Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-02-21
Daila gress md @akotaiaa
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.
tsome Practfeai Talk frona7a Csmpe~
tent source-An 0unee OF truth 10 Is
Pound of Fraud.
DIR. Allan MoLane Hemiitos in New
York Post: Specialists in nesre1a
diseases are. OF course, particularly ike
~ to hear of these wonderful cures
effected by christian scientists, mind
heaierss etc, for il is pretty we'll estab-'
iished that they do nothing except in
nervous affections all the Claims made
by such people TO cure organic disease
are groundless mi arc based upon the
presumption OF the eo-called healer and
the credrlity Of the healed. Naturally,
| have taken g great interest in the whole
matter, and have followed the spread OF
the craze pretty closely. 1t IS no new
matter. Books by the dozen may be
found treating of the Yery same thing
under different names and in different
times. Within the lest generation We
have had the Xouays Jacob, WHO treated
thousands of sick and deformed people
in France; the halt and the blind hocked
to him twenty-five years ago. In this
country not many years ego we had the
Perkins tractor and magnetic GRAZ ,, In
which magnets and pieces OF wood ap-
piled to different parts of the body were
said to produce wonderful effects,
mesmerism in its curative influence was
part of the came thing, and c~lairvoyants
have been thriving longer thar the old
est 1nhabitant csn remember upon this
very same influence of mind over body,
Perhaps the very worst error that ean be
made III discussing the matter is to
assume that there is no substratum of
truth underneath the mountain of
ignorance, superstition and laundering
that cover it.
Every competent physician, especially
every physician that has had TO deal
with mental troubles, knows perfectly
we'll that the influence OF the mind upon
body is something to be counted upon
as of the utmost value ss a the%rapent,cal
adjunct. and scores OF men owe their
eminence in tho profession to their
faculty for inf aencIng the minds of their
patients for good. I need rot go over
the literature Of this subject, which is
now ancient History. The case in which
bread pills have acted as pargstives, in
which nypodermIc injections of warm
water have produced sleep, ETC.. are end.
less, and every writer upon the subject
has set forth facts bearing upon this
matter which cannot be gsinsaid. The
whole thing reduces itself te the reality
OF the effect OF eIpectant attention.
The patient believes that this or that
will happen, and without v~olition on
his or her part he causes it TO happen.
The naturally healthy body acquires
during years of normal and healthy
development o certain physical routine
largely automatic. This activity may
go on indefinitely unless something hap.
pens. We will say that an accident
causes q break In this beautiful coordina.
tion of function. For some reason OF
other, the machinery is stopped or in.
terfered with Tor q while, and the mind
concsiyes the notion that il is impossible
for the body to resume its ordinary
functions. Suppose We consider
the case of a man who has
hhssn Zaisasisai Il IN The
use OF an arm or q leg, Especial.
ly If he is week-minded, or worn ont by
sickness 1t will be very hard to convince
him that there exists no real reason why
he should not begin to walk again; al
though for g certain time walking may
have been extremely painful, o even
Impossible, to him. Now take this man
and suddenly convince him he can walk
and he may start off, and, without
knowingly making the physical effort
the automatic action OF the body will no
on as before. The man is not aware
that he has made an involuntary motion
he attributes it to the prayer of himseli
or his friends, or the jargon with which
4 eNpon Chv.atsn, acfonfisf rAo1E -..u.l. j
him.
Every specialist in nervous diseases
will tell you that one of the curious feat
ures of hysteria is the tendency of the
patient to counterfeit organic troubles
an bysterical patient will believe thai
che is subject to ell sorts of troubles
which have no existence except in he,
imagination. Evidently the proper
treatment is to strengthen the mini
that these delusions will cease.
So far as organic troubles go, there il
not, in the whole system of medicine, O
what may be considered history, an in
stance of the effect of mind upon body
to the extent claimed as everyday OK
perienoe by these christian scientists
l have been looking for years for ont
case in which an organic trouble haf
been cured by will power, call it chris.
tian science, or mind cure, or anything
you like, and I am still waiting.
With regard to the religious part Of
this fraud. il Is only natural that religion
should play q large part in 1t. Take q
weak minded woman, probably hysteri-
cal, whose system has become debilitatec
and whose faith in religion is about the
only faith she has left, certainly she hat
no faith in doctors. Some one tells her
thst christian science will cure her. The
christian scientist appeals to the only
faith she has left, and as the successfn
sscientist' ia nsually q person of strong
will power, who completely dominates
the weak patient, the results may bt
surprising, and they frequently are. The
religious faith Is the last to GO in very
many OF these hystericsl women, and il
all times the quacks who have allied
themselves with religious superstition
have always had the best OF it, I do not
doubt that the christian scientists arr
more successful than the mind curerl
who profess to do without any religloul
sentiment. IT may surprise some peopl,
to know that even 30 late as 1922 sher,
was published a book setting forth a
length the wonderful cure OF q 10y il
whom the devil had taken his abode. I
would scarcely do to-day to revive til,
old belief in demoniac possession, bu'
our christian scientists are not very fa
from it. The title Of the curious littl,
work of which I speak The e~xtraordinar,
Rttiotion and gracious relief of o littl,
boy supposed to be the effects OF
spiritual agency: carefully, examined