Mesmerism in India: and its Practical Application in Surgery and Medicine

Mesmerism in India is James Esdaile’s fascinating firsthand account of using mesmerism (what we’d now call hypnotic techniques) as an anesthetic in 19th-century colonial India. Writing as a Scottish surgeon with the East India Company, Esdaile describes case after case in which patients were placed into trance-like states before painful surgical procedures—an approach he believed reduced suffering and improved outcomes long before modern anesthesia was widely available.Part medical report, part travel-and-history document, the book captures a pivotal moment when early psychology, experimental medicine, and empire intersected. Esdaile details his methods, the hospital setting, skeptical reactions from authorities, and the ethical and practical questions raised by his work. Whether you’re interested in the history of hypnosis, the origins of anesthesia, or Victorian-era medical experimentation, this public-domain classic offers an unusual and thought-provoking window into medicine on the frontier of its time. Read more