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Speaker 1: Chapter nine of Mental Fascination. This is a LibriVox recording.

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All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more

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information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Mental

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Fascination by William Walker Atkinson. Chapter nine Experiments in induced Sensation.

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In the last chapter we considered instances of tests of

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experimental fascination along the lines of muscular control. In this

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chapter we will consider the phenomena attendant upon induced sensation,

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all of which follows the same law of cause and

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is produced in the same manner and by the same

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methods as the muscular phenomena. Let us begin our consideration

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of sense control by the familiar test of the burning hand,

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the burning hand test. This test is performed in the

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following manner. You stand before the impressionable, the latter extending

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his hand toward you, palm downward. You place the first

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two fingers of your right hand upon the back of

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his hand, holding them there for a moment, and concentrating

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your gaze and will upon his hand. Then you say

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to him, sharply, rapidly, and positively, I am burning your hand.

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I am burning your hand. It is hot, hot, hot,

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it is burning, burning, burning you, burning you, I say,

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take it away quick, I tell you it is burning you,

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et cetera, et cetera, always emphasising the words hot and burning,

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and at the same time willing that your fingers will

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feel hot to him. It is surprising how many people

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will experience the sensation of heat if you perform the

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test properly and are able to concentrate your will sufficiently

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well and accompany the same with vivid suggestions. A variation

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of this test is to give the impressionable a silver coin,

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telling him to hold it between his thumb and forefinger, then,

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after a moment, give him the suggestions of it being hot, hot, hot,

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it's burning you, burning you, et cetera. You may even

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impress upon him the idea that while it is burning him,

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he is unable to let go of it, et cetera.

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Induced pain. Another test of the sense of feeling is

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that shown by having the impressionable holds out his hand,

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his arm being extended full length, then standing before him

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with a pin between the finger and thumb of your

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right hand, pretend to prick your own hand, jabbing the

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pin into it, and grimacing as if with pain, at

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the same time saying to him. You see you feel

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the pain of this pen. It hurts you. It hurts you,

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I say, you feel the pain instead of my feeling it.

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See you feel it now, making a feint of jabbing

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the pin into your own hand. You feel it, I say,

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et cetera. It is remarkable how many persons will take

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on the pain you are supposed to be feeling. Of course,

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your imagination should be exercised under the control of your will,

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so that you will allow yourself to imagine that you

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feel the pain. I have seen the above experiment try

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before a roomful of people, and many of the audience

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shared the induced pain with the impressionable upon whom the

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experiment was being tried. Do not forget what I said

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in the last chapter about taking away the induced condition

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after the test. In the above cases, rub your finger

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over the burnt or hurt spot, saying it's all right now,

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all right, the pain is all gone. If you do

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not do so, the impressionable may carry away with him

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a sensation that his hand had been subjected to heat

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or pain. Remarkable phenomena. In this connection, it may be

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proper to call your attention to the fact that the

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history of the subject shows cases in which burns have

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actually been produced on the bodies of persons by strong

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suggestion coupled with physical aids. For instance, postage stamps have

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been placed in portions of the body with the suggestion

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that they were fly blisters, and the blister appeared. You

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will see that it is all a matter of induced feeling.

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The more marked results merely evidencing the power of the

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mind of the individual over the mind in the portions

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of his body, as I have shown in the chapter

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entitled Mental Therapeutics in my work on mental magic. Many

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other experiments along the line of sense control might be mentioned,

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but they are all but different forms of the same thing.

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The ingenuity of the experimenter will indicate manifold variations if

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he sees fit to follow up the subject induced sense

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of smell. The sense of smell may be induced by

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the experimenter suggesting to the impressionable that a bottle contains

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a liquid smelling like certain perfumes, et cetera. This may

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be varied by changing the suggestion so that all the

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well known perfumes may be sensed, like the legend of

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the magic perfume Bottle of the Wizard, which probably was

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nothing more than a case of clever induction of the

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sense of smell by the method mentioned herein personal experiences.

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I have seen a number of cases of this kind

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in my personal experience, in which large numbers of people

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were impressed in this way. In one case, I was

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attending a play, the scene of which was laid in

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the south, and in which on one of the characters remarked, Oh,

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smell the magnolia. How strong is their odor in this heavy,

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warm night air, And in a moment the audience noticed

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a plain odor of magnolias floating over the house. So

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strong was the impression that many insisted that the management

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had actually introduced the odor in order to heighten the effect.

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But inquiry showed this to be erroneous, for no olor

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was actually used. More recently, I attended a play The

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Girl with the Green Eyes, in which one of the

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characters was supposed to have committed suicide by turning on

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the gas in full sight of the audience. The room

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was large, and jet after jet of the many chandeliers,

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bracket lights, et cetera. Were turned on by the woman.

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In a short time, people in the audience began to

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sniff and say smell the gas, until everyone thought they

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smelled it, and some women felt faint. Of course, the

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original impression was given by the physical suggestion, but as

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soon as people took on the impression, it spread like

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a contagion by the law of mental induction, until all

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felt it more or less the professor's experiments, there are

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cases recorded of the effect being deliberately produced, For instance,

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the tale of the old German professor, who, after telling

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his class that he would uncork a bottle containing a

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chemical compound noted for its foul odor, uncorked a bottle

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of distilled waller possessing no odor at all. The class

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soon perceived the supposed odor, and row after row of

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students showed their disgust. The waves of the supposed vapor

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folloaded over the room, just as would have been the

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case if the genuine liquid had been uncourked. Those nearest

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the platform perceiving it first, and then the next row,

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and so on, until the whole room was filled with it.

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Even after the professor explained the nature of the experiment,

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the class still sniffed away, and many refused to believe

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the explanation, so strong was the impression. These cases were

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nothing else than instances of induced sensation of smell. Along

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the lines of mental impression induced sight, a sense of

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sight may be induced in the same way. A common

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experiment with a very impressionable person is as follows. Tell

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him to extend his hand palm down, then mark a

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cross on the back of his hand with their forefinger

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pressing well into the skin, at the same time saying, see,

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I have marked a black cross on your hand. On

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your hand, a black cross. See it there? You see

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it there? Now, black black, a black cross. You see

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it there, don't you, et cetera. And if he be

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sufficiently impressionable, he will see it. The more that you

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can imagine the black cross there, the stronger will be

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his impression of it. If you will call the attention

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of people to the extraordinary blueness of the sky, they

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will be very apt to acquiesce, some of them going

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into raptures over it, although the sky is no bluer

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than at any other time. It is astonishing how many

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of these impressions are given and taken in everyday life.

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Someone thinks the room is very close, and immediately many

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people begin to feel suffocated and wish the windows raised.

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Someone suggests a draft and people begin to shiver. Someone

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remarks how extremely warm the day is, and people begin

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to mop their foreheads, and so on, all being bits

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from the same piece. Induced hearing. The sense of hearing

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may be induced in the same way. Tell your impressionable

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that he hears the song of a bird or the

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whistle of a locomotive at the same time, using your

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own imagination vigorously and giving the suggestions sufficiently vividly, and

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he will hear the sounds mentioned. You may try this

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on several people in a room on an ordinary occasion

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by preten tending to hear the humming of a bee,

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or a distant whistle, or some other faint sound, such

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as the distant wail of a child, and a certain

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percentage of those present, after a moment or two of

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intent listening, will affirm that they heard the sound. Induced taste,

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the sense of taste is easily induced. The well known

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experiment of suggesting the taste of lemons with the accompanying

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flow of saliva and taste of acid is a good example.

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With a good impressionable, you may induce a sense of

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changing tastes from extreme sweetness to extreme acidity. In a

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simple tasteless glass of water. It all depends upon the

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degree of impressionability of the person's tested and the strength

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of your own imagination and suggestion. It is all a

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question of induced sensation. The professional hypnotist turns this to

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good account in his entertainment personal experiments. In this connection,

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I would say that several years ago, when I was

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devoting much time to experimental work, I cured many cases

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of tobacco chewing, cigarette habit, et cetera. By a course

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of vivid suggestion accompanied by visualization manifesting as mental induction.

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I would create a mental image of the tobacco or

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cigarettes as having a disgusting taste, a taste that produced

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a feeling akin to nausea, and then would concentrate my

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mind and feeling upon the other person, giving him, at

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the same time the most vivid suggestions of disgusting, nauseating,

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sickening taste, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, until he

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would be unable to chew the tobacco or smoke the cigarette.

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Then by following up the matter by giving him the

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strongest future impression that he would always remember the sensation

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of disgusting taste whenever he attempted to chew or smoke,

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and that the tobacco or cigarette would always induce those

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feelings in him. A cure of the habit would be effected.

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Sleep condition not necessary. Some practitioners of suggestive therapeutics have

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met with much success and the treatment of undesirable habits

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in this way. It is true that many of these

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practitioners have believed that it was necessary to produce the

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hypnotic sleep in order to get the results, but this

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is simply because they themselves are self hypnotized with the

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sleep delusion. And if they would but throw off their

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spell and begin to experiment along the other lines, they

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would see that the same results could be obtained without

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the slightest attempt to produce sleep. Senses inhibited. Just as

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the senses may be rendered by induction, so may they

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be inhibited in the same way. Any of the above

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experiments with the senses may be reversed. At will tell

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your impressionable that he cannot hear a certain sound, smell

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a certain odor, taste a certain taste, feel a certain sensation,

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see a certain thing. And if you be sufficiently positive

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and heea sufficiently impressionable, and if you use your imagination

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and suggestion sufficiently well, the senses will be inhibited in

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his mind for the time being. Remarkable instances in the

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matter of inhibition of the sense of feeling, some most

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remarkable results may be obtained. In fact, all of the

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results along this line secured by the hypnotists with the

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aid of the deep sleep may be obtained without attempt

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at sleep. I have seen minor operations performed under the

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influence of induced inhibition of the sense of feeling. I

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have seen teeth extracted with little or no pain in

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this way. I have seen nervous patients unusually sensitive to pain,

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able to stand dental work with practically no discomfort by

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means of such inhibition of the sense of feeling. Even

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the brutal experiments of many of the stage hypnotists who

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run needles through hypnotize patient's cheeks without causing pain, even

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these can be duplicated without sleep being induced. Although I

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consider such exhibitions deplorable and disgusting and worthy of the

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severest condemnation, I merely mention these last to show the

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power of induced feeling, or inhibition of the same by induction.

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The secret of inhibition. The secret of the inhibition of

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the senses is that the will is directed to shutting

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off the attention to the part or organ. If the

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attention can be removed or shut off, no pain will

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be felt. Many persons have practiced on themselves until they

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can inhibit pain in portions of their body and in

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inducing the effect in another person. The same methods are

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used accompanied by suggestion mental anesthesia. It may be of

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interest to many students to have me make a little

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more detailed reference to this subject of anesthesia by mental induction. Anesthesia,

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you know, is on entire or partial laws or absence

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of feeling or sensation. We generally think of this condition

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as being brought about only by something like ether, gas,

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et cetera. But anything that will tend to inhibit sensation

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is an anesthetic. The word inhibit, you know, means to check,

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to hold back, to restrain, et cetera. And pain and

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sensation may be inhibited by pure mental impression historical instances.

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History is full of instances of inhibition of pain by

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strong mental feeling, emotion, ecstasy, et cetera. Religious fanatics have

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mutilated themselves barbarously without the feeling of pain. The American Indians,

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in their wild dances, wound themselves without feeling the pain.

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In India, the fanatical deviltees torture themselves in horrible ways

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as a religious right and seem entirely callous to pain.

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People have been burned at the stake chanting joyful songs,

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and martyrs have been crunched in the jaws of the

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wild beasts with laughter and joyfully manifest. All of these instances,

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and many others of the same kind, show that it

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is possible for the mind of a person to inhibit

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pain in himself, and the inhibition of pain in a

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person by another person is merely a calling into play

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of the same power by means of induction and suggestion.

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It is not a creation of the power in the person,

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but merely a calling forth that which is already there.

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How to inhibit pain in another The following simple but

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very effective method is that used in the best psychological laboratories.

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The impressionable is comfortably seated or placed in a reclining

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position before the experimenter. Let us suppose that it is

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wished to inhibit sensation in his arm. In that case,

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the experimenter will begin to stroke the arm upward from

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fingertips to shoulder. The effect of this stroking is to

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restrain the circulation, which latter responds readily to such suggestion,

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as we shall see a little later on. The experimenter says,

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now I am taking the circulation away from your arm

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and putting the nerves to rest. You will begin to

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feel a sensation of coolness and numbness coming over your

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arm from fingertips to shoulder. Now you feel it. Your

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arm is getting numb, numb. I say, quite numb, getting numb,

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getting numb, getting numb, numb, numb, numb. It is now

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quite numb. You cannot feel pain in it. See, I

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will prick it with this needle, but you will not

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feel pain. You can feel the touch, but cannot feel

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any pain, and so on until complete inhibition is affected.

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When you first prick with the point of the needle,

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do so but gently, although appearing to do it with force,

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will reassure the patient and will make him relax. His

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resisting will the more result of repetition. The above process,

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continued in the right person and in the proper manner,

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will produce wonderful results. In fact, in this way is

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the inhibition of sensation produced in order that minor operations

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may be performed without the use of either et cetera.

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A little practice for several days renders the effect more

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marked each time, until the desired degree is obtained. The

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above method is the most simple and yet the most

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effective known to experimental psychologists, and if persisted in and

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performed intelligently, is capable of wonderful development. It should be

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unnecessary for me to add that the experimenter should keep

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before his own mind vividly the condition he wishes to

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produce in the patient. He should endeavor to actually see

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him insensible to pain, and should throw his whole belief

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and earnestness into the suggestions. More than lip service is necessary.

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Directing the circulation. In connection with the above experiments, the

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following is interesting. You may take an impressionable person and

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increase the circulation in any part of the body, or

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else inhibit it partially just as you wish. You may

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prove this by ordering the circulation back in one arm

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and increasing it in another, the result being that one

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hand will be a ghastly white and the other a

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deep red color. Blood may be drawn away from the

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head in this manner and headaches thereby relieved. But I

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must stop this, for I am encroaching upon the subject

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of mental therapeutics. In this direction of the circulation upward

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or downward, as the case may be, passes of the

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hands will prove of great assistance, for this motion is

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followed by the attention. And an axiom and suggestive therapeutics

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is that the circulation follows the attention. Downward passes increase

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the circulation to the limbs. Upward ones inhibit it. I

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have spoken of the above effects being produced upon the impressionables.

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I mean by this that such people are the more

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readily affected. But remember this that even the strongest willed

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man or woman may be affected in this manner if

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he or she, by directing this, will actually cooperate in

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the matter. For instance, the very strength of a man's

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will may aid in the inhibition of pain by suggestion,

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because he will be cooperating with the suggest All the

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effect comes from the power within in any case, and

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all the experimenter a suggester does is to call that

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power into effect. It is akin to driving a team

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of strong horses or the running of a one thousand

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horse power engine. The power is not in the driver

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or engineer, but they make the thing go. Nevertheless, in

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closing this chapter, let me again impress upon the experimenter

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the importance of always removing the impression after the experiment,

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remember the important final Now you're all right, all right,

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Now all right,