meric atmosphere: it emanated from the hand, was removed by the hand; but what became of it, or If, having once emanated, it is still a floating operating power, remains a subject to be inquired into.
I did not intend, when I took pen in hand, to narrate mesmeric anecdotes, but to speak of claims, and to speculate upon their nature. Anecdotes are too numerous, and every one has a store of them; but the nature, the philosophic conclusion that must be reached in all the facts, is pretty much the same: if one fact limits one power, another does not, so that we must conclude of the general and full power as a thing to be attained when the science shall have reached its ultimate practical point, and have become an art. The several facts in individual cases, each perfect, without limit, made a claim on our belief to the full extent of the supposition I have made. I will, however, as I have been led by the nature of the subject to incidents, mention one or two experiments of which I was a witness; and I do so because they show a further claim of a most extraordinary nature—that of a power of working upon the will, of totally altering the character, of demoralising the whole mind, or otherwise—of turning the good into evil, and the evil into good, and of subduing the mesmerised person to the will of the mesmeriser fearfully. When I say fearfully, do not let it be understood that I am thereby denying it. It may be a very fearful thing, yet very true; but let the ground be well searched.
I had met a professional gentleman—a great mesmerist, and who had published much upon the subject—who spoke of the new phenomena which we would see exemplified at Dr Elliotson's, phenomena connected with phrenology, and which showed how characters were convertible by mesmeric process: for instance, that by exciting (and that without touching it, but by waving the hand over it) the organ of acquisitiveness, a person would be induced to steal anything that came in the way,—"for instance," said he, "the ring off one's finger;" and he showed that on his own. Then, by exciting in the same manner other organs, the thief would become a liar, a proud justifier of the deed, and a combative one; then that, by altering the process, the same thief would become a highly moral character, and abhor theft. We arrived at Dr Elliotson's. There was a large assembly of people, so that what I am narrating was evidently not intended as a private or secret exhibition: did I so consider it, I should be silent. Doubtless, the object was to show the phenomena; and I suppose I can scarcely be considered as acting contrary to that object, by simply narrating what I saw. Two young women were mesmerised by a single wave of the hand to each. After this, the gentleman before alluded to, who stood behind one of these young women, influenced, by a movement of his hand—yet not touching—the organ of acquisitiveness. She immediately put out, in all directions, her restless fingers, as in search of some object to lay bold on; finally she put her hands a little over her head, and did actually take the hand of the professional gentleman who had previously spoken of the phenomenon, and took his ring from his finger. The other young woman was then, by a similar process, excited to a high moral sense; and when told that her companion had stolen the ring, she gravely lectured her upon her criminal conduct. The thief at first denied the fact, which caused the remark that the thief is necessarily a liar; but after a while the organ of pride was excited, and she justified it, and defied her lecturing companion in a tone of great contempt. And now the hand was also over the organ of combativeness, upon which the thief gave a sharp slap of her hand to her moralising companion, and continued the same proud bearing. After this the whole was reversed: the young woman who had acted the good part of justice, became, under mesmeric process, the thief; and the thief took the part of justice—nor was there much variation in the manner of the transaction. I could not, however, but notice to myself that the whole passed as it was previously told me it would pass; and that the very ring was taken which had been shown me as a "for instance" only; and I men-
