enter upon a consistent course
of enquiry concerning them; though as yet, while all was new and
wonderful to my apprehension, I could scarcely do more than observe
and verify phenomena. It was, however, necessary that my views,
though for the present bounded, should be distinct. I had already
asked respecting mesmeric sleep-waking, 'Does it exist?' and to
this question, the cases which had fallen under my notice, and
which were above suspicion, seemed to answer decidedly in the
affirmative: but it was essential still further to enquire, 'Does
it exist so generally as to be pronounced a part--though a rarely
developed part--of the human constitution?' In order to determine
this, it was requisite to observe how far individuals of different
ages, stations, and temperaments, were capable of mesmeric
sleep-waking. I resolved, therefore, by experiments on as extensive
a scale as possible, to ascertain whether the state in question
were too commonly exhibited to be exceptional or idiosyncratic.
Again, the two cases that I had witnessed coincided in
characteristics; but could this coincidence be accidental? It might
still be asked, 'Were the phenomena displayed uncertain, mutable,
such as might never occur again; or were they orderly, invariable,
the growth of fixed causes, which, being present, implied their
presence also?' In fine, was mesmeric sleep-waking not only a
state, but entitled to rank as a distinct state, clearly and
permanently characterized; and, as such, set apart from all other
abnormal conditions of men? On its pretensions to be so considered,
rested, I conceived, its claims to notice and peculiar
investigation: to decide this point was, therefore, one of my chief
objects; and, respecting it, I was determined to seek that
certainty which can only be attained by a careful comparison of
facts, occurring under the same circumstances. To sum up my
intentions, I desired to show that man, through external human
influence, is capable of a species of sleep-waking different from
the common, not only inasmuch as it is otherwise produced, but as
it displays quite other characteristics when produced."--(P.
49-52.)

In the subsequent portions of the book, similar and still more wondrous
phenomena are produced by Mr Townshend. He mesmerises several Cambrid