" I 'D LIKE TO TAKE UPl PELMANISM, BUT" SOME DOUBTS DISPELLED. THE very prominence which Pelmanism has attained during recent years forms the basis of a doubt which exists in the minds of many people. A business girl said to me only the other day, " I 'd like to take up Pelmanism, but it 's so much advertised that I wonder whether there is not a certain amount of quackery about it." The association of extensive advertising with quackery is a relic of long years ago, but it is strange how it persists. I was rather surprised, nevertheless, to hear this business woman express the doubt, for she is a marked success in her sphere of work, with a keen, analytical mind. Inquiry revealed the fact that she had read only one or two of the Pelman announcements closely, though she had glanced in a half-interested way at scores of them. I then divulged that I was a Pelmanist, and immediately a regular machine-gun fire of questions was opened upon me. Was there anything in Pelmanism ? Was it free from quackery ? IS THE CASE OVERSTATED? Did not the advertisements overstate the case ? Wasn't the most made of the successes attained by a few students, while the many secured no benefit worth speaking of ? To all of which I replied by two further questions. Was it conceivable that over 400,000 people would voluntarily adopt Pelmanism unless they were convinced that they would gain in some way from the study ? Would so many of the leaders of thought, including prominent educationalists, influential business men, and well- known authors and editors, publicly state their unbounded faith and belief in Pelmanism if it were not capable of withstanding the most searching investigation ? TREBLED MY INCOME. These broadsides took instant effect, and I followed up my advantage by mentioning some of the results Pelmanism had achieved in my own case : vast improvement in memory ; keener perceptions ; realisation of dormant possibilities ; consciousness of greater power ; appreciation of the beauties of poetry ; easier concentration. I reserved for my final shots the two most practical outcomes of my Pelmanistic studies. The first of these had a telling effect, for this would-be Pelmanist was full of ambitious plans in business. I told her that during the past two years my earnings had more than trebled, in spite of many difficulties and set-backs, and that to Pelmanism was due the major part of the credit for this financial improvement. The other result was the consummation of an ambitious plan which I had often contemplated, but which, until I had become a Pelmanist, I honestly believed to be something unattainable.
