This is such a cool little pamphlet. I'm guessing at the year, because it doesn't have an ISBN or even a publisher listed, but I think it's around 1910. There are a bunch of things that rock about this book, but I'm going to start by quoting the whole of chapter five, because it's just that funny.
CHAPTER V
HOW TO PUT A MAN IN A TRANCE
To put a man in a trance for a week is a very remarkable thing, but it can be accomplished by getting a good subject. It is the best to find a man that is strong, one that has a good share of the motive and vital temperaments, so that he will be able to endure the ordeal without suffering a great deal. You must hypnotize the subject frequently to get him under control, then practice keeping him in the hypnotic state for a few hours, then a day, after that two days. You must suggest to him that he will not awake until you tell him.
There are a few secrets in connection with this performance, viz.:-Keep the patient warm, avoid draughts, let him lie in a comfortable position, turn him over about twice a day. Before commencing, the subject must be a state of good health; he must walk a few miles two days before he is put in the trance, and he must take two ounces of Epsom salts, so as to have a good purging. The Epsom salts have a constipating effect on the bowels after they have acted, and therefore he will not want to move the bowels while he is in the trance. (A person with weak bowels will not do for this test.)
Hypnotize the subject, put him to sleep (the deep sleep), and suggest to him that he will not awake until you tell him.
HOW TO AWAKEN THE SUBJECT
To awaken the subject, make long upward passes and throw the magnetism off, blow your breath in his face, slap the palms of his hands, and speak to him in a loud voice, saying "You are all right, you are all right." The subject or patient will then begin to come round. Do not let anyone touch him, because it crosses the magnetism and retards the awakening process.
* * *
You can see why I wanted to quote the whole thing. Apart from the picture of you showing off your MAN IN A TRANCE in his comfortable coffin to your well-heeled friend, probably my favourite bit is the confusion between "performance" and "test", and between "subject" and "patient". In the last paragraph, even the author is unclear which the victim is.
Other points for discussion: Why, oh god, why? Explain how members of the medical profession who are very jealous may also cross the magnetism and retard the waking process. How many MEN IN A TRANCE do you think it took to discover that the subject/patient/victim must walk a few miles two days before? In modern days, a better greeting for your previously comatose victim might be "You will not sue, you will not sue." Would you sue? Can I hypnotize you now? Are you feeling sleepy?
More excerpts coming soon:
- excellent references to phrenology,
- Alfred Russel Wallace: the other thing he was famous for,
- the best product placement ever -- an ad for the book you're reading, in the book you're reading, and
- other ads for books like "THE SOLAR PLEXUS Or Abdominal Brain" by Theron Q. Dumont.
1 comment:
Don’t you feel it would only have taken one MAN IN A TRANCE subject/patient/idiot to be prescribed two ounces of epsom salts two days before the ‘performance/buried alive fiasco’ and THEN ordered to go for a two mile walk before the order of those instructions was found to work better in reverse?
Should that sentence have had some sort of punctuation?
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