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