n nIn 1779, Franz Anton Mesmer wrote an 88-page book, M moire sur la d couverte du magn tisme animal, to which he appended his famous 27 Propositions. While undertaking research, G.F. Frankau obtained, on loan from a private library, an original edition of Mesmers M moire sur la d couverte de Magn tism Animal. Realising its medico-historical importance and tempted by a laymans vanity to undertake the translation himself, he eventually decided that the task could only be accomplished by an expert; He secured the services of Captain V. R. Myers of the Berlitz School of Languages. Myers rendering of the eighteenth-century French is highly praiseworthy. The adjective mesmeric, the substantive mesmerism, and the verb to mesmerise have not changed their meanings since they first became current--posteritys unique tribute to a unique man.n