HYPNOTISM

n. Hiap'no at-i2z'm. Lat., hynnotisnius (from virvoj. sleep). Fr., hyp not is me, sommeil somnambulique provoqv6 (ou art if i ciel). Ger., Hypnotism us. It., ipnotismo. Sp., hip no tim no. Syn.: braidism. An abnormal state into which some persons may be thrown, either by a voluntary act of their own, such as gazing continuously and with fixed attention on some small bright object held close to the eyes, or by the exercise of another person's will; characterized by suspension of the will and consequent obedience to the promptings of " suggestions " from without (see SUGGESTION). The activity of the organs of special sense, except the eye, may be heightened, and the power of the muscles increased. Perfect insensibility to pain may be induced by h., and it has been used as an anaesthetic. It is apt to be followed by severe headache of long continuance and by various nervous disturbances. On emerging from h., the hypnotized person usually has no remembrance of what happened during its continuance, but in many persons such a remembrance may be Induced by " suggestion." About one person in three is susceptible of h., and those of an hysterical or neurotic tendency (but rarely the insane) are the most readily hypnotized. [J. Braid, " Month. Jour, of Med. Sci.." July, 1853 (D.); A. 385, 528; D, 35.] Galvanic h. See GALVANO-HYPNOTISM. Telepathic h. Fr., sommeil d distance. The production of sleep or other hypnotic phenomena by the will, or mental suggestion, of a person at a distance from the subject. [Myers, "Proc. Soc. Psych. Research," 1886-'87, iv, 127 (a, 40).] [s. 412]