R. S. HYER-LAW OF HYPNOTISM. 
7 
hypnotism; but it shall not hold me: I will throw it off and lift this 
woman.” With one mighty effort I wrenched myself from the grasp of 
my invisible foe; my strength returned, and instantl} T I lifted with all 
my might. The effort proved a failure, for the reason, as I at once de¬ 
tected, that the position in which I had been forced to stand made it a 
physical impossibility. Upon telling her this, she allowed me to change. 
When she had again placed her hand upon my neck I once more exam¬ 
ined myself to see if my invisible foe had not again seized me. Again I 
found it necessary to shake it off. Then suddenly I pulled the woman 
towards me and raised her to a height of a foot or more, despite her 
struggles and painful pressure with her thumb against my neck. This, 
her only failure, she explained, to the complete satisfaction of her audi¬ 
ence, as being due to the fact that her hand had slipped from my neck; 
thus breaking the “ flesh contact” necessary for the full exercise of her 
power. 
Fully satisfied that hypnotism was the agent employed, I was now only 
concerned in the manner of its production. She used none of the manip¬ 
ulations usually employed, and denied that she was a hypnotist. I soon 
saw that contact with her subjects was not necessary, several whom she 
did not touch at all being unable to lift children. I could at that time 
see nothing common to her various feats save the single fact that she suc¬ 
ceeded only when her demands were fully met. The real significance of 
this could be made apparent had we time to consider the feats due solel} 7 
to mechanical agencies. It is mentioned now that we may trace the ef¬ 
fects produced by the significance I at that time attached to it. Some 
surrender of will I knew to be the one thing usually declared by hypno¬ 
tists to be indispensable to their success. Believing that by implicit obe¬ 
dience we were in some way surrendering ourselves to her influence, I 
determined to make certain mental reservations when next I was asked to 
do a thing in a definite way. Being directed to stand behind a child 
and grasp it by its arms, I departed from her instructions, but so slightly 
that she did not notice it. I then felt confident that I would be able to 
lift the child, and did so with ease. Turning quickly she directed that 
I .should try it again. For a moment I hesitated whether to disobey 
again or to follow in full her directions. I was anxious to defeat her, 
but there was a fascination in the thought that, should I obey her, there 
would again be an opportunity to experience that strange sensation. I 
submitted, and when I then attempted to lift the child it proved a task as 
impossible as it would have been had I attempted to lift a statue made of 
iron and bolted to the floor. Knowing where to look for the cause of 
my failure, I examined my legs, and found them again paralyzed. With 
a vigorous shake I regained control over my muscles, and then lifted the 
child. 
