Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-03-08
GULLING THE PUBLIC
THE CONFESSIONS OF A PROFESS
SIGNAL "HYPNOTIST."

Ish EditOr-Ernest Hart OF the London
Medical journal Reveals Some of the
Impostures of u Humbug,
Mr.. Ernest Hart, editor of the London
Medical journal, who has made particu-
lar study of morbid pathology, has an in.
teresting article in The Century on THE
Eternal Gullible With Confessions of a
Professional 'Hypnotist. Mr.. Hart
says he does not deny the physical facts
of hypnotism and it's hGteronyms, but he
considers the general Interpretation of
them erroneous,
Some little time ago, says Mr. Hart,
was the recipient of the confessions Of Il
professional subject, who had come to see
the error of his ways, or, as l fear is more
probable finding his occupation gone flor
your Subject loses his commercial value
by overuse), was not unwilling to unfold the
story of his professional life for con-
sideration. They are unfortunately too
long to give in full, but l may say that
the original documents submitted to me
prove that in the most noted hypnotic eX-
hibitions given on public platforms at
the Aquarium in London and other places
of amusement the performers, both hyp-
notizers and hypnotized, are, almost with
out exception, conscious humbugs, going
through a prcarranged show" and, to
quote the Yates sacer of the heather Chi
nee, 1.-THE same with intent to deceive. d"
In the inner circles of the music halls the
''line' of the professional subject is,
find, as well recognized as that of the con-
tortionist or any other variety of mounte
bank. He is engaged in the usual way,
and his earnings are proportionate to his
professional skill-that is, to his power of
quilting the grOundlings Nor, taking
into account the disagrceable experiences
which he has to go through, can it be said
that his line of business is a1ticularly re-
muncrative. His musSacs must be under
extraordinary control; 21s palate must be
disciplined to tolerate and his stomach to
retain such dclicacies as castor oil, mus
tard, cayenne pepper, paraflin and ipecac-
uanha, and he must bear pain with the
impressive stoicism of an Indian brave.
1t is clear that a professional subject
must not only be born, but must be made.
and to the making of him there must go
an amount of trouble worthy of better
cause. His professional equipment must
include some measure Of histrionic ability,
as in his time he has many parts to play.
Above all, he must, like the Roman au-
gurs, cultivate command of countcnance
which shall prevent his laughing outright
in the faces of his dupes.
My interesting penitent has allowed me
the privilege Of seeing his business CORE
spondcnce, from which the story of his
professional life from year to year can bo
extracted. According to these documents,
his first Introduction to mesmerism was
at st. James hall. This important event
Is best described in his own words
"When first went to the above show,
I was sitting among the audience when a
mesmerizod subject rushed up to me and
said the place was on fire. He tried to
pull me away from my seat, but l would
not go, till at last Mr.. i came up and
awakened him. AS l was leaving the
building that subject came up to me and
apologizcd for the trouble he had OCCASION
ed me. He asked me whether l would
have ticket for the following evening
He gave me ticket, and / came again
the following evening. When l saw him
again, he asked me if l believed in it. l
answered yes. He asked me if l thought
l could do the same. l said no. He said
he would teach me if l liked"
My penitent has been endowed by nature
with a cOuntenance which resembles Pin
dar's verses in being significant to the
initiated" l am therefore not surprised
that he was quickly recognized by the
sympathetic intuition of "a kindred spirit
as one born to hypnotic greatness. In his
modest ditlidence as to his capacity in that
direction we may recognize the "uncon-
seriousness" which, according to Carlyle,
is a distinguishing attribute of the high
est genius. An appointment was made
for the following morning at an address
in the classic region of Drury lane and
there the ncophyte received his first lesson.
when l came there, l saw half dozen
other young fellows, who went through
all sorts of tricks. Mr.. - was not pres,
ent. Then he presumably the amiable
subject who had disccTned the latent pos.
sibilities in our friends expressive physi-
ognomy) told me to sit down and close my
eyes and pretend to fall asleep, and he
stuck a needle in my arm and asked if it
hurt much. l said no. After few more
tricks, like falling from my chair, l was
asked to come up for one week for 10 shil
lings. Being without employment, ac-
Cepted. When came up for the first time
on the stage the mesmcrist tried to put
me to sleep, but did not (sic), as l was
afraid"
Some further tuition was necessary, and
for short time the candidate was not
trusted to do anything on the stage be-
yond going to sleep, in the meantime
learning different tricks at the seminary
in Drury lane. He was an apt pupil, and
very soon he was able to do several things
which he had been taught, such as laugh,
cry, smoking tallow candles and being
fireman." The rapid progress of our hero
is proved by the fact that apparently with
in couple of weeks of his being taken in
hand by the principal of the Drury laEG
academy aforesaid, whom he calls his
'agent and trainer" he, in his own
words, went through catalepsy (sic), oil
drinking, needle and all other tricks"
In the course of time we find our now
fully fledged subject" whom 1 will call
L., performing with we'll known profess
sor of hypnotism at the Royal Aquarium
and elsewhere. He seems to have been at
first taken ON trial, but having gone to
sleep, been pierced with needles and drunk
a glass of "paraffin mixture" to the salts
faction of the mesmerist, he was engaged
as regular 'subject" at 81 los. week
BY this operator l.. was, in his own words,
put in catalepsy" (sic) and had two fell
lows laid across him, with the master
himSelf IN Ton