768 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



raenter, "We could cite several acts, to say the least unseemly, com- 

 mitted by hysterical patients, which were crimes in miniature, per- 

 formed by an unconscious subject, and instigated by one who was 

 really guilty, and who remained unknown. At the Salpetri^re a 

 paper-knife has often been placed in the hands of an hypnotic subject, 

 who is told that it is a dagger, with which she is ordered to murder 

 one of the persons present. On awaking, the patient hovers round her 

 victim, and suddenly strikes him with such violence that I think it 

 well to refrain from such experiments. It has also been suggested to 

 the subject to steal various objects, such as photographs, etc. 



To give an idea of the mathematical precision with which the sug- 

 gested act is executed on awaking, one of the present writers per- 

 formed the following experiment : We showed to the somnambulist 

 an imaginary spot on a smooth surface, which we could only afterward 

 ascertain by means of careful measurement, and we ordered her to 

 stick a penknife into this spot when she awoke. She executed the 

 order without hesitation and with absolute correctness : a criminal act 

 would have been as punctually executed. 



It is interesting to ascertain whether the subject who is actuated 

 by an irresistible impulse behaves like an automaton subsisting on a 

 basis of the past, on his memory and habits, or if, on the contrary, the 

 subject is capable of reflection and of reasoning like a normal individ- 

 ual. This latter is more frequently the case. When care is taken to 

 suggest a somewhat complex act, for the performance of which some 

 combination is necessary, we may obsex've that the subject invents 

 such combined expedients although they had not been suggested to 

 him, and this inventive process shows that everything is not explained 

 by comparing him to an automaton. For instance, it was suggested 



to a subject that she should poison X with a glass of pure water 



which was said to contain poison. The suggestion did not indicate in 

 what way the crime was to be committed. The subject offered the 



glass to X , and invited him to drink by saying, " Is it not a hot 



day?" (It was in summer.) We ordered another subject to steal a 

 pocket-handkerchief from one of the persons present. The subject 

 was hardly awake when she feigned dizziness, and staggering toward 



X , she fell against him and hastily snatched his handkerchief. 



When a similar theft was suggested to a third subject, she approached 



X , and abruptly asked him what he had on his hand. While X , 



somewhat startled, looked at his hand, his handkerchief disappeared. 



These facts show that the hypnotic subject may become the instru- 

 ment of a terrible crime, the more terrible since, immediately after the 

 act is accomplished, all may be forgotten — the crime, the impulse, and 

 its instigator. 



Some of the more dangerous characteristics of these suggested acts 

 should be noted. These impulses may give rise to crimes or offenses 

 of which the nature is infinitely varied, but which retain the almost 



