y ligaments between the bones,
supported by muscle tendons which prevent undue stretching of the
ligaments and are a protection against flat-foot."[31] Muscle tissue
has an abundant blood supply, while ligaments have very little and
soon lose their resiliency if unsupported. Any lack of tone in the
calf-muscles throws the weight on the less resistant ligaments and on
the cartilages placed as cushions between the bony structures of the
arch. This is what causes the pain.[32]

[Footnote 31: Grey's Anatomy--"The Articulations."]

[Footnote 32: Actual loss of the arch by downward displacement of the
bones cannot be overcome by restoring muscle-tone. The majority of
so-called cases of flatfoot are, however, in the stage amenable to
psychic measures.]

Flat-footedness is only one result of weak muscles. Eye-strain is
another; ptosis, or falling of the organs, is another. In a majority
of cases the best treatment for any of these troubles is an
understanding attempt to go to the root of the matter by bracing up
the whole mental tone. The most scientific oculists do not try to
correct eye trouble due to muscular insufficiency by any special
prisms or glasses. They know that the eyes will right themselves when
the general health and the general spirits improve. I have found by
repeated experience with nervous patients that it takes only a short
time for people who have been unable to read for months or years to
regain their old faculty. So remarkable is the power of mind.

SUMMARY

We have found that the gap between the body and the mind is not so
wide as it seems, and that it is bridged by the subconscious mind,
which is at once the master of the body and the servant of
consciousness. In recording the physical effects of suggestion and
emotion, we have not taken time to describe the galvanometers, the
weighing-machines and all the other apparatus used in the various
laboratory tests; but enough has been said to show that when doctors
and psychologists speak of the effect of mind on body, they are
dealing with definite facts and with laws capable of scientific
proof.

We have emphasized the fact that downcast and fearful moods have an
immediate effect on the body; but after all, most people know this
already. What they do not know is the real cause of the mood. When a
nervous person finds out why he worries, he is well on the way toward
recovery. An understanding of the cause is among the most vital
discoveries of mod