第155章

The protrusion of the lips ( der prufende Zug ) which goes with all sorts of dubious and questioning states of mind is derived by Dr.Piderit from the tasting movement which we can see on any one's mouth when deciding whether a wine is good or not.

Loc.cit.§497.Why a dog's face-muscles are not more mobile than they are Mr.Spencer fails to explain, as also why different stimuli should innervate these small muscles in such different ways, if easy drainage be the only principle involved.Charles Bell accounted for the special part played by the facial muscles in expression by their being accessory muscles of respiration , governed by nerves whose origin is close to the respiratory centre in the medulla oblongata.

They are an adjuvant of voice , and like it their function is communication.

(See Bell's Anatomy of Expression, Appendix by Alexander Shaw.)

La Paura, Appendice, p.295.Classics in the History of Psychology -- James (1890) Chapter 27 The Principles of Psychology William James (1890) HYPNOTISM.MODES OF OPERATING, AND SUSCEPTIBILITY.

THE 'hypnotic,' 'mesmeric,' or 'magnetic' trance can be induced in various ways, each operator having his pet method.The simplest one is to leave the subject seated by himself, telling him that if he close his eyes and relax his muscles and, as far as possible, think of vacancy, in a few minutes he will 'go off.' On returning in ten minutes you may find him effectually hypnotized.Braid used to make his subjects look at a bright button held near their forehead until their eyes spontaneously closed.The older mesmerists made 'passes' in a downward direction over the face and body, but without contact.Stroking the skin of the head, face, arms and hands, especially that of the region round the brews and eyes, will have the same effect.

Staring into the eyes of the subject until the latter droop; making him listen to a watch's ticking; or simply making him close his eyes for a minute whilst you describe to him the feeling of falling into sleep, 'talk sleep' to him, are equally efficacious methods in the hands of some operators;

whilst with trained subjects any method whatever from which they have been led by previous suggestion to expect results will be successful. The touching of an object which they are told has been 'magnetized,'

the drinking of 'magnetized' water, the reception of a letter ordering them to sleep, etc., are means which have been frequently employed.Recently M.Liégeois has hypnotized some of his subjects at a distance of 1 ½ kilometres by giving them an intimation to that effect through a telephone.With some subjects, if you tell them in advance that at a certain hour of a certain day they will become entranced, the prophecy is fulfilled.Certain hysterical patients are immediately thrown into hypnotic catalepsy by any violent sensation, such as a blow on a gong or the flashing of an intense light in their eyes.Pressure on certain parts of the body (called zones hypnognes by M.Pitres) rapidly produces hypnotic sleep in some hysterics.These regions, which differ in different subjects, are oftenest found on the forehead and about the root of the thumbs.Finally, persons in ordinary sleep may be transferred into the hypnotic condition by verbal intimation or contact, performed so gently as not to wake them up.

Some operators appear to be more successful than others in getting control of their subjects.I am informed that Mr.Gurney (who made valuable contributions to the theory of hypnotism) was never able himself to hypnotize, and had to use for his observations the subjects of others.On the other hand, Liébault claims that he hypnotizes 92 per cent of all comers, and Wetterstrand in Stockholm says that amongst 718 persons there proved to be only 18 whom he failed to influence.Some of this disparity is unquestionably due to differences in the personal 'authority' of the operator, for the prime condition of success is that the subject should confidently expect to be entranced.Much also depends on the operator's tact in interpreting the physiognomy of his subjects, so as to give the right commands, and 'crowd it on' to the subject, at just the propitious moments.These conditions account for the fact that operators grow more successful the more they operate.Bernheim says that whoever does not hypnotize 80 per cent of the persons whom he tries has not yet learned to operate as he should.

Whether certain operators have over and above this a peculiar 'magnetic power' is a question which I leave at present undecided. Children under three or four, and insane persons, especially idiots, are unusually hard to hypnotize.This seems due to the impossibility of getting them to focus their attention continuously on the idea of the coming trance.All ages above infancy are probably equally hypotizable, as are all races and both sexes.A certain amount of mental training, sufficient to aid concentration of the attention, seems a favorable condition, and so does a certain momentary indifference or passivity as to the result.Native strength or weakness of 'will' have absolutely nothing to do with the matter.Frequent trances enormously increase the susceptibility of a subject, and many who resist at first succumb after several trials.Dr.Moll says he has more than once succeeded after forty fruitless attempts.Some experts are of the opinion that every one is hypnotizable essentially, the only difficulty being the more habitual presence in some individuals of hindering mental preoccupations, which, however, may suddenly at some moment be removed.