BOOKS.

SUGGESTION AND AUTO-SUGGESTION.* We write too much, we talk too much, and we think too little. If the pessimist's view of the situation is true, Professor Charles Baudouin's book deserves the heartiest of welcomes. It is lull of thought in itself. It is bound to be a cause of thought. We use " thought " in its plainest and simplest sense, not bearing in mind any technical definition.

Professor Baudouin is a believer and investigator in, and an advocate for, what is called the New Nancy School. In case this should not convey much to our readers, a word or two of explanation may be useful. The old Nancy School was based upon what may be called the old idea of hypnotism. Its votaries induced the hypnotic sleep and then made suggestions to the patient which unquestionably often greatly affected Rad improved his health : -in popular language, effected cures.

• Suggestion and Auni-sagpestion, By Charles Baudouin. London : Ocorga alien and tunin. Rim net.] Ultimately, however, a portion of the doctors and men of science

who carried on the work at Nancy, and especially Professor Cone, began to perceive that it was primarily not their sugges- tions, but the patient's own suggestions to his subconscious self, which produced the wonderful results recorded at Nancy. It was auto-suggestion, not hetero-suggestion, that was doing the work. The more this line of investigation .was pushed, the more obvious was it that the hypnotists were not bringing up forces of their own. Instead, they were only acting like good staff officers sent to a perplexed general to show him how he might conduct his operations more efficiently, and especially how he could bring up reserves formed out of neglected forces in his command.

In fine, the founders of the New Nancy School discovered that all the hypnotists did was to direct and induce the individual to cure himself. This is one of those discoveries which we are bound to admit are acceptable in themselves. They fit in with the tendency of life and of human experience. The trouble about the old hypnotic hypothesis was that it ran counter to

many facts of nature. It seemed to shake individualism and to deny that a man is his own star, captain of his own soul, and protector of his own destiny. Yet individualism may be called an ultimate fact. Whenever we seem to dethrone it with some new theory, in the end we come back to it by another route.

It was found that what the hypnotist was doing was what it was always conceded men could do for themselves. He was merely teaching his patient how to accomplish something which was within his power, but which he did not know how to accomplish, i.e., auto-suggestion. Auto-suggestion, in plain English, means making one's subconsciousness sit up, take notice, and do certain jobs in that strange community which we call a person—in fact, in what Bunyan so happily named " the city of Mansoul." Auto- suggestion gives the subconscious tasks which he is quite capable of performing, but which he does not, and indeed cannot, do except under direction and advice.

But though the New Nancy School overthrew, or seemed to overthrow, the theories of hypnosis, in reality it did not at all desire to drive hypnosis off the field or oppose it as a sham, a delusion, or an imposture. On the contrary, it regarded hypnosis as a very useful way of teaching auto-suggestion. It calculates that there are only about 2 per cent. of human beings or less who are not auto-suggestible, i.e., who cannot manage to tackle their own subconsciousness although there are a very considerable number of people who find it difficult, for various reasons, to practise auto-suggestion. These people have to be taught the trick, and one of the best and quickest ways of teach- ing them is through hypnosis. They are put into an hypnotic state, and in that state it is explained to them what they have got to do. The hypnotist, they are assured, cannot cure them and help them by his mere will or by the use of any external force, but solely through putting them into touch with their own subconsciousness.

The way in which Coue discovered that it was auto-suggestion and not outside suggestion which did the business is very curious and interesting:— "A female patient came to consult him for troubles of trifling importance, with no thought of using suggestion for the relict of the varicose ulcers from which she likewise suffered. . Coy employed in her case, as always, induced suggestion in the waking state (or in a state of slight somnolence), as will be described in Part III. He enumerated the troubles of which the patient had complained, but naturally said nothing concern- ing the varicose ulcers, since he was not aware of their existence. At the close of the sitting, following his usual practice, Cane impressed upon the subject the importance of practising auto- suggestion every morning and every evening. After a few sittings, the patient was cured, not only of the troubles about which she had consulted the doctor, but also of the varicose ulcers, though she had given no thought to these when formu- lating her suggestions. Yet the ulcers had obstinately resisted various methods of treatment, and during the last few weeks before their sudden cure, no remedial cause was in operation other than the influence of suggestion. Coue formed a hypothesi: which at that time he was inclined to regard as rather improb- able. During the collective sittings the patient might have been impressed by seeing the remarkable, cures that were in progress. Some of these were cases of organic disease ; others were cases of nervous paralysis, and, since in the latter the cure was at times instantaneous, their effect upon the new patient's imagination was considerable. More or less unconsciously she must have formed in her mind some sort of association between these cases and the ulcers from which she herself suffered, conceiving the latter perhaps as sometimes immobilizing her legs as if she had a nervous paralysis. Under the influence of the suggestion, ' In all respects, I get better and better,' her subconsciousness had considered the ulcers to be one of these

`respects,' to be a particular case embraced by the general formula. The hypothesis seemed far-fetched. Nevertheless, Coud's attention had been directed to this line of thought. In the collective sittings, conversation between the patient and the doctor was always very brief, and a special questioning was requisite when details had to be obtained concerning this or that phenomenon. But as soon as Celle had become specially interested in this matter of unforeseen suggeations, he secured a number of reports confirming his hypothesis in the most cate- gorical fashion possible. Under these conditions it became superfluous for the patient to go into details when formulating suggestions. Strange as it might seem,, the general formula

provided the subject's mind lingered upon the idea conveyed in the words ' in all respects.' Henceforward the principle of detailed suggestions was abandoned at Nancy."

In brief, general suggestion is better than particular suggestion, for the reason that if you give only particular suggestion the subconsciousness is apt to limit itself to that.

The careful reader will very naturally and very properly ask for fewer generalities and more specific instances. Accord. ingly we will quote a very remarkable tuberculosis case recorded by the author of the work before us, in the course of his own practice in Geneva :- " A little girl aged eleven, suffering from tuberculosis, was brought to me at the Jean Jacques Rousseau Institute in Novem- ber, 1915. On the temple was a tubercular ulcer, the size of a florin. It dated from four months back, and had obstinately refused to heal under treatment. The child proved sensitive and confiding. Suggestion. Auto-suggestion carried out by the patient conscientiously every morning and every evening. Great was my astonishment, and equally great was the astonish- ment of my pupils, when the girl returned a week later with the ulcer already cicatrised. The epithelium covering the surface was still diaphanous, and pink in colour. A few weeks later the appearance was almost normaL Within a month from the date of the first suggestion the cough had completely disappeared, although the time was the middle of winter. Next month a slight bronchitis supervened, and was cured without difficulty. Appetite has become normal ; sleep was uninterrupted, lasting from eleven to twelve hours. Rabinovitch, who has kept this case under observation, tells me that the improvement has continued, although the patient (whose family is in humble circumstances) lives in a damp ground-floor tenement and in hygienic conditions otherwise unfavourable."

In case it should be supposed that there is something specially yielding about tuberculosis, we may mention that there are plenty of cures of other diseases on the record ; for example, intractable eczema, deafness, and, of course, neurasthenia.

Readers will probably ask what relation does cure by auto- suggestion bear to cures by psycho-analysis ? We gather from Professor Baudouin's book that the Now Nancy School regards psycho-analysis, within certain limits, as very useful. It may enable them to prescribe, as it were, the particular form of auto- suggestion required, or, again, may greatly help them to get rid of the patient's unconscious resistance to the attempt to teach him auto-suggestion.

It must not be supposed that we accept all the conclusions of this remarkable book as completely proved. We fully expect that, like most new discoveries, the system will be found to have certain limitations of which the discoverers are not yet aware. But though we put in this caveat, we believe that a great deal of excellent work has already been done, and that still more will be done, by auto-suggestion, and that a most helpful new field has been opened for medical research.

What encourages us most about the whole thing is that the new theories as to the ability of auto-suggestion to cure are consonant with the general opinion of mankind. It has always been held in medicine that it is of enormous importance to get the patient to help the doctor—to be of good heart, not to despair and so forth. But all this translated into the language of the new science is auto-suggestion in some of its many forms. The faith healers, the Christian Scientists, the miracle workers, even the charlatans and the patent medicine men undoubtedly all hive a great many cures to their credit. Consciously or unconsciously, they have exploited the greatest of all " cure- ells "—auto-suggestion. • It is now time that true Science did its bit in a matter so important.

We shall no doubt meet with the objection that we are encouraging what must be a delusion. If there is anything at all in auto-suggestion, it will be argued, there should be no limitations to its results. But no one is going to believe that all sickness is to be abolished. Therefore auto- suggestion is a silly fad or a virtuous imposture. Other critics will declare that though it is quite possible to admit that auto- suggestion may be useful in nerve cases or in those connected with the brain or the emotions. it is absurd to assert that it can affect the tissues or cure or ameliorate functional, diseases, or, again, repair the injuries effected by bacilli. As to this objection, we can only say that it remains to be proved by careful experi-

ment and investigation what are in fact the limits of auto- suggestion. We ourselves hold that such limits will be found, for, alas ! we cannot .believe that all diseases and pain are to be banished, and that in future men will be able to await with quietness and confidence the coming of the final hour.

All the same, we do not think that the claims of the advocates of auto-suggestion are as exaggerated as they seem at first sight.

Investigation seems to point to the ultimate identity of the various physical evils from which human bodies suffer. When you are ill, you are not well, and in almost all cases, except those of external injuries, you are not well because you lack something. That which you lack has been called by many names. The most recent is " the power of resistance." If you have this power within you, you can defy almost anything in

the way of disease. The most pestilent of microbes flow from you like water off a duck's back. You stand like Horatius

on your own bridge and lay low each gallant Lucumo who approaches in the form of the tuberculosis germ, the typhus germ, the influenza bacillus, and all the rest of the proud Princes and Lords of disease. May it not be that this power of resist-

ance in sufficient amount is to be found in almost every human being ? All that is wanted is to bring this neglected reserve

into the front line of trenches, and with its help to hold the trenches against the enemy, instead of letting it moulder in a forgotten rest camp behind the lines. Many a battle in real war has been lost by the inability to use the reserves at the proper moment. May not this be true of the struggle between health and disease ?

What seems to make for our theory is the curious fact that some of the most obvious results of auto-suggestion are in cases which are purely physical and seem to have as little as possible to do with the natural domain of suggestion. For example, a trouble so obviously physical as warts has again and again been cured by auto-suggestion old and new. The curing of warts

by white witches and wizards and other so-called wise people in country districts has always been allowed to be a strange

and inexplicable fact. No doubt it was auto-suggestion set to work by the mumbling of the wart charm. But warts can now be cured by legitimate auto-suggestion, as can eczema, acne, and other forms of pimple.

But though we desire to hold the balance evenly and not to plunge too heavily for auto-suggestion, we must not omit another point which is strongly in its favour. There is apparently nothing dangerous in it. It never attempts to knock that queer rider self-control off the horse. Rather it helps him to get a much better hold upon his mount. Again, it does not spoil or overpraise that upstart of the personality, the subconscious. On the contrary, it keeps him in his place and gives him plenty of work to do, and so probably prevents him preying upon the rest of the inhabitants of Mansoul.

We can end only by very strongly advising our readers to read and study M. Baudouin's book. It can do nobody any harm, and it will do a certain number of people a great deal of good by teaching them, at the very lowest, how to send them- selves to sleep and to improve their memories.