It is generally held by those who believe in the suggestion theory that the various phenomena, such as echolalia, aphasia, imitation, etc., are the result of imitation aided by unconscious suggestionon the part of the operator. Indeed, the more enthusiastic adherents of the suggestion theory claim that there is no such thing as a trance-like state in which the patient is, for the time being, deprived of his will and is subject, as if he were a puppet, to outward suggestion. The trance is held to he only the result of a suggestion, and is not a necessary preliminary of the other states.

At present the suggestion theory is more generally supported than is the neurosis theory advanced by Charcot and his followers at SalpStri-ere. Still, it has by no means been proved that the latter are wrong in their assumption that there is a peculiar physiological condition commonly known as the hypnotic trance. So far as we know at present, the indications are that the results of suggestion are very unimportant unless the subject is in this trance-like state. Prof. James says that it is probable that we all pass through this state whenever we fall asleep (Drs. Moll, Bernheim, Lombroso, and other European observers are in accord with him). They believe that the usual relation between operator and subject may be described by saying that the former keeps the latter suspended between sleeping and waking by talking to him enough to keep his slumber from growing profound, and yet not in such a way as to awaken him. He, as do also Liegeois, Forel, Liebault, Charcot, and Binet, considers that hypnotism and natural sleep have many points in common.

Prof. James says that fixing the eyes and relaxing the muscles of the body produce the hypnotic state just as they facilitate the advent of sleep. He holds the suggestion theory to be correct, provided the trance state is granted as its pre-requisite.

I have made a careful analysis of the symptoms and sensations experienced by persons passing into, during, and while emerging from the hypnotic state. My own sensations have been stated elsewhere. From the sensations experienced by myself and those described to me by a number of persons, I think that the half-asleep conception of the hypnotic state formed by the gentlemen just quoted is wholly erroneous. I shall analyze these sensations a little later, and give in detail my reasons for venturing to differ from such eminent and learned minds.

Symptoms of the Trance. We will now consider a few of the most interesting of the symptoms commonly observed as accompanying the so-called hypnotic trance.

Loss of memory, or amnesia, accompanies the deeper stages of the hypnotic condition. Subjects who have been through a number of performances and have exhibited the liveliest emotion, upon coming out of the hypnotic state, remember nothing of what they have been doing. M. Delboef, reasoning that the probable cause of the forgetfulness was the disconnection between the trains of ideas while in the trance state and while out of it, found that if the patient were awakened during the performance of some act while still in the hypnotic condition, he remembered what had transpired during the trance. This is not by any means always the case, any more than that people always remember dreams when suddenly awakened from sleep.

Dr. Bernheim, endorsing as he does the suggestion theory for the explanation of the hypnotic phenomena, considers the cataleptic condition to be the result of suggestion. He states that although at first sight the cataleptic condition seems to be an abnormality, on reflection we see that in our every-day waking life, also, many acts are performed automatically and without any conscious act of will; for example, our circulation, respiration, or the movements of the alimentary canal. Speaking of the spinal reflex action, he says that an impression transmitted along a sensory nerve may be reflected through the gray horns of the cord, without traversing the brain, and that involuntary motion follows the unperceived impression or sensation. As an illustration of this he cites the case of adecapitated frog which, when an irritant, such as acetic acid, is applied to the skin, raises his leg to scratch the irritated place. But, owing to the fact that the frog is a cold-blooded animal, and that its cerebrum is less highly developed when compared with that of the higher orders of animals, the spinal cord and other nervous centres may exercise functions which are assigned in mammalia to the brain. Hence Dr. Bernheim's analogy does not seem to be very striking.

Neither is his instance of a man, who, while absorbed in meditation, unconsciously and without subsequent memory, brushes away a troublesome fly, analogous to the state of hypnosis, as I shall show.

It is stated that the brain may intervene to give the primary impulse, that the act continues even when thought and will are otherwise occupied, exclusively by means of spinal automatism. The example of a man's walking with his mind at the same time absorbed in other subjects, or the instance of an artist's playing a long composition upon the piano, and in the course of it allowing his mind to wander till he no longer thinks of the music, are good illustrations of the point; nevertheless, I do not concede that these cases are similar to that of a man in the hypnotic condition. Continuing the illustration of the pianist, Dr. Bernheim says, "Moreover, that which the mind has lost track of, spinal automatism may resume. The artist no longer remembers all the phrases of the musical composition. His recollection has become all defective; he is incapable of playing the piece through in consequence of his mental confusion. The spinal memory, if I may use the expression, supplements the cerebral memory.

The fingers frequently recover the difficult arrangements of stops and movements on the key-board, and accomplish them precisely, even when these movements, assimilated, so to speak, by the spinal cord, have become a mechanical operation, owing to their frequent repetition."

I think that many physiologists would disagree with Dr. Bernheim in assigning to the spinal cord the centre of such automatic movement.

He also seems to forget that many eminent authorities claim that a large number, if not all, of the movements executed by a pianist are presided over and directed and co-ordinated as well, by the cerebellum. A patient under my care suffered from a tumor of the cerebellum. He was a professional pianist, and as the tumor developed he lost his ability to co-ordinate the movements of his hands upon the piano, but could read music as well as ever. The diagnosis of cerebellar tumor was verified at a necropsy.

"When the controlling power of the brain is removed and only the spinal centres are left intact, we find that stimulation of the periphery does not excite intelligent movements but spasms instead.

There may be instinctive automatic activity of the nervous centres. As examples of this may be cited the different changes in facial expression accompanying our various emotions.

M. Despineinhis work, "Etude scientifique sur le somnambulisme," mentions affectation as one of the results of this automatism. He says, "It is thought that the phenomena which constitute it are voluntary and studied. This is a mistake. A person is affected in manner in consequence of an exaggerated facility for following what happens in thought, which the automatic nervous organs possess. The voice takes the most varied inflections, according to the slightest changes in the feelings."

Facial expression does not seem to me to bear any relation whatever to automatism. It is largely under control of the will, as every good actor will testify. It is no more automatic than is the act of raising the hand to the mouth when one is eating. In the case of the patient previously mentioned, who bad the tumor of the cerebellum, co-ordination was so much impaired that the man had to be fed, because he could not accurately carry his fork from his plate to his mouth.

Dr. Bernheim cites a case of a boy, who, when his eyes were closed at command, would immediately become unconscious of external events. He was hypnotized, then, simply by closing his eyes, the hypnotization taking place instantaneously. The boy in this state would converse volubly about himself, and immediately thereafter, when his eyes were opened, he retained no memory of what he had said. We have Dr. Bernheim's word for the fact that the boy had no memory of his conversation while in the hypnotic state. He does not state how he proved this. I, for one, cannot see how Dr. Bernheim, or any one else for that matter, could prove that the boy had no memory of what he had said while hypnotized. From the narration of the case I infer that the boy would pass instantly into and out of the hypnotic state at command. I think such statements are misleading.

The theory of suggestion is, briefly, that a susceptible person will sleep when he is told to do so, and that his sleep will be of a particular kind. In this sleep the subject will do what he is told and will also awake by suggestion.

While acting under the influence of this potent factor even his faculties, his senses, special and general, will obey any command given by the suggestor, if I may be allowed the word in this place.

Theory Of Animal Magnetism

Those believing in this theory, of which Mes-mer was the most prominent, hold, as has been previously mentioned, that the hypnotizer exercises a force, independently of suggestion, over the subject. They believe one part of the body may be charged separately, or that the whole body may be filled with magnetism. They recognize the power of suggestion, but they do not believe it to be the principal factor in the production of the hypnotic state. There has been much bitter dispute, especially in Europe, between the suggestionists and the followers of the doctrine of animal magnetism. The phenomena produced by the so-called mesmerists certainly differ from those which are seen when a person is simply hypnotized by suggestion (by telling him to close his eyes and sleep).