Lettre sur le magnétisme animal Paris and Philadelphia: Duplain, 1784.
In the first part of this defence of Mesmer and animal magnetism, Galart de Montjoie tries to find points of rapprochement between Mesmer and the astronomer Bailly. He then compares the ideas of Mesmer to those of Descartes and Newton, siding with Newton against Bailly in his view of matter and motion. The author explains Mesmer’s view of the ebb and flow of magnetic fluid and attempts to show how it is in agreement with the best contemporary views of physics. In the second part, Galart de Montjoie takes up the report of the Franklin commission, devoting considerable space to the issue of the place of the imagination in the action of animal magnetism. He examines the place of the will in the action of the magnetic fluid, stating that it is principally by the will that the fluid is directed and that it is involved in magnetization at a distance.
(Crabtree, 62)