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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 322 



■memory in the process, a chapter is devoted to a rather miscellane- 

 ous description of the appearances in a typical subject. The re- 

 lation of these facts to the influence of mind over body is next ably 

 discussed, and this is followed by a study of suggestion in the 

 waking state. Here the exposition is interrupted by a controversial 

 chapter, and the course of thought again changed to afford room for 

 a brief historical sketch. Theoretical considerations conclude the first 

 iportion of the work. Part If. consists of a careful analysis of over 

 ■one hundred cases in which the curative effects of suggestion were 

 illustrated, with some account of the nature of the action in such 

 cases. These cases are derived from the most various types of dis- 

 ease, and prove, that, in the hands of a careful expert, this means 

 of betterment and cure is most valuable. Instead of filling out 

 the skeleton plan of the work just given, it maybe more serviceable 

 to the prospective reader to illustrate the chief results of this labo- 

 rious study. 



The hypnotic condition is found to be only a somewhat extreme 

 case of natural sleep. Every night we place ourselves in an accus- 

 tomed attitude, seek a monotonous course of ideas, and will to go to 

 sleep. It is auto-hypnosis. In artificial hypnotism the sleeper re- 

 mains subject to the control of an operator, because that is the 

 dominating idea in going to sleep. From this it follows that no 

 one can be hypnotized totally against his will : the patient must 

 have some notion that something unusual is to happen. Time and 

 ■again has an operator, unknown to the subject, willed the latter to 

 sleep, but to no purpose. Just as in sleep the will is subdued but 

 not extinguished, so in hypnotism the patient is not totally in the 

 hands of the operator. An act shocking to the moral susceptibil- 

 ities must be insisted upon, and repeatedly, before it is executed. 

 Nor is the individuality of the subject lost. His past attainments 

 are all that can be drawn upon : no new power is developed, but 

 the hidden recesses of the unconscious are ransacked. 



A distinctive point is the memory the subject retains of what 

 ■was done during the hypnotic condition. In all the deeper stages, 

 upon awakening, nothing is recalled : the interval is a complete 

 blank. But Dr. Bernheim most ingeniously shows that the knowl- 

 edge is latent only, not lost. By careful hinting, the subject can be 

 made to recall all that happened ; and, if a suggestion be given 

 that he is to recall what happens, then remembrance is complete. 

 It is at this stage that the medico-legal interest centres. The un- 

 'consciousness of the victim would be the safeguard of the criminal. 

 Not only this, but a suggestion can be given that hours, days, or 

 weeks after awakening, the subject is to commit some outrage, and 

 insist that it was done of his own free choice. In some cases 

 " retro-active " suggestions are possible. The subject is told that 

 he has been a witness to certain acts. He assimilates the incident 

 to his experiences, elaborates it, and is certain of his testimony. 

 The Tisza-Eslar affair is a case in point. The judicial complica- 

 tions arising from these facts have yet to be satisfactorily solved. 



Hypnotism magnifies the action of the mind upon the body, 

 shows that processes usually beyond voluntary control or influence 

 ■can by extreme attention be psychically influenced, wounds can be 

 made and cured, the pulse be slowed or quickened, and even stig- 

 mata be produced. Here lies the essence of all the mind-cures ; 

 and it is only by a conscientious study of all such facts that mental 

 healing can be placed upon a sound basis. Hypnotic cures act by 

 keeping up a hopeful disposition, by focusing the attention on the 

 object of cure, by dispelling worry, — all naturally efficacious pro- 

 <:esses. It is avowedly impotent incases of organic lesion, but finds 

 its special application in cases of impairment of nervous function. 



Finally, hypnotism illustrates the extremely subtle steps of un- 

 conscious suggestion. The least change of facial expression, in- 

 dicative of surprise, of gratification, of anxiety, is enough to give 

 the clew to a sensitive subject. In this way many observers have 

 been misled into attributing to physical or more mysterious in- 

 fluences what they have unconsciously suggested. This fact 

 makes this field of study at once fascinating and treacherous. It 

 requires peculiar talents and great shrewdness. 



Such are a few of the main points which hypnotism has con- 

 tributed to a scientific psychology. This contribution is of the 

 greatest value, and especially when contrasted with the pernicious 

 tendencies of the uncritical and sensational consideration of the 

 same phenomena thereby displaced. While great credit is due to 



Dr. Charcot and his associates for introducing the scientific era 

 into hypnotism, and braving the contempt that such a step in- 

 volved, equally great is the merit of the school of Nancy for reliev- 

 ing the phenomena of much of their mystery, and adding in every 

 direction to our knowledge of these valuable conditions. 



Natural Inheritmice. By FRANCIS Galton, F.R.S. London 

 and New York, Macmillan. 8"'. $2.50. 



Mr. Galton hardly needs an introduction to American readers. 

 His researches into the heredity of genius, his study of the pre- 

 dominant traits of English scientists, his invention of composite 

 photographs, together with a large number of interesting and origi- 

 nal memoirs, have made his name and work known wherever new 

 applications of scientific methods are appreciated. In the present 

 work the author takes up the general problem of the processes of 

 inheritance, upon special aspects of which he has expressed his 

 views upon various occasions. His data are derived from entries 

 according to the plan of the " Record of Family Faculties." This, 

 it will be recalled, is a convenient book for the recording of the 

 chief physical and mental characteristics of an individual, his par- 

 ents and grandparents, his brothers and sisters, his own children, 

 and so on. Prizes were offered for the most complete sets of such 

 records ; and from the answers to this competition for the prize, as 

 well as from measurements taken at the Health Exhibition, Mr. 

 Galton is able to deduce a few important and many subsidiary re- 

 sults. 



A prominent feature in the present work is the application of the 

 " probability curve " to the facts of physical variation, — an attempt 

 to apply mathematical conceptions in the field of biology, and to 

 found a science of biological statistics. We know that if a large 

 number of men be measured, and the number of men between 

 equal differences of height, let us say to each inch, be counted, the 

 result will be somewhat as follows : the largest number of men will 

 be found in the inch of height containing the exact average height 

 of all the men measured, and to either side this number will very rap- 

 idly decrease as we depart from the average. What the probability 

 curve does is to predict this rate of decrease, and to tell us how 

 many men will be found at each degree of variation from the mean 

 result. The test has been applied to quite a number of physiolo- 

 gical characteristics, and with success ; the numbers actually re- 

 corded, and those which the mathematical formula requires, being 

 in fair agreement. Wherever phenomena depend for their exact 

 appearance upon a large number of minute causes, no one of which 

 has a considerable effect, this law seems to dominate. " It reigns 

 with serenity and in complete self-effacement amidst the wildest 

 confusion. The larger the mob, and the greater the apparent 

 anarchy, the more perfect is its sway. It is the supreme law of 

 unreason." 



A point of particular interest in this curve is the point above and 

 below which there is an equal number of measurements. This 

 point — known as the probable error, because, if instead of meas- 

 urements we were classifying errors, it would be the error we as 

 often exceed as fall short of — in a sense determines the entire 

 curve, and the comparison of the probable errors of two homoge- 

 neous curves is all that is needed to show their complete similarity 

 and difference. It is by such methods and comparisons that Mr., 

 Galton reaches his results, and it is just because his results are 

 founded on such careful and ingenious methods that they can be 

 regarded as reliable and valuable. 



The chief outcome of the inquiry is the establishment of the law 

 of regression towards a mean. If we take the height of the father 

 and the height of the mother multiplied by 1.08, — the ratio of male 

 to female stature, — draw the mean between the two, and call 

 this the height of the " mid-parent," then the height of the child 

 will be nearer to the average of the race than the height of the 

 mid-parent, and will be so in a constant ratio determined as one- 

 third ; that is, the child will, on the average, be one-third less ex- 

 ceptional than his mid-parent. It is found, too, that the difference 

 between the heights of the father and mother is an unimportant 

 factor ; the children of parents differing much in height and those of 

 parents very similar in height being the same, provided the average 

 height of the parents be the same in the two cases. Upon this 

 basis, Mr. Galton has constructed a device by which we set weights 



