Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 1, 1890.djvu/411

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,—I have sometimes wondered whether students of sorcery, witchcraft, etc., were quite alive to the significance of recent investigations in hypnotism. Mr. Nutt’s letter (supra, p. 274) seems to show that they are not. The suggestion is not new; it is recognised by scientific in- vestigators of hypnotism that their studies have a bearing on these matters, and “fascination” is the name of a distinct series of hypnotic phenomena. There is a delightful field for fruitful investigation here for anyone combining the requisite qualifications, or for two persons working in col- laboration. I hope that in your influential position you will stir someone up to the task.

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,—Mr. Gomme’s interesting paper on a tale of Campbell’s, and its foundation in custom (supra, p. 197 seq.) appears to me to have one main weakness. The incident of finding the mallet in the box which the ill-treated father hides away from his children, pretending that it contained money, is not vital to the story. If the box had contained leaves or bricks or sand, the nemesis on the children would be the same. No doubt the rhyme on the mallet is effective, but against whom? Not against the children; 