Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1890-02-27
HYPNOTIC ASrIos.


BhCOuhCtouhtr.
A writer in the London Globe says |.
Hypnotic subjects are usually so harried
with suggestions as TO have little oppor-
tunity for showing what they would do if
permitted to follow their own molina
tions, and Just as any absurdity seems in
dreams to be- perfectly natural and COM
monplaoe, SO in the hypnotic trance the
most biz,rre notions can be imposed
upon subject without ar0using in hin
any sense OF incongruitv.
A man can be made to believe that he
ia hen, and to ohuckle and spread his
wings over en- imaginary brood of chick
ems, but neither in this Gaze. nor in the
more or less, similarly absurd dreams
which are often experienced in natural
sleep, does any sense of iulprobabllIty,
still less OF the ludicrous, Seem TO strike
the sleeper. except, however, says Mr..
Thomas Barwurth, in paper in the cur
rent number of the proceedings OF the
Peyohical Research Society, those dreams
which the harassed, overworked man suf-
fers from when he, in sleep, goes over
| again the the anxieties and worrle' of
| the days study or business, or rehearses
those of the morrow. In this case his
sleep is not sufficiently profound to let
the reasoning powers rest, or in the LAM
gusge Of hypnotists, his primary con-
sciousness is not completely inhibited,
consequently his dreams are, even pain
fully, rational and coherent, and he COM
monty remarks on waking that he feels
fatigued rather than refreshed.
We have, however, instances of COM
mon automatism in the case of the cleep.
walker who goes through variety OF
complicated actions entirely self-sug-
gested. In the great majority OF even
these cases, however, the element CT sug-
| gestion is not entirely absent, the sugges-
tion being supplied by the subjects own
memory or ingfained habits. Thus the
somnambulio dairy maid will turn the
ohurD, the needlewoman will work away
OF the unfinished garment, to the compile.
ton of which she has been anxiously
looking to provide her weekly rent, and
80 en-.
A far rnrer and more interesting case
of which instances are not wanting, il thai
of the sleep-walker, whose actions are
not only not suggested by the msmoriet
of his walking life, but are OF such q ma
lure as he could not perform in his wax
ing state, g. g., phG Bioally--wRlking OF
climbing along tho edges OF roofs or mar.
row parOpets, where single false ateI
would be death; mentally-writing poetry
or composing music above she level o.
his ordinary powers. In these last named
cases automatism seems to rise to intui
ton. Simple cases are those of walking
eating or dressing, where the action ono
voluntarily commenced is continued e
completion, although the mind has il
the meanwhile become wholly engroHset
with another subject. The case is shown
much more clearly, however, when tht
suggestion tnkes the form CT standing
order ingrained by hebit.
II good hypnotic subject we're or
dered thus, every morning OF o'ol0cl
you will leave your house and walk Il
the end of the street, where you viii
catch the bus" ne would do so until tn
suggestion wore off. Suppose that MAJ
who is usually accustomed to do thi
very thing, one morning receives lettc
which abqorbs hts attention at the tim
when he is lesying his use to go in
new and different direction. IL his min
! be 80 engrosged with the letter as to b
withdrawn from considering his desting
ton, and so from imposing e new aus
gestior upon his movements the old sug
gestion will continue to operate, and h
will "from force Of habit es it
! termed, WALK to the end of the street an
. perhaps even get into the 'bus and pro
coed some distance, till hin mind, acc
den.slly recalled to the subject, psTemr
: torily suggests to him to stop the 'bu
| and retrace his route. This is Gale
/ "absence of mind" to which some pei
, sons are more subject than others, jus
/ as come persons are better hypnotic sut
jects than others.
The case becomes more interestin
when the action ia more complicated.
is often found that in reading music
! the piano-forte, for instanoe-it mattel
/ not whether the piece is seen for the frs
time or not--the player will iEequentl
allow his mind to wander 10 other top o.
and become 30 interested in them as quit
to forget what he is doing, and cease
be conscious of any attention to il
3 Nevertheless, the suggestion having bee
originally imposed by the mind to pla
! this music, the fingers will continue auto
a matically to do so, and the eyes to folio
the type, while all The time the thought
E and the attention are far away, and th
!. will continue until something OCCURS I
3 recall the mind TO the music, such {
! reaching the end of the piece, or comin
: to q passage presenting now difficult,
/. | for cOagiderRtinn