Mesmerizing (Gould)
June 29th, 2007 | Published in Psychology, History, Quotes, Religion
Within a few minutes of mesmerizing, sensitive patients would fall into a characteristic “crisis” taken by [Franz] Mesmer [1734-1815] as proof of his method. Bodies would begin to shake, arms and legs move violently and involuntarily, teeth chatter loudly. Patients would grimace, groan, babble, scream, faint, and fall unconscious.
–Stephen Jay Gould, “The Chain of Reason Versus the Chain of Thumbs” in Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History (1991), p. 185