The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-02-19
4 FRENCH CURE.ALL.
Marvellous manifcstutions of "a FomaIe
Empyrlc.

| teruay afternoon, in the rain and through,
the mud, the Chronicle was moved To sur.
mise wha! could be the cause of the sue.
cess OF the dramatic little woman, who
was introduced some ten days ago as
"Rhea on Wheels" The first afternoon
OF her appearance, when she proirered
her services to those having teeth they
wished extracted, the bystanders were
surprised at the number OF patients who
took their places in the carriage. Bul
when, after ten days. the stream Of bad.
t"othed mortals is undiminishci, and the
seat IN the carriage is no sooner vacated
oy one person than another is ready to
occupy II, surprise broadens into aston.
Ishment. Verify, if our dentists are
having dull season, it is not because of
q lack of material. but rather because il
Is not worked. If all the teeth that have
been pulled in Augusta in tho last ten
days were collected they would make a
very respectable show in peck measure.
But not alone to tooth. pulling has the
| field of her operations been conrlned.
She has made the deaf to hear and the
lame to walk. Negroes are naturally
credulous and superslitiOus, and there is
just enough of the mysterious a the for.
eign tongue, gaudy dress and lightning
| methods of the French ductress to inspire
them with the belief that she is possessed
nf some strange power. Certain il in
| they flock about her carriage day after
day, aud the street is lined with patients
an hour before she appears. But all her
| patients arc not negroes. Many white
persons have occupied the seat in her
! carriage and the best known people in
Augusta are daily seen In her audience
She Is the subject of countless rumors,
| and taken altogether In n remarkable
woman. The negroes say sho was paid
fabulous sums by the dentists and physi.
clans of different cities to leave them,
and some OF the cures that are ascribed
tn her seem little less than miraculous
1t IN said by reliable partics now in
Augusta, that she was in Baltimore for
five or six weeks and tho crowds were as
large the last day as the first. And after
the first few days special body of police.
men were detailed each day to preserve
order aud prevent blockade Of the
streets by the immense crowds that hocked
around her carriage. In Augusta it is
claimed she has performed some wonder.
! fui cures. Persons who have been deaf
for years, it is claimed. have regained
their hearing under her treatment, and d
well known party who has h0bbled about
town on cruiches for year or two. after
few moments of rubbing by the French
enchanlrcss, sprang unnided from the
cnrrlnge and throwing his crutches over
liis shoulder, went on his way rejoicing,
followed by an astonished multitude.
Such things IA these are recounted
with picturesque embellishments, and the
anything can be done by the voluble lit.
tie Frenchwoman
Now, no more fortunate state of mind
could possibly exist for the SUCCESS of her
treatment. 1t il IL well established prin.
ciple that fixed conviction of the mind
has an immediate effect upon the body.
1t has been demonstrated that man who
Is perfectly well, If met by half dozen
different parties with EXPLANATIONS OF
surprise at his strange appearance and
inquiries II he is not very sick, will In q
few moments be convinced that he is un.
we'll and in reality will become sick A
man condemned TO die has been told that
he would be blcd To death, then blind.
folded and slight scratch made upon
his arm to give him the impression that
he had been cut then warm water was
allowed to trickle down his arm into a
vessel 80 that he could feel and hear it,
and in short time he was dend-purely
through the firm conviction of his mind
TINT he was bleeding to death, when as a
matter of fact ne had not lost drop of
blood. Many instances of this kind
could be given. And the converse ia
equally sure-people who were sick have
been cured purely by the action of the
mind. One old woman, who was thor.
"ughly convinced of the power of GER
tain pbysician to cure her, when given d
bottle Of some preparation and told to
rub with 1t, carried it'home and rubbed
with the bottle and was cured. Another
old lady when given plaster, with di.
rections to put it on her chest, took 1t
home and applied to the wooden box or
"chest" in which she kept her cothes
and experienced immediate relief. These
examples are numerous, and are the di.
rect effect Of the mind upon the body.
There certainly could be no efficiency in
rubbing with bottle or in applying
plaster to q wooden box, yet these women
believed firmly that the prescription II
followed nut would cure them and thought
they had carried it out.
Now, are not the cures by The French
doctress on the same principle? Then
people 60 there with the firm conviction
that she can cure them. She tells them
she is going to cure them. She applies
her Chinese balsam, and in an Instant
they are cured. Is th;s the effect of the
Chinese balsam or the result Of the action
of the mind7 Would not ali .applica.
tiOn ef pure water, or lard, or sand, or
any other substance, under the same con.
ditions, produce tho same effect2 In
other words, is this faith cure, or is It
true that an application of Chinese bal.
| sam for five minutes can cure a man of
years of lameneSs or deafness7 As to
the tooth pulling, there is nothing in that
but skill ffom long practice and increased
power obtained by the use of improved
Instruments. The idea that there is no
pain attached to it is q pleasing theory
which many Of the victims will not bear
out. In fact, not only pain, but injury,
has resulted to some of her patients, and
it is said several of the dentists have
been called upon to remove teeth which
she bad broken off with her powerful in.
| struments. But whatever may be the
merits Of her claims. she can certainly
lift molar with wonderful dexterity
she has surely performed some remark.
able cures {; she unquestionably has ex.
cited the curiosity Of the public she
Enthusiastically has the fullest confidence
Of the negroes in her ability to cure; she
draws bigger crowd each day, and she
is selling Chinese balsam in sufficient
quantities to relieve the community of
all It's ills If it performs half that is
claimed for it.-Augusta Chronicle and
Constifutionaiisf.
| u4A % ~.