An eminent New York physician, who was fond of experimenting, told a friend that he had compounded some wonderful pills, a single one of which would cause certain described symptoms. His friend volunteered to take one. The symptoms followed exactly as foretold; but the pill was afterward noticed in the tangles of a very full beard, not having been swallowed at all. The doctor's faith in the potency of his pills was such as to make him think that their mere proximity to the mouth might prove to be efficacious. But we bystanders attributed the unquestioned symptoms to the influence of an excited imagination over the physical condition.
To the foregoing authentic instances now first published might be added a long list of recorded cases with every variety of delusional fancies, the victims being of sound mind and in ordinary health. These phenomena cannot be classed as morbid, nor can they readily be explained by hypnotism. But they certainly have a value in the delicate task of determining the significance of bodily symptoms. They teach that acute pain, great discomfort, deadly wounds, and also the beneficent effects of curative medicines may be simulated by experiences that in reality are purely mental. To make light of such ills would be cruel. To treat them physically would seem to be absurd. Their remedy, like their cause, must be mental. Herein is the secret of the "bread pill" system. And spurning quackery and imposture, there certainly is room, in a wise and sensible system of healing, for an agency known to have such amazing power as the imagination.
