Duringthefirsttwelveyearsofthepresentcentury，littlewasheardofAnimalMagnetisminanycountryofEurope。EventheGermansforgottheirairyfancies；recalledtotheknowledgeofthisevery-dayworldbytheroarofNapoleon’scannonandthefallortheestablishmentofkingdoms。Duringthisperiod，acloudofobscurityhungoverthescience，whichwasnotdisperseduntilM。Deleuzepublished，in1813，his“HistoireCritiqueduMagnetismeAnimal。“Thisworkgaveanewimpulsetothehalf-forgottendelusion；newspapers，pamphlets，andbooksagainwagedwaruponeachotheronthequestionofitstruthorfalsehood；andmanyeminentmenintheprofessionofmedicinerecommencedinquiry，withanearnestdesigntodiscoverthetruth。
TheassertionsmadeinthecelebratedtreatiseofDeleuzearethussummedup:[Seetheverycalm，clear，anddispassionatearticleuponthesubjectinthefifthvolume1830of“TheForeignReview，“page96，etseq。]——“Thereisafluidcontinuallyescapingfromthehumanbody，“and“forminganatmospherearoundus，“which，as“ithasnodeterminedcurrent，“producesnosensibleeffectsonsurroundingindividuals。Itis，however，“capableofbeingdirectedbythewill；“
and，whensodirected，“issentforthincurrents，“withaforcecorrespondingtotheenergywepossess。Itsmotionis“similartothatoftheraysfromburningbodies；““itpossessesdifferentqualitiesindifferentindividuals。“Itiscapableofahighdegreeofconcentration，“andexistsalsointrees。“Thewillofthemagnetiser，“guidedbyamotionofthehand，severaltimesrepeatedinthesamedirection，“canfillatreewiththisfluid。Mostpersons，whenthisfluidispouredintothem，fromthebodyandbythewillofthemagnetiser，“feelasensationofheatorcold“whenhepasseshishandbeforethem，withouteventouchingthem。Somepersons，whensufficientlychargedwiththisfluid，fallintoastateofsomnambulism，ormagneticecstasy；and，wheninthisstate，“theyseethefluidencirclingthemagnetiserlikeahalooflight，andissuinginluminousstreamsfromhismouthandnostrils，hishead，andhands；
possessingaveryagreeablesmell，andcommunicatingaparticulartastetofoodandwater。“
Onewouldthinkthattheseabsurditieswerequiteenoughtobeinsisteduponbyanyphysicianwhowishedtobeconsideredsane，buttheyonlyformasmallportionofthewondrousthingsrelatedbyM。