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Ellis, Havelock, 1859-1939

"Sexual Selection In Man"

It would be possible to study these
facts experimentally if we had at our disposition a human being
who, while retaining his sensations and their motor reactions,
was by special circumstances rendered entirely spontaneous like a
sensitive automaton, whose movements were neither intentionally
produced nor intentionally repressed. In this way, melodic
intervals in a hypnotized subject might be very instructive."
A number of experiments of the kind desired by Goblot had already
been made by A. de Rochas in a book, copiously illustrated by
very numerous instantaneous photographs, entitled _Les
Sentiments, la Musique et la Geste_, 1900. Chapter III. De Rochas
experimented on a single subject, Lina, formerly a model, who was
placed in a condition of slight hypnosis, when various simple
fragments of music were performed: recitatives, popular airs, and
more especially national dances, often from remote parts of the
world. The subject's gestures were exceedingly marked and varied
in accordance with the character of the music. It was found that
she often imitated with considerable precision the actual
gestures of dances she could never have seen.


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