522 A. The artificial character of Charcot's "three stages " of hypnotism is well shown by the further development of one of his best known subjects in the hands of Dr. Jules Janet - brother of Professor Pierre Janet and nephew of Professor Paul Janet - as described in a paper contributed by him to the Revue Scientifique, May 19th, 1888, under the title "L'Hyst£rie et 1' Hypnotisme, d'apres la Théorie de la double Personnalite," which I summarise as follows: -

Blanche Wittmann is one of the best known personalities - or groups of personalities - in Paris. A hystero-epileptic of the most pronounced type, she has never been able for long together to meet the stresses of ordinary life. She has long been an inmate of the Salpêtrière; and has often been exhibited there as the type - I may almost say the prototype - of the celebrated "three stages" of lethargy, catalepsy, and somnambulism, of which she realised every characteristic detail with marvellous precision. Arrived at somnambulism, her state could be no further changed by the various means employed, - closing or opening the eyes, rubbing the top of the head, startling with lights or sounds, etc - and she was led back to waking life through the stages in inverse order.

In all her states she was without feeling of contact, feeling of position, or feeling of pain. When her eyes were closed (in the waking state) she could not stand upright, nor close her hands completely, nor hold a heavy object. She could not hear with the left ear, nor see colours with the left eye, whose visual field, moreover, was greatly restricted.

Such was her condition when she came under Dr. Dumontpallier's charge at another hospital, - the Hotel Dieu, - and was hypnotised by M. Jules Janet.

She passed as usual through the three "classical" stages. But M. Janet, instead of opening the subject's eyes in the lethargic stage - the regular method for inducing the cataleptic stage - continued to make passes, and presently found that she passed into an absolutely inert state, - "the deep state " of Gurney's experiments (see below, 522 B), in which no muscular contraction could be obtained by pressure, nor did opening of the eyes induce catalepsy. After some further passes the subject re-awakened into what seemed at first sight simply a more alert somnambulism than ever before.

But on examining this new condition it was found that Blanche Wittmann was now perfectly possessed of the senses of touch, - capable of perceiving contact, position, heat, and pain. She could now close her hands perfectly, and compress the dynamometer with normal power. She heard perfectly with her left ear, previously deaf, and saw normally with both eyes. It was no longer possible to inspire in her any hallucination.

In this second state, " Blanche 2" had a full remembrance of the life of "Blanche 1," while Blanche 1 knew nothing of Blanche 2. But when the subject was in her first or ordinary somnambulism, her memory extended over the fully-developed state of Blanche 2, so that we may consider the " three classical stages" as incomplete manifestations of Blanche 2, who had never till now been able to come fully to the front.

Furthermore, it was not difficult to show that Blanche 2 really existed throughout the whole life of Blanche 1. If colours were shown to Blanche I (with her right eye blinded) and she failed to distinguish them, Blanche 2 nevertheless saw them perfectly, with the same eye and at the same moment, and, when summoned, could describe what she had seen. Or if Blanche 1 were pinched or pricked, to demonstrate her insensibility, Blanche 2 felt everything, and, when summoned, began to complain. It is strange to reflect for how many years the dumbly-raging Blanche 2 has thus assisted at experiments to which Blanche 1 submitted with easy complaisance.

Blanche 2 could also remember what had happened during the chloroformed condition, and could recount ordinary dreams of which Blanche 1 had no knowledge.

On the whole, then, we may say that Blanche 2 represents, not, indeed, the complete personality, for that is never represented by any state of any of us, but at least a pretty complete group or co-ordination of the various elements which go to make up a normal human being. Blanche I, on the other hand, is scantily supplied with these elements; she has only just enough to get on with, namely, motility, speech, vision of one eye, and hearing of one ear. Blanche 2 adds to these vision of the other eye, hearing of the other ear, and general and muscular sensibility.

M. Janet tells me that he has kept Blanche Wittmann for months together in her second state, with much comfort to her; and that now, though he has ceased to attend her, he understands that her condition in the first state is much better than of old.