TO MONSIEUR

THE MARQUIS DE PUYSÉGUR.

Armand-Marie-Jacques de Chastenet, Marquis de Puységur (1751–1825), was a French aristocrat and a student of Mesmer. He is historically significant for discovering "artificial somnambulism"—a trance-like state that became the foundation for modern hypnosis.

SIR,

Allow me to place your name at the head of a work intended to more widely disseminate the principles set forth in your writings, and the implications of the facts you have observed. Without you, magnetismThe author refers to "Animal Magnetism," the belief in a vital fluid that could be manipulated for healing. would have been forgotten after original: "Mesmer" Mesmer, just as it had been after original: "Van-Helmont" Van Helmont. No one would concern themselves with it today, had not the most active charity given you the courage to sacrifice your time, to disregard criticisms, and finally to brave every obstacle to establish a truth that enlightens us on the faculties of our soulFrench: "âme." In this context, Deleuze connects the physical effects of magnetism to the spiritual or psychological nature of the human being., and on the means of employing these

Jan Baptist van Helmont (1580–1644) was a Flemish chemist and physician who, centuries before Mesmer, wrote about a "magnale magnum"—a vital, magnetic force in nature.
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) was the German doctor who first popularized the theory of animal magnetism in Paris in the 1770s.