770 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sleeplessness, constipation, diarrhoea, and certain manifestations 

 of hysteria. Still, I do not wish to imply that hypnotic suggestion 

 is of use in all forms of functional disease. In a large number of 

 trials of the influence of hypnotism upon the insane, Forel found 

 that the insanities supposed to be unaccomj)anied by anatomical 

 changes in the brain were as little benefited as those which are 

 known to be the result of actual brain-disease. 



The majority of the insane are difficult or impossible to hypno- 

 tize. Yet, with insistance, it is possible to influence a small pro- 

 portion of cases, and to even temporarily abolish hallucinations ; 

 but in general the results are unsatisfactory. In a series of ex- 

 periments made to determine the effect of suggestion upon the 

 fixed delusions of the form of insanity popularly known as mono- 

 mania, it was found that ^q delusions could occasionally be 

 driven away for an instant during sleep — that is, the patient could 

 be made to renounce them ; but in every instance they were pres- 

 ent to their fullest extent as soon as the hypnotic influence wore 

 off. 



Chronic alcoholism is one of the conditions in which the most 

 gratifying effects have been obtained by therapeutic suggestion. In 

 several instances the habit of drinking was permanently broken, 

 and all desire for alcohol destroyed by means of energetic sugges- 

 tions against its use. The habitual use of morphine, chloral, and 

 cocaine has been similarly overcome. The constant surveillance 

 of such patients, afforded by an asylum, is of course an important 

 auxiliary feature in determining such cures. One must not sjDeak 

 with too great certainty as to the permanency of these cures, for 

 the cases have not been under observation long enough to pre- 

 clude the possibility of relaj)se. 



In a few cases, certain bad habits in children have been broken 

 through suggestion, and I am confident that hypnotism has an im- 

 portant application here. 



The frequency and duration of the hypnotic sittings, as em- 

 ployed for the cure of disease, vary with the character of the 

 ailments. In chronic alcoholic disease, for example, the patient 

 should be hypnotized every day for at least half an hour, and it is 

 generally many weeks before much benefit can be obtained. On 

 the other hand, attacks of neuralgia or migraine may sometimes 

 be cured at a single sitting, I recently saw a case of spontaneous 

 somnambulism in a young girl cured in this way. The patient was 

 in the habit of walking in her sleep, and had been under treat- 

 ment by physicians for a long time, but none of them had suc- 

 ceeded in doing anything to improve her condition. Finally, she 

 was brought to Prof. Forel, was hypnotized and treated with ener- 

 getic suggestion, directed against her sleep-walking. Six months 

 have elapsed, and the somnambulism has not once reappeared. 



