1 theless, there are men of our day, who will not even
2 admit tin 1 truth of animal magnetism; still less will they
3 gi v e credence to that remarkable power of suspending
4 existence, as illustrated in (lie account of the Faquccr
5 Mar Idas, who could place himself in a state of asphyxia,
6 and, after remaining buried in the earth for months,
7 could, by pursuing his instructions, again be restored
8 to life. This fact is already known to the reading-
9 world, and appears in a detailed form, in this volume,
10 page 127.
11 We may perceive from what is passing around us,
12 that nature works destructively on one side, and pro¬
13 ductively on the other; incessantly striving, as it were,
14 to preserve a balance. In this continual change of
15 matter, subtile elements are generated which some¬
16 times have pernicious influences on living beings, and
17 occasion various diseases. We know, that tin* pre¬
18 serving and healing power of nature (via conservutrix
19 i-t vis Medical-fix naturae) may go hand in hand with
20 medical assistance, although we do not know by what
21 agency they operate; nor do we know anything of the
22 formation and constituent parts of any disease, epi¬
23 demical or endomical. Do we know the nature of
24 mineral, or, animal magnetism ? electricity, attraction, or,
25 repulsion ? Who can say, how aerolites are formed in
26 the higher atmospheric regions? The book of nature
27 lies open before us ; but, who can decipher it ?
28 Tim different qualities of a medicament can be de¬
29 termined only by careful and reiterated trials on health v
30 as well as on diseased individuals. Experience teaches
31 us that, the effects >f remedies are manifold; that the
32 same medicine operates very differently, according to