The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-24
HEALING BY SUGGESTION.
Work Toward Placing Hypnotism
en- Scientific Dasis.

From the Chicago Record.
Ut Il. W. Scripture of the Yale psyche
logical laboratory, who for the last two
years has been investigating various hvp-
motto phenomna. has established certain
well defined facts upon which science ~
hypnotism can be erected. DR.. Scrtptura
has just given full details Of the discovery
which he announced some time ago. of
the method of measuring baliu.i9d' ti1,,,s
He has found a way TO measure IN nc
cine candle power, a sugges tive effect Of
light. TO produce Authorizations of tones
MAJ are equal IN intensity to real tones
whose physical energy can be measured
and to cause a person by walking a Ger.
yam number Of feet to see a spot where
lnere Is none In fact, hypnot.sm is
SHOWN to be a wonderful force which
Is just emerging from tho cloud Of char
Ia tanism which has obscured it for ages
ana which must now be classed among
legitimate and scientific phenomena.
one Of the typical eXper ments tried bv
9r scripture. in conjunction with DR. G.
y. Seashore, was on the sense of hearing.
person from outside the labora tory
would he invited TO enter for the pur-
pose OF having his hearing tested. He was
placed I'M perfectly quiet room He was
told that a telegraph sounder on the fa-
Ole beside MIN would make a click and
that then very faint click would be
produced IN me room. The tone al first
would be too faint TO be heard bur grad
ually grow louder Just as soon a. he
heard the tone he was to press a tele-
He was left alone and the experimenter
went 10 the appdra tus in another room.
where he could manipulate the telegraph
Key, me tone instrument and the record
ing apparatus. He first made the sounder
in the other room click, and then he slow
l. increased the intensity of the tone
till the person just heard it, A record
Of the intensity OF the tone was then
made. This was repeated ten times AZ
ter that no tone whatever was needed II
was sufficient to make the sounder click
and the person would. after q second or
two declare that he heard the tone lust
as before. This could be repeated as Of
ten as desired. The tone in such cases
was pure halluclnatiOn. produced By suE-
gestiOns from the first ten experiments
In a similar manner hallucinatiOn Of
smell, of taste, of touch and of heat were
produced ana II was even found possible
to make person actually see an object
that did not exist. Strange to saw also
although all the people experimental IN
on wer perfectly sane and normal yet the
various hallucinatory symptoms Of iasan-
ity could be produced on a small scale
by appropriate suggestions. Almost as
curious is the fact that they were not hyp-
Noticed in any way whatever DR. Scrip
ture regards as a potent factor In the an
pl!catiOn of his results the fact that they
open out q fruitful field of Investigation
into mind disease. The greatest public
interest lies in the proof that these phe-
nomena are not really abnormal. but are
going on around Us all the time. We our
selves, are Influenced continually by sug-
gestion without knowing H. Owing 20 sug-
gestiOns, much of what we see is not true;
much of what we think Is false. Although
over 1900 books are known to have been
written on this subject, IL is being placed
on a scientific basis for the first time
The influence of certain "healers" now
can be easily accounted for and one of
the first physicians in tins country holds
the opinion that the medical treatment
Of the future will be based largely on
suggestion"
Horny Trt-inp GafIu darfee f1,a ~ar.ort