523 B. Gurney's experiments, quoted above, on stages of memory in the hypnotic trance were several times repeated by Mrs. Sidgwick and Miss Johnson in the course of their experiments on thought-transference with hypnotised subjects at Brighton, the hypnotiser being again Mr. G. A. Smith. Miss Johnson informs me that it was generally found possible to obtain three stages; but the memories did not always remain distinct. Thus one subject who kept the recollections of the three stages distinct one day, when re-hypnotised on the next day, succeeded with some effort in remembering the topics belonging to all three stages of the day before, and these recollections persisted through the three stages induced on this day, although the fresh topics suggested for each of these stages remained distinct. This probably indicates that there is a stratum of consciousness in which all the recollections are retained.

The most interesting experiments, however, occurred with another subject, T., who on one occasion exhibited eight different stages with distinct memories.

It must be understood that the test of distinctness of these memories does not consist in each statement made to the subject being forgotten as each deeper stage of hypnosis (produced by downward passes) was reached, which might be due merely to a general forgetfulness or inattention, but in the spontaneous recrudescence of each memory in its corresponding stage when the operation was reversed and a lighter and lighter stage continually produced by upward passes.

The following account of the occasion referred to is written by Miss Johnson, from her notes taken at the time, July 9th, 1891. The only other persons present were Mrs. Sidgwick, Mr. Smith, and T.

T. was hypnotised by Mr. Smith, and told that Mrs. Sidgwick was going to talk to him, - Mr. Smith meanwhile, at the intervals between her statements, making passes over him - downwards or upwards, according to whether it was desired to make the hypnotic state more or less deep - but saying nothing.

Stage A. Mrs. Sidgwick told T. that the Hotel Métropole had been burnt down that afternoon; all the people had escaped, but great damage had been done.

[After downward passes] Stage B. T. told that the coach was upset coming into Brighton - the Comet - one or two people were rather hurt; the horses ran away, and turning round a corner too quickly upset the coach.

[After downward passes] Stage C. Told that the Emperor of Germany had to go back to Germany to-morrow, on account of the death of one of his relations.

[After downward passes] Stage D. T., in answer to a question whether he remembered anything, said he only remembered that Mr. Smith had said Mrs. Sidgwick was going to talk to him; he could not remember that she had said anything.

He was then told that there had been a railway accident on the Brighton line near Hayward's Heath - a bad accident - the train had run off the line. He remarked that it was probably a false report.

[After downward passes] Stage E. T. was told that the lights went out at the theatre last night and everything was left in darkness, but it only lasted for a few moments.

[After downward passes] Stage F. He was told that the key of the theatre door had been lost and no one could get in for a long time; the people were all kept waiting outside.

He seemed rather drowsy, expressed no interest in what he was told, and only spoke in answer to questions as briefly as possible. Mrs. Sidgwick asked him once or twice what she had been telling him; at last he said sleepily, "Key lost".

[After upward passes] Return of Stage E. In answer to the question what he had been told, he replied that the lights went out at the theatre.

[After downward passes] Stage F. In answer to the same question, replied that the key had been lost.

[After downward passes] Stage G. He was told that two goat carriages racing along the front had run into one another, and were smashed. He seemed still more drowsy, and could hardly be got by questions to repeat this story.

[After downward passes] Stage H. He was told that Mr. Smith had been playing a guitar and all the strings broke at once. He repeated this story after being asked what Mrs. Sidgwick had said, and even volunteered the remark that Mr. Smith could get fresh strings.

[After downward passes] Stage K. Mrs. Sidgwick asked several times, "Can you hear me?" T. at last said, "Yes." Mrs. Sidgwick asked, "Do you think Mr. Smith will ever get that put right?" No answer, though the question was repeated many times. At length she said, "Mr. Smith dropped his watch into the sea." No answer or remark could be elicited from T.

[After upward passes] Stage H. In answer to the question what Mr. Smith had better do, T. replied, "Strings, - I don't know anything about strings".

[After upward passes] Stage G. In answer to a similar vague question, he showed that he remembered about the goat carriages.

[After upward passes] Stage F. In answer to the question whether it was not funny, he replied, "What? the people standing outside and getting wet? No, that wasn't amusing".

[After upward passes] Stage E. He remarked, "Ask Mr. Smith who put the lights out - several fellows who were there never told me - funny thing." At this point he began to talk spontaneously in a lively way. (Mrs. Sidgwick notes: " I independently noted that it was at this stage he became comparatively lively, and I did not notice any special increase of liveliness afterwards.")

[After upward passes] Stage D. He said, " They'll have to pay a lot of money. But it was better than a bridge breaking down, or being in a tunnel".

[After upward passes] Stage C. T. remarked, " I suppose the Queen will be put out, but the papers say it's inconvenient to her his coming to England. You don't know who died ? "

[After upward passes] Stage B. He said, "It's a sharp turn round that corner, if you come down that hill. The horses got frightened at the corner, I suppose. Coaching must be very nice." Further spontaneous remarks of the same kind followed, and when Mrs. Sidgwick asked him what else they were talking about besides that coach, he only repeated the coach story in detail and said he knew of nothing else.

[After upward passes] Stage A. He said, "You'd think I might have heard of it - a fire at a large place like that".

After more upward passes T. awoke or very nearly awoke, opening his eyes. Mrs. Sidgwick asked him what they were talking about; he said he had an idea it was "Something about the Métropole; I was dreaming; I dreamt it was on fire or something".

He was rehypnotised almost at once; Mr. Smith made a good many downward passes, then woke him suddenly and asked if he could remember dreaming about anything. After making an effort to remember, he said he had a confused idea of Mr. Smith sitting in a fire, - "Mr. Smith sitting here - three of you sitting here, and something about a fire." All the experimenters thought that this referred to the last time he had been awake, not to what he had been told during the previous hypnosis.

Mrs. Sidgwick revised Miss Johnson's notes immediately after the sitting, and added the following note of her own: -

"The above notes give a brief account of T.'s answers, etc, the questions put by Mrs. Sidgwick being generally omitted; but on each occasion going up the scale, the subject was started by her after the passes with questions carefully selected so as not to hint what subject he was expected to speak about. Going down the scale, she first asked a question which he might have answered in connection with the subject of the previous stage, and asked him whether he remembered nothing, then told him the new story.

"In going up, he always remembered the subject appropriate to that stage at once, and without the effort that Whybrew [the hypnotic subject referred to in the first paragraph of this Appendix] seemed to have to bring to bear".