tes, is
of great interest in showing to what extent and by what means a
considerable part of the community may be led into the belief of that
which is to be eventually considered' as an idle folly. If there is any
existing folly, fraudulent or innocent in its origin, which appeals to
certain arguments for its support; provided that the very same arguments
can be shown to have been used for Perkinism with as good reason, they
will at once fall to the ground. Still more, if it shall appear that the
general course of any existing delusion bears a strong resemblance to
that of Perkinism, that the former is most frequently advocated by the
same class of persons who were conspicuous in behalf of the latter, and
treated with contempt or opposed by the same kind of persons who thus
treated Perkinism; if the facts in favor of both have a similar aspect;
if the motives of their originators and propagators may be presumed
to have been similar; then there is every reason to suppose that the
existing folly will follow in the footsteps of the past, and after
displaying a given amount of cunning and credulity in those deceiving
and deceived, will drop from the public view like a fruit which has
ripened into spontaneous rottenness, and be succeeded by the fresh bloom
of some other delusion required by the same excitable portion of the
community.

Dr. Elisha Perkins was born at Norwich, Connecticut, in the year 1740.
He had practised his profession with a good local reputation for many
years, when he fell upon a course of experiments, as it is related,
which led to his great discovery. He conceived the idea that metallic
substances might have the effect of removing diseases, if applied in
a certain manner; a notion probably suggested by the then recent
experiments of Galvani, in which muscular contractions were found to be
produced by the contact of two metals with the living fibre. It was in
1796 that his discovery was promulgated in the shape of the Metallic
Tractors, two pieces of metal, one apparently iron and the other brass,
about three inches long, blunt at one end and pointed at the other.
These instruments were applied for the cure of different complaints,
such as rheumatism, local pains, inflammations, and even tumors, by
drawing them over the affected part very lightly for about twenty
minutes. Dr. Perkins took out a patent for his discovery, and travelled
about the country to diffuse the new practice. He soon found numerous