720 Hypnotism in Animals. [September, 



To such inaccurate reports he applies the term " events viewed 

 unequally." From this view the " experimentum mirabile" of 

 Kircher is characterized as inaccurate, it is an " event viewed un- 

 equally." Czermak repeated the experiment, tying the legs of 

 the fowl, pressing it down upon its side and making the chalk 

 mark in front of its bill. It laid quiet, panting just as Kircher 

 has described. The chalk line was then dispensed with, and still 

 the animal remained quiet ; and finally the tying of the feet was 

 left out, and still the same result. It was not therefore the im- 

 agination of the hen, produced by the chalk line, as Kircher 

 supposed, that rendered the animal lethargic, but some other 

 cause not yet explained. 



A friend of Czermak's told him a story about mesmerizing craw- 

 fish ; that by making certain passes in the direction of the body, the 

 animal became stiff and soon stood on its head, and after a while 

 by reverse passes it resumed its natural position and crawled off. 

 Czermak was skeptical, but a capture from the neighboring 

 brook dissipated his doubts. Just what has been described took 

 place. Not only this but Czermak himself found he also pos- 

 sessed the same magic power over the Crustacean. He was not 

 satisfied to stop here. Pursuing his experiments, he found that 

 passes were not needed either to put the 'crawfish on end or to 

 bring him down again. He obtained a basketful of the animals, 

 turned them out on the table, stirred them up a little, and lo ! all 

 of them turned tail up and stood so for a short time, when they 

 gradually descended and crawled away. It was further observed 

 that the crawfish would remain motionless in any position in 

 which forcibly held until struggling ceased. Czermak repeated 

 his experiments with ducks, geese and swans with similar re- 

 sults; but whether he is justified in claiming, as he does, with the 

 positiveness of italics, " that he has proved the appearance of 

 hypnotism in animals," I think is open to doubt, and it may be, 

 in the light of the naturalists' knowledge, that even he has not 

 viewed his " events equally." Czermak makes another statement 

 with which I very much doubt whether those who have studied 

 the habits of animals, will agree. 



He says : " With animals every one feels safe from all thoughts 

 of deception." Evidently he had never surprised a 'possum in a 

 midnight raid upon a hen-roost; or if he had witnessed that in- 

 teresting animal " playing possum," he may have considered it a 



