The morning times., 1895-07-21

of the most puZzling events in history may
be explained by it, as the Biblical mira
cles. The witch buTnings in Salem, in
your own country, was probably the in
direct result of some hypnotic manifesto
ton"
But the mysticism which surrounded
hypnotism in the past and made it feared
and Inarveled at, is no more. In the hos
pitals OF Paris it has been reduced almost
to the commonplace realm OF mechanics.
No longer even is the fiction maintained
that no one can hypnotize another unless
he possesses some strange and mysterious
quality of the Will which makes him diff
ferent from the common run OF humanity.
DE- Luys is responsible for this. One of
the Oldest devices of French sportsmen
was what was known as the, Lake Mir
ror" 1t was set of revolving glasses
which We're used TO attract small birds
Fascinating them and rendering them
unconscious. 1t hypnotized them. Dr..
Luys adopted it for use with human be-
inrs, and thus by means of his revolving
mirror many of the patients who are sub
iected to trance treatment in the Charity
Hospital are literally hypnotized by ma
Chinery II has been said that this mirror
is irresistible-that the mere fact that
subject ressts its influence does not pre-
vent it from doing its work. That is not
true. 1t is impossible to hypnotic per-
is no way in which one can compel his at
tention to either the operator or the ma
chine. But the machine has one vast ad-
vantage over the old method of eye
gazing and hand-passing. 1t does not
tire as the eye and the hand did, and so
il is often possible to treat subjects with
ii who had hitherto been too much for
the doctors.
Perfectly willing subjects have sometimes
failed TO succumb TO the use OF any known
method for as long as half an hour, forty
minutes or even an hour. Itwould of course
be impossible for any hypDotizer to keep up
the intense strain Of eye and VIII necessary
under the old method for so long time as
that. But the mirror whirls on with
regularity that will not be disturbed by
anything except failure to wind up its clock
work machinery The Luys mirror is made
of two arms in which are set small mirror
discs, and which Northumberland directions.
The mirror is placed so that the light is
concentrated upon it, and the patient is so
seated that the only light he gets is found
in the daZZlings ra VS. which flash from it
Frequently the first stage-lethargy-
is brought about in one or two minutes.
Withal, DR.. Luys, while he has discovered
| so many strange things in hypnotism,
looks upon the science which apparently
leads us nearer to the borderland of fancy
than we ever have gone before, in most
matter-of-fact way. There Is about him
none OF the bombast of the mesmerist as
that person is known in America; none of
the pretcnsiGu that hyppotism is a marvel
Gus power possessed only by favored few.
DR. Luys indeed goes about his hypnotic
| experiments in a disillusioniZing, mechan-
cal way, using his patent revolving mirror
| wherever he can aud rarely resoTting to
| ye-Gazing, haud-passing or other mystic
methods He constantly states that hyp-
notism is purely mechanical effect, and
c,Iriously illustrates his point by calling
attention to the fact that many old and
/. experienced bicycle riders suffer severe