Address delivered at the annual meeting of the Reading Pathological Society, on September 3rd, 1890, on hypnotism, its nature & its cause / by R.C. Shettle.

  • Shettle, Richard Charles.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address delivered at the annual meeting of the Reading Pathological Society, on September 3rd, 1890, on hypnotism, its nature & its cause / by R.C. Shettle. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    much affected by mere suggestion as if the tioo systems of hypnotised and hypnotiser formed but one, so that the will of the one acts by and through the organisation or body of the other. Gentlemen, In conclusion, in accordance with the plan I laid down at the commencement of this paper, I venture to hope that I have made clear to you— (I.) The physical nature of the force by which animal life is mamtained. (II.) The physical nature of the action of the Will of one person upon the Will of another. In substantiation of my third point, viz., (III.) that a wise and practical recognition of these great truths must be of enormous benefit to the human race, I am sure I need make no further comments, for I am convinced that when the importance of the points which we have been considering is fully realised, a very large proportion of the mystery which has attached to the process by which the phenomena of animal life are evolved will be cleared away, and the perfection of tlie mechanism established. I have said perfection of the mechanism, for I can find no other words which are at all adequate to express the principle involved. In proof of this I would direct attention to the well known fact that the magnetic force is not really a polar force in itself, but that the polar manifestations are the direct outcome of tlie mode in which each form of matter transmits force, viz., through the line of the greatest density, which is consequently the axis of magnetic force. Now as each form of matter, when free to move, tends to place this line of greatest density in the direction of the force acting upon it—and the principle applies to the ultimate atoms—the perfection of the mechanism is shown:— (i.) In the fabrication of the atoms adapted to the purpose they have to fulfil. (ii.) In the construction of the healthy cells of each particular tissue from a common pabulum, by each tissue selecting its required elements. The selective influence of the