Mesmerism in India

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

As I appear before the public as the editor of a work on Mesmerism A 19th-century precursor to hypnosis, named after Franz Mesmer, involving the supposed transfer of "animal magnetism" to heal patients, I trust I may be pardoned for alluding to the circumstances under which I have been called upon to take on such a duty. Several months ago, my brother—a medical officer in the service of the East India Company A powerful British trading company that effectively ruled large parts of India at this time—surprised me by announcing that he had now found something to dispel the boredom original: "ennui" of Indian life, and that his mission was to become "the Apostle of Mesmerism in India." More than twelve years ago, my attention had been caught by reading Monsieur original: "M." Cloquet's account of his having removed a cancerous breast from a lady while she was in a mesmeric trance, and by his certifying her insensitivity to pain. Knowing the high standing of Monsieur Cloquet as a surgeon, and his reputation as a man of truthfulness original: "veracity", I was forced to believe in the reality of the mysterious force called Mesmerism, or Animal Magnetism. My belief was confirmed by the fact that the operator himself was not a believer in Mesmerism. From that hour, I never doubted that many things, dismissed original: "scouted" by most people as frauds or delusions, were merely new manifestations of this incomprehensible power. The evidence was so strong that disbelief seemed irrational. Professional duties original: "avocations" hindered me from paying further attention to the subject; and I had almost ceased to think of Mesmerism when it was again