On Animal Magnetism

generally adopt systems as
evidently absurd and ridiculous as
those we see today; truth
alone and the general interest could have
given these opinions such universality.

One could therefore argue that among
the common opinions of all
times, which do not have their principles
rooted in the human heart, there are few
which—however ridiculous and even extra-
vagant they may appear—cannot
be considered as the remains of a
truth originally recognized. The author is employing a common Enlightenment-era argument: that "superstitions" are often just corrupted versions of ancient, scientific truths.

SUCH are the reflections I have
made on knowledge in gene-
ral, and more particularly on the fate
of the doctrine of the influence of
celestial bodies original: "corps célestes" on the planet we inha-
bit. These reflections have led me to
search, within the ruins of this