Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1908-03-21

D resistance TO nypnOI1c lnHuenc6
is not due to ones strength of will
but to the mental attitude.
g. Hypnotic suggestion. properly
applied, is the most powerful brain
building agency known to man.
4. Hypnotism is not, necessarily,
sleep, bdt a state of suggestibility be-
yond the normal, and may occur even
though consciousness and memory re-
main unaffected.
g. While hypnotism is the result of
suggestion mot necessarily spoken),
all suggestion is not hypnotism.
9. Hypnotism, rightly defined. is
an induced quiescence of the objec-
tive faculties followed by increased
activity of the subjective faculties.
Hypnotic sleep. says Bernheim. does
not differ from ordinary sleep. The .
one, like the other, is due to the fixa-
ton of the attention and of the nerv-
Gus force upon the idea of sleep.
The individual who wishes to sleep
isolates his senses, meditates and re-
mains motionless. The nervous force
concentrates itself. so to speak, at one
point of the brain upon a single idea
and abandons the nerves of sensation.
motion and. special sense. The con-
centration of the whole thinking be-
| ing upon a single idea gives rise to the
| inertia of the will, which constitutes
| the basic of the hypnotic condition
A Brief History of Hypnotism.
Hypnotism was preceded by what is
still known as mesmerism. l am not
| speaking of the thing itself, but of the
| name. For that which is now known
as "hypnotisni~ we could trace back
/ as far as the writings of Paracelsus
| and even to a more remote period and
then not discover its true origin. In
/ fact, hypnotism, although not known
| by that name, antedates the Christian
era. But to DIR. Franz Anton Mesmer,
| is due the credit of having first
brought the subject to the attention
of the scientific world-for which he
/ paid dearly.
After becoming imbued with the spirit
of astrology and attributing his cures
| to electrical and planetary infiu-
ence, he changed his views and called
it magnetism
At that time 1776) he discarded the
use of artificial magnets with which
he stroked the body, seeing that the
same results were being accomplish
ed by one Gasener, catholic priest,
simply by manipulation, Dr. Mesmer
saw fit to call this animal magnet
ISM but his followers prefer the term
.mesmerism."
Two years later all Paris was
thrown into state of the widest ex-
element by the marvellous effects of
his method of treatment and the
many wonderful cures that resulted
While the medical fraternity and
committee of investigation were
obliged to acknowledge the cures he
had wrought, they denounced him
most bitterly because of his ''fiuidic"
: theory, and claimed that the cause
: was purely imagination"
All this trouble and annoyance
, caused by mere theory and-an in
, | fringement ON the sole right of the
regulars This status of affairs has
not changed much even to this day
, and generation What mattered either
theory or cause providing it was harm
less and the results beneficial? Facts
are facts, the how but a mere incident
, | The final outcome, as far as DR.. Mes
mer was concerned, was disastrous to
, | him as he was forced into exile and
| died in 1915.
: A number of years passed during
which time the subject was agitated
t | again and again but without definite
= or satisfactory results until DR.. Braid
: of Manchester, England, discredited
. the magnetic fluid theory and, by
/ placing the cause on physical basis
, | gained the confidence of the public
q land the physicians) to such an extent
: that the subject was at last acknowl
| edged to be within the domain of the
q exact sciences.
/ The next important step was to find
a | a name to fit the theory and to meet
I the prejudices of the medical profes
:. sion Inasmuch as the result of the
mode of treatment produced sleep, OF
r a condition thereof, the word sleep
n proved a key to the solution; hence
e the word "hypnotism,' from the Greel
}, radix "hypnos, signifying sleep.
s From this beginning various school.
Il have sprung up, each with it's own the
It oryc but the results practically the
e same The two best known and thor
r oughly established are the Name,
e founded by LiebaulD and the Paril
l. (by Charcot)- The one known as thu
l. Mesmeric also has many followers
e To Liebault, more than to any othe
man, is due the credit of discoverin,
h the underlying principle, the master
G key to the whole situation. 1t il
] summed up In that one word "sugges
If tion' This word, DR.. Hudson claimed
N will unlock the secrets of every psy
g Geological mystery. All hypnotic phe
nomena are the result of suggestion
re in some form
1t Dr. Braid's method of hypnotizini