This needs to be said: The "subliminal" contains no reference to what is beneath, except in the sense of foundation. In In every other respect the subliminal, the subjective, the unconscious, is the more real, the more noble, the more comprehensive and the more intelligent self. The "supraliminal," the "conscious," the "objective" is a healthy, a natural manifestation. I am satisfied that there are vast possibilities for Suggestive Therapeutics. I have not hesitated to express an opinion concerning details whenever I have found myself in full possession of one. Some of these opinions will doubtless be modified by future developments; but such of them as rest upon well-recognized laws of psychic action will be stable. I have been led along step by step, my powers of perception gradually developing, my experience widening, the possibilities opening before me, until I find myself measurably ripe in both experience and conviction. The certainty of being misunderstood confronts me. I shall doubtless be dubbed a "Christian Scientist," a "charlatan," an "ignoramus," a "trimmer. That matters little. Those who know me well, while they may not wholly agree with me, will at least concede me sincerity. I have herein spoken only the thoughts that long have pressed for utterance. He only is the growing man who gives himself repeated opportunity to change and then to declare in no uncertain language his most sacred convictions. The worst that can in justice be said is that I am a nonconformist; and this title I shall not resent. Says Max Muller: "Scholars welcome everybody who in the open tourna ment of science will take his chance, dealing blows and receiving or parrying blows; but the man who himself does not fight, but simply stands by to jeer and sneer when two good knights have been unseated in breaking a lance in the cause of truth, does nothing but mischief, and might, indeed, find better and worthier employment." The well-known English scientist, Sir Oliver Lodge, says: "Remember that the term 'science' was not always respectable. To early ears it sounded almost as the term witchcraft or magic sounded; it was a thing from which to warn young people; it led to atheism and to many other abominations. It was an unholy prying into the secrets of Nature which were meant to be hid from our eyes; it was a thing against which the Church resolutely set its face, a thing for which it was ready, if need were, to torture or to burn those unlucky men of scientific genius who were born before their time. Pioneers must expect hard knocks; the mind of a people can change only slowly; and until the mind of a people is changed, new truths born before their time must suffer the fate of other untimely births; and the prophet who preaches them must expect to be mistaken for a useless fanatic, of whom every age has always had too many, and must be content to be literally or metaphorically put to death, as part of the protest of the regeneration of the world." I trust that there is no arrogance in my saying that the conclusions herein expressed are attributable neither to inexperience with disease in its various phases nor to lack of knowledge of what orthodox medicine, as practiced by either, or both, of the prominent schools, is capable of doing. Had my opportunities for observation been more restricted I should have hesitated to express pronounced views. The new methods of treatment have been utilized by me in a discriminating and tentative manner for years and the observations have been carefully noted. It should not be inferred from anything herein contained that I have lost faith in drug remedies. I have merely changed my theories concerning their limitations and mode of action. I am most emphatically of the opinion that the practice of suggestive therapeutics should be confined to the medical profession. A. H. Burr, in an article which appeared in November, 1898, points out very clearly many reasons "Why Suggestive Therapeutics Should Not Be Taught to the Laity." The physician can discern the same unwisdom of encouraging lay people to practice with psychological remedies that applies to their use of drugs. Then let the profession come into its rightful heritage. After emphasizing the importance of such a course in his "Spiritual Life," Prof. George A. Coe proceeds as follows: "What, then, is left to the discretion of those untrained in medical science? For it is plain that we cannot avoid employing suggestion to our weal or to our woe every day that we live. A few applications of its principles are perfectly feasible. For example, we can deliberately cultivate cheerful states of feeling, and we can assist others to be happy. If all the world should adopt such a course of living, the occupation of the doctors would be cut in two inside of ten years. Again, just as any intelligent layman is competent to make a proper use of some of the commoner drugs, as, for instance, in the case of minor cuts, burns and bruises, so, it may be contended, specific suggestion for specific ailments may be allowed when the nature of the ailment is understood. To take the simplest case, what possible objection could there be to one's overcoming an attack of sleeplessness by suggestion? Again, if one has certain knowledge that a given headache has been induced by temporary and trivial causes, no harm could easily result from treating it after the manner of Liebeault. In general, too, the pains we have to bear, even under the care of the highest medical skill, can often be lessened by a proper direction of the attention. Here belong the chronic difficulties that have been already diagnosed and treated by the family physician. In short, just as wise dieting, proper clothing and much more has to be attended to by ourselves, so there is a general and very necessary household use of suggestion as an adjunct of ordinary medical practice." I have taken occasion during the past years to sound professional opinion concerning the true value of suggestive means of cure, and have found, almost without exception, that the individual physician stands ready to make his confession of faith in a confidential way, but shrinks from utilizing psychic measures in an open manner "for fear of the people. The doctor himself needs a prescription, the chief constituent of which is BACKBONE. A man cannot achieve true success without an ideal that enlists his full sympathy and commands his highest efforts. He must feel that he has a divine right to succeed. My appeal is to the medical profession. I have done little writing along these lines for the general eye. The stronghold of prejudice is in our own midst. That there has been good ground for prejudice cannot be denied; but that there is now good ground for restricted and provisional acceptance of psychic tenets, is equally true. For the elementary character of the work no excuse need be offered. I have written for those who do not know-for those who need instruction, and not for those who know it all. I have taken particular pains to make the index so explicit that any feature of psycho |