Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-02-10
HYPN0TISM IN SURGERY.
USED SOMETIMES BY DOCTORS IN
PLACE OF ANESTHETlCS.


Operator-Hypnotisin "A Person at II
Distance-Theories About Hypnotism.
"Do you use the hypnotic influence
in your practice?" asked a New York
Sun reporter of DIR. Robert A. Gum,
who is firm believer in hypnotism.
Yes, " said DR.. Gum. Occasion
ally L do. But not as often as / used
to. 1t is not because | have less con-
fidence in it, but because / have been
too busy to experiment with it. / do
not think that the greatest success lies
in the use of the hypnotic power by
the physician or surgeon himself. For
instance, in the case OF surgical
operation the better arrangement
would be to have regular hypnotist
place the patient under control, just
as We have doctor simply to give the
chloroform on ether. Then the oper-
ating surgeon has no strain upon his
own nerves, and can give his entire
concentrated attention to the opera
ton"
''Is the exercise of the hypnotic
power eXhausting to the operator?"
wv Dul IL uOtS
take something from him. For in
stance, ON one occasion L invited a
number of friends to my house for the
purpose OF showing them some expert
ments in hypnotism. 1 spent about
three hours at the work, and after they
had all gone / sat down at my desk,
intending to prepare an article to be
10 la
The subject was one with which I was
perfectly familiar, and ordinarily ]
could have prepared the paper in a
very short time. On this occasion,
however, [ was incapable of construct
ing single sentence. J. had no par
ticular sense of exhaustion; 1 simply
felt like remaining perfectly quiet,
and finally gave up the attempt to
write that night.
soon after that ] wanted to devote
an evening to hypnotic experiments,
so concluded to do my writing in the
afternoon and have it out of the way
before evening. Iwrote for over three
hours and up to within few minutes
of the time set for the experiments.
Although had the same subjects as
before, all of my experiments were un-
satisfactory and some of them were
total failures. | had evidently eX-
hausted my nervous energy by close
application to mental work, and there
had not been sufficient interval for
recuperation.
"Could You hypnotic person in
the same room with you without max
ing an open attempt to do SOP"
Not unless [ had hypnotized the
same person a number of times before.
1t is always more difficult to hypnotize
person the first time than il is after
ward. The more frequently it is done,
the more susceptible the subject be-
comes.
"Have yon ever hypnotized person
at a distance?"
Yes, in one case. L had been
treating a woman for insomnia. Ihad
ON repeated occasions put her to sleep
through hypnotic influence. One
evening L said to her: 4 am not COM
ing tomorrow night, Mrs., but at
10 o'clock exactly l shall try to put You
to sleep just as ii [ were here The
next evening L went home so that at
10 o'clock [ could settle myself for Il
concentrated effort to hypnotic nv
patient. l coniured up the picture of
the room, of all her surroundings, of
herself, a:ld then / tried to put her to
sleep. The next day she told me that
she had gone to sleep soon after 0 and
had enjoyed good nights rest. Well,
OF course, put it down to her imagina-
ton and concluded to test her. L told
her that | would try again that night
at the same hour. But [ did not. /
went out with friend and did not
come home until late.
''The next day she said: Doctor,
you didn't do as you said you would.
L was awake until or 3 O'Clock this
morning. assured her that [ had
tried to influence her and that would
try again that night. Again, however,
did not. / wrote until about ! n.
M, and then L concentrated my mind
on my patient and tried to put her
asleep. In the morning she told me
that at 10 o'clocl, she was perfectly
wide awake and remained so until /
O'Clock, when she suddenly became
drowsy and soon went to sleep"
"ls hypnotism used in any of the
New York hospitals?"
Il don't think so. 1t is in France
and Italy that the greatest experiments
have been made. In the famous
hospital at Nancy, in France, thou
sands of insane patients are treated by
hypnotism every year, and wonderful
results are obtained. :"
How long does it take to put diff
ferent subjects under hypnotic CON
trol?"
"Of course that varies greatly.
Some persons can be hypnotized in
two or three minutes. With others
several attempts, of half an hour at
time, are necessary. 1t grows easier
with repetition. Some are susceptible
at the very start. [ had one patient.
wa, rbo Il A..