The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-18
MIND ON
The Human Imagination Capable OF
Remarkable Things.
PHILADELPHIA Times.

Philadelphia Times.
The faith cure people who call them
eaIvas Christian Scientists, nave oeen re-
Gently making considerable progress IN
the West and several socalied 'Pronnets
are now craving thousands OF pelievg[s II
their healing powers IN various parts y
the country. The Christian scientists nad
quite a vogue in this city a few years ago,
but lately they are little heard OF, the craze
having died out here of late. OF course
these folks have somethlng on Wnlch -
powers of the human race. but IL - "oA
not of permanent value.
The human imagination is capable OF ac-
ton, the British and C9lohd4l 1ang-
gist, tells of the death at HACK
ney of a young lady who Iva was s. Bent saa+ n !
insect powder, which is entirely harmless 10
human bodies. But she was under the I'M
preston that it was a deadly poison and
Notwithstanding its innocuous character,
the lower of her imagination was such that
she anticipated the result she expected ana
actually died. This case has two prece--
dents well known to medical writers and
of which some of you have prooaply heaTd.
A convict who had been sentenced 10 pc
hanged was HANDED over 70 a pody OF ineul.
cal practitioners, who wished TO experiment
with him as to the. force OF 1naginatlon;
After being told that he was to be oled
to death he was blindfolded and the back
of a knife run quickly, while being pressed
hard. over one of the arteries OF his BODY.
Warm milk was then pressed from a
sponge over the spot where the wound was
si1nnosed to be and the fluid allowed to
friickIe into an open vessel. The man, un-
der fr the imnression that his life blood was
dripping away, died during the progress of
the experiment, although not the slightest
harm had been done him. The other case
was that of a college porter, who was sub
jected by students to a mock trial ror some
trumped-up offense and condemned to nave
his head severed from his body. Before
being blindfolded he was shown the block
and an ak. with which, he was told, the
decapitation was to be done. His head
was placed in position and he was then
dealt a. sharp blow on the back of the neck
- --@4 nxYnI the Uyn tnr fTnfl which
supplied to his alarmed imagination the
place of blood springing from his severed
arteries. The man fel oyer to the ground
and when they picked him up they round
that he was q corpse
A physician in this city says that he has
happened across several cases of persons
who believed that they had come In con-
tact with the poisonous ivy, and. although
It was demonstrated beyond the possibility
to any such baneful contact, yet they dis
played all the symptoms and underwent
all the physical pain OF those VINO had peen
actually poisoned.
General Joe Johnson used to tell of an
incident when he. was a lieutenant in the
regular army OF the United states, and be-
fore he had become a leading officer of the
| Confederate troop. Himself and a number
of companions, in order to test the effect
of the imagination upon the human system,
one after another accosted a young man ~
seeming illness. exhibiting their concern
in their alarmed visages. The result or the
practical joke was an illness OF the victim
| SO severe that ne acIudiIy ulcd- All SuiiIleIll
physician is quoted as narrating the folloW-
ing instance: "A lady of intelligence, while
passing a public institution, saw a child
with his foot in such a position that a
heavy iron gate swinging together seemed
as if about to crush 1t. The child escaped
unframed, but the ankle of the lady became
so lame that it was with difficulty that she
could reach her home, and Inflammation OF
the foot ensued of so severe a character
that she was confined 10 her pea Tor many
Now. doesn't it stand to reason that if
the imagination possesses the power, not
only to bring on disease: but even to kill
it may likewise, by a similar effect upon
the human system, produce a cure? The
answers must certainly be in the aff1rma-
tive. and therein lies the basis of the So
called faith cures which, however, con-
tain nothing new. 1t was known even IN n
that related of the seige of Buda in 1915
The Prince of Orange learned that the gar
rison was determined to surrender because
of the prevalence of an aggravated form Of
scurvy. knowing full well the power of the
imagination. he caused to be prepared E
large number OF bottles OF sham but harni
less medicine which he had distributed
with the announcement that 1t was an in
falIible specific for the disease The re
suit was magical. The historian of this in
cident says: Such as had not used theil
limbs for months before, were seen walk
ing in the streets sound. straight and whole
and many who declared that they had beer
made worse by all former remedies, re
covered in a few days"
a physician Of Syracuse, N. Y, tells O.
the case of a farmer in Onondaga count.
who was at deaths door from an attach
of ~hiccough-and people have been know
to die from that trivial aiiment. which il
nothing more or less than a paroxysm o
the diaphragm. He entered the patient.
room at night. \ candle was burning. HI
talked to the young farmer for a few mo
ments in a CHEEKY way and then taking VI
the candle left the room, saying: "Nobod!
was ever known TO hiccough in the dark.
The paroxysrn instantly ceased and the pa
tient was cured.
In the case of the infamous DR.. Harbi
son. OF this city. who was placed in thu
Eastern Penitentiary several times, the lat
Judge Pierce gave a judicial recognition o
the power of the imagination. The suav,
physician was charged with attempted
abortion. The defense was that he ha,
given the young woman who figured in tn
case nothing but bread pills, that could d.
her no harm. although she was told tina
they would prove efiicacious. Judge Pierce
from the bench, said that the administra
ton of even bread pills, accompanied witt
a statement as to their efficacy, was an of
Tense against the law, for the reason that
was well known that under such circum
stances they might produce the harm
sought. HARRISON was convicted and sen
to the Eastern Penitentiary for a term o
| three years.