to Divine Providence, or to the doctor having been called too late, or to the "Pothecary doctors" previously in charge of the case.

This, however, is a slight digression. My principal object in writing this chapter and the one preceding it is to show what an infinite variety of suggestions adverse to health are current in every civilized community; my ultimate object being to impress upon the mind of the reader the importance of studying the law of suggestion in its relations to that most important of the affairs of every-day life, -the diet upon which he feeds himself and those dependent upon him.

No one needs to be told of the prepotent influence upon his health of the food he eats, nor does any one need to be informed that the benefit which one derives from food depends upon his powers of digestion and assimilation; but the majority of people do need to be informed that their powers of digestion and assimilation are absolutely within their own control. This is, indeed, the most important fact connected with the science of mental medicine; and when it is once generally understood, appreciated, and intelligently acted upon, the science of healing disease by any process, mental or material, will be found to be of comparatively little importance.

CHAPTER IX

AUTO-SUGGESTION

The Fundamental Psychological Principles restated. - Fatal Potency of Fear in Epidemics. — Pathological Power of "Expectant Attention."— Appendicitis. — Any Disease that can be induced by Suggestion can be avoided by Counter-Suggestion or by ignoring Adverse Suggestion. — Avoidance of Adverse Suggestion. — Suggestion in Connection with Habitual Drunkenness and Dipsomania. - Counter-Suggestion as a Prophylactic. — Danger of Injudicious Sympathy. False Dietetic Suggestions to Children.

HE reader will now once more recall the funda

TH

mental psychological propositions upon which the science of mental medicine is based. They are:I. That man is endowed with a dual mental organism, or mind,— objective and subjective.

2. The subjective mind is constantly amenable to control by the power of suggestion.

3. The subjective mind controls the functions, sensations, and conditions of the body.

At the risk of undue repetition, I again call attention to the obvious fact that if these propositions are true, man possesses within his own organism the means and the power to control disease, with or without aid from extraneous sources.

I have now at some length discussed, seriatim, the above propositions with the object of impressing their exact truth upon the mind of the student, to the end that when he undertakes to apply them to

practical uses he may know that he is wholly within the realm of scientific truth, and not groping in the darkness of medieval mysticism or savage superstition. In other words, I desire to inspire the mind of the student with that perfect faith which alone is born of a knowledge of scientific truth, as distinguished from the faith inspired by authority invested with mystery and occultism. Such was the faith of Jesus of Nazareth. He was endowed with a perfect knowledge of the laws of the human soul and of its power over the material universe, and he knew how to direct its energies in the healing of the diseases of the body. This was the secret of his transcendent power,—of his never-failing success where the conditions could be commanded in the patient. He could not teach the science of mental therapeutics to his disciples, for they were mentally unprepared to receive or assimilate it. Their faith, therefore, was dependent alone upon the words and the example of the Master; and hence the frequent fluctuations of their power, even in his presence.

It may be that science will never be able to impart a knowledge of the law of mental healing in such perfection as Jesus possessed it; but in view of his promises, may we not reasonably hope to attain a knowledge sufficient for the practical purposes of

life.

It is in this hope that I have endeavored to point out what I conceive to be at least a valid working hypothesis for mental medicine. To that end I have discussed inductively the three fundamental propositions, with what success the reader must judge. I have also pointed out some of the sources of danger

arising from popular ignorance of the law of suggestion. I have dwelt upon the innumerable suggestions adverse to health which constantly beset the people of civilized countries, and pointed out some of their sources. I have laid particular stress upon those suggestions which attack the digestive organs, because they are the most common and easily recognized, and, on the whole, the most important. Obviously, whatever impairs our powers of digestion and assimilation saps the citadel of our material power. But in dwelling upon that particular source of popular danger from suggestion, it must not be inferred that other diseases are excluded. On the contrary, it is well known that there is no disease of the human body that may not be created, or simulated, by the power of mind when stimulated by suggestion. It is asserted by physicians of experience that in cholera epidemics a large proportion more than half of the cases are the result of "fear," otherwise suggestion. There is nothing to distinguish such cases from those of true Asiatic cholera, except, perhaps, the absence of the true cholera germ, or bacillus, in the suggestive cases. It is certain that all the salient symptoms of true cholera are present in that which is induced by suggestion, and that the percentage of fatal cases is greater in the latter class of cases.

Again, it is well known that almost any one can cause an increased flow of blood to any part or organ of the body by merely concentrating his attention upon the part. If this can be done experimentally, it follows that persistence in such concentration will eventually induce congestion, especially

if the concentration is prompted by fear of disease of the organ. It follows that no organ of the human body is immune from that prolific cause of disease.

I know that I shall be trespassing upon the domain of a popular surgical fad when I venture to instance appendicitis as a possible example of a disease caused by "expectant attention" or suggestion. Certain it is that in the good old days, before it was generally known that man had such a thing as a vermiform appendix concealed about his person, cases of appendicitis were very rare; and when one did come to light it was invariably said to be due to the presence of some foreign substance, -generally a seed of some fruit that the patient had But since it was discovered that the vermiform appendix can be removed for a few hundred dollars without necessarily killing the patient out of hand, the people have been educated in respect to that mysterious portion of their anatomy; and cases of appendicitis have multiplied proportionately, so that now it must be a very ignorant man (or a very poor one) who cannot manage to have at least one case of appendicitis; and no surgeon can properly be considered up to date who has been unable to capture at least half-a-dozen vermiform appendices.

I am not unmindful that surgeons are provided with a very plausible explanation of this phenomenal increase of cases of appendicitis within the last quarter of a century. They explain it on the ground that there are really no more cases of appendicitis now than formerly, in proportion to the population, but that, owing to ignorance, the doctors formerly attributed such cases to other causes, such as peri