POWER OF IMAGINATION.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4414, 15 May 1922, Page 4

POWER OF IMAGINATION.

AID TO DENTISTRY. An amusing but true story on the power of imagination was related by Professor E. Mayo, of; the Brisbane University, in Melbourne recently, when discussing the psychology of middle age at a luncheon held by the Victorian Institute of Advertising Men. In Brisbane once, said Professor Mayo, p. middle-aged man visited a dentist to have a tooth attended to. After, some discussion they both agreed that the tooth should be extracted. Then began a lengthy discussion as to the method by whicn the -tooth should be tackled. The client favoured cocaine injection—a friend of his had had cocaine, and it had been successful. The dentist disapproved of this method. When asked why, he rather unwisely told his client that certain people .were apt to contract cocaine poisoning from sucn an operation. He then exhaustively explained the symptoms of cocaine poisoning. But 'the client persisted. The dentist, to assure the client the operation would not hurt, pla'ced the hypodermic needle, free from cocaine, in the gum. The client immediately collapsed, and acquired all the symptoms of cocaine poisoning. It took the dentist an hour to bring his pationt round and send him to a doctor. Later the doctor advised the dentist to use gas instead of cocaine. The dentil agreed on condition that the doctor would administer the gas. Being unacquainted with the gas ma-chine-the doctor had its workings explained to him. He mask to the imaginative patient, who immediately fell into a deep sleep. The dentist successfully extracted the tooth. “Well, that’s over, thank goodness.” exclaimed the doctor as he removed the mask. “Yes,” i eplied the dentist, “even though you forgot to turn the gas on!” \