Birmingham state herald., 1897-03-06
COLOR lNsHYPNOTISM.
DIR. sIaoNis EXPERIMENT UPON A
 BLIND MAN.
Produces a Warm and Joyful
 s' sr@'' Effect. '1.e7-'
New York Journal.

ss- a- 'sss8s~'ss .ggss.7 New York Journal. s4 .,
 No more remarkable development of the science of hypnotism has been record- ed than that which employs color as a means of influencing aasubject's mental state. Laughter, tears, fear and terror may now be produced by throwing the colors of the spectrum upon the face of hypnotized person.
 Yet even more remarkable is the ex- pertinent upon a hypnotized blind man performed by Dr. Carleton Simon, of this city, who Is one of the greatest of Ameri- can authorities in this fascinating field of occultism. -.3-
 Dr. Simon, in order to. convince the skepties of the Medico-Legal society, has now consented to conduct experiments before commission which the society may select, and agrees that in the event of his subjects not being genuinely hyp- notized to pay S1 900 to any charitable in- stitution which the commission may des- ignate. This, it is thought, will be the most severe test to which hypnotism has ever been subjected.
 Dr. Simon established the following conditions:
 First-That color produces effects on the mind that do not depend upon sight.
 Second-That color has its decided equivalent in mentality.
 Third-That it affects us all to greater extent than We have known, and con sequently that certain colors should be avoided by individuals who are despon- dent or have any form of nervous de- pression.
 Dr. Simon, in these experiments, trans mttted light through colored glasses by placing the glasses, one at time, in reflector that had but one opening, and behind which was an ordinary gas burner The room was darkened so as to exclude all daylight. This was un- necessary, however, as the man was blind, but the doctor desired to use only the light that was transmitted through the eolored glasses.
 The subject was Frederick Knight. a dark haired man of about 45. of the ner- vous type. He had the characteristic twitching of the eyetall that all blind men have. "One of the greatest aids to hypnotists," said the doctor, 'is the con- centration of the subject mind through continual looking al some object, as by this means all other thoughts are easiest excluded. In the case of blind man it Is necessary to work upon other faculties, and consequently it requires greater pa- tience and effort.
 Tn this case, where the man has been blind all his life, he knows nothing of different hues, and therefore the colors must be suggested to him. This en- hances the difficulty of the experiment, lHSitlOIt DTtuBS out more eIn- phatically the mental condition arising from the colors.''
 And so, as the colors of the lights were changed, one by one the doctor would call out blue" or red" or green" as the case might be. The subject was ask ed if he recolleeted at any time what took place while he was asleep. He said he did not, except, perhaps, what the doctor wished him to remember.
 With few words, uttered slowly and 1l x1. the subjects head to fall forward and complete relaxation of his muscles fol- lowed.
 This man." said pr. Simon, "is now hypnotized, and in a state of lethargy. shall produce in him a greater use of his ssnses than he has been able to enjoy by increasing their sensitiveness."
 For few moments Dr. Simon made passes about the subjects head. The mans body grew rigid. There were more passss, and the body relaxed in re- sponse Now" said pr. Simon, i've are ready for the experiment.
 Inserting red glass into the opening of a gas reflector, the doctor closed the patients eyes. A shaft of red light fell upon the subject's face, which at once assumed different expression.
 Tell me how you f@el at this moment, and what do you feel?" said the doctor.
 The subject answered slowly and with apparent fatigue: "I feel warm glow uilIQScQ ONSI lily CHUTE DOuy, DuI l 1eSl it more at my throat than anywhere else.''
 The doctor next deftly inserted a vio- let colored glass in the reflector. The change was startling. The subject at once burst into tears and would not stop until the violst glass had been re- moved. He was asked why he had cried, and stated in reply that he did not know, but that an intense feeling of sorrow had come over him, which he could not dislodge, but which had entered into his very being.
 An orange-colored glass was then in- serted. The subject al once became convulsed with laughter, which subsidsd only when tha glass had been removed. There remained, however, a stiffening of the upper lip on the right side, which was overcome only by awakening the subject. He was then rapidly rshypnotized.
 Immedia tely dark brown colored glass was inserted in the reflector. The result of this was that an expression of fear appeared on the subjects face, his lips parted, his eyebrows drew up andz his face was that of a man in mortal fear of some terrible danger. H
 A green glass was next placed/in po- sition. This time the subjects face as- sumed look of calm contentn1ent, and he said, on being questioned, that it pro- ducsd in him a refreshing an1 stimulat- ing feeling, which gave him more pleas ure, in some indescribable way, than any other glass had. fA'-
 A blue glass was now used His face was study, and he stated that he felt good one moment and bad the next. It seemed to produce a complex mental strife of like and dislike, such that he could not analyze or describe.
 z An olive colored glass made the hypno- tized blind man rub his hands and chuckle, but in this instance there devel- oped rigidity of the lower lip that did not relax until the glass was removed.
 garnet glass when inserted, pro- duced the peculiar combination of warmth and fear, the facial appearance being rather that of perplexity, This" concluded the doctor as he awakened the subject, lis IS far as I have gone"
 T should say, however, that these ex- periments are not alone for the value they have in showing the effects of color upon our mentality but also as means of using these results for their practi- cal utility in my practice. It is we'll known that the conditions surrounding a sick patient have long been regarded