I propose in this chapter to give a few methods of inducing hypnosis adopted by some of the most eminent of hypnotists.

Dr. Braid's Mode of Procedure.—"Take any bright object between the thumb and fore and middle fingers of the left hand; hold it from about 8 to 15 inches from the eyes at such a position above the forehead as may be necessary to produce the greatest possible strain upon the eyes and the eyelids, and enable the patient to maintain a steady, fixed stare at the object. The patient must be made to understand that he must keep the eyes steadily fixed on the object. It will be observed that, owing to the consensual adjustment of the eyes, the pupils will be at first contracted, they will shortly begin to dilate, and after they have done so to a considerable extent, and have assumed a very wary position, if the fore and middle fingers of the right hand, extended and a little separated, are carried from the object towards the eyes, most likely the eyelids will close involuntarily with a vibratory motion. If this is not the case, or the patient allows the eye-balls to move, desire him to begin again, giving him to understand that he is to allow the eyelids to close when the fingers are again carried to the eyes, but that the eye-balls must be kept fixed on the same position and the mind riveted to the one idea of the object held before the eyes."

In the hypnotic state the senses, with the exception of sight, are wonderfully exalted. Thus a subject who could not hear the ticking of a watch beyond 3 ft. when in his normal state, could do so when hypnotised at a distance of 35 ft. and walk towards it in a straight line, without any hesitation. Again, another subject (lady) was able to trace a rose by smell when held at a distance of 46 ft. from her.

Professor Heidenham's Mode of Procedure.— His processes are very simple and may be divided into two parts:

1. By monotonous stroking of the temples or nose.

2. By monotonous sounds, such as the ticking of a watch.

Experiment.—He placed 3 chairs with their backs against a table upon which rested a small watch. The chairs were occupied by 3 subjects, whose attention was directed (of course by continuous suggestion) to the monotonous ticking of the watch, while the hypnotist went on with local passes directed to the cranial region. Doubtless, all three fell asleep.

The methods adopted by Charcot, Mm. Baurru, Butot, Voisin and others are but modifications of the above. We will watch another case ere we close this chapter.

The hypnotist is a medical man. He is seated by a couch on which his patient lies. Necessary directions as to posture, attitude of mind, etc., have already been given to the patient. The forefinger of the right hand of the hypnotist is then directed to a little above and in front of the patient's eyes. The latter looks steadily at the tip of the finger presented to him and continues keeping it there. As the doctor is talking (suggestions) he quietly moves his finger backwards and then forwards and also slightly laterally to about 6 inches from the patient's eyes This causes a slight movement of the eye-balls with periodical squint eyes, and the patient is altogether unaware of it. The doctor goes on with his sleep suggestions in a quiet monotone:

"Now look steadily at my finger. Keep your eyes there; you will soon feel the influence; just keep your gaze fixed and steady at it. Don't mind anything else. Just look and listen. Your eyes are getting heavier and heavier every moment. They are tired and heavy, more and more tired; getting tired and heavy. The influence is on you now. You feel it, tired and heavy; tired and heavy. Your eyes are closing. Very tired and heavy, closing. Your eyes are closing, c-1-o-s-i-n-g, c-1-o-s-i-n-g. You cannot keep them open long. It is impossible. They are closing, closing. You are going to sleep, to sleep, to sound sleep; to sound, sound sleep, go to sleep, very sound sleep," and so on with quiet repetition.

As this sleep talk is quietly kept up, the eyelids droop; the doctor quietly seizes the opportunity to brush them down close them, in fact, and then commences local and occasional long passes in conjunction with sleep-suggestions: "Your eyes are closed. Completely closed, closed, sleepy, closed; you will have no tendency to open them, sleep on. Sleep soundly, sleep, sleep, sleep on. You are sound asleep, asleep; sleeping soundly; from head to foot in sound sleep, fast asleep," and so on, repeating.

Watching the altered and heavy breathing or action of the eyelids, the doctor is satisfied that the patient is in a quiescent or suggestible state, and then he slightly raises his voice, assuming a commanding tone, thus:

"You are now completely under my control; you cannot open your eyes. It is impossible. However hard you may try, you cannot open your eyes. Your eyes are firmly closed. You are in very deep sleep now, soundly sleeping. Sleep on, it is very comfortable. You are enjoying undisturbed sleep, sleep on."

"You are fast asleep, soundly sleeping, asleep, asleep. Nothing can disturb your sleep, your excellent and refreshing sleep. No noise in the world can disturb you. In fact, you cannot hear any other voice except mine. All other voices are shut to you. You will not hear any noise, any other than my voice. You are under my control now. The whole world is shut to you. You will hear my voice very distinctly, my voice and mine alone. You hear my voice clearly and distinctly; isn't it? Yes, you will hear it very well. Sleep. Sleep well."

Then without further experimenting the doctor proceeds to give healing suggestions carefully and deliberately—without monotone—in a clear, hopeful confident, distinct and emphatic voice.

This part of the subject will meet with more attention under "Suggestive Therapeutics."

EXPERIMENTS IN THE SLEEPING STAGE.

After inducing hypnosis in your subject, you have practically very little to do by way of monotonous suggestions or passes. However, it is good to use occasional passes and suggestions conducive to sleep.

Under the influence of the operator, there is absolutely no end to the illusions and hallucinations which may be created in the subject's mind, and acted upon without question. Fertility of resource and direction are requisite in an entertainer more than the so-called extraordinary will-power to which success is so often attributed. A detailed list of experiments suitable for an entertainment will not serve any useful purpose here. However, I will touch upon a few interesting experiments just to show you what can be done. A very telling experiment is this: Here the subject has a really bad tooth, which is not, and can never be, of any use to him. Having thrown him to sleep, and further, having assured him (suggestion) that his whole body is insensible to pain, some well-known dentist may be requested to extract the tooth. The extraction will be a painless one and the experiment most interesting.

Never allow your subjects to eat or drink anything which can in any sense do them injury, nor allow abusive liberties to be taken with them under the pretence of proving that your entertainment is like Caesar's wife, above suspicion.

You may catelepse your subject, make his body or any portion thereof as rigid as a board and unconscious to pain; this can be easily done by means of a few local passes, adding suitable suggestions. You may convert water into milk, tea or wine, and vice versa, and your subject will taste just the same as you suggest, and describe it as such. He may be made to fish or act the tailor or even the Emperor of India, all at your suggestion. You may even permit him to have his eyes open, suggesting that he would be still in sound sleep and could not see anything but as directed by you. A hat may be presented to him for a tiger and the terror excited will be most interesting.

There is something inexpressibly funny in seeing a sedate old man forget his sedateness and make passionate avowals of affection to a supposed young lady (who is another man dressed up for the purpose). The subject may personate some actor or deliver an address; caress a pillow for baby; use a walking-stick for a spoon; all this and a hundred more experiments may be done by suggestion. But what then, if this be all? Fortunately, this is not all, as has already been pointed out elsewhere. While hypnotic or mesmeric entertainments amuse, they may be used successfully to draw attention to the more special and scientific aspects of this grand subject—curative, telepathic, clairvoyant, etc

Note. —Let your suggestions be wholesome, happy, healthy and beneficial, elevating character always. Never descend to practical jokes or to aught hurtful or unpleasant, simply to gratify your vanity, sense of the ridiculous or to amuse others, at the expense of your subject's health and happiness.

Post-Hypnotic Suggestion.—Suggestions that are given in the sleeping stage with the result that the experiments suggested take effect after the subject wakes up and in his normal senses, are said to be post-hypnotic.

The correction of bad habits is effected by post-hypnotic suggestion. Take, for example, a child given up to the stealing habit. Throw the child into a state of hypnosis and take it to a table whereon you have already placed a two-anna piece, and say, "You see this piece of money. If you quietly pocket it, it will serve to fetch you four oranges. You wish to put it in your pocket."

The child readily pockets it and you continue, "You are going to put it back on the table whence you took it; you are ashamed of your act. It is theft, pure and simple. If at any time hereafter you yield to the temptation, you will be ashamed of having committed theft and you will be anxious to return the object to its place. Indeed, you will never be tempted to steal." In simple language, varied and repeated to suit the case, the child is cured forever of any tendency to steal.

I close this chapter by quoting one out of many cases of moral perversion cured by Dr. Voisin by Post-hypnotic suggestions, abbreviated as follows:

"A lad of 16 was brought to Dr. Voisin at Saltpetriere on June g, 1888. He was an utterly corrupt young rascal. He lied, played truant, was grossly indecent, trying to corrupt all with whom he came in contact. He had been, on account of his vices and unspeakable conduct, turned out of several institutions where he had been placed in the hope of cure and reform. Dr. Voisin's report on his vices cannot be repeated here, and consequently his case may be looked upon as hopelessly bad. He had certain physical defects— an internal squint of the left eye which exhibited haziness of the cornea and other defects. His general health was good. Dr. Voisis endeavoured to hypnotise him and succeeded after much difficulty to do so at the third sitting. When hypnosis had been produced, suggestions of reform were given, and received, with the result that improvement was made from the very beginning. By July 6 his whole character was changed. All this was effected in little less than four weeks. The desires to do evil were obliterated and those to do good were more and more manifested. He was no longer insubordinate to his mother, whose life had been rendered miserable by his utterly depraved and degenerate conduct. He now took a pleasure in pleasing his mother and expressed thanks to Dr. Voisin for the great change which had taken place."

Post-hypnotic Suggestion is the basis of all curative treatment.

N. B.—Subject means anybody brought under the influence or control of the Hypnotist. The word Patient has also been used in this Part in place of Subject, as most persons coming under the direction of the operator happen to be patients for treatment of certain diseases.