called when in reverie, perhaps in the country, his mind goes back to his
boyhood.
Thought reading is very easy if a person is visible, and rascals begin
from a distance, and finally operate between hypnotics out of sight.
They seem in this first to catch a person when he passes a window. This
shows that they are susceptible to the amount of light, as well as that a
thick wall is a greater obstacle than a pane of glass. They thus too may
partly distinguish environment, though this is perhaps learned by
practice.
Ear and eye and muscular feeling are all weighed. A strong man much
hypnotised in this way, will notice that a diminished light will relieve
him, although previously he paid little attention to any glare, even up
to the age of forty.
Residence changed from a ground floor to a lofty room would often cause
unusual relief. On a church tower this would be felt even more.
The noise of London, and the fact that people hanging about are watched,
are checks to the early operations of criminal hypnotists.
Music is probably an excellent antidote. A feeling of stupidity, given
even for a second, would probably give a boy a wrong idea of himself, and
even repeated successes would not quite efface this.
The Japanese system of wrestling lately introduced shows how powerful a
touch on a nerve may be in weakening a man. Such a touch transferred or
propelled, may for a long time aid hypnotisers from a distance, though it
would be in time disregarded or little regarded.
Calculative work is better suited than imaginative work to free the
brain. I would urge inquirers to ask themselves, whether Mrs. Piper's
doings could be accounted for in any other way than that suggested.
Clairvoyance is seemingly mere guess-work, the imagination being
heightened temporarily rather than depressed by the hypnotic pressure.
Mr. Vincent's analysis of mental reactions is invaluable. A hypnotised
person does not go on to the analogies, which may be quite obvious
from a suggestive word.
This resembles the habit of some religious persons who build on one text
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