The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-07-19
THE NEW WITCHCRAFT.
HYPNoTIsM AND THE BELIEFS OF
OTHER DAYS.

T3hvsicel-The Generation ana Trans
mission of These Mental States.
DR.. Richardson in the AscleDidd
We are RAISING at this present moment
Through a mental epidemic which may be
cslled the hynotic, or the epidemic of hyp-
,,otism. These mental epidemics are very
similar to those that are purely physical.
They often take the spreading form which
constitutes them epidemical. They start
from one particular center, and follow spe-
riel lines of human intercourse. They recur
in regular series, appear, disappear,
or nearly disappear, then reappear in
full force, arrest the attention Of the world,
and once more subside. They seem to be
modified by external conditions, and it
might almost be said by season, or, at all
events, by cycles or courses of years. In
the phenomena by which they are mani
tested, the bodily or physical phenomena
combine with the spiritual or mental, both
leading to certain alterations which may
most correctly be designated disease, or dis
eased condition of body and of mind.
The above are striking features of an cpl
demicll outbreak; but there Is one other in
this hypnotic epidemic still more striking
than all the rest, namely, that the per-
SONS in whom the phenomena Of it are most
easily manifested are they who, by nervous
cons iitution, are most pressionable; per-
sons who, constitutionally, are easily over
come by external vibrations, who feel most
keenly the natural shocks that flesh is heir
TO and who are led to rely and trust on
Others more than on themselves The peo-
pie so constituted, "Hypnotics,n in our own
communities, are by no means Insignificant
in number, and in some parts Of the world
they exist in very large numbers indeed.
With us they are most frequently met
with among women. but men are not
them as persons predlspOsed to impress
sional influences, and in some points of
view to an enfeebled organization. see in
Dr. Tuckey's recent and able work on
sYcho-therapeuticS" that some authors
consider them all as of hysterical cast, and
IL is not to be denied that many of them are
strongly hysterical. They are not all of
this type, and, with regard to them as a
class, it Is most correct to say that hysteria
is rather to be accepted in them as a COM
mon cOincidental affection than as @ cause
of the impresSionability to which they are
subject / mean by this that they are hys-
terically inclined for the same reason that
they are impressionable, the tendency to
both conditions lying behind both and being
independent Of both. So it happens that
some of the impressionable are historical
while others are not, or, at all events, have
never shown proof Of the connection by the
presentation of decided hysterical phe-
nomena
What the primitive popularity or failure
may be is not easily definable beyond the
bare statement that all members of the
class have certain general attributes and
qualities which distinguish them to a con
siderable extent, as Il class. They are of
the nervous, combined with the bilious tenn
permanent. They are always sympathetic
III their tendencies, commonly distruStful
OF their own powers, ready at any moment
to fly TO others Ia the face Of danger, and in
the defense OF their opinions obstinate
rather than resolute. In their descriptions
of events with which they have been per-
sonally connected they are apt to be
contradictory when closely pressed, and
yet stubborn, after all, on some particular
point. They are freely communicative of
what they have felt and have seen, and
there is, l believe, invariably a touch of
self-romance about them which makes them
paint in strong colors events connected
with their personal experiences. They per-
haps all share in one article of belief-they
believe il ghosts, and, as a rule, they do
not conceal their beliefs in this matter
Hence they listen to, and read with avidity,
stories Of the ghostly and marvellous kind,
and are even pleased at being frightened by
what they hear. In plain words, an Unborn
love for the mysterious is q true part of
their nature.
1t seems to me that we need not go far to
seek the genesis of the class of man and
womankind here depicted. We may not be
able to describe the constitutional basis Of
their mental state, but we may perhaps
detect, without much difficulty, its natural
heredity. 1t is eastern in its origin, and in
it fingers the old and tabled lore of ghosts.
fairies, elves, wizards and witches that was
q faiT kalI 3 ~, f,,lt
est acceptance up to days separated from
these days by very few generations. Go
back, in this England, six generations only,
and there IS a generation in which the
wisesr and the best of the people
were firm in their beliefs in ell
the arts Of divination, and even
Ia the art that would now be set down to
the divination Of hypnotism. A great and
wise. and what is more, a good Judge, Sir
Matthew Hale, would have had no diff
Guilty whatever in accepting all the state
ments that have lately been formulated
relative to the power of "suggestionn and
the power of exceptional individuals in
leading or misleading others by the i fuence
of their will alone. The picture of witch
craft is of craft Of that charac-
ter precisely, nothing more and nothing
less. The beliefs in these crafts are
transmitted from parent TO child, partly
by conversation and training, partly by
the more mysterious and subtle effects of
proclivity inherited from the womb. Is it
strange that within the narrow limits
OF SIX generations there should vet remain
many persons in whom the primitive be-
lief of ages are still implanted. and in
whom the physical conditions necessary for
Vhe development of the impress sionable
nature should actively survived So far
from this being a wonder, the real wonder
Is that larger community of the same
type does not exist in our time. The fact
mat the impressionable community is 50
small as it is, is a mighty proof of the adj
vance OF mental progress toward a true and
comprehensive grasp and knowledge of
natural law ind ordinance.
spoke i'll last ASclepidd of the nlorituri.
explained the fact of the existence
amongst us of an order of adult human
beings, who are at any moment liable to
ueath from some very slight shock Of either
mental or physical character. In like
manner there are always among us a num-
Der of neurOtics, who are ready at any
moment to be overcome by external impress
SONS, and to give way to commands or in
SsItructlons flowing from a superior will.
4hese are the persons who come under the
influence of what was in old days called
spell and witchcraft, in later days mesmer-
'Sni' and In these latest days hypnotism.
SOME WONDERFUL DEMONSTRATIONS.
From the Net0 HdUen Register.
coroner M. j. B. MESSENGER OF New York.
VINO has been visiting in this city for sew
rat nod i