Animal Alagneiism 299 



During the " sixties " there was an undergraduate at 

 Cambridge who also had very great power of mesmerising, 

 though at that period he only exercised it for the sake of 

 amusement. His " patients " were other undergraduates, 

 more especially a particular one who was peculiarly 

 susceptible to his influence, and amongst other per- 

 formances gave frequent exhibitions of clairvoyance. After 

 being touched on the " bumps " over the eyebrows, and 

 made to believe he was blind, he would read any book 

 aloud, the Times newspaper and so forth ; but the curious 

 part of it was that the volume in question had to be held 

 BEHIND HIS HEAD, and if placed before his eyes he was 

 quite unable to read a word. To all intents and purposes 

 he was blind for the time being, and would blunder over 

 furniture in the middle of a well-lighted room exactly as if 

 he was bereft of sight, or in a completely dark room. Any 

 small article, such as a knife or pencil, held up behind his 

 head he would at once identify, and he could recognise 

 them just the same when some one held them up on the 

 further side of a closed door, so long as he stood with his 

 back towards it. We generally kept the door just 

 sufficiently ajar as to enable us to peep through and see if 

 he was right, but whether the door was entirely closed or 

 not made no difference to his power of perception. The 

 only time I can remember to have seen him puzzled was 

 when some one took out his watch and swung it round by 

 the chain as fast as possible. He persisted in saying " It 

 is a wheel." At last the owner of the watch ceased to 

 swing it, and immediately the other exclaimed, " Oh, it is 

 a watch " as soon as ever the gyrations became slower, and 

 he was also able to discern the hour that the hands 

 pointed to. When in this state he could tell us where 



