CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. 757 



employ mental suggestion as a therapeutic means, rely upon it as 

 a part of their armamentarium, and use it in appropriate cases, 

 either alone or combined with other means of cure, as electricity, 

 hydrotherapy, and drugs — which last, despite Mrs. Eddy's foolish 

 denunciation, are quite as much entitled to be considered divinely 

 appointed therapeutic agents as is mental suggestion. 



"What I did want especially to discover was whether the Chris- 

 tian Scientist could cure such diseases as are considered by the med- 

 ical man to be incurable — as cancer, locomotor ataxia, or advanced 

 phthisis — and also what were the results of their treatment of ty- 

 phoid fever, pneumonia, diphtheria, malaria, etc. And I wanted 

 also to investigate the claims of Christian Science concerning the 

 alleged cure of surgical conditions, such as necrosis or haemorrhage 

 from severed arteries, by no other means than the sole exercise of 

 thought. If the Christian Scientist could have healed in such 

 cases, I for my part would have declared him a worker of miracles. 

 Therefore I searched diligently for such cases. 



In the beginning I had the honor to meet Mrs. Stetson, the 

 " pastor," or the " first reader," of the " First Church of Christ, 

 Scientist," at 143 West Forty-eighth Street, JSTew York city. I 

 had prepared a number of questions concerning Christian Science 

 which I wished to ask Mrs. Stetson. She preferred, however, not 

 to answer them herself, but told me that she would be pleased to 

 forward them to Mrs. Eddy. I then wrote out these questions 

 and put them, together with a letter to Mrs. Eddy, very respect- 

 fully requesting her consideration of them, in Mrs. Stetson's hands. 

 Mrs. Stetson then very kindly forwarded them to Mrs. Eddy. 

 Among the questions which I asked were the following: 



Is the treatment of the sick a part of Christian Science? 



Upon what principles is the Christian Scientist's method of 

 treatment founded? 



How do you define health? 



How do you define disease? 



"When a patient presents himself to you, do you inquire con- 

 cerning the causes of his illness? 



Do you investigate s^onptoms? (S\Tnptoms, I stated, are the 

 signs of disease.) 



Do you make diagnoses? (A diagnosis, I stated, is a consid- 

 eration of symptoms by which one disease is distinguished from 

 another or others.) 



In what does your treatment consist? 



In treating a patient, do you administer any material sub- 

 stance, and require that it be taken into the body as one would 

 food? 



