Consequently, thought alone, without a strong exercise of the will, has little effect upon such habits of the body.

When a man does a thing he does not mean to do, and says "I cannot help it," he is admitting this fact.

If you were to ask Donna Angela if she means to starve herself to death deliberately, she would deny it with indignation, but would tell you that she really cannot eat, and meanwhile she is starving.

Give her a comparatively harmless illness like the measles, severe enough to break up the ordinary automatic habits of the body, and she will eat again, with an excellent appetite.

In all probability I could give her the measles by artificial means, but unfortunately that sort of treatment is not yet authorised!' The young doctor, who was not by any means a dreamer, seemed much amused at his own conclusion, which looks absurd even on paper, and Madame Bernard did not believe a word he said.