University of Virginia Library

Bone-healing by surgery

Let us suppose two parallel cases of bone-disease, both similarly produced and attended by the same symptoms. A surgeon is employed in one case, and a Christian Scientist in the other. The sur- geon, holding that matter forms its own conditions and renders them fatal at certain points, entertains fears and doubts as to the ultimate outcome of the injury. Not holding the reins of government in his own hands, he believes that something stronger than Mind - namely, matter - governs the case. His treatment is therefore tentative. This mental state invites defeat. The belief

that he has met his master in matter and may not be able to mend the bone, increases his fear; yet this belief should not be communicated to the patient, either ver- bally or otherwise, for this fear greatly diminishes the tendency towards a favorable result. Remember that the unexpressed belief oftentimes affects a sensitive patient more strongly than the expressed thought.