In the process of suggestion, this magnetic fluid, possessing curative properties, emanates from the eyes and hands of the magnetist. To enhance the activity of this truly wondrous power, patients had to be magnetized themselves. This was done by means of a "baquet", a large tank filled with water, iron filings and ground glass. Special rods were attached to the baquet, and the patients had to be in contact with them, while Mesmer, in a magnificent robe, addressed them and walked around. Mesmer's mystic attitude toward the problem of suggestion was a great misfortune, as far as serious study of the field was concerned. Hypnotism acquired a bad reputation that persisted during many years and"Quoted from A. Binet and C. Féré, Animal Magnetism. For a full statement of Mesmer's "twenty-seven propositions" see M. Goldsmith, Franz Anton Mesmer, still is not completely dispelled.
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