Mesmerism- Leaders

1)    Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer (German) is regarded as the founder first medical professional to ‘bring mesmerism to the attention of the public’ in  (F. Kaplan “The Mesmeric Mania” 692) . In 1774, Mesmer produced an "artificial tide" in a patient, Francisca Österlin, who suffered from hysteria, by having her swallow a pill-like preparation containing iron. He then attached magnets to areas of her body in order to heal her, utilising the flows of energy between these two objects. This forged his understanding of a mysterious fluid that flowed between animate and inanimate objects, ‘universal fluid’ that could be utilised to cure. In 1779 Mesmer first published a text demonstrating this theory, Mémoire sur la découverte du magnétisme animal. Although mesmerism was initially seen as a continental ‘movement’, British writer John Pearson commented on Mesmer’s finding  in 1790 with his text A Plain and Rational Account of the Nature and Effects of Animal Magnetism in a Series of Letters, exploring the concept of universal fluid.

2) Many followed Mesmer on the continent, with increasing support originating in France. Marquis de Puyseur '(1751–1825)  is an example of a French Magnetizer. An aristocrat, born into a well-known French noble family, Puyseur performed notable experiments with magnetism, coining the term ‘artificial somnambulism’ after inducing his patient into a strange form of sleeping trance (this was later termed hypnosis by James Braid). 'Baron Dupotet was another disciple of Mesmer, his history and defense of mesmerism An Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism (1838) demonstrating his methods. He eventually collaborated with John Elliotson in performing mesmeric experiments at University College, London.

3) 'John Elliotson' (Britain 1840s) was an established medical professional, who was very senior within the Royal College of Physicians. Seen as second-generation mesmerist, he built upon and developed Mesmer’s theory, however, his association with mesmerism led to his disgrace by members of the British Medical profession and the eventually loss of his senior position. No longer able to publish in medical journals such as The Lancet, Elliotson founded The Zoist in 1843, writing many famous articles attempting to verify and prove his concepts of mesmerism. A good example of this is Elliotson, J, "Case of Epilepsy Cured by Mesmerism", The Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology & Mesmerism, and Their Applications to Human Welfare, Vol.2, No.6, (July 1844).

4) In 1843 Scottish Physician 'James Braid, 'dubbed by Kroger as the ‘Father of Modern Hypnosis’, proposed the term hypnosis as a technique derived from animal magnetism. After initially studying the eyes and eyelids of Swiss magnetic demonstrator Charles Lafontaine’s (1803–1892) patients, Braid concluded they were in a different psychological state, going on to investigate this state and its relationship with the brain.