Memoir and Letters of Francis W. Newman by Giberne Sieveking
page 91 of 413 (22%)
page 91 of 413 (22%)
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midst. It was Braid, indeed, who caused the name of "hypnotism" to eject
that of "mesmerism" in England. He was never properly appreciated during his lifetime. But if he was not, he was only one of numerous examples which are always being brought up before our eyes (among those of our countrymen who have rendered their country signal services), who illustrate the famous English quotation, "Thus angels walked the earth unknown, and _when they flew were recognized_" Braid, however, proved effectually that the mesmeric phenomena depend altogether on the physiological condition of the person operated on, and not on the power of the operator. _Dr. Martineau from Newman._ "7 P.V.E., "_17th Feb._, 1855. "My dear Martineau, "You will believe that the state of your sister's health gives me much concern. She has kindly written twice to me. The second letter tells of formidable fainting fits, which I cannot explain away; yet, as I told her in my reply to her first, her symptoms _in general_ are so similar to my own that I cannot but hope her physician views them too seriously, and _does her harm by it_. I, on the whole, believe that my own heart is unsound organically (distended), but my experience certainly is that the less I attend to it _in detail_ the better, though I must in prudence avoid impure air and other evils. Her second letter tells me as a decisive proof how very bad she is, that every day she feels _shot_ in the head. |
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