ABSTRACT
Charcot’s words started the air vibrating, and made a physical impact on the neurological systems of his patients, it was the suggested idea of paralysis that seemed to immobilize his hypnotized patients. That was the most salient way to characterize what was happening. Perhaps equally important, Charcot rescued hypnotism from the carnival, the nightclub and the quack; he insisted on its significance for medical research and treatment. He certainly provided a striking example of someone who believed that mysteries were in our midst, there for the solving.
