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They are able by means of dancing and singing to throw themselves into a state
of ecstasy difficult to describe, in which their bodies seem to be insensible
even to severe wounds. They run pointed iron into their heads, eyes, necks,
and breasts, without injuring them-selves" (Hellwald). The same thing is
related of the Buddhist convents in Thibet (Hellwald, Gabriel Hue). It
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 43
has often been pointed out that the monotonous singing and uniform whirling
movements of the dervishes induce hypnosis in the performers. I have, however,
myself often watched the howling and dancing dervishes at Cairo and Constantinople
without being able to detect any indication of hypnosis.
I have hitherto only spoken of sense-stimuli among the physical methods. But
it must also be mentioned that the absence of these stimuli is likewise specified
as an expedient for hypnosigenesis. Jendraassik, of Buda-Pesth, expresses the
opinion that fixed attention is only effective because it causes fatigue of
the nerves of sight, and consequently produces insensibility to stimulation.
Striimpell observed a case in which a person fell asleep immediately on the
cessation of sense-stimulation. A case of Ballet's, in which sleep and suggestibility
were induced by closing the eyes and stopping the ears, probably belongs to
the domain of hypnosis induced by suggestion ; and I think that the same is
true of the method described by Hartenberg in Paris, in 1900, by means of which
hypnosis is supposed to be induced without suggestion being called intq play.
Hartenberg lets the patient be comfortably seated, and then applies one electrode
to his forehead and the other to his chest. The faradic current is then started,
but without including the patient in the circuit. The subject is then told to
take deep inspirations, and at the same time to concentrate his whole attention
on his breathing; as soon as he begins to blink the experimenter closes his
eyelids. All these details of the procedure—the enforced rest, relaxation
of the muscles, the closing of the eyes, the monotonous tapping of the induction
hammer, but more particularly the deep inspirations are intended to induce hypnotic
sleep without the aid of suggestion. As far as the deep inspirations are concerned,
Hartenberg considers that they set up a certain amount of hypera:mia of the
thoracic viscera with concomitant cerebral anaemia, which latter promotes the
onset of sleep. Although Hartenberg avoids using the words sleep and hypnosis,
the action of suggestion is not excluded from his procedure, as will be seen
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