Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Phrenology, Psychology, Heterodoxy, Charlatanry, Periodicals, Reading

    Announces the progress of 'a new system of theology, and mental and moral philosophy' which generally derives from the mouths of 'nervous and epileptic youths' and hysterical women—mesmerism. Explains that the discourse of the sleeper, is usually incoherent, but that 'useful information' regarding the 'constitution of the mind' can be obtained by touching the sleeper's head and thus exciting his phrenological faculties. Points out that different mesmerisers produce 'contradictory wonders' and notes the extraordinary power of vision possessed by mesmerized subjects. Warns that the 'doctors of the epileptic Church' will not quell public incredulity until they perform such feats as 'causing a patient to read Punch with the crown [...] in the Royal College of Surgeons'.