SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



215 



notism in Mental and Moral Culture,' 

 by John Duncan Quackenbos, an un- 

 fortunate volume which may be per- 

 mitted to speak for and condemn itself. 

 To begin with, the work was written 

 'in premeditated ignorance of recent 

 works on hypnotism.' Hypnotism is 

 presented as a miraculous panacea. "A 

 recent experiment of the writer's estab- 

 lishes the fact that disequilibration may 

 be adjusted; a congenital cerebral defi- 

 ciency overcome; a personality crippled 

 by thought inhibition, mental apathy 

 and defective attention transformed 

 into a personality without a blot upon 

 the brain, and so impending insanity 

 shunted — by the use of hypnotic sug- 

 gestion as an educational agency." "Dif- 

 ferences induced by objective education 

 are obliterated; and the fundamental 

 endowments of that finer spiritual organ 

 in which under God we have our highest 

 being — endowments conferred by Deity 

 on all human souls without favor and 

 without stint— dominate the intellec- 

 tual life. The divine image is supreme 

 in the man, and creative communication 

 on the broadest lines and on the most 

 exalted planes becomes possible. Hyp- 

 notic suggestion is but inspiration. Not 

 only does the subject share the latent 

 knowledge, but he borrows as well the 

 mental tone of the operator. His mem- 

 ory becomes preternaturally impressi- 

 ble. The principles of science, of lan- 

 guage, of music, of art, are quickly ap- 

 propriated and permanently retained 

 for post-hypnotic expression through ap- 

 propriate channels. Confidence in talent 

 is acquired; and embarrassment, confu- 

 sion, all admission of inferiority, are 

 banished from the objective life — by 

 placing the superior self in control." 

 Among the patients are "several ladies 

 who are making a profession of fiction 

 writing. To these latter were imparted 

 in hypnosis, first, a knowledge of the 

 canons of narration, viz., the law of 

 selection, which limits the story-teller 

 to appropriate characteristic or indi- 

 vidual circumstances; the law of succes- 

 sion," and other laws of like flavor. 

 The result: "In the light of instantane- 



ous apprehension, barrenness gives place 

 to richness of association, the earnest 

 thought and honest toil of the old 

 method to a surprising facility, disin- 

 clination to select details to zest in ap- 

 propriating whatever is available. Op- 

 portunity and mood are thus made to 

 coincide, and the subject spontaneously 

 conforms to the eternal principles of 

 style. Under the influence of such in- 

 spiration, rapid progress has been made 

 in the chosen field of authorship." The 

 art of acting is equally easily accom- 

 plished. "The response of the woman's 

 soul to such suggestions with post- 

 hypnotic import is followed by her 

 speedy ascent to the heights of his- 

 trionic art, and by subsequent triumphs 

 on the stage through an apprehension 

 of her own deathless power as revealed 

 by the creative communication of her 

 hypnotist. An actress once so inspired 

 is inspired forever." For music the same 

 formula holds. "The automatic mind is 

 gently wooed to the summits of soul life, 

 where it becomes susceptible to inspira- 

 tion and burns to launch itself, through 

 music as a medium of artistic expres- 

 sion, into the objective world." Moral 

 perfection is likewise achieved. Here 

 is a typical case before treatment: 

 "Philetas M., aged twenty-one, an adept 

 in all kinds of deviltry; a cigarette 

 fiend; an incorrigible liar, unblushingly 

 denying scarce-cold crimes with the 

 proofs of their commission in our very 

 hands, and constantly deceiving his 

 parents with rotten-hearted promises; a 

 borrower of money under false pre- 

 tences, and an out-and-out thief for 

 whom jail had no terrors; a gambler: a 

 profligate ready to pawn the clothes on 

 his back at the bidding of town-dow- 

 dies: a trencher-knight of the subloins 

 of the Tenderloin," etc.; and this is the 

 appearance after taking: "The weak- 

 nesses of the past are forgotten, vice 

 loses its attractions, and the inspired 

 soul seeks to make reparation for its 

 shortcomings by an exaggerated loy- 

 alty to the spirit of the moral law. 

 The young man who has regarded 

 with contempt a father's advice and a 



