The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-01-16

told him his nose was made of india
rubber, and taking hold of it, made
pretence of pulling it out as l would
rubber band. When I told him l
would let it go, he begged me not to do
so, and cried aloud when / did let go.
And 1t was the same way with his ear;
he would feel 1t and rub it, and his eX
preston showed very clearly his sur
prise at finding it made of ndiarub-
Der. / made him assume the ridiculous
positions of man fishing with broom
stick, which is a very common expert
ment. l took his hand and forced a
needle completely through it, and he
did not move a muscle or show any
sign whatever of discomfort. After
| had told him that he could not feel
| anything, l rubbed his eyeballs with
my finger yet he did not make a mo-
| ton. AS physicians say reflex action
| of the nerve was not present." and
surgical operation could then have been
performed without pain to the patient.
| To continue: / made his limbs rigid,
| and no one could bend them. / put u
chair somewhat removed from the one
| on which he was seated and told him he
was getting stiff all over; and he did
| at once become cataleptic and lay
| stretched out, with his head (not his
| head and neck-but his head) on one
| chair and his heels on the other. In
| this position l placed heavy piano
| stool on him, and he bore the weight
easily, and would have borne much
| more. l am sure the editor will say
| that he does not approve of such fool
| ish experiments; and | agree with him.
EXPERIMENTS IN CATALEPSY.
| A much better experiment is to make
| a subject become cataleptic by SuggeS-
ton, while lying full length upon the
| floor. Then you can take him by his
feet and raise them, without his body
bending in the least, until he is stand
| ing directly upon his head.
| TO continue, | told the subject that
the chair on which he sat was getting
| hot and that. as soon as | counted
three, it would be redhot. When l
| said three, he bounced up and rubbed
the seat of his trousers in a very nat
ural manner: and no one could force
him by main strength to touch the chair
| again. AS soon as | counted two and
said, "Now it is cold" he sat down
again with evident relief. The company
was very much amused by his descrip-
tion of heaven. l asked him If he
wanted to go there with me and he
declared that he did. Perhaps it may
| not be sacrilegious for me to say that
| / was deSirouS of obtaining the credit
of being the means of at least one
person reaching heaven; so l touched
his shoulders with my hand and told
him that I had given him wings. Be-
ing unaccustomed to flying, he pro-
ceeded to use his pinions in very un-
graceful manner in the imaginary
flight through space. Soon I told him
that we had reached the place, and
he looked all around him with eyes
wider open than any | have ever seen.
His delight made his face almost shine.
He was, there is no doubt of 1t, really
| happy. He saw angels, heard music,
joined himself (at my suggestion) in
the chorus, danced and shouted. The
cows browsed upon grass that was pure
gold: the stars also were of pure gold
except, as he expressed 1t, their
points," which We're made of dia-
monds as large and brilliant as the sun
in the sky. 1t seems to you doesn't
it. a shame to carry a person from so
beautiful a place to condemn him to
the horrors of the World-or condition
called hell? l think SO myself; but
wait till you are yourself making these
experiments and you will also be, un-
der the excitement and interest of the
moment, unnaturally cruel.
/ told him we would leave, that we
were sinking, falling-falling faster
and faster, and on-that we had passed
our own world and that we would soon
be in hell. l then said, Nov, when
count three, open your eyes and you
will be there" ] then counted three
and he was, to judge from his express
ion and his movements really there.
His expression was one of alarm, ac-
companied with the utmost horror. |
told him the devils were after him, and
he struck at them frantically every
where around him. / myself PERSONAL
ed the devil (and some tender-hearted
and good person who reads this VIII
think the substitution could easily have
been made without loss of character
to myself and told him | would throw
| fire on him. AS soon as | made a
movement of doing so, he begged me
not to do it, crying aloud and knocking
at his clothes as if they We're burning.
| then took a broom and, telling him
it was a fiery serpent, chased him
around the room. / told him then that
if he was wicked he would come to
live in that place forever: and he was
very ready to assure me that he would
always be poor. I tried to atone for
my cruelty to him by teaching him
in this way a lesson in good, moral
conduct. All this occurred at the home
of prominent attorney, all of whose
sons are also attorneys. 1t so happened
that one of them, an able practitioner,
had defended this particular subject
in a case where he had been charged
with committing a criminal offense.
| was asked to learn if he really com
mitted the offense. Placing my hand
on his head, l told him he would tell
me the truth about whatever | asked
hiu-that he would have to do so. l
then asked him if he had committed
the crime, and he told me yes. | made
him tell me then in clrcumstantial de-
tail all about it, emitting nothing at
all.
He had been acquitted of the charge
a Jury having declared him to be not
guilty; vet he made a complete con-
fesion, without hesitation or shame
, before the whole company. / assured
him he would forget telling us about
it, and when he was walked he denied
that he had committed the offense. He
said that people had accused him of it,
but that he had not done; and he per-
sisted and yet persists, in declaring
that he is innocent.
UNCONSCIOUS CONFESSION.
While speaking of compelling sub
jects to tell things which their good
common sense would prompt them tC
preserve secret, ] am reminded of one
occurrence that shows how particular
; person should be in pursuing this line
! of investigations one day, upon his owr
: suggestion, l hypnotized a young mar
D., who defied me to make him tell any
thing while l had him asleep. He
. | thought he had too much sense to say
anything that ought to be kept secret
; Having his consent, l made him tell me
, | who was his sweetheart and to tel
, | me their secrets. Had the name ht
disclosed been that of one whom
I knew, or was likely to know, | would
{ have allowed him to go no further. TC
1 | my astonishment man who had ac
D companied him to my office was about
! to strike him, and would have done sc
D was his cousin that the boy was talk
, ing about. AS a consequence, though
the boy knew nothing at all about Il
4 | after waking up, they had a quarrel