H

production of the phenomena to a fluid, the existence of which is still questioned, for it has not been, and perhaps cannot be, materially demonstrated. Is it, therefore, advisable to build an edifice on questionable ground?

2. Mesmerism, of all the names proposed, is decidedly the most improper; for, in the first place, no true science* has ever been designated by the name of a man, whatever be the claims he could urge in his favor; and secondly, what are the claims of Mesmer to such an honor? He is not the inventor of the practical part of the science, since we can trace the practice of it through the most remote ages; and in that respect, the part which he introduced has been completely abandoned. He proposed for it a theory which was not exactly his own, which is now exploded, and which, on account of its errors, has been fatal to our progress. He never spoke of the phenomena which have rehabilitated our cause among scientific men; and since nothing remains to be attributed to Mesmer, either in the practice and theory, or the discoveries that constitute our science, why should it be called MESMERISM?

3. Neurology has always been the name of that part of anatomy which treats of the nerves and describes them. To apply it to our science is a usurpation calculated to induce error, and that nothing can justify.

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4. Pathetism is a name, to say the least, too indefinite. Its Greek radical, "rados," which means disease or suffering, appears to me to convey a very different idea from that which it is intended to represent.

5. Etherology means a treatise on the most refined part of the air, according to its Latino-Greek etymology; consequently it affords no meaning connected with our subject.

* GALVANISM is nothing but " Electricity," and is entirely replaced by the latter expression in modern treatises of natural philosophy.

There are in the science data so incontestable as to be conceded by our most hostile opponents. Is it not preferable, then, instead of resorting to more or less disputable hypotheses, to find in those data a name less liable to criticism?

The word PsyCODUNAMY defines, as exactly as possible, the power that man possesses of materially acting upon man, independently of touch. It signifies the influence of mind upon the organization, without prejudging or pretending to unravel the secret means of nature to effect the action, let it be through the agency of a fluid more or less analogous to electricity-let it be through the undulations. of a particular medium-let it be through sympathythrough the imagination-or even through a combination more or less complicated of those different ways-the name in itself designates only that special faculty of the living man, which the commissioners of 1784 have been themselves compelled to acknowledge; and to prove it, I will quote here the very words in which they summed up their report:

"That which we learned, or at least ascertained in a clear and satisfactory manner, by our examination of the phenomena of Magnetism, is, that 'man can act upon man' at all times, and almost at will, by striking his imagination; that signs and gestures the most simple, are then sufficient to produce the most powerful effects; that this action of man upon his fellow may be reduced to an art, and successfully conducted after a certain method, when exercised upon patients who have faith in the proceedings."

This passage of a report, which has been considered by many as a death-blow to our cause, shows, nevertheless, that the commissioners of 1784 did admit, in terms the most explicit, the powerful influence of man upon man, and even its successful results when conducted with method. Therefore, if instead of having been called

"Animal Magnetism," with reference to the supposed cause of the phenomena, the science had received a name which would have meant only the vital power of acting on our fellows, as Psycodunamy does, that same report, far from being unfavorable, would have decidedly confirmed the sole important point, viz: "the production of very remarkable and beneficial organic phenomena, in some known circumstances, where man is the agent." It is only respecting the theoretical and primary cause of those phenomena that Mesmer and the commissioners were at variance, the one asserting that it is a fluid, the others that it is imagination. But, does the faculty of creating the phenomena exist more or less by being referred to the imagination or to a fluid? and, be it as it may, are the phenomena themselves less momentous and less true in any case?

The mania of hastily building up a theory, which has been at all times so fatal to the progress of the sciences in general, and especially of medicine, exerted here again its baneful influence. "Animal Magnetism," on account of its theoretical name, has been declared a chimera, while Psycodunamy would have been welcomed as an important truth. And this was unavoidable; for so long as man, when studying nature, instead of a careful and attentive observation of facts, will resort to hypotheses about primary causes, he will necessarily lose himself in useless and erroneous speculations, and call on them the just censure of more reflective minds. In his endeavors to lift up a corner of the veil that covers the mysteries of creation, it is folly in man to pretend to ascertain the essence of primary causes. In vain would he to-day pursue that which escaped his yesterday's researches; for before the unfathomable wisdom of Him from whom primary causes emanate, all the pretensions and vanity of our philosophers sink under admiration and respect.

CHAPTER II.

PSYCODUNAMY US. PREJUDICES.

To expose all the errors and prejudices of mankind, would be to write the complete history of the whole world. Religion, politics, law, morals, education, literature, arts, sciences, and among the latter, medicine, in particular, have always been, and still are, fraught with so many errors and prejudices, that the true and enlightened philanthropist cannot but wonder, in deep sorrow, how little, in that respect, experience has taught the human family. It would indeed be a task much more difficult to perform than the far-famed labors of Hercules, to unmask all the hypocrites, politicasters, pettifoggers, sophists, pedants, poetasters, quacks, and charlatans of every description, that are everywhere encumbering our path; and moreover, in confining myself to the narrow circle that I am about to enter, I shall encounter opposition enough without arraying against me an innumerable, intolerant, and unrelenting army, which would mercilessly have crushed me into atoms before I could find one ear willing to listen to my reasons.

However, there exist many timorous persons, who, without examination, recede from any thing that is pointed out to them as possessing even the remotest affinity to impious doctrines. It is important to cure them of their scruples, by demonstrating that the psycodunamic principles and practice are the very reverse of that which they have been represented to them.

It is against Christian faith to believe that evil spirits are operating works of charity; and since Psycodunamy

has no other end but the relief of sufferers, does it not evidently proceed from God, and not from Satan? Psycodunamic practice, founded on benevolence and compassion, bears thus the very sign which, according to Saint Augustin, characterizes the sons of God, and distinguishes them from the sons of the spirit of darkness.

Far from militating against religion, Psycodunamy disposes to cherish it, to respect its forms, and to follow its precepts. Many eminent men have been recalled from materialism to Christian faith by the practice of this science. It is certain that prayer renders the psycodunamic action more powerful, for it elevates man above earthly interests, it excites his charity, it strengthens his confidence, and, giving him the hope of being blessed by the Deity, preserves him in the path of righteousness.

It is no less important to remark, that the study of Psycodunamy not only disposes the mind to adopt religious principles, but that it tends also to free us from the errors of superstition, by reducing to natural causes many phenomena which in the dark ages were attributed to Satan.

It has been said that the psycodunamic cures may induce some persons to deny the miracles of Christ and of his apostles. But has such an argument been seriously brought forward? Do not the miracles, as related in the gospel, by their instantaneousness, and the different circumstances which accompanied them, carry along, forcibly, the evidence of the divine power? Unbelievers may deny them, but those who admit them will never try to refer them to natural causes. Did ever any

fanatical partisan of Psycodunamy pretend that he could instantly cure a person born blind, restore corpses to life, command the tempest, &c.?

I have seen many somnambulists, and I have not found one who does not bear precisely the same testimony to