How to mesmerise : a manual of instruction in the history, mysteries, modes of procedure, and arts of mesmerism, or, animal magnetism, hypnotism, clairvoyance, thought reading, and mesmeric entertainments / by James Coates.
- Coates, James, 1843-1933.
- Date:
- [between 1890 and 1899?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: How to mesmerise : a manual of instruction in the history, mysteries, modes of procedure, and arts of mesmerism, or, animal magnetism, hypnotism, clairvoyance, thought reading, and mesmeric entertainments / by James Coates. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![be pinched, etc., without exhibiting pain. The members retain whatever attitude is given them. The patient has become cataleptic. In vain you speak or question him. Place him in a tragic posture, the physiognomy becomes severe, and the eyebrows contract. Bring the hands to- gether as in prayer, the visage softens and the features become supplicating. Cut off the light, the patient drops into a somnambulistic state; he falls backward, the eyelids close, and if the skin be rubbed, the part will contract as if under the influence of electricity. Call the patient, he will rise up and walk towards you. Tell him to kneel, and he will kneel; to write, and he will write; to sew, and he will, mechanically, like a slave, the eyes being firmly closed. Sometimes the an- swers given are more intelligible than when the patient is wide awake, so much is the intelligence excited. Blow in his face, and the subject instantly awakens, after a slight throat spasm and some froth on the lips, but utterly ignorant of what has occurred. The experi- ment can be repeated at will. Music—strong bell- ringing—can produce this anaesthetic condition as well as the lights referred to; hence, the action of sound is identical with that of light. Steadily looking into the eyes will also produce the lethargic state. But this is treading after Mesmer.”—[Tra7islaied.] This is an interesting part of the subject. Unfortu- nately the majority of the public are not much acquainted with Mental Science, as founded upon Phrenology.— Phrenology with many is a vulgar something about “bumps.” They believe in physiognomy—i.e., the tem- perament, quality of organisation, disposition, and tendency of character as revealed in the face. Of the physiognomy of the head—Phrenology—however, they know nothing. They understand the clock dial, the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28125216_0120.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
