The San Francisco call., 1899-06-11

ed to rap Minnock's right knee. At the
first attempt he hit the spot, and the
subjects leg twitched and his foot went
up. in the air about two inches.
That's too bad" said Minnock.
''We1l have to try again. He got up
and walked around his chair, and then
reseated himself
Nov, go ahead, DOCTOR" he said, and
DR.. Edison hit the spot that causes the
reflex of the knee about twenty times
with never a movement Of the young
mans leg.
Then Minnock leaned back in his
chair, turned up his eyes, and DR..
Edison prodded the pupil of the right
by long practice he had been able to
overcome the sensitiveness of the pupil.
This practice, the exercise of cOnS1d-
erable will power and concentration of
thought, constituted the only eXplana-
ton the subject could give. Cocaine
probably would put another mans eye
in the same unsensitiVe condition, but
no cocaine was used on MinnOck.
After telling US that he could keep
his respiration down to two or three a
minute for several hours at stretch
we concluded to take his word for it,
as the hour was drawing toward mid
night Minnock said that once when
he was put in a coffin and was sup
posed to be in a hypnotic trance for
seven days, so close a watch was kept
upon him that he got no food for four
days and a half. He believes he would
have died of starvation except for the
fact that he drew less than 1900
breaths in all that time
Twelve thousand breaths seems like
a good many, but 1 don't think they
would last the writer one day.
Minnock is very proud of the tricks
he can do with his heart, and he ran
it up and down for the doctors at such
a surprising rate that after one ex-
hibition Dr. Ransom, who had been
listening with his ear against Min
nock's chest, remarked earnestly:
We'll if you came into my office with
that heart I'd put you to bed and
charge you So
Minnock said first that he would
show what he could do inv the way of
making his heart beat fast. He fixed
his eyes on the carpet, and after
minute or two of thought told DR.. Ed
son to time him. The heart showed
12S beats per sixty seconds.
That was a great horse race was
thinking about" remarked Minnock
when the result was announced. Did
you notice that the last few beats be-
gan to get slower, doctor?"
DR.. Edison said this was true.
'I tell you how that was" said Min
mock, laughing. Il had good field of
horses, and the one that my money was
on had a bad start He came up all
right, though, and got away with the
field all except one horse, who maze
the running almost neck and neck with
him nearly up to the wire. l had lot
of money on my horse and [ was in
strange town, and If he lost the race
was broke. Just as they got to the wire
| thought up the hottest finish that
ever imagined in my life, and my morse
won by a nose. l guess my heart was
going all right then, but the minute
they passed the wire it was all off. Ana
that was when the heartbeats began 10
90 more slowly. If 1 could only nave
kept that finish up couple OF SECONDS
longer could have made l4O.
This is Minnock's secret for making
bie he heart gallon like racer while he is
sitting calmly in chair apparently
trying to go to sleep. The ordlnary
man can make his heart jump by tax
ing a quick turn around the block, put
it is given to but few men to possess
Minnock's accomplishment In descrlo-
ing his failure to keep ms 1a near sJ,a a.
loping the last couple of seconds or the
minute because his imaginary race
ended too soon, he remarked that he
had "over- trained" His imagination
serves him equally well in keeping his
heart down, as he showed few mo-
ments later when Dr. Edison felt his
pulse and counted the beats out loud,
with his eye on the watch.
Then came slower ahd slower as the
sixty seconds waned, until finally DR..
Edison stopped counting and explained
when he had snapped his watch:
.'They got going so slowly they threw
me- ont" Minnock's heart on this test
ran a little less than seventy beats to
the minute.
asked DR.. Edison the next day what
he thought of Minnock and his per-
formance, and he said it was very
remarkable exhibition of will and Of the
power of the mind over the body.
Minnock himself says there is no such
thing as hypnotism; but that is because
he has been trickster all his life and
the word itself with him is synony-
nous with trickery One of the most
rabid believers in everything which
bears the brand of hypnotism whom
know told me the other day that Min
mock, despite his own confessions, is
really pure hypnotic subject, and that
all his feats of enduring pain and other
performances are the result of auto
suggestion.
He hypnotizes himself announced
my friend, decisively.
With such men as these 1 have no
patience nor with the 1nyriads of takers
who practice on the Credulity of the
public with just such stool pigeons as
Minnock.
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