As consciousness is concentrated in one direction all other events are ignored by it, and we have as a result a man who is no longer himself. He will act out, as has been described many times before in this work, whatever he is told by the hypnotizer. His faith becomes king of his reason. It will become the slave instead of the master, and different parts of the mind will act independently or together as circumstances may determine. The man is told that he will soon arouse himself, that he is all right, or while in this state some strong impression is firmly implanted in his mind. When he is aroused again the co-ordinate action of the mind is restored. Now the fact that phenomena, which are analogous to many other mental states, occur in this very interesting complex state, is not, if we look at the subject in this way, surprising.

What is surprising is the fact that such a complexus of conditions can be brought about in a large number of individuals who are otherwise normal,'using that term to signify their ordinary natural condition.

The following propositions are made in explanation of my position.

First, that hysteria is an abnormal intensification of, or an inhibition of, some one or all of the parts of the mind as the result of the want of mental balance.

Secondly, that there is a close analogy, if not identity, between the various phenomena occurring during and after hypnosis and those of hysteria.

Thirdly, many persons who were otherwise normal are thrown into a state of hysteria by some extraordinary circumstance, during the whole of their previous lives, they never before having given evidence of possessing such tendencies.

From the analogy previously mentioned, I regard this susceptibility of the masses to the various hypnotic states as a form of hysteria which I term latent hysteria. I do not claim that the application of this term is original. If I have read it elsewhere I do not remember having done so. If the use of the term latent hysteria is incorrect, I shall be glad to ascertain the fact. If it does not help others to understand this state it will doubtless either be because it is incorrect, or has not been clearly stated. If the latter, I trust some one, possibly one of my critics, will put the matter in a clearer light.

M. Richet and a number of other writers, including Charcot, have described in various ways the susceptibility to hypnotism. But none of them, so far as I know, have expressed in the same way that I have here endeavored to, the relation between latent hysteria and the susceptibility to hypnosis.

I am firmly convinced of the fact that a very large majority of the people in all the world are susceptible to one or more of the conditions winch I have described. Men rush madly to battle dominated by one idea. They shoot and are shot at by men who have against them, and against whom they have no grievance. Lives are laid down to rectify imaginary wrongs. People in a self-induced hypnotic state degrade the Divine principle of the universe by mistaking their insane ravings and sense-hallucinations for revelations from God. It may be true, too, that in some of these states, powers of whose existence we know nothing, are aroused, and it may be the gift of some to look into another state.

another world. Prophets are not confined to any age. These various states which we call hypnotic, hystero-epileptic, cataleptic, etc., are every one of them complex, composed of many widely different elements. The susceptibility of the human race to these conditions constitutes one of the great social factors in the universe, and, therefore, as I study and witness them, I am the more profoundly impressed from day to day with the gravity of their importance,whatever our ultimate conception of them may be. If they are manifestations of disease, pure and simple, then I pity and wish to relieve the sufferers.

If they are evidence that we possess mental powers of which we are ignorant, I earnestly plead for a more extended knowledge of them. If these states can be used for good and not for evil, let us know how. They are an integral part, or better, they are qualities of the human mind. I have no contempt for the man who believes, while in the ecstatic state, that he has received a blessing from the Divine. I have no ridicule for those who believe that the dark veil of death is parted in these states, and that while in a trance or similar condition, they receive evidence of another and possibly better life. I do not feel that any condition which afflicts the human race should be ignored. If we all possess within us a possibility of indueingastate of disease by will, let us know it. If there is another sense yet to be developed through the process of evolution, let us learn how. If all these hypnotic phenomena, or any of them, give evidence, as is believed in some quarters, that we possessed once a sense perfectly developed, which, through the process of evolution, has been gradually dying away down through the ages, let us catch this wonderful thing before the dark starless robes of eternity forever envelop it in mystery and doubt.

If this susceptibility, this thing I call latent hysteria, be a condition of mind which will be removed by evolution, if such a removal be desirable, it will take place. If these qualities live in the human mind, it is because they ought to. If they are not needed, and if they die out, it is best. To the law of the survival of the fittest we must all humbly submit. And yet I would gladly .snatch, if I could, some of the gems which are lost with the decadence of certain faculties. I would gladly preserve some of the skeletons of the dragons of primaeval times. I would that the face of prehistoric man could have been photographed, and that each primitive thought could have been recorded for the future study of man. I marvel at every grand achievement in history, and shudder at its many black pages. I seek with interest, within the mind of man, every thought, every feeling, every hope, every wish, which actuates him. I watch its effects upon his body, affirming but little, doubting much, and absolutely denying nothing.

I could write volumes on this subject of latent hysteria, as I term it, for want of a better name.