Du magnétisme animal en France. Paris: Baillière, 1826.
Du magnétisme animal is one of the most important works on the history and theory of animal magnetism, and Bertrand’s second book on the subject. Between the writing of his first book (Traité du somnambulisme) and this one, Bertrand changes his mind about the true nature of animal magnetism and magnetic somnambulism. He no longer accepts the existence of a universal magnetic fluid as the agent that produces the phenomena associated with animal magnetism, even though he maintains the genuineness of the phenomena themselves. Bertrand believes that evidence often cited in favor of the existence of the fluid (e.g., claims of somnambulists to be able to see the fluid emanating from the fingertips of the magnetizer) is largely based on preconceived ideas that affect the imaginations and expectations of both magnetizer and magnetic subject. With this acknowledgement of the importance of suggestion, Bertrand anticipates the ideas of Braid about the true nature of animal magnetic phenomena. Most of the book is devoted to the history of animal magnetism and is one of the best sources for that subject up to the time of its publication. It includes the reports of the French commissions of 1784 (including the secret report) and also a report of the Academy of Medicine written by Husson and delivered in 1825. The second part of the book takes up the subject of ecstasy and its relationship to somnambulism. This part has a very valuable discussion of the history of ecstatic phenomena over the ages.
(Crabtree, 324)