THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF HYPNOTISM.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 886, 11 February 1891, Page 2

THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF HYPNOTISM.

■ ■■ - — »' "'•; i — _ .- ; T MrCharles Iluilan^on;^^, de~ I livered a lecture m the Entertainment* Court Palace, upon the scientific aspect |of hypnotism; After ; referring to the importance of hypnotism horn a surgical point of view, as it relieved the patienft from all conciousness of pain, he referred to the history of mesmerism, connecting it with the « laying on of hands," and mentioned many instances of extraordinary results accdmplished by Mesmer and others, more recently, both m Franca i and m England. He admitted that people m a normal condition oi robust health were not often susceptible '-'to thefluence of the operator, and that,. as a matter of fact, agieat deal of the 1 success depended upon the willingness* of the subjects themselves to be operated upon, because it is almost impossible to 1 hypnotise a healthy person , against his will, and even if it were done the strength of the operator must be great and the. time occupied would be considerable. He described the various methods of producing hypnotism, and denied that it was productive of any after 'injurious consequences, arguing that, on the contrary, subjects had often found themselves much better m health after having frequently submitted to the operation. He described the manner m which themuseular aud nervous power was affected, and the influence which the operator gained over his subject; ; brat, although h& made a point of the" value of the discovery to the medical and surgical profession, h& only supported it by the assertion that it resde?ed the person under its influence; v insensible to pain. In proof of this hepassed a surgical needle under the nail and through the wrist of a young lady, w.Uq had been, reduced to a letharic condition. Patients while under the influ- A ence of hypnotism, he said,, would readily accept snggestions, and believe them tobe facts, and m proof he mentioned aa i.nstance m whicbCbareot a* high inermerist,had induced a subject to believe thaia white card was red, and another m which M. Chas. Farry, another Frenchman of note, had so deluded a woman, operated - upon that sho believed a postage stamp which he stuck upon her neck was a blister, and that aa a consequence on the Following morning the skin presented all " the appearance, of having been, blistered m the ordinary way.. The Lecturer illustrated his discourse' by,: operating upon half-a-dozen persons 'invite^ upon the, platform, from the aodienre, only ihim af whom, he assented.,' he had' seen before! In the evening the process of hypnotism* was repeated by way of entertainment, lu.wfych the So'Cftlle,d science gave place to ft mmm. dbwwHtiMim Hi 0. <r~:

< W^M ■^ypftotised persons were drawn by Ihe entertainer, ■