HYPNOTISM--PSYCHICAL ASPECT.
As before remarked the phenomena of hypnotism may be viewed from two
distinct standpoints--one, that from which the physical and especially the
therapeutic features are most prominent, the standpoint from which we have
already viewed the subject; the other is the psychical or mental aspect,
which presents phenomena no less striking, and is the one which is
especially attractive to the most earnest students of psychology.
The hypnotic condition has been variously divided and subdivided by
different students and different writers upon the subject; Charcot, for
instance, makes three distinct states, which he designates (1) catalepsy,
(2) lethargy, and (3) somnambulism, while Bernheim proposes five states,
or, as he designates them, degrees of hypnotism, namely, (1) sleepiness,
(2) light sleep, (3) deep sleep, (4) very deep sleep, (5) somnambulism.
All these divisions are arbitrary and unnatural; Bernheim's five degrees
have no definite limit or line of separation one from the other, and
Charcot's condition of catalepsy is only lethargy or sleep in which the
subject may, to a greater or less degree, maintain the position in which
he is placed by his hypnotizer.
There are, however, as already stated, two distinct and definite
conditions, namely, (1) lethargy, or the inactive stage, and (2)
somnambulism, or the alert stage, and if, in examining the subject, we
make this simple division, we shall free it from much confusion and
unnecessary verbiage.
When a subject is hypnotized by any soothing process, he first experiences
a sensation of drowsiness, and then in a space of time, usually varying
from two to twenty minutes, he falls into a more or less profound slumber.
His breathing is full and quiet, his pulse normal; he is unconscious of
his surroundings; or possibly he may be quiet, restful, indisposed to
move, but having a consciousness, probably dim and imperfect, of what is
going on about him.
This is the condition of lethargy, and in it most subjects, but not all,
retain to a greater or less degree whatever position the hypnotizer
imposes upon them; they sleep on, often maintaining what, under ordinary
circumstances, would be a most uncomfortable position, for hours,
motionless as a statue of bronze or stone.
If, now, he speaks of his own accord, or his magnetizer speaks to him and
he replies, he is in the somnambulic or alert stage. He may open his eyes,
talk in a clear and animated manner; he may walk about, and show even more
intellectual acuteness and physical activity than when in his normal
state, or he may merely nod assent or answer slowly to his hypnotizer's
questions; still, he is in the somnambulic or alert stage of hypnotism.
The following are some of the phenomena which have been observed in this
stage. It is not necessary to rehearse the stock performances of
lecture-room hypnotists. While under the influence of hypnotic suggestion
a lad, for instance, is made to go through the pantomime of fishing in an
imaginary brook, a dignified man to canter around the stage on all fours,
under the impression that he is a pony, or watch an imaginary mouse-hole
in the most alert and interested manner while believing himself a cat; or
the subject is made to take castor oil with every expression of delight,
or reject the choicest wines with disgust, believing them to be nauseous
drugs, or stagger with drunkenness under the influence of a glass of pure
water, supposed to be whisky.
All these things have been done over and over for the last forty years,
and people have not known whether to consider them a species of necromancy
or well-practiced tricks, in which the performers were accomplices, or,
perhaps, a few more thoughtful and better-instructed people have looked
upon them as involving psychological problems of the greatest interest,
which might some day strongly influence all our systems of mental
philosophy.
But whether done by the mesmerist of forty years ago or the hypnotist of
the past decade, they were identical in character, and were simply genuine
examples of the great power of suggestion when applied to persons under
the mesmeric or hypnotic influence. Such exhibitions, however, are
unnecessary and undignified, if not positively degrading, to both subject
and operator, whether given by the self-styled professor of the town-hall
platform or the aspiring clinical professor of nervous diseases before his
packed amphitheatre of admiring students.
One of the most singular as well as important points in connection with
hypnotism is the rapport or relationship which exists between the
hypnotizer and the hypnotized subject. The manner in which the hypnotic
sleep is induced is of little importance. The important thing, if results
of any kind are to be obtained, is that rapport should be established.
This relationship is exhibited in various ways. Generally, while in the
hypnotic state, the subject hears no voice but that of his hypnotizer; he
does no bidding but his, he receives no suggestions but from him, and no
one else can awaken him from his sleep.
If another person interferes, trying to impose his influence upon the
sleeping subject, or attempts to waken him, distressing and even alarming
results may appear. The degree to which this rapport exists varies greatly
in different cases, but almost always, perhaps we should say always, the
condition exists in some degree. In some rare cases this rapport is of a
still higher and more startling character, exhibiting phenomena so
contrary to, or rather, so far exceeding, our usual experience as to be a
surprise to all and a puzzle to the wisest.
One of these curious phenomena is well exhibited in what is known as
community of sensation, or the perception by the subject of sensations
experienced by the operator. The following experiment, observed by Mr.
Gurney and Dr. Myers of the Society for Psychical Research, will
illustrate this phase of the subject.
The sensitive in this experiment is designated as Mr. C., and the operator
as Mr. S. There was no contact or any communication whatsoever of the
ordinary kind between them. C. was hypnotized, but was not informed of the
nature of the experiment which was to be tried. The operator stood behind
the hypnotized subject, and Mr. Gurney, standing behind the operator,
handed him the different substances to be used in the experiment, and he,
in turn, placed them in his own mouth.
Salt was first so tasted by the operator, whereupon the subject, C.,
instantly and loudly cried out: "What's that salt stuff?" Sugar was given.
C. replied, "Sweeter; not so bad as before." Powdered ginger; reply, "Hot,
dries up your mouth; reminds me of mustard." Sugar given again; reply, "A
little better--a sweetish taste." Other substances were tried, with
similar results, the last one tasted being vinegar, when it was found that
C. had fallen into the deeper lethargic condition and made no reply.
Another experiment is reported by Dr. William A. Hammond of Washington.
The doctor said:
"A most remarkable fact is, that some few subjects of hypnotism experience
sensations from impressions made upon the hypnotizer. Thus, there is a
subject upon whom I sometimes operate whom I can shut up in a room with an
observer, while I go into another closed room at a distance of one hundred
feet or more with another observer. This one, for instance, scratches my
hand with a pin, and instantly the hypnotized subject rubs his
corresponding hand, and says, 'Don't scratch my hand so;' or my hair is
pulled, and immediately he puts his hand to his head and says, 'Don't pull
my hair;' and so on, feeling every sensation that I experience."
This experiment, it must be borne in mind, is conducted in closed rooms a
hundred feet apart, and through at least two partitions or closed doors,
and over that distance and through these intervening obstacles peculiar
and definite sensations experienced by one person are perceived and
definitely described by another person, no ordinary means of communication
existing between them. This is an example of the rapport existing between
the operator and hypnotized subject carried to an unusual degree.
The following experiments are examples of hypnotizing at a distance, or
telepathic hypnotism, and while illustrating still further the rapport,
or curious relationship, existing between hypnotizer and subject, are also
illustrations of the rarer psychic phenomena of hypnotism.
The first series of experiments is given by Prof. Pierre Janet of Havre
and Dr. Gibert, a prominent physician of the same city. The subject was
Mme. B., a heavy, rather stolid, middle-aged peasant woman, without any
ambition for notoriety, or to be known as a sensitive; on the contrary,
she disliked it, and the experiments were disagreeable to her. She was,
however an excellent example of close rapport with her hypnotizer.
While in the deep sleep, and perfectly insensible to ordinary stimuli,
however violent, contact, or even the proximity of her hypnotizer's hand,
caused contractures, which a light touch from him would also remove. No
one else could produce the slightest effect. After about ten minutes in
this deep trance she usually passed into the alert, or somnambulic stage,
from which also no one but the operator could arouse her. Hypnotization
was difficult or impossible unless the operator concentrated his thoughts
upon the desired result, but by simply willing, without passes or any
physical means whatsoever, the hypnotic condition could be quickly
induced.
Various experiments in simply willing post-hypnotic acts, without
suggestion through any of the ordinary channels of communication, were
also perfectly successful. Dr. Gibert then made three experiments in
putting this subject to sleep when she was in another part of the town, a
third of a mile away from the operator, and at a time fixed by a third
person, the experiment also being wholly unexpected by the subject.
On two of these occasions Prof. Janet found the subject in a deep trance
ten minutes after the willing to sleep, and no one but Dr. Gibert, who had
put her to sleep, could rouse her. In the third experiment the subject
experienced the hypnotic influence and desire to sleep, but resisted it
and kept herself awake by washing her hands in cold water.
During a second series of experiments made with the same subject, several
members of the Society for Psychical Research were present and took an
active part in them. Apart from trials made in the same or an adjoining
room, twenty-one experiments were made when the subject was at distances
varying from one-half to three-fourths of a mile away from her hypnotizer.
Of these, six were reckoned as failures, or only partial successes; there
remained, then, fifteen perfect successes in which the subject, Mme. B.,
was found entranced fifteen minutes after the willing or mental
suggestion. During one of these experiments, the subject was willed by Dr.
Gibert to come through several intervening streets to him at his own
house, which she accomplished in the somnambulic condition, and under the
observation of Prof. Janet and several other physicians.
Another series of experiments was made with another subject by Dr.
Hericourt, one of Prof. Richet's coadjutors. The experiments included the
gradual extension of the distance through which the willing power was
successful, first to another room, then to another street, and a distant
part of the city.
One day, while attempting to hypnotize her in another street, three
hundred yards distant, at 3 o'clock P. M., he was suddenly called away to
attend a patient, and forgot all about his hypnotic subject. Afterward he
remembered that he was to meet her at 4:30, and went to keep his
appointment. But not finding her, he thought possibly the experiment,
which had been interrupted might, after all, have proved successful. Upon
this supposition, at 5 o'clock he willed her to awake.
That evening, without being questioned at all, she gave the following
account of herself: At 3 P. M. she was overcome by an irresistible desire
to sleep, a most unusual thing for her at that hour. She went into an
adjoining room, fell insensible upon a sofa, where she was afterward found
by her servant, cold and motionless, as if dead.
Attempts on the part of the servant to rouse her proved ineffectual, but
gave her great distress. She woke spontaneously and free from pain at 5
o'clock.
By no means the least interesting of the higher phenomena of hypnotism are
post-hypnotic suggestions, or the fulfilment after waking of suggestions
impressed upon the subject when asleep.
A few summers ago at a little gathering of intelligent people, much
interest was manifested and a general desire to see some hypnotic
experiments. Accordingly, one of the ladies whose good sense and good
faith could not be doubted, was hypnotized and put into the condition of
profound lethargy. After a few slight experiments, exhibiting anaesthesia,
hallucinations of taste, plastic pose, and the like, I said to her in a
decided manner:
"Now I am about to waken you. I will count five, and when I say the word
'five' you will promptly, but quietly and without any excitement, awake.
Your mind will be perfectly clear, and you will feel rested and refreshed
by your sleep. Presently you will approach Mrs. O., and will be attracted
by the beautiful shell comb which she wears in her hair, and you will ask
her to permit you to examine it."
I then commenced counting slowly, and at the word "five" she awoke, opened
her eyes promptly, looked bright and happy, and expressed herself as
feeling comfortable and greatly rested, as though she had slept through a
whole night. She rose from her chair, mingled with the company, and
presently approaching Mrs. O., exclaimed:
"What a beautiful comb! Please allow me to examine it."
And suiting the action to the word, she placed her hand lightly on the
lady's head, examined the comb, and expressed great admiration for it; in
short, she fulfilled with great exactness the whole suggestion.
She was perfectly unconscious that any suggestion had been made to her;
she was greatly surprised to see that she was the centre of observation,
and especially at the ripple of laughter which greeted her admiration of
the comb.
To another young lady, hypnotized in like manner, I suggested that on
awaking she should approach the young daughter of our hostess, who was
present, holding a favorite kitten in her arms, and should say to her,
"What a pretty kitten you have! What is her name?"
The suggestion was fulfilled to the letter. It was only afterward that I
learned that this young lady had a very decided aversion to cats, and
always avoided them if possible.
Suggestions for post-hypnotic fulfilment are sometimes carried out after a
considerable time has elapsed, and upon the precise day suggested.
Bernheim, in August, 1883, suggested to S., an old soldier, while in the
hypnotic sleep, that upon the 3d of October following, sixty-three days
after the suggestion, he should go to Dr. Liebeault's house; that he would
there see the President of the Republic, who would give to him a medal.
Promptly on the day designated he went. Dr. Liebeault states that S. came
at 12:50 o'clock; he greeted M. F., who met him at the door as he came in,
and then went to the left side of the office without paying any attention
to any one. Dr. Liebeault continues:--
"I saw him bow respectfully and heard him speak the word 'Excellence.'
Just then he held out his right hand, and said, 'Thank your Excellence.'
Then I asked him to whom he was speaking. 'Why, to the President of the
Republic.' He then bowed, and a few minutes later took his departure."
A patient of my own, a young man with whom I occasionally experiment,
exhibits some of the different phases and phenomena of hypnotism in a
remarkable manner. He goes quickly into the stage of profound lethargy;
after allowing him to sleep a few moments, I say to him: "Now you can open
your eyes and you can see and talk with me, but you are still asleep, and
you will remember nothing."
He opens his eyes at once, smiles, gets up and walks, and chats in a
lively manner. If I say: "Now you are in the deep sleep again," and pass
my hand downward before his eyes, immediately his eyes close and he is in
a profound slumber. If five seconds later I again say, "Now you can open
your eyes," he is again immediately in the alert stage.
For experiment I then take half a dozen plain blank cards, exactly alike,
and in one corner of one of the cards I put a minute dot, so that upon
close inspection it can be recognized. Holding these in my hand, I say to
him:
"Here are six cards; five of them are blank, but this one (the one I have
marked, he only seeing the plain side) has a picture of myself upon it.
It is a particularly good picture, and I have had it prepared specially
for this occasion. Do you see the picture?"
"Of course I do," he replies. "What do you think of it?" I ask him. He
looks at me carefully and compares my face with the suggested picture on
the card and replies, "It is excellent."
"Very well, give me the cards."
He hands them to me and I shuffle and disarrange them as much as possible.
I then show them to him, holding them in my hand, and say:
"Now show me the card which has my picture upon it."
He selects it at once. I only know it is correct by looking for the dot
upon the back, which has all the while been kept carefully concealed from
him.
I then say to him: "Now, I am going to awaken you, and when awake you will
come to the desk, select from the cards which I now place there the one
which has my picture, and show it to me."
He awakes at my counting when I reach the word five, as I have suggested
to him. He remembers nothing of what has passed since he was hypnotized,
but thinks he has had a long and delightful sleep. I sit at my desk; he
walks up to it, examines the six cards which are lying there, selects one,
and showing it to me, remarks, "There is your picture." It was the same
marked card.
On another occasion, while he was asleep and in the alert stage, Mrs. M.
was present. I introduced her, and he spoke to her with perfect propriety.
Afterward I said: "Now, I will awake you, but you will only see me. Mrs.
M. you will not see at all."
I then awoke him, as usual. He commenced talking to me in a perfectly
natural and unrestrained manner. Mrs. M. stood by my side between him and
myself, but he paid not the slightest attention to her; she then withdrew,
and I remarked indifferently:
"Wasn't it a little peculiar of you not to speak to Mrs. M. before she
went out?"
"Speak to Mrs. M!" he exclaimed, with evident surprise. "I did not know
she had been in the room."
One day when Drs. Liebeault and Bernheim were together at their clinic at
the hospital, Dr. Liebeault suggested to a hypnotized patient that when
she awoke she would no longer see Dr. Bernheim, but that she would
recognize his hat, would put it on her head, and offer to take it to him.
When she awoke, Dr. Bernheim was standing in front of her. She was asked:
"Where is Dr. Bernheim?" She replied: "He is gone, but here is his hat."
Dr. Bernheim then said to her, "Here I am, madam; I am not gone, you
recognize me, perfectly."
She was silent, taking not the slightest notice of him. Some one else
addressed her; she replied with perfect propriety. Finally, when about to
go out she took up Dr. Bernheim's hat, put it on her head, saying she
would take it to him; but to her Dr. Bernheim was not present.
To the number of curious phenomena, both physical and mental, connected
with hypnotism, it is difficult to find a limit; a few others seem too
important in their bearing upon the subject to be omitted, even in this
hasty survey.
Some curious experiments in the production of local anaesthesia were
observed by the committee on mesmerism from the Society for Psychical
Research.
The subject was in his normal condition and blindfolded; his arms were
then passed through holes in a thick paper screen, extending in front of
him and far above his head, and his ten fingers were spread out upon a
table. Two of the fingers were then silently pointed out by a third person
to Mr. S., the operator, who proceeded to make passes over the designated
fingers.
Care was taken that such a distance was maintained between the fingers of
the subject and operator that no contact was possible, and no currents of
air or sensation of heat were produced by which the subject might possibly
divine which of his fingers were the subject of experiment. In short, the
strictest test conditions in every particular, were observed. After the
passes had been continued for a minute, or even less time, the operator
simply holding his own fingers pointed downward toward the designated
fingers of the subject, the two fingers so treated were found to be
perfectly stiff and insensible. A strong current of electricity, wounding
with a pointed instrument, burning with a match--all failed to elicit the
slightest sign of pain or discomfort, while the slightest injury to the
unmagnetized fingers quickly elicited cries and protests. When told to
double up his fist the two magnetized fingers remained rigid and
immovable, and utterly refused to be folded up with the others.
A series of one hundred and sixty experiments of this character was made
with five different subjects. Of these, only seven were failures. In
another series of forty-one experiments this curious fact was observed. In
all these experiments the operator, while making the passes in the same
manner and under the same conditions as in the former series, silently
willed that the effect should not follow; that is, that insensibility and
rigidity should not occur. In thirty-six of these experiments
insensibility did not occur; in five cases the insensibility and rigidity
occurred--in two cases perfectly, in three imperfectly.
That some quality is imparted even to inanimate objects by some
mesmerizers, by passes or handling, through which a sensitive or subject
is able to recognize and select that object from among many others, seems
to be a well-established fact. The following experiments are in point:--
A gentleman well known to the committee of investigation, and who was
equally interested with it in securing reliable results, was selected as a
subject. He was accustomed to be hypnotized by the operator, but in the
present case he remained perfectly in his normal condition.
One member of the committee took the subject into a separate room on
another floor and engaged him closely in conversation. The operator
remained with other members of the committee. Ten small miscellaneous
articles, such as a piece of sealing wax, a penknife, paperweight,
card-case, pocketbook, and similar articles were scattered upon a table.
One was designated by the committee, over which the mesmerist made passes,
sometimes with light contact.
This was continued for one or two minutes, and when the process was
completed the mesmerist was conducted out and to a third room. The
articles were then rearranged in a manner quite different from that in
which they had been left by the operator, and the subject from the floor
above was brought into the room. The several objects were then examined by
the sensitive, who upon taking the mesmerized object in his hand,
immediately recognized it as the one treated by his mesmerizer.
The experiment was then varied by using ten small volumes exactly alike.
One volume was selected by the committee, over which the operator simply
made passes with out any contact whatsoever. Three or four other volumes
of the set were also handled and passes made over them by a member of the
committee.
The operator then being excluded, the sensitive was brought in and
immediately selected the magnetized volume. This he did four times in
succession. In reply to the question as to how he was able to distinguish
the magnetized object from others, he said that when he took the right
object in his hand he experienced a mild tingling sensation.
My own experiments with magnetized water have presented similar results.
The water was treated by simply holding the fingers of both hands brought
together in a clump, for about a minute just over the cup of water, but
without any contact whatsoever. This water was then given to the subject
without her knowing that she was taking part in an experiment; but
alternating it or giving it irregularly with water which had not been so
treated, and given by a third person, in every case the magnetized water
was at once detected with great certainty. In describing the sensation
produced by the magnetized water one patient said the sensation was an
agreeable warmth and stimulation upon the tongue, another that it was a
"sparkle" like aerated water; it sparkled in her mouth and all the way
down into her stomach. Such are a few among the multitude of facts and
phenomena relating to hypnotism. They suffice to settle and make sure
some matters which until lately have been looked upon as questionable,
and, on the other hand, they bring into prominence others of the greatest
interest which demand further study.
Among the subjects which may be considered established may be placed,
(1) The reality of the hypnotic condition.
(2) The increased and unusual power of suggestion over the hypnotized
subject.
(3) The usefulness of hypnotism as a therapeutic agent.
(4) The perfect reality and natural, as contrasted with supernatural,
character of many wonderful phenomena, both physical and psychical,
exhibited in the hypnotic state.
On the other hand, much remains for future study;
(1) The exact nature of the influence which produces the hypnotic
condition is not known.
(2) Neither is the nature of the rapport or peculiar relationship which
exists between the hypnotizer and the hypnotized subject--a relationship
which is sometimes so close that the subject hears no voice but that of
his hypnotizer, perceives and experiences the same sensations of taste,
touch, and feeling generally as are experienced by him, and can be
awakened only by him.
(3) Nor is it known by what peculiar process suggestion is rendered so
potent, turning, for the time being, at least, water into wine, vulgar
weeds into choicest flowers, a lady's drawing-room into a fishpond, and
clear skies and quiet waters into lightning-rent storm-clouds and
tempest-tossed waves; turning laughter into sadness, and tears into mirth.
In dealing with the subject of hypnotism in this hasty and general way,
only such facts and phenomena have been presented as are well known and
accepted by well-informed students of the subjects. Others still more
wonderful will later claim our attention.