PREFACE.

to emerge out of this obscurity of ignorance into the light of knowledge. They are surrounded, for a long period, by a dense cloud of prejudices and false notions which, at length, mingling with their habitual conceptions, become exceedingly difficult to dispel by the torch of science and truth. The simple facts, which may now be satisfactorily explained by the modern psychological discoveries of Animal Magnetism, are, in a great measure, identical with those which in former times—adopted without any investigation into their true origin and nature, and disguised by the coloring of a vivid imagination and a lively fancy—lay at the foundation of all the fables of magic and sorcery, with which they were subsequently identified:

Mankind, in barbarous ages, is accustomed to look at nature through the mist of their ignorance and prejudices, which conceal the true aspect of objects from their bewildered eyes. Hence the long reign of intellectual darkness, false philosophy, and impure religion.

Erroneous notions, indeed, which have been allowed to prevail for ages, are eradicated with difficulty, even from such minds as have become emancipated, in some measure, from many of the