The paper studies the history of James Braid , the father of hypnotism. It shows how his interest in the field began with
a mesmerist named Lafontaine, and developed into his own research. The
author of the paper shows how Braid discovered that a
hypnotic state could be induced by fixating the eyes on a single moving object placed in a position such that the muscles of the eye become fatigued, and how Braid's findings influenced many psychologists, including Sigmund Freud. The author shows too, how, after Braid's death in 1860, his influence faded, and only his book Neurypnology remains to carry on his ideas.