".'..'.-- - ' : - --- '''' ; '- ''- :''- aa ;.'- '- '; '.'.:_.'. .- .' - S S^K '":/ ':'" m .-;;.-, m V THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FROM THE LIBRARY OF FRANK J. KLINGBERG THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE BY DR. HUDSON. THE LAW OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA. 12mo $1.50 A SCIENTIFIC DEMONSTRATION OF THE FUTURE LIFE. I2mo . . . .1.50 THE DIVINE PEDIGREE OF MAN. I2mo . 1.50 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE. I2mo . k 1.50 THE EVOLUTION OF THE SOUL. 12mo . 1.50 A. C. McCLURG & CO. CHICAGO. THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE THE CORRELATION OF THE FACTS OF PSYCHOLOGY AND HISTOLOGY IN THEIR RELATION TO MENTAL THERAPEUTICS BY THOMSON JAY 'HUDSON, PH.D., LL.D. AUTHOR OF "THE LAW OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA," "THE DIVINE PEDIGREE OF MAN," ETC. SIXTH EDITION CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1909 COPYRIGHT BY A. C. MCCLURG & Co. A.D. 1903 First Edition, May 23, 1903 Second Edition, June 15, 1903 Third Edition, November i, 1903 Fourth Edition, October 25, 1905 Fifth Edition, April 18, 1908 Sixth Edition, August 19, 1909 UNIVERSITY PRBSS JOHN WILSOK AMD SON CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. TO THE HONORABLE DON M. DICKINSON IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF A FRIENDSHIP THAT, FOR A PERIOD OF TIME EXCEEDING THE AVERAGE LIFE OF MAN, HAS KNOWN NO VARIABLENESS OR SHADOW OF TURNING, l)ts 3300 k IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED PREFACE THE object of this book is, primarily, to assist in placing mental therapeutics on a firmly scientific basis, and incidentally to place within the reach of the humblest intellect the most effective methods of healing the sick by mental processes. Part I. contains nothing new to the scientific world, except, perhaps, the method of treatment. It pertains solely to the psychological principles of mental medicine. These were outlined in my first work, entitled " The Law of Psychic Phenomena," ten years ago, and they are now taught in every reputable school of suggestive therapeutics. The reader will find, however, that the subject is by no means exhausted, and that the law of suggestion is the most important factor in man's mental make-up. In Part II. the fact is for the first time recognized that no hypothesis can possibly embrace a complete science of mental therapeutics that fails to take cog- nizance of those facts of physiology and histology which pertain to the subject-matter. Necessarily, the subjective mind, when it exercises its powers over the body, in health and disease, operates through instrumentalities ; that is to say, there must exist a physical mechanism through which the mind oper- ates, and that mechanism must necessarily be adapted vi" PREFACE to its uses. Moreover, we might reasonably expect that the mechanism, when found, would be so ob- viously adapted to therapeutic uses as to leave no doubt in the mind of the investigator. Accordingly we find in man a physical structure so obviously adapted to the uses of mental healing that it leaves one in doubt whether or not all therapeutic agencies, in their ultimate analysis, may not be classed as mental. Be that as it may, it is obvious that a cor- relation of the facts of psychology and histology must lead to some very valuable discoveries, not alone in the field of mental therapeutics, but in all branches of inquiry where the control of the body by the mind is a factor. A few of these discoveries are outlined in the following pages. Without stop- ping to enumerate them in detail, I think I am jus- tified in claiming to have thrown much light upon some very obscure problems ; for instance, the method of healing which in ancient times was known as "the laying on of hands," and in modern times has been designated as " animal magnetism," " mesmerism," etc. I have also incidentally touched upon the prob- lem of natural sleep, and I have tentatively suggested a solution of the world-old problem, What are the physical changes that produce the phenomenon of unconsciousness during natural sleep? If my hy- pothesis is correct on this question, it simplifies the whole subject-matter, and throws a flood of light upon hypnotism and all other forms of artificial sleep. In pursuing my investigations of the physical sciences bearing upon the question of mental heal- ing, I have been careful to confine myself to authori- PREFACE 1* ties which are recognized by the modern scientists of the medical profession; and I here take occasion to acknowledge my indebtedness, fearing that in the hurry of writing I may have failed to give credit where credit is due. The principal works consulted are the following: Gray's Anatomy; Landois and Stirling's Text-book of Human Physiology; Bohm- Davidoff's Text-book of Histology; Green's Pathol- ogy and Morbid Anatomy; Dunham's Histology, Normal and Morbid; Stephens's Pluricellular Man; Hilton's Lectures on Rest and Pain ; Halleck's Edu- cation of the Central Nervous System; Robinson's The Abdominal Brain; Romanes' Mental Evolution in Animals; Romanes' Animal Intelligence; Ave- bury's (Sir John Lubbock) Ants, Bees, and Wasps; Binet's The Psychic Life of Micro-organisms; Haeckel's The Evolution of Man; Ochorowicz's Mental Suggestion. ,T. J. H. DETROIT, MICH., May i, 1903. CONTENTS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN MENTAL HEALING CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY PAGE Ancient Superstitions. All Diseases referred to Bad Spirits. All Healing of Disease credited to Good Spirits. Innumerable Theories of Causation prevalent among Primitive Peoples. Many of them still survive in Modified Forms ; some of the most grotesque being extremely popular in the midst of the Highest Civilization. All Systems, Ancient and Modern, have been successful in healing the Sick. This Fact alone challenges the Attention of Science. It indicates the Existence of a Law pertaining generically to all Systems. No Logical Connection between Theories of Causation and the Results produced ; other- wise all Systems, from Fetichism to the most Modern Modifica- tion of that System, would be able to " demonstrate " their Theories. The Logic of Primitive Minds the same in all the Ages. The Question of Mental Healing is primarily a psycho- logical one ; hence the Necessity of studying the Fundamental Principles of Psychology as a Basis of a Correct Theory of Causation. Recent Discovery of a Primary Intelligence below the Threshold of Normal Consciousness enables us to study the Subject inductively. The Facts of Physiology and Histology reveal the Rationale of Mental Healing. It is unnecessary to antagonize Established Systems of Material Therapeutics. We are indebted to Doctors of Medicine for much of the Knowl- edge which enables us to formulate a Rational Theory. The Correlation of all the Facts of Psychology and Physiology is xii CONTENTS PACK necessary for placing Mental Therapeutics on a Scientific Basis. Many Medical Men employ the Methods of Suggestive Therapeu- tics in their Daily Practice. The Discovery of the Law of Sug- gestion by a Member of the Medical Profession was the first Great Step in the Direction of a True Explication of Mental Therapeutics. The next Great Step was its Generalization under the Law of the Duality of Mind. The Correlation of all the Facts of Mental and Physical Science is therefore essential . 3 CHAPTER II FIRST PRINCIPLES Mental Healing is not a Religion. The Example of Jesus is con- clusive on that Point. Nothing Supernatural in Mental Medi- cine. The Power that Heals resides within the Patient. This was the Doctrine taught by Jesus and epitomized in the Words " Thy Faith hath made Thee whole." The Word " Faith," as he employed it, means not only " Belief" or u Confidence," but includes all the Spiritual Energies of the Human Soul. It is not only prerequisite to Success in Mental Healing, but is a Dynamic Energy, besides. Modern Science has succeeded only in demonstrating the Scientific Accuracy of the Master's Knowl- edge of Mental Therapeutics. The Whole Art of Mental Heal- ing consists in knowing how to induce the Condition of Faith in the Patient. The Fundamental Psychological Principles involved. Suggestion a Universal Law of the Subjective Mind. Limitations of Subjective Powers of Reasoning. False and True Suggestions. Potency of Auto-Suggestions. Moral Prin- ciples constitute Auto-Suggestions. Resistance to False Sug- gestions. Effectiveness of Suggestion not dependent upon the Hypnotic Condition. Passivity of the Mind the Equivalent of Hypnosis for Therapeutic Purposes. Suggestions based upon Scientific Truth are most effective. The Third Fundamental Psychological Principle '. 16 CHAPTER III THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING The Intelligence that controls the Functions of the Body in Health thePower or Energy that requires Assistance in Case of Disease. The Body a Confederation of Micro-organisms controlled by this Central Intelligence. It is a Mental Organism that all Therapeutic Agencies are designed to energize. Mental Thera- CONTENTS xni PAGE peutic Agencies the Primary and Normal Means for this End. Physical Agencies not excluded. A Mental Stimulus more direct and positive than a Physical One. Material Remedies Good and Legitimate Forms of Suggestion. Whether Reme- dies are Material or Mental, they must energize the Central Controlling Intelligence. The Therapeutic Value of all Agen- cies proportioned to their Power to stimulate the Subjective Mind. Suggestion the Prepotent Therapeutic Energy. This is the Law of Mental Healing. The Teleological Argument to be drawn from the Law of Mental Medicine. None other so demonstrative of Divine Benevolence. Absence of Fear and Pain at the Moment of Dissolution. This Phenomenon, con- sidered together with the Law of Mental Healing, possesses a Teleological Significance. The Law of Mental Healing is uni- versal and adapted to every Grade of Human Intelligence. Antiquity of Suggestion as a Therapeutic Agent. Its Myriad Forms. All effective in proportion to their Faith-Inspiring Potency. Scientific Significance of the Beliefs and Practices of Primitive Humanity. All were useful, and each was adapted to some Special Grade of Intelligence. Primitive Minds still exist in the Highest Modern Civilization with Corresponding Powers of Reasoning. Current Beliefs adapted to Varying Grades of Intelligence. Their Religious Features Potent Factors in their Success. Systems based upon Error less efficacious than one founded upon Truth. Nearly all refer the Healing Power to Extraneous Sources, an Error which Jesus insistently controverted 31 CHAPTER IV THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM Faith can be acquired by Study and Reasoning. Thus acquired, it is perfect and permanent. It is essential that the Healer be grounded in the Fundamental Principles of his Science. The Phenomena of Dreams point to the Theory of the Dual Mind. The Operations of the Dream Intelligence essentially different from those of Waking Consciousness. The Subjective, or Dream Intelligence incapable of Inductive Reasoning, and con- trolled by Suggestion. Rapidity of Subjective Mentation. Hypnotism a Means by which Dreams can be induced, con- trolled, and experimented with. It is the Instrument for the Investigation of the Problems of Psychology. It has found in Man a Soul, and revealed the Evidence of its Divine Origin, xiv CONTENTS PAGE It has segregated the Phenomena of the Objective and Subjec- tive Minds, and shown the Distinctive Powers and Limitations <9f Each 5 1 CHAPTER V THE LAW OF SUGGESTION (HISTORICAL) A Law must be formulated in Terms indicating Universality before it can be made available for Scientific Purposes. Antagonism of Conservative Science. Opposition to Newton's Discovery. The Laws of Duality of Mind and of Suggestion dimly per- ceived for Ages. The two Laws Necessary Concomitants of each other. The Recognition of their Relation a Prerequisite of their Formulation. Jesus the First to promulgate the Law of Mental Healing. His Declaration of the Therapeutic Potency of Faith confirmed by Modern Science. Braid's Experiments in Hypnotism. Liebault's Discovery of the Law of Suggestion. This Law incomplete without the Law of Dual Mind. The Importance of the Law of Suggestion outside the Field of Thera- peutics 64 CHAPTER VI SUGGESTION IN LOWER ANIMAL LIFE Evidence for the Laws of Duality of Mind and of Suggestion must be found in Lower Animals. The Subjective the Primordial Mind. The Brain a Product of Evolution. The Subjective the Mind of Instinct and Intuition. Necessity for Secondary Instincts. Induction in Lower Animals. Secondary Instincts created by the Objective Mind. The Mental Processes In- volved. All Evolutionary Development of Animal Intelligence due to Suggestion. The Law of Suggestion an Essential Factor in the Progress of Civilization. It is the One Available Means whereby Man may neutralize the Evils due to Heredity . . . 81 CHAPTER VII SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH The more Beneficent a Law of Nature, the Heavier the Penalty for its Violation. This Axiom as applicable to Laws of Life, Mind, and Health as to any other Law. Exemption of the Lower Animals from Suggestions Adverse to Health. Man the Prey of such Suggestions. The Potency of Adverse Suggestions equal to that of Therapeutic Suggestions. The Newspaper CONTENTS xv PACK an Agency for the Promulgation of Suggestions Adverse to Health. The Patent-Medicine Advertisement. The Danger of Adverse Suggestions to Students of Medicine. Newspaper Literature relating to Diet. Pernicious Dietetics. Auto-Sug- gestion the Safeguard 93 CHAPTER VIII "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE Asceticism of our Puritan Ancestors. Tendency of Primitive Minds to reason by Analogy. Influence of Asceticism on Dietetics, -r The Appetite usually a Safe Guide. Dyspepsia often caused by Suggestion. The Principle of Asceticism in the Old Medical Practice. Importance of the Law of Sug- gestion in Connection with Diet and Medicine 115 CHAPTER IX AUTO-SUGGESTION The Fundamental Psychological Principles restated. Fatal Po- tency 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 Sugges- tion. Suggestion in Connection with Habitual Drunkenness and Dipsomania. Counter-Suggestion as a Prophylactic. Danger of Injudicious Sympathy. False Dietetic Suggestions to Children 130 ' THE CORRELATION OF THE FACTS OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY IN CONNECTION tWITH MENTAL HEALING CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY The Facts of Psychology and Physiology to be Correlated. All Organic Tissue composed of Intelligent Microscopic Cells. Disease of the Body is Disease of the Cells of the Body. The Cells amenable to Control by the Subjective Mind. The Fluidic xvi CONTENTS PAGB Theory of Mesmerism. The Nancy School. The Force or Energy which controls the Bodily Functions a Mental Energy. It operates upon the Subordinate Intelligent Cells through the Nerves. Histionic Suggestion. The Nerves the Mechanism for the Conveyance of Therapeutic Impulse from Healer to Patient. Histionic Suggestion effective without Hypnotism and in Defiance of Adverse Auto-Suggestions 161 CHAPTER II THE PHYSICAL MECHANISM THROUGH WHICH MENTAL HEALING IS EFFECTED Evidence for a Duplex Mechanism corresponding to Dual Mental Organism furnished by Anatomy and Histology. Historical Sketch of the Science of Histology. Cells and Cytods. Uni- cellular and Pluricellular Organisms. The Various Species of Body-Cells and their Functions. The Body a Confederation of Groups of Cells. Every Body-Cell a Mind Organism endowed with Intelligence Commensurate with its Function. The Con- federated Cells dominated by a Central Intelligence. The Influence exercised by the Controlling Intelligence a Mental One 179 CHAPTER III THE PHYSICAL MECHANISM THROUGH WHICH MENTAL HEALING IS EFFECTED (Continued) The Cerebro-Spinal and the Sympathetic Nervous Systems. The Former controls the Voluntary Movements and is dominated by the Objective Mind. The Latter controls the Involuntary Movements and is dominated by the Subjective Mind. The Subjective Mind can usurp the Functions of the Cerebro-Spinal System. The Objective Mind powerless to control directly a purely Involuntary Muscle. A Nexus between the two Nervous Systems corresponding to that between the two Minds. The Nerve Connections between the two Systems enable the Objective Mind to communicate its Therapeutic Suggestions to the Sub- jective. The Pseudopodia of Unicellular Organisms. Pro- toplasmic Filaments the Means of Communication between Body-Cells. This is effected by Physical Contact. The Nerve and Brain Cells highly specialized for this Purpose. Being Mind Organisms, the Energy involved in the Transmission of Sensation is a Mental One . 194 CONTENTS xvil CHAPTER IV THE MECHANISM OF INHIBITION PACK Analgesia induced by Hypnotism or by Suggestion. If Sensation is transmitted by Means of Physical Contact of the Filaments of the Nerve Cells, it follows that Interruption of Contact will inhibit Sensation. These Filaments are retractile. The Sub- jective Mind, by causing their Retraction, can inhibit Sensation. The Phenomenon of Analgesia in the Presence of Death or Deadly Peril. Catalepsy. The Theory of Mental Medicine comprehended in the Words "Stimulation" and "Inhibition." The Effects of Material Medicines mainly limited to these Two. The Principle of Homoeopathy. Necessity for the Correlation of Psychology and Histology in the Study of Thera- peutics 206 CHAPTER V INHIBITION AND SLEEP, NATURAL AND INDUCED The Various Hypotheses advanced to account for the Phenomenon of Sleep. The Power of Inhibition possessed by the Subjective Mind an Adequate Explication. The Powers of Stimulation and Inhibition correlative. The Alternation of Work and Rest a Law which pertains to all the Cells of the Body. The Isola- tion of the Brain Cells from Contact with Each Other the Cause of Unconsciousness. A Universal Law of Inhibition comprehended in the Formula "Segregation of Cells." Natu- ral and Induced Sleep identical. Hypnotism but a Concomitant of the Power to induce Natural Sleep 224 CHAPTER VI ANIMAL MAGNETISM, HYPNOTISM, AND LAYING ON OF HANDS The Immediate Cause of Natural, Hypnotic, and Mesmeric Sleep the Same. The Process and Theory of Mesmerism. Braid's Experiments. The Process of Hypnotism. The Confusion in Terms and Methods. Liebault's Formulation of the Law of Suggestion. Suggestion regarded as a Universal Solvent of the Mysteries of Hypnotism and Mesmerism. The Effects of Hypnotism and Mesmerism due to Different Proximate Causes. xvin CONTENTS PACK Physical Contact the Essential Feature which distinguishes Mesmeric from Hypnotic Practice. The Psycho-Histological Theory. Historical Sketch of " Healing by Touch." The Effects of this Process not accounted for by Suggestion in the Ordinary Sense of that Term 234 CHAPTER VII THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE BY ANTS AND BEES BY MEANS OF PHYSICAL CONTACT The Psycho-Histological Theory of Mental Therapeutics. Com- munication of Mental Impulses by Means of Physical Contact an Elementary Fact of Psychology. The Vital Units of Pluricellu- lar Organisms habitually communicate by this Means. Uni- cellular Organisms, grouped together in Colonies, communicate in the sameWay. Communication between Ants by Contact of Antenna;. Hypothetical " Langage Antennal " of Huber. Antennal Communion among Bees. Inadequacy of Tactile- Signal Hypothesis. Thought-Transference the Obvious Expla- nation ... 250 CHAPTER VIII THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE BY MAN UNDER CONDITIONS OF PHYSICAL CONTACT The Distinction between Thought-Transference and Telepathy. The " Willing " Game. The Muscle-Reading Hypothesis. Instances of Thought-Transference which it does not explain. Thought-Transference facilitated by Physical Contact. The Spiritistic " Circle." Experiments in Thought-Transference with and without Physical Contact. The Nervous Organism of Man specially adapted for Thought-Transference, and hence for Healing by Physical Contact . 262 CHAPTER IX CONCLUSIONS THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL The Hypothetical Magnetic Fluid. Histionic Suggestion com- petent to explain all the Facts of Mesmerism. This Form of Suggestion the most effective as a Therapeutic Agency. It may CONTENTS xix PAGB operate independently of the Volition of the Patient. The Nerve Terminals the Means provided by Nature for the Trans- mission of Histionic Suggestions. The Spinal Column the Guide to one Set of Terminals, and Pain the Guide to the other. This Process of Treatment available to all 274 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN MENTAL HEALING THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN MENTAL HEALING CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Ancient Superstitions. All Diseases referred to Bad Spirits. All Healing of Disease credited to Good Spirits. Innumerable The- ories of Causation prevalent among Primitive Peoples. Many of them still survive in Modified Forms ; some of the most grotesque being extremely popular in the midst of the Highest Civilization. All Systems, Ancient and Modern, have been successful in healing the Sick. This Fact alone challenges the Attention of Science. It indicates the Existence of a Law pertaining generically to all Systems. No Logical Connection between Theories of Causation and the Results produced ; otherwise all Systems, from Fetichism to the most Modern Modification of that System, would be able to " demonstrate " their Theories. The Logic of Primitive Minds the same in all the Ages. The Question of Mental Healing is primarily a psychological one ; hence the Necessity of studying the Fundamental Principles of Psychology as a Basis of a Correct Theory of Causation. Recent Discovery of a Primary Intelligence below the Threshold of Normal Consciousness enables us to study the Subject inductively. The Facts of Physiology and Histology reveal the Rationale of Mental Healing. It is unnecessary to antagonize Established Systems of Material Therapeutics. We are indebted to Doctors of Medicine for much of the Knowledge 4 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE which enables us to formulate a Rational Theory. The Correla- tion of all the Facts of Psychology and Physiology are necessary for placing Mental Therapeutics on a Scientific Basis. Many Medical Men employ the Methods of Suggestive Therapeutics in their Daily Practice. The Discovery of the Law of Suggestion by a Member of the Medical Profession was the first Great Step in the Direction of a True Explication of Mental Therapeutics. The next Great Step was its Generalization under the Law of the Duality of Mind. The Correlation of all the Facts of Mental and Physical Science is therefore essential. HISTORY informs us that in all the ages man has recognized the existence of an intelligent Power capable of creating diseases in the human body, and of healing them independently of material remedies or appliances. This Power, being invisible and intangible, was very naturally referred to mental or spiritual agencies, good or bad, beneficent or malevolent, as the symptoms in each particular case seemed to indicate. In the early days " spirits of health " and " goblins damned " seem to have peo- pled the circumambient air in vast numbers and in about equal proportions. One host revisited " the glimpses of the moon" with intents decidedly wicked; the other with those that were purely charitable. One brought blasts from hell; the other breathed airs from heaven. One sent forth plague and pesti- lence; the other shed healing from its wings. For untold ages these invisible agencies, good and bad, seem to have been practically the only ones held responsible for the existence of disease, or credited with the power of healing the sick. Naturally, the greatest efforts of men so beset by the conflicting forces surrounding them were em- ployed in devising ways and means for thwarting INTRODUCTORY 5 the efforts of the evil spirits and for conciliating those that were good. Hence the innumerable re- cipes for those purposes which history informs us were in common use among our remote ancestors. A volume would be required even to catalogue the various devices and formulas for invoking the aid of the health-purveying inhabitants of the spirit world, to say nothing of the " prophylactical receipts of wholesome caution " against evil spirits in general and witches in particular. Such a volume, compiled from all available sources, would be of incalculable value to science; for it would show that not only our ancestors savage, semi-civilized, and civilized were rilled with such superstitions, but that all primitive peoples have had, and still have, the same generic ideas, and that they practise generically the same methods of healing the sick. What is of still greater importance, it would show that all the facts of spiritual or mental healing among primitive peo- ples of all the ages are easily correlated not only with each other, but with many of the methods now in vogue in the most highly civilized nations. That is to say, many of the modern theories of causation are mere survivals of ancient superstitions; and some of them differ from the latter only in the more accentuated and grotesque imbecility of the later theories of causation. More important still is the fact that the records show that under all " systems," ancient and modern, many marvellous cures have been effected, some of them seemingly miraculous. This fact, to the induc- tive scientist, is pregnant with significance; for it is demonstrative that the whole subject-matter is under 6 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE the dominion of some natural law. The scientist reasons thus: Here is a vast congeries of phe- nomena to be accounted for. They have been pro- duced in every age and in every tribe and nation in the world, civilized and savage. Some of the phe- nomena, it is true, may be accounted for on the score of mal-observation ; some may be attributed to fraud and legerdemain, and much to defective memory or intentional falsehood. But after due allowance is made for these and other minor sources of error, the great bulk of the phenomena remains to challenge the attention of the scientist. It is true that science in years gone by has not deigned to meddle with the subject, choosing to relegate all the alleged phenomena indiscriminately to the domain of superstition and imposture. During the last decade, however, it has become evident to the most skeptical that cures of disease are being effected, in the midst of the highest civilization, by means obviously iden- tical with those employed in the darkest ages of superstition. That is to say, the results are identi- cal; and it is axiomatic that, in any series of cog- nate phenomena, identical results presuppose identical or cognate causes. Hence it is that when, as in men- tal healing, uniform results are reported from widely separated localities, from all races and conditions of mankind during all the ages, ancient and modern, the true scientist knows that there must be a basis of truth underlying the whole subject, and that all the phenomena are referable to some one generic cause. Nor does the multiplicity of theories of causation held by the various tribes of men, or sects of mental healers, militate in the least against the INTRODUCTORY 7 student's convictions; for if he has acquired the most superficial acquaintance with the elementary principles of logic, he is aware that there is no neces sary connection between theories of causation an the results produced by those who hold them. In other words, the fact of healing the sick by any method whatever does not demonstrate the correct ness of the theory of causation which happens to entertained by the healer in any given case. This is a self-evident proposition; and to the average reader it will seem to be a work of super- erogation to state it formally. But it must be re- membered that there are vast numbers of mental healers, in this and other highly civilized countries, whose theories of causation are more fantastic, not to say idiotic, than those of any savage tribe of which history informs us, and that they firmly and fervently believe and proclaim that their theories are demonstrated to be true by the fact that they heal the sick. In fact, so insistent are they upon this point that they habitually employ the word " demonstrate," or some of its derivatives, as a syno- nym for the verb " to heal." Every act of healing, in other words, is a complete demonstration of the truth of the hypothesis which the healer happens to entertain. It is, perhaps, superfluous to add that if this were true of one system of mental healing it would be true of all. Hence the North American Indian, whose theory of disease is that it is caused by the infernal machinations of evil spirits, and whose therapeutic agencies consist in frightening away said evil spirits by means of hideous noises and a 8 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE diabolical " make up," has the same logical right to claim that successful healing by his system is demon- strative of the correctness of his theory of disease as well as of the scientific value of his methods of healing. What is true of the North American In- dian's hypothesis is true of all theories of disease and all therapeutic agencies, in Christian or in heathen lands; for, as before remarked, the one salient fact that correlates all systems of mental medicine is that they all heal the sick. It is this one fact that challenges the attention of science. It appeals to the anthropologist, because "the beliefs of mankind, whether true or false, con- important branch of his curriculum of studies. It is of infinite interest and importance to the therapeutist, because it is demonstrative that in some way the state of the mind of the patient is an important factor in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. But its most direct and imperative ap- peal is to the psychologist; for it is primarily a purely psychological question, and upon the student of that science devolves the task of discovering the fundamental principles underlying the mental force behind the phenomena. When that is accomplished, it will be next in order to invoke the aid of physi- ology, and especially of microscopic anatomy, or histology, to the end that we may learn something of the machinery through which this potent energy performs its work. It is obvious that if even the fundamentals of this knowledge can be successfully acquired, we may then know, proximately at least, something of the modus operandi by which the mind acts upon the INTRODUCTORY 9 body in health and in the cure of disease. It fol- lows that such knowledge will enable us to direct the healing energy more intelligently, and presum- ably more effectively. Not that we can ever learn just how the mind performs its functions as a thera- peutic agent. We do not even know how it causes the simplest movement of the limbs, although we may be conscious of imparting the primary mental stimulus necessary to produce that result in the vol- untary muscles. Science has taught us something of the machinery through which the mind operates to produce consciously a voluntary movement of the body. We know by conscious experience that the mind is the motive power; and we have taken a few primary lessons in the art of directing and controlling that power and making it useful. But this is all that we really know of that conscious intelligence which, nevertheless, has elevated man- kind from savagery to civilization. How little man knows of his own mental powers and limitations is shown in the fact that it is only within the last decade that he has become aware of the existence, within himself and below the thresh- old of his normal consciousness, of a primary * in- telligence that is at once endowed with wonderful powers and circumscribed by equally wonderful limi- tations. It is well within the bounds of truth to say that it is to this discovery that the world is indebted for all the knowledge that it possesses of the real 1 Some authors denominate this intelligence "the secondary self," but the facts of organic evolution show conclusively that it is the primary intelligence of the organic world. See "The Divine Pedigree of Man." 10 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE science of mental therapeutics; for it is to this pri- mary intelligence that science has traced the source of the mental power that heals ; and it is to its limi- tations that is due all that is mysterious in its phe- nomenal manifestations, not only in the domain of mental therapeutics, but in all other classes of psy- chical phenomena. In attempting- an analysis of this wonderful sub- jective intelligence I shall confine myself to its aspects as a therapeutic agent, and not obtrude any theories or speculations as to its ultimate origin 1 or its final destiny. 2 I shall confine myself exclusively to the demonstrable facts of experimental psychology for my proofs of the existence of a subjective intelli- gence, to the well-authenticated experiences of man- kind for proofs of its potency as a healing agent, and to the current standard literature of physiology and histology to show the rationale of the mental processes by which every fibre of the body is reached, and its conditions controlled. I do not expect to say the last word that can be said of the science of men- tal therapeutics; but my primary object will be ac- complished if I can point out the lines of study and investigation which may lead to an intelligent solu- tion of the problem of mental control over the body in health and disease. If in addition to that I can succeed in discovering the fundamental psycholog- ical law pertaining to the control of the healing power resident in every man's mental organism, and in pointing out the physical mechanism through which that power is exerted, I may hope to be able 1 See "The Divine Pedigree of Man." 2 See "A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life." INTRODUCTORY - II to indicate the most effective methods of practising the healing art without the use of material remedies. Before proceeding to the discussion of the main subject, however, I desire to say a word in regard to doctors of medicine. I have no quarrel with the medical profession, nor can I join in the indiscriminate clamor against mate- rial remedies for the cure of disease. I cannot for- get that doctors of medicine were the first to discover the fundamental facts which lie at the basis of the science of mental medicine. Thus, Dr. Hack Tuke's great work * contains a voluminous record of the observations of cases by medical men, of both ancient and modern times, demonstrating the control of the mind over the body in health and disease. Indeed the literature of medicine, within the memory of men now living, was full of illustrations of that im- portant fact; and medical students were instructed by their professors in its practical application at the bedside. A cheerful, hopeful, and, above all, a con- fident demeanor was held to be only second in im- portance to the material remedies prescribed; and, to give the profession due credit, the effect of that instruction still survives, and is visibly manifested in the wise and preternaturally able expression of countenance which every physician knows so well how to assume when feeling the pulse, examining the tongue, and writing the prescription. The Law of Suggestion had not been formulated when such instructions became a part of the college curriculum, but its practical value was thus recognized by the 1 The Influence of Mind upon the Body (Henry C. Lea's Son & Co., Philadelphia). 12 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE medical profession many generations before Braid or JLiebault saw the light; and the medical doctor who first prescribed a placebo, 1 under the guise of a specific, and noted its wonderful curative powers, took the first great step in demonstrating the thera- peutic value of a " larvated " (Pitzer) suggestion. It may be noted, in passing, that one of the most hopeful indications of advancement in medical science consists in the fact that the profession now very gen- erally recognize the placebo as indicated when diag- nosis fails. Manufacturing pharmacists consequently derive a large income from the sale of the ready- made placebo. That many fatal mistakes have been avoided by its employment, and many cures effected, goes without saying. It will thus be seen that to the medical profession the world is indebted for two discoveries, first, that the mind controls the bodily functions; second, that the mind can be controlled by suggestion. That physicians did not formulate the law, and builded better than they knew, does not detract from their merits as original discoverers. Columbus died in ig- norance of the fact that he had discovered America. Nor can I follow the extremists in holding that all material remedies, like the placebo, owe their efficacy wholly to suggestion. I recognize the fact which the medical profession has taught us that the human body is made up of an aggregation, or confederation, of cells; that each cell is an indi- vidual entity, a living creature, and that, as such, it performs all the functions of animal life, including those of nutrition, digestion, and excretion. Each 1 Commonly called " bread pills." INTRODUCTORY 13 cell, therefore, requires its appropriate food to enable it to perform its special functions. This food is, of course, supplied from the material taken into the stomach; and the blood-cells perform the double duty of conveying the food to each individual cell, and of removing the waste material excreted (meta- bolism). It follows that the useful food-material of all that is taken into the stomach, be it in ordinary food or in medicine, is carried to its appropriate groups of cells. That some medicines contain nutri- tive material adapted to the needs of special groups of cells cannot be seriously doubted. Nor can it be doubted that if the medical profession could know just what material is adapted to the necessities of each group of cells, medicine would assume the dig- nity of an inductive science. They have already laid the foundation for the study of medicine on those lines by their minute researches in the science of his- tology, or microscopic anatomy, which is the branch of biology that treats of the cell life and the structure of the tissues of organized bodies. They have also laid a broad foundation for the study of the true science of mental medicine, by revealing the ma- chinery through which suggestion does its thera- peutic work. It enables us not only to correlate all systems of mental healing, ancient and modern, but to harmonize the facts of suggestive therapeutics with the accepted principles of modern physiological science as laid down by the ablest medical authorities. It must also be remembered to the credit of the medical profession that one of its members formu- lated the Law of Suggestion, and thus laid the foun- dation of the science of mental healing. It is true 14 THE LA W OF MENTAL MEDICINE that it was formulated with special reference to hyp- notism; but at that time hypnotism was the only phase of psychic phenomena under scientific discus- sion. Later on, a broader generalization became necessary in connection with the theory of the dual mind, and the law was then found to pertain exclu- sively to the subjective mind, and to dominate that mysterious mental force under all its states and con- ditions. 1 Nevertheless, the discovery of the Law of Suggestion in its relations to hypnotism was the first great step in the direction of a true explication, not only of mental therapeutics, but of all psychic phenomena. It is true that the attitude of the medical profes- sion toward all forms and theories of mental thera- peutics has always been one of extreme conservatism, often savoring of unreasoning prejudice; but on the whole its influence has been salutary. If its denun- ciations have been bitter, it was because they have been directed chiefly against charlatanism and un- scientific theories of causation; but, as I shall at- tempt to show, its inductions and discoveries have furnished the basis of a scientific system of mental therapeutics. It will now be seen that I am not about to wage a warfare against the medical profession, nor upon drugs and medicines, nor upon any of the so-called " systems " of mental therapeutics, much less upon the well-ascertained facts of physiological science. It is a truism of science that, in the investigation of any subject, no fact can safely be ignored that pertains, directly or indirectly, to the subject-matter; for no 1 See " The Law of Psychic Phenomena." INTROD UCTOR Y 1 5 fact in nature is inconsistent with any other fact. If, therefore, it is true that the mind controls the bodily functions in health and disease, the facts of physio- logical science will at least harmonize with the propo- sition, and perchance reveal approximately something of the methods and machinery by which this control is effected. In other words, psychology and physi- ology necessarily touch upon each other somewhere; and it is the object of this book to suggest tentatively a line of study by which the facts of both sciences, so far as they relate to mental therapeutics, may be correlated and reduced to something like scientific coherency. An exhaustive treatise is, of course, im- possible within the limits prescribed; but if I can induce abler men to test the value of my suggestions, I am not without hope that a truly scientific system of psycho-therapeutics may eventually be evolved which will harmonize all the facts of human experi- ence that pertain to the subject-matter. I shall first treat of the psychological aspects of the question ; secondly, of the psycho-physiological ; and, thirdly, of the methods of practice which suggest themselves in view of all the facts developed. CHAPTER II FIRST PRINCIPLES Mental Healing is not a Religion. The Example of Jesus is conclu- sive on that Point. Nothing Supernatural in Mental Medicine. The Power that Heals resides within the Patient. This was the Doctrine taught by Jesus and epitomized in the Words " Thy Faith hath made Thee whole." The Word " Faith," as he employed it, means not only "Belief" or "Confidence," but includes all the Spiritual Energies of the Human Soul. It is not only prerequisite to Success in Mental Healing, but is a Dynamic Energy, besides. Modern Science has succeeded only in demonstrating the Scien- tific Accuracy of the Master's Knowledge of Mental Therapeutics. The Whole Art of Mental Healing consists in knowing how to induce the Condition of Faith in the Patient. The Fundamental Psychological Principles involved. Suggestion a Universal Law of the Subjective Mind. Limitations of Subjective Powers of Reasoning. False and True Suggestions. Potency of Auto- Suggestions. Moral Principles constitute Auto-Suggestions. Resistance to False Suggestions. Effectiveness of Suggestion not dependent upon the Hypnotic Condition. Passivity of the Mind the Equivalent of Hypnosis for Therapeutic Purposes. Sugges- tions based upon Scientific Truth are most effective. The Third Fundamental Psychological Principle. BEFORE attempting to state what mental heal- ing is, it may be well to have a clear under- standing of what it is not. First, then, it is not a religion. There is no more religion in healing the sick by mental processes than there is in healing them by pills or clysters. Many good people think other- wise, and cite the example of the Master. But there is no evidence that he regarded the act of healing as FIRST PRINCIPLES I/ a religious rite, except in so far as all benevolent acts belong to that scheme of universal altruism which was the essence of his religion. But he exacted no precedent conditions of religious belief from the bene- ficiaries of his power ; he prescribed for them no acts of religious worship, nor did he himself perform any ' in connection with the exercise of his healing power. The only thing that savored of religion, therefore, was in that which he refrained from doing, namely : he accepted no fees for his services, nor did he charge his apostles for " lessons." Secondly, there is nothing supernatural or super- mundane in the methods or agencies employed in healing the sick by mental processes ; and thirdly, no power or agency, mundane or supermundane, ex- traneous to the patient himself, has any part or lot [/ \ in the process of mental healing. For proof of these two propositions we may again refer to the authority of the Master. And this brings us to the immedi- ate consideration of the question what mental heal- ing is. Those who are acquainted with the history and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, as set forth in the New Testament, will recall the facts that he never claimed any credit for healing the sick; nor did he arrogate to himself the possession of any personal power to heal disease; much less did he ascribe the power to any other agency, human or divine, extra- neous to the patient himself. In truth, the reticence of Jesus in regard to his attributes and powers was one of his most marked characteristics. But more remarkable still was the fact that what he did say was always pregnant with veritable scientific signifi- 1 8 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE cance. No better illustration of this can be imag- ined than his constantly reiterated statement with regard to the real source of the healing power mani- fested in his patients. The words " Thy faith hath made thee whole " constitute a scientifically exact statement of the fundamental fact, of mental thera- peutics. Their obvious meaning is, first, that the power which effects the healing is resident within the patient, and not in any extraneous force or agency. This is the primary meaning of the phrase, and no amount of sophistry can weaken its force or signifi- cance. Secondly, it means that this force or energy resident within the patient consists of, or is due to, a certain definite mental condition or attitude of mind with reference to the work to be done. It may be here remarked that the English word " faith " very inadequately describes the energy or force in ques- tion, as Jesus apparently understood it. That is to say, no definition of the word is found in any dic- tionary that conveys the slightest notion of that dynamic energy which enabled the leper to throw off his disease instantaneously, or the lame man to take up his bed and walk. Every dictionary defini- tion embraces the implication of some form or de- gree of belief as its determinative feature. But the faith which Jesus proclaimed as the one prepotent agency in the healing of disease, the faith which sustained Peter in his walk upon the water until he momentarily lost it, the dynamic potentialities of which could only be adequately prefigured as being equal to the removal of mountains, such a faith is necessarily far more than the word " belief " or " confidence " would imply. It includes both, as FIRST PRINCIPLES ig modern experiments amply demonstrate; but it must also include all the spiritual energies of the human soul. To say the least, it must be the mental condi- tion precedent to enable the soul to exercise any of its powers. Be that as it may, it is sufficient for present pur- poses to know that faith, is the essential mental con- dition prerequisite to success in healing the sick by any process of mental healing; and when Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed that pregnant fact, he antici- pated the inductions of modern science by nineteen hundred years. How he came into possession of such an exact knowledge of the fundamental law of mental healing, is not a pertinent subject of discus- sion in this connection. It is sufficient to note the fact that he possessed that knowledge. Science is concerned only with the question of verification. That it has been amply verified by scientific experi- mentation within the last quarter of a century is a matter of common knowledge among students of experimental psychology. The nature of the ex- periments and their evidential value will be shown hereinafter. In the meantime we must assume pro- visionally that a certain definite attitude of mind on the part of the patient is essential to success in men- tal healing, and that that attitude of mind is best defined by the word " faith." It is also in evidence that, when faith is perfect, methods of healing of comparatively little importance. That is to saj methods may vary within very wide limits without affecting the result, provided each patient is inspirec "by the requisite confidence in the particular methc employed in his case. Hence the frequent successes 20 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE attending each of the innumerable methods of men- tal healing that have prevailed in all the ages of mankind. We have now definitely ascertained the one funda- mental fact that correlates all forms, methods, and systems of mental healing. That is, we know the mental condition that must be induced in all cases, and under all systems, before mental healing be- comes possible. We know that even the Master could not dispense with those conditions; for, we are told, he could not do many wonderful works among the people of his own village " because of their unbelief." It follows that the essential thing for the healer to know is how to induce that condition in his pa- tients. Indeed, it may be said that the whole art of mental healing consists in knowing how best to con- trol the patient's mind in that direction. Of course there are as many ways of doing it as there are mental healers; and they are all more or less effec- tive, as I have already stated. This is not, however, the place to discuss the vari- ous methods in vogue. My present purpose is to point out the underlying psychological principles in- volved in all methods, and incidentally to show that iwhen those principles are once comprehended, the dlaw of mental medicine will be found to be, like all \of nature's laws, simple to the last degree, and far removed from the reaTrnsT of mysticism and super- stition. That, for instance, which is of primary importance, namely, the induction of the essential condition of faith in the mind of the patient, will be found to be surprisingly easy of accomplishment. FIRST PRINCIPLES 21 At the outset I owe an apology to many of my readers for that I shall be compelled, in this chap- ter, to repeat the substance of much that has been already set forth more at length in my former works. 1 This becomes necessary for the reason that the arguments in this book will be based upon the working hypothesis formulated in my first work; and although that hypothesis is now very generally accepted by scientists, it will doubtless be new to many lay readers of this treatise. In order, there- fore, to make the argument comprehensible by all, its steps must be taken in orderly sequence, begin- ning with the fundamental psychological principles involved. These may be stated in two propositions, namely : i. Man is endowed with a dual mind, or two states of consciousness. For convenience of treatment, and to make distinctions clear and readily comprehen- sible, I prefer to assume that man is endowed with two minds. As a working hypothesis, I am logically justified in this assumption, for the reason that every- thing happens just as though it were true. This fact is easily demonstrable by the processes of experi- mental psychology, and it is now very generally rec- ognized by all students of psychic science. I have chosen to designate one of the two minds as the Objective Mind and the other as the Subjec- tive Mind, and they will be so differentiated through- out this treatise. Others have adopted other terms of differentiation, such as the " conscious " and the 1 The fundamental psychological principles relating to mental heal- ing, as well as to all other psychic phenomena, have been discussed at length in the author's work entitled " The Law of Psychic Phe- nomena" (A. C. McClurg & Co.). 22 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE " unconscious," the " conscious " and the " subcon- scious," minds, each of which is an obvious mis- nomer. The savants of the Society for Psychical Research generally designate the two states of con- sciousness as the " supraliminal " and the " sublimi- nal," after the old psychologists. I have adopted the terms " objective " and " subjective " for the simple reason that the objective mind is the mind of ordi- nary waking consciousness, which takes cognizance of the objective world by means of the five objective senses; whereas the subjective mind is that intelli- gence which manifests itself in all subjective states and conditions, as in hypnotism, somnambulism, trance, dreams, etc., when the objective senses are asleep or are otherwise wholly or partially inhibited. 2. The second proposition is that the subjective mind is constantly amenable to control by the power of suggestion. The term "suggestion," as defined by hypnotists, signifies " the insinuation of a belief or impulse into the mind of a subject by any means, as by words or gestures, usually by emphatic declara- tion " (Century Dictionary). This definition is cor- rect as far as it goes, but it is far from indicating the full scope and significance of the law of sugges- tion. It is not, as is indicated by the above defini- tion, restricted to hypnotized subjects, nor to any other mental state or condition, normal or abnormal. It is a universal law of the subjective mind. The supposition that it is restricted to hypnotized sub- jects arose from the fact that its discoverers were studying the phenomena of hypnotism exclusively, and hence had no data for a broader generalization. It was, nevertheless, an immense stride in advance, FIRST PRINCIPLES 23 for it threw a flood of light upon much that was mysterious in the phenomena of hypnotism. Its chief value, however, consisted in that it paved the way for the broader discovery that it is a universal law of the subjective mind. The latter discovery was the inevitable consequence of the formulation of the doctrine of mental duality; for, it was reasoned, if man is endowed with two minds, there must neces- sarily be some clear line of differentiation between them, both as to their powers and their limitations. It was at length seen that suggestion and its corol- laries furnished the clue to the situation. Thus, one of the corollaries of the law of suggestion is that the subjective mind is incapable of inductive reasoning; that is to say, it is incapable of instituting and con- ducting independently a line of research, by col- lecting facts, classifying them, and estimating their relative evidential values. On the contrary, it is compelled, by the primary law of its being, to accept its premises from extraneous sources; that is to say, whatever suggestions are imparted to it consti- tute the premises from which it reasons. It follows that its method of reasoning is purely deductive; and it is here that one of its marvellous powers is made manifest, for its power of correct deduction is well-nigh perfect. And this is true whether the premise is true or false. That is to say, its deduc- tions from a false premise are as logically correct as from a true one ; and, moreover, false and true sug- gestions are alike carried into active effect wherever it is possible. Thus, if it is suggested to a hypno- tized subject that he is a dog, he will instantaneously assume the attitude and perform the acts of a dog, 24 THE LA W OF MENTAL MEDICINE so far as it is physically possible to do so, firmly be- lieving himself to be a dog. In a word, any char- acter suggested, be it a fool or a philosopher, an angel or a devil, an orator or an auctioneer, will be personated with marvellous fidelity to the original, just so far as the subject's knowledge of the original extends. The wonderful histrionic ability displayed by hypnotized subjects in personating suggested char- acters has often been remarked. But it is not V act- ing a part " in the ordinary sense of the word. It is much more than acting, for the subject believes himself to be the actual personality suggested. It is not, therefore, a question of histrionic talent, in the ordinary sense; for subjects who are entirely desti- tute of that ability will personate to perfection any suggested character with which they are familiar. It is a common observation that excellence in the histrionic art is proportioned in each case to the actor's ability to forget his own personality and to identify himself with that of the character which he seeks to portray. It is, therefore, obvious that the whole secret of the so-called histrionic ability of the hypnotic subject is accounted for by the fact that his own personality is completely submerged under the influence of suggestion. His identification with the suggested personality is also complete, for he be- lieves himself to be the actual person suggested. The essential prerequisite mental conditions of good acting are, therefore, present in perfection. It fol- lows that in proportion to the subject's knowledge and intelligent appreciation of the salient character- istics of the suggested personality, will the rendition approach perfection. FIRST PRINCIPLES 2$ It is scarcely necessary to remark that a stevedore cannot be suddenly transformed into a good actor, in the theatrical sense, by means of hypnotism. Knowl- edge of the salient characteristics of an individual is one thing, and knowledge of the requirements of the stage is quite another. The principle, however, is the same. It follows that an actor who has intelli- gently studied his part and knows its requirements, but is deficient in the power of rendition, could be trained to a high state of efficiency in the histrionic art by means of hypnotic suggestion. It would, of course, require a trainer of high character and excep- tional intelligence to achieve the best results. 1 I mention these hypnotic experiments for the pur- pose of showing how perfectly the subjective mind is dominated by the power of suggestion. Whether true or false, a suggestion wields a potent influence, although there are necessarily degrees of potency de- pending upon conditions, just as there are degrees of potency under varying conditions in every force in nature. And, like every other force in nature, sug- gestion acts most effectively on lines of least resist- ance. Thus, a suggestion that is contrary to the moral principles of the subject will be resisted with a strength and persistence proportioned to its moral obliquity. A suggestion the performance of which 1 Since the above was written, Dr. John Duncan Quackenbos, emer- itus professor of Psychology in Columbia University, read a paper before the Medico-Legal Society of New York on this subject, which has since been published in the "Medico-Legal Journal." The doctor is one of the leading hypnotists in this country ; and he reports some marvellous successes in training actors for the stage. Prof. A. E. Carpenter, of Boston, has also been highly successful in training sub- jects for the lecture platform. 26 THE LA W OF MENTAL MEDICINE would render the subject an object of ridicule will be resisted by him with an emphasis proportioned to his pride and dignity. A suggestion that would imperil the life of the subject if carried into execution will be resisted with an energy propor- tioned to the degree and imminence of the peril involved. These do not constitute exceptions to the law of suggestion. On the contrary, they serve to illustrate its universality. For, be it remembered, an auto- suggestion is just as potent, other things being equal, as a suggestion from another person; and when the subjective mind is confronted by two opposing sug- gestions, the stronger one necessarily prevails. Thus, the settled moral principles of the subject's life will successfully resist the suggestions of crime or im- morality; for moral principles constitute auto-sug- gestions, the strength of which is proportioned to that of his moral character. The subject's dignity of character, in like manner, constitutes an auto- suggestion that may successfully resist a suggestion the active acceptance of which would place him in a ridiculous attitude; and the instinct of self-preser- vation will, on the same principle, cause him to re- fuse to imperil his life. *. There are, in fact, an infinite number of condi- tions which tend more or less strongly to modify or divert the force of the suggestions which find lodg- ment in the subjective mind of man. Thus, a sug- gestion that is known by the subject in his normal condition to be absolutely false will always excite at least a momentary opposition, and that, too, will be duly proportioned to the enormity of the falsehood. FIRST PRINCIPLES 2/ In matters of indifference to him he may be induced, by persistence and iteration, to accept and act upon it; or where the performance of the act suggested promises to result in a decided advantage to himself, he may accept it with alacrity. In any event, when a suggestion is once accepted and followed by corre- sponding action, its falsity and its incongruities are soon lost sight of by the subject, and, to all its pos- sible intents and purposes, it becomes a reality to his subjective mind; and it is followed by all its con- sequences, within the limits of physical possibility. Practical illustrations of this are often seen in cer- tain systems of mental therapeutics, where the pa- tient is told that if he will consent to believe certain things that he knows to be untrue and to the last de- gree absurd and impossible, his faith will be speedily followed by restored health. Resistance to such a suggestion is, of course, instantaneous; and it is prolonged in proportion to the patient's intelligence. Nevertheless, many marvellous cures have resulted under suggestions that to the alienist clearly reveal their origin in a pathological condition of the mind of their inventor. It will now be seen that the effectiveness of sug- gestions is not dependent upon the induction of the hypnotic condition; for under the system to which allusion has been made that condition is never in- duced, that is, in the sense in which hypnosis is com- monly understood. That is to say, the condition of hypnotic sleep is never induced. Passivity of mind and body is all that is required of the patients, which, as we shall see later on, is the equivalent of hypnosis for therapeutic purposes.; 28 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE The points to be observed and remembered in con- nection with the foregoing are the following : 1. The subjective mind is constantly amenable to control by suggestion without reference to the state or condition of the objective mind. 2. Suggestions operate most effectively on lines of least resistance. 3. Resistance to suggestions from extraneous sources arises from auto-suggestions having their origin in various emotions, such as the primordial instincts (as of self-preservation, love of offspring, etc.), settled moral principles, sensitiveness to ridi- cule, fixed habits of thought, or love of scientific truth. This includes resistance to suggestions which are in obvious contravention of reason, experience, or the evidence of the senses. 4. Resistance to the last-named suggestions is pro- portioned to the intelligence of the subject, and hence it is often overcome by persistence, especially when accompanied by promises of resultant benefits, as in certain methods of mental healing. It follows that while the faith that is required to make therapeutic suggestions effective is primarily the faith of the subjective mind, nevertheless sugges- tions are most potent when they are not antagonized by any resistance whatever, either intellectual or emo- tional. Hence it is that suggestions which are based upon scientific truth, other things being equal, are necessarily the most potent in their influence and per- manent in their effects. As in all the other relations of human life, truth is mightier than error or false- hood, and it is the condition precedent to all perma- nent good. FIRST PRINCIPLES 2$ Having now briefly outlined the salient points per- taining to the first two fundamental psychological propositions, it remains to add a third term to com- plete a working hypothesis for the systematic study of mental medicine. The third term, or proposition, therefore, is that The subjective mind is the power that controls the functions, sensations, and condi- tions of the body. I need not dwell at length upon this proposition here, as its truth will more fully appear as we pro- ceed in subsequent chapters. No scientist will deny the existence within us of a central intelligence which controls the bodily functions, and, through the sym- pathetic nervous system, actuates the involuntary muscles, and keeps the bodily machinery in motion. Nor will the most pronounced materialist deny that this central intelligence is the controlling energy which regulates the action of each of the myriad cellular entities of which the whole body is com- posed. It matters not how we may designate it, or what our theories may be as to its origin and des- tiny ; it exists. Whether we call it the " principle of life," the " abdominal brain," the " communal soul," the " subliminal consciousness," or the " sub- jective mind," it exists; and it controls the bodily functions in health and disease, and, in turn, is con- trollable by the subtle power of suggestion. We have, then, in three propositions, each of which is demonstrable by experimentation, a complete work- ing hypothesis for the systematic study and practice of mental therapeutics. They may be restated and grouped in systematic order as follows : 30 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE 1. Man is endowed with a dual mind, objective and subjective. 2. The subjective mind controls the functions, sen- sations, and conditions of the body. 3. The subjective mind is amenable to control by suggestion. VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING 31 CHAPTER III THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING The Intelligence that controls the Functions of the Body in Health the Power or Energy that requires Assistance in Case of Disease. The Body a Confederation of Micro-organisms controlled by this Central Intelligence. It is a Mental Organism that all Therapeu- tic Agencies are designed to energize. Mental Therapeutic Agen- cies the Primary and Normal Means for this End. Physical Agencies not excluded. A Mental Stimulus more direct and positive than a Physical One. Material Remedies Good and Legitimate Forms of Suggestion. Whether Remedies are Mate- rial or Mental, they must energize the Central Controlling Intelli- gence. The Therapeutic Value of all Agencies proportioned to their Power to stimulate the Subjective Mind. Suggestion the Prepotent Therapeutic Energy. This is the Law of Mental Heal- ing. The Teleological Argument to be drawn from the I.AW of Mental Medicine. None other so demonstrative of Divine Be- nevolence. Absence of Fear and Pain at the Moment of Disso- lution. This Phenomenon, considered together with the Law of Mental Healing, possesses a Teleological Significance. The Law of Mental Healing is universal and adapted to every Grade of Human Intelligence. Antiquity of Suggestion as a Therapeutic. Agent. Its Myriad Forms. All effective in proportion to their Faith-Inspiring Potency. Scientific Significance of the Beliefs and Practices of Primitive Humanity. All were useful, and each was adapted to some Special Grade of Intelligence. Primi- tive Minds still exist in the Highest Modern Civilization with Corresponding Powers of Reasoning. Current Beliefs adapted to Varying Grades of Intelligence. Their Religious Features Potent Factors in their Success. Systems based upon Error less efficacious than one founded upon Truth. Nearly all refer the Healing Power to Extraneous Sources, an Error which Jesus in- sistently controverted 32 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE IT must now be evident to the scientific student that the three propositions stated at the close of the preceding chapter apply with equal force to every system of mental medicine, from fetichism to the most exact and scientific system of suggestive thera- peutics. Like all the laws of nature, the law of mental medicine is universal in its application; and, like all the others, it is simple and easily compre- hended. Granted that there is an intelligence that controls the functions of the body in health, it fol- lows that it is the same power or energy that fails in case of disease. Failing, it requires assistance; and that is what all therapeutic agencies aim to ac- complish. No intelligent physician of any school claims to be able to do more than to " assist nature " to restore normal conditions of the body. That it is a mental energy that thus requires assistance, no one denies; for science teaches us that the whole body is made up of a confederation of intelligent entities, each of which performs its functions with an intel- ligence exactly adapted to the performance of its special duties as a member of the confederacy. There is, indeed, no life without mind, from the lowest uni- cellular organism up to man. It is, therefore, a men- tal energy that actuates every fibre of the body under all its conditions. That there is a central intelligence that controls each of those mind organisms, is self- evident. Whether, as the materialistic scientists in- sist, this central intelligence is merely the sum of all the cellular intelligences of the bodily organism, or is an independent entity, capable of sustaining a sep- arate existence after the body perishes, is a question that does not concern us in the pursuance of the pres- VAKIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING 33 ent inquiry. It is sufficient for us to know that such an intelligence exists, and that, for the time being, it is the controlling energy that normally regulates the action of the myriad cells of which the body is composed. It is, then, a mental organism that all therapeutic agencies are designed to energize, when, for any cause, it fails to perform its functions with reference to any part of the physical structure. It follows that mental therapeutic agencies are the primary and nor- mal means of energizing that mental organism. That is to say, mental agencies operate more directly than any other, because more intelligibly, upon a mental organism; although physical agencies are by no means excluded, for all experience shows that a mental organism responds to physical as well as to mental stimuli. All that can be reasonably claimed is that, in therapeutics, a mental stimulus is neces- sarily more direct and more positive in its effects, other things being equal, than a physical stimulus can be, for the simple reason that it is intelligent on the one hand and intelligible on the other. It must be remarked, however, that it is obviously impossible wholly to eliminate mental suggestion even in the ad- ministration of material remedies. Extremists claim that the whole effect of material remedies is due to the factor of mental suggestion; but this seems to be untenable, for reasons stated in another chapter. The most that can be claimed with any degree of certainty is that material remedies, when they are not in themselves positively injurious, are good and legitimate forms of suggestion, and, as such, are in- vested with a certain therapeutic potency, as in the 3 34 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE administration of the placebo. It is also certain that, whether the remedies are material or mental, they must, directly or indirectly, energize the mental organism in control of the bodily functions. Other- wise the therapeutic effects produced cannot be per- manent. It follows that the therapeutic value of all remedial agencies, material or mental, is propor- tioned to their respective powers to produce the effect of stimulating the subjective mind to a state of normal activity, and directing its energies into appropriate channels. We know that suggestion fills this requirement more directly and positively than any other known therapeutic agent; and this is all that needs to be done for the restoration of health in any case outside the domain of surgery. It is all that can be done. No power in the universe can do more than energize the mental organism that is the seat and source of health within the body. A miracle could do no more. This, then, is a law of mental healing. Is there any other? Each of the indefinite number of sects of mental healers now in evidence in this country tells us that it has a law of its own, which is the only genuine article, all the others being either feeble imitations or wholly fraudulent, wicked, and diabolical. They agree in but one thing, and that is in hating the medical profession; and they hate but one thing more than they do that profession, and that is each other. They have, however, a common logic, by means of which each one proves that his is the only scientific system of mental therapeutics. Each holds that the fact that he heals the sick by his method is demonstrative that his theory is the VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING 35 criterion of scientific truth. I have before remarked that the one thing that correlates all methods of mental healing is the fact that they all succeed in healing disease. If, therefore, their logic is sound, there are as many laws of mental medicine as there are mental healers ; and the " systems " of the Black- foot Indian and the fetich worshipper stand on as firm a scientific basis as the most enlightened mental therapeutist of the twentieth century. It requires but the most elementary scientific edu- cation to teach one to know that God is not thus prodigal of special laws. The first lesson that the merest tyro in science learns is that all of nature's laws are general, that each one covers a vast do- main, and that allied or cognate phenomena are gov- erned by some one universal law which tolerates no exceptions. In nothing is the wisdom of the Crea- tor so conspicuously manifested as in the universal- ity of his laws; and theology has never formulated a teleological argument so strong and convincing and unanswerable as that to be drawn from the law of mental medicine. For it not only shows the infinite wisdom of God, but it is demonstrative of his infin- ite love for all mankind, his infinite mercy, his infinite benevolence toward all sentient creatures. All the laws of nature may be said to exhibit infin- ite intelligence and wisdom; but they do not all demonstrate, to the finite understanding, the exist- ence of the attributes of love, mercy, and benevo- lence in the character of the Lawgiver. The law of organic evolution, for instance, involves an infinite prodigality of life, and the necessity for universal death, to say nothing of the apparently total disre- 36 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE gard of the lives and the comfort of all sentient creatures involved in the normal operation of the physical forces of nature. It requires the postula- tion of a design, a commensurate end in view, namely, the development of man, the evolution oi an immortal soul, to make the wisdom of the law of organic evolution manifest to the common under- standing. To those, however, who choose to deny the existence of any such evidences of design, the structure of the physical universe and the display of its physical forces prove nothing but the existence of a blind, unintelligent energy, actuated by an iron necessity, in which man figures as an accidental and altogether insignificant product. To be entirely candid, it must be admitted that when the physical forces of nature are alone considered, the atheistic view is not without a basis of reason. But when we consider in this connection the phenomena of mind, as exhibited in all sentient creatures, from the lowest unicellular organism up to man, the argument falls of its own weight. It is true that much in the phe- nomena of mind may be accounted for by reference to the law of heredity and the accidents of environ- ment, but not all. Heredity may be invoked to account for all that is thus transmissible, and en- vironment may account for modifications; but there are attributes of all sentient life which heredity can- not explain and which environment cannot modify. For instance, the immunity from fear of death on its near approach, or when it becomes inevitable, is a blessing that is enjoyed by all sentient creatures. And those physicians who are most familiar with death in all its forms assure us that in the process VARIOf/S SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING 37 of dissolution no pain whatever is experienced. On the contrary, the sensations are evidently pleasur- able rather than painful. At least, no matter what form death may assume, all fear of it vanishes upon its near approach, and the victim dies " without pain and without regret" (Hammond). Now, no one has ever been able to assign a bio- logical reason for this immunity. It stands apart from all other biological facts in that it appears to be valueless as a factor in the scheme of organic evolution, and yet it is as universal as sentient life itself. The fear of death is also universal; but it has its uses, which are obvious, as is the universal instinct of reproduction. Pain is also useful as a preservative of life, in that it stands as a sentinel to warn sentient creatures of imminent peril. But of what practical utility, from a biological point of view, is immunity from physical pain and mental agony, when the supreme moment arrives? It neither prolongs life nor shortens it for an instant, nor does it affect in the remotest degree the welfare of those that are left behind. Its only importance, therefore, pertains to the individual who experiences the sensation. Brief as it is, it is of supreme impor- tance to him. It is idle to say that a fact in nature so universal as this, is without commensurate significance; and since biological explanations fail we are driven to seek for ethical reasons. Nor are they hard to find if we postulate a God of infinite love, mercy, and be- nevolence toward his creatures, and yet a God whose reign is of law. The law of evolution necessitates a struggle for life, ending in inevitable death. With- 38 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE out the struggle there could be no improvement, no progressive development. Without universal death evolution would cease in a generation. Since, there- fore, all must die, is it not an appropriate measure of compensation or mitigation, to rob death of its terrors and its agony? It is, indeed, the only con- ceivable mitigation of the death penalty; and hu- man lawgivers in civilized countries exhaust the re- sources of science in an effort to devise means to insure a painless death for those whom the law has condemned to die. The quality of mercy thus evinced in human enactments is obviously identical in kind and purpose with the divine. It follows that the same logical conclusions are derivable from both, namely: A law that produces exclusively the results of mercy and benevolence, presupposes a law- giver who is endowed with intelligence and actuated by corresponding emotions. The pious Jacobi * once said in effect, " Nature conceals God; man reveals God." This is emi- nently true as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. If he had said that mind alone reveals God, he would have included all the indubitable revela- tions of the existence of an intelligent Deity that the universe affords; for the mind of the lowest unicellular organism presents evidence as conclusive of its divine origin as is found in the mind of man. 2 If he had said that God reveals himself unmistaka- bly to man only in the sign-language of love, mercy, and benevolence, he would have expressed a great scientific truth. 1 Quoted by Sir William Hamilton, Metaphysics, p. 29. 2 See " The Divine Pedigree of Man." VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING 39 Cognate to these phenomena, in their beneficent characteristics, are those of mental healing. One is for the benefit of the dying, and the other of the living. Considered separately, the phenomena of mental healing do not possess equal teleological significance with the phenomena immediately ac- companying dissolution, because the former may be considered merely as a part of the grand scheme by which life is conserved and evolution is made possible. Considered together, however, as all cog- nate phenomena must be considered, the evidential value of one series is carried over into the other. Hence we have a logical right to regard the quali- ties of mercy and benevolence, which are inseparable from the law of mental healing, as possessing equal teleological significance with the same qualities in the other class of phenomena. It is, however, no part of my purpose to formulate a teleological argument, per se, in this connection. I merely wish to draw attention to the grand scheme of benevolence to mankind involved in the law of mental healing. Whether we consider it a purposive scheme of benevolence on the part of an intelligent Deity, or as the accidental outcome of the operation of blind and unintelligent forces reacting upon each other, that is to say, whether we consider it as a law of God or a law of nature, the law exists ; and its effects are those of infinite mercy and benevolence toward all mankind. The laws of physical nature excite emotions of admiration and awe, and even reverence ; but they are tempered by the reflection that in their phenomenal manifestations they regard not the well- being or the life of man, and that the most sublime 40 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE manifestation of nature's forces may be surcharged with irresistible ruin and death to thousands of hu- man beings. On the other hand, the law of mental healing stimulates equally the emotions of admira- tion, reverence, love, and gratitude, admiration and reverence for its universality and its wisdom; love, for that behind it the Divine Father stands re- vealed; and gratitude, for that, in all its effects, his infinite love, mercy, and benevolence are made manifest. From a scientific point of view there is nothing in the broad realm of natural law that is more truly wonderful than the law of mental healing. Its simplicity has already been shown; and this alone is prima facie evidence of the validity of the three psychological propositions which constitute its formula. And, as in every other law of nature, this prima facie evidence becomes conclusive proof when the fact of universality is established. It is the fact of the universality of this law that ex- cites the wonder and extorts the admiration of the scientist, for the reason that it is adapted to every conceivable grade of human intelligence, from that of primitive savagery to that of the highest conceiv- able civilization. It is impossible to find words in which to express adequately the value to mankind of this stupendous fact. We may faintly realize it, how- ever, when we reflect that for untold ages sugges- tion was the only therapeutic agency available to man. Medicine, if we date its advent from Hip- pocrates, " the father of medicine," who flourished about 400 B. c., is a modern institution when com- pared with that long line of healers who wrought VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENJ^AL HEALING 41 their therapeutic wonders by the aid of suggestion in its myriad forms. It would require many volumes of the size of this to catalogue the different methods of mental healing, ancient and modern, and point out how suggestion operates to effect a cure in each particular case. Nor is it necessary to do so; for the intelligent reader has already grasped the central idea that any form of belief which inspires the faith of the patient, when supplemented by a corresponding therapeutic sug- gestion, is efficacious as a therapeutic agency. In other words, conditions being favorable, anything that the patient has faith in is efficacious as a therapeutic agent. Thus, the fetich worshipper, who believes that a stick or a stone is inhabited by a powerful and beneficent spirit whose aid can be in- voked by certain ceremonies, may, by the perform- ance of the prescribed rites, be restored to health. Why? Simply because the ceremony constitutes a suggestion which inspires the faith and stimulates into normal activity and energy that central intelli- gence which controls the bodily functions. The North American Indian believes that evil spirits are responsible for all his diseases; and his medi- cine man tells him that he can frighten away said evil spirits by making hideous noises, supplemented by a diabolical make-up. He prepares himself ac- cordingly, and seating himself before the wigwam door, in full view of the patient, proceeds to make things unpleasant for all concerned, and positively unendurable for the evil spirit. The latter generally flees in the course of a day or two, leaving the patient to recover. I have authentic information 42 THE LA W OF MENTAL MEDICINE from educated Indians, who assure me that, for " the poor Indian, whose untutored mind sees God in clouds or hears him in the wind," this method of healing is generally more effective than are the material remedies of the educated physician. It is scarcely necessary to remark that the suggestion embraced in his belief as to the cause of disease, together with the performance of the ceremony which he believed to be an effective way of re- moving the cause, was the all-sufficient therapeutic agency in the case of the North American Indian. It is obvious that the same remarks apply to all conceivable theories of causation and all forms of suggestion corresponding to the theories. They are all effective in exact proportion to their faith-inspir- ing potency. It is not surprising, therefore, that in the days of primitive humanity, when superstition was universal, there prevailed an indefinite number of effective methods of mental healing. Nor does it become the scientists of this enlight- ened age to scoff at the primitive beliefs and prac- tices of humanity in its infancy. It was the only therapeutic agency that was available to them; and if they builded better than they knew, it was be- cause God, in his infinite mercy, had instituted a law adapted to the therapeutic uses of every grade of human intelligence. It is equally reprehensible for us to inveigh against any of the innumerable systems of mental healing that prevail amidst the highest civilization of the twentieth century. They are all useful, and they are useful simply because each one is adapted to some special grade of intel- ligence. Besides, it must not be forgotten that VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING 43 primitive minds, with corresponding methods of thought and powers of reasoning, still exist in vast numbers in this as in all previous ages of mankind. It is, indeed, doubtful if primitive man ever en- tertained a superstitious belief that was more gross and grotesque than some that prevail at the present day and form the basis of popular and successful systems of mental therapeutics. Between the gross- est superstition and scientific truth there necessarily exist many gradations of human intelligence; and the fact that all grades exist together in the most civilized nations is due to the fact that civilization itself is still in the formative stage. As the phylo- genetic history of the primordial germ is repeated, step by step, in the ontogenetic history of the germi- nal cell of man, so is every grade of the progressive development of civilization to be found existing to- gether in the most enlightened nations. It follows that variant theories and systems of mental healing are as likely to prevail now as they were in the days of primitive man. Accordingly we find a great and constantly increasing number of systems, each with an enthusiastic following. This could not be true were it not for the fact that they are all more or less successful mental healers. They could not be successful mental healers were they not able to induce the necessary mental conditions in their patients; and they could not induce the necessary conditions with any certainty of uniform results, were their systems, respectively, not adapted to the mental capacity of their followers. That is to say, the theory of causation and the form of suggestion in each case must, in order to produce the best re- 44 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE suits, appeal to the beliefs, the habits of thought, or the prejudices of the patient; which is but another way of saying, what has already been dwelt upon, that suggestions are most effective when acting upon lines of least resistance. It is true that the faith required for therapeutic purposes is the faith of the subjective mind; and, as that mind is controllable by the power of sug- gestion, it may be thus controlled even when the basic theory of causation is contrary to reason, ex- perience, and the evidence of the senses. But in such cases some emotion that is stronger in the mind of the patient than the mere love of scientific truth must be appealed to in order to make a thera- peutic suggestion effective. Thus, a strong desire or hope of renewed health will cause many to ignore all theories which may be entertained by the healer, however imbecile they may be; and by dissociating the therapeutic suggestion from the theory of causa- tion, they will be able to experience the benefits of the suggestion. This is comparatively easy for one who has had no scientific training, or in whom the love of scientific truth is subordinate to the egoistic emotions. The religious emotions are also potent factors in causing many to ignore an impossible theory, or even to believe it with hysterical fer- vency, when they are told that the theory is insep- arable from successful practice. Besides, there is a large class of people in every community the fervency of whose belief in theories that minister to their emotions is always in inverse proportion to the amount of evidence that can be adduced to sustain them. Hence it happens that VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING 45 those theories which command their most fervent belief, and are advocated with hysterical aggressive- ness, are invariably those which everybody knows to be untrue. Nevertheless, their system is exactly adapted to their mental capacity; and, speaking from a purely therapeutical standpoint, they are entitled to the undisturbed enjoyment of their beliefs and the bene- fits derivable therefrom. The law of mental heal- ing is as clearly for their benefit as it is for all other classes of people and grades of human intelligence. There is, indeed, a therapeutic value to them in being undisturbed in their beliefs; for experience shows that the efficacy of a therapeutic suggestion is weakened, and often destroyed, by disturbing the prejudices of the patient. Thus, it often happens that after a cure has been effected, the patient will totally relapse upon learning that the healer believes something against which the patient entertains a prejudice, or disbelieves in something which the patient believes, although the belief or the disbelief may not have the remotest connection with mental healing. This is especially true of religious beliefs and prejudices. Hence it was that the Master al- ways carefully avoided disturbing the religious prej- udices or beliefs of his patients. It is, therefore, worse than useless, from a thera- peutic point of view, to attempt to educate one of the classes referred to in the true science of mental therapeutics. As a rule, they have never been trained in scientific methods of investigation or in habits of clear thinking; and a palpable fact is considered by them as utterly valueless when it conflicts with some 46 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE fantastical theory that ministers to their emotions. Besides, those who have sought to make a religion of mental healing are doing a good work; for, be- sides healing the sick, they have poured the balm of religious consolation into many a stricken heart, and made better men and women of many who were unable to assimilate any other form of religion. This is but another way of saying that their religion is adapted to the needs and capacity of those who can assimilate it. I have said that mental healing is not a religion, and for that statement I have the authority of the Master; but that is not saying that true religion is not a powerful auxiliary to mental healing. All experience shows that it is; for it is not only a wonderfully efficacious form of sugges- tion, but it promotes that calm serenity of mind which is of the first importance in all systems of mental medicine. Prayer is also wonderfully effec- tive, for more reasons than one; but this subject cannot be discussed here. But, while mental healing is in no sense a religion, it is impossible for any right-minded person to re- flect upon the law of mental healing, its universality, its adaptability to all grades of human intelligence, together with its implications of divine love, mercy, and benevolence, without a feeling of the profound- est reverence for the Being whose wisdom and fatherhood is thus unmistakably manifested. It teaches humility, promotes religion, inspires grati- tude, and disarms prejudice against any form or process by which the law is made available for the alleviation of human suffering. , It must not be inferred from the foregoing that VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALING 47 all systems of mental healing are of equal value to mankind, for that would be equivalent to alleging that error and superstition are as potent for good as scientific truth. God has not thus equalized the value of truth and falsehood, or good and evil, for any purpose whatever. In primitive times, when all systems were based upon error, they may have been equally valuable as instruments of God's mercy to his children during the infancy of the human race, when truth was not available to any. But in an enlightened age, when many are seeking for truth with strenuous effort, and some are even find- ing it, the whole aspect is changed; for when once a fundamental truth is discovered, in any science, or in any field of human thought, all systems based upon error must eventually yield, however useful they may have been in their day and generation. Nothing is permanent but truth. Error loses its vitality in the sunlight of truth; and hence no human institution that is based upon a fundamental error can permanently endure in the presence of a fundamental truth. Wrong systems may endure for ages when sustained by interest or prejudice; but their incidental good effects become less and less in evidence, and finally vanish. This is especially true in the domain of mind, where everything depends upon mental attitudes and conditions. I have already shown how the effects of a valid therapeutic suggestion may be vitiated by the emo- tional prejudices of the patient. It is obvious that the same effect is likely to happen when a patient has been healed by a false system and afterwards learns that the system is based upon a fundamental 4 8 error. Action and reaction are always equal. Hence, when a lover of truth reacts against a false system, the violence of the reaction is proportioned to the grotesque imbecility of the system. He simply loses faith in the false system when he learns the truth; and the effects are retroactive. It is obvious that there can be no such reaction against a system founded upon scientific truth. Reaction against an inductive science is impossible, for truth is eternal. Every step, therefore, is in advance; for every fresh discovery of fundamental truth forms the basis of a new departure into still higher realms of the same truth and its cognates. The reaction is, therefore, always against error when truth is once discovered and made manifest to the human understanding. There is, however, another reason for the want of permanency in the cures effected under false theories of causation. All, or nearly all, of them refer the power that effects the healing to some agency extra- neous to the patient himself. This, as I have already pointed out, is a fundamental error which Jesus com- bated with insistent iteration. It is not only false as a matter of demonstrable fact, but it is the pro- genitor of a whole train of false theories and con- clusions, some of which contain the germs of a destructive energy that is often fatal to the perma- nency of the cures effected under the hypothesis. The reason is that when a patient is once convinced that an extraneous power has interposed to effect his cure, he feels that he is in some way dependent upon that power for the future preservation of his health. He feels himself to be a helpless dependent upon the favor of some extraneous intelligence of VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF MENTAL HEALIXG 49 which he knows nothing, except that its aid was once invoked in his behalf by some third person, namely, the healer. The result is that when the personality of the healer is removed, the patient be- gins to entertain doubts as to whether he may expect a continuance of the favor. Soon his doubts deepen into convictions, and when the expected unfavorable symptoms are felt, his convictions become certain- ties, and he feels that for some inscrutable reason he has forfeited the good-will of the healing agency. The result is a relapse. In one form or another this adverse factor is ever present with him who heeds not the words of the Master, but pins his faith upon some hypothetical healing power extraneous to him- self, and whose favor he cannot command. All this is, of course, in violent contrast to the true science of mental healing as it has been de- duced from the immutable laws of nature recently discovered by modern scientists. Of the existence of those laws there can be no room for rational doubt. They have been demonstrated by thousands of the most careful scientific experiments by the ablest living psychologists. Their universal applica- bility to the phenomena of mental healing has also been demonstrated by careful observation and ex- perimentation. That is to say, the existence of those psychological laws affords a scientific expla- nation of all the phenomena of mental healing. It shows why each and all methods are successful in the production of therapeutic results. The fact remains that there can be but one cor- rect method or, to say the least, but one best method of applying the law to the uses of mental 4 50 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE medicine. That method must necessarily be the one which is based upon demonstrable scientific truth ; the method which eliminates all taint of fraud, falsehood, and superstition; the method which ap- peals to the reason of both healer and patient. The faith of the patient being the primary mental con- dition sought, it is obviously more easily attained by an appeal to reason than to blind credulity. The effects are more permanent because there can never be a reaction against it caused by a discovery of fraud, deception, or a false suggestion. It is also more permanent because the science teaches man what he is. It reveals his inherent powers and points out his limitations. Most important of all in this connection is the fact that, in revealing man to himself, it teaches him that he can control the energy within himself which, in turn, controls his vital functions. These remarks apply, of course, only to those who love truth better than falsehood or error, and who are mentally capable of exercising the discrimina- tive power of induction; and they are not addressed to any other class of minds. THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM 51 CHAPTER IV THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM Faith can be acquired by Study and Reasoning. Thus acquired, it is perfect and permanent. It is essential that the Healer be grounded in the Fundamental Principles of his Science. The Phenomena of Dreams point to the Theory of the Dual Mind. The Operations of the Dream Intelligence essentially different from those of Waking Consciousness. The Subjective, or Dream Intelligence incapable of Inductive Reasoning, and controlled by Suggestion. Rapidity of Subjective Mentation. Hypnotism a Means by which Dreams can be induced, controlled, and experi- mented with. It is the Instrument for the Investigation of the Problems of Psychology. It has found in Man a Soul, and re- yealed the Evidence of its Divine Origin. It has segregated the Phenomena of the Objective and Subjective Minds, and shown the Distinctive Powers and Limitations of Each. HAVING now stated in general outline the fundamental principles of mental medicine, and shown the universality of the law of nature under which is made possible the healing of the nations, it remains to deal more in detail with the fundamental propositions which constitute the basis of scientific mental healing. This becomes neces- sary for the reason that success in mental healing by scientific methods is best promoted by first ac- quiring a clear understanding of the law under which the healing is effected. In other words, sci- entific methods require scientific knowledge for their successful application. It is scarcely necessary to 52 observe that this is in violent contrast to the con- ditions required for success in mental healing by the unscientific methods to which we have alluded in the preceding chapter. Obviously a knowledge of science, or a capacity to reason, would handicap a healer who practises by methods involving an un- scientific theory of causation, especially one that in- v volves the insensate denial of every fact of human experience. Nevertheless, faith is as essential to success in healing by scientific methods as by any other. But there are three advantages in this regard which are incident to scientific methods. The first is that the requisite faith can be acquired by study and reasoning; the second is that the faith is perfect, for the reason that it is acquired through knowledge and confirmed by reason; and the third is that the faith thus acquired and sanctioned becomes at once a permanent possession, because there can arise no ad- verse auto-suggestions from the objective mind to weaken its potency. It becomes, therefore, a matter of the first impor- tance for the healer to be well grounded in the fundamental principles underlying the science which he proposes to utilize; for he should be able to in- struct his patients in its fundamentals, to the end that he may be filled with the same kind and quality of faith that the healer possesses, the faith born of knowledge of the law, and not of blind credulity. Otherwise he would enjoy no advantage not pos- sessed by the fetich worshipper. I shall, therefore, dwell at some length upon the evidence demonstrative of the truth of each of the THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM 53 terms of our hypothesis, and incidentally upon some of the practical uses of the law in affairs of every- day life. First, then, of the duplex mental organism. Every one who has had a dream has in some measure realized the duplex character of his own mind. He knows that the brain is the organ of the mind of ordinary waking consciousness; but he knows that in sleep the brain is quiescent, that, in fact, sleep is the condition in which that organ rests and recuperates. Yet he realizes that during that period of brain rest there is a mental energy in evi- dence that seems to act independently of the mind with whose normal operations he is acquainted. He can sometimes trace a connection between his wak- ing thoughts and his dreams; but he frequently realizes that the latter correspond to no possible human experience. At other times he becomes con- scious of the presence of a mental energy which far transcends that of his normal experience or capac- ity, a mind which can solve mathematical problems that are beyond the compass of his normal powers. Again he becomes conscious that his dream intelli- gence is filled with the most sublime thoughts and is capable of clothing them in the most beautiful and appropriate language, language that is far beyond his normal linguistic powers, thoughts which were strangers to his normal consciousness. Sometimes the key to the most profound secrets of nature are thus revealed to him, and are thus made available for normal uses and practical exploitation. Again, dreams often reveal an apparent independence, on the part of the dream intelligence, of the space and 54 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE time limitations with which one is normally ac- quainted. Thus, it is not uncommon for one to become aware, by means of dreams, of what is hap- pening to his near relatives and friends who are thousands of miles distant, with no possible means of communication between them through sensory channels. He thus becomes aware that his dream intelligence possesses powers and facilities for re- ceiving and cognizing intelligence from others not possessed by his normal intelligence. These facts alone seem to point to the theory of duality as a rational solution of the phenomena. But when we consider the limitations of the dream intelligence, we find still stronger evidence to the same effect. Thus, we find that it is constantly amenable to control by suggestion. This, too, is within the range of every one's experience. Every- body is aware that the dream intelligence never realizes the incongruity of the most ridiculously im- possible dream situations. No fact of human ex- perience weighs one hair against the suggestions arising from the sensations caused by an overloaded stomach. Reason abdicates her throne in the pres- ence of the vision of one's grandmother sporting seven heads and ten horns, and mounted upon a fiery and untamed saw-horse. The dreamer is neither surprised at the conduct of his grandmother nor at the character of her mount, and he never sus- pects that she is possessed of more than a normal number of heads and horns. It is obvious, therefore, that the dream intelli- gence is devoid of the power of inductive reason- ing, which is but another way of saying that it is THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM 55 controlled by suggestion. And this we find it to be to a very remarkable degree. Thus, in a case cited by Abercrombie, 1 a bottle of hot water at the feet of the dreamer caused him to dream of walk- ing on the warm ground near the crater of Mount ./Etna. Another, whose bed-clothes were acciden- tally thrown off during the night in a cold room, dreamed of spending the winter at Hudson's Bay, and of suffering much from the intense frost. 2 It is needless, however, to multiply cases, as few are exempt from such experiences. These phenomena can be accounted for on no other rational hypothesis than that of duality of mind. Two states of consciousness are certainly in evidence; and the phenomena are radically differ- ent, each from the other. So radical, indeed, are the differences, in both powers and limitations, be- tween the waking and the dream intelligences, that we are justified in assuming, for the purposes of a working hypothesis, that there are two separable, and therefore distinct, intelligences in man's mental organism. That there is a nexus between the two that enables them to act in perfect synchronism when occasion requires, is necessarily true. It is to this synchronism of action that we are indebted for what is designated as " genius." It is also in evidence on occasions of great importance to the individual, as when danger is imminent, or some great crisis is impending. 3 1 Intellectual Powers, p. 216. 2 Op. cit., p. 216. 8 For a full discussion of these subjects, see " The Law of Psychic Phenomena." $6 THE LA W OF MENTAL MEDICINE There are other phenomena of dreams of great evidential importance, though less distinctly pointing to duality. The one about to be mentioned exhib- its powers of inconceivably rapid mentation pos- sessed by the dream intelligence. Dreams that are induced by percussive sounds, more frequently than any others, display this phenomenon in perfection. Thus, Professor Carpenter, of Boston, relates the following illustrative experience: The professor was at the house of a friend, and slept in a bedroom the door of which opened outward into the hall. It stood open during the night; and in the morn- ing some one opened a window at the end of the hall, letting in a draught of air that shut the pro- fessor's door with great violence. He instantly awoke, so quickly, in fact, that when fully awake he realized the cause of the concussion. In the meantime, however, he dreamed a dream the events of which would have required nearly a year of time in the happening. It was during the prog- ress of the late civil war, and at a time when con- scription was the order of the day. He dreamed that the dreaded order came, and his name was on the list. He tried to get it removed, but an exami- nation demonstrated his eligibility; and when the drawing came off, his name, like Abou Ben Adhem's, " led all the rest." He then set to work to hire a substitute. But the fates were against him. When he could get a man, he could not raise the money; and when at last he raised the money, he could not find an eligible man. Finally, he was hustled into a uniform that did not fit, and was then transported to the State rendezvous, where he spent three miser- THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM 57 able months in drilling in the awkward squad. At the end of that time his regiment was ordered to Washington, where another three months was spent in acquiring a military education. He was then ordered to the front, where he was forced to endure the hardships of camp life for an indefinite period. In the midst of his monotonous misery he suddenly became aware that he was in the hottest part of a great battle. He was awakened to the realization of the situation by the sudden firing of a cannon, or the bursting of a shell, in his immediate vicinity. It was the slamming of the door that awoke him at once to a realization of his objective and his sub- jective surroundings. Abercrombie 1 relates a similar case that hap- pened in Edinburgh at a period when there was an alarm of French invasion, and almost every man in the city was a soldier. All things had been ar- ranged in expectation of the landing of an enemy; the first notice of which was to be given by a gun from the castle. The gentleman to whom the dream occurred, and who had been a most zealous volun- teer, was in bed between two and three o'clock in the morning, when he dreamed of hearing the signal gun. He was immediately at the castle, witnessed the proceedings for displaying the signals that had been planned for arousing the whole surrounding country, and saw and heard a great bustle over the town from troops and artillery assembling, espe- cially in Princes Street. At this time he was roused by his wife, who awoke in a fright caused by a similar dream, connected with much noise and the 1 Op. cit., p. 217. 58 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE ~ landing of an enemy. The origin of this remark- able concurrence was ascertained, in the morning, to be the noise produced by the fall of a pair of tongs upon the floor above. 1 Many similar cases are related by the old psy- chologists, some of the dreams involving years of dream-time. The salient features of this class of dreams, to which attention is invited, are, first, that the sound that awakens the sleeper is identical with the sound that forms the culminating feature of the dream. This, of course, involves the apparent para- dox that the dream commenced after it ended. The paradoxical character of the proposition is, how- 1 The first question that will naturally be asked by the psychical researcher will be : Were these concurrent dreams the result of telepathy ? The answer is : Possibly, but not necessarily. It is not even probable, for the reason that both were anticipating the signal gun, and the noise that caused the dreams was the same. Identical causes will always produce like effects, but not necessarily identical in detail ; and it is not alleged that the two dreams were identical in detail. In order to make a case for dream telepathy there should be no common cause, antecedent or immediate. An illustrative case came within the writer's experience. The salient feature of his dream was that he saw a white-faced ox passing through a narrow lane and entering an enclosure. The dream was very vivid, but was totally void of significance, for he was not in the habit of thinking of cattle, much less of possessing any interest in them, and had not consciously had them in his mind for years. Judge of his surprise when his wife related a dream the next morning in which a white-faced ox, passing through a narrow lane and entering an enclosure, was the salient fea- ture. There was absolutely no assignable cause, near or remote, for either dream ; and yet they were both dreamed the same night ; and a comparison of recollections revealed the fact that the dreams were identical, not only as to the central figure, but as to its environmental details. The triviality of the subject-matter adds to its evidential value, for it is thus removed as far as possible from causes involving antici- pations, habits of thought, emotional excitation, or waking thoughts immediately antecedent. ; THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM 59 ever, at once removed when we consider the pecul- iar powers and limitations of the dream intelligence, or subjective mind. As I have already pointed out, its powers of induction are nil; but its power of correct, logical deduction from suggested premises is potentially perfect. It is obvious that both sug- gestion and subsequent deduction are involved in this class of dreams. The sound constitutes the suggestion that a gun has been fired ; and from this accepted objective fact are deduced, in their order, all its antecedent causes, near and remote; the dreamer's habits of thought in reference to guns serving to give the trend to the deductions. Thus, the sound of a cannon suggested a great battle, which was immediately in evidence. A battle sug- gested a state of war and incidental camp life, with its accompanying hardships. Camp life suggested antecedent drilling, from which, in turn, were de- duced the rendezvous at the National Capital, the State rendezvous, the uniform, the conscription, the efforts to avoid it, the draft, etc., back to the be- ginning of the story. It follows that such dreams run backward; and that they are, therefore, nothing but a series of deductions from a series of sug- gested premises, beginning with the peripheral stim- ulus (auditory) which set the train in motion. It is, indeed, questionable if all dreams are not made up of series of deductions backward from the causal stimulus. The latter necessarily precedes the dream, as when the removal of the bed-clothes on a cold night causes a dream of a whole winter spent in an arctic climate. Be this as it may, it is evident that when the stimulus lasts but an instant, and begins 60 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE where the dream story ends, the latter must neces- sarily consist of a series of deductions as stated. The point, however, to which especial attention is invited is the inconceivable rapidity of mentation involved in dreaming a year-long dream, including an indefinite number of details, within an infinitesi- mal space of time. Thus, the time elapsing between the slamming of Professor Carpenter's door and his awakening to normal consciousness is inappreciable to the objective mind. Yet the dream, with all its details, was conceived within that point of time and strongly impressed upon the mind of waking con- sciousness. It is obvious that when the two ends of a dream are so close together in point of time, the objective mind, handicapped by its time and space limitations, could not possibly know at which end it commenced. Naturally, it interprets it in terms of its own experience, just as the mind sees objects right side up, although the images cast upon the retina of the eye are always inverted. These wonderful powers thus found to exist in- herent in the dream intelligence, together with its equally wonderful limitations, are in such marked contrast with those of normal consciousness that they constitute still further proofs of duality of mind. In fact, a complete analysis of the various classes of the phenomena of dreams would reveal ample evidence of duality, even without the aid of experimental hypnotism. With that aid it is easy to demonstrate the fact that for all practical pur- poses it is a safe hypothesis. Hypnotism, for pres- ent purposes, may be considered as a means of stimulating the activity of the dream intelligence, or THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM 6l subjective mind, testing its powers and ascertain- ing its limitations. In other words, hypnotism is a means by which dreams can be induced, controlled, and experimented with. It is to the human soul what the scalpel is to the human body. It is the instrument by which the soul can be dissected and its mysteries explored for the benefit of science. As the scalpel in unskilled hands may be made an in- strument of destruction, so may hypnotism in the hands of ignorance or charlatanism be made the instrument of untold evil to both body and soul. In the hands of the skilled and conscientious scien- tist hypnotism may be, and has been, the instrument of scientific investigation of the problems of the human soul. It has rescued psychology from the domain of speculative philosophy and made it an experimental, inductive science. It has invaded the realms of superstition and destroyed the food upon which it has battened throughout all the ages of man- kind. It has done this by revealing man to himself. It found in man a living soul. It segregated it from its objective environment, mental and physical, and analyzed its powers and revealed its limitations ; and, paradoxical as it may seem, it found, in both its powers and its seeming limitations, indubitable evi- dence of its divine origin 1 and of its immortality. 2 All this it did and much more by the simple process of inducing in the subject a profound sleep, and then proceeding to experiment with that won- derful intelligence which, as we have seen, is most familiarly manifested to us in our dreams. Duality 1 See " The Divine Pedigree of Man." a See " A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life." 62 was thus demonstrated by proving that the highest distinctive powers of each mind were manifested only when the powers of the other were inhibited. Besides, the fact that they are segregable at all is sufficient evidence of duality, to say nothing of the distinctive powers and limitations of each. It is, in fact, only by means of these distinctive powers that we are enabled to know that they are segre- gable, or when segregation has been accomplished. That is to say, were it not for the distinctive powers, one mind or state of consciousness would be a mere duplication of the other, differing, perhaps, in de- grees of power, but not in kind. In that case the trance condition, spontaneous or induced, would be a mere exaltation of the objective powers, a hyperesthesia of the physical senses. Braid, in- deed, attempted to show that the phenomena of mind-reading could all be thus accounted for. But later as well as earlier experimentation demonstrated the contrary, and not only firmly established telepa- thy upon a scientific basis, but definitely located the power in the subjective mind. This wonderful power, together with others not necessary to enumerate in this connection, served to differentiate the two minds or states of conscious- ness so clearly that duality became a hypothetical necessity. And what is true of the distinctive powers of the subjective mind may be repeated with multi- plied emphasis with reference to its limitations. Of these, the one which particularly interests the stu- dent of mental therapeutics is its constant amena- bility to control by the subtle power of suggestion. This subject, however, must be reserved for treat- THE DUPLEX MENTAL ORGANISM 63 ment in subsequent chapters. It is sufficient for present purposes to note the fact that suggestibility, in the psychic sense, is a limitation pertaining ex- clusively to the subjective mind. The objective mind is hedged about by no such limitation, nor by anything remotely akin to it. It is mentioned here merely as one of the psychological discoveries of experimental hypnotism which swell the volume of evidence for duality of mind. It is entirely safe to say that not one fact has yet been brought to light, by the psychological experts of this or any other age, that disproves, or tends to disprove, the fundamental fact of the dual charac- ter of man's mental organism. It is equally safe to aver that there is not one fact or phenomenon within the whole range of the physical sciences that dis- proves, or tends to disprove, the fact of duality. In one of my former works 1 I collated a series of facts showing that experimental surgery had demonstrated the fact of duality. In another work 2 I brought the undisputed and indisputable facts of organic evolu- tion to bear upon the same subject with the same result. The discussion cannot be repeated here for obvious reasons. I can only say, in conclusion of this branch of the subject, that if the facts of psy- chology proper fail to convince, the facts of the physical sciences demonstrate the essential truth of my first proposition, that man is endowed with a dual mind, objective and subjective. 1 See " A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life," chap. xv. a See " The Divine Pedigree of Man," part i., " Evolution and Psychology." CHAPTER V THE LAW OF SUGGESTION (HISTORICAL) A Law must be formulated in Terms indicating Universality before it can be made available for Scientific Purposes. Antagonism of Conservative Science. Opposition to Newton's Discovery. The Laws of Duality of Mind and of Suggestion dimly perceived for] Ages. The two Laws Necessary Concomitants of each other. The Recognition of their Relation a Prerequisite of their Formu- lation. Jesus the First to promulgate the Law of Mental Healing. His Declaration of the Therapeutic Potency of Faith confirmed by Modern Science. Braid's Experiments in Hypnotism. Lie- bault's Discovery of the Law of Suggestion. This Law incomplete without the Law of Dual Mind. The Importance of the Law of Suggestion outside the Field of Therapeutics. IT is axiomatic that nature's laws are of compar- atively little use to science, as means for the advancement of human knowledge, until they have been formulated. Formulation presupposes gener- alization, and generalization presumes universality. This presumption, however, is subject always to further investigation and to consequent disproof, and it is disproved when an exceptional case is dis- covered; for nature's laws are immutable and admit of no exceptions. If, therefore, it is found not to be universal, it is not a law, and all conclu- sions based upon it must be revised. Nevertheless, a universal law must be formulated in terms indi- cating universality before it can be made generally 65 available for scientific or practical uses. It may have been floating around loosely in human con- sciousness for ages, and it may have been found useful in specific cases by an indefinite number of individuals, and those individuals may each have formulated a law applicable to his own field of re- search; yet it is not universally available until some one collates the different classes of cases, and crys- tallizes the thought involved into a concrete form of human expression indicative of universality. When this is once accomplished, however, such is the " conservatism of science," or the perversity of human nature, the discovery is generally des- tined to encounter three successive stages of oppo- sition. First, it is met by a universal shout of derision. When that fails to disprove it, as it some- times does, everybody claims it as his own. When that is disproved, as it sometimes is, each claimant proceeds to cover himself with the dust of old libra- ries in an effort to prove that it was always known. Newton was not exempt from the usual course of opposition. His discovery was derided in scientific circles; he was encountered by rival claimants; vol- umes have been written to prove that there is no such force as the attraction of gravitation, and still others to prove that Newton did not discover " gravity," the proof being that the term had been in common use long before Newton was born. Nevertheless, no one has yet succeeded in robbing Newton of the credit of the discovery that the force which the world has consented to designate as " gravitation " acts with an energy proportioned directly as to the mass and inversely as to the square 5 66 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE of the distance; and that the formula is as appli- cable to the apple which falls to the earth as it is to the movements of the planets. Nor is the lustre of his name dimmed in the slightest degree by the fact that his discovery was made possible only by Kepler's previous discovery of the laws of the plane- tary orbits; nor by the fact that the success of his work finally depended upon Picard's correction of the old measurement of a degree of the earth's sur- face. All great discoveries are necessarily the re- sultants of all previous subsidiary discoveries. The laws of duality and suggestion furnish strik- ing examples of laws dimly perceived for ages, used by many, discovered in subsidiary sections, so to speak, and finally formulated as a universal law, and thus rendered available for the uses of all mankind. The great factor in the retardation of the final establishment of the two laws consisted in the fact that they are the necessary concomitants of each other. That is to say, suggestion is necessary to duality, and duality is indispensable to suggestion. In other words, a clear conception of the law of suggestion, as it manifested itself in its protean as- pects, was impossible in the absence of the theory of duality; and, on the other hand, duality was in- conceivable in the absence of some salient point of differentiation between the hypothetical two minds or states of consciousness ; and suggestion furnished a point of differentiation so clear and unmistakable that duality became a logical as well as a psycho- logical necessity. Necessarily, until this concomitant interrelation of the two laws was clearly perceived, and they were formulated together as necessary parts THE LAW OF SUGGESTION 67 of a psychological whole, the prevailing ideas on the subject were chaotic to the last degree. Thus, the theory of duality has been dimly float- ing around in the minds of various philosophers, from the time when Greek philosophy ruled the in- tellectual world until the present age, without seri- ously affecting the trend of psychological thought. The phenomena indicating it were, of course, the same as they are now, and the theory was often tentatively advanced. But religious thought was apparently hostile to it, and the arguments of the Church were at the time considered unanswerable. Thus, John Locke, 1 in discussing the phenomena of dreams, puts into the mouth of an opponent, real or imaginary, the following paragraph, which is now known to be substantially true. " Perhaps it will be said," says Locke, " that in a waking man the materials of the body are em- ployed, and made use of, in thinking; and that the memory of thoughts is retained by the impressions that are made on the brain, and the traces there left after such thinking; but that in the thinking of the soul, which is not perceived in a sleeping man, there the soul thinks apart, and making no use of the organs of the body, leaves no impression on it, and consequently no memory of such thoughts." This position Mr. Locke strenuously repudiates, declares it absurd, and proceeds with an argument against it which, in turn, cannot now be character- ized by any milder term than that which he applied to the dual hypothesis. 1 Human Understanding, vol. i. book ii. chap. i. p. 86, ed. 1884, London. 68 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE The history of the dual hypothesis, however, is of little interest or scientific importance compared with that of the slow development of the idea which culmi- nated in the formulation of the law of suggestion. As I pointed out in the first chapter, Jesus of Nazareth was the first to give authoritative utter- ance to that divine law of mental healing which it has taken science nineteen hundred years to redis- cover. Jesus was not a scientist, in the modern sense of the word, and he did not attempt to teach his followers by the employment of scientific terms. He simply told them the truth in language that they could comprehend; and when he stated to them that " faith " was the mental attitude essential to success- ful mental healing, he epitomized in that one word the whole law of therapeutic suggestion. What is the essence of the law of suggestion? It certainly does not consist of a formula built up of words. Words are merely the vehicle of expression by which one may be made to comprehend the law. What, then, is the central idea embraced in the law of sug- gestion? It is simply that a certain belief, to wit, a belief in the efficacy of the particular therapeutic agency at hand, has a therapeutic potency. This is all that can be expressed in any form of words ; and the word " faith," as Jesus employed it, conveyed the central idea so clearly that no one has ever mis- taken its exact meaning. Jesus expressed the same idea in different words when speaking of prayer: "Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, fygUfiYg that ye have received them, and ye shall have them." l i Mark xi. 24 (R. V.). THE LAW OF SUGGESTION 69 Obviously this passage cannot be construed as referring to material benefits, for that would de- grade it into a manifest absurdity; and the Master never uttered absurdities. Every word of his was pregnant with significance, and this passage is espe- cially charged therewith. Let us analyze it. It is self-evident, in the first place, that the blessings referred to as conditionally awaiting the suppliant must be either spiritual or therapeutic blessings, or both. They are certainly such as reach the suppliant through the mind; for their realiza- tion is distinctly conditioned upon a certain definite mental attitude on the part of the suppliant. That condition is simply belief, otherwise, faith. The passage, therefore, is simply another way of reiter- ating his doctrine that faith is the one essential con- dition precedent to the realization of benefits that reach the individual through the mind. It is an- other way of saying that " the prayer of faith shall be answered." Moreover, it distinctly excludes the idea that material benefits, such as houses, lands, or money, may thus be attained through prayer; for, obviously, no attitude of mind is capable, per se, of producing a house and lot or a herd of cattle. It also excludes the idea of special, miraculous in- tervention in answer to prayer; for the conditions pertain exclusively to the mental attitude of the sup- pliant. But it does not exclude the implication that prayer is an effective therapeutic agent. It must suffice to note the fact, in this connection, that Jesus evinced a clear comprehension of the cen- tral idea involved in the law of suggestion, and in- sistently proclaimed it on every suitable occasion. 70 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE That it was practically lost to science for more than eighteen hundred years, was due to the preva- lent materialistic skepticism. That it was not wholly lost is due to the vitality of truth. The words of the Master were, in fact, never wholly lost to view, even by scientists ; and the principle has often found a partial expression by scientists who sought to conceal the origin of their ideas by coining a new terminology. Thus, the " expectant attention" of Carpenter was hailed as a triumph of science, and figured largely in its vocabulary for many years, although it was a mere substitute for the word " faith," and accounted for the same phenomena. " Imagination " is another word that has performed yeoman's service in the vocabulary of science. It has been invoked, " time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary," to account " sci- entifically " for cures effected without the use of material remedies, and then dismissed with lofty contempt, as a subject unworthy of the attention of science. Thus the French Academy, in its report on Mesmerism, admitted that marvellous cures had been effected, but learnedly attributed the result to " imagination," and thus dismissed the subject as unworthy the further attention of science. Ob- viously, the word was a mere substitute for that employed by the Master; and a very awkward sub- stitute it was. The employment of the term " suggestion," on the other hand, is not a substitution of one term for another, each being descriptive of a definite mental condition. On the contrary, it is a tacit recognition of the fact that faith is the essential condition, and THE LAW OF SUGGESTION ^l the term itself is merely descriptive of the process necessary to. induce that condition. As such, it was a distinct advance in psychic science, even when the law was first formulated as pertaining solely to hyp- notism. Its principal value, however, consisted in that it was the beginning of the mental process by which the idea finally became crystallized into a for- mula expressive of a universal law. To Liebault, of Nancy, belongs the credit of taking this first dis- tinctive step, leading to the discovery of its univer- sality. The credit has been assigned to Braid, of Manchester, notably by Bernheim, 1 of Nancy, who was himself indebted to Liebault for all that he knew of hypnotism. It is true that the world is much indebted to Braid, first, for making hypnotism respectable by giving it a name, secondly, by invent- ing a new method of inducing the condition, and thirdly, by making a series of experiments illustra- tive of the suggestibility of hypnotized persons. But it does not seem that he did more than show that the faith requisite for successful mental healing could be induced in a patient's mind by any kind of statement, true or false, provided the hypnotic con- dition could be first induced. But Paracelsus made a broader discovery than that three hundred years be- fore Braid was born ; for he distinctly intimated that a false belief, 2 however induced, is just as efficacious for therapeutic purposes as a true one, " faith " being the sole condition precedent; and Pompo- nazzi, 3 in the sixteenth century, gave utterance to 1 See "Suggestive Therapeutics." 1 See "The Law of Psychic Phenomena," pp. 147, 148. ' Op. cit. 72 THE LA W OF MENTAL MEDICINE expressions of identical import. Neither of these old writers, of course, knew anything of hypnotism; but they knew what Braid did not know, namely, that the therapeutic effect of faith is not limited by methods of inducing it, much less by abnormal psy- chical conditions. But even after the law had been formulated by Liebault, the mystery surrounding mental therapeu- tics was not dispelled. It was simply shifted to an- other point of view without increasing the light. Up to that time hypnotism, per se, was supposed to be, in some mysterious way, the curative agent. When asked for an explanation of its therapeutic potency, the only reply elicited was that it was hypnotism that did the work. In this respect they were far behind the mesmerists, for they at least had a working hypothesis. Right or wrong, they had a theory of causation that had many facts to support it. Ani- mal magnetism, or the theory of fluidic emanations from the healer, impinging upon the patient, had at least the merit of a valid working hypothesis. This hypothetical fluid, it was held, by its mysterious in- fluence upon the vital principle, re-established func- tional harmony; and the logic of analogy was invoked in a comparison of its methods and its benefits to those of light, heat, and electricity. But " science " rejected the theory with hysterical indig- nation, and persistently denied the phenomena until Braid showed that he could reproduce a small part of the phenomena by processes that excluded the fluidic theory. But his master stroke consisted in giving it a new name which implied no theory of causation except that of sleep. This at once placed THE LAW OF SUGGESTION 73 the whole subject upon " a scientific basis; " for not only was the name borrowed from the Greek, but it implied no theory of causation beyond what was tangible to the senses. The patients slept, and were cured, and that was all there was of it. And so it remained for about forty years, when Liebault for- mulated the theory of suggestion. This was resisted for a time by rival schools, but its truth was so obvi- ous and so easily demonstrable that its opponents were at last forced to yield. This, of course, sup- plied a long-felt want, namely, a theory of causation for hypnotic phenomena; and again hypnotism was placed upon a " firm scientific basis." But this, in turn, was unsatisfactory to the rigidly scientific mind and conscience. It was an explana- tion that did not explain. It simply removed the explanation one step farther back, and thereby deep- ened the mystery. It is undeniable that in suggestion a mental process is found for inducing in the patient the prerequisite mental condition for healing him, namely, faith. But it is obvious that it is not the suggestion itself that does the healing, although we are frequently given to understand that it is. To read a work of the early suggestive therapeutists, one would imagine that " suggestion " was an entity that does things. Hence we are told that suggestion does this and does that; and that is all the explanation they are able to give of the science of mental healing. In other words, the rationale of suggestion is not in evi- dence in their working hypothesis. Nevertheless, it has done, and is still doing, a great work; and it constituted a gigantic stride in the evolution 74 THE LA W OF MENTAL MEDICINE of experimental psychology as applied to mental medicine. But, as I have already pointed out, it required the theory of the dual mind to complete the work- ing hypothesis for mental healing. Under no other theory, or possible theory, can it be explained why a suggestion is able to induce the requisite mental condition. To say that it works its results by " ex- citing the imagination of the patient " is to employ a phrase of indefinite meaning where an intelligent entity is indicated. A suggestion is a statement made by one intelligent being to another presuma- bly intelligent being; otherwise it could produce no result, physical or mental. A therapeutic sugges- tion, in order to be effective, must be a statement addressed to an intelligence whose faith can be stim- ulated, and who possesses the power to carry the suggestion into effect. Such an intelligence is found in the subjective mind of man. In short, the " vital principle " of which scientists in all ages have dis- coursed so learnedly, is an intelligent entity, or at least an organized intelligence, controllable by suggestion, and invested with full power to control the vital functions. That this is true is attested by all the facts of psychological science pertaining to the subject-mat- ter. Not one fact of either mental or physical science militates against it. I submit, therefore, that, if true, the dual theory is another step in ad- vance toward placing mental medicine upon a scien- tific basis, in that it shows why suggestion is an effective agency in the cure of disease. But another step is required before suggestive THE LAW OF SUGGESTION 75 therapeutics can be truly said to be invested with the dignity of a science. It still remains to show how the subjective intelligence is enabled to produce its wonderful therapeutic results. Of course, this can be done only approximately, by showing that the necessary and appropriate machinery exists, in all sentient organisms for that purpose. I have al- ready hinted at the subject; but a full discussion of it must be reserved until the third term of our therapeutic formula is reached in its order. In the meantime enough has been said to justify provisionally the broad generalization of the law of suggestion embraced in the second term of our formula, namely, that " the subjective mind is con- stantly amenable to control by the power of sugges- tion," and this without reference to the states or conditions, hypnotic or otherwise, of the objective mind. Let me make myself clear upon this point, for its practical significance is as broad as the realm of human intelligence. Bernheim, in pursuance of the then prevailing theory limiting the scope of the law of suggestion to definite pre-existent states or con- ditions, defines hypnotism as " the induction of a peculiar psychical condition which increases the sus- ceptibility to suggestion." 1 (The italics are mine.) He had previously noted that certain persons were sus- ceptible of suggestion in their apparently normal state, to a more or less limited extent; and he also knew that hypnotized persons are, as a rule, more easily controlled by suggestion than they are in a normal state. Hence his apparently correct conclusion that 1 Suggestive Therapeutics, p. 15. 76 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE hypnotism merely increases the susceptibility to sug- gestion. But therein lurks a fundamental error, for it implies a limitation that does not exist. It would be more exact and truthful to define hypnotism as " the induction of a peculiar psychical condition which " releases the subjective mind from the domi- nance of adverse auto-suggestions. The subjective mind is " constantly " controllable, and controlled, by suggestions, coming either from without or from within, the latter arising from habits of thought, or settled principles, or convictions, or prejudices, as I have pointed out in previous chap- ters. They are termed auto-suggestions, or self-sug- gestions, and they often prevail against suggestions from others. As in all other contending forces of nature, the stronger necessarily prevails. Obviously it was the lack of a clear conception of this funda- mental principle that led the Liebault-Bernheim school of suggestionists to assume limitations to the law of suggestion, or, what was equally unscientific, to im- agine that there can be exceptions to a law of nature. It must be said in extenuation, however, that when they began their investigations the prevailing ideas were in a chaotic state; and further, that, for the mere purposes of practical therapeutics, the hypothe- sis, as they formulated it, was sufficiently near the truth to give them the machinery of suggestion to work with. On the other hand, now that it is known to be a universal law of the subjective mind, it is at once seen that its field of usefulness is as wide as the domain of human thought; and that, of all the laws of the human soul, the law of suggestion is the most THE LAW OF SUGGESTION ' 7/ important, so long as it inhabits the mortal body. I have elsewhere * shown that amenability to sug- gestion is a limitation pertaining solely to this life, and that in the future life it is no longer in evidence, the soul being endowed with the Godlike power of intuitive perception of all truth pertaining to its well- being and its stage of development. I cannot repeat the discussion here for obvious reasons. It must suf- fice, in this connection, to point out some of its uses in this life outside the domain of mental therapeu- tics. Nor will the intelligent reader be surprised when he is told that the law of suggestion is a factor of equal importance in every other field of human activity. For instance, it is the one all-important factor in the education and development of children, morally as well as intellectually. As in mental thera- peutics, it has been ignorantly employed throughout all the ages, and its variant effects have resulted from the accidents of environmental conditions, and not from a knowledge of the law itself, in igno- rance, in fact, of its existence. Nevertheless, the law existed from the very beginning of sentient life, and it has performed its mission as a civilizing agent in all the variant stages of human development. As in mental therapeutics, it is adapted to all conditions, and performs its humanizing mission in spite of ignorance and superstition. But, again as in mental therapeutics, certainty and permanency of results can be achieved only when man understands the law and intelligently applies it to its legitimate uses. When that knowledge is attained, every mother will have in her own hands an easy and absolutely certain 1 See " A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life." 78 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE means of controlling the energies of her children and directing them into whatever channels of activ- ity she may elect. It is axiomatic that " knowledge is power," and " know thyself " is a time-honored injunction to mankind. Combining them, it may be truly said that to " know thyself " is the certain means of obtaining power and dominion over others. Without unduly anticipating what is to be said in future chapters of this book, it may be said that when the parent is armed with a knowledge of the law of suggestion he is possessed of the means, not only of directing and controlling the general educa- tion of his children, but of directing the moral trend, anticipating bad habits or curing them when formed, removing undesirable or vicious traits of character, inspiring industry and ambition, and even of remov- ing or neutralizing the mental or moral obliquities due to heredity. Nor are the mental and moral effects of sugges- tion confined to the young; for adult criminals may thus be reformed and restored to usefulness, although with less certainty of immediate results. Bad habits may be eradicated in the adult, as well as in the child, by the judicious employment of suggestion. Other things being equal, the effect is the same. Nor is this all ; for good suggestions, of whatever character they may be, or to whomsoever they may be addressed, invariably react upon the character of the suggester. It is impossible for one to suggest moral principles to another without being morally benefited himself. It is impossible for one to be a drunkard when he is employing suggestion for the eradication of drinking habits in another. I have THE LAW OF SUGGESTION 79 known men to be utterly unable to bear the smell or taste of liquor after making a series of strong and vigorous suggestions to a drunkard that the taste or smell of liquor would thereafter make him sick. I knew one a moderate but habitual user of intoxi- cants to be made violently ill by taking a small drink of whiskey after making such a series of sug- gestions to a drunkard. This occurred to him three times in succession before he divined the cause. He was an amateur suggestionist, and not well grounded in the principles of the science he was practising. Otherwise he would have known that under the law of duality an auto-suggestion is as effective as a sug- gestion from another. The objective mind suggests, and the subjective mind accepts and believes the sug- gestion and performs its functions accordingly. In other words, it takes note of the suggestion made to another as to the effect of liquor upon him, and with the inexorable deductive logic of the subjective mind, it deduces the conclusion that the taste of liquor will make anybody sick. I have known several hypnotists who lost their former drinking capacity after treating others for the eradication of the habit. Some of them realized the reason, and some did not which is but another way of saying that some knew less than others about the intricate workings of the law of suggestion. I have, in fact, never known one who has been able to retain his capacity to drink liquor, even moderately, after treating others for the habit of drunkenness, without a determined effort to do so, that is to say, by resorting to a course of .vigorous auto- suggestions. 80 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE It will thus be seen that auto-suggestions are as effective for the eradication of bad habits as are the suggestions of others; and I unhesitatingly affirm that any one can thus relieve himself of any habit he sincerely desires to get rid of. But it often hap- pens that the patient has no real desire to be rid of his habit; and this constitutes an adverse auto-sug- gestion which necessarily defeats the object. The same remark applies to all suggestions for the eradi- cation of habits, from whatever source they may emanate. This, however, is a slight digression. The point which it is desired to enforce is that all suggestions to a patient react upon the one who makes the sug- gestion. As has been before remarked, action and reaction are always equal; and the principle is as true of mental as of physical energy. As the teacher is benefited by fixing the lesson taught more firmly in his own mind, so is a suggestion, moral or thera- peutical, beneficial to him who makes it. Like the quality of mercy, "it is twice blessed ; it blesseth him that gives and him that take.s." CHAPTER VI SUGGESTION IN LOWER ANIMAL LIFE Evidence for the Laws of Duality of Mind and of Suggestion must be found in Lower Animals. The Subjective the Primordial Mind. The Brain a Product of Evolution. The Subjective the Mind of Instinct and Intuition. Necessity for Secondary Instincts. In- duction in Lower Animals. Secondary Instincts created by the Objective Mind. The Mental Processes Involved. All Evolu- tionary Development of Animal Intelligence due to Suggestion. The Law of Suggestion an Essential Factor in the Progress of Civilization. It is the One Available Means whereby Man may neutralize the Evils due to Heredity. IF the most rigid adherent to the strictest rules of scientific, inductive investigation of the phe- nomena of nature were to be asked to name the kind and amount of evidence necessary to demonstrate scientifically the truth of the proposition that amena- bility to suggestion is a universal limitation of the subjective mind, he would doubtless reply that it must be clearly shown that the law embraces the lower ani- mals, and that no amount of research or quality of evidence that did not include the lower animals could possibly establish so broad a generalization, no matter how strong the evidence might be that it is a universal limitation of man's subjective powers. Otherwise it might eventually be found to be a phenomenon incident alone to the environmental conditions with which man is surrounded, and not a universal law of the subjective mind. In other 82 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE words, if it is a universal law of the subjective mind it must apply to all subjective minds, of whatever grade of intelligence. It follows that if it cannot be shown that animals are subject to the law of sug- gestion in precisely the same way that man is, the idea that it is a universal law must be abandoned. On the other hand, our most rigid scientist would admit that if it can be shown that, allowing for the difference in the grade of intelligence, the law applies to the lower animals the same as it does to the human species, it can be fairly claimed that the universality of the law of suggestion has been demonstrated as clearly as any psychological proposition is demon- strable. The same remark applies to the law of duality. In fact, since duality and suggestion are correlative propositions, as I have already pointed out, they must stand or fall together, from whatever point of view they may be considered. The first question, then, to be determined is, What evidence exists to show duality in the mental organ- ism of the lower animals; or, in other words, what evidence exists to show that they are endowed with the subjective mind as distinguished from the objec- tive mind? To this the broad answer must be re- turned, provisionally, that all the facts of organic evolution, physical and mental, conspire to demon- strate the proposition. The scientific evolutionist will at once admit that duality in man presupposes the same in his earthly ancestors. If man is de- scended from the lower animals, and no scientist now pretends to doubt the truth of that proposition, it necessarily follows that all the salient charac- teristics of man's mental organism exist, in embryo, SUGGESTION IN LOWER ANIMAL LIFE 83 in that of his humble progenitors. Besides, it is a time-worn proposition of evolutionary science that the potentialities of manhood reside in the lowest unicellular organism. In point of fact, the most conclusive evidence of the existence of a subjective mind and conse- quently of duality is found in the lower animals, from the moneron to man; for in tracing the an- cestry of man backward to the first manifestation of life and mind in unorganized (Haeckel) proto- plasm (the monera), we find that the subjective mind antedated the objective mind by untold mil- lions of years. Haeckel tells us that during more than one half of all the millions of years that have elapsed since the beginning of organic life on this planet, no animal possessing a brain was in exist- ence. It follows that the brain is a product of or- ganic evolution. Like every other physical organ, it was evolved in response to a necessity, to supply a long-felt want, to serve a purpose for which the subjective mind was not adapted. The latter is the mind of instinct in the lower animals, the mind of intuition in man, which is a distinction without a real difference in function. The primary instincts with which it was endowed were sufficient for the ordinary purposes of animal life in its native en- vironment; but as animals grew in number and variety, environmental conditions were constantly changing, and new or secondary instincts were re- quired to enable the animals to adapt themselves to new environments. All biologists * agree that ani- 1 See quotations from Darwin, Romanes, and others, in "The Divine Pedigree of Man," where this subject is more fully elucidated. 84 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE mals require secondary instincts, that is, new in- stincts, for this purpose, and that they acquire them by a definite process; that is to say, they first meet the new conditions, wants, dangers, etc. " intelli- gently," and after the new habits thus acquired have been practised for several generations, these habits become crystallized into instincts, and are thencefor- ward inherited the same as the primary instincts. It will thus be seen that they tacitly admit that there are two grades or kinds of intelligence in evidence even in the lower animals, namely, instinctive intelligence, and the other kind, which they do not name. But, as I have shown elsewhere, 1 they are hopelessly at sea as to when this new intelligence, which is thus able to cope with new environments and to educate the instinctive intelligence, came into existence, and how it performs its functions; in other words, they are hopelessly at variance as to when animals began to reason. The dual hypothesis, however, renders a solution of these problems perfectly obvious, for we have only to refer to the facts of experience to enable us to find it. Thus, we know that the brain is the organ of the reasoning mind; that that mind alone is endowed with inductive powers, and that it is only by the exercise of these powers that we are enabled to cope with the constantly changing en- vironmental conditions of physical life. We know that the greater our inductive powers are, the more perfectly we are armed for the " struggle for life," which is a struggle to overcome or adapt our- selves to adverse environmental conditions; and we 1 Op. cit SUGGESTION IN LOWER ANIMAL LIFE 85 know that in the entire absence of these powers we should be as helpless as the amoebae. We know, therefore, that the mind of which the brain is the organ is especially adapted to the necessities of a physical life; and we infer, with unanswerable logic, that the brain, with its highly specialized powers and functions, was a product of organic evolution. Moreover, we are confirmed in this induction by the fact that it appeared at the opportune moment, that is to say, when it became a necessity as a means of promoting the further progressive devel- opment of organic life. From that moment mere brute force ceased to be the only factor in the sur- vival of the fittest. Induction supplanted it just in proportion to the development of that power, until in man it is the predominant factor; for it not only gives him dominion over the whole brute creation, but over the forces of nature. In other words, it enables him to create his own environment in defi- ance of adverse conditions. Let me not be misunderstood in reference to the inductive powers of the lower animals. Induction is simply the process of estimating the relative and the cumulative values of facts. In its higher de- velopment it enables us to learn something of the laws of nature and to harness its forces for the uses of mankind. Its simplest processes are employed in discriminating between two or more facts, and the first brain that was developed in animal life on this planet performed that function. It was feeble, of course, but it served its purpose, for the animal with brains survived and soon dominated the or- ganic world. Feeble as were its powers in the be- 86 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE ginning, it was able to educate the subjective mind, and thus create or develop secondary instincts adapted to new and constantly changing environmental con- ditions. The result was what one would have a right to expect under the theory of the dominating influ- ence of the objective mind ; namely, the animals that possess the greatest objective intelligence are invari- ably endowed with the most complex instincts. All modern biologists now admit that this is a rule with- out a known exception. It follows that the objective mind is the dominat- ing factor in the mental organism of the lower ani- mals just the same as it is in that of man, and that the vast congeries of complex secondary instincts with which men and animals are endowed originated in each case in the objective mind. How ? Let Dar- win answer : " Intelligent actions, after being per- formed during several generations, become converted into instincts and are inherited, as when birds on oceanic islands learn to avoid man." l Romanes ex- tends the same principle in the following language: " Intelligent adjustments when frequently performed become automatic in the individual, and next they are inherited till they become automatic habits in the race." 2 Darwin's reference to the birds on oceanic islands points to a very apt illustration of the principle under consideration. When the white man first made his appearance on those hitherto uninhabited islands, he found the native birds to be devoid of the fear of man. Having never seen one, they were unaware 1 Descent of Man, p. 67 (Appletons' cd., 1896). * Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 268. SUGGESTION IN LOWER ANIMAL LIFE 87 that the human biped in his savage and semi-savage state is the natural enemy of all birds ; but they soon learned the lesson, and they learned, moreover, that he was armed with a weapon that was fatal to birds at long distances. The result was that they soon in- telligently adapted themselves to the new environ- mental conditions, that is, they avoided the new danger, by making themselves exceedingly scarce in the immediate vicinity of the " man behind the gun." It is further alleged that they very soon learned to measure with great accuracy the effective range of the guns, just as our native crows have learned to know the same thing, and, moreover, to keep pace with modern improvements in fire-arms. It is further stated, with reference to the sea-island birds, that the generations of young birds born im- mediately subsequent to the advent of man were as fearless in presence of the latter as were their ances- tors when man first invaded their habitat, and re- mained so until they were educated by the example of the older birds, or learned the lesson from their own experience. Nevertheless, after an " intelli- gent " avoidance of the new danger " during sev- eral generations," the fear of man was converted into an inheritable instinct, and thereafter the youngest bird was as fearful of his enemy as was his most experienced ancestor. The question now is, What were the mental proc- esses employed in the creation of the new instinct? Obviously the first step involved was the exercise of the powers of induction ; for there were at least three facts to correlate and a conclusion to be drawn. The first fact was the man, the second was the gun, and 88 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE the third was the effective range of the gun ; and the conclusion was that within certain limits of distance, which the bird was able to measure or estimate with practical exactitude, the man and the gun consti- tuted a combination that was fatal to birds. Whether the bird was able to consider the man and the gun as separate or separable factors in the combination, our informant does not state. But it is well known to every American farmer's boy that our native crow is able to perform that inductive feat ; that is to say, he knows that the crow is provokingly fearless of man when the latter is without a gun and corre- spondingly shy when the fatal combination is in evi- dence. Moreover, the crow is able to correlate the three factors, namely, the man, the gun, and a certain definite area of territory ; and he knows that the elimination of any one of them is fatal to the efficiency of the combination. This is just as truly a process of induction as was that which Newton employed in his search for the law of gravitation; and it just as certainly involves the collection, classification, and correlation of facts for the purpose of arriving at a general conclusion, as did the process which Kepler employed in his search for his three laws of planetary motion. Being a process of induction, it follows that it originated in the objective mind, the mind of which the brain is the organ, the mind of " in- telligence," as distinguished from the mind of " in- stinct," the mind whose office it is to educate the subjective, or instinctive intelligence, and guide it through the intricate mazes of a physical environment. SUGGESTION IN LOWER ANIMAL LIFE 89 Is there any doubt as to the scientific accuracy of the last proposition ? Locke says that " God does not make noble things for ignoble uses," which is true in a limited sense. If he had said that God does not make noble things without any uses, he would have propounded a " universal postulate," for its opposite is inconceivable. And this is precisely what God would have done if He had created a brain intelligence capable of inductive reasoning, when there was already in existence an organized intelligence endowed with the same powers and ca- pable, actually or potentially, of performing the same functions. It is an axiom of evolutionary science that no physical organ was ever evolved except in response to a necessity growing out of physical en- vironmental conditions; and this is as true of the brain, with its distinctive functions and faculties, as it is of the antennae of the humblest insect. As I have repeatedly had occasion to observe, that which is now designated as the subjective mind exists in all sentient organisms, from the moneron to man; its salient characteristics are the same now as in the primordial epoch, varying only in degree; and its one salient limitation of power is due to what science, for want of a better name, has desig- nated as the law of suggestion. I have also shown that comparatively late in the history of organic evolution a new mental power was developed, capa- ble of supplying the deficiency due to the limiting law, and thus imparting a fresh impetus to progres- sive development in the organic world. I repeat that this new power would not have been evolved but for the necessity which existed; and hence the 90 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE specific character of the new power is demonstrative evidence of the character of the deficiency or limi- tation. Not that it imparted any new powers to the already existent mental organism, but that it was able intelligently to direct and promote the enlarge- ment of the scope of the old. I have endeavored to point out the process by which this was begun, namely, by the development of new or secondary instincts, and that this was possible only under the correlative laws of duality and suggestion. I have said that no new powers were imparted to the subjective mind; nor were its limitations re- moved. Obviously that would be impossible without changing or repealing a law of nature. The same limitations must always exist so long as it is hedged about by a physical environment. It will thus be seen, (i) that all progressive increase of animal intelligence beyond primordial conditions is due to the development of secondary instincts, from time to time, in response to the ne- cessities growing out of new and constantly chang- ing environmental conditions; (2) that the acts of secondary instincts are at first " intelligently " per- formed, and are afterward crystallized into inherit- able instincts; (3) that the "intelligence" which thus adapts itself to new environmental conditions is primarily that of the objective, or brain, mind; (4) that the objective mind was, and is, the in- structor of the subjective mind; and (5) that all progressive development of animal intelligence is due to the suggestions of the objective mind to the sub- jective mind. It follows that all evolutionary development of SUGGESTION IN LOWER ANIMAL LIFE 91 animal intelligence is due to the law of suggestion; that is to say, all acquisitions of knowledge that are inheritable, and therefore permanent and valu- able to the species, are due to that one universal law. For until animal intelligence is converted into, an instinct it is not inheritable, and until it is in- heritable it is not permanent, and until it is perma- nent it is of little value to them in the struggle for life. What is true of the lower animals is also true of the higher animals, including man. The same law that prevails in the acquisition of the secondary in- stincts which enable the lower animals to cope suc- cessfully with new environmental conditions, enables man to assert and to maintain his dominion over all the animal creation, 1 to educate his children, and to train them for future usefulness in the moral and intellectual realms. It follows that the law of suggestion is an essen- tial factor in the evolution of civilization as well as in the evolution of animal intelligence. As such, it 1 Were it not for the law of suggestion, it would be impossible for man to tame a tiger, subdue an elephant, or break a horse. Thus, every one is aware that in order successfully to reduce a horse to permanent subjection to the will of man, he must be made to believe that man is stronger than a horse. This is usually done by throwing the animal and holding him down until he ceases to struggle. When that has been suc- cessfully accomplished, the rest is easy ; for the suggestion has thus been imparted to the limited intelligence of the horse that it is useless to struggle against superior strength. This principle prevails in all en- counters between man and the lower animals ; and just in proportion to man's success in imparting that suggestion to the animal he seeks to subdue, will he succeed in rendering the animal permanently obedient and docile. In a word, man is enabled to assert and maintain his do- minion over the animal creation solely by virtue of the law of suggestion. 92 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE is the antithesis of the law of heredity, which has been rightly termed " the conservative factor in evo- lution." Heredity simply preserves what has been gained by evolution. It takes no step in advance; it accomplishes no new result. Indeed, its tendencies, under the law of atavism, are retrogressive. Evolu- tion, with all its factors and forces, is progressive; and as suggestion is its prime factor, especially in moral and intellectual advancement, it follows, as before remarked, that suggestion is the antithesis of heredity. In this sense, therefore, suggestion may be defined as the one means, available to man, whereby he may avoid, overcome, or neutralize the evils due to heredity. It is, therefore, not only the prime and all-potent factor in the evolutionary development of animal life and intelligence, but it is the one supreme psycholog- ical factor, without which human civilization would be impossible. Enough has now been said to show that the first two terms of our hypothesis are demonstrable propo- sitions. It remains to prove that the third term is equally veridical, namely, that "the subjective mind controls the functions, sensations, and conditions of the body." This we may assume, for the present, to have been provisionally established by the testimony of "a cloud of witnesses," including that of the ablest members of the medical profession, to say nothing of the innumerable evidences of it in the records of cures of disease under the thousand and one systems of mental healing, generically known to science as " Suggestive Therapeutics." But it will more fully appear as we proceed with the discussion hereinafter. CHAPTER VII SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH The more Beneficent a Law of Nature, the Heavier the Penalty for its Violation. This Axiom as applicable to Laws of Life, Mind, and Health as to any other Law. Exemption of the Lower Animals from Suggestions Adverse to Health. Man the Prey of such Sug- gestions. The Potency of Adverse Suggestions equal to that of Therapeutic Suggestions. The Newspaper an Agency for the Promulgation of Suggestions Adverse to Health. The Patent- Medicine Advertisement. The Danger of Adverse Suggestions to Students of Medicine. Newspaper Literature relating to Diet. Pernicious Dietetics. Auto-Suggestion the Safeguard. IT is axiomatic that the more beneficent a law is, the heavier are the penalties exacted for its vio- lation. This is divine justice, and in the realm of natural law the rule is inexorable. Hence the high- est conception of human justice, in criminal juris- prudence, is to " make the punishment fit the crime." Owing, however, to human imperfections, the highest ideal is not often, if ever, reached, although it is more and more nearly approximated as humanity rises in the scale of civilization; hence the gradual restriction of the death penalty to violations of the laws for the protection of human life. In nature's laws the inexorable rule is as above stated; and no amount of culture or experience or evolutionary development can enable one of God's creatures to evade the full penalty exacted by nature 94 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE for the violation of one of her laws. Necessarily this is as true of the laws of life, mind, and health as it is of any other. If it were not, there could be no such thing as a science of psychology or of physi- ology or of therapeutics ; for nothing could be safely predicated upon the truth of that most fundamental of all the axioms of science, " the constancy of nature." In fact, one of the surest methods of defi- nitely ascertaining and confirming the existence and universality of a supposed law of nature is by sys- tematic observation of the evils resulting from its violation. This is especially true of the laws of health, as is shown by the fact that most of the im- portant discoveries in therapeutical science were the results of observations of pathological conditions of the human body or of the mind. If the penalties are constant and uniform, coextensive with the real or supposed range or scope of the law itself, and commensurate in each case with the magnitude and character of the infractions, it is presumptive, if not conclusive, evidence of the existence of the law. To this test we must now submit the law of sug- gestion. If the axiom is true that " the more benefi- cent a law is, the heavier are the penalties exacted for its violation," we shall have a right to expect to find that a perversion of the power of suggestion is followed by untold evils to body, mind, and soul. And this, as I shall attempt to show, is borne out by all human experience. For the present, however, I shall confine myself to the domain of therapeutics, although enough will be said to show that the prin- ciple applies with equal force to every field of human activity. SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH 95 Two questions have been asked by speculative philosophers of all the ages, neither of which could ever be satisfactorily answered prior to the discov- ery of the law of suggestion. The first is, Why are the lower animals so much more healthy than the human race? The second is, Why does man grow weaker as he grows wiser? Both these questions have been answered more or less satisfactorily from various standpoints, but it is now safe to say that the law of suggestion reveals the prime factor in the solution of both problems. In the first place, the lower animals, owing to their lack of intelligence, are entirely exempt from the influence of suggestions adverse to health. The same is true of idiots and of many insane persons, and for the same reason. In neither case can ad- verse suggestions reach the subjective mind, owing to the limited intelligence of the objective. Hence " nature," as the world loosely defines that mysteri- ous energy within which keeps us alive, is left free and untrammelled to follow its natural trend, which is always toward health and the conservation of the vital forces. On the other hand, man, whose objective mind is capable of receiving and assimilating impressions from innumerable sources, is the constant prey of suggestions adverse to health; and the most signifi- cant feature of it is that, the more numerous are the sources from which man receives his impressions, the greater are the dangers which beset his pathway through life. In other words, the history of the world shows that as the sources of information mul- tiply, the diseases of mankind increase in number 96 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE and prevalence; and this in spite of man's increased knowledge of medicine, sanitation, and hygiene. This fact alone points unmistakably to a psychological cause; and to those who have followed my remarks thus far it will be obvious that popular ignorance of the law of suggestion is responsible. For if sug- gestion is a therapeutic agency as effective and uni- versal as we have found it to be, it follows that suggestions adverse to health must be equally potent in the other direction. This view of the case will be confirmed if we find that suggestions adverse to health are as common and as prevalent and as virulent, so to speak, as the diseases themselves. That is to say, we may expect to find that the in- crease of such suggestions, and the facilities for imparting them to the public, are proportioned to the increase in the number of diseases which afflict mankind; and this, as a matter of fact, is precisely what we do find. Beginning with the lower animals and idiots, neither of whom are capable of receiving either a therapeutic suggestion or one adverse to health, and ascending through all the grades of human intelligence, we find that this ratio prevails. It follows that as in these days books and news- papers furnish facilities, greater than ever before existed, for imparting suggestions to those who read them, we may expect to find that books and newspapers are the prime sources of the sugges- tions, good or bad, which dominate mankind of the present day. Now, it cannot be denied that the press, especially the newspaper, leads the van in the world's material and intellectual progress; but it is equally true that the newspaper, as a means SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH 97 of promoting or promulgating psychological knowl- edge, has thus far proved a dismal failure. This is not the fault of the newspaper, per se; but it arises from the fact that the average newspaper man shows the prevailing ignorance of the fundamental prin- ciples of psychology, especially of the new psychol- ogy. I shall not stop to dwell upon the fact that the new psychology, in the hands of ignorance, readily lends itself to the uses of newspaper sensationalism, for that is not the worst feature of the situation. It matters little that the newspaper has succeeded in frightening its readers into an insane prejudice against hypnotism, for popular prejudice against that psychological agency is not without its value in guarding the public against the possible evils of hypnotism in the hands of ignorance and charlatan- ism. But the case assumes a serious aspect when we consider the newspaper as an agency for the pro- mulgation of suggestions adverse to public health; and the fact that it is done unintentionally and in ignorance of the law of suggestion serves but to enhance the gravity of the situation. The first and most obvious agency through which the newspaper assists in the promulgation of sug- gestions adverse to health is the patent-medicine advertisement. . Everybody is familiar with the patent-medicine man's insidious ways, and with what preternatural cunning he insinuates ideas of ill health into the minds of his readers. If his medicine is not a panacea for all the ills that flesh is heir to, he usually selects some disease that is quite common say, dyspepsia, or liver complaint, or kidney trouble, or impure blood and then pro- 7 98 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE ceeds to tell us that all other diseases arise from the particular disease which he has selected for a base of operations. He then proceeds to dilate upon the fatal character of his selection, and usually appends a long list of " symptoms " by which any one can know that he is a victim. The list is always exten- sive enough to include every conceivable sensation that is at all uncomfortable, so that few healthy per- sons escape, and none who are watchful for patho- logical "symptoms" in themselves can possibly count their cases outside of the fatal category. Fortunately for the patent-medicine business, the latter class is very numerous. In fact, there are few persons who cannot, by persistent " introspection," evoke any par- ticular " symptom " that has been suggested. The tendency to do so is one of the serious difficulties encountered by the students of pathology in our medical colleges; and before the law of suggestion was understood by the faculties, many students were compelled to abandon their studies because of their irresistible tendency to " imagine," and eventually to experience, every symptom of the diseases they \vere called upon to study. Some, indeed, of the more persistent paid the penalty of death by diseases brought on by the suggestions borne in upon them by their studies. I personally know one physician, a graduate of a regular medical college, whose useful- ness has often been seriously impaired in critical cases by the fact that he almost invariably " took on the conditions " of the patient while at the bedside, especially if the patient experienced any great amount of pain, cases of parturition forming no exception to the rule. Husbands have been known to suffer SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH 99 equally with their wives in such cases, and instances are not uncommon where the husband suffers all the pangs of " morning sickness " during the pregnancy of the wife. In one case the husband was personally known to the author. His first experience occurred while he was temporarily absent from home, and it continued for two weeks before he returned. In the meantime he consulted an eminent physician who happened to be familiar with the phenomenon, hav- ing met with several such cases in the course of his practice. He recognized the symptoms at once; but the fact of the absence of the husband from home when he was first attacked puzzled him, for telepa- thy was not then recognized as a possible factor in such cases by physicians of the old school. Never- theless, the doctor was so sure of the significance of the symptoms that he urged a comparison of notes when the husband returned home ; " for," said he, " what mysterious bond of psychological sympathy may exist between husband and wife, no one can tell." A comparison of experiences proved the cor- rectness of the doctor's diagnosis; for the husband's and wife's sufferings were found to have been coin- cident as to time and character, day by day, from the beginning. This, however, is a slight digression. My object is to show how easily and powerfully suggestions may operate to bring about pathological conditions in people of far more than average intelligence. If medical students can be so wrought upon by the sug- gestions embraced in their general studies of pathol- ogy and their subsequent experiences at the bedside, what may we not expect of that large and constantly 100 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE augmenting class whose knowledge of pathology is derived solely from the patent-medicine advertise- ments in the daily papers? This question is espe- cially pertinent in view of the fact that a very large proportion of that class are never so happy as when they can find in themselves an illustrative example of the pathological science to be found in the patent- medicine advertisement. Suggestions arising from this source are, however, among the very least of the evils resulting from newspaper science of medicine; for, bad as are the influences of the patent-medicine advertisement, it is not without its mitigating factors. In the first place, the medicines themselves are generally harm- less; and in the second place they carry with them very potent suggestions as to their therapeutic effi- cacy. These are in the form of "testimonials" from those who have been " raised from the dead " by means of the nostrums advertised; and as such tes- timonials are usually very cheap and easy to pro- cure, especially from those who are fired with an ambition to see their names and pictures in print, or from decayed statesmen, they are generally abun- dant in quantity and of a quality exactly suited to the demands of trade. Many such testimonials are, no doubt, genuine; but be that as it may, they per- form the functions of a therapeutic suggestion in reference to the remedy advertised, and thus elevate the patent medicine to the standard therapeutic value of the placebo of the regular practitioner. And this is saying a great deal for the patent medicine; for the average physician is never entitled to so much confidence as when he administers a placebo accom- SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH IOI panied by a vigorous therapeutic suggestion. In the hands of the prudent physician, who is distrustful of his own diagnosis, the placebo is of the very essence of conservatism. It conceals the ignorance of the doctor, which is in itself a measure of great thera- peutic value, and it supplies the patient's strenu- ous demand for medicine. It gives the physician time to study the case, and " nature " an opportunity to do his work for him. Best of all, it does no harm ; and when accompanied by an intelligent therapeutic suggestion, it often does much good. To a limited extent the harmless patent medicine, when accom- panied by the " testimonial," does the same thing in the same way; and hence the remark that the patent-medicine advertisement is one of the least of the evils resulting from the medical literature of the newspaper. If J were called upon to name the most prolific source of suggestions adverse to health, I should unhesitatingly say that it is the newspaper literature relating to diet. It is safe to say that nine-tenths of all diseases of the digestive organs, especially dys- pepsia, are due primarily to the suggestions embraced in that kind of literature. The exasperating feature of it is that not one newspaper article in a hundred on that topic is written by any one who knows any- thing about the subject. They are generally written by boys or young ladies who are learning the trade of newspaper writers. Everybody familiar with that class of people is aware that the highest ambition of the newspaper cub is to write something that will be extensively copied by other papers; and he soon learns that anything pertaining to health in general, 102 THE LA W OF MENTAL MEDICINE or diet in particular, is sure of an extensive and eager hearing. Whereupon he proceeds to guess out a long list of articles of diet that are " un- healthy," because indigestible, or innutritious, or poisonous. In order to be entirely original and startling, he generally selects one or more of the most popular articles of diet in his community, and tells his readers that they are perhaps slowly, but " certainly surely " sapping the foundations of their respective constitutions by indulgence in this or that particular article of diet. One of the wise sayings of the celebrated Dr. Abernethy was that " when a man begins seriously to dissect himself, he will soon be a fit subject for the undertaker." And this is precisely what the average reader of such articles generally proceeds to do. That is to say, the next time he indulges in the article of diet inveighed against, he proceeds to institute a series of introspective observations hav- ing special reference to the behavior of his stomach in presence of that particular article of nutriment, and he is generally rewarded by finding just what he is looking for, namely, some decidedly uneasy symptoms indicative of indigestion. The next time he tries it the symptoms are more pronounced; and the third or fourth trial is generally sufficient to cause that particular dish, e. g. bread and butter, to be tabooed as utterly indigestible. Then he proceeds to lecture his family and friends on the subject of the insidious but deadly character of bread and but- ter ; and in due time that article of food is banished from the household bill of fare. The next newspaper article attacks some other SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH 1 03 article of diet, and with the same result, and so on through the whole bill of fare of the ordinary household; the result being one or more confirmed dyspeptics in every family. It may be thought that I am stating an extreme case. It is extreme, but very common; for this is the way dyspeptics are created in nine cases out of ten. The weakness of the stomach is often due solely to atrophy of t organ; and the atrophy is due, not to eating indi- gestible food, nor to habitual overtaxation of the digestive powers, but to the fact that it was not given enough to do to keep its powers at their maxi- mum. It atrophies, precisely as any other organ of the body will atrophy, for the lack of a normal amount of exercise; and the only way to give it healthy exercise is to give it a normal amount of nutritious food to digest, always taking care to avoid those mental conditions which interfere with the normal action of the digestive organs. Strange as it may appear at first glance, the latter consideration is of the first importance; for there is no such thing in civilized countries as an indigestible article of hu- man diet, provided the proper mental conditions are maintained. Conversely, there is no article of food that cannot be rendered indigestible by the induction of adverse mental conditions. The lesson is obvious and the remedy easy, but the discussion of it must be deferred for the moment. Another newspaper source of suggestions adverse to health is to be found in the tendency of the jour- nalistic humorist to fadism in the construction of the so-called newspaper joke or humorous para- graph. A single illustration of my meaning will 104 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE suffice. Many years ago some preternaturally smart newspaper cub (an Englishman, I believe) con- ceived the idea of conquering fame by ridiculing the New England custom then almost universal of eating pie (pronounced " paie," in the vernacu- lar) for dessert. The only thing connected with the custom or the pie that was a legitimate sub- ject of raillery, even from an Englishman's dietetic standpoint, was the fact that the more luxurious of the New England pie-eaters indulged in that luxury three times a day. But the pie joke, feeble and harmless as it was in its infancy, survived and was passed around in its myriad forms, and so was the pie, until some more than ordinarily feeble-minded newspaper pathologist lifted up his voice and pro- claimed the New England pie to be the real and only source of all the ills that American flesh was heir to. This, of course, was heralded far and wide as a great and an important scientific discovery in dietetics, and the usual process of " introspection " began in thousands of New England homes where pie had before been a benediction and a joy unspeak- able three times a day, to say nothing of surrepti- tious " pieces " between meals. The usual results followed, and in an incredibly short space of time a " cloud of witnesses " arose to testify against pie. A careful watching of the " symptoms " revealed the fact that pie was " utterly indigestible." In vain it was pointed out that for hundreds of years it had been eaten by all classes and under all condi- tions by New England people, and that no one had discovered that pie was other than wholesome as well as palatable and easily digested, until the news- SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH 105 paper fakir happened to think about it. Once started, the hue and cry went the rounds of the " family " journals, each one seeking to outdo all the others, until pie became such an abomination in the public mind that it required an abnormal development of " nerve " to defy popular opinion so far as to order a piece of pie at a public restaurant, and if any one had the hardihood to do so he was fortunate if he escaped a serious lecture by some neighboring " re- former " on the subject of the diabolical nature of pie. Even doctors were dragged into the crusade and compelled by force of public opinion to look wise and shake their heads when a convalescing patient craved a piece of pie; and Emerson was credited by a newspaper reporter with denouncing pie as the greatest evil with which the American nation had to contend. Some doctors even went so far as to claim the credit of the discovery that pie was indigestible, and others claimed to have always known that pie was the root of all evils in the Ameri- can commonwealth. To any one familiar with the potency of sugges- tion, it will not seem strange that in the midst of such a crusade against a particular article of diet there should be found many whose experience amply justified the crusade; and when we reflect that in every newspaper-reading family in the United States the subject of the indigestibility of pie was a com- mon topic of conversation at the table, it is not at all wonderful that in almost every family one or more should experience a fit of indigestion after an indulgence followed by the inevitable " introspec- tion," or watching for the anticipated symptoms. It 1 06 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE would, indeed, have been a miracle on a national scale if these results had not followed, and pie had not been tabooed, as a consequence, in many an other- wise well-regulated household. In point of fact, if the crusade had been started as an experiment, pure and simple, to test the effi- cacy of suggestion on a large scale, no better test could have been devised. For such an experiment an absolutely wholesome, harmless, and easily di- gested article of diet would, for obvious reasons, furnish the crucial test of popular suggestibility; and I undertake to say that the American pie is as well adapted to the purpose as any food known to civilized mankind. In saying this, I do not include the article known as " railroad pie," which is pop- ularly believed, not without reason, to be so con- structed as to render what is not sold to the famished traveller available as ballast in railroad construction. I refer to the American pie as it was made by our New England grandmothers in ante- bellum days, that is, before the crusade was in- stituted against it as an institution. Did any of the crusaders stop to analyze its contents with the view of ascertaining what it is that renders pie so very unwholesome? If so, the result has never been published. Let us, then, examine it dispassionately, with the view of determining, approximately, what proportion of suggestion has been mixed in with its other ingredients in order to render it indigestible. The American pie, per se, is built up of the fol- lowing materials, to wit : flour, water, lard or butter, or both, sugar, and fruit, the latter normally pre- dominating largely as to bulk. The more epicurean SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH 107 tastes prevailing among the aristocratic portion of New England farmers demanded a little flavoring of nutmeg, real nutmeg, not the nutmeg of Con- necticut commerce (that being manufactured solely for the export trade, as tradition informs us). Will some dietetic crank rise to inform us what there is among the materials themselves, or in the combination, that is unwholesome, or indigestible, or even hard to digest? Is it not, indeed, a com- bination devoutly to be wished for by any one of simple tastes and normal appetite? Is there any- thing connected with it, suggestion excepted, that could have the remotest tendency to cause it to "dis- agree" with the most delicate digestive apparatus? Clearly not. It is for this reason that I have employed the crusade against pie as an illustration of the fact that when once a suggestion adverse to any wholesome article of diet or drink is turned loose upon a com- munity, it carries with it an incalculable amount of suffering among those who are ignorant of the subtle powers of suggestion. And I have spoken of the newspaper as the means by which such suggestions are most extensively promulgated, merely as an illus- tration of the remark made in a former chapter, that suggestions adverse to health are numerous in a com- munity in proportion to its facilities for the promul- gation and dissemination of intelligence. It follows that so long as man rests in ignorance of the law of suggestion, the higher the grade of his civilization, the more will he suffer from suggestions adverse to his health. If the New England pie were the only wholesome 108 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE article of diet against which a crusade has been made, these words would not have been written. But the fact is, there is scarcely anything left for one to sub- sist upon if he pays attention to all the current " re- form " literature relating to diet. One by one the most healthful and nutritious articles of food and drink have been laid under the ban, until now it would be impossible for a hungry man to indulge in a " square meal " without violating half-a-dozen or more of some one's dietetic rules and " princi- ples ; " and could such a man, after indulgence, be induced to peruse and assimilate the current litera- ture on the subject of what he had been eating, he would be in imminent danger of a fit of indigestion that would last him a week, perhaps a lifetime. One book would tell him that the coffee with which he had prepared his stomach for the more solid foods was a deadly poison. Another would inform him that the beefsteak, or other meats, which consti- tuted the piece de resistance of his meal, was the prime source of all the ills of the human stomach, to say nothing of its irresistible tendency to brutalize humanity and incite nations to war. The next au- thority would inhibit potatoes because they contain too much starch, and another would inhibit the other vegetables because they do not contain enough. One authority would tell him that he did n't eat enough salt with his food; and the next would be equally positive that salt in appreciable quantities is demor- alizing to the human organism. One authority tells him that it is disastrous to drink anything during a meal, and the next dietetic savant tells him that he should deluge his stomach with hot water if he ex- SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH 109 pects to eat anything 1 with impunity/' And so on through the whole bill of fare, be it great or small. I undertake to say that nothing that enters into the composition of the diet of civilized humanity has escaped denunciation by somebody, at some time, as being unfit for human food. Moreover, no such denunciation of any article of food has ever been unproductive of its legitimate results, namely, a cloud of witnesses in confirmation of the assertion. Do I hear some one say that bread, " the staff of life," must be excepted from this wholesale state- ment? If any one supposes that bread has escaped, he " imagines a vain thing." A few years ago an American lady a brand " new woman " was casting about for a " mission " in life ; that is to say, she longed to " reform " somebody or some- thing, it mattered not what, so long as it held out to her a prospect of standing at the head of a great " movement." To that end it must be something new, startling, original. She inclined to dietetics, not because she knew anything of the subject, but because she was not thus encumbered. In looking over the list of foods already under the ban of the " reformer," she found nothing left but bread. It is true that bread had been foully dealt with by other iconoclasts, largely in the way of rendering it unpalatable and innutritions by making it princi- pally of bran and other refuse material; but it was decidedly a new departure to denounce bread as the " staff of death," and so she adopted that shibboleth as the key-note of her system of dietetic reform, and, for the want of anything else to live on which had not already been proven by her predecessors to 1 10 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE be unwholesome, she advised mankind to live on nuts. Fortunately for the American people, they are endowed with a keen sense of the ridiculous, which decidedly limits the range of their suggestibility; and, consequently, the idea did not " take " in this country to a commercial extent. But the lady flew to England, organized a Society of Bread-Haters and Nut-Eaters, started a magazine, and wrote a book, before John Bull began to laugh. It must not be supposed that the lady was entirely destitute of followers even in this country. On the contrary, many rose up to testify to the life-destroy- ing potency of bread and the bland beneficence of nuts as an article of daily consumption at the family table. It will now be seen what a vast congeries of sug- gestions adverse to health the American stomach is beset withal. I have spoken of the public press as being largely responsible primarily for this state of affairs. But when we reflect that what is said in books and newspapers is repeated over and over at every table at which a dietetic crank is allowed to feed, it will be seen that almost every family is more or less subjected to the infliction of such suggestions three times a day. Is it any wonder that we are known as a " nation of dyspeptics " ? And is it not self-evident that heretofore cause and effect have been misplaced and misunderstood? Europeans tell us that our diet is unwholesome, and hence respon- sible for those ills which have come to be regarded as peculiarly American, and we are only too ready to echo the refrain; whereas the fact is that in no SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH III nation on earth is the average table so bountifully supplied with good, plain, wholesome, and nutritious food as it is in the United States. It is a common saying that the average European cook could feed a family on what is wasted in an American family of the same size. Doubtless this is true; but it must not be forgotten that it must be a European family that could thus subsist. A normal American would starve to death on the same concoction of waste materials. No; the average American need not be ashamed or afraid of either his diet or his cuisine, for there is absolutely nothing unwholesome in the one, nor unscientific in the other. But he should avoid the current suggestions relating to both, as he would avoid famine or a pestilence; for such sug- gestions as we have been considering will create a famine in the midst of abundance, and a pestilence amidst the most perfect physical environment. It is a literal fact that thousands of people in this coun- try are perishing for the lack of proper nutriment, simply because they have allowed themselves to dwell upon the suggestions contained in current literature. Does any one doubt the control of the mind over the vital processes ? Who has not experienced a total suspension of the digestive functions upon the recep- tion of bad news? Who has not experienced a sud- den and total loss of appetite upon hearing certain disagreeable subjects discussed at the table? \Vho has not seen half the guests at a boarding-house table suddenly disappear when the perennial idiot known as the boarding-house wag provides himself before- hand with a long hair and pretends to pull it out of 113 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE \ the hash? There are a few who can retain sausages on their stomachs, even the bologna, in the presence of the " humorist " who fancies that he has created an original joke by alluding to the possible constit- uent elements of the sausage of commerce. For- tunate indeed is the man who can hurl defiance at the joker by saying, " You can't turn my stomach." It not only indicates a healthy stomach, but the as- sertion itself constitutes an effective auto-suggestion which fortifies the stomach against the adverse in- fluence of the original suggestion of " dog " in the sausage. This leads us to the consideration of the sovereign remedy for all the manifold evils arising from the congeries of suggestions which we have been con- sidering. Obviously the remedy is auto-suggestion; for if disease can be created by one suggestion, follows that it can be cured by a counter suggestion. The latter may be made by one person to another, as by a mental healer to his patient; or it may be made by the patient himself, which is known as " auto-suggestion." Other things being equal, an auto-suggestion is more potent than a suggestion from any extraneous source, for the simple reason that an auto-suggestion is generally backed by the objective convictions of the patient, whereas sug- gestions by another may directly contravene the pa- tient's objective reason and experience, not that the latter may not be effective when it is made with force and persistence, but that the former are more easily and naturally effective, either as a moral or a therapeutic agency. One may, therefore, counteract the great bulk of SUGGESTIONS ADVERSE TO HEALTH 113 the current dietetic suggestions by the employment of just a little reason and common sense. If he feels that he must read what every crank has to say about diet and health, let him ask himself if there is any reasonable foundation for the diatribe against the particular article under treatment, and in nine cases out of ten he will find that it contravenes all reason and human experience. But the safest plan is to refrain from reading such stuff; for the ten- dency always is to try to verify what one reads on such subjects, especially if one is ignorant of the potency of suggestion and its tendency to create ex- pected conditions. This is on the principle that " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." It is always easy to prevent an adverse suggestion from taking effect in the mind; and that is by not allow- ing it to find an entrance. To that end one should never allow himself to think, much less talk, on the subject of the wholesomeness or digestibility of the food that is set before him. The good old biblical rule is the best : " Eat what is set before you, asking no questions for conscience' sake." Above all, having partaken of a dish, do not go away and sit down to watch for symptoms of in- digestion. If one does that, he will be sure to find what he is seeking. The best rule of diet is to eat what you like to eat, in due moderation of course, and never allow the question of its digestibility to intrude itself, even in an adverse thought. Indul- gence in cheerful conversation during and immedi- ately after meals is the best conceivable " dieteticall and prophylaticall receipt of wholesome caution " against acute indigestion or chronic dyspepsia. In 114 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE other words, keep your mind off your stomach dur- ing the process of digestion, and you will soon forget that you have a stomach. The immunity of animals and idiots from diseases of the digestive organs, many of whom eat enormously of whatever they can get, is due to the fact that they are beyond the reach of suggestions adverse to health. Some one has well said that if the current dietetic suggestions could reach the mind of an ostrich, he would soon be un- able to digest a boiled potato. CHAPTER VIII "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE Asceticism of our Puritan Ancestors. Tendency of Primitive Minds to reason by Analogy. Influence of Asceticism on Dietetics. The Appetite usually a Safe Guide. Dyspepsia often caused by Suggestion. The Principle of Asceticism in the Old Medical Practice. Importance of the Law of suggestion in Connection with Diet and Medicine. IN saying what I shall have to say under the above heading, it is far from my intention to cast any reflections upon the character or the religion of our Puritan ancestors. It is only in reference to some salient peculiarities that a parallel can be drawn which justifies the title to this chapter. It was these peculiarities, growing insensibly out of an ascetic religion, that drew from Lord Macaulay the remark that the Puritans of the epoch of which he was writing " hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators." 1 That this was literally true, Macaulay then proceeds to demonstrate by docu- mentary evidence. Of course, this trait of character constituted no part of the religion of Puritanism, per se; but it is undeniable that the characteristic has been inherited by later generations to such an extent that in this country, at least, Puritanism at one time came to be 1 History of England, vol. i. p. 154. , Il6 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE popularly regarded as a religion the fundamental tenet of which was that whatever is pleasurable is necessarily sinful. Whether this was literally true it is aside from our purpose to inquire. But that the acts of our Puritan ancestors often justified the conclusion is a matter of history. It is sufficient for our present purpose to know that the rank and file so believed, and that their belief was justified by the pulpit utterances of such leaders as the Mathers, the Baxters, and their more feeble imitators. Judging from Baxter's utterances, for instance, it would seem that the only pleasurable emotion which he consid- ered at all legitimate was the holy joy naturally arising from the assurance that all other sects were destined to suffer eternal torment in the next world. This pleasure could not reasonably be denied the " saints ; " for, as Baxter informs us, God himself will take infinite pleasure in the eternal torments of the damned. 1 But all other pleasures were inhibited as being sinful. Music, dancing, laughter, feasting, public amusements, and all kinds of games came under the ban; and they even sought to place limi- tations upon the enjoyment of parental love, as being displeasing in the sight of a jealous God, who was apt to kill the child whose mother's affection for her offspring was just a little too pronounced. In short, any pleasurable indulgence that would afford a mo- mentary relief from the contemplation of the certainty and imminence of death, and the gloom and dampness of the grave, was held to be essentially wicked and deserving of punishment by means of eternal fire. Now, it is a singular psychological fact that when 1 Saint's Rest, chap. vi. "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE a popular idea takes possession of a community in relation to one subject, it is sure to be carried over to other subjects where an analogy is supposed to exist. The human mind at a certain stage of evolu- tionary development is prone to seek for analogies, and on the slightest provocation the most momen- tous " scientific " conclusions will be drawn from supposed analogies, when in point of fact the two subjects have absolutely nothing in common. Thus, the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butter- fly has, time out of mind, been supposed to afford a valid scientific argument in proof of the immortality of the human soul, and learned logicians have sol- emnly set it forth as such in text-books for the use of schools and colleges. The butterfly as a symbol of immortality is beautiful and poetical, but con- sidered as inductive proof of the survival of the human soul after death, it is grossly illogical and unscientific. The reason is obvious: the laws gov- erning the physical structure and metamorphosis of the butterfly are laws of the organic world, whereas the laws of the human soul are spiritual laws; and it is axiomatic that no legitimate scientific analogy exists between subjects governed by different laws. As well might one hope to solve a mathematical problem by the rules of grammar. On the other hand, the old pagan argument against immortality is invalid for the same reason. I allude to " Averroeism," or the doctrine of " emanation and absorption," which at one time threatened to con- vert all Europe to paganism. 1 It was an analogical 1 See " A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life ; " also Draper's " Conflict between Religion and Science." Il8 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE argument of the same specious character as the one alluded to in favor of immortality, for that it sought to justify conclusions relating to a purely spiritual question by reference alone to phenomena of the material universe. In view of this tendency of primitive minds to find analogies where none exist, it is not at all strange that in a community holding fast to the idea that in the moral and social realms whatever is pleasurable is sinful, they should also believe that in the gastro- nomic world whatever tastes particularly good is necessarily unwholesome, and that the efficacy of medicines is proportioned to their nastiness and the consequent amount of discomfort that can be in- flicted on the patient by their administration. I do not undertake to say that this doctrine has been authoritatively formulated; but it was well stated, according to a newspaper anecdote, by a little girl whose Puritan mother had refused her a second piece of pie on the ground that it would make her sick. "Oh, mamma!" exclaimed the afflicted little maiden, " it seems as though everything in this world that is real nice is either wicked or indigestible." This expresses the true situation in a nutshell. It is probable that no one has ever formulated the idea that food is unwholesome in proportion to its pala- tability, but certain it is that an incalculable number of people habitually act upon that " principle." It is equally certain that it is the outgrowth uncon- scious, perhaps of the popular puritanical idea, as before stated. Be that as it may, the fact remains, and it must be dealt with in this connection ; for it is one of the "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE 1 19 most prolific sources of suggestions adverse to health that the American people have to encounter. It is obvious that if such a rule of diet be adhered to, there must be a vast number of perfectly whole- some articles of food brought under the ban at every table where the rule prevails. Children espe- cially are made to suffer by being deprived, wholly or in part, of those things which every healthy normal stomach craves. Besides, the constant sug- gestions imparted to children in regard to the in- digestibility of everything that they are fond of inevitably weakens their digestive powers, and many are thus converted into chronic dyspeptics before their milk teeth are shed. Now, there are certain things that may be more effectively used as illustrations of what is meant, because of a radical change in popular opinion in relation to them within a few years. For instance, half a century ago watermelons were under the ban, and were consequently partaken of with great cau- tion and many misgivings as to their digestibility. Nobody could offer a plausible explanation why a watermelon contained the seeds of disease, and yet the fact remained that numerous cases of cholera morbus were traced to indulgence in that luxury. Children were especially cautioned against eating all they wanted of it, and solemn warnings of the wrath to come accompanied every little piece that was doled out. Of course, vigorous introspection followed every indulgence, and everybody who ate watermelon in the evening went to bed with his mind prepared for a wrestle with cholera morbus before morning. That the legitimate result of the \ 120 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE suggestion frequently followed, goes without saying. A notable exception must be made in favor of the nocturnal small-boy who gorged himself to reple- tion upon stolen watermelons. He was immune, for nobody was present to suggest the deadly character of the fruit, and he had something to think about besides watching for symptoms of approaching dis- solution. He only knew that watermelon tasted good, and he was not up in the then current dietetic science which proscribed watermelon for that very reason. Fortunately for the watermelon trade, as well as for the health of the community, it was discovered some years ago that there is absolutely nothing in the constituent elements of watermelon to justify its bad reputation. The celebrated Dr. Tanner was the first to call public attention to the fact. He had analyzed it and found nothing in it more deadly than a little sugar mixed with a large proportion of water. He experimented with it, and found that it was more easily digested than any other known product of the soil, and hence he chose it as the very best and safest means of breaking his celebrated forty days' fast. On that occasion he simply gorged him- self with watermelon, pure and simple, to the con- sternation of the attending physicians and the horror of the general public. But as the result justified the doctor's prognosis, the watermelon scored a signal triumph, and in due course of time it ceased its dia- bolical work, and now everybody eats it with im- punity. The suggestion has been removed. Hard-boiled eggs is another very popular article of diet that was for many years under the ban, evi- "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE 121 dently for no other reason than because every child likes hard-boiled eggs better than he does the half- cooked, mussy, soft-boiled egg. That being the case, of course he must be deprived of it, on the usual ground; or if one is reluctantly given to him, he is duly and solemnly informed that it will make him sick. This state of affairs continued for cen- turies, and it is even now in evidence among the more ignorant families. But the prejudice has been gradually dying out since doctors began to prescribe hard-boiled eggs as a highly nutritious and easily digested article of diet for dyspeptics. They argue that cooking food until it is palatable does not render it indigestible. On the contrary, the palatability of food is one of the first essentials to its digestibility, for the reason that it increases the secretion of saliva and the gastric juices. In fact, it may be set down as a general rule, that, other things being equal, and the element of suggestion eliminated, the more pala- table a food is, the easier it is digested and assimi- lated. Hence it is that " what is one man's meat is another man's poison," which is but another way of saying that not all digestive organs are alike. 1 That which is easy for one person to digest is diffi- L cult for another; but as a rule the one who likes a particular article is the one who can digest it, and vice versa. In fact, it may be set down as a dietetic axiom that -what the unpervcrted stomach craves it can digest. By " unper verted stomach " I mean one whose powers have not been destroyed by suggestion or other abuses. Of course, this is the exact opposite to the " puri- tanical " rule of which we have been speaking. But 122 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE physicians are rapidly coming 1 to the conclusion that the human stomach craves most that which it most needs, and that one's appetite is a pretty safe guide to a healthful diet. That is to say, the subjective mind instinctively knows the needs of the physical organism, and it makes its wants known to the ob- jective consciousness by appropriate stimuli. Thus, in the presence of the needed food, and often by thinking of it, the salivary glands are stimulated to action, and thus the first prerequisite to good diges- tion is provided in an increased flow of saliva. The stomach itself is stimulated to action by the same means, and a consequent secretion of the gastric juices is induced, thus rendering the process of di- gestion easy and pleasurable. It follows that the opposite course will produce opposite results, and digestion of food that the stomach rejects, or does not crave, is correspondingly slow and difficult. Hence it is that the intelligent physician of the present time is seemingly careless of his patient's diet, and generally tells him to eat what he likes. If he restricts the diet at all, it is generally because the patient seems to expect it, and perhaps would be unfavorably impressed if the doctor failed to make a showing of wisdom in that way. In such cases the average doctor will inhibit something that he does not happen to like himself; and each one seems to have his pet aversion. I knew a doctor in Washington whose bete noir was boiled cabbage, and he invariably told his patients that they could eat anything they liked except boiled cabbage. " Boiled cabbage," he would oracularly set forth, " is abso- lutely indigestible, even by a well man, to say noth- "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE 123 ing of one whose stomach is weakened by disease." Of course the majority of his patients knew by ex- perience that for any one who likes it boiled cab- bage is perfectly easy to digest, and that it is a staple article of diet for thousands whose stomachs have never revealed their existence by any sensation except that of hunger; but they soon learned that the doctor would wax hysterical if they ventured to defend boiled cabbage against his indictment. Other doctors have their pet aversions which they exploit in a similar way, but there are few left who venture to adhere to the old rule that whatever a patient likes must, for that reason alone, be inhibited. Half a century ago the latter rule prevailed largely among the medical profession in this country. Of those who can remember so far back, few can forget the affectionate, insinuating solicitude with which the average doctor and the nurse would urge a conva- lescing patient to try to think of something that he would like to eat. And no one will forget the fact that when some article was named, the doctor would invariably shake his head, look preternaturally wise, and totally and inexorably inhibit that particular article as being hurtful, indigestible, and otherwise altogether unsuited to the patient's condition at that particular stage of his disease or of his convales- cence. After securing a full list of articles that the patient thought he could relish, he would be informed that disease had so vitiated his appetite that he neces- sarily craved only those articles of diet that were in- jurious to him in his then condition ; and the homily would end by the prescription of some " sick dish " that the patient had already been fed on ad nauseam, 124 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE and it was generally some tasteless, innutritious mess that would turn the stomach of a hungry dog. Many cases of chronic dyspepsia were traceable to this practice; and the worst of it was that the results often seemed to justify the practice. Thus, a physician would strenuously inhibit a favorite dish merely because the patient liked it and wanted it. The inhibition would be accompanied by the usual homily on the indigestibility of that particular article, and the patient would often be warned to be very careful about indulging too freely in it even after his health was restored. The suggestion would nat- urally take effect; and it frequently happened that the patient could never afterward indulge with im- punity in his favorite dish. Nor did it matter how harmless the article might be. I knew a boy once who during convalescence was urged to tell what he would relish most in the way of food, and in reply named a certain variety of apples of which he was particularly fond. Of course he could not have that particular variety, and he was asked to name another. But he would have his favorite or none; whereupon he was told that he could have any other variety in the orchard, but that that par- ticular apple was extremely hard to digest, and that indulgence in it would most likely cause a relapse. He was, of course, forced to forego his desires, and was in the end fed on that which he most abomi- nated. He managed to survive and fully regained his health; but when he came to indulge in his favorite variety of apples he found that they invari- ably gave him a fit of indigestion. The suggestion had taken effect. That it was suggestion, pure and "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE 12$ simple, and that it was the one enforced upon him on the occasion referred to, is evidenced by the fact that no other variety of apples had that effect upon his digestive apparatus. That the suggestions made at the same time in regard to other foods did not have the same effect upon him, was doubtless due to the fact that he had not especially craved any- thing but the apples, and hence the inhibition of other things had not so surprised and annoyed him. But when he was told that his favorite variety of jj apples was, more than any other, indigestible, his sur- prise and annoyance were complete, and the impres- sion was lasting. Be that as it may, certain it is that no other article of diet troubled him ; and many years afterward, when he came to a knowledge of v the law of suggestion, he was enabled to " throw off the spell " by a vigorous course of auto-suggestion, and he thus restored the Rambo to the list of diges- tible fruits. But many victims of dietetic suggestions made on that principle during convalescence were not so for- tunate; for thousands have suffered all their subse- quent lives from having such suggestions enforced upon them in regard to the most simple and whole- some articles of diet. Most of them believe that their sickness was responsible for their subsequent stomach troubles, and they wonder why it is that their former favorite foods have ceased to be diges- tible, little realizing that it was because it was their favorite food that the doctor inhibited it during convalescence. Happily, as before intimated, there are but few dietetic cranks of the kind left among the doctors, 126 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE and the patient is now generally left to choose his own diet, except in certain cases where solid foods are dangerous, as in typhoid fever. But many vic- tims of the old practice still survive to make them- selves and their families miserable by nursing the delusion that " whatever is real nice is either wicked or indigestible." It was not, however, alone in regard to diet that the doctors of the early part of the last century prac- tised upon the principle that whatever was gratify- ing to the patient must, for that reason, be inhibited. Thus, it was long held as a cardinal principle of practice in cases of fever that the patient must be kept in a close, warm room, and on no account be allowed to drink cold water, or even to indulge in thoughts of snow or ice. Why? No one was ever able to give any better reason than that fresh air, cold water, or ice would have given comfort and pleasure to the patient. If forced to attempt a phil- osophical explanation of the " system," it would be said that, " being sick, the patient's tastes are viti- ated, the whole order of nature is reversed, and he necessarily craves only that which is hurtful." Of course the explanation was as idiotic as the practice was abominable; but it revealed its origin in the then prevalent puritanical idea that in the moral realm whatever is pleasurable is necessarily sinful. Other illustrations might be given of the practice, for they were numerous, but these must suffice. I have mentioned this one because it was typical ; and no one who suffered from a fever in the olden time, and survived the treatment, will fail to verify what I have said. Happily, most of the old doctors who "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE I2/ practised under the system are dead, and physicians of the present day have reversed the practice. A fever patient is now given the benefit of all the fresh air available; he is allowed to drink all the cold water he wants; chopped ice is placed within his reach, and he is treated to cold ablutions at stated intervals. The result is that fever is no longer an unmitigated torture, and even typhoid fever is largely shorn of its ancient horrors. " Good nurs- ing " is now the salient feature of treatment of that disease, and good nursing consists in doing every- thing to give the patient comfort by mitigating the severity of the fever. Under the old regime a good typhoid-fever nurse was one who would, with grim determination, refuse the appeals of the patient for some mitigation of the torture and cram a hideous mixture down his throat at frequent intervals. Again, the popular idea of medicine was derived from the same puritanical source. Hence it was that the efficiency of medicine was measured by its nasti- ness. No medicine that was pleasant to the taste was considered of any therapeutic value whatever. The old Thomsonian, or Botanical, system of medicine was apparently devised with special reference to that " principle." At any rate, it fell on fruitful soil, for it made its appearance at the supreme psychological moment when the value of all things was measured by the one standard. If there was any other stan- dard of therapeutic value than that of nastiness in the Thomsonian materia medica, it certainly was not manifest to the taste. In that system the relative therapeutic values of its different medicines were indicated by numerals; and No. I stood for that 128 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE supreme herbal abomination known to botanists as lobelia infiata. If that herb had been selected to stand at the head of the list solely because of its nasty taste, no better selection could have been made. But it was selected because no human stomach could endure its presence for five minutes if the victim had sufficient vitality left to throw it off. In other words, it was used solely as an emetic; and an emetic was always " indicated " under the Thom- sonian system, no matter what the disease might be. That the patient, if he survived, invariably felt better after recovering from the effects of a lobelia emetic, goes without saying; for it would be im- possible for him to feel worse than when that par- ticular variety of emetic was performing its mission. There are, in fact, more reasons than one why he should feel better after such an ordeal. In the first place, he feels both glad and surprised to find him- self alive; and as the discomforts of illness are com- parative, a lobelia emetic causes all other human miseries to seem pleasurable. Moreover, if he sur- vive, he is encouraged, for his doctor is then en- abled to pronounce a favorable prognosis. Such an abounding vitality was equal to any emergency. This, in point of fact, was the secret of the unde- niable success which attended the Thomsonian sys- tem of practice in its early days. In addition to the universal nastiness of its decoctions, it required each patient to go through a certain definite " course of medicine," in which the lobelia emetic, followed by steaming and sweating, was the never-failing initia- tory torture. If his vitality was equal to the strain, well and good; if not, his death was charged up "PURITANICAL" DIET AND MEDICINE to Divine Providence, or to the doctor having been called too late, or to the " 'Pothecary doctors " pre- viously in charge of the case. This, however, is a slight digression. My prin- cipal 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 de- rives from food depends upon his powers of diges- tion and assimilation; but the majority of people do need to be informed that their powers of diges- tion 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, appreci- ated, and intelligently acted upon, the science of heal- ing 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 Atten- tion." Appendicitis. Any Disease that can be induced by Sug- gestion can be avoided by Counter-Suggestion or by ignoring Adverse Suggestion. Avoidance of Adverse Suggestion. Sug- gestion in Connection with Habitual Drunkenness and Dipsomania. Counter-Suggestion as a Prophylactic. Danger of Injudicious Sympathy. False Dietetic Suggestions to Children. THE reader will now once more recall the funda- mental psychological propositions upon which the science of mental medicine is based. They are : 1. That man is endowed with a dual mental or- ganism, 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 at- tention 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 A UTO-SUGGES TION I 3 1 practical uses he may know that he is wholly within the realm of scientific truth, and not groping in the darkness of mediaeval mysticism or savage super- stition. 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 distin- guished from the faith inspired by authority invested with mystery and occultism. Such was the faith of Jesus of Nazareth. He was endowed with a per- fect 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 dis- eases of the body. This was the secret of his tran- scendent power, of his never- fail ing 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 ex- ample of the Master; and hence the frequent fluc- tuations 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 propo- sitions, with what success the reader must judge. I have also pointed out some of the sources of danger 132 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE arising from popular ignorance of the law of sug- gestion. I have dwelt upon the innumerable sug- gestions 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 recog- nized, and, on the whole, the most important. Ob- viously, 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 sim- ulated, by the power of mind when stimulated by suggestion. It is asserted by physicians of experi- ence 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 sug- gestion, 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 experi- mentally, it follows that persistence in such concen- tration will eventually induce congestion, especially A UTO-SUGGESTION 1 3 3 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 do- main of a popular surgical fad when I venture to instance appendicitis as a possible example of a dis- ease 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, gen- erally a seed of some fruit that the patient had eaten. But since it was discovered that the vermi- form 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 prop- erly 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 phenome- nal 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- 134 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE tonitis, and thus sacrificed many lives that might have been saved by an operation, had the seat of the disease been recognized. Candor compels the admission that there may be much truth in the explanation. But it certainly does not account for all the increase, nor does it explain certain salient peculiarities of modern appendicitis. For instance, formerly that disease was always at- tributed to the presence of some irritant foreign substance in the mouth of the appendix; now, in more than half of the cases, no foreign substance is found. But, in all reported cases, serious inflamma- tion was found to exist, enough, at least, to con- firm the doctor's diagnosis and justify the operation. What the unreported cases reveal there is no means of knowing. One of the salient peculiarities of the modern variety of appendicitis is that it prevails most among the educated, refined, and well to do. It seems to avoid carefully the homes of poverty and ignorance. I have no statistics to verify this statement, and it may be all wrong. But it is popularly believed to be true that " appendicitis is the rich man's disease." I certainly have never known of a case that contra- dicts that belief. But it would be grossly unjust to the medical profession to accept the popular explanation of the fact, which is, of course, that the doctor's diagnosis is governed by the ability of the patient to pay for an operation. This is not only palpably unjust, but it is unnecessary. In fact, if there was no other explanation, I should doubt the fact, " for they are all honorable men." To those who have followed A UTO-SUGGESTION 135 what has been said in regard to the potency of sug- gestion, it will be apparent that the prevalence of the disease among the educated classes is just what one might expect, for the following reasons : In the first place, it is only the educated classes who know much about the disease, and it requires some knowledge of anatomy to locate definitely the vermiform appendix. The essential conditions neces- sary to enable one to concentrate his mind upon that appendage are, therefore, present with the well in- formed and entirely absent in the minds of the igno- rant. That is to say, one must know where to expect pain before he can induce it by "expectant attention." The ignorant, however, are not always immune, pro- vided they think they know where to look for un- toward symptoms, and are cursed with a morbid suggestibility. For instance, I knew one of that class who once became excited on the subject of appendicitis, and proceeded to inquire of a friend just where the vermiform appendix might be found. His friend, knowing his proneness to experience the symptoms of every disease he happened to read about, purposely misinformed him by giving him to under- stand that it was located on the left side of the lower abdomen. As usual, he began to watch for symp- toms; and, as usual, he was soon rewarded by feel- ing a decided uneasiness in the locality named. In less than a week he felt compelled to appeal to a specialist for relief, which was instantly afforded, both as to his mind and his body, by being informed that he had selected the wrong locality for a good case of appendicitis. Nevertheless, it required the application of hot fomentations to relieve the in- 136 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE flammation that had actually been induced in the suggested location. It is needless to say that if he had been correctly informed by his friend, the surgeon would not have been defrauded of a genuine case. Again, appendicitis is such a formidable proposi- tion, so distressing while it lasts, and its cure fraught with such danger to life, that it naturally excites the utmost dread in the minds of those who are familiar with the current literature on the subject. It would, therefore, constitute an exception to all known dis- eases if it failed to be attended with the usual results due to morbid suggestibility. The class thus afflicted, after reading up on the subject, begin by being very careful not to swallow any more fruit seeds; and if one accidentally slips down, they immediately begin to concentrate their minds upon their insides. The slightest symptom of uneasiness in the proper local- ity is magnified a thousand fold, vigilance is re- doubled and intensified, and the consequent pain and inflammation is induced. The result is an opera- tion, revealing a case of appendicitis minus a tangi- ble cause. The expected seed, or other irritant, is not in evidence. Another exciting cause of morbid suggestibility on this subject is the mystery with which science or the want of it has invested the vermiform ap- pendix. Scientists tell us that it is the vestigial remains of some organ that is no longer useful, whatever it may have been to our remote ancestors. This may be true; but the idea seems analogous to other assertions of science which are obviously made to conceal ignorance. Thus, scientists are prone to deny the existence of all occult things that they can- A UTO-SUGGESTION 137 not explain, as in psychic phenomena. But the ver- miform appendix is a tangible reality the existence of which cannot be denied; and inasmuch as they are ignorant of its uses, they declare it to be useless. In other words, according to the theory of science, nature made a mistake in creating it, a mistake all the more flagrant and inexcusable in that this " f unctionless organ" (Gray) was placed, not where it would do the most good, but where it is a constant menace to life. If nature were in the habit of making mechanical mistakes in the construction of vital organs, the ap- pendix vermiformis might be charged up to that source; but, as no other organ has been found to be functionless, it must be presumed that God is wiser than man, wiser, if possible, than the scien- tists who can find no other than professional uses for the vermiform appendix, and that in the ful- ness of time that organ will be able to find a valid excuse for existing. In the meantime it will con- tinue to be constantly enhancing in value as a source of revenue for surgeons, so long, at least, as the public remains in ignorance of the potency of sug- gestions adverse to health. It is obvious that the remarks made in regard to cholera and appendicitis apply with equal force and pertinency to hundreds of other prevailing diseases, as well as to those diseases of the digestive organs mentioned in preceding chapters. The lesson is ob- vious, and it applies to all alike. It is that Any disease that can be induced by suggestion can be avoided either by a counter suggestion or by ignoring the adverse suggestion. 138 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE This is the most important lesson that any school of mental medicine has to teach, and it is but a prac- tical expression of the old aphorism that " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Moreover, it is a lesson that any one can put into instant prac- tice and reap an immediate reward. The science of mental healing is, indeed, important; but it requires more or less training and experience, whereas the ability to avoid disease by mental processes is within easy reach of all sane persons who understand the fundamental principles, or the salient facts, of the law of suggestion. The following self-evident propositions will make my meaning clear: 1. The efficacy of mental medicine is dependent upon mental conditions. 2. Mental healing is accomplished by the induc- tion of favoring mental conditions in the patient. 3. The one prepotent means of inducing that mental condition is suggestion. 4. The power or energy that is capable of in- ducing a mental condition favorable to healing dis- ease is capable of preventing disease by the same process. 5. The power that is equal to the task of either preventing or healing disease by mental processes is necessarily equal to the production of disease, con- ditions being reversed. 6. Suggestion, therefore, is the one prepotent mental energy which is capable of inducing, pre- venting, or healing disease. It follows that suggestion is of practical value to man in exact proportion to the uses which he makes A UTO-SUGGESTION 1 3 9 of it. That is to say, he may make it a blessing or a curse according to the uses for which it is em- ployed. But use it he must, for it pervades the mental atmosphere as the sunlight of heaven per- vades the solar system. He cannot escape it, for it is one of nature's all-pervasive forces and knows no variableness nor shadow of turning. Like every other law of nature, it is primarily for the highest benefit of mankind; but, like every other beneficent energy, it may destroy him if, either through ig- norance or perversity, he fails to place himself in harmony with it. It is a maxim of criminal jurisprudence that " ignorance of the law excuseth no man " ; yet courts and juries sometimes exercise a discretionary clemency in cases where it is clear that no wrong was intended. But nature is inexorable in the ex- action of the fullest penalties for the violation of her laws, whether through perversity or ignorance; and as I have before remarked, the more benefi- cent the law, the more severe are the penalties for its violation. I have pointed out the fact that in this country popular ignorance of the law of suggestion has made us a nation of dyspeptics, multiplied the rate of mor- tality in epidemic diseases, and virtually created a new surgical disease, painful to the last degree, fatal if not cured, and dangerous in the extreme in the process of cure; and yet I have covered only a small part of the field where ignorance of the law, and false suggestions, are doing their fatal work. I have done this, not as an alarmist, not for the purpose of ad- vertising and promoting the sale of a new-fangled 140 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE patent nostrum, not even for the purpose of ad- vocating a new system of healing disease. In Part II. of this book I shall point out what I conceive to be the most rational method of practising the art of mental healing. But thus far I have devoted my energies to the task of familiarizing the public mind with the fundamental law the violation of which en- tails disease everywhere, to the end that I might point out a remedy, without money and without price, and within the reach of all, whereby the great bulk of cur- rent diseases may be avoided, and doctors and their medicines relegated to a state of innocuous desuetude. Those who have followed my remarks thus far have already anticipated the substance of the few words of advice with which I propose to close this part of my work. There are two ways of avoiding the effects of cur- rent suggestions adverse to health: the first is by avoiding the suggestions themselves; and the second is by opposing a counter self-suggestion. The first is the easier and more effective; but it applies prin- cipally to those whose health is not already impaired by adverse suggestions or other influences. What is here meant by avoiding adverse sugges- tions is that one should avoid reading, talking, or thinking about pathological conditions of the hu- man body. This may seem like an advocacy of popular ignorance of those subjects; and in a sense it is such. But it is justified on the ground that the health of the masses is of greater importance than popular education in pathology. Besides, the inhi- bition does not exclude a proper amount of popular education in anatomy and physiology. But the study ' AUTO-SUGGESTION 141 of disease should be restricted to those who expect to engage in the practice of the art of healing the sick. In this connection the reader will not forget what has been said of the proneness of medical stu- dents, and even of some doctors, to evoke in them- selves, by unconscious auto-suggestion, the symptoms of every disease they are called upon to study. My remarks, however, are not intended to apply to the acquisition of a truly scientific knowledge of pathology, whatever the object may be; but it is hoped that they may serve as a warning, even to medical students, against the practice of " introspec- tion " with 'the view of finding symptoms corre- sponding with those they are studying. What I do strongly advise against is the common practice of reading, studying, and inwardly digesting the popu- lar literature on the subjects of disease, and espe- cially of diet. I have already stated my reasons at some length, and it is unnecessary to repeat beyond reminding the reader that the current stuff on those subjects is generally written by those who know least about them, often by cranks who are themselves the victims of false suggestions by other cranks, and they of others, and so on ad infinitum. We have already seen how a false suggestion, based upon a false premise, perpetuates itself from generation to generation and spreads itself over new domains which are entirely foreign to the original, as from religion to diet and from diet to medicine, etc. Horace Greeley once remarked that " the way to resume specie payments is to resume." In like man- ner the lesson we are seeking to enforce may be summarized : The way to avoid suggestions adverse 142 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE to health is to avoid them. That is to say, never allow them to enter your mind from any avoidable source; and if they have been thrust upon you by others, avoid dwelling upon them in your medita- tions. Above all, do not make a personal applica- tion to yourself of everything you chance to hear about the food that others have found by personal experience to be hurtful, for the chances are a thou- sand to one that they are themselves simply the vic- tims of false suggestions. In other words, avoid " introspection " while eating and during the pro- cess of digestion; for you will surely find what you are looking for, especially if you are expecting symp- toms of indigestion. Again, as you value the well-being of your family and friends, do not obtrude your own ideas,- if you have any, about the unwholesomeness of particular dishes on the bill of fare before you. Remember that others have rights which ought to be indefeas- ible, among which is the right to the undisturbed enjoyment of the pleasures of the table and the con- sequent good digestion. But if you are an average dietetic crank, this advice will go unheeded; for that ubiquitous personality enjoys nothing at the table except making his own infirmities conspicuous and warning others of the wrath to come if they indulge in anything fit to eat. It is a fact, confirmed by extensive observation, that one such crank, turned loose upon a perfectly healthy family, with digestive organs previously unimpaired, will gradually inocu- late the whole family with his mental virus, and cause the most healthful articles of food, one by one, to be banished from the table as indigestible. AUTO-SUGGESTION 143 The exercise of just a little common sense will enable you to avert the consequences of such sug- gestions when they are thrust upon you at the table by some crank whose flow of eloquence you do not feel at liberty to restrain. All one needs to do, in most cases, is to ask oneself what reason is found in common experience, or in the inherent character of the food itself, for pronouncing it indi- gestible or otherwise hurtful. If none be found, he is provided with a counter suggestion based upon reason and experience, and it is his own fault if he allows the false suggestion, which contravenes reason and experience, to obtain the mastery. But if, on the other hand, he is not endowed with common sense, or, in other words, if he belongs to the class of " chronic reformers," he will be apt to accept the false suggestion for the very reason that it con- demns the habits and contravenes the experience of mankind. " Whatever is, is wrong " being their shibboleth, they condemn every existing institution, custom, or habit found in civilization; and hence they inveigh against the common diet of civilized mankind with the same emotional enthusiasm that they would manifest in a crusade against the insti- tution of human slavery. In point of fact, the chronic reformer is a factor that must be reckoned with, in more ways than one, when dealing with suggestions adverse to health and the good order of society, for he is as apt to attack the practice of monogamy as of polygamy; and even when he in- stitutes a crusade against the recognized evils of society, he frequently does more harm than good. He not only brings his cause into disrepute by in- 144 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE temperate zeal and idiotic methods, as in the "hatchet crusade " for the reformation of drunkards, but the average temperance fanatic is full of suggestions that have a direct tendency to encourage drunkenness. Thus, the drunkard is constantly told that he is such because it is "impossible for him to resist" the temp- tation to drink when he feels like it, that it is impos- sible for him to reform so long as liquor is for sale, and that it is impossible for him to resist the temp- tation to abuse his family when he is drunk. These suggestions are so persistently iterated and reiterated and drummed into the ears of the " poor drunkards," that nine-tenths of them actually believe them, and hence regard themselves as helpless victims to be pitied and coddled, rather than as criminals deserv- ing the lash. The result is that they do not try to resist, because the suggestion is with them that it is impossible. The most potent suggestion, however, that the drunkard is beset withal, is the one that tells him that when he has taken one drink it is impossible for him to refrain from taking a second, and a third, and so on, until he is in a condition that ren- ders it necessary for him to go home and pound his wife. The reason is not far to seek. It is well known to psychologists that drunkards, especially of the class now referred to, are thrown into the subjective condition by drinking anything intoxicating. This is true of most people; but it is especially true of those who are in the habit of drink- ing to excess, and in many cases one glass is suffi- cient to induce the subjective condition to such an extent as to render them extremely amenable to sug- AUTO-SUGGESTION 145 gestion. It follows that when one of that class has taken one drink, the ever-present suggestion that he cannot refrain from taking another, exerts its full influence upon him; and the result is that he does not try to resist the temptation to plunge into a pro- longed debauch. When remonstrated with after the debauch is ended, he invariably says that after taking the first drink he is moved by an uncontrollable im- pulse to take another, after which he loses all desire to restrain himself. This indicates the purely subjective origin of the impulse, and distinguishes it from the ordinary desire for stimulants arising from nervous or mental de- pression. Its subjective origin is further indicated by the fact that the impulse amounts to a positive mania, and hence it is designated as " dipsomania," to distinguish it from ordinary habitual drunken- ness. Like other manias, it is a mental disease aris- ing from some form of suggestion; and the only obvious form of suggestion that could produce the result would be such as I have indicated. It is true that it may be partly traditional; but at any rate it is kept alive and potent by the constantly reiterated declaration by temperance extremists that the " poor drunkard," having once tasted liquor, is powerless to restrain himself from continuing the debauch. It not only confirms the dipsomaniac in his in- firmity, but it has a constant tendency to convert the ordinary habitual drunkard into a victim of that most appalling and dangerous of all forms of inebriety. This may seem like a digression ; but it is justified by its importance, as showing that a prolific source 146 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE of suggestions adverse to health, as well as to the good order of society, is found in the fanatics and degenerates who infest every civilized community. Nothing is too sacred to be meddled with by the hysterical imbecile who holds that whatever is, is wrong. The distinguishing characteristic of a normal man- hood is the ability to adapt oneself to his environment. Individually the crank is known by his inability to live in harmony with any of his environmental con- ditions, religious, political, or sociological. Collec- tively they are recognized by their propensity to organize themselves into societies for the promul- gation of " new ideas," especially such as are either incapable of verification or are palpably out of har- mony with established truth. As one values a health- L ful mental environment, he should avoid them as he \ I would a pestilence. Truth perpetuates itself by virtue of its own in- herent vitality, and it organizes its own following from among those who recognize it by its harmony with all other truth. It needs no human organiza- tion to promulgate it, for it is sel f -generating ; nor to perpetuate it, for it is eternal. Every truth is itself a part of an organized system, which is co- extensive with the universe of God. Hence no truth is unimportant or insignificant, for the grand sys- tem would be incomplete without it. Suspend one law of physical nature but for one moment, and the physical universe would disintegrate. Suspend one law of mind and soul, and mental chaos would super- vene. And as all the laws of nature are interrelated, and constitute one stupendous unitary system, it fol- AUTO-SUGGESTION 147 lows that a suspension of one law, physical or mental, would result in universal chaos. Analogous to the suspension of a natural law is its violation, for in either case the harmony of the uni- verse is disturbed. The results differ only in that, in the case of the violation of law, the inharmony affects only the guilty party and his dependents. But as to them, the appropriate penalties are inflicted with inexorable exactitude in proportion to the extent to which the law is violated. Evil, therefore, is but another name for inharmony, and its origin is found in the violation of the laws of God, physical, mental, or moral. The laws themselves are not evil, nor are they productive of evil. From the greatest to the least, they are designed for the ultimate good of man, provided only that he place himself in har- mony with them. They are the embodiment of Eter- nal Truth, and no false conclusion or suggestion can be derived from a knowledge of their provisions. On the other hand, every falsehood, every error, every wrong idea is a prolific source of possible evil, for no correct conclusion can be drawn from a false premise. Hence the suggestions arising from error and falsehood are necessarily wrong, misleading, and productive of untold evil consequences; and hence the necessity for constantly guarding the portals of the subjective mind against them. The safest sen- tinel to put on guard for that purpose is Reason, and the price of safety is eternal vigilance. This brings us to a consideration of the second method of averting the consequences of the current suggestions adverse to health. This method, as be- fore stated, consists in the interposition of a counter- 148 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE vailing suggestion, whenever an adverse suggestion is thrust upon you. The method is simple to the last degree, and it is as effective as it is easy of applica- tion. It consists in denying the truth of the adverse suggestion. By this I do not mean that an open con- troversy should be indulged in. On the contrary, that should be avoided ; for it would merely cause a reiteration of the suggestion with increased emphasis and a fresh eruption of persuasive eloquence. The denial should be made mentally, and it should be persisted in as long as the suggestion continues to be inflicted. After that the subject should be ignored, banished from the mind. A good way to silence a chronic dyspeptic is to boast of your own good digestive powers. It may be impolite; and certainly nothing so deeply offends a chronic dyspeptic as to be told that somebody else is immune from that malady. But self-preservation is the first law of nature. You owe it to yourself to shield your own mental and physical organism from the virus that is poisoning his ; and the assertion that your digestive powers are perfect is the surest way to make them perfect, or to keep them so. It is a countervailing auto-suggestion which you owe to yourself, even at the risk of enraging your friend, the chronic dyspeptic. Chronic invalids of all kinds are prone to discourse exhaustively on the subject of their miseries when- ever they can victimize a sympathetic listener. Their egotism is unbounded; and it never occurs to them that the full history of their aches, their pains, their symptoms, and their movements may not possess the same absorbing interest to others that it does to A UTO-SUCGESTION 1 49 themselves. Nor does it occur to them that they are inflicting a positive wrong upon their listeners by filling their minds with suggestions adverse to their own health. Sympathy is the boon they crave, and it is all too often injudiciously extended to them; for the sympathetic remarks of friends often amount to suggestions that confirm and increase the morbid mental condition of the sufferer. For instance, the most dangerous blessing that a chronic dyspeptic can have about him is a sympa- thetic Wife who is igmnrant nf \\\f> law nf Her constant watchfulness over his diet is something appalling. Knowing his infirmity, and dreading his erratic temper when he is stricken with a fit of indi- gestion, she conscientiously arms herself with all the current misinformation on the subject of diete- tics, and proceeds to make his life miserable at meal- times by doling it out as occasion seems to require. With true wifely devotion she watches every mouth- ful that he attempts to regale himself withal, and pounces upon him at intervals with, " Henry, you must not eat " this, or that, or the other ; " it will surely make you sick." And if Henry heeds her admonitions, he makes his meal of bran bread, or, perhaps, of some other equally innutritious " mush " that is advertised in the newspapers as being " pre- digested." The result is that he rises from the table with his digestive apparatus still further weakened by disuse, atrophied for the want of exercise, con- firmed in its vicious habits by a fresh instalment of pernicious suggestions, suggestions made by the best of wives with the best intentions. His whole body becomes weakened for the lack of proper nutri- ISO THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE ment, and he becomes an easy prey to every disease that prevails in his vicinage. He becomes morbid in mind as well as in body. He dwells upon his in- firmities in his meditations, and, in pursuit of sym- pathy, thrusts them upon the attention of all with whom he comes in contact. If he gets the coveted sympathy, he is confirmed in his morbidity. If not, he " gets mad," and complains that the whole world is in league against him; and if any one, in self- defence, presumes to mention his own good health, he is immediately catalogued as an enemy who is seeking to destroy the only comfort and consolation derivable from dyspepsia. On the other hand, the hypothetical " Henry " sometimes rebels against his wife's sympathetic es- pionage. Weak for the lack of nourishment, he comes to the table with an enormous appetite, and proceeds to eat what he likes best, regardless of the apprehensions of his faithful wife and monitor. But he does not escape her admonitions; for she is sure to remind him that his stomach is diseased and his appetite morbid, craving "only that which is indigestible," and so on to the end of the dis- mal chapter. But Henry is defiant, and, prompted by both appetite and perversity, overloads his stomach. Then follows a season of reflection upon the suggestions that have been made, self- condemnation for having eaten anything at all, and the usual introspection watching for untoward symptoms which he is sure to experience. If he is in business, he goes in search of his employees, and A UTO-SUGGESTION 1 5 1 " Discharges the best of 'em, Swears at the rest of 'em, Kicks the office cat, Jumps upon his hat," * and otherwise disports himself with an eye single to conquering comfort and consolation by making everybody else as miserable as he is himself. All of this might have been averted by a little judi- cious withholding of wifely sympathy, especially at mealtimes. The only safe rule, either for dyspeptics or well persons, is to taboo rigidly the subject of dietetics as a topic of conversation at mealtimes. Incalculable injury is often inflicted upon the children of healthy households by the incessant watchfulness of parents over their diet, especially in regard to desserts or other luxuries of which they are particularly fond. A due amount of caution is, of course, necessary; but it should be exercised when ordering the bill of fare, and it generally is. No sane person puts a dish before his children that is hurtful. But to hear the average parent discourse to his children upon the hurtfulness of the food set before them, one would think that the cook was suspected of having resolved to poison the whole family. The truth is that nine-tenths of the talk to chil- dren about the hurtfulness of food is prompted by motives of economy. It is a constipation of the pocket-book, rather than the hurtfulness of food, that causes many a child to be tortured by the pres- ence of luxuries that he is not permitted to enjoy in common with the older members of the family. i Holmes, " The Dyspeptic." 152 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE But whatever the motive may be, the point is that the luxuries of the table should never be denied to children on the ground that they are hurtful. In the first place, if they are actually hurtful, they should not be on the table. If not, a double wrong is perpetrated against the child. To say nothing of the heartless selfishness involved in depriving a child, from motives of sordid stinginess, of his share of the good things on the table, the example set before him of falsehood and deceit on the part of the par- ents is a moral wrong that may affect the child's whole future. If he does not follow their example, he will at least despise his parents for setting it. Be that as it may, the outrage upon his physical organ- ism is sure to be followed by its legitimate conse- quences, namely, a disordered stomach and weakened powers of digestion. The seeds of the disease which has distinguished us as " a nation of dyspeptics " are sown in the minds of our children at the table by the incessant nagging of ignorant or sordid parents. Nor is the wrong thus inflicted upon the little ones measured alone by the false suggestions and their inevitable consequences. The appetite of the average child is not only a good measure of its digestive powers, but its " longings " are the best evidences of what it needs. For instance, many children are possessed of what the average mother regards as a " morbid appetite " for sweets ; and sweets are, con- sequently, inhibited, with the inevitable suggestions regarding the hurtfulness of good things in general and sweet things in particular. Of course, the more strictly sweets are inhibited, the more intense are the A UTO-SUGGESTION 1 5 3 child's longings for them. This the mother usually regards as natural perversity, inherited from our grandmother Eve, and she redoubles her vigilance accordingly. Now, the truth is that children have an appetite for sugar because they need sugar, because of a deficiency in the physical organism of the element which saccharine matter in some form alone sup- plies. " Nature " cries out for it with an insistence proportioned to its necessities, just as it cries out for water when the supply of that element is deficient. The obvious lesson is that when a child develops a strong appetite for sweets, instead of filling its mind with false suggestions as to the hurtfulness of what it craves, it should be given free and unlimited access to the sugar-bowl. Nothing is more nutri- tious than sugar, and few things are more easily digested and assimilated. As in case of all other nutritious foods, a strong appetite for it is good evidence, not only that the system needs it, but that the stomach can digest it, provided always that the functions of that organ are not interfered with by adverse suggestions. Suggestions apart, few children who have a strong appetite for sugar have ever been injured by giving it to them in practically unlimited quantities. On the other hand, many such have been grievously in- jured by being deprived of it; and I have known weakly, puny children to be rendered strong and robust by satisfying what appeared to the mother to be a morbid craving for sugar. The remarks made about sugar apply with some- what diminishing force, perhaps, to foods of whichi 154 THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE sugar is a prominent ingredient; for example, the ordinary sweet-cakes and other desserts in common use on American tables. Few, if any, are so com- pounded as to justify withholding them from children who are fond of them. It is not my province, however, in a work like this, to lay down any hard and fast rules of diet. This is not a cook-book, nor is it a treatise on dietetics. My duty will have been performed to the best of my ability when I point out the salient features of typical cases where false and pernicious suggestions do their deadly work. In other words, I can only point out general principles and invite at- tention to a few illustrative examples. In carrying the principles into practice everything must neces- sarily be left to private judgment; and I can only enjoin upon my readers the necessity of exercising just a little common sense, remembering that there are but a few simple rules to observe in the employ- ment of suggestion as a prophylactic, or preventive of disease. The most important are the following : 1. Avoid all suggestions, from extraneous sources, which are adverse to health. 2. If such suggestions are forced upon you, meet them by counter suggestions affirmative of your own immunity from the suggested diseases. 3. Inhibit all conversation at the table adverse to the quality of the food set before you, especially as to its supposed indigestibility. 4. Never refuse to give a child the food it desires on the ground of its hurtfulness. If you are too stingy to give him what he wants, say so. But, as you yalue the health of your child, never suggest that AUTO-SUGGESTION 155 the food he eats is liable to "make him sick," first, because you know you are lying, and, secondly, be- cause he will find it out some day, and despise you for it. 5. Talk hopefully to the chronic invalid, for hi sake; and for your own sake, when you leave him thank God that you are immune from his diseases., 6. Think health and talk health on all suitably occasions, remembering that under the law of sug- gestion health may be made contagious as well as disease. 7. Finally, meet the first symptom of disease wit i a vigorous and persistent auto-suggestion of you r immunity from disease or of your ability to thro 1 ^ it off. When you go to bed at night, direct yoi r subjective mind to employ itself during your sle