WILL POWER AND DISEASE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13674, 17 August 1908, Page 7

WILL POWER AND DISEASE.

♦ ' "-■! MATERIAL FOR THOUGHT. j The death of William H. Marsh, of Brooklyn, from hydrophobia, bus again called 'attention to" the question of how far the mind controls the body (writes the New- York Evening Post). -. There are still not a few medical men who believe that there is no real hydrophobia, but only pseudo-hydrophobia induced bv fear injected into the mind. 'At a meeting of the Medico-Legal Society reference was made to the opinion that it was -unnecessary for a strong man like Mr- Marsh to die under such circumstances. His appears, however, to have been a real case, and the fact that hydrophobia has been banished from England by strict regulations regarding dogs, shows," too, that there is .such a thing as genuine hydrophobia. On the other hand fear of the disease undoubtedly does induce its symptoms in neurasthenic persons. How far can will power be applied as a cure in such cases? SCIENCE OF ELECTRICITY. In an article entitled " Electricity and the Problem of Attention," in the 'Natur r wissenchaftliche Wochemtchrift, Dr. Otto Freiherr von der Pfordten'. adduces a number of instances proving that the action of electricity on the human organism is often modified) and in some cases completely neutralised by the state of the mind." He refers lo the observation of Aspinals that electricians who have come into contact when asleep with wires which otherwise would have shocked them to death, suffered no injury except a burn-: and he cites Jellinek, who found that an ordinarily deadly current did not harmrabbits when they were chloroformed. Of greater interest still are the. cases he cites where the action of the current is neutralised! by a man's strained expectation or attention. : "Electricians, he says, of en touch parts of the machinery to ascertain if there is'current in them, and while this conscious and deliberate act results in no harm, unintentional contact with a less powerful currsn: prove? i fatal. In experimenting on himself, Jellinek found that an shock of 550 volts was terrible, whereas an expected shock of 500 volts made little impression. But this was a bagatelle compared witli' the exhibition of courage given by Herr yon Dobrowolsky, who broke a "wire containing 30,000 volts and picked up one end of it in the presence of several dismayed exper.s, v without suffering, the least harm. "To do sucn a thing one must be absolutely fearless of death, or else one must have the force of an engineer who has learned to control the powerful elet-ttic fluid." This force, the wruer declares, is will-power, and he adds sententiously: " There is. something imposing in this idea that the will-power in such a case opposes itself to death as an equal force and comes t/ti.t triumphant." Ne don.bt; and Freiherr Otto von der rfordteri is a- weir known writer on philosophical topic's.. It is to be feared, however, that he Is moFe f.amiliar with tii« methods of German metaphysics than witli the science of electricity. In the cases referred to, no mention is made of the kind of current, used. Men' have taken much more (.haji 30,000 volts of the continuous current npharmed, but with the alternating current 6000 volts is certain death. 'There ,is obviously a serious flaw in the argument advanced in . the Jena periodical, and candidates for electrocution' will do well to keep their hopes in abeyance until more definite evidence is forthcoming that. V vult" is stronger than volt. Dr. von der Pfordten's article may, however, be looked on as an interesting

addition to 'the diverse ' attempts -made in recent times to prove the extraordinary powers of the. human will for the preservation or cure of the body. , In its essence. Christian Science is such an attempt. According to Mrs. Eddy, 'he source of all disease is in the patient's own fear. "Disease, is fear made manifest on the body," a delusion which can be cured by a "mental act, by " agreeing lo disagree with approaching symptoms." Jit other words, by a persistent effort of the will we can overcome illness,; and death itself. There is some trtvth in this, and on the whole, if Christian Science has injured many devotees;, ithas perhaps done more good than harm, curing more than it has killed. While denouncing medicine and hygiene, it. has done a useful service to bom by calling attention to the remarkable power of. the mind over the body, and tiie therapeutic value of the will. jO .MASTER. .MORBID FEELINGS.

This power has long been known, buti too Jittld attention was paid to it miring lli/j last/ ct-mury, notwithstanding Ik eil'orts of.&oine philosophens . a few yeaiii before the beginning of the century, Dr. Hufeland sent a. copy of his book on the art of prolonging man's life to Kant, who was moved thereby to write what proved to be his last work, a brief treatise entitled "On the l'ower of the Mind to -Master Morbid Feelings by a Mere Effort of .Will." In this he discourses on sieep, on eating and diinking, on meditation, on deep-breathing, and diverse other topics, with a directness and an autobiographic touch rare in his writings. He dwells with particular satisfaction on the benelit he derived from deliberately training himself to bheathe through the nose only, and on his success in overcoming a, morbid" melaneh(J.y whiich sometimes tempted him to commit euicide. This had its source in a difficulty in breathing due to his too flat chestj a/defect which, being corporal, he; could not overcome; "but its influence on and actions I have mastered by averting my attention from this feeling, .as if it did not concern me at all." And thus he recovered complete c-ompesure and cheerfulness by a mere effort of will.

Such a therapeutic application of will power;- Kant regards as the converse of the state of/the mind which makes many lay readers of medical books fancy they have all-the symptoms described therein. Dr. Hufelahd was convinced that most nervous disorders are caused by mental indolence and passiveness, a weak yielding to bodily sensations .and .impressions ; and he cites Pinel, who found that during the excitement of the-French Revolution a number of persons who. had for years been weak'.andcsickly became strong and healthy, this being true especially among the indolent members of the aristocracy, whose nervous troubles disappeared entirely: The Japanese have a special method" of training the will from early childhood, and it has been plausibly argued that it was this sturdy will-power more than; ; anything else that enabled them to overcome the Russians.