ODIC-MAGNETIC LETTERS; translated from the German by John S. Hittell
New York: Published by Calvin Blanchard, 76 Nassau Street, 1860. First edition. 8vo. (3), 4-88pp, (4) ads. Printed green wrappers. OCLC- Huntington, Lib. of Congress. Newberry, Amherst, Brown, Sam Houston State. The author, Karl Reichenbach, a chemist and industrialist retired from business in 1839 and "entered upon an investigation of the manner in which the human system is affected by various substances, and was led to conceive the existence of a new imponderable agent, allied to electricity, magnetism, and heat, which emantes from most substances, and to the influence of which different persons are variously sensitive." His research included the study of animal magnetism and the works of Franz Anton Mesmer, although he ultimately developed his own hypothesis of magnetic emanations or auras which he termed "od." [see his short biography in the "New American Cyclopedia," by George Ripley & Chas. A. Dana (NY: 1862), Vol. XIV, p.20.]. Item #61490
Price: $275.00