a8S3. 65 Trans. N. Y.Ac.Sci. 



ciliary ridges, and tlie patient at once exclain:ied : " What a heaven to 

 be relieved of pain ! " Food was administered in small quantities, and, 

 two hours after, a dinner of roast mutton was relished and retained. 

 The other cases were treated in a similar manner, without the " passes " 

 of the old-time mesmeriser, or the pretentious and dramatic display 

 seen in stage exhibitions, without even fixing the gaze or standing 

 before the individual. The voice probably did more than the hand, but 

 in one case that, too, seemed superfluous ; for the sufferer, a brawny 

 Welshman, not understanding EngHsh, while busy casting his bread 

 upon the waters, yielded to a pantomime, was led away from the ship 

 side and made to recline on the shoulder of the operator. The trance 

 became at once so profound that a pin introduced and left in the skin 

 •covering the back of the hand caused no wincing. Surgical operations 

 have also been performed, some of which will be described by Prof. 

 Jarvis of Bellevue College. Four facts may be stated as results : 



1. The trance state in many cases relieves sea-sickne'^s by restoring 

 nervous equilibrium, and in surgery is sometimes an adequate substitute 

 for ether. Not every one responds. Not every one is able to awaken 

 that faith, belief, expectancy, which Dr. Beard has already shown 

 before this Academy to be the subjective state out of which all these 

 phenomena are evolved. This persuasion cometh not readily to every 

 willing, yielding soul, still less to a reluctant, incredulous mind. Fail- 

 ures are mostly found in two classes, i. The querulous, dogged, 

 ■despairing sort, who, at home or afloat, nurse their pains and " enjoy 

 poor health," as they say. 2. The curious, voluble and volatile, who 

 wish to listen to and join in conversation. But failures with these, at 

 the first or second meeting, are by no means final or decisive. Seques- 

 tration and silence on the part of the patient, and perseverance on the 

 part of the operator, often secure success in apparently obstinate cases. 



2. Tranciform states, /. e., where control is partial and unconscious- 

 ness is incomplete, frequently afford proportionate relief. 



3. The sense of subjugation and helplessness that comes over one, 

 when in the grasp of Neptune or the surgeon, is sometimes a helpful 

 accessor}-. It is analogous to the yielding attitude of the animal under 

 a tamer or trainer, and not unlike the paralyzing influence of a panic. 



4. The feeling of certainty on the part of the operator is a vital 

 factor of success. It cannot be taught. It is gained by victorious 

 achievement. Nothing is so successful as success. One subject under 

 control will spread psychical contagion through a whole assemblj', and 

 at once exalt their ideas of the power of the controller. In private 

 practice assurance is better shown by gentleness than by bluster, by 

 undemonstrative, quiet tones, and by the general air of one who speaks 



