Hypnosis and Suggestibility. An Experimental Approach. By Clark L. Hull, Professor of Psychology in Yale University. Published by  D. Appleton-Century Co., Inc., New York-London. Pp.  416, including References and Indexes. Illus.

We do not see these days very many books on hypnosis. The use of hypnotism has gone out of fashion. We are reminded, however, by the present work that even though it be out of fashion, it presents a great number of unsolved problems and problems which by their nature are capable of being investigated in the psychological laboratory with much benefit. This is precisely what the author of this book has been engaged in doing. After a brief introduction to the history of the subject, he plunges at once into some of the major issues which hypnosis raises and studies them by the development of carefully prepared experiments calculated to divulge their inner meaning. He is a trained psychologist who is accustomed to this method of work, and to those who are interested in hypnotism, suggestibility and the workings of the human mind we have here a book that gives us a wealth of first-hand material fresh from the experimental setting of the laboratory. The net conclusion of the entire work is not especially helpful except in so far as its tendency is to do away with a lot of concepts which have gone along with hypnosis through the years, but no very adequate interpretations of hypnotic phenomena take their place. However, the outstanding result as it lies in the reviewer's mind after reading the book is that the study of hypnosis and suggestibility, and the author differentiates these two phenomena, offers great opportunities. Among them is the opportunity of studying the effect of hypnosis and suggestion upon the various somatic systems. All the way along the line and through the years, all sorts of alleged physical results have followed hypnotic phenomena. Many of them have appeared to be nothing less than miracles. On the other hand, we know that physical results may come from suggestion. With the utilization of experimental hypnosis under laboratory conditions we have the opportunity of studying this fascinating problem by the methods of scientific experimentation. The wh