By now the reader may be thinking, as indeed patients often ask when they have experienced the benefits of hypnosis, ‘If hypnotism is so useful in medicine, how is it that doctors do not use it more?’

To answer the question it is necessary to consider many factors which have so far prevented hypnosis taking its rightful place in medicine.
(A) Probably the most important is the opinion that the average person holds concerning hypnotism. As will be seen later, it is this attitude of mind that has been developed in the lay public which has influenced the medical profession in its use, or rather neglect, of hypnotism as a therapeutic measure.
If asked what they know about hypnotism, by far the greater number of people will answer that they do not know anything definite at all. Nevertheless, they have an idea that the hypnotist has some mysterious ‘power’ or ‘gift’ by which he can subject the ‘will’ of other people to his own. He puts the patient to ‘sleep’ and makes them do anything he wishes; and when they wake up, they know nothing about it. 

Enquiry will reveal that they have formed this opinion as the result of certain experiences or hearsay from others.
(i)... One of the most likely ways in which people are almost certain to gain a false idea about hypnotism is in witnessing a stage exhibition. Consideration of a typical performance will show how easy it is for the public to form a false opinion of hypnotism. First of all, the hypnotist must have prestige, so the gentlemen of the Press are called in to assist him to ‘build up’ his reputation and obtain widespread publicity. The procedure varies according to the circumstances. Sometimes, it merely means inviting a number of reporters - as many as possible - to witness a demonstration, by ‘The Most Marvellous Hypnotist in the Universe’ or the ‘World’s Most Powerful Hypnotic Genius’. These performers are all very modest and are usually content with some simple title such as the above. The reporters being assembled, a genuine demonstration of hypnotism may be given.

As we have seen, approximately one person out of four is a potential somnambulist and can go into a deep trance very easily. Reporters are no exception to the rule; and with, say, twenty of these gentlemen, it is highly probable that three or four will make good subjects.
Quite frequently, however, only one or two respond. Nevertheless, next day the newspapers will carry a sensational story with glaring headlines such as ‘Most Miraculous Hypnotist gives Amazing Demonstration’, usually complete with photographs. They neglect to mention the fact that he failed to induce any sort of hypnotism in perhaps eighteen out of twenty. The impression is given that the hypnotist can bring about the same results in everybody, as he has managed to demonstrate on one or two reporters.
In a way, we can hardly blame these Press representatives. The public demands sensation and it is well known that if a dog bites a man, it is not news. Few of them know any more about hypnotism than they do about Chinese music.
Nevertheless, some of the more intelligent have made an effort to present the truth to the public after obtaining their facts from a reliable medical source. They are handicapped, of course, in presenting such information to the public because doctors, unlike the wonder hypnotists and quacks of all descriptions, cannot advertise.

(ii)... Another way in which these performers ‘build up’ their reputation is by presenting the Press with some sensational item of news. As we have seen, it is often possible to cure a case or indeed any hysterical symptom, very easily by hypnosis.
If such a case presents itself, the stage hypnotist will make free use of it. It is strange indeed how a reporter always seems to be handy when one of these ‘miracles’ takes place. Next day the papers will carry a sensational story, ‘Cripple walks after twenty years - cured by Wonder Hypnotist with Amazing Power’.
They neglect to mention that it was a case of hysterical paralysis, and the public is left with the impression that all paralysis can be as easily and quickly cured by hypnosis. Quite often there is some ‘sob stuff’ or ‘human interest’ introduced into the story to arouse the emotions of the readers.
Sometimes the ‘Man with the Piercing Eyes’ or ‘The World’s Greatest and Most Amazing, Not to Say Most Powerful Hypnotist’ explains sadly in a long interview how he regrets having to go on making money on the stage when he really wishes to use his gifts of healing for the benefit of humanity. By these and other similar methods, utilizing the power of the Press and all the tricks of publicity agents, the stage performer builds up a big reputation as a hypnotist.

As a result, those who come to see him are already half hypnotized, most of them believing explicitly in his ‘power’, and even the sceptics have an uneasy feeling that there must be something in it or he would never dare to give such a performance.
As we have seen, in the theatre the emotional atmosphere runs high and emotion sensitizes the brain to hypnosis. Here we have the ideal conditions for stage hypnosis. A large audience, already convinced by publicity of the hypnotist’s amazing powers, is emotionally roused and waits in tense expectation for the great man.

After a preliminary talk, usually by his manager, which is carefully calculated to influence the minds of the audience and lead them to believe the hypnotist possesses some ‘mysterious power’, the performer himself appears and calls for volunteers.
Usually, volunteers are limited to those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six. As we have seen, these young people are the most susceptible and, while old people can be hypnotized, often making very good subjects, the professional hypnotist is taking no chances.
Sometimes, this is where the first hint of deception comes in. The hypnotist may make a point of the fact that he will accept volunteers of any age - even grandparents! Nevertheless, as will be seen later, he usually makes sure, by a process of selection tests, that elderly people are not included in his demonstration, unless they happen to be excellent subjects.

In response to the invitation for volunteers, perhaps fifty or more people will go up on the stage, most of them young people out for a bit of fun and not adverse to making an exhibition of themselves. The hypnotist will now proceed to select the easiest and best subject by means of the various suggestibility tests. For instance, the volunteers may be told to lock their hands together and hold them over their heads. After a time they are challenged to unlock them, when the most susceptible subjects will be unable to do so.
Sometimes, tests of swaying or falling forwards or backwards may be used. In another method, the subjects are ordered to close their eyes tightly, told they are locked and challenged to open them. By means of these tests, the hypnotist will select the easiest and best subjects for his demonstration. Out of the original fifty volunteers, perhaps ten or twelve will be chosen for the experiment.
After this, it is easy to produce hypnosis by almost any means. An easy and very common method is for the volunteers to be seated with their eyes closed while they listen to the hypnotist making suggestions of ‘sleep’. In a short time, perhaps four or five will really be ‘asleep’ in the hypnotic sense. Even those who are not really asleep will sit there with their eyes closed and so impress the audience as they are apparently hypnotized.

The hypnotist can easily tell those who are really affected; and a few simple tests will enable him to select one or two of the very best subjects in order to demonstrate his ‘marvellous powers’.
One of the most spectacular feats is that of inducing complete rigidity of the body. The subject is then placed with his head and shoulders on one chair or support and his feet on another. In this position he is able to support the full weight of the hypnotist.
Another spectacular and convincing demonstration is that of Anaesthesia. A needle may be passed through the skin of the patient’s arm or hand without pain. The hypnotist will then announce in tones of triumph that even the biggest operations can be performed under hypnosis. In a sense this is true and a very good subject could undergo a major operation without pain by means of hypnotism. However, it is seldom that the performer bothers to stress the point, and the public is left with the impression that everybody can easily be rendered anaesthetic by hypnotism.

Again, he does not bother to mention that there are degrees of hypnotic anaesthesia or rather analgesia, varying from mere dulling of pain to complete absence.
There is a vast difference between passing a needle through the skin and a major operation. Even passing a needle through the skin, however, requires some degree of anaesthesia if it is to be performed without pain.
At a recent demonstration a professional hypnotist proudly announced that he had rendered the subject so completely anaesthetic that he could undergo a severe operation. On his passing a needle through the skin, however, the patient fainted and the audience was entertained with the edifying spectacle of the hypnotist staggering around the stage supporting the fainting subject. Most of the audience did not realize what had happened and appeared to accept it as all part of the performance!

Next on their list of favourite tricks is a demonstration of their ‘complete power’ over the subject by which they can make him do anything against his will. Half a dozen young girls and boys are given a glass of water, told it is strong drink, and that they are at a party. As a result, they give a more or less convincing display of being under the influence of alcohol and will most likely sing a few songs.
Very often it is obvious to the trained observer that several of the subjects are not really hypnotized at all but are merely acting, not liking to differ from the rest. Few young people out for an evening’s entertainment mind behaving in this fashion, and it is obvious that only those with exhibitionist tendencies would volunteer to go on the stage at all.
Nevertheless, the public accepts this as a convincing test of the ‘awful power’ of the hypnotist, and secretly makes a note of the fact that the hypnotist has been apparently able to make an innocent young girl act as though under the influence of alcohol. Their worst fears are confirmed when the hypnotist demonstrates once more his ‘terrible hold’ over the subject by making her take her shoes off. All sorts of delicious and spicy possibilities occur to spectators, who conclude that hypnotism must be very dangerous.

They are quite unaware of the fact that the subjects can always resist suggestions with which they do not agree, and which conflict too strongly with their fundamental morals. If told to take her shoes off, the girl may easily agree, as it seems nothing more than an amusing act which will be good for a few laughs and enable her to share some of the limelight with the hypnotist. Unless she was an artist’s model or a strip-tease ‘artiste’ who thought nothing of such things, she would, however, refuse point - blank to take all her clothes off, and the audience would soon see how much ‘awful power’ the hypnotist really had.

But the thing which convinces the public that hypnotism is something to be afraid of, is the demonstration of the post-hypnotic suggestion. The hypnotist announces that after the subject has been awakened, he will do a certain thing, such as shouting out ‘Nuts’ or ‘Rubbish’ whenever the hypnotist says or does something which has been agreed upon as the signal.
At the end of the performance, while making his final speech, the hypnotist introduces his keyword or action and the subject promptly calls out ‘Nuts’ or ‘Rubbish’ or whatever else was arranged.
This never fails to get terrific applause and convinces the audience that there is something definitely dangerous about hypnotism when it can make a person do anything the hypnotist wishes at some future time or place.

The trained observer can often see that the subject is really not obeying a post-hypnotic suggestion at all. On many occasions he has to be prompted by the hypnotist who keeps on repeating the keyword or action in such a fashion that nobody could very well miss it.
Quite apart from the fact that many people would be quite prepared to express their opinion of these performances by shouting ‘Nuts’ or ‘Rubbish’ without any hypnotic influence, there is a vast difference between saying these simple words and carrying out anything, especially criminal, that the hypnotist might suggest.
Such a performance is typical of what may be called a genuine stage demonstration of hypnotism. Unfortunately, trickery is not debarred on the stage. Nobody, for instance, believes that a stage magician really saws a woman in half!

One well-known stage trick is to have one or two people who have been previously hypnotized ‘planted’ in the audience. These people have been trained to ‘go to sleep’ quickly at a pre-arranged signal. They mix with the volunteers and set an example to others. Naturally, they deny having seen the hypnotist before, unlike the small boy in the story who, when asked by the conjuror, ‘Have you ever seen me before,’ replied, ‘No, Father!’
Suspicions, which are aroused when soldiers or sailors are seen sitting all alone in the best seats of the theatre, are confirmed when these people rush on to the stage, pushing other volunteers out of the way, if necessary. When they turn out to be the very best subjects, there is always the suspicion that things are not exactly what they seem!

Although, with any large audience, it would be perfectly possible to select a sufficient number of subjects to give a demonstration, most professional stage hypnotists like to make assurance doubly sure and ‘stooges’ are not unknown.

(iii)... So far we have described what may be termed genuine exhibitions of hypnotism, although some of them involve a little deception and certainly they give the audience the wrong impression. Now we must consider a ‘trick’ method which is sometimes used. This employs a well-known Japanese ‘Jiu-Jitsu’ wrestling trick. Pressure is applied on the carotid bodies and carotid arteries in the neck. The blood supply to the brain is stopped and as a result, the patient goes limp and would fall, as in a faint, if not caught. Just as he is ‘going off’, the hypnotist shouts ‘Sleep’ in a loud voice, and if the patient is very susceptible, he may go into a trance. In most cases, however, the patient is merely knocked temporarily unconscious and seldom has any desire to repeat the performance. Usually, he is so shaken that he is rendered completely docile and willing to follow the whispered instructions of the so-called hypnotist.
It is, of course, impressive to the members of the audience, who seldom have the ability to distinguish between genuine and simulated hypnotism. In addition, this method is extremely dangerous and could result in death from vagal inhibition. There was an article recently in the British Medical Journal on deaths from vagal inhibition, which quoted cases where sudden death had occurred following even slight pressure on the neck.

This method of inducing hypnosis, even when real hypnosis is achieved, is dangerous. It is bad enough in the hands of a medical man who is capable of diagnosing heart disease or the complaints which would make it undesirable. In the hands of a lay person, such as a professional stage hypnotist, it is a positive menace. Few patients would relish this method of inducing hypnosis, although not understanding the danger, they often express a wish for it, being impressed by its quickness and having no means of knowing how genuine were the alleged ‘hypnotic’ phenomena which followed it.
Even where the technique is of a gentler kind, stage hypnotism can, and often does, have unfortunate results. Consider the following case, which illustrates the danger of stage hypnosis...

A father wrote as follows: ‘A year ago my daughter went on to the stage as a volunteer for ...‘ (mentioning a stage hypnotist) ‘who was demonstrating hypnotism. She was picked out by him from about a dozen volunteers, with three others, and was on the stage throughout the performance. She says she remembers everything, and was told that she would cry for her mother, and continue to do so on a given signal. A week later she began to complain of depression and “something in her mind”, and has had fits of crying and depression ever since.’
During the past year she had seen several doctors and tried various treatments without success. Her family doctor said that he considered her to be a ‘serious case of nerve trouble’ and that there was nothing wrong organically. She had always been perfectly healthy, both mentally and physically, before this occurrence.
When seen, she proved to be an attractive and intelligent young woman who was very depressed at her apparently unaccountable outbursts of emotional crying and lack of interest in anything. This, she explained, was completely foreign to her real nature.
Investigation revealed that she had carried out the hypnotist’s instructions to ‘cry for her mother’ very realistically. The audience naturally roared with applause, and, thus encouraged, the hypnotist proceeded to demonstrate still further his ‘amazing powers’. In the rush of the performance he had evidently forgotten to remove the original suggestion. As a result, the girl began to have (to her) unaccountable fits of deep depression and crying. This worried her, as she thought she must be going mad, and she promptly developed the unpleasant symptoms of anxiety. These frightened her still further, and when nobody could help her by orthodox means she became convinced that her mind had been seriously affected. As her mind was fully occupied with her own fears, naturally she was unable to take an interest in anything else.

Thus we see that a foolish suggestion, implanted by a stage hypnotist to gratify his own vanity, and ‘amuse and instruct’ the audience, set in motion a chain of thoughts which led to near insanity in the innocent victim. Incidentally, this case illustrates my theory, outlined more fully later on, that nervous disorders, and even insanity, can be explained by hypnosis, often accidentally self-induced.
Naturally the girl had a great fear of hypnosis, and many sessions were necessary before she lost her anxiety, and her father was able to write: ‘There is a striking difference in her outlook on everything, and there can be no question that she is restored to normality.’

This is by no means an isolated case, and the British Society of Medical Hypnotists has records of many patients who have suffered severe mental and bodily harm as the result of stage and amateur hypnosis.
Unfortunately it is not only those who volunteer to go on the stage who can be affected. Even members of the audience watching exhibitions of stage hypnotism can be influenced. One mother wrote concerning her daughter’s nervous trouble: ‘Her illness began about two weeks after attending a demonstration of hypnotism by... during which she was hypnotized for short spells while in the audience.
Thus we see that stage hypnotism, besides giving the public an entirely misleading idea of the subject, for stage hypnotism is exactly the wrong type for medical purposes, can be definitely dangerous. Hypnotism is really no more a fit subject for the stage than any other branch of medicine or surgery. If stage hypnotists confined themselves solely to exhibiting the phenomena of hypnosis it would be bad enough, but most of them, in their desire for personal publicity, dabble in medicine without the slightest knowledge of the subject.

Occasionally, when they meet a case of hysterical paralysis, for instance, they may be able to remove the presenting symptom and so claim a ‘miracle cure’. The newspapers do the rest and the impression is given that the stage hypnotist is far greater than any doctor and can cure anything.
Such ‘cures' are seldom, if ever, permanent because these people lack the necessary medical knowledge to make them so.
Doctors who use hypnosis are constantly bringing about cures which are every bit as striking; but, as they are unable to employ publicity agents, such results cannot be blazoned abroad, in the sensational manner so beloved of newspapers. Hence the public is left with the idea that hypnotism is some mysterious power possessed by a few gifted men who are so clever that they can cure any disease of body or mind without having even bothered to study medicine.
People who would never dream of letting a plumber tinker with the engine of their motorcar, see nothing wrong with letting a medically unqualified hypnotist experiment with their mind and body.

(B) In addition to stage exhibitions, sensational stories of the Svengali -Trllby type give the public an entirely wrong idea of the subject. Films which show hypnosis being used, mostly for criminal purposes, add their quota of misinformation. Not to be outdone, the radio presents hair-raising serials in which the master criminal works his evil will by means of hypnosis. In view of all this, there is little wonder that the public has an exceedingly distorted view of the subject.

By considering the sort of questions patients often ask, it is hoped that the truth will dispel misconceptions which are so prevalent at present. Many of these points have been mentioned in previous chapters; but it is so important that people should know the real truth about hypnotism, that no apology is made for emphasizing them.

One of the commonest questions asked is: ‘Do you have to be weak - willed to be hypnotized?’ The answer is that the will has nothing to do with hypnotism. The force we use is the imagination, which is far stronger than the will. The more intelligent and imaginative the person is, the better hypnotic subject he will make. It is impossible to hypnotize an idiot, and scatter-brained people are notoriously difficult.

Linked up with this is the question, ‘Can a person be hypnotized against his will?’ In view of the fact that we deal with the imagination, it is possible to hypnotize a person against his will, given the right circumstances. Deliberate resistance, of course, makes the hypnotist’s task much harder. Often the sceptic secretly believes or imagines that hypnosis is possible, although he may loudly deny it. In such a case, it is very likely he can be hypnotized against his will.

‘Can everyone be hypnotized?’ is often asked and the answer is that fully 90 - 95 % of ordinary people can be hypnotized to one degree or another. This does not necessarily mean that results are obtained at the first session. Some patients who are poor subjects at first, perhaps owing to excessive nervousness or anxiety, can be trained by a few sessions to become quite good.
Only about one person out of four or five is likely to enter a deep trance as seen upon the stage, especially at the first attempt.

Another question which is frequently put to the hypnotist is: ‘For curative purposes, is it necessary to go into a very deep trance?’ The answer is that the depth of trance has little bearing on the therapeutic result. Some patients will obey suggestions after even the lightest trance, while others may refuse to do so after the very deepest hypnosis. Because amnesia (loss of memory) for the events of the trance is common in deep hypnosis, the patient feels that ‘something has happened’. This may influence him favourably if he is of the type that expects a magical and powerful experience.

‘Does the subject know what he is doing in the trance?’ is sometimes asked. The answer is that he does, and is able to exercise a degree of judgment. In the light and medium stages, the patient will probably remember all the details of the trance, and may even deny he was hypnotized because he can ‘remember everything’ and heard all that the hypnotist said. Even in the deep trance, the patient hears everything and knows what is going on. However, as amnesia is common after a deep
trance, he often forgets about it, especially if commanded to do so by the hypnotist. Therefore he imagines he heard nothing.

For some reason the general public is obsessed with the idea of the possibilities of crime and sexual seduction under hypnosis, and often ask if this is possible.
The general consensus of opinion is that nobody will do anything under hypnosis that is fundamentally against their deep-rooted moral principles. They do not mind pretending to commit crime because they know very well that it is only an experiment.
The subject is not an automaton and can always break the trance if the suggestions are repellent enough to arouse his deep moral feelings. An ordinary, modest girl would not disrobe completely on the stage, although she might remove her shoes in a spirit of fun.

The subject has several defences against any suggestion with which she disagrees and may refuse to carry out the order, go into ordinary sleep, or simply wake up. Thus the patient is not nearly so much at the mercy of the operator as a person under the influence of an anaesthetic.
The less intelligent section of the public loves to dwell on the possibilities of sexual seduction under the influence of hypnosis. The plain fact is that nobody could be seduced under hypnosis unless willing. The real answer to all this anxiety about the possibilities of crime under hypnosis is that people should submit to hypnosis only by reputable medical men who conform to the ethics of their profession.

Although it is considered that it is impossible to make an ordinary moral person commit a real criminal act under the influence of hypnosis, people who are anxious on this score can make assurance doubly sure by taking the above course of action.
After all, it would be only too easy for a surgeon, anaesthetist or dentist to commit a criminal act against his patient if he were so inclined. The ethics of his profession, however, demand the highest possible standard of conduct, which safeguards the patient, and the same applies to the fully qualified medical hypnotist.

Another question frequently asked is: ‘Can hypnotism be dangerous?’ The answer is that it can under certain circumstances but not in the way that the public usually imagines.
Used properly as a therapeutic measure by a fully qualified medical man who is experienced in the subject, the dangers of hypnosis are non-existent. However, in the hands of medically ignorant laymen and stage professionals who dabble in medicine, it can have unfortunate results.
Enthusiastic amateurs and stage professionals often induce hallucinations and make suggestions which they may forget to remove in the rush of a stage performance. As the only subjects they deal with are those who ‘sleep deeply’, they may easily suffer considerable mental harm.
Further, by dabbling in medicine and removing symptoms without knowing the real nature of the disease, they may lull the patient into a sense of false security and so allow the disease to progress unchecked.

Patients are often concerned with the question: ‘Is there any danger of not waking up from hypnosis?’ The answer to this is that there is not the slightest danger as the patient, if left to himself, will go into ordinary sleep and wake up in his own good time. An experienced operator seldom has any difficulty in waking the patient, although amateurs sometimes run into this trouble.

This leads to the question: ‘Can anybody learn to hypnotize?’ The answer is that anybody can learn to hypnotize, just as they can learn anything else. This does not mean that everybody should. Some make better hypnotists than others, just as some people make better doctors than others.
Anybody can gain a smattering of the subject and produce a few spectacular results in easy and susceptible cases. But to use hypnotism as it should be used, so that fully 90 % of patients seeking its aid can benefit, demands considerable skill and an infinite capacity for taking pains.
Easy and susceptible subjects may be hypnotized in a matter of seconds or minutes, whereas highly apprehensive and nervous patients may take an hour or more to achieve even a light hypnosis.
Few medical men in general practice, especially under modern conditions, have sufficient leisure to spare an hour or so for a nervous patient. As a result, it is better that even medical men should not just dabble in hypnosis any more than they would dabble in surgery or any other speciality. 
If hypnotism is ever to produce its best result in the maximum number of cases, it would be carried out by medical men who have the time and patience to specialize in the method.

(C) Now, having considered the attitude of the average person to hypnotism, we must consider what we may call special groups of the lay public. These groups or sects have several things in common although they are, in general, bitterly opposed to one another. They are unanimous in their disapproval of hypnotism, and, although most of them use it in a disguised form, often with-out knowing it, they loudly proclaim it to be the work of the Devil.
(i).. Those loudest in their condemnation of hypnotism, or magnetism, as they call it, are the Christian Scientists. This blasphemous sect is neither Christian nor Scientific. It denies Christ’s teaching about sickness, sin and death, claiming that such things do not exist. The very foundations of the Christian Religion such as the Atonement, the death of Christ and His resturection, are denied by this extraordinary cult which has the impertinence to call itself Christian.
Like many others of these so-called religious, money-making cults, Christian Science originated in America, and its founder was an extraordinary woman named Mrs. Mary Baker Glover Patterson Eddy.
She was born at Bow, a small township in New Hampshire, on 16 July, 1821. Her parents were simple New England farmers and extremely religious.
Mary Baker was the youngest child and was always having hysterical fits, during which she often suffered from hallucinations.
Shortly after she married her first husband, George Washington Glover, he died leaving her without means so that she had to live with her sister. Her nervous symptoms became worse than ever and she developed the quaint idea that she had to be rocked to sleep like a baby in a specially constructed large cradle.
Her second marriage to a wandering dentist and homeopath called Patterson was unhappy; so when he was taken prisoner in the Civil War she obtained a divorce. Once more she went to live with a sister and claimed to have spiritualistic powers, saying that she could hear spirit rappings in the walls.

Finally, her conduct became intolerable and she had to leave her sister’s house. However, she persuaded a superstitious old lady to take her into her home, saying that the spirits had told her to live there.
After a time the relatives of the old lady threw Mrs. Clover, as she now called herself, into the street. All this time, her symptoms were getting worse and worse until, one day, she slipped on a frozen pavement. Stunned and considerably bruised, her hysterical mind conceived the idea that she was paralysed, and so she spent several years in bed, apparently a hopeless cripple.

In 1862, when she was about forty years of age, she heard of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby. This remarkable man, a watchmaker, after attending a demonstration by a French magnetizer, decided that he could heal by this method also.
After a time he gave up magnetism (hypnotism) as such and developed his theory of ‘Mind Cure’. Mrs. Clover called in Quimby to treat her and in a matter of days the hysterical paralysis was completely removed by suggestion.

She became devoted to Quimby and endeavoured to absorb his ideas. In this, however, she was unsuccessful and took up Spiritualism once more. She acted as a medium by calling up the spirit of her dead brother, and even spoke in his voice. When Quimby died suddenly, she came into possession of his manuscripts, which dealt with religion, spiritualism, and disease, and a variety of subjects. To these she added extracts from the Bible and queer ideas of her own, announcing her intention of writing a book.

She became well known around Boston, and although what she said was seldom intelligible as she was completely uneducated, her manner was impressive enough to earn her a living. Being a failure as a ‘healer’ herself, she set out to teach Quimby’s theories to others, thus following out the old Chinese proverb: ‘He who fails thrice sets up as a teacher’.
One of her pupils, Richard Kennedy, set up a Healing Clinic, the profits of which relieved her of financial anxiety. Becoming jealous of Kennedy, she accused him of trying to kill her by ‘animal magnetism’ (hypnotism), saying that he was transferring all the ills of the patients to her!

In 1872 Kennedy broke his association with her, paying over 6000 dollars forfeit. Mrs. Glover was nothing if not a business woman, and showed this by setting up a school of healing instruction. The pupils had to pay a good fee of $100 and agree to pay her a percentage of all their future earnings.
One of her pupils, Spofford by name, rewrote Quimby’s manuscripts which she claimed as her own, and produced the first edition of 'Science and Health'.
After marrying a friend of Spofford, Asa Gilbert Eddy, she began to accuse Spofford of ‘malicious magnetism’ (hypnotism). Ostensibly, this was because she thought he was mentally transferring illness to her, but the real fact was that she was jealous of his popularity with the patients.
It is reported that she accused Spofford of witchcraft and endeavoured to take legal action against him on this score. When this ridiculous action failed, it is said that she endeavoured to have Spofford murdered by hiring a gangster to assassinate him. This plan failed; but as a result of the scandal, Mrs. Eddy and her husband were brought to trial and sentenced to a fine.

Shortly after this, her third husband died, and at the age of sixty-one she set about making a fresh start. Arriving in Boston, she started her ‘school’ in a friend’s house, and published the Journal of Christian Science, the cost, as usual, being borne by her pupils. The journal was full of prophecies and alleged wonderful cures. Since she was cunning enough to have it widely distributed to simple-minded villagers, she soon collected a huge following.

The Boston ‘School’ flourished exceedingly with fifty students at a time paying $200 for a three weeks’ ‘course of lectures’. The venture was so profitable that branches were soon established in California, Nebraska, Colorado, New York and Chicago, and any ignorant person could become a ‘doctor’ or ‘healer’ in a few weeks without troubling to learn even the slightest rudiments of anatomy or medicine.
About this time Mrs. Eddy had another happy and (needless to say) profitable idea. So-called ‘Absent Healing’ was begun, and all the healer had to do was to send out ‘curative thoughts’ to the patient, and pocket the fees, which often amounted to over $100. In 1894 the foundation stone of the Mother Church of Boston was laid and the building, which was to be the head of all other churches, was dedicated in 1895. An entirely new building called the Annexe was dedicated in 1906. and there were 30,000 people at the opening ceremony. After this, Mrs. Eddy retired in seclusion, and on 4 December, 1910, she died at the age of 89.