Second half-yearly report ... from 1st March to 1st September, 1849 / [by James Esdaile, with a letter from him to J. Elliotson] ... to which is added, remarks on the conduct of the English medical journalists ... in refernce to [mesmerism] ... By Dr. Elliotson.

  • Mesmeric Hospital (Calcutta, India)
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Second half-yearly report ... from 1st March to 1st September, 1849 / [by James Esdaile, with a letter from him to J. Elliotson] ... to which is added, remarks on the conduct of the English medical journalists ... in refernce to [mesmerism] ... By Dr. Elliotson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    have taken the liberty of passing an opinion upon the medical treatment which I had prescribed at the same time; or where there was no other treatment, of suggesting medical treat- ment. One person, quite ignorant of medicines, took the liberty of applying leeches when exhaustion forbad any such measures: one introduced a foreigner to assist her in mes- merising, who was a linendraper in Brussels and passed him- self oflp as a doctor, and he mesmerised and prescribed. Some, instead of simply mesmerising, as I directed, introduced pre- tended clairvoyants, absolute impostors.* I advise all me- dical men to allow nothing of this sort when they employ mesmerisers. But, on the other hand, they should not interfere with the mesmeriser, or take any measures without conferring with him, provided they understand nothing of it and he is a fully informed and discreet mesmeriser. Some amateur mesmerisers do injury to the cause by their want of perseverance. If they produce no benefit, or no sensible effect, in the first few trials, of perhaps only a quarter of an hour each, they give up the case. I wish such persons would never take a case in hand, because their failures must be very numerous, and the poor patient conceives that mes- merism, perhaps his last and only hope, is no remedy for him, and our adversaries register the more failures. In truth, mesmerism cannot be said to have failed under a trial of a year or more in chronic cases. Let no one mesmerise who is not prepared to give a daily trial of at least half an hour for many months or still longer.f On the other hand, I must also entreat the afflicted never to begin mesmerism unless firmly resolved to give it a fair trial; and not to give it up because they are not better soon, or do not go to sleep. I often foolishly lose all patience with people, to whom I have explained the possibility of no effect * I am satisfied that many clairvoyants are impostors : and many real clair- voyants impostors so far as to pretend they have the faculty in action when they have not. I place I'eliance on very few of them : so liable are they to deceive them- selves, and so strong is the temptation to deceive others^ from love of money or even mere vanity. If persons choose to take the chances of accuracy and error, they ought to pay : but why they should pay a medical or other man who keeps and lets out a poor clairvoyant, as Italian men keep and let out poor Italian boys, and pay him a fee, perhaps a sovereign, as well as five shillings to the clairvoyant who does the work, I know not. To let out clairvoyants is no very dignified occupation. f I mesmerised Miss Bernal daily for nearly a year without producing sleep or other sensible effect, and did her no good whatever for months : yet I cured her triumphantly after the failures of a number of royal and fashionable practi- tioners had done her no good, but harm (Zoist, No. XVIII.) Let them re- member that Mrs. Whately bestowed three years and a half upon her blind patient (No. XXV.) I bestowed above five years upon my case of cancer (No. XXIII.)