New-York tribune., 1906-06-24
TO PROLONG LIFE.
Wonderfm Effect a Cheerful Mind
Has on the Body.
BY Jean Finot.

virtue OF having sanctioned and explained the act
ual existence OF certain disturbing facts which
have been pointed out by chroniclers and histori-
ans for many centuries gone by. These facts,
formerly regarded as lies have suddenly changed
their aspect The power Of suggestion. which has
been verified. controlled and admitted has the
same time reduced the number Of the impostors
and miracles of past times The most unlikely
Phenomena have regained their veneer Of reality.
they are no longer contested. because they appear
to US natural, possible verifable
Thus we admit that St Francis Of Assist St.
Catherine of Siena may have felt the pains OF the
Passion. Their prolonged attention fixed The
points where legend says the nails and the sword
blade pierced the body Of Christ caused wounds.
The blood flowed from them. These persistent
wounds may. indeed have induced in ST. Francis
as well much later in Louise Lataud. certain
chickering's of skin covered with blood. which
called the nail heads Of the cross.
Why should deny this palpable effect of sug-
gesuon while so many others much more strange
discover themselves 10 eyes? Charles
Rtchet and Barthelemy quote the case OF mother,
very nervous woman. who present day
at an alarming spectacle; a heavy curtain rod
threatened to become detached and fall on her
child kneeling close at hand. On the neck Of the
terrified mother ring Of erythema formed at the
very place where the child might have been struck
The influence Of our sensations and ideas
bodies IS multifarious as the sensations and
ideas themselves Carpenter tells a man who in
spite OF great muscular weakness. I.--d a very
significant. Corvisart attended the Empress Jose
phne and obtained satisfactory results by the adj
ministration Of bread pills At all times faith in
miracles has produced those very miracles. Those
at Lourdes only a repetition the votive
lets recovered from the Tiber which testify 10
extraordinary feats accomplished by the Asclepi-
ads In these last days" we read "a certain
Gaius, who was blind, learned from the oracle that
he must repair to the altar offer up prayers there
and then cross the temple from right to left,
his five fingers on the altar, raise his hand. and
place II over his eyes He Immediately recovered
his sight in the preserve and amid the acclaua-
tions Of the people"
If we take up the narratives published by Henri
Lasserre in his 'Lourdes' or by the Able Georges
Berin. in his Critical History Of the Events at
Lourdes." find similar phenomena A lady
who had become epileptic the result Of a great
fright submitted herself for examination to
number Of doctors. All the remedies of science
proved powerless But she was taken to the
grotto, and that visit. together with novena re-
stored her to health.
Parallel to this is story related by the ancents
Roman soldier. Vaerius Aper, recovers his sight
because he follows the advice Of the gods In con-
formity with their command. he made pomade OF
the blood Of q white cock mixed with some honey
and with that he rubbed his eyes
We need only read once again what Charcot
Hack luke and many others Of recoveries
by suggestion TO doubt neither the miracles Of
Lourdes nor many other miracles disputed by the
body OF our psychic life manifess itself thus in all
forms The discovery of the vaso-rnotor nerves
made by Claude Bernard has enabled US TO
introduce little order among the nuner-
Gus and complicated effects provoked by sug-
gestion both from without and from within
| (auto-s suggestion). We now know the cNntroI-
ling action OF the BRAIN which by means Of
the vaso-motor nerves has effect on all our
organs The beating Of the heart may become
slower. quicker may under the stress
~ ions nr A
fright may even cause death through syncope
In their most simple expression the passions
cause phenomena which easy 10 control. Strong
emotions give rise TO cold sweats. darrhoea,
aneulias. blood poisoning arrested digestion. Hack
Tuke relates the following interesting illustration
OF the curative effects Of railway catastrophe: A
rheumatic subject, seized with a most painful at
tack OF rheumatism, took train in order go home
His sufrertngs continued in their most violent form.
collision occurred caused the death Of one OF the
travellers in his compartment and suddenly put
end 10 all the patients pains.
| 1t would. however, be very difficult TO place all
the known cases under formal categortes for the
simple reason that their number IS unlimited When
individual impressionability lends itself to It we
might call forth with the help OF the psychic
factors almost the whole gamut OF phenomena
yielded by material What, for instance.
could be disturbing than this singular story
reported to the other day?
In a dining where there were about twenty
people of the hosts, brusquey interrupting in
voice choked with strong emotion. shouted: ALAS,
all poisoned! The cook has gone mad and
put arsenic in all the sauces. Thereupon several
people were seized with vomiting others expert
enced pains like those of arsenic poisoning while
a fell TO the ground overcome. The
mistake discovered a few moments later,
the supposed arsenic only mouldy flour that the
drunken cook had mistaken for poison.
Under the influence of grief the hair
changes color in the space OF a night Certain
tons act in a special way on certain glands. The
idea Of sorrow experienced provokes tears; rage
acts the salivary glands Shame produces a
reddening OF the cheeks Just the feeling OF fear
affects the functions of the heart and often of the
digestive organs. Joy facilitates digestion while
anger posons the organism and unsettles its pri-
mordial functions. On the other hand. serenity of
mind quite appreciably induces welbeng. In this
condition all organs perform their functions
in a way which is the normal, more healthy
and more in accordance with the prosperity OF the
body.
The properly used forces of our mind may render
us important services with regard to the proonga-
ton OF our life. AS We have shown there IS no
doubt that i'll directed suggestion shortens IT, Ar
rived at certain age. poison ourselves with
the idea OF or with thoughts about our approach
ing end. We lose faith IN our own strength and
our strength leaves On the pretext that age
is weighing heavily shoulders take
sedentary habits and cease 10 pursue our occupa-
by idleness and feebly renewed tissues open
the doors TO all sorts OF malades Precocous old
age lays siege 10 US, ana we succumb earlier than
we need have done as result OF injurious auto
ON closer study OF the life Of centenarians. We
percsave how optimistic belief in their strength
Baron Waldeck. who died in Paris, in 1876 at the
age OF lV nekeT yer ceased t3 70 entertain me
l02 he undertook for the firm of Didot. Pierre
Girard his biographer affirms a three volume en-
his idea that the Egyptian civilization descended
from his ardent work reasons for going on living.