The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-18
TRILBY IN REAL LIFE.
Success of n Professor of MesmerIsm
in Developing "A Voice.
From the Chicago Times Herald.

From the Chicago Times-Herald.
New York. May l3.-Robert Jacobson
might be called a male TrilbY If the name
admits of change In gender He is UNI
dergoing treatment for the voice upon the
same system which made singer Of Tril-
by. lie Is a young man, with a strongly
marked nervous temperament. He Is pc
euliariy sensitive TO hypnotic influence but
is not by any means a weakling. Jacobson
Is in business and has been successful. He
Is very fond Of music and has a natural
baTytone voice. He began singing when
young and through the mistaken judg-
ment of a music teacher he sought to de-
velop his voice as a tenor, with the result
that in time his voice was impaired He
had plenty of power In the upper register,
but there was a lack of coordination be
tween the sense of tone and his voice. In
taking the ordinary upper tones he was IN
able TO strike the true pitch and would
either sing fiat or sharp. In spite of all ne
could do he could not correct the fault.
Practice seemed only to aggravate II and
finally he lost confidence in himself and
gave up singing altogether.
When he lost his interest in music he be-
came interested in hypnotism, and with
several of his friends Joined the fall class
at the Academy of Musical Mesmerism ana
HypnOtism, to take a course of lectures
under the direction of DR.. Charles =. Nc
earthly, one of the most eloquent and en-
thusiastic believers in the doctrines of
Mesmer in this country The singular lack
of coordination between Jacobsons voice
and sense Of tone was explained to DR.. Nc
Carthy, who decided to try to correct the
gall with Trilby, save that Jacobson was
willing subject from the beginning.
The treatment Is very simple and the
lesson lasts than halt an hour. jacobson
takes a seat in an easy chair, DR.. McCar-
thy stands in front of him and fixes his
gaze intently upon Jacobson who returns
the look steadfastly for a moment. Then
Jacobson's eyes blink and an expression
that seems to indicate fear settles upon
his face. The doctor raises his hands
above his head and brings them with a
motion downward Jacob
sons head to his feet. This is repeated
several times and the eyes of the subject
slowly close. There Is an increase in the
breathing and for a moment the breath
comes in short. quick gasps. The head of
the subject rolls as he felt the sensation of
dizziness. The doctor presses his thumb
firmly upon the subjects forehead and a
tremor passes over the entire body, the
breathing becomes natural with very deep
inhalations, the subject moves uneasily
in the chair as II trying to shake off the
lethargy stealing over him, his hands be-
come cold and slightly clammy, and then
the command of the doctor rings out clear
ly: "Sleep! sleepl Sleep The subject
starts at the sound and then his eyes close
tightly and to all appearances he sleeps
soundly The subject is permitted to re
main in this trance for a few moments
and then a portion of the hypnotism is
taken away by a few passes. The subject
is then In condition to go on with his
You cannot sing tenor" says DR.. Nc
earthly. Yes. indeed l can" replies ia
cobson. "All right, go ahead and sing
tenor If you think you can" says DIR. Nc
81 win show YOU" Jacobson replies
confidently.
Then he takes several deep Inspirations
and tries to sing. The throat, lungs and
diaphragm go through all the movements
lips.
earthly.
rs that SOP" replies Jacobson. "Then I
Will sing song in my own way"
DR.. Mccarthy tells Jacobson what to
sing, and he gives two or three verses of a
song in rich, melodious bass voice n
register foreign to that of his normal
Then jacobson is requested to sing any
melody he Wishes and he makes a Sc
lection of several songs. which are all
sung in a bass voice. Jacobson is con-
scious all the time that he is singing IN
voice that is strange to him and com
ments upon II, but he is held tightly in
the hands OF hypnotism, and can only
sing in the manner directed by the opera.
tor. The object Of this singing is to de-
velop the voice in the lower register and
to bring 1t back to its normal condition
The good effect of this work upon Jacob
sons voice is already apparent His voice
is more pleasant in every way and with
the restoration to the normal condition
has come the coordination of the senSe
of tune. so that in taking the high notes
when he Is permitted by the operator to
sing tenor he reaches the correct pitch usu-
ally, and after a few more lessons in
hypnotic singing 1t is predicted his sinp-
ing will be absolutely correct 1t is re-
markable that Jacobson IS at his best
when singing under the direction of DR.
Mccarthy, who seems TO be able to con-
troll Jacobson's voice the same as If ii
were his own. but the effect of each hvp-
motto lesson is more lasting, and after a
rev more experiments Jacobson will carry
the hypnotic influence with him all the
time and then he Will indeed be Trilby
in actual life.