350 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



stigmafization. Dr. Hodgson told me he went to Louisville and 

 endeavored to study the case, but found she was in the hands of 

 the Roman Catholic authorities, and he was not allowed to exam- 

 ine her. 



The ease with which warts can be " charmed away " by sug- 

 gestion has long been known. I will quote two cases. The pa- 

 tient in the first case was my wife, then a little girl, and the ac- 

 count was written for me by her mother. " I remember it all 



perfectly. It was when E was about six years old, just before 



we went to Boston to live. She had had warts on her hands for 

 over a year. They had spread until her hand was not only badly 

 disfigured, but very painful, as they were apt to crack and bleed. 

 Two physicians, both relatives of ours, had prescribed for them, 

 and we had followed directions without success. "We were in 



Lawrence, at M. P 's. A lady came to tea, noticed the warts, 



and offered to remove them by a 'charm/ As I had once or 

 twice been relieved in childhood in the same way, I was de- 

 lighted at the offer. She went through some mummery, rubbing 

 them and muttering something, I think, and then announced that 

 they would be gone in a month. They were, every one. In a 

 few days they began to dry up and disappear. So far as I can 

 remember, she never had another. When I was a child there was 

 a neighbor of ours who used to remove all the warts in the 

 neighborhood. I never heard of his failing, and I know of many 

 successful removals in our own family. He used a piece of 

 thread. He would tie it around the wart if he could with 

 great solemnity, rub it three times, and very carefully put the 

 piece of thread in a paper in his pocketbook. This made a very 

 great impression on us, I remember. It seemed next to a church 

 service, having your wart taken off." 



Dr. Bon jean, of Lausanne, in a letter to the Revue de VHyp- 

 notisme, dated March 3, 1896, tells an interesting story of the 

 same sort. An old lady, a relative of his, had long had the repu- 

 tation of being able to remove warts, and he had himself been 

 cured by her of a very bad one. Her method was to bandage the 

 eyes of the patient and instruct him not to touch the wart or dis- 

 turb the bandage while she was operating. Her daughter then 

 entered and touched the wart with an object (described by Dr. 

 Bonjean) which could not have had any curative power. The 

 warts disappeared in from one to three weeks. When the old 

 lady died, Dr. Bonjean learned her secret. He saw clearly that 

 her success must be due to suggestion, and he undertook to cure 

 warts without the use of the object upon which she relied, but 

 imitating her methods in other respects. He never hypnotizes 

 the patient, and says he thinks it is only important to impress 

 him deeply with the notion that the warts will go away. 



