The history of the antecedents of hypnotism is rich in
suggestiveness. For the historian of the inductive sciences it
illustrates the influence of the circumstances accompanying
a discovery upon the status of the discovery itself; that
the acceptance of a discovery depends more upon its logical
concordance with current scientific conceptions, upon the manner
of its demonstration, than upon the intrinsic content of what is
demonstrated. It is as difficult in science as in real life to escape
the influences of unfortunate associates; the interesting state
which we now recognize as hypnosis was naturally discredited when it
consorted with animal magnetism and the marvels of somnambulism, but
was recognized when its credentials were expressed in intelligible
physiological and psychological terms. For the historian of human
error the story is equally significant. It illustrates again that the
mental attitude essentially influences truth and error alike; that
with all due allowance for ignorance, for faulty observation, for
defective organization of knowledge, error was due, more than to any
of these, to the lack of suitable concepts for the proper absorption
and appreciation of the phenomena in their true significance. For
lack of these there was misconception and oversight, and in their
stead prepossession by notions of a wholly irrelevant character.
Such notions were fostered by what we retrospectively recognize as
pseudo-science; such was the fictitious animal magnetism, an entity
never demonstrated, but supported only by a superficial analogical
plausibility. They were fostered also by the activity of the
marvel-loving impulse, which is unresponsive to the uniformities of
nature, and favors mystic fable, while overlooking sensible fact.
"Wer unmögliches geglaubt, könnt unmögliches verrichten." The
special form of belief, the name of the system, the nature of the
explanatory theory, seem almost accidental. Throughout all times, the
same intense craving to overthrow the limitations of the human mind
has been present, and has been satisfied by much the same beliefs and
theories. Mesmerism harks back to astrology; prophets and seers have
always existed; the mystery of the attractive force of the magnet
for long made magnetism a most popular explanation of any obscure
phenomena; the same performances that convinced the mesmerist of the
existence of the magnetic fluid are evidence to the electro-biologist
of the electro-vital force, of the "od" to the followers of
Reichenbach; and--more striking still--the outfit of the modern
spiritualistic medium, the trance, the clairvoyant discovery of one's
private affairs, the reading of messages in sealed envelopes, the
conversation with absent or departed friends, are all to be found in
the annals of somnambulism. Truly, history repeats itself; and the
endless forms of mysticism, error, and extravagance seem immortal;
they change in form and accommodate themselves to the advance in
knowledge and civilization, and parody the forms of statement and the
methods of science in an age which has learned to be impressed with
scientific demonstrations.
For the special student of hypnotism no lesson of the history of its
antecedents is more practically significant than its illumination
of the extent, variety, and subtlety of unconscious suggestion. If
Puységur's subjects prescribe for their own ills and see without
their eyes; if Pétetin's read what is placed on their stomachs; or
the interposition of poor electric-conductors prevent manifestations;
if one of the subjects examined by the commission of 1784 could not
be deprived of speech unless the magnetizing band passed below his
mouth; if one of the Salpêtrière subjects of 1829 could be cured only
by immersion in the river; if Deleuze's subjects respond differently
to the minute differences in manipulations, which he believed to be
essential; if the subjects whom Braid examined could prove the truth
of phrenology, and the mesmerist's subjects feel the magnetic fluid
streaming through their systems; if within recent times paralyses are
transferred from one arm to the other by the action of a magnet, or
Dr. Luys's subjects show the characteristic effects of a drug when
a sealed vial containing it is placed upon the subject's neck, or
respond to the puppets which he has manipulated,--surely it is as
obvious that some spontaneous caprice of the subject or unconscious
suggestions of the operator have originated these notions, and that
unconscious imitation has further contributed to their dissemination,
as it is obvious that all these in part mutually contradictory
phenomena cannot be true, objective facts. The significance of more
recent investigations in allied fields still turns upon the factor
which unconscious suggestion plays in their production. The advocates
of telepathy, whether occurring under hypnotic or more normal
conditions, feel confident that unconscious suggestion as well as all
other sources of error have been eliminated; the skeptical critics
point out overlooked and novel modes of unconscious suggestion, and
draw confidence from the history of the past, both of the unwarranted
flight to improbable hypothesis on the basis of an alleged absence
of a natural explanation, and of the solvent power which future
investigation may hold in store.
The story of the conquest of a realm of fable by a campaign of
enlightenment is always a tale of interest. The opening of a new
vista directs one's gaze outward over unexplored areas. It may be,
as our seventeenth-century chronicler tells us, that "we are all
Indians and Salvages in what we have not accustomed our senses," and
that, "what was Conjuring in the last age is Mathematiques in this";
but our more extensive acquaintance with the course of discovery
and the demonstration of truth has given us a more logical sense
of the probable and the improbable; and the evolution by which
conjuring becomes mathematics is more intimately understood. The
recent establishment of hypnotism in its scientific aspects furnishes
the proper perspective for the comprehension of its antecedents;
it gives confidence that its future development will incorporate
the spirit of present research, as it will avoid the aberrations of
the past; and it gives to the story of its vicissitudes a timely
pertinence as well as a psychological significance.