False education has led mankind to believe that substance is that only which is cognized by the physical senses. Chief among the ills of the human race thereby engendered is that which has given to the definition of medicine a material interpretation. We are informed from the dictionary that medicine is "any substance administered in the treatment of disease." The inference follows, from further false information and instruction, that substance in this case is a drug; and that medication is the incorporation of one substance into another, thereby effecting healing.
Around this theory has been built up a vast system of rules and formulas, including within its scope practically every known material substance, from pure water to loathsome mixtures, indescribably obnoxious and repugnant. That certain remedies appear to possess curative power is due to a general belief in their efficacy, and not to the drugs or processes themselves. Any drug seems to be invested with healing properties only so long as faith in its potency remains; and those who depend on material means of healing resort to many devices in order to retain this seeming mysterious power.
Sick and discouraged mortals grasp at any promise of relief with the pitiful hope that it will somehow bring release from misery and despair. Multitudes of honorable physicians and surgeons are practicing a profession which they honestly believe to be worthy and legitimate. They acknowledge the power of the human mind to aid the treatment, and endeavor to induce in the patient a cheerful and hopeful mental attitude. Confusion is the immediate result.
