The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-01-27

A third noteworthy feature in modern
treatment has been a return TO psychical
methods OF cure. IN which faith In some
thing is suggested TO the patient. After all.
faith is the great lever OF life. Without IL
man can do nothing: with Il. even with a
fragment. as a grain Of mustard seed. Ill
things are possible to him. Faith in US.
faith In our drugs and methods is the great
stock in trade of the profession. In one pan
of the balance put the phaFmacopoeias Of
the world. all the editions from Dioscor-
dides to the last Issue of the United States
Dispensstory; heap them on the scales as
did Euripides his book in the celebrated
contest in the Frogs: in the other put the
simple faith with which from the days of
the Pharaohs until now the children of men
have swallowed the mixtures these works
describe. and the bulky tones will kick
the beam. 1t Is the aurum potable, the
touchstone of success in medicine. As Galen
says. confidence and hope do more gooI
than p~hysic-"he cures most in whom
most are confident" That strange COM
pound Of chsrlatan and philosopher. Para
CELSIUS. encouraged his patients ito have a
good faith. a strong Imagination. and they
shall find the effects" Burton). While we
often overlook or are ignorant Of our own
faith cures. doctors are lust a wee bit too
sensitive about those performed outside our
ranks. They have never had. and cannot
expect to have. a monopoly in this panecea,
which is open to all. free as the sun. and
which may make OF every one in certain
cases. as was the Lacedemon OF Homers
day. "a good physician out OF Natures
grace"
Faith in the gods or in the saints cures
one. faith in little pills another. hypnotic
suggestion a third. faith in a plain. COM
mon doctor a fourth. In all ages the
prayer Of faith has healed the sick. and
the mental attitude OF the ~suppliant seems
to be OF more consequence than the DOW
ers TO which the prayer is addressed. The
cures in the temples of Esculapius. the
miracles of the saints. the remarkable
cures OF these noble men, the Jesuit mis-
sionaries. in this country, the modern
miracles at Lourdes and at St. Anne de
Beaupre in Quebec. and the wonder-work-
ings of the so-called Christian Scientists.
are often genuine and must be considered
in discussing the foundations OF thera-
pe1tics. We physicians use the same
power every day. II a poor lass, para
lyzed. apparently helpless. bed-ridden for
years. comes TO me. having worn out IN
mind. body and estate a devoted family.
IL she In a few weeks or less by faith I'm
me. and faith alone. takes up her bed and
walks. the saints OF old could not have
done more. St. Anne and many others can
scarcely to-day do less. We enjoy. I say.
no monopoly In the faith business. The
faith with which we work. the faith. in
deed. which is available to-day in every
day life. has its limitations. It will not
raise the dead; 1t will not put in a new
eye in place of a bad one (as IL did to an
Iroquois Indian boy for one Of the Jesuit
fathers. nor will # cure cancer or pneu- |
monia or knit a bone. but. in spite of these !
Nineteenth Century restrictions, such as
we find it. faith is a most precious COM |
modify. without which we should be very |
badly OF.