Towanda daily review. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1879-1921, 1881-09-15
The Healing Power of Faith.

This healing power of faith which doc
tors are day by day. admitting more as a
reality, throws light on the popularity Of
the miracle wells and healing shrines on
the Continent and forbids us to condemn
as mere random lying the tales that are
told Of the astonishing cures effected by
them. There are many such pilgrimage
wells in Scotland cited by Mr.. Gregor,
although their healing efficacy was sup
posed to be an inherent virtue in the wa
ter, and not dependent upon the favor Of
a saint Some of these wells were sur
rounded by stones shaped like the sever
al parts of the human body, called the
eyc-stone," the head-Stone," and so
on; and it was Il necessary part OF the
treatment, after washing with water, to
rub the part affected against the stone
that bore the same form. This Is the Su-
HebrideS. Some Offering was always left
behind by those who tried the curing
power Of the waters, even if it were only
rag from the paJicnts clothes. These
tributes were hing up near the WELL and
every one abstained from disturbing them
as it was believed that whoever did SO
would get the disease that had been cured
in the former patient. Just the same sort
Of thing was done as early as the time OF
the Romans. Votive offerings of hands,
feet, almost every part of the body have
been eXcavated in the island sacred to
Esculapius in the Tiber. The lode OF
cure in vo,ue then, however was tor the
patient to go to sleep on the sacred spot
when it was revealed to him in a vision
what he must do TO insure recovery.
Among the cures for the Whooping-C0ugh
which are very numerous and improbable
yor in some parts of Scotland. This
was to sew living caterpillar between
two pieces of flannel, and wrap it round
the patients throat, leaving room for the
animal to crawl around. BY the time the
grub died the whoopiDg- cough was cured.
Three roasted mice was an inf.liable cure
for the acknowledgement. The same rem
edy is still much esteemed in Norfolk.
There, however, swallowing one NOUS G
is considered enough.
The charming of warts is one Of those
perfectly unreasonable modes of cure
that often prove eflicatious when medical
treatment fails. DR.. Carpenter cites an
instance of this strange truth in the case
Of II girl who was cured Of twelve warts
by a friend who merely counted them and
then with an air of Importance wrote the
number down on Il paper, assuring her
that by Sunday they would all have disap.
peared. And so it proved. BY the da,
named they were all gone, though the
girls father, himself a surgeon had be-
fore tried to remove them with caustit
and other applications in vain. IT so
very simple a prescription was enough
to charm away dozen Of these unpleas-
ant excrescences, we can not wonder thai
the more elaborate forms of eXorcisn
here enumerated should prove equally eff
ficatiouS.
In Switzerland the approved mode Of
charming a wart is to rub it with a sna
and then put the snail on thorn bush
Indeed, charm cures for other diseases
are not by any means obsolete. In York
shire 1t is still believed that a set o
mole's feet tied in bag and worn rount
the neck keeps away cramp. And it is
quite accepted as fact by some persons
that to carry a horse-chestnut in the
pocket secures immunity from rhcuma