342 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



habits, and their dispositions— we shall constantly be impressed 

 with the practical wisdom of these little inhabitants of our gar- 

 dens and forests, and be daily encouraged by their untiring in- 

 dustry and bright, sprightly ways. 



SUGGESTION IN THERAPEUTICS. 



By Prof. WILLIAM KOMAINE NEWBOLD. 



IF there be any truth in the doctrines I have already put forth 

 in these pages, it seems a priori probable that suggestion will 

 prove useful in combating some of the many ills that flesh is 

 heir to. The various devices for heightening suggestibility are 

 simply devices for increasing the effects proper to any given men- 

 tal state by removing from its path all obstacles. Among the 

 effects of mental states are the production and prevention of other 

 states and of movements, and there are many diseases which are 

 characterized by disturbances of sensation, thought, or movement. 

 Very often these disturbances are functional — that is, they can not 

 be traced to any visible injury of the nervous system, and fre- 

 quently appear and disappear in most unaccountable fashion. It 

 does not seem improbable that in such cases suggestion might 

 work effects worthy of serious consideration. 



And in fact it does. Every physician knows that it does, even 

 though he has never heard the word " suggestion," or laughs at 

 the theories of Nancy. Instinctively every trained practitioner 

 supports his remedies by suggestion, cheering the patient by 

 word and look, pooh-poohing his fears, assuring him of a speedy 

 recovery, and often, if he be somewhat wiser than common, expa- 

 tiating upon the specific results expected from the dose now to be 

 administered. 



The movement known as Psychotherapeutics or Suggestive 

 Therapeutics is an attempt to dissociate this element of medical 

 practice from its concomitants in order to determine its value 

 when taken by itself. What that value is I shall not venture to 

 say. In all probability the advocates of the method — or some of 

 them — exaggerate its efficacy, and doubtless the personality of the 

 physician has much to do with its success. In one man's hands 

 suggestion will work wonders ; in those of another it is almost 

 valueless. Yet the evidence is rapidly accumulating, and every 

 year sees a greater consensus among those who have made the 

 trial as to the limits within which it is of value. 



I can not undertake in one short article to go into the details 

 of the results reported by von Krafft-Ebing, von Schrenck-Not- 

 zing, Forel, Ladame, Moll, Wetterstrand, van Renterghem and 



