2l6 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



mother's love becomes, after treatment, 

 the incarnation of filial reverence and 

 affection. The liar looks his interlocu- 

 tor in the face and speaks the truth 

 without regard to consequences. The 

 thief parts with all inclination to appro- 

 priate what is not his. The libertine ac- 

 cepts the white life. Human sapro- 

 phytes that thrive on social rottenness 

 are not wholly destitute of moral chloro- 

 phyl." Nor is this all. By the same 

 means, "Habits of thought concentra- 

 tion may be made to take the place of 

 habits of rambling, ability to use gram- 

 matical English for uncertainty in syn- 

 tax, a taste that approves elegance for 

 an inclination to slang." Though potent 

 for good, this panacea refuses to work 

 ill. "Fortunately for the protection of 

 society, the power of suggestion to de- 

 prave is providentially limited, while its 

 influence for good is without horizon. A 

 mesmerizee quickly discovers the hypo- 

 crite in a suggestionist, and a pure soul 

 will always revolt at the intrusion of a 

 sordid or sensual self and spontaneously 

 repel its advances." That the sugges- 

 tionist must have unusual gifts to ac- 

 complish such vast results seems natural 

 enough. "A practitioner of hypnotism 

 should be a proficient in the physical 

 sciences, in literature, language, belles- 

 lettres, art, sociology and theology." 

 "Ignorance in an operator is a disquali- 

 fying defect; soul-exalting suggestions 

 are full of atmosphere." Nor is it sur- 

 prising to learn that the mesmerizee evi- 

 dences "supranormal perceptive powers, 

 possessed by subliminal selfs, acting at 

 a distance from their physical bodies (a 

 rational explanation of clairvoyance 

 and clairaudience), or of automatic com- 

 munications between the subliminal 

 selfs of such unconscious mediums and 

 outside personalities not human, who 

 are cognizant of the events described, 

 and are independent of time and space 

 limitations;" and that "human beings 

 are hypnotizable by other human be- 

 ings, between whom and themselves ex- 

 ists a peculiar sympathy or harmonious 

 relationship known as rapport." 



There is no need to continue. If the 



above citations prevent the spread of 

 false notions regarding the contents and 

 character of the work they will in part 

 have fulfilled their purpose. That the 

 volume contains interesting, possibly 

 valuable observations, may be true; but 

 the general distrust of any results so 

 sensationally presented will deservedly 

 prevent recognition of any sound con- 

 tribution of fact that may happen to 

 be buried beneath this tinsel and paste. 

 Were it not for the 'premeditated ig- 

 norance,' the author might have known 

 of similar observations more soberly 

 presented by other writers; and he 

 might have been induced by a knowl- 

 edge of the present status of hypnotism 

 to present his own results with more re- 

 serve, proportion and scientific accepta- 

 bility. It is difficult to say whether the 

 author offends most deeply our scientific 

 sensibilities by his extravagant, false 

 and misleading representations, or our 

 aesthetic sense by his grotesque and 

 tactless manner of presentation, or our 

 moral judgment by his disregard of ob- 

 vious relations and his irrelevant and 

 officious appeal to religious beliefs. On 

 account of its popular tone, such a vol- 

 ume has great power for evil, and the 

 condemnation of author and publisher for 

 such abuse of a popular interest should 

 be expressed in no uncertain terms. 



'Medicine and the Mind,' trans- 

 lated from the French of Dr. Mau- 

 rice de Fleury by Stacy B. Collins, 

 M. D., and published by Downey & Co., 

 is the type of work which the scien- 

 tifically-minded are likely to dismiss as 

 too 'literary,' and the litterateur to dis- 

 regard as too scientific. Neither dis- 

 paragement is quite warranted, how- 

 ever natural. If one assumes a proper 

 attitude towards the volume — or per- 

 haps one should say, finds himself in a 

 sympathetic mood for this kind of read- 

 ing — he may find attraction, suggestive- 

 ness and profit in its perusal. But it is 

 distinctly a kind of writing to which the 

 Anglo-Saxon mind is unresponsive; our 

 standards of popular science are totally 

 different in ideal and execution from 



