CHAPTER IV.. Effects of the Imagination on the Nervous System.

EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

Ignorance of it has given rise to many superstitions.--Experiments of Mesmer and Deslon in Paris.--Singular developments.--Trials at Dr. Franklin's house.--Children uninfluenced by mesmeric operations. --Magnetizing a tree in Dr. Franklin's garden.--Experiments upon two females.--Effect produced.--Experiment upon a female by Dr. Sigault.--Practice among the Chinese.--Girl frightened to death by a Gypsy.--Practice among the New Zealanders.--Killing others by incantation.--Intercourse with departed spirits.--An account of Perkins's metallic tractors.--Their supposed influence in various diseases.--Suspicions concerning them.--Experiments with wooden tractors.--Result of these experiments.--Statements of a modern mesmerizer. 29