James Braid (19 June 1795 – 25 March 1860) was born at Ryelaw House, in the parish of Portmoak, Kinross, Scotland,[1] and was the son of James Braid and Anne Suttie. He married Margaret Mason (or Meason) on 17 November 1813. They had two children, James (born 1822), and a daughter.
A Scottish physician and surgeon, specialising in eye and muscular conditions, Braid was an important and influential pioneer of hypnotism and hypnotherapy. Braid adopted the term "hypnotism" as an abbreviation for "neuro-hypnotism" or nervous sleep (that is, sleep of the nerves), in his lectures of 1841-2,[2] and it is from his influential work that others derived the term "hypnosis" in the 1880s.[3]. Braid is regarded by many as the first genuine "hypnotherapist" and the "Father of Modern Hypnotism".[4]
“Although Braid believed that hypnotic suggestion was a valuable remedy in functional nervous disorders, be did not regard it as a rival to other forms of treatment, nor wish in any way to separate its practice from that of medicine in general. He held that whoever talked of a "universal remedy" was either a fool or a knave: similar diseases often arose from opposite pathological conditions, and the treatment ought to be varied accordingly. He objected being called a hypnotist; he was, he said, no more a "hypnotic" than a "castor-oil" doctor.” — John Milne Bramwell (1852–1925)[5]
Braid was apprenticed to Leith surgeons Charles Anderson (i.e., both the father and the son), and attended the University of Edinburgh from 1812–1814,[6] where he was also influenced by Thomas Brown, M.D. (1778–1820), who held the chair of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh from 1808 to 1820. Perhaps as a result of his association with Charles Anderson, Braid became a "corresponding" member of the learned society, the Wernerian Natural History Society.[7]
Braid was appointed surgeon to Lord Hopetoun's mines at Leadhills, Lanarkshire, in 1816; and in 1825 he set up in private practice at Dumfries. One of his patients, Mr. Petty, invited Braid to move his practice to Manchester, England. Braid moved to Manchester in 1828,[8] continuing to practise from there until his death in 1860.
Surgeon
Braid was a highly skilled and very successful surgeon, educated at Edinburgh University, and a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (M.R.C.S.).
"[and] though he was best known in the medical world for his theory and practice of hypnotism, he had also obtained wonderfully successful results by operation in cases of club foot and other deformities, which brought him patients from every part of the kingdom. Up to 1841 he had operated on 262 cases of talipes, 700 cases of strabismus, and 23 cases of spinal curvature."[9]
Mesmerism
Braid became interested in the phenomenon known as mesmerism in November 1841, when he personally observed demonstrations given by the traveling French mesmerist Charles Lafontaine (1803-1892).[10]
In particular, he examined the physical condition of Lafontaine's mesmerized subjects and concluded that they were, indeed, in quite a different physical state. Upon reflection, he became convinced that he had discovered the natural psychophysiological mechanism underlying these quite genuine phenomena, and he immediately delivered a series of five public lectures in Manchester that commenced on 27 November 1841.[11]
Hypnotism
Within a few days following his observation of Lafontaine, in November 1841, Braid began experimenting with his own method, and soon after wrote a report entitled "Practical Essay on the Curative Agency of Neuro-Hypnotism",[12] which he applied to have read before the British Association. The paper was rejected but Braid arranged for a series of Conversaziones[4] at which he read it, beginning in December 1841.[13] Braid therefore began using the term "neuro-hypnotism" in late November 1841.
In early 1842 — as a response to a personal attack upon himself and his work that had been made in a sermon delivered by a Manchester cleric, M‘Neile, and had been published a few days later in an unaltered form, despite Braid's attempts to rectify the misunderstandings he felt it contained — Braid privately published the contents of an (unanswered) letter that he had written to the cleric as a twelve page booklet entitled Satanic Agency and Mesmerism Reviewed (Braid, 1842).
"Braid later changed his sleep-based physiological theory to a psychological one which emphasized mental concentration on a single idea, giving this the name of monoideism in 1847".[14] Braid summarized and contrasted his own view with the other views prevailing at that time.
"The various theories at present entertained regarding the phenomena of mesmerism may be arranged thus:— First, those who believe them to be owing entirely to a system of collusion and delusion; and a great majority of society may be ranked under this head. Second, those who believe them to be real phenomena, but produced solely by imagination, sympathy, and imitation. Third, the animal magnetists, or those who believe in some magnetic medium set in motion as the exciting cause of the mesmeric phenomena. Fourth, those who have adopted my views, that the phenomena are solely attributable to a peculiar physiological state of the brain and the spinal cord."[15]
Terminology
In this booklet[16], Braid uses the terms "neurohypnotism", "hypnotic", and "neurohypnology", perhaps for the first time (rather than in his 1843 work, Neurypnology, as is often asserted). However, he seems to have used "Neuro-Hypnotism" in the title of his unpublished report rejected by the British Association, and read at his own public lectures, as early as November or December 1841.
Although Braid he was the first to use the terms hypnotism, hypnotize and hypnotist in English, the cognate terms hypnotique, hypnotisme, hypnotiste had been intentionally used by the French magnetist Baron Etienne Félix d'Henin de Cuvillers (1755-1841) at least as early as 1820.[17] Braid, moreover, was the first person to use "hypnotism" in its modern sense, referring to a "psycho-physiological" theory rather than the "occult" theories of the magnetists.
In a letter written to the editor of The Lancet in 1845, Braid emphatically states that:
"I adopted[18] the term "hypnotism" to prevent my being confounded with those who entertain those extreme notions [sc. that a mesmeriser's will has an『irresistible power… over his subjects』and that clairvoyance and other "higher phenomena" are routinely manifested by those in the mesmeric state], as well as to get rid of the erroneous theory about a magnetic fluid, or exoteric influence of any description being the cause of the sleep. I distinctly avowed that hypnotism laid no claim to produce any phenomena which were not "quite reconcilable with well-established physiological and psychological principles"; pointed out the various sources of fallacy which might have misled the mesmerists; [and] was the first to give a public explanation of the trick [by which a fraudulent subject had been able to deceive his mesmerizer]…
[Further, I have never been] a supporter of the imagination theory — i.e., that the induction of [hypnosis] in the first instance is merely the result of imagination. My belief is quite the contrary. I attribute it to the induction of a habit of intense abstraction, or concentration of attention, and maintain that it is most readily induced by causing the patient to fix his thoughts and sight on an object, and suppress his respiration.
Induction
In his first publication, he had also stressed the importance of the subject concentrating both vision and thought, referring to "the continued fixation of the mental and visual eye"[19] as a means of engaging a natural physiological mechanism that was already hard-wired into each human being:
"I shall merely add, that my experiments go to prove that it is a law in the animal economy that, by the continued fixation of the mental and visual eye on any object in itself not of an exciting nature, with absolute repose of body and general quietude, they become wearied; and, provided the patients rather favour than resist the feeling of stupor which they feel creeping over them during such experiment, a state of somnolency is induced, and that peculiar state of brain, and mobility of the nervous system, which render the patient liable to be directed so as to manifest the mesmeric phenomena. I consider it not so much the optic, as the motor and sympathetic nerves, and the mind, through which the impression is made. Such is the position I assume; and I feel so thoroughly convinced that it is a law of the animal economy, that such effects should follow such condition of mind and body, that I fear not to state, as my deliberate opinion, that this is a fact which cannot be controverted."[20]
In 1843 he published Neurypnology; or the Rationale of Nervous SleepConsidered in Relation with Animal Magnetism…, his first and only book-length exposition of his views. According to Bramwell (1896, p. 91) the work was popular from the outset, selling 800 copies within a few months of its publication.
Braid thought of hypnotism as producing a "nervous sleep" which differed from ordinary sleep. The most efficient way to produce it was through visual fixation on a small bright object held eighteen inches above and in front of the eyes. Braid regarded the physiological condition underlying hypnotism to be the over-exercising of the eye muscles through the straining of attention.
He completely rejected Franz Mesmer's idea that a magnetic fluid caused hypnotic phenomena, because anyone could produce them in "himself by attending strictly to the simple rules" that he had laid down. Braidism is a synonym for hypnotism, though it is used infrequently.
Death
Braid maintained an active interest in hypnotism until his death.
"I consider the hypnotic mode of treating certain disorders is a most important ascertained fact, and a real solid addition to practical therapeutics, for there is a variety of cases in which it is really most successful, and to which it is most particularly adapted; and those are the very cases in which ordinary medical means are least successful, or altogether unavailing. Still, I repudiate the notion of holding up hypnotism as a panacaea or universal remedy. As formerly remarked, I use hypnotism ALONE only in a certain class of cases, to which I consider it peculiarly adapted — and I use it in conjunction with medical treatment, in some other cases; but, in the great majority of cases, I do not use hypnotism at all, but depend entirely upon the efficacy of medical, moral, dietetic, and hygienic treatment, prescribing active medicines in such doses as are calculated to produce obvious effects" — James Braid[21]
Just three days before his death he sent a (now lost) manuscript, written in English,On hypnotism, to the French surgeon Étienne Eugène Azam.[22]
Braid died on 25 March 1860, in Manchester, after just a few hours of illness. According to some contemporary accounts he died from "apoplexy", and according to others he died from "heart disease".[23] He was survived by his wife, his son James (a general practitioner, rather than a surgeon), and his daughter.
Milton H. Erickson, one of the most influential hypnotists of the 20th century, wrote,
It was due to the researches of Braid that hypnosis was placed on a scientific basis, and his coining and application of the terms hypnotism and hypnosis [sic., Braid never used "hypnosis"] to the phenomenon instead of the misnomer of Mesmerism facilitated its acceptance by the medical profession. In the course of his investigations Braid reached the conclusion that hypnotism was wholly a matter of suggestion, which constituted the first attempt at a scientific and psychological explanation. He made a detailed study of the technique of hypnosis and the various phenomena obtained in trances. He was a prolific writer and left extensive treatises which are surprisingly modern in their conceptions. [25]
Braid's legacy was maintained in Great Britain largely by Dr. John Milne Bramwell who collected all of his available works, and published a biography and account of Braid's theory and practice, as well as several books of his own on hypnotism.
James Braid Society
In 1997 Braid’s part in developing hypnosis for therapeutic purposes was recognized and commemorated by the creation of the James Braid Society,[5] a discussion group for those “involved or concerned in the ethical uses of hypnosis.” The society meets once a month in central London, usually for a presentation on some aspect of hypnotherapy.
Works
James Braid published many letters and articles and several small books and booklets. His first major publication was Neurypnology, or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep (1843), written less than two years after his discovery of hypnotism. However, Braid continually revised his theory and practice and carried out many, albeit primitive, experiments on hypnosis.
In April 2009, Robertson published a reconstructed English version, backward translated from the French, of Braid's last (lost) manuscript (On Hypnotism), addressed by Braid to the French Academy of Sciences.
Apart from Neurypnology, his first book, all of Braid's works have been out of print since his death; however, many are now available on-line (see links at Further reading, below). The 2009 publication of Robertson (Discovery of Hypnosis) contains all of Braid's major works and many letters and articles by him, including "On Hypnotism".
Notes
^As a consequence of the straightening and the re-routing of the course of the River Leven, Fife between 1826 and 1836– the River Leven having been, for many years, the designated boundary between Kinross and Fife– the area known as "The Ryelaw" was officially transferred from the Parish of Portmoak, in the county of Kinross (into which Braid had been born), to the Parish of Kinglassie, in the county of Fife on 15 May 1891 (41 years after his death).
^Note the very specific and unequivocal use of the term adopted, rather than the term "coined" used by later commentators on Braid.
^The notion of a "mind's eye" goes back at least to Cicero's mentis oculi.[2] The concept of the mind's eye first appeared in English in Chaucer'sMan of Law's Tale in his Canterbury Tales, where he speaks of a man "who was blind, and could only see with the eyes of his mind, with which all men see after they go blind".Line 551
^According to a lengthy report (dated 16 December 1859),『Hypnotism — Important Medical Discovery』from the anonymous "Paris correspondent" of the New York Herald, in the Thursday, 5 January, 1860 edition of the Herald (p.5), Azam had introduced Braid's techniques to Broca; and Broca subsequently performed a number of operations using Braid's hypnotic techniques (i.e., rather than using mesmerismasEsdaile had done) for anaesthesia, and the eminent French surgeon, Velpeau (1795-1867) was so impressed that he read a paper on Broca's experiments to the French Academy of Sciences on Broca's behalf.
^Erickson, M.H. ‘Historical Sketch’, Medical Record, December 5, 1934.
Further reading
Anon, "Abstract of a Lecture on Electro-Biology, delivered at the Royal Institution, Manchester, on the 26th March 1851. By James Braid, M.R.C.S., Edinburgh, C.M.W.S., &c. &c.", Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol.76, No.188, (1 July 1851), pp.239-248.[6]
Anon, "Hypnotism — Important Medical Discovery", The New York Herald, (Thursday, 5 January 1860), p. 5, col B.
Anon, "Sudden Death of Mr. James Braid, Surgeon, of Manchester", The Lancet, Vol.75, No.1909, (31 March 1860), p. 335.
Braid, J. (Preyer, W., ed.) Der Hypnotismus. Ausgewählte Schriften von J. Braid. Deutsch herausgegeben von W. Preyer [On Hypnotism; Selected Writings of J. Braid, in German, edited by W. Preyer.], Verlag von Gebrüder Paetel, (Berlin), 1882.
Braid, J., "Electro-Biological Phenomena Physiologically and Psychologically Considered, by James Braid, M.R.C.S. Edinburgh, &c. &c. (Lecture delivered at the Royal Institution, Manchester, March 26, 1851)", The Monthly Journal of Medical Science, Vol.12, (June 1851), pp.511-530.[7]
Braid, J., "Experimental Inquiry to determine whether Hypnotic and Mesmeric Manifestations can be adduced in proof of Phrenology. By James Braid, M.R.C.S.E., Manchester. (From the “Medical Times”, No.271, 30 November 1844)", The Phrenological Journal, and Magazine of Moral Science, Vol.18, No.83, (1845), pp.156-162.[8]
Braid, J., "Facts and Observations as to the Relative Value of Mesmeric and Hypnotic Coma, and Ethereal Narcotism, for the Mitigation or Entire Prevention of Pain during Surgical Operations", The Medical Times, Vol.15, No.385, (13 February 1847), pp.381-382,[9] Vol.16, No.387, (27 February 1847), pp.10-11.[10]
Braid, J., "Hypnotic Therapeutics, Illustrated by Cases. By JAMES BRAID, Esq., Surgeon, of Manchester", The Monthly Journal of Medical Science, Vol.17, (July 1853), pp.14-47.[11]
Braid, J., "Hypnotism" (Letter to the Editor), The Lancet, Vol.45, No.1135, (31 May 1845), pp. 627-628.
Braid, J., "Letter to the Editor of The British Record of Obstetric Medicine and Surgery [on the use of ether and chloroform for surgical and obstetric purposes]", The British Record of Obstetric Medicine and Surgery, Vol.2, (1849), pp.55-59.[12]
Braid, J., Magic, Witchcraft, Animal Magnetism, Hypnotism, and Electro-Biology; Being a Digest of the Latest Views of the Author on these Subjects (Third Edition), John Churchill, (London), 1852.[13]
Braid, J., Neurypnology or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep Considered in Relation with Animal Magnetism Illustrated by Numerous Cases of its Successful Application in the Relief and Cure of Disease, John Churchill, (London), 1843.[14]
Braid, J. (Simon, J. trans.), Neurypnologie: Traité du Sommeil Nerveux, ou, Hypnotisme par James Braid; Traduit de l'anglais par le Dr Jules Simon; Avec preface de C. E. Brown-Séquard [Neurypnology: Treatise on Nervous Sleep or Hypnotism by James Braid, translated from the English by Dr. Jules Simon, with a preface by C. E. Brown-Séquard.], Adrien Delhaye et Émile Lecrosnier, (Paris), 1883.[15]
Braid, J., "Observations on Mesmeric and Hypnotic Phenomena", The Medical Times, Vol.10, No.238, (13 April 1844), pp.31-32,[16] No.239, (20 April 1844), pp.47-49.[17]
Braid, J., Observations on Trance; or, Human Hybernation, John Churchill, (London), 1850.[18]
Braid, J., "Physiological Explanation of Some Mesmeric Phenomena", The Medical Times, Vol.10, No.258, (31st August 1844), pp.450-451;[19] reprinted as "Remarks on Mr. Simpson’s Letter on Hypnotism, published in the Phrenological Journal for July 1844", The Phrenological Journal, and Magazine of Moral Science, Vol.17, No.81, (October 1844), pp.359-365.[20]
Braid, J., Satanic Agency and Mesmerism Reviewed, In A Letter To The Reverend H. Mc. Neile, A.M., of Liverpool, in Reply to a Sermon Preached by Him in St. Jude’s Church, Liverpool, on Sunday, April 10, 1842, by James Braid, Surgeon, Manchester, Simms and Dinham, and Galt and Anderson, (Manchester), 1842.
A transcription from an original pamphlet is given at Volgyesi, (Winter 1955), "Discovery of Medical Hypnotism: Part 2", and another at Tinterow (Foundations of Hypnosis), pp. 317-330.
Robertson (Discovery of Hypnosis), reprints Volgyesi's transcription at pp.375-381.
Braid, J., "The Physiology of Fascination" (Miscellaneous Contribution to the Botany and Zoology including Physiology Section), Report of the Twenty-Fifth Meeting of the British Association; Held at Glasgow in September 1855, John Murray, (London), 1856, pp. 120-121.[21]
Braid, J., The Physiology of Fascination, and the Critics Criticised [a two-part pamphlet], John Murray, (Manchester), 1855.
Braid, J., "The Power of the Mind over the Body: An Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Phenomena Attributed by Baron Reichenbach and Others to a "New Imponderable". By JAMES BRAID, M.R.C.S. Edin., &c., Manchester", The Medical Times, Vol.14, No.350, (13 June 1846), pp.214-216,[22] No.352, (27 June 1846), pp.252-254,[23] No.353, (4 July 1846), pp.273-274.[24]
Braid, J., "The Power of the Mind Over the Body" (1846), pp. 178-193 in Dennis, W. (comp. and ed.), Readings in the History of Psychology, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., (New York), 1948.[25]
Bramwell, J.M., Hypnotism and Treatment by Suggestion, Funk and Wagnalls Co., (New York), 1910.[26]
Bramwell J.M., Hypnotism: Its History, Practice and Theory (Third Edition), William Rider & Son, (London), 1913.[27]
Bramwell, J.M., "James Braid: His Work and Writings", Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol.12 Supplement, (1896), pp. 127-166.
Bramwell, J.M., "James Braid: Surgeon and Hypnotist", Brain, Vol.19, No.1, (1896), pp. 90-116.[28]
Carpenter, W.B., "On the Influence of Suggestion in Modifying and directing Muscular Movement, independently of Volition", Royal Institution of Great Britain, (Proceedings), 1852, (12 March 1852), pp.147-153. [29]
Edmonston, W.E., The Induction of Hypnosis, John Wiley & Sons, (New York), 1986.
Gauld, A., A History of Hypnotism, Cambridge University Press, 1992.[30]
Gauld, A., "Braid, James (1795–1860)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.[31]
Gravitz, M.A. & Gerton, M.I., "Origins of the Term Hypnotism Prior to Braid", American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Vol.27, No.2, (October 1984), pp. 107-110.
Preyer, W., Der Hypnotismus: Vorlesungen gehalten an der K. Friedrich-Wilhelm’s-Universität zu Berlin, von W. Preyer. Nebst Anmerkungen und einer nachgelassenen Abhandlung von Braid aus dem Jahre 1845 [Hypnotism: Lectures delivered at the Emperor Frederick William’s University at Berlin by W. Preyer. With Notes and a Posthumous Paper of Braid From the Year 1845. ], Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1890.
Preyer, W., Die Entdeckung des Hypnotismus. Dargestellt von W. Preyer … Nebst einer ungedruckten Original-Abhandlung von Braid in Deutscher Uebersetzung [The Discovery of Hypnotism, presented by W. Preyer, together with a hithertofore unpublished paper by Braid in its German translation], Verlag von Gebrüder Paetel, (Berlin), 1881.
Robertson D (2009). ""On hypnotism" (1860) De l'hypnotisme". The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 57 (2): 133–61. doi:10.1080/00207140802665377. PMID19234963. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Robertson, D. (ed), The Discovery of Hypnosis: The Complete Writings of James Braid, The Father of Hypnotherapy, National Council for Hypnotherapy, (Studley), 2009.(ISBN 0956057004)[32]
Simpson, J., "Letter from Mr. Simpson on Hypnotism, and Mr Braid’s Theory of Phreno-Mesmeric Manifestations", The Phrenological Journal, and Magazine of Moral Science, Vol.17, No.80, (July 1844), pp.260-272.[33]
Tinterow, M.M., Foundations of Hypnosis: From Mesmer to Freud, Charles C. Thomas, (Springfield), 1970.[34]
Tinterow MM (1993). "Satanic agency and mesmerism reviewed--James Braid". The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 36 (1): 3–6. PMID8368194. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Volgyesi, F.A., "James Braid's Discoveries and Psycho-Therapeutic Merits", British Journal of Medical Hypnotism, Vol.3, No.4, (1952), pp.2-10.
Volgyesi, F.A., "Discovery of Medical Hypnotism:— J. Braid: “Satanic Agency and Mesmerism”, etc. Preface and Interpretation by Dr. F. A. Volgyesi (Budapest). Part I", The British Journal of Medical Hypnotism, Vol.7, No.1, (Autumn 1955), pp.2-13; "Part 2", No.2, (Winter 1955), pp.25-34; "Part 3", No.3, (Spring 1956), pp.25-31.
Waite, A.E., Braid on Hypnotism: Neurypnology. A New Edition, Edited with an Introduction, Biographical and Bibliographical, Embodying the Author’s Later Views and Further Evidence on the Subject by Arthur Edward Waite, George Redway, (London), 1899.
A re-issue of the 1899 edition of Waite, with an additional foreword by "J.H. Conn, M.D., Pres., Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, The John Hopkins University Medical School, Baltomore, Md." was released in 1960 as: Braid, J., Braid on Hypnotism: The Beginnings of Modern Hypnosis, The Julian Press, (New York), 1960.
N.B.: The (1960) book's title page, cover, and dust jacket all mistakenly refer to "James Braid, M.D." (instead of the 1899 original's "James Braid, M.R.C.S., C.M.W.S., &c."). This is active misrepresentation of historical fact. Braid was never M.D.!
Weitzenhoffer, A.M., Gough, P.B. & Landes, J., "A Study of the Braid Effect: Hypnosis by Visual Fixation", Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, Vol.47, (January 1959), pp. 67-80.
Williamson, W.C. (Williamson, A.C., ed.), Reminiscences of a Yorkshire Naturalist, George Redway, (London), 1896.[35]
Website and blog dedicated to James Braid and his writings on hypnotism www.James-Braid.com
Entry for both James Braid and his son in the (first) U.K. medical register of 1859, indicating that Braid never held a M.D., and that he was a surgeon [36]
