NEEDLES AND THORNS. 13 



his eyes are fixed, and he will remain from thirty to sixty seconds in the 

 :>ame posture in which he had at first only been held by force. His head 

 remains resting on the table in the position shown in fig. 7. This experi- 

 ment, which we have successfully performed on different animals, can also 

 be accomplished by drawing a straight line with a piece of chalk on a slate. 

 M. Azam declares that the same result is also produced by drawing a 

 black line on a table of white wood. According to M. Balbiani, German 

 students had formerly a great predilection for this experiment, which they 

 always performed with marked success. Hens do not, when operated on, 

 fall into a cataleptic condition so easily as cocks ; but they may often be 

 rendered motionless by holding their heads fixed in the same position for 

 several minutes. The facts we have just cited come properly under the 



Fig. 8'.* Ordinary pin and needle, seen through a microscope (magnified 500 diameters). 



little studied phenomena, designated by M. Braid in 1843 by the title of 

 Hypnotism. MM. Littre* and Ch. Robin have given a description of the 

 hypnotic condition in their Dictionnaire de Mcdccinc. 



If any shining object, such as a lancet, or a disc of silver-paper 

 gummed to a plate, is placed at about the distance of a foot from the eyes 

 of a person, slightly above the head, and the patient regards this object 

 fixedly, and without interruption for twenty or thirty minutes, he will 

 become gradually motionless, and in a great number of cases will fall into 

 a condition of torpor and genuine sleep. Dr. Braid affirms that under 

 such circumstances he has been able to perform surgical operations, without 

 the patient having any consciousness of pain. Later also, M. Azam has 

 proved the complete insensibility to pricking on the part of individuals 

 whom he has rendered cataleptic by the fixing of a brilliant object. The 



