A Word of Precaution.—We now come to practice. Before entering into the operating room, let me again advise the beginner that he should not lightly enter upon the task, unless he has fully grasped the principles explained in previous chapters and is thorough with the practical application of the simple rules laid down in the concluding chapters of Part I. Many persons have foolishly commenced practice of hypnotism without fully knowing its principles—commenced to try experiments with no other knowledge than that of having seen some other person experiment. I quote here a notable instance of such folly, described by Prof. Coates in the following words:

"Some years ago I gave a series of demonstrations at the Queen's rooms, Bold street, Liverpool. A gentleman residing in Bootle was present with his family one evening. On returning home he thought, for the 'fun of the thing,' he would 'try his hand.' He had no doubt but he could do just as well as myself, as he afterwards told me. He succeeded in putting his footman asleep, and of getting him to do several things, which he (the gentleman), his family and servants enjoyed amazingly. He was in rapture with his more than expected success, the subject being exceedingly passive and docile in his hands. He, however, forgot how to de-mesmerise or wake the subject up. Becoming perplexed and excited, the poor footman followed suit. One person suggested one thing, another, another thing. This gentleman tried to carry out the various suggestions, but the poor victim was fast retrograding from bad to worse. Smelling salts were applied to his nose and water thrown over him; these efforts only unduly excited him. He groaned and cried, and acted in a very strange manner. A messenger was sent into town; at considerable trouble I was found, and at 4 o'clock in the morning I arrived at his house. I saw how things stood and proceeded to de-mesmerise his footman by the following process: I got every person in the house who had touched the young man to take hands and join in a circle, the gentleman who had mesmerized the youth taking his (footman's) left hand, while I completed the circle by taking his right hand.

"I counselled passivity and calmness on all and explained to them the risk of indiscriminating experiments, and the dangers which might arise therefrom, and pointed out that this was a bad case of 'cross mesmerism.' By forming the circle I sought to tone down the tumult, calm the patient, and subject all to my influence. At the end of 15 minutes I broke up the circle, placed myself in dominant contact with the patient and de-mesmerised him. The lesson was not readily forgotten by either the gentleman or his servants. * * *"

In proceeding to work it is well to bear in mind the statement of Moll, one of the most successful medical hypnotists, "that any little inconvenience which hypnotism may at first cause, is not to be compared with the benefits it confers." The next thing is to avoid faulty methods, over-anxiety for results, and under all circumstances the operator should keep a level head. Nervous people may become, for a little while, more nervous— that is not due to hypnotism, but rather to fear and ignorance, and more or less "old wives' tales" by which they are affected or prejudiced.

The practitioner should not force results, cause a patient to stare too long at a bright object, or unduly stimulate any of the senses. He should not seek to force psychical development in the way of extraordinary play of psychic faculty, clairvoyance, clair-audiance, etc., and at the conclusion of each sitting all suggestions should be neutralised before waking the patient; and finally, care should be taken to see that the patient is agreeably and fully awakened to the normal state again.

These remarks apply especially to experimental investigations and practices. But the neutralisation of healing suggestions is not necessary, be they immediate or post-hypnotic. All that is required is to quietly, firmly and kindly awaken the patient. Should there be any little inconvenience felt by the patient, the operator will remove that.

We will now enter into the operating room and witness some of the most useful and most simple modes of procedure. In all cases there are three inevitable stages:

1. The induction of hypnosis.

2. Suggestions and experiments.

3. Awakening the subject.

Our attention will just now be given to the first of these. For the induction of hypnosis is the "Little go" and the pons asinorum of all beginners. In the present chapter we will deal with the preliminary or waking stage experiments, which are, so to say, the most important part of the process. It is these that educate the subject in his will-power and attention, and gradually, but certainly, lead up to hypnosis; at the same time, the experiments are, in their own way, interesting and thus relieve the beginner of much fatigue and further assist him in developing his own powers progressively. These experiments are suitably arranged below and it is advised not to proceed to the sleeping stage before all the experiments are successfully tried. Further, you should not attempt any of the waking experiments of a higher order before you are thoroughly successful with the preceding ones. You should be highly methodical and proceed in order with each subject.

Waking Experiments.—1. Devitalising any part of the body.

2. Falling backwards.

3. Falling forwards.

4. Fastening the hands.

5. Stiffening the elbow-joint.

6. Stiffening the knee-joint and making the subject unable to move about.

7. Making a cane or wand stick to any part of the body.

8. Making any light body very heavy, so that the subject is unable to carry it.

9. Striking the subject dumb.

10. Closing his eyes.

After these any experiment that you may devise can be performed. In fact, when you are successful with the 4th experiment you will find the others are comparatively easy. With any one particular subject, if you fail to perform any experiment (say the 6th), the sitting at once terminates and a second sitting is arranged the next day advantageously at about the same hour. Then the operations are commenced over again from the very first to the 6th experiment. If you don't succeed at this sitting also, try a third, fourth or even a fifth sitting till you thoroughly succeed. Then you may proceed to the 7th and other experiments.

Note.—This method is specially recommended for beginners. Of course, as the student advances in practice he may dispense with these waking experiments one after another or vary their order to suit his own taste and discretion; or he may commence experimenting after the manner of the next chapter.

Modes of Procedure.—Preliminary. — Make your subject feel at home, disabuse his mind of fear, doubt, anxiety and scepticism. Some trusted friend of the subject should also be present, especially if the subject happen to be a lady; while not absolutely necessary, it simplifies matters very much both for the operator and patient. Remove, if possible, all elements which are likely to arouse or excite the patient's mind. To succeed, the subject must either be naturally sensitive to your influence—i. e., passive and receptive—or, he must be made so. Everything you do must tend to that condition. By action and speech—in everything you must show you know fully what you are about; there must be no timidity, hesitancy or half-heartedness exhibited in your manner. You must create the instinctive feeling in the mind of your patient, "that is a man I can trust, that man or person will do me good," and you will do it.

1. Devitalising Any Part of the Body.—This is an experiment to be done by the subject himself. All that you do in this is to give him proper instructions and the subject must do it by the sheer exercise of his will. Consider the hand first. Devitalising the hand means to take off all life from it at will. Let your subject sit or stand erect; ask him to withdraw all voluntary-action from it, so that in all respects it resembles a stick. Let him imagine that there is no joint at his shoulder. What should happen? The hand must obey the law of gravity and must fall down of its own accord. He ought not to force it down of his own accord, neither should he resist its tendency to fall. After a few trials he will be able to do it quite satisfactorily.

Or, you may proceed thus: Ask the subject to hold his right hand in a horizontal position and let it be supported at a little in front of the elbow joint by means of the fore-finger of his left hand which is held underneath in a vertical position. Ask him to put neither more nor less than the just weight of his right hand upon his forefinger; that is to say, let him not exert any voluntary force of the hand upon the finger, nor should he hold up the hand by means of the muscles of the upper arm so as to reduce the proper weight of the arm. There should be no voluntary action whatever. If the finger is now withdrawn suddenly, the hand must droop down. You will show this personally by devitalising your own hand, and you will see that the hand falls down with perfect freedom the moment the supporting finger is withdrawn. In like manner, the left hand, the leg, and, in fact, the whole body, can be devitalised at will. This is a very healthy exercise and must be practised by the subject with advantage. After you are satisfied that he is thorough with this exercise you may commence the second experiment somewhat as follows:

2. Falling Backwards.—Let your subject stand erect, place his heels together and drop his hands to his sides. Ask him to dismiss all thoughts from his mind and close his eyes. Let there be no nervous tension anywhere in his body. He should not exercise any force on his feet and his whole body must stand like a stick, perfectly devitalised and free to move about in any direction. You may just test this before you proceed further.

Stand behind him and place the palm of your left hand on his forehead and the tight fist of your right hand at the back of his head just above the nape of the neck; apply a slight pressure with both your hands (in this position) and keep his head erect; but don't apply any force with your hands that may tend to push him backwards. All the while his eyes are kept closed and you go on with your suggestions thus: "You are going to fall backwards, to fall backwards. Very shortly you will be falling backwards. Very soon an influence will come upon you that will push you backwards. Do not resist it, but give free play to it; on the other hand, do not fall of your own accord. You are about to fall backwards. The influence is on you now. You are going to fall. You are falling now, falling backwards, you are falling, falling, falling backwards. I see you are falling backwards, etc., etc.," and so on gradually raising your voice (which should always be firm and gentle) as you get to the end; and slowly withdrawing your hands.

Or, you may proceed thus: Place your hands upon his shoulders for a few minutes. Then concentrate your passes down his spine to the small of his back. These passes are made as if charging with your influence. Having done so several times, place the tips of your fingers lightly upon the back, on the spine, level with the lower part of the shoulder blades, and proceed to make drawing passes with the intention of drawing the person to you. Throughout the whole process continue your suggestions.

3. Falling Forwards.—In this, as well as in the previous experiment, assure your subject that there will be no danger in falling and that you are ready by his side to help him and see that he does not fall flat on the floor. Stand in front of him and ask him to direct his eyes to yours and keep them there. Tell him that throughout the process he should maintain a steady gaze, and as far as possible, without winking. You are, of course, trained to purpose and would never wink at all during the experiment. You must look steadily at his organ of individuality, which is situated at the root of the nose, just below the forehead and between the eyes. Hold his head with gentle pressure by his temples with both your open hands, but never exercise by means of your hands, any tendency to pull him forwards. Everything must be done by your will, concentration, and suggestion. Proceed in a manner similar to the previous experiment, strongly willing and suggesting steadily and firmly that he should fall forwards. Frame your own suggestions.

4. Fastening the Hands.—As before, direct your eyes to the subject's organ of individuality while he is gazing at your eyes. Ask him to firmly and tightly interlock the fingers of his hands and hold them up to their fullest extent towards you and maintain a horizontal position. Will strongly that his hands become fastened together so tight as to become inseparable, try he ever so hard. Make a few local passes with light contact on the hands, commencing from his wrist downwards; occasionally you may make a longer pass from his shoulder down to the hands. From the commencement of the experiment keep up the attention of the subject and maintain his concentration on fastening his hands by means of your suggestions, which must be quietly and firmly given, and may be in the following or similar terms:

"I am about to fasten your hands. In a short time, in a very few moments there will come a binding force on your hands. The influence is already there now, your hands are being fastened, the force is but slight at present; it is growing, your hands are becoming tighter, tighter still. Don't attempt to separate them now; but be passive and allow my influence to work its course. I will presently give you the word 'try,' when your hands will be completely fastened. You may try your utmost to separate them then. However hard you may try, you cannot possibly separate them. Your hands are becoming tighter now, tighter and tighter every moment. (Always keep your eyes on mine.) Your hands are tight now, very tight, tigher still; they are absolutely tight (gradually raise your voice and let it be firm and decisive) ; you won't be able to separate them. Your hands are very, very tight. It is impossible to separate them now, utterly impossible. I am going to give you the word 'try.' You cannot possibly separate your hands; they are, as it were, rivetted together. Now, 'try!' try with all your might; you cannot separate; it is thoroughly impossible; possibly you may break your hands in the attempt. You cannot separate your fingers. * * *"

Finally, make a few counter passes and say firmly, "Your hands have resumed their normal condition. They can be separated now."

I cannot impress this too strongly upon you that this experiment is, as it were, the stumbling-block of all beginners. You should exercise great care in will, concentration, gaze and passes, all simultaneously. But never be disheartened by failures. If you fail once, call for a next sitting, and a next, and try again. When you succeed in this experiment, you may rest assured that all the succeeding experiments are at your fingers' ends.

The method of procedure in the following experiments is very similar to the present one and you can apply suitable suggestions in each case. In this connection I should strongly recommend beginners to witness as many entertainments as may come under their notice. The passes in each case are local in character and in light contact.