← Stuff You Missed in History Class
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- [00:00]
Tracy V. Wilson
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
Guaranteed Human Everyone deserves to be connected. T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces. Our networks are coming together bringing more T Mobile coverage all over the country. Switch to T Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon by getting built in benefits they leave out. Check the math@t mobile.com Switch and now T Mobile is available in the US Cellular Store in Pasco. Bigger network the combination of T Mobile and US Cellular's network footprints will enhance the T Mobile network's coverage. Savings versus comparable Verizon plans plus the costs of options, benefits, plant features and taxes and fees vary. Savings with three plus lines include third free line free via monthly bill credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines. Qualifying credit required.
- [00:35]
Holly Fry
On this episode of Plant Killers, we'll explore one nation's most notorious fruit and vegetable killer. Bad dirt. What makes bad dirt so bad? The answer the ingredients. But fear not, true crime enthusiasts, this story has a happy ending. Miracle Gro Organic raised bed in garden soil. It's made with quality organic ingredients from upcycled green waste like compost and aged bark. Unlike the other guys who can't say the same. Looks like bad dirt's murdering days are over thanks to Miracle Gro. Join us next time on Plant Killers.
- [01:06]
Tracy V. Wilson
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- [02:02]
Holly Fry
to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartradio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry.
- [02:15]
Tracy V. Wilson
And I'm Tracy V. Wilson.
- [02:18]
Holly Fry
Listen, I'm in a phase where I just want to follow various threads and paths down where they take me on different episode researches, and then I find something else in that and it kind of relates to it and I want to come back to it. And often I try to space those out, but not right now. I'm doing it also. This is another instance where we're talking about a person who is interesting and important in the development of a thing and not a jerk, which I just need right now. Apparently this is sort of a prequel to our recent episode on Emile Kue and kueiism, because we are going to talk about hypnosis and how that actually became a thing separate from mesmerism. In 1899, one of James Braid's most significant texts was reprinted. That's 56 years after its original publication. And it includes a somewhat, depending on your point of view, insulting note in the introduction, which is written by Arthur Edward Waite. It reads, quote, the materials for the biography of James Braid are so meager that a paragraph of modest dimensions will be found to exhaust them. Nor is the reason far to seek. His life would seem to have been of an uncheckered and even character. It was free from early struggles, for it was entered under favorable circumstances and it was moderately successful throughout, but with no approach to brilliance, being lifted out of the groove of the ordinary competent practitioner in the north of England by a single great event. By this event also, it was ruled, and all details of a domestic and private kind disappear beneath the shadow cast by the discovery of hypnotism. Listen, James Braid did study and advance hypnotism, and we're gonna talk about that today. But he was also a surgeon with a reputation for pioneering new truth treatments, some of which helped a lot of people before he became fascinated with the scientific aspects that he felt underpinned mesmerism. And his life certainly merits more than one paragraph. And in fact, the author of that quote, Arthur Edward Waite, who edited the new edition of his book, wrote a whole lot more pages on Braid. It wasn't just a paragraph. So he kind of proved himself wrong in that. In that opener anyway. But we're going to talk about James Braid today.
- [04:47]
Tracy V. Wilson
So James Braid was born on June 19, 1795, at his family's home. That was Rylaw House in the parish of Portmook in the county of Kinross, Scotland. You may also see his place of birth listed as County Fife, and that is because the county lines have shifted over the years. His parents were James and Ann Suddy Braid, and there's really not a lot of information about his childhood other than that he worked on the family farm. His story really picks up with his higher education in 1812, when he enrolled at Edinburgh University.
- [05:25]
Holly Fry
On November 17, 1813, James married a woman named Margaret Mason. He and his wife would go on to have two children, a son named James and a daughter named Ann. They had two other children as well, who unfortunately died as infants. During the early years of their marriage, James was in a surgeon's apprenticeship at a practice in Leith owned by a father and son surgeon team, both of whom were named Charles Anderson. I will say I did find a contrary account that gave one of their names as Thomas, but the ones I deemed more credible said they were both named Charles. Historian Lindsay Bertram Yates, who has written a whole lot about James Braid, noted in his doctoral thesis about Braid that it was unclear if James and Margaret lived with the Andersons during this time or not, although it would have been customary for an apprentice to do so. The marriage part is usually not in the equation for an apprentice, though.
- [06:23]
Tracy V. Wilson
During the time that Braid was apprenticed with the Andersons, he was also attending school from 1814 to 1815 that included lectures at the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary. In November of 1815, he also became a member of the Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons. Then he moved to Lead Hills, Scotland, where he served as a surgeon to a community that was made up largely of mine workers. He was an employee of the Scotch Mining Company, which ran the lead and silver mines in the area. During his time that he was there, he treated all kinds of ailments, from severed fingers to suffocation in the mines. His write ups about some of these cases were published from his early years in medicine and surgery, Braid often treated impoverished patients at no charge, and that was something that he continued through his career.
- [07:16]
Holly Fry
After working in Lead Hills for about eight years, he moved on to practice in Dumfries, where he took over a practice that had been established by another surgeon. He made this move in 1825 and after he moved there, he met another surgeon named William Maxwell, and these two men became close colleagues. And while this is sometimes described as a partnership, it does not appear to have been any sort of formal business arrangement. They weren't actual business partners so much as the two men kind of sharing expertise and consulting on one another's cases. Maxwell, who was older than Braid, was also something of a mentor and he significantly expanded the the younger surgeon's knowledge in the field.
- [08:01]
Tracy V. Wilson
One note on the status of surgeons which has come up on the show before is at this point in the uk, surgeons were not on the same level as physicians, being a surgeon didn't require a doctor of medicine or an MD degree, although surgeons did often have a university education in surgery, as Braid did. A surgeon could also practice if they had learned through an apprenticeship, as Braided had also done, and their focus was really not on internal medicine and diagnosis. A lot of surgeons were doing things more like setting fractures and performing amputations. Braid was practicing as a surgeon at a time when this was shifting. The Royal College of Surgeons in London was founded in 1800, and a lot of surgeons like Braid could become members of the Royal College of Surgeons, as he had done in Edinburgh, but they could not become fellows. So he and Maxwell were not addressed as doctor. They would have instead been called mister. Somewhat confusing situation, especially if you don't live in the uk, where it is still this way, has continued into modern medicine. There's an article from the year 2000 that was published in the British Medical Journal which said, quote, medical qualifications in the United Kingdom have been in an unholy muddle ever since the Medical act of 1858, when no less than 18 independent medical institutions offered a range of bachelorships, licenses, diplomas, memberships, fellowships and doctorates, all officially recognized by the General Medical Council. This cannot be altered. So still today.
- [09:44]
Holly Fry
Yeah, it's basically like, so set in stone.
- [09:47]
Tracy V. Wilson
Yeah. And so still today, the surgeons are Mr. And Ms. And Mrs. And Ms. And not doctor.
- [09:56]
Holly Fry
Yeah. Which some would argue now that is more of an honorific because of the associated skill you need with it. I will say I did find a lovely. I didn't include it in the notes here, but I found a lovely obituary of James Braid that kind of said, like, we know he's a mister, but we call him doctor in the community because he takes care of everybody, which was very sweet. There was another meeting in Dumfries that would also influence Braid's life, and that is with a patient he treated, a man named Alexander Petty, who had hurt his ankle in a stagecoach accident while he was visiting Scotland on business. Petty was from Manchester, England, and during the time he was under Braid's care, while his ankle healed, which took some time, he and Braid became pretty good friends. And in 1828, Braid moved to Manchester and opened a practice there. That decision is usually attributed to his friendship with Petty, although there were also likely some other factors involved, including a lot of economic struggle that was going on in Scotland at the time.
- [11:02]
Tracy V. Wilson
While in Manchester, Braid established himself as a reliable and knowledgeable surgeon. He kept learning from and sharing knowledge with his colleagues. He also trained Several young surgeons. Through apprenticeships with him, he served the Manchester community with a strong sense of duty, advocating for things like improved city sanitation after helping to usher the city through a cholera epidemic in 1832. He also took up causes that he believed would improve people's overall well being, including concepts we are still working on today, like better work, life balance through reduction in expected working hours.
- [11:43]
Holly Fry
Yeah. He specifically thought, like, young people that were working in jobs should not be working long hours because they, in some cases, remember child labor. Not uncommon. They were still growing. And he was like, they need rest and nutrition. They don't need to be working all the time. One of the most significant ways that Brad distinguished himself as a surgeon was through his study and work, focusing on the condition known as talepes equinavaris, or more commonly, club foot. So just in case you don't know, clubfoot is a condition where the foot is turned inward to a sharp degree, Often with the bottom of the foot facing sideways. Or in extreme cases, the bottom of the foot can even be turned to be facing up. It often appears in infancy. That's normally when you would see it. And for years, clubfoot was believed to be a skeletal deformity. But during braid's time, the medical establishment was starting to understand that it is actually a tendon issue and more a matter of the connective tissues from muscle to bone. At a time when the only surgery most practitioners were doing on clubfoot was amputation. Braid, who kept up with the latest literature, was an early adopter of instead operating on that connective tissue instead with the intent to save the leg. And he developed his own technique to do so that was less invasive and more nuanced in terms of how it handled the tendons involved. Even more so than other surgeons that were considered to be, like, on the cutting edge of this technique. He stated in his writing that he was performing this surgery almost daily and that he was able to reverse a state of paralysis in his patients. His nuanced approach to tendon surgery was one that he did not only confine to clubfoot, but also started using when people had issues with other parts of their bodies, kind of applying the same concepts and understandings of this connective tissue. He was widely recognized for his skill in this area, and it became common for both patients and medical professionals to travel long distances to seek his care or get his opinion on the matter.
- [13:54]
Tracy V. Wilson
Braid became an expert on connective tissues and was always intent on streamlining his surgical process as much as possible for the benefit of the patient. This is like before the development of modern anesthesia and antibiotics. So there are many reasons to want to do that. This was incredibly beneficial when he turned his scalpel to a very different type of surgery, and that was dealing with the eyes. This started with patients who had an issue of chronic squinting, where the connective tissue around their eyes made them unable to relax the muscles in that area. It led him to eventually correcting issues with eye alignment. He was not the first surgeon to note the similarities of the way the tendons affected the limbs and the way connective tissues could cause problems like crossed eyes or walleyes. Building on the work of other professionals in his field, he started applying his knowledge to corrective eye surgeries. And he had a lot of success in his speech speed with this was almost terrifying. He was said to have conducted six such surgeries in rapid succession, taking less than 14 minutes for all six of them. But this was in part because he believed that once the problem was identified, getting in and out very quickly was the best thing for the patient. Noting that the actual work on the tendon took him less than 30 seconds, he believed that his consistently good recovery outcomes were, in part due to the patient not having to endure a really long procedure. Braid had similar success applying his understanding of connective tissue and body mechanics to scoliosis, and wrote about several patients with lateral curvatures of the spine, whose conditions were much improved by surgical intervention. A lot of these things are treated non surgically today. Or if they're surgical, like, surgery is not the first line. But he was so innovative with this.
- [15:52]
Holly Fry
Yeah. It's also important to remember this may squink people out. I know, it does me. It's one of the few areas that I get a little like about. When he was operating on people's eyes, they were awake. So he really wanted to minimize their discomfort in every way he could and also minimize the chance that, like, they would move or twitch and potentially cause greater damage during the surgery. But Braid also waded into some pretty controversial waters when he used his connective tissue knowledge to operate on patients who came to him for help with, of all things, stammering. He was not the only surgeon to do this during the 1840s. We want to be clear, he wasn't just like, yeah, sure, I'll cut this open. And he only did this after he examined a patient and determined that they actually had a physical problem that was causing tongue paralysis. But there were a lot of doctors and surgeons who protested these surgeries, not just his, but by the medical establishment as bypassing other non invasive therapies and Braid did stop doing these after just a couple of years.
- [17:02]
Tracy V. Wilson
The pivotal moment in Braid's life as it relates to Hypnotism happened on November 13, 1841 at the Manchester Athenaeum. That evening he attended a demonstration given by a traveling mesmerist named Charles Lafontaine.
- [17:19]
Holly Fry
We will talk about that after we pause for a sponsor break. Recently True Nature Meats sent me their Mediterranean chicken breast to try. I just warmed it up in a skillet for a couple of minutes and served it as part of a meal and this chicken was wonderfully tender. It's got these great herb notes. It's really delicious and savory without being overpowering. And I love that these flavors have their own roots in history. These are the same herbs that would have been used during the times of Greek symposia and served as part of Roman feasts. It's pretty cool. You could travel through time with your palate. True Nature Meats has supplied the world's finest restaurants for more than 30 years, so they have their own unique history and odds are good that you have actually had meat that they have supplied without even knowing it. Now you can get those same delicious restaurant flavors at home for a fraction of the price. Head to truenaturemeats.com history get 20% off plus free New York strip Brazilian garlic beef and Mediterranean chicken won't last. Hurry. TrueNatureMeats.com History Worth Exploring. Unlike the people we normally talk about on the show, we are living in a time when Internet connectivity is a standard part of life for most people and there is literally no way we could research and prepare our podcast without the Internet. If connectivity goes down for me, it can be really hard to make up that lost time. And for businesses, Internet connectivity is even more of a necessity. Spectrum Business keeps businesses of all sizes connected seamlessly with fast and reliable Internet, advanced Wi, Fi, phone, TV and mobile services. Spectrum business offers 100% US based customer support and they do it 24 7. That means you can always stay up and running no matter what hours your business keeps. Spectrum Business also will tailor connectivity solutions just for you. They will put a package together that is built for your business budget. Millions of business owners rely on Spectrum Business to keep them connected. So visit spectrum.combusiness to learn more. Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas. Some British TV characters are so iconic they feel larger than life. Take Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's meticulously groomed detective whose mustache has a personality of its own or David Brent from the Office, a man who turned workplace awkwardness into a study in secondhand embarrassment. Britbox has the characters you simply won't be able to get out of your mind. Ludwig charms as the brilliant yet offbeat puzzle maker turned accidental detective. Jane Andrews captivates in the lady, inspired by the true story of the royal dresser whose fairy tale ended in scandal and murder. And of course, the Mitford sisters show us how to stir up controversy in Outrageous, based on one of Britain's notorious families. If you like your characters clever, complicated and occasionally infamous, you might have just found your next rabbit hole on Britbox. Start watching with a free trial today@britbox.com.
- [20:39]
Tracy V. Wilson
We're lost. It feels like we're going round in circles. I'm going to ask that man for directions. Hi there. We're trying to get to the station fairgrounds.
- [20:48]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
Well, you're going to take a left at the old oak tree at this here road. Nah, I'm just kidding. Let me get my phone out.
- [20:55]
Tracy V. Wilson
How is their signal out here?
- [20:57]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
T Mobile and US Cellular are coming together, so the network out here is huge. We get the same great signal as the city, saving a boatload with benefits. And there's a five year price guarantee too. Okay, here's the turn.
- [21:09]
Tracy V. Wilson
Actually, can you pull up the way to a T Mobile store?
- [21:12]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
America, America's best network just got bigger. Switch to T Mobile today and get built in benefits the other guys leave out, plus our five year price guarantee. And now T Mobile is available at U S Cellular stores in Hermiston. Best mobile network based on analysis by Ooklo Speed test intelligence data. Second half of 2025 bigger network. The combination of T Mobile's and US Cellular's network footprints will enhance the T Mobile network's coverage, price guarantee on talk text and data exclusions like taxes and fees apply. See t mobile.com for details.
- [21:44]
Holly Fry
There are many descriptions of people being in states that could be described as hypnotic going back thousands of years, and some of those are certainly a matter of interpretation. There are spiritual practices from places like Egypt and India going back thousands of years. And Braid actually invoked Indian yogic traditions as a historical example when he wrote about hypnotism later in his life. Swiss physician Paracelsus, working in the 16th century, introduced a couple of ideas that it seems would later get sort of amalgamated into one in the work of Franz Mesmer. One was the concept of mumia, of which Paracelsus wrote, quote, for the mumia is the man himself. The mumia is the balsam which heals the wound. And the other that Paracelsus kind of introduced was this concept of. Of magnetic fields having curative and healing properties.
- [22:42]
Tracy V. Wilson
Franz Anton Mesmer is, of course, well known for his development of the concept of animal magnetism. This seems to have combined the mumia and magnetic work of Paracelsus to the idea that he could heal patients by controlling the flow of an invisible fluid. That's what animal magnetism supposedly was. Mesmer was discredited in his own lifetime. In 1784, King Louis XVI sent a commission to investigate mesmerism, and that was because it was being perceived at the time as a threat. There was a blind trial that led to the determination that Mesmer's cures were largely a matter of patients believing that they had improved rather than showing any kind of actual physical improvement.
- [23:32]
Holly Fry
Yeah, I didn't dig into it here, but mesmerism was considered a threat to the state because in a country where religion is so important and a national religion is so important, for someone to be like, no, I control paranormal forces. It made the crown very nervous, I get it. But listen, it didn't matter. People didn't trust Louis XVI's commission, even though people like Antoine Lavoisier were on it. And during Mesmer's life and after his death, his concepts were picked up by a number of other people, including Armand Marie Jacques de Chastenet, Marquis de Puysgur. So Chastenet de Puysgur had tried out the use of magnets on a family employee after reading about Mesmer's work, and the man appeared to go into a trance like state while Chastenet de Passegur did this, whatever he was doing with the magnets, ruminating on this whole thing, Chastenet de Persegur thought that a sleep state could be induced to more fully affect Mesmer's magnetic healing. So he wasn't onto the science of hypnotism, but he had kind of stumbled onto the mechanism of it. And he was not the only person who was fascinated by mesmerism and its potential uses. Another example is the surgeon Jules Cloquet, who claimed to use mesmerism to sedate a patient who had breast cancer during a surgical procedure to remove her tumor. Other medical professionals used mesmerism in this same way, and there was even a mesmeric hospital in Calcutta that was founded by Dr. James Esdale. Incidentally, though, Esdale shifted entirely to the use of ether once it was introduced as an anesthetic and stopped trying to put his patients in a trance.
- [25:25]
Tracy V. Wilson
Charles Lafontaine studied the work of Poissegur. He also routinely claimed that Louis XVI's commission had found the opposite of their actual findings, saying that their review had validated mesmerism, which it had not. La Fontaine was not, we should be clear, a medical practitioner of any kind. He had a theatrical background. He was more like a stage magician before becoming interested in animal magnetism.
- [25:54]
Holly Fry
In 1841, La Fontaine decided to go on a tour of Britain exhibiting his mesmerism technique. This is pretty interesting because he spoke not one word of English, so everything had to happen through interpreters. By the time La Fontaine arrived in Manchester, Braid, like most medical practitioners, had come to view mesmerism as completely fraudulent. La Fontaine had appeared in London for a while before this, and there was a lot of like, huh?
- [26:20]
Tracy V. Wilson
All right.
- [26:21]
Holly Fry
In the reviews about it, Arthur Edward Waite, writing about Braid's life, noted, quote, the hostility was honest in its way, though based on a priori considerations which are somewhat humiliating to recall, as, for example, that mesmerism had been practiced by imposters and quacks, that most of its believers were ignorant or mere smatterers, and that many of their stories were undeniable, undeniably exaggerated, if not actually invented. But a lot of people were still interested in what La Fontaine billed as magnetism.
- [26:58]
Tracy V. Wilson
So like a lot of other people, Braid was very skeptical and wrote later, quote, I was led to discover the mode I now adopt with so much success for inducing this artificial condition of the nervous system by a course of experiments instituted with the view to determine the cause of mesmeric phenomena. From all I had read and heard of mesmerism, such as the phenomena being capable of being excited in so few and those few individuals in a state of disease or naturally of a delicate constitution or particularly susceptible temperament, and from the phenomena, when induced, being said to be so exaggerated or of such an extraordinary nature, I was fully inclined to join with those who considered the whole to be a system of collusion or delusion or of excited imagination, sympathy, or imitation. A lot of people thought La Fontaine was a fraud.
- [28:02]
Holly Fry
Braid attended La Fontaine's third lecture in Manchester on November 13, 1841, and so did a lot of other people, because write ups about his earlier two lectures had really stoked public interest. So even people who initially were like, I don't care, were suddenly like, I feel like I should check this out. The Manchester Times described this scene on the third lecture, quote, we should think there could not be less than six or seven hundred persons present, among whom were many of our leading medical and surgical practitioners and a few ladies. La Fontaine's demonstration involved putting his assistant, who was a young man named Eugene, into a so called mesmeric state, and then letting people jab him with pins under the assurance that the young man could feel no pain in this trance. This caused a mix of excited jabbing from some volunteers who stepped forward to help and horrified protests from audience members who found the whole exercise cruel and downright shameful. In addition to the pins, detonating caps were discharged near this person's ears. Ammonia was held under his nose, and a magnetic current was sent through wires that he held in his hands, all to show that the subject was cataleptic and insensible to all of these very cruel stimuli, which were all still happening
- [29:29]
Tracy V. Wilson
and involved injuring him in some cases, which is wild to me. Simplified versions of James Braid's story really make it sound like he went to this lecture and demonstration, he saw La Fontaine, and he just came away convinced that something worthwhile was going on that did not actually happen, at least not initially. According to Braid's account, quote, the first exhibition of the kind I ever had an opportunity of attending was one of Monsieur Lafontaine's Conversazione on the 13th of November, 1841. That night I saw nothing to diminish rather than confirm my previous prejudices at the next conversazione. Six nights afterwards, one fact, the inability of a patient to open his eyelids arrested my attention. I considered that to be a real phenomenon and was anxious to discover the physiological cause of it. Next night I watched this case when it again operated on with intense interest, and before the termination of the experiment, felt assured I had discovered its cause, but considered it prudent not to announce my opinion publicly until I had an opportunity of testing its accuracy by experiments and observation in private.
- [30:52]
Holly Fry
So, as Braden mentioned in that writing, he went to La Fontaine's fourth Manchester appearance, that was on November 19, and he was invited, along with other medical professionals in attendance, to go on stage. Braid really wanted someone who had never seen La Fontaine's procedure before to be the first person magnetized to ensure that their imagination was not in play, that they weren't kind of subconsciously buying into the idea. At one point, Braid even offered to be magnetized himself, but La Fontaine said he didn't think Braid was susceptible to it. There was apparently so much arguing in the lecture hall over all of this that the paper printed a scolding of all the attendees, noting that they were treating a guest in their country very rudely, which should not happen even if someone was a charlatan.
- [31:44]
Tracy V. Wilson
When La Fontaine had a fifth appearance on November 20, braid was there again. This time he stood up and he read a letter that he had sent to La Fontaine in the morning, but he hadn't gotten a response to that letter. The letter indicated that he still thought that a sympathetic mind on the part of the subject was creating their seemingly altered consciousness. He asked once again that someone unfamiliar with this process be the subject and see if Lafontaine's magnetism worked. This was actually met with some resistance from some of the attendees who thought that Braid was basically interfering with a public lecturer by dictating how that lecturer should give his presentation. But though his request was not honored and a subject that had previously been put into a trance was used once again, once Braid was able to examine that person, he was convinced that they were somehow in an altered state state although he did not buy into La Fontaine's animal magnetism explanation and he wanted to figure out what was really happening.
- [32:52]
Holly Fry
So we will talk about how Braid conducted his own experiments to test his idea after we hear from the sponsors that keep stuff you missed in history class going Holly here, listen. True Nature Meats sent me some of their Mediterranean chicken to try and after heating it in a skillet for two minutes I I served it over some quinoa and roasted veggies with tzatziki and I was in heaven. It's tender juicy chicken with bright herb notes. Head to truenaturemeats.com history get 20% off free New York strip Brazilian garlic beef and Mediterranean Chicken won't last. TrueNatureMeats.com history. You'll love it. Unlike the people we normally talk about on the show, we are living in a time when Internet connectivity is a standard part of life for most people and there is liter no way we could research and prepare our podcast without the Internet. If connectivity goes down for me it can be really hard to make up that lost time. And for businesses, Internet connectivity is even more of a necessity. Spectrum Business keeps businesses of all sizes connected seamlessly with fast and reliable Internet, advanced wi fi, phone, TV and mobile services. Spectrum business offers 100% US based customer support and they do it 24. 7. That means you can always stay up and running no matter what hours your business keeps. Spectrum Business also will tailor connectivity solutions just for you. They will put a package together that is built for your business budget. Millions of business owners rely on Spectrum Business to keep them connected so visit spectrum.combusiness to learn more. Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas. Some British TV characters are so iconic they feel larger than life. Take Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's meticulously groomed detective whose mustache has a personality of its own. Or David Brent from the Office, a man who turned workplace awkwardness into a study in secondhand embarrassment. Britbox has the characters you simply won't be able to get out of your mind. Ludwig charms as the brilliant yet offbeat puzzle maker turned accidental detective. Jane Andrews captivates in the lady, inspired by the true story of the royal dresser whose fairy tale ended in scandal and murder. And of course, the Mitford sisters show us how to stir up controversy in Outrageous, based on one of Britain's most notorious families. If you like your characters clever, complicated and occasionally infamous, you might have just found your next rabbit hole on Britbox. Start watching with a free trial today@britbox.com.
- [35:43]
Tracy V. Wilson
We're lost. It feels like we're going round in circles. I'm gonna ask that man for directions. Hi there. We're trying to get to the state fairgrounds.
- [35:53]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
Well, you're going to take a left at the old oak tree at this here road. Nah, I'm just kidding. Let me get my phone out.
- [35:59]
Tracy V. Wilson
How is there signal out here?
- [36:01]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
T Mobile and US Cellular are coming together so the network out here is huge. We can get the same great signal as the city, saving a boatload with benefits. And there's a five year price guarantee too. Okay, here's the turn.
- [36:13]
Tracy V. Wilson
Actually, can you pull up the way to a T Mobile store?
- [36:17]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
America's best network just got bigger. Switch to T Mobile today and get built in benefits the other guys leave out plus our five year price guarantee. And now T Mobile is available at US Cellular stores in Hermiston. Best Mobile Network based on analysis by opening OKLO Speedtest Intelligence data second half of 2025 bigger network the combination of T Mobile's and US Cellular's network footprints will enhance the T Mobile network's coverage price guarantee on talk text and data exclusions like taxes and fees apply. See t mobile.com for details.
- [36:49]
Holly Fry
Braid started working on his ideas about the science behind LaFontaine's magnetism right away. He wrote, quote, my first object was to prove that the inability of the patient to open his eyes was caused by paralyzing the levator muscles of the eyelids through their continued action during the practiced fixed stare and thus rendering it physically impossible for him to open them. With the view of proving this, I requested Mr. Walker, a young gentleman present to sit down and maintain a fixed stare at the top of a wine bottle placed so much above him as to produce a considerable strain on the eyes and eyelids to enable him to maintain a steady view of the object. In three minutes, his eyelids closed. A gush of tears ran down his cheeks, his head drooped, his face was slightly convulsed. He gave a groan and instantly fell into profound sleep, the respiration becoming slow, deep and sibilant, the right hand and arm being agitated by slight convulsive movements. At the end of four minutes, I considered it necessary for his safety to put an end to the experiment. Braid also conducted this experiment on someone that he said had no knowledge of mesmerism, didn't know what it was telling that subject, that he needed him to carefully watch a chemical experiment in the preparation of some medicine, and that it had the same effect, noting, quote, in two minutes and a half, his eyelids closed slowly with a vibrating motion, his chin fell on his breast. He gave a deep sigh and instantly was in a profound sleep, breathing loudly.
- [38:30]
Tracy V. Wilson
Having just been to an eye doctor appointment where I had to, like, look up with my eyes for a retinal photograph for, like, a few seconds, the idea of maintaining that eye posture for three minutes sounds awful to me.
- [38:47]
Holly Fry
And that is why he thought, your body just shut down at that point.
- [38:53]
Tracy V. Wilson
All of this was to disprove something that La Fontaine and other mesmerists claimed. They also said that the key to mesmerism was a connection that flowed between the practitioner and the subject, and often this included physical touch. La Fontaine would grasp his subject's thumbs while inducing their trance. But as Braid guessed, there was a scientific basis for this that had nothing to do with animal magnetism that was associated with Mesmer's work. It didn't require this kind of physical connection. Braid was reluctant to outright denounce that mesmerizers had some kind of connection going on, writing, quote, Now I do not consider it fair or proper to impugn the statements of others in this matter who are known to be men of talent and observation and of undoubted credit in other matters, merely because I have not personally witnessed the phenomena or been able to produce them myself, either by my own mode or theirs, with my present means of knowledge. I am willing to admit that certain phenomena to which I refer have been induced by others, but I still think most of them may be explained in a different and more natural way than that of the mesmerizers, when I shall have personally had evidence of the special influence and its effect of, to which they lay claim. I shall not be backward in bearing testimony to the fact. Basically that all amounts to. I don't think the mystic part of it is real, but if I ever have an experience that convinces me otherwise, I'll surely say so.
- [40:39]
Holly Fry
Yeah, he's so, he's so kind. He's very magnanimous. Like, listen, I don't, I don't want to trash talk these guys, but I really don't think they know what's going on. But his other issue with mesmerism was the issue of a subject's consent. Once he had developed his focused method of achieving a trance like state. He stated that his way of doing this was just superior writing. Quote, mine also has this advantage that I am quite certain no one can be affected by it in any stage of the process unless by the free will and consent of the patient, which is at once sufficient to exonerate the practice from the imputations of being capable of being converted to immoral purposes, which has been so much insisted on to the prejudice of animal magnetism. This has arisen from the mesmerizers asserting that they have the power of overmastering patience irresistibly even whilst at a distance by mere volitions and secret passes.
- [41:40]
Tracy V. Wilson
And Braid was eager to show that he could achieve the same results that La Fontaine had without having any contact with the subject. So he gave his own lecture on November 27, just days after having encountered Lafontaine for the first time, to demonstrate he had quickly come to the conclusion that the state of being hypnotized, although he wasn't using that term yet, was tied to an exhaustion of the nervous system. He also believed that anyone could hypnotize themselves because he had determined that you could not be hypnotized without your own consent. He was onto the idea that you can bring yourself out of hypnosis if you want to.
- [42:23]
Holly Fry
Yeah, his whole thing is you have to have someone willingly concentrate on an object so long that it actually like strains their nervous system and their connective tissue in a way that puts them to sleep. And they can literally look away at any time if they want. And if they go into this trance, their conscious mind is still in there and can go, I don't wanna be hypnotized anymore. Which a lot of like modern day institutions that study hypnosis will also say, like hypnosis is a thing you can absolutely opt out of at any point in the process. James Braid had uncoupled this state of being from mesmerism and magnetism. But he wasn't quite correct in his assessment of how it worked. So you'll recall that in his early descriptions of his tests, using intense focus to achieve this state, he mentioned the subject falling asleep. And while he didn't think it was the same as being asleep, the use of that word has caused some confusion. He did think that it was closely related to sleep. His first name for it was neurohypnology, or nervous sleep. And his first book on the subject, which was written in 1843, went by a shortened version of that word, which was neuropnology. It was the full title was Neuropnology or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep Considered in Relation with Animal Magnetism. The quotes that we've been reading, his writing about this whole thing and coming into this knowledge are all from that book. And in addition to describing the way that he became interested in the subject, he also lays out the details of numerous cases in which hypnotism was used medically. By the time he published the book, he was using the term neuropnology to apply to the science as a whole. And then the word hypnotism to replace the uses of mesmerism or magnetism. In the representation of this more scientific approach. He also included a lot of cases of patients who had health improvements through the use of hypnosis. So in one example, he writes, quote, Ms. E. Atkinson had been unable to speak above a whisper for four years and a half notwithstanding, every known remedy had been perseveringly adopted under able practitioners. After the ninth hypnotic operation. She could speak aloud without effort and has continued quite well ever since. Now about nine months. Another example that he gave was a woman named Ms. Collins. Who had had a seizure and as a consequence was left with, quote, her head bound firmly to her left shoulder. When I first examined her, no force I was capable of succeeded in separating the head and shoulder in the SL degree. Experience led me to hope, however, that I might be able to do so. After she was hypnotized, having requested all present except the patient, her father and her physician to retire, I hypnotized her. And in three minutes from commencing the operation with the most perfect ease to myself and without the slightest pain to the patient, her head was inclined in the opposite direction. And in two minutes more she was roused and was quite straight. Ms. Collins had he described some additional twitching after this this initial success, but that her own doctor named Chaunner, was able to use Braid's hypnotism method and rid her of it. And as of when Braid wrote the account, she had been a year without complaint.
- [45:51]
Tracy V. Wilson
Braid also explains in the book why he felt it so necessary to lecture publicly on this topic, topic which is to straighten out all the confusion being caused by so much misunderstanding and non scientific practitioners. Quote, I felt it to be a duty I owed to the cause of humanity and my profession to use my best endeavors to remove these fallacies so that the profession generally might be at liberty to prosecute the inquiry and apply it practically without hazarding their personal and professional interests by prosecuting it in opposition to popular prejudice. It appeared to me there was no mode so likely to ensure this happy consummation as delivering lectures on the subject to mixed audiences. He also wrote numerous articles, pamphlets and books on the subject to try to help educate the public about the science of hypnotism.
- [46:51]
Holly Fry
And that was a really valid need because a lot of people still did view hypnotism as pretty shady. Per George Fletcher in 1929, quote, his Manchester career was one of success and distinction, but he had little connection with official medicine in the city. The fact is that his advocacy of hypnotism and advocacy, which strikes one now as having been temperate and reasonable, led to his being regarded by his more disciplined brethren as something of a charlatan.
- [47:21]
Tracy V. Wilson
But Braid continued in his work and refined his own understanding of hypnotism over the years. He shifted from thinking it was something that was induced through a sort of sleep state, so something physiological to it being a psychological phenomenon. And he also continued his work as a surgeon throughout his life.
- [47:42]
Holly Fry
James Braid died suddenly on March 25, 1860. According to a newspaper account, Braid, quote, went to bed on Saturday night in his usual good health. But about 9 o' clock yesterday morning he observed, I feel great pain up my spine and in my back and I'm very cold. By his request, a cup of tea was fetched. He drank it, breathed heavily twice or thrice, and died. His death was determined to have been of natural causes. Some sources conclude that he had a cerebral hemorrhage, but others state that Braid died of a heart attack. And since there was no autopsy, it's uncertain which is correct. But it happened very quickly. Braid was buried at Neston, Cheshire, in the parish churchyard.
- [48:26]
Tracy V. Wilson
His obituary in the Guardian described a man who was much admired and who devoted himself to helping others. Quote, Braid had much more than a local reputation, which was due not alone to his theory of hypnotism, which some years ago he pertinaciously but temperately advocated in opposition to that of mesmerism, but very greatly to his special skill in dealing with some dangerous and difficult forms of disease. Among his friends he was ever warm hearted and cheerful, and his kindness in devoting his skill for the benefit of humble sufferers in cases where money recompenses could not be anticipated, or where it was declined when tendered, has endeared him to large numbers by the strongest feelings of gratitude.
- [49:17]
Holly Fry
I mean, that's a pretty good obit to have.
- [49:19]
Tracy V. Wilson
It is.
- [49:19]
Holly Fry
He clearly was very loved by his community because he did a lot of work in the community. Like, it's easy to forget in the midst of all the hypnotism. And it's one of the reasons I wanted to talk about him. It's like he literally was trying to clean up like their sewage system and their infrastructure and like improve overall quality of life for everybody in the city. I'm like, he was pretty great. But it all kind of gets lost in the hypnotism talk, which is also very important. But I have listener mail that's sort of a not really a correction, but like a nuance thing.
- [49:50]
Tracy V. Wilson
Okay.
- [49:52]
Holly Fry
That I opted to not bring up in the course of the thing we talked about, but I will explain now today, just the weirdest intro. This is from our listener Clawdeen, who writes, hello, Holly and Tracy, I'm writing to you again from the past, but this time I'm only three months behind instead of five. Listen, we're never going to judge.
- [50:10]
Tracy V. Wilson
Nope.
- [50:11]
Holly Fry
I listened recently to the episode about inventions for pets, and it sounded like maybe you haven't learned about the difference between a design patent and a utility patent. Most patents are utility patents, meaning they grant the patent holder exclusive rights to a machine, the way a machine or thing works, or a set of steps, like the steps performed by a piece of software, or, and this is not my area, the steps to make a pharmaceutical. A design patent, on the other hand, is quite the opposite in that it grants the holder exclusive rights to how a thing looks as long as those looks are specifically not functional. You can tell that a patent is a design patent if the claims say something like just look at the pictures, and if the patent number has a deed prepended design patents are common where the thing being patented doesn't do anything new, but the look of it was new and it wasn't obvious for the thing to look that way. Apple, the computer company, not the fruit, has many design patents on icons, and car companies often have design patents on the shape of a car think Porsche or on specific bodywork on a car. Anyway, I figured you'd get multiple emails on this topic, but I'm several episodes past the pet invention episode and it wasn't mentioned. Probably because this topic is way too pedantic to be interesting to your listeners. Insert shrug emoji. On an unrelated note, there have been so many times over the past year that I just wanted to give you both a hug. I hear you and feel your pain every step of the way. Guess I need a hug too. Stay strong and carry on. We will get through this. Clawdeen I love this. I know there is a difference between utility and design patents. In that case where we were talking about the patents for various dog toys and whatnot, even for a design patent, some of those seemed very, very brief to me. It's like, it's like. It would literally say in some cases, like, like see appended diagram. And that was it. I was like, wait, there's not even like. There's not even like a little cozy. I invented a dog toy or I designed a dog toy, but I did not get into it. And I really didn't even think about the need or the value in explaining the differentiation between the two. So thank you for that. Listen, I'll send you a virtual hug anytime. Oh yeah, we love it. We love it. And I love pedantic things when they're related to stuff like that. This. So rock on. Bring it on all the time. If you would like to write to us about some thing you have expertise in that could clarify or add nuance or extra layers of understanding to anything we've talked about, or if you just want to send us pictures of your pet, your embroidery, whatever you got going on a tree, I don't care.
- [52:51]
Tracy V. Wilson
I love it. Spring flowers or autumn leaves if you're in the other hemisphere.
- [52:59]
Holly Fry
Yeah, listen, I've been posting lots of pictures of the flowers I'm growing in my office online lately. You can send those pictures to us@historypodcastheartradio.com.
- [53:14]
Tracy V. Wilson
Stuff youf Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app and Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. You know what they say. Early bird gets the ultimate vacation home. Book early and save over $120 with Robo, because early gets you closer to the action, whether it's waves lapping at the shore or snoozing in a hammock that overlooks. Well, whatever you wanted to so you can all enjoy the payoff come summer with VRBO's early booking deals. Rise and shine. Average savings $141.
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Holly Fry
Select homes only.
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Holly Fry
the stairs when there is also an escalator available.
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I'm Michael Easter and On my podcast 2%, I break down the science of
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Holly Fry
mental toughness, fitness and building resilience in
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our strange modern world.
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Holly Fry
Put yourself through some hardships and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person.
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Listen to 2%. That's 2% on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
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Holly Fry
Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Peace to the planet Charlemagne. Tha God here. And listen. We are back. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back
- [54:38]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Yard.
- [54:41]
Tracy V. Wilson
Yes, and the full lineup is nuts.
- [54:43]
Holly Fry
We got the Grits and Eggs podcast, Deontay Kyle and Big Ice Cup Cat. We got Club 520 with Jeff Teague and the gang. Don't Call Me White Girl Mona will be there.
- [54:53]
Tracy V. Wilson
Keep it positive, sweetie.
- [54:55]
Holly Fry
With Crystal Renee. We got Reality with the King with Carlos King. And yes, Drink Champs will be in the building.
- [55:01]
T-Mobile/US Cellular Advertiser
Okay.
- [55:02]
Holly Fry
Plus, you know we gonna have a lot of guests, so you need to join us. And we got the Black Effect market for place to pitch your podcast and everything you expect from the Black Effect Podcast Festival tickets are on sale right now. Go get yours@blackffect.com podcast festival.
- [55:15]
Tracy V. Wilson
Don't play yourself.
- [55:16]
Holly Fry
Okay, pull up.
- [55:22]
Tracy V. Wilson
Hi, everyone. I'm Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things. I'm excited to share that I have a new podcast called Mind Over Mountain. In each episode, I interview athletes, adventurers and adrenaline seekers to discuss the inner landscapes that informed and inspired their extraordinary feats. So we too can better understand how to face our own seemingly insurmountable challenges. Listen to Mind Over Mountain every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.