that the weak are sometimes helped for good; but there is no case on record in which a person who really wished to be bad was ever made good; and the history of hypnotism is full of attempts in that direction. A good illustration is an experiment tried by Colonel de Rochas: “An excellent subject * * * had been left alone for a few minutes in an apartment, and had stolen a valuable article. After he had left, the theft was discovered. A few days after it was suggested to the subject, while asleep, that he should restore the stolen object; the command was energetically and imperatively reiterated, but in vain. The theft had been committed by the subject, who had sold the article to an old curiosity dealer, as it was eventually found on information received from a third party. Yet this subject would execute all the imaginary crimes he was ordered.” As to the value of the so-called “laboratory crimes,” the statement of Dr. Courmelles is of interest: “I have heard a subject say,” he states, “‘If I were ordered to throw myself out of the window I should do it, so certain am I either that there would be somebody under the window to catch me or that I should be stopped in time. The experimentalist’s own interests and the consequences of such an act are a sure guarantee.’” CHAPTER VIII. Dangers in Being Hypnotized.—Condemnation of Public Performances.—A. Common Sense View.—Evidence Furnished by Lafontaine.—By Dr. Courmelles.—By. Dr. Hart.—By Dr. Cocke.—No Danger in Hypnotism if Rightly Used by Physicians or Scientists. Having considered the dangers to society through criminal hypnotic suggestion, let us now consider what dangers there may be to the individual who is hypnotized. Before citing evidence, let us consider the subject from a rational point of view. Several things have already been established. We know that hypnotism is akin to hysteria and other forms of insanity—it is, in short, a kind of experimental insanity. Really good hypnotic subjects have not a perfect mental balance. We have also seen that repetition of the process increases the susceptibility, and in some cases persons frequently hypnotized are thrown into the hypnotic state by very slight physical agencies, such as looking at a bright doorknob. Furthermore, we know that the hypnotic patient is in a very sensitive condition, easily impressed. Moreover, it is well known that exertions required of hypnotic subjects are nervously very exhausting, so much so that headache frequently follows.