see when 
I take it off and stick a needle into the skin that the blood 
does not flow, and I will be able to tell you, with entire truth, 
that I do not feel any pain or even a sensation from the 
wound. I confess that when I first did this I was for a mo- 
ment a little surprised, but I very soon perceived that the 
253 254 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
anaesthesia was due to the pressure of the substance on the 
skin, and resulted, no matter of what material the disk was 
composed, so long as the pressure was sufficiently firm. I 
now take off the disk and stick this needle through a fold of 
the skin, and I assure you that if I did not see it, 1 should 
not know it was there, from any sensation it causes. I pass 
round among you several disks and needles, and you may try 
this interesting but very simple experiment for yourselves. 
But to return to our subject as understood by MM. Burq 
and Charcot. The former thought the results were due to 
some hitherto unknown quality of the metals ; the latter, 
without being very positive, seems inclined to adopt this 
view. The principle of suggestion or expectant attention, 
which I have so often brought to your attention, was not recog- 
nized when Dr. Burq first wrote about metal therapeutics ; but 
M. Charcot strongly repudiates the idea that any such factor 
has aught to do with the results. In this I am quite sure (as 
doubtless you are also, from what you have just seen) that he 
is altogether wrong, and that to this principle and to nothing 
else the results of metal therapeutics are to be ascribed. They 
are to be placed in the same category with those obtained 
from the metallic tractors of our countryman Perkins, and 
which Dr. Haygarth showed followed equally well on the use 
of wooden tractors painted to look like the metal ones. It is 
all nothing but suggestion and expectant attention. You tell 
the patient what she is to expect, and if she has confidence 
the prediction will be realized, whether it be an increase of 
strength, a restoration of the perception of color, or the pro- 
duction of anaesthesia or hyperaesthesia. Why, there are doz- METAL CURE. 
255 
ens of cases on record of hysterically paralysed men and 
women starting from their beds, or throwing away their 
crutches, under the influence of the fear of fire, or through 
the suggestion and expectant attention excited by the Zouave 
Jacob or our own Newton. We cannot deny these facts any 
more than we can deny the facts of MM. Burq and Charcot ; 
but instead of viewing them “ unequally,” as Czermak puts it, 
we go a little further than they, and show that it is not from 
any metallic influence that the phenomena result, but through 
the operation of a still more remarkable though well recog- 
nized principle. We have all seen this power exerted in va- 
rious ways ; we have seen the “ biologist ” keep the extended 
arm of his subject in the position in which he has placed it, 
cause him to taste all kinds of flavors and to experience a 
dozen different sensations. We have seen rheumatism cured 
by a piece of sulphur or a horse-chestnut kept in the pocket, 
and even warts charmed away by incantations of various 
kinds. The history of medicine abounds with relations of 
famous systems of cures and wonderful remedies, whose 
whole power depends upon suggestion and expectant atten- 
tion. 
But, as I have said, it is nothing to the patient whether he 
be cured by the direct agency of metals applied to the skin, 
or by expectant attention, or the principle of suggestion, so 
long as he is cured ; but let us, at any rate, understand the 
matter correctly ourselves, and not seek for a mysterious 
agency when there is a well-recognized force, the action of 
which we see every day of our lives, and to which all the re- 
sults can be legitimately ascribed. 256 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
Since this lecture was delivered I have had many oppor- 
tunities of repeating the experiments there described, and I 
have never once found that the metal disks possess any power 
superior to those of ivory, tortoise shell, wood, etc. Indeed, 
this fact is beginning to be recognized even in France, for 
it is found that many sesthesiogenetic agents exist, and a dis- 
tinct system of medical practice, based on the application of 
wooden disks to the body, called xylotherapy, has arisen. 
We see from what has been said that there are no persons, 
even those whose education and practice fit them for detect- 
ing deception, who may not be readily deceived, and this by 
exactly the same kinds of fraud which they themselves have 
been most active in exposing. The confession is a mortify- 
ing one to make. Let us hope that our knowledge of natural 
law may go on increasing, till no medical man at least will 
take the cures by the water of Lourdes, the plaster of Knock, 
the toe-nail of St. Anthony, or the metals of Burq at more 
than their full value.