La Pupilla nella Fascinazione — Morselli e Tanzi (1886)/en
Page title: The Pupil in Fascination — Morselli and Tanzi (1886)
In 1886, Prof. Enrico Morselli (University of Turin), one of the most important Italian neurologists of the time, published in the Archivio di Psichiatria a scientific observation of exceptional value: the progressive dilation of the pupils during Donato's fascination, documented and measured by his assistant Dr. Tanzi.
This document is preserved in the ISI-CNV archive and is one of the most solid scientific proofs of the physiological reality of fascination: a neurologist personally submits to Donato's fascination and has his assistant measure what happens to his pupils.
Primary source Drive: Pupil fascination — Morselli/Tanzi (ISI-CNV Drive)
The Fundamental Observation
Morselli writes:
- "In some experiments performed on myself by the magnetizer Donato, Dr. Tanzi, my assistant, whom I had tasked with examining my pupils, observed that they became increasingly mydriatic as the fascination progressed and that they were indeed subject to a true hippus."
Progressive mydriasis = increasingly pronounced dilation of the pupils. Hippus = rhythmic pupillary oscillations (rapid alternation of dilation and contraction). Both are signs of **activation of the sympathetic nervous system** — the same response that occurs in situations of excitement, fear, or deep attention.
The Scientific Significance
Morselli interprets this phenomenon in light of the physiology of the iris nerve:
The iris has two antagonistic muscles:
- The **constrictor** (sphincter) innervated by the oculomotor nerve — responds to light with constriction
- The **dilator** innervated by the cervical sympathetic nerve — responds to emotional, tactile, and painful stimuli with dilation
During fascination, **the sympathetic system prevails**: the response is not to light (which normally constricts the pupil) but to something deeper — the operator's action on the subject's nervous system.
The implicit conclusion — which Morselli leaves open — is that Donato's fascination produces a **real, objective, non-simulable sympathetic activation**, documentable through pupillary measurement.
Confirmation by Dr. Brémaud
This observation confirms and specifies what Dr. Brémaud had already reported in his presentation to the Société de Biologie of Paris in 1883: among the non-simulable signs of fascination, the "considerable and instantaneous dilation of the pupil" is the most reliable, along with the acceleration of the pulse.
Donato commented: "These two signs suffice to protect the observer from any deception."
Importance for the ISI-CNV Tradition
Pupillary dilation during fascination is one of the diagnostic elements taught in the Method Paret: it allows the operator to assess the subject's degree of response without having to ask questions. Dilated eyes = sympathetic response = Donato's "ébranlement" is occurring.
Morselli also notes that this is a phenomenon that intensifies "as the fascination progresses" — it is not instantaneous but grows. This confirms the progressive structure of the Donato method: it is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon, but a continuum that deepens.
Sources
- Pupil fascination — Morselli, Archivio di Psichiatria 1886 (ISI-CNV Drive)
- Dottor Marc Dufour — Il Testimone Scientifico di Donato — the letter with the 7 signs of fascination (1880)
- La Fascinazione come Fenomeno Psicofisiologico — Donato e la Scienza
See also
- Donato — Il Padre della Fascinazione
- La Fascinazione di Donato — Guida Completa al Metodo
- La Fascinazione come Fenomeno Psicofisiologico — Donato e la Scienza
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The photographs of patient Esther in Luys' book (1890) visually show the mydriasis described by Morselli: in Planche V, the pupillary dilation during the hypnotic state is evident to the naked eye — confirming the instrumental measurement by Morselli and Tanzi. See: Prof. Jules Bernard Luys — La Fascinazione Terapeutica alla Charité.