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The authors set out to test a hypothesis suggested by several earlier studies in which warts were selectively eliminated by hypnotic suggestion. A group of four skin blisters was induced on each of six subjects who were known to be strongly tuberculin-positive. In each subject, two blisters were injected with saline and two with turberculin purified protein derivative (PPD). Under hypnosis, the subjects were told the contents of the injections, correctly for one saline/PPD pair of sites, and incorrectly for the other pair. After two or three days, the blisters were evaluated for volume, cell count, and in vitro reactivity for immunocompetence. In five of six cases, the false PPD sites had increased volume and cell count; in two of six, the false control sites had reduced volume and cell count. Finally, the authors noted that the in vitro PPD reactions went "the wrong way" under hypnosis, primary for secondary reactions, and vice versa. The authors decided that, although their results are not conclusive, hypnosis may influence the migration of immunocompetent cells. They suspect that more significant stress would have a much greater influence on immunocompentence, the mechanism of which needs to be investigated.