form the same experiment.
The more imaginative among them--notably the women--were at once
successful. One old lady was so absorbed in the thought "I cannot" as
not to heed the request to think "I can." With her face ruefully
puckered up she sat staring fixedly at her interlocked fingers, as
though contemplating an act of fate. "Voila," said Coue, smiling, "if
Madame persists in her present idea, she will never open her hands
again as long as she lives."

Several of the men, however, were not at once successful. The whilom
blacksmith with the disabled arm, when told to think "I should like to
open my hands but I cannot," proceeded without difficulty to open them.

"You see," said Coue, with a smile, "it depends not on what I say but
on what you think. What were you thinking then?"

He hesitated. "I thought perhaps I could open them after all."

"Exactly. And therefore you could. Now clasp your hands again. Press
them together."

When the right degree of pressure had been reached, Coue told him to
repeat the words "I cannot, I cannot...."

As he repeated this phrase the contracture increased, and all his
efforts failed to release his grip.

"Voila," said Coue. "Now listen. For ten years you have been thinking
you could not lift your arm above your shoulder, consequently you have
not been able to do so, for whatever we think becomes true for us. Now
think 'I can lift it.'"

The patient looked at him doubtfully.

"Quick!" Coue said in a tone of authority. "Think 'I can, I can!'"

"I can," said the man. He made a half-hearted attempt and complained
of a pain in his shoulder.

"Bon," said Coue. "Don't lower your arm. Close your eyes and repeat
with me as fast as you can, 'Ca passe, ca passe.'"

For half a minute they repeated this phrase together, speaking so fast
as to produce a sound like the whirr of a rapidly revolving machine.
Meanwhile Coue quickly stroked the man's shoulder. At the end of that
time the patient admitted that his pain had left him.

"Now think well that you can lift your arm," Coue said.

The departure of the pain had given the patient faith. His face, which
before had been perplexed and incredulous, brightened as the thought of
power took possession of him. "I can," he said in a tone of finality,
and without effort he calmly lifted his arm to its full height above
his head. He held it there triumphantly for a moment while the whole
company applauded and encouraged h