Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-03-21
SUGGESTIVE HYPNOTISM.
A SYSTEM OF HEALING OF Al
MOST UNLIMITED SCOPE,

| o DllGnOm
enai In the various scientific treatises on tn,
subject several theories are advanced to ae
count for theni-theo-ies differing MATERIAL,
| from each other and vet agreeing ON som,
important points. The Nancy school has fol
lowed the example o. Braid the celebrated
Manchester surgeon, who was the first t.
| formulate rational explanation of the mes
meric and kindred states. Its disciples reject
| all theories of supernatural and mystic in
| huence; they deny ths presence of mag
netic fluid =" and main tain that hypnotic ano
natural sleep are anal 1gous. Professor Bern
helm quotes instances in which by speaking
| TO patient who had fallen into a natura
sleep he has produced hypnotic sleep without
awakening him and without any visible sign OF
transition.
The subject still slept peacefully; only hi.
mind had come into communication with
that of the physician Then" reader may
insist, some emanation, some magnetic OF
electric current, must have passed from one
organism to the other " Not So the relation
between was such relation as may al any
moment exist between any two human be-
ings The sleeper obeyed the doctors voice
yes, because he heard it, and it was voice
which he had perhaps been accustomed to
obey. Or he followed the doctors gestures,
either because his inte lsified sense of hearing
conveyed to him tho faintest sound heard in
producing them, his sleep being light or he
saw the movements from between his slightly
opened eyelids. A gesture made behind The
patient, and so cautiously as to produce no
sound, or made before, his eyes being kept
covered, says DR.. Bernhem, produces no re-
spOnse whatever.
THEORY CONCERNING NATURAL SLEEP
Dr. l.ebault maintains that natural slcep
Is the result Of auto-suggestion. We retire
to our room at the usual hour and make the
usual preparations for the night. We put
out the light, lie down in our accustomed po-
sitions, clcss our eyes, try to compose our
thoughts. All this suggests sleep, which
presently comes, unless it is kept away by
some counteracting influence. We are In a
strange bed, perhaps, Or we feel some bodily
discomfort, or an agitating or perplexine
thought enters our mind and the slumber we
have tried to WOO is banished Auto-sugges-
ton has failed, just medical suggestions
may fail If the conditions are adverse.
DR.. Liebault tells NE that he has frequently
employed mild suggestion as a means of self
cure; when suffering from some slight ailment.
such as an attack of neuralgia, he has lain
down, fixed his eye on some bright object
and wished to sleep for half an hour and
awoke free from pan. A true hypnotic
sleep has thus been induced, and he has
awakened at the sugge ested moment with the
pain gone | take it, however that his case
Is exceptional, and thai the curative sugges-
ton, to be effective, must generally be sup
piled by another person.
Professor Bernheini defines the hypnotic
state as psychical condition in which the
subject is Influenced by suggestion to an in
creased degree In this state he is in relation
with the operator, whose suggestions he ac.
cepts and obeys unques tioningly. These s,lg.
gestions may be triva al and useless, or they
may be and in treatme lt are serious and bene-
fetal. But whatever DO their nature the pa.
TENTS mind Is for tie time being entirely
bent on carrying them out, and If so directed
will act on the body TO effect changes of bene-
fetal tendency Thus some morbid habit is
for the time controlled by a command or
suggestion acting through the imagination
patient is subject to periodical attacks of
some compaint-say asthma or neuralgia
His system has accepted tho morbid condi-
tion, which has becoruo as much a habit as
waking in the morning eating at regular
hours
Such a one is put fnro the hypnotic sleep;
his mind Is closed again rst impressions except
the suggestion Of the operator; it strives to
obey this suggestion, that the pain shall not
return at the usual tins That time arrives
and the morbid habit tries TO assert itself
There will be some mleasiness, transient
difficulty Of breathing Ia the one case, a slight
pricking or burning N the other; but the
morbid habit Is weakened, and a few repe-
titions Of fhe treatment suffice to overcome
it. In cases where tho complaint is of long
sfoxN -
perseverance, as a comp Ilets change has to be
effected in the constitut ion
IT REMAINS A MYSTERY.
And STILL though we see and record such
results, we cannot tell why or how patient
In the hypnotic state is influenced to his cure.
We may theorize on this subject, but as vet it
remains a mystery. Whether human intel
ligence will ever compass it Is doubtful,
though great neuroloeists, among others
Professor Charcot, of Paris, are at work try
ing to make it clear. In the meantime tho
friends of treatment by suggestion accept it,
as we all accept much that we cannot under.
stand.
In what hands Is vested this powerf What
gifts OF mind and body must its possessor be
endowed withs With none that can be called
exceptional. Magnetizers aud mSsmerists
used to hold that to obtain an influence over
his subjects the operator should be in robust
health, as the process was extremely ex-
hausting for both mind and body. They
no doubt found 1t SO, as they considered
1t necessary to concentro te their every faculty
upon each subject; to st ain their viii power
TO the utmost; to employ much muscular force
in making passes" The Nancy school, be-
lievlng that the condition they produce is q
simple result OF psychical and physiological
laws, find that no special effort of will Is re-
quired, and dispense altogether with passes
There Is no physiological reason why the ma
jority of people should not possess the power
to hypnotic, but there are the strongest
reasons why that power should be exercised
only by approved persons and within strictly
regulated limits
The continental ply icians who practice
this system are wisely careful to protect
themselves and their patients with such pre-
cautions as they would Use in administering
anesthetics. never hypnotizing any patient
without his own free consent or that of his
natural or legal guardian, and insisting on
some third person being present-if possible
friend or relative of the patient. The moro
cultured and broad minded Of them regard
the treatment not as q universal specific, to
be used against all disc ises and with all pa
tients to the exclusion OF other means of heal
ing, but rather as valuable adjunct to these
in certain cases. They choose not to be inno-
vators but improvers-not to take away but
to add; and they work With firm conviction
that it should be tho aim of medical science
and of its exponents to press all remedial
agents into the service of humauity.-C. Lloyd
Tucke. NJ D., in Ninetet nth Century.
Jersey City has abolished its newsboys'
home 1t was found that the boys used it for
q loafing place, and that four-fifths of its