THE REVIVAL OF WITCHCRAFT. 517 



ject who usually presented herself at the clinique on that day for 

 what was commonly spoken of as " the cat performance." This 

 was a Mile. V., much described by Dr. Luys in his Legons Cli- 

 nique s sur les Phenomenes de V Hypnotisme. 



Of her Dr. Luys speaks as follows in his lectures to his pupils, 

 to whom he presents her in set phrase as " an example of the de- 

 gree of exaltation which memory and imagination may acquire in 

 certain somnambulic subjects when other regions of the brain are 

 in the condition of functional inhibition." 



Here is Mile. V., a professor of foreign languages, who is endowed with ex- 

 quisite sensibility for hypnotic phenomena. For her, hypnotization has become 

 an actual necessity, like morphine for morphinomaniacs. She is interested in all 

 questions of this kind, for some time she followed punctually all the lectures 

 which I gave here, and, as you will see, when I ask her if it interests her, she 

 replies that she comes with pleasure, but she understands nothing about it; it is 

 too technical. She only comes, she says, to assist in the experimental part of my 

 lectures, and now when I question her she will tell you that she has not retained 

 anything in her mind; that she lias a very bad memory, and that she is incapable 

 of giving the least account of the matter. That is what she is in the normal state, 

 as you see, and you can accept the sincerity of her words. Now I will throw her 

 into somnambulism, and you will see that the picture will change altogether. I 

 say to her : " You are no longer Mile. V., you are M. Luys, you are at the Charite, 

 in his amphitheatre, and you are going to give his lecture on suggestion in his 

 place." You see, she accepts my words with docility; she incarnates herself in 

 my person; she takes my habits of language and of gesture, and, once started, 

 you see with what facility, although a foreigner, she talks French, and with what 

 correct sequence of ideas her explanations are given. She is never wrong ; she 

 finds the correct technical word; she varies her intonations, and presents really 

 the innate qualities of a professor. More than that, you will now see a curious 

 scene. I have a subject brought in and, placed in this arrn-chair in front of her, 

 tell her, " Here is a hypnotizable subject, whom you will send to sleep," and yofl 

 will be surprised to see her repeat point by point the various proceedings for pro- 

 ducing hypnosis; she explains to you accurately the symptomatic characters of 

 lethargy, those of catalepsy, of somnambulism, in which state she is herself at this 

 moment actually plunged, the different peculiarities belonging to these various 

 states, details of the habits and manners peculiar to hypnotics, and, if I were not 

 to interrupt her, she would go on talking thus for whole hours, until her strength 

 was completely exhausted, and she would fall back again into lethargy. 



This account of this remarkable person, which I had read be- 

 forehand, so much interested me that I was desirous to see her, 

 and very sorry that she was not there on the usual day to play 

 the cat. But not to disappoint us, the male patient, of whom I 

 have spoken, was introduced in her place. He was rapidly hyp- 

 notized by holding a finger in front of his eyes, and when he had 

 arrived at the proper stage Dr. Luys took out a tube and said, 

 " We will try the valerian on him, but I am not sure it will suc- 

 ceed." The tube was, however, put inside his coat-collar in con- 

 tact with his skin. Presently he became very uneasy, disturbed 



