CURRENT DELUSIONS RE- 
LATING TO HYPNOTISM 
(ARTIFICIAL TRANCE). 
Geo. JVI. Beard, M. D., 
New York City. 
Eeprint from 
The Alienist and Neurologist, 
St. Louis, January, 1882. Current Delusions Relating to 
Hypnotism (Artificial Trance.) 
By George M. Beard, A. M., M. D., New York. 
UNDER this head, I will endeavor to indicate briefly, 
and, if possible, clearly, some of the errors in regard 
to the artificial form of trance popularly known as hyp- 
notism, that just now prevail among scientific students of 
this subject, both in Europe and America. 
The popular delusions on this subject, of which mag- 
netism and animal magnetism are the most familiar, are 
now passing away—have, indeed, already become historic 
—but there remain, even with some of the best of the 
special workers in this line, a number of other and almost 
as serious delusions, which must be dissipated before 
trance, in all its phenomena and numerous scientific and 
practical relations, becomes appreciated and understood. 
For the sake of clearness—to know just where we 
stand—a few definitions may be repeated here. 
First—Trance is the concentration of nervous force 
in some one direction, with corresponding suspension of 2 
George M. Beard. 
nervous force in other directions. It is subdivided into 
natural and artificial forms. 
Second—Natural trance, that which comes on through 
natural causes, is, like insanity, variously subdivided into 
cataleptic trance, somnambulistic trance, alcoholic trance, 
intellectual trance, emotional trance, etc. 
One law governs all these varieties of trance, natural 
and artificial. One theory, the concentration theory, 
explains and unifies them all. He who has experienced 
or witnessed an ordinary attack of absent-mindedness and 
understands it thoroughly in all that it suggests, under- 
stands the philosophy of trance natural and artificial, and 
in all varieties and sub-varieties. 
Third—Artificial trance, popularly called “hypnotism.” 
The delusions now prevailing on this subject among 
specialists in this line of study are as follows ; 
First—That the artificial variety of trance, so-called 
hypnotism, is something distinct from the natural varie- 
ties, such as somnambulistic, ecstatic, intellectual, epilep- 
tic, cataleptic trance, etc. Although it is seven years since 
it was demonstrated in my work on “Trance” that all the 
varieties of this condition, whether produced naturally or 
artificially, were simply sub-divisions of a general state 
analogous to the sub-divisions of epilepsy, hysteria, or 
insanity, yet this fact seems to be only beginning to be 
understood; and only by a few of the most advanced 
and liberal investigators. Writers speak of the artificial 
variety as something different from the general state, just 
as they would speak of the different varieties of insanity 
as something distinct from general insanity. Insanity 
may be artificially produced in various ways, just as 
trance can be produced artificially. If we make a man 
drunk with alcohol, we produce a case of artificial insan- 
ity the symptoms of which resemble many cases of 
natural insanity; if we put a man out of his head by 
fright, we may also in some cases produce a case of arti- 
ficial insanity, and it is the same in principle as the natural 
varieties of insanity. An attack of drunkenness, then, is Current Delusions Relating to Hypnotism. 
3 
to insanity what an attack of hypnotism is to trance. 
Artificial trance may be produced in ways innumerable. 
In this country we are mostly familiar with artificial 
trance caused by exciting the emotion of expectation; 
and it is incomparably the best way for a scientific study 
of this subject; but the method of Braid, now used in 
Europe, the method of Mesmer, used before Braid, or 
the method of Von Helmont, and scores of others used 
before Mesmer’s time, produced the same phenomena, 
though in quality and variety far less satisfactory for 
scientific purposes. 
Secondly.—That it is necessary for the operator to do 
anything, or cause the subject to do anything, in order 
to produce this artificial trance, so-called hypnotism. 
Nothing astonished the European experts in the case 
I exhibited so much as the fact that he entered the 
trance state and came out of it without anything being 
done, either by himself or by anybody else. A method 
I often used was to have the subject sit down before a 
clock or watch, and tell him at such a time he was to 
enter into the trance state, and at such a time to come 
out of it; meanwhile I might not be in the room or 
near it; it would make no difference with the results if 
we were thousands of miles apart. 
It is beginning to be comprehended by a few of the 
best European investigators that this can be done with 
trained subjects, that is, those trained through the emo- 
tion of expectation; but it seems not to be compre- 
hended that this is the best of all ways to train cases for 
the purposes of scientific study. It may in some instances 
take a longer time than some other of the myriad meth- 
ods that have been used, but the results are infinitely 
more varied and satisfactory, and it makes it possible to 
devise experiments in such variety and quantity as 
assure ourselves that the subject is not deceiving us, 
either intentially or unintentionally.* 
*lt is this very phenomena that causes those who are unfamiliar with 
ti'ance to suspect that the siihject'is not genuine. Such an inference is natural, 
indeed almost inevitable, to those who have not thoroughly and experimentally 
investigated this department of science. 4 
George M. Beard. 
Thirdly.—ln assuming that persons who are entranced 
artificially are necessarily liable to the natural varieties of 
trance, and also that they are liable to be injured thereby 
in mind or body. 
There is common belief that good subjects for these 
experiments are those who are, or have been, epileptic, 
anaemic, hysterical or insane. This belief, which is mostly 
an erroneous one, prevails all over Europe and in this coun- 
try also, except among those who have given much time 
and thought to investigation of this subject. Prof. Preyer, 
of Jena, who is working faithfully ;and successively in this 
department, on witnessing the experiments, repeatedly 
urged me to desist or to be more moderate lest the 
subject should be injured. Trance produced by acting 
on the emotion of expectation is a purely psycho- 
logical, not a physical state, and has not necessarily 
any relation to physical health, whether good or bad. 
The Jumpers of Maine are strong and long-lived. • I 
have experimented with persons of different ages, of both 
sexes, white and black, old and young, and the majority, 
though not all of the very best subjects for the average 
of experiments and for the most interesting experiments, 
are of firm or medium health, and it is on this class that 
for scientific purposes, I prefer to experiment. Nervous, 
feeble, hysterical women, who are made subjects of these 
experiments, and become frightened or alarmed in regard 
to them, may become temporarily and, possibly, in rare 
cases permanently injured thereby. The possibility of 
this, on theoretical grounds, I will allow, but I must say, 
that in my own personal experience extending over many 
years, in which I have made many thousands of exper- 
iments on hundreds of different individuals, I have never 
known of one being permanently injured thereby ; a few 
temporary disturbances, lasting over a few hours or days, 
have been the only unpleasant results I have witnessed, 
and these due almost always to the inexperience of the 
experimenter. This is the position which the psychologi- 
cal science of the future is to take on this subject. Current Delusions Relating to Hypnotism. 
5 
I have watched persons who have been in the habit 
of entering this state, off and on, for years, and if any 
one of these cases should at any time become insane, it 
would take very much evidence to convince me that 
such experiments had been the cause of their insanity. 
Even traveling performers, who, as a rule, know 
nothing of psychology, however expert they may be in 
their practical performances, rarely do any harm to the 
cases on whom they may experiment; and they usually, 
if not always, have a certain proportion of delicate women 
among their subjects. On the contrary, I have seen 
many who have been benefited in various ways by these 
experiments, and all the claims made by Mr. Braid on 
this subject are verified and more than verified. 
I dwell on this question with special earnestness, for 
it has been stated that in Germany experiments have been 
stopped by the Government, and there is a probability 
that scientific investigators may be crippled in their study 
of this subject, as they have already been in the study of 
animals. The popular oppositions to vivisection, to dis- 
section and to vaccination are far more scientific, more 
wise, and have a better foundation in reason than the 
opposition to the experimental study of trance in human 
beings. 
Fourth.—That there is no way of proving the genuine- 
ness of the phenomena of artificial trance, but that we 
must take it entirely on our faith in the truthfulness of 
the person operated upon. 
In a recent paper, Richet has said that the only way 
to convince ourselves of the genuineness of this state is to 
go into it ourselves. Is it impossible for any one to 
know that there is such a disease as insanity unless he 
himself becomes insane ? Must then every expert in 
insanity be himself a lunatic? Must every psychologist 
who testifies in regard to questions in lunacy before a 
court of justice be dismissed as an incompetent witness 
unless he can prove that he has been a patient in an 
asylum ? 6 
George M. Beard. 
Not only do we have as much proof of the genuine- 
ness of the phenomena of artificial trance as we have of 
any of those of insanity, but we have far better and more 
convincing proofs than can be acquired of insanity 
where we suspect simulation. To develop these tests 
has been, indeed, the labor of years, and they will be 
described in detail in my work on trance. They can 
be mastered by any psychologist who will give as 
much time to this subject as is necessary to become 
familiar with lunacy or with nervous diseases in general. 
In some cases, a long series of experiments of different 
kinds, repeated over and over again, under different con- 
ditions, not in the presence of audiences but alone, or 
with a few earnest cooperators, as in all branches of 
science, are needed to assure ourselves absolutely and 
beyond all question that we are dealing with a genuine, 
not a pretended case. No person, however skillful in this 
department, or however large his experience may be, can 
tell from witnessing a number of experiments whether they 
are genuine or not. The genuineness of the case which 
I had in London had been proved here through months 
of labor by myself and others. In London I used him 
merely to illustrate certain new discoveries that had been 
made during the year; although, familar experiments were 
repeated. 
When, two years ago, Charcot showed me one of his 
interesting cases of artificial trance, I asked him whether 
he had convinced himself that the case was genuine, 
he replied that he had, that he had spent much time in 
investigating; and I had, and have no doubt that he was 
quite right; but although I was myself allowed to make 
experiments with the same subject, I did not regard all 
the phenomena as demonstrative. So when Prof. Preyer, 
of Jena, called to see my subject, and asked if I had 
convinced myself of the reality of the phenomena, I re- 
plied that I had, and he then witnessed the experiments 
with Mr. Braid and Mr. Romaines. 
This is the true position of science on this subject, Current Delusions Relating to Hypnotism. 
7 
and it cannot be insisted on too frequently, or with too 
much emphasis. 
Fifth.—That the failures in any subject are evidences 
or suggestions of deception. 
Years ago I was myself a victim to this delusion, at 
least to a degree, and was only emancipated by inde- 
pendent reasoning and study. 
Failures are rather a sign of sincerity, while uniform 
successes at all times and under all circumstances might 
give reason for a suspicion that there is shamming, unless 
there is positive evidence to the contrary. 
I have had opportunity in my life to study a large 
number of cases of sham trance, and the rule is that 
they succeed in what they attempt; if there is a doubt 
about their not being able to succeed, they are not likely 
to make the attempt. Genuine cases, like those that 
have been used by me in Europe and America before 
scientific men, are very likely to fail or to act unevenly. 
We cannot always depend upon them, even in those 
phenomena that can be readily simulated without any 
training whatever. There are atmospheric reasons for 
this, as there are climatic reasons for the fact that arti- 
ficial trance is more easily produced in this country than 
in Europe, and that the opportunities for studying it are 
better here, probably, than in any other part of the world. 
The nearest approach to the cases I have lately studied 
and exhibited in America and Europe in the rapidity and 
suddenness of going into trance and out of it, are some 
of those on whom Charcot performs his experiments 
in Salpetnere. But in Charcot’s trained cases some pro- 
cedure, as holding up a pencil, or staring or looking at a 
light or bright object, are employed. In my cases nothing 
is done. Simply the emotion of expectation is acted upon, 
and the subjects are not hysterical or nervous, but, as a 
rule, strong, healthy and active. 
Sixth.—Neglecting to make a distinction between the 
positive and negative symptoms of artificial trance. 
This distinction is fundamental to the philosophic 8 
George M. Beard. 
study of this side of science. By negative symptoms I 
mean those that appear negatively, spontaneously, as an 
incidental result of the hypnotic condition, however pro- 
duced, and without any suggestion from any source 
whatever, or any expectation on the part of the subject. 
These negative symptoms, such as sleep in its various 
grades, modifications of the special senses, either exalta- 
tion or depression, are the chief features in Mr. Braid’s 
researches; and the best analysis of these negative phe- 
nomena of trance is to be found in the latest edition of 
Prof. Preyer’s work on the “ History of Hypnotism,” which 
contains a resume of what Mr. Braid did, including some 
manuscript not before published, which has been given 
me by a relative of Mr. Braid’s family, and which I 
placed in Prof. Preyer’s hands. 
The positive phenomena of trance, those which take 
place by direct suggestion, and take place simply because 
the subject expects them to do so and which are infinite, 
in a well-trained subject, including abolition, exaltation, 
and manifestation of the senses, special or general, have 
not been extensively studied in Europe, and are rarely 
referred to, even by the most recent writers. 
These positive symptoms are the most important phe- 
nomena of artificial trance. 
Seventh.—That the will of the operator is an essential 
factor in these phenomena. 
The vitality of this delusion is very great indeed, 
although it was apparently destroyed a long time since. 
I find it as active in Europe among those who had not 
studied the subject thoroughly as in America. I found 
it necessary to do there as I do here, go out of the 
room for a short time and leave others to carry on the 
experiments, simply by way of proof that I had nothing 
whatever to do with the matter, and to show them that 
all that was done could be done without my presence, 
and that any person or thing in whom the subject has 
confidence, so that the emotion of expectation can be 
influenced, serves the purpose of an operator. Current Delusions Relating to Hypnotism. 
9 
“The world does move,” but the people that dwell 
upon it tremble as it moves, fearing lest its centrifugal 
force may hurry it to destruction. Our present theme, 
the interaction of mind and body, has been the terror 
of not a few amiable and timid non-experts in both hem- 
ispheres ; and solemn editorials in able journals are 
praying scientific investigators to stop where they are lest 
we learn too much of the secrets of the nervous system ; 
and are exhorting young men to stand fast by the old 
truths that our dear fathers and mothers of the middle 
ages found so useful and loved so well. But all this 
terror comes too late ; the work has been done ; the dis- 
coveries have been made; both the peril and the investi- 
gation are nearly over; what we now hear is not the rising 
but the retiring storm ; henceforth, for our time and for 
all time, this branch of science shall quietly take its 
place in the ranks of psychology, side by side with hys- 
teria, epilepsy and insanity, all of which diseases gained 
their admission only after long years of doubt, denial 
and delay. NO PHYSICIAN SHOULD BE WITHOUT 
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