MEDICAL AMULETS Among the various subjects which belong to the province of medical folk-lore, one of the most interesting relates to amulets and protective charms, which represent an important stage in the gradual development of Medicine as a science. And especially noteworthy among medical amulets are those inscribed with mystic sentences, words, or characters, for by their examination and study we... more...

Now that the last belated bill for services professionally rendered has been properly paid and properly receipted; now that the memory of the event, like the mark of the stitches, has faded out from a vivid red to a becoming pink shade; now that I pass a display of adhesive tape in a drug-store window without flinching—I sit me down to write a little piece about a certain matter—a small thing, but... more...

INTRODUCTION "When I first dabbled in this art, the old distemper call'd Melancholy was exchang'd for Vapours, and afterwards for the Hypp, and at last took up the now current appellation of the Spleen, which it still retains, tho' a learned doctor of the west, in a little tract he hath written, divides the Spleen and Vapours, not only into the Hypp, the Hyppos, and the Hyppocons;... more...

INTRODUCTION. In this book we set forth a series of simple remedies and preventives of many common troubles. They are all well tried and have been proved by long experience to be effective and safe. We give, as far as we know, the reasons why they are likely to do good, but we acknowledge that there are things which we cannot fully explain. For instance, we do not know why a well aired lather of... more...

EARLY ROMAN MEDICINE. Origin of Healing — Temples — Lectisternium — Temple of Æsculapius — Archagathus — Domestic Medicine — Greek Doctors — Cloaca Maxima — Aqueducts — State of the early Empire. The origin of the healing art in Ancient Rome is shrouded in uncertainty. The earliest practice of medicine was undoubtedly theurgic, and common to all primitive peoples. The offices of... more...

NATURE'S FINER FORCES One of the most common mistaken conceptions of the average student of the occult sciences, and of so-called "psychic phenomena" in general, is that which may be expressed by the term "supernatural." This term, as you know, is used to express the idea of "that which is outside of the realm of Nature, and of Nature's laws." Knowledge Versus Faith As... more...

PREFACE. The expeditions in which it is attempted to explore unknown and distant oceans, are usually those which are most pregnant with adventure and disaster. But land has its perils as well as sea; and the wanderer, thrown into the unknown interior of the Continents of Africa and America, through regions of burning sand and trackless forest, occupied only by rude and merciless barbarians, encounters... more...

Behold, God is mine, and all things are mine! What will I more, and what more happy thing can I desire? O delightsome and sweet world! that is, to him that loveth the Word, not the world, neither the things that are in the world.(1) My God, my all! To him that understandeth, that word sufficeth, and to repeat it often is pleasing to him that loveth it. When Thou art present all things are pleasant;... more...

THE LIFE OF DR. JOHN DONNE (Taken from the life by Izaak Walton). Master John Donne was born in London, in the year 1573, of good and virtuous parents: and, though his own learning and other multiplied merits may justly appear sufficient to dignify both himself and his posterity, yet the reader may be pleased to know that his father was masculinely and lineally descended from a very ancient family in... more...

PREFACE. This is a book made up of fragments.  The Master once said “Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost.”  It may be that victuals will be found here that may feed those who cannot sit down to a meal.  Many of the articles have appeared in Joyful News already, but, perhaps, are none the worse for that.  We send out this little book in the hope that both crust and crumb will be eaten!... more...