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James Braid
(1795 - 1860)

picture of James Braid

Scottish surgeon James Braid coined the term "hypnosis". Working on the eve of the anaesthetic revolution, Braid explored the use of hypnotic techniques to offer his patients a degree of pain-relief during surgery. Braid was extremely keen to dissociate his techniques from the vapourings of Mesmerist metaphysics; but it is unclear whether their therapeutic efficacy was superior in practice to old-style mesmerism.

By contrast, anaesthetics work on sceptics and true believers alike.

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