xlii Proceedings. {^April 15th, igo2. 



for at Grisnez lighthouse, between the 10th and 14th of October, 

 1 90 1, 6,oco birds were caught by means of nets placed under- 

 neath its brilliant lights ; and a revolving mirror is used in some 

 countries to attract birds for the so-called sportsmen to shoot. 

 The moth will continue to flutter around the lighted candle until 

 it is irresistibly drawn into the flame, and fishes are attracted to 

 their destruction at night, by means of a lighted torch held over 

 seas or rivers ; while migratory birds follow the setting sun in 

 their flights. 



It is well known that, by staring fixedly at a bright piece of 

 metal on a dark disc, the mind becomes hypnotised, as observed 

 Dr. James Braid of Manchester. This eff'ect is also easily 

 produced in any fowl by the old experiment of placing it with 

 its beak to the ground, and drawing therefrom a chalk mark 

 in a straight line, which is infinity to its poor brain and it becomes 

 hypnotised. 



I have an overmantel mirror, and, when seated before the 

 fire, the reflection of the lamp obtrudes itself so persistently that 

 I have to cover it. I find it impossible to avoid looking at it, for 

 one's eyes irresistibly travel and unconsciously find the light, 

 until it becomes so irksome that I turn away discontented or 

 cover up the mirror with any convenient material. 



A scientific man of my acquaintance informs me that, when 

 he was about 15 years of age, whilst watching a pair of bevel 

 wheels revolve which were attached to the governors of a steam 

 engine, he felt an almost irrepressible desire to put his finger 

 between the cog-wheels, well knowing what the result would be, 

 and had he remained gazing at them for a sufficient length of time, 

 the desire would have been too strong for him to resist. 



Another case is that of a boy about 1 2 years of age, who was 

 attracted by a hole in the roller of a beaming frame, and had an 

 irresistible desire to place his finger in it, with the result that the 

 finger was badly crushed. 



It is well known that serious railway accidents are often 

 caused by a pointsman pulling a wrong lever. Is it not possible 

 that he becomes hypnotised by viewing the polished levers, and 



