The Virginia enterprise., 1908-03-13

tfons. The following convincing il1ns-
tration is vouched for by the Lancet,
London, Eng: IS ~ =:
: An English lady, disappointed In
love in hersyounger years, became in.
sane and lost all account of - time.
Believing she was still young and dtv-
ing in the same hour ? in which she
was parted from her lover, taking, no
note of years, she stood daily before
the window watching for his coming.
In this mental condition she remained
young. 1''''~" - r.,
Some American travellers who saw
her were asked to guess her age.
They, unacquainted with her history,
placed her under 20. She was, at the
time, "a; but she had not a wrinkle
or gray hair; youth sat gently on
cheek and brow. She was held by the
thought of youth and love, and it re
tarded the marks of age.
Imagination and Suggestion. ~.
The Imagination may be wrought
upon by reading-as instanced by pat
ent medicine advertisements-or by
hearsay, or may be wholly creative.
In each case it is the outgrowth of a
mental condition and the result Is
that the unreal becomes the real, the
ultimate result frequently proving ia.
tal
The fatal power of imagination was
illustrated recently in the case of q
Russian railway employe who was, by
accident, shut up in refrigerator
car.
He wrote on the wall, Il am becom'
ing colder" Later, Il am slowly
freezing" Still later, and the last,
Il am half asleep; these may be my
last Words
When they took him out he was
dead; but it was found that the tenn.
perature of the car was only Sc; the
apparatus was out of order. HIS auto
suggestion working on his imagina
ton killed him.
Imagination Extraordinary.
The Philadelphia Press gives the
following interesting and highly sug
gestive incident of the power of sug
gestion through imagination:
"On one occasion when Ii Hung
Chang as premier, was having a bit
ter fight with some Of the more con
servative members of the Tsung Ii
Yamen, he received, as present, 2
magnificent cake which he had reason
to suspect contained poison. He put
the cake aside and set to work tc
find out who was at the bottom of the
plot. The crime was traced to three
men, one of whom, at least, was alb
solutely guilty. Ii had the trio
brought to his yamen. When they ar
rived they were ushered into his pres
ence and were received in his courtli
est manner. The cake was produced
with the remark that 'politeness for
bids my tasting it until the three gen
erous donors have had an opportunity
to enjoy it's excellence
Iii cut the cake and one of his
servitors handed it to the unwilling
guests. Each took piece and ate
OF pretended to eat. One of them
crumbled the pieces and let them fall
upon the floor, but the two others
ate calmly without manifesting any
emotion.
within ten minutes the two meI
began to show symptoms of suffering
Lii smiled benignantly and said to the
man who had not eaten: Your wis
dom is SO great that l am compelled
to preserve your head as a souvenir
of transcendent genius
'"The man was removed and prompt
ly decapitated. To the two others the
premier remarked: The cake you ate
is not the one you sent, but one which
l had my cook initiate The poison
from which you are suffering exists
only in your imagination. know OF
no better way to cure your present
pain than by letting you share the
same fate as your friend who has just
left the room
LAS they were led away Ii said tc
his retinue: 1t is pity that men who
can eat deadly corrosive poison
with All unmoved countenance should
so misapply the talent wherewitt
heaven has endowed them.'"
Copyright. by Joseph B. Bowles.)
c0IEEtIRES IN ERENHL r0Ac0