Talk:Franz Mesmer
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I came across this most helpful, though brief article on Mesmer as part of my research for a performance I do called "A Conversation with Ben" in which I portray Benjamin Franklin. By all accounts Ben was very interested in Mesmer's beliefs but in the end had to concur wit his fellow scientists. Being in his late 70's early 80's I'm sure Ben would have loved to find something to his claims. This article ws helpfu to me. Thanks.
1. Mesmer dissertation:
Evidence assembled by Frank A. Pattie suggests that Mesmer plagiarized his dissertation from a work by Richard Mead (1673-1754), an eminent English physician and Newton's friend.
Pattie's accusation of plagiarism is definitely overshooting. Firstly, Mesmer referres to Mead and quotes his name in his dissertation. Secondly, projecting modern copyright regulations or citation customs back into the 18th century makes no sense.
2. Mesmer's departing Vienna for Paris:
The scandal which followed Mesmer's unsuccessful attempt to treat the blindness of an 18-year-old musician, Maria Theresia Paradis, led him to leave Vienna in 1777. ... Paris soon divided into those who thought he was a charlatan who had been forced to flee from Vienna ...
Mesmer left Vienna on Jan. 20th, 1778 (not in 1777!), there has been no 'scandal', nor has Mesmer been 'forced to flee'. He left Vienna as he was searching for a more world-open, progressive society where he hoped to have better chances to bring his ideas to a breakthrough. It should be noted that he left Vienna equipped with a letter of recommendation written by the Austrian Lord Chancellor, Kaunitz, directed to the Austrian Ambassador in France.
85.125.230.190 02:48, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Glass harmonica by Benjamin Franklin used by Mesmer
Benjamin Franklin invented the glass harmonica. Mesmer used Franklin's invention to mesmerize his patients. I suggest this idea be expanded and added to the article. --LegitimateAndEvenCompelling 03:41, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Irrelevant text removed
I removed the following section of the article - it is not about Mesmer. It was added on 29 June 2007 by an anonymous user:
== scientific study of hypnotism, ==
- Abbé Faria, or Abbé (Abbot) José Custódio de Faria, (May 30, 1746 - September 20, 1819), was a colourful Indo-Portuguese monk who was one of the pioneers of the scientific study of hypnotism, following on from the work of Franz Anton Mesmer. Unlike Mesmer, who claimed that hypnosis was mediated by "animal magnetism", Faria understood that it worked purely by the power of suggestion. In the early 19th century, Abbé Faria introduced oriental hypnosis to Paris.
- He was the first to affect a breach in the theory of the "magnetic fluid," to place in relief the importance of suggestion, and to demonstrate the existence of "autosuggestion";
--Daggerstab 10:03, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Mesmer's Symbols
About Mesmer's involvement with Alchemy. This is the real reason beind the fact that he used the strange signs mentioned in the Trivia section. If he didn't want to be understood, he hadn't never divulged the key to the symbols in the same book. In Mesmer's time Alchemy was fundamental and even Newton wrote more about Alchemy as about physics.
[edit] Mesmer and Newton
About other aspects of the relationship between the ideas of Mesmer and Newton mentioned in the text, Mesmer, with "Théorie du Monde" tried to offer a complete system explaining the relationships between the different forces of the Nature: gravity, magnetism, and the effect on human body. It is therefore not very exact to says he plagiarized ideas of Newtonian origin. He had his own ideas. This is clearly stated by his contemporaries: the cosmological system of Mesmer was compared and preferred by his partisans to the cosmological system of Newton: read for exemple "Nouvelle Dècouverte sur le magnétisme animal" - lettre d'un partisan zelant de la verité" (1780) - scanned copy in pdf disponible here [1] The writer, with all evidence a very strict friend of Mesmer, says "we are not Newtonian, we are Mesmerian").
