The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-12


 sleep.
 Various methods are in vogue for induc- l ing the hypnotic state. Of the method em- ployed by him, Dr. Quackenbos says: "In the induction of sleep for the pur- | pose of suggestion every step should be fully explained to the intelligent patient. It is useless to begin by insulting his in- tellect After talking sympatheueally | with the subject, sometimes for an hour l or two, in regard to the failing which he l wishes removed, thoroughly acquaintng myself with his dominant propensities or controlling thoughts, and, above all se- l curing his confidence, I ask him to as sume a comfortable reclining position on a lounge, and then continue soothing conversation along lines like the follow ing. with a view to producing monoton- l ous impression on eye and ear:
 '"I wish you to look at this diamond Cor select any convenient object in the I line of vision) in a dreamy, listless manner. with a blank, expresslonless stare, thinking of nothing, not concern 1 ing your mind or focusing your eye upon it, but relaxing the ocular mus | cles so that it has a confused outline | Abstain from that effort with the eyes | that you are accustomed to make in or | der to see a near object distinctly.
 Rather look through the stone and past | 1t. as you look at dead tree standing | between you and a distant view you are
 contemplating The reason for affect | ing this vacant look is thoroughly
 scientific. Darwin has shown, in l treatise on the emotions, that every | mental state has corresponding physi- l cal expression, and that if you assume | enc you are likely to experience the | other. Anger, for instance, expresses itself physically in violent language, | clinching the fists, slamming a door, 1 etc. And a man may make himself an- | gry by doing these things. So he can | put himself into a devotional frame of mind by assuming the attitude of pray | CT, and you may help to bring on the 1 eongenial state of musing of wool l gathering by stimulating the languid 1 look which Is natural to this state. This l is the reason why I ask you to look | at the jewel, which has no power in 1 itself to induce abstraction. The power | IS in you. What often happens when | you are reading newspaper of a warm | afternoon will now take place. You
 remember, as you read on, the type be- | gins to swim beneath your eyes, the | effort to concentrate your mind fails,
 all activity is irksome, the sense of
 passiyeness deepens, the muscles relax | the paper drops from your hand and l you are to be wooed out of this con .
 sciousness and to pass into a light
 slumber in which you can be made to
 see the truth and adjust yourself
 thereto.
 Make no effort, for there is nothing | you can do to encourage the approach
 of the favorable mind state. Do not | wonder what is going to happen, for
 nothing is going to happen Do not be l appreh hensive or suspicious or distrus--
 full. Do not desire that anything shall
 take place, nor watch to see what may | occur-nor seek to analyze what is go-
 Ing on in your mind. You are as
 negative indolent and indifferent as
 you can be without trying to be. Your
 idle unconcern is justified only by con-
 fdence, and this you have in me, in
 yourself and in the outcome of the
 treatment"
 Perhaps the most interesting of Dr.
 Quackenbos' experiments have been in
 treating patients for some moral disease.
 He claims to have cured dipsomaniacs,
 drug fends, kleptomaniaes, liars, swind-
 lers and gamblers and, in fact, all kinds
 of dishonest persons. Of the possibilities
 of his treatment he says
 "A moral defective may be compelled
 to take upon himself a changed nature
 in response to appropriate suggestions
 The bad may be made good even in the
 face of their deliberate determination to continue in the clutches of sin. ''As a rule, however, the success of suggestional methods depends largely on the desire of the subject to be cured and his faith in the power of the suggestion
 selected.
 "Dipsomaniacs are generally easy sub } iects, in that they yield readily to the , hypnotic influence, and accept uncondi- tionally the suggestions communicated by the operator.
 ' "An the great suggestionists have sue
 cessfully treated morphinomania by in ducing hypnosis and implantlng fixed , idea against the use of the drug in ques- , ton either by hypodermic springe oi month Morphine cannot be suddenly : cut off from the patient, as there is danger of collapse in such heroic treat } ment it must be gradually withdrawn ' Hypnotic suggestion renders such reduc
 tiol absolutely painless to the subject. 2 ''The method pursued with conilrmec ] l. l.Ia. han