Heaven itself to so perverse a being? And is not all Nature, in reality, a revelation from Heaven to the mind of the philosopher who should walk along her paths rejoicing in the freedom of his thoughts, unencumbered by the fetters of those narrow prejudices which must fatally restrict the sphere of our comprehension ?

CHAPTER VII.

POWER OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM-MAGNETISM OF
INANIMATE OBJECTS.

THE penetrating intensity and subtile power of the magnetic influence is best illustrated by the magnetiser performing the operation at a distance, and without the knowledge of the patient, through the intervention of such opaque bodies as a screen, folding doors, or thick walls. The possibility of the operation being conducted efficiently in this manner is established beyond a doubt; and I proceed, therefore, to cite some few facts in proof of it, because, before entering on the explication of the phenomena of animal magnetism, it is necessary that all the facts should be distinctly detailed. On the 4th of November, 1820, the Commissioners having assembled at the Hotel Dieu, M. Husson, one of the physicians of the hospital, said to me, "You can induce sleep in a very short time; I wish you would obtain the same result without the patient either seeing you or being aware of your presence." I replied that I was willing to try, but that did not warrant the success of the experiment, because the action at a distance depended so much on the peculiar susceptibility of the individual. We agreed, however, upon a signal which I could hear in an adjoining apartment. M. Husson

was to throw a pair of scissars down upon the table, and I was then to begin the operation. Accordingly I was ushered into a closet, separated from the room by a thick partition; and the door having a good lock and key, I felt no hesitation in locking myself in, as I wished to multiply obstacles, so that no pretext might be left for suspicion or doubt. The patient was then brought into the adjacent room, and seated at a distance of about three or four feet, with her back turned towards the closet wherein I was concealed. They then, to deceive her, began wondering why I had not yet arrived, and they pretended from this delay to conjecture that I did not intend to come; at the same time, they blamed me for not keeping my appointment. In short, my alleged

absence was adverted to in such a manner as to leave no doubt, on the mind of the patient, that I was really elsewhere. The signal being then given, although I knew not where nor at what distance Mlle. Samson was placed, I began to magnetise in the most profound silence, carefully avoiding the least movement which might apprise her of my being present. It was then thirty-five minutes past nine. In the course of three minutes, as soon as my will began to act, she was observed to rub her eyes, exhibit the usual symptoms of approaching sleep, and at length fell into a state of somnambulism. This experiment I repeated on the 7th of November, before Professor Recamier, who took every precaution to prevent deception, and the result was precisely similar. The following are the details of this second trial :—On my entering, at a quarter past nine, the operating room, M. Husson informed me that M. Recamier wished to be present, and to see me put the patient

to sleep through the partition. I readily acquiesced. M. Recamier then entered, and privately conversed with me on the subject, when we agreed upon a signal; and I slipped into the closet, where I was again locked in. Mlle. Samson was then brought in ; M. Recamier placed her with her back turned towards the closet, at a distance of more than six feet from it. He then proceeded to converse with her, and found her better; but on being told that I was not likely to arrive, she insisted upon retiring. The moment M. Recamier asked her whether she digested meat, which was the signal agreed upon between us, I began to magnetise her at thirty-two minutes past nine. Three minutes after, M. Recamier touched her, raised her eyelids, shook her by the hands, put questions to her, pinched her, and convinced himself that she was in a state of profound magnetic sleep. But even these trials were thought insufficient to establish so extraordinary a phenomenon; and it was resolved, therefore, to multiply them, and vary all their details. Accordingly, I went one night, accompanied by M. Husson and other physicians, to the ward in which the same patient was, and took my position from her at a distance of several beds, keeping at the same time the most profound silence, so as not to attract attention. I began magnetising her at eight minutes past seven. At twelve minutes past, we all drew near, and convinced ourselves that magnetic sleep had been induced. It is unnecessary to add, that the period fixed on for this operation had been selected, not by me, but by the principal physician of the hospital; further, that it had been ascertained that the patient was not asleep before the experiment, and that the magnetic influence had been

exerted at a distance of about twenty feet. Having witnessed these experiments, M. Bertrand, Doctor of Medicine of the University of Paris, affirmed that he did not think it extraordinary that the patient should fall asleep while the magnetiser was in the closet; because the constant recurrence of the same attending circumstances might have, independently of my presence, produced the same results; and that, moreover, the patient might be naturally predisposed to sleep. He therefore proposed that she should be brought into the same room, and seated on the same seat, and that a conversation should be held with her as before. This repetition of the same circumstances, he thought, would induce sleep. But he was deceived. At a quarter before ten, they began to execute the plan agreed upon;-she was seated on the same easy chair where she usually sat, and placed in the same position. Various questions were put to her; she was then left to her own thoughts; the signals previously used were again repeated,-scissars were thrown upon the table; they went, in fact, through a complete rehearsal of everything previously done, but in vain was the magnetic state expected. She complained, became restless, shifted her position, and evinced anything but a disposition to either natural or magnetic sleep. After this, on my entering the room and commencing the operation, the magnetic sleep, accompanied by the usual state of physical insensibility was perfectly established.

In a letter, dated Lyons, 1784, which appeared in a work entitled, Reflexions Impartiales sur le Magnétisme, it is stated:-"The following experiment has often been repeated. A very susceptible somnambula was left in a room with other persons endeavouring