The curative effect does not always depend upon the truth of the tenets preached, for false prophets have also been successful healers. For instance, Brigham Young had a great reputation in that line among his disciples, and Myers quotes the following amusing illustration of his astuteness: One of his followers, a farmer, living hundreds of miles away, lost a leg through an accident, and so great was his faith in the prophet that he journeyed to Salt Lake City, feeling assured that Brigham Young could restore it to him. ' Why, yes,' said the prophet, ' I can restore it; but it is for you to consider whether it is expedient, for if I give you back your leg, you will have two legs until you die, which will be a great convenience; but in the resurrection, not only will the leg you lost rise and be united to your body, but also the one I give you: thus you will be encumbered with three legs for ever, and it is for you to decide whether you will take the inconvenience of the one leg now or three legs through eternity.' The man chose the present inconvenience, and the prophet retained his reputation.

* ' Life of Father Ignatius,' by Baroness de Bertouch.

All these examples show that the chief curative factor is the faith of the patient, which, if aroused to a certain point, seems able to set up a healthy and healing reaction. When touching for the king's evil was practised by two rival kings - for instance, James II. and William III. - I imagine it was only the monarch deemed legitimate and possessed of divine right who worked the cure.*

* Miss Mary Hamilton, M.A., Carnegie Research Scholar, has written an interesting volume (' Incubation in the Cure of Disease in Pagan Temples and Christian Churches,' 1906) on incubation or temple sleep as practised in ancient Greece and Asia Minor, Italy and Egypt. The sick person was laid in the temple at night, and the god visited him in his dreams and cured him of his disease. The dream often took the form of a vision of the deity, who sometimes touched the afflicted part, and sometimes spoke words of comfort or assurance. The cured patient proclaimed his gratitude on tablets, many of which remain to this day and can still be read. The cures recorded were chiefly of affections of the eyes, blindness, paralysis, internal tumours, old wounds, rheumatism, and gout. The following are typical cases: A blind man came to the temple of Asklepios in Epidauros. One of the eyes had not even a trace of a ball, and the socket was completely empty. Some of those in the temple said it was folly to think he could recover his sight, but he became a patient and slept. In his sleep the god appeared, and prepared some drug which he poured into the eyes. In the morning he awoke and found the sight of both eyes restored.

A chronic invalid and martyr to dyspepsia was quickly cured by following the god's instructions as to diet, bathing, and exercise. A man with paralysis of the knees saw a vision of the god in a chariot which he drove over him, so that the horses trampled him under foot. In his sleep he stood upright, and in the morning he departed cured. The priests used to impress the patients by making them go through elaborate preliminary ceremonies and invocations, and they exacted large fees. Sometimes it is stated that, when the fee was not satisfactory, cure would be delayed or a relapse would occur.

When Christianity triumphed over paganism, many of the heathen It is hard to tell how much the personality of the healer exerts a direct effect. Many people think there is some telepathic influence at work. Belief in himself and his mission seem necessary qualifications of a successful spiritual healer, as they are of all men who influence their fellows by authoritative suggestion. Even the quack brings himself to believe in the efficacy of his treatment, and I cannot imagine the sceptic or cynic effecting psychical cures. In the first place, his scepticism would be reflected in his actions, and would prevent the necessary uprush or faith in the patient. We know of medical men who have lost faith in themselves and their remedies. Their position is a sad one, and they would be well advised to choose another calling.

We know how in impressionable persons the idea calls up the sensation. Thus, talking or thinking of ants or fleas may produce irritation of the skin and formication, recollection of a certain dish may reawaken its savour, and expectation of hearing a bell ring may so act on the auditory centres as to produce a subjective tintinnabulation. The suggestion of a person's presence may call up his image, as in the well-known story told by Dr. Wigan. He was in Paris, and at a reception given shortly after the execution of Marshal Ney. All the world was talking about the deceased general and his tragic end, when the servant threw open the doors and ushered in a gentleman whom he announced as ' Marshal Ney!' A dead silence came over the company, and a shiver ran through them temples, Miss Hamilton says, were converted into Christian churches, and cures of the same kind continued to be worked in them in the name of the saint who took the place of the god.

One cannot fail to be struck by the similarity of the cures effected in ecstatic and hypnoid states in all times and under diverse conditions. The vision of a bright light and the hearing of a voice are common accompaniments; and the cures are, generally if not invariably, instantaneous or very rapid. Though the accompaniment of an impressive environment is most conducive to cure, this result is sometimes brought about by spontaneous ecstasy, as in 'The Herne Hill Miracle,' much advertised in the daily papers, and fully described [by Dr. Edwin Ash ('Faith and Suggestion.' 1912). as they glanced towards the door, and so strong was the mental picture conjured up by the servant's blunder that many of those present seemed to see the familiar figure stalking into the room. These examples serve to show how suggestion in the waking state may produce tactile, auditory and visual images by direct action on the highest centres, and they give us some clue to the phenomena observable in the states of hypnotism characterized by heightened suggestibility. In the motor sphere we find the same phenomenon.

The thought or idea of dancing often causes the feet to move in rhythm, just as the idea of a combat may lead us to clench the fist. * The thought-reader's success generally depends on the fact that the idea upon which the subject's mind is intensely fixed is betrayed to the practised 'medium' by unconscious and involuntary muscular movements.