In Russia
The country in which the German version of animal Magnetism caught on most extensively was Russia.
The early period
In 1816, the emperor of Russia appointed a committee for the purpose of making an examination of Animal Magnetism. This committee declared from its experiments that magnetism is a very important agent which should be entrusted only to the hands of well-informed physicians ; "It was ordered that those physicians who would occupy themselves with the magnetic practice, should give an account every three months of their operations, and that the committee itself should, every three months, present a report to the emperor. In 1817 the Tzar sent one of his family’s physicians, Stoffregen, to visit Wolfart , a former student of Mesmer. Other important researchers of German origin were dr. Loewental, who did researches on somnambulism and thought transference, and dr. Reuss. In 1818, Kluge's book Animal Magnetism Presented in its Historical, Practical and Theoretical Content was published in a Russian translation by Vellanskiy . Soon after there came interest of the native Russians. In 1818, Count N.P. Panin, (1770–1837) a former Russian ambassador to Prussia, published a case report. Then in the same year the first russian book on the subject was written, D. Velianski's Zhivotniy Magnetizm. Veliansky was professor of physiology and pathology at the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg. In Russia a few magnetizers were active in the period between 1830 and 1850. The practice of animal magnetism by non-medical persons was banned and a leading magnetizer of the time, Andrey Ivanovitch Pashkov, was sentenced to a long term imprisonment.
Mix with Spiritualism
After 1875, Russian Spiritualism and animal magnetism were dominated by Aleksandr Nikolaevich Aksakov (1823–1903), the nephew of the writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. Encountering difficulties in publishing material on spiritualism and animal magnetism in Russia, he founded the respected journal "Psychische Studien" in Leipzig in the year 1874. In it he published both original and translated material on spiritualism and animal magnetism. Following the censorship reforms which came about after 1905, many journals were published with the intent of keeping interested Russian readers informed on animal magnetism, somnambulism, and Naturphilosophie. A series of books of the "Library of Magnetism was published in Kiev . Continuing with Mesmer’s idea of magnetism as a "sixth sense", an inner sensation, the discovery and measurement of sensations was a topic of mainstream medical research. Vladimir Bekterev came to the idea of thought transference by way of neurology.
At the imperial Court
In any case interest in magnetism was always present at the highest level as is proved by the visit of dr. Encausse, a physician practising magnetism who, along with Hector Durville, directed the most important French school of magnetism. Encausse’s first contact with the royal family occurred during their visit to Paris in 1896. Encausse visited Russia three times, in 1901, 1905, and 1906, serving Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra both as a physician and occult consultant. The Tsar's sister-in-law, the Grand Duchess Militsa, was an enthusiastic seeker of 'occult' truth, and she introduced him at court. Although Encausse seems to have served the Tzar and Tsarina in what was essentially his magnetic capacity, he was later curiously concerned about their heavy reliance on occultism to assist them in deciding questions of government. During their later correspondence, he warned them a number of times against the influence of Rasputin. Encausse presented Dr. Philippe (Philippe Nizier-Anthèlme Vachod, also Maitre Philippe de Lyon), to the court of Nicholas II. Maitre Philippe was a very successful healer and directed the school of magnetism of Lyon. When Nizier arrived in 1902, he had a powerful effect on the Romanovs. This led to the Lyons’ Mesmerist being given a state office. While at the Russian court, the Tzar became very attached to Master Philippe and is known to have sought out his opinion in all types of matters. On September 21, 1901, Nizier was at the Imperial Court, and announced the birth of a son in 1904, which would later be followed by a military defeat… and a Revolution. Indeed, since Rasputin arrived much later than Master Philippe, one could argue that the Tzar missed having a man like Master Philippe around, and therefore Rasputin could be seen as his successor.
Pre-war and post-war experiments
The studies of animal magnetism began and became part of the Russian parapsychological research. In the 1920s and 1930s, Leonid Vasiliev recognized a comprehensive series of experiments by reproducing Puysegur’s experiences. The complete account of these experiments was not published until 1962. (Vasiliev, 1962). This book was translated into English, under the aegis of C. C. L. Gregory and Anita Kohsen (Gregory), and published in 1963 under the title, "Experiments in Mental Suggestion". A revised edition appeared in 1976 as "Experiments in Distant Influence". There is also a long series of experiments tending to investigate the effects of magnetism in healing. They have been well reviewed by Solfvin (1984) and by Benor (1984, 1985, 1988). Both selected and unselected participants attempted to mentally influence the growth or viability of bacteria, fungus colonies, yeast, and plants or to influence the movements of protozoa, larvae woodlice, ants, chicks, mice, rats, gerbils, and cats. A few experiments involved attempts to influence cellular preparations (blood cells, neurons, cancer cells) or enzyme activity. A term proposed in these last researches which describes many of the same properties which are attributed to animal magnetism was “bioplasma”.
