SCIENCE AND ''CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.'' 805 



cliemistry, zoology, botany, astronomy, and geology would also be 

 reduced to chaos, for these together with physiology are based 

 on observation and induction, which Mrs. Eddy declares we can 

 not trust. " Christian Science eschews what is termed natural 

 science," she says, and she condemns the use of observation 

 when she asserts that " it is morally wrong to examine the body 

 in order to ascertain if we are in health." " Putting on the full 

 armor of physiology, and obeying to the letter the so-called laws 

 of health (so the statistics show), have neither diminished sick- 

 ness nor lengthened life " ! On the other hand, she affirms that 

 " science is the watchword of our day," and calls attention to 

 some of its benefits ; in another place she indorses the results of 

 astronomy. But that she is wofully ignorant of science is shown 

 by such expressions as, " The angle of incidence is the reverse of 

 the angles in the objects reflected " ; " The blind forces called at- 

 traction, adhesion, and cohesion are not substances of matter " ; 

 " We tread on forces. Withdraw them, and the universe would 

 collapse." 



The genuine science of mental therapeutics is a very simple 

 one. It has been discovered by physicians here and there at vari- 

 ous times, and, if not adequately developed, it at least does not 

 contradict the principles on which all science is based. The 

 theory is, that mental impressions, however produced, act through 

 the nervous system upon the various organs of the body so as to 

 stimulate or obstruct their functions as the case may be. Such 

 mental action is a matter of common observation. Whenever the 

 cheek flushes with embarrassment or pales with fear, mental influ- 

 ence is producing its effect on the body. Great anxiety or grief 

 causes loss of appetite, and may bring on an attack of dyspepsia or 

 any other disease to which the person is liable. Fright has turned 

 the hair gray in a few hours. Dr. Murchison wrote : " That jaun- 

 dice may have a nervous origin has long been known. There are 

 numerous instances on record of its being produced by severe 

 mental emotions, such as fits of anger, fear, shame, or great bodily 

 suffering," 



Dr. Durand, of New Orleans, according to the " Picayune " of 

 that city, recently made a test of mental influence by giving a 

 hundred patients a dose of sweetened water. Fifteen minutes 

 after, entering apparently in great excitement, he announced that 

 he had by mistake given a powerful emetic, and preparations 

 must be made accordingly. Eighty out of the hundred patients 

 soon fell to vomiting. 



On the other hand, the tonic effects on a patient of hope, cheer- 

 fulness, and a determination to get well, have been frequently 

 commented upon, and many intelligent physicians have made 

 good use of such mental aids in practice. Dr. John Hunter wrote 



