Nerves are neither the source of pain nor of pleasure. We may suffer or enjoy without nerves, as in dreams, and that pain or that pleasure is not communicated through a nerve. A limb that has been amputated, or a tooth that has been extracted, has seemed to ache again. We have seen an unwitting attempt to scratch the end of a finger that had been cut off for months. When the nerve is gone, that we say occasioned pain, and yet the pain returns, it shows very plainly that the sensation is in mind and not matter.
Reverse the case, take away mortal mind, and nerves are proven sensationless. When the sick recover from the use of drugs, it is because of a law of mortal mind, a general belief culminating in individual faith, and according to this faith will the effect be found upon the body. But take away the confidence reposed in the drug by the individual and you have not divested it of the general faith. The chemist, the botanist, the druggist, the pharmaceutist, the doctor and nurse equip it with their united faith and the majority rules, so you have a strong element of mortal mind to produce the result that you would attribute to the inanimate drug; and if your own belief or faith is lacking, the majority of beliefs rule the minority. The only antidote for disease, is the remedy for error, namely, Truth.—Science and Health.
