MESMERIC FEATS.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1928, 29 April 1880, Page 3

MESMERIC FEATS.

The Lor don " Daily Telegraph" rerra'ks:—"Strange stories reaoh us from India of the feats performed by a native mesmeriser, named Buni, whose magnetic power would appear to be found quite irresistible by the lower animals, upon which he exclusively exerts it. He gives seances, to which the public are invited to bring all manner of ferocious and untamable wild beasts, and, like the Ancient Mariner, he holds them with his glittering eye. In a few seconds they subside into a condition of cataleptic stiffness, from which they can only bo revived by certain * passes ' which he solemnly executes with his right hand. An account of one of these seances states that a snake in a state of violent irritation was brought to Buni by a menagerie proprietor, enolosed in a wooden cage. When deposited <?n the platform it was writhing and hissing fiercely. Buni bent over the cage, and fixed hia eye upon its occupant, gently waving his hand over the serpent's restless head. In less than a minute the snake stretched itself out, stiffened, and lay apparently dead. Buni took it up, and thrust several needles into its body, but it gave no sign of life. A few ' passes ' then restored it to its former angry activity. Subsequently a savage dog, held in a leash by its owner, was brought in, and at Buni's command let loose upon him. As it was rushing towards him, bristling with fury, he raised his hand, and in a second the fierce brute dropped upon its belly as though stricken by lightning. It seemed absolutely paralysed by some unknown agency, and was unable to move a muscle until released from the magnetiser's spell by a majestic wave of his hand."