The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-11-24
MENTAL EPIpEMIcs.

The Medieval Man In . Stste Of Light
iIypa0sis.
II protest" says Dr.. Mall, q great au.
thcrity Ia hypnotism, against the tar.
minology which he's been 10 a great ex.
tent adopted. and which many doctors
have helped to propagate. bpt which
is mona the less errohe4us. It 70 often
said that hypnotized persons are
asleep and the. tyo states have been
partly identified. / think this q mis-
use Of words, since There are whole
series Of hypnotic states in which moi
one symptom OF sleep appears, and mis-.
taken conclusions are often drawn from
the mistaken terminology. with result
ing confusion. Susceptibility to sug'
gestion is tho chief pheuonenon Of
hypnosis" And he, goes on tesay that
"however strange and psradedcal the
phenomepa Of hTppos$ my appear r
us at Arst sight We may be. suSe tAers
is 10 absolute difference between hyp'
MOTTO and nen-hypnetic states"
Man carries within him the term. Cd
the possible mob, of the epidemic As
Q social being he is naturally suSgssti'
bile; but when this susceptibility te
suggestion becomes under certain cod.
lditicns abnormally intense. we may say
that he e thrown into q hypnotic state,
We know that limitation Of v6lun'
tary movements induces hghthypnosis,
which is characterizsd by inhibition Of
the Viii; tfhe memory IS unaffected;
self censciou9ness remains intact, and
the subject = perfectly axase Of eli
that goes on; a leH Of voluntary move-
ments is one Of its chief 'nKenomena.
Keeping this in mind, we can under.
stand to certain extent medieval LIE
The medieval man sFas in state Of light
hypnosis. This was induced in him BY
the great imitstfoa Of his voluntary
fnpfsmeats, by Nhe Inhibition Of his
will Shy the social pressure which waa
exerted on him by the great weight Of
authority. to which his life was sub,
jecteH =,
The life Of tho nieaievai man srae
regulated down to Its least details. The
order, the guild, the commune, The
church, had minute regulations for ali
exigenc;es Of life. Nothing was Left
to individual enterprise. Evep love had
its rules; there Yere laws governing
loFe.rt4linE, and the treatment by q
man Of the lady Of his heart There
were curious love-trials, one Of the
lovers sccusing tho other Of having
trespassed some fixed rule Of love. So
ciety was divided and subdivided into
numerous parts, each having it's OWE
fixed rules. each leading it's own Sc
ctnded, narrow, dvarfish life. Bound
fast by the strings of authority, medic
val men were reduced to the state OF
hypnotic automata.
The religious ecstasy that animated
the medieval man Was especially favor
able to his spontaneous self-hypnotiza-
ton; for. as Ribot points out, ecstasy
is mono-ideiem, the intense concentra-
ton of attention on one object, an es-
sential condition of hypnosis.
The most striking phenomenon In
medieval history is that of crusades,
which agitated European nations for
about two centuries, ANA cost them
about 7.ooo, 900 men. People were drawn
by an irresistible longing toward the
Holy Sspulcher. which fascinated their
mental gaze, Just as the butterfly is
blind1y drawn toward the candle. This
attraction of devopt. Christians by the
Holy Sepulcher manifested itself in pil-
grinages, which at first were rare, bnt
gradually spread. and became univer-
sal mania. ,. Bishops abandoned their
dioceses. princes their doninions, 10
visit the tomb of Christ. At the tue
OF its highest tide, the flood Of pilgrims
was suddenly stopped by Seljrkizn
Turks, who conquered Palestine about
1875. AS maniac, when thwarted in
his purpose. becomes raving and vio-
lent. so did Europe become when the
aoodgst-s Of the pilgrim torrent were
stopped. and only drops were left to
trickle through. European humanity
fell into a fit Of acute mania, which
expressed itself in the savage ecstasy of
the first crusade.-Boris Sidis, in Cen
Jury.