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Anton Mesmer and Mesmerization: Past and Present

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 Historical Review
Anton Mesmer and Mesmerization: Past and Present
Daniel R. Ricciuto H..B.M.Sc. (OT6)
Abstract
Franz Anton Mesmer first published the phrase “ani-
mal magnetism” in 1775. In the subsequent decade, he
gained much notoriety successfully treating patients ailing
from a variety of maladies using unconventional methods.
Wherever he practiced, he raised controversy. He was
described as a revolutionary physician by some and a
quack by many others. In the end, Mesmer’s flawed the-
ory of animal magnetism was debunked by the Franklin
Commission, and he faded into obscurity, passing away in
1815. Today, he is considered by many medical historians
to have had a crucial role in the development of modern
psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis.
Introduction
Not many historical figures are honoured with a contribu-
tion to the English lexicon, let alone a word as familiar and fre-
quently quoted as “mesmerizing”. The term is used today to
describe an enthralling or spellbinding person or subject. In the
late 18th century, being mesmerized meant you were being
treated by the Viennese physician Franz Anton Mesmer.
The Early Years
Franz Anton Mesmer was born on May 23, 1734 in Iznang,
Germany. His parents, who were “honest, pious and without
means”,4 encouraged Mesmer to become a priest. He went on
to spend 4 years at a monastery school, followed by 4 years
(1750-54) at a Jesuit University in Bavaria to prepare for the
priesthood. However, it was during this time that Mesmer’s
fascination with nature, physics and mathematics began. He
befriended a man who taught him math and the philosophy of
the protestant rationalists Wolff and Leibniz. His Jesuit instruc-
tors disapproved and Mesmer lost his university funding. In
1760 Mesmer began his studies at the flourishing Vienna
Medical School, which was under the direction of Gerhard Van
Swieten. After 6 years of study, Mesmer submitted his disser-
tation, a requirement for the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
This marked the beginning of Mesmer’s controversial career in
medicine.
High Society
Soon after beginning his medical career, Mesmer moved to
Vienna and married a wealthy heiress, Anna Maria von Posch.
He adapted quickly to life in upper class Vienna, befriending
many of the social elite of the time. His acquaintances includ-
ed local aristocracy, royalty and the Mozart family. Mesmer’s
charisma and charm earned him many high-society friends and
faithful supporters, but these relationships never lasted. It
seems Mesmer’s self-absorbed and haughty personality made it
difficult for him to maintain friendships. At the same time,
these aspects of his personality helped to fuel accusations of
charlatanism from the scientific community, despite the absence
of direct evidence that Mesmer deliberately engaged in
quackery.
The Theory of Animal Magnetism
Mesmer’s medical school dissertation “De Planetarum Influxu”
(On the Influence of Planets) is the first hint of the theory of
“animal magnetism”. The dissertation is almost entirely regur-
gitated (and plagiarized) from the work of Richard Mead, a
prominent British physician at the time. Mead postulated the
existence of atmospheric tides that were affected by the orbits
of planets. He believed these tides influenced human disease.
Mesmer, however, added a unique theory, stating that there is
volume 83, number 1, December 2005 135
a force within people that “maintains, relaxes, and disturbs
cohesion and elasticity, irritability, magnetism and electricity,
which may not improperly be called in this respect animal grav-
itation”.4
Mesmer did not actually mention “animal magnetism” until
1775, after successfully treating patients with magnets created by
the Astronomer Royal, Maximillian Hell. In Mesmer’s “A Letter
to the People of Frankfurt”, he defined animal magnetism as
“that property of a person which enables him to produce in
another person the same effects as those produced by the steel
magnet”.4
Over the years, Mesmer developed his theory of animal mag-
netism further. Eventually, he considered all diseases to be
caused by a disturbance or obstruction in the flow of animal
magnetism through the body. His treatments were aimed at
restoring this flow.
Mesmerism
Mesmer’s treatment methods evolved in parallel with his the-
ory of animal magnetism. He began by using magnets to induce
a trance-like state in patients, but eventually conceded that mag-
nets were not necessary. Successful treatments would usually
culminate in a reaction from the patient, ranging from a feeling
of calmness and warmth to violent and dramatic convulsions or
“crises”. His dramatic cures were widely publicized, and his
clientele included many of Vienna’s elite. However, he did not
exclude the destitute and would often treat those without means
pro bono.
Mesmer traveled throughout the German state in order to
demonstrate his methods. One such demonstration earned him
membership to the Munich Academy, the only tribute from a
scientific body in his career.
In 1778, Mesmer left Vienna for Paris where he gained much
notoriety. His popularity grew so rapidly among the Parisian
aristocracy that he had to devise ways to treat the masses. This
led to development of group sessions surrounding a magnetized
baquet (see Figure 1). Mesmer would evoke crises in his patients
with the use of iron rods, a wand, or his hands. The affairs
usually involved several musicians playing in the background.
may be unfair to heap excessive criticism upon Mesmer’s meth-
ods. Of course, this argument did nothing to help Mesmer at
the time.
The Royal Commissions
Reportedly, Mesmer successfully treated patients with disor-
ders such as blindness, intractable pain as well as many other
“hysterical” diseases. Despite fame and success in treating a
variety of ailments, Mesmer wanted nothing more than accep-
tance from the scientific community. However, he did not
want recognition as a successful physician. He wanted to be
praised as a physicist for his discovery of the universal force of
animal magnetism. Despite performing many demonstrations,
Mesmer’s pleas for respect were met only with cynicism. He
even offered to conduct a randomized trial of sorts, putting his
treatment up against conventional practice, but was denied by
his peers.
After threatening to leave Paris, Mesmer was offered a lucra-
tive agreement from the Queen, Marie Antoinette, to remain in
France and continue practicing mesmerism. Arrogantly,
Mesmer rejected this offer with an informal and accusatory let-
ter to the Queen. Shortly thereafter, two Royal Commissions
were assigned to investigate the practice of mesmerism and
make a recommendation on its validity. The first commission,
consisting of 9 members of the Royal Academy of Sciences
including Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier, investigat-
ed mesmerization as practiced by Mesmer’s chief disciple
Charles D’Eslon.

Medicine in the Time of Mesmer

Before criticizing Mesmer’s unorthodox theories and treat-
ment methods, it is important to realize the state of medical
practice in the late 18th century. Modern medical therapies
such as Edward Jenner’s vaccination were being developed and
new scientific discoveries were being made. However, 18th cen-
tury medicine was still dominated by the humoral theory of the
ancient Greeks. Most illnesses were considered to be due to a
blockage or imbalance in one of the four humors: blood,
phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Treatments consisted main-
ly of bleeding, purging, dieting and blistering, and a physician’s
pharmacopoeia contained mostly diuretics, emetics and expec-
torants. If these physicians were given credit for pulling a
patient through all his sicknesses (until the final one, that is), it Figure 1.

136 University of Toronto Medical Journal

 The Royal Commission based their investigation on the fol-
lowing premise: “Animal Magnetism can exist without being
useful, but it cannot be useful if it does not exist”.4 The pres-
ence of a magnetic force was quickly dismissed using an elec-
trometer. They also conducted several clever, blinded experi-
ments testing the therapeutic effect of various concealed objects
that were “magnetized” by D’Eslon. Any treatment effects or
cures were ascribed either to imagination, psychological causes
or fraud.3 After publication of the “Franklin Report”, which
refuted Mesmer’s theory of animal magnetism and the practice
of mesmerization, Mesmer left Paris for the Austrian country-
side. He passed away in relative obscurity in 1815.
Mesmer’s Legacy
Mesmerism was still being practiced, albeit quietly, when
James Braid transformed mesmerism into hypnotism in 1842.
He refuted the presence of animal magnetism and ascribed the
trance-like state Mesmer induced to physiologic processes.
Around the same time, James Esdaile successfully used hypno-
sis for pain control in over 300 operations. In the late 19th
century, the neurologist Jean Martin Charcot advocated the use
of hypnosis for the treatment of hysteria. Later, hypnosis was
given a psychological definition and helped to shape psycho-
logical theory.5
Mesmerism Today
The most obvious correlate of mesmerism used in modern
medical practice is clinical hypnosis. Hypnotism has been
approved as a valid technique for treatment of a variety of dis-
orders by the American Medical Association and American
Psychiatric Association since the mid-20th century. The nature
of hypnosis makes it difficult to perform large randomized con-
trol trials; however, many valid studies support the utility of
hypnosis in medical practice.5 In 1996, the National Institutes
of Health stated that there was “strong evidence for the use of
hypnosis in alleviating pain associated with cancer”.5 Despite
this evidence, many health care professionals remain skeptical
about using hypnosis in medicine, likely due to lack of knowl-
edge and stigma surrounding the treatment. A recent study
showed a significant change in the attitudes of health care
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workers towards clinical hypnotism after receiving education
and information on the topic.6
Although not historically associated with Mesmer, the cur-
rent practice of “therapeutic touch” is more in tune with his
theory of animal magnetism. Therapeutic touch and other
methods of distant healing suggest that healing occurs through
manipulation of energy fields within the body. Skeptics are
convinced that, as was concluded in the time of Mesmer,
reported effects are due to a placebo effect or even fraud.
However, some evidence suggests that there may be significant
benefit of therapeutic touch over placebo. For instance, a
recent randomized control trial suggests that therapeutic touch
decreases behavioural symptoms in patients with dementia.7 As
well, the Cochrane Collaboration is reviewing the evidence for
therapeutic touch in wound healing. Additional high-quality
randomized control trials are necessary to address criticisms of
its validity.
Conclusion
During his quest to prove his theory of animal magnetism
through the successful treatment of patients, Mesmer serendip-
itously stumbled upon the realms of psychotherapy and hyp-
notism. His therapies were rejected not for lack of clinical effi-
cacy, but for flaws in the theory of animal magnetism on which
he based his techniques. Today his legacy lives on, both in the
common English lexicon, and in the current medical treatments
and therapies stemming from his practice of mesmerism.
References
1. Astin JA, Harkness E and Ernst E. (2000). The efficacy of “distant healing”: a
systematic review of randomized trials. Ann Intern Med. 132:903-910.
2. Forrest D. (2002). Mesmer. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 50:295-308.
3. Lynn JL and Lilienfeld S. (2002). A critique of the Franklin commission report:
hypnosis, belief, and suggestion. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 50:369-386.
4. Pattie F. (1994). Mesmer and animal magnetism: a chapter in the history of
medicine. Edmonston Publishing: New York.
5. Stewart JH. (2005). Hypnosis in contemporary medicine. Mayo Clin Proc.
80:511-524.
6. Thomson L. (2003). A project to change the attitudes, beliefs and practices of
health professionals concerning hypnosis. Am J Clin Hypn. 46:31-44.
7. Woods DL, Craven RF and Whitney J. (2005). The effect of therapeutic touch
on behavioural symptoms of persons with dementia. Altern Ther Health Med.
11:66-74.
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