SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XI. No. 281 



like f was found to have several advantages. Though not final, 

 these observations show what letters are good, and to a certain ex- 

 tent why they are so ; they similarly point out those that need reform, 

 and suggest the direction in which reform should take place, and, 

 quite as important, furnish us with a method of accurately testing 

 the advantages of any system of letters that may be proposed. 



One remark should be added. It is, that the legibility of the 

 letter is not altogether an objective factor, but depends on the fa- 

 miliarity of the letters to the person reading them. Just as it has 

 been shown that we are not as likely to name or write one number 

 as another when told to name a number, so the letters are not 

 equally present to our minds ; and certain letters will be more often 

 recognized or confused because we more constantly have them in 

 mind. The same process operates against the comparison of a new 

 form of letter with a conventional form ; for the new one, not be- 

 ing familiar, is less likely to be recognized because more rarely 

 present to the consciousness of the subject. Similarly, if the sub- 

 ject is informed that a certain letter is no longer to be shown, the 

 very same impression that would have led him to pronounce in 

 favor of the omitted letter will now have a different effect. In the 

 experiments a similar result, due to the omission of a certain letter 

 without the knowledge of the subject, was observed. 



Notes on Hypnotism.' — Dr. A. Dichas has made a detailed 

 study of the memory in the hypnotic state, and summarizes his 

 main conclusions somewhat as follows: (i) during the hypnotic 

 sleep the subject remembers the experiences of his waking life as 

 well as of previous hypnoses ; (2) in hypnotism there is often an 

 exaltation of the memory, and at times a cliange in its content, 

 leading to the assumption of a foreign personality ; (3) the memoiy 

 of what has been going on during hypnosis is usually lost, it can 

 often be revived by a simple suggestion, and at times the memory 

 of a suggested hallucination may linger on, and influence the wak- 

 ing condition ; (4) the operator can at his will have any of the acts 

 of the hypnotic state remembered or forgotten by making this a 

 part of a suggestion ; (5) suggestion seems to be largely explicable as 



unconscious memory. Dr. Cybulski has studied the power of 



hypnotic subjects to hypnotize themselves. He finds that such 

 subjects strongly imagine for a minute or less that the operator 

 commands them to go to sleep, and the desired result ensues. 

 Furthermore, if the subject, on going to sleep, imagines himself 

 controlled by a certain person, then, even though another sent him 

 to sleep, he will be subject to the former, and not to the operator. 

 These observations show the importance of the subjective element 

 in the process of hypnotism, and indicate the method by which the 



subject unconsciously takes suggestions and acts upon them. 



Dr. Berkhan has applied hypnotism to the amelioration of the 

 hearing of the deaf. He tested the hearing of nine deaf boys, and, 

 after hypnotizing them, sppke to them and had various noises 

 made before them. The hearing of four of them was found to be 

 improved, and the improvement is reported as still persisting after 

 eighteen months. 



HEALTH MATTERS. 

 Alcoholic Trance. 



Dr. T. D. Crothers of Hartford, Conn., at the recent meeting 

 of the American Medical Association at Cincinnati, read an inter- 

 esting paper entitled ' Alcoholic Trance: its Medico-Legal Rela- 

 tions.' In discussing this subject he said that the statements of 

 prisoners that they had no memory or recollection of the crime, or 

 the circumstances associated with it, are not often doubtful excuses 

 to avoid punishment. Certain physiological conditions, supported 

 by clinical facts, indicate beyond all question that such statements 

 are often psychological truths. 



In somnambulism the person may go about, and do many intri- 

 cate acts, without consciousness or recollection of them afterwards. 

 In epilepsy distinct periods of unconsciousness occur. Acts unu- 

 sual and often violent follow, which are never remembered. In 

 mania these memory-blanks are common, and the person is an au- 

 tomaton, acting without any conscious influence of the present. 



^ The reader : 

 number of the A 



;ferred to an exhaustive review of works c 

 Journal of Psychology. 



These are familiar illustrations of some unknown pathological and 

 psychological states of the brain, in which memory is suspended or 

 cut off, and the operations of the mind go on without realization of 

 the surroundings or the influence of experience. This is some ob- 

 scure form of psychological palsy, in which the person has no rec- 

 ollection of his acts during this time. 



From the many clinical studies of cases which have been made, 

 the following general conclusions seem to be sustained : — 



1. Alcoholic trance is not an unusual condition in inebriety. The 

 victim is literally an automaton, and acts without memory or con- 

 sciousness of passing events, — a state which may last from a few 

 minutes to several days. 



2. It is distinct from epilepsy, hysteria, or any known forms of 

 mania, and is found associated with some unknown condition fol- 

 lowing alcoholic poisoning, continuously or at intervals. 



3. This condition is probably one of brain-exhaustion, followed 

 by a lowering of consciousness till events are no longer clearly re- 

 membered ; or a suspension of nerve-force in certain directions, 

 closely allied to paralysis of certain brain-functions : hence there are 

 profound disturbances of brain-centres, and impaired and lessened 

 responsibility. 



Dr. Crothers has obtained the records of a large number of trance 

 cases, and his paper gives many of these in detail. 



One group of trance cases seems never to do any thing outside a 

 natural, accustomed order of every-day life. Thus, a farmer in 

 this state goes on with his regular work. A physician continues 

 to visit patients, and a railroad-conductor attends to all his usual 

 duties, without any memory of these states. A second group of 

 trance cases seems prominent by unusual acts and thoughts. Thus, 

 a banker in this state left his regular work, and went round deliv- 

 ering tracts in the lower parts of the city. A quiet, retiring man 

 became vociferous, bold, and aggressive. A peaceful man was 

 combative, a truthful man untruthful, and a conscientious, re- 

 ligious man was treacherous and sceptical. Later, these events 

 were perfect blanks in their memory. In a third group of trance 

 cases, some unusual line of conduct seems to grow out of the sur- 

 roundings unexpectedly, or some old buried thought or conception 

 comes to the surface. Thus, a clergyman insists on riding with 

 the engineer on the engine. A sceptical physician takes part in a 

 prayer-meeting. A merchant goes round threatening to kill an old 

 schoolmaster who punished him in boyhood. A wealthy man has 

 a new will written, disposing of his property differently every time. 



In the two last groups criminal cases occur most frequently, al- 

 though some very remarkable instances have been reported under 

 the first group. In a little work entitled ' Alcoholic Somnambu- 

 lism,' Professor Jerusky of St. Petersburg mentions the case of a 

 chief of police, who was an inebriate, ordering the arrest and exe- 

 cution of two suspected Jews. His orders were carried out in 

 form, but not in reality. A day later he recovered from his trance 

 state, and had no recollection of the past : he had total amnesia of 

 this act. Another case is cited of an officer who ordered a house 

 burned down, on the supposition that its inmates were preparing 

 to destroy his command. Two days later he awoke with no mem- 

 ory of this event, and could give no reason for the act. 



In these cases the somnambulistic act was along the line of his 

 usual work, and performed without the slightest consciousness of 

 its nature or consequences. 



The criminal trance cases may be divided into two classes, one 

 of which seems to have no history of cri,minality previous to the 

 commission of the crime. They are inebriates of active neurotic 

 temperament, who have occupied reputable stations in life, and 

 belong to the better classes. All crime is unusual with them, and 

 apparently grows out of the alcoholic poisoning. The second class 

 are the low neurotics and defectives by birth and education. They 

 have a history of irregularities of life and conduct that seems to 

 prepare the way for criminal acts, and probably are more subject 

 to the trance state because of defective heredity. 



All these cases in court are unrecognized. A degree of reason- 

 able conduct up to the time of the crime, and after it, is assumed 

 to be evidence of knowledge of the surroundings and consequences 

 of the act. No fact of inebriety, or statement of no recollection, is 

 thought to lessen in any way the responsibility of the act. 



Clinical facts indicate that in all cases of inebriety there is a de- 



