SCIENCE. 



271 



To Mesmer we cannot even give the credit of inven- 

 tion, for hypnotism or uncompleted Somnambulism or 

 ecstatic sleep, as you choose to call it, occupies still as 

 it did then a high place among certain religious sects. 

 It is nothing more than ecstacy, where exterior compre- 

 h°nsion is lost and replaced by a series of visions en 

 rapport with the preoccupation of the subject. I will 

 show you presently that although ecstasy is generally of 

 a religious character, there are many exceptions and that 

 in fact anv vivid mental emotion can provoke it. 



The fakirs of India frequently induce the condition, 

 not by absorbing themselves in some holy or poetical 

 idea, but simply by gazing fixedly at space or some 

 bright object or spot ; some of them look at the end of 

 their nose. The Grecian monks are also celebrated for 

 being able to produce Hypnotism by looking steadily at 

 a certain point or thing, and will remain insensible for 

 hours. The result of this is that they enjoy the reputa- 

 tion of either holiness or witchcraft, according to the 

 form of the delirium which usually follows. 



At all times that which was called conteinplative 

 asceticism has been produced by fixing the gaze upon 

 some brilliant or shining object to which was attributed 

 some particular virtue or sacredness. These contempla- 

 tions, together with violent mental excitement, were rap- 

 idly succeeded by hallucinations, apparitions, and in 

 short, ecstasy. 



Mahometanism even, although not particularly mys- 

 tical, has likewise produced special forms Hypnotism. A 

 prolonged and monotonous sound in these cases was 

 more effectual than a fixed gaze. 



Among the disciples of Hussein, the martyr, ecstacy'is 

 induced by means of tambourines beaten incessantly in 

 a rapid and monotonous manner, accompanied by meas- 

 ured chanting. This ceremony frequently occurs at 

 night, and in a short time the subjects are in a state of 

 ecstacy, in which cutaneous insensibility is so marked 

 that all the tortures undergone by the martyr can be like- 

 wise inflicted upon them without eliciting a cry or groan. 



But these phenomena are shown in still more intense 

 a manner in the sect of Aissaoua. many representations 

 of which can be met with in our Algerian colony. Those 

 who have had the rare good fortune of witnessing one of 

 their ceremon : es have been struck with the degree of 

 anaesthesia which seems to affect these people. 



The ceremony takes place at night, generally in some 

 deserted plain. The tambourines keep up a constant 

 monotonous sound. The subjects seat themselves about 

 an immense fire and gradually fall into a condition of 

 ecstacy. Sume of them writhe convulsively and utter 

 prolonged cries. Anaesthesia becomes complete and then 

 some can be seen applying their tongues to bars of red 

 hot iron, while others eat Barbary figs, the long thorns of 

 which come directly through their cheeks from the inside, 

 causing their faces to stream with blood. Still others 

 swallow live spiders and scorpions, which remarkable, 

 feats often result very seriously. 



In short, all Hypnotics proceed precisely the same way, 

 by fixing the eyes, generally squinting, upon a certain 

 point, or else listening attentively to a monotonous 

 sound. 



These methods which have been and always are em- 

 ployed to produce the phenomena, are, as we shall see, 

 quite determined. 



We are indebted to Braid for the first well regulated 

 and experimental work upon Hypnotism, and in 1841, this 

 English surgeon, after having witnessed so-called mag- 

 netic experiments, discovered that the prolonged fixture 

 of the eye or hearing, and not a mysterious fluid, was the 

 source of the incontestable phenomena he had observed. 

 Scientific Magnetism, we may say, began with Braid. 



He knew a series of experiments, for the most part 

 extremely curious, which had just been made in France 

 by Dupotet and Puysegur. These two men, who were 

 imbued with Mesmer's ideas, had wondered if the tub 



were really necessary, and if the magnetic fluid we all 

 possess could not be transmitted from one person to an- 

 other. They therefore procured a number of nervous 

 persons and endeavored by a series of motions which 

 nowadays we designate as passes, to realize some palp- 

 able effects. By this means sleep was produced much 

 more rapidly than by Mesmer's method. Magnetism 

 had been effected by communication, and it exists to this 

 day, considerably augmented and enriched by all sorts of 

 inconceivable folly. 



Braid asked himself whether passes did not consti- 

 tute a simple hypnotic process, and whether the contem- 

 plation of a fixed or moving point would not produce the 

 same result as all these absurd magnetic gestures. His 

 experiment was crowned with success, and his subject 

 fell into the hypnotic sleep by simply looking at a metal 

 ball. The magnetic fluid had been overturned ! 



The condition formed in this purely physical manner 

 was such, and the insensibility so complete, that Braid 

 was able to operate upon the subjects, and even amputate 

 their limbs. His experiments were repeated in France by 

 Broca, Verneuil and Lasegne, the same results making 

 themselves apparent. 



Unfortunately, hypnotism cannot be induced with ev- 

 erybody. A number of unsuccessful attempts have always 

 been observed, and then came the introduction of chloro- 

 form and ether. Braid's experiments were lost in obliv- 

 ion until a courageous French savant, Professor Charcot, 

 took them up, and brought them to points, which I shall 

 proceed to demonstrate. 



But first of all, let me show you some experiments in 

 hypnotism. Animals can be hypnotized by Braid's process 

 as well as human beings. 



Here is an old experiment borrowed from Father 

 Kircher. I take a hen and place it upon this black table 

 in a sitting position, its head resting on the table. I then 

 trace a chalk line from the end of its beak, upon which 

 its eyes are instantly fixed. I remove my hands, and 

 you seethe hen remains motionless. I can pinch it and 

 burn it, still it does not move. If I replace the chalk line 

 bv an electric light, the effect will be still more intense. 

 This fact is equally noticeable in man, a sudden surprise 

 can produce the same effect. I seize the chicken 

 brusquely and place it rudely upon the table. It is mo- 

 tionless, hypnotized, Preyer says cataleptic, the word is, 

 however, of no consequence. The same experiment is 

 very successful, you also see, with a sparrow. If the bird's 

 head be placed beneath his wing, the hypnotic sleep lasts 

 a very long time. 



A Guinea pig can be easily hypnotized. I take one of 

 these little animals, a female, for M. Laborde has shown 

 thit the experiment is only successful with this sex, and I 

 extend it brusquely upon its back. You see that it re- 

 mains as 1 have placed it without moving, and that it is 

 insensible, for I pinch it with all my strength. 



Here is another one upon whose ears I hang some bril- 

 liant bits of steel. It turns its head from side to side to 

 look at them, and now has fallen asleep so soundly that I 

 cannot wake it. I fire a pistol so close to its ear that its 

 moustache is singed, but it does not move. 



These animals are hypnotised ; their condition consists 

 in a total loss of sensibility. But they are not asleep, they 

 do not dream, they are not somnambulists. 



Hypnotism can be produced in almost any one who 

 makes himself perfectly passive. But if you experiment 

 upon one of those persons whom we call hysterical you 

 will obtain quite a different condition. The same means 

 bring you to artificial somnambulism. The difference 

 in the subject produces the difference in the effects. Here 

 it is that M. Charcot's experiments and the Salpetriere 

 investigations begin, in which I was kindly permitted to 

 assist. 



I must first of all tell you what a hysterical subject is 

 and what constitutes the principal phenomena she pre- 

 sents, for we shall see that her condition of Somnam- 



