Naissance Du Psychanalyste De Mesmer À Freud (The Origin of Psychoanalysis from Mesmer to Freud): By Dr. Léon Chertok and Dr. Raymond de Saussure. Paris: Payot, 1973. 292 pp.

In this well-researched book Chertok and de Saussure attempt a historical reconstruction of one aspect of the genesis of psychoanalysis by studying the development of the scientific approach to 'animal magnetism'—hypnosis and its relation to hysteria. The first primitive attempts at formulating the workings of animal magnetism were embedded in superstition, myth, and fantasy. When they are compared with the slow, painstaking work of Freud, the gap between the two is dramatically emphasized.

The intense need to deny the role of transference and the erotic relationship between subject and hypnotist is well documented. Chance and incorrect formulations played a vital role in the slow process of discovery. For example, Charcot's insistence on the basically physiological aspect of hypnosis phenomena and his denial of the psychological counterpart made hypnosis reputable. It became a valid subject of scientific study rather than being relegated to the quasi-demonic mystical area. This allowed Freud to develop his growing interest in psychological phenomena without giving up his attempt to relate them to physiological substrates.