HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 623 



less, in both cases, the crawfish remained motionless after its first re- 

 sistance was made unsuccessful, by means of the tube and pure me- 

 chanical force. But crawfish, which crawl briskly in their course 

 backward, often remain for some time motionless, a result which 

 is caused .by no visible circumstance. We thus learn that normal, 

 unmolested crawfish can become motionless, just as well as the 

 ones we experiment with, only the mysterious character of these ex- 

 periments does not lose all its interest, for we see that the immobility 

 which we occasion by our preparation cannot be prevented, while 

 the crawfish which is not subjected to our manipulations becomes 

 motionless through no demonstrable or extraordinary circumstance. 

 Again, we see that the experimental crawfish become immobile, and 

 remain so, notwithstanding that, in consequence of the unnatural po- 

 sitions in which they are placed, they are exposed to a powerful in- 

 ducement to move, and cannot be quite determined as to the normal 

 condition and degree of excitability of their nervous systems. The 

 unmolested crawfish, however, experiences no such emotion. 



Of the latter, which fall into a motionless state and remain so, 

 two kinds may be seen. Either the crawfish is in a normal and wake- 

 ful condition, and does not move because it has no motive for doing so, 

 and consequently does not wish to move, or else it cannot move be- 

 cause it is exhausted, or finds itself in a state of lethargy and sleep. 

 In regard to our experimental animals there is no doubt, as already 

 stated, that they are placed in positions in which they would move if 

 they could, that is, if they were in a condition capable of working 

 their nervous system. 



And thus you see how, through a minute and scientific inspection, 

 we have arrived at the fact that, instead of finding the actual circum- 

 stance by magnetizing the crawfish, the animals in winter and autumn, 

 when their instinct is duller than at other seasons, possess the remark- 

 able quality of losing the normal excitability of their nervous systems, 

 even in the most forced positions ; also that they are again able to 

 maintain their equilibrium in spite of resistance made at first, after 

 they have been held firmly a certain time. 



I remember once seeing a like effect in hens which had been ex- 

 perimented upon in the same way. I had already known of this fact, 

 but had never possessed the opportunity or occasion to give it a strict 

 investigation. I therefore concluded to experiment upon the poultry- 

 yard of my hospitable country-friend with whom I was then staying. 

 Many of you, no doubt, have been told, or else know from your own 

 experience, that wild, frightened hens which one has had great dif- 

 ficulty in catching and holding, are liable to become completely 

 motionless as if enchanted by some magical spell, after being held 

 with gentle force upon the floor or table where a chalk-line has been 

 drawn the length of the beak or diagonally from each eye. Now, al- 

 though this sounds very incredible, it is an actual fact and I will 



