mesmerism
n. a therapeutic technique popularized in the late 18th century by Franz Anton Mesmer, who claimed to effect cures through the use of a vitalistic principle that he termed animal magnetism. The procedure involved the application of magnets to ailing parts of a patient’s body and the induction of a trancelike state by gazing into the patient’s eyes, making certain “magnetic passes” over him or her with the hands, and so forth. Variants of mesmerism remained popular for much of the 19th century, when they were gradually superseded by hypnosis. —mesmerist
n.
—mesmeric
adj.
—mesmerize
vb.