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HYPOCOTYL

907

HYSTERESIS

the subject is hypnotized This means that whatever is suggested by the hypnotizer is believed or done by his subject, who seems to have given over his will to this control. The subject may be made to eat with apparent relish objects ordinarily disagreeable to taste or to reject dainties with disgust. He may be made to perform ridiculous antics or find it impossible to close his eyes or to raise his arm. When the hypnotizer suggests that his subject is in a certain condition or should act, feel or think in a certain way, the latter becomes possessed by the idea thus presented and is unable to resist the tendency to carry his thought into action. In the hypnotic condition one may become abnormally rigid (cataleptic), insensible to pain so that a needle thrust through the hand may not hurt or, perhaps, extraordinarily sensitive to certain sights, sounds or touches. After being roused from the hypnotic state, a result accomplished usually only by the suggestion of the hypnotizer, the subject ordinarily forgets all that happened while under the spell. He may, however, be made to carry out,, after waking, suggestions given during hypnotism, or may spontaneously lapse into the condition at a suggested time or occasion.

The method by which one is hypnotized can not be said to be reduced to a science, but in general it is now admitted that the mysterious passes, stroking etc., usually employed., serve only to distract or diffuse the attention, so that the subject spontaneously lapses into the hypnotic slumber. In brief, one hypnotizes himself, and the skill of the hypnotizer lies in his ability to get his subject to do this. The supposition of Mesmer (1734-1815) that there are mysterious magnetic influences exerted by the body of the hypnotizer has been exploded.

Hypnotism possesses much therapeutic value, especially with nervous diseases, which can often be helped by suggestion. Bad habits, like the excessive use of tobacco or alcoholic drinks, may sometimes thus be broken up. Crimes have been committed as a result of hypnotic suggestion, but it is generally admitted that this is possible only when there are no ingrained scruples against them in the minds of the subjects. Indeed, as very few can be hypnotized against their

will, very little can be successfully suggested that antagonizes the character of the subject. Consult Moll's Hypnotism.

Hypocotyl (ht'pd-kd-ttl) (in plants). The stem-like portion of the embryo of seed-plants. The name refers to the fact that this part is beneath the cotyledons or first leaves. See EMBRYO.

Hyp'oder' mis (in plants). The name literally means beneath the epidermis, and usually refers to a supporting tissue which develops in that position. However, the word is often used quite generally, and is merely one of position. For example, a hypoderrnal cell merely means a cell of any kind immediately beneath the epidermis. Occasionally a definite tissue is developed beneath the epidermis, distinct from other tissues, and to this is very properly given the name hypodermis.

Hypogenous (ht-poj'e-nus) Flowers, those in which the sepals, petals and stamens originate beneath the ovary In this case the ovary is often said to be "superior,'' that is, it is to be seen within the flower, arising above the origin of the other parts. The contrasting term is "epigynous.v Hypogy-nous flowers are regarded as more primitive than those that are epigynous. as hyp-ogyny prevails in all of the more piimitive families. See FLOWER.

Hysteresis (h$s't$-re's$s)9 a term employed in the science of magnetism to describe the fact that in substances which are magnetic the induction always lags behind the magnetizing force. The word is simply the Greek word for lagging behind. The most familiar illustration of this phenomenon is found in the case of a piece of iron which has been placed in a strong magnetic field and has then been removed from it. If the iron be hard, a considerable proportion of the induction remains even after the magnetizing force has been reduced to zero; and we have what is known as a permanent magnet. It has been shown that the amount of hysteresis in iron largely determines the amount of energy lost in heating the iron when it is used as the core of a transformer. Hysteresis, therefore, is a quantity of great importance to electric engineers. See E wing's Magnetization of Iron and Othef Metals,