828 OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



than an ordinary bystander would suppose possible. And it is to be borne in mind that 

 the concentration of the attention upon these may often give them a far greater significance 

 to the individual, than they possess for others ; this, it seems likely, is especially the case 

 in regard to tones of voice, emphasis of manner, &c., when questions are propounded. 



4. The Muscular system may also be excited to action in unusual modes, and with un- 

 usual energy. Notwithstanding the fallacy of many of the cases of Cataleptic rigidity 

 which have been publicly exhibited, the Author is satisfied, from investigations privately 

 made, of the possibility of artificially inducing this condition. A slight irritation of the 

 muscles themselves, or of the skin which covers them as by drawing the points of the 

 fingers over them, or even wafting currents of air over the surface is sufficient to excite 

 the tonic muscular contraction, which may continue in sufficient force to suspend a con- 

 siderable weight, for a longer period than it could be kept up by any conceivable effort of 

 voluntary power. But these are phenomena which are quite as well displayed in Artificial 

 Somnambulism induced in other ways, as they are in the "mesmeric" state ; and do not 

 afford, therefore, any more than the preceding, the slightest indication of the speciality of 

 the latter, or the least proof of any extraneous influence exerted over the " subject." 



5. Various effects, it is asserted, maybe produced upon the Organic Functions by " Mes- 

 meric" influence ; and it is on account of this agency, that it claims to be admitted as a 

 directly curative agent. It will be hereafter shown, however, that effects of a precisely 

 similar kind may be produced in other forms of Artificial Somnambulism, by simply fixing 

 the attention on the part ; and that the same may be done, even in the ordinary waking 

 state, in certain subjects who can be worked up to the requisite pitch of confident expecta- 

 tion. (See CHAP, xviu.) 



The foregoing are the principal phenomena of the " Mesmeric" state, in regard to which 

 the Author feels his mind made up. He does not see why any discredit should be attached 

 to them, since they correspond in all essential particulars with those of states which 

 naturally or spontaneously occur in many individuals, and which he has had opportunities 

 of personally observing, in cases in which the well-known characters of the parties placed 

 them above suspicion. When the facility with which the mind of the Somnambulist is 

 played on by suggestions (conveyed either in language, or through other sensations which 

 excite associated ideas), and the absence of the corrective power ordinarily supplied by past 

 experience, are duly kept in view, many of the supposed "higher phenomena" of Mes- 

 merism may be accounted for, without regarding the patient on the one hand as possessed 

 of extraordinary powers of divination, or on the other as practising a deception. Thus, 

 bearing in mind that Somnambulism is an acted dream, the course of which is governed 

 by external impressions, it is easy to understand how the subject of it may be directed by 

 leading questions to enter buildings which he has never seen, and to describe scenes which 

 he has never witnessed, without any intentional deceit. The love of the marvellous, so 

 strongly possessed by many of the witnesses of such exhibitions, prompts them to grasp 

 at and to exaggerate the coincidences in all such performances, and to neglect the failures ; 

 and hence reports are given to the public, which, when the real truth of them is known, 

 prove to have been the results of a series of guesses, the correctness of which is in direct 

 relation to the amount of guidance afforded by the questions themselves. In like manner, 

 the manifestations of the excitement of the "phrenological organs" seem to depend upon 

 the conveyance of a suggestion to the patient, either through his knowledge of their sup- 

 posed seat, or through the anticipations expressed by the bystanders. Many instances 

 are recorded, in which the intention has been stated of exciting one organ, whilst the finger 

 has been placed upon or pointed at another ; and the resulting manifestation has always 

 been that which would flow from the former. It does not hence follow that intentional 

 deception is being practised by the Somnambulist ; since the condition of mind already 

 referred to causes it to respond to the suggestion which is most strongly conveyed to it. 



In regard to the alleged powers, which are said to be possessed by many Somnambulists, 

 of reading with the eyes completely covered, or of discerning words inclosed in opaque 

 boxes, or of giving an account of what is taking place at a distance, all coming under the 

 general term Clairvoyance, the Author need only here express his conviction that no case 

 of this description has ever stood the test of a searching investigation. 



With respect to the modes in which the " Mesmeric" Somnambulism is induced, it ap- 

 pears to him that they are all referable to those states of monotony of sensory impressions, 

 and of expectation, to which reference has been already made as among the most potent of 

 the predisposing causes of conditions allied to Sleep ($ 843). It is asserted by Mesmeri- 

 zers, that they can induce the "Mesmeric" state from a distance, without the least con- 

 sciousness on the part of their "subjects" that any influence is being exerted on them 

 an assertion, which, if true, would go far to establish the existence of a force altogether 

 sui generis, capable of being transmitted from one individual to another. Here, however, 

 as in regard to the "higher phenomena" last adverted to, the Author feels compelled to 



