HYPNOTIC DYNAMOS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7541, 25 October 1902, Page 2

HYPNOTIC DYNAMOS.

I The Marvellous Alouotto. j Labour-saving machinery is being quite ' as extensively substituted for manual and mental toil in the generation of hypnosis as in the manufacture of any other product (writes John Elfieth Watkins in the New Orleans "Times-Democrat"). There are hypnotic dynamos which grind out hypnotic power quite as effectually as do our electrio dynamos "bottle lightning," and, were some novelist to picture a progressive, up-to-date Svengali to-day, such a character would bs but the man behind the gain — the man at the switch, perhaps it would be more appropriate to pub it. To wield a wand or make passes with the hands would be as primitive as ; Ben Franklin's elementary method of | tearing the lightning from the eky. j .Weird and uncanny, perhaps, is the ! thought that a,n enemy might set such a j hynotic trap for us, shielding it in some shadowy recess where it might be timed to go off and enslave us. And grim, indeed, is the vision of the twentieth century burglar, thrusting such a device under our very optics, in those wee small hours of ! the' night when padded feet are sometimes wont to glide across our floors. But such a mechanical ansesthetic would be far preferable, to a sponge saturated with chloroform angled from a fishing pole thrust over a transom. I recently peneti.ited the mysteries of a / progressive foypnologisfc's sanctum, where I | w»s given hehmd the scenes ilse priviJeges J ordinarily granted to the talent only. - And I desire your attention to this word "hypnologist." It has come to be the swell term to designate the truly scientific mes- ! merist. The fakirs have dragged "hypnoi tist " down into the mire of plebeianism j and have trampled upon it. HYPNOTISED BY BLUE SAND. Quite the newest mechanical aid to the hypnologisb is the "hypnotic ball." It might be taken for the half of an. hour glass mounted upon a short handle of ebony thrust into the severed Avaisfc. It is, in fact, a glass ball half filled with sand, and having a bottle-mouth into which the wooden handle fits snugly. Stuck into the interior extremity of this handle is a pin whose head extends to the centre of the transparent globe. The sand is dyed a bright Indigo blu?. So is the head of the pin, which is a globular head. Thus we have a little ball within a larger, transparent one, and between the two a magnificent powder. The subject concentrates his attention upon the pin-head, while the ball, held at about the height of Ids head, ia revolved by the operator with both a circular and rotary motion. The movement is made within a foot of the subject's eyes. The rotary manipulation causes the sand to fall like a cascade behind the pin-head; thus there are three movements — circular, rotary and vertical — endeavouring to puzzle vision as it conscientiously follows the ball. Thus the ocular muscles become quite fatigued, Ihe influence being an exaggerated and condensed form of the soporific stimulus caused by the rapid" flight of landscape past a car window or the rapid change of environment viewed from a rapidly moving swing. What fatigues the ocular muscles, of course, induces sleep, and physiological drowsiness is but the vestibule to the hypnotic state. The eyelids becoming heavy, the hypnologisfc has but to utter the. command " Sleep 1" and the subject is then ready to abide by his will. The " electro-hypnotdc headband " is another novelty. It is of rubber, and is clasped about the forehead. From it suspends a tiny transparent bulb, which may ba made to hang between and above the eyes. This rivets 'the attention of some subjects better than does the hypnotic ball. It is well-nigh impossible to look elsewhere when the glowing bulb hangs so tantalisingly near. It is even more difficult to think of anything else under such circumstances ; hence, perfect concentration as well as eye fatigue is effected. A simpler hypnotiser is practically the same arrangement, save that a bright, nickel ball is substituted for the incandescent globe. THK HYPXOTIC LAMP. It would seem paradoxical that light, hitherto regarded as the most potent enemy of Morpheus, may be harnessed and utilised as a soporific. And yet this is being done also by aid of the " hypnotic lamp.' 1 The subject having run, the gauntlet of the first -two test without succumbing, is seatc-d snugly in an armchair, W'hilo behind him, upon a pedestal, whioh. elevates it above his head, burns the hypnotic beacon, fed by a gas tube and hooded with a. cylinder of metal which) concentrates all of the gathered light, in one ray and projects it, searchlight- wise, through a funnel-like opening. In front of the subject, and momi'L-ed upon another pedestal, is a large, slightly concave disc — a dark plaque eighteen inches in diameter. In the ceaitre of the latter is a small concave mirror, highly polislied. The miniature searchlight upon, the laimp is directed upon this mirror and the angle of the plaque is so regulated that the beam bursts upon till© eye of the subject, seated in his chair. He concentrates ihis stare upon w&iat aippears to him as a luminous sun. surrounded by a black shadow. A bright ball, which can be moved back and forth txpon a rod thrust through, it, is ' i another means of producing eye faltiguo. One end of th© rod' rests on top of the MiTvjeot's head ; the pther m tflie hand of | the operative. The stare is fixed uponi I the ball, which gradually moves by force. I of gravity toward the subject's head, and thus attracts tdie eyes upward until they ! paze over their own lids. j HYPNOTIC DY.VAMOS. But I was going to tell you particularly ■about the hypnotic dynamos, which work automatically, and produce mesmeric power wliile the hypnologist himself sits idly by !or is even' absent. These are known to theprofession^ as " aJouettes." The efficacy of these has already been demonstrated in the neurological clinics of tihe Old World. There are many forms, but all based upon) the same, principle. This principle is that monotony as well as fatigue is a powerful inducer, and that the two ■combined are well nigh infallible, when exerted upon thei orb of sight. I AH alouettes consist primarily of motors, 1 which revolve mirrors in a horizontal plane. The motive power may be electricity or clock work, usually the latter, on account of its simplicity and portability. A compact box holds the machinery, and above this projects a revolving pivot. One of the most successful alouettes revolves two) horizontal panels of ebony m opposite directions, one above th© other, the common axis being through their centres. Eachl panel is studded on both sides with a row of circular mirrors, seven in- number. These will maintain a velocity of one revolution, to the second for a period 1 of oixa hour. This mechanical enchanter is placed upon, a ta'borett* or table, while the subject, cozily reclining upon a bed or couchi, gazes steadily at the flash of the mirrored mosaic. The mirrors appear as distinct bills of white fire, alternately glowing andl disappearing. They spread, then fall together, then appear like one solitary globe, a.nd again scatter into seven separate luminous balls, as if manipulated by thehajid of a skilful juggler. The subject becomes fascinated. a.nd while his concentration is fixed the monotony and ocular fatigue hare conjured up a, series of yawns. Finally a heaviness of respiration rfgnals a deep sleep. One alouette has been known to hypnotise an entire clinic of patients ati

one and tine same time, while the hypnotist was out of the roont. This occurred in. the clinic of Dr Berillon, the noted hypnologist of Paris. MAGNETISM LIGET IS HYPNOTICTherj are alouettes with single mirrored Wades. Some have revolving wings,moulded like the -vvings of birds. Some revolve boxes and other forms coated with mirror surface. The base of one is modeled in the form of a vase rather than of a box, and the pivot rotates a small lamp with concave reflector. Like a miniature flash beacon, the li^lht alternately appears and disappears. This device boasts of an advantage ovep others in that its luminosity is self-contained, and that it may be employed in darkness. A magnesium light js preferred for use within the lamp; magnesium irays are supposed to have extraordinary hypnotic power. The li vibrating coronet " was another device exhibited to me. This, just invented by Dr Gaiffe, of Paris, consists of three bands of melal encircling the head. Branch ftrips extend to the eyelids, and by the force of a. spring gently vibrate against them. By manipulation of adjustments it may be regulated to fit any head and to vibrate the lids of any eyes. Here is an engine for ocular fatigue, indeed. No, 'tis not a freak invention. It is successfully employed in the clinic ot Berillon. Stimuli of hearing aa well as of sight and touch are successfully employed ; taste and smell have generally given negative results. The ticking of a watch has 'been used. The sudden ' stroke of a gong hypnotises veteran subjects in the Hospital Salpetriere, Paris. The first hypnofciser was given by Providence to our arboreal ancestors, the apes. This was the bough, the ancestor of the cradle. When the wind blew there was communicated to the muscular sense of baby ape a monotony of feeling and to the ocular muscles ; the air pressing against the eyelids communicated fatigue. Savage man employed monotony of sounds, such as the magic drum beat of the Lapp, the Indian's song to the infant and the invalid. The Hesychasts of Mount Athos remained motionless for days with their gaze fixed upon a selected object. The Taskedrugites hypnotised themselves by concentrating their eyes upon their fingers held to their noses, and thus stood motionless for a long period. Twelve thousand repetitions of the sacred word "om " hypnotised the Dandins of India until they became cataleptic And a word as to the future : The pessimists of science tell us that man is, day after dav, straying wider from Nature's path and following the high road toward complete artificiality ; that he is forgetting, how to sleep. Will he, some day, be dependent upon these hypnotic dynamos for his nightly repose? Will he have to take an alouette to bed with him every night and keep the wheels a-grinding out his sleep until pome' attendant turns off the switch to wake him up ? Will it come to this?