The Washington herald., 1912-05-12

curists- A vast amount Of rubbish Is
said and written upon the subject. The
shallowest kind OF thinking is done. II
thinking II can be called, which Is nearly
all feeling. frantic desires, arrogant or
bearfc assumptions. Yet these opti-
mistic utteranees are accepted as truth
by an immense array Of estimabie per-
sons. and with many with good results;
but also with many grave perils and re-
sultant catastrophes.
The subject OF healing Is large and
complex. involving a long train OF biolo-
g1c processes, many OF which proceed
safely and spontaneously toward res
toration- Then again. many OF the
processes are devious. obscure, and tend
toward kinds and degrees Of cell de-
struction and disintegration as require
the utmost expert knowledge and care
10 guide Alright the forces Of growth
and repair. Adverse factors supervene
to confound nature and expectation,
among which are defects. OF develop
ment in the physical and psychic do
mains infectious agencies whose natural
history Is fairly well known and defined,
along with insidious changes arising ST.
lently from within, many OF which can
be known only by their evil works.
Admitting that the infections follow
moderately uniform courses and tend
OWlnk 10 the amazing SELF
protective powers In a normal organism,
yet they too often leave destructive ef-
fects upon organs and other tissues only
to be determined by patient vigilance
OF skilled experts. and unless these are
permitted full opportunity for early OBJ
servation, the pathologic changes cannot
be known till so late as to bafie any
kind Of healing measures. There are
often most puzzling contributory causes,
constitutional diseases, disorders Of met
abolism, depressions of, or overaction OF,
the great regulative mechanisms, vita
tions of vital processes and essential
structures, and many other hurtful in
fiuences.
Forces Are Encouraged.
These forces for evil not seldom are
encouraged, or amplified. by slight ear
lier departures from the normal. in or
tginal structure, in impaired develop
ment. in divers arrangements leading TO
lowered nutrition and loss of functional
integrity Some are relatively reparabie:
others no more to be restored than a
lost limb, a crumpIed heart valve, a
pipe-stem artery. sclerosed spinal cord
fibers, a collapsed lung, liver or such
like irretrievably damaged structures.
No sane person would claim that the
most serenely adjusted mind could re-
build these, any more than II could rs-
store ruined Greek temple.
None the less. the devotses Of religious
optimism are often heard to assert that
even such miracles Of restoration are
both possible and current. Methods OF
conditions for healing are not dependent
upon opinions, wishes or beliefs, unless
fortified by an array Of actual properly
observed and analyzed happenings.
wherefrom correct inferences are drawn,
whence trustworthy conclusions and rem
ar7f al TT19aa aTUT NnHNF Al. -
duced.
This object progressive science IS con-
stantly engaged in pursuing; always eau
tiously and subject to drastic external
end internal critisisms. Scientists never
stand pat' upon decisions, but are ever
open TO severe self-searchings and revi-
sions.
Many Conditions Cured.
At the same time. It is admitted that
facts OF deepest significance exist abund-
antly throughout history. all tending to
prove that many disabling and distress
ful conditions can be and are removed
and seemingly cured by well directed
influences exerted on the consciousness
OF the sufferers. How far these admir-
able effects go toward structural repair
Is only determined by open-minded re-
searches along exact and critical lines
Doubtless as psychotherapeutic knowI-
edge grows broader and more precise,
We shall be gratihed by the exhibition
OF more wonderful results. New. We can
only insist upon the irrefutable fact that
they will proceed along infallibls lines
laid down by nature and natures God,
who works in mysterious ways His
wonders to perform" but invariably by
natural laws.
We may venture the opinion that the
triumphs of psychotherapy win Justify
the hopes OF the most optimistic in pro-
portion as desires for salvation are modi-
fed by accurate observation and precise
records Of fact. I, for one, am disposed
both to hope and to expect results from
scientific psychotherapy far beyond what
the uniformed deem possible But there
is no ground whatever for believing that
the highest efficiency Of mental or
structural disintegration when once es-
tablished.
Nature and Her Way.
It is natures way. in manIfesting the
efficacy OF those powerful restorative
forces, to fn US frequently with sur
prise at her generosity. even her lavish
ness, in diverting the full power of NOR
bid forces. Natures way is achieved
partly by unconscious processes Of self
repair. and partly by providing US with
whereby to select and apply
measures She does this
with especial briIliancy IN eliciting the
forces OF hope, courage and serene con-
hdence in those inherent benehcent pow
ers OF which we are all more or less
confidently aware. These forces are IN
in their rulings, but the good
God has endowed human beings with a \
finite but most useful measure Of wisdom,
we can so modify the direction
and degrees OF these Inevitable forces
that they can be adapted to our best
ultimate good.
Good Manager.