Hypnotism: Its History, Practice and Theory

 

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used for immoral purposes. But Schrenck-Notzing came to the conclusion that it was a case of retro-active falsification of the memory, or perhaps even of conscious simulation. Certainly we must exercise great care before assuming that there is conscious lying on the part of the accuser in such a case. The confused notions of hypnosis and suggestion that are still so prevalent make it quite possible for a woman to mistake intense sexual excitement for hypnosis, and this appears all the more likely when we come to consider that sexual excitement, when artificially aroused, renders a girl quite as incapable of offering resistance as hypnosis or suggestion. Of course, from the human point of view we may be charitably inclined in such cases, but as experts we must rigidly distinguish between them and hypnoses. Czynski's case, tried at Munich in December 5894, belongs here. Czynski, who had studied hypnosis and animal magnetism, made the acquaintance of Baroness X. He was charged with seducing her by means of post-hypnotic suggestion. This was followed by a sham marriage ceremony performed by one of his acquaintances, a man named Wartalsky. The jury acquitted Czynski of having committed an offence against morality, but he was condemned to three years' imprisonment for his con-duct in respect of the mock marriage. The opinions expressed by the experts engaged in the case were somewhat at variance. Grashey took up the standpoint that the baroness's love was not normal, but hypnotic; her love was aroused by Czynski's declaration of love, which he made while she was in hypnosis. Although Schrenck-Notzing and Preyer expressed the same view, I think that Hirt was right in ascribing very little im-

THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF HYPNOTISM. 407
portance to hypnosis in this case. To my mind the most probable explanation is that the baroness did fall in love with Czynski, and that the question of hypnosis was only introduced into the case later on when it became known that the accused had devoted much time to the study of that subject. He may possibly have made use of post-hypnotic suggestion; but I do not think that was necessary, considering the terms on which the parties stood. But attention must certainly be called to the dangers of exaggeration where hypnosis is concerned, and this view is in nowise affected by the fact that the relatives of a girl who has been criminally assaulted, and very often the girl herself, are firmly convinced that she was hypnotized. Just as some strong perfume used to be considered the over-powering agent in cases of criminal assault in the train, so nowadays hypnosis is unjustly blamed; though we must at once admit that such assaults may be, and frequently have been, made during hypnosis. All I want to warn against is the tendency to lend too ready an ear to such reports.
When the facts of any such case are clear, the legal decision to be arrived

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