The Effect of Alternative Healing Therapy on the Regeneration Rate of Salamander Forelimbs

The following experiment examined the effect of noncontact therapeutic touch (NCTT) on the regeneration rate of salamander forelimbs surgically amputated through the distal third of the stylopodium. A total of 154 newts, Notophthalmus viridescens, were used and limb regeneration was assessed using two criteria: (1) the time to first finger differentiation, and (2) the time to fourth finger differentiation. The experiment was divided into two sections. For section #I, four NCTT healers worked individually under three separate conditions in a specially designed laboratory. The conditions were: (1) treatment through an opening in the wall, (2) treatment through smoked opaque glass, and (3) treatment through smoked opaque glass and plastic. For section #2, the four individual healers were paired, with each pair working together on a tank of newts situated directly in front of them. The results for section #1 showed that: ( I ) Healer 1 obtained nonsignificance for all three conditions at both the first and fourth finger differentiation stages, (2) Healer 2 obtained significance for all three conditions at both differentiation stages, (3) Healer 3 obtained significance for condition 1 only at both differentiation stages, and (4) Healer 4 obtained significance for conditions 2 and 3 at both differentiation stages. For section #2, only the pair of Healer 1-Healer 3 obtained significant results (p < .002). The data, therefore, suggest that NCTT may have the potential to accelerate the rate of regeneration of newt forelimbs surgically amputated through the distal third of the humerus.