In 1774, Mesmer produced an “artificial tide” in a patient, Francisca Österlin, who suffered from hysteria, by having her swallow a preparation containing iron and then placing magnets on various parts of her body. She reported feeling streams of a mysterious fluid running through her body and was relieved of her symptoms for several hours. Mesmer said it was not the magnets that cured her, but the magnetic principle emanating from him.

In 1779, he wrote that he felt an attraction and repulsion phenomenon around the body similar to that felt when handling magnets.