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Pau, in 1904.
Under the title of La Societe d'Hypnologie et de Psychologie, a scientific society
was formed in 1889, in Paris, for the special cultivation of hypnotism; its
first president was Dumontpallier, a post now held by Jules Voisin. A similar
society has recently been founded in Moscow. The existence of other scientific
societies interested in hypnotism may be briefly mentioned.
Various journals are now devoted to hypnotism. While in France the Revue de
1'Hypnotisme, edited by Berillon, has been published for nineteen years, in
Germany a Zeitschrift fair Hypnotismus was founded in 1892, but ceased to appear
on the completion pf the tenth volume in 1902. Simultaneously with the demise
of the Zeitschrift, the journal fur Psychologie and Neurologie began to appear;
it is published by Forel and
30 HYPNOTISM.
Oskar Vogt, edited by Brodmann, and treats the domain of hypnotism from a broad
point of view. It embraces a wider field than the Zeitschrift, taking in those
special psychological questions which are of interest to the neuro-biologist.
Certainly a succession of interesting and valuable articles has appeared in
these periodicals. There have been, of course, other periodicals devoted to
hypnotism, but most of them have gone under after a brief existence. Another
French journal, the Annales de Psychiatrie, must here be mentioned. In Italy
we find Magnetismo e Ipnotismo, a journal edited by Olinto del Torto, which
was at the same time the organ of an Italian scientific society occupied with
the questions of animal magnetism and hypnosis. America also has produced numerous
periodicals dealing with hypnotism, but like many published in Europe, they
cannot be accredited with much scientific worth. When founding the Zeitschrift
frir Hypnotismus Sommer referred to the danger lest the connection between hypnosis
and psycho-pathology generally be lost sight of. The manner in which Vogt and
Berillon have edited, and continue to edit, their respective German and French
journals shows that this assertion is not well grounded.
Hypnotism has, moreover, been frequently made the study of medical students;
from 1888 to 1890 lectures were delivered about it in Berlin by the late Professor
Preyer, and in Freiburgin-Baden by Munsterberg. It was more frequently mentioned
in lectures on other subjects, as, for example, by Jolly in his clinical discourses
on psychiatrics. But as a rule hypnotism did not maintain a prominent position
in university lectures, any more than psychology, psycho-therapeutics, and medical
psychology in general. Hypnotism and suggestion were for the most part taught
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