SOME RELATIONS OF MIND AND BODY. 161 



bute to drugs in homoeopathic or other doses will be con- 

 sidered in the future to be the results of the powers of our 

 unconscious minds. 



A patient, suffering agonies with toothache, was told by a 

 medical man to apply to the tooth a silver coin wrapped in 

 silver paper. Believing it to be infallible, she did so several 

 times and was relieved. One day, however, she was told 

 the remedy was wholly mental, and at once it was power- 

 less. Here is an instance of the pernicious effects of the con- 

 scious mind inhibiting after first aiding the sub-conscious. 



Unzer, in 1771, says : " The expectation of the action of a 

 remedy often causes us to experience its operation liefore- 

 hand." I have just received a remarkable illustration ot 

 this that, however, goes beyond this statement. A colleague 

 of mine gave a patient the other day some opium pills to 

 produce sleep, but forgot to mention their object. Last 

 week he found the pills had not acted as hypnotics, but in a 

 totally different manner, though the patieiJit had had no 

 better sleep. Another patient thought she had taken a large 

 dose of rhubarb, which was effectual ; she discovered after- 

 wards that she had forgotten to take the medicine. 



Hunter says, " By my will I can fix my attention on any 

 part until I have a sensation in that part " ; while ]\Iuller 

 affirms that it may be stated as a general fact, that any state 

 of the body which is expected with certain confidence Avill be 

 very prone to occur as the mere result of that idea. It is 

 easy to produce symptoms by suggestions. If, for instance, 

 you press some particular part of the spine of a neurasthenic, 

 and say, " Do you feel any pain here 1 " he may say " No." 

 But if you persist in your suggestion for half-a-dozen times, 

 and the nervous centres are at all susceptible, he will say 

 •• Yes," and the pain suggested by you will be felt. Now this 

 is true Avith regard to producing cures as well as in producing 

 chseases. 



Let me give one more illustration of the power of the sub- 

 conscious mind in ordinary disease. I refer to the therapeutic 

 value of the common mantel-piece striking clock (I say clock 

 in preference to watch, because it has a greater value ; and I 

 say mantel-piece instead of hall clock for the same reason ; 

 and I add striking as being of still greater efficacy). Sir 

 Dyce Duckworth, without dwelling on the value of mental 

 therapeutics, has pointed out their use by means of the 

 clock, in showing the great effect in cases of persistent 

 vomiting in giving the liquid food in teaspoonfuls every five 



