1-156-296 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Mesmer's tub, c1870. In 1779, soon after the publication of his treatise Memoire sur la decouverte de magnetism animal, Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), the founder of Mesmerism, opened a consulting room in Paris. The tub was a vat of dilute sulphuric acid and patients at therapy sessions sat around it either holding hands, or holding one of the iron bars projecting from it. From Les Merveilles de la Science by Louis Figuier. (Paris, c1870).