Magnetizadores, ilusionistas y médicos. Una aproximación a la historia del hipnotismo en México, 1880-1900

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to give a historical reconstruction of the medical use of hypnosis in the City of Mexico in the period 1880-1900. This text points out how hypnotism was studied and practiced by professionals, and it also tries to show that in the physicians' publications a dialogue with others users of hypnosis, especially stage illusionists, can be easily illuminated. With that aim, the paper investigates the performances of two hypnotists that visited Mexico in the late nineteenth century.