the commission were witnesses, where attempts were made by magnetizers to produce somnambulism. Most of these efforts failed, and the promises sometimes made by both magnetizers and patients were in many instances unfulfilled. One exception, of a very particular nature, struck the commissioners with astonishment. It was that of a M. Petit, a tutor, who had been previously magnetized by Dr. Dupotet. The doctor confidently presented this patient to the examiners as a person over whom he had supreme power. The hour being appointed, and all the parties assembled, the operator commenced by putting his patient to sleep; this was the work only of a few minutes. The wonderful part of the operation was now to be done, namely, that the doctor was, at his pleasure, and without speaking, but by merely approximating his fingers to any part of the body of the patient, to cause in that part a convulsive motion of the muscles. In order to guard against any possible collusion between patient and doctor, the committee at this moment handed a paper to M. Dupotet, on which were written their instructions as to the particular parts. The result of the operations was such as to surprise all those who witnessed it; still the committee did not acquire thus far a sufficient number of facts to warrant them in drawing any certain conclusion on the subject. They resolved, under these circumstances, to persevere; and, in the course of their subsequent experience, came to the knowledge of facts, such as left no doubt whatever on their minds that a great and important principle, directly afting the condition of mankind, now formed the subject of their inquiries.

One of the most singular and overwhelming of the cases which come under the head of the more recent and important ones, is that of Jules Cloquet, the well-known anatomist in Paris, who had, of his own accord, sent in an account of this case to the surgical section of the academy. He was no magnetizer, but, very likely, laughed and ridiculed the art with as much asperity as the most determined of its enemies. This gentleman, it appears, was called, on the 8th April, 1829, to see a Mrs. P., then residing at 151, Rue St. Denis, Paris. He found that she had cancer of the breast, and that nothing but extirpation of the disease could effect a cure. The lady, at this time, had been attended by the physician whom she had long employed, and who was in the habit of magnetizing her into a sleep, or rather somnambule (for there is a great difference between them), to produce an oblivion of her sufferings. The physician, M. Chapelain, was sensible that no other hope of saving his patient from a miserable fate remained than that held out by Mr. Cloquet, and he proposed to the surgeon that he should perform the operation whilst she was in a state of magnetic sleep. The surgeon agreed to it, and the operation was performed accordingly. The patient knew nothing whatever of the proceeding, but was kept asleep for two days, and, upon being awoke, and informed of what

had taken place, she experienced, says M. Cloquet, a very lively

emotion.

The power which, it was represented, some somnambulists possessed of seeing perfectly through their closed eyelids, formed the subject of some very close and attentive examinations. The result was, that the commissioners were satisfied, for they looked on, that in one case a patient, in this state, was able to read a book by seeing it through his eyelids! But this was not all; for although his somnambulism continued, yet the patient became very much fatigued, and was invited to play a game at écarté, of which he was very fond. He showed amazing dexterity all the while, and always beat his opponent. It is to be remembered, that during all this time the patient was in a state of somnambulism, and, of course, was unconscious of what he was doing. The following is the exact language in which this respectable commission describe a portion of the scene. The name of the patient, it is proper to remember, is Petit.

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. Bourdoise declared that, according to all human probability, and as far as it was possible to judge by the senses, the eyelids were exactly closed. While M. Petit was engaged in a second game at piquet, M. Dupotet, upon the suggestion of M. Ribes, directed his hand, from behind, towards the patient's elbow, and the contraction previously observed again took place. Afterwards, upon the suggestion of M. Bourdois, he magnetized him from behind, and always at the distance of more than a foot, with the intention of awakening him. The keenness with which the somnambulist engaged in play resisted this action, which, without awakening, seemed to annoy and disconcert him. He carried his hand several times to the back of his head, as if he suffered pain in that part. At length he fell into a state of somnolency, which seemed like a slight natural sleep; and some one having spoken to him when in this state, he awoke as if with a start. A few moments afterwards, M. Dupotet, always placed near him, but at a certain distance, set him again to sleep, and we recommenced our experiments. M. Dupotet being desirous that not the slightest shadow of doubt should remain with regard to the nature of the physical influence exerted at will upon the somnambulist, proposed to place upon M. Petit as many bandages as we might think proper, and to operate upon him while in this state. In fact, we covered his face down to the nostrils with several neckcloths; we stopped up with gloves the cavity formed by the prominence of the nose, and we covered the whole with a black handkerchief, which descended, in the form of a

veil, as far as the neck. The attempts to excite the magnetic susceptibility by operating at a distance in every way, were then renewed; and, invariably, the same motions were perceived in the parts towards which the hand or the foot was directed. After these new experiments, M. Dupotet having taken the bandages off M. Petit, played a game at écarté with him, in order to divert him. He played with the same facility as before, and continued successful. He became so eager at his game, that he remained insensible to the influence of M. Bourdois, who, while he was engaged in play, vainly attempted to operate upon him from behind, and to make him perform a command intimated merely by the will. After his game, the somnambulist rose, walked across the room, putting aside the chairs which he found in his way, and went to sit down apart, in order to take some repose at a distance from the inquisitive experimentalists, who had fatigued him. There, M. Dupotet awakened him at the distance of several feet; but it seemed that he was not completely awake, for some moments afterwards he again fell asleep, and it was necessary to make fresh efforts, in order to rouse him effectually. When awake, he said he had no recollection of any thing that took place during his sleep.

Marvellous and utterly confounding as are these statements, yet they are altogether thrown into the shade by some that are to follow, and which, we confess, that we can hardly bring our minds to believe. Here are numerous cases related, in which somnambulists who are put to sleep by magnetism are immediately endowed, not merely, as in the case of Petit, with a power of seeing through their eyelids, but with an actual gift of prophesy, as well as of superior knowledge, not to be obtained by any natural or ordinary methods. What will the reader think when he is told that the somnambulist in his period of sleep, whatever may have been his previous education, is suddenly invested with the faculty of discovering exactly the nature and character of his own disease, of determining the extent of the period within which he is to suffer, what is to be the issue of his complaint, and, above all, the sort of treatment that will most certainly cure him, should his disease be at all susceptible of a remedy. Paul Villagraud, a student at law, who was paralysed as to half his body by a stroke of apoplexy in the country, was admitted into La Charité, at Paris, after having been treated in all manner of ways at home for sixteen months. Now, the committee actually went to the bed where this patient lay, in the hospital, and saw the physical marks, as they were strongly indicated, of his disease.

They found that the lower left limb was much thinner than the right, that the right hand was closed much more firmly than the left, that the tongue when drawn out of the mouth was carried towards the right commissure, and that the right cheek was more convex than the left. Paul was then magnetized, and the result is thus stated in the report:

"He recapitulated what related to his treatment, and prescribed that, on that same day, a sinapism should be applied to each of his

legs for an hour and a half; that next day he should take a bath of Bareges; and that, upon coming out of the bath, sinapisms should be again applied during twelve hours without interruption, sometimes to one place, and sometimes to another; that, upon the following day, after having taken a second bath of Bareges, blood should be drawn from his right arm to the extent of a palette and a half. Finally, he added, that by following this treatment, he would be enabled, upon the 28th, i. e. three days afterwards, to walk without crutches on leaving the sitting, at which, he said, it would still be necessary to magnetize him. The treatment which he had prescribed was followed; and upon the day named, the 28th September, the committee repaired to the Hôpital de la Charité. Paul came, supported on his crutches, into the consulting-room, where he was magnetized as usual, and placed in a state of somnambulism. In this state, he assured us, that he should return to bed without the use of his crutches, without support. Upon awaking, he asked for his crutches,-we told him that he had no longer any need of them. In fact, he rose, supported himself on the paralysed leg, passed through the crowd who followed him, descended the step of the chambre d'experiences, crossed the second court de la Charité, ascended two steps, and when he arrived at the bottom of the stair he sat down. After resting two minutes, he ascended, with the assistance of an arm and the balustrade, the twenty-four steps of stairs which led to the room where he slept, went to bed without support, sat down again for a moment, and then took another walk in the room, to the great astonishment of all the other patients, who, until then, had seen him constantly confined to bed. From this day Paul never resumed his crutches."

But these wonders are nothing compared with the miracles which were subsequently performed by the agency of this patient during somnambulism, particularly in the facility with which he saw through his closed eyelids. Many trials of this power were witnessed by the commissioners, who took every imaginable method within their power to guard against deception.

If our utmost astonishment has been excited by the recital of the prodigies to which hitherto our attention has been confined, what shall be the nature of our feelings when we come to the contemplation of two more cases, the circumstances of which are just as authentic as those of any of the former cases! What will any reader think when he is told that two persons, from the commonest ranks of life, are suddenly inspired, by means of magnetism, with such a degree of supernatural endowments, that they can predict to the instant the period when they themselves shall be seized with fits, or can point out the true seat, nature, and proper treatment of diseases in others! We have just seen an illustration of the first of these cases, and an example of the other will be found in the following most extraordinary narrative :

Miss Celina Sauvage was made the subject of experiment upon

eight different occasions, in the presence of the members of the committee. On three of those occasions, it was found that this lady exhibited a strange tendency to discourse of the diseases of those whom she touched during her state of somnambulism, and she always concluded by pointing out, with astonishing accuracy of information and judgment, the remedies best adapted to the complaint. One of the members of the commission, M. Marc, determined upon putting her powers to the test, and announced that he would submit himself to her investigations. The lady was accordingly magnetized, and upon being requested to examine attentively the gentleman's state of health, she proceeded in her inquiries, and literally overwhelmed the spectators in amazement at the perfection of her diagnosis. Another case is likewise given, where she showed the same unaccountable skill and knowledge: the third of the cases cited by the commissioners, in which this somnambulist manifested her power, is exceedingly curious:

Upon an occasion of great delicacy, when very able physicians, several of whom are members of the Academy, had prescribed a mercurial treatment for an obstruction (engorgement) of the glands of the neck, which they attributed to a syphilitic taint, the family of the patient under this treatment, alarmed at the appearance of some serious consequences, wished to have the advice of a somnambulist. The reporter was called in to assist at a consultation, and he did not neglect to take advantage of this new opportunity of adding to what the committee had already seen. He found the patient to be a young married woman, Madame La C―, having the whole right side of the neck deeply obstructed by a great congeries of glands close upon each other. One of them was opened, and emitted a yellowish purulent matter.

Mademoiselle Celine, whom M. Foissac magnetized in presence of the reporter, placed herself in connexion with this patient, and affirmed that the stomach had been attacked by a substance like poison; that there was a slight inflammation of the intestines; that, in the upper part of the neck, on the right side, there was a scrofulous complaint, which ought to have been more considerable than it was at present; that, by following a soothing treatment, which she prescribed, the disease would be mitigated in the course of fifteen days or three weeks. This treatment consisted of some grains of magnesia, eight leeches applied to the pit of the stomach, watergruel, a saline cathartic every week, two clysters each day, one of a decoction of Peruvian bark (kina), and, immediately after, another, of the roots of the marsh-mallow, friction of the limbs with ether, a bath every week; food made of milk (laitage), light meats, and abstinence from wine. This treatment was followed for some time, and there was a perceptible amelioration of the symptoms. But the impatience of the patient, who did not think her recovery proceeding with sufficient rapidity, determined the family to call another consultation of physicians, who decided that she should again be placed under mercurial treatment. From this period the reporter ceased to attend the patient; and he learnt that the administration of the mercury had produced very serious affections of the stomach, which terminated her existence after two months of acute suffering. A procésverbal upon opening the body, signed by MM. Fouquier, Marjolin, Cru