At the suggestion of battle an
imaginary struggle at once begins, or if some person present is
suggested as an enemy the fight is continued, the hypnotic taking
care not to strike the person in question. Moll conceded that
this looked like simulation, but repetition of such experiments
forced him to conclude that these were real, typical hypnoses, in
which, in spite of the sense-delusions, there was a dim, dreamy
consciousness existing, which influenced the actions of the
subject, and which prevented him from striking at a human being,
although hitting at an imaginary object. Many may regard this
behavior of hypnotics as pure automatism; and Moll adds that, as
when walking in the street while reading we automatically avoid
knocking passers-by, so the hypnotic avoids hitting another
person, although he is dimly or not at all aware of his
existence.
Gibbs reports a curious case of lack of integrity of the will in
a man of fifty-five. When he had once started on a certain labor
he seemed to have no power to stop the muscular exercise that the
task called forth. If he went to the barn to throw down a forkful
of hay, he would never stop until the hay was exhausted or
someone came to his rescue.
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