The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-06-05
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

! liostro, Mesmer,-all got along nicely,
because there were people who be-
| lieved in them 1t might be said, that,
to keep people in error, Satan had
hand in all this business. shall not
dispute it. But as regards physical
effect, his part may be considered a
negligible quantity Incantations
after all do no physical harm, and all
this time cures were being effected by
apothecaries, leeches and doctors in
spite of their harmful medicines and
pernicious practice.
Cures in Spite Of Medicine.
1t is passing strange. Since HomI
eric days there always have been doc
tors and always people, who have at
tributed cures to them. Yet the his
tory of medicine and surgery is the
history of successfully discarded the
ory and practice. AS to practice,
what one generation held to be the
only true method, the next generation
pronounced useless or harmful. Blood
letting, cupping, soaring, pouring boil
ing oil into wounds, and other devilish
practices of the past, when there were
no anaesthetics, have been set aside
only to make way for the X-ray burns
and the electric shocks of the present.
A medicine largely advertised, or an
operation somehow become fashion
able, in time seems to lose its eff
cacy and yields to a medicine more
advertised, or to an operation some
how become more fashionable. In the
giving of medicine doctors differed in
their practice all the way from those
who gave the largest quantity that the
patient could retain to Hahnemann, the
founder of homeopathy, who held an
infinitesimal pellet to the nostrils,
when the patient was asleep. AS to
theories, the Jewish belief, which by
the way tinctures somewhat the In
spired page, of ascribing all physical
ailments to the demons, had this adj
vantage. Demons do exist and they
might by divine permission afflict
mortals But the theories in medi-
cine of the four humors, of the sigma
| lures, of the archaeons, of the three
constituents of the human body, and
1 such like. are of things, which do not
/ exist at all, or If they do In some
sense exist, can have no bearing on
| health. And yet by such theories
| physicians explained all the ills that
the flesh is heir to, and adapted their
false practice to their equally false
theory Nevertheless doctors must
have had in spite of their theories
| fair need of success, since you can
not fool all the people all the time
| From all the foregoing there Is only
one conclusion to be drawn, namely,
| that Divine Providence, foreseeing the
| long reign of error in the art of heal
| ing, mercifully ordained, that con-
| fding belief would have healing eff
feet in very many cases of human
ailment. Modern therapy confirms this
i view.
Cures Of Modern Practice.
Omitting surgery with its maryeIs
resulting from a thorough knowledge
i of anatomy combined with antiseptic
| preparation and aseptic treatment Of
/ wounds, let us consider modern
therapy, which relies mostly on arti-
i fcially strengthening the curative
/ functions of the blood. If only for a
moment we pause to think how the
ever-crumbling human frame is built
up, maintained, and repaired by the
stream of blood, we must come to the
] conclusion that this wonderful elixir
of life carries all kinds of ttpbuilding
4 and protecting elements. The micro
scope, magnifying five thousand dia'
meters or twenty-five million areas,
when brought to bear on particle OF
blood, justifies this conclusion. What
is more marvellous STILL it shows that,
4 when attacked by disease, the blood
has some mysterious power of beget-
/ ting ferments and solvents to with
d stand the attack. 1t makes its own
antitoxin. In this battle the science
of Lister, Virchow, Pasteur and their
followers comes to the aid of the
blood by injecting into it specific
serum. This serum we may call the
lighting strength of the blood of some
4 animal, engaged in a like warfare.
The injection becomes the blood,s
auxiliary. Hence the serum-therapy
of the day. There is no denying its
efficacy In minor degree any
thing that will throw off lethargy and
whip the blood into action will have o
similar effect. The plethysmograph
shows how quick is the response OF
the blood to any mental affection.
Now, confidence in physicians in q
medicine, In cult of any kind, has
such effects on the blood Hypnosia,
or the anciently known action Of mind
on mind, may lend.its aid. Fears van
is1, the imagination rests, the outlook
i brightens, the whole working system
lof the patient becomes more normal,
| just in proportion az faith deepens.
Such faith will not cure a withered
|. arm, straighten the limbs of Grip.
pie, replace an ear cut on, or raise
the dead; it will not act instantly at
word: but it will have beneficial
effect in the long run with many
cases Of nervous diseases Naturally
the true Faith, apart altogether from
) any miraculous energy, viii share itE
, this kind of work. The grace of heal.
! ing, therefore, like all other gracese
: but perfects nature. II results alone
are needed, in view Of the eject Of
u CONTINUED on page ST.