Hippolyte Bernheim, professor of medicine at Nancy,
France, 1910-1919, was the expounder of the fact that the
suggestion of the physician to the patient was exerted through
the subconscious mind. Bernheim, in his Suggestive Therapeutics,
page 197, tells a story of a man with paralysis of the tongue,
which had yielded to no form of treatment.
His doctor told the patient that he had a new instrument
with which he promised to heal him. He introduced a pocket
thermometer into the patient’s mouth. The patient imagined it
to be the instrument which was to save him. In a few moments
he cried out joyfully that he could once more move his tongue
freely.
“Among our cases,” continues Bernheim, “facts of the
same sort will be found. A young girl came into my office,
having suffered from complete loss of speech for nearly four
weeks. After making sure of the diagnosis, I told my students
that loss of speech sometimes yielded instantly to electricity,
which might act simply by its suggestive influence. I sent for
the induction apparatus. I applied my hand over the larynx
and moved a little, and said, ‘Now you can speak aloud.’ In an
instant I made her say ‘a,’ then ‘b,’ then ‘Maria.’ She continued
to speak distinctly; the loss of voice had disappeared.”
Here Bernheim is showing the power of faith and
expectancy on the part of the patient, which acts as a powerful
suggestion to the subconscious mind.