A mesmerist using animal magnetism on a seated female patient (wood engraving, ca. 1845)
period print · 1845
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SUMMARY
Wood engraving (ca. 1845) showing a standing male operator extending his hands toward a seated woman, with lines radiating from his fingers to her head to represent the magnetic action; it depicts the hand-pass technique by which a magnetizer induced the somnambulistic state. Wellcome Collection (work kxxcvn9q, b11599558), marked Public Domain Mark. The image is a generic depiction of the magnetizing procedure, not a portrait of any named person.
NOTES
The engraving illustrates the procedure at the heart of the case: an operator inducing the magnetic state in a seated subject by passes of the hands. It is later than the case era (ca. 1845) and depicts no named individual; it is used to show the technique rather than a specific session. The Wellcome Collection holds and catalogues it (work kxxcvn9q, b11599558) under the Public Domain Mark.