Dominant Ideas. 789 



ried woman took refuge in the Hospital some months before her ex- 

 pected confinement, and had by her amiable qualities, won the good 

 opinion of its officers and inmates. ' ' She had made a good recovery, 

 but when her infant was two weeks old her relatives learned of her 

 place of refuge, and of the disgrace that had befallen her. They came 

 to her, and so distressed her with their reproaches, that nursing her 

 babe threw it into convulsions, from which it died in a few hours, 

 although up to this time it had seemed perfectly healthy. This combi- 

 nation of troubles resulted in a shock which proved fatal to the mother. " 



In cases of hysteria the patient has convulsions, jerks, etc. , under 

 the conviction that she is under such control. On the other hand, they 

 often get the notion that they cannot walk or move, when their only dis- 

 ability consists in the conviction that they cannot. Almost all that is 

 necessary to the performance of the cure of many supposed cases of 

 paralysis, is to produce a conviction in the patient that a cure is about 

 to be effected upon the exertion of a certain effort on his part. ' ' And 

 thus it has been that many pseudo-miracles have been wrought on this 

 class of patients by religious enthusiasts, and that many wonderful 

 cures have been affected b}^ the supposed influence of mesmerism. All 

 that is wanted is that state of confident anticipation which is commonly 

 designated as Faith" (Carpenter). The curing of diseases by 

 " faith," by "charms," miracles, etc. ,. is explainable on the theory 

 of the concentration of attention, by which there is a stimulation of 

 normal functions or an elimination of morbid deposits. Where diseases 

 are stimulated by terror, as they are often supposed to be in epidemics 

 of cholera and the like, it is probable that the reverse action takes 

 place, and that over stimulation of the blood vessels drives out the 

 blood, as in the case of blanching or turning pale, and fainting in the 

 presence of danger, and the stoppage of the heart, from the same 

 cause as shown in chapter 53. 



In most cases of insanity the disease is due to the excessive domi- 

 nance of some idea. Nearly all the intellectual operations of our lives 

 are performed under the influence of our dominating ideas. If the 

 ideas are in themselves correct and sound, their excessive and untimely 

 influence begets simply too much zeal and enthusiasm. The subject 

 " rides a hobby, " or he is a "bore," or a "crank." If the idea is 

 wrong or unsound its excessive influence begets insanity and mania. 

 The ideas which are thus dominant may be of a temporary character, or 

 they may endure throughout a lifetime. In the delirium of disease all 

 the ideas present are greatly inflamed and intensified. But it is evident 

 that all the ideas possible to the patient are not for the time being 

 present, that is, are not aroused or in a condition to be readily aroused. 

 If they were, a condition of inflammation by exciting all parts alike 



