The characteristic feature of hypnosis is the presence of a condition in which a suggestion causes a reaction of the central nervous system definitely corresponding with the nature of the suggestion; underlying this bald-statement are some complex problems, which we shall discuss in their proper place, and in this chapter we shall confine our attention, as far as possible, to a description of the hypnotic phenomena, leaving the etiological questions thus involved for separate treatment. All the phenomena here to be discussed range themselves then either as phenomena of hypnosis itself or as phenomena dependent upon hypnotic suggestion.
The alterations of the ordinary functions of the body during hypnosis vary in their degree and number in accordance with the method of hypnotisation. Some subjects are able to move with perfect ease and freedom; thus they will brush a fly off the face with the hand, or change their position when one posture becomes wearying. Others present to the superficial observer all the appearances of being in a heavy sleep. The breathing is slower and deeper than in the normal condition, the inspirations. being full and prolonged; the pulse is somewhat slower, but increased in fullness and strength; in both respiration and pulsation there is an increased regularity. During the passage of the subject from the normal to the hypnotic condition the signs are not so constant; but, as a rule, one finds a slight acceleration of both pulsation and respiration.
At the moment when the subject passes in to hypnosis there is always, , more or less marked, a deep inspiration of peculiar quality. The haemic murmur of anaemia has a curious tendency in some cases to diminish or disappear in hypnosis; whilst mitral systolic, aortic diastolic, and other murmurs of endocarditic origin appear usually to be unaffected. The general condition of the subject when hypnosis has been induced is one of acute passivity; the position which the patient has taken up may remain the same down to the smallest detail for the space of half an hour or more; the fingers, clasped or open, will so remain. If at the beginning one foot has been slightly inverted, in half an hour’s time it will be inverted to the same degree; if the bead have drooped on one side, though the attitude be one seriously uncomfortable for a person in the normal state to maintain, it will remain in the same position. The subject can hear perfectly well; but the most amusing story may be told to others in the room without provoking the slightest reaction in him. The normal irritability of the nervous system has disappeared in a striking manner, and the stimuli provoking a reaction in the case of a person in the normal condition will produce no effect on him when hypnotised.
The eyes and the mouth often show striking symptoms of the onset of hypnosis. The closing of the eyes is generally preceded by a marked quivering of the eyelids, and these vibrations are often maintained for some time after the eyes have closed.
It is not always necessary that the eyes should be closed for a person to be hypnotised, though this is generally the case, and in many instances to open the eyes would awaken the subject. When the method of fascination is used the eyes may remain wide open the whole time. In the deepest hypnosis it is frequently found that the eyes are not quite closed, but that there is a slight opening left, through which the eyeball can be seen. Sometimes, as the eyes close, the eyeball turns upwards and remains in this position till the subject is awakened; at other times it is found that the eyeball returns to its natural position when the eyes are closed.
Perhaps a mom subtle symptom is the strange effect which the induction of hypnosis produces on the delicate muscles of the mouth. This symptom is one bf the most constant, and may be observed more or less marked in almost every case whether the hypnosis induced be light or deep. Often the symptom is only recognisable by a slight-compression of the lips; but frequently the contraction of the muscles is so obvious that the subject appears to be indulging in a grim smile.
In any but the lightest stages of hypnosis all muscular movements can be prevented or induced by means of suggestion. Thus the statement, “You cannot open your mouth,” or “You cannot bend your arm,” is sufficient to prevent the action being performed.
The subject may be unable to make the movement because he cannot contract the proper muscles; whilst in other cases the suggestion causes a contracture of the antagonistic muscles, and thus the forbidden movement becomes impossible. The simple inability is frequently seen when the suggestion, “You cannot open your eyes,” is made. Unable to contract the proper muscles, the subject attempts to open his eyes by elevating his eyebrows. The course of the suggestion in these cases is different, and depends upon the nervous system of the subject. In the case of simple inability the suggestion acts as a direct inhibition of motor impulses of the proper neuronic group; the case of antagonistic contracture the suggestion is expressed in physical terms by the action of the opposing group.
It is also possible to allow or prevent contraction for any one particular purpose. A subject, in response to the proper suggestion, will be able to say some definite word, but in all other respects will be absolutely dumb. He will be able to write, play the piano, sew, but quite unable to hold in his hand some given object.
As any muscular contraction can be inhibited so a contraction can be enforced. Thus the suggestion may be made that it is impossible for him to prevent his arm rising to a level with his shoulder; if there be any effort on the part of the subject to prevent this, it is on account of some suggestion that he should resist. The suggestion just mentioned contains the elements of such an additional intimation. By means of suggestion it is possible to compel the subject to cough, sneeze, laugh, weep, etc., etc. Paralysis of a leg or a foot, an arm or a hand, can be induced in the same way, In the case of those subjects who are in a deep stage a series of movements will be performed by them if they be so directed.
It is important to note that while suggestion may be made, and usually is made, verbally to the subject, it is by no means necessary that words should be used. All that is requisite is that the subject should clearly understand what it is that is desired of him. The organs of sense and perception are all channels for the conveyance of any suggestion made to the subject. It is found, for instance, that some action on the part of the hypnotist will tend to bring the suggestion more vividly before the mind of the patient
This fact led many to suppose that the physical action of the operator had some intrinsic value; such is, however, not the case; its only value lies in its power of intensifying the impression which it is desired to create. The professional magnetisers have been very fond of a particular method which is called, amongst other names, “imitation” “fascination,” and “Donatism” (this last from Donato, who made great use of it). In this system the operator fixes his eyes on the eyes of the subject, and after a short time the subject follows every movement made by the magnetist. If he lift an arm, the subject does the same; if he kneel, the subject kneels; and so on ad infinitum. Here fascination was the form of hypnosis induced. The same state can be obtained by opening the eyes of an hypnotised person, when the hypnotist, by gazing fixedly into his subject’s eyes will be able to obtain these imitative movements. If the finger, or the mounted top of a walking-stick, be placed before the subject’s eyes, he will follow the finger, or the stick, as the case may be; in all this it is clearly suggestion which is the basis of the phenomena. The subject will not perform any of these imitative actions, nor will he be “fascinated” by the stick, unless he fully understands that it is expected of him.
In very many ways, by a look or a movement, the hypnotist is often able to convey a suggestion to his subject which will be quite as potent as if made by means of speech. This extreme susceptibility to suggestion is either not known or is overlooked by the ordinary public, and the professional hypnotisers often avail themselves of this common ignorance to deceive those who may attend their exhibitions.
There is a particular form of suggestion which acts, in the first place, on what has been termed the muscular sense. By this term is meant that faculty which tells us, without the necessity of looking, the position of our limbs. It causes a peculiar phenomenon in hypnosis. The arm of a subject under hypnosis is raised by the hypnotist, and then let go. Instead of falling to his side the arm remains fixed in the position in which the hypnotist left it. In other cases, however, the subject will let his arm fall until the hypnotist gives the verbal suggestion that it shall remain rigid. The important point to be noted is that, in each ease, suggestion was the cause of this catalepsy; only in the former where the state was deeper and the subject in consequence more receptive of suggestion, it was sufficient to act on the muscular sense alone, whilst in the latter it was necessary to intensify .the suggestion by speech. Of course, other means could be used for the suggestive intensification besides speech; if the arm were held in one position for some minutes by the hypnotist, or a pass were made along the arm, the intended suggestion would probably take effect.
It has been said (Moll) that these muscular phenomena of contraction must be distinguished from the suggestion which induces them, and, certainly, the examination of any catalepsed limb is sufficient to show that in consequence of the suggestion there has been a striking physical change; but it is also claimed that in some cases the contraction is so great that a contrary suggestion will not suffice to counteract the effect of the first. The writer has observed numerous cases of the most rigid catalepsy, but this failure of the second suggestion is quite unknown to him; though frequently there is a delay of a few seconds before the arm regains its proper elasticity. This, however, seems explained by the auto-suggestion which the contracted state of the muscle would naturally have on the mind of the subject.
If, for example, the subject be prevented from shutting his mouth, when the contrary suggestion is made, the mouth will shut with a snap, clearly showing the suddenness with which the efferent impulses have ceased.
Another common phenomenon of the state is that called by Liébeault and Bernheim “automatic movement,” and by Max Dessoir “continued movement.” If the subject’s arms be rotated, or his hands set revolving round one another, they will continue to rotate or revolve. This again is due to an impression made on the subject, by virtue of which the result is precisely the same as if a verbal suggestion had been made to him Various and strange automatic movements will be continued by the subject, when they have been once started by the hypnotist, such, for instance, as rising from his chair and then sitting down, working the head backwards and forwards, opening and shutting the mouth, etc., etc. The subject will even continue to walk, if he be properly started.
In some few cases an extremely lethargic state is found in which the subject is apparently almost impervious to suggestion, and appears to be in a heavy sleep. This condition is accompanied by great muscular relaxation; the head falls forward, and the body loses all its strength and rigidity; if left to himself the subject will often fall from the chair and sink on the floor in a huddled mass. It is said by some that these subjects are insensible to suggestion; but, in a considerable number of cases of this description, it is possible to obtain a certain degree of susceptibility by adopting means calculated to strongly impress the subject with the suggestion; when this is gained, however, the response is often not decisive, and great languor still characterises all the movements.
The extent to which it is possible to obtain muscular contraction is clearly seen in the catalepsy of the -entire body, when the whole of the voluntary muscles become absolutely rigid. In this condition, the body may be placed with the head on one chair and the feet on another, and will remain in a perfectly straight line between these two points. So complete is the rigidity that the body in this position will sustain an enormous weight without bending. A youth, by no means athletic or exceptionally strong, in this rigid state, can sustain, without any apparent uneasiness and without any harmful result, a weight exceeding one hundred and fifty pounds.
Nearly every one is familiar, if only by repute, with the ordinary phenomena of the hypnotic state; motor impulses can be inhibited; deafness, dumbness, blindness, in many cases, can be caused, the special senses can be suppressed, so that the strongest ammonia can be held under the nostrils without the patient evincing any sign of discomfort. The proper suggestions being made, he will eat pepper and think it is sugar, or eat a tablet of soap with gusto, under the impression that it is a piece of cake. Indeed, almost every sense and organic function of the body may be affected. Ansthesia is present in the deeper stages, and can be increased by suggestion.
The study of psychology bas received but little help from hypnotism on account of the general neglect of its phenomena; the importance of a careful observation of the phenomena of hypnosis with regard to the psychological point of view can hardly be exaggerated. In a field of work where the opportunities for definite experimental work are few, the condition should have been more employed than it has been up to the present; too many writers on psychology, however, appear to think that a casual acquaintance with the subject is all that is necessary as a basis of opinion. The psychical phenomena present are amongst the most striking characters of hypnosis and hypnotic suggestion. We have already referred to the lack of psychical activity present in the subject, when simply in hypnosis, without the effects of suggestion. The psychical action, however, is in some always limited; the powers of ideation are strictly limited to the quality of the suggestion, the subject does not wander off into other matters; he does no voluntary thinking; the ideation present is in strict relationship to the stimulus supplied. If it be suggested that he is a General, he will act according to his conception of a General; he will give orders, treat those ground him as soldiers and officers-and do many other things; but he will not act as his consciousness would generally tempt him to under ordinary circumstances; he will not give any sign of independent ideation; the relative merits of various Generals, the strategy of one, the knowledge of another, would not be described by him, even if in the normal condition he knew about these things, unless specific suggestion to this effect were given. The knowledge of a subject will undoubtedly materially affect the phenomena; thus a suggestion that he is fishing for trout to a boy who has never handled a rod and to an expert angler, would give very different results; but in both cases the concentration of the consciousness around the suggestion would still be the same; independent ideation would in both cases be equally conspicuous by its absence. From physiological considerations this limitation is important.
Without express suggestion it does not appear that the capability of retaining ideas in hypnosis is materially increased. Beaunis has not been able to find any abnormal phenomena, nor has Max Dessoir arrived at a different result. The few experiments which the writer has made coincide with these. When, however, it is suggested that there shall be an increase of memory, the results are most striking. On this point it is often very difficult to avoid unconscious suggestion, since the mere repetition of any words or lines frequently acts as a suggestion that the subject is to remember them.
Whilst, however, the retention of ideas for a long time is not increased, there is reason for thinking that, apart from suggestion, there is a greater capability for a short period, i.e., the subject, in hypnosis, would remember more of a speech five minutes after its delivery than he would in the normal state.
To a subject quite ignorant of Greek, the writer
repeated [a sentence in Greek] and found that he could recite more, after one repetition during hypnosis, than after one repetition in the waking state. The experiments on the point, though they all tend to confirm this view, have not been sufficiently extensive to justify the categorical assertion that this temporary increase is a common characteristic of hypnosis.
In the lighter stages of hypnosis the memory is perfect; in the hypnosis the subject’s memory of his normal state is active, and, on the ending of the hypnosis, he is able to describe all that occurred.
In deeper stages the memory is lost, unless, after awakening him, some hint be given to the subject; this may serve to bring the whole chain of events to his recollection. Heidenhain instances the case of his brother to whom, under hypnosis, he said, “Alles schweige jeder neige, ernsten Tonen non seine Ohr.” This sentence, his brother, on awakening, made many attempts to recollect, but entirely failed, until Heidenhain mentioned the word “schweige.” The cases of this sudden recollection upon a hint being given are comparatively few in number, and in these cases, generally, the memory is hazy, and often resolves itself into some such question as, “Did you say anything about so-and-so?”
In the deepest states memory is entirely lost, the subject fails altogether to remember any event of the hypnotic sleep, and when anything he may have done under hypnosis is pointed out to him he manifests the-greatest surprise.
A very important fact to be noticed is that, if the subject be hypnotised a second time, he will remember all the events of the previous hypnosis; and thus a deep hypnotic subject may be said to lead two distinct lives-the hypnotic, in which he remembers spontaneously all the suggestions which have been made and the events which have taken place during previous hypnoses; and the waking, in which he has no recollection or knowledge of these events.
In a certain number of cases it would appear possible to obtain in hypnosis the recollection of events which the subject has long forgotten. This is, however, a difficult subject to investigate; we all fail to remember at times, and it is difficult to say whether or not in the normal state before the hypnosis the subject is exhibiting such a phase of merely temporary failure of recollection Again, it is easy to induce a “recollection” in hypnosis simply as a result of the suggestion; the subject will give a full account of anything if only the suggestion be made that he is able to remember but the “recollection” has no other basis. In consequence of these difficulties, experimental enquiry has not given any striking evidence. On the other hand, the induction of an altered condition, such as hypnosis, may be the means of spontaneously unlocking memory which has long ago ceased to affect the consciousness of the individual. For memory is largely a senso-motor process, and the inhibition which is removed from certain neuronic groups would allow of an action impossible under-normal conditions. The acute memory thus evolved is seen in the following case
A girl in a state of deep hypnosis was in a room at the Salpetriere, when Parrot, the physician to the refuge for Enfants assistés, entered. The subject was asked what was the stranger’s name, and she replied, to the surprise of all present, and without hesitation, “M. Parrot” On awaking she declared that she did not know him; but after looking at him for a long while, she finally said, “I think that be is a physician at the Enfants assistés.” When about two years old she had been for some time in this refuge, and had long forgotten the physician, whom she recognised with difficulty, on waking, while she could, in hypnosis, give his name when ordered to do so.’
Another case, even more remarkable, is that of a woman of fifty, who was hypnotised, and who, to the hypnotist’s great surprise, began to speak English, although no one present knew that she could understand a word of the language. During her waking state she did not know a single word of English, and it could be proved that, at any rate for twenty-five years, she had never spoken it. The only explanation possible is that, when very young, she must have have had some knowledge of the language.
The hypnotic memory is an element which the experimenter has to carefully guard against, lest he be led into many errors by neglecting the necessary precautions. If, for instance, the operator has been in the habit of connecting some particular touch or pass with the verbal suggestion of an act, he will find that, owing to the memory of the subject connecting the touch or pass with the verbal suggestion, he can dispense with speech, and rely solely on the touch for the production of the desired effect This explains many of the tricks of the magnetisers, who have learnt, in the same way, to omit verbal suggestion, and thus add to the mystery of their performances.
One frequently finds the subject interpreting some act of the hypnotist as a suggestion; on a first hypnosis the writer slightly raised the subject’s hand, and then by suggestion made it rigid; in all hypnoses since it has been only necessary to elevate this hand to obtain the rigidity. Moll told a patient to raise the left leg; as he, gave the command he involuntarily took hold of the patient’s right hand. When, in a later hypnosis, he took hold of his right hand the patient immediately raised his left leg.
Another instance of the hypnotic memory often occurs during hallucinations. Thus, if a subject imagine himself a General, he will lead the regiment into the field, incite his men to press forward, and will hear all the noise incident to a battle; if, after several other hallucinations, he finds himself a child, some loud and unexpected noise during this imaginary: childhood may serve to bring back the previous suggestion that he was a General, and he will promptly go through all his previous actions peculiar to this hallucination.
So far we have treated memory as we End it in the hypnotic state, naturally, and apart from the action of suggestion. With the introduction of suggestion we find some very important results. To the increase of memory, as occasionally a natural phenomenon of hypnosis, we have already referred in our experiments on the increase due to suggestion. Definite results have not been obtained, and this is due to the difficulty, already mentioned, of distinguishing between the heightened power belonging to the hypnosis itself, and, that development caused by the precise suggestion. The only means of at all satisfactorily arriving at the degree of the suggestive memory is by first questioning the subject during hypnosis as to some fact of his life till his memory fails him, and then ascertaining whether he can throw any further light on the matter by a suggested increase of memory, not, however, being deceived by a suggestive increase of recollection. This spontaneous adaptation of mind, by no means to be confounded with simulation, is clearly seen in the phenomenon of False Memory. If it be suggested to a subject that he has been to America, he will give details of his visit, describe what he saw, name the boat on which he sailed, etc., etc; The details given will, naturally, correspond with the education and knowledge of the person. Thus all the information about America that one subject could give was the “White House,” which he saw “in New York.”
Another, however, though he had not been out of England, spoke with great accuracy of many of the American habits and institutions. Referring to the cosmopolitanism of New York, he said that one met every nationality under the sun in its streets; he described the political differences between the “Republican” and the “Democrat.”
The effects of hypnotic suggestion in increasing the retentive powers of normal memory are striking, and, in the writer’s experiments at Oxford, few were more successful than those performed with this object. Several Oxford undergraduates reading for the University examinations were anxious that an attempt should be made to improve their memory by means of hypnotism. From previous experiments it was anticipated that the result would be beneficial; and the effects in all the cases of weak memory which have come under the writer’s notice have been very marked. In one case a youth aged 20, complained of the extreme difficulty which he found in remembering dates and the comparative positions of localities: In less than a week he was able to remember a whole page of dates after two or three readings, and this increase of faculty was permanent.
It may be said that such increase of faculty must have a prejudicial effect on the general health of the individual, much in the same way as the use of stimulants will, for a time, increase, but finally lower, the mental and physical powers. Such is, however, not the case if the operation be at all properly performed. The danger of a nervous lassitude and innumerable other dangers are all existent in the use of hypnotism by the unscrupulous or the unskilful. Properly handled, there is no method more entirely devoid of danger than hypnotism. This question will be referred to more fully later.
It is also possible to produce by means of suggestion either errors of memory or loss of Memory. One subject in obedience to an impression of the former kind, not only maintained that the date of the Conquest was 1067, but commented on the general inaccuracy of historians in this matter; in another case the patient was induced by suggestion to forget, when writing to a person, the number of the house in which he was residing; and this person never received a letter from him correctly addressed; though, in obedience to the suggestion, the subject was quite able to remember the proper number when he called.
Loss of memory can be induced, and the recollection of any period of the subject’s life may be completely destroyed. The subject can be made to forget his own name, his age, where he lives, or what is his occupation. According to Forel and to Franck it is possible to cause a subject to forget entirely a language he has learnt.
There are many delusions closely connected with the memory, in that they depend on this faculty for the induction; under this head may be classed the phenomena of False Memory already described. If the subject be told, “You have just been running extremely fast; you ran half a mile as hard as you could go,” he will, in consequence of the false recollection induced gasp for breath and feel considerable fatigue.
Another suggestion may be made, “You have not had anything to eat to-day.” On waking, he will not only say that he has had nothing, but will feel extremely hungry, and demand something to eat.
Many of the motor disturbances may be considered as related to loss of memory, since a movement is made impossible if the memory of it cannot be first called up (Moll). This is the case with the paralysis for a special act, called by Binet et Férd “paralysis systematiques, and in these cases the paralysis is not attended by total functional incapacity of any group of muscles interfered with; but the function is interfered with for one particular purpose. A hypnotised person may be deprived of the power of making himself understood by facial expression. In the same way any particular act, such as drawing, sewing, writing, singing, etc., can be prevented. With reference to these particular inhibitions it is important to note that they range themselves in two distinct classes. The subject may be deprived of the perception, for instance, of a word or letter, and, in consequence, of thee power to write it; the idea, however, of the particular word or letter he will, or will not, retain, according to the suggestion made.
If he retain the idea of the word or letter he is quite conscious of his inability to utter or to write it; he is annoyed with himself oh account of this inability, and will endeavour to avoid using it,
Thus, for instance, it was suggested to a boy in hypnosis that he would be unable to utter the word “Mary.” On waking him the following dialogue ensued:
Now, will you please repeat this sentence, “Mary had a little lamb?”
Subject. She had a little Iamb.
No, I said “Mary had the little lamb”
S. She had a little Iamb.
Please repeat the sentence as I quoted it.
S. (after a pause) “Polly had a little lamb.” Will you be so good as to say, “Mary had a little lamb “?
S. (indignantly) Well, I told you she had a little lamb.
After many evasions and excuses he confessed that he could not pronounce the word “Mary.”
The extreme acuteness of the subject in finding excuses for the non-performance of an action is often very marked. In the last experiment the subject was a boy, ignorant and not of striking intelligence; nevertheless he endeavoured to get over the difficulty by every device in his power. He cannot explain, even to himself, his inability; he is ashamed of it, and naturally tries to. avoid exhibiting it; if, however, he knew that it was on account of an hypnotic suggestion, he would not be discomforted, since then the explanation would be obvious to him and to those around him But his consciousness knows nothing of the suggestion. When the subject is deprived of the conception of a letter there is no manifestation of annoyance at his inability to write it; he, in fact, has entirely lost the idea, and, in writing, will consistently omit the letter. The illustration appended [here omitted] is a facsimile of what was written by an Oxford undergraduate,. when both the power of writing and the idea of the letter “a” had been destroyed.
The reader will notice that where “a” occurs separately a distinct space is left, and this fact is one of considerable psychological importance. The writer has often endeavoured in such experiments to obtain an explanation from the subject of his reason for leaving these spaces; the only answer has been, however, that he does not know why; and he generally seeks to fill up the gap, when it is pointed out, by prolonging the “flourish” of the last word.
Almost any inability may be suggested. Thus, a subject (the undergraduate referred to) was rendered incapable of spelling correctly, with the result as shown in Fig. 3 [here omitted].
These experiments lead us to consider the phenomena of post-hypnosis. In the lighter stages of hypnosis suggestion not only may act during the hypnosis, but will be found to have caused an alteration in the normal condition; when the hypnosis has been removed, if such alteration has been suggested. In this way pain may be removed, and for the therapeutical applications of hypnotism, the induction of the deeper stages of hypnosis is scarcely ever necessary. In a certain sense, then, we may class all such effects as a post-hypnosis, but the term is as a rule confined to a state quite distinct. Many writers have used the word “drowsiness” to describe the very light stages;. but this is hardly a fitting term; there are no symptoms of drowsiness; the condition of the patient, though still conscious of the external, is curious. He is exceptionally passive; he continues in the condition we have described above. In these lighter stages some remarkable results, dependent on the presence of consciousness to the external, are obtained. On the hypnosis being removed, the subject may say that he has not been hypnotised at all; he is quite positive as to this, and some difficulty is often found in persuading him that he really has been hypnotised. The fact that he knows to a certain extent what is going on around him, has prevented him realising that he is hypnotised, whilst the hypnosis itself has prevented him realising the alterations. He remembers perfectly well all that took place in the hypnosis, and explains his inability to open his eyes, or part his hands, by saying he could have done so if he had wished, but he did not want to bother about trying. This answer is characteristic of a certain type of hypnosis, and the “illusion of resistance” is a fairly common phenomena of the lighter stages.
A curious instance of this tendency is seen in the following case:- A friend, whom the writer bad hypnotised several times previously, complained of feeling very ill and suffering, from pain-a complaint that was borne out by his appearance. I hypnotised him, and he fell, in about a minute, into his usual state of light hypnosis. When the operation was finished and he was about to be awakened, he suddenly said, in a very measured and listless manner, indicative of the fact that he was still under the influence, “You know I’m not hypnotised; you couldn’t prevent me doing anything.” He was immediately dehypnotised and he was astonished to find that, so far from being ill and depressed, he felt well and happy. Had it not been for the fact that he was previously suffering nothing would have convinced him that he had been hypnotised.
Richet has described much the same phenomenon:- “One of my friends, who was drowsy but not quite asleep, carefully studied this phenomenon of incapacity, combined with the illusion of capacity: When I prescribed a movement, he always performed it, even although he had, before he was magnetised, been determined to resist. He found this hard to understand when he awoke, and said that he certainly could have resisted, only he did not wish to do so. Sometimes he was inclined to believe that he was simulating. “When I am asleep,” he said, “I feign automatism, although I believe that I might act otherwise. I begin with the firm determination not to simulate, but as soon as I am asleep it seems that, in spite of myself, simulation begins.”
With the deeper stages, where on waking there is no knowledge of what has taken place in the hypnosis, the characteristic phenomena of post-hypnosis may be obtained. For these phenomena the suggestion is altered somewhat, so that it runs” When you awake you will have no idea of the letter “a,” and so forth.
Any suggestion that takes effect in hypnosis will also take effect post-hypnotically, provided the hypnosis be sufficiently deep to admit of post-hypnotic suggestion being executed. Suggestive paralysis has lasted for several days. Krafft-Ebing Suggested to a patient that he should maintain a definite bodily temperature for a fixed time, and this suggestion was accurately fulfilled. In the same way, any movement or any delusion of the senses can be induced; dreams can be suggested, and sleep free from dreams. The suggestion carried on from hypnosis into the normal state is called a continuative suggestion; as for instance when a subject is given toothache in the hypnotic state and is told that he will still, suffer from it when he awakes. A common but interesting experiment is the following. The suggestion is made, “You will count up to ten, and you will wake when you get to five.” The result is not always the same; sometimes a subject will count up to five, then open his eyes and finish the counting in an automatic and mechanical manner; others wil1 wake at five, and will not continue the counting. The continuative form of suggestion is not often used, and the hypnotist generally relies on the suggestion to be carried out after waking.
It is not necessary to its success that the suggestion should take immediate effect. Let it be said to a subject, “When you come to see me this day fortnight, you will not be able to speak; “and on that day he is quite unable to utter a word.
There are innumerable forms of such deferred suggestion. It must be noted, however, that some forms will not always succeed with certain subjects. Thus, he is told, at four o’clock, that when the clock strikes five, he will find that he is at a concert, and will go to the piano and sing. Immediately the suggestion is given he is awakened, and he will talk and conduct himself quite naturally, and will not have the least idea that any such suggestion has been made to him; only, as soon as the clock strikes five, he will get up, and seating himself at the piano will begin to sing.
In this case the precise time for the carrying out of the suggestion is fixed by an external sign, and these suggestions nearly always succeed. If, however, we do not name any such concrete sign, but rely on something less definite, such as a period of time, the results are more uncertain.
The suggestion is made to a subject that in an hour’s time he will get up and dance; some will carry out the suggestion punctually; others will dance, but they will begin a quarter of an hour too soon, or (very rarely) a little late; with many the suggestion will altogether fail owing to its want of definiteness.
These “time” experiments are generally valueless when performed before a large number of spectators; as the time approaches, the audience begin to give various indications of their expectation, and, as the precise time arrives, will look at the clock this is quite sufficient to give the external sign often necessary to make the experiment a success, and, consequently, any result obtained is of no value.
Another means of deciding the moment for the execution of a post-hypnotic suggestion is the following:- The hypnotist says to the subject, “When I get up and open the window, you will immediately become very angry.” He is awakened, and converses amicably enough till the window is opened, when he at once begins to look seriously annoyed. Asked what he is angry about, he says, that “to open the window was a ridiculous idea; did we not know that he objected to draughts,” etc., etc.
The suggestion may be made more subtle if the subject be told to laugh when the hypnotist, for, say, the tenth time, taps his hand on the table.
As they talk together, the hypnotist unconcernedly taps the table with his fingers; at the tenth tap the subject laughs. Frequently, though, the execution of the suggestion_ will not be so precise, but will happen a little before or after the exact moment.
By many subjects deferred suggestions will be carried out, though their execution be delayed for a long period. It was suggested to a friend that, in eight weeks time, he should, in writing, reverse the writer’s initials; during the intervening period several letters were received all correctly addressed, but at the end of this time a letter came with the initials reversed.
It was hardly expected that this experiment would succeed-for, in the first place, there was no mention of any precise date, such, for instance, as July 20th, which would have materially added to the suggestive force, but only a period pf eight weeks; and, in the second place, the suggestion was one peculiarly opposed to his knowledge and his habit.
It is frequently possible to obtain the fulfilment of post-hypnotic suggestions at extremely distant periods.
Sometimes these succeed when the suggestion is lacking in precision, as, for instance, “You will write me a letter, saying that you think I must be unwell, on the fortieth day counting from to-day.”
Success is More often obtained when the suggestion names some precise day. It was suggested on July 10th to a subject, “You will come to me on September 20th and find me standing on my head.” The suggestion was obeyed, and on September 20th he came, and laughing, asked, “Since when have you become an acrobat? “
The question naturally arises, “What is the precise condition of the subject during the action of the post-hypnotic suggestion. “
This is not capable of a very simple answer, because the state varies with the person hypnotised, and it is necessary to clearly understand the nature of these conditions before any explanation is possible. An example of each of these post-hypnotic states follows.
I. The suggestion is made to B, a person under hypnosis, “When you awake, directly I place my hand on the table, you will be unable to remember your name.” After waking he talks, and, when asked, gives his name immediately; the conversation is resumed, and the hypnotist puts his hand on the table; the subject is quite unable to give his name, though he seeks to excuse himself by saying that he has already given it a: moment before. All the time, however, there is no listlessness or absent-mindedness, and he is not open to any further suggestions. If a day or two afterwards the hand is placed on the table it has no effect on his memory. Not only this, but he recollects perfectly the inability to remember his name on the previous occasion. Here we have no symptoms of the recurrence of hypnosis.
II. To another subject, C, it is suggested that when he awakes if A speak to him he will make a grimace at him; if B speak to him he will put out his tongue.
A speaks to him, immediately he makes a grimace at him-each time A speaks C does the same thing. B speaks, and puts out his tongue.
Asked “Why did you make that grimace just now?” he insists that he made no grimace. “Why, then, did you put out your tongue?” “I did not put out my tongue,” he replies, and nothing will induce him to admit that he performed either of these actions. He is quite unsusceptible to any other suggestions, and remembers our conversation; he only fails to recollect the suggested actions, and the remarks of A and B, with which they were connected.
III. It is suggested to D that directly he awakes he shall pace up and down the room twelve times; he does so, and during the time he is walking up and down the room the hypnotist tells him that the floor is very hot; he jumps off the floor and endeavours to spring over the room in order to avoid burning his feet; he is told that he is intoxicated, and he begins to roll about as. a drunkard. Directly he has finished the twelfth turn up and down the room, it is suggested that he cannot hold out his hand, but he holds out his hand without any difficulty.
In this case, then, the subject is susceptible to suggestion so long as he is performing the act, but is quite independent directly he has completed it. This subject also remembers nothing either of the walking or of the sensation suggested.
IV. The hypnotist says to A, who is hypnotised, “When you wake, as soon as I get up from my chair you will go to the clock and alter the hands till they stand at four o’clock.” The hypnotist wakes him, and they talk together. There is not the least appearance of drowsiness or sleepiness. Suddenly the hypnotist rises from his chair; immediately the subject turns to look at the clock and becomes, as it were, extremely absent-minded; in a moment, hardly paying any attention to the conversation, he goes to the clock and in a listless mechanical way alters its hands. It is then suggested to him that he cannot see, that he is deaf, etc., and all these suggestions he accepts. To destroy this state of suggestibility it is necessary to reawaken him. Here then we see three stages.
a. Hypnosis.
b. Waking state.
c. A condition in which he obeys the post-hypnotic, and is open to further suggestion.
Moll says that he is unable to distinguish the condition “c” psychologically from a true hypnosis, and this seems perfectly sound. Delboeuf’s statement that to make a post-hypnotic impression is really to order a new hypnosis at a fixed moment, in which the suggestion will be carried out, only applies to these cases of post-hypnosis.
V. The last condition necessary to describe is a case of spontaneous waking. Thus it is suggested to E that he will play the piano as soon as he wakes; he goes to the piano and begins playing. Suddenly he is told that he has broken the instrument; he looks somewhat dazed for a moment, and then wakes up entirely.
He is able to recollect the playing of the piano but his memory is not perfect. He says that it comes to his mind much as a dream does; in a few hours his memory of the act is still feebler, in a day or two it is quite absent.’
The important symptoms of these various stages seem to be the renewed susceptibility to suggestion and the loss .of memory. On the question whether the state of renewed suggestibility is in reality a true hypnosis, many have made numerous experiments. Edmund Gurney, in particular, has contributed some valuable results on this branch of the subject.’
A striking experiment was once made by Forel. He said to a nurse, “Whenever you say Sir ‘ to the assistant physician, you will scratch your right temple with your right hand without noticing.” The nurse talked rationally and clearly all the time, but she was quite unconscious that she was scratching her face, which, she did whenever she used the word “Sir.”
It will be seen from the above examples that the nature of the post-hypnotic state varies greatly, and this variation is dependent on the individuality of the subject. The reader who wishes for more on this subject may refer with advantage to Liebeault, Richet, Bernheim, Delboeuf, Gurney, Forel, Dumontpallier, Beaunis, Liégeois, and others. In the writer’s experience the first stage of post-hypnosis, namely, that stage in which the subject is normal in every respect save In the performance of the suggestion, is the most frequent, and the other stages are placed in the order of their frequency.
After this consideration of the various posthypnotic stages, we are the better able to understand the phenomena of hypnosis and post-hypnosis which we now proceed to discuss.
Hallucinations and Illusions.-With the ordinary delusions induced by the professional magnetisers for the purpose of their “entertainments” most persons are acquainted, and it is in consequence unnecessary to describe them very fully. We find in profounder hallucinations many important clues to the psychological nature of the change wrought by hypnosis on the mind of the subject. Ch. Richet has recorded many of his observations, and one of them is typical of the deep-seated nature of the hallucinations.
Mme. A-, a respectable matron, underwent the following metamorphoses:-As a peasant. She rubbed her eyes and stretched herself: “What o’clock is it? Four in the morning !” She drags her feet as if wearing sabots. “I must get up and go to the stable. Now, La Rousse turn round !” She assumes to be milking a cow. “Leave me alone, Gros-Jean; leave me alone, I say, and let me get on with my work.” As an actress. Her face, so harsh and dissatisfied a moment before, assumes a smiling expression. “You see my skirt.?: My director insisted that it should be longer. In: my opinion, the shorter the, better; but these directors are always annoying. Do come and see me sometimes; I am always at home at three. You might pay me a visit, and bring a present with you.” As Archbishop of Paris. Her face assumes a very serious expression, and she speaks slowly, in a voice sweet as honey: “I must finish writing my charge. Oh, it is you, M. le grand vicaire. What do you want? I did not wish to be disturbed. . . . Yes, this is New Year’s Day, and I must go to the cathedral. . . . This is a very reverent crowd, is it not, M. le grand vicaire? There is still a sense of religion in the people, whatever happens. Let that child come near, that I may bless him.” She presents an imaginary ring for the child to kiss, and throughout this scene she makes gestures of benediction to the right and left. “I have now another task in hand. I must go and pay my respects to the President of the Republic. M. le President, I give you my good wishes. The Church wishes you a long life; in spite of the cruel attacks made upon her, she knows that she has nothing to fear as long as a perfectly honest man is at the head of the Republic.” She pauses, appears to listen, and says aside, “Yes, yes, only false promises !” Then aloud, “Now let us pray”; and she kneels down.
In the same way a subject may be led to believe he is a dog, when he will go on all fours, bark, growl, and he will even attempt to bite fresh-comers. As a pig, he will wander about the room, grunting and snorting, and indeed there is no end to the possible hallucinations and illusions which may be given to a subject. The writer appends one or two of his own experiments which may seem worthy of notice. The subject of these experiments was an Oxford undergraduate.
The first hallucination induced was that he was a little girl.
On waking, though his normal voice was somewhat deep, he spoke in a falsetto pitch and minced his words, whilst he sat in a chair, the type of meekness, With his hands in his lap. Some sentences were then dictated to him, with the result seen in the illustration. On another occasion, when under the same hallucination, he was asked to ‘sign his name.
Another suggestion was made to him later, that on waking he would find himself intoxicated. He was with difficulty induced to write at all, as he strongly wished to be “put to bed “; after much persuasion, we succeeded in obtaining the specimen of calligraphy shown in the facsimile [here omitted]
In all hallucinations of personality the person hypnotised will always “live up” to the character as far as his knowledge will allow. It is quite possible to make the subject believe he is some inanimate object, such as a chair, a carpet, a piece of window glass, etc. On its being suggested to one subject that he was a strawberry ice, he at once became flaccid, and, as the room was hot, began to “melt,” till he finally sank to the ground in a mass as amorphous as he could assume.
Very often an illusion given will result in what is termed “auto-suggestion “; for instance, a person hypnotised early in the afternoon is awakened in five minutes with the idea that it is seven in the evening. He says he feels hungry and wants his dinner.
If it be suggested that the operator’s hand is a pistol, on his clicking his finger the subject will put up his hands to his ears and complain of the noise occasioned by the firing, the impression of which has been conveyed to his mind by the suggestion of his own intellect
The following instance of a frequent phenomenon in post-hypnotic suggestion is notable. The writer suggested to a lady that when she awoke she should find that the floor was covered with tin-tacks and that she had no shoes on.
Immediately on waking, she huddled herself up in the chair and drew her feet off the floor. When asked the reason, she said there was “something sharp,” and on being further pressed as to what it was, she said “pins “; this variation, slight in itself, is an illustration of the nature-re of the action of the hypnotic suggestion; the word “tin-tack” was lost, but the essential idea of the suggestion was in action. Binet et Férd point out that hypnotic hallucination has always the appearance of a spontaneous symptom. On awaking, the subject obediently performs the act which he was ordered to do during the hypnotic sleep, bat he does not remember who gave him the order, nor even that it was given at all. If asked why he is performing the act, he usually replies that he does not know, or that the idea has come into his head. He generally supposes it to be a spontaneous act, and sometimes he even invents reasons to explain his conduct. All this shows that the memory of the suggestion, so far as respects its utterance, is completely effaced. This belief of spontaneity on the part of the subject is typical, and medical men, especially, who may have to do with some criminal charge connected with an alleged hypnosis should always examine carefully the statements of the person alleged to have been hypnotised. Any statement on the part of the person that he or she was “hypnotised” and “could not help doing it,” or any similar statement, should be received with great suspicion. The statement that he was hypnotised, and the further statement that he cannot give any account of what took place, does not bear any internal evidence of untruth; but in all probability the subject would fail to see any connection between the crime and the hypnosis, and probably would not mention the fact that he had been hypnotised unless specially asked. Moreover, those pretending that they have been hypnotised generally think it necessary to lay stress on some mysterious influence held over them. Such a statement as this we should receive in the same manner as that of a man who walks into the hospital with “a broken thigh.”
Some of the results which are to be described may seem so startling that we can quite understand their being received, by some, with a certain degree of suspicion Amid indeed, in all such matters, the more scientific mind will naturally demand to, at any rate, see these phenomena before they yield their absolute credence; however, it is not our Present duty to convince any one, but only to record the facts.
Anaesthesia. In all the deep states of hypnosis, complete anaesthesia can be produced. The most powerful electric currents can be administered without the patient evincing the least sign of discomfort. Teeth may be drawn and stopped, and any surgical operation performed without causing any pain to the subject. The fact that this anaesthesia can be produced in all deep hypnoses, provides the experimenter with a ready means of demonstrating that there is no simulation on the part of the subject.
The pulse, respiration, and temperature are capable of great modification by means of suggestion.
Krafft-Ebing suggested to a patient that he was in a bath, and produced “goose-skin “by this means.
The hallucinations and illusions of sight are extremely various and interesting. It may be suggested that some one in the room is another; the subject will accept the illusion that the hypnotist himself is some one else. The most complicated illusions can be successfully effected. The writer told a subject that when he awoke he would find a friend opposite him to be the Bishop of Oxford; that in three minutes later this same friend should be his college scout; then, after the expiration of a further three minutes, he was to find his own father sitting opposite; and, finally, that the father should be changed into a collie dog. Not only were these illusions perfectly carried out by the subject, but the time was observed with great precision, though he did not look at his watch, and there was not a clock in the room. A person, by suggestion, may be rendered invisible to the subject. Binet et Féré relate an instance of this, every detail of which the writer has often confirmed by experiments.
We suggested to an hypnotised subject that when she awoke she would be unable to see F-, but that she would continue to hear his voice. When she awoke, F placed himself before her, but she did not look at him, and when he extended his hand there was no corresponding gesture on her side. She remained quietly seated in the chair in which she had been sleeping, and we sat waiting beside her. After a while the subject expressed surprise at no longer seeing F-, who had been in the laboratory, and she asked what had become of him. We replied, “He has gone out; you may return to your room.” F placed himself before the door. The subject arose, said good morning, and went towards it. Just as she was about to lay hold of the handle she knocked up against F-, whom she was unable to see. This unexpected shock made her start; she tried to go on again, but on encountering the same invisible and inexplicable resistance, she began to be afraid, and refused to go near the door.
We next took up a hat, and showed it to the subject. She saw it quite well, and touched it in order to satisfy herself that it was really there. We then placed it on F-‘s head, and words cannot express the subject’s surprise, since it appeared to her that the hat was suspended in the air. Her surprise was at its height when F took off the hat and saluted her with it several times; she saw the hat, without any support, describing curves in the air. She declared that it was de la physique, and supposed that the hat was suspended by a string; she even got upon a chair to try and touch this string, which she was unable to find. We then took a cloak and handed it to F-, who put it on. The subject looked at it fixedly with a bewildered air, since he saw it moving about and assuming the form of a person. “It is,” she said, “like a hollow puppet:” At our command the furniture was moved about and noisily rolled from one end of the room to the other-they were, in fact, displaced by the invisible F---; the tables and chairs were overturned, and then the chaos was succeeded by order. The different objects were replaced, the disjointed bones of a skull, which had been scattered on the floor, were joined together again; a purse opened of itself, and gold and silver coins fell from it:
We then induced the subject to sit down again, and we placed ourselves beside her chair, in order to subject her to experiments of a quieter nature. We shall see how she managed to explain certain facts, rendered inexplicable by her inability to see F. That gentleman placed himself behind her, and while she was quietly conversing With us, he touched her nose, cheeks, forehead, or chin. Each time the subject put her hand to her face in a natural way, and without any appearance of alarm. We asked why she put her hand to her face, and she replied that it itched, or was painful, and she therefore scratched it. Her tranquil assurance was extremely curious. We begged her to strike out violently into space, and at the moment she raised her arm it was arrested by F-. We asked what was the matter, and she replied that her arm was affected by cramp. She was, therefore, never at a loss; she invariably explained everything, however insufficient the explanation might be.’
The increase of the faculty of sight which can be produced is a striking phenomenon. To one subject a blank piece of paper was given with suggestion that he should find thereon a column of figures. He said in reply to the question that he saw them. He was then asked to read them out, beginning from the top. The numbers which he read out are here given.[8, 6, 19, 14, 9, 4, 18, 13, 5, 12, 3, 2] The next request was for him to add them together and give the result: this he gave as 104. Asked to add 10 the 1st, 4th, and 8th numbers (counting from the top) he replied, “35.” The total of all the numbers consisting of two figures he gave as 65 -an error of 2; he gave, however, the correct total (viz., 37) on being told to add together the numbers of one figure. Clearly, all this must have depended on the memory of the 12 figures which he read out as seen by him on the blank sheet of paper.
On taking the paper away from him, it was found impossible to obtain any correct results; he was unable to name any of the numbers beyond the first two. Thus the mental illusion was intimately connected with the surface of the paper, and resulted in an identification of the various marks and lines on the paper, more or less invisible to the ordinary eye, but rendered plain to the subject by reason of the increase of faculty.
With the object of ascertaining the length of time it was possible for the hallucination to remain in its entirety an interval of half an hour was allowed to elapse; at the-end of this time the subject said he clearly saw the figures when, he looked at the paper. In repeating them, he left out “9” and gave the number “18” as “8.” Several other experiments were then proceeded with, and after an interval of two hours he failed to get at all near the proper order, though he still confined himself to the numbers, and persisted in guessing until the paper was taken from him.
That in all such hallucinations the increased faculty of sight plays an important part is evident from the following experiment:-
A piece of manuscript paper is taken and it is suggested to him that it is a photograph. This sheet is then mingled with some fifty others of precisely the same shape, size, and form. The sheets are given to the subject, and he is told to find the photograph; he goes through the packet till he comes to the one on which it -was suggested he should find a photograph. This he at once identifies.
When such facts as these are seen in hypnosis, the reader will easily understand how excusable were the theories of “clairvoyance,” “prevision” etc., advanced by the early magnetists. The state, nevertheless, is a purely physiological one. If the piece of paper be turned round, the portrait is no longer seen; if it be turned upside down, the portrait is seen upside down also. All this, then, depends on the connection, held in the subject’s mind, between the hallucination and the peculiar surface of the particular sheet of paper. Further still, if all these sheets of paper be ‘photographed, and the prints be submitted to the subject, he will be able to identify the photographic copy as well as the original piece of paper.
Ch. Féré records an experiment devised by himself.
“We place a blank card on a blank sheet of paper, and with a blunt pointer, which does not, however, touch the paper, we follow the outline of the card so as to suggest the idea of a black. line. We ask the subject, on awaking, to fold the paper in accordance with these imaginary lines; he holds the paper as far from him as it was at the moment of suggestion, and he folds it so as to form a rectangle, which precisely covers the card.”’
Binet et Féré have made many elaborate experiments showing still more clearly (although they do not altogether admit this) that in all hallucinations of sight some exterior object is seized on by the eye as the external basis of the delusion. If, when regarding external objects, a prism be placed before one eye the objects appear double, and one of the images presents a deviation of which the direction and the extent may be calculated. During the hypnotic sleep it is suggested to the subject that a profile portrait is on a table of dark wood before him. On his waking, a prism, without warning, is placed before one eye, and he is astonished to see two portraits; not only this, but the position of the false image, in these cases, is in conformity with optical laws.
Similarly, an opera-glass brings imaginary objects nearer, or, reversed, makes them appear farther off. It will not make the object appear more or less remote, unless it has been adapted to the subject’s sight.
Lastly, it may be suggested that an object is placed on a given point of a table, and if a mirror be placed behind that point the patient immediately sees two objects.
In obedience to the proper suggestion the subject will mistake the voice of some one unknown to him for that of a friend; or he will believe that, when a certain person in the room speaks, he barks like a dog, etc., etc. A simple hallucination can be induced by suggesting that, when all is silent, he shall hear the voice of a friend without being able to see him, One, thus impressed, maintained a disjointed conversation, asking questions himself and replying to imaginary questions.
The sense of hearing is frequently increased to an enormous extent by suggestion, under hypnosis.
A subject who could, in the normal state, only hear the ticking of a watch at a less distance than four feet, could, by hypnotic suggestion, hear it twelve feet away, and through a closed door.
Similarly, the slight clicking of a pair ,of microscopic forceps could be heard when the subject was at the extreme end of the room and the forceps were in the next room. On one occasion some dozen gentlemen shouted continuously the word “Torn “; amidst all this din, another was, in a low voice, to utter the same word. The. latter gentleman stood behind all the rest; so great was the noise that we only knew when he had spoken the word by the movement of his lips. The subject, however, who could not see the speaker, immediately detected the sound and called out, as he had been instructed to do. This word was repeated thirteen times, at different intervals, varying from twenty seconds to three minutes, and in every instance the subject detected the voice instantaneously.
A still more subtle experiment was tried. As everyone knows, in a whisper all individuality of voice is apparently lost. If any-one will turn his back to some friends and get them to softly whisper in turn, he will find it impossible to discover who is whispering, as the peculiar timbre of the voice seems absent. Thirteen stood behind the subject, and they all, in turn, or out of turn, whispered the word “bother.” The order was constantly, varied, but it was impossible to deceive the subject, who. recognised the whisper directly the one, mentioned in the suggestion, whispered.
The subject may be told that he is very fond of sugar sticks; if a candle be presented to him with the ‘suggestion that it is a sugar-stick, he will proceed to eat it with relish; in the same way, he may be told that some harmless substance, such as water, is nauseous, and he will evince symptoms of the greatest disgust on tasting it, and, in some cases, vomiting may ensue.
An experiment which the writer frequently performed at Oxford is the following:- A number of persons each take in their hands some small object, such as a penknife, a pencil case, a coin, etc. While the subject is still out of the room these articles are placed on the table, and the subject is brought into the room. He takes up the first object, smells it, and then smells the hands of the various ‘persons till he comes to the owner of the object, when he leaves it in his or her hand, and so on, until he has settled the ownership of all the articles placed on the table.
Another evidence of this increase of faculty was given when the writer went, whilst the subject was out of the room, to some bookshelves and passed his fingers down the backs of several books. The subject, on returning into the moth, smelled the two fingers, and going to the bookshelves pulled out the books which had been touched.
Many hallucinations of the sense of smell are possible. A foul odour can be suggested as sweet; and the subject will complain bitterly, under the proper impression, of the horrible smell given forth by a rose.
The next is an instance of auto-suggestion in which several senses, including smell, were involved.
A subject’s attention was drawn to a bottle of ammonia on the table before him; it was then removed, whilst the suggestion was made that it was still there. He saw the imaginary bottle of ammonia in the original position, but was quite unable to see, smell, or in any way perceive the real one. The bottle, containing the strongest ammonia, was placed, with the stopper taken out, immediately under his nose, and the subject felt nothing.
It is known that the sense of touch is not so delicate, but that on certain parts of the body (e.g., the back), the two points of a pair of compasses are felt as one point. According to Berger, a person, in whom a distance of 18 degrees was necessary to produce a twofold sensation in the normal state, was able, under hypnosis, to distinguish the points at a distance of 3 degrees. Very slight variations in temperature will be detected by subjects under hypnosis; and some curious results are obtainable by increasing the sense of pressure or weight.
Thus the subject is blindfolded, and a large horse-shoe magnet is brought within about an inch of his hand. He describes it as “something smooth,” “heavy,” “feels like metal”; on a book being substituted, he describes it as “not so heavy,” “something rough,” etc., etc.
Hallucinations of Colour and Colour Blindness , may be produced. Parinaud, the head of the ophthalmological laboratory at the Salpetière, has
summed up these in a paper contributed to Binet et Féré’s work “Animal Magnetism,” and a portion of this is quoted, though it must not be forgotten that these results are probably due to the hypnotic training which these authors have referred to.
“Hallucinations of colour may develop phenomena of chromatic contrast as readily as, and with even greater intensity than, the actual perception of colour.
“If, for instance, a piece of paper divided by a line be presented to a hypnotised subject, and it be suggested to her that one-half is red, the sensation of the complementary colour, green, occurs on the other half. If, after awaking, the sensation of red remain, so also does the sensation of green,
“In order to understand the meaning of this fact, I must refer to the following experiment, relating to chromatic contrast, which I communicated to the Societe de Biologie in July 1882.
“A card which is half white and half green on one side, and wholly white on the other, is marked in the centre on both sides with a spot intended to fix the vision. For half a minute the eyes are fixed on the parti-coloured side, and then the card is turned and the eyes are fixed on the central spot of the white side. On the half which corresponds to the green half a red tint appears, which is merely the definitive after-image, and on the other half the complementary green tint is seen. The after-image of red has, therefore, developed by induction the sensation of green in the part of the retina which had only received the impression of white. This experiment, which may be varied in different ways, so as to establish the fact that we have to do with positive sensations, and not with any error of judgment, shows that every impression of colour leads to a more or less persistent modification of the nervous elements which produce the after-image, and that this modification causes, in the parts not affected, a modification in the opposite direction which develops the complementary sensation.”
If a subject be told he is holding a hat in his hands, he will be unable to close them without using force, by reason of the resistance caused by the imaginary hat. It was-suggested that there was a roll of tissue paper between his hands, and that he was to close them whether or not he spoilt the paper.
Here the difficulty was not great; when he held the imaginary hat it was greater, and on being told that he was holding a brick, he made the most strenuous efforts to bring his hands together, and he at last gave it up as impossible.
Unilateral hypnosis.-All the hallucinations we have previously discussed have affected the whole personality of the individual. It has been shown that by means of auto-suggestion, if a suggestion affecting the sight be made, the other senses all act in harmony with the sight. The phenomenon of unilateral hypnosis presents, however, an exception to this rule. The hypnotist goes to the right ear of his subject, and says to him, “When you wake up, you will find the sun is shining brightly, and that the weather is perfect.” He goes to his left ear and says, “When you wake up you will find it is raining hard, and that it is a dull, Miserable day.” On waking, the result is very evident, for the one side of the face will wear a smile, whilst the left side will present the appearance of annoyance. This experiment, however, will not always succeed.
The subject, acting under the proper suggestion, takes an umbrella and holds it on the left side, whilst he complains of the heat on the right.
The absence of any knowledge on the part of the subject that he is under any illusion, or that he is in any way obeying an hypnotic suggestion, is illustrated by the following experiment:-
A college cap was put in the lap of a subject with the suggestion that when he awoke he would find it was a little fox-terrier. Previous to hypnotising him, the writer had said that he was going to give him an illusion, and wished him to remember, on waking, that whatever he saw was due to a suggestion given him in hypnosis. The look of incredulous surprise, with which he regarded those present when they assured him that it was not a dog he had in his lap, but a college cap, was more than sufficient to show how completely the warning had failed to overthrow the suggestion.
“Not a dog,” said he; “pray, then, what do you call it?” And on our taking up the tassel of the cap, he was angry with us for “pulling the dog’s tail.” He was then asked if he did not remember the warning before he was hypnotised, and was assured that it was a cap he had in his lap, and that he mistook it for a dog by reason of -the hypnotic suggestion made to him. He looked at us with a puzzled expression for some moments, and finally laughed, saying, “You must have been hypnotised yourself, I think “
It is evident from the description of the many hypnotic phenomena, which, as we have seen, depend largely for their production upon the action of the intellect and the memory, that with regard to hypnosis it would be altogether misleading and false to speak of “unconsciousness,” understanding by this term the psychological meaning- i.e., a state in which no psychical process takes place.
It is equally clear, however, that though it be inaccurate to speak of loss of consciousness in hypnosis, we have nevertheless to do with a singular and abnormal form of consciousness. Before entering upon a discussion of the etiological questions involved, the writer has endeavoured to give a clear account of the phenomena to be observed in normal hypnoses, and of the results of experimental variation. For, without an accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the nature of these phenomena, the discussion of the physiological alterations caused by the induction of hypnosis must be fruitless. The condition of the hypnotised person, the effects of suggestion, and the conditions and limitations under which the phenomena are to be produced must all be properly appreciated: and the psychical changes which may be observed are of especial importance in this respect. Much more experimental material might have been brought forward, but we have used no more than is necessary to illustrate the various phases of hypnosis.
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