arthur jacob - an essay on the influence of the imagination (1823)

7/30/2019 Arthur Jacob - An Essay on the Influence of the Imagination (1823)

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http://www.archive.org/details/essayoninfluenceOOjaco


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AN ESSAYON THE

INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION AND PASSIONSIN THE

PRODUCTION AND CURE OF DISEASES;BY

ARTHUR JACOB, M. D. ^MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN IRELAND,DEMONSTRATOR OF ANATOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY, &c. &c.TO WHICH IS ADDE^,''O*^ '' ^tjf

A TRANSLATION OF ,A^MEMOl^"*' \BY r~ ^v 9 1910 -

Dr. C. PFEUP^, ;^.~SUPERINTENDING PHYSICIAN TO TSiL^ltJin^J^JU^^

HOSPITAL AT BAMBERG.ON THE CURES PERFORMED BY THE OPERATIONS OF THE

PRINCE DE HOHENLOHE* I look upon the discovery of any thing which is ti'ue, as a valuable

acquisition to society ; which cannot possibly hurt, or obstruct the goodeffect of any other truth whatsoever : for they all partake of one com-mon essence, and necessarily coincide with each other ; and like thedrops of rain, which fall separately into the river, mix themselves atonce with the stream, and strengthen the general current."

middi.eton',j tree inquiry into the miraculous powers.PREFACE.

DUBLIN:PUBLISHED BY C. P. ARCHER, M. N. MAHON, R. MILLIKIN,

R. M. TIMS, ANNE WATSON, HODGES AND M'ARTHUR,AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS.

1823.\_Entered at Stationers' Hall.']

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K. ORAISBERRV, PRINTER.

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Since the first part of the following essay wentto press, a small but well-written pamphlet onthe same subject, signed " A Physician," has beenpublished. As the author of that pamphlet doesnot appear to have had leisure to accumulate thefacts necessary to support his conclusions, I didnot allow the circumstance to interrupt my un-dertaking.My object has not been to aim at a triumph

over those who believe in the miraculous natureof the late cures performed by the operations ofthe Prince de Hohenlohe, but rather to call theattention of the profession and the public to theimportant physiological principle which I advo-cate, namely. That the power of the imaginationand passions extensively hifluences the ordinaryoperations of the animal economy ; and that thesame influence is not only capable of producingdiseases hut of contributing to their removal.An attempt has been made to put a stop to

all inquiry respecting these alleged miraculouscures, by flinging the filth of personal invective up-on those who presume to meddle in the discussion,

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or even to give an opinion upon it : this is surelyunworthy of any cause, and little calculated toenable the community to arrive at the real truth.Some persons seem ^a entertain an apprehen-

sion that such inquiries lead to discussions in-jurious to true religion. In this I cannot agreewith them, such a consideration does not appearto have had weight with Middleton, Paley, El-rington, or any other divines who have treated ofmiracles.

Dr. Sheridan, in a letter to the editor of theWeekly Register, argues, that Mrs. Stuart's ma-lady was not of that nature which would have ad-mitted of a cure by a mental impression. I fear,however, that our knowlege of the animal eco-nomy is far too limited to enable us to decidewhat diseases may or may not admit of cure froman impression on the mind.

I must request indulgence for errors and inac-curacies in the following pages ; the necessity ofpublishing^while the subject had possession of thepublic mind, compelled me to give less time tothe subject than I should otherwise have done.


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ESSAY, &c.

1 HAVE been induced to offer to the publicthe following explanation of the cures performedby the supposed miraculous interposition of thePrince de Hohenlohe, in consequence of the falsenotions very generally entertained respectingtheir real nature. Neither those who receivethem as miracles, nor those who reject them, sup-pose that they admit of a natural explanation ;the former clino-inoj to them with all the warmthof religious zeal, and the latter rejecting themwith all the satisfaction of incredulity. Neitherdoes this misunderstanding appear to be confinedto this discussion'in particular, Hume, who re-jected miracles altogether, so far as they rested onhuman testimony alone, and Dr. Middleton, whodenies all those recorded subsequent to the daysof the apostles, do not appear to have been awarethat miraculous cures admitted of such an ex-planation : even Paley, who is generally better in-formed on such subjects, is not sufficiently clear

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on this point. That the Roman Catholic clergyhave been led to announce this miracle to theirflocks, from a firm conviction of its truth, I amsatisfied, as well from the above consideration, asthat I cannot entertain the gross supposition thatthey would lend themselves to an imposture ofthis nature.

That the Prince de Hohenlohe has performedcures by his operations, more or less perfect, is afact established on such unquestionable testimonyas cannot admit of reasonable doubt ; and the caseof Mrs, Stuart affords as good an example of hissuccess as could be adduced. The certificates ofher medical attendants afford ample proof of theextent of her malady, and her present condition,to which I can testify myself, from having had thepleasure of a personal interview, is sufficient proofof her recovery. The case of Miss Lalor is pro-bably also true in statement, though it is not per-haps supported by such decisive evidence. It ishowever equally true that these cures admit of aneasy and natural explanation, founded on the fol-lowing established physiological doctrine, " Thatthe phenomena of life, such for instance as di-gestion, secretion, growth and motion, are in anextraordinary degree subject to the control, andinfluenced by the operations of the mind ; whe-ther exerted immediately as in a train of thought,or secondarily from an impression from withoutand that the derangement or interruption of these


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functions constituting disease, are equally subjectto such control and influence : nay, that themental impression is infinitely more powerful inparticular diseases than any effect capable of be-ing produced by the administration or applicationof medicine."The first step in this inquiry is to determine

how far the vital functions in a state of health areinfluenced by mental emotion, at the same timeconnecting these efforts with those produced bythe actual application of medicine. The instancesare so obvious, that in recounting I probably onlyrecal them to the memory of my readers. Ahungry man sitting down to a plentiful meal in-stantly loses all desire to partake of it should anaccount arrive of the death of a beloved relative jthe approach of a son absent for many years, thepresence of an officer to arrest him for some griev-ous offence, or any other affecting occurrence.Here then are the passions of grief, joy, or fearcapable of at once removing the poignant sensa-tion of hunger, an effect which may be producedwith equal certainty and celerity by the adminis-tration of a quarter of a grain of emetic tartar, orany medicine of similar character. Suppose thisman to have finished his meal, the same circum-stances cause an immediate suspension of the di-gestive process : general uneasiness, heartburn,and eructations, with other symptoms supervene,and these again are such consequences as would

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result from the administration of the same medi-cine. Similar passions are capable of arrestingsleep, and inducing the most distressing state ofrestlessness, a condition which as certainly followsthe exhibition of a cup of strong tea. Fear seems,of all the passions, that which is most capable ofproducing extraordinary effects, some of whichare temporary, and others, as we shall see pre-sently, constitute permanent and unmanageabledisease. A novice in thieving is detected in theact, and flies before the owner of the property ;his heart beats rapidly and convulsively, hisbreathing becomes hurried and difficult, his mus-cles lose their power of acting, and he sinks downexhausted long before he would have yielded tomere fatigue. Terror in another form operatesdifferently. The stupidest of all jesters, the actorof practical jokes, dresses as a spectre and presentshimself before a timid woman j her hair standserect, the blood flies from her cheek, and she sinksdown in violent convulsions, or perhaps life itselfis extinguished. But on certain occasions, and inparticular persons, tJie effect is still more striking.I allude to its influence in producing conti-actionof the muscles of the intestines and bladder, andits consequences ; and its action on the extreme ves-sels of tlic skin in the production of profuse per-spiration. Blushing arises from those minute vesselsof the skin admitting red blood, which a momentbefore received transparent fluids only. Here then


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Is a marked change wrought in the state of thecircLihition by a most delicate impression on theimagination : a word, a glance, a sign is sufficientto produce the same condition of the vessels,which results from the mechanical operation offriction, the excitement of a stimulating applica-tion, or an increase of bodily exertion. Thevoice is another function sensibly influenced bymental emotion, and consequently by externalimpressions ; fear and rage frequently take awaythe power of utterance ; the various feelingswhich agitate a man when he first essays to deli-ver his opinions before a large audience producea rema^'kable and singular condition of the organ ofvoice, sometimes totally paralyzing its faculties.Laughter, which may be looked upon as a kind ofconvulsive action of the muscles of respiration andthe organ of voice, accompanied by peculiar sensa-tions, is excited by a pleasant train of thought, ahumourous narration, or the grimaces of a moun-tebank, and may be with equal certainty calledforth by the mechanical application of the fingersto the ribs, or the nails to the sole of the foot.Sleep is induced by monotonous sounds constantlyrepeated ;the baby's hushaby is as efficacious asthe discourse of a dull speaker destitute of a va-riety of cadence : the effects of opium, and othernarcotics in producing the same effects, are wellknown. The influence of music on the muscularsystem is notorious ; few persons can keep their


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their toes quiet while they hear a favourite danceplayed, and still fewer can resist the propensitythey feel to inarch in time while they pass amilitary band in the street. The best exam-ples of the influence of mental impressions uponthe operations of the animal economy may be ob-tained from a contemplation of its effects on theglandular system and secretion in general. By ajudicious encomium on a savoury dish I fill themouth of a hungry gourmand with saliva, or incommon language, I make his teeth water. Iaccomplish the same end by the application of afew grains of salt to the tongue. The occur-rence of some misfortune, or a pathetic narration,stimulates the lachrymal gland to secretion ascertainly as an irritating application to the nose oreye. The Sorrows of Werter, or the mustard-potunder the nose of a young lady, are equally effica-cious. A paroxism of rage sets the liver secret-ing, and the intestines and stomach are over-flowed with bile. " The singing of a bagpipei*the nose" is reported to have a strange effectupon certain squeamish constitutions. I hadnearly forgotten two very appropriate illustra-tions of this doctrine, the first is the very acuteand painful impression made upon the nervoussystem by the cutting of a cork, grinding of aknife, or sharpening of a saw ; and the second isthe power we possess of producing yawning bypresenting the gestures which accompanies it to


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the eye of a bye-stander, either in reality or bya good drawing. A wager is very often laidwith a person unacquainted with the circumstances,that he shall not sneeze within a given time,however great the quantity of snufFhe may take jit is won by watching when the inspirationwhich precedes the act commences, and thensuddenly calling off the attention to another ob-ject ; the anxiety to succeed is also often suffi-cient to prevent the occurrence without any suchinterruption. These examples are surely suffi-cient to establish the reciprocal influence of theimagination, and the common operations of theanimal economy.

Poxver of the Imagination in jjroducing Disease*I have now to shew the power of the imagina-tion, and consequently of external impressions

made upon it in the production of disease. Forthis purpose I avail myself of a very full chapteron this subject by Zimmerman, and have verylittle to add to it.*

*' Ail the passions, when carried to excess, bringon very formidable diseases. Sometimes they oc-casion death, or bring us at least into imminentdanger. The most reputable physicians agree inopinion, that terror may occasion apoplexy, and* See his Treatise on Experience in Physic, translated from

the German, London, 1782.


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death j and indeed, they consider apoplexy asthe most common effect of violent rage. Withouteven being carried to excess, it will sometimes occa-sion a difficulty of breathing, together with a senseof stricture in the breast, and an hesitation tospeak, the tongue remaining as it were immove-ably fixed to the palate. The weaker passions speak,the stronger passions are mute. Hysterical andhypochondriacal affection, and likewise melan-choly, may indeed arise from many physicalcauses ; but these diseases are likewise sometimesthe effects of grief in the most healthy people,although we are unable to say how this is ef-fected.

Violent transports of the mind, will likewise oc-casion the return of particular diseases, at a timewhen from the state of the patient there wouldseem to be nothing to fear. This is particularlyinstanced in epilepsy. I have likewise observedthat in hysterical women when the disorder was ina high degree, the spasmodic affection becomingless violent and frequent, was not so much to beconsidered as a sign of their recovery, as their be-ginning to be less affected by certain ideas, whichin health produced no perceptible effect, butwhich, when the disease was present, constantlyexcited a fixed and terrified look, difficulty of res-piration, and spasmodic movement of the limbs.The body follows the affections of the soul inthese cases, and acts as the soul feels. It will


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therefore not be amiss for us to consider the prin^cipal effects of the most sensible passions, becausedifferent passions very often produce different ef.fects 3 or the same passions may excite differentcircumstances, either in the same or different in-dividuals.

Joy, which Cicero has very well defined, a vo-luptuous transport of the soul, and in which hecontended a wise man ought not to indulge him-self, although he himself confesses in an unex-pected moment to have given into it even toexcess

;this passion I say is much more dan-gerous to life than sudden grief. The in-

stances we meet with of the fatal effects of suddenjoy, are more numerous than those of thelatter. Sophocles, being desirous of provingthat at an advanced age he was in full posses-sion of his intellectual powers, composed a tra-gedy, was crowned, and died through joy. Thesame thing happened to Philippides the comicwriter. We see Chilon, of Lacedemon, embracinghis son who had borne away the prize at the Olym-pic games, and dyi^g in his arms. Two Romanladies, seeing their sons return from the battles ofTrasymenus and Cannse, died in the same manner.M. Juventius Thalna, on being told that a triumphhad been decreed to him for having subdued Cor-sica, fell down dead before the altar at which hewas offering up his thanksgiving. Vaterus relates,that a brave soldier, who had never been sick, died


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suddenly in the arms of an only daughter, whomhe had long wished to see. A worthy family inHolland being reduced to indigence, the elderbrother passed over to the East Indies, acquiredconsiderable riches there, and returning home,presented his sister with the richest jewels : theyoung woman, at this unexpected change of for-tune, became motionless and died. The famousFouquet died on being told that Louis XIV. hadrestored him to his liberty. The niece of the cele-brated Leibnitz, not suspecting that a philosopherwould hoard up treasure, died suddenly, on open-ing a box under her uncle's bed, which containedsixty thousand ducats. Dr. Mead tells us that inthe memorable year of the South Sea bubble, moreof those went mad who acquired fortunes, than ofthose who lost them.

Laughter, when in excess, has sometimes oc-casioned death. Thus it is related of ^euxis, thathaving 'painted an old woman, and attentivelyconsidered the picture, he found it so singularlygrotesque as to die through laughter. Philemonwas walking in a garden, with his friends, when anass came trotting towards them, and with greatcomposure ate a dish of figs. " This ass, (saidPhilemon) Vv^ould, perhaps choose to have wine withhis figs :" the wine was brought, the ass drank it.,and Philemon laughed to excess, and died.*

* There is a deficiency of examples of disease produced bylaughter, yet it han probably had its effects in many instances.


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Anger is a violent transport of the soul, joinedto a desire of revenge. The effects of this passionseem to be to stimulate every thing that is sensi-ble and moveable in man. The face reddens, theeyes sparkle, the muscles are contracted, and theheart beats with increased quickness, even an hun-dred and forty strokes in a minute. Violent an-ger has sometimes produced hemorrhages and sub^cutaneous extravasations ; or some vessel of thebrain becoming ruptured by these transports, afatal apoplexy has taken place. Sometimes thewhole mass of blood seems to retreat towards itscentre, the cutaneous veins disappear, the face be-comes pale, the voice is faultering or altogetherlost, an universal tremor takes place, and the per-son who is thus affected, totters, and at length fallsdown in a state of insensibility, and perhaps dies,unless nature is speedily relieved. There havebeen some instances of excessive anger being suc-ceeded by epilepsy, colic, or a violent degree offever.

I was called not long ago, in company with Dr.Wasterli, to a young woman who had fallen into aconvulsive state in consequence of a violent fit ofanger. She seemed to have an extreme strictureof the breast, and was unable to swallow, or tospeak ; but yet as she sat supported in her chair,her legs trembled with violence, and she groanedincessantly during the hour she continued in thisstate. Violent anger has sometimes the effect of


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tjxciting an increased flow of bile. In some, thisoccasions vomiting ; in others, it passes off down-wards, and causes diarrhoea ; or by being retained,from a stricture of the gall ducts, will perhaps beabsorbed, and thus occasion jaundice. In caseswhere anger has been succeeded by extreme grief,obstructions have taken place in the liver.The effects of terror are merely similar to those

of anger, but in general are more violent. Likeanger it occasions sudden palpitation of the heart,weakness and trembling of the knees, so that aman in this state is unable to save himself by flight.In some cases terror has not only excited immedi-ate convulsions, but has occasioned them to returnperiodically. Dr. Tissot tells us of a peasant whohaving dreamt that a serpent was twisted roundhis arm, exerted some violent effort to relievehimself from this supposed enemy, and his arm wasfor a long time subject to a violent convulsive mo-tion, which returned three or four times a day,and sometimes lasted an hour. Epilepsy is in-deed sometimes cured by excessive fright, but it isthe more usual efl'ect of terror to occssion this dis-order. Wepfer has given us a case in this way,where the patient first became epileptic after anexcessive fright, and afterwards died apoplectic.I remember to have seen a woman at Gottingenattacked with epilepsy from being suspected ofhaving killed her child.

Fear has been said to make the hair stand up-


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right, and to contract the pores from which thehairs issue in the same manner as cold does.There are instances in authors even of the colourof the hair being changed by excessive fright.Thus Pechlin relates that a young man, who wasshipwrecked near Leghorn, became suddenlygrey, and was so twenty years after this accident,though before this his hair was black. Stahlspeaks of a young man of family, who being con-demned to death for some enormous crime, be-came grey likewise in the space of a single night.*Many observations tend to prove that suddenfear has occasioned syncope and even death. Theface grows pale, the blood seems to stop in thevena cava or in the right auricle of the heart, thevessels become distended, and the heart itself inthese cases has sometimes burst. Philip II. kingof Spain only said to his first minister the cardinalEspinosa, Cardinal know that I am master : andthe minister was so much terrified that he died afew days afterwards. The same prince perceivingthat one of his ministers answered him with somehesitation, gave him a severe rebuke j the mi-nister withdrew from the apartment and died.Philip V, died suddenly on being told that theSpaniards had been defeated, and on openinghim his heart was found ruptured. Timid peo-

'* Many such cases are recorded ; several are said to haveoccurred in tlie French revolution.


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pie are more liahle^tkan others to fall sick. Afirmness of mind is one of the best preservativesagainst contagion. Rivinus attributed the pro-pagation of the plague at Leipsic wholly to fear.Willis has very well observed that they who fearthe small-pox the most are generally the first tobe attacked with it. Cheyne assures us that fearis extremely prejudicial in all epidemical diseases.Dr. Rogers remarks that fear constantly increasesthe ravages of a contagious disease.

Fear is extremely prejudical to delicate people,and above all to hypochondriacal and hysterical pa-tients, because these subjects from their excessivesensibility are susceptible of the least impressions,and the latter are continually suffering from imagi-nary ills. Tulpius tells us of an indolent man v>'howas rendered miserable by reading medical books.An Hypochondriac who studied under Boerhaaveused to fancy he had the disorder described in eachlecture. The imagination of this man was indeedso powerful, that he commonly appeared to havesomething like the disease he had heard explained.

Fear generally increases the danger and fatalityof diseases, disturbs their ordinary course, andoccasions new and unusual symptoms. It weakensthe powers of nature so much that the disease be-comes superior to every remedy. I remember tohave seen a man ill with a miliary fever, whichseemed to be going on favourably, but a sudden


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fright proved fatal toSum; BwrThe died withinhalf an hour after it happened.The idle stories of apparations, haunted houses,

and witchcraft, which are so generally told to chil-dren, give them impressions of timidity, whichthey afterwards find difficult to remove, even inadvanced life and with the best sense. I couldrelate many instances of the fatal effects of theseimpressions both in children and adults. Sometime ago I had the care of a poor woman of se-venty years of age, who had an erysipelatous feverwhich was very long and dangerous in its course,and was apparently brought on by the dread of anapparition. This poor woman lived in a lonelyhouse which had the reputation of being haunted,and she one night fancied she saw in the personof a large mastiff, the much talked of spirit.Her terror was excessive, she shrieked out, andfell down in a state of insensibility. When shecame to herself she complained of anxiety, sick-ness at the stomach, and extreme head ach ; thenext day she had considerable fever, and on theday following her head was exceedingly inflamedand a great part of it covered with an erysipelat-ous eruption. Modesty may be considered as amore moderate species of fear, and when carriedto excess sometimes occasions the most alarmins!'effects in women.

Sorrow acts either suddenly or by slow degrees,in proportion to its violence and continuance.


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Its objects and causes being different accordingto the degree or suddenness of any misfortune,or its being present, or past, or likely to happen,the effects of this passion will be various. Thereare not so many examples of fatal effects fromgrief as from joy, because grief, although it di-minishes the energy of the nervous system,slackens rather than accelerates the circulation.There are some instances however, of suddengrief having proved fatal. It is related of Dio-dorus Clu'onos, who was considered as the mostsubtile logician of the time of Ptolemy- Soter, thatStilbo one day in the presence of the king pro-posed a question to him, to which he was unableto reply ; the king willing to cover him with shamepronounced only one part of his name and calledhim ovog, ass, instead of Chronos. Diodorus wasso much affected at tliis as to die soon afterwards.Horace was so much grieved at the loss of hisfriend and patron Mecenas, as to survive himonly nine days. Montaigne tells ns of a German,who was killed at the siege of Osen, after hav-ing performed wonders in the field ; one of thegeneral officers desired to see the corpse of so gal-lant a man, and the body being brought beforehim, he discovered in it the features of his ownson, and died on the spot. Dr. Tissot speaks ofthe father of a numerous family, who having losta wife, whom he tenderly loved, became suddenlyasthmatic. One of our oldest and most unin-


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formed practitioners conceived a fancy that tlieseat of the patient's disease was elsewhere, andgave drastic purges in order to bring down thehemorrhoids. But at the end of two days the pa-tient died, and on opening the body, the kingswere found inflamed, and the heart burst. Ithappened not long ago at London, that an Eng-lishman who attended the funeral of his wife,lost tlie use of all his limbs, and continuedspeechless for some time afterwards. Almost inthe very moment that I am writing. Prince GeorgeLouis of Holstein having lost his wife, directedher corpse to be removed from the coffin in whichit was placed, into another of more costly materi-als ; and when this was done, the prince kneelingdown at the side of the coffin, desired his Valetde Chambre to read to him some pages of a piousbook, melted into tears, and soon afterwardsdied.

If violent grief is speedy and very fatal in itseffects, that which preys more slowly on a feelingmind, is no less dangerous to health. Slow andsilent sorrow, gradually undermines the best andmost healthy constitution. We every day see in-stances of incurable diseases, brought on by thiscause. Point out to me, said Cicero, a remedyfor that kind of grief which carried off the ami-able Octavius.

This slow, corroding grief, gradually destroysthe energy of the nervous system, the appetite

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and sleep : occasions indigestion ; renders thepulse slow, weak, and commonly unequal ; thetone of the heart becoming weakened, the bloodis carried slowly through the lungs, and would per-haps stop there, were not its progress acceleratedby frequent, involuntary sighs. In the minutevessels of the skin, the circulation is likewise ex-tremely feeble, and hence the paleness and sad-ness of the complexion. In short, the body andsoul in this melancholy state seem reciprocally toprey on each other.The uneasiness that is occasioned by an ex-

treme desire to revisit one's native country, is thesource of a particular disease named Nostalgia.This disorder, which announces itself by melan-choly, trembling of the limbs, and some othersymptoms, sometimes proves fatal in a short time.The Swiss are exceedingly subject to this diseasewhen in a foreign country ; and it has been evenspoken of as peculiar to that people, but everyday's experience proves the natives of everycountry to be liable to it. Barrere has seen it inseveral Burgundy soldiers, who were forced intothe service, or refused their dismission. Dr.Auenbrucker, physician to the Spanish hospitalat Vienna, has likewise frequently observed it inyoung people, who had been enlisted by force,and despaired of ever seeing their home andfriends again. These young soldiers were at firstsilent, languid, pensive, emitted deep sighs.


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seemed exceedingly sori'owful, and gradually be-came insensible to every thing. The same phy-sician tells us that this disorder, which was for-merly so frequent amongst the Austrian troops,is now extremely rare, since a plan has beenadopted of enlisting soldiers only for a certainnumber of years, and giving them a dischargewhen that time is expired. I have it from seve-ral Scotch physicians and officers, that this dis-order is by no means uncommon amongst theircountrymen. Indeed, I believe it will be metwith in men of every nation, who in foreign coun-tries feel the want of those delights and enjoy-ments they would meet with amongst their friendsat home. In short, every Swiss feels as I do, theNostalgia, under another name, though at home,whenever he thinks he should live better in anyother country. The Nostalgia excites and cher-ishes the most singular fancies, which no argu-ments or medicines or even punishment can re-move. The only resource is to find out a way toplease the patient, but when phthisis has really ma-nifested itself, even this discovery will be of no rse.

Amongst the melancholy passions we may veryproperly include lo\'e. This acts suddenly andwith violence, because of all the passions it is themost impatient, and tlie least susceptible of con-trol J sometimes, however, it is more slow inprogress, and like intense grief gradually under-mines the constitution. The more general effects

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^of this tender passion are a tremulous pulse, deepsighs, an alternate glow and paleness of thecheeks, dejection, loss of appetite, a faulteringspeechj cold sweats and watchfulness, v;hich gra-dually terminate in consumption, or perhaps oc-casion insanity. Disappointment in love, islikewise occasionally productive of other symp-toms. Tulpius tells us of a young English-man, who having met with a refusal from alady, became perfectly rigid and motionless, sit-ting in the same attitude with his eyes open,and appearing rather like a statue than a hu-man being ; he continued in this posture tillnight, and then, on being told that his mistressyielded to his passion, he rose instantly as if froma profound sleep, became more chearful, andsoon recovered."

On the influence of the imagination iii the cureof disease.

In the two preceding sections, I have adduceda number of facts to prove the influence of theimagination over the ordinary operations of theanimal economy, as well as the power it possessesof disturbing those operations, and producing dis-ease. It remains to be determined xcJielher thisinfluence be sirfficiently poiiseyjul to counteract anyinterruption of the vital functions ^ or in otherxvords whether disease can by such means be cured


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or remedied. This influential power of the mindover the body in removing disease has long beenrecognized and acted upon. The sensible phy-sician is in the constant practice of prescribing incertain diseases, relaxation from business, pleasingsociety, change of scene, amusements, the peru-sal of entertaining books, the theatre, or anyother attainable enjoyment. Native air and wa-tering places are recommended in many cases, notso much from an expectation of beneficial effectsfrom any peculiarity of the atmosphere, or medi-cinal power of the water, as/rom the influence ofnew objects and habits upon the mind; in realityit is absurd to suppose that a person should deriveany advantage from the air of a particular part ofthe country, merely because it was that which hefirst breathed, unless indeed it be better than thatwhere he may at the time reside. Military sur-geons are well aware of the value of agreeable car-riage exercise, and short journies to their sick,and such means has been occasionally resorted toin the worst cases of fever with marked advantage :the wounded of an army are said to do better ona march than in hospital. Much may with justicebe attributed in such cases to the greater purity ofthe air abroad than within doors, but I think afair proportion of the advantage may be ascribedto the influence on the mind. Every physicianmust have observed the bad effect of mental de-pression in fever, and that the fatal termination is


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in many cases ascribable to the operation of sucha cause. I knew an instance where a patient wassinking under the effects of a lingering fever ; thephysician, who was a man of sense, desired his fa-mily to tell him that a lawsuit, about which he wasvery anxious, had been decided in his favour ; theeffect was better than from the apothecary's ju-lep, and he recovered : luckily the lawsuit wasshortly after decided in his favour. The natureof the mental impression must be suited to thedisease which it is proposed to remedy. It is re-lated that a certain celebrated buffoon in London,who caused great amusement to the admirers ofbroad grins, once waited upon an eminent physi-cian with a long catalogue of imaginary ills, pooh !said the doctor, go and see Grimaldi. Alas, re-plied the afflicted complainant, 1 am that unhappyperson. The doctor sent him on a tour to thelakes, and I conclude that he recovered. Thestory may be false, but is one in point, and I useit without scruple. Actual bodily pain is fre-quently suspended by mental emotion ; many ofmy readers could probably supply me with an ex-ample, in recounting how their tooth aches in-stantly disappeared when they knocked at thedoor of a dentist. In battle grievous woundsare frequently scarcely felt during the heat of ac-tion, and in storming a breacli, are not even per-ceived until the object is attained or lost. Atsea an invalid sailor will rise from his hammock


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and fight with desperation, and when all is over re-lapse into his former condition, or remain well.The effect of terror in calming violent spasmodicaction of the stomach is remarkable ; the mostdistressing sea sickness is immediately removed,if the danger of shipwreck become imminent.The paralytic, the gouty, and the rheumatichave been known to fly with rapidity from aburning house. The effect of music in soothingand relieving disease is well known. Farinelli,the wonder and delight of the last century, issaid to have cured Philip the Fifth of Spain bythis means. This prince had fallen into a mostdistressing state of melancholy, which caused hini-to neglect the affairs of the kingdom, and absenthimself from the council : the queen determinedto try the effect of music. She caused a concertto be prepared in an apartment near that of theking, at which Farinelli struck up on a suddenone of his finest airs. The monarch, who was ex-tremely sensible to harmony, appeared at firstsurprised, and shortly after much affected. Atthe end of the second air he called for the musi-sician, loaded him with caresses, and desired himto name his recompense. Farinelli requestedthat he should permit himself to be shaved, andgo to council. From that moment the diseasebecame amenable to medicine.* The bite of the

* See the Dictionnaire Universe! Historique, Critique, &c.Farinelli.


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Tarantula, a species of spider, is supposed bythe people of the country where it is foundto be cured by music.t I am deficient infurther examples on this head : many could pro-bably however be produced. The effect of acounter impression in lethargy resulting fromgrief is remarkable : persons are often relievedby calling their attention to some interesting ob-ject. A widovf in a state of stupefaction for theloss of a husband, on having her child producedbefore her, has been relieved by a flood of tears.Certain nauseous and disgusting remedies havebeen used, especially by the vulgar, and some-times with success ; as they possess no activity asmedicines their operation must be altogetherascribed to the impression they make on the mind.They are generally used in nervous diseases,which are of all others the most likely to be af-fected by such means. Living lice have beengiven to cure epilepsy ; the common millipedewas formerly kept in the apothecaries' shops forthe same purpose, and human blood and fat wasalso used : the latter is a common remedy withthe vulgar to the present day j they often come toseek it at the schools of anatomy. Up to a veryrecent period certain portions of the human scull,the ossa triguetra, were to be found in the shops,and were noticed in the dispensatories. PaulBarbette, a surgeon who practised in Amsterdam

f Sec Vfuider Wiel ob. rarior.


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about 130 years ago, recommends oil of scorpions^as an. ointment in the plague : human fat, earthworms, the excrement of a gander, and powderedswallows, form part his materia medica. Withinthe memory of men of the present day the coldfit of the ague has been diverted by the adminis-tration of a living spider. Scratching with adead man's hand is said to cure the scrofula.Powdered toads is a popular remedy. The jfleshof the viper is eaten to cure its own bite. In cit-ing these examples, I do not mean to assert thatsuch remedies would be likely often to cure dis-eases, but the number is sufficient to show, thatthe principle upon which they operate has thus toa certain extent been tacitly acknowledged. Noone will, I believe, be hardy enough to assert thatcharms can produce any effect upon disease exceptthrough the intervention of the imagination, andyet we have every reason for supposing, as far ascreditable evidence goes, that they occasionallyare effectual. We cannot, I think, reject the tes-timony of the numberless witnesses in favour ofthe charming off of warts. The operation is per-formed by taking a joint of straw or a pebble foreach wart, touching the diseased parts separatelywith one, and then enclosing the whole in a bag,and either burying it or casting it on the high-way, in which case whoever finds it is suppos-ed to get the warts for his pains. The atten-tion of the child is first roused by the cere-


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monial of tlie appllcatioiij and it is kept continuallyon the stretch while it watches for the expectedresult. Here then is a well marked local disease,a morbid growth of the cuticle, removed by a^mental impression. The instance is a strong one,and the inference can only be set aside by a de-nial of the fact altogether. Pills of bread havebeen administered with effect, either for the re-moval of imaginary complaints, or to quiet themind of the patient until the best of all physi-cians, nature, had operated a cure. The storyhas often been told of the patient who, from sim-plicity, swallowed the paper on which his pre-scription was written, and experienced the effectshe expected ; the fact, however, rests on goodauthority. A professor of mathematics at Pisa,Ranier Gerbi, published a memoir to show, thata dozen of a certain insect, whose name I forget^if bruised between the finger and tliumb, wouldendow the person with the power of curing thetooth-ach for twelve months. Out of 6'29, hesays, he cured 401 j this is circumstantial at least.Amulets, if they possess any power, must deriveit from the influence of the imagination, unlessindeed they contain some active remedy, as ar-senic, or corrosive sublimate, as is sometimes thecase : they generally are mere toys, a small bagcontaining powder of dried toads, spiders, andsuch things. Tlie Cossack relies on the image ofSt. Nicholas j the Mahometan on a part of the


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Koran ; in Ireland the enclosure is generally averse of the Testament. In certain cases theoperation on the imagination is combined withactual mechanical impression on the nervous sys-tem through the skin. The metallic tractors,which were supposed to produce their effectsthrough the agency of magnetism, were metallicrods, which were gently drawn over the affectedpart in different directions. Their claims to mag-netic influence were rejected, on the grounds ofthe same effects being produced by wooden rods.The shampooing, as imported from the east, anda new and fashionable remedy which the doctorscall *' acupuncturation,^^ may be ranked under thesame head. This latter plan consists in the intro-duction of a needle through the skin in the vici-nity of the affected part. I would advise all per-sons who wish to try it to have recourse to it be-fore its character is lost. The stopping of bleed-ing from the nose, by placing a cold weight on theback of the neck, belongs to this class of remedies.

The extraordinary powers frequently attributedto new medicines, and the high character whichthey suddenly acquire and as rapidly lose, may beaccounted for by a recurrence to the above princi-ple : it enables us also to explain, in a certain de-gree, the cause why so many inert remedies en-cumber our catalogues of medicines, as well as thereason of the success of quack remedies. I haveyet to notice one of the best authenticated exam-


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pies on record of the cure of disease by impressionon the mind. *' A girl, in the hospital at Harlem,upon receiving a great fright fell into convulsions.Immediately, all who crowded round her to see orassist her, were seized in the same manner. Forthe space of two days the disorder continued to bepropagated ; attacking one person successively atthe sight of another, till almost all the boys andgirls in the house laboured under the paroxysm.The physicians of the place assembled, and pre-scribed the most powerful nervous medicines with-out any effect : at length recourse was had toBoerhaave, who, observing in what manner thedisorder was communicated, resolved to try theforce of an expedient which might affect the ima-gination. Accordingly, ordering several portablefurnaces to be placed in the apartments, on whichwere laid burning coals, and hooks of iron of aparticular shape, he informed them, that sincemedicines had proved ineffectual, he knew of noother remedy than that the person who should beseized with the next paroxysm, whether boy orgirl, should be burnt in the arm with a hot iron,as far as the bone. All were struck with suchterror, on hearing this sentence announced, thatwhen the paroxysm would again have seized them,they endeavoured with aii their power to resist itsprogress, and their resolution was attended withsuccess.'*


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To these instances I have to add the follow-ing : A gentleman, upon whose veracity I canrely, and who had the care of a military hospital,had a number of patients affected with ague. Hereceived from a lady an infallible remedy in theform of a packet of brown paper, containing ano-ther paper, upon which certain words were writ-ten, and the whole sealed with three seals. Thispacket was worn by the patient some time previ-ous to the expected approach of the cold fit, andin many instances with the effect of preventingthe paroxysm, and even of accomplishing a com-plete cure. So satisfied were the men of this,that the paper was so constantly in use that itwas worn out, and it was found necessary tomake a new one without having recourse to thelady for the original charm. This new one, asmight have been expected, proved equally effica-cious. I once saw a girl who had swallowed apin, and believed that it remained sticking in herthroat, probably in consequence of its having in-jured the passage in its descent, and nothingcould persuade her to the contrary, though in-struments were repeatedly passed down. Thesurgeon at length adopted the following planhe took a pin in his hand along with the instru-ment used for extracting such bodies, and whenhe withdrew the instrument flung the pin dex-terously into the basin, so as to lead her to sup-pose that it had been drawn from her throat.


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She never after felt any annoyance from thiscause. Dr. Pfeuffer relates the following case :G. H. a peasant, who seldom quitted his bed,and when he did so, was sustained on crutches,in consequence of gouty complaints, at the ageof seventy-seven years entertained a wish againto see his son, a student of theology. Hiswish was granted in about two years : scarcelydid he hear of his arrival when he got out of bedand proceeded to the church, without crutches orsupport of any kind, and remained there twohours. He, at the present moment, walks abouthis village without crutches. He also relates thecase of a girl at Wurtzbourg, who had been deaffor a long time, and who all at once recoveredthe power of hearing when told that her fatherhad died suddenly.

Whether the cures perforrned hy tlie Prince, deHohenlohe do not admit ofa ready explanati&tiyfounded an tJw facts above stated.

I have now stated what I had to advance res-pecting the influence of the imagination on theordinary operations of the animal ceconomy, aswell as in the production and cure of diseases, ftremains to show whether the cures performed by


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31persons advancing pretensions to supernaturalpower are effected by means of such influence.Pretensions of this nature have been set up atdifferent times by persons of all denominations,rich and poor, Christians and heathens, princesand beggars, the wicked and the good ; and incarrying them into operation, more or less of ce-remonial, and circumstances calculated to exciteawe, have been resorted to. Sometimes this ce-remonial has consisted in the exhibition of un-meaning gestures and childish arrangements, butfar more generally in exciting religious enthusi-asm. If then the passions can produce such ef-fects as those which have been recounted, whatmay not be expected from such a concentrationof them as religious enthusiasm presents ; hope,fear, joy, surprise, suspense and admiration, allin operation on one weak mind at the same mo-ment, surely there cannot be conceived a condi-tion more extraordinary, or mental impressionof greater, strength.

I shall now proceed to record some examples ofcures said to have been performed by miraculousinterposition, and shall begin with those recordedby Tacitus, as having been performed by Vespa-sian. " Vespasian, (as that historian relates,)passed some months at Alexandria, having re-solved to defer his voyage to Italy till the returnof summer, when the winds blowing in a regulardirection afford a safe and pleasant navigation.


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During his residence in this city, a number ofincidents out of the ordinary course of natureseemed to mark him as the particular favourite ofthe gods. A man of mean condition, born atAlexandria, had lost his sight by an affection ofhis eyes. He presented himself before Vespasian,and falling prostrate on the ground, implored theemperor to administer a cure for his blindness.He came, he said, by the admonition of Serapis,the god whom the superstition of the Egyptiansholds in the highest veneration. The requestwas, that the emperor, with his spittle, wouldcondescend to moisten the poor man's face, andthe balls of his eyes. Another who had lost theuse of his hand, inspired by the same god, beg-ged that he would tread on the part aifected,Vespasian smiled at a request so absurd and wild.The wretched object persisted to implore his aid.He dreaded the ridicule of a vain attempt, but theimportunity of the men, and the crowd of flat-terers, prevailed upon the prince not entirely todisregard their petition. He ordered the phy-sicians to consider among themselves whether theblindness of the one, and paralytic affection ofthe other, were within the reach of human as-sistance. The result of the consultation was, thatthe organs of sight were not so injured but thatby removing the obstruction to vision, the patientmight recover. As to the disabled limb, by pro-per applications and invigorating medicines, it


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* was not impossible to restore it to its former tone.Tlie gods, perhaps, intended a special remedy,and cliose Vespasian to be the instrument of theirdispensations. If a cure took place, the glory ofit would add new lustre to the name of C^sar, ifotherwise, the poor men would bear the jests andraillery of the people. Vespasian, in the tide ofhis affairs, began to think that there was nothingso great or wonderful, nothing so improbable oreven incredible, which his good fortune wouldnot accomplish. In the presence of a prodigiousmultitude, all erect with expectation, he advancedwith an air of serenity, and hazarded the experi-ment. The paralytic hand recovered its func-tions, and the blind man saw the light of the sun.By living witnesses who were actually on the spot,both events are confii'med at this hour, when de-ceit and flattery can hope for no reward." This isan interesting and valuable narration, and throwsgreat light upon the present subject.The next example which I shall make use of

is the cure of the evil (hence called the King'sevil) by the royal touch of the monarchs ofFrance and England, and by the presentation ofa cup of drink by the Princes of Austria ofthe House of Hapsburg. i\Iany probably lookupon those pretensions as absurd, and rank themwith other vulgar errors, but the accounts are socircumstantial, and the number of cures so care-fully noted, that they cannot be disregarded.

B


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Richard Wiseman and John Browne, surgeons to*Charles the second, testify respecting the curesperformed by that monarch.* Wiseman says, p.246, " Which admirable faculty of curing thestrumai or King's evil, he (speaking of Edwardthe Confessor) is justly believed to have trans-mitted to his posterity the Kings of England, andto have continued it amono:st them to those timesin which he wrote. And when Bishop Tookerwould make use of this argument to prove thetruth of our church, Smitheus does not deny thematter of 'fact, but rather chooseth to retort, thatit is no miracle, because it may be performed byinfidels, and attributes it to the goodness of Godand grace of Saint Edward, saying that the giftdid not fail in an unworthy successor, such as hecalleth Queen Elizabeth ; and adds, that she didperform that, non virtute propria, sed virtidesigni crucis ; not by her own virtue, but by vir-tue of the sign of the cross, which she made atthe time of healing ; as if the sign of the cross,by whomsoever made, were sufficient to work amiracle. What would he now say were he living,and had seen it done by three generations ofKings, without the sign of the cross ? But it isnot my business to enter into divinity controver-sies, all that I pretend to is, first the attestation

See Wiseman's Chirurgical Treatises, and the CharismaBftsilicon, or Royal gift of Healing, by John Browne.


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ot the miracles, and secondly a direction for suchas have not opportunity of receiving the benefitof that stupendous power. The former of theseone v/ould think should need no other proof thanthe great concourse of strumous persons to WhiteHall, and the success they find in it. I myselfhave been a frequent eye witness of many hun-dred of cures performed by his majesties touchalone, without any assistance of chirurgery, andthose many of them such as had tyred out the en-deavours of able chirurgeons before they came hi-ther. It were endless to recite what I myselfhave seen, and what I have received acknowledg-ments of by letter, not only from the severalparts of this nation, but also from Ireland, Scot-land, Jersy and Garnsey." So much for Wise-man, a surgeon of the highest character, both atthat period and in the present day. Browneseems to have attended still more carefully tothese cures ; his account is very instructive andcurious, and, as he says himself, " No man shallsay the nut will not be worth cracking when hefinds good meat therein." It is really worthy ofperusal. He gives a tabular view of the numberof persons touched from 1660 to 1682, thesum total in that period being 92,107. This isat any rate worthy of a comparison with the won-ders performed by medical men of the presentday, as set forth in their Reports of cases ti'-eatedf8^'C, Browne's account of the ceremonial is asd2


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SBfollows : ** The day being come before his ma-jesty doth approach to his royal chair, which isgenerally after morning prayers, the chief offi-cer of the yeomen of the guard doth place thesick people in very convenient order for their ap-proaching the King v/ithout trouble or noise :the which done, his majesty enters his royalchair uncovered, at whose beginning thereare generally two chaplains attending, one ofwhich reading the ceremonies appointed forthis service, his Majesty all the while beingsurrounded by his nobles, and many other spec-tators : the sick and diseased people being keptback by the chirurgeous till the appointed time,when after having made three obeisances, they dobring them up in order. The chief in waitingdelivers them one by one to the king to betouched, the which done, the other takes him orher from him, and this method is used through-out the whole number which comes to be healed.Here follows at length the service performed,and the portions of the Scriptures read during theceremony, the King at a particular part of ittaking a small gold medal, strung on a bit of rib-bon for this purpose, puts it over the head ofthe patient on his neck. I beg the attention ofthe reader to tlic above circumstances

;the whole

bears very strongly on the present question.The next miraculous a/rcr whom I have to

notice is Valentine Geatrakes, or Greatrakes,


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an Irish gentleman. It must afford satisfactionto the present Irish believers in modern miracu-lous cures, to be informed that they had a coun-tryman endowed with this enviable faculty, andthat the celebrated Mr. Boyle was a convert, withmany others, to his pretensions. Greatrakes wasvery pious, simple and credulous, but a strangerto imposture ; he was persuaded that God hadgranted him the supernaturalpower of curingdiseases by the toych, and he operated with suchlively faith in his own powers that he infused thesame confidence into his patients. He removedpain by the application of his hands, and personswere relieved on the spot as if by enchantmentHe removed vertigo, diseases of the ears andeyes, epilepsy, and even scrofulous and schirroustumours. Some patients required a repetition ofthe touching, some were not affected at all. Hebelieved himself honored by a divine gift, andhad first been inspired, having heard a superna-tural voice in the night announcing his powerof curing the evil. He discovered this circum-stance to his wife, who thought he had gonemad, or that his imagination was disturbed; buthaving met a scrofulous person, he touched andcured him, and taking confidence, he set to workso heartily in this curing occupation, that hewas astonished himself at his miracles. Hewas a very mild man, and treated his patientswith great kindncsy, and recommended strong-


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ly to them the necessity of returning thanks toGod.*

Gassner, whose method of operation will befound in the annexed memoir of Dr. Pfeufer, was .a Swiss enthusiast or impostor, an ecclesiastic, anda man of extraordinary credulity. From reflexionson his own weak constitution, he came to theconclusion that his head aches did not dependon natural causes but on the influence of thedevil, and he acquired the power of repulsing hisattacks by religious means ; his attempts havingbeen successful, he practised in consequence ex-orcisms on many of his parislioners. He alwaysfirst ascertained whether the disease was naturalor diabolical ; compelling Satan to declare him-self if present, and if he answered not after threecalls, and three signs of the cross, the disease waspronounced natural, and recourse should be hadto ordinary means : but if the devil returned ananswer, and the body of the patient becameagitated by convulsions, then Gassner rubbinghis hands to his waist, taking his stole and cross,and invoking impiously the name of Jesus, com-menced his handlings, pressing and kneading thebody in various directions ; and thus succeededin performing miraculous cures. He publishedin 1774 his " Method of leading a pious and at

* See the Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, Mag-netism animal ; also Pechlin observat. physico-nied.


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the same time a healthy life." There is oneamusing and instructive fact connected with thisman's history. Mesmer^ whose feats are pre-sently to be noticed, was invited by PrinceMaximilian of Bavaria to come to Munich,to assist in deciding on the miracles of Gass-ner, and the exorcisms for which the priest-hood at that time claimed credit. He succeededby means of his animal magnetism, in presence ofthe Prince and his whole court, in working fullyas great cures as any which had been boasted of bythe priest, and he explained these cures as theeffects, not of any supernatural interference,but as produced by changes in the magnetism ofthose individuals who had been subjected to theseexperiments. For this piece of service he wasmade a member of the Munich academy, and fromthat period all priests v/lio venture to exorcise aresubject to banishment.The miracles of the Abb6 Paris have been re-

peatedly alluded to by writers on this subject. Ishould have placed them before those of Gassnerin chronological order. This man was a Parisianecclesiastic, who led a life of seclusion and morti-fication. He dedicated his time to prayer and reli-gious observances, unless vvhat was spent in weav-ing stockings for the poor. He died in 1 727 ; andhis brother having erected a tomb to him in thelittle church yard of St. Medard, the poor whomhe had assisted, and the women whom he had in-


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40structed, went to pray there. Presently it wentabroad that miraculous cures were performed atthis tomb, the persons who extended themselvesupon it falling into convulsions ; the sick werecured, the blind saw, and the tleaf heard. Manyof these miraculous cures were officially proved inthe Bishop's court in Paris ; they were sworn toby persons of credit and property, and every exer-tion was made to arrive at the source of the sup-posed imposture without effect. In fact theconvulsions were produced, and real cures per-formed, as in other cases, by the mental impres-sion: The business caused such disturbance inParis, that the court ordered the church yard tobe shut up ; and one Montgeron, a violent sup-porter of the tombstone's pretensions, in thewarmth of his zeal, and the simplicity of his heart,presented a quarto catalogue of the cures to theking, who sent him to the Bastille for his paiEs.Of all the examples of cures performed by ex-

citement ofthe imagination, not one has retained itscelebrity so long as the animal magnetism, or Mes-merism, as it is sometimes called ; after a lapse ofnearly one hundred years since it was first broached;it still has its adherents, and perhaps it remains tobe determined, whether any other power thanthe mental impression operates in producing theresults which distinguish it. It was first broughtinto general notice by Mesmer, a German, aboutthe year 177^5, and he quickly acquired strong


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testimonials in favour of the curative powers of hisremedy. After practising with various success indifferent parts of Germany, he came to Paris. Ingreat cities human intellect is constantly found de-teriorated in thousands of instances by impairedbodily health, bad education, slavish obedience tothe laws of fashion, and free indulgence in everyspecies of sensual gratification. Paris, therefore,presented a rich field for Mesmer to cultivate.With the assistance of a physician of the name ofD*Eslon, who it is said afterwards realised fiftythousand pounds by the business, Mesmer com-menced his operations, and set all Paris in a fer-ment. His apparatus consisted in a tub, in whichwere arranged a number of bottles filled with water,and laid in a direction converging to the centrethe tub was filled with water, and some poundedglass or iron filings added. The lid of the tubwas perforated, so as to allow the passage of ironrods to convey the magnetism to the patient ; themummery of grimaces, gestures, and handlingswere superadded ; they even magnetized at a dis-tance by gestures alone. These marvellous pre-parations produced their natural result, greatemotion, palpitations, twichings, spasms and con-vulsions. The charlatan himself, in a lilac co-loured silk gown, with a wand in his hand, stalkedabout to administer to each the necessary quantityof temporary insanity. The ladies, with their bo-dices unlaced, to relieve the suffocation they ex-


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perienced, rolled about the room in a most en-gaging dishabille, and cures the most wonder-ful were the consequence. If all these effects maybe attributed to the influence of impressions on themind, what may not be accomplished by suchmeans ?The miraculous infant of Kherberg, whose cures

are noticed in the annexed memoir of Dr. Pfeu-fer, evidently succeeded, not from any confidencein his medicinal skill, but from a notion that hepossessed a miraculous power. I am persuadedthat such an idea often contributes in Ireland toobtain celebrity for certain pretenders to medi-cine, the people arguing very rationally that fromthe man's ignorance and stupidity he must be in-capable of performing cures by the natural means,and that consequently he can only succeed by su-pernatural assistance. I cannot in any other wayaccount for the success of many Innocents m thepractice of physic.The following is extracted from BridePs travels

in Switzerland ; I believe they have never beentranslated : " There is in this part of Switzerlanda beggar named llosino nearly one hundred yearsof age, who continues to profit by the ignoranceand superstition of the country people. His bodyextenuated so as to resemble a skeleton, his longand snow white hair and his bent form, impart tohis appearance what tends to confirm the com-mon report of his having an understanding with


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43the devil. This belief he encourages by manyartifices, and with such success that his fame isfar spread, and he is esteemed a most accomplishedenchanter. He is a fortune teller, and cures alldiseases. But his most profitable patients arethose who are supposed to be possessed by an evilspirit. When he is employed to expel his infer-nal majesty he always chooses the middle of a darknight, at which time he leads the possessed per-son to some very retired and lonely cavern amongthe mountains. Here he suddenly assails thepatient with blows in the face and kicks in thebody, with the view, no doubt, of rendering thedevil's residence uncomfortable. When thistreatment has been continued long enough toconvince the poor sufferer that this point has beengained, he cries out suddenly, " There he goes !" There he goes !" and at the same moment firesa gun at the fugitive demon, in order to give himsuch a fright that he will be in no hurry to re-turn. After this the patient crawls home bruisedfrom head to foot, and well satisfied with theefficacy of the cure."

The following successful experiment is re-corded in the French Dictionary of MedicalScience : A person supposed to be possessed wasbrought before the bishop of Amiens in the reignof Henry the Third. The Bishop, whether hethought that the man's illness was counter-feited, or really believed in the power of


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the mental impression in curing convulsivediseases, adopted the following plan. He or-dered a layman to dress in sacerdotal robes,and to read before the patient certain portions ofCicero's epistles, with all the ceremonies usuallyadopted at exorcisms. The consequence was, thatthe man departed effectually cured. In the samework is related the history of the cure of a girllabouring under chlorosis and paralysis by a sacra-mental benediction at Coiffy, near Bourbon lesbains in 1 805.

After the facts which I have stated, and theobservations I have made upon them, the readerprobably anticipates what I have to say in con-trasting them v\dth the circumstances which ac-company the operations of the Prince de Hohen-lohe. Observe the progress of one of his casesfrom beginning to end. A person labouringunder a distressing malady is told that the periodof his cure has arrived ; that a wonderful man hasappeared, and performs most extraordinary andmiraculous cures, and that he is to be presentlyfavoured with a visit from him, and as certainlycured j his faith is unbounded ; he looks upon theevent as accomplished j the exhiliration producedby joy and hope produce a degree of cheerfulnessand composure to which he had long been astranger. The moment of the ceremony arrives,this wonderful prince presents himself j the strong-est ^motions are excited at the sight of him j the


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prayer is uttered, and the prince, with a confidentand cheering voice announces his cure, assists himwith his own hand to rise, and encourages him toexertion. The exertion is made, the ice is broken,and a cure of longer or shorter continuance is ac-complished. A most important feature in this trans-action is, the actual bodily exertion made use of bythe patient at the urgent solicitation of the prince,as well as the assistance rendered to the weak andtottering invalid by the support of the operator'sown hand.With respect to the cases of Miss Lalor andMrs. Stuart it may be said that they were notsubjected to these excitements produced by thepersonal exertions of the prince, the effect intheir cases must be ascribed therefore to the im-pression produced by the consideration that a fo-reign prince, an ecclesiastic of high rank, a mancelebrated for his piety, was then employed inoffering up prayers for their recovery. The ce-lebration of the religious ceremony of the mass,the fervent prayers offered up by their friends andrelatives, and their own hopes and anticipations,must surely be allowed to be capable of producinga very powerful excitement of the imagination,and an impression fully equal to any other. Tome it affords a satisfactory explanation of theircures, which I am happy to find are more perma-nent than those recorded by Dr. Pfeufer : Theyafford, in my opinion, a valuable illustration of


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46the doctrine which I advocate, namely, that theimagination and passions have a powerful influ-ence, not only over the ordinary operations of theanimal ceconomy^ hut in the production and cureof disease.

ERRATA.Page 3. ]. 9. For connecting these efforts read contrasting these effects.

6. 1. 1 9. For paroxism read paroxysm.24. 1. 22. For was read were.


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arthur jacob - an essay on the influence of the imagination (1823)

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