The Irish standard., 1906-08-04


deep asleep" Go deep" Down deep"
If the subject worked upon is an
easy one, he closes his eyes by this
time and soon is dead asleep In or
der to have him well in hand and wake
him up in time. the hypnotist will sug-
geSt that he will not wake up again
until he is struck on the head or hears
his name spoken in his ear or some
thing similar. If this precaution is
omitted the victim may fall into coma
and die.
Bishop the mind-readcr, perished
in this manner. Having entirely es-
capped by coma from the power of his
hypnotst, he gave no signs of life
any more and everybody taking it for
granted that he was really stone-d dead,
his body was delivered up to the dis
secting table, where he gave up the
ghost.
otherwise coma is produced by hem
orrnage of the brain. by abnormal
fracture of the skull Or by administers
ing narcotic poisons.
While the victim Of hypnotism is in
Il trance. sonnambulism may be pro-
duced. The subject does anything and
everything the performer may suggest:
he dances. creeps on the floor. laughs,
| ri
More astonishing than somnambu-
lism is catalepsy. This is morbid
condition of the muscular system
known as tetanus or lockjaw. Final
S;ttalepsy in man is rigor mortis. In
epilepsy its attacks are confined to GER
tain parts of the body.
By hypnotism. while the subject is
already in Il deep trance the perform
er can produce either partial or COM
plete catalepsy. Taking an arm and
placing ii straight out from the body,
then making mesneric passes from the
shoulder to the finger the hypnotist
says: Now YOU are stir and rigid;
/
your arm. and it will semain in the
position in which l have placed it;
you can not take it down, no matter
how hard you try it,
| The arm remains there as stiff as
an iron rod. The whole body can
be rendered rigid to suci, an extent
| hf
it If supported from below only by
the two eXtremities. the head and the
feet. 1t is done in the following way:
The subject must stand perfectly firm
upon the floor. arms straight down
| by his side. He is Informed in a per-
emptory name" that every part of
his body is t" become rigid. The hyp-
notist places the two middle fingers
OF the right hand upon the back of the
neck. pressing the spine: the same fin
gers of the left hand on the back OF
the hips also pressing the spine Then
he says in Il deep and decided voice:
Rigid. rigid. rigid. every part of your
body is getting rigid, rigid rigid. After
| this he makes meSlneric passes FROM
the head down. slightly touching the
body. 1t thus becomes as rigid as ii
| marble statue. If this state is KEEP.
up too long. death results as in lock-
jaw.
Another performance is that of an
aSthesia. Physicians ..;oGuce this alb
normal condition for the sake of oper-
ations by administering chorofOrm or
ether.
In all deep stages or hypnosis an-
usthesia can be produced in any part
of the body. 1t is done by sugges-
tions and passes as for other phe-
nomena. The hypnotist dips a hat pin
into an antiseptic solution and con-
vinces his subject that he will feel
absolutely nothing. Lawrence states
in his book that he sewed the tongues
of three people together and then
made them sing and dance. The fakirs
of India and the dervishes among the
M"hammedans perform similar feats on
| themselves by passing needles through
their arms. cheeks ana lips.
! All these things are deeply disgust
ing and the question whether they are
right or wrong can receive but one
answer. AS long as it is wrong to in
jure a fellow man in his life or limb
1t is wrong to practice hypnOtisn;
but the symptoms are not necessarily
diabolical. since they exist naturally
as pathological phenomena. So much
may be admitted that the devil. whose
circle of operations is always in alb
normal things. will use hypnotism read
| lily as one of the weapons to injure
mankind. Hence nobody is able to
tell whether or not in any single case
the devil has his hand
spoken fully on this question. No in>
vestigation as to the physical injuries
inflicted by hypnbtism has been asked
from Roman congregation: but sew
eral Catholic states, as ror instance.
Austria, have forbidden mcsmerism ana
hypnotism. In regard 20 superstition
the answer was given in Rome that as
long as no invocation of the devil or
superstitious ceremony Is used in hyp-