But one does not have to go to the ranks of the somnambules for striking illustrations, for such are to be found in all walks of life among people who have no individuality of their own, but who seem to live and act entirely upon the "say so" of others. They have no quality of initiative, but must always be told just what to do, and how to do it, by others. These people will accept almost any kind of suggestion, if made by others in an authoritative tone and manner. They do not have to be persuaded by argument, but are fairly driven and ordered to do things by stronger-willed persons. They are impressionable and "sensitive," and seem to have no. wills of their own. These people are very suggestible, and every day's history records many startling cases of the effect of suggestion through acquiescence on the part of such people.

The key-note of this form of Suggestion is a positive statement or command, given with the air and appearance of authority. The secret of the effect is the tendency upon the part of the majority of people to acquiesce in an authoritative statement or command, rather than to dispute it, and the tendency toward thinking "Yes" rather than "No!"

This form of suggestion is to be observed in the highest degree among those who have always depended upon others for orders, or instruction, and who have not had to "use their own wits" and resources in life. Unskilled laborers and the sons of rich men belong to this class as a rule. These people seem to need someone to do their thinking for them, even in the smallest events of their lives, and are most suggestible along these lines. Then the degree of suggestibility along these lines decreases as we ascend among people who have had to "do things" for themselves, and who have not depended upon others so much. It is the slightest among people who have had the ordering of others to do, or who have had to depend upon their own wits in getting through life - the men of marked degree of initiative have scarcely a trace of this form of suggestibility. "Initiative," you know, is a term for "doing things without being told" - using one's own wits and resources - the true "American Spirit" (which so many Americans lack).

The degree of power in giving this form of suggestion depends materially upon the development of will on the part of the suggestor, and also upon his assumption of the appearance, manners, air and tone of authority, the latter requisites being the outward symbols. If one has the Will-Power strongly developed, the symbols will appear of themselves as a natural consequence. But to those who have not the developed Will-Power, and whose authority is more or less "counterfeit," the assumption of the outward symbols becomes a matter of great importance, and these people devote much study to the cultivation of these outward forms. And these "counterfeit" symbols - the art of the actor - serve their purpose to impress and suggest to the crowd, and their assumers set up a very brave front and obtain a very fair degree of success in the part they are acting - that is, until they come in contact with a man of real Will-Power, when they gracefully retire after the first clash of mentative swords.

To those who are negative and who are too susceptible to this form of suggestion, I advise the cultivation of Will-Power, which will be fully taught in the later chapters of this book, entitled "Mental Architecture," etc. Nothing but the cultivation of the will will render one positive and impervious to suggestive influences of this sort.

The second line of action of Mental Suggestion is that called:

Suggestion Through Imitation

This form of Mental Suggestion is very common - perhaps the most common of all the forms. Man is essentially an imitative animal. He is always copying the actions, appearances and ideas of others, thereby going to prove his descent from the monkey-like ancestors, in whom this trait of character was largely developed. Personally, I believe that those traits of imitation may be traced back to the early days of the race, or before, when animals and men were in a wild state, and exposed to constant danger of attack of enemies. Then a motion of fright on the part of one would be communicated to the others of the tribe, and gradually the trait of instinctive imitation was developed, the traces of which are still strongly with the race, even to this day. We may find instances of this trait all around us. When we watch a tight-rope walker, our bodies instinctively sway in imitative motion. When we watch the faces of actors on the stage, our own faces work in sym-pathy, more or less. And so it goes on all around us, and in us - ever the tendency toward imitation. Children manifest a great degree of this trait and copy and acquire the mannerisms of those around to a surprising degree of detail.

This form of Mental Suggestion is very common. People are constantly taking up the suggestion of the mental states, feelings, and emotions of those around them, and reproducing them in their own acts. The majority of people are like human sheep, who will follow a leader everywhere and along all sorts of paths. Let the old bell-wether jump over a rail, and every sheep in the flock will do likewise - and they will keep on jumping over the same place. at the same height, even if the rail be removed before the whole flock gets over. We are constantly doing things simply because other people do them. We are constantly aping after others. In our fashions, styles, forms, etc., we are servile imitators. Larry Hehr shows a vest button hung by a thread and all the young apes in the land follow suit. Funny! isn't it?

This law of imitation plays an important part in the phenomena of Mental Suggestion along these lines. Somebody does a certain thing and at once other people take up the suggestion and copy the original actor. Let the newspaper record a certain crime and many others of the same type follow closely after. Let there be a suicide, and many others follow, usually adopting the same methods. Let there be a number of cases of some kind of folly and dissipation, and immediately there is "an epidemic" of the same thing. Let the papers say much about the appearance of a new disease, and at once a number of people manifest symtoms of it. Diseases get to be quite the fashion in this way. The feelings and emotions of the instinctive part of the mind are called into sympathetic action along the lines of imitative suggestion, and physical effects follow shortly after.