This paper was written Spring Semester, 1999, under Michael Gagnon, in the History Department, at the University of Georgia, as a requirement for completion of History 4000, "Social History of Antebellum America." The views expressed in this paper are strictly the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the instructor, the department, nor the university.

The nineteenth century was a melting pot of many ideas that shaped the popular culture of the 1800's. The development of "pseudoscience" played a significant part in the popular culture. Many historians have explored the phenomenon surrounding the obsession of Americans with two pseudosciences: mesmerism and phrenology. Much of the mania can be attributed to the overwhelming publicity to which Americans were exposed. The "science" behind mesmerism and phrenology did not go unchallenged. Whereas the general public was enthralled with the two fads, some of society's intellectuals provided strong opposition as well as strong support for the new pseudoscientific subjects. For a society eager to learn and eager to be entertained, it's conceivable why nineteenth century America embraced these new beliefs. However, for every rapid rise to the top, there must be an even faster fall down. Mesmerism and phrenology experienced the same course of other fads, but they distinctively left something behind for future scientists to build upon. The following pages will examine how the community of Athens consistently and inconsistently participate in the explosion, recognition, and demise of mesmerism and phrenology in comparison with the rest of Antebellum America. However, before one can understand the reactions as they were in America, it is essential to trace the origins of these ideas and how they made their way across the Atlantic into the hearts and minds of Americans.

The name mesmerism originates with its founder, Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer was a German physician and in the 1770's he introduced his ideas (then referred to as animal magnetism) to the world. The premise behind animal magnetism was Mesmer's idea of a natural fluid that flowed throughout the body. He believed disease was caused by the inability of the fluid to flow. Mesmer would use magnets to stimulate the flow, thus improving and curing illnesses. Later, he realized he could simply stroke a patient's skin with his finger rather than use magnets and get the same results. In 1779 Mesmer left Vienna, where he had been trained, and moved to Paris hoping to gain a more enthusiastic audience. The French welcomed Mesmer's ideas with open arms and the mesmeric mania began. The swift acceptance of animal magnetism led to skepticism by society's physicians and academia. In 1784, a committee was appointed by Louis XVI to inquire about Mesmer's sensation. The committee claimed there were no facts to support Mesmer's theories, and with his reputation was shattered, he died in 1815. However, Mesmer's ideas were adopted by French followers such as, Marquis de Puysegur. Puysegur used language instead of touch to put his subjects into trances like states. England and America came to be familiar with Puysegur's form of mesmerism. As the mesmeric mania spread to England, opinions changed. The people of Victorian England, having great interest in curing disease, warmly accepted mesmerism. Strangely, in the first half of the nineteenth century, the medical community didn't object to the new pseudoscience. Mesmer's belief that besides curing illness he could promote progress in relationships, health, personal well-being, and money appealed to Victorians absorbed with problems of identity and perfection. As mesmerism circulated through salons and societies, opposition began to mount from scientists and clergy. By the 1830's, mesmerism was no longer in the English limelight.⁽¹⁾

It never reached the popularity it had in France, and because of strong criticism against mesmerism, Europeans made way for the new pseudoscience, phrenology.

Phrenology's founder had much in common with Mesmer. Franz Joseph Gall was also a German physician who studied in Vienna. Beginning in the 1790's, Gall researched what would be the basis of phrenology. Gall believed the brain was composed of a series of organs, each corresponding to a certain faculty. The size of the organs was manifest in the shape of one's skull. Those areas which were well developed signified its corresponding organ was also well-developed. The system of examining someone's skull for the different shapes was called cranioscopy. Gall's followers depicted his ideas elaborately. Phrenology had once signified that brain organization produced various abilities, but later, phrenological philosophy maintained people could also improve themselves by exercising their cranial organs. J.G. Spurzheim and George Combe are credited with altering Gall's ideas. They are also credited with popularizing phrenology in Britain as well as the United States. "Gall's metaphysical and religious speculations were no hindrance to the popularization of his system in liberal circles."⁽²⁾ Spurzheim gave many lectures throughout Europe from 1817 to 1825 and his audiences began to grow. Combe was a cofounder of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society. The 1820's and 1830's demonstrated, once again, fervent support from the people and strong resistance from theologians and scientists. The widespread intrigue with phrenology encompassed all classes of English society. The upper classes felt they needed to help the lower classes improve themselves, and the lower classes saw it as a form of entertainment. Like mesmerism, phrenology also had short-lived popularity in England.⁽³⁾ "Phrenology was a fad. It blossomed, flourished, and died in the space of twenty-five years."⁽⁴⁾ But phrenology's innovators saw this as an opportunity to move westward, to America, another country brimming with self and societal improvers.

The introduction of phrenology into American culture was accompanied by mesmerism as well. Antebellum society was always looking for new interests, but mesmerism and phrenology had to appeal to the masses to be successful. The new pseudosciences were based on scientific principles; however, Americans were in search of entertainment. The masterminds behind the grand plan of commercialization devised a system of lectures, exhibitions, and publications to introduce mesmerism and phrenology, but it is necessary to look at American culture prior to this point to determine what attracted Americans to the new ideas.

During the Jacksonian era, America was flooded with democratic ideals and ideas of perfection. These ideals filtered into many aspects of the nineteenth century culture. For example, utopian experiments and the evangelical movement emphasized the desire of Antebellum society to achieve excellence. Mesmerism and phrenology appealed to those of all social classes. The upper, more intellectual classes appreciated them for their scientific value, or lack thereof, and the lower and middle classes appreciated them purely as entertainment. Although some regarded them as fads or dangerous to the religious movements of the time, this did not hinder their likability. The new sciences exposed Americans to a different way of explaining the human mind and the world around them without incorporating difficult theories of chemistry, religion, or physics. The enticing combonation of education and entertainment made mesmerism and phrenology irresistible to nineteenth century Athenians and Americans. It was not a surprise that anxious Americans responded so well to the different methods of popularization utilized for the purpose of getting people interested in the pseudosciences.⁽⁵⁾ On August 4, 1832, Johann Spurzheim arrived in New York City. Due to a cholera epidemic in the city, Spurzheim quickly traveled through Connecticut and onto Boston where he was received by enthusiastic supporters. Prior to the 1830's, there is some evidence of phrenology interests in cities like Boston and Philadelphia, but for the most part, Spurzheim's arrival in America marked the beginning phrenology's widespread immersion into American culture. Spurzheim soon embarked on a vigorous three month lecture tour around the Northeast. The Boston Medical Journal wrote "We believe that the efforts of Dr. S will form a new era in education, and open, to the minds of the most intelligent, new and correct views of their moral and intellectual powers..."⁽⁶⁾ Spurzheim died on November 10, 1832, of a fever perhaps due to his rigorous schedule. The future of phrenology was in question and who would replace Spurzheim remained to be seen. At the time of Spurzheim's death, many phrenological societies had already been formed and the road was paved for new informers of the science. George Combe continued his partner's work from 1838 to 1840, also through an extensive lecture tour. Some of his audiences totaled more than 300 people. Short-lived societies sprang up in small communities to which Combe had lectured. Combe ended his tour feeling as though he had not reached those for which his lectures were intended: the masses. Although, there is no evidence of phrenological societies in Athens, lectures did take place illustrating Athens' support and interest in the new craze for phrenology. Some thought a more flamboyant method of education was needed to hold the interest of the average American. The Fowler brothers of New York introduced a different breed of phrenologists. "...foot-loose young men some educated but others not, [who] took on the lecture trial...dispensing hortatory zeal to whoever would listen and useful wares to whoever would buy."⁽⁷⁾ The elder brother, Orson, had been following Spurzheim's work, and after his death began his own lectures as well as head analyses for two cents a head. Orson, along with his brother Lorenzo, lectured throughout New York state and in other cities like Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, and Baltimore. In New York City the Fowler brothers opened a phrenological museum complete with a library, lecture booking bureau, and available cranial readings. The average phrenological reading cost $1.00 a person with a check off analysis, but for a more detailed handwritten reading the cost was $3.00. Prideful parents bragged about their children's promising future after successful analyses. ⁽⁸⁾Hundreds and thousands of people came to take part in the museum. "Phrenological readings were omnipresent and included such varied persons as the condemned murderer William Miller, T.D. Weld, the abolitionist, Black Hawk, the Indian chief, Joe Smith, the Mormon leader, and the youthful Clara Barton."⁽⁹⁾ The Fowlers are recognized as major commercializors of phrenology. However, along with the commercialization came frauds who claimed to be phrenologists. So called "bumpologists" undermined the science of phrenology and opened up the field to unqualified opportunists who wanted to make money. To curb these frauds, the Fowlers' set up the American Institute of Phrenology where upon completion of a nine-month course, one could become a certified craniologist. The Fowlers left no stone unturned and lectured in every city and town. The Fowlers succeeded in appealing to the ordinary citizen where Combe had failed. They also befriended literary figures like Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe whose interests in phrenology can be seen in their work. The emphasis of the practical, educational, and entertainment value to Americans, like Athenians, won the interest of social reformers and self-improvers alike.⁽¹⁰⁾ Mesmerism experienced a similar rise to popular culture as phrenology.

It was Puysegur's version of mesmerism, rather than Mesmer's, that found wide reception in America. Although knowledge of the science emerged well before that (in the 1780's), it was not paid much attention due to its rejection by America's intellectuals such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. After success in France, Charles Poyen brought mesmerism to the United States in 1836 and like Spurzheim, began a lecture tour originating in Boston. Mesmerism raised more scientific questions than phrenology and attracted more intellectuals to the science. However, lectures still had significant attendance from the lower classes.⁽¹¹⁾ In Athens and in cities all over America people sought to prove or disprove mesmerism by performing public experiments. "We witnessed his experiments in producing magnetic sleep, in paralyzing the limbs of his subjects, and in making them obey his commands, despite their efforts to the contrary," wrote one Athenian observer.⁽¹²⁾ Athenians for example, attended these exhibitions wanting to be convinced of the validity of animal magnetism. One Athenian experiment even tested electricity and shock treatment as a way to cure alcoholism, claiming the shocks put the subject into a trance like state which enabled temperance. The subject of this experiment commented " Gentlemen- Thank You. I'm rejuvenated! Whereas I had an impediment in my speech- now I have none. Gentlemen- i feel like a new made man!"⁽¹³⁾ Newspapers in Athens and elsewhere were used to promote and refute mesmerism to the public as well as to inform them of the lectures and demonstrations.⁽¹⁴⁾ New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston also performed demonstrations to investigate different facets of animal magnetism such as, clairvoyance and electricity. These methods of popularization were sometimes performed by valid scientists but also by charlatans who took advantage of the commercialization of mesmerism and had only monetary compensation in mind. The creation of traveling mesmerists also helped to spread the word of animal magnetism. The travelers provided lectures, performances, and exhibitions to curious audiences. Even theater troupes jumped on the band wagon. Cities and towns all over America were booming with excitement in welcoming the presentations.⁽¹⁵⁾ In southern cities like New Orleans, who embraced mesmerism as wholeheartedly as their French founders, mesmeric societies and special attention from the medical community was commonplace. New Orleans considered mesmerism more seriously than many other cities. Their societies were organized with constitutions, held weekly meetings, worked within the community to help patients and test mesmerism as anesthesia. These French organizations also taught magnetic therapy and published books and testimonials.⁽¹⁶⁾ Although Athens may not have had as serious approach to mesmerism as some cities, the strategies used by those involved with the mesmeric movement succeeded in obtaining the fascination of most Athenians and Americans.

The fascination with mesmerism and phrenology was rooted in opposite ends of the social structure. Opinions on the pseudosciences split society into two groups: the intellectuals and the masses. Attitudes also varied within the two groups, but the intellectuals experienced the most dissension. The intellectuals of society included everyone from scientists and physicians to theologians. At the start of both movements, little opposition from intellectuals existed.⁽¹⁷⁾ However, not much time passed before heated debate got underway. Some debates were settled verbally, but others were enacted through newspapers and some were even taken to the dueling field. Although until the later 1830's, phrenology still had acceptance by many doctors.⁽¹⁸⁾ Little is known about the professionals in Athens and their response to mesmerism and phrenology. However, lectures on the subjects were held regularly in the town's churches, signifying little resistance on the part of the Athens clergy. Although few of the Athens lecturers were doctors, they were supported by the Southern Banner who published propaganda to urge the community to attend these lectures. One entry from the Southern Banner wrote 'Mr. Mills is still in our town, lecturing upon this subject [animal magnetism] and illustrating by experiments, some of which are truly wonderful."⁽¹⁹⁾ In New Orleans, mesmerism enjoyed support from the French-speaking community, doctors, and clergy well into the 1850's. The New Orleans English-speakers shared more in common with those in other parts of the country, often exhibiting skepticism.⁽²⁰⁾ Outside of Athens, criticism from the religious movements was substantial and adamant. The ensuing evangelical movement feared mesmerism and phrenology would secularize the nation. Based largely on the idea of free will and the individual's responsibility to better oneself, the evangelical movement held that pseudoscience undermined their fundamental doctrines. By allowing the people to relieve themselves of blame for their weaknesses, pseudoscience and phrenology especially debilitated the evangelical crusade for perfection. Theologians tended to ignore the possibilities posed by phrenology for self-improvement. It was believed by exercising certain parts of the brain. Their corresponding faculties could be enriched or diminished depending on the desired result. Theologians also maintained mesmerism was immoral since a mesmerist could obtain information from an entranced subject or persuade one to commit crimes.⁽²¹⁾ In Athens, ordinary citizens were more reluctant to believe than intellectuals contrasting the rest of America which encountered the reverse reaction. For the most part, intellectuals demonstrated more skepticism toward mesmerism than phrenology, perhaps because of the legitimate medical uses of mesmerism if it were proved valid. Scientists relentlessly performed experiment after experiment trying to prove and disprove theories surrounding mesmerism and phrenology. Scientists and doctors felt their position in society was threatened by the pseudoscience mania. The Antebellum era in America has also been characterized as the period when class formation and professionalization began. As doctors and scientists were attempting to secure their place in society as professionals, the emergence of so-called "bumpologists" and charlatan mesmerists impeded the process by dishonoring professional training in the public's eye. Fixation ended with phrenology before mesmerism, but by the mid-1840's, both sciences had been discredited in most intellectual minds. Regardless, the masses took much longer to convince.

Lecture tours by Spurzheim and Poyen facilitated the general public's interest in phrenology and mesmerism. Prior to the tours, Americans had little or no concern with the sciences. By the mid-1830's the pseudosciences became a central part of nineteenth century popular culture. The lure of mesmerism and phrenology was forceful, accomplished by lectures, exhibitions, phrenological character readings, mesmerist experiments. Americans even performed experiments at home. As reported by the Southern Banner, people discovered electricity as an agent for mesmerism rather than magnets. "I have used a small common electric machine, and with it, by repeated trials, succeeded in producing all the effects usually produced...excite organs, paralyze the limbs, etc."⁽²²⁾ Americans accepted the fads on different grounds. Mesmerism and phrenology were easily accessible for the public. Anyone could become a phrenologist or mesmerist. Whereas the accessibility angered many professionals, it attracted the populace. Supply shops selling busts, charts, and books enabled the practice of the pseudosciences to become extracurricular, something that can be done at home.⁽²³⁾ Athenians did display skepticism but as other Americans were willing to be convinced by any lecturer who came to speak. Advertisements run in the Southern Banner invite the town's people to lectures and exhibitions promising satisfaction once mesmerism or phrenology was validated by their guest lecturer. As professional opposition to the fads mounted so did the public's tendency to ignore professional opinion. The pseudosciences were fun and the public detested scientific claims against them. They wanted to be entertained. As a whole, Antebellum society rejected the criticisms of scientists and theologians and welcomed mesmerism and phrenology into nineteenth century popular culture. Through history the paths of fads have become predictable, their rise and their downfall.

Many reasons have been given for the decline in interest of mesmerism and phrenology in America. Phrenology's end came a few years before mesmerism's, perhaps because of mesmerism's therapeutic value and its possibility for medical uses. One can attribute the waning interest in the pseudoscience to changing fashion. The public was ready to move onto different ideas. However, there are various other theories as to why phrenology and mesmerism were discarded after the 1840's. Continuing opposition from theologians and scientists played an important role. Intellectuals soon became wary of even investigating the ideas because they feared ridicule from those adamantly against phrenology and mesmerism. The end of the 1840's and the beginning of the 1850's bore new problems for Athenians, Southerners, and the rest of America. After 1846, no evidence exists that Athens participated in lectures, exhibitions, or experiments involving mesmerism and phrenology. Abolition and the Civil War left little time for people to indulge in the extraordinary.⁽²⁴⁾ However, in many cities and towns, there were still plenty of "bumpologists" delighted to give cranial analyses for a small fee. The augmentation of crooks such as, "bumpologists" and "practical phrenologists" posed another reason for the public's abandonment of mesmerism and phrenology. Historians also blame the demise on the lack of scientific research and the embellishment of its capabilities.⁽²⁵⁾ Cities like New Orleans, which had taken mesmerism so seriously, eventually had to end their societies due to inadequate financial and social support. The pseudosciences saw obscurity as quickly as it saw fame. For those who didn't discard mesmerism and phrenology, their studies led to various scientific advancements. Mesmerism eventually came to be known as hypnotism and is still used today as an anesthetic and form of entertainment. Scientists who continued phrenological research benefitted a better understanding of the nervous system (physiology) and the development of epistemology, the philosophy of knowledge. The later ventures proved some of phrenology's doctrines to be true such as the correlation of language localization with the front of the brain. Scientists found where skulls had been damaged or had odd contours, the subject had speech impairment. Even before the 1900's studies gave validity to the controversial idea of evolution by comparing motor and sensory roots in human and monkey brains. In the end, scientists had verified many of Gall's original phrenological philosophies but in an altered form.⁽²⁶⁾

Through reading newspapers and primary testimonials, one can illuminate the culture in America during the nineteenth century. Athens' newspaper, Southern Banner, provides an excellent outlet to compare the things going on in Athens with the rest of the country. As one traces back the beginnings of mesmerism and phrenology, it is apparent the two pseudosciences followed very similar courses. The city of Athens demonstrates they participated in this movement as much as other cities. The popularization, acceptance or opposition, and disposal of mesmerism and phrenology can be observed and critiqued for its vast historical value. Although some sources are often contradictory, the most prevalent themes have been outlined and communicated in the preceding pages. The different methods used to gain popular interest succeeded, interest abounded in lower classes and intellectuals who often had different opinions concerning mesmerism and phrenology. In conclusion, it is safe to refer to these pseudosciences as fads, having taken the same road as many before them. However, mesmerism and phrenology represent a more colorful period in America's history, a time when people were not so afraid or criticized for believing in such phenomenons.

Stephanie Swerling

University of Georgia

1. Peter McCandless, "Mesmerism and Phrenology in Antebellum Charleston:Enough of the Marvellous," The Journal of Southern History 58, no.2 (1992) 199-230.

2. Samuel Greenblatt, "Phrenology in the Science and Culture of the 19^th Century," Neurosurgery 37, no.4 (1995): 790-804.

3.

4. Angus McLaren, "Phrenology: Its Medium and Message," The Journal of Modern History 46, no.1 (1974): 86-97.

5. Peter McCandless, "Mesmerism and Phrenology in Antebellum Charleston:Enough of the Marvellous," The Journal of Southern History 58, no.2 (1992): 199-230.

6. Robert E. Riegel, "The Introduction of Phrenology to the United States," The American Historical Review 39, no.1 (1933): 73-78.

7. Samuel Greenblatt, "Phrenology in the Science and Culture of the 19^th Century," Neurosurgery 37, no.4 (1995): 790-804.

8. Robert J. Joynt, "Phrenology in New York State," New York State Journal of Medicine 73, no.13 (1973): 2382-2384.

9. Robert E. Riegel, "The Introduction of Phrenology to the United States," The American Historical Review 39, no.1 (1933): 73-78.

10. Samuel Greenblatt, "Phrenology in the Science and Culture of the 19^th Century," Neurosurgery 37, no.4 (1995): 790-804.

11. Peter McCandless, "Mesmerism and Phrenology in Antebellum Charleston:Enough of the Marvellous," The Journal of Southern History 58, no.2 (1992): 199-230.

12. "Animal Magnetism," Southern Banner, 19 May 1846.

13. "Electricity as a Temperance Agent," Southern Banner, 2 September 1842, p.1, col.4.

14. Southern Banner

15. Peter McCandless, "Mesmerism and Phrenology in Antebellum Charleston:Enough of the Marvellous," The Journal of Southern History 58, no.2 (1992): 199-230.

16. Wallace Tomlinson, "Mesmerism in New Orleans, 1845-1861," American Journal of Psychiatry 131, no.10 (1974): 1402-1404.

17. Peter McCandless, "Mesmerism and Phrenology in Antebellum Charleston:Enough of the Marvellous," The Journal of Southern History 58, no.2 (1992): 199-230.

18. Robert J. Joynt, "Phrenology in New York State," New York State Journal of Medicine 73, no.13 (1973): 2382-2384.

19. "Animal Magnetism," Southern Banner 12 May 1846.

20. Wallace Tomlinson, "Mesmerism in New Orleans, 1845-1861," American Journal of Psychiatry 131, no.10 (1974): 1402-1404.

21. Peter McCandless, "Mesmerism and Phrenology in Antebellum Charleston:Enough of the Marvellous," The Journal of Southern History 58, no.2 (1992): 199-230.

22. "The Agent in Animal Magnetism," Southern Banner, 10 August 1843, p.2, col. 5.

23. Samuel Greenblatt, "Phrenology in the Science and Culture of the 19^th Century," Neurosurgery 37, no.4 (1995): 790-804.

24. Peter McCandless, "Mesmerism and Phrenology in Antebellum Charleston:Enough of the Marvellous," The Journal of Southern History 58, no.2 (1992): 199-230.

25. Robert E. Riegel, "The Introduction of Phrenology to the United States," The American Historical Review 39, no.1 (1933): 73-78.

26. Samuel Greenblatt, "Phrenology in the Science and Culture of the 19^th Century," Neurosurgery 37, no.4 (1995): 790-804.

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