Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The problems of "psychic research". Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![the apin’OViil of witoli-hinMiino' by i)ioiis wortliios of two oontiiries ag'o, until it sliiill be genofally recognized that all this company of ‘‘snpernatnralists'’ are simply repeating in new costumes and with improved scenic elVects the tragic comedy of former times, the moral mission of science will not be accomi)lislied. The border-land of science of to day, thongh thus closely akin to that of for- mer days, ])resents one hopeful ditl’erence; enough of the spirit of true science has oozed over the boniulary to substitute, to some extent, deliniteness of statement and adherence to fact for extravagant speculation and obscuring irrelevancy. In the main, the problems of “psychic research” are capable of a scientilic state- ment, and in many cases of a scientific proof or refntal. It is often forgotten that the term “psychic research”is sim- ply a convenient and somewhat arbitrary mode of referring to a group of phenom- ena now under investigation; the term does not refer to a single kind of phenom- enon to bo proved or refuted by a single kind of evidence, as is often supposed, but includes several different problems, each of which is to be worked out on its own de- tailed evidence. For the present purpose these probleins niay be considered under three heads, which, though connected in several respects, are logically distinct: (I.) the study of the milder forms of abnormal mental states in normal or not markedly abnormal persons, including hypnotism with all its varieties; (II.) the exami- nation of alleged })hysical manifestations of supernatural agencies, such as are con- cerned in apparitions, haunted houses, “medimnistic phenomena,” theosophy, etc.; (III.) the examination of the evidence for the existence of new psychic agencies or new modes of working of known forces: here belong such questions as thought transferrence, “odic force,” faith-cure, and the like. I.—Here we are in compai’atively known regions; the experiences of dream life, the mental effects of drugs and gas- es, natural and diseased forms of men- tal idiosyncrasy, have impre.ssed man- kind fi'om remote times, and have been influential in shaping the beliefs and thought-habits of early man. After these states came to be I’egarded as a proper subject for scientific study, the discovery of a new method of inducing them was not in itself an im])i’ob;ibie oc- currence, The reasons why the i)rocesses of hypnotism, though announced a ceii- tiuy ago, were not scientifically acce])ted until within about the last decade, ai*e to bo found in the quackish methods of its first professors. ]\lesmer came forth with an extravagant “magnetic” theory, and olfered bottles of “inagnetized water” to the credulous and excitable Parisians as a universal ])anacea, while his follow- ers elaborated ridiculously minute direc- tions for applying the ])lanetic and tellu- ric fluid, and the rest of their self-invented paraphernalia.In 1842 Braid divested the subject of much of its mysteiy by showing that any violent stimulus was sufficient to induce the hypnotic .state, that the personality of the opei'ator was the most insignificant factor in the pi‘o- cess, and that a most important factor was the expectancy of the subject. Shortly after 1872, the study of the, phenomena as minor forms of nervous affections was taken up by professional neurologists in France, and since then a most valuable technical literature in French, German, Italian, and English has been contributed. Of the many important and remarkable facts thus brought to light it will be pos- sible to mention here onl} a few of the most essential. The state is induced by any sudden and unusual strain—staring at a bright button held clo.se to the eyes, strongly rubbing the space between the e.yebrows, and so on; it all depends upon the su.sceptibilitj’ of the subject, who can be trained to pass into the hypnotic state by almo.st any ma- nipulation. After the subject has been often hypnotized the expectation of the condition is sufficient to realize it; a mere command, or even the impression that a command has been given (when really nothing has been done), will at times be suflicient. Anybody can hyj)notize agood subject, and the personality of the opera- tor is simply effective in the fii'st induc- tions of the state; this means nothing more than that a determined, impressive Delcuzo, .a follower of Dtesmer, s.ays: “ One may magnetize ii pitclier of water in two or tlirec min- ute.^^, a glass of water in one minnte,” if clone “ with attention and a determinate will.” lie also tells ns that “ the mngnetizer who uses a wand oitght to have one of his own, and not lend it to any per- .«on, lest it should bo charged with different Iluids— a precaution more important th.an it is commonly thought to be.” Mesmer himself claimed to have magnetized the sun.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22468006_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
