7 S 
A New Theory of Trance. 
[January, 
and most intellectual minds they are apt to be in constant 
and usually successful rebellion against the authority of 
reason : any influences, therefore, that excite any or all of 
these emotions may be regarded as exciting causes of 
trance. 
The almost universally held belief that the mesmeric 
form of emotional trance is caused by some force or fluid 
(animal magnetism) passing from the body of the operator 
into the body of the subject, is, according to Dr. Beard, as 
far from the truth as any view on any subject possibly can 
be ; it makes no difference what is done to produce mesmeric 
trance ; it makes no difference who does it ; it is a subjective 
matter entirely, and all depends upon the emotions of the 
subject — what he fears, expeCts, or wonders at. 
To intellectual trance belong the extreme cases of what 
are commonly characterised as absent-mindedness — a state 
which is quite distinct from simple mental attention. The 
popular term absent-minded, as applied to those who become 
so absorbed in thought that they are unconscious of what is 
going on around them, and perhaps respond automatically 
to external suggestions or influences, is, in view of the theory 
of trance advocated by Dr. Beard, a happy one, since it ex- 
presses with partial correctness the real state of the brain 
during an attack of that kind. A large portion of the brain 
is aCtive, and, until aroused, is insensible to surroundings, 
and thus responds mechanically. The biographies of illus- 
trious thinkers are filled with instances, some of which are 
probably correct, of this form of trance. Thus Walter 
Bagehot says of Adam Smith, the great political economist, 
that his absence of mind was amazing. On one occasion, 
having to sign his name to an official document, he produced 
not his own signature, but an elaborate imitation of the 
signature of the person who signed before him : on another 
occasion, a sentinel on duty having saluted him in military 
fashion, he astounded and offended the man by acknow- 
ledging it with a copy of the same gestures. 
In these intellectual trances, great thoughts have been, 
without doubt, evolved, that would have been impossible to 
the brain in its normal state. 
Dr. Beard then proceeds to show how by his hypothesis 
all the. faCts of all forms and phases of trance are explained, 
unified, and made harmonious ; it is only by this hypothesis, 
he affirms, that it is possible to give any unity or solidarity to 
the phenomena of this state. 
M He argues, First, — That this hypothesis accounts for the 
loss of the control of the will and the automatism of trance, 
