Hypnotic Anaesthesia Demonstrated At Taneatua Over Thirty Years Ago

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 1, 25 November 1947, Page 5

Hypnotic Anaesthesia Demonstrated At Taneatua Over Thirty Years Ago

Recently some interesting results have been achieved in overseas experiments with hypnotic. anaesthesia, as well as other aspects of the “mind over matter” theory, leading to a widespread belief that the powers of the human mind are as yet only partially tapped. That the idea is not exactly new is illustrated by the following account, from the ' Beacon’s ancestor, the “Whakatane County Press,” of a tooth extraction under hypnotism at Taneatua in 1915. “At the Taneatua Drill Hall, Mr George Wilberforce Wilson put a subject to a test of more than usual interest. A well known young man, Henry Fox, had consented to having a tooth extracted under the influence of hypnotism. The understanding was that the operation should take place at the conclusion of Mr Wilson’s demonstration, but in order to avoid undue nervousness on the part of the patient, his tooth was extracted while he was taking part in one of the usual tests. Mr Short,, of Opotiki was the dentist. In . spite of the fact that the tooth was so decayed as to be quite buried in the gum, the operation was so successful that the subject was quite unaware that anything unusual had taken place, and took his seat amongst his fellow subjects and was ready to take part in the next test. “On being shown the tooth, a twopronged one, the young man denied ownership until his fingers convinced him that his tooth had disappeared. During the operation there was not the slightest flinch of a single nerve, and when instructed to stop haemorrhage, the patient immediately controlled the flow of his own blood. All other tests-that the subjects were put through were equally successful. “There was not a big audience on this occasion, the amount taken at • the doors being barely sufficient to meet the expenses in connection with the entertainment.”