The introduction of mesmerism, as an anaesthetic and curative agent, into the hospitals of India / by James Esdaile.

Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The introduction of mesmerism, as an anaesthetic and curative agent, into the hospitals of India / by James Esdaile. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    The medical department of mesmerism is only a fractional part of its interest to reflecting minds ; for it is replete with instruction to the physiologist, the metaphysician, and the natural philosopher. It will soon he as absurd for teachers, and writers on physics and metaphysics, to leave out of ac- count the mesmeric phenomena, as it would be at present to omit all notice of the circulation of the blood in a description of the human body. Surely it will not be possible to say, much longer, that the medical men and natm-al philosophers of England pride them- selves upon being ignorant of the existence of a great natural power, which throws a new light on the nature of man ; dis- closing his secret relations and sympathies with his fellow- men and smTOunding nature, and exceeding in interest all the drugs in the pharmacopoeia, from its being an inherent power of the human system. This useful moral may be drawn fr^om my story,—That to tell the truth and stick to it, may even he a good mercantile sjjeculation. Truth is the protection of every one who holds by it, and because I did so, it made me first a Presidency Surgeon of Calcutta, and soon after. Marine Surgeon; the two places most coveted in the public service for the opportunities they afford of making a fortune by private practice. That I did not remain to profit by such good fortune, was my humour; but others might, and would, have made handsome fortunes in my circumstances. I have the honom* to be, Gentlemen, Your most obedient Servant, JAMES ESDAILE, M.D. Garry Cottage, Perth, IQth March 1862.