practice of magnetism, are due to manipulations, or to the excitement of the imagination, and the impressions made upon the senses; and that there is one more fact to be recorded in the history of the errors of the human mind, and an important experiment upon the power of the imagination.
In 1837 a committee of nine was appointed, among whom were Roux, Bouillaud, and Cloquet, who Clairvovance. tested, in several sessions, the phenomena exhibited by a reputed clairvoyant. Their report stated the results as follows.
The facts which had been promised by Monsieur Berna [the magnetizer] as conclusive, and as adapted to throw light on physiological and therapeutical questions, are certainly not conclusive in favor of the doctrine of animal magnetism, and have nothing in common with either physiology or therapeutics.
This Report was adopted by the Royal Academy of Medicine, in Paris.
The author's own observations of the workings of animal magnetism not only convince her that it Personal conclusions. is not a remedial agent, but that its effects upon those who willingly practise it lead to moral and physical death.
If it seems to alleviate or cure disease, this appearance is deceptive, since error cannot remove the effects of error. Discomfort under error is preferable to comfort. In no instance is the effect of hypnotism other than the effect of illusion. Any seeming benefit derived therefrom is proportionate only to one's faith in esoteric magic.
Animal magnetism has no Scientific principle; for
