's wife
laughingly said to me, 'There is no fear of my husband ever
drinking again, sir. You know he has to be in the market very
early in the morning with his vegetables. Yesterday morning,
while he was drinking a cup of coffee at the hotel an old mate
said to him, 'Why don't you drink some spirits; are you afraid?'
To show his mate that he was not afraid, he ordered a glass of
brandy, but no sooner did he put it in his mouth than he spat it
out again, saying the 'filthy stuff tasted like rotten
soapsuds.' My friend B. said, that, till he told me, to no one
had he mentioned the fact, and that what he did to his poor
neighbor he did in order to see if it were possible to use
mesmerism as a remedial agent in cases of drunkenness."

The power of control over the impressible condition (which is so
easily developed into hypnotism) has been recently illustrated in
France, and reports of the phenomena published in the _London News_,
concerning which Mr. Charles Dawbarn has published the following in
the _Banner of Light_:

"According to the reports published in the _Daily News_ of
London, Eng., an attempt has been made by physicians in Paris,
France, to determine the duration of an hypnotic influence. Some
of my readers may not be aware that 'hypnotism' is a word coined
by the medical faculty to replace the term 'mesmerism,' which
they consider disreputably associated with spiritualism. These
physicians seem to have had some very fine sensitives upon whom
to operate. The first experiment was upon a lady of some means,
but having a mother and sister dependent upon her for support.
The hypnotizer first established his influence in the usual
manner, and then told the lady he wished her to go to a lawyer
the next day, and make her will in his favor. She protested, but
finally gave way. All memory of this promise seemed to be lost
as soon as she returned to her normal condition. But next day
she went to a lawyer, and although he begged her to remember her
mother and sister, the will was made just as suggested by the
physician. She was an affectionate daughter and told the lawyer
she was impelled to leave her property to a stranger by _an
influence which she could not resist_.

"A second experiment with another sensitive was then tried. This
time the poor girl promised to poison a friend next day,