December it, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



329 



Tbose ills which the hypnotist can eure by suggestion, he 

 can also frequently produce by the same method. As he 

 can suggest the disappearance of pain, as in some forms of 

 paralysis he can bid the return of strength and suppleness to 

 the heavy, powerless limb, so he can induce the suifering 

 and the impotence of disease. If, during the hypnotic 

 trance, I tell my friend Dr. 0. that on awakening he will find 

 one leg paralyzed and feel rheumatic pains in his shoulder, 

 the suggestion is certain to be carried out; and he drags his 

 leg, and complains of twinges in his shoulder, until I assure 

 him that he is cured. But Dr. C. is remarkably susceptible 

 to hypnotism. Fortunately, a subject must generally fall 

 into a profound sleep before he consents to receive disagree- 

 able suggestions; whereas a slight degree of hypnosis will, 

 in most cases, be a sufficient vehicle for those that are bene- 

 ficial. I have seen the very painful and obstinate neuralgia 

 left after " shingles" entirely and permanently removed in 

 a few minutes by suggestion. The patient, a sailor, was very 

 slightly influenced by hypnotism, but was extremely "sug- 

 gestible." 



Bernheim maintains that natural sleep is the result of 

 auto-suggestion : we lie down in the accustomed place, at 

 the usual hour, in the expectation of sleep, and it gener- 

 ally comes. He maintains also that hypnotic and natural 

 sleep are essentially identical. While agreeing with him 

 that there is a great similarity between the states; that natu- 

 ral sleep is often of the hypnotic type — for instance, the 

 dreamless sleep of childhood; — that hypnotic sleep may fre- 

 quently be used as a perfect substitute for natural sleep, — 

 into which, indeed, it often passes, — I still believe that the 

 two stales diffi.r from each other in several essential points. 



The theory tliat hypnotism, when used in the treatment of 

 moral cases, subverts free will, is erroneous. The originally 

 healthy and well disposed subject, who has sunk into habits 

 of injurious self-indulgence through temptation from sur- 

 roundings, exhaustion from overwork, anxiety, or some 

 other cause outside himself, has for the time being lost his 

 freedom of will, while the victim of an 'hereditary tr.int or 

 congenital deficiency, who is naturally weak or vicious, or 

 strong only in the direction of vice, may be said never to 

 have possessed it. To the former, hypnotic suggestion will 

 very probably restore his power of will ; in the latter, the 

 treatment may possibly develop it, especially if he be yet 

 young, and time and patience be given to the task. 



Regarding the capacity to hypnotize: no special gift seems 

 required, though one operator may succeed in a case where 

 another has failed. The secret of success here is the same 

 as in other methods of medical practice, and lies in knowing 

 when to apply the remedy, and how to gain the confidence 

 of tlie patient. Several medical men of my acquaintance 

 are easily hypnotized, but this does not prevent them from 

 successfully hypnotizing others, any more than having been 

 anaesthetized by chloroform oneself prevents one administer- 

 ing it to a patient. 



The question of applying hypnotism to children, as a means 

 of moral reformation, is a very serious one. Many people 

 say that they would rather have their children naturally bad 

 than hypnotically good ; and I confess to feeling much 

 sympathy with the sentiment, if the badness is within normal 

 limits. 



Voisin reports cases of older people who have been re- 

 formed by hypnotic suggestion, including some of the worst 

 type of Parisian women, on whom other means of conversion 

 had been vainly tried. Many of these cures, he says, have 

 proved permanent; but my own experience leads me to fear 



that in such extreme cases a fresh temptation — a strongep 

 suggestion to evil — generally causes a relapse. 



Those physicians who advocate the use of hypnotism ad- 

 vise it, not as a specialty, but as an auxiliary, an adjunct to 

 the practice of every medical man. It is found remarkably 

 effective for the alleviation of pain, even in cases of incura- 

 ble organic disease, such as cancer, heart disease, and loco- 

 motor ataxy; and for the relief of sleeplessness, prostration 

 from overwork of mind or body, hysterical suffering, and 

 such disturbances of nutrition as accompany anaemia and 

 phthisis. 



The dangers arising from the popularization of hypnotism 

 have, I think, been overrated, though, as I have said, there 

 is no denying that they exist, and that precautions should be 

 taken against them. The two opposing schools of Paris and 

 Nancy have at least one point in common: they both insist 

 on the necessity of ordering and limiting the practice of 

 hypnotism. 



One of the most striking warnings on record against the 

 abuse of hypnotic experiments is the story of lima Szandor, 

 which Dr. von Krafft Ebing has given at length in a small 

 volume. This young girl, a Hungarian by birth, was of 

 hysterical constitution, and proved extraordinarily suscepti- 

 ble to hypnotic suggestion. She fell into the hands of per- 

 sons whose ill-judged zeal and curiosity carried them to 

 lengths which seem almost incredible, and her life was ruined 

 by cruel and senseless experiments. She was hypnotized 

 several times a day for some months, apparently by any one 

 who chose to practise upon her, and was made the victim 

 of very painful and distressing suggestions. For instance, 

 a pair of scissors was on one occasion laid upon her bare 

 arm, and she was told that they were red hot, and would 

 burn her. All the effects of a severe burn were brought 

 about by this suggestion ; an inflamed and blistered spot, 

 taking the shape of the scissors, appeared on her arm, and 

 took months to heal. The unhappy girl at last became in- 

 sane, and, I believe, still remains so. 



Professor Pitres mentions several cases where the excessive 

 and misapplied use of hypnotism, accompanied by injurious 

 suggestions, has been followed by grave attacks of neu- 

 rasthenia; and in my own practice I have met with instances 

 where amateur hypnotism has led to violent attacks of hys- 

 teria, followed by delusions. I have found it necessary to 

 exercise great caution in hypnotizing hysterical and neurotic 

 subjects. When I first began to use this treatment I wisiied 

 to determine some points of interest, and for this purpose I 

 frequently hypnotized two good subjects, one a strong, 

 active-minded woman, the other a very muscular and robust 

 young officer, whom I had cured of alcoholism. After a 

 few weeks the woman began to complain of continual weari- 

 ness, and of occasionally feeling dazed and confused; and 

 the young man invariably suffered from headache if I hyp- 

 notized him more than once in the twenty-four hours, or if I 

 made suggestions of an unpleasant or irritating character. 

 On perceiving this I gave up experimenting on those sub- 

 jects, and the unpleasant symptoms passed off in a few days. 

 But at the time I formed the opinion, which subsequent 

 events have strengthened, that hypnotism is not such a per- 

 fectly harmless thing as some would make it out to be, and 

 that the hypnotic state should never be induced except under 

 trustworthy advice, for a definite beneticial object, and by a 

 responsible operator. If sound-minded and healthy persons 

 suffer from being hypnotized too frequently though every 

 care is exercised in the operation, how much greater suffering 

 and risk must be incurred when the subjects are probably 



