entleman declared that he knew nothing of
mesmerism, and that, had he believed there was any thing in it, he would
not have attempted the joke. Another lady present, married, and having a
family, was now most anxious to have the experiment repeated upon her.
She said she had before sat to an experienced mesmeriser, who had
failed, and she was still incredulous, and believed that M---- had merely
given way to an imaginative temperament. It required considerable
persuasion to induce the gentleman who had before operated to try any
more experiments. He protested that he knew nothing about it, that he
had once seen a person said to be in the mesmeric state; but that, if he
succeeded again in inducing coma, he knew not at all how to awake the
patient. Curiously enough, he was instructed in the manipulation by the
sceptical patient, who had previously seen public mesmeric exhibitions.
After some further persuasion, and with the permission of the lady's
husband, who was present, he commenced again the same passes as with the
former patient, the only difference being, that he was in this case
sitting instead of kneeling. The patient kept constantly bursting into
fits of laughter, and as constantly apologising, telling him that his
gravity of face was irresistible. Of the other persons present, some
laughed, others were too much terrified to laugh, but they kept up a
constant running fire of comment, satirical and serious, upon the
mesmeriser and mesmerisee. In four or five minutes, the fits of laughter
of the latter assumed a rather unnatural character. It was evident she
forced herself to laugh in spite of the strongest disinclination, and in
a minute or two more she fixed into a state of ghastly catalepsy, the
eyes wide open, but the lids fixed, the features all rigid, (except the
lower lip, which was convulsed,) and pale as a corpse. The bystanders,
now much frightened, interfered, and laid hold of the mesmeriser. After
some time, water being given her to drink, she came to herself, and
appeared not to have suffered from the experiment.

Notwithstanding the external difference of the case from the first, she
described her sensations as the same; viz. a sleep differing from
ordinary sleep, pleasing and irresistible, but the rousing very
disagreeable. The lady's husband now insisted on being operated on
himself. This was done, and entirely without success. Another lady was
also experimented on with no success; at least she said