HYPNOTISM: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT. 761 



but of going to sleep. The subject should be seated in a comfort- 

 able position, preferably with his back to the light. The recum- 

 bent position is not usually necessary. While the patient's eyes 

 are still fixed, as just described, upon the operator's eyes, the lat- 

 ter says, in a monotonous but distinct tone : " Your eyelids are 

 getting heavy, very heavy. Your eyes are red and moist. You 

 are getting sleepy, very sleepy, very sleepy, Now you are nearly 

 asleep. Your eyelids are shut ; you can not open them, because 

 you are asleep, fast asleep. Try as hard as you will, you can not 

 open them. You can not wake up," etc. While these words are 

 being uttered, the lids begin to drop and the eyes really look 

 sleepy, and, if the subject is a good one, the pupils can generally 

 be seen to dilate and contract alternately. 



If two fingers of one hand slightly separated be held before 

 the patient's eyes, he rolls his eyes down, following the fingers as 

 they are moved down until the eyelids actually close. When the 

 eyes close the subject is almost asleep, and a few judicious words 

 afiirming that he is asleep complete the hypnotizing. 



In order to obtain good results it is necessary to watch the sub- 

 ject very carefully. Every sign of submission to the hypnotic 

 influence should be immediately turned to account. Thus, if the 

 eyes are seen to close suddenly, the subject should be at once told 

 that he is asleep and can not wake up. If, instead, the operator 

 adheres to a rigid formula, he may affirm the presence of sleep too 

 soon, and the subject loses confidence, and the trial fails. Tlie 

 great secret of success is to watch closely, and suit the words to the 

 symptoms of sleep as they develop. The importance and the dif- 

 ficulty of doing this well can only be appreciated after trial. 



The rationale of this mode of hypnotizing is very simple. It 

 consists essentially in an imitation of the processes of ordinary 

 sleep by means of verbal suggestion. The attention is fixed by 

 making the subject look into the physician's eyes, which thus an- 

 swer the same purpose as Braid's glass knob. The heaviness of 

 the eyelids, the dryness and subsequent moistness of the conjunc- 

 tiva, and the gradual approach of somnolence, are natural ejDisodes 

 which usher in ordinary sleep. These we actually bring into ex- 

 istence by acting on the imagination through speech. It is a case 

 of verbal suggestion in the waking state. The skill of the hyp- 

 notizer consists in making the subject believe he is going to 

 sleep ; that is all. It is not necessary that he should possess any 

 peculiarities of temperament and voice, as has been supposed. 

 Strokes and passes are useless, except in so far as they heighten 

 suggestion. In short, everything lies in the subject and not in the 

 hypnotizer. Nobody can be hypnotized against his will. 



The persons who prove most refractory are so because they 

 either consciously or unconsciously resist the operator's influence. 



