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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19342-0.txt b/19342-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..efe72e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/19342-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3896 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism, by A. Alpheus + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism + How to Hypnotize: Being an Exhaustive and Practical System of Method, Application, and Use + +Author: A. Alpheus + +Release Date: September 20, 2006 [eBook #19342] +[Most recently updated: March 14, 2023] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Jerry Kuntz + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPLETE HYPNOTISM: MESMERISM, MIND-READING AND SPIRITUALISM *** + + + + +Complete Hypnotism +Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism + +How to Hypnotize: +Being an Exhaustive and Practical System +of Method, Application, and Use + +by A. Alpheus + +1903 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION +History of hypnotism—Mesmer—Puysegur—Braid—What is hypnotism?—Theories +of hypnotism: 1. Animal magnetism; 2. The Neurosis Theory; 3. +Suggestion Theory + + +CHAPTER I +How to Hypnotize—Dr. Cocke’s method-Dr. Flint’s method—The French +method at Paris—At Nancy—The Hindoo silent method—How to wake a subject +from hypnotic sleep—Frauds of public hypnotic entertainments. + + +CHAPTER II +Amusing experiments—Hypnotizing on the stage—“You can’t pull your hands +apart!”—Post-hypnotic suggestion—The newsboy, the hunter, and the young +man with the rag doll—A whip becomes hot iron—Courting a broom +stick—The side-show + + +CHAPTER III +The stages of hypnotism—Lethargy-Catalepsy—The somnambulistic +stage—Fascination + + +CHAPTER IV +How the subject feels under hypnotization—Dr. Cocke’s experience—Effect +of music—Dr. Alfred Warthin’s experiments + + +CHAPTER V +Self hypnotization—How it may be done—An experience—Accountable for +children’s crusade—Oriental prophets self-hypnotized + + +CHAPTER VI +Simulation—Deception in hypnotism very common—Examples of Neuropathic +deceit—Detecting simulation—Professional subjects—How Dr. Luys of the +Charity Hospital at Paris was deceived—Impossibility of detecting +deception in all cases—Confessions of a professional hypnotic subject + + +CHAPTER VII +Criminal suggestion—Laboratory crimes—Dr. Cocke’s experiments showing +criminal suggestion is not possible—Dr. William James’ theory—A bad man +cannot be made good, why expect to make a good man bad? + + +CHAPTER VIII +Dangers in being hypnotized Condemnation of public performances—A +commonsense view—Evidence furnished by Lafontaine; by Dr. Courmelles; +by Dr. Hart; by Dr. Cocke—No danger in hypnotism if rightly used by +physicians or scientists + + +CHAPTER IX +Hypnotism in medicine—Anesthesia—Restoring the use of +muscles—Hallucination—Bad habits + + +CHAPTER X +Hypnotism of animals—Snake charming + + +CHAPTER XI +A scientific explanation of hypnotism—Dr. Hart’s theory + + +CHAPTER XII +Telepathy and Clairvoyance—Peculiar power in hypnotic +state—Experiments—“Phantasms of the living” explained by telepathy + + +CHAPTER XIII +The Confessions of a Medium—Spiritualistic phenomena explained on +theory of telepathy—Interesting statement of Mrs. Piper, the famous +medium of the Psychical Research Society + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +There is no doubt that hypnotism is a very old subject, though the name +was not invented till 1850. In it was wrapped up the “mysteries of +Isis” in Egypt thousands of years ago, and probably it was one of the +weapons, if not the chief instrument of operation, of the magi +mentioned in the Bible and of the “wise men” of Babylon and Egypt. +“Laying on of hands” must have been a form of mesmerism, and Greek +oracles of Delphi and other places seem to have been delivered by +priests or priestesses who went into trances of self-induced hypnotism. +It is suspected that the fakirs of India who make trees grow from dry +twigs in a few minutes, or transform a rod into a serpent (as Aaron did +in Bible history), operate by some form of hypnotism. The people of the +East are much more subject to influences of this kind than Western +peoples are, and there can be no question that the religious orgies of +heathendom were merely a form of that hysteria which is so closely +related to the modern phenomenon of hypnotism. Though various +scientific men spoke of magnetism, and understood that there was a +power of a peculiar kind which one man could exercise over another, it +was not until Frederick Anton Mesmer (a doctor of Vienna) appeared in +1775 that the general public gave any special attention to the subject. +In the year mentioned, Mesmer sent out a circular letter to various +scientific societies or “Academies” as they are called in Europe, +stating his belief that “animal magnetism” existed, and that through it +one man could influence another. No attention was given his letter, +except by the Academy of Berlin, which sent him an unfavorable reply. + +In 1778 Mesmer was obliged for some unknown reason to leave Vienna, and +went to Paris, where he was fortunate in converting to his ideas +d’Eslon, the Comte d’Artois’s physician, and one of the medical +professors at the Faculty of Medicine. His success was very great; +everybody was anxious to be magnetized, and the lucky Viennese doctor +was soon obliged to call in assistants. Deleuze, the librarian at the +Jardin des Plantes, who has been called the Hippocrates of magnetism, +has left the following account of Mesmer’s experiments: + +“In the middle of a large room stood an oak tub, four or five feet in +diameter and one foot deep. It was closed by a lid made in two pieces, +and encased in another tub or bucket. At the bottom of the tub a number +of bottles were laid in convergent rows, so that the neck of each +bottle turned towards the centre. Other bottles filled with magnetized +water tightly corked up were laid in divergent rows with their necks +turned outwards. Several rows were thus piled up, and the apparatus was +then pronounced to be at ‘high pressure’. The tub was filled with +water, to which were sometimes added powdered glass and iron filings. +There were also some dry tubs, that is, prepared in the same manner, +but without any additional water. The lid was perforated to admit of +the passage of movable bent rods, which could be applied to the +different parts of the patient’s body. A long rope was also fastened to +a ring in the lid, and this the patients placed loosely round their +limbs. No disease offensive to the sight was treated, such as sores, or +deformities. + +“A large number of patients were commonly treated at one time. They +drew near to each other, touching hands, arms, knees, or feet. The +handsomest, youngest, and most robust magnetizers held also an iron rod +with which they touched the dilatory or stubborn patients. The rods and +ropes had all undergone a ‘preparation’ and in a very short space of +time the patients felt the magnetic influence. The women, being the +most easily affected, were almost at once seized with fits of yawning +and stretching; their eyes closed, their legs gave way and they seemed +to suffocate. In vain did musical glasses and harmonicas resound, the +piano and voices re-echo; these supposed aids only seemed to increase +the patients’ convulsive movements. Sardonic laughter, piteous moans +and torrents of tears burst forth on all sides. The bodies were thrown +back in spasmodic jerks, the respirations sounded like death rattles, +the most terrifying symptoms were exhibited. Then suddenly the actors +of this strange scene would frantically or rapturously rush towards +each other, either rejoicing and embracing or thrusting away their +neighbors with every appearance of horror. + +“Another room was padded and presented another spectacle. There women +beat their heads against wadded walls or rolled on the cushion-covered +floor, in fits of suffocation. In the midst of this panting, quivering +throng, Mesmer, dressed in a lilac coat, moved about, extending a magic +wand toward the least suffering, halting in front of the most violently +excited and gazing steadily into their eyes, while he held both their +hands in his, bringing the middle fingers in immediate contact to +establish communication. At another moment he would, by a motion of +open hands and extended fingers, operate with the great current, +crossing and uncrossing his arms with wonderful rapidity to make the +final passes.” + +Hysterical women and nervous young boys, many of them from the highest +ranks of Society, flocked around this wonderful wizard, and +incidentally he made a great deal of money. There is little doubt that +he started out as a genuine and sincere student of the scientific +character of the new power he had indeed discovered; there is also no +doubt that he ultimately became little more than a charlatan. There +was, of course, no virtue in his “prepared” rods, nor in his magnetic +tubs. At the same time the belief of the people that there was virtue +in them was one of the chief means by which he was able to induce +hypnotism, as we shall see later. Faith, imagination, and willingness +to be hypnotized on the part of the subject are all indispensable to +entire success in the practice of this strange art. + +In 1779 Mesmer published a pamphlet entitled “Memoire sur la decouverte +du magnetisme animal”, of which Doctor Cocke gives the following +summary (his chief claim was that he had discovered a principle which +would cure every disease): + +“He sets forth his conclusions in twenty-seven propositions, of which +the substance is as follows:— There is a reciprocal action and reaction +between the planets, the earth and animate nature by means of a +constant universal fluid, subject to mechanical laws yet unknown. The +animal body is directly affected by the insinuation of this agent into +the substance of the nerves. It causes in human bodies properties +analogous to those of the magnet, for which reason it is called ‘Animal +Magnetism’. This magnetism may be communicated to other bodies, may be +increased and reflected by mirrors, communicated, propagated, and +accumulated, by sound. It may be accumulated, concentrated, and +transported. The same rules apply to the opposite virtue. The magnet is +susceptible of magnetism and the opposite virtue. The magnet and +artificial electricity have, with respect to disease, properties common +to a host of other agents presented to us by nature, and if the use of +these has been attended by useful results, they are due to animal +magnetism. By the aid of magnetism, then, the physician enlightened as +to the use of medicine may render its action more perfect, and can +provoke and direct salutary crises so as to have them completely under +his control.” + +The Faculty of Medicine investigated Mesmer’s claims, but reported +unfavorably, and threatened d’Eslon with expulsion from the society +unless he gave Mesmer up. Nevertheless the government favored the +discoverer, and when the medical fraternity attacked him with such +vigor that he felt obliged to leave Paris, it offered him a pension of +20,000 francs if he would remain. He went away, but later came back at +the request of his pupils. In 1784 the government appointed two +commissions to investigate the claims that had been made. On one of +these commissions was Benjamin Franklin, then American Ambassador to +France as well as the great French scientist Lavoisier. The other was +drawn from the Royal Academy of Medicine, and included Laurent de +Jussieu, the only man who declared in favor of Mesmer. + +There is no doubt that Mesmer had returned to Paris for the purpose of +making money, and these commissions were promoted in part by persons +desirous of driving him out. “It is interesting,” says a French writer, +“to peruse the reports of these commissions: they read like a debate on +some obscure subject of which the future has partly revealed the +secret.” Says another French writer (Courmelles): “They sought the +fluid, not by the study of the cures affected, which was considered too +complicated a task, but in the phases of mesmeric sleep. These were +considered indispensable and easily regulated by the experimentalist. +When submitted to close investigation, it was, however, found that they +could only be induced when the subjects knew they were being +magnetized, and that they differed according as they were conducted in +public or in private. In short—whether it be a coincidence or the +truth—imagination was considered the sole active agent. Whereupon +d’Eslon remarked, ‘If imagination is the best cure, why should we not +use the imagination as a curative means?’ Did he, who had so vaunted +the existence of the fluid, mean by this to deny its existence, or was +it rather a satirical way of saying. ‘You choose to call it +imagination; be it so. But after all, as it cures, let us make the most +of it’? + +“The two commissions came to the conclusion that the phenomena were due +to imitation, and contact, that they were dangerous and must be +prohibited. Strange to relate, seventy years later, Arago pronounced +the same verdict!” + +Daurent Jussieu was the only one who believed in anything more than +this. He saw a new and important truth, which he set forth in a +personal report upon withdrawing from the commission, which showed +itself so hostile to Mesmer and his pretensions. + +Time and scientific progress have largely overthrown Mesmer’s theories +of the fluid; yet Mesmer had made a discovery that was in the course of +a hundred years to develop into an important scientific study. Says +Vincent: “It seems ever the habit of the shallow scientist to plume +himself on the more accurate theories which have been provided for him +by the progress of knowledge and of science, and then, having been fed +with a limited historical pabulum, to turn and talk lightly, and with +an air of the most superior condescension, of the weakness and follies +of those but for whose patient labors our modern theories would +probably be non-existent.” If it had not been for Mesmer and his +“Animal Magnetism”, we would never have had “hypnotism” and all our +learned societies for the study of it. + +Mesmer, though his pretensions were discredited, was quickly followed +by Puysegur, who drew all the world to Buzancy, near Soissons, France. +“Doctor Cloquet related that he saw there, patients no longer the +victims of hysterical fits, but enjoying a calm, peaceful, restorative +slumber. It may be said that from this moment really efficacious and +useful magnetism became known.” Every one rushed once more to be +magnetized, and Puysegur had so many patients that to care for them all +he was obliged to magnetize a tree (as he said), which was touched by +hundreds who came to be cured, and was long known as “Puysegur’s tree”. +As a result of Puysegur’s success, a number of societies were formed in +France for the study of the new phenomena. + +In the meantime, the subject had attracted considerable interest in +Germany, and in 1812 Wolfart was sent to Mesmer at Frauenfeld by the +Prussian government to investigate Mesmerism. He became an enthusiast, +and introduced its practice into the hospital at Berlin. + +In 1814 Deleuze published a book on the subject, and Abbe Faria, who +had come from India, demonstrated that there was no fluid, but that the +phenomena were subjective, or within the mind of the patient. He first +introduced what is now called the “method of suggestion” in producing +magnetism or hypnotism. In 1815 Mesmer died. + +Experimentation continued, and in the 20’s Foissac persuaded the +Academy of Medicine to appoint a commission to investigate the subject. +After five years they presented a report. This report gave a good +statement of the practical operation of magnetism, mentioning the +phenomena of somnambulism, anesthesia, loss of memory, and the various +other symptoms of the hypnotic state as we know it. It was thought that +magnetism had a right to be considered as a therapeutic agent, and that +it might be used by physicians, though others should not be allowed to +practice it. In 1837 another commission made a decidedly unfavorable +report. + +Soon after this Burdin, a member of the Academy, offered a prize of +3,000 francs to any one who would read the number of a bank-note or the +like with his eyes bandaged (under certain fixed conditions), but it +was never awarded, though many claimed it, and there has been +considerable evidence that persons in the hypnotic state have +(sometimes) remarkable clairvoyant powers. + +Soon after this, magnetism fell into very low repute throughout France +and Germany, and scientific men became loath to have their names +connected with the study of it in any way. The study had not yet been +seriously taken up in England, and two physicians who gave some +attention to it suffered decidedly in professional reputation. + +It is to an English physician, however, that we owe the scientific +character of modern hypnotism. Indeed he invented the name of +hypnotism, formed from the Greek word meaning ‘sleep’, and designating +‘artificially produced sleep’. His name is James Braid, and so +important were the results of his study that hypnotism has sometimes +been called “Braidism”. Doctor Courmelles gives the following +interesting summary of Braid’s experiences: + +“November, 1841, he witnessed a public experiment made by Monsieur +Lafontaine, a Swiss magnetizer. He thought the whole thing a comedy; a +week after, he attended a second exhibition, saw that the patient could +not open his eyes, and concluded that this was ascribable to some +physical cause. The fixity of gaze must, according to him, exhaust the +nerve centers of the eyes and their surroundings. He made a friend look +steadily at the neck of a bottle, and his own wife look at an +ornamentation on the top of a china sugar bowl: sleep was the +consequence. Here hypnotism had its origin, and the fact was +established that sleep could be induced by physical agents. This, it +must be remembered, is the essential difference between these two +classes of phenomena (magnetism and hypnotism): for magnetism supposes +a direct action of the magnetizer on the magnetized subject, an action +which does not exist in hypnotism.” + +It may be stated that most English and American operators fail to see +any distinction between magnetism and hypnotism, and suppose that the +effect of passes, etc., as used by Mesmer, is in its way as much +physical as the method of producing hypnotism by concentrating the gaze +of the subject on a bright object, or the like. + +Braid had discovered a new science—as far as the theoretical view of it +was concerned—for he showed that hypnotism is largely, if not purely, +mechanical and physical. He noted that during one phase of hypnotism, +known as catalepsy, the arms, limbs, etc., might be placed in any +position and would remain there; he also noted that a puff of breath +would usually awaken a subject, and that by talking to a subject and +telling him to do this or do that, even after he awakes from the sleep, +he can be made to do those things. Braid thought he might affect a +certain part of the brain during hypnotic sleep, and if he could find +the seat of the thieving disposition, or the like, he could cure the +patient of desire to commit crime, simply by suggestion, or command. + +Braid’s conclusions were, in brief, that there was no fluid, or other +exterior agent, but that hypnotism was due to a physiological condition +of the nerves. It was his belief that hypnotic sleep was brought about +by fatigue of the eyelids, or by other influences wholly within the +subject. In this he was supported by Carpenter, the great physiologist; +but neither Braid nor Carpenter could get the medical organizations to +give the matter any attention, even to investigate it. In 1848 an +American named Grimes succeeded in obtaining all the phenomena of +hypnotism, and created a school of writers who made use of the word +“electro-biology.” + +In 1850 Braid’s ideas were introduced into France, and Dr. Azam, of +Bordeaux, published an account of them in the “Archives de Medicine.” +From this time on the subject was widely studied by scientific men in +France and Germany, and it was more slowly taken up in England. It may +be stated here that the French and other Latin races are much more +easily hypnotized than the northern races, Americans perhaps being +least subject to the hypnotic influence, and next to them the English. +On the other hand, the Orientals are influenced to a degree we can +hardly comprehend. + +WHAT IS HYPNOTISM? + +We have seen that so far the history of hypnotism has given us two +manifestations, or methods, that of passes and playing upon the +imagination in various ways, used by Mesmer, and that of physical +means, such as looking at a bright object, used by Braid. Both of these +methods are still in use, and though hundreds of scientific men, +including many physicians, have studied the subject for years, no +essentially new principle has been discovered, though the details of +hypnotic operation have been thoroughly classified and many minor +elements of interest have been developed. All these make a body of +evidence which will assist us in answering the question, What is +hypnotism? + +Modern scientific study has pretty conclusively established the +following facts: + +1. Idiots, babies under three years old, and hopelessly insane people +cannot be hypnotized. + +2. No one can be hypnotized unless the operator can make him +concentrate his attention for a reasonable length of time. +Concentration of attention, whatever the method of producing hypnotism, +is absolutely necessary. + +3. The persons not easily hypnotized are those said to be neurotic (or +those affected with hysteria). By “hysteria” is not meant nervous +excitability, necessarily. Some very phlegmatic persons may be affected +with hysteria. In medical science “hysteria” is an irregular action of +the nervous system. It will sometimes show itself by severe pains in +the arm, when in reality there is nothing whatever to cause pain; or it +will raise a swelling on the head quite without cause. It is a tendency +to nervous disease which in severe cases may lead to insanity. The word +neurotic is a general term covering affection of the nervous system. It +includes hysteria and much else beside. + +On all these points practically every student of hypnotism is agreed. +On the question as to whether any one can produce hypnotism by pursuing +the right methods there is some disagreement, but not much. Dr. Ernest +Hart in an article in the British Medical Journal makes the following +very definite statement, representing the side of the case that +maintains that any one can produce hypnotism. Says he: + +“It is a common delusion that the mesmerist or hypnotizer counts for +anything in the experiment. The operator, whether priest, physician, +charlatan, self-deluded enthusiast, or conscious imposter, is not the +source of any occult influence, does not possess any mysterious power, +and plays only a very secondary and insignificant part in the chain of +phenomena observed. There exist at the present time many individuals +who claim for themselves, and some who make a living by so doing, a +peculiar property or power as potent mesmerizers, hypnotizers, +magnetizers, or electro-biologists. One even often hears it said in +society (for I am sorry to say that these mischievous practices and +pranks are sometimes made a society game) that such a person is a +clever hypnotist or has great mesmeric or healing power. I hope to be +able to prove, what I firmly hold, both from my own personal experience +and experiment, as I have already related in the Nineteenth Century, +that there is no such thing as a potent mesmeric influence, no such +power resident in any one person more than another; that a glass of +water, a tree, a stick, a penny-post letter, or a lime-light can +mesmerize as effectually as can any individual. A clever hypnotizer +means only a person who is acquainted with the physical or mental +tricks by which the hypnotic condition is produced; or sometimes an +unconscious imposter who is unaware of the very trifling part for which +he is cast in the play, and who supposes himself really to possess a +mysterious power which in fact he does not possess at all, or which, to +speak more accurately, is equally possessed by every stock or stone.” + +Against this we may place the statement of Dr. Foveau de Courmelles, +who speaks authoritatively for the whole modern French school. He says: + +“Every magnetizer is aware that certain individuals never can induce +sleep even in the most easily hypnotizable subjects. They admit that +the sympathetic fluid is necessary, and that each person may eventually +find his or her hypnotizer, even when numerous attempts at inducing +sleep have failed. However this may be, the impossibility some +individuals find in inducing sleep in trained subjects, proves at least +the existence of a negative force.” + +If you would ask the present writer’s opinion, gathered from all the +evidence before him, he would say that while he has no belief in the +existence of any magnetic fluid, or anything that corresponds to it, he +thinks there can be no doubt that some people will succeed as +hypnotists while some will fail, just as some fail as carpenters while +others succeed. This is true in every walk of life. It is also true +that some people attract, others repel, the people they meet. This is +not very easily explained, but we have all had opportunity to observe +it. Again, since concentration is the prerequisite for producing +hypnotism, one who has not the power of concentration himself, and +concentration which he can perfectly control, is not likely to be able +to secure it in others. Also, since faith is a strong element, a person +who has not perfect self-confidence could not expect to create +confidence in others. While many successful hypnotizers can themselves +be hypnotized, it is probable that most all who have power of this kind +are themselves exempt from the exercise of it. It is certainly true +that while a person easily hypnotized is by no means weak-minded +(indeed, it is probable that most geniuses would be good hypnotic +subjects), still such persons have not a well balanced constitution and +their nerves are high-strung if not unbalanced. They would be most +likely to be subject to a person who had such a strong and +well-balanced nervous constitution that it would be hard to hypnotize. +And it is always safe to say that the strong may control the weak, but +it is not likely that the weak will control the strong. + +There is also another thing that must be taken into account. Science +teaches that all matter is in vibration. Indeed, philosophy points to +the theory that matter itself is nothing more than centers of force in +vibration. The lowest vibration we know is that of sound. Then comes, +at an enormously higher rate, heat, light (beginning at dark red and +passing through the prismatic colors to violet which has a high +vibration), to the chemical rays, and then the so-called X or unknown +rays which have a much higher vibration still. Electricity is a form of +vibration, and according to the belief of many scientists, life is a +species of vibration so high that we have no possible means of +measuring it. As every student of science knows, air appears to be the +chief medium for conveying vibration of sound, metal is the chief +medium for conveying electric vibrations, while to account for the +vibrations of heat and light we have to assume (or imagine) an +invisible, imponderable ether which fills all space and has no property +of matter that we can distinguish except that of conveying vibrations +of light in its various forms. When we pass on to human life, we have +to theorize chiefly by analogy. (It must not be forgotten, however, +that the existence of the ether and many assumed facts in science are +only theories which have come to be generally adopted because they +explain phenomena of all kinds better than any other theories which +have been offered.) + +Now, in life, as in physical science, any one who can get, or has by +nature, the key-note of another nature, has a tremendous power over +that other nature. The following story illustrates what this power is +in the physical world. While we cannot vouch for the exact truth of the +details of the story, there can be no doubt of the accuracy of the +principle on which it is based: + +“A musical genius came to the Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls, and +asked permission to cross; but as he had no money, his request was +contemptuously refused. He stepped away from the entrance, and, drawing +his violin from his case, began sounding notes up and down the scale. +He finally discovered, by the thrill that sent a tremor through the +mighty structure, that he had found the note on which the great cable +that upheld the mass, was keyed. He drew his bow across the string of +the violin again, and the colossal wire, as if under the spell of a +magician, responded with a throb that sent a wave through its enormous +length. He sounded the note again and again, and the cable that was +dormant under the strain of loaded teams and monster engines—the cable +that remained stolid under the pressure of human traffic, and the heavy +tread of commerce, thrilled and surged and shook itself, as mad waves +of vibration coursed over its length, and it tore at its slack, until +like a foam-crested wave of the sea, it shook the towers at either end, +or, like some sentient animal, it tugged at its fetters and longed to +be free. + +“The officers in charge, apprehensive of danger, hurried the poor +musician across, and bade him begone and trouble them no more. The +ragged genius, putting his well-worn instrument back in its case, +muttered to himself, ‘I’d either crossed free or torn down the +bridge.’” + +“So the hypnotist,” goes on the writer from which the above is quoted, +“finds the note on which the subjective side of the person is attuned, +and by playing upon it awakens into activity emotions and sensibilities +that otherwise would have remained dormant, unused and even +unsuspected.” + +No student of science will deny the truth of these statements. At the +same time it has been demonstrated again and again that persons can and +do frequently hypnotize themselves. This is what Mr. Hart means when he +says that any stick or stone may produce hypnotism. If a person will +gaze steadily at a bright fire, or a glass of water, for instance, he +can throw himself into a hypnotic trance exactly similar to the +condition produced by a professional or trained hypnotist. Such people, +however, must be possessed of imagination. + +THEORIES OF HYPNOTISM. + +We have now learned some facts in regard to hypnotism; but they leave +the subject still a mystery. Other facts which will be developed in the +course of this book will only deepen the mystery. We will therefore +state some of the best known theories. + +Before doing so, however, it would be well to state concisely just what +seems to happen in a case of hypnotism. The word hypnotism means sleep, +and the definition of hypnotism implies artificially produced sleep. +Sometimes this sleep is deep and lasting, and the patient is totally +insensible; but the interesting phase of the condition is that in +certain stages the patient is only partially asleep, while the other +part of his brain is awake and very active. + +It is well known that one part of the brain may be affected without +affecting the other parts. In hemiplegia, for instance, one half of the +nervous system is paralyzed, while the other half is all right. In the +stages of hypnotism we will now consider, the will portion of the brain +or mind seems to be put to sleep, while the other faculties are, +abnormally awake. Some explain this by supposing that the blood is +driven out of one portion of the brain and driven into other portions. +In any case, it is as though the human engine were uncoupled, and the +patient becomes an automaton. If he is told to do this, that, or the +other, he does it, simply because his will is asleep and “suggestion”, +as it is called, from without makes him act just as he starts up +unconsciously in his ordinary sleep if tickled with a straw. + +Now for the theories. There are three leading theories, known as that +of 1. Animal Magnetism; 2. Neurosis; and 3. Suggestion. We will simply +state them briefly in order without discussion. + +Animal Magnetism. This is the theory offered by Mesmer, and those who +hold it assume that “the hypnotizer exercises a force, independently of +suggestion, over the subject. They believe one part of the body to be +charged separately, or that the whole body may be filled with +magnetism. They recognize the power, of suggestion, but they do not +believe it to be the principal factor in the production of the hypnotic +state.” Those who hold this theory today distinguish between the +phenomena produced by magnetism and those produced by physical means or +simple suggestion. + +The Neurosis Theory. We have already explained the word neurosis, but +we repeat here the definition given by Dr. J. R. Cocke. “A neurosis is +any affection of the nervous centers occurring without any material +agent producing it, without inflammation or any other constant +structural change which can be detected in the nervous centers. As will +be seen from the definition, any abnormal manifestation of the nervous +system of whose cause we know practically nothing, is, for convenience, +termed a neurosis. If a man has a certain habit or trick, it is termed +a neurosis or neuropathic habit. One man of my acquaintance, who is a +professor in a college, always begins his lecture by first sneezing and +then pulling at his nose. Many forms of tremor are called neurosis. Now +to say that hypnotism is the result of a neurosis, simply means that a +person’s nervous system is susceptible to this condition, which, by M. +Charcot and his followers, is regarded as abnormal.” In short, M. +Charcot places hypnotism in the same category of nervous affections in +which hysteria and finally hallucination (medically considered) are to +be classed, that is to say, as a nervous weakness, not to say a +disease. According to this theory, a person whose nervous system is +perfectly healthy could not be hypnotized. So many people can be +hypnotized because nearly all the world is more or less insane, as a +certain great writer has observed. + +Suggestion. This theory is based on the power of mind over the body as +we observe it in everyday life. Again let me quote from Dr. Cooke. “If +we can direct the subject’s whole attention to the belief that such an +effect as before mentioned—that his arm will be paralyzed, for +instance—will take place, that effect will gradually occur. Such a +result having been once produced, the subject’s will-power and power of +resistance are considerably weakened, because he is much more inclined +than at first to believe the hypnotizer’s assertion. This is generally +the first step in the process of hypnosis. The method pursued at the +school of Nancy is to convince the subject that his eyes are closing by +directing his attention to that effect as strongly as possible. +However, it is not necessary that we begin with the eyes. According to +M. Dessoir, any member of the body will answer as well.” The theory of +Suggestion is maintained by the medical school attached to the hospital +at Nancy. The theory of Neurosis was originally put forth as the result +of experiments by Dr. Charcot at the Salpetriere hospital in Paris, +which is now the co-called Salpetriere school—that is the medical, +school connected with the Salpetriere hospital. + +There is also another theory put forth, or rather a modification of +Professor Charcot’s theory, and maintained by the school of the Charity +hospital in Paris, headed by Dr. Luys, to the effect that the physical +magnet and electricity may affect persons in the hypnotic state, and +that certain drugs in sealed tubes placed upon the patient’s neck +during the condition of hypnosis will produce the same effects which +those drugs would produce if taken internally, or as the nature of the +drugs would seem to call for if imbibed in a more complete fashion. +This school, however, has been considerably discredited, and Dr. Luys’ +conclusions are not received by scientific students of hypnotism. It is +also stated, and the present writer has seen no effective denial, that +hypnotism may be produced by pressing with the fingers upon certain +points in the body, known as hypnogenic spots. + +It will be seen that these three theories stated above are greatly at +variance with each other. The student of hypnotism will have to form a +conclusion for himself as he investigates the facts. Possibly it will +be found that the true theory is a combination of all three of those +described above. Hypnotism is certainly a complicated phenomena, and he +would be a rash man who should try to explain it in a sentence or in a +paragraph. An entire book proves a very limited space for doing it. + + + + +CHAPTER I. +HOW TO HYPNOTIZE. + + +Dr. Cocke’s Method—Dr. Flint’s Method—The French Method at Paris—at +Nancy—The Hindoo Silent Method—How to Wake a Subject from Hypnotic +Sleep—Frauds of Public Hypnotic Entertainers. + + +First let us quote what is said of hypnotism in Foster’s Encyclopedic +Medical Dictionary. The dictionary states the derivation of the word +from the Greek word meaning sleep, and gives as synonym “Braidism”. +This definition follows: “An abnormal state into which some persons may +be thrown, either by a voluntary act of their own, such as gazing +continuously with fixed attention on some bright object held close to +the eyes, or by the exercise of another person’s will; characterized by +suspension of the will and consequent obedience to the promptings of +suggestions from without. The activity of the organs of special sense, +except the eye, may be heightened, and the power of the muscles +increased. Complete insensibility to pain may be induced by hypnotism, +and it has been used as an anaesthetic. It is apt to be followed by a +severe headache of long continuance, and by various nervous +disturbances. On emerging from the hypnotic state, the person +hypnotized usually has no remembrance of what happened during its +continuance, but in many persons such remembrance may be induced by +‘suggestion’. About one person in three is susceptible to hypnotism, +and those of the hysterical or neurotic tendency (but rarely the +insane) are the most readily hypnotized.” + +First we will quote the directions for producing hypnotism given by Dr. +James R. Cocke, one of the most scientific experimenters in hypnotism +in America. His directions of are special value, since they are more +applicable to American subjects than the directions given by French +writers. Says Dr. Cocke: + +“The hypnotic state can be produced in one of the following ways: +First, command the subject to close his eyes. Tell him his mind is a +blank. Command him to think of nothing. Leave him a few minutes; return +and tell him he cannot open his eyes. If he fails to do so, then begin +to make any suggestion which may be desired. This is the so-called +mental method of hypnotization. + +“Secondly, give the subject a coin or other bright object. Tell him to +look steadfastly at it and not take his eyes away from it. Suggest that +his eyelids are growing heavy, that he cannot keep them open. Now close +the lids. They cannot be opened. This is the usual method employed by +public exhibitors. A similar method is by looking into a mirror, or +into a glass of water, or by rapidly revolving polished disks, which +should be looked at steadfastly in the same way as is the coin, and I +think tires the eyes less. + +“Another method is by simply commanding the subject to close his eyes, +while the operator makes passes over his head and hands without coming +in contact with them. Suggestions may be made during these passes. + +“Fascination, as it is called, is one of the hypnotic states. The +operator fixes his eyes on those of the subject. Holding his attention +for a few minutes, the operator begins to walk backward; the subject +follows. The operator raises the arm; the subject does likewise. +Briefly, the subject will imitate any movement of the hypnotist, or +will obey any suggestion made by word, look or gesture, suggested by +the one with whom he is en rapport. + +“A very effective method of hypnotizing a person is by commanding him +to sleep, and having some very soft music played upon the piano, or +other stringed instrument. Firm pressure over the orbits, or over the +finger-ends and root of the nail for some minutes may also induce the +condition of hypnosis in very sensitive persons. + +“Also hypnosis can frequently be induced by giving the subject a glass +of water, and telling him at the same time that it has been magnetized. +The wearing of belts around the body, and rings round the fingers, will +also, sometimes, induce a degree of hypnosis, if the subject has been +told that they have previously been magnetized or are electric. The +latter descriptions are the so-called physical methods described by Dr. +Moll.” + +Dr. Herbert L. Flint, a stage hypnotizer, describes his methods as +follows: + +“To induce hypnotism, I begin by friendly conversation to place my +patient in a condition of absolute calmness and quiescence. I also try +to win his confidence by appealing to his own volitional effort to aid +me in obtaining the desired clad. I impress upon him that hypnosis in +his condition is a benign agency, and far from subjugating his +mentality, it becomes intensified to so great an extent as to act as a +remedial agent. + +“Having assured myself that he is in a passive condition, I suggest to +him, either with or without passes, that after looking intently at an +object for a few moments, he will experience a feeling of lassitude. I +steadily gaze at his eyes, and in a monotonous tone I continue to +suggest the various stages of sleep. As for instance, I say, ‘Your +breathing is heavy. Your whole body is relaxed.’ I raise his arm, +holding it in a horizontal position for a second or two, and suggest to +him that it is getting heavier and heavier. I let my hand go and his +arm falls to his side. + +“‘Your eyes,’ I continue, ‘feel tired and sleepy. They are fast +closing’ repeating in a soothing tone the words ‘sleepy, sleepy, +sleep.’ Then in a self-assertive tone, I emphasize the suggestion by +saying in an unhesitating and positive tone, ‘sleep.’ + +“I do not, however, use this method with all patients. It is an error +to state, as some specialists do, that from their formula there can be +no deviation; because, as no two minds are constituted alike, so they +cannot be affected alike. While one will yield by intense will exerted +through my eyes, another may, by the same means, become fretful, timid, +nervous, and more wakeful than he was before. The same rule applies to +gesture, tones of the voice, and mesmeric passes. That which has a +soothing and lulling effect on one, may have an opposite effect on +another. There can be no unvarying rule applicable to all patients. The +means must be left to the judgment of the operator, who by a long +course of psychological training should be able to judge what measures +are necessary to obtain control of his subject. Just as in drugs, one +person may take a dose without injury that will kill another, so in +hypnosis, one person can be put into a deep sleep by means that would +be totally ineffectual in another, and even then the mental states +differ in each individual—that which in one induces a gentle slumber +may plunge his neighbor into a deep cataleptic state.” + +That hypnotism may be produced by purely physical or mechanical means +seems to have been demonstrated by an incident which started Doctor +Burq, a Frenchman, upon a scientific inquiry which lasted many years. +“While practising as a young doctor, he had one day been obliged to go +out and had deemed it advisable to lock up a patient in his absence. +Just as he was leaving the house he heard the sound as of a body +suddenly falling. He hurried back into the room and found his patient +in a state of catalepsy. Monsieur Burq was at that time studying +magnetism, and he at once sought for the cause of this phenomenon. He +noticed that the door-handle was of copper. The next day he wrapped a +glove around the handle, again shut the patient in, and this time +nothing occurred. He interrogated the patient, but she could give him +no explanation. He then tried the effect of copper on all the subjects +at the Salpetriere and the Cochin hospitals, and found that a great +number were affected by it.” + +At the Charity hospital in Paris, Doctor Luys used an apparatus moved +by clockwork. Doctor Foveau, one of his pupils, thus describes it: + +“The hypnotic state, generally produced by the contemplation of a +bright spot, a lamp, or the human eye, is in his case induced by a +peculiar kind of mirror. The mirrors are made of pieces of wood cut +prismatically in which fragments of mirrors are incrusted. They are +generally double and placed crosswise, and by means of clockwork +revolve automatically. They are the same as sportsmen use to attract +larks, the rays of the sun being caught and reflected on every side and +from all points of the horizon. If the little mirrors in each branch +are placed in parallel lines in front of a patient, and the rotation is +rapid, the optic organ soon becomes fatigued, and a calming soothing +somnolence ensues. At first it is not a deep sleep, the eye-lids are +scarcely heavy, the drowsiness slight and restorative. By degrees, by a +species of training, the hypnotic sleep differs more and more from +natural sleep, the individual abandons himself more and more +completely, and falls into one of the regular phases of hypnotic sleep. +Without a word, without a suggestion or any other action, Dr. Luys has +made wonderful cures. Wecker, the occulist, has by the same means +entirely cured spasms of the eye-lids.” + +Professor Delboeuf gives the following account of how the famous +Liebault produced hypnotism at the hospital at Nancy. We would +especially ask the reader to note what he says of Dr. Liebault’s manner +and general bearing, for without doubt much of his success was due to +his own personality. Says Professor Delboeuf: + +“His modus faciendi has something ingenious and simple about it, +enhanced by a tone and air of profound conviction; and his voice has +such fervor and warmth that he carries away his clients with him. + +“After having inquired of the patient what he is suffering from, +without any further or closer examination, he places his hand on the +patient’s forehead and, scarcely looking at him, says, ‘You are going +to sleep.’ Then, almost immediately, he closes the eyelids, telling him +that he is asleep. After that he raises the patient’s arm, and says, +‘You cannot put your arm down.’ If he does, Dr. Liebault appears hardly +to notice it. He then turns the patient’s arm around, confidently +affirming that the movement cannot be stopped, and saying this he turns +his own arms rapidly around, the patient remaining all the time with +his eyes shut; then the doctor talks on without ceasing in a loud and +commanding voice. The suggestions begin: + +“‘You are going to be cured; your digestion will be good, your sleep +quiet, your cough will stop, your circulation will become free and +regular; you are going to feel very strong and well, you will be able +to walk about,’ etc., etc. He hardly ever varies the speech. Thus he +fires away at every kind of disease at once, leaving it to the client +to find out his own. No doubt he gives some special directions, +according to the disease the patient is suffering from, but general +instructions are the chief thing. + +“The same suggestions are repeated a great many times to the same +person, and, strange to say, notwithstanding the inevitable monotony of +the speeches, and the uniformity of both style and voice, the master’s +tone is so ardent, so penetrating, so sympathetic, that I have never +once listened to it without a feeling of intense admiration.” + +The Hindoos produce sleep simply by sitting on the ground and, fixing +their eyes steadily on the subject, swaying the body in a sort of +writhing motion above the hips. By continuing this steadily and in +perfect silence for ten or fifteen minutes before a large audience, +dozens can be put to sleep at one time. In all cases, freedom from +noise or distractive incidents is essential to success in hypnotism, +for concentration must be produced. + +Certain French operators maintain that hypnotism may be produced by +pressure on certain hypnogenic points or regions of the body. Among +these are the eye-balls, the crown of the head, the back of the neck +and the upper bones of the spine between the shoulder glades. Some +persons may be hypnotized by gently pressing on the skin at the base of +the finger-nails, and at the root of the nose; also by gently +scratching the neck over the great nerve center. + +Hypnotism is also produced by sudden noise, as if by a Chinese gong, +etc. + +HOW TO WAKE A SUBJECT FROM HYPNOTIC SLEEP. + +This is comparatively easy in moot cases. Most persons will awake +naturally at the end of a few minutes, or will fall into a natural +sleep from which in an hour or two they will awake refreshed. Usually +the operator simply says to the subject, “All right, wake up now,” and +claps his hands or makes some other decided noise. In some cases it is +sufficient to say, “You will wake up in five minutes”; or tell a +subject to count twelve and when he gets to ten say, “Wake up.” + +Persons in the lethargic state are not susceptible to verbal +suggestions, but may be awakened by lifting both eyelids. + +It is said that pressure on certain regions will wake the subject, just +as pressure in certain other places will put the subject to sleep. +Among these places for awakening are the ovarian regions. + +Some writers recommend the application of cold water to awaken +subjects, but this is rarely necessary. In olden times a burning coal +was brought near. + +If hypnotism was produced by passes, then wakening may be brought about +by passes in the opposite direction, or with the back of the hand +toward the subject. + +The only danger is likely to be found in hysterical persons. They will, +if aroused, often fall off again into a helpless state, and continue to +do so for some time to come. It is dangerous to hypnotize such +subjects. + +Care should be taken to awaken the subject very thoroughly before +leaving him, else headache, nausea, or the like may follow, with other +unpleasant effects. In all cases subjects should be treated gently and +with the utmost consideration, as if the subject and operator were the +most intimate friends. + +It is better that the person who induces hypnotic sleep should awaken +the subject. Others cannot do it so easily, though as we have said, +subjects usually awaken themselves after a short time. + +Further description of the method of producing hypnotism need not be +given; but it is proper to add that in addition to the fact that not +more than one person out of three can be hypnotized at all, even by an +experienced operator, to effect hypnotization except in a few cases +requires a great deal of patience, both on the part of the operator and +of the subject. It may require half a dozen or more trials before any +effect at all can be produced, although in some cases the effect will +come within a minute or two. After a person has been once hypnotized, +hypnotization is much easier. The most startling results are to be +obtained only after a long process of training on the part of the +subject. Public hypnotic entertainments, and even those given at the +hospitals in Paris, would be quite impossible if trained subjects were +not at hand; and in the case of the public hypnotizer, the proper +subjects are hired and placed in the audience for the express purpose +of coming forward when called for. The success of such an entertainment +could not otherwise be guaranteed. In many cases, also, this training +of subjects makes them deceivers. They learn to imitate what they see, +and since their living depends upon it, they must prove hypnotic +subjects who can always be depended upon to do just what is wanted. We +may add, however, that what they do is no more than an imitation of the +real thing. There is no grotesque manifestation on the stage, even if +it is a pure fake, which could not be matched by more startling facts +taken from undoubted scientific experience. + + + + +CHAPTER II. +AMUSING EXPERIMENTS. + + +Hypnotizing on the Stage—“You Can’t Pull Your Hands Apart”—Post +Hypnotic Suggestion—The News boy, the Hunter, and the Young Man with +the Rag Doll—A Whip Becomes Hot Iron—Courting a Broomstick—The Side +Show. + + +Let us now describe some of the manifestations of hypnotism, to see +just how it operates and how it exhibits itself. The following is a +description of a public performance given by Dr. Herbert L. Flint, a +very successful public operator. It is in the language of an +eye-witness—a New York lawyer. + +In response to a call for volunteers, twenty young and middle-aged men +came upon the stage. They evidently belonged to the great middle-class. +The entertainment commenced by Dr. Flint passing around the group, who +were seated on the stage in a semicircle facing the audience, and +stroking each one’s head and forehead, repeating the phrases, “Close +your eyes. Think of nothing but sleep. You are very tired. You are +drowsy. You feel very sleepy.” As he did this, several of the +volunteers closed their eyes at once, and one fell asleep immediately. +One or two remained awake, and these did not give themselves up to the +influence, but rather resisted it. + +When the doctor had completed his round and had manipulated all the +volunteers, some of those influenced were nodding, some were sound +asleep, while a few were wide awake and smiling at the rest. These +latter were dismissed as unlikely subjects. + +When the stage had been cleared of all those who were not responsive, +the doctor passed around, and, snapping his finger at each individual, +awoke him. One of the subjects when questioned afterward as to what +sensation he experienced at the snapping of the fingers, replied that +it seemed to him as if something inside of his head responded, and with +this sensation he regained self-consciousness. (This is to be doubted. +As a rule, subjects in this stage of hypnotism do not feel any +sensation that they can remember, and do not become self-conscious.) + +The class was now apparently wide awake, and did not differ in +appearance from their ordinary state. The doctor then took each one and +subjected him to a separate physical test, such as sealing the eyes, +fastening the hands, stiffening the fingers, arms, and legs, producing +partial catalepsy and causing stuttering and inability to speak. In +those possessing strong imaginations, he was able to produce +hallucinations, such as feeling mosquito bites, suffering from +toothache, finding the pockets filled and the hands covered with +molasses, changing identity, and many similar tests. + +The doctor now asked each one to clasp his hands in front of him, and +when all had complied with the request, he repeated the phrase, “Think +your hands so fast that you can’t pull them apart. They are fast. You +cannot pull them apart. Try. You can’t.” The whole class made frantic +efforts to unclasp their hands, but were unable to do so. The doctor’s +explanation of this is, that what they were really doing was to force +their hands closer together, thus obeying the counter suggestion. That +they thought they were trying to unclasp their hands was evident from +their endeavors. + +The moment he made them desist, by snapping his fingers, the spell was +broken. It was most astonishing to see that as each one awoke, he +seemed to be fully cognizant of the ridiculous position in which his +comrades were placed, and to enjoy their confusion and ludicrous +attitudes. The moment, however, he was commanded to do things equally +absurd, he obeyed. While, therefore, the class appeared to be free +agents, they are under hypnotic control. + +One young fellow, aged about eighteen, said that he was addicted to the +cigarette habit. The suggestion was made to him that he would not be +able to smoke a cigarette for twenty-four hours. After the +entertainment he was asked to smoke, as was his usual habit. He was +then away from any one who could influence him. He replied that the +very idea was repugnant. However, he was induced to take a cigarette in +his mouth, but it made him ill and he flung it away with every +expression of disgust. *This is an instance of what is called +post-hypnotic suggestion. Dr. Cocke tells of suggesting to a drinker +whom he was trying to cure of the habit that for the next three days +anything he took would make him vomit; the result followed as +suggested. + +The same phenomena that was shown in unclasping the hands, was next +exhibited in commanding the subjects to rotate them. They immediately +began and twirled them faster and faster, in spite of their efforts to +stop. One of the subjects said he thought of nothing but the strange +action of his hands, and sometimes it puzzled him to know why they +whirled. + +At this point Dr. Flint’s daughter took charge of the class. She +pointed her finger at one of them, and the subject began to look +steadily before him, at which the rest of the class were highly amused. +Presently the subject’s head leaned forward, the pupils of his eyes +dilated and assumed a peculiar glassy stare. He arose with a steady, +gliding gait and walked up to the lady until his nose touched her hand. +Then he stopped. Miss Flint led him to the front of the stage and left +him standing in profound slumber. He stood there, stooping, eyes set, +and vacant, fast asleep. In the meantime the act had caused great +laughter among the rest of the class. One young fellow in particular, +laughed so uproariously that tears coursed down his cheeks, and he took +out his handkerchief to wipe his eyes. Just as he was returning it to +his pocket, the lady suddenly pointed a finger at him. She was in the +center of the stage, fully fifteen feet away from the subject, but the +moment the gesture was made, his countenance fell, his mirth stopped, +while that of his companions redoubled, and the change was so obvious +that the audience shared in the laughter—but the subject neither saw +nor heard. His eyes assumed the same expression that had been noticed +in his companion’s. He, too, arose in the same attitude, as if his head +were pulling the body along, and following the finger in the same way +as his predecessor, was conducted to the front of the stage by the side +of the first subject. This was repeated on half a dozen subjects, and +the manifestations were the same in each case. Those selected were now +drawn up in an irregular line in front of the stage, their eyes fixed +on vacancy, their heads bent forward, perfectly motionless. Each was +then given a suggestion. One was to be a newsboy, and sell papers. +Another was given a broomstick and told to hunt game in the woods +before him. Another was given a large rag doll and told that it was an +infant, and that he must look among the audience and discover the +father. He was informed that he could tell who the father was by the +similarity and the color of the eyes. + +These suggestions were made in a loud tone, Miss Flint being no nearer +one subject than another. The bare suggestion was given, as, “Now, +think that you are a newsboy, and are selling papers,” or, “Now think +that you are hunting and are going into the woods to shoot birds.” + +So the party was started at the same time into the audience. The one +who was impersonating a newsboy went about crying his edition in a loud +voice; while the hunter crawled along stealthily and carefully. The +newsboy even adopted the well-worn device of asking those whom he +solicited to buy to help him get rid of his stock. One man offered him +a cent, when the price was two cents. The newsboy chaffed the would-be +purchaser. He sarcastically asked him if he “didn’t want the earth.” + +The others did what they had been told to do in the same earnest, +characteristic way. + +After this performance, the class was again seated in a semicircle, and +Miss Flint selected one of them, and, taking him into the center of the +stage, showed him a small riding whip. He looked at it indifferently +enough. He was told it was a hot bar of iron, but he shook his head, +still incredulous. The suggestion was repeated, and as the glazed look +came into his eyes, the incredulous look died out. Every member of the +class was following the suggestion made to the subject in hand. All of +them had the same expression in their eyes. The doctor said that his +daughter was hypnotizing the whole class through this one individual. + +As she spoke she lightly touched the subject with the end of the whip. +The moment the subject felt the whip he jumped and shrieked as if it +really were a hot iron. She touched each one of the class in +succession, and every one manifested the utmost pain and fear. One +subject sat down on the floor and cried in dire distress. Others, when +touched, would tear off their clothing or roll up their sleeves. One +young man was examined by a physician present just after the whip had +been laid across his shoulders, and a long red mark was found, just +such a one as would have been made by a real hot iron. The doctor said +that, had the suggestion been continued, it would undoubtedly have +raised a blister. + +One of the amusing experiments tried at a later time was that of a tall +young man, diffident, pale and modest, being given a broom carefully +wrapped in a sheet, and told that it was his sweetheart. He accepted +the situation and sat down by the broom. He was a little sheepish at +first, but eventually he grew bolder, and smiled upon her such a smile +as Malvolio casts upon Olivia. The manner in which, little by little, +he ventured upon a familiar footing, was exceedingly funny; but when, +in a moment of confident response to his wooing, he clasped her round +the waist and imprinted a chaste kiss upon the brushy part of the +broom, disguised by the sheet, the house resounded with roars of +laughter. The subject, however, was deaf to all of the noise. He was +absorbed in his courtship, and he continued to hug the broom, and +exhibit in his features that idiotic smile that one sees only upon the +faces of lovers and bridegrooms. “All the world loves a lover,” as the +saying is, and all the world loves to laugh at him. + +One of the subjects was told that the head of a man in the audience was +on fire. He looked for a moment, and then dashed down the platform into +the audience, and, seizing the man’s head, vigorously rubbed it. As +this did not extinguish the flames, he took off his coat and put the +fire out. In doing this, he set his coat on fire, when he trampled it +under foot. Then he calmly resumed his garment and walked back to the +stage. + +The “side-show” closed the evening’s entertainment. A young man was +told to think of himself as managing a side-show at a circus. When his +mind had absorbed this idea he was ordered to open his exhibition. He +at once mounted a table, and, in the voice of the traditional side-show +fakir, began to dilate upon the fat woman and the snakes, upon the wild +man from Borneo, upon the learned pig, and all the other accessories of +side-shows. He went over the usual characteristic “patter,” getting +more and more in earnest, assuring his hearers that for the small sum +of ten cents they could see more wonders than ever before had been +crowded under one canvas tent. He harangued the crowd as they surged +about the tent door. He pointed to a suppositious canvas picture. He +“chaffed” the boys. He flattered the vanity of the young fellows with +their girls, telling them that they could not afford, for the small sum +of ten cents, to miss this great show. He made change for his patrons. +He indulged in side remarks, such as “This is hot work.” He rolled up +his sleeves and took off his collar and necktie, all of the time +expatiating upon the merits of the freaks inside of his tent. + + + + +CHAPTER III. +THE STAGES OF HYPNOTISM. + + +Lethargy—Catalepsy—The Somnambulistic Stage—Fascination. + + +We have just given some of the amusing experiments that may be +performed with subjects in one of the minor stages of hypnotism. But +there are other stages which give entirely different manifestations. +For a scientific classification of these we are indebted to Professor +Charcot, of the Salpetriere hospital in Paris, to whom, next to Mesmer +and Braid, we are indebted for the present science of hypnotism. He +recognized three distinct stages—lethargy, catalepsy and somnambulism. +There is also a condition of extreme lethargy, a sort of trance state, +that lasts for days and even weeks, and, indeed, has been known to last +for years. There is also a lighter phase than somnambulism, that is +called fascination. Some doctors, however, place it between catalepsy +and somnambulism. Each of these stages is marked by quite distinct +phenomena. We give them as described by a pupil of Dr. Charcot. + +LETHARGY. + +This is a state of absolute inert sleep. If the method of Braid is +used, and a bright object is held quite near the eyes, and the eyes are +fixed upon it, the subject squints, the eyes become moist and bright, +the look fixed, and the pupils dilated. This is the cataleptic stage. +If the object is left before the eyes, lethargy is produced. There are +also many other ways of producing lethargy, as we have seen in the +chapter “How to Hypnotize.” + +One of the marked characteristics of this stage of hypnotism is the +tendency of the muscles to contract, under the influence of the +slightest touch, friction, pressure or massage, or even that of a +magnet placed at a distance. The contraction disappears only by the +repetition of that identical means that called it into action. Dr. +Courmelles gives the following illustration: + +“If the forearm is rubbed a little above the palm of the hand, this +latter yields and bends at an acute angle. The subject may be suspended +by the hand, and the body will be held up without relaxation, that is, +without returning to the normal condition. To return to the normal +state, it suffices to rub the antagonistic muscles, or, in ordinary +terms, the part diametrically opposed to that which produced the +phenomenon; in this case, the forearm a little above the hands. It is +the same for any other part of the body.” + +The subject appears to be in a deep sleep, the eyes are either closed +or half closed, and the face is without expression. The body appears to +be in a state of complete collapse, the head is thrown back, and the +arms and legs hang loose, dropping heavily down. In this stage +insensibility is so complete that needles can be run into any part of +the body without producing pain, and surgical operations may be +performed without the slightest unpleasant effect. + +This stage lasts usually but a short time, and the patient, under +ordinary conditions, will pass upward into the stage of catalepsy, in +which he opens his eyes. If the hypnotism is spontaneous, that is, if +it is due to a condition of the nervous organism which has produced it +without any outside aid, we have the condition of prolonged trance, of +which many cases have been reported. Until the discovery of hypnotism +these strange trances were little understood, and people were even +buried alive in them. A few instances reported by medical men will be +interesting. There is one reported in 1889 by a noted French physician. +Said he: + +“There is at this moment in the hospital at Mulhouse a most interesting +case. A young girl twenty-two years of age has been asleep here for the +last twelve days. Her complexion is fresh and rosy, her breathing quite +normal, and her features unaltered. + +“No organ seems attacked; all the vital functions are performed as in +the waking state. She is fed with milk, broth and wine, which is given +her in a spoon. Her mouth even sometimes opens of itself at the contact +of the spoon, and she swallows without the slightest difficulty. At +other times the gullet remains inert. + +“The whole body is insensible. The forehead alone presents, under the +action of touch or of pricks, some reflex phenomena. However, by a +peculiarity, which is extremely interesting, she seems, by the intense +horror she shows for ether, to retain a certain amount of consciousness +and sensibility. If a drop of ether is put into her mouth her face +contracts and assumes an expression of disgust. At the same moment her +arms and legs are violently agitated, with the kind of impatient motion +that a child displays when made to swallow some hated dose of medicine. + +“In the intellectual relations the brain is not absolutely obscure, for +on her mother’s coming to see her the subject’s face became highly +colored, and tears appeared on the tips of her eyelashes, without, +however, in any other way disturbing her lethargy. + +“Nothing has yet been able to rouse her from this torpor, which will, +no doubt, naturally disappear at a given moment. She will then return +to conscious life as she quitted it. It is probable that she will not +retain any recollection of her present condition, that all notion of +time will fail her, and that she will fancy it is only the day +following her usual nightly slumber, a slumber which, in this case, has +been transformed into a lethargic sleep, without any rigidity of limbs +or convulsions. + +“Physically, the sleeper is of a middle size, slender, strong and +pretty, without distinctive characteristic. Mentally, she is lively, +industrious, sometimes whimsical, and subject to slight nervous +attacks.” + +There is a pretty well-authenticated report of a young girl who, on May +30, 1883, after an intense fright, fell into a lethargic condition +which lasted for four years. Her parents were poor and ignorant, but, +as the fame of the case spread abroad, some physicians went to +investigate it in March, 1887. Her sleep had never been interrupted. On +raising the eyelids, the doctors found the eyes turned convulsively +upward, but, blowing upon them, produced no reflex movement of the +lids. Her jaws were closed tightly, and the attempt to open her mouth +had broken off some of the teeth level with the gums. The muscles +contracted at the least breath or touch, and the arms remained in +position when uplifted. The contraction of the muscles is a sign of the +lethargic state, but the arm, remaining in position, indicates the +cataleptic state. The girl was kept alive by liquid nourishment poured +into her mouth. + +There are on record a large number of cases of persons who have slept +for several months. + +CATALEPSY. + +The next higher stage of hypnotism is that of catalepsy. Patients may +be thrown into it directly, or patients in the lethargic state may be +brought into it by lifting the eyelids. It seems that the light +penetrating the eyes, and affecting the brain, awakens new powers, for +the cataleptic state has phenomena quite peculiar to itself. + +Nearly all the means for producing hypnotism will, if carried to just +the right degree, produce catalepsy. For instance, besides the fixing +of the eye on a bright object, catalepsy may be produced by a sudden +sound, as of a Chinese gong, a tom-tom or a whistle, the vibration of a +tuning-fork, or thunder. If a solar spectrum is suddenly brought into a +dark room it may produce catalepsy, which is also produced by looking +at the sun, or a lime light, or an electric light. + +In this state the patient has become perfectly rigidly fixed in the +position in which he happens to be when the effect is produced, whether +sitting, standing, kneeling, or the like; and this face has an +expression of fear. The arms or legs may be raised, but if left to +themselves will not drop, as in lethargy. The eyes are wide open, but +the look is fixed and impassive. The fixed position lasts only a few +minutes, however, when the subject returns to a position of relaxation, +or drops back into the lethargic state. + +If the muscles, nerves or tendons are rubbed or pressed, paralysis may +be produced, which, however, is quickly removed by the use of +electricity, when the patient awakes. By manipulating the muscles the +most rigid contraction may be produced, until the entire body is in +such a state of corpse-like rigidity that a most startling experiment +is possible. The subject may be placed with his head upon the back of +one chair and his heels on the back of another, and a heavy man may sit +upon him without seemingly producing any effect, or even heavy rock may +be broken on the subject’s body. + +Messieurs Binet and Fere, pupils of the Salpetriere school, describe +the action of magnets on cataleptic subjects, as follows: + +“The patient is seated near a table, on which a magnet has been placed, +the left elbow rests on the arm of the chair, the forearm and hand +vertically upraised with thumb and index finger extended, while the +other fingers remain half bent. On the right side the forearm and hand +are stretched on the table, and the magnet is placed under a linen +cloth at a distance of about two inches. After a couple of minutes the +right index begins to tremble and rise up; on the left side the +extended fingers bend down, and the hand remains limp for an instant. +The right hand and forearm rise up and assume the primitive position of +the left hand, which is now stretched out on the arm of the chair, with +the waxen pliability that pertains to the cataleptic state.” + +An interesting experiment may be tried by throwing a patient into +lethargy on one side and catalepsy on the other. To induce what is +called hemi-lethargy and hemi-catalepsy is not difficult. First, the +lethargic stage is induced, then one eyelid is raised, and that side +alone becomes cataleptic, and may be operated on in various interesting +ways. The arm on that side, for instance, will remain raised when +lifted, while the arm on the other side will fall heavily. + +Still more interesting is the intellectual condition of the subject. +Some great man has remarked that if he wished to know what a person was +thinking of, he assumed the exact position and expression of that +person, and soon he would begin to feel and think just as the other was +thinking and feeling. Look a part and you will soon begin to feel it. + +In the cataleptic subject there is a close relation between the +attitude the subject assumes and the intellectual manifestation. In the +somnambulistic stage patients are manipulated by speaking to them; in +the cataleptic stage they are equally under the will of the operator; +but now he controls them by gesture. Says Dr. Courmelles, from his own +observation: “The emotions in this stage are made at command, in the +true acceptation of the word, for they are produced, not by orders +verbally expressed, but by expressive movements. If the hands are +opened and drawn close to the mouth, as when a kiss is wafted, the +mouth smiles. If the arms are extended and half bent at the elbows, the +countenance assumes an expression of astonishment. The slightest +variation of movement is reflected in the emotions. If the fists are +closed, the brow contracts and the face expresses anger. If a lively or +sad tune is played, if amusing or depressing pictures are shown, the +subject, like a faithful mirror, at once reflects these impressions. If +a smile is produced it can be seen to diminish and disappear at the +same time as the hand is moved away, and again to reappear and increase +when it is once more brought near. Better still, a double expression +can be imparted to the physiognomy, by approaching the left hand to the +left side of the mouth, the left side of the physiognomy will smile, +while at the same time, by closing the right hand, the right eyebrow +will frown. The subject can be made to send kisses, or to turn his +hands round each other indefinitely. If the hand is brought near the +nose it will blow; if the arms are stretched out they will remain +extended, while the head will be bowed with a marked expression of +pain.” + +Heidenhain was able to take possession of the subject’s gaze and +control him by sight, through producing mimicry. He looks fixedly at +the patient till the patient is unable to take his eyes away. Then the +patient will copy every movement he makes. If he rises and goes +backward the patient will follow, and with his right hand he will +imitate the movements of the operator’s left, as if he were a mirror. +The attitudes of prayer, melancholy, pain, disdain, anger or fear, may +be produced in this manner. + +The experiments of Donato, a stage hypnotizer, are thus described: +“After throwing the subjects into catalepsy he causes soft music to be +played, which produces a rapturous expression. If the sound is +heightened or increased, the subjects seem to receive a shock and a +feeling of disappointment. The artistic sense developed by hypnotism is +disturbed; the faces express astonishment, stupefaction and pain. If +the same soft melody be again resumed, the same expression of rapturous +bliss reappears in the countenance. The faces become seraphic and +celestial when the subjects are by nature handsome, and when the +subjects are ordinary looking, even ugly, they are idealized as by a +special kind of beauty.” + +The strange part of all this is, that on awaking, the patient has no +recollection of what has taken place, and careful tests have shown that +what appear to be violent emotions, such as in an ordinary state would +produce a quickened pulse and heavy breathing, create no disturbance +whatever in the cataleptic subject; only the outer mask is in motion. + +“Sometimes the subjects lean backward with all the grace of a perfect +equilibrist, freeing themselves from the ordinary mechanical laws. The +curvature will, indeed, at times be so complete that the head will +touch the floor and the body describe a regular arc. + +“When a female subject assumes an attitude of devotion, clasps her +hands, turns her eyes upward and lisps out a prayer, she presents an +admirably artistic picture, and her features and expression seem worthy +of being reproduced on canvas.” + +We thus see what a perfect automaton the human body may become. There +appears, however, to be a sort of unconscious memory, for a familiar +object will seem to suggest spontaneously its ordinary use. Thus, if a +piece of soap is put into a cataleptic patient’s hands; he will move it +around as though he thought he were washing them, and if there is any +water near he will actually wash them. The sight of an umbrella makes +him shiver as if he were in a storm. Handing such a person a pen will +not make him write, but if a letter is dictated to him out loud he will +write in an irregular hand. The subject may also be made to sing, +scream or speak different languages with which he is entirely +unfamiliar. This is, however, a verging toward the somnambulistic +stage, for in deep catalepsy the patient does not speak or hear. The +state is produced by placing the hands on the head, the forehead, or +nape of the neck. + +THE SOMNAMBULISTIC STAGE. + +This is the stage or phase of hypnotism nearest the waking, and is the +only one that can be produced in some subjects. Patients in the +cataleptic state can be brought into the somnambulistic by rubbing the +top of the head. To all appearances, the patient is fully awake, his +eyes are open, and he answers when spoken to, but his voice does not +have the same sound as when awake. Yet, in this state the patient is +susceptible of all the hallucinations of insanity which may be induced +at the verbal command of the operator. + +One of the most curious features of this stage of hypnotism is the +effect on the memory. Says Monsieur Richet: “I send V——— to sleep. I +recite some verses to her, and then I awake her. She remembers nothing. +I again send her to sleep, and she remembers perfectly the verses I +recited. I awake her, and she has again forgotten everything.” + +It appears, however, that if commanded to remember on awaking, a +patient may remember. + +The active sense, and the memory as well, appears to be in an exalted +state of activity during this phase of hypnotism. Says M. Richet: “M—— +-, who will sing the air of the second act of the Africaine in her +sleep, is incapable of remembering a single note of it when awake.” +Another patient, while under this hypnotic influence, could remember +all he had eaten for several days past, but when awake could remember +very little. Binet and Fere caused one of their subjects to remember +the whole of his repasts for eight days past, though when awake he +could remember nothing beyond two or three days. A patient of Dr. +Charcot, who when she was two years old had seen Dr. Parrot in the +children’s hospital, but had not seen him since, and when awake could +not remember him, named him at once when he entered during her hypnotic +sleep. M. Delboeuf tells of an experiment he tried, in which the +patient did remember what had taken place during the hypnotic +condition, when he suddenly awakened her in the midst of the +hallucination; as, for instance, he told her the ashes from the cigar +he was smoking had fallen on her handkerchief and had set it on fire, +whereupon she at once rose and threw the handkerchief into the water. +Then, suddenly awakened, she remembered the whole performance. + +In the somnambulistic stage the patient is no longer an automaton +merely, but a real personality, “an individual with his own character, +his likes and dislikes.” The tone of the voice of the operator seems to +have quite as much effect as his words. If he speaks in a grave and +solemn tone, for instance, even if what he utters is nonsense, the +effect is that of a deeply tragic story. + +The will of another is not so easily implanted as has been claimed. +While a patient will follow almost any suggestion that may be offered, +he readily obeys only commands which are in keeping with his character. +If he is commanded to do something he dislikes or which in the waking +state would be very repugnant to him, he hesitates, does it very +reluctantly, and in extreme cases refuses altogether, often going into +hysterics. It was found at the Charity hospital that one patient +absolutely refused to accept a cassock and become a priest. One of +Monsieur Richet’s patients screamed with pain the moment an amputation +was suggested, but almost immediately recognized that it was only a +suggestion, and laughed in the midst of her tears. Probably, however, +this patient was not completely hypnotized. + +Dr. Dumontpallier was able to produce a very curious phenomenon. He +suggested to a female patient that with the right eye she could see a +picture on a blank card. On awakening she could, indeed, see the +picture with the right eye, but the left eye told her the card was +blank. While she was in the somnambulistic state he told her in her +right ear that the weather was very fine, and at the same time another +person whispered in her left ear that it was raining. On the right side +of her face she had a smile, while the left angle of her lip dropped as +if she were depressed by the thought of the rain. Again, he describes a +dance and gay party in one ear, and another person mimics the barking +of a dog in the other. One side of her face in that case wears an +amused expression, while the other shows signs of alarm. + +Dr. Charcot thus describes a curious experiment: “A portrait is +suggested to a subject as existing on a blank card, which is then mixed +with a dozen others; to all appearance they are similar cards. The +subject, being awakened, is requested to look over the packet, and does +so without knowing the reason of the request, but when he perceives the +card on which the portrait was suggested, he at once recognizes the +imaginary portrait. It is probable that some insignificant mark has, +owing to his visual hyperacuity, fixed the image in the subject’s +brain.” + +FASCINATION. + +Says a recent French writer: “Dr. Bremand, a naval doctor, has obtained +in men supposed to be perfectly healthy a new condition, which he calls +fascination. The inventor considers that this is hypnotism in its +mildest form, which, after repeated experiments, might become +catalepsy. The subject fascinated by Dr. Bremaud—fascination being +induced by the contemplation of a bright spot—falls into a state of +stupor. He follows the operator and servilely imitates his movements, +gestures and words; he obeys suggestions, and a stimulation of the +nerves induces contraction, but the cataleptic pliability does not +exist.” + +A noted public hypnotizer in Paris some years ago produced fascination +in the following manner: He would cause the subject to lean on his +hands, thus fatiguing the muscles. The excitement produced by the +concentrated gaze of a large audience also assisted in weakening the +nervous resistance. At last the operator would suddenly call out: “Look +at me!” The subject would look up and gaze steadily into the operator’s +eyes, who would stare steadily back with round, glaring eyes, and in +most cases subdue his victim. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +How the Subject Feels Under Hypnotization.—Dr. Cooper’s +Experience.—Effect of Music.—Dr. Alfred Marthieu’s Experiments. + + +The sensations produced during a state of hypnosis are very +interesting. As may be supposed, they differ greatly in different +persons. One of the most interesting accounts ever given is that of Dr. +James R. Cocke, a hypnotist himself, who submitted to being operated +upon by a professional magnetizer. He was at that time a firm believer +in the theory of personal magnetism (a delusion from which he afterward +escaped). + +On the occasion which he describes, the operator commanded him to close +his eyes and told him he could not open them, but he did open them at +once. Again he told him to close the eyes, and at the same time he +gently stroked his head and face and eyelids with his hand. Dr. Cocke +fancied he felt a tingling sensation in his forehead and eyes, which he +supposed came from the hand of the operator. (Afterward he came to +believe that this sensation was purely imaginary on his part.) + +Then he says: “A sensation akin to fear came over me. The operator +said: ‘You are going to sleep, you are getting sleepy. You cannot open +your eyes.’ I was conscious that my heart was beating rapidly, and I +felt a sensation of terror. He continued to tell me I was going to +sleep, and could not open my eyes. He then made passes over my head, +down over my hands and body, but did not touch me. He then said to me, +‘You cannot open your eyes.’ The motor apparatus of my lids would not +seemingly respond to my will, yet I was conscious that while one part +of my mind wanted to open my eyes, another part did not want to, so I +was in a paradoxical state. I believed that I could open my eyes, and +yet could not. The feeling of not wishing to open my eyes was not based +upon any desire to please the operator. I had no personal interest in +him in any way, but, be it understood, I firmly believed in his power +to control me. He continued to suggest to me that I was going to sleep, +and the suggestion of terror previously mentioned continued to +increase.” + +The next step was to put the doctor’s hand over his head, and tell him +he could not put it down. Then he stroked the arm and said it was +growing numb. He said: “You have no feeling in it, have you?” Dr. Cocke +goes on: “I said ‘No,’ and I knew that I said ‘No,’ yet I knew that I +had a feeling in it.” The operator went on, pricking the arm with a +pin, and though Dr. Cocke felt the pain he said he did not feel it, and +at the same time the sensation of terror increased. “I was not +conscious of my body at all,” he says further on, “but I was painfully +conscious of the two contradictory elements within me. I knew that my +body existed, but could not prove it to myself. I knew that the +statements made by the operator were in a measure untrue. I obeyed them +voluntarily and involuntarily. This is the last remembrance that I have +of that hypnotic experience.” + +After this, however, the operator caused the doctor to do a number of +things which he learned of from his friends after the performance was +over. “It seemed to me that the hypnotist commanded me to awake as soon +as I dropped my arm,” and yet ten minutes of unconsciousness had +passed. + +On a subsequent occasion Dr. Cocke, who was blind, was put into a deep +hypnotic sleep by fixing his mind on the number 26 and holding up his +hand. This time he experienced a still greater degree of terror, and +incidentally learned that he could hypnotize himself. The matter of +self-hypnotism we shall consider in another chapter. + +In this connection we find great interest in an article in the Medical +News, July 28, 1894, by Dr. Alfred Warthin, of Ann Arbor, Mich., in +which he describes the effects of music upon hypnotic subjects. While +in Vienna he took occasion to observe closely the enthusiastic musical +devotees as they sat in the audience at the performance of one of +Wagner’s operas. He believed they were in a condition of self-induced +hypnotism, in which their subjective faculties were so exalted as to +supersede their objective perceptions. Music was no longer to them a +succession of pleasing sounds, but the embodiment of a drama in which +they became so wrapped up that they forgot all about the mechanical and +external features of the music and lived completely in a fairy world of +dream. + +This observation suggested to him an interesting series of experiments. +His first subject was easily hypnotized, and of an emotional nature. +Wagner’s “Ride of Walkure” was played from the piano score. The pulse +of the subject became more rapid and at first of higher tension, +increasing from a normal rate of 60 beats a minute to 120. Then, as the +music progressed, the tension diminished. The respiration increased +from 18 to 30 per minute. Great excitement in the subject was evident. +His whole body was thrown into motion, his legs were drawn up, his arms +tossed into the air, and a profuse sweat appeared. When the subject had +been awakened, he said that he did not remember the music as music, but +had an impression of intense, excitement, brought on by “riding +furiously through the air.” The state of mind brought up before him in +the most realistic and vivid manner possible the picture of the ride of +Tam O’Shanter, which he had seen years before. The picture soon became +real to him, and he found himself taking part in a wild chase, not as +witch, devil, or Tam even; but in some way his consciousness was spread +through every part of the scene, being of it, and yet playing the part +of spectator, as is often the case in dreams. + +Dr. Warthin tried the same experiment again, this time on a young man +who was not so emotional, and was hypnotized with much more difficulty. +This subject did not pass into such a deep state of hypnotism, but the +result was practically the same. The pulse rate rose from 70 to 120. +The sensation remembered was that of riding furiously through the air. + +The experiment was repeated on other subjects, in all cases with the +same result. Only one knew that the music was the “Ride of Walkure.” +“To him it always expressed the pictured wild ride of the daughters of +Wotan, the subject taking part in the ride.” It was noticeable in each +case that the same music played to them in the waking state produced no +special impression. Here is incontestable evidence that in the hypnotic +state the perception of the special senses is enormously heightened. + +A slow movement was tried (the Valhalla motif). At first it seemed to +produce the opposite effect, for the pulse was lowered. Later it rose +to a rate double the normal, and the tension was diminished. The +impression described by the subject afterward was a feeling of “lofty +grandeur and calmness.” A mountain climbing experience of years before +was recalled, and the subject seemed to contemplate a landscape of +“lofty grandeur.” A different sort of music was played (the intense and +ghastly scene in which Brunhilde appears to summon Sigmund to +Valhalla). Immediately a marked change took place in the pulse. It +became slow and irregular, and very small. The respiration decreased +almost to gasping, the face grew pale, and a cold perspiration broke +out. + +Readers who are especially interested in this subject will find +descriptions of many other interesting experiments in the same article. + +Dr. Cocke describes a peculiar trick he played upon the sight of a +subject. Says he: “I once hypnotized a man and made him read all of his +a’s as w’s, his u’s as v’s, and his b’s as x’s. I added suggestion +after suggestion so rapidly that it would have been impossible for him +to have remembered simply what I said and call the letters as I +directed. Stimulation was, in this case impossible, as I made him read +fifteen or twenty pages, he calling the letters as suggested each time +they occurred.” + +The extraordinary heightening of the sense perceptions has an important +bearing on the question of spiritualism and clairvoyance. If the powers +of the mind are so enormously increased, all that is required of a very +sensitive and easily hypnotized person is to hypnotize him or herself, +when he will be able to read thoughts and remember or perceive facts +hidden to the ordinary perception. In this connection the reader is +referred to the confession of Mrs. Piper, the famous medium of the +American branch of the Psychical Research Society. The confession will +be found printed in full at the close of this book. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Self-Hypnotization.—How It may Be Done.—An Experience.—Accountable for +Children’s Crusade.—Oriental Prophets Self-Hypnotized. + + +If self-hypnotism is possible (and it is true that a person can +deliberately hypnotize himself when he wishes to till he has become +accustomed to it and is expert in it, so to speak), it does away at a +stroke with the claims of all professional hypnotists and magnetic +healers that they have any peculiar power in themselves which they +exert over their fellows. One of these professionals gives an account +in his book of what he calls “The Wonderful Lock Method.” He says that +though he is locked up in a separate room he can make the psychic power +work through the walls. All that he does is to put his subjects in the +way of hypnotizing themselves. He shows his inconsistency when he +states that under certain circumstances the hypnotizer is in danger of +becoming hypnotized himself. In this he makes no claim that the subject +is using any psychic power; but, of course, if the hypnotizer looks +steadily into the eyes of his subject, and the subject looks into his +eyes, the steady gaze on a bright object will produce hypnotism in one +quite as readily as in the other. + +Hypnotism is an established scientific fact; but the claim that the +hypnotizer has any mysterious psychic power is the invariable mark of +the charlatan. Probably no scientific phenomenon was ever so grossly +prostituted to base ends as that of hypnotism. Later we shall see some +of the outrageous forms this charlatanism assumes, and how it extends +to the professional subjects as well as to the professional operators, +till those subjects even impose upon scientific men who ought to be +proof against such deception. Moreover, the possibility of +self-hypnotization, carefully concealed and called by another name, +opens another great field of humbug and charlatanism, of which the +advertising columns of the newspapers are constantly filled—namely, +that of the clairvoyant and medium. We may conceive how such a +profession might become perfectly legitimate and highly useful; but at +present it seems as if any person who went into it, however honest he +might be at the start, soon began to deceive himself as well as others, +until he lost his power entirely to distinguish between fact and +imagination. + +Before discussing the matter further, let us quote Dr. Cocke’s +experiment in hypnotizing himself. It will be remembered that a +professional hypnotizer or magnetizer had hypnotized him by telling him +to fix his mind on the number twenty-six and holding up his hand. Says +the doctor: + +“In my room that evening it occurred to me to try the same experiment. +I did so. I kept the number twenty-six in my mind. In a few minutes I +felt the sensation of terror, but in a different way. I was intensely +cold. My heart seemed to stand still. I had ringing in my ears. My hair +seemed to rise upon my scalp. I persisted in the effort, and the +previously mentioned noise in my ears grew louder and louder. The roar +became deafening. It crackled like a mighty fire. I was fearfully +conscious of myself. Having read vivid accounts of dreams, visions, +etc., it occurred to me that I would experience them. I felt in a vague +way that there were beings all about me but could not hear their +voices. I felt as though every muscle in my body was fixed and rigid. +The roar in my ears grew louder still, and I heard, above the roar, +reports which sounded like artillery and musketry. Then above the din +of the noise a musical chord. I seemed to be absorbed in this chord. I +knew nothing else. The world existed for me only in the tones of the +mighty chord. Then I had a sensation as though I were expanding. The +sound in my ears died away, and yet I was not conscious of silence. +Then all consciousness was lost. The next thing I experienced was a +sensation of intense cold, and of someone roughly shaking me. Then I +heard the voice of my jolly landlord calling me by name.” + +The landlord had found the doctor “as white as a ghost and as limp as a +rag,” and thought he was dead. He says it took him ten minutes to +arouse the sleeper. During the time a physician had been summoned. + +As to the causes of this condition as produced Dr. Cocke says: “I +firmly believed that something would happen when the attempt was made +to hypnotize me. Secondly, I wished to be hypnotized. These, together +with a vivid imagination and strained attention, brought on the states +which occurred.” + +It is interesting to compare the effects of hypnotization with those of +opium or other narcotic. Dr. Cocke asserts that there is a difference. +His descriptions of dreams bear a wonderful likeness to De Quincey’s +dreams, such as those described in “The English Mail-Coach,” “De +Profundis,” and “The Confessions of an English Opium Eater,” all of +which were presumably due to opium. + +The causes which Dr. Cocke thinks produced the hypnotic condition in +his case, namely, belief, desire to be hypnotized, and strained +attention, united with a vivid imagination, are causes which are often +found in conjunction and produce effects which we may reasonably +explain on the theory of self-hypnotization. + +For instance, the effects of an exciting religious revival are very +like those produced by Mesmer’s operations in Paris. The subjects +become hysterical, and are ready to believe anything or do anything. By +prolonging the operation, a whole community becomes more or less +hypnotized. In all such cases, however, unusual excitement is commonly +followed by unusual lethargy. It is much like a wild spree of +intoxication—in fact, it is a sort of intoxication. + +The same phenomena are probably accountable for many of the strange +records of history. The wonderful cures at Lourdes (of which we have +read in Zola’s novel of that name) are no doubt the effect of +hypnotization by the priests. Some of the strange movements of whole +communities during the Crusades are to be explained either on the +theory of hypnotization or of contagion, and possibly these two things +will turn out to be much the same in fact. On no other ground can we +explain the so-called “Children’s Crusade,” in which over thirty +thousand children from Germany, from all classes of the community, +tried to cross the Alps in winter, and in their struggles were all lost +or sold into slavery without even reaching the Holy Land. + +Again, hypnotism is accountable for many of the poet’s dreams. Gazing +steadily at a bed of bright coals or a stream of running water will +invariably throw a sensitive subject into a hypnotic sleep that will +last sometimes for several hours. Dr. Cocke says that he has +experimented in this direction with patients of his. Says he: “They +have the ability to resist the state or to bring it at will. Many of +them describe beautiful scenes from nature, or some mighty cathedral +with its lofty dome, or the faces of imaginary beings, beautiful or +demoniacal, according to the will and temper of the subject.” + +Perhaps the most wonderful example of self-hypnotism which we have in +history is that of the mystic Swedenborg, who saw, such strange things +in his visions, and at last came to believe in them as real. + +The same explanation may be given of the manifestations of Oriental +prophets—for in the Orient hypnotism is much easier and more +systematically developed than with us of the West. The performances of +the dervishes, and also of the fakirs, who wound themselves and perform +many wonderful feats which would be difficult for an ordinary person, +are no doubt in part feats of hypnotism. + +While in a condition of auto-hypnotization a person may imagine that he +is some other personality. Says Dr. Cocke: “A curious thing about those +self-hypnotized subjects is that they carry out perfectly their own +ideals of the personality with whom they believe themselves to be +possessed. If their own ideals of the part they are playing are +imperfect, their impersonations are ridiculous in the extreme. One man +I remember believed himself to be controlled by the spirit of Charles +Sumner. Being uneducated, he used the most wretched English, and his +language was utterly devoid of sense. While, on the other hand, a very +intelligent lady who believed herself to be controlled by the spirit of +Charlotte Cushman personated the part very well.” + +Dr. Cooke says of himself: “I can hypnotize myself to such an extent +that I will become wholly unconscious of events taking place around me, +and a long interval of time, say from one-half to two hours, will be a +complete blank. During this condition of auto-hypnotization I will obey +suggestions made to me by another, talking rationally, and not knowing +any event that has occurred after the condition has passed off.” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Simulation.—Deception in Hypnotism Very Common.—Examples of Neuropathic +Deceit.—Detecting Simulation.—Professional Subjects.—How Dr. Luys of +the Charity Hospital at Paris Was Deceived.—Impossibility of Detecting +Deception in All Cases.—Confessions of a Professional Hypnotic Subject. + + +It has already been remarked that hypnotism and hysteria are conditions +very nearly allied, and that hysterical neuropathic individuals make +the best hypnotic subjects. Now persons of this character are in most +cases morally as well as physically degenerate, and it is a curious +fact that deception seems to be an inherent element in nearly all such +characters. Expert doctors have been thoroughly deceived. And again, +persons who have been trying to expose frauds have also been deceived +by the positive statements of such persons that they were deceiving the +doctors when they were not. A diseased vanity seems to operate in such +cases and the subjects take any method which promises for the time +being to bring them into prominence. Merely to attract attention is a +mania with some people. + +There is also something about the study of hypnotism, and similar +subjects in which delusions constitute half the existence, that seems +to destroy the faculty for distinguishing between truth and delusion. +Undoubtedly we must look on such manifestations as a species of +insanity. + +There is also a point at which the unconscious deceiver, for the sake +of gain, passes into the conscious deceiver. At the close of this +chapter we will give some cases illustrating the fact that persons may +learn by practice to do seemingly impossible things, such as holding +themselves perfectly rigid (as in the cataleptic state) while their +head rests on one chair and their heels on another, and a heavy person +sits upon them. + +First, let us cite a few cases of what may be called neuropathic +deceit—a kind of insanity which shows itself in deceiving. The +newspapers record similar cases from time to time. The first two of the +following are quoted by Dr. Courmelles from the French courts, etc. + +1. The Comtesse de W— accused her maid of having attempted to poison +her. The case was a celebrated one, and the court-room was thronged +with women who sympathized with the supposed victim. The maid was +condemned to death; but a second trial was granted, at which it was +conclusively proved that the Comtesse had herself bound herself on her +bed, and had herself poured out the poison which was found still +blackening her breast and lips. + +2. In 1886 a man called Ulysse broke into the shop of a second-hand +dealer, facing his own house in Paris, and there began deliberately to +take away the goods, just as if he were removing his own furniture. +This he did without hurrying himself in any way, and transported the +property to his own premises. Being caught in the very act of the +theft, he seemed at first to be flurried and bewildered. When arrested +and taken to the lock-up, he seemed to be in a state of abstraction; +when spoken to he made no reply, seemed ready to fall asleep, and when +brought before the examining magistrate actually fell asleep. Dr. +Garnier, the medical man attached to the infirmary of the police +establishment, had no doubt of his irresponsibility and he was released +from custody. + +3. While engaged as police-court reporter for a Boston newspaper, the +present writer saw a number of strange cases of the same kind. One was +that of a quiet, refined, well educated lady, who was brought in for +shop-lifting. Though her husband was well to do, and she did not sell +or even use the things she took, she had made a regular business of +stealing whenever she could. She had begun it about seven months before +by taking a lace handkerchief, which she slipped under her shawl: Soon +after she accomplished another theft. “I felt so encouraged,” she said, +“that I got a large bag, which I fastened under my dress, and into this +I slipped whatever I could take when the clerks were not looking. I do +not know what made me do it. My success seemed to lead me on.” + +Other cases of kleptomania could easily be cited. + +“Simulation,” say Messieurs Binet and Fere, “which is already a +stumbling block in the study of hysterical cases, becomes far more +formidable in such studies as we are now occupied with. It is only when +he has to deal with physical phenomena that the operator feels himself +on firm ground.” + +Yet even here we can by no means feel certain. Physicians have invented +various ingenious pieces of apparatus for testing the circulation and +other physiological conditions; but even these things are not sure +tests. The writer knows of the case of a man who has such control over +his heart and lungs that he can actually throw himself into a profound +sleep in which the breathing is so absolutely stopped for an hour that +a mirror is not moistened in the least by the breath, nor can the +pulses be felt. To all intents and purposes the man appears to be dead; +but in due time he comes to life again, apparently no whit the worse +for his experiment. + +If an ordinary person were asked to hold out his arms at full length +for five minutes he would soon become exhausted, his breathing would +quicken, his pulse-rate increase. It might be supposed that if these +conditions did not follow the subject was in a hypnotic trance; but it +is well known that persons may easily train themselves to hold out the +arms for any length of time without increasing the respiration by one +breath or raising the pulse rate at all. We all remember Montaigne’s +famous illustration in which he said that if a woman began by carrying +a calf about every day she would still be able to carry it when it +became an ox. + +In the Paris hospitals, where the greater number of regular scientific +experiments have been conducted, it is found that “trained subjects” +are required for all of the more difficult demonstrations. That some of +these famous scientists have been deceived, there is no doubt. They +know it themselves. A case which will serve as an illustration is that +of Dr. Luys, some of whose operations were “exposed” by Dr. Ernest +Hart, an English student of hypnotism of a skeptical turn of mind. One +of Dr. Luys’s pupils in a book he has published makes the following +statement, which helps to explain the circumstances which we will give +a little later. Says he: + +“We know that many hospital patients who are subjected to the higher or +greater treatment of hypnotism are of very doubtful reputations; we +know also the effects of a temperament which in them is peculiarly +addicted to simulation, and which is exaggerated by the vicinity of +maladies similar to their own. To judge of this, it is necessary to +have seen them encourage each other in simulation, rehearsing among +themselves, or even before the medical students of the establishment, +the experiments to which they have been subjected; and going through +their different contortions and attitudes to exercise themselves in +them. And then, again, in the present day, has not the designation of +an ‘hypnotical subject’ become almost a social position? To be fed, to +be paid, admired, exhibited in public, run after, and all the rest of +it—all this is enough to make the most impartial looker-on skeptical. +But is it enough to enable us to produce an a priori negation? +Certainly not; but it is sufficient to justify legitimate doubt. And +when we come to moral phenomena, where we have to put faith in the +subject, the difficulty becomes still greater. Supposing suggestion and +hallucination to be granted, can they be demonstrated? Can we by +plunging the subject in hypnotical sleep, feel sure of what he may +affirm? That is impossible, for simulation and somnambulism are not +reciprocally exclusive terms, and Monsieur Pitres has established the +fact that a subject who sleeps may still simulate.” Messieurs Binet and +Fere in their book speak of “the honest Hublier, whom his somnambulist +Emelie cheated for four years consecutively.” + +Let us now quote Mr. Hart’s investigations. + +Dr. Luys is an often quoted authority on hypnotism in Paris, and is at +the head of what is called the Charity Hospital school of hypnotical +experiments. In 1892 he announced some startling results, in which some +people still have faith (more or less). What he was supposed to +accomplish was stated thus in the London Pall Mall Gazette, issue of +December 2: “Dr. Luys then showed us how a similar artificial state of +suffering could be created without suggestion—in fact, by the mere +proximity of certain substances. A pinch of coal dust, for example, +corked and sealed in a small phial and placed by the side of the neck +of a hypnotized person, produces symptoms of suffocation by smoke; a +tube of distilled water, similarly placed, provokes signs of incipient +hydrophobia; while another very simple concoction put in contact with +the flesh brings on symptoms of suffocation by drowning.” + +Signs of drunkenness were said to be caused by a small corked bottle of +brandy, and the nature of a cat by a corked bottle of valerian. +Patients also saw beautiful blue flames about the north pole of a +magnet and distasteful red flames about the south pole; while by means +of a magnet it was said that the symptoms of illness of a sick patient +might be transferred to a well person also in the hypnotic state, but +of course on awaking the well person at once threw off sickness that +had been transferred, but the sick person was permanently relieved. +These experiments are cited in some recent books on hypnotism, +apparently with faith. The following counter experiments will therefore +be read with interest. + +Dr. Hart gives a full account of his investigations in the Nineteenth +Century. Dr. Luys gave Dr. Hart some demonstrations, which the latter +describes as follows: “A tube containing ten drachms of cognac were +placed at a certain point on the subject’s neck, which Dr. Luys said +was the seat of the great nerve plexuses. The effect on Marguerite was +very rapid and marked; she began to move her lips and to swallow; the +expression of her face changed, and she asked, ‘What have you been +giving me to drink? I am quite giddy.’ At first she had a stupid and +troubled look; then she began to get gay. ‘I am ashamed of myself,’ she +said; ‘I feel quite tipsy,’ and after passing through some of the +phases of lively inebriety she began to fall from the chair, and was +with difficulty prevented from sprawling on the floor. She was +uncomfortable, and seemed on the point of vomiting, but this was +stopped, and she was calmed.” + +Another patient gave all the signs of imagining himself transformed +into a cat when a small corked bottle of valerian was placed on his +neck. + +In the presence of a number of distinguished doctors in Paris, Dr. Hart +tried a series of experiments in which by his conversation he gave the +patient no clue to exactly what drug he was using, in order that if the +patient was simulating he would not know what to simulate. Marguerite +was the subject of several of these experiments, one of which is +described as follows: + +“I took a tube which was supposed to contain alcohol, but which did +contain cherry laurel water. Marguerite immediately began, to use the +words of M. Sajous’s note, to smile agreeably and then to laugh; she +became gay. ‘It makes me laugh,’ she said, and then, ‘I’m not tipsy, I +want to sing,’ and so on through the whole performance of a not +ungraceful giserie, which we stopped at that stage, for I was loth to +have the degrading performance of drunkenness carried to the extreme I +had seen her go through at the Charite. I now applied a tube of +alcohol, asking the assistant, however, to give me valerian, which no +doubt this profoundly hypnotized subject perfectly well heard, for she +immediately went through the whole cat performance. She spat, she +scratched, she mewed, she leapt about on all fours, and she was as +thoroughly cat-like as had been Dr. Luys’s subjects.” + +Similar experiments as to the effect of magnets and electric currents +were tried. A note taken by Dr. Sajous runs thus: “She found the north +pole, notwithstanding there was no current, very pretty; she was as if +she were fascinated by it; she caressed the blue flames, and showed +every sign of delight. Then came the phenomena of attraction. She +followed the magnet with delight across the room, as though fascinated +by it; the bar was turned so as to present the other end or what would +be called, in the language of La Charite, the south pole. Then she fell +into an attitude, of repulsion and horror, with clenched fists, and as +it approached her she fell backward into the arms of M. Cremiere, and +was carried, still showing all the signs of terror and repulsion, back +to her chair. The bar was again turned until what should have been the +north pole was presented to her. She again resumed the same attitudes +of attraction, and tears bedewed her cheeks. ‘Ah,’ she said, ‘it is +blue, the flame mounts,’ and she rose from her seat, following the +magnet around the room. Similar but false phenomena were obtained in +succession with all the different forms of magnet and non-magnet; +Marguerite was never once right, but throughout her acting was perfect; +she was utterly unable at any time really to distinguish between a +plain bar of iron, demagnetized magnet or a horseshoe magnet carrying a +full current and one from which the current was wholly cut off.” + +Five different patients were tested in the same way, through a long +series of experiments, with the same results, a practical proof that +Dr. Luys had been totally deceived and his new and wonderful +discoveries amounted to nothing. + +There is, however, another possible explanation, namely, telepathy, in +a real hypnotic condition. Even if Dr. Luys’s experiments were genuine +this would be the rational explanation. They were a case of suggestion +of some sort, without doubt. + +Nearly every book on hypnotism gives various rules for detecting +simulation of the hypnotic state. One of the commonest tests is that of +anaesthesia. A pin or pen-knife is stuck into a subject to see if he is +insensible to pain; but as we shall see in a latter chapter, this +insensibility also may be simulated, for by long training some persons +learn to control their facial expressions perfectly. We have already +seen that the pulse and respiration tests are not sufficient. Hypnotic +persons often flush slightly in the face; but it is true that there are +persons who can flush on any part of the body at will. + +Mr. Ernest Hart had an article in the Century Magazine on “The Eternal +Gullible,” in which he gives the confessions of a professional hypnotic +subject. This person, whom he calls L., he brought to his house, where +some experiments were tried in the presence of a number of doctors, +whose names are quoted. The quotation of a paragraph or two from Mr. +Hart’s article will be of interest. Says he: + +“The ‘catalepsy business’ had more artistic merit. So rigid did L. make +his muscles that he could be lifted in one piece like an Egyptian +mummy. He lay with his head on the back of one chair, and his heels on +another, and allowed a fairly heavy man to sit on his stomach; it +seemed to me, however, that he was here within a ‘straw’ or two of the +limit of his endurance. The ‘blister trick,’ spoken of by Truth as +having deceived some medical men, was done by rapidly biting and +sucking the skin of the wrist. L. did manage with some difficulty to +raise a slight swelling, but the marks of the teeth were plainly +visible.” (Possibly L. had made his skin so tough by repeated biting +that he could no longer raise the blister!) + +“One point in L.’s exhibition which was undoubtedly genuine was his +remarkable and stoical endurance of pain. He stood before us smiling +and open-eyed while he ran long needles into the fleshy part of his +arms and legs without flinching, and he allowed one of the gentlemen +present to pinch his skin in different parts with strong crenated +pincers in a manner which bruised it, and which to most people would +have caused intense pain. L. allowed no sign of suffering or discomfort +to appear; he did not set his teeth or wince; his pulse was not +quickened, and the pupil of his eye did not dilate as physiologists +tell us it does when pain passes a certain limit. It may be said that +this merely shows that in L. the limit of endurance was beyond the +normal standard; or, in other words, that his sensitiveness was less +than that of the average man. At any rate his performance in this +respect was so remarkable that some of the gentlemen present were fain +to explain it by supposed ‘post-hypnotic suggestion,’ the theory +apparently being that L. and his comrades hypnotized one another, and +thus made themselves insensible to pain. + +“As surgeons have reason to know, persons vary widely in their +sensitiveness to pain. I have seen a man chat quietly with bystanders +while his carotid artery was being tied without the use of chloroform. +During the Russo-Turkish war wounded Turks often astonished English +doctors by undergoing the most formidable amputations with no other +anaesthetic than a cigarette. Hysterical women will inflict very severe +pain on themselves—merely for wantonness or in order to excite +sympathy. The fakirs who allow themselves to be hung up by hooks +beneath their shoulder-blades seem to think little of it and, as a +matter of fact, I believe are not much inconvenienced by the process.” + +The fact is, the amateur can always be deceived, and there are no +special tests that can be relied on. If a person is well accustomed to +hypnotic manifestations, and also a good judge of human nature, and +will keep constantly on guard, using every precaution to avoid +deception, it is altogether likely that it can be entirely obviated. +But one must use his good judgment in every possible way. In the case +of fresh subjects, or persons well known, of course there is little +possibility of deception. And the fact that deception exists does not +in any way invalidate the truth of hypnotism as a scientific +phenomenon. We cite it merely as one of the physiological peculiarities +connected with the mental condition of which it is a manifestation. The +fact that a tendency to deception exists is interesting in itself, and +may have an influence upon our judgment of our fellow beings. There is, +to be sure, a tendency on the part of scientific writers to find +lunatics instead of criminals; but knowledge of the well demonstrated +fact that many criminals are insane helps to make us charitable. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Criminal Suggestion.—Laboratory Crimes.—Dr. Cocke’s Experiments Showing +Criminal Suggestion Is not Possible.—Dr. William James’ Theory.—A Bad +Man Cannot Be Made Good, Why Expect to Make a Good Man Bad? + + +One of the most interesting phases of hypnotism is that of +post-hypnotic suggestion, to which reference has already been made. It +is true that a suggestion made during the hypnotic condition as to what +a person will do after coming out of the hypnotic sleep may be carried +out. A certain professional hypnotizer claims that once he has +hypnotized a person he can keep that person forever after under his +influence by means of post-hypnotic suggestion. He says to him while in +the hypnotic sleep: “Whenever I look at you, or point at you, you will +fall asleep. No one can hypnotize you but me. Whenever I try to +hypnotize you, you will fall asleep.” He says further: “Suggest to a +subject while he is sound asleep that in eight weeks he will mail you a +letter with a blank piece of note paper inside, and during the +intervening period you may yourself forget the occurrence, but in +exactly eight weeks he will carry out the suggestion. Suggestions of +this nature are always carried out, especially when the suggestion is +to take effect on some certain day or date named. Suggest to a subject +that in ninety days from a given date he will come to your house with +his coat on inside out, and he will most certainly do so.” + +The same writer also definitely claims that he can hypnotize people +against their wills. If this were true, what a terrible power would a +shrewd, evil-minded criminal have to compel the execution of any of his +plans! We hope to show that it is not true; but we must admit that many +scientific men have tried experiments which they believe demonstrate +beyond a doubt that criminal use can be and is made of hypnotic +influence. If it were possible to make a person follow out any line of +conduct while actually under hypnotic influence it would be bad enough; +but the use of posthypnotic suggestion opens a yet more far-reaching +and dangerous avenue. + +Among the most definite claims of the evil deeds that may be compelled +during hypnotic sleep is that of Dr. Luys, whom we have already seen as +being himself deceived by professional hypnotic subjects. Says he: “You +cannot only oblige this defenseless being, who is incapable of opposing +the slightest resistance, to give from hand to hand anything you may +choose, but you can also make him sign a promise, draw up a bill of +exchange, or any other kind of agreement. You may make him write an +holographic will (which according to French law would be valid), which +he will hand over to you, and of which he will never know the +existence. He is ready to fulfill the minutest legal formalities, and +will do so with a calm, serene and natural manner calculated to deceive +the most expert law officers. These somnambulists will not hesitate +either, you may be sure, to make a denunciation, or to bear false +witness; they are, I repeat, the passive instruments of your will. For +instance, take E. She will at my bidding write out and sign a donation +of forty pounds in my favor. In a criminal point of view the subject +under certain suggestions will make false denunciations, accuse this or +that person, and maintain with the greatest assurance that he has +assisted at an imaginary crime. I will recall to your mind those scenes +of fictitious assassination, which have exhibited before you. I was +careful to place in the subject’s hands a piece of paper instead of a +dagger or a revolver; but it is evident, that if they had held +veritable murderous instruments, the scene might have had a tragic +ending.” + +Many experiments along this line have been tried, such as suggesting +the theft of a watch or a spoon, which afterward was actually carried +out. + +It may be said at once that “these laboratory crimes” are in most cases +successful: A person who has nothing will give away any amount if told +to do so; but quite different is the case of a wealthy merchant who +really has money to sign away. + +Dr. Cocke describes one or two experiments of his own which have an +important bearing on the question of criminal suggestion. Says he: “A +girl who was hypnotized deeply was given a glass of water and was told +that it was a lighted lamp. A broomstick was placed across the room and +she was told that it was a man who intended to injure her. I suggested +to her that she throw the glass of water (she supposing it was a +lighted lamp) at the broomstick, her enemy, and she immediately threw +it with much violence. Then a man was placed across the room, and she +was given instead of a glass of water a lighted lamp. I told her that +the lamp was a glass of water, and that the man across the room was her +brother. It was suggested to her that his clothing was on fire and she +was commanded to extinguish the fire by throwing the lighted lamp at +the individual, she having been told, as was previously mentioned, that +it was a glass of water. Without her knowledge a person was placed +behind her for the purpose of quickly checking her movements, if +desired. I then commanded her to throw the lamp at the man. She raised +the lamp, hesitated, wavered, and then became very hysterical, laughing +and crying alternately. This condition was so profound that she came +very near dropping the lamp. Immediately after she was quieted I made a +number of tests to prove that she was deeply hypnotized. Standing in +front of her I gave her a piece of card-board, telling her that it was +a dagger, and commanded her to stab me. She immediately struck at me +with the piece of card-board. I then gave her an open pocketknife and +commanded her to strike at me with it. Again she raised it to execute +my command, again hesitated, and had another hysterical attack. I have +tried similar experiments with thirty or forty people with similar +results. Some of them would have injured themselves severely, I am +convinced, at command, but to what extent I of course cannot say. That +they could have been induced to harm others, or to set fire to houses, +etc., I do not believe. I say this after very careful reading and a +large amount of experimentation.” + +Dr. Cocke also declares his belief that no person can be hypnotized +against his will by a person who is repugnant to him. + +The facts in the case are probably those that might be indicated by a +common-sense consideration of the conditions. If a person is +weak-minded and susceptible to temptation, to theft, for instance, no +doubt a familiar acquaintance of a similar character might hypnotize +that person and cause him to commit the crime to which his moral nature +is by no means averse. If, on the other hand, the personality of the +hypnotizer and the crime itself are repugnant to the hypnotic subject, +he will absolutely refuse to do as he is bidden, even while in the +deepest hypnotic sleep. On this point nearly all authorities agree. + +Again, there is absolutely no well authenticated case of crime +committed by a person under hypnotic influence. There have been several +cases reported, and one woman in Paris who aided in a murder was +released on her plea of irresponsibility because she had been +hypnotized. In none of these cases, however, was there any really +satisfactory evidence that hypnotism existed. In all the cases reported +there seemed to be no doubt of the weak character and predisposition to +crime. In another class of cases, namely those of criminal assault upon +girls and women, the only evidence ever adduced that the injured person +was hypnotized was the statement of that person, which cannot really be +called evidence at all. + +The fact is, a weak character can be tempted and brought under virtual +control much more easily by ordinary means than by hypnotism. The man +who “overpersuades” a business man to endorse a note uses no hypnotic +influence. He is merely making a clever play upon the man’s vanity, +egotism, or good nature. + +A profound study of the hypnotic state, such as has been made by Prof. +William James, of Harvard College, the great authority on psychical +phenomena and president of the Psychic Research Society, leads to the +conviction that in the hypnotic sleep the will is only in abeyance, as +it is in natural slumber or in sleepwalking, and any unusual or +especially exciting occurrence, especially anything that runs against +the grain of the nature, reawakens that will, and it soon becomes as +active as ever. This is ten times more true in the matter of +post-hypnotic suggestion, which is very much weaker than suggestion +that takes effect during the actual hypnotic sleep. We shall see, +furthermore, that while acting under a delusion at the suggestion of +the operator, the patient is really conscious all the time of the real +facts in the case—indeed, much more keenly so, oftentimes, than the +operator himself. For instance, if a line is drawn on a sheet of paper +and the subject is told there is no line, he will maintain there is no +line; but he has to see it in order to ignore it. Moreover, persons +trained to obey, instinctively do obey even in their waking state. It +requires a special faculty to resist obedience, even during our +ordinary waking condition. Says a recent writer: “It is certain that we +are naturally inclined to obey, conflicts and resistance are the +characteristics of some rare individuals; but between admitting this +and saying that we are doomed to obey—even the least of us—lies a +gulf.” The same writer says further: “Hypnotic suggestion is an order +given for a few seconds, at most a few minutes, to an individual in a +state of induced sleep. The suggestion may be repeated; but it is +absolutely powerless to transform a criminal into an honest man, or +vice versa.” Here is an excellent argument. If it is possible to make +criminals it should be quite as easy to make honest men. It is true +that the weak are sometimes helped for good; but there is no case on +record in which a person who really wished to be bad was ever made +good; and the history of hypnotism is full of attempts in that +direction. A good illustration is an experiment tried by Colonel de +Rochas: + +“An excellent subject * * * had been left alone for a few minutes in an +apartment, and had stolen a valuable article. After he had left, the +theft was discovered. A few days after it was suggested to the subject, +while asleep, that he should restore the stolen object; the command was +energetically and imperatively reiterated, but in vain. The theft had +been committed by the subject, who had sold the article to an old +curiosity dealer, as it was eventually found on information received +from a third party. Yet this subject would execute all the imaginary +crimes he was ordered.” + +As to the value of the so-called “laboratory crimes,” the statement of +Dr. Courmelles is of interest: “I have heard a subject say,” he states, +“‘If I were ordered to throw myself out of the window I should do it, +so certain am I either that there would be somebody under the window to +catch me or that I should be stopped in time. The experimentalist’s own +interests and the consequences of such an act are a sure guarantee.’” + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Dangers in Being Hypnotized.—Condemnation of Public Performances.—A. +Common Sense View.—Evidence Furnished by Lafontaine.—By Dr. +Courmelles.—By. Dr. Hart.—By Dr. Cocke.—No Danger in Hypnotism if +Rightly Used by Physicians or Scientists. + + +Having considered the dangers to society through criminal hypnotic +suggestion, let us now consider what dangers there may be to the +individual who is hypnotized. + +Before citing evidence, let us consider the subject from a rational +point of view. Several things have already been established. We know +that hypnotism is akin to hysteria and other forms of insanity—it is, +in short, a kind of experimental insanity. Really good hypnotic +subjects have not a perfect mental balance. We have also seen that +repetition of the process increases the susceptibility, and in some +cases persons frequently hypnotized are thrown into the hypnotic state +by very slight physical agencies, such as looking at a bright doorknob. +Furthermore, we know that the hypnotic patient is in a very sensitive +condition, easily impressed. Moreover, it is well known that exertions +required of hypnotic subjects are nervously very exhausting, so much so +that headache frequently follows. + +From these facts any reasonable person may make a few clear deductions. +First, repeated strain of excitement in hypnotic seances will wear out +the constitution just as certainly as repeated strain of excitement in +social life, or the like, which, as we know, frequently produces +nervous exhaustion. Second, it is always dangerous to submit oneself to +the influence of an inferior or untrustworthy person. This is just as +true in hypnotism as it is in the moral realm. Bad companions corrupt. +And since the hypnotic subject is in a condition especially +susceptible, a little association of this kind, a little submission to +the inferior or immoral, will produce correspondingly more detrimental +consequences. Third, since hypnotism is an abnormal condition, just as +drunkenness is, one should not allow a public hypnotizer to experiment +upon one and make one do ridiculous things merely for amusement, any +more than one would allow a really insane person to be exhibited for +money; or than one would allow himself to be made drunk, merely that by +his absurd antics he might amuse somebody. It takes little reflection +to convince any one that hypnotism for amusement, either on the public +stage or in the home, is highly obnoxious, even if it is not highly +dangerous. If the hypnotizer is an honest man, and a man of character, +little injury may follow. But we can never know that, and the risk of +getting into bad hands should prevent every one from submitting to +influence at all. The fact is, however, that we should strongly doubt +the good character of any one who hypnotizes for amusement, regarding +him in the same light as we would one who intoxicated people on the +stage for amusement, or gave them chloroform, or went about with a +troup of insane people that he might exhibit their idiosyncrasies. +Honest, right-minded people do not do those things. + +At the same time, there is nothing wiser that a man can do than to +submit himself fully to a stronger and wiser nature than his own. A +physician in whom you have confidence may do a thousand times more for +you by hypnotism than by the use of drugs. It is a safe rule to place +hypnotism in exactly the same category as drugs. Rightly used, drugs +are invaluable; wrongly used, they become the instruments of the +murderer. At all times should they be used with great caution. The same +is true of hypnotism. + +Now let us cite some evidence. Lafontaine, a professional hypnotist, +gives some interesting facts. He says that public hypnotic +entertainments usually induce a great many of the audience to become +amateur hypnotists, and these experiments may cause suffocation. Fear +often results in congestion, or a rush of blood to the brain. “If the +digestion is not completed, more especially if the repast has been more +abundant than usual, congestion may be produced and death be +instantaneous. The most violent convulsions may result from too +complete magnetization of the brain. A convulsive movement may be so +powerful that the body will suddenly describe a circle, the head +touching the heels and seem to adhere to them. In this latter case +there is torpor without sleep. Sometimes it has been impossible to +awake the subject.” + +A waiter at Nantes, who was magnetized by a commercial traveler, +remained for two days in a state of lethargy, and for three hours Dr. +Foure and numerous spectators were able to verify that “the extremities +were icy cold, the pulse no longer throbbed, the heart had no +pulsations, respiration had ceased, and there was not sufficient breath +to dim a glass held before the mouth. Moreover, the patient was stiff, +his eyes were dull and glassy.” Nevertheless, Lafontaine was able to +recall this man to life. + +Dr. Courmelles says: “Paralysis of one or more members, or of the +tongue, may follow the awakening. These are the effects of the +contractions of the internal muscles, due often to almost imperceptible +touches. The diaphragm—and therefore the respiration—may be stopped in +the same manner. Catalepsy and more especially lethargy, produce these +phenomena.” + +There are on record a number of cases of idiocy, madness, and epilepsy +caused by the unskillful provoking of hypnotic sleep. One case is +sufficiently interesting, for it is almost exactly similar to a case +that occurred at one of the American colleges. The subject was a young +professor at a boys’ school. “One evening he was present at some public +experiments that were being performed in a tavern; he was in no way +upset at the sight, but the next day one of his pupils, looking at him +fixedly, sent him to sleep. The boys soon got into the habit of amusing +themselves by sending him to sleep, and the unhappy professor had to +leave the school, and place himself under the care of a doctor.” + +Dr. Ernest Hart gives an experience of his own which carries with it +its own warning. Says he: + +“Staying at the well known country house in Kent of a distinguished +London banker, formerly member of Parliament for Greenwich, I had been +called upon to set to sleep, and to arrest a continuous barking cough +from which a young lady who was staying in the house was suffering, and +who, consequently, was a torment to herself and her friends. I thought +this a good opportunity for a control experiment, and I sat her down in +front of a lighted candle which I assured her that I had previously +mesmerized. Presently her cough ceased and she fell into a profound +sleep, which lasted until twelve o’clock the next day. When I returned +from shooting, I was informed that she was still asleep and could not +be awoke, and I had great difficulty in awaking her. That night there +was a large dinner party, and, unluckily, I sat opposite to her. +Presently she again became drowsy, and had to be led from the table, +alleging, to my confusion, that I was again mesmerizing her. So +susceptible did she become to my supposed mesmeric influence, which I +vainly assured her, as was the case, that I was very far from +exercising or attempting to exercise, that it was found expedient to +take her up to London. I was out riding in the afternoon that she left, +and as we passed the railway station, my host, who was riding with me, +suggested that, as his friends were just leaving by that train, he +would like to alight and take leave of them. I dismounted with him and +went on to the platform, and avoided any leave-taking; but +unfortunately in walking up and down it seems that I twice passed the +window of the young lady’s carriage. She was again self-mesmerized, and +fell into a sleep which lasted throughout the journey, and recurred at +intervals for some days afterward.” + +In commenting on this, Dr. Hart notes that in reality mesmerism is +self-produced, and the will of the operator, even when exercised +directly against it, has no effect if the subject believes that the +will is being operated in favor of it. Says he: “So long as the person +operated on believed that my will was that she should sleep, sleep +followed. The most energetic willing in my internal consciousness that +there should be no sleep, failed to prevent it, where the usual +physical methods of hypnotization, stillness, repose, a fixed gaze, or +the verbal expression of an order to sleep, were employed.” + +The dangers of hypnotism have been recognized by the law of every +civilized country except the United States, where alone public +performances are permitted. + +Dr. Cocke says: “I have occasionally seen subjects who complained of +headache, vertigo, nausea, and other similar symptoms after having been +hypnotized, but these conditions were at a future hypnotic sitting +easily remedied by suggestion.” Speaking of the use of hypnotism by +doctors under conditions of reasonable care, Dr. Cocke says further: +“There is one contraindication greater than all the rest. It applies +more to the physician than to the patient, more to the masses than to +any single individual. It is not confined to hypnotism alone; it has +blocked the wheels of human progress through the ages which have gone. +It is undue enthusiasm. It is the danger that certain individuals will +become so enamored with its charms that other equally valuable means of +cure will be ignored. Mental therapeutics has come to stay. It is yet +in its infancy and will grow, but, if it were possible to kill it, it +would be strangled by the fanaticism and prejudice of its devotees. The +whole field is fascinating and alluring. It promises so much that it is +in danger of being missed by the ignorant to such an extent that great +harm may result. This is true, not only of mental therapeutics and +hypnotism, but of every other blessing we possess. Hypnotism has +nothing to fear from the senseless skepticism and contempt of those who +have no knowledge of the subject.” He adds pertinently enough: “While +hypnotism can be used in a greater or less degree by every one, it can +only be used intelligently by those who understand, not only hypnotism +itself, but disease as well.” + +Dr. Cocke is a firm believer that the right use of hypnotism by +intelligent persons does not weaken the will. Says he: “I do not +believe there is any danger whatever in this. I have no evidence (and I +have studied a large number of hypnotized subjects) that hypnotism will +render a subject less capable of exercising his will when he is +relieved from the hypnotic trance. I do not believe that it increases +in any way his susceptibility to ordinary suggestion.” + +However, in regard to the dangers of public performances by +professional hypnotizers, Dr. Cocke is equally positive. Says he: + +“The dangers of public exhibitions, made ludicrous as they are by the +operators, should be condemned by all intelligent men and women, not +from the danger of hypnotism itself so much as from the liability of +the performers to disturb the mental poise of that large mass of +ill-balanced individuals which makes up no inconsiderable part of +society.” In conclusion he says: “Patients have been injured by the +misuse of hypnotism. * * * This is true of every remedial agent ever +employed for the relief of man. Every article we eat, if wrongly +prepared, if stale, or if too much is taken, will be harmful. Every +act, every duty of our lives, may, if overdone, become an injury. + +“Then, for the sake of clearness, let me state in closing that +hypnotism is dangerous only when it is misused, or when it is applied +to that large class of persons who are inherently unsound; especially +if that mysterious thing we call credulity predominates to a very great +extent over the reason and over other faculties of the mind.” + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Hypnotism in Medicine.—Anesthesia.—Restoring the Use of +Muscles.—Hallucination.—Bad Habits. + + +Anaesthesia—It is well known that hypnotism may be used to render +subjects insensible to pain. Thus numerous startling experiments are +performed in public, such as running hatpins through the cheeks or +arms, sewing the tongue to the ear, etc. The curious part of it is that +the insensibility may be confined to one spot only. Even persons who +are not wholly under hypnotic influence may have an arm or a leg, or +any smaller part rendered insensible by suggestion, so that no pain +will be felt. This has suggested the use of hypnotism in surgery in the +place of chloroform, ether, etc. + +About the year 1860 some of the medical profession hoped that hypnotism +might come into general use for producing insensibility during surgical +operations. Dr. Guerineau in Paris reported the following successful +operation: The thigh of a patient was amputated. “After the operation,” +says the doctor, “I spoke to the patient and asked him how he felt. He +replied that he felt as if he were in heaven, and he seized hold of my +hand and kissed it. Turning to a medical student, he added: ‘I was +aware of all that was being done to me, and the proof is that I knew my +thigh was cut off at the moment when you asked me if I felt any pain.’” + +The writer who records this case continues: “This, however, was but a +transitory stage. It was soon recognized that a considerable time and a +good deal of preparation were necessary to induce the patients to +sleep, and medical men had recourse to a more rapid and certain method; +that is, chloroform. Thus the year 1860 saw the rise and fall of +Braidism as a means of surgical anaesthesia.” + +One of the most detailed cases of successful use of hypnotism as an +anaesthetic was presented to the Hypnotic Congress which met in 1889, +by Dr. Fort, professor of anatomy: + +“On the 21st of October, 1887, a young Italian tradesman, aged twenty, +Jean M—. came to me and asked me to take off a wen he had on his +forehead, a little above the right eyebrow. The tumor was about the +size of a walnut. + +“I was reluctant to make use of chloroform, although the patient wished +it, and I tried a short hypnotic experiment. Finding that my patient +was easily hypnotizable, I promised to extract the tumor in a painless +manner and without the use of chloroform. + +“The next day I placed him in a chair and induced sleep, by a fixed +gaze, in less than a minute. Two Italian physicians, Drs. Triani and +Colombo who were present during the operation, declared that the +subject lost all sensibility and that his muscles retained all the +different positions in which they were put exactly as in the cataleptic +state. The patient saw nothing, felt nothing, and heard nothing, his +brain remaining in communication only with me. + +“As soon as we had ascertained that the patient was completely under +the influence of the hypnotic slumber, I said to him: ‘You will sleep +for a quarter of an hour,’ knowing that the operation would not last +longer than that; and he remained seated and perfectly motionless. + +“I made a transversal incision two and a half inches long and removed +the tumor, which I took out whole. I then pinched the blood vessels +with a pair of Dr. Pean’s hemostatic pincers, washed the wound and +applied a dressing, without making a single ligature. The patient was +still sleeping. To maintain the dressing in proper position, I fastened +a bandage around his head. While going through the operation I said to +the patient, ‘Lower your head, raise your head, turn to the right, to +the left,’ etc., and he obeyed like an automaton. When everything was +finished, I said to him, ‘Now, wake up.’ + +“He then awoke, declared that he had felt nothing and did not suffer, +and he went away on foot, as if nothing had been done to him. + +“Five days after the dressing was removed and the cicatrix was found +completely healed.” + +Hypnotism has been tried extensively for painless dentistry, but with +many cases of failure, which got into the courts and thoroughly +discredited the attempt except in very special cases. + +Restoring the Use of Muscles.—There is no doubt that hypnotism may be +extremely useful in curing many disorders that are essentially nervous, +especially such cases as those in which a patient has a fixed idea that +something is the matter with him when he is not really affected. Cases +of that description are often extremely obstinate, and entirely +unaffected by the ordinary therapeutic means. Ordinary doctors abandon +the cases in despair, but some person who understands “mental +suggestion” (for instance, the Christian Science doctors) easily +effects a cure. If the regular physician were a student of hypnotism he +would know how to manage cases like that. + +By way of illustration, we quote reports of two cases, one successful +and one unsuccessful. The following is from a report by one of the +physicians of the Charity hospital in Paris: + +“Gabrielle C——— became a patient of mine toward the end of 1886. She +entered the Charity hospital to be under treatment for some accident +arising from pulmonary congestion, and while there was suddenly seized +with violent attacks of hystero-epilepsy, which first contracted both +legs, and finally reduced them to complete immobility. + +“She had been in this state of absolute immobility for seven months and +I had vainly tried every therapeutic remedy usual in such cases. My +intention was first to restore the general constitution of the subject, +who was greatly weakened by her protracted stay in bed, and then, at +the end of a certain time, to have recourse to hypnotism, and at the +opportune moment suggest to her the idea of walking. + +“The patient was hypnotized every morning, and the first degree (that +of lethargy), then the cataleptic, and finally the somnambulistic +states were produced. After a certain period of somnambulism she began +to move, and unconsciously took a few steps across the ward. Soon after +it was suggested—the locomotor powers having recovered their physical +functions—that she should walk when awake. This she was able to do, and +in some weeks the cure was complete. In this case, however, we had the +ingenious idea of changing her personality at the moment when we +induced her to walk. The patient fancied she was somebody else, and as +such, and in this roundabout manner, we satisfactorily attained the +object proposed.” + +The following is Professor Delboeuf’s account of Dr. Bernheim’s mode of +suggestion at the hospital at Nancy. A robust old man of about +seventy-five years of age, paralyzed by sciatica, which caused him +intense pain, was brought in. “He could not put a foot to the ground +without screaming with pain. ‘Lie down, my poor friend; I will soon +relieve you.’ Dr. Bernheim says. ‘That is impossible, doctor.’ ‘You +will see.’ ‘Yes, we shall see, but I tell you, we shall see nothing!’ +On hearing this answer I thought suggestion will be of no use in this +case. The old man looked sullen and stubborn. Strangely enough, he soon +went off to sleep, fell into a state of catalepsy, and was insensible +when pricked. But when Monsieur Bernheim said to him, ‘Now you can +walk, he replied, ‘No, I cannot; you are telling me to do an impossible +thing.’ Although Monsieur Bernheim failed in this instance, I could not +but admire his skill. After using every means of persuasion, +insinuation and coaxing, he suddenly took up an imperative tone, and in +a sharp, abrupt voice that did not admit a refusal, said: ‘I tell you +you can walk; get up.’ ‘Very well,’ replied the old follow; ‘I must if +you insist upon it.’ And he got out of bed. No sooner, however, had his +foot touched the floor than he screamed even louder than before. +Monsieur Bernheim ordered him to step out. ‘You tell me to do what is +impossible,’ he again replied, and he did not move. He had to be +allowed to go to bed again, and the whole time the experiment lasted he +maintained an obstinate and ill-tempered air.” + +These two cases give an admirable picture of the cases that can be and +those that cannot be cured by hypnotism, or any other method of mental +suggestion. + +Hallucination.—“Hallucinations,” says a medical authority, “are very +common among those who are partially insane. They occur as a result of +fever and frequently accompany delirium. They result from an +impoverished condition of the blood, especially if it is due to +starvation, indigestion, and the use of drugs like belladonna, +hyoscyarnus, stramonium, opium, chloral, cannabis indica, and many more +that might be mentioned.” + +Large numbers of cases of attempted cure by hypnotism, successful and +unsuccessful, might be quoted. There is no doubt that in the lighter +forms of partial insanity, hypnotism may help many patients, though not +all; but when the disease of the brain has gone farther, especially +when a well developed lesion exists in the brain, mental treatment is +of little avail, even if it can be practiced at all. + +A few general remarks by Dr. Bernheim will be interesting. Says he: + +“The mode of suggestion should be varied and adapted to the special +suggestibility of the subject. A simple word does not always suffice in +impressing the idea upon the mind. It is sometimes necessary to reason, +to prove, to convince; in some cases to affirm decidedly, in others to +insinuate gently; for in the condition of sleep, just as in the waking +condition, the moral individuality of each subject persists according +to his character, his inclinations, his impressionability, etc. +Hypnosis does not run all subjects into a uniform mold, and make pure +and simple automatons out of them, moved solely by the will of the +hypnotist; it increases cerebral docility; it makes the automatic +activity preponderate over the will. But the latter persists to a +certain degree; the subject thinks, reasons, discusses, accepts more +readily than in the waking condition, but does not always accept, +especially in the light degrees of sleep. In these cases we must know +the patient’s character, his particular psychical condition, in order +to make an impression upon him.” + +Bad Habits.—The habit of the excessive use of alcoholic drinks, +morphine, tobacco, or the like, may often be decidedly helped by +hypnotism, if the patient wants to be helped. The method of operation +is simple. The operator hypnotizes the subject, and when he is in deep +sleep suggests that on awaking he will feel a deep disgust for the +article he is in the habit of taking, and if he takes it will be +affected by nausea, or other unpleasant symptoms. In most cases the +suggested result takes place, provided the subject can be hypnotized al +all; but unless the patient is himself anxious to break the habit fixed +upon him, the unpleasant effects soon wear off and he is as bad as +ever. + +Dr. Cocke treated a large number of cases, which he reports in detail +in his book on hypnotism. In a fair proportion of the cases he was +successful; in some cases completely so. In other cases he failed +entirely, owing to lack of moral stamina in the patient himself. His +conclusions seem to be that hypnotism may be made a very effective aid +to moral suasion, but after all, character is the chief force which +throws off such habits once they are fixed. The morphine habit is +usually the result of a doctor’s prescription at some time, and it is +practiced more or less involuntarily. Such cases are often materially +helped by the proper suggestions. + +The same is true of bad habits in children. The weak may be +strengthened by the stronger nature, and hypnotism may come in as an +effective aid to moral influence. Here again character is the deciding +factor. + +Dr. James R. Cocke devotes a considerable part of his book on +“Hypnotism” to the use of hypnotism in medical practice, and for +further interesting details the reader is referred to that able work. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +Hypnotism of Animals.—Snake Charming. + + +We are all familiar with the snake charmer, and the charming of birds +by snakes. How much hypnotism there is in these performances it would +be hard to say. It is probable that a bird is fascinated to some extent +by the steady gaze of a serpent’s eyes, but fear will certainly +paralyze a bird as effectively as hypnotism. + +Father Kircher was the first to try a familiar experiment with hens and +cocks. If you hold a hen’s head with the beak upon a piece of board, +and then draw a chalk line from the beak to the edge of the board, the +hen when released will continue to hold her head in the same position +for some time, finally walking slowly away, as if roused from a stupor. +Farmers’ wives often try a sort of hypnotic experiment on hens they +wish to transfer from one nest to another when sitting. They put the +hen’s head under her wing and gently rock her to and fro till she +apparently goes to sleep, when she may be carried to another nest and +will remain there afterward. + +Horses are frequently managed by a steady gaze into their eyes. Dr. +Moll states that a method of hypnotizing horses named after its +inventor as Balassiren has been introduced into Austria by law for the +shoeing of horses in the army. + +We have all heard of the snake charmers of India, who make the snakes +imitate all their movements. Some suppose this is by hypnotization. It +may be the result of training, however. Certainly real charmers of wild +beasts usually end by being bitten or injured in some other way, which +would seem to show that the hypnotization does not always work, or else +it does not exist at all. + +We have some fairly well known instances of hypnotism produced in +animals. Lafontaine, the magnetizer, some thirty years ago held public +exhibitions in Paris in which he reduced cats, dogs, squirrels and +lions to such complete insensibility that they felt neither pricks nor +blows. + +The Harvys or Psylles of Egypt impart to the ringed snake the +appearance of a stick by pressure on the head, which induces a species +of tetanus, says E. W. Lane. + +The following description of serpent charming by the Aissouans of the +province of Sous, Morocco, will be of interest: + +“The principal charmer began by whirling with astonishing rapidity in a +kind of frenzied dance around the wicker basket that contained the +serpents, which were covered by a goatskin. Suddenly he stopped, +plunged his naked arm into the basket, and drew out a cobra de capello, +or else a haje, a fearful reptile which is able to swell its head by +spreading out the scales which cover it, and which is thought to be +Cleopatra’s asp, the serpent of Egypt. In Morocco it is known as the +buska. The charmer folded and unfolded the greenish-black viper, as if +it were a piece of muslin; he rolled it like a turban round his head, +and continued his dance while the serpent maintained its position, and +seemed to follow every movement and wish of the dancer. + +“The buska was then placed on the ground, and raising itself straight +on end, in the attitude it assumes on desert roads to attract +travelers, began to sway from right to left, following the rhythm of +the music. The Aissoua, whirling more and more rapidly in constantly +narrowing circles, plunged his hand once more into the basket, and +pulled out two of the most venomous reptiles of the desert of Sous; +serpents thicker than a man’s arm, two or three feet long, whose +shining scales are spotted black or yellow, and whose bite sends, as it +were, a burning fire through the veins. This reptile is probably the +torrida dipsas of antiquity. Europeans now call it the leffah. + +“The two leffahs, more vigorous and less docile than the buska, lay +half curled up, their heads on one side, ready to dart forward, and +followed with glittering eyes the movements of the dancer. * * * Hindoo +charmers are still more wonderful; they juggle with a dozen different +species of reptiles at the same time, making them come and go, leap, +dance, and lie down at the sound of the charmer’s whistle, like the +gentlest of tame animals. These serpents have never been known to bite +their charmers.” + +It is well known that some animals, like the opossum, feign death when +caught. Whether this is to be compared to hypnotism is doubtful. Other +animals, called hibernating, sleep for months with no other food than +their fat, but this, again, can hardly be called hypnotism. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +A Scientific Explanation of Hypnotism.—Dr. Hart’s Theory. + + +In the introduction to this book the reader will find a summary of the +theories of hypnotism. There is no doubt that hypnotism is a complex +state which cannot be explained in an offhand way in a sentence or two. +There are, however, certain aspects of hypnotism which we may suppose +sufficiently explained by certain scientific writers on the subject. + +First, what is the character of the delusions apparently created in the +mind of a person in the hypnotic condition by a simple word of mouth +statement, as when a physician says, “Now, I am going to cut your leg +off, but it will not hurt you in the least,” and the patient suffers +nothing? + +In answer to this question, Professor William James of Harvard College, +one of the leading authorities on the scientific aspects of psychical +phenomena in this country, reports the following experiments: + +“Make a stroke on a paper or blackboard, and tell the subject it is not +there, and he will see nothing but the clean paper or board. Next, he +not looking, surround the original stroke with other strokes exactly +like it, and ask him what he sees. He will point out one by one the new +strokes and omit the original one every time, no matter how numerous +the next strokes may be, or in what order they are arranged. Similarly, +if the original single line, to which he is blind, be doubled by a +prism of sixteen degrees placed before one of his eyes (both being kept +open), he will say that he now sees one stroke, and point in the +direction in which lies the image seen through the prism. + +“Another experiment proves that he must see it in order to ignore it. +Make a red cross, invisible to the hypnotic subject, on a sheet of +white paper, and yet cause him to look fixedly at a dot on the paper on +or near the red cross; he wills on transferring his eye to the blank +sheet, see a bluish-green after image of the cross. This proves that it +has impressed his sensibility. He has felt but not perceived it. He had +actually ignored it; refused to recognize it, as it were.” + +Dr. Ernest Hart, an English writer, in an article in the British +Medical Journal, gives a general explanation of the phenomena of +hypnotism which we may accept as true so far as it goes, but which is +evidently incomplete. He seems to minimize personal influence too +much—that personal influence which we all exert at various times, and +which he ignores, not because he would deny it, but because he fears +lending countenance to the magnetic fluid and other similar theories. +Says he: + +“We have arrived at the point at which it will be plain that the +condition produced in these cases, and known under a varied jargon +invented either to conceal ignorance, to express hypotheses, or to mask +the design of impressing the imagination and possibly prey upon the +pockets of a credulous and wonder-loving public—such names as mesmeric +condition, magnetic sleep, clairvoyance, electro-biology, animal +magnetism, faith trance, and many other aliases—such a condition, I +say, is always subjective. It is independent of passes or gestures; it +has no relation to any fluid emanating from the operator; it has no +relation to his will, or to any influence which he exercises upon +inanimate objects; distance does not affect it, nor proximity, nor the +intervention of any conductors or non-conductors, whether silk or glass +or stone, or even a brick wall. We can transmit the order to sleep by +telephone or by telegraph. We can practically get the same results +while eliminating even the operator, if we can contrive to influence +the imagination or to affect the physical condition of the subject by +any one of a great number of contrivances. + +“What does all this mean? I will refer to one or two facts in relation +to the structure and function of the brain, and show one or two simple +experiments of very ancient parentage and date, which will, I think, +help to an explanation. First, let us recall something of what we know +of the anatomy and localization of function in the brain, and of the +nature of ordinary sleep. The brain, as you know, is a complicated +organ, made up internally of nerve masses, or ganglia, of which the +central and underlying masses are connected with the automatic +functions and involuntary actions of the body (such as the action of +the heart, lungs, stomach, bowels, etc.), while the investing surface +shows a system of complicated convolutions rich in gray matter, thickly +sown with microscopic cells, in which the nerve ends terminate. At the +base of the brain is a complete circle of arteries, from which spring +great numbers of small arterial vessels, carrying a profuse blood +supply throughout the whole mass, and capable of contraction in small +tracts, so that small areas of the brain may, at any given moment, +become bloodless, while other parts of the brain may simultaneously +become highly congested. Now, if the brain or any part of it be +deprived of the circulation of blood through it, or be rendered +partially bloodless, or if it be excessively congested and overloaded +with blood, or if it be subjected to local pressure, the part of the +brain so acted upon ceases to be capable of exercising its functions. +The regularity of the action of the brain and the sanity and +completeness of the thought which is one of the functions of its +activity depend upon the healthy regularity of the quantity of blood +passing through all its parts, and upon the healthy quality of the +blood so circulating. If we press upon the carotid arteries which pass +up through the neck to form the arterial circle of Willis, at the base +of the brain, within the skull—of which I have already spoken, and +which supplies the brain with blood—we quickly, as every one knows, +produce insensibility. Thought is abolished, consciousness lost. And if +we continue the pressure, all those automatic actions of the body, such +as the beating of the heart, the breathing motions of the lungs, which +maintain life and are controlled by the lower brain centers of ganglia, +are quickly stopped and death ensues. + +“We know by observation in cases where portions of the skull have been +removed, either in men or in animals, that during natural sleep the +upper part of the brain—its convoluted surface, which in health and in +the waking state is faintly pink, like a blushing cheek, from the color +of the blood circulating through the network of capillary +arteries—becomes white and almost bloodless. It is in these upper +convolutions of the brain, as we also know, that the will and the +directing power are resident; so that in sleep the will is abolished +and consciousness fades gradually away, as the blood is pressed out by +the contraction of the arteries. So, also, the consciousness and the +directing will may be abolished by altering the quality of the blood +passing through the convolutions of the brain. We may introduce a +volatile substance, such as chloroform, and its first effect will be to +abolish consciousness and induce profound slumber and a blessed +insensibility to pain. The like effects will follow more slowly upon +the absorption of a drug, such as opium; or we may induce +hallucinations by introducing into the blood other toxic substances, +such as Indian hemp or stramonium. We are not conscious of the +mechanism producing the arterial contraction and the bloodlessness of +those convolutions related to natural sleep. But we are not altogether +without control over them. We can, we know, help to compose ourselves +to sleep, as we say in ordinary language. We retire into a darkened +room, we relieve ourselves from the stimulus of the special senses, we +free ourselves from the influence of noises, of strong light, of +powerful colors, or of tactile impressions. We lie down and endeavor to +soothe brain activity by driving away disturbing thoughts, or, as +people sometimes say, ‘try to think of nothing.’ And, happily, we +generally succeed more or less well. Some people possess an even more +marked control over this mechanism of sleep. I can generally succeed in +putting myself to sleep at any hour of the day, either in the library +chair or in the brougham. This is, so to speak, a process of +self-hypnotization, and I have often practiced it when going from house +to house, when in the midst of a busy practice, and I sometimes have +amused my friends and family by exercising this faculty, which I do not +think it very difficult to acquire. (We also know that many persons can +wake at a fixed hour in the morning by setting their minds upon it just +before going to sleep.) Now, there is something here which deserves a +little further examination, but which it would take too much time to +develop fully at present. Most people know something of what is meant +by reflex action. The nerves which pass from the various organs to the +brain convey with, great rapidity messages to its various parts, which +are answered by reflected waves of impulse. If the soles of the feet be +tickled, contraction of the toes, or involuntary laughter, will be +excited, or perhaps only a shuddering and skin contraction, known as +goose-skin. The irritation of the nerve-end in the skin has carried a +message to the involuntary or voluntary ganglia of the brain which has +responded by reflecting back again nerve impulses which have contracted +the muscles of the feet or skin muscles, or have given rise to +associated ideas and explosion of laughter. In the same way, if during +sleep heat be applied to the soles of the feet, dreams of walking over +hot surfaces—Vesuvius or Fusiyama, or still hotter places—may be +produced, or dreams of adventure on frozen surfaces or in arctic +regions may be created by applying ice to the feet of the sleeper. + +“Here, then, it is seen that we have a mechanism in the body, known to +physiologists as the ideo-motor, or sensory motor system of nerves, +which can produce, without the consciousness of the individual and +automatically, a series of muscular contractions. And remember that the +coats of the arteries are muscular and contractile under the influence +of external stimuli, acting without the help of the consciousness, or +when the consciousness is in abeyance. I will give another example of +this, which completes the chain of phenomena in the natural brain and +the natural body I wish to bring under notice in explanation of the +true as distinguished from the false, or falsely interpreted, phenomena +of hypnotism, mesmerism and electro-biology. I will take the excellent +illustration quoted by Dr. B. W. Carpenter in his old-time, but +valuable, book on ‘The Physiology of the Brain.’ When a hungry man sees +food, or when, let us say, a hungry boy looks into a cookshop, he +becomes aware of a watering of the mouth and a gnawing sensation at the +stomach. What does this mean? It means that the mental impression made +upon him by the welcome and appetizing spectacle has caused a secretion +of saliva and of gastric juice; that is to say, the brain has, through +the ideo-motor set of nerves, sent a message which has dilated the +vessels around the salivary and gastric glands, increased the flow of +blood through them and quickened their secretion. Here we have, then, a +purely subjective mental activity acting through a mechanism of which +the boy is quite ignorant, and which he is unable to control, and +producing that action on the vessels of dilation or contraction which, +as we have seen, is the essential condition of brain activity and the +evolution of thought, and is related to the quickening or the abolition +of consciousness, and to the activity or abeyance of function in the +will centers and upper convolutions of the brain, as in its other +centers of localization. + +“Here, then, we have something like a clue to the phenomena—phenomena +which, as I have pointed out, are similar to and have much in common +with mesmeric sleep, hypnotism or electro-biology. We have already, I +hope, succeeded in eliminating from our minds the false theory—the +theory, that is to say, experimentally proved to be false—that the +will, or the gestures, or the magnetic or vital fluid of the operator +are necessary for the abolition of the consciousness and the abeyance +of the will of the subject. We now see that ideas arising in the mind +of the subject are sufficient to influence the circulation in the brain +of the person operated on, and such variations of the blood supply of +the brain as are adequate to produce sleep in the natural state, or +artificial slumber, either by total deprivation or by excessive +increase or local aberration in the quantity or quality of blood. In a +like manner it is possible to produce coma and prolonged insensibility +by pressure of the thumbs on the carotid; or hallucination, dreams and +visions by drugs, or by external stimulation of the nerves. Here again +the consciousness may be only partially affected, and the person in +whom sleep, coma or hallucination is produced, whether by physical +means or by the influence of suggestion, may remain subject to the will +of others and incapable of exercising his own volition.” + +In short, Dr. Hart’s theory is that hypnotism comes from controlling +the blood supply of the brain, cutting off the supply from parts or +increasing it in other parts. This theory is borne out by the +well-known fact that some persons can blush or turn pale at will; that +some people always blush on the mention of certain things, or calling +up certain ideas. Certain other ideas will make them turn pale. Now, if +certain parts of the brain are made to blush or turn pale, there is no +doubt that hypnotism will follow, since blushing and turning pale are +known to be due to the opening and closing of the blood-vessels. We may +say that the subject is induced by some means to shut the blood out of +certain portions of the brain, and keep it out until he is told to let +it in again. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Telepathy and Clairvoyance.—Peculiar Power in Hypnotic +State.—Experiments.—“Phantasms of the Living” Explained by Telepathy + + +It has already been noticed that persons in the hypnotic state seem to +have certain of their senses greatly heightened in power. They can +remember, see and hear things that ordinary persons would be entirely +ignorant of. There is abundant evidence that a supersensory perception +is also developed, entirely beyond the most highly developed condition +of the ordinary senses, such as being able to tell clearly what some +other person is doing at a great distance. In view of the discovery of +the X or Roentgen ray, the ability to see through a stone wall does not +seem so strange as it did before that discovery. + +It is on power of supersensory, or extra-sensory perception that what +is known as telepathy and clairvoyance are based. That such things +really exist, and are not wholly a matter of superstition has been +thoroughly demonstrated in a scientific way by the British Society for +Psychical Research, and kindred societies in various parts of the +world. Strictly speaking, such phenomena as these are not a part of +hypnotism, but our study of hypnotism will enable us to understand them +to some extent, and the investigation of them is a natural corollary to +the study of hypnotism, for the reason that it has been found that +these extraordinary powers are often possessed by persons under +hypnotic influence. Until the discovery of hypnotism there was little +to go on in conducting a scientific investigation, because clairvoyance +could not be produced by any artificial means, and so could not be +studied under proper restrictive conditions. + +We will first quote two experiments performed by Dr. Cocke which the +writer heard him describe with his own lips. + +The first case was that of a girl suffering from hysterical tremor. The +doctor had hypnotized her for the cure of it, and accidentally stumbled +on an example of thought transference. She complained on one occasion +of a taste of spice in her mouth. As the doctor had been chewing some +spice, he at once guessed that this might be telepathy. Nothing was +said at the time, but the next time the girl was hypnotized, the doctor +put a quinine tablet in his mouth. The girl at once asked for water, +and said she had a very bitter taste in her mouth. The water was given +her, and the doctor went behind a screen, where he put cayenne pepper +in his mouth, severely burning himself. No one but the doctor knew of +the experiment at the time. The girl immediately cried and became so +hysterical that she had to be awakened. The burning in her mouth +disappeared as soon as she came out of the hypnotic state, but the +doctor continued to suffer. Nearly three hundred similar experiments +with thirty-six different subjects were tried by Dr. Cocke, and of +these sixty-nine were entirely successful. The others were doubtful or +complete failures. + +The most remarkable of the experiments may be given in the doctor’s own +words: “I told the subject to remain perfectly still for five minutes +and to relate to me at the end of this time any sensation he might +experience. I passed into another room and closed the door and locked +it; went into a closet in the room and closed the door after me; took +down from the shelf, first a linen sheet, then a pasteboard box, then a +toy engine, owned by a child in the house. I went back to my subject +and asked him what experience he had had. + +“He said I seemed to go into another room, and from thence into a dark +closet. I wanted something off the shelf, but did not know what. I took +down from the shelf a piece of smooth cloth, a long, square pasteboard +box and a tin engine. These were all the sensations he had experienced. +I asked him if he saw the articles with his eyes which I had removed +from the shelf. He answered that the closet was dark and that he only +felt them with his hands. I asked him how he knew that the engine was +tin. He said: ‘By the sound of it.’ As my hands touched it I heard the +wheels rattle. Now the only sound made by me while in the closet was +simply the rattling of the wheels of the toy as I took it off the +shelf. This could not possibly have been heard, as the subject was +distant from me two large rooms, and there were two closed doors +between us, and the noise was very slight. Neither could the subject +have judged where I went, as I had on light slippers which made no +noise. The subject had never visited the house before, and naturally +did not know the contents of the closet as he was carefully observed +from the moment he entered the house.” + +Many similar experiments are on record. Persons in the hypnotic +condition have been able to tell what other persons were doing in +distant parts of a city; could tell the pages of the books they might +be reading and the numbers of all sorts of articles. While in London +the writer had an opportunity of witnessing a performance of this kind. +There was a young boy who seemed to have this peculiar power. A queer +old desk had come into the house from Italy, and as it was a valuable +piece of furniture, the owner was anxious to learn its pedigree. +Without having examined the desk beforehand in any way the boy, during +one of his trances, said that in a certain place a secret spring would +be found which would open an unknown drawer, and behind that drawer +would be found the name of the maker of the desk and the date 1639. The +desk was at once examined, and the name and date found exactly as +described. It is clear in this case that this information could not +have been in the mind of any one, unless it were some person in Italy, +whence the desk had come. It is more likely that the remarkable +supersensory power given enabled reading through the wood. + +We may now turn our attention to another class of phenomena of great +interest, and that is the visions persons in the ordinary state have of +friends who are on the point of death. It would seem that by an +extraordinary effort the mind of a person in the waking state might be +impressed through a great distance. At the moment of death an almost +superhuman mental effort is more likely and possible than at any other +time, and it is peculiar that these visions or phantasms are largely +confined to that moment. The natural explanation that rises to the +ordinary mind is, of course, “Spirits.” This supposition is +strengthened by the fact that the visions sometimes appear immediately +after death, as well as at the time and just before. This may be +explained, however, on the theory that the ordinary mind is not easily +impressed, and when unconsciously impressed some time may elapse before +the impression becomes perceptible to the conscious mind, just as in +passing by on a swift train, we may see something, but not realize that +we have seen it till some time afterward, when we remember what we have +unconsciously observed. + +The British Society for Psychical Research has compiled two large +volumes of carefully authenticated cases, which are published under the +title, “Phantasms of the Living.” We quote one or two interesting +cases. + +A Miss L. sends the following report: + +January 4, 1886. + +“On one of the last days of July, about the year 1860, at 3 o’clock +p.m., I was sitting in the drawing room at the Rectory, reading, and my +thoughts entirely occupied. I suddenly looked up and saw most +distinctly a tall, thin old gentleman enter the room and walk to the +table. He wore a peculiar, old-fashioned cloak which I recognized as +belonging to my great-uncle. I then looked at him closely and +remembered his features and appearance perfectly, although I had not +seen him since I was quite a child. In his hand was a roll of paper, +and he appeared to be very agitated. I was not in the least alarmed, as +I firmly believed he was my uncle, not knowing then of his illness. I +asked him if he wanted my father, who, as I said, was not at home. He +then appeared still more agitated and distressed, but made no remark. +He then left the room, passing through the open door. I noticed that, +although it was a very wet day, there was no appearance of his having +walked either in mud or rain. He had no umbrella, but a thick walking +stick, which I recognized at once when my father brought it home after +the funeral. On questioning the servants, they declared that no one had +rung the bell; neither did they see any one enter. My father had a +letter by the next post, asking him to go at once to my uncle, who was +very ill in Leicestershire. He started at once, but on his arrival was +told that his uncle had died at exactly 3 o’clock that afternoon, and +had asked for him by name several times in an anxious and troubled +manner, and a roll of paper was found under his pillow. + +“I may mention that my father was his only nephew, and, having no son, +he always led him to think that he would have a considerable legacy. +Such, however, was not the case, and it is supposed that, as they were +always good friends, he was influenced in his last illness, and +probably, when too late, he wished to alter his will.” + +In answer to inquiries, Miss L. adds: + +“I told my mother and an uncle at once about the strange appearance +before the news arrived, and also my father directly he returned, all +of whom are now dead. They advised me to dismiss it from my memory, but +agreed that it could not be imagination, as I described my uncle so +exactly, and they did not consider me to be either of a nervous or +superstitious temperament. + +“I am quite sure that I have stated the facts truthfully and correctly. +The facts are as fresh in my memory as if they happened only yesterday, +although so many years have passed away. + +“I can assure you that nothing of the sort ever occurred before or +since. Neither have I been subject to nervous or imaginative fancies. +This strange apparition was in broad daylight, and as I was only +reading the ‘Illustrated Newspaper,’ there was nothing to excite my +imagination.” + +Hundreds of cases of this kind have been reported by persons whose +truthfulness cannot be doubted, and every effort has been made to +eliminate possibility of hallucination or accidental fancy. That things +of this kind do occur may be said to be scientifically proven. + +Such facts as these have stimulated experiment in the direction of +testing thought transference. These experiments have usually been in +the reading of numbers and names, and a certain measure of success has +resulted. It may be added, however, that no claimants ever appeared for +various banknotes deposited in strong-boxes, to be turned over to any +one who would read the numbers. Just why success was never attained +under these conditions it would be hard to say. The writer once made a +slight observation in this direction. When matching pennies with his +brother he found that if the other looked at the penny he could match +it nearly every time. There may have been some unconscious expression +of face that gave the clue. Persons in hypnotic trance are expert +muscle readers. For instance, let such a person take your hand and then +go through the alphabet, naming the letters. If you have any word in +your mind, as the muscle reader comes to each letter the muscles will +unconsciously contract. By giving attention to the muscles you can make +them contract on the wrong letters and entirely mislead such a person. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +The Confessions of Medium.—Spiritualistic Phenomena Explained on Theory +of Telepathy.—Interesting Statement of Mrs. Piper, the Famous Medium of +the Psychical Research Society. + + +The subject of spiritualism has been very thoroughly investigated by +the Society for Psychical Research, both in England and this country, +and under circumstances so peculiarly advantageous that a world of +light has been thrown on the connection between hypnotism and this +strange phenomenon. + +Professor William James, the professor of psychology at Harvard +University, was fortunate enough some years ago to find a perfect +medium who was not a professional and whose character was such as to +preclude fraud. This was Mrs. Leonora E. Piper, of Boston. For many +years she remained in the special employ of the Society for Psychical +Research, and the members of that society were able to study her case +under every possible condition through a long period of time. Not long +ago she resolved to give up her engagement, and made a public statement +over her own signature which is full of interest. + +A brief history of her life and experiences will go far toward +furnishing the general reader a fair explanation of clairvoyant and +spiritualistic phenomena. + +Mrs. Piper was the wife of a modest tailor, and lived on Pinckney +street, back of Beacon Hill. She was married in 1881, and it was not +until May 16, 1884, that her first child was born. A little more than a +month later, on June 29, she had her first trance experience. Says she: +“I remember the date distinctly, because it was two days after my first +birthday following the birth of my first child.” She had gone to Dr. J. +R. Cocke, the great authority on hypnotism and a practicing physician +of high scientific attainments. “During the interview,” says Mrs. +Piper, “I was partly unconscious for a few minutes. On the following +Sunday I went into a trance.” + +She appears to have slipped into it unconsciously. She surprised her +friends by saying some very odd things, none of which she remembered +when she came to herself. Not long after she did it again. A neighbor, +the wife of a merchant, when she heard the things that had been said, +assured Mrs. Piper that it must be messages from the spirit world. The +atmosphere in Boston was full of talk of that kind, and it was not hard +for people to believe that a real medium of spirit communication had +been found. The merchant’s wife wanted a sitting, and Mrs. Piper +arranged one, for which she received her first dollar. + +She had discovered that she could go into trances by an effort of her +own will. She would sit down at a table, with her sitter opposite, and +leaning her head on a pillow, go off into the trance after a few +minutes of silence. There was a clock behind her. She gave her sitters +an hour, sometimes two hours, and they wondered how she knew when the +hour had expired. At any rate, when the time came around she awoke. In +describing her experiences she has said: + +“At first when I sat in my chair and leaned my head back and went into +the trance state, the action was attended by something of a struggle. I +always felt as if I were undergoing an anesthetic, but of late years I +have slipped easily into the condition, leaning the head forward. On +coming out of it I felt stupid and dazed. At first I said disconnected +things. It was all a gibberish, nothing but gibberish. Then I began to +speak some broken French phrases. I had studied French two years, but +did not speak it well.” + +Once she had an Italian for sitter, who could speak no English and +asked questions in Italian. Mrs. Piper could speak no Italian, indeed +did not understand a word of it, except in her trance state. But she +had no trouble in understanding her sitter. + +After a while her automatic utterance announced the personality of a +certain Dr. Phinuit, who was said to have been a noted French physician +who had died long before. His “spirit” controlled her for a number of +years. After some time Dr. Phinuit was succeeded by one “Pelham,” and +finally by “Imperator” and “Rector.” + +As the birth of her second child approached Mrs. Piper gave up what she +considered a form of hysteria; but after the birth of the child the +sittings, paid for at a dollar each, began again. Dr. Hodgson, of the +London Society for Psychical Research, saw her at the house of +Professor James, and he became so interested in her case that he +decided to take her to London to be studied. She spent nearly a year +abroad; and after her return the American branch of the Society for +Psychical Research was formed, and for a long time Mrs. Piper received +a salary to sit exclusively for the society. Their records and reports +are full of the things she said and did. + +Every one who investigated Mrs. Piper had to admit that her case was +full of mystery. But if one reads the reports through from beginning to +end one cannot help feeling that her spirit messages are filled with +nonsense, at least of triviality. Here is a specimen—and a fair +specimen, too—of the kind of communication Pelham gave. He wrote out +the message. It referred to a certain famous man known in the reports +as Mr. Marte. Pelham is reported to have written by Mrs. Piper’s hand: + +“That he (Mr. Marte), with his keen brain and marvelous perception, +will be interested, I know. He was a very dear friend of X. I was +exceedingly fond of him. Comical weather interests both he and +I—me—him—I know it all. Don’t you see I correct these? Well, I am not +less intelligent now. But there are many difficulties. I am far clearer +on all points than I was shut up in the prisoned body (prisoned, +prisoning or imprisoned you ought to say). No, I don’t mean, to get it +that way. ‘See here, H, don’t view me with a critic’s eye, but pass my +imperfections by.’ Of course, I know all that as well as anybody on +your sphere (of course). Well, I think so. I tell you, old fellow, it +don’t do to pick all these little errors too much when they amount to +nothing in one way. You have light enough and brain enough, I know, to +understand my explanations of being shut up in this body, dreaming, as +it were, and trying to help on science.” + +Some people would say that Pelham had had a little too much whisky +toddy when he wrote that rambling, meaningless string of words. Or we +can suppose that Mrs. Piper was dreaming. We see in the last sentence a +curious mixture of ideas that must have been in her mind. She herself +says: + +“I do not see how anybody can look on all that as testimony from +another world. I cannot see but that it must have been an unconscious +expression of my subliminal self, writing such stuff as dreams are made +of.” + +In another place Mrs. Piper makes the following direct statement: “I +never heard of anything being said by myself while in a trance state +which might not have been latent in: + +“1. My own mind. + +“2. In the mind of the person in charge of the sitting. + +“3. In the mind of the person who was trying to get communication with +some one in another state of existence, or some companion present with +such person, or, + +“4. In the mind of some absent person alive somewhere else in the +world.” + +Writing in the Psychological Review in 1898, Professor James says: + +“Mrs. Piper’s trance memory is no ordinary human memory, and we have to +explain its singular perfection either as the natural endowment of her +solitary subliminal self, or as a collection of distinct memory +systems, each with a communicating spirit as its vehicle. + +“The spirit hypothesis exhibits a vacancy, triviality, and incoherence +of mind painful to think of as the state of the departed, and coupled +with a pretension to impress one, a disposition to ‘fish’ and face +around and disguise the essential hollowness which is, if anything, +more painful still. Mr. Hodgson has to resort to the theory that, +although the communicants probably are spirits, they are in a +semi-comatose or sleeping state while communicating, and only half +aware of what is going on, while the habits of Mrs. Piper’s neural +organism largely supply the definite form of words, etc., in which the +phenomenon is clothed.” + +After considering other theories Professor James concludes: + +“The world is evidently more complex than we are accustomed to think +it, the absolute ‘world ground’ in particular being farther off than we +are wont to think it.” + +Mrs. Piper is reported to have said: + +“Of what occurs after I enter the trance period I remember +nothing—nothing of what I said or what was said to me. I am but a +passive agent in the hands of powers that control me. I can give no +account of what becomes of me during a trance. The wisdom and inspired +eloquence which of late has been conveyed to Dr. Hodgson through my +mediumship is entirely beyond my understanding. I do not pretend to +understand it, and can give no explanation—I simply know that I have +the power of going into a trance when I wish.” + +Professor James says: “The Piper phenomena are the most absolutely +baffling thing I know.” + +Professor Hudson, Ph.D., LL.D., author of “The Law of Psychic +Phenomena,” comes as near giving an explanation of “spiritualism,” so +called, as any one. He begins by saying: + +“All things considered, Mrs. Piper is probably the best ‘psychic’ now +before the public for the scientific investigation of spiritualism and +it must be admitted that if her alleged communications from discarnate +spirits cannot be traced to any other source, the claims of spiritism +have been confirmed.” + +Then he goes on: + +“A few words, however, will make it clear to the scientific mind that +her phenomena can be easily accounted for on purely psychological +principles, thus: + +“Man is endowed with a dual mind, or two minds, or states of +consciousness, designated, respectively, as the objective and the +subjective. The objective mind is normally unconscious of the content +of the subjective mind. The latter is constantly amenable to control by +suggestion, and it is exclusively endowed with the faculty of +telepathy. + +“An entranced psychic is dominated exclusively by her subjective mind, +and reason is in abeyance. Hence she is controlled by suggestion, and, +consequently, is compelled to believe herself to be a spirit, good or +bad, if that suggestion is in any way imparted to her, and she +automatically acts accordingly. + +“She is in no sense responsible for the vagaries of a Phinuit, for that +eccentric personality is the creation of suggestion. But she is also in +the condition which enables her to read the subjective minds of others. +Hence her supernormal knowledge of the affairs of her sitters. What he +knows, or has ever known, consciously or unconsciously (subjective +memory being perfect), is easily within her reach. + +“Thus far no intelligent psychical researcher will gainsay what I have +said. But it sometimes happens that the psychic obtains information +that neither she nor the sitter could ever have consciously possessed. +Does it necessarily follow that discarnate spirits gave her the +information? Spiritists say ‘yes,’ for this is the ‘last ditch’ of +spiritism. + +“Psychologists declare that the telepathic explanation is as valid in +the latter class of cases as it obviously is in the former. Thus, +telepathy being a power of the subjective mind, messages may be +conveyed from one to another at any time, neither of the parties being +objectively conscious of the fact. It follows that a telepathist at any +following seance with the recipient can reach the content of that +message. + +“If this argument is valid—and its validity is self-evident—it is +impossible to imagine a case that may not be thus explained on +psychological principles.” + +Professor Hudson’s argument will appeal to the ordinary reader as good. +It may be simplified, however, thus: + +We may suppose that Mrs. Piper voluntarily hypnotizes herself. Perhaps +she simply puts her conscious reason to sleep. In that condition the +rest of her mind is in an exalted state, and capable of telepathy and +mind-reading, either of those near at hand or at a distance. Her reason +being asleep, she simply dreams, and the questions of her sitter are +made to fit into her dream. + +If we regard mediums as persons who have the power of hypnotizing +themselves and then of doing what we know persons who have been +hypnotized by others sometimes do, we have an explanation that covers +the whole case perfectly. At the same time, as Professor James warns +us, we must believe that the mind is far more complex than we are +accustomed to think it. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPLETE HYPNOTISM: MESMERISM, MIND-READING AND SPIRITUALISM *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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Alpheus</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism<br/> + How to Hypnotize: Being an Exhaustive and Practical System of Method, Application, and Use</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: A. Alpheus</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: September 20, 2006 [eBook #19342]<br /> +[Most recently updated: March 14, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Jerry Kuntz</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPLETE HYPNOTISM: MESMERISM, MIND-READING AND SPIRITUALISM ***</div> + +<h1>Complete Hypnotism<br/> +Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism</h1> + +<h3>How to Hypnotize:<br/> +Being an Exhaustive and Practical System<br/> +of Method, Application, and Use</h3> + +<h2 class="no-break">by A. Alpheus</h2> + +<h3>1903</h3> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#intro">INTRODUCTION</a><br/> +History of hypnotism—Mesmer—Puysegur—Braid—What is hypnotism?—Theories of +hypnotism: 1. Animal magnetism; 2. The Neurosis Theory; 3. Suggestion +Theory<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter1">CHAPTER I</a><br/> +How to Hypnotize—Dr. Cocke’s method-Dr. Flint’s method—The French method at +Paris—At Nancy—The Hindoo silent method—How to wake a subject from hypnotic +sleep—Frauds of public hypnotic entertainments.<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter2">CHAPTER II</a><br/> +Amusing experiments—Hypnotizing on the stage—“You can’t pull your hands +apart!”—Post-hypnotic suggestion—The newsboy, the hunter, and the young man +with the rag doll—A whip becomes hot iron—Courting a broom stick—The +side-show<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter3">CHAPTER III</a><br/> +The stages of hypnotism—Lethargy-Catalepsy—The somnambulistic +stage—Fascination<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter4">CHAPTER IV</a><br/> +How the subject feels under hypnotization—Dr. Cocke’s experience—Effect of +music—Dr. Alfred Warthin’s experiments<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter5">CHAPTER V</a><br/> +Self hypnotization—How it may be done—An experience—Accountable for children’s +crusade—Oriental prophets self-hypnotized<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter6">CHAPTER VI</a><br/> +Simulation—Deception in hypnotism very common—Examples of Neuropathic +deceit—Detecting simulation—Professional subjects—How Dr. Luys of the Charity +Hospital at Paris was deceived—Impossibility of detecting deception in all +cases—Confessions of a professional hypnotic subject<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter7">CHAPTER VII</a><br/> +Criminal suggestion—Laboratory crimes—Dr. Cocke’s experiments showing criminal +suggestion is not possible—Dr. William James’ theory—A bad man cannot be made +good, why expect to make a good man bad?<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter8">CHAPTER VIII</a><br/> +Dangers in being hypnotized Condemnation of public performances—A commonsense +view—Evidence furnished by Lafontaine; by Dr. Courmelles; by Dr. Hart; by Dr. +Cocke—No danger in hypnotism if rightly used by physicians or +scientists<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter9">CHAPTER IX</a><br/> +Hypnotism in medicine—Anesthesia—Restoring the use of muscles—Hallucination—Bad +habits<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter10">CHAPTER X</a><br/> +Hypnotism of animals—Snake charming<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter11">CHAPTER XI</a><br/> +A scientific explanation of hypnotism—Dr. Hart’s theory<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter12">CHAPTER XII</a><br/> +Telepathy and Clairvoyance—Peculiar power in hypnotic +state—Experiments—“Phantasms of the living” explained by telepathy<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chapter13">CHAPTER XIII</a><br/> +The Confessions of a Medium—Spiritualistic phenomena explained on theory of +telepathy—Interesting statement of Mrs. Piper, the famous medium of the +Psychical Research Society +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="intro"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p> +There is no doubt that hypnotism is a very old subject, though the name was not +invented till 1850. In it was wrapped up the “mysteries of Isis” in Egypt +thousands of years ago, and probably it was one of the weapons, if not the +chief instrument of operation, of the magi mentioned in the Bible and of the +“wise men” of Babylon and Egypt. “Laying on of hands” must have been a form of +mesmerism, and Greek oracles of Delphi and other places seem to have been +delivered by priests or priestesses who went into trances of self-induced +hypnotism. It is suspected that the fakirs of India who make trees grow from +dry twigs in a few minutes, or transform a rod into a serpent (as Aaron did in +Bible history), operate by some form of hypnotism. The people of the East are +much more subject to influences of this kind than Western peoples are, and +there can be no question that the religious orgies of heathendom were merely a +form of that hysteria which is so closely related to the modern phenomenon of +hypnotism. Though various scientific men spoke of magnetism, and understood +that there was a power of a peculiar kind which one man could exercise over +another, it was not until Frederick Anton Mesmer (a doctor of Vienna) appeared +in 1775 that the general public gave any special attention to the subject. In +the year mentioned, Mesmer sent out a circular letter to various scientific +societies or “Academies” as they are called in Europe, stating his belief that +“animal magnetism” existed, and that through it one man could influence +another. No attention was given his letter, except by the Academy of Berlin, +which sent him an unfavorable reply. +</p> + +<p> +In 1778 Mesmer was obliged for some unknown reason to leave Vienna, and went to +Paris, where he was fortunate in converting to his ideas d’Eslon, the Comte +d’Artois’s physician, and one of the medical professors at the Faculty of +Medicine. His success was very great; everybody was anxious to be magnetized, +and the lucky Viennese doctor was soon obliged to call in assistants. Deleuze, +the librarian at the Jardin des Plantes, who has been called the Hippocrates of +magnetism, has left the following account of Mesmer’s experiments: +</p> + +<p> +“In the middle of a large room stood an oak tub, four or five feet in diameter +and one foot deep. It was closed by a lid made in two pieces, and encased in +another tub or bucket. At the bottom of the tub a number of bottles were laid +in convergent rows, so that the neck of each bottle turned towards the centre. +Other bottles filled with magnetized water tightly corked up were laid in +divergent rows with their necks turned outwards. Several rows were thus piled +up, and the apparatus was then pronounced to be at ‘high pressure’. The tub was +filled with water, to which were sometimes added powdered glass and iron +filings. There were also some dry tubs, that is, prepared in the same manner, +but without any additional water. The lid was perforated to admit of the +passage of movable bent rods, which could be applied to the different parts of +the patient’s body. A long rope was also fastened to a ring in the lid, and +this the patients placed loosely round their limbs. No disease offensive to the +sight was treated, such as sores, or deformities. +</p> + +<p> +“A large number of patients were commonly treated at one time. They drew near +to each other, touching hands, arms, knees, or feet. The handsomest, youngest, +and most robust magnetizers held also an iron rod with which they touched the +dilatory or stubborn patients. The rods and ropes had all undergone a +‘preparation’ and in a very short space of time the patients felt the magnetic +influence. The women, being the most easily affected, were almost at once +seized with fits of yawning and stretching; their eyes closed, their legs gave +way and they seemed to suffocate. In vain did musical glasses and harmonicas +resound, the piano and voices re-echo; these supposed aids only seemed to +increase the patients’ convulsive movements. Sardonic laughter, piteous moans +and torrents of tears burst forth on all sides. The bodies were thrown back in +spasmodic jerks, the respirations sounded like death rattles, the most +terrifying symptoms were exhibited. Then suddenly the actors of this strange +scene would frantically or rapturously rush towards each other, either +rejoicing and embracing or thrusting away their neighbors with every appearance +of horror. +</p> + +<p> +“Another room was padded and presented another spectacle. There women beat +their heads against wadded walls or rolled on the cushion-covered floor, in +fits of suffocation. In the midst of this panting, quivering throng, Mesmer, +dressed in a lilac coat, moved about, extending a magic wand toward the least +suffering, halting in front of the most violently excited and gazing steadily +into their eyes, while he held both their hands in his, bringing the middle +fingers in immediate contact to establish communication. At another moment he +would, by a motion of open hands and extended fingers, operate with the great +current, crossing and uncrossing his arms with wonderful rapidity to make the +final passes.” +</p> + +<p> +Hysterical women and nervous young boys, many of them from the highest ranks of +Society, flocked around this wonderful wizard, and incidentally he made a great +deal of money. There is little doubt that he started out as a genuine and +sincere student of the scientific character of the new power he had indeed +discovered; there is also no doubt that he ultimately became little more than a +charlatan. There was, of course, no virtue in his “prepared” rods, nor in his +magnetic tubs. At the same time the belief of the people that there was virtue +in them was one of the chief means by which he was able to induce hypnotism, as +we shall see later. Faith, imagination, and willingness to be hypnotized on the +part of the subject are all indispensable to entire success in the practice of +this strange art. +</p> + +<p> +In 1779 Mesmer published a pamphlet entitled “Memoire sur la decouverte du +magnetisme animal”, of which Doctor Cocke gives the following summary (his +chief claim was that he had discovered a principle which would cure every +disease): +</p> + +<p> +“He sets forth his conclusions in twenty-seven propositions, of which the +substance is as follows:— There is a reciprocal action and reaction between the +planets, the earth and animate nature by means of a constant universal fluid, +subject to mechanical laws yet unknown. The animal body is directly affected by +the insinuation of this agent into the substance of the nerves. It causes in +human bodies properties analogous to those of the magnet, for which reason it +is called ‘Animal Magnetism’. This magnetism may be communicated to other +bodies, may be increased and reflected by mirrors, communicated, propagated, +and accumulated, by sound. It may be accumulated, concentrated, and +transported. The same rules apply to the opposite virtue. The magnet is +susceptible of magnetism and the opposite virtue. The magnet and artificial +electricity have, with respect to disease, properties common to a host of other +agents presented to us by nature, and if the use of these has been attended by +useful results, they are due to animal magnetism. By the aid of magnetism, +then, the physician enlightened as to the use of medicine may render its action +more perfect, and can provoke and direct salutary crises so as to have them +completely under his control.” +</p> + +<p> +The Faculty of Medicine investigated Mesmer’s claims, but reported unfavorably, +and threatened d’Eslon with expulsion from the society unless he gave Mesmer +up. Nevertheless the government favored the discoverer, and when the medical +fraternity attacked him with such vigor that he felt obliged to leave Paris, it +offered him a pension of 20,000 francs if he would remain. He went away, but +later came back at the request of his pupils. In 1784 the government appointed +two commissions to investigate the claims that had been made. On one of these +commissions was Benjamin Franklin, then American Ambassador to France as well +as the great French scientist Lavoisier. The other was drawn from the Royal +Academy of Medicine, and included Laurent de Jussieu, the only man who declared +in favor of Mesmer. +</p> + +<p> +There is no doubt that Mesmer had returned to Paris for the purpose of making +money, and these commissions were promoted in part by persons desirous of +driving him out. “It is interesting,” says a French writer, “to peruse the +reports of these commissions: they read like a debate on some obscure subject +of which the future has partly revealed the secret.” Says another French writer +(Courmelles): “They sought the fluid, not by the study of the cures affected, +which was considered too complicated a task, but in the phases of mesmeric +sleep. These were considered indispensable and easily regulated by the +experimentalist. When submitted to close investigation, it was, however, found +that they could only be induced when the subjects knew they were being +magnetized, and that they differed according as they were conducted in public +or in private. In short—whether it be a coincidence or the truth—imagination +was considered the sole active agent. Whereupon d’Eslon remarked, ‘If +imagination is the best cure, why should we not use the imagination as a +curative means?’ Did he, who had so vaunted the existence of the fluid, mean by +this to deny its existence, or was it rather a satirical way of saying. ‘You +choose to call it imagination; be it so. But after all, as it cures, let us +make the most of it’? +</p> + +<p> +“The two commissions came to the conclusion that the phenomena were due to +imitation, and contact, that they were dangerous and must be prohibited. +Strange to relate, seventy years later, Arago pronounced the same verdict!” +</p> + +<p> +Daurent Jussieu was the only one who believed in anything more than this. He +saw a new and important truth, which he set forth in a personal report upon +withdrawing from the commission, which showed itself so hostile to Mesmer and +his pretensions. +</p> + +<p> +Time and scientific progress have largely overthrown Mesmer’s theories of the +fluid; yet Mesmer had made a discovery that was in the course of a hundred +years to develop into an important scientific study. Says Vincent: “It seems +ever the habit of the shallow scientist to plume himself on the more accurate +theories which have been provided for him by the progress of knowledge and of +science, and then, having been fed with a limited historical pabulum, to turn +and talk lightly, and with an air of the most superior condescension, of the +weakness and follies of those but for whose patient labors our modern theories +would probably be non-existent.” If it had not been for Mesmer and his “Animal +Magnetism”, we would never have had “hypnotism” and all our learned societies +for the study of it. +</p> + +<p> +Mesmer, though his pretensions were discredited, was quickly followed by +Puysegur, who drew all the world to Buzancy, near Soissons, France. “Doctor +Cloquet related that he saw there, patients no longer the victims of hysterical +fits, but enjoying a calm, peaceful, restorative slumber. It may be said that +from this moment really efficacious and useful magnetism became known.” Every +one rushed once more to be magnetized, and Puysegur had so many patients that +to care for them all he was obliged to magnetize a tree (as he said), which was +touched by hundreds who came to be cured, and was long known as “Puysegur’s +tree”. As a result of Puysegur’s success, a number of societies were formed in +France for the study of the new phenomena. +</p> + +<p> +In the meantime, the subject had attracted considerable interest in Germany, +and in 1812 Wolfart was sent to Mesmer at Frauenfeld by the Prussian government +to investigate Mesmerism. He became an enthusiast, and introduced its practice +into the hospital at Berlin. +</p> + +<p> +In 1814 Deleuze published a book on the subject, and Abbe Faria, who had come +from India, demonstrated that there was no fluid, but that the phenomena were +subjective, or within the mind of the patient. He first introduced what is now +called the “method of suggestion” in producing magnetism or hypnotism. In 1815 +Mesmer died. +</p> + +<p> +Experimentation continued, and in the 20’s Foissac persuaded the Academy of +Medicine to appoint a commission to investigate the subject. After five years +they presented a report. This report gave a good statement of the practical +operation of magnetism, mentioning the phenomena of somnambulism, anesthesia, +loss of memory, and the various other symptoms of the hypnotic state as we know +it. It was thought that magnetism had a right to be considered as a therapeutic +agent, and that it might be used by physicians, though others should not be +allowed to practice it. In 1837 another commission made a decidedly unfavorable +report. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after this Burdin, a member of the Academy, offered a prize of 3,000 +francs to any one who would read the number of a bank-note or the like with his +eyes bandaged (under certain fixed conditions), but it was never awarded, +though many claimed it, and there has been considerable evidence that persons +in the hypnotic state have (sometimes) remarkable clairvoyant powers. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after this, magnetism fell into very low repute throughout France and +Germany, and scientific men became loath to have their names connected with the +study of it in any way. The study had not yet been seriously taken up in +England, and two physicians who gave some attention to it suffered decidedly in +professional reputation. +</p> + +<p> +It is to an English physician, however, that we owe the scientific character of +modern hypnotism. Indeed he invented the name of hypnotism, formed from the +Greek word meaning ‘sleep’, and designating ‘artificially produced sleep’. His +name is James Braid, and so important were the results of his study that +hypnotism has sometimes been called “Braidism”. Doctor Courmelles gives the +following interesting summary of Braid’s experiences: +</p> + +<p> +“November, 1841, he witnessed a public experiment made by Monsieur Lafontaine, +a Swiss magnetizer. He thought the whole thing a comedy; a week after, he +attended a second exhibition, saw that the patient could not open his eyes, and +concluded that this was ascribable to some physical cause. The fixity of gaze +must, according to him, exhaust the nerve centers of the eyes and their +surroundings. He made a friend look steadily at the neck of a bottle, and his +own wife look at an ornamentation on the top of a china sugar bowl: sleep was +the consequence. Here hypnotism had its origin, and the fact was established +that sleep could be induced by physical agents. This, it must be remembered, is +the essential difference between these two classes of phenomena (magnetism and +hypnotism): for magnetism supposes a direct action of the magnetizer on the +magnetized subject, an action which does not exist in hypnotism.” +</p> + +<p> +It may be stated that most English and American operators fail to see any +distinction between magnetism and hypnotism, and suppose that the effect of +passes, etc., as used by Mesmer, is in its way as much physical as the method +of producing hypnotism by concentrating the gaze of the subject on a bright +object, or the like. +</p> + +<p> +Braid had discovered a new science—as far as the theoretical view of it was +concerned—for he showed that hypnotism is largely, if not purely, mechanical +and physical. He noted that during one phase of hypnotism, known as catalepsy, +the arms, limbs, etc., might be placed in any position and would remain there; +he also noted that a puff of breath would usually awaken a subject, and that by +talking to a subject and telling him to do this or do that, even after he +awakes from the sleep, he can be made to do those things. Braid thought he +might affect a certain part of the brain during hypnotic sleep, and if he could +find the seat of the thieving disposition, or the like, he could cure the +patient of desire to commit crime, simply by suggestion, or command. +</p> + +<p> +Braid’s conclusions were, in brief, that there was no fluid, or other exterior +agent, but that hypnotism was due to a physiological condition of the nerves. +It was his belief that hypnotic sleep was brought about by fatigue of the +eyelids, or by other influences wholly within the subject. In this he was +supported by Carpenter, the great physiologist; but neither Braid nor Carpenter +could get the medical organizations to give the matter any attention, even to +investigate it. In 1848 an American named Grimes succeeded in obtaining all the +phenomena of hypnotism, and created a school of writers who made use of the +word “electro-biology.” +</p> + +<p> +In 1850 Braid’s ideas were introduced into France, and Dr. Azam, of Bordeaux, +published an account of them in the “Archives de Medicine.” From this time on +the subject was widely studied by scientific men in France and Germany, and it +was more slowly taken up in England. It may be stated here that the French and +other Latin races are much more easily hypnotized than the northern races, +Americans perhaps being least subject to the hypnotic influence, and next to +them the English. On the other hand, the Orientals are influenced to a degree +we can hardly comprehend. +</p> + +<h3>WHAT IS HYPNOTISM?</h3> + +<p> +We have seen that so far the history of hypnotism has given us two +manifestations, or methods, that of passes and playing upon the imagination in +various ways, used by Mesmer, and that of physical means, such as looking at a +bright object, used by Braid. Both of these methods are still in use, and +though hundreds of scientific men, including many physicians, have studied the +subject for years, no essentially new principle has been discovered, though the +details of hypnotic operation have been thoroughly classified and many minor +elements of interest have been developed. All these make a body of evidence +which will assist us in answering the question, What is hypnotism? +</p> + +<p> +Modern scientific study has pretty conclusively established the following +facts: +</p> + +<p> +1. Idiots, babies under three years old, and hopelessly insane people cannot be +hypnotized. +</p> + +<p> +2. No one can be hypnotized unless the operator can make him concentrate his +attention for a reasonable length of time. Concentration of attention, whatever +the method of producing hypnotism, is absolutely necessary. +</p> + +<p> +3. The persons not easily hypnotized are those said to be neurotic (or those +affected with hysteria). By “hysteria” is not meant nervous excitability, +necessarily. Some very phlegmatic persons may be affected with hysteria. In +medical science “hysteria” is an irregular action of the nervous system. It +will sometimes show itself by severe pains in the arm, when in reality there is +nothing whatever to cause pain; or it will raise a swelling on the head quite +without cause. It is a tendency to nervous disease which in severe cases may +lead to insanity. The word neurotic is a general term covering affection of the +nervous system. It includes hysteria and much else beside. +</p> + +<p> +On all these points practically every student of hypnotism is agreed. On the +question as to whether any one can produce hypnotism by pursuing the right +methods there is some disagreement, but not much. Dr. Ernest Hart in an article +in the British Medical Journal makes the following very definite statement, +representing the side of the case that maintains that any one can produce +hypnotism. Says he: +</p> + +<p> +“It is a common delusion that the mesmerist or hypnotizer counts for anything +in the experiment. The operator, whether priest, physician, charlatan, +self-deluded enthusiast, or conscious imposter, is not the source of any occult +influence, does not possess any mysterious power, and plays only a very +secondary and insignificant part in the chain of phenomena observed. There +exist at the present time many individuals who claim for themselves, and some +who make a living by so doing, a peculiar property or power as potent +mesmerizers, hypnotizers, magnetizers, or electro-biologists. One even often +hears it said in society (for I am sorry to say that these mischievous +practices and pranks are sometimes made a society game) that such a person is a +clever hypnotist or has great mesmeric or healing power. I hope to be able to +prove, what I firmly hold, both from my own personal experience and experiment, +as I have already related in the Nineteenth Century, that there is no such +thing as a potent mesmeric influence, no such power resident in any one person +more than another; that a glass of water, a tree, a stick, a penny-post letter, +or a lime-light can mesmerize as effectually as can any individual. A clever +hypnotizer means only a person who is acquainted with the physical or mental +tricks by which the hypnotic condition is produced; or sometimes an unconscious +imposter who is unaware of the very trifling part for which he is cast in the +play, and who supposes himself really to possess a mysterious power which in +fact he does not possess at all, or which, to speak more accurately, is equally +possessed by every stock or stone.” +</p> + +<p> +Against this we may place the statement of Dr. Foveau de Courmelles, who speaks +authoritatively for the whole modern French school. He says: +</p> + +<p> +“Every magnetizer is aware that certain individuals never can induce sleep even +in the most easily hypnotizable subjects. They admit that the sympathetic fluid +is necessary, and that each person may eventually find his or her hypnotizer, +even when numerous attempts at inducing sleep have failed. However this may be, +the impossibility some individuals find in inducing sleep in trained subjects, +proves at least the existence of a negative force.” +</p> + +<p> +If you would ask the present writer’s opinion, gathered from all the evidence +before him, he would say that while he has no belief in the existence of any +magnetic fluid, or anything that corresponds to it, he thinks there can be no +doubt that some people will succeed as hypnotists while some will fail, just as +some fail as carpenters while others succeed. This is true in every walk of +life. It is also true that some people attract, others repel, the people they +meet. This is not very easily explained, but we have all had opportunity to +observe it. Again, since concentration is the prerequisite for producing +hypnotism, one who has not the power of concentration himself, and +concentration which he can perfectly control, is not likely to be able to +secure it in others. Also, since faith is a strong element, a person who has +not perfect self-confidence could not expect to create confidence in others. +While many successful hypnotizers can themselves be hypnotized, it is probable +that most all who have power of this kind are themselves exempt from the +exercise of it. It is certainly true that while a person easily hypnotized is +by no means weak-minded (indeed, it is probable that most geniuses would be +good hypnotic subjects), still such persons have not a well balanced +constitution and their nerves are high-strung if not unbalanced. They would be +most likely to be subject to a person who had such a strong and well-balanced +nervous constitution that it would be hard to hypnotize. And it is always safe +to say that the strong may control the weak, but it is not likely that the weak +will control the strong. +</p> + +<p> +There is also another thing that must be taken into account. Science teaches +that all matter is in vibration. Indeed, philosophy points to the theory that +matter itself is nothing more than centers of force in vibration. The lowest +vibration we know is that of sound. Then comes, at an enormously higher rate, +heat, light (beginning at dark red and passing through the prismatic colors to +violet which has a high vibration), to the chemical rays, and then the +so-called X or unknown rays which have a much higher vibration still. +Electricity is a form of vibration, and according to the belief of many +scientists, life is a species of vibration so high that we have no possible +means of measuring it. As every student of science knows, air appears to be the +chief medium for conveying vibration of sound, metal is the chief medium for +conveying electric vibrations, while to account for the vibrations of heat and +light we have to assume (or imagine) an invisible, imponderable ether which +fills all space and has no property of matter that we can distinguish except +that of conveying vibrations of light in its various forms. When we pass on to +human life, we have to theorize chiefly by analogy. (It must not be forgotten, +however, that the existence of the ether and many assumed facts in science are +only theories which have come to be generally adopted because they explain +phenomena of all kinds better than any other theories which have been offered.) +</p> + +<p> +Now, in life, as in physical science, any one who can get, or has by nature, +the key-note of another nature, has a tremendous power over that other nature. +The following story illustrates what this power is in the physical world. While +we cannot vouch for the exact truth of the details of the story, there can be +no doubt of the accuracy of the principle on which it is based: +</p> + +<p> +“A musical genius came to the Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls, and asked +permission to cross; but as he had no money, his request was contemptuously +refused. He stepped away from the entrance, and, drawing his violin from his +case, began sounding notes up and down the scale. He finally discovered, by the +thrill that sent a tremor through the mighty structure, that he had found the +note on which the great cable that upheld the mass, was keyed. He drew his bow +across the string of the violin again, and the colossal wire, as if under the +spell of a magician, responded with a throb that sent a wave through its +enormous length. He sounded the note again and again, and the cable that was +dormant under the strain of loaded teams and monster engines—the cable that +remained stolid under the pressure of human traffic, and the heavy tread of +commerce, thrilled and surged and shook itself, as mad waves of vibration +coursed over its length, and it tore at its slack, until like a foam-crested +wave of the sea, it shook the towers at either end, or, like some sentient +animal, it tugged at its fetters and longed to be free. +</p> + +<p> +“The officers in charge, apprehensive of danger, hurried the poor musician +across, and bade him begone and trouble them no more. The ragged genius, +putting his well-worn instrument back in its case, muttered to himself, ‘I’d +either crossed free or torn down the bridge.’” +</p> + +<p> +“So the hypnotist,” goes on the writer from which the above is quoted, “finds +the note on which the subjective side of the person is attuned, and by playing +upon it awakens into activity emotions and sensibilities that otherwise would +have remained dormant, unused and even unsuspected.” +</p> + +<p> +No student of science will deny the truth of these statements. At the same time +it has been demonstrated again and again that persons can and do frequently +hypnotize themselves. This is what Mr. Hart means when he says that any stick +or stone may produce hypnotism. If a person will gaze steadily at a bright +fire, or a glass of water, for instance, he can throw himself into a hypnotic +trance exactly similar to the condition produced by a professional or trained +hypnotist. Such people, however, must be possessed of imagination. +</p> + +<h3>THEORIES OF HYPNOTISM.</h3> + +<p> +We have now learned some facts in regard to hypnotism; but they leave the +subject still a mystery. Other facts which will be developed in the course of +this book will only deepen the mystery. We will therefore state some of the +best known theories. +</p> + +<p> +Before doing so, however, it would be well to state concisely just what seems +to happen in a case of hypnotism. The word hypnotism means sleep, and the +definition of hypnotism implies artificially produced sleep. Sometimes this +sleep is deep and lasting, and the patient is totally insensible; but the +interesting phase of the condition is that in certain stages the patient is +only partially asleep, while the other part of his brain is awake and very +active. +</p> + +<p> +It is well known that one part of the brain may be affected without affecting +the other parts. In hemiplegia, for instance, one half of the nervous system is +paralyzed, while the other half is all right. In the stages of hypnotism we +will now consider, the will portion of the brain or mind seems to be put to +sleep, while the other faculties are, abnormally awake. Some explain this by +supposing that the blood is driven out of one portion of the brain and driven +into other portions. In any case, it is as though the human engine were +uncoupled, and the patient becomes an automaton. If he is told to do this, +that, or the other, he does it, simply because his will is asleep and +“suggestion”, as it is called, from without makes him act just as he starts up +unconsciously in his ordinary sleep if tickled with a straw. +</p> + +<p> +Now for the theories. There are three leading theories, known as that of 1. +Animal Magnetism; 2. Neurosis; and 3. Suggestion. We will simply state them +briefly in order without discussion. +</p> + +<p> +Animal Magnetism. This is the theory offered by Mesmer, and those who hold it +assume that “the hypnotizer exercises a force, independently of suggestion, +over the subject. They believe one part of the body to be charged separately, +or that the whole body may be filled with magnetism. They recognize the power, +of suggestion, but they do not believe it to be the principal factor in the +production of the hypnotic state.” Those who hold this theory today distinguish +between the phenomena produced by magnetism and those produced by physical +means or simple suggestion. +</p> + +<p> +The Neurosis Theory. We have already explained the word neurosis, but we repeat +here the definition given by Dr. J. R. Cocke. “A neurosis is any affection of +the nervous centers occurring without any material agent producing it, without +inflammation or any other constant structural change which can be detected in +the nervous centers. As will be seen from the definition, any abnormal +manifestation of the nervous system of whose cause we know practically nothing, +is, for convenience, termed a neurosis. If a man has a certain habit or trick, +it is termed a neurosis or neuropathic habit. One man of my acquaintance, who +is a professor in a college, always begins his lecture by first sneezing and +then pulling at his nose. Many forms of tremor are called neurosis. Now to say +that hypnotism is the result of a neurosis, simply means that a person’s +nervous system is susceptible to this condition, which, by M. Charcot and his +followers, is regarded as abnormal.” In short, M. Charcot places hypnotism in +the same category of nervous affections in which hysteria and finally +hallucination (medically considered) are to be classed, that is to say, as a +nervous weakness, not to say a disease. According to this theory, a person +whose nervous system is perfectly healthy could not be hypnotized. So many +people can be hypnotized because nearly all the world is more or less insane, +as a certain great writer has observed. +</p> + +<p> +Suggestion. This theory is based on the power of mind over the body as we +observe it in everyday life. Again let me quote from Dr. Cooke. “If we can +direct the subject’s whole attention to the belief that such an effect as +before mentioned—that his arm will be paralyzed, for instance—will take place, +that effect will gradually occur. Such a result having been once produced, the +subject’s will-power and power of resistance are considerably weakened, because +he is much more inclined than at first to believe the hypnotizer’s assertion. +This is generally the first step in the process of hypnosis. The method pursued +at the school of Nancy is to convince the subject that his eyes are closing by +directing his attention to that effect as strongly as possible. However, it is +not necessary that we begin with the eyes. According to M. Dessoir, any member +of the body will answer as well.” The theory of Suggestion is maintained by the +medical school attached to the hospital at Nancy. The theory of Neurosis was +originally put forth as the result of experiments by Dr. Charcot at the +Salpetriere hospital in Paris, which is now the co-called Salpetriere +school—that is the medical, school connected with the Salpetriere hospital. +</p> + +<p> +There is also another theory put forth, or rather a modification of Professor +Charcot’s theory, and maintained by the school of the Charity hospital in +Paris, headed by Dr. Luys, to the effect that the physical magnet and +electricity may affect persons in the hypnotic state, and that certain drugs in +sealed tubes placed upon the patient’s neck during the condition of hypnosis +will produce the same effects which those drugs would produce if taken +internally, or as the nature of the drugs would seem to call for if imbibed in +a more complete fashion. This school, however, has been considerably +discredited, and Dr. Luys’ conclusions are not received by scientific students +of hypnotism. It is also stated, and the present writer has seen no effective +denial, that hypnotism may be produced by pressing with the fingers upon +certain points in the body, known as hypnogenic spots. +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen that these three theories stated above are greatly at variance +with each other. The student of hypnotism will have to form a conclusion for +himself as he investigates the facts. Possibly it will be found that the true +theory is a combination of all three of those described above. Hypnotism is +certainly a complicated phenomena, and he would be a rash man who should try to +explain it in a sentence or in a paragraph. An entire book proves a very +limited space for doing it. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter1"></a>CHAPTER I.<br/> +HOW TO HYPNOTIZE.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Dr. Cocke’s Method—Dr. Flint’s Method—The French Method at Paris—at Nancy—The +Hindoo Silent Method—How to Wake a Subject from Hypnotic Sleep—Frauds of Public +Hypnotic Entertainers. +</p> + +<p> +First let us quote what is said of hypnotism in Foster’s Encyclopedic Medical +Dictionary. The dictionary states the derivation of the word from the Greek +word meaning sleep, and gives as synonym “Braidism”. This definition follows: +“An abnormal state into which some persons may be thrown, either by a voluntary +act of their own, such as gazing continuously with fixed attention on some +bright object held close to the eyes, or by the exercise of another person’s +will; characterized by suspension of the will and consequent obedience to the +promptings of suggestions from without. The activity of the organs of special +sense, except the eye, may be heightened, and the power of the muscles +increased. Complete insensibility to pain may be induced by hypnotism, and it +has been used as an anaesthetic. It is apt to be followed by a severe headache +of long continuance, and by various nervous disturbances. On emerging from the +hypnotic state, the person hypnotized usually has no remembrance of what +happened during its continuance, but in many persons such remembrance may be +induced by ‘suggestion’. About one person in three is susceptible to hypnotism, +and those of the hysterical or neurotic tendency (but rarely the insane) are +the most readily hypnotized.” +</p> + +<p> +First we will quote the directions for producing hypnotism given by Dr. James +R. Cocke, one of the most scientific experimenters in hypnotism in America. His +directions of are special value, since they are more applicable to American +subjects than the directions given by French writers. Says Dr. Cocke: +</p> + +<p> +“The hypnotic state can be produced in one of the following ways: First, +command the subject to close his eyes. Tell him his mind is a blank. Command +him to think of nothing. Leave him a few minutes; return and tell him he cannot +open his eyes. If he fails to do so, then begin to make any suggestion which +may be desired. This is the so-called mental method of hypnotization. +</p> + +<p> +“Secondly, give the subject a coin or other bright object. Tell him to look +steadfastly at it and not take his eyes away from it. Suggest that his eyelids +are growing heavy, that he cannot keep them open. Now close the lids. They +cannot be opened. This is the usual method employed by public exhibitors. A +similar method is by looking into a mirror, or into a glass of water, or by +rapidly revolving polished disks, which should be looked at steadfastly in the +same way as is the coin, and I think tires the eyes less. +</p> + +<p> +“Another method is by simply commanding the subject to close his eyes, while +the operator makes passes over his head and hands without coming in contact +with them. Suggestions may be made during these passes. +</p> + +<p> +“Fascination, as it is called, is one of the hypnotic states. The operator +fixes his eyes on those of the subject. Holding his attention for a few +minutes, the operator begins to walk backward; the subject follows. The +operator raises the arm; the subject does likewise. Briefly, the subject will +imitate any movement of the hypnotist, or will obey any suggestion made by +word, look or gesture, suggested by the one with whom he is en rapport. +</p> + +<p> +“A very effective method of hypnotizing a person is by commanding him to sleep, +and having some very soft music played upon the piano, or other stringed +instrument. Firm pressure over the orbits, or over the finger-ends and root of +the nail for some minutes may also induce the condition of hypnosis in very +sensitive persons. +</p> + +<p> +“Also hypnosis can frequently be induced by giving the subject a glass of +water, and telling him at the same time that it has been magnetized. The +wearing of belts around the body, and rings round the fingers, will also, +sometimes, induce a degree of hypnosis, if the subject has been told that they +have previously been magnetized or are electric. The latter descriptions are +the so-called physical methods described by Dr. Moll.” +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Herbert L. Flint, a stage hypnotizer, describes his methods as follows: +</p> + +<p> +“To induce hypnotism, I begin by friendly conversation to place my patient in a +condition of absolute calmness and quiescence. I also try to win his confidence +by appealing to his own volitional effort to aid me in obtaining the desired +clad. I impress upon him that hypnosis in his condition is a benign agency, and +far from subjugating his mentality, it becomes intensified to so great an +extent as to act as a remedial agent. +</p> + +<p> +“Having assured myself that he is in a passive condition, I suggest to him, +either with or without passes, that after looking intently at an object for a +few moments, he will experience a feeling of lassitude. I steadily gaze at his +eyes, and in a monotonous tone I continue to suggest the various stages of +sleep. As for instance, I say, ‘Your breathing is heavy. Your whole body is +relaxed.’ I raise his arm, holding it in a horizontal position for a second or +two, and suggest to him that it is getting heavier and heavier. I let my hand +go and his arm falls to his side. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Your eyes,’ I continue, ‘feel tired and sleepy. They are fast closing’ +repeating in a soothing tone the words ‘sleepy, sleepy, sleep.’ Then in a +self-assertive tone, I emphasize the suggestion by saying in an unhesitating +and positive tone, ‘sleep.’ +</p> + +<p> +“I do not, however, use this method with all patients. It is an error to state, +as some specialists do, that from their formula there can be no deviation; +because, as no two minds are constituted alike, so they cannot be affected +alike. While one will yield by intense will exerted through my eyes, another +may, by the same means, become fretful, timid, nervous, and more wakeful than +he was before. The same rule applies to gesture, tones of the voice, and +mesmeric passes. That which has a soothing and lulling effect on one, may have +an opposite effect on another. There can be no unvarying rule applicable to all +patients. The means must be left to the judgment of the operator, who by a long +course of psychological training should be able to judge what measures are +necessary to obtain control of his subject. Just as in drugs, one person may +take a dose without injury that will kill another, so in hypnosis, one person +can be put into a deep sleep by means that would be totally ineffectual in +another, and even then the mental states differ in each individual—that which +in one induces a gentle slumber may plunge his neighbor into a deep cataleptic +state.” +</p> + +<p> +That hypnotism may be produced by purely physical or mechanical means seems to +have been demonstrated by an incident which started Doctor Burq, a Frenchman, +upon a scientific inquiry which lasted many years. “While practising as a young +doctor, he had one day been obliged to go out and had deemed it advisable to +lock up a patient in his absence. Just as he was leaving the house he heard the +sound as of a body suddenly falling. He hurried back into the room and found +his patient in a state of catalepsy. Monsieur Burq was at that time studying +magnetism, and he at once sought for the cause of this phenomenon. He noticed +that the door-handle was of copper. The next day he wrapped a glove around the +handle, again shut the patient in, and this time nothing occurred. He +interrogated the patient, but she could give him no explanation. He then tried +the effect of copper on all the subjects at the Salpetriere and the Cochin +hospitals, and found that a great number were affected by it.” +</p> + +<p> +At the Charity hospital in Paris, Doctor Luys used an apparatus moved by +clockwork. Doctor Foveau, one of his pupils, thus describes it: +</p> + +<p> +“The hypnotic state, generally produced by the contemplation of a bright spot, +a lamp, or the human eye, is in his case induced by a peculiar kind of mirror. +The mirrors are made of pieces of wood cut prismatically in which fragments of +mirrors are incrusted. They are generally double and placed crosswise, and by +means of clockwork revolve automatically. They are the same as sportsmen use to +attract larks, the rays of the sun being caught and reflected on every side and +from all points of the horizon. If the little mirrors in each branch are placed +in parallel lines in front of a patient, and the rotation is rapid, the optic +organ soon becomes fatigued, and a calming soothing somnolence ensues. At first +it is not a deep sleep, the eye-lids are scarcely heavy, the drowsiness slight +and restorative. By degrees, by a species of training, the hypnotic sleep +differs more and more from natural sleep, the individual abandons himself more +and more completely, and falls into one of the regular phases of hypnotic +sleep. Without a word, without a suggestion or any other action, Dr. Luys has +made wonderful cures. Wecker, the occulist, has by the same means entirely +cured spasms of the eye-lids.” +</p> + +<p> +Professor Delboeuf gives the following account of how the famous Liebault +produced hypnotism at the hospital at Nancy. We would especially ask the reader +to note what he says of Dr. Liebault’s manner and general bearing, for without +doubt much of his success was due to his own personality. Says Professor +Delboeuf: +</p> + +<p> +“His modus faciendi has something ingenious and simple about it, enhanced by a +tone and air of profound conviction; and his voice has such fervor and warmth +that he carries away his clients with him. +</p> + +<p> +“After having inquired of the patient what he is suffering from, without any +further or closer examination, he places his hand on the patient’s forehead +and, scarcely looking at him, says, ‘You are going to sleep.’ Then, almost +immediately, he closes the eyelids, telling him that he is asleep. After that +he raises the patient’s arm, and says, ‘You cannot put your arm down.’ If he +does, Dr. Liebault appears hardly to notice it. He then turns the patient’s arm +around, confidently affirming that the movement cannot be stopped, and saying +this he turns his own arms rapidly around, the patient remaining all the time +with his eyes shut; then the doctor talks on without ceasing in a loud and +commanding voice. The suggestions begin: +</p> + +<p> +“‘You are going to be cured; your digestion will be good, your sleep quiet, +your cough will stop, your circulation will become free and regular; you are +going to feel very strong and well, you will be able to walk about,’ etc., etc. +He hardly ever varies the speech. Thus he fires away at every kind of disease +at once, leaving it to the client to find out his own. No doubt he gives some +special directions, according to the disease the patient is suffering from, but +general instructions are the chief thing. +</p> + +<p> +“The same suggestions are repeated a great many times to the same person, and, +strange to say, notwithstanding the inevitable monotony of the speeches, and +the uniformity of both style and voice, the master’s tone is so ardent, so +penetrating, so sympathetic, that I have never once listened to it without a +feeling of intense admiration.” +</p> + +<p> +The Hindoos produce sleep simply by sitting on the ground and, fixing their +eyes steadily on the subject, swaying the body in a sort of writhing motion +above the hips. By continuing this steadily and in perfect silence for ten or +fifteen minutes before a large audience, dozens can be put to sleep at one +time. In all cases, freedom from noise or distractive incidents is essential to +success in hypnotism, for concentration must be produced. +</p> + +<p> +Certain French operators maintain that hypnotism may be produced by pressure on +certain hypnogenic points or regions of the body. Among these are the +eye-balls, the crown of the head, the back of the neck and the upper bones of +the spine between the shoulder glades. Some persons may be hypnotized by gently +pressing on the skin at the base of the finger-nails, and at the root of the +nose; also by gently scratching the neck over the great nerve center. +</p> + +<p> +Hypnotism is also produced by sudden noise, as if by a Chinese gong, etc. +</p> + +<h3>HOW TO WAKE A SUBJECT FROM HYPNOTIC SLEEP.</h3> + +<p> +This is comparatively easy in moot cases. Most persons will awake naturally at +the end of a few minutes, or will fall into a natural sleep from which in an +hour or two they will awake refreshed. Usually the operator simply says to the +subject, “All right, wake up now,” and claps his hands or makes some other +decided noise. In some cases it is sufficient to say, “You will wake up in five +minutes”; or tell a subject to count twelve and when he gets to ten say, “Wake +up.” +</p> + +<p> +Persons in the lethargic state are not susceptible to verbal suggestions, but +may be awakened by lifting both eyelids. +</p> + +<p> +It is said that pressure on certain regions will wake the subject, just as +pressure in certain other places will put the subject to sleep. Among these +places for awakening are the ovarian regions. +</p> + +<p> +Some writers recommend the application of cold water to awaken subjects, but +this is rarely necessary. In olden times a burning coal was brought near. +</p> + +<p> +If hypnotism was produced by passes, then wakening may be brought about by +passes in the opposite direction, or with the back of the hand toward the +subject. +</p> + +<p> +The only danger is likely to be found in hysterical persons. They will, if +aroused, often fall off again into a helpless state, and continue to do so for +some time to come. It is dangerous to hypnotize such subjects. +</p> + +<p> +Care should be taken to awaken the subject very thoroughly before leaving him, +else headache, nausea, or the like may follow, with other unpleasant effects. +In all cases subjects should be treated gently and with the utmost +consideration, as if the subject and operator were the most intimate friends. +</p> + +<p> +It is better that the person who induces hypnotic sleep should awaken the +subject. Others cannot do it so easily, though as we have said, subjects +usually awaken themselves after a short time. +</p> + +<p> +Further description of the method of producing hypnotism need not be given; but +it is proper to add that in addition to the fact that not more than one person +out of three can be hypnotized at all, even by an experienced operator, to +effect hypnotization except in a few cases requires a great deal of patience, +both on the part of the operator and of the subject. It may require half a +dozen or more trials before any effect at all can be produced, although in some +cases the effect will come within a minute or two. After a person has been once +hypnotized, hypnotization is much easier. The most startling results are to be +obtained only after a long process of training on the part of the subject. +Public hypnotic entertainments, and even those given at the hospitals in Paris, +would be quite impossible if trained subjects were not at hand; and in the case +of the public hypnotizer, the proper subjects are hired and placed in the +audience for the express purpose of coming forward when called for. The success +of such an entertainment could not otherwise be guaranteed. In many cases, +also, this training of subjects makes them deceivers. They learn to imitate +what they see, and since their living depends upon it, they must prove hypnotic +subjects who can always be depended upon to do just what is wanted. We may add, +however, that what they do is no more than an imitation of the real thing. +There is no grotesque manifestation on the stage, even if it is a pure fake, +which could not be matched by more startling facts taken from undoubted +scientific experience. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter2"></a>CHAPTER II.<br/> +AMUSING EXPERIMENTS.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Hypnotizing on the Stage—“You Can’t Pull Your Hands Apart”—Post Hypnotic +Suggestion—The News boy, the Hunter, and the Young Man with the Rag Doll—A Whip +Becomes Hot Iron—Courting a Broomstick—The Side Show. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now describe some of the manifestations of hypnotism, to see just how it +operates and how it exhibits itself. The following is a description of a public +performance given by Dr. Herbert L. Flint, a very successful public operator. +It is in the language of an eye-witness—a New York lawyer. +</p> + +<p> +In response to a call for volunteers, twenty young and middle-aged men came +upon the stage. They evidently belonged to the great middle-class. The +entertainment commenced by Dr. Flint passing around the group, who were seated +on the stage in a semicircle facing the audience, and stroking each one’s head +and forehead, repeating the phrases, “Close your eyes. Think of nothing but +sleep. You are very tired. You are drowsy. You feel very sleepy.” As he did +this, several of the volunteers closed their eyes at once, and one fell asleep +immediately. One or two remained awake, and these did not give themselves up to +the influence, but rather resisted it. +</p> + +<p> +When the doctor had completed his round and had manipulated all the volunteers, +some of those influenced were nodding, some were sound asleep, while a few were +wide awake and smiling at the rest. These latter were dismissed as unlikely +subjects. +</p> + +<p> +When the stage had been cleared of all those who were not responsive, the +doctor passed around, and, snapping his finger at each individual, awoke him. +One of the subjects when questioned afterward as to what sensation he +experienced at the snapping of the fingers, replied that it seemed to him as if +something inside of his head responded, and with this sensation he regained +self-consciousness. (This is to be doubted. As a rule, subjects in this stage +of hypnotism do not feel any sensation that they can remember, and do not +become self-conscious.) +</p> + +<p> +The class was now apparently wide awake, and did not differ in appearance from +their ordinary state. The doctor then took each one and subjected him to a +separate physical test, such as sealing the eyes, fastening the hands, +stiffening the fingers, arms, and legs, producing partial catalepsy and causing +stuttering and inability to speak. In those possessing strong imaginations, he +was able to produce hallucinations, such as feeling mosquito bites, suffering +from toothache, finding the pockets filled and the hands covered with molasses, +changing identity, and many similar tests. +</p> + +<p> +The doctor now asked each one to clasp his hands in front of him, and when all +had complied with the request, he repeated the phrase, “Think your hands so +fast that you can’t pull them apart. They are fast. You cannot pull them apart. +Try. You can’t.” The whole class made frantic efforts to unclasp their hands, +but were unable to do so. The doctor’s explanation of this is, that what they +were really doing was to force their hands closer together, thus obeying the +counter suggestion. That they thought they were trying to unclasp their hands +was evident from their endeavors. +</p> + +<p> +The moment he made them desist, by snapping his fingers, the spell was broken. +It was most astonishing to see that as each one awoke, he seemed to be fully +cognizant of the ridiculous position in which his comrades were placed, and to +enjoy their confusion and ludicrous attitudes. The moment, however, he was +commanded to do things equally absurd, he obeyed. While, therefore, the class +appeared to be free agents, they are under hypnotic control. +</p> + +<p> +One young fellow, aged about eighteen, said that he was addicted to the +cigarette habit. The suggestion was made to him that he would not be able to +smoke a cigarette for twenty-four hours. After the entertainment he was asked +to smoke, as was his usual habit. He was then away from any one who could +influence him. He replied that the very idea was repugnant. However, he was +induced to take a cigarette in his mouth, but it made him ill and he flung it +away with every expression of disgust. *This is an instance of what is called +post-hypnotic suggestion. Dr. Cocke tells of suggesting to a drinker whom he +was trying to cure of the habit that for the next three days anything he took +would make him vomit; the result followed as suggested. +</p> + +<p> +The same phenomena that was shown in unclasping the hands, was next exhibited +in commanding the subjects to rotate them. They immediately began and twirled +them faster and faster, in spite of their efforts to stop. One of the subjects +said he thought of nothing but the strange action of his hands, and sometimes +it puzzled him to know why they whirled. +</p> + +<p> +At this point Dr. Flint’s daughter took charge of the class. She pointed her +finger at one of them, and the subject began to look steadily before him, at +which the rest of the class were highly amused. Presently the subject’s head +leaned forward, the pupils of his eyes dilated and assumed a peculiar glassy +stare. He arose with a steady, gliding gait and walked up to the lady until his +nose touched her hand. Then he stopped. Miss Flint led him to the front of the +stage and left him standing in profound slumber. He stood there, stooping, eyes +set, and vacant, fast asleep. In the meantime the act had caused great laughter +among the rest of the class. One young fellow in particular, laughed so +uproariously that tears coursed down his cheeks, and he took out his +handkerchief to wipe his eyes. Just as he was returning it to his pocket, the +lady suddenly pointed a finger at him. She was in the center of the stage, +fully fifteen feet away from the subject, but the moment the gesture was made, +his countenance fell, his mirth stopped, while that of his companions +redoubled, and the change was so obvious that the audience shared in the +laughter—but the subject neither saw nor heard. His eyes assumed the same +expression that had been noticed in his companion’s. He, too, arose in the same +attitude, as if his head were pulling the body along, and following the finger +in the same way as his predecessor, was conducted to the front of the stage by +the side of the first subject. This was repeated on half a dozen subjects, and +the manifestations were the same in each case. Those selected were now drawn up +in an irregular line in front of the stage, their eyes fixed on vacancy, their +heads bent forward, perfectly motionless. Each was then given a suggestion. One +was to be a newsboy, and sell papers. Another was given a broomstick and told +to hunt game in the woods before him. Another was given a large rag doll and +told that it was an infant, and that he must look among the audience and +discover the father. He was informed that he could tell who the father was by +the similarity and the color of the eyes. +</p> + +<p> +These suggestions were made in a loud tone, Miss Flint being no nearer one +subject than another. The bare suggestion was given, as, “Now, think that you +are a newsboy, and are selling papers,” or, “Now think that you are hunting and +are going into the woods to shoot birds.” +</p> + +<p> +So the party was started at the same time into the audience. The one who was +impersonating a newsboy went about crying his edition in a loud voice; while +the hunter crawled along stealthily and carefully. The newsboy even adopted the +well-worn device of asking those whom he solicited to buy to help him get rid +of his stock. One man offered him a cent, when the price was two cents. The +newsboy chaffed the would-be purchaser. He sarcastically asked him if he +“didn’t want the earth.” +</p> + +<p> +The others did what they had been told to do in the same earnest, +characteristic way. +</p> + +<p> +After this performance, the class was again seated in a semicircle, and Miss +Flint selected one of them, and, taking him into the center of the stage, +showed him a small riding whip. He looked at it indifferently enough. He was +told it was a hot bar of iron, but he shook his head, still incredulous. The +suggestion was repeated, and as the glazed look came into his eyes, the +incredulous look died out. Every member of the class was following the +suggestion made to the subject in hand. All of them had the same expression in +their eyes. The doctor said that his daughter was hypnotizing the whole class +through this one individual. +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke she lightly touched the subject with the end of the whip. The +moment the subject felt the whip he jumped and shrieked as if it really were a +hot iron. She touched each one of the class in succession, and every one +manifested the utmost pain and fear. One subject sat down on the floor and +cried in dire distress. Others, when touched, would tear off their clothing or +roll up their sleeves. One young man was examined by a physician present just +after the whip had been laid across his shoulders, and a long red mark was +found, just such a one as would have been made by a real hot iron. The doctor +said that, had the suggestion been continued, it would undoubtedly have raised +a blister. +</p> + +<p> +One of the amusing experiments tried at a later time was that of a tall young +man, diffident, pale and modest, being given a broom carefully wrapped in a +sheet, and told that it was his sweetheart. He accepted the situation and sat +down by the broom. He was a little sheepish at first, but eventually he grew +bolder, and smiled upon her such a smile as Malvolio casts upon Olivia. The +manner in which, little by little, he ventured upon a familiar footing, was +exceedingly funny; but when, in a moment of confident response to his wooing, +he clasped her round the waist and imprinted a chaste kiss upon the brushy part +of the broom, disguised by the sheet, the house resounded with roars of +laughter. The subject, however, was deaf to all of the noise. He was absorbed +in his courtship, and he continued to hug the broom, and exhibit in his +features that idiotic smile that one sees only upon the faces of lovers and +bridegrooms. “All the world loves a lover,” as the saying is, and all the world +loves to laugh at him. +</p> + +<p> +One of the subjects was told that the head of a man in the audience was on +fire. He looked for a moment, and then dashed down the platform into the +audience, and, seizing the man’s head, vigorously rubbed it. As this did not +extinguish the flames, he took off his coat and put the fire out. In doing +this, he set his coat on fire, when he trampled it under foot. Then he calmly +resumed his garment and walked back to the stage. +</p> + +<p> +The “side-show” closed the evening’s entertainment. A young man was told to +think of himself as managing a side-show at a circus. When his mind had +absorbed this idea he was ordered to open his exhibition. He at once mounted a +table, and, in the voice of the traditional side-show fakir, began to dilate +upon the fat woman and the snakes, upon the wild man from Borneo, upon the +learned pig, and all the other accessories of side-shows. He went over the +usual characteristic “patter,” getting more and more in earnest, assuring his +hearers that for the small sum of ten cents they could see more wonders than +ever before had been crowded under one canvas tent. He harangued the crowd as +they surged about the tent door. He pointed to a suppositious canvas picture. +He “chaffed” the boys. He flattered the vanity of the young fellows with their +girls, telling them that they could not afford, for the small sum of ten cents, +to miss this great show. He made change for his patrons. He indulged in side +remarks, such as “This is hot work.” He rolled up his sleeves and took off his +collar and necktie, all of the time expatiating upon the merits of the freaks +inside of his tent. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter3"></a>CHAPTER III.<br/> +THE STAGES OF HYPNOTISM.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Lethargy—Catalepsy—The Somnambulistic Stage—Fascination. +</p> + +<p> +We have just given some of the amusing experiments that may be performed with +subjects in one of the minor stages of hypnotism. But there are other stages +which give entirely different manifestations. For a scientific classification +of these we are indebted to Professor Charcot, of the Salpetriere hospital in +Paris, to whom, next to Mesmer and Braid, we are indebted for the present +science of hypnotism. He recognized three distinct stages—lethargy, catalepsy +and somnambulism. There is also a condition of extreme lethargy, a sort of +trance state, that lasts for days and even weeks, and, indeed, has been known +to last for years. There is also a lighter phase than somnambulism, that is +called fascination. Some doctors, however, place it between catalepsy and +somnambulism. Each of these stages is marked by quite distinct phenomena. We +give them as described by a pupil of Dr. Charcot. +</p> + +<h3>LETHARGY.</h3> + +<p> +This is a state of absolute inert sleep. If the method of Braid is used, and a +bright object is held quite near the eyes, and the eyes are fixed upon it, the +subject squints, the eyes become moist and bright, the look fixed, and the +pupils dilated. This is the cataleptic stage. If the object is left before the +eyes, lethargy is produced. There are also many other ways of producing +lethargy, as we have seen in the chapter “How to Hypnotize.” +</p> + +<p> +One of the marked characteristics of this stage of hypnotism is the tendency of +the muscles to contract, under the influence of the slightest touch, friction, +pressure or massage, or even that of a magnet placed at a distance. The +contraction disappears only by the repetition of that identical means that +called it into action. Dr. Courmelles gives the following illustration: +</p> + +<p> +“If the forearm is rubbed a little above the palm of the hand, this latter +yields and bends at an acute angle. The subject may be suspended by the hand, +and the body will be held up without relaxation, that is, without returning to +the normal condition. To return to the normal state, it suffices to rub the +antagonistic muscles, or, in ordinary terms, the part diametrically opposed to +that which produced the phenomenon; in this case, the forearm a little above +the hands. It is the same for any other part of the body.” +</p> + +<p> +The subject appears to be in a deep sleep, the eyes are either closed or half +closed, and the face is without expression. The body appears to be in a state +of complete collapse, the head is thrown back, and the arms and legs hang +loose, dropping heavily down. In this stage insensibility is so complete that +needles can be run into any part of the body without producing pain, and +surgical operations may be performed without the slightest unpleasant effect. +</p> + +<p> +This stage lasts usually but a short time, and the patient, under ordinary +conditions, will pass upward into the stage of catalepsy, in which he opens his +eyes. If the hypnotism is spontaneous, that is, if it is due to a condition of +the nervous organism which has produced it without any outside aid, we have the +condition of prolonged trance, of which many cases have been reported. Until +the discovery of hypnotism these strange trances were little understood, and +people were even buried alive in them. A few instances reported by medical men +will be interesting. There is one reported in 1889 by a noted French physician. +Said he: +</p> + +<p> +“There is at this moment in the hospital at Mulhouse a most interesting case. A +young girl twenty-two years of age has been asleep here for the last twelve +days. Her complexion is fresh and rosy, her breathing quite normal, and her +features unaltered. +</p> + +<p> +“No organ seems attacked; all the vital functions are performed as in the +waking state. She is fed with milk, broth and wine, which is given her in a +spoon. Her mouth even sometimes opens of itself at the contact of the spoon, +and she swallows without the slightest difficulty. At other times the gullet +remains inert. +</p> + +<p> +“The whole body is insensible. The forehead alone presents, under the action of +touch or of pricks, some reflex phenomena. However, by a peculiarity, which is +extremely interesting, she seems, by the intense horror she shows for ether, to +retain a certain amount of consciousness and sensibility. If a drop of ether is +put into her mouth her face contracts and assumes an expression of disgust. At +the same moment her arms and legs are violently agitated, with the kind of +impatient motion that a child displays when made to swallow some hated dose of +medicine. +</p> + +<p> +“In the intellectual relations the brain is not absolutely obscure, for on her +mother’s coming to see her the subject’s face became highly colored, and tears +appeared on the tips of her eyelashes, without, however, in any other way +disturbing her lethargy. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing has yet been able to rouse her from this torpor, which will, no doubt, +naturally disappear at a given moment. She will then return to conscious life +as she quitted it. It is probable that she will not retain any recollection of +her present condition, that all notion of time will fail her, and that she will +fancy it is only the day following her usual nightly slumber, a slumber which, +in this case, has been transformed into a lethargic sleep, without any rigidity +of limbs or convulsions. +</p> + +<p> +“Physically, the sleeper is of a middle size, slender, strong and pretty, +without distinctive characteristic. Mentally, she is lively, industrious, +sometimes whimsical, and subject to slight nervous attacks.” +</p> + +<p> +There is a pretty well-authenticated report of a young girl who, on May 30, +1883, after an intense fright, fell into a lethargic condition which lasted for +four years. Her parents were poor and ignorant, but, as the fame of the case +spread abroad, some physicians went to investigate it in March, 1887. Her sleep +had never been interrupted. On raising the eyelids, the doctors found the eyes +turned convulsively upward, but, blowing upon them, produced no reflex movement +of the lids. Her jaws were closed tightly, and the attempt to open her mouth +had broken off some of the teeth level with the gums. The muscles contracted at +the least breath or touch, and the arms remained in position when uplifted. The +contraction of the muscles is a sign of the lethargic state, but the arm, +remaining in position, indicates the cataleptic state. The girl was kept alive +by liquid nourishment poured into her mouth. +</p> + +<p> +There are on record a large number of cases of persons who have slept for +several months. +</p> + +<p> +CATALEPSY. +</p> + +<p> +The next higher stage of hypnotism is that of catalepsy. Patients may be thrown +into it directly, or patients in the lethargic state may be brought into it by +lifting the eyelids. It seems that the light penetrating the eyes, and +affecting the brain, awakens new powers, for the cataleptic state has phenomena +quite peculiar to itself. +</p> + +<p> +Nearly all the means for producing hypnotism will, if carried to just the right +degree, produce catalepsy. For instance, besides the fixing of the eye on a +bright object, catalepsy may be produced by a sudden sound, as of a Chinese +gong, a tom-tom or a whistle, the vibration of a tuning-fork, or thunder. If a +solar spectrum is suddenly brought into a dark room it may produce catalepsy, +which is also produced by looking at the sun, or a lime light, or an electric +light. +</p> + +<p> +In this state the patient has become perfectly rigidly fixed in the position in +which he happens to be when the effect is produced, whether sitting, standing, +kneeling, or the like; and this face has an expression of fear. The arms or +legs may be raised, but if left to themselves will not drop, as in lethargy. +The eyes are wide open, but the look is fixed and impassive. The fixed position +lasts only a few minutes, however, when the subject returns to a position of +relaxation, or drops back into the lethargic state. +</p> + +<p> +If the muscles, nerves or tendons are rubbed or pressed, paralysis may be +produced, which, however, is quickly removed by the use of electricity, when +the patient awakes. By manipulating the muscles the most rigid contraction may +be produced, until the entire body is in such a state of corpse-like rigidity +that a most startling experiment is possible. The subject may be placed with +his head upon the back of one chair and his heels on the back of another, and a +heavy man may sit upon him without seemingly producing any effect, or even +heavy rock may be broken on the subject’s body. +</p> + +<p> +Messieurs Binet and Fere, pupils of the Salpetriere school, describe the action +of magnets on cataleptic subjects, as follows: +</p> + +<p> +“The patient is seated near a table, on which a magnet has been placed, the +left elbow rests on the arm of the chair, the forearm and hand vertically +upraised with thumb and index finger extended, while the other fingers remain +half bent. On the right side the forearm and hand are stretched on the table, +and the magnet is placed under a linen cloth at a distance of about two inches. +After a couple of minutes the right index begins to tremble and rise up; on the +left side the extended fingers bend down, and the hand remains limp for an +instant. The right hand and forearm rise up and assume the primitive position +of the left hand, which is now stretched out on the arm of the chair, with the +waxen pliability that pertains to the cataleptic state.” +</p> + +<p> +An interesting experiment may be tried by throwing a patient into lethargy on +one side and catalepsy on the other. To induce what is called hemi-lethargy and +hemi-catalepsy is not difficult. First, the lethargic stage is induced, then +one eyelid is raised, and that side alone becomes cataleptic, and may be +operated on in various interesting ways. The arm on that side, for instance, +will remain raised when lifted, while the arm on the other side will fall +heavily. +</p> + +<p> +Still more interesting is the intellectual condition of the subject. Some great +man has remarked that if he wished to know what a person was thinking of, he +assumed the exact position and expression of that person, and soon he would +begin to feel and think just as the other was thinking and feeling. Look a part +and you will soon begin to feel it. +</p> + +<p> +In the cataleptic subject there is a close relation between the attitude the +subject assumes and the intellectual manifestation. In the somnambulistic stage +patients are manipulated by speaking to them; in the cataleptic stage they are +equally under the will of the operator; but now he controls them by gesture. +Says Dr. Courmelles, from his own observation: “The emotions in this stage are +made at command, in the true acceptation of the word, for they are produced, +not by orders verbally expressed, but by expressive movements. If the hands are +opened and drawn close to the mouth, as when a kiss is wafted, the mouth +smiles. If the arms are extended and half bent at the elbows, the countenance +assumes an expression of astonishment. The slightest variation of movement is +reflected in the emotions. If the fists are closed, the brow contracts and the +face expresses anger. If a lively or sad tune is played, if amusing or +depressing pictures are shown, the subject, like a faithful mirror, at once +reflects these impressions. If a smile is produced it can be seen to diminish +and disappear at the same time as the hand is moved away, and again to reappear +and increase when it is once more brought near. Better still, a double +expression can be imparted to the physiognomy, by approaching the left hand to +the left side of the mouth, the left side of the physiognomy will smile, while +at the same time, by closing the right hand, the right eyebrow will frown. The +subject can be made to send kisses, or to turn his hands round each other +indefinitely. If the hand is brought near the nose it will blow; if the arms +are stretched out they will remain extended, while the head will be bowed with +a marked expression of pain.” +</p> + +<p> +Heidenhain was able to take possession of the subject’s gaze and control him by +sight, through producing mimicry. He looks fixedly at the patient till the +patient is unable to take his eyes away. Then the patient will copy every +movement he makes. If he rises and goes backward the patient will follow, and +with his right hand he will imitate the movements of the operator’s left, as if +he were a mirror. The attitudes of prayer, melancholy, pain, disdain, anger or +fear, may be produced in this manner. +</p> + +<p> +The experiments of Donato, a stage hypnotizer, are thus described: “After +throwing the subjects into catalepsy he causes soft music to be played, which +produces a rapturous expression. If the sound is heightened or increased, the +subjects seem to receive a shock and a feeling of disappointment. The artistic +sense developed by hypnotism is disturbed; the faces express astonishment, +stupefaction and pain. If the same soft melody be again resumed, the same +expression of rapturous bliss reappears in the countenance. The faces become +seraphic and celestial when the subjects are by nature handsome, and when the +subjects are ordinary looking, even ugly, they are idealized as by a special +kind of beauty.” +</p> + +<p> +The strange part of all this is, that on awaking, the patient has no +recollection of what has taken place, and careful tests have shown that what +appear to be violent emotions, such as in an ordinary state would produce a +quickened pulse and heavy breathing, create no disturbance whatever in the +cataleptic subject; only the outer mask is in motion. +</p> + +<p> +“Sometimes the subjects lean backward with all the grace of a perfect +equilibrist, freeing themselves from the ordinary mechanical laws. The +curvature will, indeed, at times be so complete that the head will touch the +floor and the body describe a regular arc. +</p> + +<p> +“When a female subject assumes an attitude of devotion, clasps her hands, turns +her eyes upward and lisps out a prayer, she presents an admirably artistic +picture, and her features and expression seem worthy of being reproduced on +canvas.” +</p> + +<p> +We thus see what a perfect automaton the human body may become. There appears, +however, to be a sort of unconscious memory, for a familiar object will seem to +suggest spontaneously its ordinary use. Thus, if a piece of soap is put into a +cataleptic patient’s hands; he will move it around as though he thought he were +washing them, and if there is any water near he will actually wash them. The +sight of an umbrella makes him shiver as if he were in a storm. Handing such a +person a pen will not make him write, but if a letter is dictated to him out +loud he will write in an irregular hand. The subject may also be made to sing, +scream or speak different languages with which he is entirely unfamiliar. This +is, however, a verging toward the somnambulistic stage, for in deep catalepsy +the patient does not speak or hear. The state is produced by placing the hands +on the head, the forehead, or nape of the neck. +</p> + +<h3>THE SOMNAMBULISTIC STAGE.</h3> + +<p> +This is the stage or phase of hypnotism nearest the waking, and is the only one +that can be produced in some subjects. Patients in the cataleptic state can be +brought into the somnambulistic by rubbing the top of the head. To all +appearances, the patient is fully awake, his eyes are open, and he answers when +spoken to, but his voice does not have the same sound as when awake. Yet, in +this state the patient is susceptible of all the hallucinations of insanity +which may be induced at the verbal command of the operator. +</p> + +<p> +One of the most curious features of this stage of hypnotism is the effect on +the memory. Says Monsieur Richet: “I send V——— to sleep. I recite some verses +to her, and then I awake her. She remembers nothing. I again send her to sleep, +and she remembers perfectly the verses I recited. I awake her, and she has +again forgotten everything.” +</p> + +<p> +It appears, however, that if commanded to remember on awaking, a patient may +remember. +</p> + +<p> +The active sense, and the memory as well, appears to be in an exalted state of +activity during this phase of hypnotism. Says M. Richet: “M—— -, who will sing +the air of the second act of the Africaine in her sleep, is incapable of +remembering a single note of it when awake.” Another patient, while under this +hypnotic influence, could remember all he had eaten for several days past, but +when awake could remember very little. Binet and Fere caused one of their +subjects to remember the whole of his repasts for eight days past, though when +awake he could remember nothing beyond two or three days. A patient of Dr. +Charcot, who when she was two years old had seen Dr. Parrot in the children’s +hospital, but had not seen him since, and when awake could not remember him, +named him at once when he entered during her hypnotic sleep. M. Delboeuf tells +of an experiment he tried, in which the patient did remember what had taken +place during the hypnotic condition, when he suddenly awakened her in the midst +of the hallucination; as, for instance, he told her the ashes from the cigar he +was smoking had fallen on her handkerchief and had set it on fire, whereupon +she at once rose and threw the handkerchief into the water. Then, suddenly +awakened, she remembered the whole performance. +</p> + +<p> +In the somnambulistic stage the patient is no longer an automaton merely, but a +real personality, “an individual with his own character, his likes and +dislikes.” The tone of the voice of the operator seems to have quite as much +effect as his words. If he speaks in a grave and solemn tone, for instance, +even if what he utters is nonsense, the effect is that of a deeply tragic +story. +</p> + +<p> +The will of another is not so easily implanted as has been claimed. While a +patient will follow almost any suggestion that may be offered, he readily obeys +only commands which are in keeping with his character. If he is commanded to do +something he dislikes or which in the waking state would be very repugnant to +him, he hesitates, does it very reluctantly, and in extreme cases refuses +altogether, often going into hysterics. It was found at the Charity hospital +that one patient absolutely refused to accept a cassock and become a priest. +One of Monsieur Richet’s patients screamed with pain the moment an amputation +was suggested, but almost immediately recognized that it was only a suggestion, +and laughed in the midst of her tears. Probably, however, this patient was not +completely hypnotized. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Dumontpallier was able to produce a very curious phenomenon. He suggested +to a female patient that with the right eye she could see a picture on a blank +card. On awakening she could, indeed, see the picture with the right eye, but +the left eye told her the card was blank. While she was in the somnambulistic +state he told her in her right ear that the weather was very fine, and at the +same time another person whispered in her left ear that it was raining. On the +right side of her face she had a smile, while the left angle of her lip dropped +as if she were depressed by the thought of the rain. Again, he describes a +dance and gay party in one ear, and another person mimics the barking of a dog +in the other. One side of her face in that case wears an amused expression, +while the other shows signs of alarm. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Charcot thus describes a curious experiment: “A portrait is suggested to a +subject as existing on a blank card, which is then mixed with a dozen others; +to all appearance they are similar cards. The subject, being awakened, is +requested to look over the packet, and does so without knowing the reason of +the request, but when he perceives the card on which the portrait was +suggested, he at once recognizes the imaginary portrait. It is probable that +some insignificant mark has, owing to his visual hyperacuity, fixed the image +in the subject’s brain.” +</p> + +<h3>FASCINATION.</h3> + +<p> +Says a recent French writer: “Dr. Bremand, a naval doctor, has obtained in men +supposed to be perfectly healthy a new condition, which he calls fascination. +The inventor considers that this is hypnotism in its mildest form, which, after +repeated experiments, might become catalepsy. The subject fascinated by Dr. +Bremaud—fascination being induced by the contemplation of a bright spot—falls +into a state of stupor. He follows the operator and servilely imitates his +movements, gestures and words; he obeys suggestions, and a stimulation of the +nerves induces contraction, but the cataleptic pliability does not exist.” +</p> + +<p> +A noted public hypnotizer in Paris some years ago produced fascination in the +following manner: He would cause the subject to lean on his hands, thus +fatiguing the muscles. The excitement produced by the concentrated gaze of a +large audience also assisted in weakening the nervous resistance. At last the +operator would suddenly call out: “Look at me!” The subject would look up and +gaze steadily into the operator’s eyes, who would stare steadily back with +round, glaring eyes, and in most cases subdue his victim. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter4"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +How the Subject Feels Under Hypnotization.—Dr. Cooper’s Experience.—Effect of +Music.—Dr. Alfred Marthieu’s Experiments. +</p> + +<p> +The sensations produced during a state of hypnosis are very interesting. As may +be supposed, they differ greatly in different persons. One of the most +interesting accounts ever given is that of Dr. James R. Cocke, a hypnotist +himself, who submitted to being operated upon by a professional magnetizer. He +was at that time a firm believer in the theory of personal magnetism (a +delusion from which he afterward escaped). +</p> + +<p> +On the occasion which he describes, the operator commanded him to close his +eyes and told him he could not open them, but he did open them at once. Again +he told him to close the eyes, and at the same time he gently stroked his head +and face and eyelids with his hand. Dr. Cocke fancied he felt a tingling +sensation in his forehead and eyes, which he supposed came from the hand of the +operator. (Afterward he came to believe that this sensation was purely +imaginary on his part.) +</p> + +<p> +Then he says: “A sensation akin to fear came over me. The operator said: ‘You +are going to sleep, you are getting sleepy. You cannot open your eyes.’ I was +conscious that my heart was beating rapidly, and I felt a sensation of terror. +He continued to tell me I was going to sleep, and could not open my eyes. He +then made passes over my head, down over my hands and body, but did not touch +me. He then said to me, ‘You cannot open your eyes.’ The motor apparatus of my +lids would not seemingly respond to my will, yet I was conscious that while one +part of my mind wanted to open my eyes, another part did not want to, so I was +in a paradoxical state. I believed that I could open my eyes, and yet could +not. The feeling of not wishing to open my eyes was not based upon any desire +to please the operator. I had no personal interest in him in any way, but, be +it understood, I firmly believed in his power to control me. He continued to +suggest to me that I was going to sleep, and the suggestion of terror +previously mentioned continued to increase.” +</p> + +<p> +The next step was to put the doctor’s hand over his head, and tell him he could +not put it down. Then he stroked the arm and said it was growing numb. He said: +“You have no feeling in it, have you?” Dr. Cocke goes on: “I said ‘No,’ and I +knew that I said ‘No,’ yet I knew that I had a feeling in it.” The operator +went on, pricking the arm with a pin, and though Dr. Cocke felt the pain he +said he did not feel it, and at the same time the sensation of terror +increased. “I was not conscious of my body at all,” he says further on, “but I +was painfully conscious of the two contradictory elements within me. I knew +that my body existed, but could not prove it to myself. I knew that the +statements made by the operator were in a measure untrue. I obeyed them +voluntarily and involuntarily. This is the last remembrance that I have of that +hypnotic experience.” +</p> + +<p> +After this, however, the operator caused the doctor to do a number of things +which he learned of from his friends after the performance was over. “It seemed +to me that the hypnotist commanded me to awake as soon as I dropped my arm,” +and yet ten minutes of unconsciousness had passed. +</p> + +<p> +On a subsequent occasion Dr. Cocke, who was blind, was put into a deep hypnotic +sleep by fixing his mind on the number 26 and holding up his hand. This time he +experienced a still greater degree of terror, and incidentally learned that he +could hypnotize himself. The matter of self-hypnotism we shall consider in +another chapter. +</p> + +<p> +In this connection we find great interest in an article in the Medical News, +July 28, 1894, by Dr. Alfred Warthin, of Ann Arbor, Mich., in which he +describes the effects of music upon hypnotic subjects. While in Vienna he took +occasion to observe closely the enthusiastic musical devotees as they sat in +the audience at the performance of one of Wagner’s operas. He believed they +were in a condition of self-induced hypnotism, in which their subjective +faculties were so exalted as to supersede their objective perceptions. Music +was no longer to them a succession of pleasing sounds, but the embodiment of a +drama in which they became so wrapped up that they forgot all about the +mechanical and external features of the music and lived completely in a fairy +world of dream. +</p> + +<p> +This observation suggested to him an interesting series of experiments. His +first subject was easily hypnotized, and of an emotional nature. Wagner’s “Ride +of Walkure” was played from the piano score. The pulse of the subject became +more rapid and at first of higher tension, increasing from a normal rate of 60 +beats a minute to 120. Then, as the music progressed, the tension diminished. +The respiration increased from 18 to 30 per minute. Great excitement in the +subject was evident. His whole body was thrown into motion, his legs were drawn +up, his arms tossed into the air, and a profuse sweat appeared. When the +subject had been awakened, he said that he did not remember the music as music, +but had an impression of intense, excitement, brought on by “riding furiously +through the air.” The state of mind brought up before him in the most realistic +and vivid manner possible the picture of the ride of Tam O’Shanter, which he +had seen years before. The picture soon became real to him, and he found +himself taking part in a wild chase, not as witch, devil, or Tam even; but in +some way his consciousness was spread through every part of the scene, being of +it, and yet playing the part of spectator, as is often the case in dreams. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Warthin tried the same experiment again, this time on a young man who was +not so emotional, and was hypnotized with much more difficulty. This subject +did not pass into such a deep state of hypnotism, but the result was +practically the same. The pulse rate rose from 70 to 120. The sensation +remembered was that of riding furiously through the air. +</p> + +<p> +The experiment was repeated on other subjects, in all cases with the same +result. Only one knew that the music was the “Ride of Walkure.” “To him it +always expressed the pictured wild ride of the daughters of Wotan, the subject +taking part in the ride.” It was noticeable in each case that the same music +played to them in the waking state produced no special impression. Here is +incontestable evidence that in the hypnotic state the perception of the special +senses is enormously heightened. +</p> + +<p> +A slow movement was tried (the Valhalla motif). At first it seemed to produce +the opposite effect, for the pulse was lowered. Later it rose to a rate double +the normal, and the tension was diminished. The impression described by the +subject afterward was a feeling of “lofty grandeur and calmness.” A mountain +climbing experience of years before was recalled, and the subject seemed to +contemplate a landscape of “lofty grandeur.” A different sort of music was +played (the intense and ghastly scene in which Brunhilde appears to summon +Sigmund to Valhalla). Immediately a marked change took place in the pulse. It +became slow and irregular, and very small. The respiration decreased almost to +gasping, the face grew pale, and a cold perspiration broke out. +</p> + +<p> +Readers who are especially interested in this subject will find descriptions of +many other interesting experiments in the same article. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Cocke describes a peculiar trick he played upon the sight of a subject. +Says he: “I once hypnotized a man and made him read all of his a’s as w’s, his +u’s as v’s, and his b’s as x’s. I added suggestion after suggestion so rapidly +that it would have been impossible for him to have remembered simply what I +said and call the letters as I directed. Stimulation was, in this case +impossible, as I made him read fifteen or twenty pages, he calling the letters +as suggested each time they occurred.” +</p> + +<p> +The extraordinary heightening of the sense perceptions has an important bearing +on the question of spiritualism and clairvoyance. If the powers of the mind are +so enormously increased, all that is required of a very sensitive and easily +hypnotized person is to hypnotize him or herself, when he will be able to read +thoughts and remember or perceive facts hidden to the ordinary perception. In +this connection the reader is referred to the confession of Mrs. Piper, the +famous medium of the American branch of the Psychical Research Society. The +confession will be found printed in full at the close of this book. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter5"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Self-Hypnotization.—How It may Be Done.—An Experience.—Accountable for +Children’s Crusade.—Oriental Prophets Self-Hypnotized. +</p> + +<p> +If self-hypnotism is possible (and it is true that a person can deliberately +hypnotize himself when he wishes to till he has become accustomed to it and is +expert in it, so to speak), it does away at a stroke with the claims of all +professional hypnotists and magnetic healers that they have any peculiar power +in themselves which they exert over their fellows. One of these professionals +gives an account in his book of what he calls “The Wonderful Lock Method.” He +says that though he is locked up in a separate room he can make the psychic +power work through the walls. All that he does is to put his subjects in the +way of hypnotizing themselves. He shows his inconsistency when he states that +under certain circumstances the hypnotizer is in danger of becoming hypnotized +himself. In this he makes no claim that the subject is using any psychic power; +but, of course, if the hypnotizer looks steadily into the eyes of his subject, +and the subject looks into his eyes, the steady gaze on a bright object will +produce hypnotism in one quite as readily as in the other. +</p> + +<p> +Hypnotism is an established scientific fact; but the claim that the hypnotizer +has any mysterious psychic power is the invariable mark of the charlatan. +Probably no scientific phenomenon was ever so grossly prostituted to base ends +as that of hypnotism. Later we shall see some of the outrageous forms this +charlatanism assumes, and how it extends to the professional subjects as well +as to the professional operators, till those subjects even impose upon +scientific men who ought to be proof against such deception. Moreover, the +possibility of self-hypnotization, carefully concealed and called by another +name, opens another great field of humbug and charlatanism, of which the +advertising columns of the newspapers are constantly filled—namely, that of the +clairvoyant and medium. We may conceive how such a profession might become +perfectly legitimate and highly useful; but at present it seems as if any +person who went into it, however honest he might be at the start, soon began to +deceive himself as well as others, until he lost his power entirely to +distinguish between fact and imagination. +</p> + +<p> +Before discussing the matter further, let us quote Dr. Cocke’s experiment in +hypnotizing himself. It will be remembered that a professional hypnotizer or +magnetizer had hypnotized him by telling him to fix his mind on the number +twenty-six and holding up his hand. Says the doctor: +</p> + +<p> +“In my room that evening it occurred to me to try the same experiment. I did +so. I kept the number twenty-six in my mind. In a few minutes I felt the +sensation of terror, but in a different way. I was intensely cold. My heart +seemed to stand still. I had ringing in my ears. My hair seemed to rise upon my +scalp. I persisted in the effort, and the previously mentioned noise in my ears +grew louder and louder. The roar became deafening. It crackled like a mighty +fire. I was fearfully conscious of myself. Having read vivid accounts of +dreams, visions, etc., it occurred to me that I would experience them. I felt +in a vague way that there were beings all about me but could not hear their +voices. I felt as though every muscle in my body was fixed and rigid. The roar +in my ears grew louder still, and I heard, above the roar, reports which +sounded like artillery and musketry. Then above the din of the noise a musical +chord. I seemed to be absorbed in this chord. I knew nothing else. The world +existed for me only in the tones of the mighty chord. Then I had a sensation as +though I were expanding. The sound in my ears died away, and yet I was not +conscious of silence. Then all consciousness was lost. The next thing I +experienced was a sensation of intense cold, and of someone roughly shaking me. +Then I heard the voice of my jolly landlord calling me by name.” +</p> + +<p> +The landlord had found the doctor “as white as a ghost and as limp as a rag,” +and thought he was dead. He says it took him ten minutes to arouse the sleeper. +During the time a physician had been summoned. +</p> + +<p> +As to the causes of this condition as produced Dr. Cocke says: “I firmly +believed that something would happen when the attempt was made to hypnotize me. +Secondly, I wished to be hypnotized. These, together with a vivid imagination +and strained attention, brought on the states which occurred.” +</p> + +<p> +It is interesting to compare the effects of hypnotization with those of opium +or other narcotic. Dr. Cocke asserts that there is a difference. His +descriptions of dreams bear a wonderful likeness to De Quincey’s dreams, such +as those described in “The English Mail-Coach,” “De Profundis,” and “The +Confessions of an English Opium Eater,” all of which were presumably due to +opium. +</p> + +<p> +The causes which Dr. Cocke thinks produced the hypnotic condition in his case, +namely, belief, desire to be hypnotized, and strained attention, united with a +vivid imagination, are causes which are often found in conjunction and produce +effects which we may reasonably explain on the theory of self-hypnotization. +</p> + +<p> +For instance, the effects of an exciting religious revival are very like those +produced by Mesmer’s operations in Paris. The subjects become hysterical, and +are ready to believe anything or do anything. By prolonging the operation, a +whole community becomes more or less hypnotized. In all such cases, however, +unusual excitement is commonly followed by unusual lethargy. It is much like a +wild spree of intoxication—in fact, it is a sort of intoxication. +</p> + +<p> +The same phenomena are probably accountable for many of the strange records of +history. The wonderful cures at Lourdes (of which we have read in Zola’s novel +of that name) are no doubt the effect of hypnotization by the priests. Some of +the strange movements of whole communities during the Crusades are to be +explained either on the theory of hypnotization or of contagion, and possibly +these two things will turn out to be much the same in fact. On no other ground +can we explain the so-called “Children’s Crusade,” in which over thirty +thousand children from Germany, from all classes of the community, tried to +cross the Alps in winter, and in their struggles were all lost or sold into +slavery without even reaching the Holy Land. +</p> + +<p> +Again, hypnotism is accountable for many of the poet’s dreams. Gazing steadily +at a bed of bright coals or a stream of running water will invariably throw a +sensitive subject into a hypnotic sleep that will last sometimes for several +hours. Dr. Cocke says that he has experimented in this direction with patients +of his. Says he: “They have the ability to resist the state or to bring it at +will. Many of them describe beautiful scenes from nature, or some mighty +cathedral with its lofty dome, or the faces of imaginary beings, beautiful or +demoniacal, according to the will and temper of the subject.” +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps the most wonderful example of self-hypnotism which we have in history +is that of the mystic Swedenborg, who saw, such strange things in his visions, +and at last came to believe in them as real. +</p> + +<p> +The same explanation may be given of the manifestations of Oriental +prophets—for in the Orient hypnotism is much easier and more systematically +developed than with us of the West. The performances of the dervishes, and also +of the fakirs, who wound themselves and perform many wonderful feats which +would be difficult for an ordinary person, are no doubt in part feats of +hypnotism. +</p> + +<p> +While in a condition of auto-hypnotization a person may imagine that he is some +other personality. Says Dr. Cocke: “A curious thing about those self-hypnotized +subjects is that they carry out perfectly their own ideals of the personality +with whom they believe themselves to be possessed. If their own ideals of the +part they are playing are imperfect, their impersonations are ridiculous in the +extreme. One man I remember believed himself to be controlled by the spirit of +Charles Sumner. Being uneducated, he used the most wretched English, and his +language was utterly devoid of sense. While, on the other hand, a very +intelligent lady who believed herself to be controlled by the spirit of +Charlotte Cushman personated the part very well.” +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Cooke says of himself: “I can hypnotize myself to such an extent that I +will become wholly unconscious of events taking place around me, and a long +interval of time, say from one-half to two hours, will be a complete blank. +During this condition of auto-hypnotization I will obey suggestions made to me +by another, talking rationally, and not knowing any event that has occurred +after the condition has passed off.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter6"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Simulation.—Deception in Hypnotism Very Common.—Examples of Neuropathic +Deceit.—Detecting Simulation.—Professional Subjects.—How Dr. Luys of the +Charity Hospital at Paris Was Deceived.—Impossibility of Detecting Deception in +All Cases.—Confessions of a Professional Hypnotic Subject. +</p> + +<p> +It has already been remarked that hypnotism and hysteria are conditions very +nearly allied, and that hysterical neuropathic individuals make the best +hypnotic subjects. Now persons of this character are in most cases morally as +well as physically degenerate, and it is a curious fact that deception seems to +be an inherent element in nearly all such characters. Expert doctors have been +thoroughly deceived. And again, persons who have been trying to expose frauds +have also been deceived by the positive statements of such persons that they +were deceiving the doctors when they were not. A diseased vanity seems to +operate in such cases and the subjects take any method which promises for the +time being to bring them into prominence. Merely to attract attention is a +mania with some people. +</p> + +<p> +There is also something about the study of hypnotism, and similar subjects in +which delusions constitute half the existence, that seems to destroy the +faculty for distinguishing between truth and delusion. Undoubtedly we must look +on such manifestations as a species of insanity. +</p> + +<p> +There is also a point at which the unconscious deceiver, for the sake of gain, +passes into the conscious deceiver. At the close of this chapter we will give +some cases illustrating the fact that persons may learn by practice to do +seemingly impossible things, such as holding themselves perfectly rigid (as in +the cataleptic state) while their head rests on one chair and their heels on +another, and a heavy person sits upon them. +</p> + +<p> +First, let us cite a few cases of what may be called neuropathic deceit—a kind +of insanity which shows itself in deceiving. The newspapers record similar +cases from time to time. The first two of the following are quoted by Dr. +Courmelles from the French courts, etc. +</p> + +<p> +1. The Comtesse de W— accused her maid of having attempted to poison her. The +case was a celebrated one, and the court-room was thronged with women who +sympathized with the supposed victim. The maid was condemned to death; but a +second trial was granted, at which it was conclusively proved that the Comtesse +had herself bound herself on her bed, and had herself poured out the poison +which was found still blackening her breast and lips. +</p> + +<p> +2. In 1886 a man called Ulysse broke into the shop of a second-hand dealer, +facing his own house in Paris, and there began deliberately to take away the +goods, just as if he were removing his own furniture. This he did without +hurrying himself in any way, and transported the property to his own premises. +Being caught in the very act of the theft, he seemed at first to be flurried +and bewildered. When arrested and taken to the lock-up, he seemed to be in a +state of abstraction; when spoken to he made no reply, seemed ready to fall +asleep, and when brought before the examining magistrate actually fell asleep. +Dr. Garnier, the medical man attached to the infirmary of the police +establishment, had no doubt of his irresponsibility and he was released from +custody. +</p> + +<p> +3. While engaged as police-court reporter for a Boston newspaper, the present +writer saw a number of strange cases of the same kind. One was that of a quiet, +refined, well educated lady, who was brought in for shop-lifting. Though her +husband was well to do, and she did not sell or even use the things she took, +she had made a regular business of stealing whenever she could. She had begun +it about seven months before by taking a lace handkerchief, which she slipped +under her shawl: Soon after she accomplished another theft. “I felt so +encouraged,” she said, “that I got a large bag, which I fastened under my +dress, and into this I slipped whatever I could take when the clerks were not +looking. I do not know what made me do it. My success seemed to lead me on.” +</p> + +<p> +Other cases of kleptomania could easily be cited. +</p> + +<p> +“Simulation,” say Messieurs Binet and Fere, “which is already a stumbling block +in the study of hysterical cases, becomes far more formidable in such studies +as we are now occupied with. It is only when he has to deal with physical +phenomena that the operator feels himself on firm ground.” +</p> + +<p> +Yet even here we can by no means feel certain. Physicians have invented various +ingenious pieces of apparatus for testing the circulation and other +physiological conditions; but even these things are not sure tests. The writer +knows of the case of a man who has such control over his heart and lungs that +he can actually throw himself into a profound sleep in which the breathing is +so absolutely stopped for an hour that a mirror is not moistened in the least +by the breath, nor can the pulses be felt. To all intents and purposes the man +appears to be dead; but in due time he comes to life again, apparently no whit +the worse for his experiment. +</p> + +<p> +If an ordinary person were asked to hold out his arms at full length for five +minutes he would soon become exhausted, his breathing would quicken, his +pulse-rate increase. It might be supposed that if these conditions did not +follow the subject was in a hypnotic trance; but it is well known that persons +may easily train themselves to hold out the arms for any length of time without +increasing the respiration by one breath or raising the pulse rate at all. We +all remember Montaigne’s famous illustration in which he said that if a woman +began by carrying a calf about every day she would still be able to carry it +when it became an ox. +</p> + +<p> +In the Paris hospitals, where the greater number of regular scientific +experiments have been conducted, it is found that “trained subjects” are +required for all of the more difficult demonstrations. That some of these +famous scientists have been deceived, there is no doubt. They know it +themselves. A case which will serve as an illustration is that of Dr. Luys, +some of whose operations were “exposed” by Dr. Ernest Hart, an English student +of hypnotism of a skeptical turn of mind. One of Dr. Luys’s pupils in a book he +has published makes the following statement, which helps to explain the +circumstances which we will give a little later. Says he: +</p> + +<p> +“We know that many hospital patients who are subjected to the higher or greater +treatment of hypnotism are of very doubtful reputations; we know also the +effects of a temperament which in them is peculiarly addicted to simulation, +and which is exaggerated by the vicinity of maladies similar to their own. To +judge of this, it is necessary to have seen them encourage each other in +simulation, rehearsing among themselves, or even before the medical students of +the establishment, the experiments to which they have been subjected; and going +through their different contortions and attitudes to exercise themselves in +them. And then, again, in the present day, has not the designation of an +‘hypnotical subject’ become almost a social position? To be fed, to be paid, +admired, exhibited in public, run after, and all the rest of it—all this is +enough to make the most impartial looker-on skeptical. But is it enough to +enable us to produce an a priori negation? Certainly not; but it is sufficient +to justify legitimate doubt. And when we come to moral phenomena, where we have +to put faith in the subject, the difficulty becomes still greater. Supposing +suggestion and hallucination to be granted, can they be demonstrated? Can we by +plunging the subject in hypnotical sleep, feel sure of what he may affirm? That +is impossible, for simulation and somnambulism are not reciprocally exclusive +terms, and Monsieur Pitres has established the fact that a subject who sleeps +may still simulate.” Messieurs Binet and Fere in their book speak of “the +honest Hublier, whom his somnambulist Emelie cheated for four years +consecutively.” +</p> + +<p> +Let us now quote Mr. Hart’s investigations. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Luys is an often quoted authority on hypnotism in Paris, and is at the head +of what is called the Charity Hospital school of hypnotical experiments. In +1892 he announced some startling results, in which some people still have faith +(more or less). What he was supposed to accomplish was stated thus in the +London Pall Mall Gazette, issue of December 2: “Dr. Luys then showed us how a +similar artificial state of suffering could be created without suggestion—in +fact, by the mere proximity of certain substances. A pinch of coal dust, for +example, corked and sealed in a small phial and placed by the side of the neck +of a hypnotized person, produces symptoms of suffocation by smoke; a tube of +distilled water, similarly placed, provokes signs of incipient hydrophobia; +while another very simple concoction put in contact with the flesh brings on +symptoms of suffocation by drowning.” +</p> + +<p> +Signs of drunkenness were said to be caused by a small corked bottle of brandy, +and the nature of a cat by a corked bottle of valerian. Patients also saw +beautiful blue flames about the north pole of a magnet and distasteful red +flames about the south pole; while by means of a magnet it was said that the +symptoms of illness of a sick patient might be transferred to a well person +also in the hypnotic state, but of course on awaking the well person at once +threw off sickness that had been transferred, but the sick person was +permanently relieved. These experiments are cited in some recent books on +hypnotism, apparently with faith. The following counter experiments will +therefore be read with interest. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Hart gives a full account of his investigations in the Nineteenth Century. +Dr. Luys gave Dr. Hart some demonstrations, which the latter describes as +follows: “A tube containing ten drachms of cognac were placed at a certain +point on the subject’s neck, which Dr. Luys said was the seat of the great +nerve plexuses. The effect on Marguerite was very rapid and marked; she began +to move her lips and to swallow; the expression of her face changed, and she +asked, ‘What have you been giving me to drink? I am quite giddy.’ At first she +had a stupid and troubled look; then she began to get gay. ‘I am ashamed of +myself,’ she said; ‘I feel quite tipsy,’ and after passing through some of the +phases of lively inebriety she began to fall from the chair, and was with +difficulty prevented from sprawling on the floor. She was uncomfortable, and +seemed on the point of vomiting, but this was stopped, and she was calmed.” +</p> + +<p> +Another patient gave all the signs of imagining himself transformed into a cat +when a small corked bottle of valerian was placed on his neck. +</p> + +<p> +In the presence of a number of distinguished doctors in Paris, Dr. Hart tried a +series of experiments in which by his conversation he gave the patient no clue +to exactly what drug he was using, in order that if the patient was simulating +he would not know what to simulate. Marguerite was the subject of several of +these experiments, one of which is described as follows: +</p> + +<p> +“I took a tube which was supposed to contain alcohol, but which did contain +cherry laurel water. Marguerite immediately began, to use the words of M. +Sajous’s note, to smile agreeably and then to laugh; she became gay. ‘It makes +me laugh,’ she said, and then, ‘I’m not tipsy, I want to sing,’ and so on +through the whole performance of a not ungraceful giserie, which we stopped at +that stage, for I was loth to have the degrading performance of drunkenness +carried to the extreme I had seen her go through at the Charite. I now applied +a tube of alcohol, asking the assistant, however, to give me valerian, which no +doubt this profoundly hypnotized subject perfectly well heard, for she +immediately went through the whole cat performance. She spat, she scratched, +she mewed, she leapt about on all fours, and she was as thoroughly cat-like as +had been Dr. Luys’s subjects.” +</p> + +<p> +Similar experiments as to the effect of magnets and electric currents were +tried. A note taken by Dr. Sajous runs thus: “She found the north pole, +notwithstanding there was no current, very pretty; she was as if she were +fascinated by it; she caressed the blue flames, and showed every sign of +delight. Then came the phenomena of attraction. She followed the magnet with +delight across the room, as though fascinated by it; the bar was turned so as +to present the other end or what would be called, in the language of La +Charite, the south pole. Then she fell into an attitude, of repulsion and +horror, with clenched fists, and as it approached her she fell backward into +the arms of M. Cremiere, and was carried, still showing all the signs of terror +and repulsion, back to her chair. The bar was again turned until what should +have been the north pole was presented to her. She again resumed the same +attitudes of attraction, and tears bedewed her cheeks. ‘Ah,’ she said, ‘it is +blue, the flame mounts,’ and she rose from her seat, following the magnet +around the room. Similar but false phenomena were obtained in succession with +all the different forms of magnet and non-magnet; Marguerite was never once +right, but throughout her acting was perfect; she was utterly unable at any +time really to distinguish between a plain bar of iron, demagnetized magnet or +a horseshoe magnet carrying a full current and one from which the current was +wholly cut off.” +</p> + +<p> +Five different patients were tested in the same way, through a long series of +experiments, with the same results, a practical proof that Dr. Luys had been +totally deceived and his new and wonderful discoveries amounted to nothing. +</p> + +<p> +There is, however, another possible explanation, namely, telepathy, in a real +hypnotic condition. Even if Dr. Luys’s experiments were genuine this would be +the rational explanation. They were a case of suggestion of some sort, without +doubt. +</p> + +<p> +Nearly every book on hypnotism gives various rules for detecting simulation of +the hypnotic state. One of the commonest tests is that of anaesthesia. A pin or +pen-knife is stuck into a subject to see if he is insensible to pain; but as we +shall see in a latter chapter, this insensibility also may be simulated, for by +long training some persons learn to control their facial expressions perfectly. +We have already seen that the pulse and respiration tests are not sufficient. +Hypnotic persons often flush slightly in the face; but it is true that there +are persons who can flush on any part of the body at will. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Ernest Hart had an article in the Century Magazine on “The Eternal +Gullible,” in which he gives the confessions of a professional hypnotic +subject. This person, whom he calls L., he brought to his house, where some +experiments were tried in the presence of a number of doctors, whose names are +quoted. The quotation of a paragraph or two from Mr. Hart’s article will be of +interest. Says he: +</p> + +<p> +“The ‘catalepsy business’ had more artistic merit. So rigid did L. make his +muscles that he could be lifted in one piece like an Egyptian mummy. He lay +with his head on the back of one chair, and his heels on another, and allowed a +fairly heavy man to sit on his stomach; it seemed to me, however, that he was +here within a ‘straw’ or two of the limit of his endurance. The ‘blister +trick,’ spoken of by Truth as having deceived some medical men, was done by +rapidly biting and sucking the skin of the wrist. L. did manage with some +difficulty to raise a slight swelling, but the marks of the teeth were plainly +visible.” (Possibly L. had made his skin so tough by repeated biting that he +could no longer raise the blister!) +</p> + +<p> +“One point in L.’s exhibition which was undoubtedly genuine was his remarkable +and stoical endurance of pain. He stood before us smiling and open-eyed while +he ran long needles into the fleshy part of his arms and legs without +flinching, and he allowed one of the gentlemen present to pinch his skin in +different parts with strong crenated pincers in a manner which bruised it, and +which to most people would have caused intense pain. L. allowed no sign of +suffering or discomfort to appear; he did not set his teeth or wince; his pulse +was not quickened, and the pupil of his eye did not dilate as physiologists +tell us it does when pain passes a certain limit. It may be said that this +merely shows that in L. the limit of endurance was beyond the normal standard; +or, in other words, that his sensitiveness was less than that of the average +man. At any rate his performance in this respect was so remarkable that some of +the gentlemen present were fain to explain it by supposed ‘post-hypnotic +suggestion,’ the theory apparently being that L. and his comrades hypnotized +one another, and thus made themselves insensible to pain. +</p> + +<p> +“As surgeons have reason to know, persons vary widely in their sensitiveness to +pain. I have seen a man chat quietly with bystanders while his carotid artery +was being tied without the use of chloroform. During the Russo-Turkish war +wounded Turks often astonished English doctors by undergoing the most +formidable amputations with no other anaesthetic than a cigarette. Hysterical +women will inflict very severe pain on themselves—merely for wantonness or in +order to excite sympathy. The fakirs who allow themselves to be hung up by +hooks beneath their shoulder-blades seem to think little of it and, as a matter +of fact, I believe are not much inconvenienced by the process.” +</p> + +<p> +The fact is, the amateur can always be deceived, and there are no special tests +that can be relied on. If a person is well accustomed to hypnotic +manifestations, and also a good judge of human nature, and will keep constantly +on guard, using every precaution to avoid deception, it is altogether likely +that it can be entirely obviated. But one must use his good judgment in every +possible way. In the case of fresh subjects, or persons well known, of course +there is little possibility of deception. And the fact that deception exists +does not in any way invalidate the truth of hypnotism as a scientific +phenomenon. We cite it merely as one of the physiological peculiarities +connected with the mental condition of which it is a manifestation. The fact +that a tendency to deception exists is interesting in itself, and may have an +influence upon our judgment of our fellow beings. There is, to be sure, a +tendency on the part of scientific writers to find lunatics instead of +criminals; but knowledge of the well demonstrated fact that many criminals are +insane helps to make us charitable. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter7"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Criminal Suggestion.—Laboratory Crimes.—Dr. Cocke’s Experiments Showing +Criminal Suggestion Is not Possible.—Dr. William James’ Theory.—A Bad Man +Cannot Be Made Good, Why Expect to Make a Good Man Bad? +</p> + +<p> +One of the most interesting phases of hypnotism is that of post-hypnotic +suggestion, to which reference has already been made. It is true that a +suggestion made during the hypnotic condition as to what a person will do after +coming out of the hypnotic sleep may be carried out. A certain professional +hypnotizer claims that once he has hypnotized a person he can keep that person +forever after under his influence by means of post-hypnotic suggestion. He +says to him while in the hypnotic sleep: “Whenever I look at you, or point at +you, you will fall asleep. No one can hypnotize you but me. Whenever I try to +hypnotize you, you will fall asleep.” He says further: “Suggest to a subject +while he is sound asleep that in eight weeks he will mail you a letter with a +blank piece of note paper inside, and during the intervening period you may +yourself forget the occurrence, but in exactly eight weeks he will carry out +the suggestion. Suggestions of this nature are always carried out, especially +when the suggestion is to take effect on some certain day or date named. +Suggest to a subject that in ninety days from a given date he will come to your +house with his coat on inside out, and he will most certainly do so.” +</p> + +<p> +The same writer also definitely claims that he can hypnotize people against +their wills. If this were true, what a terrible power would a shrewd, +evil-minded criminal have to compel the execution of any of his plans! We hope +to show that it is not true; but we must admit that many scientific men have +tried experiments which they believe demonstrate beyond a doubt that criminal +use can be and is made of hypnotic influence. If it were possible to make a +person follow out any line of conduct while actually under hypnotic influence +it would be bad enough; but the use of posthypnotic suggestion opens a yet more +far-reaching and dangerous avenue. +</p> + +<p> +Among the most definite claims of the evil deeds that may be compelled during +hypnotic sleep is that of Dr. Luys, whom we have already seen as being himself +deceived by professional hypnotic subjects. Says he: “You cannot only oblige +this defenseless being, who is incapable of opposing the slightest resistance, +to give from hand to hand anything you may choose, but you can also make him +sign a promise, draw up a bill of exchange, or any other kind of agreement. You +may make him write an holographic will (which according to French law would be +valid), which he will hand over to you, and of which he will never know the +existence. He is ready to fulfill the minutest legal formalities, and will do +so with a calm, serene and natural manner calculated to deceive the most expert +law officers. These somnambulists will not hesitate either, you may be sure, to +make a denunciation, or to bear false witness; they are, I repeat, the passive +instruments of your will. For instance, take E. She will at my bidding write +out and sign a donation of forty pounds in my favor. In a criminal point of +view the subject under certain suggestions will make false denunciations, +accuse this or that person, and maintain with the greatest assurance that he +has assisted at an imaginary crime. I will recall to your mind those scenes of +fictitious assassination, which have exhibited before you. I was careful to +place in the subject’s hands a piece of paper instead of a dagger or a +revolver; but it is evident, that if they had held veritable murderous +instruments, the scene might have had a tragic ending.” +</p> + +<p> +Many experiments along this line have been tried, such as suggesting the theft +of a watch or a spoon, which afterward was actually carried out. +</p> + +<p> +It may be said at once that “these laboratory crimes” are in most cases +successful: A person who has nothing will give away any amount if told to do +so; but quite different is the case of a wealthy merchant who really has money +to sign away. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Cocke describes one or two experiments of his own which have an important +bearing on the question of criminal suggestion. Says he: “A girl who was +hypnotized deeply was given a glass of water and was told that it was a lighted +lamp. A broomstick was placed across the room and she was told that it was a +man who intended to injure her. I suggested to her that she throw the glass of +water (she supposing it was a lighted lamp) at the broomstick, her enemy, and +she immediately threw it with much violence. Then a man was placed across the +room, and she was given instead of a glass of water a lighted lamp. I told her +that the lamp was a glass of water, and that the man across the room was her +brother. It was suggested to her that his clothing was on fire and she was +commanded to extinguish the fire by throwing the lighted lamp at the +individual, she having been told, as was previously mentioned, that it was a +glass of water. Without her knowledge a person was placed behind her for the +purpose of quickly checking her movements, if desired. I then commanded her to +throw the lamp at the man. She raised the lamp, hesitated, wavered, and then +became very hysterical, laughing and crying alternately. This condition was so +profound that she came very near dropping the lamp. Immediately after she was +quieted I made a number of tests to prove that she was deeply hypnotized. +Standing in front of her I gave her a piece of card-board, telling her that it +was a dagger, and commanded her to stab me. She immediately struck at me with +the piece of card-board. I then gave her an open pocketknife and commanded her +to strike at me with it. Again she raised it to execute my command, again +hesitated, and had another hysterical attack. I have tried similar experiments +with thirty or forty people with similar results. Some of them would have +injured themselves severely, I am convinced, at command, but to what extent I +of course cannot say. That they could have been induced to harm others, or to +set fire to houses, etc., I do not believe. I say this after very careful +reading and a large amount of experimentation.” +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Cocke also declares his belief that no person can be hypnotized against his +will by a person who is repugnant to him. +</p> + +<p> +The facts in the case are probably those that might be indicated by a +common-sense consideration of the conditions. If a person is weak-minded and +susceptible to temptation, to theft, for instance, no doubt a familiar +acquaintance of a similar character might hypnotize that person and cause him +to commit the crime to which his moral nature is by no means averse. If, on the +other hand, the personality of the hypnotizer and the crime itself are +repugnant to the hypnotic subject, he will absolutely refuse to do as he is +bidden, even while in the deepest hypnotic sleep. On this point nearly all +authorities agree. +</p> + +<p> +Again, there is absolutely no well authenticated case of crime committed by a +person under hypnotic influence. There have been several cases reported, and +one woman in Paris who aided in a murder was released on her plea of +irresponsibility because she had been hypnotized. In none of these cases, +however, was there any really satisfactory evidence that hypnotism existed. In +all the cases reported there seemed to be no doubt of the weak character and +predisposition to crime. In another class of cases, namely those of criminal +assault upon girls and women, the only evidence ever adduced that the injured +person was hypnotized was the statement of that person, which cannot really be +called evidence at all. +</p> + +<p> +The fact is, a weak character can be tempted and brought under virtual control +much more easily by ordinary means than by hypnotism. The man who +“overpersuades” a business man to endorse a note uses no hypnotic influence. He +is merely making a clever play upon the man’s vanity, egotism, or good nature. +</p> + +<p> +A profound study of the hypnotic state, such as has been made by Prof. William +James, of Harvard College, the great authority on psychical phenomena and +president of the Psychic Research Society, leads to the conviction that in the +hypnotic sleep the will is only in abeyance, as it is in natural slumber or in +sleepwalking, and any unusual or especially exciting occurrence, especially +anything that runs against the grain of the nature, reawakens that will, and it +soon becomes as active as ever. This is ten times more true in the matter of +post-hypnotic suggestion, which is very much weaker than suggestion that takes +effect during the actual hypnotic sleep. We shall see, furthermore, that while +acting under a delusion at the suggestion of the operator, the patient is +really conscious all the time of the real facts in the case—indeed, much more +keenly so, oftentimes, than the operator himself. For instance, if a line is +drawn on a sheet of paper and the subject is told there is no line, he will +maintain there is no line; but he has to see it in order to ignore it. +Moreover, persons trained to obey, instinctively do obey even in their waking +state. It requires a special faculty to resist obedience, even during our +ordinary waking condition. Says a recent writer: “It is certain that we are +naturally inclined to obey, conflicts and resistance are the characteristics of +some rare individuals; but between admitting this and saying that we are doomed +to obey—even the least of us—lies a gulf.” The same writer says further: +“Hypnotic suggestion is an order given for a few seconds, at most a few +minutes, to an individual in a state of induced sleep. The suggestion may be +repeated; but it is absolutely powerless to transform a criminal into an honest +man, or vice versa.” Here is an excellent argument. If it is possible to make +criminals it should be quite as easy to make honest men. It is true that the +weak are sometimes helped for good; but there is no case on record in which a +person who really wished to be bad was ever made good; and the history of +hypnotism is full of attempts in that direction. A good illustration is an +experiment tried by Colonel de Rochas: +</p> + +<p> +“An excellent subject * * * had been left alone for a few minutes in an +apartment, and had stolen a valuable article. After he had left, the theft was +discovered. A few days after it was suggested to the subject, while asleep, +that he should restore the stolen object; the command was energetically and +imperatively reiterated, but in vain. The theft had been committed by the +subject, who had sold the article to an old curiosity dealer, as it was +eventually found on information received from a third party. Yet this subject +would execute all the imaginary crimes he was ordered.” +</p> + +<p> +As to the value of the so-called “laboratory crimes,” the statement of Dr. +Courmelles is of interest: “I have heard a subject say,” he states, “‘If I were +ordered to throw myself out of the window I should do it, so certain am I +either that there would be somebody under the window to catch me or that I +should be stopped in time. The experimentalist’s own interests and the +consequences of such an act are a sure guarantee.’” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter8"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Dangers in Being Hypnotized.—Condemnation of Public Performances.—A. Common +Sense View.—Evidence Furnished by Lafontaine.—By Dr. Courmelles.—By. Dr. +Hart.—By Dr. Cocke.—No Danger in Hypnotism if Rightly Used by Physicians or +Scientists. +</p> + +<p> +Having considered the dangers to society through criminal hypnotic suggestion, +let us now consider what dangers there may be to the individual who is +hypnotized. +</p> + +<p> +Before citing evidence, let us consider the subject from a rational point of +view. Several things have already been established. We know that hypnotism is +akin to hysteria and other forms of insanity—it is, in short, a kind of +experimental insanity. Really good hypnotic subjects have not a perfect mental +balance. We have also seen that repetition of the process increases the +susceptibility, and in some cases persons frequently hypnotized are thrown into +the hypnotic state by very slight physical agencies, such as looking at a +bright doorknob. Furthermore, we know that the hypnotic patient is in a very +sensitive condition, easily impressed. Moreover, it is well known that +exertions required of hypnotic subjects are nervously very exhausting, so much +so that headache frequently follows. +</p> + +<p> +From these facts any reasonable person may make a few clear deductions. First, +repeated strain of excitement in hypnotic seances will wear out the +constitution just as certainly as repeated strain of excitement in social life, +or the like, which, as we know, frequently produces nervous exhaustion. Second, +it is always dangerous to submit oneself to the influence of an inferior or +untrustworthy person. This is just as true in hypnotism as it is in the moral +realm. Bad companions corrupt. And since the hypnotic subject is in a condition +especially susceptible, a little association of this kind, a little submission +to the inferior or immoral, will produce correspondingly more detrimental +consequences. Third, since hypnotism is an abnormal condition, just as +drunkenness is, one should not allow a public hypnotizer to experiment upon one +and make one do ridiculous things merely for amusement, any more than one would +allow a really insane person to be exhibited for money; or than one would allow +himself to be made drunk, merely that by his absurd antics he might amuse +somebody. It takes little reflection to convince any one that hypnotism for +amusement, either on the public stage or in the home, is highly obnoxious, even +if it is not highly dangerous. If the hypnotizer is an honest man, and a man of +character, little injury may follow. But we can never know that, and the risk +of getting into bad hands should prevent every one from submitting to influence +at all. The fact is, however, that we should strongly doubt the good character +of any one who hypnotizes for amusement, regarding him in the same light as we +would one who intoxicated people on the stage for amusement, or gave them +chloroform, or went about with a troup of insane people that he might exhibit +their idiosyncrasies. Honest, right-minded people do not do those things. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time, there is nothing wiser that a man can do than to submit +himself fully to a stronger and wiser nature than his own. A physician in whom +you have confidence may do a thousand times more for you by hypnotism than by +the use of drugs. It is a safe rule to place hypnotism in exactly the same +category as drugs. Rightly used, drugs are invaluable; wrongly used, they +become the instruments of the murderer. At all times should they be used with +great caution. The same is true of hypnotism. +</p> + +<p> +Now let us cite some evidence. Lafontaine, a professional hypnotist, gives some +interesting facts. He says that public hypnotic entertainments usually induce a +great many of the audience to become amateur hypnotists, and these experiments +may cause suffocation. Fear often results in congestion, or a rush of blood to +the brain. “If the digestion is not completed, more especially if the repast +has been more abundant than usual, congestion may be produced and death be +instantaneous. The most violent convulsions may result from too complete +magnetization of the brain. A convulsive movement may be so powerful that the +body will suddenly describe a circle, the head touching the heels and seem to +adhere to them. In this latter case there is torpor without sleep. Sometimes it +has been impossible to awake the subject.” +</p> + +<p> +A waiter at Nantes, who was magnetized by a commercial traveler, remained for +two days in a state of lethargy, and for three hours Dr. Foure and numerous +spectators were able to verify that “the extremities were icy cold, the pulse +no longer throbbed, the heart had no pulsations, respiration had ceased, and +there was not sufficient breath to dim a glass held before the mouth. Moreover, +the patient was stiff, his eyes were dull and glassy.” Nevertheless, Lafontaine +was able to recall this man to life. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Courmelles says: “Paralysis of one or more members, or of the tongue, may +follow the awakening. These are the effects of the contractions of the internal +muscles, due often to almost imperceptible touches. The diaphragm—and therefore +the respiration—may be stopped in the same manner. Catalepsy and more +especially lethargy, produce these phenomena.” +</p> + +<p> +There are on record a number of cases of idiocy, madness, and epilepsy caused +by the unskillful provoking of hypnotic sleep. One case is sufficiently +interesting, for it is almost exactly similar to a case that occurred at one of +the American colleges. The subject was a young professor at a boys’ school. +“One evening he was present at some public experiments that were being +performed in a tavern; he was in no way upset at the sight, but the next day +one of his pupils, looking at him fixedly, sent him to sleep. The boys soon got +into the habit of amusing themselves by sending him to sleep, and the unhappy +professor had to leave the school, and place himself under the care of a +doctor.” +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Ernest Hart gives an experience of his own which carries with it its own +warning. Says he: +</p> + +<p> +“Staying at the well known country house in Kent of a distinguished London +banker, formerly member of Parliament for Greenwich, I had been called upon to +set to sleep, and to arrest a continuous barking cough from which a young lady +who was staying in the house was suffering, and who, consequently, was a +torment to herself and her friends. I thought this a good opportunity for a +control experiment, and I sat her down in front of a lighted candle which I +assured her that I had previously mesmerized. Presently her cough ceased and +she fell into a profound sleep, which lasted until twelve o’clock the next day. +When I returned from shooting, I was informed that she was still asleep and +could not be awoke, and I had great difficulty in awaking her. That night there +was a large dinner party, and, unluckily, I sat opposite to her. Presently she +again became drowsy, and had to be led from the table, alleging, to my +confusion, that I was again mesmerizing her. So susceptible did she become to +my supposed mesmeric influence, which I vainly assured her, as was the case, +that I was very far from exercising or attempting to exercise, that it was +found expedient to take her up to London. I was out riding in the afternoon +that she left, and as we passed the railway station, my host, who was riding +with me, suggested that, as his friends were just leaving by that train, he +would like to alight and take leave of them. I dismounted with him and went on +to the platform, and avoided any leave-taking; but unfortunately in walking up +and down it seems that I twice passed the window of the young lady’s carriage. +She was again self-mesmerized, and fell into a sleep which lasted throughout +the journey, and recurred at intervals for some days afterward.” +</p> + +<p> +In commenting on this, Dr. Hart notes that in reality mesmerism is +self-produced, and the will of the operator, even when exercised directly +against it, has no effect if the subject believes that the will is being +operated in favor of it. Says he: “So long as the person operated on believed +that my will was that she should sleep, sleep followed. The most energetic +willing in my internal consciousness that there should be no sleep, failed to +prevent it, where the usual physical methods of hypnotization, stillness, +repose, a fixed gaze, or the verbal expression of an order to sleep, were +employed.” +</p> + +<p> +The dangers of hypnotism have been recognized by the law of every civilized +country except the United States, where alone public performances are +permitted. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Cocke says: “I have occasionally seen subjects who complained of headache, +vertigo, nausea, and other similar symptoms after having been hypnotized, but +these conditions were at a future hypnotic sitting easily remedied by +suggestion.” Speaking of the use of hypnotism by doctors under conditions of +reasonable care, Dr. Cocke says further: “There is one contraindication greater +than all the rest. It applies more to the physician than to the patient, more +to the masses than to any single individual. It is not confined to hypnotism +alone; it has blocked the wheels of human progress through the ages which have +gone. It is undue enthusiasm. It is the danger that certain individuals will +become so enamored with its charms that other equally valuable means of cure +will be ignored. Mental therapeutics has come to stay. It is yet in its infancy +and will grow, but, if it were possible to kill it, it would be strangled by +the fanaticism and prejudice of its devotees. The whole field is fascinating +and alluring. It promises so much that it is in danger of being missed by the +ignorant to such an extent that great harm may result. This is true, not only +of mental therapeutics and hypnotism, but of every other blessing we possess. +Hypnotism has nothing to fear from the senseless skepticism and contempt of +those who have no knowledge of the subject.” He adds pertinently enough: “While +hypnotism can be used in a greater or less degree by every one, it can only be +used intelligently by those who understand, not only hypnotism itself, but +disease as well.” +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Cocke is a firm believer that the right use of hypnotism by intelligent +persons does not weaken the will. Says he: “I do not believe there is any +danger whatever in this. I have no evidence (and I have studied a large number +of hypnotized subjects) that hypnotism will render a subject less capable of +exercising his will when he is relieved from the hypnotic trance. I do not +believe that it increases in any way his susceptibility to ordinary +suggestion.” +</p> + +<p> +However, in regard to the dangers of public performances by professional +hypnotizers, Dr. Cocke is equally positive. Says he: +</p> + +<p> +“The dangers of public exhibitions, made ludicrous as they are by the +operators, should be condemned by all intelligent men and women, not from the +danger of hypnotism itself so much as from the liability of the performers to +disturb the mental poise of that large mass of ill-balanced individuals which +makes up no inconsiderable part of society.” In conclusion he says: “Patients +have been injured by the misuse of hypnotism. * * * This is true of every +remedial agent ever employed for the relief of man. Every article we eat, if +wrongly prepared, if stale, or if too much is taken, will be harmful. Every +act, every duty of our lives, may, if overdone, become an injury. +</p> + +<p> +“Then, for the sake of clearness, let me state in closing that hypnotism is +dangerous only when it is misused, or when it is applied to that large class of +persons who are inherently unsound; especially if that mysterious thing we call +credulity predominates to a very great extent over the reason and over other +faculties of the mind.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter9"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Hypnotism in Medicine.—Anesthesia.—Restoring the Use of +Muscles.—Hallucination.—Bad Habits. +</p> + +<p> +Anaesthesia—It is well known that hypnotism may be used to render subjects +insensible to pain. Thus numerous startling experiments are performed in +public, such as running hatpins through the cheeks or arms, sewing the tongue +to the ear, etc. The curious part of it is that the insensibility may be +confined to one spot only. Even persons who are not wholly under hypnotic +influence may have an arm or a leg, or any smaller part rendered insensible by +suggestion, so that no pain will be felt. This has suggested the use of +hypnotism in surgery in the place of chloroform, ether, etc. +</p> + +<p> +About the year 1860 some of the medical profession hoped that hypnotism might +come into general use for producing insensibility during surgical operations. +Dr. Guerineau in Paris reported the following successful operation: The thigh +of a patient was amputated. “After the operation,” says the doctor, “I spoke to +the patient and asked him how he felt. He replied that he felt as if he were in +heaven, and he seized hold of my hand and kissed it. Turning to a medical +student, he added: ‘I was aware of all that was being done to me, and the proof +is that I knew my thigh was cut off at the moment when you asked me if I felt +any pain.’” +</p> + +<p> +The writer who records this case continues: “This, however, was but a +transitory stage. It was soon recognized that a considerable time and a good +deal of preparation were necessary to induce the patients to sleep, and medical +men had recourse to a more rapid and certain method; that is, chloroform. Thus +the year 1860 saw the rise and fall of Braidism as a means of surgical +anaesthesia.” +</p> + +<p> +One of the most detailed cases of successful use of hypnotism as an anaesthetic +was presented to the Hypnotic Congress which met in 1889, by Dr. Fort, +professor of anatomy: +</p> + +<p> +“On the 21st of October, 1887, a young Italian tradesman, aged twenty, Jean M—. +came to me and asked me to take off a wen he had on his forehead, a little +above the right eyebrow. The tumor was about the size of a walnut. +</p> + +<p> +“I was reluctant to make use of chloroform, although the patient wished it, and +I tried a short hypnotic experiment. Finding that my patient was easily +hypnotizable, I promised to extract the tumor in a painless manner and without +the use of chloroform. +</p> + +<p> +“The next day I placed him in a chair and induced sleep, by a fixed gaze, in +less than a minute. Two Italian physicians, Drs. Triani and Colombo who were +present during the operation, declared that the subject lost all sensibility +and that his muscles retained all the different positions in which they were +put exactly as in the cataleptic state. The patient saw nothing, felt nothing, +and heard nothing, his brain remaining in communication only with me. +</p> + +<p> +“As soon as we had ascertained that the patient was completely under the +influence of the hypnotic slumber, I said to him: ‘You will sleep for a quarter +of an hour,’ knowing that the operation would not last longer than that; and he +remained seated and perfectly motionless. +</p> + +<p> +“I made a transversal incision two and a half inches long and removed the +tumor, which I took out whole. I then pinched the blood vessels with a pair of +Dr. Pean’s hemostatic pincers, washed the wound and applied a dressing, without +making a single ligature. The patient was still sleeping. To maintain the +dressing in proper position, I fastened a bandage around his head. While going +through the operation I said to the patient, ‘Lower your head, raise your head, +turn to the right, to the left,’ etc., and he obeyed like an automaton. When +everything was finished, I said to him, ‘Now, wake up.’ +</p> + +<p> +“He then awoke, declared that he had felt nothing and did not suffer, and he +went away on foot, as if nothing had been done to him. +</p> + +<p> +“Five days after the dressing was removed and the cicatrix was found completely +healed.” +</p> + +<p> +Hypnotism has been tried extensively for painless dentistry, but with many +cases of failure, which got into the courts and thoroughly discredited the +attempt except in very special cases. +</p> + +<p> +Restoring the Use of Muscles.—There is no doubt that hypnotism may be extremely +useful in curing many disorders that are essentially nervous, especially such +cases as those in which a patient has a fixed idea that something is the matter +with him when he is not really affected. Cases of that description are often +extremely obstinate, and entirely unaffected by the ordinary therapeutic means. +Ordinary doctors abandon the cases in despair, but some person who understands +“mental suggestion” (for instance, the Christian Science doctors) easily +effects a cure. If the regular physician were a student of hypnotism he would +know how to manage cases like that. +</p> + +<p> +By way of illustration, we quote reports of two cases, one successful and one +unsuccessful. The following is from a report by one of the physicians of the +Charity hospital in Paris: +</p> + +<p> +“Gabrielle C——— became a patient of mine toward the end of 1886. She entered +the Charity hospital to be under treatment for some accident arising from +pulmonary congestion, and while there was suddenly seized with violent attacks +of hystero-epilepsy, which first contracted both legs, and finally reduced them +to complete immobility. +</p> + +<p> +“She had been in this state of absolute immobility for seven months and I had +vainly tried every therapeutic remedy usual in such cases. My intention was +first to restore the general constitution of the subject, who was greatly +weakened by her protracted stay in bed, and then, at the end of a certain time, +to have recourse to hypnotism, and at the opportune moment suggest to her the +idea of walking. +</p> + +<p> +“The patient was hypnotized every morning, and the first degree (that of +lethargy), then the cataleptic, and finally the somnambulistic states were +produced. After a certain period of somnambulism she began to move, and +unconsciously took a few steps across the ward. Soon after it was suggested—the +locomotor powers having recovered their physical functions—that she should walk +when awake. This she was able to do, and in some weeks the cure was complete. +In this case, however, we had the ingenious idea of changing her personality at +the moment when we induced her to walk. The patient fancied she was somebody +else, and as such, and in this roundabout manner, we satisfactorily attained +the object proposed.” +</p> + +<p> +The following is Professor Delboeuf’s account of Dr. Bernheim’s mode of +suggestion at the hospital at Nancy. A robust old man of about seventy-five +years of age, paralyzed by sciatica, which caused him intense pain, was brought +in. “He could not put a foot to the ground without screaming with pain. ‘Lie +down, my poor friend; I will soon relieve you.’ Dr. Bernheim says. ‘That is +impossible, doctor.’ ‘You will see.’ ‘Yes, we shall see, but I tell you, we +shall see nothing!’ On hearing this answer I thought suggestion will be of no +use in this case. The old man looked sullen and stubborn. Strangely enough, he +soon went off to sleep, fell into a state of catalepsy, and was insensible when +pricked. But when Monsieur Bernheim said to him, ‘Now you can walk, he replied, +‘No, I cannot; you are telling me to do an impossible thing.’ Although Monsieur +Bernheim failed in this instance, I could not but admire his skill. After using +every means of persuasion, insinuation and coaxing, he suddenly took up an +imperative tone, and in a sharp, abrupt voice that did not admit a refusal, +said: ‘I tell you you can walk; get up.’ ‘Very well,’ replied the old follow; +‘I must if you insist upon it.’ And he got out of bed. No sooner, however, had +his foot touched the floor than he screamed even louder than before. Monsieur +Bernheim ordered him to step out. ‘You tell me to do what is impossible,’ he +again replied, and he did not move. He had to be allowed to go to bed again, +and the whole time the experiment lasted he maintained an obstinate and +ill-tempered air.” +</p> + +<p> +These two cases give an admirable picture of the cases that can be and those +that cannot be cured by hypnotism, or any other method of mental suggestion. +</p> + +<p> +Hallucination.—“Hallucinations,” says a medical authority, “are very common +among those who are partially insane. They occur as a result of fever and +frequently accompany delirium. They result from an impoverished condition of +the blood, especially if it is due to starvation, indigestion, and the use of +drugs like belladonna, hyoscyarnus, stramonium, opium, chloral, cannabis +indica, and many more that might be mentioned.” +</p> + +<p> +Large numbers of cases of attempted cure by hypnotism, successful and +unsuccessful, might be quoted. There is no doubt that in the lighter forms of +partial insanity, hypnotism may help many patients, though not all; but when +the disease of the brain has gone farther, especially when a well developed +lesion exists in the brain, mental treatment is of little avail, even if it can +be practiced at all. +</p> + +<p> +A few general remarks by Dr. Bernheim will be interesting. Says he: +</p> + +<p> +“The mode of suggestion should be varied and adapted to the special +suggestibility of the subject. A simple word does not always suffice in +impressing the idea upon the mind. It is sometimes necessary to reason, to +prove, to convince; in some cases to affirm decidedly, in others to insinuate +gently; for in the condition of sleep, just as in the waking condition, the +moral individuality of each subject persists according to his character, his +inclinations, his impressionability, etc. Hypnosis does not run all subjects +into a uniform mold, and make pure and simple automatons out of them, moved +solely by the will of the hypnotist; it increases cerebral docility; it makes +the automatic activity preponderate over the will. But the latter persists to a +certain degree; the subject thinks, reasons, discusses, accepts more readily +than in the waking condition, but does not always accept, especially in the +light degrees of sleep. In these cases we must know the patient’s character, +his particular psychical condition, in order to make an impression upon him.” +</p> + +<p> +Bad Habits.—The habit of the excessive use of alcoholic drinks, morphine, +tobacco, or the like, may often be decidedly helped by hypnotism, if the +patient wants to be helped. The method of operation is simple. The operator +hypnotizes the subject, and when he is in deep sleep suggests that on awaking +he will feel a deep disgust for the article he is in the habit of taking, and +if he takes it will be affected by nausea, or other unpleasant symptoms. In +most cases the suggested result takes place, provided the subject can be +hypnotized al all; but unless the patient is himself anxious to break the habit +fixed upon him, the unpleasant effects soon wear off and he is as bad as ever. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Cocke treated a large number of cases, which he reports in detail in his +book on hypnotism. In a fair proportion of the cases he was successful; in some +cases completely so. In other cases he failed entirely, owing to lack of moral +stamina in the patient himself. His conclusions seem to be that hypnotism may +be made a very effective aid to moral suasion, but after all, character is the +chief force which throws off such habits once they are fixed. The morphine +habit is usually the result of a doctor’s prescription at some time, and it is +practiced more or less involuntarily. Such cases are often materially helped by +the proper suggestions. +</p> + +<p> +The same is true of bad habits in children. The weak may be strengthened by the +stronger nature, and hypnotism may come in as an effective aid to moral +influence. Here again character is the deciding factor. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. James R. Cocke devotes a considerable part of his book on “Hypnotism” to +the use of hypnotism in medical practice, and for further interesting details +the reader is referred to that able work. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter10"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Hypnotism of Animals.—Snake Charming. +</p> + +<p> +We are all familiar with the snake charmer, and the charming of birds by +snakes. How much hypnotism there is in these performances it would be hard to +say. It is probable that a bird is fascinated to some extent by the steady gaze +of a serpent’s eyes, but fear will certainly paralyze a bird as effectively as +hypnotism. +</p> + +<p> +Father Kircher was the first to try a familiar experiment with hens and cocks. +If you hold a hen’s head with the beak upon a piece of board, and then draw a +chalk line from the beak to the edge of the board, the hen when released will +continue to hold her head in the same position for some time, finally walking +slowly away, as if roused from a stupor. Farmers’ wives often try a sort of +hypnotic experiment on hens they wish to transfer from one nest to another when +sitting. They put the hen’s head under her wing and gently rock her to and fro +till she apparently goes to sleep, when she may be carried to another nest and +will remain there afterward. +</p> + +<p> +Horses are frequently managed by a steady gaze into their eyes. Dr. Moll states +that a method of hypnotizing horses named after its inventor as Balassiren has +been introduced into Austria by law for the shoeing of horses in the army. +</p> + +<p> +We have all heard of the snake charmers of India, who make the snakes imitate +all their movements. Some suppose this is by hypnotization. It may be the +result of training, however. Certainly real charmers of wild beasts usually end +by being bitten or injured in some other way, which would seem to show that the +hypnotization does not always work, or else it does not exist at all. +</p> + +<p> +We have some fairly well known instances of hypnotism produced in animals. +Lafontaine, the magnetizer, some thirty years ago held public exhibitions in +Paris in which he reduced cats, dogs, squirrels and lions to such complete +insensibility that they felt neither pricks nor blows. +</p> + +<p> +The Harvys or Psylles of Egypt impart to the ringed snake the appearance of a +stick by pressure on the head, which induces a species of tetanus, says E. W. +Lane. +</p> + +<p> +The following description of serpent charming by the Aissouans of the province +of Sous, Morocco, will be of interest: +</p> + +<p> +“The principal charmer began by whirling with astonishing rapidity in a kind of +frenzied dance around the wicker basket that contained the serpents, which were +covered by a goatskin. Suddenly he stopped, plunged his naked arm into the +basket, and drew out a cobra de capello, or else a haje, a fearful reptile +which is able to swell its head by spreading out the scales which cover it, and +which is thought to be Cleopatra’s asp, the serpent of Egypt. In Morocco it is +known as the buska. The charmer folded and unfolded the greenish-black viper, +as if it were a piece of muslin; he rolled it like a turban round his head, and +continued his dance while the serpent maintained its position, and seemed to +follow every movement and wish of the dancer. +</p> + +<p> +“The buska was then placed on the ground, and raising itself straight on end, +in the attitude it assumes on desert roads to attract travelers, began to sway +from right to left, following the rhythm of the music. The Aissoua, whirling +more and more rapidly in constantly narrowing circles, plunged his hand once +more into the basket, and pulled out two of the most venomous reptiles of the +desert of Sous; serpents thicker than a man’s arm, two or three feet long, +whose shining scales are spotted black or yellow, and whose bite sends, as it +were, a burning fire through the veins. This reptile is probably the torrida +dipsas of antiquity. Europeans now call it the leffah. +</p> + +<p> +“The two leffahs, more vigorous and less docile than the buska, lay half curled +up, their heads on one side, ready to dart forward, and followed with +glittering eyes the movements of the dancer. * * * Hindoo charmers are still +more wonderful; they juggle with a dozen different species of reptiles at the +same time, making them come and go, leap, dance, and lie down at the sound of +the charmer’s whistle, like the gentlest of tame animals. These serpents have +never been known to bite their charmers.” +</p> + +<p> +It is well known that some animals, like the opossum, feign death when caught. +Whether this is to be compared to hypnotism is doubtful. Other animals, called +hibernating, sleep for months with no other food than their fat, but this, +again, can hardly be called hypnotism. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter11"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +A Scientific Explanation of Hypnotism.—Dr. Hart’s Theory. +</p> + +<p> +In the introduction to this book the reader will find a summary of the theories +of hypnotism. There is no doubt that hypnotism is a complex state which cannot +be explained in an offhand way in a sentence or two. There are, however, +certain aspects of hypnotism which we may suppose sufficiently explained by +certain scientific writers on the subject. +</p> + +<p> +First, what is the character of the delusions apparently created in the mind of +a person in the hypnotic condition by a simple word of mouth statement, as when +a physician says, “Now, I am going to cut your leg off, but it will not hurt +you in the least,” and the patient suffers nothing? +</p> + +<p> +In answer to this question, Professor William James of Harvard College, one of +the leading authorities on the scientific aspects of psychical phenomena in +this country, reports the following experiments: +</p> + +<p> +“Make a stroke on a paper or blackboard, and tell the subject it is not there, +and he will see nothing but the clean paper or board. Next, he not looking, +surround the original stroke with other strokes exactly like it, and ask him +what he sees. He will point out one by one the new strokes and omit the +original one every time, no matter how numerous the next strokes may be, or in +what order they are arranged. Similarly, if the original single line, to which +he is blind, be doubled by a prism of sixteen degrees placed before one of his +eyes (both being kept open), he will say that he now sees one stroke, and point +in the direction in which lies the image seen through the prism. +</p> + +<p> +“Another experiment proves that he must see it in order to ignore it. Make a +red cross, invisible to the hypnotic subject, on a sheet of white paper, and +yet cause him to look fixedly at a dot on the paper on or near the red cross; +he wills on transferring his eye to the blank sheet, see a bluish-green after +image of the cross. This proves that it has impressed his sensibility. He has +felt but not perceived it. He had actually ignored it; refused to recognize it, +as it were.” +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Ernest Hart, an English writer, in an article in the British Medical +Journal, gives a general explanation of the phenomena of hypnotism which we may +accept as true so far as it goes, but which is evidently incomplete. He seems +to minimize personal influence too much—that personal influence which we all +exert at various times, and which he ignores, not because he would deny it, but +because he fears lending countenance to the magnetic fluid and other similar +theories. Says he: +</p> + +<p> +“We have arrived at the point at which it will be plain that the condition +produced in these cases, and known under a varied jargon invented either to +conceal ignorance, to express hypotheses, or to mask the design of impressing +the imagination and possibly prey upon the pockets of a credulous and +wonder-loving public—such names as mesmeric condition, magnetic sleep, +clairvoyance, electro-biology, animal magnetism, faith trance, and many other +aliases—such a condition, I say, is always subjective. It is independent of +passes or gestures; it has no relation to any fluid emanating from the +operator; it has no relation to his will, or to any influence which he +exercises upon inanimate objects; distance does not affect it, nor proximity, +nor the intervention of any conductors or non-conductors, whether silk or glass +or stone, or even a brick wall. We can transmit the order to sleep by telephone +or by telegraph. We can practically get the same results while eliminating even +the operator, if we can contrive to influence the imagination or to affect the +physical condition of the subject by any one of a great number of contrivances. +</p> + +<p> +“What does all this mean? I will refer to one or two facts in relation to the +structure and function of the brain, and show one or two simple experiments of +very ancient parentage and date, which will, I think, help to an explanation. +First, let us recall something of what we know of the anatomy and localization +of function in the brain, and of the nature of ordinary sleep. The brain, as +you know, is a complicated organ, made up internally of nerve masses, or +ganglia, of which the central and underlying masses are connected with the +automatic functions and involuntary actions of the body (such as the action of +the heart, lungs, stomach, bowels, etc.), while the investing surface shows a +system of complicated convolutions rich in gray matter, thickly sown with +microscopic cells, in which the nerve ends terminate. At the base of the brain +is a complete circle of arteries, from which spring great numbers of small +arterial vessels, carrying a profuse blood supply throughout the whole mass, +and capable of contraction in small tracts, so that small areas of the brain +may, at any given moment, become bloodless, while other parts of the brain may +simultaneously become highly congested. Now, if the brain or any part of it be +deprived of the circulation of blood through it, or be rendered partially +bloodless, or if it be excessively congested and overloaded with blood, or if +it be subjected to local pressure, the part of the brain so acted upon ceases +to be capable of exercising its functions. The regularity of the action of the +brain and the sanity and completeness of the thought which is one of the +functions of its activity depend upon the healthy regularity of the quantity of +blood passing through all its parts, and upon the healthy quality of the blood +so circulating. If we press upon the carotid arteries which pass up through the +neck to form the arterial circle of Willis, at the base of the brain, within +the skull—of which I have already spoken, and which supplies the brain with +blood—we quickly, as every one knows, produce insensibility. Thought is +abolished, consciousness lost. And if we continue the pressure, all those +automatic actions of the body, such as the beating of the heart, the breathing +motions of the lungs, which maintain life and are controlled by the lower brain +centers of ganglia, are quickly stopped and death ensues. +</p> + +<p> +“We know by observation in cases where portions of the skull have been removed, +either in men or in animals, that during natural sleep the upper part of the +brain—its convoluted surface, which in health and in the waking state is +faintly pink, like a blushing cheek, from the color of the blood circulating +through the network of capillary arteries—becomes white and almost bloodless. +It is in these upper convolutions of the brain, as we also know, that the will +and the directing power are resident; so that in sleep the will is abolished +and consciousness fades gradually away, as the blood is pressed out by the +contraction of the arteries. So, also, the consciousness and the directing will +may be abolished by altering the quality of the blood passing through the +convolutions of the brain. We may introduce a volatile substance, such as +chloroform, and its first effect will be to abolish consciousness and induce +profound slumber and a blessed insensibility to pain. The like effects will +follow more slowly upon the absorption of a drug, such as opium; or we may +induce hallucinations by introducing into the blood other toxic substances, +such as Indian hemp or stramonium. We are not conscious of the mechanism +producing the arterial contraction and the bloodlessness of those convolutions +related to natural sleep. But we are not altogether without control over them. +We can, we know, help to compose ourselves to sleep, as we say in ordinary +language. We retire into a darkened room, we relieve ourselves from the +stimulus of the special senses, we free ourselves from the influence of noises, +of strong light, of powerful colors, or of tactile impressions. We lie down and +endeavor to soothe brain activity by driving away disturbing thoughts, or, as +people sometimes say, ‘try to think of nothing.’ And, happily, we generally +succeed more or less well. Some people possess an even more marked control over +this mechanism of sleep. I can generally succeed in putting myself to sleep at +any hour of the day, either in the library chair or in the brougham. This is, +so to speak, a process of self-hypnotization, and I have often practiced it +when going from house to house, when in the midst of a busy practice, and I +sometimes have amused my friends and family by exercising this faculty, which I +do not think it very difficult to acquire. (We also know that many persons can +wake at a fixed hour in the morning by setting their minds upon it just before +going to sleep.) Now, there is something here which deserves a little further +examination, but which it would take too much time to develop fully at present. +Most people know something of what is meant by reflex action. The nerves which +pass from the various organs to the brain convey with, great rapidity messages +to its various parts, which are answered by reflected waves of impulse. If the +soles of the feet be tickled, contraction of the toes, or involuntary laughter, +will be excited, or perhaps only a shuddering and skin contraction, known as +goose-skin. The irritation of the nerve-end in the skin has carried a message +to the involuntary or voluntary ganglia of the brain which has responded by +reflecting back again nerve impulses which have contracted the muscles of the +feet or skin muscles, or have given rise to associated ideas and explosion of +laughter. In the same way, if during sleep heat be applied to the soles of the +feet, dreams of walking over hot surfaces—Vesuvius or Fusiyama, or still hotter +places—may be produced, or dreams of adventure on frozen surfaces or in arctic +regions may be created by applying ice to the feet of the sleeper. +</p> + +<p> +“Here, then, it is seen that we have a mechanism in the body, known to +physiologists as the ideo-motor, or sensory motor system of nerves, which can +produce, without the consciousness of the individual and automatically, a +series of muscular contractions. And remember that the coats of the arteries +are muscular and contractile under the influence of external stimuli, acting +without the help of the consciousness, or when the consciousness is in +abeyance. I will give another example of this, which completes the chain of +phenomena in the natural brain and the natural body I wish to bring under +notice in explanation of the true as distinguished from the false, or falsely +interpreted, phenomena of hypnotism, mesmerism and electro-biology. I will take +the excellent illustration quoted by Dr. B. W. Carpenter in his old-time, but +valuable, book on ‘The Physiology of the Brain.’ When a hungry man sees food, +or when, let us say, a hungry boy looks into a cookshop, he becomes aware of a +watering of the mouth and a gnawing sensation at the stomach. What does this +mean? It means that the mental impression made upon him by the welcome and +appetizing spectacle has caused a secretion of saliva and of gastric juice; +that is to say, the brain has, through the ideo-motor set of nerves, sent a +message which has dilated the vessels around the salivary and gastric glands, +increased the flow of blood through them and quickened their secretion. Here we +have, then, a purely subjective mental activity acting through a mechanism of +which the boy is quite ignorant, and which he is unable to control, and +producing that action on the vessels of dilation or contraction which, as we +have seen, is the essential condition of brain activity and the evolution of +thought, and is related to the quickening or the abolition of consciousness, +and to the activity or abeyance of function in the will centers and upper +convolutions of the brain, as in its other centers of localization. +</p> + +<p> +“Here, then, we have something like a clue to the phenomena—phenomena which, as +I have pointed out, are similar to and have much in common with mesmeric sleep, +hypnotism or electro-biology. We have already, I hope, succeeded in eliminating +from our minds the false theory—the theory, that is to say, experimentally +proved to be false—that the will, or the gestures, or the magnetic or vital +fluid of the operator are necessary for the abolition of the consciousness and +the abeyance of the will of the subject. We now see that ideas arising in the +mind of the subject are sufficient to influence the circulation in the brain of +the person operated on, and such variations of the blood supply of the brain as +are adequate to produce sleep in the natural state, or artificial slumber, +either by total deprivation or by excessive increase or local aberration in the +quantity or quality of blood. In a like manner it is possible to produce coma +and prolonged insensibility by pressure of the thumbs on the carotid; or +hallucination, dreams and visions by drugs, or by external stimulation of the +nerves. Here again the consciousness may be only partially affected, and the +person in whom sleep, coma or hallucination is produced, whether by physical +means or by the influence of suggestion, may remain subject to the will of +others and incapable of exercising his own volition.” +</p> + +<p> +In short, Dr. Hart’s theory is that hypnotism comes from controlling the blood +supply of the brain, cutting off the supply from parts or increasing it in +other parts. This theory is borne out by the well-known fact that some persons +can blush or turn pale at will; that some people always blush on the mention of +certain things, or calling up certain ideas. Certain other ideas will make them +turn pale. Now, if certain parts of the brain are made to blush or turn pale, +there is no doubt that hypnotism will follow, since blushing and turning pale +are known to be due to the opening and closing of the blood-vessels. We may say +that the subject is induced by some means to shut the blood out of certain +portions of the brain, and keep it out until he is told to let it in again. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter12"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Telepathy and Clairvoyance.—Peculiar Power in Hypnotic +State.—Experiments.—“Phantasms of the Living” Explained by Telepathy +</p> + +<p> +It has already been noticed that persons in the hypnotic state seem to have +certain of their senses greatly heightened in power. They can remember, see and +hear things that ordinary persons would be entirely ignorant of. There is +abundant evidence that a supersensory perception is also developed, entirely +beyond the most highly developed condition of the ordinary senses, such as +being able to tell clearly what some other person is doing at a great distance. +In view of the discovery of the X or Roentgen ray, the ability to see through a +stone wall does not seem so strange as it did before that discovery. +</p> + +<p> +It is on power of supersensory, or extra-sensory perception that what is known +as telepathy and clairvoyance are based. That such things really exist, and are +not wholly a matter of superstition has been thoroughly demonstrated in a +scientific way by the British Society for Psychical Research, and kindred +societies in various parts of the world. Strictly speaking, such phenomena as +these are not a part of hypnotism, but our study of hypnotism will enable us to +understand them to some extent, and the investigation of them is a natural +corollary to the study of hypnotism, for the reason that it has been found that +these extraordinary powers are often possessed by persons under hypnotic +influence. Until the discovery of hypnotism there was little to go on in +conducting a scientific investigation, because clairvoyance could not be +produced by any artificial means, and so could not be studied under proper +restrictive conditions. +</p> + +<p> +We will first quote two experiments performed by Dr. Cocke which the writer +heard him describe with his own lips. +</p> + +<p> +The first case was that of a girl suffering from hysterical tremor. The doctor +had hypnotized her for the cure of it, and accidentally stumbled on an example +of thought transference. She complained on one occasion of a taste of spice in +her mouth. As the doctor had been chewing some spice, he at once guessed that +this might be telepathy. Nothing was said at the time, but the next time the +girl was hypnotized, the doctor put a quinine tablet in his mouth. The girl at +once asked for water, and said she had a very bitter taste in her mouth. The +water was given her, and the doctor went behind a screen, where he put cayenne +pepper in his mouth, severely burning himself. No one but the doctor knew of +the experiment at the time. The girl immediately cried and became so hysterical +that she had to be awakened. The burning in her mouth disappeared as soon as +she came out of the hypnotic state, but the doctor continued to suffer. Nearly +three hundred similar experiments with thirty-six different subjects were tried +by Dr. Cocke, and of these sixty-nine were entirely successful. The others were +doubtful or complete failures. +</p> + +<p> +The most remarkable of the experiments may be given in the doctor’s own words: +“I told the subject to remain perfectly still for five minutes and to relate to +me at the end of this time any sensation he might experience. I passed into +another room and closed the door and locked it; went into a closet in the room +and closed the door after me; took down from the shelf, first a linen sheet, +then a pasteboard box, then a toy engine, owned by a child in the house. I went +back to my subject and asked him what experience he had had. +</p> + +<p> +“He said I seemed to go into another room, and from thence into a dark closet. +I wanted something off the shelf, but did not know what. I took down from the +shelf a piece of smooth cloth, a long, square pasteboard box and a tin engine. +These were all the sensations he had experienced. I asked him if he saw the +articles with his eyes which I had removed from the shelf. He answered that the +closet was dark and that he only felt them with his hands. I asked him how he +knew that the engine was tin. He said: ‘By the sound of it.’ As my hands +touched it I heard the wheels rattle. Now the only sound made by me while in +the closet was simply the rattling of the wheels of the toy as I took it off +the shelf. This could not possibly have been heard, as the subject was distant +from me two large rooms, and there were two closed doors between us, and the +noise was very slight. Neither could the subject have judged where I went, as I +had on light slippers which made no noise. The subject had never visited the +house before, and naturally did not know the contents of the closet as he was +carefully observed from the moment he entered the house.” +</p> + +<p> +Many similar experiments are on record. Persons in the hypnotic condition have +been able to tell what other persons were doing in distant parts of a city; +could tell the pages of the books they might be reading and the numbers of all +sorts of articles. While in London the writer had an opportunity of witnessing +a performance of this kind. There was a young boy who seemed to have this +peculiar power. A queer old desk had come into the house from Italy, and as it +was a valuable piece of furniture, the owner was anxious to learn its pedigree. +Without having examined the desk beforehand in any way the boy, during one of +his trances, said that in a certain place a secret spring would be found which +would open an unknown drawer, and behind that drawer would be found the name of +the maker of the desk and the date 1639. The desk was at once examined, and the +name and date found exactly as described. It is clear in this case that this +information could not have been in the mind of any one, unless it were some +person in Italy, whence the desk had come. It is more likely that the +remarkable supersensory power given enabled reading through the wood. +</p> + +<p> +We may now turn our attention to another class of phenomena of great interest, +and that is the visions persons in the ordinary state have of friends who are +on the point of death. It would seem that by an extraordinary effort the mind +of a person in the waking state might be impressed through a great distance. At +the moment of death an almost superhuman mental effort is more likely and +possible than at any other time, and it is peculiar that these visions or +phantasms are largely confined to that moment. The natural explanation that +rises to the ordinary mind is, of course, “Spirits.” This supposition is +strengthened by the fact that the visions sometimes appear immediately after +death, as well as at the time and just before. This may be explained, however, +on the theory that the ordinary mind is not easily impressed, and when +unconsciously impressed some time may elapse before the impression becomes +perceptible to the conscious mind, just as in passing by on a swift train, we +may see something, but not realize that we have seen it till some time +afterward, when we remember what we have unconsciously observed. +</p> + +<p> +The British Society for Psychical Research has compiled two large volumes of +carefully authenticated cases, which are published under the title, “Phantasms +of the Living.” We quote one or two interesting cases. +</p> + +<p> +A Miss L. sends the following report: +</p> + +<p> +January 4, 1886. +</p> + +<p> +“On one of the last days of July, about the year 1860, at 3 o’clock p.m., I was +sitting in the drawing room at the Rectory, reading, and my thoughts entirely +occupied. I suddenly looked up and saw most distinctly a tall, thin old +gentleman enter the room and walk to the table. He wore a peculiar, +old-fashioned cloak which I recognized as belonging to my great-uncle. I then +looked at him closely and remembered his features and appearance perfectly, +although I had not seen him since I was quite a child. In his hand was a roll +of paper, and he appeared to be very agitated. I was not in the least alarmed, +as I firmly believed he was my uncle, not knowing then of his illness. I asked +him if he wanted my father, who, as I said, was not at home. He then appeared +still more agitated and distressed, but made no remark. He then left the room, +passing through the open door. I noticed that, although it was a very wet day, +there was no appearance of his having walked either in mud or rain. He had no +umbrella, but a thick walking stick, which I recognized at once when my father +brought it home after the funeral. On questioning the servants, they declared +that no one had rung the bell; neither did they see any one enter. My father +had a letter by the next post, asking him to go at once to my uncle, who was +very ill in Leicestershire. He started at once, but on his arrival was told +that his uncle had died at exactly 3 o’clock that afternoon, and had asked for +him by name several times in an anxious and troubled manner, and a roll of +paper was found under his pillow. +</p> + +<p> +“I may mention that my father was his only nephew, and, having no son, he +always led him to think that he would have a considerable legacy. Such, +however, was not the case, and it is supposed that, as they were always good +friends, he was influenced in his last illness, and probably, when too late, he +wished to alter his will.” +</p> + +<p> +In answer to inquiries, Miss L. adds: +</p> + +<p> +“I told my mother and an uncle at once about the strange appearance before the +news arrived, and also my father directly he returned, all of whom are now +dead. They advised me to dismiss it from my memory, but agreed that it could +not be imagination, as I described my uncle so exactly, and they did not +consider me to be either of a nervous or superstitious temperament. +</p> + +<p> +“I am quite sure that I have stated the facts truthfully and correctly. The +facts are as fresh in my memory as if they happened only yesterday, although so +many years have passed away. +</p> + +<p> +“I can assure you that nothing of the sort ever occurred before or since. +Neither have I been subject to nervous or imaginative fancies. This strange +apparition was in broad daylight, and as I was only reading the ‘Illustrated +Newspaper,’ there was nothing to excite my imagination.” +</p> + +<p> +Hundreds of cases of this kind have been reported by persons whose truthfulness +cannot be doubted, and every effort has been made to eliminate possibility of +hallucination or accidental fancy. That things of this kind do occur may be +said to be scientifically proven. +</p> + +<p> +Such facts as these have stimulated experiment in the direction of testing +thought transference. These experiments have usually been in the reading of +numbers and names, and a certain measure of success has resulted. It may be +added, however, that no claimants ever appeared for various banknotes deposited +in strong-boxes, to be turned over to any one who would read the numbers. Just +why success was never attained under these conditions it would be hard to say. +The writer once made a slight observation in this direction. When matching +pennies with his brother he found that if the other looked at the penny he +could match it nearly every time. There may have been some unconscious +expression of face that gave the clue. Persons in hypnotic trance are expert +muscle readers. For instance, let such a person take your hand and then go +through the alphabet, naming the letters. If you have any word in your mind, as +the muscle reader comes to each letter the muscles will unconsciously contract. +By giving attention to the muscles you can make them contract on the wrong +letters and entirely mislead such a person. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chapter13"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +The Confessions of Medium.—Spiritualistic Phenomena Explained on Theory of +Telepathy.—Interesting Statement of Mrs. Piper, the Famous Medium of the +Psychical Research Society. +</p> + +<p> +The subject of spiritualism has been very thoroughly investigated by the +Society for Psychical Research, both in England and this country, and under +circumstances so peculiarly advantageous that a world of light has been thrown +on the connection between hypnotism and this strange phenomenon. +</p> + +<p> +Professor William James, the professor of psychology at Harvard University, was +fortunate enough some years ago to find a perfect medium who was not a +professional and whose character was such as to preclude fraud. This was Mrs. +Leonora E. Piper, of Boston. For many years she remained in the special employ +of the Society for Psychical Research, and the members of that society were +able to study her case under every possible condition through a long period of +time. Not long ago she resolved to give up her engagement, and made a public +statement over her own signature which is full of interest. +</p> + +<p> +A brief history of her life and experiences will go far toward furnishing the +general reader a fair explanation of clairvoyant and spiritualistic phenomena. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Piper was the wife of a modest tailor, and lived on Pinckney street, back +of Beacon Hill. She was married in 1881, and it was not until May 16, 1884, +that her first child was born. A little more than a month later, on June 29, +she had her first trance experience. Says she: “I remember the date distinctly, +because it was two days after my first birthday following the birth of my first +child.” She had gone to Dr. J. R. Cocke, the great authority on hypnotism and a +practicing physician of high scientific attainments. “During the interview,” +says Mrs. Piper, “I was partly unconscious for a few minutes. On the following +Sunday I went into a trance.” +</p> + +<p> +She appears to have slipped into it unconsciously. She surprised her friends by +saying some very odd things, none of which she remembered when she came to +herself. Not long after she did it again. A neighbor, the wife of a merchant, +when she heard the things that had been said, assured Mrs. Piper that it must +be messages from the spirit world. The atmosphere in Boston was full of talk of +that kind, and it was not hard for people to believe that a real medium of +spirit communication had been found. The merchant’s wife wanted a sitting, and +Mrs. Piper arranged one, for which she received her first dollar. +</p> + +<p> +She had discovered that she could go into trances by an effort of her own will. +She would sit down at a table, with her sitter opposite, and leaning her head +on a pillow, go off into the trance after a few minutes of silence. There was a +clock behind her. She gave her sitters an hour, sometimes two hours, and they +wondered how she knew when the hour had expired. At any rate, when the time +came around she awoke. In describing her experiences she has said: +</p> + +<p> +“At first when I sat in my chair and leaned my head back and went into the +trance state, the action was attended by something of a struggle. I always felt +as if I were undergoing an anesthetic, but of late years I have slipped easily +into the condition, leaning the head forward. On coming out of it I felt stupid +and dazed. At first I said disconnected things. It was all a gibberish, nothing +but gibberish. Then I began to speak some broken French phrases. I had studied +French two years, but did not speak it well.” +</p> + +<p> +Once she had an Italian for sitter, who could speak no English and asked +questions in Italian. Mrs. Piper could speak no Italian, indeed did not +understand a word of it, except in her trance state. But she had no trouble in +understanding her sitter. +</p> + +<p> +After a while her automatic utterance announced the personality of a certain +Dr. Phinuit, who was said to have been a noted French physician who had died +long before. His “spirit” controlled her for a number of years. After some time +Dr. Phinuit was succeeded by one “Pelham,” and finally by “Imperator” and +“Rector.” +</p> + +<p> +As the birth of her second child approached Mrs. Piper gave up what she +considered a form of hysteria; but after the birth of the child the sittings, +paid for at a dollar each, began again. Dr. Hodgson, of the London Society for +Psychical Research, saw her at the house of Professor James, and he became so +interested in her case that he decided to take her to London to be studied. She +spent nearly a year abroad; and after her return the American branch of the +Society for Psychical Research was formed, and for a long time Mrs. Piper +received a salary to sit exclusively for the society. Their records and reports +are full of the things she said and did. +</p> + +<p> +Every one who investigated Mrs. Piper had to admit that her case was full of +mystery. But if one reads the reports through from beginning to end one cannot +help feeling that her spirit messages are filled with nonsense, at least of +triviality. Here is a specimen—and a fair specimen, too—of the kind of +communication Pelham gave. He wrote out the message. It referred to a certain +famous man known in the reports as Mr. Marte. Pelham is reported to have +written by Mrs. Piper’s hand: +</p> + +<p> +“That he (Mr. Marte), with his keen brain and marvelous perception, will be +interested, I know. He was a very dear friend of X. I was exceedingly fond of +him. Comical weather interests both he and I—me—him—I know it all. Don’t you +see I correct these? Well, I am not less intelligent now. But there are many +difficulties. I am far clearer on all points than I was shut up in the prisoned +body (prisoned, prisoning or imprisoned you ought to say). No, I don’t mean, to +get it that way. ‘See here, H, don’t view me with a critic’s eye, but pass my +imperfections by.’ Of course, I know all that as well as anybody on your sphere +(of course). Well, I think so. I tell you, old fellow, it don’t do to pick all +these little errors too much when they amount to nothing in one way. You have +light enough and brain enough, I know, to understand my explanations of being +shut up in this body, dreaming, as it were, and trying to help on science.” +</p> + +<p> +Some people would say that Pelham had had a little too much whisky toddy when +he wrote that rambling, meaningless string of words. Or we can suppose that +Mrs. Piper was dreaming. We see in the last sentence a curious mixture of ideas +that must have been in her mind. She herself says: +</p> + +<p> +“I do not see how anybody can look on all that as testimony from another world. +I cannot see but that it must have been an unconscious expression of my +subliminal self, writing such stuff as dreams are made of.” +</p> + +<p> +In another place Mrs. Piper makes the following direct statement: “I never +heard of anything being said by myself while in a trance state which might not +have been latent in: +</p> + +<p> +“1. My own mind. +</p> + +<p> +“2. In the mind of the person in charge of the sitting. +</p> + +<p> +“3. In the mind of the person who was trying to get communication with some one +in another state of existence, or some companion present with such person, or, +</p> + +<p> +“4. In the mind of some absent person alive somewhere else in the world.” +</p> + +<p> +Writing in the Psychological Review in 1898, Professor James says: +</p> + +<p> +“Mrs. Piper’s trance memory is no ordinary human memory, and we have to explain +its singular perfection either as the natural endowment of her solitary +subliminal self, or as a collection of distinct memory systems, each with a +communicating spirit as its vehicle. +</p> + +<p> +“The spirit hypothesis exhibits a vacancy, triviality, and incoherence of mind +painful to think of as the state of the departed, and coupled with a pretension +to impress one, a disposition to ‘fish’ and face around and disguise the +essential hollowness which is, if anything, more painful still. Mr. Hodgson has +to resort to the theory that, although the communicants probably are spirits, +they are in a semi-comatose or sleeping state while communicating, and only +half aware of what is going on, while the habits of Mrs. Piper’s neural +organism largely supply the definite form of words, etc., in which the +phenomenon is clothed.” +</p> + +<p> +After considering other theories Professor James concludes: +</p> + +<p> +“The world is evidently more complex than we are accustomed to think it, the +absolute ‘world ground’ in particular being farther off than we are wont to +think it.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Piper is reported to have said: +</p> + +<p> +“Of what occurs after I enter the trance period I remember nothing—nothing of +what I said or what was said to me. I am but a passive agent in the hands of +powers that control me. I can give no account of what becomes of me during a +trance. The wisdom and inspired eloquence which of late has been conveyed to +Dr. Hodgson through my mediumship is entirely beyond my understanding. I do not +pretend to understand it, and can give no explanation—I simply know that I have +the power of going into a trance when I wish.” +</p> + +<p> +Professor James says: “The Piper phenomena are the most absolutely baffling +thing I know.” +</p> + +<p> +Professor Hudson, Ph.D., LL.D., author of “The Law of Psychic Phenomena,” comes +as near giving an explanation of “spiritualism,” so called, as any one. He +begins by saying: +</p> + +<p> +“All things considered, Mrs. Piper is probably the best ‘psychic’ now before +the public for the scientific investigation of spiritualism and it must be +admitted that if her alleged communications from discarnate spirits cannot be +traced to any other source, the claims of spiritism have been confirmed.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he goes on: +</p> + +<p> +“A few words, however, will make it clear to the scientific mind that her +phenomena can be easily accounted for on purely psychological principles, thus: +</p> + +<p> +“Man is endowed with a dual mind, or two minds, or states of consciousness, +designated, respectively, as the objective and the subjective. The objective +mind is normally unconscious of the content of the subjective mind. The latter +is constantly amenable to control by suggestion, and it is exclusively endowed +with the faculty of telepathy. +</p> + +<p> +“An entranced psychic is dominated exclusively by her subjective mind, and +reason is in abeyance. Hence she is controlled by suggestion, and, +consequently, is compelled to believe herself to be a spirit, good or bad, if +that suggestion is in any way imparted to her, and she automatically acts +accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +“She is in no sense responsible for the vagaries of a Phinuit, for that +eccentric personality is the creation of suggestion. But she is also in the +condition which enables her to read the subjective minds of others. Hence her +supernormal knowledge of the affairs of her sitters. What he knows, or has ever +known, consciously or unconsciously (subjective memory being perfect), is +easily within her reach. +</p> + +<p> +“Thus far no intelligent psychical researcher will gainsay what I have said. +But it sometimes happens that the psychic obtains information that neither she +nor the sitter could ever have consciously possessed. Does it necessarily +follow that discarnate spirits gave her the information? Spiritists say ‘yes,’ +for this is the ‘last ditch’ of spiritism. +</p> + +<p> +“Psychologists declare that the telepathic explanation is as valid in the +latter class of cases as it obviously is in the former. Thus, telepathy being a +power of the subjective mind, messages may be conveyed from one to another at +any time, neither of the parties being objectively conscious of the fact. It +follows that a telepathist at any following seance with the recipient can reach +the content of that message. +</p> + +<p> +“If this argument is valid—and its validity is self-evident—it is impossible to +imagine a case that may not be thus explained on psychological principles.” +</p> + +<p> +Professor Hudson’s argument will appeal to the ordinary reader as good. It may +be simplified, however, thus: +</p> + +<p> +We may suppose that Mrs. Piper voluntarily hypnotizes herself. Perhaps she +simply puts her conscious reason to sleep. In that condition the rest of her +mind is in an exalted state, and capable of telepathy and mind-reading, either +of those near at hand or at a distance. Her reason being asleep, she simply +dreams, and the questions of her sitter are made to fit into her dream. +</p> + +<p> +If we regard mediums as persons who have the power of hypnotizing themselves +and then of doing what we know persons who have been hypnotized by others +sometimes do, we have an explanation that covers the whole case perfectly. At +the same time, as Professor James warns us, we must believe that the mind is +far more complex than we are accustomed to think it. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPLETE HYPNOTISM: MESMERISM, MIND-READING AND SPIRITUALISM ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e45eec --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #19342 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19342) diff --git a/old/19342.txt b/old/19342.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d706b90 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/19342.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3815 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading +and Spiritualism, by A. Alpheus + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism, Mind-Reading and Spiritualism + How to Hypnotize: Being an Exhaustive and Practical System of Method, Application, and Use + + +Author: A. Alpheus + + + +Release Date: September 20, 2006 [eBook #19342] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPLETE HYPNOTISM: MESMERISM, +MIND-READING AND SPIRITUALISM*** + + +E-text prepared by Jerry Kuntz as part of the Lawson's Progress Project + + + +COMPLETE HYPNOTISM: MESMERISM, MIND-READING AND SPIRITUALISM + +How to Hypnotize: Being an Exhaustive and Practical System of Method, +Application, and Use + +by + +A. ALPHEUS + +1903 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION--History of hypnotism--Mesmer--Puysegur--Braid--What is +hypnotism?--Theories of hypnotism: 1. Animal magnetism; 2. The Neurosis +Theory; 3. Suggestion Theory + +CHAPTER I--How to Hypnotize--Dr. Cocke's method-Dr. Flint's method--The +French method at Paris--At Nancy--The Hindoo silent method--How to wake a +subject from hypnotic sleep--Frauds of public hypnotic entertainments. + +CHAPTER II--Amusing experiments--Hypnotizing on the stage--"You can't pull +your hands apart!"--Post-hypnotic suggestion--The newsboy, the hunter, and +the young man with the rag doll--A whip becomes hot iron--Courting a broom +stick--The side-show + +CHAPTER III--The stages of hypnotism--Lethargy-Catalepsy--The +somnambulistic stage--Fascination + +CHAPTER IV--How the subject feels under hypnotization--Dr. Cocke's +experience--Effect of music--Dr. Alfred Warthin's experiments + +CHAPTER V--Self hypnotization--How it may be done--An +experience--Accountable for children's crusade--Oriental prophets +self-hypnotized + +CHAPTER VI--Simulation--Deception in hypnotism very common--Examples of +Neuropathic deceit--Detecting simulation--Professional subjects--How +Dr. Luys of the Charity Hospital at Paris was deceived--Impossibility of +detecting deception in all cases--Confessions of a professional hypnotic +subject + +CHAPTER VII--Criminal suggestion--Laboratory crimes--Dr. Cocke's +experiments showing criminal suggestion is not possible--Dr. William +James' theory--A bad man cannot be made good, why expect to make a good +man bad? + +CHAPTER VIII--Dangers in being hypnotized Condemnation of public +performances--A commonsense view--Evidence furnished by Lafontaine; by Dr. +Courmelles; by Dr. Hart; by Dr. Cocke--No danger in hypnotism if rightly +used by physicians or scientists + +CHAPTER IX--Hypnotism in medicine--Anesthesia--Restoring the use of +muscles--Hallucination--Bad habits + +CHAPTER X--Hypnotism of animals--Snake charming + +CHAPTER XI--A scientific explanation of hypnotism--Dr. Hart's theory + +CHAPTER XII--Telepathy and Clairvoyance--Peculiar power in hypnotic +state--Experiments--"Phantasms of the living" explained by telepathy + +CHAPTER XIII--The Confessions of a Medium--Spiritualistic phenomena +explained on theory of telepathy--Interesting statement of Mrs. Piper, +the famous medium of the Psychical Research Society + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +There is no doubt that hypnotism is a very old subject, though the name +was not invented till 1850. In it was wrapped up the "mysteries of Isis" +in Egypt thousands of years ago, and probably it was one of the weapons, +if not the chief instrument of operation, of the magi mentioned in the +Bible and of the "wise men" of Babylon and Egypt. "Laying on of hands" +must have been a form of mesmerism, and Greek oracles of Delphi and +other places seem to have been delivered by priests or priestesses who +went into trances of self-induced hypnotism. It is suspected that the +fakirs of India who make trees grow from dry twigs in a few minutes, or +transform a rod into a serpent (as Aaron did in Bible history), operate +by some form of hypnotism. The people of the East are much more subject +to influences of this kind than Western peoples are, and there can be no +question that the religious orgies of heathendom were merely a form of +that hysteria which is so closely related to the modern phenomenon of +hypnotism. Though various scientific men spoke of magnetism, and +understood that there was a power of a peculiar kind which one man could +exercise over another, it was not until Frederick Anton Mesmer (a doctor +of Vienna) appeared in 1775 that the general public gave any special +attention to the subject. In the year mentioned, Mesmer sent out a +circular letter to various scientific societies or "Academies" as they +are called in Europe, stating his belief that "animal magnetism" +existed, and that through it one man could influence another. No +attention was given his letter, except by the Academy of Berlin, which +sent him an unfavorable reply. + +In 1778 Mesmer was obliged for some unknown reason to leave Vienna, and +went to Paris, where he was fortunate in converting to his ideas +d'Eslon, the Comte d'Artois's physician, and one of the medical +professors at the Faculty of Medicine. His success was very great; +everybody was anxious to be magnetized, and the lucky Viennese doctor +was soon obliged to call in assistants. Deleuze, the librarian at the +Jardin des Plantes, who has been called the Hippocrates of magnetism, +has left the following account of Mesmer's experiments: + +"In the middle of a large room stood an oak tub, four or five feet in +diameter and one foot deep. It was closed by a lid made in two pieces, +and encased in another tub or bucket. At the bottom of the tub a number +of bottles were laid in convergent rows, so that the neck of each bottle +turned towards the centre. Other bottles filled with magnetized water +tightly corked up were laid in divergent rows with their necks turned +outwards. Several rows were thus piled up, and the apparatus was then +pronounced to be at 'high pressure'. The tub was filled with water, to +which were sometimes added powdered glass and iron filings. There were +also some dry tubs, that is, prepared in the same manner, but without +any additional water. The lid was perforated to admit of the passage of +movable bent rods, which could be applied to the different parts of the +patient's body. A long rope was also fastened to a ring in the lid, and +this the patients placed loosely round their limbs. No disease offensive +to the sight was treated, such as sores, or deformities. + +"A large number of patients were commonly treated at one time. They drew +near to each other, touching hands, arms, knees, or feet. The +handsomest, youngest, and most robust magnetizers held also an iron rod +with which they touched the dilatory or stubborn patients. The rods and +ropes had all undergone a 'preparation' and in a very short space of +time the patients felt the magnetic influence. The women, being the most +easily affected, were almost at once seized with fits of yawning and +stretching; their eyes closed, their legs gave way and they seemed to +suffocate. In vain did musical glasses and harmonicas resound, the piano +and voices re-echo; these supposed aids only seemed to increase the +patients' convulsive movements. Sardonic laughter, piteous moans and +torrents of tears burst forth on all sides. The bodies were thrown back +in spasmodic jerks, the respirations sounded like death rattles, the +most terrifying symptoms were exhibited. Then suddenly the actors of +this strange scene would frantically or rapturously rush towards each +other, either rejoicing and embracing or thrusting away their neighbors +with every appearance of horror. + +"Another room was padded and presented another spectacle. There women +beat their heads against wadded walls or rolled on the cushion-covered +floor, in fits of suffocation. In the midst of this panting, quivering +throng, Mesmer, dressed in a lilac coat, moved about, extending a magic +wand toward the least suffering, halting in front of the most violently +excited and gazing steadily into their eyes, while he held both their +hands in his, bringing the middle fingers in immediate contact to +establish communication. At another moment he would, by a motion of open +hands and extended fingers, operate with the great current, crossing and +uncrossing his arms with wonderful rapidity to make the final passes." + +Hysterical women and nervous young boys, many of them from the highest +ranks of Society, flocked around this wonderful wizard, and incidentally +he made a great deal of money. There is little doubt that he started out +as a genuine and sincere student of the scientific character of the new +power he had indeed discovered; there is also no doubt that he +ultimately became little more than a charlatan. There was, of course, no +virtue in his "prepared" rods, nor in his magnetic tubs. At the same +time the belief of the people that there was virtue in them was one of +the chief means by which he was able to induce hypnotism, as we shall +see later. Faith, imagination, and willingness to be hypnotized on the +part of the subject are all indispensable to entire success in the +practice of this strange art. + +In 1779 Mesmer published a pamphlet entitled "Memoire sur la decouverte +du magnetisme animal", of which Doctor Cocke gives the following summary +(his chief claim was that he had discovered a principle which would cure +every disease): + +"He sets forth his conclusions in twenty-seven propositions, of which +the substance is as follows:-- There is a reciprocal action and reaction +between the planets, the earth and animate nature by means of a constant +universal fluid, subject to mechanical laws yet unknown. The animal body +is directly affected by the insinuation of this agent into the substance +of the nerves. It causes in human bodies properties analogous to those +of the magnet, for which reason it is called 'Animal Magnetism'. This +magnetism may be communicated to other bodies, may be increased and +reflected by mirrors, communicated, propagated, and accumulated, by +sound. It may be accumulated, concentrated, and transported. The same +rules apply to the opposite virtue. The magnet is susceptible of +magnetism and the opposite virtue. The magnet and artificial electricity +have, with respect to disease, properties common to a host of other +agents presented to us by nature, and if the use of these has been +attended by useful results, they are due to animal magnetism. By the aid +of magnetism, then, the physician enlightened as to the use of medicine +may render its action more perfect, and can provoke and direct salutary +crises so as to have them completely under his control." + +The Faculty of Medicine investigated Mesmer's claims, but reported +unfavorably, and threatened d'Eslon with expulsion from the society +unless he gave Mesmer up. Nevertheless the government favored the +discoverer, and when the medical fraternity attacked him with such vigor +that he felt obliged to leave Paris, it offered him a pension of 20,000 +francs if he would remain. He went away, but later came back at the +request of his pupils. In 1784 the government appointed two commissions +to investigate the claims that had been made. On one of these +commissions was Benjamin Franklin, then American Ambassador to France as +well as the great French scientist Lavoisier. The other was drawn from +the Royal Academy of Medicine, and included Laurent de Jussieu, the only +man who declared in favor of Mesmer. + +There is no doubt that Mesmer had returned to Paris for the purpose of +making money, and these commissions were promoted in part by persons +desirous of driving him out. "It is interesting," says a French writer, +"to peruse the reports of these commissions: they read like a debate on +some obscure subject of which the future has partly revealed the +secret." Says another French writer (Courmelles): "They sought the +fluid, not by the study of the cures affected, which was considered too +complicated a task, but in the phases of mesmeric sleep. These were +considered indispensable and easily regulated by the experimentalist. +When submitted to close investigation, it was, however, found that they +could only be induced when the subjects knew they were being magnetized, +and that they differed according as they were conducted in public or in +private. In short--whether it be a coincidence or the truth--imagination +was considered the sole active agent. Whereupon d'Eslon remarked, 'If +imagination is the best cure, why should we not use the imagination as a +curative means?' Did he, who had so vaunted the existence of the fluid, +mean by this to deny its existence, or was it rather a satirical way of +saying. 'You choose to call it imagination; be it so. But after all, as +it cures, let us make the most of it'? + +"The two commissions came to the conclusion that the phenomena were due +to imitation, and contact, that they were dangerous and must be +prohibited. Strange to relate, seventy years later, Arago pronounced the +same verdict!" + +Daurent Jussieu was the only one who believed in anything more than +this. He saw a new and important truth, which he set forth in a personal +report upon withdrawing from the commission, which showed itself so +hostile to Mesmer and his pretensions. + +Time and scientific progress have largely overthrown Mesmer's theories +of the fluid; yet Mesmer had made a discovery that was in the course of +a hundred years to develop into an important scientific study. Says +Vincent: "It seems ever the habit of the shallow scientist to plume +himself on the more accurate theories which have been provided f, by the +progress of knowledge and of science, and then, having been fed with a +limited historical pabulum, to turn and talk lightly, and with an air of +the most superior condescension, of the weakness and follies of those +but for whose patient labors our modern theories would probably be +non-existent." If it had not been for Mesmer and his "Animal Magnetism", +we would never have had "hypnotism" and all our learned societies for the +study of it. + +Mesmer, though his pretensions were discredited, was quickly followed by +Puysegur, who drew all the world to Buzancy, near Soissons, France. +"Doctor Cloquet related that he saw there, patients no longer the +victims of hysterical fits, but enjoying a calm, peaceful, restorative +slumber. It may be said that from this moment really efficacious and +useful magnetism became known." Every one rushed once more to be +magnetized, and Puysegur had so many patients that to care for them all +he was obliged to magnetize a tree (as he said), which was touched by +hundreds who came to be cured, and was long known as "Puysegur's tree". +As a result of Puysegur's success, a number of societies were formed in +France for the study of the new phenomena. + +In the meantime, the subject had attracted considerable interest in +Germany, and in 1812 Wolfart was sent to Mesmer at Frauenfeld by the +Prussian government to investigate Mesmerism. He became an enthusiast, +and introduced its practice into the hospital at Berlin. + +In 1814 Deleuze published a book on the subject, and Abbe Faria, who had +come from India, demonstrated that there was no fluid, but that the +phenomena were subjective, or within the mind of the patient. He first +introduced what is now called the "method of suggestion" in producing +magnetism or hypnotism. In 1815 Mesmer died. + +Experimentation continued, and in the 20's Foissac persuaded the Academy +of Medicine to appoint a commission to investigate the subject. After +five years they presented a report. This report gave a good statement of +the practical operation of magnetism, mentioning the phenomena of +somnambulism, anesthesia, loss of memory, and the various other symptoms +of the hypnotic state as we know it. It was thought that magnetism had a +right to be considered as a therapeutic agent, and that it might be used +by physicians, though others should not be allowed to practice it. In +1837 another commission made a decidedly unfavorable report. + +Soon after this Burdin, a member of the Academy, offered a prize of +3,000 francs to any one who would read the number of a bank-note or the +like with his eyes bandaged (under certain fixed conditions), but it was +never awarded, though many claimed it, and there has been considerable +evidence that persons in the hypnotic state have (sometimes) remarkable +clairvoyant powers. + +Soon after this, magnetism fell into very low repute throughout France +and Germany, and scientific men became loath to have their names +connected with the study of it in any way. The study had not yet been +seriously taken up in England, and two physicians who gave some +attention to it suffered decidedly in professional reputation. + +It is to an English physician, however, that we owe the scientific +character of modern hypnotism. Indeed he invented the name of hypnotism, +formed from the Greek word meaning 'sleep', and designating +'artificially produced sleep'. His name is James Braid, and so important +were the results of his study that hypnotism has sometimes been called +"Braidism". Doctor Courmelles gives the following interesting summary of +Braid's experiences: + +"November, 1841, he witnessed a public experiment made by Monsieur +Lafontaine, a Swiss magnetizer. He thought the whole thing a comedy; a +week after, he attended a second exhibition, saw that the patient could +not open his eyes, and concluded that this was ascribable to some +physical cause. The fixity of gaze must, according to him, exhaust the +nerve centers of the eyes and their surroundings. He made a friend look +steadily at the neck of a bottle, and his own wife look at an +ornamentation on the top of a china sugar bowl: sleep was the +consequence. Here hypnotism had its origin, and the fact was established +that sleep could be induced by physical agents. This, it must be +remembered, is the essential difference between these two classes of +phenomena (magnetism and hypnotism): for magnetism supposes a direct +action of the magnetizer on the magnetized subject, an action which does +not exist in hypnotism." + +It may be stated that most English and American operators fail to see +any distinction between magnetism and hypnotism, and suppose that the +effect of passes, etc., as used by Mesmer, is in its way as much +physical as the method of producing hypnotism by concentrating the gaze +of the subject on a bright object, or the like. + +Braid had discovered a new science--as far as the theoretical view of it +was concerned--for he showed that hypnotism is largely, if not purely, +mechanical and physical. He noted that during one phase of hypnotism, +known as catalepsy, the arms, limbs, etc., might be placed in any +position and would remain there; he also noted that a puff of breath +would usually awaken a subject, and that by talking to a subject and +telling him to do this or do that, even after he awakes from the sleep, +he can be made to do those things. Braid thought he might affect a +certain part of the brain during hypnotic sleep, and if he could find +the seat of the thieving disposition, or the like, he could cure the +patient of desire to commit crime, simply by suggestion, or command. + +Braid's conclusions were, in brief, that there was no fluid, or other +exterior agent, but that hypnotism was due to a physiological condition +of the nerves. It was his belief that hypnotic sleep was brought about +by fatigue of the eyelids, or by other influences wholly within the +subject. In this he was supported by Carpenter, the great physiologist; +but neither Braid nor Carpenter could get the medical organizations to +give the matter any attention, even to investigate it. In 1848 an +American named Grimes succeeded in obtaining all the phenomena of +hypnotism, and created a school of writers who made use of the word +"electro-biology." + +In 1850 Braid's ideas were introduced into France, and Dr. Azam, of +Bordeaux, published an account of them in the "Archives de Medicine." +From this time on the subject was widely studied by scientific men in +France and Germany, and it was more slowly taken up in England. It may +be stated here that the French and other Latin races are much more +easily hypnotized than the northern races, Americans perhaps being least +subject to the hypnotic influence, and next to them the English. On the +other hand, the Orientals are influenced to a degree we can hardly +comprehend. + +WHAT IS HYPNOTISM? + +We have seen that so far the history of hypnotism has given us two +manifestations, or methods, that of passes and playing upon the +imagination in various ways, used by Mesmer, and that of physical means, +such as looking at a bright object, used by Braid. Both of these methods +are still in use, and though hundreds of scientific men, including many +physicians, have studied the subject for years, no essentially new +principle has been discovered, though the details of hypnotic operation +have been thoroughly classified and many minor elements of interest have +been developed. All these make a body of evidence which will assist us +in answering the question, What is hypnotism? + +Modern scientific study has pretty conclusively established the +following facts: + +1. Idiots, babies under three years old, and hopelessly insane people +cannot be hypnotized. + +2. No one can be hypnotized unless the operator can make him concentrate +his attention for a reasonable length of time. Concentration of +attention, whatever the method of producing hypnotism, is absolutely +necessary. + +3. The persons not easily hypnotized are those said to be neurotic (or +those affected with hysteria). By "hysteria" is not meant nervous +excitability, necessarily. Some very phlegmatic persons may be affected +with hysteria. In medical science "hysteria" is an irregular action of +the nervous system. It will sometimes show itself by severe pains in the +arm, when in reality there is nothing whatever to cause pain; or it will +raise a swelling on the head quite without cause. It is a tendency to +nervous disease which in severe cases may lead to insanity. The word +neurotic is a general term covering affection of the nervous system. It +includes hysteria and much else beside. + +On all these points practically every student of hypnotism is agreed. On +the question as to whether any one can produce hypnotism by pursuing the +right methods there is some disagreement, but not much. Dr. Ernest Hart +in an article in the British Medical Journal makes the following very +definite statement, representing the side of the case that maintains +that any one can produce hypnotism. Says he: + +"It is a common delusion that the mesmerist or hypnotizer counts for +anything in the experiment. The operator, whether priest, physician, +charlatan, self-deluded enthusiast, or conscious imposter, is not the +source of any occult influence, does not possess any mysterious power, +and plays only a very secondary and insignificant part in the chain of +phenomena observed. There exist at the present time many individuals who +claim for themselves, and some who make a living by so doing, a peculiar +property or power as potent mesmerizers, hypnotizers, magnetizers, or +electro-biologists. One even often hears it said in society (for I am +sorry to say that these mischievous practices and pranks are sometimes +made a society game) that such a person is a clever hypnotist or has +great mesmeric or healing power. I hope to be able to prove, what I +firmly hold, both from my own personal experience and experiment, as I +have already related in the Nineteenth Century, that there is no such +thing as a potent mesmeric influence, no such power resident in any one +person more than another; that a glass of water, a tree, a stick, a +penny-post letter, or a lime-light can mesmerize as effectually as can +any individual. A clever hypnotizer means only a person who is +acquainted with the physical or mental tricks by which the hypnotic +condition is produced; or sometimes an unconscious imposter who is +unaware of the very trifling part for which he is cast in the play, and +who supposes himself really to possess a mysterious power which in, fact +he does not possess at all, or which, to speak more accurately, is +equally possessed by every stock or stone." + +Against this we may place the statement of Dr. Foveau de Courmelles, who +speaks authoritatively for the whole modern French school. He says: + +"Every magnetizer is aware that certain individuals never can induce +sleep even in the most easily hypnotizable subjects. They admit that the +sympathetic fluid is necessary, and that each person may eventually find +his or her hypnotizer, even when numerous attempts at inducing sleep +have failed. However this may be, the impossibility some individuals +find in inducing sleep in trained subjects, proves at least the +existence of a negative force." + +If you would ask the present writer's opinion, gathered from all the +evidence before him, he would say that while he has no belief in the +existence of any magnetic fluid, or anything that corresponds to it, he +thinks there can be no doubt that some people will succeed as hypnotists +while some will fail, just as some fail as carpenters while others +succeed. This is true in every walk of life. It is also true that some +people attract, others repel, the people they meet. This is not very +easily explained, but we have all had opportunity to observe it. Again, +since concentration is the prerequisite for producing hypnotism, one who +has not the power of concentration himself, and concentration which he +can perfectly control, is not likely to be able to secure it in others. +Also, since faith is a strong element, a person who has not perfect +self-confidence could not expect to create confidence in others. While +many successful hypnotizers can themselves be hypnotized, it is probable +that most all who have power of this kind are themselves exempt from the +exercise of it. It is certainly true that while a person easily +hypnotized is by no means weak-minded (indeed, it is probable that most +geniuses would be good hypnotic subjects), still such persons have not a +well balanced constitution and their nerves are high-strung if not +unbalanced. They would be most likely to be subject to a person who had +such a strong and well-balanced nervous constitution that it would be +hard to hypnotize. And it is always safe to say that the strong may +control the weak, but it is not likely that the weak will control the +strong. + +There is also another thing that must be taken into account. Science +teaches that all matter is in vibration. Indeed, philosophy points to +the theory that matter itself is nothing more than centers of force in +vibration. The lowest vibration we know is that of sound. Then comes, at +an enormously higher rate, heat, light (beginning at dark red and +passing through the prismatic colors to violet which has a high +vibration), to the chemical rays, and then the so-called X or unknown +rays which have a much higher vibration still. Electricity is a form of +vibration, and according to the belief of many scientists, life is a +species of vibration so high that we have no possible means of measuring +it. As every student of science knows, air appears to be the chief +medium for conveying vibration of sound, metal is the chief medium for +conveying electric vibrations, while to account for the vibrations of +heat and light we have to assume (or imagine) an invisible, imponderable +ether which fills all space and has no property of matter that we can +distinguish except that of conveying vibrations of light in its various +forms. When we pass on to human life, we have to theorize chiefly by +analogy. (It must not be forgotten, however, that the existence of the +ether and many assumed facts in science are only theories which have +come to be generally adopted because they explain phenomena of all kinds +better than any other theories which have been offered.) + +Now, in life, as in physical science, any one who can get, or has by +nature, the key-note of another nature, has a tremendous power over that +other nature. The following story illustrates what this power is in the +physical world. While we cannot vouch for the exact truth of the details +of the story, there can be no doubt of the accuracy of the principle on +which it is based: + +"A musical genius came to the Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls, and +asked permission to cross; but as he had no money, his request was +contemptuously refused. He stepped away from the entrance, and, drawing +his violin from his case, began sounding notes up and down the scale. He +finally discovered, by the thrill that sent a tremor through the mighty +structure, that he had found the note on which the great cable that +upheld the mass, was keyed. He drew his bow across the string of the +violin again, and the colossal wire, as if under the spell of a +magician, responded with a throb that sent a wave through its enormous +length. He sounded the note again and again, and the cable that was +dormant under the strain of loaded teams and monster engines--the cable +that remained stolid under the pressure of human traffic, and the heavy +tread of commerce, thrilled and surged and shook itself, as mad waves of +vibration coursed over its length, and it tore at its slack, until like +a foam-crested wave of the sea, it shook the towers at either end, or, +like some sentient animal, it tugged at its fetters and longed to be +free. + +"The officers in charge, apprehensive of danger, hurried the poor +musician across, and bade him begone and trouble them no more. The +ragged genius, putting his well-worn instrument back in its case, +muttered to himself, 'I'd either crossed free or torn down the bridge.'" + +"So the hypnotist," goes on the writer from which the above is quoted, +"finds the note on which the subjective side of the person is attuned, +and by playing upon it awakens into activity emotions and sensibilities +that otherwise would have remained dormant, unused and even +unsuspected." + +No student of science will deny the truth of these statements. At the +same time it has been demonstrated again and again that persons can and +do frequently hypnotize themselves. This is what Mr. Hart means when he +says that any stick or stone may produce hypnotism. If a person will +gaze steadily at a bright fire, or a glass of water, for instance, he +can throw himself into a hypnotic trance exactly similar to the +condition produced by a professional or trained hypnotist. Such people, +however, must be possessed of imagination. + +THEORIES OF HYPNOTISM. + +We have now learned some facts in regard to hypnotism; but they leave +the subject still a mystery. Other facts which will be developed in the +course of this book will only deepen the mystery. We will therefore +state some of the best known theories. + +Before doing so, however, it would be well to state concisely just what +seems to happen in a case of hypnotism. The word hypnotism means sleep, +and the definition of hypnotism implies artificially produced sleep. +Sometimes this sleep is deep and lasting, and the patient is totally +insensible; but the interesting phase of the condition is that in +certain stages the patient is only partially asleep, while the other +part of his brain is awake and very active. + +It is well known that one part of the brain may be affected without +affecting the other parts. In hemiplegia, for instance, one half of the +nervous system is paralyzed, while the other half is all right. In the +stages of hypnotism we will now consider, the will portion of the brain +or mind seems to be put to sleep, while the other faculties are, +abnormally awake. Some explain this by supposing that the blood is +driven out of one portion of the brain and driven into other portions. +In any case, it is as though the human engine were uncoupled, and the +patient becomes an automaton. If he is told to do this, that, or the +other, he does it, simply because his will is asleep and "suggestion", +as it is called, from without makes him act just as he starts up +unconsciously in his ordinary sleep if tickled with a straw. + +Now for the theories. There are three leading theories, known as that of +1. Animal Magnetism; 2. Neurosis; and 3. Suggestion. We will simply +state them briefly in order without discussion. + +Animal Magnetism. This is the theory offered by Mesmer, and those who +hold it assume that "the hypnotizer exercises a force, independently of +suggestion, over the subject. They believe one part of the body to be +charged separately, or that the whole body may be filled with magnetism. +They recognize the power, of suggestion, but they do not believe it to +be the principal factor in the production of the hypnotic state." Those +who hold this theory today distinguish between the phenomena produced by +magnetism and those produced by physical means or simple suggestion. + +The Neurosis Theory. We have already explained the word neurosis, but we +repeat here the definition given by Dr. J. R. Cocke. "A neurosis is any +affection of the nervous centers occurring without any material agent +producing it, without inflammation or any other constant structural +change which can be detected in the nervous centers. As will be seen +from the definition, any abnormal manifestation of the nervous system of +whose cause we know practically nothing, is, for convenience, termed a +neurosis. If a man has a certain habit or trick, it is termed a neurosis +or neuropathic habit. One man of my acquaintance, who is a professor in +a college, always begins his lecture by first sneezing and then pulling +at his nose. Many forms of tremor are called neurosis. Now to say that +hypnotism is the result of a. neurosis, simply means that a person's +nervous system is susceptible to this condition, which, by M. Charcot +and his followers, is regarded as abnormal." In short, M. Charcot places +hypnotism in the same category of nervous affections in which hysteria +and finally hallucination (medically considered) are to be classed, that +is to say, as a nervous weakness, not to say a disease. According to +this theory, a person whose nervous system is perfectly healthy could +not be hypnotized. So many people can be hypnotized because nearly all +the world is more or less insane, as a certain great writer has +observed. + +Suggestion. This theory is based on the power of mind over the body as +we observe it in everyday life. Again let me quote from Dr. Cooke. "If +we can direct the subject's whole attention to the belief that such an +effect as before mentioned--that his arm will be paralyzed, for +instance--will take place, that effect will gradually occur. Such a +result having been once produced, the subject's will-power and power of +resistance are considerably weakened, because he is much more inclined +than at first to believe the hypnotizer's assertion. This is generally +the first step in the process of hypnosis. The method pursued at the +school of Nancy is to convince the subject that his eyes are closing by +directing his attention to that effect as strongly as possible. However, +it is not necessary that we begin with the eyes. According to M. +Dessoir, any member of the body will answer as well." The theory of +Suggestion is maintained by the medical school attached to the hospital +at Nancy. The theory of Neurosis was originally put forth as the result +of experiments by Dr. Charcot at the Salpetriere hospital in Paris, +which is now the co-called Salpetriere school--that is the medical, +school connected with the Salpetriere hospital. + +There is also another theory put forth, or rather a modification of +Professor Charcot's theory, and maintained by the school of the Charity +hospital in Paris, headed by Dr. Luys, to the effect that the physical +magnet and electricity may affect persons in the hypnotic state, and +that certain drugs in sealed tubes placed upon the patient's neck during +the condition of hypnosis will produce the same effects which those +drugs would produce if taken internally, or as the nature of the drugs +would seem to call for if imbibed in a more complete fashion. This +school, however, has been considerably discredited, and Dr. Luys' +conclusions are not received by scientific students of hypnotism. It is +also stated, and the present writer has seen no effective denial, that +hypnotism may be produced by pressing with the fingers upon certain +points in the body, known as hypnogenic spots. + +It will be seen that these three theories stated above are greatly at +variance with each other. The student of hypnotism will have to form a +conclusion for himself as he investigates the facts. Possibly it will be +found that the true theory is a combination of all three of those +described above. Hypnotism is certainly a complicated phenomena, and he +would be a rash man who should try to explain it in a sentence or in a +paragraph. An entire book proves a very limited space for doing it. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HOW TO HYPNOTIZE. + +Dr. Cocke's Method--Dr. Flint's Method--The French Method at Paris--at +Nancy--The Hindoo Silent Method--How to Wake a Subject from Hypnotic +Sleep--Frauds of Public Hypnotic Entertainers. + +First let us quote what is said of hypnotism in Foster's Encyclopedic +Medical Dictionary. The dictionary states the derivation of the word +from the Greek word meaning sleep, and gives as synonym "Braidism". This +definition follows: "An abnormal state into which some persons may be +thrown, either by a voluntary act of their own, such as gazing +continuously with fixed attention on some bright object held close to +the eyes, or by the exercise of another person's will; characterized by +suspension of the will and consequent obedience to the promptings of +suggestions from without. The activity of the organs of special sense, +except the eye, may be heightened, and the power of the muscles +increased. Complete insensibility to pain may be induced by hypnotism, +and it has been used as an anaesthetic. It is apt to be followed by a +severe headache of long continuance, and by various nervous +disturbances. On emerging from the hypnotic state, the person hypnotized +usually has no remembrance of what happened during its continuance, but +in many persons such remembrance may be induced by 'suggestion'. About +one person in three is susceptible to hypnotism, and those of the +hysterical or neurotic tendency (but rarely the insane) are the most +readily hypnotized." + +First we will quote the directions for producing hypnotism given by Dr. +James R. Cocke, one of the most scientific experimenters in hypnotism in +America. His directions of are special value, since they are more +applicable to American subjects than the directions given by French +writers. Says Dr. Cocke: + +"The hypnotic state can be produced in one of the following ways: First, +command the subject to close his eyes. Tell him his mind is a blank. +Command him to think of nothing. Leave him a few minutes; return and +tell him he cannot open his eyes. If he fails to do so, then begin to +make any suggestion which may be desired. This is the so-called mental +method of hypnotization. + +"Secondly, give the subject a coin or other bright object. Tell him to +look steadfastly at it and not take his eyes away from it. Suggest that +his eyelids are growing heavy, that he cannot keep them open. Now close +the lids. They cannot be opened. This is the usual method employed by +public exhibitors. A similar method is by looking into a mirror, or into +a glass of water, or by rapidly revolving polished disks, which should +be looked at steadfastly in the same way as is the coin, and I think +tires the eyes less. + +"Another method is by simply commanding the subject to close his eyes, +while the operator makes passes over his head and hands without coming +in contact with them. Suggestions may be made during these passes. + +"Fascination, as it is called, is one of the hypnotic states. The +operator fixes his eyes on those of the subject. Holding his attention +for a few minutes, the operator begins to walk backward; the subject +follows. The operator raises the arm; the subject does likewise. +Briefly, the subject will imitate any movement of the hypnotist, or will +obey any suggestion made by word, look or gesture, suggested by the one +with whom he is en rapport. + +"A very effective method of hypnotizing a person is by commanding him +to sleep, and having some very soft music played upon the piano, or +other stringed instrument. Firm pressure over the orbits, or over the +finger-ends and root of the nail for some minutes may also induce the +condition of hypnosis in very sensitive persons. + +"Also hypnosis can frequently be induced by giving the subject a glass +of water, and telling him at the same time that it has been magnetized. +The wearing of belts around the body, and rings round the fingers, will +also, sometimes, induce a degree of hypnosis, if the subject has been +told that they have previously been magnetized or are electric. The +latter descriptions are the so-called physical methods described by Dr. +Moll." + +Dr. Herbert L. Flint, a stage hypnotizer, describes his methods as +follows: + +"To induce hypnotism, I begin by friendly conversation to place my +patient in a condition of absolute calmness and quiescence. I also try +to win his confidence by appealing to his own volitional effort to aid +me in obtaining the desired clad. I impress upon him that hypnosis in +his condition is a benign agency, and far from subjugating his +mentality, it becomes intensified to so great an extent as to act as a +remedial agent. + +"Having assured myself that he is in a passive condition, I suggest to +him, either with or without passes, that after looking intently at an +object for a few moments, he will experience a feeling of lassitude. I +steadily gaze at his eyes, and in a monotonous tone I continue to +suggest the various stages of sleep. As for instance, I say, 'Your +breathing is heavy. Your whole body is relaxed.' I raise his arm, +holding it in a horizontal position for a second or two, and suggest to +him that it is getting heavier and heavier. I let my hand go and his arm +falls to his side. + +"'Your eyes,' I continue, 'feel tired and sleepy. They are fast closing' +repeating in a soothing tone the words 'sleepy, sleepy, sleep.' Then in +a self-assertive tone, I emphasize the suggestion by saying in an +unhesitating and positive tone, 'sleep.' + +"I do not, however, use this method with all patients. It is an error to +state, as some specialists do, that from their formula there can be no +deviation; because, as no two minds are constituted alike, so they +cannot be affected alike. While one will yield by intense will exerted +through my eyes, another may, by the same means, become fretful, timid, +nervous, and more wakeful than he was before. The same rule applies to +gesture, tones of the voice, and mesmeric passes. That which has a +soothing and lulling effect on one, may have an opposite effect on +another. There can be no unvarying rule applicable to all patients. The +means must be left to the judgment of the operator, who by a long course +of psychological training should be able to judge what measures are +necessary to obtain control of his subject. Just as in drugs, one person +may take a dose without injury that will kill another, so in hypnosis, +one person can be put into a deep sleep by means that would be totally +ineffectual in another, and even then the mental states differ in each +individual--that which in one induces a gentle slumber may plunge his +neighbor into a deep cataleptic state." + +That hypnotism may be produced by purely physical or mechanical means +seems to have been demonstrated by an incident which started Doctor +Burq, a Frenchman, upon a scientific inquiry which lasted many years. +"While practising as a young doctor, he had one day been obliged to go +out and had deemed it advisable to lock up a patient in his absence. +Just as he was leaving the house he heard the sound as of a body +suddenly falling. He hurried back into the room and found his patient in +a state of catalepsy. Monsieur Burq was at that time studying magnetism, +and he at once sought for the cause of this phenomenon. He noticed that +the door-handle was of copper. The next day he wrapped a glove around +the handle, again shut the patient in, and this time nothing occurred. +He interrogated the patient, but she could give him no explanation. He +then tried the effect of copper on all the subjects at the Salpetriere +and the Cochin hospitals, and found that a great number were affected by +it." + +At the Charity hospital in Paris, Doctor Luys used an apparatus moved by +clockwork. Doctor Foveau, one of his pupils, thus describes it: + +"The hypnotic state, generally produced by the contemplation of a bright +spot, a lamp, or the human eye, is in his case induced by a peculiar +kind of mirror. The mirrors are made of pieces of wood cut prismatically +in which fragments of mirrors are incrusted. They are generally double +and placed crosswise, and by means of clockwork revolve automatically. +They are the same as sportsmen use to attract larks, the rays of the sun +being caught and reflected on every side and from all points of the +horizon. If the little mirrors in each branch are placed in parallel +lines in front of a patient, and the rotation is rapid, the optic organ +soon becomes fatigued, and a calming soothing somnolence ensues. At +first it is not a deep sleep, the eye-lids are scarcely heavy, the +drowsiness slight and restorative. By degrees, by a species of training, +the hypnotic sleep differs more and more from natural sleep, the +individual abandons himself more and more completely, and falls into one +of the regular phases of hypnotic sleep. Without a word, without a +suggestion or any other action, Dr. Luys has made wonderful cures. +Wecker, the occulist, has by the same means entirely cured spasms of the +eye-lids." + +Professor Delboeuf gives the following account of how the famous +Liebault produced hypnotism at the hospital at Nancy. We would +especially ask the reader to note what he says of Dr. Liebault's manner +and general bearing, for without doubt much of his success was due to +his own personality. Says Professor Delboeuf: + +"His modus faciendi has something ingenious and simple about it, +enhanced by a tone and air of profound conviction; and his voice has +such fervor and warmth that he carries away his clients with him. + +"After having inquired of the patient what he is suffering from, without +any further or closer examination, he places his hand on the patient's +forehead and, scarcely looking at him, says, 'You are going to sleep.' +Then, almost immediately, he closes the eyelids, telling him that he is +asleep. After that he raises the patient's arm, and says, 'You cannot +put your arm down.' If he does, Dr. Liebault appears hardly to notice +it. He then turns the patient's arm around, confidently affirming that +the movement cannot be stopped, and saying this he turns his own arms +rapidly around, the patient remaining all the time with his eyes shut; +then the doctor talks on without ceasing in a loud and commanding voice. +The suggestions begin: + +"'You are going to be cured; your digestion will be good, your sleep +quiet, your cough will stop, your circulation will become free and +regular; you are going to feel very strong and well, you will be able to +walk about,' etc., etc. He hardly ever varies the speech. Thus he fires +away at every kind of disease at once, leaving it to the client to find +out his own. No doubt he gives some special directions, according to the +disease the patient is suffering from, but general instructions are the +chief thing. + +"The same suggestions are repeated a great many times to the same +person, and, strange to say, notwithstanding the inevitable monotony of +the speeches, and the uniformity of both style and voice, the master's +tone is so ardent, so penetrating, so sympathetic, that I have never +once listened to it without a feeling of intense admiration." + +The Hindoos produce sleep simply by sitting on the ground and, fixing +their eyes steadily on the subject, swaying the body in a sort of +writhing motion above the hips. By continuing this steadily and in +perfect silence for ten or fifteen minutes before a large audience, +dozens can be put to sleep at one time. In all cases, freedom from noise +or distractive incidents is essential to success in hypnotism, for +concentration must be produced. + +Certain French operators maintain that hypnotism may be produced by +pressure on certain hypnogenic points or regions of the body. Among +these are the eye-balls, the crown of the head, the back of the neck and +the upper bones of the spine between the shoulder glades. Some persons +may be hypnotized by gently pressing on the skin at the base of the +finger-nails, and at the root of the nose; also by gently scratching the +neck over the great nerve center. + +Hypnotism is also produced by sudden noise, as if by a Chinese gong, +etc. + +HOW TO WAKE A SUBJECT FROM HYPNOTIC SLEEP. + +This is comparatively easy in moot cases. Most persons will awake +naturally at the end of a few minutes, or will fall into a natural sleep +from which in an hour or two they will awake refreshed. Usually the +operator simply says to the subject, "All right, wake up now," and claps +his hands or makes some other decided noise. In some cases it is +sufficient to say, "You will wake up in five minutes"; or tell a subject +to count twelve and when he gets to ten say, "Wake up." + +Persons in the lethargic state are not susceptible to verbal +suggestions, but may be awakened by lifting both eyelids. + +It is said that pressure on certain regions will wake the subject, just +as pressure in certain other places will put the subject to sleep. Among +these places for awakening are the ovarian regions. + +Some writers recommend the application of cold water to awaken subjects, +but this is rarely necessary. In olden times a burning coal was brought +near. + +If hypnotism was produced by passes, then wakening may be brought about +by passes in the opposite direction, or with the back of the hand toward +the subject. + +The only danger is likely to be found in hysterical persons. They will, +if aroused, often fall off again into a helpless state, and continue to +do so for some time to come. It is dangerous to hypnotize such subjects. + +Care should be taken to awaken the subject very thoroughly before +leaving him, else headache, nausea, or the like may follow, with other +unpleasant effects. In all cases subjects should be treated gently and +with the utmost consideration, as if the subject and operator were the +most intimate friends. + +It is better that the person who induces hypnotic sleep should awaken +the subject. Others cannot do it so easily, though as we have said, +subjects usually awaken themselves after a short time. + +Further description of the method of producing hypnotism need not be +given; but it is proper to add that in addition to the fact that not +more than one person out of three can be hypnotized at all, even by an +experienced operator, to effect hypnotization except in a few cases +requires a great deal of patience, both on the part of the operator and +of the subject. It may require half a dozen or more trials before any +effect at all can be produced, although in some cases the effect will +come within a minute or two. After a person has been once hypnotized, +hypnotization is much easier. The most startling results are to be +obtained only after a long process of training on the part of the +subject. Public hypnotic entertainments, and even those given at the +hospitals in Paris, would be quite impossible if trained subjects were +not at hand; and in the case of the public hypnotizer, the proper +subjects are hired and placed in the audience for the express purpose of +coming forward when called for. The success of such an entertainment +could not otherwise be guaranteed. In many cases, also, this training of +subjects makes them deceivers. They learn to imitate what they see, and +since their living depends upon it, they must prove hypnotic subjects +who can always be depended upon to do just what is wanted. We may add, +however, that what they do is no more than an imitation of the real +thing. There is no grotesque manifestation on the stage, even if it is a +pure fake, which could not be matched by more startling facts taken from +undoubted scientific experience. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +AMUSING EXPERIMENTS. + +Hypnotizing on the Stage--"You Can't Pull Your Hands Apart"--Post Hypnotic +Suggestion--The News boy, the Hunter, and the Young Man with the Rag +Doll--A Whip Becomes Hot Iron--Courting a Broomstick--The Side Show. + +Let us now describe some of the manifestations of hypnotism, to see +just how it operates and how it exhibits itself. The following is a +description of a public performance given by Dr. Herbert L. Flint, +a very successful public operator. It is in the language of an +eye-witness--a New York lawyer. + +In response to a call for volunteers, twenty young and middle-aged men +came upon the stage. They evidently belonged to the great middle-class. +The entertainment commenced by Dr. Flint passing around the group, who +were seated on the stage in a semicircle facing the audience, and +stroking each one's head and forehead, repeating the phrases, "Close +your eyes. Think of nothing but sleep. You are very tired. You are +drowsy. You feel very sleepy." As he did this, several of the volunteers +closed their eyes at once, and one fell asleep immediately. One or two +remained awake, and these did not give themselves up to the influence, +but rather resisted it. + +When the doctor had completed his round and had manipulated all the +volunteers, some of those influenced were nodding, some were sound +asleep, while a few were wide awake and smiling at the rest. These +latter were dismissed as unlikely subjects. + +When the stage had been cleared of all those who were not responsive, +the doctor passed around, and, snapping his finger at each individual, +awoke him. One of the subjects when questioned afterward as to what +sensation he experienced at the snapping of the fingers, replied that it +seemed to him as if something inside of his head responded, and with +this sensation he regained self-consciousness. (This is to be doubted. +As a rule, subjects in this stage of hypnotism do not feel any sensation +that they can remember, and do not become self-conscious.) + +The class was now apparently wide awake, and did not differ in +appearance from their ordinary state. The doctor then took each one and +subjected him to a separate physical test, such as sealing the eyes, +fastening the hands, stiffening the fingers, arms, and legs, producing +partial catalepsy and causing stuttering and inability to speak. In +those possessing strong imaginations, he was able to produce +hallucinations, such as feeling mosquito bites, suffering from +toothache, finding the pockets filled and the hands covered with +molasses, changing identity, and many similar tests. + +The doctor now asked each one to clasp his hands in front of him, and +when all had complied with the request, he repeated the phrase, "Think +your hands so fast that you can't pull them apart. They are fast. You +cannot pull them apart. Try. You can't." The whole class made frantic +efforts to unclasp their hands, but were unable to do so. The doctor's +explanation of this is, that what they were really doing was to force +their hands closer together, thus obeying the counter suggestion. That +they thought they were trying to unclasp their hands was evident from +their endeavors. + +The moment he made them desist, by snapping his fingers, the spell was +broken. It was most astonishing to see that as each one awoke, he seemed +to be fully cognizant of the ridiculous position in which his comrades +were placed, and to enjoy their confusion and ludicrous attitudes. The +moment, however, he was commanded to do things equally absurd, he +obeyed. While, therefore, the class appeared to be free agents, they are +under hypnotic control. + +One young fellow, aged about eighteen, said that he was addicted to the +cigarette habit. The suggestion was made to him that he would not be +able to smoke a cigarette for twenty-four hours. After the entertainment +he was asked to smoke, as was his usual habit. He was then away from any +one who could influence him. He replied that the very idea was +repugnant. However, he was induced to take a cigarette in his mouth, but +it made him ill and he flung it away with every expression of disgust. +*This is an instance of what is called post-hypnotic suggestion. Dr. +Cocke tells of suggesting to a drinker whom he was trying to cure of the +habit that for the next three days anything he took would make him +vomit; the result followed as suggested. + +The same phenomena that was shown in unclasping the hands, was next +exhibited in commanding the subjects to rotate them. They immediately +began and twirled them faster and faster, in spite of their efforts to +stop. One of the subjects said he thought of nothing but the strange +action of his hands, and sometimes it puzzled him to know why they +whirled. + +At this point Dr. Flint's daughter took charge of the class. She pointed +her finger at one of them, and the subject began to look steadily before +him, at which the rest of the class were highly amused. Presently the +subject's head leaned forward, the pupils of his eyes dilated and +assumed a peculiar glassy stare. He arose with a steady, gliding gait +and walked up to the lady until his nose touched her hand. Then he +stopped. Miss Flint led him to the front of the stage and left him +standing in profound slumber. He stood there, stooping, eyes set, and +vacant, fast asleep. In the meantime the act had caused great laughter +among the rest of the class. One young fellow in particular, laughed so +uproariously that tears coursed down his cheeks, and he took out his +handkerchief to wipe his eyes. Just as he was returning it to his +pocket, the lady suddenly pointed a finger at him. She was in the center +of the stage, fully fifteen feet away from the subject, but the moment +the gesture was made, his countenance fell, his mirth stopped, while +that of his companions redoubled, and the change was so obvious that the +audience shared in the laughter--but the subject neither saw nor heard. +His eyes assumed the same expression that had been noticed in his +companion's. He, too, arose in the same attitude, as if his head were +pulling the body along, and following the finger in the same way as his +predecessor, was conducted to the front of the stage by the side of the +first subject. This was repeated on half a dozen subjects, and the +manifestations were the same in each case. Those selected were now drawn +up in an irregular line in front of the stage, their eyes fixed on +vacancy, their heads bent forward, perfectly motionless. Each was then +given a suggestion. One was to be a newsboy, and sell papers. Another +was given a broomstick and told to hunt game in the woods before him. +Another was given a large rag doll and told that it was an infant, and +that he must look among the audience and discover the father. He was +informed that he could tell who the father was by the similarity and the +color of the eyes. + +These suggestions were made in a loud tone, Miss Flint being no nearer +one subject than another. The bare suggestion was given, as, "Now, think +that you are a newsboy, and are selling papers," or, "Now think that you +are hunting and are going into the woods to shoot birds." + +So the party was started at the same time into the audience. The one who +was impersonating a newsboy went about crying his edition in a loud +voice; while the hunter crawled along stealthily and carefully. The +newsboy even adopted the well-worn device of asking those whom he +solicited to buy to help him get rid of his stock. One man offered him a +cent, when the price was two cents. The newsboy chaffed the would-be +purchaser. He sarcastically asked him if he "didn't want the earth." + +The others did what they had been told to do in the same earnest, +characteristic way. + +After this performance, the class was again seated in a semicircle, and +Miss Flint selected one of them, and, taking him into the center of the +stage, showed him a small riding whip. He looked at it indifferently +enough. He was told it was a hot bar of iron, but he shook his head, +still incredulous. The suggestion was repeated, and as the glazed look +came into his eyes, the incredulous look died out. Every member of the +class was following the suggestion made to the subject in hand. All of +them had the same expression in their eyes. The doctor said that his +daughter was hypnotizing the whole class through this one individual. + +As she spoke she lightly touched the subject with the end of the whip. +The moment the subject felt the whip he jumped and shrieked as if it +really were a hot iron. She touched each one of the class in succession, +and every one manifested the utmost pain and fear. One subject sat down +on the floor and cried in dire distress. Others, when touched, would +tear off their clothing or roll up their sleeves. One young man was +examined by a physician present just after the whip had been laid across +his shoulders, and a long red mark was found, just such a one as would +have been made by a real hot iron. The doctor said that, had the +suggestion been continued, it would undoubtedly have raised a blister. + +One of the amusing experiments tried at a later time was that of a tall +young man, diffident, pale and modest, being given a broom carefully +wrapped in a sheet, and told that it was his sweetheart. He accepted the +situation and sat down by the broom. He was a little sheepish at first, +but eventually he grew bolder, and smiled upon her such a smile as +Malvolio casts upon Olivia. The manner in which, little by little, he +ventured upon a familiar footing, was exceedingly funny; but when, in a +moment of confident response to his wooing, he clasped her round the +waist and imprinted a chaste kiss upon the brushy part of the broom, +disguised by the sheet, the house resounded with roars of laughter. The +subject, however, was deaf to all of the noise. He was absorbed in his +courtship, and he continued to hug the broom, and exhibit in his +features that idiotic smile that one sees only upon the faces of lovers +and bridegrooms. "All the world loves a lover," as the saying is, and +all the world loves to laugh at him. + +One of the subjects was told that the head of a man in the audience was +on fire. He looked for a moment, and then dashed down the platform into +the audience, and, seizing the man's head, vigorously rubbed it. As this +did not extinguish the flames, he took off his coat and put the fire +out. In doing this, he set his coat on fire, when he trampled it under +foot. Then he calmly resumed his garment and walked back to the stage. + +The "side-show" closed the evening's entertainment. A young man was told +to think of himself as managing a side-show at a circus. When his mind +had absorbed this idea he was ordered to open his exhibition. He at once +mounted a table, and, in the voice of the traditional side-show fakir, +began to dilate upon the fat woman and the snakes, upon the wild man +from Borneo, upon the learned pig, and all the other accessories of +side-shows. He went over the usual characteristic "patter," getting more +and more in earnest, assuring his hearers that for the small sum of ten +cents they could see more wonders than ever before had been crowded +under one canvas tent. He harangued the crowd as they surged about the +tent door. He pointed to a suppositious canvas picture. He "chaffed" the +boys. He flattered the vanity of the young fellows with their girls, +telling them that they could not afford, for the small sum of ten cents, +to miss this great show. He made change for his patrons. He indulged in +side remarks, such as "This is hot work." He rolled up his sleeves and +took off his collar and necktie, all of the time expatiating upon the +merits of the freaks inside of his tent. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE STAGES OF HYPNOTISM. + +Lethargy--Catalepsy--The Somnambulistic Stage--Fascination. + +We have just given some of the amusing experiments that may be performed +with subjects in one of the minor stages of hypnotism. But there are +other stages which give entirely different manifestations. For a +scientific classification of these we are indebted to Professor Charcot, +of the Salpetriere hospital in Paris, to whom, next to Mesmer and Braid, +we are indebted for the present science of hypnotism. He recognized +three distinct stages--lethargy, catalepsy and somnambulism. There is +also a condition of extreme lethargy, a sort of trance state, that lasts +for days and even weeks, and, indeed, has been known to last for years. +There is also a lighter phase than somnambulism, that is called +fascination. Some doctors, however, place it between catalepsy and +somnambulism. Each of these stages is marked by quite distinct +phenomena. We give them as described by a pupil of Dr. Charcot. + +LETHARGY. + +This is a state of absolute inert sleep. If the method of Braid is used, +and a bright object is held quite near the eyes, and the eyes are fixed +upon it, the subject squints, the eyes become moist and bright, the look +fixed, and the pupils dilated. This is the cataleptic stage. If the +object is left before the eyes, lethargy is produced. There are also +many other ways of producing lethargy, as we have seen in the chapter +"How to Hypnotize." + +One of the marked characteristics of this stage of hypnotism is the +tendency of the muscles to contract, under the influence of the +slightest touch, friction, pressure or massage, or even that of a magnet +placed at a distance. The contraction disappears only by the repetition +of that identical means that called it into action. Dr. Courmelles gives +the following illustration: + +"If the forearm is rubbed a little above the palm of the hand, this +latter yields and bends at an acute angle. The subject may be suspended +by the hand, and the body will be held up without relaxation, that is, +without returning to the normal condition. To return to the normal +state, it suffices to rub the antagonistic muscles, or, in ordinary +terms, the part diametrically opposed to that which produced the +phenomenon; in this case, the forearm a little above the hands. It is +the same for any other part of the body." + +The subject appears to be in a deep sleep, the eyes are either closed or +half closed, and the face is without expression. The body appears to be +in a state of complete collapse, the head is thrown back, and the arms +and legs hang loose, dropping heavily down. In this stage insensibility +is so complete that needles can be run into any part of the body without +producing pain, and surgical operations may be performed without the +slightest unpleasant effect. + +This stage lasts usually but a short time, and the patient, under +ordinary conditions, will pass upward into the stage of catalepsy, in +which he opens his eyes. If the hypnotism is spontaneous, that is, if it +is due to a condition of the nervous organism which has produced it +without any outside aid, we have the condition of prolonged trance, of +which many cases have been reported. Until the discovery of hypnotism +these strange trances were little understood, and people were even +buried alive in them. A few instances reported by medical men will be +interesting. There is one reported in 1889 by a noted French physician. +Said he: + +"There is at this moment in the hospital at Mulhouse a most interesting +case. A young girl twenty-two years of age has been asleep here for the +last twelve days. Her complexion is fresh and rosy, her breathing quite +normal, and her features unaltered. + +"No organ seems attacked; all the vital functions are performed as in +the waking state. She is fed with milk, broth and wine, which is given +her in a spoon. Her mouth even sometimes opens of itself at the contact +of the spoon, and she swallows without the slightest difficulty. At +other times the gullet remains inert. + +"The whole body is insensible. The forehead alone presents, under the +action of touch or of pricks, some reflex phenomena. However, by a +peculiarity, which is extremely interesting, she seems, by the intense +horror she shows for ether, to retain a certain amount of consciousness +and sensibility. If a drop of ether is put into her mouth her face +contracts and assumes an expression of disgust. At the same moment her +arms and legs are violently agitated, with the kind of impatient motion +that a child displays when made to swallow some hated dose of medicine. + +"In the intellectual relations the brain is not absolutely obscure, for +on her mother's coming to see her the subject's face became highly +colored, and tears appeared on the tips of her eyelashes, without, +however, in any other way disturbing her lethargy. + +"Nothing has yet been able to rouse her from this torpor, which will, no +doubt, naturally disappear at a given moment. She will then return to +conscious life as she quitted it. It is probable that she will not +retain any recollection of her present condition, that all notion of +time will fail her, and that she will fancy it is only the day following +her usual nightly slumber, a slumber which, in this case, has been +transformed into a lethargic sleep, without any rigidity of limbs or +convulsions. + +"Physically, the sleeper is of a middle size, slender, strong and +pretty, without distinctive characteristic. Mentally, she is lively, +industrious, sometimes whimsical, and subject to slight nervous +attacks." + +There is a pretty well-authenticated report of a young girl who, on May +30, 1883, after an intense fright, fell into a lethargic condition which +lasted for four years. Her parents were poor and ignorant, but, as the +fame of the case spread abroad, some physicians went to investigate it +in March, 1887. Her sleep had never been interrupted. On raising the +eyelids, the doctors found the eyes turned convulsively upward, but, +blowing upon them, produced no reflex movement of the lids. Her jaws +were closed tightly, and the attempt to open her mouth had broken off +some of the teeth level with the gums. The muscles contracted at the +least breath or touch, and the arms remained in position when uplifted. +The contraction of the muscles is a sign of the lethargic state, but the +arm, remaining in position, indicates the cataleptic state. The girl was +kept alive by liquid nourishment poured into her mouth. + +There are on record a large number of cases of persons who have slept +for several months. + +CATALEPSY. + +The next higher stage of hypnotism is that of catalepsy. Patients may be +thrown into it directly, or patients in the lethargic state may be +brought into it by lifting the eyelids. It seems that the light +penetrating the eyes, and affecting the brain, awakens new powers, for +the cataleptic state has phenomena quite peculiar to itself. + +Nearly all the means for producing hypnotism will, if carried to just +the right degree, produce catalepsy. For instance, besides the fixing +of the eye on a bright object, catalepsy may be produced by a sudden +sound, as of a Chinese gong, a tom-tom or a whistle, the vibration of a +tuning-fork, or thunder. If a solar spectrum is suddenly brought into a +dark room it may produce catalepsy, which is also produced by looking at +the sun, or a lime light, or an electric light. + +In this state the patient has become perfectly rigidly fixed in the +position in which he happens to be when the effect is produced, whether +sitting, standing, kneeling, or the like; and this face has an +expression of fear. The arms or legs may be raised, but if left to +themselves will not drop, as in lethargy. The eyes are wide open, but +the look is fixed and impassive. The fixed position lasts only a few +minutes, however, when the subject returns to a position of relaxation, +or drops back into the lethargic state. + +If the muscles, nerves or tendons are rubbed or pressed, paralysis may +be produced, which, however, is quickly removed by the use of +electricity, when the patient awakes. By manipulating the muscles the +most rigid contraction may be produced, until the entire body is in such +a state of corpse-like rigidity that a most startling experiment is +possible. The subject may be placed with his head upon the back of one +chair and his heels on the back of another, and a heavy man may sit upon +him without seemingly producing any effect, or even heavy rock may be +broken on the subject's body. + +Messieurs Binet and Fere, pupils of the Salpetriere school, describe the +action of magnets on cataleptic subjects, as follows: + +"The patient is seated near a table, on which a magnet has been placed, +the left elbow rests on the arm of the chair, the forearm and hand +vertically upraised with thumb and index finger extended, while the +other fingers remain half bent. On the right side the forearm and hand +are stretched on the table, and the magnet is placed under a linen cloth +at a distance of about two inches. After a couple of minutes the right +index begins to tremble and rise up; on the left side the extended +fingers bend down, and the hand remains limp for an instant. The right +hand and forearm rise up and assume the primitive position of the left +hand, which is now stretched out on the arm of the chair, with the waxen +pliability that pertains to the cataleptic state." + +An interesting experiment may be tried by throwing a patient into +lethargy on one side and catalepsy on the other. To induce what is +called hemi-lethargy and hemi-catalepsy is not difficult. First, the +lethargic stage is induced, then one eyelid is raised, and that side +alone becomes cataleptic, and may be operated on in various interesting +ways. The arm on that side, for instance, will remain raised when +lifted, while the arm on the other side will fall heavily. + +Still more interesting is the intellectual condition of the subject. +Some great man has remarked that if he wished to know what a person was +thinking of, he assumed the exact position and expression of that +person, and soon he would begin to feel and think just as the other was +thinking and feeling. Look a part and you will soon begin to feel it. + +In the cataleptic subject there is a close relation between the attitude +the subject assumes and the intellectual manifestation. In the +somnambulistic stage patients are manipulated by speaking to them; in +the cataleptic stage they are equally under the will of the operator; +but now he controls them by gesture. Says Dr. Courmelles, from his own +observation: "The emotions in this stage are made at command, in the +true acceptation of the word, for they are produced, not by orders +verbally expressed, but by expressive movements. If the hands are opened +and drawn close to the mouth, as when a kiss is wafted, the mouth +smiles. If the arms are extended and half bent at the elbows, the +countenance assumes an expression of astonishment. The slightest +variation of movement is reflected in the emotions. If the fists are +closed, the brow contracts and the face expresses anger. If a lively or +sad tune is played, if amusing or depressing pictures are shown, the +subject, like a faithful mirror, at once reflects these impressions. If +a smile is produced it can be seen to diminish and disappear at the same +time as the hand is moved away, and again to reappear and increase when +it is once more brought near. Better still, a double expression can be +imparted to the physiognomy, by approaching the left hand to the left +side of the mouth, the left side of the physiognomy will smile, while at +the same time, by closing the right hand, the right eyebrow will frown. +The subject can be made to send kisses, or to turn his hands round each +other indefinitely. If the hand is brought near the nose it will blow; +if the arms are stretched out they will remain extended, while the head +will be bowed with a marked expression of pain." + +Heidenhain was able to take possession of the subject's gaze and control +him by sight, through producing mimicry. He looks fixedly at the patient +till the patient is unable to take his eyes away. Then the patient will +copy every movement he makes. If he rises and goes backward the patient +will follow, and with his right hand he will imitate the movements of +the operator's left, as if he were a mirror. The attitudes of prayer, +melancholy, pain, disdain, anger or fear, may be produced in this +manner. + +The experiments of Donato, a stage hypnotizer, are thus described: +"After throwing the subjects into catalepsy he causes soft music to be +played, which produces a rapturous expression. If the sound is +heightened or increased, the subjects seem to receive a shock and a +feeling of disappointment. The artistic sense developed by hypnotism is +disturbed; the faces express astonishment, stupefaction and pain. If the +same soft melody be again resumed, the same expression of rapturous +bliss reappears in the countenance. The faces become seraphic and +celestial when the subjects are by nature handsome, and when the +subjects are ordinary looking, even ugly, they are idealized as by a +special kind of beauty." + +The strange part of all this is, that on awaking, the patient has no +recollection of what has taken place, and careful tests have shown that +what appear to be violent emotions, such as in an ordinary state would +produce a quickened pulse and heavy breathing, create no disturbance +whatever in the cataleptic subject; only the outer mask is in motion. + +"Sometimes the subjects lean backward with all the grace of a perfect +equilibrist, freeing themselves from the ordinary mechanical laws. The +curvature will, indeed, at times be so complete that the head will touch +the floor and the body describe a regular arc. + +"When a female subject assumes an attitude of devotion, clasps her +hands, turns her eyes upward and lisps out a prayer, she presents an +admirably artistic picture, and her features and expression seem worthy +of being reproduced on canvas." + +We thus see what a perfect automaton the human body may become. There +appears, however, to be a sort of unconscious memory, for a familiar +object will seem to suggest spontaneously its ordinary use. Thus, if a +piece of soap is put into a cataleptic patient's hands; he will move it +around as though he thought he were washing them, and if there is any +water near he will actually wash them. The sight of an umbrella makes +him shiver as if he were in a storm. Handing such a person a pen will +not make him write, but if a letter is dictated to him out loud he will +write in an irregular hand. The subject may also be made to sing, scream +or speak different languages with which he is entirely unfamiliar. This +is, however, a verging toward the somnambulistic stage, for in deep +catalepsy the patient does not speak or hear. The state is produced by +placing the hands on the head, the forehead, or nape of the neck. + +THE SOMNAMBULISTIC STAGE. + +This is the stage or phase of hypnotism nearest the waking, and is the +only one that can be produced in some subjects. Patients in the +cataleptic state can be brought into the somnambulistic by rubbing the +top of the head. To all appearances, the patient is fully awake, his +eyes are open, and he answers when spoken to, but his voice does not +have the same sound as when awake. Yet, in this state the patient is +susceptible of all the hallucinations of insanity which may be induced +at the verbal command of the operator. + +One of the most curious features of this stage of hypnotism is the +effect on the memory. Says Monsieur Richet: "I send V---- to sleep. I +recite some verses to her, and then I awake her. She remembers nothing. +I again send her to sleep, and she remembers perfectly the verses I +recited. I awake her, and she has again forgotten everything." + +It appears, however, that if commanded to remember on awaking, a patient +may remember. + +The active sense, and the memory as well, appears to be in an exalted +state of activity during this phase of hypnotism. Says M. Richet: +"M----, who will sing the air of the second act of the Africaine in her +sleep, is incapable of remembering a single note of it when awake." +Another patient, while under this hypnotic influence, could remember all +he had eaten for several days past, but when awake could remember very +little. Binet and Fere caused one of their subjects to remember the +whole of his repasts for eight days past, though when awake he could +remember nothing beyond two or three days. A patient of Dr. Charcot, who +when she was two years old had seen Dr. Parrot in the children's +hospital, but had not seen him since, and when awake could not remember +him, named him at once when he entered during her hypnotic sleep. M. +Delboeuf tells of an experiment he tried, in which the patient did +remember what had taken place during the hypnotic condition, when he +suddenly awakened her in the midst of the hallucination; as, for +instance, he told her the ashes from the cigar he was smoking had fallen +on her handkerchief and had set it on fire, whereupon she at once rose +and threw the handkerchief into the water. Then, suddenly awakened, she +remembered the whole performance. + +In the somnambulistic stage the patient is no longer an automaton +merely, but a real personality, "an individual with his own character, +his likes and dislikes." The tone of the voice of the operator seems to +have quite as much effect as his words. If he speaks in a grave and +solemn tone, for instance, even if what he utters is nonsense, the +effect is that of a deeply tragic story. + +The will of another is not so easily implanted as has been claimed. +While a patient will follow almost any suggestion that may be offered, +he readily obeys only commands which are in keeping with his character. +If he is commanded to do something he dislikes or which in the waking +state would be very repugnant to him, he hesitates, does it very +reluctantly, and in extreme cases refuses altogether, often going into +hysterics. It was found at the Charity hospital that one patient +absolutely refused to accept a cassock and become a priest. One of +Monsieur Richet's patients screamed with pain the moment an amputation +was suggested, but almost immediately recognized that it was only a +suggestion, and laughed in the midst of her tears. Probably, however, +this patient was not completely hypnotized. + +Dr. Dumontpallier was able to produce a very curious phenomenon. He +suggested to a female patient that with the right eye she could see a +picture on a blank card. On awakening she could, indeed, see the picture +with the right eye, but the left eye told her the card was blank. While +she was in the somnambulistic state he told her in her right ear that +the weather was very fine, and at the same time another person whispered +in her left ear that it was raining. On the right side of her face she +had a smile, while the left angle of her lip dropped as if she were +depressed by the thought of the rain. Again, he describes a dance and +gay party in one ear, and another person mimics the barking of a dog in +the other. One side of her face in that case wears an amused expression, +while the other shows signs of alarm. + +Dr. Charcot thus describes a curious experiment: "A portrait is +suggested to a subject as existing on a blank card, which is then mixed +with a dozen others; to all appearance they are similar cards. The +subject, being awakened, is requested to look over the packet, and does +so without knowing the reason of the request, but when he perceives the +card on which the portrait was suggested, he at once recognizes the +imaginary portrait. It is probable that some insignificant mark has, +owing to his visual hyperacuity, fixed the image in the subject's +brain." + +FASCINATION. + +Says a recent French writer: "Dr. Bremand, a naval doctor, has obtained +in men supposed to be perfectly healthy a new condition, which he calls +fascination. The inventor considers that this is hypnotism in its +mildest form, which, after repeated experiments, might become catalepsy. +The subject fascinated by Dr. Bremaud--fascination being induced by the +contemplation of a bright spot--falls into a state of stupor. He follows +the operator and servilely imitates his movements, gestures and words; +he obeys suggestions, and a stimulation of the nerves induces +contraction, but the cataleptic pliability does not exist." + +A noted public hypnotizer in Paris some years ago produced fascination +in the following manner: He would cause the subject to lean on his +hands, thus fatiguing the muscles. The excitement produced by the +concentrated gaze of a large audience also assisted in weakening the +nervous resistance. At last the operator would suddenly call out: "Look +at me!" The subject would look up and gaze steadily into the operator's +eyes, who would stare steadily back with round, glaring eyes, and in +most cases subdue his victim. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +How the Subject Feels Under Hypnotization.--Dr. Cooper's +Experience.--Effect of Music.--Dr. Alfred Marthieu's Experiments. + +The sensations produced during a state of hypnosis are very interesting. +As may be supposed, they differ greatly in different persons. One of the +most interesting accounts ever given is that of Dr. James R. Cocke, a +hypnotist himself, who submitted to being operated upon by a +professional magnetizer. He was at that time a firm believer in the +theory of personal magnetism (a delusion from which he afterward +escaped). + +On the occasion which he describes, the operator commanded him to close +his eyes and told him he could not open them, but he did open them at +once. Again he told him to close the eyes, and at the same time he +gently stroked his head and face and eyelids with his hand. Dr. Cocke +fancied he felt a tingling sensation in his forehead and eyes, which he +supposed came from the hand of the operator. (Afterward he came to +believe that this sensation was purely imaginary on his part.) + +Then he says: "A sensation akin to fear came over me. The operator said: +'You are going to sleep, you are getting sleepy. You cannot open your +eyes.' I was conscious that my heart was beating rapidly, and I felt a +sensation of terror. He continued to tell me I was going to sleep, and +could not open my eves. He then made passes over my head, down over my +hands and body, but did not touch me. He then said to me, 'You cannot +open your eyes.' The motor apparatus of my lids would not seemingly +respond to my will, yet I was conscious that while one part of my mind +wanted to open my eyes, another part did not want to, so I was in a +paradoxical state. I believed that I could open my eyes, and yet could +not. The feeling of not wishing to open my eyes was not based upon any +desire to please the operator. I had no personal interest in him in any +way, but, be it understood, I firmly believed in his power to control +me. He continued to suggest to me that I was going to sleep, and the +suggestion of terror previously mentioned continued to increase." + +The next step was to put the doctor's hand over his head, and tell him +he could not put it down. Then he stroked the arm and said it was +growing numb. He said: "You have no feeling in it, have you?" Dr. Cocke +goes on: "I said 'No,' and I knew that I said 'No,' yet I knew that I +had a feeling in it." The operator went on, pricking the arm with a pin, +and though Dr. Cocke felt the pain he said he did not feel it, and at +the same time the sensation of terror increased. "I was not conscious of +my body at all," he says further on, "but I was painfully conscious of +the two contradictory elements within me. I knew that my body existed, +but could not prove it to myself. I knew that the statements made by the +operator were in a measure untrue. I obeyed them voluntarily and +involuntarily. This is the last remembrance that I have of that hypnotic +experience." + +After this, however, the operator caused the doctor to do a number of +things which he learned of from his friends after the performance was +over. "It seemed to me that the hypnotist commanded me to awake as soon +as I dropped my arm," and yet ten minutes of unconsciousness had passed. + +On a subsequent occasion Dr. Cocke, who was blind, was put into a deep +hypnotic sleep by fixing his mind on the number 26 and holding up his +hand. This time he experienced a still greater degree of terror, and +incidentally learned that he could hypnotize himself. The matter of +self-hypnotism we shall consider in another chapter. + +In this connection we find great interest in an article in the Medical +News, July 28, 1894, by Dr. Alfred Warthin, of Ann Arbor, Mich., in +which he describes the effects of music upon hypnotic subjects. While in +Vienna he took occasion to observe closely the enthusiastic musical +devotees as they sat in the audience at the performance of one of +Wagner's operas. He believed they were in a condition of self-induced +hypnotism, in which their subjective faculties were so exalted as to +supersede their objective perceptions. Music was no longer to them a +succession of pleasing sounds, but the embodiment of a drama in which +they became so wrapped up that they forgot all about the mechanical and +external features of the music and lived completely in a fairy world of +dream. + +This observation suggested to him an interesting series of experiments. +His first subject was easily hypnotized, and of an emotional nature. +Wagner's "Ride of Walkure" was played from the piano score. The pulse of +the subject became more rapid and at first of higher tension, increasing +from a normal rate of 60 beats a minute to 120. Then, as the music +progressed, the tension diminished. The respiration increased from 18 to +30 per minute. Great excitement in the subject was evident. His whole +body was thrown into motion, his legs were drawn up, his arms tossed +into the air, and a profuse sweat appeared. When the subject had been +awakened, he said that he did not remember the music as music, but had +an impression of intense, excitement, brought on by "riding furiously +through the air." The state of mind brought up before him in the most +realistic and vivid manner possible the picture of the ride of Tam +O'Shanter, which he had seen years before. The picture soon became real +to him, and he found himself taking part in a wild chase, not as witch, +devil, or Tam even; but in some way his consciousness was spread through +every part of the scene, being of it, and yet playing the part of +spectator, as is often the case in dreams. + +Dr. Warthin tried the same experiment again, this time on a young man +who was not so emotional, and was hypnotized with much more difficulty. +This subject did not pass into such a deep state of hypnotism, but the +result was practically the same. The pulse rate rose from 70 to 120. The +sensation remembered was that of riding furiously through the air. + +The experiment was repeated on other subjects, in all cases with the +same result. Only one knew that the music was the "Ride of Walkure." "To +him it always expressed the pictured wild ride of the daughters of +Wotan, the subject taking part in the ride." It was noticeable in each +case that the same music played to them in the waking state produced no +special impression. Here is incontestable evidence that in the hypnotic +state the perception of the special senses is enormously heightened. + +A slow movement was tried (the Valhalla motif). At first it seemed to +produce the opposite effect, for the pulse was lowered. Later it rose to +a rate double the normal, and the tension was diminished. The impression +described by the subject afterward was a feeling of "lofty grandeur and +calmness." A mountain climbing experience of years before was recalled, +and the subject seemed to contemplate a landscape of "lofty grandeur." A +different sort of music was played (the intense and ghastly scene in +which Brunhilde appears to summon Sigmund to Valhalla). Immediately a +marked change took place in the pulse. It became slow and irregular, and +very small. The respiration decreased almost to gasping, the face grew +pale, and a cold perspiration broke out. + +Readers who are especially interested in this subject will find +descriptions of many other interesting experiments in the same article. + +Dr. Cocke describes a peculiar trick he played upon the sight of a +subject. Says he: "I once hypnotized a man and made him read all of his +a's as w's, his u's as v's, and his b's as x's. I added suggestion after +suggestion so rapidly that it would have been impossible for him to have +remembered simply what I said and call the letters as I directed. +Stimulation was, in this case impossible, as I made him read fifteen or +twenty pages, he calling the letters as suggested each time they +occurred." + +The extraordinary heightening of the sense perceptions has an important +bearing on the question of spiritualism and clairvoyance. If the powers +of the mind are so enormously increased, all that is required of a very +sensitive and easily hypnotized person is to hypnotize him or herself, +when he will be able to read thoughts and remember or perceive facts +hidden to the ordinary perception. In this connection the reader is +referred to the confession of Mrs. Piper, the famous medium of the +American branch of the Psychical Research Society. The confession will +be found printed in full at the close of this book. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Self-Hypnotization.--How It may Be Done.--An Experience.--Accountable for +Children's Crusade.--Oriental Prophets Self-Hypnotized. + +If self-hypnotism is possible (and it is true that a person can +deliberately hypnotize himself when he wishes to till he has become +accustomed to it and is expert in it, so to speak), it does away at a +stroke with the claims of all professional hypnotists and magnetic +healers that they have any peculiar power in themselves which they exert +over their fellows. One of these professionals gives an account in his +book of what he calls "The Wonderful Lock Method." He says that though +he is locked up in a separate room he can make the psychic power work +through the walls. All that he does is to put his subjects in the way of +hypnotizing themselves. He shows his inconsistency when he states that +under certain circumstances the hypnotizer is in danger of becoming +hypnotized himself. In this he makes no claim that the subject is using +any psychic power; but, of course, if the hypnotizer looks steadily into +the eyes of his subject, and the subject looks into his eyes, the steady +gaze on a bright object will produce hypnotism in one quite as readily +as in the other. + +Hypnotism is an established scientific fact; but the claim that the +hypnotizer has any mysterious psychic power is the invariable mark of +the charlatan. Probably no scientific phenomenon was ever so grossly +prostituted to base ends as that of hypnotism. Later we shall see some +of the outrageous forms this charlatanism assumes, and how it extends to +the professional subjects as well as to the professional operators, till +those subjects even impose upon scientific men who ought to be proof +against such deception. Moreover, the possibility of self-hypnotization, +carefully concealed and called by another name, opens another great +field of humbug and charlatanism, of which the advertising columns of +the newspapers are constantly filled--namely, that of the clairvoyant and +medium. We may conceive how such a profession might become perfectly +legitimate and highly useful; but at present it seems as if any person +who went into it, however honest he might be at the start, soon began to +deceive himself as well as others, until he lost his power entirely to +distinguish between fact and imagination. + +Before discussing the matter further, let us quote Dr. Cocke's +experiment in hypnotizing himself. It will be remembered that a +professional hypnotizer or magnetizer had hypnotized him by telling him +to fix his mind on the number twenty-six and holding up his hand. Says +the doctor: + +"In my room that evening it occurred to me to try the same experiment. I +did so. I kept the number twenty-six in my mind. In a few minutes I felt +the sensation of terror, but in a different way. I was intensely cold. +My heart seemed to stand still. I had ringing in my ears. My hair seemed +to rise upon my scalp. I persisted in the effort, and the previously +mentioned noise in my ears grew louder and louder. The roar became +deafening. It crackled like a mighty fire. I was fearfully conscious of +myself. Having read vivid accounts of dreams, visions, etc., it occurred +to me that I would experience them. I felt in a vague way that there +were beings all about me but could not hear their voices. I felt as +though every muscle in my body was fixed and rigid. The roar in my ears +grew louder still, and I heard, above the roar, reports which sounded +like artillery and musketry. Then above the din of the noise a musical +chord. I seemed to be absorbed in this chord. I knew nothing else. The +world existed for me only in the tones of the mighty chord. Then I had a +sensation as though I were expanding. The sound in my ears died away, +and yet I was not conscious of silence. Then all consciousness was lost. +The next thing I experienced was a sensation of intense cold, and of +someone roughly shaking me. Then I heard the voice of my jolly landlord +calling me by name." + +The landlord had found the doctor "as white as a ghost and as limp as a +rag," and thought he was dead. He says it took him ten minutes to arouse +the sleeper. During the time a physician had been summoned. + +As to the causes of this condition as produced Dr. Cocke says: "I firmly +believed that something would happen when the attempt was made to +hypnotize me. Secondly, I wished to be hypnotized. These, together with +a vivid imagination and strained attention, brought on the states which +occurred." + +It is interesting to compare the effects of hypnotization with those of +opium or other narcotic. Dr. Cocke asserts that there is a difference. +His descriptions of dreams bear a wonderful likeness to De Quincey's +dreams, such as those described in "The English Mail-Coach," "De +Profundis," and "The Confessions of an English Opium Eater," all of +which were presumably due to opium. + +The causes which Dr. Cocke thinks produced the hypnotic condition in his +case, namely, belief, desire to be hypnotized, and strained attention, +united with a vivid imagination, are causes which are often found in +conjunction and produce effects which we may reasonably explain on the +theory of self-hypnotization. + +For instance, the effects of an exciting religious revival are very like +those produced by Mesmer's operations in Paris. The subjects become +hysterical, and are ready to believe anything or do anything. By +prolonging the operation, a whole community becomes more or less +hypnotized. In all such cases, however, unusual excitement is commonly +followed by unusual lethargy. It is much like a wild spree of +intoxication--in fact, it is a sort of intoxication. + +The same phenomena are probably accountable for many of the strange +records of history. The wonderful cures at Lourdes (of which we have +read in Zola's novel of that name) are no doubt the effect of +hypnotization by the priests. Some of the strange movements of whole +communities during the Crusades are to be explained either on the theory +of hypnotization or of contagion, and possibly these two things will +turn out to be much the same in fact. On no other ground can we explain +the so-called "Children's Crusade," in which over thirty thousand +children from Germany, from all classes of the community, tried to cross +the Alps in winter, and in their struggles were all lost or sold into +slavery without even reaching the Holy Land. + +Again, hypnotism is accountable for many of the poet's dreams. Gazing +steadily at a bed of bright coals or a stream of running water will +invariably throw a sensitive subject into a hypnotic sleep that will +last sometimes for several hours. Dr. Cocke says that he has +experimented in this direction with patients of his. Says he: "They have +the ability to resist the state or to bring it at will. Many of them +describe beautiful scenes from nature, or some mighty cathedral with its +lofty dome, or the faces of imaginary beings, beautiful or demoniacal, +according to the will and temper of the subject." + +Perhaps the most wonderful example of self-hypnotism which we have in +history is that of the mystic Swedenborg, who saw, such strange things +in his visions, and at last came to believe in them as real. + +The same explanation may be given of the manifestations of Oriental +prophets--for in the Orient hypnotism is much easier and more +systematically developed than with us of the West. The performances of +the dervishes, and also of the fakirs, who wound themselves and perform +many wonderful feats which would be difficult for an ordinary person, +are no doubt in part feats of hypnotism. + +While in a condition of auto-hypnotization a person may imagine that he +is some other personality. Says Dr. Cocke: "A curious thing about those +self-hypnotized subjects is that they carry out perfectly their own +ideals of the personality with whom they believe themselves to be +possessed. If their own ideals of the part they are playing are +imperfect, their impersonations are ridiculous in the extreme. One man I +remember believed himself to be controlled by the spirit of Charles +Sumner. Being uneducated, he used the most wretched English, and his +language was utterly devoid of sense. While, on the other hand, a very +intelligent lady who believed herself to be controlled by the spirit of +Charlotte Cushman personated the part very well." + +Dr. Cooke says of himself: "I can hypnotize myself to such an extent +that I will become wholly unconscious of events taking place around me, +and a long interval of time, say from one-half to two hours, will be a +complete blank. During this condition of auto-hypnotization I will obey +suggestions made to me by another, talking rationally, and not knowing +any event that has occurred after the condition has passed off." + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Simulation.--Deception in Hypnotism Very Common.--Examples of Neuropathic +Deceit.--Detecting Simulation.--Professional Subjects.--How Dr. Luys of the +Charity Hospital at Paris Was Deceived.--Impossibility of Detecting +Deception in All Cases.--Confessions of a Professional Hypnotic Subject. + +It has already been remarked that hypnotism and hysteria are conditions +very nearly allied, and that hysterical neuropathic individuals make the +best hypnotic subjects. Now persons of this character are in most cases +morally as well as physically degenerate, and it is a curious fact that +deception seems to be an inherent element in nearly all such characters. +Expert doctors have been thoroughly deceived. And again, persons who +have been trying to expose frauds have also been deceived by the +positive statements of such persons that they were deceiving the doctors +when they were not. A diseased vanity seems to operate in such cases and +the subjects take any method which promises for the time being to bring +them into prominence. Merely to attract attention is a mania with some +people. + +There is also something about the study of hypnotism, and similar +subjects in which delusions constitute half the existence, that seems to +destroy the faculty for distinguishing between truth and delusion. +Undoubtedly we must look on such manifestations as a species of +insanity. + +There is also a point at which the unconscious deceiver, for the sake of +gain, passes into the conscious deceiver. At the close of this chapter +we will give some cases illustrating the fact that persons may learn by +practice to do seemingly impossible things, such as holding themselves +perfectly rigid (as in the cataleptic state) while their head rests on +one chair and their heels on another, and a heavy person sits upon them. + +First, let us cite a few cases of what may be called neuropathic +deceit--a kind of insanity which shows itself in deceiving. The +newspapers record similar cases from time to time. The first two of the +following are quoted by Dr. Courmelles from the French courts, etc. + +1. The Comtesse de W---- accused her maid of having attempted to poison +her. The case was a celebrated one, and the court-room was thronged with +women who sympathized with the supposed victim. The maid was condemned +to death; but a second trial was granted, at which it was conclusively +proved that the Comtesse had herself bound herself on her bed, and had +herself poured out the poison which was found still blackening her +breast and lips. + +2. In 1886 a man called Ulysse broke into the shop of a second-hand +dealer, facing his own house in Paris, and there began deliberately to +take away the goods, just as if he were removing his own furniture. This +he did without hurrying himself in any way, and transported the property +to his own premises. Being caught in the very act of the theft, he +seemed at first to be flurried and bewildered. When arrested and taken +to the lock-up, he seemed to be in a state of abstraction; when spoken +to he made no reply, seemed ready to fall asleep, and when brought +before the examining magistrate actually fell asleep. Dr. Garnier, the +medical man attached to the infirmary of the police establishment, had +no doubt of his irresponsibility and he was released from custody. + +3. While engaged as police-court reporter for a Boston newspaper, the +present writer saw a number of strange cases of the same kind. One was +that of a quiet, refined, well educated lady, who was brought in for +shop-lifting. Though her husband was well to do, and she did not sell or +even use the things she took, she had made a regular business of +stealing whenever she could. She had begun it about seven months before +by taking a lace handkerchief, which she slipped under her shawl: Soon +after she accomplished another theft. "I felt so encouraged," she said, +"that I got a large bag, which I fastened under my dress, and into this +I slipped whatever I could take when the clerks were not looking. I do +not know what made me do it. My success seemed to lead me on." + +Other cases of kleptomania could easily be cited. + +"Simulation," say Messieurs Binet and Fere, "which is already a +stumbling block in the study of hysterical cases, becomes far more +formidable in such studies as we are now occupied with. It is only when +he has to deal with physical phenomena that the operator feels himself +on firm ground." + +Yet even here we can by no means feel certain. Physicians have invented +various ingenious pieces of apparatus for testing the circulation and +other physiological conditions; but even these things are not sure +tests. The writer knows of the case of a man who has such control over +his heart and lungs that he can actually throw himself into a profound +sleep in which the breathing is so absolutely stopped for an hour that a +mirror is not moistened in the least by the breath, nor can the pulses +be felt. To all intents and purposes the man appears to be dead; but in +due time he comes to life again, apparently no whit the worse for his +experiment. + +If an ordinary person were asked to hold out his arms at full length for +five minutes he would soon become exhausted, his breathing would +quicken, his pulse-rate increase. It might be supposed that if these +conditions did not follow the subject was in a hypnotic trance; but it +is well known that persons may easily train themselves to hold out the +arms for any length of time without increasing the respiration by one +breath or raising the pulse rate at all. We all remember Montaigne's +famous illustration in which he said that if a woman began by carrying a +calf about every day she would still be able to carry it when it became +an ox. + +In the Paris hospitals, where the greater number of regular scientific +experiments have been conducted, it is found that "trained subjects" are +required for all of the more difficult demonstrations. That some of +these famous scientists have been deceived, there is no doubt. They know +it themselves. A case which will serve as an illustration is that of Dr. +Luys, some of whose operations were "exposed" by Dr. Ernest Hart, an +English student of hypnotism of a skeptical turn of mind. One of Dr. +Luys's pupils in a book he has published makes the following statement, +which helps to explain the circumstances which we will give a little +later. Says he: + +"We know that many hospital patients who are subjected to the higher or +greater treatment of hypnotism are of very doubtful reputations; we know +also the effects of a temperament which in them is peculiarly addicted +to simulation, and which is exaggerated by the vicinity of maladies +similar to their own. To judge of this, it is necessary to have seen +them encourage each other in simulation, rehearsing among themselves, or +even before the medical students of the establishment, the experiments +to which they have been subjected; and going through their different +contortions and attitudes to exercise themselves in them. And then, +again, in the present day, has not the designation of an 'hypnotical +subject' become almost a social position? To be fed, to be paid, +admired, exhibited in public, run after, and all the rest of it--all this +is enough to make the most impartial looker-on skeptical. But is it +enough to enable us to produce an a priori negation? Certainly not; but +it is sufficient to justify legitimate doubt. And when we come to moral +phenomena, where we have to put faith in the subject, the difficulty +becomes still greater. Supposing suggestion and hallucination to be +granted, can they be demonstrated? Can we by plunging the subject in +hypnotical sleep, feel sure of what he may affirm? That is impossible, +for simulation and somnambulism are not reciprocally exclusive terms, +and Monsieur Pitres has established the fact that a subject who sleeps +may still simulate." Messieurs Binet and Fere in their book speak of +"the honest Hublier, whom his somnambulist Emelie cheated for four years +consecutively." + +Let us now quote Mr. Hart's investigations. + +Dr. Luys is an often quoted authority on hypnotism in Paris, and is at +the head of what is called the Charity Hospital school of hypnotical +experiments. In 1892 he announced some startling results, in which some +people still have faith (more or less). What he was supposed to +accomplish was stated thus in the London Pall Mall Gazette, issue of +December 2: "Dr. Luys then showed us how a similar artificial state of +suffering could be created without suggestion--in fact, by the mere +proximity of certain substances. A pinch of coal dust, for example, +corked and sealed in a small phial and placed by the side of the neck of +a hypnotized person, produces symptoms of suffocation by smoke; a tube +of distilled water, similarly placed, provokes signs of incipient +hydrophobia; while another very simple concoction put in contact with +the flesh brings on symptoms of suffocation by drowning." + +Signs of drunkenness were said to be caused by a small corked bottle of +brandy, and the nature of a cat by a corked bottle of valerian. Patients +also saw beautiful blue flames about the north pole of a magnet and +distasteful red flames about the south pole; while by means of a magnet +it was said that the symptoms of illness of a sick patient might be +transferred to a well person also in the hypnotic state, but of course +on awaking the well person at once threw off sickness that had been +transferred, but the sick person was permanently relieved. These +experiments are cited in some recent books on hypnotism, apparently with +faith. The following counter experiments will therefore be read with +interest. + +Dr. Hart gives a full account of his investigations in the Nineteenth +Century. Dr. Luys gave Dr. Hart some demonstrations, which the latter +describes as follows: "A tube containing ten drachms of cognac were +placed at a certain point on the subject's neck, which Dr. Luys said was +the seat of the great nerve plexuses. The effect on Marguerite was very +rapid and marked; she began to move her lips and to swallow; the +expression of her face changed, and she asked, 'What have you been +giving me to drink? I am quite giddy.' At first she had a stupid and +troubled look; then she began to get gay. 'I am ashamed of myself,' she +said; 'I feel quite tipsy,' and after passing through some of the phases +of lively inebriety she began to fall from the chair, and was with +difficulty prevented from sprawling on the floor. She was uncomfortable, +and seemed on the point of vomiting, but this was stopped, and she was +calmed." + +Another patient gave all the signs of imagining himself transformed into +a cat when a small corked bottle of valerian was placed on his neck. + +In the presence of a number of distinguished doctors in Paris, Dr. Hart +tried a series of experiments in which by his conversation he gave the +patient no clue to exactly what drug he was using, in order that if the +patient was simulating he would not know what to simulate. Marguerite +was the subject of several of these experiments, one of which is +described as follows: + +"I took a tube which was supposed to contain alcohol, but which did +contain cherry laurel water. Marguerite immediately began, to use the +words of M. Sajous's note, to smile agreeably and then to laugh; she +became gay. 'It makes me laugh,' she said, and then, 'I'm not tipsy, I +want to sing,' and so on through the whole performance of a not +ungraceful giserie, which we stopped at that stage, for I was loth to +have the degrading performance of drunkenness carried to the extreme I +had seen her go through at the Charite. I now applied a tube of alcohol, +asking the assistant, however, to give me valerian, which no doubt this +profoundly hypnotized subject perfectly well heard, for she immediately +went through the whole cat performance. She spat, she scratched, she +mewed, she leapt about on all fours, and she was as thoroughly cat-like +as had been Dr. Luys's subjects." + +Similar experiments as to the effect of magnets and electric currents +were tried. A note taken by Dr. Sajous runs thus: "She found the north +pole, notwithstanding there was no current, very pretty; she was as if +she were fascinated by it; she caressed the blue flames, and showed +every sign of delight. Then came the phenomena of attraction. She +followed the magnet with delight across the room, as though fascinated +by it; the bar was turned so as to present the other end or what would +be called, in the language of La Charite, the south pole. Then she fell +into an attitude, of repulsion and horror, with clenched fists, and as +it approached her she fell backward into the arms of M. Cremiere, and +was carried, still showing all the signs of terror and repulsion, back +to her chair. The bar was again turned until what should have been the +north pole was presented to her. She again resumed the same attitudes of +attraction, and tears bedewed her cheeks. 'Ah,' she said, 'it is blue, +the flame mounts,' and she rose from her seat, following the magnet +around the room. Similar but false phenomena were obtained in succession +with all the different forms of magnet and non-magnet; Marguerite was +never once right, but throughout her acting was perfect; she was utterly +unable at any time really to distinguish between a plain bar of iron, +demagnetized magnet or a horseshoe magnet carrying a full current and +one from which the current was wholly cut off." + +Five different patients were tested in the same way, through a long +series of experiments, with the same results, a practical proof that Dr. +Luys had been totally deceived and his new and wonderful discoveries +amounted to nothing. + +There is, however, another possible explanation, namely, telepathy, in a +real hypnotic condition. Even if Dr. Luys's experiments were genuine +this would be the rational explanation. They were a case of suggestion +of some sort, without doubt. + +Nearly every book on hypnotism gives various rules for detecting +simulation of the hypnotic state. One of the commonest tests is that of +anaesthesia. A pin or pen-knife is stuck into a subject to see if he is +insensible to pain; but as we shall see in a latter chapter, this +insensibility also may be simulated, for by long training some persons +learn to control their facial expressions perfectly. We have already +seen that the pulse and respiration tests are not sufficient. Hypnotic +persons often flush slightly in the face; but it is true that there are +persons who can flush on any part of the body at will. + +Mr. Ernest Hart had an article in the Century Magazine on "The Eternal +Gullible," in which he gives the confessions of a professional hypnotic +subject. This person, whom he calls L., he brought to his house, where +some experiments were tried in the presence of a number of doctors, +whose names are quoted. The quotation of a paragraph or two from Mr. +Hart's article will be of interest. Says he: + +"The 'catalepsy business' had more artistic merit. So rigid did L. make +his muscles that he could be lifted in one piece like an Egyptian mummy. +He lay with his head on the back of one chair, and his heels on another, +and allowed a fairly heavy man to sit on his stomach; it seemed to me, +however, that he was here within a 'straw' or two of the limit of his +endurance. The 'blister trick,' spoken of by Truth as having deceived +some medical men, was done by rapidly biting and sucking the skin of the +wrist. L. did manage with some difficulty to raise a slight swelling, +but the marks of the teeth were plainly visible." (Possibly L. had made +his skin so tough by repeated biting that he could no longer raise the +blister!) + +"One point in L.'s exhibition which was undoubtedly genuine was his +remarkable and stoical endurance of pain. He stood before us smiling and +open-eyed while he ran long needles into the fleshy part of his arms and +legs without flinching, and he allowed one of the gentlemen present to +pinch his skin in different parts with strong crenated pincers in a +manner which bruised it, and which to most people would have caused +intense pain. L. allowed no sign of suffering or discomfort to appear; +he did not set his teeth or wince; his pulse was not quickened, and the +pupil of his eye did not dilate as physiologists tell us it does when +pain passes a certain limit. It may be said that this merely shows that +in L. the limit of endurance was beyond the normal standard; or, in +other words, that his sensitiveness was less than that of the average +man. At any rate his performance in this respect was so remarkable that +some of the gentlemen present were fain to explain it by supposed +'post-hypnotic suggestion,' the theory apparently being that L. and his +comrades hypnotized one another, and thus made themselves insensible to +pain. + +"As surgeons have reason to know, persons vary widely in their +sensitiveness to pain. I have seen a man chat quietly with +bystanders while his carotid artery was being tied without the use of +chloroform. During the Russo-Turkish war wounded Turks often astonished +English doctors by undergoing the most formidable amputations with no +other anaesthetic than a cigarette. Hysterical women will inflict very +severe pain on themselves--merely for wantonness or in order to excite +sympathy. The fakirs who allow themselves to be hung up by hooks beneath +their shoulder-blades seem to think little of it and, as a matter of +fact, I believe are not much inconvenienced by the process." + +The fact is, the amateur can always be deceived, and there are no +special tests that can be relied on. If a person is well accustomed to +hypnotic manifestations, and also a good judge of human nature, and will +keep constantly on guard, using every precaution to avoid deception, it +is altogether likely that it can be entirely obviated. But one must use +his good judgment in every possible way. In the case of fresh subjects, +or persons well known, of course there is little possibility of +deception. And the fact that deception exists does not in any way +invalidate the truth of hypnotism as a scientific phenomenon. We cite it +merely as one of the physiological peculiarities connected with the +mental condition of which it is a manifestation. The fact that a +tendency to deception exists is interesting in itself, and may have an +influence upon our judgment of our fellow beings. There is, to be sure, +a tendency on the part of scientific writers to find lunatics instead of +criminals; but knowledge of the well demonstrated fact that many +criminals are insane helps to make us charitable. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Criminal Suggestion.--Laboratory Crimes.--Dr. Cocke's Experiments Showing +Criminal Suggestion Is not Possible.--Dr. William James' Theory.--A Bad +Man Cannot Be Made Good, Why Expect to Make a Good Man Bad? + +One of the most interesting phases of hypnotism is that of post-hypnotic +suggestion, to which reference has already been made. It is true that a +suggestion made during the hypnotic condition as to what a person will +do after coming out of the hypnotic sleep may be carried out. A certain +professional hypnotizer claims that once he has hypnotized a person he +can keep that person forever after under his influence by means of +post-hypnotic suggestion. He says to him while in the hypnotic sleep: +"Whenever I look at you, or point at you, you will fall asleep. No one +can hypnotize you but me. Whenever I try to hypnotize you, you will fall +asleep." He says further: "Suggest to a subject while he is sound asleep +that in eight weeks he will mail you a letter with a blank piece of note +paper inside, and during the intervening period you may yourself forget +the occurrence, but in exactly eight weeks he will carry out the +suggestion. Suggestions of this nature are always carried out, +especially when the suggestion is to take effect on some certain day or +date named. Suggest to a subject that in ninety days from a given date +he will come to your house with his coat on inside out, and he will most +certainly do so." + +The same writer also definitely claims that he can hypnotize people +against their wills. If this were true, what a terrible power would a +shrewd, evil-minded criminal have to compel the execution of any of his +plans! We hope to show that it is not true; but we must admit that many +scientific men have tried experiments which they believe demonstrate +beyond a doubt that criminal use can be and is made of hypnotic +influence. If it were possible to make a person follow out any line of +conduct while actually under hypnotic influence it would be bad enough; +but the use of posthypnotic suggestion opens a yet more far-reaching and +dangerous avenue. + +Among the most definite claims of the evil deeds that may be compelled +during hypnotic sleep is that of Dr. Luys, whom we have already seen as +being himself deceived by professional hypnotic subjects. Says he: "You +cannot only oblige this defenseless being, who is incapable of opposing +the slightest resistance, to give from hand to hand anything you may +choose, but you can also make him sign a promise, draw up a bill of +exchange, or any other kind of agreement. You may make him write an +holographic will (which according to French law would be valid), which +he will hand over to you, and of which he will never know the existence. +He is ready to fulfill the minutest legal formalities, and will do so +with a calm, serene and natural manner calculated to deceive the most +expert law officers. These somnambulists will not hesitate either, you +may be sure, to make a denunciation, or to bear false witness; they are, +I repeat, the passive instruments of your will. For instance, take E. +She will at my bidding write out and sign a donation of forty pounds in +my favor. In a criminal point of view the subject under certain +suggestions will make false denunciations, accuse this or that person, +and maintain with the greatest assurance that he has assisted at an +imaginary crime. I will recall to your mind those scenes of fictitious +assassination, which have exhibited before you. I was careful to place +in the subject's hands a piece of paper instead of a dagger or a +revolver; but it is evident, that if they had held veritable murderous +instruments, the scene might have had a tragic ending." + +Many experiments along this line have been tried, such as suggesting the +theft of a watch or a spoon, which afterward was actually carried out. + +It may be said at once that "these laboratory crimes" are in most cases +successful: A person who has nothing will give away any amount if told +to do so; but quite different is the case of a wealthy merchant who +really has money to sign away. + +Dr. Cocke describes one or two experiments of his own which have an +important bearing on the question of criminal suggestion. Says he: "A +girl who was hypnotized deeply was given a glass of water and was told +that it was a lighted lamp. A broomstick was placed across the room and +she was told that it was a man who intended to injure her. I suggested +to her that she throw the glass of water (she supposing it was a lighted +lamp) at the broomstick, her enemy, and she immediately threw it with +much violence. Then a man was placed across the room, and she was given +instead of a glass of water a lighted lamp. I told her that the lamp was +a glass of water, and that the man across the room was her brother. It +was suggested to her that his clothing was on fire and she was commanded +to extinguish the fire by throwing the lighted lamp at the individual, +she having been told, as was previously mentioned, that it was a glass +of water. Without her knowledge a person was placed behind her for the +purpose of quickly checking her movements, if desired. I then commanded +her to throw the lamp at the man. She raised the lamp, hesitated, +wavered, and then became very hysterical, laughing and crying +alternately. This condition was so profound that she came very near +dropping the lamp. Immediately after she was quieted I made a number of +tests to prove that she was deeply hypnotized. Standing in front of her +I gave her a piece of card-board, telling her that it was a dagger, and +commanded her to stab me. She immediately struck at me with the piece of +card-board. I then gave her an open pocketknife and commanded her to +strike at me with it. Again she raised it to execute my command, again +hesitated, and had another hysterical attack. I have tried similar +experiments with thirty or forty people with similar results. Some of +them would have injured themselves severely, I am convinced, at command, +but to what extent I of course cannot say. That they could have been +induced to harm others, or to set fire to houses, etc., I do not +believe. I say this after very careful reading and a large amount of +experimentation." + +Dr. Cocke also declares his belief that no person can be hypnotized +against his will by a person who is repugnant to him. + +The facts in the case are probably those that might be indicated by a +common-sense consideration of the conditions. If a person is weak-minded +and susceptible to temptation, to theft, for instance, no doubt a +familiar acquaintance of a similar character might hypnotize that person +and cause him to commit the crime to which his moral nature is by no +means averse. If, on the other hand, the personality of the hypnotizer +and the crime itself are repugnant to the hypnotic subject, he will +absolutely refuse to do as he is bidden, even while in the deepest +hypnotic sleep. On this point nearly all authorities agree. + +Again, there is absolutely no well authenticated case of crime committed +by a person under hypnotic influence. There have been several cases +reported, and one woman in Paris who aided in a murder was released on +her plea of irresponsibility because she had been hypnotized. In none of +these cases, however, was there any really satisfactory evidence that +hypnotism existed. In all the cases reported there seemed to be no doubt +of the weak character and predisposition to crime. In another class of +cases, namely those of criminal assault upon girls and women, the only +evidence ever adduced that the injured person was hypnotized was the +statement of that person, which cannot really be called evidence at all. + +The fact is, a weak character can be tempted and brought under virtual +control much more easily by ordinary means than by hypnotism. The man +who "overpersuades" a business man to endorse a note uses no hypnotic +influence. He is merely making a clever play upon the man's vanity, +egotism, or good nature. + +A profound study of the hypnotic state, such as has been made by Prof. +William James, of Harvard College, the great authority on psychical +phenomena and president of the Psychic Research Society, leads to the +conviction that in the hypnotic sleep the will is only in abeyance, +as it is in natural slumber or in sleepwalking, and any unusual or +especially exciting occurrence, especially anything that runs against +the grain of the nature, reawakens that will, and it soon becomes +as active as ever. This is ten times more true in the matter of +post-hypnotic suggestion, which is very much weaker than suggestion +that takes effect during the actual hypnotic sleep. We shall see, +furthermore, that while acting under a delusion at the suggestion of the +operator, the patient is really conscious all the time of the real facts +in the case--indeed, much more keenly so, oftentimes, than the operator +himself. For instance, if a line is drawn on a sheet of paper and the +subject is told there is no line, he will maintain there is no line; but +he has to see it in order to ignore it. Moreover, persons trained to +obey, instinctively do obey even in their waking state. It requires a +special faculty to resist obedience, even during our ordinary waking +condition. Says a recent writer: "It is certain that we are naturally +inclined to obey, conflicts and resistance are the characteristics of +some rare individuals; but between admitting this and saying that we are +doomed to obey--even the least of us--lies a gulf." The same writer says +further: "Hypnotic suggestion is an order given for a few seconds, at +most a few minutes, to an individual in a state of induced sleep. The +suggestion may be repeated; but it is absolutely powerless to transform +a criminal into an honest man, or vice versa." Here is an excellent +argument. If it is possible to make criminals it should be quite as easy +to make honest men. It is true that the weak are sometimes helped for +good; but there is no case on record in which a person who really wished +to be bad was ever made good; and the history of hypnotism is full of +attempts in that direction. A good illustration is an experiment tried +by Colonel de Rochas: + +"An excellent subject * * * had been left alone for a few minutes in an +apartment, and had stolen a valuable article. After he had left, the +theft was discovered. A few days after it was suggested to the subject, +while asleep, that he should restore the stolen object; the command was +energetically and imperatively reiterated, but in vain. The theft had +been committed by the subject, who had sold the article to an old +curiosity dealer, as it was eventually found on information received +from a third party. Yet this subject would execute all the imaginary +crimes he was ordered." + +As to the value of the so-called "laboratory crimes," the statement of +Dr. Courmelles is of interest: "I have heard a subject say," he states, +"'If I were ordered to throw myself out of the window I should do it, so +certain am I either that there would be somebody under the window to +catch me or that I should be stopped in time. The experimentalist's own +interests and the consequences of such an act are a sure guarantee.'" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Dangers in Being Hypnotized.--Condemnation of Public Performances.--A. +Common Sense View.--Evidence Furnished by Lafontaine.--By Dr. +Courmelles.--By. Dr. Hart.--By Dr. Cocke.--No Danger in Hypnotism if +Rightly Used by Physicians or Scientists. + +Having considered the dangers to society through criminal hypnotic +suggestion, let us now consider what dangers there may be to the +individual who is hypnotized. + +Before citing evidence, let us consider the subject from a rational +point of view. Several things have already been established. We know +that hypnotism is akin to hysteria and other forms of insanity--it is, in +short, a kind of experimental insanity. Really good hypnotic subjects +have not a perfect mental balance. We have also seen that repetition of +the process increases the susceptibility, and in some cases persons +frequently hypnotized are thrown into the hypnotic state by very slight +physical agencies, such as looking at a bright doorknob. Furthermore, we +know that the hypnotic patient is in a very sensitive condition, easily +impressed. Moreover, it is well known that exertions required of +hypnotic subjects are nervously very exhausting, so much so that +headache frequently follows. + +From these facts any reasonable person may make a few clear deductions. +First, repeated strain of excitement in hypnotic seances will wear out +the constitution just as certainly as repeated strain of excitement in +social life, or the like, which, as we know, frequently produces nervous +exhaustion. Second, it is always dangerous to submit oneself to the +influence of an inferior or untrustworthy person. This is just as true +in hypnotism as it is in the moral realm. Bad companions corrupt. And +since the hypnotic subject is in a condition especially susceptible, a +little association of this kind, a little submission to the inferior or +immoral, will produce correspondingly more detrimental consequences. +Third, since hypnotism is an abnormal condition, just as drunkenness is, +one should not allow a public hypnotizer to experiment upon one and make +one do ridiculous things merely for amusement, any more than one would +allow a really insane person to be exhibited for money; or than one +would allow himself to be made drunk, merely that by his absurd antics +he might amuse somebody. It takes little reflection to convince any one +that hypnotism for amusement, either on the public stage or in the home, +is highly obnoxious, even if it is not highly dangerous. If the +hypnotizer is an honest man, and a man of character, little injury may +follow. But we can never know that, and the risk of getting into bad +hands should prevent every one from submitting to influence at all. The +fact is, however, that we should strongly doubt the good character of +any one who hypnotizes for amusement, regarding him in the same light as +we would one who intoxicated people on the stage for amusement, or gave +them chloroform, or went about with a troup of insane people that he +might exhibit their idiosyncrasies. Honest, right-minded people do not +do those things. + +At the same time, there is nothing wiser that a man can do than to +submit himself fully to a stronger and wiser nature than his own. A +physician in whom you have confidence may do a thousand times more for +you by hypnotism than by the use of drugs. It is a safe rule to place +hypnotism in exactly the same category as drugs. Rightly used, drugs are +invaluable; wrongly used, they become the instruments of the murderer. +At all times should they be used with great caution. The same is true of +hypnotism. + +Now let us cite some evidence. Lafontaine, a professional hypnotist, +gives some interesting facts. He says that public hypnotic +entertainments usually induce a great many of the audience to become +amateur hypnotists, and these experiments may cause suffocation. Fear +often results in congestion, or a rush of blood to the brain. "If the +digestion is not completed, more especially if the repast has been more +abundant than usual, congestion may be produced and death be +instantaneous. The most violent convulsions may result from too complete +magnetization of the brain. A convulsive movement may be so powerful +that the body will suddenly describe a circle, the head touching the +heels and seem to adhere to them. In this latter case there is torpor +without sleep. Sometimes it has been impossible to awake the subject." + +A waiter at Nantes, who was magnetized by a commercial traveler, +remained for two days in a state of lethargy, and for three hours Dr. +Foure and numerous spectators were able to verify that "the extremities +were icy cold, the pulse no longer throbbed, the heart had no +pulsations, respiration had ceased, and there was not sufficient breath +to dim a glass held before the mouth. Moreover, the patient was stiff, +his eyes were dull and glassy." Nevertheless, Lafontaine was able to +recall this man to life. + +Dr. Courmelles says: "Paralysis of one or more members, or of the +tongue, may follow the awakening. These are the effects of the +contractions of the internal muscles, due often to almost imperceptible +touches. The diaphragm--and therefore the respiration--may be stopped in +the same manner. Catalepsy and more especially lethargy, produce these +phenomena." + +There are on record a number of cases of idiocy, madness, and epilepsy +caused by the unskillful provoking of hypnotic sleep. One case is +sufficiently interesting, for it is almost exactly similar to a case +that occurred at one of the American colleges. The subject was a young +professor at a boys' school. "One evening he was present at some public +experiments that were being performed in a tavern; he was in no way +upset at the sight, but the next day one of his pupils, looking at him +fixedly, sent him to sleep. The boys soon got into the habit of amusing +themselves by sending him to sleep, and the unhappy professor had to +leave the school, and place himself under the care of a doctor." + +Dr. Ernest Hart gives an experience of his own which carries with it its +own warning. Says he: + +"Staying at the well known country house in Kent of a distinguished +London banker, formerly member of Parliament for Greenwich, I had been +called upon to set to sleep, and to arrest a continuous barking cough +from which a young lady who was staying in the house was suffering, and +who, consequently, was a torment to herself and her friends. I thought +this a good opportunity for a control experiment, and I sat her down in +front of a lighted candle which I assured her that I had previously +mesmerized. Presently her cough ceased and she fell into a profound +sleep, which lasted until twelve o'clock the next day. When I returned +from shooting, I was informed that she was still asleep and could not be +awoke, and I had great difficulty in awaking her. That night there was a +large dinner party, and, unluckily, I sat opposite to her. Presently she +again became drowsy, and had to be led from the table, alleging, to my +confusion, that I was again mesmerizing her. So susceptible did she +become to my supposed mesmeric influence, which I vainly assured her, as +was the case, that I was very far from exercising or attempting to +exercise, that it was found expedient to take her up to London. I was +out riding in the afternoon that she left, and as we passed the railway +station, my host, who was riding with me, suggested that, as his friends +were just leaving by that train, he would like to alight and take leave +of them. I dismounted with him and went on to the platform, and avoided +any leave-taking; but unfortunately in walking up and down it seems that +I twice passed the window of the young lady's carriage. She was again +self-mesmerized, and fell into a sleep which lasted throughout the +journey, and recurred at intervals for some days afterward." + +In commenting on this, Dr. Hart notes that in reality mesmerism is +self-produced, and the will of the operator, even when exercised directly +against it, has no effect if the subject believes that the will is being +operated in favor of it. Says he: "So long as the person operated on +believed that my will was that she should sleep, sleep followed. The +most energetic willing in my internal consciousness that there should be +no sleep, failed to prevent it, where the usual physical methods of +hypnotization, stillness, repose, a fixed gaze, or the verbal expression +of an order to sleep, were employed." + +The dangers of hypnotism have been recognized by the law of every +civilized country except the United States, where alone public +performances are permitted. + +Dr. Cocke says: "I have occasionally seen subjects who complained of +headache, vertigo, nausea, and other similar symptoms after having been +hypnotized, but these conditions were at a future hypnotic sitting +easily remedied by suggestion." Speaking of the use of hypnotism by +doctors under conditions of reasonable care, Dr. Cocke says further: +"There is one contraindication greater than all the rest. It applies +more to the physician than to the patient, more to the masses than to +any single individual. It is not confined to hypnotism alone; it has +blocked the wheels of human progress through the ages which have gone. +It is undue enthusiasm. It is the danger that certain individuals will +become so enamored with its charms that other equally valuable means of +cure will be ignored. Mental therapeutics has come to stay. It is yet in +its infancy and will grow, but, if it were possible to kill it, it would +be strangled by the fanaticism and prejudice of its devotees. The whole +field is fascinating and alluring. It promises so much that it is in +danger of being missed by the ignorant to such an extent that great harm +may result. This is true, not only of mental therapeutics and hypnotism, +but of every other blessing we possess. Hypnotism has nothing to fear +from the senseless skepticism and contempt of those who have no +knowledge of the subject." He adds pertinently enough: "While hypnotism +can be used in a greater or less degree by every one, it can only be +used intelligently by those who understand, not only hypnotism itself, +but disease as well." + +Dr. Cocke is a firm believer that the right use of hypnotism by +intelligent persons does not weaken the will. Says he: "I do not believe +there is any danger whatever in this. I have no evidence (and I have +studied a large number of hypnotized subjects) that hypnotism will +render a subject less capable of exercising his will when he is relieved +from the hypnotic trance. I do not believe that it increases in any way +his susceptibility to ordinary suggestion." + +However, in regard to the dangers of public performances by professional +hypnotizers, Dr. Cocke is equally positive. Says he: + +"The dangers of public exhibitions, made ludicrous as they are by the +operators, should be condemned by all intelligent men and women, not +from the danger of hypnotism itself so much as from the liability of the +performers to disturb the mental poise of that large mass of ill-balanced +individuals which makes up no inconsiderable part of society." In +conclusion he says: "Patients have been injured by the misuse of +hypnotism. * * * This is true of every remedial agent ever employed for +the relief of man. Every article we eat, if wrongly prepared, if stale, +or if too much is taken, will be harmful. Every act, every duty of our +lives, may, if overdone, become an injury. + +"Then, for the sake of clearness, let me state in closing that hypnotism +is dangerous only when it is misused, or when it is applied to that +large class of persons who are inherently unsound; especially if that +mysterious thing we call credulity predominates to a very great extent +over the reason and over other faculties of the mind." + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Hypnotism in Medicine.--Anesthesia.--Restoring the Use of +Muscles.--Hallucination.--Bad Habits. + +Anaesthesia--It is well known that hypnotism may be used to render +subjects insensible to pain. Thus numerous startling experiments are +performed in public, such as running hatpins through the cheeks or arms, +sewing the tongue to the ear, etc. The curious part of it is that the +insensibility may be confined to one spot only. Even persons who are not +wholly under hypnotic influence may have an arm or a leg, or any smaller +part rendered insensible by suggestion, so that no pain will be felt. +This has suggested the use of hypnotism in surgery in the place of +chloroform, ether, etc. + +About the year 1860 some of the medical profession hoped that hypnotism +might come into general use for producing insensibility during surgical +operations. Dr. Guerineau in Paris reported the following successful +operation: The thigh of a patient was amputated. "After the operation," +says the doctor, "I spoke to the patient and asked him how he felt. He +replied that he felt as if he were in heaven, and he seized hold of my +hand and kissed it. Turning to a medical student, he added: 'I was aware +of all that was being done to me, and the proof is that I knew my thigh +was cut off at the moment when you asked me if I felt any pain.'" + +The writer who records this case continues: "This, however, was but a +transitory stage. It was soon recognized that a considerable time and a +good deal of preparation were necessary to induce the patients to sleep, +and medical men had recourse to a more rapid and certain method; that +is, chloroform. Thus the year 1860 saw the rise and fall of Braidism as +a means of surgical anaesthesia." + +One of the most detailed cases of successful use of hypnotism as an +anaesthetic was presented to the Hypnotic Congress which met in 1889, by +Dr. Fort, professor of anatomy: + +"On the 21st of October, 1887, a young Italian tradesman, aged twenty, +Jean M--. came to me and asked me to take off a wen he had on his +forehead, a little above the right eyebrow. The tumor was about the size +of a walnut. + +"I was reluctant to make use of chloroform, although the patient wished +it, and I tried a short hypnotic experiment. Finding that my patient was +easily hypnotizable, I promised to extract the tumor in a painless +manner and without the use of chloroform. + +"The next day I placed him in a chair and induced sleep, by a fixed +gaze, in less than a minute. Two Italian physicians, Drs. Triani and +Colombo who were present during the operation, declared that the subject +lost all sensibility and that his muscles retained all the different +positions in which they were put exactly as in the cataleptic state. The +patient saw nothing, felt nothing, and heard nothing, his brain +remaining in communication only with me. + +"As soon as we had ascertained that the patient was completely under the +influence of the hypnotic slumber, I said to him: 'You will sleep for a +quarter of an hour,' knowing that the operation would not last longer +than that; and he remained seated and perfectly motionless. + +"I made a transversal incision two and a half inches long and removed +the tumor, which I took out whole. I then pinched the blood vessels with +a pair of Dr. Pean's hemostatic pincers, washed the wound and applied a +dressing, without making a single ligature. The patient was still +sleeping. To maintain the dressing in proper position, I fastened a +bandage around his head. While going through the operation I said to the +patient, 'Lower your head, raise your head, turn to the right, to the +left,' etc., and he obeyed like an automaton. When everything was +finished, I said to him, 'Now, wake up.' + +"He then awoke, declared that he had felt nothing and did not suffer, +and he went away on foot, as if nothing had been done to him. + +"Five days after the dressing was removed and the cicatrix was found +completely healed." + +Hypnotism has been tried extensively for painless dentistry, but with +many cases of failure, which got into the courts and thoroughly +discredited the attempt except in very special cases. + +Restoring the Use of Muscles.--There is no doubt that hypnotism may be +extremely useful in curing many disorders that are essentially nervous, +especially such cases as those in which a patient has a fixed idea that +something is the matter with him when he is not really affected. Cases +of that description are often extremely obstinate, and entirely +unaffected by the ordinary therapeutic means. Ordinary doctors abandon +the cases in despair, but some person who understands "mental +suggestion" (for instance, the Christian Science doctors) easily effects +a cure. If the regular physician were a student of hypnotism he would +know how to manage cases like that. + +By way of illustration, we quote reports of two cases, one successful +and one unsuccessful. The following is from a report by one of the +physicians of the Charity hospital in Paris: + +"Gabrielle C---- became a patient of mine toward the end of 1886. She +entered the Charity hospital to be under treatment for some accident +arising from pulmonary congestion, and while there was suddenly seized +with violent attacks of hystero-epilepsy, which first contracted both +legs, and finally reduced them to complete immobility. + +"She had been in this state of absolute immobility for seven months and +I had vainly tried every therapeutic remedy usual in such cases. My +intention was first to restore the general constitution of the subject, +who was greatly weakened by her protracted stay in bed, and then, at the +end of a certain time, to have recourse to hypnotism, and at the +opportune moment suggest to her the idea of walking. + +"The patient was hypnotized every morning, and the first degree (that of +lethargy), then the cataleptic, and finally the somnambulistic states +were produced. After a certain period of somnambulism she began to move, +and unconsciously took a few steps across the ward. Soon after it was +suggested--the locomotor powers having recovered their physical +functions--that she should walk when awake. This she was able to do, and +in some weeks the cure was complete. In this case, however, we had the +ingenious idea of changing her personality at the moment when we induced +her to walk. The patient fancied she was somebody else, and as such, and +in this roundabout manner, we satisfactorily attained the object +proposed." + +The following is Professor Delboeuf's account of Dr. Bernheim's mode +of suggestion at the hospital at Nancy. A robust old man of about +seventy-five years of age, paralyzed by sciatica, which caused him intense +pain, was brought in. "He could not put a foot to the ground without +screaming with pain. 'Lie down, my poor friend; I will soon relieve you.' +Dr. Bernheim says. 'That is impossible, doctor.' 'You will see.' 'Yes, we +shall see, but I tell you, we shall see nothing!' On hearing this answer +I thought suggestion will be of no use in this case. The old man looked +sullen and stubborn. Strangely enough, he soon went off to sleep, fell +into a state of catalepsy, and was insensible when pricked. But when +Monsieur Bernheim said to him, 'Now you can walk, he replied, 'No, I +cannot; you are telling me to do an impossible thing.' Although Monsieur +Bernheim failed in this instance, I could not but admire his skill. +After using every means of persuasion, insinuation and coaxing, he +suddenly took up an imperative tone, and in a sharp, abrupt voice that +did not admit a refusal, said: 'I tell you you can walk; get up.' 'Very +well,' replied the old follow; 'I must if you insist upon it.' And he +got out of bed. No sooner, however, had his foot touched the floor than +he screamed even louder than before. Monsieur Bernheim ordered him to +step out. 'You tell me to do what is impossible,' he again replied, and +he did not move. He had to be allowed to go to bed again, and the whole +time the experiment lasted he maintained an obstinate and ill-tempered +air." + +These two cases give an admirable picture of the cases that can be and +those that cannot be cured by hypnotism, or any other method of mental +suggestion. + +Hallucination.--"Hallucinations," says a medical authority, "are very +common among those who are partially insane. They occur as a result of +fever and frequently accompany delirium. They result from an +impoverished condition of the blood, especially if it is due to +starvation, indigestion, and the use of drugs like belladonna, +hyoscyarnus, stramonium, opium, chloral, cannabis indica, and many more +that might be mentioned." + +Large numbers of cases of attempted cure by hypnotism, successful and +unsuccessful, might be quoted. There is no doubt that in the lighter +forms of partial insanity, hypnotism may help many patients, though not +all; but when the disease of the brain has gone farther, especially when +a well developed lesion exists in the brain, mental treatment is of +little avail, even if it can be practiced at all. + +A few general remarks by Dr. Bernheim will be interesting. Says he: + +"The mode of suggestion should be varied and adapted to the special +suggestibility of the subject. A simple word does not always suffice in +impressing the idea upon the mind. It is sometimes necessary to reason, +to prove, to convince; in some cases to affirm decidedly, in others to +insinuate gently; for in the condition of sleep, just as in the waking +condition, the moral individuality of each subject persists according to +his character, his inclinations, his impressionability, etc. Hypnosis +does not run all subjects into a uniform mold, and make pure and simple +automatons out of them, moved solely by the will of the hypnotist; it +increases cerebral docility; it makes the automatic activity +preponderate over the will. But the latter persists to a certain degree; +the subject thinks, reasons, discusses, accepts more readily than in the +waking condition, but does not always accept, especially in the light +degrees of sleep. In these cases we must know the patient's character, +his particular psychical condition, in order to make an impression upon +him." + +Bad Habits.--The habit of the excessive use of alcoholic drinks, +morphine, tobacco, or the like, may often be decidedly helped by +hypnotism, if the patient wants to be helped. The method of operation is +simple. The operator hypnotizes the subject, and when he is in deep +sleep suggests that on awaking he will feel a deep disgust for the +article he is in the habit of taking, and if he takes it will be +affected by nausea, or other unpleasant symptoms. In most cases the +suggested result takes place, provided the subject can be hypnotized al +all; but unless the patient is himself anxious to break the habit fixed +upon him, the unpleasant effects soon wear off and he is as bad as ever. + +Dr. Cocke treated a large number of cases, which he reports in detail in +his book on hypnotism. In a fair proportion of the cases he was +successful; in some cases completely so. In other cases he failed +entirely, owing to lack of moral stamina in the patient himself. His +conclusions seem to be that hypnotism may be made a very effective aid +to moral suasion, but after all, character is the chief force which +throws off such habits once they are fixed. The morphine habit is +usually the result of a doctor's prescription at some time, and it is +practiced more or less involuntarily. Such cases are often materially +helped by the proper suggestions. + +The same is true of bad habits in children. The weak may be strengthened +by the stronger nature, and hypnotism may come in as an effective aid to +moral influence. Here again character is the deciding factor. + +Dr. James R. Cocke devotes a considerable part of his book on +"Hypnotism" to the use of hypnotism in medical practice, and for further +interesting details the reader is referred to that able work. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Hypnotism of Animals.--Snake Charming. + +We are all familiar with the snake charmer, and the charming of birds by +snakes. How much hypnotism there is in these performances it would be +hard to say. It is probable that a bird is fascinated to some extent by +the steady gaze of a serpent's eyes, but fear will certainly paralyze a +bird as effectively as hypnotism. + +Father Kircher was the first to try a familiar experiment with hens and +cocks. If you hold a hen's head with the beak upon a piece of board, and +then draw a chalk line from the beak to the edge of the board, the hen +when released will continue to hold her head in the same position for +some time, finally walking slowly away, as if roused from a stupor. +Farmers' wives often try a sort of hypnotic experiment on hens they wish +to transfer from one nest to another when sitting. They put the hen's +head under her wing and gently rock her to and fro till she apparently +goes to sleep, when she may be carried to another nest and will remain +there afterward. + +Horses are frequently managed by a steady gaze into their eyes. Dr. Moll +states that a method of hypnotizing horses named after its inventor as +Balassiren has been introduced into Austria by law for the shoeing of +horses in the army. + +We have all heard of the snake charmers of India, who make the snakes +imitate all their movements. Some suppose this is by hypnotization. It +may be the result of training, however. Certainly real charmers of wild +beasts usually end by being bitten or injured in some other way, which +would seem to show that the hypnotization does not always work, or else +it does not exist at all. + +We have some fairly well known instances of hypnotism produced in +animals. Lafontaine, the magnetizer, some thirty years ago held public +exhibitions in Paris in which he reduced cats, dogs, squirrels and lions +to such complete insensibility that they felt neither pricks nor blows. + +The Harvys or Psylles of Egypt impart to the ringed snake the appearance +of a stick by pressure on the head, which induces a species of tetanus, +says E. W. Lane. + +The following description of serpent charming by the Aissouans of the +province of Sous, Morocco, will be of interest: + +"The principal charmer began by whirling with astonishing rapidity in a +kind of frenzied dance around the wicker basket that contained the +serpents, which were covered by a goatskin. Suddenly he stopped, plunged +his naked arm into the basket, and drew out a cobra de capello, or else +a haje, a fearful reptile which is able to swell its head by spreading +out the scales which cover it, and which is thought to be Cleopatra's +asp, the serpent of Egypt. In Morocco it is known as the buska. The +charmer folded and unfolded the greenish-black viper, as if it were a +piece of muslin; he rolled it like a turban round his head, and +continued his dance while the serpent maintained its position, and +seemed to follow every movement and wish of the dancer. + +"The buska was then placed on the ground, and raising itself straight on +end, in the attitude it assumes on desert roads to attract travelers, +began to sway from right to left, following the rhythm of the music. The +Aissoua, whirling more and more rapidly in constantly narrowing circles, +plunged his hand once more into the basket, and pulled out two of the +most venomous reptiles of the desert of Sous; serpents thicker than a +man's arm, two or three feet long, whose shining scales are spotted +black or yellow, and whose bite sends, as it were, a burning fire +through the veins. This reptile is probably the torrida dipsas of +antiquity. Europeans now call it the leffah. + +"The two leffahs, more vigorous and less docile than the buska, lay half +curled up, their heads on one side, ready to dart forward, and followed +with glittering eyes the movements of the dancer. * * * Hindoo charmers +are still more wonderful; they juggle with a dozen different species of +reptiles at the same time, making them come and go, leap, dance, and lie +down at the sound of the charmer's whistle, like the gentlest of tame +animals. These serpents have never been known to bite their charmers." + +It is well known that some animals, like the opossum, feign death when +caught. Whether this is to be compared to hypnotism is doubtful. Other +animals, called hibernating, sleep for months with no other food than +their fat, but this, again, can hardly be called hypnotism. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A Scientific Explanation of Hypnotism.--Dr. Hart's Theory. + +In the introduction to this book the reader will find a summary of the +theories of hypnotism. There is no doubt that hypnotism is a complex +state which cannot be explained in an offhand way in a sentence or two. +There are, however, certain aspects of hypnotism which we may suppose +sufficiently explained by certain scientific writers on the subject. + +First, what is the character of the delusions apparently created in the +mind of a person in the hypnotic condition by a simple word of mouth +statement, as when a physician says, "Now, I am going to cut your leg +off, but it will not hurt you in the least," and the patient suffers +nothing? + +In answer to this question, Professor William James of Harvard College, +one of the leading authorities on the scientific aspects of psychical +phenomena in this country, reports the following experiments: + +"Make a stroke on a paper or blackboard, and tell the subject it is not +there, and he will see nothing but the clean paper or board. Next, he +not looking, surround the original stroke with other strokes exactly +like it, and ask him what he sees. He will point out one by one the new +strokes and omit the original one every time, no matter how numerous the +next strokes may be, or in what order they are arranged. Similarly, if +the original single line, to which he is blind, be doubled by a prism of +sixteen degrees placed before one of his eyes (both being kept open), he +will say that he now sees one stroke, and point in the direction in +which lies the image seen through the prism. + +"Another experiment proves that he must see it in order to ignore it. +Make a red cross, invisible to the hypnotic subject, on a sheet of white +paper, and yet cause him to look fixedly at a dot on the paper on or +near the red cross; he wills on transferring his eye to the blank sheet, +see a bluish-green after image of the cross. This proves that it has +impressed his sensibility. He has felt but not perceived it. He had +actually ignored it; refused to recognize it, as it were." + +Dr. Ernest Hart, an English writer, in an article in the British Medical +Journal, gives a general explanation of the phenomena of hypnotism which +we may accept as true so far as it goes, but which is evidently +incomplete. He seems to minimize personal influence too much--that +personal influence which we all exert at various times, and which he +ignores, not because he would deny it, but because he fears lending +countenance to the magnetic fluid and other similar theories. Says he: + +"We have arrived at the point at which it will be plain that the +condition produced in these cases, and known under a varied jargon +invented either to conceal ignorance, to express hypotheses, or to mask +the design of impressing the imagination and possibly prey upon the +pockets of a credulous and wonder-loving public--such names as mesmeric +condition, magnetic sleep, clairvoyance, electro-biology, animal +magnetism, faith trance, and many other aliases--such a condition, I say, +is always subjective. It is independent of passes or gestures; it has no +relation to any fluid emanating from the operator; it has no relation to +his will, or to any influence which he exercises upon inanimate objects; +distance does not affect it, nor proximity, nor the intervention of any +conductors or non-conductors, whether silk or glass or stone, or even a +brick wall. We can transmit the order to sleep by telephone or by +telegraph. We can practically get the same results while eliminating +even the operator, if we can contrive to influence the imagination or to +affect the physical condition of the subject by any one of a great +number of contrivances. + +"What does all this mean? I will refer to one or two facts in relation +to the structure and function of the brain, and show one or two simple +experiments of very ancient parentage and date, which will, I think, +help to an explanation. First, let us recall something of what we know +of the anatomy and localization of function in the brain, and of the +nature of ordinary sleep. The brain, as you know, is a complicated +organ, made up internally of nerve masses, or ganglia, of which the +central and underlying masses are connected with the automatic functions +and involuntary actions of the body (such as the action of the heart, +lungs, stomach, bowels, etc.), while the investing surface shows a +system of complicated convolutions rich in gray matter, thickly sown +with microscopic cells, in which the nerve ends terminate. At the base +of the brain is a complete circle of arteries, from which spring great +numbers of small arterial vessels, carrying a profuse blood supply +throughout the whole mass, and capable of contraction in small tracts, +so that small areas of the brain may, at any given moment, become +bloodless, while other parts of the brain may simultaneously become +highly congested. Now, if the brain or any part of it be deprived of the +circulation of blood through it, or be rendered partially bloodless, or +if it be excessively congested and overloaded with blood, or if it be +subjected to local pressure, the part of the brain so acted upon ceases +to be capable of exercising its functions. The regularity of the action +of the brain and the sanity and completeness of the thought which is one +of the functions of its activity depend upon the healthy regularity of +the quantity of blood passing through all its parts, and upon the +healthy quality of the blood so circulating. If we press upon the +carotid arteries which pass up through the neck to form the arterial +circle of Willis, at the base of the brain, within the skull--of which I +have already spoken, and which supplies the brain with blood--we quickly, +as every one knows, produce insensibility. Thought is abolished, +consciousness lost. And if we continue the pressure, all those automatic +actions of the body, such as the beating of the heart, the breathing +motions of the lungs, which maintain life and are controlled by the +lower brain centers of ganglia, are quickly stopped and death ensues. + +"We know by observation in cases where portions of the skull have been +removed, either in men or in animals, that during natural sleep the +upper part of the brain--its convoluted surface, which in health and in +the waking state is faintly pink, like a blushing cheek, from the color +of the blood circulating through the network of capillary +arteries--becomes white and almost bloodless. It is in these upper +convolutions of the brain, as we also know, that the will and the +directing power are resident; so that in sleep the will is abolished and +consciousness fades gradually away, as the blood is pressed out by the +contraction of the arteries. So, also, the consciousness and the +directing will may be abolished by altering the quality of the blood +passing through the convolutions of the brain. We may introduce a +volatile substance, such as chloroform, and its first effect will be to +abolish consciousness and induce profound slumber and a blessed +insensibility to pain. The like effects will follow more slowly upon the +absorption of a drug, such as opium; or we may induce hallucinations by +introducing into the blood other toxic substances, such as Indian hemp +or stramonium. We are not conscious of the mechanism producing the +arterial contraction and the bloodlessness of those convolutions related +to natural sleep. But we are not altogether without control over them. +We can, we know, help to compose ourselves to sleep, as we say in +ordinary language. We retire into a darkened room, we relieve ourselves +from the stimulus of the special senses, we free ourselves from the +influence of noises, of strong light, of powerful colors, or of tactile +impressions. We lie down and endeavor to soothe brain activity by +driving away disturbing thoughts, or, as people sometimes say, 'try to +think of nothing.' And, happily, we generally succeed more or less well. +Some people possess an even more marked control over this mechanism of +sleep. I can generally succeed in putting myself to sleep at any hour of +the day, either in the library chair or in the brougham. This is, so to +speak, a process of self-hypnotization, and I have often practiced it +when going from house to house, when in the midst of a busy practice, +and I sometimes have amused my friends and family by exercising this +faculty, which I do not think it very difficult to acquire. (We also +know that many persons can wake at a fixed hour in the morning by +setting their minds upon it just before going to sleep.) Now, there is +something here which deserves a little further examination, but which it +would take too much time to develop fully at present. Most people know +something of what is meant by reflex action. The nerves which pass from +the various organs to the brain convey with, great rapidity messages to +its various parts, which are answered by reflected waves of impulse. If +the soles of the feet be tickled, contraction of the toes, or +involuntary laughter, will be excited, or perhaps only a shuddering and +skin contraction, known as goose-skin. The irritation of the nerve-end +in the skin has carried a message to the involuntary or voluntary +ganglia of the brain which has responded by reflecting back again nerve +impulses which have contracted the muscles of the feet or skin muscles, +or have given rise to associated ideas and explosion of laughter. In the +same way, if during sleep heat be applied to the soles of the feet, +dreams of walking over hot surfaces--Vesuvius or Fusiyama, or still +hotter places--may be produced, or dreams of adventure on frozen surfaces +or in arctic regions may be created by applying ice to the feet of the +sleeper. + +"Here, then, it is seen that we have a mechanism in the body, known to +physiologists as the ideo-motor, or sensory motor system of nerves, +which can produce, without the consciousness of the individual and +automatically, a series of muscular contractions. And remember that the +coats of the arteries are muscular and contractile under the influence +of external stimuli, acting without the help of the consciousness, or +when the consciousness is in abeyance. I will give another example of +this, which completes the chain of phenomena in the natural brain and +the natural body I wish to bring under notice in explanation of the true +as distinguished from the false, or falsely interpreted, phenomena of +hypnotism, mesmerism and electro-biology. I will take the excellent +illustration quoted by Dr. B. W. Carpenter in his old-time, but +valuable, book on 'The Physiology of the Brain.' When a hungry man sees +food, or when, let us say, a hungry boy looks into a cookshop, he +becomes aware of a watering of the mouth and a gnawing sensation at the +stomach. What does this mean? It means that the mental impression made +upon him by the welcome and appetizing spectacle has caused a secretion +of saliva and of gastric juice; that is to say, the brain has, through +the ideo-motor set of nerves, sent a message which has dilated the +vessels around the salivary and gastric glands, increased the flow of +blood through them and quickened their secretion. Here we have, then, a +purely subjective mental activity acting through a mechanism of which +the boy is quite ignorant, and which he is unable to control, and +producing that action on the vessels of dilation or contraction which, +as we have seen, is the essential condition of brain activity and the +evolution of thought, and is related to the quickening or the abolition +of consciousness, and to the activity or abeyance of function in the +will centers and upper convolutions of the brain, as in its other +centers of localization. + +"Here, then, we have something like a clue to the phenomena--phenomena +which, as I have pointed out, are similar to and have much in common +with mesmeric sleep, hypnotism or electro-biology. We have already, I +hope, succeeded in eliminating from our minds the false theory--the +theory, that is to say, experimentally proved to be false--that the will, +or the gestures, or the magnetic or vital fluid of the operator are +necessary for the abolition of the consciousness and the abeyance of the +will of the subject. We now see that ideas arising in the mind of the +subject are sufficient to influence the circulation in the brain of the +person operated on, and such variations of the blood supply of the brain +as are adequate to produce sleep in the natural state, or artificial +slumber, either by total deprivation or by excessive increase or local +aberration in the quantity or quality of blood. In a like manner it is +possible to produce coma and prolonged insensibility by pressure of the +thumbs on the carotid; or hallucination, dreams and visions by drugs, or +by external stimulation of the nerves. Here again the consciousness may +be only partially affected, and the person in whom sleep, coma or +hallucination is produced, whether by physical means or by the influence +of suggestion, may remain subject to the will of others and incapable of +exercising his own volition." + +In short, Dr. Hart's theory is that hypnotism comes from controlling the +blood supply of the brain, cutting off the supply from parts or +increasing it in other parts. This theory is borne out by the well-known +fact that some persons can blush or turn pale at will; that some people +always blush on the mention of certain things, or calling up certain +ideas. Certain other ideas will make them turn pale. Now, if certain +parts of the brain are made to blush or turn pale, there is no doubt +that hypnotism will follow, since blushing and turning pale are known to +be due to the opening and closing of the blood-vessels. We may say that +the subject is induced by some means to shut the blood out of certain +portions of the brain, and keep it out until he is told to let it in +again. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Telepathy and Clairvoyance.--Peculiar Power in Hypnotic +State.--Experiments.--"Phantasms of the Living" Explained by Telepathy + +It has already been noticed that persons in the hypnotic state seem to +have certain of their senses greatly heightened in power. They can +remember, see and hear things that ordinary persons would be entirely +ignorant of. There is abundant evidence that a supersensory perception +is also developed, entirely beyond the most highly developed condition +of the ordinary senses, such as being able to tell clearly what some +other person is doing at a great distance. In view of the discovery of +the X or Roentgen ray, the ability to see through a stone wall does not +seem so strange as it did before that discovery. + +It is on power of supersensory, or extra-sensory perception that what is +known as telepathy and clairvoyance are based. That such things really +exist, and are not wholly a matter of superstition has been thoroughly +demonstrated in a scientific way by the British Society for Psychical +Research, and kindred societies in various parts of the world. Strictly +speaking, such phenomena as these are not a part of hypnotism, but our +study of hypnotism will enable us to understand them to some extent, and +the investigation of them is a natural corollary to the study of +hypnotism, for the reason that it has been found that these +extraordinary powers are often possessed by persons under hypnotic +influence. Until the discovery of hypnotism there was little to go on in +conducting a scientific investigation, because clairvoyance could not be +produced by any artificial means, and so could not be studied under +proper restrictive conditions. + +We will first quote two experiments performed by Dr. Cocke which the +writer heard him describe with his own lips. + +The first case was that of a girl suffering from hysterical tremor. The +doctor had hypnotized her for the cure of it, and accidentally stumbled +on an example of thought transference. She complained on one occasion of +a taste of spice in her mouth. As the doctor had been chewing some +spice, he at once guessed that this might be telepathy. Nothing was said +at the time, but the next time the girl was hypnotized, the doctor put a +quinine tablet in his mouth. The girl at once asked for water, and said +she had a very bitter taste in her mouth. The water was given her, and +the doctor went behind a screen, where he put cayenne pepper in his +mouth, severely burning himself. No one but the doctor knew of the +experiment at the time. The girl immediately cried and became so +hysterical that she had to be awakened. The burning in her mouth +disappeared as soon as she came out of the hypnotic state, but the +doctor continued to suffer. Nearly three hundred similar experiments +with thirty-six different subjects were tried by Dr. Cocke, and of these +sixty-nine were entirely successful. The others were doubtful or +complete failures. + +The most remarkable of the experiments may be given in the doctor's own +words: "I told the subject to remain perfectly still for five minutes +and to relate to me at the end of this time any sensation he might +experience. I passed into another room and closed the door and locked +it; went into a closet in the room and closed the door after me; took +down from the shelf, first a linen sheet, then a pasteboard box, then a +toy engine, owned by a child in the house. I went back to my subject and +asked him what experience he had had. + +"He said I seemed to go into another room, and from thence into a dark +closet. I wanted something off the shelf, but did not know what. I took +down from the shelf a piece of smooth cloth, a long, square pasteboard +box and a tin engine. These were all the sensations he had experienced. +I asked him if he saw the articles with his eyes which I had removed +from the shelf. He answered that the closet was dark and that he only +felt them with his hands. I asked him how he knew that the engine was +tin. He said: 'By the sound of it.' As my hands touched it I heard the +wheels rattle. Now the only sound made by me while in the closet was +simply the rattling of the wheels of the toy as I took it off the shelf. +This could not possibly have been heard, as the subject was distant from +me two large rooms, and there were two closed doors between us, and the +noise was very slight. Neither could the subject have judged where I +went, as I had on light slippers which made no noise. The subject had +never visited the house before, and naturally did not know the contents +of the closet as he was carefully observed from the moment he entered +the house." + +Many similar experiments are on record. Persons in the hypnotic +condition have been able to tell what other persons were doing in +distant parts of a city; could tell the pages of the books they might be +reading and the numbers of all sorts of articles. While in London the +writer had an opportunity of witnessing a performance of this kind. +There was a young boy who seemed to have this peculiar power. A queer +old desk had come into the house from Italy, and as it was a valuable +piece of furniture, the owner was anxious to learn its pedigree. Without +having examined the desk beforehand in any way the boy, during one of +his trances, said that in a certain place a secret spring would be found +which would open an unknown drawer, and behind that drawer would be +found the name of the maker of the desk and the date 1639. The desk was +at once examined, and the name and date found exactly as described. It +is clear in this case that this information could not have been in the +mind of any one, unless it were some person in Italy, whence the desk +had come. It is more likely that the remarkable supersensory power given +enabled reading through the wood. + +We may now turn our attention to another class of phenomena of great +interest, and that is the visions persons in the ordinary state have of +friends who are on the point of death. It would seem that by an +extraordinary effort the mind of a person in the waking state might be +impressed through a great distance. At the moment of death an almost +superhuman mental effort is more likely and possible than at any other +time, and it is peculiar that these visions or phantasms are largely +confined to that moment. The natural explanation that rises to the +ordinary mind is, of course, "Spirits." This supposition is strengthened +by the fact that the visions sometimes appear immediately after death, +as well as at the time and just before. This may be explained, however, +on the theory that the ordinary mind is not easily impressed, and when +unconsciously impressed some time may elapse before the impression +becomes perceptible to the conscious mind, just as in passing by on a +swift train, we may see something, but not realize that we have seen it +till some time afterward, when we remember what we have unconsciously +observed. + +The British Society for Psychical Research has compiled two large +volumes of carefully authenticated cases, which are published under the +title, "Phantasms of the Living." We quote one or two interesting cases. + +A Miss L. sends the following report: + +January 4, 1886. + +"On one of the last days of July, about the year 1860, at 3 o'clock +p.m., I was sitting in the drawing room at the Rectory, reading, and my +thoughts entirely occupied. I suddenly looked up and saw most distinctly +a tall, thin old gentleman enter the room and walk to the table. He wore +a peculiar, old-fashioned cloak which I recognized as belonging to my +great-uncle. I then looked at him closely and remembered his features +and appearance perfectly, although I had not seen him since I was quite +a child. In his hand was a roll of paper, and he appeared to be very +agitated. I was not in the least alarmed, as I firmly believed he was my +uncle, not knowing then of his illness. I asked him if he wanted my +father, who, as I said, was not at home. He then appeared still more +agitated and distressed, but made no remark. He then left the room, +passing through the open door. I noticed that, although it was a very +wet day, there was no appearance of his having walked either in mud or +rain. He had no umbrella, but a thick walking stick, which I recognized +at once when my father brought it home after the funeral. On questioning +the servants, they declared that no one had rung the bell; neither did +they see any one enter. My father had a letter by the next post, asking +him to go at once to my uncle, who was very ill in Leicestershire. He +started at once, but on his arrival was told that his uncle had died at +exactly 3 o'clock that afternoon, and had asked for him by name several +times in an anxious and troubled manner, and a roll of paper was found +under his pillow. + +"I may mention that my father was his only nephew, and, having no son, +he always led him to think that he would have a considerable legacy. +Such, however, was not the case, and it is supposed that, as they were +always good friends, he was influenced in his last illness, and +probably, when too late, he wished to alter his will." + +In answer to inquiries, Miss L. adds: + +"I told my mother and an uncle at once about the strange appearance +before the news arrived, and also my father directly he returned, all of +whom are now dead. They advised me to dismiss it from my memory, but +agreed that it could not be imagination, as I described my uncle so +exactly, and they did not consider me to be either of a nervous or +superstitious temperament. + +"I am quite sure that I have stated the facts truthfully and correctly. +The facts are as fresh in my memory as if they happened only yesterday, +although so many years have passed away. + +"I can assure you that nothing of the sort ever occurred before or +since. Neither have I been subject to nervous or imaginative fancies. +This strange apparition was in broad daylight, and as I was only reading +the 'Illustrated Newspaper,' there was nothing to excite my +imagination." + +Hundreds of cases of this kind have been reported by persons whose +truthfulness cannot be doubted, and every effort has been made to +eliminate possibility of hallucination or accidental fancy. That things +of this kind do occur may be said to be scientifically proven. + +Such facts as these have stimulated experiment in the direction of +testing thought transference. These experiments have usually been in the +reading of numbers and names, and a certain measure of success has +resulted. It may be added, however, that no claimants ever appeared for +various banknotes deposited in strong-boxes, to be turned over to any +one who would read the numbers. Just why success was never attained +under these conditions it would be hard to say. The writer once made a +slight observation in this direction. When matching pennies with his +brother he found that if the other looked at the penny he could match it +nearly every time. There may have been some unconscious expression of +face that gave the clue. Persons in hypnotic trance are expert muscle +readers. For instance, let such a person take your hand and then go +through the alphabet, naming the letters. If you have any word in your +mind, as the muscle reader comes to each letter the muscles will +unconsciously contract. By giving attention h the muscles you can make +them contract on the wrong letters and entirely mislead such a person. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The Confessions of Medium.--Spiritualistic Phenomena Explained on Theory +of Telepathy.--Interesting Statement of Mrs. Piper, the Famous Medium of +the Psychical Research Society. + +The subject of spiritualism has been very thoroughly investigated by the +Society for Psychical Research, both in England and this country, and +under circumstances so peculiarly advantageous that a world of light has +been thrown on the connection between hypnotism and this strange +phenomenon. + +Professor William James, the professor of psychology at Harvard +University, was fortunate enough some years ago to find a perfect medium +who was not a professional and whose character was such as to preclude +fraud. This was Mrs. Leonora E. Piper, of Boston. For many years she +remained in the special employ of the Society for Psychical Research, +and the members of that society were able to study her case under every +possible condition through a long period of time. Not long ago she +resolved to give up her engagement, and made a public statement over her +own signature which is full of interest. + +A brief history of her life and experiences will go far toward +furnishing the general reader a fair explanation of clairvoyant and +spiritualistic phenomena. + +Mrs. Piper was the wife of a modest tailor, and lived on Pinckney +street, back of Beacon Hill. She was married in 1881, and it was not +until May 16, 1884, that her first child was born. A little more than a +month later, on June 29, she had her first trance experience. Says she: +"I remember the date distinctly, because it was two days after my first +birthday following the birth of my first child." She had gone to Dr. J. +R. Cocke, the great authority on hypnotism and a practicing physician of +high scientific attainments. "During the interview," says Mrs. Piper, "I +was partly unconscious for a few minutes. On the following Sunday I went +into a trance." + +She appears to have slipped into it unconsciously. She surprised her +friends by saying some very odd things, none of which she remembered +when she came to herself. Not long after she did it again. A neighbor, +the wife of a merchant, when she heard the things that had been said, +assured Mrs. Piper that it must be messages from the spirit world. The +atmosphere in Boston was full of talk of that kind, and it was not hard +for people to believe that a real medium of spirit communication had +been found. The merchant's wife wanted a sitting, and Mrs. Piper +arranged one, for which she received her first dollar. + +She had discovered that she could go into trances by an effort of her +own will. She would sit down at a table, with her sitter opposite, and +leaning her head on a pillow, go off into the trance after a few minutes +of silence. There was a clock behind her. She gave her sitters an hour, +sometimes two hours, and they wondered how she knew when the hour had +expired. At any rate, when the time came around she awoke. In describing +her experiences she has said: + +"At first when I sat in my chair and leaned my head back and went into +the trance state, the action was attended by something of a struggle. I +always felt as if I were undergoing an anesthetic, but of late years I +have slipped easily into the condition, leaning the head forward. On +coming out of it I felt stupid and dazed. At first I said disconnected +things. It was all a gibberish, nothing but gibberish. Then I began to +speak some broken French phrases. I had studied French two years, but +did not speak it well." + +Once she had an Italian for sitter, who could speak no English and asked +questions in Italian. Mrs. Piper could speak no Italian, indeed did not +understand a word of it, except in her trance state. But she had no +trouble in understanding her sitter. + +After a while her automatic utterance announced the personality of a +certain Dr. Phinuit, who was said to have been a noted French physician +who had died long before. His "spirit" controlled her for a number of +years. After some time Dr. Phinuit was succeeded by one "Pelham," and +finally by "Imperator" and "Rector." + +As the birth of her second child approached Mrs. Piper gave up what she +considered a form of hysteria; but after the birth of the child the +sittings, paid for at a dollar each, began again. Dr. Hodgson, of the +London Society for Psychical Research, saw her at the house of Professor +James, and he became so interested in her case that he decided to take +her to London to be studied. She spent nearly a year abroad; and after +her return the American branch of the Society for Psychical Research was +formed, and for a long time Mrs. Piper received a salary to sit +exclusively for the society. Their records and reports are full of the +things she said and did. + +Every one who investigated Mrs. Piper had to admit that her case was +full of mystery. But if one reads the reports through from beginning to +end one cannot help feeling that her spirit messages are filled with +nonsense, at least of triviality. Here is a specimen--and a fair +specimen, too--of the kind of communication Pelham gave. He wrote out the +message. It referred to a certain famous man known in the reports as Mr. +Marte. Pelham is reported to have written by Mrs. Piper's hand: + +"That he (Mr. Marte), with his keen brain and marvelous perception, will +be interested, I know. He was a very dear friend of X. I was exceedingly +fond of him. Comical weather interests both he and I--me--him--I know it +all. Don't you see I correct these? Well, I am not less intelligent now. +But there are many difficulties. I am far clearer on all points than I +was shut up in the prisoned body (prisoned, prisoning or imprisoned you +ought to say). No, I don't mean, to get it that way. 'See here, H, don't +view me with a critic's eye, but pass my imperfections by.' Of course, I +know all that as well as anybody on your sphere (of course). Well, I +think so. I tell you, old fellow, it don't do to pick all these little +errors too much when they amount to nothing in one way. You have light +enough and brain enough, I know, to understand my explanations of being +shut up in this body, dreaming, as it were, and trying to help on +science." + +Some people would say that Pelham had had a little too much whisky toddy +when he wrote that rambling, meaningless string of words. Or we can +suppose that Mrs. Piper was dreaming. We see in the last sentence a +curious mixture of ideas that must have been in her mind. She herself +says: + +"I do not see how anybody can look on all that as testimony from another +world. I cannot see but that it must have been an unconscious expression +of my subliminal self, writing such stuff as dreams are made of." + +In another place Mrs. Piper makes the following direct statement: "I +never heard of anything being said by myself while in a trance state +which might not have been latent in: + +"1. My own mind. + +"2. In the mind of the person in charge of the sitting. + +"3. In the mind of the person who was trying to get communication with +some one in another state of existence, or some companion present with +such person, or, + +"4. In the mind of some absent person alive somewhere else in the +world." + +Writing in the Psychological Review in 1898, Professor James says: + +"Mrs. Piper's trance memory is no ordinary human memory, and we have to +explain its singular perfection either as the natural endowment of her +solitary subliminal self, or as a collection of distinct memory systems, +each with a communicating spirit as its vehicle. + +"The spirit hypothesis exhibits a vacancy, triviality, and incoherence +of mind painful to think of as the state of the departed, and coupled +with a pretension to impress one, a disposition to 'fish' and face +around and disguise the essential hollowness which is, if anything, more +painful still. Mr. Hodgson has to resort to the theory that, although +the communicants probably are spirits, they are in a semi-comatose or +sleeping state while communicating, and only half aware of what is going +on, while the habits of Mrs. Piper's neural organism largely supply the +definite form of words, etc., in which the phenomenon is clothed." + +After considering other theories Professor James concludes: + +"The world is evidently more complex than we are accustomed to think it, +the absolute 'world ground' in particular being farther off than we are +wont to think it." + +Mrs. Piper is reported to have said: + +"Of what occurs after I enter the trance period I remember +nothing--nothing of what I said or what was said to me. I am but a +passive agent in the hands of powers that control me. I can give no +account of what becomes of me during a trance. The wisdom and inspired +eloquence which of late has been conveyed to Dr. Hodgson through my +mediumship is entirely beyond my understanding. I do not pretend to +understand it, and can give no explanation--I simply know that I have the +power of going into a trance when I wish." + +Professor James says: "The Piper phenomena are the most absolutely +baffling thing I know." + +Professor Hudson, Ph.D., LL.D., author of "The Law of Psychic +Phenomena," comes as near giving an explanation of "spiritualism," so +called, as any one. He begins by saying: + +"All things considered, Mrs. Piper is probably the best 'psychic' now +before the public for the scientific investigation of spiritualism and +it must be admitted that if her alleged communications from discarnate +spirits cannot be traced to any other source, the claims of spiritism +have been confirmed." + +Then he goes on: + +"A few words, however, will make it clear to the scientific mind that +her phenomena can be easily accounted for on purely psychological +principles, thus: + +"Man is endowed with a dual mind, or two minds, or states of +consciousness, designated, respectively, as the objective and the +subjective. The objective mind is normally unconscious of the content of +the subjective mind. The latter is constantly amenable to control by +suggestion, and it is exclusively endowed with the faculty of telepathy. + +"An entranced psychic is dominated exclusively by her subjective mind, +and reason is in abeyance. Hence she is controlled by suggestion, and, +consequently, is compelled to believe herself to be a spirit, good or +bad, if that suggestion is in any way imparted to her, and she +automatically acts accordingly. + +"She is in no sense responsible for the vagaries of a Phinuit, for that +eccentric personality is the creation of suggestion. But she is also in +the condition which enables her to read the subjective minds of others. +Hence her supernormal knowledge of the affairs of her sitters. What he +knows, or has ever known, consciously or unconsciously (subjective +memory being perfect), is easily within her reach. + +"Thus far no intelligent psychical researcher will gainsay what I have +said. But it sometimes happens that the psychic obtains information that +neither she nor the sitter could ever have consciously possessed. Does +it necessarily follow that discarnate spirits gave her the information? +Spiritists say 'yes,' for this is the 'last ditch' of spiritism. + +"Psychologists declare that the telepathic explanation is as valid in +the latter class of cases as it obviously is in the former. Thus, +telepathy being a power of the subjective mind, messages may be conveyed +from one to another at any time, neither of the parties being +objectively conscious of the fact. It follows that a telepathist at any +following seance with the recipient can reach the content of that +message. + +"If this argument is valid--and its validity is self-evident--it is +impossible to imagine a case that may not be thus explained on +psychological principles." + +Professor Hudson's argument will appeal to the ordinary reader as good. +It may be simplified, however, thus: + +We may suppose that Mrs. Piper voluntarily hypnotizes herself. Perhaps +she simply puts her conscious reason to sleep. In that condition the +rest of her mind is in an exalted state, and capable of telepathy and +mind-reading, either of those near at hand or at a distance. Her reason +being asleep, she simply dreams, and the questions of her sitter are +made to fit into her dream. + +If we regard mediums as persons who have the power of hypnotizing +themselves and then of doing what we know persons who have been +hypnotized by others sometimes do, we have an explanation that covers +the whole case perfectly. At the same time, as Professor James warns us, +we must believe that the mind is far more complex than we are accustomed +to think it. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPLETE HYPNOTISM: MESMERISM, +MIND-READING AND SPIRITUALISM*** + + +******* This file should be named 19342.txt or 19342.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/3/4/19342 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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