James Esdaile (1808 - 1859)

Summary: James Esdaile was a surgeon who worked for the East India Company in Bengal.



Early Life
Esdaile was born in Scotland in 1808. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He was appointed surgeon by the East India Company in 1830, and travelled to Bengal in 1831 to work in Calcutta, where he stayed until 1851.

Esdaile and Mesmerism
While working in Calcutta, Bengal, Esdaile was in charge of Hooghley Hospital. Here, he completed many experiments on Hindu convicts to further explore the field of mesmerism. He is recorded to have said 'that his mission was to become “the Apostle of Mesmerism in India”'. One of his most recognisable surgeries is the removal of extremely large tumours from a patient's scrotum. The growth of tumours such as these were common in India at the time, and Esdaile's supposedly painless procedure was well received both in India and in Western Europe. The reports of his success aided the acceptance of mesmerism as a legitimate medical practice in many areas of Europe. In 1846, following Esdaile's success in using mesmerism to complete painless surgeries, he was allowed to establish a mesmeric hospital in Calcutta, where his experiments continued. Later, in 1848, he was commended for his 'ability and zeal' and was granted surgical presidency (and later marine surgeon) in acknowledgement for his services to medicine. This further aided the acceptance of mesmerism as a practice.

When Esdaile returned from Bengal in 1851, he was appointed vice-president of the London Mesmeric Infirmary, though rarely practised mesmerism himself. He moved to Kent on account of poor health in the later 1850s, and died in 1859. His passing was recorded in small group of medical journals, but his career was left largely unrecognised until the 1990s, when interest in heterodox medical publications rose.

Publications
Throughout his working life, Esdaile published books on the benefits of mesmerism, though these books were not easily accessible during his lifetime. These publications include:
 * Mesmerism in India, and its practical application in surgery and medicine  (1846)


 * ‘On the operation for the removal of scrotal tumours’, London Medical Gazette, [3rd] ser., 11 (1850)


 * The introduction of mesmerism (with the sanction of the government) as an anaesthetic and curative agent into the public hospitals of India (1852)
 * Natural and Mesmeric Clairvoyance: With the Practical Application of Mesmerism in Surgery and Medicine (1852)