Hypnotism

Foster's

Dr. I. Sossnitz of New York writes: 'Hypnotism is certainly not a cure for any disease. On the contrary, it is harmful in its final effect. The eminent French physician, Charcot, discarded it after a thorough trial, and many other prominent physicians have given it up as harmful. The mysterious and fascinating methods involved in hypnotism, and, above all, the lack of understanding of the fundamental points of hypnotism, are responsi ble for the successful spreading of this mis leading and dangerous ' A °modern instance" should find place here, and such an instance is recorded in the files of Chicago newspapers of June 1906. On the 22d of that month Richard G. Ivens, of Chi cago, a peaceful, temperate, well-behaved young man of 24, of rather weak will hut good character, was hung, having been found guilty by a jury "of very moderate intelligence' of assault and murder of a young woman. His lawyer presented a good alibi, but the evidence against him was a confession twice obtained by the police under °third degree' methods, and repeated somewhat differently by him in court, but which he at "all other times' repu diated,. saying he was innocent. J. Sanderson Christisen, a reporter assigned to the case, who knew something of hypnotism, was so con vinced that Ivens was hypnotized on the occa sions of the confession and corroboration and wholly innocent of the crime, that he repub lished the entire case in pamphlet form and sent copies to leading psychologists. On the statements of this pamphlet, Profs. William James and Hugo Mfinsterberg of Harvard, Dr. Max Meyer of the University of Missouri, Dr. Herbert A. Parkyn of the Chicago School of Psychology, Dr. Joseph Jastrow of the Uni versity of Wisconsin and others expressed their belief, some of them quite emphatically, that Ivens confession was not true, and bore every evidence of being produced by hypnosis.

The foregoing citations are made to em phasize the ample scope of the evidence that hypnotism, when complete, robs the subject or victim of his will power, of his self-control and substitutes the control of another person. The honest physician hypnotist, who still believes in hypnotism as a therapeutic agent, has to face these facts: All authorities agree that hypnotism is an artificiannatural or alt normal sleep; they all agree that the victim is robbed of or loses his will power for the time; they all agree that his bodily functions respond to the will of his hypnotist. The victim is robbed of his will just as surely as if he were doped with whisky or morphine, but in addi tion the robber obtains control of his will. But nature gives an individual power through his will to control his own functions, obviously for the purpose that he and he alone may con- , trol them and be responsible; and so long as he exercises his will actively he sets up a barrier that no hypnotist can break down. This is why the hypnotist tells his subjects they must blank their minds and be passive.

These conclusions point to another interest ing scientific fact which is making its impress on the scientific world. Mediumship has puzzled the leading scientists for over 50 , years. They set out through the Psychical Re search Society to prove mediumship and spirit-1 ualism a sham, and in the end Prof. Oliver , Lodge, one of England's leading scientists, ad mits he is convinced of the reality of these things, and asserts that he has communicated with the spirits of the dead. Lombroso, Flam marion, Stead, Nordau and a host of others now admit Dr. J. M. Peebles' contention that it is possible to communicate with dis carnate intelligences. If this be true, the process must he in harmony with universal laws of nature. That there is such a process, and that it is based on the control of the magnetic element of one being by another, as in hypnotism, is now confidently urged by many. St ? Burrows, J.' F., 'Secrets of Stage Hypnotism' (London 1913) ; Corva, A., (Telefonia Umana) (Alessandria 1915); Telepathy, and Dreams' (UnpoP ular Review, Ncw York 1914) ; Moll, A., 'Hypnotism' Science Series,' Vol. IX, London 1913) ; Wilkinson, S., 'Recent Experience in Hypnotic Practice) (American Society for Psychical Research Proceedings, New York 1914) ; Willcox, W. H., 'Use and Abuse of Hypnotics' (British Medical Journal, London 1913).