Reverie, Somnantbuhs?n, Hypnotism, Sleep. 807 



often happens that the perceptions are not sufficiently dulled to be 

 duped by the declaration of the operator, or some of them are while 

 others are not. Thus the assurance of the operator may deceive the 

 perception of taste when it is unable to deceive that of sight, or vice 

 versa, etc. As long as there is any remnant of the dominant idea, the 

 operator can use it to build upon, and as it often happens that the cere- 

 bral memories of the subject begin to awaken and consequently to 

 counteract the influence of the dominant idea, the operator can gener- 

 ally reinforce the latter and maintain control by repeated and emphatic 

 assertions which serve to con vine* the subject that he cannot success- 

 fully resist; that is, he brings back the attention which was beginning 

 to wander off. The most remarkable detail of this phenomenon is 

 what is styled the control of the memory of the subject by the opera- 

 tor. "The subject is assured that he cannot remember the most familiar 

 thing, his own name for example; and he is prevented from doing so, 

 not by the will of the operator, but by that conviction of the impossi- 

 bility of " doing it, which by absorbing the attention, diverts it from 

 starting the cerebral process necessary to the reproduction of the mem- 

 ory. The abolition of the conviction of personal identity is one of the 

 strange phases possible under this control of the memory. The subject 

 being assured that he is Mr. Smith instead of Mr. Brown is absolutely 

 unable to recall enough of the memories of his own life to identify 

 himself and contradict the conviction of the dominant idea. Here, as 

 in the other cases, it is not possible for the subject to disengage enough 

 attention from the dominant idea to restimulate the memory organs 

 which would establish his identity. On the contrary the conviction that 

 he is Mr. Smith may work itself out in actions and expressions, and 

 he will begin to talk and smirk and pose as he has seen Smith do. 



The hypnotic subject can be made to fall into ordinary sleep by as- 

 surances and orders to that effect from the operator. Moreover, if the 

 time be set for the subject to awaken again spontaneously, he will be 

 very likely to do it. Evidently, in such case, the conditions of natural 

 sleep are artificially produced. Some persons naturally go to sleep the 

 moment they are ready. All they have to do is to undress and get into 

 bed at the proper hour, and within a very few minutes they are asleep. 

 The expectation of sleep, and the withdrawal of attention from all ob- 

 jects of thought, speedily reduces the blood supply, and puts the brain 

 in the necessary condition. The same principle governs the induction 

 of sleep when the subject is in the hypnotic state, only the conditions 

 are intensified. Again, the subject may be enjoined to sleep until the 

 operator gives some certain signal for his waking. For example, a sub- 

 ject is ordered to sleep till his name is called. He may be tickled or 

 shaken, and loud noises sounded in his ears without effect, but he will 



