In various small surgical procedures, such as lancing whitlows, opening abscesses, etc., I have found hypnotism a useful anaesthetic; and it is evident that in certain operations in which chloroform is inadmissible, either from the condition of the patient or from the locality of the operation, hypnotism may be a valuable substitute.

It has been used in this way at the Paris hospitals, and notably in a case of ovariotomy at the Hotel Dieu.

There is no doubt about the value of suggestion after surgical operations in relieving pain, procuring sleep, and promoting convalescence. I believe hypnotic suggestion will often be found to fill as beneficent a role after operations as anesthetics have done during them.

* Janet's method in these cases reminds one of that advocated by Van Helmont in the seventeenth century, when he wrote, ' Dropsy is not due to an organic lesion of the liver, but to the anger of the renal Archeus, who has lost his temper and refuses to work. One way of reducing him to order is to terrify him, and this may be done by tying a snake round the patient's waist and applying live toads to the region of the kidneys' (Withington's ' Medical History from the Earliest Times,' p. 308, London, 1894). But the modern physician only pretends to believe in the malignant devil, and casts him out by suggestions instead of loathly reptiles.

Creed finds hypnotism very useful to relieve pain and prevent spasm after fractures and other accidents. He has trained some of his patients so that they can throw themselves into a state of hypnotic anaesthesia by using a prearranged signal. For instance, a gentleman let a quantity of ' Chatterton's Compound,' a substance more destructive than molten sealing-wax, fall on his hand. He immediately put the index-finger of his left hand to his mouth, which was the signal agreed upon, and a state of analgesia at once followed. The patient did not lose consciousness or become in any way affected save that he felt no pain. Recovery from this severe injury was rapid and painless. In dressing surgical wounds Creed finds he can induce local anaesthesia by suggestion, without other hypnotic effect, so that the patient goes on talking rationally all the time (loc. cit., p. 7). I have also seen several cases of this kind.*

* The following extracts from a letter from a highly respected country practitioner, Dr. Hoskins, of Masterton, New Zealand, are, I think, worthy of consideration: ' In February and March last I made a trip over to study hypnotic suggestion in Sydney, under Dr. Creed, who has taken the matter in hand after due inquiry. I have certainly been greatly astonished at the results obtained in my cases. ... I have never yet touched a case which I have not enormously benefited, far and away more than I could do by ordinary treatment. ... I very much regret that I had not taken the subject up years ago. But, like the rest of our profession, I was prone to believe there was a good deal of low-down charlatanism about it. After reading Dr. Creed's address to the N.S.W. branch of the B.M.A., of which he has been twice president, I communicated with him, and went across to see him, and I have been easily able to prove personally nearly all I saw there.' Another New Zealand practitioner, Dr. James Boyd, F.R.C.S. Edin., has kindly sent me a report of a recent case of his (New Zealand Medical Journal, November, 1912). The patient, a man of sixty, was buried while at work by a heavy fall of earth. He was dug out, and treated at the hospital for some weeks.

There was no fracture or dislocation, but pain and inability to walk caused by sacro-iliac strain. He was unable to work, sit, stoop, or lace his boots, and his nerves were giving way under the strain. As no progress was made after sixteen weeks, Dr. Boyd hypnotized him, and he became somnambulic at once. Suggestions were made and the patient awakened, the whole operation taking five minutes. All I have tried the effect of suggestion on five or six patients who were about to make long sea-voyages. In one of these the effect was very striking, for, though the sea was rough, the lady, for the first time in her life, was free from sickness. In two other cases there was great improvement compared with previous experiences. In every case the result justified the trial of the remedy. Liebeault, Berillon, Farez, Osgood, Gorodichize, and other physicians have also used hypnotic suggestion successfully against vial de mer (Revue de l'Hypnotisme, 1896, 1905). Milne Bramwell had remarkable success in two cases (op. cit., p. 262), and generally the consensus of opinion as to the efficacy of hypnotic suggestion in this troublesome disorder is very striking.

Osgood reports four cases of chronic eczema which he cured by suggestion, and one remarkable case of chronic dermatitis of exceptional severity after frost-bite. I have had remarkable success in several severe cases of pruritus, general and local, and Bramwell reports similar results. One of my patients was a lady of sixty, who had suffered tortures for years, and being wealthy, had tried many kinds of treatment. Though but slightly hypnotizable, she soon responded to suggestion and was quite cured.

It may be objected that it is dangerous to suppress pain, which is Nature's danger-signal to call attention to the injured organ. This is only true to a limited extent, and one need not go on waving the danger-signal indefinitely. The amount of pain is generally far in excess of such requirement, and its alleviation is one of the practitioner's most urgent functions. Fortunate is the patient who can have this effected without opiates or other anodyne drugs.

The casual and careless application of hypnotic suggesthe pains and disabilities disappeared as if by magic, and did not return. The treatment was repeated on four consecutive days, and the cure is permanent. The change in appearance from that of a prematurely broken-down old man racked with pain to that of a smart, upright middle-aged one, was, to say the least, remarkable, adds Dr. Boyd. The patient was sure that a new and wonderful drug had been injected.

tion will be no test of its value, and handing it over to unscientific persons will certainly end in disaster.