The History of Hypnotism HYPNOTISM is by no means a new art. True, it has been developed into a science in comparatively recent years.
But the principles of thought control have been used for thousands of years in India, ancient Egypt, among the Persians, Chinese and in many other ancient lands.
Miracles of healing by the spoken word and laying on of hands are recorded in many early writings.
The priests and medicine men of primitive tribes used these forces widely and still use them to-day, with results sufficiently impressive to maintain their traditional position of authority for successive generations.
The father of modern hypnotism was Mesmer, a native of Vienna, who moved to Paris in 1778, and attracted a large following through reports of thousands of cures.
Like many pioneers, the theory which he advanced to explain his work was later discredited.
This was called animal magnetism. He believed that a magnetic fluid flowed from the operator to the patient which contained miraculous healing power.
Those who followed Mesmer proved conclusively that there was no such magnetic current, but that the force which operated was in reality mental suggestion.
Mesmer, who was a good showman, also made extensive use of passes and gestures, and of complicated apparatus made up of magnetic wires and rods, quite useless, of course, except as a way of impressing a gullible patient.
