Case CIX

A magistrate, and counsellor in a royal court, related to me the following anecdote: His wife had an attendant who was in very delicate health. She magnetized her, and put her into a state of somnambulism. It was done privately, as her charitable intentions would not have secured her from ridicule. The lady was assisted by her husband. On one occasion when the magnetic treatment had been accompanied with severe pain, the somnambulist asked for some old wine; the husband took a light and went below for the purpose of obtaining it. He descended the first flight of stairs without accident, but the cellar was deep under ground, and the steps were moist; he slipped half way down, and fell back without being hurt or even extinguishing the light. Having procured the wine, he returned, when he found his wife acquainted with his fall and all its details; the somnambulist had related them as they occurred.*

* Chardel, Psychologic phyaiologique, Paris, 1844, p. 260, et seq., and pp. 277, 278, et seq.

Case CX

I knew the wife of a colonel in the cavalry, who, being magnetized by her husband, became a somnambulist; during the course of treatment, an indisposition obliged him to call to his assistance an officer of his regiment. Some time after, during a magnetic sitting, the husband, having put his wife into a state of somnambulism, desired her to give him information of that officer: "Ah! the unhappy man!" cried she; "I see him; he is at------; he is on the point of killing himself; now he points the pistol; run quickly." The place indicated was a league distant; a horseman mounted in all haste, but when he arrived, the suicide was consummated.†

We have confined ourselves to these three cases; they are sufficient to establish the fact that persons and objects, in connection with the person magnetized, can be seen by him under their real forms; a phenomenon is then produced similar to that we have seen in reverie, dreams, ecstasies, and in cases of prevision and presentiment; in a word, in all cases of hallucinations compatible with reason. There are, doubtless, other peculiarities which seem to exceed natural boundaries; but we would here be somewhat reserved in the expression of our opinion; and whilst admitting the plausibility of what has been written by many of our brethren on the power of the imagination, amongst others by Demangeon,t we at the same time do not hesitate to express a belief that there is still something beyond, and that the mind must necessarily exercise a considerable influence on the body, for the very simple reason, that this, in its turn, can develop extraordinary properties. Huygens speaks of a prisoner at Anvers, who could read written characters at a distance, where they could be seen by no one else. At one of the last sittings of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, M.

* Chardel, Psychologic physiologiqae, Paris, 1844, p. 290. † Chardel, op. cit. Paris, 1844, p. 292.

† J. B. Demangcon, De 1'Imagination, 2d edition, p. 39, ch. II. 1 vol. in 8vo., Paris, 1829.

Vincent communicated a paper, full of interest respecting the son of Doctor Paludilhe, of Montpellier, a young child of seven years old, in whom the development of the musical faculty had reached such an extraordinary height, that he may be considered as a living sonometer; moreover, he possesses the singular and rare faculty of distinguishing the melodious character of a spoken discourse, firstly, according to the nature, more or less musical, of the voices of the individuals; secondly, according to the character, more or less passionate, of the discourse itself.*

We may then consider authentic cases of clairvoyance, of prevision, and of second sight, recorded in works on magnetism, as belonging to the domain of hallucinations; the thoughts, however, are tinted, the ideas imaged, the mind, in a word, is clothed in its material envelop. The idea that, during life, the phenomenon of clairvoyance should be spread over the surface of the body, and above all, should have its seat in the epigastrium, at the ends of the fingers, etc., is not supported by the laws of physiology. The senses have ever possessed distinct functions; one can no more take the place of another, than it can be supplied by parts that have not the slightest affinity to it, either in form, structure, or functions; whilst we can comprehend that, under peculiar circumstances, they may acquire qualities that fill us with astonishment. The phenomena of clairvoyance, prevision, and second sight depend on a sudden illumination of the cerebral organ, which calls into activity sensations that have hitherto lain dormant. Here occurs what may be noticed in natural somnambulism, under the influence of an unknown cause. The individual distinctly sees in his brain, the stairs, the apartments, and the places through which he walks; he there reads the characters of the books which lie before him, and of letters which he writes. It is an internal mirror, on which all his impressions are received, and which serves as a guide to his conduct; but in this case, the action is based on recollections and reminiscences; for should the individual get into a strange place, he totters and stumbles, even to injuring himself. In artificial somnambulism, the perceptions are clearer, better defined, indicate a more perfect isolation and a greater activity in the faculties. How does this happen? We know not. Do we know any better what passes in the thousand combinations of thought, in the action of the will? Alas, no. These are facts that must be admitted; but the manner of their operation will probably be hidden from us forever.

* Debate, 10th August, 1851.

We read in the records of animal magnetism, of a blind lady, who, in her sleep, admirably described the beauties of nature. Having recovered her sight, she owned that nature, during sleep, was much more beautiful than she found it on awaking.

Recapitulation. - Ecstasy being the result of the highest degree of exaltation of mind, is eminently favorable to the production of hallucinations, but even on that account it cannot be regarded as a natural state.

The extreme concentration of thought on a single idea, which is the peculiar character of ecstasy, is liable to produce a painful state of body.

Ecstasy frequently manifests itself in contemplative minds; but it is also observed in religious persons of very ordinary intellect.

All epochs of profound beliefs, of fanaticism, or of great hopes or fears, are favorable to the development of ecstasy.

The possessed of former ages were evidently ecstatics.

The phenomenon of ecstasy existed in the convulsed.

The inspired of different sects exhibited ecstasy in a high degree.

Ecstasy may be manifested without any loss of reason; it is then termed physiological; if it be combined with a disordered mind, it is termed morbid ecstasy.

It is frequently difficult to fix the line of demarcation between these two kinds.

This distinction allows of two separate classes of ecstatic hal-lucinists.

Ecstasy is not confined to those of riper years; it has been seen in children.

Ecstasy may show itself in cataleptic hysteria, and mystic forms, and in mania and monomania.

There is no age in which cases of ecstasy have not occurred, and, according to the strength and predominance of the ideas, it has taken the form of an epidemic.

A certain number of nervous conditions, rejected by skepticism, because they cannot be explained, such as prevision, clairvoyance, second sight, magnetism, and somnambulism, are attached to ecstasy, of which they are only varieties, and have numerous points of affinity with hallucinations.

We cannot, however, rank all cases of prevision with the hallucinations of ecstasy; there are some which appear to spring from an enlarged faculty of perception, a supernatural intuition.

The hallucinations of ecstatics of cold countries, which some have classed with cases of second sight, appear evidently due to the influence of temperature. The form observable in Lapland depends on the combined effects of ecstasy, alienation, and temperature.

The hallucinations of natural somnambulism present a striking analogy to those of dreams; they differ only in degree and in increased energy of the will.

Imagination then presents images to the somnambulist with as much clearness as in dreams.

The hallucinations of sleep, like those of natural somnambulism, may incite to acts involving serious responsibilities, and leave no doubt that man is then no longer master of his will.

There is reason to believe that visual magnetic sensations are only hallucinations.