rs of public performances by professional
hypnotizers, Dr. Cocke is equally positive. Says he:

"The dangers of public exhibitions, made ludicrous as they are by the
operators, should be condemned by all intelligent men and women, not
from the danger of hypnotism itself so much as from the liability of the
performers to disturb the mental poise of that large mass of ill-balanced
individuals which makes up no inconsiderable part of society." In
conclusion he says: "Patients have been injured by the misuse of
hypnotism. * * * This is true of every remedial agent ever employed for
the relief of man. Every article we eat, if wrongly prepared, if stale,
or if too much is taken, will be harmful. Every act, every duty of our
lives, may, if overdone, become an injury.

"Then, for the sake of clearness, let me state in closing that hypnotism
is dangerous only when it is misused, or when it is applied to that
large class of persons who are inherently unsound; especially if that
mysterious thing we call credulity predominates to a very great extent
over the reason and over other faculties of the mind."

CHAPTER IX.

Hypnotism in Medicine.--Anesthesia.--Restoring the Use of
Muscles.--Hallucination.--Bad Habits.

Anaesthesia--It is well known that hypnotism may be used to render
subjects insensible to pain. Thus numerous startling experiments are
performed in public, such as running hatpins through the cheeks or arms,
sewing the tongue to the ear, etc. The curious part of it is that the
insensibility may be confined to one spot only. Even persons who are not
wholly under hypnotic influence may have an arm or a leg, or any smaller
part rendered insensible by suggestion, so that no pain will be felt.
This has suggested the use of hypnotism in surgery in the place of
chloroform, ether, etc.

About the year 1860 some of the medical profession hoped that hypnotism
might come into general use for producing insensibility during surgical
operations. Dr. Guerineau in Paris reported the following successful
operation: The thigh of a patient was amputated. "After the operation,"
says the doctor, "I spoke to the patient and asked him how he felt. He
replied that he felt as if he were in heaven, and he seized hold of my
hand and kissed it. Turning to a medical student, he added: 'I was aware
of all that was being done to me, and the proof is that I knew my thigh
was cut off at the moment when you asked me if I felt any pain.'"

The w