Excerpt from Treatment by Hypnotism and Suggestion: Or Psycho-Therapeutics The seven years which have elapsed since the publication of the fourth edition of this work have not been marked by any striking development of hypnotic theory or practice. England still continues much behind other countries in taking up the treatment; but there is much less prejudice against it than formerly, especially among medical men. Perhaps the decrease in the amount of acute and gross disease, and the increase of functional and nervous disorders, have something to do with this changed attitude. The growth of fantastic systems of 'mind-cure' is a real danger to scientific medicine, as well as to the public, and the study of psycho-therapeutics will do more than anything else to help us to understand and combat these forms of quackery. They flourish because so many medical men in the past have ignored the psychical factor in disease, and the public, therefore, have been constrained to seek advice outside the profession. The formation of an English society, composed of medical men interested in the theory and practice of suggestive therapeutics, will afford the encouragement and support so much needed by isolated practitioners, and will bring to light much excellent material which is being lost for want of collection. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.