it is shown that physicians enjoy such a monopoly of the cardinal virtues that it is unsafe to intrust the forces of nature in the hands of others.

In the mean time the world at large will continue to believe that the laws of hypnotism are no exception to the rule that the forces of nature, when once understood, are designed for the highest good of mankind; and they will continue to demand that those forces shall not be monopolized by any man, or set of men, body politic, or corporation.

From what has been said, the supreme folly of legislation to prohibit experiments in hypnotism is manifest. No one will deny that when a hypnotist permits himself to exercise his art in private he is in possession of opportunities which, under other conditions, might give him an undue advantage over a subject of the opposite sex; but, from the very nature of things, that advantage is infinitely less than that enjoyed by physicians in their habitual intercourse with their patients. Until it is shown that physicians never take advantage of their confidential relations with their patients; until it is shown that physicians are exempt from human passions and frailties; or, at least, until it is shown that physicians are more platonic in their emotions than the ordinary run of human beings, - the world will continue to regard their demand that the study of experimental psychology shall be restricted by legislation to the medical profession, as an exhibition of monumental impudence. It cannot be forgotten that it was the medical profession that drove Mesmer into a dishonored exile and a premature grave for the sole reason that he healed the sick without the use of pills. The faculty ridiculed, proscribed, and ostracized every medical man who dared to conduct an honest investigation of mesmeric phenomena. And now that the scientists of Europe are compelled to admit the therapeutic value of the science, they are instant in demand that no one but physicians shall be permitted to make experiments. It is perhaps natural and right that the treatment of disease by means of drugs should be restricted to

those who are educated in the proper use of drugs; but the employment of psychic powers and remedies rests upon an entirely different footing. Their demand that hypnotism be reserved for their exclusive use rests not upon their knowledge of its laws, but is founded upon their wilful ignorance of the fundamental principles which underlie

the science.

Historical Notes.- Mind Cure in Ancient Times. - Bible Accounts. Miracles of the Church. - Healing by the King's Touch. Views of Paracelsus and Pomponazzi. - Bernheim's Experiments. - The Modern Schools. - Their Theories. - The True Hypothesis applicable to all Systems. - Illustrations of the Theory. Producing a Blister by Suggestion. - Bloody Stigmata. — Letters of Blood.. Objective Control of Subjective Mind. - Subjective Control of Bodily Functions. - The Necessary Mental Conditions. The Precepts and Example of Christ. - Subjective Faith alone required. Discussion of Various Systems. - Christian Science, General Conclusions.

etc.

IN

N the whole range of psychological research there is no branch of the study of such transcendent practical interest and importance to the world as that which pertains to its application to the cure of disease. That there resides in mankind a psychic power over the functions and sensations of the body, and that that power can be invoked at will, under certain conditions, and applied to the alleviation of human suffering, no longer admits of a rational doubt. The history of all nations presents an unbroken line of testimony in support of the truth of this proposition. In the infancy of the world the power of secretly influencing men for good or evil, including the healing of the sick, was possessed by the priests and saints of all nations. Healing of the sick was supposed to be a power derived directly from God, and it was exerted by means of prayers and ceremonies, laying on of hands and incantations, amulets and talismans, rings, relics, and images, and the knowledge of it was transmitted with the sacred mysteries.

Numerous examples of the practice of healing by the touch and by the laying on of hands are related in the Old Testament. Moses was directed by the Lord to transmit his power and honor to Joshua by the laying on of hands. Elijah healed the dead child by stretching himself upon the body and calling upon the name of the Lord, and Elisha raised the dead son of the Shunammite woman by the same means. It was even supposed that the power survived his death. The New Testament is full of examples of the most striking character, and the promise of the Master to those who believe, "In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover," applies to all mankind to-day as well as to his followers upon whom he had conferred his power in person. That this power was transmitted to future generations, and that the saints and others regarded it as the heritage of the Church and employed it with humble faith, in imitation of the Master, for the good of mankind, is shown by numerous examples. While the chroniclers have undoubtedly embellished many actual cures and recited many fictitious ones, the fact that the saints and others possessed healing powers cannot be questioned. Thus, Saint Patrick, the Irish apostle, healed the blind by laying on his hands.

"Saint Bernard," says Ennemoser, "is said to have restored eleven blind persons to sight, and eighteen lame persons to the use of their limbs in one day at Constance. At Cologne he healed twelve lame, caused three dumb persons to speak, ten who were deaf to hear, and, when he himself was ill, Saint Lawrence and Saint Benedict appeared to him, and cured him by touching the affected part. Even his plates and dishes are said to have cured sickness after his death! The miracles of Saints Margaret, Katherine, Hildegarde, and especially the miraculous cures of the two holy martyrs, Cosmos and Damianus, belong to this class. Among others, they freed the Emperor Justinian from an incurable sickness. Saint Odilia embraced in her arms a leper who was shunned by all men, warmed him, and restored him to health.

ΙΟ

"Remarkable above all others are those cases where persons who were at the point of death have recovered by holy baptism or extreme unction. The Emperor Constantine is one of the most singular examples. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, had the power of assuaging colic and affections of the spleen by laying the patients on their backs and passing his great toe over them. The Emperor Vespasian cured nervous affections, lameness, and blindness, solely by the laying on of his hands. According to Cœlius Spartianus, Hadrian cured those afflicted with dropsy by touching them with the points of his fingers, and recovered himself from a violent fever by similar treatment. King Olaf healed Egill on the spot by merely laying his hands upon him and singing proverbs. The kings of England and France cured diseases of the throat by touch. It is said that the pious Edward the Confessor, and, in France, that Philip the First were the first who possessed this power. In England the disease was therefore called 'king's evil.' In France this power was retained till within a recent period. Among German princes this curative power was ascribed to the Counts of Hapsburg, and also that they were able to cure stammering by a kiss. Pliny says, 'There are men whose whole bodies possess medicinal properties, as the Marsi, the Psyli, and others, who cure the bite of serpents merely by the touch.' This he remarks especially of the island of Cyprus, and later travellers confirm these cures by the touch. In later times the Salmadores and Ensalmadores of Spain became very celebrated, who healed almost all diseases by prayer, laying on of the hands, and by the breath. In Ireland, Valentine Greatrakes cured at first king's evil by his hands; later, fever, wounds, tumors, gout, and at length all diseases. In the seventeenth century the gardener Levret and the notorious Streeper performed cures in London by stroking with the hand. In a similar manner cures were performed by Michael Medina and the Child of Salamanca; also Marcellus Empiricus. Richter, an innkeeper at Royen, in Silicia, cured, in the years 1817, 1818, many thousands of sick persons in the open fields by touching them with his hands. Under the popes, laying on of the hands was called 'chirothesy.""

Again, Ennemoser says:

"As regards the resemblance which the science bears to magnetism, it is certain that not only were the ancients acquainted with an artificial method of treating disease, but also with somnambulism itself. Among others, Agrippa von Net