the spiritually inspired population. Some researchers, including Johann Peter Lange and Allan Kardec, suggested that Jesus was the greatest of all magnetizers, and that the source of his miracles was animal magnetism. Other writers, such as John Campbell Colquhoun and Mary Baker Eddy, denounced the comparison. Mary Baker Eddy went so far as to claim animal magnetism "lead[s] to moral and to physical death." Contemporary development Sporadic research into animal magnetism was conducted in the 20th century, and the results published; for example, Bernard Grad wrote a number of papers related to his observations of "a single, reputed healer, [Hungarian] Oskar Estebany" on the subject. Professional magnetizers In the Classical era of animal magnetism, the late 17th century to the mid-19th century, there were professional magnetizers, whose techniques were described by authors of the time as particularly effective. Their method was to spend prolonged periods "magnetizing" their customers directly or through "mesmeric magnets". It was observed that in some conditions, certain mesmerizers were more likely to achieve the result than others, regardless of their degree of knowledge. In literature Ursule Mirouët, an 1841 novel by Honoré de Balzac, features a character who converts to Christianity in part because of an experience with animal magnetism. Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 short story "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is based on the premise that a person could be mesmerised at the moment of death. Poe published the work without explicitly stating that it was fictional, leading some readers to believe it was a true account. Aldous Huxley's 1962 novel "Island". References Professor John Elliotson and animal magnetism as a way to perform painless surgery without anaesthesia. Mesmerism/Magnestism/Hypnosis are themes running throughout the book. Used primarily as a tool to enhance independent thought within the population. Axel Munthe's 1929 book of memoirs "The Story of San Michele". A lightly embellished biography of Dr Axel Munthe and his history around owning Villa San Michele in Ana Capri; with a series of completely unsubstantiated fanciful references to Charcot and mesmerism in chapter XIX, "Hypnotism". William Faulkner’s 1930 novel “As I Lay Dying” references animal magnetism in a brief chapter in which the character Cash explains his rationale for the design of the wooden coffin he built for his mother Addie. See also Biomagnetism James Esdaile Magnetoception Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism The Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology & Mesmerism, and Their Applications