V ANIMAL AUTOMATISM 229 



which, in the normal state, sensations of touch are 

 excited, is that by which external influences 

 determine the movements of the body, in the 

 abnormal state. But does the state of conscious- 

 ness, which we term a tactile sensation, accompany 

 the operation of this nervous apparatus in the 

 abnormal state ? or is consciousness utterly absent, 

 the man being reduced to an insensible mecha- 

 nism ? 



It is impossible to obtain direct evidence in 

 favour of the one conclusion or the other ; all that 

 can be said is, that the case of the frog shows 

 that the man may be devoid of any kind of 

 consciousness. 



A further difficult problem is this. The man is 

 insensible to sensory impressions made through 

 the ear, the nose, the tongue, and, to a great 

 extent, the eye ; nor is he susceptible of pain 

 from causes operating during his abnormal state. 

 Nevertheless, it is possible so to act upon his 

 tactile apparatus, as to give rise to those molecular 

 changes in his sensorium, which are ordinarily the 

 causes of associated trains of ideas. I give a 

 striking example of this process in Dr. Mesnet's 

 words : 



" II se promenait dans Ic jardin, sous un massif d'arbres, on 

 lui remet a la main sa canne qu'il avait laisse tomber qnelqOM 

 minutes avant. II la palpe, promene a plusieurs reprises la main 

 sur la poiguee coudee de sa canne devient attentif semble 

 preter 1'oreille et, tout-a-coup, appelle ' Henri ! ' Puis, ' Les 

 voila ! Us sont an moins une vingtaine ! a nous deux, nous en 



