464 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



hypotheses which Christian Science presents; but it would have less re- 

 semblance to the world we know than has Alice's Wonderland. For 

 any person for whom logic and evidence are something more real than 

 ghosts or myths, the feat must always be relegated to the airy realm of 

 the imagination and must not be brought in contact with earthly reali- 

 ties. And yet the extravagance of Mrs. Eddy's book, its superb disdain 

 of vulgar fact, its transcendental self-confidence, its solemn assumption 

 that reiteration and variation of assertion somehow spontaneously gen- 

 erate proof or self-evidence, its shrewd assimilation of a theological 

 flavor, its occasional successes in producing a presentable travesty of 

 scientific truth — all these distinctions may be found in many a dust- 

 covered volume, that represents the intensity of conviction of some 

 equally enthusiastic and equally inspired occultist, but one less success- 

 ful in securing a chorus to echo his refrain. 



I cannot dismiss 'Eddyism' without illustrating the peculiar struc- 

 tures under which, in an effort to be consistent, it is forced to take 

 shelter. Since disease is always of purely mental origin, it follows that 

 disease and its symptoms cannot ensue without the conscious coopera- 

 tion of the patient; since "Christian Science divests material drugs of 

 their imaginary power," it follows that the labels on the bottles that 

 stand on the druggist's shelves are correspondingly meaningless. And 

 it becomes an interesting problem to inquire how the consensus of mor- 

 tal mind came about that associates one set of symptoms with prussic 

 acid, and another with alcohol, and another with quinine. Inhaliug 

 oxygen or common air would prepare one for the surgeon's knife, and 

 prussic acid or alcohol have no more effect than water, if only a con- 

 gress of nations would pronounce the former to be anaesthetic and pro- 

 mulgate a decree that the latter shall be harmless. Christian Science 

 does not flinch from this position. "If a dose of poison is swallowed 

 through mistake and the patient dies, even though physician and pa- 

 tient are expecting favorable results, does belief, you ask, cause this 

 death? Even so, and as directly as if the poison had been intentionally 

 taken. In such cases a few persons believe the potion swallowed by the 

 patient to be harmless; but the vast majority of mankind, though they 

 know nothing of this particular case and this special person, believe the 

 arsenic, the strychnine, or whatever the drug used, to be poisonous, for 

 it has been set down as a poison by mortal mind. The consequence i6 

 that the result is controlled by the majority of opinions outside, not by 

 the infinitesimal minority of opinions in the sick chamber.' 1 But why 

 should the opinions of 01 7toXXoibe of influence in such a case, and the 

 enlightened minorities be sufficient to effect the marvellous cures in all 

 the other cases? Christian Scientists do not take cold in draughts in 

 spite of the contrary opinions or illusions of misguided majorities. The 

 logical Cln-istian Scientist need not eat. "for the truth is food does not 



