90 ON CERTAIN PHENOMENA OF HYPNOTISM. 



direct agency of the gods supplied the motive power. Most 

 especially was this manifested at the temples dedicated in Greece 

 and Italy to ^Esculapius. The sick person was conveyed to the 

 temple, and, after ablution, prayer, and sacrifice, was made to sleep 

 on the hide of the sacrificed animal, or at the feet of the statue 

 of the god, while sacred rites were performed. In his sleep 

 the appropriate remedy was indicated in a dream. Moral or 

 dietetic remedies were more often prescribed than drugs, 

 and the record of the cure was inscribed on the columns or 

 walls of the temple, thereby duly impressing the minds of 

 fresh arrivals. In short, " suggestion " of a most impressive 

 and cheering nature formed the principal method of cure. The 

 temples of ^sculapius occupied positions remarkable for their 

 natural loveliness ; the patient found himself in fresh air, and 

 amidst delightful surroundings ; he was soothed by the knowledge 

 of the immediate interest of the god in his case ; and all his 

 cares were charmed away by the skilled ministrations of the priests. 

 Under such circumstances the " vis medicatrix naturae " had ample 

 scope. 



In studying the lives of the saints of the Christian and other 

 religions, we find directions for inducing the state of ecstasy, which 

 essentially consisted in fatiguing the optic centres. The Christian 

 mystic was recommended to gaze for a lengthened period on some 

 fixed object, placed so as to cause a painful constraint in fixing 

 the eyes upon it, either from the height at which it was placed, or 

 from its too great nearness to the eyes. The contemplation of 

 the crucifix above the altar would undesignedly have the first 

 effect, and it is not surprising to find that after a prolonged period 

 of such contemplation, the monk or nun was found in a state of 

 rigid catalepsy, the arms extended in the form of a cross. The 

 Buddhist monk was recommended, as the most salutary of 

 exercises, to fix his gaze on the centre of his body, till all conscious- 

 ness of outward things had passed away, and the blessedness of a 

 temporary Nirvana was gained ; and the monks of Mount Athos 

 employed the same means of attaining a state of ecstasy. 



Coming now to what we may call modern times we find that in 

 the seventeenth century there appeared in England several persons 

 who said they had the power of curing diseases by stroking with 



