Complete Hypnotism: Mesmerism Mind-Reading and Spiritualism

CONTENTSINTRODUCTION--History of hypnotism--Mesmer--Puysegur--Braid--What is hypnotism?--Theories of hypnotism: 1. Animal magnetism; 2. The Neurosis Theory; 3. Suggestion TheoryCHAPTER I--How to Hypnotize--Dr. Cockes method-Dr. Flints method--The French method at Paris--At Nancy--The Hindoo silent method--How to wake a subject from hypnotic sleep--Frauds of public hypnotic entertainments.CHAPTER II--Amusing experiments--Hypnotizing on the stage--You cant pull your hands apart!--Post-hypnotic suggestion--The newsboy the hunter and the young man with the rag doll--A whip becomes hot iron--Courting a broom stick--The side-showCHAPTER III--The stages of hypnotism--Lethargy-Catalepsy--The somnambulistic stage--FascinationCHAPTER IV--How the subject feels under hypnotization--Dr. Cockes experience--Effect of music--Dr. Alfred Warthins experimentsCHAPTER V--Self hypnotization--How it may be done--An experience--Accountable for childrens crusade--Oriental prophets self- hypnotizedCHAPTER VI--Simulation--Deception in hypnotism very common--Examples of Neuropathic deceit--Detecting simulation--Professional subjects--How Dr. Luys of the Charity Hospital at Paris was deceived--Impossibility of detecting deception in all cases--Confessions of a professional hypnotic subjectCHAPTER VII--Criminal suggestion--Laboratory crimes--Dr. Cockes experiments showing criminal suggestion is not possible--Dr. William James theory--A bad man cannot be made good why expect to make a good man bad?CHAPTER VIII--Dangers in being hypnotized Condemnation of public performances--A commonsense view--Evidence furnished by Lafontaine; by Dr. Courmelles; by Dr. Hart; by Dr. Cocke--No danger in hypnotism if rightly used by physicians or scientistsCHAPTER IX--Hypnotism in medicine--Anesthesia--Restoring the use of muscles--Hallucination--Bad habitsCHAPTER X--Hypnotism of animals--Snake charmingCHAPTER XI--A scientific explanation of hypnotism--Dr. Harts theoryCHAPTER XII--Telepathy and Clairvoyance--Peculiar power in hypnotic state--Experiments--Phantasms of the living explained by telepathyCHAPTER XIII--The Confessions of a Medium--Spiritualistic phenomena explained on theory of telepathy--Interesting statement of Mrs. Piper the famous medium of the Psychical Research Society