y argument. It is not intellectually apprehended. It
concerns the inner man and can only be grasped by the deeper vision of
intuitional and spiritual sense. It is like a cyclorama, the beauty of
which is all inside. An outside view is no view at all.

Is there a necessity for some radical reinforcement to conventional
instrumentalities to aid us in our warfare with human ills? Is it
desirable to find some new vantage ground, and some more effective
weapons? There can be but one answer. While surgery has been making
rapid strides toward the position of an exact science, confidence in
materia medica is on the wane. The surgeon is only a marvellously
skilful mechanic who adjusts the parts, and then the divine,
recuperative forces vitalize and complete his work. He only makes the
figures, while the principle solves the problem. The adaptability of
drugs to heal disease is becoming a matter of doubt, even among many
who have not yet studied deeper causation. Materia medica lacks the
exact elements of a science. The just preponderance for good or ill of
any drug upon the human system is an unsolved problem, and will so
remain. The fact that a fresh remedy seems to work well while it is
much talked about, and then gradually appears to lose its efficacy,
suggests that it is the atmosphere of general belief in the medicine,
and not the medicine itself that accomplishes the visible result. It
is well known that bread pills sometimes prove to be a powerful
cathartic, even from individual belief; but general belief would be
necessary in order to make them always reliable. General beliefs often
have a very slight original basis, but gradually grow until their
cumulative power is enormous. If scientific, the same remedies once
adopted should remain; but instead, there is a continual transition.
Fashions and fads are not significant of exact science. Elixirs of
life, lymphs, and other specifics have their short run, and then join
the endless procession to the rear. Many lives are sacrificed in
experiments, but no criticism is made because the treatment is
administered by those who are within the limits of the "regular"
profession. After centuries of professional research, in order to
perfect the "art of healing," diseases have steadily grown more subtle
and numerous. Combinations, distillations, extracts, and decoctions of
almost every known material substance have been experimented with, in
order to discover their true bearing upon t