Miscellanea. 358 
pare, he yields himself up to the ‘ dominant idea.”* Here, again, we 
perceive that it is not really the will of the operator which controls the 
sensations of the subject; but the suggestion of the operator which excites 
a corresponding idea, the falsity of which is not corrected, simply because 
the mind of the subject, being completely engrossed by it, cannot appre- 
hend the truth less forcibly impressed on it through his own senses. Not 
only muscular movements, but other bodily changes, attest the reality of 
this domination; thus a biologized subject may be brought to feel the 
apartment so intensely hot, that a perspiration breaks out upon his skin; 
or he may be so persuaded of its coldness, that he forthwith begins to 
shiver; and sleep may often be induced, by assuring him that in a few 
minutes he will be obliged to give way to it. In a case witnessed by the 
Lecturer, a lady to whom chloroform had been twice administered (so that 
she was aware of the mode of its action) was made to believe that she was 
again inhaling it; she soon passed into the usual insensibility, and remained 
perfectly unconscious for a few minutes, after which she came to herself in 
the manner she would have done if she had really been under the influence 
of chloroform. 
The same general statement applies to what has been designated as 
“control over the memory.” The subject is assured that he cannot 
remember the most familiar thing, his own name for example; and he is 
prevented from doing so, not by the will of the operator, but by the con- 
viction of the impossibility of the mental act, which engrosses his own 
mind, and by the want of that voluntary control over the direction of his 
thoughts, which alone can enable him to recal the desiderated impression. 
And the abolition of the sense of personal identity,—Mr. A. believing 
himself to be Mrs. B., or Mrs. C. believing herself to be Mr. D., and acting 
in conformity with that belief,—is induced in the same mode; the assurance 
being continually repeated, until it has taken full possession of the mind 
of the “subject,”’ who cannot so direct his thoughts as to bring his familiar 
experience to antagonize and dispel the illusive idea thus forced upon him. 
Now almost every one of these peculiar phenomena has its parallel in 
states of mind whose existence is universally admitted. Thus the complete 
subjection of the muscular power to the “ dominant idea” is precisely what 
is experienced in nightmare; in which we are prevented from moving so 
much as a finger, notwithstanding a strong desire to do so, by the con- 
viction that the least movement is impossible. The misinterpretation of 
+ It is very curious to observe, in some instances, the perplexity arising 
from the contrariety between the opposing sensory impressions. The mind 
seems unable to reconcile this contrariety, and yields itself up to the 
impression which is most strongly felt. Sometimes it is convinced by the 
repeated assurances of the operator, so long as the taste alone is opposed to 
them, but attaches a superior importance to the indications of seght; in 
other individuals, again, the indications of sight may be put aside, and yet 
the “ subject” cannot be made to believe what is in opposition to his sense 
of taste. There are some individuals who can never be thus played upon, 
notwithstanding that their muscular movements and their purely mental 
conceptions are completely amenable to this kind of direction. 
H 
