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In Louisville on May 7th, 1842, Dr. Daniel Drake, Professor of Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Medicine at the Medical Institute of Louisville conducted an experiment on mesmerism. So, what exactly is mesmerism? Mesmerism, or “animal magnetism,” was an 18th-century therapeutic system pioneered by German physician Franz Anton Mesmer. He theorized an invisible natural force permeated all living things, and imbalances in this “magnetic fluid” caused illness. Mesmer’s treatments involved sweeping hand gestures, sometimes with magnets, to restore this flow. Patients often entered trance-like states, which he believed facilitated healing.

Though highly popular, especially in Paris, the scientific community, notably a French royal commission including Benjamin Franklin, concluded mesmerism’s effects were due to imagination and suggestion, not a mystical fluid. Despite its discrediting as science, mesmerism is historically significant as a precursor to modern hypnosis, highlighting the powerful influence of the mind on wellbeing and paving the way for further study into the placebo effect.

Dr. Drake was informed of two gentlemen in the Cincinnati area that were said to be among the most successful mesmerizers; the first being Mr. Elijah Burdsal, a druggist, and Mr. George Selves, an innkeeper. The latter, Mr. Selves, was said to easily be thrown into a state of somnambulism. As such, Dr. Drake arranged for these gentlemen along with William Greene, Esq., and Mr. William R. Foster, who had made themselves familiar with the mesmeric process, as well as firm believers, to witness the experiment. Messrs. James Hall, Samuel E. Foote, and Robert Buchanan also attended as observers and recorders of the “phenomena.” The observers assured Dr. Drake that they had no bias coming into the experiment. Messrs. E. D. Mansfield, Peyton S. Symmes, Alexander H. McGuffey, and Dr. John A. Warder, along with several women, were present as spectators.

Upon arriving at the home of Mr. McGuffey, Dr. Drake stated that his object, “would not be to ascertain the reality of the mesmeric sleep, which I should grant, but, whether Mr. Selves, while in that Condition, could feel impressions made on my organs of sense and general feeling, when I should be placed in connection with him.” (Note: Mr. Selves will be referred to as Mr. S. hereon out.) Mr. S. was in good health, his age between 30 and 40 years, his temperament was “lymphatic,” and his pulse was 96 beats per minute.

The “lymphatic temperament” is a historical concept originating from ancient humoral theory, which linked personality and health to bodily fluids. Associated with an excess of phlegm, individuals with this temperament were traditionally characterized by physical traits like a rounded build, pale skin, and slow circulation. Emotionally, they were seen as calm, quiet, patient, and somewhat unemotional, preferring peace and avoiding conflict. This concept is not recognized in modern medicine or psychology but is significant for its role in early attempts to categorize human variations.

At 8:10 PM, Mr. Burdsal (Mr. Burdsal will be referred to as Mr. B. here on out) began his manipulations on Mr. S.; within five minutes Mr. S. was pronounced asleep. Dr. Drake placed his left hand on that of Mr. S. and “after a few manipulations,” he was directed to put a question to Mr. S. which he answered and Mr. B. pronounced the connection as perfect. According to Dr. Drake, for the proceeding hour and a half, their hands remained in unbroken contact and he stood by his side. Before any experiments commenced, and when Mr. S. was not touched, Dr. Drake noted that his muscular system was unquiet, and that he moved his limbs, more or less, and also the muscles of his face, giving to his features more or less of distortion.

Experiments on Muscular Motion and Muscular Sensation

1. “Standing so far behind the subject, that is his eyes had not been closed, I could not have been distinctly seen, I took up on of the gentlemen with my right arm, and held him as long as it was possible; but Mr. S. gave no indication of sympathy with me in the effort. He did not exhibit more muscular uneasiness than before the experiments, and when interrogated did not complain.”
   
2. “One of the gentlemen then placed himself on my shoulder, and at length Mr. S. seemed to shrink away, and raising his left hand, appeared to point towards his shoulder. On being questions he answered, inarticulately, but in tones which indicated oppression or uneasiness.”

Experiments on Respiration

1. “Standing by his side, I breathed with great rapidity for about a minute, during which he raised his left hand toward his head, and also extended his arm; but his breathing remained tranquil.”
   
2. “In the same position, I suspended my breath for a minute, at the end of which time I felt deep anxiety in the chest, but he remained quite tranquil.”

Experiments on the Sense of Feeling in Reference to Pain

1. “My right arm was rubbed with sandpaper, when he gave evidence, be his restlessness and murmurs, of feeling pain; the sandpaper, which made a noise, was then rubbed on the coat sleeve of a gentleman by my side, and my own arm was rubbed with a piece of fur, which appeared to affect him in the same manner as the sandpaper; indeed his contortions and writhing at length became very great, and continued as long as the friction on the coat was kept up.”
   
2. “Dr. Warder then made a great number of punctures with a lancet on my arm, so deep as to bleed, during which the subject displayed some contortions of the mouth, and on being questioned, said it tasted like tobacco.”
   
3. “One of the gentlemen then bore his weight on the great toe of my right foot–protected only by a sock and woolen slipper–until I could no longer endure the pain. The countenance of Mr. S. remained quiet, and he did not complain on being questioned, but was observed to raise his right foot and turn his toes inward as he had done before.”

Experiments on the Sensibility to Caloric

1. “I held my hand and arm for some time in contact with a mass of ice. He manifested, when questioned, no feeling of coldness, but showed slight muscular uneasiness and contortions of the mouth. At length when the pain of coldness had become very severe, he became quite composed, and said, on being questioned, that he felt well.”
   
2. “I held in my hand a smoothing iron, so hot that it raised a blister, and could not be borne by Mr. Greene, on whom it also rested. It produced on Mr. S. no particular effect; some contortions of the mouth only occurred.”

Experiments on Colors

1. “He being closely blindfolded by Mr. Foote, a broad lead colored surface, strongly illuminated, was placed before me, and I gazed intently upon it, when he, on being asked its color, pronounced it, “green.” I think looked at a bright red, and he declared it, first, a “light color,” then “white.” To this succeeded a white surface, which pronounced “yellow.” Then a black, on which said, “don’t know”–“dark”–“something on it”–“dark.”
   
2. “I now nearly closed my eye and turning them towards the ceiling of the room, endeavored, without involving myself in darkness, to exclude every vivid color, and also sought to have my mind occupied on the idea of color in the abstract, and not on any particular tint: his first answer was, “light”–then “sun”–then “pink.” This experiment could be verified by the gentlemen present, in this, that he answered “pink” when nothing of that color was in sight, but they could not know but what the idea of pink was in my mind; and therefore, although I have incorporated it into the report, I do not ask it to be put on a level with the other facts. In such an investigation as this, the declaration of no individual as to what was or was not passing in his mind, should be received as incontrovertible.”

Experiments on the Sense of Taste

There were a total of sixteen in this experiment, “so conducted, that no one present but myself knew, except in two or three instances, what I tasted, until the whole were completed. Dr. Drake used numbered glasses and the contents of each glass were written in a sealed paper–opened after tasting was over, and found by Mr. Foster and Mr. Buchanan to be correct. Dr. Drake rinsed his mouth after each taste experiment, sometimes using a brush as well. According to him, he did not proceed to subsequent glasses until the taste produced by the preceding, “had died away.”

Food/Substance	Response
Milk	“Good”–“don’t know”
Water	“Don’t like it”–“Sour”
Empty	“Well”–“doesn’t taste like anything”–“don’t like it”
Wine	“Don’t taste”–“don’t know”
Peppermint Water (Muscular action of face)	“Don’t know”
Syrup of Loaf Sugar	“Very good”
Water	“Wine”
Vinegar (Is it sour?)	“Yes” (it is sour)
Brandy	“Don’t like it”–“don’t know”–“makes me sick”
Sweet Cake, Without Fruit (Then asked what kind of fruit it was)	“Like it”–“don’t know”(what fruit)–“makes me sick”
Infusion of Nut-gall	“Good”–“don’t like it”
Strong Saltwater	“Tastes like nothing”–“water”
Piece of Cold Chicken	“Don’t like it”
Radish	“Nothing”
Empty Glass	“Don’t like it” (contortions of the mouth)
Strong, Bitter Infusion of Colomba Root	“Good”–“tastes sweet”

Day Two of Experiments

In the second series of experiments, conducted Saturday, May 14th, present were Mr. S., Mr. B., Mr. Foster, and Mr. Thos. J. Matthews, professed believers in the extraordinary powers and susceptibilities of one in a state of mesmeric sleep; also Messrs. Hall and Buchanan as reporters of the phenomena, and Dr. Warder, Mr. Symmes, and Mr. McGuffey, as spectators, with a few ladies.

The Mesmerizing

At 8:31 PM, Mr. S. took his seat, with a pulse of 80 beats per minute. Under the direction of Mr. B., Dr. Drake informed Mr. B. to throw Mr. S. into somnambulism. Dr. Drake pressed his thumbs upon his and looked him steadily in the eyes. In 4 minutes he was asleep, with considerable rigidity of his limbs; his breathing natural. He was then blindfolded.

First Experiment

“My design was to observe his movements when there was perfect silence in the room, and he was left to himself untouched. I did not make any effort to act on him, but took a chair a few feet behind him, to watch. I then went into the adjoining hall, and afterwards out of the house. He slowly raised, first one hand, and then both; then made an effort to rise from his chair; spread out his arms; leaned forward, and had contortions of the face. This experiment lasted ten minutes.”

Second Experiment

“I now caused Mr. Mansfield to take hold of his hand and press it in a variable manner; he also rubbed the hand, wrist and head. I remained in the room to witness the effect. He raised the left foot, and then the right, and kept both about ten inches from the floor. This experiment lasted five minutes.”

Third Experiment

“I called audibly to Dr. Warder to be put in connexion with Mr. S.; he came forward, but I placed Judge Hall’s hand, instead of the Doctor’s, in Mr. S.’s, and made the prescribed passes, to connect them together. Dr. Warder then put several questions to him, which he answered. The Judge did not speak, and the Dr. did not touch him; at length Mr. B. said he is not answering Dr. Warder, after which we could get no further replies.”

Fourth Experiment

“This was on taste. I was myself the taster, person save Mr. McGuffey and Mr. Foster knowing what I took. Three successive trials were made with each of the following articles, it being tasted anew twice. In the first trial, I put no leading question–in the second the questions led off towards some other article–in the third, they led towards the article, or in a different way. What seemed to be ample time for distinctness was allowed. The following were the answers, as recorded by Mr. Buchanan, and distinctly heard by all who were near him. The articles were numbered. The answers in the first column were obtained without leading questions; those of the second and third columns by leading questions–the former directed from, the latter to the article tasted.

1. Bread and butter	Screws up his mouth and smacks his lips–‘sweet’	‘Don’t like that.’– Same movements of the face	‘Tastes like bread.’ Less movement of the face
2. Hydrant water	Screws up his mouth –‘Water’	Twists his mouth–‘Weak’	But little movement of the face–‘Strong’
3. Boiled ham, cold	Face placid, smacks his lips–‘Good;’ ‘don’t know’	Twists his mouth–‘Don’t know;’ ‘don’t like that’	Smacks his lips–‘Can’t taste that’
4. Hydrant water	Contortions of the face & mouth–‘Don’t like it’	Contortions of the mouth–‘Don’t like it;’ ‘ tastes salt’	Smacks his lips–‘Don’t know’
5. Boiled peas, warm	Face placid–‘Yes;’ ‘good’	Smiles, then screws his mouth–‘Don’t like that’	Contortions of the face–‘Don’t like that’
6. Hydrant water	Face placid–‘Yes;’ ‘good’	No change of expression–‘Can’t taste that’	Contortions of the face–‘Nothing’
7. Boiled egg	Hard compression of the lips–‘Don’t like it;’ ‘don’t know’	Lips compressed–‘Don’t like it;’ ‘tastes bitter’	No expression of face–‘Can’t taste that’
8. Hydrant water	Looks pleased–‘Good;’ ‘don’t know’	Face placid–‘Water’	Same expression–‘Can’t taste that;’ ‘can’t tell’

Fifth Experiment

“This was on sight. Placing my back towards him, I looked intently on four successive articles, in a strong light. The first was a common counter dust brush.

Question: “Do you see what I am looking at?”
Answer: “Something there.”

“To other questions concerning it, not of a leading kind, his replied were–“It opens”–“it pulls out there”–something on there,” and “I don’t know.”

“The second article was a red Morocco razor case, with the cap off, and one of the razors partly drawn out. His replies to various questions were–“It looks bright”–“on there”–“on that”–“on the table”–“I don’t know.”

“The third article was a small plaster cast of a head, designed for phrenological purposes:–His answers to different questions were–“Down there”–“round”–“don’t know”–“hard”–“don’t know.”

“The fourth article was a small, red carpet bag. Answers to various questions–“Can’t see that”–“don’t know that”–“something on there.” To the question, “do you see me?” His answer was, “yes.”

Sixth and Final Experiment

“Standing behind Mr. S., I took Mr. McGuffey on my shoulders.”

Question: “What do you see?”
Answer: “Don’t like that”–“It hurts.”

Question: “Where?”
Answer: “Down there,” and appears disturbed.

Question: “Does your foot hurt?”
Answer: “Yes.”

Question: “The left foot?”
Answer: No answer

He then became more quiet.

Question: “Would you like to go home?”
Answer: “Yes.”

Question: “Have you eat or drunk more than you wanted?”
Answer: “No.”

His pulse at that time was 80 beats per minute and regular. On raising his eyelid, the pupil was dilated, but contracted under a strong light. He was awakened after an hour and forty minutes. That leaves us, the readers, with the glaring realization: Mr. S. did not give any evidence of sympathizing with Dr. Drake in his bodily sensations. Dr. Drake noted, “the few answers which seem to favor the conclusion that he did, may, I think, be otherwise explained.

1. If a man blindfolded, should have been called on to answer similar questions, according to the doctrine of chances, some of them would be correct. Thus, when four colors were successively observed, and there were scarcely more than twice that number to draw answers from, it would have been very remarkable if all should have been erroneous, yet he named but one of the four, and did not decline speaking of the others, but declared them different from what they were; and when on the first night three kinds of food were tasted each one, and one the second, four kinds were each tasted three times, making fifteen in all, it might have been expected that much more than one would have been correct; but such was not the fact, and even that one was imperfect, for when I tasted bread and butter, he only said, “tastes like bread,” but immediately before had said of the same article, “don’t like it.”

Additionally, Dr. Drake utilized water in his experiments of the two nights, fourteen times, and as it was announced to be a drink, one might have expected that the answer be correct once or twice. Mr. S. was correct twice in the water experiment but following one of the answers he said, “strong;” and in other experiments with water from the same hydrant, he said, “don’t like it”–“sour”; in another, “wine.” Milk and syrup of sugar loaf were respectively referred to as “good,” and “very good,” which would be an obvious answer but Dr. Drake still believed that this was due to chance, based on the totality of the experiments (such as saying very strong saltwater tasted like nothing or that bitter Colomba root was “good” and tasted “sweet”).

2. “Some of his (Mr. S.’s) answers, as would be those of a person blindfolded, appeared to be brought out by the mode of interrogation.” This was evidenced when Dr. Drake had vinegar in his mouth and Mr. B., by accident, asked Mr. S. if it was sour (of which he answered, “yes”). When Dr. Drake ate cake and Mr. S. was asked what fruit it tasted like, he responded, “raising.” Though the cake had no fruit whatsoever. When Dr. Drake change his mode of interrogation on the second night, Mr. S.’s answers changed likewise and thus they were never uniform. According to Dr. Drake, these variations in the replies of Mr. S. were “ascribed to variations in the mode of questioning.”
   
3. When Dr. Drake had “apparent” sufferings inflicted upon him, the responses from Mr. S. were likely explained the principle of coincidence. When Mr. S. entered sleep on the second night, alone and with no one touching him, with the room in perfect silence, he “commenced and maintained a series of muscular movement of his face, arms, legs, and body.” Dr. Drake posited that this was regarded as phenomena running through all the experiments, and sometimes coinciding with them in time, so as to seem a part of them. “Thus when I had a heavy weight on my shoulder, and nothing was said about taste, the muscular movements which he exhibited might have occurred, if no such weight had been borne by me; and when a gentleman rested his weight on my great toe and stood silent, and he moved his foot, he might have done it, if I had not been acted on, seeing that such motions occurred spontaneously several times.” The automatic muscular movements of Mr. S. were of constant quantity, running through all the experiments, and by coincidence and contrariety, harmonizing with some and proving discordant to others, and to be rejected from the results of the whole.
   
4. Similarly, it was like that some of the responses of Mr. S. were “modified by what he heard around him.” That he did hear those who were not in connection with him the first night, seemed almost certain, from the fact that his contortions, writhings, and signs of pain, became more and more violent, the harder a gentleman rubbed his coat sleeve with sandpaper, while my arm rubbed with a piece of fur. But the second night it was demonstrated that he heard, for he answered several questions put by Dr. Warder, whom he believed to be in communication with him, when he was not.

Dr. Drake concluded, “Thus I have pointed out four circumstances, by which we may explain the few correct replies obtained by [Mr. S.]; and, I repeat, the conclusion already stated, that he did not feel the impressions made on my system. But I go no further; I do not say that he has not felt those made on the systems of others persons; I do not say, that other mesmerized persons do not feel all that is felt by those placed in communication with them. I do not say, because Mr. S., under my experiments, could hear those not in connection with him, that he can do it at other times, or that other persons in mesmeric somnolency can hear what is spoken in their presence. I disclaim all intention of drawing conclusions relatively to him at other times, or others at any time.”

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Contributed by Shawn Logan | contact@kyhi.org

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⁘ Works Cited ⁘

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• The Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery, Vol. VI, No. 1, 6 July 1842
• The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, 5 October 1952

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