Of course, this may have been a coincidence; and had it stood as a solitary instance, that would have been the most rational way of accounting for it. But a hundred such coincidences do not happen in succession without a single break; and more than a hundred experiments have been made by this process by myself and two other persons, and not a single failure has thus far been experienced, where the proper conditions have been observed. In two cases the patients have not been perceptibly benefited; but in both of those they were notified of the intended experiments, and were profoundly sceptical. But these failures cannot be charged to the account of this method of treatment, for the simple reason that the fundamental principle of the system was deliberately violated. That is to say, the best conditions were not observed,--in that the patient was informed beforehand of what was intended. In such cases the healer is handicapped by probable adverse auto-suggestion, as has been fully explained in former chapters. The principle cannot be too strongly enforced that neither the patient nor any of his immediate family should ever be informed beforehand of the intended experiment. Failure does not necessarily follow the imparting of such information; but when the patient or his immediate friends are aware of the effort being made in his behalf, there is always danger of adverse auto-suggestion on the part of the patient, or of adverse suggestion being made orally or telepathically by his sceptical friends. The conditions are then no better and no worse than the conditions ordinarily encountered by those who employ other methods of mental healing. I have successfully treated patients after informing them of my intentions; but it was because I first succeeded in impressing them favorably, and their mental environment was not antagonistic.