Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-26

of the subject so thoroughly that the re- suit will be the same as if it came from the individual himself. To do this, tAe subject must first be placed in the hyp- notic, state When in this state he is practically asleep
 "The process of placing a subject in the so-called hypnotic state is simple, despite the great efforts which have been made
 to cloak if about with mysterious rites and incantations. When one wants to produce hypnosis in it's most ordinary form, he asks the patient to fix his eyes upon the orbs of the hypnotist that IS, himself. This is the first step towards concentra tion. The subject is desired in this way to free himself from direct ex- citation, such as light, sound and touch. In order to do this, it is necessary for person to possess the faculty of con centration. In other words, it requires a strong mind to gradually slacken mental activity, strange as that may seem.
 This state of affairs being arrived at, the operator or hypnotist then, by means of hypnotic suggestion, gradually induces the subject to think of sleep, and with the thought comes slumber. It simply amounts to this Sense and activity are subtracted from the subjects mind and in their place is sleep. That Is all there is of 1t. Once the subject accepts the suggestion of the operator, 1t naturally follows that he will accept suggestions other than those which are first given. Yet, according to my belief, 1t Is absolute 1y impossible to make person hypnot- ized perform a crime. No person can be hypnotized against his will. l am fully aware that in saying this, particularly the first assertion made. am contradict. ing generally accepted beliefs. Yet l do not hesitate to say what I have said is not only true, but that the statement IS
 the result of thorough, extensive and
 complete investigat tien and experiment.
 It is no deduction from theory but fact,
 fact, fact.
 You ask me why man cannot be inc duced to commit crime while under the influence of hypnnsis. Simply because
 the power of the hypnotiSt does not eX- tend that far. A person may be made to become thoroughly insensible to pain, and his nlind may be turned in various directions, up to a certain limit, but that limit reached, then halt must be called, or rather, the hypnotist finds himself in-
 capable of forcing further action on the part of his subject. Truly he may make
 the subject think of crime by offering such a suggestion, but he cannot force him to commit action of that sort.
 Ut is very plain to the hypnotist who has given the subject thought and who has tested his ideas by experiment, that
 hypnosis as applied to women to relieve
 them of frightful pain is of inestimable
 value. For instance, in the matter or
 therapeutics 1t is exceedingly useful.
 You see for centuries it has been admit
 ted that there was no medicine that equalled sleep. Therefore the doctor who
 can place his patient at critical time
 under the influence of hypnosis. is really
 giving her an opportunity tO find in that
 blessed oblivion the relief that cam be
 gained in nc other manner, except by
 the use of anodynes. l am sure that there is no woman who Hould object to
 being placed under the influence Of hyp-
 nosis if she understood how beneficial
 it would be to her under such circum-
 stances:
 q do not hesitate to make the assertion
 that hypnotism is Of far greater benefit than the ordinary sleep. Neither sleep nor medicine can approach in power the effect of thought reacting by suggestion upon the organism. Of course the hyp- notized subject is possessed of but sim gle idea-whatever may have been sug- gested by the hypnatist. If it be wo- man, she is practically isolated mentally from the world about her She possesses no thought, no knowledge of the pain she is really enduring. Under the in- huence, then, of this suggestion the nerv- ous force of the subject, liberated freely from or accunulating in certain organs of the body, reacts without hindrance upon the morbid affections to which it is directed, and that often with a prodigious intensity wfatoih seems to work miracles. The subject wakens at the proper ume at the suggestion of the hypnotist and has no recollection. or idea, that she has been subjected to @ great physical strain "It is not true that hypnotism is dan gerous provided that the power Is exer- cised by fit persons. But if the would-be hypnotist is not proper individual to use the wonderful power, then his influence is evil indeed. I would say that the suc- cessful hypnotist must have absolute salt confidence, must be sure of success when he begins, and above all things be the pos
 sessor of a, manner which is persuasian it. sell. These qualities iasure.any psrson the power to place subject under the indu
 enee of hypnosis. Since mankind has ex- isted they have voluntarily put them selves into an ordinary sleep. There is no difference in the way in which they enter induced sleep-if they wish it. The hypnotizer is nothing in the world but an intermediary. He only-helps his sub
 jects to go to sleep. just as the subject enters slumher habitually each night" Much ofawhat M. Leibaut says Is like revelation to those who have mere su- perfcial knowledge of hypnosis and what it performs. Here his utterances are al- ways looked upon as being absolutely authoritative. The wave of interest aud investigation which has swept over La Belle France has stirred thousands to look into the mysteries which Dr. l. ibault and his confreres have long studied. Of course this portion of It relating to the ef- feet of hypnotism upon woman is but one of the ramificat tions of what seems to be a science of tremendous import. One thing is absolutely certain. At last a field has been discovered in which the new woman can clearly claim that not only is she superior to man, but she al- ways has been New to other things. first now in many where she never was heard of before, here Is a branch of science where she, excels. and exeelling knew 1t pnf