Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-02-01

COMB rectOrS OF the Elnmanu-
ell church, Boston. opened
clinic for the treatment Of those dis
eases which scientific investigation has
shown to be peculiarly susceptible to
cure by mental and spiritual means.
Wisely conservative, says Horatio W.
Dresser, a veteran advocate of mental
therapeutics on sane and rational lines,
they first won the cooperation of the
medical profession, then limited the
practice Of psychotherapy to the cases
Of functional and nervous diseases
which We're pronounced eligible by
competent physicians.
The example set by Emmanuel
church has been followed elsewhere
with marked success. and the new
movement has within short time
won place for itself unequaled by the
general mind cure movement in half
century. Its leaders are well trained
in physiological psychology. and their
work Is from first to last carried for
ward on scientific basis. The result
Is not only distinct success within the
chosen Geld, but this field is so plainly
stakcd out that other specialists may
the more clearly differentate their
own fields.
While assimilating and building upon
psychotherapy. however. the Emman-
uel movement is not limited to the
psychological field. but through the
agencies Of the church may legitimate
ly extend the practice with the sick
into religion without confusion Of
categories. Such a term. for example.
as "Christian psychology" would in
volve an objectionable confusion Of
ideas. Yet the same work may be first
psychological. then Christian. Sugges-
ton Is the prime factor in the first Of
these fields. and emphasis is put upon
psychophysical states and subconscious
activities. while prayer and other re-
ligious agencies are supreme in the re-
ligious field. The first field is neces-
sarily limited and human. while the
other includes powers upon which no
bounds can be placed by the hand OF
man.
What Habit May Do.
Some one once remarked that as soon
as Il person found it difficult to do
without anything that was the time for
him to begin doing without it. In
veterate smokers and the unfortunate
victims Of alcoholism will appreciate
the truth of this, and. says popular
scientist. 1t is equally applicable to
those who have a tendency toward
overindulgence Of any kind. Even the
simplest things of life. the necessary
things may be turned to ones de-
struction by the formation of an ire
sislible. reason dcfying. brain pervert-
ing habit. An impressive Illustration
is to be found in the experiences Of a
Frenchwoman who was familiar fig
ure some years ago in the restaurants
of Paris. where she was known by
the peculiar nickname of Mime. Coffee
and Rolls
She had long been a sufferer from
dyspepsia. and as a last resort her
physician ordered her to contine her
self for some time to a diet Of toast
and water. Rebelling at such measer
fare, she secretly treated herself to an
occasional cup Of coffee and roll or
two. This seemed to do her no harm.
and she gradually increased the al
lowance until she was drinking per-
haps half a dozen cups of coffee day.
Imperceptibly the habit grew upon
her. From half dozen cups her daily
allowance grew to a dozen. then to
twenty and finally to thirty.
She passed her days wandering from
one restaurant to another, eating moth
ing but rolls and drinking nothing but
coffee and consuming incredible guam
titles Of both. At night II she CHANGED
to wake and found no coffee and rolls
In her house she slept no more. but
paced feverishly up and down her bed
room. counting the minutes until it
would be time for the restaurants to
open. She was. in fact, as much the
victim Of a pernicious habit as the
most helpless dipsomaniac or NOR
phine fiend. Her future was blasted,
her life wrecked. Even the efforts Of
the famous Pierre Janet, the eminent
French psychologist who has devoted
his best energies to the study and
treatment of the abnormally minded.
failed in her case to effect cure.
Our Unconscious Life.
Inconsistencies is no bar to living
ness. Our conscious actions are drop
In the sea rs compared with our un-
conscious ones. Could we know all the
life that is in us by way Of circula-
ton. nutrition. breathing. waste and
repair we should learn what an In
fniteslmally small part consciousness
plays in our present existence, yet our
unconscious life Is as truly life us our
conscious life. and. thouah 1t is uncon-
scious in itself, it energies into an in
direct and vicarious consciousness in
our other and conscious self. which ex-
lists, but in virtue Of our unconscious
self.-Samuel Butler.
Hygienic Thoughts.