His name is James Braid, and so important were the results of his study that hypnotism has sometimes been called"Braidism". Doctor Courmelles gives the following interesting summary of Braid's experiences:
"November, 1841, he witnessed a public experiment made by Monsieur Lafontaine, a Swiss hypnotizer. He thought the whole thing a comedy; a week after, he attended a second exhibition, saw that the patient couldnot open his eyes, and concluded that this was ascribable to some physical cause.
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