"The following is a brief account of a very curious case of hypnotic
suggestion, and one which, because of the mystery surrounding its final
outcome, has caused me no little anxiety.
"On the 9th of July, 1878, there came to my office in St. Louis a
strikingly beautiful young woman of evident wealth and aristocratic
breeding, who gave her name as Eva Delorme. Her dress indicated recent
bereavement, and her face impressed me as being that of one whom death
had deprived of all those near and beloved. She stated her errand at
once, and briefly. She had been pursuing the study of Mesmeric Sciences,
and, believing herself a good hypnotic subject, desired that I make a
trial with that end in view. A simple test convinced me that she was
susceptible to hypnotic suggestion, and further experiment revealed to
me that she was one of the most perfect subjects I have ever known. She
called again the day following and asked me if it were possible, through
the aid of hypnotism, to give to her a double personality; adding that
she desired to become for a few hours a heartless, haughty, gay woman of
the world--precisely opposite, in fact, to what she really appeared.
Believing that she wished to forget her sorrow for a time, I assured
her that I thought this might be accomplished and that it would
probably obliterate all knowledge of a previous existence for the time
being. To this she eagerly consented, and after some further
conversation concerning the details I asked her what name she desired to
assume in her new character. She replied that her full name was Evelin
March Delorme, of which, in her assumed personality, she would retain
the first two. She likewise gave me a memorandum of a street and number
to which she was to be directed; this being, doubtless, one of several
of her dwelling properties, for she impressed me always as a person of
abundant wealth. With a few passes I then placed her under the hypnotic
influence, and while in this state I impressed upon her earnestly the
fact that she would awaken a haughty and heartless woman of the world,
dashing and gay, free from past regrets and future misgivings, as she
had told me to do. That her name would be Evelin March; and I repeated
to her the street and number, and some minor details which she had given
to me. That she would retain this personality for twelve hours. This I
repeated to her several times, then bade her awaken.
"The change in her was complete and startling. Her whole
expression--even her very features--appeared altered. Accustomed as I am
to such things I could not avoid feeling somewhat nervous at this
wonderful transformation. In her new character she was as beautiful and
imperious as a queen, with a supercilious, almost coarse, expression of
countenance. She seemed much mortified at the somber simpleness of her
dress, and I judge went immediately to make changes.
"I did not see her again until a week later, when she came to my office,
apparently restored to her true character. She had a vague
semi-recollection of what had been her experience in the other state and
desired a second trial, to which I somewhat reluctantly consented,
though I must confess I was by this time deeply interested in the case.
"These transformations were frequently repeated, during the next few
months; then her visits ceased and I did not see her until a year later,
when I was astounded one day to meet her riding in Forest Park _in her
assumed character_, evidently having taken on the condition unaided,
either unconsciously or of her own volition.
"I never saw her again, and as I had mislaid the memorandum of her
address and the number had slipped my memory, I lost trace of her
entirely. I have always felt a great and somewhat guilty curiosity as to
the final result of this strange experiment."
THE MYSTERY
OF
EVELIN DELORME.