Hypnotic and post-hypnotic appreciation of time : secondary and muliplex personalities / by J. Milne Bramwell.

  • John Milne Bramwell
Date:
1900
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Hypnotic and post-hypnotic appreciation of time : secondary and muliplex personalities / by J. Milne Bramwell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    I succeeded in inducing fairly deep hypnosis at the first attempt; and this was repeated on September 4, 5, and 6, when the tremor almost entirely disappeared. From then to October 30 she was hypnotised on seven occasions. Bes. : No tremor or other morbid symptoms. Bowels regular. Last period free from pain. Fourteen pounds gained in weight since beginning of treat- ment. No abnormal colour perceptions. Returned to work. Remarks.—Hypnosis became more profound each time it was induced, and at the seventh seance Miss A. reached the stage of somnambulism, i.e., she was unable in the normal state to recall the events of hypnotic life. From this date she could at once be made analgesic or anaesthetic by suggestion; touching the cornea or tickling the back of the throat with a feather produced no reflex, and the passing of a needle deeply into the flesh was unattended by pain. During treatment suggestions had been made fixing the hour at which Miss A. was to fall asleep at night and the moment at which she was to wake in the morning. As these were remark- ably successful, it occurred to me that she might prove a good subject for experiments similar to those of Delboeuf. Miss A. was an intelligent girl who had received an ordinary School- board education, and her arithmetical powers were in keeping with this ; she could do ordinary sums in multiplication and sub- traction with the aid of a pencil and paper, but failed, unless they were extremely simple, to solve them mentally. Notwith- standing this, she asserted that she had been the best in her class at mental arithmetic. She possessed no particular aptitude for appreciating the passage of time. Exp. 1—Nov. 5, 1895 ; time 4 p.m. Suggestion given during hypnosis : At the expiration of 5 h. and 20 m. Miss A. was to make a cross on a piece of paper, and write down the time she believed it to be without looking at clock or watch.—Bes.: The suggestion was carried out the minute it fell due. Bemarlcs : On this occasion'I did not say anything to Miss A. about the experiment, either before or after hypnosis, and, being a somnam- bule, she retained in her waking consciousness no recollection of the suggestion. I told her mother its nature, but not the time at which it should be fulfilled. At 9.15 the same evening her mother noticed that Miss A. was restless, and asked her what was the matter. She replied, I feel I must do something, but cannot tell what. At 9.20 p.m. she rapidly made a cross with a pencil and wrote 20 minutes past 9 on a piece of paper, at the same time saying, It's all silliness. There was no clock in the