Hypnotism: Its History, Practice and Theory

 

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some other way, and has made him open his eyes, he can fix his own steadily on them, and thus induce the same phenomena. A variety of this fascination is to fix the eyes of the subject on some other object—for example, on the finger of the experimenter. In this case the fascinated person follows every movement made by the experimenter.

But imitation plays an important role in hypnosis, as well as fascination. This results from the fact that the sight of a movement arouses a much more vivid picture of it in the hypnotized person than does a mere command.

Verbal suggestion is also made easier by other gestures. In order to compel some one to kneel down, an energetic movement of the hand accompanying the verbal suggestion is very effective, as in the third experiment. With this fact is connected one of the phenomena which magnetizers are fond of demonstrating—namely, the drawing of the subject after the experimenter, who makes movements with his hand which show the subject that he is intended to approach. The experimenter can also repel the subject in the same way. This succeeds in particular by means of movements of the hand,


74 HYPNOTISM.

indicating that he is to go away. It is not at all necessary, in this case, that the subject should see the movements of the experimenter; it is sufficient that he should divine them either from a noise or a current of air; thus the hypnotic obeys the experimenter even when he has his back turned towards him. Upon suggestion also depend the attraction and repulsion of single limbs of the subject, which happen in the same way through the hypnotic's perception of the experimenter's gestures. Without uttering a word the experimenter can make the subject raise and drop his hand merely by gesticulating with his own; he can also obtain many effects by a glance only. It is not necessary to look steadily in the eyes of the hypnotic, as in fascination. The operator looks at the subject's leg—it at once becomes powerless to move. The hypnotic is going away—the experimenter suddenly looks at a spot on the floor, and he stands chained to the spot.

We all know the effect which may be produced by a look, even when the person looked at is not hypnotized. A tutor will look fixedly at a pupil whom he suspects of lying in the hope of producing an effect. The look with which a tamer of wild beasts fixes his animals may be included here, in spite of the many fabulous

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