QJnrnpll ICaw ^rfynol library 
 
Cornell University Library 
 RC 343.H22 
 
 On certain conditions of nervous derange 
 
 3 1924 017 528 864 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924017528864 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 
 Cerebral Hyperemia 
 
 THE RESULTS OF 
 
 Mental Strain, or Emotional 
 Disturbance 
 
 i6mo, cloth, $1.00 
 
 "Under the disguise of the E e hard words Dr 
 Hammond presents a variety of admirable coun- 
 sels with regard to an excess of blood in the head, 
 pointing out its causes, its symptoms, the mode 
 of its medical treatment, and the means of its 
 prevention." — New York Tribune. 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 
 
ON 
 
 CERTAIN CONDITIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 NERVOUS DERANGEMENT 
 
 SOMNAMBULISM HYPNOTISM HYSTERIA HYSTEROID 
 
 AFFECTIONS, ETC. 
 
 WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D., 
 
 SURGEON GENERAL U. S. ARMY (RETIRED LIST) ; PROFESSOR OF DISEASES OF 
 
 THE MIND AND NERVOUS SYSTEM IN THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ETC. 
 
 "Ratio quasi quadam lux lumenque vitce." — Cicero. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 G. P- PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 182 FIFTH AVENUE 
 l88l 
 
Copyright by 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 1881 
 
PREFACE 
 
 A book,* published in 1876, having for the last two 
 years been out of print, I have taken the opportunity 
 afforded by the demand for a new edition — which 
 would long ago have been complied with but for the 
 stress of other engagements — to thoroughly revise the 
 work, and while adding largely to the subjects now con- 
 sidered, to make it more homogeneous by omitting 
 everything specially relating to spiritualism. 
 
 The interesting conditions of which the present vol- 
 ume treats are being very attentively studied both in 
 this country and in Europe, and ought to be brought 
 to the knowledge of the general reader. They are the 
 fields upon which the miracle-worker expends his most 
 energetic labor, for he knows something of the forms 
 under which they are manifested, and he also knows that 
 by making adroit use of them he can deceive thousands 
 of innocent but ignorant people to his own advantage, 
 and that of any system which requires miracles for its 
 establishment or aggrandizement. 
 
 As a knowledge of the conditions in question be- 
 comes more diffused, the ability to work miracles will 
 be correspondingly diminished, and in the hope of con- 
 tributing to these ends this little book is written. 
 
 New York, Jan. 1, 1881. 
 
 * " Spiritualism and Other Causes and Conditions of Nervous Derange- 
 ment." New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1876. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. Certain Conditions of Nervous Derange- 
 ment ...... i 
 
 II. Some Phases of Hysteria . . 38 
 
 III. Another Phase of Hysteria — Fasting Girls. 83 
 
 IV. The Hysteroid Affections — Catalepsy, Ec- 
 
 stasy and Hystero-Epilepsy . .114 
 
 V. Stigmatization ..... 154 
 VI. Supernatural Cures . . . .188 
 
 VII. Some of the Causes which lead to Senso- 
 rial Deception and Delusional Beliefs 229 
 
CERTAIN CONDITIONS OF NERVOUS 
 DERANGEMENT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SOMNAMBULISM NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL. 
 
 IN the condition known as somnambulism there appears to 
 be a more or less perfect state of automatism, which is 
 the governing power of the individual. Certain faculties and 
 senses are intensely exalted, while others are as completely 
 suspended in action. If the attention can be concentrated 
 upon any particular idea, circumstance or object, great lucid- 
 ity is manifested. On the other hand, there may be, and gen- 
 erally is, the most profound abstraction of mind in regard 
 to all other ideas and things. 
 
 The most thorough work on natural somnambulism is that 
 of Bertrand,* published over fifty years ago, but which is still 
 admirable for the truthful account of the various phenomena 
 attendant upon the condition in question. Bertrand assigns 
 somnambulism to four causes : — 
 
 i. A particular nervous temperament, which predisposes 
 individuals otherwise in good health to paroxysms of som- 
 nambulism during their ordinary sleep. 
 
 2. It is sometimes produced in the course of certain dis- 
 eases, of which it may be considered a symptom or a crisis. 
 
 * " Traite du somnambulisme et des differentes modifications qu'il pre- 
 sente." Paris, 1833. 
 
2 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 3. It is often seen in the course of the proceeding neces- 
 sary to bring on the condition known as animal magnetism. 
 
 4. It may result as a consequence of a high degree of 
 mental exaltation. It is in this state contagious by imitation 
 to such persons as are submitted to the same influence. 
 
 From these four categories of causes, Bertrand distinguishes 
 four kinds of somnambulism — the natural, the symptomatic, 
 the artificial, and the ecstatic. Under the artificial variety we 
 must include Mr. Braid's hypnotism. In general terms, there- 
 fore, there are two kinds of somnambulism, the natural and 
 the artificial. As an instance of the former condition, the 
 following case is adduced from a recent monograph of the 
 writer : * 
 
 " A young lady of great personal attractions had the 
 misfortune to lose her mother by death from cholera. Several 
 other members of the family suffered from the disease, she 
 alone escaping, though almost worn out with fatigue, excite- 
 ment, and grief. A year after these events her father removed 
 from the West to New York, bringing her with him and putting 
 her at the head of his household. She had not been long in 
 New York before she became affected with symptoms resem- 
 bling those met with in chorea. The muscles of the face were 
 in almost constant action ; and though she had not altogether 
 lost the power to control them by her will, it was difficult at 
 times for her to do so. She soon began to talk in her sleep, 
 and finally was found one night by her father, as he came 
 home, endeavoring to open the street door. She was then, as 
 he said, sound asleep, and had to be violently shaken to be 
 aroused. After this she made the attempt every night to get 
 * " Sleep and its Derangements," p. 205. Philadelphia, 1869. 
 
NATURAL SOMNAMBULISM. 3 
 
 out of bed, but was generally prevented by a nurse who slept 
 in the same room with her, and who was awakened by the 
 noise she made. Her father now consulted me in regard to 
 the case, and invited me to the house in order to witness the 
 somnambulic acts for myself. One night, therefore, I went to 
 his residence, and waited for the expected manifestations. 
 The nurse had received orders not to interfere with her charge 
 on this occasion, unless it was evident that injury would result, 
 and to notify us of the beginning of the performance. 
 
 " About twelve o'clock she came down stairs and informed 
 us that the young lady had risen from her bed and was about 
 to dress herself. I went up-stairs, accompanied by her father, 
 and met her in the upper hall partly dressed. She was walk- 
 ing very slowly and deliberately, her head elevated, her eyes 
 open, and her hands hanging loosely by her side. We stood 
 aside to let her pass. Without noticing us, she descended the 
 stairs to the parlor, we following her. Taking a match which 
 she had brought with her from her own room, she rubbed it 
 several times on the under side of the mantel-piece until it 
 caught fire, and then, turning on the gas, lit it. She next 
 threw herself into an arm-chair and looked fixedly at a portrait 
 of her mother which hung over the mantel-piece. While she 
 was in this position I carefully examined her countenance, and 
 performed several experiments, with the view of ascertaining 
 the condition of the senses as to activity. 
 
 " She was very pale, more so than was natural to her ; her 
 eyes were wide open, and did not wink when the hand was 
 brought suddenly in close proximity to them ; the muscles of 
 the face, which, when she was awake, were almost constantly 
 in action, were now perfectly still; her pulse was regular in 
 
4 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 rhythm and force, and beat eighty-two per minute, and the 
 respiiation was uniform and slow. 
 
 * I held a large hook between her eyes and the picture she 
 was apparently looking at, so that she could not see it. She 
 nevertheless continued to gaze in the same direction as if no 
 obstacle were interposed. I then made several motions as if 
 about to strike her in the face. She made no attempt to ward 
 off the blows, nor did she give the slightest sign that she saw 
 my actions. I touched the corner of each eye with a lead- 
 pencil I had in my hand, but even this did not make her close 
 her eyelids. I was entirely satisfied that she did not see, at 
 least with her eyes. 
 
 " I held a lighted sulphur-match under her nose, so that 
 she could not avoid inhaling the sulphurous acid gas which 
 escaped. She gave no evidence of feeling any irritation. 
 Cologne-water and other perfumes and smelling-salts likewise 
 failed to make any obvious impression on her olfactory nerves. 
 
 " Through her partially-opened mouth I introduced a piece 
 of bread soaked in lemon-juice. She evidently failed to per- 
 ceive the sour taste. Another piece of bread saturated with a 
 solution of quinine was equally ineffectual. The two pieces 
 remained in her mouth a full minute and were then chewed 
 and swallowed. 
 
 "She now arose from her chair and began to pace the 
 room in an agitated manner ; she wrung her hands, sobbed, 
 and wept violently. While she was acting in this way, I struck 
 two books together several times so as to make loud noises 
 close to her ears. This failed to interrupt her. 
 
 " I then took her by the hand and led her back to the 
 chair in which she had previously been sitting. She made no 
 
NATURAL SOMNAMBULISM. 5 
 
 resistance, but sat down quietly and soon became perfectly 
 calm. 
 
 " Scratching the back of her hand with a pin, pulling her 
 hair, and pinching her face, appeared to excite no sensation. 
 
 " I then took off her slippers and tickled the soles of her 
 feet. She at once drew them away, but no laughter was 
 produced. As often as this experiment was repeated, the feet 
 were drawn up. The spinal cord was therefore awake. 
 
 " She had now been down-stairs about twenty minutes. 
 Desiring to awake her, I shook her by the shoulders quite 
 violently for several seconds without success. 
 
 I then took her head between my hands and shook it. 
 This proved effectual in a little while. She awoke suddenly, 
 looked around her for an instant, as if endeavoring to com- 
 prehend her situation, and then burst into a fit of hysterical 
 sobbing. When she recovered her equanimity she had no 
 recollection of any thing that had passed, or of having had a 
 dream of any kind." 
 
 This case illustrates very well some of the principal 
 phenomena of natural somnambulism. Many others are on 
 record which, in many respects, are more remarkable, but it is 
 scarcely necessary to refer to them here at greater length, 
 though a word or two in regard to Jane Rider, the Springfield 
 somnambulist, will be both instructive and interesting. 
 
 When she began her manifestations Jane Rider was in her 
 seventeenth year. She was intelligent, of mild and obliging 
 disposition, and had the confidence and esteem of those who 
 knew her. Her education was superior to that of persons oc- 
 cupying her class in society, and she was particularly fond of 
 poetry and of reading generally. She was of full habit and of 
 
6 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 prepossessing appearance, but was subject to headaches, and 
 about three years previously was affected for several months 
 with chorea. A small spot on the left side of her head had 
 been tender from her earliest recollection, and the sensibility 
 was much increased when she suffered from headache. 
 
 Dr. Belden * .from whose account I derive the foregoing and 
 the following particulars, states that the first attack began on 
 the night of June 24, 1832. When he saw her she was strug- 
 gling to get out of bed, and complained at the same time of 
 pain in the left side of the head. Her head was hot, the face 
 flushed and her pulse much excited. An emetic was given her, 
 arid she vomited a large quantity of green currants ; after which 
 she became quiet. 
 
 Nearly a month elapsed before she had another paroxysm. 
 Then, after several attempts on the part of her friends to keep 
 her in .bed, it was determined to allow her to take her own 
 course and to watch her movements. Having dressed herself 
 she went down stairs and proceeded to make preparations for 
 breakfast. She set the table, arranged the various articles 
 with the utmost precision, went into a dark room and into a 
 closet at the most remote corner, from which she took the 
 coffee cups, placed them on a waiter, turned it sideways to pass 
 through the doors, avoided all intervening obstacles, and de- 
 posited the whole safely on the table. 
 
 She then went into the pantry, the blinds of which were 
 shut, and the door closed after her. She then skimmed the 
 milk, poured the cream into one cup and the milk into another 
 without spilling a drop. She then cut the bread, placed it reg- 
 
 * An account' of Tane C. Rider, the Springfield Somnambulist. Spring, 
 field, 1834. 
 
ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 7 
 
 ularly on the plate, and divided the slices in the middle. In 
 fine, she went through the whole operation with as much pre- 
 cision as the cook in open day ; and this with her eyes closed 
 and without any light except that from one lamp which was 
 standing in the breakfast room to enable the family to observe 
 her operations. During the whole time, she seemed to take no 
 notice of those around her, unless they purposely stood in her 
 way, or placed chairs or other obstacles before her, when she 
 avoided them, with an expression of impatience at being thus 
 disturbed. 
 
 She finally returned voluntarily to bed, and on finding the 
 table arranged for breakfast when she made her appearance in 
 the morning, inquired why she had been allowed to sleep while 
 another performed her work. None of the transactions of the 
 preceding night had left the slightest impression on her mind. 
 
 Then she had many more paroxysms similar in general 
 character to that just described, and during which she was sub- 
 mitted by Dr. Belden and others to many experiments. 
 Though it was found that her sense of sight was greatly in- 
 creased in acuteness, she had no clairvoyance, properly so-called. 
 It was ascertained, too, that though she had no recollection, 
 when awake, of what she had done during a paroxysm, she re- 
 membered in one paroxysm the events of the preceding one. 
 Finally she was sent to the hospital at Worcester, and there, 
 under suitable treatment, her seizures became less frequent and 
 finally disappeared altogether. 
 
 Now, it has long been known that somnambulism can be 
 artificially induced. Even before the time of Mesmer there 
 were occasional illustrations of this fact ; but Puysegur is 
 entitled to the credit of being the first to systematize them and 
 
8 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 to practise the art of producing factitious somnambulism. He 
 caused it by passes, and finally, it is claimed, by simple acts of 
 the will. The Abbd Faria induced it by shouting, and Bar- 
 berin by praying ! Other methods were also employed ; and, 
 as its identity with mesmerism became generally recognized, it 
 had ascribed to it the name of mesmeric or magnetic sleep. 
 
 No one has more thoroughly investigated the nature of 
 artificial somnambulism than Mr. Braid,* who gives the follow- 
 ing as his ordinary method of procedure : 
 
 " Take any bright object (I generally use my lancet-case) 
 between the thumb and fore and middle fingers of the left 
 hand, hold it from eight to fifteen inches from the eyes at such 
 position above the forehead as may be necessary to produce 
 the greatest possible strain upon the eyes and eyelids, and 
 enable the patient to maintain a steady, fixed stare at the 
 object. It will generally be found that the eyelids close with 
 a vibratory motion, or become spasmodically closed. After 
 ten or fifteen seconds have elapsed, by gently elevating the 
 arms and legs, it will be found that the patient has a disposi- 
 tion to retain them in the situation in which they have been 
 placed, if he is intensely affected. If this is not the case, 
 desire him to retain the limbs in the extended position, and 
 thus the pulse will speedily become greatly accelerated, and 
 the limbs, in process of time, become quite rigid and involun- 
 tarily fixed. It will also be found that all the organs of 
 special sense, excepting sight, including heat, and cold, and 
 muscular motion or resistance, are at first prodigiously exalted, 
 such as happens with regard to the primary effects of opium, 
 
 * " Neurypnology, or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep, considered in 
 Relation with Animal Magnetism," etc. London, 1843. 
 
HYPNOTISM. 9 
 
 wine, and spirits. After a certain point, however, this exalta- 
 tion of function is followed by a state of depression far 
 greater than the torpor of natural sleep. From the state of 
 the most profound torpor of the organs of special sense and 
 tonic rigidity of the muscles, they may at this stage instantly 
 be restored to the opposite condition of extreme mobility and 
 exalted sensibility, by directing a current of air against the 
 organ or organs we wish to excite to action, or the muscles we 
 wish to render limber, and which had been in this catalepti- 
 form state. By mere repose the senses will speedily merge 
 into the original condition again." 
 
 Mr. Braid gives examples of this artificial somnambulism 
 or hypnotism, as he designates it, which show that its phe- 
 nomena are identical with those of natural somnambulism, and 
 that it covers much that is alleged to be due to animal magnet- 
 ism and modern spiritualism. He found the same condition 
 to be produced, though he left the room, if the subject followed 
 his directions, so that there could be no suspicion that he 
 acted through the medium of any force emanating from his 
 body. 
 
 The persons who most readily come into the hypnotic 
 
 condition are of the same class as those who were such 
 
 * 
 
 favorable subjects for the odic force of Von Reichenbach, and - 
 who now make the best mediums. The writer has very care- 
 fully investigated this division of the subject, and has made 
 many experiments in regard to it, which leave no doubt in his 
 mind that the relation really exists. As an illustration of the 
 character of the phenomena, the following case is adduced. 
 He does not doubt that the thoughtful reader will at once see, 
 that if such a person, as the one whose actions while in the 
 
io SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 hypnotic state are described, should be disposed to deceive, or 
 should be under the control of designing or ignorant individ- 
 uals, she would not fail to be received by many as a medium 
 of the first order. 
 
 A short time after writing the account of the young lady 
 whose case has just been quoted as an example of natural 
 somnambulism,- 1 was informed^ by her father that her affec- 
 tion, which had been cured by suitable medical treatment, had 
 returned, owing, as he supposed, to excessive mental exertion, 
 she having contracted a taste for philosophy, in the study of 
 which she had indulged to a great extent. 
 
 Upon examination, I found that she not- only had par- 
 oxysms of natural somnambulism, but that she had acquired 
 the power of inducing the hypnotic state at will. Her process 
 was to take up some one of the philosophical works she was 
 in the habit of studying, select a paragraph which required 
 intense thought or excited powerful emotion, read it, close the 
 book, fix her eyes steadily, but not directing the foci so as to 
 see any particular object, and then reflect deeply upon what 
 she had read. From the revery thus occasioned, she gradu- 
 ually passed into the somnambulic condition. During this 
 state it was said she answered questions correctly, read books 
 held behind her, described scenes passing in distant places, 
 and communicated messages from the dead. She therefore 
 possessed, in every essential respect, the qualifications of 
 either a clairvoyant or a spiritualistic medium, according to 
 the peculiar tenets of belief held by the faithful. 
 
 In accordance with my request, she proceeded to put 
 herself into the hypnotic state. With a volume of Plato in 
 her hand, she read thus from the Apology of Socrates. Her 
 
ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. n 
 
 voice was calm and impressive, as though she felt ever}' word 
 she uttered : 
 
 " Moreover, we may hence conclude that there is great 
 hope that death is a blessing. For to die is one of two 
 things : for either the dead may be annihilated and have no 
 sensation of any thing whatever, or, as it is said, there is a 
 certain change and passage of the soul from one place to 
 another. And if it is a privation of all sensation, as it were a 
 sleep in which the sleeper has no dream, death would be a 
 wonderful gain. For I think that if any one having selected a 
 night in which he slept so soundly as not to have had a dream, 
 and having compared this night with all the other nights and 
 days of his life, should be required on consideration to say 
 how many days and nights he had passed better and more 
 pleasantly than this night throughout his life, I think that not 
 only a private person, but even the great king himself, would 
 find them easy to number in comparison with other days and 
 nights. If, therefore, death is a thing of this kind, I say it is 
 a gain ; for thus all futurity appears to be nothing more than 
 one night." 
 
 As she reached the close, her voice became inexpressibly 
 sad, the book dropped from her hand, her eyes were fixed on 
 vacancy, her hands lay quietly in her lap, her breath came 
 irregularly, and tears were flowing down her cheeks. Her 
 pulse, which before she began to read was eighty-four per 
 minute, was now one hundred and eight. As her abstraction 
 became more profound, it fell, till, when she was unconscious, 
 three minutes after she ceased reading, it was only seventy- 
 two. 
 
 To satisfy myself that she was completely hypnotized, I 
 
i 2 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 held a bottle of strong aqua ammonia to her nostrils. She did 
 not evince the slightest degree of sensibility. Touching the 
 eye with the finger — a test that a person practising deception 
 could not have borne — equally failed to afford the least 
 response indicative of sensation. I was, therefore, satisfied 
 that she was in the condition of artificial somnambulism. 
 
 To describe in detail all that took place would lengthen 
 unduly this account ; such parts, therefore, as are material, and 
 which illustrate essential points, will alone be given. 
 
 The writer asked her if there were any spirits in the room. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Whose spirits are they ? " 
 
 "The spirit of Socrates is here, the spirit of Plato, the 
 spirit of Schleiermacher." (She had been reading before 
 my arrival " Schleiermacher's Introductions to the Dialogues 
 of Plato.") 
 
 " Do you not also see the spirit of Schenkelfiirst ? " 
 
 This was a ruse, there being no such person. 
 
 " Schenkelfiirst ? " she asked. 
 
 "Yes; he was Schleiermacher's constant companion and 
 friend." 
 
 " Schenkelfiirst," she repeated ; " what a singular name ! " 
 
 She was silent for a moment, and then her face was lit up 
 with a smile, and she exclaimed : 
 
 " I see him ; he is a small, dark man, with sharp, piercing 
 eyes ; he wears a coat trimmed with fur ; he approaches 
 Schleiermacher; they embrace; they are talking to each 
 other." 
 
 "Will not Schleiermacher send some message through 
 you?" 
 
ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. n 
 
 " No ; he has gone away with his friend." 
 
 "Will no other spirit communicate ? " 
 
 " Yes, there is one coming now ; a man with a mournful 
 face j his name is Bruno — Giordano Bruno. He speaks ; he 
 says, ' O my friends, be of good cheer ; there is no end, even 
 as there has been no beginning ; the weak-hearted fall from 
 the ranks, and, for a time, are lost ; but, as there is a portion 
 of the divinity in all God's creatures, even they are regen- 
 erated.' " 
 
 She stopped, and then in a low voice said, while tears 
 streamed down her cheeks : 
 
 " Majori forsitan cum timore sententiam in mefertis quam ego 
 accipiam " — the words used by Bruno when sentence of death 
 was pronounced upon him. She had finished reading his life 
 a few weeks before. 
 
 Desiring to change the current of her thoughts, and also to 
 test her powers of prevision, she was asked who would be the 
 first patient to enter the office of the writer that day week, and 
 with what disease would he or she be affected ? 
 
 She answered promptly : 
 
 " A gentleman from Albany, I see him now ; he is thin, 
 and pale, and very weak ; he is lame, I think he is paralyzed." 
 
 The first person in reality who entered the office on the 
 day in question was a lady of New York, suffering from 
 nervous headache. 
 
 She was then asked where her father was at that moment 
 (4.10 p. m.). Her answer was : "At the corner of Wall Street 
 and Broadway ; he is looking at the clock on Trinity Church ; 
 he is waiting for a stage." During the hour between four 
 o'clock and five her father was in Brooklyn. 
 
i 4 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 A table with paper was now placed before her, a pencil put 
 into her hand, and she was requested again to place herself en 
 rapport With some spirit. She immediately began to write as 
 follows : " Let all the world hear my voice and follow the 
 precepts I inculcate. There are many fools and but few wise. 
 I write for the former, and am probably a fool myself, for I 
 constantly see a chasm yawning at my side ; and though my 
 intellect tells me there is no chasm near me, I place a screen 
 so that I cannot see it. Pascal." She had that very day 
 been reading a memoir of Pascal, in which the hallucination 
 referred to was mentioned. 
 
 The following conversation then took place : 
 
 " Where are you now ? " 
 
 " In New York." 
 
 " No, you are in a vessel at sea ; there is a terrible storm ; 
 are you not afraid ? " 
 
 " Yes, I am very much frightened ; what shall I do ? Oh, 
 save me, save me ! " 
 
 She wrung her hands, screamed with terror, rose from her 
 chair and paced the room, apparently suffering intensely from 
 fear. In the midst of her agitation she awoke, and it was not 
 without difficulty that the impression she had received could 
 be removed. 
 
 On a subsequent occasion her somnambulic powers of 
 vision were tested by asking her to read the writing on a slip 
 of paper ; to tell the time marked by a watch held to the back 
 of her head ; to read a particular line from a closed book, 
 etc. ; but, though she always made some answer, she was 
 never once right. The senses of touch and of hearing were 
 the only ones she appeared to be capable of exercising, and 
 
ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 15 
 
 these were not in any degree exalted in their action. Con- 
 joined with integrity of touch there was well-marked analgesia^ 
 or inability to feel pain. Thus, though able to tell the shape, 
 texture, and consistence of objects placed in her hands, she 
 experienced no sensation when a pin was thrust into the calf 
 of her leg, or when a coal of fire was held in close proximity 
 to any part of her body. 
 
 It will readily be preceived, therefore, that certain parts of 
 her nervous system were in a state of inaction, were in fact 
 dormant, while others remained capable of receiving sensa- 
 tions and originating nervous influence. Her sleep was 
 therefore incomplete. Images were formed, hallucinations 
 entertained, and she was accordingly in these respects in a 
 condition similar to that of a dreaming person ; for the images 
 and hallucinations were either directly connected with thoughts 
 she had previously had, or were immediately suggested to her 
 through her sense of hearing. Some mental faculties were 
 exercised, while others were quiescent. There was no correct 
 judgment and no volition. Imagination, memory, the emo- 
 tions, and the ability to be impressed by suggestions, were present 
 in a high degree. 
 
 Now, the writer is satisfied, from a careful study of this 
 lady's case, and of others similar to it in general character 
 which have come under his observation, that the phenomena 
 of hypnotism are not those of pure somnambulism, but that 
 three other conditions are present in greater or less degree. 
 These are hysteria, catalepsy, and ecstasy. To a brief con- 
 sideration of some of the more important features of these 
 abnormal states of the nervous system the attention of the 
 reader will presently be invited. 
 
1 6 SOMNAMB ULISM. 
 
 That many of the phenomena exhibited by honest mediums 
 are referable to the condition now under notice is not a matter 
 for doubt ; and this view is rendered still stronger by a con- 
 sideration of the fact that the hypnotic state can be readily 
 induced in many species of animals. This has been known, 
 with different interpretations of the cause and nature of the 
 condition, for very many years, but for a revival of the knowl- 
 edge, and for giving incentives to new lines of inquiry, we 
 owe a debt to the students of animal magnetism or mesmer- 
 ism.^ 
 
 In 1646, Kircher, a Jesuit priest, and like many others of 
 his fraternity, fond of scientific investigations, published an 
 account of an experiment performed by him and which he 
 called " expcrimentum mirabile de imaginatione gallincz — a won- 
 derful experiment showing the imagination of the hen. 
 
 He tied the hen's feet together with a cord, and then laid 
 the animal on the ground, where, after struggling for a while, 
 it lay perfectly quiet, as if despairing of escape, it had yielded 
 to the superior will and power of its conqueror. Then with a 
 piece of chalk Kircher drew two lines on the ground, one 
 from each eye, and uniting at an acute angle a little in front 
 of the head. He then loosened the band which fastened the 
 legs together; but the hen, though physically free to escape, 
 remained still, and could scarcely be forced out of its posi 
 tion. 
 
 So far, the facts ; now for the theory. Kircher attributes 
 this very remarkable result to the strong imaginative powers, 
 with which, in his opinion, hens are gifted ; for the animal 
 seeing the chalk line, takes it for the string with which it had 
 been fastened, and having acquired experience of the futility 
 
HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 1 7 
 
 of all efforts to escape, and thinking itself still bound, remains 
 perfectly quiet on the ground. 
 
 The late Prof. Czermak, a short time before his death, 
 placed Kircher's and similar experiments before the world in 
 their true light ; and I therefore do not hesitate to cite his ob- 
 servations at some length.* 
 
 While on a visit to Bohemia, Czermak was informed, by a 
 gentleman whose acquaintance he made, that he had not only 
 seen crawfish magnetized, but had himself put these animals 
 into the magnetic state, and that the matter was exceedingly 
 simple. x 
 
 The crawfish is to be held firmly in one hand, while with 
 the other, passes are to be made from the tail of the animal 
 towards the head. Under this manifestation the crawfish now 
 becomes quiet, and if placed on its head in a vertical position, 
 remains motionless until passes are made in the opposite 
 direction, when it staggers, falls, and finally crawls away. 
 
 Czermak did not question the facts, but he doubted the 
 explanation and expressed a desire to witness the experiment. 
 A basket of crawfish was obtained from a neighboring brook, 
 and the friend, sure of his results, seized one of the animals 
 and began his " magnetic strokes " from the tail to the head. 
 The crawfish, which at first resisted, gradually became calm, 
 and finally stood erect on its head, remaining motionless as if 
 
 * Czermak's experiments were performed before the class of the private 
 physiological laboratory of the University of Leipsic, Jan. 24th and 25th, 
 1873, and were published with his remarks in subsequent numbers of the 
 " Gartenlaube." These lectures were translated by Clara Hammond and; 
 published in the " Papular Science Monthly? Sept. and Nov., 1873, 
 
18 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 asleep, in this forced and unnatural position, supporting itself 
 with its antennas and two under claws. 
 
 But in the mean time Czermak had taken one of the crawfish 
 and endeavored to make it stand on its head without the passes 
 being previously made. The animal staggered at first, as did 
 the other, and ended by becoming perfectly quiet and standing 
 on its head exactly as had the one which had been magnetized. 
 
 As to the awakening process the friend made his passes from 
 the head to the tail and Czermak made his from the tail to 
 the head. The result was the same in both, for both soon 
 fell over and crawled away. In fact whether the strokes were 
 made or not, the animals regained their normal condition in 
 about the same length of time. 
 
 Hence it was demonstrated that " magnetic passes " were 
 neither necessary to induce the hypnotic state nor to cause the 
 animal to emerge from it. The act, therefore, constituted what 
 Czermak calls " a fact viewed unequally." His friend had 
 not thoroughly investigated the phenomenon in all its relations, 
 and that is just what is done everyday by certain people calling 
 (themselves " inquirers," who make imperfect attempts to solve 
 the pseudo-mysteries of mesmerism, spiritualism, etc. 
 
 Now to return to Kircher and his experiments, which he 
 thought demonstrated the existence of a great degree of im- 
 agination in the hen. 
 
 It has long beep known that wild and frightened hens may 
 be rendered perfectly quiet by placing them, for instance, on a 
 table and holding them there while a chalk line is drawn so as 
 to connect thceyes ; or even a single line for an inch or two from 
 the end of the beak. In calling attention to this fact Czermak 
 caused one of his assistants to bring him a hen and to hold it 
 
HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 19 
 
 fast on the table. This was done after much resistance and 
 many cries from the frightened bird. Then, with his left hand, 
 he held the head and neck of the hen upon the table, and with 
 his right hand drew a chalk line on the table, beginning at the 
 end of the beak. Left entirely free, the hen, though breath- 
 ing heavily, remained entirely quiet on the table ; then without 
 resistance it allowed itself to be placed on its back, in which 
 unnatural position it remained till the end of the lecture, not 
 awaking till the audience began to leave. 
 
 Czermak states that when he first performed this experi 
 ment, he was for a moment dumb with astonishment, for the 
 hen not only remained motionless in its forced and unnatural 
 position, but did not make the slightest attempt to fly away or 
 to move in any manner when he endeavored to startle it. It 
 was clear that the hen had altogether lost the functional capa- 
 cities of its nervous system, under the apparently indifferent 
 and useless arrangements of the experiment, and had placed her- 
 self in this remarkable condition as though by magic. But 
 Czermak was not a man to stand still at an " event viewed un- 
 equally,'' and as soon as he recovered from his extreme astonish- 
 ment at the result, he rubbed out the chalk line. The hen still 
 remained perfectly quiet. But as this might have been due to the 
 continuing effect of the chalk line, he performed another experi- 
 ment in which he held the hen firmly for some time and 
 stretched out the head and neck as though he were going to 
 draw the chalk line, but in reality he did not draw it. He then 
 released the hen and the animal remained just as immovable as 
 in the previous experiment. 
 
 The cord around the legs and the chalk line were therefore 
 entirely unnecessary, and accordingly Kircher's theory of the 
 
 9* 
 
2 o SOMNAMB ULISM. 
 
 imagination of the hen falls to the ground. The only part 
 which survives is the immobility of the hen when laid upon a 
 table after having been previously held in the hand for a short 
 time. He has therefore reported an unequally viewed event. 
 He stopped too soon in his investigations, and in his anxiety to 
 discover a cause for the remarkable phenomenon before him, 
 jumped at a conclusion which, as we have seen, has nothing what- 
 ever to support it Suppose Mr. Crookes or Mr. Wallace had 
 seen Mr. Home perform this experiment, and that they had 
 never heard of it before. Can there be a doubt that had he told 
 them that the hen was held down by the power of a spirit they 
 would have been ready to believe him ? This is exactly what 
 they have done in accepting his theories of levitation, immunity 
 from fire, accordeon playing, raising weights, etc. 
 
 I have repeatedly performed Czermak's experiments, using 
 young lobsters, frogs, hens, geese and ducks, with scarcely a 
 failure. Of all animals in my experience, the frog passes into 
 the hypnotic condition most readily. All that is necessary is to ' 
 hold it firmly for a minute or two by the sides of the body just 
 behind the fore legs, and then gently lay it on its back on a 
 table, board, or palm of the hand. So profound is the hypnotism 
 that the blade of a pair of scissors may be introduced into the 
 lower part of the belly and the animal cut open its whole 
 length, without its moving, or apparently experiencing the least 
 sensation. Over ten years ago I became acquainted with the pos- 
 sibility of inducing the condition in question in frogs, and often 
 in my medical lectures brought the fact before the class in attend- 
 ance. In general, without the causation of hypnotism, there 
 is no position seemingly so disagreeable to a frog as the dorsal, 
 and it gets out of it as soon as possible. 
 
HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 21 
 
 A short time since, being at Mr. Eugene Blackford's stalls 
 in Fulton Market, I noticed a basket full of very lively crabs on 
 the counter, and I offered to mesmerize a dozen of them. Con- 
 sent was given, and in a few minutes I had more than the 
 number mentioned standing motionless on their heads in a cir- 
 cle, to the great astonishment of a crowd of fish-dealers that 
 had collected. I merely caught the animals by the posterior 
 fins, in the manner which all who know the ways of crabs and 
 desire to avoid being nipped understand, and stood them up on 
 their heads, where they remained supported in part by their 
 claws and legs. To mystify the spectators a little, I at first 
 stroked the animals gently down their backs, but I showed 
 them ultimately that this was not necessary. The livelier the 
 "Crabs were the more readily were they brought into the hypnotic 
 condition. After they had remained in the rather ungraceful 
 attitude in which they were placed fojr several minutes, a slight 
 • tap on the back with the end of the finger caused each one to 
 run away as if conscious that its security consisted in rapid 
 flight from the vicinity. 
 
 While crabs are in this hypnotic state, the claws, legs and 
 fins may be successively cut off with a stout pair of scissors, 
 and the animals evince no sign of experiencing the slightest 
 sensation. Care should be taken, however, not to interfere 
 roughly with those limbs by which the erect position is main- 
 tained, or the spell will be at once broken. 
 
 Such experiments on cold-blooded animals do not succeed 
 well in winter. They appear then to be in too torpid a condi- 
 tion to admit of the strong neurotic revulsion characteristic of 
 the passage from the natural to the hypnotic state. 
 
23 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 But with some animals it appears as if an object to gaze at is 
 necessary in order to produce the hypnotic state, and hence we 
 cannot say that the chalk line of Kircher, or something analo- 
 gous is in every case unnecessary. Thus pigeons are not brought 
 into this condition by simply stretching out their necks and hold- 
 ing them firmly for a short time. Czermak ascertained that 
 in order to hypnotize them it was requisite to hold something, 
 as the finger, before their eyes, so as to attract their attention, 
 and then the birds remained rigid and motionless as if tired, 
 for several minutes. The same result follows if a piece of glass 
 tube, a cork, a small wax candle, or any other equally lifeless 
 object, be placed on the top of the pigeon's bill. All that is ne- 
 cessary, is to place the article in such a position as to admit of 
 its attention being attracted and fixed upon the substance used. 
 
 And with hens ; if they be seized by the bodies with both 
 hands so that their heads and necks are quite free, and the 
 bodies be pressed against a pedestal on which a glass tube rests 
 so as to come in contact with their bills, they remain perfectly 
 quiet for some time gazing at the object before them. 
 
 Again, if a piece of twine be hung so that the end comes just 
 between the eyes, a hen not only remains perfectly motionless 
 but closes its eyes and sleeps, the head sinking till it comes in 
 contact with the table. Before falling asleep, the hen's head 
 can be pressed down or raised up and it will remain in the posi- 
 tion in which it may be placed, as though it were made of wax. 
 This fact shows the analogy which exists between hypnotism 
 and catalepsy as it occurs in the human subject, and to which 
 attention will presently be invited. 
 
 In this connection I may state that I have recently repeated 
 an experiment which I remember to have seen when a boy, 
 
HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 23 
 
 long beiore Mr. Braid began his investigations, and which 
 shows that there is at least one other way of inducing hypnotism 
 in hens. I took a hen, and putting its head under its wing, held 
 it in that position for a couple of minutes. On placing it on a 
 table, it stood erect without removing its head from the position 
 in which I had placed it, and remained motionless for several 
 minutes apparently in a deep sleep. As I had formerly seen 
 this experiment, it was somewhat different. The head was 
 placed under the wing, and then the animal, held in that posi- 
 tion, was swung round three or four times before being placed 
 on the ground. The explanations then given of the subse- 
 quent insensibility was, that the animal was affected with ver- 
 tigo, and did not move for fear of falling. 
 
 Czermak therefore found, as he proceeded with his investiga- 
 tions, that the drawing of the chalk line in Kircher's experiment 
 was of some significance, though not such as the old priest 
 supposed. The hand which draws the line, and the line itself 
 constitute an object upon which the animal's look and atten- 
 tion are placed, and there is developed a marvellous condition 
 of certain parts of its nervous system, accompanied by cataleptic 
 phenomena and sleep. 
 
 We have already seen how Mr. Braid produced hypnotism 
 in the human subject, and we now perceive that a like process 
 causes it in the lower animals. 
 
 Upon one occasion Mr. Braid, in the presence of eight 
 hundred persons, put ten full grown men, out of fourteen, into a 
 state of complete sleep ; all began the experiment at the same 
 time. The persons fixed their eyes steadily upon pieces of 
 cork fastened upon their foreheads ; the others of their own will 
 
24 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 gazed steadily at certain points in the direction of the audience. 
 In three minutes the eyelids of the ten had involuntarily closed. 
 With some, consciousness remained ; others were cataleptic and 
 entirely insensible to being stuck with needles, and others on 
 awaking knew absolutely nothing of what had taken place 
 during their sleep. In 1859, Velpeau and Broca, two distinguish- 
 ed French surgeons, placed twenty-four women in the hypnotic 
 condition by Braid's method, and then performed surgical op- 
 erations on them without causing the slightest pain. 
 
 I have repeatedly placed women in the hypnotic state, and 
 performed surgical operations which would otherwise have 
 caused great pain, without the least sensation having been ex- 
 perienced. Only a few days ago I cauterized, with a red-hot 
 iron, the spine of a lady, having previously hypnotized her by 
 causing her to look for a few minutes at a cork which I had 
 fastened to her forehead a little above the root of the nose. The 
 anaesthesia was complete, and the sleep so profound that she not 
 only did not hear the sound produced by the burning of the skin, 
 but very loud noises made close to her ears were equally unper 
 ceived. After about seven minutes she spontaneously awoke. 
 
 Czermak was preparing to extend his observations to mam- 
 mals, but death prevented the fulfilment of his intentions. 
 Experiments of my own, however, show that there is n«> diffi- 
 culty in bringing dogs, rabbits, and cats fully under the hypnotic 
 influence. Rabbits require to be held firmly in the hands at the 
 same time that some bright object, as a key, is allowed to hang 
 from a string, just in front of, and a little above the eyes. Five 
 or at most ten minutes are sufficient to induce hypnotism. 
 Or, the animal may be held firmly in a squatting position on 
 
SAINTLY INFLUENCE ON ANIMALS. 25 
 
 a table while an object, as a key, a piece of chalk, or a cork, is 
 placed about an inch in front of its nose. After a few minutes 
 sleep ensues. 
 
 With dogs, the procedure is much simpler. My experiments 
 have been conducted with the several varieties that have been 
 taught to stand up on their haunches and " beg." It is exceed- 
 ingly easy to engage their attention and thus to cause them to 
 pass into the hypnotic state. For this purpose a piece of chalk 
 the size of a cherry is fastened to a string and allowed to hang 
 between the eyes of the dog at a distance of an inch or two. 
 The experiment seems to succeed better if the animal be made 
 to take the begging position, though this is not necessary. In- 
 deed, the condition can often be induced by simply engaging 
 the attention of the dog for a few minutes by pointing the finger 
 at him, or by any other convenient method. 
 
 After a due consideration of the experiments of Czermak 
 and myself, we are able to appreciate, at their full value, the 
 accounts which are given us of miraculous and mesmeric power 
 exercised by man over the lower animals. Thus we may dismiss 
 as absolutely untrue the stories which are told of the bees com- 
 ing to Sts. Ambrose, Isidore, Dominic, and others, while they 
 were yet infants, and depositing honey on their lips, and of 
 following them into the desert and obeying the commands 
 addressed to them. We may also refuse to regard as within 
 the domain of truth, the account given of St. Rose of Lima 
 by Gorres,* as follows : 
 This young lady had built a little arbor in her mother's 
 
 * Op., cit., t. 1, p. 480. 
 7 
 
a6 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 garden, and was accustomed to repair thither fpr meditation and 
 praise. The place was continually thronged night and day by 
 mosquitoes, the walls were covered with them, and the music oi 
 their hum continually resounded throughout the place. Not one 
 of them, however, ever touched her, but if her mother or any other 
 person visited her in her solitude they were at once bitten and 
 their blood sucked by the insatiable insects. Every one was 
 astonished that St. Rose was never injured by them. But she 
 smiling, said " When I came here I made a pact with these little 
 creatures." [It would have been somewhat more filial if she 
 had included her mother in the bargain.] " It was agreed that 
 they should not bite me and that I should not injure them. 
 Therefore they dwell here in peace with me ; and not only that, 
 but they aid me with all their power to praise God." In fact 
 every time the virgin came into the arbor at sunrise she said to 
 the mosquitoes. " Come, my friends, let us praise God," and then 
 the little insects formed a circle around her, and began their 
 little songs with a degree of order and harmony such as no choir 
 directed by a master could have excelled ; and this was kept up 
 until the saint enforced silence upon them. 
 
 These circumstances are cited by Pope Clement X. in the 
 bull canonizing St. Rose. 
 
 It must be admitted that the character of the mosquito has 
 greatly degenerated since that time, for it has, apparently, ac- 
 quired habits of association with demons rather than saints. 
 
 Fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, have also been brought 
 under saintly influence. Jacques de Cerqueto, an Augustine 
 monk, enforced silence on the frogs that troubled him when he 
 was saying mass. St. Ida could not approach a stream without 
 
MESMERISM OF ANIMALS. 27 
 
 hundreds of fish coming to greet her, and if she placed her 
 hands in the water, " the fish took hold of her fingers as infants 
 do the breasts of their mothers." 
 
 Gondisalvo Amaranthi, being in want one day of a din- 
 ner, made the sign of the cross on the river near by, and 
 instantly numerous fish placed themselves at his disposal. The 
 good man took what he wanted and put the rest back into the 
 water. St. Joseph of Copertino, among others, controlled birds, 
 making them sing when he wished, and St. Jacques de Stephano 
 was thanked by a flock of pigeons which he had saved from 
 destruction at the hands of some hunters. 
 
 Among quadrupeds, lions have always been remarkable for 
 the docility with which they submit to saintly influence. From 
 the time of Daniel, down through the early ages of Christianity, 
 these naturally ferocious beasts have at times shown an appre- 
 ciation of the character of those exposed to their fury, which 
 is certainly not a usual attribute of their savage nature. 
 
 St. Thomas of Florence calmed furious bulls by a single 
 word. St. Francis de Paul selected two of the most savage of 
 these animals out of a herd and led them like lambs. The like 
 is asserted of wild horses and angry dogs, both kinds of animals 
 being quieted by a look, a word, or a gesture from a saint or 
 other holy person. 
 
 It would scarcely be wise to refuse belief to all incidents of 
 the kind which are referred to in the acts of the saints. We can 
 accept some as being true in point of fact, and we attribute the 
 result, not to supernatural agency, but to the hypnotic power, 
 illustrations of which have engaged our attention. 
 
 Strange to say, however, the influence over the lower 
 
z8 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 animals is denied, or at least regarded by some mesmerists as 
 not proven. Thus, Teste* states that the results are so vague, 
 so fleeting, so inappreciable, that it is not possible to certify 
 their existence. 
 
 But, on the other hand, Dr. Elliotson believes fully in the 
 mesmeric power of man over the brute creation, and gives sev- 
 eral instances in support of his opinions. Among them the 
 following.! The Duke of Marlborough, writing to Dr. Elliot- 
 son, oays : — 
 
 " At Lord Ely's farm there is a yard dog so savage and fero- 
 cious that no one can approach him. I was determined to 
 beat him and in thirty minutes had him fast asleep, his last sigh 
 being a deep growl. In presence of several persons I then 
 kissed the dog on his forehead, and then left him to awake 
 at his leisure." 
 
 A month afterwards the dog was still stupid. 
 
 Again the Duke wrote to Dr. Elliotson. " I must now tell 
 you what I have been doing here. I have also a very savage 
 yard dog, I tried him to-day ; in about fifteen minutes he ran 
 into his kennel and hid his eyes from the manipulating process 
 growling, snarling, and biting most furiously ; notwithstanding, 
 I then made the man who feeds him, and who is the only per- 
 son who dares go near him, drag him out of his kennel and nail 
 up a hurdle before the entrance, so as to keep him effectual- 
 ly outside. I then went to work again, the dog, as you may 
 suppose, being ten times more ferocious. In about five minutes 
 
 * " A Practical Manual of Animal Magnetism," etc., translated by D. 
 Chilian, M.D., etc., London,'i843, p. 226. 
 
 t " Mesmeric Phenomena in Brutes ; as effected by the Duke of Marlbor- 
 ough and the Rev. Mr. Bartlett," Zoist, October, 1850. p. 295. 
 
HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 29 
 
 I had him so quiet, oppressed and stupid, that he dropped his 
 nose several times in the mud around his kennel. Carts and 
 horses, and men and boys were passing and repassing, which 
 served continually to alarm him, so that I could not satisfacto- 
 rily complete the task and leave him dead asleep ; besides which 
 a heavy snowstorm was falling all the while, and I could not 
 feel my finger ends. But I completely subdued the beast and 
 patted him on the head before I left." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Bartlett writes as follows : 
 
 " Upon descending a mountain I found myself in a narrow 
 road between two stone fences which perhaps separated the 
 lands of different proprietors. On one side of the fences were 
 cattle and a bull. The bull approached the fence in an angry 
 mood and walked along the other side of it parallel with me for 
 more than a quarter of a mile : he then grew more excited, tore 
 the ground with his horns, and bellowed fiercely. As I could 
 not but apprehend that, should there be a breach in the wall, he 
 might leap over and attack me, I was considering what course 
 it was best to take, when we came to a very high and strong 
 gate. Upon reaching the gate the bull rushed close up to it 
 and bellowed loudly through it. As I knew that he could 
 neither leap over nor force this gate I also approached it and 
 looked him steadily in the face. In about a minute I caught 
 his eye, which then fixed upon me, in about another minute a 
 trembling of the eyelids arose, very similar to that of a human 
 subject at an early stage of mesmeric influence. After probably 
 three or four minutes, the eyes gradually closed, and the bull 
 remained quiet and appeared to be as immovable as if he had 
 been chiseled by the hand of the sculptor. The transition from 
 
3 o SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 his previously excited state to that of his perfectly motionless 
 state was indeed most striking. 
 
 "I could not but feel thankful that all danger from the bull 
 was now passed and after looking at his fixed form for a few 
 moments I descended the remainder of the mountain, and did 
 not stop to wake him." 
 
 That some animals possess the power of acting upon others 
 so as to induce a condition analogous to, if not indentical with, 
 hypnotism, is well known. Serpents appear to be especially 
 endowed with this faculty, and make use of it to secure birds 
 and mammals for food. There is some reason also for believ- 
 ing that serpents can, in rare cases, exercise a like influence 
 over man. 
 
 Now, after this survey of some of the principal phenomena 
 of natural and artificial somnambulism are we able to deter- 
 mine in what their condition essentially consists ? I am afraid 
 we shall be obliged to answer this question in the negative, 
 and mainly for the reason, that with all the study which has 
 been given to the subject, we are not yet sufficiently well ac- 
 quainted with the normal functions of the nervous system to 
 be in a position to pronounce with definiteness on their aber- 
 rations. Nevertheless, the matter is not one of which we are 
 wholly ignorant. We have some important data upon which to 
 base our investigations into the philosophy of the condition in 
 question, and inquiry, even if leading to erroneous results, at 
 least promotes reflection and discussion, and may in time carry 
 us to absolute truth. 
 
 If we turn our attention to the operations of the mind — by 
 which term I understand the force developed by nervous ac- 
 
H UMAN A UTOMA TISM. 3 1 
 
 tion — we shall see that they are performed under two very dif- 
 ferent conditions. In the one there is consciousness ; in the 
 other unconsciousness. 
 
 A few examples will place the matter more distinctly before 
 the reader. 
 
 If we are engaged in composing or writing, the only part of 
 the process of which we are conscious, is the conception of our 
 ideas, or the expression of them in suitable language. We are 
 not conscious of every motion we give the pen. We do not 
 even think of it, our whole attention being engrossed with 
 higher thoughts. We can turn our minds to the penmanship if 
 we are so disposed, and can make it the chief subject of our 
 thoughts ; but persons who write out original ideas rarely 
 bother themselves with the nice formation of the letters. Hence 
 their handwriting is generally bad, in the ordinary sense of the 
 term. On the other hand, persons who copy, or those whose 
 writing is not the expression of much thought, usually write 
 with care and precision ; to do so, is with them the chief ob- 
 ject. 
 
 Or in the act of walking : a person, for instance, desires to 
 measure the length of a room by pacing it. He starts at one 
 end of it and makes his steps, conscious of each one, for his 
 attention is turned especially to them ; he counts them, in fact, 
 and when he gets to the end knows exactly what he has done 
 from the beginning to the end. Another person rises from his 
 chair for the purpose of going to the book-case for a volume he 
 desires. His mind is not on his steps — his will is directed 
 towards getting the book he wants. He goes to the place 
 where he knows it to be, but is not conscious of the act or 
 
32 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 method of getting there ; but his legs have been accurately di- 
 rected, there has been no mistake, his feet have been raised at 
 exactly the right moments, and obstacles in the way have been 
 avoided. 
 
 At another time we may begin to wind our watch. At that 
 very instant some engrossing subject comes to our mind, we 
 lose all consciousness of the act we have set out to perform, 
 and yet it is carried out to the end, the key is taken out, the 
 watch is closed and put in its pocket, and we may go on and 
 perform other movements to which we have been accustomed 
 before consciousness takes cognizance of the actions. In fact, 
 so thoroughly taken up is consciousness with the thoughts 
 which have come into the mind, that it fails altogether, at 
 times, to embrace within its scope the act of winding the 
 watch ; and hence we do not know whether we have per- 
 formed the act or not, and we begin the whole movement over 
 again. 
 
 Again, a person will play a difficult piece of music and carry 
 on a conversation at the same time ; the conversation, if more 
 interesting, engrosses the consciousness, and the music is per- 
 formed automatically or unconsciously. If the piece has not 
 been thoroughly learned, mistakes are made. If, on the other 
 hand, the music interests more than the conversation, the in- 
 dividual is distrait and errors are committed, which show that 
 the thoughts are not in the speech. 
 
 It would be easy to adduce other familiar examples, but 
 the intelligent reader will have many such occur to his or her 
 mind as instances in daily, hourly experience. 
 
 Now, somnambulism, natural or artificial, appears to be a 
 
SUGGESTION. 33 
 
 condition in which consciousness is subordinated to automa- 
 tism ; the subject performs acts of which there is no complete 
 consciousness, and often none at all. Consequently there is 
 little or no subsequent recollection. There is diminished ac- 
 tivity of those parts of the nervous system which preside over 
 certain faculties of the mind, while those which are capable of 
 acting automatically are unduly exalted in power. 
 
 The condition is therefore analogous to sleep ; for in all 
 sleep there is in reality something of somnambulism. For the 
 higher mental organs, as the sleep is more or less profound, are 
 more or less removed from the sphere of action, leaving to the 
 others the duty of performing such acts as may be required, or 
 even of initiating others not growing out of the immediate 
 wants of the system. If this quiescent state of the brain is ac- 
 companied, as it often is in nervous and excitable persons, by 
 an exalted condition of the spinal cord, we have the higher 
 order of somnambulistic phenomena produced, such as walking, 
 or the performance of complex and apparently systematic 
 movements ; if the sleep of the brain be somewhat less pro* 
 found and the spinal cord less excitable, the somnambulic mani- 
 festations do not extend beyond sleep-talking; a still less 
 degree of cerebral inaction and spinal irritability produces sim- 
 ply a restless sleep and a little muttering ; and when the sleep 
 is perfectly natural and the nervous system of the individual 
 well balanced, the movements do not extend beyond chang- 
 ing the position of the head and limbs and turning over in 
 bed. 
 
 But the actions of the spinal cord — which is, I conceive, 
 the organ chiefly controlling the mind in somnambulism — are 
 
34 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 not always automatic in character, as I have endeavored to 
 show in another place.* The motions of frogs and of some 
 other ammals when deprived of their brains exhibit a certain 
 amount of intellection or volition. That they are not more ex- 
 tensive is probably due to the fact that all the organs of the 
 senses except that of touch have been removed with the brain, 
 and hence the mechanism for coming into relation with the ex- 
 ternal world is necessarily diminished. 
 
 In profound somnambulism the whole brain is probably in 
 a state of complete sleep, the spinal cord alone being awake. 
 In partial or incomplete somnambulistic conditions certain of 
 the cerebral ganglia are not entirely inactive, and hence the 
 individual answers questions, exhibits emotions, and is re- 
 markably disposed to be affected by ideas suggested by others. 
 The ability to originate trains of thought exists only in very 
 imperfect somnambulistic states. 
 
 Thus a girl, just after her first communion, while im- 
 pressed with the solemnity of the occasion, or with the con- 
 versation which had been addressed to her, fell into a som- 
 nambulistic state, and exclaimed that she saw beautiful and 
 glorious things. When asked by the elders around her what 
 she saw, she answered, " God surrounded by the angels, the 
 apostles, and Mary." Subsequently this girl got into the 
 company of an individual who was a great admirer of Vol- 
 taire, and others of his philosophical sect, and on one oc- 
 casion was hypnotized by him. Again she saw glorious 
 
 * The Brain not the Sole Organ of the Mind. — Journal of Nervous and 
 Mental Disease, January, 1876. 
 
. SUGGESTIONS. 35 
 
 sights, and when he asked her what she saw she replied, 
 " God, accompanied by His two apostles, Voltaire and Rous- 
 seau." * 
 
 In this and similar cases the brain originates nothing. It 
 simply reflects the ideas which have recently been brought 
 prominently before it, just as in dreams we imagine things 
 and events with which in our waking moments the attention 
 has been engaged. 
 
 The existence of a tendency to natural somnambulism is 
 evidence of a highly impressionable and irritable nervous or- 
 ganization. Young persons are more often its subjects than 
 those of mature age, and there are few children, who do not 
 exhibit, at some time or other, manifestations of the condition 
 in question, such as muttering or talking in their sleep, 
 laughing, crying, or getting out of bed. The same irritable 
 nervous system leads often to the supervention of other con- 
 ditions, more of the nature of actual disease, such as cata- 
 lepsy, ecstasy, epilepsy, chorea, convulsion, tremor, etc. 
 
 Much may be done in the way of medical treatment to 
 correct the faulty neurotic condition, and much also, which 
 more properly lies within the domain of home management. 
 The reading of exciting fictions, and the witnessing of sensa- 
 tional theatrical exhibitions, are always prejudicial to persons 
 subject to attacks of somnambulism, and are often the causes 
 of severe visitations of the disorder. I have, at the time of the 
 present writing, a young lady under my care who invariablyi 
 
 * Franz Dilitzsch, D.D., Professor of Theology, Leipsic. A System of 
 Biblical Psychology. Translated from the German, by the Rev. Robert 
 Ernest Wallis, Ph.D. Second English Edition. Edinburgh, 1875, p. 367 
 
36 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 after attending a performance at a theatre, walks in her sleep, 
 or at least would do so were she not prevented by the atten- 
 tions of her friends. To succeed in stopping her it is only 
 necessary to place a tub of cold water at her bedside, so that 
 on rising she is awakened by the contact of the liquid with her 
 feet. The plan never fails ; she awakes instantly, wipes her 
 feet dry, and is secure for a good night's rest thereafter. 
 
 The bed-room in which the patient sleeps should be well 
 ventilated and kept at a proper temperature — neither too warm 
 nor too cold. It is a great mistake to imagine that no room is 
 too cold to sleep in provided the bed-covering is sufficient. A 
 low temperature reduces the vitality of the body, and hence 
 makes the nervous system weak. A weak nervous system is 
 always an irritable one. 
 
 The food should be ample in quantity and quality, but the 
 lightest meal should be the latest. If there be gastric or intes- 
 tinal dyspepsia it should be subjected to special medication, for 
 few causes are more potent in the dynamics of somnambu- 
 lism than gastric or intestinal irritation. I have known of 
 many instances of the affection in which paroxysms were only 
 caused after some special articles of food had been injested. 
 Thus, in several, they always followed the eating of any kind 
 of pastry ; in others, shellfish were certain to induce them, and 
 in others again some kinds of fruit, especially bananas. All 
 such things, therefore, should of course be avoided, as should 
 also every other cause known to give rise to the disorder. 
 
 Somnambulism, when the general health has been regulated 
 and exciting causes obviated, is by no means a difficult patho- 
 logical condition to manage, and even under the most unfavor- 
 
SOMNAMBULISM. 37 
 
 able circumstances it rarely happens that a case does not yield 
 to proper medical treatment. 
 
 It is not worth while to enter into a detailed consideration of 
 the various mediums capable of curing somnambulism. Some 
 one of the several bromides — as of sodium, potassium, ammo- 
 nium, calcium or lithium — if properly administered, will be 
 found to meet all the expectations of the physician and pa- 
 tient. Either one of them, given in the dose of from fifteen 
 to twenty grains three times a day, the last dose just at bed- 
 time, and continued for several months, will effectually break 
 up all tendency to sleep-walking in the most obstinate case. 
 
38 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 IT is not to be expected that, in a work like the present, 
 hyster.a can be treated with that degree of fulness re- 
 quisite for the study of the disorder in all its multiform 
 aspects ; neither would that be desirable, as such a course 
 would lead us far into the domain of pure medical science, and 
 one object — the principal which I had in writing this little work, 
 would be defeated. All that is necessary or proper, is to make 
 the reader acquainted with certain broad features of the affec- 
 tion, and to indicate the relations which it bears to various 
 delusions prevalent among mankind? 
 
 There is a strong tendency in all persons afflicted with hys- 
 teria, to the occurrence of symptoms which simulate organic 
 diseases of various kinds. Paralysis, both of motion and of 
 sensation, is one of the morbid conditions thus assumed ; this 
 tendency is not generally voluntary, though undoubtedly cases 
 are not infrequent in which the simulation is clearly inten- 
 tional, and others more numerous, in which volition, when 
 drought to bear with full force upon the disposition, will over- 
 
 * For a full account of hysteria and hysterical affections, the reader is 
 referred to the author's treatise on Diseases of the Nervous System, seventh 
 edition. New York, 1881. 
 
HYSTERICAL ANAESTHESIA. 39 
 
 come it. In these latter cases there is, as it were, a paralysis 
 of the will. In other instances, hysterical persons will deliber- 
 ately enter upon a systematic course of deception and fraud, 
 more apparently for the sake of attracting attention and ob- 
 taining notoriety, than from any other motive. 
 
 Thus, a hysterical woman will suddenly take to her bed 
 and declare that she has no feeling and no power in her arms 
 or legs. The most careful examination shows that she is 
 speaking the truth. Pins may be thrust into the affected 
 limb, it may be punctured or scorched ad libitum, and yet the 
 possessor does not wince. A somewhat analogous state exists 
 in us all at times. When the mind is intensely occupied, or 
 the passions greatly aroused, there is a like insensibility to 
 pain. Many a soldier wounded in battle, has not discovered 
 his injury till the heat of the contest was over. We have seen 
 how a similar insensibility to pain, is present during the 
 somnambulic or hypnotic condition. 
 
 Now, when great mental exaltation is induced in a hysteri- 
 cal person, we find this analgesic condition developed to its 
 utmost extent. Under these combined influences weak girls 
 have submitted to all kinds of maltreatment and suffered no 
 pain, and have been able to resist blows and other bodily in- 
 juries, which in their normal condition would have caused 
 death. Thus it is stated by Montgeron,* in his account of the 
 Jansenist Convulsionnaires, who visited the tomb of the Abbe* 
 Paris, that some women gave themselves severe blows with iron 
 instruments in such a manner, that sharp points were forced 
 
 * La Vente" des Miracles, tome ii. 1737. Quoted by Calmeil, De la 
 Folie, etc. Paris, 1845. 
 
4° SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 into the flesh. Fouillon states that another had herself hung 
 up by the heels with the head downward, and remained in this 
 position three-quarters of an hour. One day as she lay ex- 
 tended on her bed, two men who held a cloth under her back, 
 raised her up and threw her forward two thousand four hun- 
 dred times, while two other persons placed in front, thrust her 
 back. Another day, four men having taken hold of her by the 
 extremities, began to pull her, each with all his strength, and 
 she was thus dragged in different directions for the space of 
 some minutes. She caused herself to be tied one day as she 
 lay on the table, her arms crossed behind her back and her 
 legs flexed to their fullest extent, and, while six men struck 
 her without ceasing, a seventh choked her. After this she re- 
 mained insensible for some time, and her tongue, inflamed and 
 discolored, hung far out of her mouth. Another insisted upon 
 receiving a hundred blows upon the stomach with an andiron, 
 and these were so heavy that they shook the wall against which 
 she was placed, and upon one occasion a breach in it was 
 caused at the twenty-fifth blow. 
 
 A physician, hearing of these things, insisted that they 
 could not be true, as it was physically impossible that the skin, 
 the flesh, the bones, and the internal organs, could resist such 
 violence. He was told to come and verify the facts. He has- 
 tened to do so, and was struck with astonishment. Scarcely 
 believing his eyes, he begged to be allowed to administer the 
 blows. A strong iron instrument, sharp at one end, was put 
 into his hands ; he struck with all his might and thrust it deep 
 into the flesh, but the victim laughed at his efforts, and re- 
 marked that his blows only did her good. 
 
JANSE1VIST CONVULSIONNAIRES. 4I 
 
 The government tried for a long time, unsuccessfully, to 
 stop the epidemic, and at last was obliged to close the tomb 
 and to place a guard over it, with orders to disperse the crowd 
 that habitually collected in the cemetery, and to arrest the 
 convulsionnaires. A wit of the period was almost justified in 
 sticking up the following lines over the gate : — 
 
 " De par Ie Roi, defense a Dieu 
 De faire miracle dans ce lieu." 
 
 " And," says Voltaire, who relates this event, " Ce qu'il y a 
 de plus ^tonnant, c'est qui Dieu ob&t." 
 
 This immunity from injury, though remarkable, is frequently 
 met with among hysterical persons at the present day, but is 
 much more frequently assumed. Calmeil* states that many 
 of the Jansenist fanatics were subject to great illusions on this 
 point ; for many among them exhibited very obvious effects of 
 the treatment, such as patches of discoloration on the skin, 
 and innumerable contusions on the parts which had suffered 
 the most severe assaults. Then it must be remembered that 
 the blows upon the belly were given while the paroxysms were 
 present, and when the stomach and intestines were distended 
 with wind — a condition almost inseparable from the hysterical 
 state. The prize-fighters of our own day, by filling the chest 
 with air, endure blows which untrained persons could not 
 receive without serious injury. 
 
 The writer has had the opportunity of witnessing many 
 manifestations of hysteria analogous in character to those de- 
 scribed in the foregoing remarks. Upon one occasion, a young 
 
 * Op. cit; tome ii. p. 386. 
 
42 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 woman, a patient in the wards of the Pennsylvania Hospital, 
 began a series of movements consisting in bending her body 
 backward till it formed an arch, her heels and head alone rest- 
 ing on the bed, and then, suddenly straightening herself out, 
 would fall heavily. Instantly the arch was formed again ; 
 again she fell ; and this process was kept up with inconceivable 
 rapidity for several hours every day. In another instance, a 
 lady, during an access of hysterical paroxysms to which she 
 was liable, beat her head with such violence against a lath and 
 plaster partition, that she made a hole in it, while little or no 
 injury was inflicted on herself. In another, a girl eighteen 
 years of age lay down on the floor, naked, and made all the 
 members of her family, five in number, stand each in turn for 
 several minutes on her abdomen. In another, a lady, in order 
 that she might resemble those martyrs who suffered on the 
 rack, tied her wrists with a stout cord, mounted a step-ladder, 
 fastened the cord to a hook in the wall, and then, jumping from 
 the ladder, succeeded in dislocating her shoulder. In another, . 
 a lady rigidly closed her mouth, and refused to open it, either 
 to take food or to speak, for over forty-eight hours. No force 
 that it was safe to use, could overcome the contraction of her 
 muscles, and no persuasion induce her to relax them. She 
 only yielded to an irresistible impulse to talk, and a degree of 
 hunger that human nature could no longer endure. It would 
 be easy to go on and cite, from the writer's practice or from 
 monographs on the subject, hundreds of other instances of 
 hysterical folly in which the subjects have been able to violate 
 the laws of their being without apparently suffering serious 
 pain or injury. 
 
LOUIS GAUFRIDI. 43 
 
 During the sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, an epi- 
 demic of hysterical chorea with catalepsy prevailed in many 
 convents of Europe, and many grievous wrongs were in conse- 
 quence inflicted upon perfectly innocent persons whom the 
 "possessed" accused of having bewitched them; among 
 others, Louis Gaufridi, a priest of Marseilles, and a man of 
 cultivation and strict morality, was accused by two Ursuline 
 nuns, named Madeline de Mandol and Louise Capel, the lat- 
 ter but nineteen years of age. At the time of the accusation 
 these women were suffering from attacks of a hysterical kind, 
 accompanied with hallucinations and illusions, fearful convul- 
 sions and cataleptic paroxysms, all of which were ascribed to 
 possession of the devil, moved and instigated by Louis Gau- 
 fridi. At first, the accused denied the charges made against 
 him, and endeavored by arguments to show the true nature of 
 the seizures. The effort was in vain ; he became insane, and 
 confessed all that was laid to his charge, with numerous other 
 offences, which had not been imagined. He declared that he 
 had worshipped the devil for fourteen years, and that " ce 
 demon m'engagea k rendre amoureuses de ma personne toutes 
 les femmes que j'atteindrais de mon souffle. Plus de mille 
 femmes ont 6t6 empoisonne'es par l'attrait irresistible de mon 
 souffle qui les rendraient passionnees. La dame de la Pallude, 
 mere de Madeleine, a 6t6 prise pour moi d'un amour insense" 
 et s'est abandonnee a moi soit au sabbat soit hors du sabbat." 
 
 Gaufridi was burned at the stake, and the two Ursuline 
 nuns " continuerent a de'lirer." * Among the convents visited 
 by this terrible disorder was that of Sainte-Brigitte, at Lille. 
 
 *Calmeil, De la Folie, etc. Paris, 1845, *• '•• P- 4^9> et "?• 
 
44 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 Several of the nuns had been present at the proceedings against 
 Gaufridi, and had thus been subjected to influences readily 
 capable of producing the disease. 
 
 Among the sisters was one named Marie de Sains, who 
 was remarkable for her many virtues, but who was now sus- 
 spected of devoting herself to sorcery and of being the cause 
 of the " possessions " of which the other nuns were the vic- 
 tims. She remained a year in prison, without any formal 
 proofs of her guilt being adduced, until at last she was posi- 
 tively accused by three of the sisters with having intercourse 
 with demons. At first, the poor nun appeared to be surprised 
 at this charge; but suddenly she recanted her denial, and 
 avowed herself the perpetrator of a series of such wicked and 
 abominable acts, that it was difficult to understand how the 
 conception of them had ever entered her mind. Among them 
 were numberless murders, stranglings of innocent children, 
 ravaging of graves, feeding on human flesh, revelling in orgies 
 of superhuman atrocity, unheard-of sacrileges, poisonings, and 
 in fact every imaginable crime. In the presence of her ac- 
 cusers and exorcists she improvised sermons which she ascribed 
 to Satan, discoursed learnedly on the apocalypse, and made 
 long discourses on antichrist. Like others of the present day, 
 she was a speaking medium. 
 
 Marie de Sains was not burnt. She was merely stripped 
 of her religious character, and condemned to perpetual im- 
 prisonment at Tournay. 
 
 A more noted example of spiritual possession is that af- 
 forded by the nuns of Loudun, and which resulted in the death 
 of Urban Grandier at the stake, after he had been submitted to 
 
FATHER SANTERRE'S SIGNS. 45 
 
 the most atrocious tortures, in the vain attempt to make him 
 confess to an alliance with the devil.* 
 
 As showing the nature of the phenomena exhibited in the 
 cases of monomania occurring among the nuns of Loudun, 
 the following questions were proposed by Santerre, priest and 
 promoter of the diocese of Nimes, to the University of Mont- 
 pelier : 
 
 Question 1. Whether the bending, bowing, and removing 
 of the body, the head touching sometimes the soles of the feet, 
 with other contortions and strange postures, are a good sign of 
 possession ? 
 
 2. Whether the quickness of the motion of the head for- 
 ward and backward, bringing it to the back and breast, be an 
 infallible mark of possession ? 
 
 3. Whether a sudden swelling of the tongue, the throat and 
 the face, and the sudden alteration of the color, are certain 
 marks of possession ? 
 
 4. Whether dulness and senselessness, or the privation of 
 sense, even to be pinched and pricked without complaining, 
 without stirring, and even without changing color, are certain 
 marks of possession ? 
 
 5. Whether the immobility of all the body which happens to 
 the pretended possessed, by the command of their exorcists, 
 during and in the middle of the strongest agitations, is a cer- 
 tain sign of a truly diabolical possession ? 
 
 * For a very full account of this lamentable event, see the " Cheats and 
 Illusions of Romish Priests and Exorcists discovered in the History of the 
 Devils of Loudun. Being an account of the Pretended Possession of the 
 Ursuline Nuns, and of the Condemnation and Punishment of Urban Gran- 
 dier, a Parson of the same town. London, 1705. 
 
46 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 6. Whether the yelping or barking like that of a dog, in the 
 breast rather than in the throat, is a mark of possession ? 
 
 7. Whether a fixed, steady look upon some object, with- 
 out moving the eye on either side, be a good mark of pos- 
 session ? 
 
 8. Whether the answers that the pretended possessed made 
 in French, to some questions that are put to them in Latin, are 
 a good mark of possession ? 
 
 9. Whether to vomit such things as people have swallowed, 
 be a sign of possession ? 
 
 10. Whether the prickings of a lancet upon divers parts of 
 the body, without blood issuing thence, are a certain mark of 
 possession ? 
 
 All these questions, to the credit of medical science, were 
 answered in the negative. No one can read them without be- 
 ing struck with the absolute identity of the symptoms, in all 
 essential characteristics, with those which in our day are as- 
 serted to be due to spiritual possession, and with those met 
 with in the various forms of hysteria. Cases almost exactly in 
 point have already been cited in this essay. 
 
 Nicholas Remigius, judge of the Criminal Court of Lorraine, 
 who in the course of his official career, caused eight hundred 
 women to be burned for sorcery, believed that magic was prev- 
 alent far and near around him. This became with him a 
 fixed idea, a veritable madness. He wished to preach a cru- 
 sade against the sorcerers with whom he believed Europe to 
 be filled. Desperate when he was not believed on his word, 
 that every one was guilty of magic, he ended by declaring him- 
 self to be a sorcerer, and on his own confession was burned at 
 
NEW ENGLAND WITCHCRAFT. 47 
 
 the stake.* Can any fact indicate more strongly than this, 
 the overwhelming influence of a strongly rooted belief and the 
 danger of allowing the mind to become possessed with one 
 idea? 
 
 Nor have these epidemics been restricted to convents or 
 catholic lands. Protestants of the straitest sects have been 
 visited, and our country has afforded many notable examples, 
 besides possessing the doubtful honor of originating spiritua- 
 lism in its present form. 
 
 The history of witchcraft, as it existed in New England 
 during the latter part of the seventeenth century, is exceedingly 
 instructive to the student of human nature, and of great interest 
 in the present connection. As an illustration of the symptoms 
 exhibited by the so-called " possessed " — the " mediums " of 
 our day — I subjoin the following case, being the " ninth exam- 
 ple " adduced by the Rev. Cotton Mather, f It would be dif- 
 ficult to select from all the records of medicine better examples 
 of the blending of hysteria, chorea, and catalepsy. The evi- 
 dence concerning the diabolical character of the " Quaker's 
 book," " popish books," and the " Prayer-book," is incidentally, 
 though with manifest gusto, thrown in by the narrator for what 
 it is worth. 
 
 Four children of John Goodwin, of Boston, remarkable for 
 
 their piety, honesty, and industry, were in the year 1688 made 
 
 . the subjects of witchcraft. The eldest, a girl about thirteen 
 
 * Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie Par Elaphas Levi. Paris, 1861 
 Tome second, p. 290. 
 
 t " Magnalia Christi Americana," etc. First American, from the Lon- 
 don edition of 1702. Hartford, 1820 vol ii., p. 396. 
 
48 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 years old, had a dispute with the laundress about some linen 
 that was missing, whose mother, a " scandalous Irishwoman of 
 the neighborhood," applied some very abusive language to the 
 child. The latter was at once taken with " odd fits, which 
 carried in them something diabolical." Soon afterwards the 
 other children, a girl and two boys, became similarly affected. 
 Sometimes they were deaf, sometimes blind, sometimes dumb, 
 and sometimes all of these. Their tongues would be drawn 
 down their throats, and then pulled out upon their chins to a 
 prodigious length. Their mouths were often forced open to 
 such an extent that their jaws-were dislocated, and were then 
 suddenly closed with a snap like that of a spring-lock. The 
 like took place with their shoulders, elbows, wrists, and other 
 joints. They would then lie in a benumbed condition, and be 
 drawn together like those tied neck and heels, and presently be 
 stretched out, and then drawn back enormously. They made 
 piteous outcries that they were cut with knives, and struck with 
 blows, and the plain prints of the wounds were seen upon 
 them. 
 
 [This latter is not an uncommon occurrence. I once de- 
 tected a woman cutting herself with a knife, and thus inflicting 
 wounds which she afterwards declared were given her by a 
 spirit whom she had offended in the flesh.] 
 
 At times their necks were rendered so limber that the bones 
 could not be felt, and again they were so stiff that they could 
 not be bent by any degree of force. 
 
 The woman who by her spells was supposed to have caused 
 these " possessions," was arrested. Her house was searched, 
 and several images made of rags and stuffed with goat's-hair, 
 
NEW ENGLAND WITCHCRAFT. 49 
 
 were found. These the woman confessed she employed for 
 the purpose of producing the torments in the children, which 
 she did by wetting her finger with saliva and stroking the 
 images. The experiment was made in court, to the entire 
 satisfaction of all concerned. The woman, who was evidently 
 insane, and probably rendered so by the accusations made 
 against her, acknowledged that she was in league with the 
 devil. She was tried, condemned to death, and executed. On 
 the scaffold she declared that others remained who would carry 
 on the work of tormenting the children ; and so the calamities 
 of the victims went on. They barked like dogs, purred like 
 cats, at times complained that they were in a red-hot oven, and 
 again that cold water was thrown on them. Then they were 
 roasted on an invisible spit, and would shriek with agony ; 
 their heads they said were nailed to the floor, and it was be- 
 yond ordinary strength to pull them up. They would be so 
 limber sometimes, that it was judged every bone they had 
 might be bent, and then so stiff that not a joint could be flexed. 
 And so the story goes on through several pages of details. 
 Unseen ropes and chains were put around them, blows were 
 given, and then the narrator continues, in regard to the eldest 
 of the children, who was specially under his observation : — 
 
 " A Quaker's book being brought to her, she could quietly 
 read whole pages of it ; only the name of God and Christ she 
 still skipped over, being unable to pronounce it, except some- 
 times stammering a minute or two or more over it. And when 
 we urged her to tell what the word was that she missed, she- 
 would say : ' I must not speak it. They say I must not. Yow 
 know what it is. 'Tis G, and O, and D.' But a hook, against. 
 
5 o SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 Quakerism they would not allow her to meddle with. Such 
 books as it might have been profitable and edifying for her to 
 read, and especially her catechisms, if she did but offer to read 
 a line in them, she would be cast into hideous convulsions, and 
 be tossed about the house like a football. But books of jest 
 being shown her, she could read them well enough, and have 
 cunning descants upon them. Popish books they would not 
 hinder her from reading, but they would from books against 
 popery. 
 
 " Divers of these trials were made by many witnesses, but 
 I, considering that there might be a snare in it, put a season- 
 able stop to this kind of business. Only I could not but be 
 amazed at one thing. A certain prayer-book being brought to 
 her, she not only could read it very well, but also did read a 
 large part of it over, calling it her Bible, and putting a more 
 than ordinary respect upon it. If she were going into her tor- 
 tures, at the tender of this book, she would recover herself 
 to read it." 
 
 Then she rode invisible horses, and continued other pranks, 
 till at last " one particular minister " (who seems to have 
 been very negligent heretofore), "taking a peculiar compassion 
 on the family, set himself to serve them in the methods pre- 
 scribed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly, the Lord be- 
 ing besought thrice in three days of prayer, with fasting, on 
 this occasion, the family then saw their deliverance perfected." 
 
 In the tenth example it is stated that one Winlock Curtis, 
 a sailor, " was violently and suddenly seized in an unaccount- 
 able manner, and furiously thrown down upon the deck, where 
 he lay wallowing in a great agony, and foamed at the mouth, 
 
NEW ENGLAND WITCHCRAFT. 51 
 
 and grew black in the face, and was near strangled with a great 
 lump rising in his neck nigh his throat, like that which be- 
 witched or possessed people used to be attended withal." 
 Winlock Curtis clearly had an epileptic fit, and the lump 
 spoken of was the well-known globus hystericus, which few of 
 my nervous readers have failed to experience at some time or 
 other of their lives. 
 
 Finally, the epidemic spread with such rapidity, and so 
 many accused themselves of converse with the devil, that the 
 common-sense of the people put a stop to further executions. 
 In the language of Mather, " Experience showed that the 
 more there were apprehended the more were still afflicted by 
 Satan, and the number of confessions increasing did but in- 
 crease the number of the accused ; and the executing of some 
 made way for the apprehending of others. For still the af- 
 flicted complained of being tormented by new objects, as 
 the former were removed. So that those that were concerned 
 grew amazed at the number and quality of the persons ac- 
 cused, and feared that Satan by his wiles had enwrapped 
 innocent persons under the imputation of that crime ; and at 
 last it was evidently seen that there must be a stop put, or 
 the generation of the children of God would fall under that 
 condemnation. Henceforth, therefore, the juries generally 
 acquitted such as were tried, fearing they had gone too far 
 before, and Sir William Phips, the governor, reprieved all that 
 were condemned, even the confessors as well as others." 
 
 The epidemic, being thus let alone, died a natural death, 
 as would likewise be the case with the spiritualism of the 
 present day with similar treatment. 
 
52 . SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 The vagaries of the shakers and jumpers of our own coun- 
 try, and of the whirling dervishes and other sects of the old 
 world, and the contortions, trances, and beatifications of camp- 
 meetings and revivals, may also receive a portion of our 
 attention. 
 
 McNemar,* who was an eye witness of what he describes, 
 but whose book has almost passed out of sight, says of the 
 Kentucky revival : — 
 
 " At first appearance these meetings exhibited nothing to 
 the spectator but a scene of confusion, that could scarcely be 
 put into any language. They were generally opened with a 
 sermon, near the close of which there would be an unusual 
 outcry, even bursting out into loud ejaculations of prayer, etc. 
 
 " The rolling exercise consisted in being cast down in a 
 violent manner, doubled with the head and feet together, or 
 stretched in a prostrate manner, turning swiftly over like a dog. 
 Nothing in nature could better represent the jerks than for one 
 to goad another alternately on every side with a red-hot iron. 
 The exercise commonly began in the head, which would fly 
 backwards "and forwards and from side to side with a quick 
 jolt, which the person would naturally labor to suppress, but 
 in vain. He must necessarily go on as he was stimulated, 
 whether with a violent dash on the ground and bounce from 
 place to place like a foot-ball, hopping round with head, limbs 
 
 * The Kentucky Revival ; or, A Short History of the Late Extra- 
 ordinary Outpouring of the Spirit of God in the Western States of 
 America, agreeable to Scripture Promises and Prophecies concerning the 
 Latter Day. With a brief account of the entrance and progress of what 
 the world calls Shakerism among the subjects of the late revival in Ohio 
 and Kentucky. Presented to the True Zion Traveller as a Memorial of 
 the Wilderness Journey. Cincinnati. 1807. 
 
THE JERKERS. 53 
 
 and trunk twitching and jolting in every direction, as if they 
 must inevitably fly asunder." 
 
 Lorenzo Dow, in his Journal, states that at one of the 
 meetings at which he preached, at Knoxville, Tennessee, in 
 1805, a hundred and fifty persons, among them several qua- 
 kers, were affected with the "jerks.'' " I have seen," he says, 
 " all denominations of religion exercised by the jerks, gentle- 
 man and lady, black and white, young and old, without ex- 
 ception. I passed a meeting-house where I observed the un- 
 dergrowth had been cut down for camp-meetings, and from 
 fifty to a hundred saplings were left for the people who were 
 jerked to hold by. I observed where they had held on, they 
 had kicked up the earth as a horse stamping flies." . 
 
 Another account of the Kentucky revival is that of Mr. 
 Geo. A. Baxter,* a man of whom the Rev. Archibald Alex- 
 ander, President of Hampden Sidney College in Virginia, 
 says, " I never knew a man in whose judgment in a matter 
 of this kind I could more confidently rely." 
 
 The account states that the people were accustomed to 
 assemble on sacramental occasions to the number of from 
 eight to twelve thousand, and to continue on the ground in de- 
 votional exercises for several days and nights. They were 
 addressed by several ministers, and presently some of the 
 audience began to fall down, which at first created some dis- 
 order, but soon this fall became so general and frequent that 
 it excited no disturbance. At Cane-Ridge sacrament, it was 
 
 * Quoted by Dr. Erigham from the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, 
 Vol. II., in Observations on the Influence of Religion upon the Health. 
 Boston, 1855, p. 229. 
 
54 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 generally supposed that not less than one thousand persons 
 fell prostrate to the ground, and among them many infidels. 
 At one sacrament at which Mr. Baxter attended, the number 
 that fell was thought to be over three thousand. It was com 
 mon to see the fallers shed tears plentifully for about an hour. 
 Then they were seized with a general tremor, and sometimes 
 they uttered, at the moment of falling, piercing shrieks. Some- 
 times they could not sit up or speak, the pulse became weak 
 and the breathing very slow. At others, all signs of life left 
 them, for an hour or more. In many cases the falling was 
 very sudden ; some would go down as if struck by lightning. 
 Many infidels and other vicious characters were arrested in 
 this way, and sometimes at the very moment in which they 
 were uttering their blasphemies against the work. 
 
 On one occasion he says : — " The people, as usual, met on 
 Friday, but they were all languid, and the exercises went on 
 heavily. On Saturday and Sunday morning it was no better. 
 At length the communion service commenced, and everything 
 was still lifeless. The minister of the place was speaking at 
 one of the tables without any unusual liberty. All at once 
 there were several shrieks from different parts of the assem- 
 bly. Persons fell instantly in every direction. The feelings 
 of the hearers were suddenly relieved, and the work went on 
 with extraordinary power from that time to the conclusion of 
 the solemnity." 
 
 And all this was called " The outpouring of the Holy 
 Spirit ! " 
 
 Some ministers were then, as now, more potent to convert 
 than others. Thus, one of the most gifted in this respect, at 
 
REV. MR. WESLEY'S MINISTRATIONS. 55 
 
 least in his own estimation, was the Rev. Mr. Foote,* who says, 
 " Most ministers, I suppose, do not expect to convert a hundred 
 souls in all their lives ; but though I am a poor creature, I 
 should not think I did anything unless I converted two 
 thousand or two thousand five hundred a year." 
 
 In England, like performances resulted from the ministra 
 tions of Mr. Wesley, and are thus described in his Journal : 
 
 " Sunday, May 20, being with Mr. B — 11, at Everton, I was 
 much fatigued and did not rise, but Mrs. B did, and ob- 
 served many fainting and crying out, while Mr. Berridge was 
 preaching ; afterwards, at church, I heard many cry out, espe- 
 cially children, whose agonies were amazing ; one of the old- 
 est, a girl of ten or twelve years old, was full in my view, in 
 violent contortions of body, and weeping aloud, I think, inces- 
 santly during the whole service ; and several much younger 
 children were in Mr. B — ll's full view, agonizing as they did. 
 The church was equally crowded in the afternoon, the windows 
 being filled within and without, and even the outside of the 
 
 pulpit to the very top, so that Mr. B seemed almost stifled 
 
 with their breath ; yet feeble and sickly as he is, he was con- 
 tinually strengthened, and his voice, for the most part, dis- 
 tinguishable in the midst of all the outcries. I believe there 
 were present three times more men than women, a greater part 
 of whom came from afar ; thirty of them having set out at two 
 in the morning, from a place thirteen miles off. The text was : 
 ' Having a fear of godliness but denyitig the power thereof.' 
 When the power of religion began to be spoken of, the pres- 
 
 * " Account of the Seven Protracted Meetings in Berkshire Co., 
 Mass." By the Rev. B. D. Field, of Stockbridge. Boston Recorder, April 
 3, 1835, cited by Brigham, op. cit, p. 242. 
 
56 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 ence of God really filled the place ; and while poor sinners 
 felt the sentence of death in their souls, what sounds of distress 
 did I hear ! The greatest number of those who cried or fell, 
 were men ; but some women and several children felt the 
 power of the same almighty spirit, and seemed just sinking 
 into hell. This occasioned a mixture of various sounds ; some 
 shrieking, some roaring aloud. The most general was a loud 
 breathing like that of people half strangled and gasping for 
 life ; and, indeed, almost all the cries were like those of human 
 creatures dying in bitter anguish. Great numbers wept with- 
 out any noise ; others fell down as dead ; some sinking in si- 
 lence ; some with extreme noise and violent agitation. I stood 
 on the pew seat, as did a young man on the opposite pew, an 
 able-bodied, fresh, healthy countryman ; but in a moment, 
 while he seemed to think of nothing less, down he dropped 
 with a violence inconceivable. The adjoining pew seemed to 
 shake with his fall. I heard afterwards the stamping of his 
 feet ; ready to break the boards as he lay in strong convulsions 
 at the bottom of the pew. Among several that were struck 
 down in the next pew, was a girl who was as violently seized 
 as he. When he fell, Mr. B — 11 and I felt our souls thrilled with 
 a momentary dread ; as when one man is killed with a cannon- 
 jall another often feels the wind of it. 
 
 " Among the children who felt the arrows of the Almighty, 
 I saw a sturdy boy about eight years old, who roared above his 
 fellows, and seemed, in his agony, to struggle with the strength 
 of a grown man. His face was red as scarlet, and almost all on 
 whom God laid his hand, turned either very red or almost black. 
 When I returned after a little walk to Mr. Berridge's house, I 
 
REV. MR. WESLEY'S MINISTRATIONS. 57 
 
 found it full of people. He was fatigued, but said he would 
 nevertheless give them a word of exhortation. I stayed in the 
 next room and saw the girl whom I had observed so peculiarly 
 distressed in the church, lying on the floor as one dead, but 
 without any ghastliness in her face. In a few minutes we were 
 informed of a woman filled with peace and joy, who was cry- 
 ing out just before. She had come thirteen miles, and is the 
 
 same person who dreamed Mr. B would come to her 
 
 village on that very day whereon he did come, though without 
 either knowing the place or the way to it. She was convinced 
 at that time. Just as we heard of her deliverance, the girl on 
 the floor began to stir. She was then set on a chair j and 
 after sighing awhile, suddenly rose up rejoicing in God. Her 
 face was covered with the most beautiful smile I ever saw. 
 She frequently fell on her knees but was generally running to 
 and fro, speaking these and the like words : ' Oh, what can 
 Jesus do for lost sinners ? He has forgiven all my sins ! I am 
 in heaven ! I am in heaven ! Oh, how he loves me ! And 
 how I love him ! ' Meantime, I saw a thin, pale girl, weeping 
 with sorrow for herself and joy for her companion. Quickly 
 the smiles of heaven came likewise on her, and her praises 
 joined with those of the other. I also then laughed with ex- 
 treme joy, so did Mr. B — 11 (who said it was more than he 
 could well bear). So did all who knew the Lord, and some of 
 those who were waiting for salvation, till the cries of those who 
 were struck with the arrows of conviction, were almost lost in 
 the sounds of joy. * * * * 
 
 "Immediately after a stranger, well dressed, who stood 
 facing me, fell backward to the wall ; then forward on his 
 
S 8 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 knees, wringing his hands and roaring like a bull. His face at 
 first turned quite red and then almost black. He rose and 
 ran against the wall, till Mr. Keeling and another held him. 
 He screamed out, ' Oh, what shall I do, what shall I do ? Oh, for 
 one drop of the blood of Christ ! ' As he spoke, God set his 
 soul at liberty ; he knew his sins were blotted out ; and the 
 raptures he was in seemed too great for human nature to bear. 
 
 He had come forty miles to hear Mr. B , and was to leave 
 
 the next morning ; which he did with a glad heart, telling all 
 who came in his way, what God had done for his soul. * * * 
 
 " And now did I see such a sight as I do not expect again 
 on this side eternity. The faces of the three justified children, 
 and I think of all the believers present, did really shine ; and 
 such a beauty, such a look of extreme happiness and at the 
 same time of divine love and simplicity, did I never see in hu- 
 man faces till now. The newly justified eagerly embraced one 
 another, weeping on each other's necks for joy. Then they 
 saluted all of their own sex and besought men and women to 
 help them in praising God." 
 
 On the 24th, Mr. Wesley went to hear Mr. Hicks preach at 
 Wrestlingworth, and thus describes what ensued : 
 
 " While he was preaching, fifteen or sixteen persons felt 
 the arrows of the Lord and dropped down. A few of these 
 cried out with the utmost violence, and little intermission for 
 some hours, while the rest made no great noise but continued 
 struggling as in the pangs of death. I observed besides them, 
 one little girl deeply convinced, and a boy nine or ten years 
 old, both of them, and several others, when carried into the par- 
 sonage house, either lay as dead or struggled with all their 
 
SHAKERISM. 59 
 
 might, but in a short time their cries increased beyond meas 
 lire, so that the loudest singing could scarcely be heard. Some 
 at last called on me to pray, which I did, and for a time all 
 were calm ; but the storm soon began again." 
 
 This is not all. There is a great deal more to the same 
 effect, and were it not that there is such a condition as hysteria, 
 we should be disposed to take the other alternative of de- 
 moniacal possession, as an explanation of the frightful orgies, 
 which under the blasphemous designation of the " outpouring 
 of the spirit of God," excelled in hideousness the frenzies of 
 the demonolaters of the East. 
 
 Hysteria from any other cause is marked by exactly such 
 phenomena — the emotional disturbance, the falling, the loss of 
 consciousness, the spasms, convulsions, coma, are all so many 
 symptoms which physicians see every day arise from very dif- 
 ferent factors than the " spirit of God." The well-known force 
 of contagion by example, has no more marked exponent than 
 hysteria affords, and hence, when one began to sob, and to be 
 convulsed, to cry out in agony and to fall in a coma, the spark 
 was set to the train, and the others with pent-up emotions, 
 were ready to do likewise. 
 
 But the relations of hysteria to religion have never been 
 more distinctly shown than in the fact that women under its 
 influence, have been able to gather numerous followers and ac- 
 tually to originate new religious faiths, of such preposterous 
 tenets and practices, as to inevitably lead to the conclusion 
 that the adherents are either fools or knaves. 
 
 Take for instance, the shakers. This sect professes to be- 
 lieve that Christ made his second appearance on earth in the 
 
6o SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 person of one Ann Lee, an Englishwoman, daughter of James 
 Lee, a blacksmith of Manchester, England. This woman was 
 employed in a hat manufactory, was married when very young, 
 and had four or five children all of whom died in infancy. At 
 a very early period of her life, Ann Lee began to feel the 
 " awful sinfulness of sin and the depth of man's fall." Al- 
 though she could neither read nor write, she managed to pick 
 up from others a little smattering of the Bible, and evinced a 
 great interest in the Apocrypha, as was natural she should, 
 under the peculiar circumstances of her career. She always 
 said the Apocrypha was the cream of the Bible. 
 
 Night and day she labored to discover the root of all evil, 
 and being convinced beyond a doubt where it lay, she opened 
 a flaming testimony against it, which called down upon her 
 head showers of persecutions, too cruel for long endurance. 
 But many adopted her views and she was called " mother," as 
 the head of the band of followers she had gathered around 
 her. 
 
 By continual fasting and prayer, much agony of soul, inces- 
 sant cries, tears and entreaties by day and by night, she wasted 
 away, till becoming helpless, her followers were under the ne- 
 cessity of taking her in their arms as an infant. It is said she 
 was fed with pap from a spoon, the greater portion of the time 
 during which she was travailing in the " New Birth." She tra- 
 vailed nine years in this way, and then she announced that she 
 was born again " completely redeemed from all the propensi- 
 ties of a fallen nature, in July, 1790." She then separated from 
 her husband and was duly regarded as the second Christ— 
 the Redeemer of the world. 
 
SHAKERISM. 61 
 
 Like all new religions, this met with violent persecution — 
 not enough to crush it, just enough to feed it. In every place 
 in England in which Mother Ann undertook to worship God 
 by dancing on Sunday and preaching against the institution of 
 marriage, persecution was excited ; but she bore up against it 
 and her followers increased. 
 
 As in the case of other originators of religious dogmas, 
 which do not admit of proof, Mother Ann began to work mira- 
 cles for the confusion of the unbelievers, and the strengthening 
 of the convictions of the faithful. 
 
 Thus we are told she was dragged before the magistrates, 
 for no other offence than worshipping God in the way laid 
 down by herself, and was condemned to a cold, dark prison, 
 with a small allowance of bread and water ; yet she lived, to 
 the great astonishment and confusion of her enemies. After 
 being confined in this dark prison, in delicate health, and with 
 insufficient food, the doors were thrown open, and thousands 
 of spectators in breathless anxiety awaited the egress of an 
 emaciated and subdued woman, supported by one of her fol- 
 lowers ; but to their great astonishment Mother Ann came 
 forth in unsurpassed beauty, with an air of dignified buoyancy, 
 a halo of glory around her head, singing a song of paradise 
 given her by an angel who attended her in the prison, and who 
 had fed her with food sent by the Eternal Mother. For the 
 Shakers worship a quadruple God, consisting of the Eternal 
 Father, the Eternal Mother, the Son and Holy Ghost, corres- 
 ponding to Power, Mother Ann, Jesus Christ and Wisdom. 
 
 This miraculous event so incensed the people that she was 
 
 taken, with her followers, to a valley a short distance from 
 
 ii 
 
62 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 Manchester. The mob collected on a hill near by, and com- 
 menced a furious attack on them with stones and other missiles. 
 These projectiles flew with tremendous velocity till within a 
 few inches of their object, and then fell harmless to the ground. 
 Mother Ann saw a circle of power of God around about them 
 like a high wall. 
 
 Then they determined to leave a country where they met 
 with so little appreciation, and so set sail for America. On 
 the voyage Mother Ann stilled a raging tempest, and kept the 
 sea calm till they landed. She died in a few years, and took 
 her place in heaven, to be worshipped as a member of the 
 Godhead.* 
 
 The religious ceremonial of these degraded creatures has no 
 one redeeming feature about it. The demonolatrous worship 
 of the Hindoos has an object — the propitiation of a powerful 
 being — but the shaker ritual is abjectly degrading to human 
 nature, without even the excuse of adoration. 
 
 There are many among them who profess to see God, Christ 
 and Mother Ann. They are taken to the spiritual world and 
 introduced to good spirits, where they often sit at table with 
 the Godhead. At their meetings, some one called the visionist 
 directs the proceedings. Standing at the head of the room, 
 this person, who professes to see God, Christ or Mother Ann, 
 and to be in communion with them, gives his orders to the 
 assembled people. He calls on one to step forth and shake. 
 The victim comes forward, drops his or her hands to the side, 
 
 * This account, as well as what follows, is quoted in an abridged form 
 from " Extract from an Unpublished Manuscript on Shaker History • by an 
 Eye Witness." Boston, 1850. ' 
 
SHAKERISM. 6 3 
 
 and begins shaking the whole body and stamping with the feet, 
 while the visionist calls out at the top of his voice " Shake ! 
 Shake ! Shake ! There is a great spirit on you, shake him 
 off ! shake him off ! Christ says, shake him off ! " Another 
 then takes up the cry : " Down ! down 1 come down ! Christ 
 says, come down ! Low ! low ! low ! " At which every person 
 in the room bends and bows like willows in a high wind. 
 Sometimes one of the gifted, will see the devil come into the 
 meeting, and, like a faithful sentinel, gives the alarm, when 
 every true believer opens the battery at once by drawing the 
 right arm nearly to the chin, placing the arm in the position as 
 if to shoot, and then straightening the body out with a jerk and 
 a stamp of the foot, accompanied by a quick bursting yelp in 
 imitation of a gun, all being the work of a moment. " There," 
 says the visionist, " see him dart ; he has gone down towards 
 the chimney • shoot him ! shoot him ! kill him ! " and a rush 
 is made for spiritual weapons, given by the visionist from the 
 spiritual armory. 
 
 Sometimes Christ or Mother Ann enters the meeting-room, 
 bearing such presents as the band wants. These presents are 
 " spiritual," and are handed round by Christ to the faithful, 
 who receive them as though they were real gifts. To one 
 golden potatoes are given ; to another, oranges ; to others, cake, 
 puddings, jellies, etc., with various other things not known to 
 this world. 
 
 Mother Ann has a splendid vineyard ; the walks are of pure 
 gold, with angels walking around among the vines. There are 
 ten thousand kinds of grapes. Mother Ann superintends her 
 own wine press, and often brings wine ( " spiritual " again) as 
 
64 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 a present. The visionist pretends to take a waiter filled with 
 wine-glasses • every body must have faith, and take one as it is 
 handed to them. Those who have little or no faith are told by 
 the visionist whether they have taken theirs. Then they all 
 raise their hands to their lips as in the act of drinking, and 
 presently they begin to reel and stagger around the room as 
 though actually drunk. Indeed, they act in all respects as 
 drunken persons, stamping, shaking, vomiting, etc., till finally, 
 exhausted, they gradually sink away till all is silent. Then, 
 standing in a circle, they throw their handkerchiefs over their 
 shoulders, raise their hands to their heads, and make six solemn 
 bows, saying with each, " I kindly thank Mother for this 
 beautiful gift." 
 
 Often sorrie one will feel a " laughing gift," and will begin 
 with — he, he, he ; ha, ha, ha ; ho, ho, ho. Another takes it up, 
 and soon all in the room are engaged in boisterous laughter. 
 Once under full "laughing gift,'' they will hold on to therr 
 sides and reel in their chairs till they become exhausted. This 
 gift ends in a song : 
 
 Ho, ho, ho ; he, he, he ; 
 
 O, what a pretty little path I see : 
 
 Pretty path, pretty play, 
 
 Pretty little angels, 
 
 Hay, hay, hay. 
 
 The first and last lines are sung with a loud laugh. 
 
 A gift sometimes called the " mortification gift " enters the 
 room. One might suppose it came direct from the barn-yard, 
 as the inspired begin slapping their hands against their sides 
 and crowing in imitation of a chicken-cock. Some will cackle, 
 others imitate the turkey, duck, hen, goose, or guinea-fowl. 
 
SHAKERISM. 65 
 
 Sometimes young men and women are exercised by what 
 they call the " jerks," for two weeks at a time, during the whole 
 of which period the head is kept in continual motion by quick, 
 convulsive motions of the shoulders and neck. The author of 
 the little book from which these particulars are quoted says she 
 once saw a young woman whose face was frightfully swollen, 
 her eyes dilated and bloodshot, and who had been exercised by 
 the " jerks " for three weeks. Directly after the "jerks" she 
 began to talk in unknown tongues, and continued at short in- 
 tervals for three or four days ; then she stopped suddenly, and 
 remained entirely mute for two weeks, no possible persuasion 
 being sufficient to make her say even yes or no. This expe- 
 rience is called the " dumb devils." 
 
 " At one time," she writes, " while in a mission meeting, the 
 visionist said ' Vicalun ' was present. I was told that ' Vica- 
 lun ' was the angel of repentance, and he had come to visit me, 
 if I would ' own the gift.' I informed the visionist that I felt 
 honored by the notice. 
 
 " They then sang a very solemn song in ' unknown tongues ' 
 and English, called ' Vicalun's Prayer,' reading thus : — 
 
 'Hark I hark I my holy, holy, 
 Vicalun seelen sor, 
 I have come to mourn 
 And weep with you 
 In low humiliation; 
 Pray to the silun sool, 
 Whose hand can stay the billows, 
 And san si rulun sool.' 
 
 " I cannot do justice to these songs by writing them. The 
 spiritual gifts are never set to music. They have some excel- 
 lent songs, however, and very difficult to execute correctly 
 
66 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 The song just quoted has a variety of changes, accompanied 
 by the following motions : At the first line the head is inclined 
 forward, with the forefinger pointing to the right ear, as in the 
 act of listening. At the third line the hands are brought for- 
 ward with an earnest beckoning motion. At the fourth line 
 the hands are carried to the eyes as in the act of weeping, the 
 body gradually bending till it sinks on the knees and the face 
 touches the floor at the close of the fifth line. At the com- 
 mencement of the sixth line both hands are brought up to the 
 side of the head as in prayer ; at the seventh the right hand is 
 thrown convulsively upward ; at the word ' Vicalun ' both hands 
 are extended wide. Atthe last line, and at the last word, they 
 are clasped over the heart. The last four lines are repeated 
 twice. Appropriate motions accompany all songs sung by 
 them." 
 
 Now, can any person not utterly lost to all sense of the dig- 
 nity of the human species think of these things without doubting 
 the sanity of those who practise them ? In what essential 
 respect do these acts differ from those of the demonolaters, as 
 described by Caldwell ? * A devil has been angered, and must 
 be propitiated. 
 
 " Beat the tom-tom louder. Let the fattest sheep be offered 
 as a propitiation ! Let the horns blaze out as the priest rolls 
 about in the giddy dance, and gashes himself in his frenzy, 
 More fire ! Quicker music ! Wilder bounds from the devil- 
 dancers ! Shrieks and laughter, and sobs, and frantic shouts ! 
 And over the long, lone valley, and up the bouldered mountain- 
 side, under the wan moon, thrills out loud and savage and 
 
 * "Denonolatry, Devil-Dancing, and Demoniacal Possession.'' Tht 
 Contemporary Review, Feb., 1876. 
 
DEVIL-DANCING. 67 
 
 shrill, the wild, tremulous wailing of women and yells of mad- 
 dened men. ' Ha, ha ! I am God ! God ! The God is in me, 
 and shrieks ! Come, hasten, tell me all ! I will solace you, 
 cure you ! God is in me, and I am God ! Hack and slaugh- 
 ter ! The blood of the sacrifice is sweet ! Another fowl ! 
 Another goat ! Quick, I am athirst for blood ! Obey your 
 God ! ' Such are the words which hoarsely burst from the 
 frothing lips of the devil-dancer, as he bounds and leaps and 
 gyrates, with short, sharp cries, and red eyes almost starting 
 from their sockets." 
 
 Mr. Caldwell appears to believe that the devil-dancers are 
 in reality, as they believe, possessed by demons. What would 
 he say if present at some such shaker gatherings as have been 
 described ? He and others may believe in possession, but those 
 who know how low the majesty of the human mind can fall, and 
 what strange and degraded acts, hysteria and hysteroid affec- 
 tions lead their subjects to commit, will see only in spiritualism, 
 shakerism, camp-meetings, devil-dancing, and their congeners, 
 fresh reasons to doubt the existence of any very broad line of 
 demarkation between man and the rest of the animal kingdom. 
 
 Mr. Wesley, had he been present at a shaker meeting, 
 would doubtless have seen little of the " outpouring of the spirit 
 of God " in their acts. He would probably have regarded the 
 performers as possessed by evil spirits and as mocking the God 
 they pretended to please. But " heterodoxy is your doxy, or- 
 thodoxy is my doxy," the world over. This is what the 
 shakers think of him. 
 
 " After singing this prayer, the young prophet rose from his 
 seat and approached me saying, " Will you hear what the spirit 
 
68 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 has to say to you ? ' I answered, yes. He then returned to his 
 seat and commenced bowing his head as is the custom in the 
 opening of a ' gift,' and said, ' O, look there and see that great 
 spirit ! He has got a large rope in his hand and it is tied 
 around your waist; and O look ! there is another on the other 
 side, he has got a rope around your waist. There ! see him 
 pull you.' I asked him who these spirits were. ' Why,' said 
 he, ' Christ says, the one on your left side is John Wesley, and 
 the other on your right side is John Murray. First you incline 
 to the one and then to the other. But oh look, there is an aw- 
 ful spirit ! He has got a great iron chain around both these 
 men. O mother, do tell us who that awful spirit is ! ' After a 
 moment's pause, he exclaimed, ' Why it is the devil ! so you 
 see, let you go to either of these men, you will go to the devil, 
 for he has them both.' I asked him why I did not go if Mur- 
 ray, Wesley and the Devil had united their forces to draw me 
 with cable ropes and iron chains ? The young man sat a mo- 
 ment and then said, ' Oh, I see it all now ; there is a beautiful 
 spirit all light and glory, right behind you. Dear, good spirit, 
 do tell me what you are, so very glorious ? Why now I know, 
 it is our blessed mother, and she has got a splendid gold chain 
 around your waist, holding your arm, so you had better let 
 methodism and universalism alone, and cheat the devil by 
 being a good child of mother's kingdom.' " 
 
 Again, there is the remarkable example of Joanna 
 Southcott, who announcing that she had conceived by super- 
 natural agency and was about to give birth to a second Christ, 
 or rather that Christ was to be born again through her, ob- 
 tained many followers who anxiously expected the promised 
 
JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 69 
 
 advent. She called herself the woman spoken of in the Revela- 
 tion of St. John, as the " Bride, the Lamb's Wife clothed with 
 the sun," as she said * "by types, shadows, dreams and visions, 
 I have been led on from 1792 to the present day." 
 
 Day and night she had hallucinations or visions, as she 
 called them, which she accepted as realities, and which formed 
 the basis of her prophecies and system of religion. Meetings 
 were held to inquire into the truth of her pretensions, and at 
 once a court was organized and a trial instituted. The result 
 was that she was accepted for all she claimed to be, as the 
 document was published, worded as follows : 
 
 " We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, being invited 
 by divine command for seven days to the examination of Jo- 
 anna Southcote, do individually and voluntarily avow by our 
 separate signatures, our firm belief that her prophecies and 
 other spiritual communications, emanate wholly and entirely 
 from the Spirit of the living Lord." 
 
 And among the names subscribed to this precious instru- 
 ment of human folly, are those of several of the clergy ! 
 
 She was subject to paroxsyms of weeping, to trances and 
 convulsions of a hysterical character. She often saw and con- 
 versed with the devil, and his satanic majesty did not hesitate 
 to abuse and threaten her in language scarce fit for polite ears. 
 
 " Thou infamous ," said Satan, enraged at the opposition he 
 
 met with, " thou hast been flattering God that He may stand thy 
 friend ! Such low cunning I despise ! Thou scheming wretch, 
 
 *" The Strange Effects of Faith with Remarkable Prophecies (made in 
 1792, etc.) of Things which are to come; also, Some Account of My Life." 
 Printed for the author. Exeter, 1801. p. 16. 
 
 II* 
 
7o SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 stop thy eternal tongue ! God has done something to 
 
 choose a of a woman that will argue down the devil and 
 
 scarce give him room to speak." * 
 
 On other occasions she was visited by Christ. It is pain- 
 ful to be obliged to refer to such events, but it must be remem- 
 bered that this woman was sincere, actually believing in the 
 reality of all she imagined she saw, and thousands of others 
 drinking in as truth, every word that fell from her lips or pen. 
 
 "Who," says the author from whom I have just quoted, 
 
 " can peruse the account of the following vision, for example, 
 
 related by Miss Townley in the pamphlet entitled ' Letters and 
 
 Communications of Joanna Southcott,' and not be staggered 
 
 at the disclosure of such scenes ? Monday evening, July 
 
 2d, 1804, it seems that Joanna tried to compose herself after a 
 
 hard contest with the devil, when " at last she fell asleep, and 
 
 whether awake or asleep," continues Miss Townley, " she does 
 
 not know, but she remembers she was quite awake when 
 
 she felt the hand of the Lord upon her, but in that heavenly 
 
 and beautiful manner, that she felt joy unspeakable and full of 
 
 glory. She felt herself lying as it were, in heaven, in the 
 
 hands of the Lord, and was afraid to move fearing she should 
 
 remove his heavenly hand, which she felt as perfect as ever 
 
 woman felt the hand of her husband." Here the " Lamb's Wife " 
 
 herself, takes up the tale. 'In this happy manner,' affirms 
 
 * Memoirs of the Life and Mission of Joanna Southcott, interspersed 
 with authentic anecdotes and elucidated by interesting documents ; includ- 
 ing the Progress of her Pregnancy, detailed by Herself, together with the 
 opinions of Drs. Reece and Sims, to which is added a Sketch of the Rev. W. 
 Tozer, M.J.S., embellished with a likeness of the Prophetess. London, 
 1814, P- IS- 
 
JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 71 
 
 Joanna, ' I fell asleep, and in my sleep I was surprised with 
 seeing a most beautiful and heavenly figure that arose from the 
 bed between Townley and me. He arose and turned himself 
 backwards towards the foot of the bed, and his head almost 
 reached the tester of the bed, but his face was towards me, 
 which appeared with beauty and majesty, but pale as death. 
 His hair was a flaxen color, all in disorder around his face. 
 His face was covered with strong perspiration and his locks 
 were wet like the dew of night, as though they had been taken 
 out of a river. The collar of his shirt appeared unbuttoned, 
 and the skin of his bosom appeared white as the driven snow. 
 Such was the beauty of the heavenly figure that appeared be- 
 fore me in a disordered state ; but the robe he had on was like 
 a surplice down to his knees. He put out one of his legs to 
 me, that was perfectly like mine, no larger, but with purple 
 spots at the top, as mine are with beating myself, which Town- 
 ley, Underwood, and Taylor, are witnesses of. Methought in 
 my dream, he got himself into that perspiration by being 
 pressed to sleep between Townley and me. I said to him, 
 ' are you my dear dying Saviour that is come to destroy all the 
 works of the devil ? ' He answered, ' Yes.' I thought I called 
 Underwood and waked Townley, to look at him, which they 
 did with wonder and amaze." 
 
 Such sexual orgasms were frequently misinterpreted by 
 the mystical women of the middle ages, into acts of intercourse 
 with angels and members of the Godhead, so that Joanna's 
 experience was not isolated. 
 
 Then, when in her sixty-fifth year, she gave out that her 
 pregnancy had at last occurred, and that Christ would be born 
 
72 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 again of her, several medical men examined her and certified 
 that she was actually pregnant. But a Dr. Sims took another 
 view of the case, and gave his views at length, for arriving at a 
 contrary opinion. 
 
 Nevertheless, the faithful continued to believe. A crib of 
 satin wood, mounted in gold, was provided for the heavenly 
 infant. This was called "the manger." Bed-clothing of the 
 finest linen, lace, satin and silk, embroidered with doves and 
 trimmed with gold lace, was supplied, and the bed was of eider- 
 down. The whole cost upwards of two hundred pounds. 
 
 The time arrived, her adherents waited patiently, but there 
 was no birth. Excuses were made, and the number of her 
 followers scarcely diminished during her lifetime. 
 
 It is hardly credible that human folly can reach to such ex- 
 tremes, as it is shown to have attained in the development of 
 Shakerism and the delusions of Joanna Southcote. We shall, 
 however, see that there are still lower depths. That Spiritual- 
 ism, therefore, should have its adherents, need excite no sur- 
 prise. A little inquiry into the operations of the human mind, 
 as they relate to matters of faith, is sufficient to reveal to us 
 the fact that the extent of human credulity is illimitable, and 
 that nothing can be asserted so absurd, so degrading, so blas- 
 phemous, so impossible, that there will not be found men and 
 women with minds badly enough organized, to accept it as an 
 article of belief. 
 
 In a recent work,* which certainly may be regarded as good 
 
 * Modern American Spiritualism ; a Twenty Years Record of the Com- 
 munion between Earth and Heaven. By Emma Hardinge. Second Edi- 
 tion. New York, 1870, p. 159. 
 
JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 73 
 
 spiritualistic authority, there is an account of a medium who 
 was by turns under the influence of a good spirit called, 
 ' Katy,' and of a bad one whom she asserted to be a ' sailor 
 boy.' This latter, took great delight in swearing through her 
 and in uttering such profane language as he had been accus- 
 tomed to on earth. Many manifestations of the power of these 
 spirits were given : 
 
 "About 1846, a most singular and distressing phase of 
 these phenomena was superadded to the rest, under what 
 claimed to be the influence of the profane sailor. The girl's 
 limbs in several directions, would be thrown out of joint and 
 that with apparent ease, in a moment and without pain. To 
 replace them seemed to be either beyond the power or the will 
 of her invisible tormentor, and Dr. Larkin, (a weak minded 
 man, whose servant she was) though an experienced surgeon, 
 was often obliged to call in the aid of his professional brethren, 
 and his or their strong assistants. 
 
 " On one occasion the knees and wrists of the girl were 
 thrown out of joint, twice in a single day. Those painful feats 
 were always accompanied by loud laughter, hoarse and profane 
 jokes, and expressions of exultant delight, purporting to come 
 from the sailor, while the girl herself seemed wholly uncon- 
 scious of the danger of her awkward situation. The preter- 
 natural feats of agility and strength exhibited on these 
 occasions could scarcely be credited, and the frightfully 
 unnatural contortions of the limbs with which she became tied 
 up into knots and coils, baffle all physiological explanation or 
 attempts at description. 
 
 This last statement arises from Mrs. Hardinge's ignorance of 
 
74 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 the capacities of hysteria." Can any body familiar with its va 
 garies doubt for an instant that this girl was suffering from it, 
 and that her condition was aggravated by the notoriety which 
 she gained by her performances ? In what respect do these 
 so-called spiritualistic exhibitors differ from those which have 
 been cited, and, except in being less strongly marked, from 
 those to which attention will be asked in the following chapter. 
 
 But though we can deplore the ignorance of those who be- 
 lieved this girl to be possessed by two spirits, what are we to 
 think of the lamentable darkness in which certain of her neigh- 
 bours seemed to have lived. Mrs. Hardinge* makes the state- 
 ment that the Rev. Horace James, one of the ministers of 
 Wrentham in the year 1849, and an unceasing slanderer and 
 persecutor of Dr. Larkin, summoned three magistrates, who, 
 together with a few persons of the place, inimical to the 
 manifestations, constituted a judicial court, before which Dr. 
 Larkin was cited to appear, and on authority of which the un- 
 fortunate sick girl was dragged from her bed and arrested on 
 the charge of " necromancy ! " 
 
 In this notable case the Rev. Horace James, according to 
 Mrs. Hardinge, appeared as complainant, chief witness, and 
 even judge. 
 
 " If," says Mrs. Hardinge, " the details of this unheard ot 
 court of justice should seem to draw too largely on the credulity 
 of nineteenth century readers, if it seems impossible to believe 
 that in 1849 a P oor sick girl could be dragged from her bed on 
 the charge of ' necromancy,' and a respectable physician hauled 
 before a court of his own neighbors on a charge of sorcery, lei 
 * Op. cit., p. 162. 
 
MODERN NECROMANCY. 75 
 
 the sequel speak for itself. Mary Jane was convicted on this 
 charge and and actually sentenced to sixty days' confinement 
 in Dedham jail : witness the Dedham jail records in the State 
 of Massachusetts." 
 
 This seems almost incredible, but the account is circum- 
 stantial, and has never, to my knowledge, been denied. 
 
 From the same volume* the following account is taken • — 
 
 " Four badly-educated girls, of ages ranging from fifteen to 
 twenty, having gathered together at a friend's house to have a 
 time with the spirits, or, in other words, to trifle with spiritual 
 manifestations, seated themselves around a table, and after 
 asking all manner of foolish questions, requested the spirits to 
 lay hold of them. 
 
 " The spirits at once complied, seized them, treated them in 
 the roughest manner, and, shaking them, caused them to use 
 the most violent actions and outrageous language, etc. In this 
 strait one of the dignitaries of the mother church was sent for 
 in haste to ' expel the obsessing demons.' After the priest had 
 arrived at the scene of disorder, he put on his robes, got ready 
 the holy water, and approached the possessed girls in the due 
 formulae proper to such occasions. After many sallies with the 
 holy fluid, and a vast number of incantations, none of which 
 produced the slightest effect, the mediums at length charged 
 upon him with such irresistible power and such capacity of 
 finger-nails, that the worthy padre fled precipitately, leaving the 
 field in possession of the ' demons ' and the spectators who had 
 gathered together to witness the 'exorcism.' The girls still 
 continued to be used roughly, by the discordant spirits they 
 *Op. cit., p. 271. 
 
76 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 had invoked, until the arrival of some of their spiritualistic 
 friends, by whose judicious passes and gentle remonstrances 
 with the spirits, they were instantly relieved." 
 
 That these " silly, badly-educated girls " were simply hys- 
 terical, no one with even a superficial acquaintance with the 
 normal condition of the nervous system, and the aberrations to 
 which it may be subjected, can entertain the slightest doubt. 
 It is from just such persons as these that the best mediums are 
 obtained. That such phenomena as they and the girl whose 
 case was previously quoted, exhibited are regarded as spiritual- 
 istic, is sufficient of itself to throw discredit on all the other 
 alleged manifestations of the spirits." " Falsum in uno,falsum 
 in omnibus." 
 
 At most of the spiritualistic meetings which the writer has 
 attended there have been hysterical phenomena manifested by 
 some of the men and women participating in the exercises. At 
 a recent public exhibition of the kind he predicted, from their 
 personal appearance, with perfect accuracy who of those assist- 
 ing would be thus affected. The symptoms of disordered ner- 
 vous action which the audience was invited to consider proofs 
 of spiritual agency consisted of incoherent utterances and con- 
 vulsive movements of the head, arms, and legs. In one case 
 these symptoms became permanent for several months ; a well- 
 developed case of chorea, or St. Vitus's dance was thus 
 established. The patient finally came under the writer's care, 
 and was only cured by the persistent administration of iron and 
 strychnine — medicines which, with good food and fresh air, 
 appear to possess more exorcising power than the formulae of 
 the good priest mentioned by Mrs. Hardinge. 
 
SPIRITUALISTIC CHOREA. 77 
 
 In hysteria, hallucinations of the several senses are very 
 common. Attention has already been directed to the fact that 
 they may be produced by an excessive amount of blood circu- 
 lating through the brain. Hysteria is always accompanied by 
 an anaemic condition of the brain, and hence we have an illus- 
 tration of the well-known fact that opposite pathological states 
 may give rise to similar sets of symptoms. It frequently hap- 
 pens that, just before death from exhausting diseases, the brain, 
 enfeebled with the other organs of the body, is deceived by 
 hallucinations of sight and hearing. 
 
 The records of spiritualism abound with instances of spirits 
 being seen by the faithful, and many of the cases are to be re- 
 ferred to the existence of hysteria.* From among numerous 
 similar examples which have come under the professional care 
 or observation of the writer, the following are adduced : — 
 
 A young lady gave very decided evidence of suffering from 
 mental aberration. She had imbibed the delusion that she had 
 a " double," whom she saw almost constantly, and with whom 
 she conversed whenever she pleased. At first she had been very 
 much frightened, but gradually had become accustomed to her 
 imaginary companion, and was lonesome and uncomfortable 
 without her. There was no other well-marked delusion, though 
 some of her absurd fancies partook more or less of that charac- 
 ter. Headache was almost an inseparable symptom, as was like- 
 wise pain in the back, nausea, and constipation. Her menstrual 
 function was deranged, and her whole aspect was that of a 
 
 * For a very philosophical account of hallucinations due to slight cere- 
 bral disturbance, the reader is referred to " An Essay toward a Theory ol 
 Apparitions," by John Ferriar, M.D. London, 1813. 
 
78 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 person whose physical powers were below par. Strychnia, 
 iron, and whiskey, and a full, nutritious diet, were not long in 
 banishing her delusional visitor, and in otherwise restoring her 
 health. 
 
 A married lady consulted the writer for advice regarding 
 hallucinations of sight and hearing, with which she had suffered 
 for several months. It was only' 'necessary for her to think of 
 some particular person, living or dead, when she immediately 
 saw the image of the person thought of, who spoke to her, 
 laughed, wept, walked about the room, or did whatever other 
 thing she imagined. In fact, to such an extent had her pro- 
 clivity reached, that it was often impossible for her to avoid 
 thinking of persons, and immediately having their figures 
 brought to her perception. 
 
 At first she religiously believed in the reality of her visions, 
 and that she really saw the spirits of the various individuals of 
 whom she happened to think. But, as the hallucinations be- 
 came more common, she lost her faith, and ascribed them to 
 their true cause — disease. Upon examination, I found that she 
 was preeminently of an hysterical type of organization, and was 
 then laboring under other symptoms of its presence, besides the 
 hallucinations. Thus she had hysterical paralysis of motion 
 and sensation in the right leg, to such an extent that she could 
 neither move it, nor feel a pin thrust through the skin ; there 
 was occasional loss of voice and of the power of speech, and 
 tonic contractions of various muscles, especially of those of the 
 fingers and toes. Her pulse was small and weak, her bowels 
 obstinately constipated, her appetite capricious, and her com- 
 plexion pale. Not the least of her afflictions was an almost 
 
HYSTERICAL HALLUCINATIONS. 79 
 
 perpetual headache. Under a suitable hygienic and medicinal 
 treatment, this lady entirely recovered. 
 
 A young lady, whom I saw at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 
 consultation with my friends Drs. Hubbard and Ohnesorg, had 
 hallucinations of sight, in conjunction with other symptoms of 
 the hysterical condition. 
 
 Another, whom I visited in consultation with my friend Dr. 
 Blakeman, of this city, constantly saw a man, armed with a gun, 
 whom she called Peter, and with whom she carried on a con- 
 versation. She described him in detail, and tried to make 
 others see him. 
 
 Another young lady, in regard to whom I was not long 
 since consulted, was subject to fallings like those described by 
 Mr. Wesley, convulsions and trances, during which she had 
 visions of various kinds, as the result of emotional disturbance 
 of even the slightest description. Upon one occasion she lay in a 
 trance for seventeen hours, because a dress which had been made 
 for her was not trimmed exactly to her liking ; and on another had 
 a violent epileptiform convulsion, during which she foamed at 
 the mouth, because a novel she was reading turned out dif- 
 ferently from her expectations. 
 
 Occasionally persons have the power of voluntarily pro- 
 ducing hallucinations of various kinds — a practice fraught with 
 danger, for the time comes, sooner or later, in which they can- 
 not get rid of their false perceptions. Goethe states that he 
 had the power of giving form to the images passing before his 
 mind, and on one occasion saw his own figure approaching him. 
 Abercrombie* refers to the case of a gentleman who had all 
 * Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, and the Investigation 
 of Truth. Tenth edition. London, 1840, pp. 380. 
 
80 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA, 
 
 his life been affected by the appearance of spectral figures. To 
 such an extent did this peculiarity exist, that, if he met a friend 
 in the street, he could not at first satisfy himself whether he 
 saw the real or the spectral figure. By close attention he was 
 able to perceive that the outline of the false was not quite so 
 distinct as that of the real figure, but generally he used other 
 means, such as touch or speech, or listening for the footsteps, 
 to verify his visual impressions. He had also the power of 
 calling up spectral figures at will, by directing his attention 
 steadily to the conceptions of his own mind ; and this either 
 consisted of a figure or a scene he had witnessed, or a compo- 
 sition created by his imagination. But though he had the 
 faculty of producing hallucinations, he had no power of banish- 
 ing them, and, when he had once called up any particular per- 
 son or scene, he could never say how long it might continue to 
 haunt him. This gentleman was in the prime of life, of sound 
 mind, in good health, and engaged in business. His brother 
 was similarly affected. 
 
 Several like cases have come under the professional obser- 
 vation of the author. In one, the power was directly the result 
 of attendance at spiritual meetings, and of the efforts made 
 to become a good " medium." The patient, a lady, was of 
 a very impressionable temperament, and was consequently 
 well-disposed to acquire the dangerous faculty in question. 
 At first she thought very deeply of some particular person, 
 whose image she endeavored to form in her mind. Then she 
 assumed that the person was really present, and she address- 
 ed conversation to him, at the same time keeping the ideal- 
 istic image in her thoughts. At this period she was not de- 
 
VOL UNTA R Y HALL UCINA TIONS. 81 
 
 ceived, for she clearly recognized the fact that the image was 
 not present. 
 
 One day, however, she was thinking very intently of her 
 mother, and picturing to herself her appearance as she looked 
 when dressed for church, on a particular occasion. She was 
 reading a book at the time, and, happening to raise her eyes, 
 she saw her mother standing before her, clothed exactly as she 
 had imagined her. At first she was somewhat startled, and in 
 her agitation closed her eyes with her hands. To her surprise 
 she still saw the phantom, but yet, not being aware of the cen- 
 tric origin of the image, she conceived the idea that she had 
 really seen her mother's spirit. In a few moments it disap- 
 peared, but she soon found that she had the ability to recall it 
 at will, and that the power existed in regard to many other 
 forms — even those of animals, and of inanimate objects. 
 
 During the spiritualistic meetings she attended, she could 
 thus reproduce the image of any person on whom she strongly 
 concentrated her thoughts, and was for a long time sincere in 
 the belief that they were real appearances. At last she lost 
 control of the operation, and was constantly subject to hallu- 
 cinations of sight and hearing. She was unable to sleep, 
 complained of vertigo, pain in the head, and of other symp- 
 toms indicating cerebral hyperaemia. The application of ice 
 to her head, and other suitable medication, saved; her from 
 an attack of insanity. But her nervous system: was for several 
 months in a state of exhaustion, from which she rallied with 
 difficulty. 
 
 A young lady has recently informed me that she is able to 
 bring visually before her the. images,o£the characters. contained^ 
 
82 SOME PHASES OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 in any novel she may have been recently reading, or in any 
 striking play she may have witnessed. 
 
 It is probable that many of the visions of Jerome Cardan, 
 and Swedenborg, were voluntary productions. On this princi- 
 ple can be explained many of the instances of spiritualistic 
 hallucinations which have been detailed by inquirers willing to 
 be deceived. 
 
 Quite recently, Mr. Francis Galton,* in a paper which, 
 though interesting to the lay reader, cannot but excite, on some 
 accounts, a feeling of disapproval in the minds of neurologists, 
 advises the cultivation of the faculty of forming mental im- 
 ages: The ability to recall desirable impressions is one which 
 is developed in different degrees by different people, and is 
 one which may be developed not only without detriment to 
 the individual, but with advantage. It is simply an instance of 
 the power of memory, and its exercise leads to close and exact 
 observation. But this is a very different thing from forming 
 images which have not been transmitted to the brain through 
 the retina and optic nerve, and the perception of which is 
 therefore purely imaginary. As Mr. Galton says, the power is 
 very high in some young children, who seem to spend years of 
 difficulty in distinguishing between the subjective and the ob- 
 jective world. Undoubtedly, the high cultivation of this 
 faculty would lead to a like difficulty in adults. My own ex- 
 perience is sufficient to assure him of the great advantage of 
 developing a power, which we all possess to some extent, and 
 it would be very easy for me to adduce other instances than 
 those given, of the disastrous results likely to result from the 
 indiscriminate following of Mr. Galton's views. 
 
 * Mental Imagery. Fortnightly Review, September, 1880. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA — FASTING GIRLS. 
 
 AMONG the many remarkable manifestations by which 
 hysteria exhibits itself, for the astonishment of the 
 credulous and uneducated portion of the public, and — alas, 
 that it should have to be said, — for the delectation of an oc- 
 casional weak-minded and ignorant physician, the assumption 
 of the ability to live without food may be assigned a promi- 
 nent place. I am not aware that this power has been claimed 
 in its fullest development for the male of the human species. 
 When he is deprived of food he dies in a few days, more or 
 less, according to his physical condition as regards adipose 
 tissue, and strength of constitution ; but if a weak, emaciated 
 girl asserts that she is able to exist for years without eating, 
 there are at once certificates and letters from clergymen, pro- 
 fessors, and even physicians, in support of the truth of her 
 story. The element of impossibility goes for nothing against 
 the bare word of such a woman, and her statements are ac- 
 cepted with a degree of confidence which is lamentable to 
 witness in this era of the world's progress. 
 
 The class of deceptions occasionally induced by hysteria, 
 
 83 
 
84 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 and embracing these "fasting girls," has been known for many 
 years, though it is only in comparatively recent times that the 
 instances have been taken at their proper value. Gorres* gives 
 a number of examples occurring among male and female saints 
 and other holy persons, in which partial or total abstinence 
 from food was said to have existed for long periods. 
 
 Thus Liduine of Schiedam fell ill in 1395, and remained in 
 that state till her death, thirty-three years subsequently. Dur- 
 ing the first nineteen years she ate every day nothing but a 
 little piece of apple the size of a holy wafer, and drank a little 
 water and a swallow of beer, or sometimes a little sweet milk. 
 Subsequently, being unable to digest beer and milk, she re- 
 stricted herself to a little wine and water, and still later she 
 was obliged to confine herself to water alone, which served her 
 both as food and drink. But after nineteen years she took 
 nothing whatever, according to her own statement made to 
 some friars in 1422, she averring that for eight years nothing in 
 the way of nourishment had passed her lips, and that for twenty 
 years she had seen neither the sun nor the moon, nor had 
 touched the earth with her feet. 
 
 Saint Joseph of Copertino remained for five years without 
 eating bread, and ten years without drinking wine, contenting 
 himself with dried fruits, which he mixed with various bitter 
 herbs. The herb which he used for Fridays had such an 
 atrocious taste, that one of the brethren, by simply putting 
 his tongue to it, was seized with vomiting, and for several days 
 thereafter everything he ate excited nausea. He fasted for 
 
 * La Mystique divine naturelle et diabolique. Paris, 1861. t. I., p. 
 194, et seq. 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 85 
 
 forty days seven times every year, and during these periods ate 
 nothing at all except on Sundays and Thursdays. 
 
 Nicolas of Flue, as soon as he embraced the monastic life, 
 subsisted altogether on the holy eucharist. The pious Gorres 
 in explanation of this miracle says : 
 
 "In ordinary nourishment he who eats being superior to 
 that which is eaten, assimilates the aliments which he takes, 
 and communicates to them his own nature. But in the eu- 
 charist the aliment is more powerful than he who eats. It is 
 no longer therefore the nourishment which is assimilated, but 
 on the contrary, it assimilates the man, and introduces him into 
 a superior sphere. An entire change is produced. The super- 
 natural life in some way or other absorbs the natural life, and 
 the man instead of living on earth, lives henceforth by grace 
 and by heaven." 
 
 This is about on a par, as regards lucidity and logic, with the 
 explanations which we are given of the alleged case of pro- 
 longed fasting in Brooklyn. 
 
 Doubts arose in regard to Nicolas, and the bishop had him 
 watched, but without detecting him in fraud. Finally he ordered 
 him to eat a piece of bread in his presence. Nicolas did as he 
 was commanded, but at the first mouthful he was seized with 
 violent vomiting. The bishop inquired of him how he thus 
 managed to live without eating, to which the brother answered 
 that when he assisted at mass, and when he took the holy 
 eucharist, he felt a degree of strength and suppleness like that 
 derived from the most nutritious food. 
 
 Still the doubters continued, and the inhabitants of Under- 
 wold, where Nicholas lived, appear to have been at first very 
 
86 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 much inclined to suspect him of deceit. But they were finally 
 converted, for having during a whole month guarded every 
 approach to his cabin, and having during that time detected 
 no one in taking food to him, they were convinced that for 
 that time at least he had lived without food. The sceptical 
 reasoner of the present day would probably regard the test as 
 insufficient. 
 
 In 1225, Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, having heard that there 
 was at Leicester a nun who had taken no nourishment for 
 seven years, and who lived only on the eucharist, which she 
 took every Sunday, gave at first no faith to the story. He sent 
 to her, however, fifteen clerks, with directions to watch her 
 assiduously for fifteen days, never for an instant losing sight 
 of her. The clerks reported to him that they had strictly 
 obeyed his commands ; that she had taken no nourishment, 
 and that yet she nevertheless preserved her full strength and 
 health. Whereupon the Bishop declared himself convinced, 
 " as," adds Gorres, " it was proper for a sensible man to do." 
 
 Among others of the holy persons who acquired the power 
 of living on the sacramental bread, may be mentioned St. 
 Catharine of Sienna, Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Collete, Saint 
 Peter of Alcantara, and many others. 
 
 But if saints and other holy people were able, through 
 miraculous power, to live without food, the same ability was 
 claimed for those who were under the influence of demons and 
 devils. Gorres* states that a person possessed by a devil often 
 loses all taste for food of any kind, and can retain no nourish- 
 ment in his body. Another symptom is a disgust which is 
 
 * Op. cit. t. IV., p. 446. 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 87 
 
 formed for the companionship of other persons. Thus a man 
 was tormented by a demon, who forced him to fly into the 
 forests, where he hid himself from mankind. One night he 
 quit his house, and concealed himself in a cavern, remaining 
 there entirely without food for sixteen days. Again he re- 
 mained in the woods twenty-four days, neither eating nor 
 drinking during this period. Finally his children found him, 
 and taking him to a priest, had the devil exorcised, and he was 
 cured. 
 
 Saint Prosper, of Aquaintoin, speaks of a young girl pos- 
 sessed by a devil, and who went seventy days without eating. 
 Notwithstanding this long fast, she did not become emaciated, 
 because every night at twelve o'clock a bird sent by the devil 
 took a mysterious nourishment to her. 
 
 An astonishing feature in the cases of the diabolical abstain- 
 ing from food, is that, as in the holy instances, they exhibit 
 various manifestations of hysteria. Gorres, with a charming 
 degree of simplicity, details these symptoms and failing, under 
 the influence of the predominent idea which fills him, to recog- 
 nize their real character, ascribes them without hesitation to 
 devilish agency. Thus he says : 
 
 " The functions of the organs of nutrition are sometimes pro- 
 foundly altered in the possessed, and these alterations are mani- 
 fested by violent cramps, which show the extent to which the 
 muscular system is affected. The hysterical lump in the throat 
 is a frequent phenomenon in possession. A young girl in the 
 Valley of Calepino had all her limbs twisted and contracted, 
 and had in the oesophagus a sensation as if a ball was some- 
 times rising in her throat, and again falling to her stomach. 
 
88 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 Her countenance was of an ashen hue, and she had a constant 
 sense of weight and pain in the head. All the remedies of 
 physicians had failed, and as evidences of possession were 
 discovered in her, she was brought to Brignoli (a priest) who 
 had recourse to supernatural means, and cured her." 
 
 Strange to say, the ability to live on the eucharist, and to 
 resist starvation by diabolical power, died out with the middle 
 ages, and was replaced by the " fasting girls," who still con- 
 tinue to amuse us with their vagaries. To the consideration 
 of some of the more striking instances of more recent times 
 the attention of the reader is invited, in the confidence 
 that much of interest in the study of the "History of 
 Human Folly" will be adduced. 
 
 II. 
 
 ABSTINENCE IN MODERN TIMES. 
 
 Among the more striking cases under this head, is that 
 of Margaret Weiss, a young girl ten years of age, who 
 lived at Rode, a small village near Spires, and whose history 
 has come down to us through various channels, but principally 
 from Geraldus Bucoldianus,* who had the medical charge of 
 her, and who wrote a little book describing his patient. 
 Margaret is said to have abstained from all food and drink for 
 three years, in the meantime growing, walking about, laugh- 
 ing, and talking like other children of her age. During the 
 first year, however, she suffered greatly from pains in 
 
 *"De puella quse sine cibo et potu vitam transigit.'' Parisiis Ann. 
 MDXLII. 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 89 
 
 her head and abdomen, and, a common condition in hysteria 
 — all four of her limbs were contracted. She passed- neither 
 urine nor foeces. Margaret, though only ten years old — hys- 
 teria developes the secretive faculties — played her part so well 
 that, after being watched by the priest of the parish and Dr. 
 Bucoldianus, she was considered free from all juggling, and 
 was sent home to her friends by order of the King, '' not," the 
 doctor adds, " without great admiration and princely gifts." 
 Although fully accepting the fact of Margaret's abstinence, Dr. 
 Bucoldianus appears to have been somewhat staggered, for he 
 asks very pertinently : " Whence comes the animal heat, since 
 she neither eats nor drinks, and why does the body grow when 
 nothing goes into it ? " 
 
 Schenckius * quotes from Paulus Lentulus the " Wonderful 
 History of the Fasting of Appolonia Schreira, a virgin in 
 Berne." Lentulus states that he was with this maid on three 
 occasions, and that, by order of the magistrate of Berne, she 
 was taken to that city and a strict guard kept upon her. All 
 kinds of means were set in operation to detect imposture if 
 any existed, but none was discovered, and she was set at lib- 
 erty as a genuine case of ability to live without food. In the 
 first year of her fasting she scarcely slept, and in the second 
 year never closed her eyes in sleep ; and so she continued for 
 a long while after. 
 
 * " HafoT^o-eon), sive' observationum medicarum, novarum, admirabil- 
 ium et monstrasarum volumen ; tomis septem de toto homine institutum." 
 Lugduni 1606, p. 306. 
 
 These cases are cited by Wanley in his "Wonders of the Little 
 World," bat I have taken care in most instances to refer to the originals, 
 several of which are in my library. 
 
go ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 Schenckius also advances the case of Katharine Binder, of 
 the Palatinate, who was closely watched by a clergyman, a 
 statesman, and two doctors of medicine, without the detection 
 of fraud on her part. She was said to have taken nothing but 
 air into her system for nine years and more, as Lentulus report- 
 ed on the authority of Fabrichis. This last-named physician 
 lold Lentulus of another case, that of a girl fourteen years old, 
 who certainly had taken neither food nor drink for at least 
 three years. 
 
 " But," says Dr. Hakewel,* " the strangest that I have met 
 with of this kind, is the history of Eve Fliegen, out of Dutch 
 translated into English, and printed at London, Anno 1611, 
 who, being born at Meurs, is said to have taken no kind of sus- 
 tenance for the space of fourteen years together; that is, from 
 the year of her age, twenty-two to thirty-six, and from the year 
 of our Lord 1567 to 161 1 ; and this we have confirmed by the 
 testimony of the magistrates of the town of Meurs, as also by 
 the minister who made trial of her in his house thirteen days 
 together by all the means he could devise, but could detect no 
 imposture." Over the picture of this maid, set in front of the 
 Dutch copy, stand these Latin verses : 
 
 " Meursse haec quatn cernis decies ter, sexque peregit, 
 Annos, bis septem prorsus non viscitur annis 
 Nee potat, sic sola sedet, sic pallida vitam 
 Ducit, et exigui se oblectat floribus horti." 
 
 Thus rendered in the English copy : 
 
 " This maid of Meurs thirty and six years spent, 
 Fourteen of which she took no nourishment j 
 
 * " Wonders of the Little World." London, 1806, p. 375. 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 91 
 
 Thus pale anc wan she sits sad and alone, 
 A garden's all she oves to look upon." 
 
 Franciscus Citesius,* physician to the King of France and 
 to Cardinal Richelieu, devotes a good deal of space and atten- 
 tion to the case of Joan Balaam, a native of the city of Con- 
 stance. She was well grown, but of bad manners.' About the 
 eleventh year of her age she was attacked with a fever, and 
 among other symptoms vomited for twenty days. Then she 
 became speechless and so continued for twenty-four days. 
 Then she talked, but her speech was raving and incoherent. 
 Finally she lost all power of motion and of sensibility in the 
 parts below the head and could not swallow. From thence- 
 forth she could not be persuaded to take food. Six months 
 afterwards she regained the use of her limbs, but the inability 
 to swallow remained and she acquired a great loathing for all 
 kinds of meat and drink. The secretions and excretions ap- 
 peared to be arrested. Nevertheless she was very industrious, 
 employing her time in running errands, sweeping the house, 
 spinning, and such like. This maid continued thus fasting for 
 the space of nearly three years, and then by degrees took to 
 eating and drinking again. 
 
 Before coming to more recent cases, there is one other to 
 which I desire to refer for -the reason mainly that in it there 
 was probably organic disease in addition to fraud and hysteria. 
 It is cited by Fabricius t and by Wanley. Anno Born., 1595, a 
 maid of about thirteen years was brought out of the dukedom 
 
 * Opuscula Medica. Parisiis, 1639, pp. 64, 65, 66. 
 t Observationum et curationum chirurgicae, centuria secunda, Geneva, 
 1611, p. 116. 
 
92 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 of Juliers to Cologne, and there in a broad street at the sign 
 of the White Horse exposed to the sight of as many as desired 
 to see her. The parents of this maid affirmed that she had 
 lived without any kind of food or drink for the space of three 
 whole years ; and this they confirmed by the testimony of 
 divers persons, such as are worthy of credit. Fabricius ob- 
 served her with great care. She was of a sad and melancholy 
 countenance; her whole body was sufficiently fleshy except 
 only her belly, which was compressed so as that it seemed to 
 cleave to her back-bone. Her liver and the rest of her bowels 
 were perceived to be hard by laying the hand on the belly. As 
 for excrements, she voided none ; and did so far abhor all 
 kinds of food, that when one, who came to see her privately, 
 put a little sugar in her mouth she immediately swooned away. 
 But what was most wonderful was, that this maid walked 
 up and down, played with other girls, danced, and did all 
 other things that were done by girls of her age ; neither had 
 she any difficulty of breathing, speaking or crying out. Her 
 parents declared that she had been in this condition for three 
 years. 
 
 A great many more to the same effect might be adduced, 
 but the foregoing are sufficient to indicate the fact that belief 
 in the possibility of such occurrences was quite general, and 
 that if doubt did exist in regard to their real nature, it was not 
 so strong as not readily to be overcome by the tricks and de- 
 vices of hysterical women. 
 
 In the following instances of more modern date the reader 
 will perceive the view which is taken of them by physicians of 
 the present day, and will doubtless discover their real nature. 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 93 
 
 About sixty-five years ago, a woman of Sudbury, in Staf- 
 fordshire, England, named Ann Moore, declared that she did 
 not eat, and a number of persons volunteered to watch her, in 
 order to ascertain whether or not she was speaking the truth. 
 The watch was continued for three weeks and then the watch- 
 ers, as in other instances, reported that Ann Moore was a real 
 case of abstinence from food of all kinds. The Bible was al- 
 ways kept open on Ann's bed. Her emaciation was so extreme 
 that it was said her vertebral column could be felt through the 
 abdominal walls. This sad condition was asserted to have 
 been caused by her washing the linen of a person affected with 
 ulcers. From that time she experienced a dislike for food, and 
 even nausea at the sight or mention of it. 
 
 As soon as the watchers reported in favor of the genuine- 
 ness of Ann's pretensions her notoriety increased, and visitors 
 came from all parts of the country, leaving donations to the 
 extent of two hundred and fifty pounds in the course of two 
 years. Doubts, however, again arose, and, bold from the im- 
 munity she had experienced from the first investigation, Ann 
 in an evil moment, for the continuance of her fraud, consented 
 to a second watching. This committee was composed of nota- 
 ble persons, among them being Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., Rev. 
 Legh Richmond, Dr. Fox, and his son, and many other gen- 
 tlemen of the country. Two of them were always in her room 
 night and day. At the suggestion of Mr. Francis Fox, the bed- 
 stead, bedding, and the woman in it were placed on a weighing 
 machine, and thus it was ascertained that she regularly lost 
 weight daily. At the expiration of the ninth day of this strict 
 watching, Dr. Fox found her evidently sinking and told her 
 
94 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 she would soon die unless she took food. After a little prevar- 
 ication, the woman signed a written confession that she was an 
 impostor, and had " occasionally taken sustenance for the last 
 six years." She also stated that during the first watch of three 
 weeks her daughter had contrived, when washing her face, to 
 feed her every morning, by using towels made very wet with 
 gravy, milk, or strong arrowroot gruel, and had also conveyed 
 food from mouth to mouth in kissing her, which it is presumed 
 she did very often.* 
 
 In a clinical lecture delivered at St. George's Hospital,t Dr. 
 John W. Ogle calls attention to the simulation of fasting as a 
 manifestation of hysteria, and relates the following amusing 
 case : 
 
 A girl strongly hysterical, aged twenty, in spite of all per- 
 suasion and medical treatment, refused every kind of food, or 
 if made to eat, soon vomited the contents of the stomach. On 
 November 6th, 1869, whilst the girl was apparently suffering in 
 the same manner, the Queen passed the hospital on her way to 
 open Blackfriars bridge. She arose in bed so as to look out of 
 the window, although up to this time declaring that every 
 movement of her body caused intense pain. On December 29, 
 the following letter in the girl's handwriting, addressed to an- 
 other patient in the same ward, was picked up from the floor : 
 ' My Dear Mrs. Evens, — I was very sorry you should take the 
 trouble of cutting me such a nice piece of bread and butter, 
 yesterday. I would of taken it but all of them saw you send 
 
 * Wonderful Characters : By Henry Wilson and James Caulfield. Lon- 
 don. 
 
 t British Medical Journal, July 16, 1870. 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 95 
 
 it, and then they would have made enough to have talked 
 about. But I should be very glad if you would cut me a nice 
 piece of crust and put it in a piece of paper and send it, or else 
 bring it, so that they do not see it, for they all watch me very 
 much, and I should like to be your friend and you to be mine. 
 Mrs. Winslow, (the nurse) is going to chapel. I will make it up 
 . . , with you when I can go as far. Do not send it if you cannot 
 spare it. Good bye, and God bless you.' Although she pre- 
 varicated about this letter, she appears to have gradually im- 
 proved from this time on, and one day walked out of the hos- 
 pital and left it altogether. She subsequently wrote a letter to 
 the authorities expressing her regret at having gone on as she 
 did. 
 
 One of the most remarkable instances of the kind, is that of 
 Sarah Jacob, known as the " Welsh Fasting Girl," and whose 
 history and tragical death excited a great deal of comment in 
 the medical and lay press in Great Britain a few years ago. 
 The following account of the case is mainly derived from Dr. 
 Fowler's * interesting work. 
 
 Sarah Jacob was born May 12th, 1857. Her parents were 
 farmers and were uneducated, simple minded, and ignorant 
 persons. In her earlier years she had been healthy, was intel- 
 ligent, given to religious reading, and was said to have writ- 
 ten poetry of her own composition. She was a very pretty 
 child and was, according to the testimony of the vicar, the Rev. 
 Evan Jones, a " good girl." 
 
 * A complete History of the Welsh Fasting Girl (Sarah Jacob,) with 
 Comments thereon, and Observations on Death from Starvation. London, 
 1871. 
 
96 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 About February 15th, 1867, when she was not quite ten 
 years of age, she complained of pain in the pit of the stomach, 
 and one morning on getting up, she told her mother that she 
 had found her mouth full of bloody froth. The pain continued, 
 and medical attendance was obtained. Soon afterwards she had 
 strong convulsions of an epileptiform character and then other 
 spasms of a clearly hysterical form, during which her body was 
 bent in the form of a bow as in tetanus, the head and heels only 
 touching the bed. Then the muscular spasm ceased and she 
 fell at full length on the bed. For a whole month she con- 
 tinued in a state of unconsciousness, suffering from frequent 
 repetitions of severe convulsive attacks, during which time she 
 took little food. Mr. Davies, the surgeon, said in his evidence, 
 that she was for a whole month, in a kind of permanent fit, ly- 
 ing on her back, with rigidity of all the muscles. For some 
 time her life was despaired of, then her fits ceased to be con- 
 vulsive and consisted of short periods of loss of consciousness 
 with sudden awakings. For the next two or three months (till 
 August, 1867) she took daily, from six, gradually decreasing to 
 four, teacupfuls of rice and milk, or oatmeal and milk, which 
 according to her father's account, was cast up again imme- 
 diately and blood and froth with it. During this time the 
 bowels were only acted on once in six or nine days. "Up to 
 this time," said her father, " she could move both arms and 
 one leg, but the other leg was rigid." 
 
 By the beginning of October, 1867, her quantity of daily 
 food had, it was affirmed, dwindled down to nothing but a little 
 apple about the size of a pill, which she took from a tea-spoon. 
 At this time she made water about every other day ; she looked 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 97 
 
 very bad in the face, but was not thin. On the tenth day of 
 October, it was solemnly declared that she ceased to take any 
 food whatever, and so continued till the day of her death, De- 
 cember 17th, 1869, a period of two years, two months, and one 
 week. 
 
 " Of the veracity of the assertion in respect of the one week," 
 says Dr. Fowler, " there is unfortunately plenty of evidence. 
 To the absurdity of believing in the barest possibility of twenty- 
 six months absolute abstinence, it is sufficient to reply that 
 when to our knowledge, she was completely deprived of food, 
 the girl died ! The parents most persistently impressed upon 
 every private as well as official visitor, both before and during 
 the last fatal watching, that the girl did not take food ; that 
 she could not swallow ; that whenever food was mentioned to 
 her she became as it were, excited ; that when it was offered 
 to her she would have a fit, or the offer would make her ill. 
 The sworn testimony of the vicar, the Rev. Wm. Thomas, Sis- 
 ter Clinch, Anne Jones, and the other nurses, is sufficiently 
 confirmative on this point. Furthermore, the parents went so 
 far as to expressly forbid the mere mention of food in the girl's 
 presence." 
 
 Towards the end of October, 1867, the case had attracted 
 so much attention that the inhabitants in the neighborhood first 
 began visiting the marvellous little girl. 
 
 " In the beginning of November of the same year, the Rev. 
 Evan Jones, B.D., the vicar of the Parish, was sent for by the 
 parents to visit Sarah Jacob. He was at once — by the mother 
 — told of the girl's wonderful fasting powers ; it was admitted 
 she took water occasionally. He was also informed of the 
 
98 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 extraordinary perversion of her natural functions (the suppres- 
 sion of urine and fcecal evacuations.) He found her lying on 
 her back in bed, which was covered with books. There was 
 nothing then remarkable about her dress. The girl looked 
 weak and delicate, though not pale, and answered only in 
 monosyllables. ' The mother said her child was very anxious 
 about the state of her soul, that it had such an effect upon her 
 mind that she could not sleep.' I asked her myself if she had 
 a desire to become a member of the Church of England ? She 
 said ' Yes ! ' She continued to express that wish until July, 
 1869. At this time the reverend gentleman did not believe in 
 the statements relative to the girl's abstinence. " Every time " 
 he says, " that I had a conversation with her up to the end of 
 1868, the parents both persisted that she lived without food, 
 and continued their statements in January and February, 1869. 
 I remonstrated with them and dwelt upon the apparent impossi- 
 bility of the thing. They still persisted that it was a fact." 
 
 " Even as late as September, 1869, the vicar reiterated his 
 ministerial remonstrances. When, in the beginning of the 
 spring of 1869, he observed the fantastical changes the parents 
 made in the girl's daily attire, he told them about the remarks 
 made in the papers about this dressing and dwelt upon the im- 
 propriety of it. They replied, ' She had no other pleasure — 
 they did not like denying it to her.' During the following sum- 
 mer, finding that the girl looked more plump in the face and 
 that her general improvement was more conspicuous, he said, 
 ' Sarah is evidently improving and gaining, and you say she 
 takes no food ; you are certainly imposing on the public' I 
 then dwelt on the sinfulness of continuing the fraud on the 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 99 
 
 public. I said there were on record several cases of alleged 
 fasting, some of which had been put to the test and had been 
 discovered to be impositions ; that those families would ever 
 be held in execration by posterity, and such would be the case 
 with them whenever this imposture was found out. The mother 
 then assured me no imposition would be discovered in that 
 house, because there was none." 
 
 The father and mother both said that the Lord provided for 
 her in a most natural way, and that it was a miracle. The 
 father always talked about the " Doctor Mawr," meaning God 
 Almighty ; that she was supported by that " Big Doctor." 
 
 Then soon began the custom of leaving money or other 
 presents with the child, till at last every one who visited her, 
 was expected to give something. Open house was kept and 
 pilgrims came from near and far to see the wonderful girl who 
 lived without food. 
 
 When money was not forthcoming, presents of clothes, 
 finery, books, or flowers, appear to have been substituted. Ad- 
 vantage was taken of these presents to bedeck the child in 
 every variety of smartness. At one time she had a victorine 
 about her neck and a wreath about her hair, then again, orna- 
 ments and a jacket on, and her hair neatly dressed with rib- 
 bons. At another time she had a silk shawl, a victorine around 
 her neck, a small crucifix attached to a necklace, and little 
 ribbons above the wrists. She had drab gloves on and her bed 
 was nearly covered with books. 
 
 Notwithstanding the alleged fasting, Sarah Jacob continued 
 to improve in health. 
 
 And now comes an astounding feature of this most remark 
 
ioo ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 able case. The vicar became convinced that the instance was 
 one of real abstinence. A little hysterical girl twelve years of 
 age, by her perseverance in lying, had actually succeeded in 
 inducing an educated gentleman to accept the truth of her 
 statements ! The following letter which was published on the 
 19th of February, 1869, speaks for itself : — 
 
 "A STRANGE CASE. 
 " To the Editor of the Welshman. 
 
 " Sir : Allow me to invite the attention of your readers to a 
 most extraordinary case. Sarah Jacob, a little girl twelve years 
 of age, and daughter of Mr. Evan Jacob, Lletherneuadd, in this 
 parish, has not partaken of a single grain of any kind of food 
 whatever, during the last sixteen months. She did occasion- 
 ally swallow a few drops of water during the first few months 
 of this period ; but now she does not even do that. She still 
 looks pretty well in the face and continues in the possession of 
 all her mental faculties. She is in this and several other re- 
 spects, a wonderful little girl. 
 
 " Medical men persist in saying that the thing is quite im- 
 possible, but all the nearest neighbors, who are thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the circumstances of the case, entertain no doubt 
 whatever of the subject, and I am myself of the same opinion. 
 
 " Would it not be worth their while for medical men to 
 make an investigation into the nature of this strange case ? Mr. 
 Evan Jacob would readily admit into his house any respectable 
 person who might be anxious to watch it and to see for him- 
 self. 
 
FASTING GIRLS. ioi 
 
 " I may add, that Lletherneuadd is a farm-house about a 
 mile from New Inn, in this parish. 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 " The Vicar of Llanfihangel-ar-Arth." 
 
 The suggestions of the vicar relative to an investigation, 
 were soon after afterwards acted upon by certain gentlemen of 
 the neighborhood. A public meeting was called and a com- 
 mittee of watchers was appointed to be constantly in attend- 
 ance in the room with Sarah Jacob, and to observe to the best 
 of their ability, whether or not she took any food during the 
 investigation. It was agreed that the watching was to con- 
 tinue for a fortnight. 
 
 Prior to the beginning of this watching, no precautions 
 were taken against food being conveyed into the room and con- 
 cealed there. The parents actually debarred the watchers 
 from touching the child's bed. The very first element of suc- 
 cess was therefore denied, and no wonder that the whole affair 
 was subsequently regarded as an absurdity. The watching 
 consisted in two different men taking alternate watches from 
 eight till eight. The watching to see whether the child partook 
 of food, commenced on March 22d, and ended April 5th, 1869 
 — a period of fourteen days. 
 
 " During the above fortnight, one of the watchers, in turn, 
 was always close to her bed, and in her sight day and night, 
 and at the time the bed was being made, which was generally 
 every other morning, the four persons were always present and 
 had every article thoroughly examined. The parents were 
 allowed to go near the bed, as also was the little sister, six 
 
102 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 years old, who had been Sarah's constant companion and bed- 
 fellow. 
 
 " On Wednesday, April 7th, 1869, a public meeting was 
 held at the Eagle Inn, Llandyfeil, to hear the statements of 
 the parents and of the several persons who had watched the 
 child during the fourteen days. The parents briefly detailed 
 the condition and symptoms of their daughter from the com- 
 mencement of her illness. At no time during the whole four- 
 teen days did the pulse ever reach above ninety per minute, 
 although exceedingly changeable, as it always had been. The 
 following evidence was received from the watchers, and it is 
 said that their statements were duly verified on oath before a 
 magistrate : — 
 
 Watcher No. 1 said : I, Evan Edward Smith, watched Sarah 
 Jacob for two consecutive nights, (i. e., nights 22d and 23d of 
 March) at the request of Mr. H. H. Davies, surgeon. The pa- 
 rents gave every facility to investigate the matter. I watched 
 her with all possible care, and found nothing to suspect that 
 food or drink was given her by foul means. I am quite sure 
 she had nothing during my watch. I was dismissed on account 
 of being suspected to doze on the second night. 
 
 Watcher No. 2. This watcher watched Sarah Jacob for a 
 whole fortnight, and found no indications that the child had 
 anything to eat or drink. He was a college student, Daniel 
 Harris Davies. 
 
 Watcher No. 3. John Jones, a shopkeeper, gave similar 
 evidence. He was a decided sceptic before he began watching, 
 but after twelve days was thoroughly convinced of the fact that 
 nothing in the shape of nourishment was given to the poor 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 103 
 
 child. He watched every movement of all the inmates, and 
 found nothing that would lead him to suspect that any nourish 
 ment was given to the little girl. 
 
 Watcher No. 4. James Harris Davies, a medical student, 
 spoke in like manner, and was perfectly positive that nothing 
 had been given to her during the fortnight he had watched 
 there, with the exception of three drops of water, once, to 
 moisten her lips with. He was as great a sceptic as any one 
 before he began watching, but as he saw nothing to confirm his 
 suspicions, he could conscientiously say that nothing had been 
 given her during his watch. 
 
 Watcher No. 5. Evan Davies, of Powel Castle, who only 
 watched her for one day, gave similar evidence, but as he was 
 a neighbour he was dismissed for a stranger. 
 
 Watcher No. 6. Herbert Jones, watched only one day, and 
 spoke in a similar manner, and was dismissed on account of 
 his credulity. 
 
 Watcher No. 7. Thomas Davies, who had been the greatest 
 sceptic of all, was strongly convinced. He watched Sarah Ja- 
 cob twelve days, and was quite positive that nothing could have 
 been given her during his watch. He watched her with all 
 possible care, and was very cautious to be in a prominent place, 
 where Sarah Jacob's mouth was always in sight. 
 
 Evidence, however, was given which went to show that the 
 watching was very imperfectly performed ; that occasionally 
 the watchers left before their time had expired ; that intoxicat- 
 ing liquors were taken by them to the house, and that one of 
 them was drunk while there. It was also shown that the father 
 and mother had free access to the bed, while the watchers were 
 
io 4 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 absolutely prohibited from examining it. It is therefore with 
 entire justification that Dr. Fowler states that the watching 
 " was the greatest possible farce and mockery." 
 
 After the report of the watchers the notoriety of Sarah Ja- 
 cob of course became still greater ; crowds came to visit her, 
 and among others the Rev. Frederic Rowland Young went to see 
 her, and made an unsuccessful effort to cure her by laying on 
 of hands. When Dr. Fowler Visited her, August 30th, 1869, on 
 getting out at the nearest railway station, he w a s met by little 
 boys bearing placards with the words " Fasting Girl," and 
 " This is the shortest way to Llethernoryadd-ucha," on them. 
 In his letter to the Times, giving an account of his visit, Dr. 
 Fowler says : — 
 
 " The first impression was most unfavorable, and to a medi- 
 cal man the appearances were most suspicious. The child was 
 lying on a bed decorated as a bride, having around her head a 
 wreath of flowers, from which was suspended a smart ribbon, 
 the ends of which were joined by a small bunch of flowers, after 
 the present fashion of ladies' bonnet strings. Before her, at 
 proper reading distance, was an open Welsh book, supported 
 by two other books on her body. The blanket covering was 
 clean, tidy, and perfectly smooth. Across the fire-place, which 
 was nearly opposite the foot of her bed, was an arrangement of 
 shelves, well stocked with English and Welsh books, the gifts 
 of various visitors to the house. The child is thirteen years ol 
 age, and is undoubtedly very pretty. Her face was plump, and 
 her cheeks and lips of a beautiful rosy color. Her eyes were 
 bright and sparkling, the pupils were very dilated, in a measure 
 explicable by the fact of the child's head and face being shaded 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 105 
 
 from the window-light by the projecting side of the cupboard 
 bedstead. There was that restless movement and frequent 
 looking out at the corners of the eyes so characteristic of 
 simulative disease. Considering the lengthened inactivity of 
 the girl, her muscular development was very good, and the 
 amount of fat layer not inconsiderable. My friend stated 
 that she looked even better than she did about a twelvemonth 
 ago. There was a slight perspiration over the surface of the 
 body. The pulse was perfectly natural, as were also the sounds 
 of the lungs and heart, so far as I was enabled to make a 
 stethoscopic examination. Having received permission to do 
 this, I proceeded to make the necessary derangement of dress, 
 when the girl went off into what the mother called a fainting fit. 
 This consisted of nothing but a little and momentary hysterical 
 crying and sobbing. The color never left the lips or cheeks. The 
 pulse remained of the same power. Consciousness could have 
 been but slightly diminished, inasmuch as on my then opening 
 the eyelids I perceived a distinct upward and other movement 
 of the eyeballs. Each percussion stroke of my examination, 
 and even the pressure of the stethoscope, produced an expres- 
 sion of pain, which elicited a natural sympathy from the mother, 
 and an assertion that a continuance of such examination would 
 bring on further fits. On percussing the region of the stomach, 
 I most distinctly perceived the sound of gurgling, which we 
 know to be caused by the admixture of air and fluid in motion. 
 The most positive assertion of the parents was subsequently 
 made that saving a fortnightly moistening of her lips with 
 cold water, the child had neither ate nor drank anything for the 
 last twenty-three months. The whole region of the belly was 
 
io6 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 tympanitic, and the muscular walls of this cavity were tense 
 and drum-like — a condition not infrequently concomitant of a 
 well-known class of nervous disorders. The child's intellectual 
 faculties and special senses were perfectly healthy. Before hei 
 illness she was very much devoted to religious reading. This 
 devotion has lately considerably increased. She is a member 
 of the Church of England, and has been confirmed." 
 
 Dr. Fowler then adds some other interesting particulars, all 
 going to show the impossibility of the girl's being the subject 
 of any exhausting disease, or of even having been continuously 
 in bed, as her parents asserted, for nearly two years ; and then 
 says : — 
 
 " The whole case is in fact one of simulative hysteria, in a 
 young girl having the propensity to deceive very strongly de- 
 veloped. Therewith may be probably associated the power or 
 habit of prolonged fasting. Both patient and mother admitted 
 the occasional occurrence of the choking sensation called 
 globus hystericus. 
 
 This letter excited renewed discussion in the newspapers, 
 and a second public meeting was called to' make arrangements 
 for a second watching. At this meeting it was decided to bring 
 down from Guy's Hospital, London, several trained nurses, who 
 were to conduct the watching ; and the following resolutions 
 were adopted, as expressing the terms under which the inquiry 
 was to be conducted : — 
 
 i. It would be advisable, before taking any steps in the 
 matter, to obtain a written legal guarantee from the father of 
 Sarah Jacob sanctioning the necessary proceedings. 2. That 
 the duty of the nurses shall be to watch Sarah Jacob with a 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 107 
 
 view to ascertain whether she partakes of any kind of food, and 
 at the end of a fortnight to report upon the case before the 
 local committee in Carmarthenshire, and, if required, at Guy's 
 Hospital. 3. That two nurses shall be constantly awake and 
 on the watch in the girl's room, night and day. 4. It would be 
 advisable for the nearest medical practitioner to watch the pro- 
 gress of the case • and it will be absolutely necessary for him 
 to be prepared against any serious symptoms of exhaustion, super- 
 vening on the strict enforcement of the watching, and to act accord- 
 ing to his judgment. 5. That the room in which the girl sleeps 
 shall be bared of all unnecessary furniture, and all possible 
 places in the room for the concealment of food shall be closed 
 and kept under the continual scrutiny of the watchers. 6. That 
 if considered desirable by the local medical practitioner, or by 
 the nurses, the bedstead on which the girl now lies shall be re- 
 placed by a single iron one. 7. That the bed on which the 
 parents now sleep, in Sarah Jacob's room, shall be given up 
 absolutely to the nurses. 8. That the parents be not allowed 
 to sleep in the same room as the girl ; that if they cannot at all 
 times be prevented from approaching her, they should be pre- 
 viously searched (their pockets and other recesses of clothing 
 as well as the interior of their mouths) ; and that no wetted 
 towels or other such articles be allowed to be used about the 
 girl by the parents, or any other person save the nurses ; that 
 the children of the family, and in fact every other person what- 
 ever (except the nurses), have similar restraints put upon them. 
 9. That the nurses have the sole management of preparing the 
 room, bed, and patient, prior to the commencement of the 
 watching. 10. That, as it is asserted the action of the bowels 
 
io8 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 and bladder is entirely suspended, special attention must be 
 directed to these organs. 
 
 Four experienced women nurses were accordingly deputed 
 from Guy's Hospital to take the entire charge of Sarah Jacob, 
 and to watch her for fourteen days. They were instructed not 
 1.o prevent her having food if she asked for it. but they were to 
 see that she got none without their knowledge. On the 9th of 
 December, 1869, at 4 p.m., the room was cleared of people and 
 the watching began. 
 
 In the first place it was ascertained that the girl had re- 
 peated evacuations of urine, and once, at least, of fceces. 
 
 Gradually evidences of mental and physical disturbance be- 
 gan to appear. The watch was so closely kept that no food or 
 drink reached the child, and she did not ask for any. 
 
 "At 10 P. M.," to quote the language of the journal kept 
 by the sister nurse, " she was restless and threw her arms about. 
 She was very cold, and the nurses put warm flannels on her. 
 This was the last day on which she passed urine. 
 
 Thursday, December 16, 3 A. M. — She was rolling from one 
 side of the bed to the other. At half-past three she wished 
 the bed made, and they made it. She was looking very pale 
 and anxious. Her eyes were sunk and her nose pinched, and 
 the cheek bones were prominent. Her arms and hands were 
 cold, her feet and legs were the same. Ann Jones, one of the 
 nurses, says in her memoranda, " She was very restless and 
 appeared to me to be sinking. Her lips were very dry, and 
 her mouth seemed parched." The peculiar smell (the starva- 
 tion smell) about the bed was so strong as to make the sister 
 nurse quite ill. 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 109 
 
 At 1 1 a. m., the vicar saw her and told the parents that the 
 child was gradually failing, and suggested to them the pro- 
 priety of sending the nurses away and giving her a chance 
 to obtain food, but they refused, saying that there was nothing 
 to do but what the nurses were doing, and that they had seen 
 her quite as weak before. The parents were urged by others 
 to give up the fight by sending the nurses away, but they re- 
 fused on the ground that want of food had nothing to do with 
 the symptoms, and that she would not eat whether the nurses 
 were there or not. 
 
 Ann Jones subsequently testified before the coroner : " Be- 
 fore one and two o'clock on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 16), she 
 kept talking to herself. I could not understand whether she 
 was speaking Welsh or English. Up to that time I could un- 
 derstand her. She pointed her fingers at some books ; I gave 
 her one, but she took no notice of it ; she Was not able to read 
 it. Both parents were then told the girl was dying." 
 
 Repeatedly they were begged to withdraw the nurses, and 
 again and again they refused, saying there was no occasion — 
 that she had often been in that way, that it was not from want 
 of food, etc. The girl became weaker and weaker ; low, mut- 
 tering delirium ensued, and on the 17th of December, 1869, at 
 about half-past three o'clock, p.m., the " Welsh Fasting Girl " 
 died, actually starved to death, in the middle of the nineteenth 
 century and in one of the most Christian and civilized countries 
 of the world ! 
 
 But this was not the end. Public opinion was much ex- 
 cited both against those who had sanctioned and conducted 
 what appeared to have been a senseless and cruel experiment, 
 
no ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 and against the father and mother who had wilfully and. per- 
 sistently refused to allow food to be given to the dying child. 
 A coroner's inquest was held, and the coroner appears to have 
 made a very satisfactory charge to the jury after the rendition 
 of the testimony. He said there could be no doubt of the child 
 having died of starvation, and that the responsibility rested 
 with the father, who had knowingly and designedly failed to 
 cause his child to take food. The mother was not responsible 
 unless it could be shown that she had been given food for the 
 child by the father, and had withheld it from her. It was mar- 
 vellous, he said, how the father could' have made out such a 
 story — such a hideous mass of nonsense, as he had under oath 
 attempted to impose on the jury. 
 
 The jury deliberated for a quarter of an hour, and then re- 
 turned a verdict of " Died from starvation, caused by negli- 
 gence to induce the child to take food on the part of the 
 father ; " which constituted manslaughter. 
 
 Evan Jacob was therefore arrested. But the Secretary of 
 State for the Home Department took the matter up and deter- 
 mined that the proceedings should go farther than the local 
 authorities intended. At first it was contemplated to indict 
 the members of the General Committee for conspiracy, but it 
 was finally concluded to include only the medical gentlemen who 
 had accepted the responsibility of superintending the watching, 
 as well as both parents of the deceased child. 
 
 The initial proceeding took place before a full bench of 
 magistrates, and continued eight days. The Crown and the ac- 
 cused had eminent counsel, and many witnesses were exam- 
 ined. At the conclusion of the inquiry the presiding magistrate 
 
FASTING GIRLS. in 
 
 announced that it had been determined by the court that no 
 case had been made out against the physicians, who had not 
 been shown to have undertaken any other duty than that of 
 advising the nurses, and that it did not appear that their ad- 
 vice had been asked. As to the father and mother the court 
 had decided to send them both for trial for manslaughter, al 
 the next assizes. In due time they were arraigned, they 
 pleaded not guilty, but after being defended by able counsel, 
 the jury, after an absence of about half an hour, returned with 
 a verdict of guilty against both the prisoners, but with a re- 
 commendation of the mother to the merciful consideration of 
 the court, on the ground that she was under the control of her 
 husband. The man protested his innocence, and the woman 
 " buried her face in her shawl and wept bitterly." 
 
 His Lordship, in passing sentence, said : " Prisoners at 
 the bar, you have been found guilty of a most aggravated 
 offence. I entirely concur with the verdict which the jury have 
 given, and I shall act upon the recommendation which they 
 have presented in favor of the female prisoner, the mother, 
 though, I must say, that I cannot but feel that it is a greater 
 crime in the mother than the father, since it is more contrary 
 to the common nature of mothers, to neglect their children in 
 the manner in which you have treated this unfortunate child. 
 It is contrary to the nature, even, of a father. But I shall act 
 upon the recommendation of the jury, upon the ground they 
 have put forward, that you have been subject to the control of 
 your husband more than has appeared from the evidence of 
 the case. But the offence is, as I have said, a serious one, on 
 this ground ; that there cm be no doubt that both of you have 
 
ii2 ANOTHER PHASE OF HYSTERIA. 
 
 persisted in this fraudulent deception, upon your neighbors, 
 and upon the public, and that in order to carry out that fraud- 
 ulent deception and to preserve yourselves from detection you 
 were willing to risk the life of that child. The life of that 
 child has been lost in that wicked experiment which you tried. 
 Therefore, the sentence that I shall inflict on you, Evan Jacob, 
 is, that you be imprisoned and kept at hard labor for twelve 
 calendar months ; and that upon you, Hannah Jacob, will be 
 more lenient in consideration of the recommendation of the 
 jury, and it is, that you be imprisoned and kept to hard labor 
 for the period of six calendar months." 
 
 Thus ended one of the most remarkable and interesting 
 histories of human folly, credulity, and criminality which the 
 present day has produced. Comment upon its teaching is 
 scarcely necessary ; but the thoughtful reader will not fail to 
 perceive how important a bearing it has upon the whole sub- 
 ject of belief without full and free inquiry, and that how all 
 the facts which science has gathered during ages of painful 
 labor, go for naught, even with educated persons, when 
 brought face to face with the false assertions of a hysterical 
 girl, and of two ignorant and deceitful peasants. If there is 
 any one thing we know, it is that there can be no force without 
 the metamorphosis of matter of .some kind. Here was a girl 
 maintaining her weight — actually growing — her animal heat 
 kept at its due standard, her mind active, her heart beating, 
 her lungs respiring, her skin exhaling, her limbs moving when- 
 ever she wished them to move, and all, as very many persons 
 supposed, without the ingestion of the material by which alone 
 such things could be. And yet such is the tendency of the 
 
FASTING GIRLS. 113 
 
 average human mind to be deceived, that it would be perfectly 
 possible to re-enact in the city of New York the whole tragedy 
 of Sarah Jacob, should ever a hysterical girl take it into 
 head to do so ; and there would not be wanting, even from 
 among those who might read this history, individuals who would 
 credit any monstrous declarations she might make. Even 
 now in a little town in Belgium, an ecstatic girl is going 
 through the same performance with extraordinary additions, 
 and books are written by learned physicians and theologians, 
 with the object of establishing the truth of her pretensions. 
 To this most remarkable instance, and one other of similar 
 though perhaps even more remarkable characteristic, the at- 
 tention of the reader will presently be invited. But in view of 
 these things one is almost tempted to say with Cardinal Car- 
 rafa, " Quandoquidem populus decipi vult, decipiatur." 
 
ii4 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS — CATALEPSY, ECSTASY AND 
 HYSTERO-EPILEPSY. 
 
 A LTHOUGH in systematic medical treatises these dis- 
 ■*• *■ eases would properly be considered separately, for the pur- 
 poses of the present inquiiy they may be advantageously 
 brought together under one head. They are hysteroid without 
 actually being hysteria. It is very often the case that they are 
 co-existent in the same patient, or they alternate one with the 
 other. Indeed, it is quite rare to find a case in which one of 
 them is present, without one or both of the others being also 
 manifested. 
 
 In all of these diseases, we have affections which are well 
 calculated to impress ignorant and superstitious persons with a 
 sense of mystery, and they are therefore admirably adapted to 
 fulfil the requirements of religious enthusiasts and impostors, 
 or of spiritualistic mountebanks. 
 
 Catalepsy is characterized by the suspension of the under- 
 standing and of sensibility, and by a tendency in the muscles 
 to preserve for a long time any degree of contraction which 
 may be given to them. Thus if the arm of a cataleptic patient 
 be extended it remains so for several minutes, sometimes 
 hours ; if the leg be raised from the bed, the muscles continue 
 
 13 
 
CATALEPSY. 
 
 "5 
 
 to keep it in that position till they become thoroughly exhaust- 
 ed, when it sinks slowly down. These facts are well shown in 
 the accompanying wood cut, (Fig. 6) taken from a photograph 
 of a patient, in Bellevue Hospital, under the care of Dr. M. B. 
 Early, of this city. 
 
 "9 
 
n6 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 The aspect of a cataleptic patient is very striking. The 
 eyelids are sometimes wide open, at others gently closed ; the 
 pupils are dilated and do not respond to strong light; the 
 respiration is slow, regular, but generally so feeble as to be per- 
 ceived with difficulty ; the pulse is usually almost imperceptible, 
 but is rhythmical and sluggish j the face is pale, the mouth is 
 half open, and the rigidity of the body and the coldness of the 
 extremities add to the death-like appearance which impresses 
 all beholders. 
 
 The cutaneous sensibility is ordinarily completely abolished. 
 Pins may be thrust into the skin, and they are not felt ; but 
 owing to the abolition of the power of motion and of reflex 
 action, it is possible that in some cases at least, the patients 
 would give some evidence of sensation if they could. Cases 
 are on record in which tears have been caused by excessive 
 emotional disturbance, excited by the words or actions of 
 persons surrounding the patients ; thus showing that the senses 
 of sight and hearing were capable of being exercised. Such 
 instances are, however, rare, and are probably imperfectly 
 developed paroxysms, or those complicated with hysteria or 
 ecstasy. 
 
 The paroxysm may last a few minutes or hours, or may be 
 prolonged for several days. In a case recently under my care, 
 one paroxysm continued, with scarcely even a remission, for 
 eleven days. The ability to swallow was not lost — it very 
 rarely is, and the patient was fed at regular intervals, taking 
 what was put in her mouth and eating it, without appearing to 
 appreciate the taste or character of the food. 
 
 In the less perfectly developed forms of the cataleptic con- 
 
CATALEPSY. 117 
 
 dition, the afflicted individuals, though taking no cognizance of 
 circumstances surrounding them, are capable of a certain ex- 
 alted esoteric mental action, which passes with the vulgar for 
 illumination, inspiration, or spiritualism. Such cases were 
 common enough among the women of the thirteenth, four- 
 teenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, shut up in convents, 
 and are not infrequently met with in our own time. Chambers * 
 cites from DeHaen, the case of a child twelve years of age, 
 who began a paroxysm by being cataleptic, and ended by re- 
 citing the metrical Protestant version of David's Psalms, saying 
 her catechism with proof texts, and preaching a sermon on 
 adultery. 
 
 A young girl, recently under my professional care, was cata- 
 leptic on an average once a week, and epileptic twice or three 
 times in the intervals. Five years previously she had spent 
 six months in France, but had not acquired more than a very 
 slight knowledge of the language, scarcely, in fact, sufficient to 
 enable her to ask for what she wanted at her meals. Imme- 
 diately before her cataleptic seizures, she went into a state of 
 ecstasy, during which she recited poetry in French, and de- 
 livered harangues about virtue and godliness in the same 
 language. She pronounced at these times exceedingly well, and 
 seemed never at a loss for a word. To all surrounding influ- 
 ences she was apparently dead. But she sat bolt upright in 
 her chair, her eyes staring at vacancy, and her organs of speech 
 in constant action. Gradually she passed into the cataleptic 
 paroxysm. She was an excellent example of what Mrs. Har- 
 dinge calls a " trance medium." The materialistic influence of 
 * Reynold's System of Mediums, p. 104; Art. Catalepsy. 
 
n8 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 bromide of potassium, however, cured her catalepsy and epi- 
 lepsy, destroyed her knowledge of the French tongue and made 
 her corporeal structure so gross that the spirits refused to make 
 further use of it for their manifestations. 
 
 .Many of the cases to which reference has already been 
 made as being induced by emotional disturbance at camp- 
 meetings, revivals, and other religious gatherings, were in- 
 stances of catalepsy. The electro-biologist knows well the 
 ease with which the condition can be excited by the principle 
 of suggestion, and he therefore employs it in his public exhibi- 
 tions with great effect. He renders the arms and legs of his 
 subjects rigid, by telling them in a confident and commanding 
 tone that they are so, and he produces the other phenomena of 
 the cataleptic state with equal facility. 
 
 Catalepsy often exists in combination with somnambulism, 
 either natural or artificial. In former times cataleptics were 
 thought to be " possessed," and even in our own day, such 
 afflicted persons are by some authorities regarded as being 
 under demoniac influence. To this division of the subject we 
 shall presently return. 
 
 Ecstasy, though closely allied to catalepsy, differs from it 
 in several important particulars, among others, in the fact that 
 the ecstatic recollects the train of thought which has been 
 going on during the seizure, and speaks of it usually on emer- 
 ging from the paroxysm. Besides, in ecstasy there is rather 
 muscular immobility than rigidity, although this latter is some- 
 times present. The eyes are open, the lips parted, the face is 
 turned upward, the hands raised as if to heaven ; and the body 
 is erect and stretched out to its utmost height, or else is ex- 
 
ECSTASY. "9 
 
 tended to its full length in the recumbent position. A peculiar 
 expression of joy lights up the face, and this is the radiance 
 spoken of by camp-meeting and revivalist preachers, ignorant of 
 the symptoms of the affection in question. 
 
 At times, various attitudes are assumed which are in con- 
 sonance with the ideas passing through the ecstatic's mind. 
 The body may thus be elevated on the toes, and the arms ex- 
 tended as if in eerial flight, or it is stretched out on the bed or 
 floor, the feet crossed one over the other and the arms placed 
 at right angles to the body, in the position of crucifixion. 
 
 Mr. Bourneville * cites the case of Ler., a hystero-epilep- 
 tic, to whom, hereafter, fuller reference will be made, who 
 at one time had a cruciform paroxysm. Her head was 
 strongly thrown back; her eyelids, half open, were in con- 
 tinual motion ; the muscles of the jaws were contracted, and 
 those of the neck were hard and tense. 
 
 The superior extremities were extended at right angles 
 with the trunk, the hands closed, and the fingers flexed so 
 strongly on the palm as to render it impossible to open them. 
 
 The inferior extremities were stretched out to their full 
 length, the sole of one foot being in contact with the dorsum 
 of the other. 
 
 In a word, the rigidity was such that the body could have 
 been raised from either end like a bar of iron, (Fig. 7.) The 
 attack lasted about four hours, and then Ler. opened her eyes 
 and recovered consciousness, exclaiming,. " O, my God, I was so 
 happy ! " 
 
 Among celebrated cataleptics and ecstatics, may be men- 
 * Louise Lateau, etc., Paris, 1875, p. 13. 
 
120 
 
 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
ECSTASY. 121 
 
 tioned Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Gertrude, St. Bridget, St. 
 Catherine of Sienna, Joan of Arc, St. Theresa, and Madame 
 Guyon. Others who were not only cataleptics, ecstatics, and 
 hystero-epileptics, but who were also the subject of the stig- 
 mata, will be separately considered. 
 
 The conventual life was especially favorable to the pro- 
 duction of all forms of catalepsy and ecstasy, and sometimes, 
 as in the instances of the nuns of Loudun, the disorder as- 
 sumed a degree of malignancy which all the powers of the 
 Church could not abate. 
 
 It is a striking fact, which would be laughable, but for the 
 frequently lamentable results which ensued, that while the Cath- 
 olic ecstatics inveighed against the heretical sects which were 
 springing up on all sides, and consigned them to torture and 
 the flames, these, the Calvinists, Camisards, Pre-adamites, Jump- 
 ers, Anabaptists, Bewailers, Sanguinarians, Tremblers, etc., etc., 
 denounced the Pope as Anti-Christ, desecrated churches and 
 exhibited a ferocity which, in its sanguinary character, has 
 rarely been equalled in the history of the world. 
 
 Now, as has already been remarked, in the imperfect forms 
 of catalepsy or ecstasy, consciousness is not altogether lost. 
 Montgeron noticed this fact, and in speaking of persons af- 
 fected, says, " they generally saw those who were about them y 
 spoke to them and heard their answers, though at the same 
 time their minds were entirely absorbed in the contemplation of 
 objects which a superior power enabled them to see.'' It- must 
 be recollected that Montgeron was a believer in the super- 
 natural origin of these manifestations of disease. At the present 
 day he would have been a shining light among Spiritualists. 
 
122 HY STEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 He further observes, that in these undeveloped forms of 
 both diseases, as noticed among the Jansenist convulsionnaires, 
 the affected individuals appeared as if struck by the sight of 
 some object before unseen, and the contemplation of which 
 filled them with the most ravishing joy. They raised their eyes 
 and their hands on high, leaped towards heaven, and seemed as 
 if about to fly into the air. They appeared to be absorbed in 
 the contemplation of celestial beauties. Their faces were ani- 
 mated with a brilliant glow, and their eyes, which could not be 
 closed during the continuance of the ecstasy, remained open 
 and fixed on the spiritualized object on which they gazed. 
 They were, in a manner, transfigured; they appeared to be per- 
 fectly unlike their natural selves. Those who ordinarily were 
 low and repulsive, were changed so profoundly that they could 
 not be recognized. 
 
 It will be brought to mind that Mr. Wesley, in the extracts 
 from his journal which I have cited, speaks of this change of 
 countenance as a supernatural gift. 
 
 The following example is domestic, and is taken from the 
 Norfolk Beacon, of August 19th, 1824. It was copied into other 
 religious papers without the least doubt being expressed of its 
 being produced by the direct and special action of the " Spirit 
 of God." * 
 
 " A singular display of the goodness and power of Almighty 
 God at a camp-meeting held at Tangier Island. 
 
 "Miss Narcissa Crippin, a highly-respectable young lady, 
 
 *" Observations on the Influence of Religion upon the Health and Physi- 
 cal Welfare of Mankind By Almirah Brigham, M.D." Boston, 1835, p. 
 
 3°5- 
 
 13 
 
ECSTASY ; RACHEL BAKER. 123 
 
 nineteen years of age, and a zealous Christian, was, on the even- 
 ing of the 15th instant, so operated on by the Spirit of God 
 that her face became too bright and shining for mortal eyes to 
 gaze upon without producing the most awful feeling to the 
 beholders. It resembled the reflection of the sun upon a bright 
 cloud. The appearance of her face for the space of forty 
 minutes, was truly angelic, during which time she was silent, 
 after which she spoke and expressed her happy and heavenly 
 feelings, when her dazzling countenance gradually faded, and 
 her face resumed its natural appearance. The writer of this 
 paragraph was an eye-witness of the circumstance above stated 
 — such a sight he never expected to behold with mortal eyes, 
 and to give a true description of which would be beyond the 
 ability of mortal man. While she remained in the situation 
 above described, she was seen by more than two hundred per- 
 sons, a few of whom have subscribed their names hereto. 
 
 "Wm. Lee (Rev.), 
 " Wm. E. Wise, 
 "John Bayly." 
 I have frequently seen this remarkable change induced in 
 the faces of persons of both sexes. It appears to be directly 
 due to a relaxation of all the muscles of the face concerned in 
 expression, and is accompanied by suffusion of the eyes and 
 dilatation of the pupils. Undoubtedly the instances mentioned 
 in the Bible as transfigurations, (see Exodus xxxiv. 29-35 ; 
 Matthew xvii. 1, 2 ; Mark ix. 2, 3 ; Luke ix. 29) were of this 
 character. 
 
 Almost fifty years ago, a very remarkable case of preaching- 
 ecstasy, or, as it would now be called by some, trance-medium- 
 
124 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 ship, occurred in this city in the person of a maiden lady, of 
 delicate health, named Rachel Baker. Dr. S. L. Mitchill took 
 great interest in her case, and had her sermons reported by a 
 stenographer, and published. Miss Baker was the daughter of 
 a respectable farmer in Onondaga County, New York, and had 
 received a plain but substantial education. About the age of 
 twenty, she became much exercised on the subject of religion, 
 and at length her mind became seriously affected, and she 
 fell into the habit of trance-preaching. Her parents were at 
 first impressed at what they regarded as a most extraordinary 
 gift, though they afterward became convinced that it was the 
 result of disease, and accordingly brought her to the city of 
 New York, in order that she might have the benefit of the best 
 medical skill. Crowds flocked to hear her preach at the houses 
 of different medical practitioners. Her discourses were highly 
 respectable in point of style and arrangement, and were inter- 
 spersed with Scripture quotations. After her health was re- 
 stored, she lost the faculty of trance-preaching and never re- 
 gained it. She died in 1843.* 
 
 But ecstatics and cataleptics do other things fully as remark- 
 able as trance-preaching. The performances of the Jansenist 
 convulsionnaires have already been alluded to, but they are so 
 various in their character, that there is scarcely~a subject con- 
 nected with paroxysms of disturbed mobility and sensibility, 
 with which some of them are not en rapport. 
 
 Among them was a woman, or rather a girl, Marie Sonet, 
 who, on account of her apparent incombustibility, was called 
 
 * Remarkable sermons of Rachel Baker and Pious Ejaculations delivered 
 durtilg sleep, taken down in short hand, etc. London, 1815. 
 
ECSTASY ; THE SALAMANDER. 125 
 
 » 
 
 the salamander. We have seen what Mr. Home has done in 
 the way of showing his ability to resist heat ; the salamander 
 was immeasurably his superior. Let us begin with a certificate 
 which was published at the time : 
 
 " We, the undersigned, Francois Desvernays, priest, doc- 
 tor of theology of the house and society of the Sorbonne ; Pierre 
 Jourdan, licentiate of the Sorbonne, Canon of Bayeux ; Lord 
 Edmund de Rumond, of Perth ; Louis Bazile Carre" de Mont- 
 geron, Counsellor to the Parliament ; Armand Arouet, Treasurer 
 of the Chamber of Accounts ; Alexandre Robert Boindin, 
 Esquire ; [and five others ; J certify that we have this day, be- 
 tween the hours of eight and ten o'clock in the evening, seen 
 Marie Sonet while in convulsion, her head on one stool and her 
 feet on another, the said stools being entirely within a large 
 fire-place and under the mantel-piece, so that her body was in 
 the air above the fire, which burned with extreme violence, re- 
 maining in that position for thirty-six minutes in four different 
 times, (nine minutes each time) without the cloth in which she 
 was wrapped (she was without other clothes) being burned, 
 although the flames sometimes extended above her — the which 
 appears to us to be quite supernatural. 
 
 " Again, we certify that while we were signing the present 
 certificate, the said Sonet placed herself over the fire in the 
 manner previously described, and remained there nine minutes, 
 appearing to sleep above the brazier, which was very hot, 
 having been replenished with fifteen large logs, and a faggot of 
 kindling wood, during the last two hours and a quarter. In 
 testimony of which," etc., [here follow the signatures.] 
 
 The Abbe* Asfeld, who wrote against the Jansenists, thus 
 
t26 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 describes what he saw : " Sonet went behind a screen and was 
 there divested of all her clothing, except her chemise and a 
 little jacket. Then she was entirely wrapped up in a cloth, 
 which was fastened with strong pins." To this Carre - de Mont- 
 geron replies, " It is not true that she was reduced to a chemise 
 and a jacket ; she had besides, a corset, a petticoat, and stock- 
 ings." "Then," continues the Abbe" Asfeld, "being thus 
 enamelled, she called for the stools, and immediately two of the 
 brethren brought them and placed them near the fire-place, 
 where there was a good fire. Sonet placed herself on them, 
 and from this performance she has received the name of ' Sala- 
 mander.' " To this Carre" de Montgeron rejoins, " One would 
 think, from this account, that the stools were placed opposite 
 the fire. Now, it is a fact which has been witnessed a num- 
 ber of times by many persons, that at each representation the 
 two stools, which were of iron, except two boards on which 
 Sonet supported her head and feet, were placed in the fire-place 
 on each side, so that when the girl was on them she was imme- 
 diately over the flames, and so that no matter how great the 
 fire was, she suffered no inconvenience therefrom, nor was the 
 cloth in which she was wrapped even singed, although it was 
 often in the midst of the flames." And he pushed his adver- 
 sary so hard that the Abbe" had to admit that ordinarily the 
 convulsionnaire remained long enough in the fire for apiece of beef , 
 mutton, or veal, to be roasted!* 
 
 Marie Sonet was not the only "incombustible." Many 
 others appeared, the example she afforded spreading, like other 
 
 * Mathieu. " Histoire des Miracules et des Convulsionnaires de Saint 
 Me"dard." Paris, 1864, p. 262, et seq. 
 
THE SUCKER. 127 
 
 hysterical performances, by contagion. Of course Marie Sonet 
 and her imitators did not expose their unprotected persons to the 
 fire, and we have already seen how the necessary immunity can 
 be obtained. The cloth in which she was so securely enveloped 
 was of incombustible material, or rendered fire-proof by some 
 one of the preparations to which reference has already been made. 
 
 But this was not all. There was one Charlotte Laporte, 
 called the " Sucker," whose proceedings were so disgusting that 
 it is with hesitation I mention them. We must, however, re 
 member with Bacon that : " Quidquid essentia dignum est, id 
 etiam scientia dignum." The fact that such things could be, is 
 my excuse for bringing them forward in illustration of the occa- 
 sional depravity of the human mind, even when actuated by 
 noble impulses. The " Sucker," then, went about claiming to 
 cure ulcers, cancers, and other open sores, by sucking them 
 while in a state of ecstasy. She, also, had her imitators — • 
 women all. They applied their tongues and lips to the most 
 disgusting ulcers, full of pus and horrible to see, and sucked 
 them till they Were perfectly clean. They even swallowed the 
 foetid exudations with impunity and even relish. They washed 
 the dressings which had been applied to such sores, and then 
 drank the water ! 
 
 These people were heretics, but such vile actions are not 
 confined to those who are heterodox in religious faith. Thus 
 we read in Gorres* that so great was the holiness of St. 
 Catherine of Sienna that she did some things that were almost 
 incredible. There was a widow named Teeta who, on account 
 of her poverty, lived in a hospital. But her body was covered 
 
 * Op. cit., t. I., p. 277. 
 
128 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 entirely with a hideous leprosy, and she was required to quit 
 not only the hospital, but the city, because she was an object 
 of horror to everybody. Catherine, however, took care of her, 
 and with admirable charity dressed her sores. The woman, 
 however, was puffed up with pride, and treated her nurse in the 
 most haughty and overbearing manner. Nevertheless, Cathe- 
 rine continued her cares, and even contracted the leprosy in 
 consequence of the frequent contacts with this woman. The 
 latter died, as was very proper, and Catherine laid out the 
 body. She had her reward, as was also proper — for if the 
 story be true, she had acted with tender charity — for her hands 
 immediately became free from leprosy. 
 
 So far, so good ; but she went farther. There was another 
 woman who had a cancer of the breast, from which the odor was 
 such that no one could remain near her, and she had great dif- 
 ficulty in getting the attention she required. Catherine, how- 
 ever, assumed the charge and cleansed the sore, with a cheerful 
 face, to the great astonishment of the woman herself. But it 
 was really so disgusting that one day the stomach of Catherine 
 revolted. Indignant against herself, she said to her body: 
 How ! Thou hast a horror of thy sister, baptized, as thou hast 
 been, in the blood of our Lord ! I will pay thee up ! Saying 
 which she applied her mouth, her nose and her whole face to 
 the disgusting wound, and kept them there till she felt that her 
 soul had conquered the repugnance of the flesh. Nevertheless, 
 the virgin had at times her moments of loathing. " And then," 
 says Gorres, " she did what perhaps no one had ever done be- 
 fore her — she drank the pus and the filthy discharges which 
 she had sucked from the wound. She subsequently declared 
 
ECSTASY ; BERGUILLE. 129 
 
 to her confessor that she had never drank in all her life a 
 more agreeable beverage."' We see, therefore, that four hun- 
 dred years before Charlotte Laporte began her horrible opera- 
 tions, there was a proto-sucker in the person of one of the most 
 worthy saints of the Calendar. 
 
 MM. Mauriac and Verdalle* give a very interesting ac- 
 count of an ecstatic woman, who daily enacted the passion of 
 Jesus, terminating in the usual manner in the crucifixion. This 
 woman, Berguille, had been of good health till, in 1871, she lost 
 one of her children. A short time afterward she began to have 
 visions of her child every night, and then she was seized with 
 obstinate vomitings, which were only cured by drinking the 
 water of Lourdes, ordinary therapeutics not having been very 
 efficacious. 
 
 In a short time she began to have paroxysms of ecstasy. 
 In these, there were more or less profound abolition of sensi- 
 bility, general and special, and hallucinations of various kinds. 
 At first these seizures were at no fixed intervals of time, but 
 after a while they occurred regularly on Friday and in the 
 afternoon. The duration was in the beginning only a few 
 minutes, but latterly they got to lasting several hours. 
 
 Like many other ecstatics, Berguille was devoted to making 
 predictions both in religion and politics. Unfortunately for her 
 reputation, nothing that she foretold ever came to pass. Thus, 
 on the 26th of July, 1873, she said, " The great king, the most 
 Christian king, promised to France, will come very soon. He 
 is Monseigneur the Count de Chambord." On the 24th of 
 August : " The three days of darkness are near ; terrible events 
 * Etude Meclicale sur l'extatique de Fontet. Paris, 1875. 
 
f3o HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 are about to take place. Paris will be entirely destroyed." 
 On the nth of September Berguille declared that "The great 
 King Henry V. will come, not by the votes of men, but by the 
 will of the all-powerful God, and because it is necessary for him 
 to save France." 
 
 When visited by MM. Mauriac and Verdalle, Berguille was 
 lying in bed. She is described as a woman of about forty-five 
 years of age, brown complexion, muscles and limbs well de- 
 veloped, but without much fat, eyes blue, widely open and 
 staring vaguely. She smiled kindly when questions were put 
 to her, and answered with sufficient intelligence. 
 
 On being asked why she was in bed, she answered that she 
 was in pain night and day ; and when requested to state where 
 she felt the pain, she answered the backs and palms of her 
 hands, the tops and soles of her feet, and the right side. These 
 places were in correspondence with the five wounds of Christ, 
 but the pain in the side, she had on the right, while other 
 ecstatics, as Louise Lateau, had it on the left. The miracle- 
 believers ought to find it difficult to reconcile a discrepancy like 
 this. 
 
 Relative to her visions and what she heard during her ecsta- 
 sies, she said that she saw Jesus Christ in His passion, that she 
 heard voices, but she could not repeat what' was told her. Her 
 pulse was from 68 to 72. 
 
 At about one o'clock the ecstasy began. Her pulse rose 
 to 80. She clasped her hands over her heart, her gaze 
 became fixed, her eyes were widely opened, her lips moved 
 as though she was muttering prayers, and there were fre- 
 quent movements of deglutition. Her pupils were slightly 
 
ECSTASY; JOAN OF ARC. 131 
 
 dilated, but contracted when a light was brought to them. 
 Her limbs were rigid, but it was noticed that she flexed 
 them very readily when she altered her position a little 
 or arranged her dress. In a few minutes she raised herself 
 somewhat awkwardly on her knees, her hands still being clasped 
 and her eyes fixed. Then began the passion on the way to the 
 cross, during which she walked on her knees around the bed, 
 changing her position twelve times and falling three times in 
 the traditional manner. To make this journey, required thirty- 
 six minutes, and this done the next act, the crucifixion, was in 
 order. 
 
 Suddenly she threw herself back on the bed, extended her 
 arms from each side, and remained immovable. The pulse 
 was 112, the respirations 100. The muscles of the chest 
 seemed to be paralyzed, only the diaphragm acting. The eyes 
 were closed. 
 
 The limbs were in a state of forced extension and very 
 rigid ; the cutaneous sensibility to pinching, pricking, and to 
 the electrical stimulus was abolished. The latter, a very strong 
 induced current, caused muscular contractions, but no sensa- 
 tion. There was not the least flinching. Things went on in 
 this way for over three hours, and then she sang the " Salve Re- 
 gina" exclaimed " Oh, what sorrow ! " and gradually recovered 
 her senses. 
 
 We have seen how greatly a weak, hysterical girl can dis- 
 turb the community in which she lives. The history of the 
 world is full of examples, in which whole nations and groups 
 of nations have been so deeply influenced by ecstatics of both 
 sexes, as to have their entire political status changed thereby. 
 
C32 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 The instance of Joan of Arc has already been cited. It is in- 
 teresting to quote her own touching and evidently sincere words, 
 detailing how she was led to take the leadership of the armies 
 of France, and conduct them on to victory. 
 
 " It is now seven years ago," she said to her judges, " on a 
 summer's day, towards the middle hour, I was about thirteen 
 years of age, and in my father's garden — that I heard for the 
 first time on my right hand, towards the church, a voice, and 
 there stood a figure in a bright radiance before my eyes. It had 
 the appearance and look of a right good and virtuous man, bore 
 wings, was surrounded with light on all sides, and by the angels 
 of heaven. It was the Archangel Michael. The voice seemed 
 to me to command respect ; but I was yet a child, and was 
 frightened at the figure, and doubted very much whether it 
 were the Archangel. I saw him and the angels as distinctly 
 before my eyes as I now see you, my judges." With words of 
 encouragement the Archangel announces to her that God had 
 taken pity upon France, and that she must hasten to the assist- 
 ance of the King. At the same time he promised her that St. 
 Catherine and St. Margaret would soon visit her ; he told her 
 that she should do what they commanded her, because they 
 were sent by God to guide and conduct her. " Upon this," 
 continued Joan, " St. Catherine and St. Margaret appeared to 
 me, as the Archangel had foretold. They ordered me to get 
 ready to go to Robert de Baudricourt, the King's captain. He 
 would several times refuse me, but at length would consent, 
 and give me people who would conduct me to the King. Then 
 should I raise the siege of Orleans. I replied to them that I 
 was a poor child, who understood nothing about riding on 
 
ECSTASY; JOAN OF ARC. 133 
 
 horseback and making war. They said I should cany my 
 banner with courage ; God would help me, and win back for 
 my King his entire kingdom. As soon as I knew that I was 
 to proceed on this errand, I avoided as much as I could 
 taking part in the sports and amusements of my young com- 
 panions. So have the Saints conducted me during seven years, 
 and have given me support and assistance in all my needs 
 and labors, and now no day goes by but they come to see me. 
 I seldom see the Saints that they are not surrounded with a 
 halo of light ; they wear rich and precious armor, as it is 
 reasonable they should. I see them always under the same 
 forms, and have never found in their discourse any discrepan- 
 cies. I know how to distinguish one from the other, and 
 this as well by the sound of their voices as by their salutation. 
 They come often without my calling upon them. But when 
 they do not come, I pray to the Lord that He will send them 
 to me, and never have I needed them but they have visited 
 me." 
 
 These judges were nearly all ecclesiastics, selected by 
 the Bishop of Beauvais for this particular work, sixty in all — 
 bishops, writers of theology, mitred abbots, etc. ; men skilled 
 in all the subtleties of theological fence. She was a peasant 
 girl, nineteen years of age, who could not even read and write. 
 The only evidence that we have that they were not thoroughly 
 depraved, is the fact that it was proposed to put her to the tor- 
 ture, and only three votes — from doctors of theology — were re- 
 corded in favor of this proposition. It is said, however, that 
 the only reason why she was not tortured was the fact that 
 being weak, she might die, and thus cheat the stake. 
 
134 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 Of course she was found guilty. They found her to be : 
 "A sorceress, a divinitress, an invoker of demons, a conjur- 
 ess, superstitious, and entirely given to magic, thinking evil 
 of the Catholic faith, sacrilegious, an idolatress, an apostate 
 from the faith, a blasphemer of the name of God and of the 
 Saints, scandalous, seditious, a disturber of the peace, excit- 
 ing to war, cruel, wishing for the effusion of human blood, en- 
 tirely abandoned and in variance with the sense of decency 
 and shame, taking the dress of a man-at-arms as her habili- 
 ment, contemning and despising the law of God and of nature, 
 and ecclesiastical discipline before God and men, a seducer 
 of princes and peoples, consenting to the adoration of her per- 
 son and allowing her hands and vestments to be kissed, to 
 the great contempt and injury of the honor and the worship 
 of God, therefore demanding that she be declared a heretic, 
 and legitimately punished according to divine and canon- 
 ical law." 
 
 She was sentenced to be burned alive, and this determina- 
 tion was kept concealed from her till the arrival of the day 
 appointed for the execution. When told of it by her confessor, 
 she exclaimed, in her misery, " Alas for me ! It is dreadful 
 that my healthy, youthful body, all unspotted, must this day be 
 destroyed and reduced to ashes ! Ah, it were better for me to 
 be beheaded seven times over than to be burned to death ! " 
 
 While on the scaffold, a sermon was preached to her from 
 the text, " When one member suffers, all the other members 
 suffer also." The discourse concluded with the words, " Depart 
 in peace, the Church can no longer protect thee." 
 
 Then the Bishop of Beauvais, her relentless persecutor, who 
 
ECSTASY ; JOAN OF ARC. 135 
 
 had wielded the mighty ecclesiastical power against her, read 
 the sentence : — 
 
 " In the name of God, Amen. We, thy lawful judges, found 
 thee, Jeanne, called the Pucelle, guilty of apostacy, of idolatry, 
 of invoking the devil, and of various other crimes ; but as the 
 Church ever opens its arms to receive the penitent, so we, be- 
 lieving that thou didst truly abjure and swear never to relapse 
 into thy delusions, admitted thee again to repentance, as one 
 resolved evermore to dwell in the unity of the Church. But thy 
 heart was led astray by the Prince of lies, and thou art fallen 
 back into thy errors, even as a dog returns to its vomit. Thou 
 didst abjure thy errors with a false heart and not in good faith, 
 as thou hast thyself acknowledged. Therefore, by the present 
 sentence, we proclaim thee a relapsed heretic, and a withered 
 branch. And lest thou corrupt others, we cast thee out of the 
 bosom of the Church, and we deliver thee over to the temporal 
 authorities, praying them to deal mildly and humanely by thee, 
 and to rest satisfied with the death of thy body and the destruc- 
 tion of thy members." 
 
 As Madden* says, from whom I quote this account : " This 
 last phrase is merely the deceitful form proper to the eccle- 
 siastical sentence of death, for the temporal judge was far 
 more under subjection to the inquisition than to the temporal 
 powers of France, and by the rights delegated to the Church 
 was liable to be himself accounted heretical, if he did not con- 
 sign the person thus given over to him to the flames." And 
 then she was burnt to death, and her ashes thrown into rthe 
 river. 
 
 * Phantasmata. London, 1857, p. 186. 
 
t36 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 It was, therefore, in thorough consistency that the Church, 
 bearing in mind its former action, recently refused to canon- 
 ize this high-minded and virtuous maid. Perhaps a hundred 
 or two years from now it will act differently in regard to an- 
 other ecstatic who is fortunate enough during her lifetime to 
 receive the favor of those who have the management of such 
 things, and to whose history during the last few years I ask 
 the attention of the reader. 
 
 Bernadette Soubirous, according to the account given by 
 M. Henri Lasserre *, whose book is prefaced by a letter of ap- 
 proval from his Holiness the Pope, a young girl of Lourdes, 
 in the south of France, went out one day with her two sisters 
 to gather dry wood on the neighboring hills. On their way they 
 had to cross a brook, and they stopped at the bank to take off 
 their sabots. Bernadette was behind the other two, and being 
 the only one who had on stockings, she stooped to take them 
 off. It was about noon, and the Angelus was about to sound 
 from all the bells of the neighboring villages. 
 
 She was in the act of taking off her stockings when she 
 heard a sound as if a wind was rushing by her. To her sur- 
 prise the poplars which bordered the banks of the river were 
 in a state of complete repose, there being not the slightest ruf- 
 fle of the leaves. 
 
 " I am deceived," she said to herself. 
 
 And remembering still the rushing sound she had heard, 
 she did not know what to think. 
 
 Again she began to take off her stockings. 
 
 * Notre Dame de Lourdes, Paris, 1874. 
 
ECSTASY; BERNADETTE SOUBIROUS 137 
 
 And again the sound as if the wind were rushing by passed 
 through her ears. 
 
 Bernadette raised her head, looked in front of her and 
 uttered a loud cry, or rather, as M. Lasserre says, she would 
 have uttered a loud cry if she had not been choked with fear. 
 She trembled in all her limbs, and fell to the earth daz- 
 zled, completely overcome by what she had seen ; she 
 crouched on the ground on both knees and waited in terror 
 for what was to come. For in a niche formed by nature, in 
 the rock, stood a female figure of incomparable splendor. 
 There was nothing fantastical or vague about this lovely being. 
 She appeared to be a reg.1 woman, and the light that came from 
 the aureola above her head, and from her whole body, though 
 of surpassing brightness, did not hurt the eyes. 
 
 She was of middle height ; she seemed to be quite young, 
 and she had all the grace of a girl of twenty ; but without de- 
 tracting in the least from the delicacy and beauty of her form, 
 there was at the same time, an air of eternal grandeur about 
 it, which was in entire accordance with the fitness of things. 
 Her face was oval, her eyes blue, her lips bore an expression 
 of divine gentleness and love, her forehead appeared to ex- 
 press supreme wisdom — that is to say, the knowledge of all 
 things, united to a virtue without limits. 
 
 The garments worn by this heavenly being were of an un- 
 known material, and were doubtless, as M. Lasserre says, 
 manufactured in a mysterious workshop, where lilies of the 
 valley are made into textile fabrics ; for they were as white as 
 the immaculate snows of the mountains, and more magnificent 
 in their simplicity than the gorgeous vestments worn by Solo- 
 
138 HY STEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 mon, when arrayed in all his glory. Her robe long and en 
 train, fell in chaste folds, allowing her feet to be seen as they 
 stood upon the rock, pressing lightly a branch of eglantine. On 
 each one of her feet, which were in a state of original nudity, 
 bloomed the mystical golden colored rose. 
 
 In front a girdle, blue as the heavens, and tied half around 
 the body, fell in two long bands which almost touched her 
 feet. Behind, enveloping in its fulness her shoulders, and the 
 upper part of her arms, was a white veil, which was fastened to 
 her head and reached to the lower border of her robe. 
 
 There were neither rings, nor necklace, nor diadem, nor 
 jewels ; none of the ornaments with which human vanity, from 
 all time, has loved to ornament her. A chaplet, of which the 
 beads were as white as drops of milk, and of which the chain 
 was as yellow as the harvest corn, fell from her hands, fervent- 
 ly clasped as they were. The beads of the chaplet glided one 
 after the other through her fingers. Sometimes the lips of 
 this Queen of Virgins were still. Instead of reciting her rosary 
 she was then perhaps listening to the eternal echo in her heart ' 
 of the angelic salutation, and to the murmur of the invocations 
 coming from the earth. Each bead as she touched it was 
 doubtless a shower of celestial graces, falling on souls as the 
 drops of dew fall upon flowers. 
 
 She was silent, but afterwards her own words, and the 
 miraculous facts mentioned, attested that she was really the 
 immaculate Virgin, the very august and very holy Mary, the 
 Mother of God. 
 
 It must be admitted that, considering the state of mental 
 confusion into which Bernadette was thrown by this sudden 
 
 14 
 
ECSTASY ; OUR LADY OF LOURDES. 139 
 
 appearance, she had a wonderful perception for the details of 
 face, form, and dress, of the celestial figure before her. She 
 tried to make the sign of the cross, but her agitation was so 
 great that she could not raise her arm from her side. But 
 the figure, as if to encourage her, made the sign with infinite 
 grace, and then Bernadette, partially nerving herself, ran over 
 her rosary, and as she finished it, the apparition disappeared 
 and she was left alone. 
 
 No one believed the account she gave, even her mother 
 regarding it as based on hallucination ; but she saw the figure 
 again, though her companions, not being gifted with the power 
 of seeing spiritual things, saw only Bernadette fall on her knees, 
 her face illumed with the light of ecstasy, as she gazed 
 towards the place where she declared she perceived the Virgin- 
 On another occasion two women went with her to the grotto, 
 but though Bernadette saw the Virgin and fell on her knees 
 at the sight, her two companions, as the others, saw only Ber- 
 nadette, whose countenance was again transfigured by ecstasy. 
 
 After that, Bernadette was told by the Virgin that she 
 wanted a church built on the spot. The water of the spring 
 in the grotto became suddenly possessed of healing powers, 
 and though the government attempted for a time to put a 
 stop to the spread of the belief in Bernadette's visions, it was 
 found to be impossible to do so, especially after a commission 
 appointed by the bishop had rendered a report in favor of 
 their authenticity. The rest is well known ; the church was 
 built by the contributions of the pilgrims who visited the place, 
 either for purposes of devotion or to bathe in the healing pool, 
 and the water of Lourdes became famous for the wonderful 
 
Ho HY STEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 cures it accomplished. It is now exported to all parts of the 
 world, and even in the city of New York is in extensive use 
 as a therapeutical agent, its qualities being miraculous, accord- 
 ing to the belief of those who place faith in its virtues. 
 
 This is the same old story over again, simply clothed in a 
 new dress — a story that in one form or another has been re- 
 peated a thousand times, and that is probably destined to be 
 reiterated again and again, while the world lasts, and the 
 human mind continues to be constituted as it now is. But we, 
 who know how to take such recitals at their true value, can 
 derive from them many a lesson of use to us, in our dealings 
 with men and women of sound and unsound minds and bodies. 
 That thousands have been cured by the water of Lourdes ad- 
 mits of no doubt. Such facts are, however, only another group 
 to be added to those embracing the results of the royal touch, 
 the powder of sympathy, the metallic tractors, mesmerism, the 
 acts of the Zouave Jacob and of Dr. Newton, and the bread 
 pills and colored water, which, when taken in faith, are fully as 
 miraculous in their effects as the water of Lourdes. And again, 
 we see how prone man is to view facts '* unequally," as Czermak 
 puts it j to accept the most improbable explanation that can be 
 offered of matters with which he is not wholly familiar, and 
 while wise, as a child of the world ordinarily is in the conduct 
 of his worldly affairs, a very prince of fools when an appeal is 
 made to his sense of the marvellous. 
 
 There are few books of its kind more instructive, if read 
 with a mind free from superstition and full of the knowledge of 
 the wonderful workings of the human intellect, than the " Notre 
 Dame de Lourdes " of M. Lasserre, and no one can rise from its 
 
ECSTAS Y ; OUR LAD Y OF LO URDES. 141 
 
 perusal without being impressed with a sense of the incompar- 
 able adaptability of the Roman Catholic Church to the wants 
 of those who are guided more by emotion than by reason, more 
 by faith than by facts ; and these constitute the majority of the 
 human race. 
 
 As to Bernadette, let the reader recall to mind the circum 
 stances under which she first saw the vision. She was stooping 
 down in the act of taking off her stockings. The position was 
 one which was calculated to accelerate the flow of blood to her 
 brain, and to retard its return. A temporary cerebral congestion 
 was thus induced, a condition particularly favorable to the pro- 
 duction of hallucinations, as has already been pointed out. 
 The roaring sound in the ears when there was no wind, was also 
 the result of the augmented quantity of blood in the cerebral 
 vessels. 
 
 Then, M. Lasserre repeatedly speaks of her ecstatic condi- 
 tion. " Suddenly Bernadette's countenance appeared to be 
 transfigured, and it was in reality transfigured. An extraordi- 
 nary emotion was depicted on her face, and her beaming 
 expression seemed to be the result of a divine light."* " They 
 (her two companions,) perceived that the features of the child 
 were transfigured by ecstasy. "f " Bernadette, ravished in 
 ecstasy, gazed upon the immaculate beauty before her."t And 
 again : " A minute afterwards her forehead appeared to become 
 illuminated and radiant. The blood did not appear to rush to 
 her face; on the contrary, she looked somewhat paler than 
 natural, as if nature receded a little in the presence of the 
 apparition which was before her. All her features seemed to 
 
 * Op. cit., p. 37. t Id., p. 41. J Id., p. 42. 
 
H2 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 be enlarged, and as if in a higher sphere, in a country of glory, 
 to express feelings and things which do not belong to this 
 world. Her mouth, half open, was expressive of the admiration 
 which filled her soul, and which appeared to raise her towards 
 heaven. Her eyes, fixed and beaming with happiness, gazed 
 on the beauty invisible to others, but which all felt to be 
 present, which all, thus to speak, saw reflected in the face of 
 the child. This poor little peasant girl, so ordinary in her 
 natural state, seemed now not to belong to this earth. 
 
 All those who have seen Bernadette in ecstasy, speak of the 
 spectacle as a thing quite without analogy in the world.''* 
 
 So much for the orthodox account. The fact of ecstasy is 
 admitted, but it is contended that while in this state the girl 
 saw the^Virgin Mary, although no one else, of the hundreds 
 who went with her to the grotto, saw anything at all but the 
 girl herself in the ecstatic state. If this kind of thing can be 
 true, facts go for nothing. I have had under my own imme- 
 diate charge fifty girls and women, who, in the condition of- 
 ecstasy, have had visions of, from God himself, down to the 
 school-mistress who had locked them up in dark closets. That 
 there were many sensible people who held this view in regard 
 to Bernadette is very evident from M. Lasserre's admissions. 
 Thus the editor of the " Zavedan,'' in detailing the events in 
 question, said : 
 
 " Three children of early ages had gone out to collect 
 the branches, which had been cut from some trees near 
 the town. The girls were surprised by the proprietor of the 
 
 * Op. tit, p. 63. 
 
ECSTASY ; OUR LADY OF LOURDES. 143 
 
 land, and fled as fast as their legs could carry them to one of 
 the grottos near the road through the forest of Lourdes. We 
 shall not stop to detail the thousand versions which have been 
 given of this occurrence ; we will only say that the young girl, 
 with a wax taper in her hand, and escorted by more than five 
 hundred people, goes every morning to pray at the entrance of 
 the grotto. There she is seen to pass from a state of profound 
 and sighing meditation into a most pronounced condition of 
 ecstasy. Tears flow from her fixed eyes, which remain con- 
 stantly turned towards that part of the cave where she believes 
 she sees the figure of the Blessed Virgin. Everything leads us 
 to suppose that the poor visionary is the subject of catalepsy." 
 
 Of such people as the editor of the " Lavedan " M. Lasserre 
 speaks with becoming disdain. 
 
 " Some physicians," he says, " some autocthonous Socrates, 
 some local philosophers, calling themselves Voltairians to make 
 us believe they have read Voltaire, bristling up against their 
 curiosity, held it to be a point of honor not to visit the grotto 
 with the stupid crowd, which daily grew in size. This is what 
 almost always happens; the fanatics of "Free Examination'' hold- 
 ing the principle of only examining what suits them. For them 
 no fact is worthy of attention which is capable of overturning 
 the inflexible dogmas they have learned in the Credo of their 
 journal. From the height of their infallible wisdom, on the 
 steps of their shops, on the terrace in front of the cafe's, from 
 the windows of the club houses, these spirits of the first order 
 saw, with supreme disdain, the innumerable human souls which 
 sauntered along on their way to the grotto." 
 
 These " disdainful spirits " were probably silenced, if not 
 
£44 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 convinced. Some of these days perhaps they, or their de- 
 scendants, will have more voice in restraining the delusional 
 vagaries of their fellow-creatures than they seem to have had 
 in the matter of Our Lady of Lourdes. 
 
 After the first paroxysm, it was no difficult matter for Ber- 
 nadette to have others. The mere fact of her fixing her gaze 
 steadily in one direction would have been sufficient to produce 
 them, just as the similar paroxysms of hypnotism are caused in 
 the human species, and even in animals. This fact is well- 
 known to the people of many nations. Thus, in India the 
 seeker for wisdom, the anchorite, is told to go to some place of 
 solitude, to seat himself neither too high nor too low, to keep 
 the head, neck and body immovable, to look fixedly at the point 
 of his nose, and to remain calm, chaste, free from fear, and to 
 think only of God. A similar method is followed in China. 
 
 The monks of Mount Athos enter into ecstasy by placing 
 their thoughts on God and their eyes on the navel. Simeon 
 Abbot, of the monastery of Xerocos, writes the following in- 
 structions : " Being in thy cell, shut the door, and seat thyself 
 in a corner of the room. Turn thy thoughts and thy eyes 
 towards the middle of thy belly, that is to say, to thy navel. 
 Hold thy breath, not even breathing through thy nose." 
 
 3. Hystero-Epilepsy. The combination of hysteria with 
 epilepsy has long been recognized as one of the most frightful 
 affections to be found in the whole range of neurological medi- 
 cine. It is the condition which more frequently than any other 
 led to the idea in former times — an idea which, however, as I 
 shall presently show, holds its own among theologians of the 
 present day — that demons entered the body and produced the 
 
HYSTERO-EPILEPSY. 145 
 
 symptoms of the disorder by tearing and contorting it for diver- 
 sional or malicious purposes. 
 
 An attack of hystero-epilepsy is characterized by the 
 occurrence of convulsions more or less resembling those of 
 epilepsy. There is usually, in the first place, a spasm resem- 
 bling such as characterizes tetanus or lock jaw, as it is pop- 
 ularly called. During this stage the body is bent backward so 
 as to resemble a bow in shape. Then follow convulsions, 
 during which the body is violently agitated ; there is frothing 
 at the mouth, the urine is sometimes passed involuntarily and 
 occasionally the tongue is bitten. During all this period the 
 patient is unconscious. 
 
 Next ensues a remarkable series of movements, at the 
 beginning of which, or during their continuance, the patient 
 recovers consciousness to such an extent as to answer ques- 
 tions, though there is not often recollection of the incidents 
 that may have occurred. These movements are apparently 
 voluntary, and consist of the most extraordinary contortions of 
 the face, neck, trunk and extremities, so that superstitious or 
 ignorant people would be very apt to imagine the existence of 
 an internal or external diabolical agency. During the continu- 
 ance of this part of the paroxysm, the patient tears with the 
 hands and teeth anything tearable that comes within reach, 
 and continually utters inarticulate sounds or words, apparently 
 in relation with the ideas passing through the mind. Finally 
 the purely hysterical element ceases to predominate, and the 
 patient alternately weeps and laughs, and gradually acquires a 
 knowledge of what is passing around. 
 
 During the whole of the paroxysm the face is flushed, the 
 
t46 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 pupils are moderately contracted, the pulse is accelerated, the 
 perspiration is increased in quantity, and the respiration is 
 hurried and irregular. 
 
 But there are numerous deviations from this type. Some- 
 times the tetanic spasm is wanting, and again it, or some mod- 
 ification of it, may constitute the most marked part of the con- 
 vulsive period. Thus in a lady who was lately under my 
 charge the paroxysm began with the bending of the body, and 
 the bowlike form was at once relaxed, and again assumed to 
 be again relaxed, and so on for over half an hour, during which 
 time the patient was sobbing, groaning, and shrieking alter- 
 nately. 
 
 In a case now under my charge the patient, a woman, has 
 daily attacks at about the same hour — three o'clock p. m., — 
 which are more distinctly tetaniform in the beginning than 
 any that have come under my observation. They consist of a 
 series of spasms, during the first part of which the body is 
 extremely rigid. The convulsion is, however, unlike others 
 that have come under my notice, very slowly developed. The 
 body extended at full length in the recumbent position grad- 
 ually becomes exceedingly rigid, the legs are slightly separated, 
 the arms are pressed closely to the sides, the jaws are tightly 
 closed and the gaze fixed. Respiration is entirely suspended 
 and the heart beats rapidly, sometimes as frequently as one 
 hundred and sixty pulsations in a minute. Then the body is 
 slowly bowed so that the head and heels alone touch the bed, 
 and is so rigid and strongly arched that no ordinary force, such 
 as a powerful man can exert, suffices to overcome the extreme 
 tonicity of the muscles. In about a minute from the begin- 
 
HYSTERO-EPILEPSY. 
 
 147 
 
 ning of the rigidity the spasm suddenly relaxes, and with a 
 long-drawn inspiration the paroxysm ends to be again resumed 
 in a few minutes with a like sequence. In the accompanying 
 woodcut (Fig. 8) is an exact representation of this patient when 
 the tetanic spasm is at its height. 
 
 Fig. 3 
 
 No one has written with greater effect in regard to the 
 manifestations of hysteria and hystero-epilepsy than Charcot. 
 As a most striking instance of this latter affection I cite from 
 him the following instance, * already referred to in another 
 communication under the head of ecstasy. 
 
 Ler., aged forty-eight, is a patient well known to all physi- 
 cians who visit the Salpetriere as one of the most remarkable 
 instances extant of hystero-epilepsy. Her menstruation has 
 ceased for four years, and yet all the neurotic symptoms persist. 
 She is a demoniac, a possessed, and presents a striking exam- 
 ple of that type of hysteria manifested by the " Jerkers " in 
 " Methodist camp meetings," and who exhibit in their parox- 
 ysms the most frightful attitudes. 
 
 * " Le9ons stir les Maladies du Systeme nerveux," Paris, 1872-73, p. 301, 
 €t stq. 
 
148 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 The probable origin of these nervous phomonema in Ler. 
 deserves to be noted. She has had, as she says, a series of 
 frights. At eleven years of age she was terrified by a furious 
 dog, at sixteen she was frightened at the sight of the corpse of 
 an assassinated woman, and again about the same time when 
 going through a wood by robbers, who attacked her and took 
 away her money. 
 
 With her, there are various local manifestations of hysteria, 
 consisting of anaesthesia of one half of the body, tenderness 
 over the ovaries, semi-paralysis of various parts, and at times 
 contractions of the limbs on the right or left side. The attacks 
 are characterized at first by epileptiform and tetaniform con- 
 vulsions, after which come extensive movements of an inten- 
 tional character in which the patient assumes the most hideous 
 postures, recalling the attitudes which history ascribes to demon- 
 iacal possessions. At the moment of the attack she is seized 
 with delirium, which evidently turns on the facts which have 
 produced the initial seizure. She hurls invectives at imaginary 
 persons : " Scoundrels ! robbers ! brigands ! Fire, fire ! Oh the 
 dogs, they bite me." When the convulsive part of the accession 
 is over, there ensue generally, hallucinations of sight. She 
 sees frightful animals, skeletons and spectres. Her power of 
 swallowing food is impaired for several days, and the tongue 
 is more or less contracted, leading to indistinctness of her 
 articulation. 
 
 Later, M. Bourneville * has given an account of Ler. some- 
 what fuller than that of M. Charcot. In illustration of the 
 period of contortions, I take from M. Bourneville's excellent 
 * Louise Lateau, ou la stigmatisee Beige. Paris, 1875, P- 3 8 > et seq. 
 
HYSTERO-EPILEPSY. 149 
 
 monograph the accompanying wood cut, (Fig. 9) made from a 
 sketch taken on the spot, by Mr. Charcot. 
 
 A case at this time is under my care, in which phenomena 
 very similar to those exhibited by Ler. are present. The pa- 
 tient is a girl who was brought to me after various remedies, 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 calculated to exorcise a supposed demon, had been employed. 
 Although a Protestant, she had been taken to a " Christian 
 Brother," who had laid his hands on her head, as her mother 
 informed me, and had bid the devil depart, at the same time 
 washing her with holy water. These means not succeeding, 
 the water of Lourdes was next drunk and the forehead bathed 
 with it. But these means also failed. Evidently Protestant 
 
150 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 devils are not amenable to Catholic spiritual therapeutics. She 
 was then brought to me, and I had the opportunity of seeing 
 her in a paroxysm. 
 
 It began with slight tetanic rigidity, then there were general 
 clonic convulsions, epileptiform in character, with foaming at 
 the mouth, and then the consciousness having been regained, 
 the volitional muscular contractions made their appearance, as 
 well as a higher state of delirium. The face twitched, the 
 tongue was protruded, the eyes rolled. She seized books and 
 other articles within her reach and hurled them about the 
 room. She swore fearfully, and uttered the most obscene words 
 with a horrible leer on her face. Then she threw herself on the 
 floor and kicked, rolled and tossed about without regard to 
 decency, or the safety of her own or others' limbs. She dashed 
 her head against a chair, scratched her face, tore her hair, beat 
 her breast, and almost entirely divested herself of clothing. 
 Finally she fell asleep utterly exhausted, and did not awake 
 for several hours. She was then sore from head to foot, and 
 professed — evidently with truth — that she had no recollection 
 of what had taken place. Such a case as this would, undoubt- 
 edly, at a not very remote anterior period have been regarded, 
 almost without a dissentient voice, as one of diabolical or de- 
 moniacal possession, and even now there are not wanting learn- 
 ed and pious theologians, Catholic and Protestant, who would 
 certainly thus designate it, for it fulfils in all respects the de- 
 scription given of such cases, both in ancient and modern times. 
 Thus if we go back to the writers of the New Testament, we 
 find the phenomena well described. There are convulsive 
 movements, the body is contorted, the patient cries out, he 
 
HYSTERO-EPILEPSY. 151 
 
 foams at the mouth, falls down and then reposes.* The patient 
 is torn, he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, t He falls 
 on the ground and wallows foaming. % He is contorted (vexed), 
 falls sometimes into the fire and sometimes into the water.§ 
 
 Delitzsch || admits that these are the symptoms of epilepsy, 
 but he very weakly attempts to make a distinction between the 
 ordinary disease and that produced by the entrance of a devil 
 into the human body, in that, plus these symptoms, one of the 
 subjects was deaf and dumb. But it very often happens that 
 patients are both epileptic and deaf and dumb, and that the 
 cure of all the morbid conditions takes place at one time, being 
 due as they are to an essential anatomical lesion, or some hys- 
 teroid state. 
 
 In contending for the reality of obsession and possession, 
 Delitzsch, with a degree of learning and ability which it is la- 
 mentable to see wasted in such a cause, endeavors to locate the 
 situation of the devil who has taken up his abode in the human 
 organism. According to him the soul itself can never be inva- 
 ded, and however strongly such a view may have been held, it 
 must now be given up, as he says the locality of possession is 
 the human body. " In this — and indeed just where the soul 
 exerts an influence upon it by means of the nervous system, 
 and receives reacting influence from it — the demon establishes 
 himself, but from here outward exercises a forcible influence, 
 extending itself to soul and spirit : to the soul at once so far 
 as he makes the corporiety, e. g., the instrument of speech, a 
 means of his self-manifestation, and thereby dislodges the soul 
 * Luke ix. 39-42. t Mark viii. 18. JMarkix. 20. § Matt. xvii. 1 5. 
 || A System of Biblical Psychology. English Translation. Edinburgh, 
 1875, P- 34& 
 
152 HYSTEROID AFFECTIONS. 
 
 from its relation of power to the body that it vitalizes ; to the 
 spirit inasmuch as he degrades the will to a mere potentiality 
 and places it in fetters that cannot be broken. So this affects 
 the nature of man even to its very foundation. Even to the will, 
 and thus even to the root of the soul and of the spirit, his influ- 
 ence penetrates. He binds the will in a magical manner, and 
 makes it subservient to himself, and thus deprives the entire 
 man of independence and of all further power over himself."* 
 
 Nor does the learned author stop here. He believes in the 
 ability of man to form pacts or covenants with the devil — witch- 
 craft. Thus he says : 
 
 " Nevertheless, that prevalence of demoniacal disorders, es- 
 pecially of possession, had also certainly a deep psychological 
 reason in the superstition of that day, in virtue of which it was 
 mingled with all kinds of magic. Superstition is not absolute- 
 ly a mere subjective, guiltless delusion ; and, moreover, it is not 
 a complication which is dissolved by truly scientific illumination 
 into a mere nothing. It opens the human soul to demoniacal 
 influences just as much as faith does to divine. And witchcraft 
 is not empty, guiltless legerdemain, and neither is it an empty 
 fraud, disclosing itself to intelligent cultivation ; it is, in its of- 
 ten sufficiently undeniable reality, the fearful opposite of the 
 sacred miracles, which apart from God sets in movement created 
 powers." t 
 
 Now what is the logical practical deduction from this ? 
 Obviously, that, if there are individuals capable of entering into 
 contracts with demons or devils to torment their fellow beings, 
 they ought to be put out of the world as rapidly as the machin- 
 
 * Op. tit., p. 355. t Op. cit., p. 360. 
 
HYSTERO-EPILEPSY ; POSSESSION. 153 
 
 ery of the law can be brought to bear against them. Burning 
 at the stake would be a merited punishment for such fearfully 
 degraded creatures. The error of our ancestors was not in the 
 conclusions ' at which they arrived, but in the premises from 
 which they reasoned. Admitting the truth of these, and they 
 were perfectly right in consigning children and old men and wo- 
 men to the stake, the scaffold and the water. And Dr. Delitzsch, 
 the Protestant professor of theology in the University of Leipsic, 
 tells us they were right, and he says this in our day, right into 
 our ears ! Doubtless this very talented divine, who inveighs 
 against superstition in the same breath with which he expresses 
 his belief in witchcraft, would send Bemadette Soubirous to the 
 category of fanatical and bigoted papists, and smile in derision 
 at his Holiness the Pope, for writing approvingly to M. Lasserre 
 and speaking kindly of Bemadette. But the Pope and his 
 Church are at heart consistent, and it does seem to us — in our 
 ignorance perhaps — that consistency is a virtue which those 
 who set up to be teachers of mankind in the knowledge of eter- 
 nal and never-changing truths, might cultivate with more advan- 
 tage to themselves and their disciples. The Catholic Church 
 believes in the possibility of possession, and it supplies a for- 
 mula to its ministers by which demons are to be exorcised. 
 This is the formula which exorcised the devils who had entered 
 the body of the hystero-epileptic girl whose case I have just de- 
 tailed : R. zinci bromidi 3i; sodii bromidi, Si; aquse, 3 iv; 
 M. ft. sol. Sig. A teaspoonful in water three times a day. De- 
 mons of the present time have a great antipathy to the bromides, 
 and in most cases they refuse to dwell in any body into which 
 any one of the saints of that company obtains a lodgment. 
 
x 54 i>TIGMATIZATJON. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 TT is claimed by the Catholic Church (not, be it understood, 
 -*- as an article of faith which all must believe,) that there 
 have been instances in which certain highly-favored individuals 
 have, through miraculous agency, been marked in a manner to 
 represent the wounds which Christ received in the crucifixion. 
 When fully developed, these wounds consist of one in the palm 
 of each hand, one on the dorsum of each foot, each indicating 
 the place where a nail was inserted in the act of nailing Jesus 
 to the cross, and one in the side, which represents the thrust 
 of the spear which the Roman soldier is reported to have made. 
 In some cases there have been, in addition, signs upon the 
 forehead, which stand for the lacerations produced by the 
 crown of thorns ; and others in various parts of the body, which 
 are interpreted according to the fancy of the subject. To some 
 of these remarkable instances of the consequences of religious 
 fervor I propose to ask the attention of the reader before en- 
 tering into the consideration of the philosophy of the occur- 
 rences. 
 
 Gorres * admits that in all the periods of Christian antiquity 
 
 * Op. cit., t. ii., p. 202. 
 
ST. FRANCIS D'ASSISSI. i SS 
 
 there is not to be found a single example of stigmatization, 
 properly so-called. The first to exhibit this mark of divine 
 favor was St. Francis of Assisium, who was born in 1186, 
 who died October 4th, 1226, and who, in 1224, became marked 
 in the manner mentioned. In memory of the event a special 
 day, the 17th of September, in every year was set apart as a 
 feast of the Holy Stigmata by Pope Benedict XI. 
 
 One morning — the day of the exaltation of the cross — as 
 St. Francis was praying on the mountain-side, he experienced 
 a violent desire to be crucified with Christ. At the same time 
 he saw a seraph descend from heaven towards him. This 
 celestial being had six fiery and luminous wings, and as he 
 approached, St. Francis saw between the wings, the figure of a 
 man crucified, his arms and legs extended. Two of the wings 
 were elevated above his head, two were used in flying, and the 
 other two covered the body. Filled with astonishment at this 
 sight, he nevertheless felt great joy that God had thus favored 
 him, and at the same time profound grief at the painful spec- 
 tacle of which he was a witness, and which pierced his heart 
 like a sword. When the apparition had faded from his sight, 
 there remained in his soul the most fervent emotions, and on 
 his body very marvellous impressions, for on each hand and 
 each foot was the mark of a nail, and in the right side a wound, 
 such as would have been made with the point of a spear. 
 These wounds were large, and blood flowed from them. In the 
 middle of those in the hands and feet were nails like nails of 
 iron. They were black, hard, with a head above and a point 
 below, but though movable to some extent they could not be 
 withdrawn. St. Clara tried to pull them out after St. Francis 
 
IS 6 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 was dead, but was unable to do so. After receiving these wounds 
 he could move his fingers and use his hands and feet as before. 
 Nevertheless, walking was difficult to him, and therefore in his 
 journeys he usually went on horseback. The wound of the side 
 was deep and of the width of three fingers, as one of the 
 brothers, who had by chance touched it, testified. His clothing 
 was often stained with the blood which flowed from it. 
 
 There was never formed in his wounds any appearance of 
 gangrene, nor even of suppuration ; and the sain-t never em- 
 ployed any remedy for the purpose of curing them. It was 
 regarded as miraculous, that notwithstanding his sufferings and 
 the continued loss of blood, he lived for two years after receiv- 
 ing the stigmata. 
 
 The history of Christine de Stumbele is one of the most 
 remarkable that has come down to us. She was born in 1242 
 at Stumbele, a village situated a few miles from Cologne. 
 When she was only six years old the Lord appeared to her under 
 the form of a beautiful young man, and said to her, " My dear 
 daughter, I am the Lord Jesus ; give thyself entirely to me, 
 and continue always in my service." At nine years of age she 
 went to live with the sisters at Cologne. There she led a life 
 of prayer, austerities and ecstasies. At fifteen years began the 
 diabolical temptations to which fuller reference will presently 
 be made, and which lasted for thirty-one years. These were 
 considered by the sisters to be epileptic, and they sent Chris- 
 tine home to her parents. These attacks prevented her being 
 admitted to the sisterhood at Stumbele. 
 
 Christine had remained with her parents ten years, continu- 
 ally subject to these diabolical assaults, when she was visited 
 
CHRISTINE DE STUMBELE. 157 
 
 by Pierre de Dacie, who had prayed to God to show him a true 
 saint, and who sent him to Christine. Hardly had Pierre en- 
 tered her house when she was seized by an invisible hand and 
 thrown violently against the wall, with such violence that the 
 house shook. Although this was repeated seven times, Chris- 
 tine exhibited neither impatience nor pain. Pierre, touched 
 with compassion, placed a mattrass against the wall, so as to 
 soften the violence of the blows in case of fresh assaults. But 
 she soon began to groan with pain on account of wounds, which 
 she said she had received in her feet. On examination, a fresh 
 wound was found on each foot, from which blood flowed. This 
 was repeated several times. Afterwards, while she was talking 
 with Pierre, she again began to groan, and on his asking what 
 was the matter, she replied, " I am wounded in the knee." 
 After a few moments she passed her hand under her robe and 
 drew out a nail, which she showed him, and which he declared 
 had a most extraordinary degree of heat, as if in fact it were 
 newly arrived from hell. Towards midnight he joined his 
 companion monk, and began the recital of the office, but had 
 barely got to " Laudes," when they heard such a noise in 
 Christine's room that they were obliged to interrupt their 
 prayers and go to her relief. The young girl suffered horribly, 
 and appeared to be dying. A moment afterwards she drew 
 from under her clothing another nail, red-hot, and of hideous 
 shape ; and putting it in the hand of his companion (after it 
 had cooled, it is to be hoped), said, " See what has been wound- 
 ing me ! " The two monks looked at this horrible nail, and 
 were struck with stupor and fear. Pierre requested permission 
 to keep it as a souvenir ; " and," he says, in his account of the 
 
iS8 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 matter, " I have kept it to this day." In the morning, the two 
 brothers departed on their way to Cologne, and Pierre thanked 
 God for having allowed him to witness all these manifestations. 
 
 The foregoing details in regard to St. Christine de Stum- 
 bele are taken almost literally from the recent work of Dr. 
 Imbert-Gourbeyre,* professor in the school of medicine of 
 Clermont Ferrand, in Belgium, who quotes the principal part 
 from Pierre de Dacie, with full acceptance of all that is stated. 
 It is lamentable that a member of a profession, so little prone 
 to be deceived in matters of the kind, should exhibit such igno- 
 rance of his own science, and such credulity and superstition. 
 We shall see hereafter that he is not the only Belgian physician 
 who views facts " unequally." 
 
 But to continue the account of Christine — 
 
 Pierre made a second visit to Stumbele, and was invited to 
 dine with the cure" in company with Christine. After the repast, 
 one of those present undertook to chant " Jesu dulcis memoria," 
 but he had hardly begun before Christine was taken with 
 ecstasy, was motionless, rigid in all her limbs and completely 
 insensible. She could not even be seen to breathe. " I wept 
 with joy," says Pierre, " stupefied with this miracle, and I thank 
 God for granting me such a favor. I could not attribute it 
 either to nature or to man, and I venerated the divine pres- 
 ence." 
 
 Christine remained in this condition for several hours, 
 stretched out on a bench, her body wrapped in her veil. Then 
 she began to cry and sob, and her body became agitated. Her 
 
 * Xes Stigmatises. Louise Lateau, etc., 2d Edition. Paris, 1873, '■ i 
 p. 268. 
 
CHRISTINE DE STUMBELE. 159 
 
 breath then began to return, though at first, very feebly. 
 Finally she began to murmur a few words, such as " my 
 well-beloved ! O my spouse ! " and then she went into such a 
 state of jubilation that her body trembled with excess of emo- 
 tion. 
 
 On another occasion while in a profound state of ecstasy, 
 her body exhaled a most delicious perfume, "the odor of 
 sanctity," which has been exhibited by many other holy per- 
 sons. It must be confessed, however, that if the stories which 
 have come down to us, relative to the personal habits of most 
 of the holy men and women whose histories have been written, 
 are true, the odor' exhaled from their bodies could not have 
 been of a very delectable character. 
 
 Christine had numerous temporary stigmatizations, which 
 always took place on Good Fridays and lasted a few days. 
 The first one occurred in 1267 — being preceded by the crown 
 of thorns, which came on Tuesday of Passion Week, and by the 
 bloody sweat which occurred on Holy Thursday. The follow- 
 ing morning she had the five wounds. 
 
 Pierre has left a description of the stigmata as he observed 
 them on one occasion. There was a wound in the palm of 
 each hand of about the size of a shilling piece. The flesh was 
 exposed but the abrasion was only superficial. The stigmata 
 on the backs of the hands were in complete relation, both as 
 regarded size and situation, with those on the palms. All these 
 wounds remained but for eight days, diminishing little by little. 
 
 Subsequently the devil again began to torment her and her 
 friends. Pierre, accompanied by another monk, paid her a 
 visit, at the request of her father. They had saluted the 
 
160 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 young girl and had gone into the next room to dry their gar- 
 ments, when another clerical visitor who had taken a seat in 
 front of the fire, was suddenly struck violently on his legs by 
 an invisible hand, and at the same time covered with human 
 excrement. 
 
 In a few minutes afterwards this was repeated. " I ascer- 
 tained," said Pierre, " that the demon more than twenty differ- 
 ent times during that night, covered Christine with excrement. 
 Sometimes it was on her clothing, sometimes on her body, and 
 on one occasion, though her head was veiled, it was covered 
 with excrement as if with a paste. It was in her eyes, in her 
 mouth, and it stuck so fast that it was difficult to remove it. 
 " I must avow," continues Pierre, with great naiveti, " that some 
 of it got on my hands." 
 
 These are filthy matters to talk or write about, and nothing 
 but the necessity which I think exists for giving a true idea of 
 the vagaries which hysterical women at times indulge in, causes 
 me to place them before the reader. All of these phenomena 
 — the sticking of sharp instruments into the body, the introduc- 
 tion of them into the various passages, the drinking of wine, 
 and tricks with excrementitious substances, both of man and 
 the lower animals, together with many others, which do not 
 seem to have occurred to Christine de Stumbele, are common 
 enough as manifestations of hysterical, or hysteroid affections. 
 
 But to return to the performances of this saintly creature. 
 
 The next night all the doings of the previous night were 
 re-enacted with additions. " Towards the hour of midnight," 
 he continues in his journal, " I asked Christine if she saw the 
 demon. As for us, it was easy to know the presence of the 
 
CHRISTINE DE STUMBELE. ^i 
 
 demon by his acts — by all our senses, by the eyes, by the nose 
 by the touch, and even by the ears. Christine declared that 
 she saw him all the time, even with her eyes closed, or covered 
 with a veil. He took all possible forms. At that moment she 
 only saw his figure, but it was hideous. However deformed it 
 might be, it was always a human figure, having two great horns." 
 Pierre asked whether or not the demon would go, if he 
 sprinkled the chamber with holy water, and Christine replied 
 that he would, but that he would soon return. 
 
 " The following day," says Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, * in his 
 book published only three years ago, and prefaced with a letter 
 of endorsement and approval from the Bishop of Nantes, " was 
 passed tranquilly as was also the night, but on the third night 
 the same scenes recommenced. Brother Wipert was then abso- 
 lutely determined to recite the prayers of exorcism, in order to 
 put the devil to flight. Christine, however, took occasion to 
 say that it would be useless, and that she was still condemned 
 to submit to the assaults of the devil, so long as the good God 
 should determine. But Brother Wipert was obstinate and be- 
 gan to recite the formula. Hardly had he begun, however, 
 when a tremendous noise was heard in the room, the candle 
 was extinguished, and Brother Wipert panic-stricken, rose up 
 and attempted to seek safety in flight. At that moment he 
 felt a blow, and was covered with excrement. He rushed from 
 the room repeating " O my God, I have lost an eye ! " In the 
 next chamber, before the fire and with hot water, he busied 
 himself in washing his clothing, soiled by the demoniacal opera- 
 tion. The sisters helped him in his cleansing processes. Brother 
 * Op. cit, p. 285. 
 
1 62 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 Wipert had been very badly treated. One-half of his body 
 from head to foot was covered with liquid excrement. A few 
 minutes afterwards, well cleaned, he entered Christine's room 
 laughing. ' The devil,' said he, " has dirtied me all over and 
 has given me such a blow that I thought at first he had 
 put out my eye,' Pierre de Dacie could not help laughing 
 also." 
 
 How it is possible for any person claiming to have a human 
 brain normally constituted — that noblest work of God — to be- 
 lieve such stuff as this, passes comprehension. 
 
 It is scarcely worth while to inquire further into the acts of 
 this filthiest of hysterical women, this most degraded of all the 
 individuals who have pretended to stigmatization as the act of 
 God. I will only further state, that her performances are con- 
 tained in not less than one hundred and fifty folio pages in the 
 collection of the Bollandists, extending over a period of twenty 
 years, from 1267 to 1287, and that they are accepted as verita- 
 ble acts of the devil and of God, according as one or the othei 
 was for the time being in the ascendency, by bishops, priests, 
 deacons, and laity of the most important of all the Christian 
 churches. 
 
 Yes, there is one thing more to state in regard to this 
 woman who is honored as a saint, by the church that has re- 
 cently refused canonization to Joan of Arc. Her relics were 
 first taken to Niedeck, then, towards the end of the sixteenth 
 century, to Juliers. Here in the year 1685, they were visited 
 by Father Steinfunder, who reported that a green crown, the 
 width of the finger, was in process of growing from the fore- 
 head to the occiput. When he saw it, it had reached the ears. 
 
VERONICA GIULIANI. 163 
 
 " God thus wished," said he, " to crown the chastity and the 
 invincible patience of the virgin." In 1692 he inspected the 
 relics a second time. The virginal crown was still growing, 
 and it was sprinkled with red drops, which were symbolical of 
 the points of insertion of the crown of thorns she had re- 
 ceived during her life. 
 
 Veronica Giuliani had frequent ecstasies, during which she 
 saw and conversed with Christ and the Virgin Mary. In one 
 ot these interviews she prayed that she might be crucified with 
 her Saviour, and the promise was given her that she should 
 receive the stigmata on the following Good Friday. When that 
 day arrived she had repeated ecstasies, and received the stig- 
 mata during one of her prayers. She saw the Lord attached to 
 the cross, and His mother seated at His feet. She prayed to 
 the Holy Virgin to intercede for her, knowing that of herself 
 she could do nothing. The Holy Virgin promised to grant her 
 prayer, and she immediately received an assurance from the 
 Lord that He would cause her to remember Him in everything. 
 Three times He asked her what she desired, and three times 
 she answered that it was her wish to be crucified with Him. " I 
 accord it to thee," said He, " but I wish you to be always faithful 
 to me and I will give the grace thou needest by means of these 
 wounds, which I now impress upon thy body as a sign of 
 the gift I have bestowed upon thee." Immediately five brilliant 
 rays emanated from the five wounds of the Saviour, and were 
 directed towards her. In these rays she saw little flames. Four 
 of them represented the nails and the fifth the lance. The 
 nails and the lance seemed to be of gold, but were blazing at 
 the same time. " The heart, the hands, and the feet of the 
 
164 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 Saint were pierced. She experienced great pain, but simulta- 
 neously she felt herself transformed into Our Lord." * 
 
 Awakened from her ecstasy, she perceived that her arms 
 were extended and rigid. She tried to look at the wound in 
 her side, but she could not on account of the pain she felt in 
 her hands ; nevertheless, after renewed efforts, she succeeded, 
 and then she saw that it was open, and that water and blood 
 were pouring from it. 
 
 Doubts in regard to the truth of her story arose, and she 
 was ordered by her confessor to submit to a very severe exam- 
 ination, which the inquisition ordered the bishop of her diocese 
 to make in order to ascertain whether she was deceiving or not. 
 This, according to Gorres and other authorities, was of such a 
 character that if she had been a fraud the fact would inevitably 
 have been discovered. But she came triumphantly out of all 
 her trials, and the stigmata were accepted as genuine gifts of 
 God, according to the account she had given. Veronica was 
 beatified by Pope Pius VII., and canonized by Gregory XVI., 
 May 26th, 1839. 
 
 Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre f gives a list of one hundred and 
 forty-five persons who have received the stigmata, besides eight 
 now living, known to him. He has reason to think there are 
 many others now on the earth. America has only had one, 
 and, according to Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, she is still living. In 
 regard to her he gives the following details without, however, 
 citing his authority. I quote them for what they may be worth : 
 
 " Vitaline Gagnon was born twenty years ago, of poor pa- 
 
 * Gorres. — Op. cit. t. ii. p. 216. 
 
 t I.es Stigmatises. Palma D'Oria, etc., 2d edition. Paris, 1873, p. 263 
 
VITALINE GAGNON. 165 
 
 rents, in the diocese of Quebec. From her earliest infancy she 
 gave evidences of piety, and while quite a child experienced 
 great delight in visiting the cemeteries and saying Ave Marias 
 among the tombs. Hence she acquired a great regard for the 
 souls in purgatory, who often rendered themselves visible to 
 her to ask the benefit of her prayers. About the age of thir- 
 teen she entered the noviciate of the Sceurs Hospitallers of 
 Quebec, but she was obliged to leave by direction of her physi- 
 cians, who declared that a cloistered life was not to be endured 
 by one of her weak constitution. Some time afterwards she 
 presented herself to the Sceurs Grises at Ottara [Ottawa ?], after 
 being cured of a cough which was thought to be incurable. 
 Threatened with being sent away on account of this cough, she 
 prostrated herself at the feet of the Holy Virgin and coughed 
 no more. She made her profession two years afterwards, and 
 on the same day received the stigmata. Since that time the stig- 
 mata bleed, every Friday, and every time that she offers her 
 sufferings with the object of obtaining a grace for any one who 
 is commended to her prayers. Since her profession, now two 
 years, she has taken no nourishment, and she suffers terribly. 
 A little wine is all that has passed her lips. She has exteriorly 
 all the signs of perfect health ; she is even stout. The water 
 which flows from her wounds is always perfumed, and a person 
 has only to remain in her room a few minutes to be quite im- 
 pregnated with perfumes. She offers all her sufferings for the 
 souls in purgatory. The author of this note states that he 
 reports only what he knows and has seen." 
 
 Of the seven other stigmated individuals of the present day, 
 I propose to consider at some length the main points in the 
 
166 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 histories of two, Palma d'Oria and Louise Lateau, and in so 
 doing I shall avail myself of the works of those, who are firm 
 believers in the miraculous interposition of God to produce the 
 effects, of which they are said to be the subjects. These cases 
 are very 'little known in this country. Instances of the kind 
 are extremely rare among practical common sense nations, like 
 those inhabiting the British Isles, and their descendants in 
 America. Of the whole one hundred and fifty-three cases re- 
 corded by Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, but one — Jane Gray — was 
 British, and hers is the most doubtful case in the list, for the 
 fact rests only on the testimony of one Thomas Bourchier, an 
 English minor brother, who asserts that she had the stigmata 
 in the feet. Of the remainder, the very large majority are of 
 Italy, and as Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre says : 
 
 " Quel pays fut jamais si fertile en miracles ? " * 
 
 To the account of a visit made to Oria for the purpose of 
 studying the phenomena exhibited by Palma, made by Dr. Im- 
 bert-Gourbeyre, I am indebted for the following details : 
 
 Palma, at the time of the visit in 187 1, was sixty-six years 
 old, hump-backed, thin, small, and with light, expressive eyes. 
 For several years she had not left the house, and was, on ac- 
 count of her sufferings, scarcely able to walk. Occasionally, 
 when she felt particularly well, she took a few steps about the 
 room supported by a cane. In her youth she had been very 
 strong and active. 
 
 At the first interview, after some conversation in the course 
 of which Palma declared that she had often seen Louise La- 
 teau while in ecstasy, the doctor directed the conversation 
 
 » Op. tit, t. ii. 
 
PALA1A D'ORIA. 167 
 
 towards the subject of hallucination. While thus engaged and 
 seated close to Palma, he felt her strike him gently on the 
 arm, and at the same time saw the abbe", who had come with 
 him, fall on his knees. He turned toward Palma ; her eyes 
 were closed, her hands clasped, her mouth wide open,, and on 
 her tongue he saw the host — the body of Christ. Immediately, 
 he fell on his knees also, and worshipped it. Palma protruded 
 her tongue still farther, as if she wanted to give him every op- 
 portunity of seeing that the host was really there ; then she ate 
 it, closed her mouth and remained perfectly quiet on the sofa 
 upon which she was reclining. It was then almost four o'clock 
 in the afternoon, the day was fading, the room was badly lit 
 by a little window, high from the floor. The miraculous host 
 appeared to him to be as white as wax, and somewhat thick. 
 On account of the little light, and the short time that this ex- 
 traordinary communion lasted, he was unable to determine 
 whether or not it was marked according to the custom of the 
 church. 
 
 In regard to this wonderful event — that is, if it be not a fact 
 viewed unequally — it is further to be said that Palma dis- 
 closed to Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre. that two or three times, the 
 holy element, which be it remembered is believed by the great 
 majority of Christians to be the real body of Christ, was brought 
 to her by the devil, and that then she refused it. Sometimes 
 he had the figure of an angel, but she knew him by the sign of 
 reprobation which he wore on his forehead — a little horn. 
 Moreover she saw that the wicked creature hesitated, and was 
 a little embarrassed. She intoned the Gloria Patri, and made 
 the sign of the cross, and he instantly took flight and disap- 
 
'68 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 peared. In order to ascertain what it all meant, her confessor 
 forbade her to receive the miraculous communion for eight 
 days. Hardly had that period expired when Jesus Christ him- 
 self brought her the communion. Before giving it to her he 
 made her recite the Gloria Patri three times. Then he said to 
 her, " Have I fled as the demon did ? No. Therefore reas- 
 sure yourself. It is really I." 
 
 These miraculous circumstances had been going on for 
 about two years when Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre made his visit to 
 Palma. Sometimes it was brought to her by Christ, as in the 
 instance specified, or by some saint, as St. Peter, St. Vincent 
 de Paul, St. Francis d'Assisi, in the company of her guardian 
 angel, and other saints and angels. At other times it was brought 
 by priests and confessors of the olden time, long since dead. 
 
 An Italian bishop stated, that at the moment of the mirac- 
 ulous sacrament on one occasion, he had seen the host flying 
 through the air before entering Palma's mouth, but the doctor 
 questioned her attendant on this point, and she declared that 
 she had not seen that, and she assured him that the host was 
 never seen by any one till it rested on Palma's tongue. The 
 doctor inclines to the belief that the attendant was right, but 
 he states that nevertheless a French apostolic missionary had 
 asserted that he had seen the same thing. 
 
 Well, if the consecrated bread be really the body of Christ 
 that was given for the salvation of the world, what horrible 
 blasphemy to state such things of it, what vileness to believe 
 them, what a barefaced imputation on the reason of mar to 
 spread these shocking details before him and ask him ta ac- 
 cept them as true of the God he worships ! 
 
PALM A D'ORIA. 169 
 
 After witnessing the communion, Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyrt 
 was requested to withdraw into the adjoining room, while 
 Palma got ready for her other performances. In a few min- 
 utes he was informed that all was in order. One of the women 
 went in first and returning immediately, the others were invited 
 to enter. The stigmatization had already begun on the fore- 
 head. He saw a stream of blood flowing from the left frontal 
 eminence along .the side of the nose. A handkerchief was 
 given to Palma ; she held it to her nose for a moment and the 
 haemorrhage soon stopped. He examined the blood and found 
 that it did not differ in appearance, color or temperature from 
 ordinary blood. He then examined the handkerchief, and be- 
 sides numerous rotund spots he perceived other figures resem- 
 bling hearts, with stains of blood proceeding from them, indica- 
 ting the flames of love. All this appeared to him to be very 
 extraordinary, for though he had often seen people bleed from 
 the nose, he had never seen them bleed like that. 
 
 After this incident Palma continued the performances — ac- 
 tions de grace he calls them — her hands clasped and her eyes 
 closed. In the lower limbs, especially the left, there was a 
 tremor like a nervous trembling which was soon quieted. Af- 
 ter a few minutes she rubbed her hands together, made the 
 sign of the cross and returned naturally to the conversation. 
 He then examined her forehead and endeavored to ascertain 
 where the blood had come from. The skin was intact without 
 the least opening. She showed him above the right frontal em- 
 inence a hole in the cranium, from which at a former period, 
 five little pieces of bone had been discharged. The opening 
 was entirely covered over by the scalp, and he was surprised 
 
1 70 STIGMA TIZA TION. 
 
 to find that there was no cicatrix. It was round, the end of 
 his index finger entered it readily, and it was just such an 
 opening as would have been produced by the crown of a tre- 
 phine. At the time it was made, the skin opened to allow of 
 the exit of the pieces of bone ; then it closed without leaving 
 the trace of a scar. It was the same with the stigmata. 
 They closed at once without there being a"ny marks to indicate 
 the place whence the blood had flowed. This hole in the skull 
 had been caused by some particular circumstances that no one 
 was willing to reveal to him, but which he says are reported in 
 the journal of the directors of this woman, and which will 
 soon be published. Most medical men will come to the con- 
 clusion that it was due to caries and necrosis of the bone, of 
 syphilitic origin. 
 
 During another visit Palma told Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre- 
 that she had eaten nothing for seven years, but that she was 
 obliged to drink frequently on account of the great internal 
 heat, which- like a fire consumed her. She then drank in his 
 presence two carafes of water at one time, and the doctor 
 states that "this water became so hot in her stomach that it 
 was vomited boiling. She also had often ejected from her 
 mouth oil, and another fluid of a balsamic character, in which, 
 on standing for some time, bodies resembling the consecrated 
 host were formed." 
 
 The doctor then relates the following details, which I give 
 in his own words, in further illustration of the character of his 
 mental organization and of the pretensions put forth by the 
 woman, whose word seems to have been sufficient to convince 
 him of anything at all, no matter how preposterous. Four years 
 
PALMA D'ORIA. i?i 
 
 previously he had been so unfortunate as to lose by death his 
 eldest child : 
 
 " A year after his death, I had met a woman of great 
 renown for piety, and who was even regarded as a receiver of 
 celestial communications. I had commended my poor Joseph 
 to her. Some time after she assured me that my son was 
 saved, and that he was in paradise. She declared that in a vision 
 she had seen him near our Lord ; he was happy. Various cir- 
 cumstances, which it is useless to mention here, had caused me 
 to believe in the truth of this asserted revelation. Being in 
 Oria, I wished to have as much certainty as possible in regard 
 to the matter, and as I knew that Palma was in spiritual com- 
 munication with many pious souls scattered over the earth, I 
 said to her in the course of our conversation, ' tell me, Palma, 
 
 do you know M. de X , ' giving her the baptismal 
 
 name of the woman in question. ' No sir,' she answered. " I 
 then related to her my history in detail, taking care not to ask 
 her opinion in advance, although I felt sure that she would 
 explain the thing to me. She listened with the utmost atten" 
 tion to the superioress who translated my words, and when 
 Mother Becaud came to say that the woman had had a vision of 
 my son, and that he was in paradise, Palma stretched out her 
 arm in a solemn manner as a sign of negative, and said to me, 
 " ' He is saved, but he is still in purgatory.' " 
 
 ' Is it possible ? Palma,' I cried, profoundly moved : ' Since you 
 tell me this, you are in conscience bound to get him out of trat 
 place of expiation as soon as possible, and I commend him im- 
 mediately to your prayers.' 
 
 " ' Yes, sir,' she said, ' I will pray for him, and when I am 
 
i7a STIGMA TIZA TION. 
 
 sure of his deliverance, I will send you word by Father de 
 
 Pace. 
 
 " The following morning at my visit I again commended my 
 poor child to Palma, and on the following Friday evening on 
 taking leave of her, I asked if she had prayed that morning for 
 my son, ' No sir,' she answered. ' I will only do so on the day of 
 All Saints.' ' Then ' said I to Palma, ' will you allow madame 
 the superioress to take the answer.' ' Very willingly said the 
 seeress.' On the 7th of November, I received at Nice the 
 following letter : 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " ' I have fulfilled the promise which I made to you in 
 accordance with your wish to go to Palma on All Saints Day, 
 in order to ascertain whether or not your wishes in regard to 
 your son had been granted. That good soul assured me twice 
 that he had gone to heaven that very morning, God be praised 
 a thousand times ! 
 
 " ' Thus sir, I have done what I could for your consolation. 
 " ' I have the honor to be, etc. 
 
 " ' Sister Marie Becaud.' 
 
 " This letter was post marked at Oria, November 2d." 
 I should not venture to insult the intelligence of the reader 
 with these idiotic details but for the reasons stated, and addi- 
 tionally, that they carry conviction with them to thousands of 
 minds, honest doubtless, but which are accustomed to grovel 
 in superstition, and falsehood, which they are unable to test by 
 right standards. 
 
 A phase in Palma's spiritual pathology has been alluded to 
 cursorily, but has not yet been considered with the fulness 
 
PALMA D'ORIA. 173 
 
 proper in connection with stigmatization, and that is the occur 
 rence of haemorrhagic spots on various parts of her body, and 
 which she so managed as to convey the idea that they were 
 symbolical of various holy things. On the back of her hand 
 she convinced Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre that she bled in the 
 shape of the cross, and he gives a wood-cut representing a 
 cross on the dorsum of the hand, a little above the space be- 
 tween the first and second fingers. This is surrounded by 
 other rectilinear figures. On her breast and back, other figures 
 were obtained by placing handkerchiefs on the parts. The 
 doctor thus procured several mementoes of his visit, in the 
 shape of pieces of linen stained with spots of blood somewhat 
 resembling hearts, with flames coming out of them, suns, 
 roses, crosses, etc. He gives several plates in his book repre- 
 senting these figures, of the reality of the miraculous formation 
 of which he has not the slightest doubt. 
 
 Another phenomenon has also been mentioned incidentally, 
 and that is the intense heat which Palma declared she felt, and 
 which the doctor refers to as the " divine fire." He had 
 brought with him from Paris, a thermometer to use in deter- 
 mining the extraordinary temperature of this fire. He 
 examined her with this instrument while she felt this divine 
 fire, but failed to find any abnormal increase ; her pulse at the 
 time was 72. " I made this experiment," he says, " to satisfy 
 my scientific conscience, [God save the mark !] but I ought to 
 say that I was ashamed of myself for presuming to measure 
 this divine fire by such an instrument." He is right, science is 
 not for him, or those like him. 
 
 On one occasion while Palma was in ecstasy, Antonietta, 
 
1 74 STIGMA TIZA TION. 
 
 who was near her, laid bare her chest a little, and cried with 
 enthusiasm, "she is burning!" Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre ap- 
 proached and smelt something like the burning of linen. 
 The dress was opened and her chemise was found to be burnt 
 on the left side just over the collar bone, and immediately be- 
 low this, scorched in the shape of " a magnificent emblem rep- 
 resenting a monstrance. The fire was invisible, but its traces 
 were very evident." 
 
 In a note he states that it was affirmed that Palma's tem- 
 perature on similar occasions had reached ioo° centigrade, (212 
 Farenheit) a fact which he does not doubt, although his ther- 
 mometer did not show it. " That her chemise," he says, " burnt 
 by invisible fire, which escaped the thermometer, was more ex- 
 traordinary than if the instrument had indicated a temperature 
 of 1 oo°." 
 
 I shall not stop now to comment further on the circum- 
 stances detailed by Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre, and of which I have 
 cited but a small part. I will only say at present that science 
 and common sense would conclude in regard to Palma d'Oria, 
 
 1st. That she had probably at a former period contracted 
 syphilis. 
 
 2d. That she was strongly hysterical. 
 
 3d. That she was the subject of purpura haemorrhagica. 
 
 4th. That she was a most unmitigated humbug and liar. 
 
 And now we come to the consideration of a case of stigmati- 
 zation which has greatly stirred both the theological and the 
 scientific world of Europe — that of Louise Lateau — and here 
 again I shall draw largely, though by no means exclusively, from 
 
LOUISE LA TEA U. 175 
 
 the works of the believers in the miraculous production of the 
 phenomena manifested.* 
 
 Louise Lateau was born at Bois-d'Haine, a small village in 
 Belgium, on the 30th of January, 1850. She was reared in the 
 utmost poverty, was chlorotic, and did not menstruate till she was 
 eighteen years old. She loved solitude and silence, and when 
 not engaged in work — and she does not appear to have labored 
 much — she spent her time in meditation and prayer. She was 
 subject to paroxysms of ecstasy, during which, as many other 
 ecstasies, she spoke very edifying things, of charity, poverty, and 
 the priesthood. She saw St. Ursula, St. Roch, St. Theresa, 
 and the Holy Virgin. Persons who saw her in these states de- 
 clared that, while lying on the bed, her whole body was raised 
 up more than a foot high, the heels alone being in contact with 
 the bed. 
 
 The stigmatization ensued very soon after these seizures. 
 On a Friday" she bled from the left side of her chest. On the 
 
 * For the theological view o£ this remarkable case the reader is referred 
 to the following works, a part only of those written in support of her pre- 
 tensions. " Louise Lateau de Bois-d'Haine, sa vie, ses extases, ses stigmates," 
 etude Medicale, par le- Dr. Lefebvre, Louvain 1873. " -^es stigmatistes 
 Louise Lateau, etc.," par le Docteur A. Imbert-Gourbeyre Paris, 1873. " Bio- 
 graphie de Louise Lateau" par H. Van Looy, Tournai, Paris and Leipzig 
 1874. " Louise Lateau de Bois d'Haine etc." par le Dr. A. Rohling, Paris, 
 1874. "Louise Lateau, ihr Wunderleben u. s.w." Von Paul Majunke, Berlin, 
 1875. 
 
 Among the treatises in which the miracle is denied, and the phenomena at- 
 tributed to either disease or fraud are ;" Louise Lateau ; Rapport Medicale 
 sur !a. stigmatised de Bois-d'Haine, fait a l'academie royale de medecine 
 Belgique, par le Dr. Warlomont, Bruxelles and Paris, 1875. "Science et 
 miracle, Louise Lateau, ou la stigmatised Beige " par le Dr. Bourneville, 
 Paris, 1875. " ^ jea Miracles ; " par M. Virchow, Revue des cours scienti- 
 fiques, January 23rd 1875. 
 
1 76 STIGMA TIZA TION. 
 
 following Friday this flow was renewed, and in addition, blood 
 escaped from the dorsal surfaces of both feet ; and on the third 
 Friday, not only did she bleed from the side and feet, but also 
 from the dorsal and palmar surface of both hands. Every suc- 
 ceeding Friday the blood flowed from these places, and finally 
 other points of exit were established on the forehead and be- 
 tween the shoulders. 
 
 At first these bleedings only took place at night, but after 
 two or three months they occurred in the daytime, and were ac- 
 companied by paroxysms of ecstasy, during which she was in- 
 sensible to all external impressions, and acted the passion of 
 Jesus and the crucifixion. 
 
 M. Warlomont, being commissioned by the Royal Academy 
 of Medicine of Belgium to examine Louise Lateau, went to her 
 house, accompanied by several friends, and made a careful ex- 
 amination of her person. At that time, Friday morning at six 
 o'clock, the blood was flowing freely from all the stigmata. In 
 a few moments the sacrament would be brought to her, and 
 then the- second act of the drama would begin. The scene that 
 followed can be best described in M. Warlomont's own words : 
 
 " It is a quarter-past six. ' Here comes the communion,' 
 said M. Niels [a priest], ' kneel down.' Louise fell on her knees 
 on the floor, closed her eyes and crossed her hands, on which 
 the communion-cloth was extended. A priest, followed by sev- 
 eral acolytes, entered ; the penitent put out her tongue, receiv- 
 ed the holy wafer, and then remained immovable in the attitude 
 of prayer. 
 
 We observed her with more care than seemed to have been 
 hitherto given to her at similar periods. Some thought thai 
 
LOUISE LATEAU. 177 
 
 she was simply in a state of meditation, from which she would 
 emerge in the course of half an hour or so. But it was a mis- 
 take. Having taken the communion, the penitent went into a 
 special state. Her immobility was that of a statue, her eyes 
 were closed ; on raising the eyelids the pupils were seen to be 
 largely dilated, immovable, and apparently insensible to light. 
 Strong pressure made upon the parts in the vicinity of the stig- 
 mata caused no sensation of pain, although a few moments be^. 
 fore they were exquisitely tender. Pricking the skin gave no 
 evidence of the slightest sensibility. A limb, on being raised, 
 offered no resistance, and sank slowly back to its former po- 
 sition. Anaesthesia was complete, unless the cornea remained 
 still impressionable. The pulse had fallen from 120 to 100 
 pulsations. At a given moment I raised one of the eyelids, and 
 M. Verriest quickly touched the cornea. Louise at once seem- 
 ed to recover herself from a sound sleep, arose and walked to a 
 chair, upon which she seated herself. ' This time,' I said, ' we 
 have wakened her.' ' No/ said M. Niels, looking at his watch, 
 ' it was time for her to awake.' " 
 
 She remained conscious ; the blood still continued to flow ; 
 the anaesthesia had ceased, her pulse rose to 120, and at the 
 end of half an hour she was herself. " Our first visit ended 
 here. At half-past eleven we made another. The poor child 
 had resumed her attitude of extreme suffering, against which 
 she contended with all the energy that remained to her. The 
 wounds in the hands still continued to bleed. M. Verriest aus- 
 cultated with care the lungs, heart, and great vessels, and found l 
 the bruit de souffle, which he had detected in the morning at thej 
 apex of the heart and over the carotids. The handle of: aj 
 
178 STIGMA TIZA TION. 
 
 spoon pressed against the velum, the base of the tongue, and 
 the pharynx, provoked no effort at vomiting. The glasses of 
 our spectacles, as they came in contact with the air expired, 
 were covered with vapor. As the patient appeared to suffer 
 from our presence, we went away. 
 
 " We made our third visit at two o'clock. There were still 
 fifteen minutes before the beginning of the ecstatic crisis, which 
 always took place punctually at a quarter past two and ended 
 at about half past four. The pupils at this time were slightly 
 contracted, the eyelids were almost entirely closed ; the eyes, 
 looking at nothing, were veiled from our view. We tried in 
 vain to attract her attention ; her mind was otherwise engaged, 
 and her pains were evidently becoming more intense. At ex- 
 actly a quarter past two her eyes became fixed in a direction 
 above and to the right. The ecstacy had begun. 
 
 "The time had now come to introduce those who were 
 prompted by curiosity. This could now be done without in- 
 convenience, for the ecstatic, for the ensuing two hours, would 
 be lost to the appreciation of what might be passing around 
 her. The room crowded, could hold about ten persons, but 
 enough were allowed to enter to make the total twenty-five. 
 These placed themselves in two ranks, of which the front one 
 kneeling, allowed the rear ones to see all that was going on 
 All this was done under the direction M. le Cure - , who took 
 every pains to give us a good view of what was going to 
 happen. 
 
 " Louise was seated on the edge of her chair ; her body, 
 inclined forward, seemed to wish to follow the direction of her 
 eyes, which did not look, but were fixed on vacancy. Her 
 
LO UISE LA TEA U. 179 
 
 eyes were opened to their fullest extent, of a dull, lustreless 
 appearance, turned above and to the right, and of an absolute 
 immobility. A few workings of the lids were now observed 
 and became more frequent if the eyelids were touched. The 
 pupils, largely dilated, showed very little sensibility to light, 
 and all that remained of vision was shown by slight winking 
 when the hand was suddenly brought close to the eyes. The 
 whole face lacked expression. At certain moments, either 
 spontaneously or as a consequence of divers provocations, a 
 light smile, to which the muscles of the face generally did not 
 contribute, wandered over her lips. Then the face resumed 
 its primitive expression, and thus she remained for the half- 
 hour which constituted the ' first station.' 
 
 " The ' second station ' was that of genuflection. It had 
 failed at one time, but had again appeared. The young girl 
 fell on her knees, clasped her hands, and remained for about a 
 quarter of an hour in the attitude of contemplation. Then she 
 arose and again resumed her sitting posture. 
 
 " The ' third station ' began at three o'clock. Louise in- 
 clined herself a little forward, raised her body slowly, and 
 then extended herself at full length, face downward, on the 
 floor. There was neither rigidity nor extreme precipitation ; 
 nothing in fact, calculated to produce injuries. The knees 
 first supported her body, then it rested on these and the 
 elbows, and finally her face was brought in actual close contact 
 with the tiled floor. At first the head rested on the left arm, 
 but very soon the patient made a quick and sudden movement, 
 and the arms were extended from the body in the form of a 
 cross. At the same time the feet were brought together so 
 
1 80 STIGMA TIZA TION. 
 
 that the dorsum of the right was in contact with the sole of the 
 left foot. This position did not vary for an hour and a half. 
 When the end of the crisis approached, the arms were brought 
 close to the sides of the body, then suddenly the poor girl rose 
 to her knees, her face turns to the wall, her cheeks become 
 colored, her eyes have regained their expression, her counte- 
 nance expands, and the ecstasy is at an end." 
 
 Further particulars are ^tven, and an apparatus was con- 
 structed and applied to Louise's hand and arm so as to pre- 
 vent any external excitation of the haemorrhage. It was ap- 
 parently shown that there was no such interference, for the 
 blood began to flow at the usual time on Friday. 
 
 In addition to the stigmata and the paroxysms of ecstasy, 
 Louise declared that she did not sleep, had eaten or drank 
 nothing for four years, had had no fecal evacuation for three 
 years and a half, and that the urine was entirely suppressed. 
 
 M. Warlomont examined the blood and products of respira- 
 tion chemically, and satisfied himself of their normal charac- 
 ter, except that the former contained an excessive amount of 
 white corpuscles. 
 
 When being closely interrogated, Louise admitted that, 
 though she did not sleep, she had short periods of forgetfulness 
 at night. On M. Warlomont suddenly opening a cupboard in 
 her room, he found it to contain fruit and bread, and her cham- 
 ber communicated directly with a yard at the back of the 
 house. It was therefore perfectly possible for her to have 
 slept, eaten, defecated, and urinated, without any one knowing 
 that she did so. 
 
 The conclusions arrived at by M. Warlomont were, that the 
 
LOUISE LA TEA U. 181 
 
 stigmatisations and ecstasies of Louise Lateau were real and to 
 be explained upon well-known physiological and pathological 
 principles, that she " worked, and dispensed heat, that she lost 
 every Friday a certain quantity of blood by the stigmata, that 
 the air she expired contained the vapor of water and carbonic 
 acid, that her weight had not materially altered since she had 
 come under observation. She consumes carbon and it is not 
 from her own body that she gets it. Where does she get it 
 from ? Physiology answers, ' She eats.' " 
 
 Relative to the assumed abstinence in the cases of Palma 
 d'Oria, Louise Lateau and other subjects of ecstasy and stigma- 
 ta, it is Dot necessary, in view of the remarks already made 
 on this subject in a previous chapter, to devote further con- 
 sideration to it here. The conclusion arrived at by M. Warlo- 
 mont is the only one which science can tolerate. Should Lou- 
 ise Lateau or Palma d'Oria ever be subjected to as close watch- 
 ing as was the poor little Welsh Fasting Girl, Sarah Jacob, it 
 will certainly terminate as badly for them as for her, unless 
 they yield to the demands of nature and take the food which 
 the organism requires. 
 
1 8z STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 In the disease known as purpura, the blood is deficient in 
 red corpuscles, while there is an increase in the white globules , 
 a condition of this fluid which the investigations of M. Warlo- 
 mont showed to exist in the case of Louise Lateau. The 
 affection is further characterized by a tendency of the blood to 
 transude through the coats of the vessels, and in some cases 
 to the formation of aneurismal dilatations of the capillaries, 
 appearing on the surface as little ulcerations, and the rupture 
 of which allows the blood to escape. 
 
 Many cases of haemidrosis, or bloody sweat are scattered 
 through medical treatises, and several monographs have been 
 devoted to the consideration of the subject. 
 
 Thus Boerhaave relates the case of a young girl who was 
 subject to the occurence of ampullar on various parts of her 
 body, from which blood flowed in abundance, and which then, 
 as did those of Palma d'Oria, disappeared without leaving any 
 trace. These haemorrhages took place very often, and among 
 other places from the right hand, the front of the neck, the right 
 arm and the right leg. She even wept tears of blood, a cir- 
 cumstance not mentioned of any one of the stigmatized mys- 
 tics, but one calculated still further to excite the astonishment 
 of those on the look-out for miraculous events. 
 
 The fact that such haemorrhages follow closely on the occur- 
 rence of any strong emotion is well established. As the counter- 
 part to the cases of Palma d'Oria, Louise Lateau, and other so- 
 called miraculous instances of stigmata, I adduce the following 
 instance from Dr. Magnus Huss of Stockholm, as cited by M. 
 Bourneville.* 
 
 * Louise Lateau, ou la Stigmatisee Beige. Paris, 1875, P- 3 2 - 
 
LOUISE LA TEA U. 183 
 
 Maria K., a servant girl aged 23, was born in the country, 
 of poor parents. Her father and mother had always been in 
 good health, never having shown any disposition either to hasm- 
 orrhages or to affections of the nervous system. The same may 
 be said of the other ancestors of Maria, and of her brothers and 
 sisters. 
 
 Maria is of medium height, of lymphatic constitution and 
 presents the appearance of good health. Her skin is delicate > 
 her complexion high colored, her hair brown, almost black, her 
 eyes a grayish blue, her figure full. At fifteen years of age her 
 menstruation began with regularity, and has continued so 
 without any interruption. This fact is to be noted, for M. Le- 
 febvre cites a like circumstance in Louise Lateau as one of the 
 proofs that her case is not to be classed with those of mundane 
 etiology. 
 
 In her infancy, Maria suffered from attacks of convulsions, 
 but latterly she has not been ill. Accidental wounds of the 
 skin do not give place to haemorrhages, and her flesh heals as 
 well as that of other people. At nineteen she went out to ser- 
 vice. She asserts that the family with whom she lived treated 
 her badly. 
 
 On the 4th of August, 1850, Maria was severely beaten, and 
 was struck with a hard body on the head. These blows, with 
 the anger and fear they provoked, caused convulsions, and she 
 was for half an hour unconscious. When she came to herself 
 she observed that a severe haemorrhage had occurred from the 
 hairy part of the scalp, and from a place where there had been 
 no wound. During the two following weeks the haemorrhage 
 from the head continued. Besides, she bled from the eyes, or 
 
1 84 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 from the face around the eyes, from the left ear, and finally 
 she vomited blood. 
 
 For fifteen days she was better, and then another hemor- 
 rhage from the scalp and stomach took place during her sleep. 
 The haemorrhage continued for eight days, then it stopped spon- 
 taneously, and Maria was in a good state of health for two 
 months. At the end of that period, and following immediately 
 on a strong emotion, she bled from the head, from the borders 
 of the eyelids, and from the left ear. Since then the haemor- 
 rhages were produced regularly at intervals of from eight to fif- 
 teen days, and lasted for one or two days. In the intervals, 
 Maria was in good health, although physically weaker than be- 
 fore the beginning of this disease. She had a good appetite, 
 and her bowels were regular. Her menstruation was not only 
 not suspended, but it occurred with perfect regularity, even 
 during the periods of the hemorrhagic attacks, not being changed 
 either as regarded quantity or duration. 
 
 In February and July, 185 1, the hemorrhages appeared at 
 irregular intervals, and were more or less abundant. About 
 the middle of July she was admitted into the Seraphim Hospi- 
 tal in Stockholm, where she was examined successively by 
 Profs. Santessen, Malmessen and Magnus Huss. Aside from 
 the existence of a chloro-anaemic condition, all the organs were 
 in good health, and all the functions regular. 
 
 The hemorrhages often supervened upon emotional disturb- 
 ance, and at irregular periods. They were in general preceded 
 by an ensemble of symptoms which recalled to mind those 
 observed with Louise Lateau — a sensation of pressure or 
 weight on the top of the head, a feeling of vertigo, and of gen- 
 
LOUISE LATE iU. 185 
 
 eral fatigue, noises in the ears, and frequent pulse. When the 
 exuding surface was examined with a lens no trace of excoria- 
 tion of the skin was discovered. And even when the haemor- 
 rhage had lasted five or six days, the most careful inspection fail- 
 ed to show any sign of a cicatrix. During the haemorrhages the 
 region affected was painful to the touch, and the temperature 
 was elevated. 
 
 A certain number of attacks (convulsions and haemorrhages) 
 were complicated with vomiting of blood, with ecchymosis, and 
 apparent bruises on the left half of the body. They were never 
 observed on the right side. The limbs on the left side were 
 always, at the time of the haemorrhages, semi-paralysed, and the 
 paralysis remained for periods ranging from six days to two or 
 three weeks. Consciousness always returned to her suddenly, 
 as if she had wakened from a long sleep. 
 
 " One circumstance," writes Dr. Huss, " nearly twenty years 
 before Louise Lateau had begun to exhibit the stigmata, de- 
 serves to be reported in view of its psychological importance. 
 She was not slow to notice that she was the object of particular 
 attention, and that her disease was studied with great curiosity. 
 As among those visiting the hospital, some saw her while the 
 haemorrhages were present, and others hearing them spoken of, 
 made her presents, often of considerable value, she began, as 
 was very evident, to cause at will the phenomena to take 
 place. And this she did by seeking a quarrel with some other 
 patient, and the excitement into which she was thereby thrown 
 produced the haemorrhage she desired. It seemed also that 
 she could, without such cause, by the mere effort of her will, 
 throw herself into such a mental condition that the hasmorrhage 
 resulted." 
 
1 86 STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 In his very valuable memoir, M. Parrot* distinctly affirms 
 the fact of haemorrhages of the kind in question. In the case 
 of Louise Lateau the haemorrhages occurred on Fridays, some- 
 times, however, missing. The mental excitement produced in 
 her by the devotional contemplation of the events which the 
 Church associates with this day, as well as the exercise of her 
 own will in the matter, are sufficient causes of the periodicity 
 observed in her case. Besides, when the habit had become 
 well established, no other exciting cause would be required than 
 the force resulting from the constant repetition of an act by the 
 organism at some particular time. No one competent to form 
 an opinion after a scientific study of the subject, and not bound 
 in the trammels of a most abject superstition, can fail to see 
 the absolute identity in all essential respects of the cases of 
 Maria K. and Louise Lateau. And this is only one case. 
 Many others are mentioned by M. Parrot, M. Chauffard, Wil- 
 son, Mason Good, and dermatologists generally. 
 
 One further point only in regard to Louise Lateau. The 
 report of M. Warlomont was made to the Royal Academy of 
 Medicine of Belgium. In the debate which ensued upon the 
 presentation of the report, views were advanced in favor of, and 
 against the miraculous interposition of Providence to produce 
 the stigmata, according to the predilections of the speakers. 
 M. Lefebvre held to his view of miracle in the case, and M. 
 Crocq declared that it did not pass beyond the category of 
 pathological occurrences. And then, after several forms of 
 expression had been proposed, the Academy decided to have 
 
 * Etude sur la sueur de sang et les haemorrhages neuropathiques. 
 Paris, 1859. 
 
L O UISE LA TEA U. 187 
 
 nothing further to do with the subject, either in its theological 
 or pathological aspects beyond printing the memoir of M. 
 Charbonnier, who was the first to call attention to the scientific 
 points of the case, and passing a vote of thanks to him for his 
 contribution to its archives. 
 
 In the mean time Louise Lateau continues her ecstasies and 
 stigmatizations, and many will continue to regard them as 
 miraculous, no matter how thoroughly her pretensions are ex- 
 posed ; and while she can gain notoriety by acting the cruci- 
 fixion every Friday, it is very certain, unless she wearies of the 
 monotony, that she will keep up the habit she has established. 
 
188 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 OF all ways for influencing the human mind, that of heal- 
 ing disease has probably the fullest scope, and for various 
 reasons has most effect with ordinary individuals ; and at all 
 times within the historic period there have been persons pre- 
 tending to supernatural power in curing the ills to which 
 mankind are subject. The fact that success has often followed 
 their performances has given them more or less of the prestige 
 which so generally attends upon the obtainment of favorable 
 results in any direction of effort. It is, however, a very easy 
 matter to dissipate the cloud of mystery which envelops such 
 proceedings, and to show that whatever good fortune has 
 ensued to the subjects who have been operated upon, is due to 
 well-known and very commonplace causes. 
 
 The influence by which so-called supernatural cures have 
 been effected has been ascribed to various sources, according 
 to the time at which the healers have performed. At one 
 period it is the direct power of some deity which produces the 
 cure, at another the machinations of devils; again it is the 
 sanctity which resides in the touch of a king, the holiness of a 
 saint, or the superior virtue and godliness of certain other 
 persons ; then it is magnetism, and again spiritualism ; some- 
 
ST. SAUVEUR. 189 
 
 times it is a peculiar power inherent in some particular person, 
 and at others the direct interference of God for the relief of 
 those who have propitiated him by prayer. Nor does the 
 matter stop here: the bones and other relics of Saints, the 
 halter with which a criminal had been hanged, the moss 
 growing from a dead man's skull, the touch of a dead man's 
 hand, especially of one. who had been executed; the heart of 
 a mule ripped up alive, the lungs of a person who had died a 
 violent death, decoctions and powders made from snakes, toads 
 scorpions, etc., and according to St. Augustine an efficacious 
 process employed by the devil was : " agentis cum patientibui 
 conjungunt, colliger semina serum, eaque materia applicam." 
 
 To trace all these various forms of delusion through their 
 devious courses, though interesting as presenting an important 
 phase of human error, would carry us further than the limits 
 of this work will allow. It will be sufficient for the purpose I 
 have in view to examine into a few of the more prominent, 
 especially as a parity of reasoning can be shown to be applica-i 
 ble to the others. 
 
 And to begin with the power of saints and kings to banish 
 disease by a word, a look, or a touch, or even by a visit of the 
 patient to their tombs, or by the efficacy residing in their dead 
 bones, or in the garments they are said to have worn. 
 
 According to Gorres * the most remarkable instance of 
 curative power possessed by a saint is that afforded by St. 
 Sauveur of Horta. This holy man was born in Catalonia, and 
 received the first part of his name from a presentiment on the 
 part of his sponsors that he was to be a saviour of men, and 
 the second from the fact of his entering a monastery in Horta, 
 
 * Op. Cit., t. 1. p. 470. 
 
190 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 In a fortunate moment the people seemed to have imbibed 
 the idea intuitively that he was possessed of the wonderful 
 gift of healing ; for in a short time after he had finished his 
 noviciate, patients came in crowds to Horta from all parts of 
 the country, so that in one single day there were more thai 
 two thousand assembled in one place. St. Sauveur was not 
 dismayed ; he cured them all, and blessed them in the name 
 of the Holy Trinity, after they had confessed and partaken of 
 Christ's Body. He continued during several years curing 
 those who came to him, and at one time, during the feast of 
 the Annunciation he cured six thousand. But this was not 
 the greatest feat ; for another time, at Valencia, in the square 
 before the convent of St. Marie de Jesus, he found 
 more than ten thousand patients, from the viceroy to the 
 laborer, waiting for his benediction and to be cured of their 
 diseases. 
 
 Now notwithstanding the great success which St. Sauveur 
 is asserted to have had, he does not seem to have made friends 
 of his brother monks. They became weary of the disorder 
 and dirt caused by so many people coming to the convent. 
 So on one occasion when the bishop came to visit them they 
 complained of their healing brother ; and his lordship having 
 no faith — for there were skeptics, then as now, high in eccle- 
 siastical dignity — in St. Sauveur, called the chapter together, 
 summoned him before it, and thus addressed him : " I had 
 hoped to find peace in this house, but on the contrary I meet 
 with trouble, and on your account. Tell me then, brother 
 Sauveur, who has authorized you to live in this manner. Are 
 you not ashamed of hearing people saying ' come let us go to 
 the saint at Horta ! ' It would be better for them to say ' come 
 
ST. SAUVEUR. iot 
 
 to the evil spirit who troubles the brethren at Horta.' But you, 
 my brothers, have done wrong in assuming that he alone could 
 work miracles, for you are just as holy as he. But I will take 
 care, my brother, that your name will not be bandied around in 
 future, for I am going to put an end to your miracles and all 
 these crowds of people. And first, for penance you will re- 
 ceive discipline, then you will change your name to Alphonse, 
 and at midnight you will depart for the monastery of Reus 
 without another word." 
 
 Sauveur went to the church without making any reply, and 
 then at the hour that had been fixed upon he set out for the 
 monastery of Reus with a lay brother, passing in silence 
 through the crowd -that was collected around the monastery of 
 Horta. He made the journey plunged in fervent prayer. 
 
 Arrived at Reus he was received by the abbot with these 
 words : " In order to keep you from disturbing the brothers 
 with your miracles I will put you in a place where you will not 
 be able to incommode them. Go to the kitchen and work 
 your miracles with the plates and dishes." 
 
 But the following morning, as soon as it was day, the 
 people of the place came in crowds to the number of more 
 than two thousand, and the sick among them demanded to see 
 brother Sauveur. The brothers, who knew nothing about the 
 matter, went to the abbot, and he, running to the kitchen 
 administered a sharp reprimand to the poor brother, who fell 
 on his knees before him. But in the meantime the crowd 
 besieged the gates and the abbot to appease them was obliged 
 to yield to their wishes on condition that they would all go to 
 the church. Then the sjint addressed some simple words to 
 them, blessed them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
 
192 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 Holy Ghost, and at once returned to his kitchen. The great 
 numbers of crutches, bandages and sticks that were left behind 
 testified to the efficacy of the benediction. 
 
 But the abbot at this sight cried out, " Do you see with 
 what filthiness this brother fills the church, making it no better 
 than a stable ? " 
 
 For some time after this the convent was undisturbed, but 
 as soon as the people knew the way to the saint the processions 
 recommenced. To end them the bishop sent him to Barce- 
 lona, then to Saragossa and other places ; but after a little 
 while, no matter where he was, it was the same thing. Pa- 
 tients came in crowds and camped out in tents when they 
 could obtain no other shelter. 
 
 A still more determined effort was finally made to stop 
 Sauveur's miracles by s'ending him to Cagliari in Sardinia, but 
 it was the same there as it had been in Spain. Simple, open, 
 in his relations with men, austere towards himself, having no 
 want for a cell, as he passed his nights in prayer in the church, 
 and sleeping, when nature required this indulgence, in a corner 
 of the monastery, Sauveur went on doing his work in the 
 kitchen, the garden, or at the gate distributing alms and 
 blessing the people. He preserved his chastity during all 
 the forty-seven years of his life, though often tempted ; his 
 patience and resignation never became less under the many 
 persecutions to which he was subjected ; he was compassionate 
 towards the poor and the sick, and full of zeal for the conver- 
 sion of sinners ; he had ecstasies, and frequent visions, 
 especially before the image of the Blessed Virgin, and often 
 while in that state was lifted up in the air in presence of 
 many thousand witnesses. He had the gifts of prophecy, 0/ 
 
•ST. SAUVEUR. , 193 
 
 knowing secret things and of commanding the elements ; and 
 in his simplicity was the wonder of his time. The number of 
 patients of all kinds that he cured is incredible. He even 
 resuscitated three dead persons. Finally he died in 1527 (why, 
 is not very evident) after having predicted the exact hour of 
 his death. And even to this day miracles are performed at his 
 tomb. 
 
 In view of all that is here said in favor of St. Sauveur, it 
 would be interesting to learn what his brethren and ecclesias- 
 tical superiors had to report of his wonderful performances. 
 It is very evident that he was not in favor with them. Cer- 
 tainly if there had been no doubt of the truth of his alleged 
 cures, they would have cherished him, as one able to give great 
 renown to their religious houses, and glory to the Church. 
 And if the history given of him by Gorres is only partially 
 true, his memory would have not so entirely gone out of the 
 records of the past as only to be embalmed in a few books on 
 the lives of the Saints. Facts do not disappear so completely. 
 If St. Sauveur had really been the great healer he is said to 
 have been, we should find his doings recorded in a thousand 
 contemporaneous volumes and every schoolboy would have 
 them at his tongue's end. Neither do facts go begging for 
 believers, nor will they remain concealed in obscure books. I 
 have questioned ten educated and intelligent Catholic gentle- 
 men relative to St. Sauveur and not one of them had ever 
 heard of him ! How will it be with curing mediums three 
 hundred years hence ? 
 
 But the mere facts of notoriety and acceptance of assumed 
 miraculous acts are of course no evidence of such acts having 
 been really performed. The belief in the veracity and powei 
 
i94 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 of the oracles lasted from far back in the history of Egypt till 
 the time of Theodosius of Greece — several thousand years — 
 and then the temples were closed. Would they have been 
 closed at all if the oracular utterances had really been what 
 was pretended ? 
 
 Now I have no reason to doubt that many persons were 
 cured by St. Sauveur through their imaginations, and of such 
 diseases as are known can be dispelled by such agency. The 
 bishops and abbots who disciplined him doubtless took this 
 fact into full consideration, and one of the former was 
 certainly right when he said that all the other brethren were 
 just as capable as he of working miracles. But St. Sauveur 
 had somehow got the start and had obtained the power by 
 which such deeds in miraculous therapeutics are done — the 
 confidence of those subjected to treatment — and hence his 
 success. 
 
 At the present day we hear very little of cures by ecclesias- 
 tical functionaries. Other agencies equally miraculous have 
 taken their place one, by one, and ere long these will also 
 disappear to make room for others doubtless as little founded 
 on truth. 
 
 The asserted power of sovereigns, to cure diseases, espe- 
 cially scrofula, by the royal touch, is another example of the 
 rise and fall of a superstitious belief. 
 
 The practice appears to have begun with Edward the 
 Confessor, of England, and to have lasted with more or less 
 intensity till the accession of the House of Brunswick, the 
 last sovereign to touch for scrofula having been Anne. 
 
 According to other authorities, however, it originated with 
 the early French kings, and there was for a long time a great 
 
THE ROYAL TOUCH. 195 
 
 dispute between writers of England and France relative to 
 the possession of the power — the English denying it to the 
 French kings and the French with equal vigor restricting it to 
 their own sovereigns. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth with her hard sense, was very much 
 averse to the practice, though public opinion required her to 
 continue it. Upon one occasion, she told a multitude of the 
 afflicted who besieged her that " God alone could cure their 
 diseases." 
 
 During the reign of Charles II. the practice was at its 
 height and yet more deaths took place from scrofula — or king's 
 evil, as it had got to be called — in his reign than in that of 
 any previous sovereign. With Anne the faith which had been 
 held in the efficacy of the royal touch died out, Dr. Samuel 
 Johnson was among the last to receive the imposition of the 
 Queen's hands, which was in his case at least entirely ineffica- 
 cious, as he was subject to scrofula all his life. 
 
 Henry VIII. was the first monarch to establish a particular 
 ceremony to be observed. This was altered at various times, 
 and was printed in the Book of Common Prayer used during 
 the reign of Queen Anne. 
 
 With the touch it was customary to give a piece of gold, 
 which was hung around the patient's neck by the sovereign. 
 The desire to get this gold was the cause of many presenting 
 themselves, who were not afflicted with scrofula, and of others 
 repeatedly coming forward. The coins were often found in 
 the shops, having been sold by the recipients. Stringent mea- 
 sures were therefore taken to prevent imposition on the mon- 
 arch, and after the reign of Elizabeth the size of the coin was 
 reduced. 
 
196 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 The form employed by Charles II. is thus described by 
 Evelyn : * 
 
 6. [July 1660] " His Majestie first began to touch for the 
 evil according to costume, thus — His majestie sitting under his 
 state in the Banquetting House, the Ghirurgeons cause the sick 
 to be brought or led up to the throne, where they kneeling, the 
 King strokes their faces or cheekes with both his hands at once, 
 at which instant a Chaplaine in his formalities says : ' He put his 
 hands on them and he healed them : ' This is sayed to every 
 one in particular. When they have all been touched they 
 come up againe in the same order ; and the other Chaplaine 
 kneeling, and having angel-gold strung on white ribbon on his 
 arme, delivers them one by one to his Majestie, who puts them 
 about the necks of the touched as they passe, whilst the first 
 Chaplaine repeats : ' That is the true light who came into the 
 world.' Then follows an Epistle (as at first, a Gospel) with 
 the Liturgy, prayers for the sick with some alteration, lastly the 
 blessing ; and the Lo. Chamberlaine and Comptroller of the 
 Household, bring a basin, ewer and towel for his Majestie to 
 wash." 
 
 But there were skeptics, and gradually they outnumbered the 
 believers, and the practice was discontinued on the death of 
 Anne. Among the unbelievers was Mr. Charles Bernard, sur- 
 geon, who on being made sergeant-surgeon to the queen 
 became a convert to the doctrine of the efficacy of the royal 
 touch. As Oldmixon t says : 
 
 " Yesterday the queen was graciously pleased to touch for 
 the King's evil some particular persons in private ; and three 
 
 * Memoirs, Chandos Library Edition, London, p. 266. 
 t History of England, Vol. II. p. 302. 
 
THE ROYAL TOUCH. 197 
 
 weeks after, December 19, yesterday, about twelve at noon hei 
 Majesty was pleased to touch, at St. James', about twenty per- 
 sons afflicted with the King's evil. The more ludicrous sort of 
 skeptics, in this case, asked why it was not called the queen's 
 evil, as the chief court of justice was called the Queen's Bench. 
 But Charles Bernard, the surgeon who had made this touching 
 the subject of his raillery all his lifetime till he became body 
 surgeon at court, and found it a good perquisite, solved all 
 difficulties by telling his companions with a fleer ' Really one 
 could not have thought it, if one had not seen it.' A friend of 
 mine heard him say it, and knew well his opinion of it.'' 
 
 As we have seen, the French kings also touched for scrof- 
 ula, and it is claimed by some, that the practice originated with 
 them. Servetus, who was not of a credulous mind, says in the 
 first edition of his " Ptolemy '' published in 1535, that he had 
 seen the king touch many persons for the disease, but he had 
 never seen any that were cured thereby.* But the last clause 
 of this sentence excited the ire of the censor, and in the next 
 edition published in 1 541, the words " an sanati fuerint non 
 vidi" were changed to " pluresque sanatos passim audivi." 
 I have heard of many that were cured. Testimony in 
 support of miracles has often been manufactured, but the nat- 
 ural obstinacy and truthfulness of Servetus would not ad- 
 mit of his giving his personal endorsement at the expense 
 of his convictions. 
 
 It is very certain that if there had been any real efficacy as 
 such in the royal touch the practice would never have been dis- 
 continued. That cases were cured by it is probable, just as 
 
 * " Vidi ipse Regem plurimos hoc languore correptos tangentem, an sa& 
 ati fuerint non vidi." 
 
198 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 they are cured by any imposing ceremony, or action, or thing 
 that appeals to the imagination and rouses the spirit of hope. 
 But the respect for kings and queens which once existed in an 
 extreme degree, began to fade out after its spasmodic revival 
 with the restoration of the monarchy in England, and hence, 
 reaching its acme with Charles II., touching gradually lost its 
 hold on the people, along with many other notions pertaining 
 to the " divine right of kings." But it held its sway for over 
 seven hundred years — to be utterly extinguished at last — a type 
 doubtless of many other delusions which still prevail to a 
 greater or less extent. 
 
 The relics of saints and holy men and. women of all 
 religions have in former times enjoyed a very high reputation 
 for their sanitary virtues. At the present day they are at a 
 discount with all civilized nations, except among the ignorant 
 and superstitious, and whole communities reject all idea of 
 their efficacy, substituting, however, very often, some other 
 equally absurd belief. 
 
 The therapeutical influence supposed to be attached to 
 the tombs of such persons, like that associated with relics, 
 is not so powerful as it once was. Credulity runs in other 
 channels, and for the same reason we do not now use dead 
 men's skulls, or their dried livers, or mummified reptiles in 
 our therapeutics. 
 
 But supernatural powers of healing were claimed by others 
 in virtue of some special gift with which they and their followers 
 asserted them to be endowed. Among these was Mr. Valen 
 tine Greatrix or Greatreakes, who obtained great celebrity 
 during the reign of Charles II., as a curer, by the touch, of 
 ague, epilepsy, paralysis, deafness, and other affections of the 
 
THE ROYAL TOUCH. 199 
 
 nervous system more or less under the influence of the emo- 
 tions and of the imagination. 
 
 Another was Prince Hohenlohe, who likewise operated on 
 convulsions, paralysis, deafness, blindness, etc., and who even 
 still is regarded by some persons as a veritable worker of 
 miracles. 
 
 Again, there was George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, 
 whose single case, though very striking at the time, was like 
 the greater part of those relieved by similar means, only 
 temporary in its duration. He thus records it.* 
 
 " After some time I went to the meeting at Arnside where 
 Richard Meyer was. Now he had been long lame of one of 
 his arms ; and I was moved by the Lord to say unto him, 
 among all the people, ' Prophet Meyer stand up upon thy legs, 
 (for he was sitting down) and he stood up and stretched out 
 his arm that had been lame a long time, and said : ' Be it 
 known unto all you people that this day I am healed.' But 
 his parents could hardly believe it, but after the meeting was 
 done, had him aside and took off his doublet ; and then they 
 saw it was true. He soon after came to Swarthmore meeting, 
 and there declared how that the Lord had healed him. But 
 after this the Lord commanded him to go to York with a 
 message from him ; and he disobeyed the Lord ; and the Lord 
 struck him again, so that he died about three-quarters of a 
 year after." 
 
 There are many other persons who might be mentioned in 
 
 illustration, but their examples would teach us nothing new 
 
 relative to the matter in question. 
 
 * Journal, Vol. I. p. 103, London, 1794. Cited by Pettigrew in " Super- 
 stitions connected with the History and Practice of Medicine." London. 
 1844, p. 116. 
 
200 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 Mesmerism or animal magnetism has put forward strong 
 claims to be regarded as a curative agent, and if we look at 
 tne subject 1 from a proper stand-point we will find reasons, as 
 in all the other alleged instances, to admit certain facts as 
 being sufficiently well established. But experience and care- 
 ful investigation show that all such cures are to be ascribed to 
 emotional disturbance, to imagination, to hypnotism or artificial 
 sleep, to expectant attention, to suggestion or some other well- 
 known principle. Some thirty years ago a mesmeric infirmary 
 was established in London, and many cases of disease were 
 treated there ; and by mesmeric operators, in other parts of 
 England, cases were reported as being cured. The affections, 
 however, were of the nervous system, or were self-limited, or 
 were of such a character as to allow of errors in diagnosis on the 
 part of the ignorant persons, many of them laymen, who under- 
 took the cures. 
 
 For instance, I have before me a number of the " Zoist, a 
 Journal of Cerebral Physiology and Mesmerism, and their 
 applications to Human Welfare"* edited by Dr. Elliotson, a 
 learned but credulous physician, who for a time, fought with 
 great vigor in support of the doctrines he had embraced 
 Though at first mesmerism gained many adherents from Dr. 
 Elliotson's association with it, even his name was not sufficient. 
 Its followers deserted in large numbers, the infirmary was 
 closed, and Dr. Elliotson himself sank into comparative 
 obscurity. 
 
 But to return to the "Zoist." 
 
 The cases of cure reported in the number referred to— and 
 
 * October, 1851. 
 7* 
 
MESMERISM. 201 
 
 it is a fair sample of all the others — are " Good Effect ot 
 Mesmerism in an Epileptic Fit." " Striking Proofs of the 
 remedial Power of Mesmerism over Epilepsy," " Cure of a 
 Case of Insanity," " Cure of a most intense Nervous Affection 
 commonly called Spinal Irritation," " Cures of Loss of Voice, 
 Neuralgia, Spinal Irritation, Excruciating Rheumatism," " Cure 
 of a large Polypus of the Uterus." 
 
 And this is a sample of the cures. It is reported by a Mr. 
 Masset, Jr. 
 
 " I was walking out on Thursday evening the 13th when 
 I saw a crowd ; and upon asking what was the matter was 
 informed that there was a woman dying who had been taken 
 into the stable adjoining the inn called the " Baldfaced Stag." 
 I went in and found a woman in fits, foaming at the mouth. 
 A policeman of Highgate had hold of her by one arm, and two 
 laborers held the other. She was struggling against them with 
 all her might. I immediately without asking questions, com 
 menced making passes downwards from her head to her feet, 
 and in less than two minutes she was quite calm. I made the 
 men leave hold of her, and then she complained of pains in 
 her side. These I relieved instantly by local passes on the 
 place she pointed out to me. I then instantly threw her into a 
 beautiful, calm sleep, and she remained quite still ; her breath- 
 ing being hardly visible. I left her, and calling on the follow- 
 ing morning found her in the same attitude in which I had left 
 her. The men who had slept on some straw by her side all 
 night (one of them was her husband) told me that she had 
 walked thirty miles, and that she often had fits, but that she 
 had slept well all night. I ordered some breakfast for her and 
 left her, and have not heard of them since." 
 
20* SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 Every physician will at once see all the fallacious points of 
 this case ; but others who may read this work may run some 
 risk of being deceived with an account which to a person 
 unacquainted with the phenomenon of epilepsy appears to 
 relate a cure of this terrible disease. I will therefore say : 
 
 i st. That the convulsive stage of an epileptic paroxysm, if 
 left to itself, rarely lasts over two or three minutes. This was 
 one of the exceptions, as it continued much longer — two 
 minutes in fact after Mr. Masset began his passes. 
 
 2d. That stupor almost invariably follows severe epileptic 
 convulsions and often lasts several hours. Besides she had 
 walked thirty miles and was consequently tired and disposed to 
 sleep. 
 
 3d. The woman had had repeated attacks before, from 
 which she recovered without treatment. 
 
 4th. Physicians who understand their profession employ no 
 treatment for the simple uncomplicated epileptic paroxysm, 
 knowing that the natural tendency is for it to cease spontane- 
 ously. I have seen hundreds of cases in which just such 
 phenomena existed as in Mr. Masset's case, and in which 
 there was no treatment beyond putting something between the 
 teeth to prevent injury to the tongue and cheeks. 
 
 5 th. The cure of epilepsy consists not in arresting a par- 
 oxysm which has already begun, but in preventing the occur- 
 rence of others. 
 
 It is however with perfect truth that Dr. Ellibtson states in 
 a note that had Mr. Masset done this in former days he would 
 in due time have been canonized. It was just such cures as 
 his that led to the canonization of their performers, and just 
 such, produced by mesmerizers and spiritualists of the presen' 
 
MESMERISM. 203 
 
 day, that excite the astonishment of the credulous and ig- 
 norant. 
 
 Dr. Ashburner's "Cure of a large Polypus of the Uterus" 
 was effected by his mesmerizing the patient for at least an hour 
 every day and pointing the fingers of his right hand at her 
 eyes for half an hour daily. In eight weeks the tumor was 
 gone. The patient had suffered from profuse hemorrhage from 
 the uterus ; and the symptoms were indicative of a miscar- 
 riage rather than a polypus. But even if there were a polypus, 
 spontaneous cure after profuse hemorrhage is a well known 
 occasional circumstance. Dr. Ashburner's cure of it by point- 
 ing his fingers at the patient's eyes is about on a par with a 
 person standing by a railroad track pointing his hand at a 
 passing train, and then reporting that he had by that action 
 caused the movement of the engine. 
 
 But the mesmerizers do not limit their therapeutical 
 operations to the human species. Mr. H. S. Thomson * con- 
 tributes to the " Zoist " an account of cures of two horses, one 
 of a sore eye and the other of an inflamed leg, by passes made 
 over the diseased parts. 
 
 A still more remarkable case in the eyes of the faithful is 
 that which occurred in Miss Martineau's experience, and which 
 I quote in the language of the estimable reporter, f 
 
 "Bolton near Skipton, 
 
 "August 19, 1850. 
 
 " Dear Dr. Elliotson, 
 
 " Your note has just reached me having been forwarded 
 
 from home. The story of the cow is this. One very hot even- 
 
 * No xii., p. 522. t "Zoist" Oct. 1850, No. xxxi., p. 301. 
 
204 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 ing in July I took some young cousins to see my stock, and I 
 saw a small pail half full of blood at the door of the cow's 
 house. During my absence that day my cow Ailsie had been 
 taken violently ill, so that the servants had sent to Rydal for the 
 cow-doctor, who had bled her and given her strong medicines. 
 This had been done some hours before I saw her, and the 
 doctor said that if she was not much relieved before his even- 
 ing visit, he was sure she would die. There were no signs of 
 relief in any way when I saw her at seven o'clock, nor when 
 the doctor came soon after eight. He said she could not 
 recover and it was a chance if she lived till morning. At ten 
 she was worse, and to be sure no creature could appear in a 
 more desperate state. She was struggling for breath, quivering, 
 choking and all in a flame of fire. Her eyes were starting ; 
 her mouth and nostrils dry ; and the functions suspended, as 
 they had been all day. 
 
 " It occurred to me then, to have her mesmerized ; but I 
 am afraid I was rather ashamed. The man knew nothing 
 whatever about mesmerism except the fact that I had once 
 done it with success to his sister. I believe he had not the 
 remotest idea what was done or what it meant. 
 
 " I desired him to come up to the house at twelve o'clock 
 'and let me know Ailsie's state. As I sat during these two 
 hours I remembered how I had known cats affected by mes- 
 merism, and how Sullivan the whisperer tamed vicious horses, 
 and Catlin learned from the Indians how to secure buffalo 
 calves by what seemed clearly to be mesmerism, and I deter- 
 mined to try it upon the cow if by midnight she proved to be 
 past the power of medicine. 
 
 " At midnight I went down and found that there was nc 
 
MESMERISM. 205 
 
 improvement or promise of any. I then directed the man to 
 mesmerize her, and showed him how. He was to persevere till 
 he saw some change, in making passes along the spine from the 
 head to the tail, and also across the chest, as she labored more 
 dreadfully than ever in her breathing. Within a few minutes 
 her breathing became easier, her eyes less wild, her mouth 
 moist, and before morning she was relieved in all ways. 
 
 "The first news I heard was "of the astonishment of the 
 Rydal doctor, who came early without an idea that she could 
 be alive. He exclaimed that he had ' never thought to see 
 her alive again,' that 'it was a good £\o in Miss M.'s pocket,' 
 and so forth. One thing struck me much. My man called to 
 me when I was in the garden and asked me to come and see 
 how ' Ailsie fare to go to-sleep like ' when he mesmerized her, 
 and it really was curious to see how her eyes grew languid and 
 gradually closed under the treatment. 
 
 " This was not all. Towards noon I was told that Ailsie had 
 relapsed and was almost as bad as ever. I went down and 
 saw that it was so, and ordered an hour's mesmerizing again. 
 The relief was as striking as before, and in two hours more she 
 was out of danger, and has been very well since. 
 
 " I foresee how such a story may be ridiculed ; but I 
 perceive how important it is that we should gather some facts 
 about the power of mesmerizing our brutes; not only for 
 truth's and humanity's sake, but because the establishment of 
 a few such facts would dispose of the objection that the results 
 of mesmerism are all imagination. I am fond of my cow and 
 stand up for her good qualities, but I cannot boast of any 
 imaginative faculty in her. A cow morbidly imaginative is a 
 new idea I believe. If it is true that the greatest chemist in 
 
2o6 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 the world says that he must believe if he saw a baby mesmer- 
 ized, I would ask him whether a cow, or a cat, or a vicious 
 horse would not do as well." 
 
 " If my cows are ever ill again I will try the experiment 
 with gfeat care and let you know the result. I may mention 
 that some of my neighbors were aware of the desperate illness 
 of the cow j and of her doctor's astonishment at her recovery. 
 We did not tell the doctor how we interfered with his patient, 
 and I dare say he has not heard of it at this hour, but others 
 of my neighbors were deeply interested in the story and 
 wished it could be made known. To this I can have no 
 objection, as I do not mind a laugh, and should be glad to 
 save the ?ife of even a single cow. 
 
 " I am, dear Dr. Elliotson, yours truly, 
 
 " Harriet Martineau." 
 
 That animals as well as men can be put into the condition 
 of hypnotism or artificial somnambulism is well known, and has 
 been fully considered in a previous chapter of this book. But 
 if the curative influence of mesmerism were as strong as Miss 
 Martineau and Dr. Elliotson supposed, we should not now see 
 the practice confined to the merest ignoramuses and charlatans 
 which the world is capable of producing. Miss Martineau's 
 recital simply presents another example of a fact "viewed 
 unequally." One of those in which all the conditions which 
 might have acted in curing the cow independently of mesmer- 
 ism, are not eliminated. Thus the animal may have been cured 
 by the cow- doctor, or may have spontaneously recovered, the 
 disease — probably pneumonia — having run its course. Cer- 
 tainly if mesmerism were capable of exercising such immediate 
 
MESMERISM. 207 
 
 and striking influence as Miss Martineau supposes, it would 
 not now be disregarded as a healing agent. There is no dif- 
 ficulty in getting physicians to accept all means of curing their 
 patients which experience show to be useful ; but knowing 
 the falsity of the claims put forward in behalf of nine out of 
 ten of the agents whose therapeutical power is vaunted, they 
 naturally fight shy of such things at first. 
 
 It is very certain that all the truth of mesmerism as a 
 healing agent is accepted by the medical profession. Thus the 
 ability to produce artificial somnambulism in some patients is 
 not questioned, nor the fact that during its existence surgical 
 operations can be performed without causing pain to the 
 subject. These are matters that admit of demonstration, and 
 they have been demonstrated. But the mind of a well trained 
 and thoroughly educated physician accepts nothing as fact till 
 it is proven, and it is the persistent and unreasonable attempts 
 of the adherents of theories, to command his acceptance of 
 their doctrines on insufficient evidence, and often on no 
 evidence at all, that excites his spirit of opposition and 
 contempt. He does not cease to remember that proof and 
 assertion are two very different things. 
 
 Dr. Elliotson * when he cites the following story does so 
 as an instance of an impossibility ; but I think I will be able to 
 show that it relates to an event which is no more impossible 
 than Miss Martineau's cure of the cow. 
 
 Voltaire advises the devil never to address himself to the 
 faculty of physic, but to that of theology, when he wishes to 
 impose upon mankind. However, in 1726 a poor woman at 
 
 * Human Physiology Fifth edition, London, p. 672. Also " Zoist," 
 October, 1851, p. 235. 
 
2o8 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 Godalming in Surrey, pretended that after a violent longing for 
 rabbits while pregnant, she brought forth these animals ; and 
 persuaded her apothecary, Mr. Howard, a man of probity who 
 had practised for thirty years, or in common language, a highly 
 respectable practitioner of great experience, that in the course of 
 about a month he had delivered her of about twenty rabbits. 
 George the First, not thinking it impossible, sent his house 
 surgeon, Mr. Akers, to inquire into the fact, and the royal 
 house surgeon returned to London convinced that he had 
 obtained ocular and tangible proof of the truth, and promised 
 to procure the woman a pension. The wise king then sent 
 his sergeant-surgeon, Mr. St. Andre", and the sergeant-surgeon 
 returned to town a firm believer. They both returned with 
 rabbits as proof, and the rabbits had the high honor of being 
 dissected before the king. An elaborate report of the produc- 
 tion and dissection was published by the sergeant-surgeon, and 
 the honest, severe, vain and visionary Arian clergyman Whiston, 
 (of the faculty of theology indeed) in a pamphlet (for a furious 
 controversy arose between the believers and the unbelievers), 
 showed that it was an exact fulfilment of a prophecy in Esdras. 
 An eminent physician, Sir Richard Manningham, backed by 
 Caroline, the Princess of Wales, detected the cheat, and on the 
 threat of a dangerous operation and imprisonment, Mary Tofts 
 confessed the fraud. 
 
 These are Dr. Elliotson's own words, italics and all, and he 
 cites the case as an actual impossibility. But there are no impos- 
 sibilities outside the domain of pure mathematics, and I contend 
 that not only is Mary Tofts' case not an impossibility, but that it 
 is fully as probable as most of the more astonishing manifesta- 
 tions of mesmerism, spiritualism, or any other pseudo science. 
 
MARY TOFTS. 209 
 
 1. In the first place it is not unique. Bartholinus * states 
 that Johannes Naboronsky, a noble Pole and his good friend, 
 told him at Basel, that he had seen in Poland, two fish without 
 scales, which were born from a woman, and that as soon as 
 they were delivered they were put into water, where they swam 
 about like other fish. 
 
 The same veracious and honest chronicler gives his testimony 
 to the fact that a woman of good quality at Elsinghorn, being 
 about to be confined, prepared everything for the event. In 
 due time labor ensued, and after much travail she gave birth 
 to a creature resembling a large dormouse ; which, to the 
 great amazement of the women who were present, with wonder- 
 ful agility sought and found a hole in the chamber, into which 
 it entered, and was never seen afterwards. 
 
 And again ; that in the year 1639, in Norway, occurred the 
 remarkable case of a woman, who, the mother of several 
 children, again being in labor, was delivered of two eggs, like 
 hens' eggs in every respect. One of these eggs was broken, 
 but the other was sent to the famous Dr. Olaus Wormius, who 
 kept it in his museum, where all who wished might see it. In 
 support of this history he adduces the following certificate. 
 
 " We, whose names are hereunto written, Ericus Westergard, 
 
 Rotolph Rakertad and Thor Venes, coadjutors of the pastor 
 
 in the parish of Nisess, do certify to all men, that anno 1639, 
 
 upon the twentieth day of May (by command of the Lord 
 
 President in Remerige, the Lord Paulus Tranius, pastor in 
 
 Nisess) we went to receive an account of the monstrous birth 
 
 in Sundby ; brought forth by an honest woman, Anna, the 
 
 * Anatomicse institutiones corporis humani utriusque sexus historiam, 
 etc. Lugduni Batavorum hist. 66, p. 103. 
 
210 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 daughter of Amundus the wife of Gudbandus Erlandsonius, 
 who already had been the mother of eleven children, the last 
 of which she was delivered of upon the fourth of March, 1638. 
 This Anna in the year 1639, upon the seventh of April began 
 to grow ill ; and being in great pain in her belly, she caused 
 her neighbors to be called in to her assistance ; the same day, 
 about the evening, in the presence of her neighbors, she brought 
 forth an egg, in all respects like that of a hen, which being 
 broken by the women present, Anna Grimen, Ellen Rudstad, 
 Gyro Rudstad and Catharina Sunby, they found that in it the 
 yolk and white answered directly to a common egg. Upon 
 the eighteenth day of April, about noon, in the presence of the 
 same people, she was delivered of another egg, which in figure 
 was nothing different from the former. The mother reported 
 this to us ; the women that assisted at her delivery confirmed 
 the truth of it ; as also that the pains of this birth had been 
 more sharp to her than all the rest of the former. That this 
 was the confession, as well of the mother as of them that were 
 present, we do attest with our seals in the presence of the Lord 
 President, in the parish of Niagss, the day and year abovesaid."* 
 
 The great Wormius looked upon this as a diabolical work, 
 since by the artifice of the devil many (jther thiiigs are 
 conveyed into and formed in the bodies of men and 
 women. 
 
 Here we have the testimony of eye witnesses, of a com- 
 mission of clergymen, of Wormius, one of the most distin- 
 guished of anatomists, besides that of the woman herself and 
 the actual existence of the egg in the museum of a University 
 Can mesmerism and spiritualism do better ? 
 
 * " "Wonders of the Little World," by Nathaniel Wanley, London, 180& 
 
WOMEN'S EGGS. 211 
 
 And further in support of the alleged fact that women are 
 at times, like birds and most reptiles, oviparous, we have tes- 
 timony to the effect that the women of the Selenetidse, unlike 
 other women, lay eggs from which men are hatched, and the 
 learned Lycosthenes,* in referring to the circumstance which 
 he accepts • as a fact, gives an illustration which, as going into 
 details, and therefore adding to the testimony, I subjoin. 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 Franciscus Rossetus f says : 
 
 "Anne Tromperin, the wife of a certain porter in our 
 hospital, being about thirty years of age, was delivered of a 
 boy and two serpents upon St. John's day, anno 1576. She 
 told me upon her faith 'That in the summer before, in an 
 
 * Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon, etc, Basileas, 1557, p. 13. 
 t De Partu Ciesareo, Basileae, 1582. Wanley, p. 282. 
 
2ia SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 extreme hot day, she had drank of a spring ir. the grove called 
 Brudetholk, a place within a quarter of a mile from Basel, 
 where she suspected she had drank of the sperm of serpents.' 
 She afterwards grew so big that she was fain to carry her 
 belly in a swathing band. The child was so lean that he was 
 scarcely anything but bones. The serpents were each of them 
 an ell long and as thick as the arm of an infant, both of which, 
 alive as they were, were buried by the midwife in the church- 
 yard of St. Elizabeth." 
 
 Many other examples to the like effect might readily be 
 adduced, but the foregoing are sufficient to establish the pre- 
 cedent of women giving birth to the lower animals; and 
 hence to show that the case which Dr. Elliotson considers an 
 impossibility, is supported by analogous instances. 
 
 2. In the second place we have to inquire into the char- 
 acter of the evidence offered in support of the alleged births 
 of rabbits by Mary Tofts. 
 
 Three medical gentlemen of the highest respectability, 
 visited and examined the woman and obtained some of the 
 rabbits. The king himself saw them, and they were dissected 
 and shown to be veritable rabbits. Besides this, a distin- 
 guished clergyman demonstrated from scripture the fact that 
 the event did take place, and that it was in fulfilment of a 
 prophecy. When science and theology agree, surely the 
 probability of error is rendered exceedingly small. 
 
 3. The confession of Mary Tofts to the effect that she had 
 committed a fraud, is the strongest point yet adduced tending 
 to show that she did not commit a fraud. 
 
 The confession was made under threats of a painful opera- 
 tion and punishment. Every jurist knows of how little value 
 
MARY TOFTS. si3 
 
 a confession is, when extorted by such means. Mary 1'ofts 
 would doubtless under like compulsion have acknowledged 
 herself to be a witch or anything else that her questioners 
 might have desired. "As if" to quote Beccaria,* "truth 
 resided in the muscles and fibres of a wretch in torture." 
 
 Besides, confessions are made continually, every time a 
 flagrant crime is committed, by persons seeking notoriety, or 
 some other end, or from delusion, or other morbid impulse. 
 What more likely, than that Mary Tofts was driven into 
 insanity by the questionings to which she was subjected, and 
 by the agitation into which she was thrown at the idea of the 
 contest which was urged relative to the reality of her lepurine 
 delivery ? 
 
 I think therefore it will be admitted that the evidence in 
 favor of Mary Tofts is much stronger than that adduced in 
 support of Miss Martineau ; and yet Dr. Elliotson declares 
 the one to have been guilty of fraud, while the other is held 
 up as a pattern of nobility and goodness ! 
 
 Spiritualism has not been especially distinguished for its 
 remarkable cures, although it puts forward pretensions to 
 powerful therapeutical influence. Occasionally we hear of 
 some travelling charlatan who pretends to the possession of 
 specific healing virtue, and who by impressing the imaginations 
 of his ignorant dientelle, or by telling them in a loud and im- 
 perious voice, that they are cured, or by knocking them down 
 and then bidding them rise and find their maladies gone, 
 succeeds, sometimes, in relieving patients of certain affections 
 of the nervous system ; or of persuading them for a time that 
 
 * " An Essay on Crimes and Punishment." Translated from the Italian, 
 with the Commentary of Voltaire. London 1801, p. 56. 
 
2i4 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 they were relieved. Many of these latter have come under 
 my notice with their diseases unmitigated, and in whom the 
 belief of a cure had -been effected solely by the principle of 
 suggestion, which the electro-biologist knows so well how to 
 use. 
 
 Again, many of the sick who resort to clairvoyant and 
 spiritualistic humbugs, have their maladies temporarily relieved 
 through the emotional disturbance consequent on visiting such 
 people, who always preserve a certain air of mystery well 
 calculated to impress the ignorant. In such cases the abate- 
 ment of the symptoms, has its analogue in the fact that a mere 
 visit to the dentist often cures a raging tooth-ache. The clair- 
 voyant or spiritualistic quack takes advantage of the period of 
 momentary relief which the patient experiences, and of the 
 gratitude which all patients temporarily feel when freed from 
 suffering, to get a certificate setting forth the fact ; and this 
 is speedily published as a bait for other credulous sufferers. 
 
 The influence of the imagination in curing disease has 
 already engaged a good portion of our attention, but the subject 
 is very extensive, and can scarcely be touched in any of its 
 relations without leading to interesting illustrations. 
 
 Thus about seventy or eighty years ago, an American named 
 Perkins excited great interest in this country, and in England 
 and France, by curing diseases by the use of little metallic rods, 
 which he called tractors, from the fact that they were drawn 
 over the diseased part. Many were apparently healed by 
 them, but they fell into disrepute as soon as Dr. Haygarth 
 demonstrated from numerous examples, that wooden tractors, 
 painted to look like the metallic ones, were fully as effica- 
 cious. 
 
THE METAL CURES. 215 
 
 Then, quite recently, was the metal-cure of Dr. Burq * of 
 Paris, which was endorsed by Dr. Elliotson, who was capable of 
 believing everything but that women could conceive rabbits. 
 As another instance of human folly, I give the following account 
 of this delusion, which, I think, has never taken root hi this 
 country. 
 
 In 1847, Dr. Burq, as he says, noticed in a woman whom 
 he was mesmerizing for hysteria and phthisis, in the hospital 
 Beaujon, that as often as she was thrown into a mesmeric 
 sleep, the direct contact of certain metals was insupportable, 
 while that of others was agreeable to the touch, or at least, 
 caused no signs of repugnance. If, for instance, he suddenly 
 placed a piece of copper, iron or steel on her bare hand, or any 
 other part of her body, she instantly, and sometimes in the 
 midst of the apparently deepest sleep, repelled it roughly, 
 often with an expression of suffering, or even of anger if the 
 experiment was repeated too frequently. If a key, or a shovel, 
 or iron tongs were placed upon her bed near enough to her to 
 make their influence felt, she instantly discovered them and 
 got rid of them, either by a sudden movement, if the object 
 were not fixed or large, or with her hand, covered previously 
 with something to insulate it, when a greater or more direct 
 effort was required. The latter precaution was always care- 
 fully taken, when, in order to open a door in her sleep-walking, 
 she was under the necessity of slowly turning the key or the 
 handle of the lock. 
 
 If, however, gold or silver were placed in her hands, she 
 
 » " Nervous Affections. Metallo-therapia, or metal-cure ; New properties 
 of metals illustrated through mesmerism." Translated, communicated and 
 supplied with a note, by Dr. Elliotson ; " Zoitt," July and October, 1852. 
 
216 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 showed much pleasure in handling them, provided the gold, 
 and especially the silver, was not much alloyed with copper. 
 If it were, her repugnance was in direct ratio to the extent of 
 the debasement of the precious metal. 
 
 Dr. Burq was very much astonished at these results ; 
 though the exhibition of pleasure in handling gold or silver is 
 no very unusual phenomenon. He determined, therefore, to 
 investigate farther, and accordingly performed the following 
 experiment. 
 
 The patient being mesmerized, and her insensibility per- 
 fectly proved by a pin being stuck into her skin, he repeatedly 
 applied, to different parts of her body, different pieces of 
 money of nearly equal size. With the copper coins, a few 
 seconds were sufficient to restore sensibility ; first in the parts 
 touched by the metal, and then in the surrounding parts ; 
 whereas with the gold and silver, nothing of the kind was 
 observed, except when instead of the silver coin, he substituted 
 another piece of the same metal of inferior value by being an 
 alloy. 
 
 The patient died a few days afterwards, before Dr. Burq 
 could draw any decided conclusion, but he resolved in spite of 
 many difficulties to pursue the investigation further, and in the 
 course of three years built up the system of practice which he 
 called metal-cure. He asserted that cases of anaesthesia, 
 cramps, paralysis, etc., were cured by different metals, espe- 
 cially if the patient were hysterical. Epilepsy he could not 
 manage at all. Brass was found a very efficacious metal in 
 the treatment of hysteria ; the mental quality which goes by 
 that name is also valuable to the practitioner in like cases, and 
 
 Dr. Burq appears to have had a good stock of both. As Dr. 
 
 8 
 
THE METAL CURES. 217 
 
 Elliotson remarks : Dr. Burq, in his memoir entitled "Mesmerism 
 Illustrated by the Metals," shows a " remarkable relation which he 
 has discovered between the effects of brass and those of mes- 
 merism." 
 
 But notwithstanding the publication of remarkable results, 
 the metal cure made little headway, until quite recently, when 
 having been revived by Prof. Charcot, it is again before the 
 public. Its pretensions will be considered in a subsequent 
 chapter. 
 
 Another delusion, which over two hundred years ago was 
 in high favor, was that relative to the cure of wounds by the 
 " powder of sympathy," as described and advocated by Sir Ken- 
 elm Digby.* 
 
 The first published case of the effects of this mode of 
 treatment attracted great attention ; and as a further contribu- 
 tion, I quote it in Sir Kenelm Digb/s own words as he related 
 it in his discourse before the noble and learned assembly he 
 addressed. 
 
 " Mr. James Howel (well known in France for his public 
 works, and particularly for his Dendrologia, translated into 
 French by Monsieur Baudoin) coming by chance as two of his 
 best friends were fighting a duel, he did his endeavor to part 
 them ■ and putting himself between them, seized with his left 
 hand upon the hilt of the sword of one of the combatants, 
 while with his right hand he lay hold of the blade of the 
 other ; they being transported with fury, one against the other, 
 struggled to rid themselves of the hindrance their friend 
 
 * " A late discovery made in a solemne assembly of nobles and learned 
 men, at Montpellier, in France, touching the cure of wounds, by the Pow- 
 der of Sympathy; with instructions how to make the said Powder, etc." 
 London, 1658. 
 
ai8 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 made that they should not kill one another ; and one of them 
 roughly drawing the blade of his sword, cut to the very bone 
 the nerves and muscles of Mr. Howel's hand ; and then the 
 other disengaging his hilt, gave a cross blow on his adversary's 
 head, which glanced towards his friend, who heaving up his 
 sore hand to save the blow, he was wounded on the back of 
 his hand as he had been before within. It seems some 
 strange constellation reigned them against him that he should 
 lose so much blood by parting two such dear friends, who, 
 had they been themselves, would have hazarded both their 
 lives to have preserved his ; but this involuntary effusion of 
 blood by them, prevented that which they should have drawn 
 one from the other. For they seeing Mr. Howel's face be- 
 smeared with blood by heaving up his wounded hand, they both 
 ran to embrace him ; and having searched his hurts, they bound 
 up his hand with one of his garters to close the veins which 
 were cut and bled abundantly. They brought him home and 
 sent for a surgeon. But this being heard at court, the king 
 sent one of his own surgeons, for his majesty much affected 
 the said Mr. Howel. 
 
 " It was my chance to be lodged hard by him, and four or 
 five days after, as I was making myself ready, he came to my 
 house and prayed me to view his wounds, ' for I understand,' 
 said he, ' that you have extraordinary remedies upon such 
 occasions, and my surgeons apprehend for fear that it may 
 grow to gangrene, and so the hand must be cut off.' In effect 
 his countenance discovered that he was in much pain, which 
 he said was unsupportable in regard of the extreme inflamma- 
 tion ; I told him that I would willingly cure him, but if haply 
 he knew the manner how I would cure him, without touching 
 
PO WDER OF S YMPA THY. 219 
 
 or seeing him, it may be he would not expose himself to my 
 manner of curing, because he would think it, peradventure, 
 either ineffectual or superstitious ; he replied that the wonder- 
 ful things which many have related unto me of your way of 
 curing, makes me nothing doubt at all of its efficacy ; and all 
 that I have to say unto you is comprehended in the Spanish 
 proverb ' Hagase el milagro y hagalo Mahoma.' Let the miracle 
 be done, though Mahomet do it." 
 
 " I asked him then for anything that had the blood upon it 
 so he presently sent for his garter wherewith his hand was 
 first bound; and having called for a basin of water, as if I 
 would wash my hands, I took a handful of powder of vitriol 
 which I had in my study, and presently dissolved it. As soon 
 as the bloody garter was brought me, I put it within the basin, 
 observing in the interim what Mr. Howel did, who stood 
 talking with a gentleman in a corner of my chamber, not 
 regarding at all what I was doing ; but he Started suddenly as 
 if he had found some strange alteration in himself ; I asked 
 him what he ailed ? I know not what ails me, but I find that 
 I feel no more pain ; methinks that a pleasing kind of fresh- 
 ness, as it were a wet cold napkin did spread over my hand, 
 which hath taken away the inflammation that tormented me 
 before. I replied, since that you feel already so good an 
 effect of my medicament, I advise you to cast away all your 
 plasters, only keep the wound clean and in a moderate temper, 
 'twixt heat and cold. This was presently reported to the Duke 
 of Buckingham, and a little after, to the king, who were both 
 very curious to know the circumstance of the business, which 
 was that after dinner I took the garter out of the water and 
 put it to dry before a great fire. It was scarce dry but Mr 
 
220 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 Howel's servant came running that his master felt as much 
 burning as ever he had done, if not more, for the heat was 
 such as if his hand were 'twixt coals of fire ; I answered that 
 although that had happened at present, yet he should find ease 
 in a short time, for I knew the reason of this new accident, 
 and I would provide accordingly, for his master should be free 
 from that inflammation, it may be, before he could possibly 
 return unto him ; but in case he found no ease I wished him 
 to come presently back again, if not, he might forbear coming 
 Thereupon he went, and at the instant, I did put again the 
 garter into the water ; thereupon he found his master without 
 any pain at all. To be brief, there was no sense of pain 
 afterward, but within five or six days the wounds were cica- 
 trized and entirely healed. King James required a punctual 
 information of what had passed touching this cure ; and after 
 it was done and perfected, his majesty would needs know of 
 me how it was done, having drolled with me first (which he 
 could do with a very good grace) about a magician and a 
 sorcerer ; I answered that I should be always ready to perform 
 what his majesty should command, but I most humbly desired 
 him, before I should pass further, to tell him what the author 
 of whom I had the secret said to the great Duke of Tuscany 
 upon the like occasion. It was a religious Carmelite that 
 came from the Indies and Persia to Florence, he had also 
 been at China, who having done many marvellous cures with 
 his powder after his arrival to Tuscany, the Duke said he 
 would be very glad to learn it of him. It was the father of 
 the great Duke who governs now. The Carmelite answered 
 him that it was a secret which he had learnt in the oriental 
 parts, and he thought there was not any who knew it ir 
 
POWDER OF SYMPATHY. 221 
 
 Europe but himself j and that it deserved not to be divulged, 
 which could not be done if his highness would meddle with it, 
 because he was not likely to do it with his own hands, but 
 must trust a surgeon or some other servant, so that in a short 
 time divers others would come to know it as well as himself. 
 But a few months after I had an opportunity to do an impor- 
 tant courtesy to the said friar, which induced him to discover 
 unto me his secret, and the same year he returned to Persia ; 
 insomuch that there is no other knows this secret in Europe 
 but myself. The king replied that he needed not apprehend 
 any fear that he would discover, for he would not trust anybody 
 in the world to make experience of his secret, but he would do 
 it with his own hands ; therefore he would have some of the 
 powder ; which I delivered, instructing him in all the circum- 
 stances. Whereupan his majesty made sundry proofs whence 
 he derived singular satisfaction." 
 
 But the king's physician, Dr. Mayerne, watched the royal 
 practitioner and discovered that vitriol was used. Whereupon 
 Sir Kenelm instructed him fully. Dr. Mayerne soon after 
 went to France on a visit to his friend, the Duke of Mayerne, 
 and told him the secret, and thence it soon became generally 
 known, so that Sir Kenelm said it came by degrees " to be 
 so divulged that now there is scarce any country barber but 
 knows it." 
 
 Now, as learning was in those days, Sir Kenelm Digby was 
 a learned man, and the object of his discourse was to show, not 
 only that wounds could be healed by his manner of proceed- 
 ing, but to explain the rationale of the process. For this 
 latter purpose he adduced arguments based on the physical 
 properties of light, air, etc., and in the course of his reasoning, 
 
322 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 brought forward certain alleged phenomena which he thought 
 were analogous in character. It is a very .curious circum- 
 stance that of these, there is not one which is true. Thus he 
 is wrong when he says that if the hand be severely burnt, the 
 pain and inflammation are relieved by holding it near a hot 
 fire ; that a person who has a bad breath, is cured by putting his 
 head over a privy and inhaling the air which comes from it ; 
 that those who are bitten by vipers or scorpions, are cured by 
 holding the bruised head of either of those animals, as the 
 case may be, near the bitten part; that in times of great 
 contagion, carrying a toad, or a spider, or arsenic " or some 
 other venomous substance " about the person, is a protection ; 
 that hanging a toad about the neck of a horse affected with 
 farcy, dissipates the disease ; that water evaporated in a close 
 room will not be deposited on the walls, if a vessel of water be 
 placed in the room ; that venison pies smell strongly at those 
 periods in which " the beasts which are of the same nature and 
 kind are in rut ; " that wine in the cellar undergoes a fermenta- 
 tion when the vines in the fields are in flower ; that a tablecloth 
 spotted with mulberries or red wine is more easily whitened at 
 the season in which the plants are flowering than at any other ; 
 that washing the hands in the rays of moonlight which fall 
 into a polished silver basin (without .water) is a cure for warts ; 
 that a vessel of water put on the hearth of a smoky chimney, 
 is a remedy for the evil, and so on, — not a single fact in all 
 that he adduces. Yet these circumstances were regarded as 
 real, and were spoken of at the time as irrefragable proofs of 
 the truth of Sir Kenelm's views. 
 
 Sympathetic cures have long since gone the way of kindred 
 follies, the way which mesmerism has already begun to take, 
 
POWDER OF SYMPATHY. 223 
 
 and on which spiritualism will surely enter ere many years 
 have lapsed. 
 
 And yet, absurd as it was, we owe to Sir Kenelm Digby's 
 practice one of the greatest improvements in surgery which the 
 world has known. Artificial somnambulism or hypnotism will 
 survive mesmerism ; something beneficial may come out of 
 spiritualism ; but the curing of wounds by the use of sympa- 
 thetic powders led to the modern system of healing by the 
 first intention, and thus revolutionized the whole art of sur- 
 gery, to the inestimable good of the human species. 
 
 We have only to refer to the surgical treatises written before 
 Sir Kenelm began to treat wounds, to learn how barbarous, 
 and with our light, how senseless, was the system used before 
 his day. The object was to keep a wound open so that it 
 might discharge itself of its " bad humors," the flow of blood 
 was stopped by pouring into it melted tar or boiling oil, and 
 when operations were performed red hot knives were used so 
 as to prevent haemorrhage. 
 
 But in Sir Kenelm Digby's process the wound was cleaned, 
 the edges were brought together, and it was kept quiet and 
 protected from the atmosphere. By this treatment the cure 
 was greatly facilitated, and as it was attended without the pain 
 accompanying the ordinary process, it grew into favor ; and 
 though the treatment by sympathetical powders fell into 
 disrepute, it became the first object of the surgeon to procure 
 union without suppuration. 
 
 It has often happened that permanent advances in medical 
 science have resulted from experiments made with quite a 
 different "object in view. Thus the discovery of modern 
 anaesthesia by the inhalation of certain vapors, was the direct 
 
224 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 result of breathing nitrous oxide gas and the vapor of ether 
 for purposes of exhilaration. And local anaesthesia from the 
 application of the ether spray, which was at first supposed to 
 be due to some specific property of the ether, is now known to 
 be caused by the intense cold which ensues. In the other 
 sciences also, great discoveries have been made by the misdi- 
 rected efforts of eager inquirers. The search for the philosopher's 
 stone constitutes almost the foundation of modern chemistry. 
 
 And in regard to the cures by spiritualists. In all alleged 
 cases, where the cure is real, imagination or emotional excite- 
 ment has been the healing agent. Whether the operator be 
 the Zouave Jacob, or Judge Edwards, or Mrs. Emma Hardinge, 
 or " Prof." Brittain, or Andrew Jackson Davis, or Dr. Robert 
 Newton, the influence is the same and resides not in the 
 operator — except in so far as he is able to obtain the con- 
 fidence of the subject — but in the patient, just as it does in 
 cases of mesmeric, sympathetic, astrological, and other delu- 
 sional agencies, through the apparent action of which maladies 
 have been cured. 
 
 That such cures are unjustifiable I am not prepared to say. 
 The patient, like Mr. Howel to Sir Kenelm Digby, is always 
 ready to exclaim " Let the miracle be done, though Mahomet 
 do it ! " Physicians frequently banish real or imaginary affec- 
 tions by the use of bread pills, and many a person has been 
 cured by the application of some instrument, as the stetho- 
 scope or thermometer, intended only as a means of examina- 
 tion. 
 
 Thus Dr. Paris* says that "as soon as the powers of 
 nitrous oxide gas were discovered, Dr. Beddoes at once con- 
 
 * Pharmacologia, p. 28. 
 8* 
 
THERMOMETERS. 225 
 
 eluded that it must necessarily be a specific for paralysis ; a 
 patient was selected for trial, and the management of it was 
 intrusted to Sir Humphrey Davy. Previous to the administra- 
 tion of the gas, he inserted a small thermometer under the 
 tongue of the patient, as he was accustomed to do upon such 
 occasions, to ascertain the degree of animal temperature, with 
 a view to future comparison. The paralytic man, wholly 
 ignorant of the nature of the process to which he was to 
 submit, but deeply impressed from the representation of Dr. 
 Beddoes with the certainty of its success, no sooner felt the 
 thermometer under his tongue than he concluded the talisman 
 was in full operation, and in a burst of enthusiasm declared 
 that he already experienced the effect of its benign influence 
 through his whole body. The opportunity was too tempting 
 to be lost ; Davy cast one intelligent glance at Coleridge, and 
 desired his patient to renew his visit the following day, when 
 the same ceremony was performed, and repeated every suc- 
 ceeding day for a fortnight ; the patient gradually improving 
 during that period, when he was dismissed as cured, no other 
 application having been used." 
 
 In a recent number of the British Medical Journal * some 
 interesting observations are given from the Students Journal, 
 of the impressions which patients occasionally derive from the 
 use of the clinical thermometer ; a young woman who was 
 convalescent, and whose temperature had long remained nor- 
 mal, had a slight relapse, which she attributed to having had 
 " no glass under her arm for a week." A man suffering from 
 acute rheumatism, obstinately refused to have his temperature 
 taken any more, saying " it took too much out of him ; it was 
 
 * January 29, 1876. 
 
226 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 a drawing all his strength away." A man had been in the 
 habit for some time of having his temperature taken daily 
 under his tongue, with a thermometer that had just been doing 
 severe duty in the axillae of other patients. One night a bran 
 new thermometer was applied to his mouth ; next day he 
 declared- he was not so well, and said, " the glass was not so 
 strong as usual ; he felt at the time the taste was different, and 
 it had not done him so much good." A sister in one of the 
 woman's wards says, that many of the patients think the 
 thermometers are used to detect breaches of the rule against 
 having unauthorized edibles brought in by friends ; and she, 
 accordingly, does not disabuse their minds of their innocent 
 superstition. These " impressions " are precisely the sort of 
 evidence on which " metallic tractors," galvanic belts, mesmer- 
 ists, and animal magnetisers rely for their vogue. 
 
 Only a few days ago a lady consulted me for a severe 
 neuralgic attack, involving the fifth pair of nerves throughout 
 one side of her face. In order to determine the relative 
 temperature of the two sides, I applied to each cheek a thermo- 
 electric pile in connection with a delicate galvanometer. Of 
 course - there was no sensation given to her beyond that of 
 contact with the two little piles, but looking at the galvano- 
 meter, as it stood on the table she saw the deflection of the 
 needle, and imagining that it was for the purpose of cure, 
 exclaimed that she felt decidedly better, and expressed the 
 belief that another application would entirely cure her. I 
 again put the piles on her cheeks, with the result of completely 
 relieving her of a pain with which she had suffered for five 
 days. 
 
 Similar cases are common enough in the practice of all 
 
IMAGINATION. 227 
 
 physicians, and wise members of the profession taking them 
 at their full value, can meditate on the problem which will 
 continually recur to their minds : how much such a curative 
 power, in any case, is to be ascribed to the purely medical 
 treatment, and how much to that confidence in themselves, 
 which it should be no small part of their duty to endeavor 
 to inspire by all honorable means in the minds of those who 
 put health and life in their hands. It is certainly true that 
 the only advantage the charlatan has is his unscrupulous- 
 ness ; and this in the long run will probably bring him to 
 grief. The educated physician, however, skilled as he 
 should be in the working of the human mind, may, without 
 the sacrifice of dignity or truth, avail himself of all the 
 power which his knowledge gives him, and if he has reason 
 to think, after a careful study of his patient's mental organi- 
 zation and disease, that colored water will probably effect 
 the cure, it is his duty to use it, instead of resorting to medi- 
 cines which, like a two-edged sword, may cut both ways at 
 once. 
 
 He might even, without much strain on his moral prin- 
 ciple, employ the plaster from the chapel at Knock, if his 
 patient were weak enough to believe in its efficacy, or send 
 him to look at the vision of the Virgin, at Father Ignatius's 
 Abbey, if, being a Protestant, he could not accept Roman 
 Catholic miracles.* Such action would at least be as honor- 
 
 * Since the foregoing passage was written, the following telegram from 
 London has been published : 
 
 "An Apparition Explained. — The vision of the virgin at St. Ig- 
 natius's Abbey, about which there has been so much speculation, turns 
 out to be nothing but a reflection from a window. The cures attributed 
 to the mysterious agency of the vision are therefore a sham, and Father 
 Ignatius's monks are in an unpleasant frame of mind." — New York 
 World, October 25, 1880. 
 
228 SUPERNATURAL CURES. 
 
 able as the duty which all soldiers feel imperatively de- 
 manded of them, to deceive the enemy, not only by implica- 
 tion, but by positive untruths, or as the " pious frauds " 
 which the best men and women do not hesitate to perpetuate. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SOME OF THE CAUSES WHICH LEAD TO SENSORIAL DECEP- 
 TION AND DELUSIONAL BELIEFS. 
 
 THERE is an inherent tendency in the mind of man to as- 
 cribe to supernatural agencies those events the causes 
 of which are beyond his knowledge ; and this is especially the 
 case with the normal and morbid phenomena which are mani- 
 fested in his own person. But, as his intellect becomes more 
 thoroughly trained, and as science advances in its develop- 
 ments, the range of his credulity becomes more and more cir- 
 cumscribed, his doubts are multiplied, and he at length reaches 
 that condition of " healthy skepticism " which allows of no be- 
 lief without the proof. Thus he does not now credit the ex- 
 istence of an archmus dwelling in the stomach and presiding 
 over its function, for he knows by experiment that digestion is 
 a purely physical process, which can be as well performed in a 
 teacup, with a little pepsin and dilute chlorhydric acid, as in the 
 stomach with the gastric juice ; he does not now believe that 
 the bodies of lunatics, epileptics, and hysterical women, are in- 
 habited by devils and demons, for he has ascertained by obser- 
 vation that the abnormal conditions present in such persons can 
 be accounted for by material derangements of the organs or 
 functions of the system. He has learned to doubt, and, there- 
 fore, to reason better ; he makes experiments, collects facts, does 
 not begin to theorize until his data are sufficient, and then is 
 
 22g 
 
230 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 careful that his theories do not extend beyond the foundation 
 of certainty, or at least of probability, upon which he builds. 
 
 But there have always been, and probably always will be, 
 individuals whose love for the marvellous is so great, and 
 whose logical powers are so small, as to render them suscep- 
 tible of entertaining any belief, no matter how preposterous 
 it may be ; others more numerous, who, staggered by facts 
 which they cannot understand, accept any hypothesis which 
 may be offered as an explanation, rather than confess their 
 ignorance ; and others again — and these the most dangerous 
 to the community — whose education, full though it may have 
 been in certain directions, is yet narrow, and which has been 
 of such a character as to warp their judgments in all mat- 
 ters affecting the preconceived ideas by which their whole 
 lives are ostensibly governed. 
 
 The real and fraudulent phenomena of what is called 
 spiritualism, and of miraculous cases, are of such a char- 
 acter as to make a profound impression upon the credulous 
 and the ignorant ; and both these classes have accordingly 
 been active in spreading the most exaggerated ideas relative 
 to matters which are either absurdly false or not so very 
 astonishing when viewed by the cold light of science. Such 
 persons have, probably, from a very early age, believed in the 
 materiality of spirits ; and having very little knowledge of the 
 forces inherent in their own bodies, have no difficulty in as- 
 cribing occurrences which do not accord with their experi- 
 ence, to the agency of disembodied individuals, whom they 
 imagine to be circulating through the world. In this respect, 
 they resemble those savages who regard the burning-lens, the 
 mirror, and other things which produce unfamiliar effects, 
 as being animated by dei ties. Their minds are decidedly 
 
SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 231 
 
 fetish-worshipping in character, and are scarcely, in this respect, 
 of a more elevated type than that of the Congo negro who en- 
 dows the rocks and trees with higher mental attributes than he 
 claims for himself. 
 
 Then it is possible for the most careful and experienced 
 judgment to be deceived by false sensorial impressions of real 
 objects, or by non-existing images created by the mind. In the 
 first case a gleam of moonlight passes for a ghost, the stump 
 of a tree becomes a robber, and the rustling of leaves blown by 
 the wind is imagined to be the whispering of voices. No one 
 possesses an absolute perfection of sensation, and thus things are 
 never seen, or heard, or smelt, or tasted, or felt exactly as they 
 exist. In the dark, or in the uncertain light of the moon, or of 
 artificial illumination, the liability to self-deception is very 
 much increased ; and if, in addition to the defect of light, 
 there are continual sounds and other means of engaging the 
 attention, it is exceedingly easy to induce sensorial confusion and 
 thus to impose upon the intellect. 
 
 The so-called mediums, for instance, know very well the 
 advantages to be derived from darkness, musical sounds and 
 other ways of diverting the senses from the real object they 
 have in view, and every magician, conjurer, and legerde- 
 mainist makes use of the same means as a spiritual element 
 in the success of his tricks. 
 
 Thus the medium, or the honest prestidigitateur tells the 
 subject who is to be deceived that he must concentrate his 
 mind on his great-grandmother, and that in a few minutes 
 she will make her appearance. If the victim be weak of in- 
 tellect and highly impressionable, it is fully within the range 
 of probability that no further efforts will be required from the 
 
232 HALLUCINATIONS OF SIGHT. 
 
 worker of the pretended miracle The apparition of the de- 
 ceased ancestor will be present to the eyes of the descendant. 
 But even if he be gifted with an ordinary amount of cerebral 
 development the concentration of his attention upon a single sub- 
 ject, places him in the most favorable possible condition to be 
 deceived by an} - manoeuvres of the medium or magician, to be 
 still further guided by his suggestions, or to misinterpret real 
 occurrences which may be produced. 
 
 As regards purely imaginary images — that is, images not 
 based on any sensorial impression — the trouble is in the 
 brain. An excess or deficiency of blopd circulating through 
 this organ, or a morbid alteration of its quality, such as is in- 
 duced by alcohol, opium, belladonna, and other similar sub- 
 stances, will often lead to hallucinations. Those of De Quincey, 
 Coleridge, and other opium-eaters, are well known, and several 
 striking instances have come under my own notice. 
 
 Various mental emotions act in a like manner by their in- 
 fluence in deranging the cerebral circulation. A young lady who 
 had overtasked her mind at school, was thrown thereby into a 
 semi-hysterical condition during which she saw spectres of va- 
 rious kinds which passed and repassed rapidly before her all 
 day long. Everything at which she looked appeared to her of 
 enormous size. A head, for instance, seemed to be several 
 feet in diameter, and little children looked like giants. When 
 I took out my watch while examining her pulse, she remarked 
 that it was as large as the wheel of a carriage. Sauvages 
 refers to a somewhat similar case, in which a young woman, 
 suffering from epilepsy, saw dreadful images, and to whom real 
 objects appeared to be greatly magnified. A fly seemed as 
 large as a chicken, and a chicken equalled an ox in size. 
 
CEREBRAL HYPEREMIA. 233 
 
 Physical causes, calculated to increase the amount of blood 
 in the brain or to alter its quality, may give rise to hallucina- 
 tions of various kinds. A gentleman under the professional 
 charge of the writer, can always cause the appearance of images 
 by tying a handkerchief moderately tight around his neck ; 
 and there is one form which is always the first to come and the 
 last to disappear. It consists of a male figure clothed in the 
 costume worn in England three hundred years ago, and bearing 
 a striking resemblance to the portraits of Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 This figure not only imposes on the sight, but also on the hear- 
 ing ; for questions put to it are answered promptly, and with 
 much more intellectual force than those addressed to the 
 so called " spirits." How easy would it be for the gen- 
 tleman subject to this hallucination, were he a believer in spir- 
 itualism, and less intelligent, to imagine that his visitor was 
 a spirit, and that he held converse with the real Sir Walter 
 Raleigh !■ 
 
 A similar instance is related in Nicholson's Journal. * "I 
 know a gentleman," he states, " in the vigor of life, who, in my 
 opinion, is not exceeded by any one in acquired knowledge and 
 originality of deep research ; and who for nine months in suc- 
 cession was always visited by a figure of the same man, threat- 
 ening to destroy him, at the time of his going to rest. It 
 appeared upon his lying down, and instantly disappeared when 
 he resumed the erect position." The explanation here is very 
 simple. The recumbent position facilitated the flow of blood 
 to the brain, and at the same time tended, in a measure, to 
 retard its exit. Hence the appearance of the figure was due 
 to the resulting congestion. As soon as the gentleman rose 
 * Vol. vi., p. 166. 
 
234 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 from bed the reverse conditions existed, the congestion dis- 
 appeared and the apparition went with it. 
 
 The other senses may be individually affected, or may par- 
 ticipate in the general disturbance. It is by no means un- 
 common for physicians to meet with cases in which either the 
 smell, the taste, or the touch is the subject of hallucinatory 
 impressions. A gentleman recently under the care of the 
 writer, is constantly under the idea that he smells turpentine. 
 For a time the conviction was so strong that he could not 
 resist the impulse to search for the origin of this odor, but as 
 he was never once rewarded with success in his efforts, he 
 gradually came to regard the cause as entirely subjective. 
 Still he is never free, except during sleep, from the smell of 
 turpentine in his nostrils. 
 
 Another has the sensation of touch on the top of his head so 
 deranged, that he is sure there is something pressing hard upon 
 his scalp. Even the correction which he is enabled to give 
 through the ends of his fingers does not suffice to eradicate the 
 idea. He resists, as well as he is able, for several minutes at 
 a time, and then, goaded on by the sensation "that there is 
 something there," he raises his hand to remove it, only to be 
 undeceived for a brief period. 
 
 Mayo * relates the case of a Herr von Baezko, already sub- 
 ject to hallucinations, his right side weak from paralysis, his 
 right eye blind, and the vision of the left imperfect, who, while 
 one evening engaged in translating a pamphlet into Polish, sud- 
 denly felt a poke in his back. He turned round and discovered 
 that it proceeded from a negro or Egyptian boy, apparently 
 
 * Lessons on the truths contained in Popular Superstitions, Frankfort 
 on-the-Maine, 1849, P- 47- 
 
SIM UL TANEO US DECEP TION. 23S 
 
 about twelve years of age. Although convinced that the whole 
 was an hallucination, he thought it best to knock the appari- 
 tion down., when he felt that it offered a sensible resistance. 
 The boy then attacked him on the other side and gave his left 
 arm a peculiarly disagreeable twist, when Baczko again pushed 
 him off. The negro continued to visit him constantly during 
 four months, preserving the same appearance and remaining 
 tangible, then he came seldomer, and finally appearing as a 
 brown colored apparition with an owl's head, he took his 
 leave. 
 
 The fact that multitudes may be simultaneously impressed 
 with the same belief, is no guaranty that this belief is founded 
 on reality. A great many otherwise sensible people have been 
 convinced that the blood of St. Januarius periodically under- 
 goes liquefaction ; yet those, whose education and habits of 
 thought teach them to look upon such so-called miracles with 
 distrust, are not brought to accept the truth of the legend, 
 because many thousands of other persons have received it in 
 full faith. 
 
 Josephus * states that " a few days after the feast of the 
 Passover, on the twenty-iirst day of the month Artemisius, a 
 certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared. I 
 suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable were it not 
 related by .those that saw it, and were not the events that fol- 
 lowed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals ; 
 for, before sun-setting, chariots, and troops of soldiers in their 
 armor, were seen running about among the clouds, and sur- 
 rounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast, which we call Pen- 
 
 * The works of Flavius Josephus ; translated by William Whiston, 
 A.M., Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge. The 
 Wars of the Jews, chap, vi, book vi. 
 
236 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 tecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner court 
 of the temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred 
 ministrations, they said that in the first place they felt a quak- 
 ing and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a great 
 sound as of a great multitude saying, 'Let us remove hence.' " 
 
 The army of Constantine saw the cross in the sky, with the 
 legend " In hoc signo vinces." The Crusaders were often wit- 
 nesses of like imaginary prodigies. At the battle of Antioch 
 " a squadron was seen to descend from the summit of the 
 mountains, preceded by three ' horsemen, clothed in white and 
 covered with shining armor. ' Behold,' cried Bishop Adelman, 
 'the heavenly succor which was promised to you; Heaven 
 declares for the Christians ; the holy martyrs St. George, 
 Demetrius and Theodore come to fight for you.' Immediately 
 all eyes were turned towards the celestial legions. A new ardor 
 inspired the Christians, who were persuaded that God himself 
 was coming to their aid."* 
 
 Ferrier f quotes an Italian writer to the effect that upon one 
 occasion, in the streets of Florence, a crowd was assembled 
 earnestly beholding the image of an angel hovering in the sky. 
 A philosopher explained to the excited multitude that the cir- 
 cumstance was a deception caused by a mist which partially 
 covered the dome of a church, surmounted by the gilded figure 
 of an angel, in such a manner as to allow the image to be 
 illuminated by the rays of the sun. Without the presence of 
 this sensible man the event would have passed for a super- 
 natural appearance. 
 
 It is only necessary to refer to the writers of three or four 
 
 * Michaud's History of the Crusades. Translated from the French by 
 W. Robson, London, 1852. Vol. I., p. 175. 
 
 t An Essay towards a Theory of Apparitions, London, 1813, p. 28.' 
 
ILL USIONS OF SIGHT. 237 
 
 hundred years ago to discover how common were the supposed 
 miraculous events by which whole communities were deceived.* 
 And we see at the present day by the yearly example afforded 
 by the pretended liquefaction of the blood of St. Januar'ius in 
 Naples, just referred to, that even our own time is not exempt 
 from instances (besides those which illustrate the power of 
 spiritualism in this respect) of large numbers of people being 
 simultaneously subjected to illusions or hallucinations. Thus 
 Hibbert, f quoting from Ellis's edition of Brand's Popular Anti- 
 quities, relates the story of a sea captain of Newcastle-upon- 
 Tyne, as follows : " His cook," he said, " chanced to die on 
 their passage homeward. This honest fellow having had one 
 of his legs a little shorter than the other, used to walk in that 
 way which our vulgar idiom calls ' an up and a down.' A few 
 nights after his body had been committed to the deep, our 
 captain was alarmed by his mate with an account that the cook 
 was walking before the ship, and that all hands were on deck 
 to see him. The captain, after an oath or two for having been 
 disturbed, ordered them to let him alone and try which, the 
 ship or he, should first get to Newcastle. But turning out on 
 further importunity, he honestly confessed that he had like to 
 have caught the contagion, for, on seeing something move 
 in a way so similar to that which his old friend used, and 
 withal having a cap on so like that which he was wont to wear, 
 he verily thought there was more in the report than he was at 
 first willing to believe. A general panic diffused itself. He 
 
 * For instance "Prodigiorum ac ostentorum Chronicon per Conradum 
 Lycosthenem. Basileae, MDLVII." 
 
 t Sketches of the Philosophy of Apparitions, etc, 2nd edition, Edin- 
 burgh, 1825, p. 16. 
 
 T* 
 
238 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 ordered the ship to be steered towards the object, but not a 
 man would move the helm ! Compelled to do this himself, he 
 found on a nearer approach that the ridiculous cause of all 
 their terror was part of a main-top, the remains of some 
 wreck, floating before them. Unless he had ventured to make 
 this nearer approach to the supposed ghost, the tale of the 
 walking cook had long been in the mouths and excited the 
 fears of many honest and very brave fellows in the Wapping of 
 Newcastle-upon-Tyne.'' 
 
 Dr. D. H. Tuke,* in his recent very interesting work, gives 
 the following instance : — 
 
 " A curious illustration of the influence of the imagination 
 in magnifying the perceptions of sensorial impressions de- 
 rived from the outer world, occurred during the conflagration 
 at the Crystal Palace in the winter of 1866-7. When the 
 animals were destroyed by the fire, it was supposed that the 
 chimpanzee had succeeded in escaping from his cage. Attract- 
 ed to the roof with this expectation in full force, men saw the 
 unhappy animal holding on to it and writhing in agony to get 
 astride one of the iron ribs. It need not be said that its 
 struggles were watched by those below with breathless suspense, 
 and as the newspapers informed us, with ' sickening dread.' 
 But there was no animal whatever there, and all this feeling was 
 thrown away upon a tattered piece of blind, so torn as to re- 
 semble to the eye of fancy, the body, arms and legs of an ape." 
 
 It is even possible for considerable bodies of men to be 
 
 affected simultaneously by the same dream. Laurent f relates 
 
 the following remarkable event : — 
 
 * Illustrations of the Influence of the Mind upon the Body in Health 
 and Disease, etc., London, 1872, p. 44. 
 
 t Grand Dictionnaire de Me'decine, t. xxxiv., Art. Incubi, par M. Parent 
 
DREAMS. «39 
 
 " The first battalion of the regiment of Latour d'Auvergne, 
 of which I was surgeon-major, while in garrison at Palmi in 
 Calabria, received orders to march at once to Tropea in order 
 to oppose the landing from a fleet which threatened that part of 
 the country. It was in the month of June, and the troops had 
 to march about fifty miles. They started at midnight, and did 
 not arrive at their destination till seven o'clock in the evening, 
 resting but little on the way and suffering much from the heat 
 of the sun. When they reached Tropea they found their camp 
 ready and their quarters prepared, but as the battalion had 
 come from the farthest point and was the last to arrive, they 
 were assigned the worst barracks, and thus eight hundred men 
 were lodged in a place which, in ordinary times, would not have 
 sufficed for half their number. They were crowded together 
 on straw placed on the bare ground, and being without cover- 
 ing, were not able to undress. The building in which they 
 were placed was an old, abandoned abbey, and the inhabitants 
 had predicted that they would not be able to stay there all 
 night in peace, as it was frequented by ghosts, which had dis- 
 turbed other regiments quartered there. We laughed at their 
 credulity ; but what was our surprise to hear about midnight 
 the most frightful cries proceeding from every corner of the 
 abbey, and to see the soldiers rushing terrified from the build- 
 ing. I questioned them in regard to the cause of their alarm, 
 and all replied that the devil lived in the building, and that 
 they had seen him enter by an opening, into their room, under 
 the figure of a very large dog with long, black hair, and throw- 
 ing himself upon their chests for an instant, had disappeared 
 through another opening in the opposite side of the apartment. 
 We laughed at their consternation, and endeavored to prove to 
 
240 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 them that the phenomenon was due to a very simple and 
 natural cause and was only the effect of their imagination ; but 
 we failed to convince them, nor could we persuade them to 
 return to their barracks. They passed the night scattered 
 along the sea shore, and in various parts of the town. In the 
 morning I questioned anew the non-commissioned officers and 
 some of the oldest soldiers. They assured me that they 
 were not accessible to fear ; that they did not believe in dreams 
 or ghosts, but that they were fully persuaded they had not 
 been deceived as to the reality of the events of the preceding 
 night. They said that they had not fallen asleep when the 
 dog appeared, that they had obtained a good view of him, and 
 that they were almost suffocated when he leaped on their 
 breasts. 
 
 "We remained all day at Tropea, and the town being full of 
 troops we were forced to retain the same barracks, but we 
 could not make the soldiers sleep in them again without oui 
 promise that we would pass the night with them. I went there 
 at half-past eleven with the commanding officer ; the other 
 officers were, more for curiosity's sake than anything else, 
 distributed in the several rooms. We scarcely expected to 
 witness a repetition of the events of the preceding night, for the 
 soldiers had gone to sleep, reassured by the presence of their 
 officers, who remained awake. But about one o'clock, in all 
 the rooms at the same time, the cries of the previous night 
 were repeated, and again the soldiers rushed out to escape the 
 suffocating embraces of the big, black dog. We had all re- 
 mained awake watching eagerly for what might happen, but, 
 as may be supposed, we had seen nothing. 
 
 "The enemy's fleet having disappeared, we returned next day 
 
ANIMAL ELECTRICITY. 241 
 
 to Palmi. Since that event we have marched through the 
 kingdom of Naples in all directions, and in all seasons, but 
 the phenomena have not been reproduced. We are of opinion 
 that the forced march which the troops had been obliged to 
 make during a very hot day, by fatiguing the organs of respi- 
 ration, had weakened the men, and consequently disposed them 
 to experience these attacks of nightmare. The constrained 
 position in which they had been obliged to lie, the fact of their 
 not being undressed, and the bad air they were obliged to 
 breathe, doubtless aided in the production." 
 
 There are two forces resulting from vitality, which may or 
 may not be correlative, but which are of such a nature that 
 some of their more unusual manifestations excite the astonish- 
 ment of the vulgar, and are inexplicable to many who consider 
 themselves learned. These are the mind, and animal electri- 
 city. The latter, thanks to the investigations of Nobili, Matte- 
 ucci, Miiller, Du Bois-Reymond, and others, is beginning to be 
 understood, and its phenomena reduced to fixed laws. All our 
 knowledge of animal electricity tends to show that it does not 
 differ in any essential particular from the galvanism developed 
 outside of the body by chemical action ; and that the tissues 
 of the organism, the bones, muscles, nerves, etc., act toward it 
 precisely as they do toward the galvanism which passes along 
 an iron or copper wire and sets a telegraphic instrument in 
 operation. It is impossible for us, therefore, to attribute any 
 of the real or false manifestations of modern spiritualism to 
 this forces and those persons who do so, show themselves to 
 be not fully acquainted either with what is asserted of spiritual- 
 ism, or with electricity in its internal or external relations with 
 the animal body. The idea that tables are moved, knocks 
 
242 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 made, and apparitions produced by the electricity of the body, 
 is simply absurd. 
 
 The mind — under which term are included perception, the 
 intellect, the emotions, and the will — is ordinarily supposed to 
 have its seat wholly in the brain. That its higher manifesta- 
 tions are due to cerebral action is doubtless true ; but holding 
 the view that where there is gray nerve-tissue, there nervous 
 power is generated, the writer believes — and physiology and 
 pathology fully support the opinion — that the spinal cord and 
 sympathetic system are capable of originating certain kinds of 
 mental influence, which, when the brain is quiescent, may be 
 wonderfully intensified. The physiology of the nervous system 
 is by no means even tolerably well understood. Science has, 
 for ages, been fettered by theological and metaphysical dogmas, 
 which give the mind an existence independent of the nervous 
 system, and which teach that it is an entity which sets all the 
 functions of the body in action, and of which the brain is the 
 seat. There can be no scientific inquiry relative to matters of 
 faith — facts alone admit of investigation ; and hence, so long 
 as psychology was expounded by teachers who had never even 
 seen a human brain, much less a spinal cord or sympathetic 
 nerve, who knew absolutely nothing of nervous physiology, 
 and who, therefore, taught from a stand-point which had not a 
 single fact to rest upon, it was not to be expected that the true 
 science of mind could make much progress. It is different 
 now, but the majority of physiologists have scarcely yet thrown 
 off the trammels of the past, and, therefore, barely going a step 
 in advance of Descartes — who confounded the mind with the 
 soul, and lodged it in the pineal gland — they attribute all 
 mental action to the brain alone. 
 
DEFINITION OF MIND. 243 
 
 Before we can be qualified to inquire into the powers of the 
 mind, we must have a definite conception of what mind is. 
 To express the idea in sufficiently full, but yet concise, lan- 
 guage is difficult, and perhaps no definition can be given 
 which will be entirely free from objection. For the purposes, 
 however, of the present memoir, the mind may be regarded as 
 a force, the result of nervous action and the elements of 
 which are perception, intellect, the emotions and the will. 
 Of these qualities some reside exclusively in the brain, but the 
 others, as is clearly shown by observation and experiment, 
 cannot be restricted to this organ, but are developed with 
 more or less intensity by other parts of the nervous 
 system. It would be out of place to enter fully into the con- 
 sideration of the important questions thus touched upon, but in 
 the fact that the spinal cord and sympathetic ganglia are not 
 devoid of mental power we find an explanation of some of the 
 most striking phenomena to which the attention of the reader 
 has been directed. 
 
 But within the past few years several systematic forms of 
 delusions have been originated, which are now receiving 
 notice not only from emotional clergymen, but from hard- 
 headed doctors of medicine. Two of these, the so-called 
 "metal therapeutics" and "Our Lady of Lourdes," have 
 been considered probably at sufficient length in other parts 
 of this book ; the other, the alleged miraculous appearance 
 at Knock, in Ireland, does not differ essentially from the like 
 phenomena at Lourdes, either in the hallucination of vision 
 which was the starting-point, or in the subsequent cures 
 effected at the place. Still the curative influence "of metals 
 applied to various parts of the body has been endorsed by 
 
244 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 Prof. Charcot of Paris, and other French physicians, and 
 the " miracles " at Lourdes and Knock have been accepted 
 by an eminent and conscientious Episcopal clergyman of this 
 city, the Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr. It seems to me, 
 therefore, that a few remarks relative to more recent experi- 
 ments of my own, bearing upon the subject — for in reality 
 "metal therapeutics" and the miracles of Lourdes and 
 Knock constitute one subject — will not be out of place. A 
 few extracts from a lecture* delivered to the medical class of 
 the University of New York, on April 18th, 1878, will serve 
 very well as a part of these remarks. 
 
 Some years ago, in looking up the subject of delusions 
 and impostures, I came across a matter, which for the time 
 interested me, and which I made the subject of several 
 experiments. This was the "metal-cure," invented or dis- 
 covered by Dr. Burq, of Paris. 
 
 Now, as I have said, I performed, two years ago, a num- 
 ber of experiments according to Dr. Burq's method ; but as 
 they, led to no different results from those I am about to show 
 you, I let the matter drop, placing the whole system in the 
 category with the " metallic tractors " of Perkins, the " powder 
 of sympathy " of Sir Kenelm Digby, the " od force " of Reich- 
 enbach, and numerous other delusions of like character which 
 have from time to time obtained a false position, to be over- 
 whelmed by scientific investigation. You may judge, then, of 
 my surprise to learn, a few months since, that so able and 
 learned a physician as M. Charcot, of Paris, had become a 
 convert to Dr. Burq's metal therapeutics, and was curing 
 
 * Reported in The Medical <Sr" Surgical Reporter, May 18th, 1878. 
 
METAL CURE. 245 
 
 cases of hystero-epilepsy by placing bands or plates of brass 
 or copper on the bodies and limbs of the afflicted patients of 
 the Salpetriere. Before, however, considering these and my 
 own results more at length, let me explain to you a little more 
 fully Dr. Burq's method of procedure. The source of my in- 
 formation is a translation, by Dr. Elliotson, of a paper fur- 
 nished for a very remarkable periodical* he edited several 
 years ago. I find that Dr. Burq submitted several communi- 
 cations to the French Academy of Medicine, which were re- 
 ferred to a commission, for inquiry and report, but after a 
 careful search through the Bulletin de VAcademie de Medecine 
 I have been unable to find that any report was ever made ; 
 and Dr. Burq admits that when he came to exhibit his system 
 to the commission he obtained nothing but failures, although 
 he had the advantage of selecting the cases he deemed most 
 suitable for a display of its power. And at the seance of 
 November 14, 1854,1 he withdrew two letters which, in 1852 
 and 1853, he had addressed to the Academy relative to the 
 use of metals as preventives and curatives of cholera morbus. 
 
 "All affections of the nervous system," says Dr. Burq, "are 
 characterized either by, 1, the absence of anaesthesia and 
 amyosthenia (loss of the power of motion) ; or, 2, the pres- 
 ence of these conditions '' — a truism admitting of no dispute. 
 And he concludes as follows : 
 
 " Hysteria, hypochondriasis, the majority of spasms and 
 neuralgias, or visceralgias, and we may add by anticipation 
 
 *" The Zoist ; a Journal of Cerebral Physiology and Mesmerism, and 
 their Applications to Human Welfare." London, July, 1852 ; October, 
 1852 ; and July, 1853. 
 
 \ Bulletin de V Academic de Midecine, t. xx, p. 193. 
 
246 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 even a certain number of forms of insanity, are only the same 
 affection differently manifested, but every form of which, 
 however diversified, arises from a defect of equilibrium be- 
 tween the healthy promotion and expenditure of the nervous 
 influence. Only two kinds of symptoms constitute them : i, 
 Negative, or anervous symptoms, arising from the more or 
 less complete absence of the nervous element in the organs 
 which display them ; 2, Positive or hypernervous symptoms, 
 which result, on the contrary, from excessive nervous afflux ; 
 3, Anassthesia and amyosthenia, occupying the highest place 
 among the negative symptoms, may consequently be regarded 
 as a sort of touchstone of the disease, calculated to point out 
 the most suitable means of cure.'' And from these premises 
 which, to say the least, embody very bad pathology, Dr. Burq 
 concludes further : 
 
 " That a nervous affection with anaesthesia and amyos- 
 thenia being given, all the treatment consists in discovering 
 an agent or means, whatever they may be (mesmerism, baths, 
 gymnastic exercises, metals employed internally and extern- 
 ally, etc.), capable of bringing back the sensibility and motility 
 to the natural state. 
 
 " The best agent known, the action of which almost never 
 fails, is a metal which is a good conductor of electricity ; and 
 that, according to certain affinities still a mystery to us, is in 
 some cases copper, in others steel, in others silver, gold, etc." 
 
 The apparatus necessary, according to Dr. Burq, consists 
 of a dynamometer, from twenty-four to forty little plates of all 
 kinds of metals, pure or alloyed, and some pins of platinum 
 and steel. On visiting a patient, the sensibility and motility 
 
METAL CURE. 247 
 
 must be first ascertained ; the former by pricking the skin 
 with one of the pins, and the latter with the dynamometer. 
 Then one or more of the little plates should be applied, be- 
 ginning with those of copper or steel, to the parts where the 
 sensibility is most defective, till we arrive at a metal which re- 
 stores it. Then a ring of the same metal, from three to five 
 inches wide, is to be put around the limb which is most anaes- 
 thetic and amyosthenic, and if after an hour or two the patient 
 experiences a sense of tingling on the anaesthetic surface, heat 
 and sweating, and a decided increase in the sensibility and 
 strength, we have only to construct a "general armature," 
 composed of two large rings for each extremity, two large 
 plates for the trunk, and a crown for the forehead \ii this 
 latter should be deemed necessary), and we have put our 
 patient in the best possible condition to insure recovery. 
 
 These appliances should preferably be put on at bedtime, 
 and should remain two, four, eight or ten hours, according to 
 the intensity of the effects desired. 
 
 By this procedure Dr. Burq asserts that the cramps of 
 cholera, various neuralgias, hypochondriasis, hysteria, amen- 
 orrhcea, chlorosis, paralysis, headache, insanity, etc., were 
 effectually cured. Without further alluding to these results, 
 or going into details, permit me to read to you the following 
 report of one of his cases, as an illustration of his method of 
 operating : 
 
 " Hysteria, Chlorosis, Daily Vomiting for Many Months- 
 Rapid Cure with Brass Rings. In June, 1850, a young 
 hysterical and chlorotic girl, affected also with anaesthesia, 
 amyosthenia, amenorrhoea, and dyspepsia, was two months 
 
248 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 in one of Dr. Rostan's wards, vomiting every day almost all 
 the solids and fluids which she was prevailed upon to swal- 
 low. Iron, it is remarkable, had been prescribed in vain, as 
 well as many other substances, and only pills of oxide of 
 zinc had appeared to do a little good. 
 
 " Chance having led me to examine this patient, the eminent 
 physician of the Hotel Dieu kindly allowed me to try my 
 treatment. I began by ascertaining the suitable metal, and 
 it proved to be brass, in plates. Afterward the Committee of 
 the Academy, many distinguished physicians, Drs. Jobert (de 
 Lamballe), Hourteloup, Pasquier, Beau, Tardieu, and Gos- 
 selin, whom I had assembled to witness the power of the 
 metals on sensibility and motility, and Dr. Rostan himself, 
 and his numerous clinical pupils, had satisfied themselves 
 that this metal, applied experimentally, removed the anes- 
 thesia and analgesia at the spot of its application and no- 
 where else. 
 
 '' On the 6th of June, in the evening, I made a general ap- 
 plication of brass. The next day general and special sensi- 
 bility had returned to three-quarters of the surface, and the 
 muscular power had mounted to from ten to sixteen kilo- 
 grammes on the right side. The patient was greatly fatigued 
 by the spoliation which the metal had effected, and even in 
 the morning asked for food, and took it with pleasure, and 
 digested it properly. 
 
 " In the evening, and on the following days, a fresh applica- 
 tion of the brass armature was made at night ; and after the 
 second day of the treatment, sensibility and motility having 
 become almost natural, the patient, who has not vomited sub- 
 
METAL CURE. 249 
 
 sequently to the sixth, is no longer satisfied with the full diet 
 (four portions), and does all sorts of little jobs for the sister 
 of the ward, to gain additional allowance. Five or six days 
 more pass, during which the color of the skin shows a ten- 
 dency to become natural, and the bellows sound lessens more 
 and more in the two carotids. 
 
 " On the 16th and 17th' the catamenia, which had been ab- 
 sent several months, returned so abundantly, under the influ- 
 ence of the metal applied to the stomach and lower extremi- 
 ties, that the patient fancied she was flooding. 
 
 "On the 1 8th, sensibility natural; pressure forty kilo- 
 grammes. We suspend the use of the metal, and gradually, 
 first the anaesthesia and amyosthenia, then the attacks of in- 
 digestion and vomiting returned, and with the latter all the 
 symptoms of chlorosis. 
 
 " June 26th. — Analgesia of the upper extremities ; diminu- 
 tion of taste and smell ; pressure by the right hand twenty 
 kilogrammes, instead of forty kilogrammes ; weakness of the 
 legs. 
 
 " I resumed the metals permanently, and the return of sen- 
 sibility and motility again preceded the reestablishment of 
 the digestive functions, and the return of the healthy compo- 
 sition of the blood. 
 
 " At the end of two months the patient, being perfectly 
 cured, left the H6tel Dieu, after having acted as a servant in 
 the wards for six weeks." 
 
 So much for Dr. Burq's original investigations. 
 
 During last winter, M. Charcot, of Paris, whom you all 
 know as an eminent neurologist, delivered a lecture on this 
 
250 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 subject at the great Salpetriere hospital, in which he an- 
 nounced himself as a believer in Dr. Burq's system, especially 
 in the treatment of hystero-epilepsy. Two new features are 
 declared by M. Charcot to have been discovered by himself : 
 1. Transfer phenomena are observed, and are said to consist 
 in the transfer of anaesthesia, for instance, from one place on 
 the arm to the exactly corresponding place on the other arm, 
 and all through the influence of the piece of metal applied to 
 the original insensitive surface. 2. The restoration of the 
 faculty of discriminating between colors when this power is 
 lost in hysterical patients. A girl, for instance, who could 
 not tell one color from another, had the perception restored 
 by a piece of gold ring held for a little while on the tem- 
 ple* 
 
 But upon M. Charcot's observations I do not intend to 
 dwell, for they are part of the current medical literature, and 
 you can readily refer to them in the periodicals should you 
 desire to do so. I think I can show you in a few minutes 
 just how much there is in Dr. Burq's metal therapeutics. 
 You will probably discover that there is a good deal in it, but 
 I scarcely think you will determine that it is exactly what 
 he and M. Charcot declare it to be. I have here a small box 
 containing several sharp needles of gold, steel, and platina, 
 and a number of pieces of metals of various kinds, and of 
 other substances not metallic. Among the metals are gold, 
 silver, copper, steel, brass, zinc, bronze, lead, nickel, platina, 
 tin, etc. Among the non-metallic substances are hard rub- 
 
 * " Metalloscopy and Metallo-Therapy Applied to the Treatment of 
 Grave Hysteria," December 30, 1878. London Lancet, January 19, Feb- 
 ruary 2, and March 2, 1878. 
 
METAL CURE. 251 
 
 ber, wood, ivory, tortoise shell, etc. They are all of the size 
 and shape of a twenty-five cent piece. 
 
 Now, I will call in from the waiting-room a female pa- 
 tient, an epileptic, and who is, moreover, strongly hysterical. 
 I will give her to understand that I am about to apply a new 
 system of practice, the accounts of which, from Paris, are 
 very strong in its favor, as a curative agent in diseases like 
 hers. I will tell her that by the application, in a particu- 
 lar way, of a plate of gold to her arm, the nervous system 
 will be so strongly impressed that she will experience very re- 
 markable sensations in the part, and that in a short time 
 thereafter the feeling of that and the neighboring regions will 
 be entirely destroyed. But instead of using a gold disk I 
 will take one of these of tortoise shell or ivory, and you will 
 probably find that all the phenomena I have mentioned will 
 be produced. I may fail, for I have made no experiments on 
 this girl, and it is not every case that is favorable. A fact 
 which Dr. Burq did not fail to remark. 
 
 [The patient, a girl of fifteen, now entered the lecture- 
 room, and Dr. Hammond, after describing the case to the 
 class, addressed her as above, and then resumed.] 
 
 You see, gentlemen, that the sensibility is intact, for when 
 I prick the skin of any part of the left arm, she winces, and 
 the blood flows readily. I now press this little disk (tortoise 
 shell) on the surface of the back of the wrist, and hold it 
 there firmly a few moments. The patient says it begins to 
 feel warm, and- that a sensation of heat extends up the arm. 
 In a minute or two longer I think the sensibility will be en- 
 • tirely destroyed, and then I shall stick this steel needle into 
 the arm, and I venture to say she will not feel it. 
 
252 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 [The lecturer waits about two minutes, during which time 
 the patient repeatedly calls attention to the fact that 
 she feels queer sensations in the arm. Suddenly she says 
 the feeling is all gone ; Dr. Hammond removes the disk 
 of tortoise shell, and thrusts the needle into the arm beneath, 
 to the extent of half an inch. The patient gives no evidence 
 of sensibility, does not appear to know that the skin is 
 pierced. Other punctures are made in various parts of the 
 arm, above and below, and all are anaesthetic] 
 
 You see, gentlemen, that the experiment has entirely suc- 
 ceeded. It would be perfectly easy to get like results from 
 any part of her body. I will now ask her to leave the room 
 while I explain the matter more fully to you 
 
 You have seen what effects were apparently produced by 
 the little tortoise-shell disk, which she took to be gold. I 
 will now show you that when properly managed, exactly op- 
 posite effects can be got from the tortoise shell. You can, 
 in fact, make it blow hot and cold with the same breath. I 
 am going now to use the tortoise-shell disk on the opposite 
 arm, telling her that it is platina, a metal of' which she does 
 not know much, if anything, and that the effect will be to 
 cause pain in the arm, and to make it more than naturally 
 sensitive. 
 
 [The patient is again called in, and is told that a platina 
 disk will be applied to the right arm, and that the effect will 
 be to cause intense pain, and to render the arm very sensi- 
 tive to the prick of the needle. The tortoise-shell disk is 
 placed on the back of the right wrist, and it hardly touches 
 the skin before she begins to complain pf shooting pains up 
 
METAL CURE. 253 
 
 the arm, reaching even to the neck. These, as she declares, 
 increase in intensity till the disk, at the end of four minutes, 
 is removed, in order to obviate her sufferings. The skin is 
 now barely pricked with the needle, and she screams with 
 pain. Another patient, a woman suffering from apparent 
 cerebellar disease, is introduced, and like experiments are 
 successfully performed upon her. Dr. Hammond then con- 
 tinues.] 
 
 During the last two weeks I have cured several parox- 
 ysms of migraine by applying some one of the disks (it does 
 not matter which) to the forehead, and have restored sensi- 
 bility to a hemi-anaesthetic and hysterical lady by fastening 
 disks of hard rubber to the arm and leg with bands of adhe- 
 sive plaster, so that she could not see what was underneath. 
 I have not tried to transfer anaesthesia from one side of the 
 body to the other, or to restore the perception of color, but I 
 will show you both these phenomena soon, and probably sev- 
 eral others not discovered by MM. Burq and Charcot. 
 
 I will show you one of these, and you can practise it on 
 yourselves. Doubtless in some cases it has something to do 
 with the result, 
 
 I take this disk (it happens to be copper, but any other 
 will serve the purpose) and press it on the back of the wrist 
 for a few minutes while I go on talking. You will see when 
 I take it off and stick a needle into the skin that the blood 
 does not flow, and I will be able to tell you, with entire truth, 
 that I do not feel any pain or even a sensation from the 
 wound. I confess that when I first did this I was for a mo- 
 ment a little surprised, but I very soon perceived that the 
 
254 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 anaesthesia was due to the pressure of the substance on the 
 skin, and resulted, no matter of what material the disk was 
 composed, so long as the pressure was sufficiently firm. I 
 now take off the disk and stick this needle through a fold of 
 the skin, and I assure you that if I did not see it, I should 
 not know it was there, from any sensation it causes. I pass 
 round among you several disks and needles, and you may try 
 this interesting but very simple experiment for yourselves. 
 
 But to return to our subject as understood by MM. Burq 
 and Charcot. The former thought the results were due to 
 some hitherto unknown quality of the metals ; the latter, 
 without being very positive, seems inclined to adopt this 
 view. The principle of suggestion or expectant attention, 
 which I have so often brought to your attention, was not recog- 
 nized when Dr. Burq first wrote about metal therapeutics ; but 
 M. Charcot strongly repudiates the idea that any such factor 
 has aught to do with the results. In this I am quite sure (as 
 doubtless you are also, from what you have just seen) that he 
 is altogether wrong, and that to this principle and to nothing 
 else the results of metal therapeutics are to be ascribed. They 
 are to be placed in the same category with those obtained 
 from the metallic tractors of our countryman Perkins, and 
 which Dr. Haygarth showed followed equally well on the use 
 of wooden tractors painted to look like the metal ones. It is 
 all nothing but suggestion and expectant attention. You tell 
 the patient what she is to expect, and if she has confidence 
 the prediction will be realized, whether it be an increase of 
 strength, a restoration of the perception of color, or the pro- 
 duction of anassthesia or hypersesthesia. Why, there are doz- 
 
METAL CURE. 255 
 
 ens of cases on record of hysterically paralysed men and 
 women starting from their beds, or throwing away their 
 crutches, under the influence of the fear of fire, or through 
 the suggestion and expectant attention excited by the Zouave 
 Jacob or our own Newton. We cannot deny these facts any 
 more than we can deny the facts of MM. Burq and Charcot ; 
 but instead of viewing them " unequally," as Czermak puts it, 
 we go a little further than they, and show that it is not from 
 any metallic influence that the phenomena result, but through 
 the operation of a still more remarkable though well recog- 
 nized principle. We have all seen this power exerted in va- 
 rious ways ; we have seen the " biologist " keep the extended 
 arm of his subject in the position in which he has placed it, 
 cause him to taste all kinds of flavors and to experience a 
 dozen different sensations. We have seen rheumatism cured 
 by a piece of sulphur or a horse-chestnut kept in the pocket, 
 and even warts charmed away by incantations of various 
 kinds. The history of medicine abounds with relations of 
 famous systems of cures and wonderful remedies, whose 
 whole power depends upon suggestion and expectant atten- 
 tion. 
 
 But, as I have said, it is nothing to the patient whether he 
 be cured by the direct agency of metals applied to the skin, 
 or by expectant attention, or the principle of suggestion, so 
 long as he is cured ; but let us, at any rate, understand the 
 matter correctly ourselves, and not seek for a mysterious 
 agency when there is a well-recognized force, the action of 
 which we see every day of our lives, and to which all the re- 
 sults can be legitimately ascribed. 
 
25 6 SENSORIAL DECEPTION. 
 
 Since this lecture was delivered I have had many oppor- 
 tunities of repeating the experiments there described, and I 
 have never once found that the metal disks possess any power 
 superior to those of ivory, tortoise shell, wood, etc. Indeed, 
 this fact is beginning to be recognized even in France, for 
 it is found that many sesthesiogenetic agents exist, and a dis- 
 tinct system of medical practice, based on the application of 
 wooden disks to the body, called xylotherapy, has arisen. 
 
 We see from what has been said that there are no persons, 
 even those whose education and practice fit them for detect- 
 ing deception, who may not be readily deceived, and this by 
 exactly the same kinds of fraud which they themselves have 
 been most active in exposing. The confession is a mortify- 
 ing one to make. Let us hope that our knowledge of natural 
 law may go on increasing, till no medical man at least will 
 take the cures by the water of Lourdes, the plaster of Knock, 
 the toe-nail of St. Anthony, or the metals of Burq at more 
 than their full value.