at the knowledge had then been brought together which
would have enabled him to estimate, the value, or the real nature and
meaning, of the step which he had made. To himself he appeared to be
largely extending the domain of mesmerism, of which he had, in truth,
discovered and gone beyond the limits.

The state which he had so promptly and fortunately induced in Victor,
was _neither more nor less than common trance_--the commonest form,
perhaps, of the great family of nervous disorders, to which ordinary
sleep-walking belongs, and of which I have already sketched the
divisions and relations in the fifth letter of this series. All that
remains, combining originality and value, of Mesmer's art, is, that it
furnishes the surest method of inducing this particular condition of the
system. Employed with collateral means calculated to shake the nerves
and excite the imagination, mesmerism causes the same variety of
convulsive and violent seizures which extremes of fanatical frenzy
excite; when it is employed in a gentle form and manner, with
accessaries that only soothe and tranquillise, the most plain and
unpretending form of trance quietly steps upon the scene.

Perhaps you will wonder that I seem to attach so much importance to the
power which mesmerism offers us, of producing at pleasure mere ordinary
trance; and, unluckily, it is easy to overrate that importance; because,
for any plan we are yet in possession of, the induction of trance,
through mesmerism, is, in truth, a very uncertain and capricious affair.
It is but a limited number of persons who can be affected by mesmerism;
and the good to be obtained from the process is proportionately limited.

The first object to which artificial induction of trance may be turned,
is the cure or alleviation of certain forms of disease.

It has been mentioned that in many so-called cataleptic cases, a
condition of violent spasm is constantly present, _except_ when the
patient falls into an alternative state of trance. _The spontaneous
supervention of trance relieves the spasm._

I mentioned, too, in the fifth letter of this series, the case of Henry
Engelbrecht, who, after a life of asceticism, and a week of nearly total
abstinence, fell into a death-trance. _On waking from it, he felt
refreshed and stronger._

These results are quite intelligible. In trance, the nervous system is
put _out of gear_. The strain of its functions is suspended. Now,
perhaps for the first time si