Mesmerism (M&D p 268)

[Toby Levy]

Earlier in the book when there is mention of "Mersmerites" (page 19) I
looked up Mesmer's dates and found he was born in 1734.  But on page 268
Ben Franklin mentions "the young Parisian Doctor, Mesmer."  To which
Mason inquires "Not the Magnetickal Gent?"

The encyclopedia says that Mesmer was born and raised in Austria and
didn't come up with the term "animal magnetism" until 1775.  It didn't
take too long after going public with this spooky term that he was
accused of practicing magic by conventional doctors and forced to leave
Vienna.  He settled in Paris in 1778.  This was long after the scene
with Franklin occurred.  Still it was eight years before Cherrycoke
tells the tale and he may have thrown in the Mesmer stuff to juice up
the story for the kids.

Toby