The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-09-30
HYPNOTIC H0CUS POCUS.
THERE ARE FRAUDS IN RMS BUSI-
NESS As IN Ar OTHERS.
rrrest Hart. = Noted Eaitor or = MestcnI
Jourusi, Tells what Hs Learned nrou
y Professional sshieet OF Hypnotists.

| CDnIeSa1Ons OF y PROFESSIONAL suD1eCt, VINO nhf
come 10 zee the error OF his ways, or, a. I fear 4
more probable, finding his occupation gone tfo
your "subjectn loses his commercial value b.
over use). was not unwilling to unfold the story
OF his professional" life for a consideration
He was sent TO me by the editor OF London Truth
into whose sympathetic ear he had first pouret
the story Of his career "a q corpus rtic OF pseudo.
scientific experiment. The confessions Of thi:
Ingenious youth are amusing and instructive
though, as in most condolences Of the
Mind. the light e thrown strongly on
| while the ponitent,s own peccadilloes are
left, in shadow. They are, unfortunately,
original documents submitted 10 me prove that
in the most noted hypnotic exhibitions given on
and other places Of amusement the performers,
both hypnotizers and hypnotized, are, almost
throusSS a presTpansed SHOW" and. 70 quote
the rdtes sdcero the Heathon Chinec. The same
In the inner circles Of the music halls. the
line" of the professional subject IL, / find, as
we'll recognized as that Of the contortionlst or
any other variety of mountebank. He Ii engaged
portionate to his professional skilL that Is, to
taking into account the disssreenbie expert.
ences which he has to 60 through. can II be said
~erstive. His muscles must be unde r ext extraordinary
control; his palate must be disciplined to toll
as castor oil. mustard, Cayenne pepper. parsfhno,
and ipecacuanha; and he must bear pain with
the impressive stoicism Of an Indian brave. II is
clear that a professional subject must not only
be born, but must he made, and To the making
OF him there must go an amount OF trouble
equipment must include some measure OF his
trionlc ability, as, In his time. he has many
parts to play. Above all, he must. like the
Roman auRurs, cultivate q command Of coun-
tenance which shalt prevent his laughing out
right in the faces OF his dupes.
My interesting %penitent has allowed me the
privilege Of seeing his business correspondence,
from which the story Of his professional He,
to these documents, his first INTRODUCTION. to
mesmerism was. at 81. James's Hall. This i'm
when | first went to the above show | was
sitting among the audience, when y mesmcrized
on frc. He tried TO pull me away from my seat,
but would not 70, I'LL az last Mr.,-ca came up
INK that subject came H up to me and a i%Ii
for the trouble he had occasioned me. He asked
me whether l would have a ticket for the fol-
again he asked me IL / believed in Il; / answered
same: said no. He said he would teach me il
q countenance which resembles Plndar's verses
K iR being significant sig can't. to t he, ini III ! am:
kindred spirit, as one born TO hypnotic great
ness. In his modest difndence as TO his capacity
soiousness. which, according 20 Carlyle, is a
distinguishing attribute of the highest genius.
morning at an address in the classic region OF
Drury lane, and there the neophyte received his
h' sM lfssSG i Gsm sns t RRyssf | "a. Sf S sai nT 4 dozen other
young fellows who went through all sorts of
suitably NJ NE aims wSs n sSs} Rrsss %so h TafS S, ss 5P.sI.
physiognomyl told me to sit down and close my
s nsesi nnd II my arm 70 an 1fi ASKED sslff II i sP Sur he m s,Hsk Z
said no. After q few more tricks, like falling
week fos lis. Being without e%pioym np 1T, I G aco
;S t When ". ! came up for ,o the he FIRST time on
Some further tuition was necessary, and for a
abort time the candidate was not trusted to do
the mean time learning different tricks At the
seminary In Drury lane; He, was an apt pupil.
which he had been taught, such as laugh. cry,
smoking tallow candies, and being fireman."
fact that apparently within a couple OF weeks OF
his being taken IN hand by the principal of the
Drury lane academy aforesaid, whom he calls
. went through S]steisp:y tsiol. oil drinking
fedged subject" whom l will call L., per-
forming wi,h E well-known professor OF hyp-
He seems to have been at first taken on trial, but
having a gone to sleep' been pierced with needles,
satisfaction Of the mesmerist he was engaged as
q regular subject" at 81 l5s. u week. BY this
cpts 7 I; ., vas and n h his own words; put In
him, with the master himself on top"
In fact, so promising, a subject was he con.
fi%G private sas ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS me %ss ss1ssssa y Having .H y sP Sses seem
talking TO gentlemen In the Aquarium, he re-
to reveal the fact that he was pretending TO be
under mesmeric influence, and not ito 40, to
own account. He speaks Of RavinE Worked Sa nsi
eighteen months With his employer at different
places: such as the Agricultural Hall, Bow;
During this engagement his
stomach was put to some severe tests. as he had
raw onions, &C. and TO drink a variety OF vile
tionally gifted an artist as l.. I accepted his
en lew to :, 1s sch his So Swn elegant language, "togiyG
acquaintance Interested in hypnotism, inclnd-
Ing DR.. j. Milne Bramwell, Or. Hack luke, Dr.
Wood, Surgeon ColonelJ. H. Hamilton,
MIR. Wtngfeld, and Others, TO be present on the
occasion. l. brought two other subjects with
him; one OF these was introduced by him as his
ness between all the three that they might east
ly have passed for brothers. There are few peo-
who. as sydney smith said OF Francis Hor-
ner, +" nave the Ten ComInanimcnts written on
their faces" IL is. therefore. not the fault az
I sSs INGENIOUS sasr,Iy' rs y D", !, a. si a. their physiogomS
be accepted as a guarantee OF good
faith; They Ssgs through al their ordinary
slesP performing various antics under control"
In particular going through cathlepsy," to
-. 'AS - ~ o.'"h hi Ia
Not the least interesting part OF the " show"
was the preliminary approximation of l.. by the
iefnonstrator OF physiology already referred to,
whose eyes, had not yet been opened 10 the fact
That he bad been imposed upon. When he COM
l. TO " sleep" the latter obediently did
70, with all the usual appearances OF profound
APPROPRIATION, muscular relaxation, facial con-
upturned eyeballs, not moving when
touched, apparent insensibility, stertOr, insensi-
Dility 10 sound, light, and external stimuli. The
performance was spleddid and complete, and
VT - enjoyed a moments triumph. But l..
instantly woke up again with a leer as soon as
he operator announced that he was =" under in
iaence.' Mr.. " made several further at
.empts to hypnotic his former subject each
line with the same result. The situation was
'omic, yet had in il an element of pathOs; the
was SO earnest a believer that the shock
MS awakening was almost painful 10 witness.
LIS performance was not destitute of merit,
1ut 20 the critical Judgment il left a good deal
be desired. lie Overdid his part, the conges-
lon OF his face being exaggerated 20 = degree
ilmOst suggestive Of impending aloplexy, while
MS snoring somewhat Oyerstepped the mOdesty
nature. These points were dwelt on by more
nan one OF the gentlemen present, but | am not
lltogether free from a suspicion that in some OF
ne cases at least the observation was OF am ex
fanto nature, On the whole. IL was a very
lever but Omcwhat OverdOns imitation III The
hypnotic sleep.