Mind and body; hypnotism and suggestion applied in therapeutics and education

Front matter

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Preface

The influence of the mind over the body has long been recognized, and as an old writer said : "It is the mynd that makes good or ill, that maketh wretch or happie." Now and then, through the centuries, a favored mortal has caught a glimpse of the great truths of suggestion, in psychic healing and education, but it has remained for the investigators of the closing years of the nineteenth century to fully appreciate and systematize them.

Suggestion is such an important factor in medicine and education that none can afford to neglect it.

Many have come to me for instruction in suggestive therapeutics and many others have written to enquire about it. I have been asked to recommend a suitable text-book, I could not, there is none. This little volume has been written to meet these demands for a simple statement of the fundamental elements of the subject. Whether it is a success or not others must decide. It is at least sent forth in good faith.

An attempt has been made, in these pages, to plainly set forth the facts, and illustrate rather than try to explain them by citing instances, which have been observed in a personal experience with suggestion in a general practice of medicine in which there has been opportunity for much use of it.

Nothing has been kept back, for it seems plain that the truth and the whole truth should

PREFACE.

be told. Suggestive therapeutics has too long been hindered in its adoption by the medical profession by the mystery which has surrounded the subject. Alarmists will say that it is putting a dangerous instrument into the hands of the laity, that the use of such means should be restricted to the medical profession and that it invites a criminal use of hypnotism. These things need disturb no one. Ignorance is the most dangerous thing in the world, and it is no exception in this case.

It is well known that most of the harm that has been done by the use of hypnotism has resulted from its use by ignorant experimenters. This book will make the subject so simple and plain that none need do harm with it. Moreover, when the subject is well understood there will be little danger of its being put to criminal use.

It is believed that the book will be helpful to physicians in the practice of medicine ; to teachers in all grades of educational work, and to parents in the training of their children.

An exhaustive discussion has not been attempted ; it has seemed better to point out the way and encourage study, allowing each one to make a personal adjustment to his own needs.

A. C. H.

Chicago, Illinois, April, 1899.

6UZUA

Chapter I. The Antecedents Of Hypnotism

Traditional influence — Historical values — No system until the end of the middle ages — The birth of Hypnotism — The fantastic philosophies of the time — Friedrich Anton Mesmer — Source of his theories — Proof of Mesmer's originality — He applies his theories and cures diseases — His departure from Vienna — Mesmer becomes popular in Paris — The celebrated baquet — Fantastic fairy tales discounted — Mesmer initiates a crisis — Mesmer's fancy costume — The padded room — Mesmer's fame eclipsed — The ban of the government — In Benjamin Franklin's garden — The commissioners take treatments — Adverse reports from the Faculty and Academy — Discoveries and fallacies of a Marquis — Verbal suggestions — The triumph of fallacy over fact — Pititin's discovery — Abbe Favia's magic — The cause of somnambulism recognized — A naturalist's contribution to the subject — From the baquet to the hospital — Report of another high commission — Academic disfavor — A rechristening — The close of the history of the wonders of animal magnetism.

Chapter II. /£/ The Development Of Hypnotism

Braid renames mesmerism — Braid's experiments in hypnotism — Braid and phreno-hypnotism — The British Association refuses to consider hypnotism — Hypnotism as an anaesthetic — Value of Braid's researches — Hypnotism in the United States — Grimes and Electro-Biology — Methods of application —

Vlll CONTENTS.

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Braidism becomes popular in England — "Dr. Philips" makes exhibitions in Europe — Azam and Broca make experiments in Paris — Hypnotism recognized by the Academy of Sciences — Distinguished men study it— Liebault writes a book — He reduces suggestion to a system — Charcot uses Hypnotism in Salpetriere — His methods — The School of Salpetriere — The School of Nancy — Liebault's clinic — Why the Nancy School is preferable — The International Congress for the study of Hypnotism at Paris, 1889 — The importance of Hypnotism in its various aspects — The Three Schools of Hypnotism at the present.

Chapter III. I The Methods Of Hypnotizing

The various theories that have been held — The several methods stated — Suggestion as a factor — Hypnosis a psychic state — Preparation of the subject — The operator's personal influence — Illustrative experiments — Fear and resistance — Verbal suggestion — Fixed gaze — The process explained — The combined method illustrated — Cooperation necessary — He does not wish to do it — Need of individualizing subjects — Some unusual methods — A case in point — From natural sleep to hypnosis — Importance of this method illustrated — Instantaneous methods of hypnotizing — Induction of somnambulism — He wanted "to hear music" — It is the expected that happens — Hypnotizing against the subject's will — Hypnotizing a subject without his knowledge — Who is hypnotizable? — Weak versus strong minds — Methods of dehypnotization — A student's predicament — Unintentional suggestions — The hypnotee is never unconscious — Special directions — Points that should be emphasized.

Chapter IV. Q The Phenomena Of Hypnosis

Hypnosis denned — Relation to natural sleep — Classification of states and stages — Light and profound

CONTENTS. IX

hypnoses — Illustrative instances — Phenomena of hypnosis — Suggestibility— Inhibited and continued movements — Amnesia — Double consciousness- Hypnosis a state of increased suggestibility — Its effects upon memory — Examples — Restoring memories — Plays forgotten music — A false memory may be induced — Suggestions by signs — Telepathy — Acuteness of senses — Symptoms peculiar to hypnosis — Lethargy — Catalepsy — Functional changes by suggestion — The classical phenomena — Effects upon the special senses — Post-hypnotic suggestions — Most favorable conditions for them — Renewed states of hypnosis — Like the irresistible impulses in the insane — Illustrative experiments — Post-hypnotic amnesia — An example — Hallucinations and sense delusions — Instances — Emotions affected — Change of personality — Unilateral hypnosis — Facial expressions — Experiments easily made.

CHAPTER V. I tff THE THEORY OF SUGGESTION

The importance of the subject — Psychic power — Mental medicine — The various systems of the same — Christian Science — Mind Cure — Faith Cure — Spirit Cure — Mesmerism — Suggestive therapeutics — The underlying law — A question of psychology — Dual nature of mind — Consciousness — An illustration — What the physiologists claim — Proofs of double consciousness — In the waking state — Dream-consciousness — Induced subconscious states — Several classical cases — Pathologic double personality — The amenability of the mind to suggestion — "Playing a trick" — Manner of increasing suggestibility — The subconscious mind suggestible — The functions, sensations and states controlled by the subconscious mind — Power of mind over the body — The law of suggestion — An illustration of the same — The Great Physician — The value of faith — The necessary conclusion.

CONTENTS.

Chapter VI. Suggestion In The Waking State

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The sphere it occupies — Three methods of application — Discussion based upon personal experience — Psychic healing — Two important laws — Credulity — Tendency of the expected to happen — Hypnotism, an illustration — Morphine habit, an illustration — Drug action — A story, or a joke, which? — Value of diagnosis — What the journals say — Drugs needful — A surgeon's testimony — Diseases caused by suggestion — Nervous shocks — An extreme case — Suggestive therapeutics — Power long used — Confidence in the physician — Unconscious use of psychic forces — Glimpses of a great truth — Intelligent application — Laity and mental medicine — No fixed rules in psychic treatment — The bondage of custom — Hope and happiness are helpful — Methods found useful — A remarkable case — A little encouragement — Nervous prostration — Grief kills, joy cures! — The direct method — Value of repetition — A young doctor's case — Convinced by a trial of it — Treatment be suited to the individual.

Chapter VII. / U J Treatment In Natural Sleep

Novelties in suggestive therapeutics — Sleep defined — Duality of mind — Sleep and hypnosis — Dreams and the phenomena of sleep — Dreams influence waking life — Cured by a night vision — Sleeping in the temples — Attention or rapport — From natural to induced sleep — The young lady who snored — Importance of suggestion in natural sleep — An illustrative case — A nurse's case — A patient who was caught napping — A wife cures her husband of alcoholism — Illustrated in cases of restlessness and troubled dreams — Treatment in sleep and hypnosis identical — A series of remarkable changes — Autosuggestions cause disease — How to treat one's self — Sleep not a state of unconsciousness — Auto-sug-

CONTENTS. XI

gestion and dreams — The theory of auto-suggestion — A friend who cures himself — Limitations of autosuggestion.

Chapter VIII. |^| Clinical Hypnotism

The value of hypnotism in medicine — Hypnotism in general practice — The mind no mean power. "Imaginary diseases" — Hysteria and suggestion — A case in point — Persons dominated by ideas — Fear of disease — Reflex nervous diseases — Muscular spasm — Hiccoughing — The advantage of psychic treatment — Not a last hope — Alleviation of pain in neuralgia — Nervous debility following evil habit — Insomnia and restlessness yield to hypnotic suggestion — Reflex gastro-intestinal ailments — A young man unintentionally made ill — Constipation speedily relieved — Many chronic diseases simply habits — Dipsomania cured — A relapse — Are cures by suggestion permanent? — Cooperation of a third party — The tobacco habit — Keep the mind occupied — A faithful friend — Masturbation successfully treated — Results in acute diseases illustrated — Rheumatism and suggestion — Habits of childhood — Diseases of women — Obstetrics — Surgery — Hypnotism and anaesthesia — Tooth extraction — Simple fractures — Dislocation — Major operations — A curettement after abortion — Unprejudiced persons — Disappointments.

CHAPTER IX. f$*

SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION.

Importance of education — Heredity as a factor in education — Environment as a factor — The child a piece of wax — Good and great men — Impressions or suggestions — The senses are so many open mouths — Not a new thing in education — Effect of suggestions upon children — Verbal suggestions not all — Children imitators — Intelligent suggestions — Meth-

Xll CONTENTS.

ods of application — Suggestions made in the waking state — Natural ability — Likes and dislikes — Two laws, credulity and expectancy — A little miss and algebra — Education during natural sleep — Some methods — Tried upon a boy — Hypnotism in education — Vicious children — Faculties of the mind profoundly affected — Memorizing — Self-confidence cultivated — Learning to swim — The lady and the bicycle — Use and experience necessary to success — Self-culture and auto-suggestion — "Not the man I married" — Owes his business success to self-suggestion — An example — Go and do likewise.

Chapter X. /$! Dangers In The Use Of Suggestion

The question — The newspaper press — The enthusiasts — The truth — The theory of psychic healine — The law of suggestion — Dangers in its use — Treatments in the waking state — Suggestibility — Ignorance of the force used— Unwise and hurtful suggestions — Made insane by bungling treatment — The fallacious doctrine of a force from without. Constant suggestion makes an impression — Ignorance of the constitution and diseases of the body — Harold Fredric's case — The victims — Sins of omission — "Power to go forth as healers and teachers" — Why do I insist?— Death of Mrs. J. W. Eller— Fanatical parents — Treatments in sleep — Its merits stated — Sleep and hypnosis — Suggestibility increased directly as the depths of hypnosis — Dangers urged are overstated — Wholly evil or entirely beneficial — Three sources of danger — The methods used — Lack of comprehension of the law of suggestion — Hypnotic sleep not dangerous per se— Fears entertained — The law uniform in its operations — The one hundredth time hypnotized — Perversion of the idea of truth — Conflicting suggestions — Dangers in stage exhibitions — Dehypnotizing — Exciting suggestions — Suggestion not a panacea — An illustration — Ignorance and neglect — Erroneous popular notions — Fixed convictions antagonized — Suggestions in harmony with truth.

CONTENTS. Xlll

CHAPTER XL / . / /

CRIMINAL SUGGESTION.

The charge — Only legitimate uses concern us — Popular opinion — Professional opinion — Extremists — An intermediate position the true one — A just statement of the facts — The nature of the case peculiar — Suggestion a universal law — Suggestibility is increased by hypnotism — Difficult to make experiments — Criminal suggestion possible — Can take advantage of the subject — Crimes have been committed — An instance — Subject not necessarily a criminal — Signing valuable papers — A profound hypnosis in a colored girl — Inducing subjects to commit crime — Fixed moral convictions or conscience — The law of self-preservation — Origin of auto-suggestions — The doubting student convinced — A second test — My friend's experiment — A black eye and a bloody nose — Manner of making suggestions — Perversion of conscience by suggestions — Legal status of the subject of hypnotism and crime — Four conclusions — The facts stated.

Chapter I. The Antecedents Of Hypnotism

Traditional influence — Historical values — No system until the end of the middle ages — The birth of Hypnotism — The fantastic philosophies of the time — Friedrich Anton Mesmer — Source of his theories — Proof of Mesmer's originality — He applies his theories and cures diseases — His departure from Vienna — Mesmer becomes popular in Paris — The celebrated baquet — Fantastic fairy tales discounted — Mesmer initiates a crisis — Mesmer's fancy costume — The padded room — Mesmer's fame eclipsed — The ban of the government — In Benjamin Franklin's garden — The commissioners take treatments — Adverse reports from the Faculty and Academy — Discoveries and fallacies of a Marquis — Verbal suggestions — The triumph of fallacy OA^er fact — Pititin's discovery — Abbe Favia's magic — The cause of somnambulism recognized — A naturalist's contribution to the subject — From the baquet to the hospital — Report of another high commission — Academic disfavor — A rechristening — The close of the history of the wonders of animal magnetism.

Hypnotism, like many persons, is unfortunate in its antecedents and early associations, and has been greatly hindered and handicapped in its evolution by these influences. Early in its history it was mixed up with all sorts of mys-

2 17 terious and extravagant notions, and it has been difficult for it to free itself from this ancient rubbish and the reputation resulting from these associations. But now that the searchlight of modern science has been turned upon it and it has been taken up by the scientific members of the medical profession it is fast finding its proper place and its legitimate use in the realm of clinical medicine.

In order to find the earliest use of the forces upon which suggestive hypnotism depends it would be necessary to go back to the beginning of the history of the race, for from that early time it has been known that one person can influence another person at will under certain conditions by the exercise of certain powers. We find records in the earliest histories of peculiar phenomena that can be none other than hypnotic conditions and states. Examples of these are the crystal gazing and divination in Egypt and elsewhere ; the wonders performed by the Caldeans and Persians; the production of trances by the Indian fakirs and yogis; tne induction of deep sleep m the shades of the temples, by the Greek and Roman priests, in which the sleeper often had prophetic dreams ; the imposition of hands for the relief of pain or cure of disease practiced by the Jewish prophets and early Christians; many religious rites in all ages which produced an autohypnosis in the worshiper, and so on, to the end of a long list.

And yet, these are but isolated cases in which no system appears; indeed, no system appeared until the end of the middle ages. This system, set forth by Paracelsus (1530), was based upon the doctrine of the influence of the stars upon mankind, especially upon mankind's diseases, put forth by the believers in astrology. Out of this doctrine the belief gradually developed that not only did the stars influence men, but men also mutually influenced each other for good or for evil.

For our present purpose it is not necessary to turn back farther than to the middle of the eighteenth century to find the antecedents of modern hypnotism. It had its birth as a curative system at a time when the world was full of all sorts of fantastic and foolish philosophies and pseudo-scientific schemes for short-cut roads to health, wealth, knowledge and immortality. Swedenborg had received inspired revelations and had developed his theosophic cult ; Schrepfer had introduced his impositions upon the world in connection with the masonic mysteries ; Cagliostro had demanded attention to his extravagant claims of supernatural power and brazen impostures ; the priest and exercist, Gassner, had startled the world by his marvelous power as a healer, and finally Mesmer, the founder of animal magnetism, and, through it, of hypnotism, appeared with his crude notions of a universal fluid and, through this, of the influence of the planets in the cure of disease.

Frederick Anton Mesmer was born at Iznang, on the Lake of Constance, May 23d, 1734. His parents wanted to educate him for the church, but he turned from the study of theology to that of law, and, after another change, finally took up the study of medicine. He graduated as a physician from the University of Vienna in 1766. The subject of his graduating thesis was "The Influence of the Planets in the Cure of Disease." In this thesis he outlined his theories and discussed animal magnetism as a "quality of animal bodies rendering them susceptible to the influences of heaven and earth." He likened the action involved to that of the moon upon the ebb and flow of the tide, and sought to explain the fluctuations and periodicities of diseases by this analopy.

It is certain that Mesmer obtained many of his ideas and theories from the proscribed writings of the previous century. Paracelsus and many of his immediate followers (Van Helmont, Maxwell, Glocenius, Kircher and Santanelli) wrote voluminous books filled with unproved theories and unprofitable arguments. They had much to say of the use of the magnet, believing that in it they could recognize the properties of a universal principle by which all natural phenomena might be explained. Mesrner drew heavily from these writings undoubtedly, but he showed his originality in making practical application of the data obtained by applying them, by means of contact and passes, in the cure of the sick. So that while the foundation of animal magnetism had been laid by others, it was systematized and brought into universal notice by Mesmer.

He practiced his method of cure in Vienna, with some success, for a decade. At first he made great use of the magnet, but gradually he gave it up, having found that he could produce the same effects with his hands or with instruments he had magnetized by handling. He distinguished animal magnetism from the magnetism of metals, and insisted that it was the former which was useful and by means of which persons could influence each other. In 1775 he sent out a circular letter, addressed to the several academies, outlining his theories. To this he received but a single reply, and that unfavorable.

The cure of an important personage, a protege of Maria Theresa, involved him in a disputation with the court physicians, which finally necessitated his departure from Vienna, in 1778. From Vienna he went to Paris, where he soon became very popular. Here he expounded his theory of the magnetic fluid, and cured the sick and published a paper announcing to the world the discovery of a principle capable of curing all diseases. He reduced his theory of cure to a series of twenty-seven "propositions," or, more exactly, assertions. These contained little more than his vague notions of magnetic medicine. Nevertheless, he made many converts from the educated classes, among whom were M. Deslon, a member of the medical faculty, and M. de Puysegur. Deslon was very enthusiastic, and presented and defended animal magnetism before the faculty, claiming that it was "the most important discovery at which the human mind had ever marveled." However, the faculty voted to reject the propositions and also ejected Deslon from his seat in their body.

Despite this opposition Mesmer's popularity increased, and the number of his patients was immense. All Paris wanted to be magnetized. When the number of patients became so great that Mesmer was unable to treat them personally he employed, first, a valet toucher, and imparted his curative influence to various inanimate objects, wood, glass, iron and water, and then, finally, devised his celebrated baquet. He describes his baquet himself, as follows : "A small open vessel (tub) on a three-legged support, from which emerged some bent iron rods, the points of which could be easily applied to the outer parts of the body, such as the head, breast, stomach, etc." The oaken tub contained broken glass and bottles, arranged with their necks toward the center, between which the iron rods passed on their way out through the cover, and the tub was nearly rilled with water. The baquet and other paraphernalia supposedly served to concentrate and convey the healing fluid proceeding so abundantly from Mesmer's body.

The description of the scenes enacted about this famous baquet would discount the most fantastic fairy tales ever written. An eye-witness has described the crises that attended the treatments in that dimly lit room — with the odor of insense ; the mellow tones of an organ ; the hushed silence, the air of mystery, and the anxious expectancy — as Mesner, dressed in a robe of lilac silk, wand in hand, to initiate the crisis, entered and walked up and down among the excited crowd, together with Deslon and his associates — in the following sentences :

"Some patients experienced pain and fever ; others fell into severe and unusual convulsions, frequently lasting for three hours ; others became faint and dazed, and but few remained unaffected. There was manifested the most violent involuntary contortions of the limbs ; partial suffocation, heaving of the abdomen ; wild glances were observed ; one patient utters piercing cries, another has fits of laughter, while a third bursts into tears." This violent condition was technically called a crisis. "It deprived the patient of all consciousness, so that none could at all remember what had been felt, heard, or done while in this condition ; and yet they were so sensitive that one could not come in contact with them, not even touch the chair upon which they sat, without causing fright and convulsions which only the master could pacify."

They had a veritable pandemonium and one cannot escape the conclusion, as he reads the description of the spread of the nervous disorder by contagion, that suggestion and hysterical impressibility were the chief factors in their production. Rooms had to be prepared — thoroughly padded — for the reception of those who were likely to injure themselves in their convulsive seizures. The patients became less sensitive to the magnetic fluid as they approached a cure, and when well were supposed to be unaffected by it.

However, Mesmer's fame was not to last long in Paris, for when, at Deslon's invitation, an examination of his theories and methods was made by a committee from the Faculty of Medicine he was condemned by the hostile committee and threatened with the penalty of having his name removed from the licensed physicians if he did not amend his ways. He left Paris in consequence of this, although the government offered him a life pension of 20,000 francs per annum if he

THE ANTECEDENTS OP HYPNOTISM. 25

would remain. His absence was short, however, for his disciples, knowing his love of gold, raised a fund of 10,000 louis, and with this induced him to return and give them a course of lectures. This he did, but his popularity was gone, and his course of lectures proved unsatisfactory. His followers charged him with unfairness, claiming that after taking their money he had failed to divulge to them his secrets. This was not true, as we know now, for he told them all he knew of the subject, the difficulty lying in the fact that he did not understand it himself. One of the dissatisfied explained the situation in the following remark : "Those who know the secret are more doubtful than those who are ignorant of it." In 1784 the government nominated a commission to inquire into magnetism. The commission was made up of members from both the Faculty of Medicine and the Academy of Sciences, with Bailly, the noted astronomer, as the reporter, and our Benjamin Franklin, who had lately discovered the lightning conductor, as one of its members. Another commission composed of members of the Royal Society of Medicine was also appointed and charged to make a separate report upon the same subject. Deslon proposed to the commissions that he would demonstrate the existence of the magnetic fluid by cures that he would make in their presence. This was not satisfactory to them; they wanted first to observe "the instantaneous effects of the fluid on the animal body, while depriving these effects of all the illusions which might be allied with them, and ascertaining that they could be due to no other cause than animal magnetism."

After putting themselves under treatment once a week for a few weeks without effects, the commissioners occupied themselves in observing the effects upon the patients. They observed that no results followed unless they were aware that they were being treated, and that there was a wide difference in cases treated in private from those treated in public, the effect of the magnetizing being much less in private cases. A sensitive subject was blindfolded and then informed she was being magnetized, when she immediately experienced the usual results, but when she was magnetized without being told she experienced nothing. A tree, in Franklin's garden, was magnetized, and a subject without knowing the conditions of the experiment embraced that and four other trees, and at each one exhibited the usual phenomena. Thus the commission conducted a large number of careful experiments, and concluded that the results were due to contact, nervous irritation and imagination. They reported in part:

"The commissioners have ascertained that the animal magnetic fluid is not perceptible by any of the senses; that it has no action, either on themselves or on patients subjected to it. They are convinced that pressure and contact effect changes which are rarely favorable to the animal system, and which injuriously affect the imagination. Finally, they have demonstrated by decisive experiments that imagination apart from magnetism produces convulsions, and that magnetism without imagination produces nothing."

There was at the same time a secret report presented setting forth the dangers to morality attending these practices. The severity of the crises in all cases and the imperfect control of the subjects greatly prejudiced the members of the two commissions against mesmerism, as it was then called. So it is not surprising that the royal commission rendered a similar report five days later.

These adverse reports had the effect of ending Mesmer's career in Paris, other events also contributing to that result. Comedies ridiculing his methods and procedures were produced at the various theaters. His adherents were still dissatisfied, and at this time were greatly alarmed by several deaths at the baquet. His enemies and the press of the day used these things against him. He was defeated but not conquered, as is well shown in a letter which he wrote to Franklin. It closed as follows :

"I am like you, sir, one of those whom one cannot oppress without danger, one of those men who, because they have done great things, dispose of insult as powerful men dispose of authority. I have the world as my judge, and if the world can forget the good I have done, and the present good I wish to do, I have posterity as my avenger."

In retirement, in a little town near the Lake of Constance, Mesmer lived the balance of his life, performing cures among the villagers and ever complaining of the world's ingratitude. He never changed his theories of the animal magnetic fluid. And while he used various methods of application at different stages of his practice they were all based upon the same theory. He died at Morsburg, in Switzerland, March 5, 1815, and still lies buried there.

Scon after Mesmer left Paris (1784), the Marquis de Puysegur made some remarkable discoveries. At the time he was living in retirement on his estate, near Scissons, and employed his leisure in magnetizing peasants after the manner of the master. In one of these subjects he observed the production of an entirely new phenomenon. It happened in this manner: One of his servants, a peasant, Victor by name, twenty-three years old, lay sick of inflammation of the lungs. After he had been sick four days the Marquis undertook to cure him by his favorite method. When magnetized, Victor passed into a peaceful sleep, all of the convulsive symptoms of the usual crisis being absent. This alone was surprising to Puysegur, but when Victor spoke aloud of his business he knew he had found something new. It was easy to change Victor's thoughts in any direction, to inspire him with cheerful ideas, keep him happy, make him imagine he was firing at a mark or attending a village festival ; sad ideas were also inspired and 'he was made unhappy and wept.