Braid on hypnotism : Neurypnology; or, The rationale of nervous sleep considered in relation to animal magnetism or mesmerism and illustrated by numerous cases of its successful application in the relief and cure of disease / by James Braid.

  • Braid, James, 1795?-1860.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Braid on hypnotism : Neurypnology; or, The rationale of nervous sleep considered in relation to animal magnetism or mesmerism and illustrated by numerous cases of its successful application in the relief and cure of disease / by James Braid. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    I took care not to commence till all was quiet—Mr Walker had not taken the precaution to make the patient direct his eyes in the best possible manner, but I was careful that he should do so. Moreover, although Mr Walker had not succeeded in putting him into the somnolent condition, he had, no doubt, partially affected him, and the influence had not entirely passed off when I began my operation. Two days after, Mr Walker accompanied me when I called on one of the most cele- brated mesmerizers in Europe, who, during our conver- sation, stated, that a glance of the eye was quite enough, in many cases, to produce the effects. During our conversation, I presume, he had determined to surprise both Mr Walker and myself, by keeping his large beautiful and satisfactory manner, thus : By throwing any fragrant and agreeable scent on a bare table the patients will approach, anxious to smell it, but are repelled before they come quite close to the cold table. Place a handkerchief on the table, on which place the scent, and now the patient will approach close to it, and revel in its fragrance. Remove the hand- kerchief, and the attractive and repulsive movements will again ensue. This was beautifully illustrated at a private conversazione at my house lately, in the presence of several medical and other eminently scientific gentlemen. Two patients were hypnotized, when one became so enam- oured of the scent of a gentleman's snuff-box as to follow him round the room. He then laid the box about eighteen inches from the edge of an uncovered table, when she advanced, her arms being extended, anxious to reach the box, but when about ten or twelve inches from it, she started back, from perceiving the impression of the cold table at that distance. She now made another attempt to approach the box, being attracted by the fragrance of its contents, but was as speedily repelled by the cold table before she approached it, and now kept bobbing over the box, much in the same manner as I have witnessed in the attempts of a hungry dog to partake of very hot food. The other patient, in passing round the table, also caught the smell of the box, and advanced from another point, and thus both kept bobbing over it, much to the amusement of all present. I now covered the table with a handkerchief, and placed the box on it, when they instantly approached close to it, and seemed to feast on its fragrance ; on removing the handkerchief they withdrew, and commenced bobbing over it as at first. The former patient had never seen such experiments, or been tested in this way before.