Editing Franz Mesmer (section)

===Investigation===
[[Image:Franz Anton Mesmers Grabstein 01 Gesamt.jpg|thumb|Mesmer's grave in the cemetery in [[Meersburg]], [[Germany]].]]
{{main|Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism}}

In 1784, without Mesmer having requested it, [[King Louis XVI]] appointed four members of the Faculty of Medicine as commissioners to investigate animal magnetism and Mesmerism. At the request of these commissioners, the king appointed Baron de Breteuil, minister of the Department of Paris, to establish investigative commissions. One was composed of individuals from the Royal Academy of Sciences, and the other of individuals from the Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine. The investigative teams included the chemist [[Antoine Lavoisier]], the doctor [[Joseph-Ignace Guillotin]], the astronomer [[Jean Sylvain Bailly]], and the American ambassador [[Benjamin Franklin]].<ref name=":0">Sadie F. Dingfelder, [https://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/07-08/franklin "The first modern psychology study: Or how Benjamin Franklin unmasked a fraud and demonstrated the power of the mind"],  ''Monitor on Psychology'', July/August 2010, Vol 41, No. 7, page 30.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=University |first1=© Stanford |last2=Stanford |last3=California 94305 |date=2017-03-15 |title=Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/super-e/feature/franz-anton-mesmer-1734-1815 |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=The Super-Enlightenment - Spotlight at Stanford |language=en}}</ref>

The commission conducted a series of experiments aimed not just at determining whether Mesmer's treatment worked, but whether he had discovered a new physical fluid. The commission concluded that there was no evidence for such a fluid. Whatever benefit the treatment produced was attributed to "imagination". One of the commissioners, the botanist [[Antoine Laurent de Jussieu]] took exception to the official reports, authoring a dissenting opinion.<ref name=":1" />

The commission did not examine Mesmer specifically, but instead observed the practice of d'Eslon. They used [[blind trial]]s, blindfolding the subjects, in their investigation, and found that Mesmerism seemed to work only when the subject was aware of it. Their findings are considered the first observation of the [[placebo effect]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The phony health craze that inspired hypnotism | date=27 January 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQyAnKjD6W4 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/KQyAnKjD6W4| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|via=YouTube |publisher=Vox |access-date=27 January 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Even d'Eslon himself was convinced by the commission, stating that, "the imagination thus directed to the relief of suffering humanity would be a most valuable means in the hands of the medical profession."<ref name=":0" />

Mesmer was driven into exile soon after the investigations on animal magnetism. However, his influential student, [[Amand-Marie-Jacques de Chastenet, Marquis of Puységur]] (1751–1825), continued to have many followers until his death.<ref>Gielen & Raymond, 39–45.</ref> 

Mesmer continued to practice in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, for a number of years. He died in 1815 in [[Meersburg|Meersburg, Germany]].<ref>[http://www.knerger.de/html/mesmererfinder.html Mesmer's grave in the Meersburg cemetery], knerger.de {{in lang|de}}.</ref>