One of the most important works that have been published on modern science, which is undoubtedly destined to give in the course of time the greatest impulse to a complete revolution in medical practice and to overthrow that system of modern quackery called “Medical Science,” is Professor T. R. Buchanan’s Therapeutic Sarcognomy.[3] It is a work which has long been promised and expected, and will be welcomed not only by every practitioner of animal magnetism and electro-therapeutist, but by every intelligent and progressive physician all over the world. Professor J. R. Buchanan[4] is too well known as the founder of Systematic Anthropology and discoverer of Psychometry and Sarcognomy, to need any eulogium; his Journal of Man had but one fault, if it may be called a fault—namely, it was too much in advance of the times and therefore read and understood only by comparatively few; but since the time when it ceased to appear, the walls of medical superstition and bigotry have begun to crumble, and his new work on Therapeutic Sarcognomy will undoubtedly fall on more favorable soil and receive a wider welcome.
Professor Buchanan’s new system professes to give a scientific exposition of the mysterious union of the body, the brain and what he calls the “soul.” We will not enter here into a discussion of Professor Buchanan’s conception of “soul”; whether he wishes to imply by “soul” a certain distinct entity, and whether such a thing can have any independent existence; but at all events Professor Buchanan demonstrates that the organic processes of the body are guided by certain invisible (so-called “spiritual”) influences, which are concentrated in certain parts of the brain, from whence they flow to the different organs of the body, supplying these organs with strength and vitality, and that therefore each organ stands in intimate relation with a certain centre in the brain, and can be acted on through that centre either by the hand of the magnetiser or by the application of electricity.
The Hindu philosophy has recognised this fact long ago; but they go still farther, and instead of recognising the brain as the only centre of life, they accept seven such centres, whose respective seats are 1, in the top of the head; 2, between the eyes; 3, at the jointure of the nose and the upper lip; 4, at the root of the tongue ; 5, at the sternum; 6, at the navel; 7, in the pelvic region. However that may be, there can hardly be any doubt, that the brain is the principal seat of life, and that through this centre the various organs may be acted upon by means of the nerves and the ganglionic system in the same manner as an operator, in a central telegraphic station, may send his messages to all the various telegraphic stations all over the world, whether these stations are of greater or lesser importance.
We have often seen practitioners of magnetism exhausting their strength as well as the endurance of their patients, by attempting to cure diseases without intelligently applying their powers. The relationship between the different parts of the body was unknown to them,—they worked the wrong wires, and could therefore produce no important results, and this fact—more than any other—has given a powerful weapon into the hands of those who oppose the treatment of disease by animal magnetism and electricity.
However this impediment is now fortunately removed. Professor Buchanan demonstrates the fact, that the mere intelligent application of the hand at the proper place will produce much more beneficial results, than if the operator exhausts his strength by applying his powers at random, and the author indicates these corresponding places and teaches how to find them.
There is, indeed, no scarcity of books treating of animal magnetism and its application for the cure of disease. Volumes after volumes have been written, describing favorite methods of making passes upward and downward; but we have as yet vainly searched their pages for a rational and scientific demonstration of the principles regulating the method of application; these we find clearly and fully explained in the book before us, and we hope that it will have the success it so eminently deserves.
F. Hartmann.
Notes
[1] Therapeutic Sarcognomy. F.[ranz] Hartmann. The Theosophist 6, no. 10 (July 1885), 250 [This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025]
[2] By Professor Joseph Rhodes Buchanan, M. D. (published by the Author, 29 Fort Avenue, Boston.)
[3] {R.H.—The spelling of the first initial is probably a misprint. It should be J. See footnote 3.}
[4] {R.H.—Joseph Rodes Buchanan (b. December 11, 1814, d. December 26, 1899) was a medical doctor and Professor of Physiology. It was he who proposed the terms Psychometry (influences by soul measurement) and Sarcognomy (that the entire body is an embodiment of character, both physiologically and psychologically and which have an interaction with the soul), ideas which were of great interest to spiritualists.}