placed across the room, and she was given
instead of a glass of water a lighted lamp. I told her that the lamp was
a glass of water, and that the man across the room was her brother. It
was suggested to her that his clothing was on fire and she was commanded
to extinguish the fire by throwing the lighted lamp at the individual,
she having been told, as was previously mentioned, that it was a glass
of water. Without her knowledge a person was placed behind her for the
purpose of quickly checking her movements, if desired. I then commanded
her to throw the lamp at the man. She raised the lamp, hesitated,
wavered, and then became very hysterical, laughing and crying
alternately. This condition was so profound that she came very near
dropping the lamp. Immediately after she was quieted I made a number of
tests to prove that she was deeply hypnotized. Standing in front of her
I gave her a piece of card-board, telling her that it was a dagger, and
commanded her to stab me. She immediately struck at me with the piece of
card-board. I then gave her an open pocketknife and commanded her to
strike at me with it. Again she raised it to execute my command, again
hesitated, and had another hysterical attack. I have tried similar
experiments with thirty or forty people with similar results. Some of
them would have injured themselves severely, I am convinced, at command,
but to what extent I of course cannot say. That they could have been
induced to harm others, or to set fire to houses, etc., I do not
believe. I say this after very careful reading and a large amount of
experimentation."

Dr. Cocke also declares his belief that no person can be hypnotized
against his will by a person who is repugnant to him.

The facts in the case are probably those that might be indicated by a
common-sense consideration of the conditions. If a person is weak-minded
and susceptible to temptation, to theft, for instance, no doubt a
familiar acquaintance of a similar character might hypnotize that person
and cause him to commit the crime to which his moral nature is by no
means averse. If, on the other hand, the personality of the hypnotizer
and the crime itself are repugnant to the hypnotic subject, he will
absolutely refuse to do as he is bidden, even while in the deepest
hypnotic sleep. On this point nearly all authorities agree.

Again, there is absolutely no well authenticated case of crime committed
by a person under hypnotic influence. There h