Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-05-09

EEom the NOW York Tribune
Some experiments wers made rseently ss the
ONCE Of physician uptown, with a view Of
testing the utility Of the trance condition for
surgical operations, Among those present were
Professors Thwing Of Brooklyn, Dr. Birdsall,
d.. VIM. G. Jarvis and Dr.. Mlttendorf. .One Of
the subjects was q boy from Brooklyn, about Is
years old, who was thoroughly well trained and
able to take part In some very interesting ex-
periments II he wastold to 60 into sound sleep
when certain number was counted he would
obey. and when the number was reached he
would be In an unconscious condition. II his
arms were raised they would drop like lead. II
sharp instrument was thrust into his skin he
gave no sign whatever Of being conscious, and
being questioned afterward had no recollection of
It. Another subject was q younger boy, with
bright black eyes and q pleasant round race
He had never been thrown into q trance con-
dition before. At first he refused to be SUBJ
jected to the influence for fear that he would
suffer some injury, but after seeing the expert
ments made with the other boy he consented.
Professor Thwing, who is very successful as
mesmerlst, put him in q thoroughly unconscious
condition in few seconds. In one experiment
the two boys were locked in each others arms
and passed into the trance condition at the same
word. They remained In that condition for some
time until they were aroused by the touch and
voice OF the mesmerist. Efforts were also made
TO mesmer1Ze young woman, but she was not
good subject, as she did not reach point be-
You'd drOwsiness. Her curiosity. as she remarked.
prevented her from yielding herself up COM
pletely to the experiment.
The boy with the black eyes was placed in q
chair to be operated upon His right nOstril
was entirely closed by the thickening of the
septum, superinduced by chronic catarrh. He
was mesmerized by Professor ThwinQ. DR..
Jarvis then ran long sharp needle through the
thickened membrane Of the septum. The sub
ject did not give the slightest movement. either
voluntary or Involuntary; he said afterward
that be did not know that the needle had been
serted In the nostril and drawn around the base
and point OF the needle and made to cut
through the membrane by the gradual reduc-
tion OF the circumference Of the loop. As the
membrane OF the nose Is highly sensitive this
Is under the usual conditions an extremely
painful operation. The great pain produced by
the tension on the wire aroused the subject. but
ne did not fully regain consciousness. HA
talked and acted very much as if he had been
under the Influence Of ether. When the pieces
OF membrane grasped by the loop had been en-
tirely cut of, the boy was brought out of the
trance condition.
Experiments In mlnd-readng were also made
Dy Dr. Birdsau and others. Some, who had
never before attempted muscle reading, met
win remarkable degree Of success. DR.. Bird
sail made aD experiment that was new to many
or those present. He held q number of cards In
his hand with their faces turned toward q per-
son In front Of him, who was asked to select In
his mind a card from the group, and in each
case he was able to pick out the one chosen.
This experiment was successfully performed by
others. The explanation is simple. The success
OF the experiment depends on getting the direo-
ton of the eyes at the instant the selection is
made. there being at that instant q peculiar
muscular movement Of the eyes,
Further experiments were made with q view
to determine whether the object selected by one
or more persons could be found by person In q
partial trance state. without muscular contact.
All OF these resulted in failure. Similar expert
ments OF this nature were made few DAYS ago
IN Brooklyn, at which the reporter was present.
Ihey were on that occasion successful in num-
Der OF instances. Several objects Of miscel-
laneous character were placed side by side upon
table. The subject was then told to select the
OBJECT chosen after his eyes had been blinded by
mesmerism. He succeeded in selecting the right
OBJECT more often than he failed, but the exper-
lments were not numerous enough, or varied
emo ugh IN their character to be scientific. He
also succeeded In two or three instances in find
ing OBJECTS that had been selected in remote
parts OF the room. The theory of one of the
persons engaged 10 the experiments was that q /
subtle lnnuence was exerted by the mind Of the
operator upon that Of the subject A more
tenaole theory Is that the subject is able to
determine the right location by movement on
tne part OF the operator, whose attention is
closely liked upon The object. or by some aerial