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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV. No. 369 



SCIENCE: 



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FoL. 2V. NEW YOEK, Feeruabt 38, 1890. No. 369. 



A New System 



Floob-Constbuotion 137 



"Wae-Balloons 138 



Heat and Yentilation 138 



An Electbical Diamond-Drill. .. 139 

 The Electric-Light Convention 1.39 

 The Fisheries of New Zealand.. 140 



Book-Reviews. 

 A Popular Treatise on the Winds 



W. M. D. 142 



Notes and News 144 



Becent Studies in Hypnotism 146 



Among the Publishers 147 



CONTENTS: 



Fibe-Proof Letters to the Editor. 



Physical Fields 



Nelson W. Perry 147 



Supposed Aboriginal Fish-Weirs 

 in Naaman's Creek, near Clay- 

 mont, Del. 



n. W. Haynes; S. D. Feet 151 

 The Fiske Range-Finder 



J. F. Denison 151 

 Soils and Alkali D. O'Brine 153 



Industrial Notes. 



The Electric Light in Japan 153 



A Big Road goes in for Electri- 

 city 153 



Photography done Quickly 153 



RECENT STUDIES IN HYPNOTISM.' 

 Hypnotization against the Will of the Subject. 



While it has been generally admitted that subjects who have 

 "been frequently hypnotized lose the power of resisting the cus- 

 tomary manipulations of the operator, or. in other words, that 

 -the natural suggestion of going to sleep at the sight of the 

 operator and his proceedings is stronger than the auto-sugges- 

 tion not to yield (just as we may fall asleep, in spite of all 

 .effort, at a lecture or social gathering) , yet great stress has 

 Ijeen laid upon the original consent of the subject to submit to 

 1;he operation, as well as upon a considerable power of resistance 

 by sheer determination. Dr. Herrero, a Spanish writer on the 

 .subject, has recently announced a means of hypnotizing any 

 body and every body, nolens volens. 



A great number of those classed as non-hypnotizable will 

 succumb, says this authority, if the process be maintained for a 

 .sufficient length of time. As this is very trying to the 

 operator, a device may be resorted to by which the subject is 

 forced to gaze continuously at a bright object, the operator 

 re-enforcing the suggestion to sleep. If, however, the subject 

 resist the proceedings, one may bind him, and force him to 

 .assume the position necessary for hypnotization. But this 

 .drastic process may be dispensed with; for in those cases in 

 '.which it is necessary, for therapeutic or correctional purposes, 



* Mainly from current numbers of the Revue de rHypnotisine. 



to hypnotize a person, Dr. Herrero has another method. It is 

 based upon the discovery that in light chloroformization there 

 is a stage in which the subject obeys suggestions as readily as in 

 hypnotism. This period may at first be brief, but may be 

 prolonged by care and practice. While in this ' 'chloroformic 

 somnambulism," the suggestion is given that in future no such 

 agency will be necessary to hypnotize the subject, in some the 

 suggestion is made gradually that they will resist less and less ; 

 and so on. While this disposes of those unconsciously resisting 

 hypnotization, does it apply to those opposing it voluntarily? 

 Here is a case in point. A patient showed a morbid fear of 

 hypnotism, regarding it as a Satanic art, and absolutely refus- 

 ing to be hypnotized. It had been attempted over and over 

 again, but in vain. Chloroformization was proposed, to which 

 she consented. The first day it required fifteen grams to bring 

 on the susceptible period, then thirteen, and so on until the 

 patient went to sleep by merely staring at the doctor's fingers, 

 and became a good hypnotic subject. By this means, then, it 

 is proposed to induce a state by the action of drugs from which 

 the transition is easy and certain to ordinary hypnotism. It 

 seems probable that there will be much discussion and experi- 

 mentation in this novel mode of extending the powers of 

 hypnotism. 



Auto-Hypnotism. 



By this is meant the power to put one's self to sleep. We 

 do this every night, and persons differ very markedly in the 

 ease and rapidity with which they fall asleep both at night and 

 at other times. Dr. Coste de Lagrave has developed this power 

 to a considerable extent, making himself at once operator and 

 subject in an hypnotic experiment. The best time to experi- 

 ment is just after awakening. One then attempts to go to sleep 

 again for a short time only. One may wake and go to sleep 

 again three or even five times in an hour. The sleep is light, 

 may be accompanied by dreams, and the sleeper be sub-con- 

 sciously aware of his condition. When the sleep is still lighter, 

 and self-consciousness is largely present, the auto-hypnotic 

 state has appeared. Dreams may occur, though the dreamer 

 is perfectly conscious that he is dreaming, and may even 

 attempt to direct these dreams. This amounts to auto-sugges- 

 tion. To enter this state, the author lies down, closes his eyes, 

 tries to sleep, keeping his thoughts fixed on the desired auto- 

 suggestion. Here are a few instances of his success. As the 

 result of a dysentery contracted in Tonkin, he could not walk a 

 mile without extreme fatigue. One evening he gave himself 

 the suggestion not to become tired, and the following day he 

 was able to take a long walk. He suggests good appetite, and 

 suggests away dyspepsia and cold feet, even under the most 

 trying circumstances, such as in the open air on a cold day, and 

 finds that his feet are really warm to the touch. Hallucinations 

 are thus excited. He writes, talks interestingly, all by auto- 

 suggestion. But the process is not without its disadvantages. 

 Fatigue, depression, and sometimes severe headache, are the 

 results. Like all phases of hypnotism, it has its uses and 

 abuses. While this power is thus unusually developed in the 

 cases cited, it undoubtedly exists to a lesser degree in many; 

 and it would not be difficult to find in the habits of all a close 

 analogy to what is here termed "auto-suggestion." 



Retro-active Hallucinations. 



This name has been given by Dr. Bernbeim to hallucinations 

 suggested back into the experience of the hypnotized subject. 

 He is told that so many days or weeks ago he was a witness of 

 such and such an act. The suggestion is accepted, perhaps 

 additional details are added, and the fictitious event is 

 embodied with the ordinary experiences of life. The case to be 

 here noted is interesting, on account of influencing several at 

 once, some without direct personal suggestion, and on account of 

 being accepted by a person who happened to be sleeping nor- 

 mally. In one of the wards of the hospital. Dr. Bernbeim 

 hypnotized eleven patients while one was sleeping noi-mally. 

 He tells one of his subjects, ' 'You see No. 3 seated on a chair. 

 Yesterday he came back intoxicated, sang and shouted through 



