On mesmerism.

  • Russell, John Rutherfurd, 1816-1866.
Date:
[between 1800 and 1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On mesmerism. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    ON MESMERISM. BY J. RUTHERFURD RUSSELL, M.D. (Extracted from the British Journal of Homoeopathy, No. xxxix.) It is impossible for any sane mind to be brought in contact with the world of mesmerism without being dismayed at the dismal disorder which reigns over the whole region; one feels as if quitting the familiar earth for Tartarus, and exchanging the diffused light of day by which we recognise the coloui’, form and distance of objects, for the fitful corruscations of the aurora borealis or gleams of vivid lightning, that dazzle the sight rather than reveal the things around us. We feel that all our conscious experience is opposed to the phenomena we seem to witness or of which we are told; and while we dare not refuse the evidence of our senses or the testimony of trustworthy witnesses, we are equally unwilling to receive as truths appearances or statements utterly at variance to all probability. A little reflec- tion, however, will convince us that this discrepancy is apparent rather than real. The experience by which we try mesmeric phenomena is all derived from our waking state. Mesmerism is a state of sleep. Our sleeping experiences are not recollected, and we cannot bring them to bear upon the subject. If we could remember all that passed in sleep we might find nothing extra-