Grave men of science like Professor James, the psychologist, a member of the faculty of Harvard University, testify that the Christian Scientists have accomplished many wonderful cures. He says that the evidence in behalf of these latter-day miracles is overwhelming. Therefore, he has argued before a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature, this new sect, which professes to bring back the age of Bible miracles, should be unmolested by harassing laws. On the other hand, Mr. Mallock, the famous Catholic writer, a man of brilliant qualities, although alarmingly inconsistent, urges that Christian Science and its alleged cures are a delusion, a nineteenth-century madness. It is astonishing to find an eminent Catholic author, in a century which has seen the rise of Lourdes to the dignity of a world-famous shrine where healing goes on continually (if we may believe not merely Catholic but outside testimony), it is surprising, we say, to find such a man discrediting the cures effected by the Christian Scientists.

We are not arguing for the Christian Scientists; we have neither part nor lot with them, but we are merely trying to look at the matter impartially, and we must repel the unfair attacks of a Mallock who belongs to a vast body of Christians that still holds to the possibility, indeed, the actuality, of miracles of healing. In Russia, John of Cronstadt, a famous priest of holy life, is reported, on credible testimony, to have effected wonderful cures by the power of faith. We have no personal knowledge of his cures, but the array of testimony in their support is sufficient to carry conviction to any court in Christendom.

That something does cure the ailments of man and beast, outside of the usual means, that the healing power of nature, does exist, none will affirm more strenuously than physicians. The best of them only profess to aid it, to give it a chance to work, and this is what underlies the modern antiseptic treatment of wounds.

May it not be fairly argued (and we do not say that this is the right explanation) that Christian Scientists often cure because they give nature, that mysterious power for which we have but a name, a clear field? In Von Hartmann's "Philosophy of the Unconscious," an attempt to show that a great, unconscious intelligence works continually in nature, there are many instances given of the wonderful power of reproduction in the lower forms of life. Spiders throw off injured legs and regenerate them. So do crabs. Fishes likewise regenerate their fins; lizards their tails. The Asterias reproduce their rays; so do snails and beetles their injured and lost antennæ and tentacles. Pigeons, according to Voit, have been known to regenerate their destroyed cerebrum, together with its function. Birds renew lost feathers, fishes their injured scales, and frogs their broken legs.

Some species of animals, belonging to the lower orders of the vertebrata, manifest powers of regeneration of lost or injured parts almost equaling in marvelousness those of the Annelida. For example : "Spallanzani saw among salamanders the four legs with their ninety-eight bones, besides the tail, with its vertebræ, reproduced six times within three months; in others, the lower jaw, with all its muscles, vessels, and teeth, was regenerated." The eye, in this species, according to Blumenbach, has been known to reproduce itself when the optic nerve escaped injury and a part of the eye remained intact. Would any one dare to deny that these marvels of conservation and repair are not due to psychic power?

And not only are lost, or badly injured, organs restored, but the animals know how to cure their diseases. When sick, they refuse to eat, but drink water freely. When suffering from fever, they bathe in water, seek outdoor air, and avoid the light. If likely to die, they seek places of seclusion, where they may be free from annoyance and be at rest. Dogs and cats, grievously wounded, will lie down in a running stream till their flesh heals. A dog run over by a carriage sought a brook and lay down in it three weeks till it recovered. A dog, stung by a viper, held the wounded part in running water several days, thus effecting a cure. All living things, even the most minute, display a profound instinct.

There is something which tends towards health in all nature; doubtless, as the Christian Scientists declare, the idea of being ill, the anticipation of successive symptoms, induces disease, and favors its development according to the expected course thereof. Every doctor employs suggestion; it is half the battle. That disease is always a mere "belief" we do not accept; that wise physicians, employing the resources of science, do cure is an every-day demonstration. But that outside of human science, beyond all our speculation, there is a something which makes for health we fully believe. Nature tends towards perfection, towards symmetry; no artist is comparable to that Great Artist who works in silence, carving the delicate shell and coloring it with a delicacy and an imagination beyond all human striving. In the world of nature one sees the Artist ever at work.

There is a Force, or better said, an Intelligence, at work to procure symmetry, harmony, and perfection in all animate things. Does the Christian Scientist invoke this power for curing human ills? Can it, by an act of faith, be enlisted for the healing of the sick? The little band of Christian Scientists who have organized here contain many intelligent people. Perhaps they may give an answer to our questions.

Editorial in the Mexican Herald, Mexico.