pping my
fingers and telling him I wished him to sleep; of course this can only
be done with sensitives who have been repeatedly hypnotized.
"'Under these conditions I succeeded in making him do very many
wonderful things, especially in the way of post-hypnotic suggestions; a
post-hypnotic suggestion is a command given to hypnotized subjects that
at some future time they perform a certain act. In most cases, in waking
from the hypnotic sleep they have forgotten that the suggestion has been
given them, but at the time set they perform the act unconsciously, as
though by their own volition. Not only will they do this, but after the
act is performed they usually sink into a quiet sleep,[1] from which
they awake after passing into the normal sleep, and, as a rule, have
forgotten that they did anything unusual, or that they have been
hypnotized, and take up the thread of thought again at the point where
they first entered the hypnotic condition. They do not remember what
they have done or seen. Their mind is a blank as to all that occurred
during the time they were hypnotized.
[Footnote 1: This is unusual; the subject rarely falls asleep after
carrying out a post-hypnotic suggestion unless commanded to do so.--ED.]
"'For the last two years I have been rather fortunate, in a small way,
speculating in stocks. My capital being small, the amount of money I
could make was, of course, comparatively little; yet I succeeded in
doing very well until about three weeks ago, when, by two or three
unfortunate speculations, I found myself absolutely destitute, and
without a penny in the world. It was then the idea suggested itself to
me to hypnotize Mr. Herrick and make him bring me money from the bank.
This of course was perfectly possible, if no accident occurred, or no
unforeseen difficulty presented itself, which I had not previously
thought of, as the cashier would act simply as an instrument, being
governed entirely by my directions. I asked him in a casual way several
times about the affairs of the bank, and learned one day that the bank
would have an unusually large balance in settling with the
clearing-house. It was the custom for Mr. Herrick to lock up his own
funds, and simply state to the cashier that he had done so.
"'According to a carefully arranged plan, I hypnotized him last evening
and commanded him to take all the money and securities he had in his
possession, after settling with the clearing-house, and instead o
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