In order to give the reader an idea of the phenomena of hypnotism, it will be best, first of all, to describe a few experiments. The phenomena will in this way be made more comprehensible than by means of any number of definitions.

First Experiment

I begin the experiments with a young man of twenty. I request him to seat himself on a chair, and give him a button to hold, telling him to look at it fixedly. After three minutes his eyelids fall; he tries in vain to open his eyes, which are fast closed; his hand, which up till now has grasped the button, drops upon his knee. In answer to my question as to how he feels, he replies that he is tired. I assure him it is impossible for him to open his eyes. (He makes vain efforts to open them.) I now say to him, "Your hands are stuck fast to your knee; you cannot possibly raise them." (He raises his hands, however.) I continue to converse with him; I find that he is perfectly conscious, and I can find no essential change in him whatever. I raise his right arm; directly I let go he drops it as he pleases. Upon which I blow upon his eyes, which open at once, and he is in the same state as before the experiment. The young man remembers all that I have said to him.

The only striking thing is, therefore, that he could not open his eyes, and that he felt a certain degree of fatigue.

Second Experiment

This is a woman of fifty-three. When she has seated herself on a chair I place myself before her; I raise my hands and move them downwards, with the palms towards her, from the top of the head to about the pit of the stomach. I hold my hands so that they may not touch her, at a distance of from two to four centimetres. As soon as my hands come to the lowest part of the stroke 1 carry them in a wide sweep with outspread arms up over the subject's head. I then repeat exactly the same movements - that is, passes from above downwards, close to the body, and continue this for about ten minutes. At the end of this time the subject is sitting with closed eyes, breathing deeply and peacefully. When I ask her to raise her arms, she raises them only slightly; they then fall down again heavily. When I ask her how she feels, she explains she is very tired. I forbid her to open her eyes. (She makes useless attempts to open them.) Now I lift up her right arm; it remains in the air even after I have let go. I command her to drop her arm. She drops it. I lift it again, and again it remains in the air; upon which I request her to drop her arm, declaring at the same time that she cannot do it. She now makes vain efforts to drop her arm, but it remains in the air.

The same thing happens with the other arm; when I forbid her she is unable to drop it. She cannot pronounce her own name directly I have assured her she is dumb. She only makes movements with her mouth, without producing any sound. I tell her now she can speak. She speaks at once. I say to her, "You hear music." The woman shakes her head to show she hears n,o music. I wake her by passes from below, upwards, over the surface of her body, turning the back of my hand towards her. She opens her eyes, and can control her movements as before the experiment.

We see here, then, that not only are the eyes closed during hypnosis, but that all sorts of different movements become impossible to the subject when I forbid them.

Third Experiment

Here is a boy of sixteen, whom I have hypnotized several times. I request him to look me straight in the eyes. After he has done this for some time I take him by the hand and draw him along with me. Then I let go, but our eyes remain fixed on each other's. Then I lift up my right arm. (The boy does the same.) I make him understand by a gesture that he must kneel down. (He does so.) He tries to rise, but does not succeed so long as I look at him, and fix him to the floor by a movement of the hand. Finally, I cease to look at him; the charm is at once broken.

We see here, then, a young man whose movements take the character of imitation, and whose eyes at the same time are wide open and fixed upon mine.

Fourth Experiment

Mr. X., forty-one years old, seats himself on a chair. I tell him he must try to sleep. "Think of nothing but that you are to go to sleep." After some seconds I continue: "Now your eyelids are beginning to close; your eyes are growing more and more fatigued; the lids quiver more and more, and get gradually closer. You feel tired all over; your arms go to sleep; your legs grow tired; a feeling of heaviness and the desire for sleep take possession of your whole body. Your eyes close; your head feels duller; your thoughts grow more and more confused. Now you can no longer resist; now your eyelids are closed. Sleep." After the eyelids have closed I ask him if he can open them. (He tries to do so, but they are too heavy.) I raise his left arm in the air. (It remains in the air, and cannot be brought down in spite of all his efforts.) I ask him if he is asleep. "Yes." "Fast asleep?" "Yes." "Do you hear the canary singing?" "Yes." "Do you hear the concert?" "Certainly." Upon this I take up a black cloth and put it into his hand. "You feel this dog quite plainly?" "Quite plainly." " Now you can open your eyes. You will see the dog clearly.

Then you will go to sleep again, and not wake till I tell you. (He opens his eyes, looks at the imaginary dog and strokes it.) I take the cloth out of his hand and lay it on the floor. (He stands up and reaches out for it.) Although he is in my room, when I tell him he is in the Zoological Gardens he believes it, and sees trees, the water, the children playing, and so on.

We have here a case in which a man is thrown into the hypnotic state by my arousing in his mind an image of the sleep. This manner of hypnotizing was introduced by the Nancy school of investigators, and may be termed the method of Nancy. It is not only possible in his case to prevent the most various movements by a mere prohibition, but I can also control his sense-perceptions. On my assurance he thinks he hears a canary, or hears music. He takes a black cloth for a dog, and believes himself to be in the Zoological Gardens when he is in my room.

But the following phenomenon is still more striking. X. hears all that I say to him, and allows himself to be influenced by me in every way. Yet two other men, A. and B., who are present, appear not to be observed by the hypnotic at all. A. lifts up the arm of the subject; the arm falls loosely down, and when A. desires the arm to remain in the air the subject takes no notice. He obeys my orders only, and is en rapport with me only. In order to wake him I now call to him: " Wake up!" He wakes up at once, but only remembers going to sleep; of what happened during the sleep he knows nothing.