The Indianapolis journal., 1893-07-09
BLACK ART IN PRACTICE
The Strange Case OF Mrs. knpzevich
That Occurred in San Francisco.
Authenticated Examples of Exhibition OF the
Occult Force Known as Bypnotism and
Recognized in II dern Pathology.
San Francisco Chronicle.

San Francisco Chronicle.
The case of alleged hypnotism at No.
1O63ls Mission street. the story Of wblch
Was told in yesterdays Chronicle, is caus-
ing widespread comment among the prin-
cipal physicians and members OF the bar
of this city. The victim, Mrs.
Knezeyicb, has almost entirely re-
covered from the severe shook upon
her nervous system. She was ablo
to be about yesterday and during call
upon her attorney, 1. II. Mcnamara. ex-
pressed her Joy at being able to throw Oft
the mesmeric spell that had been cast over
her in time TO save herself from signing the
paper compromising her claims against
mining company which she is about to
sue Asked regarding the means used to
mesmerize her she said:
az can RENE mber almost nothing that oc-
Cured after my visitor began rubblng her
hands together as if warming them. save
that now and then knowing glances were
exchanged between the man and woman
and the movement OF Lane TO close the
partly open window brought me In o meas
ure to my senses. though what said or
what took place afterward / know nothing
Of"
It Is only few years since hypnotism
was scoited at as n trick and humbug.
The phenomena were then referred To
by the mex xpressive and uDscientific
term mesmerism. and those who claimed
TO produce them az an effort or
the will were classed with spIritualistio
mediums and the slelgbt-of-hand men
of the side shows. Not SIX years back
hypnotist, named Hansen. a man of ex-
cee6!ng power in his strange art, was ar
rested at Berlin and put IN jail as an i,n-
postor. Fortunately for him the Berlin
Ana q S.ta had IN IN ar
itself in by pn otlsm. md the great Helmholtz
took HaDsen's case III hand, and proved
that he really possessed the occult power
he claimed. similar discoveries were made
by Cbarcot and other French investigators.
Then hypnotlsm began TO rank among the
the sciences.
MADE THE PROFESSOR CRAWL.
So much ten years ago man named
Reynolds delighted critical audiences at
the collie giate town of Ithaca by exhibit
tions of hypnotic force. Mr.. Reynolds
was an Ithaoan by birth and resi-
dence, and by giving his entertainments
at home made tho dwellers in his seques.
tered village believe in hypnotism long
before people of like intelligence were will
ing to listen to its claims with patience.
| No one could question Reynoldss ability
when venerable professor in Cornell
| UDiversity-whO came to one OF his leo
lures to scOtf-remalDed TO crawl on his
| hands aud kness under ~ table In pursuit
of imaginary SO piecee. Reynolds w0uid
make people pick grapes from phantom
vines, climb frentically up the side of u
! door or window case TO escape the rising
tide OF q viowIess ocean. ana would. by
few passes, make man so rigid th0t he
| would lie stretched like a log between two
| CHAIRS upon which his head and feet alone
restea-s0 rigid. indeed. that two men conld
| stand upon his unsupported stomach or
! back without bending lt.
| In San Francisco, where experiments
| have been common with hypnotic phe-
nomena the medical faculty no longer
| question the existence of the mysterious
force which subjects one Will to another.
| making the captive mind like plastic clay
| in potter's hands. to DO nodded ana
shaped TO the designers purpose.
I'VE all acknowledge the status or hyp-
| notism now." said DR.. w. 4. McNutt, of 1O4
| Sutter street. but no physician can ex.
| plain il. There is 40 longer "a doubt of the
| ability of one person TO hypnotiEe other
| persons, but everybody cannot hyp.
| with this power; others can never acquire
| il. A mesmerist fixes his eyes on those Of
| some one of weaker Will, makes few
passes. and the mind of his victim is in his
control. He does this. but howl Nobody
| DIR. &. w. Dill. Boston visiting physi-
| clan, says that the massachusetts medical
! faculty now accept hyDnotIsm as it does
any settled principle OF pathological sell
| ence. IL have studied the subject very
| much" said DE-. Dill. land the deeper go
| INTO it the further / am from understanding
| its source. The best illustrations of tho by D.
| motto influence are TO DO seen IN India.
| When / was there l saw one of the street
fakirs-I use the word in It's generic sense
| gathering crowd sbout him on bus-
ness thoroughfare of Madras. / joined the
bystanders TO see what he would do. The
| fakir was tail. br0nZed natiye He gaZed
! around the circle until his piercing black
! eyes met those of each attentive spectator.
| Then he uncoIled a slender rope and threw
| it up IN the air. IL caught on come invlsi-
| BILE hook and hung down. Next the Indian
| laid . handkerchief on the road. and.
! making motions over IL, something
| underneath began to move. The
| handkerchief was taken Oft and there Icy q
| tiny infant Blowing gently upon It's face.
the fakIr inade it grow. and IN q few mo-
ments the babe was on it's feet. babe q O
| longer, but an agile and bright-faced lad.
| The Indian motioned upward and the boy
| began to climb the rope. Soon he was out
| of sight, though the rope con tinued To sway
| with his struggles of ascent. The magician
then shook it and pulled it sideways. and
We conld hear q faint scream of protest
| from the clouds. Then there as the sound
| of falling body and the child lay crushed
| at onr feet The Indian quickly made "a
! pass, and the lad " as alive and ready to go
| skyward again.
| COULDN'T HYPNoTIZE A CAMERA.
| "As soon as / could l got an artist and
| photographer and went to see the perform
ance again. The artist sketched the scene,
and his drawing agreed with what / saw.
| but when the negative as developed there
was the crowd gazing upward and the
! fakir intent upon the circle about him,
| but there was no rope and no child. The
Indian could not hypnotize the CAM
| era though lie was able to place upon the
| mind of every man about him the mental
picture that he mad formed In his own.
| have no doubt that the snake chsrmers OF
| Bombay nypnotize the serpents that they
pretend to enthrall with music. aud that
the miracles of the scriptural past are
| largely due to the exercise OF the mesnerlo O
faculty upon the minds of the oredulous
multitude"
DR.. Martin Regensburgsr agreed with
the other doctors To the existence of
be exercised upon al unwilling subject, ex-
dered to the spell. Even person OF weak
a mesmerist can exert. His only danger
pertinent with him. # he then does
all he is told TO do renders himself
passive and concentrates his mind upon
| troll. and after that he Is n slave. AS TO
the case of Mira. kneZeyIch," said the doc.
tor Il think IL mere phase of hysteria
and not one of hypnotism at all. She could
not be influenced. as she claims unless she
hah N I'M n Ia fA0f