Phrenomagnetism

Phrenomagnetism was a form of magnetic therapy according to Franz Anton Mesmer at the beginning of the 19th century. She combines the teachings of mesmerism with influences from phrenology . The magnetizer treated certain areas of the patient's skull in accordance with phrenological teaching by directing a magnetic medium onto it.

history

Among the first advocates of phrenomagnetism in the United States were the physician and medical instructor Charles Caldwell (1772-1853) and his student Joseph Rodes Buchanan (1814-1899). Caldwell graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in medicine in 1796. In 1837 he moved to Kentucky and became the first ever professor of medicine at the Louisville Medical Institute. Caldwell had conferred with supporters of mesmerism in France and learned something about phrenology from Johann Spurzheim during a stay in Paris. After phrenology was brought to the United States of America by Spurzheim - who supposedly converted thousands of people to it - Caldwell became one of the greatest advocates of a combination technique of phrenology and mesmerism, phrenomagnetism.

literature

• Pintar, J. & Lynn, SJ (2008). Hypnosis ● A Brief History . Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.