HYPNOTISM. 379 



does not enter, into the hypnotic state during the perfor- 

 mance of a post-hypnotic suggestion are not fully known. 

 At the time of giving it, the additions may be made, "When 

 you do this you will be fully awake," or " fast asleep " ; 

 but if neither of these suggestions be given, the person in 

 some cases enters afresh into the hypnotic state, in others 

 does not. 



If a post-hypnotic suggestion be carried out in a ^vaking 

 condition, the snbject may either think he has done- it of 

 his own free will, giving, if asked, some imagined reason for 

 his action ; or he may suddenly have the impulse, he knows 

 not why, to do the suggested action, and will, if ask^d for 

 an explanation, perhaps say, " The idea suddenly struck me." 

 Which of these explanations is given depends very much 

 on the person's self-observation, and on the naturalness or 

 absurdity of the action. 



If the action be very foreign to his nature, he may struggle 

 some little while against, the suggestion. These present 

 many analogies to those impulsive actions, sometimes quite 

 contrary to a person's character, which are occasionally done 

 independently of hypnotic suggestion. 



The length of time which intervenes between the giving 

 and the performance of a deferred suggestion may be very 

 long ; in one instance it was over a year. 



As an almost universal rule the person, in this interval, 

 is in a perfect normal condition. He appears to be, if 

 indirectly questioned, quite unconscious of what he will do, 

 and if directly questioned, will deny that he has the least 

 intention of so doing. 



Post-hypnotic suggestions, given to a person in a state 

 of somnambulism, may be not only of movements, but of 

 hallucinations, or of any mental change which can be effected 

 by suggestion during hypnosis. 



