Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 12.djvu/433

 420 E. GUENEY : her fingers. 1 (3) The initial supposition, that a person whose conscious self is unaware of certain faint stimuli is ' unconsciously ' hyperaesthetic to those very stimuli seems to me wholly unsupported and extremely dubious. I con- clude, therefore, that the balance of probability is greatly in favour of a direct physical influence in which the ordinary channels of sense are not concerned. Whether this con- clusion be right or wrong, I earnestly hope that the experi- ments may be widely repeated by persons who have proved themselveseffectivehypnotisers;fornoconceivableexplanation of the facts could deprive them of their exceptional interest. There is one other alleged type of effect produced by physical proximity, without sensory communication, which deserves mention, though it has not yet, I think, been quite conclusively tested. Dr. Babinski, of the Salpetriere, believes himself, and is believed by Dr. Charcot and other authorities, to have established the fact that a hysterical affection, produced in one ' subject ' by hypnotic suggestion, can be transferred to another ' subject,' not in contact with the first, under the influence of a neighbouring magnet. The French savants do not seem completely aware how absolutely different such a phenomenon would be from those to which they compare it the widely-alleged effect of a magnet in transferring hysterical affections from one side of the body to the other ; but this is unimportant provided only they prove their facts. The objection to some, at any rate, of their experiments is that sufficient account does not seem to have been taken of the acuteness and cunning which hysterical women may bring to bear in some well-defined channel, while ostensibly in a state of hypnotic lethargy and inattention ; without intending to deceive in any way involving real responsibility, such persons may still be quite capable of detecting what the expected effects are, and of producing them by clever collusion and simulation. This, however, is now becoming better realised ; and I can vouch for the striking result of one trial, in which Dr. Babinski was good enough to allow Mr. Myers and myself to arrange the conditions. The two ' subjects ' were placed in two rooms separated by a thick door ; and a strong contracture of the foot produced in one of them certainly reappeared in the other. The only flaw was that the woman first affected made an exclamation in which the word pied occurred ; but she did not speak loud, and the remark was quite inaudible 1 1 was only able to have half a dozen trials with this * subject,' as her fingers, when stabbed, bled to an extent which made me fear that they would cause her subsequent pain or annoyance.