Suggestibility is the characteristic of all human beings, but there are methods which increase that suggestibility.

Suggestion has been used largely for the cure of various mental disorders and physical ailments, formerly chiefly by inducing the hypnotic state, getting the subject to actual sleep, nowadays in its newest form by direct suggestion in the waking state. "We put the subject in a condition of objective passiveness by rest of the brain and relaxation of the muscles, thus producing a state akin to the mental and bodily state preceding natural sleep.

For medical purposes we aim at that early stage of sleep that is consistent with consciousness—a transsitional stage which anyone who has analysed his sensations has recognised as a brief period immediately preceding the unconsciousness of slumber, when by an effort he can become wide-awake, or by lying still and guarding his mind against exciting thoughts can insure speedy and perfect sleep.

The room in which hypnotism is practised should be quiet, should contain nothing which captivates the attention too much, and gives rise to either emotion or constraint. With respect to witnesses, at all events at first, the number should be limited as far as circumstances and propriety will warrant.

The patient lying down on a couch or seated in a lounging chair, in which he has a comfortable rest for his head, the first step is to induce in the patient a mental state of calm and relaxation; a mental state which causes the patient to become receptive to the impressions that we wish to make upon his or her mind. The best plan is to have the patient seat himself in a comfortable position, and then talk to him a little to remove his fears and in order to induce a placid, easy frame of mind, which will react upon the physical conditions. He is asked to resign himself, not think of anything, not to distract bis mind by thinking of the effects he will experience, to banish every fear, and not be uneasy or discouraged if he fall not asleep at once. He is then told to concentrate his attention upon sleep, to try to go to sleep; and, to assist him in this effort by preventing his taking in distracting ideas through his eyes as they wander around the room and see the pictures, books and furniture, we may get him to fix his gaze upon some bright and shining object. Thus, fixity of attention, passivity and concentration are produced. He is instructed not to try to keep his eyes open, and not to close them voluntarily, but merely to let the lids go as they will. The physician may now keep quiet for a time, or else by a monotonous talk he may encourage the patient in his effort to go to sleep. Personally, I never employ authority, but talk sympathetically, using my own earnest efforts to make an impression.

The passive state simply means the suspension of the functions of the conscious state of mind for the time being, for the purpose of allowing the subconscious mind to receive impressions and to act upon them. The more perfectly the objective intelligence can be held in abeyance, the more perfectly will the subconscious self be reached, influenced, and perform its functions.

No suggestion should be made, unless the patient is really in a perfectly passive state, or has actually gone to sleep. "We may test him by commanding him "to open his eyes, if he can," when probably he will be already unable to raise his lids. If we now raise his arm it will drop, as if not attached to his body.

Suggestions referring to his ailment may now be made, speaking plainly and emphatically. In the case of minor mental disorders and morbid habits, we can now impress the patient with a desire to break himself of the morbid idea or impulse, and, by calling his own powers of thought and volition into play, we may get him to recognise his delusions, if any, and feel confident the he really will be able to control himself.

Such is the modern method of inducing the proper state for suggestive treatment, which has been found to suffice for all practical purposes. Sleep need not be induced, but only the somnolent state. This method has the advantage that nearly everybody can be subjected to it. But the deeper the hypnotic state the more prompt will be the cure, and that is a consideration for many people.

The suggestibility of persons varies, of course, a great deal. Some are more susceptible, and may at once fall asleep, in which case they may be allowed to sleep, making the suggestion that on waking the symptoms they complain of will be gone.

In others, because of the severity of the symptoms from which they suffer, or for other reasons—as, for instance, in order to study the phenomena of hypnotism in subjects who volunteer for scientific purposes-it may be desirable to produce the deeper state. For the deeper states not all persons are suitable, because they lack the required susceptibility. In others, again, a conscious or subconscious contrary auto-suggestion will retard or prevent deep hypnosis.

The induction of the somnolent state is a fairly simple process; the induction of the deeper state of hypnosis is more difficult, and generally requires more continued application. But in all cases, hypnotism for medical treatment is more readily induced than for any other purpose, because in the sick the voluntary and conscious activity is diminished by exhaustion, and they are really earnest about it in order to get cured.

A good preliminary test whether a person can be hypnotised is to judge his sensibility by drawing the palm of the hand downwards, without contact, but very near, over his face or hands, best while the eyes are closed, when it will be found that some subjects perceive a peculiar sensation, from mere warmth to pricking, and in the most susceptible a sensation as if a mild electric current passed over their skin. This used to be described as the magnetic influence, and although no such influence is admitted now, I have always found that these passes were felt more readily and by more persons when I had been doing much hypnotic work, than when I had rested for some time.

Another test of a person's susceptibility is by standing behind him and making long passes from the back of the head down to the end of the spine. A large proportion of persons will at once feel an inclination to sway backwards.

"The old mesmerists used to get their subjects to look steadily at their eyes while they gazed at them firmly and made slow passes with one or both hands downwards from the crown of the patient's head, over the face to the pit of the stomach, or even down to the feet, always avoiding contact. After each pass the hands were well shaken, just as if something were shaken off them. The passes would be continued, patiently, for some time,'until they excited the sensation of warmth, pricking or tingling, or numbness, according to the individual operated on. Or else the magnetiser would sit down close by the patient, take hold of his thumbs, and gently pressing them gaze fixedly in his eyes, concentrating his mind upon him, while the subject would gaze at the operator. The gaze of the subject had the effect of concentrating his attention, and the look of the operator, so to say, commanded him not to "wander" in his thoughts. The old magnetisers laid the greatest stress on the intense concentration on the part of the operator, and would achieve success often by intent gazing alone, without passes or verbal suggestion.

At public performances magnetisers used soft strains of music, which appeared to assist greatly the induction of sleep in new subjects.

In my experience, the gazing process cannot be employed by everyone. It requires in the person who employs it a sharp, penetrating look, capable of long-continued fixedness; it will likewise seldom succeed on individuals who are magnetised for the first time.

The magnetisers, when they had made the passes downwards for some time, looking at the patients and not finding them yielding to their influence, would close the patients' eyes, and press the fingers gently on the eyelids and retain them there for a few minutes, at the same time concentrating all their efforts. This method succeeds with some patients better than the continual stare.

Stroking the skin of the brow and temples is another way of producing the same effect.

Another method is to hold two fingers before the subject's eyes, and ask him to gaze at their tips and to concentrate his attention on the idea of sleep. The fingers are moved from a distance close to the eyes and away again, when the tiring effect of constant accommodation of vision often produces the desired effect.

A more modern method to produce these sensations and subsequent hypnosis is by gazing, on the part of the patient alone, either at a small object in his hand, or at an object placed above and before the eyes, as was done with success by Braid, of whom we shall learn more presently. The object was held close in order to cause convergence of the eyes.

Later, Braid gave up placing the object so close as to cause convergence. He found it advantageous to hold the object so high that the eyelids are strained as much as possible in keeping the eyes open.

Still later, Braid found that fixed gazing was frequently followed by discomfort in the eyes. Thereupon he abandoned the prolonged gazing, and instructed! the patient to close his eyes at an early stage of the proceedings. Hypnosis was induced as easily as before, and the unpleasant symptoms disappeared. Provided the body and mind were at rest, he found he could hypnotise as readily in the dark as in the light.

The simplest process, though applicable only to selected cases, is to leave the subject seated by himself, telling him that if he close his eyes and relax his muscles, and, as far as possible, think of "nothing," he will fall asleep. Then the operator may leave the room, and on returning after a time he sometimes finds the patient fast asleep.

Most physicians use the modern method (Bernheim's method) of persuasion and suggestion: inducing sleep by describing to the patient the successive stages of sleep, "your eyelids are getting heavy, you are getting tired, you can hardly keep your eyes open, they are closing now," and so on.

This method is, however, not so new as is claimed by some, for it is only a variation, or rather a more detailed application of the process employed by the Abbe Faria, a magnetiser who performed his experiments as a public showman, and was considered a quack in his days. But no one can deny that he was eminently successful.

He placed in a chair the person who wished to submit himself to his manipulation, recommended him to shut his eyes, and, after adjusting himself for some minutes, said to him in a loud and commanding' voice, "Sleep!" This simple word, uttered in the midst of solemn silence by a man whose wonderous feats were so much spoken of, made sometimes on the patient an impression sufficiently intense to produce the phenomena of hypnotism and somnambulism.

Some physicians do not scrapie to use narcotics to induce hypnotism, but, in my opinion, the use of them is to be condemned.

Persons can be hypnotised, too, while in their normal sleep. The method is to repeat in a gentle voice, " Sleep, sleep, go on sleeping!" when it will be found that, after a time, rapport is established between the sleeping person and the operator, and questions will be answered. Some stroke the patient gently while commanding him to sleep. This method is considered of much practical value in subduing persons who otherwise make difficult subjects.

Any of these methods may be tried, and sometimes have to be, for some persons are more impressionable to one than the other. Some get distracted when they are touched, while others go off more easily when they feel the contact of the operator. As a matter of fact, all processes succeed when they inspire confidence in the subject.

As a rule, each hypnotiser has his own pet method, but the real expert is able to judge the mental susceptibility of the subject at first sight, and can tell at once what process would be most successful.

Some hypnotists declare that they can hypnotise 90 per cent, of all comers; others say only 20 per cent., or even less. The difference is to be accounted for by the fact that the one who derives such a great success induces only the somnolent state, which is all that is necessary for most cases, whereas the other is not satisfied unless he can produce actual hypnosis.

It will be noticed that though all the methods vary, the conditions to produce hypnosis are practically the same:

1. First and foremost is that of fixation of the attention.

2. Monotonous environment, to produce monotony of impressions and intellectual drowsiness, the prelude of sleep.

3. Limitation of voluntary movements by relaxation of the muscles.

4. Limitation of the field of consciousness by allowing no new incoming impressions, and

5. Inhibition of ideas by making the mind as near as possible a perfect blank.

Much also depends on the personal magnetism, sympathy, or authority of the operator, and much on his tact in interpretating the susceptibility of the patient, employing the right process and giving the right suggestions.

The operator grows more successful the more he operates. Still, it must be said that the condition of hypnosis lies in the mind of the subject himself; the experimenter has no power except as the subject gives him power. The subject comes to the doctor prepared for hypnotisation, and he makes conditions easy for its attainment.

"Women, as a rule, are more susceptible than men, because in them the feelings are stronger; they are by nature more passive, have greater sensibility, more tendency to the marvellous, more veneration, a livelier faith, less cerebro-spinal or voluntary energy, and a more highly developed sympathetic nervous system.

I'am, of course, referring to normal subjects all the time. Hysterical patients can sometimes be thrown immediately into hypnotic catalepsy by any violent sensation, such as by striking a gong or the flashing of an intense light in their eyes. Pressure on certain parts of the body, oftenest found on the forehead and about the root of the thumbs, rapidly produces hypnotic sleep in some hysterics.

Owing to the fact that hypnotism is nowadays practised chiefly by physicians and for medical purposes, the notion is common that only sick people, or people suffering from nervous or other disorders, can be hypnotised. This is a mistake, however; perfectly healthy people make equally excellent subjects, as will be made clear to the reader in subsequent chapters; only healthy people have no reason to consult a doctor. The mistaken notion that only hysterical or nervous patients are susceptible to hypnotism results from the fact that such people come more under the observation of physicians.

Nor has weakness of "will" anything to do with the susceptibility of a subject. What hinders hypnotisation sometimes is "mental pre-occupation," which, however, may suddenly at some moment be removed.

Neither is it lack of muscular strength that predisposes to hypnosis: strong muscular persons are equally easily hypnotised if the conditions enumerated are fulfilled. If they are not, even the feeblest person will make a bad subject.

Nor are "credulous" persons necessarily good subjects. There are plenty of people who believe all that they are told, yet they often offer a lively resistance when an effort is made to hypnotise them.

Insane people are notoriously hard to hypnotise, because of the difficulty to engage their attention and get them to concentrate. But with persons in the primary stages of mental disorder—that is to say, not altogether mad—there is no such difficulty.

I believe I am the first to draw attention to the fact that there are many people who hypnotise themselves constantly, without being aware of it. I do not mean men who get so "lost" by concentration on their thoughts or work—the brown study—that they do not notice what is going on around them, but rather persons who get" vacant," thinking of nothing in particular. I have come across many such subjects, recognised by the peculiar stare of their eyes, and found those who have consented to let me try them excellent subjects for the production of the higher phenomena of the hypnotic state. Others I have had as patients, and, needless to say, there was no necessity for me to hypnotise them; they produced the state themselves when I drew their attention to what I had observed in them. One or two consultations suffice for such people to cure them of their disorder.

It is entirely possible to hypnotise oneself. Most of us have, at times, let ourselves go mentally until we were on the verge of what seemed to be a kind of fascination or trance, at the brink of which we aroused ourselves with a start. If now we place ourselves under circumstances favourable to sleep, cutting off, so far as may be, actual impressions, and attend concentratedly to the idea of hypnosis, we presently drop into a similar state of "fascination," which soon becomes hypnosis proper, and, later, passes off as ordinary sleep. This self-hypnotisation, which can be facilitated by looking intently at a reflected light or some other subject, is useful to persons suffering from insomnia.