The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1885-07-28
FAITH CURES.
Mimetic Maladies Amenable to the Cura-
tive Influence of Faith.

Mimetic Maladies Amenable to the Cura-
tive Influence of Faith.
1t Is not our purpose to deny, or even
question, the verify of cures ''by faith. y"
The mind so acts on the body, and
the brain plays so important part in
the nervous system. by which the whole
organism is energized and controlled
both in regard to its functions and nu-
triton, that it is not only quite posi-
BILE, but an absolute tact, that many
maladies which are not so far advanced
as to he dependent upon changes in
structure. or organic diseases" may be
remedied by or through the agency of
the mind. We will even 90 SO far as to
affirm that a very large proportion of
the ailing might be, and probably would
be, sound if only they were sufficiently
strongly impressed to believe them
selves to be so. This influence of the
mind on the body has been the strong
hold of quackery from the earliest
times, and faith" is as powerful an in
tluence for good or evil now as it has
ever been. Such miracles" as the
Salvat;onists are working with their
al classes, whether iIliterate or
well informed, have uniformly signal
lied the commencement of a new era
in religious enthusiasm. When the
first enthusiasm subsidies. miracles
cease" of phySico mental necessity.
The large class of so-called historical,
cataleptic, and even epileptic affections
are distinctly amenable to this influ-
ence; SO are those n .ryous disturbances
and arrangements which consist wholly
or chiefly in disorderly activity. as dis
tinguished from actual disease. The
mimetic maladies, of which there are
always very large number of eases,
are, of course, amenable TO the cura-
tive influence of faith. Out -ide these
classes, however. stand a multitude of
badly managed or misunderstood cases
which only need to be placed on a new
footing-it matters little what-to get
well. A wondrous crowd of ignorant
prejudices still hovers over many dis
tricts as to the durability or hopeless
ness Of special diseases which are bet
ter understood and more successfully
treated-on common sense principles
in the centers of knowledge.
For example, we know of localities
and affections which, being associated.
produce the most dire delusions as TO
the length of time bones usually take
to unite in healthy subjects; and how
coughs and other distressing maladieS
are, or are not, under the control of
the will. In such combinations of
facts and fiction, it is easy to get
miracles out of such common matters
as the union of the accurately applied
ends of a fractured radius in three or
four days! There is not a word to be
said against healing by faith" Every
busy practitioner has cases under his
observation that he would be heartily
glad to find so powerfully affected
that they could be cured even by
tb;- POM" uusl we mat aaRRxiqnHs:
telligent lay press ought not
to lend itself to the PRONUNCIATION OF
nonsensical beliefs and impressions. OF
course, 1t is true that many of the poor
people who are reported to be ''cured"
are actually benefited by Their faith.
This is a fact, and there is no sort of
reason why the benefits received should
not be permanent. If the subjects of
these cures are thankful to the Giver OF
all good, that is not matter to make
merry about. 1t is as it should be. We
are glad of their gain, and pleased to
find them moved to gratitude. Mean
while, if these cures need be dis
cussed, let the comments made be
neither irreverent, offensive, nor puerile.
The modMs OperGrsdi of such recoYeries
is perfectly well understood, and there
is nothing either specially noteworthy
or wonderful about them. - Scientific
american.