, 1891-05-31
EXPERIMENTS IN HyPNoTlsm.
An Account of Some E-xtraordInAry Do
Ings At a Meeting In London-

"
An Account of Some Extraordinary Do
ings At a Meeting In
DR.. Stanley, whose performance at the
Hotel Metropole saw, is a clear expon-
ent of hypHGssm- His demonstration
must have been very striking t some
men in the room. to whom, evidently,
M Charcot's experiments at the Salpe-
triere and the work of the Nancy school
were evidently unknown. The men
whom DR.. Stanley had brought forward
as subjects were, knocked over like nine
pins by sudden sleep imposed upon them
in various ways One yielded to the
somnolent effect of rotating bright col
ored disks. Another toppled off his chair
at h sudden ignition of a magnesium
wire which dazzled his eyes.
A third, very susceptible to the power
of suggestion, was told that he would go
TO sleep when he picked a match box off
the floor. He stopped for the match box,
and forthwith rolled heavily off the plat
form Fortunately for him his all was
broken by sympathetic hands. Another,
while intent IN something else, was
startled by a sudden noise. Instantly he
slept the lethargic sleep. Once again a
subjects close attention to the ticking of
a watch brought on the effective drowsi-
ness, and he soon toppled off his chair.
A boy, who had in various parts of his
frame peculiarly sensitive centers of
nervous activity, was touched in n of
those spots by the operator. In a
twinkling he dropped to the floor asleep.
1t was a strange sight, half weird, hall
ludicrous, to see those ten subjects scat
tered about the floor at the feet of DR..
Stanley, like so many men suddenly be-
witched.
One man had fallen with his hands
clasped and raised some distance from
his chest. He was allowed to lie in this
attitude for what seemed to be twenty
minutes or half an hour. Let any one
lie down and hold up the arms high
above the chest and see how long he can
hold them there, even with the support
he will gain by the clasping of his hands.
The muscles will not long sustain the
experiment. But in the lethargic sleep
of the hypnotized ones sensations of ia
tigue appear to be suspended. The limbs
obey the operator, and remain in the po-
sition in which he puts them. The state
of catalepsy is easily produced, and then
the men are brought, at a mere touch of
the hypnotizer's hand, into that false
awaking called somnambulism.
Men and boys were kept in this wax
housekeeping condition throughout an in
terval for refreshment, and, according
to the lecturer. whose word there is no
reason to doubt, were all unconscious of
their exceptional condition as they walk
ed about among us. Brought back to
the platform they were made the victims
of hallucinations of that amusing kind
TO which mesmerists have well accus-
toned US. But these mesmeric tricks
are decidedly more interesting when pre-
sented as part of an exposition of hyp-
notism in its various stages.
One experiment, l confess, / do not
like. A man is given a strong emetic,
and made to drink it under the impress
sion that it il a pleasing beverage. But
there is this curious interest in the act.
The natural effect of a strong dose of
ipecacuanha wine is to make a man
vomit, and, whether he knows or does
not know he has taken it, there will be
no difference in this physical effect. But
in this curious hypnotic condition, it is
enough for the man with whom the pa
tient is en- rapport to say to him that he
is all right, what he has taken will agree
with him perfectly, and no bad results
will follow. The ordinary physical eff
feet of the emetic is not produced.
The post hypnotic suggestion was il
lustrated in this way: The patient was
told in his hypnotic sleep that he was
going to awake, and that three minutes
after he would do a certaih6hing to DR..
Bond which DIR. Bond had himself sug-
gested that he should be asked to do.
This was to take off DR.. Bonds eye
glasses and put them on his W nose.
The lad was reused from his sleep. Dr..
Bond said to the boy, 'Now. are you
going to do anything to me?" With an
air of surprise at an odd question the
youth made the answer "No."
In three minutes to the second the lad,
Notwithstanding his own statement, went
up to DR.. Bond, took the eyeglasses from
him and wore them himself. When
called to account he seemed a little con-
fused at his OWE act and made an apollo
gy to DR.. Bond, not for stealing his eye
glasses, but for having told him before
that he did not intend doing anything to
him. He did not know then that he had
to do this.-London Cor. Providence
Journal.