Electrical-psychology, or, The electrical philosophy of mental impressions, including a new philosophy of sleep and of consciousness / from the works of J.B. Dods and J.S. Grimes ; revised and edited by H.G. Darling.

  • Grimes J. Stanley (James Stanley), 1807-1903.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Electrical-psychology, or, The electrical philosophy of mental impressions, including a new philosophy of sleep and of consciousness / from the works of J.B. Dods and J.S. Grimes ; revised and edited by H.G. Darling. 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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    what he terms Electrical-Psychology. We confess that when we first read the doctor's announcement, we feared for his reputation, thinking he had promised what it would be impossible for him to accomplish, yet after closely observing, for several successive evenings, the results produced, we are constrained to acknow- ledge, that however marvellous the statement, the reality far transcends it. To detail all that we have witnessed would occupy more space than we can appro- priate to the subject. We shall, therefore, only state, that, upon one evening, we saw no less than thirteen persons, varying in age from fifteen to forty years, so completely subjected to the operator's influence, that not a muscular movement could be made by one of them, without his permission. All their sensations were equally controllable. A word from him would make them shiver, another wet with perspiration. At his suggestion, they saw the gathering storm, and fled in wild dismay from its terrific approach. These are but a few of the many things, whereof we testify having seen. To question their truthfulness, would be to impeach the veracity of some of our most respectable inhabitants, upon whom these astonishing results have been exhibited. It is impossible, by language, to con- vey an adequate conception of the strangeness of these phenomena. To be appreciated, they must be wit- nessed. The query arises at once, at least, in every benevolent mind, cannot such a mighty and hitherto undeveloped power, be made available for the ameliora- tion of human suffering ? And this, we are happy to learn, is the very thing to which the doctor is most