John Newport Langley

“ Handling the frog in the way which is done when it is mesmerized produces a certain emotional condition which we may call fright. But, when the animal is frightened, the nerve-cells of the cortex are set in activity in a special manner. This mode of activity inhibits other modes of activity, and the will is paralyzed. [2] We can not at present, I think, put in any more definite form the effect of one state of the cortex of the brain upon its other possible states. We do not know enough of the relations of the cortex of the brain to the psychical functions to say more. ”

“ The primary point in mesmerism is the paralysis of the will; the nervous system is then out of the control of the subject, whether animal or man, and, by appropriate stimulation, any one or more of his nerve-centers can be set in activity. I shall consider first the behavior of the lower animals when mesmerized: in these the phenomena, as far as at present observed, are much simpler than they are in man. If a frog be turned over on its back, it at once regains its normal position ”

“ Inhibition by impulses proceeding from the cortex of the brain occurs every day of our lives. The "will" is perpetually being brought into play to inhibit some nerve-center or other. For example, you may be on the verge of yawning, when it suddenly occurs to you that it will be better not to do so; you suppress the yawn without moving a muscle. What happens is this: An inhibitory nerve-impulse is sent from the cortex, and puts a stop to the indiscreet activity of a nerve-center elsewhere in the brain. ”

“ During his long tenure of the office of secretary of the Royal Society he seized every opportunity of forwarding the cause of science, and took a prominent part in most of the plans for combined scientific action. ”

“ Occasionally it happens that a slight pressure on a single muscle, which causes it to contract, will by an irradiation of nerve-impulses produce the muscular sensations proper to a group of muscles, and this will give rise to the associated frame of mind. ”

“ Foster was educated first at Huntingdon grammar school and later (1849-1852) at University College School, London. The religious tests demanded by the University of Cambridge stood in the way of his entering for a scholarship there. At the age of sixteen he matriculated at the University of London, and graduated B.A. in 1854 with the university scholarship in classics. Choosing his father's profession, Foster in 1854 began the study of science and medicine at University College. There in 1856 he obtained gold medals in anatomy and physiology, and in chemistry. ”

“ The subject is usually uneasy and preoccupied until the thing is done; he is, to a greater or less extent, unable to fix his attention on other things; he is, in fact, in a state of unconscious attention to an unconscious memory. ”

“ Sharpcy no doubt had somewhat extended this simple plan before he invited Foster to join him in London ; but the first course of practical physiology given in England appears to have been that given by Foster. In 1870 Huxley instituted a course of practical biology, with Foster as one of his demonstrators. Foster's first care on coming to Cambridge was to introduce practical classes in physiology, physiological chemistry, histology, and biology, and these were soon followed by a class in embryology. ”

“ 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—the leg may be kicked out more quickly and vigorously, or it may not be kicked out at all. ”

“ In 1861 he joined his father in practice in Huntingdon. His health improved, and in 1867 he accepted an invitation from Prof. Sharpey to become teacher in practical physiology in University College, London. There he rapidly showed his practical gifts as a teacher. Two years later he was appointed professor in the same subject, and he succeeded Huxley as Fullerian professor of physiology at the Royal Institution. In 1870 he left London for Cambridge, on his appointment, chiefly on Huxley's recommendation, to the newly established post of prælector of physiology in Trinity College. ”

“ But in people who have been previously mesmerized inhibition in this manner is of not unfrequent occurrence; within limits, the more often the changes in the cells accompanying inhibition have been produced, the easier they are to reproduce. Those who have often been mesmerized may fall again into this condition at any moment, if the idea crosses their minds that they are expected to be mesmerized. ”

“ There are certain attitudes which we usually assume under the influence of certain moods or ideas; from each of the muscles concerned in bringing about any one attitude, impulses travel up to the brain, and give rise to a definite muscular sensation which comes, therefore, to be associated with a particular mental mood. In mesmerized people the production of a definite muscular sensation not infrequently produces in the mind the mood with which it is, in the wakeful state, associated. ”

“ The modern miracles of healing, wrought in persons in a state of religious enthusiasm, offer a field for investigating this problem; the field, however, is a particularly bad one, and chiefly because so many people concerned regard any careful examination of the subject as impious. ”

“ If the head is pushed back and the shoulders opened out, the face assumes a look full of pride or haughtiness, and, if the subject be asked what he is thinking about, he will give some answer indicating what a fine fellow he fancies himself to be. ”

“ Apart from the movements it makes in breathing, it lies motionless. If it has been held for a short time only, the hypnotic state does not last long, usually from one to five or ten minutes; but, if the movements it makes, say, at the end of one minute, or of five minutes, and so on, are suppressed, it will not infrequently happen that the frog will then stay without further movement for a considerable time, sometimes even for many hours. ”

“ The alteration in the tissue caused by its changed nutritive state—its changed metabolism—may conceivably be either beneficial or detrimental to the whole organism; it may give rise to a diseased state, or get rid of an existing one. ”

“ In different people the order in which different centers are inhibited varies, as we should expect, from the unequal development of different centers in different people. This is no doubt of influence in determining whether the general state is cataleptic, somnambulistic, or lethargic, and here probably the method used to mesmerize is also of considerable importance; it would seem that the cataleptic condition is more likely to be developed when the process of mesmerization involves a strain on the eyes of the subject than when he is mesmerized by passes. ”

“ The term animal magnetism lingered long, but has now happily fallen into disuse, either mesmerism or hypnotism being used in its stead. "Hypnotism" we owe to Dr. Braid, of Manchester, who, from 1841 to the time of his death in 1860, subjected all the phenomena said to be produced in the magnetic state to a searching investigation. Braid is the founder of mesmerism in its scientific aspect. Hypnotism and mesmerism, as commonly used now, are synonymous terms ”

“ In some cases wonders were wrought by touching the affected parts of the patient with a magnet. Maxwell, who in 1679 published a short treatise on magnetic medicine, attributed the cures brought about by this, and by some other unusual forms of medical practice, to the accumulation of a subtile fluid in the body of the patient. This subtile fluid was diffused through all things in nature; a fortunate few among men had an inborn power of controlling its distribution. Such men could cure all diseases ”

“ But in mesmerized persons it seems probable that such investigations could be made on a fairly satisfactory basis. Men when mesmerized gradually lose remembrance of those things which they remember when they are awake, but not infrequently other things are remembered which are forgotten in the waking state. ”

“ With one hand a bright object, such as this faceted piece of glass, is held thus, eight to twelve inches from the subject, so that there is a considerable convergence of the eyes, and rather above the level of the eyes, so that he is obliged to look upward. ”