A very extraordinary nervous condition is acquired when man is deprived of the action of the senses, by isolating him completely from the outer world, concentrating his mind on himself, whilst he submits unresistingly to the influence of the experimenter who produces these surprising effects. But, howsoever curious may be the phenomena of magnetism, they are surpassed by those of somnambulism, in which the subject, at the command of the master, can display his most secret thoughts, and sometimes even the nature of his complaints. These facts, of which the ancients had a glimpse, are now recognized. Animal magnetism is practised by the aborigines of North and South America; and may be traced back to antiquity. Since the sixteenth century, Vanhelmont and Maxwell have described in their writings, their most important principles.

The modern form has been revealed by Illuminism, for Swe-denborg said, in 1763: "Man may be raised to celestial light, even in this world, if his corporeal senses are wrapped in a lethargic sleep."†

It is unfortunate that magnetism and somnambulism have been attempted by quacks and rogues - a circumstance which has driven intelligent men from studying the subject. The exaggerations also to which the partisans of this doctrine have given way have been no less prejudicial to the examination of the question.

These remarks show that we cannot accept without reservation the judgment of the illustrious Bailly; but, in recognizing the power of the imagination, we believe that there exist facts in magnetism and somnambulism from which both psychology and medicine will derive valuable results.

The plan of this book will oblige us to examine these two states only in their connection with hallucination. We will, therefore, commence our study by prevision, which is related to magnetism and somnambulism by the common tie of ecstasy.

* Ferd. Denis, Tableau historique analytique et critique, des Sciences occultee, p. 203, et seq. Paris, 1842. † Ferdinand Denis, op cii. p. 191.

Prevision, which has been attacked and defended with so much vehemence, is illustrated by such curious facts, and is supported by so many respectable witnesses, that impartiality requires us to notice some of them, before we adopt any opinion on the subject. One of the most authentic cases of prevision is mentioned by Josephus: -

Case CI

Four years previous to the beginning of the war, when Jerusalem was enjoying peace and abundance, Jesus, son of Ananus, a simple peasant, having come to the Feast of Tabernacles, which was kept every year in the Temple, in honor of God, cried out: "A voice from the East - a voice from the West - a voice from the four winds - a voice against Jerusalem and the Temple - a voice against the bride and the bridegroom - a voice against all the people!" And he ceased not night and day to traverse the city, repeating the same thing. Some persons of rank, unwilling to allow such ominous words to be uttered, had him taken and beaten with rods. He offered no word of defence or complaint for such cruel treatment; but still repeated the same words.

Then the magistrates, believing, as was the fact, that he was divinely inspired, brought him before Albinus, governor of Judea. He had him flogged severely, which did not extract a single prayer or tear; but, at every blow, he repeated, with a plaintive voice: "Woe, woe to Jerusalem !" And when Albinus asked him who he was, and why he spoke in that manner, he answered nothing. The governor then dismissed him as a madman, and from that time, until the war commenced, he spoke to no one. But he repeated, unceasingly: "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" without reproaching those who beat him, or thanking those who fed him. All his words were confined to this sad presage, which he uttered in a louder voice on feast-days. He continued this conduct for seven years and five months, without intermission, and his voice became neither weak nor hoarse.

When Jerusalem was besieged, his predictions were verified; and then, pacing the walls, he cried: "Woe to the city, woe to the people, woe to the temple!" and, while repeating the words,

"Woe to myself!" a stone, thrown from a machine, struck him to the earth, and he yielded up his spirit.*

Saint Gregory of Tours, the best annalist of the fifth century, has mentioned a circumstance, which was also witnessed by a number of persons: -