HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 75 



their remedying, because every amateur (if not every professional) at- 

 tempt hitherto made had only ended in failure, disappointment, and 

 loss of money. — The Builder. 



-**♦- 



HYPNOTISM IN ANIMALS. 



By Pbof. JOSEPH CZERMAK. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, BY CLARA N. HAMMOND. 



Lecture Second. 



YESTERDAY we proceeded far enough in our study of Kircher's 

 experiment, relative to the imagination of the hen, to establish 

 the fact of the usefulness of the string and chalk-line as necessary parts 

 of the procedure. Indeed, the stretching out of the neck and the de- 

 pression of the head are the only circumstances left which make any 

 decided impression on us. And, so far as we can see, the gentle ex- 

 tension of certain parts of the brain and spinal cord which is produced, 

 appears to be the cause of the remarkable effect which ensues. Never- 

 theless, we must not be too hasty in forming our conclusions ; we must 

 not, as the unlearned do, remain standing at an " event viewed un- 

 equally." 1 For, however apparently useless the string and chalk-line 

 may be, it is yet possible that they are not entirely without influence ; 

 and, on the other hand, the extension of the neck and depression of 

 the head are by no means established as necessary circumstances to 

 the perfection of the result. So, to-day, as already announced, we will 

 resume and complete our investigations, and, at the close, I will en- 

 deavor to show what relation the whole subject has to natural science, 

 to " spiritualism," etc. 



And I must request you to dismiss from your minds the hypothesis 

 that the extension of the neck and depression of the head have any 

 especial significance, for I have been entirely unable to produce in 

 pigeons the hypnotic effect which so readily ensues in hens, although I 

 proceeded in as nearly as possible a similar manner. On the contrary, 

 repeated experiments have shown that the unavoidable pressure ex- 

 erted upon the animal, as it is held, is of primary importance, and 

 that the apparently insignificant chalk-line is undoubtedly of some 

 moment. It is frequently the case that a hen, which, for a minute, has 

 been in a motionless state, caused by simply extending the neck and 

 depressing the head, awakes and flies away, but, on being caught 

 again immediately, can be placed once more in that condition of leth- 

 argy, if we place the animal in a squatting position, and overcome with 



1 By this phrase Prof. Czermak (pronounced Tshermak) means those cases of obser- 

 vation in which the eyes and ears perform correctly, but the perception is at fault. The 

 reporter tells the truth, but what he reports never actually took place. An event viewed 

 unequally is one that has not been thoroughly tested. 



