A healing medium

— We ask our readers to refer back to last month's article on special mediums; they will better understand the teachings we are about to give concerning Miss Désirée Godu, whose faculty offers a character of the most remarkable specialty. About eight years ago, she passed successively through all the phases of mediumship; at first a very powerful medium of physical effects, she became, successively, a seeing, hearing, speaking, and writing medium and, finally, all her faculties became concentrated on the healing of the sick, which seems to be her mission, a mission she carries out with a devotion and a self-denial without limits. Let us allow the eyewitness to speak, Mr. Pierre, a teacher in Lorient, who conveys these details to us in response to the questions we addressed to him: “Miss Désirée Godu, a young woman of twenty-five, belongs to a very distinguished family, respectable and respected, of Lorient; her father is a former military man, knight of the Legion of Honor, and her mother, a patient and laborious woman, helps her daughter as much as she can in her painful but sublime mission. For about six years this patriarchal family has given alms of prescribed remedies and, frequently, of what is necessary for dressings, both to the rich and to the poor who seek her out. Her relations with the Spirits began in the time of the turning tables; at that time she resided in Lorient and, for months, nothing was spoken of but the marvels worked by Miss Godu with the tables, always compliant and docile under her hands. It was a privilege to be admitted to the table sessions at her house, and not everyone who wished could enter there. Simple and modest, she did not seek to put herself forward. Nevertheless, as you may well imagine, slander did not spare her. “Christ himself was reviled, although he did and taught only good. Is it any wonder that Pharisees are still to be found, when there are still men who believe in nothing? It is the fate of all those who show any superiority whatsoever to be the target of the attacks of envious and jealous mediocrity. Nothing is too much for them in order to bring down the one who raises his head above the common crowd, not even the poison of calumny; the unmasked hypocrite never forgives. But God is just, and the more mistreated the good man is, the more glorious will be his rehabilitation and the more humiliating the shame of his enemies: posterity will avenge him. “While awaiting her true mission, which, it is said, is to begin within two years, the Spirit who guides her proposed to her that of curing all kinds of diseases, which she accepted. In order to communicate, he now makes use of her organs, often without her knowledge, instead of the insipid rappings of the tables. When it is the Spirit who speaks, the timbre of her voice is no longer the same, and her lips do not move.

“Miss Godu received only an ordinary instruction, but the principal part of her education was not to be the work of men. When she consented to be a healing medium, the Spirit proceeded methodically with her instruction, without her seeing anything other than hands. A mysterious personage placed before her eyes books, engravings, or drawings, and explained to her the entire functioning of the organs of the human body, the properties of plants, the effects of electricity, etc. She is not a somnambulist; no one puts her to sleep. It is completely awake that she penetrates the sick with her gaze. The Spirit indicates to her the remedies, which she generally prepares and applies, tending and dressing the most repugnant wounds with the dedication of a sister of charity. They began by giving her the composition of certain ointments which cured whitlows and wounds of slight severity in a few days, in order slowly to accustom her to seeing, without much repulsion, all the horrible and repugnant miseries that were to appear before her eyes, putting the refinement and delicacy of her senses to the rudest tests. Let us not imagine that we shall find in her a suffering, sickly, and weak being; she enjoys the mens sana in corpore sano in all its fullness; far from tending the sick by means of an assistant, she puts her own hand to everything, attending to everything, thanks to her robust constitution. She knows how to inspire in the sick a confidence without limits, finds in her heart consolations for all sorrows, having at hand remedies for all ills. She is of a naturally cheerful and jovial character. Her cheerfulness is contagious like the faith that animates her and acts instantly upon the sick. I have seen many withdraw with their eyes full of tears, sweet tears of admiration, of gratitude, and of joy. Every Thursday, market day, and on Sundays, from six o'clock in the morning until five or six o'clock in the evening, the house does not empty. For her, to work is to pray, and she acquits herself of this with conscience. Before she had to treat the sick, she spent entire days making clothes for the poor and layettes for the newborn, employing the most ingenious means so that the gifts would reach their destination anonymously, so that the left hand would always be ignorant of what the right hand gave. She possesses a great number of authentic certificates, granted by ecclesiastics, authorities, and notable persons, attesting to cures that, in other times, would have been considered miraculous.”

— We know, from persons worthy of faith, that there is not the slightest exaggeration in the account we have just transcribed, and we have the satisfaction of being able to point out the worthy use that Miss Godu makes of the exceptional faculty with which she has been endowed. We hope that these praises, which we have the pleasure of reproducing in the interest of Humanity, will not alter her modesty, which doubles the value of the good, and that she will not listen to the suggestions of the spirit of pride. Pride is the reef of a great number of mediums, and we have seen many whose transcendent faculties became annihilated or perverted, from the moment they gave ear to this tempting demon. The best intentions give no guarantee against deceits, and it is precisely against the good that he directs his batteries, for he is satisfied to make them succumb and to show that he is the stronger; he insinuates himself into the heart with such skill that he often fills it without one's suspecting it. Thus, pride is the last defect that we confess to ourselves, similar to those mortal maladies that one has in a latent state and about whose gravity the sick person deludes himself until the last moment. This is why it is so difficult to eradicate. From the moment a medium enjoys a faculty, however little remarkable it may be, he is sought out, praised, flattered. For him this is a terrible touchstone, for he ends up judging himself indispensable, if he is not essentially simple and modest. Woe to him, above all if he judges that he alone can enter into contact with the good Spirits. It costs him to recognize that he has been deceived and, often, he writes or hears his own condemnation, his own censure, without believing that it is addressed to him. Now, it is precisely this blindness that imprisons him. The deceiving Spirits take advantage of it to fascinate him, to dominate him, to subjugate him more and more, to the point of making him take the most false things for truths; it is thus that the precious gift is lost in him, which he had received from God only in order to make himself useful to his fellows, since the good Spirits always withdraw from those who prefer to listen to the bad ones. He whom Providence destines to be placed in evidence will be so by the force of things, and the Spirits will well know how to draw him out of obscurity, if it be useful, whereas, often, what disappointment for the one who is tormented by the need to make himself talked about! What we know of Miss Godu's character gives us the firm confidence that she finds herself above these little weaknesses and that, thus, she will never compromise, as so many others have, the noble mission she has received. [Review of April 1860.]

LETTERS FROM DR. MORHÉRY ON MISS DÉSIRÉE GODU.

We spoke about the remarkable faculty of Miss Désirée Godu, as a healing medium, and we could have cited authentic attestations that we have before our eyes. But here is a testimony whose import no one will contest. It is not one of those certificates issued somewhat lightly, but the result of serious observations by a man of learning, eminently competent to appreciate things from the double point of view of science and Spiritism. Dr. Morhéry sends us the following two letters, whose reproduction our readers will surely appreciate: “Plessis-Boudet, near Loudéac (Côtes-du-Nord).

“Mr. Allan Kardec, “Although overburdened with occupations at this moment, as a corresponding member of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, I must inform you of an event unexpected for me and which, no doubt, interests all our colleagues.

“In the latest issues of your Review you praised Miss Désirée Godu, of Hennebon. You said that after having been a seeing, hearing, and writing medium, this young lady had become, for some years, a healing medium. It was in this latter capacity that she addressed herself to me, requesting my assistance as a doctor of Medicine, in order to prove the efficacy of her medication, which we might call Spiritist. At first I thought that the threats made against her and the obstacles placed in the way of her medical practice, without a diploma, were the sole cause of her determination; but she told me that the Spirit who has directed her for six years had advised the measure as necessary, from the point of view of the Spiritist Doctrine. Be that as it may, I judged it to be my duty and in the interest of Humanity to accept her generous proposal, but I doubted that she would carry it out. Without knowing her, nor having ever seen her, I had learned that this pious young woman had not wished to separate from her family except on one exceptional circumstance, to fulfill a mission no less important, at the age of seventeen. I was, therefore, agreeably surprised to see her arrive at my house, brought by her mother, who left the next day with profound sorrow; but this sorrow was tempered by the courage of resignation. For ten days Miss Godu has been in the bosom of my family, of which she constitutes the joy, despite her enervating occupation. “Since her arrival, I have already recorded seventy-five cases of observations of various diseases, for most of which the resources of Medicine had failed. We have amauroses, serious ophthalmias, old paralyses rebellious to all treatment, scrofulous, herpetic conditions, cataracts, and advanced cancers. All the cases are numbered, the nature of the malady recorded by me, the dressings mentioned, and everything is arranged as in a clinical ward intended for observations.

“There is not yet enough time for me to be able to pronounce in a peremptory manner on the cures worked by Miss Godu's medication. But, from today, I can express my surprise at the revulsive results she obtains by the application of her ointments, whose effects vary infinitely, by a cause I could not explain within the ordinary rules of Science. I also saw with pleasure that she cut short fevers without any preparation of quinine or of its extracts, by means of simple infusions of flowers or of leaves of various plants. “I follow with keen interest the treatment of a rather advanced cancer. This cancer, diagnosed and treated without success, as always, by several colleagues, is the object of Miss Godu's greatest concern. It is not once or twice that she dresses it, but at all hours. I sincerely wish that her efforts may be crowned with success and that she may cure this indigent man, whom she treats with zeal above all praise. If she succeeds, one may naturally hope that she will achieve others and, in this case, she will render an immense service to Humanity, curing this terrible and atrocious malady. “I know that some confreres will censure and smile at the hope in which I cradle myself. But what does it matter to me, provided that this hope is realized! They already make reprimands to me for lending assistance to a person whose intention no one contests, but whose aptitude to cure is denied by the majority, considering that such aptitude was not given to her by the Faculty.

“To this I will reply: it was not the Faculty that discovered the vaccine, but simple shepherds; it was not the Faculty that discovered the bark of Peru, but the natives of that country. The Faculty records the facts; it groups them and classifies them to form the precious basis of teaching, but it does not produce them exclusively. Some fools – unfortunately there are many around here, as everywhere – think themselves witty by qualifying Miss Godu as a sorceress. Certainly she is an amiable and quite useful sorceress, for she inspires no fear of sorcery nor the desire to sacrifice her on the pyre. “To others, who claim that she is an instrument of the demon, I will reply without circumlocution: if the demon comes to Earth to cure the incurable, the abandoned, and the indigent, we are forced to conclude that he has finally converted, thereby deserving our thanks: Now, I much doubt that among those who speak thus there are not many who would prefer to be cured by her hands than to die at the hands of a doctor. Let us, then, receive the good from wherever it comes and, except with authentic proofs, let us not attribute its merit to the devil. It is more moral and more rational to attribute the good to God and to thank him for it; in this respect, I think that my opinion will be shared by you and by all my colleagues. “Besides, whether or not this becomes a reality, something will always result for Science. I am not a man to forget certain means employed, which today we much neglect. It is said that Medicine has made immense progress. Yes, no doubt, for Science, but not so much in the art of curing. We have learned much and forgotten much. The human Spirit is like the ocean: it cannot embrace everything; when it invades one shore, it leaves another. I will return to the subject and will keep you informed of this curious experiment. I attach the greatest importance to it; if it triumphs, it will be a brilliant manifestation against which it will be impossible to struggle, because nothing stops those who suffer and wish to be cured. I am determined to confront everything with this objective, even the ridicule that is so feared in France. “I take the opportunity to send you my inaugural thesis. If you take the trouble to read it, you will easily understand how disposed I was to admit Spiritism. This thesis was defended when Medicine had fallen into the most profound materialism. It was a protest against that current which dragged us toward organic Medicine and mineral pharmacology, of which so much abuse was made. How much health ruined by the use of mineral substances which, in case of failure, increase the ill and, in case of improvement, often leave traces in our organism! “Accept, etc.

Morhéry.”

“March 20, 1860.

“Sir, “In my last letter I announced to you that Miss Désirée Godu had come to exercise her healing faculty under my watch. Today I come to bring you some news.

“Since February 25, I began my observations on a great number of sick people, almost all indigent and unable to obtain adequate treatment. Some have diseases of little importance. The majority, however, are afflicted with conditions that resisted the ordinary curative means. I have catalogued, since February 25, 152 cases of very varied maladies. Unfortunately, in our region, especially the indigent sick follow their whims and have no patience to resign themselves to a continuous and methodical treatment. As soon as they experience improvement, they judge themselves cured and do nothing further. It is a fact often observed in my clientele and which necessarily had to occur with Miss Godu. “As I have already told you, I wish to prejudge nothing, to affirm nothing, except the results verified by experience. Later I will make the inventory of my observations and will record the most remarkable ones. But, from now on, I can express my admiration for certain cures obtained outside the ordinary means.

“I saw cured without quinine three episodes of intermittent fevers, rebellious, of which one had resisted all the means employed by me.

“Miss Godu likewise cured three whitlows and two subaponeurotic inflammations of the hand, in a few days. I was truly surprised.

“I can also record the cure, not yet radical, but very advanced, of one of our most intelligent workers, Pierre Le Boudec, of Saint-Hervé, deaf for 18 years; he was as marveled as I, when, after three days of treatment, he was able to hear the singing of the birds and the voice of his children. I saw him this morning; everything leads one to believe in a radical cure before long.

“Among our sick, the one who most attracts my attention at this moment is a certain Bigot, a laborer in Saint-Caradec, afflicted for two and a half years with a cancer of the lower lip. The cancer has reached the last degree; the lower lip is partially destroyed; the gums, the sublingual and submaxillary glands are cancerous; the lower maxillary bone itself is affected by the malady. When he presented himself at my house his state was desperate; his pains were atrocious; he had not slept for six months; any operation was impracticable, for the ill was too far advanced; the cure seemed to me impossible, and I declared it with all frankness to Miss Godu, in order to forearm her against an inevitable defeat. My opinion has not varied as to the prognosis; I cannot believe in the cure of so advanced a cancer. Nevertheless, I must declare that, from the first dressing, the patient experiences relief and, since February 25, sleeps well and eats; his confidence has returned to him; the wound has changed in appearance in a visible manner and, if this continues, in spite of my so firm opinion, I shall be obliged to expect a cure. If it is realized, it will be the greatest phenomenon of cure that can be recorded. One must wait and have patience with the patient. Miss Godu takes a very special care of him; sometimes she has made dressings every half hour. This indigent man is her favorite. “As for other things, I have nothing to say. I could edify you on the rumors, gossip, and allusions to sorcery; but as foolishness is inherent in Humanity, I do not take the trouble to try to eradicate it.

“Accept, etc.

Morhéry.”

Observation. – As one can be convinced by the two letters above, Dr. Morhéry does not let himself be fascinated by enthusiasm; he observes things coldly, as an enlightened man who does not permit himself illusions;

he demonstrates entire good faith and, setting aside the doctor's self-love, does not fear to confess that Nature can do without him, inspiring in a young woman without instruction the means of curing that he did not find even in his Faculty, nor in his own brain, not judging himself humiliated by this. His knowledge of Spiritism shows him that the thing is possible, without there being, for this, any derogation of the laws of Nature;

he understands it, since this remarkable faculty is for him a simple phenomenon, more developed in Miss Godu than in others. One may say that this young woman represents, for the art of curing, what Joan of Arc represented for the military art. Dr. Morhéry, enlightened on the two essential points – Spiritism as the source and ordinary Medicine as the control – setting aside self-love and any personal sentiment, finds himself in the best position to judge impartially, and we congratulate Miss Godu on the resolution she has taken, to place herself under his patronage.

No doubt the readers will be grateful to us for keeping them informed of the observations that will be made hereafter.

[Review of May 1860.]

CORRESPONDENCE.

Letter from Dr. Morhéry on various cures obtained by the medication of Miss Désirée Godu:

Plessis-Doudet, near Loudéac, Côtes-du-Nord, April 25, 1860.

Mr. Allan Kardec, I come today to discharge the promise I made to point out to you the cases of cure that I have obtained with the assistance of Miss Godu. As you will understand, I will not enumerate them all, for it would be too long. I limit myself to making a selection, not by virtue of the gravity, but of the variety of the maladies. I did not wish to repeat the same cases nor to mention cures of little importance.

Observe, sir, that Miss Godu has not lost time since she has been at Plessis-Boudet. We have already visited more than two hundred sick people and have had the satisfaction of curing almost all who had the patience to follow the prescriptions. I do not speak to you of our cancer patients, they are well on their way; but I will await positive results before pronouncing myself. We still have a great number of sick people under treatment; we choose, by preference, those who are considered incurable. Before long I hope to have new cases of cure to indicate to you. It is principally rheumatic afflictions, paralyses, sciaticas, ulcers, bone disorders, and sores of any nature that the system of treatment seems to give the best results. I can assure you, sir, that I have learned many useful things that, before my contact, this young lady was ignorant of. Each day she teaches me something new, both for treatment and for diagnosis. With regard to prognosis, I am ignorant of how she can fix it; nevertheless, she is not mistaken. With ordinary science one cannot explain such penetration, but you, sir, understand it easily.

I conclude by declaring that I certify as true and sincere all the observations that follow, with my signature.

Accept, etc.

Morhéry, doctor of Medicine.

1st Observation, no. 5 (February 23, 1860). François Langle, day laborer. Diagnosis: tertian fever for six months. The fever had resisted the sulfate of quinine, administered by me to the patient several times; he was cured in five days of treatment with simple infusions of various plants, and the patient is doing better than ever. I could cite ten similar cures.

2nd Observation, no. 9 (February 24, 1860). Madame R…, of Loudéac, 32 years of age. Diagnosis: chronic inflammation and swelling of the tonsils; violent cephalalgia; pains in the vertebral column; general prostration; absence of appetite. The ill began with shivers and deafness and has already lasted two years. – Prognosis: serious case, difficult to cure, the ill has resisted the best treatments applied. Today the patient is cured; the treatment continues only to avoid a relapse.

3rd Observation, no. 13 (February 25, 1860). Pierre Gaubichais, of the hamlet of Ventou-Lamotte, 23 years. Diagnosis: subaponeurotic inflammation in the back and the palm of the hand. – Prognosis: serious case, but not incurable. The cure was obtained in less than fifteen days. We have four or five similar cases.

4th Observation, no. 18 (February 26, 1860). François R…, of Loudéac, 27 years. Diagnosis: cicatrized white tumor on the left knee; fistulous abscess on the posterior part of the thigh, above the joint. The ill has existed since the age of ten. – Prognosis: very serious and incurable case, it resisted the best treatments instituted during six years. The patient was dressed with ointments prepared by Miss Godu and took infusions of various plants. Today he may be considered cured.

5th Observation, no. 23 (February 25, 1860). Jeanne Gloux, worker in Tierné-Loudéac. Diagnosis: very intense whitlow for ten days. The patient was cured radically in fifteen days with only the ointments of Miss Godu. The pains disappeared from the second dressing. We have three similar cures.

6th Observation, no. 12 (February 25, 1860). Vincent Gourdel, weaver in Lamotte, 32 years. Diagnosis: acute ophthalmia, consequent to an intense erysipelas. Inflammatory injection of the conjunctiva and a large leucoma n manifesting itself in the transparent cornea of the left eye; general inflammatory state. – Prognosis: serious and very intense affliction. It is to be feared that the eye will be lost in ten days. – Treatment: application of ointments over the diseased eye. Today the ophthalmia is cured; the leucoma has disappeared, but the treatment continues to combat the erysipelas, which seems to be of a periodic and, perhaps, dartrous nature. n 7th Observation, no. 31 (February 27, 1860). Marie-Louise Rivière, day laborer in Lamotte, 24 years. Diagnosis: old rheumatism in the right hand, with complete debility and paralysis of the phalanges; impossibility of working. Cause unknown. – Prognosis: cure very difficult, if not impossible. Cured in twenty days of treatment.

8th Observation, no. 34 (February 28, 1860). Jean-Marie Le Berre, 19 years, indigent in Lamotte. Diagnosis: violent cephalalgia, insomnia, frequent hemorrhages through the nasal fossae, deviation of the right knee inward and of the same leg outward. The patient is really crippled. – Prognosis: incurable. – Treatment: extractive topical and ointments of Miss Godu. Today the limb has straightened and the cure is more or less complete; nevertheless, the treatment continues, as a precaution.

9th Observation, no. 50 (February 28, 1860). Marie Nogret, 23 years, of Lamotte. Diagnosis: inflammation of the pleura and the diaphragm, swelling and inflammation of the tonsils and the uvula, palpitations, dizziness, suffocations. – Prognosis: although the patient is strong, her state is serious; she cannot take two steps. – Treatment: infusions of various plants. Better from the following day and radical cure in eight days.

10th Observation, no. 109 (March 12, 1860). Pierre Le Boudu, commune of Saint-Hervé. Diagnosis: deafness since the age of eighteen, consequent to a typhoid fever. – Prognosis: incurable and rebellious to all treatment. – Treatment: injections and uses of infusions of various plants, prepared by Miss Godu. Today the patient hears the movement of his watch; the noise bothers and stuns him, by reason of the sensitivity of the ear.

11th Observation, no. 132 (March 18, 1860). Marie Le Maux, ten years, residing in Grâces. Diagnosis: rheumatism with rigidity of the joints, particularly in both knees; the child walks only with crutches. – Prognosis: very serious case, if not incurable. – Treatment: extractive topical, and dressings with ointments of Miss Godu. Cure in less than twenty days. Today she walks without crutches or cane.

12th Observation, no. 80 (March 19, 1860). Hélène Lucas, nine years, indigent in Lamotte. Diagnosis: protrusion and permanent swelling of the tongue, which advances 5 to 6 centimeters beyond the lips and appears strangled; the tongue is rough, the lower teeth are corroded by the tongue; to eat, the child is obliged to push the tongue to one side with one hand and introduce the food into the mouth with the other. Such a state goes back to the age of two and a half months. – Prognosis: very serious case judged incurable. Today the tongue has retracted and the patient is almost completely cured. Morhéry.

It will be noted without difficulty that the notices above do not constitute those banal certificates, solicited by cupidity, in which complaisance often vies with ignorance. They are observations of a professional who, setting aside self-love, frankly admits his insufficiency in the presence of the infinite resources of Nature, which did not tell him the last word on the school benches. He recognizes that this girl, without special instruction, taught him more than certain books of men, because she reads in the very book of Nature. As a sensible man, he prefers to save a patient by apparently irregular means than to let him die according to the rules; and he does not judge himself humiliated. We commit ourselves to making a serious study in the next article, from the theoretical point of view, of this intuitive faculty, more frequent than one thinks, but which is more or less developed, through which science may draw precious lights, when men no longer judge themselves wiser than the Lord of the Universe. Through a very enlightened man, a native of Hindustan and of Indian origin, we obtained precious teachings on the practices of intuitive Medicine by the natives, which come to add to the theory the testimony of authentic, well-observed facts. [Review of June 1860.]

INTUITIVE MEDICINE.

Plessis-Boudet, May 23, 1860.

Sir, In my last letter I gave you a bulletin of the cures obtained by means of Miss Godu's medication. I always have the intention of keeping you informed of the facts, but today I judge it more useful to speak of her manner of treating. It is good to keep people apprised of this, because sick people come from afar who form a very false idea of this kind of medication, and who expose themselves to making a useless journey or one of pure curiosity.

Miss Godu is not a somnambulist. She never consults at a distance, not even in my home, but only under my direction and my control. When we are in agreement, which occurs almost always, for now I am in a condition to appreciate her medication, we begin the agreed treatment and Miss Godu makes the dressings and prepares the tisanes. In a word, she acts as a nurse, but a nurse of the elite, and with a zeal without parallel, in our modest improvised house of health.

Is it by a purifying fluid, with which she would be endowed, that she obtains such precious results?

Is it by her pertinacity in the application of the dressings, or by the confidence she inspires?

Is it, finally, by a system of medication well conceived and well directed, that she obtains success?

Such are the three questions I often ask myself.

For the moment I do not wish to enter into the first question, because it requires a profound study and a scientific discussion of the first order. It will come later.

With regard to the second question, today I can resolve it affirmatively, since Miss Godu finds herself in the same conditions as all doctors, nurses, or operators, who know how to raise the morale of their patients and inspire in them a salutary confidence.

As for the third question, I no longer hesitate to resolve it affirmatively. I have acquired the conviction that Miss Godu's medication constitutes an entire, very methodical system. This system is simple in its theory, but, in practice, varies infinitely; and it is in the application that it demands all the attention and all the skill possible. The most experienced professional has difficulty understanding, at the outset, this mechanism and this series of incessant modifications, by reason of the progress or the decline of the disease. He is dazzled and understands little; but, with time, he easily becomes aware of this medication and of its effects. It would be too long to enumerate in detail and, currente calamo [At the run of the pen], an entire medical system new to us, although, surely, very old in relation to the age of men on our planet. Here are the bases on which the system rests, which rarely departs from revulsive medicine.

In the majority of cases, Miss Godu applies an extractive topical, composed of one or two substances, found everywhere, in the hut as in the castle. This topical has an action so energetic that effects incomparably superior to all our known revulsives are obtained, without excepting the actual cautery and the moxas. n Sometimes, she limits herself to the application of vesicatories, when a more energetic effect is not indispensable. The skill consists in proportioning the remedy to the ill, in maintaining a constant and varied suppuration, and this is what she obtains with an ointment so simple that it cannot be classified among the number of medicaments. It can be assimilated to simple cerates and even to cataplasms; nevertheless, such an ointment produces durable and very varied effects: here it is calcareous salts that appear upon the plaster; in the dropsical, it is water; in persons with humors, it is an abundant suppuration, now clear, now thick. In short, the effects of her ointment vary infinitely, by a cause I have not yet grasped and which, moreover, must enter into the study of the first question. This as regards the exterior. Later I will say a word to you about the internal medication, which I understand easily. One must not think that the ill is removed as if by a stroke of magic; as always, time and perseverance are required to cure radically the rebellious diseases. Accept, etc.

Morhéry.

[Review of January 1862.]

LETTER TO DR. MORHÉRY, CONCERNING MISS GODU.

In recent times, many people have commented on the strange phenomena worked by Miss Godu, notably those concerning the production of diamonds and precious grains by means no less strange. In this regard, Dr. Morhéry wrote us a long descriptive letter, and some people were astonished that we had not commented on it. The reason for this is that we appreciate no fact with enthusiasm, examining things coldly before accepting them, for experience has taught us how much we must distrust certain illusions. If we had published without examination all the marvels that were related to us with greater or lesser good faith, our review might perhaps have become more amusing; we must, however, preserve for it the serious character it has always had. As for the new and prodigious faculty that is said to have revealed itself in Miss Godu, we sincerely believe that that of healing medium was more precious and more useful to Humanity and, even, to the propagation of Spiritism. Nevertheless, we deny nothing, and to those who think, with such news, that we ought to take the first train to assure ourselves, we will reply that, if the thing is real, it will not fail to be officially verified; that, then, there will always be opportunity to comment on it, and our self-love will not suffer if we are the first to proclaim it. Besides, here is an excerpt from the reply we gave to Dr. Morhéry: “ (…) It is certain that I did not publish all the reports you sent me on the cures worked by Miss Godu, but, on the other hand, I said enough to draw attention to her. If I spoke constantly of the case, I might give the impression of being at the service of particular interests. Prudence advised that the future come to confirm the past. As for the phenomena you relate in your last letter, they are so strange that I will not risk publishing them except when I have their confirmation in an irrefutable manner. The more abnormal a fact is, the more it demands circumspection. Do not be surprised, then, that I have it, and considerably, in this circumstance. Besides, it is also the opinion of the committee of the Society, to which I submitted your letter. It decided, unanimously, that even before speaking of the case, it would be fitting to await its development. Up to the present this fact is so contrary to all natural laws and, even, to all known laws of Spiritism, that the first sentiment it provokes, even among Spiritists, is that of incredulity. To speak of it prematurely and before being able to support it with authentic proofs, would be to excite without profit the verve of the jesters of bad taste.” Allan Kardec.

[1] Translator's note: Permanent stain of the cornea due to traumas or ulcerations.

[2] Translator's note: That presents dartre, a generic term with which various cutaneous afflictions were designated. [Dartre: n. m. (Fr. and Eng. dartre).

An old term that designated various afflictions such as eczema, psoriasis, pityriasis, etc.

Currently, in common language, it designates the limited cutaneous lesions that form isolated reddish plaques, finely scaly and furfuraceous. See pityriasis (adj.: dartrous.) — Source: http://medicosdeportugal.saude.sapo.pt/action/10/glo_id/3587/menu/2/]

[3] Translator's note: a stick of artemisia, which, burned in contact with the skin of certain regions of the body, produces an effect comparable to that of acupuncture.