"When the Spartan son complained that his sword was too short, his father said: 'Add a step to it, my son."" -Leavitt. If I were fishing in a trout hole, and failed for long to get rout, I would either get new bait or find a new hole " -Sam Jones it has been said that the world is full of fools who are trying to imitate other fools. Whatever you attempt, be yourself, think your own thoughts, and make up your mind that all you do in the world shall be your own-entirely your own. CHAPTER IV. THE PRESENT STATUS OF MEDICINE-CONTINUED. Ordinary Methods Too Perfunctory. Modern methods of medical practice are not well calculated to obtain satisfactory results. They are of a character too routine and superficial. The physician in general practice makes his rounds among many patients, allowing but a few minutes to each, and is unable to give much serious thought to a particular case, no matter how desperate. He enters, hastily reviews the symptoms and after making a new prescription, suggested, it may be, by a trivial circumstance or a temporary appearance, leaves the patient to battle with the disease, often handicapped by the depressing effects of the wrongly chosen remedy itself. It were far better to make fewer and longer visits so that the true bent and tendency of the symptoms may be learned and that the patient may have time to obtain the salutary effect of the doctor's personality, which in the case of a true healer counts for much. The authorities have recently indicted a Mental Science healer for fraud because it was found that she had so many patients that there was not time in the twenty-four hours for each to receive an absent treatment from her. The busy practitioner of medicine might be almost as justly accused of fraud for pretending to give adequate attention to his large list of patients. The methods of preserving and regaining health have not yet received due attention, though America has a hundred thousand physicians. Are Physicians Underpaid? Those interested claim that the medical practitioner is underpaid for his services. Were his fees larger he could restrict the number of patients accepted and so give to each more acceptable and efficient service. To make a satisfactory visit one should be able to give variety to one's methods and so to arrange the interview that mental concentration could be given a better opportunity to produce its curative effects. The riveted attention of the patient cannot be secured in a moment, nor can the mind of the physician be at once set upon the case in hand. This, however, is not the place to pursue this topic further. It will be taken up in Part II. Service Wrought by Homeopathy. The man Hahnemann did a great service in showing not only the needlessness of the massive dosing and the free bloodletting of his day, but the positive harm that they were doing. Even those who are disposed to minimize the effect of his teaching are willing to admit that the results of his practice were an improvement on the results being obtained from the crude methods then in vogue. His was a process of refining and softening which marked an onward step in the evolutionary movement and better prepared both the pro PSYCHIC EFFECT OF HOMEOPATHY. 51 fession and the laity for the still more subtle methods now coming in. The gross thought of the time could not tolerate the refinement of therapeutics that he proposed. It was spurned and Hahnemann himself was subjected to indignity. Because of persecution he was obliged to forsake his home city, which, be it added, has since publicly acknowledged itself greatly honored by his former citizenship. Psychic Effect of Homeo-pathic Treatment. Though educated in a homeopathic school and still holding the law of similia similibus curantur as a valuable therapeutic discovery, I am not ready to contend that homeopathic remedies per se possess the wonderful curative powers by many enthusiasts attributed to them. Much of the advantage shown by the practitioners of those early days over the votaries of the dominant school was fairly attributable (1) to the harmless dosage and (2) to psychic impression. Hahnemann himself was astonished at the apparent efficacy of his attenuated remedies and, philosopher that he was, was led to attribute to them an occult-a "spiritual"-power which he believed to be developed by his processes of trituration and suc cussion. It may be asked why the homeopathic methods should carry with them peculiar psychic energy. The reason should be evident to every one familiar with the theory of suggestive therapeutics. There was, first, their newness and novelty to attract and hold attention. A large part of the |