PERKINISM
\pˈɜːkɪnˌɪzəm], \pˈɜːkɪnˌɪzəm], \p_ˈɜː_k_ɪ_n_ˌɪ_z_ə_m]\
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A therapeutical means, first employed by Dr. Elisha Perkins, of Norwich, Connecticut, towards the termination of the last century, and named after him. It consisted in drawing over affected or other parts the pointed extremities of two metallic rods, called Metallic Tractors, each made of a different metal. The success obtained, was through the influence of the imagination; and, consequently, as a remedial agent, it ranks as high as animal magnetism, but no higher. The operation was, also, called Tractoration.
By Robley Dunglison
By Willam Alexander Newman Dorland