The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-01-29
AN INTELLECTUAL TREAT
For the Greystone Club and Invited
Quests.

II. M. Brown on Monday evening last
at Mr.. @. s. Bells residence read an
essay before that organization upe n
the subject of hypnotism and the
allied phenomena Of mesmerism, tele.
pathy, dreams, somnambutism, spirit
ualism and other recondite manifesto.
tions and conditions Of the human mind
and body.
These subjects are commanding more
and more interest among thinking
people generally and demanding more
forcibly the investigation OF scientific
persons and the paper read by the
Doctor was one that commends itself to
the thoughtful as showing cool, clear.
headed view of subjects which by some
are contemptuously tossed aside IS
"frauds" or jugglery, by others held as
instigated by the devil, and by third
and increasing class as proof OF the
supernatural or preternatursl sufficient
ly strong to formulate into religious
belief.
The essayist, treating of hypnotism-
which is indistinguishable from mes.
merism-dwells at length upon the
benefit which might derive to humanity
by its proper use, as, in instances nara.
ted, it is conclusively shown that, exer.
cised by the medical profession judic.
iously, it might relieve pain, allay
nervous excitement and mental irrita.
bility and even be substituted in some
cases for the ordinary anaesthetic agents
in surgical operations, but as charlatans
aud scoundrels have the same power as
have honorable physicians to produce
this abnormal condition it were far better
were the State to protect is citizens
from the terrible results to mind and
body that might accrue from the indis,
criminate use of this mysterious power
by positively forbidding, under the
heaviest penalties, the exercise of such
dangerous and uncertain force. In
this connection we would say that we
learn with pleasure that the City Coun-
Gil OF Cincinnati by request of the Board
of Health has recently enacted an ordi.
nance imposing fine OF five hundred
dollars upon any one giving public ex-
hibition of ofhypnotism or kindred "isms,"
and we hope that the State of Ohio and,
if necessary, the general government
may follow this example in barring the
way to a wsecking of mental and nervous
and the consequent deter
ioration of our people through these al.
Turing bat fearfully dangerous methods.
The possible benefit that could be de-
rived from the proper use of the power
canjbe ten times over cancelled by the
injury done by knavery and quackery.
Telepathy or "mind reading" we take
it is another manifestation of the same
power, not so dangerous, but more con-
elusive in its exhibition of the ability of
one mind to control and direct the
action OF another through space.
A large portion of the Doctors essay
is devoted to discussion of spiritualism,
or the belief in the possibility OF receiv-
ing communications from those who
have passed from this state OF existence
into hypothetical other life. This
question has been the subject of go
much belief and so much contempt, of
so great faith and SO great ridicule that
It is hard to deal with it with an un-
prejudiced mind, but the essayist
showed so little intellectual bias that it
was pleasure to hear his views. The
instances detailed which had come un-
der his personal observation were such
As to contravene all attempts at the
denial of some power mysterious, butin-
sxplicable and mysterious because mex
plicable which produces phenomena be-
yond our mental grasp and so far has
'Dodged conception to the very bourne Of
heaven
Then left the naked BRAIN
A force coming we know not whence,
acting we know not how but registering
ts existence upon the human mind and
many that it gives the as
'urance of another life where, freed
rom pain and sorrow, sin and death we
hall spend an eternity with those we
,ave loved and lost and who are wait
ng and watching for us across the
,order eager to assure us of what they en-
oy and what we may look forward to as
ve drag weaiily through our pilgrimage
lere looking ever longingly for gleam
# light from the heights beyond the
iver.
But two hundred years ago the phe-
lomena of electricity and magnetism
vere just as mysteriousa and inexplicable
s are those of these other occult forces
I nature now. A person who at that
ime would have placed his belief in a
lture life upon the results of expert
,ents with certain disks OF metals or
ertain dispositions of chemicals in
olution would have had his hopes rude
7 shattered by the spark that came