Von Senden, Mesmer, and the Recovery of Sight in the Blind

Abstract

Von Senden once cited an old case of Mesmer's as an example of amaurotic blindness due to paralysis of the optic nerves. A closer examination of the case of Friulein Paradis' short-lived cure shows certain similarities with the recovery of sight by the congenitally blind, but the account of her relapse into blindness implies a prolonged functional rather than anatomical disorder, as could also have been the case in the biblical account of the cure of the blind man of Bethsaida. In a previous note to this journal (Forrest, 1965), I discussed the similarity between one of von Senden's case studies of the recovery of sight in congenital blindness (the Getaz case) and the biblical account of the cure of the blind man of Bethsaida. During their recovery both patients, it is said, confused trees with human beings, a similarity which implies that the biblical case was one of long-lasting, if not congenital, blindness. I stressed the need for a comparable report from a case of prolonged functional disorder before the biblical account could be subsumed under the rubric of prestige suggestion. An old case of Mesmer's has since come to my attention; it may not be generally known and does offer an opportunity for several comparisons with those of congenital blindness. Von Senden (1932) includes this case in his book as an example of amaurotic blindness due to paralysis of the optic nerves. The text implies that the patient had been blind from birth and that although Mesmer's treatment had temporary success the patient relapsed permanently owing to cribriform perforation of the membranes which had formed on both eyes in place of the lenses. This description appears to have been based on a contemporary newspaper account.' The following description of some aspects of the case is based on reports by Mesmer and by the patient's father, whose signed testimony was discovered among Mesmer's papers (Harte, 1902; Mesmer, 1779). These sources would appear to be more reliable than that provided by a news