342 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 195 4 



the use of artificial sleep have made great progress in the last few 

 years ; achievements in this field are, moreover, closely connected with 

 those in the field of chemical synthesis. In the past 30 years, a con- 

 stantly increasing number of hypnotics, producing an ever wider range 

 of physiological reactions, have become available to doctors. The 

 most recent barbiturics make it possible, before sending the subject off 

 into a deep sleep, to keep him in a somnolent state, in which his con- 

 sciousness is suppressed but his subconscious continues to function. 

 While he is in this state, an individual can answer the questions put 

 to him, but he can no longer control his replies ; it is thus possible to 

 obtain information from him which he would never have given, had 

 he been fully conscious. 



This method of questioning the subconscious is commonly used by 

 psychiatrists in order to diagnose mental diseases accurately; it is 

 called narcodiagnosis. It has also come to be employed, as "narco- 

 analysis," in forensic psychiatry, particularly for disclosing simula- 

 tion. During such medical examinations, some subjects have confessed 

 to crimes which they had committed, and this raises the question 

 whether their confessions should be used in the course of the legal 

 proceedings. This suggestion, however, has met with violent opposi- 

 tion, on the ground that the procedure involves a real "forcible entry" 

 into the human personality ; certain experiments, even in the medico- 

 legal field, have aroused very strong feelings. All those who consider 

 that the innermost recesses of the human mind are sacred and should 

 not be tampered with are categorically opposed to this method. 



This is not the place to raise the question whether the interests of 

 society should not take precedence over those of the individual and 

 whether the accused's right to lie should be respected. However, there 

 is no doubt that narcointerrogation raises moral and social problems 

 of prime importance and it would appear premature, at the present 

 stage, to introduce it into criminal investigation. 



Working on parallel lines, but without using hypnotic methods, 

 other research workers have tried to obtain from suspects, who were 

 fully conscious, replies of a kind enabling them to discover whether 

 the subjects were lying or not. They apply the various physiological 

 tests already mentioned, using a single apparatus, namely the poly- 

 graph or lie detector. The principle is to register simultaneously, on 

 the same recording cylinder, the subject's physiological reactions while 

 lie is being asked very precise questions relating to the case at issue. 

 The physiological tests applied are rhythm of breathing and heart 

 beats, blood pressure, and electric resistance of the skin. The examina- 

 tion consists of a certain number of questions (not exceeding 15) , some 

 having no direct connection with the crime, and the others, on the 

 contrary, being directly related to it. The subject must answer "Yes" 



