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Neurypnology: or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep – James Braid

A lady, 54 years of age, had been suffering for 16 years from incipient amaurosis. According to the same ratio, she must have had four years of sleep, but instead of improving she was every month getting worse, and when she called on me, could with difficulty read two words of the largest heading of a newspaper. After eight minutes hypnotic sleep, however, she could read the other words, and in three minutes more, the whole of the smaller heading, soon after a smaller sized type, and the same afternoon, with the aid of her glasses, read the 118th Psalm, 29 verses, in the small diamond Polyglot Bible, which for years had been a sealed book to her. There has also been a most remarkable improvement in this lady's general health since she was hypnotised.

Another lady, 44 years of age, had required glasses 22 years, to enable her to see to sew, read, or write. She had thus five years and a-half of sleep, but the sight was still getting worse, so that, before being hypnotised, she could not distinguish the capitals in the advertising columns of a newspaper. After being hypnotised, however, she could, in a few minutes, see to read the large and second heading of the newspaper, and next day, to make herself a blond cap, threading her needle without the aid of glasses.