The Following Are Condensations Of Some Of The Principal Current Ideas Of Hypnotism

There are three main theories advanced concerning the nature of the hypnotic state. They are the theories of (1) Animal Magnetism, (2) of Neurosis, (3) of Suggestion.

The believers in the Animal Magnetism theory, who are comparatively few among scientists, hold that there is an emanation directly from the operator to the subject, which will, when focussed on the subject, transform him into a mere automaton, subject to the will of the operator.

The theory of Neurosis is, in a few words, somewhat as follows. The state of hypnosis is a certain pathological condition into which some individuals, those only who have the necessary predisposition, are easily placed by anything which appeals strongly to the emotions. In this state special physical agents can produce special symptoms, without their being mentally expected by the subject. This condition is said by Prof. Charcot and his colleagues of the Salpetriere Hospital to be rarely found in typical form. It is called by them "le grand hypnotisms," and is said to accompany the disease hystero-epilepsy. I have seen in this country a number of such cases. I shall report one in detail.

In the spring of 1890 a woman, twenty-three years of age, consulted me. She had been for some time a constant attendant at a gathering of spiritualists called a "circle." Whenever the members of the circle joined hands the girl would pass into a state of catalepsy. Every muscle in her body would be rigid, her breathing would ho scarcely perceptible, and she would grow very pale. This condition of things would last two or three hours; when it finally passed off she appeared languid for a number of hours after. One day in my office I gave her a piece of polished metal and told her that it was powerfully magnetized. She threw it across the room and had a hystero-epileptic fit of great violence. So susceptible was this girl to suggestion that she would have violent tremors whenever she believed she was in contact with any one who possessed magnetic power. She would have a convulsion if a piece of paper were given her, if she were told first that it was magnetized. There are a great many such cases in New England. Perhaps just as many in the rest of the country.

The cataleptic trance is a stage of this kind of hypnotism which may be induced by the patient's suddenly hearing aloud noise or seeing a bright light. The limbs and body obey every movement communicated to them and retain the position in which they are placed. The eyes are fixed, and there is no sensibility to pain.

The lethargic condition may be induced from the cataleptic by forcibly closing the eyelids. This state is marked by apparent unconsciousness and by complete relaxation of the muscles, except when they are petrissaged; or contractions may be produced in them by pressure upon some of the large nerve-trunks. When the muscles are thus excited tonic contractions take place in them. This symptom is called by Charcot, neuro-muscular excitability.

A lethargic state has been previously described, and may be induced by any of the methods of hypnotizing before mentioned.

Prof. James says that a subject may, by friction on the top of the head, be brought from either the lethargic or cataleptic state into the somnambulic condition, and that he is then active and susceptible to any suggestion the operator may make.

This state may be induced primarily. In other words, the cataleptic or lethargic state may be produced at will by the operator if the suggestion be only properly directed.

In the somnambulic condition the above-mentioned manipulations of the muscles do not cause the clearly-defined contractions noticed in the lethargic, but whole regions of the body tend to become rigid. Sometimes slight stimulation of the skin, either by touching it or by blowing upon it, results in general tetanic convulsions. Prof. Charcot terms this cutaneo-muscular hyper-excitability.

Among many other symptoms accompanying "le grand hypnotisme," the following are some of the most interesting.

If the eyes of a patient in lethargy are opened he becomes cataleptic. Opening one eye causes the corresponding half of the body to become cataleptic, the other half remaining lethargic. (The term lethargy is used to denote complete muscular relaxation.) (Charcot.)

The conditions of one side of the body may be transferred to the opposite side by the approach of a magnet to the skin or by the contact with certain metals. (Luys.)

Patients may be made to repeat automatically every word which they hear, by pressing upon the lower cervical vertebrae or upon the epigastrium. Aphasia is produced in these subjects of "le grand hypnotisme," by rubbing the head, over the region of the speech-centre. (Buchanan.)

"The theory of hypnotism denies that there is any special hypnotic, state worthy of the nameof trance or neurosis." (James, Liebault, Bernheim.)

The various states of catalepsy, lethargy, etc., are due to mental susceptibility to outward suggestion. This susceptibility is found more or less in every one. It is generally believed by most scientists that the phenomena noticed in the subjects experimented upon in the Sal-petriere Hospital were produced by training and expectation. Those things which the first patients did were supposed by the experimenters to be typical. Subsequent patients, learning what was expected of them, followed in their lead. This is demonstrated by the fact that these three typical stages and their accompanying symptoms have occurred spontaneously, so far as known, only at the SalpStriere. The appearance of the eyes, the flushing of the face, the quickening of the respiration, etc., are held to be not caused by the passage into the state of hypnosis, but to be due to the strain on the eyes, in consequence of looking steadfastly at a small object. The patients at Nancy who are hypnotized by simple command, such as by telling them to go to sleep and close their eyes, do not exhibit any of these symptoms.