The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1908-03-19


is not due to ones strength of will
but to the mental attitude.
6. Hypnotic suggestion, properly
applied, is the most powerful brain
building agency known to man.
7. Hypnotism is not, necessarily,
sleep. but state of suggestlbility be-
yond the normal, and may occur even
though consciousness and memory re.
main unaffected.
s. While hypnotism is the result of
suggestion mot necessarily spoken),
all suggestion is not hypnotism.
8. Hypnotism. rightly defined, is
an induced qulescence of the obiec-
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, medtates 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. | am not
speaking of the thing itself, but of the
name. For that which is now known
as "hypnotism" we could trace back
as far as the writings OF. Paracelsus
and even to 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 DR.. 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 an electrical and planetary influ.
ence, he changed his views and called
1t 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. DIR. 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 "fuidic
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 mere incident
, The final outcome, as far as DIR. Mes
, mer was concerned, was disastrous tt
, him as he was forced into exile ant
died in 1916.
A number of years passed during
which time the subject was agitateC
al. h,,t .l1a,1 .,
or satisfactory results until DR.. Braid
of Manchester, England, discrediteC
the magnetic fluid" theory and, b,
placing the cause on physical basis
gained the confidence of the publ,
land the physicians) to such an extern
that the subject was at last acknowl
edged to be within the domain of tn,
, exact sciences.
The next important step was to fine
name to fit the theory and to NEE
the prejudices of the medical profes
sion. Inasmuch as the result of tn,
mode of treatment produced sleep, o.
: condition thereof, the word sleep
proved a key to the solution; hence
, the word ''hypnotism." from the Greel
. | iuuiA ny Hhoo, oiShiiy oiSSp'
From this beginning various schools
have sprung up, each with its own the
DRY but the results practically tn,
} same. The two best known and thor
oughly established are the Nancy
founded by Liebault and the PariI
(by Charcot). The one known as the
Mesmeric also has many followers.
To Liebault, more than to any othel
man, is due the credit of discovering
the underlying principle. the master
key to the whole situation. 1t II
summed up in that one word "sugges
tion." This word DR.. Hudson claimed
will unlock the secrets of every psy
Geological mystery. All hypnotic phe
nomena are the result of Suggestion
in some form.
DIR. Braid's method of hypnotizinl
was to cause the subject to gaze stead