On Animal Magnetism

insufficiency. The knowledge that we have acquired today regarding the nature and the action of the nerves nerfs: in the 18th century, nerves were often thought of as tubes carrying "animal spirits" or electrical fluid, however imperfect it may be, leaves us with no doubt in this regard. We know that they are the primary agents of sensation and movement, without knowing how to restore them to their natural order when it has been altered; this is a reproach we must make against ourselves. The ignorance of preceding centuries on this point shielded the Physicians. The superstitious confidence they held—and which they inspired in others—regarding their specifics original: "spécifiques" - medicines intended to cure a particular disease and their formulas, rendered them despotic and presumptuous.

I respect NATURE too much to be able to persuade myself that the individual preservation of man has been reserved for the chance of discoveries, and to the vague observations which have taken place in the succession of sev—