Legend
Strange Forces in Nature
Persons remarkable for mesmeric healing power were known before the time of Mesmer, one of whom, Valentine Greatrakes, an Irishman, performed wonderful cures. At London, Oxford, and other cities in England and Ireland, in 1666 and the years following, he attained such notoriety that thousands of patients, from all parts of the country, flocked to his residence. He made no charge for his cures, which were performed mainly by placing his hands on and moving them over the affected parts. The Bishop of Dromore stated that he could, as an eye-witness, assert that Greatrakes cured dirtiness, very bad diseases of the eyes and ears, old ulcers, goitre, epilepsy, glandular swellings, schirrhous indurations, and cancerous swellings. The celebrated Robert Boyle, President of the Royal Society of London, said that many physicians, noblemen, clergymen, &c., testify to the truth of Greatrakc's cutes. The chief diseases cured were blindness, deafness, paralysis, ulcers, swellings, and all kinds of fevers
From remote periods the mesmeric treatment was employed to alleviate human suffering and healing the sick. Thus, on the tombs and temples of ancient Egypt, on the mummy cases, as well as on amulets and charms, are seen representations of the priests, who were the physicians, performing the ceremony of making mesmeric passes over the sick, and placing their hands on the afflicted parts, precisely as is now done for like purposes. It was daily practiced in the temples of Isis, Osiris, and Serapis; in these temples the priest treated the sick and healed diseases, either by magnetic manipulations, or other means producing somnambulism. In India likewise, from a very early period, the higher phases of mesmeric phenomena appear to have been well understood.
The distinguished chemist and physicist, Baron Von Reichenbach. of Vienna, in 1845, asserted that he had discovered a new force, naming it the Od, Odylic, or Odic, or all-pervading force. By numerous experiments, extending through some years, most carefully and scientifically performed, he established the existence of a remarkable influence or force, given out by magnets, causing a faintly luminous emanation from their poles; also by crystals, by the magnetism of the earth, by the sun’s rays, by chemical action, by electricity, in short, to a certain extent, in all matter; also by animals, particularly by the human hand. Moreover, that this force and the so-called fluid of animal magnetism were identical. Thus was placed on a scientific basis the action of the hand in making passes over mesmerized subjects, an additional force by that means being imparted to their nervous system, closely connected with the vital force.
The assumption of a fluid or force, as the cause of the mesmeric phenomena, had been, and still is by many, denied, who otherwise recognized and practiced the art; it had early been seen that individuals fell into the magnetic or somnambulic state without the aid of any one, and hence could not have received any new force; thus it was said that the whole was the result of the imagination. This assumption derived new weight when Dr. Braid, of London, published his process of Hypnotism, in which, by a simple process of gazing at an object, the mesmeric or biological state was produced without any outside assistance. The larger number of physicians now accepted most of the facts of mesmerism, and among them was Dr. Carpenter, the distinguished physiologist.
Experiments, carefully made by able physicians, however, had confirmed the existence of the Odic force, and the question arises, How can all the facts be reconciled? It appears to me that this can reasonably be done. It is assumed that the Odylic force is contained in, and given out by, all persons, only varying in amount; and that this force is in intimate relationship with the nervous system, and hence closely associated with the emotional states of the mind, as well as with its unconscious action. This being premised, it follows that any disturbance in the natural distribution of the Odic force in the system, whether it be by a fresh accession from without, or by any action of the emotions or unconscious cerebration, produced by a suggestion or dominant idea, might result in anesthesia or any other s ate of the mesmeric phenomena. It can thus be understood how it is that the power of the imagination, so-called, can cause such astounding effects. This force of the imagination, in its therapeutic relations, opens a wide and most interesting field of exploration to the physician.
Dr. Tuke, in his recent valuable publication, has fully entered upon the subject, and discussed it in an able and scientific manner for the use of the medical profession. Of the power of the imagination over the human body there are numberless well-attested cases: the effects are real and absolute, and not imaginary or fanciful, as some, having confused ideas, suppose.
The imagination, in its medical sense, is a complex, mental power of great interest and importance. It is able to convert bread pills into emetics or cathartics of great potency; thus, in an experiment by Dr. Durand, in a hospital, one hundred patients were given inert draughts such as sugared water. In a short time after, he entered the wards, full of alarm, pretending that a mistake had been made, and that a powerful emetic, instead of syrup of gum, had been administered, and preperations were made accordingly. Of the one hundred patients, eighty were acted upon as if an emetic had really been given.
A case is given by Dr. Noble, in which a strong cathartic, composed of extract of colycinth and calomel, acted as an opiate, inducing a comfortable sleep in a patient who supposed the medicine had been given for that purpose. A doctor left his prescription on the table for a lady who suffered from pleurodynia, saying, But this to your side. The patient literally did so, instead of obtaining the prescribed plaster, but, in spite of the mistake, derived great benefit from the treatment.
Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh, gave a laboring man a prescription for some medicine required in his case, saying, Take that, and in a fortnight you will be well. The man swallowed the prescription itself, misunderstanding the doctor, and in less than a fortnight he was entirely cured.
Sir Humphrey Davy, the great chemist, introduced a thermometer under the tongue of a patient afflicted with the palsy. The man at once exclaimed that the remedy—for such he regarded the thermometer—did him great good. Davy took the hint immediately, did not give the gas, but required him to return next day. He again inserted the same instrument in his mouth, the same result followed, and at the end of two weeks the man was dismissed, cured by a thermometer.
Warts are continually being cured by a variety of ways appealing to the imagination, such, for example, as rubbing with a bit of meat and throwing it away. Dr. Carpenter says the charming of warts away are real facts, however they may be explained. An instance of automatic or unconscious action of the mind is seen in the experiment of holding a coin or ring, suspended by a hair, in a glass vessel, between the forefinger and thumb; the coin will in many cases strike the proper hour, without the conscious assistance of the operator.
The force of imagination has, in many cases, caused death itself, as in the case on record of a man sentenced to be bled to death. He was blindfolded, a sham operation performed, and tepid water allowed to run down his arm. At the close of the operation the man was dead.
The marvelous action of the mind over the circulation of the blood in the capillaries is shown in the case of a lady, vouched for by Dr. Tuke, who saw a child, in whom she had a particular interest, coming out through an iron gateway. She saw the heavy gate swing to as in the act of closing, and it seemed to her inevitable that it would close on the ankle of the child and crush it. She found that she could not more to his assistance, from a sudden, intense pain in her own ankle, which she had in no way strained or injured. With great difficulty she reached her home, and found on examination a red circle around the ankle, with a large red spot on the outer part, just at the place where the gate would have struck the limb of the child. Next morning the entire foot was inflamed, and she was confined to her bed for several days.
Dr. Tuke also cites a case by Planque, in which a healthy, robust man saw in a dream another man throw a stone violently against his breast. The vivid shock awoke him, when he found that there was on his chest a round mark having the appearance of a bruise. The next day there was so much swelling that the surgeon had to scarify the part to prevent sloughing. Many cases of a like nature, still more remarkable, might be referred to.
Dr. Carpenter observes that certain states of the mind—produced by suggested or dominant ideas—have a remarkable influence on the organic functions, whilst the direct influence of the will is Inoperative. If the imagination is possessed of such powers, it behooves the physician to call in its aid as a most valuable ally whenever practicable; it appears to be able to control the healing power of nature, and thus may be justly regarded as one of the most valuable of remedial agents.
Strange Forces in Nature
Among the strange forces may be classed the vital or cell force of the physiologists. In the twilight of microscopic vision we perceive glimmering points only just emerging into indistinct perception from the surrounding transparent liquid; these grow, enlarge, become more distinctly visible, until at last dearly perceived in their outlying forms. Did they exist before being rendered microscopically visible? Certainly, they existed before, because if a more powerful instrument had been employed, they would have been seen earlier. Again, flash a beam of electric light through transparent and <... continues on page 3-98 >
Editor's notes
Sources
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Spiritual Scientist, v. 1, No. 17, December 31, 1874, p. 196
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Spiritual Scientist, v. 1, No. 18, January 7, 1875, pp. 208-9