THE ILLUSTRATED

CUEATIVE AND SCIENTIFIC.

By WILL! AM DA V BY.

Student will find his -The Sick Man his 1 ope,The Healthy Man his sanative power,The Physician an Important aid,The Philanthropist a new field for labour,And the Man of Science materials to rear theMost sublime structure the world has

TH1RD EDITION.

[SXTERSn IN STATIONERS' HALL.]

Job Caudwell, 335, Strand, London,(Opposite Somerset Mouse.)

Cfc w

PRINTED BY JOB CATJDV,ELL,335. STRAND. LONDON.

PREFACE TO TJIIIID EDITION.

This work having now arrived at the third editiou, itis, perhaps, fitting that something should be said re-specting its late Author, and his purpose in its pro-duction. Wm. Davey was a native of Devonshire,the descendant of an ancient family who once heldconsiderable possessions in Cornwall. These, however,prior to his birth, had passed into alien hands, and,as a result of this, combined with other domestic trialsand losses, he was at an early period thrown uphis own resources. What, in most cases, might beesteemed a misfortune, was, perhaps, in this instance,but the necessary part of a severe yet invigoratingeducation, as he thus grew up, from boyhood, iu habitsof unwavering self-reliance, which proved emii entlyadvantagous to him, amidst the harsher dutit s andsterner controversies of after years. Employed, duringyouth and early manhood, in the lace trade of hisnative county, in which his unswerving integrity andsuperior talents soon obtained for pirn the markedapproval and unshaken confidence oi' his employers, he,n tt withstanding the most assiduous attention to theduties of his position, found time for higher purposesand loftier studies than commerce and manufactures.however important, were likely to require. Devoting

II PBEFACB TO THIRD EDITION.

hin self, at first, to Theology, lie, while yet in his teens,became a local preacher among the Wesleyans, andfrom his eighteenth to his thirtieth year, laboured un-restingly in propagating the tenets, and carrying outthe objects of that zealous body of religionists. Re-moving to Nottingham, and subsequently to Lincoln-shire, he joined the -Baptists, among whom his giftsas a public speaker were soon in frequent requisition.]SIor were his philanthropic labours confined to thepulpit ; he was also a zealous advocate of Total Absti-nance, and, in addition to this, effectually aided andsupported every movement at all calculated to promotethe enlightenment and improvement of mankind. Suchwas his life of preparation to his thirty-fifth year.

About this time his attention was attracted to Phreno-logy, and shortly afterwards to Mesmerism, his interestin the latter beingmoreespecially aroused by the experi-ments of Dr.Eiliotson. Investigating the phenomena forhimself, he soon became convinced of their reality, andperceiving the immense importance of this nasantscience, he at length determined to devote himselfwholly to its advocacy. In the prosecution of thispurpose he delivered lectures, with experimentsthroughout Devonshire, where his previously establishedcharacter did much to disarm opposition, and gaincredence for facts, too rare and wonderful for easy re-ception, by ordinary minds, on their own evidence. In1S47 he was joined by Mr. J. W. Jackson, who thence-forward steadily co-operated with him in diffusing aknowledge of Mesmerism, first in England, then inWales, afterwards in Ireland, and ultimately in Scotland.They spent fully two years in the Principality, andarriving in Dublin in 1851, they lectured during nine

PEE] HIED I>ITi

jV PKIF >CE TO THIED EDITION.

published. Combining the plainest yet"most effectivedirections for the treatment of disease, with a series ofplates, specially adapted to illustrate the position ofthe subject and the movements of the operator, it ful-fils, as nearly as possible in a process of manipulation,the different conditions of a self-instructor. Intendednot so much for the professional as the general reader,its description of disease and directions for cure areconveye 1 in simple language, altogether devoid of techni-cal terms, thus bringing Mesmerism within j the reach ofall as a domestic remedial agent. This was the inten-tion of the -Author, and the reception of his work de-monstrat s that success has crowned his benevolentlabours.

Torquay, 1S62. T. D.

INTRODUCTION

Believing that Nature had no secrets she wishedto conceal, and that her decision must be ap-pealed to in all matters of philosophic dispute,

I was found at her feet, a student of Phreno-logy, prior to Mesmerism being used as a testto establish its claims as a Science ; and whenthe latter was supposed to be capable of demon-strating the former, I was early in the field, insti-tuting a series of experiments for the discoveryand confirmation of truth, or the detection andexposure of error, as the facts elicited might war-rant. But after the most carefully conductedmanipulations upon individuals of veracity andintelligence, and a classification of the phenomenaevolved under a variety of conditions and circum-stances, with observations and deductions on thelaws which called into action and governed theimponderable influence, I was left with everydoubt removed, and a deep conviction induced ofthe reality and paramount importance of thesesciences to the health and happiness of mankind.

VI INTRODUCTION.

Nor were these convictions the result of choice,but the effect of accumulated evidence, so over-whelming and satisfactory, that I felt constrainedto devote my life to the cause which seemed tobe struggling for a fair and honourable existence.Thus armed with facts, principles, and experience,I entered on the discharge of my mission as apublic lecturer and practical demonstrator, confi-dent that the use of a natural power for theincrease of scientific knowledge and the diminu-tion of human "suffering, could neither be triflingnor profane, but was soon made to feel that it wassufficiently unpopular, to bring me into collisionwith the crushing despotism of professional preju-dice, the deadly hostility of theological bigotry,and the withering contempt of a cold and pretend-ing philosophy. How far the triumphs achievedwere the results of calm perseverance in the midst0$ difficulties, and what permanent changes mayt)e effected in the domestic circle, what modifica-jpons in the conventional customs of society, andwhat improvement in the treatment of physicaland mental disease, remains to be seen in theaction and reaction of influences now at work,the summation of which the historian of othertimes may best estimate and record.

In noticing the present advanced position ofMesmerism in Britain, we must not overlook the

INTi: Vii

various influences which have contributed t*> \t