[1] The history of the "hymn" naturally begins with Greece, but it
may be found in some form much earlier; Assyria and Egypt have left
specimens, while India has the Vedic hymns, and Confucius collected
"praise songs" in China.
[2] See GREEK LITERATURE.
[3] The authorship of this and of one other, "When all thy mercies, O
my God," has been made a subject of controversy,--being claimed for
Andrew Marvell (who died in 1678), in the preface to Captain E.
Thompson's edition (1776) of Marvell's _Works_. But this claim does
not appear to be substantiated. The editor did not give his readers
the means of judging as to the real age, character or value of a
manuscript to which he referred; he did not say that these portions
of it were in Marvell's handwriting; he did not even himself include
them among Marvell's poems, as published in the body of his edition;
and he advanced a like claim on like grounds to two other poems, in
very different styles, which had been published as their own by
Tickell and Mallet. It is certain that all the five hymns were first
made public in 1712, in papers contributed by Addison to the
_Spectator_ (Nos. 441, 453, 465, 489, 513), in which they were
introduced in a way which might have been expected if they were by
the hand which wrote those papers, but which would have been
improbable, and unworthy of Addison, if they were unpublished works
of a writer of so much genius, and such note in his day, as Marvell.
They are all printed as Addison's in Dr Johnson's _British Poets_.
[4] The old tune for the 100th Psalm and Croft's tune for the 104th
are almost the only exceptions, unless "God save the King" may be
classed under "hymnody." In Scotland also the tune for the 124th
Psalm is associated with its proper text.
HYPAETHROS (Gr. [Greek: hypaithros], beneath the sky, in the open air,
[Greek: hypo], beneath, and [Greek: aithêr], air), the Greek term quoted
by Vitruvius (iii. 2) for the opening in the middle of the roof of
decastyle temples, of which "there was no example in Rome, but one in
Athens in the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which is octastyle." But at
the time he wrote (c. 25 B.C.) the cella of this temple was unroofed,
because the columns which had been provided to carry, at all events,
part of the ceiling and roof had been taken away by Sulla in 80 B.C. The
decastyle temple of Apollo Didymaeus near Miletus was, according to
Strabo (c. 50 B.C.), unroofed, on account of the vastness of its cella,
in which precious groves of laurel bushes were planted. Apart from these
two examples, the references in various writers to an opening of some
kind in the roofs of temples dedicated to particular deities, and the
statement of Vitruvius, which was doubtless based on the writings of
Greek authors, that in decastyle or large temples the centre was open to
the sky and without a roof (_medium autem sub divo est sine tecto_),
render the existence of the hypaethros probable in some cases; and
therefore C. R. Cockerell's discovery in the temple at Aegina of two
fragments of a coping-stone, in which there were sinkings on one side to
receive the tiles and covering tiles, has been of great importance in
the discussion of this subject. In the conjectural restoration of the
opaion or opening in the roof shown in Cockerell's drawing, it has been
made needlessly large, having an area of about one quarter of the
superficial area of the cella between the columns, and since in the
Pantheon at Rome the relative proportions of the central opening in the
dome and the area of the Rotunda are 1: 22, and the light there is
ample, in the clearer atmosphere of Greece it might have been less. The
larger the opening the more conspicuous would be the notch in the roof
which is so greatly objected to; in this respect T. J. Hittorff would
seem to be nearer the truth when, in his conjectural restoration of
Temple R. at Selinus, he shows an opaion about half the relative size
shown in Cockerell's of that at Aegina, the coping on the side elevation
being much less noticeable. The problem was apparently solved in another
way at Bassae, where, in the excavations of the temple of Apollo by
Cockerell and Baron Haller von Hallerstein, three marble tiles were
found with pierced openings in them about 18 in. by 10 in.; five of
these pierced tiles on either side would have amply lighted the interior
of the cella, and the amount of rain passing through (a serious element
to be considered in a country where torrential rains occasionally fall)
would not be very great or more than could be retained to dry up in the
cella sunk pavement. In favour of both these methods of lighting the
interior of the cella, the sarcophagus tomb at Cyrene, about 20 ft.
long, carved in imitation of a temple, has been adduced, because, on the
top of the roof and in its centre, there is a raised coping, and a
similar feature is found on a tomb found near Delos; an example from
Crete now in the British Museum shows a pierced tile on each side of
the roof, and a large number of pierced tiles have been found in
Pompeii, some of them surrounded with a rim identical with that of the
marble tiles at Bassae. On the other hand, there are many authorities,
among them Dr W. Dörpfeld, who have adhered to their original opinion
that it was only through the open doorway that light was ever admitted
into the cella, and with the clear atmosphere of Greece and the
reflections from the marble pavement such lighting would be quite
sufficient. There remains still another source of light to be
considered, that passing through the Parian marble tiles of the roof;
the superior translucency of Parian to any other marble may have
suggested its employment for the roofs of temples, and if, in the framed
ceilings carried over the cella, openings were left, some light from the
Parian tile roof might have been obtained. It is possibly to this that
Plutarch refers when describing the ceiling and roof of the temple of
Demeter at Eleusis, where the columns in the interior of the temple
carried a ceiling, probably constructed of timbers crossing one another
at right angles, and one or more of the spaces was left open, which
Xenocles surmounted by a roof formed of tiles.
James Fergusson put forward many years ago a conjectural restoration
in which he adopted a clerestory above the superimposed columns inside
the cella; in order to provide the light for these windows he
indicated two trenches in the roof, one on each side, and pointed out
that the great Hall of Columns at Karnak was lighted in this way with
clerestory windows; but in the first place the light in the latter was
obtained over the flat roofs covering lower portions of the hall, and
in the second place, as it rarely rains in Thebes, there could be no
difficulty about the drainage, while in Greece, with the torrential
rains and snow, these trenches would be deluged with water, and with
all the appliances of the present day it would be impossible to keep
these clerestory windows watertight. There is, however, still another
objection to Fergusson's theory; the water collecting in these
trenches on the roof would have to be discharged, for which
Fergusson's suggestions are quite inadequate, and the gargoyles shown
in the cella wall would make the peristyle insupportable just at the
time when it was required for shelter. No drainage otherwise of any
kind has ever been found in any Greek temple, which is fatal to
Fergusson's view. Nor is it in accordance with the definition "open to
the sky." English cathedrals and churches are all lighted by
clerestory windows, but no one has described them as open to the sky,
and although Vitruvius's statements are sometimes confusing, his
description is far too clear to leave any misunderstanding as to the
lighting of temples (where it was necessary on account of great
length) through an opening in the roof.
There is one other theory which has been put forward, but which can
only apply to non-peristylar temples,--that light and air was admitted
through the metopes, the apertures between the beams crossing the
cella,--and it has been assumed that because Orestes was advised in
one of the Greek plays to climb up and look through the metopes of the
temple, these were left open; but if Orestes could look in, so could
the birds, and the statue of the god would be defiled. The metopes
were probably filled in with shutters of some kind which Orestes knew
how to open. (R. P. S.)
HYPALLAGE (Gr. [Greek: hypallagê], interchange or exchange), a
rhetorical figure, in which the proper relation between two words
according to the rules of syntax are inverted. The stock instance is
that in Virgil, _Aen._ iii. 61, where _dare classibus austros_, to give
winds to the fleet, is put for _dare classes austris_, to give the fleet
to the winds. The term is also loosely applied to figures of speech
properly known as "metonymy" and, generally, to any striking turn of
expression.
HYPATIA ([Greek: Hypatia]) (c. A.D. 370-415) mathematician and
philosopher, born in Alexandria, was the daughter of Theon, also a
mathematician and philosopher, author of scholia on Euclid and a
commentary on the _Almagest_, in which it is suggested that he was
assisted by Hypatia (on the 3rd book). After lecturing in her native
city, Hypatia ultimately became the recognized head of the Neoplatonic
school there (c. 400). Her great eloquence and rare modesty and beauty,
combined with her remarkable intellectual gifts, attracted to her
class-room a large number of pupils. Among these was Synesius,
afterwards (c. 410) bishop of Ptolemaïs, several of whose letters to
her, full of chivalrous admiration and reverence, are still extant.
Suidas, misled by an incomplete excerpt in Photius from the life of
Isidorus (the Neoplatonist) by Damascius, states that Hypatia was the
wife of Isidorus; but this is chronologically impossible, since Isidorus
could not have been born before 434 (see Hoche in _Philologus_). Shortly
after the accession of Cyril to the patriarchate of Alexandria in 412,
owing to her intimacy with Orestes, the pagan prefect of the city,
Hypatia was barbarously murdered by the Nitrian monks and the fanatical
Christian mob (March 415). Socrates has related how she was torn from
her chariot, dragged to the Caesareum (then a Christian church),
stripped naked, done to death with oyster-shells ([Greek: ostrakois
aneilon,] perhaps "cut her throat") and finally burnt piecemeal. Most
prominent among the actual perpetrators of the crime was one Peter, a
reader; but there seems little reason to doubt Cyril's complicity (see
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).
Hypatia, according to Suidas, was the author of commentaries on the
_Arithmetica_ of Diophantus of Alexandria, on the Conics of Apollonius
of Perga and on the astronomical canon (of Ptolemy). These works are
lost; but their titles, combined with expressions in the letters of
Synesius, who consulted her about the construction of an astrolabe and a
hydroscope, indicate that she devoted herself specially to astronomy and
mathematics. Little is known of her philosophical opinions, but she
appears to have embraced the intellectual rather than the mystical side
of Neoplatonism, and to have been a follower of Plotinus rather than of
Porphyry and Iamblichus. Zeller, however, in his _Outlines of Greek
Philosophy_ (1886, Eng. trans. p. 347), states that "she appears to have
taught the Neoplatonic doctrine in the form in which Iamblichus had
stated it." A Latin letter to Cyril on behalf of Nestorius, printed in
the _Collectio nova conciliorum_, i. (1623), by Stephanus Baluzius
(Étienne Baluze, q.v.), and sometimes attributed to her, is undoubtedly
spurious. The story of Hypatia appears in a considerably disguised yet
still recognizable form in the legend of St Catherine as recorded in the
Roman _Breviary_ (November 25), and still more fully in the
_Martyrologies_ (see A. B. Jameson, _Sacred and Legendary Art_ (1867)
ii. 467.)
The chief source for the little we know about Hypatia is the account
given by Socrates (_Hist. ecclesiastica_, vii. 15). She is the subject
of an epigram by Palladas in the Greek Anthology (ix. 400). See
Fabricius, _Bibliotheca Graeca_ (ed. Harles), ix. 187; John Toland,
_Tetradymus_ (1720); R. Hoche in _Philologus_ (1860), xv. 435;
monographs by Stephan Wolf (Czernowitz, 1879), H. Ligier (Dijon, 1880)
and W. A. Meyer (Heidelberg, 1885), who devotes attention to the
relation of Hypatia to the chief representatives of Neoplatonism; J.
B. Bury, _Hist. of the Later Roman Empire_ (1889), i. 208,317; A.
Güldenpenning, _Geschichte des oströmischen Reiches unter Arcadius und
Theodosius II._ (Halle, 1885), p. 230; Wetzer and Welte,
_Kirchenlexikon_, vi. (1889), from a Catholic standpoint. The story of
Hypatia also forms the basis of the well-known historical romance by
Charles Kingsley (1853).
HYPERBATON (Gr. [Greek: huperbaton], a stepping over), the name of a
figure of speech, consisting of a transposition of words from their
natural order, such as the placing of the object before instead of after
the verb. It is a common method of securing emphasis.
HYPERBOLA, a conic section, consisting of two open branches, each
extending to infinity. It may be defined in several ways. The _in
solido_ definition as the section of a cone by a plane at a less
inclination to the axis than the generator brings out the existence of
the two infinite branches if we imagine the cone to be double and to
extend to infinity. The _in plano_ definition, i.e. as the conic having
an eccentricity greater than unity, is a convenient starting-point for
the Euclidian investigation. In projective geometry it may be defined as
the conic which intersects the line at infinity in two real points, or
to which it is possible to draw two real tangents from the centre.
Analytically, it is defined by an equation of the second degree, of
which the highest terms have real roots (see CONIC SECTION).
While resembling the parabola in extending to infinity, the curve has
closest affinities to the ellipse. Thus it has a real centre, two
foci, two directrices and two vertices; the transverse axis, joining
the vertices, corresponds to the major axis of the ellipse, and the
line through the centre and perpendicular to this axis is called the
conjugate axis, and corresponds to the minor axis of the ellipse;
about these axes the curve is symmetrical. The curve does not appear
to intersect the conjugate axis, but the introduction of imaginaries
permits us to regard it as cutting this axis in two unreal points.
Calling the foci S, S´, the real vertices A, A´, the extremities of
the conjugate axis B, B' and the centre C, the positions of B, B´ are
given by AB = AB´ = CS. If a rectangle be constructed about AA´ and
BB´, the diagonals of this figure are the "asymptotes" of the curve;
they are the tangents from the centre, and hence touch the curve at
infinity. These two lines may be pictured in the _in solido_
definition as the section of a cone by a plane through its vertex and
parallel to the plane generating the hyperbola. If the asymptotes be
perpendicular, or, in other words, the principal axes be equal, the
curve is called the rectangular hyperbola. The hyperbola which has for
its transverse and conjugate axes the transverse and conjugate axes of
another hyperbola is said to be the conjugate hyperbola.
Some properties of the curve will be briefly stated: If PN be the
ordinate of the point P on the curve, AA' the vertices, X the meet of
the directrix and axis and C the centre, then PN²: AN·NA´: : SX²:
AX·A´X, i.e. PN² is to AN·NA´ in a constant ratio. The circle on AA'
as diameter is called the auxiliarly circle; obviously AN·NA' equals
the square of the tangent to this circle from N, and hence the ratio
of PN to the tangent to the auxiliarly circle from N equals the ratio
of the conjugate axis to the transverse. We may observe that the
asymptotes intersect this circle in the same points as the
directrices. An important property is: the difference of the focal
distances of any point on the curve equals the transverse axis. The
tangent at any point bisects the angle between the focal distances of
the point, and the normal is equally inclined to the focal distances.
Also the auxiliarly circle is the locus of the feet of the
perpendiculars from the foci on any tangent. Two tangents from any
point are equally inclined to the focal distance of the point. If the
tangent at P meet the conjugate axis in t, and the transverse in N,
then Ct. PN = BC²; similarly if g and G be the corresponding
intersections of the normal, PG : Pg : : BC² : AC². A diameter is a
line through the centre and terminated by the curve: it bisects all
chords parallel to the tangents at its extremities; the diameter
parallel to these chords is its conjugate diameter. Any diameter is a
mean proportional between the transverse axis and the focal chord
parallel to the diameter. Any line cuts off equal distances between
the curve and the asymptotes. If the tangent at P meets the asymptotes
in R, R', then CR·CR´ = CS². The geometry of the rectangular hyperbola
is simplified by the fact that its principal axes are equal.
Analytically the hyperbola is given by ax² + 2hxy + by² + 2gx + 2fy +
c = 0 wherein ab > h². Referred to the centre this becomes Ax² + 2Hxy
+ By² + C = 0; and if the axes of coordinates be the principal axes of
the curve, the equation is further simplified to Ax² - By² = C, or if
the semi-transverse axis be a, and the semi-conjugate b, x²/a² - y²/b²
= 1. This is the most commonly used form. In the rectangular hyperbola
a = b; hence its equation is x² - y² = 0. The equations to the
asymptotes are x/a = ±y/b and x = ±y respectively. Referred to the
asymptotes as axes the general equation becomes xy = k²; obviously the
axes are oblique in the general hyperbola and rectangular in the
rectangular hyperbola. The values of the constant k² are ½(a² + b²)
and ½a² respectively. (See GEOMETRY: _Analytical_; _Projective_.)
HYPERBOLE (from Gr. [Greek: hyperballein], to throw beyond), a figure of
rhetoric whereby the speaker expresses more than the truth, in order to
produce a vivid impression; hence, an exaggeration.
HYPERBOREANS ([Greek: Hyperboreoi, Hyperboreioi]), a mythical people
intimately connected with the worship of Apollo. Their name does not
occur in the _Iliad_ or the _Odyssey_, but Herodotus (iv. 32) states
that they were mentioned in Hesiod and in the _Epigoni_, an epic of the
Theban cycle. According to Herodotus, two maidens, Opis and Arge, and
later two others, Hyperoche and Laodice, escorted by five men, called by
the Delians Perphereës, were sent by the Hyperboreans with certain
offerings to Delos. Finding that their messengers did not return, the
Hyperboreans adopted the plan of wrapping the offerings in wheat-straw
and requested their neighbours to hand them on to the next nation, and
so on, till they finally reached Delos. The theory of H. L. Ahrens, that
Hyperboreans and Perphereës are identical, is now widely accepted. In
some of the dialects of northern Greece (especially Macedonia and
Delphi) [phi] had a tendency to become [beta]. The original form of
[Greek: Perpherees] was [Greek: hyperpheretai] or [Greek: hyperphoroi]
("those who carry over"), which becoming [Greek: hyperboroi] gave rise
to the popular derivation from [Greek: boreas] ("dwellers beyond the
north wind"). The Hyperboreans were thus the bearers of the sacrificial
gifts to Apollo over land and sea, irrespective of their home, the name
being given to Delphians, Thessalians, Athenians and Delians. It is
objected by O. Schröder that the form [Greek: Perpherees] requires a
passive meaning, "those who are carried round the altar," perhaps
dancers like the whirling dervishes; distinguishing them from the
Hyperboreans, he explains the latter as those who live "above the
mountains," that is, in heaven. Under the influence of the derivation
from [Greek: boreas], the home of the Hyperboreans was placed in a
region beyond the north wind, a paradise like the Elysian plains,
inaccessible by land or sea, whither Apollo could remove those mortals
who had lived a life of piety. It was a land of perpetual sunshine and
great fertility; its inhabitants were free from disease and war. The
duration of their life was 1000 years, but if any desired to shorten it,
he decked himself with garlands and threw himself from a rock into the
sea. The close connexion of the Hyperboreans with the cult of Apollo may
be seen by comparing the Hyperborean myths, the characters of which by
their names mostly recall Apollo or Artemis (Agyieus, Opis, Hecaergos,
Loxo), with the ceremonial of the Apolline worship. No meat was eaten at
the Pyanepsia; the Hyperboreans were vegetarians. At the festival of
Apollo at Leucas a victim flung himself from a rock into the sea, like
the Hyperborean who was tired of life. According to an Athenian decree
(380 B.C.) asses were sacrificed to Apollo at Delphi, and Pindar
(_Pythia_, x. 33) speaks of "hecatombs of asses" being offered to him by
the Hyperboreans. As the latter conveyed sacrificial gifts to Delos
hidden in wheat-straw, so at the Thargelia a sheaf of corn was carried
round in procession, concealing a symbol of the god (for other
resemblances see Crusius's article). Although the Hyperborean legends
are mainly connected with Delphi and Delos, traces of them are found in
Argos (the stories of Heracles, Perseus, Io), Attica, Macedonia, Thrace,
Sicily and Italy (which Niebuhr indeed considers their original home).
In modern times the name has been applied to a group of races, which
includes the Chukchis, Koryaks, Yukaghirs, Ainus, Gilyaks and
Kamchadales, inhabiting the arctic regions of Asia and America. But if
ever ethnically one, the Asiatic and American branches are now as far
apart from each other as they both are from the Mongolo-Tatar stock.
See O. Crusius in Roscher's _Lexikon der Mythologie_; O. Schröder in
_Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_ (1904), viii. 69; W. Mannhardt,
_Wald- und Feldkulte_ (1905); L. R. Farnell, _Cults of the Greek
States_ (1907), iv. 100.
HYPEREIDES (c. 390-322 B.C.), one of the ten Attic orators, was the son
of Glaucippus, of the deme of Collytus. Having studied under Isocrates,
he began life as a writer of speeches for the courts, and in 360 he
prosecuted Autocles, a general charged with treason in Thrace (frags.
55-65, Blass). At the time of the so-called "Social War" (358-355) he
accused Aristophon, then one of the most influential men at Athens, of
malpractices (frags. 40-44, Blass), and impeached Philocrates (343) for
high treason. From the peace of 346 to 324 Hypereides supported
Demosthenes in the struggle against Macedon; but in the affair of
Harpalus he was one of the ten public prosecutors of Demosthenes, and on
the exile of his former leader he became the head of the patriotic party
(324). After the death of Alexander, he was the chief promoter of the
Lamian war against Antipater and Craterus. After the decisive defeat at
Crannon (322), Hypereides and the other orators, whose surrender was
demanded by Antipater, were condemned to death by the Athenian partisans
of Macedonia. Hypereides fled to Aegina, but Antipater's emissaries
dragged him from the temple of Aeacus, where he had taken refuge, and
put him to death; according to others, he was taken before Antipater at
Athens or Cleonae. His body was afterwards removed to Athens for burial.
Hypereides was an ardent pursuer of "the beautiful," which in his time
generally meant pleasure and luxury. His temper was easy-going and
humorous; and hence, though in his development of the periodic sentence
he followed Isocrates, the essential tendencies of his style are those
of Lysias, whom he surpassed, however, in the richness of his vocabulary
and in the variety of his powers. His diction was plain and forcible,
though he occasionally indulged in long compound words probably borrowed
from the Middle Comedy, with which, and with the everyday life of his
time, he was in full sympathy. His composition was simple. He was
specially distinguished for subtlety of expression, grace and wit, as
well as for tact in approaching his case and handling his subject
matter. Sir R. C. Jebb sums up the criticism of pseudo-Longinus (_De
sublimitate_, 34) in the phrase--"Hypereides was the Sheridan of
Athens."
Seventy-seven speeches were attributed to Hypereides, of which
twenty-five were regarded as spurious even by ancient critics. It is
said that a MS. of most of the speeches was in existence in the 16th
century in the library of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, at Ofen,
but was destroyed at the capture of the city by the Turks in 1526.
Only a few fragments were known until comparatively recent times. In
1847 large fragments of his speeches Against _Demosthenes_ (see above)
and _For Lycophron_ (incidentally interesting as elucidating the order
of marriage processions and other details of Athenian life, and the
Athenian government of Lemnos), and the whole of the _For Euxenippus_
(c. 330, a _locus classicus_ on [Greek: eisangeliai] or state
prosecutions), were found in a tomb at Thebes in Egypt, and in 1856 a
considerable portion of a [Greek: logos epitaphios], a _Funeral
Oration_ over Leosthenes and his comrades who had fallen in the Lamian
war, the best extant specimen of epideictic oratory (see BABINGTON,
CHURCHILL). Towards the end of the century further discoveries were
made of the conclusion of the speech _Against Philippides_ (dealing
with a [Greek: graphê paranomôn], or indictment for the proposal of an
unconstitutional measure, arising out of the disputes of the
Macedonian and anti-Macedonian parties at Athens), and of the whole of
the _Against Athenogenes_ (a perfumer accused of fraud in the sale of
his business). These have been edited by F. G. Kenyon (1893). An
important speech that is lost is the _Deliacus_ (frags. 67-75, Blass)
on the presidency of the Delian temple claimed by both Athens and
Delos, which was adjudged by the Amphictyons to Athens.
On Hypereides generally see pseudo-Plutarch, _Decem oratorum vitae_;
F. Blass, _Attische Beredsamkeit_, iii.; R. C. Jebb, _Attic Orators_,
ii. 381. A full list of editions and articles is given in F. Blass,
_Hyperidis orationes sex cum ceterarum fragmentis_ (1894, Teubner
series), to which may be added I. Bassi, _Le Quattro Orazioni di
Iperide_ (introduction and notes, 1888), and J. E. Sandys in
_Classical Review_ (January 1895) (a review of the editions of Kenyon
and Blass). For the discourse against Athenogenes see H. Weil, _Études
sur l'antiquité grecque_ (1900).
HYPERION, in Greek mythology, one of the Titans, son of Uranus and Gaea
and father of Helios, the sun-god (Hesiod, _Theog._ 134, 371;
Apollodorus i. 1. 2). In the well-known passage in Shakespeare
(_Hamlet_, i. 2: "Hyperion to a satyr," where as in other poets the
vowel -_i_- though really long, is shortened for metrical reasons)
Hyperion is used for Apollo as expressive of the idea of beauty. The
name is often used as an epithet of Helios, who is himself sometimes
called simply Hyperion. It is explained as (1) he who moves above
([Greek: hyper-iôn]), but the quantity of the vowel is against this; (2)
he who is above ([Greek: hyperi-ôn]). Others take it to be a patronymic
in form, like [Greek: Kroniôn, Moliôn].
HYPERSTHENE, a rock-forming mineral belonging to the group of
orthorhombic pyroxenes. It differs from the other members (enstatite
[q.v.] and bronzite) of this group in containing a considerable amount
of iron replacing magnesium: the chemical formula is (Mg, Fe)SiO3.
Distinctly developed crystals are rare, the mineral being usually found
as foliated masses embedded in those igneous rocks--norite,
hypersthene-andesite, &c.--of which it forms an essential constituent.
The coarsely grained labradorite-hypersthene-rock (norite) of the island
of St Paul off the coast of Labrador has furnished the most typical
material; and for this reason the mineral has been known as "Labrador
hornblende" or paulite. The colour is brownish-black, and the pleochrism
strong; the hardness is 6, and the specific gravity 3.4-3.5. On certain
surfaces it displays a brilliant copper-red metallic sheen or schiller,
which has the same origin as the bronzy sheen of bronzite (q.v.), but is
even more pronounced. Like bronzite, it is sometimes cut and polished
for ornamental purposes. (L. J. S.)
HYPERTROPHY (Gr. [Greek: hyper], over, and [Greek: trophê],
nourishment), a term in medicine employed to designate an abnormal
increase in bulk of one or more of the organs or component tissues of
the body (see PATHOLOGY). In its strict sense this term can only be
applied where the increase affects the natural textures of a part, and
is not applicable where the enlargement is due to the presence of some
extraneous morbid formation. Hypertrophy of a part may manifest itself
either by simply an increase in the size of its constituents, or by this
combined with an increase in their number (hyperplasia). In many
instances both are associated.
The conditions giving rise to hypertrophy are the reverse of those
described as producing Atrophy (q.v.). They are concisely stated by Sir
James Paget as being chiefly or only three, namely: (1) the increased
exercise of a part in its healthy functions; (2) an increased
accumulation in the blood of the particular materials which a part
appropriates to its nutrition or in secretion; and (3) an increased
afflux of healthy blood.
Illustrations are furnished of the first of these conditions by the high
development of muscular tissue under habitual active exercise; of the
second in the case of obesity, which is an hypertrophy of the fatty
tissues, the elements of which are furnished by the blood; and of the
third in the occasional overgrowth of hair in the neighbourhood of parts
which are the seat of inflammation. Obviously therefore, in many
instances, hypertrophy cannot be regarded as a deviation from health,
but rather on the contrary as indicative of a high degree of nutrition
and physical power. Even in those cases where it is found associated
with disease, it is often produced as a salutary effort of nature to
compensate for obstructions or other difficulties which have arisen in
the system, and thus to ward off evil consequences. No better example of
this can be seen than in the case of certain forms of heart disease,
where from defect at some of the natural orifices of that organ the
onward flow of the blood is interfered with, and would soon give rise to
serious embarrassment to the circulation, were it not that behind the
seat of obstruction the heart gradually becomes hypertrophied, and thus
acquires greater propelling power to overcome the resistance in front.
Again, it has been noticed, in the case of certain double organs such as
the kidneys, that when one has been destroyed by disease the other has
become hypertrophied to such a degree as enables it to discharge the
functions of both.
Hypertrophy may, however, in certain circumstances constitute a disease,
as in goitre and elephantiasis (q.v.), and also in the case of certain
tumours and growths (such as cutaneous excrescences, fatty tumours,
mucous polypi, &c.), which are simply enlargements of normal textures.
Hypertrophy does not in all cases involve an increase in bulk; for, just
as in atrophy there may be no diminution in the size of the affected
organ, so in hypertrophy there may be no increase. This is apt to be the
case where certain only of the elements of an organ undergo increase,
while the others remain unaffected or are actually atrophied by the
pressure of the hypertrophied tissue, as is seen in the disease known as
cirrhosis of the liver.
A spurious hypertrophy is observed in the rare disease to which G. B.
Duchenne applied the name of _pseudo-hypertrophic paralysis_. This
ailment, which appears to be confined to children, consists essentially
of a progressive loss of power accompanied with a remarkable enlargement
of certain muscles or groups of muscles, more rarely of the whole
muscular system. This increase of bulk is, however, not a true
hypertrophy, but rather an excessive development of connective tissue in
the substance of the muscles, the proper texture of which tends in
consequence to undergo atrophy or degeneration. The appearance presented
by a child suffering from this disease is striking. The attitude and
gait are remarkably altered, the child standing with shoulders thrown
back, small of the back deeply curved inwards, and legs wide apart,
while walking is accompanied with a peculiar swinging or rocking
movement. The calves of the legs, the buttocks, the muscles of the back,
and occasionally other muscles, are seen to be unduly enlarged, and
contrast strangely with the general feebleness. The progress of the
disease is marked by increasing failure of locomotory power, and
ultimately by complete paralysis of the limbs. The malady is little
amenable to treatment, and, although often prolonged for years,
generally proves fatal before the period of maturity.
HYPNOTISM, a term now in general use as covering all that pertains to
the art of inducing the hypnotic state, or hypnosis, and to the study of
that state, its conditions, peculiarities and effects. Hypnosis is a
condition, allied to normal sleep (Gr. [Greek: hypnos]), which can be
induced in a large majority of normal persons. Its most characteristic
and constant symptom is the increased suggestibility of the subject (see
SUGGESTION). Other symptoms are very varied and differ widely in
different subjects and in the same subject at different times. There can
be no doubt that the increased suggestibility and all the other symptoms
of hypnosis imply some abnormal condition of the brain of a temporary
and harmless nature. It would seem that in all ages and in almost all
countries individuals have occasionally fallen into abnormal states of
mind more or less closely resembling the hypnotic state, and have
thereby excited the superstitious wonder of their fellows. In some cases
the state has been deliberately induced, in others it has appeared
spontaneously, generally under the influence of some emotional
excitement. The most familiar of these allied states is the somnambulism
or sleep-walking to which some persons seem to be hereditarily disposed.
Of a rather different type are the states of ecstasy into which
religious enthusiasts have occasionally fallen and which were especially
frequent among the peoples of Europe during the middle ages. While in
this condition individuals have appeared to be insensitive to all
impressions made on their sense-organs, even to such as would excite
acute pain in normal persons, have been capable of maintaining rigid
postures for long periods of time, have experienced vivid
hallucinations, and have produced, through the power of the imagination,
extraordinary organic changes in the body, such as the bloody stigmata
on the hands and feet in several well-attested instances. It has been
proved in recent years that effects of all these kinds may be produced
by hypnotic suggestion. Different again, but closely paralleled by some
subjects in hypnosis, is the state of _latah_ into which a certain
proportion of persons of the Malay race are liable to fall. These
persons, if their attention is suddenly and forcibly drawn to any other
person, will begin to imitate his every action and attitude, and may do
so in spite of their best efforts to restrain their imitative movements.
Among the half-bred French-Canadians of the forest regions of Canada
occur individuals, known as "jumpers," who are liable to fall suddenly
into a similar state of abject imitativeness, and the same peculiar
behaviour has been observed among some of the remote tribes of Siberia.
The deliberate induction of states identical with, or closely allied to,
hypnosis is practised by many barbarous and savage peoples, generally
for ceremonial purposes. Thus, certain dervishes of Algiers are said to
induce in themselves, by the aid of the sound of drums, monotonous songs
and movements, a state in which they are insensitive to pain, and a
similar practice of religious devotees is reported from Tibet. Perhaps
the most marvellous achievement among well-attested cases of this sort
is that of certain _yogis_ of Hindustan; by long training and practice
they seem to acquire the power of arresting almost completely all their
vital functions. An intense effort of abstraction from the impressions
of the outer world, a prolonged fixation of the eyes upon the nose or in
some other strained position and a power of greatly slowing the
respiration, these seem to be important features of their procedure for
the attainment of their abnormal states.
In spite of the wide distribution in time and space, and the not very
infrequent occurrence, of these instances of states identical with or
allied to hypnosis, some three centuries of enthusiastic investigation
and of bitter controversy were required to establish the occurrence of
the hypnotic state among the facts accepted by the world of European
science. Scientific interest in them may be traced back at least as far
as the end of the 16th century. Paracelsus had founded the "sympathetic
system" of medicine, according to which the stars and other bodies,
especially magnets, influence men by means of a subtle emanation or
fluid that pervades all space. J. B. van Helmont, a distinguished man of
science of the latter part of the 16th century, extended this doctrine
by teaching that a similar magnetic fluid radiates from men, and that it
can be guided by their wills to influence directly the minds and bodies
of others. In the middle of the 17th century there appeared in England
several persons who claimed to have the power of curing diseases by
stroking with the hand. Notable amongst these was Valentine Greatrakes,
of Affane, in the county of Waterford, Ireland, who was born in
February 1628, and who attracted great attention in England by his
supposed power of curing the king's evil, or scrofula. Many of the most
distinguished scientific and theological men of the day, such as Robert
Boyle and R. Cudworth, witnessed and attested the cures supposed to be
effected by Greatrakes, and thousands of sufferers crowded to him from
all parts of the kingdom. About the middle of the 18th century John
Joseph Gassner, a Roman Catholic priest in Swabia, took up the notion
that the majority of diseases arose from demoniacal possession, and
could only be cured by exorcism. His method was undoubtedly similar to
that afterwards followed by Mesmer and others, and he had an
extraordinary influence over the nervous systems of his patients.
Gassner, however, believed his power to be altogether supernatural.
But it was not until the latter part of the 18th century that the
doctrine of a magnetic fluid excited great popular interest and became
the subject of fierce controversy in the scientific world. F. A. Mesmer
(q.v.), a physician of Vienna, was largely instrumental in bringing the
doctrine into prominence. He developed it by postulating a specialized
variety of magnetic fluid which he called _animal magnetism_; and he
claimed to be able to cure many diseases by means of this animal
magnetism, teaching, also, that it may be imparted to and stored up in
inert objects, which are thereby rendered potent to cure disease.
It would seem that Mesmer himself was not acquainted with the artificial
somnambulism which for nearly a century was called mesmeric or magnetic
sleep, and which is now familiar as hypnosis of a well-marked degree. It
was observed and described about the year 1780 by the marquis de
Puységur, a disciple of Mesmer, who showed that, while subjects were in
this state, not only could some of their diseases be cured, but also
their movements could be controlled by the "magnetizer," and that they
usually remembered nothing of the events of the period of sleep when
restored to normal consciousness. These are three of the most important
features of hypnosis, and the modern study of hypnotism may therefore be
said to have been initiated at this date by Puységur. For, though it is
probable that this state had often been induced by the earlier
magnetists, they had not recognized that the peculiar behaviour of their
patients resulted from their being plunged into this artificial sleep,
but had attributed all the symptoms they observed to the direct physical
action of external agents upon the patients.
The success of Mesmer and his disciples, especially great in the
fashionable world, led to the appointment in Paris of a royal commission
for the investigation of their claims. The commission, which included
men of great eminence, notably A. L. Lavoisier and Benjamin Franklin,
reported in the year 1784 that it could not accept the evidence for the
existence of the magnetic fluid; but it did not express an opinion as to
the reality of the cures said to be effected by its means, nor as to the
nature of the magnetic sleep. This report and the social upheavals of
the following years seem to have abolished the public interest in
"animal magnetism" for the space of one generation; after which
Alexandre Bertrand, a Parisian physician, revived it by his acute
investigations and interpretations of the phenomena. Bertrand was the
first to give an explanation of the facts of the kind that is now
generally accepted. He exhibited the affinity of the "magnetic sleep" to
ordinary somnambulism, and he taught that the peculiar effects are to be
regarded as due to the suggestions of the operator working themselves
out in the mind and body of the "magnetized" subject, i.e. he regarded
the influence of the magnetizer as exerted in the first instance on the
mind of the subject and only indirectly through the mind upon the body.
Shortly after this revival of public interest, namely in the year 1831,
a committee of the Academy of Medicine of Paris reported favourably upon
"magnetism" as a therapeutic agency, and before many years had elapsed
it was extensively practised by the physicians of all European
countries, with few exceptions, of which England was the most notable.
Most of the practitioners of this period adhered to the doctrine of the
magnetic fluid emanating from the operator to his patient, and the
acceptance of this doctrine was commonly combined with belief in
phrenology, astrology and the influence of metals and magnets,
externally applied, in curing disease and in producing a variety of
strange sensations and other affections of the mind. These beliefs,
claiming to rest upon carefully observed facts, were given a new
elaboration and a more imposing claim to be scientifically established
by the doctrine of _odylic force_ propounded by Baron Karl von
Reichenbach. In this mass of ill-based assertion and belief the valuable
truths of "animal magnetism" and the psychological explanations of them
given by Bertrand were swamped and well-nigh lost sight of. For it was
this seemingly inseparable association between the facts of hypnotism
and these bizarre practices and baseless beliefs that blinded the larger
and more sober part of the scientific world, and led them persistently
to assert that all this group of alleged phenomena was a mass of
quackery, fraud and superstition. And the fact that magnetism was
practised for pecuniary gain, often in a shameless manner, by exponents
who claimed to cure by its means every conceivable ill, rendered this
attitude on the part of the medical profession inevitable and perhaps
excusable, though not justifiable. It was owing to this baleful
association that John Elliotson, one of the leading London physicians of
that time, who became an ardent advocate of "magnetism" and who founded
and edited the _Zoist_ in the interests of the subject, was driven out
of the profession. This association may perhaps be held, also, to excuse
the hostile attitude of the medical profession towards James Esdaile, a
surgeon, who, practising in a government hospital in Calcutta among the
natives of India, performed many major operations, such as the
amputation of limbs, painlessly and with the most excellent results by
aid of the "magnetic" sleep. For both Elliotson and Esdaile, though
honourable practitioners, accepted the doctrine of the "magnetic" fluid
and many of the erroneous beliefs that commonly were bound up with it.
In 1841 James Braid, a surgeon of Manchester, rediscovered independently
Bertrand's physiological and psychological explanations of the facts,
carried them further, and placed "hypnotism," as he named the study, on
a sound basis. Braid showed that subjects in "magnetic" sleep, far from
being in a profoundly insensitive condition, are often abnormally
susceptible to impressions on the senses, and showed that many of the
peculiarities of their behaviour were due to suggestions, made verbally
or otherwise, but unintentionally, by the operator or by onlookers.
It seems, on looking back on the history of hypnotism, that at this time
it was in a fair way to secure general recognition as a most interesting
subject of psychological study and a valuable addition to the resources
of the physician. But it was destined once more to be denied its rights
by official science and to fall back into disrepute. This was due to the
coincidence about the year 1848 of two events of some importance,
namely--the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of chloroform and
the sudden rise of modern spiritualism. The former afforded a very
convenient substitute for the most obvious practical application of
hypnotism, the production of anaesthesia during surgical operations; the
latter involved it once more in a mass of fraud and superstition, and,
for the popular mind, drove it back to the region of the marvellous, the
supernatural and the dangerous, made it, in fact, once more a branch of
the black art.
From this time onward there took place a gradual differentiation of the
"animal magnetism" of the 18th century into two diverging branches,
hypnotism and spiritualism, two branches which, however, are not yet
entirely separated and, perhaps, never will be. At the same time the
original system of "animal magnetism" has lived on in an enfeebled
condition and is now very nearly, though not quite, extinct.
In the development of hypnotism since the time of Braid we may
distinguish three lines, the physiological, the psychological and the
pathological. The last may be dismissed in a few words. Its principal
representative was J. M. Charcot, who taught at the Salpêtrière in Paris
that hypnosis is essentially a symptom of a morbid condition of hysteria
or hystero-epilepsy. This doctrine, which, owing to the great repute
enjoyed by Charcot, has done much to retard the application of
hypnotism, is now completely discredited. The workers of the
physiological party attached special importance to the fixation of the
eyes, or to other forms of long continued and monotonous, or violent,
sensory stimulation in the induction of hypnosis. They believed that by
acting on the senses in these ways they induced a peculiar condition of
the nervous system, which consisted in the temporary abolition of the
cerebral functions and the consequent reduction of the subject to
machine-like unconscious automatism. The leading exponent of this view
was R. Heidenhain, professor of physiology at Breslau, whose
experimental investigations played a large part in convincing the
scientific world of the genuineness of the leading symptoms of hypnosis.
The purely psychological doctrine of hypnosis puts aside all physical
and physiological influences and effects as of but little or no
importance, and seeks a psychological explanation of the induction of
hypnosis and of all the phenomena. This dates from 1884, when H.
Bernheim, professor of medicine at Nancy, published his work _De la
Suggestion_ (republished in 1887 with a second part on the therapeutics
of hypnotism). Bernheim was led to the study of hypnotism by A. A.
Liébeault, who for twenty years had used it very largely and
successfully in his general practice among the poor of Nancy. Liébeault
rediscovered independently, and Bernheim made known to the world the
truths, twice previously discovered and twice lost sight of, that
expectation is a most important factor in the induction of hypnosis,
that increased suggestibility is its essential symptom, and that in
general the operator works upon his patient by mental influences.
Although they went too far in the direction of ignoring the peculiarity
of the state of the brain in hypnosis and the predisposing effect of
monotonous sensory stimulation, and in seeking to identify hypnosis with
normal sleep, the views of the Nancy investigators have prevailed, and
are now in the main generally accepted. Their methods of verbal
suggestion have been adopted by leading physicians in almost all
civilized countries and have been proved to be efficacious in the relief
of many disorders; and as a method of psychological investigation
hypnotism has proved, especially in the hands of the late Ed. Gurney, of
Dr Pierre Janet and of other investigators, capable of throwing much
light on the constitution of the mind, has opened up a number of
problems of the deepest interest, and has done more than any other of
the many branches of modern psychology to show the limitations and
comparative barrenness of the old psychology that relied on
introspection alone and figured as a department of general philosophy.
In England, "always the last to enter into the general movement of the
European mind," the prejudice, incredulity and ignorant
misrepresentation with which hypnotism has everywhere been received have
resisted its progress more stubbornly than elsewhere; but even in
England its reality and its value as a therapeutic agent have at last
been officially recognized. In 1892, just fifty years after Braid
clearly demonstrated the facts and published explanations of them almost
identical with those now accepted, a committee of the British Medical
Association reported favourably upon hypnotism after a searching
investigation; it is now regularly employed by a number of physicians of
high standing, and the formation in 1907 of "The Medical Society for the
Study of Suggestive Therapeutics" shows that the footing it has gained
is likely to be made good.
_Induction of Hypnosis._--It has now been abundantly proved that
hypnosis can be induced in the great majority of normal persons,
provided that they willingly submit themselves to the process. Several
of the most experienced operators have succeeded in hypnotizing more
than 90% of the cases they have attempted, and most of them are agreed
that failure to induce hypnosis in any case is due either to lack of
skill and tact on the part of the operator, or to some unfavourable
mental condition of the subject. It has often been said that some races
or peoples are by nature more readily hypnotizable than others; of the
French people especially this has been maintained. But there is no
sufficient ground for this statement. The differences that undoubtedly
obtain between populations of different regions in respect to the ease
or difficulty with which a large proportion of all persons can be
hypnotized are sufficiently explained by the differences of the attitude
of the public towards hypnotism; in France, e.g., and especially in
Nancy, hypnotism has been made known to the public chiefly as a
recognized auxiliary to the better known methods of medical treatment,
whereas in England the medical profession has allowed the public to make
acquaintance with hypnotism through the medium of disgusting
stage-performances whose only object was to raise a laugh, and has, with
few exceptions, joined in the general chorus of condemnation and
mistrust. Hence in France patients submit themselves with confidence and
goodwill to hypnotic treatment, whereas in England it is still necessary
in most cases to remove an ill-based prejudice before the treatment can
be undertaken with hope of success. For the confidence and goodwill of
the patient are almost essential to success, and even after hypnosis has
been induced on several occasions a patient may be so influenced by
injudicious friends that he cannot again be hypnotized or, if
hypnotized, is much less amenable to the power of suggestion. Various
methods of hypnotization are current, but most practitioners combine the
methods of Braid and of Bernheim. After asking the patient to resign
himself passively into their hands, and after seating him in a
comfortable arm-chair, they direct him to fix his eyes upon some small
object held generally in such a position that some slight muscular
strain is involved in maintaining the fixation; they then suggest to him
verbally the idea or expectation of sleep and the sensations that
normally accompany the oncoming of sleep, the heaviness of the eyes, the
slackness of the limbs and so forth; and when the eyes show signs of
fatigue, they either close them by gentle pressure or tell the subject
to close them. Many also pass their hands slowly and regularly over the
face, with or without contact. The old magnetizers attached great
importance to such "passes," believing that by them the "magnetic fluid"
was imparted to the patient; but it seems clear that, in so far as they
contribute to induce hypnosis, it is in their character merely of
gentle, monotonous, sensory stimulations. A well-disposed subject soon
falls into a drowsy state and tends to pass into natural sleep; but by
speech, by passes, or by manipulating his limbs the operator keeps in
touch with him, keeps his waning attention open to the impressions he
himself makes. Most subjects then find it difficult or impossible to
open their eyes or to make any other movement which is forbidden or said
to be impossible by the operator, although they may be fully conscious
of all that goes on about them and may have the conviction that if they
did but make an effort they could break the spell. This is a light stage
of hypnosis beyond which some subjects can hardly be induced to pass and
beyond which few pass at the first attempt. But on successive occasions,
or even on the first occasion, a favourable subject passes into deeper
stages of hypnosis. Many attempts have been made to distinguish clearly
marked and constantly occurring stages. But it seems now clear that the
complex of symptoms displayed varies in all cases with the
idiosyncrasies of the subject and with the methods adopted by the
operator. In many subjects a waxy rigidity of the limbs appears
spontaneously or can be induced by suggestion; the limbs then retain for
long periods without fatigue any position given them by the operator.
The most susceptible subjects pass into the stage known as artificial
somnambulism. In this condition they continue to respond to all
suggestions made by the operator, but seem as insensitive to all other
impressions as a person in profound sleep or in coma; and on awaking
from this condition they are usually oblivious of all that they have
heard, said or done during the somnambulistic period. When in this last
condition patients are usually more profoundly influenced by
suggestions, especially post-hypnotic suggestions, than when in the
lighter stages; but the lighter stages suffice for the production of
many therapeutic effects. When a patient is completely hypnotized, his
movements, his senses, his ideas and, to some extent, even the organic
processes over which he has no voluntary control become more or less
completely subject to the suggestions of the operator; and usually he is
responsive to the operator alone (_rapport_) unless he is instructed by
the latter to respond also to the suggestions of other persons. If left
to himself the hypnotized subject will usually awake to his normal state
after a period which is longer in proportion to the depth of hypnosis;
and the deeper stages seem to pass over into normal sleep. The subject
can in almost every case be brought quickly back to the normal state by
the verbal command of the operator.
_The Principal Effects produced by Suggestion during Hypnosis._--The
subject may not only be rendered incapable of contracting any of the
muscles of the voluntary system, but may also be made to use them with
extraordinarily great or sustained force (though by no means in all
cases). He can with difficulty refrain from performing any action
commanded by the operator, and usually carries out any simple command
without hesitation. Any one of the sense-organs, or any sensory region
such as the skin or deep tissues of one limb may be rendered anaesthetic
by verbal suggestion, aided perhaps by some gentle manipulation of the
part. On this fact depends the surgical application of hypnotism.
Sceptical observers are always inclined to doubt the genuineness of the
anaesthesia produced by a mere word of command, but the number of
surgical operations performed under hypnotic anaesthesia suffices to put
its reality beyond all question. A convincing experiment may, however,
be made on almost any good subject. Anaesthesia of one eye may be
suggested and its reality tested in the following way. Anaesthesia of
the left eye may be suggested, and the subject be instructed to fix his
gaze on a distant point and to give some signal as soon as he sees the
operator's finger in the peripheral field of view. The operator then
brings his finger slowly from behind and to the right forwards towards
the subject's line of sight. The subject signals as soon as it crosses
the normal temporal boundary of the field of view of the right eye. The
operator then brings his finger forward from a point behind and to the
left of the subject's head. The subject allows it to cross the monocular
field of the left eye and signals only when the finger enters the field
of vision of the right eye across its nasal boundary. Since few persons,
other than physiologists or medical men, are aware of the relations of
the boundaries of the monocular and binocular fields of vision, the
success of this experiment affords proof that the finger remains
invisible to the subject during its passage across the monocular field
of the left eye. The abolition of pain, especially of neuralgias, the
pain of rheumatic and other inflammations, which is one of the most
valuable applications of hypnotism, is an effect closely allied to the
production of such anaesthesia.
It has often been stated that in hypnosis the senses may be rendered
extraordinarily acute or hyperaesthetic, so that impressions too faint
to affect the senses of the normal person may be perceived by the
hypnotized subject; but in view of the fact that most observers are
ignorant of the normal limits of sensitivity and discrimination, all
such statements must be received with caution, until we have more
convincing evidence than has yet been brought forward.
_Positive and Negative Hallucinations_ are among the most striking
effects of hypnotic suggestion. A good subject may be made to experience
an hallucinatory perception of almost any object, the more easily the
less unusual and out of harmony with the surroundings is the suggested
object. He may, e.g., be given a blank card and asked if he thinks it a
good photograph of himself. He may then assent and describe the
photograph in some detail, and, what is more astonishing, he may pick
out the card as the one bearing the photograph, after it has been mixed
with other similar blank cards. This seems to be due to the part played
by _points de repère_, insignificant details of surface or texture,
which serve as an objective basis around which the hallucinatory image
is constructed by the pictorial imagination of the subject. A negative
hallucination may be induced by telling the subject that a certain
object or person is no longer present, when he ignores in every way that
object or person. This is more puzzling than the positive hallucination
and will be referred to again in discussing the theory of hypnosis. Both
kinds of hallucination tend to be systematically and logically
developed; if, e.g., the subject is told that a certain person is no
longer visible, he may become insensitive to impressions made on any
sense by that person.
_Delusions_, or false beliefs as to their present situation or past
experiences may be induced in many subjects. On being assured that he is
some other person, or that he is in some strange situation, the subject
may accept the suggestion and adapt his behaviour with great histrionic
skill to the induced delusion. It is probable that many, perhaps all,
subjects are vaguely aware, as we sometimes are in dreams, that the
delusions and hallucinations they experience are of an unreal nature. In
the lighter stages of hypnosis a subject usually remembers the events of
his waking life, but in the deeper stages he is apt, while remembering
the events of previous hypnotic periods, to be incapable of recalling
his normal life; but in this respect, as also in respect to the extent
to which on awaking he remembers the events of the hypnotic period, the
suggestions of the operator usually play a determining part.
Among the organic changes that have been produced by hypnotic suggestion
are slowing or acceleration of the cardiac and respiratory rhythms; rise
and fall of body-temperature through two or three degrees; local
erythema and even inflammation of the skin with vesication or exudation
of small drops of blood; evacuation of the bowel and vomiting;
modifications of the secretory activity of glands, especially of the
sweat-glands.
_Post-hypnotic Effects._--Most subjects in whom any appreciable degree
of hypnosis can be induced show some susceptibility to post-hypnotic
suggestion, i.e. they may continue to be influenced, when restored to
the fully waking state, by suggestions made during hypnosis, more
especially if the operator suggests that this shall be the case; as a
rule, the deeper the stage of hypnosis reached, the more effective are
post-hypnotic suggestions. The therapeutic applications of hypnotism
depend in the main upon this post-hypnotic continuance of the working of
suggestions. If a subject is told that on awaking, or on a certain
signal, or after the lapse of a given interval of time from the moment
of awaking, he will perform a certain action, he usually feels some
inclination to carry out the suggestion at the appropriate moment. If he
remembers that the action has been suggested to him he may refuse to
perform it, and if it is one repugnant to his moral nature, or merely
one that would make him appear ridiculous, he may persist in his
refusal. But if the action is of a simple and ordinary nature he will
usually perform it, remarking that he cannot be comfortable till it is
done. If the subject was deeply hypnotized and remembers nothing of the
hypnotic period, he will carry out the post-hypnotic suggestion in
almost every case, no matter how complicated or absurd it may be, so
long as it is not one from which his normal self would be extremely
averse; and he will respond appropriately to the suggested signals,
although he is not conscious of their having been named; he will often
perform the action in a very natural way, and will, if questioned, give
some more or less adequate reason for it. Such actions, determined by
post-hypnotic suggestions of which no conscious memory remains, may be
carried out even after the lapse of many weeks or even months.
Inhibitions of movement, anaesthesia, positive and negative
hallucinations, and delusions may also be made to persist for brief
periods after the termination of hypnosis; and organic effects, such as
the action of the bowels, the oncoming of sleep and the cessation of
pain, may be determined by post-hypnotic suggestion. In short, it may be
said that in a good subject all the kinds of suggestion which will take
effect during hypnosis will also be effective if given as post-hypnotic
suggestions.
_Theory of the Hypnotic State._--Very many so called theories of
hypnosis have been propounded, but few of them demand serious
consideration. One author ascribes all the symptoms to cerebral anaemia,
another to cerebral congestion, a third to temporary suppression of the
functions of the cerebrum, a fourth to abnormal cerebral excitability, a
fifth to the independent functioning of one hemisphere. Another seeks to
explain all the facts by saying that in hypnosis our normal
consciousness disappears and is replaced by a dream-consciousness; and
yet another by the assumption that every human organism comprises two
mental selves or personalities, a normal one and one which only comes
into activity during sleep and hypnosis. Most of these "theories" would,
even if true, carry us but a little way towards a complete understanding
of the facts. There is, however, one theory or principle of explanation
which is now gradually taking shape under the hands of a number of the
more penetrating workers in this field, and which does seem to render
intelligible many of the principle facts. This is the theory of _mental
dissociation_.
It is clear that a theory of hypnosis must attempt to give some account
of the peculiar condition of the brain which is undoubtedly present as
an essential feature of the state. It is therefore not enough to say
with Bernheim that hypnosis is a state of abnormally increased
suggestibility produced by suggestion; nor is it enough, though it is
partially true, to say that it is a state of mono-ideism or one of
abnormally great concentration of attention. Any theory must be stated
in terms of physiological psychology, it must take account of both the
psychical and the nervous peculiarities of the hypnotic state; it must
exhibit the physiological condition as in some degree similar to that
obtaining in normal sleep; but principally it must account for that
abnormally great receptivity for ideas, and that abnormally intense and
effective operation of ideas so received, which constitute abnormally
great suggestibility.
The theory of mental dissociation may be stated in purely mental terms,
or primarily in terms of nervous structure and function, and the latter
mode of statement is probably the more profitable at the present time.
The increased effectiveness of ideas might be due to one of two
conditions: (1) it might be that certain tracts of the brain or the
whole brain were in a condition of abnormally great excitability; or (2)
an idea might operate more effectively in the mind and on the body, not
because it, or the underlying brain-process was more intense than
normally, but because it worked out its effects free from the
interference of contrary or irrelevant ideas that might weaken its
force. It is along this second line that the theory of mental
dissociation attempts to explain the increased suggestibility of
hypnosis. To understand the theory we must bear in mind the nature of
mental process in general and of its nervous concomitants. Mental
process consists in the interplay, not merely of ideas, but rather of
complex dispositions which are the more or less enduring conditions of
the rise of ideas to consciousness. Each such disposition seems capable
of remaining inactive or quiescent for long periods, and of being
excited in various degrees, either by impressions made upon the
sense-organs or by the spread of excitement from other dispositions.
When its excitement rises above a certain pitch of intensity, the
corresponding idea rises to the focus of consciousness. These
dispositions are essential factors of all mental process, the essential
conditions of all mental retention. They may be called simply mental
dispositions, their nature being left undefined; but for our present
purpose it is advantageous to regard them as neural dispositions,
complex functional groups of nervous elements or neurones. The neurones
of each such group must be conceived as being so intimately connected
with one another that the excitement of any part of the group at once
spreads through the whole group or disposition, so that it always
functions as a unit. The whole cerebrum must be conceived as consisting
of a great number of such dispositions, inextricably interwoven, but
interconnected in orderly fashion with very various degrees of intimacy;
groups of dispositions are very intimately connected to form neural
systems, so that the excitement of any one member of such a system tends
to spread in succession to all the other members. On the other hand, it
is a peculiarity of the reciprocal relations of all such dispositions
and systems that the excitement of any one to such a degree that the
corresponding idea rises to consciousness prevents or inhibits the
excitement of others, i.e. all of them are in relations of reciprocal
inhibition with one another (see MUSCLE AND NERVE). The excitement of
dispositions associated together to form a system tends towards some end
which, either immediately or remotely, is an action, a bodily movement,
in many cases a movement of the organs of speech only. Now we know from
many exact experiments that the neural dispositions act and react upon
one another to some extent, even when they are excited only in so feeble
a degree that the corresponding ideas do not rise to consciousness. In
the normal state of the brain, then, when any idea is present to
consciousness, the corresponding neural disposition is in a state of
dominant excitement, but the intensity of that excitement is moderated,
depressed or partially inhibited by the sub-excitement of many rival or
competing dispositions of other systems with which it is connected.
Suppose now that all the nervous connexions between the multitudinous
dispositions of the cerebrum are by some means rendered less effective,
that the association-paths are partially blocked or functionally
depressed; the result will be that, while the most intimate connexions,
those between dispositions of any one system remain functional or
permeable, the weaker less intimate connexions, those between
dispositions belonging to different systems will be practically
abolished for the time being; each system of dispositions will then
function more or less as an isolated system, and its activity will no
longer be subject to the depressing or inhibiting influence of other
systems; therefore each system, on being excited in any way, will tend
to its end with more than normal force, being freed from all
interferences; that is to say, each idea or system of ideas will tend to
work itself out and to realize itself in action immediately, without
suffering the opposition of antagonistic ideas which, in the normal
state of the brain, might altogether prevent its realization in action.
The theory of mental dissociation assumes that the abnormal state of the
brain that obtains during hypnosis is of this kind, a temporary
functional depression of all, or of many of the associations or nervous
links between the neural dispositions; that is, it regards hypnosis as a
state of _relative dissociation_. The lighter the stage of hypnosis the
slighter is the degree of dissociation, the deeper the stage the more
nearly complete is the dissociation.