Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1892 — Law Against Hypnotism. [ARTICLE]

Law Against Hypnotism.

Belgium is the first country to make hypnotizing an offense against the law of the land. The law recently approved by the Parliament in Brussels is as follows: 1. Whoever exhibits an individual hypnotized by him or by another shall be punished by imprisonment for from two weeks to six months, and by a fine of $5 to S2OO. 2. Any person, not a physician, having hypnotized an individual under 21 years, or one not in full possession of his mental powers, shall be punished by a fine of $5 to S2OO, even when the hypnotized individual has not been exhibited publicly. 3. With imprisonment shall be punished, moreover, every person who, with the intention of cheating, or otherwise injuring, causes a hypnotized individual to sign a paper containing a contract, disposition, obligation, release, or declaration or intention. The same punishment shall be inflicted, also> upon the person deriving benefit from such a paper.