The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-12-12
SOME DANGERS
IN HYPNOT|SM
Is Another Form of Narcotic
Poisoning
SAYS PROFESSOR ANGER
Discusses Death of Young Man on
Public Stage at sommervile, N.
J.-Shoud be Prohibited
in Public.
SAYS PROFESSOR ANGER
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger
The recent fatality in Sommerville. N.
j., which occurred when Robert Simpson
died after having been cast into a Typ
motto spell by Arthur Everton, has
aroused general discussion on the subject
of hypnotism. Various opinions as 10
who is to blame for the incident have
been hazarded and expert opinion on this
point is still at variance. The verdict of
the physicians who performed the autop-
sy is that the man died from a rupture
of the aorta, but whether or not this can
be considered due to Professor" Ever
ton has not yet been determined.
Perhaps there has been no more rea-
sonable deduction made on this point than
was advanced by Roswell Parker Angler.
the Yale authority on matters psychology
ical, in lecture given before mis- classes
during the past week. .It is not my bus
mess, gentlemen he said, to decide to
how great a degree this professional hyp.
notist is at fault for the death of Simp-
son. The point that l want to impre 50
upon you is that the main responsibility
for this unfortunate occurrence rests not
on any one individual. but upon gem
eral public for permitting a state Of af-
fairs to exist where such al occurrence
is possible So long as men are permitted
to experiment with others personalities
without restriction there Is constant CAN
ger of there being other fatalities of the
same character, ond | sincerely he pc that
in after years, when you men are ac-
cupying positions Of responsibility, you
will use your influence to see that any
proceedings of the Kind that ended fatally
in Sommerville a week ago be 70; hidden
by law"
Defines Position.
When Professor Angler was afterws I'd
asked to define his position a little more
clearly he said: "Wh,ls it would not be
fa1r to hazard an opinion as to the exact
cause Of the death Of Evertons subject,
there Is one Object lesson IN connection
with the case that ought to be brought
prominently before the public. If the
facts as stated in the newspaper ac-
counts are correct Simpson was exposed
to severe strain while under the infu-
ence of Everton. Then he was suddenly
commanded to relax, and it was upon
doing this that he fell to the floor. 1t Is
generally supposed that his death &C.
CURED at that instant. The general prn-
ciple used by all these variety theatre
hypnotist' performers is that they can
exert any amount of abnormal pressure
on the human body without any after Of
feets when their subjects have emerged
from the cataleptic state. This is an abb
solute fallacy. and the wonder is that the
i'm h oh,
larger proportions. Although men can
be made to perform prodigious feats OF
strength while under the influence OF ans
other, there is every reason to believe
that on being put back into the normal
again nature exacts the penalty for this
abuse of the bodily functions.
Narcotic Parallel.
"The nearest parallel to hypnotism in
medical knowledge is the narcotic 1t
should be noted that this is not a cura-
tive or remedial type of drug but Is an
agent which is used only in cases of dire
necessity, where the results of the afflic-
ton are known to be more serious than
the after effects Of the narcotic. The sale
of these drugs Is severely limited by law,
and 1t is criminal to distribute them with
out physicians prescription. When we
consider the practice of hypnotism, which
is parallel to the other. we find that there
is absolutely no limit to the freedom with
which it can be practiced. The after
effects Of the drugs are far better known
than of hypnotism, the depths of which
are unexplored yet children are allowed
to experiment with 1t. 1t would be just
as sensible to hand them q live wire to
play with.
THE effects of hypnotism are always
detrimental to normal person Once a
man has been put under the influence Of