Mesmerism in India, and its Practical Application in Surgery and Medicine.

London:: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1846., 1846. Small 8vo. xxxi, [1], 287, [1], 32 (ads.) pp. Original full brown gilt-stamped cloth; spine neatly restored with new cloth spine and preserving original spine laid down, original endleaves preserved. Ownership rubber-stamp of Olof W. Anderson, Minneapolis, MN; signature of Milton Abramson, MD. Nice copy of a very scarce book. FIRST EDITION of an interesting account of Mesmerism in medicine. ?Esdaile performed a variety of surgical operations on Hindus, upon many of whom he appears successfully to have induced hypnotic anesthesia. However, his similar attempts with Europeans were not so successful.? [Garrison & Morton]. / In the early part of the 19th century, the successful practice of somnambulism, a development of Mesmerism, spread throughout Europe. ?In the British Isles, James Esdaile and John Elliotson of Edinburgh adopted it, being convinced that it would prove an infallible agency for the relief of pain during surgical operation. . . Because the leading surgeons were skeptical of this 'remedy,? Esdaile journeyed to India to continue his experiments. According to FUlop-Miller, members of certain Indian castes had known for centuries of a process akin to somnambulism, calling it Yar-Phoonk. Esdaile said that he had removed tumors successfully from patients in this state of artificial sleep. . .? [Keys]. PROVENANCE: Olof W. Anderson (1863-1928), Minneapolis, MN, whose occupation was real estate & was married to Dr. Fannie Allen Anderson (1863-1958) - Milton Abramson, M.D., Clinical Instructor in Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Milton Abramson, with Dr. William T. Heron [Professor of Psychology, U. Minn.], developed theories involving ?morning sickness.? They were joint authors in a paper entitled, ?An objective evaluation of hypnosis in obstetrics.? Also written is a paper, ?Response to or perception of auditory stimuli under deep surgical anesthesia,? written by Milton Abramson, M.D., Ph.D., Irving Greenfield, M.D., and William T. Heron, Ph.D., American J. of Ob. & Gyn., volume 96, issue 4, p.584-585, October 15, 1966. - J. Wayne Cooper, M.D. REFERENCES: BM Readex Vol. 8, p. 993; Crabtree, Animal Magnetism, 1766-1925 (536); Garrison and Morton 5650.3; Keys, The History of Surgical Anesthesia, pp. 13, 14, 106; Norman 709; Osler 1387; Patrick Sim, The Heritage of Anesthesia, (2012), p. 341; Wellcome II, p. 530.