Hypnotism and the anaesthetist.

Now that there is a renaissance of hypnotism in this brave new world of psychology it has become the habit to regard it as a weapon wielded solely by the psychologist. In its previous incarnation it was used mainly in the art of surgery, and as a means of avoiding the awful ordeal of pain attendant on the early surgical procedures. In other words it was the sole property of one who would now be called the anaesthetist, and since the main feature of hypnosis is " putting the patient to sleep " in order to avoid pain, who has a better claim to its use? Yet now, in modern times, it receives scant attention from the members of our faculty and, save in the matter of dental extractions, the subject is, in the main, ignored. Hypnotism has always been regarded by the members of our profession generally as a somewhat exotic and slightly •disreputable method of therapy, and those practising the art as mere "stunters". The anaesthetists, in company widi the rest, can console themselves somewhat for this lack of interest. Hypnotism in its induction and practice does indeed appear to be somewhat exotic, and the impression of those viewing the phenomena for the first time is that the whole thing is just a clever trick. For this very reason stage representations are still so popular. 398 Du Maurier served hypnotism ill when he suggested to the public, in the novel Trilby, the Svengali-Trilby set-up of the master-mind over the simple weak will. This entirely false aspect of hypnosis is still believed by the general public, and by many members of our profession. Many justifiable objections can be taken by the anaesthetist in hospital practice to hypnosis, and the methods used for its induction. By ordinary methods, it takes anything from half to one hour to induce hypnosis in the average patient, especially surrounded as he is by the somewhat macabre and frightening bustle of the average hospital ward. Add to this the lack of co-operation, if not open hostility of the staff, and the use of hypnosis grows less and less attractive.