June 3, 1887.] 



8CIENCE. 



543 



we can reasonably assert that the hypnotic 

 phenomena which depend upon the disturbance 

 of a regular function of the organism demand for 

 their development a peculiar temperament, then 

 we shall find the most marked phenomena when 

 we turn to an hysterical person." 



The inferences of the Parisian school up to this 

 time are somewhat the following, but their re- 

 sults, belonging almost entirely to the medical 

 side of the question, can have no place in this 

 discussion. They divide the phenomena of hys- 

 tero-hypnotism, which they also call grande 

 hysterie, into three plainly separable classes, which 

 Charcot designates catalepsy, lethargy, and som- 

 nambulism. 



Catalepsy is produced by a sudden sharp noise, 

 or by the sight of a brightly gleaming object. It 

 also produces itself in a person who is in a state 

 of lethargy, and whose eyes are opened. The 

 most striking characteristic of the cataleptic con- 

 dition is immobility. The subject retains every 

 position in which he is placed, even if it is an 

 unnatural one, and is only aroused by the action 

 of suggestion, from the rigor of a statue to the 

 half life of an automaton. The face is expres- 

 sionless, and the eyes wide open. If they are 

 closed, the patient falls into a lethargy. 



In this second condition, behind the tightly 

 closed lids, the pupils of the eyes are convulsively 

 turned upward. The body is almost entirely with- 

 out sensation, or power of thought. Especially 

 characteristic of lethargy is the hyper-excitabili- 

 ty of the nerves and muscles (hyperexcitabilite 

 neuromusculaire), which manifests itself at the 

 slightest touch of any object. For instance, if the 

 extensor muscles of the arm are lightly touched, 

 the arm stiffens immediately, and is only made 

 flexible again by a hard rubbing of the same 

 muscles. The nerves also react in a similar man- 

 ner. The irritation of a nerve-trunk not only 

 contracts all the small nerves into which it 

 branches, but also all those muscles through 

 which it runs. 



Finally, the somnambulistic condition proceeds 

 from catalepsy or from lethargy by means of a 

 slight pressure upon the vertex, and is particularly 

 sensitive to every psychical influence. In some 

 subjects the eyes are open, in others closed. Here, 

 also, a slight irritation produces a certain amount 



of rigor in the muscle that has been touched, but 

 it does not weaken the antagonistic muscle, as in 

 lethargy, nor does it vanish under the influence of 

 the same excitement that has produced it. In 

 order to put an end to the somnambulistic condi- 

 tion, one must press softly upon the pupil of the 

 eye, upon which the subject becomes lethai'gic, 

 and is easily roused by breathing upon him. In 

 this early stage, somnambulism appears very in- 

 frequently. 



Charcot's school also recognize the existence of 

 compound conditions, the history of whose symp- 

 toms we must not follow here. These slightly 

 sketched results, as well as a number of other 

 facts, were only obtained in the course of several 

 years ; yet in 1882 the fundamental investigations 

 of this school were considered virtually concluded, 

 'i'hen Dumont-pallier, the head of the Parisian 

 Hospital piti(5, came forward with a number of 

 observations, drawn also exclusively frcmi the 

 study of hystero-hypnotism, and yet differing 

 widely from those reached by the physicians of 

 the Salpgtriere. In a long series of communica- 

 tions, he has given his views, which have in their 

 turn been violently attacked, especially by Mag- 

 nin and B6rillon. I give only the most important 

 points. 



According to these men, the hyper-excitability 

 of the nerves and muscles is present not only in 

 the lethargic condition, but in all three periods ; 

 and in order to prove this, we need only apply the 

 suitable remedy, which must be changed for each 

 period and every subject. Slight irritations of the 

 skin prove this most powerfully. A drop of warm 

 water or a ray of sunshine produces contractions 

 of a muscle whose skin-covering they touch. 



Dumont-pallier and Magnin accede to the theory 

 of intermediate stages, and have tried to lay down 

 rules for them with as great exactness as Char- 

 cot's school. They also are very decided about 

 the three periods, whose succession does not ap- 

 pear to them as fixed ; but they discovered a new 

 fundamental law which regulates the production 

 as vpell as the cessation of the cond ition, — La 

 cause qui fait, defait; that is, the stimulus which 

 produces one of the three periods needs only to be 

 repeated in order to do away with that condition. 

 From this the following diagram of hypnotic con- 

 ditions is evolved : — 



Proflsure upon the vertex. Somnambulism. Pressure upou the vertex. 



Action of ligbi. Catalepsy. / X Catalepsy. Action of light. 



Pressure upon the pupil of the eye. Lethargy. / A Lethargy. Pressure upon the pupil of the eye. 



Norma] condition. 



Awalieuing. 



