Report of the Commissioners Charged by the King of France with the Examination of Animal Magnetism, completed 11 August 1784 by a Royal Academy of Sciences commission including Benjamin Franklin, Antoine Lavoisier and Jean Sylvain Bailly, is a primary scientific investigation of Franz Anton Mesmer's claimed magnetic fluid. Its authority is exceptional: it is among the earliest documented uses of blinding in a controlled experiment, and its signatories were leading scientists of their day. It concluded the effects observed were real but produced by the subject's own imagination, with no physical fluid detected. Its limit is that it examines only the specific claims and practitioners tested in 1784.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
The Report of the Commissioners Charged by the King of France with the Examination of Animal Magnetism, completed 11 August 1784 by a Royal Academy of Sciences commission including Benjamin Franklin, Antoine Lavoisier and Jean Sylvain Bailly, the top tier reflecting a primary scientific investigation among the earliest documented uses of blinding in a controlled experiment, by leading scientists of their day, concluding the observed effects were real but produced by the subject's own imagination with no physical fluid detected. Its limit is that it examines only the specific claims and practitioners tested in 1784. NotesThe Franklin/Lavoisier/Bailly commission report on Mesmer's animal magnetism, completed 11 August 1784 and published 1785. Among the earliest documented uses of blinding in a controlled experiment; concluded the effects were real but produced by imagination, with no physical fluid detected.
Citation
AuthorBenjamin Franklin, Antoine Lavoisier, Jean Sylvain Bailly and others (Royal Commission)
PublisherRoyal Academy of Sciences, Paris
Publication Year1784
Source TypePrimary document
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names France directly: "Commissioners Charged by the King of France with the Examination of Animal Magnetism, completed 11 August 1784 by a Royal Academy of Sciences commission including Benjamin Franklin, Antoine..."
Claims Backed By This Source (12 claims)
This source backs 12 claims across the atlas. As facts: 8 well-attested, 2 popular myth - corrected. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Subtle Energies, 3 claims: 2 popular myth - corrected, 1 general references.
- Articles, 1 claims: 1 well-attested.
Popular myth - corrected
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