WONDERS OF HYPNOTISM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9401, 6 January 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)

WONDERS OF HYPNOTISM.

SOME UNUSUAL EXHIBITIONS.

GINGERBREAD GIVEN SENSIBILITY. Some extraordinary exhibitions of hypnotic power were given at the Charite Hospital in Paris by Dr. Luys recently. From descriptions of them it is unquestioned that they were developed from experiments which have been in progress In Paris for the last few years. One series of these experiments, at a private seance given by a member of the Ecole Polytechnique, was witnessed by a limited audience in which was a correspondent of The World. , Two women and three men WflM the "subjects." " After briefly outlining his plans and the theories he proposed to explain, , the pro-: fessor seated one of the women in an easy- , chair. He held before her. a gingerbread figure of a woman, and, with a few mystic signs and phrases, transferred, as he_ said,; the living sensibility of the woman in the chair to the gingerbread.. Then, with great deliberation, he dismembered the cake, breaking off one , hand the other, abbreviating the arms, mutilating the legs, and, finally, taking a bite out of the head. At every fresh assault, upon the- gingerbread the subject shrieked and clutched at her own limbs. As the gingerbread woman became smaller and smaller, the shrieking woman became weaker and 1 weaker, until her final bursb of agony was little more than an incipienb shudder and an almost imperceptible eob. . | Of course the professor was nob inspired by bloodthirsty instincts, and he spared the female, to exert the same influence upon her later, for the mystification of other inquirers into scientific wonders. He restored her strength with a few words of gibberish, and as she arose from, her seat, dazed and evidently suffering. from the indistinct remembrance of some indefinite torture, the professor invited one of the men to take the chair. . . A camera was wheeled from a corner and pointed at the man, who meanwhile had been suitably posed by an assistant, who now stood near by ready to strike a flashlight when be was directed to do so. The professor showed ' himself to be a capable photographer as well as a skilful scientist, and, after trifling with the focus and otherwise prolonging the entertainment, he gave the word that produced the flash-light, and the negative was made. It required but a few moments to develop the likeness, and then was seen a fairly good reproduction of the sitter's features. The sitter recognised the picture and conceded that it looked like him. . . v*. The professor made a few passes with his hands above the head and on the forehead of the man in the chair. A thing as soulleas as a corporation sat in the chair and another, as full of soul as a bride, was on the negativo. Standing with his back to the subject, the professor, with great deliberation, drew a pinpoint across the face on the negative, lining both cheeks. At the same instant the man uttered an exclamation of pain, raised his hand and passed it across his face.. But, most wonderful of all, a red mark appeared for a moment on the cheeks of the man, following exactly the course taken by the pin. In turn the sharp instrument was passed over the skin of the forehead, the lips, the ears, and in each instance the accompanying shrinking and pain of the subject were noticeable, as was likewise the red mark. Pricking the negative with the pinpoint, even gently, was felt by the victim and indicated by his nervous action. The professor explained that, of course, no especial virtue attached to the negative. The same transference of soul could be made to a print from the negative, to an engraving, to an oil painting or any other pictorial object. The man was then placed upon the scientific shelf and the second woman called. She was a delicate subject, readily susceptible to the influence of exteriorization and showing her sympathy with the nondescript dummy, that was supposed to represent her in the professor's hands. This was a rag baby, and, after going through the usual ceremony, the professor plunged a knife deep into the cotton vitals of the baby repeatedly. With every stroke the female in the chair shrieked and looked about her in the most pathetic manner, seeking l some means of escape, leaving no I doubt in the minds of her audience that she thought she suffered every agony the rag baby was being subjected to. Ib was not until the cotton had been slashed into bits and the woman had shrunk into her chair -as though expiring, that the professor ceased and brought her back to her senses. Many other experiments were equally fantastic and surprising.