James Richard Cocke

James Richard Cocke (1863 – April 12, 1900), who had been blind since infancy, was an American physician, homeopath, and a pioneer hypnotherapist.

Early life He was born in the South of the United States, and had been totally blind since he was an infant. His sight had been completely destroyed when acid was accidentally applied to his eyes when he was just three weeks old.

He moved to Boston around 1885.

He was considered to be "highly educated"; and, despite his total blindness, "was able to go around the city at will", and "could play a piano with much skill":

Marriages Once he had moved to Boston, he married a Mrs. Green of Springfield, Massachusetts:

Miss Harrington, aged 23, was a medical student, and had been acting as Cocke's amanuensis.

They had only been married for about seven weeks at the time of Cocke's suicide in April 1900.

Medical career Having moved to Boston around 1885, he graduated M.D. from Boston University in June 1892, "having completed the full course of study [including performing dissections], with an average percentage of 96 for the three years". He was the first blind person to do so.

He was a member of the Medico-Legal Society of New York.

Although he studied homeopathy for a time, he made his mark as a student of hypnotism, and as a successful hypnotherapist.

He wrote an important text-book on hypnotism in 1894.

Death He was found dead by his wife on 12 April 1900, with a pistol placed in his mouth and a bullet in the back of his head.

The coroner's verdict was suicide.

Works Cocke, J.R. (1893), "The Practical Application of Hypnotism in Modern Medicine", The Arena, Vol.9, No.1, (December 1893), pp. 73–80. Cocke, J.R. (1894a), Hypnotism: How it is Done; Its Uses and Dangers, Arena Publishing Co., (Boston), 1894. Cocke, J.R. (1894b), "The Power of the Mind as a Remedial Agent in the Cure of Disease", The Arena, Vol.9, No.6, (May 1894), pp. 746–757. Cocke, J.R. (1894c), "The Value of Hypnotism as a Means of Surgical Anæsthesia", The Arena, Vol.10, No.58, (August 1894), pp. 289-296. Cocke, J.R. (1895), "Methods of Inducing Hypnotism", Current Literature, Vol.17, No.5, (May 1895), pp. 443–444. Cocke, J.R. (1896), Blind Leaders of the Blind: The Romance of a Blind Lawyer, Lee and Shepard, (Boston), 1896.

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