Narcotics quiet mortal mind, and so relieve the body;
157:27 but they leave both mind and body worse for this sub-
mission. Christian Science impresses the entire corpore-
ality, - namely, mind and body, - and brings out the
157:30 proof that Life is continuous and harmonious. Science
both neutralizes error and destroys it. Mankind is the
better for this spiritual and profound pathology.
Mythology and materia medica
158:1 It is recorded that the profession of medicine originated
in idolatry with pagan priests, who besought the gods to
158:3 heal the sick and designated Apollo as "the god
of medicine." He was supposed to have dic-
tated the first prescription, according to the
158:6 "History of Four Thousand Years of Medicine." It is
here noticeable that Apollo was also regarded as the sender
of disease, "the god of pestilence." Hippocrates turned
158:9 from image-gods to vegetable and mineral drugs for heal-
ing. This was deemed progress in medicine; but
what we need is the truth which heals both mind and
158:12 body. The future history of material medicine may
correspond with that of its material god, Apollo, who was
banished from heaven and endured great sufferings
158:15 upon earth.
Footsteps to intemperance
Drugs, cataplasms, and whiskey are stupid substitutes
for the dignity and potency of divine Mind and its effi-
158:18 cacy to heal. It is pitiful to lead men into
temptation through the byways of this wil-
derness world, - to victimize the race with intoxicating
158:21 prescriptions for the sick, until mortal mind acquires an
educated appetite for strong drink, and men and women
become loathsome sots.
Advancing degrees
158:24 Evidences of progress and of spiritualization greet us
on every hand. Drug-systems are quitting their hold on
matter and so letting in matter's higher stra-
158:27 tum, mortal mind. Homoeopathy, a step in
advance of allopathy, is doing this. Matter is going out
of medicine; and mortal mind, of a higher attenuation
158:30 than the drug, is governing the pellet.
Effects of fear
A woman in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts, was
etherized and died in consequence, although her physi-
159:1 cians insisted that it would be unsafe to perform a needed
surgical operation without the ether. After the autopsy,
159:3 her sister testified that the deceased protested
against inhaling the ether and said it would kill
her, but that she was compelled by her physicians to take
159:6 it. Her hands were held, and she was forced into sub-
mission. The case was brought to trial. The evidence
was found to be conclusive, and a verdict was returned that
159:9 death was occasioned, not by the ether, but by fear of
inhaling it.
Mental conditions to be heeded