San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-09-14

Clno- LIS temperature CAL 10 CuhuBeu,
his eye dilated and his pulse quickened.
Mesmerism Is as perfect al anesthetic as
ether. and as harmless as water. Amy
mesmerized person can at once, by q
single stroke Of the hand, be rendered to-
tally insensible to pain, and can have a
tooth drawn, q cataract removed, a can
Ger cut out, or an arm cut off without
feeling the slightest pain. This has been
SO often demonstrated that amputations
frequently take place under it's influence
in the Paris hospitals, and it is success
fully employed in obstetrics. Though
only fraction of patients will be found
eligible as candidates for this annihilator
Of pain, it's utility Is so obvious it cannot
be long before medical societies will take
up the therepeusis of mesmerism as a
serious study, and army surgeons will
be required to have as practical a knowl-
edge Of 1t as Of any part of the pharma-
cop9ia.
1t is quite erroneous to suppose that
the conduct Of the responsive is directed
in detail by the operator. He only sug-
gests the general line of thought, and
each responsive pursues it according to
his own knowledge, experience or preju
dices. | say to my responsives, for in
stance, that have wonderful educated
COW with seven heads. They all want
to see it. call their attention to the
imaginary stable door near by; they look
toward it, and when | snap my fingers
they all see a seven headed COW enter.
Now, by questioning them it becomes
obvious that they all see a different COW.
Unless | have designated her color one
sees a white COW, another a red cow. and
so on.
Then l tell them that she can dance,
can waltz and keep time with music. !
hand one q cane, telling him it is flute,
and that he is an eminent performer, and
he goes through the motions of playing
to the dancing COW. They all hear differ
emit tunes. but the exhibition is satisfac.
tory. now add that the COW can sing
can sing a different part with each mouth
can sing seven ballads at once At this
point there is some incredibly expressed.
They see the COW stand up on her hind
legs and hear the seven ballads-and this,
may as well add, is the narrative Of an
actual experiment.
Five of the six mesmerized persons be-
lieved that she sang "She is singing
Tit Willow" said one. And "A War.
rior Bold" said another.
II hear singing" said the fncredulous
one. turning to me. "'Annie Laurie, isn't
TT How do you work her-the machinery,
mean
The others laughed at him why,
the COW sings" said young lady. Cant
you hear her sings Can't you see her
singY"
she looks as If she sang" conceded
Incredulous. II see her mouths move all
around She sounds as If she sang; but
she doesn't sing. Cows don't sing"
Very well, what is it, Them" asked
one Of the others.
"a tube and hole in the floor. said
Incredulous, "or perhaps ventriloquism.
Avn exclaimed the first, derisively,
"ventriloquism does not work like that
I've made study of ventriloquisln.
We'll. I've made study of cowr' per,
sisted the scoffer obstinately.
Sometimes | turn the respensives into
children. and have them play school with
infinite fun; sometimes transport them
over ocean to Africa or Japan on the en-
chanted carpet, where for a brief space
they enjoy all the delights of travel;
sometimes we participate IN battles, In
political campaigns, in exciting TRADE,
and sometimes Socrates, Moses or Con
fucius is introduced and interviewed, the
intelligent responsive furnishing both
questions and answers in curious dual
action of the mind that is highly enter
tanning.
Not only the reason sometimes rebels as
above, but the conscience also. AS q rule
responsives can be completely dominated
and made to do anyt hing of which they.
are physically capable. They could gen
orally be induced to take poison, or jump
off the house, or throw themselves under
a locomotive, or attack one another with
deadly weapons But there are some ex.
ccptions. was unable to overcome the
fear of one of my responsives. whom
sent to assault an imaginary Indian in the
park. He refused to go, and said it was
difficult to kill an Indian"
A young lady, one of the brightest sen
sitiveSN have ever seen, steadfastly re.
fuses to play cards. | tell her she is
Buffalo Bill, and easily induce her to as.
sumeThis Character, but when cards are
suggested, No, never play cards. 1t
is wrongP' she says, and | cannot move
her. Fl could make her jump out through
the window or put her hands in the fire,
but play cards she will not. was puz-
zled by it till. inquiring, ascertained
that her religious parents had brought
her up very strictly and taught her 1T was
wicked to play cards"
And this brings us to the. question much
mootad of late, whether crime can be COM
mitted by the aid of mesmerism. If so,
it is brought into relation, not only with
medicine, but with Jurisprudence; not
only with the pharmacopeia, but the pen
itentiry. 1t is obvious that if cases of
this kind occur the one to whom punish
ment' must be dealt"out is the mesmerist.
I could probably induce any one of nv