HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1954-12-01, Page 3The Human Mind..
It Can Kill Or Cure
Ali was ready for the Opera-
tion upon the fair-haired boy of
four, The surgeon know that all
his skill must be exercised to
save the lad's life,1 r
They knew the boy--�a"jifgh
ly strung youngster -_ would be
nervous when he was laid On the
operation table, And his condi-
tion was such that this tension,
even - under the anaest' •etie,
plight prove fatal to the .,...
Of the operation.
Then the surgeon had a bril-
liant idea. Why not let the boy's
imagination come to his aid?
With his head inside a plastic
space helmet he could imagine
he was goingon a magic jour-
ney to the moon.
A fantastic idea? Perhaps. But
it worked. When that small boy
came to some time later, the
delicate operation had been suc-
cessfully carried out,
The helmet, ingeniously link-
ed with a cylinder of anaesthet-
ic gas, had got the boy into the
Operating theatre without his
showing the slightest trace of
fear. For his thoughts were con-
centrated on that wonderful trip
to the moon.
What amazing power imagin-
ation has on the -human mind!
It can kill - or cure, It can ex-
ercise a tremendous influence
for good or ill on our bodies as
well. Hundreds of true life, stor-
les prove. this,
One morning a young and very
pretty woman named Madame
Lemaitre was rushed in a car to
a Paris hospital, the victim of a
strange ailment. She declared
that she had swallowed a live
lizard and had for days been suf-
fering intense pain as a result.
It was known beyond doubt
that she was the victim of her
vivid- imagination -that she had
not swallowed a lizard or any
other animal. But nobody could
convince her of the truth.
There was only one thing for
the surgeon to do, and he did it.
He put the woman under chloro-
form, made a trifling cut on her
flesh, and as she came round
showed her a small lizard which
lead been rushed to the hospital
for him by a pet -shop owner.
The woman sighed with re-
lief when she saw it and said her
pains were over. Within a few
FOR SNAKES ONLY -No train on
earth could travel roller coaster -
like tracks above, and yat doz-
ens every day pass over these
apparently wiggly ralis in the
Kansas City freight classifica-
tion yards. The wiggle isn't in
the rails, it's in the "eye" of
the camera which took this pic-
tures a telephoto lens which
brings distant objects close-up,
but gives a fore -shortened per-
spective to foreground of area
covered,
hours she was 111 and well again,
A , well authenticated story
told by the author Arthur Mach -
en proves that imagination can
cause actual bodily injury.
When a young airman during
the first world war was ordered
to go up by his commanding of-
ficer, he pleaded that he was
"nervy," adding: "If I fly today,
I know I shall crash," But the
offlcer insisted,
"All right," said the young air
man, "but 1 shall be killed and
I'll haunt you afterwards."
IXe flew, crashed and, a he
had feared, was killed,
Then, reported Mr. Machan
the commanding officer went
off his head and was delirious
for days. He kept crying out that
the .dead airman was strangling
him, and that his hands were
gripping his throat,
Nobody could persuade him
that he was imagining it,
He was taken to see a hospital
specialist. And when he was ex-
amined there were black finger-
marks about his throat.
In France a famous doctor was
once permitted to test the ef-
fect of imagination ona convict
under sentence of death,
The man was blindfolded,.
strapped on a table, and told that
an artery would be opened and
that he would he allowed to
bleed to death. Close to his head
was placed a bowl of water
which, when released, flowed
through a tube and dripped into
a basin on the floor.
After preparation had been
made, the doctor slightly scratch-
ed the man's neck with a needle,
drip at short regular intervals.
the water began to drip, drip,
The tap was then turned on and
Five minutes passed and then
the tap was turned off. They lift-
ed the mau from the table. He
was dead. The dripping water
- had drained his life away as
surely as if each drop had been
his heart's blood.
Why some people are able to
experience pain by an effort of
the imagination was explained
by, Dr. Edwin Bramwell in 1930.
He said a friend of his could
imagine himself sliding down a
sloping roof until his heels came
into violet contact with the sial
ustrade below.
The friend said he could feel
the pain in his heels and the jar
to his spine as vividly as if the
accident had actually occurred.
Pain, explained Dr, Bramwell,
may be suggested by a previous
illness, by the illness of another
or by the surroundings in which
it has formerly appeared. ,
A Siberian railway porter
killed himself by his own imag-
ination. He was accidentally
locked one day in a refrigerating
van attached
a train. When
the train reached its distant des-
tination the van was opened.
The porter's body, still and
cold in death, lay on the floor
of the van where he had writ-
ten in chalk a pathetic record of
his sufferings from the intense
cold. The last words, feebly
scrawled, were: "I am dying -
good bye!"
To the amazement of those
who found the man's body, the
temperature of the van was nor-
mal - about fifty degrees. They
discovered that the refrigerating
apparatus was out of order and
had not worked during the whole
journey..
The "intense cold" mentioned
in the porter's last note had ex-
isted only in his fancy.
Visiting a slowly dying girl
patient one morning, a famous
English surgeon found she was
reading a newspaper serial story
In which the young heroine suf-
fered from the same disease as
she had.
He rang up the newspaper, got
the author's address and hur-
ried to him. The author told him
that the heroine would die in
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PUZZLE
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Fashion flints .
the last instalment in a fort-
night's time.
"Please change the ending and
let your -heroine live," pleaded
the surgeon. The author agreed
to do so.
l
The
patient,who
in her imag-
ination had been identifying her-
self with the heroine, recovered
and was able to leave hospital
and resume her job some weeks
later.
Another amazing story of the
power of imagination is told
about a Polish sailor, who was
marooned some years ago with
a dozen other men on a barren
island where food was hard to
come by.
On the fourth day, when they
were reduced to eating dry -bread
e,rom a small box of ship's stores
which had been washed up, the
Pole ate his crusts with great
gusto explaining: "I'm pretend-
ing it's roast pork. How good it
smells!"
Dailly he enjoyed 'his imagin-
ary roast pork, often sighing:
"My wife's a fine cook, but she'll
never cook so well as this," The
other men began to think he was
mad. They were wrong.
They were all rescued on the
ninth day. The Pole looked as
robust as he was on the day they
were marooned, 'The others were
dejected, pale and frail -looking.
It was the Pole's imagination
which had mysteriously kept
him from suffering semi -starva-
tion and the effects of the mis-
eries they had undergone.
Household Hints
Strong cheese has an odor
(some tall it aroma!) which is
fine in the cheese but far from
tempting in the refrigerator.
The answer to the problem is
a polythene bag or flexible plas-
tic box with a tight lid. The air-
tight and moisture -proof poly-
thene won't let the chesse dry
out and it keeps .the smell in,
To keep the refrigerator sweet-
smelling in spite of Oka ar
Roquefort, twist the open end of
the cheese bage and close it
with a rubber band,
When there's no storage probe
lett, cheese can be kept on hand
to serve in an amazing variety
41 dishes, Rich in proteins and
vitamins, it ottn be used In ap-
petisers, salads, and .even des-
serts, It adds zest 10 apple .pie
and Makes a creamy chocolate
sake icing.
1-1 RON WILES
INGER FARM C3o,onrinl.ino D Clc1'MQ
At last we have something
worthwhile in "give-away"
prizes! Yesterday I opened a
packet of a .certain breakfast
cereal and to my delight I
found an attractive printed re-
production - in colour- of a
well-known picture in the To-
ronto Art Gallery. This picture
is to be one of a series. On the
back is a short biographical
sketch of the painter. This
premium is certainly a welcome
change from Hallowe'en "false
faces" and' exchange coupons.
When an attempt is made at
giving away something that has
educational value -such as these
pictures - one naturally has a
better opinion of the firm that
sells the cereal,
Which reminds me that at
our last W.I. Area Conventon a
resolution went through re-
questing legislation prohibiting
the use of premium coupons in
packets of soap and detergents.
What a relief it would be if
washing powder manufacturers
would see the light and stop
this stupid practice of sending
coupons through the mail. But
until they do I have another
idea. Sotne of us have more
than we can use of these "trade-
in" coupons. So, if we have a
surplus, why not take them to
our next W.I. or WA. meeting
and give them away to anyone
who can use them. Perhaps if
more of the coupons were cash-
ed in the• soap manufacturers
might think it wasn't such a
smart idea after all.
Isn't it wonderful - .. we have
actually had a few hours of
sunshine yesterday and today --
and more promised for tomor-
row. I suppose as long as the
weather holds we shall all be
trying 10 get two day's work
done in one. On dull days the
dreariness just seems to seep
into your very sOul, You de-
velop aches and pains where
there was never a twinge be-
fore, At Ginger Farm even
Tippy .was limping around last
week with rheumatism in cite
leg. However, you never can
tell, even aches and paint may
turn out 10 be a blessing in dies
Stopped Music By Sucking'Lemons
Messenger No, 903, Charlie
Hill, nineteen, got UP smartly
when his name was called in the
Piccadilly office of the London
District Messenger Service and
stood to attention in his smart
navy blue uniform,
The sergeant coughed before
briefing him, and Hill wondered
mildly what It was 10 be this
time. A letter 10 be delivered to
the Law Courts? A suit to be tole
lected from a tailor and delivered
to a Park Lane address? A dog
to be exercised in Kensington th
Gardens:
There was a dog --.- a valuable
collie - and it was to be taken
from London to Turkey! The
dog was a gift from Sir Victor
Caillard Of the National Bank Of e
Egypt to. the Sultan of Turkey 3
in Constantinople.
Messenger Hill swallowed, but 8
not too hard. It was all in the e
day's, or the month's work, .
An American once asked what
a District Messenger did, One
lad, trim` and alert, is reported t
to have replied: "We, sir, we goes
-'er everywhere, and we does- Off
er - everything,"
Messenger Hill delivered the m
collie to Turkey in such good
condition that the Sultan gave d
him an audience and conferred on 1
him the Order of Merit of Art a
and Industry. s
That was fifty-three years ago. s
Mr. C. J. W. Hill is still In harn- p
ess with the District Messenger ii
Service. His duties today are with e
the company's burglar alarm
system which maintains contact in
with night-watchmen guarding n
its buildings.
Messenger No. 757, William
Thomas Jaggers, won fame a w
couple of years before Messen- O
ger Hill. An American author s
and journalist, Richard Harding
Davis, sought to beat the post of- co
fice with urgent letters to New to
York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. ed
Daggers beat the mail and was 1
back after travelling 16,000 miles
in twenty-seven days.
He found himself famous. Huge re
crowds: met him at Waterloo; he H
was presented to the Prime Min- m
ister; be even played Cupid, be- Sn
cause one of the letters was a ho
proposal from Richard Davis to gr
Miss Cecile Clark, who shortly , t0
afterwards became Mrs, R. H. gu
Davis, Jaggers died in 1940.
A few weeks later, Jaggers'
spectacular trip was eclipsed by fan
a colleague, J. Elsey, Messenger th
1118, who was sent by Mr. Henry mu
McCalmont, Conservative Mem- sig
ber of Parliament for Newmark 13,
et, to a cattle range at Handford, res
200 miles south of San Francisco, tw
California, Elsey performed the m
services required of him and won
a bet for Mr. McCalmont, who na
had wagered that the 15,000 -mile 18,
jorney would be completed with- be
in a month, ha
One day a messenger was sum-
maned by a convalescent patient
in South Kensington. Outside
the house 1 treet band was mak•
ing a thunderous row, Eseorte
to the sick man's roam, the la
saluted.
"Do you hear these darneel�.,
musicians?" demanded the slate
ran.
"Yes, sir."
"I've given them ten shillings
but they won't go .away," said
e invalid, "We are going to try
another approach,"
He put out a hand to aside
able and gave the messenger a
bag of lemons,
"Go and suck those lemons as
lose to them as you can. Let's
ee if they can stand that!"
The boy got to work on the
rot "lemon, The musicians look-
s at him in a' distinctly un-
riendly fashion. He started On
the second 1emt,n. At this stage
they said, rather uncomplienere
ary things. The bey took out the
third lemon and they marched
in disgust.
These extraordinary and re-
arkable events grew out of
the announcement in the Lon -
on newspaper on July 29111,
890, of a new and remark.
ble electric call system. Sub--
cribers to the District Mee-
enger Service and News Com -
any Ltd. could summon speed-
y a messenger, or a hansom
ab, policeman, fire engine or
doctor, by means of a most
genious mechanism which the
ewspapers went on to describe.
There was a small metal box
ith a dial face and a pointer,
n the dial were the words Mee-
enger, Cab, Police, Fire, and
octor. The b0x was connected
by private telegraph wire to the
mpany's office, and according
the subscriber's needs he mov-
the pointer and pulled the
ever,
Automatic signals were then
ceived at the company's office,
the call was for a doctor, a
essenger was dispatched to
d one and rush him to the
use. If the 'Fire" signal was
ven, a messenger would speed
the house with a fire extin-
isher while another roused the
e brigade.
The telephone was in its in-
cy, telegrams were tardy, and
e new company provided
ch needed service. Within
ht years the company had
000 subscribers - clubs, hotels,
taurants and private houses,
enty-four branches and 700
essengers.
In 1931,.the year of the Coro -
tion of George V, there were
000 subscribers, and the num-
r of branches and -messengers
d grown accordingly.
guise. If it hadn't been that my
back was still bothering me I
should probably have been at
that Press Club luncheon last
week, Remember - where so
many of the members and their
guests were victims of food
poisoning? I am sure everyone
will be glad when the reason
for that unpleasant near -dis-
aster is made known. It is
dreadful to think that poison-
ous conditions can be present in
food that appears to have 110 -
thing whatever the matter with
it. In a , recent issue of the
Canadian Home Journal there
was a splendid article dealing
with that very subject, But I
wasn't too happy after reading
it, I wondered why half of us
were not victims of food poison-
ing more often. I almost devel-
oped all the symptoms just from
reading the article. Think of
the school • luncli4s and the
working men's lunches that are
put up every day and very
often kept under the very con-
ditions that invite food poison-
ing. I imagine the reason it
doesn't often happen is because
most of us stick to ordinary,
everyday sandwiches, a piece of
cake or pie, and some kind of
raw fruit. With such a lunch
there is little danger. But
when, with the idea of making
lunches more attractive we use
fancy concoctions of salads and
milk -custard desserts, then I
guess we are asking for trouble,
Well, it looks as if more
changes are in store for our
neighborhood. Last week we
had a plan in from the Tele-
phone Company asking permis-
sion to put up new poles ready
for a re -wiring job. And from
hien we heard some welcome
news! Rural lines in our dis-
trict are in fee some overhaul-
ing so that not more than ten
subscribers will be on any one
party line. That day cannot
come too soon for at present
we have no less than. thirteen
parties On our line. To put a
call through -is sometimes an all -
day job -to say nothing of the
time one wastes running hope-
fully back and forth t0 the tele-
phene. Next rammer it will be
even better as then the dial
system goes Into effect sisd
there will be only six to a party
line"
Conversion of sleetrls pow of
•1e 110 eyeless le ele0 riot los tier
s
distant. I suppose it, too, will
be a tremendous improvement
As to that we are not greatly
excited- We are so thankful to
have hydro power of any kind
that either 25 or 60 cycle is all
right with us. We remember
too well what it was like when
we didn't have any at all. This
morning, for instance, I came
out to make our early morning
cup of tea. As I plugged in the
electric kettle I noticed a box
of kindling for the kitchen
stove that Partner had brought
in the night before. Ten years
ago I would have used that
kindling to boil water for our
tea and it would have taken
from 15 to 20 minutes, With the
electric kettle the tea was made
inside of five minutes. 5o, we
have only to look back a few
years to be very thankful for
the conveniences. It is a fact
we very seldom forget,
AY OL
£SSON
Sy gev, R. learelay Warren,
A, Prayer for Forgiveness
Psalms 130; 86: 3.5, 1.1-11,
Memory Selection; 'These
Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy'
unto all them that call Ytposk
thee, Psalm 86: 6.
We are losing sight of the sin-
fulness of sin, Warden Lewes
of Sing Sing said that few crime
finals regard themselves as bad
characters, So men rational
and justify and delend evil
deeds of every kind. One mag-
istrate thinks that this light-
heartedness regarding sin la
due in part to the fact that
many preachers no longer
preach on the reality of hell.
We would rob God of his sense
of justice, his power to punish
the wicked who repeatedly and,
finally reject his SOn Jesus.
Christ,
But man still has a conscience,
Most people know when they
are breaking God's holy com- '
mandments. We are not fool-
ing ourselves as much as we
think. Many of the illnesses
tor which' people go to doctors
and more particularly, psychia-
trists, are mental disturbances
arising from a sense of conflict
between one's inherent sense of
right and one's behaviour. We
may call it "nerves" or'"malad-
justment " The fact is we can't
,. quite shake off conscience.
With God there is forgiveness
of sin. This has been dearly
purchased through the death of
His Son, Jesus Christ. It is se
very real experience. But there
must first be conviction for sin.
We must see our sins as not
only against society but againgt
God. The awakened prodigal.
said, "I have sinned against
heaven and in thy sight." Then
with a godly sorrow for our sins
we turn to God for forgiveness.
We plead for mercy in the name
of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
"In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling."
Let the sinner turn at encs,,
God loves to forgive the repen4•
ant sinner.
FOOD FOOLISHNESS
Some of these food faddist%
recommend a daily eating oe
swiss cheese and limburger. It
has always been a puzzle why
the swiss cheese has the holes
in it, whereas it's the limberger
that needs the ventilation,
( The bride was told by a well-
meaning friend that sea food
would give her husband that
daily umph. So she went in
j and ordered oysters.
"Large or small, ma'am?"
Real, I
don't know, off , six
she said. "They're for a man
with a size 163 collar,"
She was probably the bride
who worshipped her husband,
According to Don Ameche, she
used to place burnt offerings
before him three times a day.
Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking
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MIId Winter Ahead -- Mathan Kyr!tsis, a fisherman-restauranfeur
who does weather forecasting on the side, says Waukegan, his
home town, is going to have a mild winter, He bases his predic-
tion on the life habits of the perch. Kyritsis says his near -shore
nets were filled, while the deep -water ones were almost empty,
which tells him the weather will be mild,