Altho their teaching is quite similar to the views of the followers of Mrs. Eddy, they do not seem to regard her in the light of a discoverer, characterizing the "truths" she has uttered as a mild modification of theosophy. They do not deny the existence of disease, but regard it as an unnecessary evil the product of fear, worry, and unrest. They exalt the preeminence of the individual's soul, its communion with the Over Soul, from which it can draw unlimited power, and the absolute necessity of cultivating a serene and calm inner consciousness, by which they claim man regains his birthright of presiding over his physical states.

The philosophy is lofty, ethical, and, in the main, true. These people, like the scientists, give silent treatments, both patient and healer sitting with closed eyes. A prescription is given to take home, of which the following is a sample:

"I trust every organ,

I govern myself with Patience and Power."

This indirect suggestion is, as we know, most effective for the waking consciousness, and if frequently repeated is likely to become indelibly stamped in the subliminal consciousness.

Mr. Charles Newcomb, of Boston, says: "Plain suggestions of confidence, patience, gladness, and decision often bring us back to the trail we have lost thru the uncertainty of our own power and freedom." The philosophy seems to be very largely 'Newcomb : The Discovery of a Lost Trail.

Emersonian. These people take Emerson literally, where many have supposed he was dealing in poetic images. It is a philosophy of life itself, and the mental power over bodily states is only one of its many beneficent phases. Its watchword is: "No regrets for the past, no fears for the future, live in the present above time."

The writer had the pleasure during the spring of 1906 of listening to a course of lectures by Mr. Newcomb. He is a man of great breadth of culture, and an earnest student of all matters psychic. But the extravagant claims for the all-sufficiency of psychic healing is almost painful. He speaks with the most absolute assurance concerning technical subjects, little realizing the implications.

For example, he claims to have cured nearsightedness, when upon inquiry he has no evidence to offer which is of the slightest value to an investigator. He claims to be able to diagnose pathological conditions by psychic sight or clairvoyance, but refused to make the experiment with an eye case which the writer proposed to send him. He would, however, treat a case which was sent to him by an oculist, provided the patient was really desirous of being treated, but experimentation was ruled out.

In 1897 Leander Edmund Whipple established in New York the American School of Metaphysics. Both didactic and correspondence courses are offered. In the preface to "The Philosophy of Mental Healing," Mr. Whipple says: "The writer enter

tains the opinion that absolute truth can safely invite any amount of investigation, together with the most thoro and accurate tests that can be applied thru logic, reason, and philosophical thought or in scientific experiment of the most accurate description." Noticing in one of his announcements that, among other anomalies of the eyes, astigmia could be cured by his system, the writer communicated with him, asking if he had any cases of this defect which had been examined by a competent oculist both before and after the cure.

Astigmia is a deformity of the front of the eyethe cornea and can be accurately measured by the keratometer, which is an instrument in nearly every oculist's office. Altho it may vary some in the course of years, oculists cannot cure it, they can only correct it with glasses.

The following very courteous reply was received:

"Your esteemed favor was duly received. I do not know of tests made under the full requirements suggested by your question, tho many cases have similar testimony in a partial way. It is difficult to bring about from the standpoint of medical diagnosis and of metaphysical practise. Tests for the sake of experiment never succeed. There is mental law underneath it I feel sure. Consequently such records as you ask for are not obtainable as far as I know. More complete methods will become established in time, I believe. The mental law that

can result in a radical cure will not withstand much of the different kind of action in the way at the time and results do not appear unless the action is very clear and free. Naturally enough, the medically trained mind thinks that the same methods of examination and test as applied in medicine should apply with metaphysics, but the conditions are vastly different. An experimenting thought destroys most of the power. I recognize the value of such tests and records, but I have not seen yet how they can be brought about. Abnormal physical conditions have their complete correspondences in mental states or experiences which act as causes. After these causes are stopped in action physical conditions can become adjusted to the changed mentality by natural process and without further intervention from outside. This I believe to be a fact in mental therapeutics. The eyes being so closely associated with the nervous system are responsive to about every change in mental action, for the mind controls the nervous system. I have seen total blindness of one eye restored upon the removal of the mental shock of a severe injury to the cheek under that eye, and similar results in many varieties of supposed physical

conditions.

To a

"Yours sincerely,

"LEANDER Edmund WHIPPLE.”

medically trained mind " this seems like

begging the question. This propensity to "claim

everything" which is so universal with the practitioners of prayer cure, Christian Science, and mental healing seems inconsistent with the high moral tone which these people exhibit. In charity one is forced to believe that they are honest but are self-deceived. The analogy between this state of mind and the deductive faculty exhibited by the hypnotized individual is very striking. He is no longer disturbed by the restraints of the critical and judicial normal consciousness. May it not be that this " confidence" contributes greatly to success?

A-hypnotic suggestion is a means of treatment recognized by many of the medical profession. It is the method used very largely by Bernheim. Doctor Petersen, in describing his visit to Nancy in 1891, says: "From bed to bed we went, and after the individual case was examined, Bernheim would address the sufferer in a gentle but firm voice, in no way different from his conversational rhythm. He told them to sleep either at once or before he left the ward, suggesting the alleviation or disappearance of their pains, made them imaginary tonics, at times touched the seat of pain, and assured them that when their slumber had ceased - he fixing its duration as well as the right time for it- they would then feel comfortable and in a happier mood." I

Doctor Petersen continues: "The idea therefore

'Translation of Hypnotism and Its Application to Practical Medicine. Wetterstrand.