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Dr. Franz Mesmer created a new word and a new method of therapy

By Paul Niemann

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[May 21, 2009] 

Dr. Franz Mesmer created a new word and a new method of therapy

Part of the definition, according to Webster's New World Dictionary is "to spellbind or fascinate."

The word is taken from the name of Dr. Franz Mesmer. We'll get to that part in a minute.

Franz Mesmer was born in Switzerland in 1734. As a doctor, he associated with some pretty notable people, such as Mozart, King Louis XVI, Dr. Joseph Guillotin and Ben Franklin, although not always in ways that benefited him.

Mesmer practiced what he called "animal magnetism," which caused his patients to go into a trancelike state. Today we know it by another name.

Mesmer was also known for the glass harmonica he used in his therapy sessions with his patients. It was Ben Franklin, not Mesmer, who invented the glass harmonica. Mesmer even let his friend Mozart play his harmonica starting in 1773.

As the headline of this story says, Mesmer created a new word. Or should we say, he had a word named after him. Unlike Dr. Guillotin, Dr. Mesmer did not mind that his last name became part of the word for which he is remembered.

The word that is named after Mesmer is "mesmerize."

What makes it even more interesting, though, is that this mesmerism, or animal magnetism, was actually the forerunner to hypnotism as therapy. The full definition, according to Webster's, is "to hypnotize; especially to spellbind or fascinate."

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Mesmer was so good at convincing patients he could cure them that it was unclear whether it was his animal magnetism or his salesmanship that cured them. There may have been a "placebo effect." Remember, this was during the 1700s -- a period when leeches were mistakenly used to bleed patients of whatever ailed them.

King Louis XVI (that would be King Louis the 16th, if you're keeping score at home) offered Mesmer a lifetime pension if he would sign a contract to stay and work in Paris. Soon after Mesmer rejected the offer, the king appointed a special committee to investigate him. The committee included Dr. Guillotin, Antoine Lavoisier (who, along with Louis XVI, later became a "customer" of Guillotin) and Ben Franklin.

The committee's negative report on Mesmer essentially ended his career, and he was exiled to his native Switzerland. During his career, the popular Dr. Mesmer had many followers, and he expanded his practice throughout the major cities of Europe by teaching his methods to his followers.

Mesmer is considered by many to be the father of hypnotism. Two of his followers, James Braid and the Marquis de Puysegur, later put it into practice.

When Mesmer died in 1815, the priest, at Mesmer's request, played the glass harmonica at his funeral.

[By PAUL NIEMANN]

Paul Niemann's column has appeared in more than 80 newspapers and counting. He is the author of the "Invention Mysteries" series of books and can be reached at niemann7@aol.com.

Copyright Paul Niemann 2009

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