Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-14
HYPNOTIC EXPERIMENT.
Frederic Ernest Holman in Romance.

Frederic Ernest Holman In Romance.
YES" said the doctor, leaning back in
his chair, and looking at me intently, Eyes.
as you say, / believe that there is i'm ex-
istence today a marvellous power which is
as yet but partially understood. but of
which we have had glimpses by peculiar
cases Of hypnotic and mesmeric influences,
premonitions. and many other inexplicable
and mysterious phenomena"
And you base your opinion upon what
course of reasoning?'
MY reasoning is this" he replied. IF
you will notice, there has always been, as
far back as we have any definite knowl-
edge, bordering of the natural with the
supernatural. mingling of the earthly
with the unearthly, which, though always
scoffed at by the greater part OF humanity
yet is believed in and experimental on by
some few. Those who have dared 10 ven
ture into this realm of occult science have
discovered what? Comparatively nothing
as to the origin or identity of the power
which is manifested, but a great deal in
regard to what can be done by its appli-
cation. Here, then, is a grand field for re-
search, and 1 firmly believe that, in the
course of time, this power will be sought
out, handled and controlled, with as great
accuracy as the electric current on the tele-
graph wire. OF course, our knowledge
toudy 10 our power Is also limited.
III man Is able to hypnotic another il is
generally conceded that he has the stronger
mind of the two. But does his marvellous
control over the other consist wholly in
that! 1, for my part think not, and i
| know that you will agree with me when
| say that this occult power will at no dis
tant day be more fully comprehended and
lts ruler comprehension will mark an era"
Doctor, 1 exclaimed, you have had
something more than reasoning to give you
these views; you have had experience"
GU are right In your surmise," said he.
Il have had experience, and as il is too
iate 10 give you the history of that ex-
perience tonight, IL you have no engage
ment Ior tomorrow evening, and desire me
70 DO SO. 1 will relate it to you then"
am more than anxious to hear it" /
replied. and i will be here about 4"
LETT the house with a feeling that at
iast mad found some one who thought as
1 did on this great subject. and who evil
IDENTIFY understood the problems with which
was endeavoring to wresue 1 was a
bachelor, and. having an income capable
OF supporting me handsomely had devoted
my tfne TO trying to search out and under
stand the power which showed itself. or a
portion or itself, in various mesmeric and
nypnotic revelations. / had never been able
70 ma u person who agreed with me in my
views OF the matter until a short time be-
Iore. An article in a leadh- z magazine on
Inns subject expressed my views exactly
Inc author was a doctor of repute in an
other portion of the city. and in my desire
4
usauons, ventured TO call upon him
Eight O'Clock the next evening found me
AT tne Doctors residence and soon we wera
smoking fragrant Havanas with our chairs
uIa"h near the great open fire After a
few minutes of silence. the doctor s.i5
Inc story Of experience which L am about
10 relate TO you, Jyde, have never told a
nNlns soul before. for two reasons The
sympathized with me in INV views of ,bsso
matters, and to others than believers in
these things II would appear fncredjble
Inc second Is. that were this story known
, ~ mTuid nurt me good deal You must
promise me that you will never repeat this
TO another until after 1 am dead, for 1 am
forced to depend upon my practice for N
livelihood. and We're it known that L had
oeen through such an experience L fancy
should lose some of my patients"
promised him what he askei and then
ne told me this story. the strangest to which
l ever listened:
The Doctors Story.
1t was ten years ago." said the doctor.
that the facts occurred of which 1 am
about to tell you. l was then a young fell
lew OF eight and twenty, and had an office
and growing practice in London Ny pa
tents were all of the Weather class, and as
a rule very finely educated. By my con-
slant intercourse with this class Of people
obtained an insight into, and Information
about, subjects to which 1 had formerly
never given any attention. 1 also made
many acquaintance, who were valuable
neips 70 me. both in an intellectual and pro-
fessional way. One OF these acquaintance
was young lawyer, who had a fair prac-
ticc. notwithstanding the fact that he had
been In London for less than a year. Per-
description Of him will not go amiss lie
was ratner tall, OF a commanding figure,
ana was what you would call a handsome
young fellow. But the most striking
a N . II
attracted a strangers attention, was his
eyes They were piercingly black large
and brilliant. end when he looked at you he
seemed to read your very thoughts. He
was nnely educated, and a good CONVERSE
tionalist. His one hobby, however, was
hypnotism, aad, as 1 was much interested
In the matter myself. We made our in
vestigations and experiments together one
evening he entered my Office. where I was
busy at my desk. and said rather excitedly
1 have just made a discovery; possess the
hypnotic power-
Il at once became greatly interested. and
asked MIN TO give me an example of his
newly-acquired power. He agreed to do IT
and calling my attention to my office cat
which was asleep by the fire. he babe me
watch his experiment Fixing his eyes up
on the cat, he willed her to get up. In a
moment she stirred uneasily. then She rose
and her eyes met his. The effect was start
ling. Die, he said in a monotonous tone
of voice, die, die, die The cat staggered
like drunken thing. walked a step or two.
and then fell on her side. i went over and
picked her up. She was dead. Are YOU
satisfied? he asked, turning to me with a
smile on his face. Perfectly 1 replied.
There was nothing very marvellous in IL TO
me, as had seen others make people and
animals do their every wish, but / had
never seen any one sap the entire life out
OF a creature as he had done, and / knew
that he possessed the hypnotic power to a
degree that was startling. Long into the
right We discussed his power. so lately dis
covered, and l proposed a plan by which
ne might do some experimenting and aid
me ia my practice at the same time /
knew that he was about to take a vacation
for two months and 1 suggested that he
give up going away. and enter my employ
as an aid. 1 would then give him a chance
to operate upon my patients, in the cases of
amputation and painful operations when 1
should otherwise be obliged to use chloro-
form or ether. He fell in with the idea
eagerly, and the next week entered my
employ as an assistant. Whenever there
was q painful operation TO perform Keg-
erly irst hypnotzed the patient and then
1 would perform it. The knowledge that he
possessed such power was, of course a
secret. for 1t would never have done TO have
had II known that was employing such a
power in my practice. We had wonderful
success in working together. In every case
he controlled the patient beautifully while
in the hypnotic TRANCE that TINA co,,