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‘Under the influence’ in British India: James Esdaile's Mesmeric Hospital in Calcutta, and its critics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Waltraud Ernst
Waltraud Ernst*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Southampton
*
* Address for correspondence: Dr Waltraud Ernst, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton S017 1BJ.
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Synopsis

Mesmerism was for a period very popular in Victorian Britain. The special clinical approach developed by Dr J. Esdaile while on duty in British India is elaborated in detail. The controversy surrounding Esdaile's treatment of surgical, medical and psychiatric cases at the ‘mesmeric hospital’ at Calcutta is discussed, and the main arguments are set within their contemporary socio-cultural context. Some of the arguments advanced for and against mesmerism contain concerns similar to those that have been raised during later decades in regard to hypnotism and hypnotherapy.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 6 , November 1995 , pp. 1113 - 1123
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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