is most certain, if the public will not be at the trouble to think upon the subject, and defend itself by common-sense precautions. But the power as it comes from the Creator is pure, and the perversion of it is the work of the creature. The object of man's life here clearly is to separate the good from the evil; "to prove all things, and hold fast that which is good;" and this can be done in Mesmerism, as in anything else: the abuse, and not the use of any great power, is to be dreaded and guarded against. I have great hopes that my experiments will go far to separate the regions of mind and body, which, it seems to me, have been unnecessarily and perplexingly intermingled by former Mesmeric observers; and this will not only simplify the Mesmeric treatment of disease, but remove the principal objection to it; namely-the necessity of acting on the mind, often injuriously, during the cure of a bodily infirmity. It will appear, that in the exercise of the art, as a medical agent of the most benign as well as powerful nature, the mind has never been attempted to be influenced by me, nor has it ever been heard of in my practice. In subjecting my patients to the sanative influence of Mesmerism for bodily complaints, no mental rapport has ever been thought of; and if so much can be done without it, I am sanguine that it will soon be proved to be a tedious and unnecessary complication of the art, and more honoured in the breach than the observance." In the management of mental disease, it will probably be required, and be useful, as the mind depends much more upon organisation than is generally supposed.

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But this is only an extension of the blessing, if the power is wielded in all honour and simplicity of purpose. In this, as in other matters, the danger lies in the company we keep. The possessor of a well-filled purse does not seek the companionship of pick-pockets; and the honest man eschews the society of knaves; and if Mesmerism is thought likely to benefit us, the same common-sense mode of proceeding should influence us in the disposal of our bodies and minds, when affected by disease. I am convinced that in the majority of bodily evils removable by this means, there will be no need to interfere with the mind at all. To do so is a mere travelling out of the record; and where a mixed treatment is required it can be safely adopted, by using the simple precaution of seeking an honest man with the necessary knowledge of the subject; and let us hope that such will soon abound. Many will be disappointed that I have no mental wonders to relate; but no inference against the existence of such wonders can be fairly drawn from the silence of my patients. My researches have been purely physical, and preclude me from getting at the mind at all, for all activity of mind is the natural enemy of the purely physical impressions made upon the system; I therefore seclude the brain from all external impressions as rapidly as possible; the object being to extinguish bodily and mental sensibility together, and altogether; and in proportion to our success in effecting this, is the early inducement of Coma for surgical purposes. It is quite unreasonable to expect to extract music from a fiddle without strings: and I

endeavour to break at a blow, as it were, all the strings of the mind-the five senses. It is true, that this treatment is only required for acute diseases, or to induce insensibility to pain, and it might be expected that in the treatment of chronic diseases, I should be able to elicit the mental phenomena, if they exist in nature. But as my principal object is to ascertain how far this new agent is capable of alleviating bodily suffering, I have purposely kept myself from embarking on the troubled sea of metaphysics, till the more pressing bodily problem shall be solved, and a "terra firma" of indisputable facts created, from whence we may securely, and at leisure, examine, and attempt to understand, the high and mysterious objects above us.

My patients, being the poorest and most ignorant of the people, and convicted felons from the same degraded orders, are the most unfavourable subjects for psychological experiments. As to physique, men are nearly the same all the world over: an universal vital law reduces all to the same level of animal, and the cooly, therefore, may be able to mesmerise the philosopher; but the difference in morale is so great, not only among races, but individuals, as to preclude all sympathy, and to often amount to actual antipathy, and mutual repulsion. Although in producing the physical effects of Mesmerism, I have not seen any necessity for the sympathy and rapport we read so much about, I can readily understand, that in eliciting the higher mental phenomena, these fine mental sympathies may be developed, and be necessary for

the success of the abnormal mental manifestations; but my patients and I have probably too little in common to admit of mental sympathy between us. It will be seen, however, in the chapter on Somnambulism, that I have created a singular bouleversement in the minds of coolies and pariahs even, when under the Mesmeric influence.

The public, when examining a subject so deeply interesting to them, will, I hope, take an enlarged and liberal view of the matter, and look for fundamental and incontrovertible truths, which are practically important, and not allow themselves to be cheated out of their senses and judgment, by the doubtful, mysterious, and theoretical parts of the subject being exclusively dwelt upon, by those who wish Mesmerism to be untrue, or by others who have neither the desire nor capacity to acquire new knowledge. Errors of observation and of judgment must often occur in investigating a new and difficult subject, but I hope such unintentional mistakes will be excused; and wherever they shall be pointed out in my observations, I shall be ready to acknowledge and correct them. Let all doubtful evidence be totally rejected, and a mass of substantial important truth will remain, which, I am confident, the public "will not willingly let die;" for human nature can ill afford to lose any new and promising source of comfort to suffering humanity.

Before concluding these prefatory remarks, I beg the reader not to do me the injustice to think me a Mesmeric doctor, for it would be as true to call me a

rhubarb, jalap, or castor-oil physician. Mesmerism often comes to the aid of my patients, when all the resources of medicine are exhausted, and all the drugs of Arabia useless; and therefore, I consider it to be my duty to benefit them by it, and to assist in making it known for the advantage of mankind.