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OF JOURNAL OF MAN.

The Most Marvellous Triumph of Educational Science The Grand Symposium of the Wise Men The Burning Question in Education MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE--Bigotry and Liberality; Religious News; Abolishing Slavery; Old Fogy Biography; Legal Responsibility in Hypnotism; Pasteur's Cure for Hydrophobia; Lulu Hurst; Land Monopoly; Marriage in Mexico; The Grand Symposium; A New Mussulman Empire; Psychometric Imposture; Our Tobacco Bill; Extinct Animals; Education Genesis of the Brain

THE MOST MARVELLOUS TRIUMPH OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE.

In the dull atmosphere which stagnates between the high walls of colleges and churches wherein play the little eddies of fashionable literature, which considers the authorship of an old play more interesting and important than the questions that involve the welfare of all humanity or the destiny of a nation,--an atmosphere seldom stirred by the strong, pure breezes of the mountain and the ocean,--the best thought and impulse of which humanity is capable is stifled in its birth, or if it comes forth feels the overshadowing influence that chills its life.

Not there, amid the pedantries of "culture," do we find the atmosphere for free and benevolent thought, but rather far away from such influences, in the forests, the mountain and prairie, where man comes more nearly into communion with nature, and forgets the inheritance of ancient error which every corporate institution preserves and perpetuates. It is to this widespread audience that the JOURNAL OF MAN appeals and offers a new suggestion.

In sending forth the "New Education," hoping for some appreciative response from educational circles in which collegiate influences prevail, I did not deem it prudent to introduce some of the noblest thoughts that belong to the great theme. The book was sent forth limited and incomplete, hoping that, heretical as it was, and quite irreverent toward the ignorance descended from antiquity, it might still receive sufficient approbation and appreciation to justify later introduction of matter that would have hindered its first reception.

It has reached the third edition, but it has been very apparent that its reception was cordial and enthusiastic only among the most progressive minds, the number of which increases as we travel westward, and San Francisco called for more copies than the leading cities of the East.

The time has now arrived that I may venture to announce the most remarkable feature of the art and science of education. There is an additional reason, too, for speaking out at this time, which should mortify the pride of an American citizen. The philanthropic science which I thought it imprudent to mention then in this free country, is beginning to be studied in France, where such themes are not suppressed by the sturdy dogmatism which is so prevalent and so powerful in the Anglo-Saxon race.

THE NEW METHOD IN FRANCE.

With this exordium, which the occasion seemed to require, let us proceed to consider the most powerful and radical measure, which belongs to the science of education, and which has been developed by the science of anthropology.

DEFINITION OF EDUCATION.

Education, rightly understood, signifies the development of all the faculties or capacities of the soul, and, as a necessary consequence, of the brain, in which that soul is lodged, and of the body, which is as essential to the brain as the brain is to the soul. For without the brain there is no soul expression, and in proportion to the condition and development of the brain is the expression of all the soul faculties. A soft and watery brain is always accompanied by feebleness of character and mind. In like manner the manifestations of the brain depend for their strength upon the body, when the lungs and heart fail to send a vigorous current of arterial blood to the brain, its power declines proportionally; and when the current ceases entirely, the action of the brain itself ceases, and with its cessation all manifestations of the soul cease also. Or when the disordered viscera fail to supply a healthy blood, as in fevers of a low type, the brain, like all other organs, is brought down to the level of the depraved blood, and shows by its utter feebleness and by the incoherent expressions of the patient that brain and soul depend upon the body for their power and all their action in this life.

FOUR EDUCATIONAL METHODS.

The process of education by a teacher consists chiefly in establishing the control of his stronger mind over that of the pupil, by placing the latter in the most passive and receptive condition, in which the pupil not only receives the intelligence he gives, but also feels the influence of his will and principles.

There are four methods by which the influence of the teacher is made effective: 1st, the power of conviction or reason; 2d, the spirit of obedience; 3d, the spirit of imitation; and 4th, the spirit of passive sympathy.

In the first method he addresses the understanding, enabling the pupil to understand what is best for him. If Socrates had been right in maintaining that knowledge was the one thing needful to overcome practical errors, and that men sinned only through ignorance , this would be the most effective method of teaching. But it is effective only with those who are conscientious and thoughtful, who are seeking to do right, and need only to be instructed. It is entirely ineffective with the great majority of wrong doers, whose moral nature and self-control are insufficient to curb their animalism.

The second method, the spirit of obedience, is the method of religion, which is far more effective. Jesus and other religious teachers impress their followers that there is a great and benevolent power, the power to which we are indebted for our present lives and our hope of unlimited future happiness,--to which we owe a profound gratitude, with an unhesitating love and obedience. Our love should ner. At the Betelgeuseour grand benefactor; and if his wisdom transcends our own, the wisest thing that we can do is to ascertain what that wisdom dictates, and obey it implicitly. That which we supremely love and reverence we delight in obeying.

OBEDIENCE AND IMITATION.

The teacher or parent, therefore, should endeavor to hold something like the Divine relation to the child,--should show a superiority of knowledge, an inflexible firmness, an unvarying love, and irresistible attraction, ever endeavoring to win love, while enforcing the supremacy of his will, so that obedience may be a pleasure. Thus may a woman with a masculine strength of will, or a man with feminine strength of love, develop that willing obedience which insures the moral elevation of the pupil. But whenever the teacher fails to elicit both respect and love, his power for good is lost. In this evolution of good the power of the teacher is vastly enhanced by that of music, especially in the form of song, when the pupil is made to sing songs of exalted sentiment; and there are very few natures so depraved as to resist long the combined power of exalted music and a superior teacher, to which should be added the social influence of numbers already elevated by such influences.

To get the full benefit of imitation requires not only the influence of well-trained schoolmates, but systematic exercises in reading, singing, declamation, and deportment, the teaching being given by example.

When a boy or girl is taught by example to express a noble sentiment in a natural manner, he is thereby compelled to feel the sentiment in some degree with sincerity. When he is required to imitate and practice certain forms of politeness which express the best sentiments, those sentiments must gradually become a part of his nature. The acts of respect, of kindness and courtesy to which he may be naturally averse, cannot be daily practised without rousing in his nature the sentiments to which they correspond.

VALUE OF DANCING.

Popular Christianity, in the majority of the churches, is therefore one of the greatest hindrances to a normal educational system, and to social refinement, notwithstanding its support of some of the essential virtues.

THE REVOLUTIONARY METHOD.

But all who are acquainted with the history of animal magnetism during the present century know that it has nobly fulfilled its mission as a system of therapeutics, by alleviating or curing all forms of disease of both body and mind. That which cures bodily diseases and sometimes overcomes insanity has certainly power enough to modify the action of the brain; and if the large number of magnetic physicians who have been successfully occupied in conquering disease had been employed in modifying the action of the brain in the young, we might have had as satisfactory reports of their success, which neither the medical nor the clerical profession would have been so much moved by jealousy to oppose.

In the light of anthropology, however, it is not necessary to adhere to the old formulae of the followers of Mesmer. The hypnotic or mesmeric state is simply a condition arising from the exercise and predominance of a faculty belonging to all human beings,--a faculty which may be evoked by other methods, or by the voluntary action of the subject, or by the spontaneous action of the brain, as in those who in sleep pass into the state of somnambulism, and go forth in the night, walking in dangerous places with perfect safety, but in an unconscious state.

This condition is also produced by gentle manipulations over the head toward the eyes, or upon the chest down to the epigastrium . The reason of these processes was entirely unknown until my discovery of the organ of Somnolence in the temples, and the corresponding region in the body showed that the results were produced by manipulations which concentrated the nervous action to those two locations.

The entranced or mesmeric state, in which the subject is in a dreamy condition with but little power of will and with extreme susceptibility, which is also a state of great mental clearness, may be produced by directly stimulating the proper organs with the fingers, which should be placed upon the organ of Somnolence on each side of the head, in the temples, about an inch horizontally behind the brow. In persons who are impressible this produces a quiet dreamy feeling, and a disposition to close the eyes. If carried further, the eyes become closed so that it is difficult to open them, and the unconscious state soon follows. The same effect may be produced by placing the hand on the body just below the breastbone . In this condition, the character, or action of the brain, is under the control of the operator, and by gently applying his hand over any portion of the brain, its organs may be brought into predominant activity, while other organs may be quelled or quieted by gentle dispersive manipulations. Thus, placing the hand gently on the top of the head, touching very lightly, all the amiable or moral organs will be brought into play, producing the most admirable and pleasing disposition; or if the operator has the necessary knowledge of the locations he may bring out each faculty separately, such as Love, Hope, Religion, Kindness, Conscientiousness, Firmness, Cheerfulness, Imitation, etc.

At the same time, if there be any evil propensities, such as a quarrelsome, irritable temper, a love of turbulence and cruelty, selfishness, avarice, jealousy, etc., all of which lie at the base of the brain, they may be for the time entirely suppressed by gentle dispersive manipulations from the organs of such propensities either down toward the chest or upward.

What I state thus of the moral and selfish tendencies or faculties is equally applicable to all the faculties and their organs. We may stimulate all forms of intelligence, observation, memory, or reason, or check excessive intellectual activity when it disturbs sleep and exhausts the brain. We may thus cultivate modesty, obedience, prudence, industry, application, imagination, refinement, truthfulness, faith, spirituality, originality, invention, literary capacity, patience, perseverance, fortitude, hardihood, health, temperance, and, in short, every good quality that we desire to see developed, if we understand cerebral science; and if we understand only its general-outlines we can at least improve the character by giving a predominance to the superior regions of the brain.

But while this may be done more effectively in the somnolized condition, it is not absolutely necessary to induce that condition. Speaking of the entire fourteen hundred millions now on the globe, we may say that a large majority are susceptible, in various degrees, of feeling such influences without any previous somnolizing. Nearly all the inhabitants of the torrid zone are subject to such influences in their habitual condition, and actually require no medicine, because their treatment by the hand of an enlightened anthropologist familiar with therapeutic sarcognomy will control all their diseases. The greatest triumphs of sarcognomy are yet to be realized in such climates.

In the United States, the susceptibility increases as we go South. The majority of the southern population are impressible, and there are some who would even maintain that a majority are, in the North; and certainly magnetic healers have been very successful in New England.

But whatever may be the case with adults, I believe that a majority of the young everywhere possess a considerable degree of impressibility, and that the mother's hand, gently applied upon the upper surface of the head, will generally quiet the evil passions and promote good humor.

This is more especially true of girls. It is rare to find one who does not show in her youth, especially from ten to twenty years of age, a degree of susceptibility which makes her a good subject for the manual treatment of disease, and also for improving the action of the brain, by the scientific use of the hand upon the head, by which despondent, restless, fretful, hysterical, or other evil conditions may be quickly overcome. The speedy relief of headache is especially remarkable.

My own experiments upon the brain have been made for the development and cultivation of science, or the assistance of the sick. I have not had time to undertake the systematic cultivation and change of character by such processes in the young; but when I see how quickly and completely the condition of a patient may be changed, and all cloudy, depressed conditions of the brain removed,--how easily I can produce a state of insanity, idiocy, or pugnacity, and as quickly remove it entirely,--I cannot doubt that a little perseverance in cultivating the nobler qualities until they become by habit a second nature will change even the most depraved, if the process be begun in childhood or youth and steadily maintained, unless there be a great organic deficiency in the brain, which cannot be remedied.

The teacher of the future, duly educated in anthropology, will lay aside the rod, and will find in the scientific application of his hands the means of overcoming acquired or even hereditary evils; and special asylums will be established, in which the most degenerate youth may be restored to honor, not by cerebral treatment alone, but by all the appliances of industry, music, religion, and love, which have already reformed so many youthful criminals at Lancaster, Ohio, and given them to society as good citizens.

The method of direct operation on the brain, which was introduced by my discovery in 1841, is that with which I am more familiar, but the mesmeric method has long been known, and the modification of this, which might be called the imaginative method, has been made familiar during the last fifty years under the popular name of psychology, and sometimes under the absurd name of electro-biology.

This method is simply that of assuming control of the subject when he is in the passive state, and making him believe anything he is told, as, for example, that a handkerchief is a snake, that a piece of money is burning hot, or that he is a king, a hero, an orator, an auctioneer, or anything else suggested by the fancy of the operator, which is at once carried into personation by the subject. This is a familiar, popular exhibition, which never fails to attract and amuse, but has unfortunately not been applied to its philanthropic uses in healing disease and elevating the character. If disease can be overcome by making the subject believe a glass of pure water a powerful restorative medicine, or by believing himself marvellously well and vigorous; or if his vicious or indolent habits can be overcome by making him for a time believe himself a religious saint or an energetic business man,--such experiments should be made a powerful adjunct in education, and in the reformation of criminals; and this application has recently been made in France, which has the honor of leading in this important philanthropy.

The passive state required may be produced by fixing the gaze intently for a few minutes upon some object near the eyes which requires them to be turned inward, or by gazing at the eyes of the operator. The operator tells him if his eyes are shut that he cannot open them, or that he cannot lift his foot, or cannot step across a certain mark, and he seems unable to do so, but does readily whatever his operator suggests, and believes himself to be whatever his operator says--experiments which have been made a source of infinite amusement to public audiences.

The utilization of these principles by the French is shown in the following translation from the German.

HYPNOTISM AND EDUCATION.

BY EDGAR BERILLON.

The careful study which the school of the medical faculty of Nancy has devoted to the phenomena of suggestion, and their actual progress in that department, present the question whether the time has not arrived for teachers to participate in this scientific movement.

The numerous observations by Dr. August Voisin of the Salpetriere have positively proved in his own practice not only the curability of mental diseases, but the great assistance which may be given to moral culture, so that we might successfully introduce hypnotism in educational schools. Dr. Voisin with great ease cured his first patient in the trial of hypnotic suggestion--a girl by the name of Johanna Schaaf, who was not only a thief, but dissolute, lazy, and unclean. He transformed her into an honest industrious, neat, and obedient person. For several years she could not be induced to read a line. Under the control of Dr. Voisin she was made to read several pages of a moral work, which she repeated before the class. Then with great facility he roused her feelings of sympathy, which appeared to have become extinct. This cure was so thorough that she has since been appointed a nurse in the hospital, and has given complete satisfaction, showing herself quite conscientious.

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