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 >( 17 JTH 
 
MIND CUKE; 
 
 ITS 
 
 TRUTHS AND FALLACIES, 
 
 COMMON SENSE STANDPOINT. 
 
 / BY 
 
 W. T. NICHOLS, M. D. 
 
 / 
 
 x^iCL'l 
 
 Chicago^ %XU 
 
 1886. 
 

 T? 
 
 fa* 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I.— Mind, What It Is ... 5 
 
 CHAPTER II.— How Mind Manifests Itself 
 
 Thkough the Body . . 23 
 
 CHAPTER III.— Diseases and Genekal Reme- 
 dies. 32 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— Mental Conditions and Mental 
 
 Remedies . . . . 43 
 
 CHAPTER V. Recapitulation .... 71 
 
 Copyright, 1886, 
 By W. T. NICHOLS, M. D. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This little work has been prompted with a view 
 of placing in their proper light, "mind, faith, and 
 other so-called miraculous cures." We have clearly 
 pointed out how, when, and why, "rnind, faith, etc.," 
 can, in some cases, effect cures and why in other cases 
 they utterly fail. 
 
 All things are the result of and subject to certain 
 methods or laws. To insure health and happiness, 
 all beings must place themselves in harmony with 
 these laws; any attempt to violate them, whether it be 
 done purposely, ignorantly, or accidentally, produces 
 inharmony and consequent suffering. 
 
 This completely disposes of the favorite assertion 
 of the "mind and faith cure" exponents, u that all 
 suffering is the result only of, sin," as the term sin, 
 viewed from any possible standpoint, can hardly be 
 sufficiently elastic to include the consequences of 
 accidents, if indeed it can those of ignorance. 
 
 Between the visiouary assertions of the "inind 
 and faith cure" claimants and the sneers, doubts, 
 and denials of the materialist, there is a large class 
 of humanity who are always willing and ready to 
 investigate any alleged newly- discovered truths if 
 
4 MIND CUBE; 
 
 clothed in an appropriate garment of common sense, 
 but who utterly refuse to consider them at all while 
 clothed in the grotesque masquerading garb of a one- 
 idea enthusiasm. To all such this little work is 
 respectfully dedicated by the author. 
 Chicago, February, 1886. 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MIND, WHAT IT IS. 
 
 The interesting subject of Mind Cure is one 
 that has for some time past been engaging the 
 thoughts and attention of a considerable num- 
 ber of intelligent people. But the idea of what 
 mind is and how it can effect cures does not 
 seem to be easily comprehended. One reason 
 for this is, that the majority of writers on the 
 subject have so sparingly interspersed a few 
 golden grains of truth among such a formidable 
 collection of senseless phraseology, that one 
 needs a pilot well accustomed to seeking safe 
 anchorage among broken rocks and winding 
 streams, or he is liable to be dashed to pieces, 
 on the sharp crags of doubt, or have his indi- 
 viduality swallowed up by the treacherous quick- 
 sands that lie hidden just beneath the placid 
 surface of shallow water. These writers, as a 
 rule, display either a lamentable ignorance of 
 the results of physiological and psychological 
 research, or are purposely endeavoring to mis- 
 lead their readers. In one sentence they pos- 
 
o MIND CURE; 
 
 iiively assert that nothing exists but mind, and 
 in the next admit that they can't tell and don't 
 know what mind is. It is all things and yet an 
 indefinable nothing. Surely this is transcen- 
 dentalism beside itself. 
 
 At the other end of the line, tugging with 
 all his might, stands the self-assertive Mate- 
 rialist, who is just as positive that nothing 
 exists that he can't either analyze with his 
 chemical reagents or bring within the limited 
 iield of vision of his little microscope. 
 
 Between all extremes there is a medium of 
 truth, a great central rock of fact, toward which 
 the tumultuous waves of error are constantly 
 drifting. As they draw nearer and nearer, the 
 less and less becomes their turbulent motion, 
 until finally they unite in a deep, calm, peaceful 
 rest. 
 
 Nothing in this world seems so difficult as 
 for us to take a broad, comprehensive view of 
 things in general. Could we do this, we should 
 be better enabled to recognize and pluck the 
 grains of truth that lie scattered among the ac- 
 companying sophistries of all writers and think- 
 ers who devote all their energies toward the 
 investigation of one particular subject. 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 7 
 
 It seems necessary for the discovery of un- 
 known truths that certain persons should thus 
 devote all their energies to the investigation of 
 the one thing. But in doing this, they are sub- 
 jected to the influence of the well-known physio- 
 logical law, that a part develops in proportion 
 as it acts. So by confining their activities to 
 certain organs they become developed at the 
 expense of the others, and an enthusiast is the 
 result. He sees nothing, hears nothing, knows 
 nothing, believes nothing, except the one thing 
 dear to him. This, to him, is everything — the 
 thing that is to revolutionize the world. This 
 would do no particular harm w T ere it confined to 
 himself. But it is not. Enthusiasm, like some 
 diseases, is catching. His unreflecting, sympa- 
 thizing friends are generally the first to be 
 brought under his ill-guided influence, and they 
 soon become as enthusiastic as himself, and the 
 disease, for it is a disease, commences to spread. 
 It may develop into a regular conflagration, car- 
 rying everything before it, until finally it ex- 
 hausts itself by over stimulation. 
 
 All this may have led to the discovery and 
 recognition of a previously unknown truth, 
 which is accepted and relegated to its proper 
 
8 MIND CUBE; 
 
 sphere by the more conservative and less excita- 
 ble portion of the community. Had it not have 
 been for the enthusiast, it might never have 
 been recognized. But could he have discovered 
 it and given it to the world without assuming 
 so much of the "You-are-all-fools-and-I-ani-the- 
 only-smart-rnan" attitude, he would have done 
 less injury. He would not have disturbed the 
 equilibrium of so many unreflecting persons, 
 and the truth would receive an earlier recogni- 
 tion by the reflecting ones. As an illustration : 
 A few years ago it was not considered right and 
 proper to use water in the treatment of fevei, 
 until some one discovered the fact that water 
 was really curative (when used in a certain 
 manner) in that disease. This they proved by 
 curing several persons of fever with the use of 
 no other remedies but water. This was enough 
 to throw r them out of balance, and they at once 
 concluded and asserted that all physicians were 
 fools, and that water, because it had cured 
 fevers, would cure everything. Their enthu- 
 siasm carried the people by storm, and the dis- 
 ease spread over the country like wildfire, and 
 it took a long time for the water to put it out. 
 Where the condition . of the patient was such 
 
1 TS TR UTHS A ND FA LLA CUES. 9 
 
 that water was indicated, they cured, and where 
 it was not, they used it just the same, and 
 either killed or made their patients worse. The 
 writer of this once, while suffering from a severe 
 attack of fever and ague, was, while in the cold 
 stage, rolled in cold, wet sheets, and compelled 
 to lie there for an hour, under the direction of 
 one of these zealous disciples. It took months 
 of careful treatment before he recovered from 
 the effects of this lamentable misapplication of 
 a useful remedy. 
 
 In order to understand how mind can kill 
 or cure, we must learn something of what it is, 
 and how it acts, and what it acts through. To do 
 this we must commence our investigations with 
 the physiologist away down at the base of phys- 
 ical structure, and we here learn that all organic 
 life results from an aggregation of protoplasmic 
 cells. We analyze these cells, and we find they 
 are composed of a number of molecules blended 
 together. These we break up, and find the 
 original elements that compose them. There 
 have been discovered about sixty-five different 
 substances in nature, which are called the 
 primitive elements. These elements possess the 
 power of inherent motion, that is, they can and 
 
10 MINI) CURE; 
 
 do vibrate or move from place to place. They 
 do not all move at the same rates. The finer 
 ones move much more rapidly than the grosser 
 ones. These elements don't like to stay alone; 
 they are constantly seeking other elements with 
 which to unite. When they do unite they are 
 called molecules. A molecule can be composed 
 of two, or a dozen, or more of these elements. 
 These may stay united until they meet some 
 other atom or molecule which is able, by its 
 superior power, to break up the first molecule 
 and steal or appropriate one or more of its 
 atoms. It in its turn may meet others more 
 powerful than itself, and may be broken up by 
 them. 
 
 An aggregation of these molecules, we have 
 said, formed cells, and these cells aggregate and 
 assume certain forms of organic life. After 
 having existed as a part of one organism for 
 awhile, these molecules, by coming in contact 
 w r ith, and being influenced by one another, — that 
 is, the changes and interchanges that are con- 
 stantly taking place between them, — increase 
 their complexity and combining power, so that 
 they are capable of uniting to form some future 
 organism of a higher type of structure. This 
 
ITS TR UTHS AND FALL A CIES. 1 1 
 
 is the law of organization — that is, it is the 
 method by which nature produces various living 
 organisms. 
 
 This view is generally accepted by nearly all 
 the thinkers of the present day. But it is also 
 the rock upon which the Materialist and the 
 Deist are wrecked. The Materialist asserts that 
 all beings are the result of the aggregation of 
 molecules, and that the power to determine the 
 kind of form exists in the molecules. The 
 Deist admits the method, but denies that the 
 organizing power exists in the molecule, and 
 positively asserts that they are compelled to 
 assume their particular forms by some great, 
 intelligent, directing and governing power, whom 
 they call God. But however this may be, it is 
 the method that at the present we more partic- 
 ularly wish to investigate. 
 
 The Materialist takes the discovered ele- 
 ments and says : Here is all there is in existence ; 
 here is all there is in man. We have dissected 
 him, and analyzed him, and subjected him to 
 our most powerful microscopes, and this is all 
 we find; therefore this life is the end of man. 
 He has no such thing as actual mind or spirit. 
 It is simply the result of the activities of these 
 
12 MINT) CUBE; 
 
 few elements. He challenges the Deist to prove 
 what mind, or spirit, is, and what God is. The 
 Deist answers he knows that they do exist, but 
 can't satisfactorily explain the why or where- 
 fore. So that, measured from the standpoint of 
 the demonstrable, the Materialist seems to have 
 the best of the argument. But from the stand- 
 point of philosophy he has a less easy task. 
 He is here confronted with questions which he 
 finds difficult to answer. For instance, we ask 
 him : What is light, what is heat, what is elec- 
 tricity ? They are not composed of your vaunted 
 elements ! Well, no, says he, but then they 
 must be some other elements. Aha ! sir, this 
 is where we wanted you. So then you admit 
 that there may be in existence some elements 
 that are too fine and too rapid in their move- 
 ments for you to grasp and hold under the 
 object-glass of your microscope, do you? Well, 
 yes, I must admit that such seems to be the 
 case. And now, sir, if we have good evidence 
 that there are some other elements in existence 
 whose nature you can not determine, what 
 right have jovl to say how many there are, or 
 to what degree of fineness they may attain, or 
 what degree of power the finer ones are capable 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 13 
 
 of manifesting? We have evidence that the 
 finer they are the greater their power, and the 
 more rapid their movements, as is manifested 
 in light and electricity. And now, sir, further, 
 if, as you admit, the elements you can analyze 
 can by a power inherent within themselves or- 
 ganize a form, — a physical body, — reasoning 
 from analogy, by what authority can you assert 
 that the finer elements can not organize by a 
 power inherent within themselves and also form 
 a body either within or without a physical or- 
 ganism, so fine that you can neither see nor 
 analyze it? 
 
 In an argument with a well-known Material- 
 ist a short time ago we presented the matter in 
 a manner similar to this. It completely stag- 
 gered him. A new light seemed to dawn upon 
 him, and he frankly admitted that he had never 
 before thought of it in that light. He stated 
 further that he had read a number of the best 
 works on theology and materialism, and was a 
 constant visitor at lecture halls, but that we had 
 told him more in ten minutes to convince him 
 of the possibility of a continued existence than 
 anything else had done he had ever before heard 
 or read. 
 
14 MIND CUBE; 
 
 We think we make a statement entirely in 
 accordance with logical reasoning when we 
 assert that mind, or spirit, can't be nothing, or 
 made of nothing, any more than the body can, 
 and that it cannot receive a finite individuality 
 without assuming an organized form any more 
 than a conglomeration of protoplasmic cells can 
 constitute a physical body until they have been 
 arranged in the order necessary to assume that 
 form. 
 
 We have proven beyond doubt that infi- 
 nitely finer elements do exist than those that 
 have received names and are called the primi- 
 tive elements. The elements that compose heat, 
 light, and electricity are among the most active 
 and powerful force-producers. 
 
 That there are infinitely finer ones still we 
 have the best of reasons for asserting, because 
 mind and thought, being so much more subtle 
 and powerful, and their rate of speed so infinitely 
 more rapid, must, as a logical sequence, be con- 
 structed of elements infinitely finer. It takes 
 hundreds of years for even light to reach us 
 from some of the fixed stars, but the same sec- 
 ond that it does so our thoughts can be trans- 
 ferred to the star. 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 15 
 
 From the evidence already offered, and from 
 still more which we shall presently offer on the 
 subject, in speaking of the Infinite, we have as- 
 sumed that mind, or spirit, as it exists in us, is 
 an organized form, composed of the finest 
 existent elements, " in the same manner as the 
 physical body is composed of the grosser ele- 
 ments. Some of our readers may here ask : Why 
 then the necessity of a physical body at all ? 
 
 We answer that the elements which consti- 
 tute mind, or spirit, are so fine, and their move- 
 ments, or vibratory rates, are so rapid, that they 
 can not remain quiescent long enough to organ- 
 ize or assume a particular form only by uniting 
 with the grosser ones, thus increasing the 
 quality and complexity of the grosser elements 
 and gaining sufficient stability themselves to 
 construct a form, and a compound structure is 
 the result, w T hich w r e call man. 
 
 As an illustration, we will take an egg. It 
 consists of a protecting shell and membrane 
 externally, and internally an admixture of vari- 
 ous elements, w T hich, under certain conditions, 
 are capable of organizing to form a chicken, 
 although it at present bears not the slightest 
 resemblance to one. Should we break the shell 
 
16 MINI) CVJiE; 
 
 or membrane and withdraw a portion of the 
 contents, or place it in too cool a place, or sub- 
 ject it to long-continued atmospheric influences, 
 it could never be converted into a chicken. But 
 by placing it in a certain temperature for a cer- 
 tain length of time, various and complicated 
 molecular changes gradually take place among 
 the internal mass, until finally they succeed in 
 forming an organism which w T e call a chicken. 
 It is now able to withstand the action of external 
 influences, and comes out from its protecting 
 covering, and seeks in food and air the elements 
 for its continued development. 
 
 In a similar manner the mind, or spirit, 
 ater having acquired the ability to organize 
 itself through the association and protection of 
 the physical form, finally emerges from it, and is 
 enabled to maintain an independent existence, 
 and to continue its growth and development. 
 They are both the methods by which the Infinite 
 produces these particular results. 
 
 It is believed and asserted by minds who 
 are disposed to take a broad and philosoph- 
 ical view of things in general that the sum 
 total of all the finer existent elements constitutes 
 the Being of the Infinite, whose form is the form 
 
ITS TR UTHS A ND FALL A CIES. 1 7 
 
 of the Universe, and that all the higher forms 
 of energy and motion are the result of changes 
 and interchanges which are constantly taking 
 place among the constituent elements of His 
 Being ; that these movements and changes are 
 the result of a part of His mental operations. 
 In other words, when this vast Being thinks or 
 wills, He does so by virtue of some changes 
 which take place in some part of the constitu- 
 ents of His Being. We are buds, or offshoots, 
 from this universal consciousness, and exist only 
 as a result of His existence. Our finite minds act 
 through and by the same methods — in other 
 words we are in correlation to this, our existent 
 cause. Whether or not this is the correct view 
 of so vast a question, each must decide for him- 
 self. It is certainly in accordance with the law 
 of correlation which we find existing between the 
 special organs and their immediate causes — as, 
 for instance, the organ of vision, which is devel- 
 oped by the action of the infinitely minute par- 
 ticles of matter whose high vibratory rates result 
 in light. The one is always an accompaniment 
 of the other, unless interfered with or modified by 
 some other antagonistic forces. The mole, which 
 spends much of its time beneath the surface of 
 
18 MIND CUBE; 
 
 the earth, has but poorly developed eyes, because 
 the action of light upon them is feeble and lim- 
 ited. Fish are found in the waters of dark 
 caverns which are totally devoid of eyes, because 
 light, the greatest causative element in their 
 production, is totally excluded. This view of 
 the Creator is in harmony with the foundation 
 of all religious principles, — viz., the belief in the 
 existence of some power vastly superior to man. 
 This universal belief we assert is positive evi- 
 dence of the existence of some such power. To 
 substantiate this we will further assert that the 
 mind of man can conceive of no primitive object 
 that does not actually exist, because conscious- 
 ness of the existence of an object must be the 
 result of the activities of that object upon the 
 organ that perceives it. For it is the very 
 existence of the object that can alone make its 
 own impression upon the mind of facts regarding 
 its existence. In other words, one can think of 
 nothing, imagine nothing, dream of nothing, 
 that is not an actuality, or that he has not 
 called into being by breaking up things that are 
 actualities and constructing an imaginary one 
 with their fragments. 
 
 Analyze any possible thing you can imagine 
 
 
ITS TR UTHS A XI) FA LLA CIES- 1 9 
 
 or dream, and you will find that it is constructed 
 of the fragments or portions of objects or things 
 with an actual existence that have been stamped 
 on the tablets of your memory in the past as 
 absolute facts. As there could have been no 
 facts regarding a Supreme Power without the 
 existence of such a power, we offer the very 
 ability of man to formulate a conception of such 
 a power as proof of its existence. 
 
 The Materialist may here object and state 
 that this is fallacious reasoning, because his 
 denial of the existence of a Supreme Mind is as 
 good evidence that there is none as our asser- 
 tion that there is. There is really no similarity 
 between the cases. A man can deny anything 
 he pleases, whether or not he believes it. He 
 may even disbelieve it, because some part of his 
 organic apparatus may not be sufficiently per- 
 fect to respond to its naturally correlated cause. 
 We do not state that an object can not exist 
 without being cognized by the mind, but that 
 man can not cognize a primitive object that does 
 not exist. 
 
 There may be many reasons why man can 
 not perceive the existence of even so powerfu 
 an object as the sun. The eye in its normally 
 
20 MIND CV HE; 
 
 developed condition is enabled through the sen- 
 sitive nerves in the retina to respond to the fine, 
 rapidly-vibrating particles of matter that con- 
 stitute light, and through the optic nerve to 
 transmit those vibrations back to the organ of 
 consciousness. But if the eye be not perfectly 
 developed, or if it has been injured, it may be 
 unable to respond to the action of light at all. 
 But would that detract one ray from the sum 
 total of light ? 
 
 Some who are not Materialists may object 
 to this idea of the Deity as being too material, 
 thinking that this conception of Him is not as 
 spiritual as they have heretofore regarded Him. 
 So we will repeat our statement that He is 
 the embodiment of all the finest existent ele-. 
 ments. To insist that spirit is other than this 
 is to assert that it is constituted of nothing, and 
 would therefore be nothing. 
 
 Others may ask if the moral part of man's 
 nature is in correlation with the Divine mind, as 
 is the eye with light, why are there so many 
 different opinions on religious subjects? We 
 answer that man is yet in his infantile stage of 
 existence. He is, as it were, a bundle of differ- 
 ent organs, each one in correlation with a par- 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 21 
 
 ticular force that is acting upon it to develop it. 
 Those organs that are more nearly associated 
 with the lower regions of this dual physical and 
 mental existence are, from surrounding influ- 
 ences, more likely to claim the greater share of 
 his thought and attention, and under the recog- 
 nized law that a part develops in proportion as 
 it acts, because it responds more readily to the 
 forces that are acting upon it, the low^er regions 
 of his nature become developed at the expense 
 of the higher. These for the time being absorb 
 nearly all his thoughts ; they control his ideas 
 and actions. The organs in which are planted 
 the little germs of moral and spiritual life are so 
 weak and undeveloped that they can scarcely 
 formulate an idea that is not colored and warped 
 by the dominant inferior organs. Their grow r th 
 being thus retarded, and their individuality held 
 in abeyance by the selfish propensities, their 
 life and activity becomes bound within the nar- 
 row limits of creeds, dogma, bigotry, and preju- 
 dice. 
 
 Though one may be sufficiently developed in 
 the higher regions of his nature to perceive the 
 existence of a higher power acting upon and 
 through him, yet he might not fully com- 
 
22 MIND CUBE; 
 
 prehend its nature, form, or attributes, or the 
 methods by which it produces its results. As 
 an example, all who have perfect eyes know and 
 feel that the sun exists, but not all could give 
 an intelligent description of its properties and 
 methods of action. 
 
 From this interpretation of the nature and 
 existence of the Deity, we can more readily un- 
 derstand some of the highest principles of truth 
 enunciated in biblical teachings : "That God is 
 everywhere;" " That we live in the Father and 
 He in us, " w T hich is literally true, if the univers- 
 ally present life principle constitutes His life and 
 being. We, being a part of that principle, are 
 indeed His veritable children, made mentally 
 after His own image, and differing only in de- 
 gree. 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOW MIND MANIFESTS ITSELF THROUGH THE BODY. 
 
 We will now investigate the methods by 
 which mind manifests itself in and through the 
 physical body. In order to do this it will be 
 better to take a brief survey of its structure arid 
 physiological actions. 
 
 In the first place we find a bony framework 
 called the osseous system. This presents but a 
 rough outline of the man. We next find the 
 muscular system, more complicated, more plas- 
 tic, and a still nearer approach to the complete 
 human form. Next comes the circulatory sys- 
 tem. This is so thickly ramified throughout the 
 body that we can not insert a needle without 
 piercing some part of its structure. Then comes 
 the most important and complicated part of all — 
 the nervous system. This is the birthplace and 
 home of the mind while associated with the phys- 
 ical body. It consists of the brain, spinal cord, 
 and the vast net-work of nerves proceeding from 
 these and distributed through every part of the 
 
24 MIND CURE; 
 
 body. So close together are their terminal points, 
 and so sensitive are they,that the surface can not 
 be touched by even a hair without some nerve 
 being cognizant of it. Were we to remove this 
 nervous system from the rest of the body in all 
 its completeness, it would represent an exact 
 counterpart of the body in its entirety, so that 
 one would readily recognize the person of whom 
 it formed a part. 
 
 This nervous system is divided by physiolo- 
 gists into two grand divisions. One consists of 
 the brain, the spinal cord, and all the nerves 
 proceeding from them that are distributed to 
 those muscles that are under the control of the 
 will. This they call the voluntary nervous sys- 
 tem. It is the home of the conscious mind, and 
 is called by exponents of the mind cure the 
 immortal mind, or conscious mind. The other 
 division of the nervous system is distributed to all 
 those organs over which the will has, ordinarily, 
 no, or but little, control. These are called by phys- 
 iologists the nerves of organic life, or the in- 
 voluntary nervous system. The exponents of 
 the mind cure call them, or that part of the life 
 forces that act through them, the mortal mind, 
 or unconscious mind. Hereafter we shall use 
 
ITS TRUTHS AXD FALLACIES. 25 
 
 these terms interchangeably. These nerves are 
 distributed to the stomach, liver, heart, lungs, 
 blood-vessels, etc., and supply the force that 
 keeps all these organs in normal activity. 
 
 To impress these distinctions on the mind, 
 we will illustrate. We will take some coffee 
 berries, roast and grind them. We now take 
 the coffee and place it, together with water, in 
 a suitable urn, boil it, pour it into a cup, and 
 drink it. We do all this through an act of the 
 will, or conscious mind, acting through the vol- 
 untary nervous system. Having drank it, it 
 immediately passes beyond our direct control, 
 and is relegated to the control of the involun- 
 tary nervous system, or unconscious mind. 
 Through the action of this department of mind 
 it is made to undergo certain changes. It is 
 then discharged from the stomach into the cir- 
 culation, and is disposed of as the unconscious 
 mind sees fit, — or rather, we should say, in the 
 best way it can. 
 
 Both of these systems of nerves are divided 
 into two distinct classes — viz., those of sensa- 
 tion and those of motion. Voiceless messages 
 are sent by the nerves of sensation to the brain 
 by the vibration of the elements in the nerves. 
 
26 MIND CURE; 
 
 Force or motion is transmitted from the brain 
 or mind to any part of the body that requires 
 it. As an illustration : We touch our finger to 
 a hot stove. The sensory nerves send a mes- 
 sage for help, and the mind, by causing certain 
 molecular movements in the brain, liberates a 
 certain amount of nervous force. This force is 
 transmitted down the motor nerves to the mus- 
 cles of the hand and arm, which causes the 
 muscles to contract and we are enabled to imme- 
 diately withdraw our hand from the stove. Or, 
 w r e wish to take up a book, and the will, by the 
 same method, sends down its servant, the nerv- 
 ous force, and we take it up. If the nerve was 
 severed, or softened by disease, or pressed upon 
 by a bony tumor, or was congested and badly 
 swollen, the will, or mind, would be unable to 
 transmit the force through the nerve at all. This 
 condition would be called paralysis. So pa- 
 ralysis may result from different causes. The 
 unconscious mind generally performs its vari- 
 ous duties without any direction from the will. 
 It seems to work automatically, and to be, to a 
 certain extent, self-governing. It compels the 
 food we eat and the air we breathe, after being 
 received into their respective organs, to under- 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 27 
 
 go certain vito-chemical changes, after which, 
 by its action, they are conducted to the blood- 
 vessels, over which, also, it has control ; dimin- 
 ishing, for the time being, those vessels that 
 supply organs that are not active, and therefore 
 do not need much of the nutrition contained in 
 the blood. But it increases the size of those 
 vessels that supply organs that are specially 
 active and need an increased supply of nu- 
 triment. It also has charge of those organs 
 whose duty it is to transport out of the system 
 all the worn-out and broken-down tissue which 
 has been displaced by the deposition of new ele- 
 ments in the form of nutrition. It also sup- 
 plies the brain and conscious mind with the nu- 
 triment or elements that are constantly required 
 to take the place of those whose force has been 
 exhausted by their activities, for we can neither 
 think nor act without molecular changes taking 
 place in the cells that constitute both brain and 
 mind. 
 
 The unconscious mind is the builder, repair- 
 er, and general servant of the whole system, 
 manufacturing not only the force that is needed 
 for present use, but storing up large amounts of 
 
28 MIND CURE; 
 
 reserve force for use in an emergency, either for 
 itself or for its master, the conscious mind. 
 
 These two departments of mind may be lik- 
 ened to a hive of bees. The conscious mind is 
 the queen, who is fed, cherished, and housed by 
 the large band of workers and providers, which, 
 like the mortal mind, are not only providing a 
 sufficiency for the present, but are accumulat- 
 ing stores for future emergencies. Both the 
 working bees and the unconscious mind seem to 
 be purely unselfish. All their energies are di- 
 rected to securing the well-being and happiness 
 of their superiors. Nor can they even exist in 
 their present condition without the presence of 
 these superiors. Should the queen bee leave 
 the hive, the workers also leave. Should the 
 conscious mind leave the body, the unconscious 
 mind immediately ceases its operations, and the 
 other forces of nature gradually disintegrate its 
 form, so that the materials can be used to con- 
 struct other forms, in a similar manner that 
 one would displace an old building, brick by 
 brick, to be used in the construction of another. 
 
 The unconscious mind, we have shown, fur- 
 nishes force not only for the immediate use of 
 the conscious mind, but also a reserve fund. 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 29 
 
 This it does cheerfully and willingly up to the 
 limit of its ability. But if we, as is too often 
 the case, are too prodigal in the expenditure of 
 these forces, we finally exhaust the reserve fund, 
 and use up the forces as rapidly as the uncon- 
 scious mind can supply them. We sometimes 
 even go beyond this. We increase our demands 
 to such an extent that our generous, overworked 
 involuntary nervous system has to rob itself to 
 supply the voluntary. This it may continue to 
 do until some part of its structure, as the stom- 
 ach, or liver, or kidneys, have not strength 
 enough left to perform their part of the work 
 properly. This temporarily disarranges the 
 whole system, as the breaking of a small cog in 
 the wheel of a watch will prevent its keeping 
 correct time. 
 
 Mind, while associated with the body, receives 
 its impressions of surrounding objects through 
 what are termed the five senses, — viz., seeing, 
 hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. Now, 
 in reality, there is but one sense, — viz., feeling, 
 or perception — and the reason there are five ways 
 of perceiving the various objects around us is 
 because those objects differ in their constituents, 
 — that is, the elements that compose some ob- 
 
30 MIXD CURE; 
 
 jects are grosser than those that compose others. 
 We perceive all objects by some effect they pro- 
 duce on our mind through the nerves. In or- 
 der for an object to produce an effect through a 
 nerve, the nerve must contain elements similar 
 to those that constitute the object, or, in other 
 words, must be in correlation with it. All ele- 
 ments, more or less, vibrate, and this whether 
 they are a constituent of an object or not. The 
 finer the elements the more rapidly they vi- 
 brate. 
 
 The eyes, nose, mouth, ear, and the whole 
 surface of the body are plentifully supplied with 
 sensitive nerves. These are the feelers and re- 
 porters of the mind. The elements that com- 
 pose the nerves in the eye are very much finer 
 than the elements in the nerves of the skin, be- 
 cause the very fine particles of matter that con- 
 stitute light can transmit their vibrations to the 
 fine elements in the nerves of the eye, but could 
 not cause the grosser elements in the nerves of 
 the skin to vibrate at all. These fine, vibra- 
 tory particles of matter, called light, proceeding 
 from any object toward which the eye is turned, 
 come in contact with the delicate nerve termin- 
 ations in the retina of the eye, causing the nerve 
 
ITS Tli UTIIS AMI) FA LLA CUES. 3 1 
 
 elements to vibrate, and by a rapid movement 
 of their elements convey the feeling, or vibra- 
 tions, through the optic nerve, back to the brain 
 and mind; and the mind, by certain operations 
 within itself, feels or determines the form 
 and color of the object. In a similar man- 
 ner odors from flowers are fine, delicate parti- 
 cles of matter, which, by coming in contact with 
 the terminations of the olfactory nerves in the 
 nose, set their elements to vibrating, and these 
 are conveyed back to and perceived by the mind 
 as were the others. Sound is the vibration of 
 coarser particles of matter, called air. These 
 vibrations strike against the tympanum or drum 
 of the ear, and set it in motion, or to vibrating. 
 These vibrations are conveyed back to the mind 
 by the auditory nerve. The mind feels them 
 and decides from their kind and intensity what 
 produces them. In the same way with tasting 
 or touching, each object produces its own num- 
 ber and quality of vibrations, which are con- 
 veyed to the mind and their qualities deter- 
 mined. 
 
32 MIND CURE; 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DISEASES AND GENERAL REMEDIES. 
 
 We will now briefly notice those conditions, 
 or changes, that take place quite frequently in 
 the system, called diseases, together with some 
 of their causes and some general remedies or 
 preventives. Disease is some abnormal action. 
 It is the opposite of ease or well-being, which is 
 normal action. Disease may be the result of a 
 large variety of causes. The organic life, or 
 unconscious mind, may become embarrassed 
 from a lack of suitable material for the elabora- 
 tion of the various cells necessary to construct 
 each particular organ, or its surroundings may 
 not be favorable, or minute animalculae may 
 invade its laboratory, and by their movement 
 and voracious appetites destroy its most com- 
 plex cellular structure, or the conscious mind 
 may dissipate the forces necessary for its integ- 
 rity. Any of these and numerous other causes 
 may combine to produce an abnormal condition. 
 
 Diseases are divided into two great classes — 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 33 
 
 organic and functional. In organic diseases 
 some part of an organ, as the lungs, or liver, or 
 the mucous membrane of the stomach, is par- 
 tially destroyed; that is, some of the proper 
 cells have been broken up and cavities result, 
 or other cells have formed structures that are 
 foreign to that location. This may take place 
 wholly or in part only. Functional diseases are 
 by far the most numerous, and are caused in the 
 first place by an inharmonious distribution of 
 life or nerve force ; that is, the force that has 
 been generated by the mortal mind and stored 
 up for use is either exhausted or exists in excess 
 in some parts and is deficient in others. The 
 unconscious mind has lost control of its own 
 agent, in the same way as we lose control of fire 
 when we once let it out of the stove into the 
 room. It is sometimes very difficult to replace 
 it in the stove. If you don't believe this, try it. 
 There are a very large number of people who 
 are suffering from this inharmonious distribu- 
 tion of vital force. It may be productive of all 
 kinds of bad feelings, from a pain in the big toe 
 to a delirious fever. People have been known 
 to lay in bed for years from this cause, believing 
 they had some terrible organic disease, when in 
 
34 MIND CUBE; 
 
 reality they had nothing of the kind. It is in 
 this class of cases we frequently hear of such 
 so-called miraculous cures. The fact that one 
 can suffer so much without any actual disease 
 is not generally understood, most people think- 
 ing that the amount of actual disease must be 
 in proportion to the amount of suffering. This 
 is an error, as you will understand from the 
 fact that should you tightly grasp with a pair of 
 nippers a small healthy nerve it will produce 
 the most excruciating pain. There is no actual 
 disease, but the pain is produced by interfering 
 with the distribution of nerve force through the 
 nerve. These conditions can be removed by 
 restoring the equilibrium of the nerve force, 
 though this is not always readily done, as the 
 forces, after becoming accustomed to passing in 
 any particular direction, whether that direction 
 be a right or a wrong one, have a tendency to 
 continue in that direction, because they can do 
 so more easily. 
 
 In organic diseases, or where there is actual 
 destruction of tissue, restoration, if at all, can 
 be made only slowly, as it must be replaced 
 molecule by molecule, cell by cell. There are 
 no instantaneous cures made of these diseases, 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 35 
 
 not even by mind, faith, or prayer, for the 
 Creator himself works by certain methods, and 
 cell by cell is the method in this condition. 
 
 Now a word about remedies in general. The 
 popular idea of these is just as confused as it is 
 about diseased conditions. People, as a rule, 
 fail to recognize the fact that constitutions differ, 
 and that a person having a certain disease is 
 in an entirely different condition during the 
 different stages of that disease and requires 
 entirely different remedies. Mr. Jones, who is 
 a weak, nervous man, is sick, and Brown, who 
 is the opposite, takes large doses of drugs, and 
 recommends the same to Jones, and if Jones 
 does not know any better he takes them and gets 
 worse. Tomkins has congestion of the brain, 
 and Smith, who was cured of a fever by cold 
 water, advises Mrs. Tomkins to try it on her hus- 
 band. She does, and Tomkins is converted 
 into an angel before the next day. Jenks has a 
 friend who has been cured of cramps or nervous 
 debility by faith, mind, or prayer cure, and he 
 straightway prescribes these remedies to Young, 
 who has a fractured arm, or to Blinks, who has 
 a wooden leg. Other persons utterly refuse to 
 take medicines of any kind. If you were to 
 
36 MIND CURE; 
 
 prescribe a simple salt of soda they would 
 exclaim in horror that it was a poisonous drug, 
 yet at the same time they are taking it at each 
 meal in considerable quantities as chloride of 
 sodium, or common salt, and would declare they 
 could not eat their meals without it. The truth 
 of the matter is that each and all of these, and 
 numerous other remedies, produce a good effect, 
 providing that they are indicated by the condi- 
 tion of the patient. Some remedies are given 
 to supply a deficiency in the system of the par- 
 ticular element they contain. All true foods 
 also act in this way. Others are given to unite 
 with certain injurious foreign elements that have 
 found their way into the system, and by thus 
 uniting with them a new molecule is formed that 
 is not injurious, as in poisoning by acids we 
 give alkalies, and vice versa. To assert that 
 there is never an excess or deficiency of some 
 particular element in the system, and that it is 
 not proper to supply the right kind at the right 
 time, is equal to asserting that the system can 
 not be in a condition to require food, for all food 
 contains more or less of similar elements as do 
 the majority of true remedies, and is in reality 
 just as much a remedy. Could we always find 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 37 
 
 and use the kinds of food that contained the 
 required elements in the right proportions, it- 
 would be unnecessary to supply them in so-called 
 remedies, for it is the necessary elements that the 
 unconscious mind needs to weave its various cell 
 fabrics, and it cares not by what name they are 
 called. 
 
 The foregoing remarks apply to remedies 
 containing elements necessary for actual cell 
 formation. "We will now consider another and 
 entirely different class of remedies. These do not 
 of themselves necessarily contain any of the ele- 
 ments necessary for cell formation, but they 
 possess the power of increasing or decreasing the 
 quantity of nerve force in a certain part. They 
 do this by their action on the involuntary nerves, 
 or those nerves through which the unconscious 
 mind acts. From some cause it may not be 
 sending a sufficient quantity of nerve force 
 to the stomach, and we take a remedy that ir- 
 ritates the nerves that supply that organ, 
 and they, or the unconscious mind, feeling they 
 are being hurt, telegraph for help, and down 
 comes some of the reserve nervous force, which, 
 by its presence, increases the activity of the va- 
 rious little glands of the stomach, causing an 
 
38 MIND CUBE; 
 
 outpouring of gastric juice, and the result is a 
 better and quicker digestion. Had we given a 
 considerable quantity of the remedy, the sen- 
 sory nerves would have called for help more 
 vigorously, and still more reserve force would 
 have been sent. This would have caused such 
 intense activity in the glands and muscles 
 of the stomach, that the muscles would con- 
 tract and so diminish the size of the stom- 
 ach that its contents would be forced out. This 
 is the method adopted by unconscious mind 
 when trying to get rid of poisonous substances. 
 This is why vomiting is always an accompani- 
 ment of a case of poisofiing. This is also the 
 manner in which a so-called emetic produces 
 vomiting. Unconscious mind always tries to 
 protect itself by getting rid of the offending sub- 
 stance, but it does not always succeed, as some 
 poisons destroy tissue the second they touch it, 
 and before mortal mind can come to the rescue. 
 We will now take a case where from some 
 cause there is present at one particular place 
 too large an amount of nerve force. We now 
 give a remedy that for the time being partially 
 paralyzes the nerve terminations, so that the 
 force cannot pass so rapidly. Or, in some cases, 
 
ITS TR UTHS A ND FALL A CISS. 39 
 
 if the organ be deep-seated, we irritate the 
 nerves in the skin directly over the organ, as 
 with mustard, and the force rushes from the 
 internal organ to the surface and is thus more 
 nearly equalized. A brisk rubbing over the 
 part with the hand sometimes equalizes the 
 forces. These are only a few examples of the 
 many methods used to equalize the distribution 
 of the nerve forces when the unconscious mind 
 needs assistance. To select the best method is 
 the test of the true healer. 
 
 Surgical treatment may be illustrated by the 
 following: A heavily-laden branch of a fruit 
 tree breaks on its upper side, at its junction, 
 with the trunk. One end lies on the ground,, 
 and the other is attached to its parent stem by- 
 its under side only. If permitted to lie here it 
 will die for lack of nutriment. We lift it up to> 
 its former position and place under it a huge 
 prop to retain it there. We now take some wax 
 and resin, and carefully fill the crack, to keep 
 out the air and to prevent the escape of its sap 
 or vital fluid. Around this we wind a strip of 
 strong fabric, and cover the whole with a coat 
 of tar, to protect it from the rain and air. In 
 a year or less the fracture is united, and the 
 
40 MIX J) CURE; 
 
 limb is as strong and healthy as ever. How did 
 this all happen ? There was no virtue in the 
 prop, or the wax, resin, tar, or fabric. These 
 were simply the aids applied by the conscious 
 mind that enabled the vital force, or mortal 
 mind, within the tree to supply the elements, 
 through the sap, necessary to repair the fracture. 
 What we have done for the tree is all the surgeon 
 €an do for his patient, excepting to see that he 
 has suitable nutriment and surroundings. He 
 can not make a single one of the many cells 
 necessary to repair the fracture. This has to 
 be done by the formative power or unconscious 
 mind. Conscious mind, by directing its own 
 forces to the part, may hasten the formation of 
 new cells, but it can only do so through the same 
 process as would have taken place without it. 
 It can not produce that effect by any new or 
 different process of its own. The assertion by 
 so-called metaphysicians that it can, either in 
 this or any other operation of nature, is one of 
 their most glaring fallacies. 
 
 Another very important aid in the treatment 
 of various diseases is massage. This consists of 
 pinching, rubbing, and spatting the body from 
 head to feet when the disturbance is general. 
 
ITS TRUTHS AXD FALLACIES. 41 
 
 When it is located in any particular organ, local 
 treatment may be preferable. This method of 
 treatment produces good effects in several differ- 
 ent ways. In an irritable or inflamed part very 
 light, soft passes, by transmitting their own 
 vibratory rates, change the rates of vibration in 
 the sensory nerves, which cause painful sensa- 
 tions. This is on the principle that if you set 
 two tightly stretched strings to vibrating at dif- 
 ferent rates, presently, from their mutual influ- 
 ence, they will vibrate in harmony. In con- 
 gestive conditions of the system where there is 
 a lack of vital force, vigorous massage arouses 
 all the little terminal nerve points into activity, 
 and hastens the performance of all the vital 
 activities. The blood flows more rapidly, and 
 the excretory system is stimulated to hasten the 
 conduction of all worn-out tissue from the body. 
 This is one method of applying so-called mag- 
 netism. A massage or magnetic treatment may 
 be, and generally is, combined, although the one 
 who uses either name may discredit the benefit 
 of the other. Magnetism may be used without 
 massage and in connection with the mind cure, 
 though here again the one who adopts one name 
 may discredit the other. In reality they are 
 
42 MIND, CURE; 
 
 both of a similar nature — that is, both produce 
 their effects by directing forces to a part. In 
 the case of magnetism only, the force is of a 
 lower order — that is, it is more nearly physical, 
 while the other is more nearly mental, and 
 therefore higher. Should it be the particular 
 kind of physical force contained in magnetism 
 that the system of the patient needs, that mode 
 of treatment will be the most beneficial. If the 
 higher mental forces are most needed, mental 
 treatment will do the most good. As a general 
 thing both the so-called metaphysician and 
 magnetist, use these combined forces, though 
 neither of them may sufficiently understand the 
 subject to know whether they do or not, be- 
 cause both of these forces are constantly, though 
 silently and imperceptibly, passing from all 
 thinking beings, and can be directed to others, 
 sometimes even without any particular conscious 
 effort. 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLA CIES. 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MENTAL CONDITIONS AND MENTAL REMEDIES. 
 
 Having noticed in the preceding chapters 
 how remedies in general effect changes in cell 
 structure, and in inducing an equal distribution 
 of nerve force, we shall now state that the con- 
 scious mind, or the highest expression of mind 
 in man, can of its own volition induce upon 
 itself and also to a very great extent upon its 
 lower expression, or unconscious mind, different 
 states, feelings, and conditions. It can and does, 
 by its various thoughts, induce upon itself and 
 others happiness and well being, or unhappiness 
 and misery. To understand how this is possi- 
 ble, we must bear in mind that it has been said 
 that mind has an actual personality ; that it 
 has form, size, and different organs, similar to 
 the body, but of infinitely finer texture, and 
 that it receives its nutriment through the aid of 
 the unconscious mind, which absorbs, prepares 
 and stores up for future use the elements it 
 requires. When mind thinks, certain subtle 
 
44 MIND CUBE; 
 
 changes take place in the arrangement of its mo- 
 lecular constituents — that is, some atoms pass 
 off, and others rush in to take their places. These 
 atoms passing off are on their way somewhere 
 to find other atoms with which to unite. This 
 act of changing places by the atoms constitutes 
 force, and this is true whether the atoms are 
 the finer ones that constitute mind, or the grosser 
 ones that constitute so-called matter. But the 
 finer the atom, the more rapid its movements 
 in changing places, and the greater the energy 
 or force. This is the reason that the forces 
 manifested by light and electricity are so rapid 
 and energetic in their action. It is also the 
 reason why those of mind are still more rapid, 
 as the elements that constitute it are infinitely 
 finer than those that constitute light or electric- 
 ity. Now, if we think too much or too contin- 
 ually on any one subject, these molecular changes 
 take place so rapidly that the mind soon exhausts 
 all the reserve forces. Should we still continue 
 this excessive thinking, we should either rob the 
 involuntary nerves of their force, and thus 
 induce inharmonious action in some part of that 
 system, or we should continue the destruction of 
 the molecules of the mind, and, having no others 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 45 
 
 on hand with which to rebuild, the equilibrium 
 between the various organs of the mind is dis- 
 turbed, and inharmonious action is the result, 
 which may end in so-called insanity. This is 
 one way in which mind can kill. An unhappy, 
 fretful disposition is another great source of 
 inducing inharmony, whether from real or imag- 
 inary causes. These unhappy conditions of the 
 mind sometimes so exhaust the involuntary sys- 
 tem that some particular organ breaks down, and 
 then the process of preparing the mental food is 
 interfered with. The mind is then in a condi- 
 tion out of which it is more difficult to rescue 
 it than before. All kinds of dissipation or over- 
 work, either of mind or body, by exhausting the 
 forces, will sooner or later result in an inharmo- 
 nious condition. There are some other ways in 
 which mind can kill, and very quickly, too. 
 Fright has been known to kill a large number 
 of persons, and in many different ways. 
 
 This is caused by too much force rushing to 
 one point, or from its sudden arrest, as in the 
 respiratory and cardiac centres. Take, as an 
 instance, the Eussian criminal on whom an 
 experiment was made some time ago. He 
 was securely strapped on his back, his eyes 
 
46 MIND CURE; 
 
 bandaged, and his arm bared. He was then 
 slightly pricked with a needle, and warm water 
 allowed to trickle from his arm to a pail on the 
 floor, the physicians at the same time passing 
 remarks among themselves as to the quantity of 
 blood that had passed, and predicting audibly 
 that he would be dead in a certain number of 
 minutes. He died, without six drops of blood 
 having passed from him. The minds of the 
 physicians acting on his had, through his fear, 
 paralyzed the vital forces that kept the heart in 
 action. This is but one of many cases. For a 
 number of persons successively to tell a sensitive 
 person how bad he looks will presently have a sim- 
 ilar effect, and if not actually kill him will cause 
 him to be sick. To tell a delicate lady who may 
 be eating ice cream that she has swallowed a fly 
 or spider will, if she believes you, cause her to 
 vomit. You ask how is this done? By the 
 force set into activity by your mind, which activ- 
 ity is conveyed to hers, and motion is induced 
 among the molecules of her mind and brain, 
 which by her thought being directed to the stom- 
 ach, act on the motor nerves of that organ and 
 cause its muscles to contract, and by diminish- 
 ing its size force out its contents. 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 47 
 
 Cures are effected by the mind upon itself 
 and its associate body, and also upon those of 
 others in various ways. Sometimes almost 
 instantaneously, and at other times more slowly. 
 All cases that are cured instantaneously are 
 those dependent upon an unequal distribution of 
 vital force without organic disease. As we have 
 described elsewhere, some of these conditions, 
 though, as a rule, not serious, may cause great 
 suffering, the patients and their friends some- 
 / times believing that they are caused by organic 
 disease, when in reality it is nothing more than 
 the inability of the nerve force to pass or act 
 through a particular nerve or group of nerves. 
 It may be but a very slight obstruction, but still 
 too great for the amount of force at that point 
 to overcome or break through. These cases are 
 sometimes cured by a slightly increased amount 
 of force being directed to the part, as by some 
 positive person directing his forces upon the 
 patient, at the same time asserting in a positive 
 manner that "You are all right now, get up and 
 walk," which in some cases he proceeds to do 
 at once. Fright has cured a number of persons 
 in a similar way, as in the case of a lady who 
 had been bed-ridden for a number of years. 
 
48 MINDOTTBE; 
 
 The house caught fire, and the excitement called 
 the latent forces into activity, and she jumped 
 up and ran away. The majority of cases can 
 not be cured thus quickly ; they need a more fre- 
 quent application or direction of power to break 
 down the barrier. For a person to think he 
 can not do a certain thing, prevents him from 
 making an effort to send the forces in the direc- 
 tion that would enable him to do it. 
 
 To be a little more specific as to the method 
 of producing cures by the action of the mind, 
 we will notice some particular conditions and 
 the method of applying the remedy. In a case 
 of irritation, or even inflammation, of any part, 
 as of the mucous membrane of the stomach, for 
 instance, there is a well marked inequality of 
 the distribution of the life forces. It exists 
 in an excessive degree in the stomach, and 
 produces considerable pain. The pain is 
 caused by the increased quantity of blood 
 that has followed the nerve force, and 
 which, by distending the little blood-vessels, 
 causes them to make pressure on the fine sen- 
 sory nerves. They, not understanding the nat- 
 ure of the difficulty, telegraph for help, the 
 same as they did when the drug called an emetic 
 
 
ITS TR UTHB A NB FA LLA CIES. 49 
 
 was taken, which was explained in a preceding 
 chapter. Unconscious mind, not knowing the 
 cause of the summons for help, sends down the 
 motor force, and this, in the present condition, 
 further increases the already existing difficulty. 
 This is one of the conditions in which the un- 
 conscious mind becomes confused. Conscious 
 mind must now come to the rescue, and either 
 by some of the aids or remedies of which we 
 have before spoken, or by its own personal in- 
 fluence, or both, must endeavor to change the 
 existing condition. It can, if it knows how, 
 either increase or decrease the existing difficulty. 
 If it has not learned how, it is much more 
 likely to increase than to decrease it. The sen- 
 sory department of unconscious mind has as- 
 serted that it is being injured or hurt, and this 
 has caused the other department to send down 
 motor force. Now, if conscious mind also says 
 or thinks, Yes, that's a fact, you, or we, are be- 
 ing hurt; oh, my! what shall we do, etc.. the 
 difficulty is increased, because thought liberates 
 force, and thinking of the stomach directs the 
 force to it. There being too much there already, 
 this extra amount increases the pain and suffer- 
 ing. The more one thinks that it is painful, 
 
50 MIND GURE; 
 
 the more j>ainful it becomes, because thinking 
 it is so helps to make it so. This accumula- 
 tion of force can continue to increase until a 
 portion of the organ is destined by the inten- 
 sity of its action, or some of the nervous gan- 
 glia or centers may become exhausted, and the 
 force sent to the part gradually diminished. In 
 the latter case, if the organ has not been seri- 
 ously damaged, the excitement gradually sub- 
 sides and equilibrium is restored. 
 
 We will now see what the conscious mind 
 should have done under the foregoing circum- 
 stances. When the unconscious mind tele- 
 graphed that it was being hurt, the conscious 
 mind should have considered what was the 
 cause of its suffering, and if it could not dis- 
 cover a removable cause, it should have concluded 
 that it was only a slight disturbance of vital 
 force, which, if left to itself, would soon be 
 righted. It should have said, or thought, — 
 (thought is mind talk) — Well, now, there is really 
 nothing much the matter with you, and I can't 
 have you bothering me about every little petty 
 trouble you have ; I have got my own business 
 to attend to, and you will have to look out for 
 yourself. If the conscious mind should make a 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 51 
 
 resolve similar to this, and resolutely act upon it, 
 by engaging itself in thought upon an entirely 
 different subject, it would tend to draw its forces 
 from the stomach instead of directing them to 
 it ; and by refusing to recognize the complaints 
 of the unconscious mind, it would the sooner 
 tire of repeating them. By this method of pro- 
 cedure a great many diseases would be cut 
 short, and a great deal of suffering spared. 
 
 This method could not be always adopted in 
 treating one's self, and we want it distinctly un- 
 derstood that we do not belong to that class of 
 one-idea enthusiasts wiio insist that it can. We 
 recognize the fact that there can be so much 
 pain and disturbance present as to render it 
 impossible for a person to keep from thinking 
 about it, much as one might desire to do so. 
 Nor would it be wise in every case to do so, 
 even if one could, because the pain, or cry for 
 help, of the unconscious mind might be from some 
 grave cause, which by a careful examination we 
 could easily remove. As an example : A per- 
 son might be standing with his back to the fire, 
 and his hand might accidentally come in contact 
 w 7 ith the stove. The unconscious mind would 
 at once send word that it was being hurt, and 
 
52 MIND CUBE; 
 
 if the conscious mind refused to heed its call, he 
 would soon be minus a portion of his hand. 
 But after having removed his hand from the 
 stove, and applying a proper dressing, he can 
 hasten the cure by paying no more attention to 
 the possibly continued calls for aid in the way 
 of pain. The unconscious mind does not know 
 that you have removed your hand from the 
 stove, and feeling something wrong, as it has 
 been injured, it continues to complain. This 
 can be understood to a certain extent by observ- 
 ing a child fall down and hurt itself. It cries, 
 and the mother picks it up, kisses the place, 
 and gives it some candy. This stops its crying, 
 because its conscious mind is directed from the 
 injury to the candy, and pays no more attention 
 to the complaints of the unconscious mind, and 
 it gets well. But suppose it was hurt a little 
 more than before, and the unconscious mind 
 made louder complaints, it would take a longer 
 time for candy to quiet it, and as soon as the 
 candy was eaten, if the pain or complaint con- 
 tinued, its conscious mind, having nothing to 
 occupy its attention, would again be directed to 
 the pain, which would increase it, and the child 
 would again commence to cry. If it had been 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 53 
 
 hurt very severely, no amount of kissing or 
 candy could have diverted its mind from the hurt, 
 and it would have continued to cry until exhaust- 
 ed or relieved. If you accustom yourself to pay 
 no attention to a slight degree of pain, you will 
 gradually acquire the power to resist a more 
 intense one. 
 
 Having noticed the methods by which mind 
 can help and injure both itself and the body in 
 those diseases known as irritative or inflamma- 
 tory, or the conditions in which there is too 
 much force directed to, or present in, any par- 
 ticular organ, we will now investigate the nat- 
 ure and causes of those opposite conditions, 
 called congestions. These consist of a too slow 
 circulation of blood in any particular organ. 
 This, in its turn, is caused by too little nervous 
 force being diverted to that particular part. 
 Here we should do exactly the opposite to what 
 we did in the preceding condition. We should 
 direct our thought energetically to the particu- 
 lar organ, and thus cause an increased amount 
 of force to be diverted in the required direc- 
 tion. An inactive liver, stomach, bowels, or 
 cold feet, etc., can be greatly benefited in this 
 way, and sometimes permanently cured. 
 
54 MIND CriiE ; 
 
 The mind can act upon another for good or 
 otherwise, in the same manner as it does ou 
 one's self. In order to understand how this is 
 possible, you must thoroughly grasp the fact 
 that thought is liberated force, which can, by 
 an effort of the will, be directed to any particu- 
 lar object, and by coming in contact with a 
 force similar to itself can increase the amount 
 and energy of that force. 
 
 That mind force can be directed to any de- 
 sired object has been practically demonstrated 
 by the Society for Psychical Eesearch, of London, 
 England, the members of which are noted scien- 
 tists. They select a person of a sensitive, nerv- 
 ous organization, w 7 hom they blindfold and seat 
 at a table with pencil and paper in hand ; behind 
 him is placed a large black screen. They then 
 take from another room any one of a number of 
 persons, to whom they show an original drawing 
 of some imaginary object they have just pre- 
 pared. He is told to look at the drawing a 
 few minutes, and he is then also blindfolded 
 and told not to utter a sound until permission 
 is given him. He is then led into the same room 
 and placed on the opposite side of the screen from 
 the sensitive person. Soon the sensitive person 
 
ITS Tli I r TH8 A ND FA L L A CIES. 5 o 
 
 begins to draw ; when he has finished, the band- 
 ages are removed and the drawings compared. 
 In some instances they are almost an exact 
 reproduction of the originals ; in other cases 
 they bear a strong resemblance to them, show- 
 ing that in the least successful cases a glim- 
 mering of the idea has been caught. This is 
 indisputable evidence that thought is a force 
 that can be directed to another mind without a 
 word having been uttered by either. 
 
 iV great many mental as well as nervous 
 disorders are wholly dependent upon an unequal 
 distribution of nerve or vital force in the brain 
 substance. Some portions of the mind and 
 brain may have been too active, and that 
 very activity, by encouraging the forces to flow 
 in its particular direction, if long continued, 
 tends to overthrow the equilibrium of the whole. 
 The centers governing the distribution of the 
 forces become weakened and lose their control- 
 ling power, and the forces rush to whatever point 
 there is least resistance. This is generally 
 that part that has been in a long-continued, 
 over-active condition. This new additional force 
 excites the part to increased action, and 
 insanity in one or other of its various 
 
56 MIND CURE; 
 
 forms is the result. The increased activity of 
 any organ that may have led to this condition 
 may have been the result of various causes, 
 among which are the following : Grief, anger, 
 worry, overwork, excitement, fear, religious ex- 
 citement, or any disease that tends to keep one's 
 mind on himself, or from a general instability 
 of the whole nervous system. 
 
 In regard to treating these conditions, if 
 treatment is taken before insanity results, there 
 is no reason why a speedy cure can not be ef- 
 fected, and in a large number of cases even 
 after the mind has -become deranged. As to 
 the method, first learn the cause, and get 
 the patient's thoughts away from it. This 
 can be done sometimes by audible and 
 sometimes by silent argument. You must di- 
 rect your argument, and therefore the forces of 
 your thought, to other organs, and thus en- 
 deavor to start them into activity, so that the 
 patient's own forces may be gradually diverted 
 from the seat of the difficulty. All other aids, 
 such as changes to favorable surroundings, judi- 
 cious nourishment, etc., must not be overlooked. 
 
 The old saying that an ounce of prevention 
 is worth a pound of cure is as applicable from 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 57 
 
 a mental standpoint as in any other method of 
 treatment. Eemember that you represent the 
 grandest, noblest production of the Creator. 
 You have received a birth, and are receiving a 
 development that is to continue away into the 
 future ages. You can either aid or hinder this 
 process of development. By studying nature's 
 laws and methods you can learn to place yourself 
 in harmony with them, and to recognize and shun 
 all antagonistic associations. Everything you 
 do that is in harmony with law adds so much 
 to the cubic stature of your higher nature, and 
 increases both your present and future well- 
 being. You are a bundle of experiences, but it 
 is only those that are founded on truths that 
 constitute your real self. That part of your 
 nature or experiences that are founded on error 
 and misunderstanding, or result from conclu- 
 sions formed by a superficial examination of 
 results, instead of seeking a knowledge of meth- 
 ods and causes, can not continue to exist. 
 But while it does, while you insist on clinging 
 to error, the development of your true self is 
 retarded, because the full comprehension of ac- 
 tualities can not be grasped by a mind befogged 
 with error. 
 
58 MINI) CURE; 
 
 Conscious mind has not full and complete 
 control over either itself or its physical body 
 unless the conditions within and surrounding 
 both are favorable. 
 
 Certain laws or methods have been adopted 
 by the Infinite to produce certain results. These 
 results may depend upon countless laws acting 
 the one upon the other, each one a link in the 
 chain of causation, yet each one necessary for 
 the production of a perfect whole. 
 
 To produce a perfectly developed organism 
 there are necessary certain locations and sur- 
 roundings ; the presence of certain things, and the 
 absence of certain other things. It will develop 
 rapidly and perfectly just in proportion to the 
 compliance of these requirements, and imper- 
 fectly in an exact ratio to their non-compliance. 
 As an illustration : In order to produce perfectly 
 developed corn, the presence and absence of cer- 
 tain things are a prime necessity. The presence 
 of a proper quality of soil, a certain degree of 
 heat and moisture, and the absence of frost and 
 other things that would injure and destroy it, such 
 as cattle or other animals. Should we have too 
 limited a supply of heat or moisture, an imper- 
 fectly developed crop is the result. Should 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 59 
 
 frost make its appearance in a slight degree, or 
 cattle occasionally trample down the growing 
 blades, even though the heat and moisture are 
 present in sufficient quantities, we should still 
 have but an imperfectly developed crop. Should 
 heavy frosts prevail or the cattle be permitted to 
 continue to trample down the tender blades, 
 maturity would be absolutely impossible. Thus 
 it is with conscious organic life, a knowledge of 
 its various necessities and the wisdom to apply 
 each in the relative proportion necessary for the 
 perfection of both physical and spiritual devel- 
 opment taxes the most liberal and investigating 
 mind to its fullest extent. 
 
 It is necessary for one to constantly watch 
 his thoughts and actions, and compare all con- 
 clusions he may have hastily formed on any 
 subject with all other truths or facts he has or 
 can acquire in all possible directions. This will 
 enable him to discover at least some of the 
 errors under which he has been laboring, and 
 will stimulate him to seek for possible others ; 
 for one truth or fact fits some other that is in 
 causative relation to it. 
 
 Don't spend all your time and all your ener- 
 gies in acquiring or endeavoring to acquire any 
 
60 MIND CURE; 
 
 more of the comforts of the physical body than 
 it can possibly have good use for while you are 
 here, for you will not need them after you change 
 your location. 
 
 But there are numerous other things you will 
 need that you can just as well acquire here ; the 
 chief one is the development of your higher fac- 
 ulties. These constitute your actual self. You 
 carry these with you wherever you go, and from 
 them you cannot escape. 
 
 Eemember that a part develops in an exact 
 ratio to its action. If you insist on spending all 
 your time, thought, and energies in acquiring the 
 needs of the physical body, or, what is worse, in 
 pandering to its perverted senses and passions, 
 what opportunity has your mind proper to grow 
 and expand? How 7 will you feel when it is 
 stripped of the mask behind which it now hides 
 and is compelled to stand forth in all its poverty 
 and littleness, shrinking into the veriest pigmy by 
 the side of those whose higher natures are far 
 on the road of eternal progression ? 
 
 As a comparison, what would you take for 
 the knowledge you have acquired during the past 
 twenty years, providing you could never regain 
 it, and had to associate with those whom you 
 
ITS TM UTIIS AJSB FA LLA CIES. 6 1 
 
 now do? How humiliating would be your posi- 
 tion, and how willingly you would give back 
 whatever sum you had taken for it. Learn then 
 to place yourself in harmony with the higher 
 laws, and don't squander all your energies on 
 the lower ones. What if Brown has got a bet- 
 ter house or more land than you have. What 
 are they ? Only dirt, bricks, and lumber. They 
 don't add one single mite to his real being ; do 
 not increase his mental stature as much as would 
 the knowledge and acceptance of a single truth 
 of which he is now ignorant. 
 
 If you have sorrows or troubles, don't think 
 too much about them. Consider that if you can 
 not prevent, help, or remove their causes, you 
 can do nothing, and worry is not only useless, 
 but the most exhausting of all mental condi- 
 tions. If little things go wrong and tend to vex 
 you, think that this is no reason why you should 
 go wrong too. Cultivate pleasant thoughts by 
 thinking of pleasant subjects, for like begets 
 like. Try this faithfully even in the midst of 
 some sudden storm of passion, and see how 
 quickly it produces a calming effect. Hold the 
 selfish propensities in subjection ; help all others 
 whom you can, either financially or with genu- 
 
62 MIND CURE; 
 
 ine sympathy, as this helps you to place a lower 
 estimate on the value and acquisition of perish- 
 able things, and a higher one on the imperish- 
 able. Be broad and liberal in your judgments 
 of your fellows. Don't judge them all by your 
 standard, or by that of any other person. Their 
 temptations may have been greater, and their 
 opportunities fewer than yours. They may 
 have been associated and influenced by greater 
 errors than you have been. 
 
 While speaking of error, we would like to say 
 something of its causes, of which there seem to 
 be three more prominent than all others. One 
 is the determination of all one-idea enthusiasts 
 to compel all other truths and facts to become 
 subservient to the particular one they are advo- 
 cating. Another is the general indisposition of 
 the majority of people to think and carefully 
 weigh all sides of any particular statement or 
 assertion before forming their conclusions. An- 
 other is the tenacity with which these same per- 
 ' sons hold to any ideas after having once accepted 
 them, and the prejudice they have against any- 
 thing with which they are not at present familiar. 
 They act as though it is beneath their dignity 
 to admit, even to themselves, the possibility of 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FA LLACIES. 63 
 
 ever having accepted and believed anything that 
 was not perfectly true, and that it is equally 
 impossible for any one else to have discov- 
 ered the existence of any truth of which they 
 did not already know. This is the feeling and 
 disposition that has for thousands of years kept 
 the world in mental darkness, and held in check 
 the pioneers of civilization. No sooner did any 
 one of them launch his tiny bark on the unknown 
 sea of investigation than he was sternly ordered 
 to steer back to the already well-explored shore, 
 on the penalty of either death or social ostra- 
 cism. Had it not been for those brave hearts 
 who feared neither, who dares to think what 
 might have been our condition at the present 
 day? This cowardly disposition still lingers as 
 a modifying element in many minds, although 
 it manifests itself in a somewhat milder form, 
 but it still so influences some that they can see 
 nothing beyond the very narrow enclosure in 
 which their shallow souls have been accustomed 
 to roam, and they assure you with a smile of 
 the most intense self-satisfaction that really, 
 you know, they do not wish to know anything 
 different. 
 
 Of all mental attitudes this is surely the 
 
64 MINI) CUBE; 
 
 most pitiable for au individual to assume. It 
 
 is a direct insult to the Creator they think, or 
 pretend to think, they serve. It is equal to 
 saying to the Infinite that there is nothing He has 
 made but what they fully comprehend and 
 know all about, and therefore do not need to waste 
 their valuable time in useless investigations. 
 Surely they can not have grasped the ideas in- 
 tended to be conveyed in the parables of the 
 foolish virgins and the unused talent of silver. 
 To all such we say : Come out of your own 
 little, cramped shell of self-satisfaction ; break 
 it into a thousand fragments, so that it will be 
 impossible for you to ever hide yourself there 
 again ! Come out into the great, grand, glorious 
 universe ! Gaze on the waving grassy fields ; 
 the blossoming trees ! Go into the vast shady 
 depths of the sighing forests ! Gaze into the 
 vaulted dome of the starry sky ! Look at the 
 multitudinous forms of animated life around 
 you, and think, think that you have been a 
 poor, blind idiot, and resolve that you will rend 
 in pieces this pitiful mask of self-satisfied 
 ignorance, and will endeavor to learn of the 
 great teacher, nature, and her director, the Infi- 
 nite. Climb to the highest peak of the mount- 
 
1 TS TR UTHS A Ni> FALL A GIES. #5 
 
 ain, the outlines of whose base you could barely 
 perceive from the barred windows of the dreary 
 prison from which you have just emerged. All 
 around you are the elements and essences nec- 
 essary for the development of your higher nat- 
 ure. You stand in the realm of Infinitude itself, 
 and have but to direct your soul in thought and 
 desire toward it ere you feel it permeating your 
 innermost life, for he who truly aspires can not 
 fail to be inspired. 
 
 This universally present mental and spirit- 
 ual essence may be compared to the inexhaust- 
 ible resources of a mountain stream that is 
 constantly flowing on, on, to the bosom of the 
 ocean, from whence it came to the mountains in 
 misty, rain-cloud form. The undeveloped con- 
 dition of the higher regions of man's nature may 
 be compared to thousands of acres of rich, al- 
 though now unproductive, parched land, that lies 
 stretched away for miles and miles on either side 
 of this ever-flowing stream, but unable to absorb 
 its refreshing waters. But supposing we now 
 construct a number of broad, deep channels 
 away out into the various parts of this parched, 
 barren soil, and from these, running in every 
 possible direction, we construct still others, sup- 
 
66 MIND CURti; 
 
 plying the thirsty ground with all the pure, 
 sparkling water it can possibly absorb, what a 
 transformation quickly takes place. Under 
 its permeating influence little germs of grass 
 are encouraged to rear aloft their tender spire- 
 like blades, and soon the brown earth is cov- 
 ered with beauteous waving verdure. Beau- 
 tiful flowers spring up like magic, painting 
 the scene with all the varied tints of rainbow 
 colors, from the pure, spotless white of the vir- 
 gin snowdrop, and the delicate ethereal tints of 
 blue on the modest violet, which is uncon- 
 sciously filling the surrounding atmosphere with 
 its own sweetness, to the gorgeous array of 
 beauteous colors that are with nature's skillful 
 brush so lavishly painted on the opened leaves 
 of the full-blown rose, the odorous exhalations 
 of which, forming combinations with those of 
 their more modest neighbors, produce a fra- 
 grance so indescribably sweet, yet so pungent, 
 that one's olfactory nerves are stimulated to the 
 highest possible degree of pleasurable sensation. 
 The whole surrounding fields, bowers, and 
 groves are soon teeming with insect and animal 
 life. Gladness, peace, and harmony everywhere 
 prevail. Beautiful birds flit lightly from bough 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 67 
 
 to bough, from tree to tree, from vale to grove ; 
 not simply birds with soft, downy feathers and 
 gorgeously tinted plumage, but happy, joyous 
 little beings, whose souls are attuned to the 
 deep stirrings of the universal soul of music, 
 and whose sweet voices are in accord with the 
 everywhere prevailing harmony. Their every 
 tone is expressive of that overflowing happiness 
 that results from the consciousness of a harmo- 
 nious existence. At early dawn, hardly ere the 
 dark mists of night have begun their sullen re- 
 treat, they pour forth in low, clear, trilling 
 tones their joyous greeting to the first glimmer- 
 ing ray of welcome light as it comes faintly 
 quivering from its approaching orb, borne on 
 the fleet wings of its ethereal messengers, and 
 tremblingly diffuses itself through the fragrance- 
 laden atmosphere, imparting to it an exquisite 
 softness of tone, as by its radiating influence 
 it gradually disperses the misty darkness. As 
 the welcome orb of clay rises higher and higher 
 in its trackless path through universal space, 
 flooding the world with its brilliancy, the vol- 
 ume of music increases, and there pours forth 
 from myriads of little throats from glen and 
 grove, loud, deep, clarion tones of gladness, 
 
68 MIND CUBE; 
 
 summoning all animated beings to arise and 
 behold beauteous nature in her early garb of 
 morning freshness. The delicately-tinted leaves 
 are fluttering 'neath the gentle stirrings of the 
 soft, balmy breezes, while the golden-tinted 
 fruit dances a merry measure to the songs of 
 the equally merry birds. The blushing rose, 
 with its variegated tints, gracefully bows its 
 morning greeting, the fragrant violet looks tim- 
 idly up, as if it too longs to join in the general 
 delight, but at the first rude stare of ardent old 
 Sol it modestly droops its pale-blue tinted face 
 toward the pearly dewdrops that hang pendant- 
 like on the drooping leaves among which it hides. 
 Sparkling dewdrops thickly stud the grassy 
 sward, glittering and glistening 'neath the con- 
 stantly increasing brilliancy of the sun's rays, 
 and like pure diamonds reflect in bewilderingly 
 rapid succession all the varied tints and colors 
 of the rainbow, presenting a constantly chang- 
 ing scene of purple and golden light. The long, 
 drooping grasses, as though envious of the ad- 
 miration bestowed on their dependents, keep up 
 a constant wave-like motion in a vain effort to 
 dislodge them. A.s the heat of day increases, 
 the breezes and the songs gradually cease. The 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 69 
 
 fluttering leaves and waving grasses become 
 motionless. All animated beings are absorbing 
 the life forces that are called into activity by 
 the kindly rays of the king of clay. As evening 
 again approaches, and the first gray mists of 
 the coming night silently take the place of old 
 Sol's more brilliant rays, a feeling of calm con- 
 tent seems to pervade all nature. The brill- 
 iancy of the gorgeous flowers and fruits becomes 
 softened, and their colors are reflected in more 
 subdued and tender tones. Animated nat- 
 ure is less exuberant than at the early dawn of 
 day. Here and there are heard a few warbling 
 notes of some feathered songster, who, in low, 
 sweet tones of love, is calling home his wander- 
 ing mate. Others, determined not to be out- 
 done, add note by note to the gradually increas- 
 ing volume of sound, until, stimulated by each 
 other's efforts, they finally all seem to unite in 
 one grand good-night chorus. At first low, soft, 
 gentle, thrilling tones of love come trembling on 
 the tiny wavelets of translucent ether, flooding 
 the delicately attuned ear with their liquid 
 sweetness, and wooing the responsive soul into 
 a state of delightful participation. Now sweet 
 sounds of increasing volume and wondrous com. 
 
70 MIND CUBE; 
 
 binations of strange harmonious chords are 
 echoed and re-echoed from tree to tree, from 
 hill to vale, and grove to grotto, until every fibre 
 of one's whole being thrills with delightful, inex- 
 pressible gladness by the inspiring power of this 
 grand symphony. To say that this is the sum 
 total of harmony but half expresses the raptur- 
 ous sensation experienced. The whole soul is 
 wrought up to its highest possible degree of 
 perception and lofty contemplation while sway- 
 ing, pulsating, and vibrating in harmony with 
 this grand, unwritten, entrancing soul of music. 
 The whole being becomes intoxicated with pleas- 
 urable emotion beyond expression, and seems 
 to dwell in regions of super sensuous delight. 
 
 Thus, by directing our thoughts to the higher 
 regions of our being, we open up avenues for the 
 inflowing of the universally present elements, 
 the Supreme essence that constitutes our spirit- 
 ual and mental being, and links us to the Infin- 
 ite mind. Through its permeating presence 
 blossom forth the fair buds of promise, whose 
 precious seeds lie hidden in the innermost re- 
 cesses of our interior being, patiently awaiting 
 the kindly influence of this subtle power to 
 enable them to develop into a more complete 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES 71 
 
 fruition of their wondrous possibilities, and a 
 fuller realization of the happiness that results 
 from an expanded and intensified consciousness. 
 The higher the plane of conscious existence to 
 which we can ascend, with a full comprehension 
 of its increasing grandeur, and a calm contem- 
 plation of the many and varied new beauties 
 that are profusely scattered around us, the 
 more earnestly and longingly does our yearning, 
 unsatisfied mind reach out in aspiration for a 
 still higher point on the sublime mountain of 
 Infinitude, whereon it can rest its soaring pin- 
 ions, while still new beauties and glories are 
 revealed to its wondering and admiring vision. 
 These give birth to a desire for still greater 
 growth and perfection, and thus the desire is 
 ever onward and upward. 
 
 KECAPITULATION. 
 
 Mind can, by the direction of the will, effect 
 certain limited changes in the body in several 
 ways. First, by directing force to a part that 
 is deficient, as in cold or congested conditions. 
 This, by increasing the amount already there, 
 has a beneficial effect. It can also direct its 
 
72 MIND CUBE; 
 
 forces from a part in which too much already 
 exists, as in irritations and inflammations, by 
 keeping the thoughts on some other subject. 
 This is beneficial, as it favors a more speedy 
 equalization of the forces. To continually 
 think of an irritated part as being painful is to 
 increase the pain, by increasing the force sent 
 to it. In the various pains of cramps, neural- 
 gias, and other functional derangements of the 
 nervous system resulting from an unequal dis- 
 tribution of the vital forces, the mind can some- 
 times produce an almost instaneous relief by 
 equalizing them. But if some organ or part is 
 partially destroyed by any cause whatever, if 
 replaced at all it can only be done gradually — 
 atom by atom, cell by cell. To do even this,^ 
 either with or without an effort of the mind, 
 there must be present in the body, or in the 
 various foods, etc., that we put into it, a cer- 
 tain amount of all the elements that constitute 
 it, as these are the bricks, boards, etc., with 
 which unconscious mind builds the body, and 
 without these all the mind, prayers, or faith 
 would be powerless. 
 
 It would be equal to a man trying to build a 
 house without bricks or lumber. But con- 
 
ITS TRUTHS AND FALLACIES. 73 
 
 scious mind can, by its added force, hasten the 
 processes of construction and repair. A har- 
 monious condition of the mind is necessary for 
 its own well-being, as well as that of the body. 
 Therefore, keep the mind in a cheerful condi- 
 tion. Do not worry and fret, as this uselessly 
 exhausts the forces and is one of the greatest 
 causes of inharmony. Don't constantly think 
 about your pains or bad feelings. See that you 
 place yourself or your patient in the best possi- 
 ble conditions for recovery, and then direct the 
 thoughts from the painful part. Think that it is 
 not your actual self that is diseased or in pain, 
 and that you cannot be annoyed by every little dis- 
 turbance that takes place in your physical sys- 
 tem. Leave it to the care of your unconscious 
 mind. Think only of pleasant and agreeable 
 things. This will not always be easy at first, 
 but by degrees one acquires the power of refus- 
 ing to respond to the continued complaints of 
 the unconscious mind. You must persevere 
 until you can do this successfully. Try it on 
 little pains and troubles first, and gradually 
 you can overcome greater ones. Treat them 
 as you would a spoiled, fretful child who has 
 got into the habit of continually complaining. 
 
74 MIND CURE; 
 
 First see that it is not suffering from any 
 cause you can remove or have removed ■ put 
 it in the best possible condition, and then refuse 
 to pay any attention to its continued complaints, 
 and presently it will tire of making them and 
 forget all about it. If any organ, such as an 
 eye or an ear, etc., is in a chronic condition of dis- 
 ease, but not painful, constantly thinking of it 
 as being in a perfect condition will, by divert- 
 ing the forces to the part in an orderly manner, 
 have a tendency to gradually restore it to its 
 normal condition. 
 
 Have nothing to do with fear. It has killed 
 thousands and injured thousands more by dis- 
 turbing the equilibrium of the life forces. So 
 fear nothing, but don't stand on a railroad 
 track and try to hold back the engine. Don't 
 stay in a house when it is on fire, and don't 
 fondle a mad dog, or drink prussic acid, or the 
 probabilities are there will soon be nothing left 
 of you but mind, and not a very big one at 
 that. 
 
 Have faith and hope that you are going 
 to get well, no matter how desperate your con- 
 dition, for this is the best single remedy in 
 existence. It induces a quiet, calm condition 
 
ITS tli UTHS AND FA LLA CIE8. 7§ 
 
 of the mind, and favors an equal distribution of 
 vital forces, instead of the useless expenditure 
 caused by worrying and fretting. But don't 
 fail to make use of all other aids that the ex- 
 perience of careful observers has proven to be 
 beneficial in a condition similar to yours. 
 
 Don't place too much faith in the assertions 
 of any one-idea enthusiast, no matter whether 
 his hobby is water, graham bread, or blue pill, 
 or whether he is so far gone as to assert that 
 while on this plane of existence you are nothing 
 but mind, that your body is a myth, and has no 
 needs to be supplied. The practical adoption 
 of this kind of faith would soon relegate you to 
 that plane of existence where such an assertion 
 would be a verity. 
 
 Let your faith be tempered by a good share 
 of that common sense that results from a broad 
 and liberal investigation of all pathies, and a se- 
 lection of such truths as each presents among its 
 associated errors, prejudices, hallucinations, and 
 fallacies, for this alone will give you that wide 
 range of knowledge and wisdom necessary to 
 constitute you an intelligent means of directing 
 and aiding nature in the production of her high- 
 est types of organic perfection, by working in har- 
 
76 ' MIND CURE; 
 
 mony with her higher laws, through which the 
 Infinite mind is ever striving to raise the stand- 
 ard of all beings into a higher and higher state 
 of perfection and happiness. 
 
 The ability to practically control and direct 
 the forces, either of one's own mind and phys- 
 ical body, or those of others, in the right direc- 
 tion to effect a desired result, cannot be effect- 
 ually taught by others. The teacher can 
 outline the method only; the ability to act 
 effectually, can only come by actual and repeated 
 endeavor. This is on the same principle that 
 one can never become an accomplished pianist 
 without actual and continued practice, no mat- 
 ter how proficient the teacher. 
 
 Notwithstanding all precautions, the time 
 must finally come, both to yourself and your 
 patient, when the spirit can no longer control 
 its physical body, and must receive its birth 
 into a higher condition of existence ; but a judi- 
 cious application of a knowledge of the higher 
 laws will prevent much needless worry and suf- 
 fering during the process of transition, and the 
 mind will be in a more contented and harmoni- 
 ous condition to enter on the duties and enjoy- 
 ments of the new life. 
 
VSKl ^ie!£J