Tombstone epitaph., 1890-12-13
HYPNOTlSN.

years ago to what we called biologized
 people. But when we come down to
 the truth and science Of the thing. it
 is psychical phenomena--a mind
 performance upon mind. Why is it
 that some persons possess this power to hypnotize, while others do not? It
 is simply this: Persons who do their
 own thinking generally have great
 minds, strong will power and great
 concentrativeness. This power brought
 to bear upon person who has allowed
 others to do his thinking, whom we
 will call negative, will succumb to
 the wishes of the positive man. Elec-
 tricity abounds in the brain of the
 positive person.. The thinking or in-
 ventive mans mind is always at work,
 or nearly so. and consequently he is
 dropping old Fogyisms and reaching fot something higher, while the un- thinking who, electrically speaking would be a negative, seems to be in d
 sort of doni-care mood. You ask
 him question and his answer will be,
 "Yes," ""I guess soi5F"Certainly," ""That
 looks reasonable" etc. The man that
 thinks absorbs more mental lightning in one day than the un.hinking ever
 had or ever will have, unless Ee gets
 from under this cloud of indifference which has held thousands, I might say millions, for the last two thousand years as puppets or playthings for the priests, ministers and the hypnotizer. Electricity keeps the man of thought lively and equal to almost any emer- gency, while the person who allows others to think for him no mind-a perfect vacuum you might say. This is the cause of his being hypnotized SO easily. How is it done2 Thirty or forty years ago, when was a young man, this hypnotism, or biologism as it was then called, was in vogue in New England. At that time the sub jcct was given a coin made of zinc | and copper to hold to take his atten- tion. Tie operator, standing before him, would make few passes before his eyes and then say to him, "Take my eye, sir" At the instant he takes your eye give him quick, imperative look with yours and say to him, "Close your eyes, sir!" If you have made an impression on him he will close them. Then the operator would place his thumb upon his forehead and the hand on top of his head and say, "You cant open your eyes, sir no, sir" If his eyes kept closed you had him. The impression you had made upon him he could not shake off. Neither could he open his eyes till told to do so by the operator. You say to him, "All right, sir" and his eyes would fly open. After this he could be made to do anything-dance, sing. pray, fight bees when there were no bees, but to him there were. I | have seen person, "the subject" nearly choked to death by telling him there was snake around his neck he turned black in the face. It was said there was a man drowned at Bur l lingtOn. Vermont, right on the hall | floor. don't know that l have any reason to doubt it. l am inclined to think powerful operator, one whose brain is well charged with mental lightning, could mentally kill a sub
 ject as quickly as a stroke of lightning from the clouds. This power, or hyp- notic force, was in olden times, but they knew it not. Then it was called jugglery; later on, witchcraft. Ever since the Nicene creed was composed, 1 in A. D. 325, can the effects of this psychical phenomena be traced. It begins to lawn upon the thinking minds of the nineteenth century how the superstitious, minimizing and cred ulous were ruled in olden times. Witchcraft? To the dogs with it!