The credit of initiating treatment by forced immobility is due to Brissaud, who in the year 1893 first utilised the method in cases of mental torticollis. In the face of the risks of surgical intervention and the unsatisfactory nature of existing therapeutic measures, Brissaud emphasised the value of motor discipline in tic,[221] and it was not long ere rules were formulated and precision introduced into the application of the method.[222] The results were certainly encouraging, so much so that improvement could be promised if treatment was sufficiently protracted; cure, indeed, followed in various instances. Brissaud's method is a combination of immobilisation of movements with movements of immobilisation. Speaking generally, the patient is directed to perform certain appropriate exercises under given conditions. Some of these exercises are intended to teach him how to preserve immobility, while the object of others is to replace an incorrect movement by a normal one. In the case of the former, immobility is alike the goal in view and the means of attaining it, while by recourse to suitable movements, in the latter instance, the same end is sought. It is essential to remember that the exercises must be graduated. To begin with, the subject of tic is required to remain absolutely motionless, as for a photograph, for one, two, three seconds--in fact, as long as he can without fatigue. Very gradually the period is increased, for patients have their good and their bad days, and too great a demand on one day is apt to be succeeded by a relapse on the next. One must rest content with even the most insignificant gain at first, and soon the seconds will grow into minutes, and the minutes into hours. It is desirable to specify on each occasion the duration of the expected immobility. Place the patient at the outset in the position in which his tic manifests itself least often, and do not cease to encourage him by affirming that he can and must remain immobile. Once the séance of immobilisation can be maintained for as much as five or six minutes, begin to modify the patient's attitudes. If he has been comfortably seated during the opening performances, try him when he is standing, and as soon as he has accomplished this, vary the position of his head, arms, trunk, and legs, repeating the séance in each case. Eventually he will learn to maintain immobility of certain parts of his body while he is walking, or while he is executing given movements with his arms or legs. In all these performances direction must be specially directed to the patient's tic. The method is obviously simple, so much so that he may be inclined to question its utility and may fail to grasp its import. One must not hesitate, however, to explain its purpose; indeed, the rapid and intelligent appreciation of the method on the part of the patient is a _sine qua non_ for success. Patient and doctor most co-operate in defence and attack; and their union will culminate in triumph.