The physiological aspect of mesmerism / by J.N. Langley.

  • Langley, J. N. (John Newport), 1852-1925.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiological aspect of mesmerism / by J.N. Langley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    bility, the decrease in reaction being earliest distinct in the centres of special sense. When it is in this state, it may be propped up against a support with its legs crossed under it, or placed so that it rests on its head, or placed on its side with its legs arranged in this or that fashion, without offering the least resistance. Strong stimuli or certain apparently lesser ones, for example a dash of water, cause it to recover its position slowly; it then usually sits for several minutes motionless, and only after some time regains its normal sensitiveness and activity. I show you here a frog in the early hypnotic state. I have spoken of the frog as being hypnotised or mesmerised, Let us consider what is meant by this. I think it is obvious that the animal does not remain passive from any astuteness on its part; it is incredible that the frog, finding its efforts to escape ineffective, should make up its mind to remain quiet, and should, although at liberty to move, stay still for hours, becoming more and more determined as time goes on to take no notice of noises, of flashes of light, and of pinching of Its skin On the contrary, it is, I think, obvious that in some way its will has become paralysed. In order to attempt to explain how this is brought about, we must consider another aspect ot reflex action, an aspect which is very little understood. You remember that a brainless frog will, when its leg is gently pinched, kick out the leg ; but if just previously some other part of the body has also been pinched, one of two opposite things may take place: bp\tiT^ f® out more quickly and vigorously, or it may not ^ kicked out at all. In both cases the nerve centre involved in pro- ducing the movement of the leg receives an additional impulse from another nerve centre, but m one case the additional impulse increases the aetivity of the nerve centre involved in the reflex action, in the other case i* annuls this activity—there is, to use the physiological term, an inhibition of the “ reflex ” nerve centre. ^ ^ ^ but with^heT«?®f instance, a frog without its' cerebral hemispheres. Its nervous system, will croak when its sides are moment of touching it, its leg be pinched, it moves or jumps, but does not croak. Here the rSitor centre which causes the movements of the muscles in croaking, receives nervous impulses from two sensory centres; one of these bemg set in activity by touching the sides of the frog, the other from pinching its leg. The impulses from the former tend to make the motor centre active, and so produce a croak; but the exciting effect of these impulses IS annulled by the impulses coming from^the latter centre • y-vning, when it suddenly occurs toTo:’tS