What is exemplified in medieval medicine in this matter remains true during the Renaissance. In the fifteenth century Petrus Pomponatius, well known as a thinker and writer on borderland subjects related to medicine, came to the conclusion that men might very well be cured of certain ailments {15} by influence from the minds of others, and that such treatment, undertaken by physicians appropriately endowed, produced wonderful effects. He said:

Some men are specially endowed with eminently curative faculties; the effects produced by their touch are wonderful: but even touch is not always necessary; their glances, their mere intention of doing good are efficient for the restoration of health. The results, however, are due to natural causes.