"In opposition to inhibition, one calls the increase of the excitability of a center by conduction of neurokymes along various tracks 'simulation increase,' or opening up of a path (Bahnung of Exner). I suggest to a person that his forehead shall become warm. I shall succeed in this suggestion more easily if I place my hand on bis forehead at the same time, for I stimulate the corresponding center for the sensation of touch by laying my hand on the forehead. This is then connected with the corresponding center for the sensation of warmth through a track which conducts well as the result of numerous previous simultaneous excitabilities. The neurokyme produced by my touching the forehead takes this course, and acts by opening out a new path.

"All those inhibitions and the opening out of new paths to which the course of all nervous processes, and also the whole phenomena of suggestion, are traceable are produced in this way. The art of the hypnotist consists in the suitable application of such inhibitions and opening out of new paths, and the nature of the training consists in the reaction of such-like influencing on the more widely distributed association of ideas.

"Let us look at the mechanism of catalepsy, for instance. Suppose that I lift the arm of a hypnotized person. The arm will remain in the position in which I have put it. I produced a corresponding sensation of movement by means of a passive movement. The association tracks deflecting the conception of this movement from the center have become incapable of conducting on account of the hypnotic dissociation. As a result of this, the neurokyme excited by the passive movement, of the arm moves mainly along the track leading centrifugally from the center for the said conception of the movement, and causes a muscular contraction which corresponds to the passively determined position of the arm. The hypnotized person, provided that he is only hypotactic, 'feels the arm suddenly becoming rigid after it had been raised.' In this case one is dealing with Bernlieim'a 'passive catalepsy.' It differs from an active movement in that in the latter case the movement conception is prompted by an association of idea3 or by the 'will,' while in our case it is prompted by a peripheral stimulus. Passive catalepsy always occurs when the movement conception is sufficiently dissociated, but can still be excited sufficiently. If the sleep has become so deep that the movement conception can no longer be sufficiently excited by means of a peripheral stimulus, a passive catalepsy can no longer be achieved. One meets with a corresponding depression of the excitability of movement conceptions in hysterics, whose sensibility for touch has become diminished in one or other extremity, although the kinaesthesia is retained. The extremity in this case is paretic during the condition of waking, and is extremely difficult to render cataleptic during hypnosis. Numerous components which open out new paths and act inhibitorily take part in the exciting of the movement conceptions. Among these, the stimulus opening out a new path which leads from the center for the sensibility of touch to that of the actual muscular sense plays an important part.

1'"It is advisable to call progressing nerve excitability as long as we do not thoroughly understand its nature, by some unprejudiced term, such as ' neurokyme.' (Forel, "Brain and Mind".)

"Other stimuli which forge new paths for themselves, therefore, are required in the case of insufficient dissociation or depressed excitability of the movement conception. Here one should first have recourse to verbal suggestion. The arm which has been raised falls limply to the side, but as soon as I declare that the arm has become rigid the onset of the corresponding muscular contraction is felt. The influence of the association of ideas which finds new paths for itself can connect itself both with a passive movement and with a verbal suggestion. We call this monoidism. For example, I hypnotize a subject. I lift his arm up. This falls again to his side. I awaken the subject. I then hypnotize a second subject in the presence of the first. Here the catalepsy succeeds at once. On hypnotizing the first subject for the second time, I succeed in producing catalepsy also in him. In this case we are dealing with Bernhelm's active element of catalepsy. The following conception connected itself with the sensation of the passiive movement of the arm in this subject: 'The holding of my arm in this position is the will of the hypnotist, but I must do as he wills.' The sight of the catalepsy produced by the hypnotist in the second subject created a conducting track in the brain of the first subject leading between the conception of the hypnotist and the conception of the movement concerned. If the hypnotist now raises the arm of the first subject, the conception of the hypnotist at once appears vividly. Stimuli issue from the center of this conception to the center of the movement conception. The association of ideas can become more complicated and more similar to the voluntary movement preceding it in this connection, and one cannot find fault with the subject if he says that he has only done this to please the hypnotist

" Forging out a new path by means of monoidism plays an important part in all complicated suggestions, and especially in waking suggestions. They rob even the 'rapport' completely of its mystery. If the mother or the doctor sleep on through a loud noise, but awaken when the child cries or when the attendant knocks, we are only dealing with excitability which has been increased by former opening out of new paths, as in the case in ' rapport.'

"In what has been said above inhibition has been deprived of all activity. Inhibitions are compensation symptoms for the deflections which have arisen elsewhere. As can readily be seen, one is only referring to those inhibitions (Wundt's neurodynamic inhibitions) here which represent the direct result of nervous processes. Apart from these, there exist inhibitions (Wundt's vasomotor inhibitions) frequently interacting in response to an increase of the resistance in the conduction caused by tiring or by some alteration of the metabolism. However, as long as we are dealing with the neurodynamic and not with the nutritive inhibitions, we should be able to prove the existence of deflection arising in other ways - that is, the aspect of our suggestion which opens up new paths.