by the ordinary means, she was magnetised by M. Foissac seven times, from the 22d to the 28th of that month. She fell asleep at the first sitting, at the end of eight minutes, and remained for some time in a state of complete insensibility. "At the second sitting she answered by affirmative and negative motions of the head, to the questions which were addressed to her. At the third, she gave us to understand, that in two days she would speak and point out the nature, and seat of her complaint. She was pinched very strongly, so as to produce a livid mark, but gave no sign of sensibility. A bottle full of ammonia was opened under her nose. She was insensible to the first inspiration-at the second, she carried her hand to her nose. When she awoke she complained of pain in the part which had been pinched, as also of the fumes of the ammonia."-P. 136.

5. Baptiste Chamet, after eight minutes, made an affirmative motion with his hand that he was asleep. As he seemed to suffer pain, he was asked what ailed him, when he pointed to his breast. M. Guersent pinched him severely on the wrist, and he manifested no sense of pain. On forcibly opening the eyelid, the ball of the eye was found turned towards the top of the orbit.

6. The three following cases are gross impositions attempted to be played off on the committee, on the subject of somnambulism; and the insertion of the particulars in these only serves to throw doubt upon the future cases of the same reputed nature, where the parties may be supposed to have been better trained.

"In these circumstances, we ardently desired to elucidate the question, and we thought that it was essential, as well to the interest of the investigations in which we were engaged, as to withdraw ourselves from the deceptions of quackery, to ascertain whether there was any sign by which we could be assured of the real existence of somnambulism; that is to say, whether the magnetised person, when asleep, was-permit us the expression-more than asleep, whether he had arrived at the state of somnambulism.". Pp. 141, 142.

7. M. Dupotet, one of the magnetisers, now undertook to reduce the question with regard to magnetic somnambulism to absolute certainty. He undertook to produce at pleasure, and out of sight of those individuals whom he had placed in a state of somnambulism, convulsive motions in any part of their bodies, by merely directing his finger towards that part. An experiment on Chamet and Mademoiselle Lemaitre, formerly subjected to the experiments of the committee, and on M. Chales, French consul at Odessa, and M. Petit, a tutor, so far satisfied the inquirers as to this point; but, on the whole, "although they have witnessed several cases in which this contractile faculty has

been put in play by the approximation of the fingers or pieces of metal, they have need of new facts, in order to enable them to appreciate this phenomenon, upon the constancy and importance of which they do not conceive themselves sufficiently informed to entitle them to pronounce a decided opinion.”. P. 146.

8. The next case is that of Mademoiselle Sanson, about whose identity as having undergone magnetism six years before, there was at first some doubt. She was magnetised by M. Dupotetinstantly thrown into the magnetic sleep and seemed insensible to sudden and violent noise while in that state. The eyeballs were turned convulsively upwards.

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9. The following case is the most remarkable of all. A lady, 64 years of age, was affected with a cancer in the right breast, for which she had been magnetised without any other effect than throwing her into a profound sleep, during which all insensibility appeared to be annihilated, while the ideas retained all their clearness. M. Chapelain, the lady's medical adviser, posed to M. Clocquet to operate upon her while she was plunged in this magnetic sleep. The latter having deemed the operation indispensable, consented. The two previous evenings, this lady was magnetised several times by M. Chapelain, who, in her somnambulism, disposed her to submit to the operation,-who had even led her to converse about it with calmness, although, when awake, she rejected the idea with horror.

Upon the day fixed on for the operation, M. Clocquet arriving at half-past ten in the morning, found the patient dressed and seated on an elbow-chair, in the attitude of a person enjoying a quiet natural sleep. She had returned about an hour before from mass, which she attended regularly at the same hour. Since her return, M. Chapelain had placed her in a state of magnetic sleep, and she talked with great calmness of the operation to which she was about to submit. Every thing having been arranged for the operation, she undrest herself, and sat down upon a chair.

"M. Chapelain supported the right arm, the left was permitted to hang down at the side of the body. M. Pailloux, house pupil of the hospital of St Louis, was employed to present the instruments, and to make the ligatures. A first incision commencing at the arm-pit was continued beyond the tumour as far as the internal surface of the breast. The second, commenced at the same point, separated the tumour from beneath, and was continued until it met the first: The swelled ganglions (ganglions engorgés) were dissected with precaution on account of their vicinity to the axillary artery, and the tumour was extirpated. The operation lasted from ten to twelve minutes.

"During all this time, the patient continued to converse quietly with the operator, and did not exhibit the slightest sign of sensibility. There was no motion of the limbs or of the features, no

change in the respiration nor in the voice, no emotion even in the pulse. The patient continued in the same state of automatic indifference and impassibility, in which she was some minutes before the operation. There was no occasion to hold, but only to support her. A ligature was applied to the lateral thoracic artery, which was open during the extraction of the ganglions: The wound was united by means of adhesive plaster, and dressed. The patient was put to bed while still in a state of somnambulism, in which she was left for forty-eight hours. An hour after the operation, there appeared a slight hemorrhage, which was attended with no consequence. The first dressing was taken off on the following Tuesday, the 14th,-the wound was cleaned and dressed anew-the patient exhibited no sensibility nor pain-the pulse preserved its usual rate."-Pp. 149-151.

This remarkable case was not witnessed by the committee; but they find it impressed with such a character of truth, that they have no fear in presenting it to the Academy as the most incontestable evidence of that state of torpor and insensibility which is produced by magnetism.

10. The next point which the committee set themselves to ascertain was the power of seeing through the closed eyelids, which M. Petit was said to possess during somnambulism. In the first experiment with coins, and a watch, the hands of which were purposely deranged, M. Petit was completely at fault; but in a subsequent one, at the same sitting, he was engaged in a game at piquet, which he played correctly. On 15th March 1826, he was again magnetised, and thrown into a state of somnambulism, when the following experiment took place :

"M. Ribes, member of the Academy, presented a catalogue which he took from his pocket. The somnambulist, after some efforts which seemed to fatigue him, read very distinctly the words: Lavater. Il est bien difficile de connaitre les hommes. The last words were printed in very small characters. A passport was placed under his eyes; he recognized it, and called it a passehomme. Some moments afterwards, a port d'armes was substituted, which we all know to be in almost all respects similar to a passport, and the blank side of it was presented to him. M. Petit, at first, could only recognize that it was of a particular figure, and very like the former. A few moments afterwards, he told us what it was, and read distinctly the words: De par le roi, and on the left, port d'armes. Again, he was shown an open letter; he declared that he could not read it, as he did not understand English. In fact it was an English letter.

"M. Bourdois took from his pocket a snuff-box, upon which there was a cameo set in gold. At first the somnambulist could not see it distinctly; he said that the gold setting dazzled him. When the setting was covered with the fingers, he said that he saw the emblem of fidelity. When pressed to tell what this emblem

was, he added: 'I see a dog, he is as if on his hind legs before an altar.'. This, in fact, was what was represented.

"A closed letter was presented to him: He could not discover any of its contents. He only followed the directions of the lines with his finger: But he easily read the address, although it contained a pretty difficult name: To M. de Rockenstroh.

"All these experiments were extremely fatiguing to M. Petit. He was allowed to repose for an instant: Then, as he was very fond of play, a game at cards was proposed for his relaxation. As much as the experiments of pure curiosity seemed to annoy him, with so much the more ease and dexterity did he perform whatever gave him pleasure, and this he entered into of his own accord. "One of the gentlemen present, M. Raynal, formerly inspector of the university, played a game at piquet with M. Petit and lost it. The latter handled his cards with the greatest dexterity, and without making any mistake. We attempted several times in vain to set him at fault, by taking away or changing some of his cards. He counted with surprising facility the points marked upon his adversary's marking card.

"During all this time, we never ceased to examine the eyes, and to hold a candle near them; and we always found them exactly closed. We remarked, however, that the ball of the eye seemed to move under the eyelids, and to follow the different motions of the hands. Finally, M. Bourdois declared that, according to all human probability, and as far as it was possible to judge by the senses, the eyelids were exactly closed."-Pp. 155-157.

This is an instance of what is termed lucidity or clairvoyance by the French reporters. A similar instance in England, but without the preparatory mummery, is quoted by Mr Colquhoun from the Morning Chronicle of March last, when a poor boy in the office at Bow Street so far convinced the magistrate of his powers of clairvoyance as to tell blind-folded the dates upon shillings and sixpences in a purse exhibited in court. The father stated that he had five children all gifted in the same way.

11. But all these instances are as nothing when compared with the miraculous powers attributed to somnambulists in the subsequent three cases detailed in the Report. These cases are intended to show, that not only can persons in this situation see without the medium of their eyes; but that they can discover their own internal ailments, prescribe secundum artem the proper remedies, and foresee the termination of the disease. Nay, more, the power of magnetic somnambulism extends further, and enables the subject of the treatment not only to see their own internal lesions, but, with anatomical accuracy, to detect dcranged structure in the bodies of those with whom they are placed in magnetic connection.

The first of these cases was Paul Villagrand, who had suf

fered from a stroke of apoplexy two years before, and since that period had been under the necessity of using crutches. He was thrown into a state of somnambulism; in that state prescribed for himself; and predicted, which prediction he took care to fulfil, that he should return to bed without the use of his crutches. Paul also possessed, when under the influence of somnambulism, the power of clairvoyance, and his muscular strength was remarkably increased.

The next instance is that of Pierre Cazot, a hatter, twenty years of age, and subject to epilepsy. Treated as the others, he predicted the period of the fits, and the time when he should ultimately be cured. This last prediction was not destined to be fulfilled; for two days afterwards poor Pierre was killed in attempting to stop a spirited horse.

The third case is that of Mademoiselle Celine Sauvage, whose peculiarity was, that in magnetic somnambulism she was able to descant learnedly upon the diseases of the persons whom she touched, and to prescribe the appropriate remedies. For the details of the experiments on this person, which appear to be almost beyond the compass of belief, we must refer to the work itself. One of the cases was found on dissection to correspond with the annunciations of the somnambulist.

The Report is terminated with a series of conclusions, the result of the previous observations and experiments; and the whole is winded up with asseverations of the honesty and exactitude of the reporters in observing and detailing the phenomena, from which may be gathered that, if they were in any instance deceived, they accounted themselves "more sinned against than sinning."

"We do not, therefore, (say they) demand of you a blind belief of all that we have reported. We conceive that a great proportion of these facts are of a nature so extraordinary, that you cannot accord them such a credence. Perhaps we ourselves might have dared to manifest a similar incredulity, if, in changing characters, you came to announce them here to us, who, like you at present, had neither seen, nor observed, nor studied, nor followed any thing of the kind."—P. 201.

It is to be remarked, that MM. Double and Magendie did not sign the Report, not having assisted in making the expe

riments.

We

Such is the Report of the experiments on animal magnetism made by the committee appointed upwards of six years agolaid before the Academy of Sciences in June 1831-and now first made public by Mr Colquhoun in an English dress. have detailed the principal facts with some minuteness, to afford our readers the means of judging for themselves in regard to the miraculous powers claimed for this remedial agent.