t to be due chiefly
to dissociation, caused by excessive fatigue--one of the known
contributory causes to this condition. _Psycho-epilepsy_--a sort of
fictitious imitation of the real disease--is due to precisely similar
causes, and may be cured in a similar manner.

A word of caution may not be out of place in this connection. Inasmuch
as hypnotism is itself a method of inducing a passive psychological
state--one peculiarly open to suggestion of all kinds--it can readily be
seen that its employment may be exceedingly dangerous, save in the
hands of a skilled operator. It may be the very _cause_ of a splitting
of the mind--if improperly administered--if the patient is not
thoroughly awakened, the effects of suggestion completely removed, etc.
In this lies the great danger--of which we hear so much, usually with so
little foundation! The _real_ danger in the process is thus apparent;
but, properly applied, hypnotism is doubtless of great therapeutic
utility and of great practical value to the psychologist.

Just _how_ these dissociations of the mind take place we do not yet know
with any degree of certainty. We might suppose that certain areas in the
brain-cortex become detached in their functionings, as it were, from the
general activities, and set up a little "monarchy" of their
own--interactions and associations going on within that area, but never
extending beyond its periphery; that each one of these centres or areas
corresponds to a "self," a personality; and that a cure consists,
physiologically speaking, in bringing about a healthy and normal
interaction between this "self" and the rest of the brain area, so that
associations go on thenceforward in a complete and uniform manner. But
this is pure speculation, for which there is no experimental evidence,
though it probably represents something of the truth. At all events, the
dissociation of the mind is the chief cause of the trouble, and its
synthesis the chief means of cure. _That_ much has been rendered certain
by the newer researches in the field of the subconscious, and by the
persistent search for that greatest of all secrets--the Mystery of
Being.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] It can be shown, theoretically, that this is possible in the
"fourth dimension," but not in the third. This illustrates the
difference between theory and practice--a point it might be well for
Christian Scientists to keep in mind!

[21] Although this theory of the "composite" nature of mind