The Probert Encyclopaedia of General Information

MESMERISM

Mesmerism (or hypnosis) was a system popularised by Franz Anton Mesmer who called it Animal Magnetism. He believed that the stars exercised an influence over men, and identifying this with magnetism sought to effect cures by stroking his patients with magnets. Finding that Gassner effected cures by stroking with his hand, Mesmer abandoned the use of magnets. The Marquis de Puysagur discovered that sleep could be induced by gentle manipulation and pioneered the scientific study of mesmerism away from Mesmer's mysterious approach.
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