Abhandlung über die Entdeckung des thierischen Magnetismus

just then, she was seized by convulsions original: "Gichtern"; a historical term for seizures or violent spasms and fell into a faint. I told him that this was precisely the best opportunity to convince himself of the reality of the principle original: "Principiums"; referring to the fundamental theory of Animal Magnetism I had asserted, and of its ability to be communicated to others. I moved away from the sick woman and told him to approach and touch her; she did not move at all.

I asked him to come back to me and, by grasping his hands, I communicated the magnetic power original: "magnetische Krafft"; the vital fluid or force Mesmer believed he could transfer to him. I remained at a distance from the patient, but I requested him to approach her once more and touch her, whereupon convulsive movements followed. He touched her several times in this manner with the tip of his finger, now in this direction, now in that, and—to his great astonishment—this always produced twitching in the part he touched. As soon as this was over, he confessed to me: he was convinced.

I, however, proposed a second test to him. We moved so far away from the sick woman that she could not have seen us, even if she had been conscious.