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Sometime in the past century, following the discovery of electrical currents in living tissue, somebody invented positive and negative metal rods which were used by the physician to stroke any diseased part of the body and in theory to re-direct the supposedly disordered electrical currents. Many people felt the better for their use, and sermons were even preached urging the government to provide a pair of rods for each household. Then a doubting doctor had a pair of wooden rods made to look like metal, and found his results were as good as with the metal ones. General revulsion of feeling was so strong that six months later the rods had been forgotten. Dramatically similar was the immediate abandonment by the public of Yadil, following its exposure in the early twenties.
Dr. Hutschnecker has his 'rods'—handy antitheses such as Life Instinct and Death Instinct, Aggressive and Regressive Diseases and (blessed word) Psycho-Somatic! He makes great play with them to the accompaniment of glib verbigerative chatter and reminiscence.
As is necessary in all such systems of thought, one pole can become the opposite pole at a moment's notice without the least harm to anybody. In the same paragraph he speaks of ACTH as perhaps inducing an infectious disease and therefore dangerous to use where such a condition is suspected; and then goes on to give an example of its use in an infectious disease where it had marvellously curative effect.
It is a pity that the publisher in his explanatory note on the dust-jacket should use, even in the most remote way, the word 'psycho-analytical' in connection with this book.