n his pocket
instead of tobacco he knew no difference. While in his periods of
automatism he was in the habit of stealing everything within his grasp.
He had been a concert singer, and a peculiar fact was that if given
white gloves he would carefully put them on and commence a pantomime of
the actions of a singer, looking over his music, bowing, assuming his
position, and then singing.

It is particularly in hypnotic subjects that manifestations of
automatism are most marked. At the suggestion of battle an imaginary
struggle at once begins, or if some person present is suggested as an
enemy the fight is continued, the hypnotic taking care not to strike
the person in question. Moll conceded that this looked like simulation,
but repetition of such experiments forced him to conclude that these
were real, typical hypnoses, in which, in spite of the sense-delusions,
there was a dim, dreamy consciousness existing, which influenced the
actions of the subject, and which prevented him from striking at a
human being, although hitting at an imaginary object. Many may regard
this behavior of hypnotics as pure automatism; and Moll adds that, as
when walking in the street while reading we automatically avoid
knocking passers-by, so the hypnotic avoids hitting another person,
although he is dimly or not at all aware of his existence.

Gibbs reports a curious case of lack of integrity of the will in a man
of fifty-five. When he had once started on a certain labor he seemed to
have no power to stop the muscular exercise that the task called forth.
If he went to the barn to throw down a forkful of hay, he would never
stop until the hay was exhausted or someone came to his rescue. If sent
to the wood-pile for a handful of wood, he would continue to bring in
wood until the pile was exhausted or the room was full. On all
occasions his automatic movements could only be stopped by force.

At a meeting in Breslau Meschede rendered an account of a man who
suffered from simple misdirection of movement without any mental
derangement. If from his own desire, or by direction of others, he
wanted to attempt any muscular movement, his muscles performed the
exact opposite to his inclinations. If he desired to look to the right,
his eyes involuntarily moved to the left. In this case the movement was
not involuntary, as the muscles were quiet except when called to action
by the will, and then they moved to the opposite.

Presentiment, or divination