1057

shortly take place to fill up the appointments in the otherhospitals. The out-door midwifery cases of the hospitalswilt also be under the supervision of the obstetric phy-ticiaus.Anyone wishing to gain 20,000 francs (£800) may do so by

competing for the Rib6ii prize for the year 1886, which isuttered by the Academy uf Medicine of Turin. The

.:abject proposed is, "Recherches embryulogiques pourj’avancement de nos connaissances sur l’anatomie, la phy-;,,Io, I-ie, et la pathulogie de 1’homme."Paris, June 20th, 1882.

NEW YORK.

(.From a Correspondent.) )

ON Saturday last the new wing of the German Hospitawas opened with the usual formalities. The cost, 68,000 duls,was provided for by the liberality of Mrs. Anna Ottendorfer,the esteemed wife of the proprietor of the Staats-Zeitunga leading German daily newspaper of this city. This addition to the building provides forty-nine beds, two ward:containing sixteen each, one ward for children with six

beds, and eleven private rooms. I noticed nothing novein the general arrangements. Money had not been wastedin decorative work, but the wards were light and cheerful,and the sanitary appliances all that could be desired. Themedical staff in this hospital are all Germans, and excellentsurgical work is accomplished here by Drs. J. Adler,G. Degmer, and A. G. Gerster, the latter especially bearinga high reputation as a skilful and successful surgeon,During the last year the percentage of deaths was 8 75,cured 61’2, improved 29, non-improved 11, cured and improved 80’2. The cost of treatment varies from seven dotlareto three dollars per week, including board, medical attend.ance, and all necessaries; but the German Hospital is prac-tically free for all deserving cases, as out of 1244 patientstreated last year 940 received free treatment. During 1881about 300 patients were treated who were not Germans,almost all nationalities being represented.In the Medical Record of New York for last week (May

27th, 1882) you will find a small paragraph stating that atthe last meeting of the Neurological Society a vote ofcensure was carried reflecting on the recent election ofDr. Edward C. Spitzka as President of that Society. Thisnotice has created much curiosity in medical circles to knowwhat really took place on this occasion. I am indebted toan officer of the Society who was present for the followingreport of the proceedings written specially for this letter :-At the April meeting of the New York NeurologicalSociety considerable interest was manifested in the electionof officers. As the ballot for the office of presidenc wasabout to be taken the two candidates who had accepted thenomination at the previous meeting, Drs. L. C. Gray andWilliam J. Morton, withdrew in favour of Dr. E. C. Spitzka,the former gentleman in so doing making some laudatoryremarks concerning Dr. Spitzka’s services to the Society,and to scientific medicine in general, which were endorsedby the other declining candidate. Dr. E. C. Harwoodmoved that, inasmuch as the two official candidates haddeclined in favour of Dr. Spitzka, his nomination be madeunanimous, and that the secretary be instructed to cast thevote of the Society in his favour. Dr. Seguin here rose andnominated his assistant, Dr. W. R. Birdsall, against Dr.Spitzka. A ballot was then taken, which failed to result inan election owing to the deposit of blank and scatteringvotes. A second ballot resulted in Dr. Spitzka obtaining amajority vote, and he was thereupon declared elected. Atthe May meeting of the Society as the retiring president,Dr. J. A. McBride, was about to deliver his address, Dr.Seguin rose to present a protest against an alleged violationof the by-law, inasmuch as candidates had been voted forand elected who had not been nominated at the previousmeeting. Dr. McBride, the President, called Dr. Seguin’sattention to the fact that all business of a special or per-sonal character was out of order on the occasion of theannual meeting. Dr. Seguin persisted in holding the floor,and the President called him to order. Dr. Seguin, thenappealing from the decision of the chair, was sustained, andread his protest, signed by himself, his brother-in-law, Dr.

Amidon, the defeated aspirant to the presidency. Dr. Bird-sall, other assistants and pupils of Dr. Seguin’s, and variousother members of the Society. The document included a

protest against the withdrawal of Drs. Gray and Morton inDr. Spitzka’s favour-that is, it referred to the withdrawalwithout mentioning names, but so pointedly that Dr. Grayrose, and maintained that he was a free agent. Dr. Mortonwas absent, being engaged in lecturing at the VermontUniversity at the time. Dr. Harwood asked Dr. Seguin ifhe would have presented the protest if Dr. Birdsall hadbeen elected, which would have been irregular on technicalgrounds if Dr. Spitzka’s election was irregular. Dr. Seguinmade no reply, and Dr. Hammond rose, and stated thatthe protest was a discreditable document, that thosesigning it had been guilty of the very act they censured,that not one clause in the by-laws had been violatedin Dr. Spitzka’s election and nomination, that the protestof Dr. Seguin had merely personal motives, and that heand the independent members of the Society wouldrefuse to vote on the question, as the house was packed,’and parliamentary usages had been already violated. Avote was then taken on the question of entering the proteston the minutes, and carried by twenty-one votes in theaffirmative and none in the negative. Dr. Spitzka took thechair, delivered the inaugural address, and paid no notice tothe protest, as his name and his office were not mentionedtherein. "

I notice your Paris correspondent’s letter on "Hypnotismin Paris," which reminds me of the last attempt to revive aninterest in that subject in New York. No practical resultswere achieved here, and the atienists and others have let theexperiments drop. I never had any faith in the professionalsubjects exhibited by Dr. Beard and his assistant Dr.Carpenter. I believe that where such influences are

genuine, it is due to the presence of some form of mentalor nervous disease, and Dr. W. A. Hammond concurs inthat opinion.A new medical Society has been organised in New

York, called the Practitioner Society, having Dr. WilliamM. Polk as its first President.New York, June 1st, 1882.

HYPNOTISM IN PARIS.

(From, an occasional Correspoitdeiit.) )

No. II.

IN his graduation thesis, in 1766, at the Faculty of Vienna,which was entitled "Influence of the Planets on the Human

Body," Mesmer defined animal magnetism to be a subtlefluid which produced certain phenomena in all animated

beings, particularly through the nervous system, and whichpossessed properties analogous to those of the magnet. Ten

years later, notwithstandiug the marvellous cures he pretended to have performed with what he believed was a sortof electro-magnetism, he made the startling announcementthat animal magnetism was essentially distinct from themagnetic fluid and from electricity. It was a mysteriousagent known only by its effects, and which could be coiii-

municated at will from one individual to another, who,when once under its influence, became the subject of certainphenomena which are inexplicable by the ordinary means atour disposal, such as by way of physics, chemistry, or phy-siology. In this assertion we may already perceive the

tendency to ascribe the phenomena produced by animalmagnetism to some supernatural influence ; and Mesmer,taking advantage of the weakness of human nature, andknowing that man is ever ready to adopt anything new ormysterious, particularly when he is assured that it will con-duce to his well-being, thrust his memoir on the discoveryof magnetism on the public-a work half astronomical andhalf medical, in which he announced the discovery of auniversal panacea which Nature herself offered for the cureof all diseases and the preservation of health. In order,however, to make his discovery acceptable, and to give ita character of importance, he considered it necessary toenshroud it in mysticism, which would be the natural allyof animal magnetism, for both the mystic and the mag-netiser profess to have the power of establishing an inter-

1058

communication between the soul of one individual and thatof another without the intervention of the body of either.But as it was at the same time necessary to have somepalpable medium by which the communication is to beeffected, Mesmer invented the famous magnetic tub and the

magic harp by Which the patients were magnetised. Besideswhich, fixing his eyes on them, he went through certainmanoeuvres commonly called" passes." I shall now examineeach of these states.Somnambulism.-This phasis of animal magnetism was

accidentally discovered by the Marquis de Puységur, one ofMesmer’s disciples, while in the act of mesmerising a peasant,a young man of twenty-three, who after oaly a few passesfell into a profound sleep, unaccompanied by any of the otherphenomena of mesmerism. In this state the man was observedto speak to himself in an audible tone, relating his own affairsas if in conversation with another person. The mesmeriser,it is said, had such influence over him that he made himchange his conversation at wilt, and perform the most extra-ordinary feats by word of command or by -simply touchinghis body. This occurred in 1784, and the reputation of theMarquis as a magnetiser was established in the provincewhere he was residing, and it soon spread to the other pro-vinces. This transformation of magnetism met with greatfavour in the country, to which it was confined, as Paris wasat the time too much occupied with the eventualities of the

approaching revolution. The great Revolution seems to havecast into oblivion animal magnetism and everything else ;and it was not till 1813 that we hear anything more about it,when another attempt was made to revive it and to obtainfor it the official recognition of the learned bodies, butwithout success. In 1825 and in 1844 the subject wasagain brought before both the Academies, but these learnedbodies were too jealous of their dignity to allow themselvesto be inveigled into lending support to such adventurousand unscientific doctrines. Extraordinary things more orless exaggerated, more or less incredible, and more or lessauthentic, are said to have been done by subjects under theinfluence of somnambulism, whether spontaneous or induced.I shall say nothing of the wonderful performances one wit-nesses at public fairs, as in these places one makes up one’smind to see something prodigiously delusive—not necessarilymiraculous or supernatural, but something that cannot beplaced in the category of magic and yet would be inexplicableby the light of science. In other words, people go to witnessthese scenes with a preconceived notion that they are to bedeceived, and when they have witnessed them a few time3,or even once, their imagination gets so worked up, thatwhat a little while before was to them pure illusion becomestransformed in their minds into stern reality. Thenthey go on from one illusion to another, and, not contentwith deceiving themselves, they make the most strenuousefforts to deceive others. Meanwhile charlatans, mounte-banks, and other impostors reap good harvests by their craft.But those who labour under such delusions are not alwaysto be found among the most feeble in mind or body, foreven men of robust health may be so influenced by theassertions of scientific men that they allow their deludedsenses to get the better of their judgment. This wasexemplified not long ago in a most remarkable manner inthis great city of Paris, which boasts of being in the van ofcivilisation and learning, under circumstances which wouldmake " benighted Albions" blush. In the month of August,1880, a young man by the name of Didier, aged twenty-eight, was taken before the police court, accused of havingcommitted certain indecent acts on his own person in a

public urinal, which the French criminal code places underthe article " outrage public la pudeur," for which, in themonth of October following, he was condemned to imprison-ment for three months. But Didier’s advocate was notsatisfied with what he considered an unjust sentence, andhad the matter brought before the Court of Appeal, undeithe plea that the act with which his client was charged wacommitted in a state of mental aberration, which in this casepresented the form of somnambulism, and for which in con-sequence he could not be considered morally responsible.(An account of this case was published in -THE LANGET onFeb. 5th, 1881, p. 230.) If one may judge by recent pro.ceedings in Paris and elsewhere, there will soon be no morecriminals, for almost every person who is sued before thetribunal is considered irresponsible, as he or she is broughiunder the category of one form or other of the affections 01the great centres of the nervous system, such as hysteria aniinsanity, and if to these be added animal magnetism, som

nambulism, and hypnotism, there will be little or no checkto crime.

Ecstasy.—This state can also be artificially produced bythe ordinary mesmerising processes, and it differs frommagnetic or artificial somnambulism in that the ecstatic sub.ject is completely insensible to all external impressions, liesmotionless with the eyes immovably fixed as if in contempla.tion of some imaginary object, voluntary motion is arrested,and even the intellectual faculties and all vital action seemto be suspended.

Catalepsy.—This condition is somewhat analogous to theabove, and has in consequence been frequently confoundedwith it, but the one differs from the other in many essentialpoints. For instance, although as in ecstasy all voluntarymotion is completely suspended, the special senses and theintellectual faculties remain unaltered ; the subject hear;.distinctly all that is said around him, feels a pinch or theprick of a pin, but in spite of his will, which remains intact,he is unable to effect the slightest movement, or to reply toquestions put to him. If the subject appears insensible toexternal impressions, it is not that he does not feel or hear,but it arises from his utter inability to express himself orto execute any voluntary movement. What he wants isthe power of motility, and, as a necessary consequence, thefaculty of expression, and this is why, in the midst of allthat is going on around him, he remains perfectly passive.He is nevertheless conscious of his own existence, and of hisliberty to move, but he has lost all power to do so, Inother words, he has the will but not the power to move or toexpress himself in any way. In this condition the subjectmay be placed in any attitude, which he is not able to alterof his own accord, and which he retains until relieved. Iam speaking here of induced or artificial catalepsy.

ST. GERVAIS LES BAINS, SAVOY.(From, our Roving Corresl)o2zde?bt.) )

AT a time when many hard-working Englishmen are

beginning to think of the best place for their summer holiday,it may not be amiss to call attention to a health-resort which,though much patronised by French and Italians, is littleknown amongst us, except to the "Roving Englishman,"whose ubiquity is proverbial.The journey from Paris to Geneva may be made by

express train in thirteen hours with very little fatigue, andthence a short six hours by diligence or carriage brings thetraveller by way of Bonneville and Sallenches to St. Gervais,a drive of great beauty, affording most part of the waymagnificent views of Mont Blanc and its surnaunding peaksand glaciers.

St. Gervais les Bains lies close to the main ’road fromGeneva to Chamounix, in a beautiful valley overlooking theriver Arve. The establishment is surrounded by pine-trees,and stands in a park of its -own, through which runs a rapidstream, the Bonnant. There is a central block of buildingswith two lateral wings, -each containing five storeys. Inthe central building are the offices of administration, thelibrary, dining, billiard, drawing-rooms, the office of themedical superintendent, the telegraph bureau, and otherapartments. In the basement of the wing3 are the bath-rooms for men, and on the first floor those for women-in allthirty-two. Behind the central building, in a courtyard,are two drinking-foimtains, one the " source du torrent" andthe other the source Gontard," by which the establishmentis supplied. In the rear of the establishment is a gorge,down which foams and dashes a magnificent cascade, calledthe " Falls of the Bonnant." The price of board andlodging is from eleven francs to thirteen francs a day,including -wine. The cuisine is excellent. The "sourceGontard" is utilised for the baths, and also for internafadministration. It springs from a fissure in the graniterock, at the rate of 96 litres per minute, and is of a tem-perature of 390 C-ent. The principal chemical ingredientsare sulphate of soda and chloride of sodium. The "sourcedu torrent" is strongly sulphurous, and also contains lithiain appreciable quantity, 23’4 milligrammes per litre. It isonly used internally. There is also ferruginous spring,which is employed as a table beverage. The baths areused at the normal temperature, 38° to 42° Centigrade, at