Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-26
HYPNOTIST'S DISCOVERY Woman Can Defy His Powers
 Where Man Is Helpless. THE CAUSE IS A MYSTERY Investigation Also Proves That Individuals Can not Be Hypnotized and Forced to Com
 nit Crime-0ld Ideas Disproyed.

Paris, Feb 16.(Special CprTespondence.)
 The popular mind is absorbed in a new
 study, one which is almost startling in
 it's results. It is the effect of hypnotism
 upon women The deeper one delves into
 the question, the greater becomes the
 interest It might naturally be supposed
 that hypnotic suggestion would be large
 ly the same in effect and result regard-
 less of sex That is not so at all. The
 st hypnotists of the day have taken
 the matter up and have demonstrated by
 experiment that woman is one of the
 easiest to receive a suggestion of this
 nleture, and at the same time the hard est.
 This seems an odd enough subject for
 volatile France to plunge into head over
 heels, and yet savant and comoner both
 seem to look into it with the same de
 gree of interest," the professional instinct
 of the first being counterbalanced by the
 curiosity of the other. Experiments
 made by the most famous French hyp-
 notists show the singular fact that i'm
 spite of the supposed inferiorlty of wo-
 man to man in point of nervous and
 physical organization it is a third easier
 to place 8 man under the influence of
 hypnotism than it is to induce a woman
 to accept hypnotic suggestion.
 Perhaps the leading mind among the
 French scientists who have devoted thledr
 attention solely to hypEotism, is Dr.
 Liebeault. He has paid particular att
 tention to the difference between the
 sexes in the matter of acceptance of
 hypnotic suggestion. A series of exper- >ments at Nancy, the doctors home, ex-
 tending through twelve months, firmly
 established the truth of the assertion made regarding the sexes During the
 time mentioned, pr. Iiebeault caused. by hypnotic power. 6S2 persons to.ssinl< into deep sleep. It was shown be-
 yond question that the influence of the scientist upon the pera-n in pointiof sex was exactly in the proportion stated. Opinions differ widely as to the reason for this. It is generally thought how ever, that it is because the mind of wo-
 men lacks the strengthen that of a man. It is often true that person of exceed ingly nervous tempsrrnent lacking in a measure ability to concentrate thought, is very poor subject for the hypnotist This Is shown by the fact that it is rarz- ly possible to actually hypnotize person
 whose mind is unbalanced. It is as q matter of fact almost impossible to place person under hypnotic influence unless the mind of the subject is passive and is acquiescent to th- wish of the hypnotist. Dr. Lieheault, whose portrait is given herewith, is. as stated, the leader of the scientists who have made hypnotlsm the study of their lives. Whatever he says upon the subject may be accepted as the latest and most fortified opinion of those whose views regarding hypnotism are worthy of consideration. It is there fore, no ordinary statement which fol- lows, just as 1t came from the lips of the distinguished savaht and made as the re- suit of a request to enlighten the Ameri- | can people rs garding the latest and most convincing facts regarding hypnotism the majority of which will be found en- tirely new to the non-scientific reader: Tt may surprise you to know, said Dr. Liebeault, that it is possible to hyp- notize 95 per cent of mankind. The re- maning per cent. are impervious to th- direction of the hypnotist, let him be 1 of as strong mind as he may. All these persons who are susceptible to the infiu- ence of hyprotism are not aff =cted to | the same degree, by any means. The in- | fuence of the hypnotist on woman is l very different than upon the sterner sex l It is nlor:' difficult for woman to fix | her attention upon a given object than | for man to do so Just why this Is 1 | cannot tell. Of course we all have our l theories. This much we know. that a woman does not possess the power of concentration given to man. That Is my explanation.
 You see, this is the case. Persons who are easily distracted, who from nature or training, have not the power of fixing the attention or concentrating thought, and persons in agitation. those who are heavy and dull. dats. whose brains lack the power of understanding what is re- quired of them--thess are the leas; capa- ble of hypnosis
 ''The central idea of hypnotisrn is simple enough. It is merely making a suggestion to a certain person. instead